Tower in the Woods Page 6

“It’ll fit,” Dane groaned out, realizing his penis grew as he spoke. At least there was one silver lining to the ridiculous situation. He may be scaring Nel out of her decision to have sex with him.

  “I’ve been thinking about the science behind what we are doing,” Nel chirpily proposed as she proceeded to cup his balls, “and it occurred to me that my mouth would better approximate the conditions of sexual intercourse.”

  Dane very nearly came in her hands. He should refuse, he very seriously should. But instead he chokingly muttered, “That sounds like a solid plan to me.”

  Clearly emboldened by his words, Nel bent her head, her wispy blonde hair falling to obscure his view. Then she tilted her face to the side to meet his gaze, and that beautiful cascade of gold fell backward, leaving Dane with the tantalizing view of Nel’s mouth hovering less than an inch above his erection. “If I hurt you…”

  “I’ll tell you to stop,” Dane quickly assured her, knowing no amount of pain would compel him to do any such thing. There were limits to morality, and refusing a blowjob at this point was several miles beyond that limit.

  With her hand still cupping his balls, Nel lowered her head, her pink tongue sticking out to lap at the moisture beading over the tip of his penis. The contact was electric, and Dane clenched his hands into fists as a wave a pleasure cascaded through him. He didn’t close his eyes, for the sight of her lips closing over his engorged shaft was the most erotic vision he had ever seen. She looked so utterly submissive as she hesitantly moved her head up and down, her body propped up on her hands and knees in a position that made images of a very different kind of penetration race through his mind.

  He heard rumbling sounds echoing through the room, sounds he barely recognized as his own voice, and he nearly came when Nel lowered her head farther to take him more fully into her warm, wet mouth. Twirling her tongue along the bulging blood vessels of his penis, Nel moved her head up and down as she sucked, the motion driving him almost to the brink. How he had the semblance of mind to say, “I’m about to come in your mouth” Dane did not know. Nel seemed to freeze for just a moment before simply continuing to milk him with those soft eager lips. With deep guttural sounds erupting from his throat, he shuddered as he emptied himself into her mouth.

  Once she was done cleaning him off with her tongue, Nel lay back down next to him and pulled the blanket up over them. Her eyes drifted closed as she murmured, “See, now doesn’t that feel much better?”

  Feeling a surge of protectiveness he could barely recognize, Dane cradled Nel’s trusting body against his chest, wondering how he was going to resist the temptation presented to him in such a delightful package. As he watched her fall into a deep sleep, he realized the entire interlude had probably lasted less than a minute. And no, he didn’t feel much better. He was still randy as all hell.

  Chapter 6

  Nel woke up feeling very rested and pulsing with energy. She also felt oddly frustrated, as if she were going to jump out of her skin if something didn’t happen very soon. She didn’t know exactly what it was that she needed so badly, but she didn’t like how she felt.

  It was in that moment Nel realized her face pressed up against a very broad and naked chest. A very broad and naked man’s chest, to be more specific. For a few seconds, she felt fear, panic at the reality that she wasn’t alone in her room, uncertainty as to why there was a member of the male gender lying naked next to her. Then memory washed over her in a flood of embarrassment as Nel suddenly remembered every single detail of what happened last night.

  A blush crept over her face as she recalled the way she had taken Dane’s penis into her mouth, and her cheeks grew even hotter as she remembered swallowing the gushing hot semen that pumped into her less than a minute later.

  What she did had seemed logical at the time, scientific almost, and Nel had been too piqued by curiosity to stop and hesitate. Now that she had time to ponder, it occurred to her that what she had done without thinking was extremely intimate, and some may even say it was more intimate than sexual intercourse. After all, a great deal of trust was implied on both sides, and Nel had a feeling the man slumbering soundly next to her didn’t trust very easily.

  Knowing there was no point in dwelling on events that had already transpired, Nel slowly wriggled out of the tangle of Dane’s arms. He stirred, turning over to his other side but remained in a deep sleep. After tucking the corners of the blanket around his naked body, Nel got up from the floor and walked over to the covered window. Moving the lightweight bookcase ever so slightly, she peeked out to see the storm was still at full force. Swirls of snow and sleet fell in a seemingly unending cascade to cover the entire landscape in white and gray. Dane was right—at this temperature there was nary a zombie in sight. Until this storm was over, Nel had just been given a long-overdue respite.

  Accustomed to having more free time on her hands than she knew what to do with, Nel gathered Dane’s discarded T-shirt, pants, and underwear, bundling them up into her arms as she walked toward the opposite end of the room. Entering the small adjacent bathroom, she dumped the items into a large built-in ceramic basin on the floor. Stripping off her own clothing, Nel added the items to the pile.

  The bathroom had been modified to contain a large cemented wall that stood taller than Nel’s head. Whenever it rained, water was collected through a pipe that opened onto the roof. The clean rain water was stored in a cordoned off area of the bathroom, ensuring she would always have more than she needed. Although the makeshift reservoir was large enough for her to swim in, it had rained heavily enough over the past few months for the it to almost brim over, forcing her to tamp down her hoarding tendencies and actually lavishly utilize the water supply. A turn of the tap sent water from the reservoir into the bathtub full of clothes. Nel hastily scrubbed the items with small amounts of precious handmade soap. It was regularly delivered by Mother Gothel, but Nel just couldn’t bring herself to waste something she depended upon so heavily and couldn’t create herself.

  Once all the items were clean, Nel padded back into the sniper’s nest and spread the damp items on a drying rack located next to the fireplace. She was still wearing her chest bindings and underwear so she wasn’t too concerned about Dane waking up to see her unclothed. When she was done with her task, she looked back toward her sleeping pallet to find him still soundly asleep.

  Feeling too energized to stay still, Nel went through her afternoon workout routine. She usually stayed awake throughout the night, monitoring the borders for zombies and falling asleep at daybreak. Her regular sleep cycle ensured she would wake sometime in the late afternoon, which still gave her far more free time than she needed. Since she had fallen asleep much earlier in the night than she was used to, Nel figured it may still be morning. Perhaps because of the man slumbering in her tower, the prospect of having to face a few more free hours in the day didn’t feel at all like a chore.

  Determinedly, she tried to burn off what seemed like an endless amount of restless energy by doing push-ups, sit-ups, knee-highs, squats, and lunges. When she ended her exercise routine over an hour later her body glistened with sweat and she didn’t feel as edgy as she had before. Rolling her eyes when she turned to find Dane still fast asleep, Nel resolved to take a cold bath before giving in and waking the man up.

  * * * *

  Breathing a heavy sigh of relief as Nel disappeared into what he assumed was the bathroom, Dane flipped onto his back and opened his eyes. He had woken up to the sight of her clad only in a pair of cotton panties and chest bindings. To make things worse for his morning boner, she was working out, and his jaw dropped as he watched her sweat-covered body go through various strenuous exercises.

  Damn, she was hot. Nel’s compact body contained barely any excess flesh, and the muscles of her arms, shoulders, and torso stood out in stark definition as she moved. She needed more meat on her, and her breasts and butt could stand to gain a few additional inches, but the sight of her as she was did more than enough to whet Dan
e’s appetite. He wanted Nel. He wanted her so desperately it was difficult for him to breathe when she was around. He was close to thirty-five years old and he had slept with a good number of women before now, but he had never desired any female as much as he wanted Nel.

  Deciding not to put his conscience in any more jeopardy than was necessary, Dane had firmly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. If he had continued watching her or talked to her while she was dressed that way, he had no doubt she would have ended up flat on her back with his erect penis buried inside her. He was that close to losing control, and it galled him that the innocent little sniper had absolutely no idea.

  Now that she was gone Dane took the opportunity to deplete as much sexual frustration as he could. Grabbing his still damp boxers, which Nel had so kindly washed, he slipped them on as he went through his own morning routine.

  Dane’s exercises had a much bigger emphasis on the upper body. Nel didn’t have a chin-up bar so he did handstand push-ups instead, trying his best to tire himself out before she came back into the room. Unfortunately, she didn’t take very long to wash up so he found himself watching her in an upside-down position as she stepped through the bathroom door comfortably clad in an oversize black T-shirt and a pair of camouflage pants identical to the ones she wore last night. Dane didn’t understand how someone could look so damn sexy in such unflattering clothing, but Nel succeeded with aplomb.

  Dane felt a little like preening as he noticed the way Nel’s bright blue gaze swept over his sweaty body, lingering appreciatively at his chest and shoulders. She clearly liked what she saw, for her cheeks dimpled into a smile as her tongue came out to lap over that full lower lip, bringing back extremely vivid memories of how she had just last night licked him to orgasm. Realizing his boxers were pooled precariously around his groin, he somersaulted into a standing position and made his best attempt at a charming smile.

  “Thanks for washing my clothes,” he said like an idiot as they continued to stare at each other. The sexual tension in the room was rising to ridiculous levels so Dane safely decided to cut and run. “Mind if I use your bathroom?”

  Nel shook her pretty blonde head silently as she continued to ogle him, her gaze turning languorous as she blushed. Not even bothering to look down at his groin, Dane fled to the other room and shut the door behind him.

  Luckily, Nel had copious amounts of extremely cold water, which was bound to be quickly replenished once the snow started melting. Stepping into a nonfunctional bathtub, Dane grabbed the plastic bucket sitting on the tiled floor, reached over the wall of the reservoir, and filled the container completely before proceeding to upend the entire contents over his head. Breathing a huge sigh of relief as his boner quickly shriveled as a result of the water’s freezing temperature, he quickly scrubbed himself clean before repeating the process, shivering profusely once he finally stepped soaking wet out of the bathtub.

  “I have an extra one of these if you want to brush your teeth,” Nel said from behind him. Clearly her upbringing had not included the concept of privacy implied by closed doors. Knowing he was completely naked, Dane turned only his head as he reached for the proffered item, surprised she had even put some minty homemade toothpaste on it.

  “I don’t believe you will fit into any of my clothing,” Nel said, impervious to Dane’s discomfort. The erection he had so painstakingly gotten rid of was now back in full force. Apparently all his penis needed to rise to full attention was for Nel to be in his immediate vicinity.

  “Ah … I figured I’d re-wear my boxers and dry off by the fire,” Dane replied, not quite knowing what the etiquette was in this situation. Nel clearly didn’t care he was naked. She simply leaned against the doorjamb, waiting for him to come out. His brain somehow turned itself back on, making him mutter the lamest excuse imaginable. “I don’t like people watching when I brush my teeth.”

  Nel’s eyebrows rose, her face clearly saying she now thought he was a complete weirdo, but she thankfully walked away, shutting the door as she went.

  “Down, boy,” Dane ordered as he glowered at the offending body part, one that was getting into the habit of overruling his brain. “She’s off-limits. At least for now.”

  * * * *

  One of the things Nel missed the most about life outside the Tower was cooking. For obvious reasons, Mother Gothel usually brought her nonperishable food, the kind that came in cans and vacuum-sealed bags. Because Nel ate with an eye toward stockpiling, she couldn’t logically make herself ask the prophet to increase the amount of fresh food in lieu of the canned goods, even if she could rarely bring herself to eat the disgusting stuff.

  However, since canned and preserved food were not easy to find, only becoming available when scavenging parties came back from raiding nearby ruins, the prophet still brought a good amount of grains, tubers, dried fruit, and vegetables as well as small amounts of smoked mutton. Nel never had much of an appetite, so she usually stored all of the canned goods and satisfied herself with making home-cooked meals last the week.

  The most efficient way to make a little food go a long way was to start one giant pot of stew and keep it over the fire, adding more water as the stew thickened and slowly chipping away at it over time. Nel had started a pot just the other night, and typically, it would easily last her an entire week, if not more.

  But Nel quickly realized Dane consumed an extremely large quantity of food, especially compared to her, so much so she simply laid her fork down and watched him eat in dumbstruck silence. She had no idea how so much food could even fit into his body, as large as he was.

  Clearly noticing she had stopped eating and was simply staring at him, Dane looked up and sheepishly said, “I’m sorry. Am I eating too much?”

  Nel shook her head. “There’s plenty of food here, as you can see. I just have never seen anyone eat quite the way you do.”

  Dane’s smile made him seem a great deal younger. “You’re an awesome cook, especially considering the limitations you work with. This might be the best-tasting meal I’ve ever had.”

  Curious, Nel cocked her head to the side. “If you don’t cook, what do you eat?”

  “Where I come from there’s a main cafeteria that makes three square meals a day. The grub tastes atrocious but eating there means all I need to do is show up at the right time,” Dane answered, eyeing the stew that was left in Nel’s bowl. Already quite full, she handed it over for him to demolish.

  “And where do you come from?” she asked. “According to Mother, there are no other human enclaves other than the WITCH.” Before he could make a snarky comment, Nel held up her hand. “I was pretty certain she was lying. It’s just that I’ve never heard of another colony before you came here. What’s it like? Where is it?”

  Dane’s eyes were guarded as he replied. “Washington, D.C. is to the north of here, about a five-day walk if you know the way. It’s a fully functioning city of approximately fifty thousand people. What about your church? Where is it and how many people are there?”

  The question seemed innocuous enough so Nel didn’t mind answering. “When the storm clears, you should be able to see the WITCH if you look to the northeast past the woodlands. It’s difficult to miss from this high up—all three border walls are surrounded by barbed wire and there are piles of rusting cars blocking off all the access roads. Eleven years ago, there were one hundred and thirty-seven members, but the population was steadily growing. We get at least one new recruit every month, although the older members were beginning to suffer from illness and death.”

  “If there are new recruits,” Dane pointed out, “isn’t it obvious to everyone that other human enclaves exist?”

  Nel shook her head. “Not to everyone. All the new recruits are extremely young, and none of them have any memory of life before they arrived at the WITCH. The explanation given is that Mother, and I mean the god and not the prophet, leads those worthy of saving from the zombie wastelands toward the church’s borders to be taken in and trained.�
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  Dane looked extremely interested in what she told him. “How difficult is it to enter the borders?”

  Nel furrowed her brows as she thought back to her childhood. “There are soldiers patrolling all the walls and checkpoints along the two roads that lead to the fort. Only the prophet and scavenger parties are allowed to drive in or out of the compound. I don’t know if the security has gotten more lax since I left. I usually eliminate all the zombies heading toward the WITCH from here.”

  Dane gave her another probing look. “Have you ever considered that your cult leader is concerned about enemies other than zombies?”

  Nel shrugged. “It’s possible, but you’re the only person who has made it this far into the WITCH’s borders. I was able to tell immediately you weren’t a zombie, and I can safely say I have never killed a human.”

  “Why didn’t you kill me?” Dane asked, his eyes suddenly very intent. “Why did you save me before you even knew if I could be trusted?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Nel asked. “I had never killed another person before, and I didn’t want to start with you. So far, you’ve been pretty trustworthy.”

  “Well, don’t do it again,” Dane snapped out, feeling oddly protective. “What you did was very dangerous. If another human comes your way and you don’t want to pull the trigger then just let them pass and stay safe.”

  Nel took umbrage at Dane’s words. “Perhaps you should trust my judgment.”

  “You have piss-poor judgment,” he countered. “You saved me. And, sweetheart, you may not realize it yet, but I’m as dangerous as it gets.”

  Chapter 7

  “So is this what you do all day?” Dane asked as they sat companionably by the fireplace. Nel’s nose was buried in a physiology textbook, and he had just finished reorganizing her ammunition cache. All in all, he couldn’t think of a time when he had felt more content. There was a certain domesticity to what they were doing, which was a component of life he hadn’t realized he was missing.