AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When his lips released me and his skin was bare, when he slid inside me and held my face to search my eyes, I knew just how deeply our love flowed. I knew just what I had to lose and knew that somehow, I’d lose it. I’d lose him. The wave of our bodies rose and fell, and we held on to each other in the hope that we’d survive. Sweet release should have marked the end. But the truth was, there was no surviving each other.
So I lost myself again in the hopes that this time, I’d stay lost forever.
19
NO YOU ARE
POPPY
Birds chirped happily, the cool air licked my bare shoulders, and Duke was hot as a furnace, his arms wrapped around me like a vise.
I shot upright, blinking at the clearing in the dim light of dawn.
Duke stirred at the disturbance, his eyes half shut as he looked around like I did.
“Shit,” I hissed, on my feet in a split second and on the hunt for my clothes. “Shit.”
“Good morning to you too.” He propped himself up on his elbow, watching me with a smirk on his face and his glorious chest on full display. The blanket we’d slept under gathered at his waist, just below those outrageous Adonis lines he sported.
“I am so fucked,” I said, pulling on my dress and twisting my hair up into a bun.
“You would be if you’d get back over here. Hey.” He grabbed my hand as I blew past him on the path to my shoes. “Come here.”
“I can’t! My sisters are going to be up and they’re not going to let it slide when they see me coming home in yesterday’s clothes—” I squeaked when he pulled me into his lap, sighed when he kissed me. He didn’t let go until I’d softened to mush.
“There.” He thumbed my cheek, still smiling. “It’ll be fine, Pop.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“What, you don’t think I’ll have questions to answer?”
“Sure, but you won’t be interrogated by Blums. You know we got our training from the FBI.”
He laughed, the sound so easy and free. A surprise, given the situation. Nothing about this was easy, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be free.
“You’ll talk your way out of it.”
I sighed and held his jaw in my hand. “You are so very sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
“I like to think I manifest with all that self-assurance.”
“That’s a new one,” I said on a laugh
He shrugged, still smiling. “Tell me I’ll see you tonight.”
“If my sisters don’t sniff out what we’re doing, sure.”
“And if they do?”
“I might end up under house arrest. Maybe committed. It’s a toss-up, really.”
“I’ll be glad when this election is over and we can figure out what’s next.”
My insides twisted up with hope and anticipation and a healthy dose of fear. “What’s next, huh?”
“Sure. I think we can admit that this isn’t gonna quit any time soon.”
“And when you lose? You’re not staying here, Duke. Don’t bullshit me and tell me otherwise.”
“When I win, I’ll be here for the foreseeable future.”
“But not forever.”
He frowned but didn’t argue.
“We’ve always had an expiration date, even before you left for school.” I shook my head, searched his face. “Don’t… let’s not pretend like it can be any other way. Because I can’t do it again. Not that.”
“Okay,” he said quietly. He kissed me gently. Looked up at me with sad eyes. “You’d better get going.”
Suddenly, I didn’t want to go anywhere. The sinking feeling that the next time I saw him something would be lost between us triggered a deep and unsettling desire to hang onto him like a howler monkey.
“I’ll see you tonight?” I asked warily.
“Even if I have to come see you in the looney bin.”
I chuckled, releasing a breath, telling myself I was crazy. We didn’t need a solution. The future would come regardless of what we wished for. Best to ignore it until I couldn’t anymore.
I kissed him swiftly and dashed around for my shoes, hopping as I pulled on one, then the other. “Would you mind putting everything away?”
“Not at all.”
“Thanks,” I said, trotting to the tree line. “Text me later?”
“I’ll be on the ranch all day with Charlie, but I’ll hit you up when I leave.”
A thrashy sort of no wiggled through me at the thought of him plotting my demise with the powerful senator. But I smiled anyway and said, “Good luck,” then turned to jog to the house in the hopes I could climb back in my window before my sisters saw me.
When I approached, I made sure the coast was clear before sneaking to my open window and hoisting myself into the opening.
“I knew it!” Jo yelled, shocking me so completely, I tumbled into my bedroom and onto the floor, banging my knee on the way down.
“Oof,” I balled up to rub my knee. “What the fuck, Jo?”
