Chapter 25

She Shook Me Cold

"Then she took my head

Smashed it up

Kept my young blood rising

Crushed me mercilessly

Kept me going around

So she didn't know

I crave her so"

She Shook Me Cold - David Bowie

Mac sat at a couch in The Dugout, sipping a Nuka-Cherry and smoking a cigarette. He made a face at the overly sweet taste of the soda, setting it down on the coffee table in front of him.

Lydia stood at the bar, chatting and laughing with Vadim. Mac smiled at her happy disposition. She'd been in a great mood since they'd dislodged the chip from the dead courser's brain two days earlier.

After carefully sawing open the synthetic man's head, they'd found very life-like brains inside. He remembered the way Lydia had fretted over having shot the thing in the head, worried that she may have caused damage to the chip. But after mushing through the brain matter piece-by-piece, they'd found what she'd been searching for.

Lydia had also released the synth that the Gunners had held captive, the reason the courser had been in that building and hadn't teleported out as soon as he'd been fired on. She'd made Mac rest for a whole day, tending to and worrying over him. He could see Lydia's motherly instincts then, and the love he had for her continued to grow.

Mac was still sore, not yet feeling back to normal after having had a hole punched through his chest by the courser's laser rifle. But he'd felt well enough to get away from the building full of dead Gunners, so they'd slowly made their way to Diamond City. Lydia wanted to see Nick, to find out if he knew anyone who could possibly decode the complex tech that was the courser chip.

Mac wondered about Duncan. By his estimate, the cure should be reaching him in the next day or two. He hoped with everything he had that it worked. He was also anxious to see his son. Now that he'd completed his task with Lydia he could technically head home, but the thought of leaving her made his chest ache.

And if Mac was honest with himself, he didn't think of the old farm in the Capital as home anymore. If it weren't for Duncan being there, he'd feel no regrets about never going back. He'd finally made peace in his head with Lucy's death, but now he had a new conflict: what to do about Duncan and Lydia.

Mac had been mulling over the idea of moving Duncan up to the Commonwealth. But, while no place was really safe out in the Wasteland, the Commonwealth was maybe a little less safe than the Capital because of the threat the Institute posed. And Mac knew he couldn't ask Lydia to move, not before she'd found her son. For all his contemplation on the topic, he was not much closer to a solution. He knew he have to talk to Lydia about it. Soon.

"Vashe zrodovye!" Vadim said loudly from the bar, interrupting Mac from his thoughts. He looked over to see Vadim and Lydia raise their glasses in a toast and knock back their drinks. "Don't be stranger, lapochka!" he called as Lydia turned away from the bar, bottle of moonshine in hand.

Lydia made her way to Mac, hips swaying and a look of mischief in her hazel eyes. She stopped in front of him, taking the cigarette from Mac's fingers and placing it into her mouth. "Come on," she said around the smoke, grabbing Mac's hand and pulling him to his feet.

She led him through the bar and into their rented room, closing the door behind them. She inhaled one last hit from the cigarette before stamping it out in the ashtray on the coffee table.

Mac sat down on the room's couch, watching as Lydia took a swig from the bottle in her hand before setting it down onto the table next to the ashtray. She then unclipped the Pip-boy from her wrist, depositing that onto the table as well.

Mac could see the lust in her gaze as she made her way around the table, the look in her eyes causing him to begin stiffening below his belt.

Lydia climbed up onto Mac's lap, straddling him as she reached up to remove the hat from his head. Smiling, she lowered her mouth to his. He grew harder as she pressed her hips into his, grinding slowly against him as she explored his mouth with her tongue. He reached his hands around to grab hold of her ass, pushing them harder against each other. Mac growled into her mouth as the friction from their movement caused him to become fully erect.

Sliding his hands up Lydia's back under her shirt, Mac unclasped her bra. He traced his fingers around her ribs, bringing his hands up under the loose bra to cup her breasts. She moaned into his mouth as he ran his fingers over her nipples, causing them to stand up to points.

Breaking their kiss, Lydia leaned away to pull her shirt over her head, discarding both it and her bra info the floor. Mac grabbed her waist and pulled her back into him, taking a pink nipple into his mouth and gently biting down. Lydia let out a breathless moan, wrapping her hands around Mac's head as he flicked the nub with his tongue. She allowed him to move his attention to her other breast for a moment before pulling his head back and kissing him urgently.

Lydia rubbed herself against Mac once more before pulling away and pushing up off his lap. Kneeling on the floor in front of him, she opened Mac's legs and ran her hands up the front of his pants, stroking him through the cloth of his pants as she went. Mac felt himself twitch in anticipation as Lydia's hands went to work undoing his belt. She lowered his zipper, looking up at him through her lashes and winking as she pulled down the waistband of his boxers and his erection sprung free. Mac twitched again as she lowered her mouth to his sensitive head, using her tongue to swipe the bead of pre-cum from the slit before slowly taking him into her mouth.

"Oh god," Mac sighed, letting his head fall back against the couch. It was all he could do not to thrust himself into her mouth as she sucked on him, taking him deep into her throat.

After a few minutes, Mac threaded a hand into the hair at the back of her head and pulled her away. "I want you now," he told her huskily, eyes half-lidded from the pleasure.

Lydia stood, turning and bending over in front of him as she put one foot up on the coffee table and slowly began to unlace her boot. She took her time, leisurely pulling her boot off and moving to the other foot. Mac groaned as he watched the way her ass moved in her jeans, growing painful with his need to be inside her.

Finally she turned back to face him, her hands running over her breasts and down to her waist, drawing out every movement as she unbuckled her belt. She pulled the leather strap through her belt loops before dropping it onto the ground and moving to unbutton and unzip her jeans. Mac lifted his hips off the couch, pushing his pants down past his knees as Lydia slid her own to the floor and stepped out of them.

Mac reached out and grabbed hold of Lydia's hips, pulling her down onto him. She arranged herself so that her slick folds pressed around his hardness, her hands braced on the couch behind him. Using his hand, Mac grabbed the base of his cock and rubbed himself along her folds, collecting the moisture there before using his sensitive head to stroke her bud of nerves.

Lydia moaned, rocking her hips forward. Mac slid himself back to find her opening, sheathing his cock inside her. Lydia cried out as he stretched and filled her, Mac voicing his own pleasure as her wet tightness clenched around him.

Moving her hips, Lydia rocked up and down, setting a slow but steady pace. Mac ran his hands up the front of her body to knead her breasts, pinching her nipples between his fingers.

Crying out, Lydia began to quicken her pace. Mac moved a hand down between them, using his thumb to rub circles around her bud as her breaths came faster and faster.

"Oh, Mac," she breathed as he felt her insides tighten around him with her climax. He let out a loud moan, relishing the way her muscles squeezed him.

Grabbing hold of Lydia's hips, Mac began thrusting up into her, harder and faster than the pace she'd set previously. Their moans intensified, and Mac felt himself about to spill over. Lydia moved her hands to the back of his head, pulling Mac in for a kiss as his orgasm shook through him.

Lydia collapsed forward against Mac, both breathing heavily. "You're...amazing," he panted, wrapping his arms around Lydia's back and hugging her to him. "I love you."

"I love you," she breathed against his neck.

After a few minutes, Lydia climbed off of Mac, grabbing his pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket on her way up. Mac pulled his pants back up but didn't bother fastening them.

Lounging back in the corner of the couch, Lydia lay her legs across Mac's lap as she lit as cigarette. She handed the pack back to him and he lit his own.

Lydia tried not to let her thoughts wander to where they'd been for the past two days since she'd acquired the courser chip, wanting to bask in her post-orgasm glow. But hard as she tried, she couldn't keep the thoughts away.

She and Mac had both helped each other accomplish their personal goals. Technically, their agreement was complete. But now, with their shared feelings having been declared, Lydia had no idea what they were doing. She'd assumed that Mac would be heading back to the Capital to be with Duncan. Part of her was happy for him and wanted him to be reunited with his son, the other part selfishly didn't want to let him go.

She'd been putting off this discussion for the past couple days. But now, with her on the verge of a potential breakthrough in finding Shaun, she knew they had to talk.

Leaning over, Lydia grabbed the bottle of moonshine from the coffee table and took a long drink. She coughed as the bitter liquid went down, giving her the courage to ask what she needed to.

"Mac, we need to talk," she spoke up as she set the bottle down on the floor near the couch.

Mac turned his head to look at her, blowing smoke through his nose. "I know," he nodded.

"We've each held up our own ends of the bargain we made now. Duncan's cure is on its way to him, and I've got the chip. I knew that you'd head back to be with Duncan as soon as you could, and...god this is so selfish of me to even think about...but I just...I don't want you to go," she said quickly, eager to get the words out and be done with it.

Mac sighed, running his hand through his hair. He hit his cigarette, and blew the smoke out before responding. "I've been thinking about that, too," he admitted. He paused, hitting his cigarette again. "I don't want to leave you, either...and I can't leave Duncan."

Lydia nodded, tears coming to her eyes. "I know that. And I don't want you to leave him. He needs his father."

"I'd want you to come with me," Mac said, running his hand along Lydia's naked leg, "but I know you can't leave until you find Shaun. I've also been thinking, though...I don't feel like that farm in the Capital is 'home' anymore. What if...how would you feel about me bringing Duncan here?" he asked, looking up into Lydia's eyes.

Lydia smiled warmly at Mac. "I'd love it," she said. If it weren't for the hole caused by Shaun's absence, her heart would be full.

Returning Lydia's smile, Mac leaned over and kissed her. "I've also been thinking, though," he continued, "I know it's risky, but the Commonwealth isn't exactly a safe place while the Institute is still a threat. I want to help you find Shaun, and take down those bastards. Let's try to make this Wasteland a better place for our kids."

Lydia's smile fell. "No, Mac."

"What? Why?"

"Because I can't risk you dying. I won't take you away from Duncan," Lydia finished quietly, hanging her head.

Mac reached over and tilted her face up to look at him. "This is my decision," he told her firmly. "I'm going with you and we're going to see this through to the end, whatever the outcome."

"But-"

"No," Mac frowned. "I'm doing this with you, damn-it. I already walked away once, I'm not leaving again." He leaned forward and crushed his cigarette into the ashtray before pulling Lydia into him in a fierce hug. "And we're both going to be fine. We've got each other's backs. Once Duncan is well enough to travel, I'll go get him and bring him here. I'm sure we can find a place for the four of us to live."

Lydia wanted to argue with him. She knew she was being selfish, knew she should make him leave to go be with Duncan so he'd be safe. But she wanted him with her.

"Okay," she relented. "But if you die, I'm going to kill you."

Mac laughed. "I love you."

"I love you, too."