Devon turned back to the group standing outside the SUV, watching silently. Melissa was crying softly, Luther’s arm was wrapped tightly around her. Liam and Annabelle were standing with their arms around each other. Chris had moved slightly forward, his mouth parted in surprise, a questioning look was on his face. Devon studied Chris for a moment, not liking the confusion that filled his face. It brought his doubts and fears about Cassie sharply back to the forefront.
Cassie lifted her head from his shoulder, blinking tiredly. He could feel the utter exhaustion that radiated from her. “You are coming with us,” she said softly, her gaze not focused upon him, but on Julian.
Devon tensed, his hands tightened upon her. “Cassie,” he hissed.
She looked up at him, her eyes dark and worried. “He’s coming with us Devon,” she said forcefully. “He is my friend and I will not leave him here.”
Devon couldn’t stop the fierce bolt of jealousy and confusion that ripped through him. What the hell were they doing together, and just what the hell had happened between them, and to them, for her to want Julian to stay with her? “I’m coming,” Julian replied firmly.
Devon glanced sharply at him, his nostrils flared as fury boiled through him. Cassie may think that they were “friends” but it was more than apparent from the look in Julian’s eyes that he thought more, or at least wanted more. Devon shifted her slightly, wanting to get her away from the want and need in Julian’s eyes. Then Julian looked up at him, and though he sensed envy in him, Devon didn’t sense any malice. Not like there used to be.
“And her?” Devon growled, nodding at Dani.
Cassie moved to look around him, her body stiffened in anger and distrust. Julian turned toward Dani, his eyes narrowed as animosity blazed forth. “She’s coming too, we need answers,” Julian snarled bitterly.
Dani looked worriedly at all of them, fear evident in her gold streaked hazel eyes. Then she looked toward the woods and took a step closer to Julian. “I’m coming with you,” she said softly.
“You didn’t have a choice,” Julian assured her, his voice as cold as ice.
“Be nice,” Cassie said softly. “She did get us out of there.”
“She also helped to put us in there.”
Cassie bit on her bottom lip as she nodded slowly. “Can we go please?”
“Anything you desire,” Devon assured her, striding past the two of them. He just wanted to get her the hell out of there, and somewhere safe. He wanted answers, and he never wanted to let her out of his arms again. He strode swiftly toward the rest of the group, not bothering to look back at Julian and Dani.
CHAPTER 2
Cassie clung tight to Devon, refusing to release him as she sat cradled within his lap. She was exhausted but she was afraid to go to sleep. She was petrified that this would all turn out to be a dream, and that she would awaken in that cramped cell again. She shifted on Devon’s lap, her hand curled tighter into his shirt as she pressed against him, trying to assure herself that this was real, that he was real.
His chest was solid beneath her hand, slightly cooler under his shirt. His hard muscles rippled against her as he shifted, his hand entangled in her hair, holding her close. But she still could not bring herself to believe that it was real. She glanced up at the hard contour of his jaw, noting the dark bristles that lined it. He had always been clean shaven, but it was obvious that he was wearing a few days worth of growth now.
He was just as magnificent as she remembered though. Just as hard and handsome and wonderful. He was her entire world, her everything. His presence filled the hole that had been ever present since she had been ripped away from him and placed in that horrendous cell. He made her complete. He was everything good and right and just in her.
He looked down at her, his beautiful emerald eyes warming with love as he shifted her slightly, pulling her tighter against him to drop a gentle kiss on top of her forehead. Cassie cuddled up closer to him, meeting his lips for a brief, sweet kiss that she wished was so much more. She wanted out of this cramped vehicle, and she desperately wanted some time alone with him.
Not that she wasn’t grateful to see her friends also, because she was, especially Chris and Annabelle, as she’d feared that they were dead. Feared that Dani had done something awful to them, but they were here before her, alive and healthy. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at the back of Chris’s blond head. He had always been her best friend, her rock, her anchor in the world, but it was Devon that she needed now, and in a way that she never had before. She had been kidnapped, tortured, brutalized and changed in ways she didn’t even know. She needed his goodness and caring and unconditional love more than anything right now. She trailed a finger under his jaw, relishing in the very real feel of his coarse hair against her skin. Loving the way his black hair fell across his magnificent face, loving the way it outlined the gorgeous contours of his refined features.
Reluctantly she turned her attention away from him as the SUV made a right hand turn onto a strangely deserted street. Her eyebrows drew together as she frowned in confusion. Though it was still dark out, the sun would be coming up soon. There should be at least a few people moving around. Some lights should be on in the windows as people brewed their morning coffee, showered, and dressed for work.
Her frown deepened as she sat slowly up. Devon’s hands tightened briefly on her but when she made no move to pull away he relaxed. “What is going on around here?” she asked quietly as they drove down another deserted street.
“We don’t know,” Chris answered, his sapphire gaze worried and questioning as he turned toward her. Cassie frowned at him. He had been staring at her strangely ever since she had gotten into the vehicle. He had hugged her, had even shed a few tears, but he had not stopped looking at her as if he didn’t understand her, or even know who she was.
“Where are we going?”
“The General store,” Melissa answered a small quiver in her voice.
Cassie frowned as she bit hard on her bottom lip. “We’re staying here? We’re staying in this town?” she demanded, unable to keep the tremble of panic from her voice.
“It will be ok,” Devon said gently, rubbing her arms as he tried to soothe her.
She turned back to him, her heart hammering in fear. “No, those people are here! Those people and those things are in this town! We can’t stay here! They’ll take us back there if they find us! We can’t go back in there!”