Page 23 of Carter

“I can’t jump into something this deluded. Are you hearing yourself right now? You need to stop and just think, alright?”

He exhaled and shook his head like I was annoying him. Zipping up my backpack, he tossed it to the ground beside the window and turned to me. I had to crane my head up now to look at him. Carter was nineteen then and he was broad and big. One of the very few guys around his age that actually looked manly, and I knew it was genetics at play because Ron was a huge guy.

“Ihavestopped and thought about it,” he told me calmly, coming even closer now. “I realized that I would rather be scared shitless out there on the streets and be in control of my life than to be stuck here inside a prison under the illusion of safety.”

He stopped in front of me, his body barely touching mine. I didn’t respond for a moment. I shut my eyes and looked away from him. I didn’t want to be under his affect again. Christ, he always made me drunk on him when he got close to me like this, and I know even then he was doing it on purpose to get his way. By fucking with my body I would forget about the logic my brain was spewing.

“Then go and do it on your own,” I muttered out weakly. “I’m not going anywhere, though.”

He exhaled and shuffled even closer. He smelled of earth, and I noticed a sheet of dirt on his body, as if he’d rolled around the ground.

Goddamn him and his superpowers.

My heart started thumping harder, especially when his hand touched my face. He pulled aside my hair and took my chin in his grip. He forced it up to him, and in the dark I could see the fire in his eyes. That mask he wore was down, and he was looking at me lovingly. Like hecaredfor me, and I wanted to believe it so badly.

“Be with me,” he whispered desperately, bringing his face down to mine. “Ignore everything your head is telling you. Be with me, Leah, and let me take you away from this place. Away from Russell and the sick men he has around. He’s going to destroy you if you stay, and I’m going to make everything better if you come.Be with me.”

He drew me in with those words. He stroked an already burning fire inside of me, making me heated and intent on his every word. I was lost to him like the fool that I was. He was pleading for me tobe with himand, fuck, I wanted to be with him since I was ten years old.

“Carter,” I whispered indecisively. “I don’t know—”

He cut me off with a kiss.

His whole body pressed against the length of mine. He took my mouth into his like it was everything to him. My hands immediately gripped his jacket and I kissed him back. Dear God, I burned for this guy. I opened every part of myself up to him. I surrendered my soul and I let him take every inch of it.

The blanket fell to the ground, and I would have been chilled to the bone if he hadn’t been covering me the way he was. One of his hands was in my hair, tilting me up as he kissed me even deeper. The other hand was somewhere against my back. Honestly, I wasn’t really paying attention to it or to anything else but the feel of our mouths locked together. This was better than my first kiss with him. This one was all tongue and passion, and I needed it like my next breath.

He pulled away abruptly, his forehead rested against my own. His eyes were shut, and he was breathing just as heavily as me.

“Come with me,” he urged. “We’ll get out of this together.”

Completely high off his kiss, I stared at his lips and felt myself nod. “Okay.”

He tore away from me instantly. Grabbing my hand, he led me to the window. He picked up the hoodie he’d given me a while back from off the floor and threw it over my head. I hastily slipped my arms into the sleeves.

“Put your boots on,” he demanded.

I grabbed them from under my bed and sat down to pull them on. He had already flung my backpack over his shoulder, and I suddenly wondered where all the rest of his clothes were. Had he even packed? What was the damn plan? Was I being an idiot doing this?

My gaze fell despairingly on my bookshelf. Would I have time to grab a few paperbacks? I didn’t know what I’d grab under such pressure.

“Fuck the books,” I heard him say. “I’ll replace them for you, Leah. I promise.”

I nodded once more and started to tie the strings on my boots. “Do you need to grab some of your things?”

“I’ve got my backpack just outside the window.”

I stood up and went to him. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. He stared down at me for a few solid seconds, a strange look on his face that made me wonder what the hell had happened to him tonight.

“I’m all ready,” I said to him shakily.

“You’re never coming back here,” he then told me sternly. “Never. You got it?”

Terrified, I managed a nod. “Okay.”

Nine

We took off down the streets, the rain pouring down all around us, instantly soaking me to the bone. He held my hand tightly the entire way, and it was his grip that helped push me forward when my lungs were hurting, and the cold winter air became hard to breathe in. I couldn’t understand the hurry. What was the damn rush? Why couldn’t we have planned this better than just abruptly leaving it all behind?

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