Dylan smith's Arc

Chapter 8 of 12

Dylan kept both hands where they were while the sun climbed past the tents. Bella's belly stayed warm under his right palm. Voracia's stayed firm under his left. Belinda set her bone down for the third time and rolled her shoulders. The path past the gate stayed empty. He had two chosen women, one demon, and a thought he had not said out loud yet. He worked it the way he worked a slow leak at the shop. Pressure first. Words after. "I want to hear all three of you," he said. "One after the other. And I want to rub for it." His voice came out steadier than he expected. Belinda's eyebrows went up. Bella did not move her hand off his. Voracia turned her head and looked at him for a long second. "Say it again," Voracia said. "Burp for me," Dylan said. "I'll rub your bellies while you do." Voracia's mouth went flat, then tipped at the corner. She lifted his left hand off her own belly and set it back down lower, where the curve was tightest. "Belinda first," she said. "Then the farm girl. Then me. He earns the last one." She reached under the bench and pulled up a woven basket none of them had seen her bring. Bottles clinked inside it. She set three on the table without looking at the labels and pushed one to each woman. Belinda popped hers and drank half in one pull. She walked around the bench and dropped onto Dylan's lap sideways, belly pushed out toward his hands. He set both palms flat under the curve and pressed up slow. She burped before he finished the first stroke. It rolled out of her open mouth and did not stop. He kept rubbing. She burped again, smaller, then a third time, longer than the first. She did not say anything when she stood up. She picked up her bone and sat back down across the table. Bella took her place without being asked. Her dress was tight over the bottle she had just finished. Dylan worked both hands along the sides of her belly. She burped once, deep, and her shoulders dropped. She burped again into his shoulder. "That's the one," she said, flat, and got up. Voracia did not drink her bottle. She pulled Dylan's hands onto the top of her belly herself and leaned back against the bench. The burp that came out of her was longer than both of theirs put together. He felt it travel under his palms from low to high. He kept rubbing through it. When she was done she did not move his hands. "Good," she said. He counted three women, three burps each, his hands still warm. He had asked out loud and gotten exactly what he asked for. Belinda picked up her bottle again. "My turn comes back around," she said, and cracked the cap.