In The End Box Set | Books 1-3 Stevens, GJ (story books to read TXT) 📖

Alex was already back out, her face beaming, eyebrows twitching when she saw the grit of my teeth on opening the driver’s door.

“You okay?” she said.

I nodded.

“You'll love this place,” she added, forcing herself to keep her voice low.

I drew a deep breath, pushing up my on-camera smile and let her help me down the tall step; let her guide me through the door as she angled a torch from the toolbox out in front.

Alex’s torch pointed out the corridor with doors to the left and right.

I saw the radiators clinging to the walls, wondering if the pipes would be strong enough to hold the cuffs when I tried to rip my hands free.

Alex shone the light on the storeroom packed with rows of boxes on shelves.

I saw the door banded with steel, trying to figure out where the owners kept the key and if the windows were strong enough to keep Alex safe.

Alex marvelled at the rows of shelves containing boxes of food, much like a supermarket, racks of clothes on rotary hangers, giant numbers corresponding to multipack boxes at their side.

I saw the lack of bolts holding the steel to the concrete floor, knowing I would pull it free. Knowing I would drag it behind me when I turned.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” she said, looking back with almost a skip in her step as she pointed to a row of torches hanging on shelves by their fabric cords as she passed.

“Yeah, great,” I said, my underwhelming words quiet once she’d gone. “A great place to die,” I said, scanning the shelves, not taking any notice of what I’d seen.

I wandered through the aisles, catching sight across the shelves as Alex made trips outside, her gaze finding mine each time she came through the door carrying the plastic equipment boxes from the back of the van.

After locking the door closed, she toured the aisles with her white smile beaming as she bundled blankets, food and water into her arms before heading to the back of the shop.

I slowly toured the aisles, finding scarlet trousers to near enough match the jacket to replace the skirt I wore with the great tear down the side.

After what must have been half an hour, Alex came to find me. She carried two lit torches in her hands and passed one over as she guided me to the rear. I couldn’t stop my mouth forming a smile as she shined her torch beam on the nest she’d been building.

Alex had cleared away racks of clothes, pushing them to the side. In the space she’d piled ten or more blankets on the floor to form two rectangular beds, both spaced a good distance apart. Around each bed she’d placed unlit candles, batteries and boxes of food beside bottles of water and a first aid kit resting on the top of the bed to the left.

My eyebrows raised at the jeans and T-shirt spread in the centre.

I twisted toward her. “Risky business.”

“Huh?” she replied.

“Choosing a lady’s clothes,” I said, and couldn't help letting a gentle laugh trickle after.

“We should change,” she said, her voice quiet and stilled as she watched my eyebrows raise and my face contort as I winced with the lift of my hand from my chest.

“I can…” she said, then stopped, filling the air with a pause. “I can help, if you don’t mind,” she said. The words were slow and broken.

Her voice caught me by surprise. Well, not the voice itself, but my body's reaction. In the silence I could hear her breath; hear mine, too, but I hoped she couldn’t sense the sudden race of the engine in my chest.

This wasn’t a good time for life to get more complicated.

89

My eyes closed despite the darkness when she threw the lit torch to the makeshift bed. Her fingers crept along the hem of my vest. I slowly lifted my arms as her hands climbed, my skin prickling with heat. Goose bumps rushed across my torso and not just because of the cold air licking at my damp skin.

The sensation kept my mind from the pain and I lifted both my hands high before sinking to my knees, the vest rising over my head.

She stood at my back, throwing the top to the pile with the jacket.

I waited, listening to her breath as somehow the calm air brushed across my body to lick away the last of the moisture, my skin alive with sensation; every inch prickling with electricity.

“Your bra?” she said, her words slow and punctuated with a heavy swallow. The deepness of her voice forced a pull of breath.

When I didn’t speak, I felt the tension in the wet strap release.

With a rip of plastic, she pulled a t-shirt from its packet and I knelt in front of her, opening my eyes with my breath catching in my throat when I saw her outline. She was looking with her head shaking from side to side, the room brighter than I’d expected. I could see more detail than I thought possible. So could she.

In the soft light from the torch and with my hands still to the air, I looked up as she concentrated, my body tensing as she guided the fabric first over my bad hand.

I stood, letting my hands relax. She took one side of the hem and I took the other. Together we dragged the top down and I tried not to react as the fabric snagged on my nipples.

The rest I could manage and I let the skirt drop, my left hand hovering at the band of my knickers. I don’t know why my mouth curled or why I’d bitten down on my bottom lip as Alex stared at my silhouette