by Coralee June
“Agrio,” Mia said with a grin as I made my way over to her. “We’ve got to stop saying goodbye like this.” I grinned at her. “The last time we said goodbye, I was in a wheelchair. Now I’m on bed rest eating baked beans like it was a gourmet meal.”
Once closer to her, I knelt down and placed my hand over hers. “Next time I see you, you’ll be chasing everyone around and keeping people on their toes. The end of the world hasn’t been very kind to you. But you’re a fighter, huh?”
Mia took another bite of beans and choked them down, gnawing on the metal spoon like it was made of cake. I would kill for some cake right about now. “That’s me. Strong as an ox. Cunning as a fox. And when I’m not dying of starvation and stab wounds, I’m pretty lethal, you know.”
I smiled and squeezed her hand before pulling away. “Keep an eye on Jules, will you? She can be a bit reckless. Tallis has been a good influence on her, but sometimes I wonder if she’s lost herself to all this...violence.” I looked up just as two men started practicing throwing knives. Tallis was teaching them about the proper angle.
“Nah, you’re wrong,” Mia began while eyeing the men with speculation. She twitched when one of them threw the sharp blade at the wall. I wondered if she was itching to get up and teach them how it was really done. My friend could throw circles around even the best. “Jules found herself in the violence. Tallis balances her. He kills when he has to but prefers peace. She forces him to let go of his guilt; he reins her in. They won’t need me.” She looked up at the concrete ceiling of the room like it held all the secrets of the empire. I patiently watched, knowing that my time to say goodbye would soon come to an end.
“Can you do me a favor?” Mia asked in a soft voice, and for the first time since knowing her, I heard a vulnerability in her tone that made me pause.
“Of course,” I replied.
She let out a huff of air like the words pained her to say. “Aarav. If you see him, can you tell him...I’m sorry? He’ll know what that means.” She wiped moisture from her eyes and caught me staring at her with pity. “The asshole is probably dead by now. But just in case…”
“If I see him, I’ll tell him,” I promised before standing. “See you soon, Mia.”
She smiled. “Promises, promises.”
When I got back outside, all my men were standing outside the transport. Patrick was leaning against the hood of it, arms crossed as he watched me approach. Huxley was standing by Jules, giving her some last minute instructions, probably something bossy along the lines of “don’t be stupid.”
Cyler and Maverick stopped talking to stare at me as Kemper checked over the solar panels on the roof of the transport. They looked determined and stunning. I swallowed, trying to wet my parched throat at the sight of them.
Jacob’s mindspeak blurted out a sweet sentiment that caught me off guard but warmed me all the same. “I love her. I really fucking love her.”
Everyone stopped, and I walked up to him, feeling weighed down by the tasks ahead of us, but also excited to feel purposeful and ready to meet the end of the empire with a fist. Once in front of Jacob, I cupped his cheek and leaned in close. “I love you too,” I whispered before lightly kissing his lips and pulling away.
“You all ready?” I asked, gauging each of their reactions, waiting for one of them to say it was too dangerous, or that I should stay behind where it was safe. Luckily, none of them did. We’d come a long way now. We were finally an equal unit.
“Let’s save Payne,” Patrick said with a steel voice.
“Let’s save the world,” Maverick added.
Yeah, let’s save the world.
Chapter Thirteen
We’d spent a lot of time in the transport over the last few weeks, so we were used to cramming into the bench seats, but by the second day of travel, I was started to get irritable. It was uncomfortable but better than walking. I sat between Jacob and Kemper and kept staring across from me at Cyler. I had my legs draped over Kemper’s lap, and he was rubbing little circles on my knee with his thumb. “How are we on fuel?” Kemper asked Cyler. We’d packed light so we could store fuel pods on the roof. Kemper rigged them to run on solar power so we didn’t have to stop for gas since most power stations were abandoned and empty.
“We’re doing good. Might have to stop soon and switch fuel cells.”
“I love you in dresses, but damn, Ash, these trousers are clinging to your thighs, and I think you should wear them more often,” Jacob’s mindspeak blurted out flirtatiously. Since we’d been confined to the transport, his mindspeak would occasionally go off with quips like that, most of them talking about how damn beautiful I was.
“God, I want you so bad,” he said again.
At first, the guys didn’t bother asking him to take out his mindspeak. The device was a part of our new normal, and over the last couple weeks, we’d gotten used to his blatant honesty and lack of control. It was refreshing and, most of the time, made us laugh. Not to mention, it was a welcome distraction from the leveled towns and roaming Walkers outside the transport. “I love you like a brother, but can you please, for the love of Dormas, take your mindspeak out?” Cyler begged while rubbing his temples. I flashed Cyler a cheeky grin.
“Why? Is it hard to hear me talk about Ash? The entire city of Lythe had to hear her moans a couple nights ago. Pretty sure Huxley almost killed anyone with ears,” Jacob said before ripping out his mindspeak and giving me an apologetic smile. I could feel the blush creeping up my chest and cheeks as I looked around the transport, taking in everyone’s heated expressions.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, though I wasn’t feeling very sorry at all. My night with Cyler Black was incredible. Our bodies worked in beautiful ways. It was everything I’d ever imagined. Cyler was attentive but wild and passionate. He took care of me while pushing me to my limits. My body flushed at the thought of it, and I had to swallow back the lust.
“Don’t be,” Patrick replied eagerly before giving Jacob a stern look. “Hell, I’d listen again.” I glanced at the playful Patrick just as he shifted in his seat. It was hard to see in the crowded transport, but I caught a glimpse of a growing erection straining against his pants. He grunted.
“You all are incorrigible. We’re on a rescue mission, and all you can think about is sex,” I joked. It was all I could think about, too. Maverick was resting his head against the transport window while staring at me, a heated look in his dark eyes that made me squeeze my thighs together. He looked like he wanted to eat me up, and in my current state, I’d let him.
It had been a while since we’d been able to travel alone. Usually, Tallis and Jules were with us. Now that it was finally just my men and me, everything felt more...tense...than before.
“Fuck, make her stop looking at me like that,” Mav said while closing his eyes. He lifted the rubber band on his wrist and snapped it. It was like he wanted to snap himself out of the haze we were all feeling. I immediately was brought back to our time at the Dormas Clinic, and all playfulness fled my body. I didn’t want Maverick’s attraction to me to be something he felt he needed to be punished for. He’d been beating himself up his entire life. We were young, in love. We didn’t have to feel bad for wanting each other just because the empire decided to fall apart.
“I want you too,” I whispered. My voice was soft, but the transport went so quiet that you could hear the shift in the air. Each breath felt like palpable tension, and we were suffocating on it. “If you touched me? I’d be wet. I’m dripping for each of you,” I coughed out, stumbling over my words. I wasn’t entirely confident. Though I was more experienced now and had the confidence I’d always been lacking, it didn’t mean that I was comfortable being so...brazen. My time at Madam B’s brothel had changed me, but I was still new to this—to us.
“You are trying to kill me, little Walker,” Huxley hissed out, his eyes zeroing in on my chest, which was moving up and down in slow, steady movements. I was trying to heave in as much air as possible, but it still di
dn’t feel like my lungs were expanding. I rubbed my legs together on Kemper's lap and went still when I felt his hardness there. I debated on moving away to give him space but, at the last second, decided to rub against him again. And again.
He gasped. “What a fucking way to go,” Kemper added to Huxley’s declaration before grabbing my thigh. “I can help you with that, by the way. My woman shouldn’t be left wanting.” Breathing was hard. Thinking was harder. All I could do was act. All I could do was grab Kemper’s hand and guide him up my thigh, leading him towards the spot that craved his touch.
“Oh hell,” Patrick growled before leaning to stare at me from across the transport. Running hands through his short, dirty blond hair, Kemper bit his lip as he cupped me over my jeans, jerking my hips open for better access. I nearly fell out of my seat at the movement, but Jacob wrapped his arms around my middle to keep me still. Jacob started kissing my neck, tracing swirls of skin with his tongue until his teeth were nipping at my jawline.
“Yes,” I whispered as Kemper started rubbing me over my trousers, making me a panting puddle of need in the fast-moving transport. I captured all of their attention, and I had to will my eyes to stay open so that I could see each and every one of their expressions. I wanted to save their hungry stares and lock it away in my heart.
The friction was restrictive but still caused a dull ripple of a sensual thrill to travel up my spine. I wanted to ease these tight pants over my hips and grant Kemper access to me. I wanted his strong fingers stroking my clit.
“That’s it! Stop the transport,” Jacob’s mindspeak said. We need to switch the fuel cells,” he said before reaching across the dash to put in a new destination. “See that abandoned farmhouse? We’re stopping,” his mindspeak added. I watched him adjust his pants while staring hungrily at me.
Cyler laughed. “Sure that’s safe? Could be Walkers.”
Jacob’s mindspeak replied. “I’ll do a fucking sweep.”
Everything was so heightened that I wasn’t sure what the deal was. Around me, everyone else seemed to know what was up with Jacob’s erratic behavior, but I was just worried that I had done something wrong. “Don’t give me that look, beautiful,” his mindspeak said. “I just think if I don’t get inside of you this very moment, I’m going to explode.”
More fire bloomed within me as the transport came to a stop. The guys filtered out one by one. Huxley and Cyler went to inspect the house while Maverick and Patrick helped Kemper unlatch the heavy fuel cells from the roof to switch them out. Jacob swept me up, bridal style, and carried me to the abandoned farmhouse. It had a wraparound porch, white chipped wood, and green shutters. He toted me up the steps as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “This is crazy. You’re really going to stop the transport for...sex?” I asked with a laugh. He set me down and pressed me against a post holding up the roof.
“He-hell yesss...I-I am,” he said. My mouth dropped open in shock at his stuttered words, laced heavily with lust. He then pressed his lips to mine, stroking his velvet tongue in tandem with me as footsteps approached nearby.
“Jacob?” Huxley called. I expected him to break our kiss, but still his lips didn’t part from mine. His mindspeak answered.
“Yes?”
“Place is clear. Even laid out a blanket for you. I’m not sure if this will make your constant thoughts about Ash worse or better but…”
Jacob didn’t give him a chance to finish that sentence. He broke our kiss and pulled away with a devilish grin before picking me up again and carrying me past the chuckling group of guys as he went. The moment we passed the door, he kicked it closed and started looking around.
“This isn’t good enough for my girl,” his mindspeak said.
I grabbed his cheek and turned his gaze back on me. “It’s perfect,” I whispered back.
“Thank fuck.”
He spotted a nearby kitchen table and walked me over to it then kissed me deeply while running his hands up and down my legs as his mindspeak continued to ramble. “You know how many times I watched you cook in our kitchen, imagining sitting you up on that table and eating you out?” He unbuttoned my pants and shoved them over my shaking thighs. “I bet if I touched your pussy, it would be dripping.” His fingers grazed the outside of my underwear, and he smiled. “You’re so wet. I can feel your heat, Ash.” Hooking his fingers behind the band of the material, he then pulled them down with the rest of my clothes.
The moment my pants and panties were gone, he extracted himself from me to undress, moving so fast that I couldn’t even take in the time to appreciate the show of having his body revealed to me. “You sure don’t waste a single second,” I observed before taking my shirt off.
“Time is a luxury we don’t have. I don’t want to waste this, Ash.” He stalked closer while grabbing himself. “Part those legs for me a bit wider,” his mindspeak instructed. I was so caught up in the moment that I did exactly as he said. We once joked that the mindspeak would be a hindrance in our intimate moments, but in actuality, his steamy commands and the hard line of his mouth was making everything electric.
He stood between my legs then brushed my hair out of my face before leaning in for a kiss once more, this time his lips crawled over mine in a leisurely pace, contradicting his sense of urgency. “So soft,” his mindspeak said. His teeth idled on my bottom lip, slowly sinking into them before tugging it. He then swept his warm tongue over mine, and I was consumed with the taste of vanilla. “This mouth is mine,” his mindspeak affirmed. Once again, the monotone voice was making the moment more intense. Hearing his reactions to me live-time emboldened me to scoot closer on the table and press against his hardness.
The moment our hot flesh touched, he reached up to rip out his mindspeak just before it let out a string of curses and a final, “Better take this thing out before I completely lose control.” I smiled against his lips and arched my back as he set the device on the table beside me.
Cupping my cheeks, he looked into my eyes and mouthed “okay?”
I nodded. With my permission, Jacob then moved his hands to grip my hips and sunk inside of me, letting out an appreciative hiss in the process. My lips parted, and my eyes widened. I felt so full.
Wrapping my arms around his back, I held him as close as possible to me, so that I could feel every last inch of his skin on mine. Droplets of sweat coated our skin as we moved, and each thrust had the old table creaking and shifting towards the wall. We peered deep into each other’s eyes as he pushed in and out, steady and hard.
Pleasure like an earthquake deep within me started building and building. With a gasp, ecstasy started to shoot from my solar plexus to every single cell in my body. There was nothing I could do but ride out the long, steady wave of bliss until I was thoroughly spent. And just before I relaxed on his shoulder, he finished, too. I gave him a lazy smile as his lips parted and eyes squeezed shut. He was so handsome, and so mine.
Jacob cleaned me up and cared for me like a gentleman. He cuddled me close on a blanket on the ground, without his mindspeak. We just traced our fingers along the grooves in each other's skin until the transport was ready. What we did was wild and reckless. We didn’t really have the time, and it’s pretty dangerous for random romps in farmhouses.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Everyone was waiting with wide grins of approval when we got out of the house. Naturally, Patrick even cheered. I glanced at Jacob to see his expression and was overjoyed to see the charming, confident ladies’ man I knew before Ethros. He had an extra swagger to his walk that wasn’t there before.
Kemper triple checked the fuel cells, and we all got inside the transport to leave. Jacob reached for his mindspeak, but Cyler grabbed his wrist. “Sorry, Brother. I love you, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to listen to you talk about how good you fucked our girl for the next six hours.”
We all laughed as Jacob put it in anyway. The first thing his mindspeak said made a blush travel all the way from my head to my
feet. “Next time, I want to taste her.”
Chapter Fourteen
Crunch.
Metal bent and groaned in anger. One minute we were all chatting and laughing. Our spirits were high with hope at seeing Payne in a couple of hours. I remembered looking at Cyler before the Transport jerked to the right with a harsh jolt and started rolling. It all happened so fast that I couldn’t breathe. I tumbled around the transport while trying to orient myself. I wasn’t buckled and immediately hit the ceiling with my head. My teeth rattled as we spun, I clenched every muscle in my body, and I was sure my palms were bloody from my nails digging into them. My knee hit something hard, and I screamed. We were still tumbling.
A pair of arms wrapped around my waist, and I was pulled into Jacob’s muscular chest. “Hold on!” Patrick screamed as Cyler worked the control panel, trying his best to steady the transport, but it was too late. We were rolling, the hovering mechanism spasming on the dirt road, as rocks flew around us. I glanced outside while a rolling need to vomit hit me in the gut. The empire tipped on its side outside our window, and we were helpless to stop it.
I wanted to scream. Could feel the urge simmering in my chest, but I was gritting my teeth so hard that I didn't. I was clamping my jaw down like it was the only thing keeping me from losing my internal organs. I could feel pressure blooming on my body from where Jacob was gripping me hard. I sucked in as much air as I could just as the transport nose-dived into the dirt. The force knocked me out of Jacob’s arms and sent me flying into Huxley, who was sitting across from him. My chest collided with his and my head hit the window behind him with a crack.
I didn’t fade out of consciousness—it was a snap. A breaking sensation that left me seeing nothing but black.
“Please wake up, baby. Please, please. Open those beautiful eyes of yours,” a voice cried out. I was being cradled against a muscular chest. I could tell that I was shaking, but it wasn’t my muscles trembling from the stress and pain. Whoever was holding me trembled. I heard crying. Sobbing. Despair like a vice wrapped around my neck. I bet I could choke on the pain.
