Page 137 of Lost in the Dark

I blinked and looked down—I was wearing a shirt from a friend of mine’s clothing-line that had a lamb motif, so there was an image of one of the fluffy and content creatures stretched across my chest.

“Lizzy,” I corrected him, as Josiah finished his turn around the car.

“This car’s so low and so expensive—” he said, giving Reeve a look.

“Yeah,” Reeve grunted. “It’s gonna take a while to find someone who’ll even risk taking it in.”

I gave both of them a tight smile, knowing the car was semi-stolen. When I’d left Florida it’d felt like I had a plan, or I’d figure one out.

I hadn’t, and now I was fucked.

“You’re an easy two hours away from any place out here that’s got a room.” Josiah looked to his friend, and something seemed to pass between them. “We come out here to camp a few nights a month. We’ve got extra supplies—we can set you up safe tonight, and then drive you wherever you want to go tomorrow.”

I looked between them. I didn’t have AAA. I didn’t even have a charged phone.

And so what if they murdered me, seeing as I was going to die pretty soon, anyways?

Reeve’s gaze caught mine, and he gave me an encouraging nod. “I promise you—we’ll help.”

There was something about the way he said it—or the fact that I didn’t have any other options—that led me to nodding back.

Isat between them in their truck cab, which smelled a little like them—like manly men, soap, deodorant, and sweat, with a grace note of dog, and both of them were exceedingly polite, given the fact that there was no way for me not to rub up against them they off roaded their truck across fields, driving to wherever their favorite murder-hole/camping site was.

And then they parked and got out, and Josiah waited for me with the door open, offering me his hand, like I was some kind of courtly lady. I was scared to take it, but the truck was high up, and there was only moonlight out. The only thing worse than my current situation would be going through it with a twisted ankle, so I grabbed hold and felt the heat and strength of his grip for just a moment, before letting go.

“Wait here,” Reeve told me, as they started unloading the back of the truck. They had firewood and coolers, and everything that seemed like it’d make camping palatable. They popped open a lantern open, and it attracted a mad cloud of moths.

They worked quietly as a team, and I wondered how they’d be together if I wasn’t in the picture. If they’d be talking about football, or fishing trips, or other redneck-boy things. They erected a single tent, and pulled camping pads inside, then turned to me as one.

Did they have another tent?

Or...?

“We’ll sleep out here. You can sleep in there,” Josiah said, jerking his thumb behind him. Reeve nodded his assent, and started flinging bedding up into his truck’s bed.

“Wait, what?” I asked, finally following. “That seems silly to me. I’m the one who’s in the way.”

“Don’t say that,” Reeve said, jumping back down from the bed behind me, setting the whole truck rocking.

“It’s true,” I protested. “Plus...it’d feel weird. Just—” I said, moving to hop up into the bed myself, looping a leg over the back gate like it was a horse.

“It’s going to kill your back,” he warned me.

“Better mine than yours.” I gave him a brave smile. He shrugged, and went into their tent, and returned with something for me—a flannel jacket. “It’s okay, I’m warm.”

“It’s for you to use as a pillow,” he explained, waiting for me.

I took it with my normal amount of trepidation, and Josiah gave me a little tug on an imaginary hat before they turned in, leaving the lantern on outside.

Reeve hadn’t been joking—I had a total Princess and the Pea situation going on in the truck’s bed, where the pea was a hard-plastic liner that hated me. No amount of camping pads or bedding was going to stop me from being sore tomorrow. My hips and shoulders were already cranky, plus I was sure there was a line of bruises across my chest where the Mas’s seatbelt had caught me.

Still, though.

I was still free...and the men I was with didn’t feel very murder-y. Which wasn’t to say that I thought they were safe...they just felt like they were safe towards me. I nestled my face into the flannel Reeve had given me, breathing it in. It smelled good, like a cologne I couldn’t recognize, and my tent question was answered just as I was drifting off. I heard a soft grunt, and then a manly moan. A rustle of fabric and then a quiet slap of flesh.

“Fucking take me,” Reeve demanded, his voice low, and I felt a thrill at hearing it, even though his words were for Josiah—it was like they reached inside me and made my pussy clench.

Josiah made an acquiescing sound, and whispered, “Oh, fuck.”