CHAPTER 23

Several weeks later, Liam was on the road to recovery. The casts were off, and everything was healing quite nicely. Once he was able, they continued work on the office, though they now had to hire a bit more of it out than they had intended. There was no shortage of people in the village willing to help, and many had been more than happy to do so for free, with some charging only the costs of material.

Kergot had come along and personally hung the sign he had made for them, stepping back to look at it proudly. He pulled out his cellphone and motioned them over.

“Come on, and let me get a snapshot of the two of you in front of your new business.”

Dawn and Liam stood smiling casually at the camera. They were back on the right path, but Dawn still felt a sadness sometimes that she couldn’t quite get past. How someone could so casually take a life was beyond her when she had such trouble just accepting that she had killed a man because she had no choice.

It was perhaps something she would never get over. All she could do was try to cope with it as time went on. She knew Kergot could sense it from time to time when she couldn’t help but think about it, but she tried to keep it hidden. Today, she was unsuccessful.

“You’re going to be grand,” he told her as he hugged her goodbye.

“Thank you, Kergot.”

They stood watching him leave before stepping back into the office to close things up and go home.

“I think we should celebrate tonight,” Liam whispered against her ear.

“Yeah? What did you have in mind?”

“You and me, some wine, and no clothes.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“You know what, let’s not even go home. How about you go down the street to the market while I build us a fire and we make love right here on the rug in front of it. It’ll be a good luck charm for this place,” he said.

“Seriously?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well, get building,” she laughed, picking up her purse and heading for the door.

“Well, get back quickly, turd.”

Dawn smiled. Perhaps she could feel like her old self again one day, because, right then, in that moment, she felt as happy as she had ever been. She made her way quickly down to the nearby store and purchased a couple bottles of wine and two glasses. When she returned, Liam had the fire going and had pulled all the blinds around the office for privacy.

She poured the wine as he began to remove his shirt. His muscles rippled across his back as he moved, and she imagined them around her, holding her tightly to him. She only had to imagine it for a moment before he was kissing her. Her body responded to the intensity of his touch instantly. She had missed this.

His calloused hands moved down her body, bringing life to every inch of skin they came in contact with. A light moan escaped her, vibrating against his ear as he reached down, sliding his hand into the waistband of her slacks and finding its way to her aching clit. It had been so long since he had touched her, and she felt as if she might explode merely from his gentle exploration. Then he was teasing her, rubbing her sensitive core with his rough digits, bringing her closer to ecstasy. She wanted this so much, wanted him.

“Make love to me,” she whispered in his ear.

He didn’t have to be told twice, pulling free of her and scooping her up in his arms to lay her down across the rug beneath them. His fingers fumbled with the buttons on her pants a bit before finally managing to get them open to slip them down her legs, kissing her thighs as he went.

Then he was slipping off her white lace panties. Dawn was impatient, slipping her shirt over her head and unlatching the hooks on her bra to let her breasts fall free. She lay naked before him, breathing heavily in anticipation of what was to come.

“You are so beautiful,” he moaned, leaning down to slowly circle a single nipple with his tongue. His tongue darted back and forth, getting it nice and hard as he continued to torment her wet folds with his fingers.

It almost didn’t feel real. It felt like a daydream, but it was real. She could feel him, feel his touch. She longed to have him inside of her, to feel him sink deep inside her to a place that only he had ever known. A place that only he ever would know.

She was completely lost in what he was doing to her, so much so that she barely heard him speaking to her.

“What?” she cooed beneath him.

“I said we have to stop. We haven’t even had any wine.”

“I know you are kidding,” she said.

“I just don’t want to deny you wine. It was part of the promise.”

“Liam, shut up and continue what you were doing,” she begged.

“Such harsh words – ‘shut up.’”

Dawn laughed as she leaned upward and kissed him, pulling him close to her as she tasted his lips. His fingers continued to explore her wetness, quickly bringing her to climax as her hips bucked forward against his damp fingers, eager to have more of them inside of her.

Electricity shot through her veins as she exploded against him again and again, loving what he was doing to her. He knew how to play every inch of her like a well-tuned machine. She was like a symphony of pleasure beneath him, and it had been far too long since he had played, as far as she was concerned.

Her cries of pleasure filled the room as he continued to bring her to orgasm over and over. Then he was taking off his own pants, straddling her. She could see how hard he was for her, feel how excited he was, and read all the dirty things his mind was considering doing to her. It excited her to no end.

His legs pushed her knees apart, spreading her further open and dragging the head of his thick cock back and forth across her clit, which only aroused her further. It felt incredible as he finally entered her and began fucking her slowly and gently. Dawn dug her fingers into his back, holding on to him savagely as he picked up the pace.

Their bodies rocked back and forth against one another in front of the fire, his throbbing tool opening her up, filling a void meant for only him. She felt full – heart, body, mind, and soul. This night was just as magical as their first night had been. She never wanted it to end.

Liam unexpectedly pulled free and twisted her around, putting her on all fours to face the fire as he entered her from behind. His hands grasped her hips as their centers met repeatedly, plowing his cock deeper and deeper inside her with each thrust until their bodies were a whirlwind of activity bouncing back and forth as flames danced across their sweaty skin.

“God, yes. Fuck me. Harder,” she cried out, desperate for him to give her more.

Liam was normally soft and gentle. This was a new side of him, and she loved it. Her moans filled the office around them as they fucked like animals in front of the fire. Liam’s hand reached forward, circling her neck. His grip was not tight, but firm enough to show her his power, to remind her who was in control in that moment.

Their thoughts were both primal, urgent as he slammed into her harder and harder, pushing her forward on the rug, closer to the fire. He pulled her upward, her body almost vertical as his chest brushed against her back and he pounded her with long, deliberate strokes that only made her wetter.

Her body shuttered with another orgasm, sending streams of cum dripping down his cock and balls. It swirled down her thighs and shimmered in the light of the fire. His body jerked as he finally let go, no longer able to hold back the flood of his own climax inside of her.

They remained there for a moment, enjoying the warmth of the fire on their skin and the scent of their sex that floated about them. Finally, he pulled free of her and sat back on the rug, retrieving one of the bottles of wine and unscrewing the top. He looked at her balefully.

“What? They didn’t have a corkscrew or wine glasses. I had to find the best bottle of screw-top wine and a couple of tumblers.”

Liam laughed and poured them each a bottle of the cheap red wine, handing her one as they curled up against one another in front of the fire. Dawn felt more alive than she had since the attack. This is how their life was supposed to be, not filled with maniacs out for revenge and inquisitions by men who preferred archaic laws over modern common sense.

Her tension had eased now. Liam had always known how to calm her, whether he chose to do so physically or with his words. At the end of the day, he loved her and would do anything for her. They would have a great life together. As far as she was concerned, they would still be fucking in front of the fire when they were old, gray, and wrinkled.

They sipped the wine and talked about the future now that they had gotten past the worst of what had happened to them. They still had to look for a house and plan the wedding, but that would be easier now that they didn’t have the other stuff to deal with.

Following her hearing, Aaron Donnelly had taken measures to remove certain members of the council. It wasn’t strictly because of what happened with Dawn, but it had been the final straw in an ongoing struggle to finish pushing certain members who refused to accept more modern law and less barbaric punishments.

Though no one could argue that what had happened to Harlan was tragic and that Tommy deserved to be punished for it, many could argue that had he been given some rehabilitation, some opportunity to change and improve, he might not have done what he did in the end. He might be alive and leading a productive life despite his teenage errors in thinking. Not even Aaron had realized the horrors such a young prisoner had endured during his incarceration.

It was only after what had happened that he had looked into the way prisoners were handled in the dungeons and discovered that, despite all the progress he had made, there were still people in this employ that were sadistic and cruel in ways that normal people could have never imagined. Tommy had been beaten and fed food with maggots virtually every day for five years. It was like something out of a seventeenth century dungeon. No wonder he had been set on revenge when he came out.

It didn’t make what he did right or even forgivable, but there was little doubt that his inner demons had been nurtured rather than exorcised during his time there. Dawn tried to push the thoughts from her head. She reminded herself that it was a part of her life that was over now and returned her gaze to the fire.

Everything would be better now, she thought, sipping her wine as Liam nuzzled her neck softly from behind. They stayed like that for what felt like hours, but was much shorter. The fire began to die down and the wine ran empty as they finally laid down on the rug, making love one last time before going home. This time it was lazy, slow. Dawn could have happily slept here on the floor in his arms rather than getting dressed for home, but she finally managed to do so, as did Liam.

They walked home, hand in hand. Somehow, the stars seem brighter tonight as they made their way back to their house. It felt magical to her as they walked along, not like other nights. She wasn’t sure why, but tonight felt different.