by Coralee June
There was something magical about feeling that desired. It emboldened me, making me feel sexy and needed all at once. “I’ve been thinking about this since last night. All I’ve wanted to do was slide into you. Make you feel how perfect we are together,” Kemper said. Everything felt like a dream. I supposed that some parts of me were nervous that my guys would shy away from the intensity of last night. But seeing Kemper worship every inch of my skin was reassuring.
“I need you,” I whispered. My voice was barely audible, and my tone was breathless. The straightening serum Jules used on my hair back at Madam B's brothel had started to fade, and my wavy locks covered my shoulders. Kemper had always liked my wild hair, and I appreciated how he ran his fingers along each curl. Like the bleached hair was something to be cherished. Jules promised me that she’d return it to my natural color once we had a moment to breathe.
“What are you thinking about?” Kemper asked, and I almost laughed at myself for being so trivial in the middle of exploring Kemper.
“My hair. I want to feel like myself again,” I replied with a whisper before leaning up and kissing Kemper, ignoring my taste on his tongue and my morning breath. Our kiss was all about need, our driving desire to connect in every way possible.
“You could shave it all off, and I’d still find you fucking irresistible,” he said on an exhale before diving in to nibble my neck.
“Kemper?” I asked. We’d once discussed how perfection was an addiction to him, and I needed to know if he was prepared to go all the way with me. Would he stop and demand flowers or a perfect moonlit night? “I need you inside of me,” I said before parting my thighs further for him to settle between them.
I felt Kemper smile against my skin, and he pressed against me, teasing my entrance with his presence without fully entering me. “I’m trying to savor this, and you’re making it difficult to go slow.”
But that was the problem, I didn’t want him to go slow. The empire was ending, and we didn’t know how much time we had. I wanted him now. I wanted to know that I’d get to experience all of my men before this fucked up world ripped them from my shaking fingers.
“Then don’t,” I replied while arching my back, pushing on him with my hips. My movements earned me a guttural growl from his throat. My heated words, combined with the way my body instinctively responded to him, forced Kemper to meet my challenge. He didn’t waste a second more and slowly slid inside of me.
The way our bodies clashed in perfect rhythm was bliss. He sucked on my neck, growling against my skin in a primal way I hadn’t expected from the kind and blushing Kemper I first met. I used to think he was the shy type but later learned that he had words that could make my blood boil, and now that we were joined, his teasing lips on mine were doing all the talking without saying a word.
He started to move faster and faster, pounding into me with an intensity that had me buzzing. Each kiss, each driving thrust was perfection. I met his tempo while gazing into his blue eyes, savoring every single ounce of this moment. I knew that, despite an unknown future, I’d always have this—I’d always have him.
I bit my lip as he reached down to tease my clit, and he slowed his pace. “I love it when you bite your lip,” he said distractedly. “Makes me think of how your mouth would look wrapped around my cock.”
His words were like throwing gas on a flame, taking his already skilled fingers to entirely new heights. “You like it when I talk to you like that, don’t you?” he teased. He wasn’t wrong. It was one of the things I liked most about my physical relationship with Kemper. His husky words could bring me to my knees. “You feel so good, Ash.” He was still circling my nub with his thumb, applying the perfect amount of pressure to make me squirm. His deep thrusts never once stopped, and the rhythm our bodies kept was intense.
“I’m so close,” I cried out, not caring that the tent was far from soundproof. I was too gone. My body felt lost to the sensations, rational thought fled my brain, and the only thing I could do was feel Kemper.
“Come for me, Ash,” Kemper commanded. “Let me see you fall apart beneath me.”
His words and movements coaxed my climax out of me. Pleasure consumed every cell in my body. And after three more thrusts, Kemper followed me into bliss with his own orgasm.
“Kemper,” I said while wrapping my legs around his hips to keep him in place. He was growing soft inside of me, but I wasn’t quite ready to let go. I wanted to hold on to this moment forever, claim it and think of us for as long as I could.
“Yeah, Ash?” he asked before kissing my collarbone.
“This was perfect,” I replied. Perfection was something he craved, and although it was something we struggled through, I wanted him to know that this was precisely how I’d imagined it.
“Yeah,” Kemper began before brushing a strand of hair off my face. He was gazing lovingly into my eyes when he continued, “it was.”
Chapter Five
Kemper and I spent most of our morning together cuddling and chatting about our dreams for the future. It felt nice to pretend like we could plan for our lives together. It was well into the afternoon before we were ready to emerge from the tent. My body felt relaxed yet tender from our time together. I was surprised that no one bothered us but thankful too. Taking a few hours to escape into our love gave me the resolve I needed to dive into the day and approach all the problems we faced with a clear head.
I was headed towards the campfire when I saw Jacob. He was wearing a knowing smirk stretched so broad that it made me blush. “The just fucked looks good on you,” his mindspeak said. He didn’t even bother ripping it from his ears despite Jules’ gags and Thurst’s shiver of discomfort. I loved the public display of affection. I’d spent my entire life hiding my feelings for another, so having men that were so open about their love and attraction to me was addicting.
I still patted Jacob on the shoulder with a laugh. "Where are the others?" I asked. Thurst put a pot of water over the fire before responding.
"They went back to Dormas to look for a few more supplies. I had a small fever last night, probably from all this deadlands water. He thinks there might be a fever-reducing serum at the abandoned clinic still.”
Memories of my time at the camp with Lilly filtered through my mind. I quickly started scrounging the wooded area we were staying in, looking for the plant I knew would be just as effective. “What are you looking for?” Kemper asked.
“Willow, meadowsweet, or cramp bark. It helps with fevers and inflammation,” I answered distractedly. From the corner of my eye, I saw a proud grin cover his expression as he searched with me. Soon, I found a cluster of meadowsweet and brought it back towards the fire. It was abundant in the area.
I pulled the boiling water from the fire and poured some into a cup, then I removed the makeshift tea strainer I found from an abandoned home a week ago and put the herb in it before pouring the boiling water over it. “Let it cool, then drink it all. If you need more, let me know,” I said before handing the cup to Thurst with a small smile.
Jacob had been watching me, and his mindspeak spoke up. “Damn, I love this woman.”
My eyes flickered to Jules, and I half expected her to roll her eyes or make a quip about my abilities, but she looked introspective. “Could you teach me about that?” she finally asked while getting up to get a better look at the leftover herbs in my hands. “Could be good to know.”
“Yeah,” I replied in shock. Jules and I had slowly become friends, but she’d never outright asked for my help with anything. It made me bloom with an appreciation for Lilly once more. She had taught me a lot during my time in the deadlands, and I desperately wanted to know how she was doing.
“Don’t look so surprised. I like learning,” Jules replied while rolling her eyes before heading back to her seat beside Tallis.
Once we were all settled around the campfire, I watched Thurst with trepidation. I was dying to know what had happened to Hope. I could feel my concern for her burning in
the back of my throat, but instead of asking, I went a different direction.
“Do you know anyone from the Water Scavengers? I asked while sliding forward on my seat. Jacob was sitting beside me, rubbing little circles of reassurance on my lower back. “That’s actually where I learned how to do that. A woman named Lilly was a healer there and taught me.”
I knew I was clutching for whatever lead I could get. Thurst gave me a quizzical stare before glancing at Tallis like this conversation was unexpected. "I'm very familiar with that camp. We were on a supply run last week, and some of them had been captured."
At that, Tallis jerked his head up to stare at Thurst. "What do you mean captured?"
Thurst frowned. "I don't know what they're doing with them, but the last of Cavil's guards have been rounding up Scavengers and taking them. It’s...it’s what happened to Hope. Rumor has it that they're searching for someone. We were camped by the Dormas river when five of them overtook Bowden and me. They’re targeting children and anyone that’s a Water camp. They...they beat us within an inch of our life. We passed out, and when we woke up, she was gone."
Jacob’s mindspeak immediately blurted out Payne’s name. Word must have gotten out that Payne was the answer to the cure and that he was staying with Aarav in the Water camp. Did that mean they had Payne already? Despair clawed at my chest when I thought of a helpless Hope and Payne being poked and prodded by Cavil’s men.
"Thurst,” I began as tears filled my eyes. “I’m so sorry about Hope. We have to get her back. Did you see Aarav?" I asked.
"I can't remember his name, but I did see someone taken into custody a few days ago while we were hunting in the woods. There were women with him, but I didn't recognize Mia in the group. It was crowded though, and we were trying to get out of there as quickly as possible, so there's a chance she was with them, too." Jules immediately stood up in action, locking her knife into the waistband of her pants before grabbing Tallis’ hand.
"Where did you see them?" Jules asked. Once again, I admired the friendship she and Mia had developed during our time here. One moment Jules was trying to ignore us, and the next she was on a mission. I also stood, wordlessly providing her solidarity as I moved beside her. Tallis simply shook his head, like he wouldn't allow himself to hope. Luckily for him, Jules had enough determination for all of us.
"It was just outside of Lythe. They’re holding all of them there."
"We were just in Lythe. Passed through it to get here. It's nothing," I replied. I felt like what little lead we were holding onto had just disappeared. Kemper was standing outside the circle, all calm serenity from our morning together had fled his rigid stance. I looked at his lean figure, watching as he worked through the problem.
"Not many people know this," Thurst began, "but Lythe has an entire underground city. You can only access it through one point, but hundreds of people have been living there for years. That's where we saw the Scavengers taken."
"Could you take us to this underground city?" The moment my question left my lips, Jules yanked Tallis into a standing position. I watched her stroke his chest before looking at Thurst.
"I could," Thurst replied before coughing, "but it would be a mission that would certainly end in death. We can’t go, Ash.”
I would've laughed, but Jules beat me to it. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're all going to die. We need to get there, we're looking for the same person Cavil's men were looking for. And if they have the Eastern scavenger leader? Then I'm willing to bet they have Mia, too. Or she's nearby. From what little I saw, that man wouldn't let her out of his sight for a moment. We need you to take us." Tallis winced at Jules’ little speech, and I felt bad that Tallis was struggling so much with his self-worth. He had this lost look in his eyes as he stared about the empty empire. A few weeks ago, I’d accidentally walked in on Jules whispering frantically to Tallis that he hadn’t failed his people. It was ruining him to know his people were gone, and I knew that this was the only way to get them back.
Bowden and Thurst exchanged uneasy glances. "I don’t feel comfortable with you going. I’ve already lost...Hope..." Bowden said as he choked on his words.
“If Hope is there, we can bring her back,” I replied. I felt it in my gut that they were there, and I wanted nothing more than to storm this so-called underground city and get my people back. The two Scavengers exchanged one more glance, unconvinced that we would be successful. Finally, it was Tallis who spoke up.
“We’re going to get our people back,” he said, an air of finality that forced all the authority he had left through us all. “That’s an order.”
Bowden and Thurst let out sighs before responding, “Yes.” Despite it all, their loyalty ran deep.
Chapter Six
Once the others got back from Dormas without the fever-reducing medicine Thurst needed, we made quick work of explaining to them what the plan was. Both Thurst and Bowden did their best to describe to us what the underground city of Lythe was like, as well as explain how the entry worked, but there were still many unknowns. The most significant complication was that their information was obsolete if the people of Lythe were under a new rule.
At the edge, the upper portion of Lythe was a tunnel system. According to Bowden, you had to pay a hefty price to get in. We didn't have much, and the Dormas gold mines had been completely stripped bare of all resources in the short time that Cavil was in charge. Luckily, Jules had some of her mother's jewelry buried in the backyard of the old Black estate. She admitted that she put it there to hide it from me.
I loved her like a sister, but she was an odd girl.
It wasn't much, but desperate times meant that people were more desperate to take what they could. Jules assured us that it would get us in. I didn’t know much about jewelry, but I trusted she did.
I passed the time in the late afternoon with Huxley. We went off in the thick of the deadlands to spar a bit and warm up my tired muscles. It almost felt like before. When life was a waiting game, and I was using Huxley as a human punching bag to work through my frustrations. But it wasn’t the same. There wasn’t as much anger in my punches. The enemy was dead, I supposed. And now the threat lingering over me was no longer a breathing, living thing. It was a disease. It was destruction.
“Your form has gotten better,” Huxley gritted out. The moment we mentioned storming Lythe to save his ex-girlfriend, Mia, I expected him to go into one of his overprotective moods and try to keep me here. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was wary of him. I wouldn’t put it past Huxley to tie me to a tree while the others did all the work. He was determined to keep me safe.
“I’ve been practicing,” I replied before jabbing at him once more. He was angry, yes. Furious beads of sweat still traveled down his skin as he dove from my hits and blocked his face. But he didn’t shut down like before. He didn’t slip into his manic need to protect us all, and I wasn’t sure what that meant. “You gonna freak out on me, Hux?” I asked before lifting my foot up to connect it with his side. I was too slow, though. He caught it mid-air and held me there.
“What do you mean?” he asked before sliding his hands up my calf as he moved closer. And when the tips of his fingers connected with my thigh, I bent at the knee to wrap my leg around him all while he held me steady.
“Lythe will be dangerous. I’m just curious if I should worry about you doing something reckless. Or if you’re going to have an episode.” I kept my voice light so it didn’t sound like an insult. I genuinely did want to know how he was handling it.
Huxley let out a sigh before using his free hand to cup my cheek. His rough thumb brushed along my plump lip. “I haven’t had an episode in a while, Ash.”
“Why is that?”
“I like seeing you like this more than I don’t like the thought of you being in trouble, I suppose.”
He leaned down to hover his mouth above mine. I breathed in his minty breath. “Seeing me like what?” I asked.
“Seeing you grab life by t
he balls, little Walker.” Huxley closed the distance between us in a sweet kiss, molding his lips to mine with longing strokes that held an edge of desperation. The sweeping movements of his tongue made me want to drink him in, completely give in to the all-consuming fire that was Huxley.
With my leg still wrapped around his waist, I moved my body like the waves on the beaches of Ethros, crashing into him, pulling back just to give in to his pull again. My heart was still racing from our sparring, and my tired muscles heightened the entire experience. It was like we were working on our reserves, giving one another the last bits of ourselves as we fought with our kiss.
His dick was hard and thick, pulsing against his pants while grinding against me as I ached to wrap my other leg around him. He held me steady, using one hand to clutch my thigh firmly against his waist and the other at my neck. He was keeping me stable as he sucked on my bottom lip. Pride surged within me, and I liked that this was Huxley’s new way of coping with his incessant need to protect those that he loved.
I’d happily let him use me up till there was nothing left.
I groaned when his hand snaked up to grab my ass. My trousers were too restricting. I wanted to be bare to him. “You keep making noises like that, I’ll have to take you right here, little Walker,” he said before bending over to bite my shoulder, marking me with his sharp teeth as I groaned once more, this time with more enthusiasm. I wanted him to follow through on his threat.
“How long do we have before we leave?” he asked before letting my leg down, only to swoop me up into his arms to cradle me in his chest.
“An hour. Maybe a little longer,” I replied as he went deeper into the woods, keeping his eyes, the color of juniper, on me.
“Good. I think I could use the distraction.”
He found an area with soft grass, hidden by the lush, white forest. He laid me down before slipping his fingers through the loops of my pants and tugging them over my hips. “Now,” he began before pausing to stare at my creamy skin and trembling legs. I was shaky with my need for him. His eyes flashed to mine before he continued, “Just because I’m not going to fight it, doesn’t mean I’m not going to have some rules for you.” I quickly removed my shirt and bra then lifted up on my elbows to look at him as he tossed my pants off to the side.
