by Judy Mays
His now fully erect cock nudged her ass.
Mireya shivered, the ache in her pussy rapidly silencing the logic in her brain. His cock felt so good when he thrust it inside of her!
“Mount me, Mireya. Slide down my cock until I’m buried inside of you, surrounded by your fire and heat.”
Obeying the urges of her body, Mireya complied, ignoring the warning clamors in her brain. No man should be ready to make love again so quickly. No man could come to care about a woman so quickly. He barely knew her! She could not allow him to become enamored with her.
Karrak lifted her, then slid her down his hard cock. He lifted her again. Again he thrust deeply.
Mireya stopped thinking and concentrated on the fire burning in her loins.
Chapter Nine
Mireya awoke alone, surrounded by the fragrant smell of the grasses on which she’d slept -- and the musky smell of the sex she’d enjoyed. Raking her hair off her face, she sat up. A vine tumbled from her shoulders to her lap. Blinking, she stared at the small, purple flowers -- passion flowers. They had not been among the grasses when she and Karrak had entered this room last night.
With a sigh, she picked the vine up and caressed her cheek with the flowers. Once again, Karrak had left without a word. This time, however, he’d returned and left these. She shook her head. This could not be. She could not allow him to become infatuated with her. What was she going to do with him?
Enjoy him? said the voice in her head.
Snorting, Mireya pushed herself to her feet and headed for her own small room. The torches had burned out, but pale light was just beginning to shine in the single small window sitting high in the chamber’s wall. Soon she would have to be about her duties.
She took the flowers with her. As she turned a corner toward her room, she almost bumped into the High Priestess.
“You’re up early.”
Bowing her head, Mireya returned her smile. “I fell asleep in one of the chambers, Tula.”
A full grin slid onto Tula’s face. “About time you enjoyed a man.”
Ducking her head, Mireya nodded. “It had been a while.”
Walking across the room, Tula locked arms with Mireya and guided her out of the sanctuary. “Do you need more sleep?”
“No, I’m fine. I must go back into the village today. Two women are past their times. I expect their babies to come at any time.”
Tula nodded. “You’re very good with pregnant women, Mireya. You lose fewer babies and mothers than any of the other healers.”
Chuckling, Mireya shook her head. “A matter of observation and common sense. Lila trained me. I’ve remembered her lessons about cleanliness.”
Again Tula nodded. “She was the greatest healer we’ve ever had. You learned well.” They stopped at the door of Mireya’s room. “I’ll leave you here. Three new acolytes are arriving today.” Tula gripped her forearm gently. “Don’t be afraid to follow your heart.” Releasing Mireya, she hurried away.
Mireya stared after her. What was that supposed to mean?
With a slight shake of her head and a shrug, Mireya pushed through the reed curtain that served as a door and entered her room.
“Where have you been?”
Mireya laid her passion flowers on the bench that held an assortment of clay jars in various sizes and stared her friend.
“I fell asleep in one of the chambers, Ninari. Why aren’t you in your own room?”
Ninari shifted. “I was worried about you. You’ve been behaving strangely.”
Closing her eyes, Mireya muttered a prayer for patience. Then she directed a stern stare at Ninari. “I’m fine. Really. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Ninari shifted again, and her gaze settled on the passion flowers. “Where did you get those?”
Mireya felt her cheeks warm.
Ninari stared at her friend. “It was him, wasn’t it? He came back, didn’t he?”
Mireya turned away. “Him who?”
“The man from the other night. The one you kept thinking about all day.”
“What man?”
Ninari snorted. “Don’t try to fool me, Mireya. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a man. You don’t have to hide it.”
Turning, Mireya grabbed Ninari’s hands and pulled her to her feet. “I’m not hiding anything. Now, I have to go visit my patients. If you don’t have anything better to do, why don’t you go grind up some yucca. We can always use more.” Mireya pushed Ninari through her doorway. “Go. Leave me in peace. I have pregnant women to visit.”
Once she was alone again, Mireya leaned back against the cool stone wall and stared at the purple flowers lying on the work bench. Passion flowers. Karrak had brought passion flowers back to her.
Gritting her teeth, she stepped away from the wall and pulled her shift over her head. She picked up a clean one from a small pile next to her bed. Wrapping a colorful belt around her waist, she tied it tight then lifted the leather pouch that held her powders and potions from its peg on the wall. She was a healer. She had pregnant women to care for. She didn’t have time to think about a man, any man. Tonight, if Karrak returned, she would send Ninari to him. And it would mean nothing to her. No man was that important to her.
Settling the pouch’s strap over her shoulder, Mireya stomped through the doorway, up the corridor, and out into the sunlight.
* * *
Across the wide courtyard in the private quarters of the High Priest, a gangly youth exploded through the door. “Another one is gone.”
Sithosik’s fingers stopped halfway to his mouth. “What? Which one?”
“The boy in the southern village.”
The curses that erupted from the priest’s mouth had the acolyte blushing. “When I find the man responsible, I’ll cut his guts from his belly as he watches.” The older man glared at the younger. “Send men for the girl now. I will have a fair-haired sacrifice for the festival.”
Bowing, the acolyte fled, unwilling to remind Sithosik the girl was still too young. The people would never believe a child of only ten summers would agree to be sacrificed.
Chapter Ten
Rultrak nudged the woman’s body with his foot, grimacing at the fresh blood that smeared his big toe. “Why did you kill them?”
Shrugging as he cleaned his club, the lead guard shrugged. “Sithosik only wanted the girl. The father and mother didn’t want to give her up. This was the easiest way to get her.”
The acolyte looked toward the small girl held tightly by one of the other guards. Sobs no longer racked her body, however, large tears still rolled down her cheeks. He sighed and wiped his toe against the grass. This was not the way he wanted to acquire the child, but the parents had refused to give her up, even after he had offered a golden bracelet. What was the matter with them? The girl’s hair was a light brown, not black like almost everyone else’s. She was blessed by the gods. She belonged in the temple.
He shook his head. Fools. Hiding in the jungle hadn’t done them any good. Their family had been marked ever since the child had been spotted in the marketplace. True, it had taken longer than anticipated to find them, but once he and the temple guards had walked into the clearing where they lived, the adults should have turned the girl over to them immediately.
A cat’s scream echoed through the jungle, and Rultrak shivered.
The lead guard smirked. “Only a puma. He won’t bother us. Not even a jaguar would attack four grown men.”
After one more swipe of his toe against the grass, Rultrak looked at the open-walled hut where the family had been living. “Toss the bodies in and burn it.”
Grunting, the head guard grabbed a branch from the fire and tossed it onto the roof. The dry grasses caught quickly. The poles supporting the roof also caught fire and soon buckled. As the small structure collapsed, he and another guard grabbed the corpses’ wrists and ankles and tossed them into the conflagration.
The child began to struggle and cry anew.
The puma screamed again,
closer this time.
The men ignored the cat’s scream and concentrated on the girl.
“Too bad she won’t grow to be a bit older. Lively piece in a man’s bed, that one would be.”
Her heel connected with the shin of the guard holding her.
He grunted, cursed, then shook the girl.
The other guard grinned. “Maybe we should enjoy her now.”
The acolyte sighed again. Sithosik wanted the girl unharmed, but if she kept fighting the guards, they would take taming her into their own hands. Brutes. Sithosik preferred brutish men like this for guards because they’d do anything he asked without thinking twice. Best to use the powder now and render her unconscious. She’d be much easier to handle then. Reaching into the bag at his side, he pulled out a small clay vial. Pulling out the wooden stopper, he poured a yellowish powder into his hand and turned toward the child. “Hold her still.”
The guard clamped his big hand on her head. She tried to struggle, but he was too strong. The acolyte sucked in a breath, flattened his palm, and bent in front of her.
She blew the powder into his face.
Gasping and gagging, the acolyte sneezed then collapsed on the ground. After another sneeze, he lay still.
The guards stared at him. “What do we do now?” the one holding the girl asked.
“Stupid frigging priest,” growled their leader.
“We could leave him here,” the other guard said.
The leader snorted. “And find ourselves stretched across Sithosik’s altar with him cutting our hearts out. This fool is his favorite.”
The puma screamed once more. It was very close. One of the guards looked over his shoulder. “Ignore it,” the head guard said as he nodded toward the fire. “It smells the flesh burning.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the puma leaped from a high branch directly onto his back. One bite broke his neck. The other two guards gaped in shock. Before either moved, the puma leaped, his weight bearing another guard to the ground. As it dragged its claws across the man’s abdomen, it ripped out his throat. As the blood spurted, he turned toward the last guard.
Coward that he was, the big man tossed the girl at the cat, turned, and ran into the jungle. The puma ignored her and sprang after him. Minutes later, a human scream was abruptly cut short.
Returning to the clearing, Karrak paced toward the unconscious acolyte. Only one left. This child would not die under a corrupt priest’s knife.
“Don’t hurt him.”
A low growl rumbling in his throat, Karrak stopped.
The girl had placed herself between him and his prey.
Golden mist swirled, and he assumed his human form. “Why? The fate he planned for you was far worse than I’d do to him. His death, at least, would be quick.”
Nonplused, the girl stared at him. “The others would have killed you. He can’t. You must not murder a defenseless man.”
Karrak snorted. This child was too innocent by far. “How did you know I wouldn’t hurt you, that I wasn’t a real puma?”
“My father and I found a puma den last year. There were two babies playing outside. I wanted to go up to them, but Father wouldn’t let me. He said I could never go back there again because the mother would think I wanted to hurt her babies, and she might attack me.”
“Your father was right.”
She smiled a sad smile. “I didn’t listen to him. I went back, many times, just to watch them. Once day, one of the cubs found my hiding place. The first time he ran away. The second time, he brought his sister with him. Their mother was lying on a large flat rock sunning herself. I think she always knew I was there. I played with the cubs until Father moved us to another place in the forest.”
Blinking back tears, she looked at the fire again. “I never told my father about playing with the puma cubs, but I told my mother. She smiled and said I was blessed by the Goddess, and, if ever I needed help, she would send a puma to save me. When you leaped out of the trees, I knew the Goddess had sent you.”
Tilting her head, she looked up at him. “I didn’t know you could change into a man, though. Can all pumas do that?”
Shaking his head, Karrak squatted so he could look her in the eye. “No.”
She looked him straight in the eye. “You’re an avatar, aren’t you?”
Karrak nodded.
“Why?”
“The Goddess needed someone to protect children like you.”
“Like me?”
“Those who have light colored hair or pale eyes.”
She blinked back some tears. “Only children?”
He shook his head again. “No, anyone who doesn’t have dark hair or eyes.”
The girl glanced at the fire again. “Is that why you didn’t save my mother and father? Because they both had dark hair and eyes?”
Mentally cursing the flooded river that had prevented him from arriving sooner, Karrak held out his hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t arrive soon enough to save them, or I would have, but we must leave here before the priest wakes or I’ll have to kill him too. Will you come with me?”
She looked at his hand. “Where?”
“To a village where you’ll be safe.”
“Is it far away?”
He nodded. “Yes. Will you come?”
Slowly, she placed her small hand in his. “Do you live there?”
Karrak shook his head. “No, but the family I am taking you to are good people. They have three small sons. Sanika would like to have a daughter.”
Her eyes widened. “There’s a story about a priestess named Sanika who was taken away by an avatar. Are you taking me to her?”
Karrak smiled. Sanika had hated that story from the moment she’d first heard it. “Yes. And she doesn’t have any magical powers nor can she become invisible. She’s just a normal woman.”
“What happened to the jaguar who took her away?”
Karrak grinned. “She married him.”
Chapter Eleven
Mireya sat in the morning sun, combing the alpaca wool a merchant had given to the temple the day before as a gift for the birth of a healthy son after three daughters. Once it was spun into thread, Ninari would dye it, then decide how it should be woven. The merchant was more than generous to give so costly a gift. Many men in his position would have given one of his daughters.
As her hands settled into the combing rhythm, Mireya allowed her mind to wander. After the night he’d left passion flowers for her, Karrak had returned to the temple twice more. Each time she’d told him to find himself a wife. Each time he’d said he only wanted her, and then proceeded to make love to her for most of the night. That had been three weeks ago. He hadn’t been back since. Perhaps he’d taken her advice and found himself a wife and gone back to the jungle -- far away from towns where no one would see his blond hair and blue eyes. The thought of him bent back over an altar with a priest cutting out his beating heart brought tears to her eyes -- as did the thought of him with another woman.
“Why are you crying?”
Mireya blinked. Ninari had already seen her tears. “I looked into the sun. Isn’t the morning beautiful?”
Her friend grabbed a hunk of wool. “You didn’t look into the sun. You’re thinking about that man.”
Ignoring her friend, Mireya went back to combing the wool, a picture of a blond-haired, blue-eyed man in her mind.
* * *
“When are you leaving?”
Karrak looked up at the older man. “I’ve only been here two days.”
“Two days too long,” Balam growled. “You never take your eyes from Sanika. She’s mine.”
Karrak’s laugh startled both of them.
Balam glared at him.
Still grinning, Karrak stared at Balam. “And fat with your fourth child. Can’t you leave her alone?”
Crossing his arms over his broad chest, Balam grinned back. “She knows the proper herbs to prevent conception. She wants a daughter. I’m more than willing
to help her.”
Karrak looked over to the brown-haired girl playing with Balam’s two oldest sons. “Now you have a daughter.”
Balam’s gaze followed Karrak’s. He smiled. “She’s safe here.”
Karrak nodded then glanced back at Balam. “Sanika. Is she content with her life?”
The growl rumbling from Balam’s chest warned Karrak, and he sprang away from the swipe the larger man had aimed at the side of his head. “Aren’t you over your infatuation yet? What’s wrong with you? Sanika is happy here -- with me. She doesn’t want you.”
Karrak held up both his hands and stepped back further. “I don’t want Sanika. There’s a woman…”
Slowly, Balam relaxed. Cocking his head to the side, he stared at Karrak. “A woman? What about the man who killed your mother?”
“He’s in the same town.”
“Kill him and take her.”
Karrak shook his head. “I will. But she doesn’t know what I am.”
Balam snorted. “Are you sure she’s the one meant for you?”
Karrak muttered a curse then said, “The puma in my soul allows me no rest if I’m not with her.”
“She’s yours then.”
“She’s a priestess.”
Balam shrugged. “So?”
“She says she can’t mate, ah, marry me.”
“Kill your mother’s murderer and carry her off.”
Karrak snorted. “Killing the man is easy. Carrying Mireya off if she doesn’t want to go is another matter entirely.”
Balam opened his mouth then closed it again. Sanika was very content with her life now, but convincing her to mate with him hadn’t been the easiest thing he’d ever done. Best to let Karrak solve his own woman problems. “When are you leaving?”
“Balam! I told you to be nice to Karrak. I enjoy his visits even if you don’t.”
Both men turned to smile at Sanika.
“I see you’re to be blessed again,” Karrak said with a grin as he looked pointedly at her swollen abdomen.
Smiling, she patted her stomach. “Yes. And this time, it will be a girl.”
Sanika looked over at the playing children. “And then I will have two daughters. Thank you for bringing her to us, Karrak.”
