Surviving Passion (2 page)

Selena slowed her mount just enough to safely hop off and slapped its rear before dodging into an open door at the base of the building. This was no small house, so even if they managed to track her to its door, she could probably find a hiding spot. She stood still in the darkness, trying to listen over her heaving breaths. The thunder of hoof beats pounded past as her pursuers followed the horse. Forcing her breathing to steady, Selena slunk up the stairs slowly. There was no electric lighting since the Crash, of course, but the moonlight filtering through the windows was just bright enough to guide her steps.

At the second last floor she stopped climbing, hoping simply that it would seem like an unlikely place to look. There were desks everywhere and many rooms, so Selena assumed that this was once an office building. She quickly chose a room that was separated from the hallway by a glass wall, because it might seem too obvious for a hiding place. She skirted a long table with chairs that she supposed was once used for meetings. On the wall furthest from the door stood a large storage closet with one door partially ajar. Next to it was a sideboard with spacious cupboards. When she slid one door open, she happily found that there were no shelves, so she could easily curl up inside. Selena crawled into one and lay down, trying to slow her rapidly beating heart and relax. As an afterthought, she pushed her cupboard doors open a bit. In this darkness, she would be all but invisible whether they were closed or not.

It was late, but Selena knew that after such a dangerously close call, there would be no rest for her tonight. There was still a chance they might come looking for her, and tracking had become an essential and widespread skill in these times. With this in mind, Selena remained vigilant.

A few hours of wakefulness passed before light started to creep through the blinds that hung half-closed in front of the window. Her ears picked up a sound. Within a few seconds, her heart was hammering again. Men’s voices. She heard the stairwell door slam and the talk became crystal clear. They were getting closer. She felt a stab of fear and tried to think.
Just don’t move. They’ll never check in here.
She repeated it calmly in her mind. But soon they were in the hallway. She could make out at least four voices.

“Look everywhere,” she heard one of them say in the hallway. “Sneaky bitch might be anywhere. An’ she’s small. Check all the little cupboards and don’t let her jump out and slit your throat.”

“I still say she didn’t come this way,” another voice argued. “Now we’re combing this goddamned building and she’s running off in some other direction.”

“Shut up, Sam,” a third voice grumbled. “Those were fresh prints—and you’re an idiot.”

Dammit, I should have picked the closet.
Selena thought ruefully, creeping swiftly from her hiding place. Craning her neck to peek over the counter through the glass, she spied a man’s head. For the moment he was facing the room opposite hers. She backed towards the closet’s open door in a crouch, never taking her eyes off him, until the shadows closed over her and she was hidden again.

A hand clamped over her mouth and an arm wrapped around her waist. For the first time in Selena Cartwright’s life, she was caught.

Now her panic was absolute, and its ferocity clutched her harder than her captor. Selena struggled wildly, still forcing herself to be quiet. She tried frantically to pry his big hand from her mouth but couldn’t so much as move a finger. It only made him grasp her more tightly to him. Even as she fought, she was dimly aware of the fact that he was not dragging her out of the closet.

“Shhh,” he hissed deeply but calmly in her ear. Her heart pounded out of control, but she could think well enough to resolve that one man was less dangerous than four. He began steadily pulling her back through hanging sheets of plastic and past a stack of dead machines into the closet’s dark, far corner. After so many years of solitude, it was shocking to be in someone else’s power so completely.

Keeping her breathing quiet was hell as the footsteps thumped through the doorway and toward the cupboards she had been in moments before. Her captor began to sink very slowly to the floor, bringing her down with him until they were both on their knees. His grip never loosened. It took all of her self-control not to try to wriggle away from the suffocating hold that pinned her so tightly against him.

The cupboards were slamming shut as the man outside the closet thoroughly searched them. When the slamming stopped, they did not hear him walk away. Instead, his steps came toward the closet. Her captor let his hand fall away from her mouth, but he leaned forward against her back until her body folded forward and her face was close to her knees. Selena felt as though she might lose consciousness as she tried to hold her breath.

By now, the light from outside was filtering into the room a little more brightly, and a shadow passed over the door. Suddenly it was flung wide and the dim light spilled in, but it was the door on the opposite side of the closet. Neither of them moved. The moment seemed to last forever.

“Ted. Let’s go, she’s not on this floor,” a voice said from the hall.

Yet, he remained.

“Ted! Come on, man. Let’s check the top floor,” said the other, impatiently.

“Alright,” came the delayed reply.

Captor and captive remained motionless for a few agonizing minutes as the footsteps receded and the door to the stairwell sounded in the distance. He slowly drew her up with him back to a sitting position, but neither sighed in relief. Selena resumed her struggle against his hold but instead of letting go, he gave her a little shake.

“Shhh,” he commanded again, listening for another few moments. It was all she could stand. She had to get free.

“Let me go,” Selena hissed between clenched teeth.

He finally released his grip from her waist and stood. As soon as he let her go, she flattened herself against the back wall, watching him with wide eyes and waiting for what he would do. He was between her and the open door. She tried to haul the other one open, but to her dismay, it wouldn’t budge.

“It’s stuck,” he said coolly.

She turned to face him in frustration.

“Let me out.”

“No. You’re going to get yourself killed. If you knew how to be quiet, maybe I would.”

Her face flamed in anger. She was about to argue, but then it abruptly occurred to her that this man had been in the room with her while she laid awake for hours and hadn’t betrayed his presence. Selena began sizing him up. His six-foot three-inch muscular frame dwarfed her. He had to be almost a full foot taller than her, and she had already had a taste of his strength. This was going to be very difficult.

“Are you going to keep me in this closet?”

“We’re not leaving the room until those idiots are hell and gone from here,” he informed her with a level stare.

“I make my own damn decisions.”

She met his gaze unflinchingly to prove she was not intimidated, even though she was, and terribly. Finding the right words was a struggle. She was flustered and hadn’t spoken to anyone in such a long time.
Thank God for books. Maybe I can talk my way out.

“And there is no ‘we’.” She finished in a tone that should have brooked no argument.

He swept his eyes up and down her briefly. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she wrapped her arms around her stomach and inched back a step.
So much for acting tough
, she thought with mounting apprehension. His eyes lingered for just a second and she caught a brief flicker of something she did not like, but it vanished when he brought his eyes back to hers.

“Leatherworker?” he asked.

“I know a bit,” which was obviously an understatement seeing as all her garments were hand-stitched leather. She had made it all: the soft shoes, the calf-length pants, and v-neck tank, each in a light cream shade.

“You shouldn’t show so much skin,” he said matter-of-factly and turned to scan the room outside before stepping out through the closet door.

Selena’s jaw dropped involuntarily and she looked down at her clothes.
But it’s too hot,
she thought indignantly. When she had collected herself, Selena warily stepped out after him just in time to see him close and lock the door. This caused another spike of fear. He sat on the floor, leaning his back against the door and stretching his legs out in front of him. Her mind was racing, but she couldn’t think what to do, so she hugged the wall and made her way to the corner of the room farthest from him. A long silence ensued. Bracing herself to uncover his intentions, Selena cleared her throat and spoke as calmly as she could.

“What do you think I’m going to do?” she queried. “Run straight back to them?”

All she got back was a knowing stare. Scoffing, she turned and scooped her pack from the floor, then dropped it on the table. Fishing through its contents she found her book on water purification and sat against the wall next to the window pretending she hadn’t read it a million times before. Stealing a glance at him again, Selena saw that his eyes were closed. She took her time inspecting him now. He had short black hair and hawk-like eyes. His skin was smooth but he had a strong jaw. She mused over how masculine he looked in comparison to her father. He was also young. She couldn’t pinpoint his age, but he couldn’t be much older than she was, at twenty-two. Then Selena noticed the menacing knife hanging from his belt and took a breath. She had her own concealed in a pocket she had sewn into the back of her shirt, but it would be stupid to pull it on him now. She continued to study him. His tank t-shirt and cargo pants were black like his hair. They obviously came from before the Crash. Now it was her turn to disapprove.
What kind of a jerk can’t learn to make his own clothes after all this time?

She may have felt smug, but she kept her judgments to herself.
No sense provoking him
.

An hour must have gone by before she got sick of using her book to look calm. Glancing at the door, she saw he still hadn’t moved an inch and his eyes remained closed.
He’s awake.
Selena decided. She straightened up and turned, trying to get a peek out the window.

“Keep your head down,” his low voice instructed.

Selena turned to shoot a glare at him, but his eyes weren’t open. Turning back to the window, she peered out cautiously. It had been a long time since she was this high up. The view looked so different from above.

A horse’s tail flicked at the corner of one building.
They’re still down there,
Selena realized as she scanned for any other signs of movement. She didn’t see anyone until a long while later. One of the riders trotted down the dusty road in the direction they had first come. She began to grow impatient when half the day had passed, so she lay down to join him in mock sleep.

When Selena woke up the sun was setting. She stared at the ceiling and, for a moment, couldn’t remember where she was. The memory of her predicament jolted her upright and she banged into the wall. Her eyes flashed around the room trying to locate her quiet captor. To her immense relief, he stood near the other end of the room, but even so, she was not appeased.
Damn,
she thought angrily.
I was supposed to stay awake
.

Frustrated for allowing her fear to become so obvious, Selena ground her teeth together and supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that she had passed out. It had been a very long night. “Tall guy” was bringing his pack out of the closet. He walked back to the door, sat down and dropped it in front of him before Selena could think of rushing out.

“Morning,” he said without looking over. Even through her fear, he was starting to annoy her.

“Yeah, so are you gonna get out of my way now?” she inquired in a deadpan tone.

“No.”

She frowned.

“So when do
you
plan on leaving here?”

“In the morning,” he said, grabbing some sticks of dried meat from his pack and tossing one in her direction. She caught it easily. He set to work on his, chewing quietly. His sharp brown eyes came to rest intently on her. “And it’s not me. It’s we.”

Two

Selena felt her stomach drop. Her skin went cold and her throat dry.

“We?” she echoed, with thinly-veiled horror.

He only watched her while he chewed.

“What do you want with me?” she asked, slowly getting to her feet.

“You’re going to get yourself killed out here alone,” he began to say.

“What makes you think I’m alone?” she blurted quickly.

All she got was a knowing look before he went on. “And we have a few more men than women.”

Now she fixed him with a venomous glare.

“And,” he paused to chew, looking unfazed by her ire, “we need someone who can work with leather.”

A moment of tense silence ticked past.

“Thanks for the offer,” Selena replied steadily, in an icy voice. “But I’ve been doing just fine for the past four years
on my own
, and I know how to take care of my damn self—“

“I can see that. How many of those boys were chasing you?” He eyed her for a moment before going on. “You lead them right to the damned building you’re hiding in, right to the
room
you’re hiding in, almost exposing
me
. Ridiculous. I’d have had to kill them all if they saw me. I try to avoid that if I can.”

His tone became authoritative when he added, “So here we are. Alive. I’m not asking.”

“Last night was a crazy fluke—“

“How many guys have you said that to?”

“None!” she spat.

Something about that seemed to give him pause and his dark eyes bored deeper than ever. Selena’s face burned fiercely, but she hoped she was tan enough to hide the fact.
He’s baiting me,
she realized furiously, wishing it hadn’t worked so well.

“It was a fluke,” Selena continued quickly to break the tension. “And I am not yours to take.” He could interpret that any way he liked.

“What’s your name?” he asked, looking more interested in his food again.