The Condemned (37 page)

    
He gave her a few minutes to take it in, to adjust to the idea of going back there
,
and then they moved forwards again, heading towards the main gate.

    
Since she had last been here a thick wall had been built around the place, shelter from the elements most likely
,
but to her it gave the impression of something designed to keep her in, she was overcome with the feeling that once she
set foot inside those walls she woul
d never leave.

    
Leci pushed aside such foolish thoughts, knowing that her mind was still trying to play games, still trying to convince her that she was doing the wrong thing.
She had Amato with her, he would take care of her, he would let no harm come to her and it was this thought that allowed her to keep calm as they passed through the gate and into the bustling inner workings of a busy mining town.

    
There were more people here than she had seen in any one place for a long time
and e
veryone was out for themselves. There were traders who yelled noisily
,
in competition with one another for the attention of the crowds who jostled and bustled one another in an effort to get the front, be the first. Leci picked out three pickpockets within the first five minutes and hugged her pack to her chest, guarding what few possessions she had.

    
For the sake of congestion
,
horses were not permitted to be ridden in town and, as requested, Amato left their ride in
the capable hands of the stable owner
,
just inside the gate. He passed a box of bullets to the man as payment and then took Alecia’s hand, leading her through the crowd. She stayed close t
o his side, timid and subdued, t
he place was not much different to how she remembered it.

    
There had been good times here, before the bad. The place wasn’t all doom and gloom; it was just that the painful memories far outweighed the happier ones.

    
The tavern was usually the easiest place to find in most towns you came across, purely because it was where the biggest crowds tended to be gathered. People relied a lot on alcohol to numb their senses to the harshness of the world around them. This place was no exception and they found the building with no difficulty. Leci could’ve led him right to it if he had asked
,
but he didn’t, and she wasn’t feeling inclined to volunteer the information.

    
The place was busy as they passed through from the sunlight of the day outside and into the unlit interior.

Enough light passed through windows to leave the place merely dim
and shadowy rather than dark, f
eatures could be made out in the gloom. The place hadn’t changed a bit in the last five years.

    
Leci tugged her cap down
subconsciously;
now more afraid of the men she was looking for
,
than of Officials. Amato moved over to the bar and she followed closely, trailing him like a
small child, clinging to the back of his jacket
,
as though letting go would mean th
at she would be
instantly swallowed up into the hungry, greedy crowd and lost forever.

    
Unlike most small towns that didn’t offer many places for travellers to stay the night, the bigger ones, and particularly the industrial mining ones like Coleville, tended to offer a wide variety of alternatives
,
and there were usually rooms available in inns aswell as in apartment style buildings. Amato waited patiently while the bartender finished with another customer and nodded to the two of them, acknowledging their presence, he served a scruffy looking kid who was maybe around eight or nine. The kid ordered a Whiskey chaser and wandered off with it, Leci watched him until the voracious throng consumed him whole and he was lost from sight. She turned back to the two men as the barkeep approached them. Amato nodded a welcome to him.

     
‘Hi there
,
friend, any rooms going for a night or two?’

     
The other man leaned on the bar, cleaning a dirty glass with an even dirtier cloth. His eyes flickered from Amato to Leci, gave her a quick once over and then shifted back.

     
‘I charge extra if you’re bringin’ in a whore
to pimp out
.’

    
Before Leci could protest
,
Amato had reached across the bar, grabbing the man by a fistful of his shirt. The dirty glass fell to the floor and smashed as the man found his face
pressed up against Amato’s.

     
‘Watch your tongue. The lady ain’t no whore. We rode in here together and when our business is done we’ll be ridin’ out together,
and there’ll be no man laying a finger on her apart from me,
got it?’

    
Leci couldn’t describe the feelings that rushed her. She wanted to believe he meant it when he defended her honour like that
,
and that what he had said a few days back in the other town had meant nothing. She was relieved and pleased and almost brought to tears by the gesture.

    
Keep it together Leci, he just doesn’t want to pay more for the room.

    
She didn’t like that voice, the one that niggled away at her, causing her to doubt herself
,
or the people around her. It had been sticking itself into her business far too often lately. She pushed it way down deep, burying it for the time being and pointedly ignoring it.

    
She glanced around, not surprised that the small scene had pulled no attention at all from any of the other patrons. They were all far too interested in themselves and their own pointless lives to take notice of what was happening around them.

     
‘Got it, Pal.’ The guy was holding up his hands in a defensive, submissive gesture. Leci hid a grin behind her hand, wondered how many people usually had the balls to argue
with Amato in a fucked off mood
, he was the kind of guy who was used to getting his own way, all the time
. She was secretly proud to
stand
beside him, even if it was only to be considered his personal tramp.

    
Amato released him slowly, lowering him back to his feet. The bartender took out a small brush and swept up the broken glass without a word, pretty much used to this kind of behaviour, it didn’t really faze him
anymore
. He spoke while he worked.

     
‘Yer in luck, got two rooms just emptied up today. One’s even got a bed
,
but that’s the pricey one.’ He grinned, revealing a gold tooth that glinted as a patch of light hit it. Leci stared at it, captivated, wondered if she could get away wit
h killing him and taking it... i
t was so pretty.

     
‘How pricey?’

     
‘Got coins?’

    
Amato hesitated briefly but then nodded. Coins were the preferred form of currency but by no means the only one
,
if you had them you were at such a high risk of having them stolen that most travellers tended not to bother. Leci was surprised he was carrying any on him, he hadn’t mentioned having them before and he’d been using ammo to trade with up until this point. It made sense though, to save the valuable stuff for when it was really needed
,
rather than using it in situations where something else would do just as well.

     
‘How many nights?’

     
‘One for now, maybe another, depends on whether or not we got business here.’

    
The man scratched his chin. He may have been curious to know what business they were looking for but someone in his profession knew better than to pry
,
and if he was interested, he didn’t show it.

     
‘Four silver ‘uns for the first night, I’ll lower it to three
per night after that,
if you stay any longer.’

     
‘I’ll pay you two for tonight and you’ll be happy with that.’

    
The man narrowed his eyes.

     
‘Two’ll get you the cheaper room
,
friend, I ain’t negotiatin’, see how busy this place is? Another couple hours an’ some of these drunks are gonna realise they couldn’t ride a horse outta here no matter how bad they tried. Some of em’ll try a’course, but a few’ll be payin’ me fer my rooms.’

    
Amato considered their options, Leci watched his jaw work as he clenched it, annoyed at not having been able to talk the barkeep down
,
but smart enough to know that pushing the issue might leave them without somewhere to stay for the night.

    
He
finally
slid four silver coins across the bar, Leci hadn’t even seen him get them
out,
in return the barkeep handed him a rusty metal key.

     
‘First floor, go up the stairs, right to the end, last
door on yer left.’ He grinned again and Leci caught herself watching the shiny tooth. She wanted it very, very badly... Her fingers twitched and it was a relief when Amato pulled her away from the bar and towards the stairs.

     
‘Is it bad that I want to kill him and steal his tooth?’ She whispered as they made their way along the deserted hallway to their assigned room.

    
Amato unlocked the door and then relocked it behind them when they were inside.

     
‘No, can’t be any worse than me wanting to kill him just for the hell of it.’

     
‘Sounds good, you kill him for kicks and I’ll make off with the tooth, deal?’ She grinned.

    
Amato laughed.

     
‘Deal, so long as I get my coins back in the bargain.’

    
And then, without warning, he had his arms around her and his lips were pressing against hers.

He ran his hands down her sides and peeled her top up over her head, she lifted her arms high to let him and then locked her hands behind his neck, she jumped and he gripped the undersides of her thighs, hoisting her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

      ‘We got t
ime to have a little fun before we start.’ He murmured against her mouth, right before he slammed her against the wall.

    
Leci grunted as she was thrown forcefully against the crumbling plaster. Her spine jarred with the impact, her head hit the wall and would’ve rebounded off it apart from the fact that Amato’s face was pressed against hers, she heard a ringing in her ears and her vision doubled up for a moment
,
before swimming back to normal. The force of the blow caused
her to snap her teeth shut
involuntarily, biting through his lower lip. She tasted warm, coppery blood in her mouth, Amato hissed in pain but she could feel him grinning against her and he kissed her harder, more hungrily.

    
He pinned her to the wall with his body and his hands tore at her pants, pulling them down as far as he could before her legs, still around his waist, prevented them from being yanked any farther.

He kept her held against the wall but slipped a hand behind her back and roughly tugged fistfuls of her hair. He unfastened his jeans and stepped out of them as they fell around his ankles, kicking them to one side
,
and then she felt his hand between her legs. Leci gasped as he thrust upwards, entering her painfully with his entire fist. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders, she felt her nails pierce his skin but he didn’t flinch, continued pounding her with his hand.

    
He lowered his
lips
to her breasts, sucking one into his mouth
, painting her skin with streaks of his blood
, she shivered as his tongue ran over her nipple, flicking it
teasingly. He withdrew his hand partly and used his thumb to gently massage her clitoris while he carried on thrusting. Leci squirmed against the wall, feeling the pleasurable tingle spread upwards through her groin
, slowly growing in intensity
until she cried out, her nails drawing blood from his shoulders a
s she dug deeper into his flesh. Her back arched
, the back of her head hitting the wall as her body tensed, rigid
,
and she felt herself convulsing as waves of pleasure washed over her
, a low moan of satisfaction escaping her lips as the tremors ran through her
.

    
Amato released her, pulling away from the wall and peeling her legs from around his waist, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and pushed her to her knees, guided her mouth to his cock, Leci moaned softly, wanting him badly. She grabbed a
hold of his buttocks, pulled him closer and
ran her tongue along the underside of his shaft, from base to tip, planted a soft kiss on his head and then took him in
to
her mouth until he filled it and she could take no more.