Chapter Eight

It took less than an hour for Arthur to give them a tour of  the little village called Hopeville.  He was careful to explain where the village boundaries lay.  Although he didn’t give a reason sufficient enough to satisfy Kendra, he was adamant in his request that they remain within the boundaries of the village at all times.  If they did need to leave, he was insistent that they take one of the villagers with them.  Since she and Rex had already given him a decent display of their ability to take care of themselves in the event of a beastly encounter, Kendra suspected that there was more behind his request than the simple fear of extinct creature encounters.  She considered approaching him about it, but, then, thought better of it.  There would be a right time for all questions without pushing at the wrong time for them to be answered.

When they were finally left to their own devices, the group split up.  Much to Felix’s puzzlement and dismay, Ari was still sulking.  He’d been too tired the night before to perform for her in the bedroom.  Something in his gut told him that was the reason why she sulked like she did, but he couldn’t be sure.  If that was the case, he felt renewed enough to make up for it so he pulled her off to a secluded location where they could make love in the open air.  He found that the naughtiness of their behavior helped his body rise to the occasion with greater ease.  He didn’t exactly understand the reason why. After all, Ari was a very pretty woman.  She may not have the voluptuous curves to match Kendra, but she was certainly pleasing to the eye and womanly in her own right.  In fact, she’d captured his eye from the first moment he saw her.

He guessed that it was just the adrenaline rush from the possibility of being caught that aided to his arousal.

Although she willingly made love to her husband, Ari couldn’t erase the sound of Felix moaning for Kendra in his sleep from her mind.  She pushed it as far into the background as she could while she focused on the pleasure that he was giving her, but it stuck around just enough to taint the experience.  If he noticed, he said nothing.

After an hour of delicious, decadent sex on the forest floor along the village’s edge, the newlyweds pulled themselves back together and headed back toward the main village.  They hadn’t gone far before the faint sounds  of a man and woman in the throes of passion caught their attention.   Huddling behind a large shrub, they peered in the direction of the couple. 

Felix silently sucked in air at the sight of the thin rays of sunlight that managed to penetrate the thick canopy of foliage above them dancing across Kendra’s naked flesh as she rode Rex with the power of an athlete. 

Ari stole a quick glance at her husband when Kendra arched her back in ecstasy.  The move caused her abundant breasts to protrude proudly.  She tried not to show the hurt as she watched Felix lick his lips while his eyes clouded with need as Rex’s strong hands grasped a full breast and pulled it close. She had all she could do not to slap her husband as she watched his tongue mimic Rex’s tongue as he  took his time laving her hardened, rosy nipple before sucking it deep into his mouth while never interrupting the rhythm of their thrusts.

Clearing her throat, she pulled at his arm until he finally looked away.  “It’s wrong to watch like that.”

His face was flushed as he spoke in a breathy manner. “It is, but it’s also hot.  I wonder if we look like that when we’re together.”

“I don’t have breasts like hers,” Ari pouted. “And you’ve never licked my nipples like that.”

Felix looked upon his lovely wife’s pretty face while he thought on what to say.  She was correct in her statement, but he knew that she needed to hear him say something to counter it.  The problem was that he could think of nothing. It was true that he’d never paid her breasts the attention that he knew he’d pay Kendra’s.  How could he? Kendra had enormous, well-shaped breasts with large, rosy nipples that just begged to be touched and sucked while Ari had small little mounds with tiny, non-distinct man-like nipples that almost blended into the background as if they were happy to be left alone and ignored.  Of course, they hadn’t been, but they hadn’t been revered in the way that Rex was revering Kendra’s bulbous rosebuds either.

Knowing nothing else to do, he informed her that her breasts were perfect before pulling her to him and kissing her long and hard while fondling her small, but shapely breast; taking extra care to tug and tease her tiny, non-distinct nipple.  When he released her, she was flushed and smiling.  Satisfied that he’d done the right thing to save the moment, he held her close while stealing one more look at Kendra’s beautiful body.  Once again, he mentally lamented over the fact that he was a cousin who’d been raised like a brother to her.  Even if Rex wasn’t in the picture, she’d never look upon him as anything more than that.

Feeling guilty about pining for a cousin when he was in possession of such a sweet and lovely wife, he pushed his lamentations into the recesses of his mind and pulled his wife further into the trees and away from the scene before them.  He’d longed to be with Ari for so long before they finally connected, he simply couldn’t understand why his cravings for Kendra were stronger since he’d captured Ari’s heart rather than weaker.  Was it simply a matter of wanting what he couldn’t  have?

Whatever the reason,  it was time to get back to reality and reality was that he had a pretty wife who was giving him a child.  That should be more than enough for any man in the best of times.  It being the worst of times in general and considering that he’d never be able to father a child of his own after what Baelil had done to his manhood, it was like a miraculous gift that he’d be a fool to take for granted.

With her face flushed and her voice breathy, Ari asked, “Do you still love me?”

His brows raised in surprise as he stopped and turned to look at her. “I’m shocked that you’d even ask that.”

She looked away while she debated about telling him that he’d called for Kendra in his sleep in a tone that could only be described as sensual.  It could open a can of spoiled food that she wasn’t sure she wanted to deal with.  Perhaps it would be better to simply ignore it.  After all, his love making and kisses were powerful.  Had they been weak, she’d worry that he was forcing them.   As it was, she felt confident that when he made love to her, it was real; as were his kisses.  If only she didn’t sense that he had feelings for Kendra.  It wasn’t just his mumblings while sleeping.  There were times when he looked at his cousin in a way that reeked of need and longing.  She’d witnessed it too many times to believe that she was imagining things.  She wondered if anyone else saw what she saw or was she just that in tune with her husband that she could see and feel his emotions?  Surely, Olga was astute enough to have detected it.  Had she broached the topic with Felix and done her best to squelch it?  Clearly, she hadn’t encouraged it and Felix hadn’t acted upon it like Rupert had. 

Shaking her head, she smiled at her husband. “I’m being silly, my love.  I think all of this chaos so soon after our wedding is effecting me more than I thought possible.”

“Are you worried about what will happen when you return to Center Land?” he asked.

“I don’t know of anyone who has left there and then returned,” she replied.

“Surely someone has,” he said, thoughtfully.

She heaved a sigh. “It’s my understanding that they frown upon it.  Other than the ones who are assigned to transport people to and from there, I know of no one who’s been back.  Those who transport us never speak of it.  It’s such a secretive operation when I think about it.”

“Why do you think that is?”  he asked as he resumed walking.

“I’m not sure,” she replied. “It’s much easier living on the surface than it is there, so I can’t imagine they’d have to worry about overpopulation from those sent to the surface wanting to go back.”

He stopped short. “Now, that surprises me.  I’d think just the opposite.”

“Because of the zombies and aliens?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.   

“First of all, the hologram protects us from both the zombies and the aliens for the most part,” she offered.  “They don’t possess the rigid lifestyle and strict rules on the surface.  Center Land is where the training of the children is done.”  She shrugged as she initiated resuming walking.   “Children need structure and discipline more than adults.  By the time we are sent to the surface, we’re already trained and conditioned.”

Felix scowled. “What about the adults and families that ran to inner earth to escape the war.  If it’s easier on the surface, why don’t they return?”

Ari gave a look of surprise. “You know… I never met any of them.  All I remember of Center Land is the campus that I was raised on.  This is the first I’ve seen anything more of inner earth.”  She looked around and smiled. “It’s really quite lovely.”

He smiled and pulled her close as they continued to walk out of the woods.  “It certainly is, my love.”