Night of Fire

by Vonna Harper

  “We must hurry.”

  “Wait a minute.” Taurus grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him. His seed-maker poked her backside. “I’ve gone along with everything you’ve wanted so far, but I don’t have a death wish.”

  Neither did she, she wanted her people to live and flourish and celebrate as they had since the beginning of time.

  “We must run through it.”

  “No, we don’t! This is crazy.”

  “Taurus, please! I will not let anything happen to you, I promise.”

  “That’s not a promise you can keep, so don’t throw that at me. Look, lady, sometimes you flat-out scare me.”

  How could that possibly be? He weighed nearly twice what she did, and she’d have to stand on tiptoe to kiss him. Alarmed by how much time was passing and how unsteady the arch looked, she turned in his arms and did the only thing she could think of—she grabbed his seed-maker in both hands.

  “Ow! What the hell—”

  Concerned that she was hurting him, she let up a little but didn’t release him.

  “Careful there.” His hands hovered over hers as if afraid to disturb her. “Those are the family jewels. Geez, you don’t mess around, do you?”

  “Now please. We will run. It will take only a few heartbeats.”

  “If you keep on holding me like that, I’m not going to be doing any running.”

  Why was she wasting time listening to his arguments? Calling on the only thing she could think of to reach him, she leaned into him. “I was a virgin before I took you into me.” The fire made so much noise that she wasn’t sure he could hear her. The wind pushed smoke around them and the glow—the glow was like the sun. “That was what I did for you, let you change me from a girl to a woman.”

  He sucked in his breath. “No argument there,” he said softly, almost reverently.

  “That was my gift. Now…”

  “I know.” He glanced over her shoulder at the burning arch. “You want me to risk frying every hair on my head.” He shuddered. “Promise me something. This is the last crackpot thing you’ll ask me to do.”

  “Crackpot? I do not have a pot with me.”

  “Forget I said anything. Look, will you please let go?”

  “You will take my hand, and we will walk under the fire together?”

  “Walk, no. Run, yes.”

  Relief surged through her. Releasing his seed-maker, she held out her hand.

  “I should be locked up,” he muttered, taking her hand.

  The arch crackled, the sound was followed by something that resembled a scream. Taurus muttered, “Damn.” She couldn’t get out a word.

  Though he tried to hold back, she led the way to the base of the arch. The people nearby either stared or loudly warned them not to do anything stupid. In truth, her heart was pounding so that she felt lightheaded, but she’d already spent a long time where she didn’t belong and was desperate to return to her world—with Taurus. In her mind’s eye, she saw her parents, siblings and other relatives. Most of all, she thought about The Lady and the Bel-fire ceremonies that had marked all the seasons of her life.

  How could her child grow without Bel-fire?

  “Now!” Clutching Taurus’ hand with all her strength, she lowered her head and ran. Instead of trying to hold her back, he matched her stride. She felt heat and smelled smoke, heard people scream.

  Then there was nothing.

  Chapter Seven

  Even before he became fully conscious, Taron concluded that he’d just had the best sleep of his adult life. The first thing to counter that impression was the realization that he was on his feet and not in bed. Then he felt a small, warm hand in his and it all came back.

  He reluctantly opened his eyes. If he’d burned himself— No. Somehow he’d come through the fire unharmed.

  But where the hell was he?

  As his vision cleared, he took in more and more impressions, not that they made any sense. At first blush it appeared that he was still at the top of Carlton Hill with the town of Edinburgh below, but this wasn’t the hill he’d been at last night—if it had indeed been last night.

  For one, the unfinished but impressive Athenian acropolis wasn’t there, and there was no sign of the steep staircase he’d trudged up. Someone had taken away the trash cans, temporary restrooms, sound equipment, stage sets and other equipment. Even the parking lot and cars were no longer in evidence.

  Holding Maia’s hand tighter than he wanted to admit, he looked down at the town—or rather what little there was of it. Because it was dusk, he couldn’t tell much except that there were no street lights. Hell, there weren’t even any streets—or houses or commercial district or roads in or out. Except for a collection of what looked like huts and a larger stone structure nearly hidden in the shadows, the valley was empty.

  His throat dried.

  “Where are we?” he demanded.

  “Home,” Maia said.

  Not my home. But even as he thought that, a sense of peace trickled over him. No two ways about it, there was a lot to be said for a place empty of the sound of automobiles and bright lights.

  Dusk? Wait a minute. Hadn’t it been night the last he knew? So, along with everything else, he was in a time warp of some kind. Time warp? No, it was more than that. He’d gone back, back in time.

  “What year is it?” he demanded. For the first time in hours, he thought about his schedule and what was at stake.

  “Year? I do not know what you mean.”

  About to point out that that wasn’t the only thing she hadn’t been able to supply, it occurred to him that he, not she, was the one who was out of step now. Out of his element, his world.

  “You do not have to hold on so tight,” she said, wiggling her fingers. “I will not leave you.”

  He let up on his grip but didn’t free her because she was the only thing that connected him to reality—or was she?

  Bombarded by questions that might never have answers, he again turned his attention to his surroundings. Modern trappings still hadn’t miraculously appeared, but his initial impression that the hill was deserted had been wrong. They weren’t alone.

  The knot of people was far enough away and in enough shadow that he had difficulty making them out, but Maia seemed eager to join them. He went with her, not because he gave a damn who these folks were, but, well, hell, because for reasons that went beyond his cock, he wanted to stay near her.

  There was a small fire inside a stone circle, and that provided enough illumination that he realized that the group was made up of men, women and children all dressed in what looked like peasant costumes—only maybe they weren’t costumes. A trio of old men with long beards wore light gray, almost white capes, and the way the others looked at them brought him to the conclusion that they were some kind of leaders.

  Then he spotted a tall, stately woman with long, white hair. She had on a ground-length red cape made of gauzy material that left no doubt that she was naked under it—like Maia. He guessed her age at around fifty. She carried herself as if she were royalty. Behind her stood a huge, snow-white horse. It took a conscious effort not to bow.

  Maia released his hand and bent her head before the queen-like woman.

  “My Lady, I return,” Maia said.

  “It is good to see you, Maia,” the older woman replied. “You have done well. Taurus is here. You have mated with him?”

  “I have. Twice.”

  So much for privacy.

  “Good. He willingly walked through the fire passage with you?” the woman asked.

  “He did what I needed him to do,” Maia explained. “But he has no knowledge.”

  You can say that again. Although it irritated him to be talked about as if he were deaf and mute, there was no denying that there wasn’t a whole lot he could add to the conversation.

  “He belongs to you?”

  “I do not know. Everything between us is new.”

  Everything’s new—and I’d give an
ything to know what the hell this is about.

  “He needs to be tested,” one of the old men said. “Until he has proven himself, we cannot trust him.”

  Before Taron could point out that he could hardly hang around forever, the old man loudly clapped his hands. Maia stiffened. Then the knot of onlookers parted, distracting him.

  A half dozen young women—or teenagers maybe—were walking toward him. Like Maia, they all wore see-through veil-dresses. Their bodies were—hell, they were ripe.

  “They are yours,” the old man told him. “All virgins and ready for sex.”

  Maia had called it mating. Was there a difference between that and sex? And more importantly, what the hell was going on?

  “You want…” He swallowed and tried again. “You want me to have sex with them?”

  “The decision is yours.”

  What red-blooded man wouldn’t die happy after that kind of offer? Distracted from the question he’d just asked himself, he studied the young women. A couple were taller than Maia. One was overweight with amazing breasts that stuck up and out as only breasts that hadn’t been attacked by gravity for long can. There wasn’t a thing physically wrong with any of them, and although they giggled and stared openly at him as if he were about to be auctioned off, he figured he’d be able to carry on some kind of conversation with them, if given time and inclination.

  “Perhaps your first choice would be a girl with wide hips made for childbearing and fun,” another of the old men offered. “Kina, let him see.”

  Without so much as a blush—at least he didn’t think she was embarrassed, a girl with wavy hair and a small, upturned nose unceremoniously hiked up her gown until it was around her waist. She stepped close and turned in a slow circle, looking over her shoulder at him all the time. She was smiling. No two ways about it, Kina had a richly rounded ass.

  He felt nothing.

  “You mated twice with Maia,” the second old man continued. “Perhaps your seed-maker is worn out. We can bring you sweetbread and fruit, and your strength will return.”

  What was he to them, a breeding bull? Maybe so since, like Maia, they called him Taurus. Strange, he didn’t remember falling down a rabbit hole to the Land of Oz.

  “Look,” he said, suddenly angry. “I don’t know what this is about. I’m not sure I ever will. But I’m more than just a cock. I also have a brain.” One that’s on overload right now.

  “You took one virgin. You are not interested in another?”

  Maia wasn’t just a virgin. She was—what?

  “That’s not the way most men do things where I come from,” he protested. “Usually—usually people have sex because they care about each other, not because someone dangles a cherry in front of them.”

  “Cherry?”

  When was he going to learn to watch what he said around Maia and her people? “Never mind. It’s just an expression.”

  Because he didn’t want to offend the still-giggling girl-women, he studied each of them in turn, nodding approval. Then he dismissed them. He hadn’t intended to connect with Maia, but his gaze settled on her. Even with that dagger around her waist, she reminded him of Tinkerbelle.

  “Look,” he said. “I don’t know who or what you people think I am. Hell, I don’t know who you are. But I’m not some stud you can put in a pasture full of mares in heat.”

  That garnered nods he took to be understanding. Heartened because he was with people who understood livestock if nothing else, he continued. “I don’t know if you know this, but some animals, like wolves, mate for life. I’m not saying that’s what’s happened between Maia and me. We’ve just met.” Met and fucked. “But I don’t sleep around.” Hoping to give emphasis to his words, he covered her all-but-naked breast with his hand. She didn’t try to remove it so he left it there.

  “What do you want of me?” he demanded. “Why am I here? And—and there’s something I need to make perfectly clear. I can’t stay. I have…I have important things to do.”

  The woman Maia called The Lady clasped her hands over her breasts. “We are earth people. From the time of our first ancestors, we understood that our existence depends on the sun. In spring, the sun is born anew and provides the light and warmth the crops need to grow. During summer, Sun is a mother who nourishes her children from her body, but at length she grows weary and needs to rest. The plants and trees, even the animals know that. They rest with her.”

  Maia nodded in time with the others. Covering his hand, she held it to her breast.

  “But Mother Sun will not awaken from her sleep unless we, her children, honor her as we have since the beginning of time,” The Lady finished.

  The reverence in her voice, reinforced by the others’ agreement and the way Maia held on to him left no doubt of how deeply they believed this. He couldn’t begin to make fun of them.

  “If that’s your belief,” he said, “I’m not going to argue with you.”

  “Then you believe?” Maia asked.

  He hadn’t heard her voice for too long. At least his cock must feel that way because he was now thinking about putting it where it had already been twice recently. “Honey, all this is too new to me for me to say yes or no about anything,” he told her.

  “The priests are not like that,” the first old man said. “They do not understand, they do not try to understand. All they do is forbid.”

  “What priests?” No two ways about it, Alice in Wonderland had nothing on him.

  “There.” The old man pointed down the hill to where Taron had spotted the stone structure. “They and the soldiers they brought with them say that Bel-fire is the work of the devil.”

  He wasn’t about to get into a religious argument, especially when he didn’t understand where either these people or the priests were coming from. However, he felt aligned with those who were part of Maia’s world. Maybe she knew what he was thinking because she all but wrapped herself around him. She obviously had no hesitancy about pushing her pelvis against his.

  “What do you want from me?” he asked the old men and The Lady. Where the hell had that question come from? I should be asking how I go about getting off this merry-go-round for the insane.

  “Use your power to make the priests leave us in peace.”

  No problem. I’ve got a machine gun in my back pocket. How about I pick up a phone and call the National Guard?

  “Powers?” he said instead. “I’m afraid you’ve got me confused with someone else. Superman maybe?”

  “You are Taurus,” The Lady stated.

  “Not you too?” He groaned. “Look, that’s what Maia calls me, but my name is Taron. I’m a twenty-first-century businessman, end of discussion.”

  “Taurus the bull is potent. No creature is more powerful than he.”

  Given the way he’d performed so far tonight, he was hesitant to argue with that. “Interesting,” he said. Maia’s hand was now only inches from his cock. Not at all concerned with anything else that was going on, his cock responded.

  “Taurus’ blood upon the land fertilizes it.”

  “Blood? Wait a minute. Sperm, yes. I’ve got no argument with that, but I’m not interested in spilling any blood, especially mine.”

  “Sperm?” That came from Maia, who seemed to be taking great pleasure in seeing what she could get his cock to do without touching it. “What is that?”

  “Semen. You know, cum.” He indicated her hand. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” he whispered.

  “Where will you come?” she asked.

  In my briefs if you aren’t careful. “Shit. Never mind. I’m talking about my—my seed-bearer and what comes out of it when we have sex.”

  “Ah. Yes. Life’s juice.”

  The first old man had spoken, and now everyone was nodding. The Lady stared at the bulge in his slacks and smiled with what he took to be approval. This place might be a close kin to Oz, but he had no objection to what appeared to be their open and enthusiastic view of sexuality. A man could get used
to this.

  “Ah…” He cleared his throat. “Let me get something straight. Are you being literal? I was brought here because—because you people want to indulge in a little bloodletting?”

  No one answered, leaving him to study the wise old men, The Lady, and other people who obviously believed they were part of this discussion. A few of the younger men looked strong enough to make good on their threat to turn him into a blood donor, if that’s what it was. If he grabbed Maia and used her as a hostage—

  “Taurus, your blood will not be spilled,” she said softly.

  Despite his efforts, a sigh escaped him. “I hope I can believe you.”

  “Not your blood,” she continued. “Your life juice.” With that, she closed her fingers around his standing-at-attention cock and tugged on it.

  Geez Louise! “Maia,” he warned as self-control faded. “I hope to hell you know what you’re doing. Much—much more of that, and I’m going to explode.”

  “Explode?” Still holding his cock as if she had claimed ownership of it, she frowned.

  “Jack-off. Is that what you want, for me to ejaculate in your hands?” Shit!

  “Ejaculate?”

  Right there in front of everyone, she unzipped his slacks, found the opening to his briefs and pulled out his cock.

  “Never-never mind,” was the sum and substance of what he could think to say.

  To his shock, The Lady stepped close and leaned over. She was still taking her measure of his cock when the trio of old men shuffled up and did the same thing. He heard mutters of what he took to be approval. Several women giggled.

  Shit. He might as well be a breeding bull.

  “He is big,” the only old man not to have spoken yet said. “Maia, he did not cause you pain?”

  “A little the first time.” She ran her forefinger over the tip of his cock. As he could have predicted, a little pre-cum oozed out. “But that did not last long.”

  “Was it enjoyable?” The Lady asked.

  “Very. I did not know I would like it so much.”

  “Ah look,” Taron interrupted. Although it was obviously way too late for that, he regretted drawing attention to himself. “I know you people think you’re giving me a compliment. But…” He pointed at his naked and ready-to-service cock. “Where I come from, this is hardly the way a girl acts when she takes a boy home to meet her family.”