The Underground City by H. P. Mallory

and it was equally irritating that he’d commandeered the conversation and totally missed my point. He stopped walking and turned back around to face me as I caught up with him.
    “Jist what is yer bludy question, lass?” He sounded exasperated.
    Well, I was just as exasperated. “If you’re so obviously attracted to me, and your instincts want to have sex with me, then why didn’t you when you had the chance?”
    “Why didnae I?” he repeated, obviously confused.
    “Stop answering my question by repeating it!” I yelled back at him. “I’m talking about the time when I asked you to have sex with me before we entered the Underground City? Remember?” Since I was a virgin, in the eyes of the Underground City, I was considered innocent. And as Tallis had explained to me and I’d experienced firsthand when I’d set foot in the Underground, my innocence had nearly cost me my life. In my mind, if Tallis had taken my virginity, I would have been much safer in the Underground.
    Tallis shook his head. “’Tis nae as simple ah question as that, Besom,” he said as he started forward again. I had to move more quickly to keep up with him. And keeping up with him was paramount because I wanted to understand where he was coming from. My question deserved an honest response. As far as I was concerned, Tallis’s refusal to have sex with me indirectly risked my life.
    “Why not?”
    He didn’t turn to look at me but kept his eyes trained on the rough wilderness that lay ahead of us. “As Ah told ye before, Ah carry mah own weight oopon mah shoulders, lass. Ah cannae add ye to it.”
    I frowned at him, and his argument, which made no sense to me. “But you wanted to have sex with me? Even then?”
    He nodded and slowly breathed out deeply, becoming clearly irritated. “’Course Ah did! Any man would.”
    “You make no sense at all!” I said, crossing my arms over my chest defensively. If Tallis could have pulled the stick out of his ass (as Bill would say) and taken my virginity, I would have been much safer in the Underground City. As it stood now, my virginity was a dangerous commodity.
    “Ah am atonin’,” he said, glancing over at me with a shrug. “Ah am makin’ amends fer the wrongs Ah’ve committed, lass. An’ in mah mind, takin’ yer virginity would be addin’ ta an already long list.”
    “Even though it could actually save me?”
    “Aye.” He nodded. “’Tis not mah place.” Then he sighed. “An’ if ye recall, mah blood did a damned good job o’ savin’ ye anyway.”
    He was referring to the first time we went into the Underground, and because of my innocence, my body immediately began dying. Tallis had to cut himself and force me to swallow his blood in order to pollute me with his lack of innocence which had, in turn, allowed me safe passage through the Underground City and kept me from dying. So I guessed he had a point.
    We walked the remainder of the way to Tallis’s house in silence. When we reached the shack, the Grevels disappeared into the undergrowth. Tallis opened his front door and we both walked inside. Bill was asleep in front of the fireplace, snoring.
    ***
    I didn’t really know what to expect of my first visit with my personal trainer, but I certainly never foresaw the situation that now faced me. Tallis, Bill, and I stood at the entry of what seemed to be a warehouse. The room was maybe forty feet wide by thirty feet long and the ceiling had to be twenty feet tall. The room featured a roll-up garage door-like opening at the opposite end from where we stood which revealed the forest scenery on the other side. Yes, the structure was randomly located right in the middle of the Dark Wood, with nothing but trees on either side of it and not even a road to access it.
    Tallis strode into the room, stepping over a man who appeared to be passed out in the doorway. At first, I thought he was dead, but the gentle rolling of his chest told me he wasn’t. The extent of Tallis’s