Apocalyptic Beginnings Box Set

by M. D. Massey

  I blushed. “I’m pretty sure we won’t be doing anything like that.”

  We said goodnight and I headed to the bedroom where Henry waited.

  Henry closed the bedroom door behind me, leaving the room lit only by the moonlight. As soon as he locked it, he grabbed me. I didn’t care who he was. I still loved him. His kisses excited me, my nerves tingling from head to toe.

  When he pulled off his shirt, I ran my hands down his familiar, cool body. I knew he desperately wanted me. His breath caught in his throat as I ran my hands around the taut part of his jeans, his thickness demanding to make an appearance.

  He peeled off my shirt and, in one swift move, unhooked my bra and threw it to the side. He picked me up and carried me to the bed. We dropped down together and he possessively pinned me down, rocking his hips into mine.

  He rasped, “Let’s continue where we left off earlier.” He dove onto my mouth, taking complete control. His strong, cool hands ran over my breasts, pausing for a moment. He released my mouth, taking one of my swollen pink pretties between his lips. I moaned as his hands trailed down my abdomen. I took the opportunity to unbutton his jeans. Then, suddenly, he yanked my pants off.

  “Henry…,” I whispered in his ear as he kissed my neck. I wrapped my hand around his thickness, and he groaned while I slowly stroked him.

  Panting, he looked me in the eyes. “I need you,” he growled. “Right now.”

  When he kicked off his pants. I wrapped my legs around his hips, giving him better access. He sank into my begging, slick core. I tried hard not to make a sound, but he felt so good…stretching me, filling me.

  He groaned when I sank my teeth into his shoulder. He began his usual assault, pounding into me, making me rise faster than normal. He put his hand over my mouth to contain my sounds as I cried out and fiercely pulsated around him.

  I loved his method. He knew exactly how to please me, but then he would slow down to make it delectable, one slow stroke at a time. He knew it drove me crazy, and always had great hopes of forcing me over the edge more than once. He wanted to hear me beg him.

  “Henry…”

  “Hmm…?” he groaned as he slowly pulled out. His eyes danced in the darkness.

  “Please, Henry.”

  “Please what, my love? Tell me what you want.” His accent made me buckle.

  “More. I want more of you.”

  “More?”

  “Yes. Please.” He swiftly flipped me over. I made myself as taut as I could as he slammed back into me. He moaned so loud, I was afraid someone would hear.

  “Shit,” he said, pausing. He groaned as I kept myself as tight as possible. He thrusted deeper and harder. I gasped as he pounded against my inner limits. I felt like he was getting some of his aggression out on me, but I loved every second of it.

  When his breathing changed, I knew he was close. I could picture his face: biting his lower lip, his eyes rolling back, his jaw slack. He looked so goddamn sexy when he’d come.

  “Oh god, Elaina… Fuuuuck.” His ragged breath broke with a deep moan. He rested his forehead between my shoulder blades for a second to catch his breath.

  After he pulled out, he fell onto the bed next to me. He pulled me into him, spooning, holding me as he fell asleep. His soft snore tickled my ear. That should have been our first time together as husband and wife, but it wasn’t.

  Minutes after he fell asleep, his mumbling began. He mumbled a lot in his sleep. Sometimes, he would cry out in pain. After our discussion, I now had a feeling what he had nightmares about. When he’d wake up, screaming, he’d never tell me what the nightmare was about. It made me pause, thinking about the abuse he’d endured throughout his life. I didn’t even want to know how many times he was beaten. He had scarring on his chest, arms, wrists, ankles, and back. Now I knew where they all came from.

  I thought back to the first time I experienced his night terrors.

  -November 2012-

  We had only been together for a couple weeks, and Henry twitched and mumbled in his sleep. Why could he never have a peaceful slumber? His breathing was ragged, and he let out painful moans. I rolled over to see him curled up into a fetal position, holding on so tight, it looked like he was trying to hold himself together. His face was contorted in pain. I had to help him.

  I stroked his hair and softly said his name, trying not to jar him awake. “Henry…” I stroked his cheek. He was in a cold sweat and shaking all over. “Henry…”

  Then he let out this blood-curdling scream. I jumped off the bed as he launched himself from it, slammed into the wall, and cowered in the corner.

  “Henry…” With hesitation, I walked toward him.

  “Get away from me!” His face was frozen in fear, and he had an accent.

  “Henry, it’s me. Elaina. It’s okay.” I held out my hands and got down on the floor in front of him. “What’s wrong, lover?” His breathing was still ragged. “Talk to me.” I moved closer, being careful not to startle him. His pupils had taken over his eyes. There was only a hint of green around them.

  “Get away from me!” He screamed in what sounded like a British accent.

  “Henry, I’m not going to hurt you. Look at me.” I reached out and touched his face. He flinched. “Henry…” When I cupped his cheek, his face softened. “Are you okay?” His breathing slowed down and became more controlled. His eyes returned to emerald as they darted around the room, trying to get his bearings.

  “Elaina? What…?” He looked around.

  “I think you had a bad dream. Are you all right now?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” He tried to stand, but stumbled.

  “Henry, what’s going on? You’re scaring me. You were talking in a British accent.”

  -October 2014-

  Oh, my god. The British accent. I just thought it was a weird dream state he was in at the time, but it all clicked now.

  I cried about everything he endured throughout his life. It made my whole being ache, picturing him getting beaten to near death. I had to stop myself before I had a complete mental breakdown.

  Flopping over on my back, I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my father in the sights of my Sig. I tossed and turned, rocking Henry’s insomnia for a change. Lying there, I stared out the window…thinking, contemplating. I hoped I didn’t disturb Henry because he didn’t look like he rested too peacefully, but at least someone was getting a little sleep.

  As he continued to mumble, I thought about where we should be at that moment. We should be on the beach, enjoying each other as husband and wife. What I wouldn’t give to turn back time.

  A knock on the bedroom door brought me back to the ever-growing, agonizing reality again.

  “Elaina. Elaina, are you awake?” Claire. I hopped up and pulled on a t-shirt and pants. I opened the door and there she stood, looking like a mess. “I can’t sleep,” she whispered.

  “Me, either.” I looked down at my feet and frowned. I glanced back at Henry, who still slept, and stepped out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me. Claire wrapped her arms around me and cried.

  “I can’t do this. I can’t. How am I supposed to get through this? Marc meant so much to me. I counted on him to keep me sane.”

  “Hon, I don’t know. I wish I had the answers you need to hear.” In the darkness, I held her. The only thing I could do was be there for her. “Let’s go in here.” I flicked on the light switch in the guest room, forgetting the power was out, and we sat on the bed not knowing what to say to one another.

  “Has he told you all that he knows?” she asked. I sighed. Getting antsy, I decided pacing was better than sitting. Normally, I didn’t hide stuff from Claire, but I promised Henry I wouldn’t talk about his training and past life. “Elaina, you know more, don’t you?”

  “I can’t say anything about it. I promised him. If anything gets out, we could all be in danger.”

  “Ha! Open your eyes, Elaina! Have you missed what’s happened?”

 
“My eyes are wide open. I am trying to protect everybody.”

  “You cannot hide stuff from us right now!”

  “He gave you the gist of everything. Some things he told me are too personal to share.” I paced around, feverishly. I let out a growl, then said, “He was abused. Horribly. He would be humiliated if I told you everything. I can’t do that to him after I heard what he has endured.”

  Claire stood in front of me, her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what to think anymore, Elaina.”

  I was doing my best to hold myself and everyone else together. I think people forgot I had suffered losses, as well.

  “They beat him near death on several occasions! He was broken, hurt, angry, and scared! He has nightmares and terrors all the fucking time! He was humiliated time and time again. Is that what you want to hear? I can tell you what I can tell you. If you don’t like that, I don’t know what to do about it. I made a promise to him.” I walked to the window.

  “Elaina, we need to know what’s going on. You cannot keep secrets from the group. If we’re going to work together as a team, we need to be honest with one another. We can’t trust each other if we aren’t upfront.”

  “Here’s the scoop. There’s a virus that somehow got out, people became infected and started eating each other, and now we have to make those with the virus true dead. There you have it. The big fucking secret is out, Claire! I cannot tell you anything else. I don’t even know everything myself.” I tried to whisper, but it came out louder than I intended.

  “You can be such an obstinate bitch,” Claire muttered.

  I shook my head as I continued to look out the window, watching the sun rise. When I saw headlights coming toward the building, I didn’t think too much about it…until I saw that it looked like Henry’s truck when it pulled up. A chick stepped out.

  “Oh, my god…,” I muttered, needing to pick my jaw off the floor.

  “What? What do you see? More undeads?”

  “I think it might be Sophie.”

  Claire rushed over to the window. “Wow. Could she look any more like a hooker?”

  “I have to go wake Henry up.” I stormed out of the room, leaving Claire in my wake.

  Chapter 5

  “Henry! Get up.” He moaned. “Henry! She’s here.”

  He jumped up, forgetting he was naked. “Okay, I’m up. Wait. Who’s here?” He rubbed his eyes.

  Who the hell did he think I was talking about? Mother Theresa?

  “Uh… Sophie.”

  “Shit. Yes!” He pulled his pants on, grabbed his vest containing weapons, then his shirt. It dawned on me that he must have had that on when we rescued Nick and Nate from “Undead Alley” because he had reached up under his shirt to grab another gun for Nick.

  He made a mad dash for the living room. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him move that fast before, but I kept pace behind him.

  “You could have told me she looked like a fucking hooker.”

  He whipped around before reaching the door, glaring at me. It could’ve frozen hell over.

  “She is not a hooker!”

  Wow. He took that a little too personally.

  “Well, she sure looks like one,” I mumbled. Henry stood at the door, waiting for Sophie. It felt like an eternity as he listened and watched through the peephole. When he opened the door, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

  Sophie’s leather pants were painted on, she had on a skin-tight bright pink tee and tight black leather vest. Her makeup looked Playboy picture-perfect, even in the early dawn. Let’s not forget the six-inch spiked heels. I looked down at my attire and cringed, but what could I do? Henry wouldn’t let me go and get any of my stuff. Not that my Old Navy and Gap clearance attire was anything fantastic, but it was mine and it fit me.

  “Liam!”

  I was taken aback. Liam? What the hell? I thought nobody was to call him that, but she could?

  “Not funny, Sophie. Come on in, my darling.” Henry waved her in. She jumped at him and hugged him so tight, I thought he was going to pop. Then she kissed him on the lips. I felt an old-fashioned prison shanking coming on. I was practically snarling. She’d better get her claws off my man, or I would put her hooker ass back on the street corner.

  Nick and Nate stirred, and I heard Claire take a deep breath behind me.

  “Oh, how I’ve missed my bestie!” She kept kissing him on his cheeks. I pretty much wanted to throat punch her.

  I just stood there, glaring. Finally, I let out a fake cough. She stopped slobbering all over my man and looked at Claire.

  “You must be Elaina. Pleasure to meet you.” She smiled a huge, perfect, toothy grin, like the Cheshire Cat.

  “Ah, no. That’s Claire, her best friend.” Henry gestured toward me. “This is my beautiful Elaina.” Sophie looked me up and down with a critical eye. I felt violated, and a bit dirty.

  Her eyes were the same color as Henry’s. It was odd to me because I had never seen that color to begin with, then the hooker shows up with the same color eyes? I parked that in the back of my brain for the moment. I knew I would ask about that at another point in time.

  “Ah, okay. Well… Hello, Elaina.” She stuck her hand out to me.

  I got the feeling she didn’t think I was good enough for Henry, or Liam, or Luke, or whatever the fuck his name was. I just looked at her hand, and she finally put it back at her side.

  “And whose are these?” She pointed toward Nick and Nate, like they were belongings.

  “Umm, that’s Nick.” Nick lifted his hand, looking at me with a raised brow. I think he understood I was less than pleased about Sophie’s arrival, and I’m pretty sure he felt the same. “And that’s Nate.” Nate gave her a small smile while looking her up and down.

  “Relations?”

  “Nick is Elaina’s brother, and Nate was our wedding coordinator. Christ.” Henry looked down for a second. I knew he was thinking about the previous day’s events.

  “Very good then. Well, hello. I’m Sophie Jackson.” She nodded and smiled. I didn’t like her. She rubbed me the wrong way. “Henry, darling, I need assistance with my trunk and bags.”

  “All right. Nick, will you cover us?”

  “Yeah, sure.” He got up, put on his shirt, and picked up the Sig Henry issued him. He walked over to me, gave me a pat on the back, and followed behind.

  I turned around and looked at Claire.

  “Wow.” Claire didn’t seem too amused, either. “Did you see what she was wearing? Totally inappropriate for undead killing.”

  “I think her ‘ladies’ were about to burst out of that top.” Nate chuckled at my statement. I admit it. I was jealous. She was beautiful and looked like a Barbie. “Would it be bad to throat punch her? I really wanted to when her hooker ass slobbered all over my man,” I growled.

  “No offense, but I think she could probably take you out in a second, especially if she’s trained like Henry.” Claire was always the voice of reason.

  “Probably,” I sighed. When we heard gunshots coming from just outside the apartment, I ran to the window. “Shit!” There was a small herd of undeads coming at Henry, Nick, and the hooker. “Should we go out there?!”

  “I don’t know,” Claire and Nate said in unison. Then I saw Sophie laughing. That bitch was mental to the maximum. She grabbed something small out of her trunk and tossed it at the undeads.

  “I think that’s a—”

  The explosion was intense. The window cracked and pieces of glass fell to the ground. The concussion pushed the three of us back and to the floor. It rattled me to the core. Bits and pieces of undeads splattered on what was left of the window.

  “Holy fuck!” My stomach decided to revolt again. I almost didn’t make it to the sink before I lost what little food was left in me.

  Claire yelled, “Check the door!”

  I worked hard to gather myself and stumbled out of the kitchen. “What happened?” I slurred my words a bit as I stumbled past Nate.

  “Y
ou tossed your cookies,” Nate said.

  “Thank you. I figured that one out myself.” He didn’t appreciate my attitude. “Grab your weapon. Claire, let’s do this.” I forced myself to focus.

  “Got it.”

  “And what do you want me to do?” Nate was even more annoyed.

  “Stand there and look pretty?”

  “I don’t need to stand to look pretty, honey.” Too bad Nate wasn’t facing me so he could see me roll my eyes from there to Seattle.

  The handle on the door jiggled. Claire readied herself to open it.

  “Are you bit?!” I yelled.

  “What if I am?” Great. It was the hooker.

  “I’ll paint the wall behind you with your blood and brains!” My stomach churned, but I was serious. She cackled. Really? She really was mental. “Are you bit?!”

  “Elaina, open the door!” Nick yelled.

  “Where’s Henry?”

  “Open the fucking door!”

  I nodded at Claire. I gripped the axe, Nate covering me with his Sig. When Claire opened the door, I dropped the axe. Nick walked in, carrying Henry over his shoulder. He looked to be unconscious. I couldn’t speak. I looked at Claire.

  “What happened to him?” She was my voice in the moment because, apparently, I had lost mine. Claire grabbed my hand as she spoke. Nick walked back to the bedroom with quick, long strides.

  “He flew backward from the explosion, hitting his head. He’s knocked out.” Nick laid Henry on the bed. In shock, I stood in the doorway and watched Claire check his pulse and breathing.

  “He seems to sound okay. Elaina, go get a wet cloth. Like Nick said, I think he’s just knocked out.” I turned around and went into the master bathroom.

  Claire’s father was a doctor and she assisted him in his practice many times. She had once aspired to be a doctor, but after both her parents died in a car accident a few years ago, she gave up her aspirations and changed her major to study early childhood education.

  Claire had never spoken about it. I didn’t think she wanted to believe it had happened. She visited their home on a regular basis: watering flowers, tidying up the yard. She never went inside, though.