Road's End: Apocalypse Riders by Britten Thorne Read Free Book Online Page A

else can I do? How can I make you trust me?"
    "Let me go."
    His face hardened. "No."
    My body still burned for him, despite our conversation, so when he kissed me, I was not strong enough to immediately resist. His lips devoured mine in a slow, sensual slide, slick and musky with my own fluids . Oh, God . I was sinking; my head was spinning. This has to stop . I whined and he withdrew, breathing heavily. "I think if you'd let me kiss you before, I never would have been able to make myself leave you alone."
    "You would have kidnapped me right then."
    "Goddammit!" He heaved himself to his feet and stalked across the barn, kicking over the pot near the fire as he went. "What the hell am I supposed to do? Let you get yourself killed? Let those guys catch you instead? Nobody will hurt you where we're going. I am not going to hurt you. All I'm trying to do here is protect you."
    "All I wanted was to be left alone," I said quietly. "You don't owe me because I saved you, and you don't get to claim me because you helped me escape those men. Ask yourself, Adam, are you trying to keep me safe? Or are you just trying to keep me?"
    He went cold. It was like a chill entered the room. His face dropped all its heat, all its passion, and turned to stone. "I'm sleeping outside," he said, and that was it. He didn't even slam the barn doors shut behind him; he just pulled them closed with a quiet click.

CHAPTER 6
     
    I slept fitfully, but I did sleep, and I was awash with guilt when I rose in the morning. I'd gone too far. But why should I feel guilty? What is wrong with me?
    The mark on my hip was red and swollen, but didn’t look infected. I was surprised to see a tiny round bird. I’d expected angel wings or a devil’s tail or a skull. But it was a simple bird, with the letters “DA” above it and “MC” below it and an “A” to the right side. Devil’s Ashes Motorcycle Club. A for Adam. I wondered if that meant that he intended on keeping me for himself instead of using me to bargain or barter or sell. Stop thinking like that. We haven’t reached the end of this road yet. Anything could happen.
    He'd left one of his saddlebags inside, though not the one with our weapons. I dug out a fresh pair of undies and a t-shirt - the last clean ones. I couldn’t dress with my hands bound as they were, so I stuffed them into the pocket of my oversized pants. We'd have to stop and wash some things soon, anyway. Or just find new stuff.
    We . I was thinking about things we'd do to continue on, not things I'd do when I escaped. Am I giving up?
    Once dressed, I found him sitting on a large stone just outside the front door. I don't know why I felt the need to make at least some sort of peace between us. His face was drawn, tired, and just as stony as the night before. I leaned against his motorcycle, regarding him for a moment.
    “ Are we still being chased?”
    “ Yes.” He looked off towards the horizon, where the sun was still rising. “I punctured their tires back there, but they would have repaired them by now. Hell, they probably found brand news ones somewhere in that city.”
    “ Who are they?”
    “Satan’s Remains. Another group of motorcyclists. Rivals.”
    Rivals. Corpses walk, populations dwindle, and they have time to be rivals. I kept that thought to myself. Instead, I whispered, “Did you kill any of them?”
    His face twitched. He looked grim. “One. The one guarding their bikes.”
    I had a vague memory of that gunshot.
    I'm pretty fucking stuck, aren't I . Enemies behind us who definitely wanted to grab me. The dead anywhere and everywhere, waiting for a chance to take a bite out of us. What chance did I have? Why does it all have to be so fucking bleak? I wanted to trust him. But after everything I'd seen and been through, he and his story were just too good to be true.
    I could give in. Live in that pretty dream for a while, before it all goes to shit again . It would have been so easy. Too easy. Not smart.
    "What