Page 124 of Tapeworld Induction

“You say that… But if you really cared for me, you would want to take me with you.”

Isaak took a big, uncomfortable swallow, his eyes watering. “I go alone because I’m afraid.”

“Afraid of what?” Dylan said, a lump in her throat.

“Afraid of you dying, or getting seriously hurt. I didn’t know it was deadly, but… I always worried.”

She looked up, away from him, to try to stop the tears running down her cheeks.

“You’ve always been silly. That’s what it is. If it’s dangerous in there…” She approached him again. “Wouldn’t it be better to go at it together? I can help you. I’ve been taping in long enough now. I know my way around the Tapeworld. I want in, Isaak. Just let me in. I know you worry about me. I can see it when you look at me. I feel the same about you. I worry about you!”

He was playing the stoic again, looking out to the cityscape, away from her.

“Isaak…” She took his hand. A flashback to that first time they held hands. It felt like a million years ago.

As she traced the shattered and fused-together knuckle-bone, Isaak winced and tried to pull his hand away. She gripped him. “I don’t care that you play the lone wolf, Isaak. I want in on this. With all the danger it brings.”

He stared into her eyes. They were now so close she breathed in his scent, the mix of sweat and fading cologne lighting a fire in her deepest self. He leaned forward and kissed her, and relief burst the prison around her heart. Hands paved pathways down her back, the hairs on her skin rising to meet his fingers. The kiss became multiple kisses – short, quick touches of the lips, and long, passionate entanglements, as he pushed his tongue onto hers, a wet caress, everlasting.

He encircled her wrist. “Your pulse is racing,” he whispered, his forehead against hers.

Fear of death, fear of losing him and Talia, fear of Astrid.

No. Fuck her.

It was time to take charge of her destiny, Isaak by her side.

Brown eyes locked onto hers, words on his lips. “I don’t want to be away from you ever again.”

She closed her eyes, his warm breath giving her strength. “I’ll follow you everywhere.” Her fingers interlaced on the small of his back, arms around him.

He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her above the shoulders. “No, I’ll follow you. Even a captain needs to be led.”

It was a comfortable place, a hopeful place, to hold each other.

Tape in and you could die. Put on the Crypterra Sleeper and you become a sleptigrade. Protest the Tech Kings and end up on a list of undesirables.

The life she knew before meeting him was gone. No turning back.

She leaned her head to one side, blonde-blue hair sliding off to expose her neck, and he leaned in to kiss it gently.

Electricity shot through her. Dylan grabbed his neck and pulled him in, kissing him again. Their tongues danced to the sound of gentle moans and breathless sighs.

She lowered herself onto the bed, her Dr. Martens kicked off to the side. She made space with her body for him to fill and he sidled up next to her with a coy smile.

Here, in this derelict building made into a power-broker’s headquarters… This was where she wanted to be most of all, out of all the places in the world. Because this was where he was.

He grabbed her shoulder and they resumed kissing. Eagerness took her over and she grabbed his bum, pulling his hips towards hers, a wry smile peeking out between kisses. She explored his upper body with her hands. He undid his belt and trousers.

Then, making sure she felt his hand on every inch of her legs, Isaak hiked her dress up to her waist, exposing her. Eyes locked on to hers, he peeled her white knickers down. Dylan kicked them away.

Isaak positioned himself over her, one hand between her legs, his lips exploring her neck. Dylan grinned and pulled him closer, putting his waist at the same level as hers. Isaak laid on top of her. He shifted the folds of her dress’s neckline to one side and kissed her breast, sucking it. She groped at his black, silky-smooth underwear, trying to push it down. Not needing any encouragement, Isaak got rid of it. The sight of him, bare for her, threatened to send her into a daze.

She guided him inside her.

No words could describe the depth of sensation, to feel him inside her, hard as a rock.

His movements felt like one continuous motion, his body an eternal machine, filling her with so much purpose.