Guns and Dust Ch. 09

Adina climbed up out of the cupola onto the top of the bearcat where Asher was scanning the horizon with binoculars. He looked like some kind of black clad statue silhouetted against the burning bright landscape and blue sky.

The faded and dingy white of the longhunter emblem on his pauldrons stood out starkly in the bright sun. The helmet with crossed pistol and sword beneath, all bracketed between wings seemed to almost burn against his dark armored shoulder.

"Anything?"

Asher dropped his hands but continued to stare out across the dusty, empty expanse. "Nothing," he answered sourly. When he turned to her, his face was like a mask; hard, thoughtful, his expression locked in concern and concentration. Adina could feel the anger that lay just beneath it. His expression had barely changed since they'd left the camp two days ago searching for Nat.

Just as the boy Teppi had said, faint tracks led from the camp in a direction no one from the camp would normally go.

It felt like weeks had passed since they stood on the quarry camp's outskirts and Asher had stopped Omar when the big man began organizing a search party.

"We'll follow the tracks," he'd told Omar. "We're better suited to deal with it if something's happened." Asher held Omar's eyes. "Search the camp. Make sure he's not here." It was a kind expression, not a command.

Omar stewed angrily for a few moments before Priav approached and laid her hand on his arm. Adina remembered thinking Priav's red brown complexion framed within the curtain of her grey and white braids seemed especially striking in that moment.

Priav looked up into Omar's face, holding his hand in hers. "We need to make certain he isn't here, that something hasn't happened to him in camp." She watched Omar's eyes and nodded to Asher without looking away. "He's right. Let them do what they do. You do what you are her to do." She squeezed his hands. "Protecting our camp."

Omar looked no happier. His jaw cabled, the damaged muscles in the right side of his face sagging and pulling. He nodded his head, then turned to Asher.

"Find who did this, Myrmidon." Omar's words were bitten off and harsh. Adina could see Omar didn't believe Nat was anywhere in camp. Omar watched Asher's lapis blue eyes for a moment, then turned away. Priav lingered watching Omar as he walked away. She didn't say anything, she just turned and watched Asher with old eyes, her expression neutral, but Adina could feel the resigned tension behind it.

She doesn't think Nat is in camp either.

Priav turned and raised her arms shepherding those who'd gathered back toward the rest of the camp. "We must search the camp! Nat may be here!" Priav looked to someone pointed. "Put your swimmers into the quarry! If something has happened and he is there, we need to know!"

Adina's heart crashed to rocky bottom, the image of Nat floating face down in the quarry's beautiful waters was like a dagger stabbing her in the chest.

Asher had all but pulled her along by her elbow as he strode back to the bearcat.

"He isn't here." And in those three words she could hear everything; anger, heartbreak, fear.

Less than an hour after Teppi had found them at the bluff, Adina was sitting in the driver's seat of the bearcat as they rolled out of camp. Asher leaned out of the passenger door, following the faint trail. It ended in a ravine half a mile away that was empty save for the remains of a small fire and set of tire tracks heading west.

"Why take Nat?" she'd asked as Asher squatted studying the tire tracks.

He shook his head. "Just a slave maybe. Maybe someone that could tell them about the camp's defenses." He glared westward, then he got up and walked back to the bearcat. "We need to go. They have at least a whole night's head start on us."

Standing on top of the bearcat, Adina wrapped a hand around Asher's leather clad, armored sleeve. "We'll find him."

He finally turned his eyes to her. They were so hard it hurt her heart. The severe cut of his short cropped white hair and beard only intensified the effect. He just watched her eyes, then put a hand gently on her cheek. "I hope so. But you need to be prepared. Even if we do find him." He looked in the direction they had been heading. "It could be bad."

Adina kissed his dusty sleeve. "But we're going to find him. No matter what," she told him with absolute certainty. He didn't look back at her and she could hear his emotion in the way he swallowed hard. He nodded.

Adina hadn't realized how fond Asher was of Nat until the boy went missing. It might have just been that Nat was a child. The image of Asher's joyous face as he played with the children at the water's edge was a bitter irony compared to the harshness of his expression now. But Asher's reaction had been so sudden and extreme. He was genuinely fond of Nat.

After that Asher had closed up on her like a door slamming shut. He'd barely talked to her since they'd left. She tugged on his arm slightly to try and get him to look at her. When he didn't, she reached up and put a hand on his cheek and turned his face to hers.

"Please don't shut me out, Asher." She watched his eyes. "I can feel how upset you are. But we're in this together." She leaned up and gave him a kiss. Then just watched his eyes. "Alright?"

He swallowed again and nodded. "We should get moving." He climbed down into the cupola leaving her standing alone on top of the bearcat staring out in the sun scorched, empty plain.

They drove for another day and it was fully dark when she turned to Asher from where she sat in the passenger's seat. "We need to stop, Asher." She leaned across the console and put a hand on his arm. We haven't stopped to rest in three days."

The only sleep they'd gotten was napping in the passenger seat as the other person drove and she could barely move from exhaustion. "We need to stop and rest." She pointed out the windows. "You're not going to see anything in this."

Adina wasn't sure exactly what he was following. She couldn't see a thing. But he seemed certain. Every now and then they stopped, and he hopped out, squatting down and looking at some clue or standing and gazing into the distance at some other inscrutable sign.

Asher didn't answer her. She squeezed his arm, more insistently. "We need to sleep - real sleep, if only for a few hours." He didn't look at her, but the bearcat slowed. His head sagged and he nodded in agreement.

The anguished gesture was heartbreaking. Of everything she'd seen of his many emotional states up to now, this was new. She stepped around the console and wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head against his. "Shhh... It's alright." Tears rolled from her eyes, her heart feeling like it was being dragged downward by a hook in her chest.

Asher put a hand on her and firmly squeezed her arm. "He's just a kid."

Adina kissed his hair and pulled herself tightly against him. "I know."

They settled down on the mattress, Asher's heavy, armored coat hanging from one of the shelves. Adina's head rose and fell with his breathing and she pulled herself tightly to him, everything inside her a confused tumult of fear for Nat, anxiety, and helplessness. She kissed Asher's chest and climbed on top of him. Her lapis flecked hazel eyes watched his as her long dark hair streamed over one shoulder in her loose ponytail. Adina ran her hands across his strong chest, then leaned down and put her lips on his. It was like kissing a stone at first as she lightly laid her lips on his. Then she kissed him with more urgency and his hands moved, his arms wrapping around her. He kissed her back and she put her hands on the sides of his face, her elbows on his chest, stroking his white bearded cheeks.

"I love you, Asher." She whispered it, kissing him more and caressing his cheeks. "I love how strong you are." She stopped and watched his eyes. "And how much you care." She kissed him more, becoming more and more aroused.

Asher took hold of her shirt and tugged it up, not hard, but insistently. She sat up and let him pull her shirt off over her head, holding her arms up and displaying herself for him. As he put her shirt aside, she took his hands and put them on her breasts. He cupped them, squeezing gently, his fingers playing over her nipples. The thrill that ran through her arched her back, pressing her breasts into his hands.

"Ohhh... yes, Asher."

Part of Adina wanted to find a way to help ease his pain, but another part simply missed his hands on her. Since they'd met, this was the longest they'd gone without having sex and her body ached for him.

She pulled his shirt up and as soon as it was off, kissed his chest. He pushed her upright, his mouth finding her breasts, sucking each nipple. She hissed at the feel of his tongue and lips on her hard, sensitive buds. Her breath caught and her legs clenched closed a little as the smoldering ache inside her blew into sudden flames. He pulled her long, dark hair out of the ponytail so that her hair fell loosely around her shoulders and ran a hand over her hair and where it lay over her breasts. Adina's breath came fast as she reached down and opened his pants, then slid her hand inside and wrapped her fingers around his hard penis.

"Ohhh... yes..." she whispered.

Adina hung onto the shelf with one hand, her head thrown back, breathing hard, the tail of Asher's coat brushing her face as he thrust into her from behind. She was on her knees on the mattress, lost in the ecstatic sensation of him inside her. The ache of her wanting him had turned into building tension. Adina groaned at him filling her so completely. She could feel every sensation as he slowly pushed in and then withdrew, their lovemaking slow and intense.

"It's so deep!" she moaned, already so tight inside, each push of his cock a thrill that drove her closer and closer to the edge as she pushed back against it. Her other hand was on his, holding it firmly, his thumb pushed into her ass. Adina bit her lip, her hips rolling as everything inside her tummy clenched. She gripped his hand hard feeling her nails on his skin, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Keep going! Just like that!"

He kept his movements rhythmic and certain, and the slow build was tormenting, her legs shook, and her hand on the shelf failed. She fell face down onto the mattress, clinging to his hand, her other hand grasping at the shelf with no coordination as he continued the inexorable, slow driving rhythm. The sudden, sharp pleasure pain of her body giving way made her yelp as her orgasm tore through her. Her feet kicked in uncontrolled spasms, everything inside her feeling like it was clenched around his cock. Even as her body shuddered and bucked, he held her tightly, his thumb still in her ass, driving into her, pushing her through her orgasm. Her whole body locked, and she felt the sudden flood down her legs. Everything was spinning.

Adina was twitching and trembling helplessly, sagged onto the mattress when she felt him pull out of her. A relaxed moan rose up from somewhere deep inside her. "I've missed you," she panted into the mattress.

Asher wrapped an arm around her, and the strong arm pulled her easily against him. Adina turned and settled her head on his chest, luxuriating in how relaxed she felt after her shaking orgasm.

Once her breathing had slowed, Asher carefully rolled her onto her back and got between her legs, looking down at her. His expression had softened, but the crease between his eyebrows was still there. She ran a hand over his scarred, tattooed chest as he pushed his cock along her labia and clit, making her twitch all over again. She smiled, watching him watch her, arching her back and rolling her hips to meet his movement. He stroked strands of her long dark hair out of her face, then bent and kissed her. It was a long, gentle thing. Adina wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his back pulling herself up against him, smashing her breasts against his chest. "I want you so bad," she whispered in his ear.

Asher started gently but their lovemaking quickly grew into violent animalistic mating. Adina was streaming with sweat, her body arching and collapsing, nothing but a rag doll in his powerful arms as he mercilessly driving his cock into her. He only rested for a moment after his first orgasm before rolling her onto all fours and taking her again. She was so exhausted, she'd come over and over, thrown into fits of primal ecstasy by his wildness, taking what he wanted from her as she moaned and cried, her body responding instinctively.

She'd felt his hot rush of semen a third time before he finally collapsed down on top of her, sweat soaked and panting. Adina had no idea how many times she'd cum or if she'd just been in a constant ebb and flow of one for... however long it had been.

She didn't care. She just lay there feeling him on top of her, both of them heaving in ecstatic exhaustion.

He finally rolled off of her and pulled her against his chest again. She watched his belly rise and fall rapidly as he caught his breath. She was sore. She had to let her breathing calm again before she could say anything. She kissed his chest, tasting his salty sweat again.

"Are you alright?" She asked between deep breaths. "You've never... done anything like that to me before." She glanced up at his face.

He nodded, still breathing hard as he rolled his head to kiss her sweat matted hair. He turned lapis blue eyes to hers. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She shook her head and kissed his chest again. "No. You've just never been that way before." A shadow seemed to pass over his expression. She set her chin on his chest, holding his eyes firmly. "You did not hurt me, Asher. I'm fine." She raised an eyebrow at him and kissed his chest playfully again to ease what felt like sudden tension. "I'm going to be sore... I'm already sore. And I'm going to walk funny," she grinned at him. "But you didn't hurt me." She slid up and took his face between her hands kissing him deeply. He drew her onto his sweaty chest returning her kisses. She pulled back and watched his expression. He pushed hair out of her face again with a gentle finger. "You're never going to hurt me, Asher." She ran a hand over a shaved side of his head, cocking her head and taking in his white hair, the curve of his beard. She ran a finger lightly over his lips. "I've never been able to say that about anyone else in my life. She kissed him again. "That's why I love you."

Adina grimaced at a sudden muscle spasm in her tummy, dropping her head against his chest and laughing. "But I think I need a break!"

Half a day later, Adina was still having aches from their intense sex. She just grinned when it happened. It brought her right back to the feelings and his amazing expression of release when he finished the last time. It was only in looking back that she realized how amazing it was. She was too caught in the sensations at the moment to really understand what was happening. A blush suddenly ran up her neck as she thought about being so completely lost in it.

She looked out into the unending sameness, the images of their hard sex running through her head when a long vertical line in the distance off to their right drew her attention. She sat up in the passenger seat and squinted, the thoughts of she and Asher fading. It wasn't a dust devil. It was too dark. She grabbed the binoculars

"What do you see?" Asher asked from the driver's seat.

Adina pointed. "What's that? Is that smoke?"

The bearcat rolled to a stop and Asher looked across her. "Yeah, it sure looks like it." He climbed out of the driver's seat and pushed hanging things out of the way pulling the big sniper rifle from its storage place, then climbed up the ladder to the top of the bearcat. As Adina put her head up through the cupola a moment later, Asher was on his belly on the top of the truck. "Stay low. We don't know what they might be able to see. We already stick up pretty high." Adina laid down next to him looking through the binoculars as he popped out the bipod on the rifle and looked down the large scope.

It was a streamer of smoke, but it looked like it was a long way away. In the glaring sun it was hard to tell. It came and went in the heat shimmers.

"Yeah, that's smoke," Asher confirmed, watching carefully. "But it's a long way away - miles." His cheek was laying against the rifle stock as he glanced away from the scope to get a good look around, then looked through the scope again. "With the heat haze it's hard to tell how far away it is." Asher got up on his knees and folded the bipod closed, snapping the covers over the ends of the scope again. "But that's got to be it, a camp of some kind. That much smoke isn't from just a few people." He settled onto his knees. "Now we just need to figure out how to approach it."

Adina stared at the smoke through the binoculars. She'd envisioned catching up to the single vehicle. The idea they would encounter a whole camp hadn't crossed her mind. She rolled to look up at him. "What are we going to do?"

Asher let out a long breath, watching the streamer for a moment before answering. "I don't know yet. We need to see what we're dealing with." He looked down at her. "But no matter what, we're in for a fight. Do you feel ready for that?"

Adina's heart climbed into her throat. The feeling of rough cord being tied around her wrists was suddenly there again, raw and terrifying. The pain of the punches, the kicks in the stomach, being dragged when she couldn't breathe. When she could barely stand. And their leering eyes, their laughter...

Suddenly Nat was there in her mind's eye. His small wrists were red and raw from the rough cord. He was so small compared to them as they punch, kicked, laughed and leered at him. The image clattered against the memory of him at the edge of the quarry; so joyous as he helped the little girl out of the water.

And another kind of heat suddenly blossomed in Adina.

Not again...

Adina's teeth clamped together so hard it made her head ache. She nodded at Asher, unsure if she could get words out past the sudden fierce emotions. She swallowed the lump in her throat. "We're..." Adina ground her teeth together and looked straight into his eyes, swallowing again. "We're going to get him home."

Asher nodded, watching the intensity in her eyes.

The camp was much further away than Adina had imagined. It had taken more than three hours of cautious driving for them to reach a place where they could safely see it and not be seen. The sun was just setting as she and Asher crawled up to the top of a rocky hill. They'd left the bearcat in a low depression not far away. As soon as Adina pushed her head up enough to see the camp, she felt the spasm in her chest and her heartbeat was suddenly thundering in her ears. The camp was much larger than she'd expected.

There were the typical shade shelters, just cloth strung up between poles or over shoddy structures. But there were also rows of metal cages with dozens of people in them. And half a dozen vehicles were parked around the camp's perimeter.

"I thought you said there was no one out here!" she whispered fiercely.

Asher shook his head, carefully bringing the sniper rifle up. "Well, there aren't supposed to be!" He settled the big rifle, scanning the camp through the scope. "Priav and Rafi were right. There's a lot of empty space out here. We must have just missed whatever is out here on our patrols." He was quiet for a moment, observing the camp half a mile away. "It isn't really surprising, I guess. We like to think we're more efficient than this. Obviously, we're not."

Adina searched the camp through the binoculars, but they were too far away for her to see any real details. "Can you see Nat?"