I pulled her closer, grinning at her wide-eyed look of surprise as I settled her between my legs.
"W-what are you doing?" She asked, her hands fluttering uncertainly in front of her.
"Claiming what's mine." I pulled her in, fisting her hair in my hand, tilting her head and captured her lips in a brutal kiss before my brothers, the sky and all the fucking gods.
Her body stiffened for a moment before she melted under me, her body swaying into mine and pressing tight. Her lips opened and I dove in, seizing my opportunity. She tasted like cherries and mint, and kissed me like she was born to do it.
Fuck, I need her under me.
I jerked back, ripping my mouth free and leant down, hoisting her up and over my shoulder. In two strides I was headed to my room, ignoring the jeering men around me and the outraged cries from the women in the distance. I paid attention to the woman on my shoulder, the one panting and squirming as I carried her up the stairs, past the rooms of my brothers to my private quarters on the third floor. Spacious, clean, and fucking sound proof.
Not once did she protest.
Inside, I kicked the door shut and strode through the sitting room, kitchen and into my bedroom, tossing her on the generous king. She landed with a little bump, pushing up to stare at me, her lips already red and a little swollen.
"Say no right now and you can leave. You say nothing and this is happening." I warned, panting as I started to slowly unbuckle my belt.
She flushed, chewing on one corner of her mouth as her gaze dropped to my hands.
"Say it," I repeated.
Slowly, oh so fucking slowly, she looked up. With a shaking hand she reached for her mouth, pretending to zip it close t and throw away the key.
"Good girl."
Chapter Five
Ellie
What am I doing!?
My inner voice raged at me, demanding answers for why I was letting this big, potentially dangerous, stranger strip me of my clothing.
But a deeper, darker part of me, the part I'd found myself seeking in the days and months since the before, that part wanted this.
She demanded it.
Runner kissed me as if he were dying. As if I were his last meal, his last breath, his last thought. It felt intoxicating, delicious, thrills of sparking, hot awareness raced down my body to pool low in my core.
My clit throbbed, my body pulsed, and I needed him to touch me with that possessiveness that had defined the last few moments.
Riding on his bike, cruising through the dark, the feeling of eyes upon us, the feeling of vulnerability, the loss and grief at leaving our only home, it had piled upon me until I was intensely aware of my own mortality. Of the risk and unending loss that stretched before me.
This was the after. In the after there was no reward without immense sacrifice.
I knew tonight would be a reward for me. Knew tonight would result in an as yet unknown sacrifice, yet that dark whisper didn't care.
Give in. Let him do this. You need it. No, you deserve it.
I did. I deserved to let go and find some joy, or at least pleasure, in the after. For months I'd been on the edge of fear; living in a world where my friends depended on me to contribute, to build, to create. There were no sick days, no days off. Nothing but the endless struggle to improve our situation and the constant battle with fear. God, I was so tired of being brave. Of being fearful. Anxious. Cautious. Terrified.
I needed this outlet. I needed Runner to switch off my overactive mind. To take away all thoughts and allow nothing but him to dominate my senses.
Riding into the compound, surrounded by rough men with hungry eyes and hard bodies, was the first time in over nine months that I felt comfortable to let myself go. I gave into Runner's orders. Let him take charge, allowed him to control and move me, taste, and feel me any way he desired.
And I revelled in it.
He stripped me, our mouths gasping, tongues tangling as I submitted to him. His hands found my breasts and we both groaned as he cupped them.
"You need this as much as I do," he growled against my lips. "You're killing me, Baby Girl."
I arched under him, my head falling back, hips tilted, desperate for him to do more.
His fingers grazed my nipples, shuddering moans escaping from between my lips at his touch. One hand dropped to my jeans, his body shifting as he began to undo the buttons at my fly.
"Gonna fuck you good," he promised, flicking the buttons open even as he continued to tease my breast. "You fucked anyone since the before?"
I shook my head, forcing my eyes open to watch him. He studied me, his hands halting. "You fuck anyone in the before?"
I nodded, failing to tell him there had only been one, a guy I thought I'd loved. He'd turned out to be a mistake I still regretted.
"You clean? On protection?"
"I'm clean, but no. I'm not on birth control."
"Gotcha," he reached over my head, pulling out his bedside drawer and ripping free some condoms. "Tomorrow," he said casually as he laid them beside me and resumed pulling off my pants. "You go see your doctor friend. Get her to put you on birth control."
"I'm not sure we—"
He twisted me a little, enough to get access to my left butt cheek and slap it.
I froze, my butt smarting from the tap but also, strangely, I felt… relief? The feminist in me rebelled, rejecting the idea. Horrified I could feel anything but outrage at the tap. But there was a whisper of carnality that gloried in what Runner had just done. A sensual fluidity pervading my limbs, a little mew of pleasure escaping from between my lips as the heat and admonishment fed my need for release.
Runner glanced at me, his gaze dark. "You like being punished, Baby Girl?"
"I… I'm not sure."
Yes.
He rocked back on his heels, pulling my underwear and jeans free. "Guess we better find out."
Naked beneath him, he shifted, pressing two fingers to my clit, chuckling as I moaned, my legs clamping around his hand, keeping him there.
"Baby Girl, you're soaked." He pulled his hand free, bringing his fingers to his face, inhaling then sucking them clean. "I'd say you fucking love it."
He rolled me to my knees, putting me up to all fours. I glanced over my shoulder, nervous tension radiating from me in waves.
He backed me to the edge of the bed, slipping off then pulling his own pants free and kicking them away. He turned back to me, hands running up and over the curve of my ass, the dip of my lower back, tracing my spine up to the nape of my neck. He cupped it, squeezing gently.
"You ever had a safe word before?" He asked, one hand still holding my neck, the other gliding up and down my back.
"No."
"We're gonna play tonight, you and me, and it might get rough. You feel me?"
I tried to nod but his hand halted my movement. I made a sound of affirmation instead.
"Good girl. You like what I do, you don't have to say anything but encouragement. You need a minute; you say orange and I slow it down. But you don't like what I do, it hurts or you want it to stop, you say red. Got it?"
"Yes, Runner."
"Fuck, like the way you say that, Baby Girl."
His hand fell away from my neck, dipping to catch the strands of my hair that had escaped my pony tail, gently he pulled them back, gathering the mass at the back of my neck.
"Now, we're gonna play a little game of truth and lies. You tell me the truth, I reward you." His free hand caressed one of my butt cheeks lovingly. "But you tell me a lie, you get punished." That same hand drew back and slapped my ass, drawing a gasp from me and leaving a hot bite of pain in its wake.
I purred at the heat of his mark, craving more. More heat, more discipline… just, more.
"Say, yes, Runner."
"Yes, Runner." I repeated, not recognizing the raw need in my voice.
"Good girl," he rewarded me with a kiss to my ass, his lips pressed gently to the smarting skin. Silk and iron. Heat and cool.
It felt inexplicably welcome. My pussy clenched in response and I could barely bite back the whimper.
"Now, first question. How long you been at that school?"
Chapter Six
Ellie
How long you been at that school?
I suddenly understood his intention. This wasn't just about sex. This was about information. My body tensed, and he chuckled, the hand in my hair pulling enough to lift my head, the pin-prick of pain enough to warm my blood, further fuelling my anger.
"Don't worry, Baby Girl," he pressed his erection into my ass. "The questions are to learn more about you. Doesn't mean I'm not turned-the-fuck-on."
I hesitated, cut in a precipice between wanting to answer and be rewarded, and fearful of what he might ask.
Am I here for information or sex?
"Remember your safe word, Ellie." His breath felt hot as he ran his tongue up my spine, tingles following the delicious sensation.
"I was there for four years before this went down."
He released my hair a fraction, his free hand moving down to graze against my pussy lips.
"And since?"
"Since the world ended," I whispered. "I never left."
His hand cupped my pussy. I wiggled but his hand tightened on my hair keeping me in place.
"You safe at the University?"
I bit my lip, uncertain about how to answer.
Quick as a flash he removed his hand delivering a sharp slap to my ass and I jumped, squirming, wet beginning to coat my thighs.
"Too slow, Baby Girl. Let's try again." He rubbed the smarting spot. "Were you safe?"
"For the most part," I answered, struggling to be truthful. "Ava protected us and taught us how to protect ourselves."
"But you ran into trouble," his hand caressed my ass and I relaxed.
"Occasionally, mostly people who didn't think thirteen women could look after themselves." I twisted to look over my shoulder at him. "We took care of it."
He raised an eyebrow, his gaze dark and hungry. "How?"
I dropped my gaze, my head swinging back around, my fisted hair stopping me from dropping my head. "We… we just took care of it."
I didn't want to talk about it. The memories would kill my mood, already I could feel that blissful sense of relief disappearing.
I could feel him considering me, considering the answer I'd given him. Finally, he rewarded me by dragging a finger through my wetness, finding my clit, and rubbing.
"I'll let you get away with that tonight," Runner told me, his big finger manipulating me, rebuilding the tension between us. "Next time I ask, I expect details. Got me?"
I closed my eyes, making a noise of agreement even as all my concentration centred on his movements. He played me expertly, my knees and arms buckling as my body responded, wet flooding his fingers.
"That's it, Baby Girl. Go with it."
He teased and taunted; his big, blunt fingers, calloused and rough, pushed me higher, working me to the edge then halting. I whimpered, pushing back, searching for his hand. Runner chuckled, keeping just out of my reach.
"Final question," he leaned down, the heat of his body searing my back as his breath brushed the shell of my ear, his lips grazing as he whispered his question.
"Are you mine, Baby Girl?"
Goose bumps prickled across my skin, shudders wracking my body as I struggled to think past the haze of lust, struggled to control my need enough to answer.
"Yes."
He drew back immediately and for a moment I was bereft of his warmth. For a moment I felt disconnected, lost and alone. Then he was there, his hands heaving me back towards him, his cock finding my core.
"Brace, Ellie."
I had seconds to stiffen my arms before Runner thrust into me, his cock large, long, and brutal as it entered me, claiming, and marking, stretching, and fucking with raw intensity.
"Fuck," Runner swore, holding my hips steady as he fucked me hard. "Tight as a fucking glove, Baby Girl. Gonna stretch you real good."
I fell to my elbows, head burrowing into the bed as screams shredded my throat, his body dominating mine.
All I could think, all I could feel was Runner.
Runner thrusting into me. Runner pushing me to my limits. Runner, Runner, Runner.
One hand dropped from my hips to my pussy, and he curled a hand in, pressing my clit.
"Fucking cum. Now," he ordered.
At his words I shattered under him, my body breaking into a million pieces. I couldn't process anything beyond the pleasure splintering through my body and the grunting thrusts of him emptying inside me.
He collapsed on me a moment later, his big body pressing mine into the bed, his teeth sinking into my shoulder, his breath rough as he marked me. Not hard enough to bruise, but hard enough to make his intention clear.
I'm his.
The realization of my actions settled.
In the after there was no reward without immense sacrifice – and today I was the sacrifice.
Fuck.
Chapter Seven
Runner
Fuck. I mean… well, fuck.
Ellie had wrung me dry. I'd never come that hard before. Not even close.
I rolled off her, pushing to my feet. I needed to get her cleaned up. I needed to go again.
Immediately.
I headed for the bathroom, disposing of the condom. I grabbed a rag for her then froze, the hair on the back of my neck prickling.
Something's wrong.
I reached under the sink, pulling the hand gun I stashed there free. I flicked the safety off and raised it, slowly walking back to the door.
Ellie remained crumpled on the bed. Her ass pink, my handprint visible on her ample cheeks. Her hair spilled across the bed, her body in the same position I'd left her, calm and at ease.
A brush of movement to my left had me pivoting, my gun trained on the woman pointing her own weapon at me. Her eyes narrowed; her hands steady as she stared me down.
"Ava," I greeted, ice running through my veins. "You wanna put that down?"
"You wanna explain why Ellie has marks on her?"
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ellie move, heard her gasp then begin to scramble.
"Ellie, stay where you are," I ordered, not wanting her anywhere near this woman and her gun.
"Ellie, get behind me," Ava ordered, her glare promising me retribution. "Now."
Ellie pulled a blanket from the bed wrapping it around her as she fumbled to her feet, calling, "Ava, it's not what you—"
"Behind me!" Ava ordered, her gaze not wavering from me for even a moment.
"No," Ellie replied, coming to stand beside me.
"Excuse me?" Ava's gaze flicked to her then immediately to me. "Ellie, what the fuck are you doing?"
"It's not what you think," Ellie told her again, reaching out a hand out to lay it on my arm. "Runner didn't hurt me."
Ava huffed out a bitter laugh. "Honey, I saw the handprints."
Ellie flushed, her body drifting closer to mine. "Umm, yeah, they were consensual."
I saw Ava's dark eyes widen her forehead crinkling. "You sure about that?"
Ellie chuckled nervously, "pretty sure. I mean… the orgasms were good."
I didn't relax my stance, didn't move except to ask, "only good?"
Ellie rolled her eyes, "fine. Great."
Ava remained unconvinced; her expression unchanged.
Ellie sighed, turning slightly away from me, and making a movement I couldn’t quite catch. A second later the gun lowered and Ava flicked the safety.
I dropped my arm, doing the same.
"You wanna cover up?" Ava asked, nodding at my crotch.
I leaned, against the doorjamb, giving her an eyebrow raise. "My room, my rules."
"Jesus," she turned away from me, pegging Ellie with a look. "You’re sure?"
Ellie nodded. "I'm fine, Ava. Promise."
She blew out a breath, reaching a hand up and running it through her
chestnut hair. "Well damn," she dropped her hand. "Guess I better go smooth some feathers."
"Ava," Ellie leaned into me, wrapping an arm around my waist. "What did you do?"
"What I had to," she pivoted on her heel, slinging the gun over her shoulder, and calling, "later."
I watched her pull open my door and yell down the hall, "she's fine. Stand down!"
"Jesus," I muttered, looking down at Ellie. "What did she do?"
Ellie sighed, tucking a strand of her hair back. "Most likely took out a few of your guys. Ava's incredible. And scary."
"Scary?"
Ellie lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. "She did… what do they call it in movies? Wet work?"
"What?" I barked, throwing a look at my closed door. "She's an assassin?"
"What! No! Ava does the, you know," Ellie raised a hand making a pew-pew sound as she pretended to shoot her finger gun. "She took care of stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" I asked, turning to Ellie, and backing her towards the bed.
"You know, stuff."
The back of her knees hit the bed and she went down, the blanket slipping free, her glorious tits spilling out.
"Mm," I murmured, leaning over her. "Do we need another game of truth or lies?"
She shook her head, her body flushing.
"Then you better keep that mouth busy," I told her, reaching down to fist my cock. "You ready?"
"Yes, Runner."
I fed her my cock, her lips closing around me, hot, wet perfection engulfing my length.
Fuck, I could get used to this.
Chapter Eight
Ellie
The smell of cooking woke me. I lay in the bed for a moment, my stomach rumbling as I took stock of my body. I ached, but in the most satisfying of ways. Runner had broken down my walls, easily controlling me and my pleasure.
I can't even feel ashamed.
And I didn't. I owned the way I felt around Runner. For the first time in a long time I felt… free.
I rolled out of bed, groaning as I climbed to my feet, my body protesting in places I'd forgotten existed.
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