Unfiltered & Unsaved by Payge Galvin, Bridgette Luna Read Free Book Online Page B

they moved together. Somehow, she was against the wall next to a server bank; the heat coming off of the metal registered only as a pale shadow of the intense sensation of Elijah’s body pressing on hers, the friction of cloth between them, the tingling, burning ache of her hard nipples beneath the suddenly confining bra. She let herself press against him, a constant grinding that let him know more than words that she was saying yes. God, yes.
    She felt a tiny stab of panic when she felt his hands playing with the buttons on her shirt, but she fought it back as he pulled away enough to whisper, “Mind if I take this off—”
    “One step at a time,” she managed to say. It was the last shred of self-control she had left. If he’d simply grabbed the shirt and pulled it open, she would have just abandoned all defenses, which was crazy, but she knew she was standing on the verge of that kind of surrender.
    He laughed a little, a breathless sound that made the fire burn hotter inside her. There was a rueful edge to it that told her, more than the firm pressure of his erection against her, how he felt about her. “Are we on the buttons step?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are you going to make me ask for more permission before I unhook your bra?”
    “Probably.”
    “You’re cruel.”
    She found herself smiling. “Maybe.”
    “I think I like it.” He kissed her again, and it almost distracted her from the slide of his fingers on the buttons, slipping them through the holes with a slight pop of resistance on each one, then relaxing. Six buttons. She always left the last one undone. This lick of cooler air on her skin made her shiver hard against him, and gasp into his mouth at the burning caress of his touch skimming over the surface of her bra, tracing its outlines, gliding down into her cleavage. It was a tease, and a torment, and she loved every seductive moment of it.
    “We shouldn’t be doing this,” he said, as his lips moved down to her neck, sucking and nibbling and leaving trails of damp heat behind. “I should be running away from you right now.”
    “Then run,” she said.
    “Soon.”
    They both froze at another sound at the door. This time, there was no sound of the code being entered … only a rattle of the knob, and then a loud bang that made the heavy door jump in its frame.
    “Shit,” Elijah said. “Maybe that should be right now .”
    He stepped back and turned toward the back exit. Hope quickly buttoned her shirt and stuffed the tails back into her skirt. She grabbed the heavy backpack she’d abandoned in the middle of the floor and almost overbalanced as she tried to sprint after him. “Elijah, wait! “
    He didn’t pause for her to catch up. He hit the emergency exit bar on the door, and as the contacts broke, alarms and flashers went off. The sudden glare of the outside light blinded her for a second as she dashed in pursuit, and she stiff-armed the door opened when it tried to swing shut on her. E.J. was already halfway down the emergency exit stairs that scaffolded the building. She plunged down in pursuit.
    He didn’t look back.
    “Wait!” she cried, and managed to catch up to him about twenty feet from the bottom of the stairs. He was heading for the faculty parking lot—sparsely filled now, but it was still the best cover around. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him to a stop, but he only took her hand and yanked her into a run along with him.
    Again.
    “I told you, I have to go back,” he said when they were sheltered behind a big, black SUV. “Hope, you have to let me go. I want you to stay safe. Understand?”
    “They’re going to hurt you , though. Aren’t they?”
    “Doesn’t matter.” It did. She saw it in the shadows in his eyes, but those shadows lifted just a bit when he focused on her face, and smiled. “Thanks for the nice time. Sorry it had to end.”
    She couldn’t let him go like this—not knowing that he was heading back into that van, to that man who was