Taking Flight (6 page)

“Marcus, and this is my girl, Deborah.”

The man hushed him quickly. “No real names here, friend,” he said, darting a quick look into the shadows, and Deborah suddenly felt danger lurking. “I’m known as Birch and my good lady wife is Hazel, due to her love of...well, I don’t think I need to explain that to you, now do I?” The darkness was beginning to lift and Deborah caught the wink he threw her way. “Your knowledge of the woods, or lack of, has convinced me to trust that you aren’t here to capture me or my wife.”

“No, of course not. We’re—” Deborah started, but she was cut off by Birch.

“Please, the less you tell me the better. So while I believe you mean us no harm, if you continue to stumble haphazardly through the forest the way you have been, you will bring danger to us. You’ve already laid blinding tracks to our camp—which must be eradicated—and no doubt you’ll make more, so I must insist you join us, at least for one night, so we might teach you some skills.”

Relief washed over Deborah. “Yes, that would be wonderful. Do you have water?”

“Our camp is the best and most well stocked in these woods. Come.”

Deborah got up to leave, but Marcus grabbed her by the arm and forced her down. “What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed. “We’ve never met this guy before and you’re ready to go off with him—without even discussing it with me?” He was incredulous and Deborah was once again ashamed. It was as if this forest had taken all of her sense. She could hardly think straight.

“Sorry, I just...” Her voice quavered. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Listen, I’ll give you an hour to discuss it, then I’ll come for you. It will be light by then and we can cover your tracks. If you choose not to come with me, I’ll make sure I’ll leave no trace and you’ll never see me again. Understood?”

Marcus nodded grimly and Birch disappeared into the shadows.

“What the hell?” Marcus glared at her with a look of sheer disgust.

Deborah was hurt and confused. “I don’t know. He seemed genuine to me. Nice, even.”

“Nice?” Marcus was angry now; his voiced hissed with it. “Are you totally out of your mind, Deborah? We witness him beating a woman tied to a tree and assaulting her, then you catch him trying to fucking rob us, and you call him
nice
?”

Put like that, Deborah could see his point of view pretty clearly, and her shoulders dropped. Trusting her instinct was obviously something she should never allow herself to do. “But he said she was his wife.”

“So?”

“She looked like she was enjoying herself.”

“We’ve got no idea what was really going on down there, do we?”

Deborah melted into the memory of being fucked in the dirt watching Hazel tied to the tree. She didn’t want to believe it was non-consensual. She couldn’t believe it. She wouldn’t. The look they’d shared had said it all. And she did believe Birch...there was something about him. It was an aura he gave off through his wiry frame and wild look. He was hiding out there, just like them.

“But he’s a
man
, Marcus. You’ve got to believe his story.”

“Why? Why should I? Just because we’re all being rounded up and herded off to God knows where doesn’t mean it’s ‘all brothers unite’.”

She knew he was just trying to protect himself, protect them, but something was telling her that they needed Birch. Needed his knowledge. After all, they had no idea how long they’d have to hide in the wild, and for an academic and a stowaway, the more help and instruction they received in the art of survival, the better.

“Come on, Marcus, let’s take a chance on him,” she said, reaching out to catch hold of his hand as he rose to stand before her.

Her mind kept racing back to the sensations and sights of earlier, especially the white arc of Birch’s seed spilling over the earth. Heat built in her womb and spread low into her pelvis, turning her sex to molten desire once more. Her mouth watered as she glimpsed a stirring in Marcus’s crotch. She leaned forward and unfastened his belt and jeans, pulling them apart as he gently slid his fingers through her hair. He smelled of sex and earth as he stiffened before her eyes and she inhaled every part of his shaft, into the heavenly thicket of his hair where their pheromones gathered. Every breath made her feel high on sex musk, and she hungrily made her way back to his shining head, already beaded with dewy liquid. Licking the pearly treasure, she savored the sweet-salty blend, rolling her tongue decadently over him. She peeked up with a mouthful of his cock to see his head drop back in bliss.

Turning her focus back to tasting and devouring him, she used her whole body to undulate her tongue and mouth around him. The swaying came from her toes, rocking her buttocks, rolling her hips and snaking her spine until all the kinetic force of her muscles wrapped him up in her flesh. Coating her teeth with her lips, she bit into his shaft and slid all the way down until she couldn’t even breathe through her nose, he was so buried into her throat. She sighed as the grip on her hair tightened and he began to pull her harder and thrust with his hips at the same time.

It was an exhilarating feeling to be at each other’s mercy like this. Again and again she sucked and withdrew, taking in air as she rode him with her mouth. She was holding his buttocks in her hands, relishing the twitching and tensing of the strong flesh every time they pumped into each other. Her pussy was sore and wet and her nipples buzzed with electricity as she squeezed her thighs hard, rubbing up and down, trying to fend off her rising need.

Cupping his tightening balls in one hand, she slid her middle finger through to his perineum and lightly tickled it with her nail. It had the effect she had been expecting and he started to jerk and shudder, pulling her hair more urgently. She opened her jaw wide at the back of her mouth and lifted off her heels, trying to take him deeper. He let out a groan and jammed her head between his hands and cock while his orgasm surged from his balls all the way up and out into her throat. She gripped the base of his cock with her fist and held it there, clamping her lips around him as he spurted and spasmed everything he had into her mouth. One of her favorite things of all was to hold him in her mouth until he’d completely softened, rolling the juicy, velveteen morsel around her tongue and lips, indulging in all the flavors of his pleasure.

Eventually he managed to pry her off him and staggered backward, bending with his hands on his knees.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”

Deborah wiped her face with the back of her sleeve and smiled up at him. Her pussy was still wet but the feelings had subsided. She was glad for now. She patted the little makeshift bed and bid him to sit, but he straightened up.

“Listen, Marcus, I know you think I’m naive and stupid, and in a way I agree with you, but I really think he might be able to show us some things we need to know if we’re going to make it out here.”

Marcus was staring up into the trees with a look of loss, or something close to it, that Deborah couldn’t quite read. She followed his gaze to the treetops now awakening from the night, the shrill calls of the birds building in a crescendo once more. It was beautiful. That melancholic beauty that somehow exhilarates and saddens at the same time. Deborah had always wondered why nature made her feel this way, but watching Marcus now, she could see he felt it too.

“It’s not that,” he said, still looking up. “I do trust Birch.”

“Really?” Deborah was totally confused. “I don’t understand. You said you thought he was a robber and a kidnapper.”

“I know I did.” He slowly knelt and smiled at Deborah, yet his eyes were heavy with sadness. “But I wanted something just for us, for a little while at least. I wanted to be together, outdoors, free, just us.”

“Oh.” Deborah laid down her head onto his lap and he stroked her hair. “But it’s been you and me alone in that house for months, years even. I thought you’d be desperate for company.”

“I am. But just not quite yet.” He fell silent and Deborah listened to his breath, trying to match hers with his. It must be hard for him to adjust, trust. “I know we should go with him, I just…” He sighed deeply and caressed her head, massaging her neck and shoulders. It was blissful and she let her eyes close, for a second…

Chapter 7

“So are you coming or not?” Birch’s aggressive tone jolted them both out of a heavy slumber. Deborah rubbed her eyes and yawned widely, nudging Marcus, who seemed to be drifting off again. “Come on, I haven’t got all bloody day.”

“What’s with the attitude?” Marcus matched his volume with his sleep-thick voice while he started gathering their things together.

“You’ve got so much to learn,” Birch said, shaking his head and scoffing. “It’s light and you’re lying sound asleep for all the world to see?”

Deborah let her head drop in shame, but not before she’d seen a flash of anger cross Marcus’s face.
Please don’t let your pride ruin this
, she screamed in her brain, keeping her pose of submission.

She grabbed the rest of their stuff. “Yes, sorry, sorry. We just dropped off by mistake.”

“Could have been a costly one,” Birch warned and helped her to stand. Deborah caught Marcus’s seething expression and subtly wriggled free from the other man’s grip.
This might get tricky
, she cautioned herself, and helped Marcus into his thick coat.

With Marcus rigid with disdain and emasculation at being ordered around by the older man, they followed Birch, carefully brushing away any signs of their existence with handfuls of twigs and bracken.

“Take extra care not to break off any twigs higher than your waist,” Birch advised.

“Why higher than our waists?” Deborah shielded her eyes from the glare of the rising sun and waited for Birch’s patient reply.

“Because all trackers will take special notice of disturbances or breakages made by something taller than a dog, wolf, or other animal. They’ll always assume it’s a human.”

“Wolves?” said Deborah, her heart suddenly racing as she cast her eyes around the trees. “There are wolves in the forest?”

“Well, not really wolves as such, more packs of dogs that used to belong to families now split up or on the run.”

“But packs of dogs can’t be good, can they?”

“They’ll do you no harm if you treat them with dominant respect.”

Deborah caught Birch sneak a quick look at Marcus who was, thankfully, facing the other way.

* * * *

When they finally arrived at the camp, Hazel was brewing some tea over a small fire which glowed with heat yet gave off barely any smoke.

“She’s one of the best smokeless fire makers ever.” Birch beamed with pride as he stooped to kiss his wife on the top of her head.

She looked up at the two visitors and treated them to the same beatific smile she’d given Birch while he whipped her the day before. All doubts regarding consent were swept away in Deborah’s mind.

“Welcome.” Hazel stood up so gracefully she could have been from another world. She was tall and slender, and Deborah felt tiny as she reached up to shake her hand. “Well, aren’t you just the prettiest little thing?” Hazel said, and bent to kiss Deborah warmly on both cheeks.

Marcus had hardly said a word since they’d teamed up with Birch. Deborah felt him stiffen with rage again at this display of familiarity and intimacy.

“Thank you for having us.” She smiled back and stepped aside, forcing Marcus to come forward and present himself to the woman. “This is my partner.”

He held out his hand and bowed formally while Deborah cringed inside. She’d never taken him for the jealous type before and kept having to remind herself of his touching speech about wanting to be alone with her for just a little longer. She did feel sorry for him, having his newfound freedom whipped away so quickly, but she also really, really wanted them to survive this. It if took staying with Birch and Hazel for a few days, then so be it.

“So, how do you take your tea?”

* * * *

A little later, Birch had convinced Marcus to let him help build their shelter. It was half bivouac, half tent, located on the opposite side of the clearing to Birch and Hazel’s—just for that little bit of privacy, he’d explained to Marcus as Hazel hooked her arm in Deborah’s and led her through into a thicket.

“I don’t suppose you’ve managed to refresh yourself for a while,” Hazel said kindly, yet Deborah blushed and held her arms close to her sides. “It’s not the same for women in the forest as men. We need to keep clean and dry. Men can be filthy for weeks and not suffer.” She urged Deborah on until the thicket began to thin. “I got a chill in my bladder from not bathing for just a couple of days. It is unbearable at the best of times, but in the forest…”

Deborah cringed inwardly at what Hazel was implying but also remembered lying in her luxurious bed with a hot water bottle between her legs, maxed out on paracetamol and bicarb of soda during a bout of cystitis. It was horrendous even in that setting, and she couldn’t think of anything worse than having to deal with that in the wild.

“Here we are, a ladies’ survival kit.” Hazel swept open a branch to reveal a sparkling brook that had been dammed a little downstream, making a seductive deep pool just feet away.

Deborah didn’t wait for permission to enter; she stripped off in the three footsteps it took to reach the water’s edge and dived right in. The cleansing coolness refreshed her every pore, making her feel whole and invigorated. She opened her eyes, expecting the water to be thick and murky, but was surprised to see shafts of sunlight breaking down, striking through the perfectly clear liquid to the gravelly riverbed. Tiny brown trout darted off into the reeds, and Deborah turned and swam to the bank, breaking through the surface to see Hazel watching her with a look of satisfaction across her face.

“You were smiling the whole time,” Hazel said, beaming with the glow one gets from giving a present that is truly wanted.

“I still am!” Deborah lay back and kicked her toes, splashing the woman who’d given her such a gift. “Aren’t you coming in? It’s just lovely.” She couldn’t put into words how grateful she was for this pool. She took great long mouthfuls and drank until her thirst was quenched. She’d found her beloved water and she let it hold and embrace her as she floated.