“You’re mine,” I groan through ragged breaths.
“As much as you’re mine,” He replies with a sheepish grin.
I moan as he places a firm hand on my thigh. I smile at him, sinking further into the soft bedding. “This is my favorite part of the apartment. I’m so happy you brought this bed when you moved.”
He trails kisses along my stomach. “When I saw the rooftop on this place, I was sold. I knew you’d love it. Plus, I knew the bed I first took you in would fit perfectly up here.”
I smile at the memories.
Aiden crawls up the bed, his lips touching mine, his tongue entering my mouth. His body demanding my attention. Then he makes love to me. Soft, gentle and full of passion. My fingers dig into his warm skin as he slides deep into me.
Our bodies tangled underneath the sheets below the city stars. Our lips connect as we reach our peak. Twisting and moaning, hands tangled in each other’s bodies, in each other’s hair. In each other’s souls.
We lay in the twisted sheets, kissing and cuddling.
His phone rings, shattering the moment. With a huff, he hits ignore. But it keeps ringing and ringing.
“What’s up?” He spits into the phone, finally picking up. His short temper is evident when it comes to people interrupting his time with me.
I watch his face contort as he jumps off the bed, hastily throwing his pants back on. He stalks to the edge of the building and peeks over the side. Following his lead, I throw my clothes back on. He hangs up. His scowl is gone, replaced with a smooth calm expression when he turns to me, but his eyes are hard.
He takes a step towards me, his expression thoughtful. Pulling me into his arms, he looks down into my eyes as I wrap my arms around his waist.
Worry bubbles up inside me. Something isn’t right.
“I’m going to tell you something and I need you to not be a stubborn girl.” He tilts my chin up. “I need you to listen.” He emphasizes the last word.
With the way that his eyes are shining under the moonlight, I can see how serious he is. It’s frightening.
“There are some bad men coming.”
I gasp, my breath quickening. “Let’s go.”
He shakes his head. “There’s no time, Emilia.”
∞∞∞
I cry into Aiden’s chest as he wraps one arm around my waist and grabs my hand with the other. He hums in my ear, a calm tune, but my heart is beating out of my chest.
It all happens so quickly. I can hear heavy furniture being tossed against the walls downstairs. I don’t hear gunshots, but I already know whoever it is, they’re using silencers, so the cops don’t get called. I cringe, knowing that Howard is down there, in danger. They’re searching for us.
“They’re going to come for us any minute, Aiden.” I gasp.
He pulls me closer.
Why aren’t we doing anything?
“Shh, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I revel in his embrace. Sighing in defeat, I give up. There’s no way out, and I’ll be damned if my last moments with him are spent in terror.
He takes his phone out and plays a slow song. Grabbing my hand, he twirls me underneath the starry lights. I follow his fluid and romantic movements in the chaotic mess.
“What are you doing?” I ask through my tears.
“We’re slow dancing while they scream.”
The sound of heavy boots trekking up the stairs makes tears flow down my cheeks, luckily there’s a heavy metal door separating them from us, so we have more time together, and we always lock it when we come up here. This is supposed to be our haven, the one place we don’t have to worry about danger.
Aiden pulls me back, studying my face before planting a solitary kiss on my lips. “Come with me,” He whispers, placing a hand on the small of my back, guiding me toward the bed.
The bed we first made love on.
In one quick movement, he slides the bed against the concrete carefully, revealing a trap door. He opens the lock and lifts the door, revealing a small underground room.
I shudder in relief. Why did he wait so long?
He lowers me in gently.
“Come on!” I call out when Aiden doesn’t follow me down. He simply studies me from above, his emerald eyes drinking me in.
“There’s only room for one.” He lies.
I know he knows they’ll search the place up and down for him and eventually lift the bed.
“Fuck that!” I sob. They’re banging on the door; I can hear them.
He holds a finger to his full lips. “Shh, they’ll hear you.”
I try to think of what to say. Deciding I’m going down with him, I move to crawl out, but he pries my hands from the sides.
“I want to go with you,” I tell him, not caring about the consequences.
He can’t leave me here like this. My eyes widen at the sight of the padlock in his hands as he brings his hand down.
Aiden blows me a kiss, his voice strong yet loving. “Thank you for you. I’m sorry you have to live without me.” He looks behind him, his movements becoming frantic. His voice is calm when he turns back to me one last time. “I love you, Emilia Banks.”
“I love you more,” I whisper as he closes the heavy door, trapping me inside. I hear the lock click and the bed frame sliding overhead. I want to scream, protest, anything but I don’t. It’ll cause terror to leak through him and he looked so brave. Fuck.
I swallow my tears, being brave for Aiden as chaos surrounds me.
All I hear is yelling.
Gunfire.
Then, silence.
Epilogue
So, this is how it ends for me.
Aiden closes the door to the hatch, covering up the only serenity
