“Pain, huh?”
“Is there any other way?”
“Pleasure?”
She shrugs, licking her lips as I continue to hold her in place, her neck arched back, her eyes focused on mine, her mouth turned up in a grin.
“Pain is all I know, Mountain,” she breathes before she lifts her hand between us and places her palm against my chest. My heart races and I know that she can feel the way it beats against my ribs.
My entire body jerks at her touch, at the realization that she’s been completely fucked up by her father. I don’t know how deep her wounds are inside of her, but she is definitely not the rich princess that I thought she was when I took her. She hasn’t been sheltered by her father and I’m not sure if she’s a project I should take on, if I want to take it on.
“I’ve scared you,” she whispers.
Releasing her, I turn around, my back facing her. Lifting my hand, I run my fingers through my hair, tugging on the ends as I look down at my boots. I should end her, free her right here and right now.
“Mountain?” she asks softly, her sweet voice betraying the anguish that I saw in her eyes, the desire for pain, the naivety.
Looking over my shoulder, I find her eyes with my own. Gone is that desire that was just there seconds ago. My gaze searches hers and I find that it’s a little concerning how quickly she can shut it off and lock that part of herself away. I wonder what else she is hiding inside of her?
“You haven’t scared me, Leighton. I’ve seen the worst kind of monsters that roam this earth.”
Her lips twitch into a sad looking smile. “Me too,” she murmurs.
“Let’s get some food. Tomorrow, I’ll take you for some clothes,” I offer, changing the subject. “Though, gotta say, won’t be anything like you’re used to. I’m not dropping thousands on fabric.”
She shuffles toward me, her body right next to mine, but she doesn’t touch me. I’ve shut that shit down, and I can’t deny that I’m a little pissed at myself for it. Her touch is sweet, her smell even better.
“You have really done zero research on me, haven’t you?”
Stopping, I turn my head and tip my chin to look down at her. She’s smiling as she watches me, her eyes practically dancing.
“Dare to clarify?” I ask.
She shakes her head once. “No, I don’t think I will, not yet at least.”
I grunt, turning from her and make my way outside. I’m going to need a television too. There’s no way in fuck I can be in this house with her, with no television, and no sex, at least for the moment. Something has to give and I need a distraction from her hot as fuck body and her inviting glances.
I will fuck her, just not yet, not until I get a little bit of a pulse on her. She isn’t anything that I imagined. I need a minute to think, to put everything together inside of my own head, then it’s on.
LEIGHTON
This honestly shouldn’t be as fun as it is. I can’t help it though, it’s so easy to mess with Mountain. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I press my chest to his back as we ride toward the store. I have no clue where we’re headed, but I don’t care, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t have to look over my shoulder at every single turn, I don’t have to wait for my father to find me. I’m Mountain’s prisoner, but I’m free and that’s the best feeling in the whole damn world.
I’m surprised when he takes us back to the gated building and land. The gate opens for him, thankfully, because he doesn’t stop. I expect him to pull up to the building where we collected his things, but we don’t. Instead, he pulls up to a metal building to the side.
Without a word, he dismounts his bike. I quickly scramble off and follow behind him. There is a pickup truck parked to the side of the building and I watch as he climbs inside of the driver’s side.
I hurry toward the passenger side and climb in, buckling my seatbelt before he even starts the engine.
“Gotta get a TV and all your shit. Can’t do that on the bike. We’ll come back for the bike in the morning,” Mountain explains.
I nod, choosing not to say anything. Pressing my lips closed, I look out the window. There are people milling around. Men and women. I don’t know why it seems odd to me. The women look like someone you would see shopping or eating lunch in a café. They don’t look like hardened biker chicks.
“You hungry right now or you wanna wait until we get to Show Low?”
Mountain’s question jerks me out of my head and thoughts. Shifting my gaze to him, I lick my lips and shake my head. I don’t tell him that I can’t remember the last time that I ate or drank anything. It doesn’t matter.
“Whatever you want, it’s fine,” I whisper.
There’s a moment of silence as he guides the truck onto the main road. Kicking my sandals off, I bring my feet to the seat and rest my cheek against my knees as I watch the desert-scape pass by.
It’s silent as he drives for what feels like a lot longer than it should take to get to a basic super type box store. I’ve never lived this far out in the desert before though, and every time I moved when I was on the run, I went to well-populated areas, so I don’t know how long it takes.
“You want anything in particular to eat? They got pretty much everything here.”
Lifting my head, I look around in front of me. We’re in a town, it isn’t very big, but it seems larger than the place where Mountain lives.
“Doesn’t matter,” I say quietly.
He’s silent as he pulls the truck over into an empty parking lot. He turns to face me, his wrist resting against the steering wheel, his fingers dangle and I can’t help but watch them, wishing those fingers were on my body.
God.
There is something seriously wrong with me.
“Can’t read your mind, babe. Don’t know what you eat or don’t eat. You gotta tell me. There’s Dairy Queen, Taco Bell, McDonald’s. The fast food world is your oyster.”
My lips twitch into a smile. He grins over at me, shaking his head a couple of times before he lets out a sigh.
“I don’t know. My father never let me eat fast food.”
The words spill out of me, the half-truth. My father never did let me eat fast food, but I have omitted the part about living on the run for five years and scrounging for food. Sometimes the fast food dollar menus were the only things that kept food in my belly.
“You like ice cream?”
My eyes fly up to meet his. He’s grinning at me, but he doesn’t say anything else. “I honestly can’t remember the last time that I had any,” I admit. When you’re scrounging, ice cream is not what you order.
His grin widens and he nods his head once, as if he knows exactly where he’s going to go. Shifting the truck into drive, he turns toward the front windshield and I watch as he drives out of the parking lot and toward the main road again.
I watch as he pulls into a Dairy Queen parking lot. I expect him to pull into the drive-thru, but he doesn’t. Instead, he parks the truck and opens the door after turning the engine off. Without a word, he walks over to my side of the pickup and opens the door for me.
“A gentleman?” I ask.