Say a Prayer Ch. 10

The two most read stories in the newspapers involved two scandals. The biggest headline concerned the massive discovery of The Colony and the near solving of the murders of several people from years and years back to the current one. Of course, those who were familiar with Marchioness Lillitu Masen were horrified to learn that her death was not a suicide. As for Erdgar Adurant's name, because it had been crossed out, and he was still very alive, he was not mentioned in the newspapers.

The second biggest headline concerned the mysterious disappearance of the Roiters couple. Some had assumed that The Colony was involved with them, but there was no evidence of that for any law enforcement to examine. Not even the Roiters' servants had any idea what had happened to the couple. It was as if they had vanished in the night.

***

The first month in Osgarth was rather carefree for Del ... no ... Heidi. Her favorite activity was food shopping with Ku ... no ... Tomek. His eyes would light up when he found a good price on good ingredients. He'd even have small conversations with her about the history of each ingredient and all the appropriate cooking methods available.

Ma ... Olga became a much more tolerable roommate. She smiled more often and even gave an occasional compliment. She was gradually decorating the townhouse with little knickknacks and flowers. She also took a peculiar interest in cleaning. She dusted. She mopped. She washed all the dishes. She even did the laundry, and she hummed all the while. Never before had Heidi seen a woman so amazingly proud to wear an apron.

The cotton spinning mill turned out to be profitable. It was nearly enough to throttle the mind. Tomek hired a few maids right away to give Olga more free time. Despite all the welcome help, Olda still wanted to at least dust things. Tomek shrugged at that, saying, "I'd rather have a happy business partner."

The second month was more luxurious than the first. Tomek took Olga and Heidi to a seamstress' shop so that they could order a few nice dresses while he went to a tailor. After that, all three went on a leisurely search for fanciful things to buy. Board games, playing cards, books, and even a few silly music boxes were purchased.

And Heidi realized that something was wrong.

Her normal monthly flow didn't come.

And soon, she realized she was pregnant, which was the most terrifying thing in the world.

During another cold night, when Tomek came to her bedroom for another intimate encounter, Heidi decided to tell him. She waited for him to close the door. Then she went to him, putting her palms and spread fingers to his chest. She said very carefully, "Tomek, I have grave news. You might become angry."

His hair smelled like vanilla. The sweet aroma teased Heidi's nose as Tomek's head leaned to one side and his nose twitched. "How could I be angry with you? You've always been docile and tender."

As she told him about the pregnancy ... his expression became something that frightened her. His grin ... his grin ...

He had his very own madman's grin.

His eyes were manic. The fireplace's normally comforting glow turned demon-like as it reflected in his dark eyes. His fingers slid up and down her back as he held her snugly, and he lightly crooned down to her, "An angel's child, an angel's child, a sweet little angel's child." His tune was similar to a child's rhyme. "To be the father of an angel's child, that's a blessed honor indeed!"

Oh no ... really?

Heidi tried to pull out of his embrace, but he only tightened his hold. His lips went to her forehead and then to her nose, leaving little dots of warmth behind. "We should be married, Angel. Would you please marry me?" His face sunk into the side of her throat.

Heidi squeaked out a concerned noise. Her fingernails clawed around the buttons on his coat. "Marry? Marry?! You want to marry me?!"

"It will be a short wedding, since we don't have friends in this city, but it will be fine. We'll gain reputations eventually. We might even be invited to higher class engagements." He was making plans right there, not even assuming that anything bad could happen. He slid his face up and put a kiss right on her earlobe, which had her trembling. "Our child will seem normal, but I know it's destined for wonderful things. The God of Hope is smiling at us!"

That was her breaking point. She didn't want to have a baby. She didn't want to get married again. She was too afraid, all too aware of the horrors reality shuffled in with everyday occurrences. Possible consequences forgotten, Heidi cried damning words into his clothing.

"I don't believe in the gods! I stopped believing long ago!"

His muscles tensed around her. It was so quiet that when some cracking and snapping rang out from the fireplace Heidi gasped.

Wooden and jerky, Tomek released her and took a step back, his eyes dragging to the floor.

Heidi's cheeks, hands, lips, feet, and even her genitals, all felt cold. Deep in her heart, she believed she had wounded him. It was a sickening feeling. She reached out and touched his arm. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know you've always thought so highly of me, but I don't want to deceive you any longer. I'm not an angel. I'm not holy. I'm only a non-believer who took advantage of other people's beliefs to make a profit."

He didn't do or say anything at first. So, Heidi continued. "I should seek out an apothecary to have this issue ... dealt with. I don't want you to endure this burden. I refuse to do that without your consent, though ... because," her nose seemed to tingle and she wanted to sneeze and weep, "I don't believe a pregnant woman should ... do such a thing if the father doesn't agree to it."

Shaking ... he was shaking beneath her hand.

Gasping ... was he about to cry?

Laughing ... he was laughing?!

Heidi removed her hand and stared at him with a furrowed brow.

Tomek's head rose. He looked like he had been drugged with a stimulant. She thought she could see all of his teeth. That's how hard he was smiling. No human should ever smile like that.

He grabbed her again. "It wouldn't do for an angel to be aware of their status! Wouldn't do at all! Of course you wouldn't believe you're an angel. I even understand why you'd lose your faith. The world is too cruel, and it's difficult to have any hope, but if I can keep my faith then certainly yours can be renewed."

Heidi blinked. She thought she was getting a headache. Was he simply religious or insane?

Was there a difference in this context?

Was he lying to himself? Was he that desperate to keep his worldview and to keep her all at once?

His hands slid around her back. Then one of them went to her braided hairstyle. There were dangling loops and pinned swirling shapes there. His eyes were so delirious. Did he ever drug himself for non-medical reasons? He did say once that his parents were that way.

Or was this only the way his brain was built?

He licked his lips and said, "Let's marry, let's marry and raise our child with confidence because we are decent people. We are good people who will raise a good child."

She couldn't ...

Her hand rose to one of his sharp cheeks. He shaved often. He smelled like a high class man with a hint of earth. "You honestly want this ... don't you? You want this child. You want this life. You want me."

His eyes finally cooled then. His eyelids lowered. His voice became huskier. "Even if all this wealth is taken from me, I will continue to work to care for this family. I'll even steal if I need to, but only if I need to. And I'll hide treasures for you, so you'll always have something in case of an emergency." His fingernail tugged on a plain ribbon weaved into her locks. "Hmmmm, would you like a showy new hair ornament? Something with ostrich feathers and precious stones?"

That wasn't important to her.

Heidi put her weight on the balls of her feet, oddly wanting more closeness, more heat, even though she knew she was going to say something that would put more emotional distance between them. "Can you be content with a wife who doesn't believe in the gods you hold so dear? Can you be content knowing she will raise your child? Your sincerity alone will never convince me to be faithful."

Another horrible, wordless moment.

There were several tiny twitches in his face, but he calmed himself very rapidly. The air seemed to be taken out of his body. His embrace was drooping, but it felt earnest. "If you never find your faith again, that will be fine. It's not ideal, but as long as you're sweet and kind, as long as you'll be a good wife and mother, I'll support you."

Her pupils dilated. Her lips parted.

That was one of the most sensible, most realistic, most not insane things she had heard him say.

Was he getting better? Was this peaceful life healing his mind? She wasn't a doctor. She didn't know. She did have hope, though.

Her arms locked around him, pulling him down. She kissed him loudly, humming and smacking. Her mouth was wet when she pulled her lips away, but some of her brown curls tangled around his red hair. The tip of her nose touched his. His eyes were too vulnerable.

"Tomek ... let's have a plain wedding. We shouldn't even wear our best clothing. Then we can go shopping for nursery furniture."

***

The wedding was so ordinary, so simple, and so quick, that it seemed to barely happen at all. They had plenty of time for shopping after that. Vital things for a baby were ordered, but Tomek insisted on looking for a present for his new bride. He ordered a pretty violin for her. It had a gently carved image on the back, an elegant pattern of thorny vines and roses.

As they walked to the new carriage Tomek had recently purchased, Heidi clung to her new husband's arm with a feeling she couldn't remember having before.

Pride.

She was actually proud.

The past didn't matter anymore.

This man was a better husband than the creature she had been attached to before.

Heidi gazed at him with bright eyes and an excited smile as he helped her into the carriage.

"Young Madam!! With the brown dress and black cloak!! You!!"

She was inside the carriage when her brain registered the fact that someone was calling out to her. She peeked around the vehicle's exit as Tomek turned his head, his hand gripping a space just under the door's hinges.

A dark skinned woman with cropped black hair rushed towards them, holding up an average reticule.

"Oh!" Heidi reached out from her seat. "That's mine!"

Innocently and lightly, Tomek blinked and smiled. "How kind of her!"

The woman hurried to the carriage and tossed the reticule into Heidi's expectant and grateful hands. Heidi said to her, "Thank you, Miss. I appreciate an honest and helpful person."

With a modest smile and a curtsy, the dark skinned woman said goodbye and walked off, the hem of her cloak flapping in the air.

Once they were home, Tomek helped the servants make a cake while Olga and Heidi planned the layout for a bedroom that was meant to become a nursery. When the cake was done, they all ate and spoke of happier things. When that was finished, Tomek took Heidi's hand, kissed her fingers, and led her to her pretty green bedroom.

It was a life that couldn't have been achieved by following propriety and the law.

She was held inside that room. Then she was pressed against a wall. Between each kiss, more and more clothing was plucked and peeled away. Her nipples were pinched. Then she was held up by a a sturdy arm so that each nipple could have a turn being suckled leisurely, agonizingly slowly, as if each little movement of his lips and tongue was an earnest vow.

It was the safest life. It was a life of earthly wonders and sacred commitments.

For a change, she supposed, she was asked to put her belly on the mattress. Her feet stayed on the floor, right on a little rug for keeping her feet warm when she woke up on the coldest mornings. The hair on Tomek's legs and thighs disturbed the soft flesh of her backside, and a little of her anxious vulva too.

It was a life of food, furniture, colors, family, and even ...

And even ...

"Angel ... you married me ... and I never told you I'm in love with you." The voice above and behind her sounded like it was wavering, like it was one slip away from becoming a self-loathing wail. "How could I have forgotten to tell you that?!"

One of her hands folded and pressed into her lips as her cheek laid against the blanket underneath her body. She wished her hair wasn't in a topknot. She thought it should have been loose and hiding her pink cheeks and troubled eyes.

"Tomek ... it's well and fine."

And even ...?

Her voice was so garbled behind her fingers. Could he even understand her?

"Because ... because I ... Tomek!"

Even ...

Kuno ...?

Tomek ...?

Delma ...?

Heidi ...?

"Because I love you too."

Even love.

His heat fell over her back. A kiss at her shoulder, then on her spine. Then down, down, the mattress cringing and groaning.

Laps of his tongue, from the small of the back all the way to the top, and she mewled all the while, her toes scratching at the mat on the floor.

A whisper at her ear. Hair tickling her nape.

"You've said the absolutely best thing, my tender little angel."

She heard and felt him rear back up. A few smacking steps, bare feet against wood.

Where was he?

Hands at her buttocks, urging her to spread her legs.

And the flat of that tongue was on her, from behind the clitoris and then up, and up, to right where her opening ended.

"Ahhhh!!"

His voice was so deliciously cocksure. "This pretty thing here is all mine now, isn't that so?" Another long lap. One of his hands slid under so he could carefully and teasingly draw smooth little circles all around her clitoris. He wouldn't touch it, though. Oh no! It wasn't time for that, apparently.

Her hips moved a little, but he firmly ordered, "Still! Still now! Bear your reward and be still."

But ... but he was licking her as if she was made of the most expensive ice cream. Down and up, down and up, only dipping the tip into the hole for a quick moment or two, and never touching that pulsing, flushing clitoris that was desperate for anything. It was nearly too excruciating to be a reward, but she wanted more and more.

"Oooohhhhhh ... aaaahhhhhhh ... please ... it's so ... I can't!!"

His tongue moved away. The pads of his fingers changed their movements. They weren't playing around her clitoris anymore. They were directly tapping it, mildly, daintily.

"You can, Angel. I know you can."

More licking then, both rough and slick.

Her body slithered against the bed. Her nipples were poking into the blanket, coddled by the sleek texture.

She received a playful pinch on her buttock, which made her yelp and flinch. "Still, Darling!" Tomek's voice was hiding a laugh.

He didn't tap her clitoris anymore. Instead, his tongue began a slightly altered path. It started right on top of that clitoris, and it moved up.

"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!" Her breath was grainy and thin. Her fingernails claimed sections of the blanket.

Then it all stopped. She felt his breath for a moment. Was he staring at her?

She heard his feet against the floor again.

Both hands on her hips.

And he was already shoving himself inside. He wasn't merciful, but that was fine. She didn't want mercy. She wanted it hard and tight. She screamed and begged and struck the mattress with her fists as Tomek began a fast rhythm.

"Angel ... oh damn, Angel ... you're a fucking vise! Ohhhhh ... gods!"

She nearly sobbed at his words.

And he kept on talking to her. "Come now, come Angel. I can't ... oh," he flexed in a particularly luscious way deep within her, "don't lose your strength. I need you with me."

One of his hands slid around her, under her ... and ... even as his cock spread her, even as she was leaking around him ... he touched her previously neglected clitoris. He rubbed it snugly, quickly, putting shock waves into her cunt.

She died. She knew she was dying. That was all she knew.

Raw, unrestrained, hollering out nearly livid nonsense, her eyes bulging, her jaw loose, Heidi was only instinct.

"Yes! Yes, Angel, yes! More, more, more, yes! Oh gods, I need this!" His words became faster and faster along with his thrusts. "Fuck! Fuck! Oh, shit I can feel it in my sack!"

Soon, they were both tense, both deeply moaning and occasionally yowling like monsters of the wild.

There was a wet, thick mess when they were finally calm and pulling their bodies apart. Heidi assumed they were done.

But, despite the man's limpness, despite his sleepy face, Tomek laid down with her on the bed, not giving her time to clean herself up. He hissed out something about wanting to feel his mark. Then he put his index and middle fingers into her sloppy, dripping slit.

Even though Heidi had been completely satisfied a moment before, her body was in a sensitive state. Her hips rocked and her wet channel squeezed around the curious fingers.

Faint and powerless, Heidi's body contorted as much as her near exhaustion allowed. Her lower belly was becoming too easily stimulated. Then she cursed as she realized she needed to get up and find a pot. New vigor came to her. She shot up, even with those fingers in her, and said, "I need to go!"

"Hm? What?" Tomek smirked and pulled her right back down. She actually bounced a little. "Where do you need to go?"

"The fucking pot!"

The madman ... he actually pulled his fingers out and literally, conspicuously sunk the palm and heel of his hand onto her lower belly, hard ... it almost hurt, it really did, but ...

As her toes painfully folded, as her fingernails bit into her hands, as her back curled and she panted at the ceiling, she found quite a bit of pleasure. It was contradictory, ridiculous, and she knew she could never willingly say that she wanted to release her muscles and ... well ...

"Do you need a wee? Something else?" There was no damn reason for him to sound so excited.

"Please! Just a wee! That's all! I won't be long! Please!"

"Stay right here, Angel."

When he got up from the bed, his still messy penis shining in the firelight, Heidi tried to get up too. But, he literally shoved her, put his hand on her shoulder and shoved her. He didn't push hard enough to hurt. It was only enough to get his point across, and he had such a wicked sparkle in his eye as he did it.

She sat up again. "If you shove me once more, you'll learn how furious a pregnant woman can be!"

Tomek nodded his head as he was gathering up several folded cloths of linen from a set of drawers. The stack he was making seemed ... rather tall. Why would he need so much linen? "I'm terribly sorry, Angel," he said. "I never meant to disrespect you." He dumped all the linen onto the bed.

Heidi tried to leave the bed again. Before her backside fully reached the edge, Tomek's hand went to her knee and he asked, "Won't you stay? There's something I'm curious about."

"What?! Listen, I need to go! I must go!"

He climbed back onto the bed and did something truly odd. He put Heidi in another tender embrace. Then he pulled all his linen up under her backside and kissed her ear.

"As you release everything there," he whispered, "I want to feel your movements."

And he claimed her slippery little pussy again. His touch was harsh and inexorable. Heidi's limbs jerked about. Her belly hurt yet her tightening passage thrummed around his fingers. Her knuckles paled as she gripped his shoulder.

During it all, she managed to think, "I could stop this, couldn't I?"

But she didn't stop it. She let him do as he wished, because she loved and lusted after him.