Enrique gave him an accusatory glare. “Don’t tell me you suck at sex, uncle.” Apparently his nephew thought he and Gwen were intimate.
“Have you forgotten she is the Goddess of Moonlight?” Arka reminded.
Enrique shrugged. “No, but have you forgotten she is also a woman?” He kicked off his sandals and dropped his shorts leaving him in a pair of blue cotton undergarments. “Because if you have uncle, I’d be happy to show her.” Enrique raced a few steps into the water before Arka could throw a punch.
He looked around. The waterfall-fed pond had not changed much over time. The dense forest surrounding it had grown thicker and the pool had increased in size now that the water for irrigating the crops was no longer diverted to the village. As a boy, his first commune with the Sun God using the skull was on folded legs at the river’s edge above the falls. Behind the fall of water was a large gap of space. The natural cave had a wall of water on one side, stone on the other, and a floor of smooth pebbles. Deep water in the center of the falls became shallow enough to stand at the edges.
His gaze returned to Gwen and Enrique splashing water at each other like children. He’d had no idea the modesty of the modern world extended to water. After Gwen’s comment about swimming naked, Arka had decided to keep his shorts on since he wore nothing underneath. With his nephew’s challenge, Arka changed his mind. Nudity was as natural to him as breathing. Since he’d walked in barefoot, he simply unbuttoned the shorts. They fell to his ankles and he kicked them out of the way.
“Damn Arka, you need a woman.” Enrique’s laughter at his erection did not cover the sound of Gwen’s swift intake of breath. He was not a small male, even when his manhood didn’t stand at attention. The current state of his body, though frustrating, had become perpetual. “If you got it, flaunt it—right, uncle?” Enrique used Gwen’s distraction to send a huge wave splashing into her face. She ducked under water.
He took a few steps forward, the water reaching his hips, and pushed off with his toes, using long breaststrokes to cover the few yards to the edge of the falls. The cool water flowed around him as he stood beneath the cascade on the smooth, pounded rocks below. A quick shake sent the excess water out of his hair. He looked back to where Enrique and Gwen had been. Enrique stood at the shore pulling his shorts up his legs. He lifted his thumb into the air and disappeared back into the trees.
Gwen swam toward him on her back with a couple of bottles clutched to her chest. Unable to see where she was going, she hit the top of her head against the top of his chest. “Oh shit,” she exclaimed.
She floundered, the bottles bobbing in the water as she spun around to face him. The water was deeper than her height; she went under, her hair floating at the surface in every direction. Arka caught her armpits and lifted her back up. She spit a mouthful of water at him through the plastering of hair covering her face. Arka laughed and dunked her back under the water. The movement of her legs brushed against his manhood and he groaned. She bobbed up chin first, her face free of tresses, and placed her hands on his shoulders with a playful smile.
Arka silently cursed the Sun God again for his torture. “I learned a new word. It fits you perfectly this day.” He stepped nearer the edge of the falls, towing her to shallower ground where she could stand comfortably.
She settled to her feet and removed her hands, which was blessing and a curse to his body’s demand. She smoothed the hair at her scalp. “Oh, yeah. What’s that?”
“Menace.” He swam back out to collect the bottles she’d brought with her. The splash she sent his direction missed him.
He held the two bottles out to her, and she took one. “Do you always swim naked?” Her eyes lingered at his chest and then returned to his face.
“I am an old-fashioned Maya Indian, Gwen.” He chuckled.
She lifted a brow. “Even Yucatan Indians wear bathing suits … or something. I think you did it to shock me.”
He needed her to find the skull before he could tell her the truth, needed her to see her mother through the crystal eyes of amethyst to be believed. “Perhaps,” he conceded. “Did it work?”
“I’ve seen plenty of naked men, Arka. Get over yourself.” The desire in her eyes said differently. Still, the idea of her intimate with anyone bothered him more than was appropriate. A goddess could take any lover she wanted, as many as she wanted, anytime she wanted. She held all the power over lesser gods and mortals alike.
“In that case, why would you think I did it to shock you, since naked men are commonplace to you?” He couldn’t help baiting her a little. Maybe she would choose him for a lover. He could only hope.
“Most men don’t run around naked with raging wood either.” She laughed. Raging what? She squeezed a liquid from the bottle into her hand. Rubbed them together and lathered her hair. It smelled of vanilla blossoms. Her eyes met his. His confusion must have been evident on his face. “Come on … you know what I mean.” Her eyes looked down at the water then back at him with a lifted brow. Her phase dawned on him. Erection … hardened manhood equals raging wood. Fitting.
“You’re taking your Journeyer namesake to heart with that tattoo,” she said with her eyes closed. Arka said nothing in response.
She took a few steps back and tipped her head under the fall of water. The light-yellow triangles covering her breasts did nothing to hide the pebbled pink buds of her nipples. The curve and sway of her full breasts left little if anything to the imagination. Quite possibly the hint of flesh was more titillating that full nudity. She repeated the process, swapping for the second bottle in his hand. He envisioned her breasts without the suit when she leaned back and corrected his thinking. Nude … His “raging wood” wagged in full agreement. Arka couldn’t help himself; he swam to her belly and nipped it lightly before quickly backing away.
Her head snapped up, the instant heat of passion infused in the deep blue of her eyes stole his breath. She launched at him, knocking him back in the water, her lips meeting his as they went under. Her arms and legs wrapped around him and he held her tight, using the strength in his legs to return them to the surface. She was fire against him, more fiercely passionate than his dreams revealed, as if her intent was to devour him whole. His primal male instinct responded in kind. His long strides took them through the waterfall to the caved area behind.
Unwilling to risk her back touching a jagged rock he felt the rock behind her for roughness, never breaking from the madness of her fiery kiss. Fearing the rocks might hurt her he pivoted her away from them and used them against his own back to balance his descent to sit cross-legged on the smooth stones in an inch of water. The heat of her core radiated through the thin strip of material separating them. She ground her sex against his, threw her head back and moaned. As Arka blazed a trail of kisses down her neck, his hand cupped her breast and she arched her back to meet it. He brushed his thumb over her peaked nipple, reveling in the mewling cry from her lips. Her tiny, worn nails dug into his shoulders and scalp, like she did in his dreams.
“Is this what you want?” He used his last reserves of control, needing to be sure he wasn’t overstepping his bounds with her. Enrique was right … Gwen, though a goddess, was also a woman, with a woman’s passions and needs.
Gwen bit her bottom, kiss-bruised lip and stood. Arka thought she meant to walk away—a proposition he would accept willingly. Instead she untied the strings of her top and it fell to the inch of water beside him. He ached to lift the weight of her breast in his hand. She leaned over and they swayed gently. Her lips brushed his playfully, and when she stood again, the bottoms of her suit were gone, leaving him at eye level with her femininity, covered with soft white down and glistening with the moisture of her arousal. Gracefully she lowered herself to lie beside him, her legs spread slightly, revealing her answer. The pink petals of her womanhood unfolded to hint at the treasure within. Her toes teased at his chest. He felt an intense sense of honor to be chosen by her … that she desired him.
“This i
s what I want,” Gwen answered his question, her voice husky with pent-up passion. The night rain scent of her arousal filled his lungs.
Using his arms to bear his weight suspended above her, he found every reassurance possible reflected in her eyes as his lips touched hers tenderly. Gwen pushed at his chest, stopping him.
“I’m not fragile, Arka. I can feel you holding back. Don’t.” To further her point she bit his bottom lip and sucked it hard into her mouth, igniting his passion to a level of inhibition he didn’t know existed.
He partially released his weight onto her undulating body, taking her kiss with a roughness she responded to. He explored her mouth fully with his tongue, leaving no part undiscovered. Her peaked nipples drew him lower. Cupping the weight, he tweaked one nipple while he suckled the other. Her cries of pleasure resounded against the rock ledge, heightening his fervor. He lavished the other nipple, her hands in his hair as she arched her back for more, rewarding his gentle bite with a long mewl of ecstasy. He returned to the first nipple to alternately gnaw and suckle. Gwen writhed with pleasure. Her hair fanned out like a halo, framing her expression of abandon.
Arka needed to taste every inch of her. Tracing the under-curve of her breast with his tongue, his hand to the flat of her belly lowered to the soft cap of fine curls. She lifted her hips in invitation. She was so wet; wanton, his finger circled the tiny bud of nerves, then dipped into her tight channel.
His mouth followed the trail of his fingers, and Gwen bucked when his tongue slid through her folds. He gripped her hips with his other hand, holding her to his mouth. Her tangy flavor sent him to the brink. Without a doubt, he could orgasm simply from this alone. His finger stroked inside her, delivering a fresh taste of her with every stroke. The bundle of nerves grew and hardened as her cries became more desperate, more demanding. He nibbled and flicked at it, using her body’s effort to buck as a gauge. With a long, drawn-out cry, she tensed and screamed “Arka.” Her inner walls clamped down on his finger and pulsed. Her legs shook. Arka had never seen anything more intensely erotic.
Lifting above her, he guided his tip to her entrance. Gwen’s hands grasped his hips and lifted from below plunging him to her core. She met his gaze. “Hard. Take me hard.”
She met his solid strokes mid-way, growing tighter inside with each withdrawal. Arka gritted his teeth against the pleasure-pain of the silken, powerful contraction of her muscles. Nothing had ever felt this wondrous. She fit him perfectly. Then she cried out. Her head thrashed as her sheath erupted in spasm, unlike anything he’d ever felt, pulsing, milking him, drawing his manhood to her core greedily again and again. His toes curled and his release shot through him, exploding like a fire-mountain as he pounded his seed deep inside her. He collapsed into her soft curves, unable to move or catch his breath, his body twitching with aftershocks. It took everything he had to roll his weight off her, taking her with him so she would blanket him.
“Please tell me this is not a dream,” she said, panting.
Arka met her gaze. “This is very real. We’ve never gone this far in dream, my beautiful goddess.”
She gasped with dawning realization. “You’re real? My dreams are real?” He nodded. “Has it always been you?”
He touched his forehead to hers, not sure how to answer. “You are my destiny,” he thought.
Her eyes fluttered closed and he heard her say, “Are you sure this isn’t a dream?”
“Did you say, “are you sure this isn’t a dream”, out loud, or in my mind?” He lifted her chin with his fingers.
She pinched her eyes closed.. “Did you hear that?” He shook his head. She pressed her forehead back against his. “How about now?”
“I can hear you.”
She furled her brows. “When you touched your forehead to mine earlier, I heard you say something, but I thought it was my imagination.” She lifted and smiled. “But I guess it wasn’t.”
“It’s unbelievable.” Arka was stunned.
She nodded but didn’t seem nearly as awed as he felt. “As unbelievable as dreaming of each other? As unbelievable as talking the same way in our dreams even when we don’t touch foreheads?”
As unbelievable as making love to the Goddess of Moonlight? He added, glad she no longer could hear his thoughts.
“There is so much mysticism surrounding your ancestors. I’ve often wondered if all the time ancient shaman spent communing with the spirits was really just opened neuro-pathways in their minds. Parapsychology was never my passion in school. I did take one class to fill as an elective. There is a lot about the human brain science doesn’t understand. Maybe you are descended from a shaman—and genetically you have some penchant for telepathy.” Was she trying to convince him it was normal… or herself?
“There’s something else I need to share with you.” If she could accept this, was she ready to know her true heritage?
A loud whistle echoed through the falls. “Oh, my God, that’s Maggie.” Gwen jumped up and quickly put her bathing suit on while Arka watched mesmerized hardening at the sight of her. She looked at his rising erection and giggled. “Come on, lover. She’s not very patient.”
Arka collected Gwen’s bottles bobbing abandoned in the pool and followed her path to shore at a slower pace. A heavier dark skinned girl with a young, almost childlike face and chin-length black hair stood next to Enrique. Gwen hugged her. “You’re all wet.” The girl laughed returning the hug. Arka started out of the water and the girl’s eyes traveled his body. “Oh, mymymymy …” He realized she was older than she first appeared.
Gwen looked over her shoulder. “He’s mine.” Arka felt his knees go weak. I’m hers. She didn’t yet know she was a goddess. Or that being claimed by a goddess could bind him to her for all time.
He again dropped to one knee and bowed to her. “I am yours, Goddess.” He completed the bond she unwittingly started.
“Now, that’s what I’m talking about,” Maggie exclaimed. “I want a guy to bow at my feet and call me goddess. Think we can clone him?”
Enrique cleared his throat and Arka looked up into his nephew’s incredulous expression. His gaze shifted to the amused expressions on Gwen and Maggie’s faces. The women had no idea what he’d just done … but Enrique did. “You should dress, uncle.”
Arka rose to his unsteady legs. Maggie extended her hand. “You must be Arka.” He shook it. She leaned in and whispered. “And you better keep worshiping the ground she walks on or I will remove that stick of beef you’re sporting personally … got it?”
“Maggie!” Gwen’s mouth gapped open. Maggie turned and led Gwen away with her arm over her shoulder. “I can’t believe you just said that.” Gwen’s voice trailed off as the two disappeared into the trees.
“Enrique, did she just threaten to …”
“Cut your dick off? Yep.” Enrique nodded. “Of course they don’t realize you just did that yourself when you knelt and declared her ownership of you. Are you out of your mind making yourself impotent to any other woman? What if she’s called to the heavens tomorrow?”
Arka pulled on his shorts. “It doesn’t matter. I love her. I’ve always loved her and I always will love her. There will never be another whether she’s called to heaven or not. Thought I couldn’t bear it if I lost her now.”
Chapter Seven
“Where are we going?” Gwen dug through her clothes for something clean.
Maggie tapped her fingers at the table. “To civilization. I want one night of fun before I spend the rest of the weekend digging in the dirt.”
“It’s not like I brought party clothes.” Gwen fished out a pair of denim short-shorts and a light blue t-shirt that read “archaeologists do it in the dirt.” “Will this work?”
Maggie snorted a laugh. “Perfect.” She stood up. “How do I look?” The frilled, tie-dye skirt and green lacy-topped tank looked adorable. Gwen would look like a redneck hillbilly next to her.
“You know you look great, Mags.”
She lifted
her shoulders with false demure. “Good. I think Enrique’s hot.” Gwen grinned. If she had never seen Arka, she’d think Enrique were pretty hot too.
Enrique and Arka emerged from their tent. Arka wore faded denim knee-length shorts and a dark-gray T-shirt that showed every muscle. Gwen realized this was the first time she’d seen him with a shirt on … or in shoes. His leather sandals looked brand new.
Enrique let out a wolf whistle. “I need to carry a weapon with you two in public.”
“Aren’t you a sweet-talker?” Maggie tossed the keys to Arka. He caught them and handed them to Enrique.
Enrique jingled them. “Guess I’m designated driver.”
Arka took her hand, reminiscent of her dreams. Dreams she now knew he had shared with her. He gave her that quirked smile and led her to the back door of the hummer Maggie had rented. “I like your hair down.” He whispered against her neck, sending shivers through her.
“Thanks. Maggie did it.” She didn’t mention it took forever and a trough of spray conditioner for Maggie to get a brush through it and French braid it across the top of her head. Then a half-bottle of gel to get her curls un-frizzed enough to hang free in soft ringlets.
The bright lights of Belize filled her with excitement; she couldn’t remember the last time she went out without the need to look over her shoulder constantly. Maggie directed them till they came to a stop across from a bar. “Why are we going here?” Enrique asked with suspicion in his voice.
“It’s karaoke night. The guy at the rental place told me about it.” Maggie looked over the seat at Gwen. “You may not know it, Arka, but Gwen has the voice of an angel. We just need to get a few drinks in her.”
Gwen groaned. Leave it the Maggie to throw her under the proverbial bus. “I’m not singing.”
Maggie got out of the car. “You always say that. Git ya ass out da car, sista.” She closed the door, giving them no choice but to follow her. Of course she found the only empty table … and of course it sat next to the stage.
Mayan Lover Page 5
