by L. A. Boruff
“Come here,” he said, softly offering me his hand. I went willingly, falling into his embrace, pressing myself up against his hard body.
Cavendish came to stand at my other side, sliding his fingers through mine. Denver moved in behind me, his chest against my back, as we stood looking out over the scorched town.
“What now?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“Now,” Zephyr said. “We find our happily ever after.”
Epilogue
Day 759
Fresh air.
Something so simple. A concept once taken for granted before the solar flare. There were days before we reached Subterranea when I never thought I’d inhale fresh air again. But here we are; adjusting to life inside Subterranea. A self-sustainable community beneath Cheyenne Mountain, in the old military installation.
It feels bittersweet being here without Marisol and Miles. But as Cavendish keeps reminding me, it’s okay to feel relief. Relief doesn’t diminish my grief. We made it. We get to live, and in doing so, we can honor those no longer here. Marisol. Miles. My parents. Everyone from our town. Friends. Family. Classmates. We get to live… for them.
But not everything is straightforward here. Every day, more survivors arrive at the huge reinforced steel doors. Resources won’t last forever—Dad taught me that much. The guys keep telling me not to worry, to enjoy the second chance we’ve been given. But I can’t help but wonder what happens when food becomes scarce and the bunks run out. Commander Dantry doesn’t like to talk about the future though; he prefers to focus on the here and now. On how we can contribute to Sub-T, as most people call this place. Zephyr is already training with the Guard, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he quickly works his way up the ranks. He’s busy, a lot. But he still makes time to hang out with me and the guys. We aren’t allowed to bunk together since we’re not married or family, which kind of sucks. I don’t sleep as well without Cavendish’s arms around me or being nestled between Zeph and Denver. And I see the way some of the girls in here look at them. Eyes hungry, lips pouty. Zeph finds the whole thing amusing, but I don’t.
They’re mine and I’m theirs.
Whatever the future holds, nothing will tear us apart.
Nothing.
K.
The End
Thank you for reading Scorchlands. For more reverse harem romance stories by Grace White click here
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About the Author
Grace White is the paranormal pseudonym of romance writer, L A Cotton.
She resides in the UK with her family, and lives for binge watching series on her Firestick, losing herself in a good book, and reliving her younger days through trashy teenage movies ... not necessarily in that order.
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Dust and Chocolate
A Callisto Universe Novella
Rhiannon Lee
Dust and Chocolate
The green rays of Jupiter’s moon, Callisto, made the otherwise bright red lipstick appear black under its light. When Aaron tried to smear a swatch down the back of her hand, it left a faint streak, nowhere near the dark line she expected from such a risky color. Pulling it up to her face, she squinted and held her hand over the spot to block out some of the moon’s cast. It wasn’t even red anymore, just a sad mark of pink. She shook her head, and for a moment she paused and considered trying to salvage the maimed tube anyway. Even in its worn and dented state it tried to catch the light and shine, but it had long since turned into a strange, hard waxy substance that wasn’t anything like they designed it to be. Even looking past the tiny pebble and specks of dirt embedded in its crimson surface, however, it was still a glaring reminder of who she used to be; and she didn’t appreciate those memories being waved in her face. Her forehead and lips scrunched into hard lines of contempt as a tinge of hate unfurled in her gut.
With a flick of her hand, she tossed the relic into the pile of discarded rubble and sighed. Three useless days had ticked by since she’d found anything useful enough to bother with. She ran a hand down her arm to knock away the orange powder that covered any surface it could find, skin included. Since water was scarce, the hardened dirt took every chance to break apart and turn into a powdery dust that filled the air every time the wind moved.
Long past were the days of hot showers on a whim; now people tolerated a level of grime that would have driven them insane before. Shampoo, rinse, and repeat seemed like moot instructions when most people were struggling for water. Those standard directions were now a death curse, but maybe they were all along. Even now, some still pushed the limits, unable to grasp it would mean their death because there just wasn’t enough water to go around no matter how clever you were. Even the rich and powerful hadn’t been spared this sparse life of struggle in the blast's wake. Sure, a little extra water and soap hadn’t actually been the downfall of humankind, but it certainly didn’t help matters, especially since the declining ecosystem of Earth was what had sent them on this path to begin with. Aaron often thought about how stupid it was that the world had been destroyed anyway, and in the end it wasn’t the direct result of too many people wandering around eating out of plastic containers, or how many times you washed your hair, it had been people trying to fix it. If they had just left things alone, the situation would have still gotten worse, sure, but it would have been a million times better than this.
A group of magic users had decided it would be a great idea to band together and yank Jupiter’s moon from its home and place it in orbit above the Earth. The theory was that it would help with global warming by acting as our moon’s back-up since it could barely pull the tides anymore. Plus, there was too much rising meltwater caused by humanity’s damage on the ecosystem. It was more complicated than that, but their main argument was that it would stave off the consequences of the destruction people had inflicted upon the planet. Too many manufacturing plants and an exploding population had taken its toll on the atmosphere, which was also breaking apart. Everyone should have realized an easy fix wasn’t going to reverse decades of abuse, but desperation sometimes caused people to do stupid things.
Aaron, however, was too busy worrying about the price of brand-named shoes, or the plethora of high-end hair care products she needed to keep the ever-increasing humidity from ruining her carefully styled blond hair to give a crap about anything happening in politics, or the world of evil magical overlords. She wasn’t sure if it would have made a difference, but she wished she wasn’t so shallow back then. It had been a hard and quick lesson once things went wrong and Jupiter’s moon blasted a beam of murderous light across the surface of the planet, killing nearly everyone in its path. She survived, but no one she loved had made it. A magical power would have been nice to have on days like this one to help scavenge, but Aaron was born completely normal. It was rumored that the blast wiped most of them out, targeting magic users specifically. Considering the damage they had done, it was probably for the best.
She kicked an empty milk jug and turned around. It was time to head home and stop thinking about the past. While she had enough supplies to last a long while, years even, Aaron didn’t like to take chances after witnessing others tear each other apart—literally—for goods. Luckily, most of the aggression caused in the aftermath had died down as the number of survivors thinned out because of fighting and things like starvation and infection, since there were no more handy pharmacies on each corner. The need to hide and live eventually outweighed the shock of what had happened to all of us. Unfo
rtunately, that also made some survivors more vicious. They lived to steal from others and were free to torment innocents because they went unchecked.
“One last stop and then home,” Aaron told herself as she picked up her boots and headed toward the bright moss colored orb that had changed her entire world. It was hanging in the night sky, lighting her way, so she kept the long metal police-styled flashlight tucked into the strap on her thigh. The thought of her situation made her chuckle at the ridiculousness of depending on something that had caused so much suffering.
She still had to be careful though, because the ground wasn’t as stable anymore. Sinkholes, tunnels, and metal hatches dotted the terrain as survivors burrowed into the hardening Earth and escaped the world above out of fear that Callisto would send another blast and wipe out the rest of the population. Or they were running from the corruption and lawlessness they were powerless to stop at the hands of the cruel. Many who took refuge underground never came above anymore, content to live their lives in the shelter of darkness. The number of makeshift homes gave the impression that there were more people than in truth. Most had been raided, the occupants left for dead, or the clever ones had found better hiding spots. She shivered at the thought of what humanity would become if the trend continued. Images of cave dwelling sea creatures with milky eyes and colorless bodies danced through her head. She hoped people wouldn’t evolve into things that functioned better in the dark, but considering everything that had happened, she was prepared for the worst.
A sudden chill ran across her arms and neck, making the hairs stand on end, and she stopped to scout her surroundings. She’d learned a long time ago to listen to her gut—it’s what had kept her alive this long.
When she heard shuffling, she pulled her favorite blue handle switchblade from the sheath on her hip and walked over to investigate. All she found was a nest of rats scuttling under a piece of discarded wood that was so thin from wear it looked like cardboard. The nagging feeling of being watched still laid heavy across her back, but she had spent enough time dawdling and risking exposure, and for what? If she found danger, she didn’t want it. Best to keep going and leave it alone, she told herself.
Aaron picked her boots back up and headed toward the only place she felt welcome besides her own little hovel. She had worked very hard on piecing her own home together—not so much for the aesthetic, because the metal flooring and walls left something to be desired, but because she took pride in how cleverly hidden she'd made the entrance. She kept it in the forefront of her mind and played with various ideas on how to make it even better as she walked across the hard, uneven earth that tried to trip her whenever she got too lost in her head. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the cracks were evenly spaced. Their depths were hidden in the shadows of the night, playing tricks on weary travelers. Aaron missed the lush greens and blues of the world from before the disaster, but the more she dwelled, the sadder it made her, so she shoved the thoughts to the back of her mind and continued crafting mental plans for the here and now. Anticipation at being in Jace's company was doing a wonderful job of lifting her out of her memories, so she let that warmth take the lead and fill her heart and mind.
She continued trekking through the night without stopping. By the time she looked up, she recognized that hours had passed because the moons had shifted their places above her. The green tint of the world around her had grown into a deeper emerald because Callisto now hung below Earth’s moon. She had memorized the way the boulders rose and fell across the horizon in this otherwise empty pocket of land, so she would always be able to find her way through to her friend’s home beneath them. If someone didn’t know where to look, they’d never find the entrance. But that was the idea.
At a slight gap in the formations, the second rock from the right slid under her outstretched hand as her body came to a stop. She used her hand to locate the top and the groove she had etched into her memory long ago. Then, she ran her palm straight down the side and slid her fingers into the crevice that housed the only thing that would open the door. She felt a cool metal handle and tucked two fingers into it before pulling the latch toward her just like Jace had taught her to do.
The door that was set into the earth gave way and opened upward, revealing a light. She heard a shuffling of feet and knew he’d be there with weapons in hand. While he had known that she’d be coming around this way, set schedules did not exist in the new world, especially when scavenging or exploring were involved. When you found nothing, it seemed to take a lot more time out of your day or night.
“Aaron?” Jace whispered her name from down below.
She couldn’t help the grin that took over her features. She’d been by herself too long, the loneliness getting to her, and she hadn’t even been aware of it until she’d met him. Now that he was within touching distance, an invisible weight fell from her shoulders.
“Yeah, it’s me. You can put the knife down.”
She heard a chuckle as he came into view. His once handsome features were marred with a long scar that ran from his forehead down the side of his strong chiseled nose, but to her it seemed to add to his attractiveness, not take away from it. It gave him a manly ruggedness that screamed survivor and brought focus to his long-lashed amber eyes.
She’d seen his features go hard more times than she could count, but those gazes were never pointed at her.
“Are you going to stay this time?” he asked as his lips playfully tilted up on one side.
She huffed and jumped down into the hole beside him. It was only a short distance from the surface, no ladder required, but that only lasted for a few feet before the tunnel began to tilt farther into the ground. The entrance to Jace’s home was long and narrow, ensuring only one person could come through at a time. He was clever and paranoid, but it kept him alive.
As soon as her boots hit the ground and sent the dirt flying, Jace’s arms stabilized her by pulling her close. She heard him suck in air and knew he was drawing in her scent.
“I missed you too, you sentimental fool,” she greeted. She allowed him to linger for a moment before pushing out of his arms and heading down the tunnel.
After settling against the small kitchen counter, Aaron popped a small bite of candy into her mouth. Jace’s finger ticked against his thigh as he watched her eat a second piece. She knew his restraint was wearing thin, so with a single finger and a raised eyebrow, she beckoned. He closed the distance in a blur and slid his fingers through Aaron’s hair and pulled her to him. The taste of chocolate lingered, adding a rich, sugary flavor to her already sweet lips. He hardened against her stomach as he probed her mouth with the skill of a well-versed lover. He began slowly, mercilessly teasing her with each thrust that matched his urgent heartbeats. Once he was sure she would stay locked to him, he moved his hands down her arms, expertly squeezing the aches from her muscles every few inches. She moaned into his mouth when he got to her lower arms and massaged the tight knots that formed from her constant movement in her search for supplies. Aaron’s body was quickly turning to putty in his skilled hands, and she was enjoying every moment of it.
Her eyes closed halfway under his ministrations, his bare skin pressed against hers, bringing with it the promise of sleep that his attention was starting to lull her into.
She pulled back far enough to look into his eyes. “If you keep that up, I’m going to fall asleep, and that’s the last thing I want right now,” she whispered.
His fingers froze.
“That’s the last thing I want too,” he replied lowly, and grabbed the bottom of her shirt. He tugged it up and waited for her to lift her arms.
She considered stopping him to pull his clothes off first, but she knew he had missed her fiercely and needed to see her. Silently, she lifted her arms and helped him pull the stained top from her body. She hadn’t worn a bra in months, but she didn’t even care anymore. The loss of the constraining devices was a small, liberating perk to this destroyed world of theirs.
&nb
sp; As soon as her tender flesh was freed, her nipples hardened into peaks, pulling her skin taut and sending a flow of heat to her center. Jace stepped back so he could take her in and tilted his head.
“God, Aaron, you’re breathtaking even when you’re covered in dust,” he said with an upturn of his lips, and a hunger growing in his eyes.
Aaron used to love compliments; now they seemed pointless. She politely returned his grin and took a step forward to press herself against him once more. She wanted to feel him moving inside her, not hear his flowery words.
Her lips brushed against his in a silent plea to urge him on, but he moved back out of her range instead of returning her attention.
“It’s been weeks, I want to see you,” he pleaded, and Aaron was suddenly met with a rush of self-consciousness under his gaze.
Her arms moved up to cover her breasts, and Jace frowned. He shifted into her space and delicately gripped her face between his hands.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“There’s nothing wrong, it’s just… even after all this time I’m still not used to the way you look at me,” she replied.
Jace’s frown deepened. “I know you, and that’s not all, is it? What else is bothering you?”
