CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Amelia
The door shuts behind my soldier, and I relax against the pillow. Next time he sets me free for another one of his wild sex sprees, I should jab him in the eye and make a run for it. Of course, I have no clothes or shoes, and we’re in the middle of a volcanic winter, so I’d freeze to death before I got ten blocks.
I could trick him into drinking some of that Pepsi and knock him out for a while, then take his boots and clothes, which, by the way, are about triple my size.
I picture his flash of crazy when I told him to save Charlie. What if he points that rage at me?
There’s nothing to do. I’m not used to lying around, and my muscles scream for movement. I try a few stretches and that helps some, but this is killing me.
For lack of anything better to do, I go back to asleep. When I wake up, something soft and warm is tucked into my shoulder. It gives me a head butt and purrs.
“Charlie, baby, I missed you,” I croon. He butts my head again, then pads up and nudges my hands. Handcuffs don’t allow much movement, but I rub his face and ears the best I can and soon his whole body vibrates. My eyes get hot, and tears spill out.
Charlie’s here. Because of my soldier, the only friend I have is safe. Who knows? He probably saved my life too. If someone didn’t shoot me, I’d have starved.
I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my baby safe.
Light leaks through the kitchen window, then slowly dims as the day progresses. It’s full-on dark when the door rattles, opens, and shuts again. Charlie bolts out of the room, skids to a halt, then scuttles back and ducks under the bed.
Just as he did yesterday, my soldier dumps something on the kitchen table, sets another item in the corner, and kicks off his boots. He pads past me to the bathroom, and I listen to him pee. Dread builds inside me with each second.
He saved my cat, and now I have to do whatever he wants.
Five O’Clock Shadow flicks the light on, and I squint against the intensity. He’s halfway to the bed before I can see him clearly, and he’s already toting a bulge between his legs.
Of course he is.
He undoes my gag.
“What am I supposed to call you?” I ask as he keys open the handcuffs.
“How about master?”
I flick my eyes to the ceiling. “How about Ted?”
He snorts.
“If you don’t give me a name, I’m going to call you Ted.” I tense as I wait for his reaction.
“Where’s that hellacious cat?”
“Hellacious?” Charlie’s sweet.
“He tried to eat his way through my gut the whole way here.”
“I think he ran under the bed.” I widen my arms and do a few stretches. I wince.
He places hands on either side of my head and looms over me. That mix of body heat and male scent makes me aware of every part of my body.
“We have an agreement,” he says. “You don’t obey me, that cat of yours is meat.”
I swallow. “Please don’t hurt him. He’s all I have.”
A slash appears between his brows. “You have me now. So you either behave, or—”
“I said I’d do whatever you wanted.” I’d do anything for my baby. I mean it.
He studies me for a moment, then gets to his feet.
“Ted?”
He rests his hands on his hips. “What the fuck?”
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
He steps back. “No one’s stopping you.”
I dash for the bathroom and close the door. A second later it opens again, and “Ted” looms in the doorway. He smirks.
“I have to pee. It’s no big deal.” Why can’t he let me have a little privacy?
A smile spreads across his face. “It was so much fun yesterday.”
I try to hold it, but of course I can’t. I stare at the shower curtain until I’m done.
“Is there still such a thing as toilet paper?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
“Then I’m going to hang around here for a bit.” No way am I going to let leftover pee drip down my leg. “What’s for dinner?”
He smirks. “Ham and cheese sandwiches.”
I swallow the bile at the back of my throat. “Keep all the ham for yourself.”
“Why?” He cocks his head to the side. “Are you afraid it’s human?”
“Aren’t you?” I counter.
“It comes in a package and it says ham on it.”
“Did you actually see the pig, watch them butcher it, and take the ham home with you?”
He curls his lip.
“Then how do you know they didn’t take a bunch of people like me and send them through a processing plant?”
He recoils. “That’s disgusting.”
“See?”
He sighs. “Look. Amelia. These people are very powerful. They were those one percenters people talked about before the Ash. They set up this massive Arc system. They’re prepared to feed everyone inside as long as the winter lasts, and once it’s over, they’re prepared to rebuild. So no, I don’t think I’m eating human. It’s pig. Okay?”
I cross my arms. “I didn’t see the pig.”
He takes a long, deep breath and turns away. I linger a moment. I’m not a big fan of drippage.
The only soap he has comes in bar form. When I turn on the faucet, actual water comes out. The magic of it squeezes my gut.
I roam into the kitchen and find him tucking the loaf of bread back in its airtight box.
“How did you know where all the food was?” he asks.
“I could smell it.”
“It’s airtight.”
“Have you ever been hungry?”
“Well, no, not like—”
“I could smell it.”
He nods slowly and stares at the sink. “Maybe we’d better tighten security.”
I grab the cheese sandwich. “Or you could feed us.”
“I told you. That’s not why we’re here.”
“Yeah, you’re here to kill us. What for? Just kill the taints.”
“Taints. That’s what you call the cannibals.”
“The tainted ones.”
“Excuse me, but anyone could say they’re not a taint.”
“The ones that look like walking skeletons? They’re not taints. Can I give some of this to Charlie?”
He frowns.
“You said something about fucking me up the ass tonight.”
He chokes on his sandwich, and it’s a moment before he can speak. “You said fuck.”
“You said it first. Like you said, we have an agreement. I’ll hold real still while you do disgusting things, but you’d better feed Charlie.”
“You’re in no position to make demands.”
“Oh? Got another teenage girl around waiting her turn?”
He sighs and tosses down the sandwich. “Grab him a chunk of that ham. I see we’re going to run out of cheese soon.”
He lets me brush my teeth, and like a second after I rinse, he pulls me to him and presses his lips to mine. He wraps his thick arms around me, and I tingle all over.
“Turn around,” he says, his voice already husky.
I turn, and he gathers my hair all over to one side and kisses that place where neck becomes shoulder. Another shot of tingles warms me. He runs his lips up my neck and kisses just underneath my ear, then eats his way down to the edge of my shoulder.
“Come on.” He holds out his hand.
This is much better than being dragged by the neck, and I take it.
“Get on the floor. I want you on your back.” He pulls the easy chair away from the fireplace, leaving us plenty of room.
I go tense. “Is this going to hurt?”
He looks me straight in the eye. “Probably.”
I draw in a jagged breath, swallow, and lower myself onto the carpet. Placing my hands on my stomach, I wait for my next instruction.
Instead of attacking me, though, my soldier gets down and grazes his lips over mine.
He plays with my tummy, my legs, always coming close but never touching my… ah…
“Ted?”
He jerks his head up. “Will you quit calling me Ted?”
I shrug. “I don’t know what else to call you.”
“Can’t you call me something better, like Lance, or Big Dick Man?”
He’s about to put that giant thing up my butt, but I giggle.
He lowers his head again.
“I have a question.”
He sighs and takes my head in his hands. “Later.”
“When we do things, will you tell me what it is we’re doing?” I roll my eyes and my blush is so fiery I think I’ll burn up. “I don’t know anything. Before you came along, I only knew penis and vagina, and the man sticks his in hers. So, could you please tell me what things are so I don’t feel like a complete idiot?”
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“No.”
“You and your friends didn’t talk?”
“Well yeah, but about dancing or school or who we were mad at. If we talked about a boy, it was about how cute he was. Trust me, we all knew what a penis was, but we didn’t talk about it. Much.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I gape at him. “I was young, okay? Yellowstone blew on my thirteenth birthday.”
He lets out a breath and sits back on his heels.
Every naked, exposed inch of my body cringes. “Okay. You know what? I don’t want to know. Just do your… thing and get it over with.”
He brushes his lips against mine. Again. Another pass and his tongue licks my lower lip oh so gently.
I’m so stiff I could spring into the sun.
He kisses back behind my ear, down my neck, and all along my collarbone, and that tingling, comfortable sensation returns. He retraces his path. When his tongue darts into my ear, I’m shocked, but it’s delicious and I suck in my breath. He nips and kisses along my jaw, tasting the tender skin just underneath, and I tilt my head, giving him access. Finally his lips find mine again. I yield. The first kiss is sweet, innocent—just a brush of his lips. Then he moves in and deepens it. His tongue strokes mine and takes control, and to my embarrassment, that place between my legs seeps. I curve into him, dig my hands into his hair, but we’re no way close enough.
When he pulls back, we’re both breathing heavily. “French kiss,” he whispers.
My eyes are still unfocused. “French kiss,” I repeat.
He kisses my collarbone, nips the spot underneath, and plays his way down to my breasts. I sigh as he cups them and runs his thumbs over the tips. Gentle but firm, his touch gives me sweet tingles. I want to grab him by the head and hold him there. When he seizes a peak with his lips and tongue I gasp, and when he takes a gentle pull, I let out an embarrassingly loud moan. He moves to the other tip and—oh is he trying to milk me or what? I run my fingers through his hair to keep him from moving. By the time he’s done teasing me there, my body is limp and all I want him to do is shove that thing in me, even though logic tells me it will hurt.
Cupping my breasts again, he murmurs, “These are tits when it’s just you and me. Breasts in public.”
I nod and try to tug him closer, but he just smiles and dips his head down and nuzzles my belly. Kissing, licking, rubbing me with the shadow of his beard.
That place up inside of me twitches. I’m never leaving him. Ever. Not if he can do this.
He ducks farther. I wince as he dips his hand between my legs and touches my soreness. Annoyed, I try to wiggle away, but he holds me firm. “Let me,” he says, and reluctantly I part my legs for him. Ever diligent, he traces a path around my opening, and I discover that the wetness makes it easier. It’s definitely no cure for pain, though, because when he slides a finger into my vagina I get the urge to twist his entire hand into a pretzel.
Ignoring my protest, he kisses my belly, then traces his tongue down until it rests over my opening. His lick is tiny, hardly any pressure at all, but my eyes go wide at the sensation.
“This is your slit. It opens into your cunt. I dreamed about your cunt all day. I couldn’t wait to get home and bury myself in you.” If his words thrill me, does that make me bad?
My breaths come shallow and fast. “What’s my pussy then?”
“Same thing, only—” He licks my labia all the way up to the juncture.
I suck in my breath and spread my legs wider.
“Your pussy is the whole thing, outside and inside.”
“What did you just do to me?”
“What? This?” He runs his tongue up my folds again and teases the nub at the top.
I moan.
His tongue continues to tease me, and the feeling is exquisite. I bring my knees up and dig in my heels, hoping he’ll never stop. Ever.
“What are you doing to me now?”
“I’m tonguing your clit.” He flicks it over that magic spot again.
“Oh.” It’s a gasp, not a word. “Do it again.”
“Touch your tits for me, baby.”
My hands shake as I comply.
“Play with your nipples.”
Feeling a little self-conscious, I pass my palms over them. It feels nice, so I tweak them between my fingers. At the same time my soldier tongues my clit, and the combination of sensations is too much. “That feels so good.”
“Some people call this eating you out, but it’s also called going down on you. If a guy asks you for a blow job, he’s asking you to suck him off.”
“Oh.” So many terms.
His expression darkens. “But there won’t be another guy for you. Just me.”
“I don’t want someone else.” The words are out before I understand what I’m saying.
His nostrils flare, and he lifts his chin. “When I put my cock in your cunt, we’re fucking.”
I cringe. “It hurts.”
“You were a virgin. It always hurts the first time.”
“Why?”
He gives my pussy another lick. “It’s how you’re made. You’re only supposed to have one man, and letting him breech you is your gift to him. It’s how you show him you’re pure.”
I frown. I particularly remember it being okay to sleep with several men, as long as you were in love with them.
“And then at the end I come,” he continues.
“Oh that. Sperm.” I nod, glad that I know something at least.
His eyes dance. “Okay, yeah, but you don’t say it like that. A man comes or he shoots his load or he fills you with his jism. Don’t say sperm.”
My whole body blushes. “Well, how am I supposed to know?”
His shoulders shake.
“Ted.”
He eyes me askance.
“Do girls come?”
“Sometimes. If her man does it right.”
“What does it feel like?”
“No idea. If it’s anything like what a man gets, you’ll be a lucky bitch if you have one.”
He plays with my clit some more. “Someday I’m going to suck your clit until you scream.”
I want him to do it. I feel something wonderful build inside of me, something tense and explosive, but then he stops and moves back down to my slit.
“Soon I’m going to shove my cock in your ass.” He nibbles me some more, and I shudder.
“Why?”
“Because it feels good. Really good. It’s what men do when their girls are on their period.”
My eyes go wide. He said period. “I don’t get periods.”
He hesitates. “What do you mean, you don’t get periods?”
My face flames even more. “I got a couple in the beginning, but then they just stopped.”
He stares at me for a moment and God, how embarrassing. Then his eyes flash and he grins. “Even better.”
He sticks a finger in my pussy and I stiffen, but I’m wet and it slides right in.
“Why am I all wet?”
Again I cringe. I’m disgusting.
“Your body is preparing itself for me. When you’re warm and wet, it feels good. Men don’t like a dry cunt.”
He pushes his finger further in and massages just inside my opening, and despite the sting, there’s pleasure too. I have a “wow” moment when he gives my clit a gentle suck. I even raise my hips to meet him.
He turns me over and runs his tongue over my neck and shoulders, traces his lips and tongue down my spine until he reaches my backside. By now I’m so filled with need I’m practically blind.
He massages my butt-cheeks. “I want you up on all fours.”
I do it. My limbs shake and I’m not sure what I want, but I want. It’s like he enjoys torturing me when he runs the head of his dick all over my wet pussy. I moan and move back against him.
“Christ.” He braces himself with one arm and grits his teeth. A moment later he loads up with more of my juices.
“Lean forward. Cradle your head in your arms, but keep your ass up high for me.”
I obey, but I’m already tensing up. There’s a mixture of wrong tinged with craving going on inside me, and I’m not sure what to expect.
He positions the head of his cock over my pucker and runs his hand down my back. “Relax.”
I start to shake. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Try for me, baby. It’ll go much easier for you if you loosen up.”
I take a deep breath and tell myself to calm down, and in that moment he pushes the head of his cock against my hole. He gets about a half inch in before I suck in my breath and hold back a cry.
“Easy, baby.” He strokes my back, my hips, my stomach. “It’s okay. It’s just your other virginity. See if you can let go.”
His soft tone soothes me, and I swallow back my fear. He pushes a little farther in, and a little farther. “Oh baby. You feel so good.”
His praise gives me a thrill of pleasure, and I find I like pleasing him. I arch my back some more. Taking deeper breaths helps me open to him. He pushes in farther and farther, until at last his balls rest against my ass. He’s breathing hard, and drops of sweat spill down on my back.
“You took it all, baby. You’re such a good little slut.” He begins moving, and at first it hurts, but I force myself to take him. Reaching down, he scoops up more of my wetness and smears it over his cock, then starts moving again.
“You’re so tight, so fucking tight.”
I adjust my position to try to find comfort.
“That’s it, little whore. Wiggle that ass for me.”
He begins to fuck me in earnest. All I feel, really, is pressure. With each of his thrusts, my body rocks forward.
“I could come right now, but I won’t.” He reaches around and starts massaging my clit. The jolt of pleasure this brings sends me back onto his cock.
“You like this, don’t you?”
I think about it. This strange invasion is nothing earth-shattering, like when he sucked my clit, but I wouldn’t call it hideous. The fact that I’m pleasing him gives me a rush, and touching my clit drives me just a little bit wild.
“Yes,” I admit.
“Jesus. You look so good with my dick in your ass and your face pressed down in the carpet.”
He’s thrusting faster now, and his hand moves furiously over my clit. I can feel the pressure building again. My pussy clamps down, but there’s nothing there and I squeeze my eyes shut, praying for release.
“Jesus. Fuck. Oh God, tell me you love me. Tell me!”
“I love you,” I say.
He lets out a cry, delivers a series of slapping thrusts into my ass, and then collapses over me. He pants like he’s just been chased by a homicidal maniac as he hugs me around my middle.
He holds this position for several minutes, and then he pulls his softening cock from my pucker. Immediately I feel a trickle of his cum leak out. Jerk smacks my ass.
“Ow! What’s that for?”
“That was great. If you behave yourself again tomorrow, I’ll let you come too. I’ll even feed the cat.”