11.

Morgan hesitated for two seconds, then followed the tall man. Nox wouldn’t hurt her, she was convinced of that now.

To her surprise, the door was locked with a heavy padlock, but she wisely kept quiet. She would find out what was behind the door in a few minutes.

Her mouth fell open as the door opened and a warm air wafted towards her.

“Take off your coat and hang it on the coat rack beside you.” He said as he closed and locked the door behind her.

Curious, Morgan looked around. She was standing in some sort of corridor, with another closed door in front of her. On the wall to the right were a pair of hooks for lab coats, which to her surprise were also hanging there. Two of the coats were covered in large dark stains that reminded her of mud.

Also hanging between the coats were several pairs of wellingtons, two of which, like the two coats, were covered in mud.

Slowly it dawned on her and her heart began to beat faster.

“Just put on one of the clean coats and I think one of the boots behind it will be a good fit for you as well.”

Morgan quickly slipped from one pair of boots into the other. She put on the old lab coat and followed Nox to the door.

Morgan couldn’t help but gasp as he opened it for her and she could finally see what lay behind it.

Heavy plastic curtains hung just behind the door and she saw that there was a good amount of condensation on them.

“Do you have what I think is in here?” Morgan’s large eyes twinkled with anticipation.

He held one of the curtains aside with his big hand so that Morgan could continue.

A regretful smile appeared around Nox’s mouth as the little woman in front of him clapped her hands in surprise and delight.

Full of anticipation, Morgan walked towards the large containers. She saw that the two men had done their best to grow vegetables, but their hard work had yielded very little.

When she turned back to him, he expected to see disappointment on her face, but nothing could be further from the truth. There was a smile playing around her lips.

“Now I understand where the vegetable came from. But this is not going to be nearly enough to feed all of us.”

Nox looked at her with growing amazement. Why the hell was she smiling? Clearly, he was missing something.

“In our old community, Mads was in charge of the gardeners. She was also the one who exchanged soil samples, seeds and information with other groups during negotiations. That is why she always had two large bags in her dormitory with a variety of such material…. “ Morgan deliberately paused for a moment to let her words sink in with Nox, her smile widening as she watched her words slowly sink in.

“When our settlement was raided, Mads managed to smuggle both bags with her, despite her injuries. You two already made…” And she pointed back with her hand, “..a good start to growing vegetables again!

Hearing her words, a weight fell from his shoulders. This was the best news he had heard in ages, but how was he going to get fresh soil? Tomorrow he would take someone along to the old farms to see if he could find things that could be useful for the new garden….

Morgan’s smile faded when the man in front of her didn’t reply. “Aren’t you happy?”

Nox looked at her in surprise, only then realising that he hadn’t said anything all this time. “Yeah… I was just thinking about how to get fresh soil. I don’t think the soil in there contains enough food to grow anything anymore.”

Inwardly, Morgan breathed a sigh of relief. She would have to take into account that his mind worked differently than hers.

After Nox had closed the door to the vegetable garden, he led her deeper into the factory. It seemed unlikely that she would not be equally enthusiastic about the animals.

And he was right. No sooner had he opened the door to the stable, as he had called the animals’ living quarters, than a cry of pleasure escaped her, and before Nox had a chance to warn her, she darted towards the fat pig, who, to his surprise, reacted just as enthusiastically to the woman. The other three pigs seemed to be quietly waiting for the woman to pay attention to them as well.

A lump formed in Morgan’s throat at the sight of the farm animals. The two men had really done their damnedest to make something out of the thorny situation the world had become. The decision to ask Nox if they could stay here permanently had turned out to be a good one. This only strengthened her resolve to do everything she could to make the cooperation between them work. And so Morgan decided to stick to her side of the deal as well.

After a while, as they walked back to the living quarters, she glanced sideways at the tall, grumpy looking man.

His half-long, tangled dark blond hair was slowly turning grey, as was his long, wild beard. It was hard to see his face through all the hair, but what she saw was a weathered face with a straight nose and high cheekbones. She had already noticed that, thankfully, he had well-groomed teeth. But if she was honest, the body she had seen yesterday had been a relief, well, a relief… if she was completely honest with herself, she had to admit that she had rarely seen such a well-built figure!

“Are you done looking at me like I’m a curiosity…” Morgan’s eyes flew up to meet his and she saw that he was looking at her intensely.

“Ohhh, I’m so sorry! I was just thinking, I… I didn’t know I was staring!” Embarrassment rose to her cheeks and she felt as if a waterfall had spontaneously formed under her armpits.

As if the devil were chasing her, she flew up the steel stairs to the living room and slammed the door behind her, leaving a stunned Nox standing at the foot of the stairs.

“You really know how to handle a women, don’t you, dickhead?”

The sneer did not escape Nox and he slowly turned to face the old man, who looked at him sternly.

Slowly but deliberately, Nox walked towards the man, stopping only when he was almost nose to nose with Steve. “It’s that Morgan asked if you could stay here permanently, and it’s that I could really use the help of the youngsters…. But believe me when I say I could miss you like a hole in the head, old man!”

Totally unimpressed by the words of the much taller and younger man in front of him, the old man leaned over with a fiery stare and jabbed his crooked finger at Nox’s chest. “You’re a lucky bastard! If I had been a younger man, I would have shown you every nook and cranny of this factory! When I was in the army, we used to eat little boys like you for breakfast!”

Nox looked at the old man with squinted eyes. “Commandos or Marine Corps?”

“Neither…” Haughtily, Steve looked at him. “SAS… Who dares Wins!”

Grinning, Nox took a step back, pleasantly surprised by the old man’s bravado. “Since there are no more planes in the sky, you are grounded for now, old man…” and turned to walk up the stairs.

“Better be on your guard, frog.” Surprised, Nox stopped and looked over his shoulder at Steve, who was grinning at him.

“Only navy guys walk around like they have a stick up their ass!”

Nox shook his head and walked on. The old man might have been a nosy old fool, but nothing got past him.

12.

Morgan almost had a heart attack when Nox stormed into the living room a few minutes later with an angry face. But he stormed past her into the bedroom, ignoring her completely, then stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

All she could do was watch the whole scene with her mouth hanging open.

“Don’t worry, this is Nox all over…”

Startled by the unexpected voice, Morgan looked in the direction of the sound. She had not noticed anyone else in the living room when she had entered, but now that she looked closer, she saw Shane sitting at his usual place by the table.

Relieved, she shook her head and began to laugh softly. “Yeah, I’ve noticed he has a bit of a short fuse… Tea?”

Questioningly, she looked at the man as she hung her coat on the coat rack next to the door.

“Yes, please.”

Morgan watched out of the corner of her eye as the tall man put his tools back into a wooden box that stood on the table next to him.

“Can I ask you something? Maybe it’s none of my business, but… is Nox autistic?”

To her surprise, the white-haired man began to laugh. “You’re the first to notice it so quickly! But yes, he is. And before you think he was just angry with you, he wasn’t. That old friend of yours has been on him quite a bit, and Nox doesn’t do well with people taunting him, something Steve has already figured out quite well.”

Surprised, Morgan looked at the man sitting at the table. “Ohh? I’d already noticed that Steve wasn’t a fan of Nox, but not that he mocked him, although that shouldn’t surprise me… Steve also had a tendency in our old community to pick on younger men, especially the cockerels.”

Shane began to chuckle softly. “That doesn’t surprise me at all…”

After putting the tea down for Shane, she joined him at the table. She was actually curious about the second brother. She’d had several conversations with Nox by now, but very few with Shane, even though he was the more approachable of the two men.

A smile formed around his mouth as Shane felt the woman sitting in front of him with a bunch of questions. “What do you want to ask me?”

His infectious smile and the gleam of fun in his blind eyes made Morgan relax.

“I’m actually just curious about the two of you. You look a lot alike, but in your actions you are completely different. I mean, you, I think, are quite easy-going, while… how can I put it nicely… Even if you have a whole book on Nox, the man is incomprehensible!”

Snickering softly, Shane set the cup down on the table. “And yet you talk to him more than you talk to me…”

Morgan started to blush at his words. “I… sorry, that was never my intention, I…”

Shane made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “Don’t worry Morgan, I’m used to it, most people turn to Nox first. Despite his boorish behaviour, he has a certain charisma… call it a natural superiority. It’s been like that since we were kids. I may be the oldest, but there is something about Nox….

When I joined the police after the academy, my boss came to pick me up one day and since I wasn’t ready yet… the man was always too early, you know… my mother kindly offered him a coffee. At that moment Nox, who had just turned eighteen, came into the kitchen. Well, to cut a long story short… once we were in the car, I was kindly but firmly asked to persuade Nox to join the police…“.

Shane picked up his mug to take a quick sip.

But Morgan’s curiosity was piqued and she couldn’t resist asking…” And?”

“Of course not… ” Shane grinned. “Can you imagine Nox walking down the street in a blue uniform? No. Nox had already decided to join the army. He had already passed almost all the tests and only had to pass the physical test and that would have been a breeze for him, Nox was in top shape at that time. But what always amazed me was that he passed the cognitive test…. With anyone else, I would have thought they were somehow affecting the test, but since that’s not in his nature, he must have done something right….

That’s about it, really. Nox spent most of his life in the Marine Corps and I spent most of mine in the police force, well until I had this accident that left me blind off course.

Fascinated by his story, Morgan couldn’t resist asking more. “May I ask what happened?”

“Sure…” Deep in his heart, Shane was glad that she did, it had been a long time since anyone but Nox had taken notice of him.

As she talked to Shane, the hours flew by and deep down, Morgan was glad that Nox had decided to set new traps with her son and Elise while the weather was still good, it had given her the opportunity get learn more about the two men.

“Morgan! Can you please come over here, dear?” Mads’ voice had started to sound stronger again and Morgan grinned. This meant that Steve was going to have a hard time keeping his beloved in bed.

Although she didn’t usually leave the table during dinner, in the old days, before everything had turned to ice and snow, it had been considered impolite, but Mads wouldn’t just call her off the table.

“So, Sleeping Beauty! What can I do for you?” A lot of sleep had caused many more wrinkles to appear in Mads’ already wrinkled face, but her eyes were bright, there was a mischievous twinkle in them.

“Don’t you think Steve looks unkempt too? That long, dirty beard and those flaxen straws on his head… He looks like a bum!” The double entendre was not lost on Morgan and she secretly laughed at the old woman’s cleverness.

Mads had deliberately spoken so loudly that not only Steve but also Nox and Shane could hear. The old woman was probably hoping that the two brothers would take the hint and do something about their appearance, after all, both men looked like bums as well, there was no arguing about that.

Chuckling, Morgan went back to the table.

“Hmm… it’s pretty obvious she’s on the mend… again.” Steve grumbled quietly.

“I heard you old man!!!” Despite the fact that Steve had mumbled it softly, Mads had obviously heard his grumbling.

“Yeah, yeah! Hold your panties! I’ll ask Reah to touch up my beard and shave my head!”

Before Mads could shout back, Reah was ahead of her. “Hey Mads? Do you want the beard super short or a bit longer?” She asked. And grinned at the sight of Steve’s upturned nose.

“Not too short darling, you know how I like my man!”

Even though her eyes were on Reah, Morgan could see out of the corner of her eye that Nox’s jaws were clenching, but he did not say anything.

“So you can cut well, Reah?”

Surprised, Morgan looked at Shane.

The girl nodded enthusiastically, but suddenly realised that Shane was blind again. “Yes, I can! I’d almost finished training in our previous group! Well, training… Demi, who was a hairdresser before the world turned upside down, taught me everything.”

“Well, sweetheart, if you want, you can also cut my hair and beard…”

An enthusiastic squeal was his answer, but when she turned to Nox

“Don’t even think about it…”

The conversation at the table fell silent until…

“Don’t worry, girl! You can’t turn a frog into a prince anyway!”

The deadly look Nox shot at Steve was met with a wide grin from the old man.

Morgan heard Shane chuckle at Steve’s snappy remark and couldn’t hold back any longer, bursting out laughing like Shane, much to the irritation of Nox, who just continued to eat his food with a heavy sigh.

13. 🌶️

With daylight long gone, it was decided to postpone the two haircuts until the next day. Nox had gone downstairs to check on the dogs, Viggo had gone to bed and fallen asleep, Reah had crawled under the covers with Mads and got into a heated discussion about which clothes needed fixing first. Elise sat by the fire with Shane and Steve, reading to them from a thriller she had found among all the stuff.

Only Morgan was doing nothing, staring silently into the fire.

She ran her eyes over the peaceful scene by the fire and smiled.

Shane had told her he was the older of the two, and although she had initially estimated him to be somewhere in his mid-sixties, probably because of his wild long white hair and beard, she now had to reconsider. She now estimated him to be at least ten years younger, which also meant that Nox was much younger than she had originally thought. The thought of the tall, gruff man made her stomach turn, but to her own surprise it was not out of fear or disgust.

Cautiously, she rose to her feet, her mind made up.

Quickly, before she lost her nerve, she made her way to the coat rack and pulled on her thick jacket. Without looking back, she unlocked the door and left the living quarters, not noticing that Shane had cocked his head slightly to listen to her footsteps.

During the day the factory hall had been as cold as ice, but now in the evening it was a veritable deep freeze. She ran at a trot towards the dogs’ enclosure, her hands tucked deep into her coat pockets and her face hidden in the fur collar of her coat.

She could tell from the barking and howling that the dogs were excited, and she moved quickly along the path until she came into sight of the dogs’ enclosure.

Morgan began to smile at the sight before her. Nox was on his knees between the dogs, who were bumping into him, jumping over him, gently biting his legs and arms, but mostly trying to lick his face.

Gently, so as not to disturb Nox and the dogs in their play, she approached.

Only when some of the dogs saw her and came over to greet her did Nox notice her.

“What is it?” Even though his voice did not sound angry, there was a suspicious undertone to it.

Morgan shrugged. “Nothing in particular. Well…I want to apologise for Steve’s behaviour. Steve is rather… protective of me. And he also has a terrible tendency to bully younger men. Most of them wouldn’t dare kick his ass because of his age.”

Nox looked at her with his head tilted to the side. “Are you trying to tell me that you came all the way down here through an icy, dark factory hall just to apologise for Steve’s behaviour?”

Morgan had no answer to that, and with a flushed face she remained silent.

After pushing off a few dogs and standing up, Nox walked slowly towards her and a knot formed in her stomach.

“Why are you here, Morgan?”

His suspicious look almost made her run, but she regained her composure and reached for his hand.

When Nox didn’t stop her, she gained a little more confidence. Carefully, she pulled him towards the area where they were going to rebuild the vegetable garden, and a look of understanding slid across his face.

Near the door he stopped and Morgan’s heart skipped a beat.

“Are you sure?” His dark voice gave her goosebumps, but not from cold or fear. Not trusting her voice, Morgan simply nodded.

Nox’s heart raced as he realised what the young woman was up to.

It had been so long since he had felt a woman’s body under his hands. When he had given her the choice, he had actually expected her to refuse. In hindsight, he knew darn well that he had actually given her no other choice, but he had blurted it out before he knew it. When Shane had called him on it, he couldn’t bring himself to apologise, the thought of a woman had been too strong, and now she was here.

Deep in his heart, Nox knew he had to stop this, but a little voice in his head cried out that she had come here of her own free will.

After Nox unlocked the door and Morgan pulled it open, his guilt still dominated him and with a loud bang he slammed the door in front of her.

Surprised and startled, Morgen looked up at the man’s face, but he had averted his eyes from her. She watched him clench his jaws together and felt his hand slipping from hers.

“I will not hold you to our agreement any longer…. Go back to the rest Morgan.”

And he turned to walk away.

Quickly Morgan grabbed the big hand again. “I want to do this… You were very clear yesterday in your desires and the fact that you now want to renounce our agreement…” and pulled the door open again.

Surprised by her words, Nox followed her into the warm, damp room.

Like the day before, they took off their thick coat,but this time skipped the lab coat and rubber boots.

Before following the small woman into the next room, Nox locked the door as a precaution and left the key in the lock. He didn’t need any nosy little monkeys coming in unexpectedly.

With her back to the entrance, Morgan waited for Nox. Her hands trembled and an anxious feeling grew in her stomach.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and let out a small squeak of fright.

“Morgan…”

But she raised her finger to silence him. “Don’t! I’m just a bit nervous… It’s been a long time for me too, you know…”

She felt his hand slip from her shoulder. The sound of a zip being unzipped stopped her breathing, but was also the signal for her to reach for her own zip, albeit with trembling fingers.

Even before she had pulled the zip all the way down, her trousers slid down over her hips and Morgen suddenly realised that she had lost a lot of weight in the last few weeks.

Suddenly she felt his big, cold hands cupping her hips and she gasped in horror.

“Ohhh fuck! Your hands are cold!”

For a moment there was silence behind her and she felt Nox stiffen. Then she heard a low rumble from behind her and turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder.

Her heart leapt at the sight of the laugh lines around his eyes. “My hands may be cold, but I can assure you, the rest of me certainly isn’t!” The ambiguity of his remark was not lost on her, and Morgen quickly turned her red-faced head away.

Skilfully, his fingers slid along the edge of her panties and with a gentle tug, he pulled the piece of fabric halfway down her thighs.

With her hands firmly planted on one of the growing tables, Morgan leaned her upper body forward slightly, pushing her buttocks back a little.

A warmth spread between her folds as she felt a familiar hardness slip between her buttocks and a soft moan escaped her.

The heat of her buttocks against his crotch was like coming home and with one hand he gripped his hard cock to guide it to the entrance of her hot cave.

For a moment, Morgan stiffened at the feel of his member pressing against her entrance, but her body opened naturally and his manhood slowly slid in.

Inch by inch, Nox allowed her body to adjust to the size of his cock. He knew it was quite large and didn’t want to hurt her.

He placed a hand between her shoulder blades to push Morgan down a little further so that the last few inches would slide in a little easier and he heard her gasp.

Even though Morgan was no virgin and her bedmates all had different sizes of dick, basically all were of a normal size, but the size of the dick that was now drilling its way into her body was something she had never experienced before. Morgan could feel her body slowly trying to adjust to the intruder. But when Nox gently pushed her forward a little, speeding up the last few inches, she could not hide a gasp. My God, he was huge!

Nox felt her stiffen and paused for a moment to let her body adjust to his size. Although the room they were in was quite warm, he watched as goosebumps appeared all over her skin. “Are you OK?”

Morgan nodded and pushed her bottom a little further back in confirmation.

That was more than enough encouragement and slowly Nox pulled back until only the tip of his member was still inside her. With a rough movement of his hips he immediately pushed back, causing Morgan to gasp for air, but when he pulled back again she was ready and braced herself.

Over and over again he slammed into her, increasing his speed until Morgan’s body began to go rigid and she came with a deep moan.

Feeling her walls tighten around his cock, Nox began to pump faster and harder and after a few hard thrusts he bent over, pressed his face against her back and came deep inside her with a muffled groan.

14.🌶️

Nox listened as Morgan’s ragged breathing slowly calmed and could not suppress a grin. Apparently, he had not been the only one who had been in great distress. That the thought of foreplay had vanished from his mind the moment she had turned her back to him and her trousers had dropped to her ankles hadn’t been so strange, but that the woman had been just as horny he hadn’t seen coming.

Up until the moment she had fidgeted with her trousers, he had still thought that she wanted to have sex with him because of their deal, but when her trousers had come down and he had seen a damp spot in her panties, man! Nox hadn’t thought he could get any more aroused than he already was, but when he realised that the woman was just as aroused, his inhibitions had fallen away and he could think of nothing but her warm, wet cavern hugging his cock. And man… how wet she had been!

At the thought of her warm cave, with his member still safely tucked away inside, his excitement came alive all over again.

“Seriously?”

Morgan’s voice sounded surprised, and Nox couldn’t blame her. Never before had he had a hard-on twice in a row. “Do you want me to ‘pull the plug’?” He silently prayed that she would refuse, and his hopes were raised when he saw her shoulders begin to tremble slightly.

“Well, no…” He heard her gasp as he moved his lower body. “…but I’ve never experienced this before. How do you manage to get a hard-on twice in quick succession…. I mean, most men have trouble keeping the first one up.”

With a grin on his face, Nox leaned down slightly and rubbed his hips against her bottom, something that elicited a deep moan from Morgan, much to his delight. “I have no idea, it’s the first time this has happened, but I’m not going to complain and I get the impression that you’re not too bothered by it either…”

Instead of answering, Nox felt her buttocks move further back against his groin and began to grind against it.

“They’re going to wonder where we are… don’t you think?” Morgan’s voice sounded husky.

Nox nodded. “Yeah, I think so…” and slid a hand around her throat. Carefully, he pulled her up slightly until the back of her head rested against his shoulder.

“But I don’t give a shit…”

His warm breath and rough, husky voice close to her ear made a knot of desire form in her lower abdomen.

He squeezed her throat gently, but instead of becoming anxious, Morgan’s arousal grew and she felt her nipples harden and rub erotically against her shirt. Fuck! Nox may have looked like a vagrant with his long, unkempt hair and wild beard, but he sure as hell knew how to turn a woman on, something she surely didn’t expect.

Without warning, he suddenly grabbed one of her legs by the hollow of the knee and pulled her leg up until her knee was on the table. He then pulled her head back a little further by her throat. “Do you want me to stop?”

As best she could, Morgan tried to shake her head, but apparently it wasn’t enough because she felt his hand gently squeeze her throat.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite hear you…” His wisper sent a shiver down her spine.

Morgan tried to swallow, from the sudden excitement that coursed through her lower body at the feel of his beard tickling her neck, his big, wide, warm body pressed against hers, the big hand cupping her throat, but mostly from the position he had put her body in.

“No…”

Christ! He had had horny women in his arms before, but Morgan topped them all! She was friendly, loyal, had a sweet face and was hot-blooded too!

He knew from experience that many women liked to be dominated during sex, and Morgan seemed to be no exception, but he had learned long ago that it was important not to overstep any boundaries, and with this female in front of him he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

But, damn, how delicious she was!

“No… what?”

Nox heard her breath quicken. “No…, please don’t stop…”

Morgan couldn’t hold back a moan as he leaned on her with his full body weight, pushing her forward onto the table, his hand still tight around her throat.

The hand he had under her knee slid up slightly, bringing his hand underneath her thigh. Morgan gasped. Suddenly she felt a finger brush against her clit.

To give Nox more room to play with her little pleasure button, Morgan pulled her knee up further, but instead of using the space she’d given him, he withdrew his finger.

A low growl of protest slipped across her lips.

For a moment, Nox closed his eyes, pressing the woman so hard against the table that she couldn’t move. He’d almost succumbed to his desire to come deep inside her, something he wanted to delay for a while. And he tried hard to think of something other than her writhing body beneath him. When the pressure in his balls had eased a little, Nox let his cock slide out of her warm cavern a little. Immediately he felt her walls trying to get a grip on something that wasn’t there.

Teasingly slowly, Nox let his middle finger glide over her clit, only to immediately thrust his cock back in hard.

“Ohh my God!” Morgan moaned loudly.

Nox knew he couldn’t keep up this little game much longer. “Do you like it, Morgan, or do you want me to stop?”

Now that she was facing forward on the table, her body and face pressed into the old dirt, Morgan had both hands free. And even though she knew he was playing a game with her, she grabbed his hand that was wrapped around her neck with one hand and grabbed his hip with the other.

“Don’t you dare to stop now!” Morgan’s heart pounded in her throat and her breath sounded ragged. She was so close to her release!

A hoarse, raging laugh from Nox was her answer.

Granting her compelling request, the tall man released her throat, lifted himself slightly and grabbed her hip.

Slowly, he withdrew until only the tip of his hard cock was left inside her, his balls squeezing at the sight of the layer of slick that enveloped his member. Suddenly a twinge of pain shot through his hip. In an attempt to force the man to continue his pounding, Morgan had dug her nails deep into the skin of his hip.

Nox was not going to let that happen a second time and with a hard thrust of his hips he rammed his cock in until he felt her walls squeeze around his, and started to pound into her over and over.

This second orgasm rippled through her whole body and her eyes rolled backwards. Where she normally came in silence, Morgan now cried out loudly.

A satisfied grin appeared around her lips at the feel of Nox’s hands holding her hips in an iron grip and the roar of release that followed.

Shaking from his climax, Nox placed his hands on either side of a panting Morgan’s head. Slowly, he lowered himself onto his forearms so that he was lying on top of her, tilting his head further forward, his beard sliding gently down her face.

“Did I hurt you?”

Surprised at so much concern, Morgan looked sideways at the gruff man and gave him a broad smile.

“No… anything but.”

To his own surprise, Nox could only just stop himself from planting a kiss on the sweaty brow of the woman. Quickly, he stood up and with a wet plop, his cock slid out of her overflowing cunt.

“Good to know…”

Morgan wasn’t sure if his comment was in reference to a sequel or if he was just proud of himself as she couldn’t see his expression as his back was to her. Morgan could feel her knickers getting soaked with his semen as it slowly began to slip out of her. As soon as she was back in the main hall, she had to find a place to change before she dared to show her face with the rest of the group again.

“There’s an old bathroom next door, if you go there I’ll bring you a bucket of water and a cloth you can use to change…”

Surprised, Morgan looked up to see Nox standing there taking her in, although she couldn’t quite see his expression through all the hair, there was a sparkle in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

Ten minutes later, Morgan walked up the stairs to her quarters, hoping that no one would suspect anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. As she entered, she saw Steve’s dark gaze and knew he would confront her once he saw her alone.

15.

Quickly she glanced at the clock above the dining table… nine o’clock… Although it was far too early to go to sleep, Morgan had no desire to be overheard and lectured by Steve. As sweet as his concern was, it was starting to become suffocating. She was a grown woman and had already had to make some tough decisions in her life, and as nice as it had been to have someone looking out for her, Steve’s concern was starting to go too far. Morgan knew she had to talk to him about it, but not tonight, tonight she needed time to give what had happened between her and Nox a place.

“Hey girl! Where have you been?” Mads’ whispering voice startled her and she looked back at the bed in surprise.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up, I was trying to be as quiet as possible, but um… I had just gone downstairs to talk to Nox…” Technically, it wasn’t a lie, she had talked to Nox. That something more than just talking had happened, she didn’t necessarily need to share… ….

“Morgan?”

With a trapped look in her eyes, Morgan looked at the older woman. “Sorry Mads, my mind wandered a bit…”

Mads grinned. “I noticed that… Would you mind closing the door for a moment, please? There’s something I’d like to know.”

With a soft sigh, Morgan did as the older woman had asked her to. She had an idea of what Mads was going to ask, and she had so hoped she wouldn’t get a lecture tonight, she wasn’t in the mood….

Before sitting down next to Mads, she glanced sideways at Reah, but her daughter was already back in her own bed, buried deep under the covers.

“Don’t worry about Reah, girl, she’s been asleep for a while now.” Mads gave her a broad smile. “But tell me… what’s going on between you and that big boy? All I hear is grumbling from Steve and he’s not very reliable…”

Surprised, Morgan looked at her.

“Listen dear. When our daughter was still living at home, there was no boy who was good enough for her. His… well… boorish behaviour once even caused her to leave home the week after her eighteenth birthday…” Mads sighed deeply at the memory. “Ohh, things eventually worked out between the two of them, but she never told us when she met a nice boy, just because she was afraid of her father’s reaction. What I’m trying to say is… don’t worry too much about Steve’s grumbling. I’d like to put him in his place, but he won’t listen to me anyway. The old woman shrugged her shoulders apologetically.

“But I did get a bit curious… so… tell me!”

A broad grin appeared around Morgan’s mouth at the sight of the older woman’s pleading look. “There’s not so much to tell yet…”

“‘Not that much’ yet…? Ooh! That sounds promising!”

Morgan began to chuckle at the sight of the amused gleam in Mad’s eyes. “Nox is… um, let’s say a man with instructions… I don’t quite know what to make of him… …. He’s gruff, sometimes bordering on loutish, but he can also be caring in his own strange way. I’m pretty sure that when this room was decorated, no one noticed that he put two extra blankets under your sleeping area…”

Mads’ eyebrows shot up and she carefully leaned over to lift the blanket underneath her. Lo and behold, at the very bottom were two old, thick quilts.

Stunned, the old woman sat up straight again. “I’ve had a lot of strange birds in my life, but Nox is by far the strangest…”

Morgan grinned, but before she could reply she heard the living room door open and close and turned her head towards the bedroom door. Nox had come upstairs…

An oppressive feeling crept up on her and Morgan waited nervously for Steve to open his mouth. Suddenly she felt a warm hand clasping hers and turned her head towards Mads. “Don’t worry, Steve will keep his mouth shut… Shane and the kids are in there too, so he won’t say anything yet…”

Hearing Mads’ words, Morgan’s queasy feeling subsided a little.

“But I think you should have a word with him tomorrow… Steve, I mean, not Nox. After all, I have nothing to do with your private affairs…”

Morgan felt her cheeks and ears start to glow at Matt’s double entendre. “There is nothing between Nox and me, Mads!”

The old woman patted her hand gently. “I was vaguely aware of the agreement you made, girl. But you are a grown woman with a good mind, your heart in the right place, and you know when to open your mouth. And I’m grateful for everything you’ve done…” She quickly put her hand up to silence Morgan. “Wait, I wasn’t done! And I know I should have said something, but… and I’m certainly not proud of it, but your sacrifice made sure we had a roof over our heads… …. …. I was going to ask Nox to join me today or tomorrow to ask him to cancel his agreement with you, but when you just walked in, with a blush on your cheeks and that ‘special’ twinkle in your eyes…. I don’t think it’s necessary any more. Or do you?”

As soon as Nox stepped into the living quarters, he felt the old man’s cold gaze on him and rolled his eyes. Why couldn’t the old man just mind his own business?

Without so much as a glance at Steve, he walked into the kitchen and poured himself a large mug of home-brewed moonshine.

“Anyone else want a drink?”

“Yaeh! I’d like to try some!” Nox involuntarily burst out laughing at the sound of the boy’s voice.

“I think your mother would hang me by my balls if I gave you this kid, I can make you a cup of tea though…” The boy’s low muttering was not lost on him and he grinned widely.

“Pour us a cup as well…” Shane was already up and walking towards the cupboard where the rest of the cups were. That afternoon, he and Morgan had changed the layout of the kitchen to suit the number of people who were there now, so the cups and plates were now in a cupboard near the dining table instead of in a kitchen cupboard.

To Nox’s surprise, the old man still did not say anything, something that surprised him, but also brought him some relief. Steve was probably keeping quiet now that there were others around, but he was willing to bet anything that the old man would call him to account once they were alone.

He had been a little surprised to find Morgan absent from the living room, but from the angry look on the old man’s face, he guessed that Morgan was in no mood for a lecture either and had retreated to the bedroom.

After filling the cups, he wished the two men and the children a good night and went to the bedroom he shared with Shane, but instead of going to sleep he lay staring into the dark, slowly sipping his moonshine and thinking back to the unexpected event of the night.

When Shane entered the bedroom a little later, Nox was fast asleep, and had Shane been able to see, he would have noticed the broad grin on his brother’s lips.

16.

“Not too short Reah, I still need to be able to do my own hair… Yeah, yeah…, I know I can’t see it, but I want my hair so that I can style it myself and not look ridiculous afterwards!”

Grinning at their bickering, Morgan looked from her daughter to Shane. Reah had been busy cutting both her brother’s and Steve’s hair all morning, so now it was Shane’s turn. Reah had already done a good job on the man’s long white beard. His once long beard had been trimmed to a graceful short beard that made him look years younger. Morgan couldn’t wait until her daughter had done his long, unkempt hair and she could finally see what he had looked like before the new ice age.

A thumping sound on the stairs caught her attention. She hadn’t seen Nox all morning, which made her feel uneasy. Did he regret what had happened between them yesterday? But she quickly pushed the thought aside. No, if that had been the case, they wouldn’t have had sex twice. Besides, he hadn’t given her the impression that he thought their sex had been bad. At the thought of their sexual encounter the night before, she felt a warm sensation in her crotch. She had not had sex that good in a long time; if she was honest, the last time she had come that well was when she was about twenty-two, with a stranger she had met at the wedding of Judy and Mike, her best friend from kindergarten. Boy, did he know how to please a woman! In fact, his skilled hands had taken her by surprise. The man in question may have been an army dick, but his behaviour had been anything but normal. He had been hanging around the bar all evening, lost in his glass of beer. She had asked her friend who he was, as he was decorated with medals, but hadn’t had the decency to mingle with the other guests. She had paid no attention to Mike’s Commander, who turned out to be the man in question, at the party itself.

It was only after the party had ended and she had caught Rico, her boyfriend at the time, with another girl having sex in the toilet that she had really noticed the man.

She had been furious with Rico! White hot with rage, she had stood there cursing and swearing at him. Then she had stormed off, leaving Rico to stumble after her as he tried to fix his trousers while apologising for his stupidity.

On her way out, her eyes had caught the man standing there, waiting for something. She knew that while his eyes had been darting from her to Rico and back again, he was well aware of the way things were going. Dazed with alcohol and anger, she had walked up to him, put her arm through his and asked if she could go with him.

Shame rose to her cheeks again as she thought back to that night. How bold she had been!

The man hadn’t said anything, but his crooked grin and brief nod had been enough, and even though Rico had walked up behind her, shouting his apologies over and over again, she hadn’t turned around, but had joined the man in the car.

The funny thing was, when she’d got into the taxi he’d ordered, she hadn’t been afraid at all. Even though he was an eccentric man, there was something about him that made her trust him. He had eventually taken her to his hotel room, where they had literally ripped each other’s clothes off and had incredible sex.

The next morning, while the man was still sound asleep, she had sneaked out of his room in shame. It was so out of character with her everyday life. She had never dared to ask Judy the man’s name. All she knew about him was that he had been a high-ranking officer in the army, with beautiful grey-blue eyes and a large Marine Corps tattoo on his arm.

Not long after that, she had met Roger and less than nine months later, Reah was born. Morgan had never known for sure whether her daughter was Roger’s or the unknown man’s, she’d told him honestly, but it hadn’t mattered to her first husband, he’d loved them both and raised Reah as his own blood. After five years he had died in a car accident and she had been left alone with two small children, Viggo having also been born by then. A few years later she had met Danny, a widower with a daughter of his own, and together they had started a new family.

But every now and then the stranger reappeared in her mind. Always young, handsome, eccentric and incredibly sexy…

The door opened with a bang and Nox burst in, and as Morgan let her eyes slide to his, she felt the ground sink beneath her at the sight of his face.

Nox had risen early to tend to the animals, and as he had brushed his teeth with cold water in the small bathroom, he had noticed his unkempt appearance. Normally he did not care about his appearance, he had liked the long hair, it was nice and warm and kept most people at bay. Especially when Morgan had come into his life, his long hair and beard had been handy to hide behind. But after yesterday…

17.

As he entered, his eyes had involuntarily searched for Morgan, and when their eyes had met, her gaze had slowly changed from surprise to recognition, and he had watched her turn white.

“OHHH!!! Holy fuck! Without all that excess hair, you look incredibly handsome!” Reah’s surprised exclamation caught his attention, and he immediately saw the others’ gazes shooting his way as well.

“What were you thinking, Frog? If my brother dares to change, I should too?” Steve let his eyes slide over the tall man who had entered.

“Where did this change of heart come from, little brother?” even though Shane couldn’t see his brother’s transformation, the surprised tone of Reah and Steve’s voices spoke volumes.

Before Nox had a chance to answer Shane, he saw a quick movement out of the corner of his eye.

“Sorry! May I pass, I… I’m going to feed the dogs!!!”

Morgan felt her head spin and began to sway on her legs at the sight of the man she had been thinking about no more than five seconds before.

Older and greyer, but otherwise unchanged, the Commander she had spent an explosive night with walked into her living quarters.

Now that Nox had shaved his hair and beard down to the last millimetre, his face was clearly visible and his grey-blue eyes were once again prominent.

As quickly as she could, she grabbed a coat from the wardrobe, which of course got caught behind something again. With a hard jerk she pulled it towards her, vaguely aware of the tearing sound, and hurried out of the living room, slamming the door behind her.

“What’s going on?” Angrily, Steve looked at Nox.

When the tall man did not answer, but kept his eyes fixed on the door through which Morgen had just disappeared, the old man got up from his chair by the fireplace in a state of irritation. “I said… What’s the matter, Nox? What’s going on between you and Morgan?”

Annoyed, Nox turned to the old man. “Mind your own business Steve! This is between me and Morgan!”

His eyes swept over the small group of people who were staring at him with their mouths open in astonishment. Except Shane. His brother looked in his direction with furrowed brow and pursed lips.

With an irritated snarl, he reached for his coat, which, to his surprise, was no longer hanging there. Cursing, he flung the door open again and disappeared into the factory, just as Morgan had done.

“MORGAN!!!” Nox shouted as he marched down the stairs. “Morgan! Where the hell are you?”

But there was no answer. Not that he expected one… On a whim, he made his way through a shortcut to their indoor garden.

As he expected, the door was unlocked and ajar, allowing warm air to flow from inside to the cold plant. His thick coat was thrown to the ground and he shook his head in annoyance at the sight of the large hole at the back of it. Since he wasn’t wearing a coat, he didn’t have to get rid of it and slowly made his way through the adjoining door.

With her back to him, Morgan stood with her hands on the tables and he saw her shoulders tremble slightly.

“Morgan?”

As if stung by a wasp, the woman turned and looked at him with a white face and tear-stained eyes.

“You knew it! You recognised me and thought you could use me!” Before Nox could answer, Morgan had walked up to him.

Smack!!! Her hand came down hard on his cheek.

“You fucking bastard!”

As she was about to slap his face again, Nox grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him with a jerk, holding both her wrists firmly behind her back.

“Cut it out, Morgan!” he said, bending his head closer to her.

“I didn’t recognise you! If I had, I would have said so!” Seeing the tightening around her lips, he sighed deeply.

“All right. I won’t deny that I saw something familiar about you when you entered our living space and had taken off your coat… But…” He chuckled when she tried to kneel down in frustration and grabbed her wrists a little tighter, eliciting a cry of pain from her.

“Listen to me!” he said, loosening his grip on her wrists slightly. He didn’t want to hurt her.

“It was only last night during sex that I realised who you were. You have changed quite a bit, you know… Instead of half-long red hair, you now have short blonde hair and without all that junk on your face, you look completely different!”

Morgan’s eyebrows shot up at his words. “You… you asshole! You act like I was ugly back then and I should be thrilled that you wanted to sleep with me!”

Annoyed by his words, Morgan tried with all her might to wriggle out of his iron grip.

Fed up with her resistance, Nox turned the enraged woman around, wrapped his arms around her and held her hands tightly crossed over her chest. “You’re putting words in my mouth that I didn’t say, Morgan!” He snapped at her, his mouth pressed to her ear.

“I never said you were ugly! Yes! You look different! Not prettier or uglier, but different! And for the record, you! invited yourself to go with me and were gone the next morning before I woke up, not the other way around! If anyone should have felt used, it was me! As the feeling of knowing you grew stronger, I knew I had to get out of our deal. Hell, I didn’t want to make this agreement in the first place, the words just slipped out of my mouth!” Nox felt her muscles relax and although he gave her wrists a little more room, he did not let go of her.

“I… You’re right…” Morgan’s voice sounded embarrassed. “I have no reason to be angry with you, but it was such a shock when I recognised you! I…” She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry…”

“Sorry for what?” His voice sounded hoarse and dark, and a tingle began to form in the pit of her stomach.

For a moment, Morgan was silent. Yes, that was the question, wasn’t it? What was she sorry for? Her cheeks still wet with tears, she turned her face slightly towards his mouth. “…That I left without saying anything…”

Nox released one of her wrists and slid his hand behind Morgan’s head, pressing his lips hard against hers. Without a struggle, she opened her lips to him and his tongue found its way into the warm hollow of her mouth. A deep moan escaped her throat and Nox grinned against her mouth.

Morgan moaned softly as his tongue began to play with hers. Now that his beard was out of the way, his mouth tasted even better than last night.

“Morgan? Nox? Where the hell are you?” Steve’s angry voice sounded nearby, and before Nox could let go of Morgan, the door to the kitchen garden opened.

The old man’s eyes shot from one to the other and he squeezed them to slits. “Now I definitely need a very good explanation!”

18.

“No…” Nox’s voice sounded determined.

The old man may have felt responsible for Morgan and wanted to protect her from him, but what happened between them was none of Steve’s business.

To his surprise, he felt Morgan turn in his arms and put her hand on his arm. “I think it would only be fair to explain a few things to Steve…”

Morgan’s gaze slid to the old man’s face for a moment and she smiled apologetically before looking back at Nox. “Steve and Mads have helped me with everything in the last few years, without them I probably wouldn’t have made it. Without going into details, I think I owe him an explanation…”

Seeing the reluctant look in his eyes, she began to chuckle softly. “I know you don’t think it’s necessary, but I don’t think it’s fair for him to keep looking at you with suspicious eyes when you’ve basically done nothing wrong… Forgetting the deal we made in the first place for the sake of convenience…!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Steve had crossed his arms cockily, taking in Nox with an arrogant look. Inwardly, she shook her head, understanding that Mads had sometimes grown tired of him and retreated to her beloved plants.

Without taking his eyes off Steve, Nox detached himself from Morgan and made his way to the entrance. He turned back to Morgan for a moment. “If you want to tell the old geezer about us, go ahead. It’s dry outside and as far as I know there’s no storm coming our way… so I’m going to secure the dogs to the sled and take a look at an old underground garage I discovered a while back… …. If you don’t mind, I’ll take your son with me…”

Morgan gave him a small, uncertain smile and nodded. “That’s fine… I think Viggo will enjoy getting out of the factory for a while…”

After another short nod, Nox turned to head for the exit, but the way was still blocked by a grumpy looking Steve.

Silently, the two men looked at each other, neither of them willing to yield.

“Could you please stop this?” Morgan’s pleading voice made Steve look up, allowing Nox to walk past the old man without further interference.

After hearing the door close behind Nox, Steve looked at the young woman with a stern expression. “I could have understood you falling in love with him if he had looked the way that bastard has looked since this morning… I could also have understood if he had been a nice, friendly guy with the appearance of a dirty street dog… …. But for you to fall for that dick of a guy the way he did… and I know you did! No… I really don’t understand, Morgan! You really need to explain that to me!”

Steve’s words dripped with venom and Morgan couldn’t help but grin.

Sighing, she leaned against the table and crossed her arms. “I see what you mean, Steve, but there’s not really a great or exciting story to tell… Years ago I met Nox at a wedding. And one thing led to another… And… well, that’s basically it! I never saw him again! No idea what his name was or where he lived….. nothing. And… well, by chance, I met him again here. I really didn’t recognise him until this morning!” said Morgan with a raised finger at Steve, who had already opened his mouth to reply.

Shaking his head, Steve lowered his arms to rest on his hips. “Then again, Morgan… What do you see in this guy? Seriously. He acts like an utter jackass, can’t hold a normal conversation with anyone, he looks like a goddamn hermit! Even his brother, who is blind as a bat, is more sociable and has better manners! Can’t you go out with him? But there’s… uhm, one more thing I’m worried about… I know it’s none of my business, but I want to point it out… Bear in mind that when you… uhh, go uhhh… roll in the hay… …. that a screaming present may follow nine months later?”

Seeing Morgan’s defeated look, Steve knew he had unintentionally made a very, very wrong comment. “Morgan?”

She could imagine the old man’s annoyance with Nox, and she had found it sweet and funny in a way, but when he pointed out the possibility of her being pregnant, a stab of pain shot through her.

Keeping her eyes on the ground, Morgan tried to fight back the tears that were burning in her eyes, but she was not entirely successful. A thick tear managed to escape anyway, rolling down the side of her cheek.

“You don’t have to worry about getting pregnant, Steve…. Because of an infection I got when I gave birth to Viggo, the chances of me getting pregnant are almost zero…”

“Ohh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to…” But Morgan cut him off.

“Don’t be sorry Steve. You couldn’t have known… It pleads for Mads that she kept her mouth shut, even to you…” And gave him a small smile.

“I have two lovely children of my own, and Elise was a bonus, so I won’t complain either… But what hurts sometimes is that it wasn’t my own choice…”

She gazed sadly at the ground, then jerked her head up, straightened her shoulders and wiped the tears from her face. With a bright look and a smile around her mouth, she looked at a bewildered Steve. “’Right! Enough whinging! It is what it is, I’ll have to move on… And as for Nox… I know he’s not your friend, but don’t blame him for something he’s not responsible for. There is one thing I have to say, and that is that Nox and I did indeed make a deal when we arrived, but he had already gone back on it. So whatever is going on between me and Nox is my own decision, Steve! I’m not being forced into anything, okay?”

Steve looked at the young woman standing in front of him. Her face was pale but her eyes were shining. Morgan reminded him so much of his own daughter. All the fatherly love he had given the young woman and her children and the mistake he had made with his daughter he would not make again.

Shaking his head and sighing deeply, he walked over to Morgan and put his arms around her. “For your sake, I’ll do my best to be kinder to the frog, but I still think he’s an utter moron!”

Grinning with laughter, Morgan wrapped her arms around his waist. “I didn’t expect anything less from you, Steve!”

Meanwhile, Nox had gone upstairs to ask Viggo to join him.

He had stoically ignored the questioning looks that had been thrown at him as he entered and had acted as if nothing had happened. To his relief, the young boy had agreed to accompany him on his investigation, but to his surprise, the young girl had also wanted to come along. When he had refused her at first, she had whined and wailed until he had given in out of frustration.

When he heard noises near the large doors, Nox turned around. He had instructed the two children to bring food and drink for all three of them, and two extra blankets, so that they would at least have something in case they had to take shelter. Not that it would do much good in a storm, but it was better than nothing….

When the two children had settled down in front of him, he signalled to the dogs to go, and off they went…

19.

“WEEHEEEEE! Go Prancer! Go Blitzen! Come on Rudolph! Up, up and away!!!”

Nox rolled his eyes at the young girl’s shouting. While he found it amusing that his dogs were being compared to Santa’s reindeer, he found the bratty child incredibly annoying.

He couldn’t see the boy’s face, but from the position of his head, Nox guessed that the boy was enjoying the sun that had just broken through the clouds with his eyes closed.

Fortunately, after five minutes of singing Christmas carols at the top of her lungs, the girl decided to shut up and bury her head in a book she had smuggled along.

Although the freezing cold made Nox’s eyes and nose water, it was a nice ride and he enjoyed the scenery. Since snow and ice had been allowed to form a thick, hard layer over the past five years, the paths Nox regularly followed were quite safe. As long as he could see the tops of old trees poking out of the snow, he knew he was still on the right track.

Suddenly Viggo turned to him. “What is it between you and my mother, Nox?” A pair of bright green eyes looked at him questioningly.

The child had exactly the same eyes as his mother, the tall man noticed in surprise.

Nox glanced over Viggo’s head and thought. To be honest, he didn’t feel like answering the boy, but it wouldn’t be fair if the old geezer knew about it and the boy didn’t… but what exactly should he say? I fooled around with your mum. Yes, the boy would be thrilled to hear that… not.

“Nox?” The man’s eyes slid back to the boy in front of him, catching his questioning gaze.

Nox let out a deep sigh. “Your mother and I… Jesus… I don’t really know what to say, kid, I don’t even know what’s going on between your mother and me…”

Viggo was silent for a moment, thinking. “Are you angry with her?”

Nox’s eyebrows shot up at the unexpected question and he looked at the boy in surprise. “No, why would I be angry with her?”

Viggo shrugged. “Well, just because you guys act so… so weird towards each other. You seem to be watching her every move she makes, and she looks like a rabbit scared of everything…. That’s not how I know my mother!”

The unexpected answer had to sink in for Nox for a moment and his gaze slid down to the girl who was listening to their conversation with a curious look. “Okay… Um, I wasn’t aware of that, but uhh… I’ll try not to anymore. But for the record… Morgan, sorry… your mum and I don’t have a problem, okay?”

Suddenly, much to his relief, the now snow-covered small town where the garage was located loomed in front of them.

“But we’re almost there. You better get your boots on so we can get to work as soon as we get there.”

To his relief, both children turned with a jerk and began to squeal with excitement.

After the dogs had been unhooked from the sled in a safe place and the entrance that Nox had crawled through the previous times had been cleared, the three of them crawled through the small opening one after the other.

Once the two children were through, Nox went back to the entrance to check that the supports he had placed in front of the opening were still sound.

Reassuring himself that no bad weather was coming and that the entrance would remain open, he went back to the two children.

Armed with two flashlights and the old construction lamp that usually served as a table lamp, the three of them made their way deeper and deeper into the partially collapsed garage.

At every unexpected junction, Nox made markings to help them find their way back if they got lost.

Despite the fact that the whole place was pitch black and part of this level of the garage had partially collapsed, when they shone their lights around they could see that it was still a huge, high and wide space.

There were cars everywhere, some of which had been parked neatly for ages as if nothing had happened, and in some places Nox could see that people had still tried to get away in time. Unfortunately, not everyone had been able to get out in time, as parts of the ceiling had fallen and crushed their vehicles. In some cars, he could still see the driver and other passengers.

As they shuffled past one of the cars, Nox saw that two suitcases had been ejected from a crushed car.

“Viggo…” Nox’s voice echoed eerily through the silent corridor of the garage, bouncing sharply off the ceiling and walls, and he saw the two children look around, startled, as if they feared he had awakened something dangerous.

“Hey Viggo!” The boy looked at him, startled.

“Here, hold this.” And handed his construction lamp to the boy.

“What are you going to do?” Fear was evident in Viggo’s voice as he watched the big man carefully shuffle away from them towards the twisted wreckage of a car.

With his index finger tucked into thick gloves, the man pointed to something partially hidden in the shadows. Quickly, Viggo swung his torch in the direction the man had pointed. Two large suitcases!

His heart skipped a beat with joy. Who knew what treasures were hidden inside!

Foot by foot, ears pricked for any strange sound, and looking around carefully, Nox inched closer to the trunks. To his relief, both were still intact and locked. To make sure this wasn’t an ambush, he carefully pulled the dented blue rolling suitcases towards him. But the suitcases slid towards him without a problem and he began to smirk. The wheels are still intact! he thought to himself. Good, that would save them a lot of lugging!

When he was back with the children, he tried to open the suitcases, but to no avail. Both were locked with a numbered code and a small padlock.

Not wanting to stay in the garage any longer than necessary, Nox pushed both suitcases towards Viggo.

“Here. You take these to the exit and wait for us there. I want to go a little further… Say about ten minutes, then we will also turn around and come your way. If you’re strong enough, you can already lift these cases onto the sledge.

Viggo nodded enthusiastically. “That’s a good idea! Shall I try to open them first?”

Nox began to chuckle. He could well imagine the boy’s curiosity; if he were that age, he too would want to know what treasure was inside the suitcases and nodded. “That’s all right, but don’t pull everything over!”

Together with Elise, he watched the kid until he was out of sight, then carefully continued on his way. Due to the unexpected finds they had made, Nox had not noticed that something had changed.

A few feet away, a large body emerged from the shadows and began to follow the man and the girl.

20.

Overshadowed by the girl’s soft, excited chatter, Nox hadn’t noticed the threat lurking in the shadows behind them until he was hurled with tremendous force into one of the parked cars.

The girl’s icy scream immediately drew his attention and Nox, despite being thrown against the car with a powerful blow and being momentarily dizzy from the impact, instantly leapt to his feet.

His blood ran cold at the sight of the giant bear, its huge claws trying to lift the car that Elise had crawled under at the sight of the beast.

The girl’s high-pitched screams and the sound of the bear’s claws scratching the steel of the car echoed through the garage, hurting his ears.

Agitated, Nox looked around, searching for the weapon he had brought for safekeeping. But the bear’s unexpected punch had caused him to lose both his weapon and his lamp, and although the lamp had survived the fall, it had landed on the ground some distance away, leaving everything around Nox in shadow. The nervous screeching of Elise and the flickering of the torch still held by the young girls urged him to hurry. Frustrated at not being able to find his weapon anywhere, there was only one thing left to do… ….

“Elise!!! As soon as the bear comes my way, run for the exit as fast as you can!!!”

The angry and hungry bear turned towards the man the moment he heard Nox shouting at the girl.

Drooling and with eyes insane with hunger, the large beast lunged at him. In the nick of time, Nox managed to dodge one of the beast’s large claws, but the others slid along his arm, tearing deep holes in both fabric and skin. Out of the corner of his eye, Nox saw the girl crawl out from underneath the car and make a run for it. His relief was short-lived, however, as the bear grabbed the hood of his coat and threw Nox aside with a powerful swing.

His head hit the concrete floor of the garage hard and for a moment he saw spots before his eyes, but his survival instinct kicked in and before the bear could sink its massive claw into Nox’s chest, the man had rolled aside, just out of the bear’s reach. But the animal was no slouch and turned its head towards Nox’s legs, sinking its teeth into the soft tissue of the man’s lower leg.

Roaring in pain, Nox kicked the bear’s head, but it had tasted blood and had no intention of letting go of the man.

Nox felt the bear’s teeth sink into his skin, hitting bone, and a searing pain shot through his leg as the bone snapped from the force of the jaws.

Half in the air, he tried to reach for the old combat knife that was attached to the belt across his chest, but a blow from one of the animal’s front paws prevented him from doing so. Nox felt its claws dig deep into his chest and arm. He roared again in pain, knowing that if he didn’t get his knife now, he wouldn’t survive.

With a flick of its head, the bear threw Nox into the air, sending him crashing to the ground with a thud. This time, miraculously, Nox didn’t land on his head and managed to grab the knife before he hit the ground. But an all-consuming pain shot through his left arm as the animal grabbed it by the forearm and the bone snapped like a twig. Despite the pain, the bear’s head was now so close that Nox used all the strength he possessed to ram the dung into the bear’s eye.

Enraged, the animal threw Nox aside, tearing strips of skin from the man’s arm.

Roaring in pain, the beast tried unsuccessfully to remove the dung from its head. His one good eye rolled in pain and rage as his gaze suddenly fell on Nox, who was lying on his back, trying to crawl away with his last ounce of strength.

There had been many times in his life when Nox had feared for his life, but he had never experienced the kind of all-consuming fear that he was feeling right now. During his career as a Marine, he had been sent into enemy territory several times and had narrowly survived several serious injuries. Even when he had faced an IS soldier trying to stuff a grenade into his jacket, he had not been as terrified as he was now at the sight of the rabid animal coming at him.

With his still good arm, Nox tried to protect his head, but a searing pain shot up from his chest and arm as the beast dealt him a powerful blow to the body, the beast’s claws tearing through his coat and skin. The air was knocked out of Nox’s lungs as he landed on his stomach. The animal’s ferocious roar echoed through the garage and Nox could hear his ears ringing from the sound and the impact of his head against the concrete. Behind him, he heard the animal’s snarl approaching and braced himself for another lash of pain.

A deafening boom made his ears ring even louder and he tried to turn his head in the direction of the sound, but the movement caused so much pain in his chest that he stopped halfway, gasping heavily for air. Blood began to seep into his eyes from a large gash in his head, and Nox felt himself slowly losing consciousness. The last thing he saw was a shadow falling over him and then… nothing.