It felt good to get that off my chest and vent a little bit to her.
She gave me a heartfelt smile. “I know it must be frustrating for you, but keep in mind that this isn’t the only rebellion camp out there. They are growing in number, and I’m sure that your family is part of one of them.”
I was struck by her remarkable ability to soothe me. She had a maternal, caring way about her, and I appreciated her efforts to ease my mind. I stopped walking.
She gazed up at me, perplexed. “Aren’t we going back to the tents?”
“In a minute,” I said and gently tossed her hair off her shoulders. “I just want to…kiss you first.”
“Okay.” Sophia’s entire face brightened as if her soul was smiling and singing.
I pressed my lips to hers. I was instantly hit with a surge of desire. I passionately rolled my tongue into her mouth and embraced the tingling feeling spreading throughout my body. Blood raced between my legs and pulsed in my massive cock.
I wanted her with a raw, passion-filled, burning need.
She caressed my back and ran her hands through my hair. “Let’s take this back to the tent,” she breathed into my ear. “There’s an empty one that we can use.”
“Where are the others?” I asked.
Sophia gave me a sexy grin. “Hopefully they are sleeping in the extra tent where I left them,” she said.
She told me that Ralph had set up two tents for us, since there were so many of us, but that Leo and Otto weren’t using the other. That gave us the perfect opportunity to take advantage of some quality sexual time together.
We entered the tent a few minutes later and I quietly zipped it up. I began gently stroking Sophia’s legs up and down, tracing little circles in her inner thighs. She bit her bottom lip and moaned softly into my ear, desperately digging her nails into my back.
I knew that she was trying to be quiet so as not to disturb those sleeping around us. It sent an erotic volt of pleasure rippling through my body to know that we were doing something naughty together when we were surrounded by hundreds of other sleeping shifters.
“You are unbelievably gorgeous,” I groaned into her ear as she gently lay back on the sheets and gazed up at me with beautiful expectancy.
She smiled and looked like an ethereal princess, vulnerable, wonderful swan who couldn’t wait for me to ravage her. The expression on her face was incredibly sexy. Her eyes danced with excitement. I felt the sensual energy radiating off of her body as I began to strip her naked.
Her inner thighs quivered with sensual anticipation. Her bare breasts were supple, and I couldn’t wait to get those perky nipples of hers in my mouth to suck on with delight.
I grabbed a condom out of my jeans and sheathed it on. I knew that if I waited even a single second more to be inside of her, it might kill me. Was it possible to die from desire? If so, I would probably be dead already.
Sophia was ready, ripe and glistening. Her pink swollen pussy lips were inviting as the folds deliciously parted to welcome in my thick cock. Sophia gasped and arched her back as my girth filled her.
She let out a delicate moan. Her eyes were swimming with lust. I began slowly pumping back and forth and Sophia opened her legs wider and draped them around my back, locking them around my torso.
She gently grazed her fingertips up and down my back, giving me an enhanced sensation of pleasure. I buried my cock deeper inside of her, probing her from the inside and making her moan desperately as I tenderly hit up against her G-spot.
I was filled with ecstasy as she continued to moan into my ear. I relished the sexy sounds that came out of her mouth and was flooded with fresh desire for her. She dragged her nails through my hair.
I groaned and knew that I was going to cum soon, but I wanted her to finish first. I slightly adjusted my positioning above her so that my shaft would rub up against her engorged clitoris every time I thrust in and out of her.
I pressed my body close to her. I wanted to hug her when she came. Her body trembled with ecstasy and then she released the explosion of passion that had built up inside of her.
She came, moaning a little louder than before, but she nestled her mouth into the crook of my neck in an effort to somewhat suppress the urgent cries of her pleasure. It wasn’t for all the world to hear, but sensual bliss for my ears alone.
I couldn’t take it any longer. I came directly after her, groaning as I emptied my seed into the condom bag, flooding it to the point where it almost spilled over.
I lay down beside her, panting hard. I took her hand and squeezed it. Sophia roped one arm and dangled one leg over me, lying on her side as she held me tightly. The air outside was cold, but inside, it was nice and cozy. The tent smelled like sex and cum. It was hot and wonderful.
IMy eyelids were heavy. I knew it was important for us both to get some sleep, and now that I had climaxed, I felt much more relaxed than before. My mind wasn’t as anxiety-driven.
“Good night, beautiful swan,” I whispered in her ear.
She sighed contentedly. “Good night.”
I was thrilled to know that when I woke up in the morning, the first thing that would welcome my eyes to the daylight was her beautiful face. Serenity came to me at long last.
13
Sophia
When I opened my eyes again, I discovered the light of a new day cracking through the edges of the tent folds. I yawned and stretched, glancing to my right.
Blaze was still sleeping, lying contentedly with his arm roped haphazardly around my waist. I blinked and stared up at the ceiling of the tent. Judging by the purplish hue illuminating the creases, I guessed that it was probably early dawn.
I was curious and wanted to check things out. I felt restless and awake. It had been months since I had been able to enjoy an uninterrupted night of sleep. Until last night, it had felt like an eternity since I’d actually felt safe and didn’t have to wake up abruptly to a master pushing his way inside of me without consent. Of course, back then, no consent was needed. We had been slaves, and if we wanted to live or avoid a severe beating, we did what we were told.
I wanted to breathe in gratitude and exhale thankfulness. Even though our conditions were still primitive, they were a tremendous improvement from what I was used to.
I glanced over at Blaze. He was slightly snoring, mouth ajar with a dreamy expression on his face. I slowly took his arm and picked it up as gently as I could so as not to disturb him. I held my breath as I tenderly tucked his arm back by his side.
When I realized that the movement wasn’t going to rouse him, I sighed with relief and tossed the sheets off my legs. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, scratching at my elbows before standing up and climbing back into my clothes.
I unzipped the tent with delicate precision, staring at Blaze the entire time. I didn’t want to wake him. He needed undisturbed slumber. I also knew that he would probably protest the idea of me wandering out of the tent by myself.
All of the guys wanted to protect me, and I understood that. I appreciated how much they cared about me, but at the same time, I was my own person. I was an individual who had risen from the ashes and I knew I could take care of myself because I had done it my entire life.
Ever since Thom had slid me out from underneath my cozy kitchen table in my village home all those years ago, I had been fighting. I had learned how to pick and choose my battles and when it was best to emotionally cut myself off from the world.
When I stepped outside, the air was a damp and chilly. I zipped the front of my jacket and glanced around to assess my surroundings. There were a few people in my general area who were also emerging from their tents, looking groggy and a little bleary-eyed.
A nippy breeze brushed through my hair and tickled the back of my neck and the sides of my cheeks. I tucked my hair into a bun and started walking away from the tent.
I passed a man and his wife hunched over a skillet, scrambling eggs as the man attempted to keep the fire going underneath the skillet
.
“The wind is blowing too hard,” he said and shook his head with frustration. The wife grabbed a blanket and formed a little circle around the campfire to keep the wind from penetrating the flames.
I smiled at her as I passed. “Savvy idea.”
She returned my smile. “Thank you.”
A few seconds later, I came across a woman wearing a black robe. Her fingernails were painted black, and she had blonde curly hair that was askew, yet looked like she had made it intentionally messy. The ringlets of each strand fell down her shoulders and back in perfect spirals. I was captivated by her, although I didn’t really know why.
She seemed ethereal and maybe even a little whimsical. She had an energy about her that I was drawn to.
“Hello.”
It took me a moment to realize that I was the one who had sparked up the conversation.
The woman glanced up at me with a confused expression as if she wasn’t used to others speaking to her in any kind of context.
“Hello…” she trailed off.
She stood up and stared at me. She was holding something in her hand that looked like it was leaves wrapped around each other and formed into a tubular shape. The end of the tube had smoke pluming it.
“What’s that?” I pointed to it.
The lady glanced down at her hand and then back up at me. “It’s a smudge stick.”
She had an accent, but I couldn’t place what kind. It was definitely foreign to my ears, although she did speak English.
“What is a smudge stick?” I asked.
“It gets rid of the impurities of the world around you,” the lady mentioned vaguely.
I frowned. “The impurities?” I sat down on a log next to her tiny campfire.
She didn’t seem to mind my presence. She seemed calm, at peace. Maybe it was from the smudge stick.
“The world is filled with impurities that sacred herbs can cleanse away,” the woman said in a soothing voice, fluidly moving about the area of her tent as she waved the stick through the air. The billows of gray smoke danced and swirled in a trail around her.
“Is it like spiritual cleansing?” I asked.
The lady looked at me and her eyes brightened with recognition. “You are a clever one.” She winked at me and pointed a finger to my chest before continuing on with her ritual.
I had to admit, it was calming to watch her in action. I didn’t know this woman, I had never seen her in my life before today, but I felt connected to her.
“What’s in the stick?” I asked after a while of simply observing her.
I hadn’t wanted to disturb her work, because claimed it was very valuable and important for the wellbeing of the space.
“Mainly sage,” the woman answered. “White sage. Some cedar.”
“Does that help with ridding of the toxins?” I asked.
The woman smiled through her eyes. “Indeed.”
“It smells good,” I said. “And you look relaxed while doing it.”
“It’s very relaxing,” the woman said in a breathy voice.
I glanced inside the woman’s tent, noticing that she had a little shelving display with individual crystals set up on each tier. The crystals were different sizes, and they were sparkling in the fresh light of early morning.
“Those are beautiful,” I said and pointed at them with awe.
The woman turned around to see what I was referring to. She craned her neck and peered into her tent.
“Ah, yes, my crystals. I take them wherever I go.” She looked at them as if she were a proud parent discussing her children.
“I like the one on the end,” I said. “The one that is sort of a purple color.”
“That one is lavender quartz,” the woman said. “It’s a stone of love, healing, and joy.”
“The stones have properties like that in them?” I gazed up at the woman, simply fascinated by her and her elements.
“Of course.” The woman smiled as if that was information everyone should know.
“Wow.” I nodded. “Do you mind if I touch it?”
“Absolutely not.” The woman reached into the tent and pulled it out. “You can hold it if you want to.” She handed it over.
I took it and touched the grooves. The surface sparkled in the sun. “It’s stunning,” I whispered.
“All of the crystals I own are a representation of something healing and promising,” the woman said.
I smiled up at her. “You have quite a collection.”
She shrugged humbly. “I have been collecting them over the years.”
I was intrigued by everything surrounding this woman. I stared at the magnificent stone in my hand, purely enchanted by both it and the woman’s lulling voice. I didn’t know if she was maybe a witch, but I felt safe around her, so she couldn’t have been the malicious kind.
I didn’t even notice James and Ayden approaching me from behind until they were already there, standing behind me.
“Sophia?” Ayden asked, sending me jumping and practically falling off the log I had been sitting on.
I glanced up at them. “Oh. Um…I…uh…” I pointed to the curly-haired blonde. “I was just talking to this woman.”
Ayden narrowed his eyes skeptically, a reaction I hadn’t been expecting. James wore a guarded expression as well. I had mixed feelings because I didn’t understand where their reserved demeanor was coming from.
Weren’t we all in this together? Shifters and humans banded together for the same cause? Judging by the way they were looking at the woman, I had to guess that I was wrong in that assumption.
Ayden lightly touched my shoulder. “We should get back to our own tent area.” His voice was hushed so that the woman wouldn’t hear him.
“Why?” I turned around and gave him a speculative glance, not understanding where the behavior was coming from.
I glanced back at the woman, who seemed indifferent. It felt like I had so much to learn from her. I knew she must have had a compelling backstory and I wanted to know everything about her, though I couldn’t understand where the fascination was coming from. I didn’t even know her name.
“Can we speak to you in private for a minute?” James whispered in my ear.
I glanced between him and the woman and back again.
I gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. Will you just excuse us for a moment?”
The woman shrugged as if it made no difference to her. She kept waving her smudging stick through the air with ritualistic precision.
“Take as much time as you need.”
James and Ayden pulled me aside. Both of their foreheads were wrinkled, and their eyebrows were knitted in concern.
“We don’t want to tell you what to do,” James began, “but it’s probably a good idea if we stick together and don’t wander off from the rest of our group.”
I panned my head over my shoulder and looked at the woman, who had gone back into full-out concentration mode on her tasks.
“But…she just seemed so…nice.”
“A little strange, don’t you think?” Ayden frowned with doubt.
“What?” I looked at him.
“What is she…doing, exactly?” He narrowed his eyes and scrutinized her as if he found her especially odd.
“She’s smudging,” I answered as if I knew what I was talking about after only five minutes with the woman.
“Smudging?” James features were nothing short of confused.
“It’s a kind of spiritual cleansing of the aura around a space,” I said. “It’s supposed to be protective or something.”
James and Ayden exchanged a look. Ayden tried to pull me back toward him and farther away from the woman. They had persuasive expressions, but they weren’t going to rope me in this time.
“I don’t see the harm in talking to her,” I said.
Ayden cleared his throat and shifted his weight as if he was about to divulge something unpleasant.
He chuckled slightly and looked at James
before focusing his attention back to me.
“We just think that maybe it’s a good idea to be cautious of other people we encounter.”
“But we are at a rebellion refugee camp,” I argued. “We’re all on the same team.”
“It doesn’t matter.” James shook his head. “Trust should still be limited until we get to know people. We haven’t even been here a full twenty-four hours yet. We need to make sure that there aren’t enemies among us.”
I frowned and shot an inquisitive look at the woman. She seemed perfectly harmless to me, but perhaps I did put too much trust in others? It didn’t seem likely. I had been burned far too many times in my life. I had my own shields, but this woman didn’t fit the description of a threat in my opinion.
I looked back at the pair. “We need to band together, or we aren’t going to make it very far.”
A flicker of agreeable acknowledgement shimmered briefly in their eyes and they nodded.
“That’s a good point,” James said.
“So, what’s wrong with me making a new friend?” I asked in a whisper so the woman wouldn’t overhear us and become offended. “She seems like she knows what she’s doing.”
Ayden and James seemed to contemplate, but neither of them answered, which made me assume that they didn’t have a compelling argument against me.
“We have no real chance of staying alive unless we start viewing these people as friends and not foe,” I reminded them.
That was the entire purpose of coming to the rebellion camp in the first place: to unite with those individuals who could protect us and allow us to return the favor.
“We want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves,” James said. “We understand how important it is to overthrow the corruptions of society as they stand right now.”
I smiled. “Good.”
In my mind it was settled. We could always watch each other’s backs, but if we behaved hostile and distrusting toward these people who had welcomed and embraced us, we were only going to dig ourselves to an early grave.
It was far more responsible to make alliances, so that in the end, we could extinguish the enemies together. A new community of resilience was docking with the tide. We would band together to keep the power shifted in our direction.
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