Fuck.
I suck in a sharp breath and shove the thoughts away even as heat pools between my legs.Bad Ollie! We don’t fantasise about men we barely know, especially grumpy assholes who do nothing but push our buttons for fun.
I come back to reality to see three men staring back at me. Theo is grinning at me, Alex has a pained and confused expression on his face and Rhys… He’s still glaring at me, but there’s smouldering heat in his liquid honey eyes that wasn’t there before. It only makes the inferno inside me burn hotter. I’m pretty sure I need to change my underwear.
Ugh. Time to get this conversation back on track.
“Fine. I’ll stay outside like a good solider,” I huff, channelling my previous irritation and not my arousal.
Rhys blinks and it’s like the heat was never there as he clears his throat and nods. “Good. Let’s get moving. We have a supermarket to clear.” He turns on his heels and marches off, rubble and glass crunching beneath his boots.
Alex, who’s been quiet through all of this, spares me one last glance. Several emotions swirl in his bright blue eyes—too many for me to name—before he sighs and follows Rhys. Weird.
Theo shoots me a knowing smirk. “Come on, princess. You can fantasise about Rhys and his rope later.”
I flip him off, which only makes him chuckle as we trail behind the others.
Rhys
That woman is goingto be the death of me. I just know it.
Her expression after Theo teased her about my knowledge of rope work, the heat in her eyes and her stuttered breath… I know exactly what she was thinking about. And fuck if I wasn’t thinking the same thing. While shibari isn’t my kink—I don’t have the patience for it—I can’t help but imagine how good Ollie would look tied up in rope.
Focus, asshole!
I shake the thoughts from my head and adjust my achingly hard cock as subtly as possible. Unfortunately, I’m not as discreet as I’d like because Alex gives me some side-eye, but he doesn’t comment.
The supermarket stands intact compared to the sea of rubble that surrounds it and, while it’s large, it’s also the best place for us to spend the night. Ollie’s right, not that I’d ever tell her. She was smug enough earlier with her assessment of this shithole town.
“Alright, Alex, you’re with me. Theo, you stay with the princess,” I order before motioning for Alex to follow me inside without waiting for the other two to agree.
Surprisingly, it takes barely any time for us to clear out the supermarket. The place is almost untouched, with only being two infected needing to be put down. Once they’re dealt with, I give the all clear to Theo and Ollie just as the sun dips beneath the horizon. After puttingher horse in a nearby garden, Ollie runs off down one aisle, mumbling something about needing more food while Theo disappears to check the pharmacy area for medical supplies.
Alex sits next to me, busying himself with getting our dinner ready while remaining suspiciously quiet. He’s still acting off and with the other two gone, I intend to get to the bottom of whatever is bothering him. Issues within our group need to be sorted quickly before they become bigger problems, especially with how dangerous it is out here. Last thing we need is for someone to drop the ball and cause an injury or death because they were pissed off or distracted.
“What’s crawled up your ass?” I ask, cutting straight to the chase.
Alex jerks his head up and scowls at me. “What are you on about?”
I cock an eyebrow. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Alex. Spill.”
“There’s nothing to spill.” He turns his attention back to the pot of food heating on top of the camping stove.
“Bullshit. I’m not going to stop bugging you until you tell me.”
His hands clench into fists, and he stares hard at the camping stove for a moment. “Fine,” he says with a heavy sigh as he looks up to meet my gaze. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m confused and…” He hesitates and shifts, clearly uncomfortable with what he’s about to tell me. “I don’t like you threatening to tie Ollie up.”
My eyebrows fly up to my hairline in surprise. Interesting. I should have seen this coming with how his bastard sperm donor treated him and his second and third wives. A small part of me is a little hurt that he thinks I’d ever harm a woman like that, but I shove it aside. Rationally, I know that this is a knee-jerk reaction and that he truly doesn’t think I’d hurt a woman.
Not without their consent, at least.
I blow out a long breath. I need to fix this. “My threat of tying her up isn’t to harm her, and it’s not sexual.” A small lie, but he doesn’t need to know that. Not that I think Ollie is attracted to me. Sure, we may rile one another up and flirt a little, but that’s it.
Alex gives me a sceptical look, not buying what I’m selling.
I forge onward. “It’s just a way to make sure she follows orders and stays out of harm’s way. Last thing any of us need is to watch our backsandher when she’s hellbent on throwing herself into danger like the stubborn woman she is.”
His lips twitch. “I bet she loved that,” he says with a chuckle, his mood already lightening.
