She stares at me, opened mouthed, for a long moment before she steps forward and places her hand on the side of my face.
“I understand, Galen,” she says quietly, “but you need to understand me, too. My life has also been turned upside down. I found out everything I thought I was working toward was based on a lie. I found out my father may have been assassinated by the people I worked to advance. His death is the reason I fought against CA in the first place. I forfeited my career, which was the only thing I really cared about, in order to help you—to correct my mistakes. I don’t regret any of it, but it leaves me in the same position as you.”
She runs her hand over my face and presses up against me.
“All I care about is making sure my mistake doesn’t end up killing you or causing you to be killed. I need to be there to make sure it’s done right. You’re all I have left, too.”
I close my eyes and lean my forehead against hers. I haven’t thought of all this from her perspective, but I can’t deny that she has as big a stake in this as I do—maybe more so.
“We need to stick together,” she says. “It will take two days to get from Carson City to the first checkpoint. You will do better with me there, close to you. More importantly, I don’t want to ever be apart from you—not ever.”
“Will you be able to guide me?” If I could talk to her the whole time, maybe it would be all right.
“Not with the blocking chip Errol installed, no,” she says.
I close my eyes and shake my head.
“I don’t like it,” I say softly.
“I don’t like anything about this,” she replies, “but we’re out of options.”
Pressing my lips to hers, I give in completely. I know I can’t talk her out of it, and if she decides she’s had enough of my arguing, she can always order me to stop. I deepen the kiss and envelop her in my arms.
An overwhelming sense of foreboding collects in the pit of my stomach. Even as Riley strokes my arm once more before we go back to join the others, I can’t shake the feeling.
Chapter 25
“You looked damn good in that suit, you know.” Riley smiles at me as we bump down the road.
I glance down at the garment bag at my feet. The tailored suit I’ve been given is dark, professional, and discreet. The goal is not to be noticed when I enter Mills Pharmco.
“You looked damn good last night when I had you spread out on the desk.”
Riley presses her lips together as her cheeks turn red. As mouthy as she can be during sex, she’s very reserved about it around other people.
“You pull off the executive look very well,” she says, diverting the conversation as she glances at the soldiers in the back of the truck. “I don’t think you’ll have any trouble blending in at Mills Pharmco.”
We’re nearing the border between Carson Alliance and Mills Conglomerate territory, where we will stop and wait for night to fall. I should be running through the mission in my head, but all my thoughts are on the conversation I had with Riley last night.
“Riley, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“We, um…we never use any kind of protection. Are you on birth control, or am I sterile?”
She stills for a moment before she answers.
“Both, actually.”
“So I can’t father a child?”
“Not as long as you are receiving your current injections.”
“That implies it could be reversed.”
“It’s possible,” Riley says. “It isn’t something that was ever tested. Is that…is that something you want?”
“Don’t you? I mean, someday, when all of this shit is behind us?”
“I don’t know if it will ever be behind us, Galen.”
I’d had a knot in my stomach as I held her and watched her fall asleep. I had the unnerving thought that it was our last night together, and I haven’t been able to shake that feeling ever since.
“It’s not too late, you know,” I say as I lean close to Riley. “You can just stay here on the Carson side. It’s not that far to Marra. You’d be safer here.”
“I’m not discussing this with you again,” she says.
It’s not quite an order but close enough for me to shut up. I reach over and take her hand and lace our fingers together. She lays her head on my shoulder.
“It will all be over soon,” she says. “We’ll get the Seroquel, figure out how to synthesize it, and we won’t have to do anything like this again.”
“I hope so.”
The truck turns, and we bump down a rough road until we finally come to a stop. I hear the doors in the front open first, and then one of the soldiers comes around and opens the back hatch for us.
The sky is overcast as I climb out of the truck and step onto the gravel road. Everything is damp from a recent rainfall, and I can feel the moisture in the cool air. I take Riley’s hand and help her out of the back of the truck as Errol comes around from the front.
“I’ve got a little surprise for you,” Errol says. “Well, Merle arranged it, really.”
He points over my shoulder, and I turn quickly. Hal is standing near the edge of the road, smiling.
“How are ya, boy?”
“Better than I was the last time I saw you.” I turn back to Riley. “Riley, this is Hal. He farmed the fields next to ours. Hal, this is Riley.”
“Ya must be the doc, right?” Hal reaches out and shakes her hand.
“That would be me.”
“Well, maybe ya can both come along with me.”
“Where?”
“Don’t ya know where ya are?” He grins.
“Near the border.” I narrow my eyes, confused as Hal chuckles.
“This area was originally Carson territory,” Errol says, “but was then taken over by Mills. Mills recently decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Carson took it back.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Yer home, boy.” Hal sweeps his hand through the air to indicate everything around us.
I take a look at the surrounding area. Many things have changed, but now that I know what I’m looking for, I can see familiar sights all around me. We’re just off the main access road that leads to my family’s farm. Our property is just over the hill, down in the valley.
“I thought ya’d like to see the old place before ya run off on yer next adventure,” Hal says. “The house is gone, but the barn is still there.”
“Yeah,” I say as I glance over to Riley. “Let’s go.”
*****
I walk up a small, muddy hill.
The irony of a recent rainfall isn’t lost on me. For all the years I spent practically begging the skies to open up and rain down on this area, all I can think about now is how I’m going to end up getting mud all over the truck.
I’m not sure I can go through with this.
Passing by ancient, worn-away headstones, I make my way toward the small family plot near the back. As I get close, the name Braggs appears on many of the tall, grand monuments around me. As I near my destination, the markers are small and flat on the ground.
I stop and stand at the edge of the graveyard, a little bundle of wildflowers clenched in my fist. I know exactly which headstone is hers before I see the words. I remember picking out the monument in a daze of grief and rage. The day she was laid to rest, I went out back and got my gun from the barn. A few hours later, I was at the Mills’ barracks.
Braggs, Amelia Jane
Beloved sister
My throat feels as if it’s on fire, and I can’t swallow. I crouch slightly and deposit the meager flowers on top of the stone. They’re purple—her favorite color.
“If I had been then what I am now, I could have stopped them,” I whisper.
My cheeks are wet. For a moment, I think it’s raining again, but it’s only me. I take a step back. I don’t have anything else to say. This is my past, and I have to focus myself on my future—my future with Riley.
/> I’m not sure I believe this mission is going to be the last time we will have to do something like this. If we are successful, there will be other times where my skills will be needed by the Carson Alliance. I don’t have any love for either Carson or Mills, and I don’t want to be used for the rest of my life.
Riley may want to avenge her father’s death.
When it comes right down to it, I know I will do anything and everything she wants, including involving myself in a war I don’t truly understand. Both organizations are really out for one thing, and that’s profit. The fact that they’re going about it in different ways isn’t something I care about.
“Galen?”
I glance over my shoulder at Riley. She’s kept her distance, allowing me to do this on my own, but I’ve been standing here motionless for a good ten minutes, and it’s time to move on.
“I’m ready,” I tell her as I take one final look at Amelia’s grave.
Riley takes my hand as we walk away from the small graveyard and back toward the property where I grew up. All the structures I remember are gone except for the barn, which is falling apart. I stop near the door and peer inside.
“Do you want to go in?” Riley asks.
“I’m not sure how safe the structure is,” I tell her.
“It’s stayed up this long,” she says with a shrug.
We go inside.
Other than the corrosion of everything around me, the barn looks like it did the last time I was here. Some of the tools that were hanging on the wall have fallen to the ground, but many are in their proper place. The tractor is rusted, and its tires flat. It never ran well when it was in peak condition, and I’m sure it is useless now.
The loft where we stored the hay looks to be intact. The ladder leading up to it isn’t missing any rungs. I walk to the bottom of the ladder and kick at the few strands of straw on the ground. There are footprints underneath, and I recall watching my sister play here while I worked.
“Amelia loved being in here,” I tell Riley. “Her favorite day of the year was when we’d bring in the hay to store the bales for the winter. We always pulled one out and made a big pile of it in the center of the barn. She’d jump from the rafters into the hay, and she’d end up pulling bits from her hair for days afterward.”
“You had a good childhood.”
“For a while, yes.”
“Those are the times you should remember.”
“At least I can remember them now.” I squeeze her hand and smile at her.
“I’m glad we could stop here,” Riley says. “It’s nice to see where you grew up.”
“Want to see the best part?”
“Sure!”
“Come on,” I say as I start up the ladder.
Riley follows after me. After checking to make sure the floor is still stable, I take her over to the window and show her the view.
“I farmed the fields out there,” I tell her, pointing to the valley. “Right at the foot of the hill.”
“What did you grow?”
“Wheat, mostly. Some field corn. We used to do soybeans, but they didn’t do well without a lot of irrigation. When that became too expensive, we had to switch to other crops. See over there?” I point to a smaller plot near where the house used to sit. “We grew vegetables there. Squash was my sister’s favorite.”
“I’ve never had squash,” Riley says.
“I’ll have to grow you some.” I smile at her, place my hand on the side of her face, and kiss her softly.
“All this talk of vegetables has made you horny,” she says. “I’ll have to remember that.”
“Being around you makes me horny. I don’t think anything else is required.”
“You never know,” she says as she smiles sweetly, “you might get tired of me someday, and I’ll need an added incentive.”
“Hush,” I say, “and take your clothes off.”
Riley giggles and pulls her shirt over her head as I unbuckle my belt. Clothing falls to the floor of the loft, and I drop to my knees, pulling her down with me. I kiss her gently, then harder. I feel her fingertips wandering over my flesh, electrifying me.
She grabs hold of my shoulders and climbs into my lap. I reach down and take my shaft in my hand, angling it to meet with her flesh as she slides down over me. She moves slowly, kissing me deeply as my cock pulses inside of her.
I shift my legs to get my feet on the ground. I want to be deeper inside of her, and the angle isn’t right. She isn’t ready for me to move, and I end up falling backward with her on top of me.
She laughs—it’s a beautiful sound—and then grabs my cock with her hand, stroking me a few times before bringing us back together.
We roll in the straw, both of us trying to keep our legs wrapped around each other so I don’t fall out of her. My lips never leave her skin as I kiss her mouth, her chin, and her throat. She wraps her hands around my head and holds me close to her as she lands on her back and bucks up against me.
“Give it to me! Give it to me!” she cries.
I pin her shoulders to the ground and start to hammer down into her. Her ankles press against my thighs, and I lean down to take her lower lip between my teeth, panting hard as I keep up the frantic pace.
Inside my head, I remember my thoughts from last night.
This is it. This is the last time.
I close my eyes, my pace slowing slightly. Riley grabs my shoulders.
“More…please…more…”
I can’t deny her. I keep moving, thrusting deep and grinding into her with each penetration. My panting is starting to sound like a sob as the air exits my lungs. My eyes burn, and I bury my head against her shoulder as I feel her come apart all around me.
I slow down as she goes limp for a moment. I’m so close, but I don’t want it to end.
Last time. Last time. Last time.
Riley pushes against my shoulder, and we roll once more. She ends up on top of me and leans back, forcing me deep inside of her, and then starts moving quickly. Her tits bounce up and down as she slams down on me repeatedly. I reach for one of them, stroke it, and moan as the moment captures me, the pressure builds, and I explode.
“Oh, fuck! Yeah!” I grab her hip with my free hand and hold her down as I come deep inside of her, then drop back against the dusty floor of the loft.
When I open my eyes and look at her, she’s still leaning back but now has a self-satisfied smirk on her face.
She’s so incredibly beautiful; it brings tears to my eyes. I reach up and pull her down to me so she doesn’t notice them. I hold her to my chest as my breathing slows, angling my hips slightly so I don’t fall out of her. I want to stay right where I am. I still can’t shake the feeling that something horrible is going to happen on this mission. I can’t define it, but the sensation is there.
“Are you sure I need this drug?” I ask. I already know the answer, but I want there to be another solution.
“I’m sure,” Riley says. “If there were another way, we’d be exploring it. Maybe someday, if we can redesign how your implants work with the rest of your system, we can make changes, but that could take years.”
“Maybe if I just keep my dick inside of you all the time, I wouldn’t need the drugs at all.”
“I wish that were true!” Riley laughs. “Seems a little impractical, don’t you think?”
“Maybe,” I say with a shrug. “Maybe not.”
Chapter 26
The night air is chilled by the earlier rain as we abandon our vehicles and make our way into Mills territory on foot. There’s no wall here and no guards. The area is boggy and difficult to traverse on foot, and there is no military advantage to the area.
“How much farther?” Riley asks.
“Not far,” I tell her. I try to step carefully so I don’t get my shoes stuck in the muck. “We just need to get around this area and over by those trees. We should be able to see Marra from there.”
Ten minutes later, we’re over the hil
l and heading for the outskirts of the small town, making our way to a house on the west side. It’s a ranch-style house normally occupied by Elissa Garden, one of the intelligence agents for the Carson Alliance, but she isn’t there to meet us.
“I thought we she was going to be here,” I say to one of the soldiers.
“That was what I was told, but clearly she isn’t.” He shrugs and uses a keycard provided by Spat to open the back door, and we all move inside. “She may have been called away. I’ll find out.”
Inside, the house doesn’t look like a house at all. It’s much bigger than one would expect looking at the front of it. It’s rectangular and goes back almost to the wooded area behind the property. All the rooms have been gutted, and the house is divided into three areas, each of which is blocked by a thick metal door.
The house is empty of people, but the front room is full of all kinds of surveillance equipment. The soldiers activate some of it, and a map of the area is displayed.
“If anyone with a tracking device comes into the area, we’ll know.”
“All the military should have one,” Riley says. “We’ll be fine here, Galen.”
“How long will it take you to reach Milton?” one of the soldiers asks me.
“Four hours,” I tell him. “I’ve got the route plotted. As long as there aren’t any delays, I should get there long before Mills Pharmco opens for the day.”
“Taylor Wick confirms he is at the checkpoint and ready for you.”
“Good.” I look to Riley, who won’t meet my eyes.
She’s been quiet since we arrived at the house, watching and listening but not offering any words. I go to stand by her, and she starts shuffling around in her medical bag.
“This should keep you going,” Riley says as she inserts a needle into my arm.
Closing my eyes, I feel the rush of energy as the drugs hit my bloodstream and circulate through my body.
I place my finger on Riley’s chin and tilt her head up to meet my gaze.
“I love you, Riley.”
She closes her eyes, nodding and pressing her lips together. She reaches her arms around my neck and hugs me tightly.