The Quake

Chapter 24

It was full dark. Tyler had unpacked their belongings retrieved from the house, placing them around the RV in appropriate places. He meant to make this place and himself as peaceful and inviting to her as possible, after her emotionally draining day. He was now ensconced on the bed reading a book Mary had loaned him, doing his best to appear as if his brain wasn't cogging over Erin at all. He even turned a page for effect.

He'd kissed her and she'd kissed him back. He was obsessing over when he could do it again. She'd want to do it again, right? He quivered with pent-up tension. All the rest of the day he couldn't stop thinking about her. After their encounter at the clinic, he couldn't sit still waiting for her to finish her shift, so he'd escaped and gone back to the house for the rest of the bags of supplies he'd packed. Then he'd checked in with Sam and some of the other guys about where he could best help tomorrow, providing organizational insights where he could to the plans already taking shape. Finally, after Bill told him he'd be leaving soon to escort Karen to the clinic, Tyler returned to their cozy RV.

He changed out of his wet clothes and put on some comfortable old sweatpants that were casual non-date clothes- not threatening at all. The pants had his highschool logo on them. He topped them with an old band t-shirt. He prepped for cooking another intimate dinner together, since that exercise had gone well for him last time. He even found a sitter for the animals, leaving it blissfully quiet inside of the RV. She should be here any minute now. He flipped another page on the novel even though he couldn't recall reading the last one.

He pictured, the feel of her hair as it streamed through his fingers, remembered the warmth of her mouth as she'd surrendered to him, agonized over her parting words to him. What did she mean by thanking him? So, he was shocked to find the state she was in when she finally slammed through the front door of the tiny RV.

"You jumped off of a bridge?!" she yelled without even a greeting. The door slammed closed behind her with a menacing slap.

"Yes?" he asked unsure of the right answer.

There was none. She advanced on him, as much as she could in this small space, stopping just short of the bed. "Why would you do that to me?"

"To you?" he asked, but she wasn't listening. She began undoing the buttons to her jacket. Tyler gulped. He set his book down, page unmarked. "Erin, were you worried about me?"

She tore her shoes off next and flung them to the floor. One boot tumbled down the stairs thumping against the front door she'd just come through. "After the day I've had, you tried to kill yourself." She accused. The jacket followed, flung to the passenger seat up front. Tyler remembered Drew's complaints about his sister's total lack of regard for her things. He remembered the disarray of her room. When Erin was focused on something, she didn't seem to notice the consequences of her movements. And right now, she was clearly focused on him. He watched her chest heave in fury. The light of his candle flickered over her flushed face. She was magnificent.

He sat up higher on the bed and crossed a leg jauntily. "To be fair, I jumped off the bridge before I knew what kind of day you were having." He shrugged, wondering what she would do next.

He was not disappointed. She climbed fully onto the bed. Her movements violent as her knees butted up against his legs. He flattened his lower half into the mattress. She continued her furious momentum until she was full on straddling him. "Is our relationship always going to happen with one of us nearly dying?"

"Our relationship?" He kept his hands on the bed carefully tucked beneath him. Her thighs pressed firmly to the outsides of his legs trapping him on the bed. He wasn't about to protest.

"Well what do you want to call it?" she demanded placing her hands on her hips, looking down at him imperiously. It was unbearable holding still while ensconced in her heat. He dislodged a hand and stoked it testingly up her thigh that was still pinning him to the mattress. Her breath hitched and her eyes darkened.