Chapter Six

It was late when they finally reached Nashville. Peter rubbed his eyes tiredly as he pulled in front of the main office of the motel. He glanced to his right, where Claire was curled up tightly, her head leaning against the window and smiled. Not wanting to disturb her, he slipped out of the car silently and booked them a room. He then drove around to the other side of the motel, grabbed their bags, and before moving around the car. He opened the door slowly, catching Claire against his chest, as she leaned further over, and gently sat her in an upright position. He ran a finger across her cheek, smiling as she frowned softly and wrinkled her nose at the pressure.

"Hey." He said softly with a smile as her eyes fluttered open.

"Hey." She said back, stretching. Peter's eyes dropped to where her breasts strained against the material of her t-shirt, before hastily looking away and pretending to busy himself with their bags. "Where are we?" Claire asked taking in their surroundings.

"Nashville." He answered, holding out a hand for Claire as she got out of the car.

"Nashville huh? Too bad we're fugitives. It would've been nice to stop and sightsee." She said with a grin, before following Peter up to their room. He unlocked the door and flipped on a light switch before stopping short. He groaned inwardly at the sight before him, and then was pushed forward as Claire, who was right behind him, ran into his back and fell backwards, but before she could hit the floor, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her upright.

"Thanks." She said with a blush, her hands dropping lightly onto Peter's arms. She peered at his face and raised a brow in question. "What's wrong?"

"They gave us the wrong room."

"What do you mean?" She asked peering around him. Noticing the large bed in the center of the room, realization dawned. "Oh I see."

"I'll just call and have our room switched." Peter said, releasing Claire and striding to the room's phone. Claire dumped her bag on the couch and aimlessly strolled through the room, only half paying attention to what Peter was saying over the phone. He hung up the phone and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"There's some festival going on. They're booked." He said exasperatedly. He looked towards the small couch and sighed. It was not going to be a good night for him. He hoped he could catch a couple hours of sleep tomorrow while Claire drove.

He moved towards the couch, moving Claire's bag to the floor and placed the pillows to one side. Claire watched him silently a frown forming on her face.

"What are you doing?" She finally asked.

"Going to sleep." Peter answered, tossing a look over his shoulder because really, wasn't it obvious what he was doing?

"Peter you can't sleep on that couch. You won't even fit." Claire argued, gesturing to the offending piece of furniture.

"I'll be fine."

"No you won't. Look it's a huge bed. We can share." Claire countered, her arm gesturing to the bed.

"Claire, we can't. It's not right."

"Don't worry Peter, I won't seduce you." Claire said with a sly smile. "This just makes sense. It's a big bed, we both need a good night's sleep, and we're both mature adults who can sleep in the same bed without any complications."

Peter grunted. 'I don't know about that.' He thought, looking towards the bed, images of how he could while away the many hours with Claire. He shook his head violently.

"Claire it isn't right. I'm your uncle."

"Peter what about this whole thing is right? We're on the run from your brother, my father that in of itself is so wrong to begin with! We've never had a normal relationship, family or otherwise." She burst out, starting to pace around the room. She finally stopped, took a deep breath and turned to look at Peter. "Look it's just sleeping. It's not like we're going to jump into bed and have sex. It's just the most practical arrangement. There's nothing wrong with us sleeping in the same bed."

Making sure she had the last word, Claire picked up her bag and slammed into the bathroom. Peter groaned at the torture ahead of him, but deciding that Claire had a point, he stripped down to his boxers and changed into a pair of sweatpants, before sliding beneath the bed sheets.

Moments later, Claire emerged from the bathroom, clothed in shorts and a tank top that they picked up on one of their stops, and crawled into the other side of the bed.

The two remained silent, shutting off the lights and going to sleep without a word to each other.


Claire woke slowly, her senses coming back to her one by one, as she took in her surroundings. She became aware of being curled against something hard, her left leg draped over a pair of lightly haired, muscled thighs, her hand was resting on a hard chest, and she was held immobile by an arm that had managed to wrap itself around her and whose hand was dangerously close to her ass.

She lifted her head to take in Peter's sleeping face, all the lines of worry gone from the peaceful expression as he slept. She smiled contentedly at the picture before her, running, her fingers over his lips before curling them over his hear and drifting back to sleep.

About an hour later the sun began to filter into the room, waking Peter from his deep sleep. He jumped at the feel of a body curled against his and looked down to find Claire inside the circle of his arms, her leg draped over his. He moved his left arm, blushing at where he found his hand located and gently separated his upper body from Claire.

He cursed at his body's reaction to her closeness and looked down at where their legs were intertwined, unsure of how to extract himself from this position without waking his bed partner. The loss of heat from his body pulled Claire from her sleep and she groggily looked up at him.

"What time is it?" She murmured, leaning over Peter's chest to peer at the clock. "Damn." She muttered, pulling back and returning to her position at his side. She raised her eyes to his, and their gazes locked in the silence of the early morning.

"We should probably get ready." Peter said, breaking their gaze.

"Yea." Claire answered, removing her leg from over his and rolling out of bed.

Peter kept the covers over his lap as he watched Claire move about the room, gathering up what she needed for her shower.


An hour later they were both showered and dressed. Both carefully avoided any mention of how they found themselves this morning. Claire gathered up their belongings and put them in their rightful place, while Peter spread out the map over the bed.

"So today we're crossing into Arkansas?" Claire asked, dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed next to him. "Down to Little Rock?" She continued, leaning closer against him, so that Peter could smell the sweetness of her skin.

"Yea, then we'll back track to Memphis and pick up the highway into Mississippi." He answered, his gaze drawn down to where the v-neck of her shirt gave just a hint of her cleavage. He gulped and pulled back slightly. Claire looked up at Peter, his muscles flexing with each movement, and without giving herself the chance to wimp out, she reached up so one of her hands clasped the back of Peter's neck. She pulled him down so that his lips met hers, her teeth nipping lightly at his lower lip. Peter instantly responded, gasping against her mouth, his tongue darting out and skimming against her lips, requesting entrance. Claire eagerly gave it to him, parting her lips, and moaning low in her throat as Peter's tongue traced the inside of her mouth and then danced with hers.

With a gasp, Peter pulled back, his arms outstretched to hold Claire at arms length.

"Claire." He gasped. "We can't do this."

"Yes we can." She murmured, leaning forward so her lips met his again. One hand played with Peter's hair, while the other reached up to where his hands still clasped her shoulders. She pulled one loose, smiling against his lips as he easily let go and moved it down so his hand molded against her breast. Claire moaned deeply and arched so his hand pressed harder against her.

Unthinking, Peter gently pushed Claire down, so she lay across the bed, and moved over her, his lips never breaking contact with hers, as he gently kneaded her breast. Claire moaned again as Peter's weight settled above her, loving the contact. His lips left hers to trail down her neck, nibbling gently as he went. His second hand fell from her shoulder, to move down her body in a gently caress until he reached the hem of her t-shirt. He gently pulled the shirt up over her stomach, his lips trailing closely behind, to expose her bra-clad breasts. He gently moved the straps over her shoulders and down her arms to free her breasts from the lacy material. He grinned wolfishly before swooping down to take one aroused peak into his mouth.

Claire moaned loudly, unable to help herself, her fingers clenching his hair to hold him closer against her. She parted her legs, wrapping them tightly around his hips, bringing the hardness of his arousal right where she wanted it. She arched into his mouth bringing their lower bodies closer together and he moved to her other breast, his handing reaching up to give attention to the abandoned peak. She arched again, delighting at the low groan that ripped from his throat as their lower bodies connected again. She grasped the edge of his shirt and pulled it up so she could place biting kisses along his abs and chest, delighting at how his abs tightened in response to her ministrations. She reached down to where he strained against the zipper of his jeans, and grasped him gently. She reached to the button of his jeans, stretching her arms to pop it open, when Peter's arm grabbed hers.

He pulled back from her, their upper bodies separated, causing Claire to moan lowly at the loss of contact. Peter stared at her with wide eyes, taking in the half naked young woman beneath him.

Peter quickly scrambled off Claire, pulling his shirt and pants into place, turning, as Claire sat up and set her clothes to rights behind him.

When the sound of her rustling behind him ceased, Peter turned to face his niece, staring at her for a long moment.

"This was a mistake. It can never happen again." He finally said. "You're my niece, the amount of levels it's wrong on, I can't even begin to describe."

Claire got up from the bed, and moved to stand before him. She reached up to place a hand on his chest, over his rapidly beating heart.

"It isn't wrong. What is an uncle anyway? You didn't know me when I was little. You didn't watch me grow up. You don't feel like an uncle, you don't feel like any kind of relative to me. You're my friend, my hero, that's the only feeling I have for you that matters to me. Nothing else."

"But we are related. This can't happen."

"Why not?" She asked, pressing forward as he took a step back. "Tell me honestly, do you truly think of me as your niece? Is that all I am to you? Or am I more?"

"Of course you're more to me than that Claire. But you can't be, it isn't right."

"Who's to say what's right anyway? Why can't this be right? The world is so wrong right now; maybe this is the only thing that is right!" Claire cried, running her hand angrily through her hair.

We should be together. Her words trailed sadly through her mind, causing Peter to flinch at the heartache he heard there.

"Claire this can never be right." Peter argued softly, closing his eyes at the pain he saw in her eyes, pain that mirrored the pain in his heart. "Come on, we have to get going."


Author's Note: Hey guys. Sorry for the slow update, school is already on the go and I just haven't had any time to write. But hopefully with Heroes back tomorrow the muse will hit and I won't be able to stop. So anyway please leave reviews because I love to hear them and they keep me going!