V-Day: (M-Day #4) (23 page)

“
No one asked you, Zee. We could be in the Midwest, maybe,
”
Evo growled.
“
Max, tell your man to butt out. Maybe you two should go take a sex break, his brain is obviously fried from needing to
—”

“
Don
’
t start, Evo. Not now. We need to figure out which direction we
’
re going in and hopefully find a car with gas in it. Besides, everyone here knows you
’
re just extra cranky because you and X haven
’
t gotten to
—”

“
A little help here,
”
Ty grunted, shifting Riley on his shoulder.
“
He
’
s starting to come to again.
”

“
We can
’
t keep shooting him to keep him out while we travel. There has to be a better way.
”
I danced my fingertips over Riley
’
s sculpted face, hating how we were treating him.
How am I going to tell him about his rape? Or maybe I just won
’
t. Would I want to know?
I bit my lip, undecided about my answer.

“
Vi,
”
Ty
’
s voice softened.
“
You know if there was another way I
’
d do it, there just isn
’
t.
”

I hung my head.
“
Yeah, I know. I just wish there was.
”

Evo walked over to Riley, pulled a pistol out of one of her holsters and popped him twice in the head at point blank range. She blew at the barrel like it had smoke coming off of it, and winked at me. I scowled.
“
Careful, I want him to actually wake up.
”

“
Yeah, you say that now, but then one day you
’
ll be standing with the supposed love of your life and he
’
ll be trying to tell you to go north east and then you
’
ll wish he
’
d stayed sleeping or regenerating or whatever the hell I-Men do when they get shot in the head instead of
—”

X walked off, muttering under his breath, and for the first time since I
’
d met her, Evo seemed worried.
“
Shit. I guess I hurt his little feelings. I better go apologize.
”

“
Don
’
t take too long,
”
Max called after her.
“
It
’
s called a quickie. Say it with me
…
quickie.
”
Nyx and her sniggered, whispering to each other.

I couldn
’
t help but wonder how they all coped the way they did with everything from day to day. Sure they seemed to grate on each other
’
s nerves and bicker, but overall they seemed happy, and worked as a group like a well-oiled machine. Just being around all of them calmed me, and made me feel like a future was possible. Maybe it was just strength in numbers but I had a feeling it was more than that. They
’
d all bonded and loved each other
—
genuinely cared about each other. I
’
d been tight with some of the guys I
’
d trained for S-Ops with, but not on the same level as what I was seeing with my brothers and their tiny group of friends.
No, friends isn
’
t the right word
…
family. They
’
re family now.

“
You okay?
”
Ty asked without looking at me, his gaze was tracking Nyx, who was digging around in a bag next to Riley
’
s prone form.

“
Yeah, all things considered.
”

“
Good. I can
’
t even tell you what I thought
—
how I felt
—
when I saw you there with Pix
’
s father. I about lost it. I
’
m sorry I didn
’
t
—”

“
It
’
s okay.
”
I squeezed his arm, giving him a small smile.
“
It was a close call but
…
yeah.
”
I tilted my head in question.
“
And
…
Pix
…
I swear you all said her name was
—”

“
It is
Nyx
,
”
the woman in question growled, not even bothering to look at us.
“
Pix is just a stupid nickname that your brother likes to call me.
”

Ty placed his hand over mine and squeezed back, ignoring Nyx
’
s comment.
“
He may not have actually
…
well you know
…
raped you, but that kind of thing is still traumatizing.
”

“
I
’
m fine, Ty. Just go to Nyx, or Pix, okay? Stop worrying about me.
”

He met my gaze, his eyes hopeful.
“
If you
’
re sure.
”

“
I am.
”

“
Thanks.
”
He pulled me into a brief hug and kissed the top of my head.
“
Best sister ever.
”

It was something he said to me all the time when we were kids, my response came naturally.
“
Only sister.
”
I laughed.

He loped over to Nyx, eating up the distance between them. She glanced up and smiled at him, his grin matching hers the minute their eyes met, all signs of annoyance on her part completely evaporating. Ty swept her up in his arms, burying his face in her neck while she screamed and giggled, pretending to fight him. They disappeared into the night.

My heart clenched with jealously.
I want that with Riley again.
Guilt immediately replaced the jealously. I wanted Ty to be happy, I shouldn
’
t begrudge him what he had with Nyx, not when he truly deserved it. It was just
—
I want it too. So desperately.

I walked over to Riley, sitting beside him in the damp grass. It was eerie how still he was
—
how death seemed to hold him in its grasp. I glanced around making sure I was alone with him, knowing I wouldn
’
t have much time. I leaned in, my lips brushing his ear.
“
I love you, Riley. And I do belong to you because you belong to me right back.
”
I pressed my forehead into his cheek, my fingers trailing up to stroke his matted hair.
“
I
’
ll find a way to save you, I promise. Or I
’
ll let you have me, no matter what you are.
”

I tried to imagine what it would be like to give myself to Riley if he was a full-blown I-Man. I thought back to the woods just before I
’
d shot him. Would it really have been so bad to let him take me when he was like that? He wouldn
’
t have hurt me, right? I slid down his body, resting my head on his chest, thinking about it more. As the minutes crawled by I lost myself in the fantasy of what could have happened, instead of what actually did.

“
Riley, look at me.
”
I jerked his head up, a chill running down my spine at the glazed over look in his eyes. I
’
d seen it before in other I-Men.
“
I know you
’
re still in there. You need to
—“

“
Taste you,
”
he rumbled, pitching me backwards so I hit the ground hard. He shoved his face between my legs, groaning as he sucked on my clit.
“
So fucking good,
”
he grated against my slick folds. Because of course they were slick and ready for him. I
’
d just spent the last
—
I don
’
t know how long fucking him. My body still reacted to him even though he was being so forceful.

“
No, stop! Stop it!
”
I writhed underneath him, hating and loving what he was doing to me. But I knew if I let it happen
…
This. This I will regret. Or will I?

I sat up, yanking Riley by the hair away from me. He snarled, glaring at me with hostility and want. I had no choice. I clenched my fist and hit him as hard as I could. It wasn
’
t nearly hard enough to knock him out but he did roll away from me. I scrambled for the handgun I knew was over by some of our discarded things. My fingers curled around the cool metal just as Riley slammed me to the ground face first. My pants were still down around my ankles, and he slid up my body, his erection poking at my ass.

“
Just enjoy it. I
’
ll make it good.
”
His voice had gone guttural, inhuman
—
just like any other I-Man.

I sobbed against the cold ground, the scent of dirt and grass filling my nostrils. My original plan had been to use the butt of the gun to knock him out, but I knew I wouldn
’
t be able to with him going full I-Man on me. I was going to have to shoot him. It was either that or let him rape me. My Riley, the man I loved, would never forgive himself even if he wasn
’
t the one driving his body. He would blame himself forever for something beyond his control
…
unless maybe
…
could I just make the choice mine instead of his? Then there
’
d be nothing for him to self-loath about. I wasn
’
t sure I could do it though.

I managed to wriggle around so I was on my back. I raised the gun, my hands shaking. Riley stilled, then he threw his head back and laughed.
“
You won
’
t shoot me.
”

I placed the barrel of the gun against his forehead, right between his eyes.
“
You
’
re right,
”
I whispered, meeting his gaze.
“
You can fuck me, do whatever you want because I love you and I know you love me too, no matter what the virus makes you do. This is my choice because I love you.
”

“
I
’
ll make it so good for you.
”
Riley hitched my legs around his waist, grinding his thick length against me. He pushed my arms over my head, holding them there with one hand while the other trailed down between my breasts. He dipped his head to suck one of my pebbled nipples into his mouth. I groaned, becoming completely pliant under his skillful ministrations.

He plunged into me, meeting no resistance since I was already wet and ready. His skin slapped loudly against mine as he
—

“
Vi?
”
Zee
’
s voice rumbled low, startling me out of my semi-awake fantasy. My face flushed as I looked up at my older brother. I felt almost ashamed for what I
’
d been thinking. But then again, a fantasy is a fantasy, it wasn
’
t like I could go back in time and act like a complete love-sick fool. I
’
m also sure in real life Riley wouldn
’
t have been so gentle, not at least while being ruled by the virus. But my mind couldn
’
t help but conjure images of the
‘
pet I-Men
’
Tasha and her gang had trained. Could I be that way with Riley?

I shook my head and stood, not sparing Riley
’
s motionless form another glance.
“
Yeah, what
’
s up?
”

“
There
’
s something that none of us asked, but I
’
m pretty sure we
’
re all thinking
…
What happens when the powers that be find out we
’
re all infected? I can see a lot of ways this could go wrong.
”

“
Maybe we don
’
t tell them then.
”
I bit the inside of my cheek, instantly regretting the words.

Zee scowled.
“
Because you not telling people things has worked out so well for you up to this point.
”

I didn
’
t even have the energy to be pissed off or insulted, he was right after all.
“
I don
’
t see another option. If you guys don
’
t get evacuated, if you get left behind then you
’
re going to all be toast.
”

“
The cleansing?
”

“
Yeah.
”
He didn
’
t ask and I didn
’
t want to talk about it. Talking about it made it feel entirely too real. First it would be the Americas, and then Europe, Asia etc. Special bombs would be released nuking everything they came into contact with. What made these bombs so special was not the destructive capabilities but what came after that. They were the first nuclear bombs of their kind. The bomb didn
’
t have any adverse effects after detonation. No deadly radiation, no waiting for the half-life to pass before rebuilding could take place, or at least that was what the test results had pointed towards. The truth was, the bomb had barely been tested. There was a very real chance that in a matter of days the world would end when the metaphorical big red button was pushed.
All of this could have been for nothing.