“Where did you find the rings?” she asked.
“In Verder’s Ford. There was a jewelry store on the square. Ruger’s crew did a sloppy job of looting, found this one tray of rings on the floor upside down, where they must have dropped it.” He gave her a cocky grin. “I might have grabbed a handful actually but the biggest and prettiest ring was only for you.”
“You’re carrying around a stash of gold and diamonds?” she asked, deciding to disregard the issue of looting. These were different times and her husband was trying to provide for her and Jenny.
“I’ve got them safely hidden, don’t worry. I figure the stuff may come in handy as trade goods in the future. Gold never loses its value in most people’s eyes. I think it’s safe enough for you to wear the rings on the bus and we’ll need them to show our status as a couple at Glastine, but then depending on the situation in the camp you may want to sew them into your hem for safekeeping.”
She fingered the hem of his tee shirt. “Is this where the others are?”
“That tickles,” he said, making an involuntary move away from her questing fingers. “And no, they’re not there. The bus had a hidden compartment for the driver to stow his or her stuff, which not many people know about.”
“Ticklish, eh? Why didn’t I know this?” She ran her hand across his rock hard abdomen and then went south, under the waistband of his pants, until she could grip his cock, which was thick and pulsing. “I think we should consummate this marriage of ours, don’t you?” She rubbed her thumb across the slick head of his arousal and Les groaned and rocked his hips against her.
“We’re on the same wavelength, wife,” he said, lying on the rock and pulling her on top of him. He put his hands under her tee shirt, cupping her breasts and playing with the hard points of her nipples as she freed his length from his clothing. It only took her an instant to get out of her pants and underwear and cast them aside. Aching with need, she placed herself over his arousal and sank onto him one inch at a time, enjoying the sounds he made as she took him into her tight folds. Once he was fully seated, Devora clenched around him, enjoying the sensation of fullness and the stimulation his girth gave her nerve endings.
Les moved his hands to her hips, getting a firm grip and thrusting hard as she rode him. “You feel so damn good to me,” he muttered. “One of these days we’ve got to try this in a bed though.”
“Shut up and kiss me,” she said, although she certainly didn’t disagree about the bed, but she didn’t want to lose the moment they were in. He didn’t answer but took her mouth savagely, claiming her thoroughly, exploring her mouth with passion Devora eagerly returned.
Les reached between them to stimulate the tiny hidden bundle of nerves, which set off a succession of tiny shock waves throughout her core and Devora gasped.
“Don’t fight it,” he said. “Come for me, baby.”
And she did, throwing her head back, biting her lip till it bled so as not to scream out her pleasure. They were too close to the buses and someone might come check on them if she gave her release full voice.
Les increased his efforts as she came around him and went over the edge himself, arching his spine, his face set in an expression of intense concentration and enjoyment. Devora collapsed onto his chest with a sigh, running her hand over his pecs and shoulder in a gentle caress. “My knees are going to be bruised,” she said, “But it was worth it.”
They cuddled together for a few minutes and then used the water Les had brought and a scarf Devora had in her pants pocket to clean up as best they could.
“I hope Glastine has showers,” she said as she stood straightening her clothes, having donned her panties and slacks again. “How do I look?”
“Freshly fucked,” he said with a mix of pride and amusement. He caught her around the waist and pulled her close. “I’d say the marriage is duly consummated, wouldn’t you?”
“With the stars as witnesses,” she laughed but pleased by the idea. ”I guess the Archer was your best man.”
“At least the lights are dimmed in the bus for the night,” Les said. “The emergency strip on the floor doesn’t show much. I’m proud to claim you as my wife but I don’t need the entire bus full of people seeing the evidence.”
“I’m sure they’ll talk anyway,” Devora predicted. “I don’t care, do you?”
“Not in the least. After tomorrow no one but you and Jenny are my concern.”
Chapter Ten
In the morning Les had them all up early and breakfast was a quick meal of survival rations. He was anxious to get over the foothill pass in daylight and reach the camp at Glastine before sunset. The thought of being done with this journey was driving him. He wanted to be alone with Devora, or as alone was a man could be in a big refugee camp, with a toddler in tow. After he and Ethan checked the jury-rigged fix to the second bus’s hydraulics, which seemed to be holding, they all boarded the vehicles and set off, jouncing along in the ruts on the plateau.
The trail had a much steeper incline as it entered the actual foothills, which were close enough to being mountains in Les’s unscientific opinion. The bus engines strained more and more as the ascent continued and they worked their way through a series of winding curves. His misgivings grew as the track they were following grew narrower and narrower and he halted the bus to get out and walk the road ahead for a few hundred yards. When he reentered the bus he said, “I need a volunteer to walk ahead of us and let me know if there’s a problem with the road, like a rockslide. It’s treacherous up here and if that old rancher was in front of me right now I’d give him a piece of my mind for sending us on this wild detour.”
One of his guards stepped up to take point and left the bus.
“It’s really narrow,” Les told them. “I want Devora posted here in the stairwell to watch the edges and let me know how much clearance I’ve got for the wheels.”
She moved as directed, pausing to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Reluctantly Les engaged the drive and inched the bus forward. He was worried about the road crumbling away beneath his wheels. He didn’t know wat kind of vehicles the First Landing settlers had moved over this so-called road but probably no one in their right mind anticipated two buses weighing thousands of pounds each to make the trip.
“Remember Ruger,” Devora said softly, as if reading his mind. “He’s sure death if we fall into his clutches.”
“As opposed to imminent peril up here on a damn mountain goat trail,” Les replied but her comment gave his disgruntled attitude a check he’d needed.
