by Sky Winters
I sat down on the front porch swing. The porch was a beautiful, fenced in porch with intricate wood detailing along the railing. I gently kicked out my feet and felt the swing move under me. The chain was old and the seat well worn. I was worried that I was going straight to the ground, but the swing held together fine. It creaked a bit, but it was definitely stronger than it looked.
“It’s piss warm, but we have a whole case of it,” Dallas said handing me a beer. “From the dust in there I would say nobody has moved in that house for about a month,” he took a long swig as he finished talking. The swing moaned as he sat down with a thud on the bench. It was nice to see him looking so relaxed. He was wearing a pair of baggy sweat pants and an unbuttoned plaid shirt.
“Nice,” I said putting a finger through a hole in the leg of the pants. I had brought scrubs from the hospital, but none of them were big enough for him to wear. All the pants looked like capris on his long muscular legs. Even these beat up old sweats were a little on the short side.
“None of the jeans fit,” Dallas shrugged as he sat down beside me on the porch swing. “You don’t like them?” We both laughed and I snuggled into his side.
“So what’s the plan?” I was hoping he had one.
“We’ll stay here tonight and then we will keep heading west,” Dallas was staring out over the horizon. It was late afternoon. “I am thinking if we look in that barn we will probably find some mode of transportation that will speed this trip up.”
“Like a tractor?” I had never really been on a farm. I was kind of excited about the idea of taking a tractor anywhere, but it seemed like it might be a little slow.
“Like an ATV, motorcycle, or a truck, something not completely ridiculous.” Dallas was laughing at me, I glared at him. “I just mean something that moves a little faster.” He threw his arm around me and we walked into the barn.
“You know this isn’t going to be easy, right?” I turned to see a very serious look on Dallas’s face. He seemed very concerned about something. “Being a shifter is a hard life. There is no way for me to lead a normal life.” I put my hand on his arm.
“What is normal?” I hadn’t experienced anything normal in a very long time. “Is it normal to have gangs of looters roaming the streets? Is it normal to have your whole family die?”
“Things will go back to normal at some point,” Dallas said pulling his arm away from me. He walked off toward what looked like a small workshop inside the barn. “Right now you need protection, but what happens when the government gets everything under control and they have found the cure? What happens then?” Dallas turned back to me, “I have to know before this goes any further.”
I was really blown away by what I was hearing. He was starting to go through the drawers filled with screws and bolts, but I could tell that he just couldn’t look at me. “So that’s it, I have to know everything right now, or you are just done with me.”
“I will take you anywhere you want to go,” He said as he closed he drawers and walked past me. He was headed toward a red ATV. He started testing the tires and checking the gas tank. I watched him for a minute. I was flustered and hurt by what he was saying, but I knew in my heart that the only place I wanted to go was with him.
I walked over to him as he was pretending to fiddle with the throttle and I took his beer and set it on a tray next to the ATV. He lifted me onto the seat and I pulled his face in for a kiss. His body was so warm it was amazing just to be near him. “I want to go with you, and be with you.” He went in for another kiss and I could tell what he was thinking, but there was no way it was happening in this stinky, dusty barn. I dodged under him and ran through the barn toward the door.
“Ohh! Get back here!” He yelled as I ran to the house I could hear him gaining on me. I had one foot on the stairs when he pulled me backwards. We rolled onto the grass. He landed up on his elbow with me underneath of him. It was nice to see him eye to eye. He kissed me again and this time I didn’t try to run away. I pushed back his ratty plaid shirt and ran my fingers gently along his chest. I pinched his nipple and he bit my lip.
I pushed him over onto his back and climbed on top. He tried to protest, but I already had his cock in my hand. I grasped it firmly so he knew that I was in charge. I slipped off my pants and I got on top. He moaned as I slid down, and my eyes were rolling back into my head as I looked skyward. We rocked our hips together as he rolled my nipples in his fingers. I was losing control as I felt him erupt inside of me. I collapsed on top of him and listened to his heart beating right against my ear.
I could feel his finger tracing the curve of my hip and running up my back. I was in heaven. There was a warm summer breeze and the only sound was the rustling of leaves in the trees. It was hard to remember that any other part of the world existed. I felt like I was becoming a part of him. The dim light of the setting sun was the only indication that any time had passed. Dallas stood up and carried me over the threshold of the farm house.
“We can’t stay here,” were the first words out of my mouth when I saw the house. The dirt and dust, the smell was the worst part for me. The house hadn’t been cleaned in months and suddenly I was wishing that I hadn’t touched that bottle of beer. Anything that came out of this house was definitely going to kill me.
Dallas led me to the pantry. It was the real food that won me over. I had been living on pudding for so long that anything would’ve been preferable, but the loaded pantry was an unbelievable sight. “How could they have just left all this food behind?” I asked as I walked through hanging sausages and baskets of potatoes. The entire basement of the house had been converted into cold storage.
“The outbreak happened so fast that there are places like this all over the world,” Dallas explained. “This is what we have been doing. My family, we are all out gathering and then we are heading back to the den.”
I think he must have noticed the look I gave him, because he continued to explain, “It’s the name of our compound. On the outside it looks like a salvage yard, but it’s great.” I didn’t say a word, “Anywhere I go right?”
“That’s what I said,” I smiled as I grabbed food of the shelves. I was just excited to eat a meal that wasn’t mainly composed of pudding. I had been worried that my stomach was going to turn into pudding. We headed back up the stairs and started cleaning, there was no way I was eating in a kitchen that dirty.
We spent almost a week in the old farm house. I was glad to be out of scrubs. Although the clothes left behind were a little dated, they were at least a change of pace. Dallas only found two pairs of pants that fit him and he was too big to wear any of the shirts. I told him I liked it better that way. We said every night that we were going to pack up and leave the next morning.
As the sun went down on the sixth night, I was doing the dishes when I felt a large hand glide across my stomach through the thin fabric of my sundress. I put my hand over top of it and interlocked my fingers. I turned around to kiss Dallas, but I was met with a wide eyed stare.
“Something’s wrong,” his expression worried me. I was sure he could sense something wrong with the virus. I felt my heart drop. He had told me that his kind were very sensitive to the body and to the release of hormones. I was sure he was going to tell me that I was going to die. I was carrying a deadly disease, everybody was, and my virus had been activated.
“What’s going on?” I asked as he started to walk away. “If I am dying I have a right to know.”
“You’re pregnant,” He said as he just kept walking. “I am so sorry…what?” My expression seemed to surprise Dallas.
“How can you know that?” I was sure he was wrong. It felt like he had to be teasing me. The virus had made people, all people, sterile.
“Your smell has changed,” he said the words like it was a normal thing to say. I felt very exposed. His words made me feel like I should go put on a gallon of perfume. I wanted to plug his nose permanently. This seemed like an awful invasion of my privacy. “I can’
t help it,” he said as if he was also reading my mind. “I can just sense a change in your hormones.”
That was when it hit me. He had just said that I was going to have a baby. I was no longer part of a race that was going extinct. “We’re having a baby?” Tears were already streaming down my face. I couldn’t believe it. I had long given up on the idea. “I didn’t think it could happen,” I jumped up into his arms and threw my arms around him. I was too happy for words.
Dallas had to sit down. He seemed so surprised that I was excited. He couldn’t speak either. As I sat on his lap in the kitchen we tried to breath. It was almost too much to understand. We had somehow beaten the odds. I was carrying his baby. I touched my stomach and felt his warm hand cross over mine. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I knew that we could make this work as long as I had Dallas by my side.
The next morning we started loading a trailer that Dallas found behind the barn. We had hooked it up to the ATV. Dallas was worried that I was going to miss something about my former life, but there was really nothing left of it. As we loaded the trailer I was filled with a sense of anticipation and wonder. I couldn’t wait to see what my new life had in store for me.
Epilogue
“Ma ma!” Devin Blackwood clapped with a huge smile on his face. I was wiggling a bear in his face as we laid in bed. The sun was streaming in through the window. I couldn’t stop looking at his face if I tried.
“Breakfast,” Dallas walked in carrying a basket of fresh eggs and wearing a smile. I thought he was just out of clothes when I met him, but lucky for me, he generally doesn’t where clothes. He gently kissed me on the cheek and I was glad my tough bear was finally finding his tender side. I had finally found my family in this new world.
Summary
Jade Roberts
Since the virus broke free and ravaged our world, I have been living in the hospital I used to work at waiting for my father to pass on. In the first month there was hope, but now all of that has gone. Humans have forgotten how to treat each other with humanity. So should I be surprised that I feel drawn toward this tall, muscular stranger with a bit of a wild side. He is part animal, but he is all man.
Dallas Blackwood
I grew up with a terrible secret that I had to hide from the rest of the world. I am not a person. I am a shifter. I am now in control of it, but it has been a curse. I don’t want to drag this beautiful woman into my dark and dangerous world, but I cannot leave her either. She thinks she understands what she is signing herself up for. The outbreak has changed a lot of things about this world, but it can never change what I am.
THE END
Imprinted to the Bear
The front door of the Zydeco Bar and Grille opened squeakily, and four biker guys came inside. Vicky Roberts looked up from her place behind the bar. She had short brown hair, large blue eyes, and freckles that ran across the bridge of her nose. She liked to keep her hair up in a half ponytail when she was working, so it would stay out of her face. The neon yellow t-shirt that featured the venue’s jazz-inspired logo clung to her body, revealing her curves more than she would have liked, but hey, it was a living.
Like most waitresses, she had taken up this living so she could pursue bigger and better things.
She finished topping off a costumer’s pint of beer and then went over to the newcomers’ table. “Welcome to Zydeco. I’m Vicky. What can I get for you?” She made sure to look at each of the guys so that they all felt cared for. That was one of the tricks of the trade.
She managed to notice that one of them was particularly handsome. She’d have to watch out for that one, she thought.
After taking their orders, she went back to get their requested drinks. The handsome biker was paying a lot of attention to her as well, frequently looking over as she worked at other tables.
Once Vicky finally got a break during a lull, the attractive biker went up to her at the bar. “Hey,” he said, flashing a perfect smile at her and giving a nod. “How’s it going?”
She did not know what she’d done to deserve his attention. “Fine,” she replied, looking at him and trying not to seem too eager to talk to him, or too standoffish. There was a fine line. “How are you? Are you in a motorcycle club or something?”
He seemed taken aback by the fact that she had drawn that conclusion. It was not exactly a difficult conclusion to reach. “We are, as a matter of fact. NOLA Ours, at your service.”
“And you’re their…publicist?” Vicky asked, raising an eyebrow.
Chuckling, he shrugged and then nodded a little. “Sure, if you want. I’m technically the VP, though you’d never know that by the way these assholes talk to me.”
She smiled at him. She could tell that he was joking. Mostly. “What’s your name?” she asked him.
“Amos Steele,” he readily replied. “And you’re Vicky.”
Still smiling, she nodded. “Yup. Right you are.”
He sat on a stool at the bar, and she knew that he had no plans to go back with his friends any time soon. Maybe he was not totally kidding about them being assholes. Or maybe she was that alluring; in her ridiculous shirt and with her face glistening from sweat. New Orleans was no place to have an AC on the fritz. And the Zydeco AC had been on the fritz for more than a week.
It might have been grounds for Vicky to quit, if she didn’t need the money so badly.
“What’s your last name?” he asked with curious eyes, resting his chin against his fists.
Maybe it was the heat in there, or maybe it was the flattery of the situation, but Vicky’s face turned hot as he looked at her that way and asked such a thing. She couldn’t tell now if he was just being friendly, or if he was planning to stalk her later. “Roberts,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him slightly.
“Roberts,” Amos repeated as though it was a new name he’d never heard before, and not a name that was fairly common everywhere. “And where were you born?” he asked. “I can tell you’re not from around here. Your accent is different.”
Smiling, impressed, Vicky nodded. “You have a good ear.”
Amos laughed. “The N’awlans accent is just thick,” he said, making sure to add a bit of the twang to his speech for effect. “So where are you from? If I had to guess, I’d say… Boston?”
She grinned at him. “Just outside,” she replied. “Very good. It’s kind of scary how perceptive you are.”
Although Vicky was dazzled by this guy, she was starting to worry that he might try and become a distraction for her. The last thing she really needed was a distraction from her schoolwork…
“Are your parents still in Boston?” he asked curiously. “Do you go back there regularly?”
At that she had to shake her head. “No, actually. My parents died when I was a baby. I was in foster care, all of my childhood. But I don’t exactly consider that family.”
Now she definitely wanted to pull away.
“Are you off tomorrow?” Amos Steele asked her then. “Could I see you again?”
Vicky shook her head. “No, I can’t. I have class.”
“What class?”
This guy did not know when to stop. She found him attractive and interesting, although his interrogation was scaring her a little now. “I’m sorry; I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll see you around, Amos.”
She gave him another small smile as a parting gift, and then went to go check on one of her tables. They did not really need anything, but she needed them as an excuse to get away. The handsome biker intrigued her, and she would not have minded seeing him again, but his questions had started to feel intense. Vicky felt like she was going crazy from the heat and the stress of the day. She could have sworn Amos Steele’s eyes had briefly glowed gold while he talked to her…
As soon as she was off work that night, Vicky carefully walked the short walk from the bar to her apartment building. She had lucked out in getting a place that was so conveniently close to her work, but that convenience came with a rent that could not
continue to be paid by tips alone.
It’s temporary, she reminded herself. It’s all just temporary.
Once she was safely inside her place, she took off her shorts and the neon shirt, and replaced them with a long, loose t-shirt that served as a pajama top. Vicky let her hair down and gave it a good brushing before brushing her teeth. It was twenty minutes til midnight, and she had class the following morning. At least it was not until eleven a.m., but waking up was hard to do when work made her a night owl.
Settling into bed, Vicky wondered if she was going to have those weird dreams about bears. She’d been having recurring bear dreams for as long as she could remember. Sometimes, they were just dreams. Other times, they were nightmares. She did not know why these dreams happened to her. She’d never seen an actual bear in her life. Then again, she did not have memories of when she was very small. Perhaps she had been taken to see bears at the zoo once when she was tiny.
That was the only explanation she could think of.
Sure enough, as she finally drifted off to sleep, she had visions of walking through a forest of spindly trees, and stepping into a circle of bears that seemed to bow to her. Their eyes had a golden glow, and when she looked into them her body was illuminated with warmth.
When her alarm went off at nine thirty the next morning, Vicky did not feel like getting up. To be fair, she never did. She once had an ex-boyfriend who always teased her about how excessive she was with sleep. That could not happen anymore though. She threw off her sheets and stumbled, shivering, into the bathroom to wash her face.
With a shower and some cereal in her, she was ready to go to her art class at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art. That class was the reason for her move there from Boston. She’d received a scholarship and couldn’t pass up the chance. Art continued to make her life better, and help erase the emptiness of her past.
