Fractured Hearts (Shattered Lives, Book Three) (13 page)

I fumbled with my fingers for a few seconds, picking at the dirt under my nails. When I looked back up at her, managing to tuck all of my emotions away, I said something Elaina would never forget.

“We need to change this before it’s too late for us. Let’s make this our home. Let’s ditch all of this bloody insecurity between us and have a ceremony. Who gives a shit if it isn’t official in the eyes of some nonexistent government? It would be official to us. That’s all that matters. I have a feeling a lot of our issues are because of the insecurity we have about our lives. We can settle in, make a home here, maybe even have a family. And you can finally be Mrs. Daniels…if you would still like to be. I won’t blame you a bit if you don’t, though.”

Elaina’s heart was pounding so hard, I could feel it in the air. She twisted her engagement ring around her finger, chewing her lip. I wondered what a ceremony would look like with nothing but books, gym mats, and guns available for décor.

When she gazed at me, I was feeling more confident, more like myself. I wasn’t exactly sure what made me turn the corner. Maybe it was her telling me what Gunther said and the fact that she had never stopped loving me. Whatever the reason, I was damn sure I had turned it for good.

She would have to place what was left of her hopes and dreams into my hands. I knew it would be difficult for her to do, and it would crush her completely if things went awry, but I was going to do my best to give her what she needed.

“Yes. Let’s do it.”

I smiled and grabbed her face. “I love you so much and I promise that you won’t regret this decision.”

Tears trickled down Elaina’s face. “Goddammit,” she growled as she wiped them away. “I’m sick of this crying bullshit!” We laughed, something we truly hadn’t done together in a while.

I pulled her face to mine and kissed her with burning passion. It felt so good to have her with me and I felt like the Henry she intended to marry before this craziness was thrown into her lap.

I groaned when her hands trailed down my chest. I grabbed at her shirt, trying to find my way underneath it. Just as she was guiding my frantic hands, some knob knocked on the door.

“You have
got
to be fucking kidding me,” I grumbled.

Elaina rested her forehead against mine and said, “What can you do? You are very popular, Mr. President.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s me. I’m the diplomatic sort.”

Because my soldier was saluting, she got up to answer the door. Meanwhile, I was going to make it easy for her and get naked. Hopefully, she didn’t mind my not-so-stellar physique.

Elaina opened the door a crack. Gunther. She sighed and hoped the moment wouldn’t turn out bad for her.

“What?” she snapped.

“I was just checking and making sure everything was all right.” She glared at him. If her eyes could throw daggers, he would have been fatally wounded. “So…is everything okay?”

“It’d be much better if you would go back to
your
room and stay away from ours.” He jacked up an eyebrow. She hissed, “Everything is fine. I will explain it at another point. We just need some time together…
alone
.” He stood and stared at her. “Do I have to spell it out for you? Are you that clueless?”

“Oh, right. Sorry to interrupt.” She tried to close the door, but he had put his foot in between the door and frame.

“Seriously?” she growled. “What is your motherfucking malfunction?”

Gunther found it difficult not to smirk. “Can I make a little suggestion?” He had a hunch she was close to punching him. One more second of his antics, and she would have.

“Yes, please. Grace me with your epic wisdom.”

“Do a draw, then let him take you while he’s high.”

“You know, sometimes you are like sand in my ass crack. I’m not a rookie at this game.”

“I didn’t say you were. I’m just saying…”

He purposely moved his foot just enough for her to slam the door shut.

Elaina’s fists were clenched in anger and she growled. I was less than pleased Gunther pissed her off, but I had other things on my mind at the moment. She shook her head and headed back to her soon-to-be husband, who happened to be completely naked and rock hard. She smiled and stripped out of her clothes, joining me in bed.

Before she knew it, I had her pinned and was torturing her with my tongue. She worked hard not to cry out, but she surely won an award in the moaning category.

I groaned while suckling on her swollen flesh. The vibration from my mouth made her shudder. She grabbed my head and pushed me into her further. No problem. Her hot flesh felt good against my cool tongue.

Goddamn, she tasted so good. It brought me back to the first time I traced my tongue around her slit. She began to tremble and I stopped, leaving her gasping for air. A sinister chuckle broke from me.

“Hey!”

“What?” I slithered up her body, kissing her as I went. I made it to her chest and focused my attention on her sensitive peaks. My tongue circled and circled, driving her crazy. She panted and scrunched the blankets between her fingers.

She was a vision of beauty.

I worked my way up to Elaina’s neck and nibbled until I reached her lips. My kisses were gentle and loving. I grabbed one of her legs, pulling it up to my shoulder.

“Hold it,” she panted.

“What?”

“I do believe it’s your turn.”

My eyes tracked to her quivering lips and grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

I rolled onto my back and placed my hands behind my head, leaving myself exposed to her every whim. Straddling my abdomen, she leaned over to kiss me. I wrapped my arms around her back, running my nails down to her ass, gripping it and pushing my hands down farther to jack her up on my body. My tongue attacked hers with speed and accuracy.

She nibbled on my jaw and down my neck, running her hands along my sides. As she moved down my body, I groaned. My breath hitched when she flicked her tongue over my nipple.

Elaina nipped at my body all the way down until she reached the “zone”. She ran her hand up and down my soldier, relishing in the silky feel of my skin. I moaned, my breath all over the map. Then she tortured me with her tongue, much like I did to her.

I sat up on my elbows and watched her every move. We locked eyes as she drew me into her mouth, methodically moving her tongue over every bulging vein.

“Oh god, love…,” I moaned, throwing my head back, enjoying the intense feeling and the show she was giving me. When she dragged her teeth up my shaft, I barked, “Jesus fucking Christ!” My muscles twitched. Suddenly, she stopped. I whipped my head forward.

“Hi,” she said as she crawled back up to my face.

“I wish you didn’t stop.”

“Oh, do you now?”

“Yeah. You’re bloody good at that.”

“I thought maybe you would want to finish in me.”

“Hmm… I think that might be a perfect alternative.”

Without pause, I grabbed and flipped Elaina onto her back, then sat on my knees and pushed her legs apart. After running my icy fingertips over her body, causing her to shiver, I settled myself between her glorious, creamy thighs. Kissing her lovingly, I grabbed my soldier and watched as I eased myself into her waiting body. The slow progression was so erotic to watch. I pushed in and pulled out at a steady rhythm.

“Henry…,” she moaned. I loved it when she moaned my name, stroking my ego every time. She twisted her fists in my hair and held on while I pounded my hips into hers.

Our breathing was in sync. Our connection was repairing itself. I was dying…and it felt so good. I locked eyes with her and bit down on my bottom lip, settling further into her. We were so close, our noses buried in each other’s cheeks.

“Fuck. I’m close,” I whispered.

“Oh, god,” she moaned out. I looked at her and took her face in my hands. I had to watch her fall apart so I knew the moment was true and wasn’t imagining it.

I continued my rough rhythm while we became absorbed in one another’s eyes. My chest pumped hard, rising and falling at a pace I hadn’t felt in a while. She arched her back, her eyes rolled, and she exploded, screaming for me.

Those pulsations from her inner depths grabbed my soldier and made my seed pump out. Still, I kept my eyes locked onto hers while I filled her one pulse at a time.

I swear I wasn’t going to stop coming. When I thought the last of my seed pumped out, I realized the feeling was still there, tracking through my body, licking up my spine, tickling every nerve. I had more to give.

After pulling her legs up over my shoulders, I pounded into her relentlessly. She held strong and took me like a fucking champ as the shudder wracked through me again.

“Fuuuuuck… Oh, Laina…” Then I said something in another language—Neanderthal maybe—as I came again. With my breath stolen, she lowered her legs and I collapsed on top of her. She weaved one hand through my hair and laid the other across my back. Meanwhile, I had just about smothered myself between her hair and the pillow under her.

“Two times, eh?” She laughed.

“God…” I lifted my head. “That was…”

“Epic?”

“Yeah, that works.”

After rolling off her, we snuggled up, face-to-face. Broken or not, I had to wonder if she thought I was still attractive, even though my paunch said otherwise. Her eyes filled with tears while we lay, staring at each other.

“Love…don’t cry. This is supposed to be a lovely moment for us.” Maybe she saw the worry in my eyes.

“It is. I’m fine. I’m just so happy to have my Henry back.” I smiled. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’m happy to be back. I love you.”

“I love you, too. I can’t imagine it any other way.”

I kissed her exquisite lips, resulting in her curling further into me. The solace I craved had finally arrived. I was thrilled beyond measure.

A spring clean-up was happening in the town center. After all, there was a wedding to plan. Quinn, Cora, and Elaina were working on what used to be the town’s only diner. Hard to believe, considering the fast food nation the country had once been. They found a few useable items but, for the most part, the building was in ruins.

“I’m so glad you and Henry have mended your relationship and decided to marry, regardless of our circumstances,” Quinn affirmed as she and Elaina picked through the rubble, finding a few bowls and miscellaneous pieces of silverware that were just in need of a good cleaning.

“Me, too.” Elaina smiled. “Our original wedding was put together by my mother. I pretty much had no say, even though Henry offered to pay for every last detail. He even fought with my family a few times, trying to get them to understand what I wanted. I would’ve been happy getting married in a tank top and flip-flops on the beach. But she wanted
all
the glory.”

Quinn laughed. “Yes. We mothers tend to be like that.”

“I hated everything about the wedding, right down to the dress. We just wanted simplicity. Henry is a sucker for clean lines and simple standards. No fancy beaded or lacy designs.” Looking shamefaced about how she behaved during the wedding preparations, Elaina mumbled, “I was so awful to her. I miss her.”

Quinn reached out and rubbed Elaina’s shoulder. “Sweetheart, I would imagine she has long forgiven you and is proud of the woman you’re becoming.”

Elaina cleared her throat and continued working, but she couldn’t keep her mouth shut for more than a minute at a time. “I know we don’t have a lot to pick from here, but I think we can arrange something halfway decent, right? You think? Please tell me we can.”

“I’m sure we can figure something out,” Cora said as she brought over a few incidental items and tossed them into a bucket. “It’ll probably be all handmade and not perfection, though.”

“That’s okay. Henry and I are not perfect, by any means. A perfect wedding would be wrong.”

“I would have to look, but Peter may have packed his book he used to read from when he performed weddings.”

“He was a minister?”

“He was the pastor of our church. I probably should have mentioned that before, especially at Claire’s–” Elaina sucked in a hard breath. Noticing her reaction, Cora turned and pointed down the road. “Anyway, the church is a few miles further west.”

Excitement danced through Elaina. “Do you think it’s still standing?”

“I don’t know. I suppose we can go and find out. There’s another small shopping plaza across from it. I just hope it’s untouched. Maybe there are supplies we need in the stores. I know Peter had set out a clothing donation bin in the hall of the church.”

Considering our circumstances, it was a beautiful sight to watch Josie run around and play with the kids. It made me smile, something I was doing more and more every day. It felt bloody wonderful.

Chatter behind me caught my attention. The women were sounding a bit cheeky. I had to check it out only because I was nosey.

My approach went unnoticed. “Find out what?” I asked.

Startled, Elaina turned around to see me standing behind them. “Cora said there was a church a couple miles further down. Peter was the pastor there.”

“Really? Well, let’s see if it’s still standing then.” I looked up at the sky. “We still have a few hours before sunset.”

“Let me grab a few things…,” Elaina said and walked toward the school.

“No,” I said, rather curtly, grabbing her arm. I wasn’t about to let her go traipsing into somewhere unknown. I wasn’t risking her life to go look at a church.

“Excuse me?” she balked. I let her arm go when she raised her brow.

We had come a long way in just a couple of weeks. We had been making love at least two times a day, and just simply talking and enjoying our lives together. I didn’t want to argue with her, but I was still going to be protective. She was my life and I wasn’t about to jeopardize that.

“I’ll take Nick with me,” I countered.

“Why not me? I’m perfectly capable. Why do you always do this to me? I’m not a helpless, wilted flower, unable to defend myself.” I quirked a brow at her, and a slight half-smirk appeared on my face. “Okay, I’m helpless occasionally. However, for the most part, I can bring the undeads down just as well you!”

Think fast, tosser.
“I need you here, love. Nick and I can go. We’ll take my truck. There might be a car or two full of gas that way.”

Elaina sighed, disappointment in her eyes. I hated to dishearten her, but I just wasn’t comfortable taking her when I had no idea what we would be facing. If she stayed at the school, she had a little safety.

Quinn placed her hand on Elaina’s shoulder. “Elaina, now, now. Let the
men
take care of it. Us
womenfolk
have
womanly
duties to take care of here. You know, scavenging and undead killing is
men’s
work.”

“Oh, Christ. That’s not what I meant,” I snipped, irked at Quinn’s insinuation.

Elaina glanced at me, hopeful my angry side wouldn’t make another unwelcome appearance. I was doing my best to control it, but I was still fighting so many things inside my head.

“Don’t get your knickers in a knot, Henry,” Quinn retorted. “I was just kidding. Have you taught this man
nothing
about sarcasm?”

“Apparently not,” Elaina muttered. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and threw out her best pouty lip for good measure.

“What the fuck, Elaina? Fine. Grab Nick and gather what we’ll need. I’m going to talk to Gunther and let him know what’s up.”

I stalked off to where Gunther and Thomas were rounding up what they could from the demolished building. As I walked away, those birds were whooping it up. I could only shake my head while they acted like grand champions.

Elaina turned around and high-fived Quinn, Cora joining in during their brief moment of celebration. Henry turned around and glared in their direction, which only made them celebrate a bit more.

“Thanks!” Elaina exclaimed.

“I figured you would want to see if it was a place you would want your wedding.” Quinn winked at her. “Just be careful.”

Elaina took off toward her brother and explained to him what they would be doing. They both went inside and grabbed what they needed, including supplies for a draw, a rifle, extra bullets, and a few knives.

Then Elaina spotted the archaic, double-sided axe that she almost took Henry’s head off with ages ago. She smirked and grabbed it.

“You never know when you will need a double-sided axe,” she murmured with a chuckle. Nick joined her in her laughter.

They dashed back outside. Henry was standing with Ben, but it didn’t quite seem like they were doing much talking. It was more of a glaring. Worry washed over Elaina as she headed over, not giving much thought to the giant axe in her hand.

“Is everything all right over here?” Elaina asked as she stepped next to Henry. Jane looked at her, screamed, and jumped back. Henry glanced over at Elaina, then down at her hand. Putting the axe behind her back, she said, “Sorry.”

“Everything’s fine. I was just letting Ben know what we were doing. You ready to go?”

Henry grabbed the axe, put his pack on, and stalked off toward the truck. One minute more with that asswipe, Elaina was certain he would’ve taken him out.

“Sorry. I was just–”

In annoyance, Ben interrupted her, “It’s fine. Jane is just jumpy around him. He tends to be a little overbearing and he lacks trust.”

“He’s been through a lot, Ben,” Elaina pushed back.

“Seems like the trend here.” He tucked his hands in the pockets of his dingy pants and rocked back on the heels of his boots. “Everyone
else
has been through a lot. Apparently, we haven’t.”

Elaina clenched her fists at her sides. “If you only knew…,” she gritted out.

“Knew what? What could you enlighten me on? Please. I would love to know what I’m missing here because you all are an odd bunch.” A devious grin spread across his face. “Or maybe I already have your dirty little secret figured out.”

His arrogance made Elaina want to gouge his malevolent, dirty brown eyes out. Thankfully, Henry had taken the axe from her because she wasn’t sure if she would’ve been able to control herself.

To keep Henry from hearing the conversation, Elaina lowered her voice and bit out, “How dare you, you ungrateful bastard. All I have to do is tell Henry I want you gone and he will force you to leave. But I’m a decent human being. I suggest you keep your fucking mouth shut or you will find yourself out on your ass.”

Ben laughed at Elaina which, of course, infuriated her even more. It was a struggle for her not to attract attention. “Your fearless leader? The one who throws tantrums like a two-year-old? The one who thinks the bottle will cure what ails him? Maybe you ought to seek out someone who is a true leader.”

“Don’t you dare say a fucking word against him,” she growled.

Jane grabbed Ben’s arm. “Ben…stop.”

“No, Jane. I won’t. There’s something bizarre going on here. They sneak off together. Three of them have the same color eyes, which often change color. Gray to green, green to gray. Nothing I have ever seen before…” His lips twisted into an evil smile. “Or perhaps I have.”

Elaina swallowed hard, but before she could say something full of great wisdom and the perfect amount of cuss words, someone cleared his throat behind her. Nick.
Son of a… Stupid overprotective men
.

“Is there a problem with my sister? I surely hope not.”

“Actually, yes, there is,” Ben challenged.

She felt Nick stiffen when Ben took a step closer to her.

“Ben, please…,” Jane pleaded.

“If there’s a problem, maybe we can discuss it…man-to-man,” Nick pushed. “We can clear up any misunderstandings, or anything you have
obviously
misconstrued.” A rather sarcastic smile lifted Nick’s lips, with the slight tilt Sophie used to get Elaina’s goat.

Well-played
, Elaina thought, but she knew she had to put a stop to the brewing situation. “Maybe we should get going before Henry or Gunther take notice of this slightly overdramatic moment,” Elaina muttered. She took Nick’s arm and dragged him away.

“What the fuck is his problem?” Nick grumbled.

“He was saying shit about Henry. Pissed me off. I think Henry was right. We need to keep an eye on him. He played off like this innocent man, but I believe he’s up to something.”

“What was he saying?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

As Gunther worked, he watched Ben and his crew, as well. He noticed the small exchange between Ben, Elaina, and Nick. Henry was busy putting supplies in the truck and didn’t spot the angry threesome, nor was Gunther going to tell him. He would just keep an eye on the situation like Henry asked him to do. Henry was worried Ben would try to do something.

“Hey, lover.” Gunther jumped when Quinn came up behind him. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry.” He kissed her on the forehead. “My mind was wandering, I guess. There was a small exchange between Ben, Elaina, and Nick.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to keep an eye on them. How are things going over there?” He looked down at the bucket in Quinn’s hand.

“This is it so far. Just some odds and ends, but we can use everything. I was just telling Cora we should build a firepit. Then we can heat up those nasty canned veggies, and roast meat if we run across an animal.”

“Sounds like a brill idea, beautiful.” He used his thumb to wipe off the smudge of soot on Quinn’s cheek.

She looked down with a little embarrassment. “I’m going to take this inside. I need to rest or something. I’m not feeling great.”

Instant worry and panic hit Gunther. He grabbed her shoulders. “Why? What’s wrong, love?”

“I don’t know. I just feel…off.”

“You have me frightened.”

“Don’t get all crazy. I’m fine. Probably just a little bug or something.” Quinn smiled and gave him a kiss, then walked off. He kept a close eye on her as she made her way back into the building.

Ben glanced in her direction, then looked back, noticing Gunther watching him. His lip curled into a snarl. If Ben even thought about harming her, he would drain him in broad daylight without hesitation.