Page 33 of The Chase

She looked down at her stomach and dipped her index finger in the glistening cluster of droplets there, again. Colt’s cum. She knew she was in trouble because she had the overwhelming desire to take that wetness and slide it into herself. She wanted him there. His life essence, deep within her. She wanted his seed. And damn her, she wanted it to grow. What the hell was she thinking? A future with Colt? She couldn’t deny herself, because the thought alone was turning her on. Her body, yes, and her heart, her soul. She wanted him, she could see herself loving him. She was halfway there.

If they weren’t on the run, in this van, what would it be like to be with a man like Colt? To do normal things, like grocery shopping. To go on a date with him, sit across from each other, a candle between them on the table. To clean the house together, divide the work. Maybe he’d do the vacuuming and she’d dust. Maybe they’d argue about which way dishes would go in the dishwasher. She smiled, trying to imagine that. He’d say he didn’t give a fuck and stick them in all over the place. Trying for a baby with him. Showing him that positive stick. Where was this coming from? She would have said she hypothetically wanted kids, if anyone had asked. She was still young, there was time for that. She wasn’t working on any timeline. She wanted babies in the generic sense, an idea but no actual plan. Had she wanted Hugo’s babies? No, she had not. What a sign that was. But she wanted Colt’s babies. A lewd act some would consider disrespectful, him coming all over her. But it had stirred something in her that she hadn’t felt before. It should have happened after they had made love or something, not rutted like deer together and then him blowing his load all over her. None of this made any sense, but she felt it, clear as day.

Colt suddenly burst back through the van door. “April.”

“Colt, I-”

“Pipes. I hear straight pipes,” he hissed urgently.

Her cozy musings shattered instantly. She felt sweat run down her spine. Her mouth went dry, her heart galloped. “No! How are they finding us?” she wailed.

“Help me, we’ll push the van into the bushes, then hide.”

She scrambled into action, grabbing Colt’s discarded white shirt as she passed. Tumbling out of the van, she threw on the T-shirt over her underwear. She heard the pipes now, too. Coming closer. They were on the main road.

He’d released the parking brake. “It’s going to be heavy, but I think if we just tuck it into the bush there...” He started pushing the van, throwing his weight into it. Her heart hammered in her chest. He already had the van rolling slowly forward into the bushes, but she joined in too.

“Just past the first branches here so they can’t see...” he whispered. She threw her weight into it and, with some clips of the branches against the wing mirrors, it rolled behind the first few fronds of the pine tree. “Good, now, follow me.” He suddenly stooped and grabbed his discarded briefs from the ground, then scrambled over to the van. She followed, clumsily, feeling like her legs didn’t belong to her. He grabbed her hand. His was warm and strong, and he placed his other hand on the top of her head. “Under. Now,” he instructed firmly.

She frowned. “Under... what... down there? But I-”

Too late, he’d scooted down himself and pulled her with him, protecting her head with that hand.

She tasted dirt. She smelled oil or gas or something. She could barely move. Somehow he half dragged her under the tiny gap between the ground and the van. She faced him, panicking. He gazed at her reassuringly. He didn’t look away.

Bike engines cut out at the turn off of the road. The night sounded deafeningly quiet. Her heart slammed against her rib cage. She was worried there wasn’t room for her lungs to expand in the cramped space they were in. She could hardly see anything. She focused on his eyes. He still had his hand on the top of her head. She focused on the warmth of it. The slight pulse she felt from his heart through his hand. Slower than hers. Steadier. Calmer. She let it calm her.

“ ... I’m just saying, we don’t even know what vehicle we’re looking for-”

“I know, but Cleaver said his intel was that it could be a camper van or something--”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m just saying to you-”

“Well don’t be saying it to anyone else, unless you want to be skinned alive.”

The two voices came closer. “This isn’t the shit I signed up for, man.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean fucking dirty bombs, kidnapping women, fucking chasing the former Prez just cos Cleaver wants to line his pockets-”

“Buddy, you can’t let anyone else hear what you’re saying...”

“I know, I just... I thought it would be fun, easy… booze and women and good times.”

“Yeah, well, the women left when the money dried up-”

“And when Cleaver started getting rough with them-”

“Yeah, fuck… that, too.”

“You know, I heard good things about this guy, Colt, when he was Prez- “

“Sounds like it was the golden age, don’t it?”

“Yeah, so if he did come back, if he did challenge Cleaver-”

“Buddy, don’t say it…”

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