by Angela Foxxe
She didn’t respond except to pull his arms more tightly around herself. Her heart was still beating quickly, nerves still twitching and tingling from their dream world encounter. She was hot, her body still craving his touch even after making love to him in her dreams.
His hand slid down to her hip, slipping between her skin and the waistband of the pajamas pants she still wore. His hand went over her hip, then down her thighs. She opened her legs to him and his hand slid between them, cupping her sex.
His thumb slipped between the folds of her, stroking the tender flesh slowly. His breath was heavy and relaxed, and she wondered for a moment if he was sleeping.
She giggled at the thought.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, still stroking her with his thumb, sliding two of his fingers inside her.
“I thought you were asleep,” she admitted, moving her hips against his hand.
“Who could sleep with all that moaning going on?” he teased.
She flushed with heat of embarrassment, but his fingers were magic, and her embarrassment was quickly replaced by the need that was building inside of her. He kissed her neck, the arm beneath her reaching up under her shirt and squeezing one round, smooth breast. His thumb went across her taut nipple, teasing the flesh the way he teased her heat out of her with each stroke of his fingers inside her.
Her breath was coming in little gasps now, his arms holding her so tightly against him that she couldn’t move and was at his mercy. He kissed her ear, whispering sweet words to her in the darkness, stroking her more quickly. Her skin was on fire, her body about to burst.
When the orgasm finally washed over her, Paul held her in his arms, stroking her as her body convulsed around him, keeping her pleasure going as she struggled to keep herself together.
“I love you,” he said so softly that she wasn’t sure she heard it. “I have loved you for all of eternity.”
He slid inside her then, his heat driving Sabrina to the brink again, the second orgasm stronger than the one before it. When he finally lost himself in his own pleasure, Sabrina cried out his name, completely losing track of how many times he had brought her to climax only to push her further than she thought possible.
She laughed when she collapsed against him, her pants shoved down to her knees, ass against his pelvis, his manhood still inside of her and his hand still cupping her. He kissed her again and again, but said nothing. His left hand still held her breast in his hand, the fingers of his right hand still nestled between the folds of her sex.
“Get some rest,” he said softly, making no move to change their position. “You’ve had a long day, but tomorrow will be better.”
She nodded, enjoying the feel of him still inside of her, his hands still holding her possessively. She could feel him drifting back to sleep, his heavy breathing lulling her to sleep. Her eyes were closed when he kissed her one last time, and before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
CHAPTER NINE
Sunlight warmed her cheek, gently drawing her out of a deep sleep. She stretched, noting that the lingering stiffness in her muscles wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be. She looked over at the empty pillow beside her, reaching out to touch the pillow, unsure if she was dreaming or awake.
The pillow was cool to the touch, drawing her further out of sleep. She sat up slowly, still groggy and enjoying the well-rested feeling that she hadn’t had in a long while. She looked down at her clothes, surprised he had righted them when he left the bed. Sweet memories of the night before flashed in her mind, sending fresh shivers through her. She needed to get up and shake it off, or she would spend the day in bed, waiting for him to reappear.
There were worse things she could do to pass the time. She laughed, sitting up and scooting to the edge of the bed, forcing herself to leave last night behind and join the new day.
Her bare feet touched the soft carpet, her footsteps completely silent in the large room. She looked around, trying to find her backpack and wondering what she was going to wear.
Her clothes from the night before sat on a large chair by her bed, cleaned and neatly folded. She dressed quickly, wondering who had brought the clothes in and how she had slept through something like that. She had always been a light sleeper, and the thought of having someone that close to her when she was helpless was a little unsettling. Usually, she was up and ready to attack before an intruder finished turning the door knob.
She left her shoes off, carrying them and putting her backpack over her shoulder. She crept down the hall carefully. Voices rose from the end of the hall, an obviously large group of people gathered in the kitchen, talking loudly and enjoying what she could only hope was the strongest coffee ever brewed. Whatever they were eating smelled good, too, causing her stomach to rumble uncontrollably. She was starving, and she realized then that she hadn’t had a thing to eat since the snack she’d had in the car right before they had fled into the woods.
She stayed close to the edges of the hallway, listening to their chatter and waiting to see if they said anything about her, or revealed anything else about themselves and the LEO stronghold that she needed to know. She’d been working undercover for too long to give up an opportunity like this.
Their chatter continued as Sabrina hovered just out of sight, but there was nothing out of the ordinary being discussed. She was about to step forward when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and nearly jumped out of her skin. Paul’s lips caressed her neck gently, causing her body to tense with anticipation.
“It’s not nice to eavesdrop,” he whispered in her ear. “Besides, we stopped talking about you hours ago. It’s almost lunch time. The rest of us have been up since dawn.”
“It’s not even ten yet,” she countered.
“Close enough. You slept twelve hours solid, well, except for that one thing.” He winked, obviously teasing her for waking him in the middle of the night for sex. She blushed, but he continued as if nothing was out of the ordinary. “You must have been tired.” He took his finger and ran it in the collar of her t-shirt, the back of his knuckles touching the skin of her collar bone and sending shivers down her spine. “I see you found your clothes.”
“Thank you for taking care of that.”
“Hattie did it, but I’ll let you thank her yourself. You didn’t get clothes at the store.”
“I got socks.”
Paul laughed.
“You’re right, I saw that. But you were supposed to get a couple more changes of clothes. You have nothing.”
“I’m fine,” she said.
“Well, I’m not alright with it. Come have breakfast, and then I’ll take you for a tour of the town and we’ll get you some clothes so you can be more comfortable.”
“I’m comfortable now,” she countered.
Paul sighed.
“Look, I don’t know how long we’re going to be here. You can’t just run around the house in my t-shirts and your combat clothes. Many of the people that live here don’t like being reminded of how they were dragged here by the military, and we like to keep the peace quietly and without making a big show of it. It helps people live a more normal life when they are being treated like outcasts and hidden away from society.”
“The tunnel we came through wasn’t very inconspicuous.”
“You slept the entire way home, or you would know that we are nowhere near the tunnel. Most of the people who live here don’t even know that tunnel exists.”
“How?”
Paul took a deep breath and his expression softened.
“Most of our kind want to believe that it wasn’t all of the country that decided that we needed to leave. It’s easier to believe that, and to live thinking that things are alright if you ignore the ugly side of things. People are happy here, and they’re making the best of it. But, we spend a lot of our effort on making that happen, and you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb.”
“How can they ignore the obvious when they live the way they do?” she asked
quietly, aware that the occupants of the dining room had either cleared out or were listening to the two of them in the hall. “It’s not like they can just ignore what is right in front of them.”
He smiled gently.
“You’ve been fed so many lies, that I think it’s best to show you what they told you versus reality. Things are nothing like you’ve been led to believe, which is good and bad.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will when we leave to go into town,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her toward the dining room. “First, you need to eat, and then we’ll go shopping.”
Sabrina wrinkled her nose, not even remotely interested in shopping anywhere, though she was having a rough time picturing a clothing store in The Zone. She let Paul lead her to the large table, and she sat down beside him. A large plate of fruit and vegetables sat in the middle of the table, along with a few toasted bagels, cream cheese spreads and a carafe of orange juice.
“This is nice,” she said, taking a plate and filing it with fruit and a bagel. You’re so lucky to have what you have.”
Paul chuckled.
“You really have no idea. But yes, I’m beyond lucky. I saw what was happening before it got bad, and when I heard murmurings of being sent north, I decided to get ahead of the deluge. I’m not the only one.”
“Why would people willingly relocate if it meant losing some of your civil liberties?”
“Sometimes, it’s important which battles you pick. By purchasing land and moving here, many of us were able to get The Zone ready for the people who came after us. And I knew far enough in advance to move all my money into an offshore account that the government can’t find nor can they touch it if they do. The government that owns the bank doesn’t believe in turning over that sort of information to any government for any reason. They believe people have a right to their money.”
“That’s good, at least,” Sabrina said, taking another bite and pulling her legs up to sit cross-legged in the chair. “I’m glad that you were smart about it.”
“Smart enough to turn the tables on HLF. They thought that they were exiling us when they sent us here, but we lobbied hard in Washington D.C., and this place was set up more like a separate state. We have complete autonomy here, and no one can cross our borders without permission and vice versa. We have the right to be armed and protect our little nation, even if being independent isn’t what we want to be.”
“And now, Decker is trying to take that, too.”
“Decker is doing a lot more than that. We don’t know what all he’s got in his sleeve, but whatever you think you know about Tom Decker is barely scratching the surface. He’s an evil, vile man, and he has plans that we can’t even fathom.”
“How did I miss it?” she wondered, looking at her hands and wishing that she could turn back the clock and tell her younger self the truth. “I should have seen the signs. I’ve been around narcissists before. I should have realized that Decker and the HLF never had the best interests of humans in mind.”
Paul’s hand was on hers in an instant, giving her a gentle squeeze.
“Decker is only interested in taking care of the rich man, but he knows how to play the game. Look at how many times he’s been elected over much more qualified people. His rise to power is inexplicable if you look at his actions and really see them for what they are. But people can’t see beyond their own ambitions, and Decker represents hope to a lot of people. It’s not right, but that’s what his appeal is.”
Sabrina pushed her plate away.
“I can’t eat right now.”
“I understand. Listen, we all thought that the people we trusted to run our states and our country were good people that cared more about the greater good than lining their own pockets. It’s hard when you find out that they are greedy, self-serving, and fatally flawed. You can’t beat yourself up for trusting the system.”
“I thought I was doing good.”
“Of course, you did. You had to believe that, or you wouldn’t have been good at your job.”
“I would have found a different job.”
Paul was shaking his head.
“You can’t kill yourself with the what ifs. What happened, happened, and now it’s time to move on.”
Paul stood, holding his hand out to her and pulling her into his arms when she finally took his hand in hers.
“You’re a good person, Sabrina. Don’t let anything make you doubt that. You’re fighting for the right side, now. And the only reason that you have the information and the skills we need is because of your work for the HLF.”
He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tight.
“Now, come on. Let’s go get you some clothes and take a tour of the town. I think you’re going to enjoy it.”
They walked hand in hand through the halls, Sabrina mentally ticking off and memorizing the rooms and layout.
“How big is the house?” she wondered aloud when they were almost to the front entrance.
“Ten bedrooms, almost as many bathrooms, a few offices and sitting areas. It’s kind of hard to nail down how many rooms there actually are, but it’s a lot.”
“And this is your house?”
“Mine and the staff. I also host new arrivals when it’s needed.”
“Like me?”
“That’s not why you’re here,” he said, helping her into the large pickup truck.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, one, you’re not a shifter. You can leave any time.”
“And two?”
“There is no ‘two’,” he said, shrugging.
He put the truck in gear and started down the driveway, pushing the button in the visor that opened the large gate. As they headed down the road, Sabrina watched with interest, taking in the well-kept streets and the garden that replaced manicured front lawns.
“Does everyone have a garden?”
“Yes. And most of us have some sort of livestock.”
“What do you have?”
“Cows, chickens, horses, goats-”
“How big is your property?”
“Fifteen hundred acres, which are mostly behind the house and go back beyond where you can see in the hills. That’s why I have such guest houses. A lot of my ranch hands live on-site, which makes it easier on everyone. The one thing that is difficult to get is gas. There’s a refinery in Oregon, but transporting it has been a pain. Most of us drive electric cars, or cars that run on E85.”
“Is this truck a hybrid?”
“It is. It gets insane gas mileage on the corn ethanol, but it’s still a lot of work to produce, and we don’t have as many cornfields as a state like Nebraska. So, we conserve when we can, and we bring in what we can from the coast, and we get the rest from Canada.”
“Really?”
“Yep. We have an open border with them and have since this entire mess started.”
“Why have I never heard this?”
“Because, if you knew that, would you believe that we’re dangerous?”
“I guess not.” She was looking around the street, watching everything go by in awe. “How is everything so normal here? We were told that it’s pretty much leveled and that shifters are running amok, living like wild animals.”
“To some city dwellers, this is living like wild animals,” Paul teased, squeezing her hand and bringing it to his lips for a quick kiss. “But seriously, it’s another one of those lies that you’ve been fed so that the thought of this place evokes a certain fear response in most citizens.”
He turned a corner and Sabrina shook her head in disbelief.
“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, almost laughing at the sight.
“If you think it’s a mall, then you’re right.”
“How do you even stock a mall?”
Paul laughed.
“Most of the people here have stepped into some role or another that needed to be filled. We have seamstresses, farmers, ranchers, restaurants
, and most every other type of business except for banks and insurance. What we can’t get here, we order off the internet. The HLF really underestimated the reach of the internet, and that isn’t helping Decker’s cause.”
“How do you have a signal?”
Paul shrugged.
“The towers are still here, and the service remains. We pay for it online, and just like before, most of the customer service lines are managed from other countries. I don’t think that most of those call centers know where Montana is in relation to The Zone. Life goes on, and the pictures you see on the news of people starving and this area looking like a war-torn third world are fabricated. They want to make it look like we are even a danger to ourselves, when that can’t be further from the truth.”
“And what if everything goes back to the way it was a few years ago?” she asked suddenly, blurting out her question before she thought better of it.
“What do you mean?”
“Would you stay here, or go back to Florida?”
“I’m happy here,” he said. “But I would like the freedom to travel the country without having a special pass or being a member of the right branch of military. If we could get that freedom back and move around among humans as if we weren’t monsters waiting to feed on the souls of the innocent, that would make this all bearable.”
“But you would live here?”
“I can’t answer that question,” he said honestly. “I am happy here, and even though it’s not under the best circumstances, moving here was the right thing to do. I feel comfortable here, and I have a beautiful home and everything I need is here. I’m content, but I can’t promise that feeling of contentment will be permanent. I think I need to be here right now, but that’s all I can say for certain.”
“How can you say that when your species has been forced here against their will?”
“I can’t explain that now.”
“When can you?”
“I think when I can, you will know. This is a lot to take in, and there are things that I’m not quite ready to tell you. I want to show you as much as I can, and let you make some of the connections yourself. Whatever you don’t put together on your own, I’ll explain.”
