{"sf1_id":1067876,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Desert Flower","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":6744,"posted_at":"2016-09-04T12:39:00.000Z","tags":["Assassin","Coyote","Desert","Love","Love at first sight","M/F","Vaginal","Wolf","tragic"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1067876-the-desert-flower","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/1067876","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=1067876\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#49 of Miscellany","content":"\nThe eddies of dust drifted away in\nthe hot wind as the last few shovelfuls of desert soil were sifted over the\nrecently excavated hole. An assassin by the nickname of Vibora was putting forth\na little extra effort to fulfill the terms of his contract, for burying his\nvictims was not a part of it. But this time the hit had been different - and\ndifficult, for despite everything people might think about his type, he for one\nhad a conscience. \nHe sat down on a sharp outcrop,\nlooking from the setting sun in the west to the location of the village where\nhe had been staying less than a full day. His orders had been simple, but\ncarrying them out had proven to be most onerous. Most onerous indeed. The glint\nof steel in the fading light caught his gaze, and he stared hard at it before\ngetting up and walking away.\nThis all began when had met with\none of the crime bosses that dotted the landscape down here below the Rio\nGrande, oh, a good eight weeks ago. \nApparently he has having trouble with one of the villages in his\nterritory and needed the leader taken out. Sounded simple enough on the surface\nof it. Then again, being given just the tip of the iceberg when there was so\nmuch more information to be had on this assignment proved that further investigation\nwas in order. \nNormally he would have slipped out\nof town well before a corpse had grown cold. This case was an exception.\nThe leader did not turn out to be\nthe alcalde, but rather a lovely coyote lass who packed a lot of looks,\nresilience and sass into that amazingly slim body. Her name was Flora, and she\nwas indeed a lovely cactus flower, and like the cactus, one who carried a\ndangerous needle and wasn't afraid to use it. That blade was sharp enough to\nshave with, and was more than capable of slitting any interloper's throat. It\nwas just one indication that life out here wasn't great, but it was a life\nnonetheless.\nFor life was different back then. It\nwas the nineteen fifties, and much of this semi-arid region was connected by\nbad roads and dry creek beds. Anyone living out here was tough. You had to be.\nOtherwise you died. It was just that simple. There was no room for the weak.\nThe assassin walked for three days\nand nights to reach the village, called locally by the odd name of Tortuga Negro. He carried little\nwith him except some money, his clothing and a canteen. There was no point in\nshowing up in a truck, or on a motorcycle. As it was, he was versed in his\nprofession well enough to know that any stranger showing up in an isolated\nplace like this was going to draw immediate attention to himself. Therefore,\nlow key was the word of the day. He carried nothing on him that would have\nbelied his true nature. Weapons could be made from anything at hand, so\nbringing something along that was that obvious was stupid.\nSure enough, he was greeted by\nseveral males holding outdated guns. He stopped and sat down on the ground, not\neven bothering to hold up his arms.\n\"You got the drop on me amigos. I've\ncome to take your gold and your women.\"\n\"You are a funny one. Who the hell\nare you and what do you want here?\"\n\"My name? I don't really have one.\nAs for what I want, it is to fill my canteen at your well and then to be gone.\"\n\n\"Where do you come from and where\nare you going?\"\n\"From home. And to the coast.\"\n\"And where is home?\"\n\"You muchachoes ask a lot of\nquestions. I could answer them a lot easier if I had a wet whistle.\"               \n\"Wet whistle?\"\n\"Something to drink.\"\nAs a demonstration he opened his\ncanteen and turned it upside down.\n\"See. No agua. See?\"\n\"Si. You may come in and get more\nwater. We are not unkind to strangers, but you must then go. We have problems\nthat you wish to have no part in.\"\n\"Problems? You bet your cojones I\ndon't want any trouble. But then I doubt you want any either. Care to tell me\nabout it?\"\n\"Come. Get your water. Then you\ngo.\"\n\"OK, ok, sorry for asking. I just\nwas curious because I do know how to handle a gun.\"\n\"So can we. You get your water and\nyou go.\"\n\"Fine. No need to get huffy about\nit.\"\nThe well was in the middle of town,\nnot overly surprising out here where water was the mainstay of life. That\nsimply meant that the town had been built around it. These people and their\nancestors weren't stupid. Simple maybe, but not stupid. \nThey were primarily of the canine\nclass of citizen; some wolves like he was, and others coyote. They were\nathletically lean and well adapted to their environment. He had to admire them\nfor that. He was already in the mood to return to his home and escape the\noppressive heat, but a job was a job and he never failed to fulfill a contract.\nHe filled his canteen and pulled\nseveral long draws on it until it was empty again. Then he refilled it, capped\nit and saluted weakly to the ones holding guns.\n\"Señors. I thank you. I could go\nfor something stronger now to brace me for my journey, but I wish not to impose\nupon your hospitality.\"\n\"Cerveza?\"\n\"Si. Or something stronger.\nSomething to take away the aches and pains. Traveling on foot is difficult.\"\nOne of the wolves lowered his gun. \n\"We have a cantina. Do you have\nmoney?\"\nHe pulled out a crumbled wad of\nbills.\n\"Some. Enough I think.\"\nOne of the other wolves laughed.\n\"You wish for drink, but you desire\nno food? What kind of fool are you?\"\nVipero smiled inwardly. The best and most cunning kind.\n\"Now that you mention it, food does\nsound good.\"\nAnd just that quickly he was\nsitting in a chair, a table in front of him, drinking a cool glass of pale\nyellow brew and feasting on a plate of one of the locale's epicurean delights.\nWell, delight might be overextending the concept, but it was at least\nsatisfying.\nHe placed his money on the table\nwhen he was done. The owner shoved it back.\n\"Señor, there is too much here.\"\n\"Not if you have a room I can have\nfor the night. I don't really wish to go back out there today. I can be on my\nway tomorrow.\"\nThere were several looks exchanged,\nand a few mumbled words.\n\"There are rooms available. But I\nwould advise against it. We expected an attack at any time.\"\nThe assassin shrugged before\npulling out a lie from his collection of many.\n\"I have already been attacked. Do\nyou think I would walk to where I wanted to go?\"\n\"Who attacked you?\"\n\"Sorry. I failed to ask them their\nnames. Some banditos wearing skulls on their lapels. Does that ring a bell with\nyou?\"\n\"Si, it does. But how come you\nstill have your money?\"\n\"They took my motorbike, and they\ntook the rest of my clothes. I gave them some of my money. The rest I had\nhidden away safely. Do you know these gilipollas?\" he asked, using an\nespecially endearing insult.\n\"Si. They are also the ones giving\nus trouble.\"\n\"Is that so? Then maybe this is my\nchance of getting back at them. But why are they so up in your faces? You don't\nlook like people who could offend anyone.\"\nThere was an extended and\nembarrassed silence before a female voice filled in the void. It came from the\nstairway leading to the rooms upstairs.\n\"They tried to hide their guns and\ntheir grenades here.\"\nHe turned to look at the source of\nthe voice. He nearly let out a low whistle, having properly wetted it earlier.\nHis mind overrode his heart and he did nothing. But that dress; and what it was\nfilled with; dios mio! \n\"Weapons runners? That is a\ndangerous business. But just because you told them no shouldn't mean they would\nbe dead set on vengeance.\"\n\"Shows what you know hombre. First\noff, I didn't just tell them no. I took their supplies and hid them away, just\nlike they asked. For some reason they're mad that we won't give them back.\"\n\"So, if you have newer guns, why\nare you still using these relics?\"\n\"I will not allow blood money to\ntaint our hands. And those things have only one purpose; to kill.\"\n\"True, just like the guns you carry. Why would you care so much\nabout it?\"\nShe finished walking down the\nstairs and came right up to him, her nose just inches away from his.\n\"These guns are used to hunt with;\nfor rabbit and deer. Those guns are used to kill folks like us. You do not go\nhunting with grenades.\"\n\"Ok, so you made your point. So you\nstole the guns from the traffickers, and now they want them back. Why haven't\nthey just overrun your village?\"\n\"Simple moron. They think we'd use\nthem against them. They find it hard to comprehend that we wouldn't.\"\nHe leaned back in his chair, not\nout of any fear of this slim little chica, but so that he could get a better\nlook at her. She had the spirit of the torero in her, covered over in the beauty\nof the saguaro flower. Then he had a sudden and stomach wrenching thought.\n\"What's your\nname, if I might ask?\"\n\"Flora. Flora\ndel Canino.\"\n\"Hmmm. Yes you are.\"\nShe suddenly had a knife at his\nthroat.\n\"What did you say?\"\nHe hardly flinched.\n\"You heard me. I say what I think.\"\n\"So you think of me only for my\nlooks!\"\n\"Hardly. I was stating a truth. I\ndo not yet know you enough to claim anything more than what my eyes perceive at\nfirst glance.\"\nShe pulled the knife away.\n\"You're a funny one señor. And yet\nyou see I am not laughing.\"\n\"I've been told that before. And\nyou see that I am not lying. If you have a better side to show me, then by all\nmeans do so.\"\nBlood rushed to her cheeks as she\ncomprehended his meaning. She was suddenly at a loss for words and stalked\naway. \nOne of the males chuckled softly.\n\"You have done something no other\nhas been able to do for years señor.\"\n\"And what is that?\"\n\"You must be el gato, for you seem\nto have her tongue!\"\nThe assassin watched her head back\nup the stairs. It was a shame he was going to have to kill her. Her hips swung\nlike the pendulum of a clock, and that tail swished with pert agitation. He\ncould only imagine what she was like when she hadn't been put off by the likes\nof him. He almost felt for her, not sorry perhaps, but she seemed to be a jewel\ntrapped in a mud pit. She could have been so much more, even if that had merely\nboiled down to being a madre with lots of little cubs running around her feet.\nBut she had to go and stick her nose in someone else's business and now she was\ngoing to have to pay for that.\nSome things in life and death cannot\nbe helped.\nHe did talk them into a room for\nthe night. It was plain and simple, with a wooden cot overlain with a down\nfilled mattress. The room was free from bugs, something he denoted as being a\nminor miracle, and as he settled down for the evening, he went through his\norders in his head. They were simple and straight forward. He had to kill this\ngirl and get the location of the missing munitions. Of course, the nature of\nthe missing cargo had never come up. Now that he knew what it was, he felt a\ntwinge of guilt. Like the girl, he wasn't fond of weapons. Yes, that sounds odd\ncoming from an assassin, but then he often used his bare hands to kill. Weapons\nwere too easy and often far messier than was needed.\nHe lay there listening to the\nsounds of the desert, and to the off key renditions of traditional songs sung\nby those males who preferred to stand watch at night. He was at first surprised\nthat they would make such a fuss until it dawned on him that it served two\npurposes. One, they kept their spirits up by singing them. Secondly, it allowed\nfor both the villagers and any of the enemy who happened to be in the vicinity\nto know they were awake and alert. It reaffirmed his notion that these folks\nmight be simple but they were not fools.\nHe drifted off to sleep dreaming of\nvaqueros and\nbailarines, and of gunfights and tragic deaths. His mind was like a\nmovie theater, playing forth scenarios from his life; past, present and future.\nIt was the knife blade to his throat in one such scene that came across as too\nreal, and the whispered voice in his ear all too audible.\n\"Make a move\nand I'll see your blood!\"\nHe cursed\nhimself for not waking sooner, but then decided to turn it to his advantage.\n\"Whatever you\nsay. But if you fear for your life from me, then why did you bother coming to\nmy room?\"\n\"I need to\nknow more about you. I don't trust anyone anymore, much less someone like you\nwho just happens to wander into the village at the worst possible time.\"\n\"Then all you\nhave to do is ask. You folks are paranoid. Maybe you shouldn't have bothered\ntaking those weapons.\"\n\"I did what I\nfelt I needed to do. Everyone else backed me up.\"\n\"I saw that.\nBut if you have no intention of using the damned things, then why haven't you\njust blown them up? A single grenade dropped into the middle of them should be\nenough to set off a chain reaction.\"\n\"El stupido!\nThey are the only thing keeping us alive! They want them back. If they knew we\ndestroyed them they would be down here faster then a correcaminos to wipe\nus out.\"\n\"Yeah, that\nmakes sense I guess. So what is it you want from me? I was hoping to be on my\nway tomorrow.\"\nHe was\ncontemplating a move to get the knife and turn it against her.\n\"You said you\ncould use a gun.\"\n\"I can.\"\n\"How well?\"\n\"Well enough.\nI don't carry one if that's your question. Guns are a coward's tool.\"\nShe pulled\nthe knife away.\n\"You know,\nyou are the strangest male I have ever met. Most men sleep with theirs, polish\nthem and treat them better than their women. To have someone scoff at them is...loco.\"\n\"I respect\nguns Flora. I often choose not to use them. But I can and I will if I have good\nreason.\"\n\"What, señor,\nwould you call a good reason?\"\n\"Saving innocent lives.\"\n\"Innocent? Well, I would not go\nthat far with everyone here, but they are good enough in their own right. They\ncertainly don't deserve to die because of a decision I made.\"\n\"So does that make you the guilty\none then?\"\nThe knife returned to his throat.\n\"It might. I have to live with\nthat.\"\nNot for long, he thought, as he chose\nhis next course of action. He didn't have much at hand to dispatch her with,\nand he wanted to make it clean and quick. Her knife would do the job, but not\nwithout making a mess. As if in response to his thoughts, she dropped the knife\non the floor; it clattering loudly against the dry wooden boards. In the next\ninstant her hands were around his neck and her lips were on his.\nLips?\nHe was just prepared to get his\nhands locked around her slim throat when he realized that her own petite hands\nwere behind his neck, not around it. And she was kissing him! He pulled away\nand held her by her shoulders.\n\"What the hell do you think you're\ndoing?\"\nShe looked defiant.\n\"What do you think I'm doing? A\ngirl has needs now and again!\"\n\"With a perfect stranger?\"\n\"What makes you think you're\nperfect?!\"\nShe had him there.\n\"You know what I mean. You know\nnothing about me and in the morning I intend to be gone. For all you know I\ncould be some sort of killer.\"\n\"Yes you could be. Who is to say\nthat I haven't killed? I have other plans for you unless you have other plans\nfor me. I see no reason you can't lose a little sleep tonight before you go\ntomorrow. I'm sure I can make it worth your while.\"\nHe was stymied. He couldn't kill\nsomeone who trusted him enough to be bedded by him. So he either had to act now\nor forgo all hope of completing his mission. He groped blindly on the floor\nnear the edge of the bed. He found his shirt and in a quick motion flipped it over\nthe nape of her neck and grabbed it with his other hand. He pulled it tight and\ndrew her down.\nHe kissed her firmly.\nShe responded in kind.\nHe couldn't help but think that she\nwould be dead come morning, but for now, it would be a terrible thing to waste\nso much vibrancy and vivaciousness. At least he will have known that he gave her\na good conclusion to her life.\nHis pants came off and were flung\nacross the room to land against the wall. Her dress she kept on, but her\nshoulders were already exposed by the style, and she deftly slipped her arms\nfree of it, exposing a pert pair of pechos, tanned and lightly furred like the\nrest of her. The skirt of the dress hid her lower portion, but he could feel it\njust fine. And it was fine, as fine\nas the grains of sand that carpet the Gran Desierto de Altar. She had the heat\nof the desert to fuel her fires, and a burning desire that was not going to be\neasily quenched. \nHe hesitated for just a moment.\nKilling her was likely the easier route. He chose to take the more difficult\nroad. The easier way was great for getting somewhere quickly. The lesser\ntraveled one offered more to the soul. If he did take this road, there was no\neasy way back. It was essentially heading in only one direction. He wavered\nbetween his choices.\nShe made the decision for him.\nHe was already hard, for he never dallied\nmuch with the ladies and thus his body was ready and willing to perform at her\ncommand. He did his best to avoid emotional entanglements because they meant\nthat your enemies had something to hold over you. Thus, a one-night stand was\nall he ever allowed himself. This gal, this little señorita would be just the\nsame. That is, if he let her live after they were done. He didn't see how he\ncould, but then, the night was young and morning was hours away. He might come\nup with another plan before the sun rose.\nShe slid up and over his cock with\nan ease that precluded his notion that she was a virgin. He should have guessed\nshe wasn't from her whole attitude. Any lady capable of wielding a knife like\nshe carried had to have good reason to need it, and a mock pair of cojones to back\nit up. She was certainly equipped with the proper lady parts, and proper they\nwere. She pushed down over him with a savage grace he had never encountered\nbefore. There was a wild side to her and she was letting it out to roam freely\nupon his pastures.\n\"Flora, are you sure we should be\ndoing this?\"\nShe stopped and eyed him in the\nmost severe manner.\n\"Is there something wrong with you?\nEvery male in this stupid village wants to be where you are and you're lying\nhere protesting?!\"\n\"I never wish to take advantage of\nanyone.\"\n\"Did you tie me up? Are you raping\nme? Am I protesting?\"\n\"No, no and no.\"\n\"You're damn right. I don't know\nwhat it is about you, but I like you. Even if you're leaving in the morning, I\nstill want to have a good memory of your visit. Do you intend to ruin that for\nme with your whining and your incessant questions?!\"\n\"No. It's just that, well...\" He was\ntrying to come up with a believable lie. \"It's just that I'm normally the one\nwho makes the move. Having a lady who knows her mind and isn't afraid to act on\nit is out of the ordinary for me.\"\n\"Is that a good thing or a bad\none?\" she asked tersely.\nHe thought before answering.\n\"I believe that I like it.\"\n\"Is that so? Then I'm not trying\nhard enough.\"\n\"No?\" was his bemused reply.\"\n\"No! Liking is for amigos and\namigas. We are not friends hombre. Tonight we are amantes - lovers - and we\nwill act like lovers. You don't have to love me, but I expect you to act like\nyou do. I will not tolerate you lying here as if you have something better to\ndo.\"\nHe put his hands against her arms\nand gently raised them. Releasing them he grabbed a hold of her dress and\npulled it back up and over her shoulders.\n\"Lovers hide nothing Flora. If this\nis what you want, so be it.\"\nHe looked at her in the dim light\nand knew that he was only making his task all the harder in the end. He found\nhimself at a loss for words to describe her, even with his knowledge of\nmultiple languages. She was everything he could have ever wanted in a woman.\nAnd he was going to have to throw it all away before he was done.\nThere is something in the futility\nof existence in the harshness of life that can bring out a fiery passion that\nnormally would lie dormant and hidden away. Not this night. The assassin put\naside his duty to revel in this rare beauty. No longer bound by his duteous\nnature, he let himself go. Thus freed, he did look upon her as a lover, and one\nthat deserved everything he could give her.  \nFor now, he was content to allow\nher the privilege of being on top. Her forceful and outgoing nature demanded it\nright now, and since it was in no way offensive to his sense of propriety, he\nsimply lay back and watched her working him over with a fierce passion. He\ncould see why she might be in demand with the locals. He could see why she\ncarried a knife.\nFlora rode him like the caballeros\nnorth of the Rio Grande rode their mounts. She leaned back, her hair flying in\na veil of fine silken strands, as she put forth every ounce of energy into her\nlovemaking. Come sunrise, things would change. So tonight, she was in charge of\ndirecting her own fate.\nIt didn't take her too long to\nachieve that which she desired. His cock was meant for a female slightly\nlarger, and so she found it just right for her needs. She was no delicate\nflower, despite her name and his insistence that she was. She had toughed out\nmany a close call and she lived on the edge of danger constantly. Whoever he\nwas, he could only just touch upon the surface of who she was. But boy, where\nhe was scratching now; that was one massive itch!\nHe, for his part, did his best to be\nboth interested and yet lay there quietly and meekly. He didn't want to\ninterrupt her enjoyment by trying to participate in manner that would prove\ncounterproductive to her elegant movements. She was engrossed in a kind of\ndance, not as lively as some of the traditional fare, but a private one that\ndisplayed all of the skill of a well rehearsed ballerina.\nHe had wondered at her readiness to\ntake him on. She was of a cousin species; not like the more diminutive\nvulpines, but smaller in every way from what he was used to.  It was almost as if he had a teenager riding\nhim, something he hadn't had happen in many a long year. It brought back fond\nmemories and he felt his heart skip a beat.\nHe was getting emotional and that\nwasn't professional at all. It would never do.\nBut this was now pleasure and not\nbusiness, though before the night was out he was going to show her that he\nmeant business.\nFlora put her heart and soul into\nthis performance, riding him like there was no tomorrow. It wasn't often a\nstranger came to town, and when one like this did, it was extraordinary beyond\ncoincidence. But if his purpose was as she thought it was going to be, then she\nintended to make his life hell by making this night one he would never forget.\nHis type lived out their lives by not getting attached to the ones they dealt\nwith. They got their hands dirty, but not so dirty they couldn't somehow wash them\nclean.\nShe knew what he was. No other\nwould come here, under any guise, and so she had been prepared. Sadly, he was\nhandsome. That made it all the easier for her. All too easy. But she was\nprepared to do whatever it took to keep her people safe. She would even die for\nthem if necessary. She would do it willingly. She just wouldn't be happy about\nit.\nIt was in her desperation that she\npushed herself into her role as lover.  Not\nthat this fellow was a terrible choice. If not for what he was, she might like him for who he was. For at any point along the way during the past few\nhours, he likely could have killed her. She almost wondered why he hadn't bothered\ntrying.\nWhat she didn't know was that he\nhad a code by which he lived. Killing was fine when the person on the receiving\nend deserved it. Often it was a matter of petty squabbles involving drug lords,\nand he then went in and took out one, only to have that clan hire him to take\nout the leader of the other. That he could live with.\nBut this was different.\nHis code told him that this case\nwas special. \nAnd so was she, in so many ways.\nBut if he didn't kill her, someone\nelse would, and then there would be a price on his head too. That simply\nwouldn't do. Regardless of how he felt about her come morning light, she was\ngoing to have to be dealt with. It was going to be no easy thing.\nFor now, all he could do was make\nher last night special, as she asked. It was the least he could do.\nShe leaned down and kissed him,\nknowing that she was possibly kissing the lips of death. But death was cold and\nhis lips were warm and inviting. He might be a killer, but he wasn't cold\nblooded. He kissed her back as she violently thrust against him, working over\nhis cock with wild abandon. Her tail whipped like a flag caught in a dust devil\nas her hips gyrated like a sidewinder trying to escape the ravenous roadrunner.\n\nHe returned her kiss with one of\nequal strength, pulling her down and wrapping his arms around her. He gave her\na squeeze, and as he did, he brought up his knees and took over as the dominant\none in this tryst. He jerked his hips into her until he felt his knot come\nlive, and then they were both locked into their affair until such time as it\nsubsided.\nIt gave him a certain amount of\nemotional comfort and freedom. There was no way he was going to kill her until\nthis was over, and a knot made sure it lasted a good long while.\nIt's sometimes considered trite and\na bit prejudiced to think of the coyote clan as being howlers. The fact is they\nare. There was no question what was going down in that tiny room on that hard,\nwooden cot. With the windows open the village and half the surrounding desert\nknew. But no one came; no one interfered. They knew what the penalty would be\nand they stayed their hands. Flora had warned them a week or more ago, and to\ninterrupt them now would earn them her wrath, assuming the wolf didn't kill her\noutright.\nAs it was, she was finding his\nphysical form and his dexterous abilities to be to her liking. Whoever he was,\nhe put his all into what he did. He would make a far greater asset to her if\nshe could only convince him that his goal was unjust. Surely he had to see past\nhis contract. Couldn't he?\nHe drove into her for all he was\nworth. Some of it was true passion, and some of it was hate. Hate for being put\ninto this position; hate at what he was; hate at being here doing this to her\nwhen he knew she had to die. \nShe had never had the likes of this\nin her life, and she thought that she might be willing to be buried in the\nunforgiving ground only because she thought she would never see the likes of\nthis ever again. To live without such intensity would diminish the remaining\nyears of her life.\nShe pulled loose from his grasp and\nsat up again, her hands behind her head as she rocked in time to his\nunrelenting thrusts. She let loose every bit of range her vocal cords could\nproduce, right up to the ear splitting howls that rattled his eardrums. Not\nbeing an overly emotional male, he tolerated her tempestuous cries with well\ncontained humor, until he found them contagious.\nHe recognized, much to his mild\nhorror, that he was longing to add his to hers. He held off performing such an\nindignity until she clamped around him like a boa constrictor, send shock waves\nthrough him and setting off a chain of events that left him breathless.\nWell, maybe not breathless. His\nhowls mingled with hers, signaling the culmination of that sexual peak and signified\nby a comingling of their bodily fluids.\nThat is to say, he pumped her as\nfull as she could take, and still more poured out of him. She dug her nails\ninto his flesh to the point of drawing blood. He barely noticed in the throes\nof his sudden emotional need to have and protect her. He knew it wasn't right,\nbut he couldn't help himself. He continued to pump away on her until she\ncollapsed against his heaving chest. By that time they were both utterly spent.\nThey lay together in a heap for an hour or better, for they were presently\ninseparable thanks to his engorged knot.\nHe forewent sleep his body now\ncraved, despite his present exhaustion. His mind was wildly alive and confounding\nhim with a wild assortment of scenarios. Sadly, they all came to the same conclusion.\nHe was a fool. Logic told him he was suffering from an emotional attachment of\nthe sort his kind never engaged in. And yet, with her draped across him, their\nbodies still together as one, how could he feel any different? He couldn't. And\nyet, he couldn't save her. He knew the type of goons she had managed to draw\nthe ire of, and they weren't the type to give up. Regardless of where he might\ntry to hide her, they would ferret her out and destroy her.      \nHe really should have stuck to the\nplan. The plan was simple. The plan was clean.\nThis was a total mess.\nShe stirred, nuzzling his chest as\nshe came awake.\n\"I guess I wasn't wrong.\"\n\"Wrong? About what?\"\n\"That you were here to kill me. You\njust about succeeded.\"\nHe felt a lump form in his throat. \n\"What? No!\"\n\"Oh please don't lie to me. It'll\nruin the evening. At least be as honest in your words as you were with your\nemotions. I went into this as you did. I have come out not as I went in. Tell\nme you felt something as well.\"\nHe sighed.\n\"If you knew, why didn't you just\nhave the others shoot me and get it over with?\"\n\"If I had you killed, they would\nsend another and another and another. All they wanted was me, but others might\nhave gotten hurt or worse, killed because of me.\"\n\"They want their weapons back too\nyou know.\"\n\"Of course they do. That's what\nthis is all about. Power. I have taken some of it from them. Do you think I\nwould be so quick to give it back, even if I have no desire to wield it\nmyself?\"\nHe brushed back her disheveled\nhair.\n\"No, I can see where you have your\nways set into stone. You have a good heart Flora.\"\n\"Had.\"\n\"Had? How do you mean?\"\nIt was her turn to sigh.\n\"I think that somewhere during our\nlovemaking, I handed it over to you.:\n\"I am not the one to keep safe such\na jewel.\"\n\"Nonetheless, it has been given\nover to you. What will you do with it?\"\nHe was silent. She was no fool, and\nhe loved her because of that. She was at least his equal, if not his superior.\nHe had never met a female like her and he knew deep down inside that he would\nnever meet one ever again.\"\n\"I would treasure if I could, but\nas it belongs to you, and as you must die, I can lay no claim upon it.\"\n\"So you still intend to kill me?\"\nAgain there was silence.\n\"I don't see where I have a choice,\nnow more than before.\n\"True. You have been compromised.\nAnd if you do not do it, someone else will assuredly step in to finish what you\nhave started.\"\n\"Dammit girl! You talk as if this\nis nothing more than pleasant conversation!\"\n\"I am resigned to my fate. I only\nwish that I had not fallen for you, or rather, that you had fallen equally for\nme.\"\nHe growled at her, lifting her part\nway off of his chest and shaking her.\n\"Who's being the idiot now! I\ncannot live with you and I cannot live without you! I have never been placed in\nas great dilemma than the one you have woven around me!\"\nShe managed a smile after his\nfurious outburst subsided.\n\"You do love me then?\"\n\"I don't know. I've never been in\nit before. But the thought of losing you makes my heart ache, so then yes, damn\nyou, I'm in love.\"\n\"Then I can die happy.\"\nHe shook her again.\n\"That's not funny!\"\n\"But we agreed that I had to die.\nWhether by your hand or another's; my actions sealed my fate. There is no other\nway.\"\n\"Well dammit, I un-agree. I cannot\ndo it.\"\n\"Do you love me?\"\n\"Yes! I will aver it, or avow it,\nor whatever it is you want from me.\"\n\"All I ask you is that you do me\nthe kindness of making it fast and painless. Any others who would follow you would\nnot extend such a courtesy as that.\"\nHe looked her deep in the eyes. He\nknew she was right. He had bungled an easy hit and was now going to pay for it\nthe rest of his life.\n\"If that is what you wish, I can do\nit. But I will not do it willingly.\"\n\"It is. Unless you can find some\nother way out of this predicament, that is all I can ask for.\"\n\"It seems a poor gift for as fine a\nlady as you. You deserve more.\"\n\"I can but agree with you señor.\nBut there is little more you can give me now.\"\n\"Is there nothing at all?\"\n\"Well...\" she began.\n\"Yes?\" he asked a little too\neagerly.\nShe wiggled her hips.\n\"Since you're still inside, perhaps\nyou'll do the lady the favor of another round?\"\n\"With pleasure!\"\nAnd indeed it was. By the time\ndaylight came, a decision had been made and affirmed. It was a day that was\nlong remembered in the village, a day when life had to be sacrificed for the\ngood of all. They did not interfere in this decision, for how could they? The\ndecision had never been theirs, and this was the only manner in which it could\nbe righted.\nAnd so the assassin stood alone\nover a mound of stones and sand, angry with himself and his lot in life. He\nwould soon be done with killing. Let others who had less moral fiber than he\ncarry on in his absence. He suddenly felt old. Until this business was\nfinished, he intended to remain in the village. After that? Only the fates knew\nfor sure.\nA message was sent out to the crime\nboss who had hired him. He wrote it out himself and had one of the locals\ndeliver it to an outpost, who from there would see that it got to its intended\nrecipient. It went like this.\nDone.\nJob is complete. Package is buried in the old corral outside of town. Buried my\nheart on top of it as an added bonus. Wasn't worth the money.\nHe kept his eye on the road the\nnext few days. On the third he saw several old trucks rattling down the dusty\ndirt track. The villagers were still armed with their rifles, for there was no\nguarantee that this group of thugs might not still try to exact revenge on the\ncommunity as a whole.\nThey pulled inside the corral,\nsurrounding the spot of raised stone. There was a lone, dead rose sticking out\nof the ground there, and through a spyglass he could see one of the desperados\nkick it to pieces. There was something else down there too.\n A knife. \nFlora's knife. \nSomeone reached down to retrieve\nit.\nIt was meant to be a symbol. Its\nblade was a sharp reminder that one should never stand in the way of love.\nAnd the wire that was attached to\nit?\nA reminder to be careful what you\ndecide to take up as your own.\nThe explosion ripped into the gang\nand sent the trucks flying. Stones rained clear to the village. When the dust\ncleared, there was no one left standing in the corral.\n\"Señor?\" asked one of the villagers.\n\"Si?\"\n\"Will you stay here now?\"\n\"Yes señor\", cooed a voice. \"Will\nyou stay here now that you have freed my village of this curse?\"\n\"Flora dear, if you ask, I shall do\nit.\"\n\"Then I ask it. And besides, you\nowe me a new knife.\"\n\"I'll buy you a hundred if you wish\nit.\"\n\"Just one will do.\"\n \n \n \nNow,\nyou may be asking yourself; what the hell happened?\n                Love happened.\n                Would you kill the one you love\nto save them from a fate even worse than death? If you answer yes, then you\nhave an idea of how deep love can imbed itself in your soul. But a wise wolf\nonce said that turnabout is fair play. A single wire tied to the pin of a\nwell-placed and carefully buried grenade, and thus yanked upon unceremoniously\nby some worthless goon, will tend to send the whole pile of explosives sky\nhigh. And with no gang to seek retribution, the village - along with the loving\ncouple, found that life was worth living again. True, there might be other\nobstacles to deal with down the road, but there would be plenty of time before\nthey needed to bother their heads over that.\n                Today the desert proved to be a\nlittle less harsh and a little more forgiving.\n                \n \n \n                \n                \n"}