Page 53 of After the Burn

The man was good at everything and always had been.

“You should’ve woken up as soon as I entered the room,” he scolded slightly.

I stared at him in disbelief. “You’re criticizing my survival instincts after what I went through to get here?”

“Yes.” He crouched beside the bed, dressed in a black T-shirt tucked into black cargo pants. “I need to know you can survive anything.”

His brown hair was tousled, and stubble covered the lower half of his face. His eyes, nearly the same color as mine, were even more intense behind the dark frames of his glasses.

God.

The apocalypse had somehow made him hotter.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I whispered.

“Neither should you,” he whispered back.

The tension between us was even stronger than it had been back at the farmhouse.

He looked at me with heat and possession.

Across the room, Lila shifted in her sleep.

Adrian’s eyes flicked toward her briefly before returning to me. “Come with me.”

I knew that was not a good idea.

Naturally, I went anyway.

He didn’t look surprised to see me fully dressed except for my shoes when I threw the cover back.

The motel hallway sat silent as Adrian led me down the back staircase and across the second floor toward one of the empty rooms at the far end of the building.

The room obviously hadn’t been used for a while. The bed was stripped, and the curtains were dusty. No personal belongings anywhere.

Adrian shut the door quietly behind us.

Then, he locked it.

He opened his mouth to speak, and I cut him off immediately.

“I don’t want to hear any shit about coming here. I knew you two had probably run into trouble, and it seems I was right.” I started pacing around the room. “What in the hell is wrong with the people here? Men thinking they can band together and just pick any woman they want? I don’t fucking think so.” I jerked my head toward him. “Don’t get any ideas about joining one of these family groups. I won’t allow it.”

Fuck I shouldn’t have said that. Exhaustion was making me stupid.

“I’m trying to explain if you’d let me,” Adrian said in the emotionless tone I hated, completely ignoring the bomb I’d dropped, basically admitting I had feelings for him.

“I’m so sick of the mask you wear. Do you have to be such a dick?” I growled in frustration.

His impassive expression was pissing me off. I’d gone years with barely a word from him, then unexpectedly he came home when the shit hit the fan, acting like he had some prior claim on me.

Fuck that and fuck him.

Suddenly, Adrian grabbed me. One hand clutched my shirt while the other caught my jaw, slamming my back against the wall next to the window with enough force to almost knock the breath from my lungs.

“Taryn?” he whispered against my lips.

“Hmm?” I was slightly dazed at his forcefulness.