Love in the Time of Zombies (17 page)

She
frowned at him.  “Is there any television show you
don’t
watch?”

“Not
really.  Well, I hate baseball.  So, I don’t watch that.”

“You
bet three thousand dollars on the World Series last month.”

“Yeah,
but I didn’t
watch
it.”

Scotlyn’s
mouth curved.

Zeke
smiled back at her, satisfied that she no longer looked close to tears. 
Christ, as bad as this situation was, it could’ve been so much worse.  Scotlyn
was lying next to him, safe and sound.  Everything else he could deal with.

Even
being “arrested” by that ass hat, Joseff.

“I
know it doesn’t seem like it, but you’re safe here.”  Zeke couldn’t stop
himself from brushing a hand over her hair.  “The vampires aren’t going to hurt
you.  They’re not going to hurt any of us.”

“They
hit you!”

He
snorted.  “That was nothing.  Trust me.  Joseff is crazy in love with Darcy. 
As long as she wants me and Cale alive, we’re staying alive.  And now that the
vamps know you’re a human, you’re safer than anyone else in this city.  They
need your heart to keep pumping out all that yummy blood.”

“Very
reassuring.”  She muttered.  “I feel so relaxed, now.”

Zeke
smirked and tried a different tactic.  “I’d be happy to help you
relieve
your tension.”

“Gee,
I’ll bet you say that to all the girls in the dystopia.”

“Only
the pretty ones.”  He slid down so his head was on the pillow next to hers. 
“Seriously, get some rest.”

She
frowned.  “Hold on.  You think I’m going to let you sleep on this bed with me?”

Not
really, but he was desperate enough to try for it, anyway.

“Come
on, I promise I won’t instigate anything fun.”  Zeke flashed another smile and
mentally crossed his fingers.  “Although, we
could
be talking about
survival of the species here, Trix.  Adam and Eve time.  We may have to do our
part to create and preserve precious life.”

“We’re
not having a baby, Zeke.”

“But
it would be so damn
good looking
.”

Scotlyn
made an aggravated sound and pulled a pillow out from under her head.  She
thrust it at his chest.  “This is
my
side of the bed and that it
your
side of the bed, understand?”  She readjusted herself on the far side of the
mattress and heaved a dramatic sigh.

But
she wasn’t booting him onto the floor.  Zeke would take what he could get.

She
blew out a long breath.  “Tell me about being a werewolf.”  She finally
ordered.

Fuck,
that was the last thing he wanted to do.  It might make her scared of him.  “I
can’t, because I’m
not
a werewolf.”

“You
can tell me the truth.  I swear I was always Team Jacob.”

Was
she teasing him?  Zeke glanced over at her in surprise and found himself
relaxing a bit.  Her casual attitude about his deepest secret was such a huge
relief.  It was like Scotlyn accepted him being a supernatural creature just
because she accepted… him.

“I’m
a shape shifter.  Werewolf is a whole different species.”

“Is
there
really
that big a difference?”

“You
wouldn’t ask that if you’d ever seen a werewolf.  They look like a sasquatch
and smell worse.”

She
made a face, like she still didn’t completely believe him.  “Fine.  So tell me
about being a shape shifter, then.”

Zeke
hesitated.  “I was born into a pack.”  He finally began.  “But, I never fit in
with them.  I was less into marauding and crime sprees, and more into comic
books.  I always wanted to be Indiana Jones.  Track down legends.  Find
treasure.”

“That’s
kind of adorable.  You’re the geeky black sheep of your family?”

“We’re
not really a family.  Shifters don’t keep tract of parents or siblings the way
humans do.”

“Bullshit. 
I know a family when I see one.  It comes with never having one of my own.” 
She turned to look at him.  “Caleb is your brother, Zeke.  Anyone can see that. 
Caleb
can see it.  It’s why he came looking for you before anyone else.”

“It
went against pack rules to do that.”  Zeke admitted.  “It’s every man for
himself during a crisis.  Cale can’t do that, though.  It’s in his nature to
try and protect.  He’s such a White Hat.”

“He
loves you.  You love him, too.  You should show it more.”  She smiled.  “I’m
not your only person in the world, no matter what you might think.  It’s a gift
to have so many people who care about you, Zeke.  You should be grateful for
them.”

God,
what the hell was he supposed to do with someone so sweet?  It was almost sad
that she was stuck with him instead of some noble do-gooding asshole who’d be
thinking up ways to start a food bank for orphans of the zombie war.

“Trix,
Caleb and I aren’t big on hugging and sharing.  I wouldn’t get your hopes up
about any Memorial Day barbeques in our future.”

“You
don’t have even one good childhood memory?”

“No.” 
He paused.  “Well…” 
Shit
.  “Alright, when Darcy was young, there was a
war within the vampire ranks.  They don’t live like shifters do, in individual
packs.  They have a king.”

“This
Joseff guy?”

“Right. 
Joseff staged a coup and killed Darcy’s uncle, the old king Stavros.  No great
loss.  Stavros was a mean son-of-a-bitch.  He liked to torture any vampires who
opposed him by staking them out in the sunlight and watching them burn.  And he
hated shifters.  He took our kind as slaves.”

“That’s
terrible!”

“To
be fair, he hated everyone.”  Zeke allowed.  “One shifter had been enslaved for
a long time, though, and had worked her way up to be a royal nanny.  She got
Darcy out of slaughter and brought her back to our pack.”  He snorted.  “Joseff
should be grateful to us, really.  If we hadn’t taken her in, either Darcy
would’ve been killed in the fighting or Stavros would’ve murdered her to keep Joseff
from taking her prisoner.  The shifters saved her life.”

“That’s
how you know Darcy?”

“Yeah. 
She grew-up with us.  I think that was the only good thing the pack ever did. 
Mainly, it was just to piss off Joseff by keeping him away from her.  And, God
knows, shifters aren’t really the most loving surrogate parents.  But, we
protected her.  So, all my good memories are of Darcy and Cale.”

“They’re
your brother
and
your sister.”

“I
wouldn’t go
that
far…”

“Liar.” 
She smiled.  “You have such good heart underneath the snarkiness.”

Zeke’s
“good heart” beat faster as he realized Scotlyn had no idea what kind of man he
really was.  She knew he was a shifter, but she didn’t understand the primitive
needs that drove him.  She looked at him and saw someone decent.

It
would be so simple to steal that kind of purity.  Especially now.  He’d spent
his whole life taking things worth far less, from people with far more
awareness of how the world worked.  After all, sharks only survived by preying
on the harmless fish.  Honestly, he’d always believed that it was the fish’s
own fault for being so damn harmless in the first place.

Scotlyn
was too nice to realize that, though.  It was why Zeke always hesitated with
her.  Always halfheartedly tried to push her away.  Because, she didn’t
understand that he was a selfish son-of-a-bitch who only cared about himself. 
That one day he’d stop circling and pull her under.

Unfortunately
for her, that day had arrived.

“Did
you mean what you said before?  About having to feel something special before
you’d go to bed with someone?”  He asked abruptly.

“Yes.” 
Scotlyn rolled her eyes.  “Not that you would understand.  You’ve had
‘something special’ with half of Nevada.”

“Not
true.  My reputation is blown way out of proportion.”

“You
dressed up as the Marquis de Sade for Halloween.”

“That
was a political statement.”

She
gave an unconvinced snort.

“Trixie,
I swear on my life, I haven’t touched another girl since I met you.”

That
was the truth and it captured her full attention.

“What
about Tanna?”

“Tanna?” 
It actually took Zeke a second to recall who that even was.  “The hooker from
across the street?  Shit, Scottie, I tease you about her, but
no
.  I’ve
never touched Tanna.”

She
frowned at him.  “You haven’t?”

“No. 
I just give her money when things are slow so she can feed her kid.”

Scotlyn
blinked.  “That’s suspiciously nice of you.”

“I’m
a suspiciously nice guy.”  He leaned closer to her.  “Come on, have I made any
secret of the fact that you’re the one I want?”

Scotlyn
swallowed.  “Are you really hitting on me during the end of the world?”

“Name
a better time to give into temptation.”

“You’re
unbelievable.”  She very deliberately flipped over so she faced away from him. 
“Just go to sleep and dream that I’m dumb enough to fall for your lines.”

Time
passed and she still remained quiet.  He didn’t want to scare her away by
pushing too far, so he stopped talking.  He was exhausted, both from the Change
and from months of insomnia.  Ever since he met her, Zeke had been sleeping
poorly.  It had bothered him that Scotlyn wasn’t in his bed beside him.  He’d
jerk awake five times a night, instinctively reaching for her, only to remember
that she was locked away from him in her apartment across town.

Now,
Zeke could hear her breathing and feel her presence and he was satisfied to
have even that much…  Except, after a while, he could tell she was crying.

Zeke’s
chest tightened at her distress, his eyes popping open.  “Shh.”  He shifted
closer to her, so his body pressed up against her back.  “Baby, it’s gonna be
alright.”  He wrapped his arms around her, holding tight.  “I promise.  It’ll
all be alright.”

“I’m
having my freak out!”  She sobbed.  “You said I could have it later and it’s
later.  There are zombies outside, Zeke!  Every time I close my eyes, I see
them
eating
people.  And now we’ve been arrested by vampires.  How am I
supposed to deal with that?  What are we going to
do?
”

“We’re
going to survive it.”  He kissed the top of her head.  “You and me –together--
will survive it.”  And if only one of them survived it would be her.  He would
do anything to protect this woman.  “You’re going to be okay, Scottie.”

A
long moment passed as she just clung to him and reigned in her tears.

“…Really?” 
She finally whispered.

“Really.” 
He held her.

…And
she let him.

No
one had ever let Zeke just
hold
them before.  Her body pressed against
his and she snuggled closer.  She had to feel how aroused he was, but she still
let out a trusting sigh and relaxed in his embrace.

Zeke
wasn’t tired anymore.  He stared out into the darkness of the room and knew he
would do absolutely anything to keep her right where she was forever. 
According to pack law, there was only one way to ensure that.  Maneuvering an
innocent, emotionally vulnerable human into a mating was a new all-time low,
even for Zeke.

He
didn’t care.

Not
if it meant he got Scotlyn.

“I
cheated at that poker game, you know.”  Zeke tried to warn her one last time about
the lengths he’d go to have her.  “When I won TGW?  I cheated every. single.
hand.  I would’ve done whatever it took.”  There were no limits when it came to
Scotlyn.  “I wasn’t trying to win a golf course.  I was trying to win
you
and I wasn’t leaving it up to chance.”  He ran a hand down her arm and he sensed
her heartbeat speed up.  “Playing fair doesn’t matter to me, when I need
something the way I need you.”

“I
know you cheated.  I watched you cheating.”  She sounded breathless, now.

“And
you didn’t feel morally obligated to warn what’s-his-name about my underhanded
tactics?”  That surprised him.  Scotlyn was such a loyal little thing.

“I
thought about it, but… I didn’t like Mr. Jamison very much.  He was always
trying to touch me.”

Zeke
paused.  “Did he hurt you?”  He tried to keep his voice neutral, but he had a
feeling it didn’t work.

Scotlyn’s
eyes went wide.  “No!  No, he just made me uncomfortable.  I didn’t trust him
and I
know
he was using the golf course as a façade for all his illegal
dealings.  I care about that place and he was ruining it.”

Zeke’s
eyebrows compressed in confusion.  “So you picked me to run it over him?”  He
translated.  “Why?  You’d just met me.”

“I…” 
She shook her head.  “I just… had a good feeling about you.  I saw you were an
amoral, conceited, underhanded jackass, but somehow I… trusted you.”