Afterglow: An Apocalypse Romance (7 page)

“Come here.” He gestured toward the back door with his head, then walked out before her, not looking back to see if she was following. A loud creaking filled the air as he grasped the old metal handle of the water pump rising out of the ground, pumping hard until a splash of water danced from the rusted spout. “I found a shower for us.”

Nina ran toward him, her bare feet skimming through the tall grass, a smile on her face. “Oh my god. I would never have thought an old rusty water pump would make me this happy!” She was giddy, like a kid on Christmas morning, and Creed felt his grin growing real, morphing from the snide smirk he liked to tease her with into a genuine smile.

“I’m going to run inside and see if there are any towels. And shampoo! I’ll be back.” She ran quickly through the grass back to the house.

Creed stopped pumping, letting the water slow to a trickle as he looked around him. Not a soul in sight. They were in the country, so there probably wasn’t much traffic around here
before
. Still, it was eerie. Disconcerting. He kept a hand on the butt of his gun as he stared out at the woods in the distance, growing darker with each passing moment.

Nina broke his silence as she danced down the steps, the door of the house banging shut behind her. Her arms were filled with towels, and balancing on top were two bottles he guessed were shampoo and soap.

“Can I go first? Please?” Nina looked at him with big pleading eyes, flirtation playing at the edges of her lips, as though she could get him to do anything for her if she just played it up a little. She was right. Creed hated to admit it to himself, and he would never admit it to her, but he’d have a hard time saying no if she asked in earnest.

He shrugged. “Be my guest.”

She stood still, waiting for a few seconds, before speaking. “So... you can go now.”

“Go?”

“Yeah. So I can shower?”

“No.” He crossed his arms over his chest. There was no way he was leaving her here outside all by herself.

“What do you mean no? You can’t stand here while I take off my clothes and shower!”

He shrugged. “Then I guess you’re not getting clean.”

“Creed! Go inside!” Nina tossed the towels and shampoo onto the ground and took a step closer to him.

He shook his head.

“So, what? You think I’m going to strip here right in front of you while you watch?”

He couldn’t help the sharp intake of breath at the thought of her naked, her eyes on his the whole time as she undressed. He grunted and shut his eyes tight, then opened them and looked at Nina.

“Look,” he said. “First of all, it’s not safe to be alone, especially when your guard is down, OK? Second, how the hell are you going to keep pumping the handle while trying to get clean? The water only runs for a few seconds once you stop.”

Nina rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. “Dammit,” she whispered.

“I’ll turn my back. OK?”

“I don’t trust you.”

He fought back a grin.
Smart girl
. He wasn’t sure he could keep from taking a look, just one. “Nina, it’s getting darker and colder by the minute. Well water is frigid. The quicker you get clean, the quicker I can, and then we can go inside and eat.”

For a few seconds Nina stood still staring at him, then she rolled her eyes again, this time in resignation. “Fine. Turn around. Do not look. I swear I’ll cut you again, but this time I won’t sew it up. You’ll be on your own.”

“Might be worth it.” He chuckled, and ducked as Nina took a step closer, pretending she was about to punch him. Or maybe not pretending. He couldn’t be sure with her.

“I mean it.”

He put his hand up. “Easy, girl. I’ll be a total gentleman.”

“Yeah, right,” she muttered.

He turned around so he was looking back at the woods, only this time the fear he’d felt before was tempered with the arousal coursing through his body. Out of the corner of his eye he could see movement as Nina took off her clothes, or at least that’s what he supposed she was doing. After a few seconds he heard the unmistakable sound of a zipper being undone, and his cock stirred. Her jeans. He imagined her hands pulling the denim down her thighs to her knees, then kicking them off.

What was she wearing now? Just her underwear and bra? Or was her bra off already? In his head her round and perfect breasts were almost real, the ones he’d constructed in his imagination after seeing her cleavage. Her nipples would be firm in the cool fall air. When they got wet with the cold water they’d be hard as pebbles, and he could practically feel them against his tongue. He clenched his jaw thinking about biting down on them, gently but hard enough to make her moan. And, fuck him, her panties were probably off now too.

In his mind she stood there, the old white house in the background, stepping out of lacy black underwear. He could imagine her flat stomach, the curve of milky skin between her legs, his own fingers casually tracing their way down her body, feeling the soft hair, dipping farther into her wetness, hearing her breathing quicken…

He was hard now, straining against his jeans, trying to stand still and not look while a girl—a fucking gorgeous girl—got naked behind him.

“OK. I’m ready.” Nina’s voice broke through his thoughts.

For a split second he forgot what she was talking about, thought she was referring to the wicked fantasy he’d just been having. Before he made a fool out of himself, though, he realized she was talking about the water.

“You can start pumping now,” she continued.

Jesus Christ
. “Oh yeah?” His voice came out low and hoarse.

“Oh! No! I mean, you can pump the water. I didn’t mean the other kind of pumping.”

“No?” He let the hint of a smile enter his voice, enjoying Nina’s sudden embarrassment. “What kind of pumping is
the other kind
?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

How badly he wanted to turn and look into her eyes, to have this exchange face to face, to see her eyes glint with ferocity. To tease himself by seeing how long he could look at her face before he needed to gaze down, to her breasts, her nipples, her small waist and full hips, her ass if she turned around. He cursed in his head.
Fucking stop
,
he told himself
. Just fucking stop.

“Why don’t you enlighten me, sweetheart?” he teased, but he started the pump once more, standing sideways but looking away so he could keep the water flowing. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep gazing into the distance, especially when he heard her move closer, saw her shadow as she crouched down to get under the spout, which was only about at the height of her shoulders.

The air was broken by her shriek. “It’s cold! Oh my god!”

Creed’s head fell back as he laughed loudly.

“Asshole! It’s not funny!”

“Yeah, and this isn’t the fucking Marriott.” He grinned.

“Just wait till it’s your turn,” muttered Nina.

“Yeah? You going to pump it for me?”

She growled, and he laughed again. Water splashed off her body, and he looked at the glistening droplets that landed on his boots. The air was suddenly sweet with the scent of shampoo, and when Nina moaned in pleasure at either the smell or the feel of it in her hair, he wasn’t sure, his cock stiffened even more. Still, he kept pumping the water, kept looking off into the distance.

“I’m almost done,” she said after a few moments. “I’m trying to hurry. It’s so cold!”

Maybe it was the subconscious knowledge that she would be finished soon that did it, but without even thinking he turned his head.

She was on her knees facing away from him, bending her head back to rinse her hair out in the water as it fell from the old rusty spout. Water rushed in lush rivulets down her face and over her closed eyes, fell from the ends of her wet hair and onto the curve of her perfect ass as it rested on her heels. Her back was arched, and from his vantage point he could see her breasts as they strained forward, nipples rock hard, tiny streams running over and past them.

Good fucking lord
. He let his eyes linger for a second more, then turned his head away again. If she caught him looking, he’d never hear the end of it. And he didn’t want to argue with her. What he wanted was to carry her right now, naked and soaking wet, back into the house, bend her over the closest bed, and take her hard from behind. Or he wanted her just like she was now, on her knees, with him standing before her, feeling her hand fondle his balls while she took him all the way—
all the fucking way
—into her mouth.

“I’m done,” she said, interrupting him, and he turned to see her tucking one end of a towel, wrapped around her body, into the space between her breasts to secure it in place. “That felt so good.” Her hair was dark from wetness, her face fresh and clean.

He grunted in response, unable to speak, unable to get his thoughts out of the gutter.

“Wait,” she said. “Give me just a little more water? I want to wash off my clothes so they’ll be clean for tomorrow. I only brought one change.”

Creed said nothing but began to pump once more, the creaking sound familiar now as the water began to flow. He watched Nina bend over, holding the towel in place with one hand while she got her clothes soaking wet, then squirted them with shampoo. She tried to get them sudsy with one hand, but it wasn’t working.

“Turn around again?” she asked finally. “My towel keeps falling off.”

Fuck. Me
. Creed turned his body, his cock throbbing now at the thought of Nina naked. This time he didn’t dare sneak a look at her, knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back if he did.

And she’d probably kick him in the nuts if he tried anything.

And he didn’t want to get involved. Not when they still had hundreds of miles ahead of them.

After a few minutes she said, again, “I’m done. For real this time.”

Creed turned to see her tucking her towel back around her once more, her cleaned clothes lying in a pile on the grass not far away.

“Your turn, big boy,” she said with a wink. “You ready? It’s cold.”

“No peeking, sweetheart,” he said with a drawl.

“You’re assuming you’ve got something I’m interested in seeing.”

He held her gaze with his and shrugged nonchalantly, then reached down to grasp the bottom of his T-shirt. Wincing only slightly at the pain in his arm from the cut, he lifted the shirt up and over his head. Now it was his turn to wink, and as he did so he tossed the shirt aside and reached for his fly.

“Not interested,” Nina insisted, looking away haughtily. “Trust me. You don’t have anything I want.”

“Aw, Nina, you’re missing the good part!” he said with a chuckle, then unzipped his fly. He almost sighed in relief as the pressure on his arousal was released. He stripped off his jeans and boxers and stepped closer to the water, splashing some onto his body.

“God damn, that’s cold!”

Nina laughed.

Well, one cure for a raging boner was an ice-cold shower, and Creed washed as quickly as he could, then rinsed out his clothes like Nina had. He tucked a towel around his waist, then gathered up his and Nina’s clothes and fastened them to a clothesline near the house. Soaking wet, they weighed the line down, so he spaced the clothes out and watched them drip for a few seconds. Hopefully they’d be dry by morning. Probably they wouldn’t.

He remembered seeing a fireplace when they walked through the house. A fire was dangerous because it would attract people they didn’t want around. But if they fortified the house well, it would be good for cooking—eating cold food from cans was already getting old—and drying their clothes.

“Let’s go inside,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the darkening woods behind them, and he and Nina headed back into the house.

* * *

Nina took off into one of the bedrooms as soon as they got in the house. “I’m going to look for pajamas,” she said. “I know I should sleep in my clothes and be ready to go if we have to leave quickly, but what if I just put them on for a few hours? Just to warm up?” The bedroom door closed behind her.

As soon as he was alone, Creed braced himself against the wall with his hand and exhaled, willing his body to calm down. Nina had him all on edge, and he didn’t like that.

He headed into the living room to see about starting a fire. Made out of brick, the fireplace had a stack of wood next to it.
Lucky again
, thought Creed, stacking some of the logs into the hearth, and wondering idly how long their luck would last. From a wicker basket he grabbed a pinecone-shaped fire starter and long lighter.

Once the fire was started, he took a quick tour of the house, locating a toolbox and breaking apart a dining room chair to use to bolster the doors. He found some candles in a drawer in the kitchen and lit them, placing a few on the kitchen table. Night had fallen, and the house was pitch black except for the fire in the living room and the candles he’d lit.

Where the hell was Nina? She’d said she was getting dressed, but it was taking a long time. He wanted to respect her privacy—or at least he wanted her to think he respected it. But he was worried. The door to the bedroom into which she’d disappeared earlier was shut, and he stood still outside it. Her voice softly humming emanated from behind the door, and relief coursed through him. What was he so worried about? She was getting dressed, not risking her life in some deadly mission.