In the year 2184, the US is divided. Half the country has moved on with the rest of the world, while in middle America, the survivors of the terrorist biological attack that split the country struggle just to stay alive. Though a century has passed, few people brave going behind the borders meant to contain the danger. Even the privatized military is reluctant to do so.<br><br>But that doesn’t stop recently discharged Sullivan Eberle. Only one thing drives him anymore -- the need to find Raphael Hamada. He doesn’t know why. He only knows he must. If that means a lifetime behind the borders, then so be it.<br><br>Rafe Hamada ran away from the real world when he was still a kid. The last thing he wants is to be found, especially by a soldier who can’t even tell him why it was so important to locate him in the first place. He’d like nothing more than for Sullivan to leave, but turning his back on a man alone and friendless is against everything Rafe stands for ...

Penny Candles

“Where’re you going?” The sleepy murmur came with a slight twist of his upper body, his eyes blinking open to gaze at Sullivan over his shoulder. A smile curved his pouting lips, everything about him soft and inviting.


“I should head out to Belle’s and apologize for disappearing on her.” He smoothed a hand along Rafe’s skin, stealing the intimacy of it while he could. “Go back to sleep.”


Rafe caught his wrist before he had the chance to pull away. “Only if you stay.”


His response was a tug that pulled Sullivan off balance, though he caught himself on his knuckles to keep from tumbling onto Rafe. “We’ll go together later. We have to see Mama anyway.”


Chapter 54