Flesh 01 (28 page)

Her fingers were clutching the edge of the roof. If they made a noise, she might startle and fall, but she was not being left to deal on her own.

Finn moved before he was even aware of it. He scaled the piece of machinery, climbing onto its roof, hands reaching for her. She squeaked and kicked back, nearly nailing him in the balls with the heel of her boot. One grimy hand slipped and she flailed in midair, twisting and turning, trying to fight him off.

“Al. Stop.” Finn fisted his hand in the waist of her jeans, throwing the other arm around her thighs to steady her. She hung suspended by one arm, her feet stil a foot or two off the roof of the forklift. “Al, it’s me! Calm down.”

Her other hand gave way and she fell the remaining distance. One foot missed the forklift’s roof, slipped into the abyss between machine and building, and sent them both off balance. His arm had ridden up to her chest, but his hand was stil tight in the back of her jeans, caught nice and snug between them. Al slapped her palms against the side of the building, which stopped them from falling. No way he was letting go now. Not now and not ever.

“I’ve got you, Al. Everything’s fine.” Finn put his mouth close to her ear and tried to talk her down, because she shook like a leaf and still wouldn’t acknowledge him. “Pull up your foot for me. I’m right here, Al.”

She made no move. The back of her dirty t-shirt rose and fell chaotically.

“Al, please. Listen to me.”

After a God-awful time she turned, showing him the shiny red mark taking up half her cheek. It sat on the same side of her face as the fading brown and green bruise from her concussion. Her eyes were wide and glassy. Their poor girl. Anger and fear filled him all over again.

He waited.

“Finn?” she asked, voice a scratchy whisper.

He smiled. “Hey. Everything okay?”

She blinked twice before lowering her chin. “Yeah.”

“Alright, that’s good. Lift your foot up onto the roof for me.”

“My foot?” Ali gazed down, mystified, but her foot duly lifted. “Dan?”

“Here, babe,” the man said from behind them.

Finn carefully turned her.

Dan’s face showed nothing at the damage done, from her scalded hands to the burn on her face. His voice was calm and measured.

“Hey, hon.”

She tried clearing her throat, coughed. “I’m not bitten or anything. Can we go now?”

“Sure.” Dan held his arms out and Finn guided her down, not letting go until she was firmly in Dan’s grip.

She was okay. She was fine. Finn put his hands on his knees, bent double and breathed deep. He kept his eyes on her. Handcuffing himself to her held appeal. Man. The feeling of relief almost dropped him to the ground.

Santa clapped his hands lightly, applauding Al’s reappearance. Erin beamed. Whatever. Apart from Daniel, he didn’t want anyone near her until they sorted this shit out. The big man obviously felt the same way, keeping an arm tight around Al while he held a water bottle to her lips.

Al gave the two a brief nod, gazes stuck on the sticky mess on the street. “It was dogs.”

“Dogs?” Dan pulled her in closer.

“A pack. They had red eyes. It was … it was crazy.”

“I bet,” the big man rubbed at her arms, like she needed the heat put back into her despite the morning sun that was now beating down.

Santa squinted. “Dogs? Honey, are you sure?”

“It was. I saw them, well, I heard them.”

Santa’s mouth contorted into a grimace, vaguely sympathetic, but mostly skeptical. “Ali. You’ve had a dreadful experience. We are going to get to the bottom of what the hell went on here yesterday. But don’t you think …”

“Stop. Right there.” Finn slid down off the forklift, stood beside her. “She says it was dogs, it was dogs.”

“Look at this. Look at what they did. You really think it could be anything other than an animal?” Dan gestured to the mess of blood and gore with the water bottle. He turned Al away from the scene, herding her toward Finn.

Finn put his arms out eagerly, unashamedly. He tried not to let it bother him when she frowned and turned back to face off with Santa.

“I wasn’t imagining anything. I wasn’t hal ucinating. They were dogs, a pack of them, and they had red eyes.” Their girl stared down the old bastard, daring him to argue. “I’ve never seen anything like it. A bunch of infected had gathered down here, I think they heard when I kicked in the window. It was over so fast … There was another light, too, near town.”

“Ali …” Santa started.

“We believe you,” Erin said, when her father didn’t make the right noises.

And Santa might have appeared chastened, but he didn’t seem convinced. “Right. Well, let’s take this discussion somewhere safer, hmm?”

Standing in the shower, Daniel’s girl was a kaleidoscope of colors.

Finn washed her down with the utmost of care. There were bruises ranging from black and blue to murky greens and yellows. There were fresh red scratches and the softer pink of older wounds. They needed to take better care of her. But any attempt at discussing it was met with her silence.

The kid was down to her knees, rubbing at some imaginary patch of dirt. Their girl was squeaky clean. Finn probably just wanted to keep his hands on her, keep touching her. Who could blame him?

Dan watched the slow, delicate process with his arms crossed and his back to the wall. He was barely holding himself together, just waiting for her to snap out of it and come back to life. She remained as silent as a living doll.

Her gaze, however, kept sliding back to the pistol in his belt. They were back to that, God help them. He really hoped she wasn’t going to try to sleep with firearms under the pillow.

He still buzzed with adrenalin, wound up with no one on hand to beat the living shit out of. Yet. Thank God she was safe.

The kid kept on and on with the bathing.

Final y, when she wavered on her feet, ripe with gooseflesh, Finn reached for a towel. Much patting and dabbing of shiny pink skin ensued. Then the kid slathered her in antiseptic cream. He treated her like spun glass, a fairytale princess receiving her due.

Sweet, but enough. His girl was ready to collapse from exhaustion.

“My turn,” he said. “Up and out, babe. Time for bed.”

“Wait.” She gripped his shoulder, most likely to push him away, but he already had it sorted. Ali was up in his arms and halfway to the bed piled high with pil ows before any coherent argument could be found. “Dan, I can walk.”

“No. Finn?” Dan lay her down on the mattress. Finn was already pulling off his soaked shirt, toeing off shoes and socks. “Everyone’s getting some sleep. See?”

“Definitely.” Finn, naked in a nanosecond, climbed in beside her and lay on his side. He shuffled over til his nose nearly brushed the side of her face. When she made to rise, the kid threw an arm over her waist. Carefully. “Stay put. What do you need? Dan can get it.”

He didn’t even need those rosebud lips to impart it.

“She wants a gun. She’s not getting it. You are not reverting to sleeping curled around a firearm, babe. Not. Happening.” Dan yanked his shirt off over his head, not bothering with buttons, then got to work on the lower half. “Don’t even try it with me.”

The sudden mutinous glare she shot back bumped up his heart rate. Their girl had come back to life. It did him good to see it. He knew then she’d be okay.

“Shh, it’s fine.” The kid touched his lips to her cheek, stroked her arm with his fingertips. Trying to instil some peace and calm, for al the good it would do him. His girl was overtired and wired, ripe for a fight. “There are two handguns and a rifle behind the bed. All within easy reach, Al. You can get to them in no time if you need to. Okay?”

Their bristly babe frowned, thought it over a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.” Finn’s eyes drifted closed.

“Suck up.” Dan muttered at the kid, then finished getting undressed and crawled onto the bed. He settled in flush against her, threading her fingers through his. Ignoring his ever hopeful dick.

Ali squeezed his fingers lightly, letting him know she wasn’t set to castrate him over the gun issue right here and now. Later, when she had her energy back, he might be wise to worry. But for now they were good.

Her skin was cool like the sheets and the smell of the antiseptic cream lingered. Beneath the soap and the shampoo came the scent of her. Warm and lovely and his.

His and theirs. Whatever.

They had pulled the curtains, locked the doors. Wellwishers and the curious alike could take a flying fuck. They were not home to visitors.

“Close your eyes,” Finn ordered her without opening his own.

She did not.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so awake in my life.” Al stared at the ceiling, placed a hand on the arm the kid had thrown across her chest.

“You’re safe, babe. Everything’s fine,” Dan told her, wanting to believe it. Needing to believe it. Because he was more than willing to throw himself off cliffs for her, but that wasn’t stopping the bullshit from happening. It wasn’t keeping her safe. That had to change. Ali appeared to have gone ten rounds with the champ and not emerged the winner. “No more adventures for you. Either Finn or I will keep you company for the foreseeable future. You need to stick close to home for a while.”

She said nothing.

In days of yore, circa late last week, her silence might have been cause for concern. He knew her better now, knew she was mul ing things over, choosing her words with care.

Finn broke first, rising up on one elbow and dealing Daniel the death glare. “You could give her some space to recoup.”

“You disagree with me?”

The kid’s pretty face drew tight, and he shook his head. “No. I just wasn’t going to lay it all out on the line at this particular point in time.”

His honey snorted. “You were going to attempt to manage me, you mean.”

“I was going to attempt to protect you. Not that you make it easy.” Finn put his hand to her face, and her focus shifted off the ceiling and onto him. Neither smiled. “You’re not stupid, Al. The situation isn’t right. You’re at risk. We need to know why.”

“Oh please, I’m at risk over my sleeping arrangements. Kind of obvious since it’s the only standout thing about me right now, given the state of the world. Also, I don’t want to be a job for you.” Her bottom lip trembled, gray eyes shone.

Daniel stared, spellbound. He loved it when her mouth did that. The stern set of her jaw, however, didn’t alter in the least.

“Can’t you understand?” she asked. “Or are you too far gone on your serve and protect bullshit to figure it out?”

The kid frowned, surprised. “My serve and protect bul shit?”

“Yes,” she said.

And then in one smooth move Finn rose up over her. He nudged her legs apart with a knee and settled between them, an arm set beside her head to take his weight. Daniel scooted over to make room, curious about the kid’s plans.

“Finn.” Her brow furrowed as she pushed at him. “Get off me.”

“No,” Finn said. “We’re talking.”

“We can talk without you lying on top of me.”

“No, we can’t.”

“Finn—”

“See, I’ve got all sorts of warning bells going off in my head, Al. That statement you made sounds far too similar to the last time we had one of these talks. After that talk, I ended up sleeping somewhere else. Remember?” Finn’s voice was all reason as his hand burrowed down between their bodies.

It was the first time the kid had touched her in an overtly sexual way in front of Dan. They were covering new ground here and it felt right, hell, it felt good. His blood raced. Voyeurism just might be a field sport he could get right into after all because it certainly wasn’t jealousy rising to the fore. Ali’s mouth opened on an “oh”, her hips kicking upward. The bed shook as the kid found his target. Dan’s cock stirred against her thigh.

“I hated that,” said Finn. “Hated fighting with you. Hated being away from you. Then, I was partly at fault. But this time, I’m not. So I’m staying put.”

His girl growled and squirmed and got nowhere.

“Your logic escapes me. Get your fucking fingers out of me.” Her hands shoved at the kid’s thick shoulders, not moving him at all.

“Finn!”

“My fucking fingers aren’t in you. Yet. Be patient.”

“Daniel …”

“He does have a point,” Daniel said, relishing the whole scene more than a little. “You do seem to be starting a fight for no reason.”

Her mouth twisted and those familiar twin spots of red lit her cheeks. So pretty.

He sighed, dramatically. “Hon, it’s not real y fair to expect me to get involved in a fight between you and your other boyfriend.”

“Get him off me,” his girl gritted out.

Finn looked at him, eyes fierce, daring him to do it.

“Easy, tiger. This is between you two.” Dan held up a hand in surrender, grinning broadly. “So long as you’re not hurting her, I’m not interfering.”

The tirade this set loose from his babe was mighty. They both ignored it.

“I would never hurt her,” Finn snapped, fingers still busy between her legs.

“I know,” Dan said, shifting his hard-on to a more comfortable position. “That’s why I’m not interfering. So … what happens next?”

Frustration had her fit to fight.

She wanted to stay mad. Mad felt safe. Instead she was moving against his hand, ostensibly to get away, but it wasn’t working. Her sex was slick and far too willing. A moan escaped her, and she almost sobbed at the betrayal.

Being wet didn’t play into her mood. But she was panting, out of breath and overexcited.

And the real problem was that she was going to cry, fuck it.

Her eyes were gritty. Her heart going rabbit crazy in her chest. The fluffy white menace was going to break a rib in its bid to run away this time.

“Don’t. Finn, please.” Her voice caught, which she hated even more. “Stop! Just stop.”

“Stop what? This?” His hand stilled against her pussy, cupping her sex. Oh man, the ache it left behind. The bastard. “You don’t want this?”

“I don’t want you touching me when you’re angry at me.”

Finn smiled. It wasn’t comforting. “I’m not angry at you, Al. You’re angry at me. Doesn’t matter though. I’m not going to play this game with you anymore.”