Masked (31 page)

The kiss never lost its intensity as they both scrambled to remove each other’s clothing. They both hissed as their bare skin met, hers hot from being asleep, his cold from being outside. Roman maneuvered them until he had the thick blankets cover their nakedness, not that she even cared about the cold now. Her blood was boiling, singing out to him like it recognized its mate.

Bridgette widened her legs to accommodate his hips, his silky hardness rubbing against her inner thigh. He tore his lips away from her, despite her protest, to suck one of her pebbled nipples into his mouth. She moaned loudly at the incredible sensation, sparks of a deep hunger shooting to her core. She squirmed beneath him, silently begging for him to take her.

He moved to her other nipple, the cold air now hitting the wet, forgotten one only adding to the wonders assaulting her body. When he let go with a loud popping sound, she barely had time to breath before his tongue was back in her mouth, tangling with her own. She felt him position himself a second before ramming into her in one hard thrust.

They both cried out against each other’s lips. Roman stilled, letting her grow accustom to his size, before starting a slow, torturous rhythm that had her clawing at his back. Just when she thought she couldn’t take more, he sped up, every thrust hard and deep. Her climax hit her without warning. Not wanting to wake anyone up, she turned her face into his shoulder, biting him as she rode out the strongest orgasm she’d ever had. He followed not long after, crying out her name into the pillow beneath her head.

The two of them lay like that in silence, their skin sticky with sweat. Bridgette doubted she could speak right then anyway, her mind completely blown. Finally he raised his head to look down at her, a grin lifting the corners of his mouth, but she could see some hesitation in his eyes.

“Hi,” he said softly.

Bridgette chuckled. “Hello.”

“I missed you.”

Tears instantly formed in her eyes.

“Don’t do that,” he said, gently wiping his thumb beneath her eye.

“I thought…”

“I know,” he said.

“Where have you been?”

He smiled wearily. “Hiding.”

“From Ludwig?” she asked, brushing back the strands of hair that had fallen into his eyes.

Roman rolled off her, pulling her with him so she was tucked against his body, her cheek resting against his chest.

“He gave me the choice to leave,” he told her. “But I’m not an idiot. I figured he’d give me a head start, for old time’s sake, but there was no way he was just going to let me walk away.”

“Did he send people after you?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think he actually did, but I didn’t want to take any chances.”

She propped herself up. “Why didn’t you come here?”

That same hesitation was in his eyes again, and she understood that he wasn’t sure if he would have been welcome. He still wasn’t, she realized.

“Well, for one thing I didn’t want to lead him here if he had anyone following me. Plus I was still recovering, so I wanted to wait a bit. And…” He shrugged.

“You didn’t think I’d want to see you.”

“I wasn’t sure,” he said, confirming her suspicions.

She took a deep breath. “I’m not going to say I forgive you for what you did, because I don’t think I can. She was my mother, even though I don’t think she acted much like it most of the time. Especially knowing now about my dad’s treatments,” she said bitterly. “That being said, I can honestly say that I’ve never felt as broken as I did when I thought you were dead. It made me realize how much I care for you, Roman. I’m willing to move on, if you are.”

“You would do that? Forget what I did, and be with me?”

The shock on his face broke her heart. “I know what a good man you are. That’s all that matters to me.”

He let out a deep breath. “I tried to stay away from you,” he admitted. “I convinced myself it was better that way. I figured I’d only bring you more heartache. But I couldn’t. Once I found out where you were, I just had to see you.” He traced the lines of her face, the pad of his thumb gliding over her bottom lip. “You’ve got me completely at your mercy. My heart, my body, my spirit belongs to you now.”

She smiled through the tears in her eyes, the first happy ones she’d cried in a long time. They kissed, a sweeter kiss this time that spoke of their love and happiness at being together again. She wrapped her leg around him, welcoming him into her body again as they moved at a slower, less frantic pace. Later she fell asleep in his arms, at peace for what felt like the first time in her entire life.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Bridgette could hear voices as they made their way downstairs.

“Where’s breakfast?” she heard Garrett ask.

“Missy went out to get some more supplies,” one of the girls answered. Bridgette wasn’t familiar enough with them to tell their voices apart.

“Where’s Tyler?” asked Trent.

“No idea,” Garrett answered.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Seamus said the second Bridgette and Roman walked into the tiny kitchen. Everyone’s stunned expressions followed them closely as they made their way into the room.

Bridgette opened her mouth to say something; what – she wasn’t sure, but some sort of explanation was needed. Before she could get a word out, however, a small bundle flew by her and into Roman, throwing him back a step. Charlotte hugged him tightly, her face hidden in his chest. The top of her head didn’t even reach his chin. Bridgette laughed inwardly at how childlike she looked compared to him.

“Great,” Seamus said, throwing his hands up in the air. “Now what? We’re all supposed to be
happy
he’s alive?”

“Easy, mate,” McKay said, his eyes never leaving Roman and his girlfriend.

“How is he even here?” Phoenix asked, looking about as confused as the rest of the Archers.

“How’d you find us, muscles?” Sam said next, standing up to walk over to him. Charlotte had yet to release him from her bear hug.

“I grew up on the streets,” he replied, as if that explained everything.

“Do you want a cookie?” Sam said dryly.

Bridgette saw Roman bite back a smile as he regarded the tough girl. “I’m very good at being invisible,” he said, turning to look at Phoenix, “and extremely good at tailing people. Especially when those people are easy to spot in a crowd.”

Phoenix sat up straighter, sending him a wink.

“He means your god awful hair,” Trent said through clenched teeth.

She deflated a bit, giving Trent a hard look. “There’s not a damn thing wrong with my hair.” Trent just rolled his eyes.

“Look,” Bridgette said, getting everyone’s attention. “I know how hard this is for everyone to accept. And if you can’t then we’ll leave, I have no problem with that.”

Roman and Charlotte both turned to look at her simultaneously, their mouths opening to protest. She held up a hand for them to stay quiet.

“I’d like to stay with you all and figure out what our next step is, but I’m not making him leave. Roman has left Ludwig’s services.”

“How can we trust his word?” Lake asked, her serious eyes taking them in.

“I wouldn’t lie to Bridgette,” Roman replied instantly.

“That’s great for Bridgette,” McKay said. “But that doesn’t mean much to us, mate. You’re forgetting we have some interesting history with you.”

Roman’s eyes went to him and Seamus. “I can’t take back what I did, I can only swear that I will help you moving forward, and will prove my loyalty.”

“Just like that?” Trent said, snapping his fingers. “One day you’re Ludwig’s go-to boy, and now all of a sudden you’re ready and willing to fight for the rebellion?”

Charlotte spun around, her eyes hard. “Did I not do the same thing? None of you gave me a hard time about it.”

“You proved yourself long before that,” Garrett argued. “And you didn’t have one of us beaten almost to death.”

“He’s proven himself too,” Charlotte shot back.

“How do you figure?” asked Seamus.

“He knew about Bridgette and kept her safe. Is that not proof enough?”

“He also lied to me about you, and almost made me kill you,” McKay pointed out.

Charlotte huffed in anger. “That’s all in the past,” she said. “People can change.”

“Calm down everyone,” Michael said, walking into the room. Instantly the tension in the air seemed to lighten with the appearance of the elder McKay.

“I understand I’ve done a lot,” Roman said calmly, “to some of you personally, and in general. But I’m trying to choose the right path this time, to do something that will help people. I’m not asking for your trust outright, but I’m willing to give you something as a show of faith that perhaps, somewhere down the road, we can all work together as one unit.”

Seamus snorted. McKay lifted his hand to hold his best friend off. “What kind of show of faith are you talking about?” he asked.

Roman looked to Bridgette. She wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but it really didn’t matter to her. She didn’t need anything to make her trust him, she already did, unwaveringly. He looked to the others, his mouth set in a grim line, a small glint of hope in his eyes that whatever he was about to offer would be enough to create a sort of peace between them all.

“As strong as the rebels might be,” he began, looking at them all, “whether it be your crew, or the General’s, you’ll never be strong enough to overpower Ludwig.”

A course of curses followed.

“Bugger off,” Seamus said.

“That’s bullshit,” said Sam.

“Bollocks,” Trent muttered.

“I’ll show you strong,” Phoenix said.

Charlotte and Bridgette simply waited for him to continue, as did Lake.

Michael raised his hand to silence the others as they continued to mutter amongst themselves. “Let the man finish,” he ordered.

“I’m sorry if that offends you, but it’s the god’s honest truth,” Roman continued.

“Maybe your leader isn’t as strong as you think he is,” Vi argued.

“It’s not him you have to worry about, it’s the extensive army he commands,” Roman replied. “No matter what headway you make, the bare fact is that he has the ammunition to completely destroy you. There is no way the rebels will be able to overthrow him. The only reason he bothered to pay you any attention was that he wanted Douglas back. Blow up as many buildings as you want, it hardly registers as a chink in his armor.”

Everyone sat in silence, eyeing one another skeptically. Bridgette knew what he was saying was the truth, as did Charlotte most likely. She had a feeling, looking at everyone else, that they weren’t naïve enough to think he was off the mark.

“What do you suggest then?” McKay asked, breaking the silence.

“I have the knowledge of some back-up that would aid you in your fight against Ludwig.”

“You think this back-up is going to be enough to go against the all-powerful Ludwig Tennebris?” Trent asked.

“I am certain they will have the manpower and weaponry to take him out,” Roman answered with confidence.

“Is that so?” McKay said, leaning forward. “And who is this back-up? Why haven’t we heard of them before?”

“Ludwig has done his best to keep them away, but I know of ways to get to them since I was the one who was in charge of our defence.”

“Another rebel group?” Lake asked.

Roman shook his head. “No.”

“Who then?”

Then he dropped a bomb no one was expecting. “The US Army.”

Missy hurried down the street, a rain cloud just at the horizon. It was going to pour soon and she really didn’t want to get caught in it. Supplies at the house were seriously low since they had so many people staying with them. She’d already stopped at the candle maker to grab more candles, and had ordered wood to be delivered later that evening for the fires. Now she headed over to grab eggs from a lady that sold them out of a small booth on the outskirts of downtown.

There were better vendors in the main market that had been established right downtown, but Missy never went there anymore. Too many bad memories clung to the surroundings there. Just walking where she had today had her nerves tight and her palms sweating. It took a lot out of her, but she knew, what with everything that had been going on, she needed to pull her own weight. And since she couldn’t go out and fight alongside the others, the least she could do was make sure there was food for them to eat, and fire to keep them warm.

Footsteps behind her had her stomach dropping, fear slithering its way up her back. You’re being ridiculous, she scolded herself. There were plenty of people out now, it was mid-morning. There was no reason for her to be alarmed, and yet she still caught herself glancing over her shoulder. She stopped walking when she saw who was there.

Tyler walked casually behind her, his large arms bare in a white t-shirt, despite the chill in the air. He was going to get sick, walking around like that, she thought to herself. He walked up to her, stopping where she had.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Enjoying the morning,” he answered, his accents caressing the words in a way that had her heart racing for completely different reasons than fear. She’d done her best to avoid the large Scotsman since their arrival, although she’d catch herself glancing his way more often as of late.