MayanCraving (7 page)

She looked up, expecting to see resentment or disgust in his
eyes, but she saw compassion and love. He would die for her. She knew that.
Even before they had become lovers, she knew she could always count on Asher.
This new realization, that she loved him and he might love her, moved her in a
way she’d never expected.

Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his. “I’m sorry,
Ash,” she said against his lips.

“For what?”

“All this time, I didn’t know or I refused to see what you
were feeling.”

“It’s okay, Nance. We’re okay now.” He hugged her tighter
and kissed the top of her head.

“How long?” She wanted to know.

He didn’t say anything, and just when she thought he
wouldn’t answer, he said, “I’ve been in love with you since the day we met.”

She pushed away and stared at his face, looking for some
sign of deception. “Why didn’t you ever say something?”

“And dash your dreams of Ian? I don’t think so. I figured
either you’d get over him or not, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do
about it.” He said it casually, but his tone held grit.

“What if I’d never gotten over it?”

He pulled her around on his lap so that she faced him with
her legs wrapped around his back. The sun had nearly crested the horizon and
the sand stretched flat, endless, and empty. He took the gun out of her hand
and placed it carefully on the rock next to them.

“I would still have you in my life, Nancy. You would still
be my friend.” He kissed her nose. “Besides, I’m not sure you are over it. It’s
possible that I’m just convenient and once you see the ‘main man’ again, you’ll
start feeling all brotherly toward me.”

She giggled. She couldn’t help it. “I will never be able to
think of you that way again, Ash. If I tried, the memory of your cock deep
inside my wet pussy, would wipe the thought from my mind,” She rolled her hips
forward, feeling his rod straining against his fly. Immediately, the sensation
transferred to her groin. She felt the gush of arousal between her legs and the
wetness pooling there. Her nipples became little pebbles straining against her
shirt, making the soft cotton feel more like sandpaper on those sensitive
peaks.

“Oh God, Nance.” He gripped her ass roughly with both hands
and pulled her against his stiff shaft.

His mouth devoured hers, creating tiny bolts of sensation
that traveled directly to the sensitive bud between her legs. The kiss felt
urgent and wanting and she loved it. She held in her moans, keeping silent so
she wouldn’t alert the sleeping women on the bus, but those cries for more
roiled within her, pressing to come out and be heard.

Asher’s hand came around and gripped her breast, massaging
it through her shirt, and then tugging hard on the already sensitive nipple.
His touch sent another bolt directly to her pussy. Nancy arched and bucked against
him and she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming out. The world around
her spun out of control, but here she felt safe and wanton and desirable. In
Asher’s arms she felt sensual, like a woman should, and not like a survivor who
spent every moment calculating how to make it to the next day, or if that was
even possible. She made quick work of the fly of his jeans and took his cock in
her hands. Amazed at the silky texture of his shaft and the contrast of the
hard muscle beneath, she slid her fingers up and down, lightly caressing the
pulsing vein that ran from base to head. His mouth covered hers again,
swallowing both of their moans, as their lips and tongues assailed each other.
He left her breathless as he moved to kiss her neck and the rise of her
shoulder. His hands caressed her through her clothes, touching her back, hips,
and thighs before sliding up to caress her ribs and the underside of her
breasts. Everywhere he touched became charged with fire and electricity. Her
clit felt full and needy. She pressed her pussy against both her hands and his
cock, trying to lighten her urgency, while applying more pressure to his rod
and working the flesh up and down.

His head arched back, and the muscles of his neck corded
with strain. He was close to coming. Nancy backed away so she could kneel
before him, lean down and take him between her lips. She sucked his cock deep
into her mouth, relaxing her throat to take him deeper. Giving him pleasure
created such an erotic wash of emotions that she almost came along with him as
jets of salty fluid to slide down her throat.

“Holy shit. You’re incredible.”

She sat up and smiled at him from her perch astride his lap.
“I’m glad you liked it. I liked it too.”

His eyes drifted to the right. “As much as I’d like to
return the favor, it will have to wait.”

She turned in the direction he was looking.

In the distance, what appeared to be ants moving across the
sand marred the beauty of the desert.

“How long?” she asked climbing off his lap.

“An hour, maybe less.” He adjusting himself and zipped his
jeans.

He kissed her hard on the lips and grinned.

A smile from Asher Dove was like nothing else. It took over
all her senses and transformed the world around him, making her feel as if they
were in a beach resort about to enjoy a cocktail rather than about to face a
much stronger enemy in a desolate desert. “How is it you can look so happy when
we’re probably an hour from dying?” She couldn’t keep her own grin from tugging
at her lips.

“We’re not going to die, Nance.”

“How do you know?”

His dark eyes twinkled with mirth. “I owe you, and I always
pay my debts.”

She could feel the heat rising on her cheeks.

He leaned in, his mouth hot on her ear. “I’m going to eat
your sweet pussy so good when this is over, baby. I promise you’re going to
forget all about that pillar thing in the cave.”

She gasped and her legs wobbled at the thought of that kind
of pleasure coming from Asher rather than the horrible source of the night
before. She couldn’t help grabbing his shoulders for support. “I’m gonna hold
you to that, Dove, so don’t go dying on me.”

He kissed her deeply. His tongue felt strong and soft at the
same time, while his lips teased hers. She clutched his shoulders, wanting more
of him, needing his nearness. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her tight,
but it would never be enough. Close would never be close enough, she wanted
more, and she wanted it so badly, she ached from wanting.

When he pulled away, all the laughter left his eyes. “Not a
chance.”

Chapter Five

Forty-five minutes later, the group of “ants” were close
enough to get a good look at—about thirty demons, including one dragon with a
wounded left wing.

“Shit!” Asher said. “They got here fast.”

Nancy and Asher had moved the girls out of the bus and
concealed them behind the rocks, then drove the bus out of the line of fire. It
was a relief that most of them understood the situation. At least they realized
they were in better hands with Asher and Nancy than with the demons.

He and Nancy took their places next to a small fire about a
hundred yards in front of the stone formation. Robyn stood with them. She had
refused to be herded away with the rest. Nancy argued for several minutes, but
then Asher handed the girl a gun and told her to stay down.

He knew he would catch hell for it later, but if the girl
wanted to fight and had the same stubbornness as her sister, it was pointless
to try talking her out of it.

“You ready, ladies?” he asked.

Robyn held the 380 semiautomatic pistol in front of her with
both hands, like she’d been born toting a gun, but she didn’t’ answer.

Nancy tucked the stock of the AK-47 against her shoulder.
“As ready as we’re ever going to be.”

“Remember to wait for me to light the ring before you fire.
I know they’ll be getting pretty close by then, but try to hold your fire.”

“Just don’t miss,” Nancy said.

He turned to look at her. She smiled, though she never took
her eyes off the dark group that approached from the south. His own lips
tugging upward and he returned his gaze to the enemy.

Most of the demon forces used to be human. These people
should have died during the End of Days, but for some reason became
abominations instead. Asher wondered if those people were evil before they
began rotting on the outside and serving Mictlan. If there was a Hell, would
the demons have gone there when they died? The thought occurred to him that the
walking corpses were already in Hell, as he watched their withered limbs and
pustule-ridden faces. They just didn’t know it.

“Poor bastards,” he said under his breath.

Along with the “human” component, the attacking force
boasted five werewolves, and some kind of giant hog with ten-inch tusks.
Bringing up the rear was a dragon, whose gashed wing forced it to supplement
its sporadic flight with awkward jags of walking on spindly legs and the claws
attached to the end of its wings.

A tall demon moved ahead of the rest. There were only a few
signs on his face showing that he had lost his humanity. Bloodshot eyes and
irises overshadowed entirely by oversized pupils were subtler side effects of
the living dead. This one had most of its hair, but it stuck out from his head
straw-like. These things didn’t care much about personal grooming. Many of them
had lost an ear or nose. Bits of flesh had rotted away, leaving open wounds festering
in the hot desert.

The leader’s face looked pretty normal, except for its eyes.
Asher looked down at the hands and saw that most of its flesh had rotted away
and only sinew and bone remained. The demon clutched an ax, but made no
threatening moves.

A spokesperson, good
.

The group moved forward and the leader took several steps in
front of the rest before stopping and looking directly at Asher.

As he began to talk, Asher noticed the wolves starting to
fan out. “We have come with a message from your lord and master, Asher Dove.”

Asher waited several moments before answering. “I have no
lord and master in this world.”

“Mictlantecuhtli is the God of all things,” the demon
replied.

“Well, that’s your story, buddy. I have my own thoughts on a
guy who enslaves women and turns the dead into rotting balls of pus that walk
the earth.”

Several of the enemies hissed and growled over his words.
Even the spokesperson showed his pointed rotting teeth before subduing his
expression into a frown.

“The lord and master generously offers to spare your life
and the life of your mate if you return those which are his.”

“While that is a very generous offer, I’ll have to decline.”
Asher responded as if they were sitting calmly at a conference table, as
opposed to facing off in a to-the-death battle.

“You will force us to kill you, Asher Dove,” the leader
warned, his voice rising.

“Buddy, if Mictlan wanted to make a deal, he would have just
sent you alone to negotiate it. He must think I’m an idiot. He sent an army to
do battle and kill me.”

A noise gurgled from the demon’s chest and mouth, a
repugnant laugh. It sounded painful and wet. “This is no army. The God of Gods
has thousands at his disposal. He sent a small party to bring those that are
his back to him. You have not yet seen the wrath of Mictlantecuhtli.”

“You can’t have the women.”

“Then you must die.”

“You first,” Asher said.

With that, he took the arrow he had already nocked in his
crossbow and lit it in the fire. He shot just beyond the spokesperson, who had
an instant of satisfaction before the sand behind him burst into flame. The
gasoline-soaked ground fed the flames and they spread into a large circle of
fire. All but one of the wolves incinerated in the initial blast along with six
demons and the boar.

“Not bad,” Asher said, nocking another arrow, pulling it
back and letting it loose immediately. This time, the spokesperson had no time
to react. The arrow pierced his eye and he fell to the ground without another
movement.

The remaining demons howled and screamed. Nancy and Robyn
fell onto their bellies and started firing into the enemy line. The dragon
flapped furiously, trying to lift off the ground with its damaged wing.
Managing to rise a few feet, it was airborne, and immediately turned toward the
south and away from the fight.

Robyn shot true, taking out the remaining werewolf as well
as several of the demons. The AK-47 Nancy wielded expertly slew anything in its
path.

“Not this time, you bastard,” Asher said, dipping another
arrow in the fire. He nocked the projectile and pulled back until the muscles
in his biceps and forearm shook with strain, then sent the shot soaring.

He expected the dragon to fall out of the sky when the arrow
sank deep into its neck. None of them anticipated the fire spreading, as if he were
filled with fuel. The explosion from the sky rocked the ground and sent pieces
of dragon flying in every direction.

“Interesting,” he mused. “That was for my Cessna.” Asher
yelled toward the bits of dragon falling to the Earth, still lamenting his lost
plane.

Nancy finished off the last two demons and then stood up and
looked at him. “Not bad.”

“No. Not too bad at all,” Asher agreed.

The three of them turned back toward the rocks where the
girls were hiding. Asher heard Robyn gasp before he saw the human manifestation
of Mictlan standing before him. No one moved.

He had seen it before. The image that Mictlantecuhtli
projected appeared to be that of a handsome, dark-haired man in his early
thirties. He wore his hair slicked back away from pale skin, which clung to a
chiseled face. Mictlan remained both beautiful and terrible to look at. Tall
and lean, he dressed in a long white tunic and black silk pants. He appeared
the perfect image of a wealthy man at his leisure.

“Little pilot, you surprise me.” The specter appeared to be
in good humor. He smiled. “Now give me my property.”

“They are not yours.”

“No? Are you sure of that?” Mictlan looked over at Robyn and
her eyes rolled back in her head. She immediately started forward toward his
image.

Nancy reached out her hand and grabbed her sister, holding
the girl back. The other six women had come out from behind the rock and were
also headed toward the Lord of the Dead.

“Robyn, stop,” Nancy pleaded.

“You, Nancy Jones, will be mine also. You are extraordinary.
I have never felt such a strong response. You will enjoy eternity with my hands
on you, bringing you pleasure.”

“You can’t have me and you can’t have my sister. We belong
to no one. Only ourselves.”

She turned back to Robyn. “Listen to me. He can’t control you.
It’s an illusion, Robyn. He has no power in this world unless you give it to
him. If he could really enter our world, he wouldn’t be a faded projection of
himself and he wouldn’t need to attach you to that pillar. He can’t control you
without your permission. We killed the demons. They were his only means to take
you away.”

Robyn’s eyes focused on Nancy. She looked one last time at
the evil specter who had imprisoned her before hugging her sister.

The other girls also stopped moving toward Mictlan as rage
filled the face of the Lord of the Dead. A piercing cry split the air and a
moment later he disappeared.

* * * * *

The bus sputtered to a stop about ten miles from the
settlement at Teotihuacan. Asher thought for a moment about the ten gallons he
spread on the sand before the battle, but immediately checked them off as
necessary losses. It would have been foolish to lead the demons back to the
settlement. They’d had to make a stand.

Their charges were in no shape to walk the rest of the way.
Asher reluctantly left them under Nancy’s care and rode for help on the Indian.

The sun once again glared in the late afternoon sky. It was
hot, but he’d take blue skies over the ominous red clouds any day.

The Indian rumbled down the road leading into the settlement.
Several people turned away from working in gardens and on other projects to
investigate the motorcycle riding into town. When they realized it was Asher,
many of them came running.

He stopped in front of Ian and Aileen. They had both come
out of their adobe when he approached. In spite of the concerned look on her
face, Aileen looked like an angel with her petite stature and halo of curly
long blonde hair. Looks could be deceiving, as this woman was also fierce in
battle. Asher had seen her shoot lightning from her fingertips and pull a long
knife from her boot to slice a demon’s head clean off. Ian stood a foot taller
than his mate. He ran his hand through his short-cropped, dark hair. The habit
signified Ian’s frustration, and Asher knew that particular tell quite well.

Aileen rushed forward. “Asher, are you okay?”

I must look like hell.
He was dirty, worn out and
bruised in more than one place. “I’m okay, Aileen.”

“What happened?” Ian asked.

A crowd of people gathered around. Asher kicked down the
stand on the bike and dismounted at the same time. “We ran out of gas about ten
miles south. We need to transport eight women, if you can get a couple of
vehicles out there right away.”

“Nancy?” Aileen asked.

“I found her first.”

Aileen threw her arms around him. “Thank God.”

He hugged her back. “Yeah, well, she has her share of bumps
and bruises, but she’s okay. The others are in pretty rough shape. Some of them
are gonna need the doc’s help, but most seem to be coming around on their own.”

Even as he said it, he cringed at the idea of being treated
by Doc Whitefeather. The Native American healer treated demon fever by driving
the spirits out and pulling the soul of the affected back into the body. His
methods did not always work and it was a terrible process. But since he and his
small band of survivors had joined the settlement, Doc always appeared to have
honorable intentions and good results.

Ian stepped forward. “And Nancy’s sister?”

Asher nodded. “She’s with them. Damn good shot with a
pistol.”

“Is it Mictlan?” Aileen asked.

Asher could feel his lips turning down in a deep frown and
he knew his expression must have said it all, but he nodded. “We’ll tell you
everything when the girls are safe.”

Ian wasted no time. He and Geoffrey, who had been part of
the fight five years ago, took two of the larger vehicles and moved them out to
pick up the women. They returned thirty minutes later and Aileen already had
cots put in an old adobe. Several people volunteered to care for the newcomers,
while the younger boys carried water for bathing. Donations of clothing were
brought to the makeshift hospital and food was prepared for the guests.

The small group, who had become a community over the past
five years, never ceased to amaze Asher. Satisfied that the new arrivals were
safe and cared for, he moved in the direction of home and a bath of his own.

It didn’t surprise Asher to find Ian waiting at the kitchen
table when he finished washing. He would demand a full account of everything
that had happened. Asher sat down, pulled his hair back into a ponytail and
banded it.

He opened his mouth to speak, but a knock at the front door
stopped him. Nancy didn’t wait to be admitted. She walked in and sat down next
to Asher.

She looked much better. Her hair was wet from her bath and tucked
behind her ears. She wore a clean pair of jeans, topped with a black T-shirt,
and she smelled like lilac soap. His cock responded to both the sight and scent
of her and he had to make a conscious effort to push down his arousal.

“Good,” Ian said. “Now what the hell happened out there? Who
are all those girls and where did you find them?”

Asher watched Nancy for signs of infatuation. He had studied
her for years and his stomach clenched the same way it always had. The way her
eyes lit up whenever Ian spoke to her had always made Asher a little queasy.
Inspecting her now as she told about her capture and rescue from brutal
sacrifice, he saw no signs of infatuation.
She’s probably just tired
.

But then Nancy turned toward him so he could add his part of
the story, and he saw the expression he’d only seen for Ian before now. Her
eyes glimmered when she looked at him. Her lips tipped up just slightly at the
corners. Hope began to bubble in his stomach, and for an instant, he thought he
might throw up. Fortunately the nausea passed quickly, leaving him feeling
happy and confused. He tried to hide all the emotions that were spiraling out
of control and began to tell the story.