What Remains_Mutation Read online

  His hands shook, and he realized he still had her hair fisted between his fingers. He forced his grip to loosen, finally able to open his eyes and stare at her. Her lips were still stretched around his weakening erection as she eased back, licking the head as it popped free. The gentle caress drew another strangled grunt, the overly sensitive flesh making the simple act feel a thousand times more intense.

  Cogan lowered to his knees, slipping one hand behind her head and claiming her mouth. She cried out, the sounds muffled by his tongue as he thoroughly tasted her, wanting her to see what she did to him. To feel how much he loved her. Needed her. Her body rocked against him, proof that Jake had reached whatever limits generally held him back.

  Cogan eased away, holding her forehead to his as her breath raked across his chin. “So damn beautiful. Come for Jake, sweetheart. Let me watch you give yourself to him.”

  Her eyelids fluttered but never fully opened as her lips parted, nothing but a hiss of air sounding from her mouth as her hands clenched around his shoulders, her back bowing on Sully’s lap.

  “Hell, yes, Harper. Shit, I can’t hold on, love. Too much…too…” Jake’s voice keened into a gravelly shout as he stiffened behind her, hips grinding against her ass.

  Something shifted inside Cogan, and he knew he’d never be the same. That he’d never get Harper or Sully and Jake out from under his skin. That he was bound to all three as surely as if Harper had tied them all to the damn bed. It went beyond sex. Beyond a bunch of rules. They were part of his soul. The reason he fought. What made him feel human.

  Harper relaxed against him, her forehead resting completely on his. Her breathing sounded stuttered, and he knew Jake had pushed her past her limits.

  He smiled, brushing his fingers along her jaw. “Easy, sweetheart. Just breathe.”

  She snorted. “Like I have the choice to do anything else.”

  “Still feisty. Damn, you’re incredible. Good thing there’s still one of us left who needs to love you. Might just drive that sass out of you, yet.”

  Harper raised her gaze to his, fire still gleaming in the green depths. She rolled into Jake’s arms when the man moved in beside her, scooping her off Sully’s lap. Her head snuggled into the man’s chest as he dropped kisses across her temple. Cogan stood, stepping over to brush her hair back from her face. He traced the curve of her jaw, marveling at the softness of her skin as Sully rose just long enough to strip off his clothes before lowering to the chair again, taking Harper in his arms when Jake placed her on his lap. Her legs straddled Sully’s thighs, her chest pressed tight against his. She wove her arms around his neck, using his hold to lever off him. His cock sprang up, bouncing between her legs. She paused several inches above him before rotating her hips and slowly descending.

  Sully’s head tilted back, his jaw clenching shut. “Oh, darling. You feel so damn good.”

  She shifted her head to the side, nipping at his ear as she repeated the motion, slamming herself harder onto him this time. Cogan watched the couple move, drawn to the simple beauty of her. How her body flowed around the other man, a seamless dance designed to take Sully to the brink. How she had the energy to please all them mystified him. Hell, he’d only come once and his legs still felt weak. Yet, she took all three of them, somehow making it feel natural. As if they’d been destined to share their love from the start. Hell, maybe they had. Either way, he knew he wouldn’t change a damn thing—zombies or not.

  Harper’s breathing increased as she moved faster, riding Sully as if her life depended on the outcome. Sully cupped her ass, lifting her up, holding her still as he thrust into her from below, slamming his groin against her with punishing force. The echo of his strokes filled the room, the wet sound making the air feel heavy. Electrified.

  Jake nudged him then went to the couple’s right side, taking one of Harper’s arms and looping it over his shoulder. Cogan copied the man, holding Harper between them as Sully claimed her, her body his for the taking. She struggled against their grasp, obviously wanting to meet each hard thrust.

  Cogan leaned in. “Sorry, sweetheart, but we’re still in control. Complete control. Now be a good girl and come on Sully’s cock.”

  Her body shivered, his words having a physical effect. She bit her bottom lip, grunting against some inner demon before crying out, her body already beginning to spasm. “Now. God, Sully. Yes. Yes. Yes.”

  Her head lulled back, her voice keening into a scream as she convulsed in their arms, her skin flushing, her breath hitching. Cogan tightened his hold, wanting her to know they wouldn’t let her fall when Sully shouted her name, his hips jerking beneath her. Harper remained rigid, her pulse fluttering wildly beneath her skin before she gasped in an audible breath, her head falling forward onto Sully’s shoulder.

  Cogan released her, smiling when Jake followed suit, allowing Sully to gather her in his arms. He knew how the man felt. How she made everything and everyone disappear, their battling heartbeats the only tangible link to rest of the world. Jake collapsed onto one of the mattresses, a contented smile curving his lips.

  Cogan took a deep breath then headed for the shower. He needed to get his head straight. Figure out a way to get them in and out of the damn facility before Harper took matters into her own hands. And despite her promise to the contrary, he knew she’d only be able to hold back for so long before years of training simply kicked in. And hell, he couldn’t half blame her. If he thought they could lock her up while they stormed the building—and live to tell about it—he wouldn’t hesitate. Just the thought of losing her now…

  He growled. No one was going to be lost. And Harper was more than capable of handling herself. She’d already saved his life. Twice. They were fucking lucky to have her as a member of the team. He just needed to get his heart to listen to reason. To see her as an operative and not the woman he’d fallen for. The woman who’d screamed his name while pulsing around him and made him feel more alive than anyone or anything ever had.

  He slammed his fist against the wall, turning on the spray. It was time for them to step up. She’d placed her faith and her life in their hands. They needed to live up to those expectations. Or die trying.

  Chapter Ten

  “You know…the last time you guys asked me this question, I ended up passed out in Sully’s arms. And that was three hours ago.”

  Jake leaned against the console, watching Harper pout just a few feet away. She’d woken from their impromptu lovemaking session about thirty minutes ago, and had been less than pleased by her body’s reaction. She’d stumbled into the shower, muttering something about them fucking her into unconsciousness, all the while looking at them as if they might disappear. Apparently, she’d never succumbed to pleasure in that extreme fashion before, and she seemed more than a bit unsettled by the fact she’d shown them a side of her she hadn’t known existed. Though Jake suspected it was more the fact that they were still faced with the prospect of getting the serum without dying that had her on edge. That, and the seemingly endless failures racked up behind them. They were running out of time and options.

  He crossed his arms on his chest, tempering the desire still coursing through his body. Loving her a couple of times hadn’t been enough. Hadn’t begun to scratch the itch she elicited in him. If anything, it’d intensified his hunger for her, and he suspected Sully and Cogan felt the same. The way they watched her, gazes sweeping her body, pants bulging, there was no doubt they hadn’t quite come to terms with the need she’d implanted in all of them with nothing more than her easy acceptance of their relationship.

  Shit. He’d never imagined he’d want to become a family unit. Never truly believed he’d be able to share a woman he cared about with Sully and Cogan. Despite the fact they were his best friends—had saved his ass more times than he could count—he just hadn’t thought he’d be able to watch other men love his woman without wanting to rip their dicks off. Yet watching them with Harper…

  Fuck. His cock hardened just thinking about
it. He didn’t know how she did it—made them all feel connected without feeling out of place, but he knew he couldn’t picture his life without her and the other two men in it. Intimately entwined. Nothing but skin between them.

  He gave his head a shake. He needed to get his mind off of Harper.

  He pushed away from the counter, moving over to her. “We promise not to distract you this time. Though if I may say so, loving you is never a waste of time. In fact, I’d argue that it was the best possible use of the last three hours.”

  She hitched one hip out to the side. “How’s that?”

  “Because the more times we show you how important you are to us…how much we love you…the less chance there is of you taking a risk that’s guaranteed to get you killed. Or worse.”

  Her expression sobered as she glanced at the screens still broadcasting the odd image from around the facility. “I already promised you boys that I wouldn’t try to ditch you.”

  “True. But we also know that it’s only a matter of time before the operative in you does what you do best…whatever it takes to keep your mark alive. And I have a strange feeling we’re your new clients.”

  She huffed. He’d obviously struck close to the truth.

  Harper kicked at the floor. “It’s not a bad thing to want to keep you boys alive.”

  Cogan stepped up beside her. “Jake didn’t say it was. But you have to allow us the same concession. You’re ours, Harper. We don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “Well, we all sure picked a hell of a time to get emotional. Fuck, I knew you boys were trouble the moment I spotted you.” She sighed and gave them a loving smile. “But I’m pretty damn happy I did. Can’t tell you all the ways in which you’ve saved me.” She palmed Cogan’s chest when he went to grab her. “But making love isn’t going to get us any closer to that serum. Yes, I want you again, and yes, you can all have me…once we get those damn vials and get the hell out of here.”

  Sully gawked at her. “Are you sure you weren’t a negotiator, too? ‘Cause darling, I bet you could get any man to do your bidding if you made him that kind of deal.”

  “I don’t want any man. I want the three of you. But apparently loving you only makes you more protective, so the plan backfired if you ask me.” She ran a hand through her hair, tousling it about her shoulders. “There’s got to be a way inside. Something we’ve overlooked.”

  “Why don’t you tell us what you were going to do? We all know you had some kind of plan, besides teasing us and ending up with a spanking.”

  Her eyes dilated at Sully’s words, a light pink blush lacing up her chest and throat. She shook her head, walking over to the interior plans pinned to one of the walls. “Honestly, I didn’t have a lot of details. I was hoping I might be able to lasso one of those motion lights on the second floor and scale the damn wall. The higher floors don’t look quite as infested on the monitors. If I could reach the fourth floor, I was going to use the ventilation ducts to make my way to Lelin’s lab, grab the vials then backtrack.”

  Cogan growled. “And when you got overrun a minute after breaking through the second story window then what? Shit, Harper, there’s no way you could have taken on all those infected by yourself and lived to tell about it.”

  She whirled on him, anger coloring her features. “I wasn’t exactly thinking with my head, was I?” She huffed again, banging her hand against the wall. “All I could think about was how it’d feel to watch you guys get bitten. To lose what I didn’t even have yet. So yeah, it was impulsive and unprofessional, and I more than know better.” She glanced at them. “But then there’s nothing easy, or logical, about love, is there?”

  Cogan’s demeanour softened as she threw his words back at him. She didn’t resist when he pulled her in for a hug, kissing the top of her head before releasing her. Sully followed suit, careful to keep his contact innocent enough, though Jake didn’t miss the fire raging in his friends’ eyes. They were staying in control, though barely.

  Jake walked over to her, cupping her face as he gave her a smile. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. We didn’t exactly volunteer to come along for the good of mankind. But now that we’re here… There’s got to be an option that doesn’t involve us turning into zombies.”

  Harper shrugged. “I’d hoped there’d be more resources here we could utilize, but we haven’t been able to get close enough to anything to even see if it’s an option.”

  Jake nodded, studying the screens, lingering on the only one currently panning the grounds. “What about those damn fire trucks? Hell, you’ve got three fireman sitting right here.”

  Harper shook her head. “What I told you before was the truth. The reports I got in the early days were that they still had supplies on board, but we haven’t been able to get near them. There’s just too many of those damn advanced bastards to risk it. I swear some of them run faster than me.” She shrugged. “Besides, I’m not sure what we’d do with either of them if we made it all that way. We can’t get past the first fucking floor. Oxygen tanks and fire-retardant gear aren’t going to change that, though axing a few of those creatures might make me feel better.”

  Jake frowned. They hadn’t gotten a good enough look at them to tell if they’d be of any use. They were parked on the other side of the facility, hidden from view except for the occasional glimpse from one of the cameras. He studied the image, trying to determine what kind of vehicles they were from the grainy picture when the angle changed, showing more of the rear truck. He bent over the screen, straining to see more details. “Wait. Sully. Is that what I think it is?”

  Sully leaned in beside him, staring at the picture before slamming a fist on the console. “Shit! How didn’t we see that before?”

  “The damn camera’s never at the right angle. It must have gotten knocked out of position and is panning differently because I know for a fact I’ve never seen those trucks from this perspective before.”

  Harper squeezed between them. “Do I want to know why you two are pissed?”

  Sully swore again. “Because we’re fucking idiots, that’s why.”

  She answered them with a raise of her brow.

  Jake pointed at the screen. “Do you see that long line running the length of the rear truck just visible above the first one?”

  She squinted at the screen. “Barely. Isn’t it just part of the external casing?”

  “That’s what we thought. But it’s not. It’s a goddamn ladder.”

  She frowned. “So it’s got a portable ladder. Not sure that helps us much. An extra ten feet isn’t going to change the nature of this war.”

  “That’s not just a portable ladder. It’s a bloody turntable. That baby’ll go up fifty feet at least.” Jake ran a hand through his hair. “Doesn’t make sense. A facility this sophisticated… It’s bound to have been upgraded to the new fire codes. It’ll have standpipes and positive pressure fans in all the stairwells. An integrated sprinkler system. And I bet my ass most of the windows above the second floor don’t open. Probably none of them do because of security. There’s no logical reason they’d have a ladder truck like this one. It must have been a throw back they hadn’t gotten around to replacing yet.”

  Her eyes widened. “Are you telling me that truck has a ladder that can access the upper floors? Without us going inside the building first?”

  “In theory, love. But we’d still have to get there, move the truck closer to the building and deploy the ladder. All without getting overrun. That’s a pretty tall order considering we haven’t been able to get within a hundred feet of the area, let alone access the truck. Hell, we don’t even know if the vehicle has any gas.”

  “That’s because we didn’t have a reason to investigate it before. But now…” She turned, circling her finger on the map. “We can punch the Hummer through the fence here and be at that truck in under a minute.”

  Cogan scoffed, finally joining in. “Sure. And in less than half that time a couple dozen infected will be swarming the
Hummer and the truck. And in case you’ve forgotten, the Hummer’s our ticket home.”

  “There won’t be a home to go back to if we can’t stop this infection from spreading. And with the way this mutation is taking hold… We’ll be lucky to last until winter, which might slow them down but won’t kill them. Then what?”

  “Harper.”

  “It’s a calculated risk. Besides, I have an idea.”

  Jake shook his head. “This similar to the John Wayne stunt you wanted to pull? Because that one wasn’t exactly the benchmark we’re looking for.”

  “I promised you boys I wouldn’t go alone and I won’t. But it does involve us splitting up.” She held up her hand. “Just hear me out. Let’s assume that the truck has at least some gas left. It didn’t get there on its own, and no one’s been near it since we locked down the facility immediately following the outbreak. If we reach it, I can take out a number of targets from on top while you position it. I should be able to hold them back, at least for a bit. Once you get the ladder in place, two of us climb up, gain access to the roof and break into the ventilation system. Going down one story shouldn’t be difficult. From there it’s just weaving our way over to the lab and back.”

  Cogan cocked a brow. “And while two of you are crawling through duct work, the other two are left fighting off a horde of undead, who can probably climb the truck and the ladder.”

  “Not if you drive away. Do a few laps of the building then come back once we’re ready for a pickup. Might even confuse the horde long enough to jump back in the Hummer.”

  Cogan laughed, though it was hollow. “Harper. I’ll give you marks for originality, but damn. There are a thousand ways that plan can go south. And it all starts with whether or not that truck will even turn on.”