The Life After War Collection

by Angela White

  The urge to do more was strong, but the teenager resisted, sticking to his plans. “You smell good.”

  Tracy shivered at the tone, at the feel of him touching her. She couldn’t stop the thoughts, but she did keep her hands at her sides. We’re not doing anything wrong, she told herself. We’re not doing…

  Charlie’s warm hand slipped to her neck in a telling caress that sent a chill of need down her spine.

  “Please.”

  Charlie paused again, more sure of her tone this time. “Please stop tempting you?”

  “You know you do,” Tracy agreed shakily. “It’s intentional, to determine what works and what doesn’t, right?”

  Charlie didn’t deny it. Instead, he moved away from her, to their mutual disappointment.

  Tracy regretted denying him, but wouldn’t ask him to continue.

  Charlie perched on the bench, staring at her. “Why did you tell Billy no last night, when he came to your tent?”

  Tracy flushed. She’d thought Charlie was close, but hadn’t been sure. Which meant he’d heard what she did afterwards, too.

  Charlie’s cheeks flushed. “I left after the first moan. I didn’t watch your shadow, either.”

  Surprised, Tracy leaned against the camper wall. Would this young man always be able to give her that feeling of respect?

  “Yes. My word on it.”

  Tracy’s heart melted a bit more. She turned away to keep from caving. He was still waiting on an answer from her and she was tired of trying to hide what she wanted.

  “Then don’t. No one will stand in our way.”

  “It isn’t about us, anymore,” she refuted quietly. “I’ll lose my place on her team.”

  “No, you won’t.”

  Tracy didn’t turn around. “I don’t like it when you threaten your mom. She doesn’t need that right now.”

  Charlie snorted. “She gave me permission a while ago, Tracy. I’ve waited because of you.”

  Tracy spun around to catch his face with the lie on it, and found only the truth. “She didn’t...”

  “She knows I’m sure or I wouldn’t have brought it to her.”

  Tracy still hesitated. “October isn’t so far away…”

  Charlie took the steps that brought them face to face. “If we lose the battle, October will never come for us.”

  That hurt. It stunned her with the sense of need and urgent regret that Tracy didn’t have the strength to fight anymore.

  “Why me? The truth.”

  “Because I love you.” Charlie’s hand went behind her neck to gently pull her closer. “And because I saw us, in the future. We make pretty babies.”

  Charlie caught her gasp with his mouth.

  2

  Bridget waited as Neil and Jeremy came around the edge of the last garden truck. She slid in front of them with a sunny disposition.

  “Good morning!”

  Both men sent the same to her and continued on their way. They’d both decided she wasn’t worth the risk of losing Samantha.

  Bridget quickly slid into Neil’s personal space and planted a soft kiss on his mouth. “Mm...Thank you for last night.”

  Neil had frozen. Before he could respond, Bridget pranced away, leaving him in complete confusion. He’d been on duty last night. He would get to sleep by Samantha tonight when the sun went down. What the hell?

  Jeremy peered at Neil’s face and knew something wasn’t right. He also knew the Eagles who had witnessed it wouldn’t think so. They would assume Neil now had two women and the problems would come from that. The camp was tolerating Samantha’s choice, but if he and Neil broke out of the routine she’d set up, it would disturb the herd. Because Sam didn’t want them whoring around.

  “What do I do now?” Neil asked, in shock. He had no idea how to keep this fire from spreading.

  Jeremy spotted a furious woman staring in shock at them from the garden truck. “I don’t know, but it better be good. Here comes Samantha.”

  Both men turned to find Sam prowling toward them with an evil expression. Instead of stopping, she strode by them without a word.

  The two confused men followed, not sure what was going on.

  “If you want her, either of you, stop me now!” Sam growled.

  Neither man interfered, understanding that Bridget was about to discover the penalty for crossing this line.

  “Hey, Heart Ass!” Samantha shouted, voice a gravelly threat that drew instant attention from the Eagles.

  Bridget, who loved the nickname she’d been given, turned with a sweet expression, all set to turn down an offer of a date because she was dating Neil.

  Slap!

  Samantha followed it with a harsh kick to the stomach before Bridget could recover.

  “Fight!”

  “Fight!” the camp around them chanted, drawing others.

  The two women weren’t fighting. Bridget was trying to stay conscious while Samantha took out her anger on any exposed body part that she could reach.

  “Better get in there,” Doug stated. “Bosses won’t like this.”

  Neither man reacted. Samantha was delivering a series of punishing, but not deadly hits, and they weren’t about to draw her ire.

  “Break it up!”

  “Stop it!”

  Kenn and Adrian got the two women apart before Bridget could be seriously hurt, but Samantha wasn’t finished.

  She lunged from Kenn’s weak hold and slammed her head into Bridget’s chin.

  “Stay away from them!”

  Bridget slowly sank to the ground without answering. It was clear that she couldn’t.

  Samantha turned to Neil with chips of crimson ice. “The next time she touches you against your will, I’ll kill her.”

  Neil grinned, flooded with heat. “Okay by me. I only want you.”

  “Same here.” Jeremy sighed. “But we’re trading off tonight and tomorrow. I can’t handle her when she gets like this.”

  “Sweet!” Neil agreed eagerly. He had no trouble with being a little rough to please her. He knew the differences now in pain for training, pain for pleasure, and pain just to cause pain. Samantha’s needs were helping him learn those lines clearly.

  Jeremy left Neil to deal with the chaos and went to the mess. He hadn’t slept well with all the tossing and turning that Samantha now did. Besides the stunning moments when she turned to him in the night, Jeremy loved being able to look over and check on her, but he hadn’t honestly adjusted to this setup. He didn’t hate Neil, only the circumstances in which they’d been brought together. All of them deserved happiness and the time to find it, but that wasn’t going happen unless Safe Haven drove the government back. The time to fight or die was almost here and there was nowhere else he wanted to be than with Samantha when it all happened.

  It also didn’t hurt that Neil was able to carry half of the load. Samantha was high maintenance. Jeremy hadn’t realized it before, though he should have. She and Neil were a better match and there were times when he felt like an outsider in their relationship. Samantha often told him he was the reason she still had hope for the future, but Jeremy didn’t know if he believed that or not. For now, it was enough to stay close to her, but if they won, he knew he would have to decide if he wanted to spend the rest of his life this way. If that was only a few more weeks or months, he didn’t want to change anything. If it was decades, he wanted Samantha to himself.

  3

  “Camper crew is pulling in, Boss.”

  “Copy.”

  Angela went that way tiredly. She was keeping them next to natural springs now, so their water tankers were staying full. But the camp had begun to grumble about still being in tents. She’d sent out a team to bring in a load of campers, thinking they could use the materials if they were pinned down. The RVs wouldn’t stop much in the way of bullets, but they could be reinforced. She’d worried the whole time the crew had been gone and it was good to find her men coming from the shiny new motorhomes with jokes instead of wounds. Sh
e wasn’t sure, but she thought maybe the team had been protected by one of the camps around them.

  The men Marc had sent were hard fighters who preferred to keep their own rules, but stayed nearby to deflect anyone coming in with bad intentions. Whatever else Marc had done while away, he’d gathered a loyal crew. They were getting daily reports of the fighting, of the wounds Marc was inflicting on their enemy, but they were also hearing of their own fallen comrades, like Paul. The mood of the camp was somber. As the fighting at the Little Rock base intensified, the mood only grew worse.

  Angela didn’t stay to talk to the camper team. She’d only wanted to be see that they were okay. She moved toward the mess. The lunch meal was being served and everyone was enjoying the last harvest from the garden. Angela personally thought the fresh food was one of the reasons the camp had accepted Samantha’s secrets so easily. It was a common sight now to find the storm tracker entertaining the children with dust whirls in her downtime. They didn’t know she was also practicing nightly with Neil and Jeremy. Sam would be a powerful force when the fight made it to their gates.

  Angela’s mind went to the last transmission they’d gotten from the base. There had been updates and the sounds of distant dying, but no message from Marc.

  Heated tingles went over her skin and Angela searched around. That feeling was restless, lonely, and near the edge of doing something stupid. Adrian was staring at her.

  Angela sighed, moving that way. Time to play her role again.

  Instead of going to sit with her group of Eagles like usual, she took her tray to the rear table, causing the focus of the camp to shift.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  Adrian smiled and everyone around them noticed. “Always welcome.”

  Doug and Neil added their agreement, and she glanced at them.

  “Camp could use a tension release, I think. Maybe you two should have a fight.”

  Doug approved right away. “We were just trying to figure something out for entertainment.”

  “I’m in if you are. Who’s gonna win?”

  Neil got excited without knowing why he was reacting so quickly to the suggestion. Maybe it was the way Sam had claimed him so completely.

  Doug flexed his muscles menacingly and gave the cop a nasty glare. “You take it. About time she knows you’re the more dangerous of the two.”

  Neil would have denied and Angela listened curiously, catching flashes of acceptance and reluctance to restart the rivalry with Jeremy.

  “Run into me when I come through with my coffee.”

  Neil raised a brow that made the giant shrug as he stood up. “Wouldn’t get mad over something cold, would I?”

  Adrian waited until both men were out of earshot and then turned to her. “They’re gone. What’s up?”

  “Can’t a girl sit at your table without something being wrong?” she joked awkwardly.

  His tones were full of insight. “Lonely?”

  Her eyes went to the left. “No.”

  He leaned forward, catching a hint of vanilla. “Liar.”

  She stiffened, but relaxed as quickly. “Yes, I am.”

  “You clumsy fool!”

  Doug’s words boomed through the mess, drawing instant attention from everyone.

  “Sorry, man, but you were in the way.”

  Neil sounded anything but sorry.

  “Fuck! Look at me vest!”

  Doug’s growled response was genuine to Angela’s ears.

  The two men suddenly began swinging and people ran toward them. When security looked their way, Adrian shook his head. The Eagles stayed at their posts.

  Angela took the moment to study the camp for trouble.

  Adrian studied her.

  The fight was ugly and drew a few dozen people from around the mess, creating a circle of nearly sixty, Samantha among them. Neil was taking a lot of hits, but he was also delivering some nasty punches and drawing blood.

  Doug was already out of breath, Neil’s graceful hits wearing him out.

  Samantha worried needlessly over Neil as he beat on the giant in the now stained and bloody vest.

  “We done?” Doug asked.

  Neil grunted, full of energy and fire that he hadn’t been aware of needing a release for.

  Kyle motioned Kenn forward.

  “I challenge you!” Neil spat at the Marine.

  Kenn advanced warily. He’d also noticed that Neil was hot. He planned to stay out of reach until the trooper settled down.

  Neil jumped, high kick landing against Kenn’s shoulder. From there, it got mean. He swung repeatedly, Kenn able to do little more than keep his feet. He was accepted again, but not enough to fight back like he wanted to, and the Marine accepted the beating–took one for the team. It was something he couldn’t do before.

  Kyle jerked Neil away as Kenn went down again, and the cop swung on him, out of control.

  Kyle staggered, shaking his head to clear the stars from Neil’s bloody fist. “I’m on Point, asshat! Pick someone else!”

  Before Neil could sweep the area, Seth came into the circle. “How about a fair fight?”

  Seth didn’t wait, just started swinging.

  “Why did you choose fighting?” Adrian asked, sure of the answer, but wanting an excuse to maintain eye contact.

  Angela felt more of his pull than she wanted to. She was trying to resist, but also still craving it like everyone else here.

  “Besides reminding the camp how dangerous you men are, I needed to break the tension. Physical contact used to cover that, but with your men, this is the next best thing.”

  He contemplated her red face. “I assume that also goes for me?”

  Angela’s voice carried a slight edge as she said, “I know you’re not doing without. I thought you’d want the rush since you’ll be cleared for full duty soon. Been a while, right? You wouldn’t want to get rusty.”

  He suddenly, stood up, flooded with rage. Having her setting things up to ensure his happiness was almost too much. “Excuse me.”

  Angela followed him to the people-ring that now included the new doctor. He had been brought to the patients who couldn’t come to him. Seth was nearly unconscious. The two men kneeling next to him didn’t look better.

  “I challenge you!”

  Neil spun to meet his next target, but froze when he saw it was Adrian. The fire dimmed a bit, dampened by respect. “Not you.”

  Adrian handed his gun belts to Angela. “Why not? You need someone to knock you down. That’s still a part of my job.”

  Neil’s face darkened at the words, anger flaring.

  Adrian felt the thrill of the fight rising. Neil was a worthy opponent. She’d been right.

  Angela took a place near Samantha as the two men circled each other. Instead of studying Adrian like the witch wanted to, Angela casually touched Samantha’s elbow and witnessed it through her mind.

  Sam tensed at the first hit, already sure who would win despite Neil’s flare of temper. Adrian was rock hard again. The trooper’s hits glanced off flesh that didn’t respond.

  As Neil quickly went to the ground, she flinched at the spray of blood.

  Neil landed a hit to Adrian’s jaw that rocked him on his heels, but when Adrian fired back, the trooper hit the dirt.

  “Had enough?”

  Neil roared in anger, driving into Adrian’s gut. They went down in a tangle of swinging limbs. They rolled in the dirt causing people to jump aside in order to avoid being knocked down.

  They leapt to their feet at the same time, Neil’s stance a bit rougher.

  “You’re getting tired.”

  Neil didn’t respond, so Adrian provoked him. “Again, then.”

  Neil rushed him and Adrian used the man’s momentum to flip the trooper over his shoulder.

  Neil grunted in pain at the hard landing, not moving.

  Samantha was at his side before the doctor. “You okay?”

  Neil tried to clear the chirping and managed a rueful grimace
. “I’m not mad at her anymore.”

  “Well, I am. You just added to it.” Sam snorted as she helped him to his feet. “Neil’s due on a run now.”

  Adrian had been looking at Angela. He recognized her pride at the sight of Neil and Samantha leaving together.

  “I’m actually smirking over Bridget’s thoughts,” Angela stated. “She was sure Neil would get in trouble for the kiss. Instead, she did.”

  “That’s what this was about.”

  Angela sat down instead of healing his minor cuts and scrapes like she wanted to. “It had many benefits.”

  Her voice sounded too much like his when one of the Eagles asked how he’d known to do something, and she flushed. He’d already returned so much of the old Angela. What could she do for him?

  “You’re already doing it.”

  He indicated the quiet, but intense conversation Samantha and Neil were having as they got out of sight. “They’re a good match.”

  “So is the other one she chose,” Angela observed.

  “Both men still want her to themselves.”

  “Yes. It may happen, but the odds are going down.”

  “She’s been lonely, too.”

  Angela flushed as he brought the subject back to the previous pause.

  “I can schedule you private lessons, like we were doing before. I’m clearly recovered enough.”

  Her head snapped up at the word. “Private?”

  “However you’re comfortable,” Adrian answered calmly.

  Angela tried to resist his pull and failed. “Okay.”

  He was surprised, it showed in his face, and Angela stood up before she could take it back.

  “I’ll be on rounds.”

  Adrian watched her walk away, thinking Marc wouldn’t have her to himself long. She had room in her heart for others.

  Angela turned, catching the thought, but before she could yell, time began to slide and she was stuck in a slow motion disaster.

  The moldy telephone pole teetered heavily, power lines snapping up, knocking over boxes and tables, and then the cars that were parked over the lines.

  Angela shoved herself toward Adrian, feeling like her body weighed tons. She tried to shout, but wasn’t sure if she actually did.