Flesh 02 Skin (21 page)

Nick’s hand covered hers. “Ros.”

She moved onto his collarbone, tracing it with her tongue. “I think your delicate male pride was wounded when I chose the gun over you earlier today.”

He didn’t reply.

“See, this is a precarious situation we’re in, Nicky. Relationships don’t generally evolve from one party holding the other party hostage. Not healthy ones, at least.”

“You think we’re in a relationship?” he asked. His voice held no malice, but still.

Ros lifted her head. His forehead was furrowed and his fine lips were sealed tight. If only they’d stayed that way. He stared back at her, dark eyes unreadable.

“If mentioning that you abducted me and held me hostage upsets you, we’re not going to get very far.” Which was the absolute truth. She swung a leg over him, straddling his long body and seating herself atop his jean-covered hips. Actually, not a comfortable position. The zipper dug into her, raised as it was by his hard-on. She shuffled forward onto his bare, flat stomach. Much better. Nothing to chafe her there.

Nick licked his lips and his gaze slid down her warily as if her naked state worried him. So it should. His hands held back, not touching her. Fine, she could do the touching for both of them. Her fingers stroked the soft skin of his face, the arch of his cheekbones and the dips of his temple. For a while the day before, when she’d been fighting off the infected, she’d thought she’d never see him again. Never get to be this close to him, ever again. It put things into perspective. He had issues, but then so did the rest of the world. Nothing was normal anymore. Man-wise, it seemed she’d been searching for perfection, but it didn’t exist. Unicorns were more likely. People, on the other hand, were infinitely fallible.

“I also think that us leaving the cabin has got you feeling a bit discombobulated,” she said. “All of your careful plans have fallen by the wayside. That can’t be pleasing to your inner control freak.”

“I’m feeling what?”

“Confused. Unsettled.”

“And that’s why you’re sitting on me bare-ass naked?”

“No,” she sighed. “I’m sitting on you bare-ass naked because I want to have sex with you. I want to connect with you and feel close to you. Because you’re important to me beyond your ability to protect me.”

“Because you still think you can go out there and do okay on your own.”

She held back from rolling her eyes, just. “I’d manage.”

He snorted.

“But that’s not what we’re talking about,” she said.

“No? So what are we talking about? I’m confused, apparently.”

In answer she kissed his firm lips, trying to tempt him, to show him. Thank God, it worked. He opened his mouth to her on a groan and she slipped him her tongue. God, he kissed well. But then, he did all the physical stuff well. His hot, wet mouth hungrily kissed her back. It made her feel so much better. She squirmed against his hard stomach, rubbing herself on him oh so surreptitiously. As if he didn’t notice. Hands covered her thighs, fingers kneading her flesh. She kissed him until her head spun and she had to come up for air.

They both panted. But Nick took his hands off her and set them back on the bed at his sides. The look he gave her reeked of a challenge.

“Are you saying no to me?” she asked.

“No, I’m not saying no to you.”

“So I can do what I want?”

He cocked his brow. “Do you even know what you want?”

“I don’t think there’s a lot of doubt about that right now.” But she ground her wet pussy against him in case there was. “Talk to me, Nicky. You’re giving me cause for concern here.”

He hesitated, staring over her shoulder. “I think we went about this the wrong way. I think … I rushed things between us.”

Her world turned topsy-turvy. It spun and bounced and careened off the walls and made absolutely no sense at all. “And now you’re trying to slow things down? Right now? After today?”

“I said I was sorry about the gun,” he answered softly. “I meant it.”

“Yeah, you did. I know.”

“And I’ve been thinking since then …”

She waited. He didn’t elaborate.

“You’ve been thinking?” she asked.

He nodded. “About where we go from here.”

The silence held for a long moment as she attempted to pull her thoughts together. Her heart beat somewhere between her legs and he wanted to discuss their future. Random didn’t begin to cover it, given their not even a week-long history. She looked down and, good God, she was leaking bodily fluids over the man’s six-pack. The trail of hair leading from his belly button beneath the waist of his jeans clung damp to his skin. The musky scent of her overeager sex surrounded them.

“No. No. This is unacceptable.” She scooted backward and started in on the button and zipper of his jeans, tearing his pants open. “I am not doing this now.”

“Ros. I’m serious. I’m trying to do the right thing here! For once,” he finished bitterly.

“No.”

“Ros. Wait.” He waved his hands in the air and she ignored them.

“You picked the wrong time, buddy.” Grabbing two handfuls of denim, she dragged them down his thighs, freeing up the essentials. And the essentials were unperturbed by his bullshit, serious-relationship, ill-timed nonsense. It was the first time she’d come this close to his cock. Well, face-to-cock, as opposed to having him inside her. He looked to be just the right size, long and thick with veins wending up his length. The man had a rather attractive appendage, actually. She wrapped her hands around his hard length, testing the feel of him. Taking her time to learn him.

“I like this,” she said.

His mouth opened, so she stuffed hers full of his cock and sucked. No more excuses. No more talking. He tasted wonderful and felt even better, with silken smooth, salty-tasting skin over such solid flesh. Creamy pre-cum trickled onto her tongue. His hands cradled her head and fingers sunk into her hair. Nothing mattered but her hunger for him.

“Shit,” he muttered. “Sweetheart.”

She took him deeper then pulled back, drawing on him fiercely. The encouraging hands in her hair calmed her down some, signalling his capitulation to her. She massaged his sweet spot with the tip of her tongue and he groaned, stomach muscles clenching.

“You win,” he said.

Which was really all she needed.

His cock slipped from her mouth with a wet pop and she crawled up his body, covering him with kisses as she went, from those hot muscles that delineated his hips to his neat belly button, his pecs and the flat discs of his nipples. The crook of his neck smelled divine; she could kiss and lick him there all night.

Amongst other things.

“What were you thinking?” she asked, tickling the rim of his right ear with her tongue.

“I don’t have a fucking clue.”

The heat of his cock filled her hand and she fit him to the wet lips of her sex. Slowly, gently she took him inside. He seemed to need gentle now. Giving in didn’t really suit him.

The worried expression gave way to ecstasy as she worked herself onto him. His lips parted and teeth clenched.

“Are you wet enough?” he asked and she nodded.

Wet and determined. The push of him into her pussy felt wonderful. Hard and fast was fun, too, but they’d been a bit out-of-control crazy last time. This time she could savor the experience, the feel of him stretching her, filling her until finally her body rested against his pelvis. In this position, every time she rocked back against him her clit rubbed against his body in the best way. Pressure could be the most amazing thing.

“Oh, that’s nice,” she murmured.

She kissed the side of his face and the bristle of his short beard. Talk about an intriguing sensation. Having him go down on her sometime hit the top of her to-do list. Capable hands smoothed over her sides and slid around to cup her breasts. He teased her nipples, rolling them between his fingers—and damn, sensation shot straight through her spine. Her inner muscles grabbed at him and they both moaned. But she kept the pace lazy, indolent. A struggle, but well worth it. Fucking him like this had to be the most pleasant indulgence ever, shitty motel room and end of the world be damned.

“Does it feel like we’re in a relationship now?”

He chuckled. “Yes. It does.”

“Good. It does for me too.”

She sat up higher, her hands braced on the mattress beside his head. Nice to give him room to maneuver, but even nicer to add a swivel to her hips and gauge his reaction. His eyes widened and his cock bumped against something awful good inside her. Holy hell. Pleasure flooded her until her eyes nearly rolled back into her head. They needed to do that again and again.

Oh, yeah. Everything in her tightened in anticipation. They were right where they needed to be. She was right where she need to be, with him.

She picked up the pace, taking him harder. Heavy breathing and the slap of flesh meeting flesh filled her ears. His hands seemed to be everywhere, all over her, working her into a fever. Fingers lightly pinched her nipples and stroked her thighs. Their bodies knew each other just fine, knew exactly how to get where they needed to go. Her movements grew frantic, faster and harder. He stared up at her and she stared right back, unwilling to break the spell.

Until she couldn’t see any longer.

Gray blurred her vision and her cunt clenched at him, waves of the most astonishing sensation washing through her. Hard hands gripped her hips, kept her moving when she faltered.

Her heart stopped; she could feel it. Her head fell forward and her body jerked atop him. Nick pounded into her, again and again, fingers sunk into her flesh. His cock surged into her and she felt him explode. The heat of his come filling her. He groaned and held her tightly, keeping her in place until he finished.

She lay down on his chest, or maybe she fell. The sweat on her back chilled as her body cooled. Her front stayed toasty warm, heated by him, but her spine was another matter. Pity she couldn’t bring herself to move.

Nick shifted a bit and drew up the covers. That was good. He reached over and pinched out the last candle on the bedside table.

His arms surrounded her.

Something moaned from out in the parking lot and she shivered.

“Fuck.” Nick pulled the pickup to the side of the road out of habit more than anything. It wasn’t like anyone would need to pass.

The front half of the huge plane sat embedded in a house, torn apart on impact. Bits of blackened metal were strewn across the road in front of them. Its ass was a burned-out husk in the garage across the road. Little remained of the actual brick and tile dwelling the Hercules had hit, the walls having caved in around the wreckage. The Humvee it had been carrying lay further down the street, smashed to smithereens. Bodies were scattered around, most of them too badly decomposed to be identifiable. But their equipment he recognized just fine. These boys had been Special Forces. The Minimis, M4s and other fancy toys confirmed it. All of it was the sort of stuff that would be useful for buying Roslyn’s way into Blackstone.

“There’s something you don’t see every day,” Roslyn said, gaping at the wreckage.

“This isn’t going to be pretty. But I’ll feel better if we have more weaponry.” He’d also feel better if she kept her lovely self in the car, but small chance of that.

Right on cue, the woman threw off her seatbelt. “Yeah, me too.”

Shit. He hated the idea of having her out in the open, but they needed those supplies. “Okay.”

A cold wind sent ice down his spine. Everything seemed calm, still. There were no signs of life nearby. Another perfect blue-sky day in a typical suburban street, near the edge of yet another country town.

Ros pushed her sunglasses further up her nose and held her gun in a good grip. She seemed to know what she was doing. Fuck, he hoped she did. In the years to come, her knowing how to handle herself would mean everything. She’d been having entirely too much fun when they’d been meant to be training last night. Not taking it seriously enough.

He handed her an empty backpack, care of the country store yesterday, and shouldered one himself. “Collect anything of use.”

“Got it.”

He gave her a hand up over the decimated concrete garden wall, helped her skirt a rose bush. The stupid thing was covered in more than flowers. Thorns cut into his hand when he held back a branch. It stung like shit.

“Damn it.” Blood dripped from a deep scratch on his palm and a slice across two fingers. It had gotten him good.

“Are you alright?” Ros leant over and tugged on his arm, trying to get a look.

“I’m fine. You concentrate on you.”

“Hold still.” She ignored him and pulled a clean tissue out of a pocket, pressed it into his hand. Her forehead furrowed. “We should put some antiseptic cream on that.”

“Later. Come on.”

He’d never admit it, but she’d been right about his being confused. Discombob-whatever. Things had changed too fast. Twice today she’d turned and caught him frowning at her. She’d given him hell when he refused to talk about it.

Women … you didn’t need to discuss everything. Besides, things would sort themselves out soon enough. Blackstone was now only three or four hours’ drive away at most. He hadn’t changed direction. Instead, he’d slowed them down, dragging out the time he had left with her. Tomorrow he’d give her up. One more day wouldn’t hurt anything.

“Come here.” He nudged the remains of a soldier, skin sunken and gray. “You check they’re properly dead, then grab everything off their belts. Any packs strapped to their legs or chests.”

“This is so craven.”

“No, Ros. This is survival.”

Her mouth pursed, but she nodded in understanding. “Yeah. We should bury them.”

“You could spend the rest of your life burying the dead. Just concentrate on keeping yourself alive.”

Her gaze moved between him and the dead soldier, a heavy frown on her face. He almost asked her what she was thinking. And then he spied it, tucked beneath the corpse’s foot. “Here we go. This is a H&K Tactical. It’s got all the bells and whistles.” He dusted off the dirt and ejected the clip. It all looked to be intact and the cylinder didn’t appear to be jammed. “I’ll clean it tonight and then it’ll be yours. Grab any ammunition.”