Ravenous

   It was the sound of Cade’s name being called that tore me away from him again. I blinked at him in surprise, barely registering the calls through the haze of pleasure enshrouding me. I was so ensnared in a cocoon of warmth and pleasure that thoughts were not properly coalescing in my brain, but Cade was swift to recover. My eyes widened in surprise as a thunderous expression crossed his face. I had never seen him look so angry and a

   “Je

   “Where are you? Is Bethany with you?” He glanced toward me, his eyes smoldered with anger. I stared at him in surprise, who was this person that was so undeniably angry over such a small thing? “Cade!”

   “Quiet!” he hissed, but it was too late. I heard the loud snapping of underbrush at the same time he did. There was something coming, what it was I didn’t know, but it couldn’t be good. Nothing good had come out of the past couple of days; I didn’t expect that to change now. I stared at Cade in horror, uncertain what to do. I wanted to bolt in a million different directions at once, but I didn’t know which way was the safest one. “Run Je

   Then Cade was in front of me, grasping hold of my arms as he pulled me toward the woods. “Cade,” I breathed.

   “Run Bethany. Run.”

   I had picked my way carefully through all of the thorns on my way to the stream, now I dove into them with reckless abandon. I was cut, scratched, bloodied and bruised, but I didn’t care as I shoved my way through the trees and vegetation. I thought I should try to be quiet, try to go with a little more ease, but I was too terrified to slow down right now.

   I could hear Cade behind me, and although we were both traveling through the same crap, I was certain that he was a thousand times quieter than me. My foot became entangled in a mess of briars, tripping me up. I cried out in surprise as I tumbled to the ground in an ungraceful. Thorns tore into my flesh, dug into my palms.

   Cade grabbed hold of me, lifting me swiftly up. I turned to run again, but he held me back. Before I knew what was happening he was pushing me against a tree. “Climb,” he breathed in my ear.

   I was moving swiftly, drawing on all the things I had learned as a child as I pulled myself up the tree. I glanced back at Cade; he was scurrying rapidly behind me as I moved higher and higher into the limbs of the giant oak. Then he was next to me, pressing me against the trunk of the tree. His breathing was loud in my ear; I could feel his heartbeat as he pressed flat against me.

   “Stay perfectly still.”

   That was easier said than done as every part of my body was trembling from fear and exertion. I was frightened of what was coming, afraid of the unknown, and consumed with terror for my brother and sister. Cade held me tighter, wrapping his arms around me as I bit into my bottom lip. I didn’t know where Je

   “Je

   Cade sighed softly; he rested his head in the hollow of my neck. A chill raced down my spine. “You’re the only one that matters Bethy.” My mouth dropped, he lifted his head to meet my wide eyed, disbelieving stare. The words were harsh, almost cruel in their detachment, but there was something heartwarming and reassuring in them that left me shaking with something more than fear. “You’ve always been the onlyone that matters.”

   Now how the hell did I respond to that? How the hell did anyone respond to that? I thought that I should protest, that I should tell him that of course other people had mattered, and always would. I thought these things, but I did not say them, mainly because I was unreasonably pleased by the conviction behind his fervent words. My breath was robbed from me, I wasn’t certain I was never going to breathe right again. I thought that he was going to kiss me again, but his onyx eyes slid away. The noise of the forest was getting closer; it seemed as if a herd of deer were tromping their way through. For a moment relief filled me, maybe it wasn’t the aliens, maybe the wildlife was starting to move around again.

   Cade pressed me back when I tried to move away from the trunk of the tree. He shot me a dark look, his jaw clenched as he shook his head sharply. The muscles in his lean arms were tight around me, bulging slightly. Even now, terrified, bloody, and cornered, I felt myself reacting to the wonderful feel of him. He must have sensed a change in my breathing, or in my body, as his gaze slid slowly back to me. Those midnight eyes were stu

   He leaned close to me, his lips pressed against my ear. I reveled in the feel of him, of the breath whispering over my skin. “I’m not confused Bethany,” he whispered so softly that I barely heard him. “I never have been.”

   I shivered in response as the woods suddenly erupted with motion.

CHAPTER 11

   I gaped at the sight beneath us, too stu

   “I see,” he said softly.

   I continued to stare for a moment longer, blinking as I tried to convince myself that what I was seeing was real. “They’re human.”

   “Yes.”

   I followed him swiftly back down the tree. The group of ten people spun toward us, drawing out the weapons they possessed as we reached the ground. “Easy,” Cade said, using his arm to push me back from them and his body to shield me.

   They stared at us for a moment longer before slowly lowering their spears and one rifle. “What are you doing here?” a tall burly man demanded.

   “The same as you I suppose,” Cade responded with more nonchalance than I would have managed under the circumstances.

   The man eyed us wearily. I was stu

   “Not yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. Where did you come from?”

   “Mashpee.” The man responded, indicating the town next to ours. “We’re making our way to the bridges.”

   “Are you going to attempt to cross them?” I blurted in surprise.

   “We can’t stay on this side, we’re trapped here.”

   I glanced sharply at Cade, not at all sure how I felt about that. It was true, on this side we were cut off from the world, separated from the mainland by the canal. The bridges were the only way off the manmade island, but nothing had moved over them in awhile, car or person. The thought of attempting to cross them on foot seemed like a suicide mission to me. They would be exposed, out in the open, high in the air, easily spotted from above. I thought I would rather jump in the canal and take my chances with the deadly current and cool water, rather than try and run across either bridge.

   “They’re just go

   I shuddered in dread, knowing that the man was right. They would continue to push us where they wanted us, but the bridges were notan option. At least not to me. Neither was swimming across, and a boat would be an easy target on the open sea, or the canal. We were trapped here, stuck, and at the mercy of the aliens hunting us. “Have you met many other survivors?” I inquired tremulously.