Ringed Love

by Elizabeth Noble

  Todd saw that the access road was on a slight incline from the main road. It wasn’t much, but even a little bit would slow down heavy wagons. The first few wagons were beginning to bunch together. He caught up with Nick. “How much farther?”

  “Just around that bend.” Nick pointed ahead.

  “Get the door open. I’ll go back and make sure everyone makes it onto the access road.” Todd turned his horse back and called over his shoulder, “Be back in a few minutes.”

  Todd rode back to the end of the wagon train. The last wagon had turned onto the road, so he circled around and rode back to the front. The leading wagons had already stopped. Faye was still mounted on her horse and holding the reins to Nick’s.

  Nick was on the ground in front of the entrance. Trey was moving between the first few wagons with several of the other people. They had a few dozen Faraday lamps charged and loaded onto the front wagon. Todd took several and hung them off his saddle. Holding the reins in one hand, he held one of the bigger Faraday lanterns in the other. Nick looked back, and Todd nodded.

  Opening a panel, Nick pulled a crank free and began turning. Faye held up the lantern she carried. Todd urged his horse forward and handed off a few more to her. The large metal door covering the entrance began to move slowly upward. He heard the scrape of metal against metal and the crank of chains along a track.

  The door opened into a dark, cavernous area. Todd could only see a half dozen or so yards inside. Despite being daytime, the sunlight only illuminated the most forward part of the area well. Squinting into the dark, Todd saw the space was easily three times the size of the area the light shone on. It was wide enough for all the wagons and horses to fit inside, and the ceiling was high enough they could build fires if needed.

  Holding the lantern out to the side, Todd nudged his horse forward, keeping the pace slow and steady. He heard the clop-clop of two more horses following closely behind him. Glancing back, he saw Faye still leading one horse and riding another. Nick held a lantern above his head and was walking beside Faye’s horse. Nick seemed to have a certain destination in mind, so Todd steered his horse in that direction and positioned himself so Nick was at the horse’s shoulder. That put the wall on one side of Nick and Todd on the other. He hoped that would shield Nick from anything unexpected. If needed, Nick could get onto Todd’s horse, providing them with a quick getaway.

  Nick was following some thin pipes about three feet off the ground and running along the wall.

  “What are you looking for?” Todd finally asked.

  “I think these—” he tapped one small pipe with his finger “—carry wiring from solar panels.” Nick pointed up. Todd stopped the horse and looked at the ceiling. “When I was here before, I didn’t take the time to examine it very closely. See those holes, where the lights are?”

  “Yeah.” Todd stood in the stirrups, trying to get a better look, but the ceiling was too high. “Those are solar lights. At least some of them are.” He resettled in the saddle.

  Nick nodded. “I didn’t notice that until we came in here with better illumination.” He turned in a circle, shining the light around. “I don’t see any trains, but there are some tracks. The horses need rest.”

  “Alright, let’s get these people in here and settled while we figure out what our next steps should be. They’ve been crammed in those wagons for a while. The kids especially need to get out and stretch. We can spend a day or so scoping this place out and the route, and go from there.” Todd kicked his foot from one stirrup and leaned over, poking Nick’s shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get this group organized.”

  Nick used the stirrup and swung onto the horse behind Todd. They went back to where Faye waited. Nick slipped from Todd’s horse and remounted his own horse.

  “Is there anyone in this group who’d know about solar lighting?” Nick asked. “Specifically repairing a network?”

  Faye shook her head. “Trey knows the townspeople better than I do. He’ll probably be more helpful.”

  “It would be nice if we could get the lighting system, or at least part of it, up and running,” Nick said.

  “I’d like to keep our wagons at the farthest point from the entrance for now,” Todd said and looked around for Trey.

  “I’ll get to our wagon in the back and see if Sal knows anyone who can help with the lighting problem.” Nick nudged his horse to a canter. A few minutes later, he was in one of their two wagons, Sal beside him on the bench.

  Todd jumped down from his horse and led the animal to the wagon and Trey. “Do you know anyone capable of getting the solar light system working?”

  “We should keep moving,” Trey insisted.

  “The horses need rest. We won’t be getting anywhere if they start dropping from exhaustion,” Nick said. “And it’s impractical to keep the Faraday lamps going constantly.”

  “Then there is the issue of food and water for us and the livestock,” Todd added. He pulled off the supplies he’d fixed to the saddle and stored them in a side compartment of the wagon.

  “We’ve got one entire wagon filled with food for people and livestock and containers of water. The rest we evenly distributed among the other wagons,” Sal said.

  Nick grinned and held up a thumb. “Good thinking.”

  “A few kids from the slave village were learning general engineering for use in farming,” Faye offered.

  “My wife and I ran solar power and put in new panels in our barns and mill.” Sal stopped, smirked, and said, “Nothing blew up.”

  “Trey, you go through the rest of the group and start cataloging who has what skills.” Todd turned to Sal next. “You and your wife can work on the lights while the rest of us organize a camp until we can move out. Kids like to be involved, so if it’s okay with Faye, have the slave children with the skills help you out.”

  “We’ll need some lookouts at the entrance if we don’t close the door,” Nick said. He looked from the entrance to some point farther down the tunnel. “Though we don’t get much light beyond a few dozen yards from the door, so I think we should just close it. I can lock it from the inside.”

  Todd nodded. “Agreed. If they were going to come after us in here, we’d know it by now.”

  They split up, each going about their assigned tasks. The first order of business was setting up an area where the livestock could rest, have food and water given to them, and be kept safe. While Faye oversaw setting up camp, Todd went with Nick to the tunnel entrance and made sure everyone was inside.

  “Close it down?” Nick asked. Todd nodded, and Nick turned the crank.

  The big door moved down along the track, creaking and moaning along its path. It took nearly a full minute, but finally the entrance was closed off. Other than the light they had from their Faraday lamps, one hanging from each wagon and shining brightly, the place was drenched in total blackness. Nick showed him how to work the locking mechanism before they hurried back to their wagons.

  It didn’t take very long for Sal’s wife to locate the access panels for the solar-powered electrical system. There was a door on one side of the tunnel and about ten feet from the entrance. Sal and Todd broke it down to reveal a room full of switches, buttons, and connections. It all looked like a jumbled mess to Todd. Nick gasped softly when he saw it and didn’t say a word, simply stood shaking his head.

  Sal scratched at the back of his head and muttered, “This is a bit more than we put in back home.”

  His wife, Clara, smacked his chest with the back of her hand. “There is simply more, and this over here—” she waved one hand at a wall full of dials, switches, and things Todd couldn’t identify “—is for the trains, I think. What we need is on this wall. I’ll have to borrow some more tools, but we can do this.”

  Todd and Nick exchanged glances. Nick’s face reflected Todd’s considerable relief. “We’ll leave you to this, then. If you need help or anything from us, yell.” He nudged Nick ahead of him, and they left the room. “She seems to know what to d
o.”

  “Thank heavens!” Nick said and grinned.

  “Let’s get what we need completed and get something to eat, then sleep,” Todd said. Nick nodded and kept close as they went to work.

  * * * *

  Nick held up a hand and turned in a slow circle. “Do you feel that?”

  “What?” Todd poked his head out of the wagon. “Are you going to help with this?”

  Nick took the armful of supplies Todd held and moved it to the other wagon. After spending a few hours getting the horses and other livestock bedded down in a spot along one side of the tunnel, they had gone to work on their own belongings. They decided to shuffle things around; now much of what they’d use to combat any threat was stored within easy reach of where they’d sleep in one wagon.

  “Moving air, and not just from Trey flapping his lips,” Nick said.

  Todd snorted. “He’s not that bad.” He straightened, turned, and walked a few feet farther down the tunnel. Nodding, he said, “Yeah, you’re right. So this thing is ventilated.” Shrugging, Todd added, “But I guess it would have to be. Whoever built it obviously had to take into account air supply with the doors shut. The temperature isn’t bad in here. Like being in a cave.”

  “I wonder if the ventilation could be a second light source,” Nick said. He yawned and stretched.

  A little girl with blonde curls and big blue eyes ran over. She stopped in front of Todd and Nick, staring up at them. Todd took a knee so he was on eye level with her and asked, “You need help, ma’am?”

  The little girl—she couldn’t have been more than five or six—giggled and pointed at a group of three wagons. “My mommy says dinner is ready. She doesn’t like it when people are late to the table.”

  “Well, I guess we’d better not be late, then.” Todd stood up, and the little girl took his hand. Trailing behind them, Nick chuckled when the girl beamed up at Todd.

  The three wagons were temporary home to Sal, his wife, their children, and grandchildren. Sal’s son and daughter-in-law had three girls. His daughter and her wife had adopted a boy. From the looks of it, Sal would soon be adding the three slave children, all teens, to his family. Even though they hadn’t been working with Sal for long, Nick saw immediately how they fit right in with the rest of the family. He liked Sal and his family and hoped they’d travel the distance to Elk’s Ridge. They’d make a good addition to the community Todd and Nick now called home.

  “I think another hour or so, and we’ll have some light. It should be enough to travel by,” Clara said between bites of food.

  “This food is amazing. Thank you for inviting us. We were doomed to dried meat and fruit,” Todd said.

  “Oh, thank these two,” Sal said and waved his fork at his daughter and daughter-in-law. “I keep saying they should open a restaurant.”

  “I’ll eat there!” Todd said and laughed. Nick nodded. As nice as these people were, he was a bit overwhelmed by so many strangers at once. It was easier to let Todd do the talking. Nick was grateful Todd never seemed to mind. “You…all of you…certainly came prepared for the trip,” Todd added.

  “We had a little time to prepare before we had to leave. That was very fortunate,” Clara said.

  They hung around after dinner to help with the cleanup while Sal and Clara went back to work on the solar lights. Walking back to their wagons, Nick took a look around. Other wagons were grouped together, people who were related or friends, Nick supposed. Cooking fires dotted the empty spaces between the wagons, which helped further brighten the darkness.

  Nick heard a hum and a clank, then they were all illuminated in soft light from not only the ceiling, but from lanterns hung at regular intervals along the walls. Cheering from people in the wagons reverberated off the walls for a few minutes.

  When Sal and Clara and the three kids rejoined the group, they were all smiles. “I found a schematic for several tunnels, and there is a timer. I set it to dim to the lowest setting in two hours, which will be about ten p.m. I think if it takes us a few days to get through, it’ll be easier if we can have some semblance of day and night.” Clara explained. “Trey and I will plot a course tomorrow that we’re hoping will be the shortest route and get us into Yellowknife Protectorate safely.”

  Eventually everyone filtered back to their wagons. Nick went to care for their horses and check on the other livestock. It wasn’t long before he felt Todd’s hand take his arm and turn him around. Todd slipped an arm around Nick’s waist and pulled him close, kissing his cheek, then his lips.

  He pulled Nick even more tightly against him and whispered in Nick’s ear, “Nothing is chasing us, and for once everything is quiet and under control.” Stepping away from Nick, Todd took his hand and led him to their wagons.

  They had positioned their wagons against the tunnel side near the horses and arranged them so the back of the wagon they’d be sleeping in was blocked from view. That would give them some privacy and let them leave the flap open while they slept if they wanted to, keeping their sleeping area from becoming stuffy.

  Once they were out of sight, Nick was herded against one of the wagons. He leaned against it and tilted his head back when Todd licked slowly up and down his neck. When Nick moaned and reached down, Todd grabbed his wrists in a hand and lifted them over Nick’s head.

  “Uh-uh,” Todd murmured. With his other hand, he worked Nick’s belt open, and then the pants. He wormed his fingers against Nick’s suddenly very heated flesh until he grabbed Nick’s cock. He squeezed and a tremor shot through Nick, making Nick groan again. Todd responded by pressing his mouth to Nick’s and pushing his tongue into Nick’s mouth. Todd slipped his fingers down farther and Nick’s balls were given a hearty squeeze and tug. Nick’s knees buckled as an electric current slithered through him. The only thing holding Nick upright was Todd’s body pressed against him.

  Nick’s body, sluggish a minute before, was now on fire and coursing with pent-up energy. He was desperate and needy. The only movement he could manage was to buck his hips against Todd’s. Todd responded by pushing his thumb against Nick’s balls and used a steady, rough motion to brush over them. Nick sucked in a breath and shuddered.

  “Oh…damn…” Nick shivered again and pulled in a harsh breath when, without warning, Todd let go of him and stepped back. Todd pulled off Nick’s jacket, dropping it to the ground, then used the knuckles of one hand to poke at Nick’s biceps. He lifted his arms, and Todd pulled his shirt up and off, using it to tie Nick’s wrists together.

  “That’ll keep you in line,” Todd said and leaned in, nibbling Nick’s ear. He ran both hands down Nick’s sides, making his abs twitch and his breath hitch.

  Todd guided Nick to the back of the wagon and boosted him inside. He pulled Nick’s boots, socks, and pants off. Those were left with Nick’s jacket. Todd took very little time shedding his own clothes before climbing in after Nick. Todd moved Nick farther back into the wagon before turning him onto his stomach and pulling his hips up. Nick was forced to kneel while supporting himself on his forearms.

  Nick was hard, precum oozing from the slit of his cock. He gulped for air and tried pushing his ass backward against his mate. Nick’s body flinched, and his flesh heated even more when the flat of Todd’s hand slapped against him repeatedly until Nick could do nothing but moan and writhe. His cock had no contact with anything, driving his desperation for relief higher.

  Todd moved away and pulled a bottle of oil from one of the built-in drawers along the side of the wagon. He drizzled the cool oil between Nick’s ass cheeks. Todd used a finger to circle Nick’s entrance, slipping into and out of it at irregular intervals.

  “Todd…please,” Nick whined, and he didn’t care.

  “Later,” Todd said in a deep, gravelly voice. “Maybe.” He grabbed Nick’s hips with both hands and pulled back. In the next instant, Nick was filled with Todd.

  Todd’s harsh breathing close to Nick’s ear intensified. He pulled back and thrust forward over and over. Winding an
arm around Nick, Todd leaned back so Nick was straddling his lap and forcing Todd’s cock ever deeper. The force with which Todd held Nick and the way his breathing was short, staccato bursts told Nick Todd was very close.

  Reaching around, Todd grabbed Nick’s aching cock and stroked up and down. He finally growled in Nick’s ear, “Nicky, now.”

  Nick’s body jerked and clenched around Todd’s cock as spasms rolled through him. Throbbing in his ass was followed almost at once by a flood of warmth and moisture that sent every nerve in his body into overdrive.

  All too soon both their bodies quieted and relaxed. Nick eased forward and Todd untied the shirt. They settled in for the night. Exhausted, Nick wound around Todd and rested his head on Todd’s chest. No matter what, he always felt safe in Todd’s arms.

  Chapter 4

  Todd was torn. He hated leaving Nick in the camp, and he didn’t want to leave people unprotected while they scouted farther down the tunnels. Yet he and Nick did work better when they could back one another up.

  “We need to get a good look down those tunnels,” Todd said as casually as possible.

  “Sal will be helpful, and I suppose Trey will insist on coming since he’s got the maps. Clara knows about the schematics,” Nick said.

  “Yeah.” He hesitated, not sure how to broach with Nick what he was considering. “I think that we need to consider the best way to provide protection for these people.”

  Nick focused more intently on Todd. “You know, other than being targeted by snipers, these people have managed to protect themselves pretty well this far.”

  “I realize that, but my concern is if there is something else in these tunnels, we shouldn’t leave the whole group unprotected,” Todd said.

  “You think one of us should go and one of us should stay here?” Nick crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wagon.

  Todd nodded. “I think we should consider all possibilities. Neither of us is in favor of splitting up like this.”