“Undo my belt and jeans, Julia,” I croaked against her neck as my hands tugged at the round, plastic buttons.

  “Ohhh…” She moaned and twined in my arms. “I will…”

  The feel of her hands traveling down my body fanned the electricity zinging in every nerve ending until I felt the tug and release of constricting denim and leather. I hissed with pleasure as she burrowed her fingers beneath the cotton of my briefs. Her fingers tangled with the hairs then slid lower.

  I groaned and threw back my head. “We have to slow down.”

  “Why?” She giggled a little, and I closed my eyes at the throaty sound.

  “Because I won’t last.” Instead of waiting for a response, I stepped back, pushed my pants down and my briefs. “Come with me,” I echoed her earlier words, well aware that she knew what I was doing.

  She slid from the counter top and followed me to the bedroom where I tugged at her clothes so that we were both bare. Once more we came together—skin against skin. My hands shook as I traced one beautiful breast, the ripe berry nipple distended for me. The need to taste her flesh was a ravening beast inside me. Control. Control. Control. That chanting reminder that we had all night wasn’t working for me so well though.

  Her knees shook; I felt that movement against my sensitized legs and closed my eyes on a moan. “I’m going to make love with you, Julia.”

  “Yes.”

  The kiss was magical, hot and urgent as I gripped her waist, lifted her, and she slid those luscious legs around me. My cock nudged her labia and slid deeply within her hot, wet sheath.

  “Fuck,” I groaned as pleasure cascaded over me.

  “Please. Please. Please.” Her gasping words filled the air, urging the now rapid movements as flesh slapped and the urgent grip of fingers became all-consuming.

  My chest heaved as I fought to give her satisfaction, aware that my own was looming ever closer. “Come for me,” I demanded, and she did.

  Julia splintered in my arms. The cry of completion teamed with the wild sensation of intimate milking, and I came with a rush I’d never before known.

  She slid out of my arms, and we tottered to the bed, collapsed.

  “We didn’t make it all the way,” she murmured.

  “Are you sure about that?” I was so tired I could barely open my eyes, but I heard her bark of laughter.

  “I meant to the bed.”

  “We didn’t need it, Julia.” I squinted at her, brushed a curl from her face. “Marry me.” The words slipped out, and even though my first thought was too soon, it was quickly chased away by the beatific smile that filled her countenance.

  “Yes. But not yet. We still need time.”

  I nodded. She was right. But we still sealed the promise with a kiss.

  * * * *

  Julia

  The next morning, I woke with an unfamiliar, yet very welcome weight spread across me. His question from last night echoed in my mind. Marry him. God knew I wanted to, but my concerns now were solely for Leroy.

  I watched the way the sunlight played over his features. They were so relaxed in sleep, and I realized now I’d never seen him so quiet. I slid one finger down his cheek, delighting in the rough texture of his early morning growth.

  His lips captured my finger, and his eyes opened.

  “Good morning,” I whispered, and he smiled, releasing the digit.

  “It is indeed. Any morning that features you beside me is perfect.” The words turned my belly to mush.

  “Just so long as you’re beside me, that’s all I’ll ever ask.” I meant every word and watched as he levered up next to me, reached behind his neck, and removed the chain that hung there.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking this off.” He held up the chain and ring he’d given to another woman. “I wore it to remind me of someone else. Someone I lost long ago, but now know I didn’t love. Not as she deserved, and not like I do you. You’re my future, Julia.” He laid the items on the bedside table and turned back to me, framing my face with his hands.

  His kiss was soft and sweet, a promise, and tears stung my eyes. “I love you too, Damien Leroy. No other man means as much to me as you do. Or ever could.”

  “Okay then. Before we go any further, I also want to tell you how jealous I was of Dove. He’s in love with you.”

  I slumped back on the pillows, my gaze searching the ceiling. “He and I were thrown into a number of sticky situations, but it’s not love like this, Leroy. I think it’s more that he’s afraid that he will always be alone, and he’s a good man.” I tugged the comforter close around my body, wondering how much I could say. “He returned to his school after the zombies attacked the hospital the first time. Got in and fought some off, but the girls of his school weren’t so lucky. My team rescued him. He’d been hiding in the sacristy, and initially his relief had him latching onto the only female of the team. He thought that was love, but it was like a survivor’s syndrome kind of thing. I can’t really explain it properly. I kept him in my team because I understood his problem. He refused to fight, and some wanted to turn him out because he wasn’t useful. It was horrible really. So, I kept him close, and safe, because it was all I could think of.” Tears burned as I remembered. “He’s my friend though.”

  “I understand that now.” Leroy slid closer to me and gathered me into his arms. “When we’re ready, maybe he’d marry us?”

  I bit my lip, and Leroy groaned.

  “Do that and I’m going to go crazy.”

  “What?” I batted my eyelids, and he released a long sigh of frustration.

  “Bite your lip again in that sexy fashion.”

  Of course, that was a gauntlet I couldn’t ignore, and he responded in kind. The loving was soft. Full of laughter and careful, sliding touches until he filled me, feeding the ignited hunger that grew inside me until the need expanded and enveloped me.

  “Damien, I love you.” Our gazes meshed as he moved against me, my body sensitized and wound tight. The scent of sex filling the air with musk and hunger urged me to undulate against him, to glory in the way he filled me completely.

  When I splintered in his arms, he joined me, our exhalations entwined.

  In the aftermath, I lay boneless beside him, the covers on the floor, and my heartrate slowing with the languor of fulfilment. It had been so right. Every touch and—

  “Shit,” I murmured as realization burned me.

  “What’s wrong?” Leroy pushed a curl from my face, his gaze worried.

  “No protection.”

  He laughed then. It wasn’t the response I expected.

  “Well, if you’re pregnant, I guess I could make an honest woman of you.”

  I punched him, gently, in the shoulder. “We can cross that bridge when we come to it. If we get there anytime soon.”

  Chapter 14

  Leroy

  It took every ounce of willpower to knock on Dove’s door. Not because I didn’t want to talk to the man. I did. I just wasn’t sure exactly what this would become. Baring my soul didn’t come easily, or at least to others who weren’t Julia.

  Military men didn’t do that, was the old way of thinking, and no matter what anyone else said, that ethic continued to permeate those of us scarred by our service. Or at least, that’s what my CO had said. But hell, I could no longer be sure if that was an accurate reflection or not, given my last mission.

  Dove answered the door, his face crinkled. “What’s up, Leroy?”

  My tongue stuck in my mouth like a dried sponge on a pot. “I, uh… I want to talk to you. If I can?”

  He opened the door wide. “Come on in then.”

  The closing of the door after me held a symbolic importance.

  Dove indicated the seat just inside, an old armchair. “Would you like a cup of tea maybe?”

  It seemed surreal. “I, uh, coffee would be great.”

  He strode over to the small kitchenette. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “I’m struggling, and Julia suggested you might be the best person to talk to about what I’ve done.”

  For a moment, Dove kept his counsel, pouring boiling water into the mug. “Milk?”

  I shook my head, and he carried the two cups over to the small coffee table and lowered himself to the seat.

  “Well, you’ve told me bits and pieces, and I’ve gleaned some too,” he said. “But how about you start at the beginning.”

  The words came slowly, every one a knife of such sharpness it cut me to the bone. “I was part of the group that was involved in the spread of the virus. I was told that we were specifically chosen, and the mission was of great importance but covert. No one should know. I didn’t understand the ramifications until it was too late. They didn’t tell us that millions would die because of our actions. Men, women, and children who’d done nothing more than go about their daily lives. I’m a murderer, and yet Julia sees something in me, something I don’t. I’m not worthy of her, yet she—”

  Dove held up his hand. “If you’d known the ramifications, would you have followed through?”

  I squinted. “What do you mean?”

  “If you’d had a choice, and could have said no. If you’d known everything you know now, would you have followed through?”

  “No. No!” I rose, and the hot coffee I held in my hand spilled over me, burning. I dropped the cup on the floor, and it smashed. Just like so many lives I’d ruined.

  “Don’t worry about that for the moment,” Dove said as if he read my mind. “I’m not a counselor. I don’t profess to be one, and I’m not qualified for that. The only thing I can do is say to you that you’re a good man. Like the cup on the floor, you were damaged by circumstances beyond any you could control.”

  I wanted to argue. To tell him he was wrong, and yet it made sense.

  “I can’t fix you. The only one in the end that can, is you. But you’ve shown you’re not a mindless killer. You carry remorse for your actions. You grieve for what you’ve done. Daily you undertake tasks to make life better for those left behind. That makes you a flawed human, yes. Now it’s time for you to believe that.”

  “I need to do more, Dove. It’s not enough. But I…” I could barely string together a coherent sentence to explain just how much the actions of the past impacted me. “I can’t go back out there and kill anymore. I can’t…” The emotions I tried so hard to harness rose up again, drowning me.

  “Then you must tell Liam. He too is a good man, and he’ll understand.”

  * * * *

  Julia

  We walked together as a group to the office cum house of Elaine and Liam. We hadn’t chosen this consciously, we just all met near the old school building and walked as a team. This would be the last time, and as we neared the house I stopped as did they.

  “I’m retiring from my role as a guardian,” I announced. “Both Leroy and I have come to the conclusion that we can’t do this anymore.”

  Leroy linked his fingers with mine and smiles broke out on faces.

  “We kinda figured that out,” one of them said.

  “Oh.” My face flamed. “I just didn’t want you to hear it secondhand.”

  With nothing more to say, we resumed our journey. I knocked on Liam’s door, and it opened wide to admit us.

  “Good. Glad you’re here for your debrief. Come in.”

  He led us into the converted lounge, and we took up positions on the couches.

  I spoke candidly about what we’d seen. The zombies on the trucks, the men who were rounding them up. Sometime around here, the door opened, and the commandant and my stepfather, Allan, entered the room. The commandant pinned me with cold eyes, and I shivered in reaction. Leroy drew me close, and the scrutiny of Allan burned. I wasn’t going to tell Liam in front of these men that we would no longer hunt. We’d now given our allegiance to this compound.

  We finished the debrief and rose. As we began to file out, the commandant called both myself and Leroy to wait. We did, my stomach a congealing mass of nerves.

  “So, you’ll be returning to Queanbeyan now, J.” Those words were an order, and I froze.

  “No.” My hand fisted. I was done with the orders that made me nothing more than a tool without a soul. Right here, I’d found my place. Giving back to this community, being part of it. I wasn’t going anywhere.

  His face turned hard, and he leaned forward, nostrils flaring. “I don’t think you understand, Julia. Your posting—”

  “She’s now a valued member of my community, commandant. She and Leroy both have a home here.” Liam spoke quietly, yet there was a firm resolve in his words.

  My bones turned watery. Could it really be that simple?

  Allan strode forward, and his eyes glinted. “Perhaps we might come up with a compromise? Julia continues to—”

  Liam shook his head. “She’s made her wishes clear. She has no further wish to hunt, isn’t that right, Julia?”

  I nodded enthusiastically, my hand still gripping Leroy’s.

  “You exceed your authority, Liam. These hunters are required back at our base.” The commandant spoke firmly, but it was clear Liam wasn’t going to budge.

  “Look, I’ve given you time, but I refuse to allow my people to be pushed into something they cannot and should not be doing. Leroy has chosen to remain here along with the priest, Dove, and Julia.” Liam’s voice turned peevish. “So, unless there is something else, gentlemen?”

  Allan gifted me with a soft smile. “Yes, my wife is here. If I could stay a couple of days?”

  Liam inclined his head in agreement, and both men left the room, the commandant stomping and still furious he hadn’t gotten his own way. We’ll need to tread carefully there, for a while.

  “So, since you’re both staying, what will you do?”

  I bit my lip. “I’d really like to finish the census task. Then I think I’d like to consider another more serious role.”

  Liam waited, but at this point I had no intention of telling him motherhood sounded good. I’d be employed in my task for many months yet, and I refused to rush anything.

  “Besides,” I said, “I think Leroy could do with—”

  “Actually, I’m enjoying working with the children, but I would like to broaden the scope. Maybe start training others? We—I mean you—need more people trained as guards, and the women could do with some basics in self-defense.”

  Liam nodded. “True. Those plans sound fine. Now, with regards to housing, is there any need to change?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh and shot a look at Leroy who shared my mirth. “Maybe not yet. We’ll let you know when.”

  “I’d also like to see Ramon. I’ve got…” Leroy cleared his throat as shades of scarlet rose fingerlike up his cheeks. “I think I need some help.”

  “All right. You know where his lab is.”

  Dismissed, we trailed outside, and I stopped, surprised to see Dove waiting nearby. “Dove? Is something wrong?”

  “No, I’m just waiting to see Liam. I’ve been thinking about what we saw. I mean, with the evolved zombies. It occurs to me we know someone in government gave the directive for the disease to be released. We know their testing wasn’t done properly, and the inoculations days later didn’t work or didn’t have time to take effect. But who was it at the head? Millions died, and someone has to be accountable, right? And the military or some are embroiled. Now we’ve got these evolving zombies. What if they’re still part of the initial group who came up with this plan?”

  “Oh God.” I swiped an unsteady hand over my eyes. “Somehow, someone has to stop them.”

  “What if the commandant knows who it is?”

  Now the fury inside me turned frigid, swiping those frozen tendrils up and down my back. “Oh God…”

  Leroy shook his head. “I can’t, Dove.”

  Dove smiled at us. “No. You need to heal, both of you, but I think you’re on the right track. Together.” Then Dove kissed me on the cheek. “Come see me when you’re both ready.”

  Before I could laugh, he turned and headed to the door, hit it with three sharp raps, then entered. The door closed behind him, symbolic in my mind that we too had moved on.

  About Imogene Nix

  Imogene is published in a range of romance genres including paranormal, science fiction, and contemporary. She is mainly published in the UK and USA.

  In 2011, Imogene Nix (the pen name, not Imogene herself) was born. Imogene sat down and worked tirelessly for three months culminating in the book Starline, which became the first in a trilogy titled “Warriors of the Elector.” Since then she’s had over thirty titles published and is now focusing on hybridizing herself—with a mixture of traditionally published and self-published works. In fact, she’s taking control of many of her back catalogue books, which are slowly being re-releasing as self-published titles.

  Imogene is a member of a range of professional organizations worldwide, and believes in the mantra of mentoring and paying it forward. She is actively involved in mentorship (through NaNoWrimo and her vlog: In The Chair With Imogene Nix) and the tutoring of new and upcoming authors.

  In her spare time she loves to drink coffee and wine, and eat chocolate. She is parenting her spoiled dog and a ferocious cat, along with her husband and two human daughters, and looks forward to weekends away with her husband in their caravan “The Seven Year Hitch!” Do look forward to her caravan romance at some point!

  Imogene’s Website:

  www.imogenenix.net

  Reader eMail:

  imogene@imogenenix.net

  More Beachwalk Press Titles by Imogene Nix

  The Star of Ishtar

  Starline

  Starfire

  Star of the Fleet

  Starburst

  A Bar in Paris

  War’s End

  The Assassin