On her stomach, bent over the end of a picnic table.
His hand was fisted tightly in her hair, holding her down.
His other hand was smacking her.
On her ass. Her hips.
He was breeding her.
Trying to plant his seed.
Forcing her to produce a baby.
One for them to raise.
She couldn’t pull her eyes away.
She couldn’t fight the urge to watch. To witness what he was doing to her. To see if she also needed to escape.
He began to hit her harder and thrust faster.
Did Autumn hear her screaming?
Yes, barely.
She was crying out something.
And then his head was thrown back, and his pace stuttered before slowing to a stop.
Autumn still couldn’t pull her eyes from them.
This was what happened to her.
This very thing.
What she was forced to submit to.
How the seed was planted.
The man stepped back.
And the woman moved.
She wasn’t tied down.
She was free to stand. To escape.
Unlike Autumn had been.
The woman turned to face the man and went to her knees onto the concrete.
Autumn couldn’t see what she was doing. His big body blocked her. But his hands were in front of him.
A couple minutes later, whatever she was forced to do was over and she stood up again.
The flame of the roaring fire nearest to them lit up her face.
She wasn’t scared. She wasn’t crying.
She was smiling as she wiped her mouth with her hand.
She liked what he had done. She liked what she had done, too.
He grabbed both sides of her head and pulled her into a kiss, then yanked up his jeans, while she wiggled a short skirt down over her hips.
She ran her hand gently down his face. And he threw an arm around her and steered her out of Autumn’s view.
Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears, she didn’t hear the door open.
She didn’t hear him approach.
But she jerked when she felt his presence.
Behind her. Close.
“She wanted it,” Autumn said to the window as she continued to stare out at the emptiness.
Silence.
“She liked it.”
“Who?”
“The woman.” The sheet fell from her fingers.
“What woman?” A slight sharpness colored his question. Maybe suspicion? She didn’t know him well enough to be sure.
“Out there.”
Sig moved the sheet away from the window and looked out, scanning the area. “There’s no woman out there.”
“There was. With a man.”
He didn’t say anything for a few moments. Maybe he was waiting for her to explain her disjointed thoughts. And if she did, she’d reveal more than she wanted to.
Finally, he prodded softly, “What were they doin’?”
Autumn blinked and let what she witnessed run through her mind again. Like a movie. This time knowing the man and the woman were both willing participants. Both had enjoyed it.
Like she used to. In the past. When she was willing.
Something moved inside her and it wasn’t the seed.
No, it was a weird sense of warmth that swirled through her. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“What were they doin’, Red?”
Red.
His name for her.
“Not breeding.”
More silence, but the air around them became heavy, thick. Like it was tangible and she could reach out and touch it.
“Having sex,” she whispered. “They were having sex and they both were enjoying it.”
“Happens a lot around here, Red. Most of my brothers ain’t shy. They don’t care who’s watchin’. So, if you keep starin’ out that window, you might see a lot of it. When you go downstairs into the main barn area you might see it out in the open there, too. You walk through the bunkhouse, you may hear it. Sometimes in stereo. May even hear it comin’ through the wall when Judge has got a visitor. No one’s forced here, Red. No one. So anythin’ you see’s okay with all parties involved. No one’s bein’ hurt unless they enjoy that type of shit. It’s all good. And you don’t have to do anythin’ you don’t want to here, either. No one will ever force you while you’re here. You’re safe. Trust me.”
You’re safe. Trust me.
Her new “stepfather” had said the same thing. You’ll be safe. Trust me. No one’s going to hurt you if you cooperate.
She didn’t know him well enough to believe him, either. “I don’t know you.”
“But I know you.”
What did he mean by that? She had no memory of the man standing behind her.
“You hungry?”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“Yeah. Seein’ as we’re now both up, and you slept all day, I’m sure you need to eat somethin’ again. Gotta get your strength back up, gotta fill out those bones. You’ve got a long way to go.”
She turned to find him still so close. He was a lot taller than her and his head was tipped down.
She couldn’t see the color of his eyes, but she knew what they were.
Brown.
Even though she couldn’t see them clearly, she knew they were hard and troubled, held a lot of secrets and a lot of pain.