Savage (The End 1)

“No.”

Sasha looked to Malachi. “Why the hell not? Do you just want to stay here? Wait it out until we starve?”

“I want our chances of survival to work here, Sasha. What you’re suggesting is dangerous.” He walked to the window, slamming his hand against it with such force she was surprised the glass didn’t break. “We will be at the mercy of the water and debris. It’s too high right now. You want to try and fight that? Banging into shit that could risk us plunging into dirty water? Our medical kit only has so much stuff. I know you’re hating being locked up here, and I’m not exactly liking it either, but what you’re suggesting is stupid.”

“Stupid.”

“I meant no offense, but we have to use common sense right now.”

She walked toward the window, hating that he was right once again.

“You want to get out of here, and I get it, I do. And we will. Now, I’ve promised your sister I’ll take care of you. If that means pissing you off by dumping all over your precious idea, I’ll do it. No questions asked. I’m protecting the both of you.”

And she supposed that’s all she could do. Give Malachi that control and let him lead the way.

What other choice did she have if she wanted her and Lucy to survive?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

There’s always tomorrow

Although the water had flooded the entire bottom of the theater, over the next two days it had diminished quickly as the rain had stopped fully and the sun had come out.

Malachi stood and walked toward the stairs, looking down. The water would be up to their knees now instead of their waists, hell, maybe even their chests at its worst. So this was definitely an improvement.

But it was now or never. This was the best it would get with the time and supplies they had to work with.

They had to get out of here. The food was gone, their clean water nearly finished off. They had to get back to the car, if it was even still there, if their supplies were intact. They had to keep moving, had to find more food and clean water.

Malachi needed to get some fresh meat. Rabbits and squirrels were starting to sound pretty fucking incredible right about now. And even if hunting wasn’t something Sasha particularly wanted, she was smart and hungry enough to know it was how they’d survive.

She was still so young and hadn’t seen the world he had before it dropped into hell.

Yeah, she’d been living through this fucked up scenario all alone for some time, but the degradation he’d seen while running the underground, the bastard things he’d done to survive …it almost made all of this look like an amusement park ride.

He turned from the stairs and looked over at where Lucy and Sasha leaned against the wall, Lucy lying on her side with her head in Sasha’s lap, both of them fast sleep.

It was early, the sun barely up. “Girls,” he said in a soft but deep voice.

Sasha was the first one to wake, her eyes opening slowly. Malachi stood there a moment and just reveled in her beauty. She was gorgeous, with this vulnerability and innocence that had his heart stopping. He’d never seen such a combination.

The world he’d lived in, the life he’d led, had been so grisly, so fucked up, that all he’d seen was insanity, obscenity, and violence. But even though Sasha had this air around her that made him want to protect her above all else, Malachi also knew how strong she was.

She’d survived out there all on her own, taking care of her and her sister, protecting Lucy at any cost. That was the biggest turn-on of all.

Her strength.

She looked at him then, their gazes clashing, holding.

“We need to get going,” he said in a gruff voice, the desire he had for her, the arousal, attraction, growing by the day. The more time Malachi spent with her, the more he saw how strong she really was.

Malachi knew he could never let her go. He could never walk away from her.

She nodded slowly and slipped out from under Lucy, placing her jacket under her sister’s head before she fully stood. Sasha lifted her arms above her head, and Malachi couldn’t help but watch the way her body stretched out. Damn, the way her shirt rode up just a little so he could see her flat belly, that swatch of creamy skin, had his throat feeling tight and his heart racing.

Hell, his cock even started to get hard, pressing against the zipper of his jeans, demanding to be free, desperately needing to be buried between her sweet thighs.

He turned to try and calm himself, to adjust his cock so it wasn’t glaringly obvious he was sporting wood. He could hear light shuffling behind him and knew she was getting her stuff together.