as his lips parted and eyes squeezed shut. He was so handsome, and so mine.
Jacob cleaned me up and cared for me like a gentleman. He cuddled me close on a blanket on the ground, without his mindspeak. We just traced our fingers along the grooves in each other's skin until the transport was ready. What we did was wild and reckless. We didn’t really have the time, and it’s pretty dangerous for random romps in farmhouses.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Everyone was waiting with wide grins of approval when we got out of the house. Naturally, Patrick even cheered. I glanced at Jacob to see his expression and was overjoyed to see the charming, confident ladies’ man I knew before Ethros. He had an extra swagger to his walk that wasn’t there before.
Kemper triple checked the fuel cells, and we all got inside the transport to leave. Jacob reached for his mindspeak, but Cyler grabbed his wrist. “Sorry, Brother. I love you, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to listen to you talk about how good you fucked our girl for the next six hours.”
We all laughed as Jacob put it in anyway. The first thing his mindspeak said made a blush travel all the way from my head to my feet. “Next time, I want to taste her.”
Chapter Fourteen
Crunch.
Metal bent and groaned in anger. One minute we were all chatting and laughing. Our spirits were high with hope at seeing Payne in a couple of hours. I remembered looking at Cyler before the Transport jerked to the right with a harsh jolt and started rolling. It all happened so fast that I couldn’t breathe. I tumbled around the transport while trying to orient myself. I wasn’t buckled and immediately hit the ceiling with my head. My teeth rattled as we spun, I clenched every muscle in my body, and I was sure my palms were bloody from my nails digging into them. My knee hit something hard, and I screamed. We were still tumbling.
A pair of arms wrapped around my waist, and I was pulled into Jacob’s muscular chest. “Hold on!” Patrick screamed as Cyler worked the control panel, trying his best to steady the transport, but it was too late. We were rolling, the hovering mechanism spasming on the dirt road, as rocks flew around us. I glanced outside while a rolling need to vomit hit me in the gut. The empire tipped on its side outside our window, and we were helpless to stop it.
I wanted to scream. Could feel the urge simmering in my chest, but I was gritting my teeth so hard that I didn't. I was clamping my jaw down like it was the only thing keeping me from losing my internal organs. I could feel pressure blooming on my body from where Jacob was gripping me hard. I sucked in as much air as I could just as the transport nose-dived into the dirt. The force knocked me out of Jacob’s arms and sent me flying into Huxley, who was sitting across from him. My chest collided with his and my head hit the window behind him with a crack.
I didn’t fade out of consciousness—it was a snap. A breaking sensation that left me seeing nothing but black.
“Please wake up, baby. Please, please. Open those beautiful eyes of yours,” a voice cried out. I was being cradled against a muscular chest. I could tell that I was shaking, but it wasn’t my muscles trembling from the stress and pain. Whoever was holding me trembled. I heard crying. Sobbing. Despair like a vice wrapped around my neck. I bet I could choke on the pain.
“Mmm,” I moaned. I felt jostled and took inventory of my body. I was sore, but my head was what felt the worst. There was a severe pounding in my skull that made it feel like I could crack open my mind and spill out all the bad things I’d done at the feet of whoever was cradling me.
“MAVERICK!” someone yelled. I could hear the intensity of his words, feel the desperation. Another body slid behind me, but I couldn’t open my eyes just yet. “She’s moaning,” the voice said in a whisper.
“Don’t let her move, the impact could have broken her neck. How much did you move her?”
“I didn’t,” the voice holding me said. It was deep and gravely. My brain swam through my memories, and I realized that it was Huxley. “She landed