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"Give me some space. I think I need to be alone."
She'd agreed to Mark's request, and left him at Fishensips not long after. But Opal couldn't stop thinking about what he'd told her. About the guilt Mark carried that led to him drinking himself silly at the bar. He was upset about the stray dog and her illness, sure. But Mark's pain went far deeper than that. It wasn't really about the dog.
His pain and guilt existed on a level Opal couldn't begin to understand. She wanted to, though. Opal wanted to understand Mark. If he'd let her.
She was beginning to think he never would.
The following day, Opal paused as she tended her cranberry patch. She didn't have Mark's phone number, but she'd tossed and turned all night thinking about his expression when he told her about Drake. The grief that glazed his normally sharp eyes. Opal reached into her back pocket for her phone. Did she dare call Anne, Mark's sister? Was she that concerned about the man who'd mostly grunted in her direction since she'd moved to Starlet Town?
Opal scrolled through her contacts. She'd been living on this island for months, and had many friends. In fact, most of the locals' numbers were now stored in her phone. But not Mark's. Opal had never gotten close enough to ask for it, and was pretty sure she already knew the answer anyway:
"Tch. Why, garden rake? Don't y'already have plenty of friends?"
Then he'd stalk away—his burly frame casting a large shadow that Opal would look for the rest of the day. The sheathed dagger Mark sometimes wore on his hip tapping against his thigh like a warning. He wasn't Opal's friend. He was barely her ally. Mark wanted to be left alone.
To her shock, Opal blinked away a couple of tears before stowing her phone away once more. Why did she care so much about Mark's pain? Why couldn't she stop seeing the glimmer of hope in his eyes when she'd first sat next to him at the bar the night before? The glimmer of hope that had diminished as Mark threw back one pint, then another.
Opal finished up her yard work, then slung her bag over her shoulder. There was still time to muck around in the caverns before dark.
It was grueling work, down in the caverns. And the creatures that lived down there didn't make it any easier. But Opal felt like she had a fire lit under her this afternoon. Like she was determined to prove herself to Mark. He was, after all, a skilled swordsman himself. Mark was big, and imposing, but he was surprisingly swift when it came to swinging a blade. Opal had gazed at Mark on more than one occasion, now. Hanging back at the Band of Smiles to catch a glimpse of him as he practiced with a training dummy. Or watching him spar with Kira. There was an unusual grace about Mark that Opal didn't know how to describe. And it flustered her.
Why did Mark fluster Opal so much? When she considered the question, she kept picturing the first time she'd ever crossed paths with the man. He'd come to her house only a few days after she'd moved in, rudely introduced himself and told her the cavern was open for exploration. As Mark had walked away, he'd muttered that speaking to Opal was "a waste of time." At the time Opal had just chalked it up to Mark being unfriendly. But now that she knew about Drake? Maybe Mark didn't want anyone else inexperienced around him. He didn't want to see anyone else die.
There was more to Mark than being gruff and imposing. There had to be. And that was what flustered Opal. To see more beneath the hard surface. To see if there were cracks in Mark's armour. A soft underbelly.
Not that Opal always had an issue with how gruff and imposing Mark could be, if she were truly honest. Sometimes at night she thought about how he could snap her like a twig. If she could just get him to like her…maybe his brute strength would be useful for more than just swinging a sword at monsters.
Opal mopped some sweat off her brow and headed back to the entrance of the cavern. She'd worked hard today, and was fairly sore. Jittery too. Agitated, almost. She longed to talk to Mark. To see more of his vulnerable side.
"Goddamn...watch where you're going!" Opal looked up, and saw who she'd run into. It was the man himself. Mark. Likely standing around six foot five—a wall of a man. And Opal was standing on his foot. Also large.
"Shit. Sorry, Mark."
He scowled down at her. Mark looked a little worse for wear. He must've kept drinking when Opal left him at Fishensips the previous evening. He had dark circles under his eyes, and looked like he'd run his fingers through his russet hair instead of combing it.
"Better get outta here, garden rake. It's past your bedtime."
Opal guffawed at that remark. She was likely around ten years Mark's junior, but nowhere near to being a child. Opal squinted up at him. He was so remarkably handsome. The scar that cut across Mark's face only served to reinforce his rugged attractiveness. Making a scoffing noise, Opal looked back down. She was blushing, and didn't want Mark to see.
"Are you blushing, farmer? What'd I say?"
Dammit. He caught you.
"Nothing. It's…" Opal shrugged. "Nothing. You're right, I should go. Besides, I thought you didn't want me around. You never do."
Mark scoffed. "Tch. Thought you were made of sterner stuff."
At that, Opal rolled her eyes. "I am. You just don't ever let me prove it. Just like when I joined the B.O.S. back in the summer. You think I'm just a city girl with nothing to offer."
He stepped back, and rubbed the back of his neck. Looking down at his feet, it was Mark's turn to blush. "That's not true. I just…I'm not great with people. Better with animals. They don't expect much of me."
Was this…was Mark actually being vulnerable? Opal was afraid to hang around and find out. What if he let his guard down, and she screwed it up somehow? The tension between them felt like it could snap at any moment, but…
Mark approached Opal again. "I don't hate you, you know."
Opal made a face. "You have a funny way of showing it. I would have listened last night you know. If you'd wanted to talk. I like helping people. I get it, though. You don't know me. If you'd rather not see me around much I can keep my distance." She looked towards the exit. "The sun will be down before long anyway. I'll go."
As Opal moved to leave, Mark caught her by the arm.
"Didn't really want you to leave. Last night. Or now. Wanted you…I want…" Mark gazed at Opal for a beat—his bottom lip quivering for so short a moment she almost missed it. "I need…" he leaned down closer, and Opal's breath caught in her throat. The glaze in Mark's eyes wasn't from grief now. It was hunger that she recognized in his dusky green eyes.
Like she was light as a feather, Mark swept Opal into his arms before pressing his lips urgently to hers. She felt as weightless as the scarecrows she'd finished stuffing earlier in the week. As fragile as glass in Mark's hands. He tasted like salt and faintly of cocoa. His lips were rough, his mouth starving.
A whisper of a moan was all Opal could manage, folded into Mark as she was. She tasted more salt and knew he was weeping. Should she break the kiss and ask him—no, beg him—to talk to her? To unburden himself? He was a great wave crashing into her, but Opal relished the sensation. Instead of words, she'd allow Mark to unburden himself in the way he was desperately pleading for now, murmuring into her ear.
"Lemme touch you. Need…I need to…fuck…" He was slightly hoarse, his normally booming voice now hushed and raspy. Cracking at the intervals between rough kisses. "Wanted you since…since I saw you…"
Opal grunted wantonly in response, her inhibitions leaving her. Mark's rough chin butted up against hers before he tilted her head up so he could nuzzle her neck. His calloused fingers scrambled against her back, insistently fiddling with the jacket Opal had tossed on. His lips found hers again, a rush of moans passing between them as their tongues slid together.
This is everything you wanted. But did you want it like this? Here, now? Against a cavern wall?
Opal's mind was powerless to control the surge of lust overcoming her body with every passing second. She murmured against Mark's mouth, not even sure at first what she was saying.
"S'matter Ope? Can't find your words?" Mark slurred against her ear. He didn't seem drunk, but Opal could tell he was under the influence of something. Maybe just her, and the heady blur that was building between them. Calling her "Ope," made Opal smile though. It was the closest Mark had ever come to saying her actual name.
"I want you, Mark," she finally uttered, ducking her head down and nudging against his forehead with hers. Opal looked into Mark's eyes—dark green like the pine needles that often littered her farmland or stuck to her clothing after foraging. Sad, pleading eyes that betrayed hidden depths. Depths perhaps beyond Opal's comprehension. Who knew what else Mark had been through over the years? Maybe Drake wasn't the only ally he'd seen die. Countless strays might haunt Mark's waking and sleeping hours—leaving behind the gruff and unfriendly man that followed Opal's every thought.
"That's what I thought," Mark said, his hands moving to Opal's front. He released the buckles that held her jacket together with a grunt, his large chest heaving with desire. As Mark slid Opal's jacket from her shoulders, she saw a glimmer in his eyes. It could have just been arousal. Or a bit of mischief. But Opal decided to see it as hope.
Whatever it was, it remained in his eyes as Mark stared down at her. Silently, and without removing his gaze from Opal's, Mark lowered the workman's suspenders that held up his canvas pants. He often carried a satchel, and today was no different. Mark tossed it on the ground with another grunt, then cupped Opal's face with one hand. The skin of Mark's palm was coarse, naturally, and its texture sent a delicious shiver up Opal's spine. "Unbutton," he commanded, jerking his chin downwards towards the buttons of his henley. Opal could only nod slowly in response, her breath quickening as she fulfilled Mark's orders. His chest was covered in fine hairs that were coloured like the hair on his head. Much like the hair on his head, there were also silvery strands streaking Mark's pecs. Opal bit her lip as her hands spanned the vast expanse of Mark's chest. He was easily twice her size. Mark could crush Opal against the wall if he wanted to. "Strip it off," was Mark's next command, and Opal drew in a sharp intake of breath as she obeyed.
She'd seen Mark in his bathing suit during the summer, and his choice in attire always left little to the imagination. But it was a different story entirely to be so close to Mark's chest as Opal peeled his shirt over his head. He smelled musky in a mostly pleasant way, and also vaguely of moss. Mark was a little grubby, if Opal was being entirely honest, but it didn't bother her. She was fairly grubby too.
"Now yours," Mark said before pulling Opal into another passionate kiss. His tongue sought hers out desperately, and he probed her mouth with it like a man starved. He wrenched her backwards and Opal moved quickly to unbutton and remove her flannel shirt. She was only wearing a bralette, and her small-ish breasts strained against the fabric—nipples hardened into peaks. A sound akin to a growl escaped Mark's lips, and he once again buried his face in Opal's neck. "You smell like lilies," he crooned.
Opal moaned, and writhed against the stone wall. It had been a while since she'd felt the touch of a man, and she'd have never imagined the next time it happened it would be with someone who appeared to dislike her as much as Mark did. Before her life in Starlet Town, Opal would have never surrendered herself to someone who looked at her with such disdain. But then again, she'd been a very different person when she lived in the city. Far more concerned with the logical side of things.
"D'you have any idea how much I need you?"
There was no logic in what Opal was surrendering to. Mark's hands roved over every inch of her body—big and grasping and greedy.
"Any idea…" Mark ran his tongue up the side of Opal's neck, and she moaned even louder than before. His hands spanned her breasts then, and cupped them. As he squeezed, Mark got to his knees. He pulled Opal's bralette down. Not so indelicately as to rip the garment, but definitely not gently. "Pretty," he muttered from his position facing her chest. "Pretty little farmer." He licked her stomach, and hummed against her damp skin.
Mark continued to stare at Opal as he trailed his tongue upwards. Sloppy, like a dog. Before long he was wrapping it around her nipple, and she clutched his hair weakly. "Mark."
He stopped licking her for a moment, a small trail of spit lingering in the corner of his mouth. "Say it again."
"Mark…"
Mark squeezed Opal's thighs, then held onto her hips, softly grazing his teeth along her belly. "Mark, what? Tell me what you want, Ope."
She blushed, finding it hard to find the words. "Please…don't stop…I want you to…" Opal's instinct was to cover her face with her hands. As if he were sensing this, Mark snatched her wrists and pinned them to the wall. He smirked as she was forced to look down at him.
"You want me to suck your tits 'til you scream, don'tcha pretty farmer? Make all the noise you want. Only ones who'll hear you are deep underground."
Opal exhaled harshly, twisting her body as arousal flooded her. "Please suck them. Please. Do whatever you want, just touch me."
She was shocked at herself for a moment. But it had been a really long time since Opal had been touched. And Mark was…
So big. And rough. Opal wanted him to take her. To bring her relief that until today she didn't realise she was craving.
"Fuck me, Mark. Please."
He grinned, showing more teeth than she'd ever seen him show before. Some light from a nearby pool rippled across Mark's face, highlighting his scar. "Good girl." His voice was filled with gentle mocking, and Opal shivered deliriously as Mark released one of her wrists and stroked her jawline with his thumb. "I'm gonna make you scream."
Cupping her breast rather harshly, Mark sucked Opal's nipple into his mouth with a groan. She bucked her hips, and snaked her fingers back into Mark's hair. "Oh goddess…"
She received a hungry growl in return as Mark suckled her—inhaling half her tit into his mouth with each breath. He let go of Opal's wrist and groped her other breast. The palms of Mark's hands were so immense that he covered the entire thing. "Scream for me, Ope," Mark murmured around her nipple. He swatted her breast and raked his nails downward like claws. "Let it out."
"Goddess, Mark…" Opal's voice rang out through the cavern.
Mark switched to the other side, first smacking it again so Opal yelped. A look of delirium had made its way onto Mark's face, and his eyes rolled back as he worshipped Opal's body with his lips, tongue and teeth. He rolled her nipple delicately between the latter, and Opal squeezed her legs together. She was so aroused she could only gasp and whine; so wet she could feel her slick seeping through her underwear.
Scratching his beard against Opal's supple skin to the point of pain, Mark continued to bathe her tits, sloppily as ever. He flattened his palm against her belly, using it as leverage to gain access to the buttons on her pants. They were opened in an instant, and Opal tossed her head to the side. Her hair had begun to loosen from its braid.
Once he'd removed her boots and tugged her bottoms down with a grunt, Mark grasped Opal's chin. "Put your legs on my shoulders. I'm really gonna make you scream now, garden rake." She trembled, but did as he said. Opal was aching from want, arousal now near to drooling down her thighs. Mark shuffled closer on his knees, and kissed Opal's stomach. He sucked on a patch of skin until he left a hickey, and she cried out from pain and pleasure.
"That's it…" Mark praised her. He paused for a beat, admiring the thatch of trimmed hair that covered Opal's mound. Running his fingers through it once, Mark then rubbed the knuckle of his middle finger up and down Opal's slit. Her eyes fluttered and she undulated forward, desperate for Mark's lips on her lower ones. He chuckled darkly. "You're not what I expected at first, farmer. You're a tough cookie." Opal's eyes widened as Mark held two fingers in front of her face. They were long, and thick. Mark's fingers were intimidating.
"Spit on them."
She paused, and considered all that had occurred in the past several minutes. Was this really what Opal wanted, or was she under some kind of spell? Did she hit her head in the cavern?
Mark tapped his fingertips on Opal's chin. His eyes shimmered with what looked like a moment of clarity. Like he too was under a spell and was considering the madness of this encounter. "Is this what you want, farmer?"
Opal laughed softly. Her feet were dangling down Mark's back, and her pussy was on full display in front of him. She looked at his handsome face, and felt herself on the verge of salivating when she once again admired his burly physique.
"Yes…goddess, yes." Mark smiled at Opal's answer—a true smile that made his dark eyes twinkle. He held his fingers up again, and Opal opened her mouth.
And spat. Her drool ran down Mark's fingers onto the back of his hand, and she smiled. Then did it again. Mark released a grunt of arousal, and ran his thumb along Opal's wet bottom lip before prying her mouth open.
He slid his thick digits into her mouth, and began to thrust them in and out, until Opal was near gagging. She liked it, though. Goddess help her…she loved it. Mark removed them, and grinned wider still. Maintaining eye contact, he pushed them inside Opal's pussy—stretching her open in a way that made her wail with delight.
Holding her up by her ass, Mark thrust his fingers in and out of Opal. "Beautiful cunt, farmer. Just fuckin' beautiful, baby." He kissed Opal's lower curls, then split her lips open with his tongue as he continued to fingerfuck her. Mark was feasting on Opal like he'd never tasted anything sweeter, and pulled her legs even further over his shoulders so he could lick every inch.
There were monsters lurking below them, as Mark had mentioned. They never breached the surface, but Opal wondered briefly if her cries of ecstasy might just lure the beasts for the first time. The beast of a man between her legs, meanwhile, never seemed to lose either focus or enthusiasm for his task. He ate her with determined and loud passion—wild grunts and vulgar praise between every swipe of his tongue.
As she climaxed hard against Mark's mouth, Opal released a shriek, one hand pressed hard to the cave wall and the other still entwined in Mark's hair. Her voice echoed around the cavern, possibly waking any still sleeping giants. Opal called Mark's name over and over during her release, the sound becoming more of a noise than a word.
Still moaning, and licking his lips to savour her taste, Mark kissed Opal's inner thighs. He lifted her trembling legs from his shoulders. "That's it, farmer. Steady does it. C'mere." Wobbling like a newborn deer, Opal took Mark's outstretched hand. No sooner had she done so, he lifted her once again, this time wrapping her legs around his waist. He pressed his lips to hers and walked away from the cavern wall, kissing her urgently. It had been a long time since Opal had been touched, and it had been even longer since she'd tasted herself.
Near the stream by the entrance to the cavern there were a few piles of cloth sacks laid next to stacks of wooden crates.
Mark broke the kiss, and Opal breathlessly gazed at him as he seated her on top of the highest pile of sacks. His chest was heaving, and he brushed some errant hair out of her face. The gesture was profoundly tender.
Mark gestured downward, towards his belt buckle. "Undo it." Opal could see Mark's erection straining against his pants, and couldn't avoid blushing. She followed his command, and unbuckled the belt. Mark cupped her face in both hands. "Pull them down."
Opal completed the task, unzipping Mark's pants and allowing them to fall—along with his underpants—to the stone floor. This was it. There was no fabric between them now. Mark kissed Opal, then tilted her head downwards. Her eyes goggled at the size of him, and once again she felt herself near to drooling. "Ya want it, Ope? Tell me you want it. I need you." The wild desperation had crept back into Mark's voice and eyes.
She nodded, and reached for him, stroking her hand along his veiny length. Mark gritted his teeth with a pleasure-filled sigh. "Yes." Tracing her free fingers across his bearded cheeks, Opal increased her grip on Mark's cock. "Give it to me."
With that, Mark spread Opal's legs, again pulling them around his broad lower back.
Opal leaned forward, placing a kiss at the centre of Mark's chest. It was salty, and Opal nuzzled against the mildly sweaty hair that covered Mark. He grasped one of her nipples between his thumb and forefinger before holding his dick to Opal's entrance.
He penetrated her, and Opal cried out. Mark held onto her lower back as he pushed forward, his girthy cock expanding her cunt to its limits. "Ma-ark…" she whined, an echo rippling across the pool behind her.
"Opal…"
The sound of Mark saying her entire name sent a surge of passion through Opal, and she reached for his face to yank him into a kiss. Their tongues dancing, Mark fucked into Opal with a brutality that made her cunt throb. Every thrust was urgent, and effective. Opal had never before been filled in such a satisfying way.
And Mark seemed to sense this. "You like that, don'tcha pretty farmer? Goddess you're tight. Fuck you feel so good." His voice had a smirk in it, like Mark knew Opal had never been fucked so well before. But there also seemed to be a genuine question there. A plea for Opal to tell him he was good. That he was doing a good job, and that he was needed. Wanted.
So Opal gave Mark all the reassurance he so clearly needed. And deserved. "Goddess, Mark. You're so amazing. You feel so damn good." There was no lie in her words. This was the best sex Opal had ever had.
And the roughest. Mark raked his nails down Opal's back. He bit her shoulder, and her neck, leaving marks. He sucked her breasts until she was near to tears.
And she never wanted it to stop. Not even if Mark drew blood. Opal wanted him to unburden himself, and release all his pent up grief and energy into her body. "Fuck…fuck…fuck Mark, oh my goddess, ohhh…oh yes…"
Wrenching her hair—which had now completely come loose—back in his fist, Mark pounded even harder into Opal. "Open your mouth," he ordered. And she did. "Good girl."
Mark spat in her mouth, and Opal moaned as she swallowed. First grinning fiercely, he did it again, and she welcomed it like her favourite drink. "Gonna make you come on my cock, baby. You take it like a champ."
He held her close to his chest, shifting their pelvises so his cock was hitting her most sensitive spot. Opal's moans were muffled by the expanse of Mark's chest, so he turned her head to the side. Their joint moans echoed through the cave like those of beasts in rut.
As she climaxed again, Opal clutched Mark's shoulders, near to embedding her nails in his skin. Her legs shook around Mark's waist, and Opal was rendered boneless in his arms.
She was limp, but Mark propped her up, hammering inside with desperate, almost whining groans of his own. "Opal…Opal I'm gonna…" Mark shuddered, and pulled Opal into a bear hug as he released—an intense orgasm that Opal could almost feel herself. Both sticky with sweat and tremoring, they held fast to each other for what felt like several minutes. Opal feared making eye contact with Mark again. Now that he'd finished would things go back to the way they were?
Mark gently pulled back so he was still inside Opal but could look into her eyes. And still he remained silent. The expression on his face unreadable. Finally, he stroked Opal's earlobe with the pad of his thumb.
"All right, garden rake?"
Though she could feel the scratches on her back beginning to ache, Opal smiled. She nodded, and trailed her fingertip across Mark's scar. "I'm okay if you are."
There was a pause, and Mark furrowed his brow. Then the beginnings of a smile played across his lips. He kissed Opal's forehead.
"Will you come with me? I'm gonna visit the stray at Kenny's. Check up on her. Then maybe…I don't know. We could go to Raj's for coffee? My treat."
He was trying. Mark was genuinely trying to connect with her.
So Opal nodded again, this time with a giggle. "I think you treated me plenty today." There was an odd sense of comfort with Mark now. Some of his walls had come down. Maybe for good.
Opal hoped so. With another grin, she kissed Mark on the tip of his nose. "Let's go."
They dressed each other and left the cave. The sun was setting, and there were streaks of colour across the sky. Opal inhaled deeply and looked up at Mark. He looked determined, that always far-off expression having come back into his eyes. But there was something else there now too. Something resembling peace.