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“Do you ever play fair?”
“With you, the only way to play is dirty, little rabbit.” Slowly, he began to rock her.
They sat there in silence, her damp pants wetting the thighs of his jeans, and his ass no doubt as wet as hers. Her head was tucked under the side of his jaw, her fingers playing idly with his strong hands as she tried to plan where to go from here.
Her stomach rumbled like a demon rising from beneath a mountain, embarrassing her. Hunger pains she’d once been able to ignore were too accustomed to being fed on command now, unwilling to stay quiet.
“Ready to go home?” Saul asked gently. “Or are we waiting for dawn?”
She didn’t know anymore.
Sitting here on his lap, rocking in the quiet…dying at dawn didn’t seem so appealing. When she was with him, she felt like a rubber ducky floating along on the calmness of his waters, staying on the surface because he held her there. But when her mind fractured and the damaged part of her slithered to freedom…she drifted to the bottom, drowning in sludge and tangled in weeds.
“Can we go back to the cabin?”
“Not tonight. It’s late and we’ve had a very stressful day.” His entire body sagged with relief. “I just want to get you away from here, on a flat surface, and hold you until we fall asleep. After you’ve eaten,” he added when her stomach protested again. “But we will, soon. I promised you that.”
Caera nodded. Yes, he had. “Am I in trouble?”
“No. Not unless you pull this shit again, bunny, and if you do, I’ll let the sadist loose on you after I’ve spanked your ass raw.” The threat was real, the softness of it a warning all of its own.
The question was… “The sadist?”
“Jasper.”
Caera mulled that over. Her brain was tired, looping sadist over and over again, but she compared the word against the man and yeah, she could see it. The dominant vibe that came off him was sharper, edgier, than what she felt in Saul. “Anarchy knows?”
Saul chuckled and kissed her hair. “Archie fucking loves it. That girl is hardwired for Jasper’s brand of sex, and they give each other exactly what they need.”
Across the water, a flash of light caught Caera’s attention, distracting her from thoughts of what Jasper’s brand of sex might entail. She sat up straighter, squinting across the darkness, finding two figures merging with the shadows.
The beam of light swung from side to side.
Saul sighed heavily. “They sent out a search party.”
“For you?”
“Start including yourself, Caera. Family, remember? They’re looking for us.”
Caera glanced longingly at the water as Saul shifted her off his lap and got to his feet. She honestly wasn’t sure that going back with him was in any of their best interests, but she found herself taking his hand when he offered it, letting him pull her up as he’d done so many times already.
Her butt was numb from the damp and from sitting on it for too long. She wobbled, sneakers slipping on the dewy grass before he anchored her to his side and escorted her away from what she’d chosen as her last stand.
“Are you going to tell them?” she asked as they reached the path.
“That’s for you to decide, Caera. I’m not going to pressure you into telling them anything you don’t want them to know.”
Her feet shuffled along, barely keeping pace with Saul’s slow strides. She felt lightheaded and cold, a chill seeping into her bones. Hunger only added to her sense of weakness. “But you think I should.”
He paused, turning to study her face in the dim light, tilting her chin up to peer at her eyes. Grunting softly, he offered her his back, crouching slightly and patting his shoulder. “Climb on, bunny. Damn near asleep on your feet.”
Climb on? Caera frowned, not understanding what he wanted.
“Arms around my neck,” he instructed, patting his shoulder again.
Oh, okay. She draped herself over his back, looping her arms around his neck as commanded, then squeaked as his hands grasped her thighs, holding her tight as he stood, hitching her legs against his hips.
He had such a strong back, she thought blearily. Broad shoulders, just right for resting her cheek on as he paced through the dark. There was only so long before he’d come to the conclusion he couldn’t carry her anymore, couldn’t bear the weight of her and her problems, so she would just make the most of it.
