“I lost everything,” I sob into his bare chest. “Everything.”
“You didn’t, and we’re going to get out of here.”
“My boss hates me, my friends hate me, and you hate me. I—lost—everything.”
“I don’t hate you, baby.” When I cry harder, he runs his fingers through my hair, soothing me. “Truth is,” he rasps, then hesitates. “The truth is, Grace, that I haven’t thought of a damned thing since you left, except you.”
I close my eyes and breathe him in.
“You’re under my skin.”
I rub my cheek over his hard muscled flesh.
“And I can’t fuckin’ get you out.”
I shudder and my sobs subside.
“You made me feel again.”
Oh. Yes.
“You made me want to fight.”
I turn so my ear is over his heart. There I listen to it pounding.
“You made me want to start again.”
I exhale loudly.
“With you.”
I tilt my head up and look at him. He’s staring down at me, his amber eyes filled with something a whole lot deeper than lust.
“Raide,” I whisper.
He leans down, cupping my jaw and tilting my face up. “Hush.”
Then he kisses me. His lips are rough yet so, so soft. He kisses me with force, spreading my lips and gently coaxing my tongue out with his. He shifts my body so I’m straddling him and his hands glide up and down my back as our kiss deepens until we’re panting and clutching each other. He pulls back after a few long, passionate moments and runs his mouth down my neck. I close my eyes, dropping my head back so he can move around to my throat. He kisses the little hollow there before gliding his lips back up to find mine once more.
“We have to get out of here,” I breathe against his lips when they stop dancing together.
“Yeah.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“There aren’t many choices, lady. They’re going to drug us before they take us from here, you can guarantee that. They won’t risk us escaping from the car.”
“They said they didn’t know who Dean is?”
Raide grunts. “They know. That smart fucker is making it look like he has nothing to do with this. He’s probably back at that bar, sitting casually.”
“I was wired.”
“You get anything?”
I shake my head.
“Fuck.”
“I went to the cops, Raide.”
He stares at me. “And?”
“And they sent me in, wired, to get a confession from Dean. He figured me out, and here I am.”
Raide sighs. “This leaves only one option.”
“And that is?”
“We fight.”
I narrow my eyes. “Fight?”
“Yeah, we fight. We’re not cuffed—they might be smart but they are stupid when it comes to holding captives. I wasn’t enough to take them on my own, but with you here, we might have a chance. There’s only six of them, five now I killed one. I’ve been counting them.”
“How long have you been in here?”
“Few days.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
He takes my chin and forces me to look at him. “There is nothing for you to be sorry about. You didn’t put me in here.”
“If we get out, what are we going to do with Dean?”
“I’ll deal with Dean.”
My heart tightens. “Raide, you’ll go to prison.”
“Just trust me, yeah?”
My hope dies a little. He’s giving himself to me, yet at the same time he’s not. Raide wants revenge and he’ll do whatever he can to get it, no matter the cost. That hurts, because I thought I’d be enough to change his mind, but the truth of the matter is he’s not going to change his mind. He wants his revenge and no matter what, he’s going to get it.
I shift off his lap, block my tears, and say in a monotone voice. “What’s our plan?”
“Grace—”
I shoot him a look. “Just tell me how we’re going to get out of here.”
He studies me, then sighs. “They rotate, and from what I’ve heard, when they swap shifts, the other crew leaves. I hear the cars come and go. So we can assume we’ll have to take three down.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“It’ll have to be a surprise attack. When they come in, we need to take our chance. You’re tough, you can take a fully grown man down.”
“Not if he has a gun.”
“You can, look around you, Grace.”
I look around at the simple room. “And?”
“See that bookshelf?”
I look to the corner and see an old bookshelf, filled with books. Aside from a rickety, rusted bedframe that has no mattress, it’s the only thing in the room.
“And?”
“We line it up, when they step in, you push it down over them. It’ll give us a good chance to fight. If you can get hold of a gun, you do it. It’s our best chance.”
It’s not a bad idea.
“What if there’s more than three of them?”
He shrugs. “We’re going to die tomorrow, anyway. Don’t you think it’s worth the risk?”
I nod.
“Then tomorrow morning, we’ll do it.”