Hunger (Jane Thornton Book 1)

by C. E. Black

  “Uh, Jane,” he croaked, “could you hold still for a minute?”

  Realizing I’d been slowly rubbing myself against him again, my face flamed. “What’s wrong?” I signed.

  Mason’s brows furrowed as he stared at my hands.

  “She wants to know if you’ve changed your mind,” Kaden said above us, sleeping bag in hand. He laid it flat next to us, then grinned as he pulled off the wet jeans still clinging to my ankles.

  Mason rolled us onto the puffy fabric, placing one arm around my waist to keep me pressed to the front of him. “No, of course not,” he replied, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

  “Good,” Kaden nodded. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

  Tilting my head, I asked, “Where are you going?”

  Kaden knelt beside me. Pulling wet strands of hair off my cheek, he gave me a soft smile. “I’d love nothing more than to stay with you right now,” he said, correctly reading the true meaning behind my question.

  I smiled shyly, looking at him through lower lids. I would have liked nothing more than for him to stay too.

  “But I think you and Mason need this time to yourselves. And I’m not comfortable with the idea of no one keeping watch.”

  “Oh,” I mouthed.

  “Oh,” he repeated with a smirk.

  Leaning forward, he pressed his warm lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes and tilted my chin, accepting the second kiss on my lips. He pulled back before it could get too heated. Unfortunately.

  Kaden chuckled as he stood, the sound deep, and dark—that of a man who knew he’d gotten under a woman’s skin. “Pouting doesn’t suit you, Jane.” His eyes darkened. “Then again… Mason, do something about that pout, would you? Before I do.”

  “Yes, sir,” Mason grinned.

  My eyes connected with Mason’s for only a second, long enough to see how much he wanted me before his lips descended. I clung to his naked shoulders, pulling him closers as he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth.

  “I wanted us to go slow,” he breathed before nipping at the same lip. “To make sure you want this as much as I do.” Pulling back, he looked down at me, his heavy-lidded gaze jumping from my swollen lips to my eyes and back again. “Tell me you want this, Jane. Tell me you want me.”

  Cupping his cheek, I kissed him softly. Then I grabbed his hand and placed it over my mound, pressing until his fingers slipped through my wet folds.

  “Fuck,” he whispered. “You’re soaked.”

  Biting my lip, I nodded and moved my hips against his hand. There was no question about how much I wanted him.

  Groaning, Mason hovered over me, pressing my legs apart so he could fit his hips between them. I shivered as the cold wet fabric of his pants brushed against me.

  “Shit.” Rolling off me, he jumped up and stripped off his cargo pants.

  Spread out naked on the sleeping bag, I laid still, waiting, shivering at the loss of his warmth. I watched him with blatant hunger in my eyes. And as he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze off of mine, I was pretty damn sure he noticed.

  He dropped to his knees at my feet, leaning over to mess with something in his bag. I would have paid attention but I was too busy staring at the thick cock that stood so hard and straight, it pressed against his stomach.

  “There we go.”

  I tore my eyes away from the object of my desire to see Mason looking at me with a dazed expression and holding up a small square packet. When I licked my lips, he sucked in a stuttering breath.

  My movements were slow and deliberate as I sat up and leaned toward him. I kept eye contact, wanting him to see what was coming. I felt like a predator. I was a predator. And Mason, my prey. His throat moved as he swallowed hard. Yeah, he’d figured it out.

  I knelt in front of him and dipped my head to nibble on his collarbone. A guttural groan rose from his throat as I licked my way down his chest. The packet he held fell the floor as he reached for my hips. His grip tightened, his nails digging into my skin. I liked the slight pain. Loved it, actually.

  Skimming my hands up his arms and over his shoulders, I let him kiss my neck for a moment before flipping him to his back and straddling his waist. His eyes widened, but the way they flashed darkly told me he’d enjoyed my little show of power.

  A moan parted his lips when I ground against his pelvis, my own lips parting at how good it felt. I could easily slide him inside of me. But first, I had other plans.

  The sudden halt in my movements made Mason’s eyes clear as he blinked up at me. I couldn’t have that. I wanted him mindless with pleasure. Leaning over, I placed open-mouthed kisses over his chest, then nipped at his nipple. He hissed, and I laved away the sting with my tongue before sliding down his body.

  The grip on my hips loosened, but he kept contact with my skin, letting his fingers drag up my sides as I moved farther down. Once I was face to face with his cock, though, his hands dropped to his sides. As I stared, his cock pulsed and a bead of pre-cum formed at the tip before running down the side. I licked my lips eliciting a loud groan from the man below me.

  “God, Ja—” Mason groaned the rest of my name as my tongue ran up the side of his cock, licking away the trail of cum. Closing my eyes, I groaned internally. He tasted like nirvana.

  Not able to wait another second before tasting him again, I closed my mouth over the tip, sucking lightly before slowly lowering my head until he reached the back of my throat.

  Mason’s gasps and groans were like music to my ears and I rewarded them by swallowing. As my throat tightened around his cock, he called out my name and threaded his fingers into my hair. He gripped the strands until my scalp stung. It felt amazing.

  I knew part of his excitement had nothing to do with my skills. He’d probably gone a long time without sex. Still, I found joy in being the one to give him so much pleasure.

  I sucked in a breath through my nose then slid back up, teasing him with my tongue. The move must have been too much for him because he pulled me up, growling as he rolled on top of me.

  “That wasn’t very nice,” he said, his eyes sparkling in the dim light. I lifted an eyebrow. “Okay, it was very, very nice,” he amended. “But it also felt like torture.”

  Reaching down, his fingers parted my folds. My hips bucked into his hand as he hit the perfect spot.

  “Mmm,” he murmured. “Feels like you tortured yourself as well.”

  I nodded repeatedly, then threw my head back as a sudden orgasm ripped through me.

  “Perfect,” Mason whispered into my neck before leaning away. I would have pulled him back if I hadn’t heard the unmistakable sound of a wrapper being opened.

  Seconds later, he was back. After lining up his latex covered cock with my dripping entrance, he braced himself with his arms above me. I spread my legs wide and tilted my hips, but he held perfectly still until I made eye contact. The intensity in his gaze blew me away. Long gone was the laid back, fun loving Mason. The Mason above me with his cock poised to take me at any second looked dangerous.

  “I want you to see exactly who’s about to fuck you, Jane.”

  My lips parted as I sucked in a quick breath, the ache in my core intensifying. His words were dirty and a little degrading, and I would have kicked his ass had he said them outside of this moment. But hearing it spoken when he was actually about to fuck me? I loved it. And I let him know by tilting my hips, pushing the head of his cock in just a hair more.

  Mason gave a little growl, then plunged the rest of the way inside me. The stretch and burn of him filling me so fast felt amazing. As amazing as it had been the night before with Kaden. I’d thought for sure one or the other would be better. That I’d figure out I had no real connection with one of them. However, this moment with Mason shattered that theory. How was I ever going to get enough of either of them?

  Deep and measured, Mason’s thrusts kept me on the verge of orgasm. His lips found each of my rosy nipples. And when he chose one, he sucked on the tight peak, increasing the suction ea
ch time he pushed inside me. I arched so far up, I felt cool air move over the damp skin of my lower back, before the tension became too much and I broke.

  Clawing at Mason’s back, I came once again. If the first orgasm had been a stick of dynamite, then this one was made of ten times the amount. It was painful and glorious and lasted forever.

  When the room came back into focus, Mason was still on top of me, his head buried between my neck and shoulder. Our breaths were fast and shallow and our skin felt slick with sweat. Overall, I gave the sex an A+.

  Lifting his head, Mason’s eyes twinkled down at me. “I hope you did something because I couldn’t hold out any longer.”

  My shoulders shook with my silent laughter and I gave him a playful shove. How could he have missed the world exploding around us?

  “Hey, between your silence and my own earth shattering orgasm, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure,” he said, grinning down at me.

  Lifting my chin, I asked for a kiss and wasn’t denied. His lips were warm and soft and his tongue had moves that made me wonder where else he could utilize them. Mason groaned into my mouth and his cock began to harden once more inside me.

  Just as I was ready to roll Mason over to start round two, a shadow fell over us. We ripped our lips apart to see a scowling Kaden staring down at us.

  “Playtime’s over,” he said. “We’ve got company.”

  9

  The goofy smile on Mason’s face vanished as the first sounds of clicking teeth reached our ears. Fingers still on the button of my jeans, I stilled, my eyes flying to Mason as the noise grew not only in pitch but in numbers. How many were out there?

  “I could use a little help out here!” From outside the barn, Kaden gave a shout, then growled as he, no doubt, fought for his life.

  Adrenaline shot through my veins, spurring me into action. I finished dressing as quickly as possible, then went to my bag for weapons. Not having time to strap on an ankle holster, I stuffed a dagger into my boot, then pulled out a bundle of fabric wrapped in an old sweatshirt. Once unwrapped, I dropped the shirt and gripped the handle of the machete, testing the weight as I gave it a shallow swing. Then I quickly repacked my bag, sans machete, and threw it over my shoulders.

  When I turned around, Mason was nowhere in sight. Assuming he’d already joined Kaden, I followed the escalating sounds of battle to the barn entrance and stopped cold. I’d never seen so many flesh eaters at once. Twenty or so staggered out of woods, while even more came from a field to the north.

  Before I could find the guys, one stumbled toward me, its yellowed teeth snapping. I could have described it, but I’d learned long ago not to think of them in those terms. They weren’t people any longer. It didn’t matter if their pretty flowered dress was now ripped and covered in blood, or how lustrous their long brown hair used to be. They were dead now.

  So, when my blade sliced through her skull, I couldn’t think of her life before. If I did, I’d end up just like her.

  A masculine shout had me spinning around. The men were trying to hold the flesh eaters back. The numbers were staggering and continued to grow. I rushed to help, swinging my blade into the mass of bodies, taking down a few, but as one went down, another would take its place.

  “Where did they all come from?” Mason shouted over the deafening clicking noise.

  “I’ve no fucking clue,” Kaden grunted as he stabbed one in the temple. I turned to decapitate one of my own. “When I came to get you, there were four… five at most coming out of the woods. Then this.”

  “Shit!” Mason yelled.

  I turned in his direction and was almost knocked to the ground when bony fingers grabbed my shoulders. Teeth snapped inches from my nose, and I jerked my head back as I shoved the machete into its stomach and pushed it off of me. A quick blow to the head and it was down for good.

  “Jane!” Kaden called for me. I finished off another and rushed toward him just in time to kill the one coming up from behind.

  Kaden looked over his shoulder and gave me a nod. He started backing up, and I followed, keeping the flesh eaters in front of us.

  “See that hill behind us?” he asked.

  Glancing back, I nodded. It was bigger than a hill in my opinion. More like a mountain with that incline.

  “Head up there. The trees will keep you covered well enough. Stay hidden until we catch up.”

  When I stopped walking, his lips pinched with disapproval. I didn’t care. He couldn’t force me to abandon them. Just as I was about to tell him so, his eyes widened seconds before he shoved me behind him. He took care of the flesh eater easily enough, and when he turned around, he looked furious.

  “You could have been killed!” he yelled as we began walking backward again.

  “I’m not leaving you,” I signed. “I can help.”

  “I know you can. But there’s no way we can kill them all. There’s too many. If you go now, they won’t follow. They’ll be too busy with Mason and me.” When I narrowed my eyes, he sighed. “We’ll be right behind you. I swear.”

  At that moment, Mason called out and Kaden took off to help his friend. I followed, but when I got there, Kaden had taken care of the three that had surrounded Mason. Mason, though covered in sweat and blood, looked okay. When he saw me, his face twisted. “Get out of here, Jane!”

  I hesitated once again, long enough to take out a flesh eater who came too close. We had to get out of here, but did I dare leave without them? Splitting up didn’t sound like the smartest move in my opinion.

  The mob of walking corpses seemed to grow as they pressed us backward. As my blade sliced easily through another skull, a distant rumble caught my attention. It was hard to tell with all the clacking of teeth surrounding us, but it sounded like…

  “Shit!” Mason yelled. “It’s them!”

  My head snapped in the direction he was looking, my eyes widening in fear. The flesh eaters had pushed us up an incline and I could see over their heads and past the barn. Rolling across the field, taking out flesh eaters in its wake was an all too familiar pick-up truck.

  “Go!” Kaden said to me. “We’ll catch up.”

  More flesh eaters rounded the other side of the barn and the guys cursed.

  Waving me toward the mountain at my back, Mason yelled, “Go! We’re coming.”

  It wasn’t until they began running in my direction that I finally did what they had asked.

  As the ground began to incline, I dug deep to keep up the momentum, but eventually, I had to slow. It was becoming more of a climb than a hike at that point, and I had to reach for a thick root to pull myself up. I’d gotten halfway before I allowed myself to look back. The trees had thickened so much I couldn’t see the flesh eaters anymore. The sound of their teeth hadn’t disappeared although the roar of the truck’s engine had. What worried me, however, was the absence of my two men.

  Leaning against a tree, I took a moment to rewrap my machete and slide it back into my bag, before continuing my climb. By the time I reached the top of the incline, my leg muscles were screaming and my fingers ached.

  One more, Jane. One more. Stretching to reach, I dug my fingers one last time and pulled with all the strength I had left. My toes pressed into the dirt and rock to help propel me up and over the crest.

  Once on flat ground, I rolled onto my back panting. My lungs were on fire and my muscles burned, but I’d made it. Now I just had to find Kaden and Mason. They’d been right behind me. Or so I’d thought.

  “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it for a minute there.”

  My eyes snapped open at the voice to see an unfamiliar man smiling down at me.

  “Hi,” he said, “We’ve been looking for you.”

  10

  Older than me, maybe in his late thirties or early forties, the skin around his eyes and lips wrinkled deeply when he smiled. His short beard was scattered with gray, but his dark, chin-length hair hadn’t been affected by age yet. And his hands. They were calloused from years of w
orking with them, I assumed.

  The feel of his rough fingers against the skin of my arm as he hauled me to my feet, sent my stomach rolling. Swallowing hard, I ignored my need to vomit and searched for a way out of this. It was happening so fast. I was still trying to catch my breath from the climb. My lungs worked overtime as I sucked in air, and black spots danced before my eyes, warning me that I needed to calm down.

  I gasped when he tore my bag from my back and pushed me against the nearest tree. It hadn’t hurt, but the way he stepped close, crowding me, sucked all the oxygen out of my lungs.

  Like a deer caught in headlights, I stared wide-eyed up at my captor. He placed his hands on either side of my head, caging me in.

  “I don’t know what they were talking about,” he murmured almost to himself as he leaned closer. “You’re a pretty little thing. I thought so when I first saw you at the school.” My whole body trembled when he rubbed his grizzly cheek against mine. “Maybe if I’m nice, you’ll come with me willingly.”

  One of his hands lowered to brush against the side of my breast. “Mmm,” he hummed in my ear as he gripped my waist and pulled our hips flush together. I closed my eyes, unwilling to think about what pressed against my stomach. My heart raced, and tears prickled my eyes, but I’d finally caught my breath and caged my fear long enough to allow my anger to take over.

  He made a happy sound in his throat when I gripped his shoulders, thinking I was complying. Wrong, asshole! I brought my knee up sharply into his groin, smiling when he let out a croaking sound. When he slumped to the side to grab himself, I slipped past and made a run for it.

  Fingers grasped the upper part of my arm and threw me against the nearest tree, and I realized too late that I should have reached for the knife in my boot instead of running. This time, he wasn’t gentle. The breath whooshed out of my lungs as his body crashed into mine. His legs kicked mine apart and he pushed his hips against mine, effectively keeping me from kneeing him again. He gripped my wrists and slammed them against the tree above my head. My mouth opened in a soundless cry as the bark bit into my skin.