by Jessie Cooke
“You want to use it, don’t you? The needle?”
“Yes,” he said, stripped bare of any reason to lie any further. “I hate myself, but I do.”
“Give it to me,” she said. He hesitated, but only for a second, and then they both groped in the dark until their hands met and he laid it against her palm. He felt her push up to her feet, heard the syringe hit the ground, and flinched at the sound of her wedge heel crushing it. It was strange to be thankful and practically devastated at the same time.
15
After Caitlin destroyed the syringe, they both began the crawl along the wall. Finn wanted her to stay put again, but she insisted that it made her less anxious to actually be doing something. She wanted to save time and go the opposite direction but he wouldn’t let her. They crawled along, side by side. They’d been at it for what seemed like hours when he suddenly felt Caitlin’s body sink at the same time she yelped. He reached for her, imagining her falling into a black hole as he did. “I’m okay,” she said, sounding out of breath. She’d only sunk down about half a foot and Finn had his arm around her waist, holding onto her tightly.
“Is it a hole?” She was quiet...too quiet. “Caitlin?”
“Oh my gosh, Finn!”
“What? What is it?”
“Give me your hand.” He moved his arm off her, reluctantly, and groped around until she had hold of his hand. He felt her guide it downward and then suddenly he was touching something that felt like a pipe. It was cold...freezing, almost. He started to move his hand and she said, “No, keep it there for a second.” He did and a second later he was smiling.
“Water.” He could feel it moving through the pipe.
“Yes! It’s a water pipe. I can’t see it, but it’s thin and it unless it’s brand new, I think you should be able to break it.”
“What if it floods us in here?”
“Without water we’re going to die anyway, Finn.” Finn thought about that for a minute and then suddenly he had another idea. He felt along the pipe again until he found out where it was coming out of the wall...and then he ran his hands up the wall and smiled again.
“This wall isn’t cement like the rest of them, it’s dirt.”
“Maybe it’s where they put us in and then enclosed it with dirt, you think?”
“I don’t know...but it’s a good sign that this whole room is not cement. I’ll try and break the pipe, and then we’ll have to try to dig out through this dirt wall. It might go on for miles but it’s our only hope so far.”
“Absolutely,” she said. “I’m ready to dig. Let’s do this.”
He laughed. “One thing at a time. Let me see what I can do with this pipe. Move back a little bit, okay?”
Caitlin sat up on her butt and used her hands to push herself back a couple of feet. Finn reached back down in the little hole and gripped the pipe with both hands. He was up on his knees, and he took a second to try and steady his body so that he didn’t go flying back too far when he yanked it loose. He held onto it as tightly as he could and pulled. He couldn’t feel it budge. He felt around, trying to determine how much dirt was on top of the pipe. If it was buried deeply, there was no way he’d be able to pull it loose. He wished so badly that he could see. It felt like it was under about four inches, and there was maybe four or five inches of it exposed. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to do it, but he wasn’t ready to give up just yet. With his hands still on the pipe he awkwardly struggled to his feet. He was so tall that he had to flex his knees or there wouldn’t be any way he could keep hold of the pipe. Once he was on his boots and had a good grip on the pipe again, he pulled, hard. He heard it snap before he felt himself being thrown backwards. He landed on his back just as he heard Caitlin.
“Finn? What happened? Are you okay?”
“See if you can feel any water.” A few seconds later, the beautiful sound of Caitlin’s excited giggles filled his ears.
“You’re amazing! Oh my God, I’m sorry, but this tastes so good. I don’t even care that it tastes like dirt and rust...it’s wet, and sooo good!”
He laughed and crawled back toward her. He touched her first and before he took a drink of the water he was craving so badly, he did something else that he was suddenly craving. He pulled her up against him and somehow in the dark his lips found hers. They crushed them together, she parted hers, and their tongues tangled up. Her mouth was moist now and despite their long day, she still tasted sweet. The kiss was passionate...so hot that Finn felt other parts of his body responding, and he had to break it before he had the pain of an erection to deal with as well as all the other pain he was already in. They were both gasping for breath when he bent down and found the broken pipe. He cupped his hands together and filled them with water. He spilled half of it, bringing it to his mouth, but what was left tasted better than any liquid that ever existed, Finn thought. He took three cupped handfuls and when his body was sated...for the moment...he said, “I’m going to start trying to dig.”
He felt Caitlin’s body next to his. The water wasn’t coming out of the pipe hard, but it was flowing out, steadily, all over both of them. It was cold, but neither of them was fazed by it, so intent they both were on trying to dig their way out of the underground room. The dirt wall wasn’t hard-packed, making Finn think Caitlin was right and that was where their captors had enclosed the tomb they were in. Knowing freedom was probably on the other side made him dig faster and work harder. Caitlin on her side was digging just as quickly as he was. Both of them were covered in dirt, and the water that swirled around their knees created a thick puddle of mud that lapped up around their legs...but they kept digging. Finn’s hands, arms, and shoulders ached and he was sure that Caitlin’s did too...but they both kept digging, stopping only occasionally long enough to take another sip of the cool, rusty water. They were going to get out of here, Finn promised himself. Once they did, he was going to figure out how to be a regular human being, and he was going to make Caitlin his girl. Making that promise to himself put a smile on his face and gave him that much more energy to dig. For the first time in his life, he was excited about seeing something all the way through...ironically, he probably had the devil himself...O’Reilly...to thank for that.
“So anything new?”
Dax, Gunner, Cody, and Handsome arrived almost seven hours to the minute after Jace called. That meant that somehow Dax found four seats on a direct flight from Boston within less than three hours. No matter how long Jace knew him, Dax never failed to amaze. Jace and Bubba had picked them up and they were back at the shop. Jace offered to put them up at his and Beck’s little house since they didn’t have the clubhouse ready yet, but Dax had already reserved hotel rooms in Phoenix for them all. “No, nothing,” he said, frustrated, angry, and exhausted. He didn’t even know where to start, and it pissed him off. “I haven’t called Aiden yet. I thought I’d let you decide how we should handle that.”
Jace had never met Aiden Murphy face to face and he had only spoken to him on the phone a few times, but the old-timer’s reputation preceded him. He was known for being fair, but also for being a tough son of a bitch. The Chosen Few’s war with O’Reilly had been long and bloody, and somehow Murphy had not only managed to come out on top of that fight, but he’d kept himself and most of his crew out of prison while doing it. O’Reilly was assigned a small corner of Dublin where he was allowed to do his business, and from what Jace had been able to find out from talking to Colin and doing his own research, O’Reilly hadn’t crossed that line. That said a lot for Murphy’s reach and power, because few people, clubs, or otherwise had survived O’Reilly...much less ended up practically owning him. Jace was sure that once Aiden found out his old lady and his VP had both been disloyal to him, more blood would be spilled. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He didn’t have any qualms about Aiden taking care of Rowdy, once they found Finn, Punk and Finn’s lady friend...but he was slightly hesitant to be any part of what he was afraid Aiden would do to his old lady, mo
stly because now he knew she was also Finn’s biological mother. He sighed and shook his head. “What a fucking mess.”
“What time is it in Dublin right now?”
Jace looked at his phone. Dublin was eight hours ahead of them and it was just after 1 am. “It should be about 9 am.”
“Call Aiden, put him on speaker.”
Jace nodded and used the office phone to dial the number Wolf had passed to him for Aiden when they moved to Phoenix to start the club. It rang twice and then a deep, gravelly voice on the other end said, “Yeah?”
“Aiden, it’s Dax.”
“Dax Marshall? Well, I’ll be damned. How are you, boy?” Aiden and Doc had served in Vietnam together. Aiden had come home to New York, where he was from, after the war and Doc had offered him a place in the Southside Skulls. But Aiden had his fill of the US by then, and the way they treated the returning soldiers. He’d bought a one-way ticket to Dublin, where he had some relatives...and five years later, he’d started his own club. Dax told Jace that when he was a kid, he heard his father talk a lot about Aiden. Doc respected him, but he also told Dax that the man was a “killing machine” in Vietnam, and sometimes he was glad he’d found his own way and Doc hadn’t had to be responsible in any way for the lives he decided to take once they were home.
“Well, Aiden, I’m sorry to do this to you first thing in the morning, but things are kind of fucked up.”
“Damn, hate to hear that. What’s going on?”
“Jace is here, so is my VP and a few of my crew. You’re on speaker, you okay with that?”
“Sure...what’s this about?”
“I’m sorry, Aiden, one more question...anyone else around you now?”
“No. I’m in my office, alone. What the fuck is going on?”
“Well, we’ve got a couple of brothers who are missing as well as a girl that was with one of them. We have reason to believe that O’Reilly is involved in at least one of the abductions. The other, we’re not sure yet...but Aiden, there’s some things you need to know, about your VP Rowdy.”
The friendly tone of Aiden’s voice changed, proving that what people said about his loyalty to his club and his brothers ran deep. With thick suspicion in his voice he said, “What about Rowdy?”
“Do you know where your guy Colin is?”
“He’s in the States, visiting a friend...why?”
“He’s in the States, but he’s here, in Phoenix. Rowdy sent him here.”
“This is what Colin is telling you?”
“Yes...but we’re not just taking Colin at his word. Let me tell you the rest.” Dax started talking and as they all listened to nothing but the sound of Aiden’s breathing on the other end, he laid it all out. He told him what Granite told Jace about Aiden’s old lady, Eileen, and about Finn. He told him what happened to Finn and Caitlin and about Sean O’Hare, whom Aiden had already checked out for them, but now was missing too. Aiden didn’t say a word until Dax was finished but it was apparent when he spoke that he was going to need more proof before he just took what Dax was saying at face value.
“I’ll send someone to get O’Reilly, if we can find him. If not, I’ll have them bring his right-hand man, Dell. He’ll know as much as O’Reilly.”
“Aiden, none of us are even going to presume we know what you’re feeling and tell you what to do about Rowdy and your old lady,” Dax said, “but can we make sure we get as much information out of Rowdy as we can...first?”
“I’ll handle it,” Aiden said, and then the line went dead. Now all they could do was wait.
16
Finn and Caitlin both dug until they were too exhausted to go another minute longer. They were both uneasy about going to sleep, but if they were going to have any energy to finish their dig, especially without any food in their bellies, they were going to need it. They crawled away from the water and Finn curled up on the concrete. Caitlin curled her body into his and he wrapped his arm around her. It wasn’t the most comfortable situation, but it felt good to hold her. They lay there for a while and then he felt Caitlin wiggle around so that she was facing him. He was surprised when he felt her hand on the side of his face, pulling him down into a kiss. Her lips were so soft and warm, and now that they were both hydrated, it was even better than the last kiss. He loved her sweet, hot mouth and he kissed her like the kiss was what he was starving for, forgetting all about the gnawing hunger in his belly and the pain that wracked his muscles.
Finn knew this wasn’t the time or place to be having the kind of intense, erotic thoughts that he was having, but the kiss was so hot, and she had her fingers tangled up in his hair. She was rubbing her body against his...no red-blooded man would be able to think about anything other than what was happening right at that moment. Every nerve ending in his body was so alive, and the harder she kissed him and the longer the kiss went on, the more of a connection his brain began to make between the feelings he got when he was high...and the feelings that being this close to Caitlin gave him. That’s what it had been that first day he saw her...pure chemistry. A shot to his system that made everything come alive.
Caitlin was the first to break out of the kiss, gasping for air as she did. Finn wasn’t ready to stop yet, however, so as she caught her breath, his lips slid down to her neck and he kissed her there...softly at first, then nipping lightly and licking his way down the hollow between her breasts. Her skin was dusty, but so was his and he didn’t care, she still tasted as sweet as candy. He heard her moan and that fed his desire like kerosene thrown on a fire. He brought his mouth back up and slid his lips to the spot where her neck met her shoulder and began to suck on it. The harder he sucked, the more she squirmed and rubbed herself against him, moaning in pleasure. That encouraged him more and he pushed her thin blouse back further so that his mouth could travel down deeper and his lips and tongue could find her breasts nestled warmly against his chest. He used his mouth to work her breast out of her bra far enough so that he could get to one of her big, half-dollar-sized nipples. He wrapped his lips around it and used his tongue to flick back and forth across the hardening nub. She was moaning loudly now, pulling at his hair, scratching at his face. He loved it. He loved knowing he was exciting her, and if only for a few minutes, distracting her from what they were going through.
Finn let his finger slide off the spot where he was holding her blouse open and her bra down and he moved his mouth to the other side. While he made love to that breast he slid his hand down her body and worked it into the front of her pants. He let it slide down across her soft, flat belly until he reached her mound. She let out a loud gasp when he made contact with her swollen clit. He let his finger run down between her legs and along her slit while she whimpered. When he found her tunnel he slid two of his fingers inside of her. She was soaking wet, hot, and ready for his cock. He worked his fingers in and out of her as best he could and when she arched her back and reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped her pants, and he was able to push into her deeper, they both gasped.
“Oh, Finn...” she sighed out his name, and that only made his already throbbing cock throb harder. He had to reach down and rub the front of his jeans to soothe the ache. Caitlin was thrusting her hips up and down and he could feel the walls of her pussy tightening around his fingers. He knew she was right on the verge of having an orgasm. He brought his mouth back up to hers and kissed her again, licking and biting and sucking at her lips until he felt all of her muscles tense and she began to shake. The warmth of her orgasm washed over his hands and fingers and she gripped his hair tightly on either side of his face and held on until the last wave receded, and suddenly she released her hold on him and her body became a soft, sweet, quivering mass of heat in his arms. “Wow,” she whispered.
Finn chuckled. “You feel better?” She slid her hands down his body and he gasped when he felt both of them wrap around the outline of his hard erection, which was pressing into the front of his jeans.
“I feel better,” she said. “It’s your
turn.”
“Are you sure? I know this is a strange place to...”
“Shh!” she said, swiping her lips across the side of his face. “Maybe we’ll make it out of here, maybe not. Just in case, I want to die knowing you made love to me one last time.”
That was enough convincing for Finn. He reached down and nearly ripped the button off his jeans to get them open and then adjusted his body so that he could push them down just enough for his aching cock to breathe. He grabbed the top of hers and pulled them down to the bottoms of her thighs and then he rolled on top of her. He used his arms to lift his weight off her and in the meantime, she was already lining his cock up with the opening of her soaking-wet pussy. He let out a groan that came from deep in his chest as he pushed into her and her wet pussy grabbed hold of his shaft. He wished they had more room and less clothes...but it already felt so good, he was willing to take what he could get. Caitlin was right; if they were going to die, this was the last memory he wanted to hold onto from the rest of his fucked-up life.
Finn thrust in and out of her, over and over, his cock rubbing and sliding against her walls like liquid heat. He was grunting and moaning and she was whimpering. Finn put his lips back against her neck and sucked on her delicate flesh while his hands explored as much of her body as they could reach and when he felt himself edging toward his own orgasm, he slowed down. He knew she was probably uncomfortable on the cement floor, and he should finish...but God, he wanted it to last so much longer. It took his mind off everything. He and Caitlin were the only two people in the world, and that moment was the only thing that mattered. He moved slowly for a while, but the heat between them intensified again, driving him once more to slam into her. Their breaths were uneven and ragged and echoed off the walls around them until at last Finn couldn’t control it any longer. He rushed headlong into a near-volcanic explosion that caused rockets to explode inside of him. His entire body convulsed and then shook lightly and once he pulled out of her and lay down beside her again, his muscles quivered with ecstasy. He would have never imagined that sex in a tomb would be appealing at all...but with Caitlin it felt so good that they might as well have been in paradise.