Ch#14
Sarah came drifting out of her sleep but, kept her eyes closed. Gradually focusing on the senses other than sight and taking in her immediate wonderful surroundings.
She was so warm, it enveloped her bare body— making her feel so safe and protected. Feeling the softest parts of his skin pressed against hers and the roughness of his hands as he slid them over her backside and up the skin of her back.
She could smell his body's natural musk that stirred her insides pleasantly, complimented by the clean smell of her issued soap.
She couldn't taste him but she quickly remedied that with gentle kisses across his chest, drawing a happy half asleep rumble through his chest that didn't form an actual words and felt him tightening his arms around her.
She placed her ear against his chest and heard the sound of his steady and strong heart, beating rhythmically— it might seem strange to most but she found the sound so soothing.
After basking in her sightless senses for a moment more she opened her eyes to find vibrant blue, amber, and a hint of green staring back at her bright blue. She once again got lost wondering how just someone's eyes could be so captivating. She smiled and scratched gently along his jaw and delivered a slow kiss to his lips.
"Good Morning, Michael." She said after lifting her lips from his, only to be pulled back in— making her giggle and smile against his lips.
"Good Morning, Sarah; how are you feeling after last night?" He asked with a smirk.
Images of the night previously flashed through her head and sent chills up her body, she also became aware of a good amount of soreness originating from her vagina that was beginning to heat up again at the thought of the events of last night.
"A little sore, but I think I'm good…" Letting her sentence drift off as she felt some of the fullness in her womb drip out of her opening to the towel still below her. 'Oh shit…' she thought to herself as she leaned her head against his chin. "You let out so much inside of me baby…we might be in trouble…" she whispered out, afraid he would regret his actions last night.
"I know, Sarah. I'm sorry I should have pulled out…I just kinda lost it when I saw you looking up at me with that smile…and when I felt your legs pulling me in…" He said in a soft voice, hoping she was mad at him. He brought his fingers under her chin and pulled her eyes up to meet his.
"No matter what happens, I am going to be here for you, Sarah. No matter what, I will always take care of you." He moved his other hand over her womb on her toned stomach as he said it. Her body shuddered at his intimate touch where there might be a life growing and she felt such strong want for him that she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and attacked his mouth with hers. Her sudden aggressiveness surprised him but stoked the fire burning for her in his chest as he responded to her passion with his own.
Before long Sarah was on her back once again with Michael above her grabbing himself by the hilt and rubbing up and down her slick and hot womanhood, earning delicious whimpers and mewls from her mouth as she looked up at him and nodded in affirmation at his unspoken question. She didn't care if she was sore, she wanted him fiercely.
However before he could slide himself in they heard a firm and loud knock on the door followed by a very familiar authoritative voice.
"Sarah, it's your father, I know it's your day off but I had somethings I need to discuss with you." Said the voice that had vibrated the walls of the council chamber the day previously. Sarah's eyes took on the likeness of dinner plates and looked from the door back to Michael still poised above her.
"Sarah?" they heard the knob jiggle as if he was trying to open it. 'Thank all fuck that I locked that, he would literally kill Michael if he saw us right now…or found out about last night…or the other nights previously…' she thought to herself throwing her head back into her pillow.
"I—I'm coming!" she shouted towards the door as they got off the bed and she shoved Michael into the bathroom, throwing the towels that were on her bed except for one at him before closing the door and looking across the room for anything else that would betray what happened last night, or the masculine presence of her lover. She spotted his pip boy and pack so she quickly stuffed them on the underside of the desk before hearing the bathroom door open, and seeing her lover pop his head out and gesture to his neck and then pointing at her.
She looked down at her neck and chest, seeing more than a few hickies along her upper chest and lower neck. The towel she wrapped around herself would never cover those. 'You've got to be fucking shitting me!' she thought to herself as she went back to her bed and grabbed a blanket from her bed and pulled it up around her shoulder and neck, just enough to cover the marks.
Slowly moving to the door she took a breath to gather herself before unlocking the door and opening it to let her father in. Closing the door after he came in.
"I apologize sir, I was about to get in the shower when you knocked." she said formally, looking utterly ridiculous trying to look and sound soldierly as she was half naked gripping a blanket up around her neck.
The elder Lyons sent her a dismissive wave and sat back on her desk while looking at her. "There isn't a need for formalities Sarah, it's just us."
Ever since she had become a soldier she had a hard time disguising when it was just time to call him dad and when it was time to call him sir or High Elder. She had generally just stuck with the more formal one and left it up for him to tell her which he wanted.
"Alright then, what can I do for you dad?" She said still more than a little tense that he was sitting right above incriminating evidence of Michael's presence in her room. She also looked down and saw a loaded laser pistol on his hip; meaning if he were to discover Michael, things could escalate rather quickly.
"What? A father can't just see how his daughter is doing? by the way why are you wearing a blanket it's not as if I haven't seen you naked before Sarah; remember, I was the one wiping your butt when you—" His words interrupted by his daughter's embarrassed half shout.
"Dad!" feeling her face heat up knowing Michael was probably listening. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something so just talk I have to meet Mi—Initiate Decker in a little while." She said successfully deflecting the blanket issue.
"Relax Sarah there is no one here," The older man said not realizing Michael was trying desperately to keep in his laughing inside the bathroom. "Anyway there were a few things I wished to discuss with you this morning. First of which is the new Initiate; I know this may sound strange but I knew his father a long time ago and…well we didn't much get along but I just want to ask what you thought of him. With all of the experience in the wasteland I am thinking about waiving the trail period as soon as you think he has proved himself to be competent."
"Dad, he is beyond competent as a warrior and as a man— I have seen him demonstrate it more than a few times. In fact yesterday just me and him entered the Jefferson Memorial to find something he was looking for, he is more than talented enough to be a knight in the Pride." She said— still gripping the blanket around her shoulders and neck, but confident in her words.
"Well thats good to know, If you think he is ready you can take him to my office sometime today and I will sign off on the paperwork and swear him in and all that nonsense" He finished with a wave of his hand, then continued. "There was another reason I came to see you today…The council and my advisers have given me a list of marriage candidates for you…" He said a bit hesitantly and let his sentence drag to a stop when he saw the predictable look on her face.
"No! Dad seriously no, we talked about this when I came of age. I am not having some political marriage to some uppity elder's brat." She said firmly with anger clear on her face.
"Sarah, it's not like that. It is just a list of names to show them that you are looking, just talk to one or two of them and it will make the council stop clambering." He said knowing he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"No, if I get married it will be my choice. They just want a hand in the next link for the Lyons' chain so they can secure their place in power. It's the same thing they are going to try on Arthur and I won't let them! I have had enough of this stupid bloodlines bullshit!" Her voice and anger growing more as she spoke. He sighed heavily.
"I know, Sarah…and maybe it isn't just them…" He said with his head slightly downcast in a more somber tone. "I am getting on in years and I want to be able to see you happy and in love…I want to be able hold my grandchildren before my old ass bites the dust, Sarah."
Sarah felt her heart hurt at his honest desire to see her happy and meet her children. She suddenly felt guilty for yelling at him in her anger. "Dad…" She knew she couldn't tell him but she thought for a second about what his reaction would be if he knew his grandchild might be taking root in her stomach while they spoke.
"I understand Sarah, just…think about it. I'm not going to force you into anything but, I want you to find someone you love and can trust enough to start a family and be happy with." then he added in a joking tone, trying to lighten the mood, "Just don't fall for that Decker kid, if I have to sit next to his father at a wedding we might kill each other."
He threw his head back and laughed at his own joke, not seeing his daughter turning bright red as she felt the soreness in her lower body, reminding her of last night's activity. Trying to cover up that he hit the nail on the head with his joke she just decided to try and deflect and get him out as fast as possible.
"Alright alright mr. funny guy, I have to take a shower and get ready so I am going to ask you to head out to your regular high elder activities for the day." She said, pushing him out of the room.
"Fine, I'll let you go about your business. Have a nice day and I will see you later with that Decker kid." Her father said as he exited out the door and walked through the Lyons' Den, casting a casual glance at the group of elite soldiers; they were passed out and snoring loudly— sprawled on every non-bed surface of the room; tables, chairs, the floor, and a weirdly comfortable Knight Kelly who had been duck taped securely sideways on the wall as he snored. All of them slept soundly, completely unaware of the amused gaze of the most highly ranked person in their organization as he walked through the Den.
Sarah just rolled her eyes, closed her door and locked it again. Leaning back against the door and letting out a sigh of relief.
She heard Michael come over from the bathroom and saw he was fully dressed in his now clean armor grabbing his pack and putting his weapons and pip-boy back into place before turning to look at her as she threw the blanket back on her bed and walked over to him wrapped in a towel.
"So I need you to sneak out and keep yourself busy for a couple of hours, I am going to get ready…then I am going to go to the Med bay to see the doc about some birth control… provided nothing is going in there just yet." she said slightly afraid he would be mad at her.
"I uh…I understand Sarah…I'll go and keep myself busy." She could hear the disappointment hidden in his voice so she grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards her.
"Michael it's not that I don't want to…go in that direction but, we barely just started seeing each other. I am definitely want to…see each other or date or whatever with the intent of a future together but I want time to get to know each other and be together before we step into stuff like that; I swear I am not going to ditch you for some marriage candidate the council picks out. And trust me if I am already growing something in there I am going to keep it." She said sliding her arms around his neck with a smile.
He returned her smile, feeling a better at the knowing she also wanted a future together.
Then after kissing her and giving her butt a squeeze he left to go try to figure out how to spend his time. Sarah was so happy he was so understanding with everything and even happier that he was just as interested in being in a serious relationship; not because of her name or her rank or her bloodline— but because he liked her for who she was and wanted to be with her no matter what.
She just hoped the Medical staff could keep the medical tests and birth control a secret from her father.
—
Sarah was about to abandon that hope, when— upon hearing why she was there the medic at reception nearly dropped her medical chart and looked at her with wide eyes. It was common knowledge that the High Elder's daughter was off limits to any man who wanted to stay alive, so when the young medic realized not only that the Sentinel was sexually active but also asking for a pregnancy test he couldn't quiet contain his surprise.
He just quietly assigned her a room and gave her a test and said the doctor would be in shortly. She did the test and waited with her head in her hands praying silently that the medic would know to shut the fuck up and forget what he learned about her personal life.
The doctor that was assigned to her was an older female paladin, when she came in and was told about the situation she nearly fell out of her chair laughing at the nervous Sentinel.
"Don't you remember the sex ed course back in your schoolhouse days?" the doctor asked wiping her eyes, then upon receiving a blank confused look she explained the timeline of pregnancy. "You can't get pregnant within a few hours of having sex Miss Lyons; it takes almost a week or more just for the egg to become fertilized. I will give you a contraceptive pill, one of those 'morning after' pills as the soldiers might know them. Then I will prescribe you some birth control you can start taking on the start of your next cycle." The doctor said, moving to leave the room and get the pills and write the prescriptions, but was stopped by the slightly embarrassed Sentinel.
"Umm…about the test and the prescription…as far as confidentiality goes—" The doctor cut her off with a dismissive wave, saying; "Miss Lyons, the only people who will be able to view your medical records are medical staff and yourself; I won't let anyone— not even the High Elder— view other people's medical records if it isn't life or death situation. So consider your secret safe with me, Miss Lyons." the doctor said, making the Sentinel fall back onto the examination table with a sigh of relief.
—
Michael had much the same reaction when he heard her explain what the doctor said, which earned him a hard punch in the arm.
"Oh come on thats pretty funny, we both got kind of carried away with the whole thing and its kind of on both of us since we apparently forgot about what we were taught in sex ed class." He said with his hands up in surrender.
She just rolled her eyes and motioned for him to follow her as she made her way to her Father's office. "Just shut up and follow me, Initiate dumbass."
—
"I, Michael Jame Decker, uphold the position in the brotherhood as a brother. My duty is to fulfill my order for the betterment of the future. I will fight and die with my fellow members with honor. I will forever be in the brotherhood, in life and in death. My mission is to collect and save all technology for our use to rebuild the world anew. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I will risk my own life fighting to protect those that can not fight for themselves. With this oath, I now bond my soul to my brothers and sisters in steel for eternity. So help me God."
Michael finished with the Oath of Steel and remained at the position of attention.
"Initiate Michael James Decker, with the power vested in me as High Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel, I promote you from the rank of Initiate to the rank of Knight. Welcome to the Brotherhood of Steel." High Elder Lyons snapped his arm up, horizontally across his chest— palm facing towards himself with his hand in a fist— with his fist over his heart. The Brotherhood of Steel salute.
Michael snapped crisply to the same position as did Sarah behind him.
The High Elder then returned his arm to his side, relaxed his stance and gave the order "At Ease." To both the Sentinel and newly promoted Knight.
"Knight Decker, in light of your actions and high level of skills you have demonstrated you are assigned to the Lyons' Pride Regiment under the command of Sentinel Lyons, effective immediately. Your status as an auxiliary member has special privileges, you may come and go from the Citadel as you please; however you still fall under the chain of command and will follow orders of those appointed above you. You may be called upon to participate in critical missions or special operations. If you have any questions you may direct them to Sentinel Lyons, do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Dismissed." With another salute to the High Elder the two made their way out of his office, but not before the older Lyons called his daughter to stay and have a word with him in private. She gave Michael a nod and he proceeded outside into the hall to wait for her.
Not long after she came out with an unreadable expression and a file in her hand; motioning for him to follow, she made her way back through the halls towards the Den.
"What's in the file?" He asked half curious but guessed it was something mundane about command issues within the Brotherhood or mission dossiers.
"A favor I am taking care of for my Father, just boring stuff no worries." She said dismissively, he was still a bit curious but pushed the thought to the back of his mind when they reached the door of the Den.
"Hey Sarah…" He said a bit hesitantly, she turned back to look at him as he continued; "With me being officially part of the Pride and everything…I think its about time I take off my mask at least around the Den and I guess around the Citadel in general…" She smiled. Sarah realized he was finally letting his defense mechanisms down around people more and more.
"Hmm, well I am sure people will give you less weird looks passing you in the hall but, any information you want to share with people is up to you so you don't have to ask my permission or anything; as long as you always know you don't have anything to hide from me." Looking quickly around she reached out and squeezed his hand in her's.
He squeezed her hand in return and said, "It's not so much asking permission…it's more like advice or just your opinion I guess. You know me better than anyone else so I value what you think." His words stirred warmth in her chest that she couldn't help but act on; she pulled the bottom of his mask to the side and delivered a few kisses on his face and his lips.
He smiled as she put his mask back into place, "I am glad that you know you can lean on me. I will support you whatever you decide baby." she said in a small warm voice, before giving his hand one last squeeze and stepping back to enter the Den.
He felt a fire burning in his chest as he followed her into the Den, mentally preparing himself to show his face to a large group for the first time.
—
Again as they entered the large room someone called the bay to attention and waited for there leader's command. However instead of saying 'at ease' and everyone going about their business for the night, she started talking to them.
"I hope everyone is having a good evening, I just wanted to let you know we just got a recent addition to the Lyons' Pride." she gestured back to Michael standing close by and continued, "You all know him by his nickname 'Leo' but now you can also know him as our newest Brother in Steel and newest member of the Lyons' Pride: Knight Decker."
Her words drew whispers and murmurs around the room but they remained low because they had a feeling there was more.
"Now Knight Decker will introduce himself so you can go about your night." she gestured for Michael to start.
Michael stepped forward so that everyone could see him clearly. He slowly took a breath and pulled his hood back off his head and slid his mask off and slid it into a slot underneath his thigh armor so he didn't have to hold it; he then looked around the room so that they could see his face.
Sarah annoyingly noticed more than a few female's jaws drop to the floor at the ridiculously handsome face he had unveiled.
"Well, hello again I suppose, I am Knight Decker— although you can still call me Leo since that has always been my nickname around the wasteland. I am happy to be able to join such an amazing group and since we will be trusting each other with our lives in combat I thought that you all deserved to see my face and I guess that applies to the Brotherhood as well…Anyway. The reason I have hidden my face for so long is because as I traveled around the wasteland I attracted more attention and was dubbed with a few names the most common of which is the Lone Wanderer."
Sounds of surprise and talking and arguing— and maybe a few bets being won and payed— broke out around the group but they continued to listen.
"Obviously, I keep this a secret by wearing a mask and nondescript clothing and I will continue to do so but with the Brotherhood and especially with you, I want to show you that I trust you. Well…I guess thats all I wanted to say…also, I guess I have been around the wasteland outside the city for a while and learned a lot about the are, especially around megaton and the surrounding settlements in that area so if you ever have a mission out there let me know if you need any info on the area." He wasn't sure what else to add so he just said, "Other than that…I guess I'm in your care."
He immediately saw a series of devious smiles going around the room, before his eyes were drawn back to Sarah as she said in a loud voice to the soldiers around her, "Hmm, something smells good in here. What exactly is that?" an evil smile pulling across her face while looking at him as someone yelled out, "FRESH MEAT!"
Sarah looked at him and smiled wider, taking a breath, getting ready to yell at the top of her lungs. He knew what was coming and started to speak up to try and stop it, "Wai—" but was drowned out by her command.
"Enjoy your meat you mangy fucks, AT EASE!" Sarah commanded, releasing the only thing previously holding the soldiers in place and watching as every soldier in the room converged on him to take him down to the ground. To his credit— he stayed standing for a while, because of his monstrous strength but eventually fell with the pile of laughing, sweaty, and rowdy soldiers.
Sarah laughed out loud as she watched for a minute before turning and entering her room, shutting the door behind her. She walked to her desk and sat down heavily in the chair then opened up the file and looked across the names, faces, and information contained within. She quickly let out a frustrated groan and closed the file, tossing it into the top draw of her desk before slamming the drawer shut and focusing on the stack of paperwork on her desk.
—
A few hours later she heard a light knock on her door. "Enter."
Following her command, a rather frazzled looking Michael stumbled into her room and sat on the floor leaning his back against the door, breathing heavily. As she looked at him she couldn't help but crack up laughing.
His hair that had been neatly tied back before was down and cut at random lengths as well as a streak on the side of his head had been buzzed erratically. He was sporting a few nicks and cuts on his face as well as a black eye starting to form over his left eye. His mustache seemed pushed and pulled in every which way but remained intact on his face. While his uniform was intact and all weapons were still in place a Lyons' Pride crest had been painted in the middle of his chest plate, visible because of the break in his quarter cape that only came halfway down his chest with a break in the middle of his chest; his new rank's symbol was also painted on the lower right side of his chest plate.
She went over and pulled him up, sitting him on her desk while she took out her first aid kit to treat the cuts on his face. She gently kissed each one once she was done and put her aid kit away.
"Anyone see you come in here?" she asked.
"No, otherwise they would be pulling me back out there to try and tape me up like Kelly." he said with an exasperated laugh.
Looking at his hair she pulled him into the bathroom and sat him down as she went to work with a pair of scissors and a buzzer. She managed to give him a very well done 'undercut.' As she looked him over with his new hair cut she saw it and she loved the way it looked on him but couldn't help but get annoyed at the thought of the other females ogling him.
Once she was done looking at him she noticed he was fast asleep. She gently woke him up and had him take off his armor then guided him back to her bed and laid him down in his underwear and a t-shirt. She walked over to the door and peeked out to find the Pride asleep, Knight Kelly once again secured to the wall sideways— snoring happily. 'Guess he just got used to it' she thought amusedly. Sarah closed the door and locked it, she figured no one would discover them if he woke up early tomorrow and snuck out. Sarah knew with his joining the Pride, they would both be very busy over the following weeks with everything going on so she just wanted to enjoy a peaceful night in each other's arms.
She pulled the covers over them and pulled herself against him, gently kissing him goodnight then drifting off to sleep in his warm presence; her dreams focused intently on the man beside her.
.