By M. Lorrox

 

1.

Sweat dripped off Riley’s arms as she pulled pieces of rubble out of the way. The building had fallen down months ago, and as she dug her way out—in almost complete darkness—concrete, lumber, drywall, glass, and steel threatened to collapse onto her. She couldn’t see much in the dim glow from the keychain flashlight that was clipped to her waist, but she heard the material above her shift. With practiced hands, she wedged a board into place and prevented a cave-in.

It was then that she noticed the faintest sliver of light cutting into the tunnel—revealing swirling dust that danced like ghosts in a tomb. The light stretched across the darkness from above and in front of her to where she had set down her backpack. Focusing her effort on revealing the source of that light, it was only another minute before she realized: she had reached the surface. She rushed to open a hole large enough to crawl through, then she emerged into the world.

Bright sunlight—the first of it she had seen in months—attacked her and made her squint her green eyes nearly shut. It was almost painful, but her chest filled with pride, and her heart raced. I did it, she thought. For half a year, she and her friends had been trapped in a bunker, but no longer.

A breeze cooled her skin and blew some of her long, brown hair across her face. It was in her first, full, deep breath that she noticed that she wasn’t in the same, busy New York City she remembered. She smelled rich earth, moisture, and an intoxicating floral scent.

When Riley’s eyes adjusted, the smile on her face faded. She had found a way out, but the idea of returning to a somewhat normal life was nowhere to be seen. Instead, all she saw was ruin, vines climbing over downed buildings, and a dense forest that stood where there was once a wide boulevard.

No way, she thought, yet all she could hear were sounds that reminded her of a nature documentary: the rising and falling buzz of insects in the distance, the chatter between small animals, the cawing of crows, and the songs of birds. Absent were honking horns, the thrum from cars speeding across intersections, the cadence of footsteps, and the conversations of people on their cell phones. She was alone, or at least it seemed that way.

Riley shook her head at the reality before her because it didn’t seem possible. She scowled, then with her hands cupped to her mouth, she yelled, “Hello!”

Instead of hearing a response, the world fell to an eerie silence. Unsure of what the fuck had happened to her city and to the people in it, she lowered her gaze to the rubble. In a small space protected from the elements, something yellow caught her eye. Without a second thought, she bent down and grabbed it.

It was a walkie-talkie not too different than the ones she and her dad would use—but it was broken. A pair of wires dangled from a hole in the top where an antenna should have been, and it was missing the battery door and batteries.

While she wondered if she could fix it, the deathly stillness that had surrounded her was pierced by a powerful roar. Riley froze and shot her gaze in the direction the sound came from—into the dense forest that had replaced a street. Then came crashing sounds, and an instant later, she saw…it. A monster the size of a grizzly, with huge, white fangs was rushing toward her, smashing through the brambles between the trees.

Riley was tall and strong, but she was no match for the creature that was headed straight toward her. She knew that her only hope was to run—or hide. With her heart pounding, she searched for a place to take refuge, but there was nowhere to go…except into the tunnel.

She turned around, facing back toward the life that she had been trying to escape for months, and she remembered the board that she had used to prevent the cave-in. The sounds from the monster were getting closer, and in a flash, she scrambled to the tunnel.

The creature was almost upon her when she dove through the gap. She smashed her knee on her way and landed hard on her shoulder, but pain was far from her mind. She pulled on the board to try and collapse the opening, hoping she could seal herself off from the monster…and hoping that she wouldn’t be crushed by falling debris at the same time.

The beast was making fast work of widening the opening, tossing chunks of concrete aside like they weighed nothing. Knowing that she only had seconds before it could reach her, Riley grunted as she put every last ounce of herself into the task. It was enough, and as the support gave way, she tumbled backward just as a huge, clawed hand swiped like a scythe across where her throat had been. As Riley watched, hundreds of pounds of rubble collapsed onto the monster, snapping its life away as fast as the beast had tried to snuff out hers.

When the dust settled and Riley’s eyes adjusted back to the pitiful glow from her little flashlight, she found a grotesque, mutilated arm extended toward her. Blood oozed from the lifeless limb, and Riley processed what she recalled of the monster in the quick glimpse she stole of it. The creature was huge, and while it reminded her of a bear, it was something quite different. Its arms were much bigger than a bear’s would have been, its skull was oddly shaped, its fangs seemed unnaturally long, and the part that was making her quiver, was what she had seen around the thing’s neck.

It wore a kind of primitive necklace with a skull—a human skull—dangling from a beaded cord. It must have been a trophy of a prior kill; a hideous memento to a monster that was just as foreign to Riley as the world had become.

For a few minutes, she sat in the dark tunnel. She wondered how she’d tell the others down in the bunker what had happened. Not only was the city they had expected to find mysteriously replaced with an uncanny wilderness, but a creature that shouldn’t even exist had tried to kill her.

Riley cast her eyes toward the monster’s arm. Then, she grabbed her backpack and fished out the paring knife that she always brought with her. After poking at the arm with the knife to make sure the creature was really dead, she tried to shift the rubble that had crushed it, knowing that the necklace she saw would help the others understand.

The debris wouldn’t budge, but she discovered that the arm was broken and only still attached to the body by a few inches of flesh…

 

An hour later, when Riley reentered the bunker, she was slumped, filthy, limping, and wearing a distant expression.

Amelia, a petite, black-haired girl, looked up from the table they had set up in the largest room—the space they called the living room. An environmental science major at heart as much as in studies, the last few days she had been researching the effects of different chemicals on the fungi that grew in the corners of the bunker.

One glance at Riley and she figured that her friend hadn’t reached the surface; that their night would be yet another repetition of the same routine they’ve shared for months. “You’re okay, right Riley? No luck today, though, huh?”

Riley didn’t answer, she just took a step forward, holding something behind her back. “Where’s Carter?”

“Right here.” Carter said as he returned from the adjoining room where they prepared meals. He carried a tray with three stainless steel bowls, each loaded with an assortment of beans and a bit of creamed corn. “Same for dinner tonight. We have to use up those cans that we opened. Tomorrow though, I think it’s Saturday, which means we get one of the fun meals. So, my vote is for mac and cheese.” He wore a smile, even if there was little joy in his words. His shaggy blond hair partly covered his eyes, and as he walked, his lanky frame cut shadows in the dim, red emergency lighting that filled the entire bunker, 24-7.

Riley swallowed. “Will you set that food down, please? I want to show you something…”

As Carter set the tray down, Amelia stood up beside him, and Riley took a deep breath. “I reached the surface, but I had to collapse the tunnel.”

Amelia gasped, but Carter scowled.

“It’s gone.” Riley said in a soft, almost detached tone. “The city, it’s like there’s nothing left, just trees now and…and there’s no people, not that I saw anyway. Everything’s destroyed, but there was something else up there…”

Amelia held her arms in front of her, squeezing herself tight and not wanting to accept the fact that they were more alone than she had believed. Carter, however, just shook his head, not believing Riley. “That can’t be right. You must’ve… There must be some mistake.”

Riley stared straight into his eyes for a moment while frowning. “The city is destroyed, and it’s abandoned. But there was also, uh, some kind of monster. It was big and hairy, and it wore a necklace with a human skull on it. It attacked me, and I had to collapse the tunnel to get away from it.”

Amelia shook, and Carter stared in disbelief.

Riley shot her eyes between both of them and said, “It tried to kill me—chased me into the tunnel and swiped straight at my throat. It got crushed in the cave-in, but its arm was sticking out.

Amelia’s eyes flashed from Riley’s face down to her side—Riley was still holding something behind her back. “You got a sample?”

In a slow movement, Riley brought the broken, severed arm out from behind her back. Bone had protruded through the hairy forearm, and the blood that oozed from the wounds had dried. The hand dangled at the wrist, and the two friends gasped at its vicious claws—the deadliest of which was on the middle finger. It was over 5 inches long, hard, and it came to a jagged, sharp tip.

Amelia pointed. “It has a thumb. Was it some kind of ape?”

“It was more like a bear, actually, but it wasn’t one. And it was wearing a necklace, remember? A necklace with a skull hanging from it.”

Carter’s mouth hung open. Finally, he swallowed. “What the fuck.”

Riley set the arm down on the table, and she cast her eyes away from the others. With a shaky voice, she said, “I need to clean up, and I need to use some of the pain-killers. Then, we need to talk. Let’s eat somewhere else.” She walked out of the bunker’s living room, through their kitchen, and into their bathroom.

The bunker had running water, but they weren’t sure where the water came from or where the drains went. They assumed the water came from an underground cistern or from an old well, but they used the water sparingly in case it ever ran out. Riley decided to use a little extra, though, and she splashed some on her face. It was an infrequent treat, but instead of enjoying the sensation, she used the water to rub the grit and dust from her eyes.

The others waited for her in the room they used as a bedroom. Although their stomachs were uneasy from Riley’s discoveries, their bellies were also very empty, and they ate in silence while sitting on the floor in the spots where they usually slept.

Six months ago, at the start of the fall semester, the three sophomores were headed to the same intro-level communications course. Unfortunately—or fortunately, it may seem, based on what Riley experienced on the surface—they had all gone to the basement of the wrong building. They had realized their mistake just as the earth started to shake and sirens started to sound. By the time they had made their way back to the stairs, the building started to come down, and they had raced down the steps away from the falling debris. They had found the bunker off an old, deserted research lab, and with nowhere else to go, they had gone in—as deep as they could.

The earthquakes had lasted for a few days. When they had finally ceased, the three of them had tried to make their way back through the lab to the surface, but the building had collapsed, and they were trapped.

They figured they had enough food for a year down there in the stocked bunker, and thanks to good rationing, they were just over halfway through it after six months.

While Amelia ate her portion of beans and creamed corn, she wrote in her notebook. When she finished her food, she set her bowl aside, and she cleared her throat to get the others’ attention. “Well, from what you’ve told us Riley, and from what I could tell from the specimen, we now have more information about what we’ll find on the surface, and what we won’t find…”

Carter, who had been quick to disregard Riley’s story at first, had turned his analytic mind to the situation while they had been eating. “We thought that reaching the surface was the goal. Now it’s a signpost, or a mini goal with a larger goal after that. We need to find people. They can tell us what happened, they can tell us what that thing was that attacked you, Riley, and they can help us. Until we find people, we’re not safe.”

Amelia motioned with her notebook. “Before, we never thought we’d need supplies or anything after leaving the bunker, but now we know that we will, so I made a list of things we have that might be useful. Here, take a look.”

 

What we have:

• EACH OTHER!
• Amelia’s multitool ♥
• Two flashlights and Riley’s keychain light
• 4 C batteries, bunch of button batteries
• Roll of clear tape
• First aid kit (few bandages left)
• Old toothbrush
• Our clothes
• Blankets and towels
• Bars of soap
• Cleaning chemicals
• Two backpacks, one messenger bag
• Writing materials
• Two water bottles
• Broom and mop. Make weapons from the handles?
• Silverware
• One chef’s knife
• One paring knife
• Two can openers
• One pot and one pan
• Stainless steel bowls and mugs

 

When Riley and Carter finished reading, Amelia took the notebook back and held her pencil at the ready. “Anything else?”

Riley nodded. “Up on the surface, I found a walkie-talkie, and I might be able fix it. I left it up in the tunnels with my digging gear… I bet once we’re up on the ground again we’ll be able to find all sorts of things.”

Carter smirked. “We also have a monster hand. Those claws could make decent knives. And Riley, you used to hunt a lot with your dad in Maine, right?”

Indeed, the three friends knew each other well—almost intimately—even though they didn’t know each other’s names six months ago. Riley nodded with an inquisitive look.

Carter shrugged. “Maybe the fur could be useful?”

Amelia brought her pencil back to the paper. “Yeah, if you could tan the pelt or whatever, and we could eat the meat, and bears have really dense skeletal structures—so even though it wasn’t a bear, the bones of the forearm might be useful. Maybe as like, weapons or something.”

Riley shook her head. “I have no idea how to tan a pelt. I can eat meat though, so if you want me to eat all the meat off those bones, I can do that.”

Amelia paused with her pencil near the bottom of the list. “How much food do we bring?”

The dream of going to a restaurant after returning to the surface slipped away like a whisper in a breeze, and each of them hung their heads. Finally, Carter shrugged. “As much as we can. And if we find a shelter nearby, maybe we try and move it all up with us. It won’t do us any good down here.”

Riley sighed. Cans of beans were heavy, and knowing the physical abilities of her friends, she figured she would have to do most of the heavy lifting. “Carter’s right. We try and bring as much as we can. But only if it’s safe. That monster…” her eyes drifted sideways as she was again gripped by the fear of being within the creature’s grasp.

Amelia made a note, then she set down her pencil and notebook. “Well, that’s it then. I think we have a plan.”

“Yeah, Ames, I think we do,” Carter said before glancing at Riley.

Riley raised an eyebrow. “We do?”

Amelia motioned to Carter and back to herself, saying, “We’ll organize the gear and get it ready to go, we’ll also cook the meat off that arm, TO SHARE, and we’ll see if we can use the claws or bones for anything.”

Carter finished describing the plan by saying, “And you, Riley, need to find another way out. I bet it will only take you a couple days to reach the surface again.” He licked his lips, and he grinned. “And once we’re safe on the surface, I’ll give you that special treat I promised you.”

Riley smiled while her body warmed. “I like that part of the plan.” She had expressed her desire for Carter—or at least for a specific part of his body—many times before. Much to her frustration, however, Carter had always turned her down.

Amelia giggled, imagining her two best friends—her only two friends—doing sexy things. She felt her arousal grow as well, and she looked forward to pleasuring herself later, late at night, under the blankets while the others slept.

Riley glanced at the bulge in Carter’s pants. “It’s been so long… I know you promised you’d go down on me, but wouldn’t you like to fuck me?”

Carter’s jeans were suddenly feeling rather tight. “I don’t know,” he said as coolly as possible. He knew he had little power over Riley—she was not only more physically robust than he was, but she was much more confident and dominant, too. If he gave in to her desires, he knew that he’d have nothing on her.

He wasn’t even the smartest among the three; that was Amelia. What Carter had in spades, though, was patience, a knack for strategy, and a tremendous amount of willpower. He had fantasized a million times over what it would be like to have sex with either Riley or Amelia—or both at the same time—but he had held himself back from actually trying to get with either of them.

It had been hard for the twenty-year-old, very hard.

Amelia glanced at Carter’s crotch, too. Her face was red, and she bit her lip. She’d give just about anything to watch her friends go at it. She felt herself grow wet, and she took a deep breath to calm herself.

Riley groaned, then she moaned with a thought. “You know, Carter, I’ll probably dig way faster tomorrow if I get some action tonight. You wouldn’t even have to do anything if you didn’t want to, I could just ride you…”

Carter shook his head with an uneasy laugh. “No luck, Riley, we had a deal. And like Professor Garcia always said in Intro to Game Theory…”

The others chimed in to say in unison, “Never give the reward early.”

“Exactly,” Carter said, satisfied. He collected his bowl, stood up while trying to hide his erection, and headed to the sink in the kitchen to wash up. “I suggest you get your sleep tonight,” he said over his shoulder, “I feel like you’ve got a long, hard, hot, full day of work ahead of you.”

Riley cast her eyes to Amelia, wondering if maybe she could have some fun with her. They had joked about it, but nothing ever came of it—before.

Amelia only smiled and glanced away before she picked up her bowl and scuttled off after Carter to join him in the kitchen.

Riley’s hopes sank with her eyes, and she sighed.

 

Six months ago, Riley was a soft-in-the-middle mechanical engineering major. As soon as she and the others realized that they were trapped in the bunker, they came up with a plan. They had decided that Riley was the best suited for trying to find a way back to the surface, and they agreed that Carter and Amelia would split up most of the remaining chores, including meal prep, cleaning, and maintenance. Every day, Riley had toiled in her tunnels, and as the months passed, her body changed. Her muscles grew stronger, and with a vegan diet consisting mostly of beans, she became cut like a swimsuit model.

It took Riley almost a week to find a new route to the surface, and when she finally saw a sliver of light once again, she was much more cautious. She made only a small opening, and from the safety of the tunnel, she peered out, motionless, for what seemed like hours.

It was actually only fifteen minutes.

There was no sign of any monsters, and still no hint of other survivors. All she could see was that wild nature, seeping out of the ground and creeping up every manmade structure that stood in ruin.

She knew that they’d have to find shelter as quickly as possible. In the distance, there stood a number of taller buildings—maybe office buildings, she figured—and even though their tops had been knocked off, the first ten stories or so appeared to be structurally sound. If they could get into one of them and make their way to the top, they could get a look at the rest of the city. Maybe, if they were lucky, they’d spot some sign of other people.

Riley carefully wedged a piece of plywood back into the small opening she had made, and she returned to inform Amelia and Carter of her success.

 

The next day, with their bags stuffed with gear and their bellies filled from a large meal, they made their way up to the surface. Riley opened the crevice, pointed out to the buildings, and in a whisper, checked with the others to see if they were ready.

They nodded, and as quietly as she could, Riley opened the hole wide enough for them to crawl through. When they were all standing in the sunlight and breathing the fresh, rich-smelling air, they hoisted their heavy loads onto their shoulders and got moving. They carefully hiked down the pile of rubble that was once part of their university, and they made their way toward the tree-filled boulevard on their journey to the buildings that laid beyond.

They kept to the edges of the trees as much as possible, creeping through bushes and brambles only when necessary, and taking a longer path so they could avoid whatever dangers were lurking within the dense forest. Amelia and Carter had made spears by taping the bunker’s cooking knives to the ends of the broom and mop handles. They each wielded one, while Riley carried a wooden club she had carved from a board in one hand, and the longest, sharpest claw from the monster’s hand in her other. The claw would make a decent dagger if she had to get that close—and if she lived long enough to use it while getting that close.

As their hearts pounded, they held their weapons tight, and after a few minutes, they relaxed just enough to take in some of their surroundings. Wildflowers had sprung up from cracks in the pavement, birds sang in the branches of the nearby trees, and the warmth from the sun on their skin slowly started to lift their spirits.

Within a half hour, they reached their destination. Carter led the way up to the tallest of the buildings. The rubble around it was piled so high that after they entered through a busted window, they were on the third floor. It was hard to tell exactly what kind of building it had been, though, because nature had quickly started to reclaim it. Vines and bushes were growing everywhere—somehow, even in places without any soil. Amelia, the environmental science major, was flabbergasted, but she knew there was no time to investigate.

They all knew that they had to find shelter as soon as possible. If one of those monsters came upon them while they were out in the open, they might be able to fend it off, but what if there were two monsters? Or more?

They’d be buzzard-meat.

Inside the building, the easier terrain allowed them to move faster. They climbed up one set of stairs as far as they could go, then they found another set and continued their ascent. When they reached the highest story with a mostly intact ceiling, they were on the sixteenth floor. The doors on that level were sturdy, and at the end of the hallway, one was unlocked.

They had found an apartment. They walked into what was once an upscale living room. While thinking the same thing, they glanced at each other and then to the passages that lead out of the room. Without a word, they gripped their weapons and started to explore.

They weren’t looking to see if they liked the floorplan… They wanted to make sure there weren’t any crazy monsters—or other animals like snakes or bats—hiding in the apartment.

The kitchen appeared nicely appointed—even if the appliances didn’t have any power. When they saw a shower in the bathroom, their hearts skipped a beat before they realized that there was no way the building still had running water. The place had two bedrooms, one of which was undamaged. The other was at the end of a hall—at the outer edge of the building. It had lost the exterior wall and part of the ceiling, exposing the bed to the bright, blue sky above in such a way that it almost seemed intentional.

Besides some weeds and evidence of rodents and birds having once been in the apartment, it was deserted. The three friends returned to the living room, and Amelia locked the door that led to the main hallway. “Whew,” she said, breaking the tension. “We can talk now, right?”

Riley nodded. “I think so. That monster didn’t look like it was built like a climber. Too heavy. I think we’re safe from it here.” She slunk her heavy, nearly overloaded backpack off her shoulders and set it on the floor. Carter and Amelia both followed suit in releasing their burdens—but they still held their makeshift spears. Behind them, at the other end of the room was an intact window, and it flooded the room with the warm glow of the midday sun.

Riley was just about to head over to it when Carter flashed his bright eyes to her and said, “It’s time.”

She glanced at Amelia, who smirked and then dropped to the dusty carpet and opened her backpack. “Don’t mind me,” she said, “I’m going to unpack our gear and organize it.”

Riley swallowed, and as she looked back toward Carter, he laid his palm gently on her sternum and guided her backward. They returned to the room with the busted ceiling and wall—to the empty bed in the sunlight. Carter was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but they were quickly off his body and settling to the floor.

All three of them had caught sight of each other naked a dozen times in the last six months, but they had always been fleeting moments void of sexuality. They had also seen each other in underwear almost daily, but never did Riley see Carter in his boxers like she did in that moment. For one thing, he wasn’t bathed in the dim, red emergency lighting and ignoring her desire. Instead, he stood there in the bedroom, his hair glowing in the bright sunlight like a god of the summer. His weight was on one leg, and he planted a hand on his hip. He was looking at Riley and smiling.

She gulped and pulled her old shirt off so fast that she almost ripped it into pieces.

“Oh, Riley,” Carter said while appreciating her lean physique.

She unbuttoned her bra and freed her breasts, then she shimmied out of her panties and let them fall silently to the floor.

Carter slid out of his underwear, too, just in time for his stiffening member to rise up, unhindered.

Riley’s green eyes widened as she saw his growing arousal, and she smiled.

He guided her onto the bed so that she was lying backward, and he swelled as he crept on his hands and knees between her legs.

She couldn’t wait to feel his touch, and her breath hitched as she spread her knees for him.

First, his fingers found her, and she gasped. “I can tell you want this,” he said in a smooth, seductive voice.

“No fucking shit,” she said with a chuckle.

He laughed, then he brought his mouth down onto her.

“Fuck,” she said as she laid her head back and closed her eyes. She hadn’t been able to think about much else the last few days, and what she was feeling blew away her expectations.

Carter’s hands travelled up her strong body, caressing her and pressing lightly into her muscle. He gripped her sides and held her tight as he continued to tease her softest skin with his lips. He licked and kissed in circles around her, and she quivered underneath him.

He liked knowing that she was enjoying it, and it made him hotter, too. He was harder than he could ever remember being, but he reminded himself that he was rewarding her—not the other way around. But maybe she’d return the favor, he thought, and he decided that the best way to find out would be by rocking her world. He swallowed, and he found her clit with his tongue.

Riley giggled, then she almost laughed in a pained way. “You’re going to make me come already.”

He chuckled against her, then he paused and looked up at her.

She glanced down at him, into his big, blue eyes. They were beautiful. She never noticed them in the red emergency lighting of the bunker, but they were breathtaking. She smiled, then she guided his head back between her thighs. “Back to work, I still do want to come, ya know? Oh, yeah… Fuck. That feels sooo good.”

As he continued, she writhed under him, and while his hands gripped her, her hands flowed from his hair, to her breasts, and to the fabric on the bed beneath her. She had wanted him to fuck her, but what she was getting instead was pretty fucking good. He changed his rhythm and technique every so often, and it was working perfectly for her.

As Riley’s breath grew more ragged, Carter could tell that she was getting close. Instead of letting the moment slip away, he slid one of his hands down, and he explored her with his fingers.

“Fuck,” she moaned as her body tightened. She was already on the edge, and she had no desire to postpone her release.

Feeling her hips shake under him, Carter quickened his pace. His tongue and hand worked together to deliver her to ecstasy, and it didn’t take long.

She gripped the old bed with her fists, and she started a moan from the bottom of her chest as she felt the wave of intensity build up within her. Her body tensed as his tongue lashed, and with a howl, she crashed through her bliss.

He continued as her body shook, and as she settled, so did his movements. He had done it: he delivered the reward that brought him to his goal, and he got to lick a hot pussy while he was at it.

“God, that was fuckin’ great.”

He wiped the wetness from his mouth onto the back of his arm, and as he gazed up at her, he drank her in. She was a goddess—a satiated goddess—and he was naked, between her legs. He smiled as he was once again reminded of his own arousal. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Riley nodded with her eyes still closed. “I did.”

He swallowed. “I’m ready to go if you want to, uh, you know.”

She opened her eyes a crack. “Lemme see it.”

He kneeled and quickly wrapped his fingers around his erection.

Riley moaned. While Carter’s stature was on the smaller side, his cock sure as hell wasn’t. “Nice.”

He bit his lip. Fucking finally, he thought, but he didn’t move. Instead, he stroked himself and waited for her signal.

Watching him, Riley imagined how good it would feel to take him inside her body, and she smiled. After a moment, she shook her head. “That wasn’t part of the deal.”

He dropped his hand from his body, and he stared blankly for a moment.

Riley was already off the bed and grabbing her underwear. “Maybe another time,” she said with a grin. “But thanks again, that was awesome.”

He nodded. “Uh, yeah, sure.”

She slipped on her panties and collected the rest of her clothes before making a hasty retreat. That’ll show him, she thought. Nobody pulls a power-play on me.

In the living room, Amelia was sitting on the floor in front of organized rows of canned goods. She glanced up as Riley approached, but as soon as she realized that Riley was still mostly naked, she hid her gaze while her cheeks blushed.

“In case you were wondering,” Riley said in a quiet voice, “he’s talented.”

Amelia laughed. “I, umm, I heard you…and I figured as much.”

Just then, Carter joined them. He was back in his jeans and pulling his t-shirt on. “Well, now that my debt has been paid, I think we should get on with the task at hand.”

Riley got her shirt back on, and she glanced to Amelia. “You ready to head back out? Did you have any time to rest?”

A sly grin crept onto her lips, but she transformed it into an easy smile. “Oh, I’m ready to head back out. How many trips do you think we can make today?”

“Only one way to find out,” Riley said as she offered her hand to Amelia.

 

Credits

Fan-Frickin-Tastic is a serialized adult fantasy story written by M. Lorrox. The cover image was created by Matto (aka M. Lorrox).

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2020 by M. Lorrox ® and Tomato Potato Co. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.