The Cabin

The Cabin
Ivy’s POV

Adrian’s fingers tightened around mine as we kept running towards an empty cabin in the woods. “We’re almost there,” he panted, his voice low and weak. Then he shoved the door open with his shoulder, the sound of it groaning like a wounded thing as we stepped inside.

The scent of wet wood and dust immediately filled our noses. My knees gave out first as I sank against the nearest wall, my body shaking from exhaustion. Adrian closed the door behind us, bolting it with trembling hands as he just stood there.

His chest is rising and falling heavily while his eyes scan the room like he still expected the cops to follow us inside. When his gaze finally met mine, something broke in the air between us. “Ivy,” he breathed my name like a prayer. His voice was the sound of someone who had been holding his breath for too long.

Before I knew it, I was already moving and instantly closed the space between us. My hand was dragging his soaked shirt as I crushed my lips against his. The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was desperate— hungry for proof that he was real. 

His arms locked around me, pulling me close until there was no single space left between us but only the pounding rhythm of our hearts clashing like the thunder outside. 

“I was so scared,” I whispered against his mouth, my voice breaking. “When I heard they arrested you….I thought I would never see you again—“

He cut me off with another kiss before I could finish, his breath trembling against mine. “I thought you were gone,” he growled as his forehead was pressed to mine.“I thought he’d taken you from me forever.”

His thumb traced the corner of my lips, rough and tender all at once and every inch of him felt like fire and ice at the same time. For a moment we just stood there, touching each other like we hadn’t seen forever.

“How did you escape?” I whispered.

His expression darkened into something else, “They were transferring me to prison,” he said. “To Blackridge Penitentiary.”The name alone made my stomach twist, everyone in the city knew what that place was. Blackridge wasn’t a prison—it was a graveyard for the living.

“They wanted me gone,” he continued, “Damian and Cassian made sure to arrange my transfer so that it would be easier for them to get rid of me.”

“Oh my God…” I gasped, covering my mouth in shock at the horror settling deep in my chest. “Oh my God…”

“I overpowered one of the guards and managed to escape until I found a car that I stole.” His voice softened, “Not until I found you.” Something inside me broke then—something I’d been holding together for far too long. 

“I escaped too,” I whispered. “From the hospital, because I was coming to save you. But Cassian caught up with me before I could get to you and tried to force me to go back with him.”

Adrian’s entire body went still then his jaw clenched so tightly I thought his teeth would fall off. “He touched you?”

I nodded, barely. “But I got away.”

He said nothing, then his gaze softened through the rage that was burning inside him, “You’re never going back to him,” his voice a whisper as he lifted a hand to my cheek. “Do you hear me, Ivy? Never.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t care what happens but I’m never getting married to Cassian. I’m done living like—“

His thumb brushed my cheekbone, wiping away a streak of dirt across my face. Then his voice dropped to a rough whisper. “You belong to me,” he said. “And I’ll burn the world down before I let anyone take you again.” Our foreheads resting against each other’s.

I lifted my face and pressed a kiss on his lips, it was slower this time—full of everything that we’d been too afraid to say out loud. When he pulled back, his eyes searched for mine before then parted his lips to speak.

“Ivy,” he whispered, like he wasn’t sure if I was really there. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“You’ll never lose me, Adrain. I promise you,” I murmured. But before I could say anything more, pain shot through me—sharp and sudden as I gasped, clutching the wound while staggering back.

Adrian caught me before I fell. “Ivy….what’s wrong?” I looked down to see that my bandage was already soaked through and blood was spreading fast.

“Y…you’re bleeding,” his expression shifted instantly from passion to panic as he pressed his hand against the wound. “You need help—”

“I’m fine,” I lied, my voice weak. “Just… tired.”

“No, you’re not.” His hand pressed against it harder as he tried to stop the blood from flowing further. His other hand trembled. “The wound needs to be treated, Ivy. If this gets infected—”

“I just need you,” I shot back, gripping his wrist before he could move away. “Please don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, the panic draining from his face immediately and replaced with softness, “I almost lost you once. I won’t again.” Without wasting time he tore out a strip from his shirt and pressed it to my wound, his hands working fast but carefully.

“You’re safe now,” he muttered as though he was talking to himself. “They’ll never find us here.” When he finally looked up, our eyes met again and I reached up, brushing my fingers against his jaw.

“Adrian…”

He caught my hand and pressed it against his lips. The warmth of his breath lingered there, sending a shiver down my spine. “You need to rest,” he whispered.

“What if they find us?” I asked quietly.

He lifted my chin to meet his eyes with one finger in a touch that was both gentle and commanding. “Then they’ll have to go through me first.” 

Then he leaned in and kissed my forehead, the kind of kiss that carried promises neither of us knew how to keep—because it was the only thing we had left.