“This one focused on having things to read, things to watch, rather than food, water, and medical supplies.” He motioned to a stationary bike in front of a TV. “The bike provides enough power to watch a DVD or listen to music. Solar power on the roof comes down here in addition to the main electrical lines. So, probably don’t really need the bike. Most of the movies are from the 80s and 90s. And the music, too.”
“Wow. Weird. So he would have his fill of entertainment while he starved to death?”
“Yeah. There are some empty shelves, so maybe he was restocking or something.
Lizzie pushed open the door to the next room. It felt like a cheap motel. A bed, nightstand and a small bathroom in the back. On one wall, a giant poster filled a window with a scene of trees and a marsh. The view would never change, but the art was lovely, it was a poster of an amazingly real painting.
Duke came in behind her and she stopped moving, hoping he would touch her again. The bed, neatly made, had something on the pillow. It looked like a couple of those fancy shiny foil wrapped chocolate balls. Upgrade that to a nicer hotel room.
“Well, what do you think?” Duke’s hands settled gently on her shoulders.
“You have anywhere you need to be soon?” She place her hands on his and pulled them forward across her chest as she backed into him.
“No.” His voice rattled low.
Lizzie felt his warmth press into her. “Good.” She placed his hands on her breasts. Her neck arched. She closed her eyes and dragged his right hand lower.
His left hand slipped under her shirt and caressed the outer circle of her belly bump. His finger found the slight indent of her navel.
His hand strayed from her belly and slipped higher his finger tracing the edge of her breasts, just under the lace of her bra. She moved her hand around his hip, pulling the belt loop on the side of his jeans.
His other hand was kneading her breasts through the bra. “Slow down, they’re not bread.” His movements became lighter and she guided his hand. “Like this.” She pressed his fingers lightly against her nipples as she felt her body responding.
She opened her eyes and glanced around the room. The bed was a little above her knees’ height. She stumbled forward out of his grasp, his hand still entangled in her shirt. She climbed up on the bed and crawled to the chocolates. “You?”
“Yes.” Duke nodded. “You like?”
“I like. White or regular chocolate?”
“I like ‘em both. Take whichever one you want.”
“I want them both.”
He chuckled. “Why does that not surprise me?”
She tore the wrapper off the white chocolate one. “But I will share. If you play along.” She popped it into her mouth, holding half of it in her teeth.
His eyes widened and he grinned. “May I?”
He knelt on the bed and moved toward her. She met him halfway offering her mouth with the chocolate ball in it. His lips touched hers and she bit down on the ball and felt the soft chocolate inside flow into her mouth. Her teeth tapped his their tongues swirled around the soft white sweetness. She pulled him onto the bed, her hands entwining in his shirt as his hand found the small of her back, pulling her hungrily toward him. They fell together, giggling, trying to get the last of the candy off each other’s lips.
When they came up for air, Duke gasped, “You want the other chocolate?”
“Not now,” Lizzie said. “I want you.” She pulled her shirt off over her head.
Duke nuzzled his face in between her breasts as his hands slid into her jean pockets, caressing her backside.
Lizzie reached behind her back and released her breasts from their constraints. She flashed her teeth in a feral grin at his lust-filled face. He pulled his shirt off over his head and her hands moved from his tender spots to feel his chest, slightly hairy in the middle, his muscles hard under her hands. “Boobs.” She laughed awkwardly. “I like them, too.”
“I’m glad,” he said as his hands returned to hers, a big grin on his face.
She shoved Duke backward onto the bed and straddled his belly. She could feel his hardness under her and she wanted him inside. “Is there any reason not to do this now?” But literally, how fucked up was she that she mostly wanted him for the relief it would bring her?
“You want me to have the blindfold now?” he asked.
“I just wonder if sleeping together won’t ruin a decent friendship.”
“I’m hoping it blossoms into something more.”
“Well, shit.” Lizzie rolled off of him and lay on her back, her arms across her bare breasts. “Why does it have to be such a big deal?”
Duke rolled toward her, his hands pawing timidly at her arm. “It doesn’t have to be.”
That was his desperation talking. He didn’t mean it. If she fucked him now, he would follow her around like a lost puppy for weeks—even more than he already did.
“I’m really trying to be less impulsive, but, ah-fuck.” She climbed back on top of him. “We’re probably going to hurt each other.”
“We can burn that bridge when we get there.”
“Deal.” She knelt in close and kissed him gently on the lips. She didn’t feel like laughing. The now. It’s all we’ve got.
Zach stepped on the gas and the convertible red sports car surged forward up the on-ramp—north on Interstate 15, the Veteran's Highway. Nev snuggled up against him. The wind whipped at her hoodie, pulled tight over her stocking cap. Her smile above looked like a grimace as she clung to him. “You want me to put up the top?”
“What?” she hollered.
Zach motioned at the back as if flipping the convertible top back up.
“YES!”
The cold air cut through his clothes. He pulled over to the side of the road and hit the button for the top. It popped out of its slot and he watched that it engaged properly. Then he hit the high heat and circulate. He pulled his hat and muffler off and unwound Nev’s scarf, kissing her neck until she laughed.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Is that bad?”
“It's not generally considered good.”
“Sounds kind of like encourageable.” Zach found her earlobe.
“Sounds like, but it's not the same. Though, now that you mention it, maybe it isn't so bad.” She pulled her scarf back from him and rewrapped it around her neck. “Zach, let’s wait until we get there.”
“This is foreplay.”
Nev’s laugh, like a crystal chandelier tinkling, warmed him. “Let’s get there first. You said we get a whirlpool tub in the suite?”
“Yeah.”
“That's what I want. Not sex in the back of a red convertible. Sounds like a bad classic rock song.” She straightened her blouse.
Zach slid the car into gear, spitting gravel and snow. “Room at the top of the world. I can do that.” He accelerated toward Salt Lake City.
Pre-honeymoon. If only she’d really agreed to marry him. Three days off. A weekend in Salt Lake City. The Committee for Social Interaction had set up a hotel in the empty city and staffed it. Folks considering marriage as well as promising to procreate got free passes for a decadent weekend. Three days of not being cold, not getting up at the crack of dawn, and leaving Nev warm in bed. At least since the promotion to Mr. Ray’s personal guard he’d had a break from inspecting stinky houses. Collecting had seemed so cool. Being a guard felt like he was doing something more important and the work was easier. Boring, but easy. And he still got to do the physical training he enjoyed with the militia boys.
And his new position had gotten him the unescorted drive, though his romantic convertible idea had been stupid. At least they didn’t have to ride the Greyhound with the other love-birds.
Nev snuggled back in next to him, sliding her hand under his shirt and caressing his skin.
Chapter Twenty-Two
IN THE MORNING LIZZIE GLANCED back at the house as Duke drove them back to Provo, with a stash of all the worthwhile DVDs in
the back of his truck. Other than the red X painted on the front door it was a white brick, nondescript rambler. Inside, the entryway held something she didn’t need to see. She wasn’t sure how she’d feel about coming here knowing the body lay just behind the front door. Have to have a really good reason. The only thing to hide from was all the people trying to keep her safe.
She repeated the house number in her head. Then out loud.
“Your secret hiding-place. Call it a belated birthday present. If you want to be alone.” Duke grinned. “With or without me.”
Where are we going now?” Lizzie asked Duke scooting over so her hip touched his.
“I’m taking you home.” He lay his hand on her thigh. “You’re dad’ll flip if he doesn’t know where you are.”
“He could call me. The phones work.”
“Yeah. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah.” She watched his face. His cheeks were still a little red from their morning session. She tried to get a sense of how she felt. But her own thoughts flitted around like hummingbirds. “Anything weird, Duke?”
“Nope. You?”
“Nope. Thanks.” His glance took her back a few hours. He was by far the most considerate person she’d slept with. He’d given her at least as much release as he’d had. “For a few hours I forgot about most everything else. Wish I could’ve had that forgetting for a birthday present.”
“Yeah. I mean. I would have… Your birthday.”
“Duke,” Lizzie said to his expectant smile. “Shut up.”
“I just meant…” His smile turned sheepish. “Too bad that wasn’t the usual. I mean normal.”
“I’d hate to be anybody’s the usual, but if that was the usual, I guess people live with a lot less.”
“Yeah,” Duke said turning away.
Ahh… she’d managed to embarrass him. “As for normal… I’ve never been the normal. Never wanted to be. And life always tosses you something.”
Duke nodded, solemn for a moment, his mouth a serious line, then it swelled back into a soft, pleasant smile. “Thanks, Lizzie.”
“You’re going to thank me?” Her voice cut the space between them.
“Why not?” His voice had a pleading quality. “You shared yourself with me.”
“That’s just fucking weird.” Lizzie contemplated. “Literally.” Maybe he was right, but it felt more like a transaction than she wanted. “Okay. I won’t take it as an insult. Thank you, too, sir,” she said in a weird affected accent.
“Milady.” Duke matched her joking tone. “May I call you Lady Elizabeth? I’d bow if I wasn’t driving.”
“Well, I wouldn’t curtsy. Don’t really know how.” She squeezed his thigh. “But sometime later, I might dip downward.” The truck veered to the left as her hand slid upward. His hand stopped hers just at the edge of his warmth.
“Probably be better if I’m not driving,” he squeaked. “Good thing this street isn’t crowded.”
“You keep your eyes on the road.” She enjoyed the power she had over him as much as she did the easy sex. But it couldn’t last. She could tell it was a matter of time before this blew up in her face. She would eventually have to choose between keeping him as a friend and turning what they had into a real romance.
When they got back to Lizzie’s place, she gave him a quick kiss, full on, but restrained. As soon as hands moved to pull her in she pushed him back gently. “I’m gonna hang out with Saj. Come over for a movie tonight.”
Duke laughed out loud and reached behind the seat to pull out a canvas grocery bag filled with DVDs. “Great minds think alike. I’ll get my schedule for the week and then come on over. With food!”
Thirty-two heavenly hours after their arrival at the Grand American Hotel Zach leaned up against the big window looking out as the fading sunlight played over the skyscrapers of Salt Lake City.
Behind him, Nev mumbled, “If your hands get cold, you’re not allowed back under the covers.”
He was a little chilly, fully exposed to the world. It would be super weird if anyone else could see this naked guy leaning up against the window in a penthouse suite. He glanced southward toward Provo. Lights marched out in lines down the Wasatch Valley. As the moon rose over the mountains Zach returned to the warmth of the bed.
“Ahh!” Nev jumped as he put his cold feet against her legs. “Jerk.” But she pressed his feet between her thighs to share her warmth.
He could still see the lights of the valley and the moon and planets. Were there fewer lights than there had been before? His mind was playing tricks on him. He turned over, snuggling up against Nev.
“Hands!” She grabbed his hand before he could put it anywhere sensitive, and squeezed it tightly under the warm flesh of her arms. “G’night, Zach.”
When he woke up in the middle of the night, the only light was from the moon. Even the glowing night-light was dead, and he stumbled on his way to and from the bathroom. He went to the window. The streetlights were off all over. “Oh, shit.”
“What’s wrong, Zach?”
“Not sure. But we may be walking down twenty-something flights of stairs in the morning.”
Nev sat up quickly. “What?”
“I think the power’s out. Really out. There are only a few lights on in all of Salt Lake.”
“Come back to bed. I bet they’ll be on in the morning.” She yawned and rolled over. “I just got you warmed up.”
He climbed back in bed, but sleep would not come. He knew Foote and DiSilvio were planning for such possibilities, but he hadn’t expected it to be necessary so soon.
“You still awake, Zach?” Nev whispered.
“Yeah. I’m worried.”
“Well, let me see if I can take your mind off of that.” Her hand slipped lower as she twisted around to face him. Her lips found his and then worked her way back to his ear and then down his neck.
Tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about it.
Lizzie squinted at the clock through morning eyes. The red numbers were not glowing. It had failed to get her up this time. It wasn’t all her fault. She and Duke had stayed up way too late watching Ghostbusters 2.
Amazing that Saj was letting her sleep in. What time was it? She fumbled on the nightstand and twisted the knob on the light. It turned but did not turn on. The power is out. She found her phone and unplugged it. It had all green on the charging bar. Time was 8:54.
Saj whined in his sleep. When she first found him she tried to wake him up when he cried in his sleep, but she found that if she let him sleep through it, he woke up fine. Waking him up usually just made him cranky.
What does a two-year-old dream about? Probably his mommy and daddy. Mr. and Mrs. Jones. She’d forgotten their first names, but she had a Bible, a birth certificate, a photo and a watch.
Lizzie carefully disentangled herself from Saj. Leave him sleeping. She tugged the covers back in place to keep him warm and stumbled toward the kitchen. The floor was freezing. How long had the power been out? Her head hurt. Maybe she just needed caffeine.
She poured herself a big mug of leftover coffee and stuck it in the microwave. When she punched the buttons nothing happened. “Damn, Lizzie, you are stupid.” She pulled the coffee cup out and opened the fridge, snagging the container of creamer. How long would this stuff last? Ultra-pasteurized? What the hell did that mean?
The light in the fridge was out. Shit. How was she going to cook? And what about all the crap in the freezer? And how was she going to keep herself warm? Saj popped into her head first. Then Duke. She smiled to herself. At least that was the order she thought of them. It made her feel good to have her priorities in order. Saj needed a lot more of her time and attention.
Time to go back to bed. She drank a good slug of the cold coffee and laughed. Half a lifetime ago she would have paid good money for a coffee that tasted like this at a cool temperature. And it would have had whipped cream on top. But not when it was freezing outside. No. Maybe the caffeine would kick in as she slept
and make her head stop hurting. She drank another big gulp as she walked back to the bedroom.
Setting the big mug on the nightstand, she spun the blinds to shut out more light. Then she climbed back into the cooler covers and wrapped herself around the sleeping Saj. He whined again, a quiet little fussiness.
Saj’s little hand grasped hers and then his fussing stopped. “Love you, Saj.” She closed her eyes and in minutes her consciousness had faded to darkness.
Saj twitched, jerking Lizzie from her dreams. His legs continued to tense and wiggle. Was he running? She tried to go back to sleep. But now the question of what was going on and if the power was out all over the city or just her building or block, kept her mind turning. No power meant no heat, no internet. Not that what they currently called the net wasn’t already a slim shadow of its former self.
Glen suspected that someone in Provo had control over what came in. He seemed to have more access to what was happening in the outside world. And the outside world did still exist. The pandemic had not killed off humanity, instead it had thinned it. Like when they logged and left a few trees to naturally reseed the forest. Was that what she was going to be? A fucking tree spreading seeds. She giggled at the picture of her standing naked in the forest.
Saj squirmed and she felt warmth on her growing belly. Saj was peeing. How soon before the disposable diapers were all gone? She better be done having kids by then.
Mama had thought she’d do cloth diapers with her little brother Jason. It had lasted about two weeks. And Lizzie had washed most of the shitty diapers. She understood the environmental impact of the diapers and maybe by the time her baby came, she’d feel different. But for now, disposable diapers were easy. Until they got so saturated that the pee just slipped by when they couldn’t absorb anymore.
She sighed and tossed back the covers. If she was lucky the sheets and blankets weren’t wet. No power meant no laundry and she didn’t really want to sleep in a bed that smelled like urine. Lizzie slid a clean diaper under Saj’s butt and ripped the Velcro tabs off the wet one. Saj woke when she exposed his skin to the cold air. And he responded again. Lizzie managed to avoid the stream as it arced across the bed and onto the sheets. Damn. She was definitely going to have to do laundry when the power came back on. Then it hit her. What if the power wasn’t coming back on? Not this time. Maybe not ever.
Deserted Lands (Book 2): Straight Into Darkness Page 19
