we can hitch a ride back into Szolen unseen.”
“The guards coming back will be in the truck. They’ll see us.”
“The food they take out there is transported in large cooler boxes on the back of the truck. I once helped pack them for a school volunteer project. They come back empty.”
“And I would fit in one of these.”
“Yes. They’re feeding a literal army of men. Both of us can fit in one. It’ll be snug, but it’s a relatively short ride from the panels to Szolen.”
“You know for certain when they’ll be at the panels?”
“Yes. I used to hide in the warehouse as a child, watching the trucks come and go. Waiting for my father. Will and I would sneak into the coolers, playing hide and seek when they returned.”
Hand rubbing across his chin, he seems to consider my proposal. “The panels are nearly four-hundred miles south of where we are now. Unless we find fuel for the vehicles, that’s a ten-day hike. There’d be stretches of no shelter from the sun, or marauders.”
“Where the hell will we find fuel around here?”
“There’s a corn fuel farm a few miles from Remus’s compound. If I walk through the night, I can make it there in about eighteen hours.”
“What do you mean I can make it there? I’m coming with you.”
“It’s too dangerous, Thalia. That’s a common stop for Remus and his men.”
“How much does each gas can hold?”
His lips press tightly together, telling me he’s already calculated this and knows what I’m going to say. “Five gallons each.”
“Not even ten gallons is enough to make it to the panels. You’re going to haul all that fuel on foot by yourself?”
“No. I’m going to retrieve enough to drive the vehicle there and fill the rest of the tank. From there, we’ll head to the panels.”
“Why not just fill one can, then?”
Brow quirked up, it seems he’s already thought of that, too. “Two balances the weight better.”
Climbing down from the tub, I slide onto his lap and grip both sides of his face. “We. We are going to fill the rest of the tank and head to the panels, right?”
“Yes. I promise I won’t leave you behind.”
“I know. I trust you.”
Chapter 36
I lie on my side facing the fire, while Titus presses his chest to my back. Having secured the perimeter, as he does every night before we lie down, he pulls me into his body that blazes like an inferno. Light kissing to my shoulder is only a minor distraction to the thoughts swirling inside my head. Thoughts of him being captured by Remus and his men, and my having no awareness of it until he, ultimately, doesn’t return.
Thoughts of what Remus might do to punish him.
If they bothered to keep him alive, at all.
“Your mind is somewhere else,” he says against my skin.
“Yours isn’t?”
“Not when I’m with you.”
“I’m sorry, I just …. I think too much. It’s a curse.”
“You need to stop thinking about this. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“I want to, but I can’t. If Remus--” A hand across my mouth cuts my words off at the same time fingers slide between my thighs. The bruise on my cheeks is only a minor ache beneath the pressure of his hand.
“You talk too much, too.” His fingers tunnel their way along my seam, circling over my sensitive clit.
The sound of my moans trapped against his palm is an unexpected delight. As much as I try to deny it, I seem to enjoy being at a disadvantage around Titus. Teeth graze the edge of my throat and bite down at the crook of neck, at the same time a quiet growl rumbles in my ear.
Eyes rolled back, I arch into him as he drags his tongue over the tender spot, my movements limited by his unwavering grip.
Knee prodding the back of my thighs, he holds my legs wide and dips his fingers up inside of me. A whimper escapes me and I reach back to grip tight to something, finding his cock pressed against my backside. In the same tempo that he pumps his fingers in and out of me, I stroke his length, reveling in his masculine grunts and moans in my ear.
“You are the best torture, Thalia. What I wouldn’t give to fuck you right now.”
His delicious words only stoke the flames inside of me, while he squeezes my mouth in time to each glide of my palm, as if he’s imagining his own hand there.
I love being