Night of Fire

by Vonna Harper

  Her nipples had turned into not-too-small pebbles and seemed several degrees warmer than the rest of her breasts. If someone put a gun to his head, he couldn’t say how many breasts he’d been invited to explore, and after a while he’d come to the conclusion that they were all pretty much the same. Yes, there were differences in size, color, position, sensitivity, but since they all existed to serve the same basic purpose, there wasn’t all that much to be said about them.

  Something, however, was different with Maia’s. He just didn’t know what it was—only knew he hadn’t come close to being done with them.

  Or with her.

  He repositioned her so they were sitting up and her back was now against his chest, and he’d cradled—strange that he’d think of it like that—her legs between his. He’d managed to prop his ass and lower back against a clump of grass, and although it was far from the most comfortable back rest he’d ever had, he didn’t care. Strangely, he cared only a little that his once again alert cock was being smashed by her ass.

  Her head rested against his left shoulder. Her hands lay unmoving on his thighs. The message in her open-to-him body was about as basic as it could get. No fool he, he alternately played with her breasts, stomach, hip bones, even curled himself around her so he could gain access to her muff and the lush cunt underneath.

  The first time he cupped her pussy and pressed down, she responded by grinding the back of her head into his collarbone. She was leaving fingertip-sized divots in his thighs. It had been an experiment—at least that’s what he told himself—a test to see whether he’d made her so sore that her pussy was incapable of registering pressure. Obviously it wasn’t.

  Encouraged, or maybe the truth was he had no control over what he was doing, he spread his fingers to increase his control over her cunt. His middle finger was positioned at the entrance to her entrance. He entered, wiggling his finger just a little to make sure he’d found ground zero.

  Her breathing picked up, and so did his. Just like that, he felt pressure in his groin; the message in his cock came through loud and clear. There was only one place it wanted to be.

  Amazing. Contrary to what the men’s magazines said about the early thirties still being primetime sexually for men, he hadn’t gone for two jerk-offs in one night since his early twenties. Sure, he was capable—he thought—but like drinking too much, blowing a whole night with sex was no way to run a business.

  Screw his company, his career.

  The nymph to end all nymphs was here, between his legs, offering herself to him like a Christmas morning gift.

  Unfortunately, there was a limit to how wide he could spread his legs, which meant she too was under the same constraints. In addition, leaning forward like this so he could play in her playground was going to kill his back. However, until the death knell had been sounded—

  Maybe there’d been a change in the drumming, maybe he’d simply become aware of it again. Whatever it was, he matched his hand’s rhythm to the beat that seemed to have permeated both earth and air.

  She’d stopped digging into his legs. Now she painted and caressed them, touching the same area over and over again. It was always new, always traveling from thigh muscle straight to his cock.

  When he slid his hand farther over her sex and buried his middle finger up to the base in her, her hands stopped moving. Now they lay nearly still on him, trembling just a little.

  “You’re cold?” he asked.

  “No. I…”

  “You what?” He straightened his finger so the back of it rubbed against her pussy wall. Her next breath came out a sob.

  “I did not expect…”

  “What? That you’d climax the first time?” Could he take credit for that?

  “Climax?”

  What planet was she from? And did it matter? “Come? Get off on me? Whatever you want to call it?” Her juices were drenching his finger and some had already leaked out to dampen his palm. He wondered how much of his semen was mixed in with her sap. Curious about how close she was to the brink, he curled his finger so it now brushed the back of her pussy. Her cunt muscles clamped around him.

  Hmmm. Time to bring in the reinforcements.

  Ignoring the increased discomfort in his back, he leaned even farther forward so he no longer had to brace himself. Now that his other hand was free, he put it to good use. Stroking her pubic hair and finger-fucking her at the same time took both dexterity and concentration. He sure as hell didn’t mind, and from her little grunts and groans, he had no doubt about how she felt.

  Calling on his inventive nature, he pulled her tight against his hard-as-nails cock and caught a pussy lip between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. Now that that silken piece of flesh was out of the way, he had no trouble working a second finger inside her. Sweat broke out on her. She shoved her ass against him, grinding her buttocks into his cock.

  Shit!

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” he whispered into her ear. His voice sounded as if he hadn’t used it in a month. “Lady, you’re randy.”

  “I—it feels so good.”

  “Makes you sorry you put it off so long, does it?” Shit. Did he want to go there? “How—how old are you?”

  “I am a woman.”

  You are now. “I won’t argue that but—” Despite her pussy grip on him, he straightened his fingers. Her G-spot was around there somewhere. If he connected… “I don’t understand you, not even a little bit.” About as much as I understand what the hell I’m doing with you.

  “And you want to?”

  “Damn right.” I also want to screw you until I can’t see straight, but that’s another story.

  “I—I want to tell you about me,” she said in a small, uncertain voice. “About my people. Our fears.”

  “Fears?”

  Whatever he’d just touched, her cunt spasmed as if an electrical probe had been applied to it. Never one to deny a lady, he stroked again. Just like that, a small stream of hot fluid drenched his hand. He held it against her, no easy task given the way she was jerking.

  Climaxing. Right here, right now, without him having to do more than a little freelance finger play.

  “Come on, Maia,” he encouraged. “Let it happen, just let it happen.”

  She bucked against him with such force that he was knocked backward. He felt himself start to slide off his clump of grass and tried to straighten. However, with his hands otherwise occupied, he had nothing for leverage.

  He landed on his back with her on top. She lay there a moment, sweating and shaking, making tiny, continuous mewling sounds. Then, just like that, she went limp. Her breath came out in a long, loud sigh.

  Climax number two.

  Despite whatever was poking into his back, he was in no hurry to have her get off him. Although his hands were sticky with her come, he felt compelled to cover her breasts. After all, he didn’t want her getting cold. The moment he spread his fingers over them, however, compassion and consideration changed into something else.

  Splayed out by gravity, her breasts were nevertheless incredible organs. They were hers, he could touch them only when she gave him the right, but he’d taken her virginity. He’d showed her the meaning of climax—a damn simple task—and now she wanted to tell him about her people and their fears, whatever that meant. She knew what his cock felt like inside her cunt and in her hand.

  That made them, what? The word soulmates flitted through his mind, but that was way too heavy. Too dangerous.

  In the space of what couldn’t be more than a heartbeat, she went from out cold to sitting up. Alarmed, he reached for her, but she was already on her hands and knees, not because she was leaving him but because…

  Although she was still putting her mind back together, Maia had been aware of what was happening on the other side of the hill. There’d just been a great whooshing sound, almost an explosion, and now the night sky was becoming brighter, redder. The fire arch The Lady had told her about had been lit. Soon it wo
uld be time for her and Taurus to step under it, but they still had a few minutes—maybe enough time for her to make him hers, at least a little bit.

  She turned around. He was on his back, staring up at her, his arms reaching for her. His seed-maker put her in mind of a shaft stuck into the ground, only it was coming from him, not the earth.

  Positioning herself so her legs were outside his, she rocked over his organ until her baby-place was directly over it. She’d felt him inside her before, it shouldn’t be such a soul-changing prospect to have it happen again, and yet she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs.

  Down, down, down she came. She moved as slowly as she could because she wanted to draw out the experience for both of them. The tip of his organ pressed against her opening and seemed to hang up there. Although she’d never done it before, she used her hand to move her flesh out of the way. He slid in.

  “Good grief, woman.”

  Grief was something no one wanted, but Taurus didn’t appear to be in pain. In fact, he seemed interested in nothing except pushing even more of himself into her. She accommodated him by widening her stance, lowering herself onto him and sucking him into her. The two bags of flesh where she’d been told a man’s seed was stored pressed against her bottom. It felt wonderful.

  He couldn’t pump into her the way he’d done before because he wasn’t in the right position. However, she was.

  Rather pleased with herself for having figured that out, she lifted her head so she could study the red-tinted sky. She rested her hands on his ribs for leverage and began moving her hips up and down. His hands settled over her thighs, not in a punishing way but not gentle either. Down against him she went. When she’d gone as far as she could and his seed sacs pressed harder against her, she stayed there for several heartbeats. He felt so big inside her.

  When she straightened and drew away, she brought his organ with her. Keeping him inside her called for concentration, no easy thing since his skin gliding against hers had become like small, continuous lightning strikes.

  She’d been sent to this time and place to claim Taurus and take him back with her. But tonight, right now, was all she could think about.

  Tiny lightning strikes were good. Delicious. Like the finest food only countless times better. Her skin, not just where his seed-bearer was touching, became hotter and hotter and was so sensitive she might have felt the weight of a single grain of sand.

  She forgot who she was, couldn’t remember what it felt like to be separate from him. His seed-bearer was amazing. Like a predator after prey, it effortlessly trapped her. But she had no desire to break free.

  Sensing that he was approaching the moment of release, she increased her own efforts. They quivered as one, created their own music, beat a single drum. As before, he pounded into her, each thrust squirting his fluids into her. She caught fire, exploded.

  Chapter Six

  Maia had collapsed on top of Taurus—his softened organ still partly inside her. Although she’d become aware of her now-cold back, she couldn’t make herself move until he started to lift her off him. She rolled to her side next to him and propped herself up on one arm. He was looking at her with the strangest expression—something akin to the look on her youngest brother’s face the first time he’d seen an eclipse of the moon.

  “I may have died and gone to heaven,” he muttered.

  “No.” She gasped, alarmed. “You are very much alive.”

  “Figure of speech. Besides, you’re absolutely right. I couldn’t possibly feel more alive. Lady, I don’t know who the hell you are or what we’re doing together, but thank you—thank you very much.”

  What we are doing together? The question reverberated in Maia and reminded her that she hadn’t just been sent here to mate with Taurus, but to bring him back with her.

  Afraid too much time had passed, she scrambled to her feet and slipped on her gown. She fastened the dagger around her waist then grabbed Taurus’ hand and tried to pull him up.

  “Wait a minute,” he protested. He tried to pull her back down, something she was tempted to let him do. “What are you in a hurry about? Look…” His amused expression turned to one of concern. “You’re not leaving, are you?”

  “Yes. I must.”

  She pulled again, this time succeeding in getting him to stand. He reached for her, but she ducked out of his way, leaned down and handed him his clothes. He took them and stepped into his briefs.

  “Where are you going?” His tone matched his somber gaze.

  “You—you would not know its name.”

  “No argument there. There’s practically nothing I know about you. Look, Maia, isn’t there some way I can get you to stay? Ah, how would you like to go to London tomorrow?”

  London? What was that? “I cannot. Please, hurry. We must not be late.”

  “We? I’m going with you?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  That seemed to reassure him, and although he didn’t take his eyes off her, he wasted no time getting dressed. He put on his foot-coverings and then indicated her bare feet.

  “I don’t know how you do that. This is volcanic rock, sharp as hell in places.”

  She had to admit that the ground was harder than she was used to, but she had no trouble walking on it. “The fire arch.” She pointed in the direction the glow was coming from. “We must hurry.” To give her words emphasis, she grabbed his wrist.

  “I’m coming,” he reassured her. He started to wrap his arm around her waist then touched the dagger. “That’s no toy, is it? If need be, it could get deadly?”

  Although she didn’t quite understand what he meant, she reassured him that one of its functions was for protection. As for the other—it wasn’t time for him to know that.

  Much as she wanted to run, it was too dark to safely do that. Besides, the closer they got to the top of the hill where the fire arch had been lit, the more crowded it became. People, particularly men, stared at her. Maybe they could look at her and know she’d just mated. She supposed her gown, so simple compared to what most people wore, was too much of a contrast to be ignored. When an older woman shook her head in disapproval, it dawned on Maia that her veil-dress exposed a great deal of her body. Interesting. People from Taurus’ time covered themselves, she just didn’t understand why.

  As soon as they reached the top of the hill, Taurus ran interference by shouldering their way through groups of onlookers. She clung to his side, feeling both protected and on the brink of asking him if he wanted to mate again. Given how sore she was between her legs, that wasn’t wise, but it would be worth the discomfort. They would mate again as soon as they’d returned to her time, she reassured herself. The thought of mating on a down and feather covering prompted her to slide her hand down his hip.

  “What?” Taurus caught her hand. “Don’t tell me you’re getting raunchy all over again. You’re going to be the death of me.”

  “No. You will not die. You must not!”

  “Calm down, will you. It’s just a figure of speech. I swear, you are the most confusing—”

  Much as she loved the sound of his voice, particularly the way it seemed as if she could feel it in her spine, there wasn’t time to talk. Grabbing his wrist again, she plunged ahead.

  The arch fire had been constructed out of tree branches and limbs fastened to a frame nearly twice as tall as Taurus. Although she knew what they had to do, the sight of all those dancers and other performers stopped her.

  “I do not understand,” she said. “The women in white, men who have painted themselves the color of fire or summer grasses. Why do they do those things?”

  “I’m not the one to ask. My friend explained some stuff about the festival, but all I can give you is the short course. It’s all supposed to symbolize the seasons, concentrating on spring of course.”

  “The fire arch. Have the color-people already gone through it?”

  “I think so. According to Paul, that’s the first thing they do. Then the May Qu
een—she’s the one wearing all those colors—makes a circuit of the hill with her companions. From what I understand, they visit sites that represent air, earth, water and fire. They must have already done that because—yeah, see those Red Men?”

  The Red Men were running around the Rainbow Woman and the others with her. At first Maia was afraid the Red Men would attack and kill someone, but no one acted afraid, and no one had pulled out a weapon. Instead, everyone ran here and there, yelling, laughing. So many colors and bodies were in motion that she was getting dizzy watching them. None of it made sense.

  “Do you want to try to get closer?” Taurus asked. “I take it you haven’t seen this before. Neither have I so if that’s what you want to do before we— Well, you don’t need me to spell that out, do you?”

  His hip grinding into hers left no doubt of what he had in mind, and if this was any other time, she’d take hold of his seed-maker and find a way to put it inside her again.

  But this was tonight. Her mission had to be completed before morning.

  Turning her back on the barbaric spectacle, she propelled Taurus toward the burning arch. A few people stood within a few feet of it, but everyone’s attention was on the heathen dancers who knew nothing of the magic of Bel-fire. She felt the heat on her face, breasts, arms. The flames were so intense that she couldn’t keep her gaze on it, and the way it crackled and snapped gave her pause. Just the same, she didn’t stop walking.

  “What are you doing?” Taurus demanded when they were only a few steps from it. “What if it collapses?”

  He was right. All the wood was ablaze and much of it had already been destroyed. From what she could tell, the branches had been fastened in place with rope and when that burned through—