“It’s the apocalypse,” he tells me, almost impishly. “Gotta make do with what you have.”
Not cute, Chase. Not cute at all.
“Were you trying to attract the lurkers? Shit, Chase. Spilling blood out here is like getting cut while you’re swimming deep in the ocean. The lurkers are fucking sharks. For all we know, they’re swarming us now because they got your scent.”
He juts his chin up. “And? I’ve got my lighter. You’ve got your matches. Besides, can you tell me it wasn’t worth it? Because it was for me.”
I open my mouth. Damn it. Can I tell him that?
Baring my teeth at him instead, I slip my knife into my pocket and, purposely ignoring the slight ache in my ass, I take a few steps away from Chase knowing down to my bones that, the second I leave, he’ll be right behind me.
Again.
You know, I’m not even mad about the blood. Not really. For Chase, it’s only ever been Hallie, then me. I know he’s clean, or as clean as anyone can be when there’s no more testing. Same with how I’m not really too pissed that he could’ve drawn the lurkers to us. With my weird gut thing, I would’ve known, even over the amount of fullness and shocking pleasure I was experiencing with him inside of me.
No. My flash of sudden anger has everything to do with seeing that deep cut on Chase’s arm and knowing that he wantedto fuck me so bad, he was willing to hurt himself to be able to do so.
He’s right. If I had to, I can handle lurkers.
But Chase… what the hell am I going to do abouthim?
Half an hour later, Chase is curled up next to my sleeping bag, part of his body on a blanket, part of him on the edge of the bag itself. It’s big enough that he could squeeze inside with me, and I’d put down everything I left back in the Grave that it’s taking allhehas not to ask for an invitation. Especially after what just happened between us, he’s got to think everything’s changed.
He would be wrong.
Just like I figured, now that I’m not letting my lust and need for Chase cloud my rationality, I have to admit that I fucked up big time. I know I did. I provoked him, and I seduced him. I sucked him off, and I lost my damn mind and invited him to fuck my ass—which he did. Withblood.
What the hell was I thinking?
Well, that’s easy.
Iwasn’t.
Funnily enough, though, I don’t actually regret doing what we did; not yet, anyway. Ever since East Jersey, I’ve secretly wanted to be close to Chase again. It’s like we had unfinished business, or that I didn’t want him to continue on our journey with the thought in his head that he took advantage of me. I needed him to know that, if it was up to me, I really would choose him even without the threat of being tossed to the lurkers hanging over my head.
So that’s what I did. I offered myself to him on my own, and he eventually accepted. I showed him that—though I probablyshouldn’t have—I do have feelings for him. At the very least, there’s an attraction that I can’t deny.
Still, I can’t let any of that happen again.
So I stay inside of the sleeping bag, leaving Chase to lie on top of part of it as I watch the flickering flames instead of staring at how handsome and vulnerable he is when he’s fast asleep; two orgasms and a romp through the woods definitely tuckered him out. Me? I’m wide fucking awake because one of us has to stay up now that we’ve returned to the untouched campsite. Someone needed to watch over the fire, and I offered to that, too. Now I’m only hoping that Maverick is enjoying his trip through the woods with way less guilt than I am since he and Veronica still haven’t returned.
When I finally do hear the crackle of footsteps against the ground, I check my gut. No sign of a lurker, and the heavy steps sound like they belong to a human and not a ravenous monster wearing a cloak. Only one problem: it sounds likeonehuman.
I sit up a little as a shadowy figure slips into the campsite, ready to reach for my knife and scream if I need to. I don’t. As soon as he moves closer to the firelight, I make out Maverick, and he’s alone.
Huh.
He drops down on the other side of the fire. This time, I stay where I am instead of joining him over there.
I stay up, resting on my elbows. Next to me, Chase shifts, inching closer as though he can sense my movement. He doesn’t wake up, though. I don’t want him to, either, and I keep my voice low.
“What happened to Veronica?”
Maverick shakes his head. “She moved on.”
“Really?” That’s surprising. They seemed to hit it off right away, and I would’ve bet they went off into the woods for a little privacy. Maybe Mav changed his mind, or Veronica didn’t thinkdanger-banging in the woods when the lurkers could appear at any moment was a brilliant idea like I did. Even so… “I thought she was going to join us on the last leg of our journey.”
Mav snorts as he feeds some dry grass to the fire. “Yeah, kid. So did I.”