Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ARENA
My fingers were shaking so badly that I didn’t know how I had managed to throw the bottle of water accurately.
He’d ripped that infected’s head off like it was nothing.
Less than nothing. And he wasn’t lying about it being a mess.
He looked like an extra in a slasher film.
Thankfully, he’d used the shirt like a washcloth before opening his arms to indicate he was ready to carry me.
Those arms started to wilt when I hesitated.
Move, Arena!
The sun was climbing higher, and the islanders were probably already in a boat and headed this way. We needed to get this note to the docks and back home before they arrived.
“Sorry,” I said, hurrying toward him. “I think I woke up too early and need a nap or something.”
His pupils dilated as he picked me up, and I knew he still didn’t suspect anything.
Not me, though. I definitely suspected he was telling the truth about his illiteracy.
He recognized items by their branding, not the words on the labels.
He hadn’t even questioned the ridiculous no-sexual-contact-for-a-week “cooking instructions” I read to him earlier.
The speed at which he’d put those back would have been hilarious if it hadn’t also shown his burning desire for sex.
With me? Or with whoever else was convenient?
“Hold on,” he said, briefly nuzzling the top of my head with his cheek.
His footfalls barely made a whisper of sound as he jogged toward the dock. I still watched for infected as I clutched the bags of supplies with the note I’d written.
Rumor confirmed. Stay away and stay safe.
I’d signed using a map legend instead of my name, like I was supposed to.
Was it enough? Or would they see the neon pink arrows Nav had made and decide to follow them anyway?
We’d passed several on the way here, clearly visible on the sun-bleached blacktop and placed close enough together so that they were easy to see.
He’d even marked the dock, right next to the bag of supplies he’d left for them.
Kneeling next to the bag, I purposely used my knee to smudge the arrow as I looked through what he’d left for them. He’d included medicine, food, and chocolate. All very valuable items.
No one would give up that much without wanting something in return.
“I found the note under this rock,” he said, pointing to the small flat stone on the dock. “I’m sure they will see the supplies and come to check if there’s a note from you.”
His hand closed over my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
A warning or comfort?
What was I even thinking? Of course it wasn’t comfort. He wasn’t the first guy to pretend to care in order to get into my pants.
“They might not be the only ones who see these supplies and stop, though,” I said, taking out the note I’d written and putting it under the rock. “It would be safer to remove the arrows until we know who finds the supplies first.”
He frowned, looking from my note to the arrows as I put the additional supplies with his.
When I glanced at him a second time, he was staring out over the water.
Contemplating, or did he hear something again?
I stood and dusted off my knees.
“Looks like I got dirty and will need another shower.”
He didn’t roll his eyes at my dramatic sigh, but nodded in sympathy. I saw the exact moment he understood what a shower would mean for him. His heated gaze met mine, and I lifted my arms to him.
“Ready to take me home?”
He was running away with me seconds later. I looked over his shoulder and gazed at Superior’s horizon, hoping they wouldn’t try to look for me.
The water vanished from sight, and the store blurred past. Minutes later, we were in the kitchen, and he was hanging the key again.
“What is all that stuff in the backyard?” I asked, looking through the door’s curtained window.
“Fencing that I pulled from the school last night. I’ll put it around the houses so you can feel safe again.”
His gaze swept over my clothes, indicating exactly why he wanted me to feel safe. He wanted me to walk around naked again. The idea didn’t upset me like it once had. The freedom to walk around naked in my own space was something I’d lost forever ago.
“How long will it take you to put up the fence?”
His gaze flew to mine. “Not long.”
“Then why don’t I hold off on the shower while you go work on the fence? It’ll give me time to warm up the water so we can both shower together later. How does that sound?”
“It sounds very good.”
He started to turn toward the door.
“Wait.”
I caught his forearm. Damn. That was thick. And hard.
“Do you promise not to leave me?” I asked.
His expression softened, and he pulled me into his arms. Another grade-A hug delivered with just enough squeeze, full-body contact, and a gentle back rub. I wrapped my arms around his waist in return, not trying to decipher whether the hug was real or just an act. It felt too good to pass up.
“I will never leave you, Arena. Ever.”
I had my doubts about that statement—in my experience, men always lost interest and left—but they weren’t enough to make me let go. At least, not yet.
“If you promise to stay where I can either see or hear you, I might be willing to sleep without any clothes on tonight even if the fence isn’t finished.”
When he caught my face between his large hands, I thought I was in for a kiss. Instead, he touched his forehead to mine.
“Which window will you use to look for me?” he asked.
“All of them.”
He nodded and would have pulled away, but I caught a temple braid and slowly drew him down to my height. The intense anticipation in his gaze lit me up on the inside.
I wanted to kiss him. Not the sweet, coaxing kiss I’d planned either. I wanted raw, real, and full of desperation. His…for me.
My pulse sped.
His hand slipped to the back of my head, capturing me as firmly as I’d captured him.
The moment stretched, the anticipation building.
I closed the distance suddenly, kissing him aggressively. He met my need with his own, his tongue stroking mine as he lifted me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, letting him lead the kiss as I hung onto him. It was everything I craved and fed a dangerous need for even more.
I wanted fewer clothes. The bed in front of the fire. And full penetration. And I let him know that by grinding against him.
A second later, I stood alone, breathing hard and disoriented in the kitchen. I reached out for the counter to steady myself and looked at the partially open back door.
Outside, metal clinked against metal. The sound plus the open door should have scared me. It was the perfect combination to draw an infected. But I wasn’t afraid as I walked to the door and peeked out.
Nav was shouldering a massive bundle of chain-link fencing. I watched him balance it and walk toward the front of the house.
I quietly closed the door and let out a slow breath. What was I doing? Why wasn’t I afraid? Of him? Of being left alone? Of the situation in general? The answer was obvious. I’d gone too far. Fallen in too deep. I was starting to trust him, lies and all.
If he hadn’t had the sense to stop, we might have already been on our way to having sex in front of the fire. And why? Because he’d hugged me.
Pathetic, Arena, I scolded myself. My need for affection would be my downfall…yet again.
I watched him make several trips from the backyard as he moved the supplies. He was making piles at the end of the road, right in the middle of it too. It wasn’t quiet work. The metal clanking rang out loudly in the silence.
It didn’t take long for the first infected to show up.
Nav removed its head with the fanfare of a man doing yard work, like it was a stick to pick up off the lawn before mowing.
He at least carried it to the end of the street, leaving it close to a fence supply pile at the edge of my view.
I tried not to look at it, but couldn’t help it.
It was too horrifyingly real and a sight I wasn’t used to seeing, isolated on the island as I’d been most of the time.
The longer he worked, the more bodies he added to the pile. At the rate he was removing heads, there wouldn’t be an infected left in Ashland. I found myself grateful that I wasn’t from here and didn’t know any of them.
He caught me staring at the pile through the window and jogged over. I unlocked and opened the front door.
“It would be better if I moved them farther away,” he said. “The scientists are worried about spreading sickness if their final resting places are too close.”
Final resting places.
It was weird hearing that from him since it was a very human thing to say.
“I could move them to the south, to an open field near the school, which has already been cleared out.”
“Do you promise to only go to the school and come right back?” I asked.
“Yes. And I promise I will not talk to anyone but you.”
His heated look had me rethinking the situation.
All the little things he was doing were slowly winning me over.
He said he wanted me willing, and that wasn’t as impossible as I’d thought a few days ago.
Maybe the faster I said yes, the faster he’d lose interest and leave.
If he left, I could meet up with my family.
“Okay,” I agreed.
“I’ll fix the door first so you feel safer, then move them.”
My chest ached a little at the thought as I went to the basement to start the inventory.