Page 15

I shuddered, shutting my eyes as he sucked on my pulse point.

An almost-painful throb had begun between my thighs.

I wanted nothing more than his touch. My clothes suddenly felt heavy and stifling, even as the chill of the evening had settled in.

It felt like a long time since that stolen encounter in the shed at the strip mall.

“It’s not that,” I said, my voice coming out as a gasp. “God…it’s just…not with Kimmy and Asha here.”

I drew in a surprised breath as he slid his hands under my thighs and lifted me as he stood, my legs wrapped around him.

Without missing a beat, he carried me away from the fire and out the front door of the cottage, kicking it shut behind him.

He then turned and flattened me against it, crushing his lips against mine again and pressing his hard length against me.

“It’s cold,” he said softly by my ear, a note of apology in his voice. “But it’ll have to do.”

The night air was chilly, but not freezing.

With John’s mouth on my neck again, however, it could’ve been fifty below and I wouldn’t have noticed.

All the uncertainty of our situation—Asha, the new knowledge about my father, my implant, my mother and sister—melted away in the wake of his nearness, his touch.

He awakened a need in me that only he could satisfy.

I shivered once more as he nibbled again at my earlobe, then unfastened my pants and slid a hand into my underwear. His fingers parted me, spilling the moisture that had been building there, and I sighed.

“Fuck, you’re wet,” he growled. “You been missing me, beautiful?”

“Yes,” I answered, my voice coming out like a squeak. “Have you missed me?”

He made a sound between a chuckle and a groan.

“I’m dying here, baby.”

He covered my mouth with his again, exploring my wetness with his fingers, and I gasped against his lips. I almost cried out in disappointment when he abruptly pulled his hand away and stepped back. He flashed me a wicked grin .

“I’m gonna warm you up again, real fast,” he said, low and husky.

Before I could react, he grabbed the waistband of my pants and dropped to his knees, bringing the pants with him. The early October chill rose goosebumps on my skin, but the sensation was quickly replaced by the shock of John’s mouth between my legs, gently raking my innermost thigh with his teeth.

“Oh, fuck,” I groaned, and he laughed.

He pressed me hard against the door, spreading my thighs apart so that he could tease my clit with the tip of his tongue.

His groan on contact was low and primal, sending more heat through me.

I moaned helplessly as he moved in to devour me more thoroughly, holding me firmly in place.

I leaned back against the wood, surrendering to his eager tongue, pleasure alive in my veins.

“That’s it, gorgeous,” he murmured. “Let me pleasure you.”

He teased a while more before sliding two fingers inside me, making me give a soft cry as he pressed against the ridged spot on my inner wall.

His fingers were demanding, almost aggressive; his tongue was gentle, almost tender.

The dueling sensations drove me wild, and my knees would’ve buckled if John hadn’t held me up.

I looked up to the starry sky and shattered with a hoarse cry.

A moment later, John stood, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand with a grin. I pulled him into a kiss that tasted like me and moaned again. I stroked over the hard bulge in his pants, and he made a strangled sound against my mouth. He broke away and gazed at me with naked desire.

“I know this isn’t the most romantic place,” he said huskily. “Once we’re home, I’ll take you to bed—do it right. But for now—”

“For now, this is what I want,” I replied, unfastening his belt and freeing him. I gave his shaft a couple pumps, enticing him, and he groaned as if in pain.

He sucked in a breath. “I don’t think I can be gentle.”

“I don’t want gentle,” I insisted. “I want you.”

John exhaled heavily, and then it was as if a switch flipped. He hiked my leg up high on his hip, crushed me against the door, and entered me. I muffled another cry against his jacket as he thrust into me roughly, again and again, grunting with each impact against the wood.

“I love you,” he ground out breathlessly, burying his face in my hair.

He came to me all at once, pinning me against the door and groaning against my hair. I held him against me, even as my leg ached from the unnatural position. He eventually came back to himself and pressed his lips to my forehead.

“I love you too,” I whispered.

He gently lowered my leg.

“You’re everything to me now,” he murmured, his lips still against my forehead as he stroked my cheek with his thumb. “It scares me.”

I stilled. “Why?”

He pulled back so I could see his expression, which was equal parts tender and grim.

“Because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do—nothing I wouldn’t risk—for you. I’d fight, kill, die, if it kept you safe and happy.”

“You say that as if it’s a weakness,” I said quietly.

He looked away.

“Out here, it is.”

“Not a chance,” John said, his arms folded. “I’d have to be an idiot to say yes.”

It was the morning after our midnight tryst against the door.

I hadn’t wanted to ruin the sweet, peaceful afterglow of our lovemaking, so I hadn’t brought up Asha.

I’d fallen asleep in John’s arms by the fire.

Now, though, the time for us to leave was imminent—especially since Kimmy had finally awoken, fever-free, just a couple of hours before.

The medicine had done its job; the wound was healing, and the infection was on its way out.

I gave him a frosty glare. “She has no one, and nowhere else to go. We’d be condemning her to death by leaving her here.”

“And how is that our problem?” he shot back. “Look, her situation is shitty. Nobody is denying that. But she’s figured it out on her own till now. She’ll adapt.”

“No, she won’t,” I said stubbornly. “She’ll just join another gang because she has no other options. ”

“Yeah, that’s one way of adapting. Regardless, it’s not our problem.”

I bit my lip. “I can’t leave her.”

“What, like she left you?” John asked, sounding truly angry for the first time. “She didn’t double back or even try to look for you. As far as she was concerned, those cannibals could’ve been gnawing on your bones. Now she’s asking for your help. That doesn’t bother you?”

He had me there. It did bother me that my only friend had abandoned me, left me for dead. But that didn’t mean I could stomach doing the same thing to her, especially knowing what she’d already suffered.

“Of course it does,” I replied coldly. “But everyone deserves a second chance, and I can’t just let her die out here. Not when there could be a better life for her.”

“That’s just it, though,” John said with an exaggerated shrug. “We don’t know that. The Valley is not some poor saps outreach program. We can’t take in every person with a sob story; we’d have to take in everyone.”

The words hit me hard, like being doused in cold water. John’s eyes registered my look of hurt a second later; his expression softened.

“Is that what I am? A poor sap with a sob story?”

“Claire,” he said, his tone conciliatory. “I didn’t—”

“No,” I burst out, covering my vulnerability with a thin veneer of anger. “I don’t want to be the charity case you’re taking on.”

“You know that isn’t what I meant,” John shot back, frustrated. “After everything I said to you last night, how can you believe I’m only bringing you as a charity case?”

He took a deep breath and looked at me, his amber eyes piercing mine. I backed down a little.

“I don’t think that,” I said quietly. “But she’s my oldest friend. How can I go on to have this beautiful life in the Valley, knowing she’s suffering? After all the lucky breaks I’ve already gotten that she never did?”

John frowned. “Is that what she’s been saying to you? Filling your head with bullshit about how hard-done-by she is, while you’ve been coasting?”

I swallowed hard and didn’t reply, but he seemed to take that as answer enough and made a noise of disapproval .

“She’s manipulating you, and you want me to welcome her with open arms?”

My mouth felt dry. Whatever had happened, I still couldn't envision leaving her behind. My conscience wouldn’t allow it.

“Please,” I whispered. “You want me to beg? Because I will.”

He shot me a look of hurt and disgust. “Of course not.”

“I can’t live with leaving her. I can’t. ”

John stared at the ground for a moment, then finally looked up at me, his gaze steely.

“Fine,” he said, uncrossing his arms. “But let’s get one thing straight: if she steps out of line, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later. I won’t put us at risk for her sake. That clear?”

I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Crystal.”

“Good. Get your things. We’re leaving.”

He left me standing there without a backward glance.