The Pulse (26 page)

“Who are you to decide? There’s a whole slew of folks out there who live in Potterskill too, and they might feel differently.” Mason gestured to the line of Emily’s patients.

Luke nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll put it before the council tonight, then. We’ll have a town hall meeting and people can vote.”

Fuck. What if they voted them out? If they didn’t think Mason and Emily were hitched then they might agree to at least keep Emily. All those men in town would definitely want Mason out of the picture so they could try for a chance with her. But the meeting would give Mason a chance to state his case, at least. He didn’t want a handout, he wanted to work for his food.

Mason stormed off, slamming the gate behind him. Damn him. It made sense, he knew that. Everything Luke said made sense. If Mason was in charge of keeping an entire community safe and fed and alive, he’d probably do the same thing. Here, Emily would be fed well. She’d gain weight. But what about when she caught some illness and died, like all the nurses and doctors before her?

He had to make sure she stayed safe.

Mason took the time while Emily napped to walk around the center of town. The people looked happy here. Busy, perhaps. Hardworking, definitely. But the bad sorts were all gone or dead by now. So were the weaker ones. Maybe next winter wouldn’t hit them as hard as the last, now that they had fewer people to keep alive. To keep fed and warm. If everyone stockpiled firewood, enough to last through the winter, outside each of their houses, and stockpiled food now—maybe made a bunch of beef jerky—they could be okay.

How would Emily fare if he took her from here? On the road, they could die. Maybe if they found another setup like this one, they’d be all right. But one of the reasons Potterskill thrived was that they were smart about things, triaging supplies for their own people, and refusing to let hungry travelers put their survival in mortal danger.

He needed to give Emily a chance to stay in the town, even if they didn’t want Mason.

Mason walked back to Luke’s house. He was still planting. The man stood up when Mason came through the back gate.

“I’m not here to start trouble,” Mason said, his hands up as if to say he surrendered. “I’ll stand by whatever the council decides tonight. I just want to talk.”

“So talk.”

“Me and Emily aren’t really married. We met in New York City a couple weeks ago.”

This didn’t seem to be what Luke expected to hear. He raised his eyebrows and stayed silent in an implicit invitation for Mason to continue.

“I’m probably more… more attached to her than I should be, all things considered. I told her I’d make sure she was safe. So—I’m thinking you guys can probably keep her safer in here than I can out there.”

Luke nodded.

“I’m nervous, though,” Mason continued. “Nervous about leaving her, a single young woman, alone here. I need to know there will be a man, one of your residents you won’t be kicking out, ever, to watch over her. To keep her from the other guys, like how you take care of Melissa.”

“No one would touch Melissa,” Luke interrupted. “They wouldn’t dare.”

“Exactly my point.”

Luke thought on this for a moment and nodded. “Okay.”

“So I need a few more days here, even if the council decides tonight I need to go and she can stay. If you make me leave tomorrow, I’ll take her with me to make sure she’s okay. But if you really want to keep her, I need a bit more time to make sure you honor her new work hours, and to find a guy who will look after her. Then I’ll leave.”

“What does Emily say about this?”

“Emily doesn’t know yet about the town hall meeting tonight—I still have to tell her.”

Emily had been growing more and more confident each day she spent with him, and she’d proven that she can take care of herself. She probably wouldn’t care at all if he left.

That should have made him feel better, but for some reason it didn’t.
It’s a good thing she’s able to protect herself without me around,
he told himself.
A good thing.

“For my own peace of mind, let me stay a few more days.”

“For your peace of mind?” Luke snorted. “I only care about keeping my town safe and secure. I don’t give a shit about your peace of mind.”

Mason had to make sure Emily would be okay. “Then I’ll take her with me tomorrow morning.” He wasn’t even sure if he was bluffing or not, so he doubted Luke would know.

Luke sighed. “Fine. If the council decides to kick you out of Potterskill but let Emily stay, I’ll recommend they give you three days to wrap things up. Today’s Saturday—I want you gone by Monday, whether you take her or not. But for her own good, I’d suggest you let her stay where she has a chance at surviving.”

Mason nodded and went to wake Emily up from her nap. The line of people waiting to see her was still long. They had all waited outside for the past two hours.

Was there any chance the council would let him stay here in Potterskill with Emily?

He had a lot of work to do before Monday. First he need to make sure she wasn’t going to end up being worked to death, and the only way to do that was to insist she stand up for herself. Second, he needed to find a man for her to live with. In three days.

The thought of another man putting his hands on her made him so angry he could barely think straight, but there was no other way.

She wasn’t his to keep.

But how could he get the right person to watch over Emily for him without her realizing what he was up to? Mason knocked on the back bedroom door softly. No answer.

He stepped inside, annoyed she hadn’t thought to lock the door. If he had been anyone else, she could have been in danger. But as soon as someone stood up and claimed her, like Luke did for Melissa, no one would dare touch her. Luke and Melissa had a good life—and it would be selfish of him to not want the same for Emily.

But he’d always been selfish. Always been a loner. Just because he wanted to continue being with Emily didn’t mean he had a free pass to put his needs above hers. No, she had taught him something about generosity, and he intended to put that knowledge to good use.

She looked so beautiful, lying there on the bed, her legs sprawled across the bedspread, her mouth slightly open as she slept deeply. He didn’t want to wake her, but he had to. The people were waiting.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek lightly and she stirred, opening her chocolate brown eyes.

She sat up on the bed. “Thanks for making me nap,” she said.

“You need to start sticking up for yourself. Promise me from now on you won’t let yourself get overtired or sick.”

“Well, nurses are notorious for putting other people’s needs first. I once gave myself a bladder infection when I worked at Roosevelt because I held my pee so long. Every time I wanted to take a bathroom break, a call bell would ring, or something would happen that needed my immediate attention.”

“See?” Mason said. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You can’t be like that here. You have to set limits, and demand people respect them.”

She looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down on the bed for a kiss. “That’s what you’re for.”

Her lips tasted so sweet, so wonderful, he could easily get lost in her kiss. But it wasn’t fair to let her think he’d be here when he’d probably have to leave her in three days. Pulling back, he disentangled himself from her embrace awkwardly, leaving her sitting on the bed with a hurt look on her face.

“They’re all waiting for you,” he said softly. She nodded and got up, leaving him without another glance back.

Grand Central Terminal

JENNA

Jenna
and Taryn were alone in the subway car on the Tracks with the soldier. He tore his shirt off after he had told Jenna it was her turn to grab the bar. Dog tags glowed against his muscular chest in the light of the fire.

Jenna’s pussy got wet when she grasped hold of the cold metal above her head, pushing her breasts toward the soldier.

“Come on, soldier,” she said, “eat my pussy. Show Taryn you’re not as scary as she thinks you are.” Jenna looked over at Taryn, who didn’t look any more at ease now than she had before.

Taryn, naked, her pale skin covered in gooseflesh now, whimpered and sat against the hard seat, looking like she was trying to disappear into the cold orange plastic.

“It’s okay, honey,” Jenna said calmly. She could tell Taryn seemed freaked out by the soldier joining their little performance. “This man—what’s your name, sir?”

The soldier loomed over, at least a foot taller than her. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Okay,” Jenna said. She’d hoped to get the man on friendlier terms, to ease up on the alpha act for Taryn’s sake, even though Jenna thought it was hot. But he wasn’t looking friendly. Even his prick looked menacing, pressing hard against his army pants.

He glanced at Taryn. “Now it’s your turn to watch.”

Taryn jumped up then, as if to save Jenna, but Jenna shook her head. “It’s okay, hon, it’ll be fun,” she said. “We’re gonna have a good time, me and Mister Man over here.”

Taryn shook her head, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn’t. All that came out was a weak mew of terror. Her voice sounded so tiny.

Jenna looked at the soldier, dropping her arms from the metal bar. He still hadn’t touched her, even though her empty cunt ached for relief. “What do you have as payment, sir? Food? Anything?”

He grinned, a scary smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Grab the bar, slut.”

This would have been perfect if it had had been her and the soldier, without Taryn around to worry about.
Taryn’ll be fine
. No big deal. She’d talk to Taryn after and explain it was no biggie. Let him do it and be done with it so they could get on with their evening. Jenna grabbed the bar, smiling gamely as he slowly unzipped his pants, his cock looking huge and veined.

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” he asked.

Suddenly her instincts shifted into overdrive.
Something’s wrong. Something’s very wrong here.

He wrapped his meaty hand around her throat, his menacing gaze boring into her. “You wanna know my name, bitch?”

Don’t panic.

She focused on breathing as his grip on her neck tightened. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me anything,” she gasped. “But you’re hurting me, please let go of my neck.”

He kept his hand on her neck as if to remind her he was in control. “You really don’t know who I am, do you. You’re even dumber than you look.”

Who was he? Jenna searched his face, but she couldn’t place it. She’d seen him around, she’d seen all the soldiers around. But she’d never serviced him before. She’d remember that.

“I—I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Tell me who you are. Remind me, I’ll remember.”

“I’m Andrews.”

Andrews? But—that was the soldier everyone said Emily killed. That didn’t make any sense. “You can’t be Andrews,” she squeaked. “Andrews is dead.”

“
Eric
Andrews,” he said, talking slowly like she was dumb. “The Andrews who is dead is Mike. And I’m Mike Andrews’s brother. You roomed and whored with the cunt who killed my brother, and I’m going to make sure she hears about what I’m about to do to you.”

Oh shit.
This wasn’t good. Jenna looked over the soldier’s massive shoulder at Taryn. The other girl, still naked, had a look of crazed fear in her eyes. Her hands trembled as she hefted the soldier’s rifle and pointed it precariously at his back.

“No,” she whispered. “Taryn, don’t. It’s okay.”

Taryn must have heard her but she didn’t listen. “Let her go you son of a bitch!” she screamed, the rifle still pointed at the Eric Andrews’s back.

The soldier ignored her, not even turning around. Taryn looked ready to shoot. But Jenna stood directly in front of him—if Taryn shot him, would the bullet go straight through him and into her? She didn’t know much about guns or bullets, but she knew those army-issued rifles were powerful.

Gasping, Jenna flung her leg forward, kneeing the soldier in the groin. He cursed and dropped his hand from around her throat, reaching his hand back to slap her face as she fell to the floor of the subway car.

A loud shot rang out, deafening in the tiny space.

Eric Andrews’s face went pale and his mouth dropped open like a fish, frothy spittle dripping down his chin from the corner of his mouth. He collapsed forward onto Jenna on the floor.

Jenna groaned as his weight hit her—over two hundred pounds at least.

“Oh my God,” Taryn whispered. “Oh my God, what did I do, what did I do?”

The sound of the shot had all the soldiers in the Tracks running. Within moments a group of men gathered at the door to their subway car. Jenna didn’t know what they expected to find, but a small naked woman holding one of their rifles and one of their own troops dead on top of a whore probably wasn’t it.

Jenna scrambled, trying to get out from under Andrews’s deadweight. Two soldiers came to her aid. No, she realized. Not to her aid. They were trying to save the soldier, pulling him off her only so they could assess his injuries.