by James, Jill
“I read somewhere that the most sex happens after a funeral. Most people think it is after a wedding, but weddings just usually scare guys off. Worried about the ball and chain thing. But funerals remind everyone that they are still alive.”
His hands cupped my face. “I can believe that. We honor those we’ve lost by continuing on, by living life to the fullest.”
His lips touched mine. His breath caressed my face. “Nick is only gone for a while. He has friends to remember him and Beth’s baby to carry on his life.”
A pang ripped though me at the thought of Nick and Beth’s baby. I tossed the regret aside in a second. At least I didn’t have to worry about birth control on top of everything else in our torn-apart world.
I wrapped my arms around Seth. “Let’s celebrate life.”
He fell back to the bed, taking me with him. The few clothes between us were too much. My hands grasped for his shirt and mine. I tossed them aside and ran my fingers over his warm chest. He pulled me close and I reveled in the feel of skin-to-skin contact.
Seth removed my bra and caressed my breasts. Tremors shot through my body. I flung my head back, letting his hands run wild. His fingers skimmed over my nipples. Something between a gasp and a sigh escaped my lips until his mouth found the sensitive peaks. Then, I bit my tongue to hold back the scream of pleasure.
Our fingers fumbled together on our belt buckles. We continued kissing as we each ripped off our pants, only stopping to remove boots and denim.
I rushed back into his arms. He took off my panties and his own underwear. I glanced down with half-closed lids. Seth Ripley was all male. From his taut muscles, to his erection springing from his curly-haired groin, he was hard and tight. Pale flesh pulsated against inky black.
My fingers grasped the firm flesh and I delighted to his gasp of pleasure. Arms wrapped around each other, we again fell to the bed. He kissed me, whispering my name as he found my hot center. My back arched off the mattress as he entered me, every nerve ending firing off pulses of heat, movement, and slick wetness.
Never like this.
Never such heat.
Never such passion.
Never.
Never.
Never.
We moved together as if we’d been making love for years. His mouth found the sensitive spot where neck meets shoulder. I moaned deep. His mouth moved to mine to capture my groans of passion. Electric pulses traveled my skin wherever he touched. His lips. His tongue. His fingers.
I wrapped my legs around him and urged him on; faster and faster. My whispers repeated the command. I dug my fingertips into his shoulders as the rhythm slowed down and sped up, in a tempo guaranteed to make me scream at the apex. In the last seconds, he slowed down and moved deeper, as if that were possible. Closing my eyes, I saw lights dancing behind my lids. The explosion came and took me over the edge. Seth’s moans mixed with mine.
“Damn.”
My heart stuttered to a stop. Was he regretting our impetuous act? Was he regretting the best sex I’d had in my life?
He rolled off me and covered his eyes with his arm. “I can’t believe I was so thoughtless. I didn’t even stop for protection.”
I propped myself up with an elbow and looked over at him. “Don’t, Seth.” I pried his arm away from his eyes. I wanted to see his face. I wanted him to see mine.
“I would have said something if it mattered. And you seem like an upstanding guy. I’m sure you would have said something if we had anything to worry about.”
He sat up, pulling me with him. “I didn’t think about that for a moment. But there are other considerations. Unless you want a baby in the middle of this mess we’re living in.”
Tears blurred my vision. “A baby is the last thing I have to worry about, Seth. I’m infertile. That’s why my husband died with a hooker. Constantly needing to prove there wasn’t a problem on his side of the equation.”
He took my hands and kissed the tears running down my face. I smiled at him. “So, no more stressing, okay? Don’t ruin the first sex I’ve had in five years.”
His stunned look was enough to set me off for round two. Part amazement and part thrill raced across his face, as I tackled him and straddled his hips.
Chapter Seven
Somewhere in the Delta, East Bay Area, California
“General Peters. We’re ready for the next test.”
Martin smirked. He’d never been the general of anything, let alone been in a service that had generals. Unless he counted being a supervisor at an auto repair shop, with ex-cons and illegals to order around, and that didn’t count for shit.
But, let the world go to hell in a handbasket and the man holding the basket could take any title he wanted. Let the guy have a safe haven in the Delta and the firepower to hold it and men were willing to follow you and call you any damn thing you demanded. Have the balls to hold it all together and the best food, drink, weapons, and women were yours for the taking.
He pushed away from his desk in the safe room in his bunker. Walking past rows of shelves with canned goods and bottled water, he glanced at the food and smiled as he noted the stock had been rotated on schedule. To fuck up that simple task got you bumped to latrine digging duty—permanently.
He clapped his second-in-command on the shoulder. “Captain Gomez, I hope this test runs better than the last?” His not subtle hint hung in the air between them.
Antonio swallowed audibly and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his skinny throat. The man’s thin frame shook from head to toe. Martin wouldn’t be surprised to hear Gomez’s knees knock together.
“You’re sure everything is ready?” He squeezed the man’s shoulder, feeling the bones grind beneath his fingers. The power play sent an orgasmic thrill through his body. The apocalypse should have happened years ago.
The captain winced, but held firm. “Of course, General.”
Peters stepped back, crossing his arms across his chest. “I believe you were sure last time—” His voice boomed across the enclosed space. “And now I’ve lost four good men and have four extra undead fuckers to deal with, don’t I?”
Martin stalked up to the man until they were nose-to-nose, but Antonio held his ground, his shaking subsiding.
“This time I’ve tried something different. The creatures will be staked on a leash. We can watch their movements with no one in danger.”
“Very good, Captain.” He patted the man on the cheek harder than necessary. “Perhaps you should have thought of that last time.”
“Sir, I told you—um, I let you know there was a chance of failure until we get the right frequency.”
“Yes you did, Antonio. But you’d better find it soon. Because I’m running out of patience—and men.”
♦♦♦
Tanya Gomez placed a hand to her brow, to shield the sun’s glare from her eyes. She spotted the general and that sniveling, idiotic Antonio coming out of the bunker.
She sighed. So many zombie widows, as they were called, and she was still stuck with a stupid husband. Her glance slid to Martin Peters. There was a man! He saw what he wanted and he seized it. Just like he’d seen her in town long before the zombies came, and seized her.
Her breath caught and she squeezed her thighs together. What a lover. Muy caliente. Rough and strong, just like she wanted it, needed it. He was her best so far. She’d had many since her first at fourteen, but none like Martin. His tastes were even more perverted than her own.
Antonio ran up to her, wrapping his arms around her, suffocating her. He swooped in for a kiss. She turned her head at the last second and his perpetually wet lips slid along her cheek. She shuddered as he whispered in her ear.
“Mi espousa. My wife. I love you.”
She pushed her husband away. “Go do your job. Don’t keep the general waiting. You know how angry he gets.”
He kissed her quickly before she could stop him. As he ran to catch up with Peters, she wiped her hand across her mouth and dried it
on her jeans. Her time was coming. Soon, she’d get rid of the boy and have a man.
Tanya strolled over to the arena with the rest of the people standing nearby. She noted the crowd was smaller than for the last test. She smiled. Some people were such wimps. A little bloodshed and they couldn’t handle it. So what if a few soldiers were killed?
The ripping.
The tearing.
The moans of the undead as they fed.
She shuddered and squeezed her thighs together.
That night Martin had been a beast as well.
The bloodshed had been more than just a little when the four men were mauled by the zombies. Several men had jumped up with guns ready to fire, but the general had ordered them to stop. The infected were forced into the cages with the rest of the zombs.
That stupid Antonio thought he had a way to control the creatures. She prayed he failed again. Maybe the general would finally end his loser life.
She found a seat near the top of the wooden grandstands. A new fence enclosed the arena after the last debacle. The fresh-sawed wood smell almost covered the stench of the undead. Their moans filled the air. The beasts were leashed to tall stakes in a semicircle around the far edge of the dirt arena.
General Peters strode to the near end, his hand wrapped around a young girl’s arm. Tanya squinted. Miranda Stevens. She sat up straighter, a smile on her lips. Miranda was the latest young thing in Martin’s bed. He stood tall, his gaze directly to her, and an evil grin on his face. Yes! The stupid girl meant nothing to him. He was hers.
A man yelled from the edge of the arena. “Stop. You can’t do this. She’s my baby.”
General Peters nodded and a man stepped up to the distraught father and a shot rang out across the field. Blood blossomed on his white shirt. The man fell to the ground. A silent moment passed, the crowd leaning forward. He twitched, rolled over, and got to his knees. Falling a few times, the now-undead man stood and lurched toward the general and the young girl.
“Tie him with the others.”
Her breath caught and her heartbeat raced. He would take her rough tonight. Do all the things she liked but didn’t know how to ask for. The welts and bruises would let everyone know who she belonged to, even Antonio. Especially Antonio.
The girl screamed as she tried to pull away from Peters. “You promised. I did everything you asked. You promised.”
He pushed her to the ground. “I make no promises, little girl.” A young man came forward and tied her hands behind her back. She started to run. Peters grabbed her by her long hair and his fist connected to her temple. The girl crumpled to the ground.
“Let’s get started,” he yelled to Antonio.
She laughed as her husband glanced at the young woman on the ground and rushed to the platform with the stereo equipment. Her fingers dug into her thighs. Maybe he would fuck up again and she could finally be through with him after Martin killed him for her.
Her nipples pebbled under her shirt at the thought of being with the general out in the open for all to see. She’d be the first lady of their enclave. Hell, she could aim for Queen of California.
A hum came from the speakers, and then turned into silence except for the barking of every dog on the compound. The creatures in the arena turned in circles, tangling themselves with the ropes around the poles. Black liquid oozed down their arms and legs as they strained against the ropes.
Antonio’s fingers flew across the synthesizer. There appeared to be no change in the silence, except for the hum on the edge of her hearing. Enough to make her believe she could almost capture the sound. The zombies pulled on their leashes, fighting to attack each other. Martin walked up to Antonio and shoved him to his knees, pulling his gun out of the holster.
Her husband put his hands up. She just caught his words. “... just some adjustments.”
Martin put the gun away. “Better get it right. My patience is wearing thin.”
Antonio jumped up and his fingers trembled on the controls. Her teeth ached as he made another adjustment. The zombies stopped moving. They stood and swayed in place, looking at the sky.
Antonio pointed to the girl. Martin spat orders and several men gathered the girl and put her within reach of the monsters, then ran away. The crowd swayed forward in their seats as the sound continued and the undead ignored the fresh meat in their midst.
“Okay, this is what I wanted to show you.” Antonio spoke to the general as he spun a dial on the control board.
Her mouth fell open as the creatures all stretched their tethers as far as they could reach—away from the girl. They ignored her completely. All were attracted to the speakers in the trees, like dogs with a treed raccoon. Some fool thought Antonio had made them harmless. The man touched one and lost his hand in the process, blood squirting across the man’s face and the dirt of the arena.
Martin pulled his gun and shot the man dead on the spot. A head shot.
He smiled as he put the gun away. Clapping Antonio on the back, Martin grinned. “Amazing. We need to pick a target for practice.”
Antonio spun the dial to make the zombies again look to the sky and ignore all the rest. Martin snapped his fingers and directed the men to get the girl out of the center. They snatched her up and looked to him.
“Take her to the guards. It’s been a while since they’ve had some fun.”
Tanya rushed to her husband’s side. For the crowd’s benefit, she gave him a big kiss. “Antonio, you are so brilliant.”
Martin moved to the other side. “So, Antonio, my friend, what do you need for a practice run at a real target?”
Chapter Eight
Seth managed to keep Emily in the Streets of Brentwood compound the first day, but by the second day after Nick’s death, he could see she was going stir crazy. She’d helped her friend, Michelle with laundry detail until there wasn’t a pair of dirty underwear left in the compound. He’d suggested she help her friend, Bobbie Roberts organize a group of teenagers who’d wanted some space of their own. With some shuffling around, the teen group soon settled on a rooftop away from the grown-ups, with empty rooftop space on either side. A pirate flag soon hung down from the store façade and cheering wafted across the open mall as the fabric of the skull and crossbones cracked in the wind.
She was now talking to Bobbie and the hard glances she shot his way warned him he wasn’t going to like whatever plan she’d hatched to get out of the enclosed space of the shopping mall.
“Bobbie and I think the camp needs more tents.” Emily stood in front of him, hands on hips as if waiting for his argument. At that moment, he’d gotten a clearer picture of her married past. If she were spoiling for a fight, he wasn’t going to give it to her. He’d seen her in action. The woman could take care of herself and cover his back too.
“I know there are several sporting goods places in town and nearby, but I’m sure they’ve been picked clean.”
The older woman nodded. “Emily and I were thinking it’s time to start clearing some houses and getting some supplies. Lots of families in this community must have camped. We could find camping stoves, lanterns, maybe even those little pop-up tent things.”
“From what Nick told me...” Emily’s jaw clenched with a teeth-grinding sound as she paused at the kid’s name. “A lot of people owned guns in this town. We might as well collect what we can.”
Bobbie spoke up again. “The patrols are already out and about, but I know Joe and Bob waited around to see if you wanted them to go with you. Josh and Suz volunteered too. The Logans said they would be ready when you are.”
“We should help them,” he said.
“I’ll go get my stuff,” Emily said, giving him a quick hug.
He watched her long strides carry her to the breakaway stairs.
“That woman needs space. She might have married money, but she didn’t come from it, if you know what I mean.”
Seth gave the older woman his attention at her unexpected words. “I thought it was one of thos
e ‘combining dynasties’ things.”
She laughed, throwing her head back. “Oh no, Emily was doing secretary work at her dad’s law office. Carl spotted her, decided it was time to make the next generation of Grays, and married her.”
“So he fell in love, just like that? Not that I can’t see the attraction, because I certainly can.”
Bobbie snorted. “No love match there. Oh, maybe she felt something for him at first. Taken in with the things money can buy. But Carl was only concerned in how Emily looked and dressed and acted. He needed the right someone to play the part of Carl’s wife. Unfortunately, she found out the only person Carl loved was Carl.”
“How did you get to know Emily?”
“I lived near the Grays. I met Emily at a party and I could see right away that she needed a friend, someone who wasn’t after her connections. I watched as Emily started to die inside when Carl started stepping out. I haven’t seen her as happy as she’s been killing skinbags. She finally found something she can do, all on her own. So don’t take that away from her. She’s no ‘princess in a tower’. Go out there, watch her back, but don’t let her know you are watching her back.”
“I will,” Seth replied softly as Emily ran up to them.
She slid to a stop with her backpack strapped on, crossbow in hand. Giving him a grin and a quick kiss, her smile grew when he pulled her in close. “Suz and Josh are ready at the exit. They found a big truck for us to go out in.”
Emily gave Bobbie a hug and they strode over to the exit at the cargo containers. Josh sat at the wheel of a super-sized black truck, with his sister, Suz in the passenger seat. Joe and Bob were already in the bed of the truck, so Emily and Seth hopped up on the tailgate and joined them. Bob slapped the roof and the truck headed out.
“Are we going to the apartments?” Emily asked the guys.
Joe shook his head. “Josh doesn’t think we’ll find a lot of camping stuff there and the parking lots are too tight. No room to maneuver. We could get trapped there.”