Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

BILLIE

W ell, being fucked within an inch of my life while bent over outside the second-story window of my bar was not on my to-do list for the day, but I mentally checked it off with a flourish. I gasped as Steve ratcheted up his thrusts, holding onto my hips with bruising pressure. I arched my back into him, wanting more. The textured girth of his cock sliding in and out of me was causing stars to burst in my vision. I was close.

"My clit, use your fingers on my clit," I breathed.

Steve let go of my hip and somewhat clumsily tried to wrap his arm around my waist. I took my hand and guided him down to my folds, showing him how to find my clit from this position. It took a second, but once we were there, he circled my clit the way he knew I liked at the same rhythm he pounded into me from behind. The sensation coming from both positions had me crying out with pleasure, unable to keep quiet.

"Is this—is this good?" Steve wrapped himself around me, kissing my neck.

"Are you kidding? This is fucking incredible."

Steve widened his stance just slightly and pushed in just a bit deeper, breaching me with his knot. My entire body lit up at the added friction. I was on the edge of tipping over into oblivion. Steve ramped up his thrusts into mindless rutting while adding pressure to the tight circles he drew around my clit. I pushed my ass back into him at the same pace, wanting to devour his entire cock with every thrust, feeling his knot pop in and out. My body started to lock up as Steve gave a feral groan.

"Come with me." I wrapped my arm around his neck again so his face was flush with mine, both of us panting and sticky with sweat.

Steve's cock grew impossibly thicker as I clamped down on him, flying over the edge. I opened my mouth in a silent scream as I came, vision blurring. Steve pumped into me once, twice more, and I felt him unload spurt after spurt of cum, locking us together as his knot grew larger. I leaned back against his sweaty chest, panting as I came down. He nuzzled into my neck, inhaling my scent and brushing tender kisses across my sticky skin. He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me as we both settled.

"That was—" he started, voice husky.

"It sure was," I cut him off.

"Is this how sex always is? This…er…" Steve fumbled over his words, but I knew what he was trying to ask.

"No. Sex has not always been like this. Sometimes, it's outright boring if you have a partner who doesn't care about what you enjoy."

"But seeing you come undone is half enjoyment." Steve sounded baffled.

"Well, then you are head and shoulders above half the guys I've slept with." I laughed.

"And that's good?"

I looked over my shoulder into Steve's concerned eyes. "Yes, very good," I said, kissing him. "We need to get cleaned up before people return from lunch, though."

"I think just a minute more," he said. "What do we have to clean up with?"

"Uhhh…"

"I'll run and get one of the clean rags we're using for the lacquering," Steve volunteered.

"And you're just going to leave me here with your cum dripping out of me?" I asked.

"Well, unless you have a better idea?" Like I might pull baby wipes out of a magical unknown pocket.

"Yeah, let's start having sex in my bedroom. Where I have a sink. And a toilet." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Okay, I'll slide out and run to get rags—just hold your knees together?" he said helplessly.

"Yeah, I'll try that. I am sure it will keep the gallon of cum you just unloaded inside me in place." I snorted.

Steve slipped out with an audible squelch, and I pressed my knees and thighs together to try to prevent cum from completely filling my pants, which were still only half down.

Steve hiked his pants up and ran downstairs for rags. I couldn't help but laugh while he was gone. Our appetites for each other were getting us into trickier and trickier scenarios. But I couldn't help it. Every time I saw him, my body reacted with must fuck now. It was barely a minute later when Steve returned, rags in hand. We both cleaned up the best we could, though I was definitely still sticky. So much cum. Why so much cum? I got the most of it off and out of me and redressed myself.

"And what should we do with all this?" I waved my hand at the small pile of rags we created.

"Leave them up here for now. I will come back after dinner and dispose of them. We aren't working on the attic tonight anyway."

Well, it was the best plan we had for the narrow window of time we had. I straightened my clothes and redid my bun. Assessing Steve, he needed to pull his fingers through his hair and adjust his tunic. Then we'd both look mostly presentable and not as if we'd just fucked out a window. I worried a bit about the smell, but nothing could be done about it. We were out of time. Maybe the other orkin would think I was perpetually horny, and I was kind of fine with that. I went downstairs first, telling Steve to wait a minute in case anyone had arrived. Finding the main bar empty, I called Steve down to join me.

"Quick, where were we at lunch?" I asked him.

He gave me a look that plainly said, how the fuck should I know? Great. Another lie for me to cover up. Our noisy group approached, and my brain spun into overdrive. Why would Steve and I skip lunch? Ugh, why couldn't I think of anything? I took a few steps away from Steve, so it didn't look like we'd been doing…what we'd been doing.

Joey and Reykr were the first to walk in, followed by Berit and Tyr. Joey and Reykr gave us both knowing looks but said nothing. Berit and Tyr seemed unaffected and returned to the walls they'd been working on. I joined them to stay far away from Steve. We were almost done with all the internal walls, and it was getting close to time to move in furniture.

As we worked, Tyr asked, "Have you considered doing a cleansing ritual before we open the bar?"

"A cleansing ritual?" I cocked a brow.

"There is a certain herb you burn around a new building to ensure prosperity and a good future. We do it at our tribe whenever we build a new home," Berit explained.

I wasn't sure if I believed in any of that—I was not a spiritual person at all—but if it was important to them, I'd give it a go.

"Sure, when do you want to do it?" I asked.

"Well, it is supposed to be done at the full moon, which happens to be tonight," Tyr interjected. "That is why we thought about it; we discussed it at lunch."

"Okay, do you want to meet back here after the last meal?" I asked. This all seemed a bit weird, but who was I to judge their traditions? I didn't want to offend their tribe or Steve by association. If they burned herbs to cleanse a new building… cool.

"Sure, we will bring everyone from Snaerfírar," Berit said, finishing the last of the log he was working on.

Dinner was a loud and boisterous affair. Everyone was excited because we were getting so close to finishing the bar. Steve kept sneaking what he thought were surreptitious glances at me. We hadn't planned a "date" for tonight, but he didn't know I intended to take him back to my room after the Snaerfírar smoke ritual. I needed him, and I needed him badly. Once we finished dinner, we parted ways. I winked at Steve before leaving, knowing I would see him shortly. I was off for another shower before we met Steve and the rest of his tribe for the cleansing ritual. With the way Steve and I kept at it, I would have to start showering twice daily. This would not be good for my curls. I really needed to talk to the healer again about some conditioner situation.

Showered and ready, I practically skipped to Joey's room and barged in without knocking. We'd gotten so close that I was completely unfazed to find her half-dressed, nude from the waist up.

"Well, aren't we in a hurry," she teased as she pulled a tunic over her head and laced up her boots.

"Do you believe in this smoke-cleansing situation?" I asked, tapping my foot impatiently.

"I dunno. My grandparents used to burn incense at religious ceremonies, but I was too young to remember. I am like you; I don't really believe it, but what's the harm?" She finished with her shoes and stood.

We linked arms and headed to the bar.

"So, how are things with Steve?" She waggled her brows at me.

"Well. We fucked during lunch, and it was mind-blowing," I said, biting my lip. "I don't know if it is the fancy cock, the raw-dogging, or the fact that I am super into him, but I have never had sex like this before."

"Girl, if you keep up at this pace, you will have to let people know. They aren't going to believe your secret berry-picking expeditions forever. You're still drinking the birth control tea, right?"

"Ha. Definitely. It still makes me a little nervous that it is just a tea . I would rather have a pill or something like Piper's arm implant, but Emla ensured us the tea worked, so I'm counting on it. And drinking it every morning like a religion," I assured her.

I didn't want to think about babies with Steve yet. I wanted to think about pinning him down and teaching him every single sex position I could imagine.

When we arrived at the bar, we found only Tyr and Berit carrying two torches with dried herbs tied to them.

"Where are Reykr and Steve?" I asked immediately.

Tyr and Berit gave each other an odd look that made me feel a bit uneasy.

"We needed one more torch, so they ran back to Emla to get more herbs," Tyr said.

He sounded confident, and that seemed logical, so I decided not to question it further. Tyr handed us one of the torches and a fire starter. I cocked a brow at him.

"You start ahead of us because it is your space. We follow behind. It will create a dense, sweet-smelling smoke. Start with the attic, and we will follow and start on the main floor. Take the smoke into each corner of the room." He pushed the small of my back toward the door.

Joey and I looked at each other uncertainly but stepped inside. Joey took the fire starter and struck the flint, creating a spark. It lit the dried herbs immediately. Joey tucked the fire starter away, and we headed upstairs together, holding the torch. As the herbs continued to burn, a thick smoke emanated from the torch. It smelled sickly sweet, like rotten fruit. We took the torch from corner to corner in the attic until the whole room was filled with hazy smoke.

As we breathed in the smell, I started to feel a bit lightheaded. I hadn't thought to ask if the smoke was safe for humans. Starting to get nervous, I looked at Joey just in time to see her eyes roll back in her head and her whole body start to sag, only being held up by the arm linked with mine.

"Joey?" I cried, dropping the torch to catch her as she fell to the floor. It went out almost immediately.

I was on my knees, holding her crumpled body. I checked to see if she was still breathing and was going to cry out for help when my vision narrowed to pinpoints, then went out entirely.