Chapter Eight
I slept later than I’d meant to. As I sat up I listened carefully. Only silence answered. Orion hadn’t yet returned.
As I pushed the covers back I felt a bit petulant. Was this how it would be? Orion would just use me for what he needed and take off without a word of explanation, expecting me to be primly waiting whenever he decided to swing by.
My mood didn’t improve after a long shower. I asked myself what I’d expected. I knew exactly what kind of man Orion was. After all, how many pining women had my own father left in his wake as he went on his merry way?
Since my body’s soreness was markedly improved, I decided to take a walk, throwing on a light dress of Rachel’s and a pair of tennis shoes I’d managed to pick up in Quartzsite. I was out by the wash, idly tossing pebbles and thinking about the urban sociology class I ought to be sitting in, when I heard the unmistakable roar of motorcycles.
I stayed there, my back turned, listening to the coarse exchanges of the Defiant club members. I heard Orion’s low, rumbling laugh and tensed. The men were walking between the bar and the house, meaning there was no way they could fail to see me. But they only continued straight into the house without any acknowledgement.
The sun rose higher in the sky. It would be a hot afternoon. I picked up a flat stone and tried to skip it down the parched wash. It landed with a thud, startling a gecko from his hiding place.
I looked over my shoulder at the house. No one was outside. I covered the short distance in less than a minute, growing anxious with every step. My brief annoyance with Orion was being replaced by something else. I wanted to see him.
Casper was heading out as I reached the door. He leered at me and then winked. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of dirty details Orion had given him. But I only greeted him with cool detachment and nodded tersely at the club men whose names I couldn’t quite sort out yet.
Orion still dripped from a quick shower. He looked up when I entered the bedroom but didn’t say anything, casually toweling off as he stood there naked.
I bit my lip and closed the door, noting the way his eyebrows rose. And then when I pulled my dress over my head his dick quickly rose as well. I wasn’t sure how to play this. Part of me still felt a little shy over my nudity.
“Put your arms down,” he ordered, approaching me. “Don’t hide yourself.”
“I’m not hiding,” I argued, starting to tremble with my back against the door.
Orion’s hands peeled my panties down and I willingly stepped out of them. He ran his thumbs purposely over my skin and sucked in his breath when I boldly stroked his rigid shaft.
Without pausing Orion slid his thick forefinger inside of me. He smiled when he got deep.
“Look at that,” he mused, “nothing in the way now.”
It was true. There was no barrier, no pain. I rocked against him as he slid another finger inside. With his other hand he showed me how to stroke him evenly.
Suddenly he sank to his knees and boldly pressed his face between my legs. I gasped and reared away when his finger was replaced with his tongue. Orion gripped my hips firmly and refused to let me go.
The sensation was unbelievable. The hot reach of his tongue curled inside me and he plunged in and out. I felt the steady rise of the coming wave and heard my own noises of pleasure as I pushed his head into me more firmly. And then, right when I was on the verge of melting into rapture, Orion let go.
His grin was full of the devil as he pulled me down to the floor on top of him. He opened me around his body and shoved his engorged organ inside with such precision I came immediately. I moaned and moved around wildly, needing to squeeze every ounce of pleasure from the moment.
“Harder,” Orion demanded and I obeyed, quickening my pace and squeezing him in more deeply. “Good girl,” he whispered as his large hands covered my breasts.
I wanted desperately to feel him shudder with orgasmic fury underneath me. Dimly I recalled that we were failing again to use any sort of protection but the thought only made me spiral higher.
“Do it,” I told him, kneading his hands into my breasts more forcefully. “Come inside of me again.”
Orion’s blue eyes widened and I felt a flicker of triumph as I knew I’d surprised him. But Orion Jackson wouldn’t be outdone. With a mighty heave he toppled me as we remained joined and before I could process what was happening I was underneath him. The thin carpet scratched at my back as Orion pinned my arms overhead and thrust with all his considerable might. I couldn’t do anything but be carried along by his whims. As he bored down I felt his hot release and it was all too much for me. I screamed my pleasure again, not caring who the hell heard.
He was still inside me and still had my arms pinned. His smile was one of grudging respect. “You learn fast, Kira” he said, pulling himself out yet not releasing my arms. “But I give the f*cking orders.”
I met his eyes. “If you say so, Orion.”
He chuckled and released me, sitting up and pulling me into his lap. I rested my head on his shoulder. There were things I wanted to say. That I’d missed him in the day he’d been gone. That whatever this was between us was helping me heal from the violence which had ended the world I’d known.
But instead I just kissed the knot of hard muscle and asked him a question.
“Orion? Will you take me for a ride?”
***
We hurtled through the scrubby brown desert as the sun rose higher in the sky. I recognized that we’d left Quartzsite behind miles ago. There didn’t appear to be much on the eastern horizon. According to the signs which blurred past, Phoenix was over a hundred miles away.
Between the wind, the roar of the bike and the whoosh of the large haul trucks we passed on the I-10, I couldn’t very well get a question across to Orion. So I gripped him more tightly and leaned into his broad back, loving the feel of my hair whipping around us furiously. I hadn’t been on a bike in years.
After a time Orion exited the freeway. I missed the sign which would indicate where we were headed but the road was considerably narrower than the interstate. I closed my eyes and hugged my driver more tightly, indulging in the sensation of trust which came with being carried along like this.
Orion slowed as we neared a crop of buildings with a smattering of palm trees. We passed a painted yellow sign with red lettering reading ‘Salome, Arizona’ and then, oddly, underneath that were the words “Where she danced”.
The town was small, smaller than Quartzsite even. Outside of a squat cafe a man sat in a folding chair with his enormous belly spilling out in all directions. He waved a laconic arm in greeting. On the side of another low, boxy building was a painted picture of a womanly sick figure underneath the curious words which were apparently the town’s logo. “Where she danced.”
We had passed through the small center of town within a minute. I was able to see how Salome sat in a serene valley surrounded by brownish gray mountains. Orion turned abruptly onto a dirt road which clearly warned against trespassers and drove the rough terrain closer to the mountains. He made another quick turn onto an even shallower road which was really more of a path. After a few moments of bumpy travel he stopped the bike next to a small neglected plot which was surrounded by a low fence made of ruined chicken wire.
I waited until Orion climbed off the bike and then followed him. He took off his sunglasses and squinted towards town.
“So who danced here?” I asked, looking into the same direction to see whatever it was he saw.
“Salome.”
“Who’s Salome?”
Orion grinned. “Don’t you know the bible, Kira?”
“The bible?” I scoffed. “No, and I’d bet my slim collection of possessions that neither do you.”
He laughed. “You’d be surprised. Some shit sunk in back in the early years. My mother was a believer. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. This Salome was named after the wife of one of the earliest residents. One summer day about a hundred years ago this lady, Salome, made the mistake of walking somewhere barefoot. When the ground burned her feet she jumped around in pain. And to the men who watched, I guess it looked like she was dancing.”
Orion settled on the dusty ground next to the plot which I realized from the crumbling place markers was likely a small cemetery. He looked at me expectantly and I sat down next to him. A few hundred yards away a pair of carrion birds circled overhead, evidently tracking a meal.
“It’s quiet out here,” I said.
“Yes,” he agreed.
“Orion? Is Ruger alive?”
He was a long time answering. “Yes.”
I thought about the man who had murdered my father. I’d seen him in the flesh only once. He was a big brute with hair so blonde it was almost white and dark, almost black, eyes which were at odds with his light hair. My freshman year I’d taken an Ancient Civilizations class. Part of the required reading was a lengthy tome on the Vikings. I’d shuddered over the brutal descriptions of their exploits, and at the time thought that if I were to draw a picture of a marauding Viking raider I would depict Ruger of the SF Outlaws.
“Do you know,” I asked, “What brought it all on? I remember the look in Crest’s eyes that last night. He knew something bad was boiling but I’m sure he didn’t think death was so close. He never in a million years would have let me stay nearby if he had a clue.”
Orion removed a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit up. His face was thoughtful. “A deal gone bad. Someone dicked out of a lot of money. That’s the gossip anyway.” He took a drag. “Who the f*ck knows? Any man who would tell the truth about it is dead.”
I nodded, feeling vaguely queasy. “Will he come after me?”
He took so long to answer I wondered if he would. “Not right now,” he finally said. “He’s all holed up like a rat and there’s a long list of characters would love a crack at his f*cking scalp.” Orion passed the cigarette to me and I played with it between my fingers as he watched me intently. “But eventually, when he gets his boys back and has some time on his hands. Yeah,” Orion nodded slowly. “Then he might.”
I must have looked fairly alarmed because Orion leaned over and quickly kissed my forehead before taking his cigarette back. “No one is gonna touch you,” he said fiercely.
I smiled. “Except you.”
I figured he would laugh but he didn’t. He drew his knees up and ran a hand through his dark hair. “The night you came to me for help, Kira, I shouldn’t have treated you how I did.”
My head lowered. “You didn’t owe me shit, Orion. I know that.”
He sighed thickly. “I owed your daddy a few things, though.” He paused, tipping my head up with his big hand, wanting me to look him in the face and understand. “Look, I was rattled as hell when you showed up. I’m not gonna lie. I wanted to f*ck you three ways to Sunday when I got a good look at you. But more than that I couldn’t stand to send you out in the world as this virginal little lamb without a friend in sight. You wouldn’t have lasted too damn long.” He squeezed my chin. “So I made you an offer.”
It was his way of apologizing. I covered his hand with mine. “I’m tougher than you think. And you didn’t make me do anything. I wanted it. I wanted you.”
He traced my lower lip with his thumb. “And now, Kira?” he said gruffly. “What do you want?”
Slowly I stood. I pulled my shirt over my head. I rolled down the tight jeans I’d worn for the ride. My skin was instantly warmed by the sun beating overhead. And it grew hotter as Orion’s eyes traveled over my body.
“Same thing,” I whispered, unhooking my bra.
He was rough this time, almost as if he wanted to see how far he could push me. I gritted my teeth and took it as he bent me over the seat of his bike and hammered without mercy.
And I loved it.
***
Orion seemed almost cheerful as we left the deep seclusion of the desert. It was as if something crucial had been settled between us. In spite of all his tough talk he’d felt some guilt over who I was, who my father had been.
As we idled through Salome, Orion pointed out landmarks. We ate a pleasant lunch at the café and Orion told me colorful stories about Salome’s most famous resident.
“Dick Wick Hall?” I laughed. “Was that his real name?”
Orion swallowed a piece of hamburger. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Orion isn’t your real first name, is it? Crest’s was Adam. He told me once.”
He shrugged. “It’s the only name I have that f*cking matters.”
“So what is your name?”
Orion Jackson took another big bite from his greasy hamburger and winked at me good naturedly.
“Fine,” I laughed. “Keep your secrets.” I started digging into my own food. “So what of this guy, Mr. Hall?”
“Ah, Mr. Hall. College Girl, you would appreciate Mr. Hall. Operated a lonely gas station out here in the 1920s when the road to California was nothing but wooden board planks snaking through the desert. He would pepper the road with these crazy billboards so that by the time people made it out here they couldn’t wait to visit the Laughing Gas Station. He was also a writer who advertised his town by publishing a newspaper full of colorful local crap. Aging gunslingers, confused tourists and a pet frog who couldn’t swim on account of living in a place with no water. It’s pretty funny shit, actually. Before we leave we can hunt down a copy for you to add to your library.”
I watched Orion as he spoke with an almost boyish enthusiasm. It was the most I’d heard him say at once since I’d arrived on his doorstep. He was engaging and spoke intelligently, all the while with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes so that you never knew exactly what was going on in there. It was how I remembered him from a long time ago.
When I leaned across the table and kissed him quickly on the lips he blinked and stared at me in sudden silence.
“What?” I raised my eyebrows. “I can’t kiss my, ah…wait, what do I call you, anyway?”
He teased me. “Call me Orion like you always do. And I’ll call you Kira like I always do.”
I got it. There was no use for labels. I remembered Rachel warning me not to throw words like ‘love’ around.
Was I in love with Orion Jackson? Was I just grateful to him? Or did I only lust after him so much I had to fight the urge to jump on him in the middle of a sun-filled restaurant?
Perhaps, I mused to myself, the answer to all three questions was yes.
Orion watched me as I played with my food. He waited for me to speak again but I only smiled at him and slid my leg between his underneath the table.
If he could keep secrets, then so could I.