Page 27 of Savagely Yours
“We bartered it for food.”
“She said you two aren’t married.”
“She lied.”
“Why would she lie?”
“Because I told her to.”
“And why would you do that?”
“Because I don’t trust you.”
Of course, Larke would say we weren’t married. I’d spent months getting closer to her, turning the dial higher each time, only to continually push her away the moment heat emanated from the burner. I showed my rifle more affection than I showed Larke, so it wouldn’t have crossed her mind to think that I would have claimed her as mine. Asked them to house us together, yes, but to say that she was my wife? Knowing Larke, she’d probably envisioned me lying next to “Bethany” with the gun’s nozzle on a pillow.
“So, what did you do before, Dez?”
“I was in private security.”
“Military experience?”
“Navy.”
“Highest rank?”
“CPO. E7.”
“Is that Special Forces?”
“No, Special Forces is Army. I was SpecOps. Naval Warfare.”
“Which means?”
“A SEAL, ma’am.”
After hearing about my previous experience, the woman’s entire demeanor changed. She scribbled the words “Military, SEAL-EP” in her notebook and then stood, removing a long Q-Tip from a plastic package. I obliged her by opening up for a swab, and she lightly tapped my wrist before sending me toa bench to wait for the test to finish processing. Once it was determined that I was not one of the infected, I was escorted onto the grounds.
That was a little over three weeks ago.
I hadn’t seen Tapley since.
Although a tough and brilliant attorney who’d faced war criminals and drug lords throughout her career, she always did so inside a courtroom and with the benefit of around-the-clock protection. While I’d never faced this specific situation, I’d encountered similar circumstances, and the rules rarely changed.
A loner was as good as dead.
Still, as upset as I wanted to be—with Larke, myself, this place—she saved our lives that first day we arrived. I took an oath to protect her down to my last dying breath, which would have been impossible if I’d gotten killed and left her on her own. Then, my resistance might have placed a target on her back for being affiliated with a rebel.
But I missed her.
Like fucking crazy.
What I wouldn’t give for another chance to sit next to her on her sofa, staring into her eyes while we listened to a song that seemed to have been written with her in mind. What I wouldn’t give to lie next to her in bed while we read together, a gesture almost as intimate as if we’d spent the night naked and wrapped around each other.
I slapped my alarm clock until it quieted, rolled out of bed, and walked to the unit’s open-concept living area. Tall, picturesque windows, which would have been coveted and overpriced only months ago, offered a sordid reminder of how still the world had gone.
There were no people.
No animals.
