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“How the fuck…” he starts, but stops talking before he says the wrong thing and accuses me of not being able to. He knows me well enough to know that will not go over well at all.
“I fought him off just fine and I can do it again,” I say just to make it perfectly clear.
“We… you have to tell Cross.”
I shake my head. “That’ll just worry him and it’s pointless. He knows the cops are after him and he knows they’ve been trying to get to him through me. Nothing’s changed.”
“How can you say that?” he says sharply. “That guy assaulted you less than two hours ago.”
His arm is still wrapped around my shoulders, holding me tight. That is why I told him. For the support.
I shrug. “He just went a step further than ever before. But I’m out now and he’s never getting near me again.”
He shakes his head, rolling his eyes just a touch. “So you’re gonna stop protesting?”
His tone tells me exactly what he thinks of my fighting for the causes I believe in. Not much and nothing good. That will never change.
“No, I probably won’t ever do that again,” I say bitingly and slowly, letting every word hang before uttering the next. “But what I am going to do is get the hell out of this town like I should’ve done ages ago.”
He’s perfectly motionless again, only his silky, black hair stirring in the wind. I have no idea what he’s thinking, but it looks like it’s a lot.
“You’re saying you’re gonna leave?” he asks quietly and the words sink like a stone deep in my chest. “Like you’ve been doing since you got here?”
“Can you take me home now?” I ask. “I have to pack.”
I move to stand up, but he tightens his grip on my shoulders and won’t let me. He’s also still holding onto my hand.
“You can’t go,” he says in a choked voice, like it pains him to use it.
“Of course I’m going,” I say. “Back to the reservation, back to my roots. That’s where I belong. Not here.”
“Don’t be stupid, Lily,” he says. “Of course you belong here. And that reservation isn’t this nice place you imagine. It’s not a good place to be, especially not for a beautiful woman alone.”
He’s still gripping my hand very tightly, as though he’ll never let me go. It’s a strong grip, and warm, and ever so slightly desperate. I shouldn’t have told him I’m going. Why did I tell him? Because I want him to stop me? No, it’s not that. It’s worse than that. I want him to come with me. Even though I know it’s a path I must walk alone.
“You could come with me if you weren’t neck deep in MC business,” I say, not even sure why. It’s not like I’m changing anything by speaking it aloud.
He freezes yet again, his face turning to stone, right before a fire so bright lights up in his eyes I feel its heat.
And the next moment his lips are on mine, warm and silky and so much softer than I ever hoped they would be. It’s a hungry kiss, a desperate kiss, laden with years of waiting for it to happen. And my kiss in response is no different.
For the few seconds it lasts, nothing else matters. None of what was, none of what will be, none of what can’t be, and none of what needs to happen. All the peaceful freedom of the wild, untamed world I so long to be one with is in this kiss. All of what was, what is and what has yet to come.
I’ve waited so long for this kiss, I gave up any hope that it would ever come.
No.
I had no more hope for it.
And it has come at exactly the wrong time.
I pull back, pushing him away by laying my free hand firmly on his chest as he tries to follow. His heart is thumping fast and strong underneath my palm.
“No, Eagle,” I say. “Take me home.”
He looks so confused I’m sure he doesn’t even know his name right now.
“We’re not doing this,” I say firmly and manage to extricate my other hand from the iron grip he still has on it and stand up.
