Read Online Alive (The Crave) by Megan D. Martin - Free Book Online Page A

descent, three steps from the bottom. She stared at the glorious planes of his broad shoulders that tapered down into a sinewy waist. She licked her lips.
    He looked over his shoulder, his gray eyes twinkling for the first time since they walked into the house. “I don’t know about you, but I’m going for a swim.”
     
    “I can’t believe you’re not going to get in.” Gage backstroked away from the edge of the huge pond. The luke-warm water sluiced against his skin like soft welcoming fingers. Running water was one of the many things he missed. There was nothing like a swim to calm his nerves, especially now. The water seemed to wash away his problems, the tension of being at the place that was like his second home for all of his life. A beautiful mansion now filled with dead rotting corpses. He shook his head and dipped under the water, not letting the memories or reality get the best of him.
    “Someone has to collect water,” Eve said when he resurfaced. She was bent over the edge, scooping water with an old plastic Rudy’s cup into a big cast-iron pot she found in the kitchen.
    “You’re going to build a fire?”
    “Duh.” She didn’t look up. Her gaze focused on the task before her.
    “What did you do for water on the road?” He stopped backstroking and kicked his legs and arms around, treading water.
    “I drank it when I found it.”
    He rolled his eyes. “Obviously, but did you boil it?”
    She stopped scooping water and leaned away from the shore in a slow deliberate motion. “Yes, I boiled all of my water. I set up a bonfire every night, especially on the nights that I had hordes following me.”
    “Ah, so no boiling for you.”
    “Obviously not. I took my chances. Hasn’t played out so bad thus far. But since I’m here and we have time, I’m going to boil this. I did actually boil water whenever I felt safe enough. The fire attracts them like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
    She could say that again. If anything brought the gurghs a runnin’, it was the flame of a fire. “I did the same.” He paused. “In Eden you won’t have to worry about water. That’s the job of some people there. They collect it and boil it. Before I left, we were working on getting water running.”
    Eve narrowed her eyes. “Why would you ever leave a place like that?”
    “I told you, to find my—”
    “Your brother. Yes, I know, but I don’t get it. Having a safe place to sleep, and clean water every night just seems like a dream come true.”
    “Blood is thicker than water, Eve. You know that.”
    The corner of her lips twitched at his joke before she mashed them together and looked away. She ran a hand through her short gold hair, pushing it out of her face. He couldn’t help but notice how there seemed to be different hues of blond, some brighter than others, some darker, almost copper.
    “Tonight, we are going to eat good and have clean water.” She still didn’t look at him. Back at it, she was, pouring water into the large pot.
    “It’s a sad day when a couple cans of green beans and some beef jerky are called eating good.” He dunked his head under water again, coming back up immediately.
    “I used to think stuff like that was sad. Not anymore. It’s the best thing that’s happened to me in weeks and I refuse to see any downside of it.”
    “True.” The rippling water rocked against Gage’s skin, feeling like a lullaby, trying to lull him to sleep. The blissful contentment of the feeling almost had him forgetting how pissed he was at Eve for acting like a damned fool and attracting all of those gurghs into the room with them. They both almost died and her at the hands of good ol’ cousin Bill. He hadn’t been too crazy about the older guy, but a part of him had hoped for something. That maybe he had managed to pull through this crazy new world. Hell, if Eve had done it, he figured that Bill could have with all the resources at his fingertips.
    Apparently not, though. He hadn’t