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“Everyone has a choice.”
I let out a strangled laugh. “Yeah? What do you choose?”
He leans in and places a gentle kiss on my lips. “You, Em. I choose you. No matter how many times you run away, I still choose you.”
Reaching behind his head, I pull him toward me again. I need him closer. I’m a puddle in his arms that needs to grow into an ocean.
I unbutton my jeans and guide his hand down my pants, beneath my panties, gasping when he cups my core. He presses his palms against my clit and slides a finger inside while my own fingers curl around his shoulders.
“You feel so good. I slide right in,” he groans out against my mouth.
My back arches, and he doesn’t stop kissing me. Not when he adds a second finger, not when he finds my bundle of nerves inside of me, and not when he strokes me through my orgasm.
I always thought the next time I do something like this, it would be fast and dirty with a stranger I didn’t care about. With someone just passing through, and then I’d be gone before we could learn names. Instead, I somehow found the most attentive man alive who makes me feel beautiful even when I’m covered in someone else’s blood, and he’s fast becoming someone I don’t want to turn my back on.
But my colony will never accept new people, not so soon after we were so deeply betrayed. They’ll kill them all on sight, and then probably kill me, too. I can’t bring them back, no matter how badly I want to. It’s for their own safety.
How am I supposed to still walk away?
17
MAX
Smoke billows into the air when I add more fuel to the fires before sitting on the ground next to Buddy. We’re in front of the closest to the general store, and Buddy stares into it with a sad face, as though I’m burning his favorite stick. Which I am, but only because he decided that every stick is his favorite stick.
“Hey, Buddy, cheer up. Look, I’ve got you something.” He looks up at me with his one eye and a little tail wag. We’ll never know what happened to his eye, but I think I like him all the more for it. I rub his head. “We’re both missing pieces, aren’t we? Yours is just a little more visual.”
He nuzzles my hand when I drop it from his head, but then perks up when I pull out a stick I was hiding in the tall grass off to the side. It’s a large stick. A very, very large stick. He shoots to his paws, picks it up in his mouth, and runs in circles around the fire with it, his tail turning into a deadly force. His tail, combined with the stick that’s longer than his body, makes him the most deadly dog on the planet. I should probably fear that he might try to lick me to death.
Once he’s done showing off his prize, he lays back down next to the fire and chomps on the end of the stick while I stoke the fire some more. I have a nice little meal of soup and beans ready to heat up when Emily and William are finished playing with each other.
“That’s right, boy, it’s almost mealtime.” I run my hand across Buddy’s head and then his back. He stayed out here and stood guard while they were inside tending to Griffin. It wasn’t easy seeing him so out of it like that. He still hasn’t woken up, either. I wish I knew how long he could be out before I had to worry. He’ll be alright, though. He always is. The man is too strong and stubborn to die from a single cut, no matter how deep.
The door opens behind me, but I don’t turn around. I keep poking the flames with a stick that pales so much compared to Buddy’s staff. It’s fun to play with fire. “Welcome to Cafe de Max. Please have a seat and if you’re hungry, you can make your own damn food.”
“Are you mad?” The voice is so sweet, I can’t help but chuckle. It’s cute how she thinks I could ever be mad at her.
“Not at all. Come over here, pet. I’ve saved you a seat.” I scoot over to make space between me and Buddy, but Buddy trots off to find the perfect spot of grass to use as a toilet, so William takes his spot.
“Where did you find this? I didn’t see any food left inside,” William asks, eyeing the few cans in front of us.
I open the cans and pour the contents into the two pots I’d acquired, and then place them on the makeshift grill I’d stationed over the flames. I’ve been busy while they were busy. “There are a ton of cans in that drugstore over there. Also, a lot of bread and baked goods.”
“Baked goods?” Emily’s eyes widen and I think her mouth even waters.
“They’re more mold than actual baked goods at this point. I used some of it for the fires.”
“You went running around this town on your own?”
“Well, you see, Willie boy. I went to see if you wanted to go with me, but you were a little preoccupied.”
Emily’s cheeks turn beat red, and I smile. Her changing face colors amuse me so. I want to see all of her colors. Every single one that I can get out of her. So I hook my arm through hers and pull her closer to me. I could have so much fun seeing how bright of a red she can get to, but I don’t want to. I can tell it bothers her. Wow, that’s strange. I have no idea when I started to care about what bothers other people. That’s an annoying feeling to have.
Deciding she could use a change of subject—Emily, not Willie, he always deserves my wrath of an uncomfortable situation—I do exactly that. “Get Griffin all stitched up all right?”
Her face slowly turns back to a normal color. I can actually see that, since she’s no longer covered in all that dirt and blood. Even William has cleaned up some. At least he finally got his arm bandaged up. I was thinking I would have to sit on him while Emily worked her healing magic. “He’s still stable. His pulse is steady, his wound is clean and stitched up, now we’re letting him rest and waiting for him to wake up. I don’t know what he cut himself on, but it was a clean cut, and deep. He’s lucky it didn’t do more damage.”
“We moved the couch into the front of the store and laid him down on it. Figured he’d be more comfortable there than on a hard countertop,” William adds.
