The Wastelands (Part II of the Runner Series)

Chapter 39

His lips taste like the rain; soft and warm and something else, something perfectly and indescribably Will.

The wet fabric sticking to his back is cold against my hands but I barely notice. Warmth consumes me, blossoming from my chest and spreading throughout my body, ending in my fingers and toes. He's here. My gods, I can't believe that he's here.

"You're here." He breathes, cupping my head with his hands as he rests his forehead against mine.

"I'm wherever you are." I look up. His dark features are made darker by the pelting rain but his grey eyes are bright, searching. I reach out a hand and touch the scar marring his brow, feeling the air catch in my throat at the realness of it.

"Kay...."

"I'm so sorry, Will. I'm so incredibly sorry. I should have said it a long time ago but I didn't know then what I know now. I didn't understand how you felt." The words come tumbling out in a rush, leaving me breathless. He pulls me to his chest, wrapping his arms around me. I bury my face in his sopping clothes, shivering from a combination of the damp and the very essence of him.

"It's all right." He murmurs into my hair. "I'm sorry as well."

"I thought I had lost you forever." My choked words are muffled further by his shirt but I can tell from the way his arms tighten around me that he has heard. "I thought you were gone."

"I'm right here."

"You weren't, though. You weren't here. They took you from me and I was alone and I couldn't get to you."

"You did, though. You found me." He tilts my chin up with his fingers, forcing my eyes into his. "You amazing, brave, beautiful girl. I knew you would find me."

And then his lips are on mine again, his hands buried in my hair as I clutch at his soaked clothing, feeling as though I could burst from the pure joy and agony of everything between us. I pull him to me with a desperation I have never felt before, needing to feel that he is indeed real, that this isn't some wild vision conjured out of my broken mind.

"I love you." I tell him.

"I know." His eyes glint mischieviously and I laugh, nuzzling the dimple pocking his scruffy cheek.

He pushes the hair back from my face, smoothing away the soaked strands. "We should get you out of this rain."

"I don't mind it."

That half-grin. "I know you don't, but let's not forget where we are."

I give a cursory glance around the iron gridwork and down towards the roofs of the buildings below us. "This doesn't appear to be any more dangerous than usual."

"We do have a habit of consorting under less-than-ideal circumstances." He agrees, stepping back but still refusing to release me. "Do you have somewhere to stay?"

I bite my lip. "Yes, but I can't bring you there."

"That's a pity. Most girls would be proud to take me home."

"It's nice to see that being captured hasn't dampened your ego."

He laughs, kissing me again. "I guess we had best go to my place, then."

"Lead the way."

I follow him over the guardrail and together we scale several levels through the grid. He grips my hand and leads me along a walkway back towards the centre of the city. The sound of our feet striking the iron grating is muffled by the rain and the fat drops do a handy job of concealing us as we dart high above Babel's skyscrapers.