Chapter Seventy-Eight
Bree
On the sixth review of our plan, I knew Nathan was just trying to keep me calm. The idea that he was handling me worked much better to galvanize me. I stood up and hopped from one foot to another as my brain kicked into high gear.
“We need a better distraction,” I said.
Nathan was startled and gave me a guilty glance. “What distraction?” he asked.
I rubbed my arms, warming up as if I’d been on ice for the last few hours. “We need a better way to distract the guards and drivers when they transfer us.”
“Pitting one against another over their favorite football teams could be enough,” Nathan said but there wasn’t much conviction in his voice.
“No,” I said. “Your first thought was to manipulate them into firing on each other. How do we make that happen?”
Nathan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the cold, concrete wall. “We cause the van to swerve as it approaches the hand-off site. Maybe we can make the other car think we’ve taken over.”
I snorted. “So if we can make it look like that then why don’t we just take over the van?”
Nathan shook his head. “An armored car would come in handy seeing as they will all open fire on us once we try to drive away.”
I clung desperately to some hope that our plan would fall into place. It was the one distraction that didn’t lead me into a pit of fear and despair.
“If the van swerved and then no one got out for a while, the other men might get suspicious. They’d come over with guns drawn, right?” I asked.
Nathan nodded. “We could fake an injury or I could start a fight. That would draw our drivers into the back.”
“Hostages,” I said. “They could get us to the armored car without being shot.”
Nathan held up his hand to silence me. Outside there was another shift change. I knew he had calculated how long a shift was and through that he had a better idea how long we’d been captive. For once, it was information I was glad he kept to himself.
I ran to the door and pressed my ear to it. The guards were having a boring chat about how a flash flood had washed away one of the roads. I listened for a while and heard nothing but complaints about damaged suspensions and the painfully slow workings of their municipal government.
Finally, Nathan had to peel me off the door. “Bree, honey, it’s okay. All we have to do now is wait,” he said.
That was exactly what I was afraid of. I didn’t want to wait anymore. Who knew for sure how many hours we had waited already? I had completely lost track of whether it was night or day. I fought down a rising fear that I would never see the sun again.
“We need to sleep. It’ll pass the time and make sure we can handle whatever happens when that door opens,” Nathan said.
I struggled against the panic and felt a surge of adrenaline. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep. Nathan was right, we needed a way to pass the time.
I sailed across the small room and jumped into Nathan’s arms. He caught me with a surprised grunt, but didn’t stumble back even an inch. His solid strength was the comfort I needed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and threw everything I had into a long kiss.
“Bree, it’s all right. We’re going to make it out of this alive. I promise you. Did you hear me?” Nathan asked.
I locked my arms around the back of his neck and flattened myself against his hard chest. “I can’t talk anymore. I can’t think anymore.”
Nathan looked worried but his hands roamed down my back and over the curve of my behind. Then he shook his head and drew his hands back up to my shoulders. I clung to his neck and refused to be set back.
“Bree, this is just your fear talking. There’s no need to panic. We’re worth more to them alive than dead.”
Nathan told me as many encouraging things as he could think of but the real comfort came from his hands gliding up and down my curves. I kissed him between every positive thing he tried to say until soon he wasn’t speaking at all.
The second Nathan gave in my whole body blazed with lust. Every doubt and fear and regret that had weighed on me over the last hours was burned away. Desire took over and Nathan answered me stroke for stroke.
His hands were everywhere: in my hair, down my sides with his thumbs trailing along my breasts, loosening my waistband. I peeled off his shirt and tasted the firm muscles of his chest with my tongue and teeth. His hands convulsed with surprise when the tip of my tongue grazed his nipple.
The power I felt after his response chased away the rest of my fears. I explored farther, my lips trailing down the hard ridges of his abdomen. Nathan sucked in a sharp breath when I knelt down in front of him and kissed a slow line along his waistband.
When I reached for his button, Nathan grabbed my arms and lifted me back to my feet.
“Please, Nathan,” I said.
He pressed me back against the cold concrete wall and seared my lips with a kiss. Nathan wanted to stop, he tried to pull away but it felt too good. The wild, electric desire I felt chased away all the fatigue and nerves.
In the wake of all that released tension, a molten need flooded us both. Nathan rocked his body against mine, seeking the perfect fit. I slipped my jeans off so I could wrap my leg up and around his waist.
Nathan groaned and lifted me higher against the wall, his hand acting as a cushion between me and the concrete. Our bodies pressed and met but it wasn’t enough.
I tangled my hands in Nathan’s hair and raised my other leg to lock around his waist. With a guttural moan, Nathan lifted me up with one hand, his fingers slipping aside my panties. Then he was nudging inside me.
“Don’t go slow.” My voice was shaking as I whispered in his ear. “Just let it out.”
“Oh, god,” Nathan murmured.
I felt him pull out, trying to hold back, but my hot breath begging in his ear broke his willpower. He plowed forward pushing a cry of ecstasy from me. Nathan had to press his hand over my mouth to stop the guards from hearing.
I panted against his hand, kissing his palm, then moaning louder as he pumped into me. Each deep joining of our bodies filled me to bursting. Then I exploded with a shuddering cry that Nathan caught in his lips. I felt his own ecstatic sigh through our kiss as our orgasms crashed together like giant white-caps far out in the ocean.
“Oh, Bree.” Nathan moved to bury his head in my neck. I felt him shake his head as he could not form any other words.
“Is it okay to sleep?” I asked. A heavy cloud of fatigue overtook me.
Nathan eased me back down to the floor and helped me pull my jeans back on. Then he sat down and pulled me into his lap. I curled up against him and listened the strong gallop of his heart.
“We’ll both get some sleep,” Nathan said. “Don’t worry, I got you.”
I snuggled into his strong arms. “And I’ve got you right back.”