“I-I don’t know what to say.” She shouldn’t have even spoken, because this whole revelation was a shock, but at the same time it really wasn’t. Rebecca had known he was a bad man before all of this, could sense it in the way he held himself. She just hadn’t realized or even contemplated that he could have been this big-time drug lord and pimp.

  “But even though you probably want to run from me, Rebecca,” he shifted so he could fully face her. “I can’t let you go. I won’t. You’re mine. I knew that from the moment I saw you, and it isn’t in my make-up to let things go when I want them as badly as I want you.”

  Her heart thundered in her chest, pounded so hard that she swore it would burst right through her ribs.

  “I didn’t tell you these things to make you afraid of me, although that would be the smart reaction. I told you because I want you to know who and what I was, and in this world I will protect you with my fucking life.”

  When she felt his lips at her temple everything faded away. She shut her mouth, not wanting to make this any harder, not wanting to worry about what had happened in the past. She should be afraid of him, of what Collin used to be in his former life. But what did it matter now? This world was destroyed, and everything that had happened since then was what was important.

  “Could you accept me for who I am?” he asked, but there was this strange tone in his voice. “Because I can’t change, I won’t. This is how I was in my old life, and in this new one I am even worse. I have to be in order to survive, in order to keep you safe.”

  Rebecca licked her lips, not knowing how to respond, because she did want him, badly. But at the same time she should also be afraid. He was just as dangerous as the savages out there, the ones that killed and maimed for sport. But Collin had saved her, had done so much for her, and made sure she was safe in the short amount of time they had been together.

  Rebecca glanced down, knew that she wasn’t about to go into detail about what had almost happened to her all those months ago, but wanting to be honest with Collin. “I was almost raped months ago, but they stopped, had to stop, when a horde of infected came through. I barely escaped with my life.” Looking away, feeling these memories wash through her, she knew this was what was right. If they were going to be in this world together, fighting side-by-side, trying to survive, then she needed to be honest.

  He didn’t say anything when she looked at him again, just stared at her with this expression that told her he had known all along. She didn’t want to have to run anymore, didn’t want to have to look over her shoulder because there were men out there that wanted her body to use and abuse. Rebecca closed her eyes and breathed out when he pulled her in close and whispered how everything was going to be okay.

  But this world made that just a fantasy.

  Chapter Eight

  Rebecca followed Collin closely behind. They had been walking for several days, thicker into the woods, farther away from the towns that she knew dotted this area, but for some inexplicable reason she trusted him and his decisions. Collin had taken her tote, even though he had his own bag to carry. She had tried to take it back, telling him she could carry her own things, but he refused. A part of her felt warmth at the thought he wanted to do that small thing for her, to make sure she was as comfortable as possible, but another part of her said that she needed to stay as independent as possible. This world could eat both of them up in an instant.

  Of course she thought about why exactly she was letting him call the shots when she had survived just fine by herself this whole time. Truth was, she was lonely. That isolation ate at her, and made her think that the world was closing in on her. Loneliness was a horrible fate, to her at least. Maybe she just wasn’t built for this kind of world, for this kind of life? He stopped, held his hand out, and she stood there, silent, waiting to see what the next move was. She had no idea where they were going, and maybe that should have frightened her. But strangely enough she wasn’t afraid of Collin. He hadn’t hurt her, and had instead protected her on every occasion. It actually felt right and good to be in his presence. Still, maybe this kind of attention, affection from him, was something she should be wary of, afraid of even.

  A small rabbit moved fast across their path. It was gone before they could really react, and then Collin motioned for her to follow forward with a curl of his fingers, and they walked further into the thick covering of the trees. He lowered his hand to the knife tucked in the back of his jeans. Collin held his lethal looking knife, and she held her handmade one. But the way he was acting, as if he were on high alert, had her growing conscious of everything around them, too.

  “Look,” he said and pointed to the dirt road.

  She moved closer, saw what looked like a pond or lake in the distance, and this little bit of excitement ran through her. Yeah, it was cold as hell, but she was filthy, had grime under her nails, and the water sounded heavenly. It would be the quickest wash off she had ever had, mainly because of the risk of being seen by the infected or savage fucking humans, and the fact it was cold, but she’d take it.

  “And there.” He pointed to the other side of the body of water.

  She narrowed her eyes, trying to see straight, and then she spotted the small white structure that was tucked into the woods.

  “Stay behind me, Rebecca.” Collin kept his voice low, but before she could take one more step he curled his fingers around her waist and pulled forward until she was flush with his body. Her chest was pressed to his back, and she had to look around his arm just to see anything. It felt good to be this close to him, and although this wasn’t the time to think about sex, that was what was on her mind. Ever since their kiss she had been having these lewd, totally inappropriate thoughts about being with him. It was inevitable, because she knew he wanted her, too, and that was on her mind as well. It fueled her desire, her erotic images, and made her feel alive again.

  They continued to move through the woods, her steps crunching over the fallen, dried leaves, and creating this echoing effect around them. And then she stopped, gripped onto Collin’s arm so he would do the same, and lifted her hand to point to the three infected walking on the road ahead of them. She could barely see them through the break in the trees, but they were stumbling along, clearly unaware that they were only feet from human flesh. And then the sound of something moving close by, across from where Rebecca and Collin stood, had the infected turning toward it. Rebecca could see a doe standing between two thick oaks, her ears twitching, and her big black eyes taking in the three infected moving toward her.

  For whatever reason, when someone turned into these disgusting walking corpses that fed on human flesh, that was all they fed on. They didn’t go after animals, and Rebecca was sure there was a reason behind it, but she had never heard the details. After everything had crashed in on itself the government and the scientists that had been working on all of this seemed to drop off the planet. They hadn’t been prepared, that was for sure, and the idea that they survived, maybe bunkered down in a hole somewhere, was totally plausible. But it didn’t matter one way or another, because a lot of time had passed since the infection had spread, and there was no more civilization. If the government or the scientists were alive, they were probably suffering as much as everyone else was.

  But the movement kept the infected occupied, had them curious maybe, and so when the doe ran off into the woods they followed her, slowly, but they still followed.

  And then she and Collin were moving through the forest again, toward the lake and that white structure in the distance. Rebecca just hoped there weren’t any more surprises for them in the near future, because as it was since meeting up with Collin it had felt like one thing after another.

  ****

  Collin stayed in the tree line, watched their surroundings, and only when he felt it was safe to move forward did he take a step out of the protection of the trees. He had a firm hold on Rebecca’s hand, pulled her behind him, and this wave of possession filled him when Rebecca squeezed his hand tighter. The body of water looked to be a manmade pond, and the small white structure across from it was a church. The cross atop it was large, but the church itself only had two levels. The single front door was open and hanging off the hinges. A grey shutter was banging against the window.

  “It’s a church, but there isn’t a parking lot or anything, and it’s out in the middle of nowhere?” Rebecca said, almost as if she as speaking to herself.

  “Have your weapon ready,” he said low, keeping his voice soft enough that only she could hear. He looked at the structure, scanned the property, and when he moved up the wooden steps to the front door and looked inside, the sight of a dead body was what greeted him. The person was draped over the podium that was on the altar, his body nearly rotted to the bone. Clearly the man had died shortly after the infection hit nearly two years ago, judging by the state of decomposition.

  “Stay close,” Collin said to her, pulled her forward with him, and stepped inside of the church.

  “Ugh, yeah, I have no plans on going anywhere,” she said just as softly, and he chuckled lightly. There were two sets of pews, with three rows each.

  “Looks like this was a private congregation, maybe even a backwater church or something.” Collin wasn’t familiar with happenings out in the boonies. He had lived in New York all his life where it was busy with nonstop action and where everything was out in the open. This could have been a cult, possibly, although right now it didn’t matter. The pews were weathered and worn, but the only other windows in this building, aside from the small one by the front door, were ones about twenty feet high. They were stained glass and let in plenty of light, but what really caught his attention was the second story. It was open, with beams running parallel. It was very similar to the loft back at the warehouse, and he assumed it was for storage.

  “You think someone is up there?” she whispered.

  “I don’t know.” He pointed at the corner toward the front doors. “Stay over there, because although I know you can handle yourself, my mind will be at ease if I know where you are and that you aren’t trying to hold your own.” Collin stared at her, and pleasure moved through him that she stared at him with her wide green eyes full of trust.

  And she didn’t argue, just nodded, looked back at the loft area, and moved over to the corner. It was shadowed, and the back of the door blocked her from prying eyes. Collin moved over to the stairs that he could see behind the altar. He stopped when he was close to the man slouched over the podium. There was a handgun beside the corpse’s feet and a bullet hole in the side of his head. Collin knew enough to see that the wound was self-inflicted. He’d have to clear the body out, use the podium and pews as firewood if need be, and as long as this place was secure he could see them staying here. Moving away from the corpse he walked over to the ladder, with his knife in hand, and slowly climbed. Once at the top, he stared down at where Rebecca was. She watched him, her knife at the ready, and pride and arousal filled him. This woman had only come into his life yesterday, and as much as he wanted her, and had thought she would have put up a fight, she had been just as lonely as he was.

  Once at the top he looked around. There were more pews stacked in the corner, even a couple of cots, an outdated desk and lamp, drapes, and some religious artifacts. He moved closer, moved away some of the dusty boxes, seeing if there was anything of use up here, and noticed a small latch that had been covered. He lifted the small brass ring, felt his adrenaline pump through his veins at what was underneath this door, and then had his knife at the ready just in case. The light from the stained glass cast a multi-layer colored illumination around the floor and wall.

  He swallowed, and then just opened the damn thing. He stood, ready to attack, but what he was greeted with was not a threat. In fact it was the opposite. “Well shit,” he said under his breath. Collin made sure the upper level was clear and safe, and then he called Rebecca up. When he glanced over the railing he saw her slowly approaching, her attention on the corpse slung over the podium.

  “Baby, don’t look at that. I’ll clear it all out soon, but I want to show you something first.”

  She moved quickly toward him, climbed the stairs, and then she stood beside him and looked down to see the items in the hidden apartment. Her eyes widened.

  “Seriously?” She got on her knees and started picking up cans of food, ran her fingers over the jugs of water, and then crouched to open one of the plastic containers on the floor. There were bags of dried food, beans and rice, and other items that were shelf ready and nonperishable. When she sat on the floor beside the food, she glanced over at him.

  “There has to be several months’ worth of food here.” She stared at him with this wide, confused expression on her face. “But why is it still here?” She looked at the food again, and ran her fingers over the cans. “I can’t believe no one looted this stuff.”

  “Well, this place is pretty far off, kind of isolated, and this was hidden pretty well.” He shrugged even though she was still staring at the food. “There were boxes on top of the hidden door. Chances are, even after all this time, no one ever found the place. I didn’t see any trails, and everything is pretty much grown over by now. We lucked out, baby.” Here he was, saying endearments to this woman that he’d just met, and felt territorial possession fill him. She turned and faced him, and then slowly rose. When she moved toward him his cock instantly got hard. He had a lot of shit he needed to do to get this place safe and secure for them, but all he could think about was being with her. She was right in front of him, lifting her hands and placing them on his jacket. They were both filthy, but he had noticed a small tub behind the altar, probably for baptisms, but for them it would make a great place to bathe.

  “This is kind of crazy, Collin.” she said in a soft voice, and looked at him. “And a little surreal.”

  “But it feels right.” Collin didn’t state it like a question.

  Rebecca looked down at the ground, but kept her hands on his chest. The silence was killing him, and Collin wasn’t used to that feeling. He had always gotten things handed to him, because if not the repercussions were grave and deadly, but with Rebecca he wanted to make sure she wanted this. He didn’t want to force her into anything, but at the same time he didn’t want to let her go, couldn’t let her go. If she had refused him, fought him tooth on nail on leaving with him, Collin would have pressed the issue. He never would have forced her to do something that she didn’t want to do, but only if she was safe. If there was a situation that she wanted to be stubborn about, and danger was close, he would have thrown her over his shoulder and fought anyone that came close. He wanted her to be protected above all else.

  She looked into his eyes, so understanding, so open and curious, and his fucking heart sped up right then and there.

  “It does feel right, and I think that is the craziest part of all of this.” She licked her lips, and he watched the act. “I don’t know anything about you, yet I feel so safe being with you.” She shook her head, and a moment of silence stretched between them. “I shouldn’t though, not after the stuff that I have been through, or the things I have seen.” She stared at him, and this anger rose inside of him like a fucking sledgehammer needing to destroy something. Just thinking about anyone wanting to hurt her enraged him.

  “In this world we have to take what we can get, especially when it feels right.” He cupped her face, wanting to kiss her so damn badly. Why the fuck was he trying to stop himself? Leaning in he pressed his mouth to hers, felt her open for him, and knew that he had to have her tonight. He couldn’t wait, not when she was so damn receptive. He stroked her tongue with his, groaned out when she moaned into his mouth, and slid his hand down her back. He cupped her ass, squeezing the mounds. She was wearing too many clothes, like all of them, but before he could tear the fucking material way she broke the kiss and took a step back. He lowered his head but kept his gaze locked on her. Right now he felt pretty feral, but he’d let her call the shots and lead the way for this first time.

  Only for this first time, though.

  ****

  The sun had set some time ago, and Rebecca had actually had a bath in the baptism pool, although it had been frigid. They had gathered the pond water, filled the tiny pool in church, and he had cleaned herself with the soap she had found at the grocery store. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so clean since the world had ended, and even her teeth felt minty thanks to the toothpaste and toothbrush she had also snagged. Now she was watching Collin as he finished bathing, too.

  They had found some candles in the loft storage area above, as well as several in brass candleholders around the main floor. The clothes she had on were clean, but she was already itching to have them off. She wanted his naked body pressed against hers, wanted to feel his big, calloused hands moving along her flesh, tweaking her nipples, stroking her pussy. God, she was so wet. Shifting on the pew, she glanced over her shoulder once more after turning away, trying to give him privacy. He stood, his back to her now, with the sight of his broad shoulders and muscular back on full display. But the massive raven tattoo that covered the width of his shoulders and branched all the way down to the small of his back looked deadly as much as it turned her on. It was almost violent in appearance as pieces of the big black bird’s wings broke off and covered his sides and the back of his bulging biceps.

  The candles cast shadows along his big muscular form, and she wondered how he stayed so defined in a world like this. And then he turned and faced her—the podium was now gone after he had removed it—so she saw every single detail of his body. Every. Single. One.