Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 100 of 619

They rode until the sun climbed clear of the ridge. Ajax called a halt in a stand of pine where a creek cut through the rocks. The freed man still lay slack across Grayson's saddle, Marco's hold on him steady. Ajax swung down and looked at his people. "Water the horses. Eat. Half an hour." Grayson took the collared man off the saddle and laid him in the shade. Elara sat against a trunk with her eyes closed, one hand on her wrist band. Chalam knelt by the creek and filled a skin. Marco stayed close to the sleeping man, jaw tight. Asher and Ajax pulled bread and dried meat from the saddlebags and passed them around. Tucker caught Chalam’s eye across the clearing. He tipped his head up the slope, away from the others. Chalam chewed, swallowed, and followed. They walked past a fall of rock until the horses were out of sight. The creek noise covered them. Tucker leaned his shoulder against a pine and opened his shirt. He took a step in and put a hand on the back of Chalam’s neck. His other hand went flat on Chalam’s chest. Tucker kissed him. It lingered. Tucker's mustache brushed his upper lip. Chalam’s hand slid up Tucker’s chest and stopped at the chain, careful of it. Tucker felt the heat of Chalam’s palm through his own skin. He kissed him back once, hard and long. Brush cracked below. Ajax came up the slope and stopped ten feet off, eyes on the ground between them. "The man is waking under Marco," he said. "Marco cannot hold him and ride. We need to move." "Long enough." Chalam's voice was flat. "I will say nothing to the others. But you made the rule, Ajax. If they hear it from anyone else, you lose them." Tucker nodded once. "Understood." They went back down. Ajax rode point the rest of the day with the last name on his list in his coat. One more name north. Then the coast.