Hunted (A Sinners Series Book 2) (5 page)

Cole’s face relaxes, and he blinks a few times before he reaches up and wraps his fingers around mine. When he tilts his head to the right and gives me his dimpled smile, I can’t help but need him.

“Come here,” he says.

I stand while looking into his eyes. Holding my gaze, he slowly tugs at the edge of my shirt and slides his hands up my back. As if a train runs up my spine, my body shakes uncontrollably.

“I think it’s time we get warmed up.”

“Sounds like heaven to me.”

He turns the shower on. It doesn’t take long before steam fills the room. The warmth just adds to the moment, heating up my already burning flesh.

“Mind if I help you with your shirt?”

I manage to nod as I raise my arms toward the ceiling. Cole lifts my shirt over my head, and I watch it fall to the floor. His eyes, still locked on mine, burn through me as he steps forward, closing the few inches left between us, and unhooks my bra in one quick motion. The straps slide off my shoulders, and it joins my shirt on the tile floor.

“You’re so beautiful,” he says, soaking me up with eager eyes. His cheeks flush, and his dimples are so cute I want to kiss each of them.

“I look like a lion with a wild mane.”

But he just shakes his head at me. He brushes my hair away from my face and tucks it behind my ears. Then he kisses my neck slowly and gently, running his soft lips up and down the right side of my neck.

I moan.

He chuckles, and it vibrates against my skin. “You have a huge scrape here. Am I hurting you?” He traces around the tender part of my neck that was injured during the car’s tumble down the embankment.

“No.”

“Are you sure? Because you have bruising on both sides of your neck.”

“It’s okay. They don’t hurt.”

I allow my eyes to fall closed and tilt my head back as his hands make their way to the button on my pants, fiddling to get it undone. Once he succeeds, he pulls them toward the floor. One foot at a time, I step out of them. I can’t take it any longer. I reach down and take his head in my hands, urging him back up to me.

“What?” he asks, desire coating his voice.

“Your wrap, mind if I help you? I’ll do my best not to hurt you.”

“Don’t worry, not gonna happen. When I’m with you like this, all I can feel is you.”

“Is that so?” I ask in a flirtatious tone.

My hands shake as I loosen the cloth binding his ribs, and my eyes settle on the road rash and bruises that cover his skin. Without hesitation, my lips lightly touch his wounds. Inch by inch, I brush my kisses over each spot. He runs his hands run through my hair as his breathing quickens with each kiss.

I smile at him, and then he presses his lips to mine with such urgency and desperation my head spins. His lips are so warm and so soft, and I can taste the sweetness of his breath. Our lips part, and our tongues meet, and we kiss in unison like our mouths were meant for one another. He cups my face as I wrap my arms around his waist and press my fingers into his back. Our breaths quicken as our kisses become deeper. For a moment, everything is as it should be. I am lost in him.

We continue to kiss. I feel a drip of what I think is sweat down my back—or maybe it’s the steam. Whatever it is, my flesh burns with desire.

Smoothing my hair away from my face again, Cole drops his lips to mine, and our breathing goes haywire. I open my mouth slightly, inviting his tongue to graze mine, and as soon as our tongues touch, I shiver. He groans. It’s a connection I can’t explain, but instantly, it sends electricity through my veins and burns me to the core. His kisses become eager and harder. I wrap my arms around his neck as he pushes me up against the wall, overpowering me, which only sends my craving for him into overdrive.

“Cole,” I say, almost breathless. “We should take this into the shower.”

“Good idea.” He removes the rest of his clothing in a matter of seconds.

We both get into the shower, and a few seconds pass before he wraps his arms around me and leans in, trapping me between him and the wall, again.

I know I should be enjoying myself, relaxing and allowing myself to feel every single touch, every amazing kiss. But in the warmth of the shower and Cole’s body, I’m worried I might faint.
Why am I so nervous?

“You feel incredible,” he says between kisses.

His lips leave mine, and he kisses my cheek, my chin, and down the trail of my neck, across my collarbone, and back up my neck. It’s nearly impossible to steady my breathing. Next, he sucks my bottom lip into his mouth, caressing it with his tongue, and I let him. Of course I let him. I crave him.

We’ve been deprived of closeness for so long. I run my fingers down his back, and he presses me harder against the wall. He licks away the water from my mouth and kisses my lips with urgency. Suddenly, I can’t remember where I am. I can’t recall my name.

I can hardly hold myself upright any longer, and I start to slip.

“Easy, girl, I got you.”

Cole holds me up and hands me a bar of soap that smells like roses and an orange washrag that looks like it’s been through the shredder. And in that moment, I have everything I need.

“We better hurry,” he says. “The water’s already getting cooler.”

I respond with a shiver and rush to clean the grimy layers off my skin, hardly able to focus with Cole standing so close. We switch places, and I wash his back, putting the soap in its small dish on the shower tiles.

As he reaches up, a tiny, wiggling object drops in front of my face, its eight legs unmistakably searching for a landing spot.

A scream escapes my lips, and my hands search for a shower handle as my feet slide out from beneath me. Darkness clouds my vision, and then nothing.

When I open my eyes, I’m lying in the bed with my knees to my chest. The faint glow of a half-melted candle sits next to the bed. My breathing is steady. I feel Cole’s warm arms wrapped around me, my back up against him. His fingers lightly stroke my hair, and I know I’m safe.

“I’m so sorry,” I manage to say.

“Don’t,” he says. “Please, don’t apologize.” He squeezes me tight. “I’m right here, like I promised I’d be.”

“I ruined—”

“Nothing, you’ve ruined nothing.” He kisses the back of my head. “The spider’s to blame, not you, but don’t worry, he paid for it. Nasty bugger was huge. You should’ve heard the noise when I squashed—”

“Cole!”

“I know, but seriously, he was the size of my fist.”

“Stop it.”

“Okay, I’m done.” He tucks my hair behind my left ear and whispers, “Any chance you’d be able to sleep? Blacking out doesn’t exactly count.”

I turn my head to the left to glimpse him out of the corner of my eye. The flickering candle gives off just enough light for my eyes to settle on his face. My heart sinks. He’s beautiful. There’s no denying that. “Maybe, if you hold me tight. Really, really tight. I should be able to.”

He kisses my check. “Go to sleep then, I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

His words comfort my soul, so I give in to exhaustion and drift off to sleep.

The sun peeks through holes in the slats covering the windows, casting slivers of light across the bed, and I blink away the crust sealing my eyes.
It’s gotta be around 7:30
. The candle next to the bed has burned into a lump of white wax. A yawn escapes my lips as I arch my back and stretch. My hair falls down my back in brown, curly waves. I reach for Cole, but he’s gone. Panic bolts through me as I sit straight up, searching the room for any sign of him.

“Morning.” Cole stands in the doorway looking handsome in his boxer-briefs.

“Morning.” I smile briefly, feeling cautiously relieved. He sits next to me and hands me a bowl of something hot. It feels almost normal sitting in bed with Cole serving me breakfast. Well, more normal than hiding in abandoned buildings and scrounging for food.

“It’s not gourmet, but it’ll do.” He winks at me as I examine it with a skeptical face.

“Mmmmm. Canned chili for breakfast.” I smile and look down at the steaming bowl. My stomach growls loudly, right on cue. It has been so long since we had hot food, and I feel bad about complaining. So I close my eyes and imagine steak and eggs.

Cole dips a piece of bread into my chili and eats it. “See? It’s not so bad.” But it doesn’t go down so easily. He grabs the water on the windowsill and chokes it down.

Ever since we escaped the Hole, we’ve been optimistic and hopeful. But the longer we run, the more we get shot at and chased, the harder it is to keep that hope going. Even now, despite everything we’ve just been through, Cole tries to keep things light. But underneath his cool exterior, I know a storm is brewing inside him. Right now, he is quietly calculating how much food we have left, how many paces there are from here to the window in case we need a quick escape.

Still, here in this safe house without surveillance, we’re free to be together, and for now, that’s enough. We don’t talk about the fact that we both wake up in the middle of the night screaming and sweating from nightmares. We don’t talk about how, when, or if we will ever truly be free. We focus on the now, the moment, and these precious few glimpses of freedom we steal.

Someone once told me that hope was a luxury we couldn’t afford. That determination was a much better option and one that would likely keep me alive. But hope is my motivation, my strength. Hope that humanity has a chance to redeem itself. Hope that what’s left of this broken-down country can be saved and people will be free again, the way it was before the last war and the rise of the Commander.

“Do you think we can make a difference? I mean, we made it out. Do you think we can free others?” I slosh the chili around in the bowl and wait for Cole to respond. When he doesn’t right away, I add, “You’ve seen some of those people in the Hole. Their eyes are dead. They’ve given up. They have no fight left. I was lucky. I got out. And even though I lost Keegan, my mom, and my dad, you and Sutton are my family now. But what about those who have no one? No one and nothing to live for? Who is going to save them?”

“I gotta believe this hasn’t all been for nothing,” he says, then takes another sip of water. “I’d like to think we might have inspired some people.”

“Do you think we should go back? Help them?” My voice lowers as I lift my eyes to his. The thought of voluntarily going back to the Hole brings a sudden stinging pain to my chest.
I can’t go back.

“No, I don’t. How can you even think about going back there?” Cole runs his free hand over his head as if he cannot believe the words coming out of my mouth. He rests his head against the wall and exhales. “You ever hear stories, growing up, about the world outside our country?”

I move the bowl from hand to hand nervously, unsure of where this conversation is going. Cole stares at me incredulously. No one ever talks about the
before
. “It was never discussed in school,” I say. “The only reason I know some of what it was like before the Commander is because my parents talked about it.”

His eyes search mine, and he nods. “Yeah, school’s a joke; the curriculum’s pretty much just propaganda for the Commander. You know damn well the government doesn’t want us to have hope.”

“I remember the fourth and fifth wars were started by terrorism and that other countries refused to challenge those sheltering the terrorists who were responsible … ” I take a spoonful of chili, chewing slowly. “And that our country bore the brunt of everything … bombings, attacks, financial ramifications.”

“Do you know what happened out west?” he asks.

“That it used to be populated? My dad made mention of it long ago.”

“It used to be one of the centers for technological development. Weapons, computers, everything.” His eyes harden, and his voice becomes bitter. “But the United Powers had it destroyed, sending us back into the Dark Ages.”

“The United Powers? Why would they do that?” I scrunch up my face as I prepare to take another bite of food.

“Who knows? I guess they thought it would eliminate weapons and bring peace. Some ambassadors of world peace they turned out to be,” he says.