Page 46 of Knot So Fast
"What are you doing here?" she asks, pulling me back to reality with the genuine confusion in her voice.
"Driving," I say with forced casualness, "like any other citizen. Until someone—" I give her a pointed look, "—tried to run me off the road."
I watch as understanding dawns on her face, followed immediately by mortification. She curses creatively, using combinations I'm pretty sure would make sailors blush, before launching into what promises to be an extensive apology.
"Listen, I'm so sorry, I didn't see?—"
She wants to bow her head in contrition, but before she can complete the gesture, I'm already shrugging out of my jacket and draping it over her shoulders. It won't do much against the downpour, but it's enough to stop her from getting moredrenched, and more importantly, it covers those perfect breasts that are making rational thought increasingly difficult.
"Can you drive?" I ask, cutting off her apology before it can really get started.
She nods slowly, still processing everything that's happening.
"Follow me up," I instruct, already turning back toward my car.
"What if I don't want to?" The defiance in her voice makes me pause, and when I look back, she's standing there with her arms crossed despite the jacket draped over her shoulders, looking like a drowned cat who's decided to pick a fight with a wolf.
"Then I can press charges for trespassing on private property," I say with a shrug that suggests I'm completely serious about the threat.
She gawks at me, genuine shock replacing the defiance. "Private property? Since when?"
I smirk, unable to resist the opportunity to be cryptic. "You won't find out unless you follow. So best keep up." I turn away again, adding over my shoulder, "I don't have all fucking night."
The gap of incredulity she makes is audible even over the rain. "You're a rude ass who just kissed me!"
That makes me pause again, and when I respond, I let some of my frustration bleed through. "If you think I'm the rude ass, then you're just addicted to my brother's cock because he's the jackass between us."
The silence that follows tells me I've rendered her speechless, and when I glance back one more time, she's standing there gawking and cherry red despite the cold rain. I turn away before she can see how the idea of her lusting after Lucius more than me makes my jaw clench hard enough to crack teeth.
I decide I'll be cautious for the sake of the agreement with her parents, but getting her out of the rain is the top priority. I'll figure out the rest once she's somewhere warm and dry, where Ican think without being distracted by the way that dress clings to her like a second skin.
As I slide back into my car, waiting for her to follow, I can't help but think about the cosmic joke of this situation. All those nights gaming with her online, hiding behind voice modulators and careful lies, and now here we are in person because she nearly drove herself off a cliff trying to outrun whatever demons are chasing her.
The headlights of her car flicker to life in my rearview mirror, and I allow myself one moment of satisfaction that she's chosen to follow. It's a small victory, but after a year of nothing but losses when it comes to her, I'll take whatever I can get.
The drive up to the house is treacherous in this weather, but I keep the pace slow enough for her to follow safely. Every few seconds I check the mirror, making sure she's still there, that she hasn't changed her mind and turned back toward the city. But she stays right on my tail, following me up the winding road that leads to the place that was supposed to be our future.
The rain shows no signs of letting up as we climb higher into the mountains, and I find myself gripping the steering wheel tighter with each turn. Not from concern about the road—I could drive this route blindfolded—but from the anticipation of what comes next. Once we reach the house, once we're alone together without the buffer of rain and cars and distance, I'll have to make decisions about how much truth to reveal.
Part of me wants to tell her everything. To show her the photos I've kept, the videos of our races together, the love letters she wrote that I've read so many times the paper is soft from handling. To kiss her again until she remembers the way we used to fit together, the plans we made, the future we were building before it all went to hell.
But the responsible part of me—the part that made those promises to her parents, that agreed to stay away for her owngood—knows that would be selfish. She's healing, slowly but surely, and throwing all that history at her could do more harm than good.
Still, as the lights of the house come into view through the rain, I can't help but think about the fact that she found her way here on her own. Out of all the places she could have driven to escape whatever sent her running from her parents' house, she chose the mountain road that leads to our past.
Maybe that means something. That her body remembers even if her mind doesn't. Or that there's hope for us yet.
Or maybe I'm just a fool who can't let go of a dream that died in twisted metal and flames over a year ago.
Either way, she's here now, following me through the storm to a house full of ghosts and memories she can't access. And despite every rational argument for why this is a terrible idea, I can't bring myself to send her away.
After all, she is my Sugar... as I'm her Wolf.
DANGEROUS TERRITORY
~AUREN~
I follow the taillights of Lachlan's car through the rain-slicked darkness, my hands still trembling slightly on the steering wheel from both the near-accident and the kiss that's left my lips tingling and my mind reeling.
