Page 12

Chapter Eleven

MAVERICK

I ’m almost ashamed that my dick got hard when she asked me to knock her out. Watching the light fade from her eyes was just as beautiful as watching her come. As soon as she’s unconscious on the log, I rush into action. Honestly, I’m worried she’s going to wake back up during this process, and if that happens, I will have to tie her down. I’m seriously cursing myself for not bringing more heavy-duty pain killers, but I also didn’t plan on picking up a stray out here either. I transfer the supplies to the ground, resanitize them with the alcohol, and plop down on the hard earth next to them with the fire warming my back. Gently I grasp her wrist in my hand and lay it over my knee and say a prayer for whoever the fuck is listening that I can get this done without any interruptions.

The first stitch feels like I’m dismantling a bomb as I hold my breath and push the needle quickly through her skin. It stretches like elastic before it finally pokes out the other side. More blood flows down her arm, but I pay it no mind as I keep going all the while checking to make sure she’s still out. Ten stitches later, she’s still comatose, and I’ve finished the job. Picking up the alcohol, I spill it over her arm before wrapping several layers of gauze around the wound and securing it with medical tape. I lay her arm across her chest and grab the compact double sleeping bag out of my pack and drape it over her. Next, digging around and snagging out the only two cans of ravioli that we have left. I use my knife to chisel away at the tops of them and nestle them both at the edge of the fire. By the time she wakes back up, they should be warm to eat, which I’m sure she will appreciate after all that shit.

After about twenty minutes, Mallory stirs on the log behind me, a groan slipping from her lips. She turns over, and if I wasn’t sitting next to her, she would have tumbled off the log. I steady her back into her spot; her brows are pulled together in the middle, lips pursed in a cute little scrunch.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Pet. How are you feeling?” She takes a moment to contemplate what I asked, assumingly assessing her body for her pain levels. She opens her mouth to speak, but then thinks better of it and raises her injured arm to inspect it before finally answering.

“I feel like I just got used as someone's voodoo doll, so how do you think I’m feeling right now?” I let the sass in her voice slide because I know she’s in pain, but that doesn’t stop the glare I send her way in warning. “A seven out of ten.” She finally answers with a roll of her eyes. As beautiful as those eyes are, I’m so tired of seeing them fucking roll around in annoyance. I reach out and grip her chin in my hand, forcing her to look me in the eyes.

“Let’s get one thing straight, Pet. If I see you roll your eyes one more time, I’m going to bend you over my knee and spank that ass red. I don’t give a fuck if you’re injured or not.” Her eyes go wide with shock. I don’t think anyone has ever talked to her like I have these last few days. She definitely strikes me as someone who’s used to being on the top of the food chain, always in control, and never letting her walls down. “We need to get something into your stomach after all that mess. Need to keep your energy up; we’re heading out at first light.” She let’s out a whine as she shifts her body to slide down the log and onto the ground next to me, bringing the sleeping bag with her. I drape the fabric over both of our laps before digging out some sporks I snagged at the last house from my pack and handing her one. I grab a thick sock out of my pack and fold it in my hand twice before grabbing a can of ravioli out of the fire and handing them both to her. She sniffs the steam from the can and practically moans from the smell. I grab another sock and grab my own can, stirring the contents before taking a bite. I don’t care what you think, but hot ravioli hits so much different than the cold shit.

“Thank you.” Mallory’s soft voice drifts to my ears. Glancing over at her, she’s just staring at her can of ravioli, not even taking a bite yet.

“For what?” I mumble around a bite of food, the heat of the inside burning my tongue on contact.

“Feeding me. Fixing me. Just taking care of me. I didn’t think you actually would when you told me that you would care for me back at the house. It’s kinda weird having someone else care for me. I’m used to just taking care of myself.” Her head hangs, still staring at the steaming can of food.

“Eat, Mallory.” My demanding voice leaves no room for her to disobey me, so she finally digs in and pulls out a ravioli. She is much smarter than I am, because she blows on this one to cool it down before popping it into her mouth, moaning at the taste, making me smirk. “Also… You’re welcome, but don’t thank me for this shit going forward. I told you that you’re my Pet now, and all of that comes with the territory of owning you.” She nods at my words, seeming too tired to argue with me, and we finish eating in silence.

There’s something peaceful about sitting by a fire late at night, in the middle of nowhere. But there’s also something nerve-wracking about it too. I’m grateful that we haven’t attracted any zombies yet, and I'm crossing my fingers that it stays that way, but I’m not sure how long our luck will get us. The fire starts to slowly die down while Mallory starts to nod off next to me. I grab a bottle of water from her pack, handing it to her, before grabbing my own and using it to clean the sporks and drinking the rest myself. By the time I’m done packing everything back into both packs, she’s guzzled down the whole bottle and throwing the remains into the fire pit.

“Come on, we need to get some sleep before it gets too late.” Picking up the sleeping bag first, I toss it over my shoulder, grabbing both packs in one hand, and then reach down to help Mallory to her feet. Directing her towards the tent, unzipping it, and ushering her inside. I lay the sleeping bag down in the middle of the tent, with the packs in the corner. “It’s not the Ritz Carlton, but it’s better than nothing. Hope you’re good with sharing.” I shuck my T-shirt off and toss it in the corner with the packs before unlacing my boots and adding them next to the door. Mallory hasn’t moved from her crouch by the door since we entered the tent. “Well, what are you waiting for? Take your boots off, and get in.” I tuck myself into the sleeping bag, waiting for Mallory to get her ass in next to me. She takes her sweet time discarding her boots before slipping in next to me, her head instantly laying on my chest.

I fall asleep with my hand tangled in her hair and her soft snores echoing through the tent. A few hours later I’m shaken awake by a frantic Mallory, and I instantly grab the gun and flashlight from the ground that I had laid out next to me. “What is it?” I demand, scrambling out of the sleeping bag and crawling towards the door of the tent. I unzip the zipper and peer out, sweeping the flashlight side to side, and the only thing out there is fucking trees and silence. “There’s nothing there; go back to sleep.” I say with annoyance, lacing my voice and turning back towards the sleeping bag.

“Wait! I know there’s nothing there; I have to pee, Maverick!” Her mouth is turned down into a frown, fists clutched at her sides, and she’s swaying back and forth. I raise my eyebrow in disbelief that she would actually wake me up for something like that. “I’m serious, Mav, I have to go! ” The pitiful whine in her voice almost makes me laugh.

“Okay, then go; I’m not stopping you.” I say with a laugh as I lay back down on the sleeping bag and hand her the flashlight.

“Uh, where am I supposed to go?” The complete stupidity of her question catches me off guard, and I burst out laughing. “Stop laughing at me! Seriously, I need to pee so bad, Maverick, I can’t hold it anymore!” Her eyes glaze over with unshed tears, and that quiets my laughter, because that’s when I realize she’s never been camping a day in her life.

“Fuck, okay, come on.” I grab the flashlight back from her, and we both shuffle out of the tent, zipping it back up behind us. I walk us about fifty feet away from the tent before stopping and pointing the light at a spot on the ground, making sure there’s nothing harmful around our feet. She just stands there looking at me like I have three heads. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

“What do you expect me to do right now? I thought you were taking me to the bathroom!” Her squeal echoes through the trees.

“Do you fucking see a bathroom anywhere, princess? If you haven’t noticed, we are in the middle of nowhere. Squat and piss!” I say with a growl as I sweep my arms out around us to emphasize the empty woods around us.

“You have got to be kidding me right now. No fucking way!” Mallory shakes her head and starts to back up and head back towards the tent.

“I fucking swear, Mallory, if you don’t squat and piss right now, I will make you.”

“Yeah? How the hell do you plan on doing that?” She stands a few feet away with her hands planted on her cocked hip, her head tilted to the side, eyebrow raised.

“Do you really want to find out, Pet?” I take a step towards her, and she just stands there, eyeing me, trying to decide which path she wants to take. I would love to humiliate her right here in the woods, but I am also not sure if she will be able to take it.

“Fuck you.” The venom in her voice makes me laugh, and I toss the flashlight to the ground at our feet and lunge at her. Grabbing her around the waist and tossing her onto the ground on her back. Her breath comes out in a whoosh as the wind is knocked out of her lungs.

“Just remember, you chose this.” I lean over her and whisper into her ear before flipping her onto her stomach. Her squeal of surprise pierces my ears. I hold her down with a knee on her back while I pull off her boots that she didn’t even bother to lace up and then shimmy her pants off, tossing them behind me. Her pale ass glows in the moonlight, making my mouth water with the urge to lean down and bite her perfect cheeks. “Last chance, Mallory, because I promise you, you aren’t going to like what comes next.”

“Fuck you! Get off of me, you damn caveman!” She wiggles under my knee, trying desperately to get away.

I replace my knee with a hand on the back of her neck, squishing the side of her face into the leaves and dirt below her, and using my other hand, I lift her hips up from the ground and force my thigh under her pelvis, laying my other arm across her lower back and applying pressure. She screams once she realizes what I’m trying to do, her hands clawing at the ground, trying to pull away from me, and the pressure on her bladder. I push harder, her back popping in the process, and then I hear the loud stream of her piss finally releasing along with her sobs. Her back shakes with her sobs, and her body goes limp in my arms as her bladder empties. I hold her in that position well after she’s done pissing, letting her lay there and cry in her humiliation. Once all I hear is quiet sniffling and the rustle of the trees, I let up on her back and neck, falling back onto my ass on the dirt, and pulling her into my lap. Her head hangs, hands clasped in front of her, like a child after a punishment, and damn the sight goes straight to my dick.

“Next time I tell you to do something, you do it, Mallory. Nothing about this is going to be glamorous, and you’re going to have to get over your prissy self if you want to survive. There’s only so much I can do. You have to put in just a little effort here too.” I grip her chin between my thumb and forefinger, tilting her face up to mine. The moonlight glinting off the tears that stain her red cheeks. Small, insignificant scratches litter the side that I had pressed into the dirt.

“I-I'm sorry, sir, I understand. It won’t happen again.” She says with a hiccup and a sniffle, but I know all too well that it will happen again, and I will relish the next time I humiliate her for disobeying. I help her to her feet, dressing her first in her sweatpants, and then slip her boots back onto her feet. We walk back to the tent hand in hand, ushering her inside and straight to the sleeping bag. It’s not long before her snores fill the tent, and I’m finally able to fall asleep myself.