Chapter Thirteen

Claire

We left in someone else's car.

It was a big black SUV with heavily tinted windows.

Someone had backed it up to the garage where I watched these kind strangers load everything I hoped we would need into the trunk before they encouraged me to climb in the back and strap Judah into his car seat.

Then Aurelio climbed into the front, and we were off. With no fewer than four cars swarming us, in front and in back. Then, in busier intersections, on our sides as well.

One by one, as we drove, they fell away, though, until there was just one following us.

Aurelio and I were both silent.

Even after Judah knocked out about half an hour into the drive.

I figured he was focused on his directions, which had been written down, because Luca was worried about any phone trace leading to our location. We'd both needed to forfeit our phones before we left, getting handed new, ‘clean' burners that neither of us had opened, let alone set up yet.

As for me, well, my mind was racing.

Part of it were worries about Judah, about how he would handle another move, another change.

He was adaptive, though. And I'd packed as many of his books and toys as seemed reasonable to keep him occupied. And he'd sure have my and Aurelio's undivided attention, since it sounded like we would not be leaving this safe house for a while.

I was sadder than I would have anticipated at leaving Aurelio's house.

Some part of me was scared that we would never go back. That after a week or two at the safe house while his family sorted out the Warren problem, he would get sick of us, then just nudge us on our way when it was all over, going back to his quiet, easy, mess-free life.

I glanced up at him between the seats, my heart breaking a little at the idea of him telling me he didn't want us anymore.

I shouldn't have gotten so attached so quickly.

But, as it turned out, it seemed I had very few—if any—defenses for Aurelio's very unique charms.

I mean, what mom wouldn't start falling for a kind, stable, patient man who cooked and was amazing with kids? Who kissed you until you felt it in your toes? And, well, who could do other magic with his mouth and fingers too?

I was so wound up that I figured there was no way I would sleep. Not that night. Hell, not even the next day.

But the hum of the car seemed to work some kind of magic on me.

Until I was out cold.

"Angel, come on," a soft voice called, sounding like it was coming from far away.

A grumble escaped me as the voice pulled me closer to consciousness, making me aware of a crick in my neck.

"Claire, we're here," the voice said, and this time, a finger stroked down my cheek. "Trust me, I'd love to carry you in," he continued. "But I have to carry Judah."

My son's name had me jolting awake, only to find myself arched over his carseat, the awkward position to blame for the sharp pain shooting up my neck and into my skull. It only got worse as I straightened.

"Hey," Aurelio said, giving me a soft, tired smile from where he was leaning in the doorway of the car.

"Hey," I said, reaching up to rub my neck. "How long have I been asleep?"

"An hour and a half," he told me.

"Felt like five minutes," I grumbled.

"You can crash as soon as we get inside," he assured me, reaching over me to un-click my seatbelt, then moving out of the way, so I could climb out.

He leaned back in, getting Judah free, then carefully pressing him to his shoulder before wrapping his free arm around me, hauling me into his side as we moved around the SUV to look at the safe house.

I couldn't say what I was expecting.

I guess in movies, safe houses were not actual houses, but crummy apartments in bad neighborhoods, somewhere cheap to rent and easy to blend in.

But this? This was an actual house.

Nothing like Aurelio's gorgeous gothic farmhouse, of course.

It was more like a starter house. A squat little ranch with a brick face and cute yellow shutters.

There was no landscaping out front, but the yard was well-kept.

It was too dark to see past the house itself, so I had no idea how close the neighbors were. If there were any at all. Though I could see a tall stockade fence protecting the backyard from view, and my heart swelled a little at the idea of maybe being able to take Judah outside once in a while when we were getting cabin fever.

Aurelio's hand slid from me to fish for the key to the front door, then we moved inside to a familiar beeping sound of the security system.

He plugged in the code before flicking on the light to reveal the cozy, somewhat sparse interior.

We walked right into an L-shaped room, one side serving as the living room with a couch and loveseat, two end tables, and a TV on the wall, and the other side was the dining space with a small rectangular table with four chairs.

Stepping in a few feet, there was a hallway right off the side of the dining room, leading to what seemed like a central bathroom and three bedrooms.

Off the other side of the dining room was a long kitchen with white cabinets, green countertops, and a warm yellow color on the walls.

"It's cute. At least we won't have to worry about stairs," I said as Aurelio opened two of the doors in the kitchen. One went to the garage. The other went to a basement.

"I'm gonna have to run out first thing in the morning to stock up. Looks like the only things in here are some old canned goods for emergencies," Aurelio said.

We'd packed things we thought we might need immediately—a cooler stocked with milk, eggs, some yogurt, and a bunch of dry goods—but we definitely would need more stores. Especially if we were going to be here for any length of time.

"How long do you think we will be here?" I asked as Aurelio led me down the hallway toward the bedrooms, opening each until he found the one that had a folding playard leaned against the wall.

"I'm hoping not longer than a week," Aurelio said, carefully passing Judah into my arms, so he could open the playard.

In the closet, he found bedding in vacuum-sealed bags, and set the temporary crib up for Judah, then slipped him inside.

There was no adult bed in this room, just a toddler bed pushed against the wall.

I fought back a surge of panic, reminding myself that there were some nights when I slept in my own room instead of Judah's. He never even knew if I was there or not.

And the next room shared a wall. I would probably hear him babble in his sleep.

We both tiptoed out of the room, and I closed the door quietly behind me.

"I'll help you start bringing the stuff in," I said.

"Not yet," he said, reaching down for my hand, and pulling me with him toward the couch in the living room, where he sat, then reached for me, pulling me down so my legs were draped over his, and my head was against his chest.

His arms wrapped me up tight, then squeezed even harder.

"Never been that scared in my life," he admitted.

"Me either," I agreed, snuggling in because it felt too damn good not to, to deny myself the comfort a part of me was crying out for.

"How's your jaw and cheek feeling?" he asked.

"Sore," I admitted. "But tolerable. This hurts more," I added, pulling away to pull down my lower lip to show him where my teeth had scraped it.

Aurelio's hand moved out, gently tracing my lower lip.

And despite the stress, the fear, the uncertainty, the pain, and the exhaustion tugging at my eyelids, heat washed through me, desire starting to ping off each nerve ending.

"You hurt your lip," Aurelio said, reading the need in my eyes.

"I don't care," I said, shifting to straddle him, my arms wrapping around his neck, and my lips lowering to his.

His lips were gentle on mine for a long time, until my own lips grew harder, hungrier.

His hands slid down my back, fingers sinking into my hips, then my ass, pulling me down so that my need pressed against his own.

A whimper escaped me as I rocked my hips against his hardness.

A rumbling sound moved through Aurelio, vibrating into my own chest as his fingers flexed on my ass, dragging me over him again.

I didn't need encouragement after that, my own need overtaking me, leaving me writhing restlessly against him, getting only a hint of what I was really after.

Aurelio's hands drifted upward, teasing under my shirt, over my heated skin.

Until I couldn't take the need anymore, and slid backward to lift my arms up over my head, waiting for his fingers to snag the material of my shirt, and start to draw it upward.

The house had a bit of a chill to it, but I was pretty sure it was the need in his dark eyes that had the shiver coursing through me, that was making goosebumps spread across my skin as the shirt finally lifted off my hands, and was tossed casually to the side.

"Fuck," Aurelio murmured under his breath as his gaze slid from my face to my chest, his eyes getting even more heavy-lidded even as his hands slid down my arms and over, covering me.

The touch sent a jolt of need from my chest down between my legs, making my hips rock against him again.

Aurelio leaned forward, his lips meeting the skin of my neck, making my belly flip-flop even as his hands shifted, his fingers finding my nipples, and rolling them between his thumbs and forefingers.

Heat bloomed through my chest and traveled downward, becoming an aching sensation in my core, as his fingers squeezed tighter.

"Aurelio…"

His name sighed out of me, a mix of pleasure and need.

"Please," I added.

That rumbling sound moved through him again as his hands suddenly released me, fingers slipping to my sides, pulling me up.

An objection slipped between my lips, but then his lips were around my nipple, sucking, creating a white-hot jolt of pleasure, making me forget for a moment how much I wanted more, just getting lost in the sensations.

As his lips sucked.

As his tongue traced.

As he moved across my chest to continue the sweet torment.

It wasn't long until my moans started sounding like whimpers.

Aurelio's fingers slid up my thigh, then across my belly, slipping up until they were sliding inside of my pants, inside of my panties.

Anticipation thrummed through me before his fingertips were slipping inside of me.

"So wet for me," Aurelio murmured, lips going to my neck again as his fingers started to thrust.

My hips rocked against his movements, aching for more, for him, but trying not to rush things, to let myself get lost in the moment, not thinking of what was to come.

My hands moved out toward him, impatiently working his buttons free, needing to feel his bare skin against me.

My fingers traced up the center of his stomach, his muscles twitching under my touch.

Leaning forward, my breasts crushed to his chest, his hair teasing over my nipples, making my sex clench hard around his fingers as I claimed his lips again.

His fingers grew more insistent, working me relentlessly, driving me to that edge, then sending me flying over, stealing my breath, leaving me leaning into his shoulder as my body shuddered through the release.

He would have kept working me, kept giving, if I hadn't started to scoot back, making me lose his fingers as I began kissing down his neck, over his chest, and down his stomach, tracing the little indents with my tongue, loving the way his breath hissed out from between his lips as I went down.

Then I was on my knees between his legs, my hands sliding up his thighs, then over his lap, feeling him straining against his slacks. My fingers sought his belt, working it free, then undoing his button and zipper, before reaching inside to free him, my hand wrapping around his length.

My gaze slid up to his, seeing the heat, the need, the anticipation, as I started to lower down. I kept my eyes on his as my tongue traced over the head of his cock, before slowly letting him slip inside my mouth.

I worked him slowly at first, wanting to hear his hisses and groans, to feel the way his body tensed and his fingers grabbed the back of my neck.

It wasn't long, though, before I was working him faster. Up and down. Twisting. Loving the way his hips were thrusting up into my mouth, begging for more.

But then his fingers shifted from my neck to my hair, tugging gently until I was forced to release him, then slowly move to my feet.

Aurelio leaned forward, his hands sliding up the sides of my thighs, then reaching up for the waistband of my pants and panties, drawing them downward as his gaze held mine.

I stepped out of the pants, then watched the way his gaze slid over me, taking in every square inch like some part of him was afraid he'd never get to do so again.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, leaning forward to press a kiss over my ribs, then belly, the triangle above my sex.

Reaching out, he grabbed my knee, lifting it up, and placing it down on the couch cushion, spreading me wide for him.

The next thing I knew, his mouth was on me, devouring me, tongue working me in fast side-to-side motions that had me gripping his shoulders as my thighs began to shake.

His fingers slipped inside of me again, thrusting lazily.

Until, suddenly, he was pulling away, and gazing up at me, eyes hungry.

"I need to be inside of you," he half-declared, half-asked, as he started to pull me over him once again.

His hand went into his pocket, finding a condom in his wallet, then slipping it on as I straddled him, the desire inside becoming an acute sort of pain, this desperate need to feel him inside of me.

Finished, he fisted his cock, holding it still as his fingers dug into my hip, pulling me closer.

Anticipation sizzled through me as I started to lower down, as I felt his thickness press against me, then slowly slip inside of me.

A low whimper escaped me as he started to fill me, stretch me, claim me.

When he was settled deep, some part of me wanted to stay just like that forever, feeling him filling me.

But the aching need to move soon overpowered my desire to just feel him.

"Ride me, Claire," Aurelio begged, his own need as acute as my own felt.

There was no fighting it.

I started to move. Slowly at first. Getting used to the fullness of him. Then, as my body adjusted, taking him faster, deeper each time.

My whimpers became loud moans as his hands moved over me, cupping my breasts, twisting my nipples, then slipping down my back to cup my ass, using it to move me faster, harder, even as his hips began to thrust up into me, driving me more quickly toward the edge, then shoving me over, unprepared for the intensity as I cried out, my vision going white, my whole body jolting hard.

When I started to come back down, Aurelio was tense, his muscles coiled, even as my own felt lax.

"Again," he murmured as he grabbed me, rolling me under him, and starting to fuck me.

Slowly, at first, giving my body a chance to come down from one orgasm before climbing toward another.

But as soon as my legs were wrapping around him and my hips were writhing, he started to fuck me harder, faster, not giving my body a second for the orgasm to ebb before he was making it slam through me again, this time stealing my breath, making it impossible even to cry out.

"More," Aurelio said, his voice close to my ear.

"I can't," I panted, my body feeling overheated, oversensitive, overstimulated.

"Yes, you can," he said, reaching for me as he got to his feet, carrying me with him to the nearest wall, and pressing me against it, his lips claiming mine.

And, before long, the need was growing once again, making my hips rock against him until he started to fuck me.

Hard.

Fast.

Deep.

The sounds of his body slamming into mine mingled with his groans and my moans, loud enough to echo through the house. To filter outside. Where we both knew a guard was situated.

But we were too lost in the moment, and each other, to care as he drove me up a third time, then sent another orgasm soaring through me, crying out as the waves kept crashing over and over.

"Fuck, angel," Aurelio groaned as my walls tightened around him over and over until he surged deep, and came with a curse.

His body pressed into mine afterward, like he needed the support of the wall after his orgasm. And since I needed both him and the wall myself, I understood.

I wrapped him up with my arms and legs, clinging to him and this sweet moment we had left with just the two of us.

Eventually, Aurelio came back to himself, pulling back to press his lips gently to mine before carrying me back down the hallway, turning into the primary bedroom, and lowering me onto the bed that was covered just in a fitted sheet.

All the bedding was likely vacuum sealed in the closet like it had been in Judah's room.

His fingers traced down my jaw before he turned and made his way into the primary bathroom, closing the door.

I knew I should get up, get the stuff to make the bed. But all my limbs felt heavy, borderline useless. In the best way possible.

So I scurried back up the bed, resting my head on the pillow, and waiting for Aurelio.

He came back out, his pants still on and undone, hanging low on his hips, but he'd discarded his shirt and suit jacket in the bathroom.

He was going toward the closet, but stopped suddenly as his gaze landed on me.

"Fuck," he said, leaning back against the wall, his adoring gaze sliding over me, from head to feet and back again.

My own gaze slid over him, loving the look of him without his shirt, but wishing he was just as bare as I was, that I could be learning every square inch of him like he was me.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, he turned to grab the bedding, then came toward the bed, and I got to watch as he draped the flat sheet and comforter over me, then slid on his pillowcase before coming toward me, taking mine, and covering it too.

Then, as if he'd sensed my desire for it, he'd gone to the foot of the bed, and, eyes on me, he pushed down his pants, then slid down his boxer briefs, leaving him completely naked.

A little whimpering sound escaped me, making his eyes go warm and his lips twitch upward ever so slightly before he made his way to his side of the bed and climbed in.

Then, either worn out from his ordeal earlier, or lulled by the complete quiet of this little safe house, Judah let us curl up together and sleep through the night in each other's arms.

It was the happiest I'd been in longer than I could remember.