Chapter 196

Amaris' mouth hung open for a moment, and then anger grew. "Who? Who whipped you?" Lyle turned to look at her, then down to the floor. "Adam and Sveta. They were made for each other. They are equally twisted and driven by their need for power." Lyle said with a dismissive tone and then almost mechanically started taking the rest of his clothes off. It was clear that he did not want to continue this conversation any further. Amaris walked over and lifted his face to hers from his bent over position. "I'm sorry." She said in a whisper that cracked from the emotion behind it. "I did not want any of this, least of all for you to be hurt." she kissed his cheek tenderly. Lyle dropped the clothes that he was holding and put his arms around her. "This is not your fault. Don't ever think that. This is not something that you chose. You were as much thrown into this as the rest of us. This is all the fault of the ones who have greed and lust in their heart. The ones who have no thought of anyone but themselves. Never for one minute think that you are responsible for any of this." Lyle pulled Amaris close to him and hugged her body to his. He kissed her again and this time there was no flicker from the flame to build it was full of love and caring. That was when Amaris became aware that Lyle was not wearing anything at all. Lyle seemed to realize that too. "Love, I think you are a little over dressed." He smiled at her as he began to tug the hem of her shirt up.

They showered and then they fell asleep on the bed for a few hours. When Amaris awoke the room was pitch black. There was no light filtering in from the window. Amaris reached next to her and found the bed empty and cold. Lyle was not in bed and clearly had left some time ago. She sat up. "Lyle?" There was a rustle from the other room. Lyle walked in. He was fully dressed again in the clean clothes that they had put in their packs ealier. He sat on the bed next to her. Brushing her hair back from her face. "Hey beautiful. I'm glad your up. I couldn't bear to wake you, but we do need to get going. The sun is down." He pulled her to him and kissed her. The passion began to ignite again and seemed to call for round two. Lyle pulled back and stood up. "Okay. I guess no more of that tonight or we will never get out of here." He said with a chuckle. His eyes full of lust. Amaris laughed and pulled the sheets up around her. "I guesss I need to get my clothes." She began to slide off the opposite side of the bed pulling the bed sheets with her. "Here." Lyle said. "I went and got our packs and brought them in so that no one could mess with them, and I also washed our clothes and took out the spare outfits that we packed so we would have something clean. Our other clothes is already dried and repacked. When your dressed we will eat and head out." With that he left the room closing the door behind him giving her some privacy. Amaris jumped out of bed and pulled on the clothes that Lyle had left on the end of the bed. She noticed as she dressed that all the clothes that Lyle left for her were black. Black jeans, t-shirt, and hoodie. Since they were traveling at night that would help so that she would have less chance of being seen. When she walked out, Lyle had plates with scrambled eggs and oatmeal on the table. "I hope you don't mind powdered eggs, I did not want to alert anyone to the fact that we are leaving early." Amaris came to sit at the stool at the counter with him. "I did manage to scrounge up fresh berries when I was getting supplies from the cook area earlier." Amaris leaned over and gave him a kiss. "Thank you. That was very sweet of you to remember." Lyle chuckled. "How can I forget. I am mated to the only werewolf who prefers fruit over meat." They both laughed and started eating their breakfast. The instant coffee wasn't half bad since Amaris drank it black anyway. Lyle had to use the powdered creamer which he swore was enough to make him consider switching to taking his black. When they were done they washed the dishes and put them away and then Amaris insisted on going and making the bed. "This is Jason's friend's house. Lets at least leave it how we found it." The two of them went out the door and Amaris headed for the back of the truck and froze. Lyle walked to the back of the truck and looked at her with his brows furrowed. "What are you doing?" Now Amaris was confused. "Aren't I supposed to ride in the back under the tarp?" She asked. Lyle got a sly smile. "That was Alexis' plan. Yes." Amaris was still confused. "Are we not going to do Alexis' plan?" Lyle's grin got bigger. "Nope." He motioned for her to follow him. He walked around to the UTV. "Come on get in." He said waiting by the passenger side to help her in. She stopped and folded her arms. "We are not going in that. It's no better than a glorified golf cart. They will catch us in no time." She said. Her doubt written all over her face. Crestfallen, Lyle walked to the front of the UTV and waved his arms over it as if he was a showroom model pointing out the features of the new car. "This little beauty is no golf cart. It can do up to 60 miles per hour, and see these tires? They are so this four wheel drive bad boy can go off road in places most cars can not. We are taking this so we can move fast through places that they can't follow with cars and trucks. Do you want to ride in it now?" Amaris was laughing again. "Okay you sold me. Where do I sign on the dotted line?" Amaris said as she walked to the passenger side of the UTV. She took Lyle's proffered hand and climbed in and sat down and began doing up the seat belt. "Wait right here. I will be right back. Stay down low in the seat. Don't put the seat belt on yet." Lyle said to her and then jogged away. When he came back, Amaris could hear him rather than see him. Amaris realized that there was a second voice with him. "Go ahead on up there and start it up. Head toward the main road and I will be right behind you in a minute." Amaris heard Lyle's voice say. She ducked down even lower in the seat. Luckily her sweatshirt was black and a hoodie, so she pulled the hood over her head and down low on her face. The truck started to back up. As it cleared the side of the building and turned around Amaris was able to catch a glimpse of the driver inside lit up by the gauges on the dashboard. She blinked her eyes and checked again. The man driving looked an awful lot like Lyle, but his hair was just a little bit shorter, and his eyes were set a little more deeply. This man was not Lyle, but at a quick glance someone would think it was him.