Dawn had enough talk of gossip particularly about her and so she smiled and rocked her arms as if holding a babe, wanting to hear about baby Thomas.
Lila’s face burst with a bright smile and for the next hour that was all they talked about. Lilia left in a hurry realizing that feeding time was near and insisting that Dawn come by and spend more time with Thomas. She had nodded in agreement and looked forward to it, though having held the babe and felt him cuddle close to her with such contentment had had her wishing that someday she would have children of her own. The one fear that she had, though had never expressed it, was that her child would be born voiceless like her. And that she would never inflict upon anyone.
She grabbed her cloak from the peg and decided a walk in the woods would serve her twofold. It would clear her thoughts while she foraged for wild onions to add to the soup she planned to make herself tonight.
After grabbing her basket she headed out the door going around back to enter the woods behind her cottage. She stopped to restack two logs that had slipped off her wood pile and realized that it would need replenishing soon, Paul having had always seen to it for her. She then gave a satisfied nod at her garden as she passed it, pleased with the work she had done there. It was in good shape thanks to the last couple of days with nothing to do, though she had been anything but idle.
She had harvested the last of the vegetables and herbs and had set them to drying and then she had turned the soil so it was ready for winter rest. Her hands held proof of her strenuous labor, blisters just beginning to heal.
Pleased that she had accomplished the chores she had set for herself, she hurried off eager to complete a new task and making certain to keep to herself, the reason she approached the woods from behind her cottage.
She had no want to be avoided or to hear whispers that were not truly whispers since most thought her deaf as well as dumb. She would go and enjoy her foraging and even thought to find the right twigs to begin fashioning a winter wreath for the door.
With a light heart and a determined step, she entered the woods.
~~~
Cree watched her every move from where he stood with Sloan on the small hilltop. The spot gave him a vast view of the fields and a good view of the village. Sloan and he had been discussing the expansion of the planting fields. He had wasted no time in seeing to improvements and expansions for the immediate future. There was much more to come but first he had to tend to present needs and that meant more food for his people.
Dawn had distracted him, her patchwork cloak catching his eye. It was threadbare and would do her no good this winter. And her wood stack was low, though her garden was well tended and prepared for winter.
“Have you assigned her a chore yet?” Sloan asked with a laughing grin.
“You know damn well I haven’t.”
“And why not?”
“Wipe that grin off your face or I’ll wipe it off for you,” Cree cautioned.
“A fight will not satisfy that burning need in you,” Sloan said completing ignoring the warning. “What you need is to sink yourself deep into a woman and not just once… and it appears not just any woman.”
“What do you mean?” Cree snapped.
“That was a buxom lass last night who served your meal and made it clear that she would be willing to serve you another way. Yet you ignored her even when she made certain to brush your face with her breast.”
“Enough,” Cree warned through gritted teeth.
“Enough is right,” Sloan said. “Go after her, sink yourself in her and if she pleases you make her your mistress until you tire of her. But do something before she robs you of your sanity.”
Sloan walked away as if Cree would pay heed to his words, but he stood there watching Dawn disappear into the woods. He had been busy these last few days, too busy to give Dawn a thought, though that was a lie. She had invaded his mind and his senses day and night. There was not a time he had not thought about her.
At first he told himself it was because she needed to be assigned a chore like everyone else, but the chore he had in mind only served to make his task more difficult. No matter how hard he tried he could not stop images of her naked beneath him from assaulting him. He could almost feel the way she would squeeze his arms, tighter and tighter, her body bucking against him as he drove into her and she exploding in a blinding climax just as he had that time in the shed… only this time he would be deep inside her.