Chapter 16

Kracken

I shake my head as I watch my woman on the rug in front of the fireplace. When the rescue group found out we were adopting the two little black kittens, they offered to follow us back to the cabin since we were on my bike. They brought everything we needed, from two carriers, to a litter box and litter, to kitten food, and some toys.

Right now, Moira is giggling, the sound so free and pure, I can't help the grin that crosses my face. She's using a wand with a toy at the end, wiggling it across the floor as the kittens chase it.

"Have you decided on names, honey?" I ask, sipping on a beer.

She looks at me, her face open and happy, and replies, "Either Archie and Atlas, or Sushi and Timmy."

The diversity of her choices has me bursting into laughter, which startles both the kittens, who immediately run under the huge chair in the corner, hissing and spitting.

"Did the rescue name them already?" I question, once I've gotten myself under control.

"Well," she drawls out, "apparently, they allowed one of their grandkids to name all the kitties, but because the child is young, they only ‘saw' one black kitten, since the other one would hide. So, they named it Tiny Tim because it's so small. It's just that I don't remember any of the other characters from the movie."

"What movie, babe?"

"The Muppet Christmas Carol. It's a take on the Ebenezer Scrooge story," she replies.

Once again, I start laughing, barely managing to choke out, "The Muppet Christmas Carol? Really, Moira?"

She starts snickering while she nods. "Yeah, I knew the story, of course, but that first Christmas at college with Belle, she had me watching all the movies, and that was one of my favorites, Kracken."

"Okay, so Tiny Tim is a good one, then. What's the story with Sushi?" I ask.

"Well, it's Belle again, Kracken. She introduced me to it and it's one of my favorite things to eat. Not all of it, of course, but some of it is pretty tasty."

"Timmy and Sushi sounds good, roisin," he states. "Because judging from the size of their paws, they're both gonna be decent sizes when they fully mature."

"Then that's what we'll call them." Turning, she crawls over to where both kittens are still peeking out and coos at them. "Come here, babies, let momma tell you your names, okay?" They slowly crawl out and she picks up the one wearing a blue collar and says, "Hey, Timmy. How's my sweet boy?"

I watch in amazement as the kitten nuzzles against her, his purrs getting so loud I can hear him across the room. She then cuddles the other one and he snuggles against her neck. "They look content, babe," I tell her.

"Yeah," she says, her voice soft.

Suddenly, I can see her looking like that after she comes, and I feel my dick harden beneath my jeans. My growing attraction to her has been difficult to hide, but like I told her, she sets the pace, not me. I'll just grab another shower and rub one out. No one ever died from jerking off, did they?

"Gonna grab a shower, honey. Do you want anything before I head in there?" I ask.

"I'm good, Kracken. Thank you for today. It's been the best day I've had in a very long time. Not since before Belle and I were abducted. Do you know how long we'll be staying here?" she questions, her eyes on me.

"Not sure, Brick said they'd let us know when Lynchburg was dealt with," I reply.

* * *

By the time I get done with my shower, Moira is in bed, the kittens curled up on my pillow as she giggles over something playing on the television. "I see you've replaced me," I tease, moving toward my side of the bed. "Seems these scamps are living their best lives, huh?"

"No more cages," she whispers, "for any of us."

She scoops them off the pillow and after a bit of hissing, they resettle at the foot of the bed on her calves. I slide in between the sheets, very aware that she's lying next to me. Her scent envelopes me, pulling me into her universe. Not that she had to try all that hard, if I'm being completely honest with myself.

Rolling to my side, I keep my eyes on her face and ask, "Are you doing okay with all of this, Moira?"

I watch her eyes get a little glassy and know she's fighting back tears. Reaching out my hand, I take hers in mine and start rubbing my thumb across the top of her hand. She takes a few deep, shuddering breaths, and then closes her eyes.

"I think one of the things I regret the most is you won't be my first," she whispers, glancing at me.

I move closer and cup her face in my hands. "Baby, I need you to hear me when I say this, okay? First of all, what happened to you wasn't consensual, roisin. So, regardless of if there was one time or a hundred times, when we decide to take us to that level, it will be your first time, because you're choosing to have sex. Do you understand the difference?"

"I… I think so, Kracken. It's just one of those stupid things rattling around in my head. I wish I could forget all the things they did to me," she whispers.

"You know that Dragon and Wrecker can help you with that," I remind her. "They can dull those memories so that you no longer feel that pain in your soul."

"Maybe I will," she replies. "Kracken, can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything, babe."

"Will you kiss me? Please?" Her voice is barely above a whisper as she glances at me. I can see her cheeks pinken as she waits for my reply.

Since we're already both face to face and I'm cupping her cheek, I lean closer and softly brush my lips across hers. The slight hitch in her breath has me pulling her closer and tilting her head sideways before I deepen the kiss. I take my cues from her, so when she relaxes into me, I glide my tongue across her lower lip, and when she opens, I slip it inside her mouth. Soon, we're learning each other's taste, as one of my hands delves into her hair, pulling her closer. Long, blissful minutes pass until we pull apart, both of us desperate for oxygen.

She reaches up and touches her lips with her fingers, wonder on her face as she looks at me. "I never ever thought I'd feel anything ever again," she whispers as one lone tear rolls down her face. "For so long, whenever it happened, and trust me, they didn't kiss or do anything resembling it, I would go somewhere else in my head. It's another reason I wouldn't talk for so long, Kracken. When you grow up hearing that children should be seen and not heard, then you're beaten whenever you do speak, it's ingrained in you to keep quiet. I tried, when we were first taken, to talk back, to fight, but as much as I was used to being hurt by my father, what they did was so much worse. They tore down the self-worth and self-confidence I built up and started reinforcing what my father raised me to believe, they just changed the words slightly to women should be seen and not heard. They told me I was only good for one thing, to be the bearer of more children for ‘the cause'."

The tears are flowing even faster, so I pull her fully into my arms and begin soothing her, running my hands up and down her back as she cries it all out. "Get it all gone, baby," I murmur. "You're safe with me, always. Dump all that garbage right here and I'll take care of it for you."

"One… one of the things I was so worried about was that they'd give me something, you know? Because there are worse things than pregnancy, although thankfully, that didn't happen. Seeing how they keep the kids was eye-opening. The ones who were born from their abuse of the women they were keeping were immediately separated from their mothers. I couldn't have done that. I don't know if I'd be a good mom, but there's no way I wouldn't want to at least try. I definitely would do better than they did."

"You know that Angel physically healed you, right?" I cautiously question.

"Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?" she asks.

"Well, I don't claim to understand what he does, but it means that if they had given you anything, anything at all, he took care of it with what he did for you."

"So… so I don't have to worry about it anymore," she murmurs, touching my face.

"Ah, sweetheart, you've been worrying about that all this time?" I question.

She nods, more tears trickling down. I'm not good with crying females, but don't seem to have that problem where Moira is concerned. "Yeah, because I know they were raping me, and I knew deep inside I'd have to come to terms with all of that, but the thought that I might find someone down the road to love, and something they gave me could be passed on to them? It terrified me, Kracken."

"Well, you have nothing to worry about, honey," I reply. "Now, how about you snuggle in close, and we'll get some sleep. I thought we'd go for a ride tomorrow if it's nice outside, now that I have riding gear for you."

She giggles, because in addition to stopping at Buc-ee's, we also stopped at the Chunky River Harley Davidson store outside of Meridian, and every one of us dropped a chunk of change. Hell, two of the guys from Cedar Creek bought new bikes, so Dragon had to get a bike trailer to attach to one of their trucks that a prospect was driving so they could take it with them. I also got her several sweet looking HD tank tops, and she picked out one for Belle.

"I'd like that," she says, cuddling closer to me. "Thank you."

"For what, babe?"

"For kissing me," she shyly replies.

"Any time, roisin. Now, sleep."

"Okay."