Flesh 01 (17 page)

She couldn’t come with him watching her. He saw too much.

“No.” He grabbed the hand she moved to cover his eyes with. “Let me see. You like this, don’t you.”

“Yes, but … Dan. Enough. Let me …”

He obligingly fell still beneath her. She let her body be her guide, his and hers both. Gave up on the worry and gave in to the feel of him. It was all so simple, concentrating on the prod of his cockhead against her opening. The slow, steady push of him into her stole her breath. But the lust and love in his eyes stole her heart. It washed away the bitterness and fear of a lifetime’s making. The raw feel of so much emotion stunned her. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Somewhere in between fit best.

“Okay?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Yes.”

His hand stroked her cheek. “So pretty. Ready to come for me, babe?”

She nodded, beyond words. The fit and the fullness of him had her there, teetering on the edge. That and his teasing.

And this position, it was the perfect angle for grinding her clit against him. Her body wasn’t interested in slow and sweet. And her body was definitely in control. Or more accurately, her pussy. Her brain had been shelved, though her heart was wide open.

It had been a hell of a day. The rush of it, the sensation building as she took his cock inside her again and again thrilled her. She was burning up. All of the emotions, the love and fear and all the rest, were pressure packed inside her. She had to have release. Every cell screamed out for it. Her body was mindless in its pursuit of it.

It shocked her when it hit. Like freefalling. Her heart faltered. All the air left her body on a cry, dragged out from somewhere deep inside. Somewhere she hadn’t even realized existed.

Dan’s fingers dug into her waist, pushing her down onto his cock as he pressed up and came with a gasp.

They both lay still, slicked with sweat and silent, for a long time.

Her bones felt hollow, the whole world light and floaty. The noise had emptied her out. She pressed her forehead into his shoulder, letting the aftershocks have their way with her. Daniel’s ribs moved in and out between her knees, bringing her back to reality.

“Did I hurt your ribs?” she murmured.

Sweat slipped from his forehead, and he gave a small smile. “Forget my ribs. I can’t feel anything outside of good. My girl, I think you needed that.”

She could only nod her agreement. What she needed was him, but she wasn’t sure she could admit to it yet.

“I know
I
did,” he said. “And you were loud.”

She tensed. “I was?”

“Oh, yeah,” he laughed. She considered giving the strong column of his neck a nip but settled for a kiss instead. Partly to hide her face as it heated.

Dan trailed his fingers over the line of her spine, exerting pressure to hold her in place when she tried to rise. He brushed his lips against her ear, lulling her into a false sense of security as he mumbled, “Spectacularly loud. You’re a security risk. Finn had to have heard you.”

“I’ll have to be more careful. Finn’s listening to music.”

“Bullshit. He’s listening to you.”

“No. He’s not.” She frowned, carefully rolled off him and settled in against his side as he dealt with the condom. “You’re just trying to mess with me.”

Daniel smirked.

No way. Impossible. “Aren’t you?”

“Whatever you say.” He wriggled an arm beneath her neck and drew her in closer against the heat of his body. Summer nights be damned. “No teasing. That’s what I agreed to,” he said.

“Hmm.” A world of doubt filled the sound. He turned his head toward her, stared her down. “Dan. I don’t want him. I want you.

You know that, right?”

“He’s a pretty boy. Smart. Lethal as hel . And most importantly, in my humble opinion, very keen on keeping you safe.” His hand stroked over her, trailing down to the curve of her hip and back up again. “Important things, especial y these days. Well … pretty is overrated.”

Guilt bit her ample ass. Had she been flirting? Not with intent, most definitely, but still. His voice had not been accusing. It would be closer to say amused. Talk about confusing.

Ali wriggled out from her safe place against him, rose up on an elbow to better gauge the expression on his face. “Where is this coming from? Are you tired of me or something?”

“What? No. Of course not, babe.”

“Alright, so you don’t want to pass me on.” She paused, listening for movement behind the parked car. No sign of life. “That’s nice, and yet … God, Daniel. Do you think I’d cheat on you?”

“No. Ali, look at me,” he insisted, waiting her out till she did. No accusation, no judgment. So why was unease slicking over her skin?

This was dangerous territory, but his face was calm and close. “I trust you. I’m yours, babe. No matter what, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” His hand cupped an ass cheek, thumb stroking the curve of her hip. Not lighting her up, but placating. “I’m just saying that the world has changed. The rules have changed. It might pay to have an open mind where this situation with the three of us is involved.”

“What are you trying to push me into now?”

He cocked his head. “My love, I would never try to push you into anything. You wound me. Relax.”

“Right.” Ali nestled back down next to him. Hiding. Maybe. A little. She was just pulling it al together in her head, what to say and how to say it, when he pre-empted her again.

“He’s attracted to you. I don’t think you see how much.”

“I get that things have changed, but …”

“But?”

She said nothing – for al of a minute. “But I'm probably the first female he's seen in a while and his alternatives aren’t great, Dan.

Sex-wise it's down to you, me or his fists. His being attracted to me doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot.”

“Hmm.”

What the hell did he mean? Hold up. What if it wasn’t about her? “Are you attracted to him?”

“I’m very attracted to you. I’m not letting you go.” He brushed his lips over hers, reassuring, teasing. “But what, hypothetical y speaking, would you think if I was attracted to him?”

The picture hit her full frontal. Finn and Daniel naked and sweaty, hands and mouths all over each other. Her heart raced. Her mind was a far filthier place than she ever suspected. “Ah, really?”

“No, hypothetical, remember. I love your inner kink. You always have this vaguely stunned expression when it rears its head and bites you on the ass. A dead giveaway,” Daniel chuckled, then groaned when the movement jarred his ribs. “Damn. But the fact is, you wouldn’t mind if I did want him.”

“I might get jealous. I don’t know. I’ve never been in that situation. Am I in that situation?”

“Again, no. But …”

“But …” Would she deal with it? Yeah, probably she would. There were no doubts in her mind that Daniel was committed to her, and yet, this conversation had a dangerous feel to it. Like the ground was shifting beneath her feet. The topic they were covering was all highly unstable. “It’s a risk, Dan.”

“Babe, you over-think everything. Our life is one God-awful risk these days.”

“True,” she sighed. “Is there a point to this bewildering conversation about who you have no interest in sleeping with? I’m a straightforward kind of girl. Just spit it out.”

“Straightforward? Yeah right,” he said, again with the laugh. “The point, my girl, is this. If you wouldn’t mind me doing it, what makes you think I would mind in the reverse-case scenario?

“Because if you wanted Finn it would possibly mean you’re after something I can’t give you, namely a real-live working penis. Maybe that’s small-minded, I don’t know. This is complicated. I wasn’t expecting …”

She cleared her throat, tried to form a straight line in her head. Maybe that was the problem

– straight lines didn’t always apply. “I

won’t risk losing you for a frolic. You’re too important to me. Not to mention Finn deserves better. I won’t treat him like a cheap thrill when we’re talking of building a future somehow somewhere. Sex complicates things.”

Dan nodded. “Alright, though I never said short-term. See how it goes. Be open-minded. Two men devoted to pleasing your very sweet self? Have you ever thought about that?”

Her filthy mind filled with images.

“Holy shit. We’re gonna need more Eves in this garden.” She moaned and hid her face against his side, taking comfort in the warm and familiar scent of him. Admitting to any sex fantasies did not feel smart. Nothing about this was safe. She might be in love for the first time in a long time and he was talking about adding someone else. Historically, one-on-one proved enough of a challenge to her. How could she possibly keep two men happy? The idea was ludicrous.

“Daniel … You’re so cool about this and, and I’m so not. At all. What happens if we find another woman? We turn it into a circus act and take it on the road? Sounds like you’re using the end of the world as a flimsy excuse to have an orgy every other night of the week.”

He grunted in disapproval. “I disagree, and you’re getting jealous. There’s no need. This is about you and me and possibly him.

That’s all.”

“The three of us?”

“The three of us.”

“Wow.” Right. Sure. It sounded so simple. No chance for broken hearts at all. “No, Daniel. No.”

“Okay.”

Ali raised her head, mouth tense. “That easy?”

“Yep. It’s your choice. I just wanted to make sure you knew you had one.”

“Right. Wel , my choice is no. Meanwhile, this is doing my head in.”

“Enough of that talk then.” Daniel nodded, satisfied. “Instead, let’s discuss why you tried to cover my eyes earlier. Because baby, if it had been a kinky sex game I would have been on board, but I’m thinking it was something else.”

“It was nothing,” she said. “You need to rest. Sleepy time.”

Daniel rubbed his jaw against the top of her head, ruffling her hair. “Nah, I’m fine and so, very much, are you. Time for round two, cowgirl. And this time, we’re going to take it nice and slow with our eyes wide open.”

The criminals were back at it.

Smoke lingered in the air at first light, making Finn’s pulse spike and his brain snap to attention. Adrenalin had it over caffeine any day of the week, even after a shit night’s sleep. He jumped to his feet, circumnavigated the Datsun to find the lovebirds tangled up and sleeping. “We have a situation on our hands.”

“Finn?” Al asked in a husky voice. She blinked big gray eyes at him from where she lay wrapped up in Daniel. Her hair was all tussled, and there was a general well-fucked appeal to her.

He was nowhere near as immune to it as he would have liked. Which pissed him off.

And she wore his t-shirt, having gasped words along the lines of “God”, “yes”, and “Daniel” before slipping into it.

“What’s wrong, Finn?”

His. Shirt.

“We’ve, aah …” He took a nice deep breath, focused on the essentials. Things besides what was going on beneath his shirt and inside his head. “We’ve got trouble.”

“Again.”

“Again,” Finn agreed.

She shook the big guy's arm. “Smoke. Wake up, Daniel. They’re lighting more fires.”

“Ah, man.” Daniel rolled onto his back and stretched. He real y was big. Civilian or no, taking him on hand-to-hand for her was not the best idea. Tempting as it was. Better to woo her away. “We were out of beer anyway. It’s time to move along, kids.”

Finn turned his back on the love nest to get his shit together. It also gave him a chance to get his temper back under control. Not that those two were messing around, not taking the threat seriously. The man donned his pants while Al made a dash to the spindly clothesline.

“Finn, your stuff’s dry too,” she announced.

He turned in time to catch the flash of ass as she stepped into black cotton panties. Oh yeah, the swift revelation of the long line of her back as she tugged his shirt off over her head. Breathing didn’t matter and blinking was right out. Anger slipped from his immediate reach in the face of this.

Strangely enough, once removed, he wanted the shirt straight back on her.

Ali fished about for her bra, found it and slipped the straps up her arms. Dark blonde hair fel over her shoulders, sliding across bare skin. Porn had nothing on this.

He needed to get laid.

Pity about the chances.

“Great.” He joined her by the laundry, started dragging on his own clothes before she noticed anything was up. Not that she ever did seem to notice. Living in close quarters with strangers brought politeness to an art form.

The roar of a motorbike gunning up the street had them both jumping. He simply hid it better.

“Fuckers,” the big guy muttered, bending over the sink to drink from the tap.

“Yep,” said Finn.

“So.” Dan clapped his hands together, rubbed. “Who’s up for playing another round of hide and seek?”

Hours later, summer showers had messed with the bonfire tactics. Unfortunately, the vigilant bastards patrolled the streets, making it hard to move far or fast.

The noise of the motorbikes kept the infected stirred up. They’d shamble out looking for action, and the bastards provided it.

Whittling down the zombie population of the surrounding area kept the bastards distracted at least. Important to note, petrol was plentiful, but their ammo had to be running low the way they went for maximum effect.

Al, Dan and Finn managed to waste the morning skulking four blocks through the ongoing drizzle. A patrol had them seeking cover inside a rusted garden shed. They rested amongst the garden tools and towers of empty plastic pots. The place smelt of damp earth and fertilizer.

Dan shut his eyes, legs spread out in front of him, and his back to one rickety wall. There was nothing from him for a long time, care of the painkil ers Al had all but stuffed down his throat. The man obviously needed the sleep after his busy night and war wounds.

Yes indeed. A very fucking busy night.

Behind them lay the river and before them suburbia soon petered out. Acres of sparse bushland and the occasional farm or homestead ahead. Acres of next to no cover with few roads, even if they could bypass the bastards. Options dwindled.