There was one room that had the door pushed in, but it was a noticeable difference. When the door was shut again, the wind was no longer as loud and there was finally peace. “That’s better.” Michael pulled off his jacket and hung it over the side of an old refrigerator. He had learned long ago to not open them and resisted the urge. He wasn’t that hungry and there wouldn’t be anything edible. Perishable foods had done just what they were supposed to do.
“What are we going to do when we find them?”
Michael still wasn’t sure. He had been asking himself the same question and still hadn't come up with an answer. More or less, he was really just going to confirm Billy's death. There would be only a couple of reasons that a group of people would drag someone off into the woods. None of the reasons were that far from each other and none of them were good. Billy was already going to meet his death, Michael was sure of it, but he had to make sure utility had been done. Even though it wouldn’t be by his hands, it would be done and that was good enough.
“We are going to watch and wait.”
He didn’t think they would actually have to wait at all. Billy would not make it through the night. Michael was sure of it and the idea of it made him sleep a little better with the storm raging outside. He tried to look on the bright side. At least they didn’t have to worry about water the next day. They had some collecting while they slept, ready for the next day.
***
“Mike. Let’s go. It’s not raining and the sun is up.”
Squinting his eyes, Michael looked up at Milo. He was always up first, checking everything out in the wee hours of morning. Michael would have rather slept in a while longer and waited for the outside to heat up a bit. It was far too cold to be walking around. He never liked the chill in the air.
“Yeah, okay.” He had to get up though. His mind went to why and it helped propel him up.
“How does it look out there?”
“No tracks, but I know where they went. There is a fire burning not too far from here and I think that is where they are. It won’t take long to get there. Maybe they like to wake up late like you.”
Michael doubted it, but it was a nice idea and it did the trick to get him motivated. Whichever way it was going to end, they would be on their way back and he would be back to Jessa. It had been far too long without her. Milo looked eager to get back together with the group as well. Both groups were vulnerable without the other. “Well let’s get going then Milo. I want to be back to Jessa by nightfall.”
They made their way towards the burning fire that Milo had seen and smelled. As they got closer, it smelled like roasting meat and it smelled good, until they got close enough to see what was really going on. Billy was already gone, in a spiritual and physical way. He was half-eaten and every hair on the back of Michael’s neck was standing up. His hand came out and stopped Milo from taking another step. The young man had yet to see what stopped Michael in his tracks.
He started to back up slowly. He could see several people sleeping on the ground on mats, but there only had to be one awake to see them. It was not a place he wanted to be found in and the feeling from the night before was far worse. He had to get out of there. The sharp intake of breath beside him, told Michael that Milo had seen what he had seen.
Every sense he had was on high alert and there was nothing more that could be done. When they were far enough away that Michael could finally breathe again, it was hard to take those images out of his head. He wished he had gone sooner, somehow stopped the man from that kind of torture. It was inconceivable to him and Michael felt guilty in a way.
“Let’s get the hell out of here Milo and go find the others. Billy won’t be bothering anyone again.”
Milo nodded and Michael was afraid that he was going to be sick. He touched his shoulder and asked him if he was okay. It was just too much for Milo, it seemed, and Michael started to worry about him. He was the one that always took everything as it came so easily. “Are you sure you are okay? We can stop for a while if you need to catch your breath.”
Milo’s shake of his head was even more animated. The last thing that anyone with any common sense would want was to stay where they were. Those men were there and he never wanted to see them again. People that ran into that group did not make it out of it alive, and both agreed that getting some distance between them and the cannibals could only be a good idea. Neither man said a word for over an hour, both trying to come to grips with what they had seen.
Stopping for a rest, Michael was happy to see that they were making good progress. He didn’t know when he would see Jessa next, but he was a lot closer than he had been in days. What he had needed to do was behind them and now he was ready to move on. Get her to the coast where she was convinced life was better. He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that he could forget what had kept him going for so long, that it could somehow be forgotten and Michael could remember how to be happy again.
7
Jessa couldn’t help but blush. She had never heard of such a request and though she understood it in some ways, she was starting to think that the people that saved her son were a bit mad. They wanted her to mate, their words, with one of their males. She apparently got to choose which one. The men had no women in their clan to carry on their lineage and wanted to spread it out in hopes of it attaching. The few women that were with them were unable to give birth and she had already refused the idea of joining them.
Shane had mixed feelings. He didn’t know about the requests, but he had overheard the idea of staying. He wanted to stay in some ways, but was more interested in finding and reuniting with Milo and Michael. When it was clear that she wouldn’t stay, they asked if she would consider mating with one of their own. It was a way to give them hope of their family’s survival, but it put Jessa in a very strange position. She felt like she owed them something, but what they wanted was just too much. There was no way that she could do that, right?
Shaking her head, one last time, she tried not to glance at the eager men that seemed more than willing to change her mind. It wouldn’t be hard, her body responding to the virile men. “I wish I could Melinda, believe me I do. But I am with someone now and I’m waiting for him to come back.”
“I can understand that. We don’t see many children here. The city is void of anything good anymore.”
Jessa wanted to ask them why they stayed in the city where everything was worse. Radiation played a part in why so many of the women were unable to give birth to healthy children anymore, but staying in the hot zones only made it worse.
“Sometimes I wish we could leave this place, but we were called here to do our work. We are here to help people and the sickness is a price that we have to pay.”
Jessa nodded, but was still under the impression that there may in fact be some screws loose. There was no way that she was staying, even if she was called to help. Her responsibilities were only for her son. The rest of the world could fend for themselves as far as she was concerned. Trying to give them the ration bars and dried food that she found, Melinda refused it. “We have everything we need here and will be provided for. Be safe on your journeys.”
Jessa and Shane left and walked back towards the cottage. She didn’t care if it was dark. She wanted to get her son out of there. They may have been nice, but they were wackier then she was used to. Some people couldn’t take the world as it was. They were stuck in the times when everything had been so much easier. Everyone was trying to find a reason to go on and many had turned to faith once more.
“Mommy. Do you believe that they are there for a reason?”
Jessa didn’t know how to answer. Her husband had always been good at explaining the hard stuff and she wasn’t so good with it. Her mind was too literal and Shane needed a rosy view that she found it hard to create. “Well baby. They think that they are there for a reason, so that is enough, don’t you think?”
He seemed to be pondering the question. There was still so much to teac
h him, she thought to herself, but right then, all Jessa was worried about was getting back to that cozy cottage and hopefully finding Michael and Milo already there waiting for her. There wasn’t too long of a walk, but Shane was getting tired, still weak from the week’s ordeal.
When she got back, she didn’t see any lights coming from the windows and her heart sank. They must not be there yet, she thought to herself. Opening the door, her heart leapt in her chest when she saw the sleeping men. Even Shane, who was too tired to walk the last mile, was energized in seeing them and started to run towards Michael.
Michael woke up with the sound of the small boy and his blue eyes met hers for a moment. They both had a long few days, but it all melted away when she saw him. Shane had lost interest with Michael, who wasn’t giving him all of his attention, and went to greet Milo. Jessa stepped forward and looked down at him smiling. “I’ve missed you Michael.”
“We have missed you too. I was worried when you weren’t here when we got here, but I just had a feeling you would be back...and here you are.”
Her eyes darkened a little and Michael couldn’t imagine what was going through her mind. Jessa was still thinking about the strange situation she had been in earlier. It had reminded her body that she had been without Michael for days and she wanted him, needed him suddenly so much that it took her breath away.
Standing up, he put his arms around her and she went to her tiptoes to kiss him. There was something in her kiss that pulled the feeling of desperation out of him. Michael had been more than worried when she wasn’t there. He didn’t see any tracks because of the storm. Milo had wanted to go, but something had told him to stay. Now that she was in his arms and kissing him, he never wanted to let her go.
It was only when Jessa pulled away, her eyes alight and the sound of disgust from her son had gotten finally to her ears. “It’s good to see you Michael.” Turning to Shane. “Now that you have said your hellos, I think it is time for someone to get some rest. I want to get out of here, as far as we can tomorrow. This place has too many strange people.”
Michael couldn’t have agreed more. All he wanted to do was leave, but it seemed like both of them had a reason to stay, at least for the night. They could make their way east the next day. Tonight, Michael had to be reminded that he was still alive. There was no better way than in the arms of the woman he had come to love in such a short amount of time. Watching her put her son to bed, Michael moved out to the porch, wanting to get some fresh air and a moment to think about everything that had happened.
Jessa came out a little later after Shane was asleep. “You okay?”
He wasn’t okay, but when she looked at him like that, it was as close as he was going to get. It was hard to not be okay when she was looking at him in such a way. “I am now.”
8
“Do you want to talk about what happened?”
Jessa shook her head, indicating that she didn’t. She didn’t know how he would react to what had happened there and didn’t want to tell him that she was so needy because of it. It was because of him in some ways, but Jessa could still remember the desired eyes on her from the men in the tribe she had met. There had been a moment, a second really, that she had thought about what would have happened if she had just stayed the night. If she would have gotten to feel and see the need first hand from a few of them, what would it have been like?
She blushed with her thoughts and he took it as she was thinking of him. Jessa didn’t dispel his guess and when he leaned in to kiss her, she started to forget about everything else but him. She was sitting beside him on the porch and their knees touched as his tongue pushed through her lips. He had his own desires that were hard to ignore, fanning the flames of her own.
“Is everyone asleep?”
Jessa nodded and moved to touch his lips to her own. “Yes.”
“Why don’t we go in and find a quiet spot like last time?”
Shaking her head, Jessa moved to straddle his lap. Sitting down on him, she could feel his need. “Why don’t we just stay out here where there is a nice breeze? You know how hot and sweaty you get…”
Michael growled when she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself up against his hard chest. Her hips ground down onto him and he made another desperate sound underneath her. She loved the sound of it and the hardness that she rubbed herself against. It made her go a little crazy. He just felt too good against her. If she kept moving her body like that, she wouldn’t even need to take her clothes off.
“What has you all riled up?” Michael wasn’t complaining, enjoying the way her teeth nibbled on his bottom lip and her body writhed against him, but it was hard not to notice that she seemed to have something else on her mind. While he would like to think that there was no other reason she was so hot and bothered, he had a feeling that it wasn’t all about him. His desire wasn’t all about her either, he reasoned, but rather the frailty of life. He had been feeling philosophical after finding Billy. It made him realize that if he died tomorrow, he wanted to be in her arms when he did. There was nowhere else he would rather be.
“I just need you to stop talking Michael. I need you now.”
She was always demanding, but never as much as she was then. Jessa didn’t want to talk or take away from the shivers that ran through her body. Michael knew that she was in dire need and his hands went between their bodies, pressing up against her core to feel the heat. “Are you ready for me?”
Jessa didn’t answer, pushing her skirt up and allowing his hand to go underneath it. She knew that he had all of the answer that he needed as he pushed up against her panties. Jessa heard the sharp intake of breath. “Is that ready enough for you?”
Michael gritted his teeth and nodded his head that it was enough. Sliding his fingers underneath her panties, she groaned and closed her eyes. Michael’s fingers delved and played with her as she squirmed and whimpered above him. Her head rested on his shoulder as Jessa rubbed herself against him. He loved to hear the sounds of her pleasure; feel it on his fingertips.
Pulling his hand free, Michael tasted her need and moved to kiss her and let her do the same. Jessa was moaning and her body was eager for more. She didn’t have to say anything; just the way she vibrated against him told him all that he needed to know.
“Stand up.”
Jessa did so without hesitation. He didn’t take over very often, but when he did, she loved every minute of it. “Take that off.”
He meant her dress, and she only paused for a second before pulling it over her head. She had nothing but her panties on underneath and his dark blue eyes scorched the skin that was revealed to him with his gaze. “If I died right now Jessa, I would be a happy man.”
She let out a soft giggle and pulled her hair down from the pins holding it up. “Is that really what you want to talk about right now?”
Michael didn’t want to talk about anything, and when she stepped towards him, there was nothing he could do but try to hide his trembling. “Now it's your turn Michael. All of this talking has me weary. I don’t want to talk. I want to feel.”
His hands were quick on his pants, tugging them down as he sat up halfway to get them down. She was on him before he could step out of them, his jeans at his ankles as she climbed on top of his muscular thighs. Lifting herself up ever so gently, Jessa positioned him below her. Their eyes met and she paused, as if she was waiting for something. Michael moaned when he felt the wet heat that the head of his rod was buried against. He tried coax her down, needing to feel her hot walls enveloping him.
“Oh fuck, Jessa.”
She let out a soft, taunting laugh and remained unrelenting in her teasing. She knew he needed it, and could see the beads of sweat on his brow, but she knew that he wouldn’t take her by force. He wanted permission. Michael always loved it when he made her beg. It was time that she returned the favor. He had been the only man that could make her forget everything. She needed that; needed the numbing effects of his pleasure. The loo
k on his face was just a bonus. His eyes were dark and stormy, silently begging her to let gravity have its way.
He grimaced and sat up to meet her halfway. “Please, Jessa.”
Leaning in, she whispered in his ear how hot that was to hear. The movement made him move an inch, just enough to engulf the tip of his member. Her body curled around him, squeezing it as she said all of the dirty things she was going to do with him, and make him do to her.
His large hands went to her hips and rubbed the smooth flesh. He looked down at their groins, groaning as he gazed upon the subject of her game, where their bodies were barely allowed to meet. He didn’t want her just hovering and teasing. He needed to dive in and feel the overwhelming embrace that he knew waited for him. “Please, Jessa.”
“You either take it how you want it, or you let me take my time.”
She didn’t think he would do anything. He was always so gentle and conscious of her boundaries, but there was something different in his eyes. Instead of letting her toy with him, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and pressed her down. Jessa was not expecting it and her grip tightened on his shoulders. She cried out in unexpected bliss and he muffled her sound with a deep kiss. He loved the way she sounded, so needy, and it was always his name that he wanted to hear.
His own groan was silenced by their her tongue moving into his mouth. Her tightness was welcoming, but also painful as she squeezed tighter, silently ordering his movement as well. Michael gave her no time to move, holding her still as his hips rutted up inside of her.
Pulling his lips away, he wanted to hear her moans and whimpers as he pushed into her over and over again. Jessa was trying to slow him down, trying to give herself a moment, but he was relentless and she was quickly lost. Clenching his neck and his member, every muscle in her body tightened. It was almost painful as she was swept over with a wave of pleasure. Her reaction had the same effect on him that it always did, pulling him down further into her debauchery.
BREAKER (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 14) Page 72