I Don't Know Yet

Chapter 11

I woke to the harsh smell of smoke, hanging thick around my hut. I could faintly hear running feet, and screams coming from the village. I got up and dressed quickly. Then I looked out the door, and I could see huts burning. My hut was a little apart from the rest, and it was still standing, but I didn’t think it would be for much longer. I took up my leather medicine bag, which I never left the hut without, and went out.2

I could see the riders, who were raiding the village, setting fire to huts, beating down men, and taking women and children prisoner. I went around to the back of my hut and crouched there. I hoped the riders were too preoccupied with their murderous attack on the village to notice me.3

I saw my friend, Ilse, in the grip of one of the riders, and I saw another strike down her man. An anguished cry tore from her throat, and she broke from the rider’s hold and ran toward her fallen mate. The rider caught her and flung her onto his horse, swinging up behind her and riding to the edge of the village.4

I had decided to run before someone saw me, but suddenly I was grabbed from behind. I kicked at the shins of the rider who had hold of me, but he was strong, and apparently oblivious to pain. He tied my wrists together so tightly, the rope burned my skin, and put me on a horse. I thought that he would get up behind me, but he mounted another horse and kept the lead of the one I was on in his hand. He rode to the edge of the village, and gave an order to the other riders waiting there, who were evidently under his command. 5

I looked back as we rode away from the tiny village, and saw nothing but destruction and death. A small raiding party of fifteen riders had wiped out the entire settlement. Ten huts had stood in a relative circle, mine being the smallest and farthest from the rest, and ten huts were burning quickly to the ground in the cool autumn air. 6

Of the villagers spared, there were nine children and five women, including me. One of the women had a babe who was still nursing. The rest of the children, all over the weaning year, were borne along in a cart, led by one of the riders. All of the men from our settlement were killed; only the women and children were spared, and were all taken prisoner. After a few days, each woman would be chosen by one of the riders, and taken as his wife. He would, in effect, adopt her children, if she had any, as his own. 7

That was the way the riders worked. They killed men and stole their families to bring new blood and new life to their own existence. The women who were stolen in this manner usually accepted their new life after a period of mourning, albeit a short one, but they never forgot their old life. They brought their traditions and beliefs with them, and most were allowed to practice whatever religion they believed in. 8

We rode for hours that day, until the sun was well down, before my captor called a halt. He dismounted, and lifted me down from my horse. My legs ached badly, and my wrists were rubbed raw, and bleeding from my restraints. He led me over to where the other four women were sitting, and bade me wait with them for him to return. 9

None of us tried to run or even moved until the men came for us. This turn of events was almost an everyday thing, and none of us had anything to go back to anyway. So we simply stood and waited. 10

When the riders returned, my captor (for that was how I thought of him at the moment) brought some salve with him for my wrists. He untied the ropes and watched as I winced and rubbed at them, and my hands, trying to get the blood flowing through them normally again. He shook his head. Then he took one of my hands, and surprisingly gentle, began to liberally apply the salve to the rope burns. 11

I groaned as it stung the places where the ropes had drawn blood, and he looked up at me with concern in his dark eyes. He had black hair, which hung to his shoulders, a dusky tan complexion, broad chest, strong arms, and a wild, exotic face with full, sensual lips. He was half a head taller than I, and he stood proud and straight. Grudgingly, I admitted to myself that I liked his looks, even if I was unsure whether I liked him as a person or not. 12

After the salve was applied, he led me to his tent, in front of which, a fire crackled merrily, driving back the cold that was setting in. While the other riders were more demanding with their new women, he seemed almost shy, asking instead of ordering me to cook the evening meal. This I did, not expertly, but competently. 13

When it was done, and we were sitting next to the fire eating, he asked my name. I guessed it was a way to start a conversation, since things had been almost painfully quiet up until then.14

“Tawnya,” I said quietly. 15

Quietness was always my way. I was terribly shy with others, as I was always the different one, always the outsider, and always a little apart from the rest. My coloring was different from the rest of the villagers’; I had a natural tan, black/brown hair, and gold-brown eyes, whereas the others normally had light blonde to brown hair and blue or hazel eyes. I was not adopted or stolen from another tribe; I was simply a throwback, as my mother put it, and people seemed afraid of me mostly. I had inherited the Talents of my great-great grandmother for Healing and other Magics, and that made me all the more different than the rest, and thus added to my shyness.16

“I am Allain,” he replied in as quiet a tone as mine. Quietness, it seemed, was his way also. 17

We finished the meal, speaking in low tones of nothing important, and then he said it was time to sleep. I must have looked alarmed, for he put a gentle hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. The smile did little to reassure me, because his eyes glittered in the firelight, with something akin to lust. 18

But as we entered the tent, he pointed to one side where a makeshift sleeping place was located, and said quietly as ever, “You sleep there. I will sleep here.” He indicated another sleeping place on the other side of the tent. I was surprised, for I had not expected to be sleeping alone that night, since, evidently, Allain was now my mate, and therefore would expect certain privileges. 19

I was unsure of myself, whether I should get undressed or not, but he rummaged in a leather bag, and tossed me a shirt, which I assumed was his, and told me to get ready for bed. I laid the shirt on a chest nearby, and hesitantly began to remove my clothing. 20

Allain was watching me as I shyly undid the lacings of my over-tunic, and removed it over my head. When I made to grab his shirt from the chest, he shook his head. 21

“The rest,” he said low, and I knew that he would see me unclothed before I was allowed to put his shirt on. 22

I slowly removed my under-tunic, revealing my breasts to his gaze. As he took a step toward me and reached out a hand, I moved back and covered my breasts, looking at him warily. He stopped and lowered his hand.23

“I would not hurt you,” he whispered. 24

I stared at him, and fear must have registered in my eyes, because he looked back at me with pleading in his own.25

“Do not fear me,” he went on in a husky tone, “I will not hurt you. Please, do not be afraid of me.”26

I stood for a moment, unmoving, and then slowly lowered my hands. If he was going to touch me, I might as well comply, rather than struggle and still have to endure it. As it was, when his touch came, it was not what I expected. 27

His hand was warm and gentle on my shoulder as he caressed slowly downward. When he came to my breast, I closed me eyes tightly as he cupped it, kneading it gently. Then his other hand closed around my other breast, and I began to feel things I had never felt before. He went on caressing and kneading my breasts until a low, soft moan escaped my throat. His hands left my breasts and slid upward to cup my face.28

“Open your eyes,” he breathed.29

I obeyed and looked into his, which were filled with the same emotion I had seen in them in the firelight. Then he kissed me. His kiss was gentle, and his lips were soft and warm on mine. My eyes drifted shut again as his tongue licked along my lower lip and then he gently forced my lips apart, invading with his tongue to taste my own. My eyes flew open meeting his dark brown gaze, which regarded me lustfully, as he kissed me with intense passion. 30

His lips left mine, and he pulled away, leaving me feeling chilled and alone. I looked at him in confusion. He reached and caressed my cheek softly.31

“Get undressed,” he said softly, and turned to remove his own clothing.32

I finished undressing and turned around. I saw that Allain had moved my “bed” and combined it with his on his side of the tent. So I was not to sleep alone after all. I was apprehensive, but I moved to obey when he beckoned me to come to him. 33

We were both nude, and I looked at him surreptitiously. I had never seen a man unclothed before. My curious gaze traveled over him, taking in his broad chest, thick-muscled thighs and calves, and his erect member that my eyes refused to ignore. Though I was nervous, I thought he was beautiful in the candlelight, all hard planes and masculine angles.34

I raised my eyes to his and saw that he knew I was looking. He smiled his lusty smile at me, and I blushed and looked at the floor. Then I was in his arms again, without knowing how, and he was kissing me. I could feel his hardness against my belly, and when he released my lips, I drew back and looked down at it. 35

I looked back at him and then down at his member again, and my hand reached for him. I dropped my hand, then reached again, touching him lightly with a finger. He drew in a breath and jerked when my finger made contact with his hard flesh. I pulled my hand back and looked up at him in question. 36

Allain gently took my hand and placed it on his swollen member, shivering as I touched him once again. I watched as he wrapped my fingers around the girth of it and showed me how to stroke him. When he took his hand away, I went on stroking, faltering only slightly. I softly stroked for a few moments, and then he removed my hand. 37

“Bed,” he said huskily, and motioned for me to lie down. 38

Hesitantly, I sank onto the bed. Allain went to the entrance of the tent and tied shut the flap. Then he blew out one of the candles. I watched him walk back over to the bed in the dim glow provided by the remaining candle. He lay down beside me and pulled me against him, embracing me snugly. His hands traced my spine as his lips sought the skin of my neck. 39

I sighed and tilted my head back for him as he kissed and licked and bit his way from my neck to my shoulder and back again. Then his lips found mine, and his hands cupped my rear and pulled my hips tightly against his. Breaking the kiss, he let his lips travel down my throat and chest to my breasts. His hands slid from my back to my stomach, and up to cup my breasts, as his mouth encircled a nipple, and he began to suckle tenderly. 40

I moaned and my hands crept to his shoulders and then the back of his head as if to hold him more securely at my breast. Then he gently pulled off the nipple and I whimpered. He moved to the other, and I sighed and moaned again as his mouth took my flesh. My fingers laced through his hair and pulled him again more tightly to my aching breast. His tongue teased at my sensitive nipple, and the sensation rippled down through my stomach and between my legs, and caused a sudden wetness in my most secret place. 41

Without my willing it, my hips ground against his and I ran my hands over his back. He looked up at me and growled softly. He slid one hand up and down my inner thigh, coaxing my legs apart, then covered my secrets and caressed me there before slipping a finger between my folds. 42

I gasped and then moaned as his finger slid inside me slowly. He was gentle, if insistent, and I could see he had no wish to hurt me. My legs parted further, and he settled between them, taking himself in hand and softly sliding up and down between my legs. Then he found my opening and began to push, gently, but inexorably into me.43

I whimpered as he stretched me, then I screamed as a sudden stab of pain seemed to tear me apart. Tears leaked from my tightly closed eyes and I panted with the pain that seemed to encompass me. When it began to subside, I opened my eyes. He was completely inside me, I realized, and I looked up at him. He stroked my hair back from my face and kissed me softly. 44

“Are you alright?” he whispered softly.45

I nodded. I couldn’t say anything, even had I wished to. Things were beginning to feel much better, and I was having a difficult time concentrating on his words. 46

He must have sensed that the pain was giving way to pleasure, because he began to move within me, caressing my inner walls with long, slow thrusts. It felt incredibly wonderful, and I thought I would die before he stopped. My moans mingled with his growls in the semi-dark. 47

I do not remember much about what happened next, but it felt like I was falling and flying and exploding all at once. I arched against him and screamed in my pleasure. He held onto me tightly and helped me ride out my first climax, whispering soothingly in my ear, and kissing my neck softly. 48

When I settled, he began moving again within me, and brought me through another climax before he climaxed himself, flooding my secrets with his seed. He growled low in his throat as he filled me. Afterward, he kissed me over and over, whispering my name and loving words of endearment. Then he lay beside me and lifted me on top of him, pulling the blankets over us both.49

I fell asleep like that, on top of him, my cheek resting on his chest and his arms wrapped round me protectively. 50