Through the Fire (Daughter of Fire, #1)(21)

Without having to be concerned that Dad was in the next room, all of my inhibitions dropped away. It seemed Clay had the same idea. His lips left mine only to trace a glorious trail along my cheeks, over my ear, and then down the column of my throat. His hands grew more confident and he slipped his fingers underneath the cups of my bra. He moaned almost as loudly as I did when his fingertips grazed over my nipples.

His warm breath and wet mouth over my collarbone sent my body into overdrive. I fisted my fingers into his hair and tugged his mouth back to mine. My body must have almost been hot enough to singe all of my clothing away. If we continued too much longer, I was likely to lose my virginity right there against that wall in the abandoned warehouse.

That thought stopped me cold. What did I really know about Clay? He’d said he didn’t want our first time to be something like this. Did that mean it would be his first time as well? Did he understand it would be mine?

I was about to call a stop to our kisses when Clay pushed up my shirt and dropped down before me to kiss and caress my stomach and chest. When his tongue drew patterns across my skin, I was left utterly breathless. There was little more than a series of incomprehensible thoughts in my mind.

Eventually, I found the self-control I needed. “Stop,” I murmured.

“Is something wrong?” he asked as he stood upright and leaned heavily against me, pushing me into the wall with every part of himself. Resting with his forearms on either side of my head, his breaths came in soft pants as he kissed my mouth softly once, twice, three times. Each time his lips lingered a little longer, and on the third, his tongue scraped along mine.

“No, not wrong,” I moaned desperately. “So, so right. Too right. If you keep going . . . I don’t know what I’ll be responsible for.”

His eyes danced with mischief as he grinned at me. “You were the one who wanted some alone time.”

“You were the one who wanted our first time to be special.” I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Touché.” He went to pull away.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.

“To get my things,” he answered, clearly confused.

“I didn’t say I was finished with you, just that we should keep it PG-13 for the moment.”

“You’re insatiable.”

“Only for you.”





AFTER ANOTHER few moments in the entryway, we finally pulled ourselves apart and headed toward Clay’s makeshift bedroom. Almost the instant the door was open, he rushed around and packed up the few things he had. As he packed, I saw one of the reasons he was insistent on coming back to grab everything. Among the bags was a stack of cash that easily had to be a couple of grand. When he pulled it from its hiding space, he gave me a coy look and called it his traveling money. “It’s so I don’t have to use a credit card, they can track me with that.”

I didn’t ask him how he got it—I’d learned long ago not to ask questions you didn’t want the answer to.

While shoving the last of his things that he’d decided on bringing with him into the bag, he suddenly stopped.

“Do you actually want me to come with you?” he asked.

“Of course I do.” My voice was filled with confusion.

“I just realized I never bothered to stop and ask you what you wanted.”

“I still don’t know exactly what I want, but this—you—it’s a good start.”

Reaching for my hand, he swung the backpack onto his back and took one last glance around. “I think that’s everyth—”

“Was that a car door?” I asked after a sound from outside cut him off.

“I think so,” he whispered before putting his finger to his lips to indicate that we should be quiet.

I could hear two male voices in a quiet discussion outside. I couldn’t make out all of the words, but “Clay” and “tricked” were among them.

“Shit, it’s Dad and Eth.” Clay turned to me with a dismayed gaze. “We need to get you out of here.”

I barely heard him over the blood pulsating through my head and the hammering in my chest.

“This is definitely the truck Lou mentioned,” the younger sounding voice said. “See, Maryland plates.”

“It probably means that creature is in there with him.”

I swallowed heavily as I the understanding that I was “that creature” sank in. The breath that was burning my lungs slipped out in a stuttering exhale.

“What do we do?” I mouthed to Clay.

“Stay here,” he mouthed back as he made overly emphasized hand movements and pointed at the ground.

I nodded as he silently dropped the backpack off his shoulder and left it on the floor, before dragging something out of it, but I couldn’t make out what because of the angle his body was in. Whatever he grabbed, he tucked into the back of his pants.

He reached out for me, pulling me to him for a moment. My skin blazed with fear, but it didn’t seem to faze him. I glanced down to where his hand clasped my wrist. His finger traced a small circle against my pulse point.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I never meant for it to be like this.”

“What do you mean?” I rested my hand on his chest and stared at the spot where the thrumming vibrated beneath my hand.