Misconstrued (Mistaken)

by Pixie Unger

  “Move!” I managed to hiss as his thumb was driving me ever closer to the edge.

  He shook his head no. “After,” he explained.

  I reached up and scratched lightly down his chest. I was rewarded with a gasp and he surged forward a little only to stop and growl softly at me. “No!” he snapped and his hand left my clit to viciously pinch one of my nipples.

  I yelped and clenched in surprise. Mac’s eyes rolled up for a moment. When he could look at me again, he rolled my nipple between his fingers, then ghosted his hand down my side.

  “Trust me,” he rumbled. I looked up at him. The hand that hadn’t yet left my hip slid a little further around to cup my ass.

  Then he stood up, lifting me with him so that only my shoulders stayed on the bed. He held me like that, his thumb back against my clit. “Mac!” It was a sob.

  “After your legs are shaking,” he assured me.

  My legs didn’t shake, but my body writhed and clenched in his grasp as I came. He paused to watch and suck my juices off his thumb. When I stilled and was blinking stupidly at him, he put his hand back and pulled another from me with a few lazy circles of his thumb.

  Again he waited, but this time when he touched my clit, I moaned, “Mac! Just fuck me!”

  His smile turned sly, and he slid me off his cock and he ducked his head to lick my pussy and suck my clit. This time I screamed and my legs started shaking uncontrollably. When I was a rag doll in his arms, he whispered my name, “Mina?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Now?”

  I laughed, and covered my face with my hands but nodded.

  He lay me back down on the bed and ran his fingers over my folds, spreading them open, before feeding my still-twitching cunt his cock. He guided my legs around his waist. He was kneeling next to the bed and moving slowly and gently while running his hands over my body, whispering to me in the growling, purring language they used. I gazed up at him, slightly cum-drunk, the world still hazy. I realized in a foggy, far-off way that he was worshipping me. He was tender and adoring and, beyond all else, gentle. His movements were slow and even, and I could feel his piercings finding my g-spot.

  I wasn’t expecting to be able to cum again, and it was different. More like someone lighting a candle than the feeling of fireworks the last one had. My eyes fluttered closed and my body clenched one last time as his thrusts were losing their tempo. He gave one final deep push and came with a grunt. Even as he stilled, I could feel him flooding out of me.

  As he pulled away, I mumbled something stupid like good job, that made him chuckle. He got a warm washcloth and cleaned us up, before moving me away from the wet spot and spooning up behind me. I yawned. He nuzzled my hair.

  “Sleep now.”

  “Abso-fuckin’-lutely,” I agreed as unconsciousness claimed me.

  ----

  I woke up stiff like I had overdone it at the gym, back when we still had gyms. “I’m out of practice,” I murmured, only to have Mac nuzzle the top of my head again.

  “I can help,” he offered.

  I chuckled, clutching at my slightly sore abs. “I need some recovery time first.” I was only half-joking.

  That made him prop himself up on one elbow. “Hurting?” he asked, worriedly.

  “A little,” I admitted.

  He made a disapproving little noise before climbing out of bed and heading to the door. “Wait here!” he ordered, then tried to soften it with a “Please?”

  “You aren’t wearing any clothes,” I pointed out.

  He just shrugged and left the room anyway. I snuggled further under the covers, pulling the blankets up around my ears. I was just about back to sleep when I could hear them start to argue in the hallway.

  “Stop it!” I snapped. “I want to go back to sleep!”

  Romeo poked his head into the room. “Mac hurt you,” he accused, flatly.

  “I’m just out of practice,” I grumbled.

  “I did not hurt you,” Romeo countered, before adding a hesitant, “Did I?”

  Mac growled something and there was a brief scuffle.

  “What was that?” I demanded, sitting up to look at them in the doorway.

  Mac pushed his way into the room. “He did wrong and made you cry.”

  “That’s not—” I started, but Romeo cut me off.

  “No, I didn’t! Mina liked!”

  “Oh my god, stop! Both of you. No dick measuring contests before breakfast!” I grumbled.

  Mac climbed back into bed with me and sneered, “Yeah, so go get breakfast.”

  Romeo turned and stormed off. After he was gone, Mac gave me a concerned look and said, “I have medicine so it won’t hurt,” and offered me a familiar clear sticker.

  I shook my head. “It doesn’t really hurt. I’m just a little sore. And please don’t tease Romeo. He didn’t do it wrong.” Mac stiffened at my words, so I added, “Neither did you.”

  “I was better, right?”

  I laughed despite how nervous he sounded, or possibly because of it. “You did fine! But you need to be nicer to each other if this is going to work.”

  “That was being nice,” he grumbled softly, interrupting my yawn to make me laugh.

  “Romeo is getting me breakfast. Then what?”

  He waggled his eyebrows at me.

  I snorted. “No.”

  He shrugged. “I want to go look for toys. Humans had good toys. Lucky wants to find Erika a swing.” I didn’t know what to think of that, but he wasn’t done. “You and Romeo can go help build a Miriam house if you want.”

  ----

  They weren’t as organized as I would have thought. Mind you, it wasn’t as though it was a construction crew. It was just people, trying to follow along with some plan out of a book, being organized by a woman named Jo who seemed more like a librarian than a foreman. The orcs had bulldozed or whatever an entire block for this. All the houses and all the fences were just gone, though the trees had been all carefully left. It was creepy in a way I couldn’t explain. I was helping move a dirt-packed tire that would have been better off with heavy machinery, or at least people who didn’t all look like they were bordering on famine victims.

  I was struggling when suddenly Iago was next to me helping. I wasn’t expecting him, and I didn’t react to his return as well as I could have.

  “This would be easier,” I grumbled, “if we were all getting enough to eat, instead of just the humans you’re keeping as pets.”

  He gave me a horrified look that was echoed on the faces of every orc within earshot. I flinched, but it did get more of them to come help. Eventually we got the tire where it was supposed to go in the retaining wall. I stood back, feeling exhausted and watching everyone else struggle to get their breath back. I caught Iago watching me and I gave him a pointed look. He returned it with a sad one.

  “I missed you,” I admitted, softly.

  “Me too,” announced Tybalt, suggesting I hadn’t been quiet enough.

  I gave him a tired smile and assured him, “Yeah, I missed you, too.”

  He grinned, looking pleased.

  I looked over at the supply pile. There was still a long way to go to turn it into a house. I frowned a little, looking at the rest of the build team. I couldn’t see this working. It was hard work, and there already wasn’t enough food to go around. Someone was going to get hurt. I shouldn’t be here, but there wasn’t anyone else. I was weirdly qualified purely on the basis of getting enough to eat.

  I looked over at the woman organizing this, Jo, and could see the same realization on her face. I sidled over to talk to her.

  “I don’t know how you got building materials, but is there any way to swing extra food for the workers?” I asked under my breath.

  She looked at the ground and fidgetted as the tips of her ears turned red. “I don’t know,” she admitted softly. “After you left, some of the women— um— started trading favours for food. The, uh, warden put his foot down when one of them got pregnant. Th
e food is better, but they aren’t allowed to take us to eat or bring us food anymore.”

  “Shit,” I muttered.

  “Yeah,” she agreed.

  “You know they have male birth control, right?”

  She looked at me in shock. “No! What the duck?!”

  I blinked in confusion. “Duck?”

  “I’m out of practice swearing,” she explained, waving it away.

  I snorted. “I could teach you, if you like.”

  Laughing, she shook her head before heading over to speak to someone. I watched her go and noticed that Iago was still watching me, walking carefully in my direction. It wasn’t that late in the afternoon, but there were already people laying on the ground to rest while others were trading high fives and heading back to the school yard.

  “I guess that was it for today,” I observed with a nod.

  “We should go,” was his terse reply.

  I followed him back towards our house. I waited until we were clear of the crowd before I asked, “Are you mad that I said that?”

  He shook his head. “Romeo said you were hurt. Mac said you were not or you would not be here. I am,” he stopped to think for a moment, then finished, “concerned.”

  “I’m fine,” I assured him. “Tired and hungry and worried about building the rest of that house, but fine.”

  “Why are you building that house?” Tybalt asked from where he was trailing behind us.

  How did I even begin to explain? “I’m privileged that you all are taking care of me. It also means I should be using that privilege to help others.” He frowned, looking confused. “It’s called social responsibility. It’s a human thing. We survive better when we take care of each other.”

  “They aren’t taking care of you,” he protested. “We are.”

  I’m not a rocket scientist. Hell, most of the time, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Generally, I like to think I’m fair observant, but maybe I’m kidding myself since that was the first time that I really understood that Tybalt had started taking care of me because he had expectations. The others had hoped; he had felt some sort of entitlement. Maybe that isn’t even the right word, it might be more like confidence. He was confident that if he had my attention, I would …. What? Fall in love with him? Have sex with him?

  I only realized I was scowling when his face fell. I tried to relax. That confidence was what had pulled me out of the foodline, and I was inarguably better off since I then. I stumbled a little as my brain caught up to that thought. Interestingly, Tybalt was right there offering me an arm.

  “I did miss you, too,” he said softly.

  I nodded.

  He scrunched up his face. “Not as good at talking. I will try more.”

  That made me stop to look at him.

  “I will try,” he repeated.

  “I’d like that.”

  He made what I had come to understand as the happy orc noise. It was a grunt, but it was a specific grunt, which makes as much sense as knowing which bark your dog makes when he has to pee. I don’t know how else to explain it, but that’s how it was.

  We got home to find Romeo looking at a book on the table. His head snapped up guiltily when we came in. He immediately took a step back.

  “What’s up?” I asked, ignoring him and heading to the sink to get some water.

  “You have a book and pen,” he explained.

  I spun to stare at him. “What? Really?” I demanded.

  He gave me a sickly smile and looked at the others, then nodded.

  I squealed in delight and flung myself at him to give him a bear hug. “Thank you!”

  He just stiffened.

  “Shit! Right! Sorry! I’m sweaty and stinky. I’m going to drink some water and have a wash, then I’ll come look at it, okay?”

  For some reason, he just looked upset and embarrassed. He was looking at the floor. I looked over at the others. Iago had his hand on Tybalt’s shoulder. Tybalt looked really angry. I stepped back from Romeo and went back to the sink to get my water.

  “I’ll be back,” I mumbled. Normally, as in pre-invasion and even before living in this house, I would have done a really bad accent when I said that line. This time, I just blurted it out and fled. I told myself I would feel better after a wash, and wondered how disgusting I must have been the first time Tybalt fed me. I wondered if that was why he was so upset.

  As much as I wasn’t sure what to do with him, Tybalt was still the first one who reached out to help me.

  ----

  When I was cleaned up enough to feel human again, I headed back out to the kitchen, hoping to find food waiting for me. I was hungry after all that work this afternoon. It felt good to be productive again, like I was living with purpose. It had been a long time since I’d had that.

  The three of them were sitting in the living room. Romeo looked like he was expecting to be in trouble, Tybalt looked resigned, and Iago looked … satisfied? “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “That book—” Romeo started.

  Tybalt interrupted him, “You are happy with it?”

  “Yes? Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Tybalt shifted. “There are pages missing. Someone had already written in it.”

  I shrugged, annoyed that Tybalt would disparage my gift. I went to get it off the table. It wasn’t fancy, it had a black cover and a slightly squashed coil holding the pages together. “It’s a planner from 2006. It looks like someone used it for about a week, then stuck it on a shelf. That doesn’t matter. It has paper I can write on. It still has,” I did some quick mental math, “three hundred and fifty-three pages I can use. It was nice that Romeo found it for me.”

  “I didn’t,” Romeo admitted.

  I blinked. “Okay. I will make sure to say thank you to Mac when he gets home.”

  “He hurt you,” Tybalt growled.

  I felt the blood drain from my face. “No, he didn’t,” I declared, firmly. “Where is he? I want him back.”

  “He’s at Erika’s. You don’t have to see him again,” Iago assured me.

  “I want him back,” I repeated. “He didn’t hurt me. Romeo didn’t make me cry. If I’m unhappy with how one of you is treating me, I will tell you.” I needed to really think about that, I realized, looking at Tybalt.

  “The book wasn’t from him either,” Romeo interrupted.

  “Who did then?” I asked him.

  “Tybalt.”

  I blinked in shock and looked over at the one orc who wasn’t watching me.

  “It is a bad book. It is broken,” he insisted. “I will find a better one.”

  “I like this one,” Tybalt wasn’t looking at me, so I stared into Iago’s eyes. “It isn’t broken. I will be happy to have it for more than it was intended to be.” He stopped breathing for a moment, then nodded. Okay, that was one of them sorted out. On to Problem Child #2. “How did you even find it?”

  “We were looking in houses for someplace to live,” he explained. “There was one with lots of books.”

  “I’ll take that one,” I immediately replied.

  Tybalt looked at me. “You don’t know what books.”

  “I don’t care,” I assured him.

  He opened a cargo pocket on his thigh. “The—” he started, then stopped and growled at Iago.

  “Pens,” the other supplied.

  “The pen-za didn’t make writing any more. These still did.” He offered me a once pretty and now slightly rusty pencil tin.

  I took it and opened it to find pencil crayons and a sharpener. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  He was still watching me intently, but he nodded.

  “These are beautiful, but I still want Mac back.”

  Iago snorted, then left.

  “Is he...” I trailed off, afraid to ask.

  “He will get Mac,” Romeo assured me.

  Tybalt was still tense, still watching me. I took his hand and pulled him to the couch. “How did you know I wanted these? I asked after you
left.”

  “We talk to each other,” he sounded defensive again.

  O … kay. Time to be direct, again. “Are you angry at me?”

  That made him blink at me in shock. “No! Why I be angry at you?”

  I didn’t say, “Because you are the one who rescued me and now I’ve had sex with two of your friends instead of with you,” but it was definitely stampeding through my head. I just watched him nervously, feeling a bit overwhelmed. I was pretty sure crying wasn’t a good choice, but I was tired and hungry and was forced to admit that I might do it anyway.

  “It is used and broked things. You should have better.” He watched me helplessly for a moment. “I should give better,” he finally added.

  “How would you get better than this to give me?” I asked quietly.

  “I can’t!” he roared, making me jump and pull back. He hung his head. “But I want to. I am angry that I can’t.”

  He wasn’t looking at me, so my sympathetic nod went unnoticed. “Tybalt?” That made him look up at me. “Can I hug you now?”

  His lips twitched. “You don’t want to.”

  I took a deep breath and pushed him off the couch. He fell to the floor and looked up at me in shock. “Don’t tell me what I want to do!’ I said, faking anger but letting my smile show.

  He frowned in confusion, his nostrils flaring slightly. Romeo laughed. “I go get food. Kiss him before Mac comes home.”

  Tybalt turned to glare at the retreating orc, but that sounded like good advice to me. I cupped Tybalt’s chin and turned his face to look at me again. Then I leaned in and kissed lips that couldn’t quite kiss me back, before pressing my forehead to his. I was surprised when Tybalt ducked and rubbed his face against my throat. It took me a moment to realize what he was doing.

  “I don’t have scent glands there.”

  He sucked in a big breath against my neck, making me wiggle. “Smell good anyway.”

  I pushed him again, gently this time so that he was laying on his back on the floor. I curled up next to him and nuzzled my face against his neck instead. He groaned like I was hurting him.

  “Am I doing it wrong?” I asked, genuinely concerned this time.