Sunset Rising (29 page)

“Every battle has its heroes, and she was definitely the hero tonight.
No matter what happens, always remember she knew exactly what she was doing.”

“What does th
at mean?”

“Hopefully nothing.”

We locked eyes for a moment while I pondered if I should challenge him to tell me what he was really thinking.
But did I want to know? Maybe it was best to wait and see what would happen rather than torture myself with my imagination.

Jack’s eyes wandered down the length of my body
, and I became conscious of the fact that we were both standing there in just our underwear.

“I better get dressed. The guards will be here soon for us to scan in.
We’re still under a lockdown.” I headed for the bedroom.

“Sunny?” I turned to look at him.
“It took a lot of conviction and belief in your own people for you to put on that wedding dress. You knew the risk you were taking when you did it. You and Crystal are more alike than you know.”

I didn’t respond to him, but kept going
on into the bedroom. I didn’t believe what Jack was saying. Leisel had intimidated me into doing something stupid. It was nothing like Crystal’s act of heroism.

I dug through the bag of clothes Bron had brought us and found an outfit.
It felt good to have the heavy vest off my shoulders, so I decided not to put it on again. It was unlikely a guard would recognize me on a routine scan in.

“Your turn,” I said as I came back in the
living room.

Jack was just coming back into the
living room pulling a t-shirt over his head when there was a sharp knock at the door. That would be the guard.

“Your hair!” Jack
said.

I looked for my hat then remembered it was still on the table in the common room.
“I left my hat behind.”

“Use the towel.”

I took the dry towel off the rack and wrapped it around my head. Jack put on his hat, but the ends of his light brown hair were still visible. There was nothing we could do about it now. I opened the door.

“Good evening
, sir. Ma’am.” The guard greeted us with a smile. “Could you scan in, please?”

I breathed a sigh of relief that it was an Alliance guard.
We waved our hands across the scanner.

“Was anybody seriously hurt tonight?” Jack
asked.

“A few people with asthma had a difficult time, but one of our guards had an inhaler so we were able to save them.
The ones with chemical burns were taken to the baths.”

As I stood there with the door open, I could hear the faint sounds of distant singing.
I cocked my head to one side, trying to hear. “What is that?”

Jack and the guard became quiet, listening too.
The singing became louder. Doors opened up and down the hall as people stepped out of their apartments, defying the lockdown order. I stepped out too, looking in wonder at all the people who raised their voices and sang Crystal’s song. I was vaguely aware of Jack coming to stand next to me. He wove his fingers through mine as we stood and listened to a Pit united.

“This is bigger than I ever imagined
. We need to come up with a plan.”

He was right.
The time had come to make our plan of attack.

Nightmares plagued me every time I closed my eyes.
The vision I had seen earlier of people littering the stairs, gasping for breath, turned into a bloodbath in my dreams. Instead of gas raining down on them, I saw bullets. My mind kept replaying the image of Crystal being dragged away by the guards, but instead of shouting, “Rise up,” she shouted, “The Pit they want to blow and soon we’ll all be dead!” Then the guards turned around and gave me an evil smile and their faces turned into Madi. She was dragging Crystal away to beat her to death.

Somewhere through the haze of my dreams
, a sensation of warmth and heaviness engulfed me and the nightmares disappeared. Did someone put my vest on me? I felt bulletproof. I turned toward the warmth and tried to get closer to it. It felt hard and muscular. It felt like the only good thing I had left in my life.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying face
-to-face with Jack, his arms wrapped around me. His eyes were opened, but I didn’t think he could see me. He was blind when the lights were out.

I raised m
y hand and stroked his face; he captured my hand and kissed my palm. His touch was so gentle that I wanted to feel it on my lips. I leaned forward and tentatively pressed my mouth against his. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to kiss him, but his lips moved gently against mine. He ran his fingers up my arm and into my hair, leaving a trail of tingling goose bumps in their wake. I wanted to know what his skin felt like, too. Shyly, I moved my hand away from his face, running it down his shoulder and onto his side, coming to stop at his hip. I heard his sharp intake of breath, and an ache started somewhere deep inside me. His kiss became hungrier, searching for something deeper, and I realized where this was going.

Despite my body’s response to his touch, my mind was screaming
“no.” We came from two different worlds, and our accidental marriage didn’t change that. I had to remind myself that not long ago I would only ever have shared a bed with Jack Kenner if he had chosen me from a group of urchin girls and ordered me to do it.

“No!” I pull
ed away with such force that I ended up rolling out of bed.

“Sunny?” Jack raised himself up on an elbow
and peered into the dark. I was pretty sure he couldn’t see me.

“I’m sorry.
I shouldn’t have done that.”

He lay
back on the bed and dragged both his hands through his hair. “Don’t be sorry. I was out of line. I misread your intentions.” His breathing was ragged.

“I’m going to get some water
.” I didn’t want to get into a blame game. I was the one who started it. I pushed myself up off the floor and went in the direction of the living room.

“Sunny?” Jack’s voice stopped me at the door.

“Yes?”

“You don’t still think of us as bourge and urchin, do you?”

“Honestly?” I drew in an unsteady breath.
“Sometimes I do.”

“I want you to know that I don’t.
I never did.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just left and went into the kitchen.
I poured a glass of water and drank it all. I was hoping the coolness of the liquid would help douse the fire that had started inside me, but it gave me little relief.

I sat down on one of the chairs
, not wanting to return to the bedroom. I was afraid if I did I would finish what I started with him. He had kissed me back, so I knew he wanted me, too. I tried to imagine a world where our relationship could actually work, but I couldn’t. Jack had been born aristocratic, and I had not.

Why had
I never felt this way with Reyes? Kissing him had always been a comfortable and familiar thing to do that never left me wanting more. If only I had felt a fraction for Reyes of what I was feeling for Jack, I would have married him years ago and my life would be simpler right now.

I needed to stop thinking about Jack because the temptation was too strong. Not that I knew what
making love to someone was like, but the emotions he stirred inside me made me want to explore that option more. Even the short time I spent in his arms helped me forget all the tragedy going on around me. It had felt good, but I also needed it to feel right.

I deliberately turned my thoughts away
from Jack and concentrated on the nightmares instead. When I thought about my vision of Crystal being dragged away by the guards who turned into Madi, I remembered the words she had been singing: “The Pit they want to blow and soon we’ll all be dead!” But it wasn’t just in my dream she had sung those words. They were part of her song. How did that refrain go? Did she say, “I overheard it said?” Is this what she had overheard Holt and West talk about? It didn’t make sense, though. If they blew up the Pit, the Dome would go with it. Why would they plan to kill themselves?

The lights came on
, and the
bong bongs
sounded. Lockdown was over. No guards had bothered us through the night to scan in, so I assumed it must have been Alliance guards on this level. I remembered the guard had said he would drop my hat off if he found it. I got up, checked the door, and was happy to see it there.

Jack came into the
living room just as I was shutting the door.

“Morning,” he said
uncomfortably.

“Good morning
.” I wasn’t sure what to say to him.

“You didn’t come back to bed.
You must be tired.” He looked sheepish.

“I thought we could both use a little space
.”

“Look, I know things are difficult between you and Reyes right now and I promised you that I wouldn’t get in your way.
I just want you to know what happened last night will stay between us. He won’t find out.”

He was obviously uncomfortable with all of this.
I regretted kissing him. Things were going to get awkward between us.

“Don’t worry about it.
Reyes and I aren’t together anymore.”

His head snapped up
, and he looked stunned. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

I shrugged.
“I don’t know. I didn’t think it was relevant.”

“You didn’t think it was
relevant
?” He put both hands up to his face and covered his eyes for a moment. I wondered what he was so upset about.

“We’ve been busy with the Alliance… and Madi… and Crystal…
My breakup with Reyes seemed so small compared to everything else.”

Jack dropped his hands away from his face and looked at me.
He wore a pained expression. “I understand—life is complicated. It’s just… well,
both
of us are under a lot of pressure and stress right now… and we’re living together… and… I’m interested in what’s going on in your life.”

I knew he was trying to tell me something, yet he had said nothing.
I wasn’t sure how to respond. “I didn’t think you would be interested considering everything else that was going on in our lives.”

“Wouldn’t you be interested if I had a girlfriend?”

His question caught me off guard. The mere thought made me feel threatened, and I couldn’t help but be surprised by this knowledge. I was attracted to Jack, which I had always admitted to myself, but when did I develop feelings for him?

“Yes,” I said.

He gave me a satisfied smile.

“I’m sorry. I should have been more honest with you. And I really don’t want things to get awkward between us.” I didn’t know what I would do without him.

Jack closed the distance between us in two strides.
He brought his hand up to brush a lock of my hair away from my face.

“It won’t be awkward as long as we’re honest w
ith each other.”

I thought he was going to kiss me
, and I held his gaze. I wasn’t going to run away this time. But he just searched my eyes, looking for something in them. I couldn’t stand the distance between our mouths. With a will of their own, my arms came up around his neck and pulled his head toward mine. I had spent most of the night trying to forget the feel of him, and then it was all I could think about. So much had gone wrong in my life, and yet standing there within the circle of his embrace was the only thing that was right. As my lips met his, I breathed in his scent and tasted his mouth and welcomed the warmth and aching that spread through me like fire. I wanted Jack more than I had ever wanted anyone in my life.

“Sunny
,” he breathed, barely pulling his mouth away from mine.

“Ssshhh
.” There was no need for words right now. I didn’t want reminders of anything. I just wanted him.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He wrapped his arms tighter around my waist and picked me up off the floor.
Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist. I wanted to be connected to him with every fibre of my being. I wanted to touch and be touched. I was vaguely aware that he was walking back to the bedroom, so I wasn’t surprised when he sat down on the bed, bringing my clinging body with him. As he lay back on the bed, my hair fell down around our faces. He let his fingers run up the length of my back, and I shivered in response to his electric touch. I felt his hands tangle in my hair, pulling my face closer to his.

My desire for him increased to a pitch I never thought possible. With feverish urgency, I sat up and started fumbling with the
button on his jeans. I tried not to get frustrated when it wouldn’t give way under my hands. It was taking forever, and I didn’t want to spoil the mood. Jack gave me a curious look, and I looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes.

“Sunny?”

I could feel heat creep into my cheeks and hoped that my blush wasn’t obvious. He probably thought I was an inexperienced little girl, which was exactly what I was. I just didn’t want him to know it. But it was so obvious… how could I avoid being found out?

“I’m sorry.
I’ve never done this before.”

“What?” Jack look
ed confused.

“I’ve never… you know
.”

I
t must have been obvious, so why was he making me say it? I put more effort into my task, hoping to free the button of his jeans before time robbed me of all spontaneity. But his hand stopped mine.

“You’ve never made love before?” he asked gently.

“No.”

He raised himself up from t
he bed with me still straddling his lap. He was looking at me differently now. The want and lust I saw a few seconds ago had been replaced with something else. In my heart of hearts, I knew he was going to tell me I was nothing but a child and I didn’t know the first thing about pleasing a man.

“We can’t do this,” he said, staring directly into my eyes.

A
lump began to form in my throat, and I fought it back. I had cried over so many things in my life, and I refused to let this be another one. I disengaged myself from his touch and stood up. He gave me a confused look.

“That’s fi
ne.” My embarrassment was overwhelming.

“What the hell!” Before I could leave the room, he grabbed my arm and spun me around to
face him. “You’re on, and then just like
that
you’re off?”

“Y
ou just made it clear that you don’t want me.” I hoped I kept any emotion out of my voice.

“Don’t
want you? You’re all I’ve ever thought about since before I even married you! You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep every night. You’re the most amazing, brave, beautiful woman I have ever met, and I’ve been going out of my mind wanting you.” Jack’s voice was raw with emotion. He reached a hand toward me, and I took it. I could see the honesty in his face. I knew he was struggling just as much as I was. I took a step toward him, and he held out his other hand to me. I laced my fingers with his. “But despite how much I want you, I won’t let your first time be in a heated rush before we have to get to work. You deserve so much better than that.”

I almost laughed.
Was that all he was worried about? We could both be caught and executed today and the only thing I would regret was that I never knew him in the way I wanted to know him right now. I stepped closer and kissed him again.

“I want you
too, Jack,” I said against his mouth.

He breathed deeply, pulling me closer against him.
“You can show me how much tonight, when we have hours to spend wrapped up in each other, okay?” His eyes darkened with the desire I knew he felt. My heart skipped a beat and my longing for him quickened.

“I spent a lot of time last night talking myself out of making love to you
. Now that you’ve talked me back into it, it doesn’t seem fair that you’re not following through.”

“Consider it pay
back for last night.” He smiled, and kissed me again. “Come on. Let’s go to breakfast before it’s over.”