The Sacrifice

by Nhys Glover

  He surged from the water, as furious as I was. In seconds he was at my side, my shoulders in his firm grip. "Stop being such a bitch!"

  I blinked at him in surprise. That was a low blow. I took his upper arm in my hand, to keep him in place, slipped my shoulder under his, and spun. Shifting my weight, I used his size and my momentum against him to flip him over my shoulder, landing him hard on his back on the roughly surfaced floor.

  The moment I saw him there, possibly broken because of me, I was contrite. I felt tears spring into my eyes and I dropped to his side.

  "Are you all right? Is anything broken? You went down harder than I expected."

  "How does someone go down light?" he snarled at me. "Of course I'm not all right. My back feels like it's shattered. Damn woman. You're dangerous!"

  "Shattered? Oh no!" I cried, the tears flowing now. I felt as if the lid of a ginger brew had burst off and I was the liquid bursting forth.

  Jaron groaned and shifted onto his elbow. He stared up at me, scowling. "Oh, gods' balls, Sweetling, don't carry on. It isn't really shattered. I'm moving, aren't I? Why in blazes did you do that to me?"

  I sniffed, feeling a little reassured but no less out of control. "You called me a bitch. That is worse than calling me a whore."

  "I never called you a whore!" he snapped, sitting up and looking ready to jump to his feet. His gaze was running over my body as if he hated me. I fought the urge to cover myself with my hands.

  "I did not say you did. It is just worse. How dare you!" I kicked out at him. He grabbed my arm, toppling me over onto him, so we both went sprawling to the stone floor. He grunted in obvious pain but did not release me.

  Wriggling to escape, I felt his arms tighten around me. Everything inside me was suddenly molten. Being held tightly, crushed against his hard muscles and rampant sex was doing things to me. Magic surged to life and urged me on.

  I fused my mouth to Jaron's, as Rama had taught me to do. It was a hard kiss, teeth crashing together painfully. But it was all it took. Jaron's arms loosened and allowed me to lift my arms up and around his shoulders. I melded to him like hot metal to metal.

  He moaned and opened his mouth, his tongue seeking entry into mine. I wanted to taste him with my own tongue. I wanted to feel our tongues touch and... and... I didn't know what. But I did the only thing I could. I opened my mouth and let him in.

  Gods! I felt invaded, possessed, owned! I had never experienced anything like that kiss. It was raw and savage, nothing like I would have expected from funny, easy-going Jaron. He was taking me over, and I was only too aware of his physical strength compared to mine. But it did not frighten me. In fact, the effect was the very opposite. I loved being smaller and weaker than he was. I loved that he was using me, taking control of my body.

  We broke apart, both desperate for air. Panting, Jaron began to plaster wet kisses down my neck instead, his hands roaming over my body as if they had minds of their own. "Gods, you are sweet. So much sweeter than I dreamed. So damned innocent."

  And that was when he dragged himself away from me, as if I had suddenly burned him.

  I felt bereft, abandoned, rejected and alone. I wrapped my arms around my nakedness and stared at him in surprise.

  "Don't look at me like that. I'm trying to do the right thing. I'm trying not to get myself killed. You're innocent. I can't take you back to my brothers well used. I can't!"

  "I am not that innocent. Calun gave me pleasure." I regretted my words as soon as they left my mouth, but I was so needy, so driven by the desire I had kept in check for days.

  "On the airling? That really happened?" he exploded.

  I grimaced, looking away. "Yes. So you see I am not entirely without experience now. Although I am still a virgin."

  He fell back and faced the cavern ceiling, one arm over his eyes. I could see his body was still aroused and every muscle was defined by tension. I wanted to run my fingers over the ridges and hollows of that bulging flesh, particularly the indentation at his hip. That concave arc was too enticing.

  "Your magic wants pleasure. But what do you want?" he rasped out.

  That was the question. My body wanted, painfully. But I did not understand what it wanted. I was afraid of what lay beyond my control. Yet when I was in the throes of that mindless longing I did not care.

  "Can we do something like I did with Calun? I enjoyed that. I was overwhelmed, but in a good way. I... I need to move slowly. This is all too fast. Yet we have to do something because we are tearing each other apart because of what we both want."

  He nodded beneath his hand. "You want pleasure but to keep your virginity, is that what you're saying?"

  I shrugged, even though I knew he could not see me. "I suppose so. I do not want your brothers to kill you for using me well. And I do not know what my magic would do if I joined my body with yours. It still frightens me."

  "You'll be the death of me, Sweetling. Either by my brothers' hands or from sexual need. But we'll try it your way. I, at least, have experience in this. Careen was good for something." His last sentence was bitter.

  I moved over to him and slid my body up his, enjoying the tactile thrill the contact gave me. "Can I touch you?"

  He groaned and stiffened. "Aye. Explore away."

  And I did. As I lay beside him I let my fingers feel their way over the contours of his flesh, skirting the part of him I was not ready to know intimately. It was different to see what I had touched on his brother. I had seen him, that first day he'd dived into the pool with me, but I was still cautious of something so starkly different from my own body. It seemed both awkward and glorious, that cock, and I wondered if it got in his way as he went about his daily activities. Having his breeches pressing it flat would help, I imagined, but still.

  I cupped his hard chest muscle in my hand, feeling how different it was from my soft breasts. For a moment I played with his taunt nipple but his response was minimal, so I moved on. Down his ribs I went, then over rippled abdominal muscles and across to those interesting dips at his hips. There was no hair on his chest but a thin trail of dark curls ran from his belly button to his sex.

  Jaron groaned, as if he was unable to take any more. He grabbed my hand with his and did as I had done to Calun: led me to where he wanted me to be. My hand wrapped around his straining cock without volition. It was thicker than Calun's and maybe not as long. But then, I was not paying overly much attention to such concerns when Calun was driving me to heady release.

  Thrashing his head from side to side, Jaron arched a little off the floor. Encouraged, I continued to feel my way along the shaft and up to cup the mushroomed head. It was such an odd looking thing, and yet it filled me with uncomfortable longing. The split at the top was covered in fluid and I felt its slickness.

  Continuing my exploration, now Jaron had left me where he wanted me to be, I moved back down his length, following the ridge that jutted the full length of him. At its base I found two sacks of skin covering lumps. I gently fingered them.

  "I won't last much longer if you don't stop playing with my balls," he growled out, squirming, as if trying to get away from me. Or get closer.

  "Balls? Are they called balls? Is that why you say gods' balls when you swear? That's what they feel like: balls. They are very odd. This whole area reminds me of a coin bag."

  Jaron laughed and groaned and moved my hand up to wrap around his shaft again. He made me rub up and down, fast and rhythmically. A moment later he was arching off the floor as his body spasmed and thick, creamy liquid flowed like a fountain from the crack at the top of his shaft. It looked painful. I drew away, not wanting to make it any worse.

  When he finally collapsed, his belly was covered with the strong smelling fluid. It was musky and oddly compelling.

  Jaron let out a heavy sigh of relief and opened his eyes, looking at me with dazed amazement. "That was better than any sex I've ever had. Gods, woman, your touch has magic in it."

  Pride filled my chest. I had though
t I had done it wrong. Though Calun had surged against me as Jaron had surged up off the cave floor, Jaron's response had seemed more agonising.

  "Have you explored enough now? Can it be my turn?" he asked, after his breathing returned to normal. I was still watching him with fascination, gauging his every reaction, including how his cock, which had been so thick and hard only moments ago, was now shrinking. Had I broken it?

  But fair was fair, so I nodded.

  "Come here," he ordered. I edged over to him, unsure what he wanted of me.

  "Put one leg over me and get up on your hands and knees."

  I did as he asked. The rocks were hard and uneven beneath my knees and hurt a little. But I paid them no attention. He shuffled me up a little so my breasts were dangling just over his face. His hands came up to fondle them, hefting and kneading them as Calun had done. Swallowing, I gave in to the excitement his touch inspired. When he pinched my nipples I almost jerked away.

  "So sensitive. How could I've expected anything else from you?" His voice was guttural.

  He leaned up and took one nipple into his hot mouth. I cried out as a zing of pleasure arced down my body and ended at my core. His raspy tongue flicked the tip of the nipple before closing his teeth around it, nipping lightly. While I was recovering from that mix of sensations, he suddenly sucked in hard, almost swallowing my breast whole. The tug on my core grew intense and I moaned.

  His hands were clamped on my butt cheeks now, kneading there, as he suckled. My hair had fallen around us, a white blonde curtain that closed Jaron's head and my breasts in. His wet hair, darker than when dry, smelled of the pool and man, and I wanted to taste it. I leaned down a little and sucked a strand into my mouth as he continued to suckle and nip at my nipple.

  His hands had moved up the curve of my back and then back down. His fingers delved between my cheeks and found my waiting core. I felt like it was opening for him. Knowing what pleasures awaited, that hidden part of me I had studiously avoided for so long was more than ready for this man's attentions.

  I moaned into his hair as his finger found its way inside me. Gods, it was too good. I felt so empty and he was filling that emptiness. But not nearly enough.

  Jaron removed his hand and his mouth from my body and I cried out in disappointment. I was not done. I needed more!

  "Move higher, and crouch down over me," Jaron ordered, his voice strained.

  I was not sure what he was asking of me. Surely he was not suggesting I put the place his fingers had just been over his face?

  But in the next moment I found out that was exactly what he was wanting. Clamping my cheeks almost painfully, he pulled me down until his face was buried in my mound. He groaned.

  "Your scent is incredible."

  I felt myself blush. How could that be true? Yet the way he was rubbing his face against my cleft, almost frenzied, told me that he had not lied to me. His nose glanced across my nub of pleasure and I moaned. When his slick, hot tongue then slid over it, I bucked. But I could not get far. Jaron was holding me in place. I was his feast and he was now hungrily devouring it. All I could do was feel the sensations and go with the building tension inside me.

  I sat up and rested my hands on my hips as I arched against his mouth. The pleasure was intense, all consuming. When I finally came undone, I screamed. The sound echoed hollowly around us. As I came down a little, I realised just how sore my knees were, and I eased off him, collapsing cautiously to the cavern floor at his side.

  "I want you," Jaron croaked out, not looking at me, not even moving from the place he had occupied during the whole sexual episode. It was like he was stuck to the spot. "I want to be inside you, feeling all that wet heat around me."

  I realised I wanted it to. Or, my magic did. The intense pull was hard to deny. But fear came with it, and in that moment it was paramount. Not just fear of the unknown, but of what his brothers would say or do if they found out I had given myself fully to this man tasked with my safety and wellbeing.

  I looked down at his cock. It was hard again.

  "I... I am not ready..." I pleaded.

  He moaned and rolled the short distance into the pool. When he broke the surface he gasped. "That worked. Nothing like cold water to ease the pain of desire." He laughed. How could he laugh at a moment like this?

  "What is so funny?" I demanded. It was as if he had never wanted me at all.

  "It's laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Come swimming with me, Sweetling. I promise to behave. Or I promise to try to behave."

  And for another turn of the sandglass we played like we were childlings again. It was such a relief after the tension that had consumed us over the last few days. I gloried in the laughter and the teasing almost as much as I gloried in the sexual heat he had drawn from my body.

  The sound of a familiar squawk coming from outside brought us both up short. Jaron was out of the water in the next instant. Pulling on breeches and dashing down the tunnel. I climbed out more slowly, my heart heavy with dread. I had almost forgotten about the danger that hung over us, the danger the other brothers were facing while I played with Jaron in the pool. It was wrong. I was wrong for initiating and encouraging it!

  "Blackie has his harness on. We're to go home," Jaron announced as he re-entered the cavern. He looked excited and then disappointed as he saw I was fully dressed in my damp boy's clothing, on my knees, and already packing up my satchel.

  I nodded, too overwhelmed to say anything. Jaron drew me to my feet and lifted my face up so he could look into my eyes. "It's all right. This is the best news we could have expected. The threat is passed."

  I ached to kiss his lips. My yearning must have been obvious because Jaron gave me what I desired. Our lips blended, and I suckled the tongue he sent thrusting into me. I swallowed his groan.

  After a moment he drew away. "As much as I want to continue this, especially knowing I'm about to lose sole possession of you, there are only a few hours of daylight left. We must hurry if we're to get home by dark."

  I drew back reluctantly and nodded. Our idyll here in this magical place was over. And somehow I knew I would never see it again. Never share these lazy, private moments with this man in this cavern again. I would miss the pool, the waterfall, the rainbows and even the rough cut floor. But most of all I would miss its magic, which had blended so perfectly with my own.

  I raced over to the edible vines, tore off handfuls of the juicy greenery, and thrust them into the satchel on top of the clothing.

  "They won't last," Jaron warned me.

  Like my memories of this place, I wondered, tears pricking my eyelids.

  "I will make them," I answered, turning to face him again, blinking away the tears. I would hold on to these memories. I would keep the pleasures I had experienced in this place close to my heart. Nothing would ever be allowed to sully or fade them!

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Are you still a virgin?" Darkin demanded as soon as we had all settled on the portico to discuss the events. It was dusk and the air was heavy with the day's heat. The ride back had felt twice as long as the journey outward and I was exhausted and drained by anxiety.

  My shock at Darkin's question must have shown on my face because he looked away abruptly, as if not wanting to read the answer there. Instead, he looked at Jaron.

  "She is," Jaron told his oldest brother, with barely contained aggression.

  I saw Darkin relax a little in relief, so his next words were even more surprising. "That's a pity."

  "What the hell?" Jaron exploded, giving Darkin a hard push that would have sent a smaller man flying.

  Darkin did not push back. "Listen! The troopers came late yesterday. They'd been led a merry chase by the wagoners but had eventually found their way back to town and learned of our tow-haired boy/girl guest.

  "They were both men we'd trained, so it went easier than we'd have expected, had they been strangers. But that meant they knew you. And your absence was noted. We told them we'd sent you out lookin
g for our stolen airling. They seemed to believe us."

  I took in the news and tried to understand why my virginity factored into this story.

  "I asked about the solstice sacrifice," Rama put in. "Said the wagoners had mentioned it. Said I'd put two and two together and wondered if the girl who'd taken advantage of our hospitality had been that sacrifice. They seemed reluctant to share the news with us, but they finally agreed you were."

  "They said the ceremony had been postponed until you were located," Darkin went on. "They said you were special. The virginal favourite daughter of the Godling. Only you'd do."

  Of course my innocence would be expected, even taken for granted. But now I was starting to see where Darkin had been going with his question. My father had not replaced me with one of my sisters. I was still at risk. Unless...

  "So you think I would be safe if I were no longer pure? I suppose that makes sense, although my father would kill the man who sullies me. Especially if, by doing so, that man thwarted his attempt to regain the favour of the gods."

  Darkin sighed. "That may be. But keeping you from that ceremony is what matters. We need to safeguard you any way we can."

  I did not want them to put themselves in more danger, but that seemed irrelevant to them. As did my unwillingness to lose my virginity.

  "So who is going to do the deed?" I asked, lifting my chin. "Which brother is volunteering to go to his death?"

  They exchanged looks. Darkin answered. "We talked about this. If the issue hadn't resolved itself when you came back we'd either get you to choose or draw straws."

  "Draw straws?" I exclaimed in horror. "Is that what I am worth to you? A lucky draw of a straw?"

  "What would you prefer us do, fight over you? The one left standing gets to deflower the virgin?" Rama spat out in disgust. "I wanted to stay out of it, but that would make me a coward, willing to let one of my brothers face death in my place."

  "Gods' balls!" I exploded, beyond even rage now.

  The sudden change in mood surprised me out of my next thought. All four brothers burst into laughter.