by Jenika Snow
But then they had broken away, and Sparrow expressed her concern about the two of them in a relationship and not wanting to come between them. Bless her heart for thinking so genuinely, but what she didn’t know, and what Mason hadn’t divulged to her, was that it wasn’t just the fact that they wanted to protect her.
They wanted to fuck her, claim her, and make it about the three of them. It had been him and Mason for several months, but now they had this delicate woman with her dirt-smeared cheeks and strong soul that made her able to take out two infected alone. She was strong, and Asher wanted her as much as he wanted Mace.
It had been at least twenty minutes since he had come downstairs, but he heard Sparrow moving around upstairs. He went over to his pack and crouched before it, grabbing the small bottle of whiskey he scored several weeks back when he and Mason scouted out a convenience store. He had been saving it, not sure for what occasion, but right now seemed like a good enough time.
With no shot glasses available, he took the bottle over to the table and sat his ass down. He was really fucking tired, but it wasn’t just about their long journey he had been on with Mason and now Sparrow, or the fact that he couldn’t remember the last time he slept in an actual bed. It was also because he was trying to wrap his head around his wants and needs, what was realistic, and how everything would play out.
They didn’t know if tomorrow would be their last or if they would ever finally reach Mason’s cabin. That had always been the goal, and they had kept to that plan, but with everything in life, and even more so now, things changed. It seemed like it was one thing after another.
He cracked open the whiskey and took a swig from the bottle. He certainly wouldn’t be getting drunk, not when Mace was held up with a bullet wound and there was too much danger still present. But a little warmth in his veins might go a long way in making him feel a little less off balanced.
He drank another long swig before he heard the soft footsteps of Sparrow coming down the stairs and then saw her step into the kitchen. She stopped when she saw him and eyed the bottle.
“Care to share?” She smiled, but he could see on her face and sense in her body language that she was a little uncertain about everything. Asher left before she and Mason stopped talking, but he didn’t know if Mason had actually gone through and told her that they both wanted her, wanted her to be more to them than just a female to sleep with. They wanted her as their partner in every sense of the word.
He held the bottle up and tilted the tip toward the empty seat across from him, but she surprised him when she took one of the seats right beside him. She reached out and curled her fingers around the neck of the bottle.
Their hands brushed together, and for several seconds, they stared at each other. Asher let go of the bottle and leaned back in his seat to watch her bring it to her lips and take a small sip.
The whiskey wasn’t anything top shelf, but it was decent and had a kick to it. She coughed after she swallowed, and his lips twitched with amusement. She was cute as hell. She handed him the bottle and shook her head, still coughing slightly. He took it back and capped it.
He got up and shoved it back in his pack and grabbed a bottle of water and a candy bar before moving back to her. “Not much of a drinker, huh?” He smiled and handed her the water.
She took one sip and set it back on the table. “Thank you.” Her cheeks were red and her eyes glossy. Yeah, she wasn’t much of a drinker. “No, I’m not much of a drinker. I can handle beer but not the hard stuff. Honestly, I never had a taste for it but figured I’d give it another go, given our situation.” There was a beat of silence.
“Were you able to get cleaned up?” He knew she did by the look of the clean, dry clothes she wore and the smell of lotion. They found the soap and lotion at McMillian’s, and even though there wasn’t any running water in the cabin, it did have a cistern, which was a godsend for them.
“I did, albeit it was cold, but I’m not going to complain.” She smiled. “You think we’re safe here?”
“I’m sure we will be fine. The cabin is isolated enough that we shouldn’t be bothered, and it’s clear it hasn’t been used in a very long time.” He wasn’t worried about the infected finding them, not when they were easy enough to take care of. It was the members of that rogue group that had him on alert.
He didn’t know if they had all ended up killing each other or not. But the windows had been boarded up, and all the exits were secured. They were ready. They were always ready. She nodded in response and ran her fingers over the scarred tabletop.
“It’s just… there was a guy at the camp who was helping me escape.” Asher knew instantly who she was talking about. “He had given me that gun, told me not to make a move until things got really bad between him and the guys.”
He let her talk, knowing she needed to get this all out. “He had this all planned out and wanted me to be his ‘companion.’” Asher gritted his teeth, because he knew well enough that the blond asshole hadn’t wanted her for conversation alone. Females were a commodity now, something that was bartered with and used beyond anything humane.
“He was the one who told me to go across the lake and he’d meet me, no matter what, on the other side. He said there isn’t any place I can hide where he wouldn’t find me.”
Asher’s heart thundered hard behind his ribs, but he didn’t speak. Honestly, he didn’t know if he’d be able to control the tone of his voice, because right now he was feeling pretty fucking territorial.
“I’m just worried he’ll come looking for me.”
Asher gritted his teeth and shook his head. “No fucking way, Sparrow. Most likely he was killed during that shit he started back there, and if his ass is still alive, neither Mason nor I will let some motherfucker come at you again.” He reached out and took her hand. Her flesh was so soft, so warm.
“I can handle him if he thinks of coming after me.” She reached behind her and pulled out the gun she tucked in the waistband of her jeans. “It was lucky for me, stupid for him, but clearly he wanted to keep his investment alive.” She attempted a smile, but it came out weary.
“Sweetheart, I don’t have any doubts you can handle yourself, but you don’t need to worry, okay?” She set the gun on the table, and he pushed it away from her but made sure to keep it within arm’s reach.
“You and Mason clean up nice.”
He leaned back in his chair again and smiled. “You’re not too hard on the eyes either.” She blushed again, but he hadn’t said it to embarrass her, and in fact his words had meant more than how they came out.
She was beautiful, even when she had dirt on her face and twigs in her hair, but now, all freshly cleaned with a rosiness to her flesh that had nothing to do with her washing up, it made her downright gorgeous.
“Thank you.” She cleared her throat, but he saw her smile softly. “I told Mason he needed to get some rest. I saw how tired he was.” Ash didn’t miss how she changed the subject, but that was okay. He certainly didn’t want her feeling uncomfortable.
He nodded and looked down at the table. The light from the candle was weak, but it was bright enough that he could make out the grains of the wood that the light touched.
“We have to really watch the wound for infection. I cleaned it with the antiseptic and covered it, but that doesn’t mean much. I also gave him some antibiotics. Hopefully, he doesn’t get an infection.”
“He’s tough. He got stabbed with a steel rod through his calf about a month back. It wasn’t that deep, but he limped for a long time. In fact, when the weather is shitty, you can still see him struggle at times, but he’s a tough bastard.” He looked at her. “And I really fucking care about him.” She swallowed, and he watched the way her throat worked from the act.
He started running his fingers along the roughened table, mimicking what she was doing. The table looked like it might have been carved by hand, possibly by the person or persons who once lived here, but it was still scarred and worn from age.
“I heard you two talking upstairs.” Her expression didn’t change.
“I know.” That had him lifting a brow. She shrugged. “The stairs in this house creak with the slightest pressure.”
“But you didn’t call be out for eavesdropping?”
“I didn’t really consider it eavesdropping, and I don’t really think it was creepy that you probably saw us kissing.”
Now it was his turn to swallow roughly. “Yeah, I saw, and that was a pretty pervy thing to do. I’m sorry about that.”
She laughed softly. “I was only teasing about the creepy part.” She looked down, and he could see her cheeks redden even in the dark kitchen. “In fact, I kind of liked the thought of you watching us.” She looked up at him, and he saw the embarrassment in her face. All he was feeling was his cock throbbing between his legs, demanding to be let out. He wanted to reach down and adjust himself, because his zipper was digging into his shaft, but he refrained, no matter how badly his arousal was pounding through him.
“Yeah?” He curled his hand around the edge of the table with such force he was surprised the wood didn’t give way.
She looked down again, and Asher couldn’t deny that he loved that she had this innocence about her. She hid it well with her steel-hard composure, but underneath all of that, she was all softness, and he wanted to feel that rubbing against him. “I mean, I won’t say I’m not a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, because I’d be lying.” She lifted her head, and a tendril of dark hair fell from the messy mop she always kept atop her head.
Without thinking, Asher reached out and pushed the tendril behind her ear. Her eyes widened a fraction when the tip of his finger grazed her cheek. She didn’t speak for several seconds, and he pulled his hand back, hoping he hadn’t overstepped a line.
“I’ve only ever been with a couple guys in my life, and I’ve certainly not been in a relationship with two at the same time.”
He leaned back. “We never thought you did, and truthfully Mason is the first man I have ever been with and vice versa. I never thought of myself as gay, but when you’re on the road and the loneliness sets in, attractions shift, or in this case grow in a different direction.” He shrugged. “Or maybe I have always been this way but never allowed myself to grow as a person to realize it.” Yeah, that was probably the most logical explanation.
“I am the least judgmental person, believe me. I got enough flack in school for my size.” He looked her up and down, and although he couldn’t see much with the table in the way, he had seen plenty while traveling with her. She had curves and was exactly the type of female he would have gone after before all of this happened.
“Mason shouldn’t have told you anything until the three of us could sit down. Springing that on you probably freaked you out.” He was sure there was a lot of emotions going through her, the same as Mason and him, but then she had kissed Mace, and that gave Ash hope things may actually go right for once.
“Maybe he should have waited until we all could have talked about it, but I’m glad he didn’t. To be honest, I have been struggling with my own feelings.” The flame flickered between them, and the urge to kiss her was strong.
“Come here, Sparrow.”
She started breathing harder, but the sound of her chair scraping along the ground was loud and broke up the stillness. It only took a step for her to reach him, and when she was within reaching distance, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her forward until there was no room separating them. Her breasts were right in his face, and he slowly dragged his eyes up her body and to her face. Several more pieces of her hair fell around her cheeks.
“I really want to kiss you,” he said as he looked at her mouth, loving that she was feeling exactly what he was and was willing to try. Pulling her until she was forced to sit on his lap, he slid his hand behind her neck and reveled in the fact that her skin was so soft. Her body was a stark contrast to Mason’s, but he loved both differences, got erect from her softness and also from Mason’s hardness.
He cupped her face with his other hand and pulled her head forward until his mouth was right on hers. She tasted like whiskey, spicy and sweet, but with a hint of something almost innocent. When their tongues started moving together, he made sure to take it slow and not force anything on her. Everything was new, to all of them, and there was no rush. Even if it had been less than a week since she had come into their lives, nothing was taken for granted.
“You taste so good, Sparrow.” She made a small noise in the back of her throat, and he swallowed it, needing more and never wanting to let go. She felt good in his arms, really fucking good, in fact.
She broke the kiss and looked at him. Her lips were swollen, and the candlelight illuminated the fact that they were glossy. “There is a part of me that feels like I’m doing something wrong.”
“What do you mean, sweetheart?” Asher had an inkling of what she was talking about but wanted to hear her say it, and when she did, he’d assure her that everything would be okay.
“I know that with the world the way it is, things are different, move at a different pace, and therefore the standards we used to have in another life don’t matter now.”
“You’re complicating something that is very, very easy, Sparrow.” He cupped her cheeks and brought his mouth to hers once more. It was almost frightening the way he felt with her, so comfortable and right. It was the same way he felt with Mason, how he felt when he first looked into the tormented eyes of the man he loved. “Sparrow, trust me, this can be a very simple thing if you don’t let your mind try to overrule your emotions.” He kissed her again, and again. They were little kisses, ones that weren’t consuming or penetrating but still had his blood boiling. “I know it’s fast, and I know it’s confusing, but if we can have something like this in a world filled with pain, degradation, and death, why not take hold and not let go?”
She searched his face, and although he was pretty good at reading people, she was also very good at keeping her emotions in check. He had been trying to “read” her since she joined them on their journey, but more times than not, she was closed off and watching them as if she was trying to figure them out. In a move he certainly hadn’t expected, she was the one to press her mouth to his and to wrap her arms around his shoulders.
“I’m tired of being alone,” Sparrow murmured against his mouth and kissed him harder, with more desperation than anything else. “I just want to feel alive, and you and Mason are the only ones who have made me feel that way in the last five months.”
He knew exactly what she was talking about, because he felt the same and knew without a doubt Mace did too. But Asher didn’t want desperation. He wanted slow and easy, soft and gentle, and so he cupped her chin in his hand and took over the kiss. Their tongues slid along each other, not frantically, but seductively. He liked that she squirmed in his lap, loved how he was getting under her skin as much as she had already burrowed under his.
He felt this carnal need for her, one that wasn’t just about wanting to feel himself buried balls-deep inside her, but one that wanted to get to know who this woman was and what she had been like before the fall.
Asher broke the kiss and trailed his lips along her jaw. “Besides your family, what do you miss most, Sparrow?” He kept his voice soft and low and slowly moved his hand between them until he could feel the very edge of her breasts. Her breathing hitched, but she didn’t pull away.
“What?” That word stuttered slightly, and he didn’t hold back his smile. Did she realize her hands were on his shoulders and that she dug her nails into his flesh? If she didn’t, he wasn’t about to stop her, because the sting of those nails had a bit of pleasure coursing through him. “You want to talk at a time like this?”
“Mmm.” Asher couldn’t think of a better time to ask her. She was pliant in his hands, and she’d be willing to tell him just about anything. “I want to know that and a lot more.” He continued to trail his lips down the side of her neck and
to the pulse that beat frantically right below her ear.
“Music,” she replied. He didn’t stop kissing her and now fully covered one of her breasts with his palm. The mounds were big and round despite her small frame, and her nipple was hard as a pebble, pressing through the material. “I used to listen to The Beatles and watched the birds that would flock to this little homeless man who would toss seeds on the ground. Strangely, ‘Across the Universe’ seemed to go beautifully with it.” She moved her hands over his shoulders and rested her open palms on his pecs. She was shifting more frequently now, her thoughts clearly only on the two of them and her memories. “I also miss lying on my back on the ground and staring at the sky. I’d watch the clouds roll by, watch as they’d change shape right before my eyes.”
She curled and uncurled her nails in his flesh, and Asher grew bolder, moved his hand lower until he got to the hem of her shirt and slipped his hand beneath it. At the first contact of his bare flesh against hers, she gasped, and he groaned. She was soft everywhere, and even though he wanted her thicker, needed her to put on weight, he couldn’t deny that she was still undeniably gorgeous.
“God, Sparrow, I could devour you right now until there isn’t anything left.” She wasn’t wearing a bra, and his dick punched forward even harder when he took her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and pulled at the already turgid flesh. Over and over, he pulled at her nipple, growing harder by the second when she shifted on his lap so she was now straddling him.
The jeans she wore needed to fucking go, but he didn’t want to rush her into something that she wasn’t ready for. Everything among the three of them was moving fast, but fuck, the world itself was moving fast too.
“Don’t stop.” She slanted her mouth on his and speared her tongue between his parted lips. Back was the desperation, but it was the good kind, the kind he felt down to his bones and wanted more of. He cupped her other breast with his hand right over her shirt. Squeezing the mounds until she was rocking back and forth on his erection, mewling soft noises until he thought he’d come right in his jeans, it took every ounce of strength Asher had not to tear open her pants and push deep inside her. “I need more. I need it all from you, and from Mason.” He was already near his breaking point, but when she mentioned needing Mason, he lost his control. Moving his hands so he could cup her ass, he stood with her in his arms but didn’t break the kiss. For a suspended moment, all he did was hold her while he fucked her mouth.
