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17 Honor

Nathan walked behind me. I knew it was because he intended to block any bullets that might fly our way.

I thought he was crazy when he suggested we leave the protection of the Jeep and set off on foot, but once the shooting started, I realized maybe he was right. He said he was a Marine. That was a good thing, right? I mean, any time anything bad happened in the news or a new war broke out; it was the Marines that were called in.

I found myself wondering what he looked like in uniform.

Yes, they were inappropriate thoughts for a time like this. But my brain needed a break from all the killing and the people wanting me dead stuff. Imagining Nathan in a uniform was a good distraction.

The rain still hadn’t let up. My Nikes were soaked through and caked with mud. My pants were drenched and my hair was plastered to my head in what I knew was probably most unflattering.

At least it was dark.

Every step I took caused pain to radiate through my middle, and the scrapes on my face burned when the rainwater dripped into them (which was pretty much every single second). We didn’t talk; we just walked. Nathan set a pace that was at times punishing. I didn’t complain because I knew he was just trying to get us out of there.

Hell, the faster we got out of these godforsaken woods, the faster we would be safe.

I wondered about Lex and where he was. Every odd sound I heard, every snapping of a branch, would send me into a panic as my body readied to leap out of the path of a barreling bullet.

My foot plopped down in a slick puddle of mud and my arms shot out from my sides, trying to balance, trying to prevent me from falling. But then my other foot started to slide around and I knew I was going down.

Just before I landed in a heap of mud, Nathan caught me around the waist and pulled me close.

“Careful,” he whispered, helping me back onto my feet. He held onto my arm as I stepped out of the mud and onto sturdier land. “Come on,” he said, leading me off to the side, beneath a very large tree.

The branches overhead still contained enough leaves to shelter us from the worst of the rain. I don’t know if it was my imagination, but it seemed warmer under here.

Or maybe it was because Nathan was inches away from me and his body heat was sinful.

He leaned up against the rough bark of the tree, planting his feet wide. I was close enough to see the outline of his hard chest and torso through the wet shirt that was plastered against his frame.

Clearly, he worked out. A lot.

“Come here,” he said quietly, holding out one of his arms and inviting me close.

I hesitated a fraction of a second and then stepped between his legs as he pulled me in so I was leaning right up against him. Even though he was soaking wet, he still radiated heat. My icy cold fingers curled closer to him from within the sleeves of his fleece jacket.

“Why don’t you rest for a minute?” he suggested right into my ear. “We’ve been walking a long time.”

My legs were shaking. From the effort of walking? From the fear of being hunted? From being so close to him? I didn’t know. But no matter how stiffly I held myself, they refused to stop.

Nathan slid down the trunk of the tree until his butt hit the pile of fall-colored leaves. He tugged me into his lap and used his hand to tuck my cheek against his chest.

It was an awfully intimate position. But he was so warm and his presence was so reassuring. I didn’t want to move. So I stayed.

He used his fingers to pull the wet strands of my dark hair off my face and tuck them behind my ear. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat caused my eyes to droop closed. I was so incredibly tired. My body felt like a bowl of Jell-O, all wobbly and loose.

“Do you think he’s following us?” I whispered.

“Maybe.”

“How much longer until we hit the road?”

“We should have hit it a while ago, but I had to double back because I thought I heard him heading in our direction.”

I glanced up. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

I felt him shrug as he pushed my head back against his chest. “It wouldn’t have changed anything,” he replied, running his fingers through my wet hair. “Besides, you’re scared enough.”

“I’m not scared enough for you to keep the truth from me,” I snapped.

His fingers paused. “I wasn’t trying to lie.”

I sighed. “I know. I’m sorry.”

His fingers began stroking me again. My eyes slid closed. “We have maybe a mile or two before we hit a road. We will follow it until we find someone.”

“Should we call the police?”

“I’ll call them when we hit the road. I’m not sure how near he is, and I don’t want to make too much noise. Plus, it will be easier for them to find us.”

Every once in a while, a big fat rain drop would drip off the leaves above and hit me on the cheek. It would trail over my skin like I was crying, even though I wasn’t.

“I’m going to get a puppy,” I announced, not really sure why I was bringing this up again.

“Oh yeah?” he asked. His voice vibrated in his chest and tickled me.

I nodded against him. “Yeah. I’ve always wanted a dog.”

“What kind of dog do you want?”

“I have no idea.” I giggled. “I didn’t know I wanted one so bad until today.”

“Staring down death has a way of making things clear.”

“You say that like you understand.”

He didn’t reply.

“How long have you been a Marine?”

“Six years.”

“How old are you?” I asked.

“Twenty-four. I joined the Corps right out of high school.”

“I didn’t know there were Marines in this area.”

“I’m stationed in Allentown. It’s a very small reservist base.”

“You live out in this area?” I asked, curious.

“Mmmm,” he replied. “I like to get away at the end of the day.”

“Are you from the South?”

“You like my accent?” he asked, a smile in his voice.

“Maybe,” I said, smiling.

He chuckled. “Born and raised in North Carolina.”

“This your first time being stationed up North?”

“Yep.”

Without realizing it, I cuddled in a little closer and he tightened his hold on my body. I felt his chin rub the top of my head, and I took a deep breath. “You smell like a Christmas tree.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“My favorite holiday is Christmas,” I said shyly.

He started stroking my hair again.

“Not many people would have come looking for me,” I told him, wondering what he would say. Because of me, he’d been shot at, punched, stranded in the woods, and now forced to hike through the rain with an injured woman.

“The police were busy.”

“You could have left them all the information and gone home.”

“I don’t leave behind people in trouble.”

Again, I sensed more behind his words than he said, but I didn’t feel like it was my place to ask. “Well, whatever your reason… thank you.”

“You already thanked me.”

“Words are never enough.”

“Aren’t you a writer?” he asked, amusement in his tone.

I laughed. It hurt my ribs. “Yeah.”

“Bake me a pie.”

“What?” I asked, wondering how the topic turned to food.

“You can thank me by baking a pie.”

“You like pie?”

“Who doesn’t?”

He had a point. He was probably one of those bachelors who never cooked… Wait a minute… bachelor. “Are you married?”

“No.”

“Girlfriend?”

“No.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“You haven’t really seen my face yet,” he replied, amused.

I didn’t need to see his face. I knew he was beautiful.

“What kind of pie do you want?” I said, getting back on topic.

“Apple.”

“Apple pie it is.” Nearby, a branch snapped. Nathan’s entire body changed. He went from relaxed and playful to tensely gripping the gun. He moved swiftly, placing me between the trunk of the tree and his body as he scanned the area around us.

When no gunshots rang out and Lex didn’t appear, he reached around and took my hand. “We need to keep moving.”

As we walked, he felt in his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. The cell phone that started it all, the cell phone that kept me alive.

He pressed the button at the bottom, but nothing happened. He did it again and again. Nothing. He stopped walking and we both stared down at the inoperative phone.

“Shit,” he swore. “It got too wet.”

“How much longer?” I worried.

He looked through the dark. Off in the distance was an obscure, hulking shape. Fear made my belly bottom out.

“Thank fucking God,” he said and took my hand, dragging me along behind him. His legs were much longer than mine, and I had to practically run to keep up.

“What is that?” I asked between gasping for breath. I kind of assumed it wasn’t something bad like I supposed before, judging from the way he used breakneck speed to get there.

I stared through the pounding rain again and realized what it was he was so anxious to get to.

A car.

A truck to be exact.

A black pickup truck sitting right there in the open.

For some reason, a memory of banging around in the bed of that truck washed over me. I tripped and stumbled. Nathan tried to haul me up, but I fell anyway, landing on my knees on the soaking ground.

“Honor?”

“It’s Lex’s,” I whispered, feeling sick. I barely remembered anything about the trip here.

Until I saw that truck.

Memories washed over me and I started to retch. The protein bar I’d eaten hours ago came up with violent force.

A string of cuss words came from above me, but I barely heard them. I was too busy barfing. Tears leaked down my face. I wasn’t crying, but the force of my heaving pushed them out of my eyes.

Nathan dropped to his knees beside me. It was like he didn’t care about what I was doing at all. His warm hands gathered the loose, wet strands of my hair and pulled them back while he murmured words that were meant to comfort me.

Finally, thankfully, I stopped.

I would have collapsed in the mess I just made, but he caught me and hauled me into his lap. I really liked sitting in his lap.

I hated being so vulnerable. Yet my body couldn’t take anymore. I was a strong person, but everyone had their limits.

He rocked me back and forth, holding me close while the rain fell in sheets around us. He didn’t tell me I was being a baby. He didn’t tell me we had to go. He acted as if we had all the time in the world and he would hold me as long as I wanted.

I couldn’t even properly appreciate that because I was being assaulted.

Assaulted by images I had no doubt my mind had pushed away to protect itself.

I hit the bottom of the truck bed. The rough Rhino liner scraped my knee. He had tied my hands behind my back and then rolled me so I was lying on top of them.

He stood above me, staring down… hatred and lust glittering in his cold eyes.

I didn’t know lust and hatred could ever go together.

But there was no denying the lust.

Because he unzipped his jeans and pulled out his very hard penis. I gagged at the sight. Fear of what he planned to do overwhelmed me.

I struggled. I tried to pull my hands free. I tried to protect myself.

He dropped to his knees, straddling my chest. He shoved himself in my face, demanding I take him in my mouth.

His satiny skin pushed at my lips, trying to get me to open up, trying to get me to let him in.

I opened up all right. And I screamed my head off.

My captor looked around sharply, like he was afraid someone would hear. Then he trained his angry gaze back down at me, took a handful of my hair, and slammed my head into the floor.

I blinked, trying to recall what happened next, but I couldn’t. I must have blacked out from the hit. Automatically, my hand reached up to the back of my neck and delved into my hair. There in the center of my head was a bump.

I thought my headache was because I was hungry and weak.

But now I knew differently.

“What’s going on, Honor?” Nathan said, his voice a little desperate.

“I remembered something,” I said hollow. “Something I’d… forgotten.”

He made a sound in the back of his throat. In one swift move, he stood, bringing me with him. He cradled me against his chest like a child. I tried to tell him I would walk, but when I glanced back at the truck, the words died on my lips.

“Are we taking that?” I asked shakily.

“Yep.”

I began to shake. He stopped and looked between me and the truck. His lips turned into a thin, straight line.

“I’ll be okay,” I said, forcing my voice to be strong. That truck was our way out of this hell. I wasn’t about to make things harder than they were.

He nodded briskly and strode the short distance to the truck and peered into the passenger-side window. When he tried the handle, it opened and he snorted.

“Idiot,” I heard him mouth under his breath.

He stepped up to the inside of the truck, between the seat and the door. Instead of depositing me on the seat, he tightened his hold and looked down.

“The bad shit’s over. I won’t let him touch you again.”

I nodded. His words loosened something inside me and made it easier to breathe. Gently, he placed me on the seat and then pulled back slightly. From this close, I could see the tenderness in his eyes, and then he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

When he climbed into the driver’s seat, I glanced at the ignition. “There’s no keys,” I noted, nerves fluttering around in my chest.

“I don’t need keys,” he replied confidently.

I couldn’t see what he was doing, but it sounded like he ripped out a part of the dash and then he shoved his hand up inside and pulled out a handful of wires.

“They teach you how to hotwire a car in the Marine Corps?” I asked incredulously.

He grinned. “Nope. I was a teenager once.”

I couldn’t help it. I smiled.

Then I glanced out the window. A familiar figure was rushing through the rain at us.

“Nathan,” I cried, pointing in the direction of Lex.

The truck roared to life and he threw it in drive. The blast of a gun and the shattering of glass had me screaming.

“Get down,” Nathan barked as he shoved at my head until I slid onto the floorboard.

I heard the truck accelerate and it fishtailed over the slick ground, but he didn’t slow down. He ripped and roared down the side of the mountain until the gunshots couldn’t even be heard in the distance.