Apocalypse Dance

by M. Barnette

  Her blush deepened. “I was, just ... thinking..."

  "About playing the role of the man, maybe?” he prompted.

  She gave a slight bob of her head.

  "You want to?"

  Her eyes widened. He saw her nervous swallow as she shrugged noncommittally.

  "Come here, baby,” he murmured, guiding her so she was standing by the bed. Kissing her belly and breasts, he loaded the batteries into the vibrator that would give her pleasure before putting the harness on her. He made sure the fit was tight enough to hold it in place, and the little controller for the vibrator and clit stimulator were where she could easily reach them.

  * * * *

  Nikki just stared at what he was doing. She knew this was probably not meant for women to use on men. It had been in a section marked for lesbians in the shop. But she'd brought it because it had sparked a flare of curious desire in her.

  And now Bells was putting it on her. And he seemed eager.

  God, maybe he is gay, she thought. It was hard to reconcile a straight guy wanting to be fucked. But then again, he seemed really sexually self assured. Nothing, other than when she'd cuffed him, ever made him balk. And he hadn't balked at that, it was more as if he'd recalled something unpleasant. The way she remembered Roderik.

  He was pouring lube on the jutting dildo in front of her pelvic bone.

  Then he stood up in front of her, blue gaze locking with her eyes. “Nikki, listen to me.

  "Okay."

  "I don't know what he did to you, I won't ask you to talk about it. But I'm not him. Whatever he did to make you afraid to be under a man, I swear will never happen with me. And if that means you keep me under you in bed, or fuck me to prove something to yourself, it's okay. I meant it when I said you could do anything to me that you want. And I swear I do mean anything, Nikki.” He was smiling warmly, gaze full of something she'd have mistaken for love if she'd been foolish enough to think he could love her. He bent his head down and his mouth burned along her breasts, up her throat, and sealed his oath to her with a searing kiss.

  You can do this, Nikki. He's going to let you do this. she told herself. She watched as he turned his back to her and crawled up onto the bed, beckoning her with a hand to join him.

  She crawled onto the bed behind him, reaching around his hip to caress the silken length of his erection. He was still hard, and at her touch he groaned. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Fear had dried her mouth to dust and her heart was pounding, remembering.

  He turned around. “Baby, its all right.” He touched the little dial that activated the vibrator and clit stimulator, keeping the setting low as he kissed her, hands reaching up to caress her breasts, drawing rough pads of his thumbs over the sensitive flesh.

  She sighed with the pleasure, met his gaze, and asked, “You're sure? You won't be upset?"

  His smile was sexy, self-assured. “Nikki, you're my mistress. You can do whatever you want with me."

  Eyes narrowing in consideration, Nikki nodded to herself, and decided to test him a bit.

  Hand closing in the hair at the nape of his neck, she kissed him, sliding her other hand down his body, gripping his cock and feeling the vibration of his groan of desire in their kiss.

  He wanted her, wanted what she was going to do. And she was going to do it. She'd made her decision. Breaking the kiss, she put the sharp edge of command in her voice.

  "On your knees for me, boy!"

  * * * *

  Willingly complying, Bells got into position, on his hands and knees.

  Bracing himself, Bells waited for his mistress. His pulse was hammered, excitement and anticipation driving him into a precarious state where the chains on the Dragon, the power of his will, faltered, teetering near the brink of failure.

  He didn't care. The blaze coiling in his groin was what mattered. That and Nikki. She could do anything she wanted to him. Anything at all, even restrain him—even if it had sent a queasy feeling through him that he'd identified as some dim, unremembered cause for fear—if that was what she wanted, she could have it.

  Her hands caressed over the small of his back, down the hard planes of his ass, along his thighs. Teasing, the touch adding to his eagerness.

  "Do you want this?” she asked in a low, sexy voice.

  "Yes, Mistress."

  She parted the cheeks of his ass, and he felt the cool touch of the lubed dildo on his anus. He relaxed the tight ring of muscle, took a deep breath, and felt the end of the hard vinyl slip inside him, the initial inch of penetration uncomfortable until it stroked his prostate, tearing a gasp from him as the lightning flash of pleasure set him aflame.

  "You do like it,” he heard her say, the surprise in her tone quite apparent.

  "Yes,” he groaned as she gave him another gentle thrust.

  Her hands caressed his back and hips, down his thighs as she moved behind him, whispering words of praise, but not love. And he didn't know what he would have done if she'd said the words to him. But he knew it would be a damned foolish thing to admit he wanted her and loved her because there was no possibility of a relationship like that working. So he kept his teeth locked on the words he really wanted to blurt out.

  It felt good, incredibly good to have her doing this. He closed his eyes, feeling the restraints containing the Dragon slipping away.

  Hazy wings formed across his back, aqua mist and flickering emerald flames, incorporeal as the wings themselves, danced around his body. A patina of aqua tipped gold scales covered him, unreal in their beauty, totally inhuman, flickering in and out of visibility.

  * * * *

  Nikki gasped as the Dragon manifested before her startled gaze. Her heart pounded with a trace of fear which she quickly mastered. This was just the Dragon, her boy's Immortal form made manifest before her gaze. He wouldn't hurt her. He wasn't Roderik, and he would never do anything she didn't want. But he would do anything she wanted. Anything.

  And he was beautiful. The scales glittering in the candlelight, blue-green mist mingled with dancing flames of bright green spinning around them in a sedately paced saraband.

  She thrust into him, hearing his unrestrained groans of pleasure. He did like it, was really enjoying what she was doing and it brought a delighted smile to her mouth that lit her eyes with love. He would do anything she wanted. Absolutely anything.

  Grabbing a handful of braids, she picked up the crop and swatted him lightly on the thigh while pulling the braids down toward the bed. Obedient he folded his arms under him and spread his legs wider. With his body at a steeper incline, it gave her a new angle of attack inside his ass.

  The sound that came from him was almost a pleasured purr as she drove into him, and Nikki gave him an experimental swat with the crop which drew a reverberating sound, a deep, rumbling that did resemble a purr even more clearly.

  Giving him another light swat with the crop, Nikki let it dangle from the lanyard around her wrist and changed the setting of the vibrator that was stimulating her, a moan of pleasure at the increased sensation mingling with another gasped cry from the man under her.

  Nikki gazed down at the narrow hips in front of her, at the expanse of muscular back, the handful of braids in her fist. She had the power now. Her. Nikki. Not the man under her. He was as helpless to her will as she'd ever been beneath Roderik.

  Hers. Hers alone. Every gasp and groan, every rumble of his strange purr were for her, from what she was doing to him. She swatted him on the thigh and he yelped, reacting to the little kiss of pain.

  Unlike Roderik, she didn't need to beat him until he cried out for it to end, as she'd been made to beg for mercy from the brutal use Roderik had put her body to time and time again. She didn't need to break what belonged to her. But she would possess and control, taking pleasure in the ability to make such a beautiful man cry out from pleasure. From what she was doing to his body.

  More than any other thing, hearing Bells's dulcet voice rumbling in a groan of uncontrollable passion enfl
amed her courage to try more with him. Letting go of the crop, she gripped his hip instead, holding onto him, pulling his ass into her pelvis, the dildo slipping in and out faster and faster.

  She saw him start to reach between his own legs and pulled the braids. “No."

  Groaning, she bent over him and gripped his cock, stroking it in counter point to her thrusts into his body. A sense of wonder, of elation filled her as he gasped and strained toward release beneath her, unrestrained, letting her do what she pleased in the manner she desired. She was filling him, taking him. Fucking a man. She had the position of power and he had yielded himself to her.

  Her own release hit her with the power of a tsunami, a scream of triumph rending the air as she drove into him harder, hips bucking with her own release.

  "NIKKI!” he shouted a moment later, his cock exploding in her grip, aqua flickers of light, emerald flames spinning around them in an ephemeral whirl.

  He actually collapsed beneath her and she lay over him, one hand fumbling the vibrator off, her cheek pillowed on his shoulder, the change in their angle making the dildo slip free. He was damp with sweat but so was she, her heart pounding from her own climax and the excitement of what she'd done to her Jason.

  Her Dragon.

  * * * *

  Bells opened his eyes. There was a feeling in the air. A tension. The sensation of being poised at the edge of a catastrophe had him alert, nerves humming with a current of warning.

  A head was pillowed on his chest, Nikki still asleep after their night of lovemaking. He hated to move. She had one arm across his abdomen, one leg thrown across his thighs in a tender display of possessiveness that warmed his blood and brought a smile to his mouth. What she'd done to him last night would linger in his mind long after she left him for another man.

  It was that sobering thought that got him moving. Slipping from beneath her, he felt the bite of the cold and noticed his breath was steaming in the air.

  There was a thin dusting of snow on the ground and more falling from the sky as he watched.

  "Shit."

  That woke Nikki and she peered out from under the sleeping bag. “It's snowing!” she exclaimed.

  "Yeah. We need to get moving.” He was already getting dressed, but it wasn't what he really wanted to do. What he wanted was to climb back into bed with Nikki and repeat what they'd done last night. A slight smile, a glimmer of unbridled desire, lit his face.

  She grinned at him. “I know what you're thinking about."

  "Do you?"

  Picking up the riding crop, she ran it through her fingers in a suggestive caress. “I think I do."

  It was an instantaneous reaction, his cock hardened. Mischief sparkling in his gaze, he walked around the bed to kneel at her feet, head bowed, the braids falling over his face, hiding the smile he couldn't force away. The beast rustled its wings and flexed its claws eager for another taste of freedom.

  "Yes, Mistress. You know what I'm thinking,” he agreed.

  A hand closed in his braids, pulling his head up, sable eyes gazing down into his. “Are you mine?"

  The beating of his heart seemed to still, his muscles tensing. She couldn't be asking what he thought she was asking, could she? No, this was just part of their game. Just a game, nothing serious. But she had Its attention. “Yes, Mistress. For as long as you want me, I'm yours."

  * * * *

  Nikki wondered if he was serious in his answer, or just enacting the role he'd adopted with her for their game. She wanted him. Not for a few more nights, but forever. She loved him. That was something she could not deny. He'd given her everything she'd ever wanted from a man last night without the slightest hesitation. Let her do a few of the things she'd always dreamed of doing but never had the courage, or opportunity, to act upon.

  From now on she wouldn't accept anything less from a lover than his full acceptance of her wishes. Her desires. All the efforts Roderik had used to suppress her naturally dominant personality had been swept aside by the blond man at her feet.

  One way or another, Nikki was determined to keep him.

  "Is that a promise, Bells?” She used what she mentally considered to be his public name, rather than the name only she knew. She wanted the promise from the killer, the Dragon, not just the man he'd been before he'd become what he was now. She wanted the Immortal's promise.

  Intense blue eyes stared into her own. “What are you really asking for, Nikki?"

  She hesitated. What was she asking? For him to be hers? Almost the same way she'd been Roderik's. But he was Immortal and she wasn't. He wouldn't want to be saddled with her while she aged and died. Not when he'd stay young and beautiful. Forever unchanging. She let go of his hair. “Never mind. We should get going before the pass gets blocked and we can't reach Colby."

  The bells in his hair rang sharply, jangling in a discord as he rose to his feet, spinning around so his back was to her in a single, breathtakingly graceful movement.

  An angry one.

  "Yeah. I'll get stuff together while you clean up a bit."

  The air wasn't the only thing cold in that room. His voice cut her heart like a winter blizzard. Turning away form him to hide the tears, Nikki grabbed the moist towelettes she'd found in Nat's and quickly wiped away the last residue of their night together mourning what she'd just ruined between them. Lamenting a chance she'd been too fearful to take.

  Chapter Eleven

  The wind had stopped, but the snow continued to drift down in light flurries as they made their way toward the town. The drifts weren't too bad if he stayed toward the middle of the road.

  They reached Colby, the people welcoming them with smiles and worried frowns. Word about what had happened at Danbridge had already reached them through the local radio station—the residents giving notice that the Rangers had gone south, running ahead of the unseasonable snowfall that had been born out of the rainstorm.

  Amateurs before the Collapse, the local radio operators were only real communication the area communities had left. They were also the only entertainment. With no government organization to tell them what they could and couldn't do regarding their programming, they did what they pleased. The night Nikki and Bells arrived there was a broadcast denouncing Roderik, naming his Rangers nothing more than two-bit thugs in the employ of a petty dictator.

  The broadcast played over a public address system so everyone in the town of three hundred people could hear it.

  It was the kind of sentiment they could both relate to, and the kind of thing that got people killed by order of the petty dictator himself.

  They were shown to a neatly appointed little two-bedroom house, and told it was for Doc Nikki and her boy, which elicited a smile from Bells and a tiny laugh from Nikki. In exchange for the house, the power to keep it warm, and food for the both of them, Nikki was offered the job as the town's Chief of Medicine. She accepted since she was the only bona fide physician—or close enough to it that it hardly mattered she'd still been in her first year of residency—within three hundred miles.

  They settled into the house and, much to Nikki's dismay, Bells took the smaller of the two bedrooms for his own, then quickly volunteered his services as a town guard.

  Within a month he was the official ‘Military Advisor’ on the town council and had as much standing as Nikki herself did.

  But that wasn't what was bothering her. It was the fact that, since their arrival in town, he hadn't gone to bed with her once, no matter how much she tried to coax him. She wondered exactly how angry he'd been over how she'd backed out of her proposal. She also wondered if that was the real reason for his anger. A nagging voice in her head kept insinuating it was because she'd fucked him and he'd decided he didn't want a repeat of the same thing. Of course, there was the other voice that reminded her how he'd acted while she'd been fucking him, and her thoughts kept going back to the innuendo between him and Luke and she found herself wondering if he was really gay.

  She hadn't wanted to end their affa
ir, but she also didn't want to force him into a relationship that he apparently didn't want.

  In the end she'd gotten what she'd thought was right for them both. She knew he didn't love her and it was better for them to be apart before she got so attached she couldn't let go. But that didn't make it any easier for her to take.

  Colby being a small town, it wasn't long before other men noticed that Doc Nikki wasn't attached to the man she'd arrived with. And after that it wasn't long before some of the men started coming by just to chat, trying to get her to warm up to them.

  And it wasn't long after that before Bells—her Jason, her Dragon—packed up and moved into a small apartment above the Sheriff's office.

  She started dating a man named Corwin. He was pleasant, doted on her, and was the man in charge of Power and Lights for Colby. An engineer, he'd lived in Chicago before the Collapse with a wife and a child. He was the only living member of his family, and he was easy to talk to, unlike a certain blond man with bells in his hair.

  * * * *

  There was two feet of snow on the ground, but he walked along as if there were no impediments to his steps, the heavy boots crunching through the icy crust unhindered. Men bigger than he were having trouble negotiating the trail, but not Bells. He stalked across the street heading away from the Colby Munitions factory and the work he'd just finished. It had been the biggest employer in Colby. A government defense contractor before the Collapse, they'd make munitions for tanks and small arms. Now it was probably the only munitions manufacturing plant in operations on the entire continent. When the raw materials were gone, it too would cease operations.

  The fact that they could still produce munitions was in their favor. And the men of Colby had gone to the trouble of raiding their local National Guard Armory for a pair of tanks. Unfortunately the fuel for the tanks was in very short supply, which limited their usefulness. But the combined Fuel and Power teams were trying to solve that problem.

  They still had a lot of work to do, and Christmas was fast approaching. Before Roderik arrived—and they all knew that was just a matter of time because, for some reason, the man was set on getting Nikki back—they had to have things ready.