IN A MATTER OF seconds, Ronan was pulling her to him, guiding her to the door on the other end of the room. He stopped, one hand over the knob, another squeezing her shoulder to steady her. His gaze melted into hers, wide and unflinching.
"Your hair," he mumbled, and then grabbed a fistful of it. She was too shocked to realize his intentions until he tucked the section into her turtle neck. "Wish you were wearing a hoodie right about now. Or a hat."
She took the job out of his hands, tucking the remaining of her blonde locks into her shirt. Not like it could block out her light-colored head, but it wouldn't bother her as much as they managed to get out of there. If they could even escape.
The center's sirens continued blaring. Her ears rang, and her body vibrated like it was shocked by a thousand volts of electricity. A similar feeling to being in a wild concert, except she wasn't having a good time enjoying music. Blood rushed through all her extremities. Her chest warmed and chilled within seconds. She wiggled her fingers, realizing she couldn't feel them. She couldn't feel much of her body, except the thrum in her ears that traveled down her chest until she ached.
"We're going to have to make a run for it," Ronan said, bringing her back to reality. "Stay right by my side and don't look up, okay?"
She managed a nod, and he turned the knob. Their footsteps were drowned out by the booming sirens. Red swallowed her vision. The only thing keeping her moving forward was Ronan's tall, dark figure sprinting in front of her.
They weaved through the center, running down halls they weren't familiar with. A breath got caught at the back of her throat as they seemed to be getting nowhere. They didn't even bother hiding away from the cameras, though who knew if they were working at that point. There was too much red.
Familiar sirens wailed in the distance, distinct to the ones destroying her eardrums. The police had arrived at the scene.
A whimper escaped her lips as she slammed into Ronan's back. He grabbed her and pressed her to his chest, and then he reached out. She snuck a glance at a door sliding open, revealing the back of the property. The inky night sky brightened with red and blue flashes.
They stepped outside, the soles of their shoes grinding and crushing the uneven dirt and pebbles. Ronan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her across the land. Police were stationed near the entrance of the center, facing away from where they came out of. She didn't have enough time to look back to see if they noticed them because Ronan was swearing under his breath, telling her to keep moving while shielding her with his own body. Her heart thundered in her ears as they ran to his truck and ducked behind it.
She bit down on her lip, forcing herself to control her breathing without looking like a fish out of water. Ronan peeked from under the truck. Lights shone over them, bathing the Lockfell night in bright colors. A commotion followed all the way to the entrance of the center. How her heart remained inside her chest was beyond her, but it threatened to jump out of her ribcage and head dive into certain death.
"Get inside," Ronan said, opening the door for her. She clambered on, her limbs shaking in every way. He followed behind her, making sure to close the door softly.
She turned to him, finding his face glowing red and blue. His eyes were closed, his chest heaving. She was fighting to level her breathing as well, but finding it almost impossible. Police officers were crawling all over the area. It would take a few minutes before they realized there was a lonesome truck on the other lot and start making their trek to investigate.
"What if they see us?" Gwenn asked, finally voicing her fears.
"They will," he told her. His tone dropped an octave, and he twisted his body towards hers. Though she trembled unable to sit still, he remained as stiff as a board. He pressed his lips together before letting his eyes roam back to the center's property. She didn't have to look back to know that the place was now filled with officers searching for them. "Do you trust me?"
She didn't trust her voice, so she let her head nod in answer. He visibly swallowed, his closest arm snaking around her waist. For a split second, she noticed how closer he was to her. Their knees knocked together, his forearm tickled her side, and his fingertips ghosted over the small of her back.
"I'm sorry," he whispered before covering her mouth with his.
Her eyes widened so big she feared they would fall out of their sockets. A low thrum traveled down her chest to her tummy, undulating until she gasped. Ronan deepened the kiss, using his other hand to pull her closer to his body.
His touch was a perfect balance of soft but urgent. His fingers dug into her back like he wanted her to get closer, to get right under his skin. His lips were tentative, moving against hers like he feared she would run off the second he pulled away yet savoring every little taste of her.
After weeks of working in secret with Ronan, she did not think kissing him would feel like this. Her pulse sped up, and normal movement function was starting to be hazy. Just to make sure she was still in control of her body, she reached over to the collar of his hoodie and fisted the material. The action brought him in even closer.
He groaned, a sound so deep and low in the back of his throat it reverberated inside her mouth, leaving her breathless and shaking. She melted right into him, running her fingers between his jet black hair and scratching the back of his head. In response, he grabbed her, pulling her on top of his lap, and lightly bit her lip.
Gwenn whimpered, but didn't dare break the kiss. His hands crept up her back until they found her hair, still tucked into her shirt. He took it out, tangling his fingers into her messy locks until they made it to her scalp, pushing her closer to him.
She couldn't quite remember what they were doing in the first place. Having him inundate her senses spiked her nerves yet spilled a warm liquid inside her abdomen, trapping her into a place of complete ecstasy.
He dropped one hand and placed it right at the dip of her waist. The motion tugged the fine material of her top up, exposing her pale skin. She shivered when his fingers trailed over the area.
It was then that he broke apart their kiss. Her eyes shot open, but she couldn't even find his face because he had already buried it under her jaw, nipping at the sliver of skin available for him. The turtle neck, unfortunately, stopped any other kinds of exploration.
"Ronan," she whispered. It was involuntary, but the way his teeth grazed the soft skin of her jaw almost demanded that she respond. He hummed, not stopping his advances, and bit the spot he had been attacking. When he licked over his bite, she melted further into him like she had no bones in her body.
He leaned back, then dove into another searing kiss. Her chest pressed against his as she let his hands roam all over her back, arching her, pushing her flush against him. As if she could possibly get any closer.
Her hands had started roaming down his chest when a loud clack resounded through the truck. Gwenn broke the kiss, startled and confused. She squinted, gasping as a beam of light shone right on her face. Her vision was engulfed in white, a blast of pain shooting into her head at the unexpected brightness.
Ronan cleared his throat, and slid her off his lap but keeping her close to his side by the passenger door. She shut her eyes as the window's handle dug into the small of her back. Only when she felt the cold of his absence did she peel her eyelids open to find a middle-aged police officer on the other side of the truck, and her ability to breathe stopped.
They had found them.
A squeaky creak echoed as Ronan rolled the window down. Gwenn dug her nails into her palms, sweat gathering at the back of her neck where her shirt bunched up.
"How can I help you, officer?" Ronan asked, his voice hoarse. He took another second to clear his throat again.
The officer, whose name read Peter on his badge, lowered his flashlight once he got a good look at both of them. "We got an alarm," he said, eyes narrowing at her face in the back. "Someone broke into the property of the adoption center." His thumb pointed back to where they had escaped from.
"That," Ronan stopped, still out of breath, "sounds bad."
Officer Peter eyed him. "Have you two seen anything around here? Anyone suspicious?" The way he was looking at them, Gwenn could already tell he found them to be the prime suspects. She bit down on her lip to keep it from shaking.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ronan spoke, then chuckled. "I haven't seen anything...been a little busy." He then threw a glance over to her, and Officer Peter's tense shoulders eased as he chortled.
"Yeah, I can see the 'young love' pouring from both of your pores," Officer Peter commented, grinning as he stared at her flushed, round cheeks. She knew that if she tried to speak, no sound would come out, especially now with the mortification coursing through her veins and disrupting the rest of her body's work to keep her alive and well. "Steaming up the windows, huh?"
Any second, she feared she'd gasp out for air like she'd been forced underwater and resurfaced too quickly. Tingles ran down her limbs while simultaneously feeling a wash of ice cold seep into her bloodstream, freezing her over. She couldn't dare make even the most minuscule sound. Ronan had no such problem.
"Working up to it," he confessed, his words ending on a breathless note. Gwenn looked at his face and wondered if he was blushing or if the police lights were coloring his cheeks red.
Officer Peter snorted. "You know you're not supposed to be out here doing such acts, right?"
Ronan played with the strings of his hood, rolling it between the pads of his fingers. "We needed some privacy," he took a long pause before tacking a quiet, "sir." The officer's dark eyes glimmered, his lips curling as if to suppress another laugh.
"Why don't you two find a more suitable space for your...acts," Officer Peter offered. "I guarantee you won't be getting much of that with us investigating the new break-in."
Gwenn nodded silently, still unable to say a word. It was hard to unscramble the chaos in her brain enough to formulate a coherent thought, much less a sentence out of her mouth. She was beginning to notice how much she was left jumbled in Ronan's presence, and it gnawed at her insides. The man had too much power over her, especially when he was getting them out of trouble's way by acting out a play of their supposed romance for the one-man audience that was Officer Peter.
"Of course," Ronan replied. "We're very sorry and we'll get out of your way now."
Officer Peter bowed his head once and stepped back from the truck. Ronan turned the ignition, wincing as the motor sputtered, and it roared to life a second later. Gwenn reached for her seatbelt and strapped in. She couldn't even meet the officer's last pointed stare as they drove off into the night.
Gwenn leaned her head against her window, her breathing ragged and uneven as A Chosen Bond grew tinier on the side mirror until the red and blue flashes of light turned into mere specs.