The Badass Protector

Iris

COLT RUSHED toward Gael, pressed his gun against his forehead, and hissed. “I swear to God.”

“Colton, don’t!” I grabbed him on his shoulder, but he didn’t even budge. His arm contracted, and his veins protruded against his forehead. “Please, it doesn’t have to be this way.”

“You will thank me later-”

Colt cut in. “Fuck you! Goddamn it, Gael. I trusted you with my fucking life!”

“Colton, please?” I begged. “For my sake. I want to know why I’m involved.”

“Apparently, they’ve been looking for Iris since she escaped. That was why I believed in what Iris had been saying to us. Iris seems so important to them than she thinks she is. We will find the two men because they will be there tomorrow to deliver their recruits to their leader.”

“I’ll only help you on my own terms. I’m doing this for her and not for you. But don’t you dare plan on double-crossing me, do you understand me?” Colt pressed his gun one more time on Gael’s head before he retreated, still glaring with eyes awash with anger and pain.

I let out a deep sigh of relief. My body was still shaking when Colt faced me.

“Did you have any mutual relationship with any of them?” His vain-filled voice seared my heart and made me swallow and grimace.

“You mean if I fucked them? You don’t have to sugarcoat it. And my answer is no. Never.” I wrapped my arms around my body as I felt that he thought so low of me.

“Did they…” He swallowed. “Did they violate you?”

My brow arched. “If they raped me?” I shook my head. “No. They just dragged us and let us fill in line, then drained our blood every day. They believed that it slowed down the effect of the virus for a few hours.”

Colt averted his gaze, harshly breathing through his nose. He then walked away, kicking everything he came across with.

“I’m sorry, Iris.”

“Sorry for your dumbass, Gael! You can’t protect everyone without his help. You should know that.” I left him and followed Colt. “Colton!”

He stopped and propped his hands on his hips, still breathing heavily. His head, neck, and his arms glistened with sweat. I could feel the prick of the sun burning my skin as well, but he was not sweating from the heat of it-it was from his self-control as he tried hard not to kill Gael.

I licked my dry lips before I spoke. “We need to get back to the car.”

He nodded, meeting my gaze with an intensity that almost gave me a shiver. “I’m sorry that I lost control. I promise I will protect you with my life, and I will never let them get into you, Iris. I swear.” He cupped the back of my head, then crushed his mouth against mine with a forceful and opened-mouth kiss that almost brought me down on my knees. Every part of me tingles, hyper-aware of how his kiss intoxicated me.

My body tightened, and my arms clamped around his sweaty neck as I pressed my body against his. He intruded his tongue, and I sucked it before it slipped into my mouth. Colt groaned, breaking the hot kiss with suction, and it ended with a loud smack.

“How did you learn how to kiss like that?” He smiled with amusement.

“What I learned better today is you are damn hot when you’re angry. It was a hell of a kiss in the middle of the deserted road under the blazing sun while we were sweaty and coated with dust.” I laughed. “Quite romantic, isn’t it?” We intertwined our fingers as we walked back to the car waiting for us.

“I remember my old days,” Gael said as he walked to the passenger side. “A month later, I married my wife.”

“How did you two meet?” I asked when the tension seemed to dissipate inside the car.

Colt was back on driving. He was still tense, but I was glad he made the right decision of not shooting Gael because he couldn’t forgive himself and would regret it for the rest of his life if he let his anger consume him.

Gael smiled. “I met her at my best friend’s wedding.”

“You mean my parents’ wedding,” Colt interjected, still scowling.

My eyes grew wide. “Hold on. You two knew each other before the plague?”

“Yeah. That’s why I would never betray my best friend’s son. I did not regret even a little killing Cora, and I would do it in a heartbeat to anyone who dared to harm him. His brother, Colton, saved my life, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t because of him. I owe Colt my life.”

Now it was all clear to me. Gael did all of these to protect the remaining son of his best friend.

“Anyway, so I slept with my wife in her parents’ room.”

“My grandparents’ room,” Colt corrected.

“Your wife is Colton’s aunt. His mom’s sister?”

“Yes,” he said proudly.

“Wow.” I blinked. “How come you never mentioned this to me, Colton?”

“I did not get a chance to talk about this, but now you know.” He looked at the rearview mirror with a small smile on his lips.

“So after that, Collin, his dad threatened me that if I break his sister-in-law’s heart, he will let me die alone in the desert.”

“You broke the bro-code.” I chuckled.

“Yeah. It was love at first sight. I mean on my part because she was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen- a tiny little thing. But she hated my gut after we slept together and said I was a lousy lay.”

Colt laughed. “That might be true, Gael.”

“Do you have children?”

“She had a miscarriage, and it almost took her life. So we decided not to have a baby anymore. I didn’t push her when she disagreed about adoption.” His answer made me look away, feeling a sudden twist in my stomach.

***

WE STOPPED at sunset, ten miles away from Greenebach. I spread the blanket beside the small fire Gael had lit up. Colt scouted around while Gael went hunting for rabbits.

The warm air smelled of decay and dried leaves-not the smell of dead bodies everywhere, decomposed or burnt. Everything seemed quiet and sullen. Even the dark sky had shimmering stars tonight.

A few hours later, Gael came back carrying a white-tailed deer.

“What the hell?” Colt spat. His voice was full of admiration. “You still have that in you, huh?”

“Old time never dies.” He tossed the deer down. “We can trade or eat this. Your choice?” He was looking at me.

“I’m not hungry anymore,” I said. We ate the food we bought with us before he went for a hunt.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“Fine by me,” Colt seconded.

“Good. Get some sleep, Iris. We have a big day tomorrow.”

“You haven’t told me about the plan.” I lay back down, using my backpack as my pillow.

Colt sat down beside me, rubbing my jeans-covered leg. “We’ll tell you early morning. Get some sleep.”

“You both need some sleep,” I told them lazily.

“I used to stay awake for three days since the plague.” Gael poured water into the small kettle and might have planned on making coffee.

“And you two are not gonna sleep tonight?”

“Don’t worry about us, twig. We’ll be fine. I need you to save your strength for tomorrow. We can’t predict what will happen once we reach Greenebach. I need you to stay focused.”

“Aye, captain. Big day tomorrow,” I said before I closed my eyes, feeling his lips pressed against my forehead for a good night kiss.