Chapter 15

Warning: Some scenes may be intense for some readers. Also, a lemon warning!

Tavington has Kobe step into an empty stall inside the barn; the smell of animal feces and urine was still strong in the air along with the musty straw that was rotting under their feet.

"Kobe, I admired Elijah," the colonel begins to speak, "He did his work with due diligence and no complaints. He would've been granted his freedom at the end of this war, have it not been for that Mr. Fairgoode that corralled him to his demise."

"Sir," Kobe said, but Tavington puts a hand up to silence him.

"Now tell me, would you risk your freedom by tormenting those around you with harsh words?" he asks and Kobe knew what the colonel was talking about.

"I don't like it when someone looks to you with admiration," Kobe replies, angrily. "I know who you are and you cast a spell on that woman. You made her your-" Suddenly, Tavington slaps the groom hard across the face, sending down to his knees as pain courses through his head.

"How dare you!" the colonel shouts, "How dare you accuse me of taking advantage of her! I am protecting her from those who would hurt her or worse!"

Kobe tries to stand up, but Tavington presses a foot on his back, forcing him to stay down on the dirty ground, yet the groom manages to shout, "She's your dog!" Tavington presses his foot down hard on Kobe's back, he wanted the groom to experience some bone-crushing pain or take in the awful smell on the ground.

"She's your bitch!" Kobe shouts, again, with a sneer. That was the straw that broke the camel's back; Tavington removes his pistol, cocks back the trigger and presses it against the back of the groom's head. However, he doesn't pull the trigger, and instead, calls for a few of the other Dragoons.

"Tie this man to a post in here!" Tavington commands and adds, "No food or water until I say so!" The troops take him to a post and Kobe had his hands tied behind him to one. He looks to the colonel, angry, but holds his tongue as it would be wise to not infuriate Tavington even further.

The colonel looks up at the grand colonial house; it would serve his men well, including Awinita as she was the one who found it before any other army would. He has his things be brought into the house, where he calls for Bordon to look over a map.

Tavington goes back to the bedroom where Awinita was aroused from her slumber. "I'm sorry for waking you, but it seems we have a bit of a dilemma," he tells her, which made her curious. "You remember me telling you about a transport being ambushed? Many soldiers were killed and much of the army's supplies were taken," he said, "I want you to come and look over a few maps with me."

"Oh yes, I do want to help in any way I can," Awinita replies, looking into the tall mirror real quick, but Tavington walks up from behind and encloses her in his arms. He takes in her scent, it was more pleasant than it was in the barn, and he feels the heat from her cheeks. "Can it wait?" she asks. Tavington removes his arms, only to retrieve a hair brush from the vanity beside the tall mirror.

He brushes her soft hair, even though he wished it would grow long like it was before. This shoulder-length hair didn't suit Awinita at all; the long hair she had before it was cut was beautiful and for some reason, it made her look like a goddess. Tavington stops thinking for a moment; his lust for her was starting to take hold and she seems to notice.

"Calm yourself," she ushers him, "We will get what we want, just not now." Tavington pours some water from a pitcher into a bowl and cups some in his hands to cool his face down. He didn't want to look red when he would meet with the other Dragoons.

After drying his face, Tavington escorts Awinita down to the parlor where the colonel's desk was set up with some maps laid out. Bordon nods his head in greeting to the young woman and she notices a red line drawn on the map.

"This is the road where His Majesty's troops were ambushed, they didn't have a chance to fight back," Tavington explains and continues, "It was as if they were attacked by a ghost as the attackers left no trace."

"Ghost?" Awinita asks, "Do you suppose it's the same 'Ghost' who killed those twenty soldiers not too long ago?"

"That is not possible; you see, this is an open field, yet there was tall grass, but any one of our troops would be able to shoot a lone radical down," Bordon explains and Awinita looks at the map.

"Perhaps there were attackers on both sides of the road, enough to take all of His Majesty's soldiers by surprise and take everything before anyone came upon this massacre," she said and both the colonel and his second in command agreed with her.

"You did mention something that the Continental Army would never use such tactics," Tavington said and Awinita nods.

"Like His Majesty's Army, these soldiers are gentlemen and not pull off surprise attacks," she replies. The colonel places a gentle hand on her shoulder and leans in to whisper that he will share her thoughts with the other troops as they were ready to come to talk.

Awinita decides to take her leave and attend to her horse Lady; the sun was kissing the top of the horizon and she did love the sunset. She takes a step out on the stoop, but a Red Coat hits her in the shoulder.

"Excuse me milady," the Red Coat apologizes, but Awinita gives him a deathly glare. As she was gazing into his eyes for a second, she thought she recognized this soldier as someone she saw in Charleston some years before. He was a bit taller than Tavington with dark hair and a handsome face.

She walks away towards the barn while this Red Coat went inside the house. She couldn't recollect who the man was; he was a Colonial, but loyal to King George. "To king and country," she had heard some of the Red Coats say a few times, perhaps they were also Colonials.

Upon entering the barn, Awinita stops in her tracks when she spots Kobe tied up at a tall post; his face was swollen and she thought she saw a great big bruise on his cheek.

"Hello you bitch," he said, which horrified her. "Notice anything different?" he asks in a taunting voice.

"I see you took a beating," she replies, "Who did this to you?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Kobe said, still taunting her. "Your master did this to me."

"Master?" Awinita then knew who he was talking about; why would Tavington do this to Kobe? The groom did like to toy with both of them she knew that, however, she didn't think Tavington would go this far.

"You are his dog, his bitch, his whore," Kobe resumes his cruel taunting and something inside her made her cringe.

"Stop it!" she demands, then grabs a garden shear that she just spotted lying on the wall of a stall. She felt the anger fuming inside, but she wanted to punish Kobe for mocking her feelings for Tavington.

"Did I make you angry?" Kobe asks, but he chuckles, "You two are truly meant for each other. A bitch with a human master."

"Why are you saying such things?" Awinita asks; deep down she wanted to understand why this man used such words.

"I find it soothing to make fun of the feelings of the people I am around with," Kobe answers, and chuckles before continuing, "You know, my old master put up with my taunts until he decided to trade me and a few other slaves."

"Trade you for what?" Awinita asks, again, curious about his past.

"Protection, them Red Coats were going to take everything from my old master," Kobe replies, "But he told them that I was tough as nails and perhaps a bit crazy. That's what he called me, I'm crazy!" he begins to shout.

"Calm down Kobe," Awinita pleads, yet the groom continues to yell and scream, which made her angry. "I said calm down!" she screams back, hitting him with the sharp end of the shears. Blood oozes out of a cut on Kobe's cheek, but it did silence him for a moment.

"Well, you're prone to anger, like the colonel," he said, but then, Awinita grabs him by his throat and presses the tip of the shears against it.

"William is not prone to anger!" she angrily whispers.

"Really?" Kobe asks, "I beg to differ. And it is starting to rub off on you. One day you will be cold and cruel like him and the rest of those Red Coats." Awinita was prepared to silence the groom for good, but he adds, "You and I are not so different. You were mocked by your neighbors, those colonials calling your people 'thieves'. My people were taken from their homeland to serve those colonials."

Awinita stands to her feet, dropping the shears to the ground, her thoughts racing; maybe Kobe had a point in how cruel everyone was towards others. The colonials and some of the British were wicked, yet few of them treated her with kindness, such as the Martin family and Colonel Tavington. Oh, how she missed the Martin family, however, she felt safe with Tavington around.

He had admitted he admired her bravery and that she was different from the women of society, who he had called 'dull' and 'dimwitted', and that they were not to his liking.

"Did I cut you deep?" Kobe asks, bringing Awinita back to the present. Her sadness quickly turned back to anger and in a flash, she delivered a hard kick at his jaw. He lets out a cry of pain, but she turns to run out of the barn and back into the house. The Dragoons stopped talking for a moment to catch a glimpse of the beautiful native woman as she rushes up the stairs.

Awinita stops to catch her breath at the top of the stairs, confusion clouds her mind. Kobe spoke the truth of how some of the colonials treated her, saying heartless things, especially that she didn't deserve to be raised beside a fellow colonial's children. "What of my mother? Did she deserve such a cruel fate?" she whispers to herself.

She lets the tears fall as she walks into the deceased husband's and wife's room, shutting the door behind her, and looks at the framed silhouettes mounted on the wall. "What of this couple? And their children? Did they deserve to die?" she asks, again in a whisper.

There was a knock at the door and Tavington calls out, "Awinita? You in there?" She replies saying that she was and he opens the door to enter. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asks.

She doesn't respond and the colonel doesn't ask, again. Instead, he holds her close in a protective embrace and he lets her cry. "Tell me, what's troubling you?" he asks while breathing in her scent.

"Kobe," she answers, "I...I didn't mean to come upon him, but he..." she takes in a deep breath before resuming, "He is such...I mean he ridiculed me with such harsh words. I tried to reason with him, but he rebuked me."

Tavington felt his brutal anger rise within him like many times before; he wanted to cut the groom's tongue out with his sabre to teach him to know his place, but he decides to ask, "Why did you try to reason with him?"

"He said that his people were taken from their homes to serve the colonials and he mentioned that my people were called 'thieves' by the colonials. He said he and I were not so different, but I don't think so," Awinita explains.

"Aye, you are nothing like him as he taunts the emotions of others," Tavington said.

"He did mention his former master had the British army take him and a few other slaves, so that his master received protection from the king. Do you know anything about this?" she asks.

Tavington shakes his head in reply and says, "Truth be told, I don't know if that's true, however, I do know that some colonial slave owners did trade some valuables to avoid prosecution from His Majesty."

Awinita pushes herself out of the colonel's embrace, showing her tear-soaked face. "I hate him. Kobe, I hate him!" she cries out and Tavington soothes her with comforting words. She gets herself together in order to speak, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Tavington replies, "I hate him, too. There is no excuse for someone to say such things." He places a gentle hand on her cheek and whips away a falling tear from her face. "I care about you Awinita and I would do anything to make anyone pay for harming you," he said and those words made her feel breathless.

"You do care about me?" she asks and he kisses her forehead.

"More than any other woman I've met in my life," he answers and then gives her a full kiss on her lips. She didn't want him to break away and has her tongue play with his, which made him feel more lust. They break away from the kiss in order to take off their clothes, Tavington's uniform took much time as there was a lot to remove, but his blood red coat was placed on a wickerwork mannequin in the room.

"Turn around," Tavington said to Awinita and she obeys. He begins to loosen the strings on her corset and removes it, along with her undergarments. "I hate those things," he said, referring to the corset. "How could you even breathe while wearing them?" he asks.

"You should ask that question to those who make fashion for women," she replies and he replies that he will once the war was over. Once they had all clothing removed, Tavington shows a container that had the lamb intestine protector for his cock.

"Do you happen to know the name for it?" Awinita asks, her arms around him, but gives him enough room for him to slip it on.

"Redingotes d'Anglaise, as the French call them," Tavington answers, "The British call them many names, but I like the name 'armour'," he adds as he lies on top of her in the bed. "At last," he moans while kissing her neck and collarbone, causing her to moan and break out in goose-flesh. "We are in a real bed," he adds and kisses her deeply on the lips.

"William..." she replies, "Could you...I want you to be rough."

"Rough?" he asks.

"Yes, unleash your aggression," she said, which surprised him, but she adds, "I want you to." Tavington stares down at Awinitia, her glowing brown eyes looking back as she anchors her legs around his waist. He felt his cock poking at her womanhood, yet he wasn't so sure of doing aggressive sex. "Please William," he hears her plea.

He gives her a deep kiss before positioning his cock at her opening. With one upward thrust, he was in her, and she lets out a pleasured moan. That made him feel the urge of thrusting hard and slow at first, until she begged him, again. "Harder..." she moans.

Tavington obeys and thrusts deep in her, and Awinita reacts by digging her nails into his back. "Oh!" he exclaims, feeling the pain, but it fueled his urge to keep going.

"William...did I...-" "No..." he cuts in, "Keep...digging..." he moans as he thrusts hard and fast, with Awinita leaving deep scratch marks on his back, blood oozing from the scratches. "Oh...God!" he cries out when he felt a brutal pain from a scratch.

"William! I'm-" "No! Don't apologize!" he snaps and clutches a handful of the bed-sheets. "You want me to be rough! And I will be rough!" he exclaims as he thrusts more faster now.

"YES!" Awinita replies in a shout, "Be rough!" And that's what William Tavington did; he has Awinita anchor her thighs around his waist with his hands clamping at her buttocks and forcing himself to go deep before they climaxed.

"William!" she cries out and Tavington lets out a harsh sigh as he felt the release of his seed. The two let out pants as they lay together in bed. Tavington removes his cock from Awinita, although he didn't want to break the connection, but he did want to remove the irritating barrier he used to prevent his sperm from entering into her.

It did feel good to have it off, although he wondered if Awinita would be up to taking care of a child, his child. Tavington quickly removed this thought from his mind as the woman he was deeply in love with was too young and perhaps not ready to handle such a responsibility.

"William, are you feeling all right?" he hears her voice and he looks deep into her eyes.

"Yes," he replies, but she ushers him to lie down on his stomach. She looks at the scratches she made with her fingernails and felt horrified for what she did. "Don't be so shocked," Tavington assures her, but Awinita leaves the bed to pour some water from the pitcher into the bowl on the table beside the table. She soaks a little cloth and gently places it on one of the scratch marks.

Tavington reacts in pain at the cold water, but says, "I never felt such pain, yet I don't blame you."

Awinita continues to tend to the wounds, yet her lover assures her he was all right, although he will feel the pain on the skin of his back for some time. "Please," he insists, "I don't want you to apologize. I will bear this as a mark for my devotion to you."

She chuckles a little before kissing Tavington and has him lie back down on his stomach so she could kiss the scratch marks on his back. "Oh..." he moans in response, "I am always amazed by you."

He then anchors his arms around her, preventing her from going anywhere, yet she didn't mind. They share many deep kisses before they wondered off to sleep. Tavington awoke some time later, his eyes gazed on Awinita, who was sound asleep. He kisses her forehead and whispers, "I love you Awinita. I will make Kobe pay for his cruel words."

The young woman didn't stir, which made Tavington feel good for some reason, but he spoke the truth as he deeply hated Kobe for speaking such things about him and Awinita. The colonel would make the groom feel regret for saying crude words, yet it will have to wait till day-light as he didn't want to leave the young woman he was in love with.

There was no denying it, Colonel William Tavington was in love with Awinita. She had put his fury at ease, even though it was when they made love, but he still loved her nonetheless. He loosens his embrace on her, just so she could sleep comfortably, even when she had her head rested on his chest.

It didn't take long for the colonel to wonder off to sleep with one arm around the woman he fell in love with, but deep down he will confess to her when the time was right for them.

From the author: It seems I attracted some guest followers with this story. I have received some rather urgent reviews to keep going, which makes me feel good inside! I will do my best to this updated, although I will admit I'm not so attached to this compared to the other stories I'm writing, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on this!

I will see you soon my faithful readers!