The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion Book 2) (12 page)

“So what do they do?” she wondered aloud, indicating the bustle around her. “People who don’t have assigned jobs. How do they busy themselves? All day? The streets are always so full.”

Pulling her up to his side, then releasing her hand, Torran said, “I’m not sure, honestly. I suppose most are looking for food other than the rations. Maybe clothes. Equipment. Making credits any way they can. Or maybe they’re visiting friends. Shagging.”

“Shagging?” Lindsey laughed at that comment. “I suppose that makes a lot of sense. Especially with men being so outnumbered by women, I’m sure a lot of you guys keep really busy.”

Torran chuckled. “Well, yeah.”

Lightly gripping her arm, he tugged her into what may have once been an alley, but was now a walking path. It wasn’t as congested as the main road and led to a steel staircase. Tilting her head, Lindsey saw the monorail station looming ahead. The entrance wasn’t closed off and people were walking along the narrow tracks.

“Ah, a shortcut,” she observed.

“I know a few around here.”

“So, you never told me what you’re doing on this side of town,” Lindsey noted. “Isn’t the Scottish borough on the other side of the city inside the Isles Sector?”

Torran patted the leather bag hanging from his shoulder. “I was picking up some supplies, actually. An old girlfriend got me hooked on tortillas.” Flipping up the flap, he revealed two packs of the delicacy.

“You walked all this way for tortillas?”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely.”

Intrigued, Lindsey said, “So are they good?”

“You’ve never had tortillas?”

Shaking her head, Lindsey hoped he’d maybe offer her one. She was a little hungry.

“Well, if you like I can make you a taco sometime.” Then, as if expecting rejection, he said, “No strings attached, of course.”

“Strings are fine actually,” Lindsey replied, surprising herself a bit. He was definitely her type with a long, leanly muscular build and dark hair.

“Oh?” Torran gave this thought. “Oh, well. That’s good.”

“I mean, if you want to attach strings, that is.” Lindsey felt her cheeks flush, not quite sure where she was going with the conversation. “Friendship strings.”

“Friendship strings are good. But I am single. I was sorta seeing this one girl, but she wanted too much.”

“Oh, she was getting too serious?”

“Well, she wanted me to get serious with her and her four sisters.”

Clanking up the steps toward the monorail station, Lindsey lifted an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Well, with the man shortage she felt it was only right for her to share me with her sisters. They even had a schedule worked out. Including...conceiving babies.” Torran winced at the last word.

Hesitating on a step, Lindsey stared at Torran with wide eyes. “You could have had five women at your beck and call and you turned it down.
Really?”

“No, no, you’re seeing it
wrong
. I would have been at
their
beck and call. Besides, I’m just not wired up that way.” Torran slipped by her and continued up toward the monorail station, his long dark coat swinging around his frame. “I’m a one gal bloke.”

“Ah. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I just dumped my boyfriend because he felt I should be willing to share, too.”

Lindsey joined Torran at the top of the steps and gazed out over The Bastion. The view took her breath away. It was so vast, so gloomy, and yet so filled with life. And that life would hopefully continue. Thanks to the Inferi Boon, there was a chance now. It filled her with optimism, yet left her yearning for more.

“So you weren’t into sharing?” Torran asked, pulling her attention back to him.

“Well, I, like a lot of women of my age, like to fool around. I’ve had my fair share of fun. And I also recognize that men have the upper hand when it comes to actual relationships. But Vaja seemed different. He was really into me and we had a lot of mutual interests. We met on one of the social feeds and it seemed like we could make a strong go of it. So I let Vaja move in with me. I shared my life with him. I expected him to share his with me. I thought that was our arrangement.”

“And it wasn’t?”

“Not on his end. He has three other girlfriends in different parts of the city. He likes to live with one girlfriend for a bit, then move on to the next. When he moved in with me, he didn’t tell me I was girlfriend number four. And when he finally did...” Lindsey thought of Dwayne risking everything to save Maria. She’d seen the love in his eyes when he spoke to Maria over the comm. Was it too much to want the same? “It wasn’t enough. Now, if he had just wanted to fuck around on occasion and had told me that from the beginning, it would have been a different story. I might have considered it.”

“Gotcha.” Torran regarded her thoughtfully. “Maybe he thought you loved him too much to turn down his proposed arrangement.”

“I liked him. I didn’t love him. I realized that when it was really easy to show him the door.”

“You’re tough. I knew I liked you for a reason.”

“Other than I look amazing in combat gear?” Lindsey teased.

“Oh, that’s a big reason, too.”

Torran strode onto the track platform and sauntered after a group of young people. The tracks had curved sides and handrails to keep people from falling. Even though the intention of the builders was for The Bastion to flourish, there had been some anticipation of difficulties. Making the tracks safe for walking traffic if the grid was down was one of the smarter things the engineers had done. Only a few tracks were powered, and those were used by the military and government. Lindsey kept pace with him, walking at his side. They strolled along in silence for a bit, listening to the patter of the many feet pounding against the walkway. The sun was low on the horizon and soon the streetlamps would be turning on. Down below was the ceaseless chatter of people and the announcements from the drones.

“So, how is the leg?” Torran asked abruptly.

“Fine, now that it’s all new hardware,” Lindsey replied. “Seriously, you remember my limp after meeting me just once?”

“I thought it was odd that you were a hero of The Bastion, but yet disabled.”

The anger returned, but Lindsey fought to keep it under control. “It was done purposefully. Apparently, some higher ups decided that the civilians would be comforted by seeing veterans of the big push with war wounds.”

“That’s fuckin’ crass,” Torran muttered.

“I was told they didn’t have the resources allocated. Instead it was all a publicity thing.” Pressing her lips together, Lindsey again felt remorse that she’d help save the presidency of the man who had ordered her to be disabled for over a year. Of course, it would have been worse if Admiral Kirkpatrick had taken over. “The procedure was recently sanctioned so I could be a shining example of our situation improving. New leg. New hope. As always, the government uses us for their propaganda. They’re as bad as the SWD.” She instantly regretted her words and looked at him sharply. For months she’d hated the SWD as an entity, but now she had to remember that individuals made up the organization, and she rather liked one of them.

Torran hesitated in his steps, allowing the people behind him to push past. Lindsey joined him next to the handrail. Tilting his head to look down at her, he said, “I may be a part of the SWD, but I serve The Bastion.”

“I didn’t mean that you’re—”

“Remember, I was part of the failed final push, too. I watched my squad get wiped out when the expansion perimeter collapsed. I barely made it to the wall and ascended the rappel lines to safety.”

“I remember you saying that. I’m sorry if I made you feel that I don’t appreciate what you’ve done. I do remember how awful it was. I remember the sacrifices people made.” Knowing that Torran had been a part of the final push did make a difference to her. It meant he understood what she’d seen and endured.

“We lost a lot of good people that day, Lindsey.”

“We did.” Lindsey remembered Ryan sacrificing himself so that she and Maria could survive.

Torran continued: “And we lost a lot of good people
afterward
. I don’t want to see that happen again.”

Blinking against the sun reflecting off the glass and metal of the towering government buildings, Lindsey asked in a soft voice, “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I like you. And I know that the SWD is not everyone’s favorite organization. Especially right now.” Torran gazed directly into her eyes. “I don’t approve of using people’s injuries as propaganda, I don’t approve of altering people without their consent even if it’s to save humanity, and I want to be a part of a positive change. I meant what I said over our meal earlier.”

“I admit you’re not a dick like most of the SWD personnel.”

“Blame my Constabulary roots,” Torran said with a laugh, then sobered. “The people working for the SWD want to save humanity, too. Maybe not the Admiral Kirkpatricks, but the rest of us.”

“You sound like you’re trying to sell me something,” Lindsey decided, placing one hand on her cocked hip.

“I am,” Torran admitted. “A chance to make you a taco.”

That elicited a giggle from her. “You’re doing okay so far.”

Torran grinned. “Excellent.”

Continuing on their trek home, Lindsey tucked her hands into the pockets of her coat. It had been a long time since she’d simply hung out with someone that wasn’t Vaja. She recognized now how much she had leaned on her ex after Maria had departed on her secret mission. Though she had been fine with throwing Vaja out, the emptiness that had suddenly filled her life after he abandoned her had been more depressing than she’d anticipated. The smattering of conversation with Torran during the rest of their journey to the Central Sector of the city was mostly small talk, but it was comforting.

The shortcut deposited them close to the alley where her small flat was located. Lindsey again cast a thoughtful look at sun the dipping below the mountain range. The streets weren’t as busy now that the citizens were sitting down to evening meals or watching shows on the vids.

“I’m over this way,” Lindsey said, and pointed to the rectangular box of a building she called home.

“Ah, okay. Well, thank you for the company on our long walk.”

“Did you really walk all that way for tortillas?”

“Well, not just tortillas.” Torran gave her a sheepish smile, and opened the bag again. Shoving the tortillas aside, he revealed a bottle filled with clear liquid. “Tequila. Very rare. Very expensive. The same ladies who make the tortillas also grow agave.”

“That’s
real
tequila?” Lindsey marveled at his connections. “Wow.”

Torran gave her a wide cocky grin. “I have refined tastes.”

Glancing at the door of her flat just a block away, Lindsey twisted her mouth to one side while pondering her next move. Not one to play games or be coy, she made up her mind. “Want to come home with me?”

“Eh?” Torran regarded her as if he wasn’t quite sure what she was asking of him.

“Want to come home with me? Get
naked
? Have
sex
?” Lindsey raised her eyebrows, awaiting an answer.

“You’re after my tortillas and tequila,” Torran said, teasing her, but clearly interested.

“Maybe. But it was nice spending time with someone today and I don’t want it to end. Plus, you’re handsome and sexy with that gorgeous floppy hair which is completely not regulation, and you have cute freckles.”

“I do have cute freckles,” Torran agreed with a nod.

“No strings. Just... fun. I don’t have four sisters and I don’t want babies.”

“And I’m not looking to add a fourth girlfriend to my roster.”

“So... a shag... tequila... and tacos?”

“Yeah,” Torran said, with a toe-curling charming grin. “Yeah.”

Chapter 11

The flat was colder than Lindsey expected and she shivered upon entering. With the rolling blackouts there was no point in leaving the heat on anyway. The lights flicked on, revealing her small space, and Torran glanced around with interest.

“Do you have a flat outside the SWD Facility?” she asked shrugging off her coat.

“I had one, but lost it after the divorce. But that was also before the big push. I could have applied for a flat, but that’s when I decided to go ahead and retire, then enlist with the SWD.”

“So... divorced?” Lindsey hung up her coat in her small locker, then took Torran’s as he handed it over.

“Yeah. She decided she was the female Vaja.” Torran shrugged. “We were young, stupid, and got married far too young and far too fast. And also: the whole idea of a family flat was very appealing.”

“It’s how they get you to breed,” Lindsey commented with a smirk.

“It really is. Have a family. Get a bigger place. Sheer bribery.” Torran set his bag on her narrow counter. “So... tacos.”

“I don’t know if I have anything we can put in them.” Lindsey crouched to examine the contents of a small refrigerator.

“I do.” Torran pulled out the tortillas, tequila, and then a small padded container. With great flourish, he opened the container and showed her something that made her eyes widen in disbelief. Wrapped in strips of cloth were three brown eggs. “Am I amazing or what?”

“I’m so impressed right now.”

Setting the eggs aside, he drew out a small bag of spices. “So, eggs, spices, tortillas. Breakfast tacos. Maybe not like they used to exist, but...”

“Close enough.”

“Exactly.”

While Lindsey watched, Torran made them a nice little dinner of tacos and fried potatoes that Lindsey donated from her provisions. Sipping cinnamon tea spiked with tequila, they ate mostly in silence while the news feed on Lindsey’s computer related the latest updates and speculation.

“Are you going out there soon?” Torran asked.

“Beyond the wall?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going in for another physical, then I should be cleared for duty. I’ll get a new squad and probably start doing my duty out there. You?”

“Next week I get a new squad. Not quite sure how happy they’ll be to learn about my last two.”

“We’re soldiers. We know how it is. And if they don’t, they’ll learn.” Lindsey shoved the last of the taco into her mouth and relished the moistness of the eggs. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had real eggs.

Picking up the tequila bottle, Torran poured more liquor into her tea. “At least the future is brighter now than it was.”

Lindsey wasn’t sure if he was talking about the city or their newfound friendship. Giving him a long look from beneath her eyelashes, she sipped her tea. It was more cinnamon flavored liquor than actual tea.

“That look is devastating.”

“What look?”

“That slightly lowered eyes gazing through the eyelashes look. You do it quite well, and it’s amazing.”

Rolling her eyes, Lindsey flipped him off.

Torran guffawed.

With her stomach full and the liquor warming her up, Lindsey had to admit it was the most relaxed she’d been in ages. The gnawing anxiety that had bothered her for so long was diminished, much to her relief.

“I’m taking a shower,” she announced.

“My cue to go,” Torran said standing.

“Oh, no. I meant it.” She pointed at him. “You’re staying the night.”

“I don’t want to take advantage of you. We’re both a bit lonely and down.”

Lindsey took off her sweater and tank top at the same time and tossed them aside. Torran’s protests died on his lips as he stared at her breasts.

“We’re becoming friends. You’re a man. I’m a woman. Yes, I’m a bit lonely, but I’m also very much aware of what I want. Right now, I want you. Naked. In the shower with me.”

“Okay,” Torran stammered.

Lindsey walked to her small sanitary station and popped open the narrow door that opened to the small space. The toilet was retracted into the wall and she swiveled the little sink into its cubby in the wall to get it out of the way. The pale blue walls of the small space were covered in rubber decals she’d found in a bazaar. They were the silhouettes of sea creatures Lindsey would never see in real life. She activated the shower controls so the water in the tank could heat.

It was strange to disrobe in front of someone new, but also exciting. The mistake she’d made with Vaja would not be repeated. She’d concentrate on friendship instead of romance and have fun when it suited her.

Peeling off the last of her clothes, she checked the time. “We have about ten minutes until the next rolling blackout.”

Lindsey checked on Torran to see he was very slowly undressing. He’d only taken off his sweater and scars from previous injuries puckered the skin on one arm and the side of his chest. It was very nicely muscled and Lindsey appreciated the lines of his slim waist. The throb of desire was a pleasant distraction from all the troubles of her world. The tips of her unraveling braids brushed over her hardening nipples.

“Well?” She placed a hand on her hip.

“I’m waiting for you to change your mind,” Torran confessed.

“Are you serious?” With a laugh, Lindsey walked the few short steps him, grabbed him by the belt and started to undress him while giving him the most flirtatious look she could muster. If he liked it when she looked up at him through her eyelashes, it was time to use it to her benefit.

“You’re quite wicked, you know. Taking advantage of me and my resources. First tacos, then tequila, and now my cock.”

“Yeah, well, that’s just how I roll.” Giving him a coy look, she reached into his jeans and was pleased to find he was very hard. “You don’t seem to be protesting.”

“Not at all.” Torran bent over and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Stroking him, she responded to the caress of his lips and tentative forays of his tongue against hers. She sucked on the tip of his tongue and pushed his jeans and boxers downward. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for a deeper kiss. He tasted of cinnamon, tequila and spice.

It was divine.

With one last flick of her tongue against his, she stared into his face. His eyes were hooded with desire, yet a little distant. It was a look that was familiar to her. There were guards up between them. After so much loss, it was hard to be completely open with another person. Those protective boundaries suited Lindsey perfectly. She wanted physical comfort and company. Torran could have her body and her mind, but her heart and soul were hidden away.

“You done being a wanker?” she asked.

Kicking his shoes and clothes away, he lifted her easily in his arms. “Absolutely.”

Giggling as he carried her into the sanitary station, Lindsey wrapped her legs around his waist. “It’ll be a tight squeeze.”

“My favorite kind,” he answered, and managed to get them both inside the small cubicle.

The door slid shut. Setting her feet down on the rubbery floor, Lindsey held her hand over the controls. “If we’re lucky, warm water. If we’re very lucky, hot water. And if we’re not lucky, cold.”

Torran stared at the showerhead over his head. “I’m feeling lucky. Go for it.”

Lindsey hit the on button and the hot water splattered over their bare skin. “You’re lucky.”

“In more ways than one.”

Sliding her fingers over his short hair, she pulled him in for another kiss as his hands traveled over her body. It was always awkward at first with a new lover, but Torran didn’t take very long to discover her most sensitive places. When he dragged his fingers lightly up her spine, she nearly squealed with delight. Tangling his fingers in her hair, his lips assailed hers with an unhurried passion that she found intoxicating. He was taller and stronger than Vaja, and the space was cramped. When they bumped the controls and soap poured over them, they both laughed aloud.

“Oops,” Lindsey said, then used the soapy suds as an excuse to glide her hands over his torso to his hardness pressing into her thigh.

“We could probably slip and die in here,” Torran decided pressing his forehead to hers as he gasped.

“What a way to go though, huh?” She stroked him firmly, loving the feel of how thick and hard he was in want of her.

“The best.”

“And would you hurry up and fuck me,” she whispered against his lips.

With a little growl, Torran lifted and pinned her to the slippery wall. Kissing her feverishly, he angled himself to enter her. For a split second, Lindsey wondered if this was the wisest thing for her do in light of her break up with Vaja, but then struck down that thought. Life was short and full of pain. Pleasure was a gift to be enjoyed.

Comprehending Torran was waiting for her final invitation, she sucked on his bottom lip and rubbed the slick folds of her core against the head of his cock, before pressing herself onto him. Closing her eyes, she dug the tips of her fingers into his shoulders and clung to him as he started to thrust into her. His wet hair hanging nearly in his eyes, he kissed her cheeks, nose and lips before bending down to capture one of her hard pink nipples between his teeth.

The confines of the shower only made their situation more erotic and somewhere in the back of her mind Lindsey was glad she’d never lured Vaja into the shower with her. This was her and Torran’s unique little tryst. When she came hard against him, she clung to him with her arms and legs to enjoy the almost overwhelming sensation of him plunging harder into her as he stroked his way to his own orgasm. Just as he let out a guttural moan of pleasure and came inside her, the rolling black out hit the small flat. They were instantly plunged into darkness.

Torran’s lips found hers again and he kissed her passionately as he finished filling her. Legs trembling, she slid them down over his hips to settle on the floor. Still in the dark, she panted from both pleasure and exertion.

“So,” Torran said after a second. “Is there a manual release on this shower door, or are we stuck in here?”

“We could go for another round,” Lindsey answered in a husky voice.

In the darkness, she swore she saw him grin. “Well, not opposed to that...”

She found the manual release and the door creaked open. “But let’s do that in my bed where it will be a lot warmer.”

With a grin, Torran hoisted her up in his arms and carried her out.

* * *

Exhausted, panting, and sore as hell, Torran lay on the bed next to Lindsey, listening to her breathing. The rolling blackout was over and after three solid hours of the best sex of his life, he almost wished the lights hadn’t come back on. But it did give him an obscenely great view of Lindsey’s ass as she leaned over the rail of the bed in an attempt to reach the tequila bottle they’d left on her small counter.

The walls of her flat were covered in glossy images she must have cut from old magazines and books, or printed from the photo archives. Caught in the illumination cast by the lamps, the pictures of long dead people and lost places made him curious about why Lindsey collected them.

“Got it!” She sat up, holding the half-empty tequila bottle in one hand. She took a swig, flinched, then handed it to him.

Torran dragged her over to him, poured the liquor over her breasts and lapped it off her nipples. This elicited a delighted giggle from her, which is exactly what he’d wanted to hear. He loved her laugh. It was without restraint, just like Lindsey. He’d met some powerful and smart women in his days on earth, but she was rather fearless in a way that terrified and enthralled him at the same time.

“What the hell was that?”

“I improvised,” he replied with a wink.

Her hair was a mess, sticking out of her now completely destroyed braids. Only a few strands were still clinging to her original hairdo. She was beautiful, and he knew that he was in awful danger if he stayed with her the rest of the night. Lindsey had made it very clear that they were at the start of a friendship, not a romance. The sex had been about physical pleasure, and he knew that. It had been fun fucking her, but he’d been very aware that it had been just that. And he also knew that if he wasn’t careful, he’d want it to be more. Right now he couldn’t afford to invest his heart. Too much in life was uncertain, and he’d rather just enjoy the better moments and not fixate on making anything permanent in his life. The thought of venturing beyond the wall filled him with dread. Someday, it would be his turn not to return.