Stud (25 page)

“Not far,” Lucy replied. “Maybe twenty meters.”

“Open ground or trees?”

“Shrubs, mostly,” she replied. “Like these around the cave. I haven’t been up there. I’ve only been down in the valley to the creek.”

Tarq gathered up the blanket and handed it to Lucy. “Get your stuff together.” Thankful that the fire had burned down to ashes, he collected the few utensils they had.

Rufus padded over to the edge of the cave. Growling, he shot through the shrubs, racing down the hillside.

“Oh, no!” Lucy exclaimed. “He’ll lead them right to us!”

Tarq stood up, fully expecting to fall down again, but despite a brief bout of dizziness, he was able to remain on his feet. “Might be a good thing if he did. Then we could stun them again and steal my speeder back. But let’s not chance it. There’s a pistol in my speeder, and if they’ve found it…”

“Yeah. I see your point.” Lucy stuffed the blanket into her bag and then snatched two fish down from the roof of the cave. “No way am I leaving these behind. They were too hard to catch.”

Tarq would’ve loved to hear how she’d done it, but figured that was a topic best left for a more opportune time. Shouldering the bag, Tarq motioned for her to lead the way. “You know what’s out there better than I do.”

Nodding, she ducked under a bough on the eastern side of the cave and Tarq followed close behind her.

Closely-spaced, low bushes provided excellent cover, and with a minimum of stealth, they were able to pass from clump to clump unseen by their pursuers. Even so, the going wasn’t easy and Tarq didn’t dare stand up to take a look around. All he could tell was that they were headed uphill.

Lucy didn’t falter but kept on at a steady pace. She was currently in much better shape than he was, and it wasn’t long before Tarq wished he’d had time to eat lunch before they had to head for the hills. Soon, however, the ground began a downward slope and Lucy stopped.

“We’re over the top of the hill now,” she whispered. “I’m gonna take a peek.” She raised her head to peer over the tops of the branches. “I don’t see anything.” She took the bag from Tarq’s shoulder as he stood up, and though he would’ve loved to protest, he felt too much relief to mention it. Rummaging through the bag, she pulled out an apple and handed it to him. “You can eat that while we’re on the move.” Settling the strap of her duffel bag onto her shoulder, she started walking. “I’ll carry this for a while.”

Tarq had never tasted anything more delicious in his life—unless it was Lucy—and he was down to the core in no time. He felt much better and could have easily resumed carrying the load, but he had to admire her spunk. For a girl who’d never been outside of Reltan, she was holding her own quite well. Not that he wanted to appear weak, but letting her take charge for a while was probably wise. Lucy had been belittled and made to feel stupid often enough. It was time to let her feel her strength.

Tarq knew all about being made to feel stupid. He’d been teased often enough as a boy, which was one reason he tried to hide his inability to read. Lucy wouldn’t make fun of him even if she knew, but he’d prefer that she didn’t pity him because of it. He wanted her feelings for him to be clear—if she had any.

The ground grew steadily more steep and rocky and the mountains reared up before them. As Tarq studied the terrain, his vision blurred momentarily. When he blinked to clear it, the image was still in his mind, along with a trail mapped out through the mountains to Noklar. He spoke before he truly understood what he’d seen. “We need to turn south when we get past the notch between those two mountains up ahead.”

“We have to go that far into the Eradics? Aren’t we going back to Reltan?”

Tarq shook his head. “Not if we’re being followed. That’s where they’d expect us to go.”

“But Noklar is more toward the north—almost due east of Yalka.”

“Yes, but the best route is to turn south and then go north. There’s a wide valley in the middle of the range that will take us straight to it. The climb down from the valley will be the hard part. Noklar sits on a plateau in the eastern foothills.”

She stared at him with frank astonishment. “How in the world could you possibly know that?”

“I—I’m not sure.”

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with your getting kicked in the head, would it?”

Had he been in her place, Tarq would’ve probably thought the same thing. He frowned, trying to think of the best way to explain. “Haven’t you ever just known something and then later found out you were right?”

She shook her head. “Not like that.”

“Well, Zetithians do… No one knows why, but—”

“You’re saying this was a vision?”

Tarq grimaced. “I don’t know if I’d call it that. Well, maybe it is. I’ve done it before, but it’s not quite like other Zetithian visions. They mostly deal with the future.” Taking a deep breath, he added, “I saw the same thing in a dream I had several nights ago. This is also how I found Amelyana’s ship when I was a kid. I just knew it was the right path to follow.”

“Well, seeing as how you made it here alive, I can’t really argue with that logic, can I?”

“I wish I could say I’d seen a map, but I haven’t.”

“Those mountains have been mapped from space, but given the dangers, not many people have actually traveled through them—and lived to tell about it.”

“My, how encouraging,” he said dryly. “Vrelnots?”

“And other things. Storms, rock slides, you name it. Even hunters don’t go very deep into the range. That valley you were talking about… it’s there, all right, but it has a really bad reputation. It may be the best route as far as the mountains themselves are concerned, but otherwise, we may wind up wishing we’d stuck around for a showdown with Fred.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I think I’d rather go up against vrelnots. At least they wouldn’t be gunning for us specifically.”

Lucy chuckled. “True. They just want to kill us on general principles.”

Tarq grinned. She was a plucky little woman for sure. “Well, hang onto your pistol and maybe we can take out a few of them first.”

“I hope so. I should probably give it to you. I’d be willing to bet you’re a better shot than I am.”

Tarq would protect her to the best of his ability, but he’d feel much better knowing she was armed. “I’m not an expert, if that’s what you mean. You keep it.”

“Well, here,” she said, handing him a sheathed knife. “We’ve got three of these.”

He snapped the sheath onto his belt and they traveled on in silence for a while, Tarq stopping periodically to reassure himself that they weren’t being followed. He hoped their attackers would give up if they thought they’d driven him into the mountains, though he couldn’t be sure they didn’t know Lucy was the one who’d come to his rescue. She hadn’t stunned them all at once. One of them might have seen her. If her father offered some sort of reward for her return, it might be worth their while to find her.

Tarq hadn’t taken note of the time of day when he’d first awakened, but it must have been late afternoon because it was already beginning to get dark. He didn’t relish the idea of running into a vrelnot in the daytime, let alone at night. Unfortunately, the moon that had lit their way a few nights before was already on the wane and rising later. Clouds drifted in, obscuring the stars. Tarq had yet to see it rain since he’d been on Talus. He was hoping it would hold off a while longer.

Lucy finally stopped when she couldn’t see to put one foot in front of the other. Tarq’s night vision was much better than a human’s but he was exhausted, hungry, and had been breathing in Lucy’s scent all day. The erection he’d awakened with had never really left him.

“I don’t suppose your vision included where the next source of water will be, did it?”

“There’s a river running through the valley, but before that, we’ll have to be frugal.”

She nodded grimly. “Wish I’d had a chance to fill the bottles again before we had to bug out of there. We’ve only got three bottles as it is, and one of them is empty.”

Tarq stared up at the sky. He could see stars again, peeking through the clouds. “We’ll make it through. Don’t worry.”

“Faith in your vision?”

“Something like that. We just have to follow the right path and everything will work out.”

Lucy burst out laughing. “I sure hope you’re right.”

“Me too.”

“You’re just trying to make me feel better, aren’t you?”

“Maybe. Is it working?”

“Not sure. Did your vision include a good place to camp tonight?”

“No, but this place is as good as any.” He was kidding, of course. They were standing right out in plain sight. He gestured toward a stand of trees. “Let’s camp over there.”

They found a relatively smooth spot beneath a tree and Lucy spread out the blanket. “How’s your dick?”

“Hard.”

She sighed deeply. “I was afraid of that.”

“I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about it.”

“Will you be able to sleep?”

“Next to you without getting any relief? Probably not. Um, are we ever going to eat those fish?”

“What? Oh, yeah. The fish. They’re already cooked—well, smoked, anyway. I experimented a bit. It’s not half bad.”

“I’m hungry enough to eat them raw.”

“You won’t have to. You just peel back the scales and the skin comes right off. Watch out for the bones, though.”

She was right. The fish was only half bad. Tarq would’ve given a lot for the Colonel’s eleven different herbs and spices, but that would have to wait until they reached Noklar. Unfortunately, his dick wasn’t as patient as his palate.

If asked, Lucy would’ve said she was too tired for sex, but with one touch from Tarq, her exhaustion vanished, and when he kissed her, she forgot it entirely. She’d withdrawn from him for most of that last day together, knowing how painful their parting would be. Now that they were back together for a time, it was almost as though that episode had never taken place. But it had. He seemed to have forgotten it, however—either that or it didn’t matter to him. Lucy was hoping for the former; the idea that he didn’t care was too awful to consider.

There was no denying that she’d longed for this during the hours she’d sat beside Tarq, keeping watch over him and letting him get the rest he needed. She was amazed at the transformation he’d made from the beaten, bedraggled man she’d half carried, half dragged up the valley to the cave. There had been times when she feared he would never wake up and speak to her, let alone make love with her.

He was purring as he kissed her, the vibrations in his throat triggering an autonomic response in her—almost as if she’d been Zetithian herself. Desire washed over her like a wave, and she melted like butter in the sun.

She was distracted momentarily by a soft whine as Rufus approached and settled down nearby. If anyone was following him it wasn’t readily apparent, but it was frightening to think how easily he’d found them without making a sound. Still, she was glad he’d returned. If nothing else, he could keep watch while she and Tarq were… busy.

“Better make it a quick one,” she suggested. “One of us needs to stand guard in case we were followed.”

“I’ll take the first watch,” Tarq said, his purr never ceasing. “You’ll need to sleep.”

“You should be the one to sleep first,” Lucy said firmly. “You’re the one who was hurt.”

“Yes, but you’re pregnant and you know what
snard
does to you.”

Snard.
Yet another thing she thought she’d never experience again. “We’ll wait and see how you feel when you’re, um… done.”

“You don’t have to make it sound like such a chore,” Tarq grumbled.

Lucy rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. I’m just worried about being followed, that’s all.” This wasn’t the only thing bothering her, but it was easier to explain.

“If it makes you feel any better, I heard Rufus coming and knew he was alone.”

“You might have mentioned it.”

He nuzzled her neck, purring louder. “Sorry, I had other things on my mind.”

She pushed him away for a moment, taking a deep breath while attempting to control the reactions of her wayward body. “I really don’t want those guys to catch us in the act—or naked. Especially after what I did to them.”

“Then we’ll only get half naked.” She heard the sound of his zipper being undone and waited while he kicked off his jeans. “There. How’s that?”

Lucy giggled. “Should I keep my shirt on too?”

“I’d rather you didn’t, but if it makes you feel better, go right ahead.”

He helped her out of her khakis and inhaled deeply. “Ah, Lucy. If you only knew what you do to me.”

Whatever she did to him had an obvious effect—he was rock hard and dripping—but she suspected his effect on her was stronger. Nudging her legs apart, he pressed himself into her, and she marveled at the way he was able to arouse her despite the fact that she was tired, nervous, and expected Fred’s gang to pounce on them at any moment.

As he rocked into her, she forgot about all that and simply gazed into his glowing eyes and let him take her to paradise. What would it be like to have him forever, to not have fears that they would be discovered, and to truly belong to him? To be married to him and do this all the time? To feel no fears, only contentment, and to sleep safe and warm afterward?