“We can’t be sure,” Luke answers, glowering at Cory and Collins. He relaxes the muscles in his face before Jord catches him. “It wasn’t sturdy. Ky and Marc almost went over, but they made it back safely.” He gestures to Marc at his left and me on his right. “The other bridge is fine, and the labs are clear, but the Zombies have crowded the hole again.”
“So soon...?” Jord murmurs contemplatively. He flicks a curious gaze to Marc and me. “You two were trying to be the walking dead’s dinner?”
“More accurately, I think someone was trying to feed us to them.” I throw an infuriated glance at Cory.
Jord sits back down and crosses his arms. “I’ll make a call to inform the engineering team the bridge needs repairs. Head in. The storm will be here soon.”
“Yes, sir,” we say.
We march home and gather in the den. Cory and Hanley have no reason to be here, and they should’ve gone home with the weather that’s rolling in.
“Why did you two try to kill Marc and Ky, Collins?”
Collins shoves Sean. “We did not try to kill them. It was an accident. Who knew the bridge wasn’t sturdy?”
Fein comes in and sits next to Sean. She leans over to whisper something that puts a smile on his face, but when he catches me noticing, he quickly erases it. “Why are all of you gathered in the den?” Fein asks.
“Ky and Marc almost died today,” Sean tells her.
“We were fine, Fein. The bridge just collapsed, but Marc saved us, and we made it.”
“Woo! Go Marc!” She puts her hand out to high five him, and he meets her.
“Shouldn’t you be heading to your own corridors, Cory,” Luke unkindly suggests.
Cory stands. “Is there something you’d like to say to me, Luke?”
I jump to my feet at the same time as Luke. “There’s a lot I’d like to say to you, but I doubt you’d want me to say it in front of all of them.” Luke gestures out to everyone. Nodding, he adds, “But I could.”
Cory eyeballs him, turning up his nose. “Watch your back, Luke. You aren’t the only one who knows things.”
I step to Luke’s side. “Watch your back, Cory. You’re right. He’s not the only one who knows things. And if I were you, I would find the door before my fist finds your nose.”
“Don’t threaten my brother, Kylie.” Hanley takes her brother’s side.
Luke loosely wraps his arm around my neck. Laughing, he says, “Let them go, Ky. Cory knows he and his sister are no match for us. Isn’t that right, Cory?”
“Fuck you, Luke.”
“Ooo,” Luke sings, shaking his shoulders, “feisty.” He fakes a shiver. “Get out, Cory, before my sister cracks another tooth.” Cory looks back and forth from Luke and me, Hanley at his side doing the same. “Goodbye, snake,” Luke says hard with disgust.
“Watch your mouth, Luke.”
“Watch yours. Hurry and go, so you can help them weed out the implants in our sector. Isn’t that your job now?”
A heavy hush falls over the room, I can practically hear eyelids stretching over bugged-out eyeballs.
Cory’s eyes widen as they quickly shift around the room. His sister whispers in his ear before pulling him away.
I turn to Luke after the front door closes and punch him lightly on his chest. “You know how to hit him where it hurts.”
“He’s a snake. No one cares where they hurt.”
Chuckling, I leave the den, heading for my room so I can change for a shower. Footsteps follow behind me, and when I open the door to my room, I turn around. “Thank you for saving me.”
“No problem.”
I back into my room. “You could have let me fall and got what you want.”
Marc shuts the door behind him. “My wants don’t matter.”
“They do if you want me.”
“You scared me today. I’ve never felt anything like that before. And it’s making me uncomfortable to admit it.”
“I saw it in your eyes.” I shake my head. “I don’t want to die. Not like that. I can go in battle, getting shot down, something with pride, something that shows strength. Not plummeting to my death in a hole full of Zombies.”
Tugging me to his front, he cuffs my cheek with one hand as the other grips my waist. “You made me realize something today.”
“What was that?”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“Then let me stay with you.”
He nods and kisses me before leaving.
I lie across my bed, feeling light, like I did the first time Marc kissed me in the alley, and I walked on mattresses instead of concrete.
Someone knocks on my door. “It’s Fein, Ky. Can I talk to you?”
“Yes,” I say, sitting up.
She comes in, closing the door behind her. Dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, her arms hang loosely at her sides, and her orange gaze reminds me of the rising sun. She blinks. “Cory is weeding out the implants?”
“That’s why I warned you. Don’t trust him.”
She sits beside me. “But he’s no different from us.”
I play shocked, asking, “Can you be trusted?”
She looks away from me, brows knit as it seems a thought crosses her mind. “I guess I can’t be. I’m as bad as him, but I don’t throw people under the bus.”
“That means you’re not a snake, but you are still a traitor. How do you know what those aliens say to you is true anyway?” Here is my chance to try to turn her against them.
“I was born knowing. They’re all I know.”
“But are they? You were raised with us, lived with us, fought with us, we are what you know. More than them. You’ve spent your entire life with us, Fein. And not to mention, they didn’t look happy with you. Family doesn’t treat you like that.” I honestly can’t comment on the family topic with my past, but Luke has shown me enough to know family shouldn’t hurt us.
“Are you trying to turn me against them?”
Insulted, I state, “What Creation wouldn’t, knowing what I do about you? They sent these Zombies here as a threat! A threat against us makes them an enemy. I don’t see how you can choose them over us, when we’ve been there for you forever. You said you were born knowing them, but how much time did you actually spend with them versus the time you spent with us Creations? Who and what we are was instilled in us when we were born. We go against what goes against us. Not help it. They sounded like they wanted to go against us. If they go against us, they will be going against you too, Fein.” I throw up my hands, done with the conversation. “Just remember how you were trained, what you have seen, and what we are. Would you prefer to be on their side or ours?” I stand from the bed and take off my vest, knives, and boots. “I’m going to shower. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She leaves without a word. Maybe I got to her.
Back home, before she died, this old lady used to tell me, “All you have to do is plant the seed, just provide the idea. It will manifest on its own, but as long as you plant the seed, that thought is within them.” I planted the seed, and the thought is manifesting. That’s what counts.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I dream of Marc kissing his lips. My lips press against smooth skin instead of soft lips. I open my eyes to Luke’s arm. “Eww!” How…disgusting!
I move my head out of his arm and scoot out of his bed. With my thoughts and this seductive feeling of Marc on me, I cannot lie here next to my brother. It’s too weird.
I quietly pull Luke’s door open, catching Collins sneaking out of Marc’s room. What is she doing coming out of there at this time of night? What is she doing coming out of there, period?
She descends the stairs, perkily bouncing on her toes. My throat’s closing around a breath. It sends a burning feeling coursing up to my cheeks and down to my stomach. I clench my teeth, waiting on the feeling to pass. When it does, I gently pull open Luke’s door and try my hardest not to stomp across the hall, but my steps sound.
I try m
y damnedest not to swing open Marc’s door, but it whines open and knocks off the wall. I try—very hard—not to slam it behind me, but it closes loudly.
Marc’s on his feet, standing near the bed, shirtless. “Ky,” he says.
I whip around, hiding my watery eyes. I swallow hard, hoping to remove the rock that landed in my throat, but it doesn’t budge. This is a bad place to be and a worse way to feel. I bite down on my lip, but it’s not enough to suppress these stupid feelings. It’s not nearly enough to stop me from crying.
He pulls my arm, turning me around. I yank away from him. “It just looks bad,” he says, grabbing me again.
“Why was she in your room?” I snarl through my teeth, trying to control my weakness and keep it from displaying through the falling of my tears or the shaking of my voice.
“She came and left, I did nothing with her, Ky.” He wipes my face. “I’d never want to. I wouldn’t.”
I shove him away from me. “Then why don’t you have any clothes on, Marc?”
“It’s late, Kylie. What do you expect for me to sleep in? A sweatshirt and jeans? I only wear a shirt when you’re in here, so you’re not uncomfortable.”
I turn back to face the door, allowing the burning tears to fall in private. Releasing it makes it hurt less. I even out my breaths so I don’t huff or puff. I want to slam my fist against the door, but it will be too loud. Keeping my words even, I state, “She left too happy to have been rejected. And any time I come by, you’re always dressed.”
“Well she was, Ky. It’s late. After a certain hour, if you don’t come, this is how I sleep.”
I wipe my face even though I don’t have any intentions on turning back to him. “It’s fine, Marc. I’m wrong to overreact.” Walk away, Kylie.
Someone knocks on his door softly. I scrape the tears from my face before whipping it open. “What?” I snap in a whisper.
Collins jumps back. Her robe is clutched so tightly in her hand it protrudes through the cracks of her fingers. Its tie hangs from her other hand. Her bare feet scrape the floor as she recoils. “Nothing,” she mumbles, turning, headed back down the hall toward the stairs.
I face Marc, biting my tongue. Literally. I press my teeth down into my tongue, drawing pain to keep me silent. Anger dries the tears I regret letting fall. I turn around and head out of his room. I pull the door closed behind me, and he pulls it back open.
His hand wraps around my arm, tugging me back. I stumble backward, trying to free my arm from him.
“Kylie,” he demands as the door closes in front of me. His chest presses against my back as his tight grip holds me in place by the crook of my arms. “She showed up like you do some nights, without knocking or saying anything. She climbed in my bed, and I was half sleep, briefly thinking she was you until she touched me. The second I acknowledged it was her and not you, I told her to leave. She was probably coming back to convince me, but how many times do I have to tell you I only give myself to you.” He pushes his arms around my waist and hugs my middle. Kissing my neck, he adds, “Only you get this.”
I huff. “I don’t like that.”
“Jealousy burns, doesn’t it?” He moves us toward his bed. “You’ve got nothing to be jealous about. Believe me.”
I turn, facing him. “And why not?” My gaze dances over his body before meeting his eyes.
“Why do you think?” he questions, gaze soft and compassionate.
“I don’t know,” I utter, sitting. I’m slowed by the feeling of affection, the all-consuming passion I feel for this boy that draws feelings from me I never felt, that I never knew I possessed until him. Feelings that I still don’t understand.
“You know,” he insists. “You told me first.”
I scoot back, and he leans forward. I’m lying back on his bed, contemplating, “What have I said first.”
“Affection.”
I look away from him to the ceiling, mumbling, “You… Love me?”
“Me saving you over my brother, ignoring my better judgment, knowing you work for the enemy, not letting you fall into a pit of Zombies by risking my life to save yours… Didn’t that say enough without me actually using the words?”
I study his eyes, their lightness, the softness of his gaze. “I love you.”
“I know,” he says, leaning in to kiss me.
I move back across the bed so my feet aren’t on the edge when I bend my knees at his sides. Saying it confidently makes my feelings make sense. It’s like admitting it brings these feelings reason and now they can calm down and not overreact and keep me nervous or jealous or angry or expecting the worst.
I touch his back, distracted for a second by his scars.
His touch is more confident. He no longer pauses before meeting his targets. His graze moves over my curves and under my shirt before it comes off. We move too quickly. Our kisses are eager, and our touches are aggressive. He moves against me. I’m expecting it and accepting of it, I want to feel it…him. I’m hoping he’ll do it, kiss and touch me in places I’ll allow no one else to.
Marc removes my bra, exposing me to his eyes, hands, and his tongue and lips. I bite my cheek, quietly sighing through my nose. “Talk to me, Ky,” he requests. “Tell me what you feel. Tell me how you feel.” He grabs my hands, pushing them over my head.
I cannot explain what I feel, but whatever it is, I feel it everywhere. I grasp onto his hands, moving my fingers between his, holding him tightly as they shake.
He kisses me after covering different areas of my upper body. I arch my body against him and release a soft sigh against his mouth.
“I can’t hear you, Ky.”
“I feel…” He slides down, kissing my stomach, hands slipping from mine. As his fingertips slide over my arms, I sense them in other places he’s not made it to yet. “You’re touching me everywhere all at once,” I whisper, my voice breathy.
“What does it feel like?”
“Smooth. Electric.” I gasp for the air being sucked out of his room. “It’s suffocating but refreshing.”
“What does it make you feel like?”
I breathe deep. Pressure is building in my chest, compressing my lungs, pushing me to the verge of hyperventilating. “I don’t know, I can’t explain it.”
“Good?” He kisses my navel. “Bad?” He gently takes my breasts in both hands, mildly caressing them.
“Good.” Amazing.
He dips to my abdomen, but I feel him kissing me somewhere else.
“Now?” he questions.
I breathe deep again. My legs tremble. My hands shake as I push them over the bundle of sheets under me. “I’m excited, nervous. It feels nice,” I whisper through deep breaths. “You’re kissing my stomach, but I feel you other places, and it makes my legs shake.”
“Where do you feel me?”
Oh God, I can’t say it. I clutch the sheets tightly in my fingers as he dips a little further down.
“Here?” he firmly presses his lips against me, over the waistband of my tight-fitting sweats.
I breathe out through my mouth. My nails dig into my hands through the sheets, as I clench my fists tightly against the pleasure.
“No?”
His body dipping further down spreads my legs wider. His shoulders brush my thighs. “Tell me, Ky.”
No, no, I can’t tell you.
“Here…”
Pleasure stabs me in the back, causing my middle to rise then fall against his bed. A sigh erupts from my throat as I fall back against the mattress.
He lies against me, chest to chest. “Shh, Ky,” he says in my ear. Breathing heavily, I nod. His bare chest is pressed to mine. My body is a pack of jitters, tremors constantly scattering just beneath my flesh. My hands are shaking so badly, I can’t control it.
I like it…I love it.
I kiss his lips. I don’t know what to do with this pressure he built in me. It’s an odd adrenaline that makes me want to be aggressive. I try to suppress it, try to push it down with deep breat
hs, but they increase the pressure, heightening my excitement.
Marc’s thumb slips under my waistband and eases my pants downward. Slowly, I lift. He stops. “You―”
I hurry to cut him off. “I wouldn’t,” I say, knowing where he was going. “Just close enough to not fall over.”
He draws back. “I would, so I’ll stop.”
I cover my chest with my arms. It’s suddenly cold. “Wait. I don’t want you to stop, but I don’t want you to go that far.”
“I can’t.” I have to move my arms to pull him back, and I don’t want to do that with my chest bare. It feels different just exposing myself than him exposing me.
I lie back, looking at the ceiling. I’m not ready to go that far. “Close enough…?” I suggest, not wanting to stop this. Not yet. Whatever he just did to me was like bait. And though I’m not ready to get caught and have him reel me in, I want to keep nibbling.
His hands glide over my stomach to the band of my sweats. I breathe deep, grabbing my shoulders as I slowly lift when his fingertips slide along the band to my hips. He pulls down my pants as a couple of his fingers slide down my legs after them, then over my feet.
The last garment of clothing on me is my panties. I plan on leaving those on, and my nerves are going crazy from being this raw and open.
He hovers over me, still clothed. “Can you uncover down to your last too?” I’d be more comfortable if he did.
“You might not like that,” he states.
“Why?”
He moves back with a smirk stealing his serious look. “I’ll show you.” He drops his pants and comes back over me. “Don’t run away.”
“Why would―” I’m cut off, jabbed by, well... I quickly back away, no longer concerned with exposing myself. “What is that?” I ask, shocked and high pitched.
“Shh. What do you think?” he snorts, pursing his lips.
“Oh.” Right… “Um,” I just made this awkward. “Don’t do that like that.”
He shrugs slowly. “It’s going to feel the same either way.”
“Why?”
He smiles, revealing his teeth. “Because Ky, it’s supposed to go in you, not against you.”
Salient Invaders: A Young Adult Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Series (The Separation Trilogy Book 2) Page 18