My head was swimming with the possibility of my mom and dad still being alive somewhere after I'd spent years coming to terms with their loss. A bubble of hope was building in my chest but I crushed it back down again. I couldn't believe it. I refused to let myself. Not until I had solid proof.
"Tell me about how you met Taylor." Coal interrupted my thoughts as they began to spiral.
"What?"
“Taylor," he prompted.
He was trying to distract me but maybe I needed a distraction. I closed my eyes and tried to banish all thoughts of my mom and dad and think of Taylor instead.
“Well, our parents were friends. Best friends." I smiled. "We used to spend all of our time together when we were kids. There are incentives for people not to have more than one child in the city and you have to get permission to come off of your birth control which isn't always granted. So Taylor and I were the nearest thing to siblings we could have. Like you and Alicia or near enough."
"So when did you decide you weren't like siblings after all?" Coal asked but there was a strange tone to his voice and I looked up to see that he’d turned away from me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, with a frown.
“You and him, when did you get together?"
“What?" I gasped. "You mean like, romantically?" I shuddered.
“Aren't you?" Coal looked at me then, his gaze locked on mine.
“No. Never. He's Taylor. It's not like that-" A huge crash sent the door shaking on its hinges, the shelves holding it in place groaned.
We were on our feet in seconds, Coal's coat falling from my shoulders. The cold surrounded me instantly and I suppressed a shiver. I grabbed the gun from the shelf where I'd left it and took aim at the door. Coal placed a finger to his lips and crept forwards, a knife in one hand, revolver in the other.
The door shook again and a loud screech came from the other side. It sounded like there was more than one Creeper out there. The cold from the metal gun seeped into my hand and up my arm making me feel numb. I adjusted my grip as I kept my focus on the door.
Coal moved to the side of the door, ready to pounce if it gave way. I steadied my hand and placed my finger on the trigger.
“Come out," a gravelly voice hissed through the door.
I took a step backwards and bumped into the the wall. Several heartbeats passed and the door trembled as it took another battering.
Coal slowly moved across the cupboard to stand next to me. "They don't know we're here for sure," he breathed in my ear, stowing his knife away.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," the scraping throat purred again.
My free hand found Coal's and he squeezed it. It went quiet for a few moments before a fresh barrage of attacks hit the door making it shudder and flex against the assault. The crashing and banging echoed around the confined space and fear took me hostage.
“Hide and seek, we know you sneak," the hoarse voice shouted and the sounds of their bare feet slapping on the cold floor outside receded.
Coal put his revolver back in his hip holster and turned to face me. I peered up into his eyes, our hands still intertwined. He gently reached out and took the pistol from me. My fingers didn't want to release it but he lightly prised it from my grip, laying it down on the shelf again. My heart thumped erratically as he stepped closer and brushed my hair back over my shoulder, sending sparks tingling down my spine.
My back pressed against the cold wall behind me as his hand twisted into my hair and curled around my cheek. He stared at me and I couldn't turn my gaze away from his. His dark eyes pulled me in and I felt like I was sinking into them.
He tilted my chin up towards his and my lips parted on instinct.
My heart gave up on beating all together as he inched closer.
Coal leaned down slowly and pressed his lips to mine. The warmth of his mouth against mine had me undone and I fell into the feeling as his mouth began to move. It was suddenly as though there was nothing else in the whole world apart from Coal and me, alone. I couldn't move for a moment, frozen in surprise and then suddenly my heart spluttered back to life and I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
He responded with a growl of desire and crushed me back against the wall, his hips pressing against mine. My legs turned to liquid and I clung to him to keep from falling as desire raced through me and I ached to get even closer still. His hands slid from my hair and gripped my waist, pushing inside my clothes as he sought out my skin.
He kissed me so hard that I could barely breathe but I pulled him against me, not wanting anything to tear us apart. His stubble grazed my skin in the most delicious way and I moaned again, wanting more of him, all of him.
“Coal?" Alicia's voice called from somewhere far away and after a moment Coal pulled back with a growl of frustration. "Coal are you in there?" Alicia hissed again.
“We're here," Coal called back in a low voice.