Far Series | Book 3 | Far From Lost

by Mary, Kate L.

  After an extended silence that felt heavy with the ghosts of the people no longer with us, Gabe stepped forward. “I guess it’s time.”

  He knelt at Lane’s head while Brian moved to her feet, and together they hoisted her body up, moving so they were over the hole. As gently as they could, they lowered her body. The thud of it hitting the dirt seemed to echo through my head, bringing back the memory of what it had been like to bury my mother. My gaze moved to Doug, who was watching me from the other side of the hole, and I gave him a grateful smile. He returned it, his expression pained.

  The small group began to disperse as Gabe, Brian, and Rick worked to fill the hole, and when Devon tugged on my hand, I turned without hesitation, allowing him to pull me back toward the school. As we walked, I leaned my head against his shoulder. Kiaya was at my side, Matt and Lisa and Buck walking with us as well, but none of us said a word.

  By the time we stepped back into the school, I was on the verge of collapsing. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and overwhelmed by how much had happened in such a short time.

  “I think this was the longest day of my life,” I told Kiaya when we stopped beside what had once been the main office.

  “I hear you,” she replied.

  Buck had already wandered off—probably to get a drink if what everyone had been saying was true—but Matt and Lisa hadn’t left. He was standing with his hands in his pockets, his posture showing how uncomfortable he felt about the whole thing, and Lisa was watching him curiously.

  “I’m going to check on the kids,” she said after a moment. Lisa took one step then paused. “Care to join me, Miller?”

  He startled, his head snapping her way, and studied her for a second. Finally, he said, “Yeah. Okay.”

  Lisa nodded, and they started walking.

  “I’d like it if you could call me by my first name,” Matt said after a few steps.

  “Matt, is it?” Lisa asked.

  “Yeah,” he said.

  “Okay, then,” she replied.

  I smiled to myself. At least one good thing had come out of all this.

  Devon stood at my side, and when he gave my hand a squeeze, I leaned into him. “I just want to curl up in my cubicle and sleep.”

  Kiaya lifted her eyebrows, her focus on Devon.

  I tilted my head so I could look up at him, my cheek still on his chest, and found him staring down at me. We hadn’t been alone since before going to the farm, and the way he was looking at me, desire flashing in his eyes, made my stomach tighten in anticipation. All thoughts of sleep evaporated as we stared at each other, and I remembered the way he’d kissed me the other morning. The whole time I was at the hospital, I’d thought about being back here with him, about finding some privacy so I could explore the desires he brought out in me. And now I was finally going to get to do that.

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” Kiaya said, taking a step back.

  “Thanks.” Devon didn’t take his eyes off me.

  “Be careful,” Kiaya said.

  It was probably the only thing she could have said that would have pulled my focus from Devon. Kiaya was staring at me, her eyebrows raised as she pinned me with a knowing look, and a flush spread across my cheeks.

  Somehow, I managed a smile. “We will.”

  Kiaya turned and walked down the hall in the direction of the cafeteria.

  I spun back to face Devon, staring up at him. “Is there somewhere we can be alone?”

  A grin spread across his face. “I have an idea.”

  He started walking, my hand still in his as he pulled me with him, his gaze constantly darting from me to the hall as if he found it impossible to look at anything but me. It brought to mind the things he’d said to me the last morning we were together. We’d slept side by side in our little cubicle, on the air mattress we’d gotten at Meijer, and I’d woken to find him staring at me. When I’d asked why, he’d replied, because you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Rowan. The words had made me blush, but they’d also filled me with pleasure unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.

  When he reached the nurse’s station, Devon opened the door and pulled me inside. Someone had left a lantern on the desk, which he made quick work of turning on. The second the soft glow filled the room, illuminating the small, stiff bed, Devon pulled the door shut. The click of the lock came next. Then he turned to face me.

  My heart was hammering as he closed the distance between us. He reached up, stroking the back of his hand across my cheek once before tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, his eyes holding mine the whole time.

  “I’m so glad you’re here and okay.”

  “Me too,” I whispered, my gaze sweeping over his face. Taking in his blue eyes and stubbled chin. Memorizing every feature so I could keep it with me in case we were ever separated again. “I missed you so much.”

  “I missed you,” he said, his voice husky. “You have no idea.”

  “I do.”

  I moved closer, my hands going to his stomach and running up his chest to his face as I lifted myself on the tips of my toes. His warm breath swept across my lips a second before they were on his. He grabbed me by the hips the way he so often did, pulling me against him as the kiss deepened, and I wrapped my arms around him. Our mouths moved together, my tongue exploring, my hands on the back of his head, his hair threaded through my fingers. He moved one hand up my back to my neck, while the other slid down, running over my ass. I sighed against his lips.

  He broke the kiss only so he could move his lips lower, down my neck, his breath hot on my skin. I closed my eyes when his mouth reached the top of my breasts, the V of my shirt giving him free rein to explore my cleavage. The hand on my neck moved down as the other moved up, exploring the curves of my body as they trailed over me. They were on my waist, then traveling up my sides, stopping just below my breasts, his thumbs grazing the undersides. The touch was teasing, a preview to what was to come, and it made my knees weak.

  I couldn’t wait.

  “Devon,” I said, grabbing his head and forcing him to look at me.

  There was a fire in his eyes I’d never seen before. “Do you want to do this?”

  “Yes,” I said. “God, yes.”

  He crushed his mouth against mine as his arms went around me again. Then he was lifting me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, holding on to him, kissing him, moving my hips against him. Seconds later I was on my back on the little bed, Devon on top of me, his hands exploring, his mouth moving faster, my hips moving up to meet his as the need in me built.

  I grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up, breaking the kiss so I could say, “I want this off.”

  He complied, yanking it over his head and tossing it aside, and I ran my hands down his chest, freely exploring the muscles I’d admired so many times. “You are so hot, you know that, right?”

  “Yes,” he said, the teasing grin he so often gave me pulling up his lips. “But so are you.” He ran his hand down the side of my face, his expression changing, growing more serious. “So very, very hot.”

  “This is weird, isn’t it?”

  “What?”

  “Us. Here. Doing this in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.”

  “I don’t think so.” Again, he caressed my cheek, his gaze softening as he looked me over. “Things are different, but life has to go on for us.”

  “True,” I whispered, a shiver running down my spine when he slowly moved his hand down my neck to my chest, his fingers lingering between my breasts. “But it still feels ill-timed.”

  “Not to me.” Devon was tracing his finger up and down my chest, his focus on the slow caress of my skin now rather than my face. “To me it seems like perfect timing. Like it was meant to be. Like I went camping that week just so I could meet you.” He lifted his gaze to mine. “Fate.”

  “Fate,” I repeated, warmth spreading through me at the word. “I like that.”

  “And I like you,”
he said. “Reckless and impulsive and stubborn and sweet and thoughtful. I like it all, Rowan.”

  “I like all of you, too,” I replied.

  His teasing grin returned. “You haven’t seen all of me yet.”

  I laughed even as I flushed, my own smile hurting my face. “Maybe we should fix that.”

  “Maybe?” he said, smirking down at me. “Are you not sure?”

  “Fine.” I laughed again. “Definitely. That’s something we should definitely fix.”

  “You read my mind.”

  His mouth covered mine again, and this time we got down to business.

  I worked to undo my pants while his hand moved under my shirt, running up my side to my breast, cupping it through my bra. We kissed at a frantic pace, only pausing so I could pull my own shirt off. Once it was gone, I arched my back and Devon moved his hands behind me, undoing the clasp to my bra. I shrugged out of it, tossing it aside, and he turned his attention to my breasts. Cupping them, kissing them, running his tongue across my skin while I gasped and moaned in pleasure.

  Removing our pants took more time, because neither of us wanted to stop kissing. His mouth was on mine as I worked to kick off my shoes, then he pulled me to my feet, his hands working on my jeans even as he slipped off his own shoes. I clung to him as I pulled first one leg and then the other free, my lips on his as I kicked the pants aside. His jeans came next, both of us working to get them off while our mouths moved together.

  We were in nothing but our underwear when we went crashing back to the bed. He was on top of me again, his body between my legs, rubbing against me in the most exquisite way imaginable. I gasped and pulled him closer, my nails digging into his back, my hips moving up to meet his while his hands caressed my body.

  It wasn’t enough for either of us, and in no time he was moving down my body. His hands paved the way for his lips as he teased me, driving me wild with need. He paused when he reached my underwear, his fingers hooked under the waistband as he looked up at me, his blue eyes flashing with the same desire burning inside me. I lifted my ass as he pulled them down, over my thighs and knees, to my calves and finally over my feet. Once he’d tossed them aside, his hands moved up my legs, stopping at my thighs so he could tease me more. He watched my face as he did it, his expert fingers driving me wild as he took in my expression. I was moaning, begging him not to stop as my body climbed higher, finally falling over the edge in a toe-curling explosion that took my breath away.

  Devon’s lips covered mine before I’d even had a chance to come down. “You’re on the pill,” he said against my mouth. “Right?”

  I’d missed a few days, but my brain was too fuzzy to remember that, and I kissed him deeper. Wanting him. Needing him. Finally having him. We moved together, a slow dance that met every one of my expectations. His lips on mine, his hands memorizing my curves as he moved. My legs wrapped around his waist, my nails digging into his back. My mind unable to focus on anything but him.

  The rhythm was slow at first, steady, then faster and more frantic. Needy. We were needy for each other, for the touch and feel of another person. For the feeling of life this moment brought, because for us, life would go on. Who knew for how long? A week. A month. A year. It was impossible to say, which was why this moment was so precious. Devon and me alone, our bodies entwined, our lips exploring one another, and life going on.

  When we were done, he shifted, pulling me with him as he rolled onto his back. The bed wasn’t big, but with my head on his chest and my leg draped over his, we managed to make it work. He was breathing heavily, his heart thudding against my ear and his skin moist with sweat, but I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else at that moment.

  “Well,” he asked after a few seconds of silence, a teasing note in his voice, “now that you’ve seen all of me, what do you think?”

  I shifted so I was looking at him, unable to hold in my smile. “You really do have the biggest ego imaginable, don’t you?”

  He rewarded me with an adorable smirk. “It’s a legitimate question.”

  I propped myself up on my elbow so I could look him over. His naked body was stretched out beside me, his muscled chest gleaming in the dim light, and I traced a finger down his torso to his waist.

  “You are, without a doubt,” I ran my finger back up until I was tracing his lips, my gaze holding his, “the most beautiful man I’ve ever met.”

  His expression was serious, but his tone light when he said, “Now, was that so hard to admit?”

  I laughed, swatted him playfully, and settled down beside him, my head once again resting on his chest.

  We said nothing as we lay like that. Me listening to his heartbeat as he traced a finger up and down my arm, making goosebumps pop up on my skin. It was quiet and relaxing, and even though we couldn’t stay there all night, I wasn’t ready to leave the serenity of the room just yet. I wanted to be with Devon longer. Just the two of us. I wanted to pretend the world hadn’t changed. The illusion was flimsy, but somehow, I managed to cling to it.

  It was shattered only a few minutes later when a sudden crash sounded from somewhere outside the room. A cry of terror followed, then footsteps pounding down the hall.

  Devon was up in an instant, somehow managing to shift so he didn’t knock me to the floor as he jumped to his feet. “What the hell was that?”

  He started grabbing our clothes from where they’d fallen. Our pants and his shirt on the floor, my shirt on the desk. My bra was hanging from where it had gotten snagged on the edge of a mounted bookshelf. Devon didn’t even look my way when he tossed my things to me; he was too focused on the door. Like he might be able to see through it if he looked long enough.

  “I don’t know,” I said as I shoved my legs into my jeans.

  Another bang sounded, followed by shouting. More footsteps rushed past the room.

  I yanked my shirt over my head, not bothering with the bra, then got to work on my shoes while Devon tied his own. He was still holding his shirt when he rushed for the door, pausing with his hand on the knob to look back at me. Once he’d confirmed I was no longer naked, he yanked the door open. Smoke billowed into the room.

  “Shit.” Devon coughed, then pressed his shirt to his face, using it to cover his nose and mouth.

  “Do you think there’s another wildfire?” I asked as I jumped to my feet and rushed over to join him.

  “I don’t know,” he replied, his voice muffled by the shirt. He stuck his head into the hall, looking first left, then right. “I can’t see anything.”

  The smoke was thick, making breathing difficult even after I’d used my bra to cover my nose—good thing I hadn’t put it on—but I didn’t see any flames. Either the fire was in another part of the building, or it was outside. Although if that were the case, I wasn’t sure why there was so much smoke.

  “We need to find the others,” I said.

  Devon blinked rapidly as he once again scanned the hall. “Which way?”

  “The rooms?” I said, sounding as uncertain as I felt. “It’s getting late, so there’s a good chance they’ll be up there.”

  “Yeah.” He gave a quick nod. “Good thing Kiaya had them clear a few more doors, otherwise we’d be in trouble.”

  “No kidding.”

  He grabbed my hand, glancing toward the cafeteria one more time before stepping into the hall and pulling me with him.

  “Don’t let go,” he said then started moving.

  We turned a corner only a few steps out of the nurse’s station and the front door came into view, as did the source of the smoke. Flames spread across the linoleum and up the wall just past the door, licking at the motivational posters and other signs. The smoke was thicker here, burning my eyes and making them water, and the thin fabric of my bra did little to stop it from scorching my nostrils and throat when I breathed.

  “How did it start?” I watched a PTO advertisement catch, the edges of the green paper going black and curling in on themselves, then turning to ash and fl
oating to the ground.

  Dropping my hand, Devon moved closer to the fire, studying the orange flames flickering through the darkness and moving to the opposite wall. He still had his shirt pressed to his face, but it did nothing to protect his eyes. They were watering already, and my own eyes weren’t doing any better.

  “It looks like someone broke the window and threw a Molotov cocktail inside,” he said.

  “What?” I followed his gaze, noting the broken shards of glass on the floor.

  Devon was spot on. Gabe and his men had made sure all the lower windows were blocked, but they hadn’t bothered with the higher ones since there was no way a zombie would be able to get in through them. They hadn’t been wrong, but as usual, their plan had been shortsighted. Someone—a person, not a zombie—had shattered a window just past the front door, which was how they’d been able to toss the firebomb into the building.

  “Hank?” I asked, my gaze moving back to Devon.

  Even through my bra, my throat burned.

  “Maybe.” Devon shook his head. “Shit. We should have killed him.”

  “It’s too late now.” I grabbed his hand and started walking, pulling him with me. “Let’s get out of here before he kills us.”

  We moved, hugging the wall that wasn’t burning and skirting the flames as we rushed past.

  I’d expected the smoke to lessen as we moved farther from the fire, but it didn’t. Instead, it seemed to thicken the closer we got to the older part of the building, causing dread to build inside me. There was a lot more wood in this part of the school. If it was on fire, too, we had no chance of being able to stop the building from going up in flames.

  We made it up one flight of stairs before another fire came into view. It was at the end of the hall, where it looked like another window had been shattered. Here, though, it wasn’t just the floor and walls that were on fire. The old, wood banister was burning, as well as the doors of two nearby classrooms, and more flames licked at the ceiling.

  “We need to get out of here,” Devon said.