She sat listening, letting his words absorb into her mind. Understanding.
“So there’s not much chance of me having a baby that is natural?” she asked. “That is not a breeder?”
“Only a ten percent chance.”
“The male children then?”
“There are rumors of the gene you carry being found inside a few male children.”
She was surprised by what he said but before she could question him, he continued.
“I imagine they are trying to birth both male and female who carry this gene. If it’s true, in some years’ time, the majority of the population of earth will be able to breed again. It’s a good thing, not for us perhaps, not for our children but for their children and those that come after.”
“But at what cost? How many lives? How many mothers will have their children taken from them in the meantime? They think we don’t feel. They think we don’t care, but we do. Our hearts are torn apart when one of our children is taken from us.”
* * *
Silas turned away, unable to look at the pain in her eyes. They implored him, the humanity, the suffering, the strength and courage he saw in them too much. He had to remember why he was doing this. She was right—she had a right to her question. The cost was her life, her children’s lives. But there was too much at stake and she was one person. One breeder.
“We should move,” he said abruptly, standing. “We have a long way to travel today.”
She looked surprised at the sudden change, but he had to remain strong. If he began to feel for her, to feel for her situation… no, he would simply not allow that. He took the small container of ointment from his pocket. She glanced at it, then back at him.
“Stand up,” he said. He could hand it to her, tell her to do it herself, but he wouldn’t do that. Instead, he would use this to put distance between them, to put her back on the side of fearing him.
Rowan rose slowly to her feet and faced him.
“Take off the fur, you won’t need it during the day.”
She slid it from her shoulders as if she already knew what he had in mind.
“Turn around, bend over, and touch your toes. I need to inspect your bottom.”
She hesitated, her eyes searching his. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I do. It will be good for you to remember you’re my property now. I always take care of what belongs to me. Besides, if you are to take what I have planned for you, I’ll need you well healed. Now turn around and bend over,” he said, opening the jar.
“What did I do?” she asked, confused. How had she angered him? He had seemed so gentle and caring even a moment ago.
“I said turn around and bend over. Do not be difficult.”
She opened her mouth but seemed to reconsider and instead, turned and bent as he had said. He lifted her dress up to her waist to expose her bottom, the pink of her pussy lips peeking through from between her cheeks, the darker hole just visible. What he saw there was more proof of the fact that she was different from the women of his village, than non-breeders in general. Where the backs of her legs and bottom had been so damaged with the switch just yesterday, they were healed completely today. The ointment worked differently on breeders, something in their bodies binding with it somehow to heal them faster than average human women.
“You’ll be ready to take that spanking you’re owed by tonight, I think,” he said. “Reach back and spread your bottom wide so I can inspect your bottom hole properly.”
“Please don’t make me do this,” she begged.
“You’re wasting time.”
She reached her arms back and pulled her bottom cheeks apart, exposing herself fully to his gaze. Silas swallowed, his cock already hardening, already wanting to be buried deep inside her virgin pussy, her virgin ass.
“No man has had you?” he asked.
“No,” she managed.
He only looked for a long time, making her hold her position, his cock aching. “Your bottom hole is still a bit red, but not as much as yesterday. Does it still pain you?”
“Yes, but it’s better than it was.”
“Then the embarrassment will be worth the healing.” Dipping his finger into the ointment, he brought it to her bottom and rubbed it all around the outside first, taking his time, imagining how it would feel to fuck her. He would have her in every way and he would make sure she enjoyed it as well, and from how her pussy began to glisten, he knew she was very responsive. Slowly, he pressed his finger inside her. Rowan immediately squeezed her muscles around his finger once, twice. He moved in and out slowly, pretending to rub the healing ointment in but truly too aroused to stop, enjoying her warmth, her tightness around his finger, imagining the snug fit for his thick cock and how she could milk him with what she was doing now to his finger.
But that was enough for now. At least it was if he didn’t want to lose control. He pulled his finger out and she began to straighten but he pushed her back down.
“Why don’t you stay like that while I load the wagon. You can set your hands on your knees but you’ll stay bent over and exposed to me. I’ll ask you to take this position often so best to get started immediately. Do you know how to answer me?”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“Good girl. Silas is all right most times but during punishment or inspections, you’ll use sir.”
She nodded her head and he saw her squeeze her eyes shut. Feeling slightly guilty for being so hard on her, he put the ointment back into his pocket and began to load the wagon.
Chapter Five
Rowan walked alongside the wagon that day, letting him pull it, answering his questions when he asked them but not volunteering conversation herself, thinking instead. He had humiliated her that morning. There had been no need for what he had done. Yes, he had applied the ointment and he could have chosen to withhold it altogether, but it was the way he had done it. It was to send a message, a very clear one, and she got it.
She was his property; that was all.
Fine. She wasn’t exactly looking for more, wasn’t expecting it. She had more important things to worry about like her reception at his settlement for starters. She looked down at her wrist, at the intricate design there, and closed her other hand over it. For the moment, it offered protection. As did he, her tormentor.
Rowan looked up at Silas’ back. He was shirtless as the heat of the day was at its height. His muscles rippled with the load of the weight he carried and his skin, which the sun had browned to a golden shade, glistened with sweat. She studied the marking on his body, wondering if it meant something, if it had some power.
She too wiped sweat from her forehead as they walked in the late afternoon sun. There was almost no shade to be had and much of the vegetation was dead but she would not ask for a rest, as badly as she needed it. Her feet hurt, her muscles ached, and she was grateful the pain of her punishment had now receded almost completely. She eyed one of the pomegranates in the cart and licked her lips. She was so thirsty.
He turned to look at her now and again and every time she caught his gaze, she thought she glimpsed regret or at least concern in his eyes, but he would mask that emotion too quickly for her to be sure. It was another hour before finally, they heard the sound of water. They both stopped and turned in the direction of it and he set the load down and looked to her.
“About a mile in that direction, there’s a waterfall. It will add some time to our journey but if you’d like to see it, swim, and take some rest, we can do that.”
She studied him, wanting to understand the mixed signals he gave. At moments, he was ruthless, a mercenary, treating her like they did at the colony: as a thing. Not human enough. Then, like this morning when she was telling her story, or like now when he asked if she would like to see the waterfall, he seemed almost kind.
“Well?” he asked, raising his eyebrows in anticipation of her answer.
“Yes, I’d like to see it and to take rest.”
He nod
ded and turned, picking up the handles of the wagon again. It was then she realized he would have to walk an additional mile there and then another one back while dragging the heavy load.
“Can we not leave the wagon here?”
He turned to look at her but kept walking. “No, I won’t take a chance on our supplies being stolen.”
“Can I help carry it?” she asked, looking at the load, knowing she’d not even be able to lift the wagon up off its legs to pull it on the two wheels.
He chuckled and looked her small frame over. “I don’t think that will work, but thank you for offering.”
She nodded and lowered her gaze to her hands but continued to walk the distance next to him rather than behind him.
It wasn’t long before the sound of the fall grew louder and louder, drowning out all else. The area was greener around the water as she expected it to be and she found herself walking faster as she felt the first mist of the fall. When she glimpsed the sparkling water through some trees, she couldn’t help laughing out loud and turned to look back at Silas who still followed some steps behind with the wagon.
He smiled back at her and nodded. “Go ahead.”
She didn’t hesitate. Instead, she ran through to the clearing along the blue-green water’s edge, exhaling as the beauty of the place filled her eyes with tears. She looked up at the fall, at the whitest white of water falling over rocks into the lake below. The fall itself was about two stories high but the lake below was not large. She walked over the soft rocks and slipped off her boots as she approached the water’s edge and just dipped her toes inside it, sucking in a breath with the cold.
She heard Silas behind her and turned to watch him set down the wagon. “Can you swim?” he asked.
“I don’t know, I’ve never tried,” she said, already wading in to her knees, the cool taking her breath away.
“It’s not too deep there, go on. I’ll help you.”
* * *
Silas watched her face, seeing a girlish excitement there for the first time since he had first seen her, and he understood he had unknowingly given her a gift just now. He hadn’t realized it at first, needing the rest and the swim as much as she did, but if he were alone, he would have trudged on to the settlement and not made the additional miles.
She turned her back to him and hesitated, glancing at him over her shoulder, her hands on the hem of her dress as she obviously considered whether or not to strip it off. In the end, she chose to walk in with it still on, which Silas had to grin about. He had seen her naked, he had seen her so completely bared and the white of her dress would be nearly transparent when wet but she held on to this idea of modesty. He watched her for a few moments as she dared to walk deeper and deeper in and as she turned, he noticed how the wet dress already clung to her, outlining her heavy breasts, the dark nipples hard points pressing against the thin fabric. His cock stirred at the look of her, with the knowledge that she was his to have.
He stripped off his shoes and his pants and walked to the water’s edge. When she turned to see him coming into the water completely naked, her eyes went wide, traveling down his torso to his manhood, then back. Her face blushed a furious red and she averted her gaze.
Silas grinned and walked straight toward her, splashing water around him as he did. Once he was deep enough, he dove under, circling around her legs once as she turned to follow his progress then swimming closer to the fall and surfacing just beneath the flow. He shook his head and wiped his eyes, relishing the cool respite, looking at her standing there watching him, the look in her eyes almost envious. He dove forward and swam to her in easy, powerful strides.
“Come,” he said from some steps away.
She shook her head. “I don’t think I can stand there.”
“Come, I’ll hold you.”
Fear battled desire and he knew which would win just from the look in her eyes. She smiled up at him and he could imagine her thinking, see her wanting and his own smile widened as he held his arms up to her as he would to a child.
“Come, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Like an anxious child, she nodded her head and reached out as if to grab something before closing her eyes and just jumping straight forward. Her head went under but he caught her around the waist easily and lifted her up. Rowan coughed then wiped the water from her face before putting her hands on his shoulders. They were only inches apart. She was beautiful, he already knew that, but in her eyes was something else too, something innocent and almost trusting. Her smile widened then and she slapped the water’s surface, splashing water all around them.
“Ha!” she laughed, doing it again.
Silas let go with one hand to wipe his eyes but couldn’t help but laugh along with her.
“I want to swim like you did,” she said.
“All right,” he said, and without warning, turned onto his back and pulled her along with him to the opposite end of the lake then back again. She gripped his arm hard but he could hear her laughter. “Just relax and lie still, look up at the sky, and breathe through your mouth. We’ll float.”
She panicked though when he let her go and reached for his arm, almost going under before he could catch her.
“Don’t let me go! I’ll drown!”
“You’ll float, lie back. Come on, relax, Hellcat.”
“Don’t call me that!” she said, turning to lie back. He could see that she wanted this, she wanted it badly, and her sense of adventure was greater than her fear.
“That’s it. I’m going to hold your hand now. Don’t panic, I won’t leave your side, I promise.”
“Ok,” she said, not daring to turn her head now that she was on her back. He could see her breath coming fast and knew she wasn’t relaxed, but that would come. He took her hand and kicked a little. She was a quick study, mimicking his movements so that in no time, she had relaxed enough to look at him while they played.
“You’ve got it. If you’re ever in water and panic, just turn onto your back and breathe. Keep your belly up out of the water and keep it full of air and you’ll float, understand?”
“Yes.”
“Want to go under the fall?” he asked.
He only needed a nod from her to take her. He was a strong swimmer and she was a good student. She trusted him to keep her safe, at least at the moment. Darker thoughts assaulted Silas but he pushed them away. There was enough time for that, now was the time to enjoy and to watch her enjoy.
She screamed loudly once the water splashed on her head but he could see on her face that she was laughing. He held onto her, the force of the fall too strong for her to float here. She put her hands on his shoulders and he pulled her closer until her body pressed against his. Her smile was gone then, replaced by something else, something no longer carefree or childlike. He swam them a little farther back, out of the direct fall of the water and there, pushed some of the hair out of her face, and touched her lips with his thumb.
“You’re very beautiful,” he said, wondering if she could hear him over the water.
She smiled and dropped her gaze.
“No, don’t do that. Your eyes, I want to see them.”
“They’re ugly,” she said, averting them, pushing back against his chest. “Scary.”
He hugged her tighter. “Not scary or ugly. Different. Beautiful.”
She looked up at him again, really was looking at his face this time, studying his features it seemed.
“The men don’t have so much hair at the colony,” she said, touching the stubble at his jaw. He’d have to shave once he got back but he imagined he looked quite barbaric compared to the men she was used to seeing.
Silas leaned toward her slowly. Placing one hand at the back of her head, he brought his mouth to hers. She gasped and tried to pull away but he held her and kissed her gently. There would be time for taking later, for now, he wanted to taste her, he only wanted to taste her. Her lips were wet and soft and she yielded to him, opening her mouth to his w
hen his tongue begged entrance. She was warm and tasted sweet, like nothing he’d tasted before. When she made a sound and he felt her legs wrap around his middle, he swam them to the back of the waterfall and with her back pressed against the rocks there, he slid one hand down to cup her bottom while his kiss grew in intensity, no longer tasting but taking.
But he knew he had frightened her when her hands came up to his chest and she made a sound of protest. He opened his eyes to find her staring at him, her own eyes wide and afraid. He pushed back and she looked away.
“Let’s dry off, we can eat some of your pomegranate.”
“I don’t want to get out,” she said. “I like it too much,” she said, although she was now shivering.
“We’ll swim again before we go on. I have a surprise for you in fact, but first, let’s eat and drink.”
She nodded and the two climbed out of the water, Rowan ahead of Silas. He watched her as she did, her dress as good as transparent as it clung to her every curve. She noticed it too and looked up at him for a moment, then at his own naked form, embarrassed again.
“Take it off and hang it to dry,” he said, going to the wagon to collect some fruit along with the jug of water. When he returned, he found her sitting naked on a grassy area near the water’s edge. He handed her the water and watched her drink her fill before taking it from her. He then sliced the fruit, tore it like she had and handed her half.
“Can I plant some of the seeds at your village? Perhaps a tree will grow. I don’t know for sure, but we can try.”
“Yes, we should try. We have some vegetation but the lands are farmed regularly and water is scarce. We also raise cattle and other animals for milk and food and grow a variety of herbs,” he said.
“Herbs?” she asked.
He nodded. Her face grew serious for a moment, which gave him pause, but she masked whatever she was thinking quickly.
“I know a bit about herbs, healing herbs, not so much for cooking.”
“You do? How?”
Given to the Savage Page 6
