Winter Igniting

by Rebecca Zanetti

  “Where were you?” Quincy asked, his frown making him look a little too menacing for Damon’s taste.

  April paused. “We went to dinner at Pastor King’s place. Why do you ask?”

  Good. She didn’t think the guy had the right to know where she’d been. Damon’s shoulders relaxed. A tiny bit. But he kept a good grip on her hand.

  “Pastor King?” Quincy snapped. “Are you kidding? Those people are nuts.” He turned on Damon. “What were you thinking taking her there?”

  April tilted her head as if surprised by the outburst.

  Jesus, the woman was clueless. This guy was so into her it was sad. “I thought it was a nice place for a first date, considering they had steak and there was no worry of infecting anybody,” Damon said easily. “The second date will probably be a picnic, and the third maybe another stroll around the territory. No good movies playing, you know. That good with you, buddy?”

  Finally, April caught the undercurrents because she stiffened next to Damon. He’d figure out how he was so in tune with her another time.

  Quincy’s glare promised a discussion later.

  Fine with Damon. After being turned on all night by the sexy brunette next to him, and deciding that he shouldn’t do anything about it, beating the shit out of a moron would relieve some tension. “Bye, Quincy,” he said, pulling April around the soldier and toward her door.

  “Night,” April added, keeping up because Damon hadn’t really given her a choice.

  Damon opened the door for her and didn’t wait to be asked inside. He followed her in, for the sole reason that Quincy was still watching. If they were going to pull this off, everyone needed to think they were dating. Yeah. That was the only reason. He shook his head at himself and shut the door at his back. He was staking a claim he shouldn’t.

  She turned, her movements jerky, and her ocean-blue eyes wide. “Um.”

  He held up a hand. “Just letting everyone know we’re dating. Take a breath.”

  Her teeth played with her bottom lip, making her look both adorable and sexy. Her uncertainty was beyond cute, but in that dress, her body was all siren.

  “You are a contradiction,” he muttered, his jeans becoming way too tight.

  “So are you,” she countered. “All right, then.” She moved toward him, bringing the scent of sweet roses with her. “Thank you for a very nice date.” Levering up on her tiptoes, she brushed her mouth across his.

  His body electrified. From one simple touch.

  She moved to step back, but he stopped her by the arm. An expression crossed her face that was all dare. Sexy, aware, desirable challenge.

  All right, then. His gaze dropped to her lips, and he started to move in out of pure instinct.

  Shouting started outside, and he froze.

  April jerked. A fight?

  “Stay here.” Damon set her to the side and opened the door, shutting it instantly behind him.

  She ran to the window to peer out.

  Four men, including Quincy, faced off in the middle of the deserted street. They were shouting obscenities and threats. One guy wore the standard black T-shirt Merc uniform, while the other three appeared to be Vanguard. She kind of recognized them, but they were all fairly new.

  She scrambled to open her window. Should she do something? It wasn’t as if she had a cell phone. She hadn’t wanted to keep a firearm around because of the kids, but maybe that had been foolish.

  One of the Vanguard guys had a gun out.

  She couldn’t breathe. Damon continued toward the group. Toward the weapon.

  It was three against two, if she were reading the situation correctly. Definitely not good. She looked frantically around and then ran outside to help somehow. One of the kids had left a smaller baseball bat near her door, and she grabbed it. The scrub grass scratched her bare legs.

  Damon’s voice easily carried through the night. “Whatever is going on needs to stop. Now.”

  The guy with the gun pivoted toward Damon.

  April gasped and stopped short. He wouldn’t shoot, would he? Her knees trembled. She looked around, but so far, the raised voices hadn’t brought any soldiers running. She edged closer, holding the bat so tightly her knuckles protested.

  “Either shoot me or put that thing away,” Damon said, his back to her, and his voice way too calm.

  A shiver wracked April’s back. She reached the edge of the burned lawn and stopped. Nobody seemed to pay her any mind.

  The guy with the gun smiled. “You Mercs need to leave Vanguard territory. In body bags if necessary. So shooting it is.”

  Damon moved so quickly, April could only stare. He punched the guy’s wrist, and the gun spun through the air to clatter across the pothole-riddled concrete.

  Then everyone moved at once.

  Quincy and the other Merc started throwing punches, while the other two guys came at Damon. He ducked and threw one man over his shoulder to land hard on the ground and then pivoted, catching sight of her. “Get the fuck back,” he snapped, taking a punch to the face. Fury filled his eyes.

  She took several steps back before she could even form a thought.

  He struck the still-standing soldier in the neck and torso, and then swept his legs out from under him. Damon followed the guy down and hit him rapidly three times in the face until the guy passed out cold.

  “Damon!” April yelled just as the other soldier stood and rushed forward with a knife in his hand. He sliced Damon across the shoulder.

  Damon swung hard and stood at the same time, knocking the guy back.

  April tried to breathe. Blood flowed down Damon’s arm. How badly was he cut?

  Damon partially turned to check the fight still happening down the road and then pulled a knife from his boot. He circled the other guy. “I’m giving you one chance to put the knife away and go. Think carefully, because if you stay, I’m cutting you.”

  The statement was made all the more chilling by the calmness of Damon’s voice. She truly didn’t know him at all. Not the real man. April took another step toward the safety of her apartment.

  The Vanguard guy settled into a fighting stance, his knife up. “I’m here, looking for you or Grey. You both need to go.”

  These guys had been waiting for Damon when they ran into the other Merc?

  Damon had apparently reached the same conclusion because his eyes hardened even more. For the first time, April could see the deadly soldier he’d become with the Mercenaries. No mercy and not an ounce of the kindness she’d found in him were present.

  Was that benevolence even real? Had she imagined it?

  Damon gracefully circled away from the man he’d left on the pavement, his chin down, his blade loose in his hand.

  The guy with the knife charged.

  Barely moving, Damon sliced across the guy’s chest. The Vanguard soldier gasped, the sound filled with pain. Then he roared, his knife up as he ran at Damon.

  Damon pivoted at the last second and cut neatly up the left side of the guy’s face.

  The guy yelped and jumped back, his free hand going to his wound. Blood instantly coated his fingers and dripped down his neck to his shirt.

  Damon cocked his head to the side. “I’m about done.” His voice was guttural.

  The guy shook it off, spraying blood, and crouched again, watching.

  Damon waited.

  The guy advanced, more gracefully this time, slicing at Damon. Damon jumped back and then moved in, plunging his knife into the guy’s thigh.

  The Vanguard man yelled in pain and dropped to the ground, clutching his bleeding leg. Damon easily—almost casually—kicked him in the face, knocking him out. Then he turned to see the other two fighting guys separate from each other, both stumbling in opposite directions.

  April leaned back against her door.

  Damon turned, his focus solely on her. Moonlight shone down, highlighting the fierce angles of his bleeding face. Violence surrounded him, more than at home.

  She cou
ldn’t breathe.

  He moved toward her then, his brown eyes nearly animalistic. All instinct.

  She couldn’t move.

  He reached her, and his unique scent of ginger, the woods, and man washed over her. Filled her. “You okay?”

  She couldn’t speak.

  So she gulped and nodded. Her entire body felt as if it were on electrical fire. What was happening?

  He leaned in, grasped her chin, and kissed her. Not sweet. Not kind. He kissed her hard and deep, sweeping his tongue in and taking what he wanted.

  Her knees went weak. Her eyelids closed of their own accord. She swayed toward him, the feeling of him almost too much.

  Abruptly, he released her. In one smooth motion, he reached behind her hip and opened the door, setting her inside the apartment. “I’ll have somebody clean up the mess on the street.” He shut the door and then…he was gone.

  10

  I like these Vanguard guys and would hate to have to kill them.

  —Damon Winter, Journal

  If Damon were any more pissed, his damn head would fly off. He stormed into Jax’s war room, fresh stitches in his arm and a bandage above his right eyebrow. Greyson was already sitting next to Raze Shadow, one of Jax’s lieutenants. The guy was the silent type—a former sniper—with longish, black hair and sharp, light blue eyes. He looked to be Native American, and rumor had it he was dating the shrink at Vanguard.

  Jax sat at the head of the table. “Did Doc Penelope get you stitched up okay?”

  Damon nodded. The petite doctor had been quick and efficient. “Yeah. Once your brother let me near her.” That Marcus Knight, Jax’s half-brother, had some serious issues.

  Jax waved a hand. “He’s a problem for another day. Right now, it appears Vanguard and the Mercenaries aren’t getting along very well. I kicked the two guys out who attacked you.”

  “What about Quincy?” Damon snapped, taking a seat.

  Jax shrugged. “He said he was just at the wrong place, wrong time. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt this time.”

  “He was outside April’s place on purpose,” Damon snarled.

  Jax’s eyebrows rose. “So?”

  So? She was with Damon, damn it. He bit his lip.

  Jax sighed. “Listen. I get it. She has that whole nun-slash-whore thing going on. But, no.”

  Lava poured through Damon’s veins. “What did you just say?”

  Jax frowned. “What?”

  Damon partially rose.

  Greyson raised a hand. “Hold it a sec. I don’t think Jax meant any insult.”

  Jax’s lips turned down. “Of course, not. I adore April. But you have to admit, she’s pretty and kind and great with the kids…and she has a body like Jessica Rabbit.”

  Damon gave a sharp shake of his head. “What the fuck?”

  Greyson’s grayish-green eyes twinkled. “That’s kind of true.”

  Damon might have to beat the shit out of both of them. “One of you says a word about her, and I pull out my knife again.” It still had blood on it from the last fight.

  Jax cut Greyson a look. “He’s getting in too deep.”

  Not deep enough. Damon had had one taste of her, just one, and she was already in his blood. He’d figure out what to do about that later. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”

  “Jesus.” Jax shook his head, the motion almost sad. “First, I had to deal with Raze and the shrink while stupid Greyson here kidnapped and seduced Raze’s sister.”

  Grey reared back. “Hey. She seduced me.”

  Raze calmly reached across the table and punched Grey in the face before settling back down.

  Greyson rubbed his chin. “That was hardly necessary, but I get it. She’s your sister. But she’s carrying my baby, so don’t hit me again.”

  They were a bunch of lunatics. Damon growled low and deep.

  Jax continued as if violence hadn’t just occurred at his table. “Then Tace and Sami danced around each other for ages, making googly eyes. I had to send them both to our Bunker just to keep from puking. And now? Damon and April. Well, no. I’m just saying no this time. No romance, no fucking, no emotional shit. Got it, Damon?”

  Damon finally calmed. “I think you’re a complete moron.”

  “Ha.” Jax shook his head again. “It’s too late. You’re already lost. Damn it.” He looked at Greyson. “I’d ask you to take him to the Bunker with you, but I need him on the inside of the Pure. Speaking of which?” He turned back toward Damon.

  Damon shoved down the temper that very rarely showed itself. He had to get ahold of himself. “They were nice and made a big show of folks doing their part—men and women. All laughing and having fun. Which was easy to believe because we had some phenomenal steak for dinner.”

  Greyson leaned back. “Where the hell did they get steak?”

  “Now that’s a good question,” Damon agreed. The Pure obviously had sources on the outside somewhere.

  Jax drummed his fingertips on the table. “I’m thinkin’ from your word choices that they were trying too hard?”

  Damon rubbed his chin. “Maybe. We saw only what they wanted us to see, that was for sure.”

  “You weren’t here when they had five pregnant women come out and tell me to leave them alone. They were acting all subservient and kind of numb.” Jax shuddered. “It was like something out of a horror movie. Any chance you saw any of those women?”

  “Nope.” Damon stretched his aching shoulder. Stupid knife wound. “If there’s anything cultish or sexist or whatever going on, I didn’t see it. Also didn’t see any expecting women.” He thought through the problem. “But I’ve been invited back tomorrow. What if April and I get in a bit of a fight beforehand, and I handle her?” He tried not to wince at the thought.

  Jax studied him. “If the Pure group steps in, they’re legit. If they don’t…”

  Then maybe they’d see him as an ally. Damon wanted this assignment over—and now—so he could figure out his life.

  Raze cleared his throat. “Is April that good of an actress?”

  Smart. The sniper was definitely sharp. Damon shook his head. “No. She’s terrible. If I pick a fight, it needs to be real on her part.” Until he could explain later. “It won’t be pretty.” Especially for him.

  “Can you do it?” Grey asked quietly.

  The question echoed the thoughts rampaging through Damon’s own head. Greyson was a true brother, and he knew how Damon worked. Grey had his back, and that meant everything. He met Grey’s gaze and gave him the truth. “Yes. I can do it. Don’t want to, but there’s a part of me that doesn’t think she realizes the danger she’s in.”

  “She lost her daughter,” Jax burst out.

  Damon shook his head. “I know, but that was Scorpius. This is a nice and charismatic group of people who cook fine food and say the right things. The darkness, if it’s there, is hidden well.” April was a nester, and that was a fact. She’d settled into this life, and it still wasn’t safe. Showing her that might be necessary.

  “The thing she fears may become you,” Grey said quietly. “Sure you’re prepared for that?”

  “That’s already happened,” Damon admitted. The look in her eyes after he’d stabbed the ex-Vanguard member just an hour before would always haunt him. Then he’d kissed her, and he hadn’t exactly asked for permission.

  “Sorry,” Greyson said.

  Damon forced a shrug. “It is what it is.” It wasn’t as if he were looking to make a connection. His job, after this current mission, was to cover Grey’s back like always. Since Grey’s fiancée was pregnant, he was distracted. Especially since no Scorpius survivor to-date had managed to stay pregnant long enough to give birth, and Maureen had definitely survived the infection. “Let’s move on. What’s the plan for tonight’s raid?”

  “We’ve changed it to tomorrow night,” Jax said, reaching for a map under the table. “Here’s the plan.”

  A soft knock on the door nearly stopped April’s
heart. She looked up from her perch on the old sofa where she was reading a Lexi Blake novel a group had found while scouting the previous week. Oh, she’d already read it a couple of times before the pandemic, but it took her away from this world for a while. She had to find the rest of the series somehow.

  Another knock.

  Swallowing, she moved on unsteady legs to the outside door. Had Damon come back? Just an hour before, he’d kissed her as if he wanted to eat her alive.

  And her body had been all in.

  She wasn’t ready to face him. The violence he’d shown in such a calm and deliberate way had shaken her. Completely. Then the kiss had rocked her world. None of it made a lick of sense.

  “Hello?” came a soft voice. “April? You there?”

  Oh. April pulled open the door to see Lynne Harmony and Vinnie Wellington standing in the soft moonlight. Lynne had a bottle in her hand. “Hi?”

  “Hi.” Vinnie pushed past her with Lynne on her heels. “Came to check on you and maybe get a little drunk.” She glanced to her side. “Shh. We won’t have too much. Geez. Go away, Lucinda.”

  April squinted at the shrink, who sometimes hallucinated her dead stepmother. She’d needed a friend, and her friends were here. “Okay.”

  Lynne quietly shut the door, her heart glowing a bright blue beneath her white T-shirt. She no longer tried to hide the aberration. “I hope it’s okay. We heard you and Damon went on that date with the Pure, and we’re dying to get the details.”

  “Good. I wanted to talk to you, Vinnie, about doing some counseling with the kids.” April followed them into the small living area after grabbing three plastic cups from the kitchen. What the soldiers did to protect Vanguard was important and vital. But so was taking care of people inside the territory.

  “Sure,” Vinnie said easily. We can talk about it tomorrow, when we’re working. Tonight, let’s just relax.”

  Yeah. Good plan. Both women were brilliant and had doctorates, and sometimes April wasn’t sure what to say around them. She hadn’t even gone to college. But they were kind, and they’d become her friends. “It was an unsettling night.” She flopped onto a cracked leather chair.