The Innocent (Clan of the Woodlands Book 2)

by V. K. Ludwig

  Together, we made our way to the van the council had sent for us, cheerful and in good spirits. Even Svea now seemed more relaxed, her shoulders hanging loosely beside her for the first time.

  When I stepped into the train car, I let out an excited shriek. In a few hours, I would be the first living clanswoman who saw the ocean.

  Not in an old family album at one of the ruins.

  Not in an old movie where a couple strolled along the beach.

  No. The real ocean — sand, waves, sun and all.

  At the train, Max crammed our bags into overhead compartments and pushed a red button on the wall. The door of our train cabin closed automatically, releasing a quick puffing sound.

  “All cabins are sealed so they can increase the pressure slightly. It helps us deal with the speed of the train,” he said.

  Ruth and Svea settled down on two of the black swivel lounges, not intimidated at all by the dozens of buttons along the armrest.

  “The more you recline, the less you will feel the forces on your body.” He tapped on the lounge closest to the window, and I sat down. “You’ve got a little entertainment center here. They’ve got a couple of movies, and a few books to choose from.”

  I flicked my wrist at it, but nothing happened. “It’s not holographic?”

  “Uh-uh.” He pushed the screen, and a menu lit up. “Can’t be too fancy when you travel at four-hundred miles per hour. Holograms would flicker too much, so they’re old-school two-dimensional.”

  “That’s cool. We’ve got a few of those back home when we want to watch old movies that can’t be converted to holograms.”

  “Right.” He glimpsed over his shoulder toward Svea real quick and let his hand brush over mine. If he did it on purpose, I couldn’t say, but it made me hold my breath for a second. “Three hours tops, then you’ll see your ocean.”

  The way he said it had a certain excitement to it. As if it meant something to him that I got to cross it off my bullet list.

  Once we all settled into our loungers, Svea pulled out an old book and turned the reading lamp toward her, while Ruth swiped visibly bored over the selection of movies.

  “I hope we will leave soon because all they got here are comedies,” she said.

  Max pointed at the small round window, barely larger than a plate. “We left the station ten minutes ago. Just couldn’t feel it.”’

  I stretched my neck and tried to get a peek of the landscapes, but everything was a blur. Distorted buildings traded places with unfarmed fields quicker than the blink of an eye. At times, the train retreated underground, leaving the window black.

  “Why does this train go underground every now and then?” I asked into the cabin.

  To my surprise, Svea answered, and her eyes continued to track the paragraphs of her book as she spoke. “Our wall is interrupted in some places. Actually, it’s more like clusters of walls which protect one or more district. Whenever the train leaves a wall, it will go underground.”

  Max chimed in, “it’s also a lot safer to travel at this speed when the tracks are straight. This train starts at the Obsidian district and goes down in one vertical line to the Peridot district. At some point, we will even cross underneath a river.”

  “But what if people from the outside world, I don’t know… dig into the train tunnel.”

  Max covered his mouth and chin with one hand, and furrowed his brows, making me feel silly.

  “Digging four-hundred feet deep?” he mumbled through the gap of two fingers. “Not to mention the reinforced concrete segments they’ll eventually hit.”

  I turned my face into a grimace and stuck my tongue out. “I apologize for my ignorance doctor smartass.”

  He responded by sticking his tongue out as well, and Ruth fell into a giggle.

  “You’ve got a point though,” Svea said.

  I pressed a button and swiveled my lounge chair in her direction. “That he’s a smartass?”

  “I don’t even know what that word means.” She stared at me over the edge of her book, as if she contemplated on what words to chose next. “There is an ancient service tunnel close to the Obsidian district which is accessible from within the walls, as well as from the outside. The council sealed it off years ago, but seals can be broken.”

  For a long moment, nobody said a word and Svea returned to her book, clueless at the bomb she just dropped.

  “I had no idea it existed,” Ruth finally said. “But like you said, they had it sealed off. The council knows what’s best.”

  “If you say so,” Svea answered in a voice so detached and bitter, it drove the chills into my bone marrow. This was very definitely a weird thing to say for a councilwoman. But the way she said it had me restless.

  “How did the interview go?” Max asked, pulling me from my thoughts. “I sent you a message last night, but you didn’t answer.”

  Ruth rose from her lounge chair and rummaged through a cabinet filled with bottles. “She kicked Plato’s behind, that’s how it went.”

  “It was amazing.” My voice came out a notch too excited. “Some questions were innocent enough, but a few of them sure threw me off.”

  “Like what?” Max asked.

  “Hm, I think the one that pissed me off the most was why I’m not married yet, and if there is someone special in my life.”

  He tossed himself around and stared me down with vigilant eyes. “And what was your answer?”

  “Ha!” Ruth blurted. “Max stepped in that sticky trap, too. Remember how you asked her that the first night you met her? I think you and Plato should have read up on twenty-first-century women before opening your mouths.”

  Max froze in place, the only moving thing a flush which crept across his cheeks. “Rookie mistake. I’ll prepare myself better for the next one who comes here.”

  Max laughed.

  Ruth laughed.

  But I just sat there, feeling as if he had poured a glass of water over me. Jerk! My head turned crazy with a weird kind of rage. Like a tickle that wouldn’t stop and now poked between my ribs. Perhaps, maybe, if he was lucky enough, the next clanswoman wouldn’t be such a libido inhibitor like me. A Jill without a Jake — because, duh, who would be that crazy?

  “Anyway,” he continued. “What was your answer? Is there someone special in your life?”

  “Nooo,” I said, dragging out the ‘o’ as long as my shaky breath would let me. “I won’t settle for anything less than true love. Guess it gotta wait for a year because I definitely won’t find it here in the Districts.”

  “Oh…”

  He tossed himself back into his lounge chair with such force, the stand gave a little creak. Then he rolled on his side, turning his back at me.

  I imagined he did it because he was dumbstruck. Or maybe even disappointed! No… tearing apart from the inside.

  Yup, that’s it. My mind painted a clear picture, calming my pulse into an ugly but reliable beat.

  “You would be surprised,” Svea said, her eyes straight on me. Perhaps even under my skin. As a matter of fact, it felt like she had stared at me ever since Max asked.

  I pushed the touch screen on my entertainment system with precise movements, as if I actually had a clue about what I was doing. “Surprised about what?”

  “You have your own supply of regular water. So, technically, you could fall in love. But of course, he wouldn’t love you back.” Her eyes released me from their grip and dived back into the pages. “Unless he wouldn’t drink the enhanced water for whatever reasons. Then he might love you back. It’s not like we are incapable of love. The physical part is just a bit inhibited.”

  Without any control over them, my eyes darted back to Max. But he didn’t move.

  “Oh no!” Ruth shouted out. “You are… Svea, you have…”

  She gestured with her finger just below her nose, enough to make Svea pinch her nostrils shut.

  “Not that again,” she said in a nasal voice. “I get those sometimes, and usually a migraine
follows shortly after. Maybe I should go to the bathroom.”

  Ruth grabbed a cloth tissue from one of the cabinets and gave it to Svea, who placed it right under her nose. Wells of blood tinged the brown tissue a deep maroon, and they disappeared through the door.

  The loss of pressure shook me for a moment. Once the door sealed, the smooth ride continued. And with it, the throat gripping silence.

  He played dead. Not a single movement coming from his body. Only his shoulders had a hint of tension. I had the urge to give him a punch. Make him turn around. But I didn’t.

  I did jump up, however, walking toward his chair until he tossed himself around once more.

  My legs froze.

  I couldn’t get my feet to take another step.

  This was silly. And the reassurance I wanted from him pitiful.

  Yet, I couldn’t put out that gut-eating fire which blazed inside me, and my words blurted without a filter. “Are you going to ask the next clanswoman to help you with your experiment? Maybe you can do some yoga with her and push your boner against her crotch, too.”

  The blood sucked out of his skin pigments, leaving him ashen and sick-looking, and pushed back into the tiny blood vessels of his cheeks. As if he had to run a ten-miler next to a ghost.

  His purple-rimmed lips pouted into circles, pressed into a thin line and suffered a couple of bites. But it was no measure to the way his eyes blinked like the shutter on an old camera.

  “I hoped you didn’t notice.” His head dropped. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because it doesn’t fucking matter.”

  He let out a sigh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. After all, there isn’t anyone special in your life. Besides, it’s nothing but an experiment, and I guess my body’s reaction was part of that.”

  His body’s reaction. The way he said it stoked the flames. As if it was nothing but an uncomfortable side effect. Something he’d like to avoid if he had any control.

  And it was at that moment when I went from pitiful to utterly wretched. The little Autumn inside me stomped her foot, throwing a tantrum for attention. Not to serve a goal or make a point. Just to make things a bit more miserable for everyone.

  “When are we going to start on this experiment anyway?” I asked and sat down on his chair, my hip bumping into his thigh. “You asked me after you already showed a reaction to me. I mean… after you reacted to my body. So what’s the next step?”

  His eyebrows bumped his forehead. “Next step?”

  “Yeah, Max… next step. Are you going to touch me, or should I just strip down and we see how you react this time?”

  “Strip… strip down?” His mouth stood open for the longest time, followed by a thick, audible swallow. He shook his head, without letting his gaze fall from me. “Actually, I thought about calling it quits. I got enough data already, and I realized my formula still needs some tinkering.”

  “Why?”

  “Because…” He fumbled his hands through his hazel-brown hair, desperation written on his face. “Because I think my reaction to you was way too strong and hard.”

  “Too hard, huh?”

  His desperation retreated behind a boyish smile, almost cute in its purity, letting some of the color return to his face. “You know what I meant.”

  A burning question rode up my tongue, leaving my brain on the watch out, but my heart lashing against my ribs. “Can you control it?”

  “I asked myself the same question,” he said. “That’s why I want to call it off. Truth is, I am not sure anymore if I can control it. Control myself. And I couldn’t forgive myself if I did anything against your will.”

  My heart clattered in my throat, only hearing his worry for me in his voice, and ignoring the actual message of potential threat.

  My mind’s warning screamed at me. You’ve been here before, and it didn’t end well.

  I turned the volume down.

  Back then was different.

  That guy was all threat and no worry.

  No disregard for me, my body or my soul.

  But Max was more worry than threat.

  To top it off, the little bit of threat emanating from him tickled me in the loveliest of places. “Why don’t you just kiss me and find out?”

  He swung his hand around my neck and pulled my mouth onto his. Just like that. Without a second wasted. And without another thought, his lips tasted mine, and I tasted his. The heat of his body tracked right down into my core, driving out everything frozen.

  I gasped, perhaps even moaned, and he slid his tongue into my mouth. Searching for mine. Caressing once he found it.

  My mind screamed once more, and I pulled back. Not because I wanted to, but because I needed to know. Needed to know if he would stop if I asked. Or keep going…

  He wouldn’t let me, and intensified his kiss.

  Why wouldn’t he let me?

  I pulled away again, this time placing my hand onto his chest for more leverage. Our lips separated, leaving him behind almost panting. His eyes darted around, asking me for an answer whenever they brushed mine, while at the same time finding a distraction to focus on.

  His body heaved, and I saw how his desire wanted to break out of his ribcage. But he breathed it down and locked it up in a place where it couldn’t harm me.

  “Seems to me you can manage just fine,” I said, my lungs robbed of all oxygen.

  He propped himself up and caressed my waist with his hand. “It was only a kiss, Autumn. And even that had me at the edge.”

  “That’s because this kiss was hot as fuck,” I whispered and climbed onto his lap. He took in a sharp breath and released it in a moan so freaking sexy it should have been outlawed.

  “Don’t,” he protested.

  I pushed him back into his lounge chair and positioned myself right where he was hard for me. His shaft nestled between my lips underneath a layer of fabric. He buried his hands into my hips, and I arched my back, creating more friction and heat between us. My hips rocked back and forth a bit, and his body joined me in little quakes.

  The dampness of his palms swept through my shirt giving him more grip, and he pulled me closer to him. “Holy fucking Jesus!”

  I threw my upper body on top of him, taking in his clean and minty scent of hygiene pods and a fresh shave. With a final kiss against the column of his neck, I slowly worked myself out of his lounge chair, leaving him behind with balled fists and narrow lips.

  He clenched his eyes shut, working out by himself whatever he needed to regain control. The way I had turned him on made my wet panty cling to my pussy. But the way he forced his body to obey him took my breath away.

  “Not too shabby for kicking off an experiment,” I said.

  “Autumn.” He took my hand and gazed up at me, the desire in his eyes replaced with something else. Something softer but equally as longing. “The experiment started the day you walked into my life. But I am realizing now that there are more variables than just lust and desire, and I didn’t plan for those at all.”

  Chapter 15

  Max

  Autumn’s beautiful smile turned upside down, dragging my mood right with it. Why I couldn’t say because… why the hell would this mean so much to me? I hated the beach. The gritty sand clinging to my skin. The wind in my eyes. I shouldn’t care at all.

  Yet, it did — the disappointment in her face made my stomach flip.

  “I came all this way here for this?” she asked and gazed over the beach.

  I took a step toward the yellow tape, my foot sinking deep into the daffodil-colored sand grains. “Ocean closed. The sign says the chemical content is currently too high for bathing.”

  “Probably from one of the old factories along the shores,” Svea added, hiding her eyes behind huge sunglasses. “Chemicals and toxins still leach into the ocean from certain points. Usually factories we are unable to reach. Sorry, this had to happen on your first trip to the ocean.”

  I held my yellow cotton bag up and gave it a sha
ke, the thin metal inside clinking and clanking. “Who cares if the ocean is closed. The beach is open, and no trip is complete without a sandcastle.”

  Ruth threw her flamingo beach bag into the sand, her hands on her hips and a smirk on her face. “You didn’t.”

  “You bet I did.” I poured it all out onto the sand. Buckets. Rakes. Shovels and forms for battlements. Maybe I couldn’t give Autumn the ocean, but there was still a chance of having a good time. “My dad made us a sandbox when I was a kid. Good thing I remembered that I kept them.”

  Ruth pulled a large picnic blanket from her pack. “Besides, we have a saltwater pool at our beach house anyway with a wave turbine. I know it’s not the ocean, sweetie, but this is as good as it gets. We can still come back another time. The water would be too cold already anyway.”

  Autumn scanned the ocean, wild waves chatting up a storm. The breeze made strands of hair desert her ponytail.

  She was gorgeous with her hair out of the way, showing her elegant neck and small ears. The seashell printed cover-up scarf she borrowed from Ruth hugged her hips just right. It flowed between her legs with the wind, making me curl my toes into the sand.

  “A sandcastle it is then,” she said, her dark mood replaced by a sincere smile. “But you guys will have to help me because I’ve never built anything from sand.”

  “No worries my lady.” I poked my index finger in the sand and created a square outline. “I didn’t grow up wild for nothing. If there is anything the son of a nonconformist can do, it’s old world stuff like this. This is gonna be our bailey. Ruth and Svea will shape a wall around it, putting battlements on top with this form here.”

  Autumn kneeled down onto the sand frantically tugging her scarf, almost as if she had to hide something on her leg. Silly, of course, because nothing on her body needed hiding. At least not to me.

  “And what’s my job?” she asked.

  “Lady Autumn, you and your humble knight will use those buckets and make the towers. We have to pack the sand tightly.”

  We all went to work, the thundering waves making for a great backdrop of our busy silence. Ruth brushed the grains off her hands every twenty seconds, but Svea focused her eyes on the task. She packed sand into walls between her hands, scanning it from all angles as if her head calculated the optimum weight load for each square inch.