Lace and Bullets(30)
Every last part of herself. He wanted to drown in the smell of her, so clean and pure. He yanked his pants open and his cock sprang free. She rose up to meet him.
Damien took. He plowed her depths, sinking inside her empty channel so fast, she cried out. So fucking wet and ready. He wasn’t a religious man, but right then he wanted to pray.
13
MIA
Mia rolled over on the lumpy mattress and reached for Damien. The bed was empty. She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes as the bathroom door opened.
Damien stood in the glow of the bathroom light, skin damp and glistening, wearing nothing but a towel. Mia swallowed.
Her nipples hardened against the scratchy sheet and she shifted on the bed. Her body ached for him.
“Good morning.” She smiled, but he only nodded and bent to grab his clothes.
“We need to get going.” He jerked his head toward the open door. “I’m done in there.”
Mia blinked. The night before…the things he did to her…the way he made her feel. It was better than anything.
Why would he shut her out? She slid off the bed and crouched beside him, her naked body barely hidden behind her bent legs. “Are you all right? Did something happen?”
“I already told you. We’ve got to go. Marcelo can’t be that far behind us. We need new clothes and a new set of plates. There’s a town not too far ahead. Should have something.”
An angry scab snaked down Damien’s shoulder and as he reached for his crumpled up shirt, it split open.
“You’re bleeding.” Mia reached out. “Let me help—”
Damien shrugged her off and stood up. “It’s just a scratch. You need to get ready. We’re leaving in ten.”
Mia rocked back on her heels. He was shutting her out, but she didn’t know why. After all they had shared…She shook her head and stood up. “Fine. I’ll be ready.” She walked into the bathroom with a purposeful shake of her naked ass and slammed the door.
Ten minutes later, Damien pulled the car out of the parking lot and headed back to the interstate.
“Where are we going?”
“Further away.”
Mia exhaled and fidgeted with the belt. “We can’t just keep driving, Damien. We need a plan. A way to put Marcelo behind bars.”
“We’ve already talked about this. Running is the only thing we can do.”
She twisted the black seat belt around her fingers. “I’ve got connections. I can put in a call to the ADA. He’s an asshole, but he’s a good lawyer. He could get you a deal.”
Damien’s hands clenched the steering wheel so hard it let out a crack. “No.”
“He’s not like my father. He always bitched about how my dad handled cases. He’s one of the good guys.”
“There’s no such thing.”
“How can you say that?”
Damien turned to her. His eyes shone with emotion. “There’s no good and there’s no bad. Don’t you see that? Good people do bad things. Bad people do good things. This whole world is one fucked up pool and we’re all just treading water, trying to survive.”
Mia shrank back against the door. “You can’t mean that.”
Damien focused on the road.
“Good and evil exists, Damien. I’m not saying there are perfect people out there, but not everyone is bad. Not everyone crosses the line.”
He didn’t take his eyes from the road. “There is no line, Mia. There’s only what we choose to do in the moment. That’s all that matters. Our choices and whether we can live with them.”
The car slowed and Mia sat up to look out the window. The big blue box of a Wal-Mart swam in front of her blurry eyes. She wiped at them with the grimy hem of her sleeve.
A handful of words and the man beside her had gotten under her skin. She’d always looked at the world in black and white. Good and bad. Not a continuous spectrum of gray. Was that because she’d been sheltered? Because she hadn’t seen the dark inside so many people like Damien had?
He pulled into a parking spot and killed the engine before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a wad of cash. He flicked off a sizable sum and handed it over.
“Go inside and buy some new clothes. Things that are comfortable. Easy to run in. Get anything else you need, too.”
She took the money. “What about you?”
He scanned the parking lot. “I’ll be inside, but I’ve got to scope the lot first. We need a new license plate.” His eyes met hers and their intensity shocked her. The man who cleaned her cuts and scrapes in the shower was gone.
In his place was a murderer with a job to do. “If you see me in the store, don’t acknowledge me. Pretend we don’t know each other. I’ll pull up to the side entrance in exactly one hour. Be ready.”