by Lori Darnell
Chapter 20
I woke briefly when someone hit a pothole; the loud crack gave me a start and slammed my head into the side door. Someone laughed, but I just shifted Jill on my lap, lay down on my side resting my now sore head against the seat, and pulled Jill close to my body.
"Marcus, you need to be careful." That damn god wouldn’t let me sleep – Isis’ voice was ringing in my ears with her warning. She laughed at my thought. "I know your very tired, but please listen." Like I had a choice. "You need to go to the temple in Egypt. You will know the one. Take them with you. There you will learn your destiny. There, you will learn about my people."
I wanted to know why it was so important. Why anything mattered anymore. Everything changes so quickly. I haven't had one breath to myself in nearly ten years. Besides, I had everything I needed, here in my arms. "I know you feel that way now, but there are events that are in motion here. Events that will destroy us all if we can't stop them. I need your help."
No you're going to force my help, just like everyone around me, I thought. I was sick of people using me, using Jill. I wanted for us to disappear, someplace where it would be just us. Imagining it felt like heaven, and I led myself into that vision, trying to snuff out the demanding voice in my head. But she would not be denied.
"One day I will be able to show you everything. I am sorry I can't do more for you. But enjoy your moments. James will be able to help you get to the temple. I'll be watching, as always." I could hear her voice fade into the blackness. As usual, if I had no demanding deity interrupting, my dreams were filled with peace.
Jill's warmth radiated against my body, disturbing but very pleasurable. I felt her snuggle against me. I heard myself groan in response. My thoughts, quickly turning to a more carnal nature, were suddenly broken by laughter. "Marcus, are you ok back there?" I heard James exclaim.
"Yes.” I responded, coming back to myself. I raised my head long enough to see the tangled mass of limbs between Jill and I before lowering my head again. “When are we stopping? It would be nice to actually stretch my legs a bit." Jill was awake too, muffling her own laughter. We hadn't moved for several hours, mainly because neither of us had anywhere to go other than sitting up, and I was too heavy for her to lift out of the way.
"Yes, we are coming up on the inn now. Dean called in a reservation, two rooms." I was grateful, Jill and I had much to talk about before I spoke to James.
I saw the lights of the inn closing in on us. It was small, out of the way. There were no nearby businesses or homes. It was exactly what I dreamed peace could look like. I felt a little in awe. Either that, or it just could have been that upside-down of a day. We all filed out of the car, stretching. Dean and I grabbed the luggage from the trunk and made our way through the front entrance.
The interior of the inn was quite old fashioned. The floors creaked when you walked. There were two old women sitting in the front room to greet us. They looked intently at Jill and I, then at James, who nodded back to us.
"Are these the newlyweds? Such a beautiful couple! We have a special room for them. You both look road weary; go ahead on up - it is the room at the very top of the stairs. It has it's own bathroom. Breakfast starts at 7:00AM, but let us know if your hungry." She held an embroidery ring, barely missing a stitch as she spoke. Such a gentle woman, I thought.
"Thank you for everything." I looked down at Jill she smiled, knowingly. We weren’t really that tired. We slept most of the way here. "Sweetheart, you look so tired." I reached down and swung her up into my arms and ascended the stairs. She leaned into me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
The room was on the third floor, and it was magnificent. There was a huge bed in the center of the back wall, with tables on either side. At the foot of the bed was a long, padded bench. There were windows on all four sides overlooking the green fields. I opened all of the windows to enjoy the fresh scent of the night air.
Jill went into the bathroom. "Marcus, come look!" Jill exclaimed, startling me with her request. I walked into the bathroom and there was a large round tub in the middle of the room, encircled with candles. It was very deep, Jill was standing in the middle of it, and it reached past her long legs, nearly to her waist.
"Jill, we need to talk."
"Marcus, I'm fine, I mean it. It only hurt for a moment. Really, I am fine." Although I was worried about that, I wasn't talking about that.
"I am very relieved that I didn't hurt you badly, but we have other things to discuss."
"No, we don't - I heard her too. I was listening to you. She knew I was listening; I think she wanted me to. Don't worry. She is right, we have to go there. But we don't have to think about that tonight. Your wife wants you to take her to bed. It has been a long day."
"Your husband is more than willing." The fact that I could keep her was still new to me. I was terrified that this was a dream, that I would wake up and she would be gone.
"You know, if it was a dream, you wouldn't still be thinking you hurt me. Truly, I am fine. But we can test that if you like." A wicked smile played across her full lips.
Laughing lightly, I crossed the room back to the large tub. "I will draw us a hot bath, then we can talk seduction. Deal?"
"Deal." She ran to the other room, pulling down the extra blankets.
The water was just about ready when Jill came into the room, completely nude. I helped her into the tub, full of hot water and bubbles. She giggled as the bubbles tickled against her skin. I quickly stripped down and joined her. We sat, formulating our plans with James and Dean while we washed and enjoyed the luxury of the tub. Only when the water turned cold did we reluctantly go into the other room.
I felt as though the world outside this room had fallen away. I would have loved to stay here forever. Jill’s eyes caught mine, pulling me from my fantasy, only to spin me into hers. She reached up to kiss me, but I had other ideas. I dropped to my knees, holding her and brushing my smooth face against her wet body. She was so soft. Running my hands down both sides of her, my tongue was occupied with the excess water on her skin. She shuddered as my movements washed over her breasts, across her flat stomach down to her toes. She was warm, very warm, radiating heat. She reached down, pulling me to her face. Apparently, she felt the time for playing was over.
I hesitated. "Marcus, I am fine, really."
"Please tell me if I hurt you." She giggled and wrapped her long legs around my waist.
"Please tell me if I hurt you,” she responded in kind. My breathing was uneven. I wanted her too much to resist her invitation. Her body surrendered to mine like softened butter to a hot knife, offering no resistance. The only hurt we felt was in the knowledge that these moments of ecstasy could not stretch into eternity. But for now, I had her, and I held her in my arms at the precipice, refusing to see anything beyond her.
Chapter 21
The sun stretched from the open windows across the bed, warm and enticing. I opened my eyes slowly, still not sure if this was all merely a dream. My arm stretched across the pillow under Jill’s head, I could see the glare of the sun reflecting off my wedding ring. Jill was awake, studying her own.
“Marcus, do you think we will ever be safe?” She was casually spinning her ring in circles, watching the pattern of the etching on the inside, barely visible.
“I don’t know. But we will continue as we have. We will make the best of the situation we are in. Are you unhappy?” I thought she would be as happy as I was. I knew we belonged together. I suddenly had an irrational fear that maybe she did not wish to be married to me and I glanced up at her, alarmed. Jill placed a hand on my face in reassurance.
“No, of course I wanted to marry you – I would do it again in a heartbeat, I mean it. It’s just that… well, I wanted to do this on our own schedule. No one will let us do anything for, you know, us.” She pouted, but underlying there was something more.
“It’s the comment about our children, isn’t it?” I turned to her. I understand exactly how you
feel, like a pampered slave, or a prized bull ready to send out to stud.”
“Well at least you are prized.” She giggled in spite of herself.
“Jill, I won’t let them take her.” Somehow, we both knew that a girl was in our future. Beyond that, everything was unclear.
“You can’t promise me that. Please don’t.” She flattened the palm of her hand into mine. “We have some time, before we have to worry about it. I won’t think of it right now. You’re right. I am happy, now, here with you.”
She rolled over, staring demurely into my eyes. She had such a wicked mind, and I blushed all over. “So insatiable, how can I resist you? Don’t you think we should go downstairs and get some breakfast?”
Her eyes betrayed her, as did the knock at the door. I slipped out of bed, pulling my pants on. I knew what was awaiting us. Opening the door, I hid my smile. “Good morning.” I greeted the old innkeeper. She wore a puzzled expression, but appeared otherwise happy.
“I had the strangest feeling that you kids weren’t going to make it down, so I brought up a little of everything.” She peeked in the door and saw Jill sitting up in bed, the sheet firmly tucked under her arms, blushing. “Maybe we will see you for lunch.” She caught me looking into the room. “Or maybe, I will need to send your friend up here with your lunch. I am much too old to be taking all these stairs.” She laughed heartily as she descended the stairs.
“Jill, did you do that?” Knowing she had something to do with it, I shook my head.
“Well, I was hungry, and I didn’t want to get dressed. Not yet. Maybe I could get James to bring up our suitcases too. I’m not really in the mood for formal wear today.” She was shameless; however, she had a good point – we did need a change of clothes.
We took out breakfast and ate on the floor in front of the large window facing the fields at the back of the house. I reached for the spiced sausages, while Jill attacked the fresh fruit on the platter. Neither of us had ever seen fruit so fresh. The strawberries were warm and fragrant. I could almost smell the fields they were grown in. Looking down, I saw several people working in the field, I looked at the platter again and inhaled the earthy smell. It seemed so simple, so peaceful. I was jealous of them, only having to concentrate on the simple task at hand.
“You don’t know what their lives are like.” She commented, having caught me moping about my situation.
“I know, but I can imagine.” I picked up another strawberry, and continued to contemplate our future. We ate in silence for quite a while, watching the work in the fields and enjoying the peaceful quiet of the country inn.
“Why don’t you tell James to come up so we can get dressed?” I asked half-heartedly, not sure if I meant it. She was lounging on the floor, wrapped in the bed sheet, hair strewn in many different directions but glinting in the sunlight. Even in dishabille, she was magnificent. I marveled at the rare beauty before me.
“Are you sure? Unless, that is, have you had enough for the day?” She eyed me suspiciously. I couldn’t get away with anything around her.
I ran my hand down the curve of her hip, lifting the sheet away. “Well, it is going to be a while before we see a room like this again. Maybe we shouldn’t be too hasty.” I leaned over, bracing myself, pinning her to the floor. “Definitely shouldn’t waste it.” I leaned down, capturing her mouth. She moaned softly. She tasted like strawberries.
Carrying her back to the bed, I became aware that I was more like the farmers than I realized. I just had to focus on the task in front of me, which was well worth anything that could be going on outside this room right now. She was warm silk and strawberries, ripe for the picking. We were definitely going to miss lunch.
Lost in the throes of our efforts, I didn’t hear the door knock - the first, second or possibly even a third time. “Um, Marcus? I think James is at the door.” Gripping my arms, she pulled her legs up further past my hips. Again, didn’t really think much about the door. But it wasn’t long before the knocking started again.
“Busy, come back later.” I called, laughing as I bent down to kiss a trail along her collarbone.
“Marcus, I think he is going to let himself in pretty soon.”
“I don’t care.” She giggled and blushed, remembering we’ve had an audience before. But this was probably a more interesting show.
“Marcus! Open the door; I brought up your clothes, and your lunch.” Jill started laughing
“I swear, I didn’t do it this time.” She pleaded as she moaned louder. She was tightening around me, I knew she was close.
“Well, it looks like the honeymoon is delayed. I don’t really think it will ever be over.” She reached up and captured my mouth. She moaned loudly as she reached her own climax. I followed shortly after.
Exhausted, I rolled to my side; Jill brought the blankets up around us, even though we were both extremely warm. She propped her self into my arms, looking down to make sure we were decent.
“Ok, you can open the door at your own risk.” It was easy to joke with James, especially right now.
“Are you sure? I can still hear some heavy breathing.”
Jill was turning shades of red. “James, get in here.” She yelled, just so he would stop talking in the hall.
The door creaked open slowly. James poked his head inside. “Okay, I have some people out here that you have to meet.” He looked at us and smiled wide as he opened the door.
“Please, don’t get up.” James holding both of his hands up defensively, laughed loudly as he walked into the room pulling our suitcase. He was followed by Dean, carrying our lunch, and trailed two strangers. Well this was awkward. Jill just sighed.
James looked back at Jill, exasperated. “That poor woman looked like she was going to have a stroke this morning, bringing you breakfast. Jill, you could have killed her with that heavy tray.” Jill hid her face under the edge of the blanket.
Sometimes it just didn't matter who was there. Jill ran her hand up my thigh beneath the blankets. My body responded quickly even though we had spent most of the night and all morning making love to each other. It took every ounce of strength I had to keep my breathing even.
“Vixen!” I mouthed soundlessly. She snickered, pulling her hand down to my knee. Not much better, but better.
“Marcus, Jill, allow me to introduce Steven and Michelle.” James introduced the two strangers who had been carefully avoiding looking in our direction. Steven was tall, though not as tall as me. He was also darker skinned with chin length curly black hair, just like me. The girl Michelle was obviously supposed to strike a resemblance to Jill, though to me there was no comparison. She was tall like Jill, maybe even the same height. She was curvy but not as proportionate as Jill. Her hair was a yellow blond, where Jill’s was closer to silver.
Looking at them in fascination, I saw what other people must be seeing when they looked Jill and I. We were opposites. Jill was so pale skinned compared to my skin, which looked more like a deep tropical tan than normal skin. But as a pair, they were striking to look at – as we must be.
I pointed to my pants, which were by our breakfast. James nodded and brought them over. The two rings that we received were in the envelope. I pulled them out and Jill took mine as I took hers. We handed our coded rings to James, as we exchanged rings again with happier witnesses.
“If you two can manage to stand, I would like you to join me outside. There are paths that we can walk, so we can speak in private. If you can, please bring down your breakfast tray.” He looked up at Dean, who was bracing the door to keep from laughing.
“All right, we will be down shortly. You can leave, and shut the door.” I pulled the blanket back from Jill’s nose. “I don’t think we need supervision.”
As the laughter began moving down the stairs, I went over to our suitcases to get our clothes out for the day. “Jill, what would you like to wear?” No answer. I turned around the entire room. She was nowhere to be found. “Jill where are you?”
“I
’m in here.” She called from the bathroom. She had already started the bath. I was going to tell her no, but it was too inviting. She looked over at me, sensing my disapproval. “It isn’t just for us. I want to wash our clothes and hang them in here to dry.” So practical. She smiled at my assessment as I joined her in the bathroom.
"You know, you started something earlier that I would really like to finish." Her eyes wide, she ran her hands up my thigh again, grasping me firmly. I moaned in response. Her touch flamed across my skin. Lifting her on the edge of the tub, I finished what she had started.
After we washed, Jill handed me my white shirt. "You know, I think this was all just a ploy to get me to do the laundry." She laughed, but here I was, washing clothes and glad to do it.
We carried our breakfast dishes into the kitchen where the innkeeper was washing the others. “I see you kids finally made it down the stairs.” She smiled and thanked us for bringing them down. She still looked puzzled as to why she brought them in the first place. But she seemed to shrug the thought off, as quickly as she had it. She was in a good mood. She looked at us, apparently thinking it must be contagious.
We headed out the back door when we saw James. He motioned us for to follow him. Dean was already far up the path. They obviously had a destination in mind. After walking for a good fifteen minutes we came upon Dean. He was just off the path in a small clearing in the woods. We followed James over to him.
“I see you finally decided to join us.” There was no hint of agitation from Dean, though I could not say the same for James.
“Don’t encourage them. We need to keep them dressed for a little while.” He glanced back at us, like we were going to make a run for it. It sounded like a good idea, but Jill pulled me forward.
“I guess you are both waiting for me to tell you where we are headed,” I began. "All I know is that there is a large river, in Egypt. Probably the Nile, but I don’t know of any others. I know what the location looks like. It looks like a hole in the desert.”