Then I remembered I had raided the hideout of an evil mage yesterday, and that this was a busy building site. My fear was instantly gone, and looking at my attacker I recognized the guy who had been leering at me all the time I had worked here.
He grinned: 'Saw you arrive on your sexy cycle today, I suppose you don't have a real man to give you some of that. You'll love this.'
Detached now, I saw he was quite a handsome man, why would he stoop to forcing himself on anyone? His other hand now loosening his belt, I decided not to waste any more time on trying to deduce his motives, but put an end to
this before anyone saw this and thought I was the kind of girl who screwed men on the work place.
I'd worked hard to create credibility as working partner among men, one horny fellow was not going to mess that up. I shaped a tiny bit of magical power to a ball, prayed it would only stun.
He had loosened his belt and that hand was now moving towards my hair, him crooning: 'Such pretty copper locks, couldn't have anyone else touch those.'
One of my hands was stuck between his strong body and his arm still holding his hand over my mouth, but my other hand wriggled loose and struck him on the back of the head. As the power hit him, his strong body dropped like a felled ox.
Stepping over his stunned body, I felt some fear I had killed him, but just at that moment, my favourite contractor came running up, calling out with real concern: 'Miss Thorn, thank God you're safe!'
Quite upset now by the whole situation, I asked him: 'Is he still all right?'
Looking at me in stunned amazement he said: 'You worry for him after he assaulted you? At your work place? It'd serve him right if he was not. How did you floor him anyway, such a big brute?'
Saying this, he did kneel down and check the guy's vital signs: 'He's fine, just out. How did you do that?' I tried to evade a clear answer by mumbling: 'A trick I learned, but it can be deadly.'
He looked at me with his head tilted slightly, I could see he didn't buy that at all, but he let it go and asked: 'Are you all right?
I heard from Fritz that you were on your last inspection and were contemplating quitting with the council, and I wanted to say goodbye and thank you and make a proposal of my own, when I heard this lump speak to you in a respectless way.
What a dork, you know I hired him? Won't make that mistake again, he's out on his ear. Assaulting a building inspector on site. Anyway, what I wanted to ask you, if you do go into business with the crafts master, will we be able to hire you to check out materials for flaws? It'll cost you a few hours a week and we can offer a steady income, you've saved my firm from a big disaster and I'm sure you will again. Just come in, check the stuff, mark anything that's not safe, and out. Please think about it.
I wish he had proposed to you, that crafts master, you looked fine together, and both gifted.
Oh, and did you hear the news about those deaths your Mr Kenwick was so interested in? Apparently it was poisonous waste from the wool factory that caused it.
The council has promised to check the factories more closely for dumping waste, I know river water is unhealthy, but some have naught else to drink, so it should at least not be poisoned. That would be a good cause for your friend's family, Rupert told me they're loaded gentry, having the drinking water improved.
But I suppose he's from the poor branch, every family has a poor branch, and if he were rich he'd not be talking to us craftspeople like we're his friends, he'd be way too important to do anything of the kind. Oh Miss, I'm sorry to talk so much, I was just so upset to find that large brute, he's coming round, leave him to me. Do you want to report him to the watch?'
I replied: 'Better not, my friend is at home sick and I want to be with him, besides, they'd ask me what I'd done and it would be difficult to explain.'
'I understand. Well, thank you again for saving my reputation, and think about my proposal. I'll be at your friend's workshop in a few days. He's not really bad I hope?'
He was such a nice man, but I couldn't tell him what happened, so I just said truthfully: 'It could have been much worse.' Then we shook hands cordially and I left, leaving the signing off to the next day, for after what had happened I wanted to be home.
Pedalling back took just ten minutes, and I put away the bicycle in the shed, then locked the doors behind me. The workshop was empty, the furnace cold.
I ran upstairs and found Lukas reading on the bed and Paul still sleeping. I sat next to Lukas, who immediately noticed I was upset, put an arm around me and asked: 'What happened?' I told him about the assault and he got rather angry, saying: 'In my country, that would cost him his horns.' That seemed a really severe punishment for something that happened daily in our reality, and I said so, but that upset him even more, so I asked him: 'How are things here?'
He replied: 'Much the same, he's even a bit feverish now, and in a lot of pain.
We need to take really good care of the wound and of him, and if he keeps getting worse I'll try healing again tonight.'
As if Paul had heard that he got really restless, making distressed sounds in his sleep, face drawn in pain, hands clutching at nothing.
I very slowly moved towards him, and stroked his hair and his face very softly. His restlessness settled a little and he slept again, but Lukas said: 'I gave him another painkiller just after you left, if he wakes he can have another one.
But they're really not strong enough for a man in his condition, maybe Frances has something stronger, I think I'll run over to ask her, it's twenty minutes around.'
With Lukas away I got a pot of tea and some food, and a novel from the rows and rows of books and went back upstairs. Time passed quickly reading, and by the time Lukas returned with a stronger painkiller I was totally immersed in the story.
He left the powder with me with instructions on its use, and went to work downstairs. I read on until Paul became restless again. This time he truly woke up, not feeling better at all, feverish and cramped with pain.
I started with giving him the painkiller, and a lot of water to drink, then held and stroked him until the pain receded a little, which was surprisingly fast. 'I don't think I've ever felt this bad,' he said almost surprised, 'hot and cold, and I can't think properly. I want you to hold me but it hurts. Do you feel sorry for me?' 'Very much so,' I said, 'but I'm still going to help you turn on your stomach to check the wound.'
He felt hot to my touch, and the wound was red and swollen, but not alarmingly so. The area around it was turning black and blue now, and I was not surprised he was in great pain. I washed the wound with the antiseptic solution and bandaged it again, then helped him back into a more comfortable position and held him as close as was possible.
He did not want to eat, just drink, and we kissed some, which felt weird because he was so hot. I told him about the architect thinking our hug on the building site being a marriage proposal. 'He seemed almost disappointed, but he was glad I wasn't giving up my work. Both wanted to hire me to check materials.
I could make a career out of that, which would be boring I guess, but it will enable us to start up our own firm.'
He was pleasantly surprised by this: 'So you will go into business with me?' 'I will,' I replied, 'I will hand in my resignation tomorrow.' That made him very
happy, but with the pain gone he soon fell asleep again, leaving me to my novel.
The afternoon was gone before Lukas came in hot and sweaty from working at the forge. He was in a good mood from having done his day's work, but he did not like Paul's fevered appearance.
'What is the use of having healing skills if I cannot use them when they are really needed? I'm going to try again, do you mind doing it right now?' I didn't, and I said so, and soon I had contact with the ley-line, and with Lukas.
This time, he wanted to try by himself. Paul was sleeping on his side, his back way too painful to lie on it, so Lukas could easily reach the wound, removing the bandage and touching the area around it. And he really seemed to have m
ore success, I saw the black and blue area fade to brown, then yellow, and the swelling went down markedly.
The wound wasn't healed completely, but it was closed now, which meant he would be able to take a shower if he could face the stairs. I couldn't feel a change in temperature, but I guessed that would take a few minutes more. I knew I would feel the effect of the bond as soon as Lukas finished, and to be honest I was looking forward to the intimacy, the thought turned me on quite a bit.
And sure enough, I felt a rising lust that was not my own, and that mind-blowing closeness that came with transferring power was fast taking over.
Lukas looked almost wild with triumph and desire, and he jumped on me and kissed me very, very lingeringly. I felt his erection through his pants, and the throbbing in his mind, and I returned that kiss with all my heart.
'Hey you two, get a room,' a whimsical voice said behind me, and as I turned I saw Paul watching us, propped on an elbow, eyes bright but not with fever.
Lukas asked: 'Do you want us to go upstairs?' Paul smiled indulgently and said: 'No please, I'd like to watch. Actually I'd like to join in, but though I feel much better I suppose that wouldn't be wise.'
I could feel Lukas hesitate, but my heat was up now and I planned to include Paul in the fun without taking a toll of his body, so I bluntly scratched Lukas'
horn bases and felt his lust take over his mind. He was out of his pants and under my skirts in a second, and as he jumped me his body landed on me and he slid in me in one overwhelming dose of weight, musky scent and exhilarating fullness.
I kept scratching his horns firmly, stimulating him to furious action, thrilling
both our senses. It was really unbelievable to feel through our bond how sensitive those horn bases were, my touch there set all his nerve endings on fire. I don't think he'd ever been so fast and so furious, which of course meant he came to a climax really quickly.
But that did not deter him, for he just lay between my legs and let me catch up with him with his tongue and nimble fingers. As I came to a shuddering climax, he was ready for his second round, and when he sat up, I turned around and kneeled before him, but within reach of my hurt lover, who was watching our love-play eagerly.
Folding back the blanket I noticed he was ready for some loving, and as I took his penis in my mouth, I felt Lukas enter me from behind. That was quite something, I heard Paul moan in unexpected pleasure, and Lukas was using our connected minds to adjust his now more sedate thrusting to what stimulated me most. I knew this couldn't last long, I was being touched so expertly inside, that I felt a high coming from far away, but approaching rapidly.
Of course my rising excitement translated to my own ministrations, and Paul was generally very excitable, so we came almost together, with him remembering to spill his hot seed on his own hand instead of in my mouth.
After that, Lukas speeded up again, and I could see Paul was still amazed at his incredible stamina. I remembered Lukas doing the same when he was still stick-thin, and the ever rising elation in my mind that belonged to him was coloured with fond remembrance, until he lost every coherent thought in total lust and abandonment, then crashed on the bed laughing, taking me with him, elated with his success in healing his friend after all, and his total release afterwards. Upside down, he asked Paul: 'How do you feel, better?'
Paul roughed his hair and said: 'Much better, I do think I'm almost free of pain. You are a miracle worker!' But when Lukas hugged him in response, he winced and said: 'Well, nearly almost free of pain. Can I have a shower now, please?'
And of course he got his way, we half-carried him up the stairs and I think he suffered quite some pain, but the fever was gone and he could laugh again, and when he got out and I dried him very carefully with a towel, I could feel his back and shoulders were no longer rock-hard, his muscles had finally loosened. Of course the two guys now wanted to eat, so Lukas and I fetched all kinds of things from the kitchen, and we made a merry meal.
Chapter 36
But Paul wouldn't be Paul if he didn't start worrying again as soon as his mind wasn't overruled with pain anymore. Between bites he stated: 'I'm not up to excursions yet today, but you can leave me alone with a book for a few hours.
Would you two be so kind as to visit those rejected children tonight, see if you can find out how much mind they have got left? If we have a meeting tomorrow with George and the council member about the wasteland and talented children, I'd like to know what we're dealing with.'
Lukas, also still munching, answered: 'I've been aching to do something for those children, if you feel confident on your own I'd really like to go. Do you agree Melissa, that we should take Frances along with us?'
I said: 'I do, any wild creature would trust her before anyone else I know.'
Now Paul insinuated: 'You didn't do so bad yourself with a wild creature, some time ago...' and I retorted: 'You weren't as wild as that, Paul, when I tamed you.'
Lukas clearly enjoyed our bantering very much, as self-assured and as contained as he had gotten he still needed a lot of love. He manoeuvred himself into my arms and said nothing, though he clearly knew Paul had meant him, and the idea of Paul as wild creature was ludicrous to him.
Of course Paul saw this too, and he targeted Lukas: 'You were too busy hitting on pretty girls to see it, but I was like a mad thing on that dance-floor.'
Now Lukas couldn't keep quiet anymore, and said: 'Oh I saw you all right, and you were the most beautiful, most controlled dancer of the lot. Can we go again soon?' I added: 'Let's make a group of it, include Ilsa and her siblings if they feel like it.'
Before we left, Lukas suggested to Paul: 'You might want to check out those statues when we are away. They contain a soul all right, but we couldn't find out much more.' He didn't have to say more, Paul's eyes lit up at the challenge, and soon we were on our way to the estate.
I took a bicycle and Lukas went on his own two feet. After my experience of
this afternoon, I no longer worried about being molested or mugged, I knew I could defend myself, and I had seen Lukas in action as well. Soon we were moving along the lane, then we were at the manor house, ready to look for Frances. The place looked different with ten children about, playing on the lawn, reading in the shade of the large trees.
The children recognized us, and told us Frances was working in her greenhouse. She agreed to come with us and told us the first parents would come to collect their sons and daughters today and tomorrow, the ones living near the city, who had gotten the message today and had sent a reply back with the messenger.
Some of the others might stay for a few weeks, their parents living as far away as the Islands. We spent some time with George, updating him on Paul's condition, reasonably sure he would be up to a meeting, as long as it might take place in his own Gothic palace, from a comfortable chair.
George insisted we take a carriage, he didn't want Frances in the wasteland on foot, and maybe he was right, she was not as streetwise as we had become.
So in a carriage we went, leaving it halfway down the road, quite a ways from the houses where the children would be hiding. Frances had thought to bring a bag of the pretty cakes, and a bag of sandwiches, to tempt the children out, and of course to provide them with food, for it they were not going to show up, she'd just leave them there with a big canister of clean water and some cups.
The going was tough between the rubble, and to be honest, it was even filthier than I had feared it would be.
But we'd have to get used to the filth, for to win these rejects' trust and to check their minds, we would have to touch them anyway. There was not a child to be seen, but with sight I placed all of them in one of the houses near the road.
We realized they might become violent in their despair, so we entered very carefully, trying to look harmless. Of course we had our appearance in our favour, for Lukas looked much like a large boy with his unruly mop of curls, Frances like everybody's mum, and I was only a young woman, so not much threa
t there either. The children seemed to know we came for them, for they were all huddled in one large room at the back of the derelict house, the only one with all the windows still unbroken. One rather large boy, nearly an adult, seemed to feel responsible for the rest, for he stood before them half
afraid, half defiantly.
'What are you doing here?' he asked us, in clear English, with an immaculate accent. What was a boy like that doing here in a wasteland?
This is what we had Frances for, and she replied: 'We have come to bring you food, and a healer if you need one.'
With this, she put the water and the cups down, and the bags with the sandwiches. Still a bit suspicious, but clearly very hungry and maybe even glad to see friendly adult faces, the boy handed the bag to another teenager, probably a girl, but it was hard to see from her huddled shape and ragged clothing.
She didn't say anything, but quickly distributed a sandwich to each child, then handed one to the boy, who had not stopped watching us, and took one herself. They didn't devour the food, but ate it slowly, savouring it, and they didn't fight over it either, which gave me instant hope that they might have some mind left, even if they had apparently lost every memory of who or what they were.
Now Lukas sat down in one fluid move, and he looked so harmless and loving, that one of the smaller children scooted over and sat on his lap.
He didn't hold it for fear of making it feel caught, but he did stroke its filthy hair lovingly, and the child sat against him. I followed his example and sat down, and Frances also followed suit. This seemed to quiet the leader down even more, and now Frances spoke again:
'Are you the leader of this little group?' The boy nodded, and said: 'I've been here longest, and I've tried to keep us all together and share the stuff we gathered, food and clothes.
And two or three still wanted to play, so we found them some toys.'
Meanwhile, the girl had discovered that there was clean water in the canister, and she was pouring cups and handing them to the others. They shared the water too. Now the boy, cup in hand, sat down as well, pretty close to us, and went on: 'Two of us are sick, have been since they emerged from the place down there.
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