It was many hours before they heard it and the sun was high in the sky. The gurgle and hiss of water. The noise as its current dashed onwards overtook the sounds of their boots in the mud, of the birds that sung overhead, of the wind that hissed through the trees.
‘Are we still washing up?’ Nick asked.
Euan scanned their surroundings. The shore was a mixture of mud and rocks, the grass and undergrowth of the forest right up to the bank. There was an eddy, where the current was slower than the rest. An alcove of water where a quick dip could take place, where underwear could be washed and hair could be cleaned.
‘We’ll take turns to keep watch. Kira, you can go in first.’
‘The one time I can be glad that you are a chauvinist,’ she mumbled under her breath and moved to do exactly as she was told.
Euan removed the pack from his shoulders and rolled the muscles, stretched and heard his bones pop. His shoulder ached, the scar pinched and stung. Euan didn’t think about his feet. He didn’t need to. The incisive scream was a constant marauding reminder.
‘Fire?’ Nick asked.
Euan shook his head. ‘I have a better idea,’ he said as he bent and rummaged through his pack to remove the can of peaches Nick had discarded the day before.
‘Oh, yeah,’ Nick cheered as he reached for the can.
Euan held it from his grasp.
‘You’re an asshole,’ Nick muttered, just as he punched Euan playfully in the stomach.
The peaches were still in his hand as he wrapped his arm around the chuckling Nick and pulled him close to his body. ‘Yeah?’ he asked.
Nick wheezed under Euan’s tight grip. ‘Yeah.’
Blonde hair and the sound of splashing water caught their eye. Euan turned with Nick still trapped against him until they caught the sight of Kira as she bathed. Naked.
That was not part of the careful, watchful, don’t get naked, tactics Euan had considered to keep them safe.
Kira’s body glistened with the water. It lapped at her hips, caressed her soft belly, hid a precious half from view. The water shimmered brightly in the sun, golden reflections refracted off the ripples to create dancing shards of light against her pale skin.
‘Well fuck me,’ Nick muttered.
Euan’s lips were at Nick’s ear. ‘Feel like washing up?’
Nick’s breath escalated. ‘Thought you said one of us should keep watch?’
Kira’s fingers were delicate flowers that trilled over the surface. They dipped and splashed. There was a curve to her lips as she hummed a tune long lost to the humanity’s demise. Her hair was slick against her skull, her breasts were high, her nipples tight and Euan’s throat contracted as it swallowed.
Nicks chest rose and fell under his hand. The cloth rasped as he took each breath. Euan’s hand travelled until he could press his fingertips to the pulse at Nick’s neck. He enjoyed the heightened thrum as it beat for them.
They watched in silence, each drinking their fill of the woman who gave them hope, courage. Her shoulders were as pale as her hair, a bead of water nestled in the hollow of her created by her collarbone. Euan wanted to lick it, taste the nothingness of the water, and the everything of her skin.
Euan’s other hand travelled downwards until it reached the waistband of Nick’s pants. When he groaned in anticipation of Euan’s intention, Kira looked up. Bright eyes turned hungry, that smile stretched into a grin. White teeth shone back at him, almost as dazzling as the water.
Nick’s belt was undone with a jerk and a swipe. His fly down and his dick out before he could jerk free of Euan’s grip. They both groaned when skin touched skin. How long had it been since Euan had held Nick like this? Weeks? Before he’d left to be butchered.
Nick was already hard and Euan squeezed. The grunt was music, better than any pre-plague tune, even if it came from Kira’s lips. ‘Stay very still for me, Nicky,’ Euan whispered in his ear before he removed the hand from Nick’s chest and used it to pull his fatigues down beyond his hips.
Christ, that ass. He just had to stare at it for a few heartbeats. Hard as rock, tight, hollowed at the sides where he rocked carefully into Euan’s hand. He missed it, Christ how he’d missed it. But that abstention was now over.
The watch was important, but so was that ass. Euan licked his lips and decided that he’d keep his eye on their surroundings and ensure they remained quiet.
Maybe.
His focus left what was before him and lifted to reach Kira. Pupils were blown, her lips were parted with desire, glossy from the swipe of that kitten-like tongue. When she walked out of the river, the water dribbled down her skin in rivulets, trickled over her hips, lost to the small patch of hair between her thighs. She tasted so sweet there, and his mouth watered at the thought.
Nick’s greedy eyes devoured her also, his hips rocked, kicked up their pace. Euan hardened his grip and Nick grunted. Fuck, he loved that sound.
She was almost upon them, her feet dirty with mud and sand. Euan tore off his shirt and threw it onto the ground at Nick’s feet. ‘Kneel,’ he told her and said no more.
He didn’t have to.
Both Nick and Kira groaned in unison. In an instant, Kira was on her knees, her fingernails digging into the taut flesh of Nick’s thighs and her mouth, so desperately close to the erection that Euan held out of her reach.
‘Nick’s gonna fuck your face while I fuck him, think you can handle that, sweetheart?’
Her attention never left the dick in his hands. She simply licked her lips and nodded.
‘Stay still for me,’ Euan warned before he let Nick go to unbuckle his own belt and remove something precious out of his pocket.
A small tube of lube.
He’d packed it quietly. Hidden it
