Hey there! It has been quite literally forever, over a year in fact, since I last published. My life has been absolutely upside down insane but I finally find myself willing and able to write again.
These two chapters are a bit of a change of pace for me, not to spoil too much, but if you're looking for sex, you will have to wait for the next installment! This one is slow, action filled, and all about the tease.
Small disclaimer: I didn't include BDSM because this is not an accurate representation of BDSM in any way, shape, or form. The story is just that, a story, it is not meant to be realistic about relationships. This is why I placed the tag lesbian reluctance/non compliance to more accurately describe what occurs in this installment.
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Chapter 11
Lena was completely different from both Embry and Skye. She possessed a confidence about her that made her stature even more imposing, made her even larger than she was physically. Her personality was something I wouldn't have expected from an older woman, but I was young and foolish, seeing what I anticipated from the world around me and nothing as it really was. If I'd had any insight, had the very valuable ability to read people as everyone around me did, I'd have noticed immediately what her talents were.
"Follow me," she commanded simply, replacing her veil with grace.
I nodded and followed her as she exited the tent. I was apprehensive as to where exactly she was taking me and what I would find there.
I immediately noticed my familiar settings as we passed into the commotion of the afternoon marketplace. Vendors were shouting wares from their carts and wagons, people wandered through, browsing and scolding the children who played in the busy walkways. A warm breeze blew, shifting the top layer of the packed sand beneath my boots. We cut between some of the wagons and I noticed a group of kids about my age, some younger, with a couple older men a good distance behind the wagons. I could tell, just from the way they were interacting that something was wrong, even far away. I watched this older man take hold of one of the boys by the shirt and lift him a few inches up.
Before I could say anything Lena was gliding gracefully over the sand towards them. I followed her apprehensively but quickly, trying to work out a plan in my head. I felt naked unarmed.
"What's this?" The second man stood before Lena, looking her over carefully. The first man lowered the boy and turned in curiosity. I stood just behind Lena, waiting, thinking. The other kids noticed and recognized me, I motioned with my head for them to go, they needed little persuasion.
"Put him down," Lena's low voice caressed my ears, even in this time of tension. She spoke in such a soft voice, you had to lean in to hear it. She was drawing him in towards her by speaking softly, something my father had taught me; but she didn't need to, he was walking eagerly headlong into the trap laid by her cerulean robes and shapely figure.
"Oooooh, she's got some fire, I like this one, Miles." He crossed his arms and smiled deviously as he called over his shoulder to the other man, not taking his eyes off her, "That's some tough talk for a whore, how much do you cost, sweetheart?" The boy cried out from behind the second man. The first man, Miles, was speaking very low to the boy, so low I couldn't make it out.
"I won't say it again," I could hear her smiling now, even as my blood turned cold listening to the struggle occurring before us. I heard him chuckle and watched him uncross his arms, his hands dropping dangerously back to his sides, he was armed and I was watching, waiting for him to draw his weapon and attack. He moved ever closer, only inches away from her now, too close for much to happen from the outside, only between them.
"Oh? And what are you gonna..." I watched, mystified, as she had spun him and stood before Miles' with a knife at the second man's throat. I was certain I had missed something in the moment I had blinked. How had she done that? She made it look effortless. Miles turned, hearing his friend cough and sputter, she must have struck him in the struggle, he couldn't catch his breath.
"This doesn't concern you," Miles' voice was rough like worn leather. His eyes were dark and his expression harsh but unchanging, even at the events that had transpired.
"You are in no position to negotiate, release him." Her tone was cold and I watched the knife dig into the man's neck threateningly, he had just begun to catch his breath. Miles' sighed,
"No matter, I'll have my money one way or another." He pitched the boy aside as if he were nothing, the boy rolled into the sand, kicking up a cloud of dust.
I saw Lena flinch, she saw it coming too. She threw the man before her towards Miles, but this didn't stop him, he shoved him to the ground, trampling him, and lunged at her. I watched in horror as his fist connected with her face and she dropped into the sand. I leapt at him, attempting to shoulder tackle him. It was like striking a tree, I bounced off him and landed on my back in the sand. In seconds I realized my mistake as he stepped over me, barely missing trampling me as well. He stumbled to his knees, taking short, hoarse breaths.
I realized later, I had only managed to hurt him because I had struck him in the ribs with my shoulder. I remembered the man on the ground with the sword. I scrambled for him, trying to get to him before Miles got to me, or worse, Lena.
The second man was crawling now, having been crushed by Miles in his approach toward Lena. I stomped on his back and drew the sword from his side, he choked insults at me but they were quickly ignored.
I turned back to see Miles recovered and heading towards Lena, who was back on her feet to my amazement. He swung with his massive fists, once, twice, three times, missing her by centimeters, as I headed towards him. I was horrified that another strike would connect with her and take her out for good. I didn't realize, until I approached them, that she was striking him in return. With each near miss, as his giant limbs sped past her she was cutting him, blood spattering on her and the ground. He growled and his face contorted as his frustration mounted. He was wearing himself out and she was encouraging him, enraging him, tangling him in her spiderweb.
He stumbled to his knees, blood and sweat poured from him, he panted. She had masterfully cut up the insides of his arms, most notably I saw the large cuts extending down the insides of his forearms, the type that Embry had described to me could kill someone. She stood before him, just out of reach, small knives in each hand. He chuckled,
"I knew I'd die at the hands of a whore, just didn't think it would be like this." He grinned a crooked grin at her.
I felt an arm close around my neck and let out a stifled cry as a large, grubby hand covered my face. The second man had me, I flailed in surprise. Lena turned and I watched her recoil an arm before letting a knife fly towards me. I closed my eyes, fearing the worst, hearing a crunch and a wave of air speed past my left ear. The second man released me, dropping to the ground, her knife had landed inches from my face, buried to the hilt in his left eye.
When I turned back, I saw Miles atop her. He had taken advantage of her distraction. I retrieved the sword I had dropped in terror and surprise and ran the short distance between us. She shoved him off of her, her knife protruded from his neck.
I stood over him with the sword pointed to his chest, he had only moments, but I wanted to be sure. She rolled easily to her side and onto her feet, standing beside me as Miles sputtered his last. Lena knelt and pulled the knife from his neck before standing again.
