Julia relaxed with several glasses of wine under her belt. Hell, we all did, but watching her ditch her inhibitions was…amazing. It was as if a switch had been flicked and the woman from before made her entrance. She was witty and engaging, unlike the cold and unresponsive woman I’d met weeks before in Queanbeyan.

  Unable to help myself, I gravitated to her side and stayed within touching distance as if some invisible string held us together.

  “I never really wanted to stay in an office environment, but it’s all I know, or knew,” she rattled on, taking hold of my hand.

  I gripped it tight as she wobbled uncertainly. “But you’re really good at what you do.”

  The smile she turned in my direction warmed me inside, turning me mushy and gooey. “Thank you, Leroy. But can I call you Damien? I mean, since we’re here now.” She waved her arm and her entire body followed it.

  “Sure, Julia.”

  “I used to shoot when I was younger. Well, bow and arrows anyway. Won a few prizes.”

  “Ahh. No wonder you’re quick. You would have been good at it.”

  She shrugged, and I grinned.

  Her smile lit up my insides so they melted just a little further.

  The first members of our group, somewhat intoxicated but also quite happy, drifted off; some as couples and others by themselves. I was struck dumb with the thought that maybe, if I asked, she’d allow me to kiss her.

  “Julia?”

  She blinked solemnly. “Yes?”

  “Can I kiss you?”

  The grin on her face widened. “It’s taken you a long time to ask.” She reached up and gripped the sleeves of my t-shirt. “Come on then.”

  Her tug pulled me forward, and our lips met with a smack while my brain exploded at the sensation of her body against mine. The scent of her filled my nostrils, the aroma enticingly musky. The fog in my brain grew just like this hunger for Julia.

  It was difficult to keep my brain working on any kind of level. Sanity blurred the edges of fantasy, but I pulled away. “Julia,” I groaned. “We’ve been drinking. I don’t know about you, but my head is pretty damned fuzzy.” I didn’t want her to think back on tonight and say I’d taken advantage. Besides, so much wasn’t yet clear to me.

  Instead of drawing away, her grin turned hot. “Perhaps, but I don’t care. Please, Damien, tonight, be with me.”

  Oh. My. God. It was the first time she’d used my given name like that, and the way she whispered it against my lips made it the strongest aphrodisiac ever.

  “Julia…”

  Her finger slipped over my lips. “Shhh, just feel.”

  Boy, could I feel her, the way she undulated against me, a houri in the dimness.

  “Come with me, Damien. Come to my bed.”

  I swallowed the lump that had settled in my throat. I wanted her so badly my entire groin burned, my brain swam, and the frantic beating of my heart surely had to be audible to her.

  As her warm breath caressed my skin, I caved. “Yes,” I hissed and allowed her to lead me toward the steps. When we reached her apartment, I stopped. “Julia?”

  “Brushing me off?” For all her bravado, I heard the seed of uncertainty, and it crushed any lingering resistance. Instead, I swooped in, wordlessly reminding her that I desired her. Her alone.

  The tangle of our mouths and tongues fanned the flames inside my belly. The fog of hunger crept further into my senses, and now I wanted more. I wanted her. Skin to skin. I wanted it now.

  We turned the handle and stumbled inside, my hands already under the cotton of her shirt, sliding over miles of silken skin. Her breath caught as she tugged away, just enough to close the door and begin the process of unbuttoning. The madness of need tempered with the knowledge that everything was too hard to come by had me tugging my shirt over my head.

  The lights flickered, but her eyes shone. Her mouth, raspberry ripe, opened a little as she panted for breath.

  I dug deep into my pants, withdrew the two small foil packets, and held them up. “Just in case.”

  Her throaty laugh tantalized my senses, and I pulled at the tongue of my belt, flicked the metal spike from the hole so the ends swung free, then started on the button and zipper of my jeans. I felt them drop to the floor then promptly forgot about them because my vision was filled with the view of a goddess.

  White bra and panties and nothing else but smooth, delectable skin. My hand shook as I reached out, and she whispered, “I want you, Damien Leroy.”

  My brain blanked out, leaving me reacting on autopilot.

  * * * *

  Julia

  The alcoholic fog fled as I stood before him in just my underwear. It wasn’t pretty or anything special, though it was comfortable—usually—but tonight I really wished it were silk and lace.

  Even with the unassuming cloth covering me, it was the look on his face, the shine in his eyes, and the way his chest moved that told me he wanted me. Who I was here and now.

  His look fed a hunger I didn’t even know existed inside me. When he reached out, his hand shook, and I hoped it was with the same hunger that welled inside me. I stepped forward. Desperation and need growing and making it hard to breathe. Heat suffused every part of my body, and longing throbbed between my legs. In my mind, the next move took on that of a precipice, but brushing aside my fear of rejection, I reached back, unclipped my bra, and shrugged it off.

  He moaned, and I couldn’t help the smile that slid over my face. “Like what you see?”

  “Oh God, yes,” he groaned, and he closed the gap between us, reaching around me with one arm so our bodies collided.

  The rasp of the lightly haired skin of his chest brushing against my nipples sent ripples of hunger coursing through my veins.

  “Come with me,” I whispered, and we slowly moved together toward the bed. It creaked as we dropped, and I couldn’t help the laugh. “Good thing there’s no one else here.”

  He slid the foil packets onto the bedside table then returned all his attention to me. His gaze zeroed in on my mouth, and my lips parted as he dipped toward me. Skin to skin, breath to breath, and mouth to mouth we moved, his hands at my waist, brushing away the panties as I followed his lead, sliding my fingers beneath the layers of cotton to find the firm globes of his ass.

  His fingertips roamed over newly naked flesh, and I moved, squirmed, and whispered of my need. “Touch me, Leroy.”

  “Thought I was Damien?” he purred.

  “You are, but right now, I can barely think.”

  Leroy laughed, just a tiny sound, then his features changed again. “So beautiful,” he whispered against the sensitive flesh of my neck.

  I arched, needing more while the burn grew. Emptiness, the sort I’d never known, had filled me up, and I needed him to fix it. I wanted and hungered. Yearned for the fulfilment I knew instinctively only he could give me.

  We moved together, flesh to flesh. “You’re naked,” I wheezed, and he laughed, the rumble a shockwave on my now beleaguered senses.

  He pulled back, and I got my first look at him. An Adonis in the darkness. A boom of thunder impinged, and I swallowed. “A storm coming.”

  “It’s fitting, don’t you think?”

  Oh yeah. “Come back to me.”

  “In a moment.” He grabbed one of the foil packs, and I watched him tear it open and apply the condom. He hadn’t asked and I didn’t have to request, and in that moment something clicked.

  I shied away from deep thought and welcomed him back to my arms. We clung then, lips and fingers questing, sighs echoing in the quiet until finally, achingly, he settled himself between my legs.

  “Open for me, beautiful.”

  I did. His cock, hard and ready, nudged at my center. His fingers traced the lips of my aching pussy, sliding over the pearl he’d uncovered as I cried out, longing and hunger biting at me.

  “Please,” I called, but he simply continued the assault. Every glance shattering my restraint as my fingers wound into the bedding.

  “So damned beautiful,” he crooned with guttural tones, before sliding a single digit deep inside me. “So hot and ready. Wet. Will I fit?”

  I rolled my hips, wanting this and more. “I want you.” And unable to wait further, I grasped his hand, the finger he’d buried sliding from inside me, and I mewled. “Inside me. Please.”

  Winding my legs around his lean waist, I tugged him closer and slid his hands over my aching breasts. With a tight laugh, he moved, inched himself once more to my very center and slid deeply within my body.

  Stretched. Filled. Then he shifted, nudged, and I cried out. The wild dance began to its own erotic rhythm. One that sped up quickly while the tension inside me mounted. Crested. Then I shattered in his arms, my entire body slumping down with a strange mix of exhaustion and repletion.

  I felt him slide again and again, arching and grunting until he stiffened, groaned, and finally slid bonelessly against me, his weight a heavy blanket.

  A moment of clarity impinged. Either I’d made the best decision of my life or the worst. Which one remained to be seen.

  Chapter 9

  Leroy

  Waking was disconcerting. I was warm, arms wound around me, and for a moment the past overlaid the here and now. I almost called Katrina’s name, but the fingers that lay against my chest weren’t long claws of some opalescent sheen. The wisps of hair on my chest weren’t blonde.

  Reality hit like a sledgehammer, and heaven knows the stutter of my heart certainly wasn’t easy to explain.

  Memories of the plague-infested zombies, the images of undead, and the remembered blows and scraping fingers couldn’t be willed away. But I was warm and comfortable. My mind clear for the first time with plans of what I wanted for my future…I wanted Julia. I wanted the chance at a forever.

  I turned and met her gaze, surprised to discover that she’d been awake the whole time I’d been grappling with my thoughts and memories.

  Her fingers wound into the chain around my neck. “Tell me about her.”

  I closed my eyes. “Katrina. We’d only been engaged a few weeks when I was sent out to inoculate the water system. She promised to wait until I was back before we made it public. I got back and she was…” The bubble of pain I’d worn like a cape seemed not so overwhelming now. “I found her at the unit. Did the best I could by her. Took the ring to remember her by and kept going.”

  “What was she like?”

  I laughed. “A beautician. So the hair, nails, and makeup were key. She used to complain I should wax and use product. We met when I was in the Northern Territory. I was stationed at Larrakeyah Barracks, and she was second-in-command at the local salon. We were going hot and strong for a year or so, then I was reassigned. She moved with me when I was stationed at Lavarack. She loved the lifestyle. The beach and community.”

  “Did you still love her?” Shock erupted on her face. “Ohmygod. I take that back. I shouldn’t have asked.”

  I reached over and touched her hand. “No, it’s okay. I thought I did at the time. I mean, we had history and plans. But now I don’t know.”

  Julia was strangely silent now.

  I slipped my hand around hers, which was still tangled in the chain around my neck. “I can take this off.”

  Her eyes were watery as she met my gaze. “No. You need to wear it in memory of her.” There were undertones of pain and something else in her voice, and my stomach clenched hard.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head and simply pulled away.

  The loss of her beside me overwhelmed. “Julia, talk to me.”

  She smiled, but I knew it was pasted on for my benefit. “Come on. We need to get moving. Liam wanted to meet with all of us downstairs by eight.”

  “So I heard. Know what it’s about?”

  She evaded my gaze and shook her head. “No.”

  The confusion I seemed to deal with daily settled in again, and I sighed. “Did I say something wrong?”

  The look she gave me told me without words to ‘shut up’, and being no one’s fool, that’s exactly what I did. It didn’t mean that I wouldn’t toss it over in my mind though.

  The others assembled downstairs, some decidedly disheveled and others hung over. A couple of them quirked an eyebrow at seeing the two of us together, and I couldn’t help the seed of warmth in my belly at that.

  Liam welcomed me by his side, and I took the seat, even though my attention centered on Julia.

  “Welcome to everyone. Today I need to talk to you about something that is vitally important to the running of this compound. Children.”

  That caught my attention, and I swiveled, wondering if it had something to do with my charges.

  “As you know, we’re now twelve months on from the initial reports of the outbreak. At this point, we move from simply sustaining life to ensuring the survival of our people. Our interaction with the outside world is limited. With the communications systems down, it’s not like we can simply pick up the phone and dial. My contact with other camps leads me to believe that some limited communication is going on between members of the government and overseas governments, but the civilians who have not succumbed do not have the knowledge to hack into the systems that remain. So, while some nine children have been born in this compound in the last twelve months, most were conceived pre-outbreak. Right now, that’s not such an issue with thirty-two aged between birth and fifteen, however, it simply won’t represent enough to sustain us as we age. And this is where this conversation gets tricky. We know of other encampments throughout Australia. Some will thrive with youngsters, but others won’t. We need to plan for the future now. What we’re asking is you consider partnering up to produce a replacement for yourself. We don’t need you all to do so immediately, but this is something that needs to be addressed for the long-term viability of this community.”

  My gaze shot to Julia. I couldn’t help it, because the sudden vision of her, naked, pregnant with my child, acted as a magnet. But it was the dawning horror on her face, the way her pupils dilated in shock as she looked back at me that pulled me up short.

  She turned white, and for a moment I was sure she’d faint. Not the reaction a man expected, to be honest, when thinking about one’s prospective partner carrying his child.

  * * * *

  Julia

  The words took me by surprise. A child. A replacement.

  I was only twenty-three, and yet I’d done things with my life that just twelve months before would have seemed inconceivable. I’d gone from an office girl to warrior and back again. I’d met a man who made me burn, but also who’d given his heart to another, and now this.

  I wanted to break away from the group, but others had crowded in behind me.

  “What if I don’t want to?” called the girl beside me, voicing what now stuck in my throat. At least, not yet, I should have added, but fear kept me silent.

  “We can’t make you at this point, but part of being a member of the compound means giving back. The truth is, without enough youngsters, eventually you will starve to death. Or not have carers, or any one of a range of things, including guards.”

  Liam’s words shut her up along with the murmurs that had begun to sweep through the gathered crowd.

  Leroy cleared his throat. “Not everyone should need to do that right now, and I’m sure arrangements can be made for those who don’t wish to parent, am I right, Liam?”

  “We can make those arrangements if necessary, but every fertile woman between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five will need to consider birthing at least one child in the coming couple of years. Unless something changes significantly, including our finding a way to communicate with the outside world and overcoming the zombie plague, which isn’t looking so good right now. Given no country will have contact with us while this virus is raging, it’s that or die out.”

  Here was ground I was comfortable with. Facts and information. “What about the serum?”

  Liam glanced at me. “Failure on the first three batches created in the last month, which is why you’ve been requested to join the hunt for fresh specimens.”

  I nodded. I was useful on that front. And I turned away, ready to head for my office when Liam called my name.

  “Julia, could you stay a moment please?”

  Turning back, I noted that the others were melting away along with a fair bit of muttering. Many would be working in the fields, some were heading off to guard duty, and others to take up tasks necessary to the day-to-day running of the compound.

  As the last person left, bar Liam and Leroy, I addressed Liam. “Yes?”

  “We’re going to need fresh specimens. Draw up a list of requirements, team members you think would be useful, and liaise with Leroy on a path you feel best suits our needs. You’ll also take my brother Ramon with you.”

  “Is he any good in the field?”

  Liam winced. “Not really. He’s a doctor and immunologist. He’ll be your scientific brains and will require a personal guard too. He’s got skills we can’t afford to lose, and he’s my brother. We need you to move out as soon as possible, so get the information together as fast as you can.”

  I must have stood there like a fish out of water, gasping for breath when Liam took my hand. “This is important to our survival. If we can immunize against the plague, we can then focus on disposal.”

  “Uh, yeah, sure.” There didn’t seem to be much else to say.

  With a single nod in Leroy’s direction, Liam turned on his heel and left us.

  Was this the new world I inhabited? The one where I had choices, but each more difficult and emotionally draining than the other? I couldn’t stop the curl of my hand or the rapid beat of my heart. Leroy advanced, the sound of his footsteps crunching on the old concrete capturing my attention.

  “I’m sorry. I can see how hard this is for you.” He reached out, touched my hand, and I couldn’t help but latch on and hold tight.

  * * * *

  Leroy

  The day passed slowly. The kids moved through their exercises and training sessions. Then I headed out into the fields to plow the ground that had been roads prior to the plague. It seemed that everything was returning to nature. I couldn’t help but contemplate the fact that life had been this simple a hundred years or more ago.