Chapter Twenty-Five
Stunned, Dax waited for another blast, but when none came, he sat back up. “Are you okay?”
“I think so,” Jessie said dusting off the debris. “What was that?” Her voice shook.
She placed a hand over her heart, acting as if she didn’t press on it, the damned thing might jump out of her chest. Her eyes widened, and then she coughed as another dust storm rained down on them. Dirt clung to every inch of their clothes, face, and hands.
Dax jumped up. “Stay here, and I’ll check it out.”
“Oh no, you don’t, I’m coming with you.”
Dax lowered the flashlight to her chest, away from her eyes. “No way, Jess. That blast might have made the mine unstable, and I won’t chance you getting caught in another cave-in.”
She swiped a hand over her face, and when she licked her lips, she scrunched up her face. “I don’t care. It’s my life and I decide when and where I do my danger. If the mine caves in, it will be collapsing on us both.”
He held up a hand in surrender. “All right, you win.” She’d never obey even if he insisted.
He grabbed her hand and led the way, not trusting she wouldn’t take off, though with only one light between them, she might behave. As they neared the explosion site, the more their cave looked like a big, dark monster who’d coughed up a lung—and they were walking right into its mouth.
“Pull your shirt over your nose and mouth. You won’t want to be breathing this stuff,” Dax said. His vision was even more limited with the particles floating in the air.
Thankfully, she did as he asked. When they reached the end of the shaft and turned into the main entranceway, he halted.
“Ohmigod,” she cried.
Not only had the elevator crumpled on the ground, part of the rock wall had disintegrated, and an empty coal car lay on its side.
“Wait here, and I mean it,” Dax said.
“Okay, okay.”
He stepped over rocks, metal, and the broken trouble light that had been inside the cage. Part of a cable poked its head out from under the debris, and he peered up the long shaft. Helplessness clawed at his heart. “An explosion from above must have ripped apart the cables.” He turned toward Jessie. “We are truly fucked, excuse my French.”
He expected the evil talons of panic to take hold, but they mercifully kept at bay. Maybe having Jessie by his side helped. It would be ironic if she were his lucky talisman that warded off his demons when they only had a short time to live.
“How are we going to get out of here now?” She suddenly sounded young and fragile.
He maneuvered back and wrapped his arms around her. “I wish I knew. There’s no way they can dig down five hundred feet and save us. When they see the damage from above, they’ll assume we’re dead.” Good going, Mitchell. Scare her more.
Jessie squared her shoulders and stepped out of his embrace. “You think Amanda did this?” She sounded more angry than afraid, and that emotion was far easier to deal with than fear.
“That would be my guess. In doing so, though, she cut off her own escape plan. She probably figured with you here, her safe haven had already been compromised.”
Jessie sniffled. “You’re right. Needing to disappear for good, she’ll probably go across country.”
“Nothing more we can do here, so let’s head back.”
Jessie followed close behind him as he made his way to their living quarters, which, while dusty, almost seemed luxurious. Thank God they hadn’t stayed near the elevator, waiting to be rescued, because they’d be dead for sure.
She coughed and coughed, clearly in respiratory distress. “I think it might be better to die from a blast than from starvation, dehydration, or some funky lung disease,” she said.
“I thought you were a glass half full girl.”
She cleared her throat. “I’m not in the mood today. In case you haven’t noticed, things aren’t going so well.”
“It won’t help to get down. We have enough gas to run the generator for quite a while and food to last a month or two. Amanda did leave us a ton of water bottles.”
“What a way to die.” Jessie picked up a gas lantern. “Can we at least turn on some of these? It’s dark in here.”
So it wasn’t just his imagination. “No reason not to use up the supplies.”
Once she lit the lamp, she began to pace. “Wasn’t it enough that we’re trapped down here? Why couldn’t she have left us a way out in say, a week, after she’d done her deed?”
Jessie looked like she was going to explode. “Come here,” he said in his softest voice.
She stopped and looked at him as though he were crazy. “Why?”
Obviously, she was upset if she had to ask. “I’d like to live my last few days in relative enjoyment. Come sit by me. Please.” He eased onto the cot and patted the canvas bed.
Jessie stomped over and dropped down, arms crossed over her chest, gaze straight ahead. She was hurting, angry, and frustrated, and Dax couldn’t blame her.
He leaned on one elbow and stretched out his legs behind her. “Jessie, lie down with me.” The cot wasn’t very wide, but she had room to snuggle up against him.
“Aw, hell. Why not?”
Jessie must have her own idea of lying down, because she crawled on top on him, and then winced as if in pain.
“What’s wrong?”
She sat up, straddling him, and placed a hand on her ribs. “Wrong? Let me see,” she said counting on her fingers. “One, I still have a hole in my leg, two, my face was smashed in by a gun butt, three, I was kicked in the stomach a few times, and four, Amanda slapped me across the face. Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”
Dax burst out laughing. He lowered Jessie to his chest, making sure he didn’t hurt her. “Enough talk of our dire situation. Let me show you what I want to do.”
He leaned over, moved the beam of light so that it didn’t shine in either of their eyes, and then kissed her. Jessie moaned, and when she returned the affection with more passion that he’d thought possible, his dick turned harder than any ore they’d ever mined down here. This time, he wasn’t going to stop like he had many times before.
Good thing they’d found the stack of moist wipes last night and were able to get a decent sponge bath. He for one smelled better afterwards, and Jessie had been so happy to get clean, she’d twirled around. Except for the recent dousing of dirt from the last explosion, he was fairly confident they were as close to sanitary as possible.
Shutting off the internal sensors that told him not to take advantage of her, he let his passion and desire flow. If they were going to die in this cave, he wanted to enjoy his last moments in her arms.
Not wanting her to catch cold, Dax pulled the blanket over Jessie’s back. Of course, once they got going, the last thing on their minds would be the dampness that could settle in their bones for days.
When she shifted her weight to get more comfortable, he could tell this cot wouldn’t do. “Get up for a sec, okay?”
Her mouth dropped open. “So help me God, Dax Mitchell, if you pull away one more time, I’m going to chase you around the mine until I catch you.”
He laughed. “I just want to spread the blankets on the ground. Not only will our experience be more comfortable, but it will give me better access to your delectable body.”
She grinned. “Now you’re talking.”
He should give her a medal for bravery. He bet Jessie had never stared death in the face before, and she was doing a fine job of adjusting. His goal was to make her forget their troubles, if only temporarily.
Once he spread the blankets and pillows on the ground, he motioned she join him. Jessie slipped onto her knees and peeled off her jacket, or rather the jacket he’d lent her.
Dax reached up and molded a palm over her breast. “Firm, ripe, juicy. Just how I like ’em.”
She swatted his hand away. “They are not melons.”
“You aren’t looking at them from my perspective.” He winked.
Dax loved to banter with her, but there was a time for talking and a time for action. Right now, talking was highly overrated. For weeks, he’d put his own desires on hold, but that restraint was about to end.
Dax drew her to him and gently kissed her again, tying not to inflict any more pain, especially close to the small cut above her lip. She stretched out on top of him and kissed him harder. Her breaths increased as she nipped and tugged on his lower lip, causing his libido to shoot out of control.
“I could spend hours devouring you,” she said.
“I have time.”
“That so?” She slid her hand between their bellies and palmed his balls. Holy shit. Blood slammed into his dick and his pulse raced faster than a runaway train.
* * *
Jessie couldn’t believe how incredible his body felt pressed against hers, and when he’d deepened the kiss, warmth shot to her abdomen and below. She’d never felt more wanted or desired in her life, but she had to have more. Jessie opened her mouth to invite him in, and this time, he didn’t hesitate. As their tongues tangled and sparred, she enjoyed the minty taste from the gum they’d found last night.
Wanting more contact, she rolled off Dax and pulled him on top of her.
“Easy there,” he said. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on you.”
“You won’t.” She loved the security of his weight on her body as he balanced on his elbows. The only thing that could really harm her would be if he left, and seeing how they were trapped in this mine, that wasn’t going to happen. She tugged on his shoulders, wanting—no needing—to feel him on her, and then in her.
Just as Jessie was enjoying how his fuzzy beard bristled under her palm, Dax lowered his head and dropped a kiss on her throat, his tongue sending shivers of delight up and down her body. She moaned from the exquisite tension skittering across her skin. More turned on than she’d ever been in her life, she ran her palm under his shirt to touch his chest, to feel his heat. Her fingers danced across his strong pecs, and then she explored the contours of his body. Ooh, how the man could make her feel wonderful and wickedly wanton.
“I need you,” he panted.
“Then take me.”
Dax half sat up and fumbled with her blouse buttons, but she was too intent on loving his sleek muscles to stop and help. The sprinkling of soft chest hair tantalized her, and the light from the lamps shimmered against the walls, creating a cozy cocoon made just for them.
“You are so sweet,” he groaned. “I’ve wanted to touch you from the moment I saw you.”
“Then how come you always pulled away when I was close?” Now probably wasn’t the time for a discussion, but her curiosity had gotten the best of her.
He stabbed a hand through his hair. “It’s hard to explain. Everyone I’ve ever cared about has died. First my father, then my fiancée, and recently my mother.” He waited a second, she guessed, to see if she would ask about Laura, but now wasn’t the time to let a ghost in.
She nuzzled his neck. “It might come as a surprise, but I’m not dead yet and you touching me won’t change our outcome.” She drew the bottom of his earlobe between her teeth then let go. “How about forgetting my question and just enjoy the moment?” She needed the release, needed his tenderness, and dare she say she needed his love?
“You got it.”
He finished unbuttoning her blouse and popped open the front clasp of her bra. That was the answer she was looking for. Dax massaged and tweaked her already hard nipples, and her needy breasts burned under his touch.
She must have gasped because he immediately stopped. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.
“No! I’m excited, that’s all.” A red-hot burst of desire spread through her, and she clasped his powerful shoulders. Dax was so strong, rugged, and capable that her heart nearly burst for wanting him.
He leaned over and pleasured her breasts again, plucking her nipple with his teeth, then sucking hard on the sensitive nub, electrifying every nerve ending. He kneaded her other breast, ringing her nipple with his finger until she wanted to scream. Pluck, caress, pluck, caress. The combination drove her wild with want.
Jessie raked her nails down his back then ran her palms up and down his hard corded muscles. She drew him near and arched her back to press her breasts upward for more contact. When his hard, throbbing cock rubbed against her, he created a yearning so deep, she thought she’d drown in her own lust.
“I think it’s getting hot in here,” he said, his eyes half closed.
Dax rolled off her and when he slipped out of his pants and boxers, Jessie couldn’t help but stare at his huge cock. Heat swelled between her legs, and her inner walls cramped with lust.
“Lick me,” she begged.
She’d never asked a man to do that before, but with Dax, she wanted to experience everything.
“My pleasure.” Once naked, he took off her pants and panties and tossed them on the ground. “You are magnificent.”
Before she could respond, he slipped between her legs and opened her folds with his thumbs. Anticipation swirled inside her. She clutched his head, ready to hang on for a wild ride. The first lick sent her spiraling out of control. “Yes, yes.”
He rubbed her tiny nub, and waves of ecstasy swept through her, pushing her closer to her climax. As he licked and plucked her little pearl, he reached up and ran a palm over her breast, sending fire through her veins.
She wasn’t going to last much longer. This man seemed able to make her forget everything, and for that she’d die loving him. Heat pooled and swirled inside her until she couldn’t stand it any longer.
“I’m about to come.” She didn’t want to give into her lust without returning the pleasure first. She gently pushed on his shoulders, but like a rock boulder, she couldn’t move him. “Roll over, please.”
“You sure you want me to stop? I thought you were enjoying what I was doing.”
“That was the problem. I was liking it too much.”
He grinned and lay on his back. As if a sexy goddess guided her, she sat on her haunches, grabbed his cock, and licked his rock hard length. The army-type blanket scratched her knees, but his moaning helped her ignore her discomfort. She stroked him faster and faster while she drew him deeper into her mouth. If only this would last forever, she’d die happy.
* * *
Jessie’s hot touch undid him the moment she opened her mouth and let him explore her sweetness. As soon as Dax had taken off her blouse and touched her breasts, he was a goner. Jessie was the perfect woman, and everything Dax ever desired.
He wanted to recite some romantic turn of phrase to describe how the tip of her breast was in perfect proportion to the rest of her body, but his mind was in a fog. He had too much pent up emotion to think clearly, especially with the way Jessie was stroking him.
He grabbed her wrist. “Sweetheart, if you want me to do justice to you, you’ve got to give me a break.” He panted to catch his breath.
He wasn’t about to admit how long it had been since he’d had sex—or rather meaningful sex. A man did have to survive. Dax could never get enough of her in a lifetime, but at the moment his lifetime looked to be rather finite. Just as he was about to question why life had turned so cruel, she dragged his head up to her mouth and kissed him with more intensity and desire that any man deserved.
Dax slipped his finger between her wet, needy folds, nearly making him come. It wouldn’t be fair to her if he came first. They had all day and all night, and he had no intention of stopping.
Her kiss turned more urgent, and then she murmured, “I want all of you. Now.”
With one finger flicking the bud of her core, he dug his other hand into her hair and kissed her closed lids, her nose, and chin, thrilling at every touch.
She pleaded again, sending him into a state of desperation.
“You win.” Or rather I win.
Dax crawled on top of her, excitement racing through his veins. Just as he was about to mount her, a deep voice reverberated from far down the mine, and Dax stilled. He clasped a hand over her mouth and extinguished the light.