“I wanted to.”
She smirked and rolled her eyes.
“I did. I wanted to so badly, but I was weak.” He sucked in a breath. He’d never told anyone. “I didn’t want to see you as one of them. A gurgh. I couldn’t see you that way…it would have broken me.”
“Whatever, Gage, whatever! That is the biggest lie I’ve ever heard.” Her voice faltered mid-sentence, cracking with emotion. “If you loved me so much then why did you stand in that hallway and act like you didn’t know me?”
Gage remembered how she looked that day in her usual blue jean skirt and long-sleeve white shirt. The hope on her face when she looked at him expectantly, ready for him to show them all she was his girl. “I was a coward, Eve. A damned coward. I wanted to tell them the truth. I wanted the world to know you were my girl, but I was a kid and I was scared. I don’t know why, but I was wrong.”
Eve pulled back her fist and punched him in the jaw. He winced in pain, his head thrown to the side. I deserved that. “Did that make you feel better?” She was breathing hard, her breath coming out in sharp spurts. “Did it?”
“No!” This time she slapped him. Her open palm slammed against the side of his face like a thousand needles. His cock kicked in his pants. His reaction shocked him. He fought the urge to pick her up and throw her hot body on the pool table.
She tried to slap him again, but he captured her hands in his. “I have regretted the way I treated you every day since it happened. That’s why I couldn’t go to your house. I was too afraid of what I would find.” She tried to twist of his grasp, but he held her harder. “I knew if I went in there and you had turned…that I wouldn’t have been able to finish you. I would have stood there and let you have me.” Her struggle to free herself slowed, her green gaze probing his. “Don’t you see, Eve? You’re all I wanted and if you had become one of those things I would have joined you. I would have let you fucking have me if that was the only way I could be with you.” Her struggles stopped altogether, but Gage didn’t free her hands. “I fought with all of it for a very long time, but people needed me. Before I knew it, me and Noah took in more and more people and began building this town. So, I changed my intentions. I worked myself ragged every waking hour I had. I put my heart and soul into this place for you. Your memory was enough to keep me going.”
“But what about Sally?” Eve’s teeth were clamped down on her bottom lip, like she was nervous to hear what he was going to say.
“Sally? Fuck her. She’s been nothing but a pain in the ass since the moment I met her.”
“Not too much of a pain. Obviously. Didn’t keep you out of her bed.”
Gage wanted to look away and deny the words, but knew that he couldn’t. “I was weak and lost, Eve. At first, it was a way of escape an easy out where I could pretend like my whole life hadn’t turned into this fucked up mess.” She narrowed her eyes to little slits. “Before long she was just a bitter reminder of the way things had fallen apart.” Eve took a step back, shaking her head. Gage grabbed her arm. “Don’t walk away from me. Not this time. Listen, please Eve. Listen to me. Every time I was with her, I wished it was you.”
“Don’t.” She jerked against his arm, her sea-green eyes jeweled with tears.
“It’s the truth, Eve. You don’t have to believe it. I don’t expect you to. But it’s real. I left Eden to find my brother, but I also left to get away from her. Every day I spent with her around me was a day that I hated her more.” He took a deep breath. “I should have protected you. I should have come for you. I should have stood in that hallway and professed my love, but I didn’t. I was a stupid kid, but not anymore Eve. I’m not going to run scared like I have my whole life. I love you, Eve. I love you more than anything.”
Eve’s heart thundered so rapidly she was sure that it was going to rip out of her chest. The sincerity in Gage’s face, the truth in his words. She couldn’t doubt him anymore. She gripped his face in her hands, stood on her tiptoes and mashed her lips against his. Mind-blowing electricity sparked the moment their lips met, sending a jolt through her body that had her pussy throbbing.
Gage moaned into her mouth and grasped her hips roughly. The strong flesh of his hands bit into her hips through the thin material of her dress. She snaked her tongue between his parted lips. He welcomed her, dueling her tongue with his own. She dug her nails into his scalp, desperate to keep his body against hers. Part of her feared that if she let go, he would float away and she would lose him forever. Never again! Her mind screeched the words and she clung harder to his thick body. She wrapped her leg around his hip and he looped an arm underneath it. She repeated the process with her other leg and soon she was no longer touching the ground, but clasped firmly in Gage’s strong arms.
Her weeping core poised over the hardness of his erection still concealed in his black pants. Eve gyrated her hips against his long hard length, suddenly desperate to have him inside of her. Gage grunted and thrust his hips against her. His cock speared her clitoris sending an upsurge of revelry splintering through her body.
“I want you. So. Fucking. Bad,” he growled against her lips and spun them around, still shoving his cock hard against her.
“Then have me. I’m yours,” she said in a breathless gasp.
He tilted his head back, severing the connection of their lips. She felt bereft at their loss and tried to pull him back against her. He wouldn’t budge. He held her against him still, but now his thighs were pressed against the side of the pool table, holding her over the green mauve surface. His eyes were the darkest she’d ever seen them, like a storm was raging in their depths. His other features looked like stone they were so hard and unmoving. For a moment she feared he would pull away from her and leave her there alone, broken, and desperate for him.
“This is it, Eve.” His words were stiff. “After this there’s no going back.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” she sputtered.
“I won’t do this with you again. I won’t lose you again. I won’t be able to bare it. Once this is done…you’re mine. Do you understand?”
A thrum of excitement and anticipation tore through her. She stared at his handsome face, his hard features, crooked nose, and dark eyes that studied her. She ran her hand down his cheek, where the skin had grown darker already from where she punched only minutes before. “Only if you’ll be mine.” She licked her suddenly dry lips. Afraid of his response.
“I’ve been yours since the first day of AP Physics.” Gage pressed his lips against hers swallowing her gasp with his mouth in a heated frenzy. He set her down on the pool table, his hands roamed across her body seeming to be everywhere at once. The sound of a zipper cut through the air and Eve was rewarded with cool air against her back. She slipped her arms out and the dressed pooled at her waist, revealing her braless state. He snarled at the sight of them, covering them both with his large hands. She moaned and tilted her head back. He took advantage of the moment and pressed his lips against her exposed throat.
Eve grasped the thick blades of his shoulders trying her best not to collapse back on the pool table in a boneless heap. He used his teeth to nip at her neck. The sizzling pain doubled the pleasure already coursing through her body. I’m going to come. The realization nailed her in the back of the head. She was dangerously close and he hadn’t done anything besides kiss her and nip at her neck. How does he do this to me?
He pulled back and Eve looked down at his hands, both of which were kneading the mounds of her breasts, his skin stark in contrast to her pale flesh. He released one and let his finger trail down the smooth skin of her stomach. The muscles beneath his fingertips twitched on his path downward.
“What do you want me to do?” His words surprised her.
“Wha—”
“Tell me what you want, Eve.” His gaze was focused on her exposed pink nipple. It hardened under his gaze eliciting a moan from his lips. “Do you want me to kiss you…here.” He trailed his hand back up her body and circled her nipple wit
h his fingertip. The bud responded, tightening to a painful degree.
“Yes, Gage, yes!”
He moved forward until his head was only centimeters away from the burgeoned nipple. He was so close she could feel the heat of his breath against her. “You’re sure?”
“Yes!” She ran her hands up his shoulders to the back of his head and pulled him into her. He didn’t resist. His hot fiery mouth seized the sensitive tip and sucked hard. She felt the tug deep inside her belly, spiraling out of control until her toes were tingling from the pull. She rocked against his mouth, inviting him to suck harder. She moved her hands frantically down his chest and tugged at the buttons that kept his torso hidden form her. Her fingers fumbled, unable to grip the slippery surface. After several attempts, she gave up and tore at the fabric. Numerous buttons ripped free and exposed several inches of bronze flesh.
The orgasm that had been building for what seemed like hours rushed to fore, but before it could capsize, Gage pulled back. Eve arched up, demanding he take her back into his mouth.
“Not yet,” he growled. And she wasn’t sure if he was talking about sucking on her nipple or her orgasm. Instead he ripped his shirt from his chest destroying the rest of the buttons in the process and revealing his rock hard chest. He pressed his lips against the flesh above her belly button and trailed his hand down each of her sides. When he got to her hips, he grasped the material of her dress with his hands. Eve lifted her hips and he slipped the dress and her underwear down her legs, leaving her bare before him.
Gage stood up to his full height. With a narrowed gaze, he traced her physique. His eyes skimmed over every part of her, leaving nothing out. The vulnerability of lying before him like this didn’t escape her, but she didn’t shy away from his forceful gaze. This is what I want. He looked like a lion who had just captured his prey, taking in his meal before he dined upon her flesh. The thought sent goose bumps scattering across her skin.
Her gaze fixated on the pulsing flesh still hidden by his black pants. She licked her lips in anticipation. She wanted him in her mouth. She reached forward to free his cock from the confines of his pants, but he grabbed her hand and pinned it to the table. He shook his head.
“Spread your legs for me.” It wasn’t a request, but a demand and Eve was helpless do anything but comply. Tentatively she parted her legs revealing herself to him. This was the first time any man had looked upon female flesh.
He let out a groan that seemed involuntary. “You shaved?”
She fought the urge to blush and knew she failed. The night before she’d discovered a razor in the bathroom. She’d had one in her pack on the road, but had only ever used it to shave the lower half of her legs and under her arms and even that had only happened a few times. She didn’t know what came over her, but before she knew what she was doing she was in the shower shaving the mound between her thighs until it was bare.
“Yes, for you.”
A feral sound escaped his lips. He fell to his knees and pressed his face into the smooth flesh. Eve gasped at the first flick of his sizzling tongue against her wet clit. The second flick brought the orgasm crashing through her body like a raging fire. The flames engulfed her and pleasure spasmed through every nerve ending. His tongue continued its dance against her sensitive bud, prolonging the rapture that held her in its clutches.
After the waves, subsided he continued to lave at her with lazy circles that made her twitch, so sensitive was her core. Just as she was about to push him away, he pulled back and climbed up on the pool table, his massive body caging hers. Her orgasm glistened on his lips. He pressed them against hers and she tasted the salty sweetness that belonged only to her.
He pulled away after several moments and climbed off the table. His narrowed gaze never left hers as he shed his pants and underwear. She wanted to glance down at the steel-hard length between his legs, but his gaze held her so completely that she couldn’t pull hers away. Gage stepped forward, the outside of his thighs brushing against the inside of hers. He placed a hand under each of her knees and pulled her body toward him, where his cock was only inches away from entering her core.
“Say the words, Eve.”
“Words?” What is he talking about? Her thoughts were scattered driven by the need to have him inside of her.
“Tell me who you belong to.”
A thrill of ecstasy pumped through her veins, but still she said, “Who I belong to?”
“Yes,” he grated and bucked against her. The broad head of his cock rubbed against the bud of her clit.
Eve gasped, the words tumbling out of their own accord. “You Gage, I belong to you!”
Gage jerked his hips back and plunged them forward giving a savage yell as he buried himself to the hilt. He didn’t pause, but jerked back and drove back into her again with another forceful thrust.
“Yes, Gage!” she moaned. His body pounded into hers harder, his thighs slapping against her with each powerful thrust of his hips. Tears sprung to her eyes from the sheer intensity of the pleasure building yet again in her body. He snaked his hand between them and pressed the heel of his palm against her clit. Stars exploded behind Eve’s vision as another orgasm slammed into her, she let her head fall back and her eyes close.
“Yeah, come for me!” Gage pistoned his body driving the bliss of her pleasure into another orgasm on top of the one that was already spiraling through her. “God, you’re fucking tight.” Gage grunted, still continuing to thrust into her. His cock seemed bigger inside of her than only seconds before and Eve knew he was close. With effort, she propped herself up on her elbows, her gaze fixated on the flex of his abs as he pushed into her body with his massive dick.
She looked up at his eyes and found them on her breasts which were bouncing with each deep pommel of his body. “Look at me, Gage.” His gray gaze jumped to hers, his pace never slowing. “I love you.” The words escaped her lips like a plea. His response was instantaneous. His thrusts became erratic and his body convulsed. The hot splash of his cum flooded her from the inside.
“Mine!” he shouted with his final thrust, his gaze never leaving hers. He collapsed on top of her, his breathing erratic. She ran her hands over his sweaty flesh until they came to rest on his cheeks. He stared down at her with a look of wonder on his face.
“I love you Gage. I’ve always loved you. Always.” She brushed her lips against his. “You’re only person in the before and now who makes me feel alive in this shitty world.”
Gage smiled his lazy smile, the one that made her heart race and butterflies flutter in her stomach. “I love you too. We’re there, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe I could meet you there.” Gage sang the last line of the chorus from their song.
Eve smiled. “We’re definitely there.
Epilogue
Two weeks later
Eve packed the last item into her backpack. The diamond from the chandelier. She tucked it into the front pocket and smiled. The last two weeks had been the best of her life.
“You got everything?” Gage stepped out of the bathroom holding a pack that looked similar to hers.
“I think so. Does Noah have our weapons?”
“Yep, checked with him this morning. No pry bars, but he does have a sword I think you would like.”
Eve smiled. “What about you? Any Hilda’s in one of those old antique stores?”
Gage stuck out his bottom lip. “No…but there is a compound bow that looks pretty sweet. Looks like we’ll be better prepared than ever.”
Eve lifted her bag onto the king-size bed her and Gage had been sharing. She hadn’t slept in the twin bed again, only going to the room two buildings over from Gage’s to retrieve her things and nothing more. “Are you sure you want to go with me?”
“Are you kidding me?” Gage stepped around the bed and cupped her face in his hands. “I would rather be out there stuck in a horde of gurghs with you than be here without you.” He kissed the tip o
f her nose.
Eve’s heart warmed. “You’re sure?”
He faked an exasperated sigh. “Of course. We’re going to find Olive and bring her home to Eden where she belongs.”
Eve frowned. “You’re forgetting something.”
Gage sighed. “I guess we can look for Joseph and Maddie too while we’re out there.”
Eve smiled and wrapped her arms around Gage and knew that whatever the world threw her way, she wouldn’t have to face it alone.
Olive stared up at the looming plantation home. She would have been in awe of the huge marble columns, but she was too tired to comprehend any of it. The sun would soon set and she was desperate to sit down. They weren’t safe outside. Not her, not Rose, and not baby Lana, who was currently snoozing in the blanket turned sling that Olive had wrapped around herself. Rose trudged behind her, completely worn out. It had been a little over two weeks since baby Lana had been born and life as Olive knew it became harder than it had ever been.
Suddenly she had become the central protector and caregiver for two people, one of them a child. Olive had never fully taken care of herself, much less two others and the group was suffering for it. The little food she’d managed to find she’d reluctantly given to Rose since she was still suffering the after effects of giving-birth and breast-feeding the little one. It had been more than a day since they had stopped and taken rest. Three jenks were following them, all walking, but seeming to gain on them by the hour with their own withering pace.
Coming across Jacksondale was a blessing. If they could get in the house quickly, the jenks would be confused and probably wander off. She climbed the vast steps up to the porch. She stopped only to remove the sling holding Lana and passed the baby over to Rose, who was struggling up the steps behind her.
“I’ll go in first.”
Rose nodded and cradled the sleeping baby in her arms.
Olive didn’t have a weapon, but she’d found a thick branch about the length of her arm earlier in the week. One end was sharper than the other and she’d picked it up just in case. So far she hadn’t had to use it. She pulled it out of her pack and clasped it in her right hand.
Alive (The Crave) Page 24
