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Eric had said she could tell her friends whatever she wanted, but when faced with four of them - two happy, loving couples - that morning in the mess, Honey found she had no idea what that was. I spent the night getting off with Eric and he wants to fuck me, but is being uncharacteristically patient - thoughts? She didn't know what he wanted out of her aside from the obvious. If it was just a physical arrangement he was seeking, she would be just fine with that. More? The girl couldn't even comprehend what that would mean with someone like the young leader.

Undeniably, Honey wanted to talk to Daisy and Beth about sex and what it was like and why hadn't they told her how shattering cunnilingus was?! If that was considered foreplay, what was the act itself like? She was overwhelmed by just the thought of Eric above her and inside her. Would it hurt? Would it hurt too much to enjoy? The sexual health texts she'd read back in Erudite were less than helpful on that, indicating it varied from person to person and partner to partner. That didn't tell her how it would feel. Would it sting? Would it burn? Tear? He'd been so big and hard in her hand and commented on how tight she was; what if he simply didn't fit into her vagina?

The snowy-haired Dauntless hated not knowing vital information and going into something half-blind, but she couldn't bring herself to ask; not yet. No, Honey would wait until she better understood what Eric expected of her. Then she'd grill her friends for every crumb of experience they had.

No one asked about her wrist. Anyone who knew the wild, white-haired kid was used to the girl showing up with fresh bruising by now, but she could tell they were curious. It was clearly a ligature mark and that wasn't the sort of injury one would get fighting in the Mats. Thank God they couldn't see the other bruises.

Eric had been right, as Honey had known he would, and the bite on her thigh ached and stung with every step and twofold when she sat down, though the coolness of the bench helped just a bit. That was another thing she wasn't sure how to explain. She didn't think it would surprise anyone that Eric had hurt her. What was problematic would be easing their inevitable concern and explaining why she hadn't stopped him: not because he was bigger and stronger than she was, but because she had enjoyed it. Honey liked the pain he'd inflicted on her. She liked seeing the bruises and feeling the sting of every movement reminding her they were there.

It was the sort of thing that got you sent for evaluation at Erudite. She knew.

Despite the near constant twinges of discomfort her thigh and breast caused her, Honey found it surprisingly easy to focus on her work. She was so relaxed and at ease; such a nice side effect of strong sexual release. If Eric kept it up, she could probably double her workload. That would be an entertaining conversation to have. "You've really been going above and beyond, Honey; aren't you exhausted?" No, Max, Eric's been giving me regular orgasms and I'm relaxed as a cat all day. She chuckled to herself as she fired off an emassage to Belen giving an overview of the first week's training for the pups as reminder.

As lunch rolled around and her stomach started to remind her how good food was, the young ancillary wondered what Eric would be doing for his afternoon meal. If he intended any sort of social aspect to their… whatever it was, taking meals together would go without saying. Not everyday, but sometimes, surely. Or did lunch count as part of work and thus make it off limits? She mulled this quandary over while double-checking requisitions for supplies.

In the end, there was only one way to find out. Honey stood and left her office, telling Marta she was going to get some lunch. Unfortunately, Eric's office door was closed, which meant either he wasn't in or he didn't want to be disturbed. As an apprentice, she'd have had no trouble knocking or letting herself inside, but that was work and what she was about was definitely not. She was only slightly disappointed and went off to the mess on her own. Maybe dinner, then.

Honey hadn't seen Eric for dinner either. In fact, she hadn't seen him all day; not once since leaving his room that morning. It wasn't odd in itself; she didn't see him every day anyway. Perhaps it stuck out so much because she very much wanted to see him. The girl had been tempted to send him a message with her tab, but had ultimately decided against it. It seemed to violate the no-office concept, even though he'd used his to get her to his quarters in the first place. His quarters - there was an idea. But the thought of just showing up unannounced filled Honey with anxiety. He might have people there. Max might be there. Or Eric might simply have had a long day and gone to bed early. Men might talk about loving the idea of a woman waking them for sex, but since she didn't actually plan to have sex with him, it would probably frustrate him more than anything else. She didn't want Eric to think she was a tease.

So, Honey had donned the shirt he'd given her and lain in bed and let her hands roam over her body, reliving the previous night in her mind's eye. She'd barely gotten to the point where Eric wrapped her fingers around his dick for the first time when she lost it, groaning his name loudly and rocking her hips up against her hand. It was good, but not nearly as good as when he'd done it for her. His fingers were thicker and longer than hers and he'd been able to stretch her channel and reach that spot, oh that spot that had assaulted her with pleasure. And, God, his mouth.

Honey moaned, getting hot all over again. Her imagination was anything but focused the second time, merging the reality with Eric's fantasy with reality again and his head was between her legs on the raised mat of the gym where he'd found her the night after her Landscape. The second orgasm was better and sent her off to sleep feeling warm and relaxed and looking forward to tomorrow.

Eric was not in the office the next day. His secretary, Ryland, told Honey the leader had gone out with a Patrol to inspect part of the Factionless sector and would be gone all day. Damn. It was slightly more difficult to stay on task that morning, but she managed, pushing through her work with her usual fervor. Marta brought her a hot chocolate, because the young sub had never been fond of coffee, and she sipped it idly while reading through her messages.

With a belly full of warm cocoa and sugar, the normally comfortable temperature of the room seemed suddenly stifling and Honey shrugged off her overshirt, tossing it to rest on top of the filing cabinet, and leaving her in a plain tee. Much better. She brought up the Dauntless archives, intending to briefly look into the kind of combat oriented activities a militarized canine unit would be expected to engage in, since that seemed to be the next logical progression and Kai was still pushing for it. Her eyes fell on the personnel icon by chance and paused. Faction members' personality profiles, medical information, birth and marriage records, disciplinary reports, commendations, and any other pertinent information on every person within Dauntless was kept in those files. As an apprentice, Honey hadn't been allowed access, but as an ancillary she had her own passcode.

It hadn't escaped the girl that she knew very little about the young leader whose marks adorned her body. Honey knew how he smelled, how he tasted, how he sounded when he came, but not something as simple as his last name or birthday. She hesitated, concerned that it was an invasion of privacy to look into Eric's files. It wouldn't tell her his favorite color, but so much about the man would be laid bare before her. That was true, she reasoned, but he'd had access to her files for months and there was no doubt he would have scoured every document of her history. His forte was intelligence, after all, and she'd chosen to become part of the leadership of his faction. Eric probably knew everything from Honey's shoe size to her first year grade average.

Turnabout is fair play. She opened the icon and entered her code, searching through the member roster for his name. Without pause, she opened his file. RESTRICTED. Damn. Of course it would be; he was a leader of Dauntless. Max and Amelia and the others would be restricted as well. Out of curiosity, Honey brought up her own file. As an ancillary, only her basic information was available - transfer date, faction of origin, her parents, her scores in initiation, her current placement within the faction. Her medical records, personality profiles, non-existent disciplinary reports, and the footage from her training sims and Fear Landscape were restricted; only the leaders would have access to those. She smiled as she looked at her Choosing Day results.

Badger, Honey

Faction of Origin: Erudite

Faction of Choosing: Dauntless

Birth Name: REDACTED

"I've got the schedules for the dogs' vaccinations," Marta said as she entered Honey's office just before lunch.

"Ah, thank you," the girl said pleasantly, reaching for the file the woman held. As she took the folder, Marta hissed between her teeth sympathetically.

"That one looks like it hurts." Honey looked at her wrist, for she'd taken the file with her left hand and the still raw ligature mark was now in full view. Taking for granted that people would just chalk it up as another of her random injuries, the girl hadn't even thought to keep it covered.

"It looks worse than it is," she assured her secretary with a dismissive shrug. Marta didn't look convinced and shook her head.

"How did you even get that, anyway?" Honey opened the file and looked inside, absorbed in its contents or that's how she hoped she appeared to the concerned woman.

With an ambivalent shrug, the crow muttered, "Misadventure. Nothing serious."

"It's funny; I saw Eric yesterday and he has the same kind of mark on his wrist, too." Shit. Honey's head snapped up, her gaze lifting quickly to Marta's. She had to nip this in the bud before it became office gossip. The woman's eyes rounded at the sub's knee-jerk response. "Oh, my God, you didn't!"

The girl hopped up from her chair, crossing the room in a second and shutting the door before Marta could say anything else.

"You and Eric?!" The secretary's eyes were wide and bright with shock and mischievous glee.

"Shut up!" Honey hissed.

"Oh, this is too good," Marta declared, sitting herself right on her boss's desk and leaning forward eagerly. "Is he huge? He looks like he'd be huge."

"No. Stop. Stop talking," the girl ordered in a harder, more commanding tone than she'd ever used on anyone before. Her secretary blinked in surprise and stood up again, no longer teasing, but concerned.

"What's wrong? He didn't-"

"Marta, stop," Honey said again. "There's no talking about my sex life in the office. Period. Not to me and not to anyone else. I don't mind you making jokes about bullshit and being inappropriate; it's fine. But anything between me and Eric or anyone else is off limits. Understand?"

The woman nodded immediately, sobered and serious. Honey was almost surprised. She'd never given an order before. The girl might not have expected anyone to listen to her at all, given her size and age.

"I understand," Marta assured her, completely sincere. The girl relaxed, relieved it had been that easy, which made the woman relax and lean her butt on the desk. A little bit of her normal cheek returned and she asked, "I can still talk about me and Max, though, right?"

Honey rolled her eyes and made a sound of disgust. "I wish you wouldn't."

An hour after lunch the next day, Eric strode into her office without a word of greeting and shut her door behind him. Honey smiled brightly. It was the first time they'd been in the same room since the other morning, two days ago. Two and a half, really. He locked her door and the girl's smile faded.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her head tilted in confusion.

"It's been two days," he said in place of an answer to her question. "You haven't come to see me."

Now, Honey frowned, unsure of herself. She'd thought her reasons for not seeking him out were logical and sound, but if it bothered him, maybe she'd been wrong. The girl pointed out, "You didn't come see me, either."

"I'm here, now," Eric said in a husky tone that made her thighs tingle. He crossed the room in half a heartbeat. Honey barely had time to pulled her chair away from her desk before he was turning it towards himself and kneeling between her knees.

"Wait," she told him, putting her hands on his shoulders to waylay any move towards her. The man just grabbed her ass and pulled her to the edge of the chair, his hips splitting her thighs apart. The bite mark throbbed painfully. "Eric!"

"Didn't you miss me?" he asked, feigning injury, rubbing his thumbs against her hips. Awareness shuddered through her and her heart started to pound. Eric turned his head and nuzzled her injured wrist. The girl's breath left her body all at once and her eyelids dropped halfway. She licked her lips and nodded.

"I wanted to see you, but… I don't know how this works," Honey admitted softly.

"Like this," the man between her thighs purred as he lifted a hand to cup her neck and pull her forward where he could claim her mouth. She sighed heavily into the kiss, all but melting into him. Her fingers gripped the thick padding of his vest shoulders as his tongue stroked against hers, bringing that sweetness she'd been missing for over forty-eight hours. Felt like longer.

Eric groaned softly. The hand on her hip moved back to cup her ass, pulling Honey almost off the chair altogether and pressing her body against his more firmly. Her arms started to circle his neck, but she stopped herself. No, this wasn't right. They were in her office. Marta, whom the young sub had specifically ordered not to so much as talk about her and Eric, was right outside and here Honey was with his tongue down her throat. The girl pushed at his shoulders again, pulling back and ending the kiss.

"Stop, Eric," she panted. He growled in annoyance, the hand at the back of her neck tightening as he pulled her forward determinedly. Honey quickly knocked her forearm against the inside of Eric's elbow and jerked to the side, breaking his hold on her spine. She caught his jaw in a tight grip, tight enough to hurt most people. "What do you think you're doing?"

It was the same hard, authoritative tone the sub had used on her secretary the previous day. His piercings glinted.

"It's called kissing," the man told her insolently. Her glare intensified.

"You know what I'm talking about."

Eric scoffed softly, squeezing her ass. His other hand dropped to her knee - the one on that leg. "Rules are made to be broken, Honey."

"Not this one," she told him firmly. Honey was very proud of the fact that her voice didn't quaver at all, even though his hand was making its way up her thigh and his thumb was on a collision course with the painful bruise he put there.

"I know you want me to touch you," Eric informed her without doubt, his voice deep and heavy with want.

"Oh, I do," the girl admitted freely. She caught his hand, bending his finger back until he removed it from her person. She leveled her most unyielding, stony gaze upon the man. He might be a leader of the faction, but right now, Honey was in control. "But not in here. Not ever. Do you understand?"

All at once, his face split into a wide grin. "I understand perfectly."

Eric sat dutifully back on his heels, his hands resting respectfully on his own thighs now, as he smiled up at her, looking almost impressed. Impressed and incredibly pleased. Honey's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Why was he so thrilled to be rejected? She didn't understand what he was playing at.

Playing at. Her brows furrowed further and her frown grew mighty. He was playing. He'd come in there, kissed her, used that rumbling purr he knew affected her, and went after her bruises all to test her! With an incensed sound of disgust, the girl released him and pushed back into her chair. She planted a foot in the middle of his chest and shoved hard. The move actually surprised him and Eric toppled back against her filing cabinet. He laughed, delighted.

"Get out," Honey ordered, beyond irritated. He didn't argue, but he didn't look contrite at all, either. The young leader just got up and left, still chortling to himself. Asshole. She was so very sick of his shit, of him pushing her to see how she reacted and then acting like her responses were all his doing. As if he held her strings.

The instant after Eric left her office, Marta's head popped into the doorway, a curious expression on her face. She took one look at the girl's scowl and disappeared again without a word.

Sometime during dinner that night, Honey had calmed down about Eric's obnoxious actions in her office. She'd looked at it logically from his viewpoint. She was very young for her position and he was her first sexual partner. It wouldn't be unfair to doubt the willpower of a teenaged girl, especially when she was up against not only her own hormones, but the pressure of her older, more experienced, very intense partner and the fact that said partner was a leader of the faction and had been an authority figure to her since her arrival there. It was reasonable to wonder if the girl had it in her. It was just a dickhead thing to do, as, being the older, more intense, authority figure side of the equation, he could have taken responsibility for making sure nothing happened between them in the office.

She did like that she'd pleased him, though. Honey had always sought Eric's approval, but this was different. This wasn't just an initiate trying to live up to the demands of her instructor or the novice trying to impress her mentor. God, it wasn't, was it? She hadn't just shifted laterally into a different sort of authority figure/subordinate relationship, had she? This prospect worried Honey greatly, sending her Erudite-born mind into high gear as she worked the problem over and over.

Hours later, she lay restless in her bed, frowning up at the ceiling as if it held the answers she sought. Honey wouldn't allow herself to think about Eric's hands or mouth or body, even though his scent wafted up from his shirt every time she moved. Her body very much wanted her to think about him, to relive those moments and give it some satisfaction, but her mind refused. Not until she understood.

Then, all at once, the girl did understand. Ironically, it was the battle of wills between her insistent genitalia and her resistant brain that sparked her epiphany. The difference was that as an initiate and a novice, Eric had complete control over her. He gave orders, she followed orders. He set the example, she copied the example. He had all the power. But in this - this whatever they had growing between them - Honey was an equal authority. Yes, he had much to teach her, but only if she chose to learn it. If she said stop, he stopped. She could end it outright, completely, and he'd never touch her again. She absolutely had no intention of doing so - she wanted him far too badly - but she could. And, she might not have his experience or confidence, but Honey just bet Eric's body would respond to her attentions just as strongly as her own did to his.

That thought made her grin as her hand slid down her belly to brush against the far too tender flesh of her thigh. This time, in her replaying of that night, she didn't unlock Eric's cuffs and the bar didn't pop out of place. All that power was at her mercy. She came so hard it was almost as good as the orgasms Eric had given her himself. Almost, but not quite.

Short chapter means another two-fer today. Stop by later!