Mayan Afterglow (7 page)

She gasped his name as his tongue lashed out only barely
touching the hair covering her slit. His hands slid down tracing light swirls
on the soft skin at the backs of her thighs.

“Aileen, what do you want?”

“I…” was all she managed before his tongue slipped between
her nether lips and her knees buckled.

He pulled her gently forward supporting her so that her
knees were leaning against his shoulders. Her warm, wet pussy pressed into his
face and he opened his mouth to suck the taut bud.

She called his name over and over again like a mantra.

His hands slid up and gripped her ass, crushing her to his
ravenous mouth. His tongue traced the curves of her inner lips dipping into her
slit each time he reached the bottom.

Glancing up at her he could see her head was thrown back and
her breath was coming faster and faster. Her hands gripped his hair nearly to
the point of pain. He didn’t mind the small discomfort. It was the only thing
keeping him from embarrassing himself and coming before he’d even thrust inside
her. Her response was the most erotic thing he’d ever experienced and he was
nearly undone when she screamed and her vagina pulsed around his tongue.

He pulled her hard against his face until the waves of
pleasure passed over her. Her hands eased up on his hair and she collapsed into
his lap.

“That was amazing,” he said.

She said something but her sleepy, satisfied mumble was lost
in translation against his body. The round flesh of her bottom nestled against
his painfully hard cock but he didn’t move. Holding her and having her cheek
rest against his chest while the musky smell of her enveloped him was too
perfect to disturb.

Her lips moved first. Warm and moist they strayed across his
hair-dappled chest until she found his nipple. The sting of her gentle bite
made him moan her name and his cock jumped higher. She wiggled around until she
was facing him kneeling on the couch. She struggled for a moment to free his
erection from his jeans. Her warm, wet pussy pressed against his rigid member
and she leaned back, lifting herself up on her arms so that he slid up and down
her slit but didn’t enter her.

“Aileen, you don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

She stilled and smiled. “Oh, but I do.”

He reached forward and pressed his thumb against her clit.
Her head fell back and a small squeak escaped her mouth. Her hips moved faster
and faster and little gasps and sighs continued to emanate from her open,
panting mouth.

It was too much. Being just outside her pussy was like going
home after a long, terrible trip but not being able to open the front door. He
lifted her off his lap and in one fluid motion she was lying on her back on the
couch and he was leaning on his elbows above her. His cock touched her labia
but he did not enter her.

“Look at me, Aileen.”

She opened her eyes. He could see her love and desire for
him and more. She trusted him. In his entire life no one had ever put any trust
in Ian Scott. He was a thief after all. Who could trust a thief?

Slowly, without taking his eyes away from hers, he sank into
her warm, wet slit. He wanted to go slow. He wanted to make the night last
forever but as soon as she pulsed around him he lost all control and he was
pumping into her hard and fast and calling for gods that he didn’t even believe
in.

With one last thrust he emptied himself into her and she
screamed again, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and shoulders with
her nails biting into his skin.

He collapsed for a moment, but then worried that he was
crushing her petite body. He lifted his torso up onto his elbows and looked
down at her. Her eyes were closed but her mouth was drawn up in a satisfied
grin. With one hand he brushed a stray curl off her cheek.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Mmmm, you?”

His lips pressed against hers. “I feel good.”

He sat up and pulled his jeans on before retrieving her
clothes from across the room where she’d flung them.

“Do you think Asher heard us?” she asked blushing dark red.

Ian laughed. “It probably was the only thing that kept him
awake.”

Her blush deepened.

Settling back down on the worn couch, he pulled her against
his chest and kissed her head. “Get some sleep, sweetheart,” he said, closing
his eyes and reveling in the feel of her weight against him.

* * * * *

Ian watched the ruby darkness thinking of the hours that had
preceded it. Even after being attacked twice in one day, holding Aileen in his
arms righted his world. She gave everything even though he suspected she knew
he held back.

At dawn he moved inside and shook the boy’s shoulder. “Get
the plane ready. I’ll see what I can find to fill the tank.”

Chapter Eight

It was late morning by the time they’d drained the bad fuel
from the tanks and pumped one hundred gallons of gas into the Cessna.

Watching the sky from her seat behind the pilot became
routine in the hours they spent just below the burnt clouds. Now and then
Aileen looked at Ian. She could see by his green-tinged skin that he had not
gotten used to the bumpy flight.

The Mississippi River was just below them and Asher followed
the snaking ribbon south.

“I have a theory,” the boy said.

Ian turned to the left. “Oh?”

“Yeah. I think every time we win a battle that dude has to
regroup,” Asher said.

Both passengers were listening now.

“Why do you say that?” Ian asked.

He shrugged. “No attack last night.”

“That’s not exactly conclusive.” Ian’s voice was doubtful
but he was still listening.

“Aileen told me about the attack in that lodge in New York.”

Ian frowned and she wondered what he was thinking.

Asher continued. “After you whacked that guy with the
rotting flesh in the head, did anything else attack?”

“No,” Aileen answered.

“See what I mean?”

She shook her head. “But the demon came only a few hours
after the crows.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t kill the crows. We only avoided them
killing us,” he countered.

“It’s a good theory,” Ian said.

Asher’s face lit up with the compliment.

“Better be ready for anything today. If you’re right, he
could be about to throw something else at us and each attack seems to be getting
worse.”

Both the pilot and Aileen nodded and they returned to
scanning the sky.

“Who is he, Aileen?” Asher asked.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“The Devil?” His voice was like a small child’s. She could
hear the fear under the surface.

“Maybe. He’s pure evil, I know that.”

“What does he need you for?”

“He needs my power to enter our world.”

She had not lied to Ian the night before. When she had been
held by Mictlan she had given up the will to live. She had no one and nothing
that she cared about enough to continue to fight him. He had worn her down and
taken everything. Contact with Ian and now Asher made her want to win this
battle. She cared what happened to them. She wanted to see the boy mature and
fall in love. And Ian, she needed to love him. He might never love her as she
loved him but he wanted her. That much she knew for sure. It was enough of a
reason to live.

That and revenge for what Mictlan had done to her in the
darkness of his hell.

By late afternoon they were in East Texas searching for a
place to land.

“There,” Ian said pointing off toward the right.

“Good thing. We’re getting pretty low on fuel,” Asher added.

The sign at the end of the runway read, “Welcome to
Prayerland, TX” but the three werewolves standing in the middle of the runway
didn’t look at all welcoming.

“Pull up,” Ian screamed. “Pull up, damn it.”

“I’m trying.”

She felt his evil before she saw him standing near the sign.
And then she heard his voice. “Aileen, you’ve gone far enough. You know what
you must do.”

“Ian, do you hear him? Can you see him?”

They were rolling forward. She could see him clearly against
the sign and the piney woods behind him. His face was beautiful and horrible.
He was thinner, almost skeletal. He sneered knowingly.

“You are mine, Aileen,” he said, but his lips were not
moving.

She felt Ian’s hand close around hers.

“He’s not real, Aileen. He can’t come through without you.
Hold on.”

She turned away from the specter and gazed into Ian’s clear
green eyes.
Not real,
she thought. “I love you, Ian,” she said before
there was time to stop the words.

“What do I do?” Asher screamed pulling on the yoke.

Ian looked at the pilot. “Test your theory, Kid.”

The boy grinned and accelerated down the runway. The
werewolves snarled and growled at the oncoming plane. Mictlan’s face showed an
instant of realization just before the Cessna crushed all three wolves. Fur and
blood splattered the windshield to the point where it was difficult to see
outside.

She looked toward the sign and saw only trees. The sign grew
larger and larger in the windshield.

“Stop,” she yelled.

“I’m trying,” Asher replied in a voice so high it sounded
more like a girl’s.

The beasts had slowed them down but even with full flaps and
screeching brakes the nose of the craft hit the welcome sign with a resounding
thud.

The seat belt yanked hard against her pelvis and she grunted
as she was thrown back against the seat.

“Aileen, are you okay?” Ian was already out of his seat and
gently shaking her.

“He’s getting stronger,” she said.

“Look at me.”

She opened her eyes and focused on his strong unshaven face.
“I’m all right, but he’s getting more powerful.”

“He still can’t get through. He was only a vision, not
solid,” Ian said.

“Look what they did to my plane,” Asher said with the
despair of a child.

* * * * *

Prayerland, Texas was barely a dot on the map, “Population
980” according to the sign. They drove into town in search of some tools to
repair the damaged plane.

“Do you think Asher will be okay at the airport alone?”
Aileen asked from across the bench seat of the old pickup they’d found at the
airport.

“I think his theory has merit. We should have some time
before the next attack,” Ian said.

“His power is growing,” she said softly.

“I know.” He drove the truck into a parking lot of the
sheriff’s office. The small building was little more than a trailer but they
made their way around it and found what they were searching for. A carport
filled with tools. Ian took what he thought they might need and threw it into
the back of the pickup.

“Can I help you folks?”

Aileen gasped at the sound of the thick Texas drawl. She
turned toward the building just as a light breeze came through. As soon as it
did her stomach convulsed. How did he get so close to them without being
noticed? The smell of rotting flesh filled the air.

Ian grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to stand just
behind him.

The sheriff was still in uniform. From the looks of it, it
was the same one he’d been wearing in December though now it hung loosely
around his withering body. His eyes were clouded over and the flesh of his face
had rotted away around his left cheekbone leaving a gaping hole.

What was left of his right hand rested comfortably on the
gun strapped to his hip.

“We just wanted to borrow a few tools to make some repairs,
Sheriff,” Ian said.

The specter sniggered. It was a gritty sound and Aileen’s
stomach churned from both the sound and the stench.

“You don’t look to be borrowing, boy. Looks to me like
you’re stealing from the law here in this fine town.”

Ian reached through the window and wrapped his hand around
the .38 lying on the seat. “You may not have noticed, Sheriff, but there’s not
much town left. You seem to be the only thing still living here and I think
that’s a stretch of my imagination.”

Aileen crouched down and Ian backed away from the truck
slightly as he opened the door.

She could hear his thoughts screaming in her head. “Get in
and if I don’t make it, drive.”

“Still, it’s my town and I don’t take kindly to thieves
coming through thinking they can take anything they want. You are a thief, Ian
Scott. I know all about you and that whore you travel with. For some reason my
boss wants the girl and I have to do my job here and take her to him.”

Ian shot, blowing the left side of the sheriff’s face off.
At the same time he opened the driver’s side door and yelled, “Go.”

Aileen got in and drove forward. In the rearview mirror she
saw what was left of the sheriff stumble off the stoop and lunge at Ian. She
stopped, threw the truck in reverse and hit the gas and the horn at the same
time.

Ian turned and jumped out of the way just as the truck bed
rammed the sheriff. He got up roaring and continued his pursuit. Ian raised the
.38 and fired the remaining eight shots directly into the sheriff’s head. What
was left finally fell to the ground oozing almost black blood onto the gravel.

Ian jumped in the cab. “Drive.”

Aileen stomped on the gas pedal and the truck spit gravel
out behind them.

“We have to get out of here,” she said as they left town and
turned onto Highway 96 toward the airport.

“We have to fix the plane.”

Turning left down the drive toward the airport she stomped
the brakes so hard that the truck fish-tailed. Panic started to seep into her
heart. Asher, was he okay? Had Mictlan sent more than one creature this time?

She threw the truck into park outside the small hangar and
raced across the lot calling his name. “Asher!”

Ian was only a step behind her.

“Asher!”

She looked left and right. The Cessna had been left in the
middle of the repair bay. Tools were all around as if thrown haphazardly.

“Asher!” Ian called.

“What?” the boy called back from a catwalk to the right and
above them.

Aileen sat down on the floor and put her head in her hands.
“Thank God,” she said to herself.

“You okay?” Ian asked.

“Yeah,” he said taking the stairs down to them at a run.
“What happened to you two?”

“Undead sheriff in town. We don’t have much time. I got all
the tools I could find. How long do you think it will take to get that nose to
where we can take off?”

Asher didn’t stop until he was crouching in front of Aileen
on the floor. “An hour, maybe two,” he said to Ian, but his eyes were on
Aileen. “Are you all right?”

Her eyes were filled with terror. “I thought we’d find you
dead or worse.”

His eyes grew large. “Worse? I hope you’ll put a bullet in
me if it’s worse,” he said with a laugh but she knew he was not joking.

“I was worried.”

He took her hand and yanked her to her feet. “I’m fine. I
got the nose pulled back. The interior looks okay. We need to get the
aerodynamics in order and we’ll be good to go.”

“We have to hurry,” she said.

* * * * *

They were back in the air with a full tank of fuel and
nearly two hours of rusty daylight remaining in the autumn sky. The farther
south they traveled the longer the day. That would buy them a little more time
before they would have to find a place to land and sleep.

It was nearly dark when Ian pointed toward the right and
said, “There, you see it?”

Aileen followed the direction he was pointing. In the middle
of the desert she could see a small house.

“I see it. I’m going to put her down on that road,” Asher
said.

It was totally dark when they rolled to a stop a hundred
yards from the house. The land was flat and barren. If anything or anyone
approached they would likely be seen for miles. It also meant that if anyone
was watching, they could easily see the trio approaching the house.

The house was empty. It must have been some kind of a
hunting cabin but it had not seen occupants in a very long time. The men
searched the house while Aileen went to the kitchen. In the small pantry she
found a case of bottled water and some army rations. She broke open one of the
foil packs and smelled. Shrugging, she took all of them and the water and
brought it into the living room.

Ian took water from her and went to the fireplace.

“Do you think it’s safe here?” Asher asked also taking
water.

“No,” Ian said. “But no place is. We just have to hope
Mictlan needs time to recover from that show he put on in Texas. We’ll sleep in
here and take turns on watch.”

* * * * *

She took the first watch. Asher needed sleep since he had
flown for so many hours. The boy was practically asleep on his feet.

“At least it’s warmer,” Ian said from the doorway.

She didn’t move from her seat on the porch steps. “Yes, it’s
warm.”

He sat down beside her. “You sound like you lost your best
friend. What’s wrong?”

“Tomorrow we’ll reach Teotihuacan. This may all be over in
twenty-four hours,” she said staring out into the darkness.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” He drew her close and situated
himself behind her so that her back lay tight against his chest and she was
cradled between his legs.

“Only if this battle goes our way,” she whispered.

Wrapping his arms around her, he pressed his lips to the top
of her head. She settled in against him and allowed his warmth to seep into her
body.

“I don’t think I’ve heard doubt from you before. Why now?”

“Ian, you don’t understand.”

“Enlighten me,” he said, moving to one side and turning her
head to look at him.

Even in the red dark of night she could still make out the deep
green of his eyes. She didn’t see judgment there, only concern and perhaps
love. Shaking her head, she pushed the last thought away.

“Today, on the runway, Mictlan was in my head. He spoke to
me. He tried to bring me back to him and for a moment I was tempted to let this
all end.” Shame filled her as she admitted her failure.

“But you didn’t go back to him. You stayed with us. You’re
here now and tomorrow we’ll go to those pyramids and fight.”

Her stomach clenched painfully. “And if we lose?” she asked
looking up into his eyes.

He watched the sky and pulled her tight against him once
again. “Then it was still worth these days with you, Aileen. I would not trade
a single moment with you in my arms for a lifetime of average days.”

She rested her cheek against his chest. His heart beat
steady and strong. “I meant what I said today in the plane.”