Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
DAVEY
I grab the girl, shaking her awake. This is no time to faint. We need to get Lenora back to the compound, fast. As she rouses on the ground, I grab her arm and haul her up, her small frame much too light for her apparent age.
“Please, I’m so sorry. They made me do it! I swear!” Her voice is thin and childlike.
“I don’t care. Can you help me? Just follow me back to our compound. I can carry her, but I may need help if something is in the way.” I bark the orders at her and reach for Lenora, careful not to aggravate her gaping wound oozing blood through her shirt and onto my hands.
As we make our way back, the night is balmy and, for once, I miss the old days, when winter weather would sweep this side of the country and leave us in snow. Cold would help her body right now. As it stands, I won’t be able to do anything until I can get her somewhere safe and peel back her shirt.
That idea used to be so appealing, I would lose myself in daydreams of the very act, but now, all I feel is cold dread. Why the fuck didn’t I listen? Am I so fucking dense that I ignored a trained fighter? Someone who has done this hundreds of times and survived while creating a thriving little community of her own? While I was, what ? Living in a fucking cave with my dying brother, wondering what day or time it was? Useless. That’s what I am.
“I’m Celia,” the girl says, her dead eyes trained on the ground at her feet as she walks.
“Davey. This is Lenora. She runs a compound very close to here. Once I get her there, I can see if I can,” I swallow down the bile rising in my throat, “do something to save her.”
“Are there Beasts there?” she whispers. This poor kid. I can’t imagine the horrors she faced.
“No. Lenora and her team took them all out. You’ll be safe there after you go through some questioning.”
For the first time, her wide, blank eyes shoot to me. Then, they shutter and turn back to the ground. “I swear, I had to do it, or they would have forced me to have children. That’s what he said. ‘Do your job, or we’ll keep you knocked up for the rest of your life.’”
Her reedy voice lacks emotion, like she’s reciting a news story and not her own life experiences. She must have been a child when they took her, or perhaps she was the child of a sympathizer. Even their own flesh and blood mean nothing; just look at Jones. Celia has the same hard eyes, the ones that hide pain and absorb the shock of life around them by retreating deep into the recesses of the mind. One day, I hope she comes out, but for her sake, I hope that day isn’t today.
Fourteen hours. That’s how long I’ve been hovering over Lenora’s prone body on the cot in front of me. The shallow stab wound in her side wasn’t as terrible as I initially thought. I stitched her up, but she has been asleep since. Resting. Recuperating.
“She hasn’t really slept in days,” Antonia says from the door of Lenora’s cabin. We moved her three hours ago, when she just seemed to be sleeping and not in any immediate danger.
“Why not?” I ask incredulously.
“She’s had a bad feeling since we found you. I’m guessing the two Beasts you found were what tripped her spidey senses.” Her head nods, affirming her own statement. “She’s been nonstop with patrolling and fortifying everything she comes into contact with. I think she was on the verge of telling everyone to just stay inside.” She barks a laugh that brings a smile to my face.
Antonia was in charge of interrogating Celia, though it was really more of a therapy session. That poor girl; I hope she can manage living after everything that has happened to her. Survival really is for the fittest. But, after helping me get Lenora back to camp, she stayed by my side as I detailed everything I was doing to Lenora’s wound. Maybe she’ll want to help us on the medical side of things once she gets older.
“Lenora’s also been a little distracted.” Her warm eyes meet mine, and heat climbs to my temples.
“I just want her to wake up so I can apologize. I was so stupid, Antonia. I should have listened to her and never ran ahead to check on Celia. Even if my instincts took over, I should have rubbed my two brain cells together and realized how bizarre the whole situation was. I’m a fucking idiot, and I’ll never forgive myself if she just keeps sleeping. Though, she is really pretty like this. The angry little divot between her eyebrows is gone.” I manage a small smile and brush her pink hair away from her face.
Antonia leaves me there with a knowing look.
“Tell me again how much of an idiot you are,” her voice rasps from the bed, dry from disuse.
“Oh my God! Lenora!” Dropping to my knees, I wrap her in my arms, and she hisses out a breath as I pull away. “Sorry! Sorry. I’m so sorry. I should have listened. I understand if you hate me. I got you stabbed! I’ll listen from now on, I promise!” Tears flow freely from my eyes as I grasp her hand in mine.
“Will you?” is the only response I get. No forgiveness, not yet.
“I’m serious. I’ll always listen to you. I never want this to happen again.” Her slim fingers, the same that were caked in blood and wrapped around a deadly weapon not too long ago, catch one of my tears.
She crooks a finger, beckoning me closer so she can whisper, “Take off your clothes.” Her breath tickles my ear, and a shiver races down my spine.
“What? You could get hurt!” I start.
“So you lied? You won’t listen to me?” My body wars with the need filling my stomach. I want her so badly. I throw off my top and shorts, left in nothing.
“No underwear? When did you take them off, you little slut?” She bites her lower lip to hide her growing smile, and I’m on fire for her. The way she looks at me and devours me with those icy eyes has my nipples standing at attention.
“I never wore them. I wanted to run into you yesterday to walk the perimeter,” I admit, embarrassed at how needy it sounds when said out loud.
“So you wanted me to touch your pretty pussy? Come here.” I move closer to the bed, standing directly next to her. Her fingers slide between my folds, already slick with arousal for the killer in bed next to me, the protector.
“Tell me the truth: did you hate seeing me kill in front of you?” Her eyes lose their softness as she waits for my answer, never moving her fingers from my core, just holding them there, waiting for my body to betray me.
“No,” I whisper, eyes wide. I remember her covered in blood, the animalistic look in her eyes as she sliced and stabbed through the Beasts with ease, all to save me.
A smile curves her mouth and, gently, she reaches deeper. I stifle a whimper and try my best to remain standing.
“Did it turn you on to see me kill for you?” Her strokes become teasing again, and I moan at the loss of pressure.
“No,” I lie right to her face because the truth is embarrassing. How can I admit that?
“That’s not what this pretty pussy says. Did you want to bathe in their blood with me, Davey? Let me finger you right there, over their bodies, after they tried to take what was mine?”
“Oh, fuck, Lenora,” I moan and double over. The image she paints filters through my mind, and I can’t help but play the scene out.
Us. Naked. Writhing over their bodies after she kept me safe by cutting them down.
“Can I touch you?” I moan, trying to keep some composure as she lazily strokes me.
“Since you asked so nicely.” She pulls off the blanket covering her body. I never redressed her after tending to her wound. I can’t lie and say I didn’t look a few times at her beautiful body, so toned and strong.
I scoot next to her in bed and stifle a giggle.
“What?” she asks, raising a single brow.
“This reminds me of the first night we were together,” I say with a small smile. I want to stay here, with her. Will she let me?
“Thank you for saving me, Davey.” The earnest look in her blue eyes is striking. As her small, capable hand reaches to touch my cheek, I lean into it, and my eyelids slide shut.
“I’m glad I could help.”
Gently, she pulls me down, and her soft lips brush against mine, setting my body ablaze. Slow, languid strokes of her tongue against mine have me writhing for any friction. Finally, I trail my fingers down her small breasts. Everything about Lenora seems small, save for her presence. It’s big enough to command an entire group of people to safety. I’m awestruck by her resilience and strength in the face of all her experiences.
Careful not to touch her wound, I slide my hand between her legs, and I’m captured by her warmth.
“Let me make you feel good,” I whisper, trailing kisses down her slender neck, all the way to her waist. I lick my way down her body; she’s a heady aphrodisiac.
“I’m actually fine with that, seeing as I can’t move much at the moment.” Her lopsided grin is so carefree and soft, my heart almost pounds out of my chest.
With no rush, I make my way between her legs and taste her for the first time. She’s a heady mix of salty and sweet. My groan reaches her ears, and her hand fists in my hair as I stroke her softly with my tongue.
Divine.
“You taste so good. Tell me what you like. I want this to be good for you too.”
“Davey, there is nothing you could do down there that wouldn’t be good. I can’t come from penetration, so as long as you touch my clit, I’ll be just fine.” She huffs and inhales as I use my fingers to massage her outer lips, squeezing and gently releasing, helping the blood flow exactly where I want it.
“Oh, fuck. What was that?” She moans above me, and the praise makes my heart soar.
“Shh. Just relax and enjoy it,” I murmur, never taking my eyes off her pink, puffy core. The more I massage, the stiffer her clit gets, and I can tell by the arousal leaking from her pussy that she’s turned on.
Pressing the flat of my tongue against the bundle of nerves, I swipe up and down as her body writhes and shakes underneath me. I take a second to admire her as I blow softly on her clit.
“Shit, please, Davey. More,” she wheezes. Hearing her beg is not something I ever imagined, but it shoots pleasure directly into my veins.
I latch onto her aching clit and suck gently then flick the tip of my tongue. Her back almost bows, but her wound keeps her attached to the bed. Then, I do the most unhinged thing I have ever done in my life: I trace my name on her clit. I’m exactly where I want to live for the rest of my life—right between her legs.
When her body shakes and a scream explodes from her mouth, I lap at her wetness, drinking down everything she has to give me. As she catches her breath and comes down from the high of her orgasm, I make my way back to the pillows and stare at her.
“That was…insane. Holy shit.”
“Thank you for saving me too, Lenora.” I can see safety in her eyes, and when she grabs my hand and interlaces our fingers while drifting back to sleep, I know I’ve found my home.
THE END
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