We’re panting with the exertion of our run and the fear of pursuit. I know that’s what it is. That’s all it is. And yet I can feel his body moving against mine, heaving, and it’s intimate and sensual, and for the first time since we separated from one another, I’m not aware of feeling the pull to go to Victor.
Because fuck Victor.
Because there is someone else who can give me what I need.
I don’t know how I can even be thinking about sex at a time like this. But then, I was thinking about it when Bruce had me captive. When I knew Victor was coming to kill me. I was still thinking about how badly I wanted him.
Above me, I hear the clatter of claws on pavement. They skid to a stop.
And suddenly, abruptly, my body feels like it’s being torn apart.
I haven’t forgotten my need for Victor at all. I would run to him right now if not for Nate’s arms around me. I would call out to him if not for Nate’s hand, which he has pressed over my mouth again, as though anticipating what I’m about to do.
Victor is at the top of those stairs. I know it, I can feel it, and my knees buckle with the pain of it.
I know Nate doesn’t understand—he can’t possibly—but he responds anyway, holding me up, close against his body. I’m wild with desire, out of my mind with it, and I can feel that he’s naked, and I’m arching into him in ways that are fairly obscene, seeking relief, and I don’t care, I don’t care, just fucking give me something.
“Shh,” he breathes into my ear, obviously trying to soothe me, even though he can’t possibly understand what’s wrong with me. Why I’m behaving this way. It’s frankly humiliating. I wish I could stop it. But I’m completely out of control.
And then I hear Victor’s voice.
“Emlyn?” he calls. “I know you’re down there. We can smell you, you know. Even over the rot of the Ravagers, we can smell you.”
I don’t doubt he can smell me. I can smellhimso powerfully that I feel like I’m drowning in his scent. And, actually, there is no Ravager stink in this part of the tunnel. Ordinarily, that would be a good thing, but right now I do actually kind of wish I could smell them. Better them than Victor.
I’m practically panting now, but I manage to call up to him, “Come and get me, then, you coward.”
And Victor doesn’t answer.
I knew he wouldn’t. He’s too afraid to come down here, knowing that this is where the Ravagers have their hives. He wants me dead, but he’s not going to put his own precious skin on the line to get the job done.
“You’ll have to come out eventually,” he says. “And we’ve got all the adjacent tunnels to this one staked out too, so don’t even think about making a run for it. You’ll have to go miles to find a place where one of us isn’t waiting for you.”
Miles through Ravager-infested tunnels.
Nate’s arms are still around me, and he’s pulling me away now, dragging me deeper into the tunnel. I’m moving in his grip, and I honestly don’t know whether I’m trying to break free so that I can run back to Victor or whether I’m just trying to create the friction my body needs.
Then he’s lifting me off the ground and running with me.
I bury my face in his neck, overcome with shame and fear.
We can’t get out. They’ve got the exits all around this one staked out. We’re trapped down here—trapped with the violent and terrible Ravagers.
And even now, all I can think about is how badly my body is craving my mate.
I have to put all my faith in Nate to get me out of this situation because for the first time in my life, I really don’t think I can handle it on my own.
Chapter 27
NATE
Whenwe’vecomefarenough into the tunnel that I can’t see the light coming from either end, when Emlyn has gone still in my arms, I decide it’s probably safe to put her back on her feet.
She’s still breathing hard, but she backs away from me immediately. Whatever’s up with her, she’s clearly feeling as weird about it as I am and is doing what she can to put a stop to it.
And I can’t deny that she’s got me kind of hard, too. Or maybe it’s the fact that my adrenaline is up. This situation is wild and exciting.
“What the hell was all that?” I ask her, cinching my pants tighter around my waist. The shift has loosened the knot in them a little.