Under Ground (26 page)

Chi's eyes rest on my face the
entire time, watching me closely. He flinches every so often when I
touch him, but he doesn't complain once. I brush his cheek with my
fingertip, tilt my head to the side, and lean closer to him to
ensure I don't miss a spot. When I'm done cleaning his skin, he
holds my chin between his fingers, pulls me forward, and kisses me
softly. His lips are like the wings of a butterfly against my
mouth, fluttering gently.

“Thank you,” he whispers against
me. “Would you mind helping me take off this shirt?” he asks, his
eyes studying my reaction.

My heart races as I help him out
of his top. I pull it off to reveal his upper body and arms. His
chest is tanned and his frame lean, his muscles beautifully
chiseled. My heart stops and something inside me ignites. I swallow
a breath, and a part of my inhibition breaks. Chi is just
beautiful, even under all the bruises. I let my fingers run down
from his chin to his throat to his chest, then down the line of his
abdomen, stopping at the rim of his pants. When I lift my eyes to
meet his, a tiny smile has appeared on his face again. My cheeks
heat up and I glance away. He has caught me staring and detailing
his body with my hand. I pull back my incriminating fingers and
hold my hands together, as if to chastise them for being so
indiscreet. Chi finds my modesty cute, and I couldn't hide my
attraction to him even if I tried. I clear my throat and he
chuckles—a low rumble rising from deep down his throat. The more I
flush, the more he laughs.

I choose to feign indifference,
fooling neither of us as I wash the cloth that has grown nasty.
Then I work on getting his chest clear of blood. The hunger is
growing inside me, so I focus on the task and try to think of it as
just that—a job. I ignore the craving and force myself not to stare
at him, no matter how stunning he is. Chi pushes my hand out of the
way and lifts my face to his. He watches me before kissing me. His
mouth presses hard against mine, and his tongue comes grazing my
lips gently. My chest is flush against his, my shirt the only
obstacle between his skin and mine. I've stopped breathing. His
lips soften as he teases my mouth open. And I respond to his kiss
in kind. My heart is palpitating under the effort to keep my cool,
but I'm thawing, melting under his warmth. When he pulls away
delicately, I come undone, short-winded. I avert my eyes, and he
pulls me to him to whisper against my ear, “I love you,
Thia.”

I can feel myself falling over the
edge, the elation inside my heart giving me wings. But I don't
reply. I can’t. The words won’t come out.

“I know.” I kiss him, all the
while wanting to kick myself for not returning his
words.

What is he going to think? How
long is he going to put up with me before giving up?
There’s no
disappointment in his eyes though, just understanding. Guilt stabs
at me, and I can't hold his gaze for long.

I change the subject. “You’re
clean now. Are you sure you can do this by yourself?”

“Well, it looks like I don’t have
a choice now, do I?” he replies, but not unkindly.

A dry laughter escapes his mouth,
full of humor and teasing. I blush profusely. I step outside and
close the door behind me. I lean against it, lift my eyes to the
ceiling, and slap my forehead. I stay there for a while,
eavesdropping to make sure he’s okay and that he’s not falling or
hurting himself. Shuffling and water noises come out from inside
the bathroom, as well as Chi's barely muffled groans. I have this
urge to rush in and help him, but that’s beyond my ability right
now. This isn’t something I can bring myself to do just yet. The
thought of Chi naked is just too overwhelming and
intimidating.

When his footsteps confirm that
he's out of the tub, I walk away from the door and head to the
living room, as quickly and as softly as I can. I don’t want him to
know I was listening.

He steps out of the bathroom and
comes to the living room, with nothing on but a towel. The sight of
him stuns me into silence. The situation is so intimate, so
intrusive to his privacy, and yet it doesn't seem to faze him, my
seeing him like this. He’s just so handsome I can’t take my eyes
off of him. Even when he catches me staring, I can’t turn away.
Why isn’t he wearing any clothes yet?
He smiles when he
catches me gaping at him, his white teeth bright against the tan of
his skin, and I find that I can't breathe.

When he sees my confusion, he
rushes to explain himself. “James brought some of my clothes here a
while ago when Taylor decided this was gonna be our hiding spot.
But I couldn’t put them on myself. I have some briefs on, but I’ll
need your help with the rest.”

He sounds apologetic and his tone
makes me feel bad. He's in pain. He shouldn't have to apologize for
not being able to take care of himself tonight. He limps his way to
the bedroom, and I follow him in as he sits on the bed. That’s when
I notice that he does have clothes in his hands. He must have
gotten them from the closet when I went for his
medication.

I can hardly look at him right
now. Chi is so good-looking in all his vulnerability that I'm
blinded. I join him and take my place by his side while holding the
tube of medicine in my hand. I pop the top open and squeeze a drop
of cream out. It's cold to the touch with a strong smell to it. I
run my fingertips over the wound on his arm. It's deep and painful
to look at. Chi flinches when the balm touches his skin, but he
doesn't say anything. When I'm done, I wrap a bandage around his
injury.

"You know, I can do it myself if
you want," he says.

I shake my head at him and ask him
to turn around so I can apply the ointment over the slashes on his
back. After that, Chi turns around to face me, and I'm about to
touch his chest when he grabs my wrist gently and pushes my hand
away. He entangles his fingers in my hair and pulls me to him. He
strokes my lips with his, so softly I might expire under his touch.
His kiss deepens, my mouth opening to his, until he takes a
different route and makes his way up my jaw. He presses his lips
against the curve of my throat before reaching for my ear. When he
finds the spot behind my lobe, his tongue brushes my skin and I
inhale sharply as he sighs against me. He stays there, with his
face buried against my neck, breathing heavily as if he's trying to
restrain himself.

I clear my throat and he pulls
away from me. He hands me his t-shirt so I can help him put it on.
Once his arms are inside the sleeves, he stands up and the shirt
falls over his chest. He’s understanding enough not to take off his
towel until his pants are on. I help him by pulling them up, his
body so close to mine I can feel the heat radiating from him and
smell the soap on his skin. His breath against my cheek tickles me.
He drops the towel and I gasp, my mind a mush of senseless needs,
all rationality gone. But he's dressed now, already zipping his
pants up. He sits back on the bed, and I crouch in front of him to
put his socks on, in an act so innocent and yet so personal. We
both stand up at the same time.

Chi leans toward me and whispers,
“Thank you." He kisses me on the nose while holding on to my
shoulders. "Well, I guess it’s time for bed.”

"Why didn't you just put on your
pajamas?" I ask.

He sends me a glance, his eyes
shining wickedly. "I don't own any pajamas, Thia."

I flush, crimson red I'm sure. He
has dressed up for bed purely out of respect—such a simple move of
decency from him, meaning so much to me.

The bed is old. The covers are
clean, but sleeping here still seems unsanitary. Chi lies down
carefully. He winces as he lifts his legs up. He leans back against
the pillows and breathes deeply. I find my place next to him and
rest my head on his collarbone, careful not to hurt him. I wrap my
arm around his stomach, and he begins to stroke my hair.

“What happened to you when I was
gone?" he asks. "They didn't touch you, did they? I was worried
sick about you, wondering what the officers might do to you. But
you're okay, right?"

“They took me back home,” I
reply.

He sighs in relief. “They did? How
did that go?”

“Surprisingly well, actually. The
officer questioned me, but I acted dumb. I think he bought it. I
did make it clear that you hadn’t kidnapped me though.”

“Are your parents aware?” he
asks.

“My mother was there. She lied to
my father about it, too. She has changed so much. In a matter of
days, it’s as if she's become a new person.”

“Maybe she was like that all
along. You just never knew."

“She said she had to pretend for
our own protection. It was strange, but it felt nice, you know, to
realize she did care all along.”

“So, how did you find me?" he
asks. "I didn’t think I was gonna make it, honestly.”

“Mother had Walter take me by
train and drop me at Taylor’s house. No one knows. My mother is to
pretend I ran away.”

“So, they’ll be looking for you
too, then. They’ll know you came for me.” His stance grows
wary.

“Yes. And I don’t care.” I pause
for a minute while he kisses my hair and plays with my curls,
absent-mindedly. “Officer Bryan Harris helped us. He told us you
were getting transferred and where to find you.”

“Yeah, I saw him in passing. But
there was nothing he could do for me. He has to protect his cover.
He’s one of the few people we have inside the police force, and we
need him.”

“I think they’ll be looking for a
leak from within though. I hope they don’t figure it
out.”

“We’ll have to move fast. Time is
running out.”

“What did they do to you, Chi?” I
ask though the answer is obvious.

“Well, you know, they beat me up
and all that.” He smiles, but he doesn’t add any details and I
don’t push the subject. I can tell just by looking at him that
whatever happened at the station was not good.

“I kept my mouth shut though. They
don’t know squat. I think they were going to torture me, but then I
passed out. After that, I woke up to your face. I thought I was
dreaming.” He grins at me.

Then he closes his eyes and
inhales deeply. I didn't notice it before, but in this moment when
he's finally able to relax, the strain on his face and the dark
rings under his eyes are clearer. Chi is exhausted. I doubt he got
to sleep much, if at all, while he was in custody. Slowly, his
chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm; he’s fallen asleep.
Though I wish I could change out of my clothes, I don’t want to
wake him up. I don’t move.

I just lie there, contemplating
him. His mouth is open and his head has rolled to the side. I press
my ear to his chest and listen to his heartbeat. The sound of it
calms me down. Chi's safety rids my heart of the weight that had
been compressing it since he was gone. I'm duped into believing
things might be fine after all—a trick my mind is playing on me to
help relieve stress. I pass into oblivion, my head against Chi,
comfortable and secure, with my arms around him and his around
me.

Chapter 30

Loud, frantic
knocks
wake me from my slumber.
Someone is pounding on our front door. I open my eyes and my head
starts hurting.

“Are you guys awake?" I recognize
Taylor's voice. He's shouting from the hall outside our apartment.
"Open up, it’s important!"

He knocks harder, loud enough for
me to hear him from our bedroom. I should go open the door before
he breaks it down. I stand up and eye Chi. He’s still sleeping
despite this racket. His body must be needing the rest. I rush to
the front door and open it as quickly as I can. Taylor is standing
there, glowering at me. Something’s wrong, truly wrong.

Without any greetings, Taylor
dashes through the apartment. I run after him.
What's going
on?
When Taylor enters the bedroom and sees that Chi is still
sleeping, he heads to the bed and shakes him, hard.

“Chi, we need to talk. It’s
urgent. Shit happened last night.”

I want to push Taylor away, but
Chi is already opening his eyes. He yawns and stretches his arms.
His body reminds him that he was badly beaten up just the day
before, and he winces while shaking his head to push the remnants
of his dreams away. He sits up, his eyes on Taylor, assessing
him.

"How are you feeling today?"
Taylor asks Chi.

"Like I was run over by a road
roller, but I'll live. My headache's gone."

“Probably the only good news of
the day. We've got a load of shit going on and none of it's good,"
Taylor says. "They found out about your escape, and they’ve already
linked it to Bryan.”

“Crap!” Chi sits up, the news
waking him up for good.

“We need to make plans and act
quickly. I don’t think you can fight just yet, and a bunch of the
others still need to train, but we have to launch the attack
soon
.
I don’t think Bryan will talk, but I
don’t know how much he can take before he opens up either. We have
no other choice but to stay here. I’ll have Chase gather everyone
who’s coming to the camp. They can’t stay home anymore; it’s too
risky. We can’t afford to lose anyone else. We’re hidden well
enough that we should be fine for now. We’re going to practice in
the fitness center upstairs. Thia’s coming, she needs
training.”