Grace

“You were stationed in Japan?”

I look at Travis with wide eyes as I wipe the breadcrumbs off my lower lip.

“Yup.” He lies down on the mat outside the tent and folds his arms beneath his head. “And in Syria and in Russia and China.”

I lie down as well and stare up at the sky above, which is starting to turn crimson. “You’ve been everywhere.”

“That was when there were still countries,” he says.

“But when the world started freezing over, countries ceased to exist, right?” I look at him. “That’s what Nancy said.”

Travis nods. “Everyone flocked to the equatorial tropics in hopes of surviving. No one could stop them. The lines between countries and races became blurred as humanity’s existence became threatened. That was both good and bad.”

“I’m sure some people were pissed,” I say.

“To keep the peace, soldiers from the remaining countries, now called zones, were put together. I was part of that force. On some level, we succeeded, but overall, we still failed. As more people died, fear rose, and people who are afraid do stupid things. Fear turns people into animals. Wars broke out, but a bigger battle was coming.”

“The flood.”

“The scientists predicted it, and so they began work on the Vessel. Everyone who was deemed vital to the future of humanity, along with the rich and powerful who paid for the construction of the Vessel, were brought on board. They would later be called the Pioneers.”

I touch my chin. “So that’s what Pioneer meant.”

“I was supposed to be on board,” Travis says.

“What?” I lift my head.

“My father was a politician, a prominent one from a wealthy family. My mother was a scientist. Naturally they had tickets to the Vessel, and by default, so did my brother and me.”

I remember that he spoke about a younger brother.

“But I couldn’t go,” Travis continues. “I couldn’t save myself when I had friends being left behind, when thousands were doomed to die. I guess that’s something Phil and I have in common.”

“How did you survive?” I ask him.

“Frankly, I don’t know. I remember floating around for days. Then I remember waking up inside a house. Someone saved me. An angel.”

“Who?”

“Angie,” he says. “I was saved and brought to Hope Creek just like you were. Angie and her father took care of me and nursed me back to health. Then Martin started teaching me about the dome.”

“And you and Angie fell in love.”

It’s not a question. I know they did.

Travis nods. “We got married, and you know the rest of the story.”

Yes, I do. “What happened to Martin?”

“He died a year after Angie did,” Travis answers. “His heart was probably more broken than mine.”

And is his heart still broken? I wonder. Or has he moved on like he said he did? What will happen to him after I leave him?

All those questions lead to one important one: Do I really want to leave Travis?

True, I may not have known him before, but I know him now. And he may not be my husband, but he’s still the man I was with—and in spite of everything, I enjoyed being with him.

I was happy.

Maybe that happiness was built on lies, but does that make it untrue? Does that mean it’s okay to throw it away?

“Hey.” He nudges my shoulder. “If you’re going to sleep, do it inside the tent.”

“I’m not falling asleep,” I tell him. “I’m just thinking.”

“About?”

“These past weeks.” I turn my head and reach for his hand. “I’ve never really had the chance to thank you for saving my life.”

He turns his head and our eyes meet.

“You’re welcome.” He squeezes my hand lightly. “You know, we might have given you a fake identity and all, but not everything in those past weeks was fake. Some of it was very real.”

Just like the warmth of the hand I’m holding now. Just like the longing I see in his eyes.

I swallow. “And what we have? Is it real?”

Travis lifts his head. “There’s only one way to find out.”

He crouches on top of me. His face hangs over mine as he holds my gaze. His smoldering eyes steal my breath and put me under a spell.

“Kiss me, Grace.”

At first, I stay still, unable to move. Then I place my hand behind his neck and bring his face down as I lift my head to meet it. My lips brush against his and my heart stops. My veins light up.

If this isn’t real, I don’t know what is.

I put my other hand behind his neck and kiss him back with the most genuine of passions burning in my body. I part my lips and his tongue slips in to give me a taste of heaven. My body leaves the mat and arches up against his.

I want him.

I want all of him.

I push Travis away, all the way off me and down on the mat. Then I climb on top of him and straddle his waist.

I hold his gaze as I sit on him. Something hard and hot presses against my softness and something sizzles inside me.

I bend over so that my face is directly above his. My hair cascades down and forms a veil over both.

I grind down and Travis lets out a gasp. His cock throbs and I gasp in turn.

He cups my cheeks and pulls me in for a kiss. Our tongues mingle as I keep rubbing against the bulge in his crotch, which quivers in response. Heat tingles between my legs and leaks out.

Travis lets go of my burning cheeks and grabs the other pair behind me. He squeezes them and grips them as he pulls me closer while lifting his hips to meet my motions. I moan against his mouth.

His hands slip beneath my pants to cup the mounds of flesh. My hands go to his hair and become entangled with the already jumbled tendrils.

One of his hands travels to the front and crawls beneath my underwear. It brushes against my pleasure nub and I pull my mouth away to let out something between a gasp and a cry.

I’d love nothing more than for him to tease that nub and play with it over and over until I’m out of my mind. But before I lose my mind, I’d like to play with him, too.

I reach beneath me to undo his belt and the buttons of his pants. I take out his cock, already hard and leaking, and Travis gasps.

I gaze down to stare at it as I wrap my fingers around it. The veins pulse against my palm.

I move between his legs and lower my head so that my face is hovering above his cock. I feel his fingers on my scalp, but he doesn’t pull me away.

I open my mouth and lick the tip of his cock, right where I see a drop of liquid glistening on the slit. He pulls at my hair. I bury the tip of my tongue into the slit and he lets out a string of curses as he shudders. A string of that glistening liquid trickles down the length of him and I lick it.

A little salty. A little bitter. But not bad.

I wrap my fingers around the base of his cock my lips around the tip. He pulls at my hair harder and my scalp stings.

I ignore it as I take as much of him as I can inside my mouth.

I’m not sure why I’m being so daring. Is it because I finally really know Travis?

All I know is that this feels right. And good.

I may be the one who’s sucking him and making him shudder, but I can feel my own veins buzzing. I’m getting just as wet as he is, and I’m not talking about the tears at the corners of my eyes.

I move my head up and down even as I struggle to breathe, even as my lips start to burn and my cheeks start to feel numb. His cock quivers against my tongue and his grunts and gasps fill the air.

Then he grips my hair particularly tight and lifts my head off him. My eyes meet his and I understand what he’s trying to say.

I crawl up and kiss him as he takes off my pants and my stained underwear. He grips my hips and enters me and I let out a cry.

Travis lifts himself up and kisses my neck as he stays still inside me. Then his lips find my pendant and kiss it reverently. He cups my breasts and I throw my head back as I shiver. He lifts my shirt and sucks one of them and I am lost.

He grips my butt and starts jerking his hips as his mouth finds mine anew. I grab his shoulders as moans spill out of my lips to be carried away by the breeze.

I can feel his cock going deep inside me, rubbing against me in ways it never has before, in ways I never thought possible.

My nails dig into his shoulders.

“Travis!” I cry out his name as the overwhelming pleasure causes my body to erupt.

I cling to him as I shake all over.

His hips move faster and finally stop as he, too, trembles and something warm shoots inside of me.

Then he stays perfectly still and I rest my head on his shoulder as I catch my breath. My heart beats against his chest.

Slowly, Travis lowers me onto the mat and as I look into his eyes, I see not just heat or desire but something deeper. It nearly makes my heart ache, but at the same time, it makes my chest swell with joy.

Can this be… love?

“I’d say what just happened was very real,” Travis says between pants. “Unless I was sleeping and it was a dream.”

I reach up to stroke his cheek.

I know. I feel it, too.

Travis is real. What we have is real. What I feel for him is real.

“I love you.” The words leave my lips of their own accord.

His lips curve into a smile and he rubs his nose against mine. “I love you.”

Our lips meet once more, this time briefly. Then he wraps his arms around me and I do the same. My eyes dart up to the evening sky, where the first stars are now out.

It doesn’t matter where we are. The evening sky remains the same. The stars still shine, oblivious to how the planet has changed.

“What happens now?” I whisper in Travis’s ear.

He lifts himself off me and brushes a few wisps of hair from my forehead. “You tell me. But we still have to get those parts.”

I nod. “I’ll still try to find out what happened to me, but if I can’t, that’s fine.”

Travis’s eyes narrow. “You won’t stay in the city?”

I shake my head and touch his cheek. “I’m going home with you.”

Because that’s what Hope Creek is. Home.

“Are you sure?”

I nod.

He plants a kiss on my forehead. “Then I suggest we get in and out of the city fast.”

I chuckle and give him a salute. “Yes, sir.”