Chapter 9 #2
The thought had him straightening his spine and searching for Devora and Jenny.
“Your woman’s in the bus, putting the kid to sleep,” said someone as he passed.
“Thanks.” Sandy sat with a few other people and he detoured to speak with her. “I’m about to take Devora for a walk if you can come babysit now.”
“Sure.” She got up with no hesitation and walked to the bus with him. “I hope the two of you have a nice time on your walk.”
Les ignored her remark and climbed quietly into the bus.
Devora smiled at him and put a finger to her lips, indicating the sleeping toddler.
He nodded and made a beckoning gesture so she got up to follow him.
She and Sandy exchanged a few low-voiced comments before the babysitter ascended into the bus and left the couple alone.
Devora was nervous, not knowing what Les wanted to talk about.
She loved the idea of time alone with him and she could tell he’d taken a bath in the creek—his hair was still wet.
She wished she could have done the same.
Reflecting on the kinds of preparations she used to make before going on a date, even a group date with old friends, she chuckled to herself.
The world had sure changed. “I’m not dressed for a date,” she said, glancing at her stained shirt and dusty pants.
“You look like a million credits to me,” he said, reaching out to take her hand. “I picked out a good spot for star gazing, not too far away from the group, but we can have a bit of privacy anyway.”
“Will it be safe?” she asked.
“I’ve got my gun,” Les said. “I’m not anticipating any trouble from infected all the way up here in the foothills. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you, lady.”
They were now a good distance from the buses and Les stopped at the base of a rock formation. “Let me give you a boost. There’s a flat rock surface perfect for star gazing.”
Les took her in his arms and lifted her to the rock he was talking about. She made her way to the other side to give him room to join her, which he did shortly, pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her.
“Now this is nice,” she said, relaxing into him. “You’re warm.” She wished she could stop thinking about the situation they were in and what might lie ahead. “Did you and Ethan fix the other bus?”
“Temporary patch job, best we can do out here in the wilderness,” he said. “It needs a garage to fix properly but that isn’t happening. She just has to get over the pass tomorrow and then it’s literally downhill to Glastine.”
Devora leaned her head back to stare at the sky, where a myriad of stars had come out, blazing in the heavens. “So pretty. Makes our problems seem insignificant compared to the whole galaxy.”
He murmured agreement.
“I love to pick out the constellations,” she said. “My Dad used to take us camping and he’d point out the biggest stars and the patterns they make. See, there’s the sleeping cat and over there is the Archer. He was always my favorite.”
Les’s laughter rumbled through his chest. “If you say so. I didn’t grow up on Randal Four, remember? My home stars are all different.”
Devora moved so she could see his face. Raising her arm, she pointed to a pulsating red star and said, “That’s the cat’s eye, there are the stars forming its spine and then the smaller ones are its tail.”
He squinted at the sky and then at her. “How did I miss that? Clear as mud.”
She gave him a friendly push and tsk’ed.
“Sceptic. I will admit that’s the easy one.
For the Archer we only have his belt, his eyes and the tips of the bow.
” Devora proceeded to outline what she was talking about.
“I made up stories to go with each constellation, because of course we don’t have mythology surrounding them the way the people on old Earth did with the original constellations.
The First Settlers had fun picking out their own pictures in the sky on dark nights. ”
“People like to find patterns,” Les said. “And tell stories to make the world understandable. Although I’m not sure any story could do justice to the mess we’re all in now.”
They sat together in companionable silence for a few minutes as Devora continued to gaze at the sky and reminisce about old times with her family. It was making her sad on top of her anxiety and terror over the current situation with the infected, which was never far away from her mind.
“Devora?” Les said in a tone which indicated to her he was ready to talk serious topics.
“Yes?” She was braced for whatever he wanted to tell her so his next words were a surprise.
“What are you hoping for in the Glastine refugee camp? Why are you so set on going there?”
“Community,” she said without any hesitation.
“A place to build a future again, with likeminded people. Rosewater was a pretty nice place before all this happened to us. Sure we had our problems and the Fafields were a nuisance to deal with but we were a tightly unified town. We had a common identity, we had shared memories and experiences. Now it’s all gone, blown away on the wind.
There are hardly any of us here on the buses and who knows if anyone else survived the fall of Jonny’s compound.
At least at Glastine someone is trying to start over.
I want to be a part of making something bigger than myself.
Building a future for Jenny and all the other kids who’ve survived.
We can’t let the infected win. We can’t let them destroy everything we’ve built on Randal Four since First Landing. ”
“All worthy goals,” he said reflectively. “Promise me one thing though.”
“What?”
“Keep your eyes and your mind open. There’s no central authority on this planet anymore and whoever is running the camp is only human. There’s no guarantee their world vision is as optimistic as yours.”
She knew he was right but the comment also made her sad because she’d be on her own in the camp, with Jenny to care for.
“I have to give Jenny a chance at the most normal life possible. Grow up with other kids, you know? Even if it has to be in a guarded compound with real monsters roaming outside the fences.”
“I admire the way you’ve taken on the responsibility for her,” he said, giving her a hug. “I mean, you didn’t have to. You could hand her over to the authorities at Glastine and walk away.”
Outraged, Devora sat bolt upright and glared at him.
“I would never abandon her. She’s already lost her parents and she trusts me.
She even called me mommy the other night when she was sleepy and I was tucking her in.
Made me cry a little. I’m not trying to replace her mother but I’m going to take the best care of her I can, always. ”
“Don’t get mad—I was trying to give you a compliment,” he protested. “Did you want kids?”
“Sure, someday. But it doesn’t matter, that life is gone. Jenny was mine from the minute Tamsyn pushed her into my arms back at Rosewater. I love her.” She felt all kinds of fierce right now about protecting the toddler. The maternal instinct had kicked in all right.
“Yeah, she sure grows on a person,” he said. His expression turned serious. “People are calling you my woman now, did you know that?”
She blushed. She’d heard the talk.
“When Jenny was so sick and when those thugs snatched you I was terrified both times,” he said. “I can’t lose either of you—you’ve become my world. How long have we actually known each other?”
Devora tried to do the math in her head but the time since leaving Rosewater blurred in her mind. “Three days? Four? That can’t be right, can it?”
“I feel like it’s been a year at least,” he said in agreement.
“Time and everything else moves faster in this apocalypse we’ve landed in.
I’d like to make what’s between us official,” He stuck his hand in his pants pocket and pulled out a pair of rings.
Extending his hand to her, he said, “I’ll stay with you and Jenny in the refugee camp and I figure it’ll go better for us if we’re a family unit. ”
The huge diamond on the engagement ring sparkled in the moonlight and the plain gold band next to it was eye catching. Mouth open, Devora stared at the rings and then at Les. “Are you proposing to me?”
“Yeah, I am,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Things are all messed up in this crazy world we’re inhabiting and you and I have kind of done this all backward, but I think we’re a great team, I’m not going to leave you and Jenny alone in the refugee camp—”
“And?” she asked, hoping for more. She thought her heart might pound its way right out of her chest.
He held her gaze. “I’m in love with you and I could no more walk away from you—and Jenny—now than I could fly to those stars without a ship. Will you give me—us—a chance?”
“Yes!” The exclamation flowed out of her lips without conscious effort. Relief and happiness flowed over her like a cool breeze.
He slid the engagement ring on her finger, where it was a bit loose and hesitated for an instant.
“I’m thinking we should present ourselves at Glastine as man and wife.
I’ve got a ring for myself too. If we ever are in a situation where there’s a parson or a judge who can legally marry us, I’ll do it in a heartbeat but take this as my vow to you.
You’re my one and only, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. ”
She let him put the wedding ring on her hand as well, having a hard time catching her breath.
She’d planned her wedding down to the tiniest detail since she was about five years old, changing things over the years as her life expanded but never had she anticipated a do-it-yourself ceremony in the moonlight with no guests, no officiant and no celebration.
She didn’t care, discarding all her old dreams with a shrug.
This was the world she lived in now and Les was a good man she loved and that was all they needed.
Les pulled a thick gold band from his pocket and offered it to her. “Your turn.”
She took the ring and worked it over his knuckle. “I make the same vows to you, Les McDaniel. For all time, in all conditions, for better or worse, till we die.”
“I’m thinking we’ve had the worst already,” he quipped, leaning forward to kiss her. “You look beautiful tonight, Mrs. McDaniel.”
“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.”