I heard three strong knocks against the wood outside.
“I’m ready,” I said, feeling a bit like I was in a massage parlor.
The door swung back open and I heard Jacob’s powerful steps on the wood floor as I closed my eyes, focused on relaxing.
“I’m going to have to use the tribal oils on your body for total relaxation purposes. As I do so I will explain the specifics of the ritual.”
I felt strong hands touch my back and shoulders. Jacob rolled the white sheet down so that my entire back was exposed but my legs were still under the covers. I felt a heat spread over my body. Was Jacob, in addition to being the king, also a trained masseuse? Seemed a little weird, but I certainly wasn’t complaining.
“Andrea, when our tribe of Jaronas mate, we mate for life. Each of us has a single partner who is chosen for us by the fates—our birthright, if you will. The only way to find out who is your chosen mate is by relaxing totally during a full moon. I’ve lit the appropriate candles and now I’ll be utilizing our oils. As I perform the ritual, you’re going to become a little aroused. Your senses will be enhanced, both your sexual sensitivity and your five senses. This is normal.”
I don’t know if “aroused” was the right word, but I was definitely feeling more relaxed than I had felt in the last years of city living.
“On a biological level, the full relaxation techniques induce a state of near-hypnosis. Once you reach that state, you and your mate will be able to communicate psychically—your sixth sense as a Jarona. If you are really part of the tribe, you’ll have a psychic connection with someone here—and we will be able to find out who when day breaks tomorrow and that person comes forward. The reason that you have nothing to fear as far as me taking you, Andrea, is that I have my own fated mate. I would never be with you, even though I must admit you have a certain way you carry yourself which enamors me.”
Jacob’s hands drifted down to the small of my back and touched the top of my butt, sliding deep into my muscles with the oils. I inhaled and enjoyed the feeling of his strong hands. I was falling into somewhat of a trance.
“So who is your fated mate?” I turned my head and looked at Jacob with one eye as I said the words somewhat dreamily. Jacob chuckled.
“I wish I could tell you. Many a Jarona has been through this test, and none have connected with me. She has not yet been chosen. But it’s better that way.”
“Why is it better that way? Don’t you want to mate?”
Jacob covered up the top half of my back with the white sheet and walked around to the side of the bed where my legs were. He rolled half of the blanket up, so my body was exposed all the way to my upper thighs. Jacob ran his oiled hands along the length of my calves and thighs, powerfully and slowly.
This was one hell of a ritual. Aroused was an understatement for the way I was feeling.
“No, I don’t want to mate.” Jacob hesitated. “Well, yes and no.”
“Why yes and no?”
“Our tribe’s head Shaman prophesized that once I mate, there is a nine out of ten likelihood that my partner will die. So I’ve relegated myself to the fact that I will be a good and noble king, but that I will not pass down my genes. It is a shame, but I prefer not to be responsible for the death of a noble woman.”
“That’s tragic!” I said as Jacob’s nimble fingers worked magic on my upper right leg. I was beginning to lose some focus in our conversation.
“It is what it is. Please, Andrea, just relax. No more talking. Just let yourself melt away with my touch. Soon I will be chanting and humming—don’t be afraid. It’s all just part of the ritual.” Jacob lit another candle, and I noted its scent was fresh, flowery, and had an aroma of tropical fruit. I had never smelled anything like it before, but if this world had a lilac, that is what it would smell like.
I felt hands on each of my feet, taking their time running up my calves and my thighs. This time, he didn’t stop there. He lifted the sheet off of me so my whole body was exposed. Jacob kept going all the way, running his hands up to my butt and massaging the full length of my body.
I decided that I liked this ritual. The way he maneuvered his hands with depth and dexterity over the muscles of my entire body was giving me that fire in the belly feeling.
I closed my eyes and drifted away to some kind of flowery paradise. Though my consciousness was in and out, I thought I heard Jacob’s feet leave the floor. I knew I was right when I felt more leverage on top of me. Jacob’s legs were on either side of me as he straddled the middle of my body. His leg grazed my arm at my side, and I tingled knowing just how powerful the man on top of me really was. I thought I felt something else graze my thigh that was fleshy but not a hand, but who knows? Besides, the flesh felt too heavy to be his . . . you know.
If this was the definition of ‘sensual domination,’ I was more than okay with it.
Jacob began to hum. I was a bit surprised by the noise at first, but after a few moments I became accustomed to them and the vibrations soothed me.
“We are going to a place deep inside you, Andrea,” he was whispering now. “You have nothing to be ashamed about. Your desires come out of the darkness and to the front of your mind. Open up your mind to your mate and your messenger. Let the pathway be established. Let your mate be declared.”
I felt a rush of mental calm as I closed my eyes. I drifted in and out of consciousness. When I awoke, a voice spoke to me and seemed to come from out of the nothingness. It wasn’t Jacob.
“Your mate is Jacob Napletoni,” the voice said.
When I opened my eyes, Jacob was gone.
CHAPTER SEVEN
After I made my way back to my hut, I slept until noon. The ritual had zapped all the energy out of me, and I still wasn't sure what to make of the whole dreamlike hypnosis state I had been in. When Amy woke me up, I slapped her—accidentally, of course. I can be quite an animal when I don’t get my required seven hours of sleep.
"Hey! What'd you do that for?"
"Oh wow. How did I get here?" Amy was lying in bed next to me. Apparently I had climbed into the wrong room last night. I was that out of it.
"You climbed into my bed when you came back at, like, five a.m. It was barely daylight." Amy laid down on top of the covers. She raised her eybrows "So what were you doing that kept you up so late?"
"I mean, it was the ritual. It was fine.”
“Fine!? Oh please, Andrea. I’ve come this far with you. Don’t censor me from the story, please. You two hooked up, right? So how was it?"
"What are you talking about? We didn't hook up. It was . . . a ritual."
"Oh, okay . . . so you're telling me you put on just that robe for no reason in particular, and then you came back all out of sorts at five a.m. smelling like massage oils, and you’re going to tell me nothing happened? Right. Why don’t I just pack up my things and go home then?” Amy grabbed her bag and started to pack it with the clothes she had strewn about her room.
“Amy! Sorry. I’ll tell you. It’s just . . . it was the strangest night of my life. Jacob gave me a massage. And then—”
“King Jacob Napletoni the Third gave you a massage. Are you kidding me?! That was the ritual?”
“The Third? Where’d you find that out?”
“Oh.” Amy blushed a little bit. “I was hanging out with Shooter a little bit this morning and he told me. Hey, don’t change the subject. We’re on you right now, not me.”
“Right. Well, I found out who my mate is. And you’re not going to believe it.” My eyes darted to the floor for a moment.
“Who?” Amy stared back at me intensely.
“My mate . . . is Jacob.”
“The king is your mate? Oh. My. God.” Amy sat down on the bed and rubbed her temples.
“Yes.”
“Holy crap. Doesn’t that make you the Queen?”
“Oh, wow. I guess it does.”
“Well where is the king now?”
“I have no clue. But I’m really hungry. Do
you want to get some breakfast?”
Amy laughed. “The king kept you up all night, eh?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
After I showered and put on jeans and a t-shirt, Amy and I sat down for breakfast in the same room we had eaten dinner. She left the guest hut and headed to the king’s, ambling among the villagers and jaguars as we went. A few children came out of their houses and stared at the strangers in their midst. Amy and I were silent, using the time to take in the beauty of the village in the sunlight. Soon we arrived at the king’s hut where we had nearly been sentenced to death the day before.
Amy approached the door, but before entering, she cupped her and and ear to it and listened. “Shh.” She motioned me to be quiet. “I can hear them talking. They are saying something about you.”
I gingerly followed suit, moving in closer to the door. The outside of this hut was made with bricks and rock, but there was one hole I was able to put my ear to. I heard Shooter’s distinct low tambour voice.
“King Napletoni. You cannot marry Andrea Diggers. She is from the other world. That is a big no-no.”
“Yes, you’ve been saying that, Shooter!” Jacob’s voice boomed. “But what am I supposed to do? Not follow the prophecy? Do you have any idea what repercussions that could have to try and escape fate?”
“Yes, I do. The repercussions would be no worse than would happen if you did follow the prophecy. Andrea would die.”
“She has a ten percent chance of surviving. Don’t forget the prophecy mentioned that, too.”
“Ten percent. That means she is ninety percent likely to die. Is she okay with those odds?”
Jacob grunted, refusing to respond.
“We need to just sweep this whole prophecy thing under the rug. Hope for a new prophecy, Jacob! As your advisor, I have to strongly urge you not to be with her! The king with an outsider is simply not done!”
“Shooter. You are my brother and I trust you.” Jacob raised his voice. “But you are overstepping your bounds on this one. We can’t just ignore what the Shaman says about the future. It’s fate . . . and besides, Andrea is incredible. She’d make a fine queen.”
“She was able to escape the clutches of our men last night to plead her case.
“Yes . . . I chuckled on the inside at that. And it’s not just the way she carries herself, Shooter. If she could avoid the prophecy, I could see her becoming a trusted partner with me over the kingdom. Not to mention that she’s gorgeous. Andrea is so hot she makes me fucking nervous, man. Last night at the ritual I wanted to pin her down and . . . she makes me think about a baby. An heir to the throne some day.”
I flinched as I felt arms encircle me. I had been listening so intently to the conversation through the wall that I hadn’t noticed a man sneaking up behind me.
“Well hello, ladies. Eavesdropping on the king, are we?” Two men wearing loincloths and holding spears gripped our arms.
“Not at all. We’re just . . . waiting to knock,” I tried to sweetly convince the guards. Their expressions conveyed they weren’t having it.
“Well, you’re certainly taking your time. Why don’t we head inside and see what the king wants to do with you?”
We opened the door and were escorted inside by the short, squatty soldiers.
“Were your ears burning, sir?” One of the guards said. “We found these two outside, listening to your conversation.”
Jacob stood with his back to us before whipping around with a sword and pointing it at us. Even though he stood close to the throne area more than twenty feet from us, my heart jumped, like he was thinking about thrusting it through me.
“Everyone out!” Jacob’s deep voice reverberated through the hut. I turned to go. “Even you, Shooter.”
Shooter walked toward us to help escort us out.
“Except Andrea. You stay.”
CHAPTER NINE
“Have a seat, Andrea,” Jacob said to me and I obeyed. I sat down in one of the chairs in the hut, nearest the throne. Jacob stood up and approached me.
“Have a seat? What is your problem, Jacob? Where did you go last night? The last thing I remember is going through the ritual, and then I woke up and you were gone. Why did you leave?”
“You know full well why I left.”
I stood up. “No, I really don’t.”
Jacob closed his eyes as if he were grimacing.
“Andrea, do you remember what I said about my mate being fated?”
“Yes. The prophecy said that your mate would probably die.” I angled my eyes down at the ground at that sad fact. In spite of the risk it might take, God did I want Jacob.
“When you went into the trance state, I felt our connection. Now I know why your father came here. He was the messenger. The reason I left you is because once our coupling is sealed, the fate will be bestowed upon you. I’m not going to put your life in danger, Andrea. Besides, this is a vacation for you. You’re a tourist.”
“I’m not a tourist!”
“Really? So what’s going to happen here then? This tribe isn’t your home. Which town are you from again? You haven’t even told me. Your mom lives back in the world. You have to go back at some point.”
“I don’t want to die, that’s for sure. But I could see myself living here. And I don’t believe in that prophecy stuff anyway.”
Jacob and I were standing inches away from each other now. Our voices echoed through the hollow King’s Court. He half-smiled at me.
“You could see yourself living here.” Jacob made air quotations and imitated me, frowning. “See, that’s the problem with people these days. They can’t make up their mind and truly commit to anything. I know how it works in your world: ‘Oh, let’s date for a couple of years and see if it works out.’ Well, in Jarona culture, there is no waiting, no dating. When you are fated and you love someone, you just do it. You commit. And I’m ready to commit to you, Andrea, ever since you walked through the door of my kingdom. You know the risks. So tell me, do you or don’t you want to live here? This isn’t a ‘wait and see’ situation.”
“Oh please,” I fired back, standing up to the King. “You’re telling me about commitment? You’re the one who ran out of the room last night.”
Jacob took another step toward me, his eyes burning with incredulity. Mine burned with desire.
“Before I knew we were fated, I wanted you, Andrea. Hearing you, having you with me to rule this kingdom as my queen—that is what I want. You know what I want? I want you. I want you to keep me in check when I overstep my bounds as king. I’ve never met anyone who can measure up to you. But there is a risk.”
Jacob backed me up several steps, and now I was up against a brick wall. “I want you, Jacob. And I don’t give a damn about any risk.” I arched my back against the wall. “But I don’t know if I can believe all this has happened. It’s been so quick.”
“Well, believe it. And, lastly,”—Jacob’s hand gently gripped my neck and he reached around to whisper into my ear—“you are the sexiest damn woman I’ve ever seen in my life. Performing the ritual on you was the greatest showing of willpower I’ve ever had to summon in my life. I’m on top of you, massaging your beautiful body, all the while thinking, if I had so much as one night with this girl, the things I could do with her.”
I took a deep breath. “I’ll say. That was some ritual the Jaronas have invented.”
My hands found their way to Jacob’s chest. All of the things that Jacob was saying were true, in a way. I didn’t know him very well. I didn’t know the ways of the Jaronas or what my life would be like if I dropped everything to stay here.
But on the other hand, the attraction was in the air. It was palpable. Chemical. My heart pounded as I rubbed my hand on his muscular chest and looked up into his brown eyes, face, and chiseled jaw. Jacob slowly slipped his hand down my back until he reached a little lower, and I liked it.
Jacob ran his hand down to the cusp where my thigh meets my butt. “Jacob,” I whimpered. My logical brain
wanted me to leave, but my body was so attracted to his, like he was a magnetic force pulling me in.
Jacob covered my mouth with his lips and I moaned. After a few seconds we came up for air. “Tell me to go, Andrea, and I’ll go. I’ll go right now and leave you alone. I’ll make sure you have an escort back so you are safe. Just say the word and I’ll back away. You don’t ever have to hear from me again. I promise. You have the King’s word.”
Our bodies pressed together; my tongue was tied. Logic be damned; the devil on my shoulder wouldn’t let me leave the man in front of me.
“I want you too, Jacob,” I whispered. “I really, really want you.”
CHAPTER TEN
King Jacob took me up against the wall and we made out vigorously for many minutes, his hands running up and down my body. After that, he scooped me up like a feather and carried me somewhere until he threw me down on a bed. “This, Andrea, is the royal mating room. Are you ready to use it?”
“Yes.”
I aided Jacob in slipping off my pants.
Our bodies were locked tightly together as we rolled over, kissing. I felt his muscles and his weight on top of me as we ravished each other.
I took off my shirt. My breasts pressed against his chest through my bra as we explored each other’s lips. Jacob removed my bra and tossed it aside. As I lay in the bed, he straddled me, kissing my face and neck. He kept his kisses moving toward my chest, my nipples and my stomach. He paused, breathing heavy.
“God damn, you are gorgeous,” he growled. “I don’t know how the fuck you ended up with me. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”
“I feel the same way,” I said.
I felt his weight come back down on top of me. He fondled my breasts and nipples as we continued to make out. I loved the feel of his skin against mine, and now I could feel the rest of his hardness throbbing against me through his loincloth. Even though we were supposedly strangers who had just met, I felt a strong connection to Jacob. Like I knew him very well from somewhere. As corny as it was, somewhere deep inside I truly did like we were destined to be together.
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