Piece in Our Time

The air was crisp and clean, the clouds had parted to allow for the sun to make his debut for the day. The wind blew softly, the grass swaying gently with the motion. Much like the sea. Eva, a small raven haired child spun herself silly, the dress she wore reaching her ankles, twirled with the flow of the wind. Her pale skin now a light shade of pink as the sun kissed her. Eva giggled as her feet carried here around the lush grass of her back yard. Spring had just commenced, and with that came Eva's new look on life. Gone was the sadness and guilt she felt for her parents as well as for her brother who now had to watch over her. Instead, in it's place was a gratefulness for life. At her young age, she had come to terms with the fact that life was short, you needed to live it to it's fullest. Moments and people could be gone in one flutter of an eyelash.

The wind around Eva encouraged her to continue her dance. She had begun to hum a light tune, giggle in between breaks. Her breath heavy, her eyes closed tight as she felt the world move beneath her feet. Her feet now a tangled chaos and as she twirled and twisted across her lawn, her eyes closed tight a bump in the ground, a rock protruding from the plush grass caught Eva on her foot and sent her soaring to the ground. One moment she was humming and the next she was gasping and the taste of blood coated her tongue. She had fallen face first into the ground beneath her.

She did not wail, she did not cry. Eva place one finger against her lip and winced as she pulled it away. Red liquid coating the tip of her finger. The way it gleamed in the light and stuck to her skin caught her attention and she forgot about the pain in her lip, and how it was still dripping freely. And as she stared in wonder at her blood the clouds gathered once more and in the distance a rumbling could be heard. The drops of rain hit Eva's forehead pulling her from her concentration. She stood calmly. Eva ran her tongue over her sore lip and tasted the copper fluid on her tongue.Her nose scrunched in disgust and she spit her blood to the ground, painting the green grass as she walked towards her home.

She had begun to shake lightly, this instance nothing more but another reminder of how she needed to hold life by the hand and hold tight with all her might. When she entered her home through the kitchen door that lead to the back Patrick, her older brother stood with a glass in his hand, instantly placing it on the counter at the sight of his young sister. Bleeding and bruised at the lip he gathered her in his arms and sat her on the kitchen counter.

"It does not hurt Patrick.." She spoke, she was still entranced by the sight of her own blood.

"What happened Eva" Patrick spoke sternly as he wet a hand towel with warm water and with a gentle hand patted away the blood still dribbling from Eva's newly split lip. As the blood washed gone it gave way to the newly purple and blackened skin beneath it. Patrick winced, she would hurt for a while now.

"I was spinning and I must have tripped and fallen, I know I bit my lip." She slurred between his soft wipes. She flinched, the purple skin around her lip now tender.

"You need to be more careful, I am leaving soon and I won't be here to help you. You need to learn to watch out for yourself. " His words were still stern, they held a hint of despair in them. Eva lowered her gaze from his and stared at her hands, cupped on her lap. She would miss him.

Eva pried her eyes open. They burned with exhaustion but she knew she had slept to deeply. She felt warm, and a heat radiated into her back. She scanned the tent slowly, the fire had died sometime in the night. Her skin was covered in goose bumps. Some time in the night she had kicked the furs from her body. It took her a moment to realize there was a strong arm around her waist, a large calloused hand placed under her stomach, on her pelvis. She blinked a few times to bat away the exhaustion that threatened to pull them back closed and attempted to sit up.

In doing so a sharp pain jolted through her stomach and she called out in pain, slipping back down into the bed of furs and back into the arms of who she now knew were Asmunds. The man she lay with was awake immediately and he was leaning over her, his hand on her chin. She closed her eyes in pain, her cheeks throbbing from his touch. Flashbacks of being struck and kicked played before her eyelids and she gasped. The motion causing another fleet of pain to land on her face. She pushed his hand away with a whimper and opened her eyes.

He was glaring at her and she had no idea why. She was the one who was hurt and bleeding. Or so she thought. She could still taste the blood on her tongue and on the tender skin of her lip. She sluggishly moved once more to sit up, swinging her legs over the side of the furs and gasping for air. Asmund was cursing behind her.

"Lay still woman, yer hurt!" The sound of his voice only caused a throbbing migraine to form behind her eyes and she waved with her hand in his direction, a motion to be quiet. Her mouth was dry and she could not speak. She heard him grunt behind her and felt him move behind her before he was in front of her. Topless, her eyes scanned his chest. All ripples of toned muscle and not an inch of skin on him was useless. If she were not in agony she would have admired him more. But her eyes ached and she closed them slowly. She placed her hands on his thighs as an anchor to stand but they were shoved away and strong arms pushed her back into the bed. The movement of siting up alone caused her tiredness to triple. She allowed herself to be tucked back in and she fell back into a fitful sleep.
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Asmund growled at the site of the woman in his furs. She was still breathtaking. Bruised and bloody she was fragile now. Not the spirited woman he had fought to find once more. He had had the woman whom struck her tied to her own tree. She had slept the night outside. He would deal out her real punishment soon. But first he needed to see to the camp whilst Eva slept so that when she awoke again he could tend to her wounds.

He was amazed at how close to their destination his clan had made it while he was gone. They were only a day or two away from the ships. He could feel the anticipation in the air. He was ready to move on to. To make a home for his clan so that he could rebuild and make it the great clan it once was.

In the night the clan had managed to salvage the animals who had lingered. The tents had been restored to the best they could be. They had gathered what little food they had left and Hera had decided on the rations. Those who were witness were unsure of whom the clan belonged to so delivering vengeance would be difficult but Asmund would see it done.

Though he walked the camp his mind was on the woman in his bed. She had caused this pain to his people and he needed to find a way to punish her. Most of the clan would want it done publicly, a humiliating experience. But Asmund would dole out his punishment in private. He felt something for this woman. He was not sure what it was. Be it attraction or just a mere interest, he needed to know more about her, and he figured punishing her in front of what was left of his clan would be the negative way of going about it. With a heavy sigh Asmund returned to the tent, but not before ordering Hera to join him so she could procure a heated bath for Eva. If he knew one thing it was that a hot bath could fix almost anything.

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Eva felt herself being lifted, her feet landing on cool ground and she shivered. She tried to open her eyes when she felt warm hands stripping her of her clothing. She opened her mouth to protest but only a dry croak escaped and she felt frustration build in her. She felt herself suddenly lifted again and this time she was placed in a hot bath. A soft groan protruded from deep in her chest and she lay her head back against the makeshift tub. She was unsure of who had undressed her, but if they placed her in this hot water she could forgive them.

"Ah that's it Eva." Asmunds thick accented voice crept into her ears and her eyes shot open. Her hands shot up to cover her naked chest and without thinking she sat up. A sharp, dry cry emitted from her lips as she looked up at her captor. He was cursing her again in the language she was slowly beginning to understand. He held a cloth in his hand, in the other he pressed her by her collar back into the water.

"Lay still Eva, you'll only hurt yourself more." Hera was behind him, and Eva relaxed slightly. She eyed Asmund from the side as she dipped the cloth in the hot water, he waved Hera away with his hand.

"No!" Her broken voice spoke. But Hera had already exited the tent and left her with Asmund alone in a room lit by only a small fire. She swallowed hard and looked back at the man before her. He was concentrating on wringing the cloth free of excess water.

"I can do that." She whispered. She debated on drinking the bath water she sat in, but thought better of it. She was probably filthy. "Could I have some water?" She asked as he looked to her. He nodded and stood swiftly returning with a small skin of water for her. She drank the water slowly and closed her eyes in contempt at the cooling feeling that took hold of her throat.

"I can wash a woman Eva, I will be gentle." He had started with her neck. The heated cloth felt nice against her skin and she followed the movement of his hand along her collar bone as he moved.

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As Asmund used the cloth to gently clean Eva's cheeks from dried blood she was watching him from under her dark lashes, he could see her. She did not trust him. He would give her reason too. Even if it meant fighting every urge in him to pull her from the water, hold her wet body against his own dry one and thrust into her and lay claim. She was a vision. A pale beauty in his bath. He watched the cloth soothe her skin as her moved between her breast. Watching as her breath pushed her chest up and then let it fall back again. Her skin was soft and it called to his lips.

Asmund dipped the linen back into the water before he returned to her chest, he circled under her breast and over them. He watched as her nipples, pink, hardened at his touch and he grew hard in his pants. Her eyes were slowly closing before him and her lips were parting. She was calming under his touch. This thought, this fact made his heart swell. He moved the cloth down her stomach, careful around the bruising that had already begun to mark the skin. He watched her muscles tense in anticipation, she expected pain. He would prove he could be gentle.

He ran the cloth back up her stomach, through the gap in her breast and around her neck before repeating the action once or twice more. He watched the tension in her body lessen. Her eyelashes, thick fluttered against her cheek bones. He took this time to admire her before him. Her black hair cascading over her shoulders, just touching the rounds of her nipples. Her lips though swollen, pink. Her arms rested under the water. Her stomach flat with just a bit of plumpness towards the end. She was soft, not rock hard. She felt heavenly against his chest in the night. He had slept well with her against him.

Pale knees peeked out from beneath the water, parted, each resting against the edge of the bath. He allowed his eyes to roam just for a second and picture what was beneath the water. She was probably just as soft, pink and beautiful between her thighs as she was on every other part of her body. Asmund let his gaze travel back towards her face and met his own grey eyes to hers. She had her lips parted and a healthy pink had blessed her cheeks. He let a grin creep to his lips.

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The water was cooling and Eva really wanted to get out. The way Asmund had looked upon her body made her feel flushed, she needed to lay down once more. She felt beautiful under his gaze but that grin, that god damn grin. He was playing with her. This man, this brute of a man was staring at her, naked in his tent with the gaze of a lion ready to pounce on his prey. Eva was sure if he did, if this lion pounce she would let him. He was handsome, he was rugged. He smelt amazing, like pines and man and she needed to feel him against her once more. Though she had been surprised, waking in his arms was delectable. He was safe, he was warm. She wanted that again. A flutter began low in her belly.

Eva eyed the warm towel behind Asmund "May I get out now, I feel much better." Eva flushed at the husk in her voice. She was completely and utterly aroused by this man, and by the look of achievement on his face, he knew it. Asmund stood and turned to for the towel. He motioned her to stand and when she did so, slowly and with his help he wrapped the warm cloth around her body and plucked her from the water, he set her down as close to himself as he could. Eva kept her gaze to his chest as he used the towel to dry her body. She could feel the heat in his eyes on her skin as he did so.

But even so, Asmund stood and with one last swipe of her shoulder and pulled the towel close around her and ordered her to dress before walking from the tent and leaving her alone. Eva let out the breath she had been holding in and turned to dress herself. It took her a long while to do so. Her abdomen still hurt and each time a peace of clothing brushed her cheek her head throbbed. But she did it , and when she did she was so encompassed by sleep she fell to the furs and fell back into a slumber.