The sun shone through the curtains. I raised a hand above my eyes to protect them from the light. I felt comfortable in this huge bed, the blanket was still covering me and I wrapped it tighter around my body. I heard a light noise coming from my right. I turned around, slightly opening my eyes, and saw Jake sitting on the bed with his laptop.
I raised my head, "You stayed in bed with your laptop?"
When he heard me, Jake looked at me and smiled, "Yes. I wanted to be close to you so I brought it here with me."
I smiled back at him, happy to finally be with the man I love. I got closer to him, slipping an arm beneath his and resting my hand on his stomach, tracing the shape of his features above his gray t-shirt. With my other hand, I lifted up his sleeve and started to kiss his shoulder. I inhaled the scent of his skin. Even after years, I wouldn't be able to describe this smell. It was soft, warm, and reassuring. I softly moaned against his shoulder.
"You're distracting me," Jake said.
"Is it bad?" I asked with a mischievous smile, rather proud of myself.
"Yes and no," he answered. I raised my eyebrows, "Yes because I need to focus on what I'm doing right now. And no, because I'm enjoying what you are doing."
"Oh..." I started while withdrawing my hand from his chest.
But Jake was faster than me. He took my hand, lifted it up to his lips and planted a kiss on my knuckles, "I did not say you have to stop, though."
I laughed and put my hand again on his chest, but this time under his shirt. I pushed on my other hand to lift my body a bit so I could reach his neck. I could feel Jake slightly flinch under my touch, and it didn't take time for the man to close his laptop and focus on me.
-
Jake put his hood and facemask on. While he took his backpack, he turned towards me, "Do you have something to hide your face? Any hood or mask?"
I nodded, "My coat has a hood," I answered. As the weather was unsure, I brought with me a raincoat, which was a good idea because since Richy's funeral, it hasn't really stopped raining. Jake grabbed me by the hand and led me to a door that led to the garden of the house.
"We are leaving this way. There is a small path behind the garden that leads next to a bus station," Jake opened the door.
"We're going to Colville by bus? Isn't it too dangerous?" I asked while I walked past Jake to step outside the house. I arrived in a tiny garden full of flowers. I thought I recognized some tulips and jonquils. I also saw rose bushes but it was too early for the flowers to bloom. This place should be very pretty during the summer, though.
I started walking in the garden while Jake quietly closed the door, "For now, it is the safest way I have to travel," he explained, "at that time of the day, the bus will be crowded, so we should go unnoticed." Jake took the lead and went to a fence at the back of the garden. "Do you need help to climb it?" he asked.
The fence was a bit taller than me but I could put my feet between the mesh to help me. "I think I can do it," I answered firmly. Jake nodded and put both hands on the top of the fence. He easily climbed it and put his right foot on the top of the fence before jumping on the other side. I was obviously less elegant than Jake while climbing. I slipped twice before reaching the top. Fortunately Jake raised his arms to help me get down.
Once on the path, Jake took my hand again, intertwining his fingers with mine. We walked in silence for fifteen minutes. We only crossed a couple walking their dog. We finally reached a more crowded area of the city. As it was a rainy day, everyone outside wore rainy clothes so we didn't seem awkward among them. We soon arrived at the bus stop for Colville. The light panel indicated we had to wait twenty more minutes before the bus arrived.
While I waited for Jake to buy the tickets from the ticket machine, I looked at my phone. I was surprised to see I had a few messages from my friends. Jessy and Dan asked me where I was and to call them back because they were worried. I bit my lips, the familiar feeling of guilt stinged my chest again. I should have warned them I was safe. The messages from Lilly particularly upset me. The poor girl had so much to be worried about.
Lilly: Cleo told me you received a message from Nym-0s. Has Jake texted you? Is he safe?
Lilly: The police transferred Hannah to the prison... She will have a trial. I just had my sister back and then, she's gone again. Please, tell me my brother is safe.
I was about to answer Lilly when a big warm hand wrapped around mine, "Please do not answer her yet. It's not safe, your messages could be read." Jake was staring at my screen frowning.
"I understand but Lilly seems to be so worried," I started.
"I know. I am sorry, but it's too dangerous. I will need to erase these messages when we will be in Colville," he sighed, "she shouldn't have mentioned I am their brother."
I couldn't imagine how worried Jake was. He was constantly on the run and now he had to watch over his two sisters who could be endangered because of him, not to mention he just learned Hannah was already in prison. I cupped his face and got closer to him. I stood on my tiptoes and brushed my nose with his, "I'm sorry about Hannah," I whispered.
Jake pulled me closer to him and I slipped my hands between his backpack and his hoodie to hug him. I buried my face into his chest and he rested his chin on the top of my head. We stayed in each other's arms, waiting for the bus. It was the only thing I could do to reassure him. Unfortunately, I couldn't be sure Hannah wouldn't stay in jail.
I closed my eyes focusing on Jake's warmth surrounding me. He was lightly rubbing my back. A mechanical move he already adopted. We spent only a few hours together, but this embrace proved we constantly needed each other's touch. At that moment, I thought that nothing could ever separate us, that no matter what would happen, that we would get through it together, that we were forever linked.
When the bus arrived, we pulled away reluctantly and got quickly in the vehicle. We sat at the back a little away from the other passengers. As soon as we sat, Jake wrapped his arms around my shoulder and we cuddled again. We had one hour drive before arriving in Colville and we wanted to enjoy this moment by being close to each other.
We got out of the bus and started walking again under the rain. As earlier, Jake didn't let go of my hand. I could feel that the more we spent time together the more he started to relax. We approached a small building in an isolated area. The green light of the sign on the roof indicated that we had reached our destination. Jake went inside first and I waited for him while he got the keys.
The room was on the ground floor in front of the parking lot. Jake directly went to the desk and started to settle his equipment. I sat on the bed and stared at Jake while he opened his laptop, " I need to check a few things, you should take a shower otherwise you'll get sick, you are soaked," Jake said without glancing at me.
He was right. Even inside of the room I was shivering because of the bad weather, I clearly needed a warm shower. I headed to the bathroom and went under the water. I winced, it was so cold and I had to wait quite a long time before it got warmer. I picked up a towel and started to dry myself. I turned around to grab my clothes that I left next to the sink but they were still totally drenched.
I peeked my head in the main room, "Jake?", I called out, "I, huh... my clothes are drenched and I don't have any spare clothes." Why didn't I think about this earlier... It was so embarrassing.
Jake stopped typing but didn't look my way, "Oh.." I could see his cheeks slightly bush, "You can borrow me some clothes if you need to. They are in my bag."
I wrapped the towel around my body and reached for Jake's backpack. Once I got back in the bathroom I rummaged through the bag. I put on one of Jake's black t-shirts. His spare sweatpants were far too big for me and I didn't have a belt to adjust them. Fortunately, his t-shirt was big enough and almost reached my knees so I guessed I didn't need any pants to wait for mine to dry.
I stepped out of the bathroom, "Thank you for the spare clothes," I said while approaching Jake's desk.
Jake finally looked at me and when he saw me he stood up with a small smile on his face. He got closer to me and put his hands at the top of my thighs. He lifted me up so my face was on the same height as his and started kissing me, "Sorry MC, I don't have the time to cuddle now. I have checked if my pursuers were in the area and now I need to erase Lilly's messages from your phone," he mumbled against my mouth.
I pulled my head slightly away, "You're the one who's kissing me," I pointed out.
He chuckled and put me on the ground, "It seems like you have a bad influence on me," he teased me.
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him on his chin - the only part of his face I could reach - "time to get back to work, then." I smiled and went on the bed while waiting for Jake to finish what he had to do.
Jake soon joined me in the bed and he opened his arms so I could slide in his embrace. I put my head on his chest, closing my eyes, listening to his heartbeat. We stayed for a while in this comfortable silence just enjoying each other's presence. I had so many questions, though. Questions I didn't know if I could ask. "Jake?" I started unsure of myself, "I was wondering...Well I don't know if I can ask."
Jake looked at me and raised an eyebrow, "What is it?" he asked, a little curious.
"What have you done to be wanted by the government?"
Jake sighed, "I knew you would ask this question one day ..." he rubbed his face, "I found some information that I shouldn't have found."
"I already know that. I... I'm sorry Jake. I trust you, I really do and I'm sure you're part of the good guys like you said but..." I took a deep breath, I knew I asked him a lot, "I need to understand."
Jake tightened his grip around my body, his right hand reached my hair and he started to play with some of my strands as if it was relaxing him. "I used to work in a big company that ensured the cyber security of other companies. One day, during a meeting with a new client, I heard something that worried me. I thought about it for days and then ended up hacking their system and discovered terrible illegal things that company had done." He looked at me as I was about to talk, "Don't ask me what it is, I won't tell you. Not because I do not want to, or because I do not trust you, but because the less you know the more you are safe. And I want to protect you."
I closed my mouth and let him finish his story, "After I discovered that, I decided to hack other companies' systems. I discovered more and more illegal things with more and more important people involved all over the world. Obviously, one day I got caught and a friend of mine only had the time to warn me before the police broke into my home to arrest me. Thanks to him, I had the time to run away." Jake looked down, lost in his memory.
"What happened to your friend?" I shyly asked.
"They killed him." he answered grimly, "He had just had a little girl. And both his wife and daughter have to live without him now."
I couldn't believe what I just heard. I was horrified. "But... but, there is no proof against them?" I asked dumbfounded.
"Yes there is. Peter and I gathered everything we could for weeks. We managed to hide everything on a server before he got killed." Jake answered.
"So why can't you use this to prove yours and Peter's innocence!?"
"It is not that simple, MC. It involves a lot of important people. I cannot do this on my own." he started, "I do have a friend who is willing to help but..."
Jake was cut off by a light 'bip' coming from his computer. He slowly stood up and went to check his laptop. I watched him as he was reading something, "Shit! It is not good," he blurted out angrily.
I felt my throat tighten. I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all.
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