Page 64 of Protected

I even open my lips to get something said.

But no sound comes out.

His features tighten. His eyes deepen with urgency.What?

I try one more time to get the thing said, but I can’t. So I shake my head and smile at him. Stretch up to press a kiss on his lips. “Everything is good, Deck.”

He’s frowning as I turn back over so he can spoon me again, but it doesn’t take long for him to let his questions go and relax. He nuzzles my hair. I hug his forearm.

Things are good between us. Really good.

It’s all anyone can expect from this universe.

It’s more than enough.

Feeling better, I can finally go back to sleep.

Deck has been giving me hot looks all morning.

It started early. I was leaning over to roll up my sleeping bag, and because I was bent at the waist, my jeans slid down to expose the top part of my butt. I only know this because he came behind me and teasingly grabbed the back waistband of my jeans to yank them higher.

I squealed, giggling at his playful, sexy expression and the intimate gesture. Then I pushed my jeans farther down my hips where they’d been before with a defiant look.

Still smiling, his eyes got hot as he made another move for my ass.

We got interrupted by Trisha, walking by, rolling her eyes and muttering about certain people needing to get a room.

We would get a room if there were any rooms to be had. But we’re basically wandering the wilderness here. There’s nothing but scraggly trees trying to survive with less sunlight than they need, wide stretches of tangled weeds and dead foliage, and the occasional abandoned gas station or quick shop—all of them already thoroughly looted.

As it is, Deck and I have no privacy. The little princess room we shared in the house feels like ages ago now, and there’s not much hope for its like in the future. So his sexy mood might have gotten me going too, but we had no easy way to act on it.

There’s no sense in being annoyed by this fact. It’s one of the consequences of constantly traveling as we do. Deck has been living this life a lot longer than I have, and he clearly has no desire to stop. I like most of the people in our group, and I feel safe here—a blessing I never believed I’d find again. Plus there’s no way I’m leaving Deck.

Even if leaving him was an option I’d consider, I have nowhere else to go.

So this is my life now too. It’s not a bad one. The conclusion I came to last night is the right one. I need to be grateful for what’s good and not ask for even more. Things for me are a lot better than most people’s lives after Impact. We don’t need a fairy-tale romance. And it’s okay that I can’t fuck Deck whenever I want.

And that he can’t fuck me.

He’s been thinking about it all morning. Anytime I glance up in the back of the pickup during the bumpy ride over cracked pavement, he slants me another smoldering look.

Even the mess of his hair and beard can’t dim that particular expression.

After the attack on the road yesterday, neither one of us was in the mood for grooming, so he’s still all rumpled and tangled today.

It’s fine. It looks like him.

Today we’re making better time than usual. Logan’s Jeep maintains a faster pace despite the unfamiliar terrain and the poor condition of the road. He’s thinking about his little girl somewhere out west. He hasn’t said a word about it since we left that town, but I know she’s on his mind.

Who can blame him?

The chances of our finding her and her grandparents are slim, but he’s going to try anyway.

In the middle of the day, we reach a grassy clearing cut through by a decent-sized creek. Logan calls out that we’ll break here for a couple of hours.

We usually eat lunch and rest for a while with theothers, but Deck takes my hand and pulls me away from the group before we’ve even gotten anything to eat.

I’m laughing helplessly as I’m dragged after him. “Deck! Everyone will know what we’re doing!”

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