It wasn't part of the plan, but then things rarely went the way they wanted them to go. He hadn't been able to help himself though. Kat had warned him that skipping the movie was not a good idea. She let him know that her Dad was surely looking the movie up online and would have a list of questions about it the second they walked through the door.
Patrick had assured that he had been faking his way through tests for years now and he would do fine on her father's final exam. Kat hadn't look convinced, but when he pulled her into him, she relented and wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him in closer.
He had come to think of it as their spot now. After one afternoon the cave had quickly changed from his private fortress of solitude to their spot. He was surprised at how easily he had let her invade something so important to him.
He wouldn't ever tell her, but this was where he came when he needed to get away from everything. When his stepfather lashed out at him, or his mother forgot he existed. In fact, the cave felt more like his home than his actual home did. He also wouldn't tell her that he hadn't been home since the day they stopped in to grab his jacket. The day they spent right here in this very cave. He wouldn't let her find out that his mother hadn't actually made the basket of food they shared that day. It was Ella that had done him the favor. Ella had been his mother's employee for years and she had fed Patrick more often than his mother had. When he was hungry, he went to Ella. When he needed anything, he went to Ella. Ella was one of the few people who really knew what his life was like. She was the one to nurse his wounds when he wasn't fast enough to dodge his stepfather's attacks. She was the one that gave him advice when he had no answers of his own. She was the one that took care of him. His grandmother for all intents and purposes, though they shared no actual blood tie.
He gasped suddenly and his mind swiftly returned to reality when Kat shifted under him and her thigh brushed over his hardness. He couldn't believe how much she still turned him on. He had been nursing the raging hard on since she shucked off her jacket at the restaurant. The bodice of her dress pressed into her heaving breasts, causing them to actually spill over the top just enough to make him ache to cover them with his hands. Apparently, he was a boob man. He hadn't known that about himself until recently. But he seemed absolutely helpless to resist the urge to gawk at her chest every chance he got. He was powerless to keep from touching them when he had the opportunity.
They were stretched out on an old, red, plaid blanket that he kept stashed in the back corner of the cave. He had found several such hidey holes around the old place and he used them to store some of his favorite things. A few books, the blanket, a stash of snacks, just in case. He never knew when he would need the place and sometimes, when he was dashing for the door to avoid his stepfather's fists, there just wasn't time to pack provisions.
He was surprised that no one had ever disturbed any of the items he kept there. The cave wasn't so well hidden that no one else could find it. And he knew that campers occasionally stayed there from the evidence of fires in the pit that he hadn't put there.
" I thought you said this wasn't all we'd do now." Kat breathed against his neck, protesting their activity while peppering his skin with kisses and soft nips.
He pulled back and instantly felt guilty for the diversion from their plans. " I'm sorry." He told her. "You're right. We can probably still catch the movie."
He made a move to get up, but she grabbed his hand and stilled him immediately.
" It's okay. We'd just be doing this in the theater instead. Why pay twelve bucks for a spot where we can make out when this one is free ?" She smiled up at him.
He settled back over her and went back to work kissing her into a frenzy. But it didn't last long before she was pulling away again.
" Do you always keep this blanket here ?" She asked him and he instantly deflated. He had hoped she hadn't noticed where he'd gotten it from.
" Yeah," He muttered and decided to try to distract her by attacking her neck with his tongue.
Of course it didn't work. She just pushed at his shoulders and eyed him for a moment.
" Why ? How often do you use this cave ?" She asked him.
" Sometimes." He admitted.
" Sometimes ?" She countered, expecting some clarity. " Often enough that you store items in it."
" I keep a few things here." He huffed, realizing she wasn't going to let the topic drop so he could get back to enjoying himself.
" Patrick," She whispered into the darkness and her voice was practically pleading with him to share. He didn't want to. He didn't want to talk about his home life or the lack of it with her. He didn't want her to know how much he really envied her. She had everything he wanted. A beautiful house, a sister that cared about her, a father that might just love her too much. It was something he dreamed about for himself. Something that he knew he'd never have.
He rolled to her side but refused to let her go completely. Instead his lips found her bare shoulder and he went about laying soft kisses to her skin, still hoping to distract her.
" Please talk to me." She said as she moved away from him and found his face with her gaze even in the near darkness that surrounded them. " There is more to this cave than it being a convenient make out spot."
He sat up and pulled his legs in front of him Indian style. Her hand came to rest on his leg, as if encouraging him to open up.
" I stay here sometimes when I don't have anywhere else to go." He confided finally.
" Why would you not have anywhere else to go ? You have a home."
" My stepfather and I don't really see eye to eye sometimes." He admitted though it killed him to do so.
" What does your mother say about that ?" Kat wanted to know, as she sat up as well and positioned her body in a mirror of his. He could feel her knees as they rubbed against his even through his pants and her dress.
" She doesn't really have much of an opinion unless he gives her one." He told her.
He saw her shoulders slump in the moonlight that invaded through the cave entrance. " I'm sorry." She told him.
" I don't want you to be sorry. I don't want to talk about this at all." He informed her, his words harsh, but he managed to keep his tone gentle.
She reached out and brushed her hand along his cheek. " But I do. I want to know everything about you, not just the good things. I want to know everything."
Then she shifted, crawling into his lap and placing her arm around his neck. His arms wrapped around her on their own accord, securely her against his chest.
" Why doesn't she have an opinion ? What do you mean unless he gives her one ?" She asked, her voice skirting across his throat as she spoke.
He shifted getting her into a more comfortable position, one that allowed him to kiss her, which he did, intently. " Do we really have to talk about all this right now ? This is our date. I don't want to ruin it with all this."
" I want to hear about this later." She informed him sternly. " All of it. Every last detail. If you're going through things at home, I want to be a part of them."
" Alright. You'll get a full report when I sneak into your window later tonight." He smiled at her.
" Who said I was letting you in my window later tonight ?" She teased him.
He sighed and took her hand in his. " It's either your window or this cave tonight and I did sit through a fifteen minute long discussion about Gonorrhea for you."
" That's true, I suppose." She agreed.
" Were you aware that if left untreated Syphilis can cause insanity ?" He asked.
" Yes, I was aware. I've been aware of that since I turned thirteen and he deemed it was time for THE talk." She answered with a snicker. " Were you aware that St. Bridget's is the closest fully cloistered convent in the vicinity and he has several brochures tucked away ' just in case'?"
" I wasn't aware of that, no. But I can promise that he won't be ushering you away to St. Bridget's without me putting up a fight. We can live right here in this case if we have to." He informed her.
Her fingers were playing with the hair on at the nape of his neck and the sensation was driving him crazy. He leaned down and brushed her lips with his in a fleeting tender kiss. " Have I said I love you yet tonight ?"
" No, you have not. But in your defense, I haven't said I love you either." She smiled.
" Wow, now that is something. You are actually defending me." He mocked.
She pressed herself into him and her fingers curled around the lapel of his vest. " I'd defend you with my last breath." She told him with dramatic flair.
" Isn't that my line ?" He laughed.
" Not in my world, Buddy. Here there is an equal amount of last breath defending,heroic valor and death defying devotion."
He kissed her again, smiling against her lips. " I'm not sure I signed up for all that. Death defying devotion ? I think you have me confused with that vampire that all the girls are swooning over."
She shrugged. " And here I am just waiting for you to confess to being a blood sucking fend."
He moved, too quickly for her to keep up, picking her up and depositing her in the middle of the blanket before stretching himself over her. His mouth went to her neck and he began to suck on the side of it harder than he knew was wise. When she squirmed under him, he pulled back and laughed. "I'll show you a blood sucking fend."
He was done talking now, done with words all together. His hand moved over the material of her dress, soft and satiny under his fingers, he reveled in the feel of it as he cupped her breasts into his palm. She arched her back into his touch and he took it as an invitation to attack her chest with his lips. She felt so hot under his exploring her mouth, her flushed skin nearly burning his lips when they brushed over her. She tasted like honey, or maybe chocolate, he wasn't sure which, but he was certain it was the most decadent thing he'd every experienced. Her fingers tightened in her hair, pulling it as they curled into fists and sending a shiver down his entire body.
" I love you." He whispered before finding her lips again and delving between them with his tongue.
" Patrick," She murmured when he pulled away and trailed his mouth along her jaw.
He felt her leg came up and fold around his waist, holding him securely against the lower half of her body. He took the opportunity to grind his hips into hers, eliciting a long, drawn out moan from somewhere deep in her chest.
He was so completely lost in her he didn't understand when her whole body tensed under his and her hands started pushing at his shoulders.
" What ?" He asked, finally letting her push him away.
" Did you hear that ?" She panted, struggling to sit up.
He came up to his knees, listening intently for the noise she heard. Then it came to him.
Voices, closer than he was comfortable with and gaining on them quickly. They weren't quiet voices and they certainly weren't the voices of some innocent campers inadvertently intruding on their spot. No, it was two man's voices, low and menacing, a hint of anger and threat lacing every word. He couldn't make out what they were saying yet, but the intention was perfectly clear.
He got up quickly and dragged Kat to her feet beside him. Then he snatched up the blanket and pulled her off into a dark corner of the cave. She brought her body in close to his as if using him as a shield and her tiny hands curled around the lapels of his vest again, this time in fear instead of passion.
" It's okay." He told her. " I'm sure they aren't coming in here.
His gut clenched when he realized he was wrong. They were in fact entering the cave. Two men with another being dragged between them. The man in the middle was squirming and struggling against the two that held him without much success.
Patrick pulled Kat into him harder and willed her to stay as quiet as possible. He could feel her shaking against him and he brought his hand up to her hair, trying to sooth her without words.
" Where is the stuff, Lenny ?" One of the men asked as they dropped the third man into a heap at their feet, right in the exact location of where their blanket had been only moments before.
" I don't have it. I told you already. Some guy jacked me for it in the park." Lenny sobbed.
" We don't care about excuses." The other man said, putting his foot over Lenny's hand which was stretched out in front of him as he tried to stand. He ground his heel down and Patrick heard something crack before Lenny jerked his hand back and howled in pain.
Kat tensed in his arms and he held her firmly.
" We either need our stuff or we need the six grand you owe us for our stuff." The first man said, quietly. " Those are your only two options right now."
It was then that he produced a gun from the folds of his jacket. Patrick barely had a chance to put his hand over Kat's mouth before she could scream. But it was too late. The men had heard the movement and they were whirling around to find its source.
Panic seized him as he search for any option for them. Luckily he had secured them away in the corner closest to the entrance of the cave. With no other choice left for him, he clutched her hand tightly in his and gave her a yank before shouting, " Run!"