Savage

by Jade C. Jamison

  I didn’t want to let myself believe it was getting nearer.

  I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

  I didn’t want to allow myself even a glimmer…and yet I stood there, my muscles taut, my nerves tingling, my breath bated.

  And I continued to stand that way, even after I heard the motor stop near me. I estimated that it was in front of the truck, just below the sidewalk, based on the sound. I sucked in a jagged breath, knowing that it was stupid to not look up, because if it really wasn’t him, then I could potentially be in danger.

  I opened my eyes before lifting my head off my arm and swallowed. Yeah, it was Kevin Savage, the warm spring sun beaming down on him. He was a most welcome sight and it turned out that my hopes weren’t dashed by his appearance, but I was confused. Why was he here?

  He must have seen that unspoken question written on my face. “I forgot to tell you something.”

  Oh. And there was the disappointment. In today’s ravaged world, he couldn’t just send me a quick text or call me to pass on a piece of information he thought was semi-urgent. So what was so important that he felt the need to prolong the start of his journey—and the start of my healing—just so he could come back and tell me? I squinted, hoping it looked like the sun was in my eyes when really it was the desperate need to, once more, push the tears back. I swallowed, trying to keep my voice steady…neutral. “What was that?”

  He closed the gap between us and touched my cheek. “I love you too.”

  Well, I might have been able to hold back the tears before, but there was no stopping them then. There they went, reminders of my thawed-out heart and renewed sense of self. I blinked, trying to make the stupid things stop falling, and said, “You wasted all that gas just to tell me that?”

  He smiled and then leaned over to kiss me, and I couldn’t stop my hands from grabbing the front of his shirt, almost afraid to let him go ever again. But he pulled me close, his arms around my waist, as if assuring me that he wasn’t going anywhere. When his lips left mine, he said, “Yeah.” His eyes narrowed before he kissed my forehead and added, “No. It’s…just something I think you needed to know, no matter the cost.” I knew then that that was all he would ever say on the matter, this man of few words. It felt like a love song, though, one that had been painstakingly composed for days until just the right notes, only the perfect words had been chosen.

  Still…I feared allowing myself to believe something without confirmation. Like a merchant of old, I had to bite the coin to make sure it was real. His answer to my question would be just that. “So…what now?”

  He looked down at me. “No sense me going north alone, when you need to check on your kids up there too. We kill two birds with one stone—check my family and check yours. We get my truck while we’re up there, and if anyone needs to come home, we bring them with us.”

  “Home?”

  I saw a twinkle in Kevin’s clear green eyes. “I was gonna sell my mom’s house before all this…but I’m thinking of settling in there now.”

  “But what about work? Don’t you have a job in Greeley?”

  He chuckled. “After a five month unapproved leave of absence? Besides…I have no idea what’s going on now. I know there’s some demand for oil, but I have no idea where it’s coming from. Maybe there, maybe somewhere else. But I think…I think my old hometown needs some TLC. It needs rebuilding…and it needs people to do that. Was I wrong in guessing you wanted to be part of that?” I blinked. “Once you know what’s going on with your kids?”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  He nodded. “Nothing says we have to do anything…other than checking on our loved ones. But I sure as hell don’t want to do it alone.”

  I continued looking at him, this man I’d fallen in love with again, only this time…this time, it wasn’t a schoolgirl’s infatuation, a fantasy of what could be. I loved the man, the real man, the guy I’d discovered during our ordeal. And I told him so. Never again would I allow inaction or unspoken words to lead to regret.

  “So what now?”

  “You wanna go get your kids?”

  I nodded. “That was the plan.”

  “Want a partner?”

  “More than you know.”

  A couple of hours later, our bellies full, our hearts fuller, we set out on the highway toward Colorado Springs, I on the back of Kevin’s bike, holding him around the torso, my cheek resting against his back. I didn’t know what the future would bring—if I would find my kids, if we would come back to Winchester, even what would happen as mankind rebuilt what had been lost—but I did know that anything I did from this point forward would be with him.

  I was no longer alone.

  Acknowledgements

  It might take a village to raise a child, and sometimes it takes a lot of questions directed to lots of people with experience to answer a writer’s question. Research is one thing, but direct questions are usually better and render answers more quickly and in a more reliable fashion. On that note, I have several people to thank for answer my questions in an effort to, as always, make this novel as realistic as possible…and to others for helping to get the word out. Also thanks to all the nameless people who offered to give me answers to these questions but were a little late!

  Big thank you to Tonya Nagle and Tracy Guymon Gohrick for answering a few questions about wells and well water. I needed a little confirmation about how they work with pumps and electricity (and the lack thereof), because…realism. *smile* Thank you also to the dozens of others who volunteered to help if I needed more info. I appreciate it!

  Also thank yous go to Elizabeth Clinton and Kath Peterson for answering my questions about solar power.

  Thank you as well to Keri Anderson, Amber L. Snyder, and Vickie Carter for their help with car questions.

  Thanks to Jennifer Grace Dill, Amber L. Snyder (again!), and Jen Gerschick for answers to questions about propane.

  Another thank you to my hubby who answered this question: “Zombie apocalypse. You’re in the forest. Do you walk on the road—easier terrain—or stay in the trees to avoid detection?” His answer became Kevin’s rationale in chapter forty.

  Thanks also to Angie Stanton, who appointed herself my designated Zombie Cheerleader, providing motivation and inspiration along the way.

  Thank you to Sarah Loughman, who continues to design killer graphics for pimping out my books…this one being no exception.

  Thank you to some of my awesome Street Team ladies and friends who pimped the hell out of this book, including Lupita Morales, Shelly Thomas, Angie Brennan, Line Nørgaard Fallesen, Nancy Gennes Metsch, Kelly Graham, Joely Bogan, and Marianne Shayler, as well as some of you pimpers who I already mentioned in other capacities here. If I have forgotten any of you, my sincere apologies.

  Finally, thanks to The Rock Stars of Romance for taking a chance with this book that, on the surface, doesn’t appear to be their usual thing; thanks to my PA Sierra who does all the crap I don’t wanna ;) and then some, and my Street Team admins, Keri Anderson and Sarah Loughman, who do tons behind the scene and also keep my spirits up when I need it most!

  Note from Jade

  Yeah, music played a big part in this book. I have a soundtrack to my life (I think we all do if we really think about it), and so did Nina and Kevin, and I wanted to emphasize how music shaped their moments. More than that, though, I had a song associated with a lot of the scenes before I even wrote them, so I gave each chapter its own music. Most of the songs touch on something within the chapter, but don’t feel obliged to listen to the music while you read. Not everyone likes the music I do!

  Some bands that I couldn’t find a chapter heading song for were utilized in other ways in the narrative itself.

  However, there were some bands who earned an honorable mention. I tried to find a place for them and just couldn’t, but I would be remiss if I didn’t at least admit that I tried to find them a home here. Those honors go to these folks, bands both old and new:

&n
bsp; Aerosmith

  Chevelle

  Devour the Day

  KISS

  Marilyn Manson

  P.O.D.

  Poison

  Quiet Riot

  Rage Against the Machine

  Saliva

  Skid Row

  Stone Temple Pilots

  Van Halen

  Volbeat

  Whitesnake

  And another note…some of you who follow me closely already know this one, but I didn’t find out until ARCs and beta copies were sent out that there was a slight problem with the character name Nina. It turns out that author Claire C. Riley is the author of a zombie series entitled “Odium The Dead Saga” and the main character’s name is…yep, you guessed it! Nina. Had I found out anytime before ARCs were sent out, I would have changed the name in a heartbeat. Yeah, it’s hard to do that once your character has been “living with you” with that name for a while, but it’s the right thing to do. Unfortunately, it was literally too late (and barely, which made it bite all the more). That said, once I knew, I couldn’t just pretend like I didn’t, so I wrote a blog post, apologizing for the misfortune, hoping that—if the author or her readers discovered it—they would know it was an honest mistake. Well, one of Ms. Riley’s readers did in fact point her to my post and she was so gracious and kind…and then I promptly bought a copy of the first book of her series (entitled Odium). The saving grace? Well, as you know by now, my story might have zombies, but it’s not a traditional zombie story. Like most of my books, it focuses on relationships and personal growth. The zombies are background and a little conflict. They are what set up the situation but they are not the point. Ms. Riley’s books appear to be (although I might discover I’m wrong) post-zombie-apocalyptic novels, filled with action and tension and horror. Mine, at its heart, is what I normally do—erotic romance. So our books have in common zombies and a main character named Nina. Beyond that, I think they’re totally different. That said, I just wanted to clear the air and let my and her readers know that I did not name my character Nina to capitalize on her success. I love that name and it was in my head last summer as I began to envision her world in my head. I wish Ms. Riley continuing success—several of my readers mentioned that she was very classy about the whole matter, and I agree wholeheartedly and thank her for her understanding.

  Stalk me! I don’t bite (well, not too hard anyway)!

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  Other books by Jade C. Jamison:

  The Nicki Sosebee Series

  The character Nicki developed out of Jade’s need to read a strong heroine, and do we mean strong! Nicki has a sailor mouth and can keep up in that department with her rough-and-tough best friend, Sean Ramsey. And don’t get her started talking about sexual freedom. She’s all about it. Granted, it stemmed from a lost opportunity at love (with said best friend), but she appreciates sex as much as any man ever thought of. She’s still finding her way through life too, but she’s figuring it out.

  Got the Life (Nicki Sosebee #1)

  Nicki Sosebee wants her first headline, but she doesn’t want it to read “Reporter found dead.”

  Nicki Sosebee has been working low-paying jobs ever since she finished school, but now that she’s older, she wants more. She’s a novice reporter trying to learn the ropes. Just as she’s getting her career goals on track, though, her love life gets worse and worse. Sure, she has no problems picking up good-looking guys for brief flings, but relationships? Out of the question. Maybe it’s because Sean, her gorgeous best friend, just can’t see her as more than a buddy. So when Sean encourages her as she pursues her first headline-producing story, Nicki realizes that her life’s pretty sweet…if only she can live long enough to see tomorrow’s front page.

  Be Careful What You Wish For

  Forbidden desire is just the beginning...

  Jessica, a college student struggling with day-to-day bills, is given an offer she can’t refuse. A married woman who is convinced that her husband Kage is cheating offers Jessica enough money to repair her dying car in exchange for Jessica’s attempt to destroy the woman’s marriage.

  Jessica succeeds but discovers something else—she and Kage are soulmates, destined to find each other.

  But as they attempt to carve out their places in each other’s lives, Jessica finds herself plagued with doubts, and she begins to suspect that Kage is once a cheater, always a cheater. Can their relationship survive or was it doomed from the start?

  Substitute Boyfriend

  A Novella

  Elizabeth Slade, a college English instructor, has experienced success as a romance writer, but she has a dirty little secret: She can’t write sex scenes without a little help from Ridley, a gorgeous guy who plays her pretend boyfriend and makes a booty call whenever her imagination is flailing.

  She’d like for Ridley to commit to be her permanent and real boyfriend, and she thinks that’s where they’re headed until she finds him getting way too cozy with another woman in a bar.

  At that point, she enlists the help of her friend, fellow college instructor Roman Decker, who offers to temporarily take Ridley’s place while she sorts through her emotions. She grows confused when she realizes she’s also attracted to Roman. When Ridley comes back to her on bended knee, does she take the bad boy who broke her heart or try to convince her friend to make a real go of it?

  Nobody…we mean nobody does rock star romance like Jade C. Jamison

  The Bullet series

  Bullet

  (Bullet #1)

  What if you discover the man you want is toxic?

  She’d tasted a little bit of heaven with him, and now they’ve gone through hell and back, but can their relationship take anymore?

  Valerie Quinn is a naïve college freshman when she meets on-the-rise rock star Ethan Richards. He’s an idealistic, handsome, reckless young man, but he’s captured her heart. She doesn’t give up on him and eventually his walls crumble down. By the time Valerie has given herself to him completely, she discovers he’s damaged and may be beyond help. Can she save Ethan and their relationship before he implodes, or will he self-destruct and take her with him?

  The Tangled Web Series

  Tangled Web

  (Tangled Web #1)

  Katie Logan has had a secret crush on her best friend Johnny Church since high school, but he’s never looked at her the same way. So when Johnny—now a famous rock-and-roll guitarist—comes home to visit, Katie can’t bring herself to tell him she’s engaged to be married. She should have, though, because she soon discovers that maybe the attraction is mutual…

  Everything But

  (Tangled Web #2)

  High school English teacher Erin Lancaster is stuck with the unwelcome job of filling in for the injured cheerleading coach, but she wants to back out when she discovers she has to be auctioned as a date during the annual spring fundraiser. She’s horrified to find her rock star crush Riley Schultz, former frontman of Spawn, will be playing emcee for the event, but she’s even more shocked that he also happens to be the highest bidder for her affections, and sparks fly when she discovers that maybe their attraction is mutual.

  Riley’s been in the music business long enough to know that true love is not in the cards for him, but the cute blonde he’s dropped a wad of cash on would b
e a welcome distraction during his vacation. He has no idea there’s more to her than meets the eye.

  Will one week together be enough for them to quell the flames, to enjoy everything but?

  Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed

  (A companion novel)

  Kory McCallister has had her eyes on tattoo artist Stone Bowman for quite some time—so long, in fact, that no other guy will do. Stone pushes every turn-on button Kory has—he’s tattooed from head to toe; he’s hot; he’s funny and charming; and he’s also mysterious. So when Kory’s friends dare her to ask Stone out on a date, she can’t believe she actually finds the guts to do it.

  More surprising? He takes her up on the offer.

  She discovers that, while his past might not be quite as dark or mysterious as she’d imagined, it’s bigger than she’d expected, and it’s something she will need to contend with if she decides she wants to keep him around to color her life for good.

  Seal All Exits

  (Tangled Web #3)

  Heather Morrow has been fighting demons all her life, but the past two years have likely been her darkest. So when her friend Katie invites her to a reunion of sorts, Heather jumps at the chance, because Katie, one of the most down-to-earth people Heather has ever called friend, is the only person she has ever felt like herself around, and Heather realizes that she needs an ally to help her out of the shadows.