A Forest of Corpses Read Online Free

right on one thing, it was a guy. But this photo was not taken outside. It was inside and the man was on a bed that looked suspiciously like a hospital bed. Alex confirmed it.
    "This is a patient in an east coast hospital. He's undergoing maggot debridement therapy." A murmur went up. He ignored it and went on as though he was talking about what to order for dinner. "Maggots only consume necrotic tissue and since the Civil War have been used to clean out wounds.
    It was only stopped when antibiotics came into vogue. The practice is being resumed today under controlled conditions, and is proving to be successful."
    My own stomach turned and I almost groaned along with a few others. I got over it by looking at Alex instead. His calmness and visible strength made me straighten and look back. I could take it if he could. A lot of the students around me were visibly fighting to keep their lunches down. A few more looked positively green. I swear, if one person threw up 27

    A Forest of Corpses
    by P. A. Brown
    I was going to lose it. That was when he looked up and saw me.
    "Does it...does it hurt?" The girl who had spoken earlier sounded like she was in pain.
    Alex looked away from me and shook his head. "Not at all.
    It might not be pretty, but it works." He flipped to the next image. This one was of a new maggot-infested corpse. "It's not something you'd ever need to deal with unless you go into medicine, but I've always found it interesting that insects have more uses than most of us suspect. Most people view them as utterly gross and undesirable." For one brief second his face lightened. "Remember things are not always what they seem. Remember that, and you will go far and save yourself a lot of heartache."
    This time, he showed a new image. A corpse almost devoid of any skin except for a few leathery patches, one of which showed a tattoo of, appropriately enough, a skull. The gut of the body was literally crawling with shiny, dark-shelled beetles. Alex ignored the screen. Instead his gaze came back to me. Locked on, and drilled into me. I shivered and felt heat flood my face. But I couldn't look away until he released me.
    Nothing crossed his face. He remained impassive as always. There was a brief moment of tension in his shoulders, then he smoothly answered another girl's question before moving on to the next slide. His voice was strong and sure. I never realized what a good public speaker he was. But then we didn't spend a whole lot of time talking, did we?
    He finished up his lecture with an admonition that there was an essay due on Monday, which drew a slew of groans, 28

    A Forest of Corpses
    by P. A. Brown
    then he dismissed the class. I was half way to my feet when his voice boomed out, freezing everyone in their tracks.
    "Mr. Zachary. My office, please."
    Wide eyes looked around to see who was being summoned. Once everyone realized it wasn't them, they hurried to make their exit before he could change his mind, leaving me alone in the suddenly cavernous lecture hall. The last of their echoing footsteps faded until there was nothing but the sound of my breathing and the tick of the clock on the wall behind me.
    "Now, Mr. Zachary."
    I stood and looked down at him. But instead of giving me the illusion of superiority, I felt overwhelmed by him. He threw his papers into the cowhide briefcase I had given him just a month ago, clicked it shut, and climbed the stairs to my level, one step at a time, but still he moved quicker than I had expected, and in an instant he was beside me. Without a word he kept going, passed me, leaving me to hurry after him. His boots thudded and squeaked on the tile floors. I couldn't help but watch the swing of his hips under the weight of his uniform jacket and his gun. I was all too aware of his scent. Something dark and masculine that set my nerves singing, and my cock thickening in my suddenly too tight jeans. I looked at his ass, remembering what lay under there.
    I had thoughts that were