Talen

by Shay Savage

  “Hmm.” Aerin runs her hand over my stomach and then lower. She flicks open my jeans and then slides her hand inside, wrapping her fingers around my cock until I start to groan. “Looks like this part is up for it.”

  “That part is always up for it.”

  “I’ll just have to take care of the rest myself.”

  Without another word, Aerin straddles me and yanks my jeans down over my legs as I pull off my shirt, trying not to cringe too much. She quickly removes her own clothing and straddles me again, taking my cock in her hand once more.

  She lowers herself over me slowly, staring into my eyes the whole time. When I’m completely inside of her, she leans forward and kisses me hard as I grab her backside and press up against her.

  “Are you sure you want to do this now?” I ask and then let out a groan, partially from pain, partially from pleasure.

  “Yes.” She leans over and runs her fingers through my hair. “I need this, Talen. I need this right now, or I think I’m going to lose it.”

  I reach up and stroke the side of her face. We both need this. If even for only a moment, we need to forget everything that has happened in the past few hours.

  Leaning back, Aerin breaks the kiss and sits up, placing her hands on my chest for balance. She raises herself up on her knees and then lowers herself again at an agonizingly slow pace. She keeps this up for a few minutes, closing her eyes and uttering soft, gentle moans.

  I move only slightly, allowing her to take complete control as she rides me. She continues her slow, steady pace as she grinds down with every rise and fall. I reach up to cup her breasts, then run my hands down her sides. I caress her arms and her thighs and then move back to her hips. I want to touch every inch of her skin as she moves up and down, braced against my chest.

  I feel the buildup inside, starting with the tension in my abdomen and thighs. If I lay my head back and close my eyes, I will be able to hold back longer, but I can’t tear my gaze away from her. She’s wild and glorious, and I could watch her until the end of time.

  Aerin moans loudly as she grabs my shoulders and leans forward, moving with a quick, short tilting of her hips. I can feel her muscles tighten under my hands and around my cock.

  Grasping her hips a little tighter, I pull her against me as I push up, rocking my hips until the pressure becomes too much to control. Aerin leans forward, matching my movements until I shudder as I come deep inside of her.

  She drops against my chest, breathing heavily. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close to me as I softly kiss her throat.

  “I love you,” I whisper against her neck. “I love you so much, Aerin.”

  “I love you too, Talen. Always.”

  Tomorrow, we’ll reach our friends. Soon after that, we’ll begin the trek north and a new life. I don’t know what lies ahead of us. I have no idea if we’ll even survive. I do know we have a long journey, and it will be a lot of work to start a new community in an unfamiliar landscape.

  Whatever comes next, I’m ready to leave my demons behind and face whatever comes next with Aerin by my side.

  Epilogue

  I duck down and maneuver my way out of a short, snow-packed tunnel and into the bright sunshine, shielding my eyes with my hand as I exit the ice house. I look around at the other abodes, all circling the longhouse in the center of the village. Near the entrance is an evergreen tree, planted by Milo to remember those we lost in the Plastictown fire.

  It’s hard to believe we’ve been here for over a year already.

  We had spent weeks traveling north. Luther would scout out ahead, sometimes with another, find a place for us to rest and recuperate, and then we would continue on. The farther we went, the colder it got until we were caught in a snowstorm.

  We nearly froze to death.

  I see movement at the entrance to the longhouse, and Isaac—the man who found us in the snowstorm and led us back to his village, saving us all—makes his way out. He has Luther with him along with their hunting gear. It will be good to have some fresh meat now that the latest storm has passed.

  The people here in the north are not Naughts or Thaves; they’re just people surviving in a harsh landscape. We fit in well, and they have always seemed happy for the additional hands to help feed all the hungry mouths and more able bodies to help out with what needs to be done.

  “You’re up early.” Aerin joins me, also shading her eyes from the bright sun. She looks toward Isaac and Luther and then back at me. “Are you going to join them?”

  “Not today.” I give her a wide grin. “I’m better at finding stationary things than I am at catching moving targets.”

  “You mean you’re a shit hunter and get in their way.”

  “Pretty much.”

  Luxury items don’t exist here. Even the necessities aren’t plentiful, but everyone pitches in, and we survive. There is plenty of fish for protein if you know where to look, and we manage to collect enough edible plants to last us through the winter.

  Isaac and his people are friendly, and they welcomed us without question. It took a while to get used to their trusting nature, but in the end, we’re all just here to live and survive. I’m grateful to him. We all are. Even Keller quieted down once he was built his own ice house.

  We all learned how to build our homes the way indigenous people in the arctic used to build them. It took a long time to get used to the constant cold, but we are safe here. We haven’t experienced an earthquake since we arrived. According to Isaac, the ground hasn’t shaken here for more than a decade.

  The longhouse in the center of the village serves as a community gathering place, and much of the winter months are spent there, using our body heat to keep warm and using the company to drive away the monotony of the stark, white landscape.

  Though I half expected him to return, we never again saw any sign of Will, Samuel’s young apprentice. Keller wanted to search for him, but Milo talked him out of it. I can only assume he perished out in the wilderness. We barely survived as a group, and a young man on his own didn’t stand a chance.

  Similarly, we don’t know what happened to any of the survivors of the Rock Mountain complex, including Aerin’s mother, Jennifer Kearny. The only thing I know for sure is that they never followed us north, and I’m content with that. I know Aerin is still hurt by her mother’s words and actions, but she doesn’t talk about it anymore. I hope she’s moved on. One of my biggest fears is that Aerin’s mother will return, and Aerin may be forced into the same, awful choice I had to make with my father.

  Even after a year of living here, I’m not sure what my role is. In Plastictown, I provided people with the things they couldn’t get for themselves. Here, there is no need for a lost and found.

  “What are you thinking about?” Aerin asks.

  “Just trying to figure out how I fit in,” I reply with a shrug. “I still don’t feel like I know my place.”

  “You help out with every task around here,” Aerin says, reminding me for at least the tenth time this month. “How many times did you go out during the storm when we were low on fuel? How many times have you kept the fire going at night so others could sleep?”

  “Everyone does those things.”

  “And everyone has a place here.”

  I roll my eyes. We’ve had this discussion before. According to Ava, I need to let go of my savior complex and just live my life. She’s probably right.

  Wind whips around the longhouse, catching the fresh snow and sending it flying into the air. The cold burns my cheeks, but at least here the ash isn’t so thick that no one can breathe.

  “Damn, it’s cold!” Aerin presses up close to me, and I wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Shouldn’t it start getting warmer soon?”

  “You’re the geologist,” I say. “You tell me.”

  “That’s a meteorologist. I don’t do that stuff.”

  “I guess we’ll both have to wait, then.”

  “At least the storm is over. That was a b
ig one.”

  “We made good use of the time.” I slide my hand down her back and grip her ass. “And I kept you warm.”

  “Hmm, yes you did.” She reaches up and kisses me briefly. “I think I understand why there are so many children here.”

  “You think so, huh?”

  “Well, there really is only one good way to keep warm.”

  Aerin reaches behind her and grabs my hand, removes it from her ass, and places it on her stomach. I smile as I stare out over the landscape, lost in my own thoughts until Aerin clears her throat.

  “What?” I ask, looking back at her.

  “Talen.” She raises an eyebrow and then presses my hand harder against her stomach.

  My eyes go wide as I stare down at my hand, finally comprehending Aerin’s gesture.

  “We got to start a new life here, Talen.” She smiles at me as she moves my hand back and forth over her belly. “Soon, we’ll have another new life.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Absolutely.” She glances down at our hands and bites down on her lower lip. “I’m a good three months late.”

  I stare open-mouthed at her stomach, unable to say a word.

  “You don’t like the idea?”

  “I’m speechless.”

  “Well, that’s a change of pace.” Aerin laughs, releases my hand, and wraps her arms around my neck. “But are you happy about it?”

  “Yeah,” I say quietly. I can hardly hear my own voice as I hold her slightly away from me so I can still look down.

  “That’s not exactly an exuberant response.” Aerin takes a step back and puts her hands on her hips. “I know we’ve never exactly talked about it, but—”

  “I’m fucking ecstatic!” I finally tear my eyes from her stomach long enough to look at her face. I smile so widely, it hurts my face.

  “Then you officially fit in as a soon-to-be-father,” she says, grinning.

  My heart stops for a second as I look at her.

  “What if I’m not any good at it?” I ask softly.

  “You will be. You’re already so good with Corey. He totally idolizes you.”

  “But, my father…”

  “Was an asshole.” Aerin strokes the side of my face. “You will never be anything like him. In fact, knowing what he was like will make you the best father ever.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  I take a deep breath. Maybe she’s right; she usually is. I certainly know what not to do as a father, and that could very well help me be better at parenting.

  I reach down, pick her up, and swing her around in a big circle.

  “We’re going to have a baby!” I scream for all to hear. I yell the words over and over again, spinning Aerin around until we’re both dizzy.

  Cheers rise up from the longhouse, and several of our companions come out to congratulate us. Ava squeals as she runs out of the longhouse with Layshell close behind, and they both hug us tightly.

  It doesn’t take long for half of the community to head over to us and offer their congratulations. Milo shakes my hand. Ava starts listing baby names. Aerin laughs as people come up to her, one by one, and pat her on the belly.

  All I can do is grin like an idiot as the wind tosses my hair around my face.

  Living in this brutal landscape is harsh. It’s a testimony to all we’ve overcome to get where we are. Our numbers are small, but we live as a true community where everyone helps one another, and our numbers are growing. From the ashes of Plastictown, we have risen.

  I reach out and pull Aerin against me. I look down into her beautiful, smiling face, cheeks tinged with red, and press my lips tightly against hers.

  I can’t stop smiling.

  ~~The End~~

  More Books by Shay Savage

  Evan Arden Series:

  Otherwise Alone

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  She’s lost; she’s cute, and he can’t resist the temptation of luring her into his bed. Why not? It’s been ages, and he is Otherwise Alone.

  Otherwise Occupied

  Evan Arden is a hit man for a Chicago mob boss and moves through life with darkness in his soul and a gun in his hand. Those who know him for what he is fear him, and those who find out the hard way never get a chance to tell anyone else. The few people who get a glimpse inside his head wish they never had. A merciless killer, his only loyalty resides with his employer, the man who calls the shots that rain from Evan’s weapon.

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  He’s struggling to forget his past and to keep himself Otherwise Occupied.

  Otherwise Unharmed

  After Evan Arden was imprisoned by the enemy for a year and a half, he returned from the desert as a military hero. He’d suffered some minor injuries during his captivity, was discharged from the Marines with a touch of shellshock, but was considered otherwise unharmed. Now he wonders how he ended up where he is—incarcerated in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center for using his sharpshooting expertise to take out the neighborhood park with a high-powered sniper rifle and multiple rounds of ammunition.

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  Isolated

  Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome. The mantra is good enough for the Marines; it’s good enough for me. Improvise . . . Near the top of the world, I fight for my life against my opponent, Sebastian Stark. He has the upper hand in strength, but I have the cunning to turn the tables on him. I battle the elements, my demons, and him until Stark and I manage to strike a deal to ensure freedom for us both—and the women we love.

  Adapt . . . Being alone comes naturally to me. I’ve spent most of my life alone. Sharing my experiences, opening up to another human being, developing a relationship—all these things are foreign to me. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even meant to be.