“Tell me about you, Eva.”
“Not much to tell.” Taking the bottle from his hand, I sipped it more gingerly this time. “I grew up in a small town and never escaped.” I stared out of the window as Wanted Dead or Alive blared over the speakers.
“You’re escaping now.” Reaching over, he took my hand in his. I glanced at him, unable to hide my smirk.
“We’re running. It’s not really the same thing.”
“Here we are,” he said as he pulled off onto the side of the road, and down a small bank, hiding us from oncoming traffic.
“Where is here?” I asked, unable to make out my surroundings. Elijah rounded my side of the car and opened the door for me. I stepped out reluctantly.
“Ft. Pulaski.” He grinned from ear to ear. “They give tours during the day, but tonight it is all ours and I have a spot we can hideout during tomorrow,” he said with excitement. His happiness was contagious, literally. I ran my fingers along the stone wall as we walked the perimeter toward the entrance.
“This is amazing,” I said, turning back to him.
“Come on.” He headed up a pathway to the top of the wall. We stepped to the edge and you could see the full view. It was completely surrounded by stone walls, the center beautiful lush grass.
“Incredible.” I smiled, taking in the scenery. Elijah suddenly leaped from the wall and landing on the grass below with a dull thud.
“Jump,” he called up to me.
“No way, I’ll break a leg,” I yelled back at him, stepping back from the edge.
“I’ll catch you.” He held his arms in the air. I hesitated, still not fully believing the strength that Elijah possessed. He shot me a look of mock frustration and scaled the rocks on the side of the wall with ease. He took my hands in his. “Do you trust me?” he asked, looking deeply into my eyes. “Do you trust me?”
I slowly nodded my head yes. He quickly swept me into his arms and leaped from the wall, landing gently onto the ground below.
I squeezed his neck tightly as he pressed his forehead against mine. It felt as if we were on our own planet. I lifted my gaze to meet his and kissed him gently.
The electricity between us was palpable. He sunk to his knees and laid me on the soft grass, tracing my collarbone with his fingers, hovering just above my body. His eyes followed his fingertips as the slid up to my throat and toward my shoulder. I slipped my hand behind his neck and pulled him close to me, kissing him again. I sucked on his bottom lip and opened his mouth with my tongue. He moaned harshly and pushed his lips harder against mine, breaking away only to slide off his shirt and throw it onto the grass. He rested his body on top of me, and I could feel how badly he wanted me as well.
I pushed on his shoulder and rolled him onto the ground, positioning myself over his waist. Running my hands down his perfectly chiseled chest, I was desperate to feel the rest of him. I began to undo the button of his jeans. His fingers wrapped around mine, stopping me.
“Eva,” he began and I rolled my eyes.
“I get it. You don’t want to,” I snapped, feeling embarrassed that he was turning me down again.
“I want to, trust me. But I don’t want to hurt you again. I could kill you.”
“Then make me like you,” I pleaded without even thinking it over. “You can’t kill me if I’m-”
“Dead? Like me? Is that what you want? You want me to drain the life out of you?” His anger was like a furnace and I was suffocating inside of it.
“No, no,” I stuttered. “I just…”
His expression relaxed as he put his hand against my cheek. “Come here.” He motioned with his chin to the ground beside him.
I slid off his waist and laid down on the grass beside him, looking up at the stars above.
“Why are we here?” I asked. I could feel his eyes on me, but I continued to watch the sky.
“Because I have to keep you safe.”
“Why? Why do any of this? You could have killed me at the creek and no one would have cared.”
“I would have cared, Eva.”
Chapter nineteen
Take A Little
“I will have to leave for a little while,” Elijah said out of the blue as he pulled his shirt over his head.
“What? Where?” I