Chapter 309

“You taste exactly like you smell. Delicious.” And before | know what he’s doing. his lips have crashed into mine and his tongue slides into my mouth. | moan into his mouth, my hands reaching up to grab hold of something, anything, and latching onto his strong biceps as heat spreads to my core.

He takes his time tasting every inch of my mouth before pulling back.” Mmmmm, yum.” He says before licking my lips once more and standing up.. When he does, | come face to face with the proof of how much he enjoyed that kiss. | don’t have anything to compare it to, but the man looks big and definitely long if the towel poking in my direction is any indication.

| know my eyes go wide as he steps back, chuckling. He walks over to his bag, grabbing it before disappearing back into the bathroom. He returns a few minutes later dressed in basketball shorts and nothing else.

He comes back over, leaning down and running his nose over my cheek before whispering in my ear. “Baby, you smell divine, but you need to eat and so do |.” He says before taking the seat across from me.

| can feel my cheeks flame at his reference to scenting my arousal. Rather than saying anything, | dig into my dinner again.

Eli speaks first, changing the subject, thankfully. “I think our best course of action will be to continue to head east. I’m very familiar with this stretch of highway that we’re on. It’s actually where Liam and his pack warriors caught me. I'd like to follow this until we get to Florida. From there, | think we should run in wolf form back to north Georgia. That’s where we are going. | have a place in mind where we can stop and get our bearings before going to Rik and Liam’s packs.”

“How long will it take us?” | ask.

“Probably another week, depending on the bus schedules. They make so many stops in between that it’s slow going, but | also think that if we continue to be safe, we can stop every night or two and rest.”

“| like the idea of resting every night. The constant traveling without real food or decent sleep is taking its toll on me.”

If | hadn’t been paying attention, | might have missed the quick tension in his lips before he wiped it away.

“What is it?” | ask him.

He looks at me “What's what?”

“There’s something you're not telling me. What is it?”

1 watch as he contemplates telling me before he sighs. “I’m running out of money. i’m not sure how much longer | can pay for bus tickets if | also need to pay for hotels every night.”

| blink at him. How had | not realized that he was paying for everything. I'd been so stressed out about being followed then exhausted and hungry, that it hadn’t even occurred to me. | get up and go to my bag, pulling out a wad of cash.

“Here. I’m sorry | didn’t think to give you money before.”

“No, you should save your money.” He starts to say before | cut him off.

“This money was always meant to be used if | had to run. Well, I’m on the run. You don’t have to pay for everything. The only reason you're even running is because of me. | should be funding our trip, not you. Take it.”

It’s not the only wad of cash that | have. My mom had stashed nearly $10,000 before she died, and I've added another $4,000 to it in the last two years. I've only given Eli $1,000. | have plenty of money left if | need to leave on my own.

“Anything that’s left over, I’ll give back to you.” He tells me.

“Keep it all and if we need more, | have it. As | said, | should have been funding this since the beginning.”

| stand and begin clearing our takeout boxes, putting them back into the bag and placing the bag by the small garbage can in the room.

“What time do we leave tomorrow?” | ask.

“The bus leaves the station at 7am.” He tells me.

“Then, I’m going to get some sleep. Good night.” | say and | walk to one of the beds before pulling the sheets down and crawling in. | hear Eli get up and go to the other bed, before the light in the room turns off.

“Good night, Grace.”