Morning

The first thing Alice became aware of was warmth. A body pressed against her back, steady breathing against her back. The smell of sweat and something earthier lingered on the rough blanket draped over them both. Alice examined herself. Her thighs ached. Her hips ached and there was a pleasant soreness between her legs that pulsed with every heartbeat.

Alice opened her eyes. The tent was bright with the morning glow. She turned her head on the flat pillow and found Bell already awake looking right at her. Those dark eyes tracked Alice's face with an intensity that made the breath catch in her chest.

"Hi," Alice said. Her voice came out rough and unused.

Bell blinked. Something shifted behind her eyes, a softening that Alice wouldn't have believed possible from the woman who had chained her to a table less than a day ago.

"Hey," Bell said quietly. She didn't move. Didn't reach out. Just lay there on her side, watching Alice with those careful, searching eyes.

Alice looked away first. "I need to say something," Bell said.

"Okay," Alice said carefully.

Bell took a breath. "We got off on the wrong foot."

A laugh escaped Alice before she could stop it. It was sharp and incredulous and perhaps slightly unhinged given the circumstances. "You chained me to a table and tried to enslave me."

"Yes and instead I found someone who broke my chains, absorbed my curse, and rode me until I forgot my own name." Bell looked up.

"I've been alone a long time," Bell said. The words came out rough, like they'd been dragged across gravel. "The brigands this isn't about loyalty. I joined because I was looking for someone."

"Someone to what?"

"Someone who could handle me." Bell's voice dropped. "You've felt it. You know what I am. What I carry. Most people run. The ones who don't run... they break."

Alice thought about it. If Bell was cursed and desperately needed someone to fuck being a interrogator at a Brigand camp made sense. She would have tons of prisoners to fuck both as a way to find a special someone, and if not she would have a steady stream of people to keep her cursed horniness at bay.

"You're different," Bell said. She reached out, then stopped herself, hand hovering in the space between them. Her fingers trembled slightly. "You're more than I dreamed, Alice. You took everything I had and asked for more. You pulled the corruption out of me like it was nothing. I've never ..."

She stopped. Swallowed hard.

"I've never met anyone like you," she finished quietly. "And I know you don't trust me. You shouldn't trust me. I've given you no reason to. But I'm just asking you to understand I've been looking for someone like you, and now that I've found you are part of my plans more than these brigand."

Alice lay still, processing. The tent was warm and close, and she could feel Bell's body heat like a second sun. Her own body thrummed with something unfamiliar not just the pleasant ache of a night well spent, but something deeper. A vitality that hummed in her bones.

She felt strong. Stronger than she should. Sex always left her energized, but this was different. This was like drinking lightning. Every cell in her body felt awake and alive and hungry.

Bell's curse. It had to be. The corruption Alice had absorbed, the magic they'd merged together it was still working through her, still enhancing her. She flexed her fingers under the blanket and felt power coiled in her muscles that hadn't been there before.

She tried to reach for her magic, still nothing. The ward was still in place, still blocking her access. She was physically enhanced but magically blind, a sword without a scabbard.

But if she had more...

The thought surfaced unbidden. If she absorbed more of Bell's energy, more of that cursed power, would the ward crack? Could she burn through it with enough raw fuel? The prospect was terrifying and intoxicating in equal measure.

"I understand," Alice said finally. "I'm not going to pretend you are my soulmate all of a sudden, but given my situation being with a great fuck, and having someone on my side is a pretty good deal, and I won't waste it by trying to slit your throat or someone stupid."

Bell's breath hitched. "That's... good."

Alice would need to stay on Bell's good side for this plan to work. And even if it didn't in the long term being Bell's .. companion was probably better than being a slave to the brigand camp.

The camp was stirring distant voices, the clatter of cookware, the crackle of a fire being stoked. The world was waking up around them.

"Breakfast," Alice said firmly, sitting up. The blanket fell to her waist, exposing her upper body to the cool morning air. Her red hair tumbled over her shoulders in a tangled mess. "We need food. Water. Probably a bath at some point."

Alice found her clothes folded on a crate near the tent entrance. Someone had gathered them at some point during the night. Her linen undershirt was wrinkled but intact, and her trousers had somehow survived the previous evening's violence. She dressed quickly, feeling Bell's eyes on her the entire time. Well doesn't seem like Alice is going to have any problem getting Bell to want to fuck.

As they finish getting dressed they leave the tent both hungry.