The Renegades (Book 4): Colony Read Free Page B

mirror at Jess standing in the doorway. Her eyes dropped to my naked ass and I smiled. We didn’t exchange words. She came in and closed the door behind her. She turned the shower back on and stripped off. Approaching me from behind she wrapped her warm hands around my waist and placed the side of her face against my back.
    We rested there in that moment for an unknown amount of time.
    I breathed in deeply, feeling our connection again. It wasn’t lost. It had dwindled. Turning into her, I ran my hand around the side of her face and tucked some of the dark hair behind her ear. My heart began thumping in my chest. My fingers drifted down the side of her cheek and tilted her head to the side as I kissed her. Her lips were full and soft. She applied the perfect amount of pressure as we kissed.
    As we broke, I noticed her chest rising and falling faster. Her eyes wandered my face as if surveying what she had missed or hated about me. It was hard to judge her. I’d given her enough reasons to give up and some that I hadn’t even told her about.
    I did wonder in that moment what experiences she’d had since we’d parted. Had she been with anyone else? I wouldn’t have faulted her if she had. None of us knew if we would live to see another day. You didn’t think about relationships in the same way as you did before this. Everything about life now felt carnal, primitive, and driven by a deep urge to feel anything beyond pain, loss or hunger.
    Perhaps I would one day tell her about Danielle. Maybe she would do the same with whomever she had encountered, if anyone. I wasn’t really sure if it mattered now.
    I pushed my body against hers, my arms wrapped around her as I hoisted her up. We stumbled back against the wall and both of us chuckled a little. The room was filling up with steam. Our bodies were no longer clearly seen in the mirror. Her fingers toyed at the base of my neck as we kissed and I felt her tongue slip into my mouth.
    My heart was racing harder, my body charged and ready for her. Every part of me came alive as a wave of desire built inside and her kiss released it.
    “I’ve missed you,” I said into her mouth as the memory of us hit me hard. We made our way over to the shower and stepped beneath the rush of liquid. I pulled the door behind us shut.

RIKERS
    F rom heaven to hell , that was our daily cycle. Moments of bliss smothered by a hellish nightmare that didn’t let up. And once again we were being thrown into the fire. Just we didn’t know it yet.
    Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was a blast while it lasted. Which happened to be all of seventy-two hours. It had given us enough time to recharge our batteries and get our body clock back on a regular schedule, not that it mattered.
    No place had turned out to be permanent. No matter how safe it seemed.
    That day had begun like any other. Morning sex with Jess, warm sheets, and a shower. I couldn’t get enough of it. It all seemed a little too good to be true, and I was right.
    They shuffled us into an auditorium with about one hundred other people and informed us in no uncertain terms that we were all going to be relocated. Whispers and concerned questions spread among the crowd, which in turn led into a whole lot of yelling by the same prick that had been in the truck when we’d been driven onto the base. Sergeant Banks.
    The small amount of information we had managed to squeeze out of them involved something to do with the base becoming a central facility for military only. All the rooms would be required. Civilians were going to be housed elsewhere at one of several colonies. That was the term they used. Colonies. When we protested, we were shut down in a heartbeat. It wasn’t open for discussion, vote, or debate. If anyone objected to it, they were free to leave but the military had made it clear that what was being offered was the closest thing to a safe zone. We would receive food, medication and be able to contribute within a community just