Apocalypse: The Dead Lives
Chapter 60: Something Forbidden

Chapter 60: Something Forbidden

WARNING: SEXUAL CONTENT.

The stench of rotting flesh clung to the air, thick and suffocating.

We were hit by another horde of rotters. A mix of rotters, hulks, and one colossus.

Dark blood soaked the dirt beneath my boots. The ground was littered with severed limbs, crushed skulls, and bodies twitching long after they should have stopped moving.

We had won. Barely.

I stood among the wreckage, my hands curled into fists. My body ached, but not from wounds.

No, I had barely been touched. I’d fought like hell, just as I wanted. Just as I needed. But it still hadn’t been enough.

The others were celebrating, patching each other up, laughing in that breathless way survivors did after something like this. I felt none of it.

I turned on my heel and walked away.

●●●

Hot water scalded my skin as I stepped into the shower, but I didn’t turn it down. I let it burn, let it remind me that I was still here, still breathing.

I shut my eyes, and my mind betrayed me, dragging me back to the battlefield. Not to the rotters. Not to the fight. But to him.

Marco.

The way he looked at me when I broke down in his arms. The way he touched me when I pulled him closer, desperate to feel something.

The heat of his mouth on mine, the way the kiss stole my breath, how it sparked something for just a second before it all came crashing down into nothing.

It hadn’t worked.

I hadn’t felt a damn thing.

Only guilt.

And Ronan? He hadn’t said a word to me since. Maybe he never would again. Maybe I’d really lost him.

A sharp pain bloomed in my chest, and before I knew it, I was crying again. Just once. Just this last time.

Then I would be done.

I sucked in a breath, wiped my face, and stepped out of the shower. Steam curled around me as I reached for a towel.

And then I felt it.

A presence.

My breath hitched. Every hair on my body stood on end.

I turned and my heart slammed against my ribs.

Orion.

He was leaning against the sink, arms crossed, his dark eyes locked onto mine. His wings were gone. His suit was impeccable, not a wrinkle or speck of dirt in sight as if he hadn’t just stepped through a war zone to get here.

I clutched the towel tighter around myself. "What the hell?"

His eyes raked over me, slow and deliberate, sending heat prickling across my skin.

"You kissed him," Orion said, his voice smooth, dangerous.

I stiffened. "That’s none of your-"

"Marco." His lip curled slightly like the name itself left a bad taste in his mouth. "Did it work, little warrior? Did he make you feel anything?"

I swallowed, my throat dry. He already knew the answer.

Orion pushed off the sink and took a step toward me. "You’re wasting your time," he murmured. "Still thinking about Ronan. Still trying to pretend Marco is the one you want."

I took a step back. My spine hit the cool tile wall. Orion followed, closing the space between us.

"You want to feel something?" His voice dipped lower, his breath warm against my cheek. "Let me show you how."

He tilted my chin up with one finger. My pulse hammered in my throat.

I should move. I should push him away.

But I didn’t.

His touch ignited something inside me. Something dark, something forbidden. I hated how easily he unraveled me, how my body betrayed me in his presence.

Orion’s fingers brushed over my shoulder, dragging the towel down an inch. His lips ghosted over my ear.

"I must punish you."

The towel dropped to the floor with ease.

His fingers brushed over my hard nipples, sending a tingling sensation down my core. He pulled me against his chest, my naked body perfectly molding into him.

As Orion’s palm came down against my bottom, a sharp sting bloomed across me, heat radiating outward. My breath hitched, my fingers curling into fists.

I hated how my body reacted. How my pulse quickened. How a shiver of something dark and forbidden licked up my spine.

I bit down on my lip, swallowing the sound threatening to escape. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

But damn it. Why did it feel good?

Another strike. Another burst of heat. My nails dug into my palms.

This was wrong. It had to be.

And yet, some twisted part of me craved more.

I’d never admit it. Not out loud. Not to him.

"You think you can just kiss him and forget about me?" His voice was low, dangerous.

Another sharp smack, and I gasped, placing my hands on his chest to steady myself.

Orion knew that I wanted more.

I could feel it in the way he touched me, the way he watched me, the smug amusement lingering in his voice.

He knew exactly what he was doing to me.

"You still feel nothing, Hailey?" He leaned in, his breath hot against my ear. "Because your body tells me otherwise."

I bit my lip, refusing to respond.

Smack.

"Say it." His tone was laced with dominance, with certainty. "Say you liked it."

I shook my head, but we both knew the truth.

Smack.

"Liar."

I gasped, my fingers curling into his shirt. His presence was overwhelming, intoxicating.

"Say my name," he murmured.

I clenched my jaw, refusing.

Orion chuckled. "Stubborn." His voice was thick with amusement. "But you’ll give in, little warrior. Soon."

His lips brushed over my jaw, then my throat. His hands tightened on my waist.

And then- just as suddenly as he’d appeared, he was gone.

The air felt colder without him.

I exhaled sharply, my hands shaking as I braced myself against the wall. My heart was still racing, my skin still burning.

I looked at myself in the mirror. When I turned around, his large handprints were still tattooed on my bottom.

Heat pooled between my thighs. My core was a throbbing mess. Aching for more of his torture. But he was gone.

I pressed my fingers to my lips, my mind a mess.

What the hell was happening to me?