Wasteland

People could still be heard through the door clanking their glasses of ale and making merry amongst themselves. Occasionally Anne's laughter fluttered up above the din like music composed by a lunatic. The noise was almost a comfort, a low rumble that threatened to lull her to sleep in the darkness of the room. The moon had passed over the roof little more than an hour ago, taking with it the glow that had illuminated the surfaces it touched. Beside her, the man called Jack snored softly with a half eaten apple still in hand. She took it from the loose fingers and finished it off for him. Small though it was, this hamlet was the richest place she'd come across. It seemed to be protected well enough. There was plenty of food though the village was far from any natural source. The town even had it's own spring. She would live almost as a queen if she stayed here with him. Uncertainty clouded her mind and muddled her thoughts. She couldn't help but wonder if she was feeling the need to leave simply because it was what she'd always done. If her worries about Jack, as he was and not as he had been, were the delusions of paranoia. There were no clear reasons why she shouldn't stay and plenty of reasons why she should.

Leona took the empty plate from the mattress and slid it under the bed. The soft scraping on the wood planks hardly made a difference among the babble thatdrifted up from on the bed, naked as he, she cuddled up to his body for warmth. He woke just enough to wrap his body around her, then surrender to the sleep that griped him. She allowed her eyes to close. She told herself she's only going to stay one more day, then sneak away the next night with whatever vittles she can carry. This was her plan as the call of open spaces sang to her on the breeze that stirred the dirt on the floor. But the mattress was soft under her weight and she didn't worry about attacks or theft. His body was warm and his arms around her felt secure and comforting. Perhaps she would stay. After all, she had given her word. The thought contented her and sleep took her to a place where she dreamt of a life that was not as caged at the vault, but not as free as the open world. A life that was secure and safe where she never wanted for the necessities of living.

The sunlight lit up the dull curtains with a soft rosy glow. The scent of freshly cooked brahmin steaks and steamed fruit wafted up to her from the kitchen. Egor, presumably, was making breakfast. The smell roused her from sleep with a grumbling hunger. Her eyes fluttered open to see Jack's silvery grey gems shining back at her. Grinning at him, she felt his arms tighten around her and his morning arousal poked her thighs as if knocking on the door. She let him in and she's surprised that her mind is just as willing as her body to accept his affection. Returning his passions with the innocent desires she once felt in her youth, she enjoyed his body joining with hers. Climax came easier and quicker than it has in the past for her and he seemed to notice. A grin spread over his handsome features void of malice or ill intention. She can see only the pleasure he takes from knowing she is with him in the moment and not 'paying' for her needs. He cradled her under him and caressed her cheek with one rough thumb. His tongue still tastes of fruit, as sweet as the kisses he lavished on her lips and neck. His presents inside her built a heat in her that she'd forgotten she could feel. Her breathing became in labored pants and her body quivered with the ecstacy he provides her. Her hips rocked against him and his rolled into her. She felt his completion was nigh when his manhood hardened all the more inside her. Throbbing pulses pumped a liquid head into her and he growled his release above her, thrusting harder into her depths. The feeling was intense and she joined his cry with her own moaning of orgasmic finish. He stayed inside her for a time, panting over her and smiling as he watched her chest heave her gasps for air.

"Ye really are gonna stay, ain't ye?"

His face looked the happiest she'd seen it. His eyes almost danced with the excitement he must have felt. She delayed her answer with continued panting, as if she could not catch air enough to even nod, as her mind raced for an answer she did not have.

"I've been so lonely h're. Th're's com'ny, sure, but it ain't the same as havin' a girl t'call m'own. Without belongin' t'some'ne that might love me someday."

"Love ya?"

His words caught her by surprise. She had not expected him to be seeking such a thing as love and acceptance. Likely, he could have any woman he wanted in his kingdom, or all of them if he chose. It was curious to her that he would want only one and to be faithful to her. That the one he wanted was she.

"Yar, love me. E'ery livin' thing seeks love o' a kin' from it's kindr'd. T'is the way any kin' o' thing survives. The way the nex' gen'ration comes t'bein'."

His hand slid from under her back, over her erect nipples to rest on her belly as he continued to look deep into her eyes. She tried to steady herself, to not jump and run as quickly as she could from his bed. He wanted a mate, but more he wanted a child. Or he thought she did and it was a bribe to get her to stay. Alarm filler her body and mind as she realized he was still inside her, blocking any seed from leaking out that he'd planted in her womb. There was nothing she could do if she was to keep the calm that was between them. Hope that the implantation wouldn't take was all she had. Thinking quickly, she responded with the only question she could thing to ask.

"If I gave ya m'heart, would ye love me back?"

"Course!"

He looked down at her as if she were crazy to ask such a thing. As if it would only be the proper response.

"What kin' o'man would I be t'not love 'ne who loved me, an' what called me th're's? I'm not the heathen I was yers ago."

"No, yer not."

She smiled up at him, thinking thoughts contrary to what her mouth told him. He was not the same. In ways he was a much better man. But in ways he was worse, manipulating her and trying to trap her into having to stay with him to ease his loneliness and selfish desires. She wondered if he would indeed let her go if she asked to leave. He had shared his life with her because she promised to live in his kingdom as his queen, or as his concubine. No, he would not let her leave now.