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He laughs, the sound sending a chill down my spine. “That won’t happen, pet. They’ll leave if they need to, before there’s a chance of that happening. People always leave. It’s just how it is.”
“That’s not true.”
His eyes turn cold. “You’re leaving.”
I don’t say anything. I can’t say anything. He’s not wrong, and I hate that it’s true. Maybe if I can explain the situation to the director, Richard, I’ll be able to come back to them and bring them to the colony. But I can’t tell him that. I can’t tell any of them that, because it’s not a promise I can guarantee that I’ll be able to keep. I won’t lie to them about that, and I won’t lie to him about this. Max might hate me for leaving, but maybe he can forgive me if I come back.
When I still say nothing, Max gets closer, pressing against me so that the tree bark bites into my back, the thin material of my shirt barely enough to protect it. He raises his arm and rests it against the trunk above my head, his fingers dangling down to play with a few loose, wild strands of my hair that seem to stick out. My heart rate speeds up and I tilt my head, but he moves his to the side and licks the length of my cheek. “Mmm, you taste as delicious as you look. Tell me, pet, do you still want to run away?”
My breath comes out in a pant. “I…I don’t…” His hips press against me and I feel the hardness of his growing erection. Holy crap. That’s all him.
He uses his free hand to trail a line from my jaw, down my throat, to my collarbone. “You don’t…what, pet?”
I swallow hard. “I don’t know.” His hands press against the tree trunk on either side of my head with such roughness that pieces of bark fall to the ground at our feet. His gaze stares straight down into my soul and, for a moment, I think he can read every thought in my head.
Lowering my hand, I run my fingers down his abdomen, past the waistband of his pants to the bulge in the front, and I palm it. He leans in close with a shudder, his mouth less than an inch from mine. “Careful, now. You might make it so I won’t let you leave.”
My voice comes out in a whisper. “What would you do if I were to walk away right now?”
He closes the gap and claims my mouth, making me feel things I haven’t felt in a long time. He thrusts into my grip and his hands tangle in my hair while he steals my breath and devours my mouth and, for a few blissful moments, I hope he follows through on his promise disguised as a threat.
13
GRIFFIN
She’s been gone for too long. I should have handcuffed her again. During that short time, I at least knew she was safe when doing something mundane, such as going to the bathroom. I have a hunch that wasn’t the entire truth in order to keep William from following her. Next time I’ll be there, and I’ll follow her. I’ll stand guard with my back to the tree she hides behind until she finishes. She shouldn’t have gone out there alone, especially with it getting dark like this. Sure, Max is out there, but somehow that only worries me more.
I look up at the sound of crunching leaves and breathe out a sigh of relief when I see her walking back into camp until I notice her appearance. Her hair is a disheveled mess, even more wild than it normally is, and she wraps her arms around her middle, her eyes in a daze. She shivers. It’s a small one, but that’s all I need in order to notice.
Stripping off my hoodie, I toss it to her and she wastes no time putting it on. “Good timing. I have a treat for you I swiped from the hideout.” I pull out the bag of marshmallows I’d lifted when we were looking for her medicine. It was sitting right there on the table that she nearly died on. They had no use for roasting marshmallows tonight, but we would.
A small laugh comes out of her, and it’s beautiful, though slightly pained. “I haven’t had a toasted marshmallow in a really long time. Years, probably.”
I pick up the stick I’d cleaned and sharpened and put two marshmallows on it before handing it to her. She holds it out over the fire. Not the safe distance that most people do to get that perfect golden color. No. She thrusts it straight into the heart of the flames, so it burns fast and hard. When it’s perfectly charred, she plops the first toasted marshmallow into her mouth at the same moment that Max emerges from the woods, dripping wet.
“Where you been?” William asks.
“Killed some rotters and then washed up. The area should be safer tonight.” Max doesn’t look at William, or at me. His eyes are only for Emily as he walks straight up to her, leans down, and wraps his lips around her fingers, licking it clean of the sticky marshmallow that was left behind. He licks his lips when he pulls away, a smirk on his face and his eyes blazing. “Night, pet. I’m headed inside.”
Emily looks like she’s torn between getting up or staying put. That’s odd. I’m not even finished feeding her marshmallows.
Max solves the problem for her. “You should join either Griffin or Willie.”
“It’s William,” William corrects him half-heartedly, and we both watch him disappear into his tent.
“You’re staying with me,” I say, before anyone else can say anything about it. I don’t know what’s going on between her and Max right now, but I need to keep her close to me. I brush my leg against hers and add a marshmallow onto a stick for myself before handing the bag to William.
“You can’t dictate everything I do,” Emily says in that argumentative voice of hers. She even throws in a huff. It’s adorable how she thinks she can convince me otherwise.
I fight back a smile. Bringing out the fighter in her is quickly becoming my favorite pastime. “I’m not. I’m merely keeping you alive.”
“I’ve been doing that just fine on my own.”
Thrusting the marshmallow into the fire, I decide to forego my normal perfect golden toasted color and try out Emily’s madness of a charcoal exterior. “Good. But in case you missed it, princess, you’re not on your own anymore.”
Not a single cricket chirps. The nighttime is as dead as the rest of the world. Kind of a bleak outlook, but it’s not wrong.
The inside of my tent seems brighter, though it’s not from the faint glow of the fire illuminating it from the outside. Emily lays next to me on top of the unzipped sleeping bag I laid out along with the blankets. There’s a slight chill in the air, but she seems warm enough wearing my only hoodie. Even William dug out an old pair of sweats for her to sleep in instead of her shorts, since we’d burned the dregs’ clothes that were covered in blood. They’re of course too big on her and still fall down her hips even after rolling them a few times, but they’ll do for the night. My arm is back behind me, in use as a pillow for my head since I gave Emily my only pillow to use for herself.
