As the World Ends (12 page)

Finally, out of patience, she frowned and said, “I’m going to know, Rob. You’re going to know. We’re going to know. How can you be so callous about a human life?”

“I’m not being callous, Lauren, I’m being realistic. This is the new world, kill or be killed. I love you with all my heart, and keeping you safe is all that’s important to me. Got it?”

He had that special look in his eyes that he reserved for her, only her. Her heart melted, because the man she fell in love with was standing right there in front of her.

“I got it.” She forced a smile. Wrapping her arms around him tightly, hugging him close to her body. A premonition filled her with dread. The sooner they were back in town the better she’d feel.

Rob tilted her chin up, kissed her gently on the lips. Sliding his hand around her neck, he held her head, pressing her into him. Deepening the kiss, engaging lips, teeth, and tongue. He needed to instill in her all the passion and love he had inside of him for her. It consumed him. Placing his other hand over her heart he felt it jump at his touch. Moving his hand to her buttons he started to undo them. At this moment, he wanted and needed to touch her and feel the heat of her skin on his.

“I not only want you, Lauren. I need you,” he whispered, “forever by my side.”

“I need you too.”

He opened the back door on the SUV, lifted her up then placed her gently on the seat. Next, he unzipped her pants and lowered them over her hips, placing kisses down her stomach, working his way to her core. He let the pants drop to the ground, and then removed her thong. Quickly removing his own pants, he climbed into the truck and mounted her.

“In me now, Rob. I want it hard.”

Pistoned her hips up onto him, she rotated them at the same time, driving him crazy. He rammed hard into her, wanting to possess her. As her muscles tightened around his cock, he fought for control and waited until she was ready to go over with him. He watched her eyes as they lost focus.

In her ear he whispered, “Come with me, now.”

A scream escaped her lips encouraging him as she started to push over the edge. Her release imminent, when she peaked, he rammed one final thrust and came with her.

As his head cleared, his right knee begged for mercy. Kneeling on the metal buckle of one of the seat belts, the pain had become acute. Pushing up and off of Lauren, he took the pressure off his knee. She let out a groan.

“Don’t get up yet.”

“I have to, my knee is aching.” He reached out his hand to her. “Here, take my hand and sit on my lap so I can hold you.”

Climbing into the truck he sat down then pulled her up into a sitting position. As he settled her into his lap he still marveled that she was his. He loved how her petite body fit into his arms as he cradled her like a child. He rested his chin on the top of her head. The soft curls tickling his face. Lauren was his world without her life would not be worth living.

“Let me get our clothes and shut the door.” Rob climbed out of the truck. Picked up their clothes then climbed back into the truck. Once again he took her in his arms.

“Comfortable?” he asked.

“Yes” She wiggled in his lap. He had to adjust her. “I love you.”

“Try to get some sleep. You’ll need all your strength tomorrow.”

“I will after I eat. I’m starving. What do we have left to eat?”

He reached for his duffle bag. Rummaging through it he came up with some protein bars. Slowly he unwrapped two bars, handing her one while he bit into the other. After she ate her bar, she rested her head against his chest before closing her eyes. Asleep in minutes, Rob always envied that about her. Lauren could sleep on a rock if she was tired.

The day’s events replayed in his mind as he listened to Lauren breathing. Its rhythm soothing him, it always did. Roan’s actions were bizarre. He wasn’t well prepared for his attack. It was obvious he was lying. What prompted him? The only explanation Rob could come up with raised his hackles. Lauren had to be the reason.
As barbaric as it sounded, the guy seemed willing to kill me in order to capture my wife. Over my dead body.

Rob couldn’t let go of the thought of Roan watching Lauren get undressed by the spring. In his opinion, that was reason enough to kill the son of a bitch.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Roan regained consciousness around midnight. Sweat poured down his face, his body burning up with fever. It took total concentration for him to focus, to clear his mind. Earlier, he hadn’t been able to make it any further than the first fifty feet inside the cave. A stick he kept close to his body for protection against animals, doubled as a cane. It was heavy enough to support his weight. The first aid kit was his first priority, for that alone he needed to get back to his own cave. He had to survive so he could kill Rob. Even it was the last thing he did on this earth. Pushing off the ground, he started to stand, only to flop back down. The throbbing in his leg resembled a jackhammer at work. Short bursts of pain shot up his leg. Never one to handle pain well, he screamed so loud it echoed off the cave walls. Cathy always called him a baby and had made fun of him. Blood, especially his own made him light headed. This time he needed to push past it to stand. His life depended on it.

“How do you purpose to do that, Roan?” His voiced bounced off the cave walls.

With the stick in hand, he struggled as he pushed off the ground to a standing position. Sucking in his breath, he balanced his weight against the cave wall, huffing, unable to catch a full breath, he started to panic. With eyes closed he once again focused his mind on the task of breathing until it evened out, letting him breathe normally.

“Okay, so far, so good.”

It took him awhile, but he finally made it to the cave’s entrance and stepped into the darkness.

“God damn it. I can’t start out in the dark. I’ll never make it.” Looking up into the sky he yelled, “Why me?”

Shallow, labored breathing made it difficult for him to take a deep breath. The more he tried the less air he took in. A fit of coughing racked his body. The wound on his leg throbbed and started oozing a phlegmy like fluid tinged with green. It took all his willpower to concentrate so he didn’t pass out again. Trying to fight through the pain, he gritted his teeth, dragging his wounded leg behind him as he made it back to his original spot in the cave where he collapsed with exhaustion. Drenched with sweat and gulping for air, he looked around to make sure he was still alone. It’s sweat, he told himself as he swiped the tears from his eyes. It wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. For Christ sake, he planned and planned for this day, hitting the gym everyday to make sure to build up his strength and endurance. How could some city pretty boy outsmart and out strength him? Now if he didn’t pull it together, he would die in someone else’s cave alone. Closing his eyes, totally exhausted from his efforts, he fell asleep, only to be awoken a couple of hours later by footsteps.

Rob’s mind wouldn’t quiet down. Sleep eluded him though he needed it desperately. His exhausted body required rest for their trek down the mountain tomorrow. For all his posturing in front of Lauren, his mind screamed, you shot a man. Not only did he shoot the man, he willfully left him to die.
To die.
Should he go back and help him? Would they get down the mountain in enough time to get help to him and save him? Did he want him to live? That last question bothered Rob the most, because his answer was emphatically, no.
He went after what was mine.
Surprised that his hand-to-hand combat training had kicked in when Roan jumped him. Training he thought he’d long forgotten.
I guess it’s true, you never forget. It’s like riding a bike
. “Thank you, Uncle Sam,” he shouted. Lauren moaned in his lap, he rubbed her back to settle her down. What a trooper she’d been, not once complaining about the conditions. Her empathy for Roan bothered him, but he had to acknowledge it was her gentle, loving soul that he had fallen in love with the first time he met her. Her laughter was another thing that warmed his heart. Lauren was Lauren and he wouldn’t want it any other way. It would be a sad day for him, if he had to train her to be anything other than what she had always been.

Roan rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Cocking his head to the side he listened intently for another sound—the crunch of dirt and gravel echoed through the cave. A scream caught in his throat, his pulse spiked through the roof of his head. His heart pounded in his chest as he fought to focus. Whatever it was out there wasn’t casting a shadow. It must still be dark out.
Did that bastard come back for me?
Roan gently placed his hand down on the ground beside him, searching for his gun.
Pull it together. The last thing I need do is show fear to any kind of animal. Grow a pair.

Unable to gauge the time or distinguish between day and night, his mind raced to identify the predator. Danger most times was in the prey’s mind. Didn’t he read that somewhere. Shifting, he let out a groan when the pain shot up his leg. All of a sudden—dead quiet—the noise stopped.
Did that bastard have a conscience?
The silence filled the air spooking him beyond reason.

“Hey, Rob, I’m in here,” Roan called.

Nothing.

“Rob?” Bile burned its way upward into his throat. Though he tried, he couldn’t push down his fear.

More silence.

If it’s not Rob, it must be an animal. Question is what kind of animal? For the love of God, please make it a small one. I couldn’t deal with anything else right now
. Deeper in the cave he heard the bats flapping their wings. He knew only young children could actually hear the bats echolocation, not adults, unless they had recording devices. He had studied bats for awhile until he got bored with them and moved on to the Mayan’s. He picked up his stick and banged it on the ground hoping to scare away whatever was outside. Leaning back against the wall, he closed his eyes, straining to hear.

Silence echoed back to him. All of a sudden, the little hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up. Opening one eye, he squelched a scream. What seemed like mere inches from his face amber eyes stared into his brown ones. A red fox its pupils no more than slits. Its ears point skyward. The fox’s posture yelled attack. Roan held perfectly still. The fox’s brownish red coat and spots of black stood on end. Electrified. Roan dared not breathe, but he needed his knife. Slowly he inched his hand down his leg to remove the knife from its sheath. The seconds became hours as he worked his hand down. A slight movement could mean his death. The fox stood about ten feet away. Roan knew all too well that the fox could move at the speed of light. Foxes in general were adept at hiding and escaping from predators, including man; but would stand and fight if threatened and couldn’t escape. Roan estimated it weighed around fifteen pounds. Sweating, burning up with both fever and fear, he knew the fox held all the cards. In his weakened state, Roan understood he was at a disadvantage. With his hand on his knife, he slid it slowly up his body, resting it against his good leg.

It was a game. They were playing chicken. He needed to win. “Bastard,” he hissed out, thinking of Rob again.

He shifted his weight. The fox came at him fast and hard, landing on his injured leg. Roan’s screams echoed off the cave walls, as a wave of nausea jostled the contents of his stomach. Lighter than he’d anticipated, the fox still possessed a strength Roan couldn’t match. It went for his throat. The knife slipped, clanging to the ground. The noise vibrating in his ears. Scrambling, Roan used his hands, pushing with all the strength he had left, to dislodge the fox; but the animal had a good grip on him. Luckily for him, the fox had grabbed his jacket and not his bare neck. Hoping to dislodge the animal, Roan rolled to his side, the pain shooting up his leg, but the fox didn’t let go. The fox’s teeth had broken through the jacket and scraped the skin on his neck. Now the pain in his neck and leg fought for dominance. Frustrated and pissed, Roan scrambled for the knife. The hilt scraping his fingertips, he reached for it, gripping it tightly as he swung it up and into the fox’s belly, repeatedly. The animal’s screeches deafened him, and it clamped its teeth harder and deeper into his neck. His body on fire, heart pounding wildly in his chest, Roan continued to stab the animal until it stopped fighting.