ANDI

I know he's right. I know stopping is the smart thing to do, because my vision's getting blurry with fatigue and I'm stumbling over everything. My feet are killing me, and I'm sure I'm going to have a million blisters from my old boots, but Benny's out there and I haven't found him yet. My heart hurts so badly that I want to scream, but when Liam looks at me, all I do is nod.

"Where…where are we going to stop?" Even now, I'm so tired that it's hard to form sentences.

He looks around us, at the dead cars lined along the sides of the highway, abandoned as they ran out of gas. He squints at one, then crosses the road toward it, and I see he's heading for a SUV, a gray one that looks less trashed than some of the others. The back is open and as I move slowly over to him, he climbs inside and rakes out the debris that's fallen in. There are dead leaves and twigs and airborne bits of old plastic that have drifted in over the years, but he swipes it out using his big hands and when the bed is mostly clean, he drops his pack down for a pillow, pats it and looks at me.

Right now, it looks like heaven.

I crawl inside, and I'm so exhausted that I don't even care that it smells musty and slightly like mildew. I toss my pack down to use for my own pillow, and close my eyes. The sun is coming up, but now that I've stopped moving, it's a little chilly and the sweat drying on my skin is making me cold. I rub my arms a little and then Liam lies down next to me.

The man's like a furnace. I'm a little shocked at the heat he's putting off, but then I remember that dragon-kind breathe fire. Of course their bodies are going to be warmer than ours.

"Come lie against me for warmth," he murmurs, touching my shoulder.

It's as if he can read my mind. I don't even hesitate, because Liam is big and delicious and warm and there's no one else around to see me slide over and pillow my head on his chest. My hand moves to his shirt and I close my eyes as he puts an arm around me. God, this is nice. It's been a long time since anyone held me with tenderness, and I didn't realize how badly I've been craving it until he touched me.

Now that I've had one touch, he might have to pry me off of him with a crowbar.

I snuggle closer, breathing in the slightly spicy scent of his skin, and he strokes my back idly. I'm so tired that I can't even truly appreciate this, and I know I'm going to drift off to sleep in moments, even with the sun in my face. "Thanks, Liam."

"Why are you thanking me?" His deep, rumbly voice sounds amused.

"Because you're here with me even though I was a bitch to you."

He just chuckles, the sound moving through his chest and reverberating against my ear. "I like a female with spirit in her."

"Sure, we'll call it spirit," I say, yawning again. "Promise me everything will be all right?"

The hand stroking my back pauses. "I can't promise you that, Andrea. But I can promise that we'll find Benny as long as we stay on his scent. We won't go back to the fort until you're satisfied."

For some reason, that response is oddly comforting. It's not a total reassurance, but it's a truthful one and I'll take it. I smile, tuck my head closer to him to blot out some of the sunlight, and drift off to sleep.

The angry sound of a crow cawing nearby wakes me from my sleep. Biting back a sleepy moan, I blink my eyes and try to figure out where I am. Sunlight pours in from the broken windows of the SUV, and a slight breeze ruffles my hair. It's afternoon, I think, and we must have been sleeping for hours because it's hot as hell now. The big body I'm snuggled against feels like cuddling an oven, and my thin T-shirt is sticking to my sweaty skin.

Even so, I'm oddly comfortable. Liam's just so darn nice to sleep against, or I'm hungry for affection. Maybe both. His arms are still possessively around me, and my head's resting on one hard pectoral, my hand on his lower stomach. One of my legs moved over his hip while I slept and I'm practically curled around the man. I hope he was able to sleep all right. I blink again, biting back a yawn, and start to creep my hand carefully off his abdomen.

As I do, I notice that there's a protruding tent in the front of his pants. A very large, very obvious protruding tent.

Oh.

I look up, and as I do, my gaze meets Liam's. He's watching me, his eyes heavy-lidded, and they're so very gold that they look like a sunrise. It's utterly beautiful, and this close to him I can see the colors swirling in his eyes as if they're a thousand flecks of gold of every shade. I'm also close enough that I can't help but notice how beautiful his mouth is, his lips utterly perfect for kissing.

I lick my own lips as the thought occurs to me. "Do your people kiss?" I whisper to him, unable to stop myself from asking.

"No." The sound is soft and oh-so-sexy. His gaze practically devours me and his hand slides to my hair, as if holding me closer. "But I'm willing to learn."

I’ll be the first one to kiss this sexy, gorgeous man. Oh wow. The thought fills me with curious pleasure and I reach up and touch my fingertips to his jaw even as he pulls me close. I lightly brush my lips against his, testing his reaction, and he closes his eyes and groans as if he’s dying.

I love it.

I nibble at his lower lip, teasing it with tiny nips and then soothing with my tongue. I’m in a frisky mood and my kisses reflect it—they’re all playfulness. With each flirty little touch of our lips, I just want more, and when he groans again, I take advantage of his parted lips to deepen the kiss. My tongue flicks against his and when he stiffens underneath me, his hand clenching in my hair, I feel a giddy rush of pleasure.

“Should I stop—” I start to ask.

His mouth claims mine, and then his tongue touches my tongue, and then we’re kissing, deep and hard and so full of hungry need that I’m whimpering into his mouth. I curl my fingers into the front of his shirt as he slicks his tongue into my mouth, the caress so boldly possessive that it takes my breath away. I’ve lost control of the kiss and I’m not even upset about it. He’s too good at this, and my body’s pulsing with heat and need as we kiss frantically, mouths locked together.

I rub against him as we kiss, rocking against the thigh I’m straddling. I’m not even aware I’m doing it until he presses up with his thigh, adding pressure against my pussy and it sends a spiral of heat through me. I gasp against his mouth, and then Liam’s rolling our twined bodies over in the back of the SUV and I’m suddenly under him and his hips rest between my thighs. That big, hard erection presses against the vee of my sex and I moan into his mouth even as he claims me with another thrust of his tongue. A moment later, when he tongues me again, his cock pushes against my core, as if trying to fuck me through my jeans.

It’s the sexiest thing ever, and I drag one leg around his hip, encouraging him. My mouth devours his, our tongues dancing together, and I’m so incredibly aroused that I can’t think straight. Haven’t Liam and I been flirting off and on for weeks now? He’s made it clear that he’s interested and I’ve pushed him away, but I’m tired of the distance between us. I want this. I want him. I tug at the waistband of his sweats, then slide my hand underneath, clenching one of his taut, rounded buttocks in my grip and driving him down against me.

Liam gasps, his mouth breaking from mine, and pulls away. He sits up, blinking down at me, and then runs a hand down his face.

I…guess we’re done?

Confused, I slide out from under him and sit upright, panting. “What’s wrong? What’d I do?”

He shakes his head as if to clear it, and then turns toward the faint breeze coming in from the broken window. “Smell something,” he mutters thickly.

Excited, I forget all about our make-out party and slide forward to get out of the back of the SUV. “Is it Benny? Is he coming back?”

Liam touches my shoulder and stops me before I can continue forward. “Not Benny,” he says, and he still sounds breathless, as if he’s on the verge of losing control. “Predator,” he manages.

Oh. I stop, then scoot back inside a few inches. “Dragons?”

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “Something else.” He scrubs a hand through his spiky hair. “Animal. Smells like…fresh blood. Hard to describe it.”

I slide forward, peering out the window he’s nearest, and try to figure out what he’s smelling. I don’t see anything, just the overgrown grasses on the side of the highway, tall and yellow with the end of summer heat. I glance up the line of cars that stretches along the edge of the road, and as I do, I see Liam’s looking at me, such hunger in his golden eyes. He’s gazing at my chest, and I glance down.

My sweat-dampened tee is clinging to my breasts, outlining them as if I’m naked, and my nipples jut out against the fabric. My thin, old bra isn’t doing a damn thing to hide the headlights, and my body pulses with the realization that he’s fascinated by them. It makes me want to preen, to arch my back and touch them and see if he’ll reach for me again. My nipples are so tight they’re practically throbbing and—

Out of the corner of my eye, I see something move in the grasses.

I turn, distracted, and my eyes go wide as I realize what it is. Something huge and tawny moves, slinking forward. A giant cat. At first I think it’s a mountain lion, but behind it, another cat jogs up and nips at the other’s flank, and that big, fuzzy mane of the second one is a dead giveaway.

These aren’t mountain lions. These are real lions.

Whaaaat the fuck.

My jaw drops and Liam touches my thigh, indicating I should be quiet and still. I don’t plan on moving. I just stare, fascinated, as they saunter past the car wreckages and then hop atop the hood of another car across the road and gaze out at the land around us. They’re less than a hundred feet away, and I feel that if I so much as breathe wrong, they’ll come over here and check things out.

“We’re downwind,” Liam says. “They don’t know we’re here.” His voice is low and smooth, his thumb rubbing against the denim on my thigh.

“Sure,” I say, because I feel like I should say something. “I can’t believe we just saw lions.”

“They’re not normal predators?”

“Not around here, no. We must be near a zoo. Did you guys have those? Places where exotic animals were kept caged so people could go look at them?”

His expression cools a little. “It sounds barbaric.”

Yeah, I guess it kind of does in hindsight. “It’s also to protect species that are in danger of dying out, but yeah, it does seem a little weird now. I think when the After hit, some of the zookeepers let the animals loose so they wouldn’t starve in their cages, you know? Give them a chance to survive on their own.” He just continues to stare at me. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You don’t think they smelled Benny, do you? That they’re chasing him?”

Liam glances out at the lions, now settling down to sun themselves atop the car. “No. I think his scent is too old. It’s more like they smelled our scent and are lingering in the area to see if we show up.”

Well, shit. “What do we do?”

He grins at me, and for a moment he looks just as dangerous as the lions. “We stay here and wait them out.”