Flesh (Flesh 1)

How bizarre, he didn’t even know her.

“No need to panic. We’re safe,” he said. “Everything’s locked tight.”

“Yeah.” Her chin bobbed like a cork on the water. She was safe. In her head she knew it. But in the depths of her rabbity heart, she didn’t believe it. “I should get dressed.”

“Which makes it my turn to clean up.” The big man rose to his feet, taking up all available air space in the tiny bathroom. She tried to withdraw, but the back of her heel connected with the bottom of the cabinet door with a thump. That smarted.

Luckily, Daniel didn’t seem to notice her lack of grace. “Another question. Why were you heading for the roof when this place is locked up tighter than a vault?”

“The last news reports said they didn’t climb well, so it’s safer up there. They said to get onto rooftops, knock out staircases if you could …” Ali shrugged and twisted her lips.

Why had she remained in the dirt and dark when there was a whole house at her disposal? It wasn’t something she cared to review.

“I felt safer up there. Can you move, please? You’re in my way.”

“Yeah, but …”

“Move. Please.”

Daniel said nothing and didn’t move, he stood and stared back down at her from on high, his mouth open slightly. The look he gave said she was a hair's breadth off being loony bin material, but he was too kind to say so. Screw him. Ali bit her cheeks and fought the fear. Being cornered set her off in the worst way and the pushy bastard just kept doing it. He didn’t understand shit. Why she cared what he thought was beyond her. But she did.

“Look, they could stil get in. You don’t know what could happen. If enough of them beat against the door, they could break it down.

Last time I checked, no one had put out a survival guide for this particular scenario so you can keep your f**king opinions to yourself, okay?” The words poured out in a hot rush. Damn. Not good. Maybe she had lost it. “I want to get dressed now.”

“O-kay.” And if that wasn’t said using a “don’t spook the crazy lady” tone of voice, she would eat her big toe.

Ali shoved her wet hair back from her face, then took a breath and tried to calm down. “Can you move …”

“We can find a safer place out west, you know.” With no warning Daniel whipped his t-shirt off over his head, dropped it to the ground and started in on his belt buckle.

Like it was no big deal.

Holy hell he was fit. And standing way too close. His upper body was perfectly defined. What the hell had he been doing since civilization fell apart?

The oxygen had long since left the room, for her at least. She needed a paper bag to breathe into. Now would be good. “Wh-what?”

“Yeah, yeah. Something with a decent fence we can build up so we can be safe out and about during the day. Be able to see anything coming at us from a distance.” Busy hands made short work of belt and button and zipper. Her face went nuclear. She held up her hands to cover her cheeks while his jeans dropped and his plans grew.

It was difficult to know which alarmed her more.

“I’ve been using a trail bike, but we could switch to a small four-wheel drive. We can just switch cars when we hit a roadblock we can’t get around. What do you think?”

Think? Yes, she needed to think. To do that he had to stop. All of it. He had to stop pushing. “Wait.”

“I say we head out tomorrow. You can get packed up by then, yeah?” He propped his hands on lean hips, thumbs tucked beneath the waistband of his black cotton boxers like a threat, or a promise. She wasn’t sure which. His big hands framed the ridges and planes of muscle from abdomen up to his chest, fancy tattoos sitting atop each big buff shoulder, done in shades of green and gray and blue. He was a work of art.

Her knees wobbled.

With a particularly pained expression, he asked, “What’s wrong now?”

“You. You need to back off.” The flats of her palms connected with the heat of his chest as she did her best to shove him. “Give me some space. Now.”

The big guy gifted her one small step backward and hung his head. Lips compressed and jaw stern, he looked up at her from beneath dark brows. “Ali …”

“No. You need to back off. This isn’t going to work.”

The big man swore. Repeatedly. “You’ve been living up in the roof for what? Six, seven weeks? Coming down to scavenge when you have no other choice? That’s not living, and we both know it. The world may have gone to shit but we’re still alive, don’t you think it’s time to start acting like it?”

Her face must have conveyed her doubt over the pep talk because he groaned and ran a hand over the choppy, badly cut, short dark head of hair. He seemed beyond irate with his eyes narrowed. It wasn’t her damn fault he barged in and took over without a thought.

Various muscles around his mouth tightened, as if he wanted to yell at her but held it in. She could relate. It was going around.

Final y, he rolled his shoulders, like a fighter getting ready to head back into the ring. He gave her a long hard stare and she did her best not to blink. Her frightened inner rabbit wanted to scamper as escape scenarios raced through her mind. Daniel noticed her reaction and the growl amped up a notch as he took yet another step back. This one was sizably bigger than the last; he was almost back to standing in the doorway. “Better?”

She nodded.

“Fuck’s sake.” His mouth opened then shut, as if he too had just noticed the lack of oxygen in the room. “Fine, maybe you don’t need me. Truth is … I need you.”

She stopped.

Daniel crossed thick arms over his chest and glared back at her. A purely defensive stance, she knew it well. Her own arms were crossed and bolted down over her br**sts, which might have been his point. She was the one locked down. He simply mirrored her tight-ass ways.

And he looked downright stupid in Mary’s flowery feminine house. He was so big and intimidating. No wonder she had run like a rabbit. She winced at the angry red lines crisscrossing his tanned skin. Her work. But struggling had gotten her nowhere. He stood there barefoot, waiting on her in his underwear.

She focused on his toes because they were easier to fix on than his face or the rest of his stupendous body.

What the hell was she going to do with him?

Suddenly, he stuck his hand out. “Shake. We’re starting over. Clean slate. Pretend we just met, like it’s our first date or something.”