Beyond

by Chantal Fernando

  “No, he didn’t touch Gina,” I reply. “She’s fine.”

  “Dane, what the fuck man?” Jase says, storming out of the cave. “We’re on a rescue mission to save your ass and you find us instead.”

  “Hate to steal your thunder,” Dane replies in a dry tone. “I’m glad I did found you. What the fuck were you all thinking bringing Olivia? If anything happened to her, you’re all dead.”

  “She’s fine as you can see. All in one piece,” Jase replies, crouching to start a fire.

  “What aren’t you telling me then?” Dane asks, gripping onto the back of my neck with this palm.

  I sigh. “Why don’t you tell us what took you so long?”

  “We were on our way home when I saw someone I used to know… before everything happened--Jordan, and two others. They needed some help. One of them was injured. Everything took longer than expected, I’m sorry. We found some weapons and tinned food though. Also some medicine.”

  “Good,” I reply. We especially needed the medicine. “I’d like to see the city. The old buildings and shops that you raid. I’ve only seen trees and jungle since I left the castle.”

  “No, we’re going home Olivia. I don’t need you in danger any longer than you need to be.”

  I cross my arms over my chest, staring up at his face. I could now see it clearly thanks to the fire Jase lit. “You need to stop with the alpha bullshit. I’m more than able to defend myself.”

  “Maybe so,” he says. “But we just came from the old city. Do you want us to trek back there just so you can have a look?”

  “No,” I reply, shoulder slumping. “I guess not.”

  He nips at my ear. “I just want to be back in the castle with you. In our bed. Safe and fucking sound. How do you still smell so good?”

  “Sam?” I hear a man call out.

  Lars.

  Sam peeps out of the cave at his name being called. Lars appears out of nowhere and the two of them embrace, unaware of all the eyes on them. Maybe they didn’t care.

  “Gina’s here,” I hear Sam tell Lars. They both disappear into the cave.

  “What the fuck was that,” Dane mutters, sounding shocked. “Didn’t see that one coming.”

  I grin. “That’s exactly what I said.”

  Dane smiles, and suddenly everything is right in the world. “You look even more beautiful than I remember.”

  “I was so scared Dane,” I admit. “I thought I’d lost you for a while there.”

  “You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” he says in a gentle tone. “Olivia there is something I need to tell you about--”

  “Dane, there you are,” comes an unfamiliar woman’s voice. She’s walking in front of a group of people, men from the castle and two people I’ve never seen before.

  Dane lifts his head as the pretty redhead saunters up to him. “This is my wife, Olivia.”

  The woman looks at me, then slowly takes me in from head to toe. “Hello Olivia. I’m Jordan.”

  I think she must realize that I haven’t heard anything about her from the lack of recognition on my face, so she clears her throat and continues, “I’m Dane’s… ex-girlfriend.”

  I’m suddenly wishing I stayed my ass at home.

  “She’s not my ex-girlfriend,” Dane says, his tone giving away nothing. “Remember I told you I saved a woman once, before I was held captive by Dravid with Gina?”

  I nod. “Yeah.”

  “Yeah, that was Jordan. We fucked, yes. I wouldn’t call that dating. Running around and trying to survive with fuckin’ zombies trying to eat you, how the fuck is that dating?”

  “You still found time to have sex with her,” I reply dryly.

  He crosses his arms over his chest. We were standing away from the cave, trying to have a private conversation I hoped the others couldn’t hear. Knowing my luck, they could hear every damn word. After meeting Jordan, I couldn’t wait to get Dane alone to ask him about her. I’d pulled him away from the cave with the excuse of needing to use the bathroom.

  “Sex was one of the only good things left we had in the world,” he says. “They took good food and everything else away. I’m a man Olivia. Yes, I fucked her. There was no love or anything like that involved, it was just sex. I hadn’t even met you yet! You can’t hold my past against me.”

  He still hadn’t even told me that he loved me so I sure as hell hoped not. “I was so fucking scared that I lost you, I left our people who need me to find you, and you weren’t even in danger. You were saving some ex fuck of yours. How am I supposed to not be a little put out over this?”

  He steps to me and cups my face. When he speaks, I can tell he’s amused by the sound of his tone. “I can’t not help women just because I’ve been with them. What kind of man would that make me? Come on Olivia. You’re my wife. That means something to me. Yours is the only sweet pussy I’m going to be inside of, okay?”

  My face flushes at his words. “No need to be so…”

  “So what?”

  “You have a dirty mouth!” I blurt out.

  He leans down and whispers into my ear. “I know, and it makes you hot. So why are you complaining? Maybe you’re wet now? Hmmmm. Are you wet for me Olivia? It’s been a while since I’ve been inside you. It’s been killing me, but trust me baby, I’d rather use my hand than cheat on you. It’s you I need to be inside. Not just anyone will do anymore.”

  Well, when he put it like that.

  I swallow hard, looking around the dark area we were standing in. “Here?”

  He lowers his head and kisses me. “No one can see us.”

  He reaches his hand up my top and pulls down the cup of my bra. Lifting up the material, he goes to his knees and sucks my nipple into his mouth, then does the same to the other. He then pulls my pants down, undoes his own and pushes me back against a tree. The bark sticks into my back, but I couldn’t care less, I just want him inside me. Mouths fused together, he tries to untangle my pants at my ankles but can’t, because I am still wearing my shoes. With a groan, he lifts me up, and my thighs wrap around his hips as far as they can. It’s enough for him. He slides into me, muttering a curse into my neck when he’s in all the way.

  “Like coming home,” he murmurs. “The castle isn’t my home anymore Olivia, you are.”

  He kisses me then, our mouths colliding, his body pressed against me. Each thrust pushes me against the tree, but the extra pain just turns me on more. I bite down on his bottom lip, earning me an even harder thrust.

  “Yes,” I moan.

  “You’re mine,” he growls. “Tell me.”

  “I’m yours,” I tell him on a gasp. “Only yours.”

  “That’s right,” he whispers, pulling his face back and regarding me for a second. “No one else will ever have this.”

  I grab the back of his neck and pull his mouth back down to mine.

  Where it belongs.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “What’s your favorite meal?” I ask him as we lay together beneath the stars.

  “Your pussy.”

  I slap his arm playfully. “Fine, what’s your second favourite meal. And if you say someone else’s pussy, I’m going to stab you.”

  He laughs deeply. “I like steak and potatoes.”

  “Typical man,” I mutter.

  “Are you hungry? Is that why all this talk about food?” He rolls towards me and kisses my neck. “I found you some honey flowers.”

  “You did?” I ask, lifting my head up to give him more access. “I guess I’m a little hungry.”

  He lifts his mouth from my skin. “We found some supplies. Come on, we’ll find something you like. We found some tinned tuna. You could eat that with crackers.”

  My eyes widen. “Tuna and crackers sounds heavenly.”

  He kisses my lips and lingers there. “Are you okay now with the whole Jordan thing?”

  I shrug. “You’re mine now. That’s all that matters. I’ll have to deal with my jealousy.”

  “I g
et it, you know. If I had to be around any man that had touched you I don’t know how I’d handle it. Lucky for me, you saved yourself for me.”

  I puff out a breath. “Lucky for me you didn’t save yourself. Someone needs to know what they’re doing between the sheets.”

  He laughs. “Does my experience please you wife?”

  “Only when I don’t have to see the women you’ve been with,” I grumble, crossing my arms over myself.

  He sighs and kisses my forehead. “I only see you Olivia. No one else.”

  “I’m being petty, I know,” I reply on a sigh. “We have bigger issues to worry about.”

  “You’re feelings are important to be baby. I don’t want you upset. But you know what? You have nothing to worry about. I’m so fuckin’ happy to have you in my arms right now.”

  “And I’m happy to be here,” I whisper back.

  I love you.

  I want to say it, but the words don’t come.

  “I heard something about you,” Dane says the next morning. I was in the river washing my face.

  “What?”

  “You killed one of the beasts. With an arrow. From a tree.”

  He looks impressed.

  And proud.

  “I did,” I reply. “Those things are damn scary. Are there many around here?”

  Dane looks out over the distance. “More and more each time I leave the walls. I think they eat the zombies though.”

  “So I’ve heard.”

  “If anything happened to you Olivia…” he trails off, returning his gaze to me. “I want you home.”

  “I’m fine,” I say. “As you can see.”

  I lower my voice. “I saw my mother.”

  Dane visibly cringes. “Christ Olivia.”

  “You knew then,” I state.

  He steps into the water with me, and pulls me against his chest. “I knew. I’ve seen her around the walls. She looked just like you. Evan made sure none of us went near her.”

  “Dane… I…”

  “What baby?” he whispers.

  “I told Jase to kill her,” I blurt out. “She would have hated it, living like that. I couldn’t see her like that.”

  He rubs my back, exhaling deeply. “That must have been a hard call to make, but I think you did the right thing. I wouldn’t want to live like that either.”

  “I feel like Dad kept so much from me.”

  “He wanted to protect you. You’re everything that’s good in this world Olivia. There isn’t much of that out there anymore. Everyone just lives for themselves.”

  I lift my head up. “You don’t. You help everyone. Protect everyone. You’re amazing Dane.”

  I grin as I see his cheeks redden.

  “I don’t know about all that,” he murmurs. “But it means the world to me that you think that of me. To be honest, the need to protect you… It consumes me. It’s a little fuckin’ scary.”

  He scrubs his hand down his face, looking frustrated. “I want you back behind those walls. Now.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’ve made it this far and I’m fine. And now that I’ve been out, don’t think I’m not going to come out here again.”

  The muscles in his throat work as he swallows. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “I’m a capable woman Dane,” I tell him quietly. “I know you want to protect me, and I love that, but I’m a not just your wife. I’m a leader and a warrior too.”

  He groans and buries his face in my neck. “I know, trust me, I know.”

  We stay like that for a while, our ankles in the water, our bodies pressed against each other, his face in my neck.

  “We need to get going,” he finally says. “It’s never safe to stay in one place for too long.”

  I nod. “Okay. Dane?”

  “Yes beautiful.”

  “Is there any tuna left?”

  We had to walk back through Aaron’s camp, and to be honest, I was crapping myself. I hadn’t told Dane about what had happened and neither had anyone else. We still had a few hours before we got there, but I was already envisioning what was going to go down.

  Sam must have been thinking the same thing because he mutters, “Few hours until we’re all killed. Except you, of course.”

  I roll my eyes. “He won’t do anything to you.”

  He whispers. “I let you go in that tent with him! Dane is going to gut me and love every second of it.”

  I can hear Jordan in front of us, telling Dane how nice it is that he doesn’t care how close I am with other men.

  Bitch.

  She’s trying to start shit, I know she is.

  I turn to Jase, who was walking on my other side. “Can’t you keep her occupied?”

  He chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. “Dane doesn’t want her. Control your jealously princess.”

  I make a scoffing noise. “I’m so not jealous.”

  The men beside me laugh. I lower my voice and decide to change the subject. “Is there any way we can go around Aaron’s camp?”

  Jase shakes his head. “Those ways aren’t safe. Why do you think we had to cut through his way? He knows it too. That’s why the bastard set up camp there.”

  “Who the hell is he anyway?”

  “Who knows,” Jase replies. “He sees himself as some sort of ruler.”

  “Not a very good one,” I say. I see Lars and Gina walking side by side, next to Dane. “What’s going on there?”

  Sam doesn’t raise his head. “It’s complicated.”

  I look at Jase, wondering how much I can say in his presence.

  He puts his hands up. “I know it all. I’m not stupid. I think everyone knows now Sam and Lars have something going on after they hugged each other like that.”

  I clear my throat. “Have you and Gina...”

  “No,” Sam replies. “Not into chicks. If I was, I would have gone for you Olivia.”

  I look at my best friend. “You are so damn sweet.”

  He shrugs his broad shoulders. “It’s the truth. I care for Gina as a friend and because Lars obviously cares for her.”

  “But would you kick her out of bed?” I whisper. I hear Jase chuckling from my other side, so I turn to him. “You’re not all that bad, you know that?”

  He smirks. “You’re alright yourself princess.”

  “I think we need a group hug.”

  I stop in my tracks and wrap an arm around each of them. “Thanks for always being there for me guys. I know I can always trust the two of you.”

  Jase looks awkward as hell but Sam smiles down at me fondly.

  “There’s only one Olivia,” he says, kissing my cheek. “We have to take care of her.”

  I look up to see Dane has stopped walking and is watching us. “Everything okay?” he asks, walking towards me.

  I nod. “Everything is great.”

  Except for the Aaron thing.

  He looks between Sam and Jase and nods once, taking my hand in his and walking with us. “We’re going to stop in an hour. The women want to rest for a bit.”

  I look around. “I’m fine. Who wants to rest?”

  I watch Gina, making sure she was okay.

  “Dane when can we stop?” Jordan calls out, stomping one of her feet.

  Just his name coming from her lips makes me want to strangle her.

  “Of course,” I mutter under my breath.

  “Wouldn’t touch her with a ten foot pole,” I hear Jase say, making me grin.

  Dane’s hand tightens on mine. “We spoke about this.”

  “Is she coming back to the castle?” I ask. The castle was full but we always made room. Soon, no one would be able to have single rooms with the way we were letting people in. With fifty men and about thirty women and twenty children, we were lucky the castle was massive.

  Dane sighs. “Olivia. I can’t leave her out here with her only crime being getting fucked by me. A long time ago. Before I was married to you.”

  “Dane! My feet hurt!” she calls
out.

  “Why is she acting like you’re her boyfriend that has to tend to her every need?” I growl.

  “Olivia--”

  “You go deal with her Dane, before she yells loud enough one of those beasts finds us.”

  He curses. “Baby, you know that--”

  “Dane!” she yells out again.

  “Please go,” I tell him. “My fingers are getting twitchy.”

  I was holding my bow and was this close to reaching for an arrow.

  “I’ll tell her to shut up then I’m coming back. You and I are going to have another talk.”

  He quickens his steps to catch up to her.

  “She’s annoying as fuck,” Jase murmurs. “Must be amazing at giving head.”

  I slap his arm.

  He pulls me in and messes my hair.

  I had bigger issues than Jordan though.

  Aaron was going to want to either fuck me, or kill me.

  And I didn’t know which one was worse.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Are you okay?” Dane asks me. “It’s like you’re expecting someone to jump out and get you at any second. I’m here, and I’m on alert. You can relax Olivia. You’re safe.”

  He looks a little offended that I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent safe in his presence. “I feel safer with you than with anyone in this world Dane,” I tell him honestly, shifting on my feet. “There’s something I haven’t told you.”

  He instantly stops and grips my wrist. “What is it? Are you okay?”

  He looks down to my stomach and I feel my cheeks get hot. “I’m not pregnant.”

  He lifts his gaze. “Then what?”

  “Aaron…” I trail off looking away. Dane grips my chin and forces me to look back at him.

  “What about that dickhead?”

  I wring my hands together. “I kind of knocked him out on our way to find you. So when he sees me again he’s going to want to kill me.”

  There I said it.

  Okay, I left some of it out, but only because I didn’t want Dane to lose it.