He'd have rather had their first encounter face-to-face, but the presence of the scarf and her request titillated him greatly. “Whatever you want. I'll do anything you ask. Anything."
The soft way he said that made Meg's legs weak. She stepped forward, carefully folded the long silken scarf and placed it around Del's eyes. After tying it in the back of his head, she took a moment to stroke the long strands of his golden hair. He moaned as a result of her touch.
"Let me lead you to the bed,” she offered and took his right hand.
Del went willingly. She was right about the scarf creating a new, expectant sensation. He was, without her having yet touched him, already feeling the need to ejaculate. His balls itched to have her fingers wrapped gently around them. He could imagine her sucking them and making small noises as she did so.
After Meg had carefully pushed Del onto the bed, she took a long moment to gaze down at her new husband, once playmate. He was truly magnificent. Muscle bulged and his chest was moving more rapidly as he anticipated what she might do. It seemed as if his entire body went feverish. The heat emanating from him was extraordinary.
She swallowed hard and began to caress her clit to ready herself. Her eyes rolled back automatically when the careful manipulation of her vulva brought her indescribable pleasure.
She mounted the dais and crawled toward him from the foot of the bed.
Del could feel her heat and the soft, citrus smell of her. In the darkness behind his blindfold, he could only imagine what she'd do and found himself rotating his hips against the soft fabric of their bed in excitement. He let his hands skim down his chest to his erection and spread his legs as his palms caressed the inside of his own thighs.
"Let me,” Meg said as she pushed his hands aside and lowered her head.
Feeling her breath on his body, Del could almost sense her lips as they were about to wrap around his cock. He arched his pelvis upward and waited for that moment.
Chapter Three
When her tongue snaked out and flicked at his penis’ tip, Del cried out. His hands found the sides of her face and thrust into her hair, feeling its softness tease his fingers.
Meg wanted him as she always had. But the reality of touching was so very much more satisfying than anything her imagination could have summoned. Thinking of riding him was how she'd experienced her first orgasm and every one since. It was also the first time the change came upon her and would for every orgasm. But for now, he couldn't see her. She could have this one encounter without his knowing. And since the one night might be all she'd get, she threw all caution to the wind and her drive into pleasuring both him and herself.
She teased his cock and testicles with her tongue until he was literally writhing around the bed and moaning with excitement. Then, she lifted her lips from his body, sucking him hard as she did so. Del's response was to raise his hips as she sucked and finally released him with a small popping sound.
"Lie completely still,” she instructed. “Don't even speak."
He did as she asked though it was the hardest thing he'd ever been asked to accomplish. Without the sense of sight, he was at the mercy of her ardour. His body was deeply sensitised. He could smell the crushed herbs and flowers beneath the covers and the way her long hair felt as it fell over his body and teased wherever it touched. If she didn't mount him soon, Del believed he'd go mad with desire.
Meg crawled her way up his body, kissing each bunched, tightened muscle as she did so. When her crotch was directly over his penis, she gently took his shaft and guided it toward the opening of her vagina.
"Yours and no one else's Delos. No man will ever know my body but you."
A split second after she said the words, Del felt her slide down his cock and almost sat up in shock. His penis split her ultra-tight maiden head causing both her and him to cry out in pain at the same time. For a long moment, he lay with his weight on his elbows, trying to draw in air. He'd never felt a woman clutch at him so tightly and so strong. It was like having his dick in a soft, but forceful vice.
"Helios’ blood!” he cried out. Then, his mind lost control of his actions and he began to thrust upward. His body ruled him. There was no way of stopping what was happening.
Meg leaned forward, placed the palms of her hands over his nipples and rode the bucking man's hips. The pain was gone. In its place was wave after wave of euphoric sensation that pooled deep within her vagina and welled outward. Soon, those sensations rolled into one another and the orgasm she experienced was cosmic. She could see nothing but the wafting fabric on the columns overhead, and felt her insides grasp and clutch at her lover with a force that was all their own.
Del screamed out her name over and over, even as he heard her cry out his. It was all he could do to keep from losing his mind. No woman he'd ever encountered was so strong or had brought on such an intense response. It was so overwhelming in its depth; he released hard and long and filled her with every last drop of his seed. He was still thrusting automatically after the orgasm was finally spent.
With one last upward push, he finally collapsed onto the pallet and dragged air into his lungs. Meg collapsed on top of him and was breathing as heavily. He reached up to take off the blindfold, but she stilled his hands.
"Give me ... give me a moment,” she panted. “Just a little more time."
He willingly did so. And when he felt her breathing slow and match his, she was the one who removed the blindfold from his face. Del immediately sat up and held her against his body. She wrapped her legs around his torso and leaned into him, her cheek against his shoulder.
"By all the gods that ever lived! I swear, Meg, I'll never let you out of my sight."
She lifted her face from his shoulder and accepted his long, passionate kiss. It was slow, deep and wet, and went on forever.
Del broke the kiss only so he could plant soft kisses on her face and neck. Slowly, he pushed her away so he could look down between them. There was blood drying on his inner thighs and hers. More was on his penis.
"Dammit!” he uttered, then completely untangled their limbs so he could gently place his fingers between her legs. When he withdrew them and saw still more blood and shook his head. “You should have told me,” he softly chastised. “I'd have been a lot more careful about pushing into you. I was thrusting like a stallion in heat."
"I know you'd have slowed down. That's why I didn't say anything."
"Meg. Meg, darling,” he uttered over and over while pulling her into his embrace. “We need to stop that bleeding."
She laughed. “It'll stop on its own. No virgin ever died from her first blood."
"Be that as it may, it had to hurt like Hades. I certainly felt it, so I know you did."
"D-did you mind the blindfold?” she asked.
"I loved it. And I love you, too. That you not only promised fidelity, but have given me your maidenhead was a gift beyond reckoning."
She lovingly stroked his face. “I've never wanted anyone but you in my entire life, Del. I've always loved you. But I was first too young, then too far away. And you were too infatuated with all the things a young man wants. Now was the right time for us."
"Yes. I can see that.” He hugged her, then rocked her back and forth. “Let's get you into the pond out back. The water is warm there and we can both relax. Alright?"
She quickly nodded, but just as quickly grabbed up the black scarf as Delos picked her up and carried her to the pond. As she gazed down at the black length of fabric, her conscience would let her go no further. He had to know the truth.
Del carried her into the pond and stood, still holding her. While the warm, clear water flowed around them and the small waterfall sprinkled their hair, Del bent to kiss her again, but Meg placed the palms of one hand against his chest.
"I understand, my darling. You need a little time,” he acknowledged. “I'll wait until you're ready."
"It's not that, Del. I think I'll always be ready for you."
When she t
urned her head away, he placed one hand on her cheek which forced her to look at him. “What's wrong, Meg? Are you afraid to tell me that I really hurt you?"
"No. It's ... it's more like I hurt you."
He tilted his head in confusion and gazed down at her. The fire from the urn in the temple, coupled with a full moon, allowed him to see enough of her expression to know she was very troubled. “Go on. Tell me. How do you think you've hurt me?"
"I lied.” She paused. “We lied."
He pushed her heavy hair back and glanced at her left hand as she brought the now wet scarf up between them.
"This wasn't to titillate you,” she began her explanation. “It was to keep you from seeing me when I experience an orgasm."
He shook his head. “What? Why?"
She tossed the scarf aside, vowing never to use it again. Del deserved to know everything. “Kato, my father and I all lied to you."
Totally confused now, Delos placed his hands on her shoulders. “Meg, just tell me whatever it is that has you so upset. I can feel you shaking."
She licked her lips and began. “Hephenon isn't my real father. Years ago, he and Kato were travelling back from a lunar celebration. They were riding through the woods where the Forest Nymphs live when they found me. I was a newborn baby, lying in a ditch and crying. If they hadn't come along when they did, I'd have surely died."
Both shocked that anyone would leave an infant to die, and that this was the first time he'd heard this story, was confounding. Hephenon had told everyone that Meg's mother had died giving birth, and that his deceased wife was a Dryad, a tree loving entity with familial ties to the Nymphs. “Go on. Tell me the rest,” he softly urged.
"Hephenon was going to take me to Zeus to seek punishment against anyone who would leave a baby to die. But Kato wisely talked him out of it. Kato said that it was likely my true parents would never be found as no one would admit to infanticide. And, as he so astutely put it, there must have been some very strange reason for anyone to risk Zeus’ wrath by leaving a baby unattended. From the place where they found me, it took Hephenon and Kato three days to get back home. They'd fed and cared for me all that time. And, they'd come to love and pity me."
Del saw her sadly smile and knew Hephenon's and Kato's hearts would truly have been touched by a little girl child lying helplessly in the wild woods of the Nymphs. “That doesn't matter to me, Meg. You're still Hephenon's daughter. He loved and claimed you as his."
"I know. And, to me, he's my father. That won't ever change. But you have to hear the rest, Delos."
Del stroked her back and shoulders, trying to calm the trembling he could feel.
"I was twelve years old when I found out that Kato's wisdom was exceedingly well fixed. He was absolutely right not to have let Father take me to Zeus.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and gazed up at him. “When I was twelve, I experienced my first monthly cycle. On the day it happened, I felt very strange. I went to the woods to pick herbs as that's an activity that always calms me and fills me with peace. While I was bending down to harvest a particularly lovely handful of wild sage, that's when it happened. I felt my body change automatically. There was no pain in the transformation ... it just happened. It was almost like putting on a pair of gloves. A sort of sheath-like sensation surrounded me.” She moved away from him and wrapped her arms around her body.
Del let her take her time, sensing the trepidation deep within her. Something inside him was beginning to fear what she had to say.
"I ran to a little pond so I could see what it was that had happened. My limbs felt a little heavier and it was harder to run than usual. When I got there, I took one look at my reflection and ... I think I must have fainted. Father found me hours later. He sent for Kato and I told them what had happened ... the reflection I'd seen."
"What was it, Meg? What did you see?"
She slowly turned to him. “Many centuries ago, before you and I were even a twinkling in existence, Zeus and Hera both placed an order that all Harpies were to be destroyed. From what I understand, they were flying about the countryside, killing, raping and destroying crops at will. They were setting buildings on fire and even threatening the major gods with death. Apparently their ruler, Aida, decided that the Harpies should be in control of Olympus and not your father. As the story goes, Zeus tried to placate them. Even Hera tried, but nothing worked. And so, to keep his minions safe..."
"A command was sent through the lands to have the Harpies killed. They were hunted and exterminated,” Del finished, feeling a deep hardening knot form in his chest.
"Not all of their blood faded from this reality,” Meg told him. “That day by the pond, I looked back at the face of one who carries their features. I changed into some semblance of a Harpy. I only knew what they looked like from the Stygian witch's description of them."
Del gasped and backed away.
Seeing his response, Meg knew she should have told him sooner. Even her death would have been better than facing the shocked, horrified look on his face. Harpies were among the most savage and hateful creatures to have ever existed. It was said they even cannibalized their own young during certain solar celebrations, which made it all the easier for them to be destroyed.
Gathering the rest of her courage, Meg continued. “The change only came that one time, after my first cycle. And it comes now whenever I experience an orgasm. That was the reason for the blindfold.” She turned her head away and refused look at him again, but barged ahead with her story. “I'm not pure Harpy. The bloodline seems very thin where I'm concerned. I've neither all their features nor their grey colouring. I can't fly and haven't the remote inclination to destroy or kill anything. But the blood is still there. Were I to have children, that blood would be passed on to them. It's the reason why I've never known a man. Not until now."
Del ran his hands over his face. Anger first raged in him, then pity. As his thoughts deepened, Meg finished her story.
"As I've said, Kato was right not to have taken me to Zeus all those years ago. When I told my father what had happened that day at the pond, he sent for Kato and the two of them plotted and promised never to tell a single soul. They made me promise the same, fearing I'd be put to death just for bearing the blood of a creature that shouldn't have existed. Not long after that, when the time was right, they made plans to send me to the Stygian witches. The old crones have no love for Zeus and had once begged for mercy on behalf of the Harpies. They schooled me in the use of herbs and small magic spells that could help me in my life. But there was nothing that could stop the change that happened when I'd get the urge, as young girls will, to pleasure myself. When you made love to me and I experienced my orgasm, the change still happened. That strength you felt when I held you inside me was a Harpy quality. Not one of my minor powers. But, if it makes any difference to you, I've taken precautions against conception. There'll be no child from what we did.” She paused. “I-I'm sorry we lied to you. Father and Kato thought you were the only man who might understand. You've always been so uncommonly fair with your treatment of others. They hoped you would be equally magnanimous with me. Especially since we were always so close as children."
For a very long time, Del simply stood there staring into the clear water. He vaguely heard Meg walk out of the pond and was barely aware she went toward the old ruin. But he couldn't move until his thoughts were clearer.
And as he considered the matter, pity began to override whatever anger he'd first experienced because of this betrayal. True, Hephenon was like a second father to him, and Kato had been his mentor and friend for his entire life. But they'd only tried to save a young baby from dying because someone knew what she was and had left her in a ditch. Possibly to drown during a rain or for wild animals to find and devour. Someone was that afraid of how they'd coupled with another and produced offspring they didn't want and couldn't love.
As he finally reasoned, the problem was as he'd always perceived. Gods and goddesses, minor and major, had bee
n copulating at the drop of a hat for centuries. They sometimes didn't care about the children gotten from such couplings and would often refuse to own up when children began to appear in cribs all over Olympus. Wasn't that the very reason for Zeus’ and Hera's rage at one another, and at the by-blows of their own affairs?
Why should Megaira be made to hide and fear because of a birthright she'd had no control over? Wasn't he an illegitimate production of his parent's whim? But for the Fates, he could have been the one found in that ditch. He could have been the one that selfless, lovable Hephenon and his loyal friend, Kato, had found. His rage had first been placed on Meg because of the lie. Now, however, he could see why she'd done it.
She'd told him she loved him. She'd offered the explanation knowing she could have hid her secret for a few more days. He'd have readily put the damned blindfold on at her request, until such time as it would seem inappropriate. He knew her. As a child, Meg had always been honest and forthright in her dealings with others. She needed protection she believed he could offer. Further, he knew she loved him. He'd seen it in her eyes and felt it in her touch as well as heard the words.
Glancing around, he brought himself out of his self-involved thoughts and quickly waded out of the pond. He found Meg huddled before the burning offering urn. Her hands were clasped around her knees and she was crying.
Delos quickly knelt and pulled her to him. “Meg, this isn't your fault. The rutting, lying gods and goddesses have caused grief in both our lives. Hera and Zeus never loved me any more than your real parents loved you. But we've known great love because of Kato and Hephenon. And you can't be blamed for the actions of others. You can't help being what you are any more than I can."
Meg turned into his embrace and silently wept all the harder. First, because she'd lied to him along with the only other two people in the world that he cared about. And second, because he wanted so badly to understand and was trying to do so. She couldn't actually hope that he'd be that forgiving. Harpies were nasty, viscous creatures, and she bore that same blood. She wouldn't blame Del if he went straight to Zeus, who might then take her to the shoreline as food for the indomitable serpent that haunted the depths, the Kraken. She could never give Del the children he wanted without fearing for their lives. If the blood in her own veins was dimmed by the centuries of interbreeding, yet still had the kind of power over her that it did, her children would surely suffer from its effects.
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