She remembered eating pomegranates under the tree in the courtyard with her mother. Her baby sister was only seven months old then and her mother would squeeze the juice into her mouth to her sister’s absolute delight. Rowan smiled at the bittersweet memory, missing them both now.
“What are you doing?” came Silas’ voice from behind her, startling her.
She turned to look at him as he pulled his shirt on and was just able to meet his gaze.
“Pomegranates,” she said. “Help me gather them, they are precious fruit.”
Silas looked at them while she watched him, curious that he’d never seen them before. He plucked one from the tree and brought it to his nose to smell. She smiled and bent to pick up a fallen one that had split and tore it open, the red juices spilling from it, staining her hands and wrists.
“You eat the seeds,” she said to him. He watched her. “Like this.” She brought it to her mouth and bit into it, closing her eyes with pleasure as juice burst into her mouth. Wiping her face, she handed him the other half. “Try.”
He looked at it, hesitated for a moment, then brought it to his mouth. He made a sound of utter satisfaction a moment later. “They’re delicious,” he said, taking another bite. “We don’t have these by the village.”
“Help me gather the ripe ones, but not all. We can’t take all the fruit of the tree.”
“Why not?” he asked.
She looked at him confused for a moment. “Someone else might need them.”
He studied her as if surprised by what she said and she realized he most likely did not have the abundance in his life as she had had in hers. Food was aplenty for breeders. They needed to remain healthy and strong to carry the colony’s children after all.
Silas nodded and they gathered the ripe fruit. They carried it back to the wagon before she collected the pile of wood she had managed to find and Silas started a fire.
“They’ve packed smoked meat and some bread for us. It’s not much, but it will do for our journey,” he said.
“How many days until we reach your settlement?”
“Two full days at our speed.”
She nodded, her mind wandering to her reception there.
“Sit down,” he said.
She did, but flinched when her sore bottom came in contact with the ground and decided to sit on her heels instead, or pretend to. The flesh of her bottom and her bottom hole in particular still stung from earlier. From the look on his face, he noticed. She cleared her throat, blushing a little at the memory of how he had seen her.
“You are not afraid to look at me?” she asked, desperate to stop thinking about the humiliations of earlier.
“Why would I be?” he asked, tearing off a piece of meat and handing it to her.
She took it and sucked on the salty flesh, wanting to make it last. “People think breeders have magic. That we can curse with a mere look.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“What about those at your village? What do they believe?” She had no idea and she was dependent on him for everything from food to safety and she knew it.
“We are perhaps more human than those at your colony.”
“What will happen to me?” she asked, breaking off a piece of bread and looking at it while waiting for his answer.
“You will, hopefully, become pregnant quickly, give the colony their breeders, and go home.”
“Chances that I birth a breeder are minimal. My mother only had two out of seventeen births.”
“Your mother birthed seventeen children?” he asked, his expression one of shock.
Rowan nodded. “It is our only duty.”
“Did you do what they said you did?” he asked. “Are you responsible for two deaths?”
Rowan squeezed the bread into crumbs and wiped them off her lap. Her eyes warmed with tears. “Ana was my friend,” she said, looking at him. “I would never have hurt her. I would never have hurt anyone, breeder or not.”
“Then why were you accused?”
She snorted an exhale and threw a piece of bread into the fire.
“Don’t waste food, it’s not abundant where you’re going,” he said.
She sat shaking her head.
“Did you hear me?” he asked.
She looked up at him.
“I can see from the flesh on your bones that you had plenty when you lived in the colony but that is not the case any longer. It’s wasteful and spoiled to waste food. Don’t let me see you do that again,” he chastised.
“It was a bite of bread. And I’m done eating anyway,” she said, rising, surprised at the spite in her tone.
“Sit down.”
Without answering, she began to walk to the wagon.
“I said sit down,” he repeated.
She ignored him.
“If you are not back here sitting down in the next instant, I will bare your bottom and spank it so you won’t be able to sit for the rest of our journey. I don’t think you want that, Rowan. Not after what I saw them do to you today.”
She turned then, her eyes narrowed in his direction. “You’re no different, no better than they are,” she said.
He was on his feet in an instant and as soon as he was, she turned and ran. Where she was going she did not know, but she ran. It was the only thing she could think to do. But Silas was easily faster than her. In a moment, he had caught her and was dragging her back toward the fire.
“Let me go!” she yelled, fighting him every step of the way so that when he lifted her off the ground, she was kicking at his shins.
“You’re going to understand my rules and fast,” he said, sitting back down by the fire and pulling her face down across his lap.
“Please don’t! Not now, I’m too raw. Please!”
Silas pushed the fur aside and looked at the backs of her thighs, then pushed her dress up to her waist, baring her bottom. Yes, she was still raw, every stripe of that strap and the fading marks of the switches still visible on her backside.
“Please don’t spank me,” she said, looking at him over her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
He brought his hand down to just touch one of the welts. She sucked in a breath and clenched her bottom tight, which only aggravated the pain of her bottom hole.
“Please,” she implored. “Do it when I’m healed if you must.”
He looked at her, considering, then nodded. “I will punish you when you’ve healed and you will submit to the punishment without a fight, agreed?”
She nodded once and he turned his gaze back to her bottom, touching it lightly, rubbing a gentle circle and slowly moving his fingers to the cleft in between her buttocks. Rowan began to whimper as he did and covered her face. She was raw inside and out and she couldn’t imagine the pain of being taken now, even as it was his right.
“Relax. I won’t have you tonight. I saw what they did to you. I just want to look at the damage.”
“Haven’t you seen enough?” she asked, her tone even more disrespectful than she meant. Silas turned her sideways and slapped the outside of her hip hard.
“Ow!”
“I don’t do this for my own pleasure,” he began, turning her back over onto her belly and placing his big hand over her bottom. “Look at me.”
Rowan turned tear-filled eyes to look at him.
“I am obligated, just as you are. I do not intend you harm but I will do what I need to do keep you in hand while you are in my care. I am not a monster but I will not tolerate disrespect, is that clear?”
She nodded quickly.
“Now you will lie here while I inspect your bottom and you will cooperate. I will not spank you tonight nor will I claim you tonight but both are coming, know that. Are you going to cooperate?” he asked.
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You do. You can cooperate with or without punishment. That’s your choice.”
She turned away. “I’m embarrassed.”
He made a sound. “Rowan,” he said, h
is tone softer.
She looked back at him.
“I don’t intend to do you harm. I witnessed what you’ve been through and I wouldn’t do that to my worst enemy.”
She looked down, nodding.
“Good girl,” he said and turned his attention to her bottom. Using his fingers, he spread her cheeks wide to find her bottom hole red and very tender looking. “Does it hurt?”
She nodded, her face burning crimson.
“They should have given you ointment.”
“I think the girl did. She slipped it to me when she gave me the fur.”
“Give it to me,” Silas said, straightening her up. She reached inside her pocket to pull out the small container. Opening it, she inhaled to make sure it was what she thought, and it was.
“That was brave of her,” he said.
Rowan nodded. “I know.”
“Give it to me and lie back down, lift your dress.”
She opened her mouth but closed it again and shook her head. “No.” She folded her arms across her chest.
Silas laughed a little. “I think I’ll call you Hellcat. Your eyes are downright wicked when you’re defiant.” Then his smile vanished. “Give it to me and lie back down, raise your dress. Now. Be happy you’re baring your bottom for this sort of attention and not a spanking, Hellcat.”
“Don’t call me that,” she said, lying down over his lap.
“Doesn’t it fit?” he asked, watching as she pushed her furs aside and lifted her dress up over her hips.
“No.”
She groaned when she felt one hand pull her bottom cheek out but in the next instant when he smeared ointment onto her bottom hole, she closed her eyes and let her mouth go slack.
“It doesn’t feel so bad. Just let me take care of you while I have you,” he said, massaging the stuff around her back hole. “I’m going to push in just a little, just to rub the cream inside. Try to relax, I won’t hurt you.”
She covered her face with her hands now and waited, but the ointment was at least working. She was already feeling better and even aroused now, especially as he began to push his finger inside her. He was careful and slow and even as she felt embarrassed by this intimate attention, she also felt something else.
After a few moments, he stopped, and with one finger inside her bottom, other fingers just touched her sex for a moment, softly caressing. It felt good, it felt very good and she felt her muscles tightening around his finger. She groaned in embarrassment.
“Shh, let me take care of you. You have only to relax. Close your eyes and relax.”
She did as he said and soon, the finger inside her bottom was moving again and his other finger had found her clit. She lifted her hips to him and made a small whimpering sound as a shudder ran through her and she came quietly, with a slow moan, wanting the sensation to last and last.
Chapter Four
Rowan woke to the sound of birds chirping early the next morning. She opened her eyes, unsure of where she was at first, but all it took was a moment for it all to come back to her. She looked down at the large arm draped over her waist and became very aware of the body behind hers, of the warmth and hardness of it. She had slept through the night and even now, didn’t feel cold. When she stirred, he pulled her tighter, his breathing changing slightly. After he settled back into sleep, she took hold of his arm in both of her hands and, as carefully as she could, she lifted it up and began to scoot out from under it. She was almost free when his hand closed around her waist and he tugged her onto her back.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to pee.” He studied her for a minute and she gave him a look. “Really.”
He nodded and let her go, sitting up and scratching his head. Rowan stood, her body slightly sore but more from sleeping on the hard ground than anything else. Her bottom and thighs only felt tender, not really painful any longer but her bottom hole still ached. He had pocketed the ointment himself so she would have to ask for it if she wanted any relief.
But first, she needed to find a private space to relieve herself. Scooting behind some rocks far enough from where Silas now moved around, she squatted down to pee, watching him. He was so large, his hair was ruffled, and he looked a little out of sorts looking around for something then figuring to check in the contents on the wagon. He smiled when he found it and she saw his mouth move as he said something to himself, or more accurately, to the small pot and what appeared to be coffee that he had found. Rowan smiled and made her way back to where he now began to rebuild their fire.
“Is that coffee?” she asked.
He nodded. “I guess they knew I’d be in a foul humor without it and didn’t want me to kill their breeder,” he chuckled.
Rowan only stared at him.
When he saw her face, he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, that was inappropriate. A bad joke.”
“It’s ok.” She picked up one of the pomegranates from the night before and looked over at him. “Do you have a knife?” she asked.
He hesitated but slowly handed her a small knife, the look in his eyes a warning as she took it from him. She split the fruit in half, careful not to slice it through and waste any of the juice. She split it in two and stuck one half onto the end of the knife. With a smirk on her face, she handed it to him.
“Thank you,” he said, taking it. He watched the water boil then added the coffee grounds as he ate his fruit.
“You never told me why you were accused,” he said casually.
“Don’t you believe me that I didn’t do anything wrong?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I want to know why.”
She took a deep breath in. He wasn’t a beast to her, this man. Not yet anyway. And she was bound to him for now. She would choose when to fight him and when to give in. “Captain Amro rapes the breeders,” she began, feeling the look of disgust on her face. “He chooses the ones that appeal to him and this time, I was the unfortunate one who caught his eye,” she said, looking into the fire. “I’d heard of it before, seen the girls that he’d had the next morning. He always chose the ones who just came of breeding age. At least he didn’t harm the children, maybe I should give him credit for that,” she snorted, her lip curling.
“How many?” His voice was hard and she turned her face to his.
“I don’t know. It was a rumor I’d heard before, but when I came of age, they told me, the others, to just let it happen. To try to stay silent and it would be easier. Not to fight. That it would only continue until I was bred and then it would be over.”
His eyes narrowed on hers and his mouth tightened while he waited for her to continue.
“I understood then why some of the women were punished so harshly. In the end, they all gave in, they all advised me to remain quiet, to not fight and let it happen.”
“You didn’t.”
“No. I fought, made too much noise, I would have killed him if I could have. A guard came to see the commotion and Ana, poor Ana…” She had just started to show, her belly just rounding. They had all felt the baby move for the first time that morning. She remembered how happy Ana had been, how she had been sure the child would be a breeder, that she would get to keep her baby.
Silas reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing a little. That squeeze though only managed to push the tears out from behind her eyes. She shrugged off his hand and turned her attention to the ground, digging at the earth, watching as her fingernails grew dirty. It took her a minute before she turned back to him, inhaling then exhaling loudly, that exhale vocalizing her pain.
“When he heard the guard at the door, he reached for Ana who was pretending to be asleep in the next bed. Without even looking at her, he threw her like she was nothing against the far wall. I don’t know what he expected, if he intended on killing her or just hurting her, but there are metal posts that come out of the walls in our rooms, I don’t know what they were used for. Most were filed down and dull but not all.”
&nbs
p; Tears came faster now as she remembered too well the sight of Ana as she fell backward, her face when the sharp point pushed through her middle, impaling her. “It went through her, through her belly. She looked at me at the end, her face was strange and she just looked at me, her expression one of pain, of disbelief. She raised her one hand to touch the wound, but barely.”
When she wavered, Silas pulled Rowan into his arms and held her as she wept. She didn’t fight him, instead she rested her forehead on his hard chest, feeling the full sadness of that night for the first time, crying over Ana for the first time.
“You don’t have to tell me the rest if it upsets you,” he said, holding her, rubbing her back, her head. “Shh.”
Rowan shook her head and pushed away so she could look up at him. “When the guard came in, Captain Amro pulled me back as if he were trying to keep me from Ana. He accused us of fighting, said that I’d pushed her. They never even asked me anything. Some of the other girls, they had seen what he had done but if they were afraid before, well, they were terrified then.”
“And you, are you terrified of him?”
Rowan thought for a second then shook her head. “No. I want to kill him.”
“Hellcat,” he said under his breath.
“What about you? Why are you doing this? If it’s for the medicines, the colonies have always traded for them. I don’t understand why you would do this.”
She studied his face, saw the struggle behind his eyes.
“Why?” she asked again.
“For my people,” he said, shuttering his eyes. “We will be given as much as we need forever.”
“But why breed me with you? And why not just take what they need from you, it doesn’t make sense.”
“It seems we savages have some use for them. We are stronger than the men of the colonies, we have acquired, or perhaps we’ve always had, a different makeup. It’s not a gene like what you have, it’s not so easily identifiable in fact. But what they’ve discovered is that breeding one of you with one like me will take the possibility of birthing a breeder to an almost assured success.”
Given to the Savage Page 5