by Jill Sanders
“What do you need moved?” He followed her into her parents’ room.
“Everything.” She turned and smiled at him. “So, the question is, do you want to do it now, or later?”
He glanced around and sighed. “Well, I’m already dirty, so now is good.”
“Perfect.” She reached up on her toes and planted a big kiss on his lips.
Chapter Thirteen
Two hours later, she glanced around her new room and smiled. “Wow, what a difference.” He took her shoulders in his hands and pulled her back into his chest.
“Now it’s mine.” She smiled. Her parents had had thick dark curtains on every window. Once they had removed all those, they swapped out her mattress with her parents and moved the bed into a corner. She found two nightstands and a dresser in her grandmother’s room that went perfectly with the bed. The walls upstairs had only ever been painted white. Michael had run next door and brought over the rest of his paint. They had enough to paint one wall, which acted as an accent wall. One the paint dried, she hung a large mirror that she’d found in the attic over the dresser. It went perfectly with the darker wall.
She thought about going into town and looking for some local art to hang on the other walls.
She’d moved all of her things into the bigger bathroom and had tossed all of her parents’ clothing into her grandmother’s room so she could go through it later.
Her old room sat empty now and she thought briefly about turning it into an office or workout room at some later time.
“How about a long, hot shower,” he whispered next to her ear. “After I check on the dog that is.”
“Rose.”
“Hmm?” He turned her around and wrapped his arms around her.
“It’s her favorite smell. I think she’ll like it.” She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Rose it is.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll go check up on Rose, then we can shower and after…” His eyes moved to the fresh bed.
“Sounds good.” She moaned with excitement.
When he disappeared down the hallway, she glanced around once more. She’d never really been allowed in her parents’ room before. So mentally, she had no problem with taking it over as her own. Actually, she believed it would help her get over their loss. Not that she was doing much grieving, but she had thought about them frequently since arriving back home.
She still avoided going into town down the road they’d crashed on and had only traveled it once, the day she’d arrived home. She didn’t like the energy or thoughts that had crossed her when she’d passed by the spot where they had died.
She didn’t know what she would do if she happened to see them.
She felt a shiver run down her spine and purposely walked into the bathroom to turn on the hot water. Peeling off her clothes, she stepped into the spray and moaned with pleasure.
“Sounds like you’re having fun without me,” Michael observed from outside the glass doors.
“Why don’t you come in here and see for yourself,” she teased.
When the door opened, she smiled and then lost her breath at the sight of him, completely naked and hard. He was standing there on the shower mat, just staring at her. His eyes heated as they roamed slowly over every curve.
Her eyes did the same, taking in the muscles, the sexy trail of dark hair that traveled down the lower part of his belly button to his hardness, which jumped when her eyes landed on it.
“Beautiful,” she whispered. “I didn’t get to enjoy looking much last night,” she said as he slowly moved into the shower. “Now I want…” She stood back, making more room for him under the spray. “I want to enjoy you.” She trailed a finger over his chest. She watched his eyes close when she flicked a finger over one of his nipples. Then her finger followed the trail of light hair down his chest, over the ripples of muscle, dipped in briefly to his bellybutton, then gripped him firmly with her hand.
His head rolled back under the spray as a low moan escaped his closed lips. She enjoyed exploring him slowly with her fingertips, feeling each muscle jump under her touch. He kept his head back and his eyes closed as she wrapped her fingers around him, then his brown eyes met hers.
“How much do you want me?” she asked. “Remember, I can’t read you.” A smile played on her lips.
“Too much.” He groaned. “Too damn much.” He took a step towards her until her back touched the cool tile wall of the shower. Then his hands started their own tour of her body. He reached up and poured some shampoo on his hands, lathered it up, then slowly moved his hands in circles as he touched every part of her.
“There’s something about how I feel when I’m with you,” he said as his hands continued their path. “Something that just clicks, like this is where I’m supposed to be.” He leaned down and pushed his body against hers until she was the one moaning.
“Yes,” she panted.
When her eyes met his, she knew the exact feeling he was talking about. It was like sparks of warmth radiated from him into her. Her heart felt like it was finally beating for the first time. Her nails dug softly into his skin.
“Michael.” She waited until he looked into her eyes. “There’s a storm that’s been brewing in me for years, and now that you’re here… I’m calm.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
His fingers stilled on her as his mouth took over exploring her. “There’s so much we can do together,” he said against her skin. “I want to take my time and enjoy every minute.” He rained kisses down to her shoulder. “Every glorious inch of this sexy body.” His hands started moving again.
“You’re torturing me,” she burst out after a moment, causing a smirk to cross his face.
“And enjoying it.”
Her eyes narrowed as her hands started moving over him again. “Two can play at this game.” She watched his eyes heat as her fingers found him, harder than before.
“Now you’re playing with fire,” he warned.
“Good, I like it hot.” She pushed gently until their positions were reversed and he was the one leaning against the wall. She plastered her body against his, used her mouth and hands until she felt his body shiver with want.
Just when she was on the verge of losing control, Michael pushed her away, turned her until her back was fitted against his body and in the next moment, plunged into her with so much force, she had to grip the tile wall to steady herself.
The sheer joy of having him fill her had her laughing and groaning at the same time.
“More?” he asked against her shoulder. “Tell me you want more.” This time it came out as a growl.
“Yes,” she begged. “More.” She held on as her body arched, ached, and responded to his every move.
His mouth moved over her shoulder as his hands reached around and cupped her, causing her to build faster than before. She screamed his name as light exploded behind her closed eyes. Her entire body tensed with the power that shocked her, starting at her core and radiating throughout every ounce of her body.
When her mind finally settled, she realized that he was leaning heavily on her, his hands firmly stopping her from melting to the floor.
“Is that normal?” he grunted next to her skin.
“What? The earth-shattering sex?” she whispered, unable to control the shivers that still radiated through her.
She felt him chuckle against his skin. “That and I am pretty sure we just made the entire state light up.” He gently moved her until she stood once more and he held her against his chest. “What do you say we move this party into that soft bed so we don’t end up killing ourselves in here.”
She mustered up enough strength to nod against his chest.
He pulled her from the warm shower, wrapped a large towel around her, and then spent a moment drying himself off. She leaned against the countertop and watched him in the simple task, feeling enamored at how beautiful he was, how lucky she was to have him here, in
her place, wanting to be with her. Desiring her. Shattering her. She smiled slightly.
“What?” He’d been watching her and moved closer.
“I was just thinking how beautiful you are.” She tucked the towel more tightly around her, then wrapped her arms around him once more.
“You do know how to make a guy blush.” He hoisted her up and carried her into the bedroom, where he dropped her gently on the bed and crawled in next to her. “Sleep.” She shut her eyes.
“I don’t think I can. For some reason…” Her words dropped away when his hand covered her breast. Then his lips slowly moved over her shoulder. His hand moved slightly, massaging her shoulder, down her arm, over her ribs, then settled lightly on her stomach.
His lips soothed her, calmed her, until she felt her heart settle, her mind clear. Suddenly her mind was drifting as she listened to his slow breath next to her. His arms tightened around her as she settled deeper under the blankets, his warmth and comfort closing around her.
She slipped easily into dreams full of Michael’s soft kisses and heated touch.
***
Mike woke when the cell phone he’d set on her nightstand chimed. Glancing over, he noticed they’d drifted off for almost a full hour. He’d set the alarm to wake them so they would have plenty of daylight to explore the silo.
He’d even brought several items they would need for the trip: more flashlights, some flares, a first aid kit, and other smaller items. His father had taught him and Ethan early in their childhood to be prepared. What his father had left out, the military and police force had filled in.
He shifted lightly, not wanting to wake Xtina up just yet. Instead, he pulled his cell phone out and did a few quick searches on missile silos in Georgia.
Apparently there were five documented sites, all built in the sixties. It even included longitude and latitude locations. Looking at maps, he found the one they had stumbled across and wondered how many others in town knew that it existed.
More important, why had his ghost—he glanced over at Xtina—his “not a ghost” wanted them to go down there.
He read up a little on what they might expect when they traversed down the ladder, but there were so many different options, and he didn’t know if any of them applied to this silo.
He hadn’t been looking too hard last night, but he was pretty sure there had been several tunnels leading away from the area in different directions.
Most of the plans he found online showed several bunker areas sprouting from the main silo, which should have had two large hydraulic doors covering it. How long those doors had been open, and how they had gotten opened in the first place, was a mystery to him.
One thing was clear—he wasn’t the first one to go down there since the bunker had been abandoned. He’d seen graffiti all over the walls.
His phone buzzed again and he knew it was time to wake Xtina. Rolling over, his eyes moved over her face and he felt his heart skip. Her hair lay on the pillow in a messy array of curls. Her dark eyelashes lay on her flawless cheeks.
He twisted around until he laid next to her once more, his hands pulling her closer. She shifted in sleep, then slowly opened her eyes.
“Hey,” she said quietly as a smile grew on her lips.
“Hey, did you get enough sleep?” he asked, watching her green eyes focus on him.
She nodded, then yawned. “Yes.” She stretched her arms over her head and then reached for the blankets, remembering that she’d fallen asleep naked. He tugged them farther down her body, causing her to squeal with laughter.
“Hey, I don’t mess with you when you’re…” Her words fell away as he quickly covered her with his equally naked body.
“You were saying?” he said between kisses.
“Mmm.” She shook her head slowly as her arms wrapped around his waist.
He knew they were going to lose some daylight, but he figured it would be well worth it.
A little over a half an hour later, he was thankful he’d allowed them that extra time. His body felt relaxed and his mind was a little more in control. He could tell that Xtina felt the same as they got dressed in silence.
When they went downstairs, they were both shocked to see Rose standing by the back door, desperately wanting to go out.
“Do you think she’ll be okay going out by herself?” he asked Xtina, who was already opening the door.
“She’ll be fine. She already thinks of you as hers.” She smiled.
His eyebrows shot up. “Me?”
Xtina nodded. “Yeah, dogs own their humans, not the other way around. Remember, they’re pack animals.”
She reached for his jacket, the one she’d worn last night, from the hook by the back door. “She’ll want some of the leftover turkey from the fridge.” She glanced at him from over her shoulder.
“Does she also prefer me to feed her?” he asked as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out a Tupperware of what he assumed was turkey meat.
“No, she just likes having a man serve her.” She laughed when she heard a soft whine from the other side of the door. “Back so soon?” she asked when Rose walked in like she owned the place. She went immediately over to Mike, who was already setting some of the container contents in the bowl they had fed her in last night.
Xtina walked over and took a larger bowl they had filled with water and refilled it for the dog.
They ate the rest of the turkey meat in sandwiches and each had a soda that Jessie had stocked in her fridge. When they were done, he turned to her.
“Ready?” He picked up the backpack full of the items he’d need from the counter.
She took a deep breath then slowly nodded. “Do you think we have everything we’ll need?” She bit her bottom lip.
“I think so.” He reached over and took her hand. “Hey, if you don’t want…”
“No!” she jumped in a little too quickly. “I’ll be fine.” She pulled on the coat and walked to the door.
Chapter Fourteen
They made their way quickly to the spot. The trek was easier since they could see a path, and in less than half an hour, they stood at the large opening.
Now she was wondering how Rose had fallen down the hole in the first place.
“Does it look different today?” Michael asked. When she turned towards him, he had a frown on his face.
“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.”
There were two very large, very heavy looking doors covering the silo area. One was cracked open slightly, but nothing like what she remembered from last night.
“Maybe she had something to do with it being open,” she suggested.
“Either way, we’re going to have to pry it open a little more.” He removed his backpack and set it down on the ground.
“What about…” She looked around. “Do you think there’s another way in?”
He thought about it. “Most of the silos I researched had a separate entrance for the bunker.” He glanced around. “We’re looking for a small building. He glanced around. “It would be on this land, not the farm.” He nodded towards the Miller’s place.
“Okay, so we split up and look.” She looked back down at the hole.
“Agreed.” He took up his bag again and nodded. “I’ll head this way.” He nodded towards the woods. “You take that way.” He nodded in the opposite direction.
She took off in her direction. The property was bigger than she’d expected. She’d assumed that the building would be fairly close to the silo, but in the end, it was almost a full mile away. She called out to Michael, who immediately responded, as if he’d followed her.
“I ran into a fence and figured it would be in this direction since there was no other place to go my way,” he explained.
The small building was made completely of cement cinder blocks. The door, a thick metal one with a huge lock, had been jimmied opened what appeared to be years ago.
“So, this is how they got in,” he murmured.
“
Who?” She turned to him, her head tilted slightly.
He shrugged. “Well, I assume the kids that spray-painted their names at the bottom of the silo.” He took out his flashlight and handed her one. “Ready?”
She nodded, then followed him through the doorway. The dark swallowed them whole.
“I can’t believe how dark it is down here,” she said after they had traversed down three different sets of metal staircases.
She was a little breathless by the time they reached the bottom.
“No natural light. They had to keep things sealed off.” He glanced over at her and shined the flashlight at his face. “Just in case they dropped the bombs…” he said in a spooky voice as he wiggled his eyebrows.
“You’re such a dork.” She laughed at him.
He was right, the walls were covered in old spray paint.
“When was the last time you think someone was down here?” she asked.
“I’m guessing 1992.” He pointed to the wall. “It’s the latest date I’ve seen.” He shined his light on the walls and she realized he was right. There were dates ranging from the mid-seventies all the way to the early nineties. Had her parents ever snuck in here themselves? She shook the thought from her mind.
Her eyes scanned the colorful language covering the walls. Her parents, much like most people who grew up in Hidden Creek, had been raised very religious. No way they would have been involved with something like this.
They reached the base of the staircase and glanced around. Two long tunnels split off in opposite directions. One had a bright red metal door at the end, a shiny silver lock on the handle. The other tunnel went farther than both of their flashlights could see.
She felt a shiver race through her. “You feel that?” he almost whispered it.