He scoffs. “And you’ve tried a demon dick?”
A smirk cuts across my face, and I glance at him for just a moment, catching his dark stare. “You’d be horrified by the things in my bedside drawer.”
“For fuck’s sake,” he laughs.
We keep driving, taking random turns until I find some familiar roads, and the second I do, I hightail it toward the outskirts of the city, getting us the hell out of here. Nerves pulse through my veins, and with every passing second, I spare a glance at Stone before turning back to the road and scanning for any cops hiding in the distance.
For the past few days, there have been cops stationed all throughout the city, but so far, there’s not been a single cop in sight. As I get closer and closer to the road out of the city, my nerves spike, and Stone reaches for my thigh again. “Just keep driving, Menace. We’re gonna make it.”
I swallow over the growing lump in my throat and keep driving until we finally hit the city limits and sail straight into open highway. “Holy fuck,” I breathe.
The seconds turn into minutes as we sit in silence. Stone keeps his head tipped back against the headrest, his eyes closed, but he squeezes my thigh every now and then to let me know he’s doing okay.
My body aches, but I try not to focus on it, knowing how much worse he is. For now, my pain is manageable, but it won’t be for long. I’m going to have to find somewhere to stop where I can get some first aid supplies, maybe some water and food, and somewhere safe for Stone to sleep for at least a few hours. After that, I can worry about me. My ribs aren’t broken the way his are, but fuck, the deep bruising and abrasions in my skin are no walk in the park. I need some serious painkillers. We both do, though Stone probably needs a horse tranquilizer.
“You okay?” he asks a moment later, his soft tone filling the car.
I shake my head, realizing that the distance between us and the city has calmed something monumental within me. “When I was in that kitchen, I had more flashbacks,” I tell him. “Well, it’s more than just more. I think I have all of it.”
“All your memories?” he pushes, lifting his head from the headrest and holding my stare.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Shit.”
I smile. “You really have protected me all my life,” I tell him, tears welling in my eyes again. “You were my whole world for so long. You made sure I never went without, even if it meant killing yourself to do so, and I fucked up. I should never have fought with you that day. I should have trusted you when you told me it didn’t feel right, but I was so stubborn. I wanted to feel in control of my own life, and I went with Ash, even thoughI knew I shouldn’t have. It’s my fault, Stone. I put myself in that situation, and it cost me everything. But you—”
“Menace—”
I shake my head, the tears rolling down my cheeks. “You gave up everything for me, to save my life, and I wasn’t there when you needed me the most.”
“I don’t blame you, Riley. You were manipulated by a weak man who wanted to use you for his personal gain. I know you were seventeen, but you were still just a child, and while you might have questioned him, you still trusted that he would take care of you because that’s what he had done since you were a child. This is not on you. Everything that happened that night is on Ash, and he paid the ultimate price for it. But know, Menace, I don’t regret what happenedthatnight, and I would do it again a million times over, even if it meant rotting in prison until my dying days. You are what’s important to me, you always have been.”
“Shit, Stone. You make it so hard to not fall in love with you.”
“It’s wired into your DNA, Menace. I made sure of that.”
I roll my eyes, trying to fight the smirk pulling at my lips as he reaches up and wipes the tears off my face. “You and me, we’re going to have a long life together. I’m not letting you go.”
“Is that a promise?”
“It’s a fucking vow.”
My heart races, and I purse my lips as I take him in. “I think we should go into hiding. Just you and me, far away from the rest of the world, where nobody will ever find us. Maybe somewhere on the beach where we can drink mimosas and bake under the sun every day.”
“And get sand wedged between your butt cheeks?” he questions. “You always hated the beach.”
He’s right. The idea of the beach is much nicer than the reality of it. Besides, I burn like a peach. “Okay, no beach,” I admit. “But somewhere beautiful that could be all ours.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he tells me, a pained groan in his tone, making me realize just how much he’s playing off the pain to keep me calm. “Any life you want to build, I’m here for it, but on one condition.”
My brows furrow, and I glance over at him again. “What’s that?”
Regret shines in his eyes, and he has the audacity to look at me with a strange hesitation. “I have to come back to the city and finish what I started,” he tells me, digging in his pocket and holding up a single Polaroid picture—the man who held me at gunpoint and forced Stone to his knees. “He’s never going to stop coming for us. Not now. Not after what went down tonight. He won’t take our escape lightly. Men like Lux Valen—this is a game to him. He’s a hunter who gets off on claiming prizes, and he’s not about to bow out. I need to end this, otherwise, we will spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders. After that, the world is yours. Whatever you want, we’ll build it together.”
“Shit.”
“Ball’s in our court, Menace. We’ll heal. Get stronger. Go in with a plan and finish this.”
