“His offer is not intended for your benefit. It’s for his alone, I know it. I’d rather Blue own me than Reinick own you.”
Calish went back to work. “We don’t have to make a decision tonight.”
“You’re right. We don’t.” I grabbed the pitchfork and helped him finish our chore. “You should know, Citizen life isn’t as great as you might think.”
I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t like my idea. I wasn’t too fond of it myself. Between the two choices, him working for the Authority fell dead last. As a politician, I’m sure that Reinick had learned to be very personable, charismatic even. Most people didn’t see the side of him I had. There was no reason for him to be engaging in the presence of Scavengers, at least not until he met his beloved grandson. How could I make Calish believe how wicked and corrupt the man was? Any relationship with him would be disastrous.
If Calish opted to take him up on his offer, there is no doubt Reinick would make him prove his loyalty in the same way he tested Hawk the day he released him from prison. I’m sure all of Reinick’s tests were do or die. If Calish failed him, he wouldn’t have another opportunity to make up for it. Whatever Calish thought he’d gain, it would never be worth the cost. Never.
* * *
We finished the stall, and Calish walked through the rain to the other side of the yard for more hay. He didn’t bother putting his hood on since we were just about done. The buckets I set out were fairly full.
The last of the bale had been spread when the lantern flickered. “I think we’re almost out of light.” Calish stacked the pitchfork and shovel outside of the stall.
“Is it out of fuel or is it the wick?”
He checked the small blue bead. “It’s the wick.”
The flame disappeared, but I saw fairly well in the darkness. “Can you see anything?” I called to him.
“Not much, but enough. Can you?” he replied.
I set out the last of the buckets, dusting my hands off on my pants. “Yeah, I can see fine.”
He came closer, bending down as he approached to scoop up some soil in his hands.
“What are you doing?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“You can see me? Impossible!” He packed the mud in his hands as if it were dough.
“Don’t you dare throw that at me, Calish!” I backed up. It was tradition to play in the mud after a dirty job. As children, we figured if we were going to have to clean up anyway, we’d get filthy beforehand. Just because we aged, didn’t mean we’d matured.
“I don’t want to do this tonight.”
“Then don’t.” He weighed the mass in his hands. “If you forfeit, I win automatically.”
“Don’t forget, I have the advantage, Calish. I can see better in the dark than you can.”
“True,” he agreed, “but then again, you are unarmed!” He hurled the ball at me.
“Wait!” I turned, and it hit me in the side, dispersing upon impact.
He was already making a second one, so I ran. Not having decent traction, I slipped, using my hand to keep me from face-planting in the mud. I quickly turned in the opposite direction, yet I was not fast enough. He blasted me with another ball.
“Two to nothing! Give up?” he called out, collecting more dirt.
Flicking the wet soil off my hands, I tried to catch my breath. He knew I wasn’t one to give up. Reaching down for a handful of my own, I made a sloppy mixture, my specialty. Having no fear, I sprinted toward him with my arm pulled back ready to launch.
“Oh, crap!” Calish saw me a little too late. He whipped around and ran. I chased after him, finding I was much faster than I remembered. The boys always outran me, but this time was different. I was closing the gap, and it was easy to do.
When he thought he was far enough away, he slowed his pace, turning to judge our distance. That was his fatal error. He yelped as my mud ball hit him square in the chest, and I zoomed past him. He wiped the shrapnel from his chin, not at all upset by my assault.
“How did you catch up to me? More of that wolf stuff?” He spit sludge off his lower lip.
“Either that, or you’re getting old.” I giggled.
“You may be faster than you used to be, but you’ll never outrun this weapon.” He patted his arm muscle. I screamed and ran, but not faster than his throw.
Playing felt wonderful. It seemed like ages ago that I’d had this much fun. I needed this; not pie, not a hike, this. What made it better was that I was now a formidable opponent and at times acted as the aggressor rather than defending myself all the time. No wonder the boys liked this game!
We ran around the yard in the rain, in the dark, until we were covered head to toe in muck. “All right.” He coughed, struggling to catch his breath. “Truce?”
I bent down with my hands on my knees, trying to fill my lungs with much-needed air. What he offered and what he intended were totally different. Calish still had mud in his hand as he approached.
“I thought you called a truce?” I panted.
“We’ve gotta shake on it.”
I nodded and held mine out to meet his. “Truce.”
He grabbed it gently then gave it a squeeze, yanking me into him. Keeping me pressed into him, he squished his handful of mud into the small of my back then wiped the rest off on my rear.
“Hey!” I pushed away from him, but he had a decent grip on me. When I tugged away, my feet slipped out from under me, and I inadvertently pulled him on top of me. I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe, which was already difficult after our little game of tag.
The rain was falling directly into my face, so Calish inched up until his head protected me. He smiled, moving a few of the wet, stray strands of hair from my face with his muddy fingertips. He was so delicate that he didn’t leave a speck of dirt behind. Can he see me at all? Somehow, I knew he did.
He paused for a moment then lowered his lips to mine. His taste was better than I imagined it would be. With my senses being fully engaged, I welcomed him with my kiss. I reached around him and pulled him closer to me. He answered my summons, collapsing on top of me. No longer needing to support his own body weight, his hands were now free to be much more productive. They explored my body, finding their way underneath my shirt.
“I don’t want to share you,” he begged.
“You don’t want to…with me?” I touched his chest, confused.
“I mean, I don’t want you to lay with anyone else.” He propped himself up with one hand and took my hand in his other, lacing our dirty fingers together. “I want to be the only one to love you like this.” His plea was sincere. When I didn’t reply, Calish lifted himself off my body and helped me to my feet. “We should get cleaned up.”
“Yeah, I guess we should.” I noticed that Rebel had gone back to his stall as we were running around the field like lunatics. “He must like his new bedding.”
“I can’t believe you can see all the way over there.”
He held my hand, leading me back to the buckets now overflowing with rainwater. We each disrobed, putting our clothes in a common pile. If we hadn’t coated ourselves in mud, it would have been much easier to get clean. In fact, we probably could have stood in the falling rain and been fine in no time at all. Instead, we began our initial debridement from the same bucket of water, letting the heavy fall assist in our efforts.
The filth came off fairly easily since the dirt was still wet. Calish held the pail over my head and slowly poured out the water to wash away the chunks clinging to my hair. I tried not to stare at his naked body in the dark, although he made no effort to do the same. If he saw any better, he might notice me blushing. When the bucket was light enough for me to lift, I returned the favor, pouring it over him so he could clean his hair. We repeated this process three more times until we had a single bucket of water left. I reached down for it, but Calish stopped me.
We stood naked facing each other, silently asking the other to steal a kiss, a moment. We’d waited so long
. The house curtains were drawn, and the others were already in bed. We were alone in the dark, in a downpour of Hytalia. The sheets of rain brought with it a passion I’d never known. A warm, needful urging streamed down in trails of pleasurable beads across my flesh.
Inching closer to him, the tips of my breasts touched his chest, pressing their most sensitive part between us. Calish’s arousal pressed against my belly, firm and smooth. His fingers traced up my arm, causing every surface of my body to tingle and my eyes to relax. The rain intensified and poured off his straightened curls onto my face. I expected him to kiss me, but instead, he led me to a dry area under the trees. Surrounded by obscure walls of water, I had no need to question why. We knew the answer. Thunder drummed in the distance and rolled over the canopy above. It was as if the night’s sky was pushing us together, presenting us both privacy and opportunity to give in to temptation.
I stepped into his embrace, giving him the permission he waited for to pursue his conquest. To make my acceptance of his invitation clear, I gently kissed his chest and breathed his scent in deeply. He ran his fingers up my neck and under my wet hair until they were locked into place. Our lips found each other, but this time, they had a purpose other than speech. His tongue, finding a way to mine, was a preview of his intentions for the evening’s interlude, although how I didn’t know yet. I leaned back as his kisses trailed down my neck and mine enveloped his earlobe. He let out a gentle moan as his strong hand cupped my buttock and gave it a squeeze.
My hand searched over his shoulders while the other migrated down his chest toward his stomach. It didn’t stop until I took possession of him. Calish delayed his romantic attention for a moment while he succumbed to my wanting touch. Knowing he could not proceed in this way, he responded with a sensual chuckle, pulling his hips away from my grasp. He bent down and scooped me up in his arms only to kneel in the soft pine needles that prepared a place for us to rest. He laid me down with little effort before moving himself down to my feet.
Calish picked up my foot and kissed my ankle, letting his lips gently find their way up to my knee. I tried to sit up, only to be denied by his hand against my chest. I obeyed his cue, and he continued to kiss me until his mouth found a place I didn’t know it belonged. I wanted to protest, yet what he did felt too good to stop him. An unimaginable sensation traveled up to my belly and down my legs as he explored my most secret place with his lips and tongue. My back arched as waves capsized in my middle, releasing the tension that he had built within me. I would have called his name, if my body were able to do anything but accept the pulsing of my treasured place. I wanted it to last, and I wanted it to end. My fingers grabbed his curls, holding him in place before my exhaustion set him free. The intensity softened, and I finally remembered how to breathe. With one last kiss to my inner thigh, he left the warm spot between my legs and offered affection to my hip, my abdomen, between my breasts, and my neck.
Unsure of what I just endured, and unable to delay any longer, I wrapped my thighs around him. With our needy hands upon each other’s supple flesh, I guided his hips closer, urging him to take all I had for his pleasure.
Calish was right.
I would never be this way with another man—not now.
I am his and he is mine, and this affection is ours alone to share.
“I love you,” he whispered in my ear. “Both of you.”
Chapter 6
Calish and I were not the first ones up in the morning. That particular attribute always seemed to be my mother’s. She had started making breakfast before the sunrise, and the aroma was delightful. I turned over to see Calish’s eyes open, and his lips eager to awaken mine.
I smiled, yawned, and stretched.
He backed out of bed, leaving me there to wake up fully on my own. I rolled over to watch him climb down the ladder to the main floor and greet our mother.
“Good morning, Mother.” He gave her a quick peck on her cheek.
“Hello, darling. Who won the fight last night?” She returned to her cooking.
Calish poured his tea. “Who do you think?” He yawned and sat down at the table, still able to see me in the loft. “She’s faster now. It made it a more challenging game.”
“Faster?” Mother asked.
“Yes, faster. She can see well in the dark, too.” He took a sip, surprising himself—he forgot to add honey first.
“That’s not typical for someone in her condition.”
Calish corrected her assumption. “She did say she has wolf spirit in her blood.”
She turned to face him, catching on quickly. “Oh, right. Do you think that’s normal?”
He shrugged. “It’s the only explanation I can think of.”
The front door opened, and Marsh and my father carried in armfuls of cut wood for the fire. They dropped them in an unmanaged pile next to the stone fireplace.
“Now you’re up.” Marsh brushed splinters from his hairy arms.
“Is Una still sleeping?” Father asked.
“No,” I answered. “I’ll be down in a minute.” I struggled to get my clothes on under the covers of Calish’s bed.
My father sat down at the table. “You know, I was thinking about our trip today—” He paused as my mother served him his breakfast. “This is wonderful, Redena. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, dear,” she said, preparing plates for the rest of us.
“You were saying?” Marsh asked.
“Oh, yes,” Father mumbled with a mouth full of gravy-covered biscuits. “I don’t think we should take the ox today.”
“Why not? I thought you wanted to reclaim some stuff while we were out,” Calish said.
My father swallowed and wiped his lower lip clean. “Well, we’ve not been to the river at all so far this season. If it’s high enough that they’re building a new road, I think it would be best to scope out the terrain before dragging all that equipment down there.”
“But we’re still fishing, right?” Calish took the breakfast plate our mother offered him.
“I think we should,” Father answered. “We might as well make the most of the trip.”
I climbed down the ladder. “Are we still doing laundry?”
“Well, we can do some of it, I guess,” Mother replied.
I sat down at the table next to Marsh. Mother handed me a breakfast plate then returned to the counter to dish some up for herself.
The conversation ended as we finished our meal. Of all the things my mother cooked, this had to be my favorite. If she made this every morning, we might not fit around our kitchen table for long! The gravy tasted rich and creamy and made me full sooner than I hoped I would be. I kicked myself for not eating slower and savoring the taste a bit longer.
Marsh noticed my dilemma when I moved back from it. “You’re done already?”
“I couldn’t possibly take one more bite.” I no sooner got the words out than I belched. “Excuse me!”
“Sounds like you’ve got more room now,” he joked.
I slid my plate over to him. “No, seriously. You can have it. I’m going to have another cup of tea.”
“You must be feeling better, Una,” Father commented. “You barely held down broth, and now, you’ve not been sick in days.”
I glanced over to my mother who shook her head subtly, suggesting not to discuss the pregnancy. “I am, thank you. I must be getting used to eating real food again.”
“Not a whole lot of it, that’s for sure.” Marsh scooped up half of my leftovers, making it vanish behind his lips.
How can he possibly fit that much in his mouth?
“What?” he mumbled, his cheeks rounded out on each side.
“You do realize you can take smaller bites, right?” I reminded him.
“No, he can’t.” Calish snickered.
“Very funny, little brother,” he said as biscuit pieces flew back onto his plate.
Calish glanced at me as he took his next bite. Little brother. He now knew that the two of
us were not his true family. I confessed a great secret that was not mine to reveal. The guilt of my betrayal suffocated me. Someday, I hope Marsh would understand the reason I told him. It was not to gossip; it was a desperate effort to keep him from a decision that he himself would disagree with. I had no intention of making my older brother feel more of an outsider than he already did.
“I’m going to feed the animals,” I announced. “Thank you for breakfast, Mother. It was fantastic.”
A small parting of the clouds provided a break from the rain, so I had no need to use my cloak. I felt excited to visit the livestock for the first time since I’d returned and was hoping that they would feel the same. Trying to remind myself that they may react the same way Rebel did, I opted to bribe them with new straw from the hay barn. Forgetting that Calish had taken the last of the open bale the night before, I cut a new one free.
“What’s the matter?” He stepped inside, closing the door behind him as I separated the flakes.
“Nothing,” I lied, avoiding his eyes.
He touched my shoulder. “I know you better than that.”
I sighed. “I feel a little guilty, that’s all.”
“For what?”
“Last night.”
He pulled me near. “Una, what we shared last night was lovely—”
“Oh,” I shook my head, “not that.” I slapped him playfully on his chest.
He released me. “What else is there?”
“I regret telling you Marsh’s secret.”
He sat on a bale of hay. “It doesn’t change anything. He’s still my brother.”
“Does that mean I’m still your sister?” I folded my arms across and cocked my eyebrow.
“That’s different,” he said in a serious tone.
“Really, brother? How?” I teased.
He stood. “I’m not in love with Marsh.”
“Are you sure?”
I tugged handfuls of straw from the open bale and let them fall the instant Calish smacked me on the backside. “I’m sure.”
Season of Hytalia Page 6
