Page 83 of Clawed
High Hopes
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STEPPING OFF THE TRAIN, a gust of frigid air rushed to meet Hannah.She pulled the collar of her coat tighter as she headed for the station’s small parking lot.Dawn was breaking on the horizon as she strode from the coach, a stream of golden peach light that offered optimism for better days, but its confidence was belied by the anxiety churning in her stomach.
Nervous butterflies stretched their wings there, excited at what the next few days would bring, but apprehensive at the gamble she was taking.Her rational mind accepted it was ridiculous to trust the man who’d taken her liberty and put her through horrendous ordeals, but there she was, just about to meet him and set off on the next chapter of their warped adventure.In the end, that logical voice had been easy to overrule, her instincts to go with him and discover where their incredible chemistry would lead overpowering its saner verdict.
Deep down, she realized she might never have the same connection with another person, and whatever its distorted origin, the idea of walking away from Lawes and never experiencing their sizzling passion again was too demoralizing to consider.She was going to put one foot in front of the other and meet him.Whatever the consequences.
Tension twisted at the thought of those repercussions.Left behind in their respective apartments were her two closest confidants in the world, women who’d stood by her through thick and thin.Milly and Shannon had done nothing but love her a little too much.They didn’t deserve her betrayal, but Hannah had needed to get out of their concerned grasps and run back to the only man who really understood her baser needs.
She’d never dared to hope that Lawes could transform into the man who sought her assent, but standing on the precipice of that possibility, her guilt was simpler to manage.Her friends would be angry and let down by her behavior, but she hoped, with time, they would learn to comprehend her choice.Ultimately, whether they forgave her would be their decision.
Hannah had already made hers.
Lawes had chosen the location of their meeting intentionally, knowing she could take a train there with ease, and there’d have been little in the way of cameras at the rural station.They were due to reunite in the parking lot, but walking the length of the platform, she decided to check her phone for any last-minute change of plan.
Reaching into the pocket of her rucksack, she searched for her latest device.Lawes had insisted she take the phone after their kiss in his car the week before, and, against her conscience’s better judgment, she’d taken his advice and left her existing phone at Shannon’s apartment.That device would have been too easy to track, and if she and Lawes were to have any chance of their own salacious happily ever after, she had to leave the tendrils of her friend’s concerns behind her.For the time being, at least.
She tensed, knowing Shannon would be wracked with worry to find her missing, but ignored the contracting pain in her stomach.Hannah had to go through with the plan.She couldn’t live with herself if she turned her back on the opportunity of knowing him, and herself, better.
Gripping the phone between her fingers, she recalled the initial aftermath of the lingering kiss they’d shared and how the device had come to be in her possession.
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“INEEDED THAT.”WITHDRAWINGfrom the caress, his green gaze glimmered with that same authoritative cockiness she’d once feared but was learning to love.
“Me, too, sir.”
In a flash of recklessness she’d have never risked in the bad old days, she reached for his jaw, grazing her fingertips over the same stubble that had tickled her chin when their lips collided.In all the time she’d known him, she had rarely ever had the opportunity to touch the man, but all that was about to change.If she was serious about running away to Scotland with little more than her safe word as insurance, then she’d need the chance to get to know his body the way he knew hers.
“Take this.”Digging into his pocket, he didn’t comment on her caress as he tugged out a phone she didn’t recognize.“Use it to communicate with me.My number’s already saved in there.”He thrust the device in her direction before capturing the wrist at his face and hauling her closer.
“I can’t wait to have you all to myself again.”
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SHE GLANCED AT THATsame phone in her hand, another blast of wind reminding her she was still on the platform.
This is it.She straightened at the solidifying thought.A few more steps and I’ll be there.
As if the device had read her mind, the screen lit up, showing an incoming message from Lawes.Hurriedly, she flicked into the missive, devouring his words.
Where are you, little girl?
Smiling, she moved toward a nearby wall and typed out her response.
I’ve just arrived at the station, Mr.Lawes.
It was strange to still refer to him that way, but after everything they’d been through, she couldn’t imagine only calling him Mark.
I’ll be with you in a few minutes.
She fired off the messages quickly, replacing the phone before she rejoined the handful of other travelers crazy enough to travel at that time of the day.He’d asked her to join him on the first train so they could get on the road as soon as possible, and she hadn’t argued.Just like she hadn’t asked where he’d got the blue Renault from, one of only three cars in the parking lot.She’d guessed it was stolen when he’d sent her the details earlier, and there seemed little point in dwelling on the theft.She was so far down the rabbit hole with him that one stolen car hardly even registered.They were already breaking all the rules, anyway.
He climbed out of the car when she approached, the breeze catching in his dark hair as he strode in her direction.
“Hannah.”
