by Kylie Scott
“I don’t want a doll,” he said. “I just don’t want you to die.”
Silence.
“Roslyn—”
“I have made some bad decisions, I’m not denying it. Thing is, those situations will keep occurring if we don’t change what we’re doing. The way we’re behaving toward each other has to shift. Either that, or we need to part ways.” Her voice sounded scarily matter-of-fact. “I don’t see any other choices.”
Panic stirred inside him. Without thought, he moved to her side, lying down behind her. She stiffened, but didn’t otherwise object to the arm he put around her waist. The sunlight had started to fade, the room dulling down to shadows. There’d been a torch out the back of the shop they’d raided and some girly scented candles in the drugstore. All of them sat in their packs in the back of the pickup. He should go get them. But for the moment, he needed to stay with her more. He needed to fix this.
Problem was, in the past he’d always bailed at times like these. Chances were he’d say the wrong thing now for sure. His mind scrambled to come up with something he could use. Something to soothe her.
“Thank you for trying to come back yesterday,” he said, getting close enough to press up against as much of her as possible, his front to her back. “It does matter.”
“It didn’t work out so well.”
“No. But you tried.”
She made a humming noise. “I am sorry about the cabin.”
“I know,” he said, fingers daring to toy with hers. “We’ll find somewhere else.”
A small nod.
“Here’s what I’m going to do,” he said. “I’m going to go out to the truck and bring in our stuff. Then I’m going to put the bullets back in your clip. Tomorrow, we’re going to start talking over scenarios. Situations you might face and how you’d deal with them. Stuff like that. I’ll teach you some skills. Okay?”
She didn’t answer for a moment. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes. We might even work our way to looking at clearing a room together. Maybe. When I judge you’re ready, and not before.”
Ros wriggled about, rolling over to face him. Cautious eyes studied his face. “I can’t tell if you’re serious or not.”
“I’m serious.”
“Be warned. If you’re lying to me, I may actually shoot you this time.”
He sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“Good.”
Slowly, he laid the palm of his hand against the soft skin of her cheek. That she didn’t turn away or try to stop him was humbling. But then, Ros could be far too kind and forgiving for her own good.
“Honestly,” he said, “I only want you available at my convenience. Not a doll. Not anyone else.”
The corner of her mouth curled just a little. “Wildly romantic, Nick.”
“Not everything you accused me of was bad. I kind of liked that idea.”
“Did you?”
“Mm.”
“Great.” She smiled but then her gaze dipped, avoiding his. “Don’t lie to me again, Nick. Please. I don’t think I could take it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“You just shot me again,” Nick griped at her. Honestly, the man could be such a big baby.
Roslyn sighed somewhat dramatically. “I did not shoot you.”
“Yeah, you did. You flinched and your finger squeezed the trigger. If it had been loaded, I’d be dead.”
“Oh, please.” She rolled her eyes and slumped against the motel room wall. It had to be close to midnight. They’d been doing the same damn clearing-a-room exercise for hours, with him picking on every little last thing she did. She’d nagged him into starting immediately. “Nag” being his word choice, not hers. But she forgave him for being short-tempered. Amazing how benevolent she could be when she got her way for once. Nick, however, had brought highly strung and crabby to a whole new level.
“It was an accident,” she said, not really bothering to keep the smile off her face.
The eyebrow went up. “That makes me feel a lot better. I mean, I’ll be dead, but still, an accident.”
“You surprised me!”
“I meant to surprise you,” the man growled. Nicky had quite the temper once he got going but, fortunately, he didn’t scare her. Not in that way. If anything, his getting all riled up could be rather thrilling in the right circumstances. Blood warmed his face and his eyes were narrowed on her in irritation. Her body heated in response and she bit back a grin. Really, right then, life wasn’t so bad. In fact, it could be pretty nice with the right company, apocalypse or no.
“Zombies will surprise you coming out of hiding,” he said, much in the manner of one handing down a sermon. “But I’m going to be around, too, and you might not always know exactly where I am. It’d be great if you didn’t just react but thought about who you’re aiming at and what you’re doing. You clear your immediate right, then work your way across the rest of the room. You do not shoot until you’re certain of your target. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Nick.” She tried for contrite, but he kept right on scowling.
“Why are you smiling?”
He definitely thrilled her. Maybe it was the lecturing. There’d been a professor back in her university days who’d filled her fantasies for months. The “thou shalt do as I say” attitude had a powerful pull on her, apparently. Maybe he was right and she had daddy issues or something. Or maybe it was the way he worked with her for once, instead of against her.
“Why are you smiling, Ros?” he repeated.
“No reason,” she said airily.
He just looked at her. Candlelight didn’t soften the harsh lines of his face, accentuated by his present pissy mood. Nick wasn’t handsome, exactly, but he had presence. Which by no means meant she’d roll over and take his bossiness like a good girl.
“And why are we even using guns?” she asked. “I mean, if they’re so loud and dangerous, then why not replace them with something more suitable for the job?”
“What, you want a sword now?” he asked, voice heavy with disbelief.
“Maybe, or a machete or an axe … a crowbar would work, right?”
“It would.” He strolled toward her. “But, Roslyn, what do you think would happen if you got splattered with infected blood? What if your mouth was open and some got in, hmm?”
“It would be bad. I know that. But to kill them effectively with something other than a gun we’re going to need to get within a reasonable distance.”
“Exactly.”
“And? They move slower than we do. What is your point here, Nick?”
“Close-quarters combat is dangerous. Didn’t you learn that yesterday?”
“Everything is dangerous!” She threw her arms wide and he caught her hands, held onto them. He swung them back and forth by their sides as if they were children. Then he stepped closer. There was a distinct gleam in his eyes, something other than anger but every bit as heated.
“Did I please you?” he asked in a low voice.
“What?” The sudden change in topic threw her, that and his nearness. His scent enveloped her, warm, male, and familiar. It lured her libido right in. And the way he’d phrased the question—his words circled inside her head and held her in thrall. His eyes had also darkened. So … everything. Everything about him threw her. “What do you mean?”
“You wanted to start training immediately, so we started. I kept my promise.”
“Ah. Yes,” she said. “You did. And you pleased me. I am officially pleased.”
Nick slowly nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” she repeated, because she was apparently a brain-dead, sex-hungry parrot with damp panties. Lust filled the air with the promise of hot times ahead. She couldn’t be imagining it.
“Alright.” He swallowed and stepped back, dropping her hands. “We’d better get some sleep.”
Then the man turned and walked away from her, snuffing out the extra candles as he went, leaving only the one on the bedside table alight. He
didn’t look back.
What the fuck?
Slapping her couldn’t have been more effective. For the second time that day, he’d said no to sex.
“Nick?”
“Yeah?” He sat on the end of the bed and tugged off his boots and the socks beneath, too.
“What’s going on?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t understand what’s going on here.”
He shoved a hand through his hair. “It’s late. We should get some sleep.”
Clearly, they’d entered a different dimension, one where Nick didn’t want her. Except that couldn’t be right. He’d been plenty hard in the shop earlier, and his jeans sported an impressive bulge now. So, whatever his issues were, her sexual attractiveness to him didn’t seem to be a part of it.
Men were such complicated creatures. Women were so much more straightforward.
He grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged it off over his head. The revelation of his hard body made her swoon. The bands of muscle and the way they flexed as he rolled his shoulders. He had a certain grace to him, an efficiency of movement. She could watch him for hours.
“You want to sleep?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
She sat on a chair and removed her own brand-new boots and comfy socks. Pulled her shirt off and dumped it on the small table. His gaze jumped to her, taking in the sensible cotton bra, but was hastily diverted. He scurried into the bathroom and she heard the sounds of him brushing his teeth. When he emerged, he got straight into bed, climbing beneath the blankets. With eyes shut, he gave every appearance of settling in for the night.
So he missed the removal of the rest of her clothes.
“I guess you’re really tired,” she said, throwing back the blankets on her side of the bed. She climbed onto the mattress, clad in nothing but her own skin.
“A long day.”
“Yeah, it was,” she agreed.
His eyes shot open when her hand slid over his chest. The heat of his skin and hard flesh beneath felt sublime.
“I think I know what’s going on here,” she said.
“That so?”
“Male nipples are so nice.” She rubbed the side of her thumb over one hard nub. “Useless, but nice.”
“I can think of a use for them.”
“Can you?” She leaned forward and lapped at one, secured her lips around it and sucked. His sudden intake of breath and muttered ‘yes’ curled her toes. Her pussy was swollen and slick. Ready. But she’d been ready for the better part of the day, damn him. She tightened her fingers in his chest hair and tugged, just a little. Giving him a small serving of her ire seemed more than justified.
Nick’s hand covered hers. “Ros.”
She moved on to his collarbone, tracing it with her tongue. “I think your delicate male pride was wounded when I chose the gun over you earlier today.”
He didn’t reply.
“See, this is a precarious situation we’re in, Nicky. Relationships don’t generally evolve from one party holding the other party hostage. Not healthy ones, at least.”
“You think we’re in a relationship?” he asked. His voice held no malice, but still.
Ros lifted her head. His forehead was furrowed, and his fine lips were sealed tight. If only they’d stayed that way. He stared back at her, dark eyes unreadable.
“If mentioning that you abducted me and held me hostage upsets you, we’re not going to get very far.” Which was the absolute truth. She swung a leg over him, straddling his long body and seating herself atop his jean-covered hips. Actually, not a comfortable position. The zipper dug into her, raised as it was by his hard-on. She shuffled forward onto his bare, flat stomach. Much better. Nothing to chafe her there.
Nick licked his lips and his gaze slid down her warily as if her naked state worried him. So it should. His hands held back, not touching her. Fine, she could do the touching for both of them. Her fingers stroked the soft skin of his face, the arch of his cheekbones and the dips of his temple. For a while the day before, when she’d been fighting off the infected, she’d thought she’d never see him again. Never get to be this close to him, ever again. It put things into perspective. He had issues, but then so did the rest of the world. Nothing was normal anymore. Man-wise, it seemed she’d been searching for perfection, but it didn’t exist. Unicorns were more likely. People, on the other hand, were infinitely fallible.
“I also think that us leaving the cabin has got you feeling a bit discombobulated,” she said. “All of your careful plans have fallen by the wayside. That can’t be pleasing to your inner control freak.”
“I’m feeling what?”
“Confused. Unsettled.”
“And that’s why you’re sitting on me bare-ass naked?”
“No,” she sighed. “I’m sitting on you bare-ass naked because I want to have sex with you. I want to connect with you and feel close to you. Because you’re important to me beyond your ability to protect me.”
“Because you still think you can go out there and do okay on your own.”
She held back from rolling her eyes, just. “I’d manage.”
He snorted.
“But that’s not what we’re talking about,” she said.
“No? So what are we talking about? I’m confused, apparently.”
In answer she kissed his firm lips, trying to tempt him, to show him. Thank God, it worked. He opened his mouth to her on a groan and she slipped him her tongue. God, he kissed well. But then, he did all the physical stuff well. His hot, wet mouth hungrily kissed her back. It made her feel so much better. She squirmed against his hard stomach, rubbing herself on him oh so surreptitiously. As if he didn’t notice. Hands covered her thighs, fingers kneading her flesh. She kissed him until her head spun and she had to come up for air.
They both panted. But Nick took his hands off her and set them back on the bed at his sides. The look he gave her reeked of a challenge.
“Are you saying no to me?” she asked.
“No, I’m not saying no to you.”
“So I can do what I want?”
He cocked his brow. “Do you even know what you want?”
“I don’t think there’s a lot of doubt about that right now.” But she ground her wet pussy against him in case there was. “Talk to me, Nicky. You’re giving me cause for concern here.”
He hesitated, staring over her shoulder. “I think we went about this the wrong way. I think … I rushed things between us.”
Her world turned topsy-turvy. It spun and bounced and careened off the walls and made absolutely no sense at all. “And now you’re trying to slow things down? Right now? After today?”
“I said I was sorry about the gun,” he answered softly. “I meant it.”
“Yeah, you did. I know.”
“And I’ve been thinking since then …”
She waited. He didn’t elaborate.
“You’ve been thinking?” she asked.
He nodded. “About where we go from here.”
The silence held for a long moment as she attempted to pull her thoughts together. Her heart beat somewhere between her legs and he wanted to discuss their future. Random didn’t begin to cover it, given their, not even a week-long, history. She looked down and, good God, she was leaking bodily fluids over the man’s six-pack. The trail of hair leading from his belly button beneath the waist of his jeans clung damp to his skin. The musky scent of her overeager sex surrounded them.
“No. No. This is unacceptable.” She scooted backward and started in on the button and zipper of his jeans, tearing his pants open. “I am not doing this now.”
“Ros. I’m serious. I’m trying to do the right thing here! For once,” he finished bitterly.
“No.”
“Ros. Wait.” He waved his hands in the air and she ignored them.
“You picked the wrong time, buddy.” Grabbing two handfuls of denim, she dragged them down his thighs, freeing up the
essentials. And the essentials were unperturbed by his bullshit, serious-relationship, ill-timed nonsense. It was the first time she’d come this close to his cock. Well, face-to-cock, as opposed to having him inside her. He looked to be just the right size, long and thick with veins wending up his length. The man had a rather attractive appendage, actually. She wrapped her hands around his hard length, testing the feel of him. Taking her time to learn him.
“I like this,” she said.
His mouth opened, so she stuffed hers full of his cock and sucked. No more excuses. No more talking. He tasted wonderful and felt even better, with silken smooth, salty-tasting skin over such solid flesh. Creamy pre-cum trickled onto her tongue. His hands cradled her head and fingers sunk into her hair. Nothing mattered but her hunger for him.
“Shit,” he muttered. “Sweetheart.”
She took him deeper then pulled back, drawing on him fiercely. The encouraging hands in her hair calmed her down some, signaling his capitulation to her. She massaged his sweet spot with the tip of her tongue and he groaned, stomach muscles clenching.
“You win,” he said.
Which was really all she needed.
His cock slipped from her mouth with a wet pop and she crawled up his body, covering him with kisses as she went, from those hot muscles that delineated his hips to his neat belly button, his pecs and the flat discs of his nipples. The crook of his neck smelled divine; she could kiss and lick him there all night.
Amongst other things.
“What were you thinking?” she asked, tickling the rim of his right ear with her tongue.
“I don’t have a fucking clue.”
The heat of his cock filled her hand and she fit him to the wet lips of her sex. Slowly, gently, she took him inside. He seemed to need gentle now. Giving in didn’t really suit him.
The worried expression gave way to ecstasy as she worked herself onto him. His lips parted and teeth clenched.
“Are you wet enough?” he asked and she nodded.
Wet and determined. The push of him into her pussy felt wonderful. Hard and fast was fun, too, but they’d been a bit out-of-control crazy last time. This time she could savor the experience, the feel of him stretching her, filling her until finally her body rested against his pelvis. In this position, every time she rocked back against him her clit rubbed against his body in the best way. Pressure could be the most amazing thing.