Runaways

by Lily Harlem

  “I trust you now,” he said. “Unless you break it. Because if that happens, if you hurt my brothers, if you deceive me, or these people here, then it will be gone. I can’t fix trust. Broken is forever.”

  She stepped closer. “I thought we’d established I have no intention of hurting Lucas or Mason, I love them.” She held his eye contact. “And why the hell would I deceive you or these people?”

  “I don’t really think you’d deceive these people.” He had the good grace to appear a bit sheepish and glanced away.

  “But you think I’d deceive you?”

  He said nothing.

  “I’m an honest person, Paul. Always have been.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  She went to step away, but he grabbed her hand.

  His skin was warm, and she looked down at the way his big fingers wrapped around hers.

  “Olivia.” He narrowed his eyes.

  “What?”

  “Thank you for today, I couldn’t have done it so efficiently without you. And for offering to help out in the hospital until we get more staff.”

  She nodded.

  “I mean it, I am grateful.”

  “And I’m grateful you’re here, Paul. Without you, the hospital would be just a building.”

  “It would.”

  “Come on.” She tugged his hand but kept her fingers closed around his. “Let’s eat. I’m hungry.”

  “Aye, me, too.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Olivia woke alone the next morning to the sound of hammering. It seemed the guys had left her to rest while they’d gotten on with the hospital.

  For a moment she was a little irked, she didn’t need special treatment, she could get up and working at the same time they did. Then she remembered the long day she’d had previously, and how they’d all stopped working at dusk and her and Paul had continued until well after dark.

  She pulled on her short khaki skirt, a white t-shirt, socks, and boots then wandered into the central compartment of the tent.

  Paul was pouring coffee. He wore jeans and boots, his top half was bare. “Hey.”

  “Have you just woken up?” she asked, trying not to stare at the way the muscles in his shoulders curved away from his neck.

  “Aye, slept like I was dead.”

  She frowned. Lucas said that, too, and she didn’t like it. She didn’t like to think of any of them dead.

  “Want coffee?” he asked.

  “No, I’ll make tea.”

  “I suspect it’s been made for you.” He nodded at a Thermos with a Post-It note on it.

  For you, mi niña hermosa xx

  “Ah, yes, that’ll be it.” She smiled as she ran her fingertip over Raul’s handwriting.

  “The paella Raul made last night was amazing.” Paul sipped his coffee.

  “Yes, he’s made it before, one of my favorites.”

  “Do you think he misses Barcelona and working in a kitchen?”

  “I think he’s enjoying a break from it all.” She took a sip of tea, enjoying the way it always made her feel more human again in the morning. “He’d reached the top of his game at such a young age, and this is giving him new experiences that he felt he missed out on because he was in a kitchen when his friends were off seeing the world.”

  “But he still likes to cook for you all.”

  “It’s one of the ways he shows he cares for us. Though he does like a break occasionally.”

  “I’m sure he does.” Paul rubbed his hand over his bare chest. “I should get out there, help them. The more hands on deck, the sooner it’ll be done.”

  “Evan seems pleased with progress.”

  “Yes, it was quite an achievement to get the main frame up yesterday. I’m still quite shocked they did it.” He grinned. “Though with the amount of brawn they’ve got between them it’s not really surprising.”

  She thought of the twins lugging huge bits of wood around. “And as soon as the side panels are in place, we can start on the roof.”

  “Are you going to be helping us today?”

  “No, I’m going to work on the Jeep. I think that may be the short straw, though.” She smiled. “But I like a challenge.”

  “I can tell.” He stood and scooped up a bottle of sunscreen from the table. “Will you do the honors? My Scottish skin burns in seconds.”

  She stared at the cream he’d offered forward. Hesitating, she wished one of his brothers was there to ‘do the honors’, but then she realized it would be more strange for her to refuse to do it.

  “Sure, turn around.” She took the lotion and he did as she’d instructed.

  After filling her palm, she began to rub the cream into his skin. She did her best to make her movements efficient and industrious, but found herself lingering as she applied it to the tattoo over his shoulder—which was so familiar yet on a different body—then down the gutter of his spine.

  He stood stock still.

  A small crop of freckles in the center of his back reminded her of Lucas and the one on the end of his cock. Her thoughts turned to sex—sex with Lucas and Mason and how she adored their thick muscles and how they moved with both strength and grace. Paul was so very similar. Did his age, those extra few years, change how he performed as a lover?

  She frowned at the direction her thoughts were going in. She didn’t want to think of Paul and how he performed in bed. That wasn’t how it was. Or ever would be.

  “You done?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She turned away, worried that her cheeks were flushing.

  “You want me to do you?”

  “No.” She laughed. “I’ll be keeping my t-shirt on.”

  “Ah, yes, of course.” He took the cream from her. “Catch you later, alligator.”

  Within seconds he’d slipped from the tent and she was left alone. Pulling in a deep breath, she wiped her moist palms together. Paul was becoming more and more part of the group, which was a good thing. But it was also confusing when he was smart, handsome, generous with his time and skills, and an all-round decent guy.

  Which didn’t make him attractive, at all. And besides, even if it did, Olivia had more than enough on her plate with Evan, Raul, Harry, and the twins. The last thing she needed was another man in her life.

  For the second time she became frustrated with her own chain of thoughts and quickly set about getting herself ready for a day tinkering with a car engine. It had been a long time since she had, and likely never anything as decrepit as the village Jeep. She was sure the task would anchor her mind and focus her concentration.

  Ten minutes later, and with her toolbox in hand, she wandered past the hospital site.

  “Hey, babe,” Evan called from where he was maneuvering a huge panel.

  “Hi.” She raised her free hand.

  “So Sleeping Beauty finally woke up,” Mason said with a grin as he held his hammer aloft.

  “This Sleeping Beauty had to get up and fix a Jeep.” She nodded ahead.

  Lucas was standing on a crossbeam, about seven feet up. He jumped down, landing just in front of her. A puff of sandy earth clouded around his feet. “Hey.”

  “Hi.” She nodded at his bare chest. “You got sunscreen on?”

  “Aye.” He rubbed his hand over his tattoo and nodded at her toolbox. “Want me to carry that?”

  “What do you think?”

  He grinned and made no move to take it.

  “Hey, gorgeous.” Harry was behind her. He slipped his hands around her waist and set a kiss on her cheek. “You gonna be okay all the way over there with that old Jeep?”

  “It’s only a hundred yards from here.” She laughed.

  “A hundred yards too far.” He nuzzled her neck. “Want me to get a helicopter to deliver a new Range Rover in for the village? Shouldn’t take Riley long to organize. It will save you the job of fixing that pile of junk.”

  “No. Absolutely not.” Squirming away, she turned. “And stop. I have work to do. There’s life
in that pile of junk, I’m sure of it.”

  “I like your optimism.”

  “Did you have your tea?” Raul asked. He, too, was on an elevated beam and appeared to be midway hammering it to the next one.

  “I did, thank you.”

  “Good. Because until you have that…” He pulled a face.

  “What?” she said.

  “You are no good for anything, mi niña hermosa.”

  “That might be true.” She laughed and pointed ahead. “But right now I’m good for that thing.”

  “I’ll walk with you,” Lucas said.

  “Thanks.”

  They fell into step together.

  “Did you enjoy yesterday?” he asked. “Working with Paul.”

  “Yes. I told you all about it over dinner.”

  “You did, but not whether you’d enjoyed it or not. I want you to be happy.”

  “I am, very.” She slipped her hand into his. “This is a great place, and I feel we can really make a difference, especially with your big brother here.”

  “He makes an impression wherever he goes.”

  “People who can heal do that.”

  “It’s not just because he’s a doctor.”

  “Oh, what else is it, then?”

  “He’s confident, capable, nothing phases him.”

  “I could say the same about you.”

  “Really?” He glanced at her, a small furrow lining his brow.

  “Of course. Jesus, Lucas, you’ve been shipwrecked and survived, taken on a gang of bikers and won, worked with Raul and lived to tell the tale, you can do anything.”

  He laughed, a lovely deep sound that she wished she heard more often. But that wasn’t his style. “I guess that’s true.”

  “And Paul hasn’t done any of those things,” she reminded him.

  “Also true.”

  They came to a stop at the Jeep.

  “Let’s try and open this,” he said, curling his fingers beneath the hood. It was already standing proud by an inch.

  He yanked it. It didn’t budge but it did creak.

  He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and tugged again. His biceps bulged, and his abdominal muscles tensed to a row of bricks.

  This time it gave, and he pushed it up, flashing his pale underarm hair.

  “Great.” Olivia grabbed the hood prop. “Thanks.” She surveyed the engine. It was thick with dust, and she could see several broken joints and cables. “I may be some time.”

  “Mmm.” Lucas glanced at the bushes to her left.

  They were thorny and thick with small, glossy green leaves. They cast a shadow on the ground and covered the mound entirely. Though there did seem to be a few tracks going through them, as if small mammals made a habit of scurrying into their safety.

  “I wonder what’s over this hill,” he said.

  “Looks impenetrable.”

  “Aye.” He bit on his bottom lip. “I might just run around and see, because if it’s a bloody big swamp full of hippos, I don’t want you here.”

  “There’s no swamps and hippos around here.”

  “Isn’t there?”

  “Well I haven’t seen any.”

  “Which is why I’m going to check.”

  He took off at a run and looking like he could keep up the pace all day, and probably all night.

  For a moment she watched him, then he went from view, and she turned her attention to the Jeep.

  “Oh dear,” she said. It was worse than she’d thought. There was only one thing for it and that really was to take the engine to pieces, get everything fixed and cleaned up, and put back together. The bodywork and tires were easy in comparison, so she’d work on the mechanics first and see how successful she was. “You can do it,” she muttered as she disconnected the battery cables.

  She opened her tool kit. It was shiny and new, nothing like the ones she used back at home. Grabbing a wrench, she ducked beneath the hood and started on the radiator. She’d need to drain the fluid if there was any still in it.

  After a few minutes she heard footsteps approaching.

  “There’s not much there,” Lucas said. He didn’t appear to be remotely out of breath. “A huge expanse of flat plain. I think there might have been a herd of elephant in the distance but too far away to know for sure, could be trees.”

  “Ah okay.”

  “But don’t wander off on your own.”

  “What, like you just did?” She tutted.

  “You might have a fierce independent streak but it won’t save you from a fierce creature.” He ran his hand over the back of her head and settled it around her nape, curling his fingers over the necklace. “And I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

  She paused what she was doing. His voice held such passion and emotion. “I promise,” she said. “If I want to go wandering off, I’ll come and get you.”

  “Good.” He clenched his jaw, a muscle flexing in his cheek.

  “But I’m not going to. Look at the state of this. I’ll be at it for days.”

  “Mmm…you sure you don’t want Harry to organize that helicopter drop-off?”

  “No, I do not. His money cannot solve everything and he needs to learn that.”

  He smiled and swept his lips over hers. “I’ll be right over there if you need me.”

  “I’ll always need you, Lucas.”

  His smile slipped, and she saw the love in his eyes. It was mixed with passion and glowed with burning intensity. He kissed her again, a little firmer this time.

  For a moment she wondered about tugging him to the tent and having some naked morning fun, but then he pulled back.

  “I’ll leave you to work,” he said.

  As he headed to the construction site, she allowed herself to ogle his butt. Encased in sandy-colored safari pants, which hung low on his slim hips, his ass was high and taut and she made a mental note to get up close and personal with it soon, very soon.

  “What is wrong with me?” She turned back to the engine. “Sex mad.” Setting to work dismantling the starter motor from its casing, she thought back to her sex life before she’d joined The Challenge. It had been non-existent since her cheating ex, Darren. Perhaps her body was simply making up for the drought in her love life. She was filling up on her quota of orgasms by re-addressing the balance.

  And boy was it fun.

  As she laid the first few pieces of the engine onto the dusty ground, she glanced over at the men. They were all working hard. The sun shone off their gleaming torsos, their muscles bulged, and their deep voices rumbled toward her.

  A sense of contentment settled in her chest. They were carrying out the ambitious plan of building a hospital for this community and most importantly they were all together.

  Because now, she couldn’t imagine life without them…any of them.

  A small rustling caught her attention. She turned to the bushes. The top fronds of one in the center was shivering slightly as if something lower down had brushed against it.

  A small kernel of fear popped inside her.

  What is it?

  She held the wrench aloft and peered closer.

  The movement stopped. All was as it had been.

  So why did she have a sense of unease? A sense of being watched?

  Swallowing, she stepped closer, watching where she put her feet in case she encountered another snake.

  But there was nothing, and after a minute of surveying the bush she straightened, pulled in a deep breath, and returned to the Jeep.

  She’d have to get used to sharing her space with the small creatures who lived around her. It wouldn’t do her any good to get jittery at every sound.

  She worked steadily and methodically for an hour, then Anya approached.

  “Hello, Olivia.”

  “Hey, how are you?”

  “I am very well. The hospital is being built fast.”

  “Yes, they’re not hanging about. The sooner the walls are on the sooner they ca
n start on the inside and make it weatherproof.”

  “The weather does not change from this.” She held out her palms. “Rain a few times a year if we are lucky, sometimes a hot wind blows in which will be good for the turbine. But that is all.” She pointed at the village. “I have come to ask you and Raul, and the other men, to attend a celebration tonight.”

  “What are you celebrating?”

  “My father is taking another wife.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “It will be his third. And to honor their joining and the placing of the marriage beads around their necks, a huge fire will be lit, along with a feast of fish from the lake.”

  “Wow, that sounds incredible.”

  “It is, this is a happy time for Kaskum. If the elders feel they can take more wives it means there is food and hope for the future. Soon I will have more brothers and sisters.” She smiled.

  “How many do you have already?”

  “Nine, I am very blessed.”

  “Yes you are.”

  “Will you marry Raul one day?”

  “Er…” Olivia hesitated. “I do love him but I’m not sure about wedding bells just yet.” And besides, how could she marry just one of her men? She loved them all.

  “I would do it soon.” Anya nodded at the build. Raul was holding a side panel in place, his tall frame spread out star-like as Evan quickly banged in nails. “He is a man who will be snapped up by another woman if you are not careful.”

  “I appreciate the advice.” Olivia tightened her grip on the wrench. She didn’t think Raul would be unfaithful or stray to another woman, but that didn’t mean the thought of it didn’t heat her blood.

  “So you will come, all of you?” Anya smiled.

  “Yes, we’ll look forward to it.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Lucas had the shower by their tent working, and Olivia relished standing under the sun-warmed water and letting it soak through her hair. But she was conscious water was in limited supply so hurried to wash and turn it off.

  She wondered about wearing the pretty lilac dress to the wedding celebrations in the village, but as had happened the night before, when the sun set, the temperature had also dropped.

  So she pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, then grabbed a hoody in case it got cooler still. Then with her hair freshly washed and brushed and more or less dry, she was ready to go.