Chapter 49
Although she didn't want to watch him undress, she did look. It took no time for him to become nude and he was obviously already getting aroused. Overall, he was a well-built young man, a younger version of his brother.
Elijah leaned back against the door and thought he would rather be in his own room. Watching other people have sex was not his idea of fun; that is, unless he was going to get his own chance afterward. He and Niklaus had shared a woman now and then over the centuries. Today, he was not going to participate and he felt little interest, other than his concern for Barbara.
Kol could have ripped off the sheet and the nightgown, but, being aware of his brother's critical eye, he didn't. He joined the girl under the sheet and actually took some time for a little "foreplay" and sweet-talk. But he hurried things along by compelling Barbara, so that in no time she wanted him to do the deed. Which, of course, he did with pleasure and relief.
Elijah was aware that his brother compelled the girl, but he didn't interrupt. If it helped Barbara, that was good. At one point, Kol did bite her on the shoulder. She winced and gasped, but did not cry out. He reached that point of ecstasy and then began to relax, although he did take the time to lick the wounds he had made, so they would heal. He then settled beside the young woman.
"Thank you, darlin'. That was great. I really needed it."
"You're welcome," she murmured. She looked over at Elijah, who gave a subtle signal that she get out of bed and leave the room. Making sure her gown was properly pulled down, she wiggled out of bed.
"Where you goin'?" Kol asked. He didn't really care, because he wanted to just lie there and enjoy the feeling he had. He had not felt this stress-free in some time.
"I'm going to get dressed in Freya's room," she said. Her regular clothes were on a chair in the other room. In a moment she was walking out the door held open by Elijah. The older brother walked her to the door of Freya's bedroom, but he didn't enter.
"You did well," he said. "Hopefully, he will be satisfied for a while."
"He actually did make me feel good. Like you did. I can see why people like to do that, which surprises me."
"Why?"
"I've been told a woman has to lie there and take it. That it's the husband's right."
"That does not mean he should ignore what she feels. Unfortunately, many men do not care what the woman feels."
"I've lain with two men in two days. Neither of them my husband. I enjoyed how it made me feel. Does that make me a fallen woman?"
"No, Barbara, is does not. You are not a harlot. You are a victim of your situation, under the control of the rest of us. I worried about Kol. He likes to be very dominating and overpowering. He prefers to frighten and hurt his victims. I am relieved that he did not feel the need to treat you that way."
"Me, too. He does seem satisfied now. And you?" She hesitated to remove the nightgown, even though he had already seen her undressed.
"Satisfied with how that went? Quite."
"That's not what I meant." A smile touched her lips and she canted her head to one side. Her hands were on the buttons of the nightgown, but she didn't undo any of them.
"I see. I am fine. I shall let you know if and when I feel a certain desire. We can discuss it then." He said it in an even tone so that she did not think he was likely to feel it soon. He was surprised by her suggestion. Perhaps Kol's compelling her had something to do with it. As he headed for the stairs, he considered that it would be nice to have the house calm for a while instead of sexually charged.
He passed Freya on the stairs and she raised an eyebrow questioningly. "It went well," he told her.
"That's a relief."
Kol continued to rest, his eyes closed. He was at ease, but he wished Davina was with him. That would make the situation perfect. He paid little attention to voices in the house, not caring what they were saying. Far off gun shots barely caught his attention, since he assumed it was hunters from town going after deer. Fresh meat in the winter was nice. He wished he had some.
His bedroom door opened suddenly without a knock. Elijah strode in.
"Get up, Kol."
"Why? I'm enjoying some languid, post-coital relaxation. How about you leave me alone?"
"How about you get your languid body up and dressed. Didn't you hear the gun shots?"
"So? Deer hunters."
"I don't think so. The shots were farther to the west. It's unlikely the deer are out there. So get up in case there's some trouble." He knew the deer tended to stay closer to the wooded areas.
Even as Kol sighed and kicked the sheet from his body, the two men heard a low rumble, a slight trembling in the earth.
"Damn! That sounds like an earthquake or a stampede coming this way!"
"Stampede of what?" Elijah snapped and he hurried out of the room.
Kol dressed in a flash and hurried down the stairs as the house trembled. Then there was a tremendous bang and crackling sound. He also heard the bawling and grunting of animals. He knew that sound, but hadn't known such animals were in the area. Bolting out the back door and off the porch, he joined the other four people.
Big, dark animals were running south just beyond the barrier on the western side, but inside, lying on the lane that led to the barn, lay a large, smoldering member of the herd that was passing by. A bison. An American "buffalo." A dead one.
Along with the others, Barbara looked at the large glowing hole in the barrier. It sparked, and electricity arced back and forth as the magic wall repaired itself. Barbara thought herself lucky to have survived coming through the hole in the wall Mikael had forced her to make.
"Meat! We have meat, guys!" Kol yelled, happy to see it.
"Too much meat," Rebekah said. "How are we ever going to preserve it? We don't want it to spoil."
"Aside from feasting on fresh meat, our other choices are smoking it, drying it or salting it," Elijah said.
"We don't have that much salt," Freya observed. "I guess Barbara and I can do several duplications of our existing salt."
"We have no smoke house, but the Indians used to dry strips of meat in the sun and also smoke it over a smoky fire, especially if the meat is hung higher up in a tepee," Kol recalled. "I remember Mother and the other women hanging strips of meat in a smoke house."
In fact, all four of the Mikaelsons recalled the various ways meat was preserved.
"Alright," Elijah said. "Everyone get the sharpest knives you can find and lets start the butchering process. We'll save the hide, even though it's singed."
"We need to dig that ice house we talked about," Kol said. "I like fresh meat. If we can keep some cold, we'll have some longer." In a moment he added, "You know, we should string this beast up and drain the blood. There must be a couple of gallons in there."
"If you feel strong enough to hold him…her up by the heels, be my guest," Elijah said evenly, although he was joking. His humor tended to be rather subtle.
Kol knew he could not do it. "Okay, I can't. But let's get some bowls and pans to put the meat in and get some of that blood." He was practically drooling.
And so the butchering process began. It would be time-consuming and none of them were experts at doing it. It had been a good many years since Elijah had killed and "field-dressed" a deer. The group was careful not to contaminate the meat from the intestines. None of the vampires worried about bacteria, but Freya and Barbara were regular humans and did not want to become ill.
With the innards quickly out of the way, the vampires opened the two large blood vessels and drained blood into three bowls. Barbara knew they took blood from the horse and the cow, but watching them gulp down this blood almost made her gag. She thought it was disgusting, and she had to remind herself that blood was a vampire's main nutrition. And they obviously relished consuming it.
Darkness came and they quit what they were doing. They would do more in the morning. Even now, the group had a lot of edible parts. Unlike the Native Americans of the time, they did not plan to use almost every part of the animal; therefore, they had a mound of leftovers that needed to be buried. There were no animals inside the barrier that could devour it.
Throughout the process, Barbara was quite aware of the closeness of the two men. They were clothed, but she easily remembered what each looked like naked. She could still feel a small soreness from the joining with Kol, so she had a constant reminder. But neither man seemed to have that on his mind as he worked. Her appeal to them seemed to come and go rather quickly, especially once they got what they wanted. Someone had once told her that that was the way of things. Apparently, it was true.
A/N So, the get-together with Kol is done. Will it happen again? Probably, since the group was there for five years. Besides having a bison crash through the barrier, will anyone or anything else enter? We'll see. Thanks for reading, guys!
