Raven's Hell (Savage World 2)

Once at the top, he stared down at where Rebecca was. She watched him, her knife at the ready, and pride and arousal filled him. This woman had only come into his life yesterday, and as much as he wanted her, and had thought she would have put up a fight, she had been just as lonely as he was.

He looked around. There were more pews stacked in the corner, even a couple cots, an outdated desk and lamp, drapes, and some religious artifacts. He went closer, moved away some of the dusty boxes, seeing if there was anything of use up here, and noticed a small latch that had been covered.

He lifted the small brass ring, felt his adrenaline pump through his veins at what was underneath this door, and had his knife at the ready just in case. The light from the stained glass cast a multicolored illumination around the floor and wall.

He swallowed and then just opened the damn thing. He stood, ready to attack, but what he was greeted with was not a threat. In fact, it was the opposite. “Well shit,” he said under his breath. Collin made sure the upper level was clear and safe, and then he called Rebecca up.

When he glanced over the railing, he saw her slowly approaching, her attention on the corpse slumped over the podium.

“Baby, don’t look at that. I’ll clear it all out soon, but I want to show you something first.”

She moved quickly toward him, climbed the stairs, and then she stood beside him and looked down to see the items in the hidden compartment. Her eyes widened.

“Seriously?” She got on her knees and started picking up cans of food, ran her fingers over the jugs of water, and then crouched to open one of the plastic containers on the floor. There were bags of dried food, beans and rice, and other items that were shelf-ready and nonperishable. When she sat on the floor beside the food, she glanced over at him.

“There has to be several months’ worth of food here.” She stared at him with this wide, confused expression on her face. “But why is it still here?” She looked at the food again and ran her fingers over the cans. “I can’t believe no one looted this stuff.”

“Well, this place is pretty far off, kind of isolated, and this was hidden pretty well.” He shrugged even though she was still staring at the food. “There were boxes on top of the hidden door. Chances are, even after all this time, no one ever found the place. I didn’t see any trails, and everything is pretty much grown over by now. We lucked out, baby.” Here he was, saying endearments to this woman who he just met, and felt territorial possession fill him. She turned and faced him and then slowly rose.

When she moved toward him, his cock instantly got hard. He had a lot of shit he needed to do to get this place safe and secure for them, but all he could think about was being with her. She was right in front of him, lifting her hands and placing them on his jacket.

They were both filthy, but he noticed a small tub behind the altar, probably for baptisms, but for them it would make a great place to bathe.

“This is kind of crazy, Collin,” she said in a soft voice and looked at him. “And a little surreal.”

“But it feels right.” Collin didn’t state it like a question.

Rebecca looked down at the ground but kept her hands on his chest. The silence was killing him, and Collin wasn’t used to that feeling. He had always gotten things handed to him, because if not, the repercussions were grave and deadly, but with Rebecca, he wanted to make sure she wanted this.

He didn’t want to force her into anything, but at the same time, he didn’t want to let her go, couldn’t let her go.

If she refused him, fought him tooth and nail on leaving with him, Collin would have pressed the issue. He never would have forced her to do something she didn’t want to do, but only if she was safe. If there was a situation she wanted to be stubborn about, and danger was close, he would have thrown her over his shoulder and fought anyone who came close. He wanted her to be protected above all else.

She looked into his eyes, so understanding, so open and curious, and his fucking heart sped up right then and there.

“It does feel right, and I think that’s the craziest part of all this.” She licked her lips, and he watched the act. “I don’t know anything about you, yet I feel so safe being with you.” She shook her head, and a moment of silence stretched between them. “I shouldn’t though, not after the stuff I’ve been through or the things I have seen.” She stared at him, and this anger rose inside him like a fucking sledgehammer needing to destroy something. Just thinking about anyone wanting to hurt her enraged him.