Fugitive Heart (15 page)

“Why do you keep that in the fridge?” She was determined to shake off the shock of seeing him grab at Jake a few minutes earlier.

“Mice. I haven’t seen any, but the Realtor suggested I keep the food locked up.”

He spread peanut butter on two slices of bread and pointed the messy knife at her. “Want one?”

She shook her head. They’d just eaten, hadn’t they? And the thought of eating again curdled her insides. Bad men were coming for them. Men who thought nothing of killing, and Nick seemed so comfortable with it.

Nick licked the knife. She thought about how that tongue had touched her, and her sex contracted in giddy anticipation. Apparently, some of her hungers didn’t disappear in the face of danger.

He tossed the knife into the sink. “I bet he’ll wait until after dawn, so that gives us some time.”

“What are your plans?”

“Sleep.”

That struck her as even more impossible than eating.

He screwed the lids back on the jars. “I have a tent and some other junk, not that I know squat about camping. I think I should go to the woods.” He cleared his throat, glanced over at her. “And you should hike over to Mrs. Whatever-her-name-is. The one you said is about a half mile away?”

“Mrs. Landry,” she said absently. “Why are you so cheerful?”
Why do you want to get rid of me?

He slapped the bread together and took a big bite of one of the sandwiches. “This idiocy is ending. I’ll get to go back to my old life, I hope.”

His old life away from her—but at the moment, the immediate future worried her more. “Aren’t you nervous?”

“Sure,” he said. “I wish I could get ahead of them somehow. Come up with a plan. Drop the stuff and not bother with a face-to-face. But I can’t, and the best thing is to just hand over the money and come to an agreement with good old Bert.”

“Won’t they want to talk to me? They know I live in Arnesdale. Won’t they try to find out if I know anything?”

“Maybe. But speaking of you, I really think it would be a good idea if I do this next bit on my own.” He spoke gently, as if addressing a truculent child.

“If you didn’t want me here, why didn’t you try to get me to go back with Jake?”

“I didn’t want to argue in front of him. I’m not willing to put you in a choke hold.”

The knot in her stomach drew tighter. “Yeah, about that.” She didn’t know how to ask if he beat up anyone who didn’t do what he wanted.

He folded his arms and waited. “Go on,” he said softly.

She wanted to go home, climb into bed and pretend Elliot was safe in his apartment in New York.

For a moment, she was ready to hike across the fields to Mrs. Landry’s house and knock on the door in the middle of the night. But she couldn’t throw away the connection they had, and she didn’t want to walk off when Elliot could be saved from himself.

He asked, “You’re thinking about what I did to Jake, right? How I could do it so easy?”

She nodded. “Yes, I am. The gun back in his garage too. I really thought you could shoot him.”

“Guess how many people I’ve beaten or physically threatened since I turned twenty?”

“Nick, listen. I’ve never seen—”

“Guess.”

Why was he insisting on turning this into a game? “No.”

“Two. Jake and the guy in my apartment. This situation, this crap from my past, isn’t me. It isn’t part of who I am. And I would never ever hurt or even threaten to hurt you. Never.”

She understood then the vehemence he showed now. Fear. He hated the moment he’d attacked Jake even more than she did.

Her instinct to comfort him might stop her from pushing this as far as she should, so she ignored it. “You seemed pretty calm right after.”

“I did what I had to do to get this situation right.”

Damn, that sounded like a justification, and he must have heard that too.

He rubbed his face with his hands. “I know guys who’ve been to war.” He fell silent.

“Go on.”

“Naw, that’s not right and I guess I can’t get you to understand, Ames.”

“Please try. Please?”

“Okay.” He folded his arms, leaned his butt against the table. “You get trained to respond to certain situations in a certain way. But I’ll do it only when I think it’ll work. Got it? I’m in control. Just because I can, doesn’t mean I will.”

He seemed to be waiting for her to talk, so she said, “Okay.”

“I hate that shit—might making right, physical domination, all that idiocy,” he said sadly and without a note of viciousness. “But this is a matter of surviving. I’m going to fight for your survival and mine. Even if I have to go around kicking every damn guy in Arnesdale in the balls.”

She gave a surprised laugh at the image.

His body seemed to relax at the sound. “You okay now?”

“Yes. Thanks for not telling me to suck it up and stop being a weenie about the violence.”

“Never,” he said vehemently. “You stop caring, and it would be just…wrong. Okay. Let’s get you out of here. We both could use some rest.”

“No. I’ll try to rest, but I’m staying,” she said adamantly. “This isn’t just about you. I understand that you know these people and how they operate. You’re in charge. But this is
my
town,
my
brother. I’m the one who alerted them to your presence here, and I can’t just run away.”

He drew in a deep breath, and she could tell he was trying to keep his cool again. “Your being here isn’t going to help.”

“Will it make things any worse?”

He scowled. “It could be worse for you. A whole lot worse.”

“If my safety’s the only issue, then I get to decide, and I’m staying. Is there room in your tent?”

They ended up walking to the very edge of the woods, where they could hear any approaching cars. He didn’t bother with the tent after all and only carried a couple of blankets. He gave her a pair of sweatpants that she wore under her stupid uniform.

“I don’t think I can sleep,” she whispered in the pine-scented dark from the little nest of blankets they made.

“Be back soon.” Nick walked out of the moonlit patch. She stared into the dark where he’d disappeared. A few minutes later, he came back to lie down next to her. He seemed too out of breath to have just gone for a pee.

“Where’d you go?”

“I hid some of Bert’s stuff in the woods. The flash drive.” He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his warmth. She squirmed a bit and sighed.

“Now I really can’t sleep.”

He gave a breathless little laugh and nuzzled her hair. “Close your eyes for five minutes. Just let your body relax. You need to relax.” He sounded as soothing as a yoga teacher.

“Not going to happen.” She wiggled closer to his warmth. “I can’t help thinking that there’s a chance we could die tomorrow.”

“No. Don’t think like that.” He kissed her neck.

“Fine. I’ll just turn that off. Trying, trying… And nope, not happening. I’m still thinking. We might die.”

She pushed her back against his front and discovered he hadn’t relaxed either.

He gave a small groan. “We should rest.”

“Nick, we might only have tonight. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“We’ll be fine.” He drew her earlobe into his mouth and gave it a nip.

“Ow.” It didn’t hurt, but the sensation raced to her belly.

“I’ll keep you safe.” His hand slid up under her shirt, and his rough fingers found her breast. “You are so soft,” he breathed against her neck. His thumb circled and circled. “Except now your nipple is so hard. Mm.”

She rolled onto her back. “I need you,” she whispered. “I don’t want to think about anything but you.”

“Yes, all right, Ames.” His voice shook. His mouth came down on hers, hungry, demanding, and she understood he’d been holding back. Such a waste to hold back when they might have so little time.

They kissed and kissed. He lay over her but not on her—his weight rested on his elbows. She pulled him down to cover her.

“Not too much weight? Are there sticks under you? Or rocks?”

She didn’t want consideration. She wanted him eager and unmindful of anything but pleasure. “Screw the sticks and rocks,” she growled.

He laughed against her neck. “Nope, thanks.”

“Screw me. Come on, Nick.”

He stopped laughing, and she got her wish. He touched her everywhere. His hands reached her pants, and he delved into them, cupping her mound, rubbing her clit.

She wanted his exploring fingers inside her, so she took off the sweatpants. The cool night air washed over her bare skin.

He groaned and slid down, his clothes rasping her skin. He wrapped his arms around her legs as his shockingly hot mouth touched her pussy. She bucked and thrashed, unable to hold still beneath his insistent lapping. He growled and tightened his arms.

The hunger for him grew so quickly she couldn’t breathe or think. Her body tightened, all the sensation focused on him. He thrust his fingers deep into her body, filling her and…her body twisted tighter around him. And then the explosion of pleasure rocketed through her.

She called his name and seized his soft hair. He still stroked her sex with his tongue but she needed more now.

He released her and pulled himself up to cover her. Yes, perfect. She raised her hips, urging him to fill her. Hunger gnawed at her. More Nick as soon as possible. Nothing but Nick in her, on her.

He twisted and moved, his hands busy at his jeans. He pulled away, and she whimpered and wrapped her ankles around his jeans-clad butt, desperate to pull him back to her.

“Ames,” he pleaded, and she stretched her legs wide. She ran her hands up his belly underneath his shirt, and he hissed in a breath as he stripped off his jeans and knelt over her.

She noticed he held a square packet up to examine it in the moonlight. “You must have planned for this, because you have a condom.” Something else occurred to her. “You’re acting like you’re sure we’re going to live.”

“Yes, we are.” His teeth flashed in the dim light, a reassuring grin that made that bad part of her tension relax. Meanwhile, the good part just kept mounting.

His voice broke off when she leaned forward and kissed the blunt end of his cock, determined to get a good taste before he covered himself. The thick hardness filled her mouth, her senses, her mind with Nick—only Nick. How was it possible that they’d only just met, yet she felt as if she’d known him forever. He groaned and thrust lightly into her mouth. He cradled her head, and his thumbs stroked her cheeks, his rock-hard cock a contrast to the soft touch of his hands.

“God. I want to come inside you.”

Oh yeah, those words reawakened the tightening, thickening heat in her belly. His hands trembled as he rolled the condom over his erection. Violence had left him steady-handed, but his eagerness for her body shook him. She smiled, loving that second fact.

She opened her arms, scooted herself closer and pulled him into an embrace.

He seized her and hauled her up, his hands on her bottom as he pulled her onto his lap.

They both fumbled, not yet used to the way their bodies fit together. His cock slid against her leg; then he pulled her up more and over him. As she sank onto him at last, they fit together perfectly.

He directed her with his hands clasping her butt, his body pushing up as she came down. Yes, so good. She moved slowly at first, then faster. He slammed her down hard, and she gave a squeak. He growled and stopped his thrusting. Her squeak had been delight that he could fill her so deeply—and not just her body but all of her. Nick’s unexpected arrival in her life had shaken up her world so much that now she couldn’t imagine his absence. Demonstrating how much she wanted him, she pushed down, seating him firmly inside her.

Her orgasm began to build again, less urgent now, giving her time to enjoy his breathy grunts and the way he filled her. Details like the hair on his legs brushing her inner thighs, his big hands gripping her ass, holding and controlling her, and that cock, huge inside her, scraping her deliciously all fought for her attention. And she wanted to be aware of every bit, every moment of their union, to file each precious detail away to take out and marvel at later.

“Ames,” he panted, obviously close.

She grabbed his shoulders and, instead of hot skin, felt the fabric of his T-shirt. She hauled it off him. Skin against skin, her nipples rubbing his chest, pushed them both over the edge.

A groan tore out of him, and the noise went straight through her. His need was her need and it exploded through her. Wrapping her arms tight around him, she held on as they came and came some more.

At last, she slowed, then stopped, pressed her face to his shoulder and kissed him. Nick squeezed her as if she were trying to escape his grasp.

“Ames.”

She smiled as he repeated her name yet again and she nipped his shoulder. “Nick. Sam. Allen. Rossi. Ross.”

He heaved a sigh and seemed to withdraw. She almost felt him pulling away—not physically but from the strange and sudden bond that connected them. “Aw, fuck. I’m sorry about all of this.”