Like hell you are!
She’d fight until every muscle in her body was ripped and torn. Would bite until her teeth sank through tissue and shattered against bone. But she would never—ever—let this disgusting sack of burnt meat force his way into her. And, with God as her witness, she most surely would not thank the bastard for it later.
Let’s see how you like this, rotter breath.
Ocean jerked her right knee upward, at the same time, she grabbed Corduroy’s shoulders and allowed her body to drop, dead weight, toward the floor. Caught off balance by this sudden change in tactics, he also began falling toward the ground, at the same moment her knee buried itself into his crotch. The air rushed out of his mouth in something that was half grunt, half moan and his hands released the young girl, preferring instead to cup his testicles.
His body slumped to the floor as he pulled his knees up close to his chest, rolling onto his side. His good eye was clenched shut and the grimace that covered his face made the shadows in his gnarled burns seem deeper. He rolled back and forth, breathing heavily through his nose. Cough-like groans passed through the same lips that had so recently whispered threats to the girl who now towered above him.
“Asshole!” She punctuated the curse with a sharp kick to his ribs and then, fearing that he might somehow muster the strength to get back up, she darted toward the entrance to the north tunnel. She’d closed half the distance when she heard Gauge’s laugh echo from the kitchen. The sound of his voice made her skid to a stop as she twirled around.
It was strange, but after realizing she wouldn’t be able to scream for help, Ocean had entirely forgotten about the others. It was as though the world had grown smaller, as if she and Corduroy were the sole inhabitants of a planet no bigger than the room that served as Baby’s nursery.
There had been no sounds other than the two of them grappling for dominance. In her mind, the struggle had been loud enough to call the dead, as her father used to say. If Gauge and Levi had continued cooking just yards away, then obviously it hadn’t been any louder than what Pebble had been when searching for whatever it was he had lost.
Ocean wanted to run to Gauge, to press her face into his solid chest and wrap her arms around his waist. She wanted to feel his arms encircling her, to let tears flow from her eyes while she blurted and sobbed her way through the whole story. And he, of course, would gently push her away as he stormed out of the kitchen, his booming voice echoing through the tunnels with Corduroy’s name. She wanted this so badly that her legs jerked and twitched with pent up energy, longing to run to the man who would surely be her savior once again.
Or would he? Would Gauge and Levi really believe her story? After all, she’d only been with them for a short time, whereas Corduroy seemed firmly entrenched within their little family. With no witnesses, it would be her word against his, wouldn’t it? He could always make up some lie, some reason that she might be angry enough to try to turn the others against him.
Who would they believe? Some girl who was only barely a woman, a relative stranger in their midst on top of that? Or someone who was trusted enough to journey topside with Gauge? Someone who’d been with them for God knows how long?
It was true that Ocean felt as if she and Gauge were growing closer every day. Since her hair had begun growing back and her cheeks started rounding out, she thought he looked at her differently. Sometimes, she’d catch him looking at her out of the corner of her eye. Not in the same way Corduroy did, though. Gauge’s expression was soft and tender, the corners of his lips pulled into that little grin that had the power to make her feel as if her body had become weightless. When they spoke, his little nicknames for her were becoming more and more frequent: honey, sweetie, darling, dear.
But what about Levi? If Ocean had noticed this change coming over Gauge, then surely the other woman had as well. Did she see all the little squeezes that Gauge gave Ocean’s hand, the way he’d place his palm against the side of her cheek and stare into her eyes with a smile? If she did, was she jealous? Enough, perhaps, to believe whatever ludicrous tale Corduroy might spin to get his ass out of trouble?
And then there was the real question. If it came right down to it, who would Gauge pick if he were forced to? Ocean, or Levi?
While Ocean knew exactly how she felt about the dark-haired man, she wasn’t entirely convinced his feelings for her were as strong. If Levi demanded that he make a choice, there was a good chance that he would elect to keep things the way they’d always been. It would be much easier, after all, to forget a girl he liked but barely knew, than to give up someone who’d spent years with him.
The sound of Corduroy’s breathing snapped Ocean’s focus out of her own head. The burned man had staggered back to his feet and, even though he was still hunched over with his hands pressed to his groin, he turned his head slowly to look at her.
Without another thought, Ocean dashed to the opposite side of the room so that the large table was directly between them. She could see Gauge’s legs through the crackling flames of the open hearth and the swish of Levi’s dark dress as she swiveled back and forth on the balls of her feet. Corduroy was already hobbling around the table and he crept as if his scrotum pulsed with agony every time he scissored his legs for another step. He also seemed to be gathering strength every second, standing a little straighter the closer he came to her.
Though she didn’t know what it meant, she held a closed fist in front of her face and slowly lifted her middle finger so that it was the only one pointing up. She’d seen her mother do that when she was really angry. Often enough to know that it was something bad, perhaps even some Old World magic, like the Evil Eye that her father had told her about. Then, without a second glance, she ran across the room and ducked into the jagged hole that served as the entrance to the kitchen.
Since it was much smaller than the chamber they slept and dined in, the kitchen area was so hot that the air felt thin and hard to breathe. Gauge and Levi were both so drenched in sweat that their long hair was plastered to their skulls. They each held a small rectangle of tin in their hands, the pieces of metal were normally used to help coax flames back from a mound of embers, but now the pair fanned themselves with them as if even a warm breeze was better than none at all. They stood nearly shoulder to shoulder, but Gauge stepped to the side when Ocean entered, and smiled at her. If Levi noticed, however, she hid any emotions it may have stirred and continued dumping roots into a dented, metal pot with her free hand.
“Good morning, sweetheart. You sleep well?”
Ocean nodded her head, but remained silent. She still wasn’t entirely sure whether she should tell the others about the confrontation in the main chamber. She was afraid that the words would simply spill out if she so much as even parted her lips, and once the story was out, there was no taking it back. She would have to live with the consequences, whatever they may be, for the rest of her life.
Just like opening the door. There would be consequences for that, too.
She tried to push the thought from her head, but it still caused her stomach to feel queasy. With everything that had transpired between her and Corduroy, she’d almost managed to forget about the little room and what she’d seen the night before.