Simon Says (Guardians of the Dark Book 1)

by Bianca D'Arc

  “Zombie? You’re calling them that?” She was appalled.

  He shrugged. “It seemed to fit. They’re dead. They’re walking around trying to eat people. Sounds just like one of those old horror movies to me.”

  “Good Lord.” She took the weapon gingerly, checking the safety automatically. She noted his approving nod.

  “Be very careful with the darts. The substance inside can kill you as easily as it does the zombies. It’s highly classified and usually kept under lock and key unless I’m out hunting.”

  “That’s why Commander Sykes was so keen to take control of your weapons while you were in the clinic.”

  “And why only his staff has access to the vault where my ammo is kept. I’m probably breaking a half dozen rules giving this to you.” He impressed her with his serious mien. “I figure you’re a doctor, you know how to handle toxic substances, and as we just saw, you’re in the line of fire. If you won’t agree to leave, you should at least have some protection.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “We’ll argue more about that later.” The slight roll of his eyes and lift of his lips told her he was taking her refusal better than she had expected. Simon could be very autocratic at times. Luckily, those times were rare.

  “I’m not driving anywhere in the dark tonight with more of those things nearby. I think I’m safer here, for the time being at least.”

  “Fair enough. For now. Look, I’ve got to go. Lock everything. Barricade what can’t be sealed any other way. Hunker down and lay low. I’ll be back at dawn when they go to ground for the day. If you have any problems before then, call this number.” He scribbled on a pad she kept on the counter near the door. “Put that in your speed dial. I have a cell phone set on vibrate. I’ll feel it, even if I can’t answer, and come running. Be vigilant.” He paused by the door. “I don’t like leaving you alone here.”

  “Go do your job, Si. I’ll be all right until you get back. And I do know how to shoot. Remember?” Once upon a time, they’d shared a memorable afternoon at the shooting range followed by a spectacular night of lovemaking. It had been their third date and the first time they’d made love.

  “I remember, Mari.” In a lightning quick move he pulled her into his arms for a quick kiss that left her weak kneed. He let her go all too soon, while her world was still spinning. “Lock this after me and stay out of view of the windows. If they see you, they’ll coming looking.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.” She tried to hide how scared she really was. Scared, but she was staying in her house. She wouldn’t abandon ship when Simon was out there, in danger. She would wait for him. Just like she had been waiting for him since he left the last time. Only this time, he’d promised to come back. She didn’t know how long he would stay this time, but for at least one more day, he’d be in her world.

  She was beginning to think any time with him was better than forever without him.

  It was a dangerous path she was on, in more ways than one. He had broken her heart once already. More than likely, she was already setting herself up for another fall, and putting herself in harm’s way just to be near him. If he didn’t break her, the zombies just might.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Simon returned just after dawn. Mariana hadn’t been able to sleep a wink, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t on duty today and didn’t have to go anywhere.

  She’d spent the night making a fortress out of her little cabin in the woods, barricading windows and covering them with curtains, blankets, and any kind of dark fabric she could find. She didn’t want to be seen from outside as she moved around in the house. All the while, she had kept watch on the woods, dreading seeing another one of those monsters staring back at her. Or worse, seeing Simon emerge, covered in blood the way he had been the day before in the infirmary.

  When he finally did show up, he looked tired. Tired and unharmed. Thank heaven. She let him in, surreptitiously looking him over to be sure he was truly all right.

  “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” she admitted as he walked past her shouldering a small pack.

  “Miss me?” He looked tense and a little grim even as he teased her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He paused, lowering his pack to the floor. “You always could read me like a book. Nobody else can, Mari. It’s a little unnerving.”

  She was surprised by the moment of candor and decided to repay it in kind. “Nothing shows on your face, Simon. It’s your eyes…I can read a whole story from the way they sparkle at me. It’s subtle and it took me a while to figure out your secret code.” She gave him a lopsided smile. “I doubt a casual acquaintance would be able to read you at all. Never fear.” He regarded her for a minute more, then turned away. He was clearly uncomfortable with her words. It wasn’t the first time she’d said something that made him wary and it likely wouldn’t be the last. Not if he stuck around for any length of time. “Did you get your man?”

  His lips tightened. “I got them both. It’s…not easy to end them. They were Marines. They shouldn’t have died this way.”

  She realized he was dealing with some serious emotional issues on this mission in addition to the danger and sheer weirdness factor. Mariana had thought about it all night while she had been cowering like a mouse in her cabin. She felt a certain amount of sympathy for the Marines who’d died only to become monsters, but the zombies themselves freaked her out. Big time.

  “From the little I saw last night, it has to be done, Simon. They’re lucky to have someone like you on the job.” His compassion and insight didn’t surprise her. She’d long suspected he had a sensitive soul hidden under that tough as nails exterior.

  “Did you have any trouble here?”

  He was changing the subject again. Her cue to let it go. For now, she would let him have his way.

  “No trouble after you left. I took your advice and shored up the cabin. I made a place for you in the spare room.”

  “I’m happy on the porch. I don’t need anything fancy.”

  “It’s not fancy. It’s just a bed, Simon. Why sleep outside on the porch when you can be more comfortable in a real bed just a few yards away?”

  She motioned him toward the short hall off the kitchen and he followed with his pack.

  “So you’re not leaving, I take it?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it and I’m staying. From what you said, those things have been out in the woods for months now and I’ve never seen one until last night. Chances are, I’ll be fine.” She opened the door to the small guest room and preceded him into the tightly furnished space. The bed took up most of the area, with a little room to squeeze by to get to the chest of drawers and small table in one corner.

  “I’d feel better if you stayed on base until this is over, Mari.” He had stopped in the doorway, crowding her into the small room with just his presence. She’d forgotten how huge he really was in comparison to her. He was overwhelming…in the most deliciously masculine way, of course.

  “I’ll consider it if there are further problems, but for right now, I’m staying put. I’ve barricaded the doors and covered the windows. This place is sealed up tight and unless they have access to C4 or other high explosives, I doubt anyone will be able to get in here once I’ve shut it up tight for the night.”

  “The fact that you saw one of the zombies at all means they’re getting more adventurous, ranging farther afield. It’s not a good sign, Mari.”

  She couldn’t respond to the appeal in his voice. She needed to be here, to be sure he came back every morning, to see him and talk to him. Maybe it was foolish, but she’d gone for months without seeing him and this might be her last chance to store up memories of Simon before he left again. If memories were all she could have of him, she wanted as many as possible to hold against the long, lonely future ahead.

  “Don’t ask me to leave, Si.” Her voice whispered through the space between them, making the moment more intimate. Simon moved closer, holding her gaze.

&
nbsp; “Mari, I didn’t want you involved in this.” She saw the caring in his expression, for once unguarded and open. “I worry for your safety. I’d die if anything happened to you.”

  He cupped her cheek as he moved closer still. Those were some pretty serious words and she knew he meant every syllable. They warmed her, as did the longing in his eyes.

  “I could say the same for you, Simon. I worry about you. I don’t ever want to see you covered in blood the way you were the other day.” This time, she stepped closer, bridging the gap between their yearning bodies. She stepped right into his arms and pressed herself against him as his hands slipped around her waist and shoulders, drawing her close.

  “Mari…” He whispered her name with need in his voice as she raised her lips to his.

  The kiss was uncontainable. She felt the strength of his arms, the passion in his embrace and the undeniable hardness of him pressing against her. It was intoxicating. He was intoxicating. As he always had been. She was swept away as he walked her two steps backward until her calves came in contact with the edge of the bed.

  When he eased her downward, she didn’t demur. She wanted every second, every moment she could grab in his arms. His tongue worshiped her, sweeping into her mouth in stark possession. His hands caressed her, carrying her down to the bed as gently as his passion would allow.

  When the kiss ended, he only took her deeper, settling over her on the bed that was barely big enough for the two of them. Her legs parted, cradling his hips and she despaired of the fabric that lay between them. She wanted to feel the rough skin of his thighs, the smooth, muscled contours of his abs and buttocks under her hands, the way she remembered.

  His lips trailed kisses down her neck and onto the small expanse of skin accessible in the vee neck of her shirt. Then the nuisance became too much and she tugged at the hem of her top, wanting it gone. He helped, pulling it off over her head and throwing it aside. He made short work of the front clasp on her bra and then her breasts were in his big hands, her nipples kissed by his possessive lips, then licked, then sucked in the most delicious way. Simon had always known how to touch her, from the first time they’d been together.

  They’d made love many times in the comparatively few short weeks they’d been together, but each time had been special and unique. Simon was an inventive lover and the most satisfying of any of the men she had bedded in her admittedly limited experience. She hadn’t been able to bear another man’s touch since he had left. She hadn’t dated, she hadn’t even flirted. She’d felt no desire to attract any other man’s attention and worried that she would end up alone with only memories of Simon to comfort her in her old age.

  That could still happen. In fact, it was more likely now than ever. Simon hadn’t said anything about wanting to get back together. He’d told her why he’d left and that reason seemed to continue to plague him. There were too many questions surrounding the future to know what it might hold for the two of them.

  But none of that mattered now. Not with Simon’s knowing hands on her body, lowering the zipper on her jeans and sliding inside her panties. No, when Simon touched her, all coherent thought slipped from her mind.

  She pushed at his shirt, hearing the sound of tearing fabric as she struggled with his clothing. He slid her jeans down her legs along with her panties and then his capable hands took over the task of removing his own clothes. Thank heavens. Within moments, he was as bare as she, lying over her, his muscular thighs in the space between her legs, his cock hard and waiting only for her to be ready to take him.

  Simon always sought her pleasure before his own. He was a considerate and expert lover and even in their haste to come together after so long apart, he was careful of her. His hands stroked down over her rib cage as he watched her reactions, then into the vee of her thighs, spreading, parting. His fingers dipped within the wet folds, teasing and making her squirm.

  “Don’t make me wait, Simon. I need you now!”

  “This is going to be so good. Let me make it good for you, Mari.” He slid one thick finger into her core, his thumb circling her clit, heightening her pleasure. Bending over her, he placed licking kisses up her abdomen, pausing at her breasts to suck and nibble gently, all the while stroking into her depths with that maddening finger.

  “Are you close, sweetheart? Are you going to come?”

  “Simon!” She panted, raising her head to watch him as he teased her. He had kept her on the knife’s edge of pleasure before but she couldn’t take that kind of play tonight. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted him before. She had to have him.

  “That close, eh?” His knowing grin was almost her undoing. “Come for me then, baby. Come on my hand.”

  As if in response to his wicked words, her inner core clenched hard on his invading fingers. She cried out at the climax that hit her from out of nowhere. It had been fast and not nearly satisfying enough. With Simon though, she knew there was more to come. Only with Simon had she ever achieved multiple orgasms and this promised to be one of those encounters.

  He held her gaze as her body quaked around his hand. She was so open to him, so willing to give him everything, anything he asked. She knew it was written all over her face but only his glittering eyes told her how much he hungered for her at that moment, how much he wanted to be inside her. He removed his hand from her body and reached over to grab his pants off the floor.

  She followed his movements, glad to see at least one of them was still thinking clearly. Simon grabbed a condom out of his pants pocket, opened the foil packet, and rolled it over himself with efficient movements. Only the slight trembling of his hands told her how much he wanted to be inside her. As much as she wanted him, she guessed.

  When he came back to her, she made room for him between her legs and he grinned. An unguarded, sexy grin that took her breath away and made her insides clench.

  “I’ve been dreaming about this, Mari. So many dreams,” he whispered. Levering himself into just the right position, he held her gaze as he slid into her.

  For Simon, it was like coming home after an eternity away. Her wet heat surrounded him, gloved him in her warmth, like no other woman had ever done. There hadn’t been anyone since Mariana, and with all that had happened to him in the interim, he very much doubted any other woman could ever take her place.

  She would never know that, of course. He couldn’t tell her. It was bad enough he had succumbed now, when she was still in danger from the creatures he hunted. By all rights, he should have left her alone, but circumstances had conspired to bring them together one last time. One last time to hold her, to worship her body with his own and feel…complete.

  Simon paused deep within her, savoring the feeling. The forbidden feeling of being one with the only woman who had ever really mattered to him. He wouldn’t call it love, thought it was something just as big and scary. She completed him in a way no one else ever had. She was funny, smart, and so beautiful. He cared for her more deeply than he had ever cared for anyone.

  Pain lanced through his heart as he thought of having to leave her. Again. For inevitably, he would have to go. He would have to let her get on with her life.

  But not today. No, today was a moment out of time. A moment for them to steal. A moment for him to spend making love with the most magical woman he’d ever met.

  Simon began to move, each thrust rocking his world. Making love with Mari had always been like that, from the very beginning. It was good to see that hadn’t changed in the years since they’d been together last.

  “You’re beautiful, baby. And so tight. Damn.” He tried to hold on to his excitement but it was slipping through his fingers. This first time was going to be fast. He only prayed Mari was with him. He didn’t know if he could wait for her this time. It had been too long. Much too long.

  “Simon!” She breathed in excited gasps, the evidence of her renewed arousal pushing his own higher. “Simon, I’m so close.” She grasped his hips and urged him to move faster, wrapping
her luscious legs around him. Little keening moans issued from her lips with his every thrust. He remembered the signs. Thank God, she was as close to oblivion as he was.

  Able to let go at last, Simon pounded into her, giving her the slightly rough fuck that he knew she liked. He liked it, too. Almost too much. He had never been able to completely let go like this with another woman. Mari was like no one else. She matched him in every way. Her heels locked around the small of his back, her body stretching beautifully to accommodate him as if she were made to take him, made to receive his passion.

  And perhaps she was. There was no doubt he had never found a more perfect bed partner. If he was the type to believe in happily ever after, he would certainly put Mariana at the top of his very short list of possible life mates. In fact, she was the only one on his list.

  If he believed in that sort of thing.

  But all of that didn’t matter as he felt his climax building, ready to release. He touched her, to be certain she would be with him at the last. He wanted her with him…always.