“We need to find a small town,” he tells me, finally breaking the tension-filled silence. “There has to be somewhere close. We need different clothes. Food and clean water. Maybe cut your hair. Steal a box of hair dye. Brunette maybe. It’s too recognizable the way it is.”
Unease settles through me, and I lower my feet back to the sandy lakebed before turning to face him and really taking him in. Droplets of water linger on his bare skin, and fuck, he’s absolutely delicious.
His skin is covered in ink, full sleeves of tattoos cover both arms, leading right up over his chest and to his neck. If I were a braver woman, I’d study each one of them, committing them to memory. His chest is defined, proof of how much time he’s spent working on himself over these past seven years. His abs are tight like woven steel beneath his skin, and I track every last one of them, sailing all the way down to the deep V low on his pelvis.
He’s flawless, and the way he watches me in return tells me he has a few thoughts on my body too, but I don’t want to know them. With my gaze locked on his body, I move through the water, taking my time until I stand right before him, my hungry stare eating him up like the starved woman I am.
Sucking in a nervous breath, I lift my hand, laying it against his warm chest before trailing it across the defined lines of his muscles, soaking in every last inch of him. He doesn’t make a move to touch me. Just watches me in return, waiting for whatever it is I’ve come here for.
The tension skyrockets between us, and as my fingers trail across his decorated skin, fire burns deep in the pit of my core, desperate to feel the way this beast would fill me. My handpushes up to his throat, my thumb brushing across the ink as I explore. When I trail my palm back down to his shoulder and follow it to his massive bicep, my heated gaze collides with his, and it’s like lightning finally meeting its match.
I inch closer, my chest brushing across his warm skin as I keep my stare locked on his, desperate to feel his hands on my body. “Let me make one thing clear,weare not in this together. I’m your hostage, so be it, a willing one at this particular moment, but a hostage all the same. I am not cutting my hair and dying it to make life easier for you. I will keep my mouth shut, I’ll be a good little hostage, but the moment the cops catch up to us, I’m out. I’m going back to the life that I worked my ass off to build. I know there’s history between us, but the truth of the matter is, I don’t know who you are. I don’t owe you my loyalty. Not anymore.”
And with that, I stride out of the water, grab my almost dry clothes off the low-hanging branch, and disappear into the bushes beyond, his sharp stare tracking my every step.
16
STONE
Aria and I have walked for well over two days before we finally reach the edge of the thick bushland, stepping out of the woods and to the outskirts of an old, run-down small town.
“Oh, thank God,” Aria groans beside me, already trying to take a step closer toward the town, but I catch her upper arm, bringing her to a stop.
“Hold your fucking horses, Menace. You can’t just storm in without a plan.”
“But I need to eat,” she snaps, getting even grouchier than she had been during the past twenty-four hours. “I’m exhausted. I need a proper shower. My clothes are destroyed. My feet hurt. And as for my guts . . . You don’t even want to know what’s going on there, but two days of straight hiking, no food, and way too much of that lake water, and it ain’t pretty.”
Jesus fucking Christ.
“Okay, we’ll find somewhere for you to . . . figure out your guts and shower. All I’m saying is that we have to be cautious. We can’t just race into the first place we see. Not to mention, cops will be searching every fucking town within a hundred-mile radius of Hartley Creek. We have to keep our eyes open. You don’t survive this shit by being reckless.”
She scoffs. “Says the reckless moron who escaped prison with a hostage.”
I roll my eyes and resist biting back. It was easy to subdue her attitude at the beginning, but forty-eight hours in, and it’s not so easy anymore. She’s on the edge of a mental breakdown, and until she gets a proper meal and gets to feel somewhat human again, I need to keep her calm. Aria is like a momma bear ready to strike, and whether she’s ready to admit it or not, that’s Riley Maddox all over. One wrong turn, and she’ll sacrifice my ass for a juicy burger. At least she’ll give it a good try, but I’m not about to let that happen.
We cautiously walk around the town’s perimeter, sticking to the bushes and bypassing the busier streets filled with people going about their usual Friday morning, having no clue that the most wanted man on the planet is about to break into one of their precious little homes.
It’s another twenty minutes before we come to the residential area, and I focus on the three properties closest to the woods. They’re all newer homes, but more secluded from the rest of the town.
The home on the left has two cars in the driveway, and an array of toys scattered across the front lawn, along with a small dog that I have no doubt is probably the yappiest little thing I’ll ever come by. I immediately strike that property out. There’s a good chance there’s a young mother inside that house with her babies, and I’m not about to fuck with that.
The house on the right looks promising. There’s a car in the driveway and an old, beat-up caravan parked down the side, but there are security cameras fastened to every inch of the property.
As for the property right in the center, it’s quiet. The blinds are drawn, no cars in the driveway, and a few packages piling up on the front porch. It looks as though whoever lives here might be away on vacation.
“There,” I tell Aria, pointing out the property. “We get in, do what you gotta do, and get out. We’re not hanging around. Understood?”
She nods, and after a quick check of the street, I grab her hand and take off. “Go!”
We dart out of the bushes and race across the road as I keep an eye on the small dog in the neighboring yard, making sure the little fucker doesn’t decide to cause a scene. I lead Aria to the left, making sure to keep out of sight of any of the security cameras the third property has, and in the blink of an eye, we’re sailing down the driveway to the porch.
“What now?” Aria says as we approach the door, frantically looking around as though she’s nervous. The girl I knew wouldn’t dream of being nervous about this shit. Breaking and entering was her favorite thing to do.
I don’t respond, just simply stride up to the door and grab the handle, twisting it so hard that I break the locking mechanism inside the door. As I push it open, a smug grin stretches across my lips. Breaking into this home was a shitload easier than breaking out of my last one.
“After you, Menace.”
She scoffs, pretending she’s not impressed, but I’ve been watching her closely, especially since we were in that lake together, and this woman is more than just impressed. She’s starved for my attention, but she’s too fucking stubborn to ask for it. Not that I intend to give it. While shacking up with hercertainly sounds appealing, it’s not my focus right now. It can’t be. There’s no denying it, though, her hands on my body . . . fuck. I’m bricking up just thinking about it. The way I would fuck her raw, claiming every goddamn inch of her sweet body.
