Awakening the Beast Pt. 04: Covenant

Author's note: This story starts where Pt. 3 left off. While not required, Pts 1-3 are recommended first, to follow the story. Do enjoy. There will be more to come very soon. All copyrights reserved to the original author. - TIB

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Kelly and Caelin walked arm in arm after the fireworks show, enjoying the late evening, leisurely strolling slowly on the sidewalk. It was a peaceful night, and they were both feeling good after their nice time during the fireworks, Caelin's anxiety ameliorated. They steered clear of crowds, but after a few blocks their path led them near the town hall where a small group had gathered.

There was about a dozen people bunched in the middle, with others standing around, recording with their cell phones or waving signs.

Caelin stopped, not moving, staring at the group from several dozen yards across the street. Kelly tugged on his arm anxiously, away from the throng.

"Let's go," she urged. He didn't budge. Kelly looked over at the group, a sinking feeling building in the pit of her stomach.

"NOT MY COUNTRY" read one sign. "TOLLERATION NOT HATE" read another. Nice spelling. A third had only a big black peace symbol slathered on a pink poster board. "DEATH TO ZIONIST PIGS" read another. In the middle of the bunch there was a small stand to which was a large American flag was attached upside down, dripping fluid.

"This country is the real terrorist!" shouted one woman, wearing sunglasses and a black bandanna over her face. A cheer went up from the center of the group.

"This is what we do when we don't agree! My life matters!" shouted a young man wearing a dark ski mask, pumping his fist into the air. He held a butane lighter. Another cheer.

Kelly looked nervously at Caelin. He stood as motionless as a statue, his jaw clenched. "No," she said to him, guessing what might be about to happen. "Please don't."

Caelin gave no reaction. Ski mask man ignited the lighter in the air. Yet another cheer. Then with everyone watching in captive fascination, he moved the lighter towards the flag.

Caelin turned his head towards Kelly and spoke softly, a gentle expression in his eyes, as if conveying an imperative that no one might ever truly comprehend.

"I must."

Ski mask man touched the flag, which burst into bright flames.

Caelin flew into motion, breaking from Kelly's grasp. She knew there was no chance of stopping him. He strode deftly towards the event.

The center group erupted in riotous glee at the flaming spectacle, screaming obscenities, as the surrounding onlookers took a step back in shock and a natural reaction to the red, orange, and white blaze. As Caelin approached, an older black man with a white beard and black leather vest jumped into the middle, yelling commandingly at the mob.

"NO! GET BACK!"

The rioters stepped back in surprise, stunned. Before they could react, Caelin burst his way through the group, moving at speed, and body tackled the flag structure, driving it to the ground. He threw his large frame onto the structure, wrapping it in his big arms, and rolled left and right on the flames. His jacket caught on fire momentarily. Even the bearded man stood for a split second, shocked, then dove on top of Caelin, swatting his clothing, putting out the residual flames. They came to a stop, and there was silence, everyone trying to collect their wits in an uncertain situation.

"Hey!" Squealed the woman with the black bandanna in surprise, taking a half step back. "You... you can't do that!"

The bearded man rose to one knee and glared silently at the mob. No one moved. He commanded the situation just with his presence. Then he turned and extended a hand to Caelin.

"You alright, son?"

They clasped forearms and helped each other to their feet, looking at one other as if they had known each other for years. Caelin clutched the burned remnants of the flag to his breast with his other hand, as if protecting a priceless treasure. The entire crowd stood in stunned silence, not sure what they were witnessing. The older man spoke first to Caelin, so quiet Kelly could barely hear him although she had unassumingly approached the outer rings of the crowd.

"501st. Hamburger Hill, '69." Caelin's back toward Kelly, she couldn't hear his reply. Their arms still clasped, they look at one other with an unspoken bond, then turned toward Kelly to walk away together.

"Hey!" screeched the young man in the ski mask, yelling indignantly at their backs. "I have a right to burn the flag! I'm entitled!"

The duo stopped and turned. Caelin spoke with a controlled but booming voice.

"Yes you do. And I suppose you are," he pointed a tempered finger at the young masked man. "I fought so YOU could have that right."

The black man beside Caelin straightened his black leather vest, touching a ribbon, and then pointed at another rioter. "Quite right. My best friends died so you, sir, could have that right."

Caelin pointed at a third rioter, with greasy dreadlocks and a T-shirt saying "99%!" "But for every right you have to burn this flag, I not only have a right to put out that fire, but a responsibility to do so."

Caelin and his older companion looked at each other, then without another word turned together and walked away. The crowd parted for them, cell phones turning and gawking their direction as they passed. The crowd murmured, but did no more towards the men.

Leaving the crowd, Caelin and the older man reached Kelly. The black gentleman nodded at Kelly with a "Ma'am." Then under his breath he said, "It's time to go," and walked off.

Kelly took Caelin's right arm. He winced but went along. She muttered, "My place. It's only a few blocks from here."

They strode away at a good pace, Caelin looking behind to see if anyone was following them. They were alone. Approaching Kelly's apartment building, Caelin started shaking. She took him by the hand, steadying his walk, unlocked the door, and led him into the apartment. His legs gave way as he sat down hard on her couch.

"Let me get you a drink," she said, going to her liquor cabinet in the kitchen. She grabbed a tumbler glass, threw in a couple cubes of ice, and poured in some Irish whiskey.

Coming back out, Kelly froze, suddenly struck with wonderment by the sight before her. Strip away the setting of her apartment living room, and it could have been a soul-crushing painting in any war museum. Here was this big, strong, solitary man, who had obviously been through and seen so much, sitting, bent forward in pain and tears. He clutched the tatters of the American flag to his chest as if it were the most precious, vulnerable thing in the world, charred black, red, white, and blue between his fingers. He rocked slightly, body visibly shaking, tears dripping down his face. His skin was reddened and burned by the fire, with patches of blackened soot smudges, his salt-and-pepper goatee singed by the heat.

Caelin was lost in his own world, clearly not even present there in the room, adrift and captive to some far-off tortuous memory. But she felt privileged somehow to be witnessing this event, thinking this was probably a very rare occurrence for anyone to observe such a vulnerability by him.

Kelly rushed to his side, setting the whiskey tumbler on the table, unsure how to touch him with his injuries, or whether she even should. She rested her hand on his back, the other reaching across to his opposite leg. He didn't signal physical pain, so she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder, just being there for him, wishing she could take care of whatever was going on. All her own troubles dissipating from her mind for the time being, she focused on this man, feeling an instinctive compulsion to soothe his pain.

But the theme... oh, that fucking theme again. It was one thing to be in pain and battle your own demons. It was quite a different thing to languish alongside another, feeling helpless while you watch them descend into hell.

"They're gone..." he whispered. "Gone."

Kelly held him gently, feeling the anguish in this man. He was so warm, body shaking. After a minute, he calmed just a bit, and she sat back against the couch, pulling his body with her. She cradled him lovingly in her arms, being the nurturer now, letting his heart and his pain run its course. She made mothering, reassuring sounds, faintly shushing him in low tones, stroking his head and rocking him slightly.

"I'm alone..." he mouthed almost inaudibly, as if it came out subconsciously.

This came across strangely, and Kelly almost felt like she should take it personally. She wasn't sure if he was even talking about being there in the apartment, or whether he was off somewhere else. But she figured even if she didn't know what else to do, she could be there for him. Show him that in fact, he was very much NOT alone.

"No sir," she whispered back. "You are most definitely not alone. I swear to you."

He laid his head in her lap, curling up on the couch. Caelin stayed quiet, lost in his thoughts and his own world, with a far off stare. Kelly held him, running her fingers through his hair, willing the pain out of his body. No... out of his soul.

It was exceptionally intimate but arduous for Kelly, her heart aching, wanting to take away his agony. NEEDING to help him. Her own soul, dark and troubled with her demons, for the time being put all her troubles on pause, finding purpose and great value in focusing on him. She waited patiently.

After a while, he sat up, drew the back of one soot-smudged hand across his cheek, sighed, then replaced his hand on the bunched up flag clutched to his chest. Kelly knew in an instant what needed to be done, the way one sometimes instinctively knows in moments what a lover needs.

She squatted down in front of Caelin, looking at him with tenderness, gently pulling on the flag held in his strong grasp. After several seconds, he looked up at her, a blank expression on his face, then slowly, slowly released his grip, opening up his arms, letting it go. He reluctantly surrendered his ward, eyes silently furrowing in faith and trust, only half tracking on Kelly. She accepted the flag from him and gently set it on the coffee table, black ash crumbling from its edges, falling onto the table and floor. She turned back to Caelin. Black ash dissolved from a burned sleeve on him as well, he too falling apart in pieces, inside and out.

Without a word, she took his hand in hers and stood. He followed. She led him back to the bedroom--her bedroom--the room in which she had unconsciously sworn no one else would enter for the longest of times. She didn't bother to turn the light on, the room dimly illuminated from the window and the living room. She led through the room into the adjoining bathroom, and turned on only the sink lights, leaving the large bright overhead lights off.

Caelin stood still in the bathroom, a blank expression on his face, looking neither happy nor sad. Kelly gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, then walked behind him, and gently pulled his sports jacket off his shoulders and slid it down his arms, removing it ever so carefully as to cause minimal rubbing. She laid it to the side on the back of a chair. Walking around him as if she were a personal butler, she moved in front of Caelin. She looked into his eyes and cautiously lifted the bottom of his polo shirt. He complied and gingerly lifted his arms, allowing her to stand on her tip toes and lift the shirt up and off his body.

As the shirt came off, she could see minimal injuries, his skin that had been exposed looking a bit like a sunburn, a light red. She looked him over, gently lifting his powerful hands with her feminine touch and turning the palms up to examine the damage extent. She knelt down in front of him and untied his shoes, showing deference and demonstrating that she was going to attend to his every need, helping him step out of his shoes and removing his socks. Kelly noticed a tattoo on his ankle she hadn't seen before, an eagle sitting on the crossbars of a wooden cross.

Rising on her knees, she unbuckled his pants, unzipped his fly, and his pants fell to the floor, once again heavy in the right waistband with an object she didn't bother to investigate. Without a pause, she delicately pulled down his boxer briefs, charcoal colored again, and helped him step out.

Once again, she was kneeling in front of this naked man, his flaccid penis right in front of her. But her intent was not sexual at the moment. She looked him over, still only finding minor first degree red patches like low grade sunburns, some dirt scrapes from rolling on the ground, and spots of soot. She stood back up.

Kelly looked into Caelin's eyes and held his gaze intently. She began to undress herself in front of him, not dissimilar to how he had undressed in front of her that first time in the forest, removing her black leatherette belt, then unbuttoning the top of her dress in front. As her lapels fell open, her pale white skin started to show, revealing her freckles. Unwavering in eye contact, she pulled her dress off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor, revealing a sexy black lace bra, and her black garter belt holding up her stocking hose via its straps. As Caelin had discovered during the fireworks, she had on no panties, her trimmed red pubic hair and sex beautifully framed by the garter, the alluring curves of her pale womanly hips accentuated by the black lace material. Kelly's long, red, wavy hair draped onto her bare white shoulders, a beautiful sight to behold in itself. Clearly, she had dressed this way just for him.

Moving smoothly and deliberately, Kelly reached behind herself and unclasped her bra, then removed it, exposing her juicy pale white breasts and pink aereolas, nipples hardening in the air. Then she sat down on the chair holding his jacket, and slowly unclasped the garter suspenders from her stockings, moving her fingers delicately on her thighs. Pointing the toes on one foot, she slowly rolled one stocking down her leg, revealing her soft, milky white skin, until reaching all the way to her toes, then repeated with her other leg.

Reaffirming eye contact with Caelin, Kelly stood again, her disconnected suspender straps dangling free on her hips, wearing only the garter belt, which she removed directly. She then stepped to Caelin, body swaying, naked and free as a sexual being, her breasts gently wavering. This is the first time they both had been truly naked together, without a stitch of clothing. She took both his hands in hers, lifted on her toes, and gave him a soft kiss. His singed goatee prickled a bit on her face, contrasting with her breasts touching his middle chest, his penis grazing her supple stomach.

Silently, she led him into the shower, turning on the ceiling shower head she had had installed, and she pulled the two of them underneath the falling water, lukewarm, clean and purifying. She kissed Caelin, the water cascading from their scalps, over their faces and between their shared kiss. It felt as if their collective sins were being washed away, baptized in each others' presence. Kelly placidly washed his body, soaping him from head to foot, her hands gliding over every muscle. She softly cleaned his wounds, pulling the heat from his mild burns with the cleansing water. She cleaned his shoulder knife wound from the previous weekend, and even shampooed his hair, reaching up high from her short frame.

Kelly's soft body gently rubbed against his large, burly frame as she attended to him in every way, her large breasts getting soapy from the contact and massaging his body. She did all the work, next washing her own body, having Caelin watch her fondle and stroke every part of herself. When she reached his sex, she found him erect from her dedicated and thorough attentiveness, and she gently stroked his penis, hands slick with soap, looking up lovingly into his hazel brown eyes.

Whatever this was that was happening between them, at this point she was most certainly his, and as such, she was going to... wanted to... no, she HAD to, do her damnedest to take care of him in every way possible. She again kissed him under the shower head as she stroked him against her soft stomach, their naked bodies joined and united under the flowing water, rinsing them off. Kelly's long red hair clung to her scalp and neck, wet in thick rope strands, the water turning her hair dark.

Kelly turned off the water knob and silently led Caelin out of the shower, towel drying them both, being sure to carefully pat dry Caelin's injuries. He indicated only the smallest of discomfort.

She took him by the hand and, walking naked together, led him through the dimly lit bedroom to the bed. She kissed him.

"Tonight is about me taking care of you, sir," she said lovingly. She pulled the covers and sheets back, and laid him down on the bed, then climbed in next to him. To Kelly, this had significant meaning, taking this man into her bed, after everything she had been through the last several years. She gently pressed her body against him, careful of his injuries, feeling his extra body warmth, which made her wet. Kelly delicately traced her fingertips over his naked body, exploring him, feeling his masculine skin, his muscles, his body hair. Then she stroked his thighs.

Kelly leaned in and kissed the tip of his penis. Then she slowly bobbed her head and took the mushroom head of his beautiful cock into her mouth, tasting his freshly washed, clean skin. She swirled her tongue around the tip of him in her mouth, feeling every texture of him. Then she licked her lips and bobbed again, taking another inch of his erect cock into her mouth. Then another, each time going lower and lower, taking more and more of him into her mouth. Then she stopped and smoothly pushed down, sliding the full length of him into her mouth, relaxing her throat muscles, taking his entire cock inside her.

Kelly whimpered with the effort and excitement. Caelin groaned loudly with pleasure and the sensation of Kelly moaning on him deep in her throat, her red lips resting on the base of his cock. Then she slowwwwwly pulled off of him, taking him out of her mouth, and gasped for air, then went right back, sliding him back into her mouth. Kelly slowly, deliberately sucked on him, stroking his shaft with her lips, sliding her tongue along the underside of him while he was in her mouth.

She loved pleasuring him, watching, hearing, and feeling him react to her every movement. She felt him start to come alive as she attended to him, returning from whatever place he had gone to in his mind. She dueled with his demons, fighting for the right to his spirit.

Kelly massaged his balls, her finger sliding down to stroke his asshole. She kept a slow and steady pace on his dick, making this truly tender loving care, lavishing him with attention. At this pace, she could likely suck on him all night, and she very patiently serviced him, this man she was learning to care for.

But this wasn't going to just be a blowjob. She took him out of her mouth, leaving him wet with her saliva, and kissed up his torso--his pelvis, his stomach, his chest, sternum, shoulders, neck, ear, and then his lips. Kelly used her soft, naked body like a salve, gently caressing his body, bandaging his wounds, calming his spirit, soothing his soul. Her dangling breasts lovingly brushed Caelin's torso. Kelly herself became a catharsis. Their relationship reached a new level of intimacy and connection.

She pressed her naked body against his, letting him know she desired him, and wanted him to take her. Then she rolled onto her back, bringing him with her, so he was on top of her, laying between her fair thighs. She spread her legs wider, pulling him against her, feeling his heavy weight on her frame. He, the large, brawny man on top of her. She, the smaller, feminine woman, wanting and accepting him.