Page 40 of Aviator
Felix pulled the truck to the parking spot right by the door, so I jump in feeling more clean than I have in nearly a week. Dean is waiting with the door open, and I practically skip to his side. His beard twitches in a grin.
“Does Felix have a bottle of water in there? Where’d he go, by the way?”
He pulls out a bottle of water. “Take a leak.”
I retrieve the toothbrush and toothpaste and pass them to him. “Brush your teeth,” I order. I see a flash of recognition, and he does as I ask quickly and efficiently.
While he does as I order, I climb up on the step bar and wait impatiently for him to finish. As soon as he’s done, and before I can second guess myself, I cup his face with both hands and guide his mouth to mine. If this is the last time I get to kiss him, I’m going to make it count. Our lips touch, and I feel a rush of heat flood through me. The taste of his minty breath and the soft abrasion of his scruff against my skin sends shivers down my spine. His arms wrap around me tightly, pulling me closer as we deepen the kiss. Never in a million years did I think I’d want his hands on me, and now all I want is to feel themeverywhere.
I can feel his desire growing as his needy hands move from my back to my hips, gripping them tightly and pulling them into the vee of his thighs. I moan softly into his mouth, and it only spurs him on more. One hand moves up to cup my breast, massaging it gently underneath my shirt. The flimsy shelf bra of the cami does little to insulate my sensitive skin from his roughened palms. Feeling my nipples pebble, he groans into my mouth.
When my breath catches, Dean breaks the kiss, his chest heaving as he stares at me in barely controlled need. I feel a surge of panic, thinking I’ve made a terrible mistake, but then he leans back in and kisses me once again with a fierce hunger I return in equal measure. The bottle of water slips from where he placed it on the seat and clatters to the ground as we cling to each other, lost in the moment. His hard body presses against mine, and it’s all I can do to keep from tearing off his clothes then and there.
An ear-splitting whistle has us breaking apart like a couple of guilty teenagers. Dean quickly and discreetly pulls his hand from underneath my shirt, and I flush as I see Felix striding from the gas station. I meet Dean’s eyes, but they’re unreadable in the shadows. Carefully, I climb over him and sit in the center seat again. Felix joins us with a mile-wide grin but, thank God, doesn’t say anything other than, “Let’s ride.”
We pull out of the lot. My skin is still zinging with energy from that kiss, and my mind is racing with what it could mean, so I don’t pick up on any weird energy until Felix whips the truck abruptly down a side street. My gaze flashes to Dean’s, and I clock his serious expression.
Headlights from behind us flash on the dashboard. Someone in a loud truck slams on the brake to turn down the side street with us. Dean glances in the side mirror and frowns. My heart starts to beat in my ears when I feel Dean tense up beside me.
“Felix?” he asks in a tone I imagine he used as a Marine. “You see that truck? Been following us since we left the gas station.”
They share some silent communication because Felix’s jovial expression is grave now. “I see it. In the glove compartment.”
Tendrils of disquiet thread through me as Dean quickly retrieves a small handgun and turns to me. “Get down.”
I don’t hesitate or ask questions. I squish myself into the floorboard as much as I can, but I still feel vulnerable. Exposed. Dean leans forward to protect me, and I can feel his body vibrating like a live wire. He’s afraid. For me.
It can’t be those guys from the cabin, can it? How did they know where we were? Of all the damn luck to go to the same gas station.
I don’t have time to think anything else because Felix abruptly slams on the brakes. He and Dean peer out the windows as the truck behind us does the same. There’s a long pause, and I realize Felix is holding a gun, too. Their eyes meet, and Dean’s are chips of silver. Hard. Determined. Murderous.
“On three.”
They don’t say the words, but I can hear the countdown as vividly as if it’s being shouted into my ear. On three, they throw open the doors, hitting the two men who were creeping up the side with identicalthunks. There are grunts of impact, a lot of cursing, and then several gunshots go off immediately.
I don’t realize I’ve been shot until I feel something wet on my arm.
I must black out momentarily because when the world comes back into focus, Dean is crouched next to me in the open door of the truck. “Princess. Can you hear me?”
“Hey, pookie,” I answer through gritted teeth.
Dean’s answering smile is relieved and maybe a little annoyed. But honestly, I think he likes my little pet name. “Where?” he asks.
It takes me a second to realize what he’s asking, and then the pain slams into me full force. I gasp and clamp my eyes shut. “My shoulder. Fuck. What happened?”
He yanks down my jacket and sweatshirt with surprising gentleness. “Shot must have gone wide. Goddammit. We’ve got to get you to a hospital. Here, sit up for me. I have to check on Felix.”
“What about the guys?”
“I got one. The other got away.”
I don’t ask him to elaborate on what he means by “got one.”
“Fuck.” Dean’s voice comes from the driver’s side.
When I lean over the seat to see, I find him hauling a limp Felix up and into the back seat. “Is he. . .?”
“I don’t know, but buckle up. I’m gonna break several laws getting you both to the emergency room.”
