Say a Prayer Ch. 09

Tomek reached up to scratch at his scalp with a quenched sort of glimmer in his eyes. He made a low, purring kind of noise in his throat. "And it seems that the records that have our assassin names listed were destroyed. Well, we don't know for certain that they were destroyed. They could have been stolen and hidden somewhere, but this was the best chance anyone has ever had to leave. I imagine not everyone left, but most of us certainly did." Tomek removed his nails from his scalp. Then his back bent as he lowered himself, his fingers stretching towards his shoe. He tugged the shoe off, and then he went to his knee to untie and lower his stocking. The fabric sounded unforgiving as he pulled it away from his skin.

At first, Heidi thought she was looking at a scar that was evidence of torture. Then she watched the pad of his index finger trace over certain lines that looked as if they were weaved into his skin. She soon recognized legible characters that spelled out the name Kuno.

"It's a way for The Colony to find any assassins that try to flee, but now that they don't have our names anymore, and now that their headquarters is a shell of ash and stone, a burned beacon to the government, they won't be able to track us down."

With a wince, Heidi said, "I'd always imagined that an assassin was impossible to track, but if you have enough information about one, then it wouldn't be impossible."

"It would only be a matter of time," Tomek added as he put his foot back into his stocking. "But now they don't have all the information, and we have a head start." He was tying his stocking into place. "I have more to tell you, so much more." His voice was deeper, and there was a sadness there.

He slipped his foot back into his shoe, and he looked up at the ceiling. His nostrils tightened. "I wanted the government to learn of The Colony, but I wasn't certain of how to expose the group without becoming a target. Then I decided that I needed to become less careful. I needed to give subtle little clues, so subtle that The Colony's leaders wouldn't assume I was a traitor. I started wearing a mask at times when it wasn't the most brilliant time to do so, and I'd remove the mask soon after killing a target. I was hoping that someone would notice and report me to the authorities, but I also knew I shouldn't do this in a way that exposed my face. I shouldn't be too obvious."

"Were you successful?"

Tomek shrugged. His eyes closed. "I don't know. I do know that I fell into the habit of wearing my masks. I thought it suited me. I didn't deserve to have good people look at me. I didn't deserve to have you look at me." He bent over again. His fiery red hair was rustled as he glided his fingers through it. He made a great, thick, sniffing sound. "You won't ... you won't approve of me when I tell you this."

Heidi folded her arms about herself. "Tell me anyway."

Tomek's entire body cringed as if someone had poked him with a spear. Then he stilled. "A woman named Rotenma Dufan paid to have a relative murdered. The target was Marchioness Lillitu Masen."

Spikes of ice grew in her chest. Her eyelids twitched. Her cheeks were hot. She wanted to jump up and scream at him.

She didn't matter. When she was Delma Abnelon, her skills as a priestess didn't matter in any way. The marchioness didn't kill herself. Kuno the assassin killed her. Delma Abnelon had been a pointless priestess.

She swallowed down the tears that so painfully wanted to emerge.

"I had seen you before at the Lotus Shell," Tomek said with words that felt like they had been cautiously carved out of his throat. "You seemed so wise and loving. When I listened to you speak to the marchioness, my heart nearly died. I knew you were too caring, to determined to see the good in everything, and far too much of an angel to ever deserve to look at me."

Her voice was so quiet that it hurt. "When ... I mean ... after I left ... you came out from wherever you were hiding ... and you shot her."

Back and forth his head shook. "Please ... please understand! If I didn't kill her, another would, and there's no guarantee that another would have killed her so quickly and painlessly. There would have been no point in refusing the contract. I'd have only gained a lack of funds."

Heidi's shoulders lowered. She wondered if someone was cruel enough to pay for her death, would Tomek have killed her? She didn't want to torment herself with that thought for long. So, she asked him about it very plainly.

His back rose. His head tilted back. He laughed. It was an honest laugh that had gasps in the end. He almost sounded like a madman. When he was quiet, he gripped his own knees and said, "It would be selfish of me, but I'd likely do as I'm doing now, helping you to find a new identity and a new home."

Selfish, huh?

People really could be incredibly selfish. She knew because she was that way too.

"I had to kill Rotenma Dufan, by the by." Tomek shrugged. "She brought attention to herself concerning the marchioness' death. The Colony didn't want to take any chances with her. They ordered me to strangle her."

"I don't want to hear anymore about murder, Ku ... I mean Tomek." She wondered where the breaking point was concerning this man. What needed to happen for her to hate him? Why didn't she hate him? She breathed into her hands. "It's getting colder here."

Tomek got up from the bed. "I'll light a fire." He spent a few minutes starting a fire in the fireplace. Heidi watched move. He was oddly as graceful as a gentleman in a ballroom. Even when he was crouched down to reach the fuel better, he moved so confidently and so smoothly that Heidi was nearly jealous.

Once there was a healthy fire, Heidi rushed to it and knelt a safe but efficient distance away. She spread her fingers before the popping, glowing mass of heat. Her hands were still discolored by old injuries, but they weren't painful.

"There's a rug there." That was Tomek's gentle voice.

"Oh." She stood back up and found the rug. It was large and made of soft brown fur. She pulled it close and knelt down on it. She was straightening her skirts when Tomek put his backside down beside her. She asked him, "Should I find employment at a temple?"

"I don't believe you'll need to, and besides," his arm slithered around her shoulders, "you're an Angel. You don't need to be a priestess to be righteous. The God of Hope has certainly smiled upon you during their free time." He used the word their because most people believed that the God of Hope didn't have a physical sex. "I should admit, though, that I enjoy the idea of having your prayers spoken only for me."

Blood flooded her extremities. Fire licked the air. Her clothing was comfortable. Despite all of that, she still felt cold. She made a loud sniff. He had told her the truth. Shouldn't she do the same?

What if he reacted badly? What if he betrayed her? "Tomek?" Her eyes focused on the nearly hypnotizing fire. "What if I'm not an angel?"

His reply was immediate and stubborn. "You are an angel. It doesn't matter."

Maybe she shouldn't tell him.

Tomek's fingers drummed on her shoulder. "I have a new role. I'm a new person. So," he leaned into her and actually nuzzled her cheek, "would my angel mind spending time with me, as she would with a normal man?"

Was he basically asking to court her?

What in the world would that be like?

She murmured to him, "I suppose that would be well and fine."

A rapping was on the door. Both people turned their heads towards the sound.

A familiar woman's voice coldly said from behind the door, "I'm going to check in on Gregor. Would you like to join me?" Gregor was the given name of the owner of the mill they had invested in. His full name was Gregor Barlyle.

Tomek's voice beside Heidi was rather impatient yet still mostly polite. "I'm going to stay with Del ... ah ... Heidi. Please don't worry over me, Olga."

Oh, that's right. Marina Bord was now Olga Pasternak.

"That's fine ... Tomek. That's fine." Heidi heard the heels of Olga's boots against the floor as she walked away.

His arm held her closer. Heidi could smell so many things, but that country air aroma had faded away, replaced by the busy city smells. But underneath all of it, there was the fleshy, musky, hairy scent, the scent of humanity.

"Angel?"

Her heart felt like cheese pressed to a moving grater. "Yes?"

"Would you please say a happy prayer for me?"

The backs of her still healing hands came together. "It can't hurt, can it?"

Very playfully and lightly, his fingertips danced on her shoulder.

Her prayer was soft and coated in a layer of disquiet, but Tomek's fingers continued to cheerfully bounce and caress her. The weight of his arm seemed to intensify a bit. When it was over, Heidi was pulled closer to the man's body. Her cheek was pressed into his plain but durable coat. She shivered when his face turned to her ear and his breath tingled in her skin.

"Would you let me hold you close, my darling Angel?"

In all honesty, she didn't think she would be a very responsive lover, but she knew better than to upset a delusional man who knew how to kill people very efficiently. Heidi embraced him and looked at his lips. They were shiny. A kiss. He kissed her deeply and wetly. Heidi simply received, letting his groaning seep into her tongue.

It was almost as if they were a normal couple. They both moved down to the rug. Tomek yanked her clothing away, tossing each piece aside. Heidi merely let him do whatever he liked. When she was wearing only her loose chemise and her stockings, the rest of her clothing scattered around the room, Tomek put his efforts onto himself.

And Heidi's eyelids staggered as each section of flesh was revealed. He was mostly fine and normal, but he looked like a war veteran of ancient times. Evidence of previous stab wounds, slices, and even burns, were on several little points of his body, parts of his strong thighs, his tight abdomen, his arms, and his shoulders.

Distracted from her uncaring mood, and suddenly very interested in a sad way, Heidi drew over one of the raised lines with her fingertip; the scar was on a side of his torso. When she slid her hand around to his back, she felt so many scars that she wondered if he had been whipped at one point.

"Don't agonize over me, Angel." Tomek took both hands into his, holding them between their bellies. "These are all marks of the past. They mean nothing to me. They're from a previous version of me, a version that's dead."

"A version ... that's dead?" She looked up at him for a moment, trying to understand. "What of me? Has the past version of me died?"

His eyebrows lowered but he smirked. "Not quite. You've only been altered. You're still an angel, but you're no longer a miserable victim."

Heidi chose to accept that. "I see." She nodded. "I hope the new you will find happiness here."

One of his hands cupped her chin. His dark eyes shined like onyx stones. "I will, because you're here with me."

A gasp. Then her hot, quivering lip pouted out. She was feeling nostalgic and hopeful. And she took the initiative. She kissed him.

They tangled. They panted. They blushed and petted each other.

Her stockings and chemise were removed so roughly that they were almost ripped. One of his hands spanned the length between the underside of her breast and her thigh. Then it moved back up. Heidi squirmed when he pinched her nipple.

Her fingers dug into the glossy fire that was his beautiful hair. "Ku ... Tomek ... as long as you want me, I'll be here." It was probably best for his sanity if she stayed with him, anyway. He had lived a life of unyielding violence. If he wanted to use her as a child would use a beloved blanket, at least until he was more settled in his new life of normalcy, then that would be fine.

She just ... she didn't want to admit it but ... she actually had a fondness for him.

His eyelids shifted, opening a bit more, as if a bracing spring morning had greeted him. Then his fingers and palm nearly swallowed the back of her head as he took her mouth again. His tongue tapped her teeth and inflamed all the nerves in her body.

Then the kiss ended.

And suddenly she was tilted back, quietly barking out her surprise. His arms supported her. The ends of his hair tickled her face. His eyes pointed down to her mouth, and he asked her, "Is this romantic? I'm thinking it might be."

Her arm forced its way around, and then her hand went to his hair. She tugged his face even lower so the tips of their noses could touch. "Will you promise to cook with me today?"

"Certainly. We can have hare and parsnips."

"Hmmm ... then I believe this is romantic."

Her back met the rug then. Her vulva was contacted by one of Tomek's hairy thighs. The masculine hair there had a reddish tint. Heidi whined as her hips bounced up and down, her dainty flesh craving more of the abrasive texture. She was already moistening up.

Her throat was licked rather eagerly, long and deep strokes. Then there were pinching little kisses at her jawline. Her bosom jiggled a bit as her breath struggled.

And finally, thankfully, his arms moved to both sides of her. His knees led his hips forward. He was sinking inside, dividing her. Back and forth, blood flowing through her veins, her womanhood swollen because of the contact and the desire for more contact, it was beauty and danger.

Like a factory's machine, Tomek went on and on with no words, concentration tightening his features. There was no respite, and there was absolutely nothing stopping Heidi's nerves from eventually panicking.

"Ah ... ah, ah, ahhh!" Her head turned to one side, her cheek bearing down on the fur rug. The muscles in her shoulders, arms, buttocks, thighs and calves all seized as if there was an injury.

He started talking then, using uneven words. "Yes, are you, do you ... please! Will you?" The meaning wasn't obvious, if there even was a meaning.

That was when Heidi, formally known as Delma, made a mistake. She didn't mean to, but she did it. She cried out, "Anything, anything! Please, Kuno!"

First, there was an actual pause, no movement of his hips, the tip of his cock seeming to reach the deepest parts of her, his fingernails digging into the fur beneath them. Second, there was a startled, nearly betrayed expression on his face. Third, the face changed. His brow wrinkled. His teeth visibly gnashed together. And he began again, harder, faster, so intense that every single thrust had Heidi gasping.

And he practically shouted at her.

"No. No, no, no, no, no ... no! I'm Tomek! Tomek! Say it! Say it! Damn it, say it!"

It was challenging to find enough breath to speak, but after a few moments, she was able to say, "Yes ... yes! To ... tomek! Tomek! Ah! Agghhhhhhnnnnnnnn!!"

Then she couldn't form any more words. Her cunt wetly throbbed and silently shrieked out its pleasure.

Soon, it was her partner's turn, and ... to her horror ... he didn't pull out. She scratched at his arms. She stammered out a hardly recognizable protest. None of that persuaded him to comply. He released a primal, shivering kind of groan, and then he froze and shot himself into her. Her concerned little whimpers were seemingly ignored.

Rough panting ... both of them were doing it. And then Tomek dragged his penis out of her. It sounded grossly moist.

But his face was so giddy. His words were enthusiastic. "That was lovely, wasn't it? Let's wash up and see about the food. Alright, Angel?"

Her smile was tiny and false. Her nod was weak.

***