Page 45 of Demon Shock

“Then you should be fine. Want to play some more board games to pass the time?”

Relieved by the distraction, I joined them.

Human games were interesting. They didn’t always make sense to me, but I liked playing and watching their excitement. They were as competitive with their paper games as my brothers and I were with our physical ones. Ava was no exception.

“Eat that and pay up!” she yelled, slapping her cards on the coffee table.

Zach, Will, and Bram grudgingly surrendered the candies they used to bet. The colorful little dots disappeared into Ava’smouth, and her happy little wiggle as she chewed captivated me. I reached across the table, stole three more candies from Zach, and slid them to her. She swiped them off the table, dodging his attempt to steal them back, and popped them into her mouth. She wiggled her shoulders from side to side.

“I’m calling it,” Bram said.

“Yeah, I see how this is going to end. Gyrik is going to feed you all the M&M’s,” Zach said.

Ava grinned at me. “You can feed me chocolate any time.”

I melted and tried to remember where Will had stored the chocolate we’d collected during this trip.

Will bumped into me. “Do you know that chocolate contains caffeine, and caffeine can keep people up at night?”

I blinked at Will. Zach shook his head at me, and I struggled to understand why.

“Are you hinting that I shouldn’t have any more chocolate because I’ll stay awake and not be ready at first light?” Ava asked. “This little bit of caffeine won’t keep me up. The case of coffee beans I have in the back of the truck would, but I promise, I can still function on three hours of sleep. I’ve pulled all-nighters before where I pass out in my office chair, come to, make more coffee, and get back to work.”

“That can’t be good for you,” Bram said.

Ava shrugged. “Sometimes sleep is overrated.”

I thought of how she’d slept in my arms the night before and disagreed. Her sleep wasn’t overrated. She needed it. Preferably while using me as a pillow again.

“I think you shouldn’t have any more chocolate,” I said.

“Finally,” Bram said under his breath.

“Pfft. Sore losers,” Ava said. “Let’s play again tomorrow night. I have a fun-size pack of candy bars in one of those boxes.”

“You’re going to be popular back home,” Zach said with a laugh that struck fear through me.

I didn’t want Ava to be popular. I wanted her to be mine. But what did she want?

As they packed away the cards and set out their sleeping bags on the floor, I watched her move. She talked to everyone, making jokes and laughing prettily.

After she laid out her sleeping bag, feet toward the fire, she looked at me.

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share with me again tonight, would you?”

I was on the sleeping bag faster than her eyes could track me. The way she slowly smiled sent a warning tingle to my shaft, and I quickly grabbed a spare blanket to pull over my waist.

She knelt down beside me, lifted my arm, and assumed the same position she had the night before, pressed against my side. This time, she reached behind her and tugged the arm she was resting on until I wrapped it around her waist. My cock twitched under the blanket, and I listened to the others settle in for the night.

I couldn’t wait until we reached Tolerance.

“Is that it?”Ava asked, leaning forward and pointing. She wasn’t leaning forward to see but to stretch her back.

“It is. Would you like to pull over so I can drive?”

She laughed. “This close? No. I’m kind of nervous. You guys have been great, but we haven’t seen any other people the entire time. Not counting the ones that were infected. What if your people don’t want me here?”

“They will want you,” I said, silently adding, “Iwant you.”

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