The picture hit her full frontal. Finn and Daniel naked and sweaty, hands and mouths all over each other. Her heart raced. Her mind was a far filthier place than she ever suspected. “Ah, really?”
“No, hypothetical, remember. I love your inner kink. You always have this vaguely stunned expression when it rears its head and bites you on the ass. A dead giveaway,” Daniel chuckled, then groaned when the movement jarred his ribs. “Damn. But the fact is, you wouldn’t mind if I did want him.”
“I might get jealous. I don’t know. I’ve never been in that situation. Am I in that situation?”
“Again, no. But …”
“But …” Would she deal with it? Yeah, probably she would. There were no doubts in her mind that Daniel was committed to her, and yet, this conversation had a dangerous feel to it. Like the ground was shifting beneath her feet. The topic they were covering was all highly unstable. “It’s a risk, Dan.”
“Babe, you over-think everything. Our life is one God-awful risk these days.”
“True,” she sighed. “Is there a point to this bewildering conversation about who you have no interest in sleeping with? I’m a straightforward kind of girl. Just spit it out.”
“Straightforward? Yeah right,” he said, again with the laugh. “The point, my girl, is this. If you wouldn’t mind me doing it, what makes you think I would mind in the reverse-case scenario?
“Because if you wanted Finn it would possibly mean you’re after something I can’t give you, namely a real-live working penis. Maybe that’s small-minded, I don’t know. This is complicated. I wasn’t expecting …”
She cleared her throat, tried to form a straight line in her head. Maybe that was the problem
– straight lines didn’t always apply. “I
won’t risk losing you for a frolic. You’re too important to me. Not to mention Finn deserves better. I won’t treat him like a cheap thrill when we’re talking of building a future somehow somewhere. Sex complicates things.”
Dan nodded. “Alright, though I never said short-term. See how it goes. Be open-minded. Two men devoted to pleasing your very sweet self? Have you ever thought about that?”
Her filthy mind filled with images.
“Holy shit. We’re gonna need more Eves in this garden.” She moaned and hid her face against his side, taking comfort in the warm and familiar scent of him. Admitting to any sex fantasies did not feel smart. Nothing about this was safe. She might be in love for the first time in a long time and he was talking about adding someone else. Historically, one-on-one proved enough of a challenge to her. How could she possibly keep two men happy? The idea was ludicrous.
“Daniel … You’re so cool about this and, and I’m so not. At all. What happens if we find another woman? We turn it into a circus act and take it on the road? Sounds like you’re using the end of the world as a flimsy excuse to have an orgy every other night of the week.”
He grunted in disapproval. “I disagree, and you’re getting jealous. There’s no need. This is about you and me and possibly him.
That’s all.”
“The three of us?”
“The three of us.”
“Wow.” Right. Sure. It sounded so simple. No chance for broken hearts at all. “No, Daniel. No.”
“Okay.”
Ali raised her head, mouth tense. “That easy?”
“Yep. It’s your choice. I just wanted to make sure you knew you had one.”
“Right. Wel , my choice is no. Meanwhile, this is doing my head in.”
“Enough of that talk then.” Daniel nodded, satisfied. “Instead, let’s discuss why you tried to cover my eyes earlier. Because baby, if it had been a kinky sex game I would have been on board, but I’m thinking it was something else.”
“It was nothing,” she said. “You need to rest. Sleepy time.”
Daniel rubbed his jaw against the top of her head, ruffling her hair. “Nah, I’m fine and so, very much, are you. Time for round two, cowgirl. And this time, we’re going to take it nice and slow with our eyes wide open.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The criminals were back at it.
Smoke lingered in the air at first light, making Finn’s pulse spike and his brain snap to attention. Adrenalin had it over caffeine any day of the week, even after a shit night’s sleep. He jumped to his feet, circumnavigated the Datsun to find the lovebirds tangled up and sleeping. “We have a situation on our hands.”
“Finn?” Al asked in a husky voice. She blinked big gray eyes at him from where she lay wrapped up in Daniel. Her hair was all tussled, and there was a general well-fucked appeal to her.
He was nowhere near as immune to it as he would have liked. Which pissed him off.
And she wore his t-shirt, having gasped words along the lines of “God”, “yes”, and “Daniel” before slipping into it.
“What’s wrong, Finn?”
His. Shirt.
“We’ve, aah …” He took a nice deep breath, focused on the essentials. Things besides what was going on beneath his shirt and inside his head. “We’ve got trouble.”
“Again.”
“Again,” Finn agreed.
She shook the big guy's arm. “Smoke. Wake up, Daniel. They’re lighting more fires.”
“Ah, man.” Daniel rolled onto his back and stretched. He real y was big. Civilian or no, taking him on hand-to-hand for her was not the best idea. Tempting as it was. Better to woo her away. “We were out of beer anyway. It’s time to move along, kids.”
Finn turned his back on the love nest to get his shit together. It also gave him a chance to get his temper back under control. Not that those two were messing around, not taking the threat seriously. The man donned his pants while Al made a dash to the spindly clothesline.
“Finn, your stuff’s dry too,” she announced.
He turned in time to catch the flash of ass as she stepped into black cotton panties. Oh yeah, the swift revelation of the long line of her back as she tugged his shirt off over her head. Breathing didn’t matter and blinking was right out. Anger slipped from his immediate reach in the face of this.
Strangely enough, once removed, he wanted the shirt straight back on her.
Ali fished about for her bra, found it and slipped the straps up her arms. Dark blonde hair fel over her shoulders, sliding across bare skin. Porn had nothing on this.
He needed to get laid.
Pity about the chances.
“Great.” He joined her by the laundry, started dragging on his own clothes before she noticed anything was up. Not that she ever did seem to notice. Living in close quarters with strangers brought politeness to an art form.
The roar of a motorbike gunning up the street had them both jumping. He simply hid it better.
“Fuckers,” the big guy muttered, bending over the sink to drink from the tap.
“Yep,” said Finn.
“So.” Dan clapped his hands together, rubbed. “Who’s up for playing another round of hide and seek?”
Hours later, summer showers had messed with the bonfire tactics. Unfortunately, the vigilant bastards patrolled the streets, making it hard to move far or fast.
The noise of the motorbikes kept the infected stirred up. They’d shamble out looking for action, and the bastards provided it.
Whittling down the zombie population of the surrounding area kept the bastards distracted at least. Important to note, petrol was plentiful, but their ammo had to be running low the way they went for maximum effect.
Al, Dan and Finn managed to waste the morning skulking four blocks through the ongoing drizzle. A patrol had them seeking cover inside a rusted garden shed. They rested amongst the garden tools and towers of empty plastic pots. The place smelt of damp earth and fertilizer.
Dan shut his eyes, legs spread out in front of him, and his back to one rickety wall. There was nothing from him for a long time, care of the painkil ers Al had all but stuffed down his throat. The man obviously needed the sleep after his busy night and war wounds.
Yes indeed. A very fucking busy night.
Behind them lay the river and before them suburbia soon petered out. Acres of sparse bushland and the occasional farm or homestead ahead. Acres of next to no cover with few roads, even if they could bypass the bastards. Options dwindled.
It didn’t help his pissy mood. Close to being cornered. Dan injured. Still no sign of winning the woman. And the woman had been suspiciously quiet all day. Al rarely met his eyes. He had no idea what was going on, nor did they have time for it, given the situation.
“Al?” He turned his head sufficiently to put her in his line of vision. The pistol Dan had put in her hands the day before sat close by. A higher caliber than he would have preferred, but then again, a .22 wasn’t going to get the job done. “Come over here and bring your gun.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Because you aren’t as proficient with it as you should be. You need to practice.” He crooked a finger and beckoned. “Come on.”
There followed a wary glance, but she did as directed. Al shuffled over on her knees, weapon in hand. No mind at all to where it pointed. Finn caught her wrist in one hand. Her smooth skin and fine bones felt perfect in his grip. Images of her restrained for their mutual pleasure flooded his mind. It took him a moment to remember the gun. “The safety had better be on. Turn around. I need to be behind you.”
“Sorry.”
Once she faced the wal , he knelt behind her, put his arms around her and covered her hands with his own. Knowing it was bound to unnerve her. Knowing part of this was just a good excuse to rub up against her.
Pitiful, but true.
The whites of her eyes flashed as she glanced at him over her shoulder. Her ponytail brushed against his face. It could have been his imagination, but she seemed to smell of laundry soap and sex, the most bizarre combination ever. It shouldn’t have worked but, of course, it did. She had his dick’s total and immediate attention, proving he could wear his hand out all he wanted. Wouldn’t help.