Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty Four
Courtney
Ihear Landon call for me before the door is shut, and suddenly I’m in the confessional room. I’ve been in here dozens of times over the last few weeks, but somehow things feel… different. Heavy. Fucking terrifying.
I take slow, measured steps before sitting down on the designated spot and facing the camera. The woman behind the camera smiles in a way that does nothing but unsettle me.
“Hello, Courtney. Congratulations on making the final three.”
I swallow roughly. “Thanks.”
“How are you doing?” she asks.
“Honestly?”
The woman nods.
“Well, I just found out that I’m on some twisted reality TV show where only two out of sixteen people are allowed to survive, so you know, I’ve been better.” I laugh awkwardly.
A few people in the room chuckle like they’re amused, and apparently, talking about my fears out in the open like this is exactly what they want. Whatever keeps the murderous psychopaths at bay, I guess.
“Now, Courtney, we have a proposition for you. It’s a onetime-only offer.”
I nod.
“If we were to offer you a one-way ticket out of here, and guarantee you would arrive home safe and sound, would you take it?”
Freedom? Yes, please.
I know that’s not what they’re asking, though. The true meaning is written on the walls.
“You mean by myself. Without Landon or Luna or Shane,” I say.
The woman nods, and guilt gnaws at me because for a moment, I consider it.
How could I not when Lily’s face is the first thing to pop into my head?
My baby sister has been my entire purpose for most of my life.
To pass up an opportunity to get home to her?
That would make me the most selfish person alive.
My heart aches and my stomach twists because despite knowing how desperately I want to get back to her, that I need to get back to her, I know I could never live with myself if I left everyone behind.
“No. I wouldn’t… I couldn’t.”
The woman cocks her head to the side. “Would it interest you to know that we asked Landon that question, and he volunteered his spot for you? Said he wouldn’t take it himself, but he wants you to get home safe.”
My heart flip-flops in my chest, and the love I hold for him only grows.
Of course he would. I can picture him doing it; hear him saying it.
I don’t know how we fell so quickly for one another, how or when we decided we didn’t want to spend another day without the other.
It doesn’t matter, though, because today, this is where we stand, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” I reply.
The woman smiles, like she’s pleased by this. “That’s all we need. Thank you, and good luck. For what it’s worth, a lot of people are rooting for you.”
I don’t know how to take that piece of information. Nodding slowly, I stand, then I’m escorted out of the room and into the hallway.
I find Landon frantically pacing in front of the door and race into his arms. He scoops me up, pinning me to his chest and taking a huge inhale, like he can finally breathe.
I lean my head back so I can press my lips to his. “You big dummy. You were going to give up your chance of freedom for me?”
He brushes a piece of hair out of my face, then tenderly cups my cheek. “If you’re free, you can live your life with Lily. You can care for her, move on, find love,” he says like that last idea pains him. “If you die… I have nothing left to live for.”
“Landon,” I whisper, emotion choking my throat. “You have Dolores, she’s the whole reason you’re here, after all.”
He shakes his head like I’m missing the whole point.
“It’s not the same, and you know it. Yes, I came here to help her.
I wanted to be there for the only person that was there for me.
The one who helped me through one of the darkest parts of my life…
but you showed me what it feels like not just to be alive but to live. ”
Landon pauses, his green eyes meeting mine, drowning in emotion.
“I can’t lose you. I can’t go back to living half a life. Now that I know what life can be like with you, I can’t fathom the idea of any reality without you.”
My heart feels like it could burst as I drag his mouth back to mine. Our tongues tangle together as he lifts me into his arms and carries me back to our room.
Landon kicks the door shut behind us before pinning my back against it. His lips move to my neck, and I let out a ragged breath.
“Should we be doing this? I mean, we just watched two people die right in front of us before being told only two of the six of us will make it out.”
He pauses for a moment, his eyes moving to mine. “Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. In fact, for us, it’s almost guaranteed that it won’t come. So for as long as you’ll have me, I intend to spend my last moments worshiping your body and savoring every bit of you.”
Only this smooth-talking son of a bitch could have my panties soaked after a trauma-filled afternoon like today.
“You’re right. Death can wait. Sex now,” I say and begin kissing his neck.
Landon groans in approval as he moves us to the bed, dropping me onto the mattress before covering my body with his.
He makes quick work of undressing us both, our clothes scattering to the floor until we’re skin to skin.
Euphoria washes over me and we haven’t even started.
His touch, though. It’s everything. I swear I could come just from the feeling of him against me.
His thick cock definitely helps speed the process along, though.
“Come on,” I say with a wiggle. “Fuck me.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not rushing this, babygirl. I’m taking my time with you.”
Landon’s mouth moves over every inch of my skin, tracing against it barely before his tongue skates along the same path, sending chills running across my body. I gasp and moan and run my fingers through his hair as he begins moving lower.
When he reaches my thighs, he gently spreads them apart before flattening his tongue, running it through me so slow it’s hard to breathe.
I’m grinding against his face, groaning, as I desperately seek more.
He doesn’t give it to me, though. Every move, every touch—it’s all a painstakingly slow tease. A delectable one, at that.
“Landon, please. I need more,” I beg.
“Whatever you want, it’s yours,” he says and pushes two fingers into me.
I moan as he pushes them deeper before rubbing against my G-spot.
“Fuck,” I groan.
“I’ll never get over how perfect this pussy is,” Landon groans. “How perfect you are. I don’t deserve you, but I promise to always treasure you.”
“Landon, I… I—”
“I know, baby. I know,” he says as he increases the pace of his fingers, forcing me right to the edge before he pulls them out.
My pussy pulses for a moment at the loss of him, before he pushes inside me once more. Over and over again, he teases me just to the edge before pulling away. I’m a weeping, moaning mess, my words running together and barely coherent.
“Please, I ne-need yo-ou.”
Landon nods his understanding, withdrawing his fingers again, then lining his cock up to me.
He drags his tip through me for several moments before circling my clit with it.
I’m throbbing and soaked and fucking desperate when he finally pushes inside me.
Instantly, I wince at the feeling of being so full of him, then nothing but pleasure sets in.
Landon buries his mouth in my neck, sinking his teeth into my skin to muffle his groan. “Fuckkkk.”
“Oh God,” I gasp. “Landon,” I breathe as he slowly pulls out before pushing back in.
He nods wordlessly, his eyes fluttering from open to closed like he too is balancing in this euphoric haze. One of his hands skates over my chest, coming up to my cheek, and I turn my face to kiss his palm.
His eyes open a little wider, that piercing green gaze pinning me in place as so many emotions pour out of him and into me.
“I love you, Courtney. I knew from the moment I set eyes on you that my life would never be the same. I’ll love you until I take my last breath, whether that’s tomorrow or in fifty years. It will always be you.”
“I love you… so much,” I whisper, emotion tightening my voice as tears prick my eyes.
“It’s you and me, baby. I’m going to do everything in my power to see us through this. Together.”
“Together,” I agree.
I glance down to watch his cock pushing in and out of me. The veins on it are throbbing as he pulls the glistening head out before pushing back in deeper.
Oh my fucking God.
“Now be my sweet girl and come with me,” he says, not as a request or even like a command. No, Landon says it like it’s an inevitability, and it feels like one.
One more deep thrust is all I need to fall over the edge, and Landon is right alongside me. We shout and groan and cry out in pleasure, not giving a damn who hears us as we soak in every moment. It’s just like he said this morning. Life is short, and I want to drink in every moment with him.