Cora (Love in the Apocalypse #2)

23. Cora

Chapter twenty-three

Cora

T he second the thunder sounded, Trent went from joyous and relaxed to tense and terrified. I stood and pulled him to his feet. I hugged Trent tightly as he trembled from the storm raging outside. I understood the protocol here and slowly guided him toward a bedroom. Trent previously explained why he was afraid of storms, and when he did, I could hear the shame he felt in his voice. I didn’t know how to tell him he didn’t have anything to be ashamed of, so I hugged him harder, wishing I could just say what I wanted to say. It wouldn’t have the same impact coming from Siri.

The front door slammed open, startling us both as Remi ran inside. He was soaking wet, and his eyes were wide and frantic as they searched the room before finally landing on us. “I’m sorry. The storm came out of nowhere!” he said, shutting the door and rushing toward us.

“It’s ok,” Trent replied. “I was going to cuddle with Cora. If that’s ok?” he quickly asked.

“Oh, right,” Remi replied, trying not to look hurt. “It makes sense now that there is a woman around that you’d prefer to ‘cuddle’ with her,” he said with air quotes. “I know that would be my preference.”

This time, it was Trent’s turn to look hurt. “That wasn’t what I meant, but it’s good to know where you stand,” he replied.

“It’s only logical, right? We made do with what was available to us until what we preferred came along,” Remi bit out, staring at the floor.

I keep thinking that not being able to speak is a curse, but the more I’m around the guys, the more I realize that you miss a lot when your mouth is flapping. Remi and Trent were talking to each other, but neither of them was listening. They would see that they were pointlessly hurting each other if they were. I understood that Remi was struggling with intrusive and toxic thoughts, but he was being ridiculous with this.

Since I couldn’t speak to point out that they were both acting like dumb fucks, I did the next best thing. I hit them both in the side of their heads, right over their useless ears. I had to hop a little to reach Trent’s, but I got it done.

“Ouch, what the fuck, Cora?!” Remi growled.

“What the hell was that for?” Trent asked at the same time.

They glared down at me, but I crossed my arms over my chest and glared right back. When they continued to glare at me angrily without a spark of understanding, I rolled my eyes, pointed to my mouth, and then mimed breaking a stick. I followed that up by covering my ears. If they still didn’t understand what I was saying, I’d have to grab the iPad, but we have gotten pretty good at communicating without it.

“I think she’s trying to tell you that your communication is shit and you aren’t listening to each other,” Derrick said from the kitchen doorway where he was leaning against the frame. He had an amused expression that told me he must have been standing there long enough to have seen me hit the others.

I pointed at Derrick and then my nose, nodding.

“Good job on your effective communication, Ghost Girl,” Derrick praised, standing beside me and bending down to kiss the tip of my nose. “If they were better listeners, they would have understood what you were trying to say,” he stage whispered. I smiled and giggled silently, and his eyes got a little sad.

I cocked my head to the side and traced the frown on his face.

“It’s nothing,” he assured me. “One day, I’ll hear that giggle out loud, and I’m looking forward to it.”

This time, it was my turn to look sad. It wasn’t that I don’t try, I do, it just won’t come out. I’m broken.

Derrick put a finger under my chin and lifted it so that I could look into his soft eyes. “It will happen when it’s meant to, Cora. There’s no pressure for it to happen any sooner than that.”

“Can we please fucking talk?” Trent asked Remi, jumping when the thunder rumbled again. “Preferably before we all die.”

“Yeah, we can talk,” Remi replied. I nodded in satisfaction and went to go into the kitchen when Remi’s arm snaked out and grabbed me. “I’d like it if you talked with us too, Cora. Please?” I met his concerned eyes and nodded. Yes, I’d talk with them. All I wanted was for things to stop feeling awkward between us. I grabbed my iPad and followed them into our bedroom. I anticipated needing to speak. I climbed onto the bed, sat cross-legged in the middle, and waited for someone to start talking.

“I think I need to explain why I’ve been struggling lately,” Remi started.

“That would be fucking nice,” Trent said more harshly than I think he meant to. He blushed as the words left his mouth. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Don’t apologize,” Remi said, stroking his cheek. “After constantly blowing you off, you’re more than justified in feeling angry. When the apocalypse began, I was in a long-term heterosexual relationship and a few months into an affair with my roommate. I tried to get him to come out to our girlfriends so we could stop living in the closet, and he refused. Ultimately, he chose his girlfriend over me. They didn’t make it out of town. The airport was overrun before their plane could take off.”

The storm outside made itself known again, causing Trent to flinch hard. Remi guided him to the bed to sit with me, and I wrapped myself around him like a living backpack to comfort him. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Rem,” Trent said when he had relaxed again, “but that’s not what this is. I’m not going to pick Cora over you. I love both of you. I need both of you in my life, and I’ve felt like you were pulling away from me and were becoming uninterested in being with me.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” Remi said, kneeling in front of us. “I want this, with both of you. I just... sometimes I let the intrusive thoughts get the better of me, and I’m so fucking sorry for that. For putting you through this. By struggling with my issues on my own, I ended up making you both feel the way Kevin made me feel, and I would never wish that on anyone.” Remi stood and leaned forward. He first kissed Trent. Then, when the kiss ended, he leaned further over Trent’s shoulder to kiss me.

It was a soft and tentative kiss. Neither of us was willing to give it our all right away, but I could feel the passion simmering just under the surface.

“How do I prove to you both that I am in this for the long haul?” Remi asked when the kiss ended.

“Fuck Cora,” Trent stated. My heart began to pound as I met Remi’s eyes over his shoulder, and he cocked a brow. “Everyone in this house, including yourself, knows you want to. So do it. That’s how you can prove to us that you’re in this.”

Remi’s eyes had yet to leave mine, and he grinned as he stood and began stripping. “With pleasure.”

Trent unwrapped my limbs from around him and turned. “Are you ok with this?” I nodded emphatically. Hell yeah, I was!

I typed a message on the iPad: “What about you? Are you ok with this since it’s storming outside?”

Trent smiled and kissed me briefly as he took the iPad from me and put it on the nightstand. “I’m more than ok with this,” he assured me. “Trust me, I’ll jump in where I want to when I want to.” Trent helped me out of my clothes, moved me toward the center of the bed, and shifted to my other side to make room for Remi.

Remi crawled between my legs with a salacious smile. “Remember what I said about getting between your thighs?”

I blushed and nodded.

“Good. Cause we’re going to be here a while.”

We kissed again, this time without anything holding us back. Remi’s tongue twisted and teased with mine as his hands skimmed over my body. His mouth wasn’t far behind them as he trailed kisses down my neck. He spent a lengthy amount of time worshipping my breasts before finally sliding his mouth where I wanted it. I trembled as his hot breath blew across my needy kitty. He nuzzled my inner thighs as he put my legs over his shoulder. My back arched when his tongue finally licked through my folds.

“Fuck, you taste just as good as they’ve been saying, Cora,” Remi groaned. While he settled between my thighs, Trent sucked on my nipples. Pleasure rolled through my body as they pushed me toward my first orgasm.

“You look so sexy between her legs, Rem,” Trent moaned, resting his head on my stomach to watch Remi.

“Taste her with me,” Remi ordered.

Two tongues twisting around my clit was my complete undoing. One orgasm rolled into another as Trent used his weight to hold me in place as they relentlessly drew orgasms from me like I was a fucking fountain. When they finally relented, I was spent, but we weren’t even close to being done yet. Trent moved off of me as Remi slid up my body and into me in one smooth stroke. We both moaned as he bottomed out.

“Doesn’t she feel like fucking heaven?” Trent whispered, moving behind Remi.

“Fuck yes, she does,” Remi agreed, locking his arm around Trent’s neck to kiss him. I whimpered as they made out in front of me. I shifted my hips impatiently, silently begging Remi to start moving.

Trent caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and rubbed my clit with his thumb. “Just a minute, baby. Me and Remi are going to fuck you hard in just a second.”

Through hooded eyes, I watched as he grabbed their bottle of oil and squirted some on his dick, stroking it around until it was glistening. His hand then went behind Remi, where I imagined he was sliding his fingers. Remi moaned and jerked his hips forward, confirming my suspicion.

Trent moved into position and pulled Remi’s hips back a little, sliding him partway out of me. “I love you both so much,” Trent moaned as he thrust his hips forward, driving himself deep into Remi and propelling him back into me. They quickly found their stride and dragged me along for the ride, but Remi didn’t let me feel for a moment like I was a non-participating member. When his lips weren’t on mine, they were somewhere else on my body.

When we finally came together, it was explosive, and my body ended up being so overstimulated that I moved to the other side of the bed to avoid being touched as small orgasmic tremors continued to assault my body.

I was going to have to hydrate better so that they didn’t drain my body of all the moisture, ten mind-blowing orgasms at a time.

A week later, I padded into the kitchen on bare feet. I had just woken up from a nap. I usually don’t nap during the day, but with the constant weather fluctuations this year, my body was struggling to adjust.

“How are you feeling?” Remi asked me, his concerned eyes searching my face before pressing his lips to my forehead to check for a fever.

“I still feel gross,” I admitted, setting the iPad down and leaning into his touch.

“Maybe some food will help,” Trent said from the stove.

I wrinkled my nose. Not everything Trent was cooking smelled nice. When Remi set an open can of asparagus on the table in front of me, my stomach couldn’t handle it, and I rushed to the kitchen sink to empty whatever was left in my stomach down the drain.

“Oh, fuck!” Remi exclaimed, staring at me with a mix of horror and wonderment.

“What?!” Trent, Derrick, and Isaac asked together, picking up on his tone.

“Cora, baby?” Remi asked as he soaked a towel in cold water and pressed it to my forehead. He led me back to the table, sat me in a chair, and then crouched in front of me. “Sweetheart, when was the last time you had your period?”

I heard the others gasp before a roaring started in my ears. Oh, God. When was the last time I had my period? It was before they all got here. Was I really pregnant? The roaring got louder. How the hell was I supposed to have a baby? I didn’t know the first thing about having a baby or caring for one. What if I wasn’t a good mom? It wasn’t like I had a good role model. When everything started to get fuzzy and spin, someone, presumably Remi, shoved my head between my legs and rubbed my back in soothing circles. My ears cleared, and I heard Isaac growling at everyone.

“This is a surprise for everyone. We did this to her. If you can’t pull yourself together and be supportive, leave the fucking room.” When I finally sat back up, I felt loads better and found four very concerned men hovering around me.

“Are you ok, Cora?” Derrick asked.

I nodded and then shook my head. I didn’t know what I was. Trent handed me the iPad, and I smiled appreciatively. “What are we going to do?”

“Hey,” Isaac said, “people have been having babies for thousands of years, and for most of that, they didn’t have access to modern medicine. We’re going to figure this out, I promise.”

“We have plenty of time to find a library and get all the books we will need about delivering babies,” Trent added. “Now, can we all stop freaking out about this and take a moment to celebrate? We’re having a baby!”

“My idiot brother has a point,” Isaac said, “I know we didn’t plan for this, and it feels super scary, but we made a baby. This feels like the most normal thing to happen in three years.”

“Yeah,” Derrick chuckled. “What’s more normal than accidentally knocking up some chick you just met?” I laughed with him. It was a common occurrence before the apocalypse happened.

“Why are you such a dick?” Remi demanded angrily. “You couldn’t think of a less crass thing to say?”

Derrick pointed at me. “It made her laugh, and that’s all I wanted, so fuck off.”

“Please don’t fight,” I said through Siri.

“They aren’t fighting, Princess,” Isaac assured me. “They’re just voicing their opinions.”

“Now that we know why you’re sick, we need to figure out what foods won’t affect your stomach. You have to eat,” Trent said. “Does anything sound good?”

I contemplated his question for a minute. “Rice.”

“Rice it is,” he said, immediately getting the rice cooking.

If I had to be pregnant, at least I picked the right daddies for my little nugget.

Later that afternoon, I sat in a lawn chair in the yard, soaking up some sun. Part of me was still reeling about being pregnant, but I was actively ignoring those feelings. I wasn’t in this alone, so I’d just lean on their strength when I felt unsure of it all. My heart raced as the awareness of being watched flooded my senses. My eyes popped open, and my hand immediately moved to the gun at my hip as I searched for the threat. It wasn’t hard to notice the bright red hair of the woman standing on the drive, leaning against a fence post. I knew that wouldn’t be the last we would see of Queen.

“Hello,” she said when she saw I noticed her. “I didn’t want to approach until you knew I was here.” Queen started walking toward me, and I stood and pointed my gun at her and held my hand out for her to stop. She pretended she didn’t notice as she continued to talk. “I’m looking for three of my friends. I’ve lost them, and I’m searching everywhere I can think of for them. I’m all alone now, and I’m sure you can understand how scary that can be for a woman in this world.”

I looked behind her but couldn’t see where the rest of her cronies were. I did not doubt they were hidden somewhere in the forest, though. Queen was still walking toward me, describing the three men who attacked Remi. I held my hand out again for her to stop, and when she didn’t follow my order, I shot the ground about three feet in front of her. She sure as hell stopped then.

“Is that any way to treat a new friend?” Queen asked with barely contained annoyance. She went to take another step but stopped when she heard the guys screaming my name.

“CORA!”

They all came running outside, pulling their weapons as soon as they saw Queen. “My, my, my,” Queen purred, her demeanor changing as soon as she saw them. “I guess you don’t know how scary it is to be alone. Hello, boys. I wouldn’t mind having you handsome hunks to keep me warm at night. What do you say, big guy,” she asked Trent, taking a step toward him, “want a fiery redhead in your bed? I promise you won’t regret it. The word no isn’t in my vocabulary.”

This bitch! Before she could take another step toward my man, I shot the ground again, this time much closer than three feet. Queen yelped in surprise and immediately jumped back as she glared at me. “There’s no need to be greedy, Cora. You don’t need all four of them.” She brazenly started to take another step, and this time, I lifted the gun and pointed it at her chest.

I wasn’t fucking around.

“We aren’t interested,” Trent stated, moving closer to me.

“And we’d appreciate it if you got off of our property. This is Cora’s land, and you’re trespassing,” Isaac said firmly.

“I’m just trying to find my friends,” Queen replied, her bottom lip trembling as she switched tactics, attempting to garner sympathy.

“We haven’t seen anyone but you,” Remi replied. “Now that you know they aren’t here, it’s time for you to continue your travels.”

“You would toss me back into the wilderness to fend for myself instead of offering me a place to lay my head?” Queen asked dramatically.

“I think we all know that a pretty girl like you is rarely alone for long, don’t we,” Derrick replied.

I glared at Derrick for calling Queen pretty and took another step toward her, my gun pointed at her head this time.

“OK, I get it,” Queen said, holding her hands in a sign of surrender. “I’ll leave, but I can’t promise I won’t be back with some friends. This is a nice place, and while it may have belonged to Cora in the old world, this is the apocalypse. Old rules don’t apply anymore.”

“You’re right,” Isaac replied smoothly, “they don’t. We’re following mountain rules. Shoot first and ask questions later. You’d be wise to keep that in mind before trying to come back here.”

“We’ll see,” Queen said, blowing them a kiss and then running off.

I growled at her retreating back, itching to shoot her anyway. Four heads snapped in my direction.

“That was out loud!” Remi exclaimed. He pulled me into his arms and spun me around in a circle.

“That’s progress, Cora,” Isaac said, smiling. “You’ll be talking in no time, and then you’ll be able to tell Queen to fuck off all on your own.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Derrick said, bending to kiss me. “I think she conveyed that message quite well.”

Trent was still watching the area where Queen had melted into the forest. “I think we should take this inside. It isn’t safe out here.”

As I followed them inside, I turned to look out at the forest again and thought I saw a flash of red deep in the trees. I didn’t doubt that Queen would be back; this time, she’d bring her goons.