“I’m sorry,” she said, knowing he was right. “I just get so sick of being crowded in all the time.” She glanced around. “Besides I didn’t think I was that far away.”
“You’re far enough to be dragged off and raped without anyone hearing a thing.”
She gave him a devilish smile. “Is that a threat or a promise?”
His eyes swept up and down her body. She could almost feel the lust in his gaze like a caress on her skin. Grabbing her by the back of the neck, he pulled her into a scorching kiss. Scarlet was surprised by his passion, and before she knew it, he’d picked her up around the waist and carried her to a thick clump of trees.
Unlike the many other times they’d been together, this time Desmond was a little rougher and more demanding. The subtle change was feverish and exciting and Scarlet felt hot moisture pool between her legs. He must still be charged from the fight. Unbuttoning her pants, he pulled them and her panties down to her lower thighs, then pushed her against the trunk of a tree.
Desmond moved up behind her placing one of his hands over her mouth. His other hand slid down her belly to her heated center as he roughly kissed the back of her neck. A deep groan rumbled through his chest when his fingers became immersed in her wetness and she felt the vibration against her back. Then he slid his thick cock deep inside her with embarrassing ease. How was it he could make her this hot all the time? Closing her eyes, she fantasized she’d just been captured by him and he was enjoying her in front of all of his men. In her mind they were shouting encouragements to him as they watched, some even growing bold enough to caress her legs as Desmond pounded her pussy relentlessly.
Pleasure roared to life inside her womb, growing so intense, she thought every stroke of his penis would be her undoing. Delirious from lust, she pushed her hips back to meet him, moaning into the flesh of his hand. Her pussy, rippling ecstasy with every punishing stroke, clamped down on his rod as the orgasm overtook her. A moment later he took his hand off her mouth and climaxed as well.
* * * *
Desmond was just about to escort Scarlet back to camp when she said, “There’s something important I have to tell you.”
The words hung in the air making him feel tense and edgy, like a condemned man told he had a day to live. Perhaps she’d decided to end their relationship. He had to admit, they didn’t have much in common but sex, he wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to trade up. “What?” he said flatly.
“Gavin has something on me and when we get back he’s going to tell Harlan. She’ll fire me for sure,” Scarlet said. Her voice had taken on a strange haunted quality he’d never heard before.
“What could he possibly have on you?”
Scarlet took a deep breath and blinked up at him. His guts twisted thinking she might actually leave AEssyria.
“While in medical school, I worked for a man who did experiments on AEssyrians. I swear to you, I didn’t know about it until I’d already been there a few months. But, by the time I got out of there, my reputation was damaged. I paid a hacker to expunge the internship from my school record, but Gavin found out anyway.”
Desmond nodded. “He’s got a lot of connections. So that’s it? That’s all he has on you?”
“What do you mean that’s it? It’s bad enough, don’t you think? All the emperor has to do is get wind of it and he’d probably execute me.”
“Listen,” Desmond said relieved. “Gavin’s not going to expose you no matter what he said. If he did, he wouldn’t have anything to hold over your head later when he needs drugs Harlan won’t give him. No, you’re safe there. And as far as him taking the high ground and looking down on you, I can guarantee he’s tortured and killed hundreds of AEssyrians for every one that doctor did. So don’t pay a whole lot of attention to Gavin’s false moral outrage. He’s not going to say a word to anyone, especially his wife. That little bit of information is much too valuable to him to waste telling Harlan. And even if he did tell her, she never takes anything at face value. She would listen to your explanation, and if you’re telling the truth, she’ll believe you. Besides, you wouldn’t know it to talk to him, but he’s grateful for your help. Now let’s get everything ready to go. If he wakes up from his nap and the camp’s not ready to ride he’ll be an even bigger son of a bitch than before.”
Chapter 27
Harlan was fortunate that she’d never experienced physical abuse in her life. Never, that was, until now. Despite her best efforts to escape, Sulla had caught up with her only an hour after she’d left. She tried to run but his mount quickly closed the distance between them and he threw himself at her, tackling her to the ground. As she lay pinned beneath him trying to catch the breath he had knocked from her she thought he was finally going to rape her which, in retrospect, would have been preferable to his actual plan. Climbing to his feet he grabbed her left ankle and pulled her along the ground toward a cluster of cantaloupe-size stones near the river’s edge. The dragging friction caused her shirt to ride up and the gravel rubbed abrasions into the skin of her belly. Sulla was snarling something at her the whole time but she could barely understand him through his frothing fury.
When they reached the stones he twisted her leg until she rolled onto her back, then he dropped it so her foot landed on top of the stones. Before she realized what was happening he raised his knee and brought his boot down in the center of her shin. In a surreal episode of neuronal transmissions Harlan heard both her tibia and fibula snap. Then she heard an ear-splitting scream that seemed to go on forever. As the tragic noise exploded from her throat she lost all control of her senses. There was only pain and all she could do was scream. Her captor becoming obviously irritated by the relentless shriek, kicked her in the stomach and then the chest, robbing the noise of its precious fuel.
Harlan was sure she was going to die.
As she coughed and gagged on her own saliva she felt him pull her up with him as he mounted his hyperia. The pain was excruciating but she forced the screams to remain in her head and contented herself with letting her tears fall. To compound her punishment Sulla rode back to the town at a full gallop, her battered leg bouncing mercilessly against the saddle.
Once they returned he threw her to the ground, dismounted and dragged her into the shack where his brother lay dying. He flung her toward the dying man and she caught herself on the bedpost before she fell to the ground again. “You’re damn lucky he’s still alive,” he spat at her. “You’re also lucky to be alive yourself. If you try to leave again I’ll break your other leg and then share you with every man in this village.” He stared at her for a few long seconds as though daring her to say something. Harlan painfully pivoted toward his brother and began to wipe his forehead with a wet cloth she retrieved from the water bucket. Hearing Sulla walk out of the shack she dropped the rag and felt more hopeless tears flood her eyes.
Her leg hurt so bad she was unable to form coherent thoughts in her head. The world swirled around her for a second and she was sure she was going to pass out. Standing was a torturous act of balance where any weight she had to put on her bad leg sent shock waves of suffering into her brain causing her to cry out. Unable to stand much more pain, Harlan hobbled over to the rickety wooden table where she’d left her medical bag. Bracing herself against the table she emptied the contents and with shaking hands rummaged through the remaining vials. All she had left was a mild muscle relaxant but she didn’t care. It was better than nothing. Fumbling with the syringe she pulled as much as she dared from the bottle and pulled her sleeve up exposing her upper arm. As she aimed the syringe at her bicep, one of the table legs collapsed and Harlan, her medical bag contents and the table came crashing down. She cried out in horrific agony as her bad leg hit the floor. Through the blinding pain Harlan watched the syringe roll under the bed far from her reach. Then her mind blinked out and everything went black.
* * * *
Gypsy stared amazed at what only six hours had done to heal her father’s back. Instead of purple,
puffy tissue surrounding his spine, it actually looked normal. Scarlet prepared the antidote to bring him out of hibernation and came over frowning. She was delighted her plan had worked. Now maybe they could find Harlan and she could get back to something of a normal life. There was only one thing left to check and she sure as hell wasn’t doing it while the general was awake.
Scarlet injected a small portion of the antidote to bring him to a relaxed unconsciousness. Gavin was resting on his side naked except for a blanket wrapped around his hips. She ran her hand down the thick bony ridges of his spine, massaging the sexual glands at the base. “You might want to look away for this,” she said to Gypsy.
“What are you doing?” Gypsy asked, folding her arms.
“Well,” Scarlet said, feeling the glands swell slowly. “Your father’s been impotent for the past few days from nerve damage. The hibernation should have healed him for now but I’m not sure. I’ve got to check and see if his body will respond to sexual stimulation. Then we’ll know how bad he really is.”
“So what does that mean?” Gypsy said, cocking her head to one side.
Scarlet grinned. Reaching into the blanket she wrapped her hand around the huge shaft of his penis but he was still soft. Even flaccid, the size of his cock surprised her and was much larger than she thought it would be. How on earth did Harlan get this monstrous thing inside her? “Come on, big boy,” she whispered, stroking the length of his penis, “I know you can do this.”
Gypsy’s eyes expanded to the size of ostrich eggs and her mouth fell open. “Oh yeah…well you…um…don’t need me here for this and I really have some things that I need to see to,” she stammered as she backed out of the tent.
Then she was gone and Scarlet smiled. She guessed all children shared the common ground of not wanting too much information about their parents’ sexuality.
Reaching her other hand under the blankets, she cupped his balls and massaged them. She felt like she was fondling a bull. A faint grunt escaped his lips and Scarlet shook her head. At least one of us is enjoying this. Impatient for any kind of reaction, she took her hand out, spit in her palm and stroked the shaft of his penis faster. After several minutes, she was just about to give up when suddenly his cock began to respond. The thick veins of the shaft bulged and the muscle expanded, growing hard in her palm. Scarlet took her hand off his balls and grabbed a nearby rag. She placed it over the head of his penis and massaged the length until he climaxed. There you go, you jerk, don’t say I never gave you anything.
Cleaning him and her hands off, she reflected that it took him a little longer than normal to get hard. That wasn’t a good sign. Another relentless round of hard riding could render him impotent forever. Should she tell him? She decided to hold off. He wasn’t going to stop his obsessive drive to find his wife and this added information would only upset him. Better let it rest for now.
Grabbing the syringe, she administered the rest of the medication and watched as Gavin eased back into the real world. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
He looked calm and relaxed. “Better,” he croaked.
“Great. I know we have a lot more riding to do so I don’t know how long this cure is going to last. You’re almost back to normal for now.”
Gavin shifted groggily and looked puzzled. He lifted up the blanket and looked at his penis. “I had the strangest dream…”
Chapter 28
Gavin emerged from his tent armored up and ready to go. Gypsy cautiously watched her father, marveling at how robust and healthy he looked. Amazing what a few hours in hibernation could do. He adjusted the patch over his blind eye and scanned the mercenaries. “Where are the rest of them?” he asked as he approached her.
Gypsy took a deep breath. “Some are dead and others are restrained for attempting a rebellion. I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do with them.”
Gavin nodded grimly. “Under normal circumstances I’d have them flogged but we don’t have time for that now. Cut them loose and tell them their future depends on how bravely they fight when the time comes. I take it you, Scarlet, and your brother did fine without me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gavin gave her a hard stare. “I’m not going to say you did the right thing, Gypsy, but you did what you felt you had to, so we’ll leave it at that.” His golden eye swept the men saddling up their mounts. He spotted Desmond and took off toward him. Some of the men nearby gave a warning call and Desmond turned around and braced himself for Gavin’s wrath.
But then something extraordinary happened.
Gavin reached Desmond and, instead of punching him in the jaw like everyone expected, he pulled him into a full body embrace. Gypsy stood there stunned for a second then rushed over to stop whatever it was Gavin was doing.
Like a giant python with an animal in its grip, Gavin squeezed Desmond hard. Her brother, realizing this was a new form of revenge, started fighting like a cat dipped in water.
“Excellency!” Gypsy said, rushing up to them. “We don’t have time for this!”
Gavin just ignored her keeping his attention focused squarely on her brother.
“Get your fucking hands off me, you bastard!” Desmond shouted, struggling hard to get free. To make his confinement worse, Gavin had caught him around the upper arms pinning them to his sides. In this position, coupled with Gavin’s newfound strength, it was almost impossible to fight the general off.
Gavin leaned his mouth close to Desmond’s ear. “I just want you to know how grateful I am for all your help and kindness while I was injured. Your loyalty to me won’t be forgotten. I’ll see to it personally that you are rewarded in a manner fitting the hero that you are.” Then with a wicked laugh, Gavin released him. His son stumbled back obviously shaken.
One of the mercenaries brought Gavin his hyperia and the general mounted up. Gavin stood up in his stirrups. “I hope you’ve all had a nice little rest!” he roared at them. “Because from now until we find my wife, no one sleeps.” Then he spurred his mount and took off at a full gallop leaving everyone scrambling to keep up.
* * * *
It was early afternoon and Sulla, who’d been hovering around inside the shack all morning, finally left Harlan alone to get them something to eat. Harlan had no doubt in her mind she was minutes from being killed. Sulla’s brother, already on death’s doorstep when she got here, was dying slowly in front of her and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Thankfully Sulla was rather squeamish and didn’t venture too close so it was easy to lie to him. But when his brother finally did die and that was minutes from now, it wasn’t going to take him long to figure it out and that’s when Harlan’s life wouldn’t be worth spit.
As she sat on the floor she stared down at the twisted mess that was her leg. The dark purple tissue on her leg showed the unmistakable tread design of Sulla’s boot. She was thankful that the fracture was closed but not by much. One of the jagged ends of her tibia was outlined under her skin threatening to tear through if she moved the wrong way. The constant pain was leaving her exhausted and sick. Nausea accompanied all of her encounters with food and she had started spiking low grade fevers periodically throughout the day. Her body was beginning to crash and if Sulla didn’t kill her first, his brother wouldn’t be the only the one dying from an untreated injury.
Harlan struggled to her feet using the broken table leg that she had fashioned into a makeshift crutch and went over to the wounded man’s bedside. His green skin was a sickly pale shade and as she watched, he took one raspy breath in and never exhaled.
Seconds ticked by.
Harlan checked his neck pulse.
Nothing.
Shit. I’ve got to get out of here now! Hobbling to the door, she peered out to see if Sulla was on his way back. He was a little more relaxed with her now that he’d broken her leg. After all, not only did she have no place to run to but she was also badly hurt. Sulla was standing with another man talking by the central fire pit. Neither man seemed to be in a hurry to go
anywhere. This was the only chance she was going to get.
As carefully as she could, she limped out the door and quickly slipped behind the shack taking care to stay in the shadows. In quiet agony she made her way into the woods a few measured limps at a time. There was only one place where she might be able to put some distance between her and Sulla: the river. If she could make it into the water she would be difficult to see, even more so once the suns set. She’d have to ride the current as best she could and try not to drown or get eaten by something. She only hoped she got there before Sulla found out she was gone.
Chapter 29
Gypsy had joined Trajan on his scouting run because the mercenary was certain they were getting close. It felt good to know that her father was feeling better but the fate of her mother still weighed heavily on her. Had she cost her mother valuable time by forcing her father into hibernation? No, she felt certain she did the right thing. Gavin had been so bad it would have taken them weeks to find her.
Riding up a worn local trail, their hyperias were suddenly startled by a middle-aged woman rushing out to stop them. Gypsy’s mount reared up and she almost fell over backward. “Get out of the road!” she barked at the woman.
“You are General Theron’s daughter, Gypsy,” she said pointing at her.
Gypsy and Trajan exchanged glances. “Yes, that’s right.”
A cool wind swept by them and the woman pulled her worn gray shawl tighter around her bony shoulders. “I know where your mother has been taken,” she said.
Gypsy dismounted and was on the woman in seconds. She grabbed her by the front of her tattered dress. “Where?”
The woman trembled but kept her gaze calm. “First I want your word you won’t hurt my kin.”
Before Gypsy could answer, Trajan replied, “You have it.”
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