Luke (Dark Water Security Series Book 1) Read online

  Chapter 6

  Luke

  “I think I have an idea for us to get out of here—”

  “What? Really? How?” Emily interrupts me.

  “It’s not without risk, so you’ll need to decide if it’s something—”

  “I don’t care, Luke. We need to get out of here.”

  “It could backfire; we both could end up…”

  “We have to try.”

  “I know.”

  It’s been a few days since that night; the night I won the fight, yet was punished afterward by him and his friends for no reason. It’s only a matter of time before he decides to punish her next. I can’t let that happen—not since I’m the reason she’s here to begin with. I can’t let him hurt her again. When she held me in the shower that night and wrapped herself around me when we went to bed, I knew I had to do something. So I stayed up nearly that entire night, trying to come up with some way to get us out of here safely. It took a couple of days, but I finally came up with a plan that I think has the greatest chance of working without leaving one of us behind.

  “What’s the plan?” she’s so full of hope that it nearly kills me because this could completely backfire on both of us.

  “You need to be honest with me if you think it’s stupid or won’t work. You need to be sure that you want to do this.”

  “Luke, we need to do something.” She grabs my hand tightly. “No one’s coming for us; if we don’t try… we might never leave here.”

  “Right…but it’s still a risk.”

  “So is staying here and doing nothing.”

  Shit. She’s got a point. I just hate that if this plan were to go to hell that she would suffer because of me.

  “I want us to ambush him when he opens the door to the gym,” I blurt out.

  “Ambush him… how?”

  “You would… hide behind the door when he opens it and then you hit him over the head with one of the weights.”

  “Me?” she gulps loudly.

  “If he opens the door and doesn’t see me on the treadmill he’s going to know something is up. You’re always sitting in that chair on the other side of the room where he can’t see you so he won’t suspect anything right away.”

  “Oh.”

  “Look…if you can’t—”

  “No, I’ll do it.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah…”

  “You just have to hit him hard enough to knock him down. Once he’s on the floor, I’ll make sure he doesn’t get up again. But we’ll have to keep an eye out for the knife, so he doesn’t try to stab one of us.”

  “Then I better make sure I hit him hard enough that he drops it or something.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this? If the plan doesn’t work…”

  “I’m sure.” She rests her head on my shoulder. “I can’t…I just want to go home, Luke. I want to see my dad again. I want to feel the sun on my face, the wind in my hair. I miss so much.”

  “I get it…”

  “Shit. I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking about how long it’s been for you—”

  “You don’t need to apologize, Em.” I kiss her on the top of her head. “You’re sure you want to do this?”

  “Yes,” her voice doesn’t even waiver at all. “Even if…something happens, at least we tried.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Once he’s…then what?”

  “That’s the part I can’t really plan. We’ll grab what we can and run. I don’t trust anyone close by…I don’t know where his friends live. So, we’re going to need to find a town with a police station or hospital. I don’t know how far we’ll have to go. We won’t have shoes, clothes, or food…”

  “I don’t care. If it means we’re getting out of here, I don’t care if we have to walk a hundred miles.”

  “I don’t think it’ll be that far, but it might be a while, especially since we don’t even know what direction to head in.”

  “We’ll manage, Luke. I trust you.”

  “You’re sure this is what you want?”

  “Yes. When do we do it?”

  “Tomorrow, or the next time we go upstairs.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  There are so many things working against us with this plan: we have no clothing, no shoes, no supplies, no food, and we have no idea where we are. After I ran away from the last foster home I was in, I learned to survive on the streets. The difference there was that I lived in a city, so finding abandoned places to squat was easy. Finding odd jobs that paid in cash wasn’t too difficult either. I may not know exactly where we are, but based on the sounds when he takes me to the fights I know we’re not near a city. If we make it out of here, it won’t be easy.

  If… that’s the part I try not to focus on. It’s a pretty big IF and relies heavily on Em being able to hit with enough force to at least knock him to the ground. If she can do that, I can make sure he doesn’t get up. I’m certain I can hit him hard enough to make him pass out. The part that worries me the most is Em’s role in all of this. If she freaks out or doesn’t hit him hard enough, this could all backfire.

  I wish there was some way to trade places with her, so she wouldn’t have to be the one to do this. The door somewhat hides her when he opens it which we can use to our advantage. No matter how hard I’ve tried, I can’t come up with another way to even give us a shot at getting out of here. I won’t let him do to her what he… they did to me. I won’t.

  “It’s going to work,” she mumbles against my chest as we lie on the mattress trying to fall asleep.

  “I know,” I say even though I don’t believe it myself.

  “It has to.”

  “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

  “Even if something…at least we tried.” The sadness in her voice kills me

  “Em…”

  “It’s okay, Luke…”

  Em’s amazing. I’ve never known anyone like her. Even though she knows this plan has every chance of going to hell, she still manages to focus on the positive. If it wasn’t for her, I would have given up a long time ago. I would have let one of the other kids just kill me during a fight. But knowing she’s down here waiting for me motivates me to fight. She has the exact effect on me that he wanted her to.

  She curls into my side a little more and for the briefest moment, I think if we manage to get out of here, I’m going to miss this. Of course, I won’t miss being down here, locked away from the world and everything that’s happened to me here. But Em…yeah, I’d miss her.

  “Luke?” she breaks the silence.

  “Hmmm?”

  “This could be our last night here.”

  “Yeah.”

  She leans up, almost so she’s over me and looks down at me—her bare chest hovering just over mine. After her first few nightmares ended with her crying in my arms, she somehow just started sleeping like this to start with. On more than one occasion I had to leave the bed while she was still asleep though. Waking up to her soft body pressed against me…well, it awakened other parts of me. I didn’t need things to become awkward between us, so I would go take a cold shower while she remained asleep.

  When the lights are out, it’s easy to forget that she’s practically naked, but when we lay down together, like this, it’s impossible to forget. We’ve never really discussed it, just sort of accepted that this is our new reality.

  Her hand slowly moves up my chest and I freeze under her touch. My arm is wrapped around her back, holding her against me like I always do. But my other hand…it takes everything in me not to touch her in other places, especially with how she’s touching me right now. She gently guides my head toward her. Even without the lights on, I can picture her beautiful blue eyes staring back at me. Her long blond hair tickles my arm as she leans down.

  That night in the shower was the first time she kissed me, the first time that we actually kissed, and I haven’t been able to forget how her lips felt against mine. How her touch suddenly
made everything that had happened disappear. As her lips once again cautiously find mine, everything is forgotten. We’re no longer two kids trapped in a dark, dirty basement with no one coming to save us. For a brief moment, I can pretend that we’re somewhere else…somewhere far away from here.

  When her tongue glides across my lips, I immediately open to her and, for the first time, we explore each other. I lose the fight to not touch her when she moves her leg over mine, bringing her even closer to me. My hand slowly moves up her side, without a second thought, pausing just before I reach her breasts.

  I don’t know what we’re doing, but all I know is that if we don’t stop soon I might not be able to. I’ve dreamt of this moment, of touching her like this, kissing her like this, but I never expected it to happen and certainly not while we were here.

  “Em,” I groan when her arm bumps against my hardness. There’s no way she can ignore it—I can’t hide what she’s doing to me right now.

  “Luke,” she whispers against my lips.

  When her tongue finds mine once again, I can’t fight the urge not to touch her. Trusting that she wants this as much as I do, I slowly cup her soft breast, something I’ve wanted to do since I first woke up with her wrapped around me. She lets out the softest moan when I tease her hardened nipple, the sound goes straight to my dick.

  She adjusts herself, her leg sliding between mine so she’s practically lying on top of me. Her hand glides over my chest and stomach, exploring me just as much as I’m exploring her. This is the first time we’ve allowed ourselves to really touch each other. My hand slides lower, cupping her ass, causing her to gasp. I pause for a moment, wondering if I’ve somehow misread what she’s thinking, but when her fingers slip under the waist-band of my underwear I realize that isn’t the case.

  “We should stop,” I say even as my hand dives under her panties and slowly slides even lower.

  “I don’t want to,” she admits my exact thought.

  “Me either.”

  “I’ve never done this before.”

  “I…me either.”

  When she takes me in her hand, I nearly come right there. My hips thrust up on their own accord, loving the way she gently touches me. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before, no one has ever touched me so…

  “Em…are you sure? We don’t have to…”

  “I’m sure, Luke. I want you…to be my first.”

  I swear her words nearly kill me. I want to tell her that we should wait until we get out of here, so that her first time isn’t tainted by this place. But part of me is afraid that if our plan works, that she may not want me like this once we’re no longer forced together. But the other part of me is petrified that if our plan doesn’t work, our punishments will be worse than anything I’ve ever experienced, and what that might mean for Emily. I can’t let that bastard take this from her, not the way he took everything from me when he first brought me here.

  She’s paused above me, not kissing me, but her lips are still close enough that I can feel her breath on mine. I would give anything right now for the light to turn on so I could see her. Her beautiful blue eyes always give away what she’s thinking and what she’s worried about.

  “Luke…are you sure?” gone is the confidence from earlier, replaced with uncertainty. “If you don’t want me–”

  “I want you,” I growl, quickly flipping us over so I’m now lying over her. I brush the hair out of her face before kissing her. I nudge her legs open until I’m exactly where I want to be and then gently thrust against her letting her feel just how much I want her right now. She moans, wrapping her legs around my thighs leaving me no doubt this is exactly where she wants me to be.

  I slowly kiss my way down her soft neck, sucking and gently biting her as I slide down further. She gasps the moment I take her nipple into my mouth. Her fingers tangle in my too-long hair, her other hand grips my arm. Taking a deep breath in, for once I don’t smell the dirty basement that I’ve been stuck in for far too long. The only thing I smell is Emily. Even the soft scent of the soap we both use barely exists right now.

  “Luke,” she moans when I slip my fingers beneath the front of her panties.

  I groan when I feel her damp, silky folds. I’ve never touched a girl like this before; before… before the closest I came once was feeling a girl’s tit over her bra. This…with Em…it doesn’t even compare. Not just because of what we’re doing, but because of who Emily is. I’ve never felt like this before about anyone. I’ve never had someone care the way she cares. I’ve never cared about anyone the way I care about her. I would do anything to keep her safe, to keep her away from him. It’s in that moment that I realize I just don’t care about her…I love her.

  “Please,” she pulls my attention right back to her, where it belongs.

  “You sure?”

  “Yes…”

  She gasps as I slide a finger into her at the exact moment I take her nipple back into my mouth. She’s so fucking tight, I have no idea how I’m going to fit inside her! She’s slowly rocking against my hand, showing me what she wants. I kiss make my way back to her lips, needing to be closer to her to make sure that I’m not hurting her. As soon as she’s able to, she slides her hand between us, grasping me tightly.

  Knowing I won’t last too much longer, I slip another finger into her and gently stretch her. Her back arches into me as she kisses me again. I’d give anything to see her right now, to see what she looks like when she’s overcome like this.

  “Luke…”

  Reluctantly, I slip my fingers from her warm body, ignoring the moan of disappointment immediately coming from her when I do. I lean back, slowly lifting her legs in front of me and tug her panties off. I quickly slip out of my underwear, tossing them to the floor before crawling back over her. The moment I’m within reach she wraps her hands around my neck and tugs me closer to her. I groan as our lips meet, the moment our bodies meet for the first time. We slept naked next to each other once: that night, when both of our underwear were drying. But we were mindful of each other and put more space between us than normal.

  This, right now, though, is completely different. Her warm body under me, her hands touching me and her lips on mine…it’s all different and so much better. When her legs wrap around me again, my dick rubs against her wet folds. There’s nothing between us, nothing stopping me from sliding inside of her for the first time.

  “Em… baby…?” I pant, giving her one last chance to tell me this isn’t what she wants.

  Rather than answer me with words, she leans up and kisses me again, her tongue immediately slipping into my mouth. Reaching between us, I place myself at her entrance and gently push in, listening for any sign that she’s uncomfortable. Her breath hitches, her hands grip my arms tighter but at that moment she also deepens the kiss.

  “Oh!” she calls out when I enter her even further, pushing past the resistance.

  I sweep the hair from her face, once again wishing the light were on so I could see her rather than have to rely on her to tell me if she’s okay. I lean in, slowly kissing her and patiently wait for her to let me know what she wants me to do next. As hard as it would be, if she were to change her mind right now, I would understand. I’d never force her or want her to do something she’s not comfortable with.

  “Em?”

  “Wow…you feel…”

  “Yeah,” I chuckle feeling the same loss for words. “You okay, though? I mean…if you don’t want—”

  “I’m okay. Don’t stop.”

  I can barely make out her last two words, but they’re there. Neither of us move for several more moments, but eventually she relaxes and I feel her open just enough for me to fully slide inside of her. It takes everything in me not to come right there, but I don’t. Neither of us may have done this before, but even I know that I need to pull out and not come inside of her no matter what. More than that though, I need to make sure she enjoys this as much as I do.

  Knowing I won’t last muc
h longer, I slowly start moving within her, listening to her body for cues as to what she likes. I find what makes her moan, what makes her tighten even more around me, what makes her dig her nails into my arms, and finally, what makes my name leave her lips when she explodes around me. As soon as she comes, I thrust twice more into her before quickly pulling out and emptying myself on her stomach.

  Panting, I roll us both to our sides, eager to be as close to her as possible without crushing her. She immediately curls into me, wrapping her leg around mine as she tries to catch her breath. No matter what happens tomorrow, I will never forget tonight.

  Chapter 7

  Emily

  “You’re sure?” Luke mumbles.

  “Yes.”

  He’s asked me this same question multiple times since we woke up this morning, but my answer hasn’t changed. Last night, after we took a shower together, he wrapped his arms around me, holding me until he fell asleep. I wasn’t as lucky, it took me hours to finally fall asleep, but I haven’t told him that. It wasn’t because of what happened between us, and I’m afraid he would think that was the reason. No matter what happens today, I’ll never regret what happened between us last night. Whether he knew it or not, I needed what happened between us, especially with what we have planned for today.

  Last night, instead of quickly falling asleep like he did, my mind raced with all the possibilities of what could happen today. My biggest fear, the one that kept me awake for far too long, was that our plan would fail—that he would do to me what he did to Luke the other night. I’ll never forget what I heard that night or the sob that Luke let out in the shower or the way he clung to me when I wrapped my arms around him.

  By the time I finally fell asleep, my mind was made up. No matter what happens, we have to try to get out of here. So this morning, when Luke has asked me that question, each time my answer has been the same. I’m still scared shitless of what might happen, but I’m more scared of what staying here could mean for us.