by Dia Cole
That would mean getting too close for comfort. I shivered. “How do you know all of this?”
He’d become a statue. He peered around the edge of the counter but it felt forced. As if he was making every effort not to look at me.
“Dominic?”
“We get regular briefings from AMBER.”
“Who’s Amber?”
“It’s short for Army Medical Biodefense Experimental Research. It’s one of three underground military research installations in the country. Currently, their scientists are working to study the virus and create a cure.”
At the mention of a cure, my eyes flickered to his vest. “Did they create one?”
His gaze shifted back to the window. “No. But Dr. Zimmerman is working on it.”
He’s lying.
That knowledge flayed me to the bone.
Why doesn’t he want me to know about the cure?
“Who’s Dr. Zimmerman?”
“The research scientist in charge of AMBER. He’s a strange dude, but probably the smartest man I’ve ever met. He told me once that if we could learn how to interrupt the final stage of the virus, we could reach the next step in human evolution.”
I scrunched up my face at the ridiculous idea. “How is death the next step?”
Dominic’s eyes lit up. “Think about it. Soldiers who never need to sleep, rarely need to eat, regenerate completely from even the most severe injuries, and are, for all intents and purposes, immortal.”
I jabbed my finger in the direction of the front windows. “They represent human extinction, not evolution.”
Dominic held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m just telling you what the man said.”
The idea that the fate of the human race might lie in the hands of a doctor who wanted to harness the virus didn’t sit well with me. The fact that Dominic might agree with him was even more unsettling.
He gave me an inscrutable look. “There’s one more thing you should know. I’ve heard that Howlers often seek out those they knew in life.”
A trapdoor opened inside my chest, and my heart fell through. “Are you saying Eden is after me?”
“Yes. If she’s like the others, she’ll hunt you and Reed until she’s put down.”
Great. Just great. I’m trapped in the most dangerous part of the city with a truck full of skull-faced rapists and a super zombie after me. I need a drink.
With shaking hands, I grabbed a bottle of tequila from the shelf near my head.
Dominic’s eyes narrowed as I sucked the pale yellow liquid down through the bottle pourer. “Put that down. You need to keep a clear head.”
I coughed. Despite my eyes watering, I took another small sip. I had no intention of getting trashed. I wasn’t stupid.
He crossed his arms, making his muscles bunch and flex. “I should never have brought you along.”
“Why did you?”
Dominic’s gaze flickered to where my jacket gapped open, before he focused his attention back on the front window. “A momentary lapse in judgment.”
I glanced down at my ample cleavage on display. It dawned on me that being trapped with him in the bar was the perfect situation to continue Operation Seduction. I picked up the bottle and handed it to him. “Want some?”
He looked at the tequila like it was poison. “No.”
“Chicken.”
His lips thinned. “Get that shit away from me.”
I laughed and pressed the bottle between my breasts. “More for me then.” I leaned down and licked the top of the pourer with the tip of my tongue.
His eyes heated, and he shifted as if his position was uncomfortable. “Give it to me,” he said reaching for the bottle.
“Only if you taste a little,” I said, offering the liquor to him.
“Fine.” He pulled off the pourer and took a healthy gulp. He choked.
It was my turn to raise a brow. “Not a drinker?”
His cheekbones flushed as he shook his head. “No. It went against orders.” He took another sip and grimaced.
Yet another interesting fact I’d never have guessed about him. Watching a line of tequila trail down his throat made me even warmer. All I could think about was licking it off his bronze flesh. “I still don’t get why you are so hung up over rules and orders.”
He closed his eyes and rested his head back. “It’s a long story.”
I moved so I was sitting beside him. “We’ve got time.” I ran my fingers down his arm and pressed my thigh against his.
He jumped and moved a few inches away. “Let’s just say that I’ve been in the military all my life.”
That’s a strange way of putting it.
I scooted back over to his side. “Did you join up right at eighteen or something?”
He shook his head. “No. I was in from birth. My first memory is one of the army nurses who used to come in and care for me as a baby. Her name was Nancy, but she told me to call her Nan.” A wistful smile played across his face. “Apparently, I got too attached to her and she was reassigned to a different wing. Attachments weren’t tolerated.”
My heart hurt for him. “That’s terrible. Were you orphaned?”
He clenched his jaw. “Something like that. I never knew my parents. All I ever knew was the program.” His words grew clipped.
“The program?”
“The army’s idea of creating the perfect soldier. Training started from the time we were toddlers. By the time I was seventeen, I was leading special ops missions.”
I shook my head refusing to believe his words, “That couldn’t have been legal. They couldn’t enlist kids…”
He let out a dry laugh. “You don’t know the U.S. military very well.”
The flat look in his eyes twisted me up inside. “And they made you follow their rules?”
Dominic took another swig from the bottle. “Once when I was about five, I disregarded a direct order from one of the boot camp sergeants. As punishment, they brought Nan in front of me and—” his voice grew husky “—they hurt her.”
A horrified noise escaped my throat. “Those bastards.” I reached out to lay my hand on his. This time with no ulterior motives.
He folded his calloused fingers around mine. “After that I swore to follow every single order to the letter.”
“Except for the transport order in Afghanistan.”
He dropped my hand. “Yeah. I paid a heavy price for that too.”
I wanted to kick myself in the head.
Nice going, Lee. Why don’t you open more emotional wounds? Time to get this ship back on course. I shrugged off the jacket and leaned forward. “It must’ve been so lonely in prison.”
His face was a steel trap slamming closed. He jumped to his feet. “I’m going to radio in. Stay here.” Then he disappeared.
Clearly my seduction skills need some work.
I pushed the tequila bottle away. I’d need my mind sharp if things went south. I’d also need to be able to run.
I pulled myself up to standing using the edge of the bar counter. Carefully, I tested the strength of my knee. Other than being almost entirely numb, it felt fine.
Too late I realized that Dominic was standing on the other side of the bar watching me with a sharpening gaze. “How’s that ankle holding up?”
4
“Fine.” I said too quickly, cursing myself for bringing my leg to his attention. “Were you able to get a hold of Darcy?”
“Negative. The damn battery is dead.”
Why am I not surprised?
We seemed to be rolling downhill in a snowball of shit. “We should get going then if we have to make it back by ten.”
“We’re not going anywhere until the streets are clear. Are zombies out there?”
I glanced out the window spying several half-decayed stragglers stumbling down the boulevard. Across the street, a large pack of Biters huddled over something. No doubt they were feeding. My stomach rolled and I forced my eyes away. “A few.”
> “Then we sit tight.” Dominic rounded the bar. He crouched down and reached for my foot. “I’ve had a little medical training. Let me take a look at that ankle.”
I tried to take a step back, forgetting that I had the bar counter at my back. “It’s fine.” If my voice got any higher, it’d break the dazzling array of alcohol bottles stacked behind him.
“Now who’s being ridiculous?” he chided.
Damn it. I need to come up with a distraction.
Before I could think of something, he snagged the back of my sneaker with a firm grip and set it on his bent knee.
Losing my balance, I gripped his shoulders for support. The feel of the vest under my palms reminded me of my true mission. I straightened my spine.
The hands that had started drawing up my pant leg stilled. Dominic looked up sharply. “Am I hurting you?”
I leaned down and stroked my hand down the stubble of his jaw. “No. But I can think of other places I’d rather you touch.”
His hand froze.
I brushed my fingers down the side of his face. “How about we play doctor? You be the physician and I’ll be your naughty patient. Or should we go the other way? I could be the inappropriate nurse,” I said, sliding my hands under his vest.
He sucked in a breath as I brushed across his flat nipple through his shirt. His heart pounded against my palm.
I traced his sculpted pectoral muscles, trying to ignore the delicious way they flexed under my fingertips.
It’ll be easier to slip the vial out of its hiding spot if he’s not wearing it.
I tugged on the vest. “Can you take this off?”
He jerked back.
Nice going, Miss Obvious.
Thinking quickly, I flashed him a wink. “Can you take it all off? We’re out of paper gowns at the moment.”
He exhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring. “What are you doing?”
I arched an eyebrow. “If you don’t know, I must not be doing it right.”
“This isn’t the time or the plac—”
Desperation made me bold. I shut him up by leaning down and licking the seam of his mouth.
His eyes closed for a heartbeat. When he opened them, they flared with heat that raised the temperature of my blood by ten degrees.
Breathlessly, I waited.
Will he take the bait a second time?
My answer came when he cursed, palmed the back of my head, and closed the distance between our lips.
My head spun as Dominic’s mouth devoured mine. The tang of tequila and the sweetness of cinnamon were an intoxicating mix. My insides tingled and warmed.
Focus on my mission, I reminded myself, nibbling down the side of his neck. The slightly salty taste made me hum in appreciation. Who’d have thought the taste of his skin would be a turn-on?
One of his hands curled around my breast. “This is worth going to prison for.”
My entire body shuddered as he caressed my nipple through my shirt. Vision going hazy, all I wanted to do was to unleash the lust suddenly raging through my body.
No. Must. Get. Control.
Trying mentally to turn off my hormones, I twisted out of reach. If he wouldn’t take off the vest, I’d have to slip the vial out while he was wearing it. There was only one sure way I knew how to distract him so he wouldn’t catch on to what I was doing. Taking a deep breath, I slid one hand under his vest, the other down his body.
“Mother of Christ,” Dominic groaned as I scraped my nails over the zipper of his jeans.
“You seem to be in good health.” Finding him erect and ready made it suddenly harder to breathe.
Shaking my head to clear it, I flexed my hand by his ribs. There. I felt the vial brush against the backs of my fingers. All I needed to do now was work it out of the fabric and palm it without him knowing.
I can do this.
Dominic’s hips thrust as I rubbed him through his pants. He bit his lower lip, his dark eyes going unfocused.
God, he’s sexy.
At this moment, he was the hottest thing I’d ever seen. He grew impossibly large. An answering heat bloomed between my thighs.
Dominic trapped my hand between his legs. “Stop.”
Damn it. I’m so close. Time to up the distraction level.
Taking a deep breath, I flipped up the bottom of my sports bra, freeing my breasts. Then I leaned down and pressed my chest into his face.
His sharp inhale was all the signal I needed to keep going. Just as my fingers closed over the vial, his tongue lashed my nipple. I gasped.
He sucked the tightening bud into his mouth. Each pull of his lips sent lightning bolts of heat through me. His teeth scraped over my sensitive skin and then he bit down.
“Ouch.” Startled at the pain, I jerked back and stood up.
Still crouched down, he looked up at me and grinned in a way that made my insides tighten. “That’s for not obeying an order. I told you to stop.”
“We’re back to that?”
“I’m in charge, remember?”
I swallowed hard. What had I gotten myself into? “Yeah.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Um, yes, sir.”
“Good girl.” He slid one hand up my leg. “The first lesson I’ll teach you is to come only when I tell you.”
Oh my.
I forgot how to breathe as his fingers moved in concentric circles across my inner thigh toward the suddenly throbbing center of my body. They moved higher. And higher.
I gripped the edge of the counter so hard I was surprised it didn’t snap off.
The serum…the seru…oh, God.
Even through my pants, I could feel his fingers rub against my sensitive flesh. I tried to close my legs, to get some semblance of sanity back.
He stood up. “You’re being a naughty girl. Open for me.”
Apparently I didn’t move fast enough because he gently forced my legs apart.
A keening sound escaped my lips as he caressed me through the thin cotton material.
“Shh,” he said, increasing the tempo of his fingers.
Biting back a moan, I surrendered. My back bowed over the bar counter, my hips thrusting helplessly against his measured strokes.
He rose up to lean over me, his fingers never stopping their passionate assault. “I love how responsive you are.”
I wasn’t coherent enough to be embarrassed. All I could do was buck against him, trying desperately to assuage the growing ache. The pleasure I’d been chasing in the office bathroom came roaring back with a vengeance.
He was taking me to the edge. Colors swirled across my line of vision.
Then his hands moved away. “You don’t have permission to come.”
Tremors shook my body. “Please,” I gasped, my body begging for an end to the sweet torture.
A fire lit his eyes. Moving faster than I could process, he pushed me back so I was lying flat over the bar counter. Then his hands were at my waistband dragging down my pants and thong.
The shock of the cool air on my heated flesh brought me back to reality.
Oh crap. Are the black veins showing?
A quick look down revealed that they were still hidden by the bandage.
“Don’t move,” Dominic commanded, leaving my pants bunched around my ankles. He ducked between my thighs and slid my legs over his shoulders.
I was trapped, unable to move my legs. I struggled underneath him. Before I could panic, he rubbed the top of my thigh with his hand.
“Relax. You’re fine. Let me look at you.” His face was only inches away from my core.
My skin heated with a mixture of embarrassment and lust.
“Do you want me to kiss you here?” He stroked a finger across my damp folds.
I quivered. “Y-yes.”
He slapped the side of my ass.
What am I supposed to say again? Oh, right. “Yes, sir.”
“Good girl. Maybe I should reward you.” He blew a hot breath across my sensitive flesh.
“Oh, God.” My insides quivered with anticipation. I didn’t know what it was going to feel like, but I was pretty sure it would be incredible.
“You can just call me Dominic.”
His arrogant words penetrated the haze of lust. “Shut up.”
He licked his tongue across my clit. “Are you being impertinent?”
I gasped. Nothing in the world had ever felt so good. “N-no, sir.”
“Good girl,” he said, burying his face between my legs.
Pleasure overloaded my senses. My knees fell open wider. All I could do was scrape my fingers through his short hair and thrust wildly against his lips.
“Yes. Yes.” The friction of his mouth had me coiling tighter and tighter.
His fingers dug into my ass as he pressed me closer.
“Now you can come,” he said, before sucking directly on my clit.
“Dominic,” I cried, detonating into a million brilliant shards of light. My body undulated wildly as I rode the waves of pleasure.
Gasping for breath, I grew dimly aware of his hand clamped over my mouth.
Chuckling, he pulled his hand away. “It figures you’d be a screamer.”
I blinked up at him dazed, still trying to piece myself back together.
“Don’t worry. The infected didn’t hear you. And I’ll be sure to cover your mouth next time.”
“N-next time?”
What does he mean? I could barely handle this time.
His head dipped down as he lapped at me again.
“Oh, God.” Because my flesh was so sensitized from my recent orgasm, embers of desire flared to life hungrier and hotter than before. Within seconds he’d brought me back to the precipice.
He licked and sucked slowly around my clit, keeping me hanging on the edge. “I could do this for hours.”
I curled my hands into his hair. “Please…Dominic…sir.”
He looked up at me, his mouth glistening with my juices. “I can’t wait to be inside you. Feel how much.” He dragged my pants all the way off and pressed himself against my quivering cleft.
I shuddered at the feel of his erection rocking against me. There was nothing separating us except the fabric of his pants.
“I want you.” He growled. His eyes glittered with passion.
“I want you too.” I was tired of fighting the attraction. Tired of pretending that I didn’t live for the moments we spent together.
