He reached down and pulled a lever. I let out a little scream as his seat back dropped all the way and I fell on top of him. I loved the feel of his body under mine. I didn’t want a single part of us not touching.
“Better now?” Sage murmured into my ear. It wasn’t fair of him to ask me a question when he was doing that. I could barely function, never mind put together an answer.
“Much better,” I said. “It’s practically a bed.”
“Is it?” Sage agreed, and in his eyes I saw exactly what that could mean.
“Oh,” I said, suddenly nervous. “But … we can’t. I mean, we don’t have …”
“I do,” he said, leaning down to kiss the hollow where my neck met my shoulder.
“You do?”
I tensed up. Why did he have one? For who?
The corner of Sage’s mouth turned up. “For us, Clea. The drugstore in Rio? I kind of had a feeling.…”
He moved his lips back to my neck. He nibbled on my earlobe, and I whimpered.
“Oh,” I managed. “Well … then …”
“I love you, Clea.”
Everything tunneled in, and I heard the words echo in my head. Sage loved me. Me. I didn’t even realize I’d stopped breathing until he said my name, concerned.
“Clea?”
I looked at him and immediately relaxed.
“I love you, too.”
We kissed, and I actually felt myself melting into him as my last coherent thoughts gave way to pure sensation.
I COULDN’T wipe the smile off my face.
I felt giddy all the way back to the hotel.
I giggled.
I was happy.
Sage leaned back in his seat and studied me, an amused smile on his face.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“You’re making fun of me,” I said.
“I’m not,” Sage assured me.
I knew he was telling the truth. His eyes were affectionate. I was his, not just in the past but today and forever, and nothing had ever made me feel more secure.
I was about to pull into the hotel when Sage reminded me of the snacks—the whole reason we’d supposedly gone out. I swung a wild U-turn that slammed Sage against his door.
“Taking up stunt driving?” he asked.
“Can you imagine walking in without the snacks? Rayna would be all over me.”
“You don’t think she will be anyway? It’s been a long snack run.”
“It hasn’t been that long,” I said. “Has it?”
He scrunched his brows. “What are you trying to say?”
I giggled again, and we pulled into a gas station market. Sage wrapped his arm around my shoulders and I leaned against his chest as we walked in step into the store; he held my hand as I cruised the tiny aisles; he stood behind me and rubbed my shoulders as we paid.
I felt normal. I imagined how things would be after everything was over: after we met the dark lady, after we got the Elixir, after we found my dad. Sage and I could travel the world together: me taking pictures, him painting, always coming back together at the end of the day to share what we’d done and lie in each other’s arms.
Sure, there’d be some things to work out. Like the fact that he had eternal life and bands of psychopaths were actively tracking him down and trying to destroy him.
But hey, every couple has its issues.
Then, of course, there was the very good chance that I was destined to die horribly, just like all the others.
I didn’t want to think about that, though. Not tonight. Not when I was back behind the steering wheel, pretending to pay attention to the road when every bit of my concentration was on Sage’s fingers entwined in my hair, playing with it gently.
I parked as far away from our rooms as I could. I didn’t want Ben or Rayna to see us from the window. I turned off the car and Sage was already there, leaning over to kiss me. It was physically painful to break away, not knowing when I’d get to kiss him again.
We held hands as we walked toward the hotel, but the second the outside lights hit us, we pulled apart. We hadn’t talked about it; it was just instinctual for both of us.
It was better if Rayna and Ben didn’t know. Especially Ben.
Even though Sage and I were apart, I felt his hands on me. I had a feeling I always would.
“We’re back!” I cried when we got back to the room.
Ben stood on alert. From his position, he looked like he’d been pacing. Rayna was sprawled on the bed, totally relaxed. A huge pile of expertly completed homework was stacked neatly on the floor.
I dumped the two bags of loot onto the bed. “We have snacks, everybody!”
“Where’d you get them from, Delaware?” Ben asked. He was glaring behind me, where Sage leaned casually against the wall.
“Practically,” I said. “My fault—I was dying for Red Hots. Pretty much impossible to find. So what movie are we watching?”
Back in the cave, Sage had told me I wasn’t much of an actress, and apparently he was right. I thought I put on a brilliant show, but Ben’s eyes were filled with suspicion, Rayna looked like she was ready to pounce, and Sage seemed to be working very hard to stifle his laughter.