Falling Together (All That Remains #2) (6 page)

“Just
tell me to stop,” I remind him. Soft moans and sighs reassure me he’s okay, while
I caress every inch of him, my hands traveling from his thighs to his behind, where
I can’t resist a gentle squeeze.

“Mmm,”
he hums.

“You
have a fantastic ass,” I breathe, and dip my head to softly kiss each cheek. A
shiver runs through him when I stroke his back from his shoulders to his waist,
tracing the thin white lines with my fingers, and then my lips. He has a good
body, and it hurts to see it so marred by the torture he endured. Lying beside
him, I press my body against his and glide my hand slowly down his spine. “You
have a wonderful body. Please don’t hide it from me any longer,” I whisper.

He
turns toward me with a grin on his face, and chuckles. “Micah would have told
you not to bullshit a bullshitter.”

“I’m
sorry I didn’t get to meet him.”

“Me
too.”

I
pull him over to lie on my chest and we both drift off.

* * * *

Abby

“It’s
so beautiful out here.” My nose fills with the wonderful scent of the forest
after a light rain. Trees bursting with color shower us with red-gold leaves.

“Are
you warm enough?” Airen asks, dragging a wide flat-bottomed boat into the lake.
Water, murky from the recent rain shower slaps against the sides.

“I’m
fine.” I’m happy to be out of the house and spending some time alone with my
husband. We have both been so busy and I’ve really missed him. Airen has been
preoccupied with the harvest, and I’ve been buried up to my armpits in canning
jars. All the cooking and boiling in the past two weeks has turned my kitchen
into my own personal steam room. Wonderful for the skin, but my hair remains a
frizzy mess.

When
Joseph volunteered to watch Lane for a few hours, we jumped at the opportunity
to spend the afternoon together. Airen rows the boat away from the shore, his
biceps flexing under his long sleeve shirt. Once we’re out far enough, he pulls
in the oars and produces a blanket and a thermos from his bag. He settles
himself on the floor of the boat and leans against the seat.

“Come
sit with me.” Holding his hand for balance, I carefully step toward him, gasping
when he tugs me forward, and catches me with a grin.

“Airen!
I’m too heavy.” I giggle as he shifts me onto his lap.

He
snorts. “I’ve caught catfish that weigh more than you.” He wraps us in the
blanket and I snuggle against his chest. He’s so warm.

“This
is nice,” I murmur. “What’s in the thermos?”

“Hot
chocolate, just in case you get chilly.”

“
You
made hot chocolate?” Airen is skilled at many things, but he isn’t exactly
handy in the kitchen.

“Joseph
made it,” he admits with a chuckle. “I also have this if you want something a
little stronger.” A pint of cinnamon schnapps dances teasingly in front of my
face.

“Will
you have a drink with me?”

“If
you insist.” His lips wrap around the bottle and he takes a long swallow before
handing it to me.

“Yuck,
you got it all spitty,” I tease, wiping the lip of the bottle and taking a sip.

“I’ll
get you all spitty,” he growls. A wave of warmth radiates from my core as he takes
my lips in a slow, open mouthed kiss, licking my top lip and sliding his tongue
to caress mine. He tastes so sweet. A cinnamon flavored Airen.

“You
taste good,” I murmur. I’m suddenly awash in fantasies of making love to Airen
on a boat in the middle of the lake. Sliding a hand down to cup my ass, he
kisses me again, and I moan, “You know I can’t…” But, oh fuck, I want to.

“Relax,
darlin’. I know it’s shark week.” He rests his chin on my head.

“Classy
way to put it,” I reply dryly before taking another drink. “Why did you want to
come out here?”

“Isn’t
it possible, Miss Suspicious, that I just wanted to snuggle up with my wife in
a romantic setting with no ulterior motives whatsoever?” He looks as if he
never had a devious thought in his life. Now I know he’s up to something.

“I
suppose it’s possible.”

“Of
course, now that I have you trapped in the middle of a lake, you can’t avoid me
when I ask what’s been bothering you.”

“I
don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come
on, darlin’. Something is on your mind. Out with it,” he demands softly.

“You
lured me out here under false pretenses.” I pout.

“Don’t
be silly. I want to be alone with you, but you’ve been in your own little world
lately.” He pulls me close and plants a light kiss on my forehead. “Tell me
what’s wrong.”

It
seems I can’t hide anything from him anymore. He sees right into me. “It’s no
big deal. I was just thinking about what Carson said about having family we
don’t know about. It makes me wonder if Brandon survived.”

“Your
brother?” he asks, stroking my hair while my head rests against his chest.

“Mmm
Hmm. We weren’t close, but I’d like to know if he’s still alive. It’s pointless
to think about though. I could never find him if he is, and he wouldn’t know
where to look for me either. I doubt anyone stayed at their same address after
the plague was over.”

“That’s
true, but it’s not impossible. Carson feels the same way about his father.”

“You’re
his father.”

His
arms tighten around me. “I always will be, sweetheart, but you can’t blame him
for wanting to know who he came from. He doesn’t even have a picture.”

“I
know,” I whisper. He doesn’t understand. He has no idea what Jon is like. I’d
hate for Carson to find out what kind of person he comes from. I know how it
feels to be related to terrible people, to feel like you are polluted by the
blood you share. “Would you want to find your biological father?” I have a
feeling that’s what this is really about.

“That
would be impossible given the only information I have about him is his hair
color and former job.”

“But
if you could find him?”

“Yes,”
he admits. “I’d like to meet him.” His gaze is pensive as he wonders about his
unknown father who blessed him with those devastating eyes and charcoal hair.

“He
must be gorgeous,” I muse aloud.

“Well,
that goes without saying.” He chuckles and tickles my ribs.

“Airen!”
The small boat rocks as I sit up abruptly and point toward the far side of the
lake. A small glow is visible through the trees, and a thin trail of smoke
winds upward before it’s swept away in the breeze. “Look! Someone must have a
campfire.” Airen’s face hardens instantly, and he drops the oars into the water,
rowing furiously toward the shore opposite the fire.

“Don’t
you want to go see?”

He
glances at me as if I may have been shaken as a baby. “Do I want to walk my
wife, unarmed, into a potentially dangerous group of people? No. I’m taking you
home. I’ll grab the guys and we’ll check it out.”

“Well,
you don’t have to be so huffy about it.”

“Sorry,”
he mumbles. We drag the boat onto the shore and head back through the woods
toward home. Airen hauls ass through the woods, moving like a freight train, while
I struggle to keep up.

“Air,
please slow down,” I pant, my hand massaging the stitch in my side. Damn, I’m
out of shape.

“What?”
He stares at me as if he just got jerked out of a dead sleep. “Oh, Abby, I’m
sorry.” His pace slows, but his eyes dart nervously.

“We’re
okay. It’s not like someone is chasing us. Calm down.” His fingers wrap around
mine as he nods. We’re nearly home. “You’re going to give yourself a heart
attack, Mr. Overprotective,” I tease.

“
You
are going to give me a heart attack, Miss
Let’s-Prance-Into-A-Crowd-Of-Strangers-To- Say-Hi.”

“I
need a little crazy to balance out yours.” I smile at my neurotic man, and he
grins back at me.

“I’m
sorry our romantic afternoon got interrupted.”

“It
was fun, but next time I want you naked and on top of me.”

Heat
flashes through his raven eyes, and his lip curls in a sexy half smile as he
replies, “Until you beg for mercy, or we rock the boat to pieces.”

Eric,
Troy, and Joseph accompany Airen to investigate the source of the fire, and the
wait for their response is interminable. As much as we want to meet new people,
it’s terrifying. Especially since we haven’t had the best of luck in the past.
Finally, after an hour or so, the radio blares, and Joseph’s voice echoes
through the speaker.

“Abby?”

“I’m
here.”

“Everything
is fine. Two women are camping at the end of Fall Church Road. Do you know
where that is?”

“Yes.”
I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Would
you and the kids come down and meet us? They’re understandably reluctant to
follow four men into the woods.” I can hear the grin in his voice.

“Of
course.” Julie and I gather the kids and we head to meet the new people.

Two
women glance at us nervously while we climb out of the car, and I smile, hoisting
Lane higher on my hip. “Hi, I’m Abby.”

A
dark haired girl steps forward, offering her hand with a nervous smile. “My
name’s Lexi, and this is Emma.”

“Nice
to meet you. Sorry if they scared you.” I gesture to the guys. “They’re
harmless, I promise.”

“We
were just surprised. It’s been months since we’ve met anyone else,” Emma says
and smiles at Walker, who suddenly becomes shy and clings to Joseph’s hand.

“Say
hello,” Joseph encourages. After Walker mumbles a greeting in the direction of
his feet, Emma squats and smiles at him.

“Hi,
I’m Emma. It’s nice to meet you, Walker. Would you like a piece of gum?” she
offers, and holds out a pack of grape flavored bubble gum. Still cautious, Walker
glances at Joseph for permission before accepting the pack.

“Thank
you,” he replies with a shy smile, and pops the gum in his mouth.

“He’s
adorable,” she exclaims, rising and regarding Joseph. “He looks just like you.”

“Thank
you.” Joseph grins, embarrassed. We spend a few minutes finishing the
introductions and getting to know one another.

I
have to stifle a laugh at the blatant way Eric ogles Emma as she speaks, but I
can’t blame him. She’s a beauty. Deep blue eyes gaze from beneath long feathery
lashes, regarding Joseph with particular interest. Plump, pouty lips stretch
into a coy grin as she flips her dirty blond hair over her shoulder, allowing
it to fall in waves down her back. Add to that a figure that would make a
Barbie Doll envious, and it’s not hard to understand why Eric is tripping over
his tongue. She’s far from shy, and within a few minutes we learn she’s thirty
years old, grew up in L.A., was a second grade teacher before the plague, and
never had kids, but wants them.

Lexi
is tall and slender, with long dark brown hair that frames her heart shaped
face, hazel eyes, and an easy smile. Her demeanor is more reserved, bordering
on shy, but there’s a mischievous air about her that makes me think she isn’t
an innocent as she seems. After agreeing to have dinner with us, they accompany
us back to Julie’s house, where she offers them her guest room for the night
and they happily accept.

Airen
and I volunteer to make an early dinner for the kids. Carson and Jayla agree to
babysit for Lane and Walker at our house while we spend the evening at Julie’s.

“They
seem okay, don’t they?” I ask Airen, quickly throwing together a pasta dish for
the kids while he bathes Lane in the sink.

“So
far, but we don’t know anything about them.”

“I
realize that, but I want you to give them the benefit of the doubt.”

He
gives me an exasperated smile. “Yes, dear.”

“Emma
is really pretty. I thought Eric’s eyes were going to fall out of his head,” I say
with a giggle. “I don’t think he blinked the entire time he was ogling her.”

Lane
chews on the towel while Airen struggles to dry his wiggly body. “She only had
eyes for Joseph. Didn’t you notice?” He smiles and shakes his head.

“Not
really. Besides, Joseph’s with Troy.” Yeah, I noticed, and I didn’t care for it
one bit. I tell myself it’s because I like Troy and I don’t want anyone to
screw up their relationship. I don’t want to admit I had a moment of pure
irrational possessive jealousy, and it wasn’t over Airen.

“Mmm,”
he replies noncommittally. Slipping Lane into his sleeper, he kisses his cheeks
until he giggles. “Do you want to breastfeed or should I give him a bottle?”

“Feed
him the cereal and pears first, then I’ll breastfeed. He’ll sleep better.”

“Up
you go, booby thief. Let’s get that belly full.” Lane grins and blows a raspberry
while he straps him into the high chair. Airen chuckles, amused at his antics
until he repeats his trick with a mouthful of food, ejecting an amazingly
accurate spray of pureed peaches. Airen stares at me with yellow goo dripping
from his hair and splattered on his face and shirt, while I do my best not to
laugh. It would only encourage Lane to do it again.