The Land of Rabbits (Long Shot Love Duet #1) (30 page)

Be silent.

Stay calm.

Think of something to think. Wait. What does that mean? Wouldn’t thinking of what to think be thinking?

Sounds like something my mom would say.

“I’ve only been to Tivoli once.” Dylan’s voice is quick to stop me in my tracks. “Trent slept in that park a lot. It’s full of skanks and meth heads.”

“Perfect. Just be sure of the spot.”

He’s coming down the driveway with Jack, one or both of them smoking weed. I can smell it.

“I told you this shit earlier. Why the fuck are we going over it again?”

“Because we’ll talk about it as much as I want, that’s why, asshole. If I ask you again in an hour, you’ll answer me. I don’t take body dumps lightly. It’s gotta be the right spot so the trail leads to someone else.”

“Just bury him out back. This place is massive. No one’s gonna find him here.”

“You don’t get it, do you?”

“Hey, I get it. I’m not a fucking dope.”

They’re so close to me, about fifteen feet away, but I can’t see them. The light of the bowl glows when Jack flicks his lighter then goes dark fast. There’re no faces, no forms, no movements, which means they can’t see me either. I should be safe as long as I don’t move an inch.

“No. You don’t get it.” Jack flicks his lighter again, the embers glowing reddish-orange then fading to black. “That’s good though. I need a guy like you at each of my retreats.”

“Like what?”

“A heavy who’s also a fuckup.”

Dylan laughs, sounding like he agrees. “Because you can trust a fuckup, right? Because a fuckup would kill a cop before he ever talked to one.”

I bite my bottom lip, trying to hold in a cry... for Christ’s sake, what the hell is crawling up my leg? It feels like a spider... or a fly. No, the black flies aren’t out this late at night. It’s another creature from the forest floor that’s decided to crawl up my sneaker and under my jeans. Just decided... just right at this very minute the stupid bug decided it was time to climb my leg. Goddammit!

“You okay with fucking Roxanne?” Jack changes the subject. “I doubt I could do it with her.”

“Dude, all of this is great. Pussy, a full bar, steak... fucking steak for dinner today, man. I’ve never had it this good. Compare this to working some shit, minimum wage job and having a curfew. No way, man. I’ll take the fantasy world over the real one... so yeah, Roxanne can have my dick whenever she wants it.”

“You can keep it up, even with her yellow teeth and that hideous foghorn voice?
Sweetheart, show me your cock
,” he mimics her deep voice. “That shit doesn’t turn me on.”

“I don’t care.”

“There’s your answer.”

“What? That’s what you mean by being fucked up?”

“It means people in need will make great sacrifices to gain the simplest of pleasures. And the less people have, the more I trust they won’t screw me over, or my business, or their time here. The idiots that do are either tossed back or disposed of, but those are few and far between. It’s a very straightforward arrangement. Work, eat, fuck, and keep your mouth shut.”

The tiptoeing bug is on its way to my inner thigh. I think it’s within reach and I can squash it under my jeans. I just hope it doesn’t bite me. If I move super slow they won’t hear... oh, damn, that’s sick. Whatever it was had a hard outer shell. Eww, and it’s tumbling down my leg. Ugh!

“Easy enough.” Dylan takes a hit and passes the bowl back to Jack, asking in a throaty voice, “How’d you find her anyway?”

“Roxanne?”

“Yeah.” He coughs.

They take a few dragging steps then the night turns dead. The crickets stop chirping and the clouds become glued to the backdrop of the dark sky. Nothing. No movements or sounds. Jack’s silent, not answering Dylan, which is causing me to sweat. Please don’t see me.

My body tilts to the left, trying to keep my bag from sliding off my shoulder. I hold my breath and wait, hearing the sound of flaring nostrils, a short step, and finally another.

“My dad hooked me up with her,” he says, the footsteps continuing at a normal pace. “She worked for my granddad’s porn company back in Vegas years ago.”

“So this is what old porn stars do? Work the front desk at hotels?” Dylan releases a long, grunting laugh. “Ah, I’m so fucking stoned. Man, this is some good shit. I haven’t smoked in years.”

“I haven’t in eight hours,” Jack says back.

“Is it dark to you? Like, pitch-black dark? Fuck. Must be the pot messing with me. I can’t believe I’m even here right now.”

“Hey, did you fuck a lot in prison? What was that like?”

“What was prison like? Or what was fucking in prison like?”

They walk down the drive, their voices fading from behind as the moon re-emerges, lighting a path ahead. Sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Jack and Dylan, what a team.

I’m cautious, taking short steps, moving stealthily past the retreat. The sounds of people splashing in the pool and the clinking of bottles from the back patio bar are within earshot, mixing with a low moan coming from the dimly lit parking lot. I stop and listen, wondering if Trent could still be alive.

Impossible.

My brief thought of him trying to escape the trunk is replaced by a very different, very real scene. It’s two workers from Afterglow. One guy has his bare ass against Jack’s car and his hands on top of another guy’s bobbing head. He’s looking down with gasps of delight. I’ve never been this close to two men going at it before... two men oblivious that a dead man’s just a foot away... a scene of sex and death.

“This is how it starts.”

I grip my duffle bag and remain quiet, knowing Jack’s still within range. Was that said to Dylan or was it meant for me? His voice was faint, but I heard it. He said it.

That expression of his gives me the chills.

I listen to his distant conversation as it mingles with the heavy breathing in the parking lot and the rustling of bushes near the edge of the driveway. Sounds like a small animal over that way. Fucking rodents are surrounding me from all directions.

Don’t get paranoid.

Walk.

Stay on track.

Quinn whispered that to me while we were working earlier today.
Stay on track out there. Don’t get lost in the woods or inside your head. The darkness can play tricks on your mind. Don’t stop. Keep your ass moving until you’re back in my arms.

Okay... I’m coming.

The early evening when I left has now become late night. He must be worried I haven’t returned.

But I’m coming. I’m doing this to be together with him...
home
with him.

Home.

Home’s a strong word, a term that I now realize changes meaning with age. My mom asked me way back when I was still in grammar school how I would define
home
. She often asked questions like that, always trying to get me to think, always wondering what type of person I was and who I’d be as I got older. “Exercises for your brain,” she’d say. “And information about your feelings for your mom.”

Back then, I said home was where we ate and slept. It’s where we kept our stuff. Basic answers. She told me to remember the question, to think about it again as I became an adult, to ask myself if the definition changes, and if it does, why? Will it hold the same meaning when you’re thirty? Sixty? Think about it, Addie.

Define home.

“Good question, Mom,” I say under my breath. When a home no longer physically exists, it’s easier to understand the real meaning, the sincere and heartfelt meaning of the word. It’s nothing artificial. I get it now.

Home is safety. It’s love and protection. It’s a feeling, not a place.

It’s where you gather with the people you love, but it doesn’t need to have walls.

It’s a sensation of freedom, peace, and harmony.

It’s emotional and spiritual, not materialistic.

Home, in this moment, is having a million feelings for one man. It’s the sound of Quinn’s voice, his gentle touch, and his kind heart opening to mine.

That’s my answer, Mom. It’s changed because I’ve changed. You’re no longer here to shield me from this new world I’ve found. These are different people with different goals and I’ve been awakened.

Branches and low foliage stir as a warm gust flits past. It rolls dead leaves along the forest floor while moving loose strands of hair from my face. The air is fresh and no longer scented with the aromas of Afterglow. Meat, chlorine, weed, it’s all gone. Only the piney mountain scents and rich dirt hang in the air. I take a deep breath and enjoy the moment, hearing the soft sounds of hypnotizing music coming from the dark woods ahead.

It’s him.

He’s using a playlist he found on my cell to guide me in the right direction. The way to our own little burrow in the woods... to our very own rabbit land.

It’s a long shot that we won’t get caught. I know that, he knows that, but if the two of us have beaten the odds and come this far, we’re willing to take the risk. A long shot at love, a long shot at survival. He’s all in and I’m all in, so we’re doing this. And the reward if we make it will be great. No, not
if...
when.

We’re gonna make it.

Oh wow...

Who’d ever imagine a place of hiding would look so pretty, but there it is... the outline of the barn lit by a candle, the glow between the cracks in the wallboards reminiscent of a thousand fireflies twinkling in the night.

The song Quinn’s playing becomes more distinct with each step. I recognize the melody and can hear the lyrics to “First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes. It’s one of my favorite love songs, labeled that way on my cell. Seems eerily perfect for my mood and this setting. I’m tearing up that he thought to play it.

I may have found myself a closet romantic, the best kind. A tough guy who’s a protective badass and will fight for his woman, but behind closed doors, he sure as fuck can make her all dreamy and weak in the knees. That’s him. I don’t want a man who’ll tell me he’s romantic. I want a man who’ll show it. Quinn shows it. The candle, the soft music, and...

“Oh, dear God,” I whisper, hesitating in the doorway. What a gorgeous sight.

He’s wearing only boxers and is holding a plate filled with steak and french fries in one hand, and has a beer in the other. It’s a divine offering of food and sex.

“Hello, beautiful,” he says with a toothy smile, opening his arms. His tan, muscular body blooms under the candle and the recent cut from his dad on his upper leg looks like it’s healing. Thank God. It’s so good to see him, especially to see him looking so cheerful.

I drop my bag and rush over, nearly knocking the plate out of his hand.

“You’re brilliant.” He kisses the top of my head and inhales the scent of my hair. “Everything okay? Did anyone see you?”

I offer a loving kiss before I answer, tasting beer on his delicate tongue, smelling the smoke from the grill on his smooth skin, and longing to touch his firm body. My hand drifts down his chest, giving his semi-erect cock a gentle touch, causing a swift moan to erupt between us.

With a joyful look into his warm eyes, I say, “Everything’s great, handsome.”

“Good. My heart can beat again now that you’re back and safe. I’m so relieved you’re alright.”

I hold him tightly, wrapping my legs around his as he walks me over to the workbench. The food and drink are placed next to the candle and he pats one of the two stools for me to have a seat.

“Eat, drink, rest your feet, and get out of those clothes. You must be sweating in that heavy outfit. It’s fucking hot tonight.”

“Mosquitos,” I say, chugging half my beer. He nods and slides the barn door shut, placing a heavy plank on the inside track so it can’t be reopened. “And disgusting creepy-crawlies in the woods,” I add.

“They’re in here too. Not as many, but you’ll come across spiders and snakes.”

“Spiders are fine, except I forgot about the possibility of snakes. Fucking slippery, slimy creatures make me shudder.”

His dick brushes against my back as he puts his arms over my shoulders, cutting my steak into small pieces. “Slippery, slimy creatures?” He laughs, his cock now erect and dominating the space between us. “Here, eat,” he says, holding a piece of the juicy looking meat in front of my lips. I take a bite, closing my eyes as I chew the succulent food. “Eat and get your energy back so we can play.”

He removes my hoodie and shirt then unhooks my bra, leaving me topless at the workbench before walking off to the other side of the room. I chew a thick, salty fry and eye the room, noticing a change since the last time we were here.

“You moved the cot.”

“It’s better in the corner than across from the door,” he calls out, turning on the faucet at a small utility sink over by the mowers and garden tools. “It’s hidden over there if someone walks in, and we’ve got a better view of Grace.”

I notice a tuft of brown fur sticking out of the seed box.

“Aw. She’s still here.”

The water turns off and he heads back over. “I asked her if she’d put on a dress and hold some flowers when you walked in, but she wasn’t having any of it.”

“Cute,” I say with relaxed laughter. “You know the scene I did have when I got here was even better. How long were you standing there, waiting?”

“Doesn’t matter. I would’ve waited for days in that position.”

He begins to wipe the dirt and sweat off my back and neck with a wet towel, working to refresh my overheated body.

I eat and sigh, drink and sigh, enjoying his gentle touch. I could spend eternity in this moment and be happy.

“Beer, steak, my boyfriend pampering me with a sponge bath...”

The soft towel moves down the front of my chest, circling my breasts and leisurely passing down my shallow cleavage.

“... an adorable rabbit, a mellow candle, and a serene song. If the rest of the world didn’t exist after tonight, if we wake up and it’s just us, here, in this moment, I’d say we made it to heaven.”

He kisses my shoulder then nibbles the back of my neck to my cheek, cradling my jawline and guiding me closer until our swollen lips meet.

His kiss is so full of lust that my head whirls and my insides detonate. One vigorous kiss from him is all it takes to get me feverish and wet.