Never Alone

         “You bastard!” Elise struggled to rein in her fury.
         “Now, now, Elise. No one ever got anywhere by losing their temper.” Zane stood on the cliff wall above her and grinned wickedly.
         “Go to hell!” She screamed at him, fighting to keep from saying more. The stripes on her back still stung from the last time she badmouthed him. But Zane just laughed, the short, black locks of his hair falling from his face as he threw his head back.
         “You’ve always been amusing Ellie. Always a fighter, even when you know you’ve already lost.” He crouched on the cliff—still meters higher than she could reach—and looked her in the eye again. “And you have already lost, my dear. You just need to accept it and go with the flow.” His eyes shone as he grinned wider, revealing a set of perfectly-aligned teeth behind his plump lips, nestled into the finely-chiseled features of his face. It was no wonder he was able to woo nearly all of the women that he came in contact with—save for Elise.
         In all truthfulness, Zane was intrigued by her. She was unaffected by his charms. And he wanted to know how. The deep well of her strength and determination was unrivaled by any he had ever had in her place. She could be perfectly angelic when it suited her purposes. At such times, her hair drifted over her shoulders, drifting around her face in waves and her eyes seemed to glitter. Her ferocious side was the feature he was most interested in. When the time called for it, she transformed from this angelic figure into a fighter more fierce than most of his contacts. Her eyes would grow wild and her mouth would twist into a snarl, much like it was now in fact. But then, she also had the ability to hide this transformation from anyone when she so desired. She was an enigma.
         “Go to hell,” she said again, quieter, her fingers clenched by her sides. He knew well enough by now that she wasn’t even close to bending to his will. She simply knew that arguing with him wouldn’t yield in her favor. He smiled and looked over his shoulder at the contact behind him that she couldn’t see. Motioning with his hand, he beckoned him forward with the sack the man held tightly in his arms. With a grunt, the broad-shouldered, broad-chested, broad-everythinged man threw the sack down the slope of the cliff.
         Elise gasped when she heard a grunt come from inside the sack as it encountered a rock while rolling down the slope and it came to a stop a few yards from her. Throwing her gaze back to Zane accusingly, she ran over to the sack and fought with the rope that was knotted on one end. Freeing the neck of the sack, she threw it open and pulled it down to reveal the bruised face of a man who was obviously unconscious.
         “What the hell did you do?” Elise stood and glared at Zane with unveiled hatred. Zane feigned offense, placing his hand to his chest as if trying to hold in his dignity.
         “Oh, Elise, that hurts,” he whined, obviously trying to fight back a smile. “I give you some company out of the kindness of my heart and you think I have some harsh ulterior motive behind it. You really aren’t a very trusting person, are you?” His attempts at hiding his smile failed and he grinned widely. A sound similar to a growl emitted from her throat and he noticed her fists begin to shake with the effort she expended trying to keep her fury in check. He stood.
         “Well, I’ll leave you two alone to get to know one another. Have fun,” he quipped as he turned and threw the heavy door shut behind him.
         “Bastard,” Elise muttered under her breath.
         “I second that emotion,” came a gruff voice from beside her. She wheeled around and sunk into a defensive crouch. The man hadn’t moved except to open his eyes. He stared at her through half-lidded eyes and smiled weakly. “Name’s Aaron,” he slurred.
         Elise hesitated a moment longer. “Elise,” she responded, rising slowly out of her crouch. She wasn’t sure he heard her because his eyes had gone shut once again and his chest rose and fell under the sack with each breath he took. She hesitated, then started forward to remove the sack and assess the damage.
         After much effort, she wrestled the heavy sack away from him and tossed it over her shoulder. She glanced at the bloodstained clothes and figured that many of the wounds he’d sustained were superficial. Nothing more than flesh wounds from his fall. She couldn’t tell if he had any broken bones, but she wasn’t about to frisk him to find out. She did a double take as she lifted his arm to half-heartedly check for more wounds. Under his left shoulder, she saw a large pool of blood forming and identified a large laceration close to his left shoulder blade.
         “Okay, I’m warning you right now. You move, you die,” she cautioned as she contemplated flipping him over to examine the cut further. His eyes remained closed and his breathing stayed regular. She squatted next to him, put her arms under his chest and thigh and pulled up, rolling him over onto his stomach. She backed away for a moment until she ascertained that he was still unconscious.
         Sighing, she removed her sweater and started pulling at the sleeves until she heard the seams rip. Tearing the sleeves completely off, she wadded one of them up and pressed it roughly against his shoulder blade trying to stem the bleeding. Aaron shifted slightly and moaned until he woke up completely. His head cleared enough for the pain to register, and he cried out roughly and squirmed, trying to escape the pressure that caused the pain. Elise clutched his shoulder with her other hand and dug her fingernails into his skin, trying to get him to remain still.
         “What are you doing?” he groaned, not yet fully awake.
         “I’m trying to stop you from bleeding to death, now hold still,” Elise ordered. To her surprise, he complied.
         “You don’t need to do that,” he rasped. Elise shook her head at his apparent idiocy.
         “If I don’t, you’ll bleed out. It’s a deep laceration.”
         “I’ve had worse. It will heal.” He attempted to rise again, but again, Elise shoved him down and roughly pushed the cloth into his wound making him suck in a ragged breath. “It will heal,” he said again.
         “Yeah, in about a three weeks. Unfortunately, you don’t have that much blood to lose.” She was losing her patience.
         So was Aaron.
         With a sudden burst of strength, he flipped onto his side away from her, grabbed her wrists, and flung her over him until she was on her back and under his weight. He straddled her waist and pinned her wrists above her head. She gasped at his audacity.
         “Now just stay there and listen to me,” he hissed.
         “Not a chance,” she responded and brought her knee up into his groin. He grunted loudly and loosened his grip enough for her to shove him off of her and scramble up into her defensive crouch again.
         “What the hell is wrong with you?” he huffed as he remained where he fell.
         “Me? I was only trying to help. Then you went all commando on me. What the hell is wrong with you?” Elise stood straight and put her hand on her hip and plastered an indignant look on her face to hide the blush of embarrassment from being under him without her sweater and only her thin, too-tight spaghetti-string tank top covering her midriff.
         He sighed and rose to his knees and sank back onto his haunches. “I said it would heal.” He lifted his right hand to his face and squinted at it.
         “What are you—” Elise sucked in a breath when he brought up his other hand to dig something out from underneath the skin of his hand. He slowly pulled out a very small, slightly bloody object from under his skin and brought it up to look at it. After wiping it off, he then glanced up at Elise and held the object out to her. It was only millimeters thick and about an inch long. Taking it from him cautiously, she saw that it appeared to be a type of rock.
         “It’s a healing crystal,” Aaron explained. “I need you to heal the wound; I can’t reach it.”
         “Oh, so now you need my help,” Elise narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips again, being careful not to stab herself with the crystal. Aaron rolled his eyes.
         “Come on, can’t you . . . just—I—” Aaron swayed unsteadily and almost fell on his side. His pale face showed his exhaustion. Before he could fall, though, Elise grabbed his shoulders and dropped to his side as she steadied him on his knees.
         “Whoa! Okay, okay! What do I do? Tell me what to do!”
         Aaron shook his head to clear it, but only succeeded in making his equilibrium work harder to keep him upright. “Um, the wound. Look at the wound.”
         “Yes, it’s very pretty. Now how do I fix it?”
         “Ah. Y-you . . . you need to . . . stab the edges of the wound . . . with the crystal. And blow on it.”
         “Stab you?! Have you gone insane?” Elise almost threw the crystal to the other side of their cave/prison.
         “That’s how it works. You gotta . . . stab . . . each side in . . . a crisscross patt—” He suddenly slouched over and it was all Elise could do to catch him and lay him down on his stomach easily.
         “Shit! Shitshitshit! Okay. Okay, crisscross pattern. Um . . .” She took the crystal uncertainly between her fingers and stabbed it into the flesh at the top and to the side of the slash where the skin was visible through his tight black t-shirt. Pulling it out, she immediately stabbed on the other side about a centimeter lower this time. She continued until she arrived at the bottom of the wound. She dropped back and watched to see what was supposed to happen. But nothing changed.
         “It’s not working! I knew he was messed up in the head! Not enough blood going to his brain . . .” Then she stopped and realized her error. Uncertainly, she knelt down next to him, brought her face to within a few inches of his back and lightly blew on the laceration.
         Elise gasped and reeled backward when Aaron suddenly arched his back and curled into a fetal position, hands roughly grabbing at his shirt as if he were desperately trying to find something to hold onto that would keep him anchored in reality. His face contorted in pain and he ground his teeth together. Elise sat frozen, wishing she could help him, wondering if she had done something wrong. Had she waited too long to blow on the cut? But the entire episode was finished in less than a minute. And she saw that the skin on either side of his cut had knitted together, leaving nothing but a scar behind. When Aaron had gained his breath back he turned to look at her.
         “‘Messed up in the head,’ huh?” A grin threatened to overtake his serious expression.
         “Well, you—” She gasped and then forcefully punched him in the arm. “You didn’t really pass out!”
         “Guilty.”
         “How could you do that to me?!”
         “Come on, you weren’t going to do it unless I convinced you it was the only way.”
         She gaped incredulously.
         “And you really didn’t need to stick me so many times. Four or five times would have been enough; that really hurt.” He winced and reached around to rub the scar.
         Elise growled, stood, and stalked off.
         “Elise! Come on!” Don’t answer him. Don’t answer him. Don’t—
         “Elise!”
         “What?!” Damn it. She didn’t stop. He caught up to her, winded and panting heavily.
         “Oh would you just stop with the act already?” Elise wheeled around and seriously considered slapping him, but changed her mind when she saw how pale he looked. His forehead was bruised badly near his left temple, he would probably have a pretty good shiner on one eye and blood was caked on his lower lip.
         “S’not an act. Sorry, I just haven’t gotten all my strength back yet. Can we sit down?” He sat right where he was. Sighing, Elise sat as well. He looked her in the eye.
         “Really, Elise. I am sorry I tricked you. If I thought I had the energy to argue you into it, I would have. I swear. Could you at least pretend to forgive me so we can work together here?”
         She sighed again and closed her eyes. “Fine.”
         He nodded. “Good. We’ll start with some strategic planning . . . as soon as I’m conscious again.” With that he lay back, closed his eyes, and sighed heavily. Elise rolled her eyes.
         “What the hell is a healing crystal anyway? Where did you get it?”
         “Made it,” he mumbled. “Certain types of crystals are good for keeping reactive elements stationary until you need to use them. There were immune-accelerators and bioincrementum in it and when you broke the skin on my shoulder blade, the very end of the crystal broke and combined the two chemicals.” His speech was nearly indecipherable in its sluggishness.
         “Well, I’ve never heard of immune-whatchamacallits or bio-whatevers.”
         “Cuz I invennnned ‘em.”
         “How didja do that?”
         Aaron didn’t respond. His chest rose and fell with each deep breath he took. She poked his arm, but he didn’t respond. For a moment, she found herself mesmerized by his breaths. She shook her head, appalled at herself. Aaron was just a pain in the butt, that’s all.
         “God, I’d rather fight with Zane than with this pussy,” she said quietly.
         “Who you callin’ pussy?” He slurred as he opened his eyes and frowned at her.
         “Just testing you.” She grinned.
         “Ha ha ha,” he muttered, turning over on his side away from her and drifted into sleep.


         “Rise and shine sleeping beauties!” Zane burst through the door and smiled down at the two prisoners who were arguing over whether or not they could still get diseases from a fully-cooked rat if they managed to get a fire going long enough. They hastily stood and faced their captor.
         “What the hell do you want?” Elise snarled. Zane chuckled.
         “I wanted to advance our little game one step further.”
         “Game?! You think kidnapping people and holding them hostage is a game?!” Elise made no effort to disguise her hatred for the man. Aaron put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Calm down,” he whispered. She ignored him.
         “Yes.” He smirked, daring her to object. When she didn’t, his face softened.
         “Well, without further to do, I present . . . the next part of the game.” Zane squatted and looked down at them with an intense grin on his face. The bastard was enjoying every minute of this. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “You . . .” he pointed to Aaron, “are going to screw her.” He pointed to Elise. He smiled as if this were the most brilliant suggestion ever thought up.
         “Excuse me?!” Elise fumed.
         “Why the hell would I do that?!” Aaron responded, with an equivalent expression. Zane’s expression never faltered.
         “Because,” he stood once again, “if you don’t, you will die tomorrow. If you do, however, you will be set free. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “You have my word.”
         Elise snorted. “And just how reliable is your word, Zane?”
         He returned his attention to her. “Well, Ellie. I don’t believe you have much choice in the matter. If your little friend really wants to fuck you, I don’t believe there is a single thing you can do to stop him. He’s a pretty strong guy. I think it would be in your best interest if you just go along with it. You’ll have more fun, too.” He winked and grinned wider.
         A wordless curse escaped through her tight throat. She glared at Zane through red eyes and had to fight with herself to not try and climb the cliff to get at him. It would be pointless and he probably had a gun anyway. Zane chuckled and turned to Aaron.
         “You have until 1:00 p.m. tomorrow. I have injected microsensors into both of your bloodstreams. They will detect your body temperature, hormone levels, and heart rate. If you attempt to lie; I will know. If you try to cheat—only going halfway, et cetera—I will also know. Have fun!” He laughed and retreated back through the door, his bodyguard-contact shadowing his every move. When the door slammed solidly behind them, the silence in the room was deafening. Aaron could practically smell the fury emanating from her as she glared fiercely at the closed door. She was breathing so fast, he thought she was about to hyperventilate.
         “Elise,” he ventured. Her head whipped around to him with an intensity that would make any lesser man whither.
         “I’m still not eating that thing!” she snapped, pointing a finger at the rat on the ground. She turned on her heel and stomped off. He hurried to catch up.
         “Elise, wait!” Aaron grabbed her arm and tried to stop her.
         “Don’t touch me!” she screeched, practically flailing her arm to make him let go. He complied and instead put his hands in front of him in a gesture of peace.
         “Elise, listen to me. If you didn’t want to do it, I swear to you . . . I would never . . . I couldn’t . . . man, I couldn’t do that to you. I’d rather face whatever fate he has lined up for me than break you like that.”
         She chuckled disbelievingly. “You men are despicable. You’ll say anything to get into a woman’s pants!” She pointed an accusing finger at him. “Don’t think I’m gonna fall for your tricks. Yours or his! I trust no one but me!” Aaron was startled to see tears forming in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. She made no move to wipe them away. “I know how you guys think! I’ve had enough of it; I will not be fooled again. Never, you understand?” Her words were beginning to come out in sobs and she sank to her knees with her tears staining the legs of her pants.
         Aaron was temporarily stunned, but he fell to his knees in front of her and tentatively reached out and put his hands on her shoulders as she was slouched forward. She made no move to stop him but, instead, sank forward until her head was leaning against his chest. He enveloped her with his arms and rocked her gently until her sobs quieted.
         “I didn’t know I was so repulsive,” he whispered, attempting humor.
         She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things. You’re not repulsive, Aaron, I really didn’t mean it.” Her voice almost broke numerous times. She pulled away from him and he released her, making sure she was steady enough on her own.
         “It’s alright, Elise. I know, that guy can really get to you. But we’ll get through this. We just have to beat him at his own game, somehow. We’ll find a loophole, something. I’m not gonna make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
         “Ellie.”
         Aaron blinked. “What?”
         She looked up. “Ellie. Call me Ellie.”
         He hesitated. “Isn’t that what . . .”
         “Yes. I hate it when he calls me that. But I want you to. I never liked ‘Elise’ much.” She blushed. “And it wasn’t the thought of . . . doing anything . . . with you that set me off like that.” She stood and paced. “It can’t be a coincidence. It can’t be. He had to have known. But how?”
         Aaron rose and stepped in front of her. “What are you talking about El—Ellie? What’s not a coincidence?”
         Her eyes once again filled with tears. “Aaron. I can’t do this now. It’s not because I’m afraid or rebellious or anything like that . . . it’s just . . .” she sighed. “Right now, I am at my most fertile.” Aaron’s eyes widened. “If we do anything. There is a very real chance that it’ll make me pregnant.” Her hands fluttered up to her stomach as if she were already with child.
         For a moment, Aaron didn’t speak. His mind was reeling. “What if . . . we didn’t go all the way? What if—” Elise shook her head.
         “You heard him, Aaron. No cheating. No halfways. It’s do or don’t.”
         He hesitated. “W—well, if we do this and you get pregnant, would it really matter? He said we’d be freed when we did it. You could go and get an abortion—”
         “No! Aaron, are you kidding?! I would never destroy another life like that! Especially if it were life that I created!”
         Aaron sighed and nodded. “I know and I agree with you. I wouldn’t want that either. I just didn’t want you to think that just because it would be ours that you would owe me anything. It’s a repulsive idea and I wouldn’t want you to get one. But ultimately, I’m leaving the choice up to you. It’s your body, your life. You decide what we do now and what we do if we escape or are let go. I told you before; I will not make you do anything you don’t want to do.” With that, he turned and walked back over to their makeshift “campsite” where their few possessions and even fewer rations were stored.
         “You want some bread? I think it’s only a little stale . . .” He rummaged in a crack in the wall where one of their food stashes was. She shook her head at his ability to shake off the situation. Then she got an idea.
         “Oh, I think we polished off all the bread at breakfa—” His breath caught in his throat as Elise pressed herself up against his back and wrapped her arms around his waist. She yanked up his t-shirt to run her fingers along his flat stomach and up to tangle in the hair on his chest. He groaned when she began to nuzzle the side of his neck.
         “Ellie . . . What—what are you—” He stopped when he felt her teeth graze the skin of his neck.
         “What, are you trying to tell me you don’t like it?” she whispered in his ear before nibbling on his lobe. One of her hands fell to the bulge in his jeans. He involuntarily jerked against her hand, trying to relieve the ache.
         He suddenly stiffened and whirled around to face her, breaking her contact with him.
         “Elise, is this what you really want?” He struggled to catch his breath. “I won’t do this unless you’re absolutely sure.
         She eyed him with an odd expression on her face. “You mean it?”
         “I won’t take advantage of you. I told you that.”
         Much to his surprise, she began to tear up. “You passed.” Aaron narrowed his eyes in confusion.
         “What?”
         “You passed. I wanted to make sure you were serious about leaving the choice up to me. I wanted to know if I could trust you.”
         Aaron shook his head disapprovingly. “And if I didn’t pass? If I had tried to take advantage of you right then and there? Zane was right. I could easily overpower you.”
         “I would have reacquainted you with the effects of a knee to the groin. I can defend myself quite well. Better than Zane knows.” She leaned forward. “Better than you know.” She stopped and thought for a minute. “How did I do?”
         “Huh?” Aaron blinked, confused.
         “That was my first time trying to seduce someone. How did I do?”
         Aaron looked down at the increased tightness in his pants. “Pretty darn good, I’d say.”
         “Good.” She closed the short distance between them and pressed her lips aggressively to his, tasting the blood still on his bottom lip. Her mouth worked wonders on his as she coaxed his mouth open and thrust her tongue inside. Groaning at the contact, Aaron wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, his erection pressing against her thigh.
         “Is this another test?” He whispered into her mouth. He felt the edges of her mouth curl into a smile and she pulled back just far enough to be able to look him in the eyes.
         “Are you inventing excuses because you don’t want me?” Her eyes were teasing.
         Aaron exhaled heavily and brought his lips to hers for a smoldering kiss. Elise’s knees gave out and if it weren’t for Aaron’s tight grip on her, would have collapsed on the floor right then and there.
         Her hands untangled themselves from his hair and started undoing the buttons of her blouse. Breaking the kiss, Aaron brought his hands up to cover hers.
         “I could make you pregnant.” She stopped.
         “I know. But, like you said, we’ll be out of here and I won’t have to let that monster anywhere near the baby. And . . .” She looked up into his eyes, suddenly shy. “You’re free to visit any time. I mean, it’ll be half yours, so…” Aaron brought one hand up to cup her face.
         “I would want nothing less.” He smiled and, grabbing her wrists, wrapped her arms around his neck. As her fingers delved into his hair again, he finished unbuttoning her blouse, her jeans soon to follow.  She stepped out from the puddle of clothes at her feet, shivering in her black bra and panties. But it wasn’t from the cold. Aaron chuckled.
         “I didn’t think you were the kind of girl who matches her underclothes.” She traced his collarbone with one finger and his breath caught. “Not that I’m complaining,” he breathed. One of her hands drifted lower down his body until it came to rest on his obvious hardness. He sucked in a ragged breath and feverishly began to strip out of his shirt. As his arms were in the air, still removing the shirt, Elise growled and sucked one of his nipples into her mouth and rolled her tongue around it.
         “God, Elise.” His voice was barely recognizable as he threw down the shirt and roughly picked her up to lay her on the sack he used for a bed. Quickly tearing off the last of his clothing, he sighed as his proud member was relived of its confinement. Elise’s eyes widened as she saw him standing over her, a hunger so deep in his eyes, she felt seared by his gaze.
         Bending down to her, he let his hands slither along her body, never lingering in one place too long. Elise gasped as she felt twin trails of fire following in the wake of his hands. He brought his head down and lightly kissed her jaw line, her neck, her collarbone, settling in to nip the nape of her neck with his teeth. Elise, chest heaving from the intense emotion of making love to a man she didn’t know, fought for breath as one of his hands slipped underneath her bra and settled on a breast and he rolled her nipple between two fingers, creating an electric spark inside her that boiled her blood. His other hand drifted lower, lazily tracing circles along her skin until she started bucking her hips in a feeble effort to get him to touch her most intimate parts.
         Aaron chuckled and obliged, dipping his fingers under her elastic band to trace the length of her slit, backwards and forwards, as Elise rolled her eyes back and moaned. Instinctively, she reached out to take hold of his erect manhood and lightly began stroking it in time with his fingers’ ministrations. Groaning, Aaron thrust his hips forward, trying to get more pleasure from her. Before long, he felt as if he were about to explode and with a tremendous effort, pulled back from her. Elise whimpered at the lack of contact until she felt him roughly remove her panties and reach behind her to unclasp her bra. Discarding both items, Aaron lowered his mouth to a breast and began to kiss and tease it as his other fingers worked their magic on the other. His tongue lashed out to taste her and she arched her back, wanting—needing—more of him. She wanted to feel him inside of her, stretching her, taking her to the peak of ecstasy and back again. She wanted him to kiss every inch of her body as she deliriously cried out his name.
         “Now, Aaron. Please, now,” she whimpered. Aaron moaned against her breast, sending shivers along her body. He rose to cover her, spreading her legs apart with his knees. Looking her in the eyes, he hesitated as if asking permission. Elise was suddenly afraid.
         “I’ve never done this before,” she whispered. “Tell me what to do.”
         “You could have fooled me,” he whispered back. “Just let yourself relax. Just feel.” As if to emphasize his point, he brought his lips to hers and kissed her slowly and gently. Elise kissed him back as tears leaked out from the corners of her eyes.
         Suddenly, with one hard thrust, he pushed himself inside of her. Elise cried out in pain and trembled beneath him. Tears flowing freely now, she buried her head against his chest and he cradled her in his arms, remaining still to allow her time to adjust to his girth filling her. He softly kissed away the tears and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “It’s all right. The worst is over. Does it still hurt?” She nodded slightly.
         He slowly pulled out halfway and just as slowly pushed back inside. Her tight warmth was nearly driving him crazy and he fought to keep his pace easy.
         “Does it feel good now?” he whispered hoarsely, still drifting in and out of her. His hands floated over her body, lingering in just the right places and he felt her breathing increase once more and her hips unconsciously began to push against his.
         “That’s it, Ellie. Let your body do what feels good.”
         He began to thrust harder into her, relishing in the feel of her wet cavern tightening around his aching member. She groaned and writhed with each of his thrusts, panting as he brought her higher in pleasure.
         “Oh, Aaron. More. Please. More,” she gasped as her hips rotated and thrust to meet his strokes. With her husky voice and the feel of her hands roaming over his skin, he found himself losing control completely. He slammed into her again and again while Elise cried out her pleasure.
         “Yes, Aaron! Harder! Faster! Give me more!” She cried in reckless abandon. Her moans of ecstasy nearly drove him over the edge, but he wanted her to have the full experience. He brought his mouth once again to her breast and lightly bit down on the nipple. That was enough to send her crashing over the edge. She threw her head back and screamed as she drowned in pleasure. Her slick walls constricted around Aaron’s cock and with a few more strokes, he joined Elise in orgasm, grunting with the intensity of it.
         When his climax subsided, he collapsed on top of Elise and rolled to her side. As they both lay, trying to catch their breath, Elise whispered, “wow.” Aaron chuckled.
         “You can say that again.”
         “I would but what would be the point?” Elise smirked and rolled over to drape an arm around Aaron’s midriff and Aaron put his own arm under her head. They lay in this position for some time, neither one knowing quite what to say. Did Aaron make her pregnant? When would they be set free? What would happen afterward? Would they get married or would Aaron simply pay child support and visit whenever he felt like it?
         Before she knew what was happening, she realized she was crying, her tears pooling on Aaron’s chest. Without speaking, he rolled over to envelop her in both his arms, rocking back and forth as if calming an upset child. She heard someone whimpering and looked briefly for the source before realizing it was coming from her tight throat.
         “Shh. Easy. I know. I know. It’ll be okay.” Aaron muttered soothing words into her hair as he lay holding her.
         Sniffling, she pulled away and sat up. Aaron followed suit.
         “I’m scared, Aaron. What happens now?” She wiped her tears away with the backs of her hands. Before being captured, she would have died rather than be seen crying. Now, she couldn’t seem to stop.
         Aaron brought his hands up to cup her face and pull her gaze up to meet his.
         “Well, we’re not going to be able to do much until we get to know each other, will we?” She knew he was being literal, but she couldn’t stop herself from realizing the sexual innuendo. She lowered her gaze to his body and slowly back up to his eyes, a sudden lust in her eyes. Surprised, Aaron released her face and tilted his head in confusion. When he dropped his hands, Elise brought hers up to trace the planes of his chest. He shuddered and took hold of her hands.
         “I won’t come inside you again until we’re out of here,” he said quietly. “If I didn’t make you pregnant the first time, I sure don’t want to increase the odds.”
         Elise said nothing, but leaned forward until her face was within kissing distance. When Aaron tried to close the gap, Elise pulled back and kept the distance.
         “Ah, ah, mister. You gotta earn it,” she whispered.
         “You’re insatiable, aren’t you?” he whispered back, his deep voice strained with emotion. His hands went to cup her face again and his thumbs traced along her jawbone, her eyebrows, the slight bags under her eyes, the grooves on either side of her mouth, her lips…
         “Ah…” Elise breathed, her breath washing over his fingertips. He slid his hands down either sides of her neck, making her tremble, and traced her collarbone. An involuntary whimper escaped through her throat and she blushed when Aaron chuckled. His fingers barely touched her skin, leaving goosebumps behind and his hands slithered to her breasts where he fondled them to the point where Elise had closed her eyes and pushed her chest harder into his hands. When his thumbs began to tease the nipples, her eyes flew open and she jumped forward to lock lips with him once again. Aaron chuckled again into her mouth and opened his mouth, allowing her tongue access to explore and mingle with his own.
         He leaned back, pulling her with him until he was lying with her on top of him. She smiled and straddled his chest, sliding down to his waist, leaving a trail of their juices behind. Aaron grabbed for her swinging breasts as she pinned his manhood against his stomach and slowly rotated her pelvis to massage him. When she moved too far and his tip entered her, she laughed when his breath caught and he grunted. Ignoring the initial pain, she slid down further on him and took him into her as far as she could. He grabbed her hips and thrust into her, his previous control now gone. Elise gasped for breath as she ground her hips into his and thrust to meet every stroke. Suddenly, she remembered what he had said and with the last bit of reserves she had, broke his grip and rose off him.
         Aaron groaned in distress until she felt her breath on his slick member. Opening his eyes, he saw that she had situated herself between his legs and was staring at his erection in wonder and apprehension. He knew from her expression that this was new to her.
         “Ellie, you don’t have to—” His breath caught in his throat when her tongue lashed out and touched the tip of him. He twitched in anticipation and the words he was about to say were lost to him.
         Unable to stomach the idea of putting him in her mouth with all of the blood and cum all over his shaft, she wrapped her hand around him and stroked him, alternating the pressure she exerted and wiping the fluids off of him. Looking at his face, she was surprised to see a grimace.
         “Am I doing this right?” she asked softly.
         He groaned. “Couldn’t be doing any better, El.”
         She smiled and lowered her mouth to his shaft and took him in half way. She felt him twitch inside and out and she laughed, still with him inside her mouth. Sliding one hand down to her own center, she began to rub around her clit in circles so that she could join him in pleasure.
         “I stand corrected,” he said She swirled her tongue around his tip. “God, Ellie. If you keep that up…” But he put his hand on her head and started pushing deeper into her mouth. She choked once when he went too deep, but she kept sucking and shifting until she felt him stiffen. Afraid to have him come in her mouth, she pulled off of him and wrapped her hands around him again and stroked as he climaxed explosively. Seeing the pure ecstasy on his face, she felt her body tense and convulse as she climaxed with him. Her hand continued milking him until he was spent and he collapsed, panting.
         Embarrassed, she didn’t look him in the eye and instead looked at his puddle of cum on the ground next to him. When he sat up suddenly, she looked up at him and saw contentment, not the jeering look she expected. Still breathing heavily, he reached for her and held her in his arms as he fell back down onto the sack. Elise giggled as he tickled her sides and she punched his chest half-heartedly before curling into him, exhausted. Aaron waited until he heard her breathing become rhythmic and slow before brushing her hair away from her face and smiling, then drifting off to sleep himself.

         “Aaron. Aaron!”
         Aaron groaned as he forced one eye open to look at the angel bent over him. “Am I dead?” The angel laughed.
         “Well, if you are, you must have done some pretty bad things in your lifetime because we are in the deepest darkest reaches of hell, my friend.” Only then did he realize that he was speaking to Elise. Her sarcastic features came into focus and he grinned.
         “I’m not exactly a morning person,” he said apologetically. “Takes me at least until lunch time to wake up fully.” He stretched. He grinned wider when he saw her eying his body as he did so. Completing the stretch, he quickly brought his arms up to grab Elise around the middle and pull her down to roll on top of her. Elise thrashed and bucked, trying to fling him off.
         “Not awake, huh?” She playfully snarled, smacking him with loose fists. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head.
         “Not at all,” he whispered before leaning forward to touch his lips to hers. She responded by lifting her head to meet him and deepened the kiss. But after only a moment, she pulled away and looked at him.
         “I woke you up because it’s probably a good idea to get dressed. I really don’t want to give Zane the pleasure of seeing me naked.” She looked pointedly at her prone body still pinned beneath his.
         “Mmm, ‘pleasure’ is right. That mouth of yours is fantastic.” He released her arms and bent down for one more kiss before dismounting and looking around for his clothes. Elise stood and rolled her eyes.
         “I just wish I could show you how your hands feel on me,” she responded, walking up behind him and pressing her naked body against his and wrapping her arms around him to tease the hair on his chest. He groaned.
         “Girl, if you keep doing that, we’re never going to get dressed.”
         “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she retorted, pulling back and walking past him to fetch her clothes. She shimmied a little for his benefit, making her hips sway this way and that as she picked up her clothes. Aaron had to restrain himself from claiming her right then and there and instead focused on cleaning himself off as best he could and throwing his clothes back on.
         Not even an hour had passed when they heard voices outside the door.
“Who are you? Where is Lance?” Zane’s voice was barely audible through the thick door.
“My name is Anis. Lance pulled his back out again. I owed him a favor, so…”
Zane snorted. “Well, I trust Lance’s judgment. This is the third time he’s pulled out his back; I’ll need to hire a more suitable contact.” A moment later, Zane burst through the door. Elise took one look at his smirk and suddenly had a tremendous urge to run up the rock wall and knock it off his smug face.
         “Well, well, well,” he exclaimed, folding his hands together and shaking his head. “I must admit, I didn’t think you’d immediately go for it. I figured you guys would wait until the last minute when you began to fear for your lives, but, noooo! I was gone barely an hour and here you two are going at it, not once, but twice! Excellent! I told you it would be more fun, didn’t I, Ellie?”
         Elise snarled and curled her hands into fists, imagining what she would do if she were left alone with him for five minutes.
         “Enough with your ‘games.’ We participated, now let us go. You gave us your word.” Aaron stepped slightly in front of Elise as if anticipating her anger. But Zane merely laughed.
         “Oh, no, no, Aaron. I gave you my word. I was looking at you when I said it. And, true to my word, you are free to go. You will, of course be blindfolded as you are led out—wouldn’t want you to see all of our fine establishment now would we?” He waved his hand lazily in the air as if this were common knowledge.
         “No! You can’t just keep her here!” Aaron was appalled. He turned to Elise, but she was frozen in shock, her face pale.
         “I agree,” came a voice from behind Zane. His eyes bulged and a painful wheeze was forced through his lips. Gasping for air, he looked down at the sword that was sticking out of his chest. He grunted as the sword was pulled back out and he wheeled around in disbelief to stare incredulously at his replacement contact who wasted no time in delivering a punch that knocked Zane off the top of the cliff wall.
         He was dead before he reached the bottom where Elise snapped out of her trance and kicked at his face until she couldn’t make out his ruggedly handsome features anymore.
         “Damn, that looked satisfying.”
         Aaron and Elise looked up into the face of the contact who smiled down at them.
         “Max?” Aaron asked, eyes wide.
         The man gave a half-wave, half-salute. “At your service, Commander.”
         Aaron winced at his title being used in front of Elise.
         “Commander?” she inquired. Looking at her face, he couldn’t tell if she was more surprised or upset.
         “Yeah,” he muttered throwing a glare up at Max.
         “What’s your last name?” she asked, eyeing him with suspicion.
         “Geihart.”
         Elise threw her hands in the air and spun around, exasperated. “Oh, that’s just great!”
         “What?” Aaron raised an eyebrow in confusion.
         “I just had sex with my right-flank commander, that’s what!”she replied, her hands landing on her hips.
         Aaron didn’t move for a moment. “Your right-flank commander? You’re Patra Gordon? The new leader of the Nearscape United Army? The one who supposedly was killed three weeks ago in the battle at Austin Forge?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
         Elise whirled around, amusement and annoyance battling for domination over her features. “Yes. I am Patra Elise Mae Gordon. Leader of the advanced Aeronautics Corp., First Level ground troops, and…of the Nearscape United Army. And I was obviously not killed, but taken hostage. But not before taking down a few of the enemy, I am proud to say.”
         “So that’s where the whip lashes came from?” Aaron wondered out loud. He remembered feeling them when his hands were exploring her body. Elise nodded. I talked back to Zane when he was trying to get me to…apologize for killing twelve of his men.”
         “Apologize?” Aaron asked at the same time Max said, “Twelve?”
         Elise rolled her eyes. “Okay, can we talk about this another time?” she looked up at Max. “Should I assume you have a rope of some kind to get us out of here?”
         “That you should, ma’am.” Max nodded and disappeared through the door briefly and returned with a length of coiled rope. Bracing himself behind a rock and grasping the rope in both hands, he threw the other end down to the two captives.
         “Ladies first,” Aaron said, waving her on with a bow and a flourish of his hand.
         “Oh, what a gentleman.” She grabbed the rope and tested her weight before climbing up the surface of the rock. Aaron had to fight not to look at her ass as she walked herself up the short cliff wall.
         When Aaron reached the top, he shook his head and looked at Elise again. “Unbelievable.”
         “What?”
         “I finally find the perfect girl and she’s my friggin commanding officer.” Elise was startled. “Perfect girl? I thought I was just a one-time fling?” Her heart fluttered in her chest. She had believed that he wouldn't want anything to do with her after they got out.
         Aaron stopped walking to the door and, sighing, turned to face her. “Okay, I never said that. In fact, I thought I’d convinced you otherwise. I don’t just go for every woman I meet. I meant all of the stuff I said yesterday.” He walked up to her until he was only a few inches from her. “I know you probably don’t—”
         Elise put a finger to his mouth. “Shut up, Geihart.” Then, her finger was replaced with her mouth. Recovering from his surprise, he gently kissed her back. After a moment, they heard Max clear his throat.
         “Awkward,” he said in a sing-songy kind of voice.
         Elise laughed. “Sorry, Max. We’ll be good.” She walked past them and through the door, then stopped, waiting for them to follow.
         Aaron narrowed his eyes slightly at Max. “So help me, if you mention this to the higher ups and she loses her status…”
         Max brought his hands up, palms facing outward. “Hey, hey. I got it. Don’t worry. I’m good at what I do. I was trained to keep secrets. As far as I'm concerned, you two were kicking ass the entire time.”
         “And what is it you do exactly?” Elise wondered.
         Max’s eyes flashed, “Espionage.” He chuckled. “But I suppose I’ll have to be reassigned since you guys kind of blew my cover."
         “Hey, we weren’t the ones who ran that bastard through with a sword a little while ago,” Aaron said defensively.
         “And I loved every second of it.”
         “Braggart.” Elise mumbled as the heavy door closed to an empty room.


~Word Count 8,017




I plan on expanding on this story sometime. Elise does, in fact, become pregnant by Aaron and their daughter is kidnapped by the man who was pulling Zane's strings, so to speak. Aaron is (supposedly) killed in the kidnapping while Elise was away. Elise, then, spends the next few years tracking them down so she can get her daughter back and take revenge for her husband's murder.

Let me know what you think! This is only the first draft, so please be picky!