My labored breaths slowed and my chest didn’t ache as much. The sweat covering my body had cooled in the early morning breeze. Tor sleepily stretched beside me on the old mat beneath him. What I wouldn’t give to lay on a real bed, soft, warm, and clean. Clean. I’d been wearing the same cargo pants and long-sleeve shirt for weeks. We really needed to go into a small town soon for supplies.
“Sleep well?” His husky voice was cute, as well as the smile growing on those perfect bow-shaped lips. I never stood a chance resisting Tor’s charms, so when I lowered my head to press a gentle kiss to the creator of the warm feelings stirring in my belly, it wasn’t of my own doing.
“Not really, but it’s time to get up.” I tried to be honest, even if people didn’t like what I had to say. Mariam wanted me to soften my words, but that conversation usually had her muttering about how much of a wild girl I had become. After surviving the apocalypse, I needed to stay true to myself since the breaths I had were a gift. I wouldn’t waste words by telling lies.
“Nightmares?” Tor’s callused hand caressed the side of my cheek, gently pushing my wild brown hair back behind my ear. He always demonstrated care with me. I liked it, considering the alternative, but I wished he didn’t treat me like I’d break. I could sort of hunt and fight. Mariam made sure I learned the different skills I could in the community we’d lived in. I found some things came easier than others. Thankfully I was a fair cook.
He stared at me with his deep blue eyes, knowing I was plagued with nightmares. “Yeah, I’m OK, though. Really. Now let’s go check those traps, unless you want to do something else instead.” I waggled my eyebrows suggestively. My fingers grazed the skin over his hard cheek bones, down his closely shaved beard, and to his bobbing throat.
“I am pretty hungry.” His sleepy tone he had moments ago did not sound so tired anymore. I knew he meant hungry for actual food and not me. Never me. Having that knowledge didn’t stop me from being a brat to test his willpower.
“Hm, me, too.” My driven fingers moved down his lean torso, admiring the body he’d conditioned in order to survive. His nostrils flared, and his dark blue eyes turned ravenous. Could it be? Did I finally push Tor over the edge after months of this indisputable tension? My breath stilled in my chest as I waited for him to make a move. It became tiring, sometimes, constantly being the one to initiate contact between us. I needed to know he wanted me.
“Let’s go check the traps.” He blew out his own breath like he’d been holding it in. The disappointment showed on my face. Tor stretched, drawing my gaze to his lean body.
“I’ll explain everything one day. All of this will make sense, and I swear I will bed you the way you deserve. I swear, Sapphira.” His hand cupped my cheek as he leaned in to kiss my lips, his body tense like he could lose control and snap me at any moment.
“OK.”
He said there were things he couldn’t tell me until we reached a community in a place that used to be called California. Supposedly, it was the last and largest location of survivors on the continent, a town where even the Dramens couldn’t touch them. I longed for that freedom from fear where children laughed and people grew old together and made friends.
It was probably a fool’s dreams, one that would turn out to be nothing in the end. Tor and I had passed many towns that had once been great cities. Beautiful scenes had survived after the world ended. Mankind was coming to an end, and all that remained were husks of a past life.
Tor, satisfied with my answer for now, grabbed his quiver of arrows and compound bow. With a huff, he jumped out an old broken window of the church to check the perimeter. He would always be my guard and protector first, and boyfriend second.
Most of the time I loved his protective side. I would always be OK with him. However, there were times when I craved a lover and passion, the type of love Mariam used to read to me in books, a feeling that made you willing to cross oceans and move mountains. I didn’t know how to express that kind of love in words or even thoughts. It was inside me, like it had existed once before, and then disappeared. The words were lost, and until I found what my deepest desires looked for, it had no name in my heart, just a feeling, an unyielding desire.
Chapter Three
We didn’t catch anything, which usually signified trouble for us.
Ever since the majority of humans had died, animal life had flourished. Catching nothing meant something else lingered nearby and had hunted the creatures, most likely Dramens.
Tor and I moved west as quickly as we could, avoiding any unfriendly people as we traveled. Thankfully, my body had gotten used to small rations of food and water. The muscles I had were puny from lack of good nutrition, but I could run quickly and quietly. Swiftness was a gift, Mariam had said, one that had saved my life a few times already. Tor ran fast as well, always light on his feet without any sound. We moved like we’d been created from the woods themselves, landing on the balls of our feet without crinkling leaves beneath our boots.
“We only have one more day until we reach the tree and the colony.” Tor slowed to a full stop. We hadn’t heard anything for hours, but Dramens were stealthy, so they could hunt and not be hunted.
“Good! What I wouldn’t do for some hot food and a bath.” My body vitally needed sustenance. We only had a few pieces of dried deer left in Tor’s pack, which wasn’t enough to survive on for much longer.
“Priorities,” Tor laughed, a sound I loved to hear and heard often. He was a bright light in this dark world, smiles and hope bundled in an attractive package.
“Admit it, you would love a bath, too. You stink! We both stink!”
“Well, now that you mention it, sleeping next to you does make my eyes water most nights.” Tor always made jokes, making the most out of any situation. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head in exasperation.
A stick cracking echoed to our right. Our heads turned instantly. The Dramens had found us. The hairs on my arms rose, and my heartbeat thumped in my chest so loudly I feared our intruder would hear it. This was it. My hand reached for Tor’s muscular fingers, needing to feel him, to remember we were in this together.
Tor’s eyes narrowed on the location of the stick breaking, his other hand reaching for his bow slowly. With my free hand, I grabbed the sword from the belt at my hip. We would fight and probably die, but we would not go easily for these beasts of men.
I looked at Tor, memorizing his features.
“This is not our end,” he whispered as he gazed at me. I nodded, trusting him, although my nerves did not surrender to that trust so easily. We readied ourselves for an attack, eyes turning toward the woods with the determination to fight.
A deer leaped into view from a large tree in the direction of the sound we’d heard. A deer, not a Dramen. Tor let go of my hand instantly and had an arrow docked against the bow. In mere seconds, the deer lay dead on the ground. Tor never missed a shot.
At least I would have some food tonight to comfort the unease that had settled inside my belly from the thoughts of our impending death.
I wasn’t scared of dying. However, that didn’t mean I wanted to be tortured, sold as a slave, or used for other nefarious purposes like breeding.
“I still don’t trust these woods. Let’s take it somewhere safe,” Tor murmured softly, his gaze darting around the trees cautiously. There could still be something out there, and his instincts were always right.