by Maya Riley
“Okay, first, no pity party here. Second, you learn to control it. We can go off, just the two of us, and practice.”
“You know that’s not going to be easy. Someone is going to want to try and come along for added protection.”
“You let me worry about that. Right now, Maura needs more protection than any of us. We’ve got this. Tomorrow, it’s you and me.”
A small smile crept across his face. It was small, really faint, but it was there.
“You and me, B. Tomorrow.”
Metal clanked as Adam threw his sword up to defend. Maura’s training was progressing. She was catching on fast and improving more quickly than any of us had expected. Not that we didn’t think she could do it so soon, but because it wasn’t an easy thing to pick up on, especially for someone who had never actually fought before. At least, we assumed she hadn’t. She didn’t exactly fill us in on every detail.
I smiled at the warrior cry she emitted from her mouth. She was not only getting the hang of this, but having fun too. Last night I wouldn’t have expected the crying girl in my lap to be laughing the next day.
Lincoln and Mateo were the only ones she hadn’t been able to beat yet. Mateo refused to go even a little bit easy on her. He deemed himself to be the ultimate test, and that if she could beat him, then she could beat anything else that may be lurking out in the world. Lincoln refused to spar with her today, and only I knew the real reason. He was worried about creating fire again. I was sure he would’ve told one of the guys first instead of me. I felt pretty special having been the first one he told.
Blyss
The next day, after we were fed and had taken care of all our morning’s business, Lincoln and I volunteered to collect more water. It took a little bit of convincing, but we were able to assure the others that we would be just fine on our own. Maura didn’t like being separated from me again so soon, even for a little while, but I promised her I would come back. Of course, I’d made that same promise a long time ago and ran the other way instead, but that would never happen again.
The cool air cut across my face like a cheese grater and I wrapped my jacket more tightly around my body. I was thankful it hadn’t snowed because then we’d need to come up with another excuse to leave, but I could handle a little bite of cold air.
It was difficult to think that it had only been a couple of short weeks since I last traveled this path to the river. So much had changed since then. That day started out with just Puppy and me, but ended with four guys clawing their way into my life and refusing to leave. Stubborn men who forced me to like them. I’d never had anyone do that before, and it was still crazy to believe that it had happened. The thought of them not being in my life anymore sent a shudder through my body. The bastards were making me start to like people for the first time in my life.
Lincoln and I had settled on practicing near the river. It would be safer to be really close to a body of water if his flames got out of control. Plus, it added an extra layer of protection, since it would be one less direction that rotters could surprise us from.
And, we would still fill up on water to bring back. There hadn’t been any talk on whether or not anyone was going to try the water without boiling it, to try and confirm Maura’s claim, but we still needed more water either way. We each carried a pack on our back with food, clothing, a blanket, and extra weapons in case something did happen and we couldn’t return to the cabin today, plus we had empty jugs strapped to the outside.
It wasn’t long before the steady sound of water reached our ears and we picked up our pace, both eager to get started but also apprehensive about what might happen when we start to literally play with fire.
We soon broke the tree line and approached the river’s edge. “Welp,” I announced helpfully, “here we are.”
“So, this is where you were attacked by that crazed rotter.”
“And that,” I said, pointing to the right, “is apparently where Jonah jumped in to save me.”
“He always was a great swimmer. It used to be near impossible to get him out of the water as a kid.” Lincoln chuckled absentmindedly.
I had to admit that was pretty funny. Imagining Jonah, in the water, with wet hair in his eyes and his dimpled smile, water droplets trailing down his pecs—whoa girl, rein it in, you can’t be drooling over them in front of them.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was captain of the swim team.” That’s good, change the train of thought. A little.
“He was. He trained every day. He was the youngest captain, the first time they ever let a freshman be captain of any sports. He took the team to state and then nationals, winning every meet.”
“Wow.” Even I had to admit that was pretty impressive. Really impressive. “Alright.” I clapped my hands together and looked around at our surroundings. “So, where to get started?”
Lincoln shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. This shit didn’t come with a handbook.”
“Well, my only guess is to recreate the only other time you created fire. So that would be putting someone in the group in danger—”
“No.”
“Or, going up against some scavers—”
“No.”
“Well, then we’ll need to figure out something else. See if there’s another way.” I placed an arm across my middle, propped an elbow on my arm, and rested my hand against my face. The stubbornness of these men didn’t make anything easy. “We probably should’ve planned more of this ahead of time.”
I looked around us when a thought popped into my head. Of course, something so obvious that we would both miss it. I scurried around the small area we had claimed for the day and collected what I could grab, and then dumped the armful of twigs, branches, and leaves at his feet. “Here. During the short time that I’ve known you, I noticed that you seemed to have an affinity for fire. At least, you were the one always starting the fire until… well… you know.” He gave me a nod of understanding and motioned for me to step back, which I did. I wanted to remark that even if I did get burned I would probably heal right away anyways, but I figured it would be best to focus on one abnormality at a time.
Is that what this was? What we could do? A simple abnormality? I snorted at that. There was nothing simple about anything anymore. There certainly wasn’t anything normal about us either.
Lincoln sat down in front of the pile and I sat off to the side, closer to the river. Memories crept into my mind of the last time I was here and nearly drowned, but I did my best to block them out. I was with Lincoln and he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
I eyed him, his face scrunched up in concentration. Nothing happened. He picked up a twig and focused, his eyes determined. He remained still as a statue, his focus fully on the items in his hand, but nothing happened. Then he repeated the same with a leaf, and every item in the pile. This went on for what felt like an hour or two at the least, with nothing out of the ordinary happening.
I wanted to help, to try and give advice, but I also didn’t want to break his concentration. Plus, I had no idea what kind of advice to give other than telling him to focus. The only thing I could do was admire his handsome features, but that wouldn’t help either of us right now. So, instead, I busied myself with collecting a pile of pebbles and made a terrible fort. It was more like a random pile of stones than anything. Searching the ground around me, I reached over and snatched up a twig that had a leaf still attached to the end of it. I stuck the twig through the top of the small rock pile, with the leaf end sticking up, and threw my arms up in victory. My mouth opened in a silent victory screech as I fist pumped the air above me.
Strange noises interrupted my moment of success. Lincoln scrambled to his feet with his daggers at the ready. Jumping up, I reached my arms behind me to unsheathe the swords from my back before facing the tree line, ready to face whatever threat that was coming.
The seconds ticked by as we waited for something to happen. The first rotter came into view and I jumped at it,
digging my sword into the rotting flesh that surrounded its skull. Lincoln took the second one since he was the closest, and I immediately flew toward the next two, taking their heads down with swift slashes from my swords. I spun a few times with the blades out, making sure I hit the mark and took them down, as it was the first time I’d actually fought with swords. I didn’t notice the sixth rotter slowly creep up until it grabbed me with decayed fingers, the flesh falling off with the smallest movement. I barely registered Lincoln calling for me. All I saw was the head erupt in flames, followed by the smell of burning flesh and hair, which quickly permeated the air and assaulted my nostrils. I gasped in surprise, jumped back, and turned around to see the look of horror on his face as he looked between his hands and the rotter. Turning back to the rotter, I leaned back, cocked my leg, and kicked out hard, trying to get the rotter away from the brush and closer to the river, and farther away from us. It stumbled backward to the water’s edge, and with one quick sweep of the sword, I cut its head clean off before kicking out once more and sending the corpse down into the watery depths below.
After kicking the decapitated head into the water along with its body, I ran up and took Lincoln’s hands in mine, trying to snap him out of the trance he was in. “Linc, can you hear me? Are you okay?”
He stared at the ground with blank, coffee-colored eyes. “See, I really did start the fire. B, what’s going on with me? What is this?”
I shook my head and stepped up to him. “I don’t know, Linc. But we’ll figure this out, I promise.”
His eyes remained locked on the ground, still far away and unseeing.
“Lincoln, look at me. I will not let you retreat into yourself.” I grasped his chin between my thumb and forefinger, and forced him to look at me. “You’ll be okay. I promise.”
“How can you be so sure? Did you see what I did? Something’s wrong with me. I’m a monster.”
The sad look on his face nearly killed me. “You’re not a monster. You’re perfect,” I replied in an attempt to reassure him.
“No, you’re perfect. How can you stand to be with someone as destructive as me?” His flawless plump lips were turned down in self-doubt.
“Dammit, Linc.” I cut my words short and took away his pain the only way I could think of at the moment, by slamming my mouth onto his. Wrapping my arms around his neck, my fingers tangled into his hair and I pulled him closer. His own arms, once he snapped out of the shock from my sudden advancement, wrapped around my waist and held me tight against him. I gasped at the pressure of something hard against my stomach, and he took advantage of the opening. Slipping his tongue inside, it met mine and dueled for dominance.
Needing to get even closer, I tightened my arms and hopped up, throwing my legs around his waist in one swift movement. We kissed, harder, faster, hungrier. Panting, he bent down and lowered me to the ground. Neither of us willing to allow any space between us as our ironclad grips remained in place. My back touched cold ground, but the rest of me was quickly heating up. He broke off the kiss to begin peppering soft pecks down my neck, nibbling a few spots in the process. Neck kissing was always my weak point and I was going to take this even further to get more of it.
“B,” he groaned, his voice rumbling against my neck. “I care about you.”
My heart jumped and I grinned. “I care about you too. I have for some time.”
“It isn’t just me though.”
My heart skipped a beat as my brain tried to accept what he said. “What do you mean?”
“It’s all of us. I don’t want to fuck everything up. It’s all of us.”
I placed a kiss to the tip of his ear. “Linc, I care about all four of you.” The weight of the truth of my words surprised even me. I’d been afraid to face what I’d been putting off, but now that it was out there, I realized it was true. I really did care for all four of them.
He pulled back to look at me and his coffee-colored eyes bored into mine. “You do?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I really do.”
A wide grin spread across his face at my words and his lips were on mine again, kissing even deeper. I needed more though, and according to the organ pressing against his pants, he did too.
I loosened a hand from his hair and wound it down between us to his pants. Undoing the button, I freed his erection and wrapped my hand around it, causing him to moan into my mouth. I rubbed my thumb over the tip, spreading the precum.
My hand slid to the base, and I smiled as his breathing became shallower and his arms turned to steel bands around me. Tightening my grip, I began to stroke. I couldn’t help but enjoy the sounds it elicited, knowing that I made it happen.
As the pumping sped up, his arms tightened more around me. “B…” He whispered. “I’m not going to last much longer.”
“Then don’t,” I responded and stroked faster.
“Wait…” With a quick motion he had my forearm pinned to the ground with one hand, making my own hand slide off his dick in the process.
“What…” Before I could finish the question, my shirt was being lifted up and his mouth was trailing kisses up my abdomen. His hands slipped up into my sports bra, with one palming one breast and the other tweaking a nipple, while he continued to pepper kisses all over my abdomen. I gave out a small moan and arched up into his hands, needing more.
He kissed and sucked every part of my stomach, and I lifted his shirt up and over his head, stalling his kisses for a moment, needing to feel more of his skin.
My hands pressed lightly against his chest, feeling his heartbeat against my palm, the beats speeding up with each passing moment. He stilled above me, his coffee eyes gazing intently into mine, filled with lust. “You can tell me to stop at any time.”
“I don’t want to stop. After all, I did start this. I want you. You’re worth it.”
“This may be the worst timing. But, I don’t have any STDs.”
“Neither do I, and I was vaccinated before the outbreak. And I’ve got an implant for birth control. I’m good.”
His eyes crinkled with his smile. “You’re perfect.”
Winding a hand back into his hair, I pulled his head down, pressing his lips to mine again, needing more. Needing him pressed against me. My hands found their way around to his back, gently scratching up and down as the pressure inside me continued to slowly build.
His lips were soft as he moved from my mouth and kissed along my jawline. I lifted a knee, bent it, and rubbed my thigh against his side. Feelings for them had been growing inside of me, but my stubborn ass couldn’t get myself to admit it to any of them. I was falling for them fast and hard.
His mouth found mine once more and my hands found the waistband of his pants, pushing them down even farther past his hips. He broke away for a moment to kick them off and I marveled at the sculpted man before me. I knew he had muscles and tattoos, but not the vastness of it. I suddenly wanted to explore every crease and crevice.
I wasn’t going to have time to explore with my eyes, though, as he immediately began tugging my pants down and tossing them to the side. Our mouths crashed back together, as he slipped a hand down my underwear in the process. He circled my clit with a finger before sliding down and slipping inside.
Wetness began to run down my legs with every stroke, as the pleasure began to build. I needed more. A groan escaped my lips, and then I felt the addition of a second finger. “More,” I panted against his mouth. “Please.” I wanted it all. I needed it all.
The butterflies in my stomach turned into pterodactyls ready to claim him as mine. I felt his lips turn up in a smile. His hand pulled away and I scowled at the emptiness, before he lined up and slowly filled me with something much larger. Fuck yes, this was what I needed. He began a slow pace, allowing me to adjust. My legs slid down his body and rested on cold metal. I knew it wasn’t technically the same, but the thought of having hard steel between my legs was such a turn on. He didn’t let it hold him back at all, his thrusts quickened and our pants
grew louder.
Another sound mixed in with ours, a low moan that wasn’t either of us. I broke my mouth away to look around and saw a rotter slowly stumbling in our direction. Fuck.
Linc noticed it too. The tattered clothing and broken toes slowed it down a little more as it kept getting caught on branches and large stones. We still had time. “Keep going.” I reached a hand over to my pants and grabbed the knife from the closest pocket, holding it ready.
The pace quickened. The closer the rotter got, the faster Lincoln moved. My nails scratched down his back underneath his shirt, just enough pressure to leave faint marks behind. The rotter was almost ten feet away now and my adrenaline spiked higher. I always thought I would go out in blades of glory, but this wouldn’t be the worst way to die.
The orgasm built and before much longer, I was spasming as my back arched and I let out a long moan. Lincoln stilled above me, quickly pulling out and spilling onto the ground between my legs. Bracing one palm on the ground by my shoulder, Lincoln held out his other one and shot a stream of fire across the clearing, engulfing the rotter before it got any closer. The heat from the fire singed the ends of my hair, but I didn’t care. That was hot. Pun definitely intended.
Dropping his hand, he collapsed on top of me, our breathing ragged.
“You’re getting the hang of this.” I smiled. We were both messed up human beings, but I had no regrets.
Once he regained control of his body, he lifted his head and looked at me. We remained lying there, staring at each other with post-orgasmic bliss in the middle of our massacre.
We walked to the cabin hand in hand, the jugs filled with water weighing down our backpacks. After washing up in the river, we’d filled the jugs and began to make our way back. We’d barely talked about what had happened with his fire power, but one thing was for sure—we were going to have to tell the others soon. For all we knew, they could be experiencing something similar.
