True Refuge

by Annabelle McInnes

  Kira placed her hands on her hips. ‘I’m not sleeping in the middle.’

  She really would be going to bed with a sore bottom.

  It was Nick who saved her from Euan’s palm with a gentle yet effective push, compelling her forward so she face-planted in the middle of the mattress with an oomph and a cry.

  ‘I’m tired too, Pixie,’ Nick told her, following her into the room. ‘Euan’s hand isn’t the only one that can tan your ass.’

  ‘You two talk about spanking a lot,’ Kira groused as she rolled over and pushed the hair out of her eyes before pulling back the covers and crawling on her hands and knees to get in. ‘And you never listen to anything I say.’

  Euan exchanged a knowing look with Nick, trying hard not to picture all the things he wanted to do to that round behind as it wiggled towards the head of the bed. He finally moved out of the way for Nick so he could climb into the side of the bed closest to the wall.

  His eyes trailed over Kira’s tempting feminine form. Even with her bickering, quirky habits, her clumsiness and her cute stubbornness that never lasted longer than a quick stern word, Euan was finding her disconcertingly alluring. She was clever, intuitive and generous. She was funny too, and had Nick in fits of genuine laughter and Euan stifling a grin on more than one occasion. He couldn’t remember Nick ever being so relaxed, even during the days they’d found temporary respite. The woman was a miracle, in more ways than one.

  Euan was pulled away from his musings by a comment from Nick. ‘I don’t like being this far from the door either, Euan.’

  Maybe he would tie them together and gag them both—for entertainment purposes only, of course—and enjoy their bodies long into the night.

  ‘Happy to bend both of you over this mattress and have my way with each of you in turn, so I’d advise you to make a decision quickly about how you want this night to proceed,’ Euan told them threateningly.

  It was the surprising look of longing that flashed across both sets of wide eyes at his statement that had him fighting the temptation to go through with his threat. It was obvious that Nick was into the girl, and Kira was lapping up the attention with the hunger of an abandoned puppy. But as much as Euan wanted to make his fantasies into reality, he knew that was not the way this situation needed to be handled. This potential relationship between the three of them needed to work long-term—for the rest of their lives, if fate allowed it. So Euan would employ a delicate and tactical approach, even if his dick was screaming at him to fuck them with indulgent abandonment.

  Nick went to open his mouth, only to have a delicate hand clasp firmly over his lips. ‘Shhh. No, I’m tired too. No more complaining,’ Kira said.

  Euan began to remove the shorts he’d worn for the day. They’d chaffed and pulled, ridden up his ass crack and squeezed his gut uncomfortably all day. Drawing down the zipper from its utmost point at the halfway mark, Euan hooked his thumbs in the waistband and pulled them off his hips and to the floor in one smooth motion.

  ‘Holy ghost!’ Kira squawked, covering her eyes with her hands and wiggling back on the bed towards a sly-eyed Nick. ‘What are you doing?’

  Euan didn’t answer, his movement to settle himself under the bedding making it obvious enough.

  ‘You can’t get in here naked!’ Kira squeaked when he didn’t reply.

  He sighed heavily, rolled onto his back and put his palms beneath his head. ‘Think I just did.’

  ‘But … don’t you have at least some underpants?’ she pleaded.

  He shifted and turned off the night-light, settling further into the mattress, hearing Nick do the same before he spoke again.

  ‘Go to sleep, Kira,’ he ordered.

  She remained still in the dark. ‘But …’

  ‘Not gonna repeat myself,’ he growled, his agitation brewing under the surface of his tone.

  ‘This really is inappropriate,’ she breathed.

  ‘Kira,’ Euan rumbled.

  ‘Oh, all right,’ she snapped, flinging her upper body on the pillow with an annoyed humph. An invisible cloud of lavender, soap and tempting feminine musk accosted Euan’s senses. He hoped it would bring him comforting dreams.

  Once they were all settled, it was Nick’s low chuckle that lulled him into a heavy slumber.

  Chapter 18

  Euan was the first to wake that morning.

  Initially, he lay motionless, relishing the small, feminine body wrapped around him in the dark. Kira’s surprisingly lush breasts were pressed against the side of his chest, one slender arm thrown over his stomach, one toned leg tangled between both of his.

  Behind her, Euan could hear Nick snoring softly. Sometime during the night, he had wrapped his long, lean body around their little living fairy. His muscular arm was draped over Kira, his fingers meshed with hers on Euan’s belly.

  Euan had stayed relatively motionless. His hands were still clasped behind his head, elbows bent, as he lay on his back.

  In the dark, he cherished the delicate, womanly scent that mixed with the heady masculine overtones. He luxuriated in the entwined hands that lay relaxed on his stomach, especially enjoying the soft breasts compressed against him.

  It had taken all of two nights for Kira to feel sheltered enough to pull herself out of her little ball and seek comfort. Euan liked to think it was his charisma that had breached her defenses, but it was more likely the young woman’s ability to instinctively trust. Her unfettered confidence in them still gave him palpitations, but he was learning this particular trait was innate, due to her never having to know otherwise. Because of that, he’d learn to both love it and live with it.

  It might make him an asshole, but it was in that moment, which he guessed was around dawn, that he was thankful the plague had hit and wiped out most of humanity. If it hadn’t, he’d still be in his one-bedroom apartment in a seedy part of town, completing random hard labour jobs, punching people for a little extra cash, barely enjoying a few meaningless hookups and wanking over porn.

  Now, he’d found a family he could care for and treasure unreservedly. A family he could keep safe, warm and fed. They might have suffered trials to get there, but they would find solace in one another. For the first time in a long time, Euan’s mind was at ease, his fatigue assuaged, his hunger abated. Even the blisters on his feet were healing.

  As he relished the comforting sensation of finally being rested and replenished, he realised Nick hadn’t had a nightmare since they’d found Kira. That was two nights of blissful, unbroken sleep where he hadn’t had to worry about Nick’s violent outbursts, his anguished cries of internal terror, or the defeated, worn look of a broken soul through bloodshot, jade-green eyes in the morning. Instead, Euan had been privileged to enjoy Nick’s hearty baritone laugh, his quick-witted remarks and his flashing grin.

  Euan’s heart felt as though it would swell and burst in his chest from his utter and profound elation. It was no surprise to him that part of his exhaustion had to do with the burning lead weight he carried out of guilt of what happened to Nick.

  It all had to do with this tiny little bundle of white-gold feminine joy that buried herself against Euan’s body without fear. Kira didn’t cower at his rough attitude, overbearing demeanor or demanding requests. She didn’t shrink from confronting Nick’s dark shadows, sharing her joy in the world that surrounded her or letting the love of those she had lost be forgotten. She was vivacious, spirited and tenacious. And Euan had only known her for two days. What would he discover in a year? Christ, a lifetime?

  He was hard-pressed not to coax Kira’s chin up with his fingers from where her head rested on his shoulder to take her lips in a gentle morning appreciation kiss. He would tell her to remain motionless while he nibbled her lush lips, ran his tongue along the seam of her mouth to nudge it open and dipped inside to taste her. Her breath would hit him in a rush, and he would absorb the gasp in his mouth as he began to devour her, darting and flicking his tongue to elicit short, sharp pants from her as she remained
still.

  The noise, and Euan’s assault, would wake Nick. He would have that charming, disoriented look he got first thing in the morning when he still hadn’t fully pushed sleep back from its all-encompassing hold. His hair would be in disarray, and his eyes would be glazed with lust as he watched Euan overwhelm Kira’s senses. Euan would reluctantly pull himself from her wet lips and tell Nick he was only allowed to watch.

  Then the three of them would stay in bed all morning, whiling the hours away sweaty and naked.

  The thought was overwhelming. He knew the reality would blow his fucking mind.

  However, Euan didn’t rouse either of them like he did in his imaginings. He realised his naked state would likely have the opposite effect should Kira wake and find her fingers brushing the head of his enthusiastic cock. Suddenly, the weeks of abstinence were achingly obvious. As he shuffled out from under the warm cocoon of covers, Euan made a mental note to eliminate that stalemate soon, before he exploded from the simple friction of his too-tight pants.

  As he left the room and gently closed the door behind him, he heard the rustle of bedding as Nick and Kira found each other’s warm bodies for comfort. That was how he left them, with a beautiful ache in his chest.

  He showered, taking longer than usual to will himself back into a slumbering state, still not finding any satisfaction with his own hand.

  He emerged to find the lights to the kitchen and living area on, Nick and Kira play-fighting over who would be cooking breakfast.

  ‘Kira, how about you go find those clothes you said your brother stored in the back rooms?’

  When her attention shifted from Nick to Euan, who stood imposingly in the middle of the room, she let out a surprised squeak.

  ‘Euan! For goodness sake! I washed the clothes you came here in. You could have at least put the pants on!’

  Wearing only a pair of Superman-tight briefs that had belonged her brother, Euan walked unashamed towards the dining table to take a seat.

  He shrugged nonchalantly. ‘I couldn’t find them.’

  When Nick started laughing, Kira swatted him with a spatula.

  ‘It’s unseemly,’ she admonished him haughtily. In that moment, Euan discovered another thing he found infinitely appealing about the woman—she was adorable when she was uncomfortable.

  ‘I have briefs on,’ he argued.

  Kira shook her head and avoided his gaze, probably because her pretty cheeks were turning pink and not because she was embarrassed. ‘I’ll go find those clothes,’ she muttered, handing over the cooking utensil to Nick before darting past Euan.

  ‘Kira,’ he called to her retreating form.

  She paused and turned to face him, her blue eyes filled with longing. Her blush had radiated from her cheeks down to her chest, tempting his gaze to the dip in the fabric where the top button of her nightdress had come undone. She clenched her hands at her sides, holding back a wealth of physical desire that would only take a little moulding with his hand to have her coming completely undone by his attention.

  When it happened, it would be glorious.

  But not yet.

  Instead, he cautioned, ‘Anything too heavy or too high up, you call for me, yeah?’

  Even with her heightened sexual awareness suffocating the room, Kira still managed to roll her eyes at him.

  ‘Kira,’ he growled.

  ‘Gosh. Yes. So bossy,’ she groused as she turned and all but ran from the room.

  Nick smiled and chucked in her wake.

  ‘How is it that when you only wear briefs, she takes no notice, but I get the third degree when I’m wearing the same?’ Euan asked.

  ‘Maybe ’cause there’s a lot more of you to see than there is of me.’ Nick’s reply was wry. ‘All that skin and ink can be overwhelming.’

  ‘Can be?’ A smug twitch pulled at his lips.

  Nick threw a fork in his direction, which he caught without thought and placed with overt precision on the table

  Nick shook his head at his audacity. ‘What are your plans today?’

  ‘Inventory,’ he replied as he leaned back into the chair. ‘You?’

  Nick’s grin was blinding. ‘Those battery packs. Kira mentioned yesterday that a few weren’t working properly. Can’t wait to get my hands on them.’

  Euan let one side of his lips tilt. ‘Bet you can’t.’

  Nick cracked a number of eggs in a bowl and began to whisk them together with a fork. ‘Think she’ll find clothes that’ll fit you?’

  ‘It’d be a miracle if she does.’

  The silence between them became comfortable. Though Euan did appreciate Nick’s glorious toned body, he also enjoyed watching the young man complete tasks that inspired him. Nick had been an electrical engineer, and his curiosity came naturally. Whether he was fiddling with unusable car engine parts, his fingers black with grease, or repairing his clothes with small intricate stitching, Euan knew that whenever Nick was engrossed in his own world, he savored it as though it fed his soul.

  ‘I love cooking,’ Nick said simply, adding a number of ingredients from Kira’s vegetable garden into a second pan he’d placed to heat on the stove.

  Though Nick couldn’t see it, engrossed as he was in his cooking, Euan let his face relax, his eyes softening as his lips tipped up.

  For the second time in two days, Euan smiled. Nick’s mask was cracking, the walls were crumbling and his true self was shining through.

  ‘Know it, kid,’ he murmured in reply.

  Nick was plating the omelets when they heard a number of muffled bangs from the hallway.

  ‘Found them,’ Kira panted, heading their way.

  When she became visible through the doorway to the living room, the hair around her face was plastered to her skin from her exertions. In her tiny, shaking arms, she carried an enormous plastic crate.

  ‘Jesus, Kira. What did I say?’ Euan chastised as he quickly rose from his chair and took the unsurprisingly heavy crate from her arms.

  ‘That even though you’re a big, burly man, you’ll still let me express my independence?’ Kira responded sassily.

  Euan growled, but it was Nick who replied with a chuckle. ‘Don’t push him, Pixie. That man can think of diabolical ways to punish you for not doing what you’re told.’

  ‘Punish me?’ Kira asked incredulously, her eyebrows raised. ‘I’m twenty-five, not five,’ she added as she sat at the table, avoiding eye contact with Euan.

  ‘The punishments will suit a twenty-five-year-old, that I can assure you,’ Euan informed her with a stern glare as he placed the crate on the table with a thud.

  ‘Honestly, you’re obsessed with spanking,’ she muttered.

  He met her gaze. ‘I didn’t say anything about spanking, sweetheart.’

  Nick laughed harder as Kira huffed out her impatience with the conversation, but Euan did not miss the look of confusion, as well as curiosity, that filtered through her delicate features.

  ‘Just look in the box, will you?’ she muttered.

  Euan reluctantly turned his attention to the plastic crate in front of him. The large rectangular box had a lid to keep the interior waterproof and air-tight. He hooked his fingers under the rim and pulled with a considerable amount of force to remove the top.

  He sent a quick word of thanks to Will for his diligent planning.

  Clothes. Man-sized clothes. ‘Surviving the end of the world’ clothes. Kevlar jeans, tactical pants, windbreakers with enough pockets to hide a seven-course meal, including utensils and glassware. There were thermal undergarments for both top and bottom, plus active-wear socks and briefs.

  Euan looked up and met Kira’s shy smile. ‘There should be something in there that fits Nick too. Will hoped more of our family would survive. Our friends,’ she finished, looking down at her hands.

  ‘Sweetheart, look at me,’ Euan softly demanded.

  Surprisingly, she didn’t hesitate, lifting those stunning eyes to meet his. He was once again floored by their beauty.
When her lips parted and her tongue brushed them with wetness, he had the beginnings of a hard-on to complement his aching heart.

  He leaned around the crate, palmed her cheek and gently kissed her forehead. Her eyes fluttered closed and a silent sigh left her lips. The unused clothes were a painful reminder of all she’d lost.

  When Kira opened her eyes again, Euan met her vivid blue gaze. ‘Thank you,’ he murmured.

  She smiled in reply.

  Not wanting to break the moment, but having nothing but the smell of floral shampoo and cooking eggs assaulting his senses, Euan ran his fingers through her hair in a gentle caress before turning to Nick. ‘How are those eggs coming along?’

  As his gaze moved to the man at the stove, he witnessed the surprising look of unrestrained yearning in Nick’s features. In a blink it was gone, but Euan knew what he saw. And it made the blood in his veins—particularly the big one that was trapped inside his pants—burn with desire. For both of them.

  He watched Nick gather himself together and clear his throat before answering, ‘Um, yeah, almost done.’

  He nodded. ‘Good. While you finish up, I’ll get this crate out of the way and Kira can set the table.’

  ***

  Kira was the last to shower. Euan was strapping on a leather belt, running his fingers over the supple hide and marvelling at the fact that the pants almost fit when she emerged from the hallway in nothing but a threadbare burgundy towel. Water droplets sluiced down her alabaster skin in enticing rivulets and her wet hair was slicked back against her skull. Her eyes were bright as she purposely avoided Euan’s gaze and walked, just a little too slowly, towards the kitchen where Nick was cleaning up after breakfast.

  ‘Your omelets are the best Nick,’ she announced as she stole a cold morsel from the pan with her fingers.

  Nick was about to berate her interference, only to have the words halt in his throat. He watched, mouth agape, as she turned before their eyes, and paraded just as slowly back though the living area towards the hallway, licking her digits provocatively as she passed.

  When she was out of sight, Nick turned to Euan, blonde eyebrows raised to his hairline. ‘Cheeky,’ he muttered.