Page 105 of Specter Bred

"Not bad," Hayes remarked as he looked around our new room. "Actually... it’s pretty nice."

I stared at him, wondering if we were looking at the same room.

A thick layer of dust covered every surface. Two thin plastic mattresses leaned against the wall beside a pair of rusty metal bed frames that looked older than both of us combined. There was a single dresser shoved into the corner, its paint peeling in strips, and nothing else.

The other recruits had been assigned an outdoor shower behind the mess hall, nothing but wooden slats and cold water. The instructors’ quarters at least had a small bathroom near the rooms, though from the look of it, no one was going to be taking luxurious showers.

"I’ve seen worse," I muttered, thinking back to the three months I’d spent in a tent at the Helix border with nine other soldiers.

Hayes dropped his pack onto one of the bed frames, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

"Nothing a good clean can’t fix," he said, grinning with that relentless optimism of his.

I gave him a flat look.

"Then by all means, Boy Scout. Be useful."

His grin only widened.

"Yes, ma’am."

◆◆◆

I woke with a start, a tortured cry dragging me out of a dead sleep. At first, I thought I’d imagined it. But then it came again, low and pained, almost like a wounded animal. The strangled sound that bordered on a howl, echoed faintly from beyond our room.

I nudged Hayes, who held onto me tightly like an unyielding vine. I’d begrudgingly let him fall asleep beside me after he’d begged to cuddle, mostly because he’d made me orgasm so hard I could barely stand afterward, let alone argue with him.

Whatever was going on between us was happening more often.

Too often.

I kept telling myself I needed to keep him at a distance. So I’d made rules.

1.) No sex.

2.) No more kissing.

3.) No cuddling.

And I’d already broken one of them by letting him fall asleep beside me tonight. Hayes was fast becoming an expert at breaking through my resolve. First, he’d unravel me with that mouth of his, like a starving man desperate for his last meal.

Then came the look.

Those big blue eyes turned up at me, his straw-blond hair a mess, lips swollen and pink from kissing every inch of me he could reach. And every time, he’d ask in that soft Southern drawl if he could stay.

Like being close to me was his reward for getting me off.

If I were honest... I fucking loved the way he looked at me like I was something worth chasing. Hayes acted as if he would take whatever scraps I gave him and treat them as if they were everything.

That kind of devotion was dangerous. Because I was starting to want more of it. So when he begged tonight, I’d sighed and told him fine, even if the bed was barely big enough for one of us, let alone both.

Beside me, Sammy slumbered blissfully unaware, his breathing deep, even as another pained cry drifted through the darkness, louder this time.

I nudged Sammy.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered.

He muttered something incoherent into the pillow, still half asleep.