He sat on the edge of the roof for the longest time, lost in thought, feeling alone even though the house was full. He watched the sun start to rise, sleep once again failing him. He’d not slept a lot in recent weeks. He didn’t like the uneasy feeling that kept him up at night.
Having been on the front lines, he knew that more trouble was coming.
What he wanted to know was how bad and when it was coming. He had to be prepared, to protect what he’d created here.
With the sun finally up, he got to his feet and left the safety of the rooftop, heading back down to the main kitchen.
“It could be worse,” Anna said. She was one of the few women who’d come for sanctuary.
“How could what be worse?” he asked, entering the kitchen.
He saw at least ten people were already down for breakfast. The coffee was on. The one good thing about this place, there seemed to be an endless supply of coffee and food. He wondered if the person who once lived here was a doomsdayer, the kind of person to prepare for a potential apocalypse.
“Our situation. I mean, yeah, it’s bad. Our population has dwindled, and a lot of people have died. There’s no active government or head of state, but I mean, at least the people who are dead are not coming back to eat our brains.”
“She thinks that because there are no zombies around, we’re all good,” Luke said.
“Hey, it’s not funny. I’m being serious,” Anna said.
“So am I. There’s nothing about our situation that’s good.”
“I don’t know, I’m glad we don’t have a couple billion people knocking at the gate wanting to suck our brains out,” Draven said. “That’s a plus.”
He took a sip of his coffee and tried to hide the disgust. Whoever had made it couldn’t make coffee.
“See, I told you.”
“Draven, we’ve got company,” Benjamin said, coming into the kitchen.
Everyone tensed.
“What kind?”
“Two women. They look tired.”
Draven reached for his gun. The men followed him out, and they all approached the gate. He held the gun up. It wouldn’t be the first time a gang had tried to take his land by using a woman as bait. He had no interest in finding out if that was the case now.
“Whoa, whoa,” one of the women said.
The other one remained quiet. Her wide blue eyes stared at the gun in his hand.
“We don’t take in just any strays. You’re alone?” Draven asked.
“I want to make sure this is Draven’s Kingdom.”
“What?” He didn’t have a name for his place, but hearing that, it was weird.
“Ashley and I, we’re looking for Draven.”
He assumed the sexy blonde was Ashley.
“You’re looking at him.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Now, what the fuck do you want?”
“I’m Luanna. This is Ashley. We need a place to stay. We can earn our keep. I promise you. We’ve been traveling all week, and look, she’s a fertile.”
Before Ashley could stop her, Luanna had grabbed her wrist and showed them the status marking.
The men took a step closer, but Draven saw the fear in Ashley’s eyes. She jerked away from her friend, her loose bun coming undone. Damn, she sparked something inside of him.
Luanna had no right exposing her friend, but he also couldn’t allow the two women to leave his premises now.
“Open the gate,” he said, giving the order.
Like always, the gate was only opened a short distance, just in case someone decided to try to sneak in or to ram it open.
He pushed his way through the men and went straight to Ashley, who kept backing up until the closed gate stopped her.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she said.
He reached down, grabbing her wrist and inspecting the band that declared her as fertile.
“Welcome,” he said.
Chapter Two
Draven never gave much thought to the fertile women the government claimed were running loose, a huge bounty on their heads. He considered them more a tall tale, a story people shared to give them a bit of hope.
He’d never seen one in the flesh. If the virus didn’t kill them, it rendered most women infertile. The moment he saw that tattoo on Ashley’s wrist, something came alive in him. The prospect of continuing life, of creating a new world excited him. It was more than that. The girl with the long blonde hair had an air of innocence that pulled him in.
She’d be his.
This was his kingdom, and even though most of the women within the walls hoped he’d choose them as a mate, he’d had no interest in any woman—until today.
He tucked his gun into the back of his jeans and held out his arm so the women would feel welcome to enter the main yard of the property. They moved tentatively, easily jumpy. He wondered what they had been through.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. They both turned to him at once. Luanna nodded eagerly, but Ashley just stared at him. He approached her, tilting her chin up with a curled finger. “I asked you a question.”
She swallowed hard, but kept quiet. Feisty or terrified, he wasn’t sure. Either way, just being near Ashley made his cock hard. It had been over a year since he’d fucked a woman, and right now that fact was making itself painfully clear. Somehow, even being starved, she’d managed to keep her lush curves. Her jacket barely concealed the fact she had huge, sloppy tits. So many of the women who came through these gates were emaciated, not unlike Luanna.
“Yes, she’s hungry, too,” Luanna answered for her.
He brushed the hair from Ashley’s forehead. Even with all the dust and smears of mud, she was still the most breathtaking thing he’d ever seen. The loneliness that had plagued him the past year suddenly felt irrelevant. His focus shifted.
Draven wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there, staring at Ashley, but Luke cleared his throat to snap him out of it.
“Boss?”
“Right.” He took a step back, taking a cleansing breath. “Bring them to the kitchen, feed them well, then get them cleaned up. New clothes, too,” said Draven.
“Are they going to be staying on?” asked Luke. They often aided travelers, then sent them on their way. They couldn’t house every person passing through or they’d be overrun and their supplies would be devastated. It was a hard world, and they had to make tough choices.
“Luanna can sleep in the women’s dorm for now. Bring the fertile one to me after.”
There was silence, and a couple gasps, but no one dared to challenge him. It was unlike him to show any interest in a woman. He stood rooted in place as the men ushered the newcomers forward to the kitchen. Ashley kept looking back over her shoulder at him. She was young and ripe, maybe early twenties, half his age. It didn’t matter to him. For the first time in a long time, he cared about something beyond survival.
Draven’s Kingdom. He played with the words in his head. He’d never really thought about his role in this world he’d created. Maybe king was an appropriate title. He licked his lips as he watched the jiggle in Ashley’s ass. Fuck, she turned him on without even trying. He could already envision her naked, and all the filthy things he wanted to do to her body.