CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SARAH
Three days. It’s been three very long days since I woke up in that dark cave. And James hasn’t let me lift a single finger the whole time. He’s stuck in full-on overprotective boyfriend mode.
I catch my reflection in a puddle still hanging around after last night’s downpour. The bruise on my forehead, a souvenir from that super fun river accident, is still there, still taking its sweet time to heal.
Sure, we’ve had plenty of close calls. Most of them are thanks to my tendency to leap before I look. But this one? I think this one’s actually not my fault.
It’s summer now—hot, sticky, and downright suffocating. I shrug off my green jacket and tie it around my waist. Funny how it’s always the little things that drag you down.
The cave was supposed to be a quick pit stop, a chance for me to rest, but I still feel like a half-dead battery. My head’s still throbbing and my legs are screaming from walking all morning.
Lorelai and I are leading the pack today. She’s huffing a little but still manages to crack a joke. “All this walking’s gonna give me killer legs.”
I laugh and bump her with my elbow. “We could fake a twisted ankle and make them carry us.”
Her eyes light up as she gives me a mischievous grin. “Oh, you are trouble. I love that. You’re my kind of girl, Sarah. We’re gonna be tight. I can tell.”
I grin back at her, feeling lighter already.
It’s been forever since I’ve had any girl talk, and man, have I missed it.
We spent the last couple of days laughing nonstop in that cave.
Lorelai totally owned the place, you know?
Watching her boss James and Michael around, telling them to “make it comfy for Sarah,” was absolute gold.
I glance back to check on the boys. Michael has that hunter look again.
We might’ve grown up on a ranch, but the forest has always been his real home.
He’s always tuned in to something the rest of us can’t even sense.
And that’s why, no matter how bad things get, I always feel safe when he’s around.
Walking beside him, Ryan’s got this calm look, even with all the bruises. His eyes keep finding Lorelai, and hers find him right back. It’s sweet, like one of those love stories I’ve read a million times and never get tired of.
James catches my eye and gives me one of those winks. Yep, the kind that melts me on the spot. I can still hear his voice in my head, all those promises he made back in the cave. That dream house he described, with the big porch and bookcases in every room… I can almost see it.
I hope we find it up north, in that town we’re heading to. A place where we can finally stop looking over our shoulders. A place where we can just… be together.
He’s still quiet about what happened at the pharmacy. Back there, he killed again. So did Michael. I didn’t see it. I kept my promise to James and shut my eyes, just like he asked.
He’d walk through fire for me. I know that. And God, I love him for it. But sometimes I wonder… how many more lives will he and Michael have to take just to keep me safe?
We’re all armed now, thanks to Ryan’s secret stash. My gun feels heavy against my thigh, snug in my holster, but oddly, it’s comforting. Like maybe, just maybe, I don’t have to rely on anyone else to protect me anymore.
The forest trail opens up, and we all stop short at what’s in front of us.
A fence, at least ten feet tall and topped with barbed wire. I look sideways, and it stretches as far as I can see in both directions, eventually fading into the trees.
Michael, of course, is already annoyed.
“Who the hell puts a goddamn fence in the middle of the woods?”
James steps up, leans in, and peers through the fence. His eyes narrow as he scans the other side, completely focused.
“It’s to keep animals off the highway,” he says, pointing to a cracked stretch of highway visible through the gaps in the fence.
It doesn’t surprise me that he knows this. He always seems to know things, details I’ve never read in books or heard in stories. Little pieces of a world that crumbled before I was born.
James squares his shoulders, pulls a pair of pliers from his backpack, and starts cutting through the wire. Michael and Ryan jump in, grabbing the loose ends and bending the metal back until we’ve got ourselves a rough doorway, just big enough to squeeze through.
James is the first to slip through the gap. The bent metal scrapes against his jeans, but he doesn’t even flinch.
He makes it to the other side, then turns to hold the jagged edges open, meeting my eyes. “Sarah, your turn.”
I step up, eyeing the gap like it’s waiting to bite me. This is exactly how my accidents start—and they’re never small.
I suck in a breath, count to three in my head, and go for it. I duck, twist, and curve my back just right, slipping through the wire almost in slow motion. I even count my steps, just to make sure I don’t trip over something stupid. James’s eyes stay on me the whole time.
I land on the other side with a soft thud, blinking a few times. No rips. No scratches. No awkward face-plant. Huh. That never happens.
“Super easy, Outsider,” I tease, and James rewards me with a smile.
Michael and the rest of the group follow us through. The woods fade behind us, and we step into a parking lot. It’s wide and empty, except for a single blue pickup truck, parked dead center like it’s been waiting for us.
Ryan practically bolts at the sight of it.
No surprise there. He’s been going on and on the past couple of days, filling the cave with stories about how his dad, who used to be a mechanic, taught him how to bring cars back from the dead.
It’s his thing. Cars are to Ryan what guns are to James: second nature.
“Oh man, this is perfect. We can totally use this,” Ryan says, grinning as he circles the truck.
While Ryan ducks under the hood, muttering to himself, James leads me over to the truck. He picks me up like I’m light as a feather and sets me down on the truck bed. I let out a long sigh of relief. It’s not exactly comfortable. It’s rigid and a little rusty, but at least we’ve stopped walking.
James’s touch lingers, his fingers pressing into my waist to remind me he’s here, and he’s watching.
A shiver runs through me, the kind that’s both warm and electric.
That’s the thing about James: he has this way of making everything feel more.
More intense. More charged. He can turn an innocent touch into a promise. A promise of something… delicious.
While I’m still buzzing from that, my eyes wander over to Ryan.
He’s crouched by the front tire now, sleeves rolled up, showing off the tattoos inked down both arms. I’ve spent a lot of time admiring them back in the cave.
One has his last name, Evans, inside an astronaut’s helmet; another has Lorelai’s name carved into a pumpkin.
Suddenly, a hand grips my chin and turns my face forward again.
“Hey. Eyes over here,” James says.
I can’t help but grin as I take in the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes burn just a little.
Oh, he’s jealous. So jealous.
And it’s the hottest thing ever.
“Jealous, huh?” I lean into his hand, daring him. “You’re practically red-faced, and we’re not exactly short on oxygen.”
His eyebrow arches. “Sarah.”
Warning tone noted. Fucking hot.
“Well, it’s understandable,” I continue, ignoring the warning. “Ryan’s not exactly hard to look at. Tall. Muscular. Blond. Dream blue eyes. The real challenge is figuring out how to get Lorelai out of the picture.”
I bite my bottom lip for effect, holding James’s gaze, watching the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. I’m poking a bear, and I know it.
“Are you trying to kill me, woman?”
I laugh, and because I’m me, I throw Ryan another meaningful look, just to see how far I can push it. And that’s when James snaps.
“That’s it!”
Before I know what’s happening, his hands grip my hips and yank me into him fast, the truck bed scraping under me as I slide forward. I suck in a breath as my body slams into his, and my hands fly to his shirt, grabbing it to steady myself.
“You’re playing with fire, little danger,” he murmurs, his thumb tracing along my jaw. “And I’m not the kind of man who minds getting burned.”
Holy hell.
His words hit me like a match to gasoline.
He leans forward, a vein popping in his forehead. Oh, he’s mad. Big mad. And yet, the butterflies in my stomach are throwing a damn party.
All at once, his hand is at the nape of my neck, and his lips are on mine, hard and desperate and possessive. He doesn’t kiss me—he takes me.
Guess I pushed the right button after all.
By the time he finally pulls back, I’m gasping for air.
“James, we’re not alone here,” I hiss, trying to stay sane.
His eyes darken—darker than I’ve ever seen them.
“Let the fucking world watch.”
I blink up at him, my pulse stuttering and every last nerve in my body standing on end.
Oh.
That… is hot. Really hot. Probably the hottest thing I’ve ever heard come out of that delicious mouth of his.
James’s hand tightens on the back of my neck, not rough, just enough to remind me he’s in control. His other hand slides down to my thigh. He grips it, and I gasp as his fingers dig in, claiming me without hesitation.
My legs move on their own, parting as he fills the space between us. His cock presses against me through his jeans, rock-hard between my thighs, and my body answers instantly.
I’m on fire. My skin. My nerves. My very soul is alive with the need to feel his hands everywhere.
“You drive me insane, you know that?” he growls, looking at me like I’m already naked beneath him, and I fucking love that. “Damn it, now I want to throw you in this truck and take what’s mine.”
His words send a jolt of heat through me, leaving my cheeks flushed and my body tense in the best way.
“James…” It’s barely a whisper, but he hears it.