Author's Note: Ok guys, I was trapped in a cabin without internet recently so I made a proper dent in this filthy story. As it happens, I've discovered my Literotica kink: Unnecessarily long sex scenes. But hey, you don't go to the novels/novella's section unless you can make it last.
Thanks for some recent nice comments, by the way. I do read them, but I do die inside a bit if they're about my typos. I really am sorry about typos. Honestly. I just have too much shame to ask someone to proofread my porn.
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Chapter Eleven
The whores had refused to give her men's clothing. It was too valuable, and they didn't have enough to spare, so Leda wore another dress. This dress was grey and warm, and it covered her black mark. As she rode with Brandon, she looked like a proper mate. If someone were to see her and him together on the road, they would assume they were coming back to the commune after few nights of pleasure in the woods. The only strange sight was Horace, slowly trotting behind them as they shared the stronger horse.
There was an uncomfortable silence for most of that first day. Leda was still going over the events of morning in her head, and trying to put together a plan for what she could do to save her cottage - and if she even needed the Head Ranger to do it. After Brandon's boast that he could consolidate his power with a killing spree, she needed some distance. At the beginning of their ride, she had even avoided holding onto his waist as she rode. But this had only confused Brandon, who would look back to see if she'd fallen off. So she put her arms around him, and tried not to think of how hard and warm his body felt as they went through the misty woods.
When the sun began to set, the horses gave in, and they made camp. Leda was so stiff from riding that she could barely keep from falling into the mud. Brandon noticed and smiled for the first time since Alec was killed.
"It takes some getting used to, riding for days," he said.
"It's the not-eating for days that I can't get used to," Leda answered. "Please, tell me you have a bit of food."
Leda had objected to making a fire, but Brandon only touched her cheeks and hands and determined that she would have one. She didn't have the energy to fight with him. Brandon had a bit of bread and cheese in his pack and they ate it next to a fire in silence. This was the first food Leda had eaten in days it took every bit of her concentration to keep from swallowing it whole.
"So, you're talking again," Brandon said, looking sideways at Leda's birdlike handling of her food.
"Brandon, don't be like this. I was tired."
"I'm not the one who shot Alec,"
"If you really want to talk, why don't you tell me how can you go days without eating anything, when you know you have cheese and bread with you?" Leda asked the question to change the subject, but she was also curious.
"You'd be surprised how long you can go without food when you're taught how to starve at an early age," Brandon said grimly. "And as head ranger, you don't want to be the first to show weakness." He looked at her carefully." And I want to show weakness to you even less."
This was as close has Brandon had ever come to a confession, and she wasn't prepared for it. For a man to admit he cared about a woman's judgment was not something that happened in the Outerlands, and Brandon's admission had left them both feeling naked.
When Leda didn't say anything, Brandon continued.
"You know, when I discovered your cottage, a lot changed for me." He cleared his throat. "I had a way to feed my men without relying on rations from the leaders."
Leda nodded. Brandon wasn't telling her anything she didn't know, but she rarely thought about how little rangers were given to eat. The leaders wanted them just strong enough to kill Highlanders, but not strong enough to get any ideas. Having another source of food would have done a lot to consolidate Brandon's power.
"Anyway," Brandon shrugged "I think your trade is a large part of why my rangers so capable, and so loyal. Most of the time, anyway. Without you, I might have been deposed a long time ago."
"What happens when a Head Ranger is deposed?"
"They kill them, usually."
He smiled wryly then, as though his admission had just been a bad joke, but Leda felt her chest tighten. She wanted to move closer to him, touch him, hold him, comfort the part of him that had become raw. But without his cockiness, his wry amusement in this game of cat and mouse he had started, she didn't know how be close to him.
They looked at each other for a while, taking in each other's faces while each waited for the other to do something. After what felt like an eternity of tension, Leda lowered her eyes.
"So you're saying... you owe me your life?" She smiled. "I'm going to start driving a harder bargain for eggs."
When she looked up again, Brandon put his hands in her hair and pulled her towards him.
"Have you always been this cocky?"
He kissed her then, and Leda liked it. She played with his mouth as she ran her fingers hesitantly over Brandon's chest. Even after all the things they had done together, touching him felt like a risk. She had pretended to be another person that night with the caravan, and she had felt like one. Playing a whore had given her the courage to play with his virility. Now she was the same woman who had known him as the Head Ranger - an authority she feared upsetting. Now that he was a flesh and blood man, she barely knew what to do with him. He was handsome, virile, skilled with his body; It was almost too much. She could feel herself getting warm with desire every time he looked at her, every time he spoke to her, every time he lifted something or scratched his neck.
It occurred to her now, as she shyly curled her fingers into his chest hair that she had always wanted him. She just didn't think she could ever have him.
Brendan broke off the kiss then. He put his hands into her hair and forcing her to look up at him. They were both breathing heavily and Leda felt empty without his touch. She tried to kiss him again but he held her back.
"Leda, I badly want to fuck you," his voice was low. "Do you want that?"
"Yes," Leda breathed. "But..."
"You don't want me to put a babe in you."
"No," Leda said. "I'm sorry, Brandon, I just don't know if —
"What about that highlander?" Brandon breathed into her ear. "Did you let him fuck you?"
"No," Leda pulled away from him. "The last person... was Gerald."
"What happened with the highlander? What did he do to you?"
"I thought you didn't care?"
"I said it doesn't change the way I feel about you," he pulled her body into him, roughly. "But I want to hear about it."
