Page 18

Two days pass and we haven’t made it all that far. Neither of us are moving very fast. I still feel like shit. My head and eyes hurt most of the day. Why’s the sun gotta be so fucking bright?

Rex is still coughing a lot, but not as feverish.

“You better be in that bed.”

I grunt, rolling my eyes. I killed two fucking Carrionites, and the bastard is treating me like I’m some fragile ceramic teacup. “What are you gonna do if I’m not?”

His footsteps stomp toward the bedroom of the small ranger station we came across. It’s only midday, but he insisted we stop and rest.

When he appears in the doorway, a full-on scowl covering his face, I smirk.

“Boy, don’t try me right now.”

The pain in my body isn’t as sharp anymore—more of a deep ache. Everywhere. I don’t mind it but hate that my head’s still fucked up.

Rex says it’s a bad concussion. Which means, not only is he treating me like some precious snowflake, but he won’t touch me either.

And I want his touch.

“You’re not in any better shape, old man.”

He shakes his head and throws something at me. “Found those. Protein bars. Should still be okay to eat.”

I pick one off the bed, reading the label. Chocolate peanut butter. I look up at him. “Not hungry right now.”

With a growl, he stalks to the bed. “Why can’t you fuckin’ listen?”

“Thought you liked me all mutinous. Isn’t that what you said?”

He rubs his hands across his face. “Fuck my life.”

“Fine, I’ll eat.”

My eyes narrow, remembering what I said all those months ago. “Then we have sex.”

“No.”

“Then I’m not eating.”

“Devon.”

“Rex.”

He throws up his hands, relenting. Probably because he’s sick and because I’m injured. No way he’d let me get away with this shit if we were both healthy.

But I don’t put it past the bastard to be keeping a mental log for punishing me later.

I open the wrapper and eat some of the bar. Too sweet and gooey. I wash whatever’s stuck in my mouth down with water.

He starts rubbing the tattoo again with his thumb. Don’t think he knows he’s been doing it a lot the past couple of days. “Told you ’bout my father. What’s bothering you?”

“Came across a band of Carrionites once. A friend sacrificed herself, so the rest of us could get away. We failed to protect her.”

He looks down at his forearm then back at me. “I wouldn’t have survived if they’d taken you from me too. Wouldn’t want to.”

My throat gets tight and my eyes grow wet.

I throw the rest of the protein bar at him. “Why do you have to make my eyes leak?”

“Such a brat.”

He stares at me for a moment, something flittering across his face I can’t read, then he starts to get undressed.

My eyes travel over his body as he removes his clothes. He’s a bit thinner since getting sick, but still just as strong. And when my gaze falls to his erect dick, my mouth waters and a small whimper escapes.

“So fuckin’ needy.”

He reaches down and unbuttons my jeans, then pulls them off along with my boxers. “Take the sweatshirt off.”

I sit up carefully, then tug it off before lying back down. For once, I’m not ashamed that I’m already hard for him.

He gets on the bed and flicks the cap of lube open. I swear the bastard scavenges for the stuff as if it’s as important as food. As much as we fuck, he never seems to run out of it.

I bite my bottom lip, hips already squirming. “Rex . . . hurry up.”

His brow raises. “Boy, watch that mouth.”

“Come on, old man. Get inside me. Please.”

His nostrils flare, eyes darkening. Yeah, the bastard loves when I beg. And while I used to hate doing it, I kind of enjoy his reaction when I do it.

So, maybe I beg on purpose now.

Not that he needs to know.

He squirts the liquid into his palm, but instead of slicking it over his shaft, he slicks it over mine. “Rex?”

“Shut up, Devon.”

He jerks me off, making my dick a hard, sloppy, lube-covered mess. He squirts more into his other hand that reaches below to his ass and his lashes flutter. “Fuck, so good.”

“Rex, fuck me.”

I need more than him jerking me off. “Please. I can’t wait anymore.”

But instead, he releases my dick and straddles me, leaning over and brushing his lips against mine. I bite his bottom one, sucking it between my teeth.

I’m still awkward at kissing. This is only my second time. Well, passionate kiss. Rex has given me light kisses over the past two days. Being careful with me.

Seriously, hate that shit.

“Rex, I fucking swear. Fuck me now, dammit.”

He kisses me hard, and I moan into his mouth. Then he grips my dick and my tip presses on something. On him. “Oh, fuck.”

Slowly, he grits his teeth and sinks down until I push past the tight ring of muscle. The warmth, the sensation, is too much, and I buck upward.

“Fuck!”

Rex’s entire body tenses.

Shit.

I didn’t mean to go so fast. We’ve just never done this. He always fucks my ass.

When I try to pull back, his hand goes around my throat and he squeezes. “Don’t. Fuckin’. Move.”

“Sorry.”

I have no clue when the last time someone fucked him, but it doesn’t matter. I still need time to adjust, and we fuck almost every day. “Did I hurt you?”

His forehead rests against mine, eyes closed, as he takes in deep breaths. “Just give me a second.”

“Rex?”

“I’m fine, Devon.”

Buried inside him, something snaps inside me. But not in a broken sense. More like a puzzle piece that found where it’s supposed to go. Found where it fits.

After another moment, he rocks and my hands slide up his thick, muscular thighs to his waist.

My dick starts twitching. He’s so warm, so tight. “Think I’m gonna—”

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare. Not yet.”

I thrust up.

“Boy, just lay there.”

“Like fuck.”

“Don’t need you getting dizzy. You wanted to have sex. We are.”

I growl, my fingers digging into his hips. But instead of being stubborn, I concentrate on the feel of him around me. How he clenches and milks me.

“Fuck, Dev. Your cock feels so good.”

His grip on my throat tightens as he rides me. “You gonna come in me and mark me as yours?”

My eyes go wide, some deep, primal part awakening. My body might be weak as fuck, but damn if I’m not trying to find whatever last bit of energy I can to rail into him.

Rex leans over, his hand moving to my cheek as he kisses me. Hard. “Make me yours, Devon. Make me yours the same way I made you mine.”

“You are mine.”

I look him dead in the eyes. “I killed for you. Would do it again and again.”

I slam into him the best I can, my balls tightening, breath coming out in fierce grunts, and when he starts moaning, I lose it.

“I’m coming. Oh, fuck.”

My dick pulses and unloads, filling him. “You’re mine, Rex. You’re mine and I’m yours.”

He grunts and moans, writhing and grinding against me until he shouts, his own orgasm hitting hard. He spasms around me, his cum coating my stomach.

When it’s over, he nuzzles into my neck, kissing the bite mark. I swallow hard. I’d asked him over the past two days to bite me there, to wash away the teeth marks with his. Bastard denied me and called me crazy.

“Rex . . . please?”

He doesn’t say a word, his hot breath just puffs against my sensitive skin.

I wrap my arms around his waist, wishing our positions were different so I could curl into his body.

Then I feel it.

I try to hold back but a strangled yell erupts, and my nails dig into his skin. He doesn’t let up, sinking his teeth deeper. My toes curl, thighs squeezing him.

He draws me closer as he bites deeper, as if he’s going to pull the chunk of flesh from me. Then he finally stops.

When he pulls away and his red gaze meets mine, tears drip from his eyes onto my cheeks. He sobs, my blood coating his lips. “You made me break my word that I’d never hurt you. This was the first and last time. Don’t ever ask me to do it again.”

"I won’t." I lean in, and our lips crash together, urgent and fierce. A shiver rockets through me, every crazy, intense thing we've been through pulsing between us. "I love you, Rex."

“And I love you, my little psychopath.”

Fight as One. Fall as One. Rise as One.

Rex just did something he hates, all because loves me. Same way I’d kill again to protect him.

For all the pain and the crazy, we’re in this brutal world as one. We’ll continue to fight and fall, but together, we’ll keep getting back up.

Because that’s what you do when you love someone.