Down by the River Ch. 02

Then and only then – when I finally realized what place Lucas held in my life – did I finally understand why my mother became the fool that she was. If she had loved my father the way that I loved Lucas, I perfectly understood why she gave him everything that she had.

Silently, I wept, wrapping my arms around Lucas. He held me close, asking me what was wrong. I could not even begin telling him how much I loved him; the realization was so overwhelming.

"Aren't you disgusted with me?" I managed to ask when I was calm enough to talk. "You know I have been with a man before. You even saw us."

We lived in a society that looked harshly upon women who had sexual affairs outside of marriage. My mother's life was proof of that. I knew the consequences of what I had done with Marcus, but I did not care. Life was too short for me to care about what other people would think about me. Perhaps it was foolish, but I'd rather die knowing that I did what I felt was right, than die regretting that I did not follow my heart when it was begging to be followed.

"Disgusted?" Lucas looked at me queerly. "Disgusted with the only woman I have ever loved? That's not me, Selene. It hurt me to see you with another man, I admit, but I cannot feel any disgust towards you. I have loved you all my life. As foolish as it may sound, I think I would love you even if I have to see you with a dozen men."

I laughed a little. "What? You are a fool, then."

He kissed my forehead and smiled. "Yes, perhaps. Spare me the pain, though. If you think of me as a friend, Selene, do not let me suffer the pain of seeing you with a dozen men."

Slightly blushing, I managed a small frown as I lightly touched his face. "I'm not a whore, Lucas."

"I'm not saying you are," he gently said. "My point is that you can have a dozen men if you ever feel like having them."

Feeling naughty, I moved my face closer to his, quickly sitting on his lap. "You think so?"

His reaction was immediate. His member jumped upright on attention. I giggled as I glanced at his lap. Groaning, Lucas rested his forehead against mine.

"Selene Kier, this is not funny," he complained, hissing when I put my arms around his neck. "This is no time to play. Go back into the house and go to sleep."

"Why?" I whispered, kissing his jaw.

"Why!" he hissed incredulously. "Why, you ask?"

"Yes," I said, smiling mischievously at him. "I want to know why you want me to leave."

His answer was laced with frustration. "Because I don't want to rape you, but if you keep on doing this, Selene – "

"What do you want to do, then?" I cut him.

Lucas was already frowning. "You really want me to say it aloud, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

Finally, he gave up. He cupped my chin and made me look into his eyes, which were so dark with passion right then. "I want to make love to you, Selene. I want to have you so badly. Satisfied?"

"No." I stood up from his lap and grinned at him. "I want you to choose one of the following." I paused to make sure that he understood. He nodded, so I continued, "One: we go back into the hut and go to my room, and then you make love to me in there. Or, two: you take me right here. Now, choose."

His frown deepened. "I said this is no time to play."

"Who said I'm playing?" I asked, frowning back at him as I sat on his lap again. "You should be glad that I'm giving you a choice of the place where you want to take me. Either choose from those options, or from these: You're going to make love to me, or I am going to rape you. Now, choose!"

I wanted to laugh at his reaction. He seemed so confused, and I could not blame him. But I wanted him and I was determined to have him right then. Either he did it willingly or I would force him to do it. My poor Lucas was clearly debating whether he should take my proposition seriously or not.

"Choose," I murmured against his skin as I began kissing his shoulder. Gently, I wrapped my hand around his shaft through his pants. "Are you going to choose the place and make love to me, or do I have to start raping you right here?"

He moaned my name and made me look him in the eye. "Just one question, Selene: are you sure about this?"

I rolled my eyes at him and touched his lips with the fingers that he sniffed earlier that night. "Do you want to know why I was touching myself earlier?"

Finally, he decided that I was serious about this. He caught my hand and kissed it before standing up, easily carrying me. "Okay. Tell me all about it inside."

*****

It was dark and warm inside my room, so Lucas decided to open the window and let some air in. I would have wanted some light to brighten the room, for I wanted to see Lucas, but Grandmother, who was sleeping in the other room, was more likely to walk in if she saw that there was light inside my room.

"Are you a loud lover?" Lucas asked in a whisper as he placed me on the cot.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He grinned and kissed the tip of my nose. "Do you make a lot of noises when making love?"

I blushed, and the sight of my face made his grin wider. I believed that I was kind of loud.

"Yes?" he prompted. "Try not to be loud or we will wake Grandmother up."

"Are you not loud?" I asked him, curious.

"No," he answered, meeting my eyes as he knelt in front of me, taking my hands in his. "I couldn't afford to be."

His answer was meant to convey his message, and I picked up on it. It would not be his first time. Fair enough. But, in the back of my mind, I wondered how many women he had taken to bed, and the thought of him with somebody else hurt more than I cared to admit. I ran my fingers through his hair, consoling myself with the fact that I had not seen him with a woman, at least. If I had...

I did not let my mind dwell on that. Lucas was watching my reaction closely. When I smiled at him, he seemed to find some relief. He smiled back and gave me a kiss.

We undressed each other immediately afterwards, taking our time doing so. We did it very quietly, conversing only with our lips, our hands, our eyes. Through the light coming in from outside, I could see him – not as clearly as I would have liked, but still clear enough to savour the sight of his well-formed body. My eyes were instantly drawn to his cock, which was standing in full attention. Even there in darkness, I could say that it looked lovely. I walked closer to him, looking into his eyes, seeing the love and the passion that he felt for me.

I ran my palms over his chest, his arms. If I had thought of Marcus as a water god, I thought of this man as an earth god – solid, tangible, real. And just as I belonged to the forest and the earth, I belonged to Lucas. I was his to nurture or consume, to create or destroy.

Gently, I kissed his shoulder, his chest, always wanting more. Grabbing the back of his head, I pulled his face down so that I could kiss him with all the passion that was in me. I loved him, yet I could not bring myself to say the words. Words were too useless, too weak, for the feelings that I wanted to express. All I wanted was for him to feel what I felt, to understand what I knew.

Lucas placed his hands on my hips, something that served to remind me that he was just there, letting me do what I wanted to do with him. Even as I pressed my body close to his, even as I moaned into his mouth, his hands remained there as he gave me full control of the way I wanted that night to start. It was exhilarating. And yet, I could not get enough of him. I kissed every part of him that I could kiss while standing, caressed every part that my hands could reach, and still it was not enough – not nearly enough.

I led him to the cot, making him sit on it as I knelt on the floor between his legs. Gently, I wrapped my fingers around his member, kissing its head. Smiling, I looked up to meet his eyes. He let out a hiss – the loudest noise he was allowed to make in order not to wake the occupant of the adjacent bedroom. I almost felt sorry for him, if only I did not know that I could not be loud either.

With my hand still gently stroking the base, I licked at the head of his shaft before putting it inside my mouth, using my tongue to tease it. I wanted to swallow all of him – or at least, try, for I was not sure if I could take all of him in – but I could not. Not that night, when my own sex was aching to have him inside. Instead, I took him in my mouth until I felt it hit the back of my throat, and proceeded on giving him head, giving attention to the base through my hand. Moments later, I heard Lucas announce in a whisper that he was coming. I squeezed his shaft, moving so that only the head was in my mouth, before swallowing the seeds that erupted, sucking until the last droplets came out.

Finally, I stood up. Lucas reached for me and pulled me down so that I sat on his lap. His mouth captured mine in a kiss that left us both panting when it finally ended.

"Lucas, I want you now," I groaned, nuzzling at his neck.

He chuckled. "You should not have done that, then. My little friend needs a while to be back up."

Amused, I raised an eyebrow at him. "What little friend? It's huge!"

His eyes were dancing with merriment. "Ah. Is that a complaint I hear?"

"Of course not!" I answered, glaring at him.

He pulled me close to him, catching my lips with his, before starting to caress my body. His lips moved to my neck, my shoulders, to my breasts. He took a nipple in his mouth and played with it, while his hand sought my sex, stroking gently. Even then, he managed to chuckle and make a joke.

"There's a flood down here," he said, patting my crotch. "I wonder..."

I slapped his arm – hard – as my face started to burn. He just laughed at me and resumed what he was doing. His hand teased my folds, fingers rubbing against the nub. Slowly, he lay me down on the cot while he slipped one finger – and then two -- in and out of me. As pleasure built higher and higher inside me, I could not help but let out a groan. Immediately, Lucas' mouth was covering mine, muffling the sound. Moments later, with our lips still locked, I was convulsing in pleasure beneath him.

Lucas was chuckling as he kissed my forehead. I simply lay on the cot, panting, covered in sweat.

"You are going to get the two of us in trouble with your grandmother," he whispered, tongue playing with my ear.

"I was trying to hold it back," I complained, pinching him on the side and earning a chuckle from him again. "I failed, though."

He buried his face on the pillow under my head to muffle the sound of his laughter. Myself chuckling, I reached down to squeeze his butt and grab his cock, which was already semi-hard.

"Aha!" I cooed, kissing Lucas' neck and squeezing his member. "Your huge" – I emphasized the word – "friend is already up."

"He should be, because I want you now," he moaned, moving so that he was comfortably settled on top of me. "Try to be quiet, sweetheart, or else Grandmother might ban me from seeing you again."

I smiled as he began stroking my sex with his hand again, perhaps to check if I was ready for him. I was still wet down there; there should be no problem. Satisfied with the result of his subtle inspection, Lucas guided his shaft to the entrance, gently pushing the head in. I closed my eyes, wanting nothing but to feel him inside me as he slid himself deeper, sending sensations that held me trapped in the illusion that we were the only ones who existed in my world.

He began our dance slowly, moving in and out of me gently. As passion built up, his strokes got faster and faster, sending me closer and closer to the peak of pleasure. His mouth sought mine and our tongues engaged themselves in a battle all their own, just as he reached down between us to play with my swollen nub. I groaned into his mouth, lifting my hips up to meet his thrusts, wrapping my legs around him. His other hand was squeezing my breast, gently twisting the nipple between his thumb and forefinger. All of those sensations were enough to bring me to orgasm with a long and – dear God! – loud groan. It was no more than five seconds later that Lucas shot his seeds inside me, collapsing on top of me as soon as he reached the peak.

"Good lord," he chuckled, moving so that he lay beside me. "Selene, that was such a loud moan."

He pulled me close so that I could rest my head on his shoulder. There was barely enough room in the cot to fit the two of us, so I crawled on top of him.

"Well," I whispered, nuzzling closer. "I'm sorry. I tried." I moved my head back so that I could stare into his eyes. "Do you think I woke her up?"

His smile was teasing. "Let's just hope you did not."

The two of us stayed quiet for a while, listening for any signs that Grandmother was awakened by the noise I made. Lucas was stroking my back tenderly, and I felt my heart swell with joy as I remembered that it was what he would always do to make me sleep when I was a child and I would sleep over at Mary's house. It was always hard for me to sleep in a house not our own, and Lucas found out that rubbing my back always did the trick of helping me sleep.

I remembered the first night I actually slept at Mary's house – about fourteen years ago. I sneaked into Lucas' room in the middle of the night, slipped beside him on the bed, and shook him awake, silently weeping all the while. The only excuse I gave him when he asked me why I was there was that I could not sleep. Without ever complaining about how I woke him up, he wiped my tears, held me close, and stroked my back. In no time, I was deeply asleep.

Yes – it was to Lucas that I always turned to. Even though I knew that Grandmother was sleeping inside the room next to the one where Mary put me to bed, I chose to run to my best friend. I had not slept over at Mary's for more than ten years; the feel of Lucas' hand stroking my back once again reminded me of how much I loved him, how badly I needed him.

"Thank you, Lucas," I whispered, blinking away the tears that suddenly formed in my eyes as I looked at him. "For tonight and all the nights I slept beside you."

"You mean, when we were children?" he asked, a smile on his lips.

"Yes," I answered, settling back into his arms.

I felt him kiss my head. He was already pulling the blanket so that it covered the two of us. With a smile, I closed my eyes, hearing a whispered "I love you" as I drifted off to sleep.

*****

How Lucas managed to get up from under me without managing to wake me up was a big mystery. One movement was usually enough to wake me up, and he had to move all of me to get out of bed. He's got to have used some form of magic.

He was already out of the room when I woke up. Fair enough. We would not want Grandmother to actually see him inside. I had a feeling that I really woke Grandmother up the night before, but she did not get out of her room to check on us, for she already knew what was happening, anyway.

Getting out of bed, I saw my nightgown carefully folded and placed at the foot of the bed. Lucas must have picked it up from the floor. Since my underwear was not lying around, I supposed that he put it in the laundry basket near the door.

With a smile, I reached for the nightgown, put it on, and took the robe that was hanging from a hook at the foot of the bed. My robes and all of Grandmother's were all gifts from Mary, who tried to help us make our forest life as comfortable as possible.

I found Lucas in the kitchen, sitting by the table, looking thoughtful. I noticed that he had put on a shirt to cover his upper body. He smiled at me as soon as he saw me. Smiling back, I mouthed to him that I would take care of my personal hygiene first. As soon as I was back, I kissed him and asked in a whisper if Grandmother was already up, to which he answered in the negative.

"How come I did not wake up when you left?" I asked, sitting on his lap.

"You were snoring loudly, so maybe you were very, very sound asleep," he answered.

I chuckled. "I don't snore, you moron!"

He grinned. "Well, then. It is an ability I acquired to ensure my survival."

My eyebrows arched. "Survival?"

"From the hands of fathers who would end up killing me if they find me inside their daughters' rooms," he answered, winking.

It had me once again thinking of how many women he has had before me. A grain of jealousy was causing me pain. Sighing, I wound my arms around his neck and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around me. We were still in that position when Grandmother entered the kitchen, clearing her throat as she did so.

With my face so pathetically red, I stood up, not meeting Grandmother's eyes even as I told her that I would be making her some tea. It was so unfair that she could be very quiet about moving around the hut. I did not even hear the sound of her bedroom door creak.

Which once again assured me that she did check on us last night – or at least, she checked if Lucas was sleeping where he was supposed to sleep.

As I made the tea, Grandmother started talking to Lucas as if she did not see anything at all. She was asking him about Mary's sister, who had been friend and playmate to my mother once. I served the tea and started frying some eggs for breakfast. Lucas stood up to grab our bottle of jam and the bread loaf that Mary made him bring the day before.

"I hope that Matthew is doing well?"

The way that Grandmother spoke the man's name made me curious about him. It seemed that she knew him, and was even fond of him.

Lucas nodded. "Yes. He's doing very well."

Grandmother just nodded, and proceeded on asking more questions about Lucas' life in his aunt's estate. Uncle Matthew was not mentioned again, and as the three of us sat for breakfast, I completely forgot to ask about him.

*****

The morning dragged on slowly. I had to take care of the plants in the vegetable garden, although, thankfully, Lucas helped me do that. As soon as it was time for me to clean the hut, Lucas told Grandmother that he would be chopping woods for us. From time to time, I would discreetly look outside the window to watch him, and would feast my eyes on his body, covered in sweat due to his exertion. As a result, I finished my chores about an hour later than how I always used to finish them. At exactly the same time, Lucas finished his task.

Lucas asked Grandmother where she was keeping his spare clothes. As a rule, Mary's three boys had clothes in our hut, just in case any one of them ended up spending the night with us. Grandmother, who was busily knitting a new shawl for herself, told Lucas that I would know where the clothes were, so Lucas went inside the hut to ask.

As soon as he was inside, I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a quick kiss on the mouth.

"You look so sexy," I told him, running a palm on his chest. "I'm starting to ache for you."

He chuckled and pulled me closer. "Stop talking like that, Selene, or I'll end up making love to you right here."

I raised an eyebrow, grinning, as I ran my fingers through his hair. "Why don't you just do it? Grandmother's busy anyway. She won't come inside the hut until it is time for lunch."

"You're naughty," he said, squeezing my butt. "But your grandmother is still outside."

"And she won't come in, trust me," I said, running my hand over his erection through his pants. "You're already hard, anyway."

"Who won't be when you're talking like that and pressing this close?" he asked.

"Please, Lucas," I begged, planting a kiss on his shoulder. "Let's just do it quickly. We both need it. Besides, Grandmother won't appreciate seeing you with a bulge in your pants. She'll probably guess what we've been doing in here if you go out with your friend looking like that."

Finally, he groaned in resignation and kissed my forehead. He glanced at Grandmother, who was still busily knitting outside. Lucas lifted me off the floor and carried me to my bedroom. He closed the door just in case Grandmother decided she wanted to go inside the hut.