Until Christofer had explained what he’d learned, she’d been able to pretend that there was a possibility that those monsters really didn’t exist, but now there was no point in pretending any longer. She’d been attacked by shifters, aka werewolves.
When he’d shared that bit of information with her, she’d had to force herself to pretend that the news didn’t bother her when all she wanted to do was run to the rooms where her bags had been placed and tear through her stuff until she found her medication and make everything go numb. She hadn’t taken them in years, because she hated the way that they made her feel. She should have just thrown them away years ago when she’d decided to stop taking the damn things, but part of her had been afraid that she’d need them again.
So, she kept them in her bags, refilled them when they expired and pretended that she was fine. Only now, things weren’t fine and she couldn’t stop thinking about them. The only thing that stopped her from getting them was the knowledge that she would need a level head if she was going to get through this and the fact that Christofer had explained that medicine, drugs and alcohol would no longer affect her.
After digesting that depressing information, she’d asked him more questions, hoping to distract herself from the knowledge of what waited out there for her. A few hours later she had more than enough information to keep her busy freaking out for a while. Now she was freaked out, stuffed from drinking too much blood, exhausted and too damn nervous to close her eyes.
She tried to tell herself that the worst was over now, but she had a feeling that Ephraim and his group were going to prove her wrong. They’d brought them here for a reason and tomorrow morning she’d no doubt find out that reason and probably tumble headlong into a nervous breakdown.
It was something to look forward to, she thought with a sigh that was quickly cut off by a yawn as she picked up the remote and-
“Where are you going?” she demanded anxiously when she spotted Christofer heading towards the hallway.
“I’ll be right back,” he said softly, giving her a reassuring smile that he probably thought would comfort her.
It didn’t.
Since the only thing that seemed to comfort her right now was his scent and presence, she couldn’t help but freak out a little bit as she watched him walk out of the room. There was definitely something wrong with needing the man that had not only attacked her, but had also turned her into this thing, and later she’d probably berate herself for her reaction to him, but for now she was too frightened to lie to herself.
She needed him.
Not that she planned on letting him know that. That would give him too much power and right now, he already had more than enough power over her. She was new to their world, unsure of herself and completely dependent on him. It wasn’t something that she was comfortable with, but for now she would endure it.
Biting her lip, she watched him disappear around the corner. It took everything that she had to keep her butt on the couch, which apparently hadn’t been all that much, because not even two seconds later she was moving to get off the couch and follow him and-
Scream her head off!
“What’s wrong?” Christofer asked, looking puzzled as he sat down next to her, shifting the large sketchpad on his lap as he got comfortable.
Still gasping for air, she looked from him towards the hallway where she saw him disappear only a few seconds before and then back to him to find him shooting her a curious look as he opened the sketchpad to a blank page. Having absolutely no idea what just happened or how he got back so fast without her seeing him, she decided to just sit there, struggling to catch her breath as she shot another curious look between him and the hallway.
“Oh,” Christofer said with a frown. “Did I forget to mention that we could move pretty quickly when we need to?”
Gaping at him, she nodded her head, because she was pretty sure that she would have remembered being told that she now had the Road Runner’s skills.
With a shrug, he said, “Well, we can move pretty quickly for short periods.”
“Apparently,” she mumbled, shooting one last look between him and the hallway. For about thirty seconds she flirted with the idea of seeing just how fast she could move, but with a shrug she returned her attention to the television, deciding that with her luck she’d most likely end up running through a wall.
A few minutes later her breathing had calmed down and she’d managed to find an Indiana Jones movie to watch. She relaxed back and focused on the movie while Christofer continued to scribble in his sketchpad. This was actually nice, she thought as she shifted on the couch and-
Let out another embarrassing squeal as all the lights went out and she suddenly found herself enveloped in hues of blue.
“Did I forget to mention that everything turned blue in the dark?” Christofer asked conversationally, but she didn’t miss the amusement in his tone or the way his lips twitched.
“Bastard,” she muttered with a scowl as she decided that her sanity couldn’t take another surprise tonight and got off the couch and headed for the hallway, forcing herself to keep moving no matter how badly she wanted to turn around and run back to the couch and into the bastard’s arms.
*-*-*-*
“This isn’t so bad,” she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut even tighter as she pulled the blankets all the way up to her chin and shifted onto her side as she tried to convince her brain to fall asleep quickly with promises that everything would be back to normal by tomorrow morning.
Apparently her brain wasn’t buying a single syllable of bullshit that she was giving it. Tomorrow wouldn’t be fine and most likely the day after wouldn’t be either. She wasn’t sure that anything would ever be fine, not when she was now confined to a life of secrecy and drinking blood out of coffee mugs.
How exactly was she supposed to hide what she was? she wondered with a disgruntled groan as she shifted onto her side and-
Let out another scream!
“Shhh, it’s just me,” Christofer whispered soothingly as he gently pushed her hair out of her face and gently cradled her face in his large, warm hand.
“That’s why I was screaming!” she snapped, reaching up and shoving his hand away even as she noticed that her heart wasn’t beating frantically against her ribs and her breathing was normal when she should be freaking out and struggling to take her next breath after finding a man suddenly lounging in bed next to her.
She shouldn’t be feeling her body start to relax, but that’s exactly what it was doing. As soon as her body registered that Christofer was in bed next to her, she’d felt herself begin to relax, her breaths evening out and her eyelids becoming increasingly heavy in a matter of seconds as she struggled to remain awake so that she could finally give him a piece of her mind for all the bullshit that he’d put her through and for continuing to scare the shit out of her. It soon became apparent that finally telling him off wasn’t going to happen, at least not tonight.
Not when it felt so good to lie next to him.
But her pride refused to accept this situation, needing to put up the façade of a fight for self-preservation, because even as she muttered, “Get out,” she knew that if he tried to leave her right now that she would tackle his ass to the ground and make him stay. At least, for tonight, she told herself, once again more than willing to lie to herself so that she could take the comfort that Christofer was offering without hating herself.
“Is that what you really want, mein Schatz?” he asked softly as he lightly ran the back of his knuckles along her jaw, sending a wave of pleasure through her body that had her unconsciously shifting closer to him, greedy for his touch.
“Yes,” she whispered harshly. She reached out to push him away, but as soon as her hand touched the warm bare skin of his shoulder, she found herself wrapping an unsteady hand around the back of his neck in a desperate attempt to keep him close.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised her as she registered the feel of his lar
ge warm hand mimicking her hold on him. He gently pulled her closer until his forehead was touching hers.
“Yes,” she said, opening her eyes to find herself staring into glimmering blue eyes, “you will.”
For a moment he didn’t say anything as he stared into her eyes, his hold on the back of her neck turning caressing as she waited for him to lie to her and to make promises that he would never be able to keep. Just when she prepared herself to call him out on any bullshit promises that left his mouth, he took her by surprise.
“Everyone leaves you, don’t they?” he whispered softly in a tone that should have softened the blow of his question, but nothing could have stopped her from flinching from his words.
“No, they don’t,” she bit out, releasing her hold on him so that she could put some much needed space between them.
His hold on her tightened as he kept her from fleeing as his gaze bore into hers, searching for an answer that he had no right to demand.
“No, they don’t,” he murmured softly after a painfully long moment as he pulled her closer and pressed a kiss against her forehead. “You leave them before they get a chance,” he said against her forehead as she struggled to breathe.
“That’s not true,” she lamely argued, unaware that she was once again holding onto him, refusing to let him go.
“You’ll never have to worry, mein Schatz. I’m not going anywhere,” he promised her.
“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep,” she whispered helplessly as she closed her eyes and savored his touch, the warmth from his body and the feeling of being enveloped in a protective pocket where nothing and no one could harm her.
“Why do I feel so safe with you?” she found herself asking him, hating how much she needed him even as she prayed that she never had to endure another day without him.
“I don’t know,” he whispered as his hold on her gentled and he was once again caressing her nape.
She gave a humorless chuckle at that. “Well, that makes two of us then, because I honestly don’t know why I’m not doing everything in my power to get away from you.”
He pressed another kiss against her forehead as he confessed, “I’m still waiting for you to kick my ass for everything that I’ve put you through.”
She heaved out a sigh as she admitted, “I should have kicked your ass a hundred times over by now.”
“Yes,” he said, pressing another kiss against her brow, “you should have.”
“Especially for that sandwich,” she said, cringing at the memory of all that mayonnaise pouring out of the sandwich like a-
“There was nothing wrong with that sandwich!” Christofer argued, softening his words with another kiss.
“I’ll probably have nightmares for years to come thanks to that sandwich,” she teased with a laugh when he released a sexy little growl that had her toes curling in pleasure.
“That sandwich was perfect!”
“That sandwich was terrifying,” she said solemnly, loving the sexy glare that he was giving her, surprised that somehow through all of this they’d managed to slip back into taunting and teasing each other, something that she’d truly enjoyed before her world had been destroyed.
It gave her hope that one day everything would be okay.
Chapter 31
“Are you awake?”
“Mmmhmm,” Cloe murmured as she lay there, staring out the large window at the beautiful city sky as she continued to absently trace her fingers over Christofer’s arm where it rested around her waist.
“Are you hungry?” he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the back of her head, something that he’d been doing a lot tonight. Not that she was going to complain, because she wasn’t.
It felt too good in his arms to complain or find fault with the way that he held and touched her. They’d talked for a little while about absolutely nothing at all, neither of them wanting to broach on a subject that would jeopardize this overwhelming sense of peace that they’d somehow managed to stumble across. For about two hours now, they’d been lying there, staring out at the night sky, the tranquility broken only by murmured questions and a gentle touch.
A few times she’d found herself wanting to ask how he was holding up, but at the last second she’d decided against it. She didn’t want to bring up Marta until he was ready and she knew that he wasn’t ready. So instead, she’d laid there in his arms offering him what little comfort she could.
“No, I’m fine,” she finally answered, closing her eyes and savoring the touch of his lips as he once again pressed a kiss against her hair.
“Do you need anything?” he asked, his voice slightly muffled against her hair.
Answers.
Reassurance that everything was going to be okay.
Promises that she didn’t think that he’d be able to keep.
A time machine so that she could go back and fix everything before her world was destroyed and her family was taken from her.
The ability to enjoy a double cheeseburger with the works.
But, she didn’t say any of that, because it would force her to face a future that she wasn’t sure that she could handle. Instead she continued to trace her fingers over his arm, enjoying the feel of his body pressed up against hers. She’d been with several men in her life, probably more than she should have, but she’d never allowed any of them to hold her the way that Christofer was holding her.
Not that any of them had ever tried.
The ones that hadn’t been put off by her scars had treated her like a fuck buddy. There had never been warm smiles, flowers, romantic dinners or flattering words. She’d enjoyed herself for the most part, enjoyed the momentary escape that they’d offered her, but it had never been more than just sex to her. Sometimes she’d wished that it had been more, that she’d been with the type of man that could make her feel wanted and loved, but it had never happened.
Until now.
It was crazy, beyond crazy. She’d only known Christofer for a few weeks and in that time he’d fired her, irritated her, taunted her, ditched her, attacked her and aided with her kidnapping, but somehow during all that he’d become everything to her. He made her smile, made her feel safe even as she fought to ignore what was happening between them, made her feel wanted and could make her smile. She could happily spend the rest of her life in his arms, she thought as she snuggled back against him, determined to soak up every last ounce of comfort that he had to offer before she was forced to face an uncertain future.
“No,” she said, shifting back against him as she laid her hand over his where it moved lazily against her stomach, “I’m fine.”
For several minutes they just laid there, staring out the large windows as Christofer lightly caressed her stomach with lazy movements of his thumb. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, allowing the peaceful moment to wash over her. She savored his comforting scent, his touch and the warmth that his large body enveloped her in and couldn’t help but wonder just how long this reprieve would last.
Not very long as it turned out.
*-*-*-*
Five days later………
“It’s not going to happen!”
“Cloe-”
“No!” the stubborn woman snapped, glaring at him from the other side of the couch that she’d dodged behind ten minutes ago in a sad attempt to keep him from forcing her to do what needed to be done.
“You don’t have a choice in the matter,” he said, struggling against the urge to jump over that couch and end this bullshit.
“Yeah, I really do,” she said, shifting to the left when he shifted to the right, preparing to make another run for it.
“We don’t have time for this, mein Schatz,” he said with forced patience as he closed his eyes and slowly inhaled, praying for a modicum of patience that didn’t seem forthcoming.
“Really?” Cloe said mockingly. “Because it seems to me that we have all the time in the world for this.”
His eyes snapped open to glare at the woman s
tanding across from him. “As soon as you do what I asked, we can leave!” he snapped, coming to the terrifying conclusion that he’d finally found a woman more stubborn than his sister.
It was a truly frightening thought, but one that he was going to have to push aside and dwell on later, because right now he had more important matters to deal with, like finding a way to escape without putting Cloe in danger. It wasn’t going to be easy. They were too far from the ground for him to risk trying to descend down the side of the building with her. They were also unarmed and trapped on a heavily secured floor in a building filled to the brim with armed military personnel.