Page 55 of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Still, it’s Liv…in my arms.

Liv in my fucking arms.

God, I love her.

“What’re you doing stopped here?” I ask. “Not that I’m complaining, baby.”

“I got dizzy. Blood sugar drop, I think.”

“Right. Climb on my back. We’ll go piggyback style until I find you food.”

“No. It’ll be too hard for you to walk with me on your back.”

We’re in the woods; somehow she escaped her capture and throughout all that, we found each other. The chances of that happening are astronomical and she wants to fight with me about helping her?

Christ.I sigh, not willing to argue. “Please, Liv, get on my back.”

She relents. Her hold shifts around to the back of my neck, her hands rest on my collarbone. After taking a moment to really breathe her in, to feel her body alive and next to mine, I gently grab one of her thighs as she hefts herself up and locks her legs around my waist to rest her ankles against my dick.

My thoughts switch from loving to carnal just that quick. I blow out a long, strangled breath because what are my choices? I didn’t think this one through. Liv’s body pressed against mine, rubbing on me. Give me strength.

If she’s already sick, she won’t last the trek down the mountain. Next order of business, we need to find her some water and something to eat. I look around, adjusting Liv a little more securely on my back. Her hold tightens. I know we have to get off this wooded crest. But I don’t know what to do. Stick to the tracks knowing that he might be able to find us, or go off into the woods to face animals and god knows what.

To get to her, he’ll have to follow the tracks like we did unless there’s a trail closer to where he’d stashed her.

Decision made, we leave the easy path of the tracks. It might take us longer, but I have to think it’s the safest route. Before we leave the rails, I shoot off a text to Blood.

Got her.

Don’t know if it’ll reach him or not. I’ll try again the next signal area.

As the day wears on, the temp drops from the thickness of the forest and the light dipping toward blackness. She’d sweated so much that even my body heat isn’t enough to keep her warm. Liv shivers uncontrollably. If we don’t find some food and shelter soon, I’m going to lose her. For good. I can’t lose her.

“Hang on, baby. Please hang on,” I whisper and turn my head to peck her cheek resting on my shoulder.

I grit my teeth and push on faster, pissed off at the universe for putting us in this situation. It gets harder to see. The thoughts in my head, I keep those to myself not wanting to scare Liv. Butdammit.

And then, a boon from the universe, an apology for all the shit we’ve gone through, we stumble on an abandoned lookout, probably for baiting deer. A fucking abandoned lookout.

Hunters usually keep supplies in lookouts. “Hold tight, Liv. We’re climbing.” I turn my head to peck her cheek again.

She turns to me, tilts her head up, then turns her head back to me. “No, Gage, it’s too high. You’ll hurt yourself. I’m too heavy.”

Call it excitement or hope—what-the-fuck-ever—it’s back in full force. I can’t stop touching her or kissing her. Not now. Not ever. I draw her closer to my back by tugging on her hand wrapped around my neck and lift it to my mouth to drop a kiss on it. “Please, baby. You weigh ninety-five cents soaking wet. I think I can handle you.”

One foot above the other we begin the climb. Having a woman clinging to my back like a spider monkey really does sap my energy; my muscles burn by the time we reach the final rung.

Fingers crossed, we pop our heads through the opening in the floor and hope I’d been right about the supplies.

Fucking A. There’s a pallet of bottled waters. A sleeping bag and a metal box, which, God willing, has nonperishable food.

Liv swings her leg up from around my waist to push herself off. She lifts her body with her knee and crawls away from the opening to give me space to heft myself onto the floor.

“Grab yourself a water, baby. Now.”

She crawls over to the bottles and as she does, the whole lookout sways to the left and right. Not enough for me to worry about it falling, but enough to force me to grip the floorboards so I don’t fall to my death.

Throwing her arm out to catch me, she shrieks, but even then she’s aware of our predicament enough to shriek in a whisper. The last thing we need is for Houdini to hear her. “We’re good, baby.” I assure her. “It’s rickety, but it’ll hold.” And it will. I’m not lying. Instead of crawling with heavy movements though, I slide my ass across the small space to get to Liv and the sleeping bag and supplies. The gentle slide keeps us from swaying. It’s more of a slight wiggle. Her face shows that her fear, for the time being, has calmed.

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