When there was a slight break in the gale, I decided to venture out to the shed that was set further back. I trudged through the foot of snow that had fallen and lugged at the door to get it open, ducking as snow fell from its eave. It was nice and dry on the inside, the roof holding a testament to the architect of the shed. I smiled with delight. It was a rightful armory inside. I grabbed up a few of the knives and a sword, along with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. I wondered if Zaya had any skills with weapons, other than her body… a shiver went through me as I imagined those fine lines. It had been awhile since I had known a loving touch… The battle with Alpha Jase in the south of Farian for the Emerona Empire and then directly following against the pirates on the Bristola Oceans had made for many a lonely night. Command was lonely and didn’t leave much time for a dating life.
Zaya was certainly a gorgeous beauty… Just my type. I had had to carry her much of the trek from the city in the storm and snow. Her body was light and athletic, limber to swing around over rocks and through snow drifts. But, she was more a burden than anything at this point. Granted, a burden I had made, with my haphazard mind control… I scowled at myself in the dim light of the shed.
I was obligated to her now. I had to make sure she was safe. She might die if I didn’t bring her back to her own faculties. She certainly wasn’t capable of taking care of herself in this condition. I had seen the poor state of Tellison, the guard… Besides, I was curious about her.
It would be worth it to carry these weapons with us. Who knew what we might stumble across as we made our way to Blaston’s military base in the north, which is where I was certain he was encamped at this time.
I trudged back to the cabin just as the wind started to shriek again.
Zaya was sitting up when I entered. Her eyes appeared a little clearer than they had for the past two days of our entrenchment in the cabin’s safety against the storm. She rubbed her head and looked at me blearily. Even with the glaze across them, it was amazing how beautiful their color was, that true turquoise green that made my pale green look like pea soup.
“Hello, Cartari, my guardian… Will you protect me from him?” She smiled at me and rubbed her temples, shaking her head, a flurry of confusion drawing her gorgeous features into a scowl. She extended her hand to me, then pulled it back quickly. She jerked her head to one side, then smiled at me again, then shook herself. I sighed, sad to watch the inward fight. She was battling against the messages I had Willed. The supreme desire to feel free and to trust me, to feel safe and part of a team with me, to bond herself to me without any doubt and unconditionally, and then her true, skeptical self that knew that thought came from without her. She was battling, she was rebelling, trying to cast off the remaining tendrils of my Will and understand what had happened.
I hadn’t realized my Will would impact her so harshly. I took off my coat and hung it on the wall. I poured myself some water and handed her some as well, melted from the snow outside. She drank tentatively, then finished the whole glass.
“Thank you. I trust you.”
The words had become a mantra. She had said them many times in her delirious sleep. I was starting to get tired of them; I knew she didn’t mean them. I had put that feeling in there… The mental battle must be intense… Horrifying… Her eyes were starting to sparkle with tears that she couldn’t understand and couldn’t control.
“Cartari… Come to me…” Zaya tried to stand up and stumbled. I rushed to catch her. She held tightly to me, her fingertips running up my forearms, my biceps, curving up my shoulders. I had held her in the snow in the days before, as we made our way against the storm to reach this cabin, but that had been just to keep her upright in her dazed state. This was different, and a fire burned inside me. Her body pressed against me. Her legs moved into me, one of them sliding up my thigh, hugging my leg, wrapping around my hamstring and pulling me in tighter. Her fingers crawled into my hair, tickles of tapping massages against my scalp, making me involuntarily moan and close my eyes. She brushed her large breasts against my chest and I could feel my cock swelling in my pants. She ran one of her fingers along my jawline and touched my half-open mouth gently, pulling out my lip.
“Don’t take me to him, Cartari,” she breathed, her lips getting closer to mine. My hands gripped her, my fingers kneading into her tiny waist. My heart was beating fast, my breath coming short. Her dark hair brushed against my cheek. It smelled like the lavender and peppermint cloth I had been putting on her forehead. I nuzzled into her a moment, imagining what it would be like to hold her… This is wrong. She is still delirious, still under my mind control. She is likely just responding to what I secretly want.
I leaned into her, wanting her to kiss me. I wanted it so bad… She could feel it, she was leaning in… I knew that she was just feeling my desire and wanting to obey me, still
