The helicopter pilot nodded and hurried off towards the chopper pad. He had just enough time to make it back to the base before nightfall.
Steele looked at the address and map the police officer had given him and sighed. All the way across town. He shrugged, and stuck his thumb out. A minute later he had a lift--a granny in a purple snowsuit driving a pickup.
“Where are you headed?” she asked him.
“Jim Leaphorn’s place.”
“No problem.” She didn’t bother him with any more questions, and he dozed a bit in the over-heated truck, until she jammed on the brakes and said, “Here we are!”
He thanked her, slung his backpack on his shoulder, and walked through the gathering darkness to a small log cabin. He knocked; then, getting no answer, pushed the door open. Rule number one in this country, never lock your door, you never know when someone needs to come out of the cold.
Steele made himself useful getting the fire started, then he turned on the lights to let Jim Leaphorn know someone was in his home. Finally he sat down to wait.
He must have fallen asleep, because suddenly something cold was pressed against his shoulder and he heard a deep voice saying, “Who are you, mister?”
His eyes flew open and he thanked his lucky stars he hadn’t given in to his first reflex, which had been to leap off the sofa, pull his revolver out of his holster, and start shooting.
The cold thing against his shoulder was a beer, and Jim Leaphorn had a friendly grin on his face. “Startled you, mister? Sorry about that. Not every day I get guests.”
Steele put out his hand. “Call me Steele. I’m a tracker, hired by the US Army base up in Night Valley.”
“Oh, the secret military base everyone knows about.” Jim grinned broadly as he shook Steele’s hand. “What are you tracking, Steele?”
“Well, that’s where you might be able to help me. See, I wasn’t given many details about this case. A man and a woman disappeared, taking something valuable with them. I’m supposed to get it back. But, you know the military. They only give you the least amount of information. Sometimes that’s not good enough to go on.”
“When did this happen?”
“Been more than twenty hours now. I came straight to this village. It’s the most obvious place to search. It’s the closest, for one, and although they took a snowmobile, a tent and two survival packs, I doubt they want to spend much time in the wilderness.”
“Now, why do you say that?” Jim asked.
“Well, the woman is from Montreal. I know absolutely nothing about the man, except that he comes from Europe.”
Jim scratched his head. “Well, what do you want from me?”
“You worked there for a while. What exactly did you do? It seemed odd to me that an ultra-modern military base needed a woodcarver.”
“Well now, you have a point. Will you stay for dinner?”
Steele blinked. “Sure. Can I help?”
“Well, you did most of the work lighting the fire. I usually just throw whatever I have handy on the grill and put some spuds in the coals.”
“Perfect.” Steele sat back on the sofa and sipped his beer. “So, tell me. What exactly did you do at the military base?”
Jim looked at him and his face was perfectly serious. “I built a Viking longhouse.”
* * * * *
Steam rose from the water. Allie poked her foot in the air and looked. All wrinkled. Kell, lying in the bath with her, took her foot and nibbled on her toes, his face a study in contentment.
He’d been absolutely enthralled with the modern bathroom. From the sink to the bathtub, to the disposable razor and shaving cream, he’d had a blast. There was shaving cream all over. He couldn’t stop squirting it out of the can. Then he’d found the radio, and after he understood how it worked, he had to try all the stations sixty times. He’d settled on a country-western station, and every once in a while he’d pick up a refrain and sing it.
Allie was discovering new things about him every minute. For one thing, he had an uncanny sense of mimicry and could imitate motions and sounds perfectly. He would watch her do something, his attention fixed on her like a laser beam, and then he’d do what she’d done without fault. The same applied to language. When he heard something, he would parrot it. Music was just one facet. He was rapidly picking up words for everything, and he never seemed to forget one.
“Whiskey for my men and beer for my horses…” he sang. “What does it mean, Allie?”
She explained, and he nearly choked laughing. Then he sang the refrain again, translating it into Roman and Celt, never missing a beat.
“Where did you learn the languages you speak?” she asked.
“I learned Latin from a tutor and Celt from my father. The druids taught us the language of the Galli, but they would not write anything down. To them it was a sacrilege. We learned to listen,” he explained with a shrug. “So I picked up Pict, Copt, and a few other languages. How are your children taught?”
“In schools.” He tickled her toes, and then sucked on them. His tongue was devilish, and she sighed, leaning back in the water. A hand slid up her calf and to her thigh.
“Such soft skin, so smooth.” He chuckled and nipped her instep. “Even your feet are soft and smooth.”
She didn’t want to talk. She wanted him to touch her some more, so she shifted a bit in the water, opening her legs. His legs, beneath her, tensed then relaxed. A sly grin lit his face, and his hand crept to the small of her back. Strong fingers began to massage her back, rubbing and circling the two dimples on either side of her backbone. The massage began to tingle, and then he very slowly drew his finger down her spine and into the crack of her buttocks.
He stopped there, just lightly resting his finger on her anus. Her cunt contracted as if he’d just touched her clit. She gave a little gasp. His grin grew even wider.
Wet, his hair curled into tight ringlets, lifting off his temples and the back of his neck. He’d shaved, and now she could clearly see the cleft in his chin and the square jaw that made him look rugged. But his high cheekbones and almond shaped, bright with mischief eyes gave him an almost Puckish look. Added to the effect were a devastating grin and the strongest muscles she’d ever seen. No wonder her whole body quivered when he was near. And when he touched her…
“Oh my God,” she whispered as his finger drew slow circles around the sensitive skin of her anus. Each time he prodded her gently, her cunt answered with a surge of heat and desire.
“Which god do you invoke?” he asked, parting her legs further and using his other hand to stroke her cleft, starting at her clit and sliding back towards her vagina.
“We only have one,” she managed to gasp as he fingered her clit and at the same time, inserted his fingertip into her ass.
“Just one? How boring. What do you call him?”
“Lord!” Allie gasped as his finger prodded her.
“We call this a puckered rosebud.” He wiggled his finger in her ass.
Sharp spasms ran from her belly to her thighs, and Allie couldn’t suppress a low moan.
“It is pleasing to a woman to have her husband service her in this way,” he murmured, getting onto his knees and kneeling over her. She floated in the warm water, her head on the edge, her arms holding on for dear life onto the sides, while Kell slid his finger into her ass and flicked at her clit with his other hand.
Then he leaned down, took one of her nipples in his mouth, and sucked on it, pulling it with his lips and nibbling the tip gently with his teeth.
Oh, Lord. He put a finger into her cunt too, slippery even in the bath water, and thrust. Fullness overwhelmed her. Her cunt ached, little tremors making it clench in time to her pounding heart. Her ass tingled, the finger prodding nerve endings she never knew she had…and sending such a strong, throbbing heat through her body she could hardly breathe. And his mouth on her breast… Oh, Lord. Could she come this quickly?
Her chest grew tighter and she had to gasp for brea
th. All she could think of was the finger thrusting hard into her cunt, and the finger in her ass, both moving in and out, in and out, making a wicked heat that grew like an out of control blaze. The heat washed over her, submerged her, lifted her so high she nearly screamed aloud. Then she shattered, her cunt and ass contracting madly, clamping down on his fingers as she wrapped her legs around him. She shivered into a million pieces, a tingling rush of pleasure exploding inside of her. She melted, dissolving into the tub, losing her legs, her arms, herself in the violent paroxysms of lust.
If he hadn’t held her, she would have slid underwater. But he held her in his strong, strong arms. He crooned into her ear, soft sounds that caught her and wrapped her in warmth. He held her while her body arched against him and little cries burst from her throat. She couldn’t stop coming, and she didn’t want to. Kell was there, he held her, and he was strong enough to keep her safe.
When finally the tremors faded, and her heartbeat slowed, she opened her eyes. Kell’s face was close to hers, his eyes and lips tender. He bent down and kissed her, and no one had ever kissed her so gently and so forcefully at the same time. As his lips pressed to hers, her cunt gave another massive twinge and a rush of liquid heat burst from her.
He thrust his finger gently into her, easing the tension she still felt. Finally she could draw a deep breath and she uttered an incredulous laugh. “I never believed I could come so hard.”
Kell cocked his eyebrow and gave her a wide smile. “Then I will have the pleasure of teaching you just how hard you can come.” He shifted and she felt his hard-on press against her buttocks. “And you will see how hard I can come.”
He got out of the tub, his cock erect, and stretched, his muscles rippling beneath his skin. Mutely, Allie held up her arm. She couldn’t move. Her muscles all felt as if they’d dissolved in the bath. Seizing her arms, he hauled her out of the tub.
“There are towels on the heater.” Allie pointed in their direction. She’d hardly gotten the words out of her mouth before she found herself wrapped up in a thick towel and carried to the bed. Dumped on the bed, she didn’t have time to take a breath before Kell had plunged his head between her legs and was happily lapping at her cunt.
“Give me a man with an agile tongue, and I won’t need rubies or gold.” Kell stopped licking and raised his head, winking at her. “That’s what I always heard from the wise-woman of our village.” He lowered his head and his tongue parted her swollen flesh and swiped upwards, flicking over her clit like velvet lightning.
Allie didn’t know what to reply to that; besides, the wise-woman obviously knew what was best--give her a choice between rubies and a man with an agile tongue and she’d… Oh! Her back arched of its own violation and her knees parted wide. She grabbed at his head, pressing it closer to her, as wave after wave of surging contractions seemed to twist her insides out.
With a groan, Kell raised himself over her and then plunged his cock straight into her sex. Her sheath grabbed his cock tightly, and Allie threw her head back and cried out as the tip of his cock slid into her, right to her cervix. He thrust, filling her completely, and then stayed perfectly still.
Each muscle quivered, and a drop of water trickled down his temple and cheek. He held his breath, concentrating on his cock buried in Allie’s body, letting his sex join them as one being. When she breathed, he breathed, and when her heart beat, so did his. Her legs trembled, and an answering quiver ran up his thighs and spine. Her pulse beat in her womb, throbbing in the tip of his cock, and surging backwards up his cock to his balls and belly.
She let out a low moan, and a flutter of clutching pulsations massaged his cock. Her head swung back and forth, her eyes closed, her mouth open as little cries, like bird calls, left her throat. A tingle grew in his balls and his cock started to throb. He could no longer hold back. With a mighty roar, he pounded his hips into hers, his balls slapping against her buttocks, his cock squeezed tight in a hot, wet sheath.
Her nipples hardened until they were like pebbles brushing against his chest, and he thrust again and again, letting her cunt milk his seed from his cock, letting his seed surge from his body in long, almost painful outpouring.
Exhausted, drained, he dropped to her side, holding her in his arms and burying his face in the crook of her neck. Warmth stole over him, and contentment like he’d never known. Had his fate ever been to sleep two thousand years to find the woman of his life? That notion claimed him even as sleep pulled his eyelids down and quieted his breathing.
I’m home at last, he thought, before he fell asleep. I have come to this time, and here I will stay, as long as Allie is by my side.
* * * * *
Kell’s eyes fluttered open. Allie sat in the bed next to him, her attention fixed on something behind his shoulder. He turned his head, and nearly fell off the bed.
“Argh!” he cried, a stab of panic jerking him upright. Inside the black box, a man’s head spoke. Heart pounding, he grabbed Allie’s arm. “What happened to him? What sorcery keeps him alive?”
Allie shook her head. “Not sorcery, technology. The same technology that sends the music to the radio box sends images to this box. It’s a television. This is the weather station.”
Kell shuddered as he watched. The man had been cut off at the torso, and he sat in the box and spoke earnestly… The image blinked and changed and suddenly he stared at a bright, shiny pickup truck as it barreled straight at them.
With a hoarse cry, he flung himself on Allie and pushed her off the bed. “Watch out!” he yelled.
She landed with a cry and a thump, and instantly someone pounded on their door and yelled something unintelligible.
“I’m sorry,” Kell said, as the door opened and the old lady peered in worriedly. She said something to Allie who must have reassured her, because she shrugged and closed the door again. Kell glanced at the infernal box, where the pickup had disappeared, leaving its place for a singing fish.
He started to shake. He couldn’t help it. A fish wearing a hat was singing. He backed up until he hit the wall, his eyes fastened to the terrifying sight. A crab and another fish joined the first fish, and they all sang and danced.
“Am I having a nightmare?” he said, when he could get his voice back.
Allie sat up and took his face in her hands. “It can’t hurt you,” she whispered, her voice soft. “I would never put you in danger. Do you believe me?”
He tore his eyes from the singing fish and nodded. “Yes.” He couldn’t stop shaking, though.
Allie wrapped her arms around him, rocking him gently. She whispered in his ear. “The television is our entertainment, and it gives us information. The biggest difference between your world and ours is communication. We send sound and images through the air and they are captured in these boxes. When something happens it shows up on television or we hear about it on the radio.”
Kell considered that, his forehead resting on her shoulder. “So if the barbarians invade Rome, it would be on this television box? Everyone all over the world would know?”
“Yes. They would know the same day it happened.”
Kell risked a glance at the television box. To his relief the fish had vanished and now a woman washed a floor with a mop. He looked at the woman and frowned. “Don’t you feed your slaves?”
Allie blinked and looked over his shoulder. “That’s not a slave, we don’t have slaves. And what do you mean about feeding her?”
“She’s so thin, no muscle tone at all, and underfed. It’s terrible!” He made a face, and then caught sight of Allie’s expression. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Oh, Kell, nothing at all.” Her face broke into a huge grin and she gave him an enormous hug. “I think I love you, and I don’t know how I’m going to be able to leave you,” she whispered.
He raised his eyebrow. “Why would you leave me? I know I love you, Allie. I knew it the moment I saw you.” She opened her mouth to speak but he put his hand on her lips. “No, don’t speak. I don�
��t know what came over me. Can you make the images stop? I think I’ve had enough for one day.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you, but I didn’t want to wake you.” She pushed a small button and the television turned all black again. But Kell didn’t feel better until he’d draped at towel over it, and even then he had the feeling eyes peeped out from it and watched him.
* * * * *
“A Viking longhouse.” Steele propped his chin on his hands and gazed at the fire. “What else can you tell me?”
“It was pretty tense working there. A huge section of the hangar had been sectioned off, and armed guards patrolled morning, noon, and night.”
The mystery deepened. According to Captain Bide, there hadn’t been any guards because they couldn’t imagine anyone stealing the object. So what had happened? The Viking longhouse finished, the guards had left. A linguist comes, and that night she and another man disappear. “What were they guarding?”
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