Not yet. "But you think he"s going to?"
The Lady shrugged. "His companions will not let me near him. If I was, I could save him." "How can you be sure?" Maia"s warmth under his fingers was distracting him, and was he only imagining it, or was she pressing her hip against his?
"The priests brought their own medicine here, that and prayers. But they do not help because those medicines are not from the land."
Who was he to argue when she"d been right about everything else? He nodded, hoping she"d continue. At the same time, he acknowledged that he was getting yet another erection. Everything felt intense, clear.
"The earth provides," The Lady continued. "It blesses us with countless growing things. Some of them heal."
Recalling Maia"s miraculous recovery, he nodded. "What do you care what happens to that priest?" he asked.
"It is not our way to fight," The Lady whispered. "We celebrate the seasons; spring with its renewal is most important. That is what the priests and soldiers do not understand."
"And they call you heathens? They don"t care what you celebrate, or why. All that matters to them is that you bend to their will."
"You understand then."
Did he? The answer was more than important. He sensed it had everything to do with these people"s future. "I"m trying to."
"Why?"
Why indeed? His head pounded, distracting him from his erection. Maia turned into him, increasing his access to her p.u.s.s.y. She was taking advantage of his l.u.s.t for her, but instead of being angry, he wrapped his arm around her hip. He wanted to cup her p.u.s.s.y, but even more he needed to keep his thoughts clear.
"I care," he said. "About all of you. Maybe more than I"ve ever cared for anything in my life." The words slammed into him, spread over him.
"Why?" The Lady asked.
"I don"t know," he admitted. "That"s the h.e.l.l of it, I don"t know."
"I believe you do, Taurus."
Before he could remind her that that wasn"t his name-if he was going to-the drumming increased in volume and tempo. The sky was crystal-blue, but he swore he heard thunder. When he looked over at the villagers, he saw everyone stomping their feet in time with the drum beats. A trio of preschool-age girls stepped in front of the drummers and began dancing enthusiastically, their arms over their heads, swaying. The look on their faces-like children on Christmas morning. The old men smiled and nodded and kept on stomping.
Maia began to move, at first only a faint swaying but then more and more vigorously. Although he didn"t want to, he had no choice but to release her. The moment she was free, she hurried over to the girls, stretched her arms toward the sky, and threw back her head. Then she closed her eyes and started a dance that looked for all the world like gra.s.s blowing in the wind.
She still held the dagger. He saw, not her limp and wrinkled gown, but her naked body beneath it. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, free of modern restraints, danced with the rest of her. Her nipples were hard, dark points. He rubbed his hand over his swollen c.o.c.k, unsuccessfully trying to ease his discomfort.
"She will return to you for as long as you remain here," The Lady said. "She wants to breed as much as you do. But now she belongs to Bel-fire."
Only then did he realize that some men had been building a pile out of dead branches. One took a burning brand from an onlooker and caught the pile on fire.
Flames leaped upward like exuberant children. The drumming became even quicker-paced; the dancers whirled and reached for the sky. Maia, looking as if she was in a trance, was part and parcel of the frenzied movement. She seemed to weigh nothing, to be more fairy-spirit than woman. He lost himself in her curves and long arms and legs, the small feet kissing the ground, slender fingers stretched to grasp the heavens. Her dark hair trailed down her back and caressed it. d.a.m.n but she was beautiful, part earth-woman, part s.e.x-G.o.ddess.
Mother of his child.
On legs that seemed to move without direction, he walked over to her. He placed his hands lightly on her waist so as not to restrict her movement. Her eyes remained closed and the look on her face-peace and promise rolled into one-snagged his heart.
Together they danced, not a dance really, but f.u.c.king standing up without his c.o.c.k in her c.u.n.t. She dictated their movements. He had no trouble following her, heard the drums, pounding feet, and thunder, not as he"d always heard sound before but through his pores, running in his veins, heat spreading through him. Taking over.
He glided with her, hummed deep in his throat when she did. His feet kissed the earth, too. He smelled sweet smoke, roses, lavender, her. Them.
Her movements changed. She no longer swayed from side to side but now thrust her pelvis toward him. He met her in that as well, inhaled her s.e.xual excitement and his sweat. He pumped, pumped, pumped, unaware of anything except f.u.c.king her through their clothing.
He came fast and hard. She too climaxed, the truth evident in her sharp, low cries. Still moaning, she began swaying from side to side again, arms high over her head.
Holding her against him with one hand, he lifted the other and gently drew the dagger out of her fingers, leaving her holding the sheath. Only then did she stop and become still and quiet. Like him, she stared at the dagger. The drumming had taken over everything, touching his skin. He heard the fire crackle. Bel-fire.
She placed her hand over his and turned the dagger so they both saw into the jewel.
Two figures stood face-to-face. Maia"s belly was rounded, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s heavy with impending motherhood. Taurus covered her belly with his hands.
Epilogue.
Maia found it hard to believe that she, Taurus, and The Lady were in the stone structure where the priests lived and prayed, but although she"d been afraid to enter, she"d taken courage from Taurus and The Lady.
When they"d walked down the hill and approached the priests, the soldiers had drawn their swords. Looking determined and brave, Taurus had held up his fire-maker and they"d shrunk away. Now The Lady was spreading her herbal salve over the burned priest, and his moans had already given way to sighs of relief.
"What if the soldiers come after us?" she asked. Even with Taurus by her side and his seed inside her, she couldn"t quite grasp his power over those who threatened to destroy her people"s way of life.
"They won"t, at least not unless the priests tell them to, and that won"t happen today."
"How do you know?"
Taurus nodded at the burned priest and the others who hovered around him. "Whatever they were using on that poor soul didn"t work. The Lady"s medicine did."
That was true. However, she still feared tomorrow. "Taurus, the stone-in it we were together."
"Yes."
She hated being in this small, dark place with rock walls and a heavy wooden roof. How could people live like that? "Do you believe in it?"
Instead of answering, he led her outside. The moment the sun touched her skin, she relaxed a little. She should be exhausted from f.u.c.king and dancing, but she wasn"t. In truth, she could hardly wait for his c.o.c.k to be inside her again. The dagger-stone had shown that to be their future, but if Taurus didn"t believe- "I have to go back," he said. "To my time."
She swayed and might have fallen if he hadn"t wrapped his arms around her. "I didn "t say that right," he muttered. "I"m sorry. I want to tell some people that they"re welcome to my company because I"ve decided to fight for something more important. And I need to bring certain things back."
Back? He was going to return? "What things?" was the only thing she could think to ask.
"Whatever it takes to convince the priests to back off. I"m thinking-photographs and a video camera might do the trick. Something to convince them that nothing they try will end Bel-fire, so they might as well save themselves the trouble."
"Photographs? Video camera?"
"You"ll see. I need to present them with proof that Bel-fire continues up to my time.
And if that approach doesn"t work, I have a pistol."
"Your time?" Her heart hurt.
He looked down at her and began ma.s.saging her upper arms. "Your time. My time.
It worked, Maia. Whatever you and your people did to me, it worked."
"I-I do not understand."
His sigh seemed to seep into her, and his eyes closed to slits. "Neither do I, but I"m getting there." He cupped her chin and lifted her head. Their mouths joined; she felt the contact all the way to her p.u.s.s.y.
"Maia," he said when they were finished. "When you first called me Taurus, I thought you were crazy, but now it feels right." He looked around. "This place feels right-like home."
"Home?"
"I"ve never felt I belonged anywhere before," he went on. She was aware of the nearby soldiers, and in the distance several villagers were watching them as well. None of that mattered.
"It-it is different now?" she asked.
"Because of you. Of what we"ve started."
"The baby?"
"That"s part of it. I"m needed here. I"m not where I came from, not in the same way."
"I-I am so sorry."
"Don"t be. It doesn"t matter-not any more. Honey, when I go back, I"d like you to come with me. I don"t want us to be apart."
"I do not either," she told him. "We have mated. That changed us."
"Yes, it has."
She might have said more, but he was kissing her again, and her p.u.s.s.y felt hot and damp.
Her hand trailed to her waist and the dagger so they could see the two of them together again. But it was missing.
Its job here was over.
end.