Chapter 11
Two weeks after that, Mason has me on my hands and knees before dawn on a Thursday morning, and he’s thrusting into me hard and fast.
I’m liking it.
A lot.
We’ve been getting better and better at sex as time goes by. Mason can last a lot longer now than he did at first, and only occasionally do we get in a position that makes me sore. I still come most easily when he does me with his hand, but sometimes I do when he’s inside me too.
Like now.
I’m really close.
Mason is really into it too. He’s got most of my ass in his big hands, pulling my cheeks apart so he can really thrust good. He’s been grunting the way he does when he’s working up toward a finish, but he hasn’t fallen out of rhythm yet.
My hair is hanging all over my face, and my breasts are swinging with the force of his rutting. And I’m throbbing all over. My pussy. My pulse points. My eyes and ears and chest.
Every part of me is intensely sensitized. Needy.
Desperate.
I’ve been making a lot of helpless whimpers each time he pushes into me, but I’m so close now I start gasping, “Mason. Mason. I need… I need…”
“I know. I know. I’m gonna hold out. You’re gonna get here. You’re my little honey cake, and you’re gonna feel so good.”
Reassured but still deeply greedy, I bump my butt back against his thrusts, speeding up the rhythm until he lets out a long groan and adds a roll of his hips to each grunt.
It’s enough.
I cry out loudly as the spasms of pleasure break. Overwhelm me. He lets out a loud sound—close to a bellow—as he jerks and shakes against my ass until he comes too in several hard spurts.
I really like the feel of that now. Like he’s fully let go. Giving me everything as he reaches the end.
I want to give him everything too.
When we’ve worked through the last of the shudders of pleasure, we fall down together on the bed. He pulls me back against his front, spooning me and nuzzling my hair as his gasps ruffle my hair.
His body is blazing hot, but so is mine. I snuggle back against him, smiling because for some reason this feels just as good—just as needed—as the sex.
It’s still dark outside, so there’s no hurry in getting up. We lie together in sated silence that lasts so long I eventually glance over my shoulder to see if he’s fallen asleep.
He hasn’t. He smiles at me, sweet and groggy.
“Why didn’t I know life could be like this before?” I ask, turning over on my other side to face him, still caught in the warm daze.
“Cause of what we talked about before. We were cut off from it on purpose. But not for good.”
“No. Not for good.” I pause before asking, “Do you think I’ll get pregnant one day?”
His smile turns into a concerned searching. “Maybe. Why? You disappointed that we haven’t yet?”
“No. I mean, I don’t know. We’ve been having sex a lot for months now. Maybe something is wrong with me.”
“It hasn’t been that long. Lots of folks go a year or more before getting pregnant.”
“That’s true. I was just thinking.” I pause. Then, because he feels soft right now, I risk another question. “Will you be disappointed in me if I can’t?”
“Why would I blame you? Could be me, you know.”
I hadn’t actually thought of that, but it’s true. I never learned any human biology or anatomy in my very basic schooling or from my parents, but I’ve learned a lot about animals from Mason in the past months.
Not every cow can get pregnant and be used for milk. That’s a fact.
But not every bull can be used for breeding either.
“I know. But you haven’t really answered the question. Will you be disappointed?”
He hesitates a long time without replying. So long I wonder if he’s going to answer the question at all. Then, “Kids would be good. I’d really like that. But life is better for me now than it’s ever been before. I think life will stay good, even without kids.”
I let out a breath with a long gust. Turn back over so he can spoon me again. I burrow back against his big body. “Okay. That’s good.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be good without kids too.” I’m still thinking and eventually I give voice to my thoughts, “They tried to keep this from us, but they don’t get to win.”
“No. They don’t get to win.”
Later that morning, after breakfast, Bill and I are helping Mason round up the herd so we can take them to the farthest pasture.
I’ve been helping him a lot more than he let me at first. Not just with morning chores but with some of the other farm work. Not everything is easy or pleasant, but all of it is interesting and satisfying and useful.
I like the sense of accomplishing something worthwhile with the work of my hands, and I do every day now.
Because I’m thinking about this and not where I put my feet, I trip on a hole in the ground and almost fall. Mason reaches out easily and catches me around the waist before I do.
Giggling, I stabilize myself and then press against his side for a minute, grateful that he’s there. That he’s kind and careful and strong. That he’s him.
He grins at me. It looks like he’s going to say something sweet, but then he’s distracted by whatever he sees on the opposite side of me.
He stiffens dramatically, his expression changing to an urgency I’ve only occasionally seen there. Pushing me behind him, he draws the handgun he always wears when he’s working.
Bill drops his ball and growls low in his throat.
Immediately terrified, I duck behind Mason’s big body. He has taught me how to use the small gun in case of emergency, but I don’t carry one myself, so if there’s danger, I’ll be of no use. My best strategy is to not get in his way.
I can’t see around him, but I know there must be someone approaching that he sees as a threat because he’s aiming his gun as he calls out, loud and fierce, “Back off! There’s nothing here for you!”
Bill must have advanced because his fierce growl sounds farther away.
That sweet dog will attack anyone who comes after us. I know it for sure.
Never in my wildest daydreams would I have imagined what I hear next. A female voice. A familiar one. “Don’t shoot! It’s Annabelle.”
I make a squeaking sound and peek out around Mason’s shoulder.
Indeed, near the front of the cottage, is a large man I recognize as Ben, and Annabelle is partly behind him. He has his gun raised like Mason, and he’s clearly trying to keep her behind him like Mason is me, but she’s not cooperating like I am.
“Would you stop?” I hear her tell Ben in a grumpy tone. “He’s not going to hurt me. That’s my sister over there.”
“Annabelle!” I exclaim. Mason is already lowering his weapon as I start toward her. Bill goes to grab up his ball since the crisis is averted and follows too with a wagging tail. “What are you doing here?”
She’s smiling and coming toward me. She doesn’t look at all like she did in the Capitol. Her hair is braided, and she’s dressed in work boots, trousers, and a plain, oversized jacket. We hug when we reach each other, and I’m deeply relieved at the sudden turn from anxiety to joy.
By the time we pull apart, the men have approached as well. Mason has put his handgun into its holster, and Ben is strapping the rifle onto his back where he evidently keeps it.
“This is my sister, Annabelle,” I tell Mason, taking his arm to draw him closer since he seems to be lurking behind me. “And Ben, her… muscle.”
Ben makes a huff of amusement at the only descriptor I can think of. “Sounds ’bout right,” he says in his low, pleasant drawl. “Nice to meet you. It’s Mason, right?”
“Yeah. Welcome to our farm.” Mason sounds nice enough but also slightly wary. Guarded. Like he doesn’t know what’s happening here.
Neither do I. “Did Chad let you come for a visit?”
“What? Oh, no way in hell would he do that.” Annabelle’s voice lowers slightly as she continues, “I left him.”
“What?”
“I walked out. Ended the marriage. I just… couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Oh. Oh my.” I have no idea how to even begin processing this information. I glance up at Ben. “And you came with her?”
“I was leaving anyway. Don’t like it in the Capitol, and I’d done what I was there for. So I told her she could come along if she wanted.”
“So you’re coming home?”
Annabelle shakes her head. “I can’t. I don’t think I can stay here. I walked out on Chad against his will. He’s not a good man. He’ll want to retaliate somehow, and he has the power to hurt me if he chooses. Or hurt Ben. We’ve got to get across the border.”
“Oh no, so you’re really leaving?” My happiness at seeing her unexpectedly sinks into something heavy and sad.
“Not for good,” she says. Despite the dramatic situation, she still possesses the matter-of-fact confidence she’s had all her life.
Like she knows that any decision she makes is the right one and everyone else will come around to it eventually.
“I promise it won’t be for good. But for a year or so.
I need for there to be enough time to pass that the blow to Chad’s ego isn’t so new and my identity isn’t so easy to track. But I’ll be back, no question.”
She glances from Mason to me. “In fact, I wanted to see if you want to come too.”
My whole body jerks. “What?”
“Come with me. Why shouldn’t you? You could come on your own, or both of you, or whatever. We’re heading to the wilderness right now. That’s where Ben is from. He says it’s more rustic, but it’s mostly safe and comfortable and a lot more free than the Central Cities. It’s a better life there.”
I stare. Open my mouth but no sound comes out. I throw a quick glance up at Mason, but his expression has gone completely blank. Stoic. The way it was at the very beginning.
I have no idea what he’s thinking.
“You don’t have to answer right now,” Annabelle says, evidently seeing my confusion. “We can talk. I was hoping to spend some time with you today if that’s all right, and then I’ll go visit Mother one last time before I leave.”
I gasp. “You’re going to see her?”