I slammed the door shut and darted my eyes around the room to see what we could toss in front of the door to slow the men down. I stepped over to a tall cabinet against the wall, bags of flour on its shelves. I got against the side of it and pushed it over so it fell across the doorway.
"There!" Tara pointed to a hinged panel on the wall. It looked like a disposal bin of some sort. She raced over to it and pushed the large swinging cover in and glanced inside. "It's a chute. I can see another room."
Cormac and I looked at each other, then we both shook our heads. Evidently he also thought getting trapped in whatever room was at the bottom of the shoot was a bad idea.
"No!" I called out to stop Tara from taking the chute, while I ran to the door which led to the fish-cleaning room and quickly opened it. I knew we'd need the exit ready if their attack got too fierce.
As I did that, Cormac shoved a large table against the fallen cabinet in front of the door. "That'll buy us some time."
I turned back to Tara in time to see her ignore my plea. She went into the chute. I ran over to it and climbed halfway in trying to grab her, but I was too late. She'd already gone down it into the room far below. The inside of the chute was sheer and slick. I couldn't get a grip to push myself out. I'd gone in too far in my attempt to get to her. I lost the tenuous literal foothold I had with the tops of my boots on the edge of the opening to the chute.
"Cormac!" I hoped he could get to me before I fell in, but even as I called him I was on my way down the slippery tunnel. I went down at least twenty feet and fell into the room below, landing beside Tara.
He ran over to the chute and called down to me as I heard pounding against the door we'd blocked. "Den!"
I quickly scanned the room and saw there was no way out but the way I'd come down and that wasn't going to happen fast or easily.
"There's no way back up," I yelled to Cormac. "We're stuck down here."
"It's not going to hold. They'll see where you went," he said.
"Cormac, don't be a fool. Get out of there," I said, knowing he couldn't face them all on his own and survive.
The sound of the men slamming into the door from the other side grew louder.
Cormac sounded panicked. It was the first time I'd ever heard him that way. He tossed down a folded piece of paper—parchment really. "Give this to Tara."
I picked it up. "What?"
"I'll slow them down," he said, talking into the chute. "They can't know you two are in there."
"Cormac, no!"
"Watch over her for me," he said.
I tried again to get back up the chute to help him, but it was no use. The angle was steep and I couldn't get a grip inside to make headway.
We both heard the struggle above. Cormac let out a powerful battlecry and we heard the screams of many dying men.
"Run!" Cormac yelled. "Run back to the port while you still can!"
He was selling a ruse to them to keep our location secret, even while fighting for his life. And he knew not to send them to the tavern, keeping Alara, Nithia, and Monica safe.
Fucking hero.
After a few moments the screams and clammer stopped. I stepped over to Tara who was in tears. I held her in my arms and muffled the sounds of her weeping. She knew what the silence above meant.
Chapter 32
I held Tara until the voices in the room above—where Cormac fought his last battle—were completely quiet for several minutes. I wanted to make sure Ruja's men left. I knew, even with Cormac's convincing ruse that we'd run out of the tower compound and headed for the port, they'd still look around to make sure we had actually run off.
I hoped they didn't check the room we were in, which was a disposal area of some sort. We could see well enough from light coming in through cracks and a few small holes in what I guessed to be the street-facing wall. Rubbish was apparently tossed down the chute on a regular basis and left to pile up until someone at some point removed the heap through the large door, which I discovered below the area where the light was coming into the room. I'd walked Tara over to one of the walls and helped her down to sit against it. Then I checked the door, which was twice as wide as a normal one, but heavily reinforced with large flat iron hinges which extended across the body of the door. It was locked and the inside had no access to the locking mechanism. It was only meant to be opened from what I figured was street-side. I didn't know how often or what time of day or night that happened, but they didn't do it daily, judging from the considerable pile of garbage in the room.
Thankfully the garbage was mostly things which didn't smell too bad—old rags, pieces of broken furniture, busted dishes, and several other mundane items. There was some food too, but most of it didn't look too old. I only saw a little mold and the sour smell in the air was faint—mildly unpleasant, but easy enough to ignore. The state of the food made me think they might empty the place weekly, but I couldn't be sure.
After I checked the door and did my best to force it open to no avail despite my considerable strength, I returned to Tara and sat down beside her. She didn't look at me. She was staring at the heap of discarded junk and scraps. She was quiet and I couldn't see her face because she was leaning forward a little, slumped over with her hands wrapped against her cheeks and her elbows on her knees.
I saw a spot on the floor below her head darken slightly as a tear landed there.
"I'm sorry, Tara."
She didn't say anything, but she nodded her head, just barely.
"He was a good man," I said. "And he saved us both." I felt guilty for not being there by Cormac's side to help him fight off Ruja's men. I knew the two of us would've had a good chance of fending them off…maybe even winning the fight entirely. I questioned whether we'd made the right decision to back out of the hall in favor of facing them in the room.
Tara sniffled. I looked at her. She wiped her eyes with both hands and then leaned back against the wall. I heard her exhale softly.
Seeing her as she was—sorrowful, vulnerable, without the feisty spirit I'd grown accustomed to seeing her exhibit—my heart ached from her pain. I realized I'd made the right decision to get her out of the middle of the two groups of attackers in the hallway that were boxing us in. It would've been stupid for Cormac and I to fly into a furious clash of blades with so many men with her trapped in the few feet between us.
I remembered the parchment Cormac tossed down the chute to me. I had tucked it under my belt. I pulled it out and handed it to Tara. "He wanted me to give you this."
She took it, then looked at me for a moment. A wide beam from high up on the outside wall cut through the dust in the air and lit her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and her freckled cheeks were splotchy from the crying she'd been doing. I had a strong urge to hold her again, but instead I just looked into her green eyes and hoped she knew I'd be there for her…now and whenever she needed me. Doing as Cormac wanted—watching over her—was something I wanted to do. He hadn't needed to ask it of me.
She looked at the folded parchment, then she turned slightly, facing away from me, leaning on her side. I sat quietly while she read whatever Cormac had written for her. When she'd finished she folded it and put it into a pocket on the side of her quiver, which she'd slipped off and propped up against the wall beside her bow, like I'd done with my sword.
Still sitting, she turned around and rested her head against my shoulder. "How long will we be in here?" she asked.
"Until I'm sure it's safe for you…to go back up, I mean. Unless that door opens before then."
"You couldn't get up there before. I don't think I could either."
"I think I can push you up. If I climb in after you and brace myself, maybe." I looked at the pile of debris. "Maybe there's something in there that can help."
"Okay," she said. "Not now though. I don't want to do anything right now. Is that okay?"
"Yeah. That's okay. Take as much time as you need. I'll be right here."
She scooted herself a little clos
er to me and put her head down across my thighs. Then she tucked her knees up toward her stomach and closed her eyes. I put my arm across her side to blanket her. She sighed and I could feel her body relax. Within a few minutes she was asleep.
I thought about what to do when she woke up, and about how long I should let her sleep. I knew it was a survival mechanism—sleeping to get through the grief, and the stress of our entire situation. I was glad she had a way to cope. It must have been the deepest of blows to her, I thought. She considered Cormac an uncle, almost a father figure. I was pretty upset by his death and I'd only known the guy for a short time. I thought I couldn't really imagine how she felt, then I remembered the death of my parents, first one, then the other. Both before their time. There's no getting over that, I thought. You just learn to keep going. It's always a part of you. Cormac will always be a part of her.
She slept for a couple of hours. That gave me plenty of time to think about what to do—what plan C was going to be. There was still a woman trapped somewhere in the tower, and there was still a piece of shit named Ruja who needed to be taken down. I couldn't give up on either thing, even if I'd wanted to. There was no way Cormac's death was going to be in vain, and I wasn't about to turn my back on this hero thing. The more time went by, the more I saw of how the people of Galderia were suffering, the more committed I was becoming to owning the Guardian title Alara had bestowed on me. Backing down wasn't an option this time.
I watched Tara sleep peacefully. She was beautiful. An unruly spitfire, but a wonderful…hot young babe.
I wanted to wake her up right about then, but I pushed down my selfish drives. One thing's for sure, I'm not letting her go back in there with me. I resolved to send her back to the tavern. I would make it into the tower alone. I would take down Ruja and rescue the woman he held captive. It wasn't that I thought it would easy enough for me to do without any help. I just didn't want to see Tara's life in danger again. I knew with her safely back at the tavern, I could focus everything I had on getting in and doing what I had to do…and, I hoped, not dying in the process. Cormac was right. If it was her or me, she was going to be safe. I'd take my chances and let the chips fall.
I felt at peace with my decision. With that settled, I decided to take a page from Tara's playbook and get a little rest.
I'm not sure how long I was out but evidently Tara woke up before I did. I felt her sitting on my lap. I reached up to her before I opened my eyes, and I felt the side of her bare breast. I opened my eyes and discovered she was entirely naked and sitting straddled across my lap and facing me.
"Hey, sleepy," she said.
"Tara!" What the fuck? She was crazy hot sitting on me only inches from putting her nipples on my lips. "What the hell are you doing?"
She looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you know I think you're super sexy and…" I lost my train of thought as she gyrated subtly, causing her breasts to make small wave-like movements. I was getting hard already.
"I mean, now?" I said, but I took no action to stop her from doing what she was doing. "Don't you think this isn't the right time?"
She put her arms on my shoulders. "It wasn't the right time at the inn. It wasn't the right time when you went off to your other women instead. And it wasn't the right time when I first saw you. I don't think we're going to have 'right times'. But I know I want you. And I know you want me. And I know life is uncertain."
"And…" I was trying to come up with something reasonable which would convince her she was making the wrong move. The timing made me uncomfortable. My body—and an increasingly large part of my mind—was telling me to go for it, but I couldn't get past the thought that she was making the wrong decision because her head was messed up by what she'd just gone through.
"And I know what I'm doing," she said. "I know you think I'm crazy and just doing this because I can't cope with what happened. Maybe." She shrugged. "But I'm okay with that. And there's one thing I do know."
I knew it was a dangerous move on my part but I took the bait anyway. "What's that?"
"I know I'm going to fuck you until we both collapse from exhaustion. And I know you're going to love it."
I opened my mouth to respond, but I didn't have any words to come back from that. I sat dumbfounded for a couple of seconds, then I threw my arms around her and pushed her against me, using my hands against her back to press her breasts onto my chest.
I slid one hand down to feel her ass as I turned my head and began tasting her neck and shoulder. She leaned her head back and her breath became heavy and audible. She moved her hips to rock her bare loins against me.
After a few seconds of that, I squeezed her just enough from each side of her torso so I could lift her and she took advantage of the moment without hesitation to lift the garment away from my manhood as I intended for her to do. I released her to settle down onto me and she found her way, sliding into place.
She built up a rhythm and rode me steadily for a good while as I kept one hand on her lower back to support her and used my other to explore her body, finding my way over her breasts—giving them a good kneading—and then to her face. I caressed her cheek and ran my fingers through her hair on the side of her head before moving my hand to her lips and inserting my fingers into her mouth. She welcomed them and played her tongue around them. I drew them out slowly, painting the wetness down her chin. Then I gave her mouth my thumb and she sucked it for a moment before releasing her pressed lips to gasp for air. I kept it there, gently stretching the side of her mouth a little before moving that hand down to play with her nipples. She rode harder, changing the accent of her impacts against me. We both began to build up enough sweat that our bodies slid smoothly against each other. I smelled her raw desire for me. I leaned in and tasted the salty wetness on her nipples.
She was getting me close, so I moved my hands to either side of her hips and took charge of her, guiding her rises and drops, changing their pace and depth to prolong my climax. Her body began to quiver each time I denied her the full range of movement she wanted. I teased her a little with the denial and then gave her fully what she desired. She breathed out loud moans as I kept delivering everything she wanted from me again and again. I felt her add a small pivot to the end of each weighty bounce her ass made onto my thighs, each time rocking her pelvis forward to move against me as hard as she could.
We jolted our bodies together in perfect unison for longer than I thought possible before both finally exploding in ecstasy. I let out a loud howling moan which came unexpectedly from deep within and she emitted a high-pitched squeal which quickly dropped at least an octave or two as every last bit of breath rushed out of her mouth. We held each other tightly as our backs arched and we flexed our bodies toward each other in a moment of extreme muscle contraction. Then we both fell into total relaxation and, as she promised, complete exhaustion.
She leaned forward and draped herself onto me for support. I leaned my head back against the wall and took several long deep breaths, wiping the sweat from my brow. She kissed me on the cheek and then came out a little to kiss my lips passionately, as if she wanted to make herself absolutely clear. Then she lowered herself back and rested her back and head on the floor, while still keeping her legs straddled over me, leaving the two of us joined below. I was impressed with her flexibility and I gazed upon her naked body, reaching down to run the tips of a few fingers over her stomach and down to where the two of us were still one.
I knew there was still hero work to be done, but I savored the moment and looked at her. Her green eyes seemed to glow as a ray of light coming out of the wall lit her face. She smiled. And all I could do was smile in return. I was too tired to talk for now, but neither one of us needed to say anything. Our connection was already there and it was strong enough without any words.
Chapter 33
We did little but rest ourselves against each other for the next thirty minutes or so, after Tara rode me better than I'd ever thought possible.
Granted a few weeks ago my experience was zero, but I was satisfied it was the best any man had gotten. When I felt I had the strength to not only stand but climb up that damn slippery chute, we got up and got dressed. That didn't take long of course—barbarian-minimalist look and all.
We tried the chute without anything to help us at first. That didn't work. It was good for getting a nice view of Tara's ass, since I was trying to get her up first, but I'd had her ass a lot by then and I just wanted to get the hell out of the room. When sheer determination and awkward-looking scrambling against the slippery inside of the chute didn't work, we decided to rummage through the trash pile to see what might help us.
Going through it was nastier than I thought, as it turned out the layers underneath had been decaying longer and more than I originally guessed. The smell we'd stirred up made getting out of the room even more urgent. We pulled out any large pieces of wood or metal we could find—just pieces longer than a couple of feet. I had the idea we could use one or more of them as an arm extension for me, so I could push Tara up farther than I could reach on my own. After clearing away nearly half of what was there, we spotted what we needed—a six-foot long piece of wood. It looked like a plank from a tabletop.
After Tara got into the chute, I was able to use the wood to push against the bottoms of her boots. When I stretched my arms as far as I could while still controlling the piece of wood, she was able to grab the edge of the opening at the top. She pulled herself out after looking to make sure nobody was around. I watched her from the bottom of the chute and could tell the men must have removed Cormac's body as I suspected they would. I was relieved they had. I didn't want Tara to have to see him.
She held the hinged door to the chute open and stood aside so I could shove the piece of wood up hard. I gave it a strong push and it shot up the slippery chute and came halfway out of the opening beside her. It started to slide back down, but she caught the end of it before it fell back too far. I watched her pull the board completely out of the chute, then I stood around for about a minute while she executed the next part of our escape plan.
Dennis the Conqueror: A Harem Fantasy (Sword and Sorority Book 1) Page 24