Chapter 6

Author's Note: There are elements of dubious consent in this chapter

All the next day anger simmered inside Elizabeth, but she did her best to let none of it show, going about her usual chores, making breakfast, doing the mending. She was supposed to do laundry today, but it was an all-day task and she wouldn't have time to finish it before Will had to leave to go to the Lucases'.

Her anger grew all the greater that afternoon when everyone commiserated with her continued fear and Mrs. Lucas even gave her an encouraging talk about how soon she would overcome her trauma and be comfortable enough to be left alone again.

By the time they were walking home again, Elizabeth thought she might explode if she didn't get a tighter rein on her anger. It was made worse by the fact that Will kept casting her little looks, as if trying to read her mind. She fought to keep a pleasant smile on her face.

"You okay, Elizabeth?" he asked when they were halfway home.

Elizabeth fought not to erupt at his words, and turned to him with a forced smile. "I'm fine."

"Shit, woman, that's the scariest smile I've ever seen. You're obviously pissed at me. What did I do?"

Elizabeth stopped walking and turned to him, causing him to halt in his tracks. She had reached her limit. "I don't like the way you're treating me!" she said, attempting not to shout.

His eyes widened. "I'm just trying to get you to talk to me."

"No, not that. I mean, you're not listening to me. I told you, I will be perfectly safe staying at the cabin by myself. It is totally impractical and ridiculous for us to have to be together 24/7. I won't be able to get my chores done. You won't be able to get your chores done. This was an isolated incident with one creep who happened to hone in on me. It will not happen again, and for you to totally dismiss me as if my words don't matter makes me feel like I am nothing to you! I am asking you to leave me behind when you go to the Lucases' tomorrow. I can't get laundry done if I am constantly with you. You know it's an all-day task. I won't be able to get anything done if I am constantly following you around."

She spoke in a moderated tone. She addressed his concerns and expressed her own in a rational manner. She hoped this would induce him not to dismiss her as he did last night.

But he did. Again.

"No."

"I know that I used to be completely helpless, but I'm not anymore," she continued, determined to get her point across. "I can protect myself adequately with the gun just like anyone else. I want you to treat me like anyone else."

"Why would I treat you like anyone else?" he asked angrily. "You're not anyone else. How can you think I would treat you like them?"

He still thought her helpless, useless. He didn't even see her as being capable of defending herself. Why else would he have to treat her with kid gloves, unlike everyone else?

"But –"

"I thought I made myself clear, Elizabeth. I said we wouldn't discuss it again." He took her arm and continued walking.

He was angry. That was clear, from his voice and his expression. Elizabeth felt sick. She should have kept her mouth shut. What had induced her to argue with him? She knew better, but her temper had always gotten the better of her.

What was she going to do if he kicked her out?

Where would she go?

How would she survive?

She felt more and more ill as they walked silently the rest of the way home, until she thought she might throw up.

When at last they entered the cabin, Will lit a lamp and Elizabeth hurried to get dinner ready. If she had been able to stay home while Will was off working, she would have had supper ready for him when he arrived, but now she would have to scramble to get it prepared.

As she cooked, she thought desperately of a way to lessen Will's anger with her. He did not want her to be independent or have a mind of her own. He was always pleased with her after sex, but it was too early to go to bed.

Then she remembered what Charlotte Lucas had told her: men like blow jobs.

Not having known what a blow job was, she had asked Charlotte to enlighten her before she left for Will's cabin. Charlotte had given her explicit details.

Elizabeth had not had the nerve to try it yet, but maybe she should tonight.

They ate dinner in silence, without Will even making his usual appreciative noises. That was another thing that told Elizabeth how badly she had messed up. She tried to get up the nerve to approach him, and when he sat down on the couch to take his boots off, she knelt in front of him and started to massage the front of his pants.

"Elizabeth, what –"

She could feel him already starting to get hard, so, nervously, she unzipped his pants and pulled out his cock.

"Elizabeth, are you sure you want to – Fuck!"

Elizabeth had taken him into her mouth before she could lose her nerve. She tried to follow Charlotte's instructions, bobbing up and down his length, using her hand on the part she could not fit into her mouth.

It was not as bad as she thought it would be. He had a musky smell that was not at all unpleasant and his flesh was soft as well as hard against her tongue. She could hear Will moaning and grunting his pleasure as she applied even suction. His hand went into her hair and he guided her head, which at first made her nervous, but he made sure not to thrust into her throat.

"Shit! Fuck! Elizabeth!"

His whole body shuddered and all at once Elizabeth's mouth was flooded with acrid, salty semen. She choked and pulled her head back, struggling not to vomit.

"Shit! I'm sorry, darlin'. I didn't mean to come so quickly. I should've warned you."

He zipped himself up then went into the kitchen and brought her back a glass of water. Surprised and grateful that he had thought of such a thing, she drank down the water, at once feeling better. Then he picked her up and set her on his lap on the couch. He nuzzled her neck and pressed a soft kiss to her throat. "Thank you, darlin'. That was amazing. I'll do you next."

Elizabeth wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she was caught by his next words, which followed a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth."

"You're sorry?" she repeated, unsure what he was referring to.

"Yeah. I was unreasonable earlier. You're absolutely right. I should've listened to you. It doesn't make sense for us to be constantly inseparable. We'll never get anything done that way. And you have done well with your gun. And it was an isolated incident. You were right about all of it. I'm just – possessive, protective. You drive me a little crazy. I need to trust that you can take care of yourself when I'm not with you. Just – give me a little time. It will take me a little while, but I'll get there. I promise."

Elizabeth was so shocked she didn't know what to say.

"Talk, darlin'. What are you thinking?"

"I thought you didn't want me to have any opinions," she said in a soft voice, "that I should just shut up and let you make all the decisions."

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way. I don't think that at all. You're my partner, my equal, Elizabeth."

She looked up at him with shining eyes and he lowered his head and kissed her on the lips.

Elizabeth was filled with so much warmth and affection she almost didn't know what to do with herself. She twined her arms around his neck as she did her best to return his kiss. And when he pushed his tongue into her mouth, she was almost unbearably excited. She tentatively touched her tongue to his, and at Will's moan in response she felt her secret place begin to get wet, as it always did under his attentions. As if in response to her thoughts, Will picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, placing her down carefully on the bed and gently undressing her.

"You're ready again already?" Elizabeth asked in surprise, thinking they were going to have sex. There had been a few nights where they had had sex more than once, and it always took him some time to recover after he came.

"No, I'm not ready again yet, but that's not my plan anyway," he said. "I'm going to pay you back for that amazing blow job."

Elizabeth didn't know what he meant, but had no objection when he leaned down to kiss her again. She reveled in the kisses. They were more delicious than she had ever imagined kisses could be. She squeaked in protest when his kisses left her mouth, but then moaned when they moved from her jaw down her neck and to her breasts. He took her nipples into his mouth until she was moaning, then kissed down her stomach and buried his face between her thighs. At the first lick up her folds Elizabeth cried out in shock as well as pleasure.

"Will! What are you –"

"Never had this done before, darlin'? Just lie back. You'll like it."

Elizabeth couldn't deny that she liked it. She loved it. In fact, with every swipe of his tongue against her folds and her clit, she became louder and louder in her pleasure. Something was happening to her body, something that she had come close to during intercourse but had never reached. She had always wondered if that was all there was, that unsatisfied ache, but apparently not, because her body reached an almost violent burst of pleasure such as she had never imagined. She cried out in shock as well as rapture and it was several long moments before her body floated back down onto the bed and she was left relaxed and replete as she had never felt before.

She glanced down to thank Will for the pleasure he had just given her to find him staring at her in shock. She felt uneasy suddenly. Had she done something wrong?

"Did you just come?" he asked.

"Um, yes?" she said, hoping it did not sound like a question. But he suddenly looked angry.

"Have you been faking it all this time until now?"

Now Elizabeth was confused. "Faking what?"

"Faking your orgasms," he replied in an angry tone.

"You thought I was having orgasms?" she asked, surprised.

Will now looked shocked as well as angry. "You mean you thought I knew you weren't coming?"

Elizabeth was getting seriously worried by Will's anger. She had messed up again. She just wished she knew how she had done it.

"Do you think I'm some kind of selfish asshole, taking pleasure from you without giving any?" He got up and started to pace the room.

"No, of course not," she said, alarmed now.

"Well, then, what is it, Elizabeth? Obviously I'm a shitty lover, but instead of saying anything, you just went ahead and let me use you!"

Elizabeth was trying to staunch her tears now as well as her anger at his unreasonableness. "I didn't know any different! You know you're the only lover I've ever had!"

That stopped him in his tracks. He stared at her. "The only lover you've ever – you mean you were a virgin?" He looked shocked.

"I thought you knew," Elizabeth said in confusion. "I told you I'd lived with my family since I was 11."

"I thought there were other people around. And you're such a pretty thing and – Shit! And I wasn't even gentle! Did I hurt you? Fuck! You must have been in pain!"

"I wasn't in pain," she hurried to assure him. "It didn't hurt, Will."

That calmed him a bit. "Still, it must have been uncomfortable. I'm sorry, Elizabeth."

"You don't need to apologize, Will. It really was fine. And I've enjoyed having sex with you," she said, blushing.

"Right. Sure," he said a bit bitterly. "What did you do, get yourself off after I went to sleep?"

She frowned. "Of course not. I didn't even know women could have orgasms until 10 minutes ago."

Will stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. "Are you serious? How is that possible?"

Elizabeth shrugged uncomfortably. "When I was 13, my mom had a little talk with me. She told me the mechanics of sex and human reproduction, but she and my sisters died when I was fifteen and then it was just my dad and me."

"But – but surely you had books, or – or TV."

"We had books, yes, but nothing that would have told me the details about sex. My dad mostly read the classics."

"Then how did you know what a blow job was?"

"Charlotte told me."

"Shit." Will sat on the edge of the bed, putting his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth."

"For what? You did nothing wrong, Will," said Elizabeth, feeling relieved now that he no longer appeared angry.

"I wish I'd known," he said. He leaned down to kiss her lips and she gloried in the contact. "I'll make sure you come every time from now on, Elizabeth. I swear it."

Elizabeth felt a swell of affection for this man such as she never thought she could feel, and she returned his kisses with abandon.

Author's Note: Because of a lot of perceptive comments, I have gone back into all the previous chapters and changed Will's speech so he no longer sounds uneducated, although I did keep the endearment "darlin'" because I like it :). Thank you to everyone for your suggestions!

Also, for all of you who have been wondering, yes, Will was a virgin when he got together with Elizabeth.