Emma: Part One (Outpost Nine Book 1) (6 page)

Max's square jaw hardened. "You're not helping your case, honey."

This time, when he said “honey,” she didn't instantly snap at him. For some reason, being held in his brawny arms made it sound less irritating. Maybe it was the way he smelled so good and radiated such soothing heat. She hadn't been held this way, with her legs draped over someone's forearm, since childhood. A tremor of excitement rattled her core at being held by Max. The way he had so easily swept her off her feet awakened a long-buried need inside her.

Jack's hand caressed her thigh and caught her off guard. He moved so silently and had appeared at her side without warning. "Give me the antenna, Emma."

She handed over the spiky metal device. "I didn't mean to scare you. Really," she added sincerely.

Max squeezed her a bit tighter. He carried her over to the reading chair her mother had picked up at the New Town market years earlier and sat down. When she tried to wiggle off his lap, he held fast. "Sit still and listen."

Emma stopped moving. "All right."

"Don't ever climb out that window again, Emma. What if you'd fallen and broken something? Your ladder is still pulled up and the hatch is closed. You left your radio in the kitchen. How in the hell would you have called for help?"

She gulped with embarrassment. "Definitely not my smartest move." She hated that they might think she was this flaky all the time. "I normally have my radio clipped on my belt."

"Be that as it may," Jack said as he prepared to slip out the window, "this is why we're so worried about you."

Emma sighed and tried to ignore the way Max's thumb circled a spot on her neck. "Are we really going to discuss this again? I'm flattered that you care, but I'm not your problem. I'm a grown woman, and I'm perfectly capable of making decisions about my future."

Max's hand cupped her face. She couldn't avoid his piercing gaze. "We're aware that you're a grown woman, Emma. I understand your desire to make decisions for yourself, but you have to start to think about your long-term future. Think about what you told us about the zombies and about how they're changing. What if they are getting smarter? What if they are changing? How long do you think you can hold them off alone?"

Emma didn't like Max's line of questioning. He was bringing up issues she had been struggling with for some time. She shoved off of Max's lap. "I don't want to talk about this."

She half expected Max or Jack to follow her or demand that she come back but they let her go. She stalked into her bedroom, grabbed some clean clothes and then headed out to the porch. She dropped the ladder and made her way down to the ground. After such a long day, she wanted to take a shower and climb into bed. She didn't want to think about the two hot-as-hell cyborgs in her living room or the horde of evil undead right outside her fence. She just wanted it all to go away.

Emma's shower proved less than satisfactory. She got clean and felt a little refreshed, but the gnawing uncertainty of what the hell she was doing with her life wouldn't leave. It had been silly to think she could just rinse all those insecurities down the drain with the sudsy water. She toweled off and slipped into the cotton shorts and top she had repurposed as night clothes from her father's wardrobe. She didn't bother to lace up the boots she had worn out to the bathroom. It was a short walk and climb back into the house.

Dirty clothes and wet towel in hand, Emma left the bathroom—and slammed right into Max's broad chest.

"Easy, sweetheart." Max grasped her upper arms and prevented her from falling flat on her ass.

"What are you doing out here? Were you spying on me?" Indignation swelled inside her.

"No. I was making sure you were safe." Max's face was highlighted by the moonlight. His mischievous grin caught her eye. "Would you like me to spy on you? We could make it a game. I spy with my eye—"

Emma put her fingers against his lips and muffled his words. "Is sex all you ever think about?"

Max clasped her wrist and held her fingers to his mouth. His tongue drifted over the pads of her fingers, sending quicksilver flashes through her core. "When I'm with a woman as beautiful and sweet as you? Hell, yes."

Emma wrenched her hand free and took a step back. She clutched her clothes to her chest and made a quick dash to the laundry room at the back side of the bathroom. She tossed the clothes in the hamper and draped the towel over one of the drying bars. Her heart thudded against her rib cage and made it difficult to breathe as she came out of the laundry room and found Max waiting for her. "I think we should go back upstairs. I need to help Jack calibrate the radio."

"It's already done. He's talking to HQ right now."

"Oh." Emma warily watched Max as she skirted around him. "Well, I have my nine o'clock round-robin, so if you'll excuse me."

"By all means," Max said graciously and gestured toward the ladder.

Emma scurried up as quickly as possible, only too aware of Max climbing right up behind her. So worried about him staring at her backside, Emma missed a rung and slipped. Max's big paw slapped her bottom and prevented a nasty fall. "Careful, honey."

This time Max's pet name annoyed her. She quickly found her footing and scampered up the ladder and away from his hand. Jack loomed over the hatch. He bent down, grabbed her under the arms and lifted her right up through the hole. As he lowered her to the floor, Emma's breasts grazed the length of his chest. He was just as steely and hot as Max and made her painfully aware of the pulse between her thighs. She tried to step away from him but backed into Max instead.

Her heart raced as the men captured her between them. She had never felt smaller in her entire life than she did squeezed between the towering cyborgs. Jack cupped her face and brushed his fingertips along the apples of her cheeks. Max's hands slid along her waist until his fingers splayed across her belly. Struggling to breathe and overcome with wildly vacillating emotions, she shakily asked, "Wh-what are you doing?"

Jack's head dipped, and his searing lips brushed her forehead. "We're repaying you for the kindness you showed us today."

"Your people make trades to satisfy debts," Max said, his low, rumbling voice vibrating through her chest. "You don't need our ammo or med kits, so we're going to trade you a night of pleasure to honor our debts."

Emma's mouth went dry. Her body trembled with anticipation and fear. Blood pressure skyrocketing, she could hardly hear herself think over the powerful thudding in her ears. She started to protest, to tell the men that they didn't owe her anything, that she didn't want a night of pleasure, but Jack's finger touched her lips and gently silenced her.

"You can say yes or no, Emma. That's it. Say yes, and we're going to carry you into your bedroom and show you how good we can make you feel. Say no, and we'll send you to bed and camp out here on the floor of your living room."

Max's hands slipped under the thin cotton of her shirt. He stroked her belly and left her feeling faint. "What's it going to be, honey? Yes or no?"

Lower lip quivering, Emma closed her eyes and made her decision. "Yes."

Jack crouched down and grasped the back of her thighs before picking her up and guiding her legs around his waist. She clung to his shoulders and buried her nose against the bare skin of his neck. A little flash of panic urged her to change her mind, leap to her feet and lock herself inside her bedroom. The panicked voice was quickly silenced by her curiosity and desire.

As Jack carried her through the house and in the right direction, she realized he already knew the layout of the place. Had he been nosing around while she showered? It made sense. He was a cyborg and a soldier. If she had been given the chance and the tables had been turned, she would have definitely snooped through the house.

When they arrived in her small bedroom, Emma lifted her head from the heat of Jack's neck and stared at the tiny bed. She chewed her lower lip as the logistics troubled her. "Are we going to fit?"

Max laughed as he nudged past them. "We'll make it work."

Emma held tight to Jack as he sat down on the edge of her bed. The old springs creaked, and she wondered if the bed could support the weight of two massive cyborgs and her. Jack shifted her so that she stood between his knees. He nuzzled his nose against the fabric stretched between her breasts and slid his hands around to cup her backside. The material covering her bottom suddenly seemed too thin.

When he gripped the hem of her shirt and started to tug it up over her head, Emma's breath caught in her throat. She had never been bared to another man, and wasn't entirely comfortable showing her nakedness.

As if sensing her discomfort, Jack dragged her closer, using the shirt as a yoke, and soothingly rubbed his cheek against hers. "You're beautiful, Emma. Don't be afraid of showing us your body."

She relaxed at his gentle words and allowed him to remove her shirt. For the longest moment, he simply stared at her breasts. They weren't very big, not compared to the few other women she had seen over the years. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She had always gotten the feeling men liked really big breasts though.

"Oh!" Emma gasped in shock as Jack's mouth grazed the curve of her left breast. His tongue traced the pink flesh surrounding her nipple until the tiny peak resembled a pebble. He sucked the whole thing into his mouth and swirled his tongue over it. Emma's knees threatened to buckle but Jack's muscular arms supported her body as he tormented her with his mouth.

Every pull of his mouth around her nipple seemed to zip right down to her clitoris. Over the years of solitude, she had experimented with different ways of touching and bringing herself to orgasm, but nothing compared to the way Jack made her feel right now. When his mouth skipped to her other breast, Jack’s fingers took over the torturous stimulation on her wet and abandoned nipple. Her toes curled inside her boots. This was amazing and she didn’t want it to stop.

Jack's mouth moved between her breasts and then followed the outline of her neck to her jaw. His lips brushed hers gently at first, as if seeking permission to continue. She turned into his kiss and whimpered with surprise as the wild sensation of having her mouth pressed to a man's erupted within her. Butterflies went crazy in her belly as Jack searched her mouth with his tongue, the sweet taste of peaches exploding on her taste buds. Jack's hands tightened on her backside as she slid her arms around his neck and held on for dear life as he kissed her breathless.

Lips wide, she panted and gazed into Jack's brown eyes after he broke their kiss. He smiled so warmly and caressed her face. "First kiss?"

She blushed and nodded. "Did I do it right?"

Jack chuckled softly and placed a kiss on the tip of her nose. "Perfect." His gaze moved behind her. "Maybe you should share some of that sugar with Max."

Emma glanced over her shoulder. Immediately, her eyes widened. Max stood stark naked just a few inches behind her. Her gaze traveled over the well-defined muscles of his broad chest and rippled abdomen. He had a light dusting of dark hair on his chest and a thick trail from his navel right down to his cock.

She gaped at the monstrous erection he sported. She had seen pictures and drawings of penises, of course. Even though her father had been uncomfortable doing it, he'd made sure her sexual education was complete, even going so far as to bring Avery's mother in for a lecture on intercourse and pregnancy and contraception. It had been eye-opening, to say the least.

But nothing in her sexual education had prepared Emma for Max.

His ruddy cock looked too thick and long to penetrate her without causing injury. He was so aroused by the sight of her that his erection bobbed in time with his pulse. It seemed almost menacing to Emma.

"Oh, no," she said with a terrified shake of her head. "
I
can't…
You
can't…
We
can't!"

"Shh, Emma." Jack petted her arm as one might a startled animal. "We're bigger than the average male, yes, but we'll take it nice and slow. If it really doesn't work, we won't push the issue. Will we, Max?"

"No, Emma," Max said, his voice gentler than ever. He moved closer and let his huge hand settle on her shoulder. "Please don't be afraid of me. I promise I will never harm you."

Emma noticed the glimmer of sadness in his hazel eyes. She sensed he'd felt pain at her quick rejection of him. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Max. I just—you're really big. Like way bigger than I'd expected."

"It's okay, honey." Max smoothed his palm over her damp hair. "I know you're not very experienced."

"That's an understatement." Emma tried to keep her gaze on Max's face but it was hard not to let her sight drift lower to his rigid length.

"Here, Emma," Jack said as he pressed her hip. "Sit on my lap." He pulled her back against his chest and lifted her up so she could drape her knees over his thighs. His forearm slipped around her waist to hold her in place. "Take off your boots, Emma."

She did as instructed, and handed them over to Max, who dropped them behind him.

"Move closer, Max."

Max followed Jack's directions. He stopped a few inches from her, his erection at eye level. Now there really was no looking away from it!

Jack took her hand in his and guided it toward Max's cock. "Touch it, Emma. I know you're curious."

Her hand trembled as she lightly brushed her fingertips down the length of Max's erection. When she reached the base, she curled her fingers and gripped him in her hand. She carefully stroked down toward the tip and then down toward his pelvis again.

"See," Jack whispered as he clasped her wrist and guided her movements, "it's not so scary, is it?"

"No." She shook her head. Max's steely erection was both hard and soft, the skin almost velvety.

"Men like to be stroked like this," Jack explained as he showed her how to do it right. "Most men like to start off with slow, light strokes, but as they get more excited, they like it tighter and faster."

"Like this?" She followed Jack's instructions.