“It was that same fear that eventually caused us to disburse and go our separate ways, no longer living as a community. Many of us have lost touch. Our numbers aren’t known. Smaller groups of us keep touch and help each other when we can. We fear…” She swallowed against the knot growing in her throat. Duncan’s hand continued to soothe down her hair, over her shoulder and down her arm.
“What do you fear?” he asked.
“Extinction,” she whispered.
He kissed the top of her head, and she lay there for a long moment, resting her cheek against his chest. His heartbeat thudded comfortingly next to her ear. Strong. Steady. Like him.
Slowly, she pulled away and stared up at him, her heart in her throat. “I’d like to call my parents now if that’s okay with you.”
He nodded. “Of course, honey. You stay here. I’ll get you the phone.”
Butterflies winged their way through her stomach and into her chest. Tears stung her eyes. She wasn’t even sure she’d be able to form a coherent sentence. Let them be there this time.
When Duncan returned, he settled beside her and touched her gently on the cheek. “Tell me the number, and I’ll dial it for you.”
She related the number in a shaky voice then looked up at him fearfully as he handed her the phone. She waited anxiously as the phone rang, and her breath caught and held when her mother’s voice came over the line.
“Mama?” she whispered. “Mama, it’s Aliyah.”
There was a moment of stunned silence before her mother began babbling in her ear. They were both sobbing as Aliyah poured her story out, and then her father picked up, his gruff, deep voice shaken with emotion.
“Where are you, baby? We’ll come get you.”
Aliyah frowned. She didn’t even know where she was. Colorado. She knew that much. She couldn’t even tell her parents how to come get her. She looked to Duncan for help and then told her mother to hold on for a moment.
She held the phone out to him. “They need to know where I am so they can come get me. I-I don’t know how to tell them.”
Duncan’s hand closed over hers as he took the phone. “Don’t worry, honey, I’ll tell them what they need to know.”
Aliyah listened as Duncan politely introduced himself to her parents and then assured them that she was okay and that she was safe with him. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence when Duncan told them that he was well aware of what Aliyah was and that it didn’t make a damn bit of difference to him because no one was going to hurt her.
Finally, he gave them the information they needed before he handed the phone back to her.
“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” her mother said. “We’re leaving now. Your father is calling the pilot to get us to Kodiak, and from there we’ll book a flight into Denver. We’ll see you soon.”
“I love you, mama,” she whispered.
“Oh, I love you too, my baby. I’m so glad you’re alive.”
Aliyah hung up and closed her eyes. Tears slipped from underneath her eyelids and trickled down her cheeks. Warm lips sipped them from her skin and kissed a path up her face until he pressed his mouth to one closed eyelid and then the other.
She reached blindly for him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Love me,” she whispered.
They only had another day. Tomorrow she would lead Duncan to the hunters, and her parents would arrive soon after.
He gathered her in his arms, letting the blanket fall away. He carried her into the bedroom and laid her gently on the bed. He followed her down, pressing his body to hers, kissing her, nibbling delicately at her neck and jawline.
“I need you so much.”
He swallowed her words into his mouth, and he ravished her lips. He pulled at his clothes, never leaving her but for the briefest of seconds as he tossed his shirt and pants across the room.
She was waiting with open arms when he returned, lowering his body to hers. Skin on skin. Warm. Soft against hard. Loving. So tender. So gentle it made her heart ache. For all their erotic romping of the night before, this was, in effect, their good-bye.
She ran her fingertips up his sides then over his back until they dug into his shoulders. Her head fell back as she bared her neck to his seeking lips.
They traced downward, over the column of her shoulder then down to her breasts. Warm, liquid desire, like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter night seeped into her veins, heating her body. Her breasts swelled and ached, the nipples tightening to rigid points.
He licked at one then the other, alternating the swipes of his tongue with sharp little nips of his teeth. She wiggled and squirmed, but he held her fast, her body laid out like a feast.
“I want inside you so bad,” he murmured. “Give me a minute to get the condom.”
“No,” she protested, wrapping her legs around his waist. His cock brushed against the damp flesh between her thighs, and she quivered. “Please. I want you now.”
His gaze focused on her. “Aliyah, honey, are you sure?”
“Please. Let me have all of you tonight.”
He slid into her wetness with a groan. She cried out at the fullness, in shock at the exquisite feel of his flesh against hers, no barrier between them.
He slid his hands underneath to cup her buttocks. He squeezed and spread her wider as he planted himself deeper and deeper still with each thrust.
“Open for me, sweetheart. Take all of me, just like before. Relax and let me have you just as you have me.”
His words sent a shockwave of desire soaring through her belly. She arched into him, opening, surrendering, letting him take everything she could give him.
“Give me more,” he growled.
And she felt herself open for him, accept all of him as he slid deep, touching the deepest part of her soul. Her body cradled his as he took her over and over, possessing her, owning her.
I love you.
At first she thought she’d said it aloud, but it welled up from the depths of her heart. Her mind screamed it, her heart accepted it.
“Take me,” she whispered. “I’ll always be yours.”
He shuddered above her and poured himself into her welcoming body. Her world fractured. Splintered as tiny fragments of pleasure burst around her. She felt his warmth fill her and found peace as she slowly fell back to earth.
She held him tightly against her, refusing to let go. Not wanting their time together to end.
CHAPTER 16
They gathered at dawn. Nick, Duncan, and Aliyah stood in the cold morning air, their breaths coming in puffs in the pale light.
“You go meet with your team, Nick. I’ll take Aliyah, and we’ll see if we can find their trail. When I have a location, I’ll holler. You’ll move in, and I’ll make sure Aliyah is safe before I join you.”
Nick nodded and started to climb into his truck. He paused with one leg inside and turned to Aliyah. He started to speak but shook his head.
“I don’t even know what to say. I guess good luck will have to do. I hope we meet again some day.”
She smiled. “Thank you, Nick. It was very nice meeting you. Even if you did scare the living daylights out of me.”
He winced and then got into his truck and drove away.
Duncan wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she gazed up at him. “Are you ready?” she asked.
He stared at her for a long moment. “If I’m honest, no. I’m not ready. I don’t want you involved. I want you here where I know you’re safe.”
She reached up on tiptoe and kissed him. Then she crawled into the truck on his side and scooted over to let him in.
They drove back out to where Duncan had first found her. They parked as close as he could and they hiked the rest of the way. When he thought they were far enough to avoid being seen, he turned to Aliyah. And he nearly called the whole thing off.