Page 68 of Once Upon an Apocalypse

Whoa. It’s worse than I imagined. But instead of giving him pity, an act of sympathy I hate from others, I give him anger.

“Are you angry because of what I think of you or what you think of yourself? Because you’re right. You couldn’t even find the courage to dump me properly. You abandoned me in our new home. Left me to think I had done something wrong. If you think you are worthless, what does that make me? The worthless girlfriend of a cripple?”

Okay, maybe I went too far with that last comment, but I need to spark something inside him that will fight back. Because the man I know would not give up without a fight.

“Lori,” Amos growls.

“No. I told you I wouldn’t let you push me away. If this is what you want, I will push right back.”

And I do. I punch Amos in the face with every ounce of strength within me. He goes down hard, caught off guard. Inside, I want to cry as he closes his eyes in pain. I use the advantage and jump on top of him.

“If you are so weak, I bet you can’t even throw me off your crippled body.” Every word comes out like a knife slicing into his beautiful brown skin. I don’t mean to break him. I want to wake him up from this pitiful nightmare he’s stuck himself inside. And yet the hurt in his eyes is so real, so visceral. Just when I’m about to dismount and apologize, Amos curls his amputated arm around my waist enough to secure me to his chest as he spins us around.

The air is knocked out of my lungs, leaving me vulnerable for a moment as I gather myself together. Amos pins my hips down with his and it takes everything inside me not to wrap my legs around his ass and push up against him. Not to attempt an escape, but because of the need I have for any kind of friction. Our eyes lock on each other, anger quickly dissolving into something else.

This is my opening, my one chance to bring him back to me. “You are no less the man you were because you are not physically whole. You are more. I don’t need to be protected. I don’t need you to take care of me. I just need you.”

I watch as a tear breaks from the surface of Amos’ golden eyes, sliding down his chiseled face. It drips onto my cheek, following the path of my own tears. My breath catches when I look into his eyes, seeing the rawness of his love for me.

As Amos dips his head closer to mine, I whisper, “You make me come like no one else can. You make me feel everything in a way that terrifies and delights me. I will never leave you. I could never leave you.”

The door to his office swings open and Jonah waltzes in like he owns the place, not noticing us until Amos shouts, “Get out!”

“Oh shit! Sorry, Amos.” Jonah freezes, seeing the full picture of our situation. His voice cracks when he says my name. “Lori?”

As Jonah takes a step back through the door, he steps on Kyle’s foot, who then bumps into Olivia. Amos pushes himself up with his good arm. The movement pushes another part of him against me, making me squeeze my thighs against his hips. He grunts at the pressure, then whips his head over to our unexpected audience and shouts, “Everyone get the fuck out!”

The three of them rush out, slamming the door behind them. To my dismay, Amos pushes himself out from in between my thighs, standing up with grace. Just as the last piece of my heart breaks at the rejection, I hear Amos rushing to close the blinds against the glass walls of his office. I perch myself onto my elbows, watching him struggle with the last one.

A satisfied smile creases the side of his face as he wins the war with the blinds. Then he turns his eyes on me. Every step he takes in my direction shatters me until I’m quivering beneath him. When he holds his hand out to me, I take it. A giddy yelp escapes from my mouth as he pulls me up so quickly I practically jump into his arms. His whole arm secures me against him as he walks us over to his desk.

Amos places me on top of the papers scattered over his desk and I keep him in place between my legs. He presses his forehead against mine as he says, “I’m sorry, Lori. I’m so sorry.”

“Talk later. Fuck now.” The heat of him against my body has me feeling desperate and needy. The same feeling I had after we jumped into the car after being chased by a horde of freshies. I need Amos inside me. Right now.

His lips smash against mine with that same need. His tongue seeking entry I all too willingly grant. A moan of delight falls from Amos’ mouth to mine and I answer with my own. In a swooping moment, I’m on my back, legs up and pressed against Amos’ hard body. I help him pull down his shorts, then he grabs the waistband of mine, pulling them over my knees. He dips a finger inside me, testing my readiness. And, oh, how ready I am for him.

“Holy fuck, Lori. You are soaking my fingers already.”

“Did I mention Ineedyou?” I grab his hips and pull him into me. We groan in unison as he fills every inch of space and I hold on for dear life as he plows in and out. His thrusts are wild and untamed. Going deeper and deeper. Yet I still need more of him.

“Amos!” I shout as he stops abruptly to pull my shorts all the way off my legs. He wraps my legs around his hips, allowing me to lock him in place. Then he licks that glorious thumb of his before pressing it down on my clit, making me arch into him. He resumes his thrusting attack, circling my clit as he pounds into me. I know I’ll have bruises from this brute show of strength and power, but I don’t care. I welcome the bruises even though they’ll fade within an hour. But the feeling of him inside, that will leave a lasting imprint for ages.

Chapter 43

Holidaysarearareoccasion in this new world. At The Valley, we try to celebrate life whenever we can. The fall solstice is one of them. It’s a time that brings our large community together to celebrate the harvest. Our patrol units have been out picking buckets of apples for weeks. The campus gardens have flourished over the summer, providing an abundance of other fruits and veg that will last through the winter.

Today also marks one year of freedom for me. According to Amos. I would sometimes lose sense of time in the bunker and had no idea what day it was when I came to The Valley for the first time. The first thing Amos said to me when I woke up next to him in bed this morning was, “Happy anniversary.”

I looked at him with sleepy, confused eyes until he explained he brought me to The Valley on the first day of fall last year. It’s hard to believe that was a year ago when it feels like another lifetime. My first year at The Valley has been one of the best years of my life. A depressing thought when I think of the world I live in now. But I found my mom here. I fell in love. Even getting Jonah back in my life has filled that void, the one that threatened to take all of who I am away.

The surrounding laughter warms my soul more than the fire blazing before me. Marshmallows. I’m roasting freaking marshmallows in the middle of the social quad. They might be expired, but who the hell cares? Freaking marshmallows! I wish we had some chocolate and graham crackers, but no one could find any on patrols even though Hershey is a thirty-minute drive away. Apparently, that area is still swarming with zombies and is off-limits for the foreseeable future.

Maybe one day we’ll have enough people and weapons to storm the area and hoard all the chocolate being guarded by the undead. One day. Today, I’ll happily roast these marshmallows. When it catches fire, I pull it out, blowing on it quickly. The fire goes out instantly, but I keep blowing to cool it down so I don’t burn the inside of my mouth.

“That’s definitely not burnt enough,” Cal says sarcastically as they keep their marshmallows on the edge of the fire, giving it a gentle roast.

“Lori has always burnt her marshmallows,” my mom says as she adds more marshmallows to the tip of her roasting stick.

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