The Hunted

The Hunted: Chapter VI

[ picture of Taylor on the side ]

They arrived in the small, quaint, little town just before sunset. As they drove past numerous little shops, she felt something settle over her heart. She wanted to settle somewhere. She didn’t want to run, she didn’t want to be scared anymore. She’d done nothing, absolutely nothing, to get herself into this situation. But, in her mind, it was so much more than bad luck. And now she was on the run with a man she knew next to nothing about, traveling across the country, trying to outrun some psycho serial murderer.

The very same psycho serial murderer who already managed to ruin her life years ago. She now lived with the physical, as well as mental, scars that this monster bestowed upon her. Well, she’d had enough.

“Stop the car.” She murmured, her eyes glazed with realization.

“What?” Blade asked, glancing over at her.

“I said stop the car!” She practically shouted. He slammed on the breaks, and before the car was even fully stopped, she was out and running. She didn’t look back, barely looked forward, she just knew she needed to get away from him. She barely registered the burning on her face, didn’t notice the tears flooding her cheeks.

She felt his arms grab her around the waist from behind and yank her to a stop. She let out a sob, and heavily fell to her knees, him still holding her. She tried to stop the tears, the pain, and she couldn’t hold it back any longer. She didn’t notice the shock in Blade’s eyes, or the way his arms tightened around her.

After awhile, the tears slowed and the embarrassment reared its ugly head. She sniffled, only just noticing that he’d turned her around so her face was buried in his chest. They were still kneeling on the ground, and she vaguely thought about how they would have grass stains on their jeans. Once the fog of crying cleared from her head, she yanked away from him. She quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks and noticed his shirt. It was damp from her tears. The shame and the guilt flooded through her and she could only stare, humiliated.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, “I didn’t mean to...” she gestured to his shirt “ruin your shirt.” He looked down as if noticing it for the first time. He looked up, his gaze locking onto hers. After a few moments, he said “It’s fine.”

She only nodded her head, understanding that her apology was accepted, but largely unnecessary. She cleared her throat, which felt raw from crying. “That won’t happen again.” She murmured, as she started back towards the car.

He stood their watching her walk away and had only one thought in his mind; it would happen again, and he wanted to be there to help when it did.

~

After they checked into the motel, they parked the car in front of their room and pulled out their bags. As they walked through the door, the both noticed the same thing right away.

There was only one bed.

She sighed, too tired to even care. He clenched his jaw, hoping he wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. Wordlessly, she took of her shirt and pants leaving her in a sports bra and boy shorts. She slipped into bed, and within seconds was sound asleep. He just stood there, the memory of her lack of clothing burned into his memory. He locked the door, made sure the windows were locked, and turned on the bathroom light, leaving the door cracked. He knew from experience that waking up from a nightmare in total darkness was not something that was fun to do. Then, he stripped down to his boxers and go on his side of the bed. A few moments later, he too, was sound asleep.

~

The light was shining onto her face, turning the inside of her eyelids red. She felt her body slowly start to wake up at the same pace her mind was. She was really warm, but not uncomfortably so. She was laying on her stomach, and she vaguely thought about how uncomfortable the bed was. She yawned and slowly let her eyes flutter open. She saw the window with the light shining through the curtains, and she saw her hand... her hand that was laying on a very tan, very muscular, and very male chest. She tensed and almost screamed before she remembered where she was and who she was with. She wouldn’t realize until later that she hadn’t had a nightmare for the first time in years. She slowly lifted her head up and felt herself blush. She was sprawled over Blade, one hand on his chest and the other on his shoulder. Her legs were tangled with his, and one of his hands gripped her shirt at the small of her back. She tried to take deep breaths so her chest would expand and deflate slowly, hopefully keeping him from waking up. She tried not to focus on the feel of his toned stomach against hers, or his hand just a few precious inches above her bottom.