Myth and Magic

by Radclyffe

  “Release him or I will freeze you both where you stand!”

  Dara knew despair then, the destruction of all his hope. “Then freeze us. Without Remi, I am dead anyway. Let us die together.”

  “Dara?”

  His head whipped up. Remi was studying his own hand. He touched his chest and his palm came away wet with Dara’s tears.

  “Dara.”

  “Oh!” He pulled Remi back into his arms and kissed him wildly, his hair, his cheeks, his mouth. He tore off his coat and wrapped it around him. Quickly, quickly out! Out of the palace, away from the Snow King’s grim and baleful stare. Dara picked Remi up and carried his shivering weight through chamber after chamber until they staggered under the portcullis, out onto the lake.

  “Dara, I can’t. Let me down.”

  “Yes, you can! Hold on to me!” Dara felt in a pocket of his coat and his fingers closed on an ear of wheat. Raising his face to the sky, to the hazy moon and the first dim stars, he called out with every ounce of his strength. And Mehefin heard.

  *

  “Give him to me.”

  Dara fell to his knees and let Remi slip down on to the soft clover lawn. “Is he dead? Is he dead?” In his agony, Dara bit at his knuckles. “Use your magic! Make him well!”

  Mehefin passed his hands lightly over Remi’s chest. “He’s near death.”

  “What must we do? What can I do?”

  “Dara, listen to me. Your tears freed him from the ice. Only your tears could have done this. But now…he is very cold. He is cold inside, Dara, and no magic of mine will warm him. You must do it. You must love him. Fill him with your seed and mine. The charm against the cold, do you remember? Pour your warmth and your strength and your life into him.”

  “Yes!” Dara pulled off his clothes and threw them aside. He stretched out over Remi and kissed his pale lips and pushed his limp cock between Remi’s legs. Mehefin made a sign in the air and suddenly Dara was hard, hard and moving easily in sweet oil, fragrant with the scent of lilacs. So cold inside, but this was his beloved Remi, so he moved with ardor, and kissed again, whispering into his mouth. Remi gave a gasp and his eyes fluttered open. Slowly, slowly, he raised his legs and wrapped them around Dara’s thrusting hips. With a shout of triumph, Dara felt his seed gush and he held still, locked in Remi, so that all of the hot flow stayed inside. Remi shuddered once and his own seed came, a flood on his belly, thick and warm. Exquisite.

  Mehefin was sitting on his heels, smiling down at them. “The year is on the turn. The thaw will come soon and your way home will be easier. Until then, stay. Rest, build your strength. Love each other. Enjoy each other. But now I must visit my beehives.” In one lithe spring, the Summer King rose to his feet. He threw a little bunch of daisies on them that clung to their damp skin.

  Remi raised himself on one arm. Blushing a little, he said shyly, “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome.”

  *

  Dara and Remi lived a long and happy life. They were never apart again, not even for a day. At times, at dead of winter, when the north wind blew, Remi was troubled by bad dreams and cried out, but then Dara held him and comforted him until he drifted back to sleep, safe and warm in his lover’s arms.

  Victoria Oldham (victoria-oldham.co.uk) is a full-time lesbian-fiction editor and erotica writer. She lives in England with her partner and is working on a doctorate in creative writing. Her work can be found in various anthologies, including Women of the Dark Streets, She Shifters, and Girls Who Bite.

  This story is based on “Little Red Riding Hood.”

  Riding Red

  Victoria Oldham

  A twig snapped behind her and Red spun, her pulse racing.

  She walked the packed dirt path all the time, but over the last few weeks, she felt like she was being watched. Which was absurd, since plenty of people walked the narrow forest path to get to Grandmother’s House at night, and folks were always watching one another. But today she was the only one there, since it was too early for the patrons to start arriving. Late-afternoon shadows blanketed the forest, dappled sunlight creating artful designs on the dirt. She gripped the black leather bag with her change of clothes for the evening shift more tightly, glad for its heft in her hand.

  A flash of black, a glint of silver in her periphery…she turned, but it was gone, vanished among the pines. She pulled the hood of her red leather jacket closer to her face and hurried. There hadn’t been anything larger than a fox in the forest for decades, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something big out there now. She hurried, straining to hear anything unusual. When she made it into the clearing she breathed a sigh of relief. She opened the door to Grandmother’s House, the ironically named bondage club of which she was part owner. Set deep in the forest away from prying eyes and neighbors, it had a solid clientele and she worked hard to make sure it was safe. The creepy feeling in the woods diminished as she breathed in the familiar scent of cleaning products and leather.

  “Hey, Red. Glad you could make it.”

  She grinned at her business partner, Goldi. “Just because you practically live here doesn’t mean I have to.”

  Goldi stretched and gave her a wicked grin. “At least I get all my needs taken care of in one place, and I don’t have to go to anyone’s home to get my rocks off.” She pushed her boobs up in her top and wiggled her eyebrows.

  Their banter continued as they got the club ready to open. They made a habit of checking every piece of bondage furniture to make sure it wasn’t damaged. It wouldn’t do to have someone strapped down and get a splinter or be cut by a loose screw. The bar was stocked and they were relaxing when the first guests began to arrive. Within hours the club was bouncing. Women in every state of dress filled the room, pressed shoulder to shoulder in the main bar area, dancing to the heavy bass. On the main stage a couple was giving a demonstration of intricate suspension bondage. All the play rooms were in full use too.

  The door opened, letting in some of the full moon’s light. For an instant a woman was silhouetted against the night, a featureless dark shadow, still and imposing. The door closed and Red shook her head at the sudden tremor of anticipation in her stomach. She saw plenty of women here, and few ever struck her fancy. The really butch ones that made her wet were few and far between, and when they did come along, they were too often posers who demanded submission simply because they thought it was their right, not because they’d earned it.

  The hairs on the back of her neck rose and a shiver slithered down her spine, making her cold in the hot-red leather that was her trademark. She looked around, but no one seemed to be watching her or trying to get her attention. Just as she was about to turn away she thought she caught a glimpse of unnaturally green eyes, but her attention was diverted by someone asking for another bottle of whip cleaner, and she quickly forgot about it.

  The night finished as it always did. Couples and groups finished playing in the early hours of the morning after last call. They stumbled out into the forest to take the long path back to the distant car park. Red shook her head when a group of Dommes herded a group of bottoms out the door on their hands and knees, leather paddles and riding crops driving the women on their knees into the night. She loved the power exchange, the giving and taking of sex by people who knew exactly what they wanted and needed. When they’d first opened the club, she had always found a willing play partner at the end of the night to take the edge off, but over time it became a job like any other…well, not exactly like any other, but a job, nonetheless, and many nights she was too tired for play time of her own. The thought of the woman in silhouette occurred to her and she hugged herself. She scanned the forest around the clearing, but the sound of women’s laughter was far off and the club area was empty now. She went back in, finished sorting out the money, and waved to Goldi, who was making use of the empty main stage with a particularly beautiful blond woman whose bottom was already striped from the thin rattan cane in Goldi’s hand. Goldi waved and turned back to
the upturned bottom in front of her. She ran her free hand over it before raising the cane again. It sliced through the air with a hiss and then cracked against the welted ass.

  Red sighed, suddenly feeling more alone than she had in a long time. She shrugged on her coat and headed out into the night, remembering the feel of a strong hand on her back as someone painted stripes of loving discipline along her skin. It had been too long.

  Once on the forest path, she breathed deeply and stopped to look at the stars. This far away from the city, it felt like she could reach out and touch them, just gather them up in her palms like so much hot glitter. The full moon gave off enough light so the path was clear and bright. An eerie howl shattered the night and goose bumps covered her flesh. Nothing that sounded like that should be in these woods. She turned to go back to the club, figuring she could wait until Goldi was done and they could walk to their cars together. Hell, she would sleep on one of the spanking benches if she needed to. But walking through the forest alone wasn’t going to happen.

  Before she took two steps, someone stepped out of the trees and onto the path in front of her, backlit by the moon. She knew it was the same woman she’d seen silhouetted in the bar. She was tall, at least six feet, and broad shouldered. Black leather pants hugged muscular legs, and the white T-shirt pulled taut over her ripped arms and flat stomach. But more than anything, it was her eyes that made Red stumble backward. They were an earthy green, like new grass on a spring day. And they were focused intently on Red as she approached, slowly, like an animal stalking its prey.

  Red took a few steps back, then turned and started to run. But before she could think to scream, the woman was behind her, on her, her arms wrapped tightly around Red’s waist as she lifted her from the ground and carried her off the path and into the forest. Red kicked and squirmed, but the woman was insanely strong.

  “Put me down, you oaf.”

  The woman laughed and the sound sent a thrill to Red’s core. It was deep, husky, sexy. The woman set her down in front of a massive pine, using her grip on Red’s waist to turn her and pin her against it with her own hard body. Red kept her hands on the woman’s shoulders, but she wasn’t sure if it was to push her away or keep her in place. Something about her was dark, dangerous, and called to that place in Red that needed pain’s promises. Would she stop if Red said no? Did she want her to? She felt the hard body against her and thought of the rattan cane slicing through the air at the club. Saying no wasn’t an option. She wanted what this woman was offering.

  The woman’s hands slid down Red’s arms to her hands and pulled her arms over her head. She held both wrists in one massive hand, and with the other she dragged sharp nails over Red’s exposed stomach. When Red hissed with pleasure, the woman’s strange eyes darkened.

  “I want you, little Red. I want to do things to you.”

  The stranger’s breath was hot in her ear, and suddenly Red couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than “things” done to her.

  “We can go back to the club,” Red said, arching her back to make contact with the hard body pressed against her, the feel of her pinned wrists making her wet. The bark of the tree dug into her skin, the hands holding her as hard as the tree at her back. Her body was on fire with need.

  That strange, eerie wail sounded through the night again, and the woman jerked away, her eyes narrowed as she looked into the forest. It didn’t come again, though, and she pushed her thigh between Red’s legs and kissed her roughly, her tongue seeking immediate entrance. She pulled away and her breathing was ragged, her chest heaving as though it took effort to control herself. The look on her face was inscrutable, though her jaw was clenched tightly and Red could feel the bowstring tension in the arms pinning her to the tree. The unearthly cry shattered the night, and the woman swore. She let go of Red’s wrists and backed away.

  “Not tonight, little Red. But I’ll be back for you.” And with that she turned and loped off into the forest, silently swallowed up by the shifting shadows of the night.

  Red slid down the tree, baffled, turned on, and irritated all at once. What the hell just happened?

  *

  Another week went by, and Red grew more convinced that she had imagined the whole damn thing that moonlit night. Grandmother’s House continued to be packed every night, but her mysterious hot stranger hadn’t made another appearance. She had given up, chalking it up to just another weird thing that club owners sometimes had to deal with. But the experience had left her aching, hot and desperate for a session of rough, sweaty sex. Being around women pushing past taboos and shattering boundaries every night of the week didn’t help.

  She made the rounds, making sure no one had been forgotten and left tied up somewhere. Goldi looked up from between the legs of a woman bound spread-eagle in one of the play rooms, thick black rope attached to her wrists and ankles. “Want to play?” She wiggled her fingers and held up a bottle of lube.

  Red considered it for a moment. She had played with Goldi plenty over the years, and they both enjoyed it, although they never had a real connection. The bound woman was attractive, but Red decided she didn’t feel like being a second tonight. “Thanks, but no. Enjoy.”

  Red locked up and headed to her car. She hadn’t heard that freaky animal call since the night of her strange encounter, and the feeling of being watched had disappeared. She sighed. She could still feel the stranger’s hands on her wrists, the feel of her strong body, the smell of leather…and something she couldn’t place. Something musky, warm.

  She was at the densest part of the path, just about to cross the little stone bridge, when she felt it. That same feeling. She stopped and closed her eyes, and when arms slid around her from behind, she leaned back against the body she’d been fantasizing about. Leather, musk, strength. The combination was heady and her knees went weak with desire.

  “Have you thought about me, little Red?” The woman’s mouth was against her neck, her teeth grazing the sensitive skin under her ear.

  “I thought I’d dreamed you.” She felt stupid for saying it, but when the woman’s hands slid up her stomach to cup her breasts, all thought fled.

  “You couldn’t dream up something like me.” Her teeth were sharp, her hands insistent as they worked their way under Red’s leather halter top. “I’ve thought of nothing but you. How I want to get inside you and hear you come.”

  Red moaned as the woman pinched her nipples, making them rock hard. “Yes. God, yes. Should we go back—”

  “No. I want you here, in the open.” She walked them forward, her hands never leaving Red’s breasts. Red looked down and saw that the woman was barefoot, and her feet were firmly planted in the soft dirt at the edge of the bridge. The woman pressed her against the little bridge wall, bending her forward over it and pressing her hips against Red’s ass.

  Red pressed back. The woman was packing, hard evidence of what was in store. She moaned, ready, and lifted her arms to allow the woman to pull her top off. The cool night air caressed her hot skin and she shivered. Sharp nails slid from her shoulders to the top of her ass, thin lines of fire left in their wake. For a split second she thought about the fact that she was naked, out in the open. Anyone could see them, could see her, being taken. Somehow it was completely different from the public scenes she’d been involved in at the club. Here, under the stars, she was more vulnerable than she’d ever been when tied up in front of a group.

  “You’re so beautiful, Red. So fucking hot. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

  She cried out when the woman twisted her nipples, pulling and pinching them hard. “Please. Fuck, take me.” The woman grew still, her hands holding tightly to Red’s naked waist.

  “Say it again.” Her mouth was hot in the hollow between her neck and shoulder, and Red needed it, wanted so much more.

  “Please fuck me,” she whispered.

  It was all the invitation the woman needed. She cupped Red’s breasts, and her teeth sank into Red’s neck. She bit hard and end
orphins took over Red’s mind. The stranger let go of Red’s breasts but kept her mouth in place, biting, sucking, driving Red insane with desire. She quickly unzipped Red’s leather pants and peeled them down, her hands sliding over Red’s heated flesh until they stopped to cup her wet center.

  She placed her hand on the base of Red’s back to hold her still and knelt behind her. She yanked Red’s boots and pants off, then pulled the black thong aside so she could run her tongue over her wetness. Red held on to the wall, feeling more dirty bent over a wall in the forest than she ever had in her own club. When the woman pushed her fingers deep inside her, she let herself go. The woman fucked her quickly and deeply from behind, covering her back with bites as she pressed hard against her, owning Red’s body with powerful strokes. Just when Red thought she was going to come, when her thighs were shaking and she couldn’t hold off any longer, the woman pulled out and spun her around. She lifted Red to sit on the wall and dropped to her knees in front of her. Pressing her legs wide, those strange green eyes on Red’s face, she pushed her tongue into Red’s cleft, licking a hot line to her clit before going back down for more. She devoured her, and Red watched as she closed her eyes and seemed to lick every drop of wetness from her. She kept Red on the edge, circling her clit, pushing inside her, only to pull away when Red got close. Red held on to the wall, her fingernails breaking against the stone, the water from the creek a few feet below gurgling past.

  She stood and kissed Red deeply, her tongue hot and demanding. Red tasted herself in the heat of the woman’s mouth and drank it in, sucking it from her. When Red heard a zipper rasping down, she pulled back to see the large fleshed-colored dildo in the woman’s big hand, her expression a challenge. Red slid to her knees on the hard stone, clasped her hands behind her back in a classic submissive pose, and licked the length of the dildo. The woman’s head fell back, and she gripped Red’s hair as she fucked her mouth, deep and slow. Red took her time, licking and sucking, wrapping her lips around the head and taking it deep in her mouth while she held the base firmly and pressed it against the woman’s body. She looked up and met the woman’s lust-filled gaze and sucked hard, allowing her eyes to flutter closed. There was something about sucking a butch’s cock, taking that basic piece of kit and making her crazy with it. The woman fucked her mouth harder, faster, her grip in Red’s hair tight as she pumped her hips.