72 Hours

“Hey,” Noah growls low as he kneels down. “We don’t know anything. Just be quiet. Don’t move. Don’t make a sound.”


I look toward the waterfall that pounds over the opening to our little cave. I can hear the distinct sounds of someone moving near the water, possibly even in the water. My entire body goes stiff as the sudden onslaught of a flashlight moves across the waterfall, seeming to hang there for too long. I close my eyes, hold my breath, and for a few torturous seconds I honestly cannot feel anything but pure, raw terror.

From the top of my head right down to my toes, everything tingles. Every part of my body feels as though it’s going to explode, and I want it to. I never want to feel so utterly petrified again in my life. I can’t manage a breath, even as I try. I just sit there in Noah’s arms, eyes clamped shut, praying, just praying that someone up there can hear me. Please don’t let him find us in here.

What seems like hours pass, but in reality it’s only a couple of minutes. The sound of the bike starting up has my body jerking in Noah’s arms. My eyes dart open and I listen as it zips away. Just like that. Gone. Noah and I don’t move for a solid five minutes, just sit there, tense, waiting to see if it’s some sort of trick.

But he doesn’t come back.

“He doesn’t know we’re in here,” Noah says, voice thick.

I cry silently.

It seems fitting. Relief unlike any I’ve ever felt in my entire life washes through me and I slump into Noah’s arms, wrapping myself around him, pressing my cheek to his chest.

“We have a safe place,” I whisper against his skin.

“For now we do.”

“For now?” I ask, lifting my head and looking up at him.

“If he doesn’t find us in a few days, he’s going to get desperate. Probably turn the cameras back on. And I’m not sure we have that kind of time anyway. We can’t go that much longer without medical attention.”

There goes that relief.

It slides out of my body as if it were never there.

“So what do we do?”

“We stay in here as long as we can, make weapons, come up with a plan. We have to end him. It’s the only way we’ll get out of here.”

“So ultimately, we’re going to play his game.”

Noah looks at me, his face hard. “He’ll find us, eventually. We can’t hide here forever. To end this, we have to face him.”

“We tried that before, Noah,” I say softly. “We’re no match for him without real weapons.”

“You don’t need weapons to take someone down, you just need the right plan. He’s one person. We’re two.”

“One person with a plan and weapons.”

“Are you saying we should just give up then?” he says with frustration.

“No, not at all. Just that we need to be careful. If we go rushing in, all this has been for nothing.”

“I know,” he says softly.

*

“I don’t want to die,” I whimper.

His hands go to either side of my head and he leans in close. “You’re not going to.”

“I want to live.”

“You will.”

“I want,” My voice cracks. “To love. To kiss. To make love. I don’t want all those things to be taken from me. I want them. I need them. I want them all just once more.”

He leans down, breath fanning over my face. “You’ll have them more than once more. You’ll have them for the rest of your life. We’re going to get out of here, Lara.”

“You can’t promise that.”

His eyes scan my face. “I’m not going to give up.”

A tear runs down my cheek. He captures it with his thumb.

“But if there is a chance we don’t make it out,” he says, voice husky, “then I’m going to give you all your once-mores.”

My heart pounds.

“Starting with love.”

I swallow the thick lump in my throat.

“I love you, Lara. Loved you from the second I laid eyes on you in that bar. I’ve loved you every minute since.”

More tears.

He leans in closer, kissing them away. Then his lips find mine and he kisses me softly at first, moving his lips over mine, coaxing me. A few seconds of gentle, loving kisses continue until I finally part my lips and let him in. His tongue finds mine in a gentle caress that I feel right down to my toes. I reach up, curling my fingers into his hair, pulling him closer, molding our bodies together.

The kiss blows my mind.

“A once-more kiss,” he murmurs against my mouth before pulling back.

My stomach does a tumble and my heart flutters.

“Now, for the last one. What was it?” he rasps.

His finger trails over my bare shoulder, causing my skin to prickle. He runs a hand down my arm, capturing my elbow and bringing me so close I can feel every hard inch of him pressing against me. I tremble in his arms and look up at him. “I want you,” I breathe. “I need you.”

He reaches up and captures my jaw, tilting my head back. “Who am I to say no to your needs?”

I smile.

He grins.

Then his lips find mine again. This kiss is rougher, more passionate. This is the way I remember him. Wild, feral, so damned masculine. His hand slides down and captures my ass, using it to grind my body against his. I don’t feel the pain in my leg, or my tired body; all I sense is him. All around me. Taking away everything else for just a minute. Our tongues dance as his hands move over my body, stroking, kneading, giving me what I so desperately need.

His hands make light work of what remains of my clothes, and with a bit of shuffling we manage to get him naked, just enough. We only need just enough. Our mouths clash in a frenzy and we suddenly go from soft and gentle to desperate and needy. My nails graze his biceps, tearing into his skin, making him hiss. His fingers knead my ass as he grinds me against his erection. I’m wet. I’m not ashamed. I mewl against him, needing him, wanting him. Right now.

His mouth tears away from mine and drops down, capturing a nipple between his lips. I arch with a gasp, hooking my good leg around his hip and using my heel against his back to drive him closer. His erection glides up and down my sex and we both let out a feral groan. He nips my hardened nipple and moves to the other one, licking and sucking until I’m writhing against him.

His hand moves between us. He takes his erection. Then he’s inside me. Months without him, all the tears I’ve cried, it all washes away as he drives upward, filling me in one, swift movement. It feels incredible. So fucking amazing. I cry out his name as he stretches me, causing a slight burn to mix with the pleasure. The right kind of mix. The perfect blend. I clutch his shoulders, ignoring the pain in my body, focusing instead on the incredible pleasure going on between my legs.

“Noah,” I whimper against his neck. “Oh God.”

“I forgot how good you felt,” he growls, thrusting into me, his powerful body holding me up with little to no effort.