Heaven in Hell: Box Set Episodes 1-4

by Dia Cole

  His shaft, thick and pulsing against me, brought to mind every dark fantasy I’d ever had. I wanted him between my lips and thighs. Why had I avoided this all my life?

  Because you hadn’t met Dominic, a voice whispered in the back of my mind.

  I reached my hands between us to grasp his hard flesh through his pants.

  He hissed and thrust against my fingers. “That’s good. So good.” His breathing grew more labored. He reached for his fly with shaking hands and then froze. “I don’t have protection.”

  I couldn’t help giggling at the devastated expression on his face. “What happened to following rule number ten? Be prepared for anything.”

  He cursed. “You can bet this will never happen again.”

  Desperate to keep this connection going, I blurted out, “I can’t get pregnant if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “Are you on the pill?”

  I glanced down at the scar near my belly button. For the first time in my life I was thankful I couldn’t have kids. “No. The bike accident took care of that.” I refused to answer the questions in his gaze, not now. Not ever. “And there is no way I have any STDs. Are you clean?”

  The wicked grin was back. “Squeaky clean.” His fingers caressed up and down my wet folds.

  “Ohh.” Waves of pleasure engulfed me and I undulated under him. Desire thickened my blood.

  He slid two fingers inside me.

  “Ohh.” The sensation of being stretched to the breaking point had me gasping.

  “You’re so tight,” he said in a strained voice. Then he stilled. “Are you a…virgin?”

  I panted, “Is that a problem?”

  Dominic jerked away. “How is that even possible? Weren’t you a…”

  Heat and passion drained out of me in a rush. “Here’s a newsflash, not all strippers are sluts.”

  He opened his mouth and then closed it. It was the first time I’d ever seen him speechless.

  My breaths were uneven. Feeling exposed and vulnerable, I slid off the bar. “What does it matter? It’s not a big deal.” My virginity wasn’t due to crazy moral convictions. It was just a by-product of avoiding romantic relationships my whole life.

  “It’s a big deal.” Dominic scrubbed a hand across his shadowed jaw and took two steps back.

  Anger burned away the fog of desire. Back in my stripping days, dozens of men would've given their left nut to take my virginity. “Why are you being such a Boy Scout?”

  When he didn’t answer, I turned my back on him. Pulling the sports bra down and tugging on my thong and pants restored some semblance of my confidence.

  “I wouldn’t have touched you if I’d known.”

  I spun around. “Hello, the Dark Ages called, they want you back.”

  His eyes darkened. “I fuck hard and rough. You don’t want someone like me for your first time.”

  His raw words made me shiver. Cursing my stupid hormones, I focused my attention back on his vest. “You’re exactly who I want for my first time.”

  Although my words were only supposed to be part of the act, they rang with too much truth for comfort.

  A shudder ran through his body. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

  He was wavering. I fought back a smile. I was back in the driver’s seat. “I want you to be my first, Dominic.”

  He made a feral noise and swayed toward me.

  I reached for his vest.

  A bloodcurdling howl ripped through the air.

  5

  Dominic scrambled to his feet and looked out the front windows. Whatever he saw must have been bad. He clenched his teeth and drew his gun.

  Cold fingers of dread crept up my back. “Is Eden back?” Not waiting for him to respond, I stood up next to him and squinted to see through the glass.

  Across the street, the tight cluster of zombies stumbled back. A lone figure stood in the center of the Biters.

  Eden.

  At her feet lay a crumpled body. Based on the blood-covered fatigues and the M16 still slung around its neck, it had to be one of the gang members. It wasn’t Skull Face though.

  Pity.

  Eden twisted her head from side to side, as if she was trying to work out the kinks in her neck. Then she unhinged her jaw and howled again.

  Dominic cursed and pulled me into a crouch so only our eyes and the tops of our head were visible over the bar counter.

  Eden sniffed the air and looked in our direction.

  A cold sweat broke out on my neck. I reached for my gun. “I’m nearly out of ammo.”

  “Make each bullet count.”

  “Thanks,” I said sarcastically.

  With a lump in my throat, I watched Eden leap into the air and land gracefully on the hood of one of the abandoned cars on the street. She seemed to be scanning the area.

  If she comes for us…

  My insides curdled.

  In the distance, an engine backfired.

  Eden took off at top speed down the street.

  “Get your stuff. We leave now. You need to stay by my side at all times.”

  I shook my head. “Shouldn’t we—”

  “—wait around for her to come back?” he finished.

  He has a point.

  I slung on my backpack and jacket with trembling fingers.

  Dominic grabbed my wrist and dragged me out the front door. A few Biters spotted us, but by the time they’d started clicking their teeth, we’d already turned the corner and were headed to the next street.

  We passed gift shops, restaurants, and pubs. Dominic never slowed his pace or loosened his hold on me.

  Several times the hairs on the back of my neck prickled as I caught a flash of something darting across a roof behind us. I prayed it was a bird.

  A really large bird.

  Each time we’d spot staggering shapes, Dominic would shift direction.

  At one point, I thought I heard the sound of a vehicle engine. It had to be my mind playing tricks on me. If any of the gang members had survived, they’d drive as fast and as far away as they could. That would be the sane thing to do. Although, based on what I’d seen of Skull Face, I wasn’t sure that he and sanity were on speaking terms.

  Eventually, supermarkets and drugstores replaced touristy shops and restaurants. Crowded buildings gave way to the suburban sprawl of strip malls.

  “Where are we going?”

  Dominic ignored me.

  It wasn’t until the intoxicating aroma of orange blossoms surrounded us that I realized where we were headed.

  I struggled to keep pace with him as we crossed at the intersection near the supercenter. “We’re going to the orange groves?”

  He grunted.

  “Was that a yes or no grunt? What’s your plan, Dominic?”

  Again he ignored me.

  I jerked at his hand in frustration. Staying out in the open didn’t seem like the brightest of ideas, especially when the supercenter parking lot was filled with cars and campers. “Let’s look for a car there.”

  “No.”

  I dug my feet in. “Why the hell not?”

  Dominic pinned me to the asphalt with a fierce glare. “That’s why.” He roughly grabbed my face and pointed it toward the south side of the building. Throngs of Biters clawed at the glass doors to the lawn and garden area.

  “Oh.” My voice was small as I realized the wall of infected spanned the length of the store. Once again, I was caught not paying attention.

  “There are probably hundreds of survivors camped out inside. There will be hell to pay when the food runs out,” he said shaking his head. “What’s rule number fourteen?”

  “Avoid big stores,” I said in a small voice.

  “Right. Our best bet of finding a drivable car is the neighborhoods at this point.”

  “You’ve always told us to avoid the neighborhoods. They’re too dangerous. Rule number fifteen.”

  He frowned. “It’s actually rule number thirteen. But remember, I
make the rules, I can break the rules. We can’t waste time going from car to car. Our best bet is finding a house with a car in the garage. The keys should be easy to find.”

  His face was set with grim resolve.

  God. Are we really going to go into people’s homes?

  What I’d seen so far of the city would haunt me for the short duration of my life—I didn’t know if I could handle seeing what the virus had done to families.

  With his implacable grip around my wrist, there was no other option than to stumble along beside him. The sweet smell of blooming orange trees grew stronger as we came to the white picket fences that bordered the one remaining citrus grove in central Saguaro Valley.

  Needing to break the silence, I blurted out, “I used to come here as a child.”

  Dominic scanned the area. “Um-hmm.”

  “Yeah. My mom would take us here to pick oranges and grapefruit. Whoever picked the most fruit got a special prize. My older sister always won.” I smiled at the bittersweet memories. Angel had always been better at everything. That’d driven me crazy as a child.

  He looked at me with interest. “I didn’t know you had another sister.”

  Damn. I walked into that one. “I don’t like to talk about her.” The joy from the moment faded.

  I gritted my teeth waiting for him to ask more about her, but he shifted gears.

  “So how come you’re still a virgin at your age?”

  I nearly tripped over my feet. “You make it sound like I’m some kind of freak.”

  “Answer the question.”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  He wheeled around on me. “Given what we almost did back in the restaurant, it is my business.”

  The heat in his gaze made me swallow hard. I thought about saying something flirty but when I opened my mouth, the truth came out. “I have some trust issues, okay?” That was putting it mildly. Seeing what my dad had done to my mom had me resolving never to follow in her footsteps. As far as I was concerned, sex was the gateway drug to losing yourself to another person. I never wanted to risk that.

  His jaw tightened. “Did some guy…”

  “No. Nothing like that.”

  “Good.”

  An awkward silence fell over us as we passed the grove. Soon we came to a faux stone wall with the words Grove Estates engraved on it.

  Dominic’s grip tightened as we turned into the neighborhood. “Stay close,” he ordered looking down the street at the nearly identical one- and two-story stucco homes.

  The apocalypse had apparently come on recycling day. The deserted streets were strewn with papers, cardboard boxes, and plastic bottles. Many of the blue bins lined up on the street lay on their sides like knocked-over pins in a bowling alley.

  Dominic paused behind an orange tree and nodded at a black Hummer sitting in the driveway of a cream-colored two-story. “This one.”

  I peered up at the Spanish styled house. Like many of the other homes on the block, it was decked out for Christmas. Brightly painted wooden snowmen cavorted with weeds on the lawn, while a life-size Santa waved from the tiled roof.

  If the fat man in red approves, it’s good enough for me.

  We started up the driveway.

  Immediately, my gaze was drawn to the moving curtains in the second-story window.

  A face pressed against the glass.

  It was so unexpected. I closed my eyes, shook my head, and looked up again.

  It wasn’t a hallucination. A girl wearing a blue negligee stared down at us. Her wavy hair was long and that natural coppery red you couldn’t duplicate from a bottle. She looked no bigger than a twelve-year-old.

  What’s she doing wearing an outfit like that? And why is her right breast exposed?

  Dominic stopped in his tracks.

  The girl’s face contorted in fear. She raised her palms to the window. Even from this distance, I could hear her screaming, “Help me,” through the glass.

  A man with a silver handlebar mustache appeared. He slapped her across the face and pushed her out of view.

  “Did you see that, Dominic?”

  The words withered on my tongue as the man lifted a shotgun and pointed it at us.

  The world narrowed to the twin barrels aimed in our direction. My breath caught in my throat as I whispered, “Dominic.”

  “Step behind me. Now slowly back away.”

  Not about to argue, I followed his orders.

  Dominic holstered his gun and held his hands up front of him. “There’s a second gunman,” he said under his breath.

  Other than the man with the shotgun, there were no other signs of life.

  Wait.

  There was a flicker of movement near the glass panel by the front door. A shadow moved behind it. While I couldn’t make out a face, I could make out the black gun muzzle pressed against the glass.

  My pulse sped up.

  What if they decide to shoot at us?

  Dominic trampled my foot as he took a step back. “Back up.”

  Nodding even though he couldn’t see me, I moved back with jerky limbs. Any second, I expected them to open fire. It wasn’t until we hit the sidewalk and the man with the shotgun stepped out of view that my breath returned.

  “Keep walking.”

  “Poor girl.” The images of what that man was probably doing to her left a bitter taste in my mouth.

  “There’s nothing we can do for her.”

  I opened my mouth to argue with him, but realized he was right. We were in no position to take on those people back there. My chest constricted as I thought about the girl. “It’s not right.”

  If Dominic hadn’t found us, would Eden and I have ended up like that?

  “Why are people becoming such animals?”

  Dominic gave a humorless laugh. “People prey on each other when things get bad. And things don’t get worse than this.” He stopped to peer into the window of a sports car parked on the side of the street.

  “What happened to make you this cynical?”

  He turned and stared down at me. “I’ve seen what men do when there is no law to hold them accountable.”

  I flinched at the shadows that flickered in his eyes. Dominic had definitely seen his share nightmares.

  But then again, so have I.

  “We need to pick up the pace if we want to get back to the office on time.”

  Crap. I had a strong feeling that things wouldn’t go well for Reed if we didn’t make our deadline. Lost in my fear for him, I didn’t watch where I was going. My foot smacked into an empty two-liter bottle.

  The hollow plastic thunked when it rolled off the sidewalk.

  My heart pounded as I waited for some dead thing to come our way.

  Nothing happened.

  Dominic threw a harsh glare over his shoulder. “Watch where you’re going.” He led me across the street all the while scanning houses as though he was looking for a specific address.

  We turned at the next intersection and followed it until it curved around a park. Weeds had reclaimed the basketball court. The entire area was eerily clear of zombies.

  “It’s quiet.”

  Dominic halted next to a tree and looked at the houses around us. “Yeah. Too quiet.”

  Swings creaked back and forth. The breeze seemed to carry the faint echo of children’s laughter. But I knew it was just my imagination.

  No kids will ever play here again.

  He nodded up at a two-story several houses down from the park. “This house.”

  The sight of an overturned jogging stroller in the middle of the yard made me swallow hard. “Why don’t we try a different house?”

  Dominic ignored me and headed up the flagstone path. “Come on and stay close to me. It won’t be pretty inside.”

  6

  Based on the shattered doorframe and shriveled pine wreath lying on the candy cane welcome mat, it looked like someone had already kicked open the door.

  Likely looters, searching
for weapons and supplies. But why would looters bother to force the door closed after they left?

  I rubbed at the goose pimples on my arms. “Dominic, can we try another house?”

  He was too busy pushing the door open to hear me. He signaled me not to move.

  For a long minute, the only sound was our breathing. His: slow and steady. Mine: fast and jagged.

  “Rule number fifteen, announce your arrival,” he reminded me, rapping the hilt of his knife on the doorframe. “Any infected will come to the noise.”

  After a few moments, he apparently decided there was no zombie welcome party. He pulled me inside, securing the splintered door behind us.

  The unmistakable smell of human decay hung in the air like an old woman’s cloying perfume. Covering my nose with my hand, I maneuvered around the scooters and bikes stacked near the door.

  Seemingly unaffected by the smell, Dominic headed down the hallway.

  I stayed on his heels not wanting to be left alone.

  We passed a guest bathroom across from a cluttered office.

  Dominic checked inside each room. “All clear,” he announced, shutting the doors.

  When I shot him a questioning look, he said, “Just in case.”

  “In case of what?”

  He apparently didn’t feel the need to enlighten me.

  Three steps later we found ourselves in a living room. An oak television cabinet loomed over a well-worn leather sofa and a beat-up coffee table covered with crayons. The stained carpet played peekaboo under scattered toys and Play-Doh containers.

  Stepping around the objects on the floor, I moved closer to the framed picture teetering on the edge of the side table near the couch. In the photo, a smiling brunette woman clutched a howling infant, while a large man in formal military attire hugged a towheaded boy and a little girl in pigtails.

  The family looked like any typical army family living off base. I hoped against the rancid smell that they’d gotten to safety.

  A plaintive cry split the stagnant air.

  Shock blasted through me. “Oh my God. A baby.” My heart seized and my gaze ricocheted between the two visible exits to the room. One looked like it led into another hallway. The other, based on the glimpse of countertops, opened into a kitchen. My stricken gaze met Dominic’s.