Page 21 of Escaped
“Because?”Taking a step in her direction, I repeated the word back to her slowly.
“Because of how I feel about you.”Her head lowered, and despite the poor lighting and her best attempts to conceal her expression, I swore I saw her blush.
“And how do you feel about me?”
Yet again, I was struck by the inappropriateness of the place and timing, but, closing the distance between us, the question suddenly seemed right.
There had been no declarations of intention between us beyond our shared desire to make it out of the cabin alive and see what might come next, but after Hawkins’ interjections, things were different.I saw it in her eyes and in the frantic grasp of her touches, and I felt it, too; the realization that losing the other would be more than only an inconvenience.It would be catastrophic.
Hawkins had given us perspective.In an odd way, we owed the creep.
“Sir.”Her voice was a sigh.“Don’t make me say it here.”
“Say what?”
I reached for her heated face, brushing my thumb over her skin as I insisted her gaze rise to meet mine.There, in the darkness, she was the center of my entire world.
“Please.”
My balls tightened at her breathy plea.
“I want to tell you how I feel,” she went on.“But not here.Not like this.”
“Needless to say, you don’t want anything to happen to me, though?”
I wished I could scoop her up, splay her over the nearest car hood, and fucking devour her.My amplified desire meant I scarcely even felt the splintering ache in my shoulder anymore.
“No, sir.”Her eyes fluttered closed when my fingers knotted in her silky hair.“Definitely not.”
“Come here.”Pressing her toward me, I swooped.I might not have had time to make her mine again properly, but there was a moment to remind us both of the delicious intimacy that awaited when we’d found Baron and finally got out of there.
She moaned as I withdrew, a guttural noise that spoke directly to my cock.“Eli.”
Her hand rose to graze the back of my neck.“I’m serious.If it’s not safe for me, then how do we know it’s okay for you?”
“We don’t.”I glanced back to the car.“But it’s our best chance of getting you out of here in one piece, so I’m going to go for it anyway.”
“But—"
Silencing her no doubt legitimate complaint with one finger, I winked at her as I moved away.Whatever anxiety I’d held about what would happen, I sensed it melting away.
She was falling in love with me.
Sure, she hadn’t said so explicitly, but it had been there in her eyes, in her words, and in her kiss.The most sublime aspect of the entire spectacle was that, by some miracle, the emotions bubbling inside of me conveyed exactly the same feelings.
I loved her too.
I couldn’t imagine another miserable day in my life without having her there to hold, to protect, and to adore.
“Just wait there.”I pointed to where she stood.“This won’t take long.”
“Eli.”
She sounded on the brink of tears as I turned back to the car, just able to make out my reflection in the glass of the driver’s window.
“Unlock the fob again, please.”My attention drilled into the dark glass.“These new vehicles often lock themselves automatically.”
She pulled in an audible breath, but instead of protesting, she complied, instigating the burst of orange light that we’d witnessed the first time.Time slowed in my head until the entire universe around me was motionless, and there was only me at its core, my galloping heart the only clue I was still awake and not dreaming the pounding intensity.
