did in this new home and with this man in her life.
Collin looked over at her, grinned, and tilted his head over to the lake. He set down the axe and moved over to her with determination. Instantly, her heart started to thunder. In the last seven months or so since they’d been living in this church alone together, she had become closer to Collin than to any other person she had ever met.
It was strange to be with someone in a world like this, to know him so intimately and trust him implicitly after less than a year. Evil was right at her doorstep, but they got through it one day at a time and were there for each other.
He might have come to her one day and saved her life by killing others, but in that time, she had come to realize there was no other person for her aside from Collin.
There was always the risk of being found, or someone challenging them for their home and supplies, but they were not about to let this place go without a fight. They’d lasted this long in a grief-filled and violent world, and it was eat or be eaten. She and Collin were not going to be eaten; that was for damn sure.
They grew their own vegetables, caught their own fish, hunted their own game, and even had a rain barrel made up for the water. When they were forced to move into a town and scavenge for supplies, they did it diligently, quickly, and always had each other’s backs.
They were a team, and although Collin was fiercely protective of her, he gave her room to take care of herself when the time called for it.
Collin stopped in front of her, the sweat glistening on his body, the knives he had strapped to his hips reflecting the sun. “Have I told you today that I love you?” He didn’t say it with sweetness in his voice but with possession and dominance, and for some reason, that always had a thrill of arousal and warmth moving through her.
He didn’t give her a chance to respond, because in the next instant, he was gripping her behind the neck, pulling her forward, and kissing her.
He claimed her in every way, in the only way Collin ever did. He wasn’t a man who said saccharine words often, and he wasn’t a man who cowered. He was fierce and strong and dangerous in everything he did. Would Rebecca still be alive right now if she hadn’t been with him?
She didn’t know. She might have lived for over a year before meeting him, but she had been in a rut of her own, caused by the isolation and loneliness of the world she lived in.
He kissed her long and hard, made her feel as though she was the only one in this world that held his attention. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her breasts to his hard, muscular chest.
When their clothing was off and they were wading in the cool water, Collin gripped her ass with both of his hands and pulled her close.
The water lapped at her flesh, and just as her body was relaxing, she felt Collin move his fingers between her thighs. He held her tightly, pulled her even closer to him still, and she felt his stiff erection pressing against her belly. Rebecca pulled back and stared into his eyes. He clenched his jaw, as if he were trying to control himself.
He moved them to a corner where an outcropping of rock sat, pressed her back to the smooth surface, and claimed her mouth with his again. She wrapped her legs around his waist as their kiss intensified. He broke away, trailing his lips down her neck, and cupped her breasts in his big hands.
“If we don’t stop, I’m going to fuck you right here.”
It sounded good to her, but she didn’t voice her opinion, just wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She let her head fall back, and she closed her eyes. He lifted his mouth from her neck, and in the next instant, he sucked a nipple into his mouth.
She looked into the water, seeing his short, dark hair beneath the surface, black now that it was wet, and watched while he suckled at her breast. She gasped and moaned deeply, while his teeth scraped over the sensitive bud. He brought his head out of the water, the liquid dripping down his