Part 7 (2/2)
”What?” she asked while wiggling out of her panties and tossing them onto the rest of her already discarded clothes.
She stood before him, naked, silhouetted by the firelight behind her. The sight of her made his predicament even more painful.
”We can't.”
”What do you mean?” Kneeling beside him on the blanket, she looked concerned. And hot. Holy s.h.i.+t, the girl was hot. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were firm and perky; her nipples already budded in the cool night air, as if teasing him. What he wouldn't give right now to suck one into his mouth. d.a.m.n he wanted to be with her. But he couldn't.
”I left the cabin without anything. No extra clothes, no wallet...no condoms. I know it's a survival kind of situation out here so modern conveniences might not be available, but do we really want to risk bringing a child into that? So we can't.”
Sara c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at him, her expression cunning and sultry at the same time. She didn't speak, simply grabbed her backpack and started rooting around inside of it. A second later, she held a square packet in her palm.
”I always come prepared.” She offered him her treasure, which he eagerly accepted.
”Yes, you do. And you shall be greatly rewarded for your preparedness.”
Dane kissed his way to Sara's b.r.e.a.s.t.s, teasing them into even harder peaks, then continued down along her stomach. When he got to the junction of her thighs, he stayed put until she quivered beneath his mouth and called out his name. His name had never sounded so awesome before.
When he finally thrust into her, he kept his pace slow, taking the time to enjoy every sensation she offered his body. As far as he was concerned, they could stay in this moment forever and he'd die a happy man.
Dane woke with a kink in his neck. He s.h.i.+fted his head only to find a rock poking him in the temple. He couldn't lie there any longer. He had to move and hopefully he could do it without waking Sara. She s.h.i.+fted slightly as he wormed his way out from underneath her, but quickly settled back into a peaceful sleep.
It had been easy to drift off on the hard ground after the lack of sleep they'd had in the last twenty-four hours, on top of all the exercise they'd done, hiking and otherwise. He'd love nothing more than to drift off into a dreamless sleep for another twelve hours or so, but that couldn't happen. He'd give Sara another few minutes to rest then they should get up and make the last leg of the trip.
Dane left the cl.u.s.ter of pines still lit by their fire and let his eyes adjust to the darkness beyond them. He wandered a few feet from camp. While relieving his bladder onto a bush, he peered around in the darkness, trying to make out the difference between the hills and the valleys in the dark. But everything looked like dark on more dark.
Everything except the grouping of tiny lights, twinkling and swirling, from back the way they'd come earlier. He cursed. The movement of light wasn't that of anything natural. Nope. It was the movement of flashlights climbing over the rough trail, practically following their footprints.
He bolted back to camp, waking Sara quickly with a gentle shake. ”Get up. Get dressed.”
Dane pulled on his own clothes and shoes while Sara struggled into hers, clearly still in a sleepy fog. ”What's going on?” she asked.
”I was wrong. We were followed. By the looks of the lights, there are at least three of them. Possibly more.”
Fear flashed across her face. ”I can't let them find the bunker, but where else can we go?”
Dane gripped her shoulders. ”You're going to the bunker, now, in the dark, alone. I'm going to take the flashlights and head back toward the cabin around the other side of the lake. Hopefully they'll think we're going back and will follow me.”
”No. I'm not leaving you.”
”Yes, you are. We both can't make it to the bunker with them following us. You said it yourself. We can't let them find it. This is the only way.”
”No!” Her voice broke. ”Don't leave me. Come with me. We'll fight them together.”
”You're a much better fighter than you were a few days ago, but look at what happened with the guy at the cabin. I didn't even kill him and you looked at me like a monster. I'm going to have to do whatever it takes to keep you safe, even if that means taking them down. Permanently. I'm not sure you can do the same.”
Dane kissed her, wis.h.i.+ng he could imprint the memory of her lips on his. He wished more than anything that he could take her all the way to the bunker, but he couldn't.
He pulled away and grabbed the flashlights. He shouldered his guns and his bow and forced her to do the same, ignoring the tears on her cheeks.
”I'll fight. I promise, just stay.” She pleaded. He wanted to give in. ”I won't let you go without me. I won't lose you.”
He racked his brain trying to come up with some solution that would save them both. ”Okay. Here's what we'll do. You go in the dark to the fire pit and wait for me for a couple of hours. I'll lead them away from the location and try to take them out so they can't follow us again. Then I'll double back to you.”
She nodded, wiping away her tears. ”Promise you'll come.”
”I'll do whatever I can to get to you. But you have to promise me something, too.”
”What?” she asked, her voice shaking.
”If I don't come by the time the sun is high, you go without me.”
”No.”
”Yes, it's the only way.” He pulled a handgun from her bag and shoved it into the waistband of her jeans. ”Keep this close, just in case.”
He kissed her again. This time it felt like good-bye. ”Now go. We don't have time to fight about this. I'll meet you later at the fire pit.”
He waited long enough to watch her stumble off into the darkness, weighed down by her heavy gear and weapons. Dane hated that his last words to Sara were a lie, but he didn't see any other option.
Flicking on his two flashlights, he started off in the other direction hoping to see the lights behind him follow.
They did.
Chapter Twelve.
Sara paced around the circ.u.mference of the fire pit. Again. It was only her sixteenth lap. Other than her footprints in the dry dirt, there was no sign that anyone or anything had been here before her. Her family either hadn't come through the dirt or hadn't been here at all yet. She had a sinking feeling she was on her own. Except for Dane. Wherever he was.
How long had she been there already? How much longer should she wait for Dane to come? It wasn't yet daylight; the stars were still out and twinkling.
What would she do when she was done waiting?
She stopped walking at the sound of a noise in the bushes. A figure stepped out of the darkness from between the trees, but it wasn't Dane.
Sara instantly recognized the short man from a few days earlier, one of the initial scouts who'd come to the house. The one who'd originally been hiding in the tree line while the tall one got her to open the door.
If only she'd been smarter that day and not made any noise. Not opened the door. Maybe they would have gone away and left them alone. Maybe they never would have learned that Dane had guns and ammo.
”All alone today,” the man asked, coming into the clearing around the fire pit.
”I could ask you the same question.”
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