Leci whimpered softly against his mouth, giving in to the urgency that had overcome her, using the hand at his neck to hold him close, pressing him down against her. She grinned against him, her teeth found his lower lip and she nipped him playfully, she felt the hand at the back of her head tighten its grip on her hair and tug sharply when she bit down.
Her head pulled back and she gasped for air while his lips moved along the curve of her jaw to her ear, he sucked the lobe into his mouth and she shivered, closing her eyes and allowing her other senses to experience the moment for her.
The weight of him against her chest lifted as he tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it across the room, and then his hands and lips and tongue were on her; stroking, licking, biting, sucking. He probed and explored her body, alternately caressing her gently and kneading her roughly.
She felt his fingers at her waist and raised her hips slightly to accommodate him while he tugged at her jeans, she wriggled free of them and they flew off in vaguely the same direction her shirt had gone in.
She opened her eyes and looked up at him; sat astride her, he was staring down at her with a wildness in his eyes that made her heart beat faster. She could sense his hunger, his need, could feel the desire radiating from him and loved the way her body responded to it. She felt as though her skin was electrified by his touch, tingling beneath his fingertips, the ache in her groin was so intense it almost hurt, the longing to be close, to be intimate after so much loneliness was close to overpowering.
Leci reached out and fingered the bottom of his shirt, tugging it, she gave him a coy pout and he took the hint, discarding the top and lowering himself back down to her. She slid her arms around his back, running her hands over his smooth, muscled body.
He nuzzled into her neck and kissed down to her shoulder, his teeth clamped around her skin, testing at first and then harder and finally sinking into her flesh, she cried out and arched her back, her chest pressing against his and at the same time her fingers hooking into claws and her nails raking up his spine; leaving raw furrows in their wake.
The pain in her shoulder wasn’t an unpleasant one, it was sharp and made her feel alive for the first time in a long while.
Amato slipped his arms beneath her and sat up again, pulling her with him, holding her tightly against his body. Her lips found his and she tasted blood, her blood, as she sucked his tongue into her mouth.
He managed to struggle out of his pants and lifted her into his lap, she wrapped her legs around his waist, poised above him, could feel his tip pressing against her, driven almost crazy by the throbbing need, the craving to feel him inside of her, filling her. She broke away from this kiss and met his eyes, pressed her forehead against his, the tip of her nose lightly touching his. He held her around the waist, keeping her suspended, teasing her. She snapped her teeth at his lips but missed purposely and grinned when he playfully spanked her ass in return, she spoke in barely a whisper, the tone of her voice had a pleading quality that conveyed her need, she was almost begging him to put her out of her misery.
‘Fuck me.’
Amato smirked and yanked her down hard, onto him, she cried out as he impaled her, felt his thickness driving into her core and clenched herself around him, hugging him inside of her, her legs wrapped tightly around him, pulling him against her, her feet pushing him deeper inside.
He lowered her down until she was laying on the couch again, she lifted her hands above her head and clung onto the armrest as he pounded into her relentlessly, battering her insides.
One of his hands roamed her chest, squeezing her breasts so roughly it almost brought tears to her eyes and she was sure she’d have bruises tomorrow. His other hand reached up, she thought for a second he was going to touch her face or tug at her hair again but instead he hovered over her throat.
He looked down at her and she gazed back up at him, then felt his fingers close around her neck, gently at first but more tightly as he gripped.
Leci gasped in shock, sucking in air as it became more difficult to breathe and she fought briefly, writhing beneath him, lifting her hand to his and trying to pry his fingers away. Amato brushed her hand away and leaned down over her, mashing his lips to hers. She forgot that she had been fighting, found that she didn’t really want to and she hungrily met his kiss, struggled to pull oxygen through her nose and into her constricted airway and felt herself growing more lightheaded and dizzy than she had been already due to the gin.
He pulled away from her lips but kept the pressure on her throat. The edges of her vision swam yellow and she heard a ringing sound in her ears but at the same time her body seemed to have entered a state of heightened sensitivity. Amato’s tongue, teasing her nipples, sent shivers of ecstasy through her and with each thrust she felt herself growing closer to climax until, with a strangled cry, she felt her body tense, felt the muscles of her abdomen contract around him, her back arching as waves of pleasure coursed through her. Amato stiffened against her, slid his free hand beneath her shoulder blades and pulled her closer, pressing their bodies together, and as she felt him release inside of her the hand at her neck was suddenly gone and she dragged air into her tortured lungs gratefully. His arms encircled her, she sat in his lap, her legs still wrapped around him and her head resting on his shoulder as she fought to control her breathing.
His head was against hers and he sounded to be having almost as hard a time as she was, she could hear him panting heavily, feel his hot breath against her cheek and his heart, racing against her chest.
They sat that way until the chill in the air forced Leci to move. She hadn’t noticed how cold it had gotten when there had been so much... friction to keep her warm but now as she sat in his arms, the sweat turning cold on her naked body and the breeze teasing icy fingers across her skin cruelly, she began to shiver uncontrollably.
Amato eased her back onto the couch, she felt an aching loss as their bodies parted. He stood up and went to where a pile of blankets had been left earlier, fetching an armful back with him and tenderly covering her before climbing underneath and joining her, he lay alongside her on the narrow couch, he wrapped his arms around her, his fingers stroking her back languorously in small circles. She felt satisfied in a way she never had before and was so very, very sleepy.
Tentatively she raised her fingers to her throat, wincing as she touched raw skin. She lifted her head slightly to look at him.
He was watching her, a contented smile on his face.
‘Why did you hurt me?’ She asked in a small, almost childish voice.
Amato laughed softly, not in an unkind way, just as though he found the question charmingly amusing.
‘Baby, you’ll be a bit sore for a couple of days, but I would never hurt you.’
Leci found herself with no response to this, couldn’t really argue with it and even though she was surprised at herself for accepting it so readily she could also admit that the experience, though different and even a little frightening, had been exhilarating, exciting, intense and so very, very gratifying. Worth a little bit of discomfort?
Absolutely.
Curled against him, his arms encircling her, she had never felt so safe and loved in all her life.
It was almost upsetting that she was going to have to destroy all of this, that she couldn’t keep any of it, but she eased her conscience by telling herself that she had given him what he wanted and he could be happy now.
After a few minutes, his breathing steadied and his body relaxed, he was asleep.
Leci’s mind worked fervently, she fought the desire to close her eyes and give in to her fatigue while she tried to piece together the thoughts that were slowly beginning to form in her head.
When she could fight it no longer and was happy that she was asserting some semblance of control over her life, she contentedly gave herself to the pleasant, satisfied weariness that crept over her, slumber beckoning her into the warm, seductive cocoon of its embrace.
Chapter 20
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When she opened her eyes, the cabin was bright with sunlight, she could hear birds chirping noisily outside and she could smell something wonderful.
Amato was gone and she was alone on the couch, still covered by the blanket. She lifted it slightly and peeked underneath.
Yep, still naked.
What had she been expecting? Elves to have dressed her during the night?
Leci tried to sit up and found that her body was stiff and unresponsive, she ached all over. Her shoulder stung painfully and she twisted her head to take a look at the bite there, winced at the sight but also felt herself smiling at the memory.
The skin around the wounds left by Amato’s teeth was red and puffy but it had begun to scab over and she didn’t think it was infected.
She tried to swallow and found that difficult, her neck was sore and as she looked further down her body she could see finger shaped bruises covering her breasts. She squeezed her legs together lightly, testing, trying to get a measure of the damage down there. The aching around the tops of her thighs reminded her of the time in the alleyway before Xavian had died...
She pushed aside those thoughts before they had a chance to properly materialise, had no intention of allowing them to taint last night, it had been a completely different situation and there were no comparisons to be made, better to stop that train before it had even left the station.
She felt as though she’d been beaten and left for dead.
Grinned to herself, couldn’t ever remember a beating that had been so damned fun.
Tugging the blanket around her to form a makeshift dress, Alecia sat up and looked around the room, trying to find her clothes.
‘Good morning, Sunshine.’
Leci turned her head too fast and hissed in air through her teeth at the sharp pain as she twisted to look over her shoulder. Raising a hand to her neck she gave Bitsy a weak smile.
‘Morning. Something smells good.’
Bitsy was looking at her strangely, when Leci stood she saw the other woman’s gaze flicker briefly to her neck, knew she must be seeing the bruises and the bite mark there but Morgan said nothing, gave her a small, knowing smile and turned back to what she had been doing.
‘Well, the boys went out hunting so I figured I’d get some food on for when they got back and you woke up.’ She glanced up again at Leci. ‘Sleep well?’ She asked, one eyebrow slightly raised.
Leci threw a quick grin in response and went back to searching for her clothes, found her shirt hung over the back of the sagging armchair and her pants on the floor beside the door to the dead man’s bedroom. Recovering the items quickly she let the blanket drop, stood in a patch of sunlight and looked down at herself before dressing.
From her neck down to her thighs her skin was a random tapestry of black and blue bruising, in several places there remained the red, crescent shaped indents left by Amato’s teeth. It was hardly surprising it hurt so much to move, she was kind of a wreck.
Leci heard a small, shocked gasp and looked up to see Bitsy staring at her. She flushed and dressed herself as quickly as her aching limbs would allow.
‘It’s not as bad as it looks.’
‘Uh huh?’ Bitsy didn’t sound as though she believed her.
Leci shrugged, trying not to flinch as the movement jolted her injured shoulder.
‘Trust me, I’ve been in worse conditions. Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun.’ She grinned and winked, Bitsy relaxed, clearly disturbed by what she had seen but reassured by both Leci’s outward demeanour and whatever she could read from her; Alecia wasn’t lying, she didn’t regret a thing and knew her mood would convey that to the empath.
‘You know, my first thought was that someone came in durin’ the night and beat the shit outta you.’ Bitsy confessed with a laugh. ‘Then I remembered all the noise that’d kept me awake and I put two an’ two together.’
‘Oops...’ Maybe they had been a bit loud, but surely after so long apart from her husband, Morgan would understand that. ‘Sorry about that, didn’t mean to wake you.’
‘Oh, we weren’t asleep.’ It was Bitsy’s turn to tip a knowing wink. ‘We’re just better at keeping it quiet than you two.’
Leci laughed and wandered over to where Bitsy was preparing food. It struck her as strange to be talking openly like this to another woman but not strange in a bad way, it was nice, it was conspiratory and somehow seemed almost mandatory as though it acted as a seal for the cementing of their friendship. Sharing seemed healthy and having some form of companionship other than what Amato could give her also felt like a good thing. She’d never put much effort into forming relationships, the life she had lived as a child and later a teenager had almost enforced reclusiveness and now that she was being given the opportunity to experience a whole new side to things she was happy to embrace it, to allow herself to blossom and grow.
‘So, what’re we eating?’
She looked down at food spread across the table; there wasn’t much but it looked good all the same, a few pieces of fruit, some bread and the smell that Leci found so appealing looked to be another tin of the dog meat that they had all enjoyed and that Bitsy had cleverly heated up on the stove.
‘We should be able to do better after today.’ Bits commented. ‘I reckon there’s probably plenty living in the woods we can hunt, have some real fresh meat, God, I can’t remember the last time I ate something fresh. I’m almost drooling just thinking about it.’
‘Gross, I’m not eating anything if you’ve slobbered all over it.’
‘Pft, fine, starve then, see if I care.’
‘Nobody’s gonna be starving! Not when you have two manly hunks providing for you!’
The girls turned towards the doorway as their banter was interrupted. Beriael stood there proudly holding up a dead rabbit in each hand, a huge grin spread over his face.
‘Awesome!’ Morgan clapped her approval and he looked ecstatic, like a child who’s parent had just told them they’d done ever such a good job, or a puppy who was being rewarded for not peeing on the carpet. It was sweet and Leci couldn’t help smiling at the two of them.
Beriael moved into the cabin from the doorway and placed the rabbits down on the table. Bitsy wrinkled her nose and moved them away from the food she’d set out.
‘Shouldn’t you take them somewhere to do something with ‘em?’ She asked him.
‘Do what with ‘em?’ Amato asked as he sauntered in, the rifle slung casually over his shoulder. He shot Leci a quick grin and then looked at the dead rabbits.
‘Uh, I dunno, skin them and take out the bones and icky shit so we can eat ‘em?’
‘Woman’s work.’ Beriael replied and he and Amato shared a laugh whilst Leci and Morgan exchanged unimpressed glances.
It really wasn’t the expectation of them doing that job that was so annoying, they’d both prepared meat before, it was more the assumption that it was their place to do so due to their gender.
‘Seriously?’
‘Yep. We caught it, we did our job.’
‘Aahh.. Big strong man find animal, hit animal, kill animal. Little woman clean and cook animal.’ Bitsy nodded, a slow smile beginning at the corners of her mouth. ‘I get it, we’re playing like that are we? Good to know.’ She nodded again and turned away from her husband, busying herself with the food, Leci watched with interest as Beriael suddenly looked rather worried...
‘Wait... Bits, what’d you mean by that?’
‘Oh nothing Love, just that I’m glad to know where I stand.’ She looked over her shoulder at him, mischief in her eyes. ‘Oh, by the way honey, remember that little ‘job’ I did for you last night..?’
Leci was distracted from the teasing and games when Amato moved up behind her, taking hold of her waist and spinning her around to face him, he lifted her chin and she stood on tiptoes to meet his lips as he lowered his face to hers. She felt a fleeting moment of regret for what she was planning to do but pushed it aside. She didn’t need
to be thinking about that now.
Not yet.
No point dwelling on something that would only spoil the moment.
‘Miss me?’ He asked, and she couldn’t help smiling, couldn’t help admitting to herself that she had missed him.
For a second she thought about sharing her plans with him but the moment passed quickly. The reaction she’d gotten from his last night, when she had suggested that the three of them might be able to live a free and uncomplicated life without her, was enough to tell her that she should keep this to herself.
If he didn’t want her to leave she wouldn’t be able to.
If he tried to stop her, she would be powerless to resist and despite the fact that in her heart she knew that what she was doing was better for all of them, she also knew that she would very easily allow herself to be dissuaded from going through with it.
The plan now was to get through the rest of today without raising suspicions, an adept little liar when she needed to be, Amato and Beriael would pose no problems; she could fool them with no trouble whatsoever, of that she was certain. Bitsy was a potential worry but even if she did pick up on anything, Leci was sure it would only be a sense of anxiousness and she hoped she could believe her friend, trust her, when she’d promised she would not trespass on anyone’s thoughts unnecessarily.
Chapter 21
After Leci had skinned, cleaned and deboned the rabbits she went on a small exploration of the area around the cabin. The woodland was pretty, when you forgot that there was a creepy dead guy rotting out there somewhere, it was really a nice place. The cabin itself was set in the centre of a small clearing, which allowed enough light to break through overhead not to leave the place in complete darkness. The foliage surrounding was pretty dense, it looked like it would easy to get lost in, but she wasn’t too worried about that, you always ended up stumbling onto someone or something if you walked long and far enough.
She checked on the horses, they seemed to be doing fine, though of the two, the larger one, the stocky bay gelding seemed to be in better condition. The black mare looked a little tired and drawn, like she might need to rest more, would be able to be pushed less if it came down to it.
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