Free Not Dead Enough: Zombie Paranormal Romance (Project Rebellion: SARA Book 1) by Mina Carter

asked sensible questions, and despite what she’d been through, didn’t seem to be on the edge of hysteria. Yet, anyway.
    “My name’s Brett.” He nodded toward the couch. “You might want to sit down for the rest though.”
    “Brett. Nice name.” She reached down and upturned the couch, setting it back on its feet in a casual display of strength that made him narrow his eyes.
    Did all Bloods gain control of their new abilities so rapidly? There was none of the Blood-rage he’d heard about on base. All new Bloods were supposed to be subject to an intense, feral need to feed in the first few weeks of their new existence. It was the reason the Blood barracks had been off limits to all but specially-trained personnel. And even they had only dared venture in during daylight hours, when the Bloods were at their most sluggish and lethargic.
    He’d have to ask Dom. Brett had never worked in the Blood section, but the other man had. In fact, the only Blood Brett had seen a lot of was Major Fielding, the female Blood the powers-that-be had often assigned their squad to. She’d turned out to be one of the good guys though, helping a rogue Lycan pack break into the base and help them all escape.
    Trouble was, just as he and the other SARAs weren’t from the same batch as the original Re-animates, the rest of the Bloods weren’t from the same batch as the Major. She was from an older batch, and it seemed the newer one created assholes. Assholes with a habit of kidnapping and turning women, by the looks of it.
    She sat, looking up at him in expectation and he sighed. No putting it off any longer, but how the hell did he explain shit like this?
    “Okay. I’m Brett,” he started, then grimaced. He’d said that already. She’d think he was a complete idiot. He coughed to cover and carried on. “Brett Perkins, and I was a soldier. A year ago I was re-assigned to a base about twelve hours from here.”
    He paused, captured for a moment by the image she presented on the couch. Perched on the edge of the seat, she had her arms loosely folded over her knees. The position pressed her breasts together, and the enticing swell at the neckline of her top made his mouth water. Dragging his gaze up, he focused on her black on black eyes. Blood eyes.
    Better. He could just about concentrate. If he didn’t think about the kiss of those little claws over his dead flesh. His heart flared into life unbidden, his cock hard and thick in an instant. She started, her nostrils flaring as she obviously picked up on his pulse and the scent of arousal that hung heavy in the air. She didn’t look down, thank goodness, but he didn’t miss the little smile that flirted with the edge of her lips. The witch knew the effect she was having on him.
    “Let me guess….” She took up where he left off, prompting him. “Something happened at this base?”
    He nodded. “And then some. The base was Top Secret—”
    A little snort of amusement escaped her. “Why does that not surprise me?”
    He stopped to glare at her. “Okay, who’s telling this story… me or you?”
    She held her hands up, palms out in surrender. “Take it away, handsome. I was just making an observation. Have you ever watched a horror movie? Things always go wrong at Top Secret bases. Well-known fact.”
    He fought back the smile that tried to crawl over his lips. Sass. Even with her world turned upside down and having been bitten by vampires, his sweetpea still had sass. She moved, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. His vision was so much more acute now since his death, so he caught the fine trembling of her hand. He frowned. Watched her closely.
    The more he did, the more noticeable the tremor in her limbs and the forced element in her smile became. Okay, perhaps she wasn’t doing as well as he’d thought she was. Just as he’d hidden his smile before, now he hid his concern. If she was trying so hard to hold it together, she wouldn’t appreciate him pointing