Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)

She believed him.

Placing her hands flat on his chest she pushed him back on to the bed. He fell back willingly and she lay on top of him, the sound of his soft laughter muffled by the pressure of her lips against his.



‘I tried,’ Carter said quietly, ‘to make myself fall in love with Jules.’

As he spoke, his fingers traced circles on the sensitive skin on the inside of Allie’s forearm. She felt that touch in her stomach.

Her own fingers were running through the soft, dark strands of his hair.

They lay side by side on the bed, facing each other. Now that they were allowed to touch each other, they couldn’t seem to stop.

‘It was the same with Sylvain,’ Allie confessed. The thought of how much this would hurt Sylvain extracted some of the joy from the moment with the precise sharpness of a scalpel. She dropped her hands to her sides. ‘I care about him – I can’t seem not to. But when he told me he loved me … I couldn’t say it back. I think I knew then. But I couldn’t admit it to myself.’

Carter pulled her fingers up to his lips and kissed them. His eyes were sombre. ‘The poor sod.’

Allie thought of the lost look on Sylvain’s face when he said goodbye. The way he’d said, ‘Even though I know …’ Had he meant this?

All along, had he known who she really loved?

She couldn’t bear to think of that.

Taking Carter’s hand in hers she pressed his palm against the skin of her cheek. This was what mattered right now. This contact.

This love.

With his other hand, Carter traced soft, invisible lines along her jaw, down her neck, along her clavicle.

His touch made her shiver.

‘And Jules?’ she said. ‘Is she in love with you?’

His face darkened. Dropping his hand on to the curve of her hip, he nodded.

‘Before she left … things were getting serious. I knew I had to get out of it before it went too far but I didn’t know how. I was afraid I’d … I’d hurt her.’

He rolled over on his back, resting his head on his hand, staring up at the ceiling as if he would find the answers he needed there.

Allie sat up so she could see his face.

‘When her parents took her away, the worst part was … I was kind of relieved.’ He wouldn’t meet her eyes. ‘And I hated myself for that. But I couldn’t help it. I kept hoping she’d find someone at the new school who deserved her. Then she’d break up with me and everything would be fine.’

‘But she didn’t,’ Allie said.

He shook his head, his lips in a tight line. ‘She wrote me letters, telling me she’d wait until we were both out. We could go to university together …’

Allie let out her breath.

‘What a mess we both are.’ Her voice was thick. ‘We try so hard not to hurt anyone that we hurt everyone.’ She raked her fingers through her tangled hair. ‘We ought to be arrested for the good of the community.’

A wry smile quirked up the corners of his lips. ‘We’re not criminals, Allie. We just … can’t not love each other.’

Each time he said the word it made her heart flip.

Love.

So this is what it feels like.

‘What happens now?’ she asked, leaning closer to him. ‘I mean seriously? If neither of us can bear to hurt Jules or Sylvain …’

‘We have to.’ A strand of Allie’s hair tumbled on to Carter’s chest and he caught it, twisting it around his finger like a ring. ‘You just said we tried to protect them and all we did was make things worse. I actually think we’ll protect them more by being honest.’

Suddenly miserable, Allie lowered her head on to his chest, pressing her body against his. He pulled her into his arms, holding her close. As she listened to his heart beat a steady rhythm she couldn’t ever remember feeling so warm and safe.

‘I don’t want to hurt anyone,’ she murmured as exhaustion took over and her eyes drifted shut.

He pressed his lips against her temple. ‘Me neither. But I am never losing you again, Allie Sheridan. And that is a promise.’



Bang, bang, bang!

Allie went from sound asleep to wide awake in an instant, sitting straight up in bed and staring at the heavy bedroom door, hoping she’d dreamed it. But Carter was already standing on the other side of the bed, his body tense.

The knocking came again, so hard and insistent the door shook in its frame.

They ran across the room until they stood on either side of the doorway.

‘Who …?’ Allie whispered, looking at Carter.

He kept his eyes on the door. ‘Raj, I hope. Only one way to find out.’ He stepped closer to the door. ‘Who’s there?’

There was a pause. ‘Dom. And friends.’

Hearing the familiar American accent, Allie relaxed. They were saved.

Carter moved quickly to open the sturdy locks and the door swung open.