I’d just gotten dressed when I heard crashing sounds from somewhere close by. Running out of my room, I saw two men fighting in the hallway.
My two men.
Dane and Sam.
My husband, and my best friend.
“What’s going on?” I call out, running to both of them.
Dane has Sam in a headlock. He’s bigger than Sam, and although Sam is tough, Dane is more skilled. Dane is a trained killer. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to go up against him.
I slap Dane’s shoulder. “Dane, what the hell?”
Strong arms come around me, lifting me away.
Lars.
I squirm, and try to knee him in the balls.
“Stop it,” he growls, shaking me. “If you get hit accidentally both of them are going to hate themselves.”
“They’re going to kill each other,” I grit out as Dane punches Sam. “Dane is going to kill him!”
“He won’t,” Lars says, sounding sure.
I turn to him. “That’s your fucking boyfriend getting the shit beat out of him! Do something!”
Lars smiles sadly, shaking his head slightly. Catching him off guard, I elbow him in the stomach with all my might and return to Dane. Sam pushes Dane off him and I take that opportunity to get between them. I put a hand up on Dane’s chest.
“That’s enough!” I yell, my eyes pleading with his. He nods, so I turn to my best friend, whose nose is dripping blood. I rip off my sleeve and hand it to him. “Hold this to your nose Sam.”
“Sam has something to tell you,” Dane booms, making me jump. I glance at him and then back at Sam, wondering what the hell this could be about.
Sam’s throat works as he swallows. He looks nervous, which makes me nervous. “Your father told me, that if I came out as gay… He would kick me out.”
My eyes widen. “I would have never let that happen.”
“I know you wouldn’t,” he replies, his eyes watering. “Which is why it was me that poisoned him. It wasn’t Lars. His time to lead was over. It was your turn to shine Olivia. You always let me, and everyone else be who they are.”
“Sam,” I whisper, shaking my head no.
No.
He’s my best friend.
My rock.
He taught me everything he knew.
No.
He wouldn’t do this to me. He couldn’t.
“You wouldn’t do this,” I say in a hoarse voice that doesn’t sound like my own. “You wouldn’t.”
I was one of his favorite people in the world.
No.
I slide down on the floor, my back going against the wall.
People talk, but I don’t hear what they say.
I don’t hear anything.
Silence.
Blessed silence.
Darkness swallows me whole.
I open my eyes and see Dr. James concerned face. “You fainted.”
“I did,” I say, my throat parched. “Can I have some water?”
He nods and helps me sit up, then passes me a cup. I take a few sips then hand it back to him.
“Do you remember what happened?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest and studying me with an intensity that has me squirming.
I think back.
Sam.
Betrayal.
Pain blooms in my chest, and spreads throughout my body,
“Yes,” I whisper.
“It wasn’t Lars, I was wrong. But I was right about him being killed,” he says sadly. “I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t even talk about it.
I didn’t know what to say.
I was shocked.
I still didn’t believe it, I couldn’t.
My Sam wouldn’t do something like this.
He was light.
Fuck, it hurt.
Badly.
“Dane just left,” Dr. James continues. “He was with you all night, watching over you.”
“Where did he go?”
“He was going to see if he could make you some broth,” he says. “Olivia when was your last period?”
I swallow, my mouth suddenly dry again. “Ummmm.”
Fuck.
I hadn’t had my period since I married Dane. And I’d remember. We usually didn’t have feminine products left so we had to use a piece of cloth. It wasn’t pretty.
“Fuck,” I say out loud this time.
Dr. James laughs. “Yes, I think you’re pregnant. Your father would be happy to think that the prophecy was coming true. If you had a son, of course, everyone would think he would be the one to save humanity.”
Poor kid. No pressure or anything, jeez.
“That prophecy was made up,” I mutter.
By my own husband.
“I know,” he winks. “Your father was the only one who bought that whole tirade.”
“Did you tell Dane?”
“He’s the one who asked me. He said he thought you could be pregnant.”
Great, he knew my body better than I did.
I sigh dramatically. “You better be here to deliver my baby.”
Dr. James laughs. “I’m not that old. I still have a century or so in me.”
“Good.”
“We need to train more healers and midwives,” he says, walking to the window staring out of it. “What are you going to do with Sam?”
I lie back own and cover my eyes with my arm. “I don’t know. I could never hurt Sam.”
It would be like hurting myself.
The door opens and Dane steps in. “You’re awake.”
Dr. James leaves the room, giving us some privacy.
“How do you feel? I brought you some soup,” he says, placing the tray down on the table then coming to stand by the bed.
“I’m okay,” I say. “I hear you’re going to be a father.”
He smiles so widely that is eases some of the pain in my chest. “Just when I thought you couldn’t make me any happier.”
“I’m full of surprises.”
He leans down and lifts up my t-shirt, kissing my stomach. “You’re going to be the best mother. Our kid is so damn lucky.”
I smile. “He’s going to have the most badass dad too.”
Dane tilts his head to the side. “Maybe he will save humanity after all.”
“Maybe he will be a she. And she will save humanity.”
“With a mother like you,” he replies, staring into my eyes. “That’s something I could believe.”
When I go to find Sam the next day, I find that he’s gone. Left. Without a word. I don’t know how to feel. Surprisingly, he isn’t the only one that has left. Lars has gone too. I didn’t see that one coming. I think Sam was saving me, taking away the pain of having to choose what to do with him. I couldn’t hurt him, but I couldn’t just ignore what he did. I don’t know what was going through his head. Now I guess I will never know.
“What you didn’t leave too?” I ask Gina. When I see her red eyes, I regret my comment.
“I can’t believe this,” she cries. “I loved him Olivia. I loved Lars. But he chose Sam.”
I hug her and let her cry it out. “Why did you stay?”
She shrugs. You saw how I reacted to those beasts. It’s scary out there.”
“There are…” I trail off. I was going to say ‘there are plenty fish in the sea’ but we really didn’t have that many men here. I try again. “You should steal Wyatt from Jordan. He’s a good man.”
She smiles through her tears.
I smile back.
Sam left me a note.
Saying sorry.
That he loves me.
That I’m his best friend.
That he just wanted to be free.
That he’d never forget me, and not to worry about him. He’d be safe with Lars.
I wish he’d told me how he felt.
I could have freed him.
I fill the emptiness Sam left in me with my baby. Running my hands over my stomach, I take a bite of fish
from my plate.
“You need to eat the lettuce,” Dane says. “Anything green.”
I smile, feeling amused. “I’m eating as much fresh vegetables as I can.”
“Eat my portion too. You need it not me.”
He slides his lettuce and carrots onto my plate.
“Dane--”
“No arguing,” he replies. “You and the baby’s health is my top priority.”
I shut up and eat his vegetables.
“It’s hard for you to have a balanced diet but we can do what we can,” he continues. “There’s some tinned corn and stuff like that you can eat. If you need anything let me know and I’ll venture out to get it.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You’ll probably come back with another ex of yours.”
His lips tighten. “Baby--”
“I was joking.”
“I know you miss Sam,” he says quietly, studying me. “He loved you, you know that right? His mind was obviously messed up. In his head he thought he was helping everyone in the castle. He fucked up. Maybe he has some issues to work out. What he did was… out of his character. Fucked up. Wrong. But I know that he loved you.”
I shrug. “It’s in the past now. Time to move forward, you know?”
“Olivia…”
“Yes?” I ask, putting my fork down.
“I can be your best friend,” he says, ducking his head. “I want to be everything to you. Your husband, your lover, your protector, and your best friend.”
I put my hand on top of his. “You already are.”
Epilogue
He wouldn’t make love to me.
“I want sex!” I yell, throwing a pillow at him.
He smirks, the infuriating man. “Yes, like that’s going to help.”
His dark hair was down, sitting by his shoulders, and I ached to run my fingers through it, preferably while he was going down on me.
There was an idea.
“You could use your mouth,” I say, pulling down my panties and spreading my thighs. “That can’t hurt the baby in any way.”
His eyes narrow and darken.
When he licks his lips, I moan. “You want me, do you wife?”
“You know I do,” I reply breathily. “I always do.”
He lifts his arms and pulls off his t-shirt. I admire his muscles, his six pack of delicious abs and his smooth toned chest. When he slides his pants off, I stare at the V on his hips, leading down to his thick, wide cock.
My cock.
“See, he wants me,” I reply, sinking my teeth into my lower lip.
Dane curses. “I want you Olivia. But I can’t be inside you, doctor’s orders.”
His expression looks pained.
He curses again then crawls on the bed. In one swift move, he pulls me down the bed, spreads my thighs further and buries his face in my pussy.
And then, he feasts.
Afterwards I return the favor.
Then he uses his mouth on me again.
“I love you,” he growls.
“I love you too Dane,” I whisper as he pushes the damp hair out of my face. “Too much.”
He kisses me slowly, like he has all the time in the world.
In a world of chaos, death and pain, I found an epic love.
If I could go back to the old times, before the virus spread, before creatures appeared on our earth, I wouldn’t.
I’d rather be here right now.
With him.
I flashback to me, standing there with my dad, pointing Dane out.
I stood on my tip toes, and spoke into my dad’s ear. “The one dressed in black that just walked through the door,” I’d said.
One moment that set the pathway for my life.
Pathway to happiness.
Dane Mitchell was my hero.
Seventeen Years Later
Dane
I look down at my daughter, narrowing my eyes on her. “What did you just say?”
“I said, I know who I want to marry.”
“And who would that be,” I ask her through clenched teeth.
Serenity was our only child.
We didn’t have a son, like everyone thought.
No, we had a daughter.
A daughter with Olivia’s determination and my stubbornness. She also had her mother’s beauty.
A dangerous mix.
“Regan. I love him daddy. I want to marry him,” she says, beaming up at me.
Regan.
“He’s eight years older than you!” I growl, my hands turning to fists.
“I know,” she says quietly. “But he’s a good man. One of the most skilled men we have. Mama loves him. She said she gave me her blessing.”
Of course she did.
Olivia loved Regan like she would her own kid, she always did.
But my daughter, wasn’t getting married.
At her young age?
No way in hell.
“Olivia!” I call out at the top of my lungs, even though I knew this was a battle I was going to lose.
Just like keeping her inside of the walls.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Ari at Cover it designs for her hard work, talent and for always being there for me.
There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you Ari!
Thank you to my wonderful beta readers who helped me so much with this book:
Kara Brown, Stephanie Knowles, Eileen Robinson, Kitty Kat, Shelley Bunnell, Stephanie Felix and Natasha Awkar.
I appreciate each and every one of you.
Thank you to Rose Tawil who I absolutely adore, thank you for always having my back and helping to promote me.
To my editor Nessa Leret, thank you so much for being so wonderful. It’s been great working with you on this book.
Last but not least, thank you to my family-- my parents, my sisters and my three sons.
I love all of you and appreciate you all for being there for me no matter what.
And to Ty and Tahj—Thank you for your many, crazy, creative ideas about zombies.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Beyond Page 13
