V-Day: (M-Day #4) (16 page)

Riley frowned when I grabbed a folded towel and wrapped it around my waist.
“
That was not five minutes.
”

His gaze remained riveted at crotch level.
“
You
’
re right, it was seven.
”
He took a few steps and cleared his throat.
“
What are you doing?
”

My cheeks heated.
I can
’
t believe I
’
m embarrassed in front of an I-Man.
“
Nothing,
”
I snapped.
He
’
s just not any I-Man
—
he
’
s Riley.

Riley took another few steps, his gaze never wavering from me.
“
We could take a shower
—
get cleaned up
…
together.
”

Yes.
“
No. I don
’
t shower with the infected.
”

He grabbed my arm and tugged me to the shower, opening the glass door and turning on the water.
“
I told you I
’
m not infected.
”

“
Explain your eyes then, or how my brothers reacted to you!
”
My hands balled up into fists.
“
Explain all of this!
”

“
They
’
re infected
—
confused. The rest
…
I don
’
t know.
”
His grip loosened for a moment, long enough for me to wrench out of his grasp. I whirled around, dropping my towel in the process. Riley grabbed my shirt and tore. My eyes widened when I realized I was completely naked. The next thing I knew, Riley picked me up and stepped under the warm water, his clothes still on. I screamed and swore in protest, sputtering on the water in the process.

“
Riley! Think about what you
’
re doing. Really think about it. You
’
ve kidnapped me and you
’
re acting like a complete jackass! You wouldn
’
t do any of this if you weren
’
t infected.
”
He stilled, his eyes gazing at me with lust and longing intermingled, and maybe a tad of sadness. I lifted my hand to cup his cheek, leaning forward so the spray was pounding down on my head.
“
Maybe not all the way
…
yet
—
but baby, you
’
re infected.
”
Tears burned the corners of my eyes, hating to even say those words out loud.

“
Your hair
’
s getting wet.
”

“
Awe
…
Hell no!
”
I shoved him, hating the stupid grin on his face. He knew I
’
d be pissed.
“
You did that on purpose!
”
And why the fuck am I still worried about my hair?
Old pre post-apocalyptic habits die hard. Or maybe I was just holding onto them even tighter because they were the only things that made me still feel normal
…
human.

“
What
’
s it matter?
”
He tugged at my sopping wet pink wrap.

“
It just does.
”

He was right. Of course he was right. How I looked, even my ungroomed state made absolutely no difference in the grand scheme of things. I didn
’
t know when I
’
d lost track of what was really important: the lives I could still save. No, that wasn
’
t exactly true either. I
’
d been hyper focused on finding my brothers and even Riley
…
I
’
d just lost something along the way. Some intangible part of myself that I was trying to reclaim. But it wouldn
’
t be found in hair or clothes or the amount of body hair I had. Truth was, I had no idea how to find it, and maybe I never would.

I pushed my face into Riley
’
s chest, inhaling deeply, finally able to pick up on his subtle fresh and spicy scent since all the grime had been rinsed off. It was like coming home again, and the thought tightened my chest and constricted my throat. I tilted my head back a bit, meeting his gaze.
“
Help me take the extensions out.
”

“
I
’
m gonna get a look at your leg first.
”
He dipped down onto one knee, grasping my thigh around the bandaged wound. Keeping eye contact with me, he gazed up the line of my body while gently unwrapping the soft gauze.

I cringed when I got a good look at the gash in my leg. A few inches above my knee, far enough away that it hadn
’
t damaged the joint, was a hole in my flesh about the size of a large mouth. The circular injury was packed with something, more gauze maybe, but it was obvious the wound was still bleeding. The edges of the torn fresh were red and angry with bruising around my upper thigh.

“
Christ,
”
I muttered.
“
I
’
m lucky he didn
’
t hit an artery and cause me to bleed out.
”

“
You
’
re still bleeding, Viv.
”
Riley stood, yanking open the shower door, and hurried from the bathroom. I wasn
’
t sure where he
’
d gone, but while he was wherever, I made quick work of scrubbing myself clean.

He reappeared, sliding back in under the spray, this time naked, cupping something between his hands.
“
Pull that shit out of the wound and rinse it off quickly. I know it
’
s going to hurt like a bitch, but trust me.
”

I swallowed hard as I reached for the packing in my wound. I tugged it out and sloshed water over it. Spots danced in front of my eyes and I clutched at Riley. I wasn
’
t registering the pain, which wasn
’
t good.
“
I feel
…
strange.
”
My voice sounded far away, disconnected from my body.

“
Viv!
”

Everything went dark.

Dirt rained down one shovel full at a time, thudding dully against my father
’
s coffin. The day was sunny and birds chirped. No one but me stood at the gravesite of the man who had raised me. Both Ty and Zee refused to attend any part of the service, each with their own asinine excuse. Ty claimed he
’
d rather remember our dad in a better light, and Zee said he couldn
’
t get away from his base. It was all bullshit.

The truth was, our father had been an asshole. Sure, he
’
d cared for us, and did his best, but after my and Ty
’
s mother left him, he
’
d become a shell of his former self. He went to work and managed his kids. He didn
’
t have the will for anything else. Zee
’
s mother wasn
’
t the same as ours, but our father hadn
’
t loved his egg donor. She
’
d dropped him off on our father
’
s doorstep when he was just a baby, or so I
’
d been told. Our father obviously had difficulties in relationships. But he was still my blood, and on some level, I
’
d miss him. Even though, I hated to admit, I was also relieved on a completely different level.

A strong arm slid around my shoulder. I glanced up to see Riley. It surprised me. He was one of the last people I would have expected to be in my corner today. It
’
d been a few years since I
’
d seen him and we hadn
’
t exactly ended things on good terms. Despite all of that, I turned into him, pressing my dry face into his chest. If it was anyone else I would have been embarrassed by my lack of tears, but not with Riley. He knew the kind of relationship I
’
d had with my father.

“
Come on,
”
he murmured against the top of my head.
“
I
’
m taking you to get something to eat.
”

“
I
’
m not hungry.
”

“
Okay, but don
’
t ask me to leave you alone because I
’
m not
—
not today.
”

“
Where are you staying?
”

“
Don
’
t have a place yet. This was a last minute trip. Made it when I found out Ty wasn
’
t coming.
”

“
Oh.
”
I nibbled my bottom lip.
“
You
’
re staying with me then.
”

He shifted under me, his heart thrumming against my palms.
“
I don
’
t think that
’
s a good idea. I just came to comf
—”

“
Comfort me. Yeah, I figured. So let me decide how I need to be comforted.
”

I grabbed his hand, tugging him after me as I stumbling down the small hill to where I
’
d parked. I fished my car keys out of my purse, tossing them at him before I moved around to the passenger side.
“
You drive.
”

No more protests were forthcoming as he unlocked my government issued sedan and slid inside. He was revving the engine before my ass was barely in my seat. I smirked.
“
What? You don
’
t get much action on base?
”

He scowled, punching his foot down on the gas.
“
My needs get met.
”

I quirked an eyebrow.
“
Needs? What about wants?
”

“
Don
’
t play with me, Viv.
”

“
Fine.
”
I leaned over and unzipped his pants, taking him completely by surprise.
“
No games. Just lots of wants and maybe some needs being met.
”
I slid him into my mouth, sucking his cock into the back of my throat, humming with delight. I loved giving Riley blowjobs, it was the only time I felt like I had control of him anymore. This wasn
’
t the first time we
’
d hooked up since our breakup. And it probably wouldn
’
t be our last. At least I hoped.

I swirled my tongue along the underside of the head before circling to touch the tip, tasting salty pre-come. Either I was that good, or it
’
d been longer than he wanted to admit since he
’
d had his needs met in any way. I internally smiled at the thought, rewarding him with another long pull before I added my hand to the mix. He groaned loudly when I cupped and massaged his balls while I flicked the underside of his cock with my tongue again. I knew exactly what Riley liked and I wanted to prove to him I hadn
’
t forgotten.
Maybe one day we
’
ll forgive each other for more than a few hours, or finally move on.
I couldn
’
t imagine that actually happening though. Riley was under my skin too deep. Maybe he would move on, but I never would.

Another few minutes of ministrations as we sped down the highway, and Riley was spurting everything he had into the back of my throat, professing his love for me. Of course he
’
d pretend he never said any of it when it was over, but none of that mattered, not while he was mine again, even though it was only temporary. I was pretty sure I was becoming a masochist when it came to Riley.

My dream memory morphed into some kind of nightmare, the details hazy
—
except for the children. They were always there now
—
crying over their lost lives, accusing with their too big expressive eyes. They represented the innocence that was lost from our world forever. Riley was there too, but he was different
—
he was my tormentor instead of the constant he
’
d always been in my life. He stood with them
—
the children
—
he was lost to me just like all of them were. I was afraid
—
no, terrified.