Dangerous Desires

by Tia Siren

  “They’ll never let me out of their sight.”

  “Of course, they will. You’ve done nothing wrong. Give me an hour and then tell them that you need to go home.”

  Whisper drew in a breath and glanced in her rearview mirror. She could see several guards walking toward the car and scrambled out of the car before they could get closer. Gesturing as though she was locking the door, she closed the door and rushed toward them, ready to give the performance of her life.

  8

  Whisper was shaking so hard she felt like she couldn’t grip the wheel. Her foot slipped from the gas pedal, but she put it back on and pushed a little harder, fueling the car faster down the road. She wanted to look in the mirror and see what was behind her, but she didn’t want them to see her if they were coming after her. She knew the betrayal that they would feel as soon as they knew what she had done, and though she knew that she had made the right decision, she didn’t want that knowledge fogging her thoughts and haunting her as she moved forward. This was what she needed to do. It was what was right. Coming back to the prison had cleared her mind and brought what was happening around her into sharp focus, and she had made the choice that she knew that she needed to make. Even if she was going to cause pain. Even if she was going to hurt those who had trusted her. This was her life and she was the only one who could live it.

  She drew in a breath and let her eyes burrow into the first light of the morning that was cracking over the horizon in front of her. Finally, she couldn’t see the fences of the prison out of the corner of her eye. She hazarded a peek into the mirror and confirmed that there was no one following her. Her shaking started to ease and by the time that she turned out onto the highway, she felt calm.

  “Alright,” she said.

  Behind her she could hear groaning and shifting as the two men unfurled themselves from the floorboards. Dante climbed over the center console and leaned over to kiss her cheek as Evan turned around to look out of the back window and let out a crow of happiness. His shoulder was wrapped tightly where the bullet had passed through him, but he seemed to be managing the pain well.

  “I can’t believe we fucking pulled this off!” he cried out joyfully.

  “That’s my girl,” Dante said, leaning across the car to kiss her again.

  Whisper felt her heart jump in her chest at the words. She glanced at him to offer a smile, then looked back over her shoulder at Evan.

  “There’s a bag of clothes back there. Get changed. We’ll get rid of your uniform as soon as we stop.”

  A smile curved her lips as they continued down the road toward the safehouse. By now the guards at the prison would have heard that another inmate was missing, and somehow, she got deep satisfaction from that. There were very few of her former coworkers who she felt for in this situation, but for the most part she had no pity for those who she had seen mistreat the inmates, and who she knew had hurt Dante in his time in the prison. They deserved the heat of the escaped inmates, especially when it was discovered that one escaped and then returned only to escape again without detection. She had gone into being a prison guard with the belief that she was protecting society from men who should be locked away and who had forfeited their rights to a life of freedom. Interacting with the men, especially Dante, had changed her. She saw the value, the humanity in him. Though she knew that he wasn’t guilty of the crimes for which he had been sentenced, he had admitted to her that there was plenty that he had done. Yet that didn’t change the way that she looked at him. It was who he was, how he saw the world, that redeemed him, and made him worth all that she was doing for him and for Evan.

  Three days later Whisper stepped into the cabin’s tiny kitchen and placed the grocery bag she carried on the counter. She reached up and pulled the wig off, shaking her hair down and letting out a sigh of relief to finally have the hot, uncomfortable piece off of her head. She tossed her dark sunglasses on top of the wig and shrugged out of her oversized jacket before starting to put the groceries away. She knew that she looked like every other bundled-up shopper scuttling around the miniscule local market, but the disguise that they had found in one of the wardrobes in the cabin amongst other similar items made her feel like she was standing out to an almost ridiculous level. As blatant as she felt, however, no one had commented on her appearance and she hadn’t been swarmed by police on her way into town or back to the safehouse.

  “Are you boys hungry?” she called into the back of the cabin.

  Dante came into the room and kissed the side of her neck.

  “Starving,” he said, smacking her playfully on the ass as he reached for a cup out of the cabinet over Whisper’s head.

  She filled plates and brought them over to the table tucked into the corner of the kitchen. Though cramped, the cabin was starting to feel like their own little isolated bubble, a home that they were creating together.

  “Did anything happen while I was gone?” Whisper asked as she settled into one of the chairs and took a bite of her lunch.

  Evan nodded and took a swallow of his drink to clear his mouth.

  “One of the men on Vince’s hit list is in the hospital,” he said. “Apparently his car mysteriously ended up in the river last week.”

  “If this Vince guy is such a badass, why is he so desperate to cover up everything that he does?” Whisper asked.

  Dante shook his head.

  “He likes to think that he’s clever. Besides, when he does it that way, he has the option of letting other people take the fall for him.”

  “So, what does the guy in the hospital have to say about it?”

  “Apparently he owed Vince a debt and he was making noise about not paying up.”

  “Like a drug debt? Money doesn’t seem like enough to make him go to that much trouble.”

  “Not money,” Dante said. “People.”

  “People?” Whisper asked, feeling the word stick in her throat as she tried to get it out.

  “I never said that all of the people on his list were good guys,” he said. “Whether or not that justifies a nosedive off an overpass I suppose is up to personal perspective.”

  “I’m not really so sure of that.”

  “In any case, he’s scared shitless and apparently isn’t going to talk. But it means that Vince is still going. My contact said that he’d heard Vince was holding a prison guard hostage.”

  “Really?” Whisper asked.

  “Apparently you convinced them enough that you were terrified of him and they think that he came to your house and captured you again. They’re looking for you.”

  As if on cue, Whisper heard the rumble of tires crunching over the gravel leading up to the house. Her eyes shot to Dante’s and he brought a finger to his lips to keep her quiet. The sound of car doors slamming exploded in the trees and Dante got to his feet, crossing to the small square window. He pushed the red-and-white checkered curtain out of the way and then snapped around, his eyes wild.

  “It’s Vince,” he hissed.

  “How the fuck did he find us?” Evan growled.

  “I guess news travels fast,” Dante said.

  Whisper heard the doorknob jiggle and uttered a silent prayer of thanks that she had taken the time to put all of the locking mechanisms into place when she got back to the cabin.

  “What are we going to do?” she asked.

  Dante looked at Evan.

  “You go into the living room,” he said. “I’ll bring Whisper to the bedroom. Stay where you are until I come for you.”

  Evan nodded and rushed out of the kitchen. Before Whisper could ask what was happening, Dante grabbed onto her and started pulling her toward the bedroom. Someone was kicking the center of the door and she knew that even with the locks in place, it wasn’t going to withstand much more of the assault. When they got into the bedroom, Dante shut the door and pushed the bed to one side. He lifted a rug, revealing a hatch in the floor. Opening the hatch, he urged Whisper down. She followed a wobbling rope ladder down into a da
mp, cool cellar, then turned to watch Dante reach up through the hatch to pull the bed back into place over the hatch. In the small space allowed by the bed, he adjusted the rug as much as he could, then shut the hatch. For a moment, they were in complete darkness, then a hint of light glowed on the other side.

  Whisper turned and saw him adjusting a lamp hanging from the wall. She wanted to say something to him, but the fear wouldn’t allow her. Above them the front door splintered and she heard several pairs of feet swarm the house. Her body shook and she squeezed her eyes closed, willing herself to stay calm, forcing herself to show the stoic courage that she saw in Dante. They had survived the riot together. They would find a way to get through this.

  9

  The room felt like it was closing in around them, constricting down until it was as small and oppressive as the prison cell had been. Dante struggled to keep his breathing steady, not to show the fear that he was feeling. He listened to the pounding of the footsteps on the floor above their heads and the rumble of the shouting as the men crashed through the house. Furniture smashed into the ground and shattered glass sprayed across the floor and against the walls. They hunkered further into the shadows of the hidden compartment as they heard the footsteps come to within inches of the hatch. Dante’s heart thudded in his chest and he felt Whisper’s soft hand curl into his. He realized then that he wasn’t afraid for himself. Instead, he was afraid for her. He couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to Whisper. This woman had put her career, everything that she knew, and her life on the line for him. She had done more for him than he ever would have imagined that someone, especially someone in the position that she had been in, would have done. Before the riot he had nearly given up. He had begun to think that he was never going to get a chance to clear his name and avenge Johnny. Whisper had given the fire, the strength, back to him. With her, he knew that he could do this, or that he would die trying. What mattered now was ensuring that she was safe and didn’t suffer for him.

  Finally, the tumultuous sounds overhead lessened and Dante heard the men stomp out of the house. One of them paused just inside the door.

  “We’ll find you,” he shouted as if he somehow sensed that Dante was there even though he wasn’t able to find him. “It doesn’t matter how far you run or where you hide, we will find you.”

  What remained of the rest of the door crashed closed and Dante heard the sound of their vehicle roar away. He didn’t dare move or make a sound until several minutes after the growl of the engine dissipated.

  “We should be able to go up now,” he said.

  “They might come back,” Whisper said.

  “They might,” Dante agreed, knowing that he couldn’t lie to her just to make her feel better.

  Complacency would only put her in greater danger if the gang returned before they were able to leave for their next stop.

  “How much longer do we have to wait until your contact comes?” she asked.

  “They should be here either tonight or tomorrow morning,” Dante told her. “They’re coming as fast as they can without making themselves too obvious.”

  She took a step back and he watched as she faced him and then slowly undressed, her eyes never leaving his.

  “I would hate to spend these few hours just worrying.”

  “Worrying isn’t going to do us any good,” Dante agreed, shaking his head.

  Whisper stepped forward and brushed her luscious nude body against him. Dante felt his cock harden and a rush of adrenaline burn into arousal.

  “We should make the most of them,” she murmured against the side of his neck, following the words with a graze of her teeth across his skin.

  Whisper ran the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip and Dante's control snapped. He grabbed onto her shoulders, spinning them both around and pushing her up against the wall. Whisper gasped but did nothing to try to escape his hold. Dante ran his hands down her arms and grasped her wrists, sweeping them up above her head. He took both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them to the wall so that she wasn’t able to move away from him. In the dim light glowing from the single lightbulb on the other side of the hidden cellar he saw her eyes burning into his, her face reflecting his need.

  His mouth crushed down onto hers and he kissed her hungrily, tempting groans from deep within her. He used his free hand to loosen his belt and then unfasten his pants. They fell to his ankles and he kicked them away. Whisper bit her lower lip and whimpered, her eyes lowering down his body to find the erection that was already straining toward her. He released her hands long enough to remove his shirt and toss it over with his pants. He caught control of her wrists again and he used his free hand to push his trunks down. His thickly engorged cock sprang free and he felt Whisper strain her wrists against his hand trying to loosen his grip so that she could reach it.

  Whisper’s nipples were hardened with desire and Dante leaned down to flick his tongue across one rosy tip. He moved at a fevered pitch, letting go of her hands so that he could grasp either side of her ribcage and hold her tightly in place against the wall.

  This was not like the first night that they had spent together. This wasn’t new and exploratory, but enraptured and urgent, the desire just to claim each other and rediscover the security and realness of themselves in each other overflowing in both of them. This was desperation in its purest and rawest sense, a desperate need to relieve the tension, release the adrenaline, and affirm that they were still alive and together.

  Dante lowered himself to his knees in front of her and kissed along her stomach to her waist, then down to her hipbones. When his tongue dipped between her thighs and down into her warmth she cried out and sagged against him. He did not relent, but instead used one hand to press her torso back against the wall and the other to guide her legs further apart. His head lowered further and he drew a long lick through her wet folds. She let out a strangled cry and Dante cupped her hips with his hands, tilting her pelvis toward him to give himself more access to her core. Growling in his chest, he slipped his tongue deep inside her.

  “Dante," she whimpered and he felt her hips flex, subtly pressing harder against his mouth as she buried her hands in his hair.

  Dante plunged his tongue into her again and tasted hot liquid roll over it as her body responded to his touch and readied itself for him. He reveled in the sweetness of it, lapping it up until she screamed and arched against him. The sound rolled through him like thunder, filling him with satisfaction and passion. Her body shook with her climax and he let his finger replace his tongue.

  Moving his finger slowly within her, feeling the delectable ridges and textures of her walls, he pushed back on his heels and stood, covering her body with his and pushing her back up against the wall. Whisper clung to his shoulders, keeping her thighs apart and bending her knees slightly to provide him greater access to her body and offer herself to him completely. She panted heavily as he let another finger join the first, gently stretching her a little more so that she could better accommodate him.

  "I need you. Now," he said, dipping his head to bite her shoulder gently and ease the primal desire building up inside him.

  Whisper had risen to the balls of her feet to bring her body closer to him and his knees bent slightly to close more of the height difference between them. He kept his hand there while he bent down to pull a condom from the pocket of his pants, silently thanking himself for thinking of tucking one there where he would be able to access it quickly and easily if just such a situation happened to arise. Once the condom was rolled into place, he stepped forward again and kissed her with growing intensity, restoring the speed and fire that had lessened slightly during the short break. When Dante moved his hand a few moments later, his hips aligned perfectly with hers and the sensitive tip of his erection touched her opening. He could feel that she was already ready for him and he couldn’t wait any longer.

  She reached down and took hold of his shaft, running her hand along it to tempt him closer to
the edge. Even through the condom her touch was electrifying and he groaned and licked his lips, pressing his hips forward to push against her hand. Dante growled deep in his throat, swept her up into his arms, and plunged into her, gasping at the feeling of her slick, tight body welcoming him. The feeling was even more intense than it had been the night before and he withdrew slowly to experience the softness on every inch of him again. Whisper tilted her hips to meet him as he slammed into her, pressing back against the wall and wrapping her legs around him to give him more leverage. She clawed at his back, lowering her head to lick along the side of his neck as he thrust into her again and again.

  After several intense strokes, he gripped her harder against him and carried her deeper into the cellar, toppling them onto the floor so that she lay on her back and held him against her with her thighs. Her legs straightened and he felt a flicker of disappointment, not wanting to give up the intense closeness that that position provided. An instant later, though, her hands came to his chest and she launched her body up and over, forcing him to roll over so that he was on his back and she landed astride him.

  Dante felt a surge of pleasure as she sat up on her knees, tossing her head back in ecstasy as her body settled further down onto him. He wrapped his hands tightly around her waist and relaxed back as she rode him, rolling her hips passionately. Small sounds bubbled out of her throat as she angled herself to enhance the sensation for herself and squeezed tighter with her thighs. Suddenly she cried out and fell forward toward him.

  Dante sat up to catch her upper body and bent his legs slightly to cradle her. He guided Whisper off of her knees so that her feet were flat behind him and she bent her knees at his sides. The position was so vulnerable, so incredibly open and he saw a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes. Taking back control, he leaned forward to kiss her intently and used one arm to start rocking her hips against his. Dante placed his other hand between them to rest his hand on the front of her pelvis and touched the pad of his thumb to the hypersensitive pearl that he had coaxed forward with his mouth. She groaned, dropping her head back and pressing harder against him.