Apocalyptic Beginnings Box Set

by M. D. Massey

  “Oh god, Elaina… You feel so fucking good,” he rasped, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me in closer, rocking with me. We were one once again. I cried out as I reached my peak. I was breathless as I gazed down at him. He had a smile on his face. “I love watching you release. You look so beautiful.”

  “It’s your turn.”

  “No. I want to see you let loose again.” He reached down and started massaging my little swollen nub. Instantly, my body reacted to his cool, pleasurable touch. “Come on, love. Give it to me again,” he whispered, kissing his way around my neck.

  “Henry…,” I moaned.

  “I want to fuck you.” He pulled me off him, making me feel empty for a moment.

  When I lay down beneath him, he slammed himself into me, pounding me with fury. I screamed as I peaked again. How was he able to do that to me? He groaned. I knew he was getting close. I could feel the slight tremble building in his body.

  He stopped himself.

  “What?”

  “I don’t want it to end yet.” He kissed me softly and passionately, moaning as I adjusted my hips to pull him in farther.

  He pulled out and picked me up, carrying me to the wall of the barn. I watched his face as he eased himself into me while he held me up. His jaw slacked, his eyes rolling. He groaned so deep, his chest vibrated against mine.

  “Jesus Christ… Give it to me, Elaina,” he said with such a rasp, I couldn’t wait for him to get me there again. He rocked in and out of me, panting with each slow, torturous stroke. “Come on, love… Again.”

  He ran one hand down my body and reached around, grabbing my ass. He ran his fingers over all of my sensitive places. I was exhausted, but I wanted to fall apart just for him. I wanted to make him happy.

  He pulled out again and dropped to his knees. His tongue ran all over my heat. I fisted his hair and pressed his head into me deeper. I wanted more and more, and he did just that. I exploded again, screaming in ecstasy.

  Henry lay me back down and gently took me again. I couldn’t handle much more of his torture. My body was so fatigued, and I could see he was getting spent himself. He rocked me, bringing himself right to the edge. His body convulsed and his face twisted as he hissed.

  Oh no, he was hurting. I didn’t want him to hurt. I wrapped my arms around him tightly, pulling him closer to me. Then he stopped and lay limp on top of me.

  “Henry?”

  “I’m sorry.” He pulled out.

  “But you didn’t—”

  “I’m in need. Badly.”

  “So bad you can’t finish?”

  “I want to, but it hurts too much.”

  “Please. I want you to finish. I’ll take you.”

  Reluctantly, he sat up against the wall and I straddled him. He moaned as his slicked arousal found my core. With just a couple good rocking motions of my hips, he struggled to stay afloat.

  “Let yourself go, lover,” I said in his ear. Just as I instructed, he exploded into me.

  “Fuck!” he shouted, hissed, then growled through the pain. I wrapped my arms around him and held on for dear life. He cried into my shoulder.

  “Lover…”

  “I hate asking you. I hate needing. I fucking hate it all! The only thing that makes me feel good is being with you. Even then, my body betrays me.” I hushed him. “I can’t escape the pain. It will harass me until the very end.” I didn’t know what to do for him, except to sit there and hold him.

  Then, out of nowhere, he shoved me off him.

  “Henry!”

  “Just go.”

  “No!”

  “Elaina, leave me alone. Please, go.” He grabbed his clothes and dressed quickly. His eyes were graying. I sat there stunned. He tossed my clothes at me. “I said go!” he raged. He grabbed the bottle and sucked down a good amount while he paced. He had made a decision, and he wasn’t going to tell me what it was.

  As the sun rose higher, a path of light reflected off a metal object where Henry sat before. His Sig. Then it dawned on me. “No, because if I walk back inside the house, you are going to kill yourself. I can’t let you do that. I won’t let you do that!”

  “Elaina, go now!” he screamed at me and threw the bottle at the barn wall, causing it to shatter. I didn’t want to walk away from him, but he was getting explosive, and that Henry scared the hell out of me.

  I dressed hastily and practically jumped from the second floor as I went down the ladder. Through the windows of the house, I saw everyone milling around as I ran up to the porch.

  “Nick!” I yelled, blowing through the front door. “Nick, I need your help.”

  He came running out of the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Henry.”

  “Where is he?”

  “The barn. Be careful. He has a gun.”

  “Okay.” He looked confused for a minute, then looked at Claire. She nodded.

  “I need to get his pack.” I rummaged through our belongings as Nick ran out the back door. My whole body shook. “I need his pack. I have to find his pack!”

  “Elaina, you have to calm down,” Addie said.

  “No! You don’t understand.”

  “You being this upset isn’t going to help the situation.”

  “He’s going to put a bullet in his head! You have no idea what he’s going through, or what I’m going through right at this moment!”

  Nick ran outside and sprinted into the barn. He climbed the ladder, skipping a rung with every step. Henry sat against the wall, the Sig to his temple, his body shaking.

  “Hey, my brother.” Nick tried to speak in a calm, soft manner. The tears ran down Henry’s face. “My baby sister is in there crying her eyes out because of this.” Henry didn’t respond, but his lips quivered. Nick knew what he said affected him. “She loves you beyond reason. Why don’t you give me the gun?” Nick held his hand out.

  “Go so I can do this.”

  “No. That’s not going to happen. I won’t allow it.” Nick sat in front of him. Henry’s eyes ticked back and forth, watching all of Nick’s movements, knowing he may try to snatch the gun from him.

  “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t fucking do it.” Henry’s hand shook as he gripped the Sig.

  “You don’t have a choice. She will shatter without you.”

  “How can I hold her together? I can’t even take care of myself half the time!” Nick eased closer. “Don’t get any closer!” Henry drove the business end of the Sig into his temple.

  “All right. All right. I’m backing up.” Nick pushed himself back about a foot. “Listen, I can’t claim to know or understand everything you’re going through, but I can say that I feel the pain. It’s only been for a short time, so I can’t imagine how you’ve lived this long with it. You are strong.”

  “I’m weak,” Henry spit out.

  “No. They said you were weak. You, my brother, could move mountains if you put your mind to it.”

  “Just leave me. Please, I beg you.”

  “No. If you pull that trigger, I’m going to sit here with you while you do it.”

  “I can’t burden you with anything else so, please, just go. I just want to get this over with.”

  “No. My sister needs you. I have to protect her needs. Before my mother passed, I promised her I would protect her. I think this would fall into that category. Now, why don’t you hand it over?” Nick put his hand out again.

  “Back off!” Henry growled. His hand continued to shake as he held the gun to his temple.

  I ran back out to the barn as fast as I could, leaving Addie in my wake. When I heard Henry yell at Nick, I hurried up the ladder and saw him sitting there, the Sig to his head.

  “No!” I screamed. I ran to him, but before I could reach him, Nick grabbed me.

  “Sit,” he commanded.

  “No! He is—”

  “I can see what is happening here. I have two working eyes.”

  “Please, both of you, just leave me alone.”
r />   “No. Nick, tap me.” I dug through the pack and pulled out what I needed.

  “No, Elaina. I will no longer accept your blood.”

  “Henry, you have to.”

  “I don’t have to do anything.”

  “No, you don’t. Nor do you have to do this. I am begging you. I wish you could see the good inside you.”

  “I have done so many bad things. So many. Some I can’t even tell you about because they are so awful. I don’t want to burden you with it.”

  “I understand, but you have to move forward.”

  “You don’t know everything, and there is no forward. It’s now or backward. I want to choose my destiny.”

  “You taking your own life is not an option. I’m taking that right off the table.” Henry watched as Nick tapped me. He licked his lips. I could almost see him salivating.

  “I can’t have a life if I am not living!” he growled.

  “You are living. Your heart is beating, you breathe, you laugh, you cry, you make love to me. They can’t do any of those things.” He swallowed hard, then it dawned on me. “You only did that earlier as a last moment with me, didn’t you?” He slowly nodded, acknowledging my epiphany. My body shook, I was so angry. “You asshole!” I screamed. “You did all of those things to me just so you could have me one last time?! If I didn’t find you, you would have gone through with it!”

  “You don’t get it. It wasn’t for me. Remember, I stopped myself. I did it for you. You were the one who begged me to finish. I didn’t want to. It hurt too fucking much.”

  I felt guilty because I forced him to feel the pain. Nick glared at Henry while he took off one vial and popped on another. I hoped he wouldn’t ask any questions. I had a feeling he didn’t want to know, and I wasn’t about to elaborate on any of it.

  He held the vial out to Henry, who didn’t acknowledge it. He sat and stared at me. Time for a new strategy.

  “Henry! You are to drink that now! It will make you feel better.” He smirked at me. “What’s so funny?”

  “You think it will make me feel better.”

  “Physically, yes, it will.”

  “Not up here, Elaina.” He tapped the Sig at his temple. “Not fucking up here.”

  “I know you don’t want to do this.”

  “You don’t know what I want or don’t want.”

  “Yes, I do.” Nick popped off the next vial. “Take them, please,” I begged. He held out his injured hand, and I laid the two vials into it. He dropped them in his lap. “Henry, please. I am begging you. I need you. I can’t walk this earth without you next to me.”

  “You will find a new love, one who isn’t a bloody leech.”

  “You are not a leech. I’m fine with giving you my blood because I love you and I want you to live. What happened to rising up and forming a society? What about a memorial for Sophie? What about a family? What about us?” The moment my voice cracked, his jaw trembled. I inched closer to him. “Henry, I want to have a family with you. I want to give you a child. I want to make a home with you. I want to marry you. I want to help you. I want to take care of you. I want you to be by my side every day.” His body slacked. I reached up, fingers trembling, and grabbed the Sig out of his hand, sliding it across the floor to Nick.

  I grabbed the vials and straddled his lap. I popped the cap off one. “Come on. Drink this for me.” I held it up to his lips. He parted them slightly, and I poured it into his mouth. When he swallowed, I felt relief wash over me. I opened the next one and made him drink that one, as well.

  “I’m going to leave you two alone.” Nick got up and went back down the ladder. I held onto Henry. I held him tight so he couldn’t shatter. I wouldn’t let it happen.

  He wasn’t crying anymore. He just sat silently with one hand around my waist, accepting my love. I turned and looked at his face. He had his head tipped back against the barn wall, his eyes closed. He jumped when I ran the backs of my fingers over his stubbly cheek.

  “Where would I be without you?” he whispered.

  “I don’t want to think about it.” I kissed his lips. He parted them, his cool breath making me shiver. Then he opened his eyes, those beautiful emerald eyes that stole my heart years before. I pressed my forehead against his as he wrapped his arms around me.

  “Thank you,” he whispered, feeling the small, temporary high kick in. He rested his head back against the wall again, and I watched my Henry melt into the background.

  I will freely admit that I was really scared out of my damn mind that he was going to pull the trigger. I knew he didn’t want to, though. He needed me in his arms as much I needed him in mine.

  We sat there for a long time, just holding each other. I didn’t want to let him go. No matter how fucked-up he was, or how fucked-up the world was, I loved him with everything I had.

  Chapter 41

  Nick walked back into the house, Claire meeting him at the door, panic written on her face. “Is he…?”

  “No. She talked him off the ledge, thankfully. I left them alone. They needed the time together.” He pulled out Henry’s Sig from the back of his pants. He pulled out the magazine, then chuckled.

  “What?”

  “Empty.” He checked the chamber, and it was empty, as well. Nick laughed a little more, then slammed the gun down on the table. “Damn him! He is such a fucking manipulator!”

  Claire grabbed his arm. “Maybe he didn’t know.”

  “Are you serious, Claire? Henry? Leave the house with an empty weapon? I will lay it all on the line that he has the fucking bullets in his pocket.” Nick snatched up the gun, tucking it in the back of his pants. His clenched his fists at his side, pacing out to the living room. “He is manipulating us! Her! Goddamn him! My baby sister… That motherfucker! I’m going to beat the shit out of him!”

  “Nick, calm down. Please.” Claire grabbed his arms. “Remember, he’s probably drunk.”

  “Yeah, he is. God, he pisses me right the fuck off,” he growled. “Sometimes I wonder what she sees in him.” He kicked a box of their supplies at the front door.

  “Now, Nick, calm down.” Addie stepped into the conversation.

  “Addie, I’m sorry, but you have no idea what he has put Elaina through.”

  “I know I don’t, but she loves him.”

  “He’s playing mind games with her! He has this sick obsession with control!”

  “He is a damaged soul. He doesn’t know any better.”

  Nick laughed. “Why does he always catch a break? I don’t get it. Poor Henry, beaten and abused his entire life. No one understands what he has put her through. He hurts her so much! I can’t stand by and watch him continue to tear her heart out, stomping on it like it’s trash!”

  “Nick, be quiet before you say too much!” Claire cautioned, Addie looking at her curiously.

  “His explosive behavior is enough to cripple my sister. It already has!” Nick ran his hands through his hair. “I’m going to go beat his motherfucking ass.” He took two steps toward the door before Claire grabbed him again.

  “No! You know how he is.”

  “Are you saying I can’t hold my own? Thanks for the confidence boost. I’m pretty sure I can beat down a drunk.”

  “You listen to me…” Claire jammed her finger into Nick’s chest. “Do not tell Elaina that the gun was empty. Do you understand me?”

  Nick just glared at her. “I feel like I’m betraying her by not telling her the truth.”

  “You can talk to him about it in private without her around. Don’t say anything to her. Please. It will completely crush her.”

  “I agree,” Addie said. “Some things are better left unsaid. It’s not your place.”

  “That’s my baby sister he’s messing with! I have to protect her. I’m all she has left.”

  “Not from my point of view. She has you, Claire, Thomas, and Henry, even though he is out of sorts.” She was right, and Nick knew it. They were all family. “Just let it rest. You can speak to him a
bout it at another time.”

  Elaina opened the back door and ushered Henry to the table. Nick nearly became unhinged when he saw his face.

  Because his stomach was grumbling, I finally talked Henry into going inside and eating. He jumped off the ladder, landing next to me on the barn floor. I took him by his good hand and led him in through the back door.

  “Sit and I’ll get you something to eat.” He sat at the table, laying his head on his forearms. I went to our supplies and pulled out the last jar of peaches. Nick stormed past me and into the kitchen. I heard something slam on the table. When I looked up, I saw it was Henry’s Sig and magazine.

  “Here.” Nick pointed furiously at Henry’s face. “The next time you fuck with her like that, I will do it my goddamned self.” Henry jammed the magazine back into the Sig, then put it back in his jeans. “You hearing me, asshole? I fucking mean it! I will take you out back like a lame horse. Do you understand me?”

  “Fuck off.”

  “Is that your answer for everything? Someone gets under your skin, figures out your manipulative ways, and you tell them to fuck off? Is that all you got, GQ?”

  I stood in the doorway, watching the exchange. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I saw it coming. Henry started to stand. Drunk or not, he could kill Nick in a split second.

  “Henry, sit down!” Slowly, he lowered himself back to his chair. “Nick, why are you threatening him?”

  He kept glaring at Henry. “Because he’s cashing in on your emotional support, and I don’t fucking like it one bit.”

  “Can I ask what brought this on?” I was still lost.

  “You can ask him. He knows exactly what I’m pissed off about.” He pushed past me. A few seconds later, the guest room door slammed shut.