Wick was roasting some sort of eel-like amphibian over a small fire when Lora had dressed after her long soak in the river. She was feeling refreshed and hungry. He gave her an appreciative grin when she came and sat down in the grass across from the fire.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“Yes, but still sore.”
“Sorry about that, but I didn’t bring a wagon. You can’t make it up this steep mountain trail with anything but a horse.”
“Well, if you didn’t kidnap me, it wouldn’t be a problem,” she retorted, then thought better of it. Wick might decide not to share his food if she showed him a snide attitude.
He smirked at her and shrugged. “That’s just how this feud works. I could have just killed you instead.”
Right. She was fucked either way. Damn Vargan. It wasn’t like this for women on Earth where their ancestors came from. This damn feud had set women’s place back to the seventeenth century. They were treated like property again instead of equals as they had been when the McKells and the Rodes had traveled to this planet 200 years before.
Wick’s ancestor and Vargan’s ancestor ruined it for everybody. Victor Rode killed Grant McKell’s wife, so Grant tortured Rode to death. That started it all. If the Corporation ever came back to check up on their investment, maybe they could straighten it all out. But they hadn’t been back in two hundred years. It was doubtful they ever would.
It wouldn’t help her situation. Things could be worse she reasoned. She wasn’t going to get a choice of which man she would mate she guessed Wick was as good as any. Vargan didn’t seem like the type who would bother much with her pleasure, judging from the few kisses they exchanged. He’d left her feeling like she wanted to wipe her mouth afterward.
Wick hadn’t. He had made her want more. She probably wouldn’t see her family again, but at least she wouldn’t have to submit to Vargan. Lora wasn’t too happy with her father anyway, giving her to Vargan for his own gain. Her mom had been no help. Still, she would miss her mom. But not Vargan.
They ate the simple meal in silence. The meat was tastier than Lora expected and roasted to perfection. She thanked Wick politely for the food, and he inclined his head in acknowledgment. Then all too soon he was putting her on the horse again, and they were galloping toward the mountain trail. They hadn’t finished the meat, so Wick packed in his saddlebag for them to eat later.
The ride when smoother than it had before because Lora was learning to flow with the horse’s steady rhythm. When they finally stopped for the evening, the sun was just setting beyond the horizon. Wick found a sheltered spot among some trees for them to camp for the night. He took Lora with him to gather wood for the evening fire. He seemed unwilling to let her out of his sight.
When they had gathered enough wood, they went back to where he had tethered the horse to graze. Wick laid a fire and lit it with a flint he carried in his pocket. While he did that, he asked Lora to take out his pallet and lay it out for them to sit on. She finished spreading it out and sat down watching him. The fire was mainly for warmth. They planned to eat the meat cold.
Lora was too hungry to worry about what would come after that. The meat curbed their hunger but was not all that filling alone. Wick said maybe they would find something else in the morning. After eating, they shared water from the water skin he’d filled at the river. Then it was time to go to bed.
“You know what we’re going to do now,” Wick said, looking at her intently. “It’s not just because of what Vargan did. I want you. I knew that as soon as I kissed you the first time.”
He moved beside her and reached for the top button on her tunic. He kissed her cheek and unbuttoned a couple buttons, then he nuzzled her neck and unbuttoned a couple more. Then he reached inside and untied her bra and took it off her, and undid the last two buttons of her tunic. He pushed it off her shoulders, baring her torso and her lovely breasts.
Wick laid her down on the pallet then lay down beside her with one leg over her legs. He leaned over her and lightly caressed her face with his fingers, dragging his thumb over her bottom lip, looking into her eyes as she looked up at him expectantly. While she looked a little nervous, she didn’t really seem scared. He gave her a faint grin then lowered his mouth over hers and kissed her softly at first.
He knew it was right when she reached up and caressed his cheek with her hand. Then he deepened kiss as she opened for him and cupped her breast in his hand rubbing his thumb over her nipple. Lora made a mewing sound in her throat as his tongue delved into her mouth and swirled around hers. She arched her back slightly to increase the pressure of his hand against her breast. Apparently, after the pleasure, he had given her the night before she was willing to experience more. She would, right up to the point when he took her virginity, but that couldn’t be helped. He would make sure she knew pleasure before that pain.
Wick kissed her long and slow until they were both panting then he trailed kisses down her neck and upper chest nibbling and tasting her skin in between. He loved the little sounds she made as he moved closer and closer to her nipple. He elicited a genuine moan of pleasure from her as he took the taut peak into his mouth and sucked it.
Her breasts were ample but not oversized and very sensitive to his caresses and kisses. He liked the way they filled his hands when he cupped and kneaded them, and especially the way he could make her moan and arch to his touch when he did. He was glad he hadn’t killed her. It would have been such a waste.
As he sucked one nipple and then the other, she arched her pelvis pressing her core against his thigh between her legs. His cock was so hard he wanted nothing better than to put it inside her but he could wait until he had her completely enthralled in sexual pleasure.
Still, pleasuring her breasts, he reached to the waist of her pants and untied them to slip his hand inside over her mound. He slid a finger in between her curls over her bud and into her wet opening, and he groaned as his cock seemed to grow even harder.
He slid his finger inside her and massaged her clit with his hand and laid a trail of kisses back up to her mouth. Kissing her deeply, he slowly stroked her feminine center as she writhed against him. She moaned soft sighs of pleasure and caressed his face and neck while he worked his magic with his hands and lips.
Soon she cried out and was writhing and quaking in the throes of orgasm bucking her hips against his hand. He let her ride it out before he got to his feet and started peeling off his leathers as Lora looked up at him, watching in fascination.