Isela's Love (28 page)

As she turned around to walk out of the supply closet, Brendan stepped inside the door. She gasped and jumped.

“Damn it, Brendan. You scared me half to death.”

“I’m sorry. I was worried about you. With all the talk of Bashua’s escape and all...”

She sighed. “If only there was a way to know he made it.”

Brendan pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“He made it. I’m sure of it. Darrios wouldn’t let me down.”

Isela couldn’t help it. She was a bundle of nerves. If everything went according to plan, this would be the last night she spent in this heartless place. She and Brendan would be free to start a life together. Did she dare to dream? Never in her life had she wanted anything so badly. It used to be only her freedom she desired, but that was before Brendan. Now he was as much a part of that freedom as air.

All day she’d been jittery, but after the whole thing with Bashua, every nerve ending seemed exposed. Mae finally approached her around lunchtime. Isela did her best to put up a nonchalant front.

“What is with you today?” Mae asked. “You’ve been as jumpy as a hoodla surrounded by scabras all morning.”

“Huh? Have I? I hadn’t really noticed.”

Hand on her hip, Mae cocked her head to the side. “This is me you’re talking to, Isela.”

Isela glanced around. There were far too many people around to tell Mae the truth. She clasped Mae’s hands in her own and whispered, “Mae, I promise nothing’s wrong. I’ll tell you everything when we’re done.” She giggled. “In fact, it’s wonderful news.”

****

Brendan had agreed to give Isela time alone to talk to Mae. Isela thought Mae would be more inclined to accept what she had to say if it was just the two of them rather than if Brendan was there too.

Isela opened the door when Mae knocked. She smiled warmly at her friend, closing the door behind her. Mae sat down on Isela’s bed, waiting for her to start talking.

“Remember when I told you we’d get out of here?”

Mae nodded, warily. “Yeah.”

“Well, tomorrow’s the day, Mae.”

Mae stood up. “What are you talking about, Isela?”

“We make our escape tomorrow. We’ve been planning it for a while.”

Mae began pacing. “What do you mean, ‘we’ve’? How? Where will we go? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Take it easy, Mae. Breathe. I waited to tell you because I knew you’d get all worked up.”

“All worked up? You want me to risk my life in some crazy escape plan and you expect me to keep my cool?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. You have to. If you act weird, Guarros will become suspicious. Please, Mae. I promise, it’ll be all right.”

“You don’t know that. We could all be killed. What happens if we get away? The scabras and viocomen will be all over us.” Her voice had become shrill. “Oh my God. I can’t do this, Isela. I can’t.”

Isela grabbed Mae and shook her. “Mae, get a grip. All you have to do is stick with Brendan and me.”

“So this was his idea?”

“No, I told you, we’ve been planning this together. Me, Brendan, Bashua, and Darrios.”

“Who the hell is Darrios?”

“The hunter with the golden streaks in his hair. He’s Brendan’s brother-in-law.”

“Wait, I don’t understand.”

“This whole thing with Brendan being here is a setup. He and the hunters are trying to gather evidence against Guarros. They’re trying to prove he’s breaking the law.”

“So Brendan’s not really an inmate?”

“No, he’s sort of undercover.”

“And all of that crap with Bashua?”

“A ruse. He did it to get himself thrown out. Darrios was waiting for him, and they’re going to meet up with a friend. They’ll be back tomorrow to blow us outa here.”

“Blow us out?”

“Explosives,” Isela whispered.

“Holy hell,” Mae breathed.

Isela grinned. “I know. This is it, Mae. Our last night in this hellhole. Tomorrow, we start over. We begin to live. Isn’t it exciting?”

“No,” Mae wailed. Her voice trembled and cracked. “It’s frightening. What will we do? Where will we go? How are we going to live?”

“Don’t worry, Mae. I’ll take care of you. It’ll work out. You’ll see. We’re going to Inland. You’ll get to see Jerric. Aren’t you happy about that?”

“Yes, of course. I’m just scared. So much could go wrong.”

“No, not if we stick to the plan. Just stay with me and you’ll be fine. Trust me.”

“I don’t feel well. I think I need to go lie down.”

“Okay, but Mae? You can’t tell anyone.”

She nodded. “I won’t, Isela. I know how much this means to you. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She slipped out, closing the door behind her. Isela glanced around the room thinking how thrilled she’d be to leave this place behind her. She tried to come up with some happy memory, something she could fondly remember, but there was nothing. At least not until Brendan came along. She had plenty of happy thoughts there. Happy and hot...and steamy and naughty. She giggled to herself as she recalled the way his hands felt on her body.

Isela considered wishing for Brendan to come to her right then, but decided she better save the wishes for more practical things. For now anyway.

As if reading her thoughts, Brendan knocked on her door, calling to her softly. She opened the door and ushered him inside.

“Are you ready to do this?” he asked.

“You bet I am. How are we going to get into Guarros’s residence?”

“We’re going to wish our way in.”

“You go first,” Isela said.

“Okay. My wish is that Isela and I can get into the warden’s residence unnoticed.”

“And I wish Brendan and I will find Guarros’ records of all of his illegal endeavors while we’re in there.”

“I wish Isela and I will find the evidence we’re looking for and get out before anyone discovers us there.”

She took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with.”

Isela followed Brendan out the door and down the hall. When they got to the parlor, Isela glanced around nervously. Nobody appeared to even notice them at all, let alone pay attention to where they were off to.

Brendan darted through the door and up the stairs leading to Guarros’s private quarters. Isela looked around once more and quickly followed, catching up to him on the landing. The hallway was empty, not a guard in sight.

Brendan tried the door handle. It was open. He and Isela smiled at each other. He pushed open the door, peering inside. Confident they were alone, he stepped into the foyer, motioning for Isela to come in after him. She nodded, letting him take the lead.

She tugged on his arm, stopping him. “I wish I could go right to the records we’re looking for right now,” she whispered.

Brendan stared at her, as if waiting for something to happen. Suddenly a smile spread across her face and she motioned for him to come with her. She led him down a short hallway into Guarros’s bedroom. Isela fought the urge to gag at the mere thought of being in Guarros’ bedroom.

“Do you know where to look?” Brendan asked.

“Yes. I think the records are under the mattresses, but I’m not touching his bed.” She shuddered. “You look.”

Brendan chuckled, but did as she asked. Sure enough. Several maroon folders, bound together with twine, had been placed in the middle of the bed between the mattress and springs. Brendan snatched them up and loosened the twine.

“What are you doing? Let’s get the hell out of here,” she urged.

“I just want to make sure this is what we’re looking for. Hang on.”

He rifled through a few pages and then shut the folder. He grinned at Isela, nodding. “Jackpot,” he said.

He tucked the folders under his shirt and they hurried out, carefully checking to make sure there were no guards in their path. Once they were back in the parlor, Isela finally breathed easy. She waited a few minutes before following Brendan to her room, lingering on purpose so nobody noticed her trailing after him.

She looked both ways down the hall before opening her door. As soon as she stepped through the door, Brendan scooped her up, swinging her around. She squealed and giggled until he set her back on her feet. He took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.

“We did it, babe,” he said, beaming. We’re almost to the home stretch.”

“We need to stash these somewhere. How about underneath this chest?”

Isela took the folders from him and shoved them under the chest at the foot of her bed. “You know part of me wants to read those, but a bigger part of me doesn’t want to know.”

“I know what you mean, Brendan agreed. “I already loathe him. I don’t need to discover anything more.”

“So now what?” Isela asked.

Brendan sidled up to her, staring at her mouth. “I have a couple of ideas. I mean we are done for the night.” He placed his hands on her hips. It’s our last night in here. I’m sure I can think of a way to pass the time...maybe even several ways.”

He feathered soft kisses across her cheek, stopping at her lips. He grazed his tongue over her bottom lip. Isela shuddered with desire, parting her lips, giving Brendan full access. He deepened his kiss, tangling his tongue with hers in a sensual dance, building an ardent yearning within her soul. The fire blazed inside of her, burning rapidly out of control. Brendan reached up under her shirt, allowing his fingertips to brush over her nipples. She moaned softly, sliding her arms around his waist.

He rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger, sending heated sparks shooting through her body. She arched toward him. He pulled her shirt off of her, bending to nip and lick her nipple.

She pushed him back, sliding her hands up his chest. He took his own shirt off and then crushed Isela to him, skin to skin. He took possession of her mouth, owning it, leaving her breathless. Isela hooked her thumbs inside the waistband of Brendan’s pants and pushed them down. Kneeling, she pushed them down the rest of the way.

Isela looked up at him. She licked her lips as she wrapped her hand around Brendan’s swollen shaft, squeezing just enough to make him moan and sigh. He jumped when she licked the tip. When she took him in her mouth, he moaned again.

****

As soon as Isela had put her mouth on him, Brendan’s knees went weak. The pleasure she provided him took his breath away. His entire body quaked with an electric-like energy, driving him closer to erupting into a bliss he’d only found with Isela. He wanted more than that tonight, so reluctantly, he pulled away.

“Please Isela, I want to make love to you, be deep inside you,” he rumbled. “If you keep that up, I won’t last five minutes.”

She leaned back on her heels, running the back of her hand across her mouth. Brendan straightened, pulling Isela up with him. His erection stood at full attention as he sat down on the bed. Leaning back, he brought Isela down on top of him. He kissed her greedily and demanding, delighted when she returned it fervently.

Isela rose up so Brendan could guide himself inside her, reveling in the way her hot wet sheath took him in, proving that’s where he belonged.

“Oh, God, Isela. You feel so damn good.”

She began to slide back and forth over him. He gripped her hips and kept her moving. Her breathing became heavier and she quickened her movements a more desperate pace. Brendan could tell her release was near, as was his own, when suddenly a knock on the door interrupted.

“No, no, no, not now,” Brendan panted, “Not yet.”

The knocking grew louder. “Isela, are you awake?” Mae called.

Isela stopped, mid-stroke, opening her eyes.

“Ignore her. Pretend you’re asleep,” Brendan whispered.

“I can’t do that. She’s having a hard time with all of this.”

Brendan gave her a little thrust. “Speaking of hard times.”

She giggled. Mae called out to her again, obviously having heard her.

“Hang on, Mae. I’ll be right there.”

Brendan groaned when she climbed off of him. Isela motioned for him to cover himself as she yanked on her pants. Glancing around, she finally located her tank top.

Even with his pants back on, Brendan’s erection stood out plain as day. He sat up and pulled a pillow onto his lap to try to conceal it. Isela smiled. She took a deep breath and smoothed her shirt before opening the door. She wondered if her cheeks looked as flushed as they felt, but opened the door anyway.

Mae rushed in, but stopped cold when she saw Brendan.

“Oh God, I’m sorry.” Her eyes dropped. “I didn’t mean to interrupt...”

“It’s okay, Mae. Isn’t it, Brendan?”

He sighed. “Yeah sure. It’s not like we were right in the middle of anything hot and heavy.”

Isela shot him a look.

“I’ll just go,” Mae said, backing toward the door.

Isela grabbed her hand. “Nonsense. Stay.”

“I tried to go to sleep, but I just couldn’t. I thought if I could hang out with you...”

“Of course you can. Tell her, Brendan.”

Brendan tossed the pillow he’d had in his lap aside. Mae’s surprise appearance had doused those flames. But she mattered to Isela, so that made her matter to Brendan. He patted the bed next to him. Mae hesitated, but after a nod from Isela, she sat down next to Brendan.

“Mae, it’s going to be fine. I don’t know how much Isela told you, but I’m not really a criminal. In fact, I’m more of a social worker. Helping people is what I do. My brother-in-law is a hunter and something of a mercenary. He also happens to be the best at what he does with a cracker-jack backup team. Tonight, Isela and I were able to gather enough evidence against Guarros to put him away forever, so once Darrios gets us out of here, he’ll take out Guarros and turn him over to the Council.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mae,” Isela answered.

Brendan continued. “We can all put this horrible place behind us and live our lives free. I know you’re scared, but that’s only because you don’t know how great it is out in the world. Imagine being able to come and go as you please...to go where ever you choose. To be able to eat what you want, when you want. To meet new friends.” He gave Isela a heated look. “Perhaps find a lover.”

Mae blushed and giggled. “I don’t know about that.”

“I promise, you, Mae. There’s a whole world out there; in fact, there’s two of them.”