AN: Hello again! I never really know what to say here except thanks so much for the kind words and reviews! I really appreciate your interest in this story and I'm glad the showdown was well received as I know it was teetering on a line there.. but I'm all about teetering on lines where I can haha.
This next chapter is dedicated to Jenna - thanks for all the overwhelming love girl. This fic is now yours.
Here's the next showdown. X
It's immediate.
He knows she's left the cabin.
He has a six sense when it comes to her, that coupled with the fact that he'd just pushed her beyond her limits. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she will run.
He'd seen the look in her eyes.
Fear.
She was terrified of this.
Of them.
Of the nose dive the future of their partnership had just taken within seconds and he is extremely familiar with her stubborn side, even when there was nowhere to run, she would still find a way.
He doesn't know what had just overcome him but when she had charged at him like a bull out of a gate with fire in her eyes and fury in her tone it was a knee jerk reaction to fan the flames.
God he's an asshole.
But he can't help it, she pushes his buttons and he pushes right back because that's been their dynamic for years - fighting as a form of foreplay because anything beyond that had always been off limits.
Until now.
He had nearly kissed her.
He nearly removed the two paces between them, grasped her face and pressed his lips against hers in a heated frenzy.
He thinks she might have let him and the thought of her compliance creeps up the back of his neck because he knows if he started it, he wouldn't be able to stop.
But whatever the hell she had just spouted about keeping their distance from now on was pure bullshit - even she should know that would be next to impossible and if she wants him to act like some nondescript bodyguard now with essential communication only she has another thing coming.
Screw that.
He is settling this with her now.
No more running.
He hightails it out onto the front porch and spots her moving through the tree line just in time, a whip of black clothing disappearing through the foliage. She doesn't have too much of a head start but it's enough that he's going to have to seriously kick this into gear if he doesn't want to lose her.
What the hell does she think she's doing?
Did she really think risking her life yet again wasn't going to rile the fuck out of him?
Or was that her intention?
Does she want to make him angry?
Because there is no rational reason for her to be doing this aside from spite.
He sprints ahead, moving through the same break in the trees she had just entered, quickening his pace to make up lost time. He starts to bat away the foliage that is jutting out. He can no longer see her ahead but he can hear distant sounds of twigs snapping and branches swooshing. He finally manages to catch flashes of black interweaving through leafy green and he starts to move into an intentional run.
He isn't going to call out her name. He isn't going to give her a heads up, he is going to race up behind her and just about tackle the woman to the ground. That's all he's thinking about as he removes the distance between them with each long stride his legs make - their hot sweaty bodies colliding, their unsteady breaths intermingling.
"The fuck Olivia."
That's what he's going to hiss from behind as he grabs her. His voice will be ragged and she'll be slick with sweat in his grasp and it's not exactly an incentive to do this, but it's not entirely a deterrent either. He can already feel the perspiration dripping down his spine in preparation. He isn't even in running gear or clothing that breathes - he's in jeans, boots and a white t-shirt and it's an agonising chafe in the blazing hot heat.
He is close enough now that he can hear her desperately trying to siphon oxygen into her lungs just to keep her distance from him.
Panting.
She is panting.
He should feel guilty for chasing her like this but she shouldn't be the least bit surprised that he is. It's his job to watch her 24/7 and she can be as pissed as she wants, but she's given him no choice but to intervene.
He is three body lengths away now as branches fly back at him at top speed as if their purpose were solely to defy him.
She hasn't called out to him yet. She hasn't glanced over her shoulder once. She has tunnel vision. She isn't giving in to this - she wants to win.
Only he knows in this case there will be no winner.
He watches her weave through the final row of trees before she spills out into a clearing that's the size of a football field and he realises this is his chance, there is nowhere to run now. This is where he tackles her - on lush, tall grass that would soften their fall. No rocks, twigs or tree roots to cause injury. He may not even need to tackle, maybe he can just wrap his arms around her, tug her backwards into a grinding halt.
But he knows her.
She isn't going to go down without a fight and this is very likely to only end up one way - flat on their asses.
He starts to gain on her, his boots snapping the twigs below him like brittle bones and he can hear it in her laboured breathing, she is struggling. She is on her last reserves so he takes it, charging forward - oxygen thundering through his chest as he removes the final inches between them.
It happens in seconds, his fingers sink into her waist and she veers to the side but he anticipates it, turning with her motion. He grabs for her again, his reflexes quick, only this time he seizes her tank and when she doesn't stop running it results in a loud tear.
Fuck.
He lets go of the material and she swings around in disbelief, stalking up to him grasping his forearm, locking an ankle beneath his and ramming into his chest. He loses his balance, tipping downward but grabs her last minute, dragging her with him as they both crash to the ground with a heavy thud. She twists around on his chest but he locks an arm around her stomach, immediately holding her against him as they both fall onto their sides.
"What the hell's the matter with you?" He rasps into the back of her hair.
She is struggling to free herself, her sweaty palms grasping at his hold.
"Let go." She attempts to jerk backwards into his chest but he has her tight.
"Stop," he rasps against her hair, holding her firmly. "If I let you go you're just going to run again, or shove me through another plate glass door."
He expects another smart ass comment from her but then he hears it.
A laugh.
She actually laughs.
But it's not hearty, it's not humorous, it's clipped.
She is pleased with herself - proud of herself for the door infraction.
Seriously?
"That could have fucking hurt Olivia and could have ended with a trip to the ER."
She's still breathless, her sweaty palms continuing to slip and claw against his grip.
"So could tackling me at full speed you asshole."
His own breaths are coming out as thick raspy pants now.
"I didn't tackle you…" he hisses. "You tripped me."
"Right - after you ripped my goddamned shirt."
"Fine." He gives in, done with the point scoring and the blame gaming. He is just desperate for reprieve now. "You push me through a door, I rip your shirt, you trip me on my ass. This ends here Olivia. We're even now."
God, he needs a truce.
Please just say it Liv.
Because he can't with this anymore.
A few beats pass before she speaks.
"Not by a long shot."
He presses his eyes closed, he can feel his own sweat seeping into the back of her tank as he holds her against him and he doesn't no how much longer he can keep her from bucking against him like this.
"Let go Elliot," she warns.
But he doesn't, the scent of her starting to fill his chest, lavender-vanilla from her shower wafting into his nostrils and it's overpowering him, softening him, weakening him until he finally cracks.
"You're right," he whispers. "I'm an asshole." His pride and ego taking a hit as the unexpected words come out. He blinks against her damp tresses, his mind reeling at what he's about to admit to. "A jealous one."
She stills against him and he cannot believe what he'd just admitted to. A droplet of sweat runs down his chest and into her back and all he can concentrate on is the steady rise and fall of her ribs beneath his palm.
"I'm sorry." He closes his eyes, hoping she will accept what he is trying to tell her because he cannot fight this anymore. "You didn't deserve it.. what I said back there…it was ..completely out of line." He blinks against the sunlight. "If you want space. I'll give you space Liv but we need to figure out a way to get through this without wanting to tear each other to shreds. We cannot go on like this."
A few beats pass before her head lulls back against his chin and he doesn't know if it's in compliance or complete and utter exhaustion but whatever her reasoning he takes it.
He lets out the breath he was holding, grateful she is succumbing to what he can only assume is some version of surrender.
Her hand slips across the one that's still clinging to her stomach and he loosens his hold, letting her remove it this time and allowing her to detach their sweaty bodies.
She slowly sits up, brushing away the stray blades of grass from her leggings before she is moving into a standing position. Her body blocks the rays of sun above him before she slowly turns around and hold out her hand. He takes it and he lets her pull him up into a standing position, relief spilling through him over that one simple gesture.
Their eyes meet once he is upright and suddenly he's lost for words.
"You got sweat all over me," she grumbles. "I'm gonna need to take another shower."
His lips threaten to turn upward at that but he manages to stifle the smile.
"And.." she rasps. "You owe me a new tank."
He scrubs a hand over his stubble in an effort to hide his amusement because she will kill him if she can detect it.
"Showers all yours Liv," he responds neutrally, grateful for the unspoken truce. "And we can get whatever you need when we go into town for groceries."
She looks back at him for one brief, lingering moment before she starts head back in the direction of the cabin.
He knows that was her version of an olive branch and he gladly accepts it, it's enough to know she isn't going to run from him again.
At least not today.
TBC
AN: So I know you guys were probably expecting a hot and heavy bang out in the middle of the wilderness haha but hopefully you can hold off a little longer.