Chapter Thirteen
W ithout my ineptness leading us, Rainer and I made it to the pier only a couple hours after our departure. We hadn’t said much on our walk, not wanting anyone on the sidewalks to overhear our conversations, but now that we were alone, I couldn’t contain my questions any longer.
“How did you make it here?” I asked, our hands swinging between our bodies as we walked the length of the pier, trying to stick to the sides of the buildings where we couldn’t easily be spotted.
“I don’t know if I want to tell you,” Rainer said, glancing at the map as we neared one of Caroline’s penned dots.
“Why?” I asked curiously.
“Because I don’t want you to see me as the bad guy anymore.”
His words cracked something in my chest and I shook my head adamantly, bringing our bodies to a halt until he turned toward me.
“Rainer, I never saw you as the bad guy.”
When he arched a brow, I amended my statement with a soft laugh. “Maybe an asshole. A big, mean asshole,” I teased and Rainer’s lips tilted up in a smirk, “but never the bad guy.”
With my declaration, Rainer explained what Warner and he had done. And although I hated that another innocent man had been in the crossfires, I couldn’t feel any guilt, not when it brought them back to me.
“Did you see anyone else at the train station? Anyone you recognized?” I had to ask, for Murphy’s sake.
I knew it was a silly question. If Rainer had seen Murphy’s mom or his parents, he wouldn’t have left them behind.
“No, Less, there was no one else there,” he said, pulling me along behind him as he continued our walk.
“Murphy still has hope,” I whispered.
I wondered if Sasha and Mina did as well. The rest of us knew the fates of our family and I wasn’t sure what was worse. The knowledge of their death or the hope that they were still out there, on their way to you.
“I know.” Rainer swallowed roughly. “I won’t take that from him.”
“But you don’t have the same?”
His parents were still out there. They still had a chance. He simply shook his head, looking down at me with a small smile.
“No. I haven’t had that hope for a long time.”
“Since when?”
Rainer didn’t answer right away, ducking in between two buildings, heading in whatever direction the map intended. Once we were behind what looked to be a museum, he turned my body, pressing me gently against the side of the building.
“Since the day we escaped into the woods. I knew then that it was Murphy and me against the world.”
My hands cupped his cheeks as the sadness in his voice washed over me. He may have lost the hope that he would ever see his parents again, but their loss lived inside of him nonetheless.
“He thought he lost you. He needs you more than you know,” I told him, and Rainer pressed his forehead against mine.
“And you?”
“I,” I struggled for the right words. “I was a mess. I didn’t know if I would make it through another loss that big.”
“You would have. You’re stronger than I ever gave you credit for.”
Trailing my hands through the soft strands of his hair, I shrugged. “I believe I have you to thank for that. Didn’t feel like I could sit on my ass much longer with you glaring at me every day.”
Rainer softly chuckled, pressing a chaste kiss against my lips. “We need to keep moving. I want to check out another section of the pier before we head back into the city for the night.”
Nodding my head against his, we broke apart, continuing on our path. One of the areas Caroline had detected was behind the museum.
We searched every nook and cranny, searching for a secret door, Rainer even lifting the sewer grate to see if anything was underneath. When the search came up empty-handed, Rainer headed toward the museum, trying the door.
Unlike the last time, the door was locked. Rainer pushed for me to stand back as he shed his coat, wrapping it around his fist. Pulling his arm back, he aimed at a glass window, the pieces shattering as his fist made contact.
Immediately, my head whipped side to side, waiting for someone to approach from the noise, but thankfully, there was still no one in sight.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Rainer pushed more of the shards to the side, clearing a hole big enough for us, before gently easing my body through the opening. He was behind me in the next second, his chest pressing against my back.
His hand found my hip, squeezing, before guiding us through the dark museum. We passed different exhibits, clearly made for children, Rainer and I stopping every few feet to check an area we thought may hold an entrance.
My energy waned as we stumbled upon nothing, realizing this was a bust. I only had to hope that Warner and Sasha were having more luck. The last exhibit we wandered into was filled with dinosaur skeletons, the bones eerie in the dark, only small rays of sunshine hitting inside.
“Well, I guess that’s it,” Rainer said and I could hear the frustration tinging his voice.
Even though unrealistic, we had hoped that the first search would have been successful. I didn’t know why, but based on the guards we had seen last time, I truly thought the bunker would be on the pier. Especially with how close it was to water.
You couldn’t sustain an entire population underground for decades without a water source. What better way to access it than by being located directly beside a large one?
“We should head out. Canvas the other area before it gets too dark.”
Even as Rainer spoke, the sun dipped further toward the horizon, shorter days approaching faster and faster. Rainer started heading out of the area, but I couldn’t ignore the feeling in my gut that this was it.
Ignoring his call of my name, I stepped further into the exhibit, a large area made to look like a cave calling my name. Stepping onto the ground, fake dirt and woodchips crunched under my feet. Dropping to my hands and knees, I started digging.
Rainer came back to the area, dropping down beside me and following my lead, even as I didn’t explain what I was doing. Together, we tossed fake bones and dirt out of the way, the cement floor revealing itself.
Rainer met my eye, a glint of knowledge in them, and he began digging faster. We moved through the area in unison, creating an absolute mess, but it was all worth it when, instead of cement, my hand connected with metal.
I called out to Rainer and he hurried over to me. Pushing as much debris out of the way, we uncovered a wide metal rectangle, a singular handle sitting atop. Random numbers were printed on the door in white paint and I knew this was it.
Rainer tugged on the handle, the door not budging in the slightest. A keypad sat near the handle, a bright red light gleaming up at us.
“This is it,” I breathed, my heart hammering against my chest.
“Holy shit.”
The relief was instant. All the months of struggle, all those we had lost, were finally worth it. Sitting on our knees, Rainer and I faced each other, the emotions stemming from finding the bunker flowing through us as we collided.
Our teeth hit, our lips frenzied as we struggled to contain the elation flooding through our veins. Rainer roughly pressed me into the ground, his body hovering over mine. Within minutes, my clothes were ripped from my body, Rainer’s not far behind, his mouth never leaving mine for long.
His warm lips trailed down my neck, sucking the sensitive spot behind my ear, before he found my chest. Wrapping his mouth around one peak, he sucked greedily, his hand skimming my side, curving around my body and kneading into my ass.
I arched into his mouth, soft sighs leaving me as he played my body like an instrument. He moved his attention to my other breast, lathing it with the same attention.
Continuing to knead the flesh of my ass, he left my nipple with a pop, skating his lips over my stomach until he dipped his head, his mouth connecting with my clit.
“Oh fuck,” I groaned, my body barely able to keep up with him.
He didn’t pause. Didn’t break away from the moment for even a second. It was like he was a starving man and I was the feast he couldn’t hold back from.
Licking and sucking, he found every sweet spot I had, changing positions as I moaned my approval. My thighs started shaking, my core tightening as he continued, and just as I was there, so close to the edge, he pulled his mouth away.
My eyes popped open on a gasp and I stared down at him, groaning, “You really are an asshole.”
Rainer chuckled darkly, sliding up my body, taking my bottom lip between his teeth. “Maybe. But I’ve waited too long for this. You will not come without me.”
When I felt his hot length pressing against my entrance, I had no more complaints. It was only right that we were in this together.
My body stretched around him as he entered me, a slight tinge of pain, but his mouth was on mine, soothing me as pleasure racketed through me once again.
Our bodies were in sync as we moved, his hips thrusting languidly. Without warning, he flipped our positions, his hands gripping my hips as I sat on top of him.
“Take what you want,” he breathed. “Everything I have to give is for you.”
The words sent a heady wave of lust through me and I rolled my hips, rocking against him. I started off slowly, enjoying the way Rainer stared at me with those midnight eyes, clouded with desire.
Eventually, my movements became faster, Rainer’s grip on my hips bruising as he thrust up into me. My head tilted backwards, my hair cascading down my back, as I bit my lip to hold in my moans. The absolute last thing I wanted right now was for someone to hear.
“Rainer, I’m so close, please,” I begged, not entirely sure what I was asking for.
But he knew. Taking the lead, he sat up until our chests pressed against each other, overriding my rhythm in favor of his own. Sucking my bottom lip into his mouth, his hand found my breast, kneading the flesh.
Pinching my nipple, he bit my lip, thrusting at just the right angle, and without another thought, stars dotted my eyes. My thighs shook as I squeezed Rainer’s cock, his low groan mingling with my quiet moan.
Together we came, our hearts beating as one. Rainer rested his forehead against mine, his eyes meeting mine, and I knew exactly what he was feeling. I had to, it was living inside my heart as well.
“It’s no longer me and Murphy against the world. It’s all of us.”