Without Hesitation, Talia Jager [warren buffett book recommendations txt] 📗

Chapter Ten

Akacia

When I woke, I could feel Everleigh’s arm draped around me. I wanted nothing more than to turn in her arms and put my lips on hers. I dreamt of loving her, being with her, being hers. I could feel the way she felt about me when she held me. I could see it in her eyes. I began to wonder if it was possible.

I took the extra minute this morning to stay in her arms.

A rumble in the distance caused Ever to stir. She sat right up when the second rumble came. “Storm,” she mumbled. “We need to take cover.”

We hurried into the woods and pressed up against the trees. The lightning storm arrived with ferocity making me wish we were still at the cave. Lightning struck the ground all around us. Then came the hail. Large pieces of ice slammed into the ground. We ducked down and covered our heads. I grimaced when a piece of hail made it through the canopy of trees and hit my back. It literally felt like forever that we were stuck there, but finally the hail and lightning stopped.

“You okay?” Everleigh asked as we stood.

I ignored her and walked back to where we slept.

She continued talking, “I’m fine. Thanks. Couple of hits on my shoulders, but I’ll live.”

After eating, Everleigh turned to me and we stared at each other for a long time. Finally, she let out a sigh and said, “I don’t know what’s out there, but we need to go.”

Other than putting a bunch of fruit in the blanket, we didn’t have anything to pack, so we just started walking next to the stream. I stayed behind her. The temperature went up as the day wore on and I was sure I smelled ripe. I needed to wash. Maybe tonight.

We stopped before the sunstar set, building a fire, and making sure we were ready for the night. The stream was too shallow to bathe in, so I only washed my face, hands and feet.

Everleigh made two spears from wood. She handed me one. “In case we run into anything.”

I haven’t used a spear before. I had trained with swords, daggers, and a bow and arrow, but not a spear. I would have to ask my teachers to add that if I made it home. She set traps for animals hoping to catch one. There weren’t any fruit trees around and we were down to four fruits.

When I woke the next morning, Everleigh wasn’t next to me. My heart sank a little, and I chastised myself for feeling that way. She betrayed me. I couldn’t fall for her. Couldn’t be with her. Not the way my heart wanted.

She emerged from the tree line. “Didn’t catch anything,” she said, disappointment in her voice.

We walked all day. I fell back and walked slower than she did, lost in my head. At some point I looked up to find Everleigh staring ahead. Catching up to her, I saw what she saw. A huge body of water. A lake? We couldn’t continue straight.

“We’ll stay there tonight. Change direction tomorrow.”

We set up camp by the lake. After building a fire, Everleigh disappeared into the forest. When she came back, she said, “Set some traps. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time.” She looked at me as if she was waiting for me to respond. When I didn’t, she sighed, sat down and took off her shoes.

I closed my eyes for a while, until my stomach growled. Grabbing a piece of fruit, I got comfortable near the fire where I could watch the flames dance.

Just as I sunk my teeth in for another bite fruit, Everleigh walked by me completely naked. My chewing slowed and I swallowed hard as she charged into the lake and started washing up. Her body was absolutely perfect. I thought about the time she must spend working out to have a body like that. Besides the tattoos I had already seen, she had a massive, colorful galaxy tattoo on her right hip down to her knee. It was stunning.

Everleigh didn’t acknowledge that I might be watching her or show any shame in her nudity. She just washed. I looked down at my own body and remembered how dirty I was. I probably smelled, too. Without really making a decision to do it, I stood, took off my clothes, and walked toward the lake. With the sun down, the water was chilly and stopped me in my tracks. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

I let out a yelp as frigid water hit my body. When I looked up, my eyes locked with Everleigh’s and she laughed. I froze. It was such a beautiful sound and I hadn’t heard it in so long that it sounded strange. Then she tossed more water my way. I bit down on my lip and splashed her back. A few minutes later, I was neck deep in the water. I rubbed every part of my body and then went underwater to soak my hair. The moment my head was submerged images of being held under the water filled my mind and I broke the surface of the water gasping.

Everleigh was by my side in an instant.

Everything rushed at me, warping in and out of focus. My heart pounded in my chest and it felt like someone was squeezing the life out of me. My entire body shook violently.

“You’re having another panic attack. I’m going to touch you now,” she announced before putting her arms around me, she held me close. The tranquility that seemed to permeate her settled around me. My heart slowed. My breathing became more even. Everleigh watched me like she was trying to gauge how much would be okay, where my breaking point would be.

“Breathe with me,” she said. I matched my inhales and exhales to hers and she smiled encouragingly. My heart slowed. I was safe. Caspar wasn’t torturing me anymore.

There was a silence as still as stone between us for a few long moments as we stared into each other’s eyes.

I finally broke the silence. “I hate you…”

“I know.”

My lip trembled, and I lifted my hand to cup her cheek. I sought her lips with mine. The warmth of them sent a jolt to my heart. Tears flowed freely and I could taste the salt as it blended with the kiss. One of her hands was in my hair while the other was on the small of my back holding me up. My left hand wrapped around her waist. We fit together seamlessly like we were made to hold each other.

Her lips worked in tandem with mine like a hypnotic sensual dance. I whimpered at the tender emotions we shared.

When we pulled apart, I let out a soft breath, feeling slightly dazed. I opened my eyes and met hers. They were full of kindness, compassion, and maybe some guilt. She traced my lips with her thumb.

I swallowed hard and took a step back.

We didn’t say anything more to each other that night. We dressed in only our underclothes. Everleigh built a fire while I washed our clothes, then laid them next to the fire to dry.

Her trap had caught a small animal. She cooked it over the fire and we both ripped the meat off its bones.

After we ate, she sat behind me and started braiding my hair. I figured it’d get less dirty and tangled in a braid. Feeling her fingers work through my hair brought tears to my eyes again. I was glad I was facing the other way so she didn’t see. When she finished, we switched places and I braided hers.

Later when I lay my head down, my heart burned with the kiss we shared earlier. I tossed and turned. My mind wouldn’t stop reliving it. The feel of her lips on mine. The way her hands felt on my body. Here, in the nighttime, I wanted her to hold me forever.

Daytime brought back the anger. The feelings of abandonment crept into my thoughts. I remembered how alone I felt on Caspar’s spacecraft and how alone I felt right now. I thought about the torture he put me through and how I’d never look at water the same way.

“You betrayed me! You—” my voice broke, “left me.”

Everleigh’s eyes went wide with pain and knowing. “I’m sorry.”

“You…we…” It felt like someone was stabbing my heart with a knife. “You just handed me over like it was nothing.”

“I had no choice.”

“We all have choices.”

“He has my family. All of our families,” she explained. “If we don’t do what he says, he takes it out on them.”

“This is why you do things for him? To keep them safe?”

“Yes.” She let out a huge sigh like she was relieved to finally tell me this. “I was trying to find a way for us to disappear and figure out how to kill him, but I didn’t have time. He shot my cousin because