Page 22 of His to Take

Rex might hate his time as a gardener, but she often assured him it was better than being a glorified secretary/driver. She’d sit for hours sometimes, with very little to do. There weren’t a lot of people for her father to rule over yet, but he often met with other leaders to discuss policies they’d planned to put in place in this brand-new world.

“Ann, I have something for you to do this evening. You’ll need to take Rex. I left some books at the bunker, some that we need here now. I want you to get them back for me. That alright?”

“Of course, Dad.” It would be a moment to be alone with Rex. Maybe they could have a romantic picnic, and he’d hold her hand.

Not like that brute in her dreams, she thought as her father went into the building. She’d taken up reading regency romances, about the only kind of books still left in the library in town, while she waited for her dad to finish with his work. She’d learned the word brute from those books and used it now when she thought about the man in her dreams.

She’d decided there must be something wrong with her, to keep dreaming about a fictional man, and about those kinds of things. She blushed as the sun rose higher overhead. She could blame it on the heat coming through the clear glass, but she knew it was the things he did. The things he said.

She’d dreamed only a few short hours ago about the man in her bedroom.

“Nice choice. I thought you’d choose the white one.” She’d scrambled out of the bed, in her dream, to demand he leave, but he only smiled at her.

“I’d have chosen this room too. It holds so much naughty promise, with all of that red. Kind of like your cheeks.” His fingers had brushed against her red skin there, and she’d frozen. She wanted him so much but hated that she did.

No, it was better not to think about it, she thought and picked up the latest romance novel she’d found in her wanderings. She couldn’t concentrate though. Even though she didn’t often get to wander around the city being reborn in front of her eyes, she still had more freedom than the wolves did. They weren’t allowed to be out without a human by their side.

The overlords feared the wolves would shift, without warning, and start killing pure-blood humans. As if they didn’t know that wolves had cycles, and known dates when they would change. The aliens knew far more about both species now than anyone in history ever had. Their technologies were far more advanced, in all ways, and Ann felt that the measure was only in place to keep the wolves submissive, in invisible chains. She didn’t like it, not one bit.

There was little she could do about it, though. At least her parents understood and tried to help her out. She still had to put him off about the whole sex thing, she wanted to wait until she had that one special night, a romantic night filled with love and the promise of a future. She could deal with it, though, if it meant she was Rex’s at the end of it all. She could wait and put up with his growing frustration with her.

She hadn’t told her mom that he still pestered her for sex. She was a grown woman, she’d decided. She needed to handle this on her own. They had the night all planned out. Well, she did. Rex insisted she do it all because it was her dream night. He said he didn’t want to spoil any of it with his interference.

The poor man was too tired, she thought, so she didn’t blame him for getting out of doing anything about their day. They couldn’t have a wedding, but her father could give her away to him, and she would wear a pretty dress, and that would be enough. That’s what she told herself anyway.

She sighed and put the book down when she saw her father come out of the courthouse in front of her. She turned the transporter on and opened the hatch to let him in.

“There may not be much shade in these things,” he complained as he climbed in, “but at least they’re cooler than the air outside.”

“Yes, we can shrivel up in the UV rays in comfort.” She pushed the lever that would move them forward and took her father home in quiet.

The aliens were supposed to send out a new line of upper shields, ones that would go as dark as sunglasses during the day, but go clear at night. Ann couldn’t wait for those, she decided as she pulled into the driveway of their home. A home she still hadn’t become accustomed to.

It was far too big for them, and now that she knew she wouldn’t be allowed to have Rex’s children, well, there was no hope of filling the rooms up. That made her sad, but it was worth it to have Rex as her lover for the rest of her life. Maybe she could adopt a child, in the future, when more children came into the world. Like little Ricardo, that they’d left behind all those weeks ago.

She still wondered if they were out there. Maybe she’d check on them this evening, when they went back to the bunker. She went to the kitchen and had Amelia, their cook, prepare a meal that was mostly vegetarian. There was little meat to be had, although the overlords were working to restore animal, insect, and plant life. Fish were plentiful, but that was about all. She didn’t want to take fish on a picnic, so Amelia prepared dishes that would keep in the transporter’s refrigerator.

At 5 pm, an hour after Rex was supposed to finish for the day, Ann was in the transporter, candles, wine glasses, a couple of blankets, and the food tucked away. Rex came, grim as always, but with a slight smile for his soon to be ‘wife’.

“At least we get some time alone together. We can talk for ages.” Ann smiled broadly and pressed the button to close the glass. “Ready?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said and settled into the backseat. It was a wide couch that followed the shape of the vehicle.

“I thought you’d sit up here with me.”

“I’m beat, Ann. Let me just rest for a while. I mowed two acres of grass today, with a push mower.” Rex threw his arm over his eyes, and Ann looked away, her face a mask of hurt.

He was right, though, she thought as the transporter, a much faster vehicle than a car, pulled away. For a moment, she thought about trying to run away, thought about taking the vehicle and driving up to Canada. Or over to Alaska and then to Russia. Were the aliens over there?

She didn’t know how far they’d gotten; she just knew that every few days, more people would be released into the new zones set up around the city. She still thought of them as kingdoms sometimes, but now, she could see they more resembled zones. Especially when they were up high like this.

When she neared the place where she knew the sisters, May and Kay, had lived, she slowed down. She was going to stop, but the fact that the building had burned down told her there was little point in stopping. All that was left of the place was ash. The aliens or someone else, she wondered. A tear slid down her cheek, and she brushed it away. She’d have her father check, find out what happened to them, she decided, and carried on.

It wasn’t hard work to fly the things, but it would tire out your hand. She switched her hands constantly, to keep from getting cramps. Soon enough, they were over the area where the bunker was. Ann landed the craft but didn’t wake Rex up. He needed to sleep, she decided. She went down, got the books she needed, and was headed to a spot where she knew they could see the waters from the ocean, without being too near the city.

“Later, Ann. Wake me up later,” Rex rumbled when she tried to wake him up.

“But Rex, I have a picnic…”

“Leave me alone, Ann!” he roared and sat up to glare at her with angry, red eyes. “Fuck!”

Ann glared back at him as he went back down on the couch, her eyes full of angry tears. She wiped them away and went back to her driver’s seat. She knew he was tired, she knew that, but did that give him the right to talk to her like that?

She felt the thick tang of tears in her mouth, and that only made her angrier. She was such a ninny; he was only tired. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, though.