Page 89 of House of Pain
“Oh, shit,” Alecto whispered.
Blaze slowly released her, waiting for her to find her footing before he let her go.
Looking at him was painful, with his black hair ruffled, lips red and swollen from their kiss. But Alecto pushed past him, walking inside Matias’s room, which was also aflame.
“Fuck,” she cursed, her heart thundering for a completely different reason now.
She gasped when Blaze’s hand wrapped around hers, and he dragged her outside the room, to the other side of the corridor. At the very end, there was a window, the only one with curtains that hadn’t caught fire yet.
Blaze pushed it open, peeking his head outside. He then started climbing out, but Alecto grabbed for his hand.
“Are you crazy?” she hissed. “We’re on the second floor. We can’t jump.”
“No. But we can climb. Do you trust me, Black?”
“Not even one bit.”
“Smart.”
And then he was gone. Alecto didn’t wait, shoving her head outside to find him perched on a small landing, one hand holding the drain. He offered his free hand for her.
“Come on.”
Alecto sighed, glancing at the grass so far from where they were, but climbed out the window, ignoring his hand. Only when she was outside, Alecto took his offering, and Blaze immediately pulled her closer to him.
“Now would be the perfect time to push me,” he said into her hair as he mounted the pipe, drawing her closer to his chest.
Alecto chuckled.This motherfucker.
“I might still,” Alecto replied as they started the climb down.
Alecto felt the strength of his chest pressing into her back, warm and assuring, despite the fact it was Blaze Leveau.
They slowly climbed down the wall, Alecto holding on to the pipe, carefully placing her feet after Blaze. Blaze was carrying most of their weight and doing most of the work, but Alecto focused on not making a wrong move that would send them to the ground.
But then Alecto’s feet slipped on the wet brick, and she lost her footing, falling. Before Alecto could catch herself, the pipe wasn’t there, and the wall was moving further from her.
Her bones rattled as her back hit the hard ground, her lungs heaving as the wind was knocked out of her. Behind her, Blaze groaned.
Oh shit, she fellonhim.
She scrambled onto her side, rolling on the wet grass, and turned her head to see Blaze lying on his back, eyes closed.
She grabbed his shirt, rattling himhard. “Are you okay?!”
For a moment, Blaze didn’t respond. But then the same stupid smirk appeared, and he opened his eyes just a bit to catch her gaze.
“You’re a dangerous woman.”
Alecto sighed and slammed her palm into his chest, but then she laughed.
“You’re a fucking moron.”
“I think you wanted to say, ‘Thank you, Blaze, for saving my perky ass.’”
32
Blaze rubbed his palms over his face, growling into the silence of the night, only the chirping sounds of cicadas coming from the outside through his open windows.
