by Logan Jacobs
I opened the lid again, then counted how many buckshots were in the box. Sixteen in total, one more than was promised on the lid. Since the gun only held two shots at a time, I could load the gun eight times before it would become useless. Given our present rate of bullet consumption, though, that wouldn’t be all that long. Still, it was another weapon at our disposal, and I was happy to have it, no matter how dire the warning on the box had been.
“Do you know how to use them?” the mage asked as she finally stopped wiping down the blue bike.
“I’m sure I could figure it out,” I replied with more confidence than I actually had. A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth, though, and I felt like the guy who had just discovered some long hidden treasure chest, full of gems and gold coins.
“Hmmm,” Sorcha mused with a wry smile.
The mage winked at me as she took a seat on the pink bike and pedaled it in a tight circle around the front room. Apparently satisfied with the bike’s condition, the Irishwoman pedaled to the front door and studied the cabinet we’d moved.
“Hex, are you coming?” she teased.
I placed the box of buckshots in my satchel, then pushed the blue bike toward the front door. I spotted the original Maverick on an end table and scooped it up as well. I took a moment to savor the feel of it in my palm, then tucked it into the satchel with the box of buckshots. I took one last look around the room, then moved toward the cabinet.
Sorcha hopped off the pink bike when I signalled to her and set it against the wall. On the count of three, we pushed the cabinet back into its original position as yet more pieces of china tumbled over. With our exit cleared, we opened the battered door and pushed the bikes outside.
I had only ridden a bike a few times when I was a kid. My foster brothers, Peter and Preston, had each received one as a birthday present one year. They had begged their father, Paul Reese, for the bikes, and he had sent one of the hands three towns over to buy them each one. I hadn’t actually been allowed on one until Peter and Preston had become bored with the bike. I myself hadn’t seen the appeal, but then I was riding horses every day by then, so the bikes had quietly disappeared into the barn where the Reese daughters would sometimes ride them.
All of this is a short way of explaining that I was not a very good bike rider. It took a few near spills before I found my balance, and then I tended to wobble all over the road as I rode from one curb to the other.
Sorcha, naturally, knew exactly what she was doing. She pedaled effortlessly along the road and neatly avoided all the holes and rubble that littered my path. She would power on ahead, then stop and wait for me to catch up. When she was sure that I was still on the bike and still pedaling like crazy, she would set off again with a happy smile and a sly wink in my direction.
What I really wanted at that moment was a good horse, but we hadn’t seen a single equine since we’d entered the wasteland, not even a wild one. So I pedaled on and hoped we were on the right road that would take us to Short Hills and the portal mage named Vance.
I’d admit that the bikes saved us time. There was still a trace of sunlight in the sky when I found Sorcha waiting for me next to a sign that said ‘Welcome to the Mall at Short Hills’. Beyond that stood a massive complex that occupied several acres of land and still managed to look shiny and new despite the fact that it had been abandoned for fifty years.
“It’s huge,” I gawked as I studied the mall. “How are we supposed to find one portal mage in there?”
“It doesn’t look like anyone is living there,” Sorcha remarked. “Maybe he’s the only one in there.”
“I don’t think that will make it any easier,” I replied.
We pedaled our bikes along the entrance road toward what looked like one of the main entrances. Letters over the door spelled out the name ‘Neiman Marcus’, and just across from that stood an open, multi-story structure that still had a few cars parked inside.
“A building just for parking cars,” I laughed as I peered at the odd structure. “Can you believe someone would have a building just for parking cars?”
“They did have a lot of cars,” Sorcha mused. “I guess it makes sense. And people build barns for their animals.”
“But nothing this big,” I pointed out.
“Well, but look at the size of the mall,” Sorcha replied. “They must have had thousands of people here every day.”
I shrugged and turned my attention back to the store called Neiman Marcus. The glass in one of the doors was long gone, and it was easy enough to push our way inside. We left the bikes propped against a display cabinet just inside the door and started to wander aimlessly around the store.
As interested as I was in the pre-magic world, I grew impatient as Sorcha discovered an entire section devoted to women’s clothing. She picked through the seemingly endless racks, even though most of the clothes smelled musty and had holes. My lover seemed determined to find the one decent shirt in the entire store, and I eventually gave up and wandered toward some glass display cases instead.
The glass in the cases had long since been shattered and most of the items removed, but there were still a few bits and pieces of jewelry floating among the shards of glass. I found a delicate necklace tucked into a corner that featured a black stone striped with blue light. The streaks of blue seemed to shift and change color as I turned the stone around to different angles, and I wondered if this was some man-made material or something natural.
“What did you find?” Sorcha asked when she found me.
I smiled at her when I saw the straw hat she had on her head and the shirts and pants she had draped over her arm. I held up the necklace for her inspection and I saw her eyes light up.
“An opal,” she gasped. “I haven’t seen one in ages.”
“I was trying to decide if it was some sort of pre-magic material,” I said as I handed the necklace to her.
“No, they’re natural,” she said as she set down her armload of clothes and accepted the necklace. “But they’re hard to find now. They’re only found in a few places, and black ones like this are even rarer.”
“Well, I don’t think anyone’s going to complain if you take it,” I pointed out.
Sorcha looked around guiltily for a moment, then slipped the necklace around her neck. She turned toward me once she figured out how to work the clasp and gave me a quizzical look.
“It’s almost as beautiful as you,” I remarked.
Sorcha smiled and scooped up the clothes she had found. She managed to carry the load in one arm while she slipped her other hand under my arm. We finally left Neiman Marcus then and ventured into the rest of the mall, though there was very little light to see by. Sorcha created a small, flickering light that followed us like an obedient dog while we strolled past a bit of history.
It was a two-story structure without any windows, yet the last of the sunlight filtered in from square holes in the roof. A few still had glass, but most of the panes had fallen to the floor below to join the leaves and dirt that now covered the tiles. A few plants had managed to sneak in as well and wound around the banisters on staircases or hung from the signs over the doors. Wrens darted around the mall, and somewhere I heard the familiar call of a barn owl.
“What did they sell in all these places?” Sorcha asked as we strolled past a place called ‘Cartier’.
“Pretty much anything you can imagine,” I replied, though I wasn’t entirely sure myself.
“I wonder what kind of place would appeal to Vance,” Sorcha mused as she scanned the endless line of stores.
“Maybe someplace with furniture,” I suggested as I spotted a store filled with chairs and tables.
“Oooh,” Sorcha suddenly gasped.
She dropped my arm and darted ahead, intent on whatever she had seen. Her wobbly flame followed after her like a fly on a string, and I suddenly found myself alone in the dark. I glanced around at the silent stores, then followed the mage’s path more carefully.
I
found her in a bookstore where she was perusing the shelves. Most of the books appeared to be little more than moldy mush, but a few near the back had survived almost intact. There were signs over different groups of shelves that seemed to identify the type of books, and Sorcha was between a line of shelves, one labeled ‘Mystery’ and one labeled ‘Romance’.
“You do know we can’t carry around all this stuff with us,” I pointed out as I joined her.
“I know,” she sighed as she looked at the books on the shelves. “But I thought it might be fun to have one or two that we could read at night.”
“Maybe get one of those smaller ones,” I suggested as I pointed toward some with paper covers like the atlas. “They’ll be easier to carry.”
Sorcha nodded and started to examine the smaller books. After a few moments, she chose two from the mystery section and two from the romance section.
“I can probably trade these after I’ve read them,” she noted as she tucked her selections into her satchel.
“And what about all those clothes you’ve been carrying around?” I teased.
“I’m going to try them on and see what I like,” she replied defensively.
“Well, in the meantime, we should probably find a place to rest for the night, and maybe have a bite to eat,” I remarked as I thought back to the place with the chairs and tables.
“Let’s see what other stores there are,” Sorcha suggested. “Maybe we’ll find one that’s really fun.”
“Maybe,” I sighed as I thought about a pair of really comfortable looking chairs that had been front and center at the chair and table place.
Sorcha pulled me back into the mall, and we wandered around some more. We ventured up and down the stairs and stood inside a glass ‘elevator’ though we couldn’t see what was so exciting about staring out at the mall from inside a glass box. We pushed the buttons as well, but nothing happened, so we gave up on the elevator and moved on to the next section of stores.
“Okay, that’s the place we have to stay tonight,” I declared as I pointed to a store on the other side of the second-floor walkway.
“Casper?” Sorcha queried as she squinted at the store.
“Look what they sell,” I said as I looked for the shortest way to get across.
“Oh,” Sorcha replied as she finally registered what was on display in the window.
We had to circle around, past a store called ‘loomingdale’s’, but we were soon standing outside the Casper store, where rows of beds beckoned to us.
“Wow,” was all Sorcha said as she stopped just inside the door and looked around.
“Let’s pick one,” I suggested as I flopped onto one of the beds.
“Look at that one,” Sorcha mused as she walked past me. “I’ve never seen a bed that was raised up like that before. By why is only one side raised? The other one’s still flat.”
“Who knows?” I replied from my new favorite spot. “We don’t have to sleep on it, so why worry about it?”
I closed my eyes and let myself enjoy the luxury of a well-made mattress. It was soft but still supportive, and I felt like I was nesting rather than merely sleeping. I could hear Sorcha as she moved around the store, but I was too tired and too comfortable to get up and follow her around as she investigated the rest of the options. I heard her stop by my bed a few minutes later, and I opened one eye to the glorious sight of the beautiful Irishwoman looking at me.
“There’s a bigger bed at the back,” she reported. “Plenty of room to have some fun in.”
“But this one is very comfortable,” I declared as I patted the mattress.
“Yes, but you’ve already put your dirty boots up on it,” she remarked. “And the one in the back still has sheets and pillows on it.”
“Well, I guess I could try it,” I smirked as I rolled off the mattress.
Sorcha led me toward the back of the store and the bed she’d picked out. The sheets were a pale blue and threadbare after all the years of exposure, but the mattress was wide and inviting and the pillows still looked plump. Sorcha had dropped her armload of clothes and satchels on a nearby bed, and she soon added her hat, boots and the rest of her clothes. She turned around and let me soak in the vision of her body, with only the portal necklace and the opal necklace around her neck, before she slipped quietly onto the bed and gave me a come-hither smile.
I stripped off my own boots and clothes at that point and jumped into the bed. I felt the tremor of excitement that moved up the mage’s spine as she grabbed my hand and pulled me closer. I grinned at her, then started to climb on top once again.
“Wait,” she said as she ran her hand slowly across my chest. “Let me start on top this time.”
“A lady who knows what she wants,” I teased as I rolled onto my back.
“You don’t know the half of it,” she replied with a saucy grin as she sprawled across my chest.
She straddled me as she sat up and started to trace her fingers along my chest, then down toward my groin. I could feel the tendrils of her power snake along my nerves wherever she touched me, and I groaned in anticipation.
“Patience,” she chuckled as her hand found my shaft and started to rub.
“No promises,” I retorted as she found a rhythm that she liked.
She grinned again, then she dipped her head, and all I could see was the river of her gold hair. I could feel her tongue though, as it carved a path down my groin and toward my penis, where her hand still worked its own bit of magic. The pressure that started to build inside me became an ache that I couldn’t release, and I heard myself moan desperately as her tongue finally found my shaft.
I grabbed a handful of her hair with one hand and started to massage her scalp in time with her strokes. I felt her knock her head against my hand like a cat looking for someone to pet its chin, so I moved my hand toward the side of her head, then slowly started to stroke along the nape of her neck.
My erection was at full attention when she eased herself up for a moment, and I thought I would burst when the feel of her hand and tongue disappeared. She looked at me from beneath a curtain of gold, then slowly licked her lips.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
“Oh, hell, yes,” I declared.
She laughed for a moment as she swept the hair away from her face, then she sat up again and gave me a perfect view of her breasts. As I admired the perfect curves of her body, she went to her knees, arched her back, and guided me inside her.
“Ohhhhh. Perfect.” She closed her eyes as my erection penetrated her pussy, but she was already hot and very wet, and the scent of peach and apricot and something that reminded me of jasmine in summer started to fill the store.
“Ride me like you want to,” I moaned.
“Yesss.” She rolled her hips as she found the spot she wanted, then placed her hands on my chest. She started to rock on my shaft, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but always with just enough pressure to provide us both with a wave of pleasure.
I helped support her with a hand on her waist, which she took full advantage of. She started to roll into different spots just to see how far she could go. Whenever she was close enough, I would grab one of her breasts with my other hand. They were firm beneath my hand, and she would moan whenever I ran my thumb across their nipples.
And then I felt the pulse inside her and I knew she was close. She started to rock harder and faster, and I could have sworn her teeth chattered. But then I was swept up in her own rising heat as she opened the link between us and all I could feel was my erection as it pounded into her as well as her sheer bliss as she rode me harder and harder.
We climaxed together, so perfectly timed that I was convinced we were both about to explode from the heat and pressure. She heaved as my seed poured into her, but she kept herself firmly planted on top of me, and held my rod in place while she soaked up every last drop of me.
It felt like an eternity before I could finally see something besides flashes of gold and twinklin
g stars, but the tension in my body finally started to ease and I could feel the cool sheet beneath my back once again. I realized I was still squinting and that the panting noise I heard was probably me, so I forced myself to take a couple of deep breaths, and then opened my eyes all the way.
Sorcha was still on top of me with her head on my shoulder and her arms draped across mine. She felt so light that I couldn’t believe she had just had the power to drive me the way she had.
“You’re wonderful,” I whispered as I ran a hand through her hair again.
She looked up and gave me a languorous smile. A moment later, she locked her lips around mine and all I could taste were the sweet flavors of honey and peach.
“You’re wonderful, too,” she said when she finally came up for air.
“Will you let me prove it?” I asked as I started to tease her nipples.
“So soon?” she laughed.
“I wouldn’t want to leave you high and dry,” I responded.
Her laugh became a groan, and as I started to run my fingers down her spine, she quivered under my caressing. When her whole body started to shake, I rolled her onto her back and stuck a finger inside her tunnel. She was still moist inside and she writhed as I found one of her favorite spots. She spread her legs apart and her eyes rolled back as she tried to grind herself against me.
“Hexxxx,” she hissed as she tried to pull me closer.
“Hold on,” I told her as I started to kiss and lick along her breasts.
My own erection was hard again, and the friction of our two bodies rubbing together nearly drove me crazy. But I wanted to make it last as long as I could, so I focused on the hard, round tits beneath my tongue. I could taste the salt on her skin, and something earthy, but not musky. It reminded me of a clear day on a high mountain ridge, bright and clean and simple, yet more delicious than the most exotic flavors.
I kept her going for so long that her skin had flushed a dark pink before I finally penetrated her again. She was more than ready to welcome me inside, and she pressed against me as hard as she could as I started to move in and out. I went slowly at first and made sure to find her favorite spots, but the pressure in the air around us became unbearable, and I picked up the pace once I’d hit every zone at least once.
