I stand, panting, with my heart still in my throat and blood trailing from my knife to my arm. I move my gaze from the last body on the ground to the face of the woman behind him. She’s breathing quickly through her mouth as she grips the leaves on the ground with her shaking fingers.
She lean, but has color in her cheeks underneath smears of dirt. Her legs are long and clearly muscular. Her eyes are bright and intense though I can’t tell what color they are from this distance.
I should ask her if she’s hurt. I should tell her that it’s all okay now and that I’m not going to hurt her. I should offer her some kind of comfort, but I don’t.
I swallow hard past the lump in my throat.
I take a few steps closer to her, and she pushes with her heels against the dusty soil to move backward, but there’s nowhere for her to go. I crouch and grab hold of her arm. Her eyes draw me in. They’re dark blue and surrounded by thick lashes. Her lips are full and look soft. I look over the rest of her, taking in the roundness of her breasts under her thin T-shirt and the curve of her hips encased in tight denim. Her knees are still bent and her legs slightly spread.
My head swims. I barely see the actual person in front of me. Instead, I see another woman—beautiful and strong. She had soft lips and gorgeous curves. She challenged me, infuriated me, made me laugh, and made me care. She brought out every primitive, protective instinct inside of me, and I had failed her.
I inhale slowly, trying to slow my racing heart. I want the scent in my nostrils to match the memory. I want to smell her skin, but all I can sense is the thick scent of blood in the air. It brings me back to the present and the real, physical woman in front of me.
Barely a woman.
She’s young. I’m not sure she’s even twenty years old.
Glancing back to her face, I reach out and run my thumb over her cheek, rubbing at the dirt there. I only manage to smudge it, not rub it off. She’s got that look in her eyes that I’ve seen way too often. It’s the kind of look that reveals she’s been through too much. She’s on the edge. She could break at any time.
She could be mine.
The voice in my head has become louder and louder lately. It keeps telling me that my cause is futile—I’ll never see her again. I would be better off joining one of the camps so I’m not constantly providing for myself and having to watch my own back. More importantly, so I wouldn’t be alone.
Being alone has never worked out well for me.
This woman could change that.
I could take her back to the bunker. I could protect her from anyone else who might come along and find us. I could hold her at night and fuck her slowly. I could give into all those wants and desires like everyone else has. I wouldn’t be alone anymore.
“Let go of me!”
Her voice startles me out of my thoughts.
She doesn’t actually pull away as she makes her demand, bu
t I release her arm anyway. My palm cools as I let her go, and I swallow again. I look around though I’m sure there is no one else in the area. That doesn’t mean someone else won’t come. If I’m found with a woman at my side, there will be no negotiating.
I have to get her out of sight.
“Get up.” I stand and look around again, listening carefully to the sounds in the trees.
“I’m not going anywhere with you!”
I shift my gaze back to the woman on the ground, almost expecting to see the vision from my mind there instead. Her tone sounds similar.
I don’t have time to argue with her. Her voice is already too loud. If someone hears her, they will be on us in a heartbeat. I’m tired and my head is pounding. I might even have a concussion. There is no room for debate.
I crouch again and grab her wrist. I speak slowly and quietly.
“You are going to stand, and you are going to come with me. No talking.”
“Why?”
“Because those men have friends,” I tell her. “Because those friends may be closer than you think. We need to get out of here before more of them come back.”
She stares at me for a moment before she comes to her senses and listens. I watch her rub her wrists after she gets herself off the ground, but she doesn’t appear to be hurt in any other way.
“Follow.” I start climbing up the ravine where I first saw her. I need to get my pack, which I left at the base of the tree where I had slept last night.