Barrel

13

He returned to where they had initially been attacked and searched for her pack. Eva leaned against the headrest, puffing breaths out of her mouth long and hard.

She hated that he was seeing her that way. Some f*****g damsel in distress who had no clue how to defend herself. In the past, her aunt had suggested that she take some kind of self-defense class, but she had shrugged it off, thinking that she would likely never find herself in that position.

How dead wrong she had been.

Barrel emerged from the dark woods, still shirtless and holding her pack. His muscles glittering in the dim moonlight, and Eva bit her lip, wondering what was going on beneath those camo pants he was sporting. When he approached the car and opened the back seat, she looked away, not ready to fly too close to the sun just yet.

Much to Eva's dismay, he pulled out a T-shirt from his pack. She found it odd that her core was lit after edging so close to death. She wanted to pull him in close, taste his mouth, and feel him inside her.

But she wasn’t feeling her most confident or sexy. If they were on a date in the big city, she would’ve worn a dress that showed off her best features, accentuating her narrow waist, tantalizing thighs, and a peek of cleavage. That was when she felt most like a vixen, with more power than she could have ever imagined.

Barrel climbed into the car and smiled at the fact that the keys were still in the ignition. He revved the engine and gazed at her with a look of complete elation.

“Ready to ride?” he asked.

Eva was finally able to smile at him.

They began moving along the road, eventually picking up speed. Eva had barely computed that they had to step over four dead bodies and pieces of limbs to get into the car or that Barrel had easily killed them on his own. She felt a mix of guilt that she couldn’t help as well as morbid curiosity about his past.

She turned to him as the dark forest sped by.

“You’ve done that a lot, haven’t you?” she asked.

Her voice was quiet in the car, and he turned to her with an eyebrow raised. “Hmm?”

“Killed people,” she said. “It seems like you do that all the time.”

Barrel’s playful look vanished and was replaced by a solemn stare. Eva began to regret what she had said until he breathed out a long sigh and gave her a direct answer.

“Not for a while, actually,” he said. “I was put away for doing just that, but I had good reasons for it.”

Eva nodded but didn’t press on. She turned to look out the window, letting the silence blanket them once more.

“I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I was in the Supermax Prison,” Barrel said.

Her heart was racing again, but in a less terrifying way than earlier. She nodded at him, unsure how to respond to his confession.

“When I saw you shift, it was my first thought,” Eva replied. “I know a little about the Elite Force formed out of there.”

Eva saw Barrel grip the steering wheel. She began to sense that the prison, or her aunt, wasn’t the most inviting topic of conversation so far.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I was in there for a while, so it's been some time since I … as you said, killed anyone.”

Eva wasn’t sure if she should feel afraid or protected. He had a lot of experience, but she intuited that there was something he wasn’t telling her. None of that seemed to affect her growing desire to jump his bones and to feel his mouth all over her body.

She squeezed her thighs together to contain her naughty thoughts from rampaging through her mind.

They arrived in a small town that had a motel. They checked in under false names, pretending to be exploring spouses. It turned Eva on, even more, feeling his hand on the small of her back, protecting her as they rolled down the hallway into their room.

A man stepped out of one of the rooms. He stood as tall as Barrel but was very tan with midnight-black hair. Barrel froze, as did the man when he saw Barrel. She looked between the two, worried a fight was about to break out.

“Russ?” Barrel whispered.

“Barrel?” Russ replied.

The men embraced with a long hug, murmuring into each other’s ears as if having a secret conversation. She wondered who this man was. Apparently, someone Barrel trusted. It was good to know he had allies on the right side and against the government. When the men separated, tears glimmered in both males’ eyes. Barrel took her hand, and they continued down the hall as if nothing had happened.

After they entered the room and locked the door, she asked, “What was that all about?”

Barrel chuckled. “That was the owner of this establishment, my brother-in-law.” Eva gasped, realizing who this man was to Barrel … the husband to his murdered sister and father to his dead baby niece.

“I guess he was surprised to see you?”

“He was, but when he heard about the American female taken by Sergie’s men, he wondered if I had any part of it.”

“You trust him?”

“Russ is an honorable man. He married my sister, after all. He looks out for others and cares about what happens to those around him. Well, he did before my sister was killed, at least. I can’t say for sure now.”

“I would expect him to be even more anti-Sergie now,” she answered.

“I believe so too,” he added. “I told him I would contact him later after I completed my mission.” He looked up at her, his eyes going from sad to heated in a blink. “Did you want to shower?”

Eva was sitting on the bed … the single bed … and despite feeling exhausted, she was feeling flirty, her skin on fire. She stood and walked to the bathroom.

“I won’t be long,” she said.