Page 3 of Redemption (Devil Dogs of the Apocalypse #4)

Hawk

I wake, well-rested with a loud yawn, to the early morning sun rising through the exposed window.

A comfortable heaviness surrounds my waist, pinning me to the mattress.

Groaning, I try to push it off, eager to start the day, only to be confined even further, the hard but warm body holding me down giving me no reprieve.

The tightness of the blankets wrapped around us doesn’t help the matter either.

“Go back to sleep. Too early,” Cole protests quietly against my back, his nose nuzzling in the space between my shoulder blades.

I tense, momentarily caught off guard by the intimate nature of our sleeping arrangements—not to mention the distinct hardness pressed against my back and my equally hard dick that’s apparently ready to go—but, after a second, I mentally brush the uncertainty off.

We’d been cuddling like this long before I kissed him.

The Uno Reverse card we delivered to Aly, after she subjected us to that bout of torturous voyeuristic edging the other day, simply brought other things out into the open.

And I couldn’t be happier about it.

I sigh contentedly, my eyes still closed as I wiggle my butt back against him, trying to find that cozy place I woke up in. “Come on, cuddle buddy, you can do better than that.”

At my taunt, he wraps his arm further across my chest, scooting closer with a grumble against the back of my neck. “Spoiled-ass fire chicken.”

My grin widens when I hear his snores resume. I throw my arm out in front of me, ruffling around in the blankets for even more cuddle participants, but notice something’s missing. Or rather ... a couple of someones.

“Where are Aly and Jax?” I ask, reaching my hand around and poking Cole in the ass until he wakes up again.

He grumbles at my second interruption but lifts his head in contemplation. His bedhead is gloriously wild, unruly red hair shooting this way and that, as he peeks around my shoulder, a single, half-opened eye taking in the empty space where Jax and Aly should be.

“Probably screwing around somewhere,” he mutters dismissively with a gravelly voice. “Don’t worry. I’m sure Jax is taking real good care of our girl. Always does. Now go back to sleep so we have enough energy later on to love her how she deserves and not like some limp-dicked cold cuts.”

“Ah, now that’s an insult. Good job, bro.

” Resting my head on my bicep, I close my eyes again and settle into his warmth, fully prepared to sleep the day away if I’m able.

That is...once my fucking dick decides to calm the fuck down and stops thinking about Jax railing the hell out of Aly right now.

Son of a bitch. That just made it worse....

The sound of footsteps trailing up the stairway just outside the door causes my ears to perk up. My heart immediately begins to race, my cock twitching in giddy anticipation of what’s to come.

Aly’s back!

Our girl.

Correction. Our woman .

The tantalizingly gorgeous sweetheart she is.

I still can’t believe it. Who not only survives a zombie apocalypse but also finds the love of his life alongside his best friends?

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a lucky man.

We all are. Now that we finally made it to Tryon Palace—the final destination on our road trip through Hell—I can’t wait to make good on all those promises I made back at Jax’s old estate.

It’s time to start living life to its fullest.

Starting with christening every fucking inch of this place twice over.

I blindly reach my hand out as the door opens, silently beckoning my sweetheart and Jax to return to the bed. When she doesn’t immediately leap into my arms, I throw out some grabby hands to entice her to join me. They usually do the trick, but this time... nothing.

“Would ya look at this, Rake? Got ourselves a two-for-one special.”

My eyes fly open at the unfamiliar voice to the sight of two gigantic assholes waving guns around.

I leap across the bed—cursing myself and the four mattresses I need to crawl over in order to get to the other side—at the same time Cole turns, equally alert as he falls over his side, both of us aiming for our own weapons.

Just as my fingertips graze the metal of my pistol on the side table, a sharp pain hits me, my back arching at the invasive sting just below my shoulder blade. “Fuck!”

One quick, soft shot meant for Cole sounds barely a breath later.

I turn to take in the damage and see his shoulders lift and lower as he breathes through the pain, but it doesn’t deter him.

What does, however, is the fact that the guy still aiming a gun at Cole is currently blocking the rifle he placed against the wall.

With no weapon and no other options, Cole tackles the guy, his shoulder ramming into the man’s midsection to try and disarm him or throw him off guard.

Unfortunately, this guy has about a hundred pounds of bulk and at least a foot of height against Cole’s leaner, more streamlined form.

The size difference doesn’t allow the maneuver to be as successful as we hoped it would be, but to counter, Cole widens his stance, securing his base as he throws punch after punch into the man’s back and sides.

Unless you’re proficient in boxing or martial arts, you wouldn’t know you could knock a person out with body shots, but that’s exactly Cole’s aim as he barrels his fist into the man’s kidneys and gut with no reprieve.

Knowing he’s going to need some help, I grit my teeth and force myself to forget the nagging pain in my back as I throw my ass out of the bed.

Everything hurts, and I’m losing my strength by the second, but I will myself to stand as I prepare my fading body to fight until the very end.

I reach for my gun at the same time another shot is fired off, the round tagging me in my leg just as a heaving groan comes from the other side of the room.

I peek a glance over and see Cole's guy bent over at the waist, vomiting his breakfast all over the floor. Swaying on his feet, I can tell Cole’s fading, but the new position offers him the perfect opening to uppercut the asshole right in his ugly-ass face.

Unfortunately, the hit isn’t strong enough and only does enough to piss the big bitch off.

In response, he throws a haymaker right into Cole’s temple.

Eyes drooping and growing distant, he falls, the harsh thud of him collapsing to the floor for a second time in less than a minute loud in the otherwise quiet room.

The breath in my lungs leaves me in a shocked exhale as I watch him go down.

And stay down.

Holy fuck.

With no room left to think, I lift and aim, ready to end the both of them here and now but, somehow, in the few seconds it took since I felt my hand wrap around my gun, the initial two intruders have turned into four.

And now six.

Shit.

What the fuck is going on...?

I shake my head, willing my eyes to focus before I choose one of them, pull the trigger, and wait for the impact.

“Haha! Missed.”

One of the six counters before I can react and fires his own weapon back at me, the third shot of the morning hitting my abdomen, just to the left of my belly button.

“Son of a bitch, this guy just doesn’t seem to want to go down,” one of them says to the other, seemingly impressed that I’m not dead yet.

Goddammit.

I stagger but try again, aiming for the middle of the hazy grouping. This time, I hit something. I hear it—the soft thwoop as the bullet enters a body. Which one, I’m not sure, but it doesn’t matter. I hit something.

“Motherfucker!” he calls out, confirming my mark as I return an exhausted yet satisfied grin in their direction.

“Hopefully not your momma....” With my lips steadily turning numb, the words come out garbled and slurred as I sway where I stand. “I’ll pass.... thank you... very much.”

One more time. I need... to shoot... one more... fucking... asshole. One... more.

My breaths falter and my vision blurs even more, but I force myself to keep my arms raised so I can end these fuckers once and for all.

Unfortunately, my body doesn’t seem to want to listen to any of my commands.

As the seconds tick by, I can no longer find the energy to hold my gun up anymore, let alone pull the trigger again.

My hands shake with growing weakness as my shoulders slump forward, my arms falling uselessly to my sides.

He must have hit something vital. I shouldn’t be going down this quickly if he didn’t.

I take in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before repeating the process a few more times, trying to lower my heart rate and conserve whatever strength I have left. One of them is on the floor, still moving, but not happy in the least about wherever I shot him.

Good. That’s what he gets for barging in and ruining my afterglow. Asshole.

Dots form at the edges of my vision, but I just need to see his buddy’s general direction to attempt to take him out. My fingers might not be cooperating with me, but my mitts are still fine and dandy.

I reach him after what seems to be too long and try throwing a punch, but the sloppy haymaker doesn’t even connect. It’s as if I’m in slow motion while everything else has sped up. The asshole takes advantage of the situation—and my lowered guard—and sends another shot straight into my chest.

It’s over.

It’s all over.

Still standing, I turn my head to the left, searching for Cole, wondering if he’s ok, but the only thing I see of him are his feet peeking out from beyond the foot of the bed, silent and still.

He hasn’t moved since he went down...

I flinch as I swing my head back to the right, my eyes too slow to catch up with the quick movement, making me even more disoriented and dizzy.

The blurry bastard before me smiles like the filthy taint he is and waves his fingers obnoxiously in front of my face before gleefully saying, “Nighty, night!”

The room sways as I stagger on my feet, my face scrunching and my eyes squinting as I try to make the fucknut in front of me come into focus, but it’s no use.

Before my eyes roll into the back of my skull and my head slams into the floor, knocking me out for good, I manage to lift a fisted hand—my middle finger jutting upright just for him—and mutter one last thing.

“You know, you have a face only a mother could love. But I’m pretty sure I’ve seen your mother, and she’s just as fucking ugly as the spawn she created. See you in Hell, ya crusty hemorrhoid.”

I’m so sorry, sweetheart... I love you so much....