by Misty Vixen
He did and she carefully began to peel away the bandage April had laid into place several hours ago. It was stained with blood. “It’s stopped bleeding,” she murmured, setting the bandage aside. “This is gonna hurt.”
He hissed in pain as she cleaned the wound again but otherwise held his peace. He glanced over at her. Her huge breasts hung down practically in his face and jiggled and swayed with each tiny movement of hers.
“Don’t,” she murmured.
“What?” he asked.
“Reach for them. I know you want to, and you know I like it when you touch them, but you really need to not move right now.”
“I wasn’t going to,” he said.
“You’re a terrible liar. We need to work on that.”
He just snorted and fell silent, then began thinking about her, if she was lying to him. She finished cleaning his wound and began bandaging it again. “Cait?”
“Yes, David?”
“Is something wrong?”
“What?” she asked, startled.
“Let me rephrase that. I know something’s wrong. Will you tell me what it is?” She was silent, working on his bandage probably with more diligence than was required. He sighed. “If you really, honestly don’t want to tell me, then I’ll respect that, but if there’s something wrong with you, I want to know. And if there’s something wrong between us, I think I deserve to know, given our relationship. And if it’s something else, then I want to know, and I want to help.”
He waited. She was silent for several seconds, then she finished with his bandage. “David...something’s happened. A...change. That I wasn’t expecting. It relates to you, and it impacts, well, everyone in the relationship. I can’t pretend it doesn’t. However...I need a little more time to...to wrap my head around it. We can discuss it fully after we take on the thieves. Okay?” she asked, almost a little beseechingly, he thought.
He reached out and took her hand. “Okay, Cait.”
“Thank you. Very much. And...” she hesitated, looking a little hesitant and perhaps a little guilty now, “I need something from you. I need you to tell me the truth.”
“About? I mean, I haven’t lied to you yet.”
“I know. I just wanted to relay how important it is. How many sexual partners do you have right now? How many women have you had sex with in this region, including one night stands or flings? List them, please,” she asked.
“Um...” he wanted to ask her why, but the expression on her face told him it was genuinely important, and he believed that it was important, so instead he considered it. “There’s Evie, and April, and you. Ellie and Ashley, obviously. Jennifer. And now Vanessa.”
“And that’s it? No one else? You’re sure?” she asked.
He thought for a few more seconds, then nodded. “Yes. I’m sure. There’s no one else. At this point, I’d remember,” he replied. “Why?”
“It isn’t a jealousy thing, don’t worry about that. I just...need to know. Is there anyone you intend to become sexually active with in the next...few days?” she asked.
“Fuck, now that’s a lot tougher question. I guess...if they offered, I’d have sex with Katya and Ruby...and Lara, that military woman. I’d definitely fuck her...why? What’s this about, babe?”
She bit her lower lip, looking sheepishly at him. “I promise I’ll tell you tomorrow night. But there’s no one else? It is important.”
“No. Although with the goddamned eruption in my apparent sexual popularity that I’ve been enjoying over the past month, I can’t promise that won’t change.”
“Okay, that’s fair. Will you tell me before fucking anyone you haven’t already fucked, if the opportunity comes up, before you actually have sex with them?” He stared at her for a moment, still baffled by what the fuck it could be. Obviously it was related to sex. But how? “I’m sorry, I know I’m being a pain in the ass.”
“It’s fine,” he replied. “I trust you, Cait. I believe you, and I trust that you wouldn’t ask this, nor would you keep anything from me, without a good reason. Yes, I’ll tell you.”
“Thank you, David,” she said, and she got down on the bed and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”
After another few seconds, he asked, “Can you at least tell me if it’s good or bad?”
She hesitated, then replied, “It’s complicated...but I don’t think it’s bad...if that helps?”
“I guess it does,” he murmured. “Well, whatever it is, I’ll wait, and try to put it out of my mind.”
“I’m sorry to be cryptic, it just...surprised me. A lot.”
“It’s okay. Whatever it is...I’m here for you.”
“I hope you still feel that way after I tell you what it is,” Cait murmured.
“You think I won’t?”
“I...don’t know. And, to be clear,” she added quickly, “it’s not a judgment on you. This would surprise anyone.” She sighed. “Let’s get dinner. I’m starving.”
“All right, babe.” He kissed her, and she kissed him back with passion.
Then they got up and began dressing. He let the worry over her drift from his mind as much as he could as he carefully pulled his clothes on. The pain in his shoulder was a real problem for moving around. He’d never been outright shot before, but, like he kept telling them, this really didn’t feel like a serious gunshot wound, because it wasn’t. It was basically a really bad cut or scrape. A good chunk of skin had been gouged out, and that fucking sucked, and it was going to for a little while, but it wasn’t the same as what had happened to Evie. Cait waited patiently for him to get dressed, and even helped him get his boots on.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” she murmured as she finished tying them.
“I’m not, I’m just...” he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
“You are.”
“Maybe. It’s...you’re so fucking badass, and tough, and it’s...it’s hard to measure up to that, often. You know? It’s hard not to feel like I’ve got to hide every weakness from all of you.”
“David,” Cait said, looking up at him, “you’re plenty tough. I think you’ve proved that by now. And tough isn’t everything. I don’t need you to be a hardass all the time. Sometimes, yes. But seeing you being loving and kind and thoughtful, is just as important to me as seeing you be decisive and tough. I’m with you for several reasons, and ‘tough’ isn’t at the top of the list.”
“What is at the top of the list?” he asked.
She sighed, considering it.
“Don’t tell me it’s sex,” David said.
“Would that be so bad?” she replied with a small grin.
“I mean, no...not entirely. I just feel like...there should be something more crucial as the foundation of a relationship, you know? I feel like there are too many pieces of shit out there that are good at sex and bad at...everything else that goes into a relationship, but they keep getting relationships and abusing their partners just because they’re attractive or charismatic.”
“I feel you,” she said. “If it helps, I’d rather have a good person who’s lousy in bed than a piece of shit who’s great in bed. Not that I’m saying you’re lousy in bed. With you, I get both. As for what tops the list? You care about me, and you care about Evie and April and Ellie. And you show it. You put real, genuine effort in to make us all happy. And you aren’t doing it just because we’re sucking your dick. You’re doing it because you like us, and because you think we’re worth the effort, and you want to make us happy. And that...is worth a lot. A lot, David. I’m seeing that more and more, the longer I spend time around you.”
He stared back at her. “I...don’t know what to say.”
“It’s okay, David. You don’t have to say anything. That’s my point: you say enough with your actions. Keep that up,” she said, and she kissed him. Then she stood and, after a few seconds, he stood with her. It occurred to him, as they held hands and walked downstairs, that he had never really quite had a place like this before. Even back when he w
as with his family, they’d moved around so often that he’d never really found a home. And although he didn’t think poorly of the tremendous effort his parents put into raising him and keeping him safe and fed…
It wasn’t the same as what he had now.
Now, he felt like he actually…
Belonged.
The feeling only grew as he and Cait walked downstairs and into the dining area where they found Evelyn, Ellie, Jennifer, April, and Ashley.
“Look who made it!” Ashley declared.
“We were just about to come wake you two,” Evie said.
“I didn’t hear any screaming, so apparently you two didn’t fuck,” Ellie said. “And yet you’ve both got that look on your face...”
“This look comes from a loving relationship,” Cait replied.
As they sat down at the table, he just barely caught a little tiny bit of subterfuge between Ashley and Cait. Ashley looked at Cait with wide, inquisitive eyes, and Cait gave the barest shake of her head. Whatever it was, whatever was going on, Ashley knew, and Cait was indicating to her that she had yet to tell him.
Goddamn, what was it?!
No. He could wait. He trusted Cait to stick to her word. He instead focused on the food as a ravenous hunger overtook him. The others had cooked up a pretty hearty meal of venison and rabbit, with some rabbit and vegetable stew, toast, and a shitload of peaches. David got himself some milk, then piled his plate high with food and dug in. The eating and pleasant conversation and laughter lasted for about twenty or so minutes before the more serious matters that were overshadowing them all finally could be ignored no longer.
“All right, let’s get serious,” Ellie said, gathering everyone’s attention. “We’ve gone around and talked to everyone we can talk to.”
“How’d it go?” Evelyn asked.
“Not as well as I’d have liked, better than I’d hoped,” Ellie replied. “At present, the assault force consists of: myself, Cait, David, Evelyn, Jennifer, Vanessa, Ruby, and Lara.”
“That’s it?” Ashley asked.
“Two goliaths, a soldier, and a godlike sniper isn’t insignificant,” Cait replied.
“I’m guessing Lara must be the soldier?” Evelyn asked.
“Yes,” Ellie said. “She’s solid. I trust her.”
“Okay. So...how many of them are there?” Evelyn replied.
“We’re not sure, but I’d guess on the plus side of fifty. Though maybe not after their loss here,” Ellie said.
“Fifty?” Ashley asked. “Eight versus fifty?”
“And it gets more complicated,” Ellie said.
“How?” she demanded.
“We can’t just mow the place down wholesale. Besides the fact that that could be a useful outpost and there’s certainly a lot of useful supplies in there that we don’t want to destroy, we can’t confirm that there might not be innocents inside. We don’t know if they might have prisoners.”
“So how the fuck are we going to do this?” Ashley demanded.
“We will handle it, while you stay here and hold down the fort. When we leave, until we get back,” David said, drawing everyone’s attention, “I want all the children brought inside, preferably into the basement, as a precaution, as well as the Walsh’s. Everyone else, you, your parents, Ann, the Carlson’s, if we think we can trust him with a gun, Benjamin, will be armed, and we’ll post guards to cover all the ways into this place. And you are to remain until we return. Do you have that?” he asked, staring at her.
She looked like she wanted to argue, somehow, someway, but finally she just nodded and seemed to make herself say, “I have it.”
“Good. Thank you, Ashley. You are playing quite a crucial role.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered.
“What about our plan?” Cait asked.
“I’ve got an idea. We need to draw them out. And we need some subterfuge. I say three teams, and three stages. Team one is Vanessa and Jennifer. There’s a cabin about three hundred feet away from the main camp. You two will get to it, kill any hostiles there quietly, and then Jennifer will hide there. Vanessa will launch an assault and be the hook that draws most of them in. She’ll hurry back to the cabin and the two of you will hold off the assault. Team two is Ruby and Cait. We’ll place Ruby in a position to start sniping their asses, drawing more of them off and splitting the bulk of the force. Cait, you’re her bodyguard. Team three is the rest of us, myself, David, Lara, Evelyn. We hit the main encampment, kill any bad guys who are still around. David and Lara will see if there are any hostages while Evelyn and I move on and hit them from the back. Once you’ve checked out the camp, you join us and we mop up any stragglers.”
She sat back, looking more than a little pleased with herself.
“It’s not a bad plan,” Cait murmured.
“Suggestions? Flaws?” Ellie asked, looking around the table.
David considered it as the others started talking, hashing it out, and they spent the next twenty minutes mainly discussing variations of ‘what if this goes wrong?’, and occasionally presenting another idea. But ultimately, no one had a better idea of a way to achieve all their intended goals. And once they were finished talking about it, Ashley cleared her throat and leaned forward, looking around the table at them all.
“Now that business is out of the way, what’s say we tend to pleasure?” she asked, and she looked at David and Jennifer, who sat beside each other. “I was told that the two of you would be making love tonight, and I would love to watch, if you’re so inclined to let me.”
Everyone else at the table looked at them. Ellie looked sympathetic, and perhaps ready to step in on Jennifer’s behalf, given how well they knew each other. Jennifer looked surprised and a little caught off guard. She looked at David inquisitively.
“Only if you’re comfortable with it. If you want, no one has to watch,” he said.
“I’m okay with an audience,” she replied after a moment. “I guess...just so long as everyone’s really okay with me being a wraith. And it’s okay if you aren’t into me, I think that’s totally fine. I just...want to make sure.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re all pretty enthused about this,” Evelyn said. “Cait? April?”
“Oh, I’m obviously enthused,” Cait replied. “I’ve already had the pleasure once.”
“I’m definitely interested,” April said quietly. She looked very aroused, not quite able to meet anyone’s eyes. “I really want to watch this.”
“Obviously I do,” Ellie said.
“I think I’ve made my position clear,” Ashley said.
“Okay then,” Jennifer replied. “Then, uh...where’s the bed?”
“Upstairs,” David replied. “Come on.”
Several chairs were pushed back and all of them followed the pair up the stairs and into David’s and Evelyn’s shared bedroom.
“Wow, that is a big bed,” Jennifer murmured, staring at it.
“Yep. I’m a big lady,” Evelyn replied.
“So this is where you and David sleep?” she asked.
“Most nights,” David replied. “April has her own room, Cait and Ellie share one. Though more often than not someone ends up not in their own bed. Usually someone will crawl in here and shove me on my back and ride me in the middle of the night.”
“That’s usually me,” Cait said.
“Let’s do this,” Ashley said impatiently.
“All right. Let’s wash up. It’s certainly been a long enough day,” David replied.
“Yes,” Jennifer agreed. “Definitely.”
While the others got settled around the room, David and Jennifer walked over to the washbasin and began stripping. “How’d we do for guns?” David asked as he got undressed, careful of his wounded shoulder.
“Good,” Ellie replied. “Seven pistols, an automatic rifle, and a shotgun.”
“Only nine of them were armed?” he asked.
“No, they were all armed, but the rest of them, all pistols, were so fucke
d up that we’re just going to scrap them for spare parts. Not a decent haul of ammo, though. They used up most of what they had on them trying to take us down.”
“Why are they so fucking bad at this and so fucking persistent?” David asked as he finished stripping and began washing.
“I don’t know. It’s not really unique. There’s a lot of groups out there that usually have strength in numbers but almost all of them are shit lousy shots with no discipline, united only by desperation and cruelty,” Cait said. “It’ll be good to wipe them out.”
“Yep,” Ellie growled.
David glanced at Jennifer as she finished undressing by taking her panties off. Fuck, she had a nice body. Still pretty trim and fit. She didn’t seem too...corpse-y, for a wraith. The most obvious thing about her was her dead pale skin, her blackened veins across her whole body, and her generally unhealthy appearance. But if you could get past that...she had a nice body. Nice breasts, great ass, still decently fit. From what he understood, no two wraiths were alike. Some still needed to eat and drink, some didn’t. Some decayed, some didn’t. Some went bald, some lost limbs, some couldn’t talk. It seemed pretty random.
But Jennifer looked good. Slim, trim, skinny really, almost as skinny as April, but a little more filled out than her.
She looked at him anxiously as they washed up together. “I’m still a little cold,” she said. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” He reached out and laid a hand on her back. She was kind of clammy, but it wouldn’t stop him.
“David,” April said as they finished washing up and began to dry. He glanced at her. “Be careful. Don’t move too much, okay?”
“I’ll ride him,” Jennifer said.
“Probably for the best,” he replied after a few seconds. His shoulder was bugging him. Although orgasming would help with the pain, at least.
As they finished drying, the pair of them moved over to the bed and climbed into it. Jennifer seemed careful as they settled down beside each other and began to touch. He ran his hand across her slim, pale body, and felt her own cool hands sliding across his bare skin. She seemed eager and happy simply to touch him, and he couldn’t blame her. Before they had made love that first time, how long had she been alone? She made it sound like it had been a very long time since she’d last been intimate. He knew how she felt, to a certain degree. And now she had him and, apparently, Vanessa. He would love to get them together in a threesome.