Out of This World

by Maggie Morton

  Yet again, she owed Anandra a debt for saving her life. No, it really was good that she had her as a guide, because no way could she survive in this strange, magical world, not without Anandra’s incredible help. And along with the wonderful rescue she’d just received came an equally wonderful smile, lighting up the moonlit night even brighter than the large white orb that sat full and high in the sky. A dim rainbow circled it, and yet she still preferred Anandra’s smile and her beautiful face to the sight of the rainbow-encircled moon that hung above them. She preferred her friend’s face by far.

  Yep, it was hopeless: she was falling for this woman, and a part of her was starting to want to stay here, with her, a part whose wish she would have to deny at the end of their journey.

  “What’s troubling you, my friend?”

  Apparently her face had betrayed her thoughts, and before Iris could stop herself, the truth slipped out. “I was thinking about how I’ll have to leave you behind when I go to my home world, and I was thinking about how sad that makes me.”

  “It makes me sad, too. I’ve grown to like your company. Very much,” Anandra added quickly, and then she coughed into her hand. “Shall we continue? I’d like to find a spot for us to sleep for the night, and I see a good place up ahead, a cave that looks to be just the right size, if my estimations are correct. I hope that when we reach it, you can tell me what you haven’t been sharing with me so far. And I do not blame you for not revealing more. I very likely would have done the same.”

  Iris nodded, and they began to walk toward a cave up ahead. It sat at a wider edge of the path than where they’d quite suddenly landed moments before. When they reached the cave, Anandra told Iris it would do just fine, as it had a small mouth and no other openings inside it, with no way for anyone to sneak up on them without having to go through its only entrance and exit. “Do you really think we have to be that careful now?” Iris watched as Anandra removed a thick blanket from her bag and laid it out on the dirt floor of the cave.

  “Of course. It seems that those creatures were after you, and we are very lucky indeed that their attempt at capture—or worse—failed.”

  Iris didn’t like the sound of that “or worse,” but she chose to ignore it, instead lying down on the blanket beside Anandra. As tired as she was, Iris knew she couldn’t go to sleep just yet: Anandra had requested that she tell her about everything she’d kept secret up until now. So Iris did, sharing about each of her grandmother’s visits and finishing by telling her that apparently she’d lived in that mansion at one point, when she was very young, and so had her grandmother and parents.

  “It must have pained you to leave there so soon. I am sorry.” Anandra placed her hand over Iris’s, giving it a squeeze. The warmth of her palm was comforting, but her gesture and words of support meant more to Iris than she was willing to accept. Why? Why did she have to be falling for her? Why couldn’t her relationships be easier? Anandra was clearly a huge leap and a jump above Jane, but this relationship—or whatever it was—couldn’t possibly work out.

  Iris’s eyelids and body weren’t the only things that felt heavy as she rolled over and got ready to go to sleep. Her heart was trying to tell her something, something that just couldn’t be. But then the comforting heaviness of Anandra’s arm landed on top of Iris’s waist, and between the warm body behind her and Anandra’s slow, steady breath against her neck, she was able to relax and drift off to sleep much sooner than if she’d been all alone.

  Chapter Ten

  The light streaming in through the cave’s mouth had almost reached Iris’s feet by the time she first opened her eyes. Morning had come, and then some. She was surprised that Anandra had allowed her to sleep in. Her friend was standing by the cave’s opening, cutting up some fruit with her knife without looking at her hands. Instead, her eyes were directed toward whatever awaited them outside. “Should I get ready?” Iris asked her, standing up and stretching her arms over her head.

  “What?” Anandra’s voice sounded far off, and a touch of either sleep or sadness brushed against the edges of it as she said, “Yes, of course. Get ready, and we’ll be on our way again. I’ll get some food for you, but I’m afraid we don’t have time for cheefen. We’ve got to get going, since I let you sleep in, and I want to keep far ahead of those creatures who attacked your grandmother’s home last night.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Iris yawned, then hung her bag over her shoulder. “What about the blanket? Should we get rid of it, so we’ll be harder to track?”

  “Ah, she’s catching on. I’m impressed.” Anandra sounded like she was, too. She handed Iris the other two quarters of the large orange fruit, and Iris took her first bite of it gratefully. It was juicy, delicious, and nearly as energizing as the cheefen. Iris almost felt like she didn’t need the cheefen, and she wouldn’t have killed anyone for a double-shot mocha, either. Was she getting used to this early morning stuff? No, it couldn’t be possible.

  But she had more than enough energy in her arms and legs to keep up with Anandra without caffeine as Iris happily followed her down the path and in the direction of a long, winding lane, with flowering trees growing on each side of it as far ahead of them as Iris could see.

  They reached the lane in what was most likely an hour, although Iris still hadn’t taken her watch out of her bag, so it was a loose estimate at best. Another hour or so passed as they walked down the tree-lined path, the occasional breeze tossing the petal-coated branches lightly back and forth, a few pale-white petals ending up in Anandra’s hair, to Iris’s supreme delight. “You’d look pretty with a wreath from these trees on your head,” Iris told her, and Anandra shook her head.

  “No, I wouldn’t. You surely would, though.”

  “Yes, you would. It’s too bad we don’t have the time to stop and make one for each of us.”

  “We’ll be taking a break in a while. Perhaps I will be kind and let you make one for me then.”

  “That sounds wonderful,” Iris told her, and she took Anandra’s hand, not caring in the least if it slowed them down. Anandra didn’t seem to care either, holding as tight on to her hand as she held on to Anandra’s, and Iris had a little spring in her step as she thought about how pleasant it was to be walking through these sweet-smelling trees with a pretty lady’s hand in hers. A pretty lady who wasn’t Jane, and didn’t need to be, for the first time in a year. No, Iris was happy it was Anandra’s hand she held.

  After passing through what seemed like an almost endless parade of trees and petals, they came to the end of the path. At its end sat a large circle of trees, each of them tall and holding many multicolored flowers. “A pleasure ring. Who would have thought we would be lucky enough to find one here, on our now-different path. I know where we are,” Anandra told her, “believe it or not, and I know what we should do next, too.” She pulled Iris’s hand to her lips and began to suck on Iris’s middle finger, her tongue rolling gently against its surface as she sucked away.

  Iris had to know. “What is a ‘pleasure ring’? Does it cause sexual pleasure?”

  Anandra took Iris’s finger out of her mouth to answer. “Yes, sexual pleasure. Immense sexual pleasure. When the time and weather are right, as they are now, the petals fall, and they cause lovely sensations on the body as they do, inflicting whatever types of sensations the naked beings beneath them happen to desire.”

  “Really? Let’s try it, then.”

  Iris let Anandra help her out of her clothes, and then Anandra took off her own. She placed each piece of clothing into an overlapping pile as a makeshift blanket for them to lie upon. As Iris lay down, and Anandra got on top of her, a royal-purple petal managed to find its way in between their lips right as they began to kiss. It made Iris’s lips tingle, turning to a sharp, intense sensation after the tingles faded. And then the petal somehow worked its way into Iris’s mouth, and she swallowed it, and then the petal’s power really began to shine.

  She felt it tumbling down her throat while they kissed, car
essing it and causing the tingles to turn into slightly stronger vibrations as it slipped deep down inside her. And then a warmth started growing in her stomach, a warmth that slowly turned up its heat, heat that began to make her sweat, each bead of it making her cunt clench and her clit sing with the desire for release as each drop slid down her hot, naked skin.

  More petals fell, and still they kissed, and kissed, and each one moaned against the other’s lips as the petals brushed against their skin, tumbling against their flesh and finding their way in between them. Iris felt the tender touch of each petal as it reached her skin and felt its touch radiate out across her every surface, spreading until she had to come up for air. “These petals are almost too much,” she gasped.

  “Then we’ll make them too much for me first, and then we’ll get you to come while you are overpowered by their magical caress. Put your fingers inside me now, Iris. Put them inside me and make me come.”

  Iris reached with the arm that had just been wrapped around Anandra’s back, sliding it between them and then reaching down farther, until her hand met her partner’s mons pubis. She wriggled down a bit until her chin was pressed against Anandra’s high upper chest, and it was then that she was finally able to touch her cunt, sliding two fingers between its lips and slipping the tips of them inside. Then she rolled Anandra and herself onto their sides and placed her lips upon one of Anandra’s nipples.

  This time there wasn’t much kink involved, other than Anandra digging her nails into Iris’s back as she seemingly became more and more aroused. Iris wanted this to last, though, so she just continued to fuck Anandra’s cunt with her fingers, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, not touching her clit for a second, other than letting her hand rub up against it lightly now and then. She sucked on Anandra’s nipple while her hand did its duty, enjoying the feel of the soft bud of flesh against her tongue, sucking harder and harder now, as she fucked Anandra, now with three fingers, because Anandra had loosened up quickly, easily allowing the third finger in. Iris had never fisted a woman before, nor been fisted, but she decided to add it to her to-do list for this trip, and perhaps ask—or beg—Anandra for the honor of her entire hand later. Not to have her hand, of course, Iris quickly told herself, and then she returned her focus to Anandra’s nipple and cunt, and finally let her fingers get to work on her lover’s clit, so round and big and firm by now, so ready to cause Anandra to cry out, to come.

  The petals hadn’t ceased falling for a second, though, and Iris was still very aware of their presence, their subtle pressure against her skin as each next one fell from its tree and floated down upon her and Anandra. It was then, thinking about the petals, that she had her next brilliant thought. She grabbed a handful of them and pressed them, roughly, against Anandra’s pussy, grinding them against it as hard as she could. And with that, Anandra came, unbelievably loudly, and, most likely, unbelievably hard as well.

  Iris, like always, got to come next, and Anandra complemented her idea by doing the same thing to her, grabbing a handful of the incredibly soft petals and pushing them hard against Iris’s crotch. But instead of grinding them against her, Anandra just held her hand there, strong and stable, cupping her cunt, until Iris couldn’t hold off any longer, and she came, too, the pressure and the petals’ magic proving to be exactly what she needed to get off. She exploded with a flow of intensity that rushed through her entire body and then seemed to almost pass through her outer being and beyond, possibly going out into the world. She opened her eyes then and saw that the petals around them had frozen in place, levitating midair, and maybe they were waiting for her to stop coming.

  When she did—when her orgasm ended—a strong breeze arose and tossed all the petals off them, until a large circle of grass all around them and their clothes was completely free of the petals’ many-colored, vibrant rainbow.

  “That really did the trick!” Iris said, laughing a little from the joy the petals had caused. And the joy from Anandra’s body, too, of course. She couldn’t possibly ignore that. She hadn’t missed Anandra topping her, even though there had been a few touches of dominance in her actions during this encounter. Just enough to fully sate Iris until they next bedded down together, until their next amazing fuck.

  This had almost been more like making love, though, a thought that wouldn’t leave Iris alone as she put her clothes back on and combed her fingers through her messy, windswept hair. She was glad she didn’t have access to a mirror, because she was guessing it looked frightful, but instead of agreeing with that thought, Anandra told her she liked how messy her hair was. “You look wild, sensual…untamable, too. But I plan on taming you the next time we fuck, or at least trying yet again.”

  “I’ll look forward to your next attempt, in that case.” Iris smiled, feeling somewhat shy, but also proud, proud she could do these things to such a fantastic (not to mention incredibly sexy) woman. Yes, she was growing close to Anandra. Too close. Something would have to be done about it, or when she left, she would have to leave all the best parts of herself behind forever. “So,” she said, picking up her bag, “do you know where we are?”

  *

  A tall woman stroked the long, blond braid falling past her waist as she walked down a dimly lit hallway. She was aware that she was beautiful, sitting in the middle of her prime as looks went. But she also knew, though she preferred not to dwell on it, that something about her looks would never ring entirely true. That was because they were a deception, her blush of youth and beauty coming entirely from magic…magic of the less-welcome, less-kind sort. But it was all she had to help her achieve her goal.

  As she walked, she smiled a quiet smile, because she was looking forward to seeing her husband again, after all these years. Or at least she was looking forward to him being of use to her. She was hoping that he would be able to help her with her two current goals and that he would still be able to read the stones. She wanted them to fall in her favor and was almost positive they would. But she had only one way to know—to place the bag she now held in his hands and tell him what she wanted…no, what she needed to know.

  She reached the door at the end of the hall, pushed it open with a hard, happy shove, and walked into the room. She suppressed a look of disgust as she saw the once-gorgeous man for the first time in over twenty sun-cycles. “My husband!” She gasped. “What has happened? Why have you not kept yourself young?”

  The old, wrinkled, balding man in front of her had been smiling when she entered the room, but his lips turned down into a pained grimace upon her words. “Magic is hard to come by when you are exiled as I have been. While you were away, I could barely keep myself fed, having to kill wild animals and eat nasty roots to keep any weight on. You may have been sent to another land, but apparently that land was kinder to you than ours was to me. You are beautiful, though, as you always were. I am sorry you aren’t as happy with my looks as I am with yours.”

  His tone was bitter, and she tried to change her expression back to one of joy at seeing him again, but her mind wouldn’t allow it. She wasn’t really excited to see him once more, anyway, because his only use in their marriage had been to give her the seat of power and influence she’d once held.

  “I have brought the stones for you to read. I am trying once again to rule this world, and I need to be able to best her in order to do that. I want her to bow before me and feel the pain I felt, being exiled for those many sun-cycles, exiled and denied my rightful place on the throne of this land.”

  “And I am to still rule by your side, am I not?”

  “Yes,” she lied. “Of course. I would have it no other way. So, are they on their way to the palace? I want your word that you arranged it.”

  “Yes, yes, she is delivering the letter, and they should reach the palace in two days or less. I see you have something in your hand, though. Is it the stones?”

  “Do you still have the ability to read them?”

  “Some magic stays with you, even when it’s all you have left. I had to t
rade my own stones for food one cold, horrible winter. It was either that or starve.”

  “I am sorry to hear that, husband.” Another lie, of course, because she was still in need of his help. She had also needed it when she first was able to contact this world again, and she had needed it when it came to returning here. Very little of her connection to her home had remained in the horrible, dark world she’d been sent to. She only hoped the same had happened to her archrival before she had come back to Oria. She had been able to sense the bitch as soon as her feet had first touched the earth here, when she’d come through the portal her husband had made.

  It had taken many careful sun-cycles of planning to rebuild her magic stock, to rebuild her army, and now the time was fast approaching when she would put an end to her last threat before conquering this land once and for all. Her magic was not what it used to be, but it would have to do.

  “The stones, my dear, if you please,” he said.

  She handed him the bag and he shook it three times, holding it next to one of his hairy ears as he did so. Yes, it was such a shame that he’d let age take him. He had told her he hadn’t had a choice, but she still blamed him for allowing it to happen. She would not have her one roll under the covers with him as planned. No, instead she would provide no treat for her husband before she enslaved him, along with the rest of the lowly idiots of this world.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Very.” She crossed her arms and leered down at him as he opened the bag and dumped out the magical stones. Each was a different color, a different precious stone, and each would display a word, making a sentence that would answer any question from the person asking the stones.