Page 40 of His to Take

Being so much smaller than me, Naomi took the front seat of our transport, lying down across the bench, her delicate features illuminated by the soft glow of the moonlight seeping through the window. She hadn’t said much after we’d pulled off the road to settle for the night, but her silence wasn’t cold—it was contemplative, like she was figuring out her place in all this. With the rest of the team settling into their own vehicles, I sat up on the back bench seat, pretending to check my gear, but really, my focus never left her. There was something in the way she looked at me now, an awareness that hadn’t been there when we’d first met. A certain tension simmered beneath the surface of every glance we exchanged, every quiet breath we took in each other's presence.

I wished we were alone together.

The security detail rotated shifts, always on alert, but there were moments—brief, stolen moments—when it felt like it was just the two of us. Those moments where her eyes would flicker up to meet mine, and I’d catch a glimpse of something raw and unspoken passing between us. I wanted to reach for her, to touch the soft curve of her cheek or feel the way her body would lean into mine, but not here. Not yet.

Instead, I leaned back in my seat, keeping watch over her, and over the darkened horizon beyond the vehicle's window. The rhythmic hum of the engine provided a kind of intimacy, a white noise that blocked out the rest of the world, leaving just the two of us in this strange limbo between duty and desire.

And so, we handled the nights like this, pretending the security team wasn’t there, pretending we weren’t on the edge of something neither of us fully understood yet. But in the quiet, in the darkness, our connection deepened, bit by bit.

In some ways, the days were easier. I tried to keep myself from touching her. I failed. I took advantage of every private moment that presented itself.

Snaking in between the overgrown trees of the forest and traversing gnarly roots and deeply pitted and eroded ground, it soon became clear that we weren’t going to be able to go much further like this and would have to hike the last several miles. We’d put some distance between ourselves and the larger vehicles following, so I’d begun looking around for a likely place to stop and get ready to proceed on foot.

I pressed the gas a little to crest over a ridge we were climbing, but slammed on the brake with both feet when I realized there was nothing but open air on the other side. Naomi cried out. She had been sleeping beside me and the sudden stop had jolted her awake. My arm had flown out as we skidded to a stop, pinning her against the seat so she didn’t hit her head on the dashboard.

I soon realized that the front wheels were no longer on the ground.

“Do. Not. Move,” I dictated. Her eyes flicked to me, full of questions, but she obeyed. She didn’t even twitch a single muscle as the vehicle rocked threateningly back and forth. I dared a glance out of the side window, careful not to lean forward. Down beneath us was a deep crevasse. Much of it was overgrown, but I could see red rock peeking out from between the brush. It went on for miles to either side, and I’d almost driven us right off the cliff.

“If we lean backwards, we might be able to stabilize it enough to get out,” she breathed. Her eyes were trained on me. There was a very slight hint of panic in her eyes, but she remained calm, nonetheless. She didn’t rush to action, waiting instead to see what I thought the best course might be.

“Good thinking. I want you to reach very slowly to your side and lower your seat backwards.”

“Okay,” she said softly.

At the same time, we both reached down, and the car groaned dangerously loud. I paused, allowing the car to level out before I lifted the handle.

“Keep pressure against the back so the seat doesn’t pop forward,” I warned.

“Got it,” she said quickly.

Slowly, we both lowered our seats back, taking care to pause anytime the car rocked. My heart was threatening to beat right out of my chest by the time I lowered it all the way flat. I looked in the rear-view mirror behind me, but the security team was nowhere to be seen. Maybe they’d gotten cut off by a falling branch or worse, gotten a flat tire, but I couldn’t spent any time worrying about them.

“We should move into the backseat,” she offered. With trepidation, she looked out the front windshield, watching as the horizon wavered in the distance.

“Slowly. Very, very slowly,” I directed.

Inch by inch, we each slid back on the seat. The car rocked back and forth like a seesaw the entire time. I gritted my teeth, havinga hard time keeping myself from grabbing her and just leaping out of here as fast as possible.

Eventually, we made it into the backseat and the car swayed a little bit less. Overhead, a tree creaked.

“We need to get out now,” she murmured, looking up.

“When I say Go, open the door and throw yourself out. Jump as far forward, away from the vehicle, fast as you can. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” she answered quickly.

We took a moment to breathe and prepare.

“Ready?”

She nodded.

“Go!” I roared. At once, we both slammed our door open. Using my legs, I vaulted out of the car. Immediately, I threw myself forward, not wanting to get caught in the door or underneath a wheel in case the vehicle lost balance because of the sudden loss of our weight.

I rolled and jumped up, immediately searching for her, trying to see if she’d cleared the vehicle too.

“Naomi?” I yelled.

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