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I understand that I should have stayed at home, but if I’d had all the information—” Dom is shaking his head. “That’s the thing, Eden, you don’t understand. Whether or not you had all the information isn’t relevant, not when you’re putting others at risk.
Boom!!!!
us. I need to know that if I tell you to do something, you’ll do it. I don’t give out orders for the hell of it, and I also can’t always spend the time to explain everything—at some point you’re going to have to trust me.
“But maybe, it could be like that first night with Jasper, when he—” Dom’s brows slant down so hard, I cut myself off. “That was a one-off,” he says curtly.
“This is water hemlock. See the purple splotching along the stem? Queen Anne’s lace is entirely green and has tiny white hairs sprouting along the stem. This is hairless.” Beau hesitates, then reaches for the plant. I shove it deep in the pocket of my pants. “No!” I exclaim. “Leave it be! Do you have any idea how poisonous water hemlock is? You really didn’t eat any, did you?” “No, I didn’t eat—” “You would have been dead within an hour!”
Funny how you put it in your pocket though. That’s a mousekatool to be used later
At least Dom had left me with sweet words of comfort: “If we’re not back in an hour, we’re not coming back. If that happens, head to Bristlebrook.”
Why would they take out the cameras? So we lose visuals, sure, but why? So they can get more men through the woods unseen? Didn’t Dom say that the rest of the men were elsewhere? Without the cameras here, how can we be sure there aren’t more? And if the hunters were taking out the cameras just to hide their own tracks, then why wouldn’t they have just avoided them, since they clearly knew their location? They had to know that the dead cameras would be noticed. It . . . doesn’t make sense. There’s no reason to tip us off like that. Which means . . . Panic ricochets through me just as the first
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I really hope Dom or Beau doesn’t accidentally kill me while I’m trying to help them.
There’s a low laugh and a curse, then strong, heated arms wrap around me at speed, and I’m taken to the ground. Dom rolls, protecting my body with his as I go down, and I end up pinned beneath him. He yanks my pants down and off in one brutally efficient move, then he comes down on top of me. His naked erection pushes against me, and I shudder.
“Stop. You’re making it sound like—” “Like you were defending yourself,” he interrupts. “Like you were defending us. You saved your own life, and mine, and the only reason he’s dead is because he tried to hurt us.” I swallow, hard. Another memory flickers. Not of brown eyes, but an ugly snarl. “Bitch,” he’d called me, right before he threw me to my death. Beau tugs my head back until I’m looking at him, almost upside down. “Dom and me, we killed eight between us out there. You hatin’ on us as much as you’re hatin’ on yourself right now?”
Dom brushes his lips against mine. “You should see the way he comes apart when he gets a nice, warm mouth around him. He’s a beast.”
Beau pushes in deep with a rumbling groan, and I look up at him pleadingly. His tongue teases his lower lip, and his expression becomes pained. “Fuck me. Those eyes of yours, darlin’. I like it when you beg me.”
“You get two more for being a sassy brat. Don’t threaten me with Jasper again.”
“I’m okay. For now, I’m okay. He—they all—wanted to hurt us. He would have killed me, or taken me back to Sam, and I—” I cut off as Beau turns stiff as a board. “What?” I look at him. “What did I do?” Dom and Beau exchange a look loaded with meaning, and alarm skitters down my spine. Hard golden eyes impale me. “That name, Eden. Where did you hear that name?” “What name?” I stammer. “Sam? That’s their leader. He’s the one who almost caught me.” His eyes press closed.
“What am I missing?” “This is important, Eden. What did he look like?” Dom asks, then kneels to re-pack my bag for me with swift experience. I run a hand over my tangled hair, trying to catch up with this abrupt shift in tone. “I— Well, he was a little older. Maybe early fifties? Short beard. Salt and pepper hair. I— I don’t know what else. Medium build, but he was strong? I remember he was strong.” “Fuck,” Beau curses as he yanks his pack up, and an ice-cold weight lands in my stomach. Beau doesn’t swear. Not like that.
“Please,” I ask, and Dom pauses. “Why does that name matter? What does it mean?” Dom looks down at me, and my knees turn to water at what’s in his eyes. I know it’s bad then. It’s really bad. For the first time since we met, Dom is afraid. “It means this trap wasn’t meant for us.” Dom looks away and slings his rifle over his shoulder. “It means Bristlebrook is under attack.”
What happened to my control? Kimchi and dimples. A toxic combination.
“What does you being a man have to do with anything?” “I—” His mouth opens, then clicks shut as he frowns at me. “Doesn’t it?” I quirk a brow at him, utterly at a loss to this turn in the conversation. “Was it me jerking off that gorgeous cock of yours that made you think I wasn’t interested in men? Or me oiling you up and having you parade around as my most exquisite furniture?” That was a particularly weak day for me. “Or was it the way I bent you over to see how you would take that hook up that pretty ass of yours?” I shake my head, disbelieving. “No. I wouldn’t change a thing about you,
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“Over time, the signs of strain began to show, both in her because she was sharp enough to notice how much I held myself back, and in me, for the holding back. And I loathed myself for the weakness. For the misplaced guilt I saw building in her eyes. But we went to the club, we experimented. We loved one another, so we made it work. We made it work right up until . . .” My voice catches, nervousness closing my airways. I gather myself and continue, “Right up until I met someone. A young soldier who changed everything.” Lucien has gone so still, I’m not sure he’s breathing. His golden hair is
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“Who wouldn’t have been in awe, meeting Lucien? A soldier who had moved through the ranks at near record speed. A young man who, while a confident bisexual, was also a conflicted, submissive-leaning switch with heavy masochistic tendencies. It was like seeing a notice for my own demise. He was to be under my care as a high-priority patient—and I was madly, urgently attracted to him.”
“You must understand, Lucien. I loved my wife, genuinely, and she deserved the loyalty I promised. And you—you defenseless, flawless thing—deserved a therapist you could trust, who would help you without guile or agenda. For all our sakes, the box could never be opened.”
“Those promises are still promises, Lucien, even though it’s been five years and an apocalypse since our divorce. Because you are still too young, you are still my patient, and I still have an ethical responsibility toward you. I’ve been a mentor and a guide to you, and you have confused those feelings with a crush. It would be wrong to take advantage of those feelings.”
Naw fam that’s silly
“No. You had your say, now you listen, you stupid, old, patronizing fuck.” I narrow my eyes on him over his palm, not at all sure about this flip in our roles. “I’ve lived through war. I’ve had my heart broken. I’ve been fucked in every hole I have. I’ve dated, and killed, and loved, and
“I’m twenty-eight years old,” he says against my lips. “I’m a grown-ass man, Jasper.” I meet his eyes, forcing steadiness I don’t feel. “And I’m forty-two. It’s no small difference, Lucien.” “Eden’s only twenty-seven, she’s even younger than me.”
Then Lucky jerks once, twice. I can see the heavy impact on his body pushing him back. My heart lurches. “No.” Lucky drops,
Lucky threw a grenade right before he—
I’m not like Lucky, keeping a convenient stash of— My breath rushes out of me. Lucky’s hidey hole. I stop, flooded with a focused sense of calm. No, I can’t go back to the farm and the safety of that hidden cave. Maybe I can help. I’m truly shaking now, but I push off in the other direction, not looking at the carnage behind me, and run.
When I look up, Jasper crouches and creeps out into the clearing toward Lucky’s body. Two bullets fly from the trees—one goes wide but the other slashes the air right beside his neck. Jasper doesn’t flinch, doesn’t make any move to get out of the way, just keeps moving toward Lucky. Firelight flickers over the determined set of his jaw.
fire back twice and look back at Jasper, who’s pulling Lucky behind the truck.
Survival tip #224 If you can protect your family, you’ve done the best anyone could hope for in this life.
pops off two more shots at Jasper, and I’m grateful. It makes it easy for that silent, deadly calm to take over, letting me shed the healer and become the killer I need to be right now. Wrapping my hand over his mouth, I punch my knife between his ribs, angling precisely so I puncture his heart. He’s the third in the last fifteen minutes.
If I hadn’t just killed the hunter standing here, he would have had a short, clear shot to Jasper’s skull.
Rather than going for the kill though, he pushes up. “Where are they all?” he snaps. “Where are all the women? Families?” He punches my ribs again, and I groan. “Sam said—”
when we kicked Sam out . . .
I’m so sorry, darlin’. Don’t see why I can’t pray to her too. Being with her is about as close to a religious experience as I’ve had in years. Taking out my radio, I open the speaker and give my final words to Dom. My best friend. My partner. I owe him that much. I turn it off before he can respond and tuck it away, swallowing hard. Then I tighten my grip on the knife, unholster my pistol, and move in.
Survival tip #336 Don’t ever underestimate the bravery of a woman who looks at you with stars in her eyes.
Disobedient little shit had kept a frag in the house after all, despite my safety lectures, and I’m glad as fuck he did. Right now, I’m dreaming of a dozen more just like it. He gave Jasper and Jayk a chance with that move. A slim one, but a chance anyway. My chest aches.
Opening the door, I move to grab her and then have to stop. She’s . . . loaded up. She has a bazooka slung heavily over one shoulder—the fucking military grade rocket launcher she and Lucky stole from my room—and a duffel bag hanging off the other.
“I couldn’t carry that fancy box thing so I just grabbed a duffel.” Nearly a dozen rounds spill out, and I flinch at the careless way they’re packed. My heart is thundering in my chest, and I decide now isn’t the time to yell at her about weapon safety.
high explosive rounds, anti-tank rounds, illumination, smoke, area defense munitions . . . “Eden,” I breathe, kneeling beside her.
the damn guy was a magpie.
“Eden?” I say as she turns to go. When her eyes lift to mine, as big and intelligent as the first time I saw her, I murmur, “Thank you.”
and I watch her go with a mix of pride and worry. That girl may have just saved our asses for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.
“Take care of yourself, too, Dom. I love you.” The radio cuts out, and I immediately try to open the line so I can yell at him, stop him, something, but he’s disabled comms like I knew he was going to. “Fuck!” I shout, shaking.
Jayk spots him too and turns around to join my flurry of shots, covering Beau—and covering Jasper, too, as he starts staggering toward the house with Lucky hanging heavy over his shoulders.
They’re all here, I reassure myself, and it’s like feeling floods back into my numb body. All here.
Soooo Eden’s not important anymore? Got it
Jayk asks a question that has more violent force than any bomb I’ve set off today. “Where the hell is Eden?”
Of course daddy jayk would ask
Lucky Survival tip #178 Kisses are better than oxygen. No, Beau, it’s a good tip, don’t take my—
“You have no idea how lucky you really are. An inch either way and either of those bullets would have ended you in seconds. As it was, I wasn’t sure you’d make it.” I’m not really sure how to respond to that, so I just say, “I knew you’d take care of me, doc.”
“He’s fine,” Jayk snaps impatiently, seeming to break out of his momentary surprise. “He’s talking. We’re all thrilled you’re alive yada yada, and Beau can keep patching you up all night, but for now just tell us where your fucking stash is.”
room. I meet Beau’s eyes, knowing he’ll give it to me straight. He nods at me.
