“Ooh, Look at me I’m shaking in my boots.” The stranger leered at her. “You know how long it’s been since I’ve had a woman?”
Hannah felt panic clawing at her and waved the knife at him in shaking hands. “Don’t come near me. Please just go. Brody will hurt you if he finds you here.”
Moving quickly, the thug knocked the knife out of Hannah’s sweaty grasp. She watched with horrified eyes as it spun off out of reach. “Well, since your boyfriend is coming then we’d better leave quickly. Oh and to make sure he doesn’t follow…” With a nasty smile, the scruffy man flicked a lighter and lit the edge of the photo album. Hannah, in the grips of an intense terror, whirled to run only to smack into another intruder who smelled like he hadn’t bathed since the end of the world.
Brody, help me!
Chapter Eleven
A sense of foreboding had Brody driving fast and hard, weaving through the obstacle course that led home.
The trip with Fred had taken him longer than expected having to go slower with the old man and making more frequent stops. Fred had been welcomed by a tearful Beth. Joel had also promised to watch over him. Brody had wanted to return to Hannah then but had been further delayed in the hunt for a new wheelchair for Fred, unable to leave him until he knew the old man was mobile.
Brody had finally left first thing that morning, anxious to return to his stubborn kitten and unable to shake a feeling of dread.
A dread that turned into horror when he saw the smoke billowing in the sky where Hannah waited.
Accidental fire or intentional? The question plagued him as he had to choose between stealth and speed. Knowing how careful Hannah was about all things flammable, he opted for sneaking in. He stashed the bike and hot footed it into the fields that led right up to the house, the long stalks offering him concealment.
He held his handgun in one hand with the safety off and as he prowled through the forest of corn, the rustle of his movement masked by a breeze, he mentally prepared himself for what he might find.
When he reached the edge of the field, he crouched down and crept forward. The smell of smoke drifted thickly here, and he could see the orange and red flickers of flames as they hungrily devoured the old farmhouse. An icy hand squeezed his heart, and he almost ran out into the open, but common sense prevailed. Hugging the edge of the field, he kept moving and was rewarded with the raucous sound of laughter. His eyes scanned the trio of men as they passed a bottle and pointed at the burning house. A lump on the ground moved, and one of the men reached down. Brody heard a whimpering cry.
Hannah!
With no thought for his own safety, he charged at the bastards, determined to save the woman he loved.
Hannah saw him first, like a dark shadow flowing from the corn field, one who stalked with a determined purpose, for her. A cowboy born of the apocalypse taking the law into his own hands.
Brody aimed his hand gun and fired. With a gurgling sound, one of the scumbags who’d accosted her dropped. Hannah scrambled backward on the ground as the leader reached down to grab her.
“Stupid fucking bitch.” Those were his last words as Brody’s next shot took him out too.
The third attacker fled into the deepening twilight, but Hannah only had eyes for one person.
“Brody,” she breathed, so happy he’d come back and saved her from a fate worse than death.
He tucked his gun into his waistband and swooped her up into his arms. Only when he’d marched a fair distance from the burning house did he unclench his jaw enough to speak. “Did they hurt you?”
“No. You arrived just in time.”
Brody didn’t respond. He just kept walking, and Hannah wondered where the hell they were going but, exhausted and in a bit of shock now that the danger had passed, she just lay her head on his shoulder and let herself relax in his embrace.
His destination turned out to be his bike.
“Can you hold on?”
Nodding, she clambered on behind him and held him tight as he carefully drove ‘til they reached the town’s only motel.
He said not a word as he led her into the room, but his hands and mouth spoke for him as soon as he shut the door. He took her into his arms and kissed her with urgency.
Just as frantic, she clung to him, her hands pulling at his shirt. But he was too impatient and, to be honest, so was she. He unbuttoned her pants and pushed them down ‘til she could step out of them.
“Brace yourself,” he whispered, turning her so her backside was spooned into his groin.
Shuddering with desire, Hannah placed her palms on the wall and bent forward, pushing her ass against his hard shaft.
He reached between her legs, and she heard him grunt when his fingers ran across her already slick cleft. Spreading her nether lips, he guided his cock into her, his thick pulsing length making Hannah sigh.
His hard length stroked her, pumping into her silken folds. Hannah loved the feel of his hands on her hips as he pounded her faster and faster. His rapid breathing was more erotic than any spoken words. His lips latched onto the back of her neck and sucked the tender skin making her shudder. And he pumped her faster and harder, his velvety length slamming into her even as his fingers dug into her soft flesh. Knowing his pleasure lay just a few thrusts away, Hannah took one hand off the wall and, licking a finger, found her clit and rubbed it. When he came with a bellow, driving himself to the hilt inside of her and holding it, Hannah followed, her orgasm rippling around his pulsating length.
His hands moved from her hips to turn her around so he could hug her and bury his face in her hair. They embraced tightly for several moments.
Finally he spoke. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take you so rough.”
“It’s okay. In case you didn’t notice I like it too.”
“When I saw the house on fire and saw you in danger…” His voice trailed off and he hugged her chokingly tight. “I can’t lose you, Hannah. I love you too much.”
“I love you too, Brody.”
“I’m sorry about the house. I wish I could have gotten there sooner and saved it too.”
“Who cares about a stupid old house. At least we’re both safe.”
Brody pulled back. “Who are you, and what have you done with my kitten?” he asked incredulously.
“Yeah, well, I had an epiphany when you were gone. Turns out it wasn’t the house and stuff that I loved so much. It was my family. Without Beth and Fred and you, well, it was just a house. I was going to tell you when you got back, but then shit happened.”
“So we’re moving to the settlement where Beth and Fred are then?” he asked almost timidly, as if afraid he’d misunderstood.
“I will follow wherever you want us to go. Except for a major city,” she amended shivering. “They’re just creepy.”
Hannah’s ribs were crushed again, and he burned her with a scorching kiss, an embrace that turned into a much slower bout of lovemaking.
And after cradled in his arms, Hannah smiled. This is home.
Epilogue
Three years later…
Hannah smiled as she watched Brody chase Duncan across the front lawn, his shrieks of laughter the most beautiful sound in the whole world.
After an easy pregnancy but a hard labor she’d thanked the stars she’d had a midwife for, she’d birthed her nine and a half pound baby boy. She and Brody had spent a terrified year waiting to see if he’d succumb to the virus or other childhood illnesses they no longer had vaccinations for but, at just over two and a half, Duncan was a sturdy little boy with a smile brighter than sunshine.
She and Brody had been welcomed into the settlement with open arms. A house had been found for them with plenty of bedrooms for children-hint, hint. Fred had elected to stay in the boarding house with other “folk closer to his generation,” as he liked to say. Beth had lived with them for a little while before getting engaged and marrying Mike. The happy couple had been blessed with a little girl just the year before.