Their Forever Home (7 page)

That would all change if she finds out what I used to be after the world fell apart. She wouldn’t give me the time of day.

So he would do his best not to let her find out until they made it to the new community safely. He didn’t want her sneaking off on her own where she could get hurt or caught. Once they made it safely to the others, he would tell her and clear his conscious. She had a right to know. Then maybe he’d take off a little farther north to live. Close enough to maybe trade skins for some of their food sometimes, but not close enough he’d have to see her if he were careful.

Carver sighed and kept his back to Vella. Even with that, he could still feel her inside of him. Somehow he had to keep from falling for her. He almost laughed at the thought. That had never been a worry when he’d been with his brothers and the vast number of sweet butts and hanger-on. Pussy had been pussy—a way to scratch an itch—but Vella wasn’t like that. She was special, and that worried him. That was why he knew he was at risk of falling for her. He was already fond of her and sexually attracted to her. That alone spelled disaster.

He tried to clear his mind of her, but he couldn’t get the scent of her natural fragrance from his nose. So, Carver thought about what he planned to do the next morning. He’d get up around six and strap the rifle and water to himself. He would take a pack since he would need something to bring her things back to the cave and might not find one where he looked. She would need her own backpack to carry her things. He’d have to look for one while he was out. They weren’t easy to find anymore since everyone needed one now.

What all did she need? Clothes, of course. Finding her size might be a little hard, but he was pretty sure he would know what would fit her from the image of her he already had stored in his mind. So, long-sleeved shirts, pants, socks, a coat, and underwear. Oh, he would see if he could find her another pair of boots. Hers had a hole in one of them.

Carver thought about the other things she’d need, like toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, washcloth, and the lotion she’d asked for. He hoped he could find something that would smell good and not overwhelm her natural scent. The thought of her pretty hair made him add hair things to his mental list. She might want to pull it back sometimes, like when she washed her face. He did that sometimes, but all he had was the leather ties he made and kept in his pocket.

Memories of his life before the bondsmen and before all hell rained down on them surfaced, grounding him when he’d started to get drawn in to images of Vella—Vella naked with his hands on her, undressing her, and once her fever had broken, washing her off. Thoughts like that were entirely too dangerous. It was a dead-end relationship for him, so he thought about the good times with his brothers instead.

They’d lived free, played hard, and worked hard. It had been the happiest he’d ever been in his life. That wasn’t to say that there weren’t problems and hard times, but everyone had those. Yeah, they’d done some bad shit at times, but they’d never hurt an innocent or anyone who didn’t deserve their wrath.

The Rebel Riders MC had kept their territory free of drugs and guns. They hadn’t sold drugs at all but had done some light ammunition distribution from time to time. Mostly they had a popular custom bike shop and a top-notch auto and body shop where they did all types of repairs. That along with the bar they ran assured they always had enough money to keep all the brothers and their families housed and fed. No one did without.

Carver had no idea if any of his brothers had survived or not. He’d been in Texas, delivering one of their custom-ordered bikes, when everything had started. He’d had to lay low for two days while tornadoes and severe storms assaulted them. As soon as the weather was drivable, he left to hurry back, alarmed at the news reports of entire cities gone and widespread flooding sweeping even more towns away.

He hadn’t gotten far before a massive earthquake split the roads in two. He saw entire eighteen wheelers swallowed up in the gaps the quake had made. More and more autos and semis lost the battle to stay on the road. Carver had been lucky as hell to be on a fairly safe spot of road as he watched the giant craters widen then narrow over and over. Long stretches of quiet gave those still alive a thin thread of hope that it was over with, but it only lasted a few minutes before it all started again. He and several others were stuck on small areas of road for what felt like forever but ended up being about two hours. It had horrified him to stand there and do nothing to help any of those who fell around him, but Carver was enough of a realist to know there was nothing he could do without joining them in their terrible death. His will to survive had saved him, but not his soul. It still carried those images and more from the days that followed.

By the time he finally made it back, there wasn’t anything left of their town or the men he’d called brothers. It was as if they’d just disappeared. No one still haunting the area had known anything. He had sifted around burnt buildings and stared at twisted remains just to see if he could find any sign that they had survived. The only thing he’d found was that not just some of the bikes were gone, but all of them. They were all so burned and piled up that he couldn’t tell whose bikes were missing to know who might have survived.

The depressive images burned into his retinas often plagued his dreams, along with more from his later years. Carver cursed himself for following through with the last memories of his family instead of stopping before it all went to hell. Yet it had done the job and taken his mind off of the curvy woman lying next to him.

A moan then a whimper froze his blood in his veins. Her scent curled its way back into his nose, and when Vella cried out in her sleep, he was once again lost in thoughts of her.

Vella woke the next morning, sore but feeling a little more like herself. She didn’t seem to have quite as much trouble moving and didn’t think she was as weak either. The sun was up, and when she looked on either side of her, both men were up and gone. She knew Lance wouldn’t be far, but Carver was well on his way to find her something to wear. She felt guilty at stalling their plans for more than four days now—or was it five? Either way, now the man was even having to dress her.

Hell! I don’t need to go there. All I can think about is him undressing me. Not just him, but Lance as well. They’re both good-looking men, strong in different ways. I would never find another pair of men who make me feel this way, safe and comfortable.

It didn’t mean she could have them though. The world had changed to the point that once all the destruction, disease, and death had settled down, there were far fewer women left alive than men. It meant that women were fought over, stolen, and treated like possessions instead of the humans they were.

She thought about her brother and why he’d died before she slammed the door on that memory. It hurt too much to remember. Then she’d ended up in yet another bad situation where the fact that she was a woman meant she lost some of her rights and couldn’t go where she wanted. It was the final straw when
he’d
told her she would move in with him and the other single women until a family was chosen for her. Vella refused to allow her brother to die in vain. He’d given his life because he wanted her to be free and safe and happy.

She shook the memories off and sat up, thankful for the ridiculously long T-shirt so that she could stretch without revealing anything. The boxers were almost more trouble than they were worth, but she wasn’t about to walk around without anything on under the T-shirt. That was asking too much of both men when she was sure it would be pretty obvious beneath the white shirt. Even now she was self-conscious about her breasts feeling so exposed.

Vella shimmed out from under the blankets and straightened them so that they would be ready for bed that night. She wandered closer to the fire that they’d allowed to die down some and found a covered pan. She peeked beneath the lid and smiled. Inside was what looked like some type of stew. When she looked around, she noticed a squirrel pelt spread out to dry on a rock just inside the cave.

“Squirrel stew. I can eat that. Too bad I don’t have a way to make biscuits.” Vella smiled as she dipped the yummy looking food into a bowl.

She’d just taken a quick taste when a noise near the front of the cave snapped her eyes that way. At first she didn’t see anything, and then a slight movement near the side of the cave entrance caught her attention.

Holy hell. Is that a wolf? It’s huge!

She didn’t move, staying as still as she could, keeping her eyes down from the predator’s so as not to challenge it. Vella kept his paws in her sights, so she knew when he started walking slowly toward the inside of the cave, ignoring the dying fire as if it didn’t worry him in the slightest.

What was she going to do? She didn’t have anything to fight a wolf, if that was what it was. Where was Lance? If she screamed, it would startle the wolf and might make him attack. If she didn’t scream to get Lance’s attention, the wolf might still attack.

Vella remained still as the wolf slowly made its way inside the cave. It didn’t move closer to her, but stalked over to where the rabbit stew remained at the edge of the fire to keep it warm. He nosed it then jumped back when it burned him. He whined, looked toward her and tried again.

It upset her to see him hurt himself in an attempt to get food. He looked a bit thin. Without thinking, Vella moved closer to the fire and the animal, still not meeting its eyes. She watched his paws and shoulders for any sign he might lunge for he.

When she’d gotten close enough to the pot to touch it, the wolf backed up a step, then another. It gave her the courage she needed to pick up the folded cloth and pull the pot from the fire. She opened the lid and carefully stuck a finger into the liquid to see if it was too hot for the animal. It wasn’t, so she pushed the pot of rabbit stew toward the wolf using the handle. Once she reached as far as she could go, she pushed it a few more inches with her fingertip then slowly inched her way back to where she’d left her bowl.

The wolf didn’t move at first, so Vella picked up her spoon and started eating, still keeping an eye on his whereabouts. After a minute, the wolf eased toward the pot and sniffed it then dipped its head into the stew, and all she heard after that was the sound of his tongue lapping at the delicious food.

By the time she’d finished her bowl, the wolf had finished as well and was lying next to the pot watching her. It didn’t look in any hurry to leave. Great. What was she going to do now? What about when Lance returned? He’d been gone long enough now that she was beginning to worry. Had something happened to him? Had this wolf hurt him? She looked but didn’t see blood anywhere on the fur she could see.

Suddenly the wolf stood up and stretched. She sighed. He was going to leave now. He had only been resting after he’d eaten before moving on. Only, instead of moving toward the cave’s opening, he slowly stepped closer to her.

“Nice wolf. Easy there. Don’t hurt me. I just gave you food.” She couldn’t believe she was talking to it.

The wolf stepped closer still. It was close enough now that it could lunge for her throat and she’d never be able to avoid it, but she was too scared to move.

“Easy, boy. I’m not a threat to you. Just turn around and go back outside now. You’ve had something to eat now.”

The wolf lay down, which gave her some measure of relief, until it began almost crawling toward her again. She started to scoot away, but it whined at her and Vella didn’t know if that was a plea for her to be still or a warning that she’d damn well better stay still. She played it safe and froze.

Inch by terrifying inch, the wolf drew closer until its muzzle was close enough to take a bite out of her. To her utter disbelief, the animal gave one last whine then dropped his head to her lap and sighed. It closed its eyes and relaxed into her.

What the hell? It’s going to go to sleep on me?

Maybe it wasn’t a wolf but at dog that lost its family. But if that was so, he’d be close to ten years old. He looked more like a three- or four-year-old to her. There were no signs of age, like greying fur or missing or ground-down teeth. Yep, she’d gotten a good look at them when he’d watched her with his mouth open in what could have been thought of as a doggy or wolfy grin.

Well, it looked like for now she was a pillow for a very large dog or wolf. She still wasn’t sure which. It looked a lot like a wolf. Maybe it was a hybrid mix. Either way, Vella was stuck sitting there until the animal woke and moved on or Lance returned and got rid of it. For some reason, the thought of Lance hurting it or driving it off had her heart stuttering a beat or two. Was she already attached to the thing? Feeding it hadn’t been the best idea after all.

“Vella? What is that on your lap?” Lance’s voice had the wolf or dog or whatever it was coming to attention, complete with a teeth-displaying snarl.

“Easy, there. Lance is my friend. He helped save me. Don’t hurt him,” she said, in hopes it would listen to her voice and know she wasn’t afraid of the man standing just inside the cave.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked, watching the wolf instead of looking at her. Vella didn’t blame him.

“I’m fine. I had some rabbit stew, and this came in to join me. He seemed to be hungry, and I’d much rather he eat stew than me, so I fed him. Now he seems to want to stay.”

“Fuck! How am I going to get him away from you without you getting hurt?” Lance asked.

I really don’t think he’s going to hurt me on purpose, but if you shoot at him, he might hurt me by accident,” she told him.

Vella tentatively laid a hand on the back of the wolf’s neck and stroked his fur. To her surprise, the wolf arched into her hand and made a contented sound, almost between a growl and a sigh. She continued to stroke his fur.

“See? I’m thinking this is a huge dog, or maybe a wolf hybrid. He’s alone, and scared, and hungry. Kind of like I was.” She watched Lance’s features as he realized she was attached to the thing. His frown said it all. He didn’t like it.