Chapter 18

ARIA

I'll never walk again. Scratch that; I'll never walk normal again.

I've heard of savage romps with counters, and I've always dreamed of having my own, but after experiencing it firsthand… Well, I have nothing bad to say at all. Other than the timing is terrible.

I've never felt so thoroughly sated and sore in all my life, and it feels absolutely amazing. Jase was still savage when he finally passed out two days ago, and he's been asleep since then. I haven't moved, considering he has a death-grip on me.

I've heard chatter on the surface, so I know some of the United and possibly our friends are up there, but they're keeping their voices almost muted when they talk. I imagine there are tents set up, along with guarded perimeters around us. Everyone is probably anxious to see us, and even more anxious to start plotting out a plan for Alice.

Jase stirs just slightly, his arms around me tightening as his hair tickles my cheek. I turn what little bit I can, and manage to get my leg across his hip while pushing my fingers through his hair. If he wakes up still savage, I'm so fucked—literally and figuratively.

He's my counter. I still haven't wrapped my mind around it, but I know somehow my own savage gave me this. She knew I'd never accept Kellan as mine, and she quite possibly knew that Kellan wasn't as dedicated to me either.

A little groan escapes Jase, and I go still, worried I'm going to see his eyes glowing brightly. But when his eyes flutter open and meet my gaze, all I see are the soft, gentle mismatched blues that are a little confused. At first.

Then realization sets in, and his eyes widen before watering, filling up with unshed tears. I can't help it; I laugh and hiccup out a sob at the same time, prompting him to lose one of his tears. It rolls down his cheek as a look of pure adoration oozes from his eyes.

Before I can speak, his lips are on mine in a kiss that spills all of his emotions into me. Relief, excitement, ecstasy… All of it pours into me, and my heartbeat quickens to the point it turns into a constant hum.

"I love you," he says against my lips, pressing his forehead to mine as he screws his eyes shut.

My tears continue leaking out as I pull him closer, and I laugh a little more. His smile grows as he kisses me languidly, both of us exhausted and in desperate need of a shower and food.

"I love you," I murmur against his lips, pulling him closer as he falls between my legs. "But there's no way I can have any more sex right now."

He laughs while shaking his head, and then his lips trail down my neck as he breathes me in.

"You're mine. Completely now. How?" he asks, running his hands down my bare body, eliciting a shudder from me.

My body should not be reacting to his right now. I should be in a sex-induced coma by this point.

"I think it was my savage. She… I don't know. I felt it the second you turned savage. My whole body reacted and became in tune with yours. But it's real. We're counters, Jase." My voice breaks on the end as more tears fall from my eyes, and his lips crush mine once again.

"You two awake? And not savage?" Rex's wary voice is like ice water being dunked on me.

Jase snickers into the crook of my neck, and then he raises up, groaning when he spots the remnants of our shredded clothing.

"Yeah. I'm sober and we're awake," Jase calls back, and he's answered by a series of relieved, possibly over-exaggerated, exhales.

We're surrounded by cold, steel walls with maps on every side, and the tiny bed we've thoroughly ravaged collapsed three days ago, which has left the mattress on the concrete floor—the cracked concrete floor.

"You coming up?" Simone asks, still maintaining a safe distance and letting her voice carry down the winding tunnel that leads to this underground bunker.

"Um… Yeah," I say, trying to think of a way to make some form of clothing.

"Sheets," Jase says, reading my mind—literally.

He hops up, and tosses me the rumpled sheet, and I snicker while wrapping it around me. He grabs the fitted sheet and ties it around his waist. I was barefoot to begin with, so no shoes are my only option. Jase, however, happens to have salvageable shoes. We look utterly ridiculous as we make our way out of the room and up the spiraled staircase.

My eyes squint against the intrusive sun that has avoided my eyes for so many days, and Jase's arm slips around my waist. I'm still reeling and trying to digest this entire turn of events. We finally had something surprise us in a good way, but I feel as though it's a fluke, and all I want to do is cling to it, keep it safe and protected so that we never lose it.

"We're not losing it, baby," Jase says close to my ear, pulling my back against his front while we continue making our way toward the others. "I want let it happen."

I feel myself take the deepest breath I've had in ages just as we reach the assembled group of blushing soldiers. They all look away, and Jase snickers softly as they train their guns on the surrounding landscape.

Simone and the others aren't blushing, but they are smiling. Kellan is draped around Simone like she's a precious, priceless work of art, and she's leaning into him like the weight of the world is off her shoulders. It's almost enough to make me cry. He's happy, and that guilt that has anchored me suddenly falls away.

Mom and Uncle Brazen are looking on with smiles of their own, and Rex and Mel are cuddled up on top of a car, holding each other as though they're just as in love as they were in the beginning. All of this has been a strain on each and every person, but our union seems to have brought everyone the same peace it has brought us.

"So how did this happen?" Kellan asks, pulling Simone as close to him as he can get her.

"We don't really know," Jase says, shrugging as he checks my sheet to make sure nothing is showing that he doesn't want revealed.

I giggle lightly when he groans, tugging the sheet tighter against my body. "This damn thing is almost transparent. We really need some clothes."

Rex laughs while hopping off the car hood, and he grabs a bag from the back of the vehicle. There are tents being broken down and getting packed away, proving they really did set up camp to help keep us safe.

"How fragile do you think he is? He just came down from savage," Mel says, coming closer to investigate her brother's eyes.

"I'm more interested in what his savage was like. I'd love to study his savage blood," Simone says, her need for scientific knowledge outweighing all else.

"Well, my savage is gone, so… maybe next time." Jase's smile can be felt, and I can't help but grin.

We've feared him going savage and in search of his true counter. Now… It just feels too good to be true. My body is tight with dried blood, but for once, it isn't because I was on the cusp of death. It's because I've been thoroughly ravished for most of the week, and just the thought makes a scandalous grin appear on my face.

"I thought you said you couldn't handle any more for a while," Jase says close to my ears as everyone voices theories.

If we didn't have a host of other things to worry about, I'd drink some blood and be ready to go.

He mutters something behind me, ending whatever it was in a groan of frustration, and I look behind me as he narrows his eyes playfully.

"We need a plan of action for Alice," Kellan says reluctantly. "And it sure as hell doesn't involve Aria going off on her own with her freaky disappearing trick."

Jase's arms tighten around me, and I blow out a breath. There's no way anyone besides me can face Alice.

"Damn straight," Mom growls, glaring at me.

I have a feeling she's going to light me up when she gets me alone.

Does she know Alice is her mother yet?

Jase gets close to my ear and whispers, "No."

I don't want her to know. It'll just make it harder on her.

"She'll find out eventually," he says too low for anyone else to hear, even though all eyes suddenly become fixed on us.

"No private conversations," Kellan says in a low growl. "The two of you aren't leaving us out of this fight."

As if I'd take Jase into the line of fire.

"That's not what we're discussing," I say, widening my eyes in a silent plead for him to shut up.

He seems to catch on when his eyes offer a fleeting look toward my mother. Mom tilts her head, on the verge of saying something, when Jase beats her to it.

"You're not fighting her without us. No one here is individually strong enough to beat her. But together, we might just stand a chance."

"Well, time is running out," I remind him. "For all we know, she could already be invincible."

"Nah," Kellan interjects. "If she was invincible, she'd have already found us. My guess is that it's taking longer than she thought it would."

Jase picks up the bag Rex gave us earlier, and he holds it up. "Seriously, we need to get out of our makeshift togas and get dressed."

Kellan smirks when Jase wraps an arm around my chest, guiding me toward the back of a blacked-out SUV. The second I'm in the backseat, Jase tugs the sheet off me, and presses his lips against mine. I hear the dividing window rolling up, darkening the back even more as he pulls me to be astride him.

I giggle lightly while willingly pressing my bare body against his. "Before we go after Alice, I want us to get married. We can have a big wedding once Alice is dead, but I want something before we go after her."

His confidence that we'll win is either fake or real, but he's so believable that I don't know which one.

"I'll marry you right now. In my sheet," I say against his lips, smiling when he does.

He holds me to him while yelling through the door. "Change of plans," he says to no one in particular. "First we head back to the nearest compound so that Aria and I can get married. Then we go after Alice."

I hear a few sharp intakes of air, a couple of sighs, and then a few snickers. It seems as though there's never a good time for us to get married. Might as well do it before we face the monster that can kill us all.