No Longer Alone (House of Garner Book 1)

by Erin R Flynn

  I shivered, the air getting colder faster than the past several nights. I laughed when he wrapped me in a hotel robe. I didn’t want the rest of the water in the tote to go to waste though, and when Jaxon said we had a bit longer before dinner, we quickly did laundry, the plastic washboard I’d found at Walmart another smart grab.

  They thanked me, and Jaxon actually rinsed the clothes in the river as he quickly went to bathe as well. By then dinner was ready… And fucking fantastic. The meat was so, so tender I couldn’t even believe it.

  “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” I moaned before taking another bite.

  “Thanks, but that’s probably more because you don’t remember anything before the apocalypse,” Jaxon admitted.

  “Shhh, no, it’s that awesome,” I promised.

  “Glad you like it because I was thinking there are freezer trailers like the one we picked up but a freezer,” Jaxon said in between bites. “We could eat like this all the time if we figured out how to make that happen with the juice you have.”

  “Yes, please,” Darius said at the same time I did, but he kept talking. “Wow, we could be downright decadent if we had a freezer trailer.”

  “Right?” I chuckled, smiling brightly. “We’ll probably have hundreds of corrupted attack the night we find it, but we’ve got the bullets.” I moaned at my next bite. “We should look for an abandoned farm around here. I mean, everything’s green so they got rain. We could get fresh fruit and veggies. I would die. Seriously, just die. I think it’s been two months since I’ve even snagged an apple fresh.”

  “How?” Jaxon asked gently. “You normally had a ride, right?”

  I nodded. “And guys on my ass that I didn’t know wanted me because I was a princess.” I shook my head. “It was more—Darius came back and talked to me, figured out how to tell me. They were—it always felt hostile. It’s such a difference that in the back of my mind, I still seriously think there was more than the guy’s a douche and would have lied to me.”

  “He was much angrier than I remember,” Darius agreed. “Yeah, there were waves of rage, and I could see how that came off as hostile towards you.” He opened his mouth but then closed it. “I shouldn’t speak bad against another noble who wants to be in your court.”

  “Never, not ever will those assholes be anywhere near me,” I grumbled. “That’s not just gossiping, Darius, that’s protecting me when they’re planning to lie and flip all around what you guys believe in.”

  “I agree,” Jaxon muttered. “We’re also not supposed to lie to any princess we’re courting. Lie once we have one for court games or surviving, but part of the rules is to be honest with our princess or the princess we want always. He’s breaking that vow, and all bets are off then.”

  “Good point,” Darius agreed. “If that’s what you want, I won’t hold back then.”

  “Thanks.”

  After dinner I received my first lesson in jerky, Jaxon a patient and engaging teacher and not just because it was meat and yummy. And he didn’t just explain what he was doing, but what would be best if we had the setup like marinating overnight, but there was no fridge so then it wouldn’t be safe meat. Also that a lower temp for longer was better, but we had lots of meat to cook.

  I nodded and brushed the grates with oil before laying out all the thin slices of meat I could fit on the grill and smoker while he and Darius worked on slicing more or other stuff. I didn’t want to think about skinning and whatever; I liked eating meat too much. Fine, I could kill corrupted and not bat an eyelash when they chowed down on each other, but apparently I found my line of gross if I was going to eat it.

  Funny because I’d recently started sucking blood. I muttered about worrying I had to turn in my vampire card already and not having fangs.

  And they both died of laughter because of course they heard me.

  Night arrived and it actually was a few hours before any corrupted came since we were so far into the forest from even any town and they weren’t really much faster than they were as humans. The guys said they were going out to meet them and handle it, Darius asking me to please just sit this one out, and Jaxon saying someone really should watch the fires.

  Uh-huh, because it wouldn’t only take them minutes. Fine, I could sit out for once only because I would slow them down… And my muscles did ache a bit. I wasn’t used to such fun after all.

  I was pulling the second batch off the grill when they came back, reloading with what had already marinated. I’d tried a piece from the first batch, and it was so, so much better than any bags I’d found when traveling. Apparently red wine, honey, and Jaxon’s mastery with spices made for really good fucking jerky.

  They used their speed to finish up what I was doing, and then I was sandwiched between them, Darius toying with the belt of the robe.

  “Say yes,” he begged, his eyes full of fire and adrenaline from hunting.

  “Yes,” I agreed, not sure what they were talking about.

  They wanted Jaxon’s idea. They took off my robe, and he lifted me under my thighs, spreading my legs as I yelped and wrapped my arms around his neck. Darius knelt and feasted on me for dessert like he’d wanted.

  “You are such a beauty,” Jaxon breathed in my ear as Darius wound my body up for another orgasm.

  I angled my head and kissed under his chin, hoping that was enough for right then. I wasn’t sure I wanted my first kiss with someone while another man was already eating me out. Then again, Jaxon had already touched my clit so… Maybe it was time to just do what I wanted when I wanted. Wasn’t that like a rule of an apocalypse?

  “Let me feed you, Princess,” Jaxon offered. “Just a bit. You need to get to where you need to be.” He must have bit his wrist, as it was already bleeding when he moved it in front of me.

  I barely had a thought in my head when I latched onto him, holding his arm to my mouth as I drank down his blood. Fire seared me inside. I screamed as I came, licking every drop of his blood when the bite healed.

  “Darius, please, please, I ache,” I whimpered, not wanting only his mouth anymore. “Fuck, so hot, the fire’s too hot.”

  “He’s much older,” he muttered as he stood. I missed him getting his jeans open or taking off his shirt, but the next second he was pushing in me, their bodies cradling me. “Pinch her nipples.”

  “No, not when—”

  “Yes, please,” I moaned, thrashing as fingers did, rolling them as I hung onto Jaxon as my legs were around Darius. I came so hard I actually felt about to pass out as Darius finished. I couldn’t hold myself or wrap around them, their strong arms and hands easily holding me up.

  “Let out the charge, Inez,” Darius muttered, and I realized he’d carried me over to the van. I nodded and managed to charge it up before I was back in his arms.

  “Thank you,” I mumbled, meaning more for taking care of me when I was passing out than the sex, but I fell asleep to them both chuckling and saying it was their pleasure.

  I woke with the sun, half lying on Darius with Jaxon pressed against my back, his arm around me, and it felt so right. All I wanted forever was to wake up like that and feel so treasured and loved. That feeling of being cared about washed over me and was so strong tears almost came to my eyes.

  “We didn’t wake you for the watch because you never once stirred when we kept switching and cooking while we did,” Darius explained.

  “Do you really not need as much sleep as me?”

  Jaxon snorted. “I’m fine with a couple of hours. Any more than three and I would fall over with shock. You’re young and you haven’t gotten all you’ve needed, not just blood but vampires eat more than humans and most humans are barely getting what they need in the apocalypse.” He kissed my hair. “But we did have an idea if you’re game.”

  I instantly flushed, thinking of his last idea, and they both groaned, probably knowing where my mind went.

  “Yes, we should absolutely do that again, but that wasn’t what he meant,” Darius mu
rmured. “I was thinking about your GPS thing and realized we should maybe find a GPS navigator. A used one that you could fire up, and fine, wouldn’t be updated—”

  “But would have everything from before whatever took it out,” I finished, catching on. “Yeah, smart. We could find farms or orchards? Right?”

  “Exactly,” he agreed. “We could find dealerships and at least in the US have an idea of what we could raid.”

  “Or hospitals to hunt and thin the corrupted,” Jaxon added. “That should juice you up nicely too.”

  “Wait, that’s tied to the electricity?” I asked, sitting up so I could see them both… And only realizing then I was naked. I wanted to cover up, but I liked their heated stares as well.

  Jaxon cleared his throat and ran his hand over my thigh. “It is. It’s energy manipulation. Not just electricity, but everything has an energy to it.”

  “Right, vibrations, frequencies, and science stuff,” I muttered, bobbing my head. “So I’m converting ghost energy into electricity, or their energy around me with that magic makes the seeds?”

  “Yes,” he answered, smiling when he could tell that was a hard pill for me to swallow. “I saw a princess once change glass into sand and back to glass. You can’t change metals into diamonds—or I don’t think you can—but like components of whatever. So you could change concrete back to cement so it can be reformed. That’s why normally it’s a ghost turning into salt or minerals as we have them.”

  “But you’ve never seen the electricity before?”

  “No,” Jaxon snickered. “And certainly not rebuilding electrical circuits. My grandmother told me she saw a princess once reconstruct a whole part of her coven house when someone attacked and destroyed it. That’s the kind of power it can become, but it has the same root of coming from components. We carry electrical charges in us or energy, so you must tap into that somehow.”

  “Okay then.” I sat with that, lost in my thoughts until I felt another hand on my other thigh and realized they were moving me to spread my legs. “So class is over?”

  “Oh, we want to teach you lots still,” Darius promised.

  Yeah, I blushed again. And they taught me how fun sex kneeling with one man while another man touched me was.

  I leaned in and kissed Jaxon, feeling silly we hadn’t kissed when he kept joining us as like a helper when we had sex. It was totally different than kissing Darius but felt just as amazing. My toes actually curled it was so good kissing him, and it left me breathless.

  “Shit, you are just too fucking perfect,” he groaned as he came back for another kiss.

  Until my stomach growled, and then they were getting up and all about feeding me. I felt so ridiculously spoiled and treasured that I couldn’t keep the goofy grin off my face.

  “I like you guys too,” I said quietly as we ate our oatmeal and cold toaster pastries.

  “Glad to hear it,” Jaxon muttered, smiling as he sipped his coffee. “Nothing makes a man want to keep spoiling a quality woman like her appreciating it.”

  “I do, but I want to spoil you guys too,” I admitted.

  “You did last night,” Darius reminded me. “You gave him his fantasy. You gave me mine. That’s not something most women do so easily and give that part of themselves to someone.”

  That made sense, maybe. It was so easy to do it, but I could see not with just anyone. “Anything else you’d like?”

  “I think if we get another vehicle with enough room, I’d very much like to find a lingerie store,” Darius said.

  “Shit, yes,” Jaxon groaned. “I want my princess in satin and everything sexy she deserves.” He cleared his throat when I blinked at him. “Too much?”

  “No, you called her ‘my princess,’” Darius explained.

  Jaxon nodded, but his gaze was locked with mine. “Too much?”

  I opened my mouth but then closed it, shaking my head in answer. Yes, it was too much that they were seriously considering swearing an oath to put me first and be mine for whatever I wanted forever. No amount of time would make that seem less crazy to me, so even after days or a week or years I still didn’t know I would ever swear that.

  But if I didn’t take it as that, and just they liked me and wanted to be with me as I did with them, then no, not too much. I liked them around too, and for now, I decided to just think of it in terms of that and not push myself too much.

  It wasn’t like we didn’t have other things going on, and that whole I’m a vampire thing was pretty overwhelming.

  12

  We headed out the moment we were packed up, and this time I was on Jaxon’s lap while Darius drove. And almost immediately he started whispering ideas of how we should spend the time.

  “Seriously, there has to be a limit to how many orgasms a woman can have in a day,” I muttered as I flushed at his ideas.

  He snorted. “I doubt that, but I think we should start counting how many you have and that way we know what we need to top and that you’re always well tended to.”

  My jaw dropped when Darius agreed and they started discussing the scoring system. “Cut it out. You sound ridiculous and—quit teasing me.”

  “We’re not teasing,” Darius chuckled. “And this isn’t remotely the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard a princess or her nobles do.”

  “Or I’ve seen,” Jaxon added. “I remember visiting a coven during a princess’s birthday and she was naked on a huge bed in the middle of her court and for a full week of celebration it was nothing but fucking and feasting. All her nobles fucked her and pleased her, denying themselves and only worshiping her in thanks of her birth.”

  “Oh wow,” I whispered.

  “Mother spoke of a princess that only allowed her nobles to take blood from her during her menstruation. They would eat her out and get the joy of her blood on them when they had sex.”

  I opened my mouth to say that was gross but then remembered how I felt when they touched me with their blood. I was used to periods being a huge pain, and I only had memories of it since the apocalypse, so it was way worse than what other women talked about. “Would you want that?”

  “Yes,” they both groaned.

  “Is that normal?”

  “Things get heated around court during that time of the month,” Darius answered carefully. “I brought it up as it’s not normal to only give blood that way. It’s a gift to receive blood from a princess, of course, but only ever getting it while on your knees for her is a bit over the top.”

  That made sense. Still, I wasn’t sure I would be up for a week of fun during my period. I might need more time with the whole blood is fun thing before then.

  The conversation was interrupted when I saw a sign for an orchard right after we came out of the national park. I pointed it out to Darius, and they were both excited too.

  “It’s abandoned,” Jaxon said as we pulled up to the entrance.

  “If we find all kinds of trees and fruit, I’m so getting shot or something,” I muttered, still wanting the fruit and whatever else we could find.

  He chuckled, hugging me to him. “You are so fun. Yes, I believe fate balances us out and unfortunately we get some bad after the good, but if you believe that, the reverse is true too, Inez.” He smiled when I glanced at him. “The second you were able to go hunting to rid the world of corrupted, you have been. You’ve killed a lot of them from all the seeds you showed us.

  “Maybe this is the Goddess tossing you some hope or apples for setting so many souls free? Keeping others from being infected or eaten? Hell, giving Darius and I hope of a real future instead of being lost? All of that is good in your tally to deserve good too. Yes, they find us, but there are three of us and a lot of weapons, so I know the ghosts are hard, but set them free and let’s have some apples.”

  “Thanks, that’s a good way to frame it,” I said after a minute, giving him a quick kiss.

  I grabbed my rifle and got out when Darius turned off the van, checking out the area as we headed towards the
store. The doors were off and windows broken, damage done to the place, but it wasn’t too bad. Inside didn’t smell great, as all the produce had taken a while to spoil, and that stench seemed to sink into the walls almost. I made my way to the far back wall and checked out what was on the shelves.

  “I don’t think jam keeps this long, but the honey’s good if it’s processed,” Jaxon muttered, looking it all over before picking up a jar. “Yeah, this is.”

  I kept moving and found a map of the place for tourists before grabbing a stack of bushels that produce hadn’t rotted in. Heading back outside, I found a golf cart with a cargo bed and powered it up.

  “We already have a van,” Darius reminded me.

  I frowned, glancing from it to the path we needed to go. “Yeah, but it’s not roads, and what if there were floods in the fields? Then we lost the van.”

  “I don’t know if you’re smarter or more beautiful, but both are ridiculously sexy,” Jaxon praised as he jumped behind the wheel. “Let’s get you your apples, My Princess.” He winked at me as I got in, the cart having four seats so we didn’t have to sit on laps.

  The path wasn’t completely overgrown and not bad to follow. Even the grass in the orchard had grown so long it flopped over on itself so it wasn’t like going through a jungle. All the trees had apples though, already in the spring.

  “They must have had a mild winter,” Darius said as we stopped by some trees. “These are late season apples and they’re still going.”

  Oh, so apparently I had it backwards.

  I let the tall guys pick the apples and held the bushel, putting it in the cart when one was full. We did two of that type, and then Jaxon suggested we move on. I wasn’t the only one excited when we found their vegetables. There were potatoes, onions, and even a bunch of herbs. Lots had died in the winter, but still it was a score.