“Where is she?” I step closer to him, sliding my hand into his and hooking my fingers through his.
He squeezes back, shooting me a quick grin; “No idea.”
“Well if she’s going to ditch out on us, we could always go back to the inn and…” I blush as I look up into his eyes, tracing my finger over his jawline.
He grins widely at me; “Sorry, darlin,” He says with mock distress in his voice; “I’m just real bad at subtly today I guess. You wanted to go back to the inn and do what now?” He’s teasing me, trying to get me to blush.
Two can play that game.
I lean in close, my lips just brushing against his earlobe, my breath hot on his skin; “I said,” I whisper thickly; “I think you should take me back to the hotel room and fuck the shit out of me with that big cock of yours.”
Ok, even I blush at that level of directness, but I feel the thrill of it throb deep within me as I hear him growl at my words, his fingers tightening their grip on mine. He pulls me tight against him, his hand sliding down to grab my ass; “Careful there, darlin,” He whispers into my ear, his hand sliding deep down the curve of my ass between my thighs and making me gasp; “Keep talking like that we won’t even make it back to the inn.”
I’m moaning into his kiss when there’s a sudden sound somewhere close. We pull apart quickly, looking around.
“Sasha?” The plaza is still silent, almost even more-so now. I look up at Bryce, his eyes sharp and focused as the muscles in his shoulders tighten. He reaches back into the waist of his pants for the gun Sasha gave us before, pulling it out and quickly checking the chamber.
“Get behind me.”
I frown; “What is it?”
“Nothing- I mean,” He looks around, his eyes darting; “Just, stay behi-”
The wall right next to us erupts in plaster and rock as the shots ring out around us. I scream as Bryce shoves me down behind one of the potted planters in the square, before ducking behind the one next to it as bullets pepper the ground around us. I scream again, covering my head with my hands as I duck down, feeling the adrenaline roaring through my veins. Pottery explodes next to my face, sending me reeling to the ground.
There’s a ringing in my ears as I wince and look up to see Bryce screaming something at me from his spot behind the other planter. His face is red and his eyes are wild as he waves his arms as he yells at me, as if shoving me away.
I don’t understand; what’s happening?
The ringing starts to fade into the sound of thundering gunshots, cracking glass, and shattering plaster walls; “Run!”
This time I do understand it, and my eyes go wide at him; “What?!”
“Run!” He’s screaming, his face tight as he glances a look over the planter and raises the gun in his hand to fire off a few shots backs; “Get out of here!”
“Are you crazy?!” I scream; “I’m not leaving you here!”
“Just g-” A huge man in black comes crashing over the top of Bryce’s planter, tackling him to the ground. He’s got a bandage over his nose and clear signs of bruising around his eyes, and it takes me half a second to realize it’s fucking Anderson.
“Peyton!” Bryce is struggling with the bigger man, trading punches with him as they grapple on the ground; “Run!”
I can feel the fear then, the same gripping, arresting fear I felt once before; that night with Bill, in my mother’s trailer. And just like then, I’m paralyzed by it, frozen to the spot and just staring at Bryce as he screams at me.
“Go!”
“I’m not going to just le-”
“Get the fuck out of here! Get out so one of us can get Logan!”
I scream as two other men come charging around the size of the plaza and join the fray, holding Bryce down to the ground as he roars and struggles against them. And for a second, it looks like he’s winning. He bursts free of them, and in that second, he turns to me as he throws the gun at me. It’s clattering to my feet, and as I look up, it’s almost as if in slow motion as I meet his eyes; “Bryce-”
“Come back for me,” He says, and then I’m screaming as the men drag him back to ground.
And then I’m running. I’m screaming, and fighting back the tears, and I’m running.
One of us has to get Logan…Come back for me.
I don’t see the car until it practically hits me. I lunge out of the way as it comes screeching to a stop right in front of me, and it’s then that I look up with wild eyes and see the jet-black hair, and the blood-red lips of the woman behind the wheel.
Sasha.
She flings the drivers side door open and steps out, looking more afraid than I’ve yet to see in her always-cool demeanor; “Get in the car.”