The Woman on the Lake Ch. 10

*** Author's Note: Another plot heavy chapter which will soon be followed up by something filthy. Promise.

Thank you to everyone who added me to favourites, commented, or is following me. It's really fun to know you're out there, reading my very long very dirty story. ***

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They slept together in the hollow house. It was strange, sleeping next to him. For years Brandon had come to her cottage to spend the night, but he had always come with a small group of men, and Leda had always put them in the barn. Some nights though, she had lain awake in her cottage, and wondered what it might be like to share a bed with him.

He was a restless sleeper. He was troubled by noise, waking up at every rustling leaf, and even in moments of silence, he'd startle himself awake, look around, and listen for Leda's breath beside him.

But after years of being alone in the woods, Leda was a restless sleeper too. They were a hopelessly on edge, both of them, and Leda couldn't help but remember how Rob, in the height of danger, has simply wrapped his arms around her and invited her to join him in a deep peaceful slumber.

But Brandon was rarely inclined to be peaceful.

When the first signs of light streaked across the sky, Leda sat up quickly. Brandon was already awake, listening to the goings on of the camp.

"They're almost done," he said.

"Done what?"

"Your women friends, they're just about done disposing with my men."

"They didn't kill them," Leda said groggily. "They just give them a bit of sleeping draft."

"Of course they can't kill my rangers under my nose," Brandon scoffed. "But it's hardly a sleeping draft, they poison my men for days, it's why they're never tracked afterwards. My boys are too busy sweating and sleeping and vomiting to go after them."

"Well, if you know so much about these women, why did you walk into their trap?"

"I was trying to keep my men out of the trap, but then I saw you and my plans changed," he leaned over and kissed Leda's forehead sleepily. His lips were dry and his chin was covered in a rough stubble. And it made Leda feel nervous, to be the object of such casual affection from him. It felt more intimate than anything they'd done the night before.

"So what are you going to do?" She asked quickly. "All those men are going to get better eventually and discover that you weren't poisoned too. They might even think you were involved in what happened."

"I was involved," Brandon said. "I'll have to bribe them, probably."

"That's a lot of bribes,"

Brandon stood up, naked, and fixed his breaches around his waist. Leda watched his body move in the early morning light.

"Why do you think I'm so keen to take over your trade?"

He helped her up from the dirt floor. She stood up, and hit with a wave of early morning dizziness, nearly stumbled into Brandon's bare chest. The heat rose up to her cheeks and she knew she was blushing. Brandon saw her pink cheeks and kissed them both, softly. Leda lifted her mouth to meet his and felt a wave of desire come over her as his lips brushed over hers softly.

But instead of kissing her, he told her to put her clothes on. It was a frustrating moment. Leda was left hot and unsatisfied. The loser in yet another power game she didn't know she was playing.

They had already decided what they were going to do about Alec. It had felt good for Leda to discuss it with Brandon. He was strategic, practical, but seemed to genuinely want to make her happy in this. He didn't resent that she had changed her mind after all the effort he had made to take a prisoner to the fort, and Leda felt comfortable with their new plan.

Alec would be let go. but Brandon would secretly ensure he was never able to join any band of rangers. They'd lose his name, and Alec would effectively cease to exist in the Outerlands. But first, Leda suggested, he should be marked. So every woman he met knew that he was dangerous. Tatiana and Maria seemed to agree that this was fair. Maria even offered to do the marking herself. She still had Old Joe's needles and ink.

Ned brought him to the caravan. When Leda saw him, she almost felt guilty. He was shackled, and had a thick layer of dirt where his shirt should have been. He hadn't been washed or had a chance to change since that night in the woods.

He hadn't changed his attitude either. As soon as he saw Leda, he spit at her, but the wad of spittle only went as far as his toes . Leda asked Ned to give him some water and Alec took it, greedily.

"If you let me go, I'm only going to come after you with more men," he said. "Brandon isn't as good as he thinks he is. Lots of the boys would kill him as soon as take orders from him. And lots of boys looking forward to killing you too."

"Yes, we know, Alec," Brandon said dryly. "This is why you were never much of a ranger. You always thought you were smarter than anyone else. It made you so lazy."

"You might have him now, bitch," Alec spoke exclusively to Leda. "but he can't stay with you forever. We've got plans for you, girl. "

"You know, Alec, now that you're not a ranger anymore you can start your own trade," Brandon was perfectly calm. "It'll be hard at first, harder than murdering and raping my woman, but you'll get through it with your cock intact."

"You're not his mate," Alec shook his head. "You're fair game."

"Why do you always answer me when it's Brandon who is talking to you?" Leda was genuinely curious.

"Because you're the one who is pulling his strings," Alec smiled. "He won't admit it, but it's true, and he won't be head ranger much longer if he can't keep you under control."

Leda looked to Brandon with a raised eyebrow. He shouldn't like that accusation, but of course he only grinned wryly.

"Pull my strings? It that was you did?" His lips twisted in mirth.

"Once or twice," Leda smiled.

"Well," Brandon shrugged and walked towards his prisoner. "It felt fucking good."

Brandon kicked him then, and Alec fell to the ground. Brandon's boot came down on his chest and held him against the earth.

"Do you have the needle?"

Tatiana approached him, holding a the same type of needle which Leda had been marked with, first when she was joined to Gerald, then again when he left her. She couldn't see it without flinching at the memory. Alec apparently felt the same way, turning deeper into the earth as soon as Tatiana took out the ink pot and tried to make contact with his skin.

"If he keeps wriggling on the ground, I'll make a mess of it," Tatiana said. "Hold him up for me, Brandon."

Brandon grabbed the younger man under his arms and pulled him up to standing.

"Hold his arms back now so I mark his neck," Tatiana said.

"His neck?" Brandon pulled the man's elbow's behind his back. Alec struggled as his bare chest was fully exposed to the camp and Tatiana came towards him with the needle.

"No use labeling someone a rapist if you can't see it with his clothes on."

And then the arrow flew.

At first, Brandon didn't know what had happened. Alec's body was limp and it was harder to hold him. Then he noticed his hands were wet with blood where he held him. He looked to Leda, but Leda was motionless in her own shock. He could see now that Nadine's arrow had punctured Alec's heart. If he hadn't died instantly, it was only a matter of seconds.

Brandon stopped trying to hold the body up. He looked at Ned and the older man walked over to the body and wordlessly began picking Alec's pockets for knives and metals. Tatiana put down her needle and Nadine put down Teeth.

"I thought we had an agreement?" Leda tried to keep her voice calm as she looked at Brandon. "I thought we weren't going to kill him."

"I wasn't going to kill him," Brandon was paler than usual, she could see that.

"We never made any agreements," Maria stepped forward from behind the caravan.

"But you didn't have to kill him!"

"He was a rapist, Leda," She put a hand on her shoulder. "And you're not the only woman alone in the woods."

Leda wanted to say something, demand an explanation, but she could feel the bile rising in her throat as she looked at Alec's dead body. She tried to breath through it, but couldn't. Leda removed Maria's hand from her body. She walked away from the campfire, kneeled behind a tree and wretched.

There was nothing inside her belly but acid and bile. She hadn't eaten properly in days. But she felt calmer all the same. She breathed deeply, wiped her mouth and returned to the camp, taking Brandon's canteen and drinking deeply.

Alec lay dead at the centre of camp, and Brandon was talking quietly with Ned now. They were already planning, already moving on. The whores too were looking through the contents of his coat, pulling off good looking buttons to add to their chest.

"After you left, I was with that highlander." Leda didn't know why she was saying it now, or why she decided to tell Brandon in front of everyone. "The one I hid in my cellar. I know you heard us. He didn't rape me or anything, he simply offered to... pleasure me... and I let him. I was, well, you'd just left and I felt... I wanted it. The highlander is still at my cottage now. I left him there when I realized you were the one I wanted."

There was an uncomfortable quiet for a few moments. Neither man nor woman could believe that Leda had just come out and said it like that.

"Then we should get back," Brandon spoke slowly and came towards her. "If Alec is right, and there are men riding to your cottage, we don't know what's going to happen to him."

"The highlander, the man who killed your rangers, I hid him from you."

"I know," Brandon came up to Leda and tried to hold her, but she shook him off. "I heard you."

"Brandon you don't understand," Leda would feel something else rising up in her throat - not bile but tears. She shallowed them. "I was with him. I let him touch me. I don't know why. "

Leda was vaguely aware that everyone was looking at her now. Looking from her face to Brandon's, waiting to who would crack from anger. But it was Tatiana who spoke first.

"Maria and I are the ones who wanted Alec killed," she said. "This isn't Brandon's fault, you don't have to punish him."

"I'm not punishing him. I'm just telling him the truth," Leda said.

"You're doing it to scare him off," Tatiana turned to Brandon. "She thinks that if she makes you angry with her, you'll leave her alone, she won't see ranger kill each other anymore. Are you scared off?"

Again, an uncomfortable pause as Brandon looked at Leda with a clenched jaw. It took him a some time to find his answer.

"No," he said finally. "It doesn't change the way I feel about you."

Leda just nodded. He reached out to touch her hand, and she felt his fingers closer around hers.

She tried to pretend she couldn't feel that coil of desire in her belly that came overtime he touched her. Without lust, how did she feel about him?

"But we should leave," he whispered. "I think riders are coming to your cottage."

"Horace is tired, I'll ride with you on Beast," she said, pushing down her emotions for the sake of chores, once again. "Ned, I need you to meet with some of the other rangers, find out what they're planning, then send us a message. There is a concrete pit about half a day's ride west from the cottage, do you know it?"

"I do," Ned said.

"Meet us there in two days time," she said. "We need to know what to expect when we reach the cottage."

Ned nodded carefully before turning to Brandon, who was already readying the horses. "That's coming from you?"

"Does it matter?" Brandon shook his head as he inspected Beast. "Do you want Leda's food to disappear?"

"With respect, this is why you're losing your rangers, Brandon," Ned said it softly, but he gestured to Alec's body as he did. "You're supposed to be our leader, but you're taking orders from women. Makes some of the men feel like we're all underneath a woman."

A sharp snort of laughter cut through the tension. It was one of the younger girls, the one with the baby in her belly. She snickered into her hands until Maria shushed her. Tatiana came up to Ned and looked at the older man with the sweetest smile.

"Oh Neddy, I know for a fact that you adore being underneath a woman,"

"You know what I mean, Brandon," Ned stuttered. "It's not natural."

Leda looked from the other women to Brandon, who was quiet as he stroked Beast's head. He was careful to calm the horse before he rode him, otherwise Beast would panic and buck him off.

"Nothing about the way we live is natural, Ned," Brandon said finally. "We're just more used to doing things a certain way."

"So what do I tell the other men?" Ned asked.

"Tell them I'm a bad ranger, tell them you want to be part of the raid on Leda's cottage, and then come tell me what the plan is," he said. "After that, you can help me kill them."

He gave Beast one more pat before he swung himself over his back, sitting tall once again, and looking like a king on the giant horse's back.

"Fear will keep the rest of them in line, Ned," Brandon patted the horse's neck. "And it should buy you and I another few years at the top."

Then he pointed at Alec's body, lying pale in a puddle of blood.

"You killed him, you'll bury him," he said to Nadine. "And if you ever kill one of mine again, I'll come for you."

Nadine nodded, transforming from a fierce young woman to a naughty child.

Leda turned to girls and spoke to them quietly.

"Our deal still stands, come to me if you need anything," she said. "Anything."