@@@@@“Will it help if I give you a ride?” “A
@@@@@“Will it help if I give you a ride?”
“A ride?” I echo
“I'll make you a dealYou wait here while I gather more food, and I'll take you anywhere you
want to go in my jeepIt's faster than running–even faster thanyou running
“You have a car?”
“Of courseDo you think I walked out here?”
I think of the six hours it took me to walk here, and my forehead furrows
“We'll be back to your brother in no time,” he promises“Don't move from this spot, okay?”
I nod
“And eat something, pleaseI don't want your stomach to give us away He grins, and his eyes
crinkle up, fanning lines out of the cornersMy heart gives one hard thump, and I know I will
wait here if it takes him all night
He is still holding my handHe lets go slowly, his eyes not leaving mineHe takes a step
backward, then pauses
“Please don't kick me,” he pleads, leaning forward and grabbing my chinHe kisses me again,
and this time I feel itHis lips are softer than his hands, and hot, even in the warm desert night
A flock of butterflies riots in my stomach and steals my breathMy hands reach for him
instinctivelyI touch the warm skin of his cheek, the rough hair on his neckMy fingers skim
over a line of puckered skin, a raised ridge right beneath the hairline
I woke up covered in sweatEven before I was all the way awake, my fingers were on the back
of my neck, tracing the short line left from the insertionI could barely detect the faint pink
blemish with my finger