* * * *
Alarija broke up through the surface of the lake, gasping for air after her long swim underwater. Her feet touched bottom and she crouched in the water, pushing back the heavy weight of her wet hair.
“Alarija! Alarija!”
Shocked, she was transfixed as the sound of her name echoed about the cave. A new voice to join the ones already in her head, she thought fearfully. But the voice sounded so loud, so real--
A heavy splashing sound came from behind her, and she whirled around. She saw a man running through the shallow water along the edge of the lake. He was tall and bare-chested. She watched, rooted to the spot, as he ran along the lake away from her, turned and then ran back, cold water splashing over his legs and torso. Calling her name. Always calling her name.
He was near her when turned and waded into the lake with a kind of desperation.
“Alarija!”
“I’m here.”
He stopped then, seemed to be unsure he’d heard anything, cocking his head to his side. He was handsome in a hard, rugged way, tall and broad-shouldered and-- familiar. Her breasts tingled at a memory, at a dream. She had seen him before, hadn’t she?
She rose to her feet, shaking her hair back, and took a step towards him.
He saw her. His brows rose. His eyes lit with joy, and then darkened as she waded out of the water towards him.
Alarija had always been able to understand when a man desired her, and she saw that desire in his eyes. It was like Marsalir’s desire but different. It was more feral, more--potent.
“Alarija?” His voice was like a low growl from an animal, a cornered animal that warned before it attacked.
“Who are you?” she asked softly, stopping as the water reached her knees.
He stared at her as though he had never seen a woman before. His look was hungry as it raked her naked body, lingering on the curves of her breasts with their tingling hard peaks, over her waist and the thatch of hair between her legs. His gaze devoured her, starting a fire burning deep in her belly, a warm liquid sensation that spurted between her thighs.
He waded a few steps towards her until they stood face to face. She could smell the animal scent of him, sense the heat coming off him that made goose bumps rise along her skin.
“Who are you?” she whispered again.
“Gerry.”
It was the man from her dream. She looked into his hazel eyes and remembered him with a sexual thrill. She remembered his fierce expression as he looked up at her from between her thighs where his mouth had been buried, pleasuring her.
“Gerry,” Alarija gave a soft sigh of desire.
He caught her by the shoulders then, dragged her towards him till her breasts were crushed against his muscled chest. His mouth came down hard on hers, his tongue thrusting inside her mouth as she gave a small whimper of protest that melted into a moan of acquiescence. Tongue, lips, and teeth warred with hers, plundering until she was left breathless.
Gerry’s hands roamed over her body, lingered on her waist and lowered until he cupped the roundness of her buttocks in his hands. He lifted her until her body was curved into his. She could feel the edge of his trousers cut into the soft skin of her belly, and the rough material of his straining arousal rubbing painfully between her legs.
Her hands, hesitant at first and then bolder, caught at his trousers and began to loosen the buttons of his fly. Almost immediately she felt the head of his member spring free to lie caught between their bellies. She wriggled her hand between them and grasped his thick cock, revelling in the feel of the smooth skin. He moaned, closed his eyes as she moved her hand over it, and she looked down to look at the warm pulsing penis in her hand.
This is what a man’s penis looks like! The thought sent a thrill of pure sexual desire through her body, an urge to wrap her lips around the distended head, to have him filling her completely.
“Alarija!” he gasped. Suddenly he crouched and swung her up, an arm wrapped around the back of her knees. As he carried her out of the water, she arched her back in ecstasy as he bent his head and took one of her nipples in his mouth, suckling as he walked.
On the sandy bank, he let her slither to the ground between his arms. They stared at each other for a long while. Alarija raised her hand and traced a finger over the planes of his face, his dark brows, the strong straight nose, resting on his firm lips. He caught her fingertip between white teeth, sucked on the finger as she stared deep into his eyes. Her heart did an unexpected tumble and she knew he would never hurt her. She licked her lips in desire. She watched his eyes darken. She wanted him.
Alarija took a step back and sat on the sand, lying back and fanning her hair out around her. It was as much an invitation as she knew how to give. He stared at her for a moment, swallowed, and then he leant over and unlaced his boots, kicked them off. His trousers and pants followed, were thrown aside, until he stood naked. His muscular legs towered over her, his cock jutting out from the dark hair between his thighs, his balls heavy. He lowered himself over her, and she welcomed the hard, alien feel of his skin brushing against hers.
His mouth took hers, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, smoothed her fingers in his dark hair, gripped his head. She moaned as his mouth left a hot trail over jaw and neck, trailed down to take a hard pink nipple in his mouth, sucking fiercely as he caught her other nipple between his fingers, rubbing and pulling until she thought she would die with pleasure. His hand snaked down then, over her waist and hip, and found the hot wetness between her thighs.
“Gerry,” she moaned as his fingers rubbed over her swollen clit. Two fingers delved deep into her vagina, thrusting inside as she spread her legs wide to accept them. His mouth trailed down then over her breasts and belly, parting her legs as he buried his face between them.
Alarija looked up at the darkness of the ceiling, squirming at the sensation of Gerry’s lips suckling at her clit as he buried three fingers inside her. Suddenly she felt the sharp, hard burst of her orgasm, and she arched her back and cried out as it rolled over her away in a wave of pure pleasure.
Gerry’s mouth covered hers as her breathing steadied, and she tasted herself on his lips. She could feel his cock throbbing over the tenderness between her legs, gloried in it, wanted it deep inside her. She shifted, moved her hips until she was caressing his hard length between the slick folds of her cunt.
Gerry held her head between his hands, gazing down at her.
“Are you sure you want this?” he gasped, even as he began to slide the underside of his cock over her tingling nub as if unable to restrain himself.
In answer, she caught the back of his head and dragged his mouth to hers, plunging her tongue between his lips to suckle at his tongue. Gasping, Gerry disengaged himself and sat back on his heels between her parted legs. She lifted herself on her elbows to watch what he would do.
He rubbed the pad of his thumb over her clit, sending electric spirals of sensation over her body. Then he edged closer and replaced the thumb with the head of his cock, rubbing slit against slit until she lay back gasping, arching her back.
“Take me, please,” she gasped. “I want to … I want you to …”
With a firm movement, he pressed the head against the entrance to her vagina. She gasped as he pushed himself inside, slowly at first. Goddess, he was big! The sensation was almost unbearable. She pushed at him, frightened, but he laid his body over her and held her face still between his hands.
“It won’t hurt for long, I promise you,” he said softly. She drowned in the depths of his eyes even as she felt his body move, pushing slowly deeper into her, until he was sliding inside her with smooth, steady strokes.
Alarija stared at him as a heavy flush of desire swept over her face and chest, gripping his shoulders as he plunged into her, harder and hard, each thrust of his hips sending her higher and higher to escalating heights. She wanted all of him inside her, deep inside her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist and met each of his t
hrusts with her own. Soon wave after wave of pure pleasure rolled over her body until she was shaking with the force of them, and she cried out as the final juddering climax sent her over the edge.
Gerry had stopped moving now as he caught her face between his hands again. “Ssshh,” he said tenderly as her breathing steadied. His cock was still rock hard inside her.
“Have you--are you … done?” she whispered.
His grinned, his teeth flashing white in his tanned face. “No, we haven’t finished.”
She gasped as he pulled himself out of her then caught her hand and drew her up with him. Turning her around by the shoulders until she faced away from him, she looked back as he kneeled behind her. Alarija felt his hot breath on her neck and closed her eyes as he nuzzled at her neck, wrapping his arms about her. He took the weight of her breasts in his hands, thumbs circling the nipples. She arched back, turning her head to kiss him, revelling in the sensation of his hard lips on hers, his tongue plunging inside.
As their lips parted, Gerry pushed her forward. She fell to her hands and knees as he firmly stilled her hips and positioned her by spreading her legs wider. Then she felt the hard edge of his cock against the slick entrance to her vagina. She gasped as, with a sudden hard thrust, he buried himself inside her to the hilt, his balls tight up against her ass.
She gave a low moan as he began to move, slowly at first, and then faster and harder, increasing the speed of his thrusts. She leaned down on her elbows, parting her legs to accommodate the fullness of his cock inside her. She cried out as he plunged deeper inside, closing her eyes at the burst of sensation at her sensitive core. And miraculously, she felt herself coming again even as his hot seed began to shoot inside her. She heard his hoarse breathing as he gave a couple more thrusts, then steadied himself by gripping her hips as he emptied himself inside her, his cock throbbing and jumping inside her, and finally softening.
Fully sated, wonderfully weary, she let herself fall spread-eagled on the floor. She sighed as he lowered his body over hers, covering it with his warmth, pressing her deeper into the sand. He set his cheek against hers and they lay there, cheek to cheek, until their breathing steadied.
After a long, peaceful moment of contentment, Gerry gently turned her around to face him, his body still covering hers. He searched her eyes, looking for signs of distress, smiling at her as he found none. She traced the side of his mouth with a finger.
“I didn’t think it could ever be this way,” she said softly.
“Come with me, Alarija.” Gerry kissed the palm of her hand. “I came to find you, to take you back with me. Please come with me.”
Alarija closed her eyes. She waited for the feeling of denial to assert itself. She waited for her conscience to rail at her about duty and the Law, as it had always done with Marsalir. But there was nothing. There had been nothing since she first gazed into his eyes and knew he belonged to her She smiled secretly to herself, in relief and in joy.
“Yes,” she said finally, opening her eyes to gaze at him. “I’ll come with you.”
Nooooo!
A great bellowing cry filled the room and shook the very floors of the cavern, echoing in her head endlessly. Alarija cried out, clapping her hands over her ears to stop the ear-splitting sound.
She twisted under Gerry and turned to look at the glass wall of the cavern.
The grey bulk of Orogo, the Grand Master, swam in the ocean beyond while his small snake-like head pressed close to the glass, watching them with his enormous unblinking eye.
Traitorous whore!
Furious at the breaking of her covenant and the dissipation of her power--taken with her virginity--that would save them, Orogo threw open his beaked mouth and gave another tremendous bellow.
Chapter Five
Gerry jumped to his feet, staggering as the ground shifted beneath him. “What in God’s name is that thing?”
“Orogo,” Alarija whispered, “The Grand Master.”
She sat back on her feet, her hands clenched under her chin, staring at the monster on the other side of the glass. She was transfixed by the snake-like head which twisted this way and that, glaring at her with one eye and then another.
“I’m sorry, Master,” she stammered. “I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?” Gerry demanded. “You haven’t done anything.”
Alarija threw herself prostrate on the sand. “He says he will kill us,” she cried, her voice muffled by the sand. “He will kill us.”
Gerry caught Alarija’s shoulders firmly and lifted her off the ground, turning her hunched form to face him. “He’s a beast. An animal. There’s nothing he can do to us.”
Alarija’s face was streaked by tears and sand. “You don’t hear him,” she whispered in a ragged voice. “He speaks to me. He says he will kill us because I’ve betrayed him.”
“He’s behind the glass, Alarija.” Gerry gave her a little shake to draw her attention back to him as her eyes darted towards Orogo. “He can’t hurt us.”
As if to belie his words, Orogo eased his bulk around in the water. As he turned, his tailed flipped up and then smashed across the glass. The cracks in the glass widened, zigzagging across the rest of the window.
“God damn.”
Gerry stared as Orogo turned again, brought the long, glistening length of his tail hard against the glass. The glass trembled. Cracks widened, deepened. Drops of water began to drip around the shard embedded in its center.
For the first time, Gerry felt the urgency of fear. “We’ve got to get out of here.” Gerry lifted Alarija to her feet.
She pulled away from him, staring at Orogo, shaking her head mindlessly. “No. I must stay. It’s my destiny. My destiny.”
Gerry clenched his hands in frustration. Alarija clapped her hands over her ears, frightened out of her wits by whatever obscenities that monster behind the glass was saying to her.
Dammit, there was no way in hell he was going to leave her here!
Gerry caught her by the shoulders, jerked her around to him. “Listen to me! Alarija! Listen to me!”
She stared at him then. “Go, Gerry. This is my destiny, not yours. Save yourself.” She started to pull away from him.
“No!” He caught her back, pulled her tightly to his body. “I can’t leave you, Alarija. I love you.”
Tears streamed down her face as she gazed at him. She touched his cheek, “And I love you.”
Gerry crushed his lips to hers, claiming her as his own.
With an ear-splitting wail, Orogo smashed his tail on the glass, sending shards flying around them. A steady stream of water began to pour from several jagged cracks, the sheer pressure of the ocean forcing them wider, and the cold water began to pool at their feet.
“Forget Orogo,” Gerry said as his lifted his lips from hers. “I know why they left you here. I know you were to be a human sacrifice to the Sacred Eye.” He shook her. “But what purpose would you death serve, Alarija? You can’t stop the asteroid. Zalaban will be destroyed.”
Alarija shook her head. “No. My powers will combine with The Masters. We will become powerful and together we will destroy the Sacred Eye. The Masters will survive. They will survive.”
“So it’s all about their survival, is it? And what about yours?”
Her eyes were huge as they gazed up at him.
Gerry took a steadying breath, forcing himself to be calm. “There is no power that can save them, Alarija. The Sacred Eye is the size of a small moon. Nothing can stop it. Don’t you think the Universal Alliance would have tried? This is a fool's errand, Alarija.”
Orogo bellowed and the cavern pitched beneath their feet. The glass bulged at the pressure of the ocean and the manic thrashing of the Grand Master’s bulk beyond.
“I can’t save them?” Alarija asked softly.
Gerry shook his head, fixing his eyes firmly on hers. “Nothing can save them.”
Alarija took a deep shuddering breath. She brushed the back of her hand ac
ross her face, wiping away the sand and tears.
“Then let’s go.”
It was all Gerry needed to hear. He caught her hand, turned, and ran for the entrance to the cavern, pulling Alarija behind him. They had almost made it when they heard what sounded like a crack and an explosion, and then the thunderous roar as the ocean poured into the cavern.
It was too late. They had left it too late. Gerry knew they would be swept up and crushed beneath the force that had been unleashed behind them.
Alarija’s hand slipped out of his. He skidded to a halt, turned, and reached for her in desperation.
Gerry saw a wall of water rushing to meet them and braced himself for its blow. And then the wall of water stopped, not ten feet from him. The wall of foamy green was absolutely still, as if it had struck some invisible barrier.
Alarija stood with her arms held out towards the ocean wall. Her body shimmered with energy, with unimaginable power. It was she who had raised the barrier. He felt the heat emanating from her. Her long hair snaked about her head with body with the static of it.
“Go Gerry!” she shouted, her voice strained. “Save yourself.”
“No!”
He leapt towards her, in front of her, crouching at her feet. Then he caught her hips and hitched her up over his left shoulder. Her flesh burned and his hair shot sparks against hers. But he had her. He had her.
Gerry ran out of the cavern, following the thread which twisted on the floor. He cut his feet on the naked rock and felt the flesh of his shoulder burn as he ran blindly for their lives. His saw the stairs leading to the palace above and raced towards it, placed his foot on the first step, and another.
And then the fire at his shoulder eased and he heard the roar of ocean behind them and he knew Alarija had done what she could and was spent. Her body draped limply across his shoulder, heavier, as he raced up the stairs--two, three steps at a time-- trying to beat the rush of water which gurgled and boiled and foamed, steadily rising behind him, snapping at his heels.
Sirens Call Page 4
