by T. J. Quinn
Even in the darkness, Orin could see that she wasn't glad at all. But she was too proud or too stubborn to say so.
"Do you want me to stay, Nalina?"
"I don't know," she murmured with a defensive shrug.
She gave a sharp cry as Orin seized her arm and forced her to look into his eyes with his other hand. "Don't you, Nalina," he demanded in a hushed whisper? Her eyes went wide with fear, and she shrank from his grip.
Orin let her go before his emotions took control of him. He jumped up and stalked out of the bunker into the cool night air. What had he expected? He might as well face it now as later. That's how they would all feel about him.
As a deserter, he was a lost man with nowhere to belong and no one to care.
FIVE
Nalina looked up at Orin, he thought, somewhat contritely when he came back to the bunker the next morning. Maybe it was relief he saw in her eyes as she searched his face. He wanted to hold her in his arms and cuddle her head against his chest. He would do anything to protect her, even die if that’s what it took. How could she not know that?
She could see it in his eyes if she only looked, but then maybe she didn’t understand.
Orin shook his head and sighed, lowering himself to the floor against the opposite wall from where she was sitting. He'd come back to say goodbye. That was a mistake. It would have been easier to walk away if he hadn't looked into her soft dark eyes again. Orin gave Nalina a sad smile and reached into the plastic bucket beside him for one of the last pieces of fruit there.
He tossed it to her, and she caught it, offering him a shy smile. She bit into it as Orin watched intently. She looked good in the red suit he had found in the wreckage of the house. Her gown was in tatters, and he had nothing that would fit her small frame. With a couple of cuts and tucks, Nalina had made the boy's tunic, and pants fit with some ornamental pins from her gown.
Orin hadn't thought her pretty at first, but she was soft and feminine. In her own way, she was very attractive. At times, she was almost beautiful---especially when she smiled at Lanimer. If only...
He shook his head and got up. There were no if-onlies in his present, only reality. "I'm leaving now. You'd better go out to the orchard tomorrow and see if any more kwashes are ripe." He bent to pick up one of the sweet red and yellow globes for himself. "There's plenty of food. You two will be fine here."
Nalina nodded but did not meet his eyes. Disappointment stabbed Orin. She wasn't going to ask him to stay.
Lanimer watched them both, sensing the undercurrent between them. Even Orin's strong mental shield couldn't entirely hide his emotions from the young telepath. Sometimes, adults were just too dumb to see what they should do. It wasn't their fault they weren't mind readers like him. He wanted to tell them a thing or two. But, he knew from experience that it wouldn't do any good. Adults didn't care that he was a telepath. He was just a kid. What did he know?
Zev was in its yellow morning phase as Nalina and Lanimer watched Orin pack his gear. When he finished, they followed him out of the bunker with murmurings about picking some fruit before it got any hotter.
Orin stopped short, barely two meters from the doorway as a whining sound filled the air around them. Nalina and Lanimer bumped into him.
"What is it, Orin?" Nalina asked in alarm.
"A military transporter," he told her grimly. "There could be anywhere from six to twenty men inside. Back in the bunker, both of you! If they start looking around, they'll know someone is living here. They won't stop looking until they find us."
Orin didn't add that he doubted they would take any prisoners. By now, the military would have figured that he had killed the other soldiers at Mikal's agricomplex. He would be lucky if they killed him on sight. Otherwise, he would wish for death many times over.
Inside the pump house, Orin took out all their weapons and put a fresh power pack in his ion rifle. He gave Nalina his military issue laser, which was more powerful than hers then put hers into his pouch for a backup weapon. Then, he strapped on his canvas pouch belt and put several extra power packs for his rifle inside it.
"Nalina, stay here and keep Lanimer inside with you. Don't come out for anything until I tell you to. If they come, shoot them . . . And if I don't come back stay inside until morning. Maybe they'll think I was the only one here."
As Orin turned to go, he felt her hand on his arm. There was fear in her eyes, but it was a different kind of fear than he'd seen before. She was afraid for him not of him.
Mother of Life! She was so small and vulnerable. He hated to leave her unprotected. But what else could he do? His best chance to protect all of them was to second guess the other Tregans and try to draw them away from the bunker before they got close enough to see it.
They were already too damn close to suit him. He didn't dare think what they could do to Nalina and Lanimer before he could stop them. Orin looked away from her dark eyes as the vision of Damon torturing that girl shook him again. He shuddered as he saw Nalina in her place.
"Keep hope, little one." He managed a tight smile as he stared into Nalina's somber dark eyes. "My life won't come cheaply to them if that's my destiny. I won't let them hurt you!"
Then, he turned and strode out of the bunker, unable to look back.
FIVE
Orin saw ten of them as he lay on his belly under some brush on the rise above where the transporter landed. From scraps of conversation that drifted up, he knew they were looking for him while they checked the outlying complexes for refugees. They'd missed their morning meal, and they planned to stop to eat before they searched this complex.
Orin knew the procedure. They'd pair off and divide the complex into sectors. Each pair would walk their segment, keeping in contact with the others through their helmet coms. The deserter had to bide his time. He could only monitor their progress by sight and sound. He'd taken the com out of his helmet and destroyed it so they couldn't home in on its signal and find him.
Soon, the Raiders finished eating and started to move along the south side of the complex---away from the pump house to Orin's relief. He watched and waited with his rifle poised.
Two men came closer and closer, carrying their rifles poised in front of them. Orin decided to give them the same chance they would give him---none at all. He clenched his teeth and fired with calculated precision. The two men fell dead.
Nausea threatened Orin's churning stomach, and he swallowed hard against the bile that rose in his throat as the smell of death reached his nostrils. They were probably his biological brothers, but that didn't matter. Killing them was the only chance Nalina and Lanimer had to survive.
Orin passed an assessing gaze over the area around him. He held his breath for several seconds to listen. Then, he slowly raised himself to a crouch and ran for cover. A searing pain shot through the length of his right thigh, and he dove behind a tree-sheltered rock. He landed hard, grunting in pain. This time, the burning flesh had been his own.
Darkness had settled over the desert agricomplex several hours ago. Orin still wasn't back. Nalina was desperately worried. She sat huddled in the back of the pump house on Orin's air-filled pallet with Lanimer sleeping beside her. She didn't dare turn on the light Orin had left them. It was safer in the dark.
Lanimer stirred in his sleep, and Nalina cuddled him in her arms, clutching Orin's laser gun in one hand. In a while, her arms began to cramp, so she laid the child gently on the cushion beside her, covering him with Orin's field jacket. Then, she sat and waited some more.
It was lonely in the dark with only the sound of hers and Lanimer's breathing for company.
What if Orin never came back? The question raced through her mind over and over again. He had saved her life---hers and Lanimer's. She hadn't even thanked him. She never let Orin know that she appreciated the things he did for them.
Nalina realized she'd never let herself see him as just a man. So, he was a Tregan. But he really was different from the others. She thought back over
the things Orin told them about himself. She could see him in her mind's eyes being dragged from his home in chains by the Commander General's men. When brainwashing didn't work, they used pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. The word echoed through her mind.
A lump filled Nalina's throat. How they must have hurt him! No, Orin couldn't be one of them. They had seen to that. She believed him, now. She cared. She must have stared into the darkness for hours, remembering everything that had happened since Orin rescued them. Alone in the dark, it was hard to fight the panic rising up inside her.
He's dead. He must be dead. He would have come back by now. Mother of Life, where could he be? Finally, Nalina decided to wait until dawn, then go out and look for him---maybe bury him. She nearly sobbed aloud at the thought. She wouldn't let Orin Hart rot in the hot desert sun. The last thought comforted her little as she drifted into a restless sleep with the laser gun still clutched in her hand.
A sound. The metal door grated against the concrete floor, and Nalina sat bolt upright. Instinctively, she raised the gun and took aim at the bulk of man filling the doorway. She didn't notice at first that he was leaning heavily to one side against the frame. Nor could she see his face against the sunlight streaming through the doorway.
"Aw, hell!" he said in a raspy voice. He stood his ion rifle in the corner by the door. "I was fool enough to hope you might be glad to see me."
Nalina's mouth dropped open. She tried to speak, but no sound came out. Still, she held the laser aimed at his massive chest.
"Hey, if you don't want me here, just say so. I'll go. You don't have to shoot me."
The gun fell from her hands. "Orin!" she whispered. Nalina jumped up and launched herself at him. She nearly knocked him down as she threw her arms around his neck. "Orin---I thought they killed you." She pressed her cheek against his throat and started to cry. "You should have let me help you. I could have done more than just wait." She pressed her lips against his Adam's apple.
Slowly, wondrously, he put his arms around her. His thigh burned and ached, but he didn't care. It felt so good to hold her; he wanted to savor the moment. So many times, he'd longed to hold her. He wasn't sure she was real.
Nalina stopped crying and pulled back to look up at him. "Are they gone? Are you all right?"
"Yes---not exactly," he said quietly in Zevian.
They were gone, all right. Orin had killed them one by one and then loaded their bodies into their own transporter. He sent them back to Elran by way of Lake Lessat, 250 kilometers north of their agricomplex. Elran was 60 klicks south. When he finished, exhaustion overcame him, and he took refuge in some rocks for the night. It took him until dawn to find the strength to hobble back to the pump house.
"I mean, they're gone but, I'm not exactly all right." In truth, he could barely stand, yet he didn't want to let her go. He needed her warmth to shield him from the terrible things he'd done to keep them all alive.
"You're not?" Nalina finally assimilated what he'd said. "Where are you hurt?" She pulled back to get a better look at him, her eyes anxious with concern. Her gaze fell on his thigh where the heavy fabric of his trousers was burned away. His flesh was charred and oozing. Nalina gasped.
Orin grinned weakly. "Don't worry. It looks a lot worse than it is." He started limping toward his pallet where Lanimer was slowly rousing from sleep.
The boy greeted Orin with a gleeful smile. "I knew you'd make it," he cried and hugged Orin fervently.
"I'm glad somebody did." Orin hugged him back then flopped over on his uninjured side. He'd never been so tired in his life. He wanted to say so much to Nalina, to feel her soft warmth in his arms again. He just didn't have the strength. Orin started to close his eyes, then opened them again as Nalina knelt on the pallet beside him. She'd found some burn salve in his pack, and she seemed determined to apply it to his ugly wound. Though he gritted his teeth at the searing pain, he had to smile, listening to Nalina heartily curse the Tregans for nearly killing him. She used the same curses on him barely half a month before.
If only he weren't so damn tired. The salve soothed his pain nearly as soon as it was applied. Orin sighed, and his eyelids drooped shut. Orin felt her lips softly touch his cheek, and then her breath tickled his ear as sleep drugged his mind. "Sleep well, Orin. Sleep well." She paused and let out an uneven sigh. "I love you."
Before he could answer, she jumped up. He heard the pump house door scrape shut, and Orin groaned. She hadn't given him the chance to tell her---he loved her, too.
Orin didn't realize until hours later when he finally came back to the world of the living that Nalina already knew.
SEVEN
Not until two days later did Orin have a chance to be alone with Nalina. It was just past sunset and Lanimer had fallen asleep.
Orin got up slowly from his seat on the floor against the wall. There was a twinge of pain in his injured leg though it was mostly healed. As he started walking toward the doorway, Nalina jumped up from the pallet and hurried to his side.
“Where are you going?” she asked uncertainly, her hand resting on his upper arm.
“Just outside,” he told her. “the cement floor was getting hard. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving.”
“I-I,” she stammered looking up at him longingly. “I just…” Then she looked away unable to go on.
The words came hard for him as well. “Nalina, I won’t ever leave you,” he blurted and took her into his arms. He lifted her off the floor, holding her against his chest and kissed her soft parted lips, letting his tongue slip inside to caress the sweet inner recesses of her mouth.
He went hard almost instantly. Nalina moaned as his tongue slid into her mouth wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Orin broke the kiss momentarily and moved outside, carrying her with his arms wrapped around her. There was a soft, grassy, sheltered spot where they could be alone and not wake Lanimer.
“Do you want to make love with me?” he whispered. He wanted no misunderstandings. But by the way, she clung to him, he was pretty sure she did.
“I do,” she nodded, looking into his eyes. “But I never have.”
Orin sighed. His experience was limited as well, but he knew how it was done. They would have to go slow; he didn’t want to hurt her, though he was pretty sure it would hurt however careful he was.
He took her to the soft grassy knoll behind some ornamental bushes and sat down in the grass with her on his lap. He wanted her badly, but he knew this wasn’t something he could rush. He wouldn’t do that for her first time.
His first time had been with an older girl who knew what she wanted and showed him the way. Orin had thought she really liked him and maybe their lust would turn into something more. He never got the chance to find out because the Tregans came for him.
But now he had Nalina, and Orin had fallen in love with her. For weeks he had longed to have her in his arms like this with her soft, full breasts pressed against his chest. His hard cock pressed against the core of her sex through their clothes and her lips were soft and pliant against his.
She had a beautiful body with full curves in all the right places. Her hips were just a bit wide for her liking, but to him they were perfectly rounded and pliable in his hands.
He brought his hands up to cup her full breasts and teased her erect nipples through the fabric of her tunic. Nalina moaned and sighed her enjoyment as she rocked her hips to press her core more firmly against his cock.
Very carefully, Orin lifted the hem of her tunic up over her head so as not to rip out the pins. Understanding his intent, Nalina raised her arms to make it easier for him. Then she tugged at his t-shirt tucked into his cargo pants. He laid her tunic beside them and helped her take off his shirt.
He groaned as he looked at her pert nipples in the fading light. He leaned her back against his hands and bent to take a rosy tip into his mouth, sucking it and nibbling it as Nalina cooed in delight, holding his head and running her fingers through his short hair.
&n
bsp; She rocked her hips over his cock pressed against her core as exquisite sensations from her nipples shot straight to her clit. Orin switched breasts, balancing her against one muscular forearm as he attended to the other with his fingers.
It didn’t take much of that to bring Nalina her first orgasm I his arms, and they didn’t even have all their clothes off yet. She cried out throwing her head back shuddering rhythmically with the contractions of her inner walls as wave after wave of pleasure shook her.
It was all Orin could do to hold back as she writhed against his swollen cock. She was still shuddering intermittently as he pushed her back off his cock and started unfastening her pants.
Nalina gently pushed his hands away and said, “I’ll do it.” She stood up and carefully unfastened one of the pins. Orin pressed the button on one boot and then the other to unfasten them and toed them off so he could take his pants off too.
Then they stood facing each other, both naked together for the first time in the moonlight. She was every bit as beautiful as Orin expected as he looked at her in the moons’ light.
“Oh, my!” she said, looking at his erection pointing straight at her. “You are so big.”
His cock was big, though not disproportionate to his size. It was going to be a tight fit in any case because she was a virgin. He hated that he would hurt her in the process, but he would give her pleasure when the pain subsided.
“We’ll take it slow,” he said and held out his arms to her. “Come here.” His tone was tender and encouraging.
Nalina walked into his arms and hugged him as he held her pressed against him. After a few moments, he held her face in his big hands and gently tilted her head, so she was looking up at him.
