Shades of Ménage : A Dystopian Romance Ménage & Post Catastrophic Romance Ménage Boxed Set Series - Ultimate Four-Book Collection (14 page)

His very bare ass.

It was at that moment he understood that he was totally naked and the sheets had slipped down over his hips.

An odd excitement rippled through him as he looked over his shoulder and caught her gazing at his butt.

“
You like what you see?”

“
Nothing I haven’t seen before,” she answered quickly as a pretty pink blush swept across her cheeks.

Gingerly she removed the tape that held the bandage in place and soon he was sighing his relief as she smoothed more of that goopy stuff onto his injured flesh.

“
Why did the Barlows shoot you?”

The question caught him quite off-guard. How could he tell her he’d walked in on the Barlow brothers having sex with their new wife, her youngest half-sister?

“
Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were hiding here?” he snapped trying to take focus off the question she’d just asked.

Her fingers stilled on his flesh.

Immediately he wished he hadn’t asked. For years, he’d wondered and worried about her. For years, he’d fought the terrorists with a burning rage inside him. It was because of them that his fiancée was gone from his life.

As far as he was concerned, all terrorists were in the same barrel, rotten to the core.

Especially the DogMarX, a group focused against women’s rights. A group of men who believed a woman should be subservient to men in every aspect. The bastards had released the X-virus into an unsuspecting women’s rights convention. The virus had targeted estrogen-rich women, turning them into virtual zombies. Mindless women who did whatever they were told to do by men.

The X-virus had spread like wildfire. Unfortunately, while it had spread, it had mutated into many forms. Most of them deadly to women.

Callie had been exposed over and over. When her mother and half-sisters had gotten sick, she’d taken care of them. When his mother and sister had gotten sick, she’d taken care of them, too.

He’d been pissed off at her for exposing herself.

She’d done it anyway.

They’d fought about it all the time.

In the end both their mothers and his sister had died.

Her sisters had lived and now required the daily doses of expensive medicines to keep them alive.

Nothing had happened to Callie.

She was immune, as were a minority of other women around the world.

Then the government had created the experimental labs, looking for unaffected women to volunteer themselves as guinea pigs in the name of womankind.

Callie had come to him telling him she’d wanted to volunteer to give them some blood samples. He’d vehemently told her no.

Then she’d disappeared without a trace.

Luke’s guts crunched as he recalled waiting anxiously on their newly built porch for her to return from grocery shopping.

He never should have let her go alone.

Men were already getting crazy at the prospect of so few women available to them.

He’d waited until he could wait no more then he’d hopped into the truck and rode into town. He hadn’t been able to find her and no one, not even the grocery cashiers or the mall’s security video had seen her inside.

Immediately he’d gone to the cops. A day later, they’d located her car at a shopping mall in Bangor, Maine. She’d disappeared without a trace.

Deep inside he’d known the government had taken her. He’d heard horror stories of what happened to the X-virus-resistant women in those labs. About how they eventually snapped under the loss of their freedom as the government scientists housed them in isolation units for weeks even years in a mad attempt to find a vaccine to help the girls who would ultimately turn into women and get the deadly virus.

“
Are you hungry?”

She was changing the subject. He’d let her. For now.

He took a moment to see if maybe he had an appetite and to his surprise discovered his stomach felt quite empty.

“
I think I could manage something,” he admitted.

He watched her ladle more of that chicken broth from the steaming pot she had on the stove into a tin cup.

A concerned frown marred her luscious lips and fear for her safety rammed into his stomach.

“
Maybe you should go to the Outlaw farm. See what happened. It might be better if you don’t stay here. Someone might see the smoke from the stove…”
and come here to claim you
, he added silently.

Her head snapped up. A look of insult twisted her face. Her blue eyes flashed with anger.

“
I don’t need anyone to protect me. I can take care of myself.”

Her confidence was unnerving. It angered him.

“
You didn’t do so good when I showed up.”

“
You surprised me, that’s all.”

“
And you think a group of sex-starved men, won’t?”

“
If it hadn’t been you, I would have handled the situation.”

“
Oh, yeah? How?”

Her eyes strayed to the kitchen area where he noted the long gleaming knife on the counter.

“
I don’t think a knife against a horde of men would do much damage.”

“
It wouldn’t be for them.”

Shock sucker-punched him.

Sweet shit
! She would have killed herself?

She came toward him, a grim smile on her face confirming that yes indeed she would have committed suicide. “Like I said—I would have handled the situation.”

He nodded numbly and comprehended exactly how close he’d been to losing her yet again.

* * * * *

It was a full bladder that prompted Luke to awaken the next time.

Immediately he understood he felt stronger, his thoughts less foggy.

It was night.

He could tell because the front door of the cabin was wide open and bright moonlight spilled inside.

Bullfrogs croaked in the pond outside the cabin. It was windy, too. Refreshing gusts of it blew into the room splashing all around Luke’s naked flesh. He knew Callie loved to take walks when a stiff wind was blowing. She’d said she liked the way it caressed her face. A direct contrast to the hard fists of her mother when she got drunk, and beat her and her half-sisters.

He’d taken a few windy walks with her in the past but never in the middle of the night.

A sliver of uneasiness coursed through him.

Had someone broken in and taken her? Surely, he would have heard. He wasn’t a light sleeper but he wasn’t a heavy one either.

Instantly his fears were put to rest. From somewhere in the distance he could hear her humming. It was a delicate mournful song he couldn’t put a name to. Nonetheless, it tugged at his heart and made him sad.

He lay on the bed for a few minutes listening to her gentle voice and tried to will himself to go back to sleep.

But he couldn’t.

The bathroom wouldn’t wait too much longer.

Either he could call out to her for some help or he could do the deed on his own. He opted for the latter.

Making a sudden move to sit up, a brief swirl of dizziness assaulted him. Thankfully it quickly subsided.

The pain in his left shoulder however was another story. It was if a fiery arrow had lodged itself right through him. With a few controlled inhales and exhales, and instinctively holding his arm close to his body in order to prevent any unexpected jarring motions which would shoot more dreaded pain into him, he sat up.

Moving his legs to the edge of the bed, he swung them over the side.

Managing to push himself off the mattress, he cursed at the tremors weakening his knees.

The urge to call out to Callie for help almost overwhelmed him, but pride and independence urged him to step forward. The mere movement sent agony shooting into his wounded shoulder.

But he persevered.

One wobbly step at a time.

One bolt of pain after the other.

Using first the night table beside the bed and then a couple of chairs and the couch, he managed to make it to the door. With trembling legs, he stepped outside. The mildness of the refreshing wind felt fantastic on his skin as he quickly went about his business while he listened to the rustling of the trees as the branches swayed wildly in the breeze and inhaled the musty scent of damp earth.

When he was finished, he stood there for a few moments, his fingers curling tightly around the porch railing for support as he slowly inhaled the fresh air trying hard to ignore the weakness in his knees and the throbbing pain shooting through his shoulder.

Callie’s humming grew louder and then she was there right in front of him ready to come up the stairs. In the moonlight he noticed her short hair was stringy, her face wet. It appeared she’d taken a dip in the pond.

When she saw him, she stopped cold and stared wide-eyed with surprise, the surprise quickly flashing to unmistakable lust.

He remembered he was naked and thoroughly enjoyed the way her hungry gaze immediately lowered to his cock and her tongue erotically darted out to lick at her full upper lip.

Plump lips meant for sucking.

His cock stirred to life.

She was almost naked.

The skimpy T-shirt she wore did little to conceal her delicious curves. Her breasts hung heavy and full, her large nipples vivid pinpoints against the white clothing.

Her bikini underwear hid practically nothing. Her pubic hair shadowed most of the front and he swore he could see the fleshy outline of her clit in the moonlight as it pressed against the cloth.

His cock thickened and lifted at the delicious sight.

Oh, boy. He was getting better.

He continued to stare at her, admiring how her hips had filled out.

They were wider.

Perfect for grabbing her so he could impale her from behind.

His balls grew tighter.

Her legs were long and shapely. Just right for curling around his thighs as he plunged his cock deep into her warm and waiting slit.

“
What are you doing out of bed?” her whisper was soft and sultry.

“
Answering the call of nature.”

Her breath caught at his answer. Obviously, she’d mistaken his meaning.

He held her gaze, his cock sending her blatant signals he hoped she’d react to.

Heck! Did he even have the strength to perform? His rock-hard cock said yes.

The rest of him said no.

His legs trembled. Pain gnawed at his shoulder and a cool perspiration popped out over his skin.

She shook her head slightly and his hopes were dashed.

“
You’re in no condition for anything but resting. Those wounds won’t mend if you’re…” she hesitated, apparently searching for appropriate words.

“
Making love to you?”

She looked away but not before he saw the cutest little blush sweep across her cheeks.

Hot damn! He needed to get better, pronto!

“
Get back into bed,” she said again.

“
Just give me a minute.” He didn’t know if he could even walk on his own now that he had a massive hard-on to contend with.

“
Okay, but just a minute.” Biting her lip, she slipped past him and went into the cabin.

His cock reacted more violently this time around when her feminine scent drifted into his lungs. Fresh and clean. No flowery aromas clinging to her skin, just her own sensual odor of arousal.