Rules of Survival(49)

“See how the follow-through kinda wrecked your balance? As the smaller, weaker fighter, you need to exploit that.”

It sounded like it made sense. “Okay…”

He stepped away again. “Let’s try something a little different. I’ll come at you.”

My mind, already swimming through the gutter after he’d practically groped my leg, didn’t send the shut up command to my mouth fast enough. “For what?”

“To try and attack you. You dodge the blow, then strike at me. Remember—dodge and strike.”

I wasn’t sure I liked this plan—for a long list of reasons. “How am I supposed to dodge you?”

He winked. “No worries. I’ll make it easy.”

Without another word, he moved forward with his left hand, moving slow enough for me to duck out of the way. As his faux momentum propelled him past, I brought my right arm up and tapped his jaw with my elbow.

“That was great,” he exclaimed. “Do it again, but this time, put some force behind the blow.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

He angled himself closer, proud grin morphing into something a little more wicked. It heated my skin. “Don’t worry.” Warm breath caressing the edge of my ear, he whispered, “I like it rough.”

There was no way to hide it. I was positive he could see the effect he had on me. How could he not? The heat that flared in my cheeks had to be nearly as obvious as the drumming of my pulse, which every inhabitant of the lot must have been able to hear by that point. He backed away as far as the chains would allow, but his eyes never left mine.

Without waiting for the okay, he came at me again, this time faster. I managed to avoid him—barely—and bent to duck his arm. Throwing myself forward, I caught him at the waist and pushed off the ground hard. The movement sent us toppling down. Him onto the ground. Me splayed awkwardly on top. If I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest before, now it was likely to make my entire body implode.

I lifted my head to find him staring again. “That was perfect,” he said, voice low and just a little husky.

Even though we were on the ground in a parking lot, not far from a group of downtrodden homeless people, and technically on the run for our lives, I wanted to inch forward and brush my lips against his. If I could kiss him again, everything would melt away. Like it had by the road. Like it had in the trailer… Just a few moments of peace. Another taste of normal.

As if reading my mind, he whispered, “You can kiss me, you know… You can take control.”

And I wanted to. Badly. But he was wrong. I couldn’t. “That probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

He propped himself up on his free arm. The rippling light from the fire a few feet away played dancing shadows across the left side of his face, leaving the other completely cloaked in darkness. “Not a good idea?”

“After what happened back at the trailer…” I shook my head, and even though every fiber in my body protested, I slipped off him. Folding my knees under, cross-legged, I tilted my head back against the building.

Shaun sat up as well, eyes narrow. “I liked what we did at the trailer. I wanna kiss you again.” He let his finger trace the outline of my bottom lip.

“Okay,” I said, but as he leaned close, I wedged my hand between us. “But first, tell me why.”

He tilted his head, letting his finger fall away. “Why what?”

“Why do you want to kiss me?”

He looked confused. “Because I want to?”

Did he have to make this harder? “But why do you want to?”

He narrowed his eyes, understanding. “What you’re really asking is, is this just another distraction?”

I nodded. I liked him—much more than I should—but I still wanted to know the truth. I’d never had a relationship of any kind with anyone other than my mom. If this was all about using me to play the distraction in an otherwise horrible situation, then I was okay with it. It worked both ways. But if it was more than that…

He came a little closer. “Seriously? Do you really believe that?”

“You said—”

“Because you were so obviously freaked out.” He ran a finger along my cheek, all the way to my jaw, and let it rest there for a moment, just above my pulse point, which was going crazy.

“I was not,” I argued—even though he was right. I had been freaked. I’d never gotten that intense with anyone before, and the fact that I wanted to lose myself in it had terrified me. Add that to the way I was feeling about him, and it was one hell of a mess. “This is against the rules,” I whispered, eyes on his.

He rose onto his knees. “The rules? What rules?”

“Mom had a very specific set of rules. It’s how—”

He grabbed both my hands and held them tight. It was hard to think when he was this close. When he touched me. “This is gonna sound harsh, but you need to listen carefully. There are no rules, Kayla. Your mom is gone. You need to live your own life now. Make your own rules—not follow someone else’s.” He let go and raised our cuffed hands. “This is kinda the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

I wanted to look away, but I just couldn’t. “Because it’s giving you time to think, right?”