The Last Woman (All That Remains #1) (14 page)

“Joseph!” I whisper fiercely.
I know I should pull away or get up, but I can’t make myself do it.

His lips are soft, his mouth
so hot, sucking the sensitive skin, sending tingles and a flash of heat
radiating through my body.

The tip of his tongue glides
from my nape to the soft spot below my ear, and he nips my earlobe before
murmuring, “Sorry, I shouldn’t take advantage.”

“I liked it,” I admit, staring
at my hands. “But Airen wouldn’t.” I stare at him pointedly.

“I know. I’m sorry. I couldn’t
resist.” He flashes me a charming smile, all dimples and sexy lips.

“I’m irresistible.” I giggle
in agreement. Let Mandy run that back to Airen. He’d never believe her now. Smiling
again, he pulls me closer to him. When Airen comes back I see him start to
smile, but quickly reign it in.

“Do you want a soda?” he asks
me, behaving as though the sight of his friend wrapped around his girl like a
vine is a normal occurrence.

“Yeah, thanks. Joseph’s
feeling me up again,” I remark as he walks to the kitchen.

“Behave yourself with my girl,
buddy,” he says, handing me my drink.

“But she’s so soft,” he
argues, running his hand down my arm. The soda can emits a hiss when I open it
and offer Joseph a sip.

Mandy’s chin is on the floor.
My chest hurts from holding in the laughter. Airen sits on the end of the sofa
and puts both mine and Joseph’s feet in his lap. The movie resumes, but the
real show is Mandy. She’s not looking at us as her face shows a shifting run of
emotions. Incredulity, anger, jealousy, confusion. Finally, she announces she’s
tired and stalks off to bed. Airen glances at Joseph, and they crack up while I
hide my face in the blanket and laugh until my eyes water and my sides ache.
When the laughter dies down, I hug them both and kiss Airen.

“Thanks, guys, that was
priceless.”

After our hilarious movie
night, Mandy seems to take a break from the constant flirting and scheming. I
assume she finally got the message. She spends more and more time at her house,
cleaning and preparing it for her and Sara.

It’s hot for the last week of
May. I make a big pitcher of iced tea and decide to take some to Joseph and
Airen while they’re working. The house is next door, but it’s far enough away
that it can’t be seen from our house. A thin line of trees separate the two
properties.

As I pick my way through the
trees, I spot Airen coming down a ladder propped against the siding, and I have
to stop and marvel at the pure sexiness of my man. He’s magnificent in a pair
of cutoffs, his bare chest shimmering with sweat. Tanned, muscular legs ripple
as he steps down, biceps straining as he shifts the ladder. Whew! Get a grip,
Abby. When I start toward him, Mandy comes out of the house and that was not
what she was wearing this morning.

Tiny black shorts barely cover
her ass, and a bikini top is stretched to the limit over her breasts. I’m
waiting for it to pop off and shoot across the yard like a rubber band. She
jiggles over to Airen, giving him a predatory smile. I can’t hear what she
says, but he shakes his head and starts back up the ladder, oblivious to the
fact she’s staring at his ass. I know what this bitch is up to, trying to lure
him in and seduce him while I’m not around. She’s sweet to my face while she’s
working on him every chance she gets. I think of all the days she’s been here
with him. What the hell has she been doing? Where the fuck is Joseph?

I’ve given Airen an out,
permission to leave me if he can be happier with someone else, so he wouldn’t
cheat, would he? I haven’t seen anything except her flirting with him, and he ignored
her. I can’t let this irrational jealousy get the best of me, but I’ll be
watching closer from now on. Mandy notices me as I emerge from the trees.

“Hot out here, isn’t it?” she
asks.

“You seem to be handling it
well.” She smiles and shrugs, and I resist the urge to rearrange her face.

“Hey!” Airen calls, surprised.
My eyes soak up the flex and pull of his sexy back as he climbs down and
flashes those devastating eyes at me.

“I thought you might be
thirsty,” I remark.

“Thank you, darlin’.” He takes
the pitcher and glasses from me and places them on a makeshift table he’s
created between two sawhorses.

“Isn’t she thoughtful?” Mandy asks.

I give her a “why are you
still here” look, and she grins again.

“And sweet,” Airen agrees,
downing a glass of tea in three gulps before sweeping me up in a hug.

“Ugh, you’re all sweaty!” I
laugh.

“You know you like it,” he
teases, nipping at my neck. “Amanda, would you tell Joseph I’ll be back in an
hour or so? He’s inside showing Walker the new paints.” He puts his arm around
me and leads me away before she can answer.

“Where are we going?”

“I want to show you
something.” A sweet smile graces his lips, the one that’s reserved just for me.
I’m led to the adjacent property where a small trailer sits, shaded by oak
trees, and I look at him curiously as he opens the door. The windows are open,
and it’s cool and clean inside. A couch rests against one wall along with a
small tank of fresh water.

“You plan on kicking me out?”

“It’s for us, whenever we want
to get away from the house and have some privacy. I know it’s crowded, and it’s
hard for us to be alone.”

I smile from ear to ear.
“We’re alone now.”

His carnal, sideways smile steals
my breath and sends a wave of heat to flush my skin. He growls and tosses me
over his shoulder, carrying me back to a small bedroom furnished with a full
size bed and night stand. “When did you do all this?”

“I wanted to surprise you. Did
I?”

His expression is uncertain.
It’s so cute, like a young child asking if he’s done well. “Yes.” I hug him.
“It’s a wonderful idea.”

“Our summer home.” His playful
demeanor makes me giggle. “I like that sound. I haven’t heard enough of that
lately.” His rough palm traces my cheek and cups my jaw. “I know you don’t like
having Amanda around. We’re working on the house as fast as we can.”

“She wants you,” I pout.

“But I want you,” he replies,
pulling my shirt over my head.

We’re both naked in seconds
and desperate for one another. I push him against the wall, kissing him hard,
tasting every inch of his delicious mouth, and he squeezes my ass until it
hurts. I groan, and he lifts me and carries me to the bed, falling on top of
me. He enters me in one hard thrust, and I cry out, trying to muffle it in his
arm. Sweet, gentle Airen is nowhere to be found, and I’m loving this rough
aggressive side of him.

“There’s nobody here but us. I
want to hear you.” When he speeds up, plunging deeper, I moan, not attempting
to hide it. His hips swivel, changing directions often, sending streaks of
pleasure racing through me.

“Harder,” I order. Inflamed by
my demand, he sits back on his heels and yanks me toward him, my legs draped over
his thighs, my shoulders against the bed. I fall apart as he drives upward, hitting
the spot inside of me that drives me wild, over and over again.

“Right there, huh?” His voice
is thick and husky.

“Airen,” I whimper. “Oh, I
can’t.” It’s too good. I’m drowning in sensation, wound so tightly I can’t bear
any more. I’m burning alive.

“Oh, girl, I know you can,” he
growls. One more rotation of his hips, and I erupt into a mind shattering
orgasm, screaming his name in absolute ecstasy. Fuck. What this man does to me
is phenomenal, extraordinary, and utterly terrifying. I can’t imagine my life
without him now. He has consumed me. I’m his.

I’m lying with my head in his
lap, my muscles still jumping from the most powerful orgasm I’ve ever had. He
plays with my hair and gives me an arrogant, gloating smile as I glance up at
him. “What?”

“You screamed.”

“Shut up. It wasn’t a scream.”
Blushing, I avert my eyes while he gazes at me with a self-satisfied grin
stretched across his face.

“You screamed my name,” he
brags, thoroughly pleased with himself.

“It won’t happen again,” I
swear, petulantly.

“I’ll make sure it does. I
love to hear it.”

“You love to hear your own
name. I’m shocked.”

“I love it when you say it.”

Okay, that one was a winner. I
grin up at him and whisper, “You’re too good to be true. I love you.”

His face lights up, and he
bends to place a soft kiss on my lips. “I love to hear that, too.”

It’s true I don’t say it very
often. Airen tells me he loves me every day, but there is a part of me, an inner
voice, that loves to whisper it’s not true, that I’m deluding and making a fool
of myself if I believe it for even one second. He needs to hear it though, and
I vow silently to say it more often.

Dark, sexy stubble prickles my
fingertips as I caress his jaw. “I do, Air. I love you so much it scares me
sometimes. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He slides me up his body until
I’m sitting on his lap, my face hidden in his neck, reveling in his sweaty
masculine scent. “You’ll never have to worry about that, sweetheart. I’m
keeping you. You better just accept it now. You’re stuck with me.”

“I’ll just have to suffer
through it. Are you going back to work on the house?”

“I’m considering playing
hooky, maybe taking Carson on the lake for a couple of hours, see if the fish
are biting.”

“I’m sure he’d like that.”

Airen keeps his arm around my
neck while we walk back to Mandy and Sara’s house to tell Joseph he’s done for
the day. He’s so affectionate sometimes. I love it.

“What have you two been up
to?” Joseph remarks with a knowing grin. I feel my cheeks heat, and Airen cocks
an eyebrow at him.

“Just showing Abby our summer
home.”

“Did you like it?” Joseph
smirks.

I smile and nod, embarrassed
at the double entendre. “It’s perfect.” Mandy is listening instead of talking
for a change.

“I’m going to take Carson out
on the lake and catch us some dinner,” Airen informs him.

Before Joseph can answer,
Mandy pipes up. “I’d like to learn to fish! Give me a minute and I’ll go with
you,”she invites herself. The nerve of this bitch!

“Sorry,” Airen says, sounding
anything but sorry. “Carson and I need some father-son time.” He tucks his hand
in the back pocket of my shorts as we walk away. I turn back and smile, waving
goodbye, and the look of scorn on Mandy’s face makes my day.

“Have I mentioned I love you?”
I ask happily.

“Twice in one day.” Airen
beams. “It’s a record.”

Troy

This little trip has been a
monumental waste of time and energy. After weeks on the road, we haven’t found
any other survivors. Herrin appears to be a ghost town like all the rest. Micah
grumbles while he siphons gas for the RV. I can’t make out what he’s saying,
but I’m confident my name is being combined with some wonderful swear words.
This was all my idea, after all.

“Lighten up,” I say cheerfully.
“You’ll be at home, losing to me at poker in less than a week.”

He shoots me a thunderous
look. “Just get in, start the damn thing, and turn the heater up as far as it’ll
go.”

Fifteen minutes later we’re
rolling, heading out of another small, dead town. I’m driving, and his majesty
is stretched out on a bunk when I see her.

“Holy shit! Micah!” My foot
slams against the brake pedal and we squeal to a stop. We step out onto the
street and stare at the young girl walking toward us along the side of the
road. She’s thin and pale with dark curls. She waves uncertainly while we
continue to gape at her.

It takes a second for the link
between my brain and mouth to reconnect. “Hello. I’m Troy, and this is Micah.”

“My name’s Diane.” Her eyes
dart back and forth. “Do you have any water?”

“Sure.” I return to the RV and
pull a water bottle from the cooler. Poor girl, I can’t imagine how long she’s
been on her own. “We have plenty of food if you’re hungry,” I announce as I
return, pulling the door shut behind me and holding the bottle of water out to
her. She looks like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes as big as dinner
plates as she stumbles back from me.

It’s then I notice Micah lying
face down in the frost covered grass. A hand descends on each of my arms,
pulling them behind me and my wrists are bound together with plastic zip ties
before I’ve even seen my attackers.

“L-look,” I stammer, “you can
have our food and supplies. Hell, take the RV.”

“We don’t want it,” a gruff
voice answers from behind me. When the man steps in front of me, I’m dismayed
to see how large he is, even bigger than Micah.

“Then what do you want? I
don’t have my license and registration, but if you let us go with a warning,
I’ll take you to the nearest bank and give you a hundred-thousand dollars.” I’m
terrified, and my smart mouth takes over. I tend to babble when I’m nervous. At
least I can see Micah’s breath fogging the air, so I know he’s alive.