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“If you need anything, just let me know.”
He nodded.
“I can hear you on the lower level if you need me. Don’t try getting out of bed just yet, not unless you want your stitches to open up.”
“Thank you again, seriously.”
She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’ll bring in some broth and water, maybe a little bread to help your stomach.”
He also didn’t mention the fact that she’d given it away that she was alone in this big house. If he had been a bastard, one of those motherfuckers out there trolling for women, wanting them as their personal toys, she would most definitely be in danger.
He wanted to protect her though, wanted to keep those bad people away, and Marius wasn’t sure why exactly he felt that strongly about her.
It’s because you’ve been alone for months, having no actual contact with someone who remotely cared about making you well.
She might not “care” about him, but she cared if he lived or died, even if for the sole purpose of being a decent human. It also didn’t help that he found her utterly gorgeous, with her sweet face, her gentle voice, and the fact that she put on a strong front.
Threatening to shoot him didn’t piss him off or put him on edge.
It made him proud that in the face of all the ugly shit they faced, she could be a little warrior.
9
As soon as Maya closed Marius’s door behind her, she leaned against it and breathed out. She played a part in there, acting like she was stronger than she really was. He was the first person she talked to in far too long, and she couldn’t help but feel warmth at that.
Sherman started whining, and she pulled her thoughts away from the man currently laid up in the bed, his half-naked body something that had her thinking pretty inappropriate thoughts.
“I know, boy,” she whispered to Sherman and pushed away from the door. As she watched the dog run around for a bit, she thought about what she was going to do with Marius. She didn’t know him from Adam, and he could be dangerous.
This world was only fit for the strongest anymore, men and women willing to do just about anything to survive. He’d been on the road for a while, or so she assumed, and Maya wasn’t sure what lengths he’d gone to make sure he didn’t die or get turned.
Although Sherman seemed okay with him enough, her dog was still wary, that much was clear, and she was glad she had her protector around. Sherman was also good with judging others and if they were perceived threats. But inside, she felt all kinds of mixed things, emotions that confused her, frightened her, and said she needed to get him better so he could be on his way.
On his way.
It was the smart thing to do to have Marius leave when he healed. This was Maya’s place, her sanctuary, and she’d been determined to make it work for the better.
But what if he’s one of the good guys?
“Good guys” was a loose term anymore, and although she was on alert when it came to him, keeping her weapons close, she wouldn’t have any problem killing him if he posed a threat. She had compassion to a point, but the moment she got a bad feeling regarding him, the twinge in the pit of her stomach, she’d take care of him. She couldn’t be soft anymore.
But weren’t you soft taking him in?
“Oh shut up,” she whispered to the voice inside her head. She headed to the kitchen to get Marius something to eat. But doing something as mundane as cooking couldn’t keep her thoughts clean. Maya kept picturing what he looked like when she cut off his shirt to assess his wound.
He was a big man, easily six and a half feet tall, and he was lean, like a swimmer’s build with sinew and muscles. Was he even bigger before the fall? Surely he’d been without proper nutrition for a while. Just thinking of how he might have looked, of how big he probably was, made the very feminine part of her rise up.
But she pushed all of that away. Right now, she couldn’t be thinking about anything remotely sexual. Being with a man, thinking about how it would feel to have him over her, thrusting into her, making her remember what it was like to be a woman, was the least of her worries. She didn’t want to think about what she lost, about what she could lose all over again if she gave herself over to her emotions.
“I don’t need anyone but myself,” she said softly, speaking to herself, but it was a lie. Having someone else was natural for any human to want, but that didn’t mean she could rely on anyone anymore. The world had changed, and not for the better. The only person she could trust was herself.
