Darkest Love (10 page)

“Oh, baby.” Rain hardly ever called her that. Annie bit the pillow, relishing the new tenderness in his voice. She squeezed her thighs over his erection as the first orgasm rushed in. Her head felt like it was melting–this was a new, overwhelming level of pleasure.

Rain was going to take her to new places. He was a marathon trainer.

By the time he was finished, she was in a Zen state of satisfaction. Images of Annie's childhood, of hikes and grandfather's laps and lapping waves and early humiliations and sexual explorations passed through her mind. Soon she fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up she felt like a hundred horrors had been re-lived, only to be released. They floated away like hot-air balloons, never to bother her again.

* * * *

“Feeling any better?”

Rain's kisses were coming fast. Annie felt like crying again. She nodded instead, opening her mouth to receive his silky lips. Stubble covered his chin and climbed all the way up to his ears: a frame for the happy, lazy eyes that sparkled in the candlelight. “Yes,” she tried to say between kisses, but a puff of noiseless breath issued from her lips instead, making him smile. He kissed her on the nose.

“I'm glad.”

Annie melted into his arms, enjoying the warmth and inhaling the sexy-man-in-bed sheets smell that was all him. He squeezed her tight. His smell was so erotic, so human, so familiar now she sighed, letting her head drop onto the hand that reached up to stroke her hair.

They cuddled. Annie's body was so relaxed now she could well have been asleep. But her mind…her mind raced. Not in an anxious way; it was a grand and comfortable race, with a majestic arc, like a first-class coach ride or a tidal wave racing towards the shore.

I will never understand men.
She smiled, letting the corners of her mouth sneak up. Her cheek brushed Rain's biceps.

“I feel like we really shared something.”

All she could do was nod. He had never been this tender after sex in all the time she'd known him.

It took a bit of kink—homages, leashes, collars—to make him change his tune. Annie was getting massages, caresses and a big bear hug from the hottest arms she had ever seen. Were these really the same arms that had pulled the leash? The same hands that locked around her throat?

And the eyes! The last time Rain's eyes sparkled like this was when she had gagged, mid-way through a choke, just before she lost consciousness.

“You know what I liked about that?”

“What?” Annie croaked.

“I learned some stuff about myself too.”

Annie peered at the arm that was holding her. She didn't really know how to respond. “Like what?”

Rain shifted. “It's hard to describe. I felt…that you were honest. There was something honest in what you did. And it allowed me to see what I hate about you and sort of…move past it. It was like my negative feelings about you dissolved.”

Annie laughed at the casual way he said it:
what I hate about you.
“Can you explain more?”

“You won't take this the wrong way?”

“Promise.”

Rain released her, shifting away to gather his thoughts. “That whole way that women simper to you. The way they're kind of…”

“Submissive to men?”

“Yeah.”

“You realized it's because we're conditioned to be that way?”

Rain scratched his head. “Well, combine it with neediness and screechiness at all the wrong moments and it's not a good combination. Like a nightmare rollercoaster ride. And the foul-smelling spray-tan doesn't help.”

“Ha.”

“I'm also not a fan of the customary Adele soundtrack.”

“You are a pig, Rain.”

He leaned over grinning, hand resting against his temple, bicep doing lovely things as it supported the weight of his neck and head. “That was raw. I liked it. I felt like it was the first time you've ever been honest with me.” He paused. “I hate all that artifice, all the BS. Though Annie…” He gave her another squeeze. “I know it's not your fault. It's the environment. It can't be fun to live as a woman in this horseshit world.”

“Thanks. I'm honestly doing all right.”

“Well…I haven't refined these ideas. I'm a pig, remember? Sorry if that came out harshly. I should stick to not trying to explain it.” He wriggled. “But I liked
that
. That session. That slice of truth. Thank you for showing me that.”

He wrapped her in a new hug. Annie nuzzled his cheek, enjoying the smells and caresses and for the first time, just accepting it, and not trying to understand
him
.

“It was powerful, what we just did,” he whispered. His voice seemed to come from somewhere new, somewhere deeper than usual—a pocket in Rain's soul not often accessed. Annie squeezed her eyes shut as he started to rock her like a baby.

A bang on the door jerked Rain from his doze. Annie was still in his arms.

Only when he was sitting straight up, sliding his feet on the floor, did he remember the events of the afternoon: Annie, on a leash, opening up to him in a way that broke his heart. He had thought that soggy old heart of his was dead.

Rain listened, frowning as another boom echoed through Annie's hut. It was not coming from the door. Someone was banging on the
wall
.

Sighing, Rain shot to his feet and strode to the chair to grab his tank and jeans. He exhaled, remembering Annie's naked body trailing behind him on that leash.

Rain pulled his jeans on, swallowing hard. He was not used to feeling like this. He himself had choked a couple of times as he watched her body scampering on the floor. He marveled at the strength she showed, even down there: the movements of her body and the self-contained, proud motions of her head.

He had seen something. He had seen Annie's
future.

How could she be proud on her knees, with her head bowed? Rain had marveled at it. He felt like he had seen sparks of a woman who was yet to emerge, who needed to deal with those issues. She would hold onto her pride after she rose to her feet.

He swept to the door, past Annie's journal and gin glasses, ready to yell at whatever Kaamo kids were beating the hut with a stick.

Night had fallen. The sky outside the window was inky black, covered with stars. Rain stared for a moment at that square of darkness. He had gotten used to the light pollution in New York and forgotten how bewitching it was here, in the middle of the Pacific. That window was better than any painting or vintage poster—a square of the sublime in the corner of Annie's hut. It pulled the eye in, made you marvel at the density of those golden freckles.

Rain pulled the door open, preparing to charge out, bracing himself for the cool air that always blew in from the river at this hour of the night. He cleared his throat, ready to release a holler of the only type the Kaamo kids would understand:
Loud.

But it did not happen. Standing at Annie's door, on the shore of the river lapping peacefully and frothily under a gibbous moon, was a girl.

The most beautiful girl Rain had ever seen.

* * * *

Annie ran to the door and almost laughed when she saw Sola's face over Rain's shoulder. She had described Rain to Sola as
my strongest bringer of fire
—the Kaamo expression for
hot
really. No wonder Sola's amber eyes sparkled with awe and curiosity.

“Princess Sola.” Annie had meant to tell Rain about this but the small matter of the sex—that psychosexual excavation had undergone—had gotten in the way. “Princess Sola. This is the man. My fire-bringer.” She placed a hand on Rain's shoulder. “Rain Mistern.”

Rain swept around. “This is her?”

Annie nodded. Taking Sola's hand in her right hand, and Rain's in her left, she weaved the fingers together. The clasp hung loosely. It was the Kaamo gesture for friends meeting in goodwill.

“Princess Sola, newly liberated from her hiding pace. She walks free, for she has decreed that our meeting is important.”

Annie stared at the connected hands. Sola's hands astonished her. Everything about them, from the mocha skin tone to the slender fingers to the crescent moons on the fingernails, was as perfect as the rest of her.

“Welcome, bringer of fire,” Sola said to Rain. “You bring warmth to the night. My eyes and Miss Annie's are sparkling like the stars.” Sola's teeth flashed as she grinned, and her eyes were indeed lit up. “For our meeting the universe has been gathered up…” She swept her hand through the air. “…and concentrated in our eyes, and in our hands.” She nuzzled Rain's fingers with her nose.

Rain's mouth dropped open. He did not look away from Sola, but directed his next comment to Annie. “She speaks English?”

Annie nodded. She couldn't help laughing at Rain's face. He looked like he was about to faint.

* * * *

“It was Paulo who taught Sola to speak English,” Annie explained. “Remember the guide who was here?”

“And how exactly was this negotiated? If she is barely allowed to leave her caves?”

“Through her tribesmen, of course. Paulo has been coming to Sivu since it was discovered.”

Rain scoffed. “I know the Kaamo. They are deeply protective of their women. No way would they let a white man
cut a deal
with their princess.”

“Ah, that's where you are wrong.” Annie shuffled, wishing Sola and Rain would drop their hand clasp. They were staring at each other like a bride and groom. Annie was positioned like the priest, ready to recite some vows to them. “If Sola decrees something, it happens. We are talking about
Princess
Sola, Mr. Mistern.”

“They are very pro-tec-tive,” Sola said, finding that word difficult. “They are pro-tec-tive indeed. Yes. Very much.” Her smile was cheeky and warm, and her eyes danced like imps. “But I explained. I told my men that on the night Annie came, I had a dream. I dreamed she and the man she loves will find peace on Sivu, and bring me much happiness.”

Annie saw Rain's Adam's apple jump, and her own cheeks burn.
The man she loves.

“Wait until you hear what's next.”

“In my dream there was a storm.” Sola paused, smiling. “Rain. Rain falling from the sky. And when it evaporated…” She threw her hands up, finally dropping Rain's hand. “…it took my sorrows with it.”

Annie wished Princess Sola would not look so alluring. The younger woman continued, “When I heard my men say the name Rain I knew you were him. I didn't tell them about the dream. I was worried they would feel…”

“Jealous,” Annie offered.

“Jealous. They would feel jealous if they knew about my dream. So I made a decree.” She smiled. “I told them I would walk free for the next few months and meet the man named Rain.”

She nuzzled Rain's fingers again, and Annie laughed. “Rain, she doesn't mean to flirt. It's the Kaamo sexual openness.”

Rain didn't look perturbed about it at all.

“Wasn't Sola's dream a lucky break?” Annie said to Rain after the princess had left. “Perfect timing. A convenient little bit of bullshit.”

“Don't talk about Kaamo beliefs like that, Annie,” Rain said, still reeling from the shock of meeting the princess. She was so alluring! The nuzzling of her nose on his hand had gotten his heart thumping. And his penis had definitely stirred as he watched her backside retreating into the night.

He was making every effort not to look at Annie as she peeled her t-shirt off.
It's tough being surrounded by hotties.
Those big breasts bouncing in the lantern-light could spring him up again. At this rate Rain's brain was going to short circuit from the constant re-routing of blood: head to heart to dick and back again.

“You know what I mean.” Annie yawned, snuggling under the blankets. Rain watched her in his peripheral vision, waiting for her luscious bosoms to disappear under the blanket before he looked at her straight on.

“Rain.” She laughed suddenly, smacking him on the arm.

“What?”

“Rain, after Sola had that dream, and she found out about you, she ordered her warriors to do a kulku dance in your honor. A war dance to welcome a stranger. She changed the incantation, made them say they are at your service. I saw them chanting:
All my arms and all my blood! All my arms and all my blood!”

“Were you watching?”

“I was far away, under the limestone cliffs. It was an amazing sight. Imagine it. Two dozen men the size of trucks, beating their chests and chanting their allegiance to you. Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain! They screamed it again and again. Do you remember Mytu…?”

“Uh huh.” Rain remembered the man very well. Scars crisscrossed the guy's arms and legs like a network of New York streets. He had an angry spark in his eyes. The Kaamo said Mytu broke native bear's spines over his knee.

“Mytu had to make an offering at the end of the chant. A bit of a homage.” Annie winked. “A homage to you! He cut his arms and let the blood spill on the dirt, flinging his arm back and forth. Buckets of it must have shot out to sea. It looked like he was throwing paint at the sunset, to add a new pink tinge to the sky.”

“Oh, God.”

Annie shook her head. “I know. He volunteered for that part. It is a point of pride for them.” She smiled, cheeks rosy, and rested her head on the pillow. “An honor.”

“So he's got a new scar?”

“A big new scabby wound in your honor, Mr. Mistern. It hasn't healed into a scar yet.” Annie patted Rain's arm. “Just think. While you were in New York, doing whatever you were doing–book signings, fucking Mandy, whatever—”

“Please don't start—”

“While you were doing all that stuff,” Annie hurried on, “a group of men were screeching your name at the sky. Blood was shed in your name. And a beautiful princess,” her face fell slightly. “A beautiful princess made a pledge to you.”