Roan

I didn't torture him by prolonging it. Much.

Pulling my finger free, I popped my mouth off his limp cock and rolled to my knees. I couldn't help but huff a laugh, absurdly content to see Roan's lazy sprawl and glazed expression. I pushed his knees up towards his chest and slicked up my cock with the last of the lotion.

"My turn," I said, grinning.

He whimpered as I fucked into him with short, grinding thrusts. The bed thumped my rhythm against the wall again until I slammed in and held it for one final, punched-out orgasm.

I curled back around him once he was cleaned up, and he was already asleep by the time I started to doze off.

When the sun peeked through the ratty curtains, I sat up on the edge of the bed and stretched, muscles pleasantly sore.

I pulled on my scattered clothes, turning back to see narrowed eyes watching me from an otherwise expressionless face. In what appeared to be an unconscious gesture at my sudden attention, he pulled the sheets up to his chest.

I laughed, shaking my head. "You're safe, Roan. A deal's a deal. I won't touch you again."

He continued to watch me, opening his mouth once before closing it again.

"What?" I asked, curious.

More hesitation. He scowled, appearing to make up his mind to just ask. "Is it...is it always like that?"

I couldn't even begin to guess what he was referring to as I pulled on my boot. "Like what?"

The red crept back into his cheeks. He flung an arm over his eyes, hiding. "Like...intense."

I winced, rubbing the back of my neck. "No. Not always. I got a little carried away."

"It felt good. Mostly," he mumbled, almost too softly to hear.

"It should feel good. If you're doing it right. And with the right person." I pulled on my other boot before straightening. "Now, I'm going to head out. I'll leave a little food for you downstairs. But I don't want to catch you following me again. If I do, you're not going to like what happens. Got it?"

He dropped his arm from his face, sending a mutinous scowl my way. "You didn't catch me following you the first time."

It rankled me that he was right. I stalked closer and loomed over him, but he didn't flinch away, and I didn't have time to wonder what that meant. "Well, now I know to look for you. So I better not find you, or else."

Roan scoffed and rolled onto his stomach, turning his head away from me as he got comfortable in the bed. I shook my head and stomped downstairs, setting out a few basic rations for him to eat and another glass of water.

Slipping my backpack on at the front door, I stopped and listened closely. A light snore came from the bedroom.

Perfect.

I set out, leaving the town of Finley behind. It was too small and picked over to remain sustainable for any length of time. I was hoping to find caches of supplies in bigger towns, though I still avoided the cities. Too many scavengers liked the cities, and they seemed to be okay killing for no reason, even though there were barely any of us left.

I trekked for most of the morning, taking a break in the shade for a small lunch. The sun beamed down, baking the already brown grass. A slow breeze drifted past the tree I was sitting against, causing the branches to dip and sway.

Three or four trees away, the branches shivered and shook just a little too long after the breeze had waned. I stopped mid-bite and watched with narrowed eyes. The branches fell still. A pine cone dropped, hitting the ground with a soft thunk.

I stood up and circled the tree, having a sneaking suspicion of what I'd find. Moving in and looking up into the branches, I let out a frustrated growl. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Roan blinked down at me, draped comfortably between two questionably thin limbs with his chin propped on his hand. "I'm hungry."

"That doesn't explain why you're here, Roan."

He shrugged, which made the branches, and in turn my stomach, dip uncomfortably. "You have food."

"You'd probably have food too if you were foraging instead of following me around."

The mutinous expression came back. "I want sex."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Roan, are you telling me you want sex because you actually want food?"

He squinted, jaw jutting to the left as he hesitated. "No."

"Yes, you fucking are. Get out of the tree. I'm not having this conversation while staring straight up."

Roan shimmied down, faster than I would have thought possible, and dropped lightly onto his feet. "So, sex then food?" he prompted.

I sighed, heading back to my pack. "Sex burns calories. And your skinny ass doesn't have any extra calories to burn."

The hairs on the back of my neck rose, and I turned back with a small bag of almonds to find him less than two feet away. I hadn't even heard him move.

I handed the bag over warily, watching for his knife. He didn't have it out, which made my gut unclench. Had he the inclination, I'd bet Roan could seriously fuck someone up before they even realized he was there.

Instead, he inhaled the almonds, not bothering to try and make them last. Swiping a hand across his mouth, he turned guarded eyes to mine.

"Now the sex?" Total resignation, which made me feel even worse.

"Jesus Christ, Roan. Fine. You can tag along. I want to make it to Aberdeen before dark. We'll talk about the sex later."

"For more food?"

I groaned. "Yes. No! I mean, I'll teach you how to find or trap more food. You can't keep pimping yourself out just to eat. If you still want sex, then we can talk about it. But it's not going to be for food."

We walked in silence for nearly an hour before Roan piped up. "I'll still want it, I think."

I shook my head. "We'll see. I told you what would happen if you followed me, and I plan on taking it out on your ass. But not tonight. You're going to be too sore after last night."

Roan had enough common sense to look mildly alarmed, but then he squinted at me. "You'll make it good for me, though, right? Like you did last time."

I growled, though it ended in a tired sigh. "Yes. I'll make it good for you."