by Eva Chase
As soon as I’d gotten to my feet on the ledge, I saw that what I’d thought was a shadow on the rock was the narrow entrance to a cave. A couple of Jeremy’s bags were leaning against the cave wall, a thin sleeping bag rolled and tied to one. Ready to be grabbed quickly if need be.
In the course of a couple of days he’d gone from living in that nice apartment downtown to squatting in a literal cave. Anger flared inside me. I was never going to understand how anyone could run another human being to the ground like that. All because he had a power they wanted to exploit.
But Jeremy had taken it all in stride. He’d barely shown any anger. That was the kind of man he was. Always focused on what he could do, not dwelling on things he couldn’t change, no matter how unfair they were.
I’d never met anyone so determined to do the right thing. That mix of strength and passion made me want to do all kinds of things to him.
I grasped his wrist and leaned against the wall of the cave, tugging him to me. “If I might not get to spend that much time with you for the next while, you’d better believe I’m going to put the time I have now to good use.”
Jeremy laughed lightly, his lips just an inch from mine. “Somehow I’m getting the sense your idea of good use is very similar to mine.”
I slipped my hand around the back of his head, tangling my fingers in his soft, thick hair, and he closed that inch to kiss me. His mouth angled hot against mine. All the passion in him was focused on me now, branding me from head to toe.
We’d managed to get interrupted last time even though I’d been doing my best to hurry things along. I wasn’t wasting any time today.
I broke from our kiss just long enough to yank Jeremy’s shirt up over his head. He tossed it on the ground and claimed my mouth again. His hands worked at the buttons down my shirt. Every brush of them against my chest left my skin burning in the most blissful way. Those sensations combined with the roughness of the rock behind me left me trembling.
Jeremy undid the last button, and I lowered my arms to let the shirt fall. His hands slid up my sides to fondle my breasts. I whimpered into his mouth as he stroked them. With a quick tug behind me, he’d freed them from my bra. He teased both my nipples to peaks at the same time with swivels of his thumbs. I arched into him, pleasure racing over my skin.
This man was just addictive. I couldn’t imagine ever getting enough of him.
He leaned in to kiss me harder, bracing his arm between me and the cave wall, his naked chest pressed against my bare breasts. The heat building between us was already scorching.
Too many clothes still. I fumbled with the button of his jeans. When I’d gotten the zipper down, he kicked them off easily. My fingers shot straight to the hard length of his cock. He groaned as I gripped him through his boxers. His kisses became wilder. His hips pumped in time with my strokes.
He wrenched at my pants. I squirmed out of them with his help, kissing him back just as desperately. He paused to trail his fingers down over my panties to the wetness spreading between my legs. His breath caught when he felt it.
“So beautiful,” he murmured. “So fucking hot.”
I gasped as his thumb rubbed my clit. “Enough talking. I’m ready to get to the fucking.”
He gave a choked laugh and yanked my panties down too. A pulse of pleasure shot through me with each stroke of his fingers against my core. I tugged down his boxers and caressed his cock, skin to silky skin. It twitched against my palm.
Jeremy gave me a long, deep kiss as our hips arched together. Then he glanced around. I ducked to quickly grab my recent purchase from my purse. When I’d retrieve the foil packet, he’d already stepped away from the wall.
He held out his hand to me, magnificent in his nakedness. And it wasn’t just the sculpted muscles of his body, the length of his ready cock, or the gleam in his gorgeous eyes. Suddenly I could feel a sort of energy humming off of him. It tingled over my skin, taking my breath away.
I took his hand. “I’m going to make you fly,” he said in a low voice, his expression full of promise. He knelt down on the cave floor, drawing me with him. But as he laid me down and bent over me, my back didn’t touch the hard ground. The air seemed to catch me, holding me with a warm, steady pressure just beneath my body.
I stared up at Jeremy, and he grinned. He was holding me. Holding both of us off the ground with the power of his mind while his literal hands traveled over my body again, teasing my nipples into stiffer peaks, dipping between my thighs until I was shaking with need.
“Jeremy,” I whimpered. He plunged into me, sending pleasure radiating through my entire body. His shaft filled my core with a blissful burn. He gripped my hip and stroked my breast, and his presence surrounded me. We drifted higher as if propelled by the heat flaring between us.
I bucked to meet him, and he thrust harder, his teeth grazing down the side of my neck. The pressure holding me up shifted around me, forming tendrils of contact that kissed the backs of my knees, the crooks of my shoulders, the small of my back, all at the same time. “Oh, God,” I cried as the swell of sensation swept through me.
Jeremy drove into me with one last stroke, and I shattered apart. Sparks shot from the place where we were joined and burst behind my eyes. “Grace,” Jeremy muttered. “Fuck, Grace.” The pumping of his hips turned erratic. He thrust harder, deeper, and I careened right back over the edge again with a gasp and a fresh wave of bliss. This time he came with me. His hips jerked, and he clutched me harder. We rocked against each other, riding out our release together.
As Jeremy’s muscles relaxed, we floated back to earth. He braced himself as we settled onto the ground so that his weight didn’t push me into the stone floor.
“I should have gotten out the sleeping bag,” he said, brushing a strand of hair back from my eyes. “I just couldn’t stand to wait another second...”
“It was fine,” I said, and laughed at how inadequate that sounded. “It was amazing, Jeremy. How many guys could make me literally float away with pleasure?”
He gave me a sly smile and a gentle kiss. “I might have a few other tricks up my sleeve I’ve always wanted to try out.”
“Oh, yeah.” I’d just been satisfied, but at those words, a new ache formed between my legs. I ran my hand up and down his arm. “I’d love a demonstration.”
It was amazing how simple being with him felt. As if the talent he’d put to use making me writhe in desire hadn’t also made him the target of enemies he might never completely shake.
21
Jeremy
I was sitting in the mouth of the cave, soaking up the sun and chewing on a strip of beef jerky from my food supplies, when my phone buzzed with a text alert. I grabbed it.
That license plate you sent me the other day? Liam had written. Traffic cam picked it up on the freeway heading toward Las Vegas. Looks like our gambit worked.
A smile stretched across my face. I wasn’t home free yet, but man, that was good news to hear.
Thanks to you, I typed back. Let’s draw them farther away. Maybe a “slip” in the Miami area sometime tomorrow?
I can do that. I love thinking about those assholes running in circles.
Me too. I thanked him again and set down the phone, stretching out my legs.
A sense of immense satisfaction filled me. Grace had left a few hours ago, but I could still hear her cries of ecstasy—the ecstasy I’d brought her to. I’d tricked and evaded my pursuers. I had a plan in place to start a real life here. What could possibly go wrong?
Whatever you do, never ask that.
The rasp of careful footsteps reached my ears. I tensed. Edging back into the shelter of the cave, I scanned the landscape below. It took a moment for my gaze to catch on the movement.
A guy in a ranger uniform was just emerging from the redwood forest. He had a handheld radio at his ear. His voice carried faintly to me.
“Yeah, I got a report of someone possibly camping out by the cliffs. Figured I should take a look.
No, I think I’ll be good. Just keep an eye on things at your end, all right?”
My pulse kicked up a notch. If the ranger had just been making his rounds, I’d have taken my stuff deeper into the cave and waited him out. But he was specifically out here to search for illegal campers.
Who would have reported me? I’d been incredibly careful not to be seen overnight. And there was nothing wrong with just hanging around by the cliff during the day while the park was officially open.
Of course, sometimes people got overzealous with the reporting. I hadn’t seen anyone nearby when Grace had arrived, but maybe someone had strolled by at just the wrong time and overheard something. I hadn’t been quite as careful about that.
I hefted my bags, slinging them both over one shoulder. Bracing my other hand against the cave wall, I peered out again. The ranger was scoping out the landscape all around, but he was definitely heading toward the cliff. There wasn’t enough shelter between him and me for me to slink away.
Well, I could do the same thing with him that Liam had with the Alpha Project people. Distract him with a false trail, draw him in the wrong direction.
About a quarter mile farther along the cliff, the rock face sloped down into a stretch of uneven ground heaped with boulders and smaller rocks. I focused on one of those.
A prickle of energy flowed through me. With a shove of my attention, a stone about the size of my head tumbled down the pile.
The ranger’s head jerked around. He picked up his pace, his hand going to the baton he carried. “Hey!” he called out. “Is someone over there?”
He passed the cave entrance without a glance in my direction. I gave another rock a mental push for good measure. As it clattered down the shallower slope, the ranger sped up to a jog. “Hello?” he said.
The second he’d vanished out of view around the side of the slope, I hopped down from the ledge outside the cave. Hustling as fast as I could while still setting down my feet quietly, I ran for the redwoods.
More scree rattled behind me as the ranger must have been climbing through the scattered rocks. Good, that would cover up any sounds I was making. My breath sharp in my throat, I ducked into the shadows of the forest. When I’d put a few trees behind me, I slowed down to a brisk walk.
Okay. One problem avoided. What to do now? Trying to find another hideout in the park didn’t seem like the wisest idea.
Well, I could assume at least some of the Alpha Project people had left the city. I had other IDs and credit accounts I could draw on. I could find another hotel somewhere on the fringes and hang out there for a while. No visits from Grace this time, but our interlude today should hold me over for a while, as much as I’d want to see her.
Before she’d headed home, we’d come up with a much more subtle way for her to let me know how she was doing from here on. Once a day, she’d make a post on her Facebook page that included the keyword we’d decided on. It wouldn’t tip anyone else off, but I’d know it meant there was nothing to worry about.
How long would we have to wait before we saw each other face to face again? I turned that question over in my head as I headed toward the parking lot where I’d left my new rental car.
A week of distance didn’t seem long enough, but much longer than that would be hard to take. Maybe we could come up with some ways for her to test whether anyone was still following her around before we arranged a real meet-up.
The lot was half full when I got there, various people having headed out for a quick nature walk in the late afternoon after they’d finished work. My gaze skimmed over the other vehicles, but nothing jumped out at me as reason for concern.
I tossed my bags in the back of the Toyota I’d rented and turned it toward the city. I’d head to the south end this time, to put as much distance between me and the last location Alpha Project had tracked me to as possible.
Maybe they snuck up on me, or maybe I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should. All I knew was one moment I was considering ways to see Grace again, and the next my eye caught on a shape in the rearview mirror.
A dark blue sedan with tinted windows. My stomach flipped over. The car was at least twenty feet behind me on the road, keeping pace. With the sun shining off the darkened windshield, I couldn’t make out even a hint of the figure in the driver’s seat.
Was there the slightest chance this was some other dark blue sedan, the biggest coincidence in the history of the universe? I doubted it, but I wanted to check before I took any more extreme measures.
I turned left earlier than I’d intended too, staying at the same speed. No point in giving away that I’d noticed anything wrong. There was nothing down this road but a row of suburban houses.
The blue sedan turned after me. Well, it could be the driver just happened to live or be visiting someone down here.
I took a right, and another right, heading back toward the highway now. The sedan stayed behind me, never slowing. My hands clenched around the steering wheel.
All right. That answered that question.
I pulled back onto the highway, and the sedan followed suit. I didn’t know where I was going, but the only thing that mattered at the moment was losing the car on my tail. Deeper in the city, vanishing would be easier. More traffic and pedestrians to get between me and my tail. More buildings to hide my route.
The blue sedan trailed behind me all the way through the suburbs. When I got off the highway again, it eased up until it was no more than half a block behind me, but it didn’t press too close. Did they really think I hadn’t realized what they were up to yet?
As we passed into a commercial strip, I made a sudden lane change and whipped around a corner to the right. For a second, I thought my escape might really be that easy. But before I could make another turn out of sight, the blue sedan swerved after me. Shit.
I took a left and another right, weaving closer to downtown. The sedan crept closer with each turn. My heart thumped. They were getting less cautious now. Any moment they might decide to stop simply tailing me and try to stop me in my tracks.
There was only one car between us when I had to stop at a red light. I watched the sedan from my rearview mirror, ready to run the red if one of those doors started to open. A teen crossing the street kicked at a ragged plywood board that had fallen near the curb, and my spirits lifted. A long, heavy nail protruded from the middle of the slab of sealed wood. Perfect.
I split my attention between the board and the sedan behind me. The light switched to green. As I hit the gas, I yanked on the board with my mental energy at the same time.
My car surged forward. The plywood skidded across the road to land right in front of the sedan’s front right tire, a second before it reached the intersection.
There was a thump as the wheel hit the board. The tire immediately began to sag. A smile twitching at my lips, I pressed the gas harder. As the sedan slowed with a crunch of the board and a hiss from the tire, I roared around the next turn, out of their view.
I drove on, whipping back and forth through the streets. When I’d put a couple dozen blocks between me and the last place I’d seen the sedan, I pulled over to the curb and leapt out.
They knew this car now—it was no good to me. Slinging my bags over my shoulder, I hurried down the street.
They must have followed me from the park. How had they even known to look for me there? Unless they’d tracked Grace there somehow...
My chest tightened. That had to be it. And if they’d tracked her there, that meant they hadn’t completely bought her story yesterday. And now they knew for sure she’d lied to them.
Before I’d thought it through, my hand had leapt to my phone. I caught myself. No. I kept that burner family-only for a reason. I could check in on Grace without jeopardizing our entire communication network. The same way I’d first given her an alternative way to contact me.
I ducked into the first convenience store I passed. A small rack of prepaid phones stood next to the counter. I grabbed one, paid t
he woman behind the counter, and had already cracked open the plastic casing before I’d stepped out of the store.
I tapped in Grace’s new number and a quick message. It’s me. The kitten’s climbing up the curtains again. How are you doing?
Kitten was the keyword we’d agreed on. She’d know it was me.
My fingers tensed around the phone as I waited for her answer. She could be away from the phone—in the shower, taking a nap, with a customer at work and unable to check it yet. There was no reason to worry just because she didn’t respond instantly.
I walked for another ten minutes. The phone stayed silent. I made myself keep going for another ten after that before I gave in and lifted the phone again.
This time I put in a voice call. The phone on the other end rang and rang. Then voice mail picked up with a click.
I hung up. My feet kept walking. I kept staring ahead of me, but I hardly saw the street.
Something had happened to Grace. I felt it with an ache that ran right through the middle of my chest. But I had no way of finding out what.
22
Grace
There wasn’t any way around it. Grandma’s house—my house, now—was going to have to get cleaned up sometime. And now that it might be several days or more before I could see Jeremy again, I needed something to do to make the time pass.
I shuffled through the wreckage of the kitchen, picking up the larger pieces of broken glass and china and tossing them into a garbage bag. The police had already come through and completed their investigation of the scene. Now it was just a matter of taking out the trash. I’d already called up a waste disposal company to pick up the ruined furniture I couldn’t carry on my own. I’d have to order a new mattress, a new couch.
It was okay. I had savings. Maybe living here would be easier if the things around the house were more mine and less Grandma’s. Fewer reminders of what I’d lost and the painful times on the way to losing them.