Temple of Fyre (Island of Fyre) (9 page)

“If you had been alone, you would have died. I’ve blocked her from the crystal, but I’m not sure how long ‘twill last. She’ll hunt you again, but not today. Rest. I’ll clean and smoke the lopears.” She helped him stagger to the blankets.

Later that afternoon, she removed the last of the meat from the smoker and stored it the way Ari had shown her. Then, she gathered the wood he’d cut and tied it in bundles.

The sun sank lower and still he slept. She spitted a grass hen and set it over the fire. When would he wake? What if he didn’t? She knelt beside him and listened to his breathing.

He’d promised to show her a different kind of fire. After Malera’s attempt to kill him, would he be able to keep that promise? How would he accomplish that feat? The harras males stroked and caressed the priestesses. Would she have to act like them?

She tested the broth she’d made from the bones of their catches and added slices of wild tubers and other roots to the pan.

“Ria.”

She went to him. “How do you feel?”

He stretched. “Rested. For my life, I thank you. As I saved yours, so you have returned the favor.”

“Come and eat. I’m sure you’re famished.”

“I am.” He joined her at the fire.

Once they finished the meal, he held out his hand. “Do you remember my promise?”

“You said you would show me a different kind of fire.”

He released her hand. “I’m going to the stream to bathe. You might want to do the same.” He took soap and toweling from his haversack.

After he vanished, she took her things and walked to the stream. She washed her body and her hair, and then dried. When she reached for her clean clothes, they were gone.

She saw a naked Ari. He winked. “You won’t need them until morning. Come with me and celebrate the ending of the year’s longest day.”

Ria glanced at the sky. The sun set on a blaze of yellow, orange, and scarlet. She took Ari’s hand. She knew what would happen, but this moment seemed different from the scenes she’d witnessed in the harras. His touch held the promise of a time sweeter than the kiss her betrothed had given her.

She studied Ari’s tanned body and noted the contrast between the dark skin of his upper body and the paler flesh his breeches had covered. Somehow, he seemed larger and more muscular than the first time she’d seen him. The well-defined muscles of his chest drew her attention. The mat of chest hair glinted with fire colors. Slowly, her gaze followed the line of hair as it narrowed, then widened into a thatch around his organ. The length and thickness of his erect organ made the ones she’d seen on the harras males seem small and weak.

He studied her as intently as she examined him. She felt heat flow along her skin. A pulse beat low in her belly. Her breasts felt hard and the nipples thrust like hard kernels.

She stepped closer. Was his member hard? Drawn by curiosity, she touched him. He growled. “Does it hurt?” she asked.

Ari shook his head. “Touch all you want.”

She grasped the length and moved her hand back and forth. Like silk over metal. She looked up. His eyes compelled, but she didn’t know what to do now. She released his organ.

He lifted her hand to his mouth. His tongue stroked her palm. A shivery feeling swept over her. She continued to meet his gaze. Her breath caught. Her nether lips burned.

He released her hand, circled her waist with his arm and drew her toward the blankets. “Come and share the pleasures of the body with me.”

“Yes.” The words of the scroll flashed in her thoughts. Bonding body to body was the first step. She ran her hands over his chest and felt the subtle movement of his muscles. The hair tickled her palms. She ran her hands over his neck and stroked his face with a finger. “I know nothing of what we will do.”

“What about the harras males?”

“Acolytes aren’t permitted to enter the studs’ quarters.” She felt fire in her cheeks. “I spied on them, but what I saw didn’t seem like pleasure. The priestesses forced the studs to do things to them and punished them with flails.”

Ari cupped her chin. “What about your betrothed? Surely he kissed and caressed you.”

“Once. On the day we were betrothed.” She made a face. “I didn’t like his taste, or his sour smell. He was old and he was rough. Once we were wed, he could have used me when and where he wished. When the news of his death arrived, the women beat me. The next day, I was sold to the slavers and brought to Rosti.”

Ari ran his fingers over her face. “And the priestesses told you nothing about what happens between a man and a woman?”

“If I hadn’t disobeyed Malera, I would have taken part in the solstice celebration. Perhaps Malera would have told me what to do.”

He brushed his lips over hers. “And you would have learned about taking, not of sharing.”

They reached the blankets beneath the flowering willah. The drooping branches were laden with pale pink scented blossoms. Some of the flowers had fallen on the dark cloth. Ria sat and inhaled the heady fragrance. Ari sat opposite her. He lifted a mug, sipped and offered the cup to her.

Ria tasted the pungent liquid. She tasted mint, honey, and spiritus. The flavors blended and spread a warm glow through her. She handed the mug to Ari. He set it on the ground.

She captured a blossom and inhaled the fragrance. Ari brought her hand to his mouth. He kissed each finger, then took one into his mouth and sucked. A tendril of fire flowed along her skin. She sighed. Her nipples tightened.

Ari released her hands. “Lie on the blanket.”

Ria felt as if she moved in a dream world. The heady flavor of the drink, the aroma of the flowers, the sight of Ari’s muscular body, the gentleness of his caresses, and his low crooning voice stirred her. “I feel so strange.”

Ari reclined beside her. With a finger, he circled her taut nipples. They tightened more. She needed to feel his mouth on hers, but she couldn’t find her voice. He continued to stroke her breasts.

She moaned. He leaned forward. Like a whisper, his lips brushed back and forth across hers. His tongue traced her mouth, and then trailed over her chin and neck. The feathery touches both soothed and excited. His lips reached her breasts. He drew a nipple into his mouth. He stroked it with his tongue, and then he sucked. A pulsing began in her nether lips. She tangled her hands in his hair. Dormant places within stirred to life. She moaned. Her legs moved in a restless dance.

Ari raised his head. “What do you feel?”

“A need. A fear. I can’t explain.” Although the night was warm, a cool breeze alive with the scent of the blossoms and the aroma of desire flowed over her skin.

Ari pressed his mouth to hers and teased her lips with his tongue. She opened to him. He thrust inside and stroked the sides and roof of her mouth. His taste was ambrosia, flavored with mint and spiritus. Heat built like the leaping flames of a fire and sent sparks along her skin. Surely, she would burst into flame.

He caressed her breasts and teased the nipples. His hands moved lower to caress her belly and then tangled in her nether hair. His fingers massaged a spot that sent gushes of lava through her. She cried out.

He lifted his mouth away from hers. “Now, what do you feel?”

“Heat. Need.”

He knelt at her feet. She reached for him. “Be patient. ‘Twill be worth the wait.”

How, she wondered? He massaged her feet and planted kisses from her toes to her ankles. He kissed his way along her legs, sometimes using his tongue to make a path. The contrast between his heated mouth and the coolness of the air brought a feeling of expectancy. “Ari, help me.”

He slid a hand between her thighs and parted her nether lips. He stroked her with his fingers, then bent and laved the area. She raised her hips and rubbed against his tongue in an attempt to reach a goal she couldn’t name. His hands replaced his mouth and he slid a finger, then two, into her sheath.

“So sweet. So hot. So tight,” he crooned. Her moans became a cry as his fingers moved inside her. His other hand touched a spot. Heat seared her. Her body arched and she cried his name.

Chapter Five

With a smooth movement, Air raised his head and pressed his mouth against Ria’s. His tongue slipped inside. He caressed her breasts and rolled the nipples with his fingers. Her hands fisted. She bent her knees and pressed her fists against the blanket.

His hands slid beneath her hips. She felt his organ brush her nether lips. He rubbed along her cleft. She felt him press against the entrance to her sheath and slowly enter. The channel stretched until she felt full and expectant.

A growl rolled through her. Had she made the sound, or had the cry been Ari’s? He raised his head. “You are perfect.” He moved in a steady rhythm of advance and retreat.

A haze of pleasure blurred her sight. He groaned. Was he in pain? What can I do? How can I help?”

“Wrap your legs around my hips.” His mouth covered hers. His tongue thrust and matched the movement of his organ in her sheath. He ended the kiss and braced his hands on the ground. His thrusts were harder and faster.

The fire she’d felt earlier erupted in a fountain of sensation. Incandescent pleasure cascaded through her. She pressed her heels against his firm buttocks and rode the eruption. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh enthralled her. He thrust once, twice, and a third time. His breath came in loud rasps.

The sensations ravaging Ria’s body were so intense her screams rose to shatter the silence of the night. The scent of him and the aroma of the crushed blossoms made her dizzy. Her body seemed to shatter and reform. Ari’s guttural groans and labored breathing made her fear for him. Her inner muscles spasmed and gripped his organ. Ari’s body arched. As his essence flooded her shaft, he roared her name. He collapsed atop her.

Their bodies were slick with perspiration. Their breaths came in ragged gasps. Though he pressed against her, his weight felt right. When he rolled to his side, she plastered her body against his and rested her head on his shoulder.

Ria smiled. He had bonded his body to hers. In return, she needed to bond hers to his. As she drifted to sleep, she knew the way to do this was to learn his body as he had hers.

* * *

The first rays of dawn lit the rotunda. Malera stared at the bodies of the celebrants sprawled over the floor. The day and the night had been filled with pleasurable release, but she still felt on edge. He hadn’t come, and still she craved his sun-kissed body. She had sent an arrow of fire to smite him, yet, somehow he lived. Her hands clenched. The stone seeker would learn what happened to someone who disobeyed the commands of the chief priestess. But those lessons were for another time. She had an action to complete.

She strode among the sleepers and prodded the priestesses awake. “Join me in the inner chamber.”

Before long, the women had gathered around the base of the tiered circle. “There is a task that must be finished. “You, and you.” She selected an orange and yellow crystal user.

“What will you have us do?” The priestess smoothed her rumpled orange caftan.

“Tomorrow, you will leave Rosti in the company of six guards. Make haste to Gydon. Bring every woman and child who remains in that wretched hamlet to the temple.”

“What about the elderly and the men?” the second of the chosen priestesses asked.

“Leave all who are too old or weak to make the journey. If there are any young men, bring them. Older men who are fit can be left in the waste as a treat for the lopestas. Once you start your return across the waste, send word in the flames. Someone will watch and inform me.”

“What will happen to the women and children?”

“Some will find places in the temple. The rest will be sold to the slavers.”

* * *

Soft tickling sensations woke Ari. He opened his eyes a slit and saw Ria. Droplets of water glistened on her skin and told him she had recently bathed. She dipped a cloth in a pan and then softly washed his chest. Her expression was somber and her gaze intent. The cloth reached his stomach and his abdominal muscles contracted. She left the cloth at his groin. She feathered her fingers along his shoulders and across his chest. The movement of her hands stirred his desire. With great concentration, he remained still.

She found his nipples. She rubbed a finger over them. Her eyes narrowed in concentration while she teased them erect. She bent her head and licked one, then moved her head and sucked the other.

An arrow of heat shot to his groin. His rod throbbed. He couldn’t contain a rumbling groan. She moved her mouth from his breast. When he didn’t move, she continued her exploration of his chest and abdomen. With a sigh, she rinsed the cloth and washed his pubic area. His erection pulsed. He pressed his hands against the blanket. Her gentle explorations were sheer torture, but he would endure, though the urge to become an active participant grew. She studied his rod and gasped.

Ari raised on one elbow. “What’s wrong?”