by Skyla Madi
Turning my head, I finally gather the courage to look at Jai. Our gazes lock and his demeanor is the complete opposite of Monique’s. She’s a wreck—as I would be if the roles were reversed—but Jai remains fierce, his face not betraying a single emotion that he might be feeling inside. As always, he’s my rock. My stone. He nods his head at me, giving approval, and his hard-exterior doesn’t waver for a second.
How’d we end up like this?
The guard beside Monique pulls the hammer on his gun and presses the barrel against her head, dropping my stomach.
What choice do I have?
I force my attention back to Joel, turning my head into the crook of his neck, hiding my face.
“You can touch me…”
A green swirl of color swims from my lips and Joel’s shoulders relax. I surrender my own tightness, letting my body soften against his. I trust him to take care of me.
He glides his warm, firm fingers up my thigh and hesitates for a split second before swooping underneath my thigh and grazing his fingers against my opening. I gasp, loudly, my back arching involuntarily off the wooden post as the anxious vibrations from Joel’s light touch strummed my clit. Joel snaps his head up, his beautiful ocean black stare penetrating mine.
“I barely touched you.”
“You don’t have to.” My kidneys ached, my stomach rolled. The side effects no longer waited for the high to leave my body. Instead, they come on quicker each time. “It’s this damn drug.”
Licking his lower lip, his eyes grow dark and hooded. He strokes me again, firmer this time, and I catch my gasp by biting my lower lip. His touch ignites a flurry of feelings that burn at my belly. I groan and his irises grow darker. I don’t want to look him in the face as he touches me, but I can’t bring myself to look away. He’s breathtakingly beautiful, like his brother.
“I don’t want to…fuck. I don’t want to want you as badly as I do right now.”
I groan again, not putting much stock in his dangerous words. He’s been locked up for well over a month—maybe more. I’m the first real female contact he’s had. Still doesn’t make it right.
I reach between us, stilling his hand against the apex of my thighs. My sensitive flesh throbs, begging for another minute of his touch, but I can’t continue. I’m tired. My body is tired and I’m done sharing it. I’m done being quiet while Skull thinks he can monopolize me.
“I can’t do this with you,” I tell him and the relief that washes over his face cements my decision.
This is hard for him too. He loves Monique as much as I love Jai, and he’s not under the influence like I am. What’s going to happen? What’s Skull going to do?
“Thank you,” he whispers before crushing his mouth to mine.
Skull’s roar fills the back courtyard, shooting chills down my spine, only he’s silenced by a deafening explosion that shakes the very ground we stand on. The unexpected event happens in stages.
The rumble.
The boom.
The noise of shattering glass and the crackle of flames…
…as the compound slowly crumbles.
ELEVEN
Jai
Signal
“Fuck!”
I hear the word shouted and screamed over and over as people flee. I tug on my restraints, squinting through the thick clouds of dust to locate Emily. I only just manage to see the gazebo through the haze, but she’s not there, neither is Joel.
What the hell was that explosion? I still. Is it Ted’s signal?
Gritting my teeth, I tug harder and harder on my restraints, succeeding only in cutting my skin. Beside me, Monique coughs her guts up and the guard that once put the barrel of his gun to her head, is now crushed under a large chunk of white stone, missing Monique by a foot.
“Emily!” I shout, tugging against my chains. “Joel?”
Another explosion booms inside the compound. Windows shatter. Smoke and fire rush out, heating my skin. Thousands of pieces of glass, wood, and stone, a deadly rainfall showers down on us, swallowing me, swallowing what I can see of the gazebo.
“What if they’re—”
“Don’t say it,” I snap. My arms burn from trying to free myself; my wrists are a bloody mess.
It seems like we’re the only ones out here, witnessing the beginning of the apocalypse. There are no guards that I can see. No Skull. The perfect chance to run.
Ted. Huss. They must’ve done this. This is our signal.
My heart races impossibly fast, my lungs tickling as dust begins to coat its surface and singe the sensitive tissue. I try one last time to free myself, tugging as hard as I can, until my muscles scream in pain, until my shoulders threaten to pop out of their sockets. I growl, pulling with everything that I have. And it’s still not enough.
Bang! A gunshot.
The tension in my arms disappear and my heart leaps into my throat as I free fall. I catch myself on my hands and knees, ignoring the way chips of stone dig into my palms, and I close my eyes, inhaling deeply. The air that swoops in isn’t fresh, it’s not even soothing, and it turns my stomach.
A palm smooths over my back and my eyes flutter open as it moves up my spine and into my hair. I hear a murmur, a musical murmur, and that’s when I realize there’s a ringing in my right ear, muffling the voice. I sit back on my heels, the gazebo ahead of me replaced by a beautiful face. Kitten. She sits in front of me, naked. Her beautiful, supple body coated in dust, nothing to stop me from touching her.
“Did I get you?” she demands, snatching my hands in hers.
I marvel over her suddenly clear voice. Has she always sounded so beautiful? Her eyes are wide and watery with panic, the gap between her lips closed into a tight line of worry. Looking at her, the shock in my system thaws and adrenaline seeps through.
“Oh my God, you’re bleeding.” She skirts her fingertips over my lacerations.
Rear courtyard at midnight. Beeline through the forest when you see the signal.
I shake her off, grabbing her face in my hands. The cuffs still dig into my skin, my broken chains hanging off each side. We don’t have time to go over injuries or to kiss and make up. What if Skull is still alive? I scan the yard again, seeing no signs of movement, but he’s a fucking cockroach. He’s alive and breathing here somewhere. I just know he is. I release her face and take her hand, pulling her to her feet as I stand up.
“We have to go. Now.”
I shrug out of my jacket and hold it out for her. She slips inside gratefully, wrapping the fabric around her body. Our gazes catch for a split second and a blush springs to her cheeks, standing out against the dust that tints her pale complexion. When we’re safe, I’ll remind her how it feels to be loved by me and only me. I’ll remind her that my touch trumps them all.
“Fuck!” Joel curses, fiddling with the gun in front of Monique, his nervous fingers trembling and fumbling. Growling, he tosses the gun across the courtyard. “It’s busted.”
“Don’t leave me here.” Monique cries and he crouches to cup her small face in his hands.
“I’d never leave you here, baby,” he utters, kissing her gently on the lips. “Where’s the key?”
She flicks her head to the guard buried under a large chunk of stone, her sobs deepening. He stares at the large chunk of stone before turning to me, his eyes a little sad. He can’t move it on his own.
“Meet us just outside the courtyard. Hide in the forest. If we’re not there in ten, leave without us,” he says.
“No fucking way.”
After everything we’ve gone through, I’m not about to leave him or Monique—who decided to drop a baby bombshell on me ten minutes ago. Besides, Ted, Hannah, and Huss are risking their lives to get us out of here tonight. I know if I leave without Joel, it’s the last time I’ll see him again because I’m not coming back.
I can’t come back.
“Jai,” Joel snaps. “Don’t make this a wasted effort.”
“I’ll help you get it off him, then I�
��ll go.”
He lifts himself to his feet. “Fine.”
Emily sways nervously as I leave her. She glances over each shoulder with terrified eyes, waiting for Skull to pounce from under the rubble. I want to get her out of here and fast.
I brace my hands against the jagged stone, ignoring the metal of my restraints biting into my skin once again. Joel counts to three and we push. The debris barely rocks, but the longer we push the more it starts to lean before, finally, rolling over and slamming into the grass with a loud thud.
Behind me, Emily makes a tight noise in her throat at the sight of the crushed guard and Monique gags, turning her head. It’s gruesome. Probably the sickest thing I’ve ever seen.
“Get out of here,” Joel grumbles, slipping his fingers into the blood, looking for the guard’s pocket.
I take Emily’s hand and give it a gentle squeeze. “You better meet us out there.”
“We will. Now, go.”
I pull Emily along beside me, over debris and through smoke. We pass the pool and the statues we hid behind when I tried to save her—forever ago now—and cross the large expanse of empty grass before slinking into the forest.
* Emily *
I’m not going to lie. I’m on edge. Despite the explosions and the gun failing, this all seems too…quiet. Skull has to be dead, there’s no way he’d let us go so easily. A part of me relaxes at the thought, another part of me winds tighter than ever.
Skull would never go down without a fight. I glance at the glowing compound over my shoulder. He could still be alive.
Jai once told me that it doesn’t matter where you run or where you hide because Skull has the means to find you. How can I live my life in peace without seeing his cold, dead body for myself?
A twig snaps under my bare foot, stabbing into my flesh. I hiss, clenching Jai’s hand in mine.
Jai’s hand.
In mine.
My heart flutters at the thought, distracting me from my aching feet and throbbing body. We can barely see where we’re going since the light of the moon scarcely breaks through the tops of the trees to illuminate the way. I wish we didn’t have to make this trek at night. Already branches have tried tearing me open. If it weren’t for Jai’s jacket, I’d have no protection against the harshness of nature.
Jai glances down at me. “We’re in deep enough. We can wait here.”
I nod, and he releases my hand, allowing me to rest against a large tree. Its scratchy bark marks the back of my thighs, but I don’t mind it. It’s a welcome distraction against the artificial arousal coursing through my blood. My skin tingles from where he held me, a simple, familiar feeling I didn’t realize I missed. Am I sure all the arousal in my blood is artificial? Heat swims just under the surface of my skin, waiting for the green signal to pool in my intimate places.
He stands in front of me and rolls the sleeves of his button up shirt to his elbows, exposing his thick, powerful forearms. I thought the adrenaline in my body, whipped up by the explosions, burned through the drug, but my core warms as I look at him, as if the drug was consumed only a second ago. I shiver and it’s not because the wind feels like ice against my skin, but because I can feel his gaze on my naked thighs.
It dawns on me that, for the first time since he was captured, we’re alone together. No rooms to separate us. No guards. No bars.
We have free rein over each other.
My breath morphs into a pant at the thought and my skin sparks with need. He’ll think I’m ridiculous, wanting him here and now, of all places, but I’ve been deprived of his touch for so long. It’s a bad idea for me to be around any male who has wicked, sexual intent while I’m high on Skull’s little drug, but with Jai near me, it’s damn near lethal. My body isn’t a strong enough vessel to hold inside everything he provokes in me.
“How are your feet?”
His rough voice, raspier with smoke and dust, sends a ripple of arousal through me.
“They’re fine.”
It’s a lie. My feet sting and ache like nothing else, but after everything I’ve been through, I think I can handle it. He tilts his head and I look away from him so he can’t see the deceit in my eyes or my bitter disappointment at the fact he hasn’t kissed me yet. We’re alone with nothing better to do…and if he doesn’t kiss me, I just might implode.
“Do you think I can’t tell when you’re lying?”
I lift my gaze to him and something crackles between us, sending hair on the back of my neck bristling and powerful shockwaves of lust through my tummy. He steps forward, his large stride closing the gap between us. Swallowing, I press my back harder against the tree, until the sharp bark bites into my flesh.
“How are your feet?” he asks, planting one hand beside my head.
I tilt my chin up to look him in the eyes. “Sore.”
“Sore.” His eyes twinkle, even in the low light. “I thought so. Why lie to me?”
“Because that’s not where I want your attention.”
Jai’s broad shoulders tighten. “And where do you want my attention?”
My gaze falls to his lips of its own accord. I try to drag it back to his eyes, but I can’t. His full, firm lips take over my whole existence. I sigh as the corners of them tug, fighting a smile.
“You want to kiss me,” he states, not a question.
My heart thumps and I push off the tree, leaning closer. “All I’ve wanted for the past few months is to kiss you, really kiss you.”
With his free hand, he uses his thumb to caress the column of my neck. From my neck, his touch skitters to the lapel of his jacket around my torso. With a gentle tug, he frees it from my grasp, exposing my left breast. “They could come through that shrubbery at any second.”
I nod. “They could.”
He lowers his head, grazing my lips with his.
“I’m so fucking mad at you.” Skating a thumb over my hardened nipple, he drags his rough palm to my waist, his cold chains kissing my skin, making goosebumps erupt.
“I know.”
Jerking me hard against him, against the hard length in his slacks, he plants a quick kiss on my lips. “Letting Skull touch you? Letting Joel touch you?”
I move my hands to the waistband of his pants and grip his shirt as he yanks open my jacket and palms my breast. I lean into him, pressing further into his grip, and his skin is hot against mine, so hot I’m certain he’ll leave burns.
“You should have fought them tooth and nail.”
I shake my head, brushing our lips together as I untuck his shirt and slide my hands underneath, touching his bare stomach. “I was too scared, too tired, to fight.”
Releasing my breast, Jai cups my face in his large hands, holding me firm, our noses grazing. “You don’t have to be scared anymore.”
He crushes his lips to mine, kissing me with bruising pressure, and it washes away all my anguish, and my nightmares, replacing it with the sweet memories of the lake, memories I forgot until his lips touched mine. He doesn’t push for tongue, neither do I. I’m just happy to have him here, against me.
“I want you more than anything,” he says between kisses. “But I need you to go.”
I sigh, tilting my head as he trails kisses off my lips and across my jaw. My head swims and it’s not with uncontrollable arousal, but love. Content. We could die in this forest tonight and I’d die happy so long as I was with him.
Wait. I stiffen. Did he say I need to go? Me? Alone?
The cold wind stops whipping at my naked body as Jai wraps the fabric around me and settles me back against the tree. Uncontrollable tears well in my eyes, blood heating my face for a different reason entirely.
“What’d you say?”
Stepping away, he rakes his hand through his black hair, tousling with the locks that have grown a little longer since he arrived at Skull’s compound.
“They’re taking too long and I…” He drops his arm with an exhale. “I want to leave with you. I want to run and not look back, but I
can’t. My conscience would be too heavy.”
“They’ll be here,” I say, stepping forward. “Give them a little more time.”
“Every second brings Skull or his guards closer. We can’t just assume everyone died and now we can go live our happily ever after.”
“You can’t go back there,” I state, my glare implying the obvious.
And that’s final.
“Kitten, please.” He steps forward, taking my hands in his and giving them a gentle squeeze. “Wait for me here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
My throat thickens. “And if you’re not?”
“Then you keep going straight. It’s not far. There’ll be someone on the other side waiting for you.”
My stomach churns. How can I agree to this? How can I agree to let him go? I deflate. How can I hold him back? Joel is his brother, his flesh and blood. I have no right asking him to choose me over him.
I squeeze his hands in return. “I’ll wait for you, but you have to promise me you’ll come back.”
Tugging me into his chest, Jai wraps his arms around me, holding me closely. I’m transported back to the night Huss betrayed me, and, just like that night, I thought if I had the ability to freeze time only once in my whole life I’d choose this moment and I would hold it for as long as I could because, right now, there’s no greater happiness…no greater loss. To feel your heart swell and deflate at the same time is a phenomenon I still can’t explain.
“I promise.”
He kisses me on the top of my head before he disappears into the forest, heading back to the nightmare we just escaped.
***
My eyes flutter open as the most unbearable throb hits my kidneys. I shudder, pulling my knees into my chest. Twigs and leaves stick to my bare ass as I curl up on the forest floor. I sat down to wait out Jai’s return just after he left. I didn’t feel tired, but sleep took me over the moment I closed my eyes. I don’t know how long I slept. Could’ve been a few minutes. Could’ve been a few hours too. Groaning, I straighten my spine and push myself upright to take pressure off my lower back. I feel it then, my nose wet with blood. I swipe it against the sleeve of Jai’s jacket. Amongst the smell of blood in my nose, I can smell him in the fibers of the fabric. His scent. I hold the jacket against my nose and close my eyes. Where are you?
