Bracing myself, I took her hard, definitely harder than I should have. But there she was, lying naked on top of a filthy table, surrounded by rusty weapons, blades still covered in dried blood, and guns that needed to be cleaned and oiled. But her skin was pale and clean, a vivid contrast to what surrounded her. To the filth that surrounded everyone.
She was good, a tiny slice of goodness surrounded by filth, and I wanted to be a part of that.
No, fuck, Ineededto be a part of that.
• • •
“I’m sorry,” Autumn muttered, her cheeks pink as she looked from Alice to me.
Leaning my shoulder against the door frame, I stared at Autumn, deciding I liked her blushing. It added nicely to the messy hair, wrinkled clothing, and well-fucked look she was wearing.
“No worries,” Alice said, smiling brightly. “I was just worried when you didn’t show up. Wouldn’t want you getting in trouble for oversleeping.” Her smile firmly in place, she cut her eyes toward me and shot me a hard look.
I knew what Alice was insinuating, that this was my fault. Everyone here had to do their part and if they got caught slacking, the consequences weren’t pretty. Autumn was already living off my name and reputation, as well as Jeffers’s good graces. No one else would have gotten away with the shit she had.
I grunted my acknowledgment in Alice’s direction and had just placed my hand on Autumn’s shoulder when my gaze snagged on something past Alice, far off in the distance. Something pink.
Motherfucker.
“I’ll see you later,” I said, releasing Autumn and giving her a nudge forward.
With narrowed eyes, she glanced up at me. “E?”
I shook my head. “You go. I got shit to do at the garage.”
“Come,” Alice said, her ridiculously cheery smile back in place. She reached for Autumn, but Autumn flinched away.
Seeing that, knowing I was still the only one who could touch her, I nearly smiled. “Go,” I said, gesturing with my chin, wanting her as far away from the queen bitch as I could get her.
“Okay,” she said quietly, her expression crestfallen.
“Jesus,” I muttered, and then grabbed her arm.
Pulling her close, I bent my head and dragged my mouth across hers, eventually latching onto her bottom lip and slipping my tongue inside. Gripping my T-shirt with both hands, she forced me even closer and deepened our kiss. I’d only meant it to be a quick kiss, something to comfort her with, but too soon I found myself forgetting we had company.
I pulled back, ignoring the bright-eyed happy expression Alice was giving us both, and pushed Autumn forward. “Later.”
Reluctantly she turned away. She shot me several looks over her shoulder, at first ignoring Alice’s upbeat urging, then finally started off through the field.
Autumn might have the body of a woman, and at times the goddamn attitude of one, but in a lot of ways, emotional mostly, she was still kind of a kid. All those years alone without social interaction had kept her in a sort of emotional stasis since society had crumbled. I should have felt bad about being the man who’d just taken away that last bit of her old-world innocence, but fuck if I did.
From inside the doorway I watched Autumn for a while, feeling tight and anxious at the sight of her walking off without me. Not that it mattered, because her biggest threat was here. When I could no longer see her, I patted the weapon at my hip and kicked the door wide open. It slammed into the front of the building and bounced back, and I shoved it again before I stormed out into the grass.
Liv stood a ways off in the midst of the high grass, and as I grew closer I saw that she wasn’t alone. With her legs spread apart and her arms extended in front of her, she held a gun in her grip. A gun aimed at me.
“What’s your game today?” I shouted, breaking into a jog. “You know you won’t pull that fucking trigger!”
Her answer was to laugh, maniacal high-pitched laughter that rang out in the field all around us. Cringing, I picked up speed. I hated that sound, hated it more than the groans and growls of the rotters, and more than my dead wife’s voice in my head.
As I neared her I slowed my pace, stopping only when the barrel of her gun hit my chest. “Do it,” I growled. “I fucking dare you.”
She smiled up at me, her eyes gleaming. Jesus, she was crazy, so goddamn crazy. And I was twice as bad for falling into bed with her. As far as regrets went, that mistake was high up on my long list.
“You think I won’t?” She giggled and pressed the barrel hard against my chest.
I bared my teeth at her. “You do and he’ll kill you.”
Liv shrugged, looking smug. “I’ll tell him you came at me, that you attacked me.” She ran the tip of her tongue over her teeth, and her smile grew. “I’ll tell him you raped me.”
