Guns and Dust

A tickle on Adina’s face drew her out of sleep. Just a brush. As she came awake, the memory of where she was fuzzily returned. She could still feel Asher’s arm over her, his warmth against her back.

She opened her eyes. One of Asher’s fingers lightly brushed a lock of black hair out of her face. She squinted and blinked against the bright morning light, tucking her hands up inside the blanket against the chill. Moving her hands made her realize she had Asher’s other arm pulled around her. Her head lay on it like a pillow and she was holding his warm hand against her, cupping her breast.

Adina was instantly awake, blood rushing up her neck and onto her face. Having her lover’s arm around her, resting warm and reassuringly on her breast was a favorite sleeping position. But now, she froze, paralyzed by his hand, feeling her nipple harden. Her face, neck and chest felt like they’d caught fire from the sudden rush of blood. She squeezed her thighs together against the embarrassing ache that had suddenly taken up residence between them.

She turned her head, trying to move as little as possible to keep his hand from moving. But even that slight motion made her shirt brush under the weight of his hand, sending a thrill through her. He was watching her, his blue eyes intent on hers for a moment, then traveling over her face again. The intense creases between his eyebrows were back and the morning light highlighted the white scars on his face.

“I uhhh…” she stammered. “Need to go to the bathroom.” She watched his expression. He looked so different in the sunlight, younger, less harsh. She wiggled a little to see what would happen, instantly regretting it as his hand slid over her nipple again. “Can I?”

“Of course.” He lifted his arm off her and let his hand fall from her breast.

Adina wanted to scramble to her feet but only got to her hands and knees before the battered muscles of her stomach forced her to stop. She hissed but pushed up to her feet and forced herself upright.

“You should let me look at that,” he told her as he sat up, nodding at her belly. He was maddeningly calm for how out of control her body suddenly felt.

“I’m fine!” she snapped.

He pointed her in a direction. “Over there will probably be safest.”

She marched toward the corner of the building he indicated. She did have to go to the bathroom – badly. But more than anything else, she needed to be anywhere that didn’t involve being in contact with, or even close to him.

By the time she’d relieved herself and taken a few minutes to try and calm down, the day’s heat was already starting to rise. She stretched her cramped belly as she walked back to the corner of the building. It was just starting to let go as she turned the corner – and froze.

The packs were gone. The fire was out. And Asher was nowhere to be seen.

She stood staring at the abandoned camp, new knots twisting painfully behind her belly button. She felt sick and dizzy all over again.

The ground where she and Asher had lain was packed flat, the marks of their bodies still on it.

“Asher?” Her voice shook so badly she could barely hear it. “ASHER!?” she called louder.

The moment that passed seemed to drag on for hours.

“Here,” came from around the far corner of the building.

Adina had to fight to keep from falling down. Everything was suddenly spinning. She took a huge, heaving breath.

He stepped into view. “Feeling better?” he began to ask, but his words trailed away, his eyes studying her unsteadiness. “Are you sick?”

“I…” She cleared her throat to steady her voice. Tears now rolled down her cheeks as she fought to regain her composure. “I thought you’d… left me.”

He continued to scrutinize her, then gestured. “You still have my blanket.”

She looked down at the warm cloth she was clutching in her hands, torn between wanting to rage at him for being so… matter of fact and wanting to run to him just to feel his arms around her. With all that had happened; things she knew she was blocking out; she’d felt safe last night. And even this morning with its… discomfort.

“Ye… yes. I do.”

He nodded affirmatively and gestured for her to join him as he turned back to the corner again.

She scrubbed her tears on the blanket and quick-stepped after him, not wanting to lose sight of him. And as she came around the corner, she stopped dead in her tracks again.

A vehicle was parked next to a tall, leaning concrete wall. The hulking, aggressive-looking machine reminded her of a huge mechanized bear. It was twice the size of any normal vehicle she’d ever seen, nearly as large as the vans that transported goods from one settlement to another. And it was armored. Just behind its broad, powerful nose, it grew tall, like the shoulders of a bear behind its hanging head, with a cupola on top. She could see it was black under the thick coat of dust. Great gashes scarred its sides and front. Raider vehicles, with their bodged on armor and weapons lived in her nightmares, with the feral shrieks of the men and women inside them. But they looked fragile compared to what stood before her. It was purpose-built machine of war. Blazoned along the side, just below the cupola was the same crossed pistol and sword emblem that marked the armor on Asher’s shoulders.

He walked to the back of the vehicle, picked up the last bag sitting on the ground and threw it inside. “We can’t stay here. It’s not safe. We need to move.” He closed the door with a solid metal clang! and walked forward. He pulled the armored passenger side door open, holding a hand out to her. “Come on.”

She wanted to move, but her feet refused to move. All she could do was stare at him and the hulking machine. Her mind filled with images of Asher and the machine rolling off mythical assembly lines together, each made for the other.

When she didn’t come to him, his attention focused on her eyes. He looked confused for a moment, then blew out a breath. His head fell back a bit and his shoulders dropped. “Right.” He nodded as if her expression and what she’d said moments before finally registered. “I’m sorry if I frightened you. I can see how you might have thought I’d left you.” He nodded toward the back of the truck. “I normally just pack things up first thing.” He held out his hand again. “Please. We need to go.”

She felt small under his intense blue-eyed gaze. It was like the heat from the sun that was starting to cut over the tops of the tall ruins around them. Her feet unlocked and she walked to him and then turned to the open door.

“It’s a big step up,” he told her, pointing to where she should grab, tossing the blanket up ahead of her. Then he put a hand firmly under her backside. She nearly squeaked as his strong hand pushed up, far too close to her already aching center.

She got into the seat, clutching the blanket again, trying to control the sudden rush between her legs. The inside of the vehicle was as impressive as the outside. There were things stored, gauges and switches like nothing she’d ever seen before. The bags she’d seen the night before were on the floor in the far back, past the step up to the cupola.

He slammed the heavy door and a moment later the driver’s side door opened. He levered himself into the seat, closed the door and stowed his sword in a mount behind his right shoulder, his movements smooth with long familiarity. He threw switches and then pushed a button. The war machine chugged, like one of the large transport trucks. She jumped at the sudden engine howl that followed, grabbing the metal around her as the entire metal beast shuddered like it was coming to life. Lights and dials illuminated and bobbed across the console in front of him. The howl died to a deep throaty rumble throughout the vehicle

“Buckle up.”

She stared at him, confused. She wasn’t sure whether she was terrified or excited, but she felt like she was about to pass out, breathing in short, fast gasps.

“You know what a seat belt is, right?” When she didn’t move, just sitting wide-eyed watching him, he blew out another breath and leaned across. The vehicle was large enough that he had to all but lay across the console between them to reach her, which meant his face was nearly pressed against her left breast as he reached past her and pulled a belt around her. Leaning up on an elbow, he indicated the spade end of the belt, then a narrow slot next to her seat. “Tab end goes into the buckle.” He snapped it in, adjusting the belt around her with deft hands, that were once again much too close to… well everything for her comfort. He pointed to a button next to the slot. “When you need to get out,” he pushed the button and the spade end came free. “Just push the button.” He secured the belt again.

“I… I know…” she nodded, leaning as far away from him as the belt would allow.

He let his weight settle on his elbow for a moment, the corner of his mouth coming up. She couldn’t be sure if it was the beginning of a smile. Then he leaned close – and sniffed. He settled back into his seat and buckled his own belt. He pulled a canteen from a storage slot next to him, took a drink and handed it to her. She took it and drank, unsure what else to do.

“You’re pretty ripe. We need to fix that.” She spat water, feeling it burn up inside her sinuses, leaving her coughing as the big vehicle pulled away with a thundering rumble.

They drove for hours without more than a few words passing between them. She had no idea what to say or how to start and he was stoic, only asking simple questions or giving instructions. They started along the remains of roads, then they traveled over open ground until finally they were winding between the blasted-apart remains of what had once been buildings. She felt more relaxed but was as confused – more confused than ever by her body’s intense reaction to him. And she could see his interest.

It was hot and so she’d taken off her jacket. His eyes kept being drawn to her bouncing breasts as they lurched over uneven ground. Part of her wanted to cross her arms, but she just couldn’t, instead waiting for his glances.

She’d eaten three large piece of boar he’d given her; he’d eaten as many himself. In her glances around the vehicle’s interior, she’d seen the remains of the boar. He wasn’t joking. Parts of it were neatly cut up, dried and stored, a large haunch of it hung wrapped in cloth and carefully strapped between shelves in the far back of the truck.

He drove past giant quarantine signs that ran in a line at the boundary of a what had once been part of a city. They were from the old world, or the world just after the bombs fell. She watched the signs pass, her stomach dropping.

“What are you doing!? It’s not safe in there!”

He nodded. “That’s the point.” She pulled the blanket up again, his deadpan confidence doing nothing to help her racing heart. No one went into the quarantined areas. They were filled with irradiated dust, toxic chemical clouds, and the things that did live within them were twisted and dangerous. She’d heard stories about so-called ‘survivors’ that lived in the quarantine zones. They made the cannibal scavengers seem tame.

Asher pulled the war machine between crumbling buildings along increasingly narrow, rubble strewn streets, finally into what looked like a narrow blind alley. It dead-ended. He turned the vehicle sharply right and what had looked like just a shadow between sections of the building turned into a steep incline.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” Unlike his normal stoic, not quite emotionless tone, there seemed to be amusement in his voice.

They turned a corner and the dark, scarred concrete around them gave way to a wide, jagged canyon, over half a mile long. Red stone walls that erosion had faded to pink and even white in some places rose hundreds of feet from the valley floor. The whole place looked as if it had been created by some giant artist’s hand. Adina could only gawk at the stunning natural landscape. At the top of the canyon on all sides as far as she could tell, stood ruined buildings. Some had crumbled and crashed down into what she now realized was a massive rift in the earth. Rifts like this were rare and from what she’d heard, extremely dangerous. The gigantic bombs used in the final years of the war caused catastrophic seismic shifts that opened rifts like this one even decades after the last bombs fell. But this one was beautiful. The red stone picked up the sun turning deep pink and orange, the bright blue sky above seemed brighter, no doubt an optical illusion caused by the color of the canyon walls. The buildings standing between the two were like teeth separating earth and sky. As they turned onto another dangerously steep path, she saw pools of water along the bottom of the rift. Many were cloudy jade green, the earth around them brightly hued in iridescent oranges, reds, yellows and whites. Other pools were crystal clear, deepest cerulean blue. Adina stared in amazement. She’d never seen anything so vibrant in the natural world.

Asher chuckled and she tore her eyes from the beautiful pools. The corner of his mouth had come up. This time she was sure it was a smile. “You should see your face.”

“What is this place?” She turned back, drinking in the natural beauty as they reached the bottom of the slope.

“Safe.”

“But, how can it be safe. This is a quarantine zone?”

“The biological agents that this place was quarantined for died off a long time ago. There are still some dangerous spots, but for the most part it’s as safe as anywhere else. Mostly because no one comes here.” He gestured out the windows. “I found this years ago on a patrol.” He gestured upward. “Damn near drove off the edge up there.” He pulled the truck up to a set of clear pools, tucking the vehicle in against a towering red stone pillar. “We’re here.” He shut the engine off and climbed out.

A few moments later, her door was pulled open and he reached up for her. “Come on.” She set the blanket aside and put her foot on the first step down, facing him and letting him help her down. Here belly twinged as her body lengthened with his hands under her arms. He pulled her close as he lowered her, her breasts passing close to his face and against his body as he lowered her to the ground. Her face, neck and chest were on fire again.

“Thank you.” She blushed harder at the way his blue eyes watched hers.

“You’re welcome.” He turned and walked toward the back of the truck. “When was the last time you had a bath?”

She wrinkled her face. She couldn’t be sure if he was joking, being mean or neither. “Uhhh… About a week ago?” She followed, hearing him pull the doors of the back of the truck open. By the time she got there, he had his jacket and pistol belt off. His sweat soaked shirt clung to his broad shoulders and muscular torso.

Adina was used to men being thin, even if they were strong, not big the way he was. He pointed to the terraces of pools. “Start in the lowest ones. The flow from the springs pushes the water out over the sides into the lower pools. So, you use the lower pools to get clean, so you don’t contaminate the other ones, and move to the higher ones once you’re clean. And they get hotter.” He pointed, “Until you get to that one. It’s too hot for anyone, I think.” He kicked off his boots and grabbed some bags from a storage bin.

“The water’s warm?” She turned in a circle taking in the wonderous place. “How?”

“Geothermal activity. The water gets pushed up from near volcanic vents. It also picks up trace elements that are good for healing in the process.” He walked toward the water and dropped the bags a few yards from the edge. He shook out a tarp and weighed the corners down with rocks.

Then without another word, he threw an arm around her waist, put her over his shoulder, picked up his pistol belt and marched to the nearest pool.

She flailed, her belly aching as she tried to push herself off. “Wait! Stop!” He dropped the pistol belt on the shore, waded in until he was about waist deep and dumped her unceremoniously into the warm water.

Her backside bumped gently onto the round stones of the bottom and it took some effort to get her feet under her. She pushed up, splashing to keep her balance, sputtering and spitting water. “What is wrong with you!” She dragged her hair out of her face. When she finally blinked the water out of her eyes, he was smiling. An honest, if slightly lopsided expression. The creases between his eyebrows were gone. He looked years younger. She staggered on the uneven bottom and her mind was just registering how pleasantly warm the water was when she saw his eyes travel down from her face. She looked down. Her shirt was all but transparent, clinging to her breasts and erect nipples. She crossed her arms and dunked down into the water. “Well, don’t look!”

But his grin, so out of character, tickled her. A nervous smile and laugh suddenly sprang up.

He cocked his head playfully. “They’re kinda hard to miss.” He smiled again and pushed through the water to her then held out a piece of soap. “Wash.” He indicated her clothes. “And it’s easier to wash your clothes while they’re still on you.”

She took the soap, still ducked down, a crooked grin of her own stuck to her face like her sopping hair.

He stepped away, pulling another piece of soap out of his pocket and with a smile let himself fall over backward into the water with a splash. She couldn’t help but laugh at the boyish action. He stayed under for a moment then pulled himself back up, tossing his head back to throw his hair back out of his face. Then he started scrubbing his shirt.

Adina lifted the bar of soap to her nose. It smelled like him. Clean, a nice smell, not harsh or astringent. She turned her back to him and rubbed soap over her clothes. It lathered nicely in the warm water. She kept looking over her shoulder. He was concentrating on an oil stain on his shirt, then dunked down again. When he stood up, he peeled off his shirt, rinsed it thoroughly and threw it over a rock

Adina nearly dropped the soap.

Scars, large and small crossed his torso. She’d seen bullet scars before. There were two right next to each other under his left arm. She was so focused on the terrible scars that she barely noticed the black, abstract, curvilinear tattoos on his chest and shoulders. They were fierce, with what looked like stylized talons interwoven with curving, concentric whiplash curves. He was bruised almost black on his right side. More tattoos ran from his wrists to his elbows, precise flowing patterns made up of repeating geometric shapes. The burn scar on his left hand was part of a larger burn that marred the tattoo right up to his elbow.

Confusion tore through her like a thousand-pound boar through a tent. Under the scars was hard muscle. She’d seen very few men so strongly built, and every part of her wanted him. But the scars and their story of pain and brutality were heartbreaking. Her heart twisted like someone had grabbed it and was pulling it into a knot while she ached for him from the center of her being. She looked at the massive machine and the scars on it, then back to Asher. The image of them rolling off side by side assembly lines returned.

Machines of war.

He turned back with a grin and saw her staring. His expression stuck for a moment as he watched her expression, then his smile faded. Following her gaze, he looked down. “You’ve seen scars before, haven’t you?” There was an unapologetic edge to his voice and the matter of factness had crept back in. Her heart fell at its return. The creases reappeared between his eyebrows. He raised his arms as if to say, “This is me,” and turned slowly, so she could see the roadmap of pain written across his skin.

Adina could hardly breathe as she counted the bullet wounds, burns, sword and knife cuts. Thirteen significant scars in all. When he finished his circle, his smile was entirely gone.

Everything inside her was tumbling like she was falling down a hill. Before a thought about what she was doing dawned, she’d waded to him and wrapped her arms around him. She pulled herself tight against his chest, her tears falling freely.

“Thank you…” she snuffled between confused sobs. “Thank you for saving my life.”

She just held onto him, her eyes closed, pressing her cheek against his warmth, feeling the sun on her back. Her hands gripped him hard, feeling the muscles under his skin and the irregularities of the scars on it.

A long moment passed, and he didn’t move. He was like a statue. She wasn’t sure that he wasn’t going to pull away. Then his arms wrapped around her, heavy but gentle. “You’re welcome.”

She opened her mouth and tried to say something several times, but it took everything she had to keep from bawling. Images and feelings that she’d been trying to block out hammered at the gates in her mind. Things she didn’t want to remember.

“Do your people shave?”

The question was so nonsensical that she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. The fact that parts of her currently felt like they were on fire didn’t help either. “What?”

“Do your people shave?” When she looked up, the creases between his eyebrows were still there, but a corner of his mouth had come up again. He raised an arm indicating his armpit; his armpits were shaved. Then pointed down significantly. “You know, to help against parasites and the like?”

She stood up on her toes and pushed her lips toward his. He stopped her, leaning his head back and gently laying his fingers against her lips. But his other arm still held her firmly against him. “Not yet.”

“What?” Every part of her ached for him.

He dropped his lips onto her soaking hair and kissed her head, then scooped her up and walked out of the water. He took her to the tarp and set her on her feet. She was spinning with confusion. She knew he was aroused by her, his rebuff confused her even more. He knelt and retrieving something from one of the packs. When he stood and turned back to her, his smile had returned. The creases disappeared as one of his eyebrows climbed up playfully. He held up a razor.

She couldn’t help the small laugh that tickled its way out of her as her anxiety fell away. She put a hand out for the razor, cocking her head at him. “You want me to shave for you?”

He pulled the razor back, his own smile widening. “You won’t be the one doing the shaving.”

A corner of her mouth turned up so hard it almost hurt. “You want to shave me?”

He pushed hair back out of her face. “If you’ll let me.” He took her right hand and laid her fingers on a ropey scar on his left breast. “If you trust me.”

She bent tentatively to kiss the scar waiting to see if he would stop her. When he didn’t, she kissed it gently, then looked back into his lapis blue eyes and just watched them for a moment. His right cheek dimpled when he smiled giving him the look of a naughty little boy. “I do, I trust you.” She let her hands trail over his shoulders, her eyes taking in his wet skin.

“Good.”

He put the razor in his back pocket, his eyes traveling to her breasts, her erect nipples pushing through her wet shirt. He undid the first button and her heart skipped a beat at his touch. She took a startled breath. He smiled, his eyes moving to hers.

“Is this alright?”

“Uh huh…” It was about all she could get out as she felt the warm sun warm on her wet shirt.

He slowly unbuttoned her shirt. She gripped his arms to steady herself. He finished unbuttoning it but didn’t pull it open. He left it hanging, still covering her and ran his fingers lightly down from her neck between her breasts and down her belly. Her breath caught again when his hand touched her waistband. She bit her lip, trying not to squirm at the sudden fire between her legs. He grabbed a small canvas pail from one of the packs, filled it with water and returned. He pulled the soap from his pocket, then lifted her left arm and ran the soap over her armpit through her shirt, lightly massaging it through the soaking fabric. Adina took deep breaths to combat the dizziness that rushed up. He put that arm over his shoulder and as he changed to her other arm, let the hard bar of soap run across her nipples, each in turn. She bit her lip hard and sighed. Her whole body shuddering with each touch. Then he raised her other arm and soaped her armpit through her shirt.

After it lathered, his eyes traveled over her face again. “Put your arms down.”

She lowered her arms and he pushed her shirt off her shoulders, letting the wet cloth slip down, hanging on her nipples until the weight of the fabric pulled it off. He tossed her shirt into the shallow water at the edge of the pool. Adina was shaking head to toe now. She smiled at him, her nipples standing erect in the center of dark pink areolas. “I… I think I need to sit down.”

He pulled her against him. Her head came forward and she bit her lip hard and she groaned softly as her naked breasts finally made skin to skin contact with his bare chest. He lowered her onto the tarp and just held her against him for a moment. Her breathing was hard and fast.

“Are you alright?”

She nodded, swallowing hard, a small laugh precursoring her breathless answer. “More… More than fine.” She pushed him back so she could see his face, smiling and staring into his eyes. She leaned close but stopped before he had to raise a hand to stop her kiss. “When?”

He smiled at her stopping herself. “Soon.”

He sat next to her raised her right arm, putting it behind her head. His eyes traveled over her womanly, but not overly large breasts shining damp in the sun. She was dark tan where her skin was exposed, her arms tan to where her sleeves ended. But the rest of her was and pale and freckled. He took in the details of naked upper body, his eyes lingering on her pointed nipples. He watched her hazel eyes as he worked soap into the short light brown hair under her arm. Her chest lifted and her belly pushed out trying to breathe evenly, but her body kept twitching. He picked up the razor and put it against her skin.

“Ready?”

She nodded. “Uh huh…”

He drew the sharp safety razor up from the bottom of her armpit carefully and confidently, using small strokes and flushing the razor often.

Adina couldn’t help the catching breaths that kept happening. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Ticklish?”

She nodded. “Mmm hmmm.” She tried to not move.

“I’ll try not to tickle you.”

She was used to shaving but having someone else do it was a completely new, wildly arousing experience.

He used a wet cloth to wash the last bit of soap from her armpit, the warm water running down her side. Then he gave her clean armpit a kiss. She shied away from the tickle of his whiskers, laughing. “Stop! That tickles…” Then he gave her a quick peck on her right nipple and her whole body felt like it seized. He sat back watching her as she covered her nipple, blushing hard and laughing. “That was just mean!”

He moved to her other side with the bucket and gave her a thoroughly naughty smile. “I’m just getting started.” He shaved her other pit, and like the first one, gave her clean armpit a kiss when he was finished. And as she’d hoped, her left nipple a kiss. That left her laughing hard, holding her hands over her breasts, him smiling widely at her.

Then he twirled the razor in his hand. “Now for more dangerous territory.”

She just held her hands over herself drinking in what he looked like. The mischievous expression, the bright sun beating on his broad shoulders, his scars that just didn’t seem to matter suddenly, all set against the background of brightly colored pools, the moving water glinting in the sun.

He set the razor aside and pointed to one of her boots. “May I?”

She grinned and held up her foot. “Please.”

He pulled off her soaking boots and socks. She laid back on the tarp, her arms over her head displaying herself to him. Her pants hung low on her hips. He moved up and put a hand on her waistband. “Would you like some help with these?” He bent and put a kiss on her belly. She curled up a bit at his kiss, giggling, then looked him in the eyes when he sat back up, displaying herself again.

“I would love it if you took my pants off, Asher.”

He unbuttoned the top, his eyes still on hers. “It would be my pleasure.” She wriggled, helping him pull her wet, clinging pants down, but he stopped just after they passed her hips. He put his fingers inside the waistband, letting them trail over her legs. At her knees his hands moved to the back of her calves and he pulled her pants down the rest of the way. He tossed them in the shallow water next to her shirt.

He smiled at her, lathering soap between his hands. “Nice legs.”

She was about to answer when he put his soapy hands around her upper thigh and she suddenly couldn’t get the words out – whatever they had been. He slowly soaped her right leg. At the top me made sure to soap just to the edge of her panties. She squeezed her eye shut, biting her lip hard at his proximity to her center. He shaved her leg from bottom to top making sure to shave as close to her panties as possible without actually touching them. He repeated the process on her other leg. She was a bit more in control by the time he finished, but still trembled when he touched her certain ways.

With a smile of purest naughtiness, he slid his fingers in the waistband of her panties. She lifted her hips, biting her lip as he slowly pulled them down. She always kept her pubic hair fairly short, but a lack of sharp and appropriate blades made shaving hard. His hands pulled her panties off, fingers again exploring as they went. When they were off, he wadded them up and tossed them into the pool with the rest of her clothes. He looked at her slightly unruly pubic hair then let his fingers lightly stroke it. Adina’s head rolled back against the tarp and a moan pushed its way up. She sat up and pulled herself to him.

“I want you.”

He stroked her face, pushing her hair back. “I want you too. But not yet.” He smiled, his hand on her pubic hair again. His smile was mischievous. “Would you like me to shave,” he stroked the hair lightly and her legs tightened. “down here?”

She was biting her lip again, her forehead against his shoulder. “Yes. I’d like that very much.”

He laid her on her back. Sitting on his knees he put one of her legs on each side of his hips. He lathered soap in his hands. “Ready?”

She nodded, lying back and watching him, her chest rising and falling rapidly. He rubbed soapy water over the top of her pubic hair first and worked down, warm water running between her legs. He was careful – frustratingly careful to avoiding her clitoris and labia. Warm soapy water ran over her anus and she shuddered.

He put the razor against the skin at the top of her mound and made the first stroke, watching her face. Adina bit her lip and put her hands over her mouth, her whole body trembling.

“Doing alright?”

She nodded. He shaved her front and she managed to keep from twitching, holding herself to just a whole-body tremble. She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until she sucked in a deep belly breath. He lifted her left leg and shaved, so close to her labia that she twitched at the tickle. He was careful not to cut her, then he did the other side and she was managing to breathe more evenly as he finished.

Then he ran soapy fingers from her mound, over her clit and along her labia. Her whole body spasmed, her hips pumping up to meet his touch, her breathing sudden gasps as a groan escaped. When she looked down he was smiling, cleaning the razor.

“That was…”

“Mean. I know.” The dimple appeared on his right cheek. “Turn over if you want me to finish the rest.”

Adina pulled her legs up and rolled over onto all fours. Asher scooted forward, his knees between her feet, pushing her legs open, exposing everything to him from the back.

“Still doing alright?”

She looked back at him past her lifted ass. “Yes… Please.”

Her whole backside was already soapy, it just took some quick, slippery rubs of his fingers to make it lather. She fought to hold still, pressing her forehead against the tarp. He carefully shaved everything, again, avoiding her most sensitive spots.

“There.” He put the razor down. And as she was easing forward, a slippery finger ran over her anus. She moaned, jerked and fell forward, her whole body feeling like it had lit up.

She looked back over her shoulder and he was smirking at her. “You should wash off now.” He grinned. Again, it was the naughty little boy look. “Can you get to the pool by yourself, or do you need a hand?”

She smiled and pulled herself up to sitting. “I can get there by myself. But I might need a hand up.” He helped her to stand and as she was leaning against him, he took one of her hands and put it between her legs, cupping her hand with his. “Smooth now?” The contact nearly took her legs out from under her.

She squeezed her legs together and tried to stay standing. “That’s… mean!”

He picked her up and walked into the water. “Mean? I’m never mean.”

Once he was waist deep in the water again, he let go of her legs so her feet could find the bottom. The warm water felt so good.

He stood behind her to keep her steady. Her skin prickled as he rinsed her armpits with handfuls of water. Her head fell back against him as he splashed water onto her and ran his hands down her wet skin to make sure there was no soap left. After he’d rinsed under her first arm, she flushed any soap from between her legs.

His hands slid forward, slowly following the outside of her breasts, then under them until he was cupping them in his hands. She pushed back against him and arched her back, groaning as his fingers played lightly over her nipples, each touch making her twitch. She reached over her shoulder and grabbed around his neck as her other hand guided one of his down, between her legs.

“Is… it smooth now?” she panted.

He let his hand slide over her clit, then along her labia until they were almost touching her anus.

“Very smooth.”

She moaned, gripping his neck and pressing herself against his hand. She reached back and grabbed his waistband with her other hand, but he stopped her. His fingers lightly stroked her labia. “Not yet.”

Her hips pivoted back at his touch; her body demanded to have him inside her. “I want you now.”

He picked her up and carried her to the tarp then settled down onto it, holding her seated in front of him. She could feel how hard he was through his pants, pressing into her back.

His hand glided down between her legs again. His lips were at her ear. “Not yet for some things.” His fingers parted her labia, playing lightly before slipping forward onto her swollen clitoris. “Not for others.” His other hand wrapped around her onto her breast, brushing her nipple again.

Adina threw herself back against his bare chest, paralyzed by his touch, a groan escaping from some primordial place within her. She grabbed his hand between her legs guiding his fingers while the other snaked around the back of his neck as she thrust her breasts out. She shuddered with every brush of her nipple. Her whole body felt like it was on fire.

Adina’s orgasm struck so quickly that she wasn’t prepared for it. Her mouth opened and she squeezed her eyes shut, her hand on his between her legs gripping hard, the nails of her other digging into the back of his neck. A few strangled groans escaped as she arched and tensed.

Then days of fear and anxiety and the cramping tension of her arousal for him suddenly exploded from inside her. She screamed and her legs clamped around his hand, her hips pumping. Her whole body felt like it was trying to collapse in on itself. All she could do was gasp between the tightening convulsions clinging to his arms as her whole body jerked, tensing and then unleashing. Another spasm threw her head back and her legs out. She went rigid, shuddering, held in his strong embrace riding the ecstatic spasms.

Her straining trembles eased, but he moved his fingers on her clit just a little, and her orgasm reignited, throwing her into a whole new set of hard spasms. She bucked and writhed, clawing at his hand and neck.

The violent spasms finally let go and she relaxed, collapsing against him panting. His fingers played lightly over her clit, her body twitching with every caress. She hadn’t caught her breath yet as her second orgasm began to build. But she was ready for it this time.

“Yes… Yes… There…” She caressed his neck pushing her hips to work his fingers into her most sensitive spot, arching her back to push her breast into his strong hand. As the orgasm built, she let go of his neck and grabbed his hand on her breast. She squeezed her breast with his hand, putting his fingers on her nipple. As her hips squirmed and trembled, she squeezed his fingers on her nipple. “Like that.. ha… hard…” then Adina didn’t have a voice again, just shaking gasps and moans as the orgasm crashed through her. She heard herself moaning and sighing, but nothing else existed. She bucked against his strong arms and the ground. She could hear his excited breathing in her ear and feel him pulling her back against the hard bulge in his pants. She moaned again, pitching forward as her muscles clenched hard, cramping and then in a shattering release, she was thrown back against him. Everything spun. When she could finally make sense of the world again, her pumping hips were slowing, the other spasms easing. She collapsed in his arms, her body slack, legs and arms shaking. She released her fierce grip on his hands pulling in huge gasps of air, groaning as let herself sag against him.

“Feel better?” he whispered into her ear, his hand sliding from between her legs.

She smiled and it took a several gasping breaths before she felt like she had enough air in her lungs to say, “Yes.”

She was exhausted. The release of fear and tension was like a mallet that had bashed her over the head. Asher laid them down on the tarp, pulling her close against him. She just basked in the sun as her post orgasm stupor pulled her toward sleep in Asher’s strong arms.

She felt him reach into one of the packs next to where they lay. He kissed her ear to get her attention, she was losing the battle to sleep.

“Adina, I’d like to inoculate you.” She opened her eyes and he was holding a squarish looking yellow and white medical injector where she could see it. She’d seen a few of them, mostly expended. Because of their bright colors, they got used as decorations.

“Now?” she panted.

“It works best when you are relaxed.”

“Okay…” she swallowed, still trying to catch her breath, her eyes closing again.

He turned her so he could see her face. “It’s going to make you sick, Adina. Really sick. Maybe sicker than you’ve ever been – for about twenty-four hours.”

She opened her eyes at the change in his voice and turned more fully to him.

The open concern in his eyes as he watched her made her already racing heart thump harder. She wanted to kiss him so badly she could barely stand it. “That’s why you’ve made us wait?”

He nodded to her. “Yes. We’ll be able to do anything we want afterward. And it will help keep you from getting sick in the future.” He pushed wet black hair out of her face. “But it will be bad. It takes about twenty-four hours to purge any toxins from your system. I’ll be right here with you. But I want this to be your choice.”

She watched his eyes, a small smile growing on her face. She stroked his scarred cheek. “I trust you.” She took his hand with the injector and put it against her neck, still holding his eyes. “I trust you,” she told him again, holding his hand with the injector. The relief that flooded his expression made her chest ache.