Base (11 page)

‘She's resisted your mug,' Armstrong said, winking at them.

‘That's because he is a mug.' With great reluctance, Ruth took the pouch. Animals made her care. She didn't want to. In spite of herself, she opened the flap. Two black eyes looked up at her in the cutest white face with pointy ears she'd ever seen. Its bright pink tongue was hanging out under its black nose and a paw waved at the air in front of her. It blinked in the sunlight and twittered. Ruth searched her memory bank knowing she'd seen this charming animal at the zoo. A red panda. That was it.

Sue peered into the pouch. ‘Oh look, Ruth, it's your and Jack's first baby. It's got your colour hair.'

Vassar gave Sue's shoulder a squeeze. ‘And Jack's look of desperation,' he whispered out of Jack's earshot. ‘Look at those big eyes. They're saying take me in. Look after me. I'm lonely.'

‘Gagging for it, more likely,' Sue shot back.

Ruth ignored them. ‘It's adorable. It's one of those red pandas, isn't it?' she asked him, despite her determination not to be engaged.

‘You got it. They're endangered. It seems healthy. I think it's thirsty and hungry.'

‘What does it eat?' Oh God, how would she take care of this dear, little creature?

‘Try water and the bamboo in our garden and it might pull through. Its mother was dead. I didn't have the heart to put it down.' Jack turned and got back in his truck. ‘I'll be back in an hour to take you for that promised walk. Vassar, escort Ruth to the house.'

‘Yes, sir,' Vassar said.

Jack's order sliced through the happy moment.
She was his to do what he wanted and he made sure everyone knew it.
Worse, he'd disarmed her with the needy animal. The red panda was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen, a cross between a raccoon and a stuffed toy. Just looking at it made her happy. She hadn't had a lot of happy lately. Tears welled up in her eyes and she swallowed. ‘Damn you, Jack.'

He rolled his window down and met her gaze with an uncompromising stare. ‘Be ready at four.'

When the baby red panda peeled the bamboo shoot and stuffed it into its mouth, Ruth knew it had a chance. The back of Jack's garden was full of bamboo and well fenced. The sweet little animal brought a smile to her face and it could wander around without danger. She had no idea how old it was or whether it had weaned. It wasn't as if she could use the web to look up information. If she missed anything other than a normal life, it was the information highway of the World Wide Web. She heard the door opening behind her and turned to see Jack approach. In his army fatigues, with his strong stance and serious expression, he looked devastating, but she battened down her heart.

‘How's the little critter?' He came and stood beside her. She could smell aftershave and perspiration, a sexy mix on him.

‘Well, it's eating so that's a positive sign.' She took a plastic bowl she'd found in the kitchen, walked over to where the hose was hanging off a hook and filled it with water.

‘You ready to explore the base before it gets dark? I have to check the fences and I want you to see what's it's like out there before you go all feminist bat-shit crazy again and demand your right to leave.'

‘That won't stop me leaving and I'm not crazy. I don't belong to you. You should be able to grasp that simple concept.' Ruth squatted near the red panda and offered it the water. The small creature didn't appear to be afraid of her. Instead, it drank thirstily.

‘You always this difficult?' he asked her, crossing his arms in front of himself.

She placed the bowl on the grass. ‘How dare you order Vassar to escort me to this house like you own me? I resent that you have me here as a prisoner.'

He looked totally unrepentant. ‘If you cooperated like Sue and Lea, I wouldn't have to.'

‘You mean have sex and worship you? Get on my knees and give you a blow job the moment you return home from work?' She couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but Jack didn't seem to notice it.

His mouth raised in the quirky half-smile she hated. ‘That would make a good start. Is that why that lucky bastard Armstrong looked so happy today? He couldn't stop talking about Lea.'

Ruth strode up to him and prodded him in the chest with her forefinger. ‘Let me make one thing clear. Whatever it is you're hoping for isn't going to happen. Just because you want something doesn't mean you have a right to it.'

His green eyes flashed danger. ‘I think I can change your mind.'

‘No. You. Can't.' Belligerent, she poked him as she said each word to emphasise her point.

‘Don't push me.'

But Ruth couldn't heed his growl. He didn't scare her. Her day had been flat out and his put down in front of other people had pissed her off. She pointed her index finger under his nose. ‘Listen, you jerk, I'm not some sex toy for you to play with. I was awarded a specialist training position. Do you know how hard that is to get? I won't be treated like a mindless fool. I need to relax at the end of the day.'

‘So do I.' With lightning quick reflexes, Jack grabbed her wrist, pushed it behind her back and locked his other arm around her waist forcing her hips to his. He kissed her before she had a chance to say no. It wasn't a gentle kiss, one that would get her used to him, this time it was hard and hungry, all sensual lips and tongue.

Outraged, she attempted to rake her nails down his face with her free hand.

He jerked his cheek away. His eyes flashed. ‘I'll give you one warning. You cut my lip once. But no more. You make me bleed again, I'll punish you.'

‘You'd love that.'
Dominating arsehole
.

‘Yeah, I would. You might like this sample of what's coming your way.' He grabbed her other arm and moved it behind her back, pinning both her hands behind her in one of his. He pressed her hips forward, forcing her whole body to arch into his. It didn't hurt but the shock of his treatment made her gasp. Opening her mouth was a mistake. He was on her again, his tongue probing and tasting. Perhaps she should have been afraid but Jack could kiss. It was the type of kiss that zinged straight from her lips to between her hips and she wanted it to go on. His sheer heat penetrated her skin. Lost in the thrall of it, she returned his kiss, her tongue mating with his. Lust raised its treacherous head even though she didn't want to feel for him. He marched her backward pressing her against the wall of the house. There was no room between them and he ground himself into her so that his hard cock rubbed against her cleft through his trousers.

He rolled his hips with short, jerky movements stroking her over and over until sheer, raw pleasure made her groan out loud.

The animalism of his actions brought out an intense need that was so primeval she didn't fight it. Not right then. She kissed him back and ground herself against him. Her orgasm, when it came, roared inside her, starting between her legs and radiating out, encompassing her whole body. Legs trembling, breath gasping, she was too weak to keep fighting him.

Damn him. She wanted him to take her. Out here in the open. Deep and hard. It frightened her. Some people behaved like animals. She, a thinking person, wasn't one of them.

Jack released her hands but he held her trapped against the wall with his body. ‘You are mine.' His eyes held hers as he unzipped his trousers, pulled out his cock and finished himself off in a few vicious strokes. He didn't say much but his meaning was clear. He'd marked her like an animal. When he zipped himself up, he walked over to the tap, took a long, hard drink and washed his hands.

There was something tough and uncompromising about his expression but Ruth knew something real had passed between them. A need so primitive, she could barely process it. The world outside was crumbling around her and everything she stood for seemed to be following. On shaky legs, she walked over to the tap and washed his mark off her jeans followed by a rinse of her face and hands.

Once she'd finished, he wrapped his arm around her waist and steered her into the house. Grabbing a beach towel and his gun, he slung them both over his shoulder and they headed outside.

It was pointless telling him she didn't want to walk. Never had she experienced an orgasm like that. It made her want to shut herself in her room and process what had just happened. Ruth didn't bother telling Jack. The more she argued with him, the more he invaded her personal space as if he owned her. Instead, she trudged up the hill on jelly-like legs, towards the hospital. Pleasure still radiated from her head to her toes. No man had ever wrenched an orgasm from her like that. He seemed to have the ability to take her over and override any common sense she possessed. Until now, no man had managed to get under her enduring sense of control. The skin around her cheeks burned from his five o'clock shadow and she was certain she smelled like a woman on heat. Worse, he made her know desire. Her orgasm had just whetted her appetite for more and she didn't like herself for it. Her mother had brought her up warning her of a man's power to sexually enslave a woman. That's how her mother had fallen pregnant with her to a charmer who'd dumped her the moment she'd announced she was pregnant. She'd been brought up not to depend on a man and there was no reason she should start now.

Damn Jack. Damn him to hell. Somehow, against all odds, he'd made her crave him to the point where she wanted to rip her own clothes off, lie down and beg him to fuck her. There was something about him that made her want it hard and fast, again and again. Her erect nipples burned under her bra.

Ruth fought to calm herself, to think of something other than sex despite her pulsating need. Jack's uncompromising possession of her had shattered her resolve and she fought to get it back. Next time Jack attempted to seduce her, she'd better have a grip. The more she responded to him, the more he'd want her. Hey she'd be fooling herself if she didn't admit he turned her on too. But she knew how the brain worked. All the pleasure neurons lit up with their chemical high. That's all it was. A physical endorphin boost. Nothing more. Her body would confuse the sensation with emotion and she'd think she was falling for Jack. It was time to switch herself off. Next time, she'd will herself not to respond. Eventually Jack would lose interest. He'd find another female who wanted to spend her last days having sex like an animal instead of doing something intelligent. As they approached the hospital she clung to the idea of work. Medicine focused her. All her adult life, she'd depended on her skills. There was no reason to stop now. Getting lost in the physical might suit Jack, but it didn't suit her.

‘I need to check on Darren and Vassar's brother. I'm testing the antiviral on them. Darren sustained a scratch. Vassar's brother a bad bite.' Her voice was hoarse, her throat dry, even her lips seemed loose and rubbery.

‘Sure.' The word came out as no more than a grunt.

Ruth wondered if the encounter in his garden had affected Jack too? Surely not. A guy like him would be used to take-it-and-leave-it sex.

A guard stood in front of the small hospital room where Vassar had locked Darren. He saluted Jack.

‘Stand aside.' Jack took a bunch of keys from his hip pocket and unlocked the door. Darren lay flat on his back, his eyes closed and his arms and legs cuffed.

Ruth stepped into the small room, which contained just one bed with Jack closely on her heels. ‘Hi, Darren. How are you feeling?'

Darren's eyes flickered open. He launched himself at her, his arms straining at the cuffs that bound him. He gave an unearthly growl.

Heart thudding, Ruth jumped back.

Before Ruth could utter a word, Jack pushed her aside, took the thin, metal spear mounted on the wall and plunged it into Darren's eye. His whole body spasmed and his fingers clenched and unclenched before he slumped.

Ruth's stomach heaved and she ran to the sink. Dear God, she should be able to cope with this. She was a doctor. Sweat broke out on her brow and her head swam and she tried to stop herself vomiting. God help her, Jack's sheer, naked violence overwhelmed her as much as the fact that Darren had become a braindead. Her fingers gripped the edge of the porcelain until her head stopped spinning. Until this moment she hadn't realised how much she had been hoping the antiviral would work.

‘Damn. I'll let Lea know he turned.' Jack pulled Darren's undamaged eyelid back to reveal the eyeball, which was red with traumatised capillaries from the virus. He yanked out the spear rinsed it in the sink and placed it back on the wall mount.

Ruth went and sat outside taking deep breaths while Jack instructed his guard to organise Darren's body for disposal. Every now and then, the whiff of decay that blew on the northern wind would reach her nostrils and she was glad Jack made sure all braindead bodies they collected in the garbage trucks were tipped off the cliff into the sea for the sharks. Ruth stirred herself and stood. ‘Let's check Vassar's brother though I know what I'm going to find.'

‘Yeah.' Jack's voice was flat. ‘I served with Mike Vassar. I want to pay my final respects.' Head down he strode towards the cells, which were housed in a large concrete bunker.

Ruth recalled going to an organic market there in the past. Now the place had the smell of death and desperation. The large garage type roller door was open. All the cells were empty except one. Vassar sat holding the hand of his brother. Even from a distance Ruth could see young Mike Vassar was riddled with fever. His brow was beaded and his uniform drenched. Ruth stood outside the cell. ‘Hello, Vassar. I came to check on how your brother is doing.'

Vassar stood and unlocked the cell door. He gripped a metal spear in his hand. ‘The moment Mike dies, I'll do it. He begged me not to let him turn.' Vassar swallowed and his eyes became glassy. ‘He doesn't want my last memory of him to be that of a monster.'