Henry rolled me over, reached down into my pants, and pushed his palm against my heat. He kissed me while massaging. After a minute, he grabbed my pants and pulled them down.
We skipped most of the hanky panky foreplay that we normally enjoy. He pushed my legs further apart with his thigh, and he settled himself in between. He eased himself into me. I wasn’t quite ready for him so I latched onto his shoulder, biting into his cool skin, trying to stifle any moan or groan that could have escaped.
Henry rocked me to the edge, working at a steady, quiet rhythm. The intense pressure to be quiet made it that much better.
He saw that I was right at the peak so he pulled my head into his chest, trying to keep me from waking Thomas. My body pulsated furiously around him, and the feeling sucked him in. He let go, and his face contorted like he was in immense pain, but I knew it was pleasure. His jaw slacked and his eyes rolled. He fell limp on top of me for a minute, trying to catch his breath before he rolled off. I drifted off into a deep sleep, while Henry held me and played with my hair.
Chapter 34
I
t was one horrible dream after another. I woke up with a gasp, sitting straight up. Henry jumped up. “What? What’s wrong?” Before I realized what was going on, he had already put his jeans on.
“Nightmares,” I whispered. There was so much sadness in my nightmares that I couldn’t even speak about them anymore. I shook them out of my mind.
I saw that the sun was rising. He kneeled down next to me. My anxiety kicked in full force and my heart skipped a few beats. Henry stroked my cheek.
“Love, it’s going to be alright. Soon enough, we will settle down and we’ll get married somehow. Okay?” I nodded, and he rubbed my jaw with his thumb. “I’m going to wake Nick up, then we can go out to the truck and perform a draw.” I nodded again. I would have given Henry my life if it meant saving his. I sounded like one of those sappy love songs. Barf.
I looked over at Thomas when I realized I didn’t hear him snoring anymore. He was awake, staring at the ceiling. “Thomas?”
“Hmm?”
“How come you hardly ever have anything to say? You’re just so quiet all of the time.”
“No one ever asks. Besides, I’m only fourteen. No one would listen to wha’ I have ta say.” He rolled over and looked at me.
“Did you have a bad childhood?”
“No. It was alrigh’. Nothin’ special; just typical, I guess. I kinda always been quiet and stuck to myself.” He had a nice smile. I could see the love in his heart as he reminisced. He really was a good kid.
“I’m happy you had a nice childhood. Leaves good memories for you.”
Nick and Henry came back out into the living room. Nick was rubbing his eyes, and wasn’t quite steady on his feet yet. Henry pulled his pack up out of one of the boxes, looked at me, and motioned his head to the door. I got up and followed him out. Nick stayed inside, trying to wake up before he followed behind us.
“Get in the passenger side.”
“Did you tell Nick what your plan is?”
“Yeah.” We both got into the truck. He opened his pack and pulled out the necessary equipment.
“He’s fine with it?”
“He said he’s fine with it. He thought it was a good idea.” Henry stuck the needle in my arm and I winced. “Sorry, love.” I sat back, allowing the blood to drain from my body. I closed my eyes, trying to relax and not think about what was about to happen.
“How did Claire take it?”
“About as well as you did. Maybe a little worse. And here she comes now. Shit.” I popped my eyes open, and saw Claire on the warpath.
“Henry! Get out here now,” Claire growled. She was spitting mad. He got out of the truck. Maybe I should have warned him not to get out. He met her halfway between the front porch and his truck. “How dare you!” Then she punched him in the mouth.
I should have gotten out to defend Henry’s honor, or maybe I should have joined in. I was still a little conflicted over him trying to find Addie’s daughter. Anyway, I couldn’t get out and risk Addie seeing me hooked up for a draw.
“Arg! What the fuck, Claire?” He spit out what looked to be a mouthful of blood. Just what I wanted to see...more blood.
“You don’t just go around making decisions on your own! You have to speak with everyone. Didn’t we agree that you needed to listen to everyone’s opinions?!” I saw Henry keep wiping his mouth with his bandaged hand. Then I looked down and saw the vial was near full. I was brave, and popped it off and plugged in the next one.
“Keep your voice down, damn it!” Blood was spraying from his mouth when he spoke.