Krysty stepped into the water cautiously. Steam still rose from its surface and it took some getting used to. Gradually she lowered herself onto Ryan’s thighs. “And what makes you so sure, lover?”
“If something had happened to them, Gehrig would have told me.” Ryan reached out to run his hands over her breasts, feeling the nipples tighten in response. His erection broke the water surface between them. Krysty closed a fist over it, tight enough to get his attention, but gentle enough to draw an involuntary spasm of desire from him.
“What makes you so sure?”
“Because he’s trying to make points with me,” Ryan said. “And because him knowing so damn fast would be mebbe intimidating, too. He’d hope.”
“Why would he know?”
“Because he sent a couple men to tail them.”
“Did they know?”
“Jak, probably. I don’t see how he could have missed them. They were good, but nothing like him.”
Krysty slid forward, moving her mons into contact against the underside of his erection. She smiled at him as he bucked gently against her. “Do you think they’re safe?”
Ryan nodded. “For now. Gehrig has a lot of pull in this ville. He’d want them safe for a while, until he figures what he wants to do with us.”
The red-haired woman kept her hand moving on him, working his lust up to its most potent. “The boy’s fever felt like it was breaking when we left.”
Ryan nodded, dropping a hand between them to return the direct stimulation favor. He felt the firm, wet bulge of her against the softer tissues, his efforts drawing a gasp.
“Hope so,” Ryan said. “We’ll have to move in a couple more hours. By tomorrow night Gehrig will know more about what he wants to do with us, and the security will be tighter than ever.”
“What if the boy’s not ready to move?” she asked.
“Then we leave him.”
Krysty’s mouth became a hard line, but she didn’t release him or turn away. “He’s about Dean’s age.”
“Yeah, but he’s not our concern. Boy would have already been dead if it wasn’t for us. And if he’s got no home where he came from, and staying here isn’t safe, I don’t think taking him along with us is going to be any kind of answer.”
“I know.”
“And if he does go with us tonight, we’re going to be heading right back into territory he was trying to get away from.”
“What about the rebellion Gehrig told you about?”
“Guess that’s the boy’s only chance,” Ryan answered truthfully. “Mebbe Mildred’s, too.”
Krysty tugged on him. “You didn’t get much sleep last night, lover, and it’s been a busy day. You could get in a couple hours before dusk.”
Ryan grinned up at her, putting all the doubts of the upcoming dangers out of his mind. If the dangers weren’t the ones he was expecting, there’d have been others. There was no other way for him to live life. No other way for any of them.
“Mebbe after,” he said, pulling her close and kissing her throat. He nipped at her flesh, just hard enough to feel her pulse beat in her jugular while she reached between them and joined them.
Chapter Nineteen
The final port was in the northwest section of New London. The sun was setting when Doc and Jak arrived, spreading a pool of orange and gold across the rolling, whitecapped waves of the green ocean. They’d already been through three other port areas, two of them bigger than this one. New areas had become necessary as the ville spread and the population increased along with the trade.
Ships lined the docks, from small rowboats to large freighters that had to have been used to haul goods and people across from the islands to the mainland. Doc recognized a number of languages spoken by the sailors and dockhands, but the majority were English.
Jak remained at his side, though the albino made it clear that he thought they should have given up the chase. He kept his hands out of sight near his clothing, but there was slim chance that his fingers weren’t within an inch of one of his blades at all times.