LONG ROAD AHEAD

13

The journey through the valley was considerably easier once they found the path and followed it. They were able to cover a lot more ground without having to climb. The sun had gone down hours ago, but with no safe place to find shelter, they decided to keep moving.

            Each walked with their weapons drawn. There was no telling what sort of beasts lived in these mountains. It was best to be ready, but thankfully, they did not run into any animals. They wandered until they were both too tired to go on, and then they found themselves a quiet spot with their backs up against the rock wall. With no cloaks to keep them warm, Phoenix huddled close to Craven with his arms wrapped tightly around her; they used body heat to keep warm.

            They were not asleep long when Phoenix heard something, the low rumble of growling. She yawned and opened her eyes to see that a pack of wolves had surrounded them. They slowly approached from the trees, their teeth bared, and a low growling sound rumbled in their throats.

            Phoenix’s heart was pounding wildly. “Craven,” she whispered, giving him a nudge. Craven opened his eyes and tensed when he noticed the wolves the pack closing in. “What do we do?” She asked.

            Craven very slowly reached for his gun. “Do you have any bullets left?” He asked quietly, making sure not to make any sudden movements.

            “Yes,” she said, reaching for her guns. “But not many.”

            “Then, don’t miss,” he said, drawing his gun and firing. The wolves lunged at them, and Phoenix open fired, killing three while Craven emptied his guns into another four. Phoenix panicked when her guns began to click. She was completely empty. She had no more bullets left. A large wolf pounced her knocking her over and snapping its mighty jaw at her. Phoenix did her best to hold the wolf at bay, her hands on its throat, trying to push the thrashing beast off her.

            The wolf snapped and growled, far stronger than she could handle. Phoenix beat her empty gun against the beast’s head, trying to knock it out. Suddenly the animal yelped and fell over, Craven’s sword buried in its side. He placed his boot on the wolf’s side and pulled his sword from the animal. He held his hand out for Phoenix, and she took it. He helped her to her feet. “Are you ok?” He asked.

            Phoenix checked herself. She had a few scratches from the claws, but for the most part, she would be alright. “Yeah, I think so, but I’m out of bullets now.”

            “Yeah, me too,” he groaned, holstering his weapons. “Let’s hope we won’t need any.”

            “Let’s get out of here before we attract any more predators,” she said, holstering her guns. Phoenix took a step, and pain shot through her ankle. She must have twisted it when the wolf knocked her over. She paused and reached down to hold her painful ankle. “Oh, I think I sprained my ankle,” she said.

            “You can fall off a cliffside without any injury, but a little topple, and you hurt yourself,” he teased.

            “Hush,” she snapped, not finding it funny in the least. She tried to take another step and faltered. “I need some sort of binding,” she whimpered, sitting down.

            Craven reached into the satchel looking for some remains of her tattered cloak. Kneeling before her, he carefully pulled her boot off and inspected her rapidly swelling ankle. “You should stay off this for a few days,” he said, wrapping the fabric tightly around her ankle.

            “How do you suppose I do that when we have to keep moving?” She asked, finding his suggestion ridiculous. “We can’t stay here.”

            Craven agreed. “And we won’t,” he said, standing up. “We will have to find someplace to hold up.”

            Phoenix tried to stand up, but the pain was terrible. Craven scooped her up into his arms and held her like a small child. He held her close against him. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and she felt strangely safe in his arms. “I’ll carry you to a suitable place,” he promised. 

            “That could be miles away, and your shoulder has yet to heal,” she protested. “Put me down. I’ll walk.”

            “No, you won’t. You are not heavy; I’m sure I can carry you,” he smiled. His disarming smile sent shivers through her. He was sinfully attractive; his hard-firm muscular form felt wonderful against her. Images of his powerful body braced above her flashed through her mind. The way he felt inside her flooded her memory and sent trembles of pleasure through her. “Are you alright?” He asked, noticing her tremble.

            She was far too embarrassed to tell him what had passed through her mind. Phoenix blushed and shook her head. “Just a little cold,” she lied.

            “I’m sorry about your cloak.”

            “And yours,” she smirked. “We can freeze to death together,” she drew a chuckle from him as he carried her along the path. She could not help but wonder what would have become of them had he not agreed to let her come with him. “Would you have killed me if I had not given you the book?”

            “If I had been paid to yes, but lucky for you, I was only instructed to bring you back, so I didn’t have to,” he said.

            “How many people have you killed?” She asked curiously, wanting to know more about this man she was travelling with.

            His smile faded. “More than my fair share,” he said softly. “I’m the best at what I do… what I did,” he corrected himself.

            “You’ve retired?” She smiled.

            “I suppose I have. I can’t think of a better way to spend my retirement than with you,” Phoenix blushed. Something had changed between them. She saw Craven differently now. He was sweet and brave. He had saved her more than once and made her feel strange, indescribable sensations. “You know the first time we met. I chased you down.”

            “I remember,” she smiled.

            “You are fast. I was impressed by the way you leapt over that wall and vanished.”

            Phoenix grinned. “I hid behind a barrel,” she confessed.

            Craven laughed. “I had wondered where you got to. Normally I’m pretty good at spotting thieves, but you got right by me.”

            “I am a professional,” she gloated.

            “No, it was those eyes of yours. I could not take my eyes off you. You were so stunning. I completely let my guard down.”

            “I was counting on that,” she laughed.

            There was a broken sign on the road ahead. Craven carried Phoenix over and placed her down. She braced her weight on her good foot and watched Craven pick up the sign. He dusted the dirt off and tried to read it. “This looks like a town sign. I can’t read it, but there must be a town ahead,” he said, surprised. “I didn’t think there were any this far north.”

            “Maybe it’s just more ruins,” Phoenix suggested she had not heard of anyone living this far north, but then again, she had not believed Cyprus was real either.

            “Well, I suppose we’re going to find out,” he said, dropping the sign and scooping her back up.

            “What if it is full of Molearks?” Phoenix suggested.

            “I will have to come out of retirement,” he smirked.

***

            He stared at the mountains ahead of him. His fury fuelled his pace. Adam was tired of waiting for others. Everyone had proven incompetent, failing to bring him back the w***e that had robbed him. It had become clear he would have to hunt her down himself and kill that traitorous bastard that betrayed him. Luckily, he still remembered most of the maps in his lost book.

            The many days that they eluded him only served to enrage him further. He occupied his mind with the thought of what he would do to that little tart when he caught up to them. He would make her scream and beg for her life, and then he would make her beg for death.

            He had been forced to take the long way. The bridge across the canyon had been out, and he avoided the ruins and their cannibalistic locals. He had gone around the city, which had added a day to his journey. He was not sure how far ahead they were, but he had no intention of stopping until he found them, walking through the night despite the risks.

            Adam coughed. The pain in his chest was growing each day. There was more blood each time. He was sick, he knew, exposure from radiation. Growing up in Cyprus, he had never learnt to spot hot spots. His journey south through the wasteland had poisoned him. He had seen the symptoms in others. He knew he would die, but not before he killed the thief and the assassin. He had nothing left to lose.     

*** 

            The town was in ruins. Bombed out building with questionable structural integrity. A landslide had buried half the town, and old rusted out vehicles littered the street. It was a quiet testament to an extinct culture. Craven carried Phoenix through the town. There was an ancient inn just ahead. Phoenix suggested they hold up there. They would likely find a bed in one of the rooms.

            Craven carried her inside the inn. It was dark and filthy. There were hundreds of years of dust over everything, with the dried bones of its past locals scattered around. It was not the first skeleton Phoenix had seen, but they always gave her the creeps. She hated the wasteland. There was death everywhere she turned. Phoenix turned away, burying her face against Craven’s shoulder so she would not have to see the sight.

            He carried her down the deserted hall and placed Phoenix on her feet. She braced her weight on her good foot and leaned against the wall. Phoenix watched as Craven, with his sword in his hand, walked up and down the hall, opening each door and peering inside. Unsatisfied, he would move on to another. He opened the door at the end of the hall and nodded. “This is the one. It is in the best condition, and right beside an exit for a quick escape if need be,” he said, sheathing his blade as he came back for her.

            Craven scooped Phoenix off her feet once more and carried her down the hall and into the room. There was a large bed and some other furniture. Two small tables with knocked over broken lighting, there was a small round table with two chairs in the corner. There was a strange hard plastic box with a window in the front. Craven placed Phoenix on the bed. He took the bedding and propped some up behind her and the rest under her injured leg. He then sat down on the edge of the bed and moved his sore arm around to relieve the pain in his shoulder. 

            Phoenix felt horrible. She had put such a strain on his shoulder. “You should have put me down,” she scolded.

            “We would have gotten nowhere. You can’t walk,” he said, dismissing her harsh tone.

            “You wouldn’t even let me try,” she retorted.

            He flashed her a playful grin. “We’re already here. There is no need to bicker about it.”

            “I’m not bickering.”

            “Yes, you are,” he said playfully.

            “Don’t tell me what I am or am not doing,” she snapped.

            Craven sighed with exasperation. “Why must you be so stubborn?” He asked.

            “I am not,” she retorted.

            He smiled once more and laid down on the mattress. “You are lucky you are cute,” he teased, further annoying her.

            “Are you saying that is the only reason you put up with me?” She asked, offended.

            “No, but it certainly makes it easier,” Phoenix glared at him, and Craven groaned. “Look, I put up with you because you are good with a bow and handy with a gun. Why do you have to turn everything into an issue?”

            “I don’t,” she resented the implication that she was difficult.

            “Look, I did something nice, most people thank you when you do that, but you start a fight,” he pointed out, folding his arms behind his head.

            “I do not,” she snapped, staring down at him as he grinned smugly up at her.

            “Yes, you do.”

            “I do not.”  

            “Do too.”

            “Do not.”

            “Do too.”

            “Do not.”

            “You are fighting with me right now,” he chuckled.

            Phoenix opened her mouth to protest and then snapped it shut without a word. She did not like being helpless or depending on anyone. She knew she was slowing them down by forcing them to stay held up in this inn for who knew how many days. She should thank him for the care, she knew, but she just felt rotten for slowing them down. She relaxed back against the wall and sighed. “So, what are we going to do stuck here for days?”

            “Relax,” he said, rolling onto his side and gazing up at her. “I can think of a few ways we can kill time,” he smirked, running his hand over her belly to her sides, where he skillfully loosened the straps of her chest piece. “We can start by shedding the armour, lighten the load of our arsenal,” he said, moving closer to her.

            Phoenix smiled as he pulled her armour loose and removed it, placing it on the floor by the bed. His fingers traced lightly down over her belly and took hold of her weapons belt. He worked it free, and Phoenix sat up fully, allowing Craven to remove it and place it on the floor beside her armour. His hand then moved lower, suggestively sliding to the inside of her thigh, and slowly he removed her shotgun holster and then sat up and pulled each boot off and dropped them to the floor with a heavy thud.

            She now sat there before him, defenceless and exposed. She might as well had been naked for the way he was looking at her. Phoenix watched as Craven’s hands went to his belt, and he worked the thick leather free. His belt met hers on the floor and was soon followed by his shotguns and chest armour. He removed the rest of his blades and then kicked off his boots. Craven crawled back across the bed, knelt beside her as he removed the leather binding from around his forearms.

            He now knelt beside her bare from the waist up, his dark eyes smouldering with heated desire. She could already feel the tingle of need within her as his body stretched out over hers, his hands braced on either side of her. Craven’s face lowered to hers, and their lips met in a feather-light kiss that sent shivers of desire through her.

            He kissed her for what felt like hours until she was drunk from his lips, their hands exploring one another. Craven moved off the bed, standing up beside the mattress, he started removing his pants. Phoenix’s pulse was racing as the dark fabric peeled away, and he stood before her naked, his erection bobbing up against his flat muscled belly.

            Egger to touch him, Phoenix ignored the pain in her leg and crawled onto her knees at the edge of the bed. Placing her palm flat against his broad chest, she stopped him from joining her in bed. This was like some strange dream. Her head was swimming, she had all night with him, and Phoenix was going to make it last. She laid a trail of kisses over the hard muscles of his abs and slowly worked her way down. Liking and kissing from the head of his swollen p***s to the pulsing base of his shaft. He was so thick she could barely wrap her lips around him, sliding him in and out of her mouth listening to him sigh.

            Craven’s head had fallen back, and his dark eyes closed against the pleasure that heated his skin. A husky moan escaped his slightly parted lips, and his strong hand plunged into her long hair, guiding her back down the throbbing length of him. Hot and consumed by lust, Phoenix had never been compelled to perform such a lewd act before. Her silky fingers cupped the sac of flesh between his legs and fondled the sensitive skin, gently sending a surge of sensation through Craven’s body, and she felt his muscles tighten in response.

            “Jesus, yes,” Craven groaned slowly, pumping in and out of her teasing mouth, his body shuttering as he reached the edge of a climax. His hands on her shoulders, Craven tried to push her away from him gently. To his surprise, the wonton vixen placed her hands firmly on his butt and pulled him back into her hot damp mouth with a greedy eagerness that pushed him over the edge, and he exploded shaking with the ecstasy.

            Slowly she leaned back, wiping her lush lips with the back of her hand. Her seductive mouth curved in a self-satisfied grin that brought a smile to his. “Your turn,” Craven said, pushing her back on the bed. He swiftly undressed her and took her legs in his hands. He pulled her hips to the edge of the bed with one swift motion. He parted her legs and admired the creamy folds, gliding his tongue over the budding clit.

            Phoenix gasped as his mouth worshiped her most intimate parts, his tongue probing the swollen folds pushing into her. Her body arched with pleasure, and she lifted her hips to meet him. Her very core felt as if it was on fire, the heat radiating from his lips spread throughout her body. Craven knew how to touch her, how to manipulate her body to bring her to a mind-shattering orgasm. “Craven,” she whimpered as her body shook. His name sounded like a dream on her lips.

            Phoenix gripped a handful of his silky dark hair and lifted his head, so he was looking up at her. His dark bedroom eyes were fiery with lust. “Please, I want to feel you inside me,” she pleaded softly. Obediently Craven slid her up the mattress and shortly after wedged himself tightly between her thighs. The hard crown of his thick manhood felt large against her throbbing passage.

            He smiled warmly down at her as he lowered himself slowly into her slick folds. Phoenix was much smaller than him making her tight around him, and they both shuddered as the friction from entry intensified their pleasure. “You feel like heaven on earth,” he whispered, softly kissing her.

            Phoenix was mindless with sensation as he pushed on, lowering slowly, inch by blessed inch, and she thought she would die from the pleasure. His thick erection stretched her swollen tissue mercilessly, invading her body until the contracting muscles yield to him. Craven watched Phoenix’s face to be sure he was not hurting her at any point. Deciding she could take no more, he moved on the withdrawal stroke. Phoenix’s hands slid over the flexing muscles in his back as Craven slowly pumped into her.

            Her breathing had changed, and Phoenix pulled his hips down, forcing him deeper inside. She wanted to feel him, all of him. “Don’t hold back,” she moaned. Excited by the extent of her desire, Craven let go of his previous inhibitions and drove deep inside Phoenix, burying himself until she took him all, an impulse he had never acted on with any women out of concern for their comfort. It felt incredible to have him completely submerged to the base.

            Phoenix cried out as the sudden plunge brought her to climax, and she clung to Craven as though he were her lifeline. Thrusting quickly, Craven drove into her, hard and fast. Bracing the full weight of his body on one elbow, his hand cupped Phoenix’s firm bottom and lifted her pelvis at a slight angle. With a wicked gleam in his dark eyes, he trusted hard in and out repeatedly, the head of his p***s hitting the spot she had never believed existed. Her body racked with sinful pleasure. She dragged her fingers across his back, her nails digging into his skin.

            Oblivious to the stinging in his back, Craven’s head dropped low, crushing his mouth to hers, claiming her for his own. His tongue swept her mouth. His passion returned as she lifted her head to meet his lips. Phoenix trusted her hips upward suddenly on his downstroke with such force the sudden motion brought him to climax. Craven’s body tensed with the power of his orgasm, and for the first time in his life, he cried out with ecstasy. He smiled down at the lush woman beneath him.

            Panting, Craven collapsed beside Phoenix, his body still trembling from the experience. Her hair brushed his face, and she heard him inhale deeply as his face nuzzled her hair. It was over, and Phoenix felt a strange feeling of loss. However, the night was not over, and she was still full of promiscuous energy. Phoenix climbed over Craven and straddled his hips, forcing him flat on his back. Still panting, he stared up at her, impressed with her energy. He was still hard, a solid erection lying flat across his belly, and she was the one impressed with his stamina.

            “I can’t believe you want more,” he laughed. She had already taken more than most women could, and she was mounting him as though they had only begun.

            “I’m not done with you yet,” she teased, sliding down his erection with a sigh until she took him in completely. “I hate to waste it. I could do this all day,” she promised, sliding up and down the length of him, his face tight with pleasure.

            “Me too,” he groaned with excitement, and they did. They explored every inch of each other. The evening sun setting outside the window when they finally collapsed exhausted in each other’s arms.