My heart pounded. “That sounds rather possessive.”
He moved to sit beside me. “Is it a problem if I am? I want you to be mine.”
My gaze fell to his lips. His perfectly shaped lips looked so warm and inviting. “No. That’s not a problem.” My voice came out breathy and constricted. With every second, he was leaning closer. “As long as it’s two ways. You’re mine too.”
The corner of his mouth tugged up. “I’m more than okay with that. So does that mean you’re officially my girlfriend? And I’m officially your boyfriend?”
His mouth was only inches away now. My gaze kept drifting between his incredible bright blue eyes to his firm lips. “Yes. I’m yours and you’re mine.”
He growled in satisfaction. “Good.”
And then he kissed me.
5 – NEWS SEGMENT
Minutes or hours passed. I didn’t know. As Davin’s lips moved over mine, I lost all sense of time.
In a blur, Davin hauled me into his lap. He did it so fast, only the slightest hitch of pain followed. Regardless, I didn’t care. All I wanted was to feel him. To taste him.
His hard thighs felt like steel beneath me while his hands roamed over my body. Instinctively, he seemed to know what areas to avoid and what areas to attend. His large palm settled onto my back, behind my sore shoulder. Strong fingers gently kneaded the muscles while he continued to plunder my mouth with his tongue.
It was heaven and bliss wrapped into one.
I moaned against him. The feel of his fingers working the sore knots from my muscles felt wonderfully relaxing, while the taste of his mouth and heat from his body felt deliciously thrilling. I became a puddle in his arms.
He chuckled into my mouth and pulled back.
A soft protest escaped me.
He moved to my jaw and then my neck, trailing little kisses down my jugular. I tilted my head to give him better access.
Another growl emitted from his throat.
Squirming against him, my eyes flashed open when the hard bulge in his pants became evident.
He paused only long enough to whisper, “When you’re healed, I’ll make you completely mine.”
That promise sent another thrill down my spine, yet I didn’t want to wait. Putting both hands on his shoulders, I pulled him closer. That was a mistake. White-hot pain shot down my arm at the abrupt movement.
“Ahh!”
Davin jerked back. “Meghan? Are you okay?” Concern filled his gaze as he looked me over. Understanding dawned. In another blurred move, he was across the room.
Miraculously, it didn’t hurt. Somehow, he’d managed to extract me from his lap, while moving the fifteen feet across the room, all without jarring my injury or causing me additional pain. Strain 11’s effects on him were mind-boggling. Makanza gave him the strength and grace that a normal human couldn’t rival.
Yet, it wasn’t that realization that had me gazing at him with wonder. Instead, it was all that had transpired between us in such a short amount of time.
Davin loved me.
He’d never been with Jenna and had never intended to.
I loved him.
We were officially, finally, together.
I giggled.
Davin stopped pacing and grinned. “Stop looking like that or I’m going to forget my noble intentions and pounce on you.”
I lifted an arm to casually drape it across the couch-back while crossing my legs. Only thing, that didn’t go as intended. The second I lifted my bad arm, like a complete idiot, a hiss of pain shot out of me reminding me I had zero experience in the art of seduction. It was hard to believe I’d only kissed Davin a couple of times, the last time being on the night the Post Wave Rehabilitation Act was announced.
All smiles and joking left him. In a whizzed move, he was at my side again. His eyebrows drew darkly together. “Dammit, Meghan.”
He moved me gently and tugged on the neck of my shirt to see my wound. “You’re bleeding.”
I made a face. “I’ve been bleeding all day.”
“You have? Have you told your doctor?”
“No. It only bleeds if I move around a lot.”
“You’re doing too much. Come with me. I’ll redress it.”
Considering Davin had been at my side during the entire hospital stay, he’d also heard all of the instructions on how to care for my wound. Once in my bathroom, he lifted me onto the counter and told me to scoot back. My legs dangled over the edge as he tugged at my shirt.
“Take your shirt off.”
My eyes bulged.
He chuckled. “I know. It’s not exactly how I imagined undressing you for the first time either, but I need to see your wound and your shirt’s in the way.”
With scarlet cheeks, I began to lift it with my good arm.
He watched my every move, his pupils dilating. When my shirt was over my head, I struggled to get my arms out.
Reaching gently for the sleeve, he slipped it off.
When I sat before him in nothing but my sweatpants and bra, I had the most ridiculous urge to cover myself. The white bandage taped to my upper chest and the old bra I wore were hardly attractive. If I had known an hour ago that I would be in this position, I would have worn my new yoga pants and lacy red bra. I’d found them on special last year during one of the government’s double quantity apparel releases. They were infinitely better than the old gray sweats and plain white bra I currently wore.
He tilted my chin toward him. “You’re beautiful.”
That admission stopped my fidgeting.
“Now, I just need to stop looking at you like your boyfriend and more like your doctor.”
The way he said boyfriend made goosebumps rise along my arms.
With gentle fingers, he pried the tape off. A few times, his hands brushed the tops of my breasts. Each time, his breath stopped but then he resumed removing the bandage, that serious expression back in place.
When the bandage finally came free, his lips turned into a tight line.
I forgot how horrible the wound looked.
A perfect red circle with jagged edges made a hole in my chest. Since the bullet had hit bone in my upper ribcage, there wasn’t an exit point. However, that also meant I’d had to undergo surgery immediately following the gunshot to repair my bone and remove shattered bullet fragments. That resulted in an incision sutured together—an incision that was currently oozing. I didn’t remember any of it, though. The three days after I’d been shot were a blank void.
But while having a fractured bone meant a longer recovery for me, that was better than having the bullet hit my subclavian artery. If it had, I would have died.
I shuddered.
Davin’s hands stilled. “Are you okay? Am I hurting you?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s . . .” I shook my head. “Nothing.”
He set aside the bloody bandage. All of a sudden, the open hole in my chest made me nauseous. I began to tremble.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” Davin gently held my shoulders.
I sniffed. Davin had just called me babe for the first time, and all I could think about was my wound. It was so stupid. Even though I’d been shot, I’d done really well at not thinking about it. The doctors and nurses at the hospital had said it was normal to have anxiety and nightmares when something traumatic like that happened, but I’d brushed all of that off.
I was no stranger to anxiety, and considering what the Kazzies had gone through, a gunshot wound was nothing. Yet, there had been times during the past few days, when out of the blue, an image of Dr. Roberts raising his gun would rise up in my mind. Like a tidal wave that came out of nowhere.
Each time, I’d pushed it back, burying it, denying it—yet now that I was here with Davin, it wouldn’t subside. It was like my body knew I was safe with him. That with him I could let my walls down and feel the anxiety and fear that wanted to claw through me.
“Shh, it’s okay.” He pulled me to him, his warm chest pressing against my bar
e one. He was careful to not touch my injured shoulder.
I inhaled deeply. His scent was everywhere. Amazingly, it was like he knew what to do. He didn’t ask further questions. He didn’t try to force anything out of me.
He just held me.
Closing my eyes, I savored the feel of his arms. My head spun. Davin was in my apartment, in my bathroom, holding me while the fear slowly subsided. For months, I’d dreamed of this.
And now, it was coming true.
“I’m okay, really, I am. Thank you.” I wiped the moisture from my eyes. It was crazy how easily emotions surfaced around him.
His gaze searched mine. Flecks of dark blue smattered throughout his electric-blue irises. Once again, I wanted to stare at how beautiful he was.
He traced a finger across my cheek. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I’m just trying to forget it. I got shot, but I’m still alive, and you’re free and safe so it turned out okay. I keep reminding myself of that.”
His jaw clenched and unclenched. Warring emotions oscillated across his face. One moment it was pain, the next anger. They came and went like undulating waves in the ocean.
“It still haunts me too,” he said quietly. “I have this vivid picture of you throwing yourself in front of me. It’s frozen in my mind, as clear as day.”
Stepping closer, he put his hands around my waist.
I parted my legs so he could step between them.
Resting his forehead against mine, his lips were only inches away, and his sweet minty breath puffed toward me. “Promise me you’ll never jeopardize your safety for me again. That bullet was meant for me. Not you.”
I laid a hand across his cheek. Rough stubble grazed my palm. “Promising that is like asking you to never protect me if someone tries to hurt me. It’s pointless. You know I’d do it again, just like I know you’d defend me.”
His grip tightened on my waist. “But you could have died.”
I moved my palm to his chest. Hard muscles jumped beneath my touch. “Well . . . I have a sneaking suspicion it’s not something we’ll have to deal with often. After all, I doubt people will try to shoot me every day.”
His lips tugged up.
I smiled as the mood around us began to lift.
Chuckling, he gently pushed a lock of hair behind my ear before pulling his head back. “Are you hungry?”
“A little.”
His stomach growled.
My smile widened. “I take it, you are?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t stop for lunch when I drove here. I’m sure you can understand why.”
Hearing that made my smile disappear. He’d hurried as quickly as he could to Sioux Falls. All because I refused to speak to him.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you, and I’m sorry again that I jumped to conclusions.”
He put his fingers to my lips. “It’s fine. I don’t hold it against you, really, I don’t. But promise me you’ll talk to me in the future. Next time something happens, because it’s inevitable that something will happen, promise me that you’ll come to me first. Don’t run away. Stay with me and we’ll talk through it.”
I swallowed tightly. Love beat so strongly in my chest. “Yeah, I promise.”
Davin redressed my wound and then helped me pull my sweatshirt back on. He also made sure I took another dose of pain meds as well as my antibiotic. His attentive and caring behavior brought back memories of my time in the Inner Sanctum, after I’d been exposed to Makanza.
Thirty minutes later, we were leaving my apartment to venture to the South Dakota Food Distribution Center. I had zero fresh groceries. Thankfully, we were able to sneak out the back door of my apartment building without drawing attention to ourselves.
Only a few reporters remained at the front. In the ten degree weather, they didn’t seem very alert. Most huddled together trying to keep warm. The rest had apparently either returned to their stations, or had stayed in whatever hotel was their temporary home.
“How did you get past them?” I whispered as we skidded down the slippery sidewalk.
Davin pulled me closer to his side. “I moved at my speed.” He chuckled at my wide eyes.
Pulling my scarf up higher as a gust of cold wind hit us, I asked in a muffled voice, “So, they didn’t see you?”
He shook his head as we reached his car. “They would have noticed the door opening and closing behind me, but I moved at my top speed so there was no way they could have seen me.”
“I wonder what they thought.”
Opening the car door for me, he winked. “Considering how windy it is, they probably thought a wind gust pulled the door open.”
Once inside Davin’s car, we hightailed it out of the parking lot before the reporters could notice. The streets weren’t as slippery as the sidewalk, so Davin sped down the road.
Streetlights clicked on as we passed beneath them. Even though it was only early evening, the sun had disappeared, bringing with it another long winter night.
Flipping the heater on, I eyed him curiously. “How did the drive go from Rapid? It’s been awhile since you’ve been behind the wheel, right?”
He raised an eyebrow. In the dark cab, shadows fell across his high cheekbones. “What are you saying? That I’m a hazard on the road?”
I laughed. “Were you?”
“I didn’t hit anybody and managed to stay between the lines if that’s what you mean.”
Another laugh bubbled up in me as happiness swam through my veins. How is it possible that only a day ago I was miserable at the thought of my life without Davin, and now, the future suddenly seems so bright?
WHEN WE PULLED into the South Dakota Food Distribution Center’s parking lot, there were dozens of other cars. It was a busy time of day to shop. Most people had recently left work and were picking up last minute items before venturing home.
I watched Davin as he perused the aisles. I couldn’t help it. He’d often stop with wide eyes to pick up a food item, smell a piece of fresh produce, or lift a loaf of bread to feel its spongy exterior. It was like watching a blind man see for the first time.
While Davin had no doubt gone grocery shopping before becoming infected, I also knew it had been years since he’d done such a normal, mundane task. That realization brought tears to my eyes. This was all I’d ever wanted for him. To be free. To be happy.
I hastily blinked back the tears when he looked my way.
He merely smiled before moving onto the next item, oblivious to the inner emotions that swirled inside me like a tornado.
I trailed behind him, watching his broad shoulders through his thin shirt. Even in the dead of winter he only wore a t-shirt thanks to his enhanced metabolism, another Change made in him by Makanza. That thin material hugged his body, his muscles visible beneath. And with his worn jeans, boots, large hands, and drop-dead gorgeous face—it was hard not to stare.
I wasn’t the only one noticing his devilishly handsome good looks.
Several women stopped to watch him, even the middle-aged ones who had teenage kids following behind them. They all did a double-take when Davin strolled by. Some even blushed when he glanced their way.
I wondered if they knew Davin was a Kazzie. Probably not. Since he outwardly appeared normal, the general public would have no idea he was infected. They’d also be completely unaware that being so close to him, and touching things he’d just brushed against, would also infect them.
Since the three-week quarantine law had died with the Post Wave Rehabilitation Act, it was inevitable that in the next few days, most people in this store would feel some type of symptom. Those symptoms could feel like the common cold, or the achiness from an impending flu, or a more severe reaction like I’d had, but many of them would have some reaction.
But they’d all been vaccinated.
So after a few days of feeling unwell, they’d be fine, most likely none the wiser that they’d just been exposed.
; At the checkout, Davin kept his lightning-fast speed in check. I had a feeling he was more conscientious about his inhuman abilities now more than ever. He seemed to be slowing his movements as if trying to not draw attention to himself. Despite this being my home turf, hecklers were everywhere.
But his tamed actions didn’t stop the other type of attention he was attracting.
The checkout girl kept stumbling and dropping things as she batted her eyelashes at him. She barely glanced my way even though I’d been shopping at this store for years.
The Complete Makanza Series: Books 0-4 Page 91