You abandoned me. FUCK YOU.
I stuff it back in the envelope, shut the shoebox, and then set it on the floorboard of the passenger seat. I reach into the back and grab a small throw blanket I keep in the car, then toss it over the box. I doubt my mother will waste her time coming out here, but it’s not worth the risk.
I shut my eyes for a moment, steadying the panic rising in my chest with a deep breath. I know exactly what I need to do.
I won’t abandon you again, Noah. I promise.
20
NOAH
“Noah.”
I hear her before I see her, and when I look up to see her face, illuminated by the moonlight, I have no ideahowI should react. I should be furious at the mere sight of her. Or maybe even sickened by it.
But instead, I feel nothing except a tinge of relief and wariness. It’s probably just the fucking cold. I keep my knees up and arms across them as a shield.
Rue eases down into the ravine, using the same trail we used as kids. It’s overgrown, and unrecognizable to the naked eye, but to us? Well, we’re cut from the same cloth, I think.
“I found them,” she breathes out, as her sneakers hit the sand floor. “I found the letters you sent me. They were in my parents’ gun safe. I haven’t read them all.” She rushes to where I’m sitting, and kneels down in front of me, her hands landing on my forearms. “I’m so fucking sorry. I never would’ve abandoned you.Never.”
I’m silent, studying her face. Her pretty eyes are teary and tortured.
Do I believe her?I don’t know.
Before I can make that decision, Rue throws herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I’m still for a few beats, and then let out a pained breath.
Fuck it.I’ve spent so long without warm, human touch, I can’t resist her. I thread my arms around her torso, and bury my face in her neck, lost in the scent of her a second time.
I know this won’t last.
“I have a plan,” Rue says, pulling away from me. “I?—”
I cut her off with my mouth, not wanting to hear her fuckingplanright now. The Marshals are closing in, the end is coming, and I know that. Iknowthat. And there’s nothing that can change the outcome.
“Noah,” she tries to break the kiss, but I shake my head and pull her in again. She moans against me, as I nip at her bottom lip. If this is the last time I’m going to have Rue Iverson, then I’m going to make it fucking count.
I kiss her, my tongue desperate to cover every inch of her, committing it to memory. I adjust the sleeping bag beside me, readying it to keep us warm. I slip her shirt over her head, her body shivering.
“I’ll keep you warm,” I whisper, “Just trust me.”
She tips her head back, catching my gaze as I undo her jeans, and then nods. “Okay.”
I slip her jeans off quickly, and then follow suit, stripping myself down, too. I grab the unzipped sleeping bag and wrap it around us, as I lay her back on the sand. Rue gasps as my mouth finds her neck. I kiss her, my cock throbbing as it brushes the inside of her thigh.
“Let me love you the way I could’ve in a different life, Rue,” I murmur into her, as I kiss my way down to her chest, careful to keep the blanket over us. Her back arches into me, as I suck her into my mouth, but I don’t spend long there.
I keep kissing downward, the taste of her causing me to salivate.
My lips brush her ribs, stomach, and then lower abdomen. I kiss until I reach her pussy, and then shove the blanket up to cover her body as I kiss the tops of her inner thighs.
Her moans fill the stillness of the night, her fingernails finding my shoulders. They dig in as drag my tongue through her slit, tasting every ounce of her.
“Fuck,” I groan into her, flicking my tongue across her clit. Her hips buck against me, and I slip my hands beneath her ass, holding her to my face.
Rue’s whimpers turn to pants as I keep the pace, working up from her entrance to her clit, my jaw buried in pussy. She rocks against me, and I imagine her face contorted in please.
“Say my name,” I demand, my voice muffled by her body.
