And then he’s there, lining up as he slides into me. We both moan at the same time. He fills me so full. He makes me forget all the bad stuff, all the times that I wanted to escape from any kind of sexual experience. I can’t imagine it being that way with him. It’sneverthat way.
“I loveyou,” he grits, sinking in and out, in and out. We’re frantic, helplessly lost with each other.
“Is this fucking?” I pant, a grin on my face.
He swallows my words with a filthy kiss. “This is fucking, baby. Can you take it?”
“I can take it.” And I do, squeezing his length as I fall apart.
In record time, he’s coming inside me, shouting my name as he jerks violently. Stilling, he rests his forehead against mine. “That was fuckin’ unbelievable.”
“I think I like fucking,” I whisper.
“I think I like you.” He lifts me off the wall so carefully, pulling out as my feet hit the ground. “Let’s try that again on the bed.”
“I thought you were getting some sleep?” I laugh when he steps out and passes me a towel.
“Suddenly, I’m feelin’ alive again.”
Him. His warmth. His love. He’s everything.
And he’s mine. He’s here, just like he promised.
“So am I.” I smile. “Now let’s go to bed.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
Sawyer
The dark threatens to pull me under. I wake, my eyes darting around, trying to remember where I am. Where I stupidly fell asleep. I have been on the run for three days, out in the middle of nowhere, and I closed my eyes for a few seconds. I don’t know how long I was out, but I have to keep moving. They probably think I’m dead. When I jumped, I literally jumped for my life.
The water should’ve killed me at this temperature, but there’s something inside of me that has a will to live that confounds even me.
My brother. My mom. They keep me going. Seeing them again is all I live for, all I want. To tell them I’m sorry, that I never meant to hurt them, that I should’ve known better. I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I was a kid. I didn’t understand the word grooming, or that I’d be trapped in this hell hole for more than ten years. And then my time came: to live or die.
After the years of repeated drugging and abuse, I sometimes wish I were dead. Somehow, I made it through. Ikept the parts of me that were good locked away where nobody could find them. Nobody could have that part of me because that was for my people, and my people only. And if I didn’t see Mom and Joel again, I would take it to my grave.
But I have to keep moving. If they find me, I’m dead, for real this time.
That’s what they do with you when you’re no longer useful or making money. This is what I am now; a shell of my former self, my childhood stolen because of one mistake. But I can’t think about that now. All I can think about is getting away.
I glance around, I’m in the middle of the woods, up ahead I’m sure I hear something… Squinting through the darkness, I hear the faint rumble of a truck.
Holy shit. I’ve almost made it.
I scramble to my feet, tripping over because I’m not steady. I land on my hands and knees, but I tell myself to get up. Get the fuck up now!
All the hope I have left inside me surges me on and I climb back to my feet. Freezing. Tired. The clothes on my back are sodden and filthy, but I’m alive. I scramble through the scrub, desperate now.
I must be near the highway. I’ve nearly made it. I see lights. I’m not gonna make it… I have to make it. I can’t go back there. I will never go back there. Moving faster, I use any ounce of energy I have left inside me and I scramble up the embankment.
It would be ironic if I jumped out onto the road and the truck fucking hit me. What a way to go after all of this. Right now, I can taste freedom.
I glance behind me, not because I think anyone is there, but out of habit. There is no one coming, asshat, so move it! I climb, my hands grappling at the muddy ground as I haul myself up. And then I’m on the road, waving my hands as the lights getcloser. I hear the truck sound its horn and the gears begin to slow.
I have no idea where I am. I don’t stop calling out and waving until I know the truck is coming to a standstill. I stagger to the front of the huge hauler, and the driver opens the door. He jumps out.