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We may need to conserve for a day or two. I’ll even loan you a shirt.”

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

39

The upstairs bathroom was as cold as a meat locker, but the basin of soap and warm water he’d managed did wonders to revive her. She rubbed hard with his loofa sponge, bringing her circulation back to life, and dressed quickly. The thunder sounded even more ominous from the higher elevation, and the sleet beat against the small bathroom window as if frantic to make its way inside.

She couldn’t wait to get back to him.

She had to settle for the pants she’d worn there, but Russ’ black teeshirt was loose and warm, and, after hurriedly finger-combing her hair, she sprinted back down the stairs, feeling alive and invigorated.

Iris returned to the living room to find him grilling enormous patties of sausages in an iron skillet over a fresh, spirited fire.

Squealing happily, she ran toward him and, grabbing him from the back, encircled his waist and squeezed. “You did it! You got sausage for me. Magician! Okay, now I want a Jacuzzi full of hot water, lights on all over the house, room service, a helicopter to pick us up…Russ?

Is anything wrong?”

He had stepped out of her embrace, making a show of flipping the meat as he turned away from her. “No. No of course not.

Everything’s fine.”

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

40

“Oh, please. The whole world’s gone crazy. I don’t need you to go whacko on me too.”

“I said it’s nothing!” he snapped.

He was actually angry with her. Something was wrong. He shrank away from her as if she had the plague. “You’ve heard something else, haven’t you?” She could hear the hysteria creeping into her voice, like some expendable actress in a low-budget horror movie. “What? Tell me! I have a right to know. There’s been some kind of invasion, right? Terrorist attack? Or some nuclear accident, a natural disaster…crop circle? That’s it, isn’t it? You’ve spotted a crop circle, and you know the aliens have landed and…”

“Christ, I swear I’ll never show you another horror movie as long as I live. No. Nothing new. And there’s nothing wrong. I’m just…on edge. Guess I didn’t sleep well. I could use one of those sponge baths myself. But I think I’ll take mine cold.” He grimaced, carefully handing her the spatula. “Mind watching breakfast while I clean up?”

“No. No, of course not. But you didn’t have to bother cooking breakfast, Russ. I would’ve done it, or we could’ve had the leftover Chinese food.”

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

41

“It’s gone,” he said abruptly. “I mean, I tossed it. Didn’t smell quite right. Figured it was spoiled. Don’t sweat it. Relax, I’ll be right back.”

Iris determinedly thought rational thoughts, assuring herself all was well. She tended to forget that her childhood idol was also a very human being. Why, after all, should she expect him to remain unaffected when they might very well be facing a long, tense stretch of time together—or even the End of Days? He was a little nervous, that’s all, just as she was.

She preferred the word ‘nervous’ to ‘terrified’. It was difficult for her to confess her own fear. She’d never been put to an extreme test, of course, but she was sure she was not a coward.

So why was it that every shutter that rattled, every boisterous bang of thunder--even the sizzling of the sausage steaks had her ready to jump at any moment? Her ears seemed attuned to every suspicious noise. The curtain at the open window sounded like a flag flapping frantically in the wind. The wooden thud of his shoes hitting the floor overhead made her jump. She heard him pouring hot water into the cold of the basin in the bathroom, heard the sound of his jeans collapsing as he tossed them to the floor…

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

42

She was, of course, scaring the hell out of herself. It was all his fault, damn Russell Carr. One horror movie after another had warped her brain, and he had teased her at every opportunity.

Even now he wouldn’t give it a rest. She could hear him taunting her, making silly, moaning noises from the bathroom.

Unless, of course, he was doing something very odd with that sponge...

“Very funny, Carr,” she called out, viciously jabbing at the long, firm sausage. “It’s a sick man who gets his jollies from frightening women. I ought to come up there with this spatula and…Russ! Can you hear me?”

Apparently he could not. The heavy breath of the wind through the window was her only answer.

But she could hear him. She could hear the splashing of his water, the little tune he began to whistle even as the moaning became louder…

Whistling? Whistling and moaning at the same time?

Iris turned her attention to her ears as the sausage shrank, listening carefully. She was imagining things. Had to be.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

43

And in her imagination what began as a soft, sorrowful moaning sound, blossoming from nothing, was slowly gathering both pitch and power.

It seemed now to come from underground, from beneath the house, from Hell itself as far as she knew. It managed in sound what a skunk did with scent; it permeated the air, soaking through the old wood of the farmhouse, filling the living room with a lost, mournful melody. She dropped the spatula, shivering on the spot, unable to move. It was the wind, she assured herself as it died away; the howling of that awful wind through the ice-petrified trees.

“Get a grip, girl,” she scolded herself, retrieving the utensil.

“Where’s your backbone?”

And then it began again, soaring up from the dark recesses of the netherworld, and her backbone trembled, turned to ice, and spurred her into action.

She raced up the stairs, taking two to three at a time. She thought of screaming for him, but all of her oxygen was being used for running and terror, pumping from her lungs in horrendous gasps.

She couldn’t spare the time to scream, and she was sure her legs would get her there faster than the speed of sound.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

44

Tripping on the landing, she disintegrated into a mass of pounding heart and spasmodic limbs as she fell. There were three more steps to take to the second floor, and a few more to the bathroom. Clutching at the railing, she tried to pull herself up.

There was no strength left in her.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she opened her mouth.

And screamed.

“Russell!!”

She heard the pounding of his legs, and he was standing above her within seconds. “Iris!” He ringed the corner, landing beside her, his powerful hands supporting her. “Iris, what is it?”

She could not move. Could not speak.

But if she’d thought that strange, haunting sound had unnerved her, he had done it one better.

“Baby, did you fall? Hurt yourself?”

In a matter of a few shattering seconds, he had stunned her into silence and changed the flavor of their friendship forever.

He had come to her rescue, without hesitation, without thinking.

And without clothes.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

45

“Iris? What happened?”

“Huh?” Happened? Had something else happened? She had no idea what he was talking about. She’d completely forgotten what had frightened her so. He had driven it completely out of her mind.

He was kneeling beside her, a mass of wet sinews and muscle, his chest still frothy with soap.

And he looked like a god.

Hadn’t she known him forever? Hadn’t she seen him without his shirt dozens of times, swimming, cutting grass, relaxing here at his home in the brutal heat of summer? How had she failed to notice that his skin was like smooth, scrumptious caramel, his searing eyes fringed with thick, black lashes--and there, between his legs…!

Good God! Where had he been hiding that all these years?!

“Sweetheart? You okay?”

She couldn’t take her eyes away from him. From it. His body wouldn’t let her. The hair upon his chest narrowed and tapered, forming a near-perfect arrow, directing her attention, just there.

No wonder the man wore baggy pants!!

“Come on, little one, talk to me. What? Klingon attack? See a mouse? Grease splatter? Did you hurt yourself?”

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

46

In the flash of time it had taken him to round the corner, he had changed to her. He had changed her.

“Iris!!”

She licked her lips, trying to speak. “There was a noise, Russ. A weird sort of wailing noise coming from…well, it sounded like it was coming from under the house!”

“A noise?” He blinked. “From the basement?”

The basement? Of course. She should have thought. It was a little difficult to do at the moment, of course, with his strong arms wrapped protectively around her, and the clean scent of him assaulting her senses. “Yeah. That’s possible, I guess. I’m not imagining things, Russ. There’s somebody--or something—down there. I know what I heard.”

He glanced away, squeezing her arm. “Okay. Wait here.”

She watched him walk away. The view from the rear was just as impressive. Now, there was a taut, seriously sexy butt. Something a girl could really latch on to at just the right time…

“Iris. Come on.”

“Huh?” She had zoned out again.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

47

Russell had slipped back into his jeans and was gently leading her down the stairs. “I want you to wait down here. Stay by the fire.

Don’t move until I get back.”

He deposited her in the living room and left as she quickly removed the overcooked sausages from the flames, shaking her head in disbelief. What the hell was wrong with her? The world as they knew it could be gone, there might be a monster in the basement, and all she could think about was the sight of her best friend’s equipment?!

Hadn’t she known that there was something lurking below his waistband? Hadn’t she seen him in cutoffs, bathing suits, gym trunks? It was the celibacy, she assured herself, that was making her act this way. Her sex life had always been fairly humdrum, but apparently that year of doing without was coming back to haunt her.

And he was partly to blame, too. If he hadn’t rounded that corner flashing all that naked muscle, she never would have thought of him that way.

What kind of hero doesn’t stop to dress before responding to a scream?!

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

48

She paced before the fireplace, worrying, until she heard him return, clicking off the flashlight he’d carried with him. He shook his head sadly, his damp feet barely managing to shuffle across the floor.

“I’m sorry, Iris. I’m sorry it has to be this way. I always liked you,” he muttered.

“Liked me?” There was something stiff about the way he moved, something dead about his eyes as he lurched closer and closer to her. This was not Russ. Dear God, something had happened to him in that basement. “Liked me?”

“I did. For a long time. But now you know. Now it can’t be helped. Now you’ve heard the sound of The Hatchlings. Now you know where we hid the pods. So, I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you…”

She pitched the spatula straight at him, fuming as he ducked.

“This is not the time to play, you sadist!”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I couldn’t resist.” He relaxed into familiarity. “The idea of something sneaking around the basement--there’s nothing there, honey. Trust me. Nothing breeding, nothing lying in wait.” He padded over to the refrigerator, opening the door just enough to peer inside. “But I’ll admit you had me going there.

Like beer in your eggs?”

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

49

“Beer? For breakfast?” Iris stuck out her tongue. “I’ll pass.”

“Just as well. Don’t see any. Thought I had a few cans.”

“Russell. I heard…”

“One of the windows has a tiny break. I suppose that, if the wind was blowing in just the right direction, and if the chip in the window was right in line with one of the air vents, and if a certain imaginative young lady was already scared by recent events…” He balled her hand up in his and gently kissed it. “Feel better? Alright if I go rinse off now?”

He was still bare from the waste up, stashing all that good stuff into those wonderfully deceptive pants. She nearly laughed as an insane impulse struck her. He had no idea. If the soap on his chest had been flavored, she would’ve licked it off for him…

Iris frowned, loosening her hand from his grip. “Get dressed.

You’ll catch your death. I’ll finish breakfast.”

*

*

*

Russell pulled several deep breaths into his diaphragm, trying to relax the tension in his body.

She was killing him. Unintentionally, slowly, agonizingly, she was killing him. He’d have blue balls for sure before the day was over.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

Raine Weaver

50

He’d awakened with her hand on his crotch. Drowsy at first, it seemed to him one of many dreams he’d had of her. And even after he’d come fully awake, fully aroused, he hadn’t moved, hadn’t touched her.

He gave himself an ‘A+’ for resisting that one.

But then he’d imagined her upstairs in his bathroom, sponging that long, lean body clean, and was forced to conceal his hard reaction when she’d hugged him from behind.

And she was wearing his shirt. He’d very carefully selected a black tee, fully aware that she was braless, and the white ones might be too sheer, too revealing. Curse his luck, it didn’t matter. The loose shirt skimmed just the tips of her breasts, emphasizing those prominent, nut-like nipples that he was dying to squeeze, to taste.

And worst of all—when she’d screamed for him, needed him, he’d completely forgotten his own damn clothes. Whoever heard of a buck-naked hero coming to the rescue?! And when she’d sat there, staring at him, unconsciously licking those lips, those full, wonderful lips, he thought for sure he’d become fully erect right there in her face and scare the living daylights out of her once and for all.