Page 8 of Desiderium (Devil Dogs of the Apocalypse #2)

The Lieutenant Dan of zombies is clawing his way into the lead, pulling and scraping its mangled body along the asphalt. I lift my hand to its helpless determination, utterly appalled at myself.

“He has no Goddamn legs and he’s faster than me!”

“It’s, maybe, two blocks away. You ran three miles this morning. This is nothing compared to that. You can do this,” Jax responds. “Don’t give up on yourself. We’ll carry you if we have to.”

Oh, sweet Jesus, please don’t do that. I’m already embarrassed enough at my lack of strength. I don’t need them manhandling me on top of that.

Or maybe I do…. That’ll stop ‘em in their tracks. A little seduction equals a little rest for my tired butt.

“No! No! No! Stop being a lazy biotch and just freaking do it already.”

The three of them slow their pace and turn to look at me, questioning my involuntary outburst.

“No. I’m ok. I’m just….” I look down at myself and huff. “Little legs….”

Hawk steps up beside me. “She’s good, man, I’ve got her. Go on ahead and clear the place for us. We’ll be there soon. ”

Jax nods at Hawk’s reassurance before he steps towards me, planting a kiss on my forehead.

“I’ll see you in a few minutes, baby. Stay with Hawk.

” He turns back around and starts jogging, his full pack, along with those cast iron pans, clanging about in a cacophony of speed and determination.

“Let’s go!” He yells over his shoulder while Sadie runs her happy ass right along with him.

What in the absolute fuck? He looks like he could run a 5K with no problem right now and I’m over here worried about my bag that’s overflowing with three-ply cushy softness!

Cole turns to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“You’ve got this, beautiful. Just a little farther.

” He turns to Hawk. “You good? I’m gonna go back him up. ”

Hawk nods his head. “Yeah, we’re good. Go on and help get the hotel set up for us. Maybe even put in a call for room service. Double cheeseburger for me, please. Hot fudge sundae with the works for the missus.”

Cole’s face lights up with a smile before he plants a quick kiss on each of our cheeks. He pulls back with a wink and then turns and runs after Jax.

What the fuck? It’s like the weight doesn’t even slow them down.

But not even his perfectly round bubble butt is going to derail my mind from what just happened.

He gave Hawk a peck. No… he gave him motherfucking smoochies!

Although, I could just be overreacting and that could have simply been platonic fun.

I mean, I have heard stories from when they were overseas doing random stuff like this to pass the time and keep each other on their toes.

But I can’t help it! Suddenly, the road falls away from my vi sion and before me is the hidden fantasy that resides in the dark recesses of my mind.

Cole and Hawk. Hawk and Cole. The palpable tension. The power dynamic. The give and take. The surmounting moans and groans and cocks and touching and grabbing and licking and sucking and fu—

“Let’s go, sweets. You’ve got this.”

Uh…excuse me now? Oh… ok… right. I totally just got abducted by a sex dream in the middle of the road. Perfect.

Hawk shoots me a knowing grin which makes my face burn hotter than a lava pool on the surface of the sun.

And I got caught… Lovely.

I decide to fane ignorance at the whole ordeal and nod at his attempt to motivate me.

It works, at least, to get my mind back on track and to have me moving faster than a baby snail’s pace.

Apparently, my spirit animal is a sloth…

or a turtle. Regardless, we end up arriving at the farmhouse shortly after Jax and Cole, which works out since they’ve already dropped their packs and cleared the residence before we even stepped on the property.

So, when Hawk and I step inside, I let my pack fall to the floor and shlump into the closest ass receptacle there is.

Which, right now, is the comfiest recliner ever.

I wiggle my ass into its oversized cushions and groan out a rather loud sound of relief and exhaustion which makes the guys laugh and come over to me. “Atta girl,” Hawk says, kissing and nuzzling my cheek before moving out of the way for Cole and Jax.

Jax is completely consumed as he towers over me, touching every available part of my body he can get his hands on. “Did you guys make it ok? No problems?”

Such a worried badger...

“What kind of badass do you take me for? Of course nothing happened in the ten minutes y’all were gone,” Hawk interjects.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re a fucking badass fire chicken, scaring away all the zombies and shit.” Jax turns towards Hawk, putting his hands up like he’s scared while saying ‘ Ooooh.’ “ Just let me be the daddy of the group so I can do my thing and make sure our girl’s good to go,” Jax responds.

Cole urgently steps towards us, crossing his arms back and forth while shaking his head.

“Nope! No, no, no. I’m the daddy. You’re more like the overprotective mom of the group, making cookies and occasionally going all momma bear out there when your cubs are in trouble.

Don’t worry though, we all love you for it.

” Cole smiles as he makes his way over to where I’m sitting.

Jax simply shakes his head at Cole’s comment, huffing out a laugh as he continues to search my entire body for anything out of the ordinary.

Regardless of the fact that he was only away from me for mere minutes, he still needs to reassure himself of my well-being.

The events over the past few months have made him even more protective, and even though we’ve been working with him on letting go of the heavy burden he’s placed solely upon himself, occasionally it creeps back in.

But that’s ok, as Cole says, everything is always a work in progress.

“I’m fine. Really. Just a little tuckered out from the run this morning, then the packing game frenzy and now the long walk that took the rest of the day,” I say, calming his nerves and anxiety by a smidge.

He nods before placing both of his hands on the back of the recliner by my head, leaning in and speaking in low approving tones.

“You’re right. It has been a very long day.

I’m sorry I got lost in the plans and pushed us so hard.

I’ll keep that in mind for the days ahead.

” He brushes his nose against my forehead, smiling down at me.

“But I gotta say... I’m so proud of you, baby.

You did what you needed to do. You listened.

No complaints. Just fire and strength and perseverance.

Absolutely perfect.” He nuzzles my nose before kissing the tip of it.

“Just like that every time. Love you, baby.”

“Love you too.”

He sighs contentedly and kisses my forehead softly before turning towards the kitchen to resume his search for dinner.

Cole doesn’t say anything as he sits on the floor in front of me and lifts one of my feet, placing it in his lap. He takes his time, removing my shoe and sock, before my eyes involuntarily roll into the back of my head.

“Oooh, that’s the stuff... Yup, that’s what orgasms are made of... right there... fucking... ooooooooh yeah.”

Cole smirks up at my insatiable groaning but thankfully doesn’t stop massaging my foot.

Instead, he chooses to enhance it, leaning down and placing a chaste kiss on my big toe.

For a half a second, I worry about the smell that must be radiating off my poor overworked feet, but that goes right out the window when he presses hard on my arch.

“Fuck me, that’s good.”

He finishes up with the same care on my other foot before he silently stands, grasps my chin and takes my mouth with his.

It’s a feverishly fast sort of kiss. Hungry and aching.

But before I can press him for more, he releases my lips, boops my nose and walks over to the kitchen to help Jax.

I can’t help but pout at the abrupt stop but it’s no use. I’m too tired to do anything anyways.

At the same time as I pull the handle to lift my feet, lightning strikes just outside the window.

The following thunder shakes the house and echoes furiously as if the storm is mad it didn’t reach us in time.

I practically leap out of the chair and almost piss myself in fright as the guys mutter various profanities at its proximity to us.

“Holy fuck, we just missed that!” Hawk says, pointing to the window as he walks up to it, presumably looking around for the storm’s next target. The skies open up just as he reaches it, covering the window pane in heavy streaks from the deluge.

“Well then, looks like we’re gonna be stuck here for a bit.

” Cole rubs his jaw as he looks around the room before landing on the wood burning stove.

“Might as well go ahead and get a fire going.” Leaving the kitchen and his previous search for supplies, he walks over to where the stove is and peeks around it.

“No firewood over here. Anyone see anything worth burning?”

We each look around and notice there’s not much out in the open.

I, refusing to leave the chair my ass has lovingly adopted, end up finding an old T.V.

Guide from the 1980’s wedged in the cushion—no one’s going to miss that—while Jax lucks out and finds a few pieces of chopped wood near another entrance at the back of the house.

Cole takes it all and, in no time, we have a nice little fire in the stove warming the entire house.

“Perfect, let’s see about some chow then.

” Jax nods at the heat radiating out of the stove before turning back into the kitchen.

He unhooks a cast iron skillet from his pack, setting it on the counter, before continuing to rummage through whatever remnants might still be in the cupboards.

I guess he wants to save our food for when we aren’t squatting in someone’s abandoned house.

“Ah, there we go,” Jax announces as he lifts his arm triumphantly and shows off a can of Spam.

I’m not as enthusiastic as he seems to be but Jax has been known to whip up gourmet delicacies with nothing but a hope and a prayer.

So, who knows, this might actually surprise me and taste delicious.

He continues to forage around, peaking in and out of various cupboards, the doors shutting softly before he moves to the next one in search of what I can only presume would be sides to go with our 5-star Spammy concoction.

“I’m gonna go help him.” Hawk kisses my cheek before walking the few steps it takes to get from the living room area to the kitchen.

He dives down, pressing his entire body into the cupboards along the floor to search for something to contribute.

Unfortunately, he just gets annoyed shakes of the head from Jax when he lifts up cans of creamed corn as well as bottles of holiday ‘soda.’ I guess they’re supposed to taste like various Thanksgiving dishes.

While the cranberry one sounds interesting, I’d rather not find out what the green bean casserole one tastes like.

Certainly not like green bean casserole and even if so, gag. To each their own, though.

Cole remains seated by the fire, relaxing and basking in the glow.

He sees me staring in his direction and beckons me closer, patting the floor next to him.

I look down to the inviting comfort the recliner is currently offering but, in the end, it’s no contest—I’d rather snuggle up to Cole any day.

I groan and ungracefully stand on tired legs before I walk over to the woodburning stove, taking a seat next to Cole.

The combined sounds of the wood crackling, the pattering of rain outside, the warmth from Cole’s heated flesh, as well as the fire’s glow relax my tired bones.

Before I know it, my eyes start to drift shut of their own accord.

I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until just now and decide to take advantage of Cole’s closeness, resting my head on his shoulder.

But before I get too comfortable and end up with a cricked neck, he pulls me onto his lap and fully into his embrace.

“I’m so proud of you, gorgeous. You did such a good job today.

Go ahead and rest. We’ve got you.” Sitting crisscross apple sauce, he situates my legs so they're dangling over one of his while my head rests on one of his pectoral muscles. His arms wrap around me, holding me securely, as we begin to rock slowly back and forth in front of the dancing flames. Between the soft contours of his chest and arms, I’m gifted the welcome reprieve I didn’t know I needed and within seconds, I’m out.