Breakout Read online

  Monarch was so hot she felt she could burst into flames at any moment. Corbin seemed content to tease her, sipping at her lips with slow, delicious kisses. But she was practically shaking with need. “Corbin, I want to—”

  “You know,” Corbin said in between kisses, as he trailed his fingers down between her breasts. “I saw you that first day.”

  “W-what?” Monarch could barely concentrate, she ached so desperately. His calloused fingers continued to tease her, rubbing between and under breasts, all around her nipples until she thought she would go mad.

  “I saw you when I was on the bus, just before the crash.”

  “You…you did?” Monarch opened her eyes and met his heated gaze.

  “Yeah. You were walking along the roadside.” Corbin was looking at her as if he wanted to devour her. His finger teased around her nipple for another moment and rubbed the tip. Monarch gasped and arched her back, desperate for more. He tweaked and stroked her until she thought she might shatter. Then his other hand trailed lower ever so slowly. “It was just a few seconds, and you were far away in the shadows, but I saw you, that sexy red hair blowing in the wind, long legs striding in that no-nonsense way.”

  His hand continued its torturous trek, finally coming to rest just above her panties. Monarch’s breath was coming in quick pants, her stomach trembling. If only he would touch her there…where she needed him. She moved her hips, beckoning him, but still his fingers stayed just above, tracing the top of her panties.

  “You looked up just before the crash. I pretended that you saw me. That your eyes somehow focused on me,” Corbin said slowly, raining kisses along her neck. His fingers continued their exquisite torture, one hand rubbing her nipple while the other caressed just above her sex.

  “I thought you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.” His fingers dipped lower, tracing lines around her mound, just above her most sensitive spot.

  Monarch was steadily undulating her hips now, filled with need. “Please, Corbin,” she begged, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  He continued, moving just a fraction of an inch lower, and whispered in her ear. “You were so beautiful. But I knew I would never touch you, never have you. So I burned you in my memory, to imagine you whenever I needed to.” His fingers moved a little lower and she moaned. “I never thought I would be with you like this, hearing you beg me to touch you.”

  His words and his touch were a lethal combination. They affected her body, mind, and soul. She was afraid she would never leave this bathroom as she once was.

  “But somehow here I am, with you. God, Monarch. I can’t wait to be inside you. But first, I am gonna make you come so hard it will be burned in your memory. And you’ll never forget me either.” With that, his fingers delved lower rubbing against her. Then he pushed her panties aside, and shoved two fingers deep inside her.

  “Oh yes!” She cried, the feeling of his fingers inside her so intense she thought she might pass out. He pumped them in and out of her as his thumb rubbed her nub. Monarch writhed against the wall. “Oh yes, Corbin!”

  She never wanted the feeling to end but already the first sparks of orgasm swirled through her. The rough pad of his thumb against her nub as he probed so deeply within her made her moan, a keening sound that he praised hotly against her ear. Then Corbin dipped his head and captured her nipple in his mouth, and her climax ripped through her, spreading throughout her body as her sex clenched around Corbin’s questing fingers. It was pure paradise.

  They stayed there for long moments after, kissing and touching one another, unable to get enough, until Corbin pulled his fingers out of her gently. The eyes she once found so icy now glowed with heat, and instead of satiating her, her orgasm only made her crave more.

  “You ready to tackle my third fantasy?” he growled.

  Before Monarch could answer she was slung over his shoulder and heading for the bed. None too gently he tossed her down and covered her body with his, pressing rough kisses on her lips. “I’m sorry,” he gritted between kisses, “I’m a bit out of practice. And if you don’t want to do this you need to tell me right now.”

  “I’m out of practice too,” she replied breathlessly. “And if you stop I’ll kill you.”

  Corbin groaned as if her answer pleased him and trailed kisses down her neck to her breast. Monarch arched her back as he teased, licking and kissing all around her taut nipple. “Please Corbin.”

  “Please what?” He continued his merciless torture.

  She whimpered. “Suck them.”

  Corbin groaned and took her nipple into his mouth, nipping and sucking. Monarch bucked, the pleasure spiking from the tip of her nipple right to her sex. Her panties were soaked now, and she longed for him to rip them off of her, she wanted nothing between them.

  Corbin switched to the other nipple, giving it equal attention, and his hand trailed down her body. Monarch moaned, wondering if she could orgasm just from this. And then she lost all ability to think, as Corbin’s rough hand reached her panties, ripping them down so he could caress her sex. Up and down, he traced the slit, coating it in her wetness. “God, you are so wet, Monarch.”

  She opened her legs wider. “Because of you.”

  Corbin thrust a finger inside her and she voiced her pleasure. “God I want to spend all night making you moan. But I’m about to come again already.” He shifted, pulling his jeans far enough down his legs and positioning himself between her legs. Monarch was mindless, her head thrashing from side to side.

  “Look at me.” He raised himself over her.

  Monarch did, as she arched her hips in invitation. In one smooth thrust, he entered her, and they both cried out at the pleasure. It felt so…right.

  “Jesus!” Corbin swore as he pulled out and impaled her again and again, thrusting deep. “Better than I ever imagined.”

  His eyes were on hers, and though the intense feelings made her long to squeeze hers shut, she kept them open, meeting his gaze as he pumped in and out of her. It was so much more intimate this way, and she didn’t want to miss a second of seeing Corbin over her, inside her, everywhere. “You feel so good! More!”

  He chuckled. “You like it hard, baby?”

  “Yes!”

  Corbin slowed his pace, but made each thrust deeper, harder. Monarch’s entire body was thrumming and she felt her orgasm building again, as each thrust of his body swept against her swollen bud. That coupled with the feel of him deep inside her, was too much to bear. “Oh my God! Corbin!”

  “Oh yes, I can feel you coming…”

  Monarch’s orgasm was explosive, even more than the first, the feeling more intense than anything she had ever experienced. And just as her orgasm began to fade she felt his begin, the first jets of his hot seed spurting inside her. The feeling caused another wave of climax to crest through her, her sex hungrily clenching him as she cried his name.

  He shouted her name in return, thrusting until he came fully inside her.

  He continued slow thrusts even after it was over, not wanting it to end. Then he leaned down and placed a soft kiss against her lips. A loving kiss. Monarch felt tears prick the backs of her eyes, as emotions she never felt before flowed through her.

  Corbin finally pulled out of her, and pulled her gently against his side. He nuzzled her ear and said, “That was…amazing.”

  She smiled and nodded in agreement.

  “Was that my Christmas present?” he joked.

  Monarch laughed and elbowed his ribs. Maybe post-apocalyptic life didn’t suck so bad after all.

  Chapter 6

  The next few days were the best of Monarch’s life. That sounded certifiably insane, but it was true. She never felt more alive than she did here, in this place, where survival was a gift and someone to share it with was an even sweeter one. Especially when that someone was Corbin. Before, she only thought he was the sexiest man she’d ever seen. Now she knew what he could do with that incredible body. Just thinking about it now had her heart r
acing and nipples tightening.

  Their routine was pretty simple, with few variations. In no particular order they would have sex, eat, have sex some more, play with Cabernet, have sex again, and sleep.

  I’ve had sex more times in the last three days than I have in my whole life,

  Monarch smiled as she took inventory of the food in the kitchen, while Corbin did whatever manly things he did in the tool shed.

  Just that morning, they’d had sex in said tool shed when she’d gone out to check on him. Who knew sex in a tool shed could be so erotic? One minute she was standing in the doorway asking about his leg and the next she was bent over the work bench as Corbin took her from behind.

  At least they were being safe about it now. After that first night, Monarch came to her senses and reminded Corbin that they needed to be careful. Since the birth control pill was no longer an option available to her, Corbin was pulling out. It bothered Monarch a little, the experience not quite the same, but she knew it was the right thing to do. After all, the last thing she needed was a baby.

  With each hour, she was growing more and more addicted to Corbin. She needed to get a grip. He’d been a stranger barely more than a week ago. And she still didn’t know things about his past, important things. But he made her feel safe, cherished, desired. On top of that, Corbin was everything she could want in a man. He was strong, intelligent, witty, and incredible in the sack. He was everything she would never have expected from a man who broke into her house in a C.I.D. jumpsuit.

  Feeling a chill, Monarch rubbed her arms and went to the bedroom to pull a hoody on over her t-shirt, taking a break from inventory. They were a tad low on a few items, since they hadn’t left the house in days, but nothing that worried her. She hummed to herself as she opened a drawer to dig for a sweatshirt. Her humming abruptly halted as the first one she saw was the UT sweatshirt from her niece.

  A lump formed in her throat as she rubbed the front of it, the print beginning to fade just a little, just as Jordan’s memory was beginning to fade from her mind. As if her mind somehow already assumed that Jordan was dead. No! It can’t be! Self-loathing filled her that she could so easily forget about her brother and niece, losing herself with Corbin when Duke and Jordan might need her.

  She held up the shirt and smelled it, wishing for something, anything to remind her of her family’s faces. What was the matter with her? She couldn’t keep putting things off, acting as if she was on vacation. Her family was potentially in reach and she was busy shacking up.

  I’ve been letting my vagina do my thinking for me.

  No, it was more than that, wasn’t it? She cared about Corbin.

  Yeah, but does he feel the same about you? The bitchy voice in her head asked the tough question. And she didn’t have an answer. For all she knew this was just a convenient lay for Corbin. What man wouldn’t want a female who opened her legs with no questions asked, no expectations or requirements. She didn’t even know his last name! Now that she looked back on things with different eyes, with the rose colored glasses removed, she felt sick. These last few days which were so special to her might be nothing more than a dalliance to him, a fun little pit stop on his way to wherever he was going. It’s not as if they ever talked beyond the present, that this thing between them had ever been anything but temporary.

  But he said he would never forget me, that I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Yeah, you’re so right, Monarch, no guy in history ever used that line to get a piece of ass.

  With that thought, Monarch barely made it to the door when she came to face to face with a six-and-a-half foot wall of solid muscle. “Why are you dressed?” Corbin asked gruffly, his expression warming as he leaned over her, looking positively dreamy in a t-shirt and jeans.

  Monarch blushed, and felt her nipples harden. Again. She could not let him do this to her so easily! “I need to empty the rain barrels because it looks like it may rain this afternoon. And then I…I think…we need to talk.”

  “Mmm hmmm,” he murmured as he leaned forward and nuzzled her neck. “But first, I want you naked. And under me.”

  Monarch gave a half-hearted struggle, which was all for show and they both knew it. She wanted to be under him. “And I also need to…” She trailed off, as he captured her mouth with a scorching kiss.

  Just a little more time. I just need a little more time with him. Then I’ll be ready.

  The kiss was all the spark needed to set the blaze. In a flurry of arms and hands they tore at each other’s clothes. Her breasts were bared in seconds and he palmed them roughly, pinching at her nipples.

  “I will never get enough of these.”

  Monarch gasped and arched her back, reaching out to trail her fingers down his muscular chest. He seemed even more intense than usual today, and Monarch matched him. The idea of never being with him this way again was agony.

  Corbin yanked her jeans and panties down and grabbed her ass, lifting her to deposit her on top of the dresser while brushing everything off the top of it in one swipe. His movements were urgent, primal, and Monarch was mad for it, for him.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist as he undid his fly, his hard-on springing out.

  “God, you have me hard constantly, Monarch. I can’t even think straight.” Corbin groaned. He brushed his fingers against her cleft to make sure she was wet enough to receive him, and then entered her in one hard stroke.

  “Yes!” Monarch breathed as Corbin reached out, grabbed a fistful of her hair, and pulled her head back so that he could place hot kisses along her neck.

  His other arm was around her, gripping her ass and pulling her toward him with each thrust. She was perched on the edge of the dresser, and the friction against her was amazing in this position. Her orgasm was already forming, and she longed to hold it off, to make this mating last forever. Corbin’s movements were dominating and hard, as if he was branding her. And this desperate feeling wouldn’t leave her, the feeling that their time together was drawing to a close.

  “You are mine, Monarch. Mine,” he said as he leaned over to take her pebbled nipple into his mouth, sucking hard.

  Monarch gasped and opened her eyes to look at him as the first exquisite sensations of her climax swirled up. “Yes! Corbin!” Monarch cried, almost afraid at the intensity of the feelings, as his words and his body had her coming like a rocket.

  “I’m here, babe.”

  He lifted his head to hold her eyes with his, the blue darker than she had ever seen it. Somehow he knew she needed the connection of his eyes on hers.

  “Just hold on.”

  Corbin gave two more hard thrusts and then he was coming too, releasing his seed deep inside her with a shout as they climaxed together, her sex pulsing around him.

  They sat there like that for long moments, breathing hard against each other. Recovering from her daze, Monarch’s first thought was that they hadn’t been careful this time, that he finished inside her. It was as if he too wanted, no needed, this moment between them to be as deep as possible, for nothing to lessen it in any way. It was foolish but she didn’t regret it.

  Eventually, Corbin pulled back from her. He gripped her face with both hands and kissed her. “If it weren’t barbaric,” he rasped, “I’d keep you naked and chained to my bed all the time.”

  Monarch pulled her shirt on over her head, needing to put something between them. “Well, if you did that we’d go hungry.”

  “With you around I think I could live without food.”

  His sweet comment made Monarch want to weep. She looked away. “Corbin, I think we should talk.”

  Corbin looked at her as he pulled his jeans up and rebuttoned them. “Yeah? What about?”

  “Well, I think it’s time we talked about the future.”

  Corbin stepped toward her, his expression unreadable, but she ducked her head, too busy studying a speck of dust on the dresser. She couldn’t bear the thought of his rejection.

  “What about it?” he asked qui
etly.

  He was going to make her say it. “Well, I mean I’ve kept up my end of the bargain. And…I need to get to Austin soon—”

  Corbin stepped away from her and cut her off. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll have the car fixed ASAP.” His expression still revealed nothing, as if they were discussing the weather and not the end of their relationship.

  “No! I mean, no, I didn’t mean it had to be right away. I just thought we needed to discuss the plan—”

  “Say no more. I planned to do it tomorrow anyway.” With that Corbin strode from the room.

  Monarch laid her head back against the dresser mirror and closed her eyes, fighting for control. She wanted him to argue, to tell her not to go. But he didn’t. This thing between them was just temporary for him.

  ****

  “You what?” Monarch was disoriented, looking at Corbin as if he had grown a second head.

  “I fixed your car. It’s pulled up out front.”

  Monarch ran a hand through her tangled curls, still trying to process what he was saying. She’d been napping in the bedroom, the late afternoon sun slanting through the window, when Corbin nudged her awake to tell her the news. Now as her mind cleared and the memories of the day came back to her, she found herself digging her heels in. An ache settled deep in her chest at the knowledge that Corbin was ready for this, for them, to be over. “But, I thought you were gonna do it tomorrow? And I haven’t even taken your stitches out yet.”

  Corbin leaned against the dresser, looking extra masculine with grease on his hands after working on the car. “I figured you’d be happy. I kept up my part of the bargain.” He looked out the window. “You can go to Austin now.”

  “That’s great,” Monarch said softly, turning away. She needed to get a handle on herself, though she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. It was obvious that Corbin was ready to move to phase two and she wasn’t about to let him know how much that hurt. “I..uh…thank you.”

  “I can take the stitches out myself, it seems to be healed enough.”