Road's End: Apocalypse Riders Page 6

  Part of my brain screamed, Stop this! But I couldn't remember why anymore. You're his captive!

  Well, he can have me. All my resolve crumbled beneath his sensual assault. Truthfully, if I wasn't being so self-righteous and stubborn, it had crumbled much earlier, somewhere back on the road. Well, we were at the end of it now, it seemed.

  I ran my hand gently down between our stomachs and rested at the tip of his bulge. He drew a sharp, shuddering breath. "Josie..." There was a hint of warning in his voice that made my knees tremble.

  I still remembered our first conversation. Or rather, "conversation." I could still feel how his intensity had rocked my very core, had tilted my whole world so violently that I'd come back to life. I rubbed the tip of his erection through his pants. “Please.”

  His hands ran down my sides to cup the curves of my ass. He pulled me hard against him. “Whatever you want,” he growled, and then his mouth was on mine once more with a frightening, fierce hunger. He lifted me until our mouths were at the same height; I locked my legs around his and I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck and buried my fingers in his hair. The new angle let his cock pushed directly against my pulsing sex through my pants. God, we need to get these off.

  “I’m gonna give it to you so hard,” he groaned, rocking against me, his breathing heavy in my ear. The course brush of his stubble against my neck made me shiver as his mouth ravaged my neck, nibbling in slow circles. Every nerve was on fire with anticipation.

  He sat me on the ledge, pushed my shirt up, and planted his lips on one of my tight and straining nipples. Trembling, I peeled the top over my head and let it drop at his feet while he suckled and nipped, his other hand caressing my other breast with gentle brushes of his thumb. The contrast drove me wild - his hand built a deep yearning within me, while his mouth sent sharp shocks of pleasure through my body. My fingers dug into his shoulders beneath his jacket, and, annoyed at the black leather barrier, I tugged his collar. “Off.”

  He moved quickly, carefully folding the jacket on the ledge near the bottle, then dropping his shirt to the ground behind him. I got a good eyeful of his body - all lean muscle and hard planes, with tribal tattoos on his arms and two smoky black skulls on his chest. I’d bet he was even bulkier back before everything happened, but now every ounce of fat was long gone. He was all tough, strong muscle, and I wanted to touch every inch of him. My heart raced, but not from fear, not anymore - only desire.

  I drew him to me by his belt loops and I pressed fervent, open-mouthed kisses along the tanned and inked skin of his chest. A rumble sounded deep in his throat and his muscled flesh tensed under my attentions. He mumbled something, but the taste of him was too intoxicating, too consuming for me to make sense of his words.

  My pants loosened - he’d undone my belt while I was distracted and now, he lifted me for just a moment to allow him to pull the pants away. I kicked my shoes off with them. He was on me again before I could say anything, bending me back so I could see only the night sky as he trailed scorching hot kisses down my neck, along my collarbone, until finally his mouth latched onto my nipple and sucked it into the wet cavern of his mouth.

  If I twisted and looked down, I’d see that sea of walking corpses, but I kept my eyes on the sky, on the stars. I moaned as he laid the flat of his hand against my exposed pussy. The pulsing ache inside me strengthened. I ground against his hand, seeking movement, but he remained frustratingly still. It made him chuckle.

  Finally, teasingly, he dipped his finger into my slick heat. My moan was cut off when his teeth bit down on my hardened nipple. The little shock of pain in concert with the light tease left my whole body humming with anticipation. “You’ll drive me crazy,” I groaned.

  “Revenge,” he growled, moving to my other breast. His fingers pressed deeper inside me, one and then two, driving the words and the breath out of me. I bit my lip, relishing the invasion, when he withdrew and lifted me from my concrete seat. The world spun, and suddenly I was on my back, on the blanket near the fire. Before I could sit up or look at him, his tongue touched my pussy. I lay back on the blanket, lost to everything but the feel of his tongue exploring my slipper folds, gently probing my entrance.

  My hips jerked with his licks and his sucks as he laved all around my center. I clutched at his head, tugging him closer, trying to be gentle, but I was swept away by his intensity. The delicious sensations, the pure pleasure of them, became almost unbearable, but the onslaught of his tongue never paused no matter how I writhed. His lips locked around my clit, and he ruthlessly sucked until I flew apart. Waves of ecstasy washed over me, drowned me, until I didn’t know if the stars I stared at were real or just inventions behind my eyelids.

  As I caught my breath and collected my senses, I realized Adam had moved. I sat up in time to see him kick his pants away. His cock stood free, thick and rock-hard with need. I reached for him, but he gathered my hands and held them above my head as I sat. His eyes blazed with a dark hunger. “Do you know how hard it was,” he said, “To keep my hands off you when you were bound like this?”

  Remembering that night at the pit stop, I hissed, “Yes.” He knelt so his cock was bobbing in my face, and I licked my lips. My mouth watered for it.

  His hand tightened around my wrists, locking them together. “Go on. Suck me,” he growled. This change in him was familiar now, and a thrill ran through me at the command, at the dark tone of his voice. I wrapped my eager lips around his cock and licked away the drops of moisture that had gathered on the tip.

  I gently caressed him with my tongue as I took him deeper, but that wasn't what he wanted. We were past niceties and teases as far as he was concerned. He grabbed my head with his other hand and fucked my mouth, hard. It was like the last bit of his control had snapped - because of me, because I'd allowed it - and I loved it.

  Deep grunts rumbled in his chest as he pushed himself deeper, nearly choking me. He was so large and so hard, having him inside my mouth filled me with an almost painful need. I tightened my lips to create more suction, and he groaned. He pumped faster, holding my head in a firm grip, the hand around my wrists as tight as a shackle.

  Saliva ran down my chin. His wild abandon stoked the fires of my own primal need - I had to consume him, devour him. I moaned around his furious plunges, until he suddenly and violently withdrew. I whined, but he was on me in a flash, pressing himself slowly inside me.

  I burned as he stretched me , but the pain was nothing next to the absolute ecstasy of being filled. My walls hungrily drew him in as I gasped and squirmed beneath him. I tugged against his grip, trying to free my hands, but he just pinned them to the ground. Before I could protest, his lips sealed over mine, his tongue plunging, claiming me.

  I rocked my hips, easing him deeper still, but his weight held me pinned and powerless, limiting how much moving I could do. It was strangely intoxicating, after all my struggling, my fighting for some scrap of control, fighting to survive, to finally let go. “Keep going,” I urged. As I adjusted to his size, he moved, quickly falling into a hard and rough rhythm, grunting as he fucked me. His body crushed mine, grinding my clit as he hammered into me. All my muscles tensed as blissful little shocks ran through me with every motion against my sensitive button. I could feel another orgasm building and approaching, like an inevitable tidal wave.

  He wasn’t far either, if his grunts and groans were any indication. His gaze was dark, heavy with lust. When he finally released my hands, I wrapped them around his back, scoring his shoulders with my nails as I moaned. He ran his index finger along my lip, his expression rapt. When he slid it inside my mouth, I sucked and caressed it with my tongue as I had with his cock. His hips thrust harder, wild, out of control. His taste and his deep, possessive growl pushed me over the edge. I cried out as an intense wave of heat flowed through me; as my muscles tensed and my walls clenched tight around his cock. My toes curled and my fingers dug into his shoulders with the force of it.

  With a roar, with one fin
al, violent plunge, he came with me. His body shuddered over mine as he rooted deep inside me, his cock pulsing with one jet of hot cream after another.

  Limp and breathless, I stared up at him. His face was flushed and slick with sweat. Something like regret settled in his eyes, but I pressed a finger to his lips to stall him from speaking. “That was perfect,” I breathed. I still trembled with little aftershocks of pleasure. I groaned as his softening cock slid from me, and he collapsed at my side.

  “You’re sure?” His arms wrapped around me and held me tight against him, my back to his chest.

  “Yes.” I planted a tender kiss on his arm. “Just what I needed.” It was true. My limbs felt boneless. Even knowing what horrors the morning might hold, in that moment I was more relaxed than I’d been in as long as I could remember.

  His voice was a quiet rumble. “Me, too.”

  CHAPTER 8

  We woke with the sun rising. Adam planted a scorching kiss on me before standing with a groan. “It’s time.” With no bags and no belongings left, there was no way to stall and take our time packing up. I put the remaining sports drinks and the single can of olives in a plastic bag and slung it over my elbow. At least we’d be able to stay hydrated; once the drinks were finished, we’d be able to save some water in the bottles if and when it rained.

  If we got out of there alive, that was.

  Adam handed me the whiskey. “You splash them, I’ll light them up,” he said, matches in hand.

  I shook my head. “This is a terrible plan. They won’t burn up fast enough.”

  “But fire scares them off, at least a little.” It was true. I’d chased them away with homemade torches myself before they migrated out of the city. They were more wary than scared, though. They’d back off, but they wouldn’t flee.

  “And when we break through? We run again?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “On foot we’re still a few days out. There’s a good chance we’ll get picked up, though.” He sighed. “We just have to keep going. That’s all.”

  I steeled my nerves. “Let’s do it.”

  I led the way downstairs. We knew they were concentrating around the side door, so we left it shut and passed through the storefront instead. I held the bottle in one hand and one of my knives in the other.

  “We need to get outside before we start lighting fires,” Adam said quietly, and I nodded. Only two corpses wandered the ransacked shop, tripping and stumbling through the mess as they tried to approach us. I waited for the closest one to get a little closer to move in on it - it made a misstep over a shelf and fell to one knee, and I took the chance to jump forward and slam my blade into the back of its head. It dropped and was still right away.

  Adam had my second knife, and went after the second one. He just grabbed it by the hair like it was nothing, bent it double, and stabbed the knife home. It hit the floor like a sack of flour.

  More crowded at the big, broken window. Soon it would be a swarm; we had to move fast. I rushed ahead of Adam, bottle outstretched, and splashed the corpses at the window with the whiskey. I didn’t look back. I shouldered my way past a corpse to my left, aiming my path in the opposite direction of the body of the herd. They could smell us and hear us, and the commotion was drawing many of them around from the side of the building.

  I heard a whoosh and felt a blast of heat at my back. “Keep going,” Adam grunted over my shoulder. He knifed a corpse that got too close and kicked it away. I pushed past another, splashing the alcohol again as I went. Hands grabbed; gaping mouths reached for me; my clothing tore. Their stench was overwhelming, and I gagged. I was being pulled down. Oh, God, they’re going to bite me, I’m fucked. It was like running through molasses. “Run!” I splashed the rest of the liquid out, smashed the empty bottle against the nearest corpse’s head, and ran. I lashed out with the knife, knowing it was useless but hoping it might slow the the grasping hands just a fraction, just long enough for me to blow past.

  Somehow, we made it through. My hand was soaked in rotten blood; the blade dripped with gore. “Run!” I took off. I passed corpses in the parking lot, but they weren’t gathering, weren’t pressed in like the crowd in front of the store. They were just stragglers. I ignored them and ran.

  Adam steered me onto the road with a hand on my shoulder, pointing out the way. His own hands were smeared with the blood and guts of the dead, and I could only hope that none of it was his own. Now was not the time to stop and find out. Now was the time to dig in, put one foot in front of the other, just keep going until I either reached safety or collapsed.

  Neither of us had recovered enough to run for as long and as far as we had the day before. I barely made it a mile before I had to stop for a minute and catch my breath. I could just make out the first of the herd behind us, lurching up the road - far away, but they’d be on us soon enough. They’d never quit.

  Further behind them, I could make out trails of smoke. I guess it worked. Sort of. It was enough.

  “Are you bleeding?” I asked Adam, observing the mess all over him. Even his normally immaculate leather jacket flaked with dried blood all over the arms.

  “No, it’s not mine. Come on. We’ll just walk for a bit. But we can’t stop moving.”

  We didn’t manage to lose the dead. We walked along the two-lane highway with nothing to see but scattered trees and the shambling corpses behind us. We watched the smoke continue to rise. “They’ll see it,” Adam assured me repeatedly, “They’ll come.” His brothers.

  “We have to get off this road,” I said.”We’ve only got the one can.” But Adam shook his head.

  “We can’t stop and scavenge with them this close on our tails. They’ll trap us somewhere again, or worse.”

  “So we’re going to just count on your buddies just magically showing up?” The late afternoon sun beat down on us. We’d been walking for so long, I could barely feel my feet.

  “They’ll see the fire. They’ll see the trail, they’ll know the dead are chasing something. Josie.” He grabbed my hand. “We’re going to make it. Just keep moving.”

  His touch was a comfort. I composed myself with a deep breath and kept walking. They’ll find us. They’ll find us. Funny how “they” weren’t so scary anymore. Not now that we needed rescue. How long ago had I met Preacher and Van? How frightened had I been, then? I wondered if Sunny was well, if they found those girls they’d talked about. I looked down at our hands, our fingers entwined. I guess I sort of trust him, now. Funny how much he changed my mind.

  I didn’t recognize the sound immediately when I heard it. Dogs? Bees? “Engines.”

  “Finally.” He kissed the back of my hand.

  Fear gripped my heart again. “Are you sure they’re yours? Devil’s Ashes?”

  “It has to be. We’re in our territory.”

  “Did you forget that we were being chased in the first place?” The sound was getting closer. It was coming from the opposite direction of the herd. “Adam…” I squeezed his hand. “Please.” We were stuck; we were out of road. One way was certain death, the other maybe friends, or death for Adam and worse for me.

  He looked around. There really wasn’t anywhere to hide except behind some trees, but the corpses were still close on our heels. “Okay.” He yanked his jacket off and turned it inside out before putting it back on. “I’m pretty sure we look shitty enough. Just shamble.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah. Off to the side of the road. They won’t bother with us if we’re out of the way, whoever they are. If they’re my guys, we’ll flag them down. If they’re not…” He shrugged. “We’re kind of at the end of the road here either way. Do you have a better idea?”

  I shook my head. We walked in the grass along the side of the highway, and once the motorcycles were in sight - three of them - we lurched and shambled like the dead. I had to let go of his hand and walk apart, and it made me feel way too exposed. Three. We left three guys in the city. This is them, their stupid fucking rivals, they�
��re going to kill Adam. I grew dizzy with terror. My stumbles weren’t entirely faked.

  But then Adam was laughing and waving. Relief washed over me like a wave, leaving my knees weak. He grabbed my hand. “We’re okay,” he said, laughing with disbelief. “Come, come meet my brothers.” We waited for them in the middle of the road, Adam waving at the three approaching bikes with visible relief.

  They pulled to a stop to either side of us - three rough men, all older than Adam, with ragged scars and scraggly beards and the matching leather jackets.

  “We knew that herd was chasing some people down,” one of them said. His hair and beard were dusty blond, his sunglasses cracked. “Had no clue it was you. Happy to see you, Lark. Been a long while.”

  Adam grinned. “You too, Chief. Real good to see you. This is Josie.” I flinched from his outstretched hand before shaking it.

  “What happened? Where’s your bike?”

  “Swarmed. We barely made it.”

  “I can see that.You lit those fires?”

  “Yeah.” He elbowed me softly. “Josie’s idea.”

  “A good one. We’ve been keeping an eye on this herd. Once we saw the flames, we figured someone was out here and circled out in front of them. I guess you’ll be wanting a lift?” I grabbed Adam’s arm. Maybe I trusted him now, but I didn’t know these guys at all. And now I’d have to ride with one of them? It was too much. Chief noticed my dismay. “Honey,” he said, “We’re taking you home. I don’t know how much Lark told you, but you’ll be safe there. You’ll see.” I nodded, though my heart was in my throat.

  After they gave us some water, Adam and I rode apart - I held onto Chief as we drove away from the herd and away from the highway.

  +++++

  We reached the wall before nightfall. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but it wasn’t such a large, solid structure. How long had it taken to build? How many people? I thought of the city, then. The safety and security I’d felt within its steel and concrete bones. The isolation, yes, but it was my city. My home.