Prologue

“Move outta the way asshole!” someone shouts from another car.

Slamming on the brakes when a car cuts in front of them, the woman sighs, holding back a retort at the man yelling at her. Traffic has nearly come to a halt. The city has been ordered to evacuate after government officials announcing the threat of a nuclear bomb. Now it’s just chaos. Everyone is fighting to get out.

“If people just worked together, things could go smoother,” Spencer says from the front passenger seat. The boy is just eight years old, and with the mind of a child can point out the obvious.

His mother looks over at him. “I know, sweetie.” She gives him a warm smile. Reaching over she gives his arm a loving squeeze. “Not everyone thinks like that. People are too worried about themselves.”

Spencer frowns. “Mom, we need to get off this bridge and away from here,” he says, looking at the woman. Tears quickly begin to form at the edges of his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asks. Why are you crying?”

“I’m afraid of the bridge falling,” he says.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” she says comfortingly. “The people that build these go to school to learn how to build them. I wouldn’t worry, honey.”

No sooner are the words out of her mouth does all hell break loose. The ground—if the bridge can be considered that—starts shaking. People start to scream, horns begin to blare. But it’s the roars the deafen it all. Fear wells up inside the boy. Panic settles in on him as it does the people around them.

He wakes up in a cold sweat, heart racing. Another fucking nightmare. It’s the same nightmare, the only nightmare Spencer ever has. That was the day that changed his life forever. Out of the two hundred and thirty-four people on the bridge that day, he was the one and only survivor. He walked away with minor bumps and bruises, but he was alive. The city never had a bomb go off. And the threat only lasted a few hours. No one was exactly sure what had happened.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he mutters sarcastically, “Another glorious day.” Spencer has worked hard to put the past where it belongs. But the nightmare of that day rears its head more often than he likes it to. And because of it is why he has chosen the profession he has. He casts a look to the other side of the bed occupied by Sam, his partner and lover. Deciding to let her sleep a little longer, he leaves the bed and slips into the bathroom. A hot shower and shave will help, and then some coffee.

By the time he finishes and exits, Spencer finds the bed empty. The smell of coffee wafts through the air from the kitchen. Coffee! With the towel wrapped tightly around his waist, he slips from the bedroom. There in the kitchen, Sam has her back toward him, wearing only his shirt and a pair of panties. He slips up behind her, arms going around her belly and head on her neck. He inhales her scent and the slight smell of sex from earlier. He kisses her neck and nips her with his lips and teeth. He feels her body stiffen in delight, so he continues on the opposite side of her neck, blowing lightly in her ear, sucking on her earlobe. “You are too good for me,” he whispers.

“What are partners for?” she asks, arching her back in pleasure. “The nightmare again?” she asks.

Spencer murmurs his acknowledgement and slips his hands beneath the shirt and then up and down her sides. Sam has to reach out and steady herself on the sink by the time his hands reach her breasts to caress them, catching and pulling one nipple, then the other between his fingers. She shivers in delight, so he does it again, magnifying the effect with a gentle sucking of her neck.

“You know the only good thing about those nightmares is the sex that follows,” Sam coos.