Chapter 31

Butterflies tickled his stomach as the bunker came into view. Why, he didn’t know. Something seemed off, and as he jumped the fence and quickly opened the gate from inside the bunker, his instincts told him to get the hell out.

“Let’s get it started and get out of here,” Justice said as he pulled the Escalade around the back.

Holly nodded and slipped behind the wheel. The car didn’t come to life, and he muttered a curse.

“Try again, Holly.”

She did, and silence met their ears. He had no idea how to open the hood to look at the motor, let alone how to fix one.

“It sounds like it might be the battery,” Holly murmured. “Do you have any jumper cables?”

Jumper cables?

“I’m … I’m not sure. It’s not my car.”

“I’ll take a look. I’m sorry about this, Justice.”

As she leaned into the back of the Escalade, Justice took a moment to appreciate the view of her hard ass in yoga pants, but then he heard something in the distance that sounded a lot like a car coming.

He ran to the side of the bunker and peeked around.

Shit.

He couldn’t get caught here, and neither could Holly.

He ran back to her and she turned to him as he approached.

“Shut the back door,” he ordered, his voice harsher than he’d intended. “Shut it and follow me.”

She caught up with him in a second, her eyes wide with fear.

He found the handle he’d be looking for in the ground without much effort, the same grip he’d discovered when they’d first arrived.

Pulling on it, a hole appeared about four feet wide. He knew from experience that one man would fit, but with both him and Holly in there, it would be very tight. “Let’s go.”

“I can’t go in there,” Holly said, backing away. “I’m claustrophobic, Justice. I’ll have a panic attack in there.”

He grabbed her shoulders. “Holly, there are people here. We don’t know what they want.”

“Just tell them who you are!” she hissed. “I’ll stay out of the way so they won’t see me!”

He shut his eyes and reminded himself that when you lied, the truth would always come out … eventually. However, he didn’t have time to make up more lies so this situation made sense to her. “Holly, if we’re lucky, they won’t come around to the back. If they do … we need to be hidden.”

“But—”

“No more arguing! Let’s go!”

He pulled up the hatch again and jumped to the bottom. She glanced around once more, then scurried down the ladder, pulling the top down with her, sending them into complete darkness. He reached up and locked it and listened.

The hole was actually a tunnel that led into the bunker. If he lifted his foot, he could feel where it curved and became horizontal. If he were to crawl through there, he’d end up under the table in the main room, and he prayed that not too many people knew about this escape hatch.

“Justice, I can’t breathe,” Holly whispered. “Please. I need to get out of here.”

They stood with their bodies so close together, he could smell her shampoo and feel her breast against him. His cock thickened at the contact.

“I’ll lift you up,” he whispered. Feeling for her arms, he placed his hands in her armpits and lifted her. “Find a ladder ring to sit on.”

She did as he instructed and placed her hands on his shoulders as she spread her legs to allow room for both of them.

He felt her short breaths on his cheek, and he imagined her looking at him, her blue eyes hooded with passion.

Lifting his hand, he cupped the side of her face, her skin silken beneath his fingers.

“Better?” he whispered.

“Yes.”

Before he knew it, his thumb located her mouth, and he traced her lips. He wanted Holly, and it seemed impossible to stop his actions.

Leaning in, his mouth found hers. Their lips barely touched, but neither tried to move away. After a few seconds, she laced her arms around his neck and pulled, the millimeters separating them now gone. Their bodies melded together as her tongue slowly traced his lips, parting them. Heat exploded within him as his hands ran up and down her rib cage and she pressed herself into him. He felt every inch of their contact, setting his body on fire and the ache of need pulsing throughout him while his cock throbbed.

Holly sighed and wrapped her legs around him. He forgot where he stood, that they could be in danger, that whatever this was between them had been built upon lies he’d told. He became consumed with their dancing tongues and the excitement that raced through his body, the desperate coil of need that built within him at such a quick rate.

Voices belonging to two men broke through his haze and he pulled away. Her body tensed, so she must have heard them as well. He realized they came from behind them, from inside the bunker.

“Everything’s fine in here. Let’s blow,” one man said.

“I can’t believe we have to check out these bunkers.”

“I know. It’s a dumb fucking job. Like anyone would ever come out here and hang out in one of these things.”

“Like they could even get in.”

The voices faded, and Justice concentrated, hoping to hear the crunch of tires. Holly’s hands rested on his shoulders, her breath warm against his cheek. When he thought he heard them leaving, he waited a few more minutes and then reached up and unlocked the hatch, pushing it open.

Holly didn’t meet his gaze as she turned around and climbed out. He followed, hating himself for giving in to his base urges. He never should have kissed her. To her, he was her superior. It had been wrong.

“You don’t have any jumper cables,” she said as he emerged. “We’ll just have to leave it here.”

He nodded and strode over to the car. She followed and they both slid in. He stared out the windshield, feeling the coil of self-disgust building. “Holly, that never should have happened. I’m sorry.”

“Justice—”

“No!” He slammed his fist against the steering wheel. “We won’t speak of it again, and it won’t happen again. It was unprofessional and wrong.”

“But—”

“No.”

She remained quiet and left him alone with his thoughts. Those two men had access to the main part of the bunker, an area Holly had never been allowed in. He should have kept up his charade and confronted the men. Now, he had to lie to Holly further about why he didn’t, and frankly, not much came to mind. In a nutshell, he’d screwed this one up big time.

They rode in silence to the house, Justice consumed with self-hatred as he tried to invent more lies of why he had hid from the men. When they pulled into the driveway, he glanced at the clock. At just after five, his stomach howled with hunger, but he didn’t feel comfortable eating with Holly. Hell, he didn’t feel comfortable being within the same seven-thousand-square-foot house, or however big this thing happened to be. He’d rather starve and hope the feeling of unease passed by tomorrow.

She followed him into the house and he headed for the stairs.

“Justice?”

He looked at her over his shoulder.

“I didn’t think what happened between us was wrong. It felt right to me.”

Without a word, he hurried down the stairs and shut his bedroom door.

Lying down on the bed, he stared at the ceiling. He recalled the short interaction in the small space, how her cheek felt soft under his touch, and the way his fingers grazed over her ribs. As her slim, strong arms held him close, he’d felt better than he had in two years. She’d breathed life and hope into him with that kiss, and he didn’t think he’d ever be able to let that feeling go. His negative emotions of his situation had disappeared—gone were the anger and loneliness he’d been carrying. All that mattered had been Holly.

Now, guilt seemed to be his companion. He felt he’d taken advantage of the situation, but it had been impossible to stop himself. He hated all the lies he’d told, the lies he’d have to continue to tell. With each one, the weight on his shoulders grew heavier.

Yet, as he replayed those precious few moments over and over in his mind, his hunger for food dissipated, yet the craving for Holly increased two-fold.