Page 8 of Outlaw

I lie there panting. I didn’t realize how out of breath I was. I can hear him moving around and I wonder again if he can see in the dark somehow. Is he an X-Man? Then there’s a soft buzzing sound and a series of all-white Christmas lights turn on and illuminate the space.

I’m shocked. We’re in what is basically one, big, cozy studio-apartment with a concaved ceiling. It’s definitely some kind of bunker – or it was – that has been converted into a living space. There are blankets and pillows everywhere, a bed at the far end of the room and a mini-kitchen in the corner. There’s even a television.

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?” the man asks me. I look up. He’s standing by a light switch, his back turned to me. His upper body is heaving. He’s out of breath. Again, his voice is so familiar…

“What are you—?”

“I told you not to go there!” he barks. And then it clicks. He whirls around to face me, but before he even gets his mask off, I realize who he is: the rude man from Ta-Tas.

“You!” I cry out. Adrenaline is flooding through me. So many emotions are bouncing around inside me like a thousand ping-pong balls. I can hardly decide on which one to grab ahold of. “What—what are you doing!?”

“What am I doing?” he snarls. He moves so quickly it takes my breath away. Before I can blink, he’s towering over me. “Saving your life is what I’m doing! I told you those men were trouble!”

“And you’re not!?” I shriek. “You just took me – where the fuck am I anyway? What is this place?”

“You think I’m going to hurt you?” He laughs. “I just put my ass on the line to save you, bitch!”

“Bitch!?” I shout, rising quickly to my feet. “What did you just say?”

His face goes tight with anger, but he bites his tongue. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that – at all. I’m just…I’m just angry, that’s all. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if something had happened to you.”

That was not what I was expecting. He stares at me with piercing eyes, and despite the knots in my stomach, the butterfly twister starts to form again. He’s undeniably handsome, and even more with his face drenched in sweat and his scent filling the room.

“It’s…it’s okay,” I tell him.

“No, it’s not.” He shakes his head as he slides out of his leather jacket. “I shouldn’t have called you that. I apologize.”

What’s happening to me?

All of a sudden I feel a rush of attraction to this man. I don’t even know his name, but I suddenly want to give myself to him. I just yelled at him for calling me a bitch, but now I feel like he could call me whatever he wants and I’d be okay with it…

He lifts the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face and exposes the most insane set of abs I’ve ever seen. I could wash my delicates on those.

“I…I don’t know how to thank you,” I say.

“Oh, I know how you can,” he replies, his face lighting up. Oops. I can guess what he’s about to ask.

“Yeah? How’s that?”

He locks eyes with me. I feel small – so small and vulnerable.

“Tell me your name.”

6

Christian

She’s hypnotically beautiful. I’m still coming down from the high of having her arms around me and her body pressed against mine. I can’t fucking believe what I just did. I could be in some real deep shit if the Red Lions figure out who just blew up their party, but I know that I’d do it all over again if I had to.

I can’t figure out how she’s looking at me – whether she’s afraid of or interested in me.

It’s a look I’ve never seen before on a girl’s face, but maybe it’s just her unbelievable beauty that’s throwing me off. I just shot at my old crew and escaped from the cops, and she’s the one making me off balance.

Crazy, right?

“Claire,” she says, her voice like something out of a dream. “My name is Claire.”

A smile curls on my lips. “Christian,” I tell her. “That’s got a good ring to it, doesn’t it? Christian and Claire?”

---