After the Ending (41 page)

“Comforted you? How?”

“He held me,” I snapped. “That’s all.” I pushed Jason’s
hands away and tried to step around him into the tent, but his arm shot out,
blocking me.

“I told you, I’m not used to this,” he said, looking
straight ahead into the moonlit woods. Lightning lit up the night sky as Jason
looked at me, and his eyes glowed like blue fire for a fraction of a second.
When darkness returned, I could still feel the heat of his gaze. As thunder
rumbled through the mountains, Jason’s right arm—the one blocking my path into
the tent—flexed and wrapped around me, pulling me into a tight embrace.

My desires overpowered my mind, and I smiled against his
sweatshirt. “You can be such an asshole…but
God
, I want you.”

He laughed, deep and rumbling, and rested his chin on top
of my head. He began running his fingertips down my back, tracing my spine
through my sweater, gently, smoothly, tantalizingly. “Even though I’m such an
asshole?” he teased, his voice low.

“I said
can be…
you’re not
always
an
asshole. Mmm…that feels good,” I purred, squeezing him tighter. “You remember
that one winter formal when you were a senior? I think it was the only dance we
were both at.”

I was the only eighth-grader there, invited by a freshman
boy who lived down the street from me—Tommy. He was cute but had possessed a
decidedly flimsy backbone. When we joined up with his group of friends before
the dance, the girls slowly pressured him into ignoring me. By the time we
arrived at the dance—oohing and
ahhing
at the tacky
attempts to turn the gym into a fantastical ice kingdom—I might as well have
been invisible.

“Yeah, I remember,” Jason said. “I didn’t like seeing you
sitting there alone.”

Jason had found me sitting by myself at a table in the
corner of the gym, near tears, my dress’s layered, purple tulle skirt fluffed
out around me. He’d sat in the chair next to me and lifted my chin with a
single finger. “What’d he do?” he’d asked.

“Nothing,” I’d whimpered. That had been the problem—it
was my first high school dance, and my date hadn’t talked to me since we’d
arrived, let alone danced with me. And I’d always
loved
to dance, not
that I was any good at it.

“Want me to kick his ass?” Jason had asked, making me
smile a tiny, sad smile while I shook my head. He’d grinned then,
heartbreakingly handsome in a charcoal-gray suit with a tie that matched his
sapphire-blue eyes perfectly. “Want to dance?”

I’d looked up at him as he’d stood and offered his hand,
my mouth widening to an elated smile. “Um…yeah…I’d love to,” I’d said, feeling
like the most beautiful girl in the gymnasium. He’d danced with me for four
songs—including a slow dance—before his friends caught on, passing me around
like the belle of the ball. One of them, a junior at the time, I actually dated
the following year.

“You made me a legend that night, you know,” I told
Jason, laughing.

“What do you mean?”

“On the first day of school the next year, I showed up,
and all the girls either wanted to be me or hated me because ‘Jason Cartwright
totally had a thing for that redhead’,” I quoted. “It took me two months to
convince everyone I wasn’t your secret girlfriend—ridiculous, I know—and then a
ton of guys asked me out because they thought I
had been
your secret
girlfriend at one point. As if you, Mr. Hot-shit senior, would’ve dated an
eighth-grader.”

Chuckling, Jason said, “My date was
pissed
. She
didn’t talk to me for the rest of the night…but then, we didn’t usually…” He
paused. “Did you notice your little shit of a date wasn’t nearly as popular the
next year?”

“What’d you do?” I wondered, looking up at him with
fascinated horror.

Jason smirked wickedly. “I didn’t actually do anything to
him
…but my boys and I
did
threaten to kick the shit out of anyone
who was nice to him.”

“Jason!” I scolded, smacking his chest.

“What? He deserved it,” he said, lowering his head to
press his lips against mine. It was the perfect way to shut me up. “No more
talking,” he breathed. His hands slipped between us, and he unfastened the top
button of my jeans.

In response, I pulled away from him, stepped into the
tent, and slipped off my boots. I removed my sweater, long-sleeve shirt, and
tank top in one smooth motion. At the sound of the tent zipper, I turned to see
Jason had followed me in, zipped the tent, and was watching me as he removed
his boots. My jeans and long underwear came off together, collecting my socks
along the way. In the chill of the winter night, I was standing in a dark tent,
nearly naked, with a fully clothed man. With
Jason
. Despite the cold, I
felt near melting.

“I wish I could see you better,” Jason whispered, his
rough voice sounding too loud. He disrobed quickly, not even pausing before
removing his snug boxer briefs.

Lightening flashed again, illuminating him completely for
an instant. He was so terrifyingly masculine…so powerful and so beautiful. A
low, appreciative sound escaped from my throat.

I’d seen him naked once, though he didn’t know it. Near
the end of my junior year of high school, Jason had come home on leave after
finishing a tour in Afghanistan. I’d been laying in Zoe’s bed—my best friend
sleeping deeply beside me—and had turned to face the partially open door when
he’d walked by. It was early, maybe five in the morning—he probably hadn’t
expected anyone else to be awake. At least, that was the only excuse I could
come up with for why he’d walked from his room to the bathroom, completely
nude. Even in the dim morning light, I’d been able to see his incredibly
defined physique and his impressive manly attributes. It had actually been the
first time I’d ever seen a fully nude man in real life. He’d ruined all other
men for me, setting a standard they couldn’t meet simply because they weren’t
him.

I twisted my arms behind me to unclasp my neon-green bra
and flung it on top of the pile of my other clothes. Or at least I thought I
did—I was too busy savoring the sight of the statuesque man before me to care.
I didn’t have time to slip out of my underwear before Jason reached me.

“Let me,” he said, plucking my hands from the top of my
panties. He frowned suddenly. “Do we need—”

“I’m on the pill,” I told him, cutting him off. I’d been
good about taking my little yellow pills and had scavenged a several-year
supply, just to be safe. The last thing I wanted to bring into the tortured
world was a kid. And then I remembered it was Jason, a man who’d been with
who-knew-how-many women. Unwanted pregnancy might not be the only thing I
needed to worry about. “Unless…you know…we need to because…um…”
Awkward…

He shook his head. “I’m good.”
I bet you are…

After a long, lingering kiss, Jason’s mouth laid a path
over my chin and down my throat. On his way to my purple boy shorts he was
diverted by various landmarks, paying special attention to a couple of popular
ones and a few less visited, before reaching his destination. He took note of
the touches that made me gasp or giggle or clench my fingers in his hair. Each
time he looked up at me, I knew that no guy, not even my beloved Cam, had stood
a chance against the man immortalizing my body with his mouth.

As Jason knelt and slid my panties down, freeing first
one foot, then the other, I shivered.

“Are you cold?” he asked, his voice even rougher than
usual.

Under his penetrating stare, I shivered again. “No.”

Holding my gaze, Jason slid his hands up my legs, from
ankle to thigh, and higher. I gasped—Jason was finally touching me where I’d
wanted him to touch for over a decade. When he felt the evidence of my desire
for him, he growled. My throaty moans grew more ardent as his fingers gave way
to his mouth, to his tongue. Eventually, his firm grasp on my hips was the only
thing keeping me upright.

When Jason stood again, I was frustratingly close to the
edge and aching to feel him inside me. I needed him more than I needed air to
breathe or gravity to hold me to the earth. As I closed my hand around his
length—asking, demanding—he inhaled sharply.

He wasted no time in easing me down to the sleeping bags
and settling himself between my thighs. My legs shook as he entered me in one
smooth motion. He wasn’t gentle. His eyes never left mine, darkening to
obsidian when I wrapped my legs around his body and urged him on—to hold nothing
back.

Hovering above me, he sheltered me from the harsh,
decimated world while we joined in one of the few truly beautiful legacies of
our broken species. We needed each other, needed to feel connected—more than we
needed satisfaction—though the end result came regardless.

As he pushed me to ecstasy, I groaned and arched and
trembled beneath him. His climax erupted immediately after mine. I savored his
every sound and expression as he shuddered within me. Around me. Over me.

“I never thought this would happen,” I told him quietly,
running my fingernails up and down his smooth back. He nuzzled my neck in
response, his breathing ragged.

Later, when we were lying together in the joined sleeping
bags, he tightened the arm he’d wrapped around my middle and pulled me closer
to his still unclothed body. “Did you think about it often?” he asked, and I
could feel his breath against the back of my neck.

I nodded, burying my face in the little half-pillow. “But
I think you already knew that,” I mumbled, embarrassed.

His deep chuckle confirmed my suspicions—Jason had known
I’d wanted him for…pretty much ever. “Will you keep thinking about it?” he
asked, kissing my shoulder. His low, rough voice made me want him again, made
my body ready for him.

“More than ever,” I whispered.

He groaned. “Just knowing that is going to drive me
in-fucking-sane
.”

“Good,” I breathed. Minutes later, I corralled all of my
courage and asked, “Did you ever think about it…about me…before everything
happened?”

“Does it matter?”

“No,” I said, assuming I had my answer.

Jason touched his lips to the skin beneath my ear and
whispered, “I did,” before grasping the inside of my thigh and easing back
inside me.

Dani

I don’t see why you two can’t just ride together…like, share
a horse. Then he can boost your power the whole time,” Holly said, sitting
directly across the morning campfire from Jason and me. We were all bundled in
our warmest clothes—though the winter had been mild so far, we were camping
high in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and the current temperature was
near freezing.

Jason and I had just finished telling the whole group
about the previous night’s discovery—that Jason seemed to be able to amplify or
nullify other people’s Abilities. We definitely didn’t tell them any of the
night’s
other
developments, but I was pretty sure everyone knew—though
we’d tried, we hadn’t exactly been quiet.

“Yeah, Red,” Jason said, grinning wickedly. “I could
boost
your power
the whole time.”

I elbowed him gently at the lame innuendo, and he
chuckled. “We’d be too heavy,” I explained to Holly.

“But you’re like, totally small,” Holly said.

Jason leaned closer and murmured near my ear so only I
could hear, “You really are
very
small…I almost couldn’t fit my—”

Cutting off his taunting whisper, I blurted, “I may be
small, but he’s huge.” My already blushing cheeks flamed as I realized what I’d
just said.

Jason roared in laughter and squeezed my hand while Holly
gaped.

“That’s not what…” I trailed off with a sigh, wishing I
could execute a foot-from-mouth extraction.

“Whenever you’re finished,” Chris said, settling a wry
look on each of us, “I have a suggestion.” She looked at me. “Maybe today you
could just use your mental ‘observation’ while we’re on the road. If you need
to actually use your telepathy, I’m sure Romeo here,” she glanced at Jason,
“…will be close enough to touch. That work?”

Jason flipped her off, and I nodded in agreement.

Chris added, “Maybe it’d be a good idea for you to not
speak out loud at all, to always use your telepathy…it’ll be like intensive
training for your brain. It’d be nice if we could get you strong enough that
you don’t even need him.” She nodded in Jason’s direction.

I shrugged and said,
“sounds good,”
in her head,
then turned to Jason. His expression had blanked—a sure sign that he was hiding
some strong emotion. Making a wild guess, I said to him alone,
“Don’t
worry…I’m sure you can give me some other reasons to keep you around…”

His expression didn’t change, but a mischievous glint
flashed in his eyes. “I’m sure I can,” he said, confusing everyone but me.

Five hours later, we were hugging the mountainside as we
rode along snow-covered Highway 50, just south of Lake Tahoe. It was snowing
steadily, and we were all hunched over in our saddles, trying to retain as much
body heat as possible. All of a sudden, a fairly large cluster of people burst
into life in my mind, momentarily destabilizing my control over my Ability. I
slowed Wings, which was Jason’s signal to stop the rest of the group. He always
rode beside me, especially since being in observation mode made me
semi-oblivious to my surroundings.

“There’s a large
group about five miles ahead…they’re either on or near the road. And they’re
stationary,”
I told him, glad I didn’t have to lower the wool scarf wrapped
around my face to speak out loud.

Jason relayed the information to the rest of our group
and removed one of his gloves before reaching for my hand. He gently pulled one
of my own fleece-lined gloves off and intertwined his fingers with mine, asking
me to communicate with some of the creatures near the group of strangers.

Surprisingly, Mr. Grayson was the first to comment on the
news. “I don’t know what you’re planning,” he said, looking at Jason. “But…I
think we should seriously consider staying with these people tonight.” When
Jason and Chris both looked at him dubiously, he explained, “I doubt the snow
will let up any time soon, and it will be far easier to protect ourselves from
the elements in an established camp. We can’t forget that these are the same
mountains that defeated the Donner Party so gruesomely.”

After several minutes of discussion, everyone agreed
that, for once, approaching other people would be worth the risk. As my
companions briefly strategized, I received information from a couple of my
scouts. I relayed their intel to Jason and
Chris.
“The
eagle said the two-legs cover an area about the size of the water next to her
nest…not a big help, I know, but the bird seemed proud of the size of her lake.
Plenty of fish for her young, or something like that. From what I can tell, I
definitely think there’s more than a hundred of them, but I’ll be able to tell
more when we’re closer. Oh, and the mountain lions said they smell like good
meat, not like the bad meat two-legs they’ve been coming across. So…I’m
guessing they’re not Crazies?”

Jason stared at me, unblinking, his face unreadable. I
smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.

“I didn’t know mountain lions ate people,” Chris said.

Ky moved his horse closer and asked, “Mountain lions?
What are you talking about?”

Seeing his confusion, I included Ky in my next thought.
“Sorry Ky. Maybe, maybe not, Chris, but they
said they’ve come across a bunch of dead two-legs—not sick, just wrong. They
didn’t say anything about eating them, just that they were ‘bad meat’.”

“That’s creepy,”
Ky said silently.

I shrugged
.
“They’re predators…it’s what they are. Can you sense anything?”

He shook his head.
“Too
far. Maybe in a couple miles.”

Jason cut in, “Okay, well let’s keep moving. We can talk
as we ride.”

Jason and the others came up with a plan that we would
stick to unless Ky sensed impending violence—we would approach the strangers as
a group, with Ky and Ben feeding their impressions to me, which I would then
share with the rest of our group telepathically. If anyone lied or intended us
harm, we’d know. I would pretend to be a deaf mute, requiring Jason to lead me
around, and therefore have an excuse to hold his hand, boosting my power the
entire time. When touching him, I could maintain constant contact with every
member of my group.

It was late afternoon, and we were nearing the large
group of strangers when I sensed two of them start to move directly to the left
of us—in our direction.
“A couple of them are headed straight for us…I think
they know we’re here,”
I told Jason as I dismounted, trying not to sink too
far into the snow. He followed suit, grabbing for my hand as soon as his boots
hit the snow-covered highway.

“Tell everyone.
Remind them not to talk to you out loud. Not ever,”
he told me, and I
nodded, doing as he ordered.

The crunch of twigs and crusty snow preceded the pair’s
arrival. A man and woman, both exceptionally unremarkable-looking, emerged from
between the pines and firs that lined the road. They wore jeans, navy-blue down
jackets, and hiking boots.

“Greetings travelers,” the man said, quickly followed by
the woman’s, “We’ve been expecting you.”

“Really?” Jason asked doubtfully.

The man gestured to the abandoned highway. “The Prophet
Mary foretold your passage along this road.”

“Ben says he’s
telling the truth,”
I told my group.
“This
Mary chick must be able to do something ‘special’ too.”

Using a significant amount of false charm, Jason grinned
and said, “Well, lucky us! We’ve been looking for more people. Gets pretty
lonely out here. Are there many more of you?”

The man and woman smiled beatifically. “The Prophets
asked us to welcome you and to show you around,” said the woman, not answering
Jason’s question.

The man’s words followed as soon as she finished
speaking. “I’m Mark, and this is Jen.”

After introductions were given, I told my group,
“They’re
giving me the creeps. Anything, Ky?”

“Nope. In fact,”
he
added,
“they’re the most peaceful people
I’ve felt. It’s a nice break.”

“Lead on, my new friends,” Jason said, motioning toward
the woods with his free hand. To me he said,
“Wait until they’re a ways
ahead, and then put a bridle on your horse.”

“I don’t have one.”

“I do,”
he replied, rummaging through one of his
saddle bags. He handed me the bundle of leather straps once Jen and Mark turned
away. We waited a few minutes for our guides and companions to blend in with
the trees before bridling Wings.

“Is there anything
you
aren’t
prepared for?”

“Us,”
he answered, holding my gaze as he reclaimed
my hand.
“Come on.”

After twenty minutes of weaving the horses and goats
through the seemingly endless forest, artificial colors came into sight. They
filled every possible clearing between the evergreens. We seemed to have
arrived in a city of tents—bright fabric spreading as far as the eye could see.
Which, considering we were in a forest, really wasn’t
that
far, but the
sight was odd enough.

“You may stay here for the night,” Jen said, indicating a
small clearing near the edge of the mass of tents. “The Prophets will send for
you in the morning.”

“Explore as you like, but please don’t approach the
Temple until your morning escort comes for you,” Mark added. Abruptly, Mark and
Jen turned and waded into the sea of tents.
Empty
tents.
Where the
hell are all the people?

As the pair walked away, we converged in a huddle. There
was a lengthy discussion about the potential benefits and dangers of staying
the night, and then we voted. Everyone agreed that one night wouldn’t be too
big of a risk, and it would allow us to mingle and gain some valuable
intelligence. That is, if the people who used all those tents ever showed up.

“You’re anxious,”
I told Jason hours later as we
huddled together on a fallen log beside our campfire. It was well into the
night, and we were alone, having been assigned the task of “guarding our shit.”
Our friends were making nice with the natives, who had returned to their
campsites after sunset in a massive wave of bodies.

Jason tightened the arm he had draped around my shoulders
and kissed my temple.
“No…I’m
alert
.”

“How late do you think everyone’ll stay out?”
I
asked, yawning as I finished the thought. With every passing minute the fire’s
warmth was lulling me closer to unconsciousness.

“No clue,”
he
replied.
“But I’m guessing late.”

Hoots and joyous screams and raucous laughter had been
echoing throughout the forest since the campers had returned from wherever the
hell they’d been. I felt like a parent waiting up for her teenagers to return
home, wondering if they would miss curfew. I also felt tired, which I
emphasized by yawning, again.

“Go to sleep, Red.
I’ll stay up.”

I shook my head against Jason’s shoulder.
“I’m staying
up with you.”

A quiet chuckle rumbled in his chest.
“We’ll see.”
About fifteen minutes later, I was nodding off under the cozy safety of Jason’s
arm.

I woke in our tent, glued against Jason’s side. He was
already awake, staring blankly at the nylon roof. It was, after all, well after
sunrise, though that fact was barely noticeable from the light seeping through
the cloudy sky. Jason always rose with the sun.

“Hey! I said I was
going to stay up with you!”
I complained.

He shrugged.
“And I
said ‘We’ll see.’ It’s time to get up. We don’t know when they’re coming to take
us to these ‘Prophets’.”

“When did everyone get back?”
I asked, ignoring
the whole “getting up” thing. I kissed his bare chest and gently bit down.

One of Jason’s hands slipped under my t-shirt, teasing
the sensitive skin below my belly button.
“Careful, Red. If you start this,
everyone here’ll know you’re not really a mute. The noises you make…,”
he
said, groaning softly.

“I’m not that…”
I trailed off as he slid his
fingers lower, over the thin cotton of my underwear. I moaned softly but
involuntarily.
“Okay…point taken…”
He didn’t stop but instead caused me
to make a few more throaty noises.
“Jason!”

His fingers stilled.
“Sorry.”

“You’d better be!”
Even my mind voice sounded
frustrated. He’d done a good job of getting me worked up, and I couldn’t do anything
about it.
“Dammit!”

Removing his hand from my nether regions, Jason planted a
soft kiss on my lips and met my eyes.
“I’ll make it up to you tonight.
Promise.”

I squeezed my eyelids shut, blocking out my view of the
desire burning in his eyes.
“That’s
so
not helping.”

Jason laughed softly and kissed my neck.
“Back to your question…not everyone came
back last night. At least, not by two o’clock, which is when I carried you in
here. Holly kept watch…said she hasn’t been sleeping much anyway.”

“Oh, that’s…um…very…um…would you stop that!”
My
breath quickened as Jason continued to pay attention to my neck.

“Nope. Not until
you get up.”

“Fine,”
I mentally huffed. I shoved the sleeping
bag lower and scooted out, slapping Jason’s hands away as he continued to find
sensitive bits of flesh to tease.
“You are such an ass!”

Smirking, Jason propped himself up on an elbow and
watched me dig around the tent for the long underwear and jeans he’d stripped
off me the previous night.
“We’ve already established that.”

I snorted and glanced at him over my shoulder.