19. Verity
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Verity
T he motel is like a graveyard. Desolate and lifeless.
Apart from the guy at the front desk we haven’t seen a single other person in two days. On the road in the distance there are some trucks passing and when the wind is blowing too hard, I can see their dust trails rising into the air. But nothing else happens out here.
I am restless and uneasy, and the tension escalates the longer we remain here. I have nothing to distract me from my own thoughts.
Red believes that this is the safest place for us to hide, and I can see why. Because no one exists out here. Nothing exists.
He’s powered off his phone, and I left mine behind, so we can’t be tracked - but we also can’t receive updates on the situation back home. Red is uncertain about the safety of his family, and I’m unsure if my father is causing chaos.
I swing back and forth between being furious at Red for bringing us here and being furious at myself for not just going home when my father told me to. But all of that is inconsequential when I think about leaving him - and I know I could never.
It doesn’t stop the emotional turmoil though.
And with nothing else to do out here but think - I am going a little crazy.
I pick up a rock and throw it into the field behind the motel. I was out for a walk, but I’ve walked this path too many times and now I’m just sitting here on an old wooden bench that looks like it shouldn’t still be functional.
I trace my finger over the gritty, dry surface and wince when a small splinter spikes into my skin.
“Dammit.” I mutter.
“There you are.” His voice comes from behind me.
“Where else would I be?” I snap, annoyed. I push and rub my finger to force the splinter out.
“I’ve got good news.” Rufino says, sitting down on the bench next to me.
He has my full attention in an instant.
“We can go home?” I ask, excited and perking up, forgetting about the splinter.
“No, but the motel owner told me he was going past that truck stop we visited, and I asked him to bring us an order of whatever was on the menu today. Maybe we’ll get some more of that incredible pot roast.”
“Pot roast? Are you serious right now?” I get up with a loud huff and move to storm off. Rufino grabs my arm and pulls me onto his lap.
“Hey, don’t do that. Don’t walk away from me. I’m just trying to make the most of this situation.”
I sit on his lap, annoyed that I like the way he is holding me and as always - how patient he is with me. My first instinct is to run. To lash out. To fight. His first instinct is to hold me. How did I find someone so perfect for me? Someone how knows exactly how to handle me in every situation. He’s like the yin to my yang. My perfect balance. Someone to keep my grounded but still let me be wild and spontaneous.
Perhaps a little too spontaneous if I look around at where it’s gotten us.
I sigh and Rufino chuckles.
He runs his hand up and down my spine, sending shivers through me and making me lean into him.
He grins and says, “It’s not so bad. If I had to be stuck in a place like this with anyone on earth I’d choose you.”
I laugh. “You are stuck in a place like this you idiot.”
He chuckles too.
After a moment of silence, just us sitting together and looking out over the nothingness, he leans close and whispers against my ear.
“It won’t be like this forever, my love. We will have our lives back to normal soon. This is only temporary.”
“I’m just worried about where it all ends.” I shrug, my head resting on his shoulder and the warmth of his hand against my side.
“It ends with us together. No matter what.” He says.
He wraps his hand around the back of my neck and digs his fingers into my skin. His expression becomes serious.
“I am never letting you go, Verity. You and I belong together. Nothing in this universe can change that. If I can’t be with you I don’t want to exist.”
My heart races at his words.
His love for me is an obsession.
It makes me feel desired and dangerously romantic.
I turn on his lap so that I’m facing him. Wrapping my legs around his waist I lean forward to kiss him.
He grabs my ass and pushes his cock up against me. It’s hard and pressing against the fabric of his pants, teasing me.
A soft moan escapes my lips and I kiss deeper, pushing my tongue into his mouth.
Never in my life have I been so loved before. No one has ever wanted me before. So needed.
His love for me drives me crazy in passionate ways. Pushes me to do things that even I might not do alone. He is the one person in this world who might be a little crazier than I am.
He stands up, lifting me in his arms.
“I think we should go somewhere a little more private.” He grins.
“More private than the middle of nowhere?”
“I’m sure old man Tucker at reception would love to come back early and get an eye full of your gorgeous ass. I’d bet he’s never seen something so beautiful in his entire life.” He says slapping my butt to prove his point.
I giggle and press my mouth over his to kiss him while he carries me towards our motel room. He kicks the bottom of the door open with his foot and then closed again behind us before he drops me onto the bed.
Red pulling his shirt off, so I do the same. I tug my t-shirt over my head and throw it at him with a mischievous smile on my face.
He stands next to the bed looking down at me with intense focus.
“You try are the most beautiful thing in the world, Verity. I could obsess over you for all eternity. You are my reason to live - my everything.”
My heart beats faster, pushing the boundaries of my love for him further than ever before. His pale green eyes are my drug, and his words are a poison of dangerous proportions. I want him.
Standing up on the bed I jump over to him and into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.
“I love you to the end of the universe, Viking.” I kiss his cheek, then nuzzle my face into his neck. “And then all the way back again. A hundred times.”
He falls us both onto the bed, his arms pinned on either side of my head, pressing his hands into the mattress, caging me into his field of vision.
“Believe me when I tell you I will never leave you or stop loving you.” He whispers, looking down at me with a hungry fierceness in his eyes.
I reach up to touch his face.
“Why me? How did I get so lucky?”
“It was always going to be you, Verity. It wasn’t luck. It was destiny.”
Outside the motel room a loud screech of tires skidding across gravels makes us both freeze. The door flies open, slamming against the old brick wall behind it and causing it to splinter.
Three men rush into the room dressed head to toe in black - then two more. I scream as fear floods through my body.
Heavily armed guards pack the small motel room, pointing their weapons at us.
Rufino moves, spinning to face them and shoving me protectively behind his body.
He holds me there with one arm behind his back.
“Who the fuck are you?” he snarls, facing down the men without a hint of fear in his voice.
My heart beats, almost drowning out sound.
Wrapping my arm around my breasts to cover them but also for a false sense of security.
Outside someone chuckles.
“It’s my father’s men.” I gasp in shock, recognizing that cold steel mocking laugh.
“How?” Rufino demands.
“Get up.” One man demands, waving the barrel of his rifle at Rufino.
He stands up slowly, pulling me with him so that I am still behind him.
Rufino squats down at grabs my t-shirt off the floor, passing it behind himself to me.
“Put it on, my love.” He mutters.
“That’s right. It’s time to get dressed and end this disgusting interaction.” My father’s voice comes from outside the door.
“How?” I whisper again, trying to figure out if there was any way he could have tracked me - but I have nothing on me. It doesn’t make sense.
My father steps into the room and tilts his head to the side, eyeing Rufino.
“Did you really think you could win against me?” he asks, calm and deadly. Then he turns to me. “Verity, make yourself decent. Put your shoes on for fuck sakes, we’re leaving.”
“You’re not taking her anywhere. You’ll have to kill me first.”
“I have no problem with that.” My father laughs again.
“No.” I scream, stepping out from behind him. “Please, don’t.”
“Then do as you’re told.” His eyes are empty. Like dark pits filled with nothing but coal. Dead.
I reach out and touch Rufino’s side. My fingers trace over his skin. “Red. Don’t.” I beg him. But his body is tense. His stance tells me he is no intention of letting me go without a fight.
Several guns pointed towards him tells me he doesn’t stand a chance.
“Red.” I plead again.
“I made you a promise.” He says, his voice low.
“It’s not worth your life.”
“Enough.” My father snarls, “Take her. Let’s go.”
One of his men grabs my arm and yanks me away from Rufino. I scream with fright as the man’s rough fingers dig into my skin.
Rufino turns into a beast at the sound of my pain.
He flies at the man closest to him, slamming his fist into the guys face. I hear the crack of bone as his nose splinters under the force of Rufino’s punch.
Rufino doesn’t stop. From the floor he grabs another man’s leg and yanks it out from beneath him. He falls hard onto his back, causing his gun to fire.
My father ducks to the ground yelling something I can’t make out.
Three other men fly towards Rufino. One of them kicks him in the face and his head snaps backwards, but it doesn’t stop him. He’s back on his feet as their hands grab at him and try to force him back down.
“Rufino, stop.” I scream. “He’ll kill you.”
Tears are streaming down my cheeks.
My entire body is shaking, and my voice is breaking.
“Stop.” I scream again.
Someone lifts the butt of his rifle and slams it into Rufino’s head.
He collapses to the ground, semi-unconscious, groaning and lifting his hand to touch his skull at the point of impact.
I try to run to him, but hands grab at me and pull me away.
I stand with my eyes on him, my back against the guard, his hand around my throat and a gun against my head.
Inside my body is raging. I want to go to Rufino. I want to know he’s ok.