by Tammy Walsh
Hazel licked the crumbs off her fingers and place the remaining bread on a rock.
I laid one of the blankets on the ground Hazel had cleared. It was still hard and a little lumpy. Not ideal, but it would stop us from freezing to death in the night. Then I placed the second blanket over the first. She would sleep on one and use the other to cover her. She would be cold initially but her body warmth would heat the small space between the leaves until it was warm and toasty.
I got to work making another set of blankets for me.
“What are you doing?” Hazel said as I began tugging down more leaves.
“I have to make another one. For me.”
“Wouldn’t we be warmer if we shared our body heat?”
I slipped and fell from the tree. I twisted my ankle and hissed through my teeth.
Hazel bent down to check the injury but I waved her away.
“Fast healing, remember?” I said. “It’ll be back to normal within a few hours.”
“We should share the blankets,” Hazel said. “I mean, it’s not like we’re going to get up to anything, is it? This is about survival.”
“Yes. I suppose so.”
“Good.”
She immediately began to strip off.
My eyes bulged and I turned away from her.
Within seconds, she had peeled her wet clothes off. She crossed the open space and hung them on an extended branch.
She was a nurse. She was probably used to seeing patients naked.
I wasn’t.
Hazel shivered and said, “Brrrr! It’s freezing!”
She ran to the blankets and crawled between them. She raised the top blanket open, exposing herself to me.
Her large breasts… Her slim waist… And her…
I was already hard as a rock.
The idea of being so close to her… lying naked with her…
“Well?” she said. “Are you coming, or aren’t you?”
I removed my clothes and hung them beside hers.
Beside her underwear.
Her bra and panties.
I shut my eyes to block out the worst of my embarrassment and slid my underwear off.
I kept my back to her, not wanting her to see me standing to attention the way I was.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” Hazel said. “If anything… comes up… It’s a natural reaction. Just so long as you don’t act on it.”
I gulped.
I turned to look at her.
Her eyes drifted down to my bulging cock. She blinked for an instant before bringing her eyes back up to mine.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” she said.
She pressed her lips together in an attempt to prevent herself from laughing at what she’d said.
Wasn’t so hard…
I couldn’t help it. I barked with laughter and wiped the tears out of my eyes.
I covered my mouth and peered at the darkness, hoping no Changelings were close enough to hear me.
Hazel had broken the tension. I wasn’t so nervous now as I crossed the space and lay down beside her.
The way her arm was extended, with the blanket held open wide, made me wish we weren’t out in the middle of the forest. I wished we were back in my bed chamber.
I got comfortable and she swung the blanket over us. It blocked out the light but my eyes were used to it.
Moonlight sawed through the tiny holes in the leaf blanket, exposing the veins across the leaves’ surface. And it was already getting warm.
Or maybe it was just the sight of her beside me.
She was small and soft and supple.
I wondered if she tasted as good as she looked.
I kept my eyes on her. And she kept hers on mine.
I couldn’t help but glance at her gorgeous breasts.
We were running for our lives, and yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about running my lips and tongue over every inch of her body.
Her hair lay across her face. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand tucked it behind her ear.
She smiled.
“Just remember,” she said. “This is for survival. Don’t get any ideas. I have a fiancé. Remember?”
“I remember,” I said.
Lucky SOB.
She ran a hand over my body, feeling at the muscles and skin.
“Your skin is healing very well,” she said. “It’s a shame we don’t have more of that Healer’s Touch ointment.”
“The flower grows near here,” I said, my heart in my throat as she continued to silently touch and prod me.
“We’ll have to get some tomorrow,” she said. “We don’t want you to have more scars than you need to.”
Her eyes drifted up to my face. She turned my head to one side and then the other, checking my skin.
“Your face hasn’t healed much yet,” she said. “Maybe one day I’ll get to see what you really look like.”
“Maybe you’ll run for the hills,” I said.
“Maybe,” she said with a chuckle.
Her eyes shifted from my face to my eyes. It wasn’t just a shift in focus, it was a shift in mindset. From the observation of a professional nurse to looking at me as a real person.
Her hand was still on my face. She stroked my cheek.
I felt myself go weak at the knees.
I’d never known a woman to have that effect on me with just a look.
My heart beat faster, harder. I sensed we’d been peering at each other for too long and she pulled her eyes away from mine.
She cleared her throat.
“How long until we reach the Fallen Temple?” she said.
“About two days,” I said.
“Two days? That long?”
“It’s not close by. It’s an ancient Titan landmark.”
“Will the Changelings search it?”
“Probably. But there are hundreds of other sites we could be heading to. And we won’t be gathering out in the open, but underground.”
“That makes sense,” she said. “Well, I suppose we should be getting to sleep.”
She rolled over, showing her back to me. Then she edged backward into me, pressing her soft smooth skin against me.
I grew even harder.
She must have felt it digging into her back but she didn’t complain.
How easy it would be to slip inside her…
To kiss and touch her…
But I wouldn’t dishonor her.
I imagined I was her fiancé all those miles away and how I would feel if I saw us in this position now.
The jealousy was sharp and stung.
Hazel shivered.
She was probably still cold. I swung my arm over her and wrapped my legs against hers. Her neck rested on the ground at an odd angle. It would hurt by morning. I gently raised her head and slipped my arm beneath it. She could use my bicep as a pillow.
My other hand clutched her close, pressing against her flat stomach.
“What about your head?” she said. “Don’t you need a pillow?”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, my voice hoarse and full of yearning.
I might not want to dishonor her but my cock sure did.
Her body was as warm and soft as I thought. Not entering her right then and there was just about the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
I had a face full of her hair and she smelled so good.
At least I could hold her.
At least I could do that much.
When morning rolled around, sunlight made our leaf blanket glow green and faint yellow, casting fractal shapes across Hazel’s skin.
My arm tucked under her head was numb but I refused to move it. She was comfortable and sleeping like a baby.
My cock had been rock hard all night and had managed to slide itself between her legs. I hadn’t entered her but my cock was yearning to do so.
I rolled my hips back so my cock thumped against my abdomen. I leaned against Hazel again, comfortable in our warm cocoon.
I didn’t want to stir. I wanted to stay there for the rest of the day. But then she began to squirm, coming awake. She glanced down at my hand on her breast and gently slapped it.
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Sure, you didn’t,” she said with a groggy smile on her lips.
She stretched and elongated those delicious curves of her body.
“How did you sleep?” she said.
“Really well,” I said.
I extended my arms. They cracked and popped. I worked blood back into my painfully numb arm. I rolled the ankle I’d twisted the night before. It made a grinding noise as it rolled back into place. Healed. The way I knew it would be.
Hazel shoved the leaf blanket back and blinked against the sunlight. She suddenly felt very shy and pulled the blanket around herself.
“I’ll get our clothes,” I said.
Her eyes followed me as I got up. My underwear had fallen off the branch during the night. I pulled them on anyway, even if they were a little damp. The iciness might help alleviate my cock’s constant rigidity.
I handed Hazel her clothes. Although everything was still a little damp, it was better than it had been the night before.
Hazel unwrapped the last of our bread and handed me a slice. We both wolfed down our breakfast.
Hazel folded up the leaf blanket and placed a roll on each of her shoulders.
“You can leave those here,” I said. “I can make more later.”
She shrugged.
“This way will save you a job later,” she said with a smile.
Something had changed between us. She seemed happier, chirpier.
I wanted to take her hand. After all, I had taken a lot more during the night…
But I didn’t.
She had a fiancé and would marry him when she returned home. As much as I might not like it, I made a promise to myself that I would help her return home.
To her friends, to her family…
To her fiancé.
Just the word “fiancé” threatened to make the bread repeat on me.
We trudged through the forest. I kept an eye on the open sections of sky visible through the empty patches of canopy.
“Those are some beautiful flowers,” Hazel said.
She pointed to a clutch of light blue petaled flowers with a dark patch around the edges that resembled an ink stain. They were nestled in the roots of a tree.
“Those are Healer’s Touch,” I said.
“They are?” she said.
I bent down and plucked the flower heads off. There were three plants at this location and another four on the other side of the tree.
“You don’t want to take the entire flower?” Hazel said.
“If we just take the heads, we get the medicine and the flowers can bloom again.”
I pulled down a large leaf and wrapped the petals inside it. Then I tied it together with dried vines that hung limply from the tree’s bark.
I curled the vine into a hoop so I could carry it in one hand.
Wiiiiiiing!
I would recognize that sound anywhere.
“Get down!” I said.
I grabbed Hazel by the hand and pulled her toward the tree trunk. I scanned the sky and, finding we were exposed beneath a section where the boughs did not reach, I swung us around to the other side of the trunk.
“Is it them?” Hazel said.
“Yes,” I said. “With any luck, they won’t see us.”
The ship was far away but we both whispered.
“Are they looking for us?” she said.
“Maybe,” I said. “But more likely, they’re looking for the Fallen Temple. They’ll keep searching until they find us.”
“What happens if they find it? Is there another place we can retreat to?”
“No. But that would be a good idea.”
We never saw the ship. We only heard its engines whine and turn in another direction. Probably to murder some poor innocents they’d locked onto.
Thankfully, it wasn’t in the same direction we were heading.
But maybe there was another reason they weren’t heading toward the Fallen Temple.
What if they’d found it already?
What if we could no longer meet up with other Titan survivors?
What if Changelings were already there, waiting to ambush us the moment we arrived?
I pushed the thoughts from my mind and focused on reaching the Fallen Temple. That was the plan. And it was the only one we had.
I stepped forward and found Hazel still holding my hand. I made to let go but she refused.
She stared at me with her big wide eyes, terrified.
I tightened my grip and then, holding hands, we edged through the forest. We maintained low crouched positions, peering this way and that, looking out for any Changelings that might be close by.
Darkness closed in on us before we knew it. Maybe we slept in a little too late. Night seemed to approach much faster than I expected.
We heard three more Changeling shuttlecraft passing overhead but not once did we lay eyes on them. Each time, we hid beneath a thick tree trunk and made ourselves as small as possible.
I hated that they made her so scared.
We waited until they passed. So long as they kept searching, there was always hope the resistance would take hold.
We moved on, covering the forest one slow mile at a time. It was hard, grueling work. What made it twice as difficult was not having enough food or water on us.
I plucked what few berries and nuts I knew to be safe and munched on them first. I let at least an hour pass before allowing Hazel to eat them. Even then, I wouldn’t allow her to have more than a few at a time.
She was not a Titan and she needed to be careful with our wild food. So far, she appeared to react well to it.
My body grew stronger, the activity helping my muscles and tendons to reform and grow. My skin was still healing. There were patches on my arms that still had not fully recovered. I needed more of the Healer’s Touch. I would apply it tonight.
I look forward to settling down beneath the stars with Hazel again tonight, naked beneath those blankets of leaves. A part of me dreaded it, being so close and yet unable to act on my impulses.
I came to a stop and raised a hand for Hazel to wait. Ahead of us, behind a long hedgerow, was a farmhouse. I’d let myself drift away in my thoughts and allowed my mind to wander.
Idiot!
It could just as easily have been a Changeling shuttlecraft bearing down on us.
Luck had saved me this time. It wouldn’t again.
I peered around the hedge at the farmhouse’s soft glowing lights. Titan farmers would reside inside. I knew local tribes had good relationships with local farmers. They often traded their goods and services, especially when times were lean.
“Okay, mom!”
A little boy let the backdoor slam shut behind him as he strode with a smile and a confident gait toward the barn. He went inside and came out with a large cooking pot.
“What is it?” Hazel said. “Do you think Changelings are here?”
“No,” I said. “But I think we shouldn’t take the risk.”
“Too late for that.”
We snapped around to find an old rifle staring us in the grill.
The Titan holding it said, “Now, what do you think—”
My endless training from when I was a young lad came to the fore. I’d received training from the greatest fighters in the empire. I learned to fight with blades, shields, guns, and my bare hands. I’d also been taught psychology and when was the best time to attack.
“As soon as possible,” my teacher always said. “They’re still trying to figure out if you’re a
threat. You already know you are one. And you’re far more dangerous than they will ever be. Use your skills against them and attack first.”
My hands flew up and knocked the rifle aside. I twisted it out of the Titan’s grip. He maintained his hold and lost his balance. I spun the rifle around and aimed it back at him.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
The Titan was garbed in a flannel shirt and stained overalls. He must have been the farmer. Except… Changelings were capable of adopting the shape of others. He could just as easily be one of them.
I checked around us for others but we appeared to be alone.
“Show me your wrists!” I said.
The farmer held up his shaking hands. His sleeves slid down.
There were no folds of skin around his wrists. He wasn’t a Changeling.
He was defending his property from what he assumed were dangerous criminals.
Us.
Hazel placed her hand on my arm. I lowered the weapon.
“I take it you’re resistance fighters,” the farmer said, keeping his arms up.
“Yes,” I said. “You can put your arms down. We’re not going to hurt you.”
The farmer peered between me and Hazel before lowering them.
“Have you seen any Changeling soldiers around here?” I said.
“No, sir,” he said. “We’re friendly with the resistance. We’ve seen many fighters passing through this way.”
Many fighters.
Then there was a chance the resistance might still be alive…
“Come,” he said. “We have food and water. You must be tired.”
Food. Water. A bed.
I glanced at Hazel, who smiled expectantly.
“That would be great, thank you,” I said.
I handed the rifle back to the farmer.
He aimed it at the ground.
“You’re going to have to show me that move again,” he said. “In slow motion next time. Come. Follow me.”
I followed him into the house. He introduced us to his wife and two children. The young boy I had already seen, and his older sister. The children seemed shy and quickly ran upstairs.
“Sorry,” the farmer said. “They’ve learned to become wary of strangers.”
“Did you come from one of the tribes?” the farmer’s wife said.
She turned on the stove to heat some stew.
“Yes,” I said. “The Urcim tribe.”