Page 69 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part two
I start to unbuckle the harness when I feel the ledge start to give way. I do the only thing I can think of and scoop Tyler up in one arm to hold him against me. He locks his legs around my waist and his arms around my neck. I jerk on the rope and feel them start pulling. No sooner than we lift an inch, the ledge fully crumbles and falls from beneath our feet, causing us to dangle.
“Pull!” I yell.
This is more weight than the rope can handle with two grown men, so I just hope that it’s enough to get us over the top. I swing out so I can get my boots against the cliff to walk us up. It feels like an eternity until we get to the top, but I finally see Aryeh’s head pop over, holding his hand out. Tyler reaches for him, and I boost him up by his ass. They pull me the rest of the way up, and I collapse on the ground beside Tyler.
“Are you guys okay?” Aryeh asks, crouching beside us. Gavin is running his fingers through Tyler’s hair, checking his wounds.
“Besides the harness pinching my dick, I’m fine,” I answer, making Tyler laugh, then groan.
“That has to hurt. I’ll kiss it and make it better,” Tyler answers, making everyone laugh.
“Are you okay, Sweetheart?”
“Yeah. I’m just sore. I must have knocked myself out.”
“That’s what you get for jumping off a cliff,” Keon responds, helping Tyler sit up. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Don’t give me that shit. It’s no one’s fault. But, we have a lot to talk about.”
“Like Cryptic?” I ask, jumping to my feet. My heart is still in my stomach, but we’re both alive. “He helped us find you.”
“He helped me get out. He’s being forced to do this.”
“We’ll figure this all out when we get back to the safehouse.”
We help Tyler into the car and drive back at a much more normal speed. Aryeh texted the group chat when we were on our way, so Kira and Jason are waiting for Tyler when we walk through the door.
They help him to the couch and Aryeh gets busy doing his assessment and cleaning the wound on his head. “Besides a concussion, you’re fine. How? I don’t know. But you’ll be sore for a while.”
Kira grabs Tyler’s hand. “Can you guys please stop doing this to me?”
Tyler chuckles and kisses her forehead. “I don’t plan on that happening again.”
Aryeh hands Tyler some pills and a bottle of water. “Take these. We’ll need to move after you rest.”
“We can go now.”
“Tyler,” Aryeh sighs. “For once in your life, just say thank you and fucking do as you're told.”
Tyler grins. “Thanks, Gramps.” He tosses the pills into his mouth, takes a drink of water to wash them down, and sticks out his tongue. “All gone.”
Kira kisses Tyler’s cheek and leaves quickly through the backdoor. Concerned, I follow her out onto the patio and wrap my arms around her from behind, hoping I’m not overstepping. When she snuggles in closer, I know I made the right call. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she says, tears clogging her voice. “I hate that any of you have to go through this.”
“We’re going to end this,” I say with conviction. “Aharon and Abraham have needed to go down for a long time.”
Kira turns around in my arms and wraps her arms around my waist as I kiss the top of her head and wait for her to work through her emotions. I’d stand out here all day, if that’s what she needed. When she looks up at me with need in her eyes, I know exactly what I need to do. Without second guessing myself for once, I softly kiss her lips. She gasps, but it’s not out of fear. I press harder and wait for her to relax in my arms before deepening the kiss. Kissing her is more than what I imagined it to be. I cup one of her cheeks and kiss her slowly until we pull back to take a breath, and then lay my forehead against hers.
“Wow,” she sighs. “No wonder Ari was a mess out here that day.”
That shocks a laugh out of me. “What do you mean?”
“When you and Ari got interrupted. He was well…a mess.”
I rub my thumb across her bottom lip. “I didn’t overstep?”
Kira shakes her head. “I’m all in this too, Tivon.”
