nothing did but the two of them, the experience of him and her, and something…something she thought was lost but she had now found again.
She moaned softly beneath him, encouraging more and Luke complied. Taking her whole mouth, covering her lips with his in a gesture that was unassumingly male. His tongue tickled against hers, his fingers tracing a path down from the hollow of her throat to the base of her neck, before pulling back to look in her eyes.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “The last bit of beauty in this world.”
And though Jackson knew full well that she was far from beautiful, that in the pre-waking-dead world Luke would have been so out of her league, in that moment his words made her feel like she was—like he meant every damn word.
Probably he did.
“Kiss me again, Luke,” she said. “Make me forget it all, just for a little while.”
And he did.
…
The feel of Jackson’s lips was like going back in time. To a place where the world made sense again. Luke relished the feel of her softness, the little mews of satisfaction she made, and the heat he could feel rising between them.
He wished for one moment that they were in a bed. Somewhere he could spread her loveliness beneath him and savor every moment, but beds, like everything else, were a thing of the past, and right now Luke was grateful for whatever he could get.
He traced her lips with his tongue, her soft skin with his fingers. The curve of her jaw, the sharp length of her cheekbone, even the arch of her eyebrow. He exulted in the feel of her skin beneath his fingertips. She responded by running her fingers along his back, before moving to the front and skirting over his stomach. Her touch was soft and delicate. A stark contrast to the way he knew those hands could be in other situations. But there was no anger tonight, only this, the two of them, finding some sort of peace in each other.
“Let me see you, Jack,” he said and she nodded.
It took only a handful of moments to remove her sweater and toss it in the back, a handful more to remove her vest as well. She was bare to him then and her beauty in the dappled moonlight took Luke’s breath away. She was pale, so pale and so delicate. Not in reality, he knew that, but here in the darkness she looked fragile, and the urge to protect her rose again within him.
To keep her safe.
Something he’d almost failed to do today. Something that he’d never let happen again.
He shuddered as he ran his fingers along her skin, pushing away the memory of the zombie trying to eat her, and concentrating instead on how fucking pretty she was. He peppered kisses along her neck, over the arch of her shoulder, and up to her ear. There he nibbled on the lobe, smiling when she shivered in his arms. Her skin was hot, though he knew not just from him. They were in hotter climes now, the feeling of freezing through the night almost over.
“Luke…” she whispered and he heard the plea in her voice. Heard it and felt like shouting in satisfaction. How long had he waited and hoped? Praying that eventually this would happen?
In one quick move he pulled her onto his lap so that she straddled him, her thighs either side of his, her back bathed in the moon’s glow. Her weight was negligible, yet it comforted him, made sense somehow, there on top of him. He placed one hand on the small of her back and the other on her shoulder before leaning in and taking one pert nipple between his lips.
It budded immediately. Its hardness ripe against his tongue. He laved it once, then again. Enjoying the feel, the sensations, the amazing experience of her against him, like this. Jackson arched her back, encouraging more and muffled a moan with her hand.
He pulled away. “Scream if you want to.”
“But the zombies—”
Luke reached up and laid his hand against her face. It covered the entire side and he let it rest there. She leaned into it and sighed softly.
“They aren’t here,” he said. “Not tonight. It’s just you and me.”
He ran his other hand up and down her side, along her arm, over her back, relishing the feel of her skin. She lifted his sweater and tugged until he allowed her to remove it, and it joined the pile of her clothes.
Luke had experienced many erotic moments in his life, but this, the two of them, naked from the waist up, stiffened him to the point of pain. He wanted to be inside her. To fill her and stretch her. To make her cry out…
“I want to have you, Jack,” he whispered against her lips, “but we have no protection.”
“We don’t need it.”
“But—”
She placed a finger against his lips and sprinkled kisses along his jaw line. Sensations fled to his groin and Luke groaned. He had to be inside her. God he had to!
“I’m too thin, Luke,” she whispered. “Or maybe too athletic. Whatever. I don’t even have periods anymore, so I can’t get pregnant.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
He lifted her up so she braced against him and shimmied out of her jeans. All that remained now were the purple panties and Luke smiled when he saw them.
“I’m going to keep these on,” she whispered. “Just in case.”
So she wasn’t forgetting like he’d asked. But could her really blame her for that? The dead hovered on the edges of his mind too and he knew their sex would be fast and frantic—a hard edge of need driving them, spurring them on.
He unzipped his jeans and freed himself. He was unbelievably hard, desperate to feel Jackson’s warmth, and Luke hoped he wouldn’t disgrace himself.
“I—”
He meant to ask if he could proceed. To treat Jackson with the courtesy so long ingrained in him, but she didn’t give him a chance. She held either side of the headrest and, panties to the side, slipped onto him. Her body sheathing him in one rapid movement.
“Ahhhh…” The sound left him before he even knew he made it, and he gripped her hips. His large hands spread across her belly and back. She felt fantastic. All hot and wet and warm. It felt like coming home.
“I want to ride you, Luke,” she said.
“Do it.”
She moved on him then. Lifting herself up so that she worked him, over and over. Luke gritted his teeth, the sensations so amazing they bordered on unbearable.
He ran his fingers down her spine, along her hips, every bit of her making his body ache.
“Luke.” She sighed his name, kissing her way along his ear, and he removed one hand from her back, knowing instinctively what she wanted. He placed it between them both, resting it against her clit, giving her the extra cushion she needed as she came down.
“Yes, Luke. Do that,” she whispered.
He followed her as she moved. His fingers pressing down on her warmth, rubbing along and around. She gasped against his lips, whispered his name, told him how much she liked it…
It was indescribable. Luke began to move. One hand on her hip pushing her down as she rode him. His hips bucking into her, driving as deep as he could possibly go.
“Jackson, God…”
“Luke, I—”
They moved and they moved and rational thought fled to be replaced by pure, exquisite sensation. He tingled all over, blood pooling low in his gut, his thigh muscles tightening every time Jackson pushed down on him.
He opened his mouth, to tell her perhaps that he might not be able to last much longer, but then she came and satisfaction made him groan.
