The Vessel by Selena Moore

Chapter 12

18 months later

“The baby is hungry, love. Come and feed it.” It was Kratos’s voice who now beckoned her out of her mid-afternoon nap. She had slept, long and deep and in her dream she was back with Lucas and their son again, bathed in warm, blessed sunlight out in the open fields before the terror of the Rise and all that followed. She willed herself out of bed and looked toward the newborn’s crib, his cries calling her to him.

The little boy calmed down as soon as he latched on her breast, and once again silence reigned in the Hub. “Has Marcus returned?” she asked, concerned about his extended leave.

“Not yet. He will, though, I am sure of it.” Kratos, almost like every man in the Hub, was a man of few words. Marcus had gone to the surface four days ago and still hadn't returned. Fear that she might not ever see him again nauseated her and she was certain it wasn’t because of the twins she now carried in her belly.

“I hope so. He’s been really silent lately.”

Kratos walked over to where she was sitting and put a comforting arm on her shoulder. “Marcus is a worthy adversary. I am sure no harm has come to him. Now, feed the child because I want to feast on your milk as well.”

Emmanuella fixed her lover with a wicked grin and continued to nurse the child, her pride in bringing the first of their offspring to their underworld more than sufficient to keep her going. “There’s more than enough to feed you and anyone else who might be interested,” she teased, switching the boy to her other breast.

When the boy burped, no sooner had she put him back on the crib than Kratos’s strong arms brought her to sit on his lap. His soft lips latched on to her swollen nipple and when he started sucking her warm milk, Emmanuella felt pleasure like she never had in her entire life. “I love the way you worship me, Kratos,” she confessed and he lifted his head and locked his eyes locked for a long, heated moment.

“I will always be grateful to you. You are a brave woman, Emmanuella.”

∆∆∆

Marcus returned to the Hub four days later, his absence creating havoc on the other men. It was the worst eight days of Emmanuella’s life as she pondered all the ways in which he may have perished. She was nursing when he finally appeared at her door, a Saturday evening on her twenty-eighth birthday. His eyes were dark and red-rimmed but his expression was promising, filled with something she thought would be long lost by now.

Hope.

“You’re back.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he only said. “I can come back later.”

“Don’t be silly, Marcus. I was worried sick, I thought I’d never see you again. What happened?”

He walked inside, his eyes fixed on her. “We went way past the border this time. There is a patch of land there, untouched by the Machines. I dug and found fresh water. Unpolluted.”

The smile that appeared on her lips reflected her own thoughts. “A chance at a new start. I can’t believe it!”

“Kratos said it’s too risky to even try but I won’t spend the rest of my life here in this hellhole. If we don’t fight to get our land back, no one will do it for us. They’ve taken everything from me, Em. I can’t allow them to take away my hope for a better future too.”

She put the baby in the crib, walked closer, and this time, he let her wrap her arms around his warm, strong body, her protruding belly flush against his chiseled abdomen. “I missed you,” she whispered and he looked straight into her bewildered eyes. It was then that he finally saw it. They were the eyes of a woman madly in love. A woman desperate enough to do anything for the man she loved.

“I knew you were trouble the very moment I laid eyes on you, Em. Such a stubborn broad.”

“And I knew that you’d never admit to falling for me, you sick, perverted bastard, but I have. In between all the endless fucking and fighting I knew it was you I craved the most.”

The tears brewing in her eyes now ran down her cheeks and Marcus didn’t say anything more. He just pulled her closer, tipped her head up, and brought his mouth down on hers, covering her lips with his in a kiss that wiped out everything he remembered from his past and promised everything he could have in the future with this woman.

       A loving wife. A new beginning in a brand new world.

A world he had helped shape and one they would nurture and protect for the rest of their days.

The End.