Chapter Thirteen
T hree days passed. Murphy and I ran out of food. And each day we spent hours in the open space behind the house, practicing my shooting ability.
After the first day, I learned all the different parts of the gun. I knew how to flick the safety off, how to hold the gun to prevent excessive recoil, and how to pull the trigger. The only thing I was severely lacking was the ability to aim.
“Look through the sight. Make sure your target is in your eyesight,” Murphy instructed from beside me, tilting the gun in my hand until he was content with my position.
“Alright, take your shot.” He backed away a few steps, giving me plenty of space.
Flicking the safety off, I took a deep breath, looking down the barrel of the gun and then squeezing the trigger beneath my finger. The shot ran throughout the space, echoing in my ears. I steadied my body, prepared for the recoil.
But even with all the preparation, a shiver still ran up my spine. Murphy promised it would eventually get easier, that I would feel more comfortable wielding the weapon, but I wasn’t so sure about that. Especially once there were actual targets, not the empty soup cans sat on pieces of wood.
The bullet missed the cans, landing somewhere in the woods behind. Unfortunately, I hadn’t even had one lucky shot. It was quite impressive how I had managed to miss every single mark.
“That one was closer,” Murphy said, planting his hands on my shoulders once I clicked the safety back on.
Leaning back into his chest, I closed my eyes. “Not close enough.”
The truth was, each day we trained, each day we waited, the others could be getting tortured. Or worse, they could already be dead.
Dropping the gun to the ground, I spun around in Murphy’s arms, his hands sliding down my back and resting on my hips. It was now a familiar position. Whenever our hands were free, we found ourselves in this embrace, stealing comfort from each other.
Nothing more happened, not like it had that night. The guilt still gnawed at us, not allowing ourselves to give in to the attraction that spiraled between us.
“Ready to go inside for the night?” Murphy asked and I nodded against his chest, pulling myself from his arms and reaching for his hand.
Fingers entwined, we walked inside the cottage, both of our stomachs groaning. The kitchen still smelled like the rest of the soup we had eaten this morning, but there was nothing to stanch the hunger.
Leading me to the couch, Murphy sat down, pulling me onto his lap. Both of us were quiet for several moments, and I knew he realized the same thing I did.
“We need to go after them tomorrow,” I whispered, hating the fear that zipped up my arms, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
“I know.” Murphy dropped his head against the back of the couch, his throat working as he swallowed.
“We could die,” I reminded him, as if he didn’t already know. In fact, the chances were higher than not.
Murphy sat back up, his desperate gaze meeting mine. “I know.”
I couldn’t tell you who reached for who. But the guilt dissipated with the knowledge that tonight could be our last night. And all I focused on were Murphy’s words, that we needed to take advantage of the fact we were still alive.
Our lips connected, want and anticipation mingling, our tongues tangling. This wasn’t a slow exploration, this was the tension between us snapping.
Murphy flipped us over fluidly, lying my body beneath his, his weight pressing down on me. My hands ran up and down his back, slipping beneath his shirt and trailing across the smooth muscles beneath my touch.
Sitting up, Murphy quickly ripped his shirt off my head, immediately diving back down for my mouth. Our hands were a frenzy of touches, skating over bare skin and holding each other tight.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered against my lips, grinding his hips into mine.
Moaning, I breathed, “I want you inside of me.”
Maybe it wasn’t what Murphy expected, his eyes widening, before an ear splitting grin showed. “Then I’m a damn lucky man.”
The two of us rushed, stripping off the rest of our clothing until we were both bare. My nipples hardened in the cool air, Murphy’s gaze drawn to them. His hand reached for his cock, stroking the hardness before he kneeled over me.
Shifting his weight, his chest pressed against mine, his lips finding the sensitive skin of my neck. Sucking down the skin, he trailed a path down my chest, breathing hot air over each nipple before continuing lower.
His hands skated over my hips, down my thighs until he reached my ass, kneading the flesh. And then his mouth was on me, my hips bucking under the contact. With his grip on my ass, he held my body down as he licked up my slit, landing on my clit.
Finding a rhythm that had my body tensing, he massaged my ass, sliding one hand up to roll my nipple between his fingers. Moments passed, his mouth never stopping, until my core tightened, all my muscles tensing as I spiraled over the edge.
Moaning out his name, my thighs held his head in place, his tongue continuing to pull every ounce of pleasure from my body. Once the high faded, my body falling limp, he crawled back up my body, smattering kisses against my bare chest.
When his face reached mine, an adorable grin adorned his lips, my own splitting my cheeks. Tangling my fingers in his hair, I told him, “I love your mouth.”
Dipping his mouth to mine, he gave me a chaste kiss. “Glad to hear it. Now unfortunately, I hate it to break it to you but I don’t have a condom.”
His face was so serious I couldn’t help but break out in laughter, his own joy following mine, our chests brushing against each other. Smoothing a hand over his cheek, I rolled my hips against his. “I’m not surprised to hear that. But it will be okay.”
Not surprisingly, I hadn’t had a period for several months at this point. I knew it was because of the lack of food and consistent exercise, but that meant my worries of pregnancy were quite low.
Brushing my lips against his, I spread my legs, wrapping one around his hip and pulling him toward my core. Guiding his length with his hand, Murphy eased into me inch by inch until he was buried deep inside of me.
We groaned in unison, our movements halting as we took a moment to bask in the connection. After several seconds, Murphy began moving, his hips thrusting slowly into me. Our mouths moved together languidly, the desperation for each other fading as we fell into the comfort we had built.
Nothing had ever felt as right as this moment. It was as if this was always meant to be, whether amid these circumstances or not.
Murphy’s hips began moving faster, my breaths coming in short gasps as he bit down on my bottom lip.
“Fuck, Alessia, you feel like a dream,” he murmured against my ear, biting the soft flesh.
My head tilted back as he assaulted my neck, meeting his movements thrust for thrust, until his back tightened beneath my touch.
Within moments, his entire body was shuddering, his lips hovering over mine, our eyes never breaking contact as he came. Once his muscles relaxed, he pulled out gently, rolling onto his back, pulling me onto his chest.
We were back to cuddling, the position so familiar, as if we had been doing it for years. His hands trailed lazy circles across my back, his heart beating fast under my cheek.
“Thank you,” Murphy murmured after several minutes of silence.
Popping my chin up on his chest so I could look him in the eye, I asked, “For what?”
His eyes traced my face, landing on the small smile tilting my lips. “For reminding me what it feels like to be alive. For giving me a reason to keep fighting.”
I pressed my mouth against his, my smile widening. “You never need to thank me. Aiden told me that he’d take one last moment with our family over never seeing them again.” I cupped his cheeks in my hands. “You are my family, Murphy. And I’ll take every moment I can get with you, no matter what happens.”
His smile mirrored my own, reminding me of the man who had saved me in the woods before the shield had dropped, revealing all the darkness of the world we now lived in. “You’re my family too. And I need you to know that even if the world wasn’t ending, if I had only met you in a random bar, I would have chased you down.”
Holding me tightly against his chest, his hands stopped moving, all my attention on his next words. “My mom used to tell me that there were things in the world we couldn’t explain, but they were meant to be. And you, this, I know it was meant to be.”
My heart stuttered at his words before beating heavier than before, now filled with something an awful like love. Dazed from his touch and his words, I closed my eyes, lulled by the rise and fall of his chest.
I held onto his words, realizing that I liked the belief that the people around me were meant to be in my life. That we were meant to form this makeshift family, this group that would die to protect each other. And I had to believe that if the universe brought us together, it would make sure we survived whatever came next.