Revolutionary Love (The Revolution Series Book 1) (29 page)

I knew exactly where we were. I was born and raised in Sacramento. It wasn't that far from Los Manolis. No wonder it was so beautiful here. I wondered if the house I grew up in was still there. I had a silly thought that maybe my belongings would be there.

I looked at our intertwined hands. "What now?" That was the question that kept bugging me. What now? What did we do now? Where did we go now?

Adam's gaze roamed over my face. "Now we rebuild what we lost. We build homes, we make supplies, we make food, and we make farms."

I quirked an eye brow. "You want to be a farmer?" I was making a joke. I was trying to make light of the situation after everything that had happened.

Adam chuckled. "I have always wanted to know what it was like to ride a cow."

I made a face at him. "You don't ride cows. That's what horses are for."

Then he asked me a question that surprised the hell out of me. "What is a horse?" He said the word like it was unfamiliar on his tongue.

I stopped fidgeting. I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not. Who didn't know what a horse was?

I gave him an odd look. "Horses. You know, those things you ride on with a saddle. Cowboys rode them all the time. You can heard cows or sheep with them..." I trailed off at the blank look in his face.

Was I even on planet Earth anymore?

Adam tossed his head back and burst into uncontrollable laughter. Heat rose in my cheeks. Obviously, he knew what a horse was. How could he not? He continued to laugh and soon I was laughing too. I'm not sure if we were laughing at the horses anymore. Maybe we were laughing because we were alive, breathing, and well. Or maybe we were laughing because we made it. Things didn't feel as gloomy as before.

Eventually, we stopped laughing and we kind of just watched each other. I could heart chatter out in the hallway. I was surprised when Bret, Adam's brother walked into the room. Her surveyed our red cheeks from laughing so much and offered a small smile.

"I think you guys woke the entire house up." He ruffled his bed head. What he was really saying was that we woke him up. I was glad to see he was still alive too. I forgot how much like Adam he looked. He appeared just as bright as Adam. Seth was the dark brother out of the three. Dark hair, tan skin, and dark eyes.

He walked over and sat on the corner of my bed. "I am glad to see you are okay, Brianna." He was testing my name out on his tongue.

I thanked him and followed his gaze. He was looking at Adam's and my hand intertwined. Self-consciously, I pulled my hand away.

Adam leaned back into his chair with ease. "You plan on staying here?" He asked his brother.

Bret tapped his fingers on his thighs. "Actually through the rumor weal, I heard that Susan, Mare, and Mr. Walker are back and at home. I planned on staying with them and helping out on the barn."

I stiffened at the memory of that barn. Soldiers had come in, raided the place, and planned on killing us all. That was the first time I had ever taken a life. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. That was the day my heart had changed. I breathed through my nose. How was it, I was able to forgive Stephan, but I couldn't forgive myself for all the things I had done?

"I think I plan on floating from place to pace. I don't want to go into battles anymore. Instead of hurting people, I want to help them. I want to help everyone rebuild all that they have lost." Adam looked over at me.

He had a plan. I didn't. Where was I supposed to go? What was I supposed to do? I broke eye contact and looked at my bruised hands.

Bret patted my leg and stood up. "Well, I will let you two love birds get back to your laughing. See you guys later."

It was quiet when he left the room. Was this the part where Adam and I went separate ways? Was he looking for a way to say goodbye? I picked at a hangnail and didn't speak.

Adam stood up and came over to me. He grabbed onto my hands and bent down so that we were eye level. I didn't look at him. He waited. Finally, my eyes turned towards his and he offered me a small smile. "What is going on in that beautiful brain of yours?" He pondered out loud. He looked into my eyes as if that held the answers to all of his questions.

My voice was small. "Where will I go?" I didn't want to be dependent and rely on him, but he was all that I had.

Adam tilted his head to the side. "I automatically assumed that you would go with me, but if that's not what you want then there is no pressure."

I slumped in relief at his words. He didn't plan on abandoning me. I bit my lip and looked up at him through my eye lashes.

"Did you mean it?" Adam randomly asked.

I knew what he meant. He wanted to know if I meant it when I told him that I loved him. My palms got sweaty and my heart beat picked up. I had an urge to lie and tell him that I didn't mean it. I didn't want to be so vulnerable. I looked up into his eyes. I couldn't hurt him, though. I swallowed my pride and nodded my head. From the look on his face, I knew he wanted a verbal answer.

He was making this harder than it needed to be. Adam waited patiently. I physically could not bring myself to say those words out loud. I kept trying, but it wouldn't leave my mouth. He just waited like he had all the time in the world.

Finally, I said it. "I love you." It was a statement. I was astonished that my voice didn't break. It came out clear and steady.

A huge grin broke out across Adam's face. "And I love you," he responded.

I didn't have time to process what was happening. Adam dropped one of my hands and used his other hand to pull my head closer to his. He tilted his head just the right way and kissed me. It was nothing like his brother's kiss. It didn't fill me up with instant desire and make me go crazy. Instead, the desire slowly built up. Heat spread across my entire body in slow waves, driving me insane. I couldn't get closer and I couldn't get enough. He knew just what way to tilt my head. He put his hand on my jaw and brought me closer. It was the best kiss I had ever received in my life.

This kiss made me feel warm, loved and safe. I didn't care that I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, where we were going, or what we were doing. All that mattered was, I would always have Adam by my side. If I always had Adam, I knew we could get through anything and everything. The people down stairs had called me their savior but he was my savior.

We could accomplish anything as long as we had each other.

"I can't believe we are here!" I screamed in joy spinning around.

Adam watched me with an amused facial expression.

The rain was pouring down on us, but I did not care. I continued to spin in circles laughing. We actually made it. Sand got inside my shoes and I kicked them off into the air. Running to the ocean shore, I plopped onto the ground. Waves rolled up and licked my feet. I laughed at the icy feel of it.

This was home to me. The ocean. I was always obsessed with the ocean. I breathed in the salty, wet air.

Adam took a seat beside me. "Any chance we can go up and get some shelter? Maybe drink some hot chocolate." His teeth were chattering and his lips were blue.

"Come on, you need to toughen up." I joked.

Three months ago when we were at the sanctuary, I made him promise to take me to the beach someday. We went on one final mission, stole a military SUV, and here we were. I felt like my heart was going to burst with joy. I was smiling so much my cheeks hurt.

Adam wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into his body. Warmth radiated off of him. "I love seeing you this happy." He gave me a kiss on my forehead and watched the waves with me.

Eventually, I stood up. "We are going to get sick and die. Let's find that cabin you were telling me all about." I winked at him.

Taking my hand, we made our way back up the beach. My body as fully healed, my mind was at ease, and my heart was no longer in pain. The war was still going on, people were sill catching the disease, and people were still dying.

We avoided all that. We helped people when we could. We floated around for the past three months. We helped people build shelters, taught people how to hunt, and ways to survive in this world. Mostly we were alone, but together.

Adam led me to a small cute looking cabin. I was hoping for a fireplace so we could curl up in front of it. Maybe I could find a book and read it to him. Or tell him a story. He loved it when I talked about my life from before. I never felt like it was very interesting, but he liked to hear it. He wanted to know everything about me.

When we stepped foot inside, I didn’t have to flip the switch on to know something was wrong. Adam must have sensed it too because his body froze. We both had our guns out in a split second. It wasn't fast enough, though. Someone beat us.

The light switched on blinding us. I heard the all familiar noise of a click of a gun. Game over.