“Don’t thank me,” Kobal replied. “I’d plannedto leave you.”
Erin lifted an eyebrow at his statement butdidn’t comment. Hawk gave a brief nod. “I would have done thesame.”
Kobal shot me a pointed look I chose toignore. “That wasn’t an option,” I replied.
Hawk surveyed me as he ate his beans. Eringave me a grateful smile and a small thumb’s up Kobal didn’tsee.
“I don’t like that you went with her,” Kobalgrowled at Vargas.
“Leave him be,” I said, lowering my can ofbeans in case I had to leap forward to defend Vargas.
Vargas blanched under Kobal’s unrelentingstare, but he stood his ground. “You told us she was the mission. Istayed with her.”
Kobal scowled at him, but he didn’t sayanything more. I scraped the bottom of my can with my spoon,savoring every last bit of it before shoving it into the trashbag.
“It’s time to move on,” Kobal said andstepped away from the truck.
My shoulders slumped. I would have givenanything to have one day to sit beneath the sun and soak up itsrays. To savor the simple joys of life before possibly having ittaken away from me.
That wasn’t to be though. I took hold ofKobal’s hand and allowed him to help me from the truck.
***
River
It was night when we stopped again. The starswere beginning to brighten the endless sky as the red moon hung onthe horizon. “Blood moon,” I murmured.
Kobal remained mute beside me, sittingrigidly in his seat. The tension in him had been growing steadilythroughout the day as we drove closer and closer to ourdestination. When he turned to me, his hand snaked out to wraparound my neck. His thumb brushing over his marks caused me toshiver.
His head bent as his lips slanted over minein a kiss that made my muscles go weak and my pulse quicken.Opening my mouth to his, I melted against him when his tongue sweptin to taste the recesses of my mouth. He thrust deeply within me,demanding and voracious as my tongue eagerly entwined with his.
Pulling away, he broke the kiss and restedhis forehead against mine. “I’d give anything to take you fromhere,” he rasped.
“I know.”
He didn’t release me but pulled me with himwhen he climbed out of the truck. He placed me down once we werefree and gathered our supplies from the back of the truck. I waitednearby, my body desperately seeking to connect with his.
I had no idea what tomorrow held for us, butI suspected we would be arriving at the gate.
CHAPTER 41
River
Waking the next morning, I stretchedleisurely and reached for Kobal. I rolled over when my hand fellupon the empty spot where he’d been lying only hours before.Lifting my eyes, I spotted him standing at the front of the treeline. I stared at his broad back, admiring the curve of the carvedmuscle lining it and the intricate markings on his skin.
Gorgeous wasn’t enough of a word for him, Idecided as I propped my head on my palm and drank in the sight ofhim. Sensing my attention, his head turned. The early morning sunbrought out the deep brown strands in his nearly black hair as itfiltered over him. I could see the clear bite mark I’d left uponhis bronzed skin last night.
Something visceral inside of me reacted tothat mark as my fingers twisted into the blanket beneath me.Sitting up, I brushed the hair back from my shoulder, my nippleshardening and my heart beating faster when his eyes settled uponthe fresh bite mark my shirt sleeve had fallen from my shoulder toreveal.
“You think we’ll make it today?” Iinquired.
“I do.”
I tried to look past the trees, but fromwhere I sat, I couldn’t see the others. “Will I be able to go intoHell if I have to?”
“We’re going to find out, but if there is away for you to close the gateway from the outside, you won’t haveto go in.”
I had no idea how I was going to be able topull that off. I drew on the life from the earth, and I could throwfire, but closing the unnatural gate to Hell, something not evenKobal had been able to do, well, that sounded completelyinsane.
