Authors: Kate L. Mary
Lost World (39 page)
“Where’s Axl?” I ask, looking around like he’ll suddenly materialize.
Angus tilts his head toward the ceiling. “Shower. Was up all night. I told him to get some sleep, but of course he won’t. That boy never could take orders.”
I snort as I turn away. Right. When I first met them, Axl jumped before Angus even told him to.
I head upstairs, a smile still on my face. Now that Angus is okay, Axl and I are going to have to deal with our fight, but I’m not going to let the tension spoil the light mood.
The bathroom door is shut and steam seeps out from under it. Inside, the water’s still running, so I let myself in. It’s big, with an oval tub and a separate shower totally encased in glass. Everything is covered in a layer of condensation, but I can still see Axl when he turns my way.
I consider stripping down so I can climb in with him, but I don’t like the idea of us turning to sex to work out our problems, so I stay where I am. Crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the counter. Waiting for him to finish. It takes less than thirty seconds for him to turn the shower off.
He opens the door and more steam rushes out, making the air in the room so thick it reminds me of the sauna in the shelter. Where we first fooled around. Or tried to, anyway.
“Angus is alright,” Axl says, stepping out.
“I just saw him. Everyone seems to be better now.”
He nods and grabs a towel, and I watch silently as he runs it over his head and face, then down his body, soaking up the little beads of water clinging to his skin. He’s leaner than he was when we met, but not any less muscular. Hard work will do that.
Axl wraps the towel around his waist, then just stands there. Like he’s waiting for me to say something.
“I’m sorry I didn’t stay with you yesterday when we were out. I let my anger get the best of me and put us all in danger.” He still doesn’t say anything, and tension builds in my stomach, squeezing my insides until I almost throw up. “I wasn’t thinking, and I was being stupid. Moody and childish. I was mad that you took Angus’s side over mine.” The longer he doesn’t say anything, the more words tumble from my mouth until I feel like nothing I’m saying makes sense. Finally I spout out, “Will you say something? Please!”
“Them things I said.” He clears his throat and shakes his head. “I didn’t mean ‘em.”
“You were mad, I get it.” I hug myself tighter when my heart starts to hurt. I may get it, but thinking about it still makes me feel like I’m being stabbed.
Axl crosses the room and pulls me against him. “I was pissed and hurt, an’ I let it turn me into somethin’ I ain’t. Been fightin’ it my whole life. It’s like this thing livin’ inside me. A wild animal threatenin’ to rip me in two. I try to ignore it ‘cause I don’t wanna be a hothead like Angus, but sometimes it gets the better of me. Makes me say an’ do dumb shit that I hate myself for later. But what I said, that was wrong. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“We’re all controlled by our emotions at times,” I say, rubbing my face against his moist skin. “It’s okay.”
Axl pulls back and looks down at me, his hands still on my shoulders. “No, it ain’t. I’m sorry. More sorry than I ever been in my whole damn life.”
“I forgive you,” I say, standing on the tips of my toes. Kissing him. Wrapping my hands around him and pulling him as close as I can.
As he kisses me back, more hope blooms in my chest than ever before. What we have here is something new and fresh, and it makes the future look brighter. Makes me feel, more than ever before, like life can start over. Sure we’ve lost, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a life again one day. It doesn’t mean that humanity won’t continue. Maybe we’re facing a new world, but it doesn’t have to be all bad. We can find the good in it.
Kate L. Mary is a stay-at-home mother of four and an Air Force wife. She grew up in a small town just north of Dayton, Ohio, where she and her husband met at the age of twelve. Since their marriage in 2002, they have lived in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and California.
Kate enjoys any post-apocalyptic story—especially if zombies are involved—as long as there is a romantic twist to give the story hope. Kate prefers nerdy, non-traditional heroes who can make you laugh to hunky pieces of man-meat, and her love of wine and chocolate is legendary among her friends and family. She currently resides in Oklahoma with her husband and children.
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Check out these other titles by Kate L. Mary:
New Adult Romantic Mystery
Available now on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited
Some secrets are better left untold…
When eighteen-year-old Kara Jones gets into a car accident on the way home from college, she’s left with more than a few bruised ribs, a busted cell phone, and a totaled car. After a slip-up at the hospital, she’s shaken to discover that her family isn’t all it seems. And now her mother’s strange behavior and willingness to do anything to protect her secrets—including pulling Kara out of school—have Kara floundering in the dark.
Enter Derek Miller, a former classmate who’s dealing with family issues of his own. His nerdy charm is too much for Kara to resist, and she’s even more amazed when he agrees to help her dig into her mother’s past. Together they investigate her mother’s old friends and boyfriends, hoping to discover who Kara really is. Instead, they find disturbing connections to the dark history of Kent State University, and an ever expanding maze of mystery surrounding Kara’s birth.
As Kara and Derek chase secrets, she realizes he’s the only person she can trust. But as they get closer to the truth, the disturbing answers reveal a web of evil far darker and further reaching than they’d imagined, leaving Kara to wish she’d never asked the questions in the first place.
(College of Charleston, #1)
New Adult Contemporary Romance
Available May 26
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from Lyrical Press for Kindle, Nook, iBooks & Kobo
The List. Twenty things every girl must do before she turns twenty. . .
Body piercing
Get drunk
First kiss
But thanks to her crazy, over-protective father, Annie Roth is way behind schedule. Good thing it’s her first semester of college, because Annie is more than ready to start checking off items. . .
Fake ID
Skinny dipping
Road trip!!!
Where it gets complicated? Ryan and Chris. Best friends. Both sweet, funny, totally hot, and totally into Annie.
But there are some things on The List that Annie only wants to do with Ryan. . .
Lose it
Get Heart Broken
Fall in love
No Regrets
(College of Charleston, #2)
New Adult Contemporary Romance
Coming September 2015 from Lyrical Press for Kindle, Nook, iBooks & Kobo
College is supposed to be fun…
Go to parties
Pick up guys
Maybe get in a little trouble
On the surface Cami is your average, wild teenager out to have a good time, but inside she’s struggling. Almost a year ago her best friend was in a car accident, an accident Cami feels responsible for. Since then, she’s made it her personal mission to experience everything life has to offer, both for herself and for Julie, who will never have fun again.
Then she meets Liam, her cousin’s sexy roommate. Hooking up with a hot British dude seems like the perfect way to start off the school year, but the more time she spends with him, the more she finds herself actually liking the guy. Which totally screws up her plans to live life with no regrets…
Prep For Doom
Band of Dystopian Anthology
Coming June 18
th
From the imaginations of twenty authors of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction comes PREP FOR DOOM – an integrated collection of short stories that tell the tale of a single catastrophe as experienced by many characters, few of whom will ever meet. What begins with a seemingly innocuous traffic accident soon spirals into a global pandemic. The release of Airborne Viral Hemorrhagic Fever upon New York City’s unsuspecting populace brings bloody suffering within hours, death within a day, and spreads worldwide within a month.
An online community called Prep For Doom has risen to the top of a recent doomsday preparation movement. Some have written them off as crazy while others couldn’t be more serious about the safety the preppers could provide in a global disaster. But when AVHF strikes, their preparation may not be enough to save them.
