I’m going to go see if there’s enough wood to heat bath water or if I need to go out and get some more.”
Elin looked like she was ready to burst with excitement. “Awesome. Anna, I’ve found books and photo albums and an old French horn—”
“French horn?” Anna joined Elin over in front of a closet built into the far wall. “What’s that?”
Elin pulled an intricately shaped brass object from the closet. “It’s a musical instrument. My dad had a book full of pictures and information about all kinds of different instruments…woodwinds, brass, string.”
“I don’t know a lot about music,” Anna admitted. “Just what people in my tribe told me about. Nobody ever mentioned French horns.”
“Have you heard a lot of music?”
“I can remember music from when I was very little. After we moved to the forest, just singing. My people didn’t believe in electricity, modern things. So for as long as I can remember, just singing. Garrett’s adoptive mother used to sing to both of us sometimes. She called it Motown. I think they were pretty old songs.”
Elin smiled fondly as she continued examining the contents of the closet. “My dad used car batteries to power an old CD player he had in the house. I love classic rock. It was his favorite, too.”
Anna wasn’t entirely certain what classic rock was, but nodded. She spotted a door leading to another room. “I’m going to go check out what’s in here.”
Elin gave her a distracted nod. “Let me know if you find anything really cool.”
Anna made a quick detour next to Elin and delivered a light smack to her bottom. Elin giggled and gave Anna’s nipple a gentle tweak. Anna was still smirking when she entered the next room. This one also had a window, and she could make out bulky furniture arranged in a semicircle in the center of the floor. She made her way cautiously around the perimeter of the room and smiled when she discovered a shelf full of decorative candles.
“I don’t think anyone would mind if I borrowed these,” she murmured, using the candle she held to light one after another, until she had the entire shelf ablaze and generating warm light.
Anna turned to face the interior of the room, then collected lit candles and started a slow dispersal of light throughout the room. When done, she could easily see two leather couches that faced one another, and an overstuffed leather chair at the head of the room. A large bookcase sat opposite the armchair. The shelves were crammed with various knickknacks and old volumes. Everything was covered by a thin layer of dust.
Near the windows, a low shelf ran along the wall a foot or two beneath the windowsills. The objects on it appeared to be mostly small home appliances, and unlike the dead technology she normally saw, none of them seemed to be electrically operated. It took only a few minutes of study before Anna realized she’d found something extraordinary. “Elin!”
Elin poked her auburn head inside the room. “Yeah?”
“I’ve got something for you.” Anna examined the object in her lap, trying to decide how it worked. “I think you’re going to love this if I can figure it out.”
Bounding over, Elin knelt on the floor and rubbed Anna’s lower back through her sweatshirt. “What is it?”
“I think it’s a movie projector. I found some reels of film, too. It doesn’t look like this thing needs electricity, either. I think it’s hand-operated.”
“That’s so cool. Nice find.”
Anna pulled a reel of film from the box. “If I can just figure out how to get the reel on there—”
“Ready for a bath, girls?”
Anna glanced up at Kael’s low voice. “I found a movie projector.”
“Hand-operated,” Elin said excitedly. “We might be able to watch some movies tonight.”
Kael gave them an indulgent grin. “That sounds great. There’s a lot of room in here. What do you two say we set up our sleeping bags in this room for the night?”
I guess that answers where he found the body. Of course it’d be in the nice, soft bed. Still, carpet sounded like a dream.
“Okay,” Elin said. “We can take our baths and then watch movies. How about that?”
“As you wish, sweet girl,” Kael said.
Elin rose to her feet and offered Anna her hand. “What do you say we go get wet, Anna?”
Blushing, Anna took in Kael’s hooded gaze. “Okay.”
Kael stepped back to allow them through the door. “The water may still be a bit hot. Let me check before you get in, okay?”
She led Elin and Anna to a room Anna hadn’t yet seen, lit not only by a candle, but also by a wood-burning stove. At one side of the room sat a large wooden tub, three-quarters full of steaming water. The giant pot Kael must have used to heat the water sat on the floor next to the tub, empty.
“There’s a water pump out back,” Kael said. “It was cold as hell coming out of the ground, but I boiled it before pouring it into the tub. Be careful when you get in.”
Elin nodded, then shivered. “It’ll cool off pretty quickly, I imagine.” She stepped closer to the stove and held out her hands to warm them.
Anna dipped one hand inside the tub just as Kael did the same. “Feels good to me.” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a hot bath.
Kael nodded. “I think it’s fine. I put some towels in front of the stove for when you get out.”
Elin looked up at Kael with a frown. “You’re not taking a bath?”
Kael shot Anna a cautious look, then turned back to Elin with a shake of her head. “I figured I’d worry about dinner while you two bathed.”
“I thought you said there were MREs in here somewhere,” Anna said. “You don’t need to hunt for us tonight.”
Kael hesitated. “Well, I could get our beds set up. And I could go out and gather some more wood for this stove—”
Elin began stripping off her clothes. “Kael, why don’t you just stay here? You should get a bath, too.”
Kael shot Anna a nervous look. “There’s only room enough for two in there at a time. I’d just be…watching, anyway.”
Anna bit her lower lip. You know you don’t want him to leave. “You could keep us company,” she murmured. “There’s no reason for you to have to go off on your own all the time. We both want you around.”
“You do?” Kael stared at them with a solemn look on her face.
“I know I do,” Elin said, blue jeans bunched around her ankles. She kicked them away with a flourish.
Reaching behind her back, she unclasped her bra and bared her breasts.
Anna met Kael’s gaze once again. “I want you around, Kael.” More than you know. Now that they’d started sparring again, it wasn’t flashbacks that Anna worried about. It was her arousal, and how the look and feel of Kael’s lean body inspired it. Not to mention the intense indigo eyes, the low, sensual voice, and the genuine caring that she felt every time Kael was near. “There’s no reason for you to leave.”
“Then it’s settled.” Elin stood gloriously nude with a beaming smile on her face. She patted the seat of Anna’s jeans. “Take your clothes off.”
Anna raised an eyebrow at Kael. “Has she always been this bossy?”
“Always.”
“We call it ‘decisive,’ where I come from,” Elin said. With a smirk, she climbed onto a bench that sat next to the tub and eased one shapely leg into the steaming water before lowering her body into the bath. “Oh my God, this is heavenly.”
Anna’s eagerness to bathe overrode most of her modesty, and she began shedding her clothing with relative ease. She could feel Kael’s eyes on her body as she undressed, and she felt her face flush with the realization that she enjoyed the attention. A lot. She caught a momentary glimpse of the two hated scars on her breast when her bra fell to the ground, and she lifted her eyes to watch Kael’s reaction. Kael wet her lips with her tongue, and she didn’t look away. Anna’s nipples hardened, but whether from Kael’s heated stare or the frigid air, she wasn’t sure.
�
��Anna has the prettiest skin, doesn’t she?” Elin murmured. “So smooth.”
“And the color.” Kael stood with her hands clasped in front of her narrow hips, knuckles white. “It’s beautiful.”
Anna dropped her eyes to look at her brown skin. She and her uncle had been the only ones in her tribe so dark, and she had only ever seen one man darker than her. She had been at first fascinated by him, and then horrified that she had to kill him.
“Uncle Roberto told me we were Latino.” She eased her body into the water with a grateful sigh. “All I knew was that I never looked like anyone else except my uncle. The other kids in the tribe would tease me sometimes, for being so dark.”
Elin floated over to wrap her arms around Anna. “They were crazy.” Reaching out, she covered one bare breast with pale fingers. “I’m especially fond of your brown nipples.”
Anna whimpered in pleasure when Elin captured one erect nipple between gentle fingertips, squeezing and rolling it in a slow tease. “Responsive brown nipples,” Elin murmured. She gave Kael a mischievous grin, and then affected innocence at Kael’s stern look. “What?”
“Who are you trying to tease?” Kael shifted where she stood and folded her arms over her chest.
“Everyone?” Elin answered.
“It’s working,” Kael and Anna said in unison.
“Good.” Elin beckoned to Kael. “Baby, will you come make sure that I’m clean?”
“Elin,” Kael said in soft warning. “Be good.”
Anna studied Elin with an amused half-smile. “She’s never good. You know that, Kael. You might as well make sure that she’s clean, though. At the very least, if she can’t be good, she should be clean.”
“Definitely.” Kael approached the tub and pushed the sleeve of her Henley shirt above the elbow. Staring at Elin’s breasts, she held a sponge aloft for a moment before lowering her hand into the water to soak it.
“Surprise,” she murmured, and brought the sponge up to brush across Elin’s breasts. “I found it still wrapped in plastic earlier, if you want to use it.”
Elin closed her eyes, groaning in pleasure. “That feels so fucking good.”
Anna blinked. Elin hardly ever swears unless we’re— Her eyes went wide and she felt a rush of sensation between her legs as she took in the scene across from her. Well, I know Elin is aroused.
“Dirty mouth.” Kael dropped the sponge and cupped Elin’s breast with her large hand. “And here I thought I was supposed to be getting you clean.”
Anna’s breathing faltered, and her heart began to pound.
Elin arched her back to push her breast harder against Kael’s hand. “You’re doing an excellent job, too.”
“What do you think?” Kael glanced at Anna. Her nostrils flared as she twisted a dark pink nipple between her fingertips.
Flustered, Anna met Kael’s evil smirk with a shy smile. “I think she could probably be cleaner.”
Kael held Anna’s gaze as she released Elin’s breast and slid her hand down over the center of Elin’s belly, deep underwater. Arm muscles flexing, she leaned in and kissed Elin’s cheek at the same time working her hand between Elin’s legs.
Though the room was dim, the pale skin of her companions was visible underwater, and the sight made Anna crave a lover’s touch. She let her thighs fall open and slipped one of her hands between them.
“I think you’re clean enough. For now,” Kael said after a short while. Her face was serious, almost stern, and Elin dissolved into obedience.
Anna was intrigued by their interplay. Elin’s always so in control when she’s with me. I wonder how it is between her and Kael?
Kael turned desire-filled eyes onto Anna. “Elin, why don’t you make sure Anna is clean?”
How can I refuse that? Anna felt water lap her breasts as Elin moved to sit next to her. “You are so bad,”
she murmured.
Elin wrapped her arms around Anna’s shoulders and pulled their wet bodies together in a tight hug. “You and Kael seem to be enjoying it.” In a louder voice, she said, “I love you, Anna.”
Anna dissolved into a helpless grin. “I love you, too, Elin.”
Elin gave her a slow, wet kiss. Anna moaned into the joining and wrapped her arms around Elin, sliding one hand down to palm Elin’s bottom while the other stayed planted on Elin’s lower back to keep her close.
When Elin finally broke the kiss, the room was filled with the sound of heavy breathing. Anna darted a look over to Kael, finally remembering that she had been watching.
“I knew it,” Kael drew a breath. “You two are beautiful together. Though I’m not sure that had anything to do with making Anna clean.”
Elin tilted her head to kiss Anna again, this time sliding her hand between Anna’s thighs to palm her center.
Anna gasped into the kiss and sought out Kael with her eyes. Kael looked like she was ready to implode.
Elin’s fingers parted Anna, and one fingertip grazed along her swollen labia. Anna uttered a breathy moan just as Elin’s stomach sent a long, loud growl into the air.
Anna jerked a little in surprise when her own stomach gurgled in sympathy.
Kael’s laughter was the next sound to fill the room. Arms folded over her stomach, she bent at the waist, braying helpless guffaws. “That was priceless.” She swiped at her wet cheeks with the back of her hand.
“Probably the sexiest thing I’d ever seen in my life, and then…” Her shoulders quaked as a fresh round of laughter overtook her.
Anna kissed a pouting Elin on the cheek. “It’s okay, baby. It was pretty cute.”
“But I totally killed the mood.”
“You didn’t kill it, you just postponed it.” Kael wiped the tears from her face. “I think that until I make sure that two girls have full bellies, there’ll be no more thinking about sex.”
“I doubt that.” Elin shot Kael a mischievous smile. “I’m sure I’ll keep thinking about it.”
Anna’s face flushed at the promise in Kael’s words. Postponed. Her legs felt weak at the thought of where Elin’s seductions could lead them. “I am pretty hungry.” And I don’t mind slowing down for right now. “Kael, where did you say you saw those MREs? I’ll start worrying about dinner while you take your bath.”
“If you go out the door to this room and down the hallway to your left, it’s the second door. It’s a storage closet, and the MREs are on the middle shelf or so.”
Anna snagged the sponge from the surface of the water and gave her body a brisk scrubbing, then rose from the water into the chilly night air. Teeth chattering, she turned to find Kael with a large towel held in two hands. She didn’t even hesitate to step out of the tub and into the towel, leaning into Kael’s warmth as large hands rubbed her up and down and squeezed her buttocks through the towel.
When finished, Kael undressed and lifted a smaller pot of warm water from its place on the stove and poured it into the tub.
“After dinner, we can figure out that movie projector, okay, Anna?” Elin said.
“Sure,” Anna replied.
She would make the fastest dinner in the history of mankind, she decided as she left the room. After all, once we eat dinner and watch movies…anything could happen.
Chapter Eight
Anna brought the movie projector to life with the push of a button after turning its crank until her arm was sore. The reel of film she’d selected at random projected onto a blank wall, a smallish square of light that was at once filled with familiar sights in a surreal reality. A young man in extremely old-fashioned clothing stood grinning and waving in front of an antique vehicle, shoulders thrown back in obvious pride.
“That’s a 1965 Ford Mustang,” Elin said. At Anna’s surprised look, she explained, “My dad taught me everything he knew about cars. He had a lot of books.” She folded her hands under her chin to continue watching.
“It’s a cool car,” Kael murmured from her spot on the sleeping bag beside Elin. She also lay on her stomach, hea
d propped on an upturned palm.
“Yeah, it is.” Anna sat cross-legged next to the projector, ready to crank it up again when the power ran down.
Outside, hard rain pounded against the windows, providing a muted soundtrack for the silent film. The movie changed from a scene of the young man and his car to the same man and a running, jumping dog.
He held a disc high above the dog’s head, and every once in a while he would toss it so that it glided through the air. Most of the time, the dog would catch it in his mouth and return it to the man.
Anna grinned. “A guy called Jack in my tribe had a dog that survived the sickness somehow…and he was really sweet. We called him Lucky.”
“Could he do that?” Kael asked. Her eyes were glued to the screen, where the dog leapt into the air and snagged the disc between its teeth.
Anna smiled at the wonder in Kael’s gaze, so much more like Elin than Anna had ever seen her. “He would fetch a stick if you threw it, but he was too slow to catch it in the air.”
“I think it’d be really cool to train an animal to hunt with me.”
“You’d be good at that,” Elin said.
“Hell, yeah, you would,” Anna agreed. Kael’s good at just about everything he does. The thought made her flush as she considered it on an increasingly familiar level. From the way Elin acted when he had his hand between her legs earlier, sex is one of them.
Kael grunted, but her eyes stayed glued to the movie. The young man had been joined by a number of other young men in some kind of game. They ran around one another, tossing a ball and running it down the length of the grassy field where they played. Anna watched aggressive tackles from players on the opposing side stop the ball carrier time and again, sending them all crashing down to the ground in writhing piles.
“Okay, Garrett would have loved that game.”
Elin guffawed, familiar with Anna’s anecdotes about the boy-crazy young man. “I don’t know what else there is to like about football.”
“It looks pretty fun to me,” Kael said.
Elin bumped Kael’s shoulder with hers. “Boys.”
They watched the young man participate in a ceremony that Anna recognized as a high school graduation, and then they watched the party afterwards in which the camera followed him around and an older woman beamed at him proudly. Anna felt a tug deep in her stomach at the sight of something she barely remembered in her own life. Her uncle had never looked at her like that. In his eyes, she was a constant source of shame.
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