by Vonna Harper
Feeling awkward and stiff, she pushed her lower body at Nacon. At the same time, she clenched her inner muscles until her thighs started to tremble. “Damn, damn,” she muttered, retreating so she could power at him again.
“What happened to foreplay?”
“Screw foreplay.”
“No, screw you.”
“Where did you learn that phrase?”
“Around you, I’m discovering there’s a lot I didn’t know I knew.”
“You’re saying I’m a good teacher?”
“We’re both good.”
She was building up to a belly laugh when he rolled her onto her back and pushed on her legs so her knees were deeply bent. That done, he positioned himself on his knees with his hands bracketing her shoulders. He might have briefly slipped out of her, but was back where he belonged before she could be sure of the loss. Ah yes, the good old missionary position.
Yes! Yes. He glided strong and smooth and long throughout her length while she rocked from side to side and dug her finger pads into his shoulders. She’d caught fire, but not just in her pussy. Her entire body was now in on the experience as if she’d climbed onboard a roller coaster without brakes. How quick from manageable to lost and screaming.
Just like that, her climax rolled over her. It didn’t build, crest and fade, but held strong and high as she screamed and dug at him. A flitting concern that she might be drawing blood held her climax suspended. Then it broke free again. Surging upward, she clamped her teeth around his shoulder. There, Aztec. You aren’t the only one who can do that.
He spat out something she didn't understand, maybe a curse in his native language.
She might have apologized if he hadn’t punctuated whatever he'd said by hammering himself at her. Once, twice, three times and more he pummeled into her. And every time he powered more of himself in her. Gifted her with his seed.
Is this what you wanted, she wanted to ask, but at that moment, Aztec closed his mouth around her shoulder and held on with just enough strength that she knew his teeth had formed fresh indentations in her flesh. Suddenly still and watchful, she felt the jaguar’s breath heat her neck and upper arm. Another climax, or maybe a continuation of the first one slid through her.
“Easy, easy,” Nacon chanted. “Be gentle with her, gentle.”
A rolling, rumbling roar rose up from Aztec’s throat. “I understand,” Dana whispered. “You want what we just had.”
Another guttural sound served as Aztec’s answer and prompted her to stroke the top of the big cat’s head. If only she could grant the magnificent animal’s simple wish.
“Are you ready to take the next step?”
About to ask Nacon if she hadn’t already taken enough steps tonight, Dana settled for wrapping her arms around her middle in defense against the cooling night air and the sweat drying on her skin. She sat with her back to him and her head supported by his shoulder because he was sitting behind her with her inside the shelter of his spread legs. Although the moon was as full as it had been last night, thanks to the trees, only a little of its light reached them.
Whatever she was sitting on dug into her buttocks which meant she wouldn’t be able to keep this position for long, but comfort and warmth would have to wait until she’d finished gathering her wits about her. Her body still hummed in contentment, and the marks Aztec had left on her shoulder didn’t ache so much as pulse. Hopefully the same was true for Nacon.
“What step?” she asked, although she thought she knew.
“Finding your roots.”
“Don’t you mean your roots? Never mind, we went over this before, didn’t we?” When he didn’t respond or move his arms from over her breasts, she sighed and continued. “I don’t know what to expect and that makes me nervous, but you’re right. If I’m ever going to understand what brought us together, I have to go deeper.”
“To the truth.”
He was warning her that she’d be changed by whatever he had in mind for her, but she’d spoken the truth when she’d told him she had to break through those last layers if she was ever going to comprehend, not just his world, but herself. “How?”
“By trusting me.”
She did, that was the incredible thing—she explicitly trusted this man from another time and world, a man who understood both what was going through her mind and inside a fierce and wild animal.
“Not just me,” he said. “Aztec is part of this, he and your tattoo.”
“You keep mentioning that. Why?”
“You’ll understand once we’re there.”
What was that, a promise or a threat? It didn’t matter. “What do I have to do?”
“Nothing beyond placing your life in my hands.”
Oh, is that all? “And when I have, what’s going to happen?”
“I can’t be sure.”
“Right now?”
“I hope so. I’ve been—ever since I was taken from my time, some memories of what I left behind have been elusive. I remember many things like the city I lived in and my parents’ voices. I could always remember smells, sounds, colors, but not the emotions.”
“Your emotions?”
“Just not them, those of everyone I lived with or came in contact with. I don’t understand why that is.”
“That surprises you? People can’t read each others’ minds, usually.”
“You’re not going to want to hear this, but once I always knew whether the enemy I was facing was afraid. I’d lost those things over the years, the centuries. I couldn’t even hold onto what I felt, and that bothered me more than not belonging anywhere.”
“Oh, Nacon.” She looked back over her shoulder at him.
“That has changed. The emotions are back.”
“I’m glad.” I think.
“You’re responsible, Dana. The curtain between me and my world is lifting. I think—I believe I can find it again.”
No surprise, she started shivering. “How?”
His long, deep breath resonated through her. “By taking you with me. You and Aztec.”
Before she could say anything, Nacon was pushing her away so he could stand. Once he had, he helped her to her feet. She stood there as naked as the day she was born while he extended a hand toward Aztec who was a few feet away studying something in the underbrush. The moment Nacon reached for him, Aztec closed the distance between them and let Nacon wrap his arm around his neck. Then Nacon took her hand and lifted it toward the sky.
“We come,” he said. “Huitzilopochti, lord of war, Tlaloc, god of rain, show us the way home. Xipe Totec who brings us spring, welcome us to the land of our birth.”
If anyone else had spoken those words, she might have laughed at them, but already the air was growing warmer and static electricity or something had touched Aztec’s fur, causing it to stand up all over his body. Nacon, too, seemed to be filling with energy and his, or maybe energy of her own, made her feel more alive than she ever had. Needing to laugh, to cry in delight, she turned toward Nacon.
He was losing definition, almost as if someone or something was taking an eraser to his edges. A glance at Aztec affirmed that the same thing was happening to him. Terrified and yet not, she planted her feet on the ground, or rather she tried to. However, something spongy had taken the place of the earth and even that was becoming less solid.
Her head started, not spinning exactly, but more like searching randomly. Her vision was becoming less and less reliable, so she gave up trying to hold onto her surroundings and concentrated on her hand in Nacon’s and Aztec’s potent presence.
“Mom, Dad, what’s happening?”
“I’m here, honey. You’re safe.”
At the sound of her father’s voice, she began lifting and falling apart almost as if she was in an elevator with zero gravity. Despite her disbelief, a sense of joy washed over her as she lost contact with everything she’d ever known. So lightheaded that she wondered if she was on the verge of blacking out, she imagined she was drifting
on a cloud, either that or the world’s softest mattress. The other two travelers were with her and yet in their own cocoons, their own elevators. Now she saw only blipping lights of the softest reds, yellows and oranges. Was she in the middle of the world’s most incredible sunset? If so, she wanted it to go on and on.
“Dad, are you still here?”
“Let it happen, my dear. The time has come.”
“For what”?
“Everything.”
Until now, she’d been unaware of sounds beyond the conversation between her and her father’s spirit, but now something, a flute maybe, caught her attention. What incredible notes, like a breeze blowing through a narrow opening and joining with the songs of countless birds. As a small child, she’d spent hours looking out the back window of her mother’s house so she could watch the birds her mother fed. Their ceaseless movement coupled with near weightlessness had made her long to join them.
Now, maybe, she was.
Nacon pulled her against him and whispered something she couldn’t hear. Still, she hugged him and held on. A presence on her other side alerted her to Aztec, so she reached out. Her fingers brushed the big cat’s teeth.
Form and substance must be returning because she was again aware of standing on something. Her eyes recorded not just colors, but shapes and depth. Instinctively knowing she needed to be patient, she clung to Nacon and Aztec as their world took on definition. Nacon was trembling a little, not, she believed, from fear, but excitement and joy. She couldn’t grasp Aztec’s mood, but at least the cat wasn’t snarling and hadn’t assumed a fighting stance.
“Dad, it’s incredible! Dad, are you here?”
Nothing, which would have saddened and maybe frightened her if things weren’t becoming clearer. Trembling alongside Nacon, she willed herself to be patient.
They were in a city of some kind, but nothing with which she was familiar. Instead of cars and buses, people traveled on foot, many of them carrying their loads or hauling them in crude wagons. The people wore unfamiliar clothes and a fair number, especially the children, hadn’t bothered with garments. There were colorful flowing robes, elaborate head-dressings, long shirts of indeterminate fabric decorated with feathers and a multitude of stones, turquoise and opals being most prominent.
It was easy to determine the differences between the haves and have-nots based on the amount or lack of ornamentation. In addition, the have-nots treated their superiors with reverence, even fear. The poor carried burdens while the wealthy either strode slowly through what appeared to be a market area or were eating in what were obviously outdoor restaurants.
Looking into face after face left her believing that whoever these people were, they either couldn’t see her or considered her of no interest. Judging by their lack of reaction, they couldn’t see Aztec, thank goodness, but how much longer would the predator be safe? Much as she wanted to study Nacon so she could judge his mood, she lacked the courage. He’d brought her here, hadn’t he? For what purpose?
No, she chided herself, he would never expose her to danger. And neither would her father. Relax, absorb, comprehend.
The presence of such things for sale as feathers, baskets of foodstuff from corn to fish, honey and nuts, stones, shells, adobe bricks, tile, wood, herbs, obsidian mirrors, cooking pots, reed, and mats put her in mind of several crafts or street fairs she’d attended. At other shops, people were getting their hair cut or washed or being shaved. From what she could tell, money wasn’t changing hands. Instead, the medium of exchange appeared to be some kind of bean.
Where are we, she wanted to ask Nacon, but she already knew.
“This is Tlatelolco,” he said as if reading her mind. “A sister city to the great Tenochtitlan.”
“Why are we here?” Although they were standing so close that she could feel him, she still couldn’t drag her attention from her surroundings.
“I—Dana, I had no control over our destination. A force stronger than any of us was responsible. But this I know, Tlatelolco is—was the heart of our religion and ceremonial life. Perhaps that explains everything.”
Where sacrifices took place? No, she wasn’t going to mar this incredible experience with that question. Now that she’d had a little more time to wrap her mind around what had happened, she realized that she, Nacon and Aztec were indeed standing in the middle of the market area, but it was as if they were superimposed on the scene and not quite part of it. As for how long their separation might last— “It’s amazing. There’s nothing primitive—the Aztecs were so advanced, weren’t they?”
When he didn’t reply, she turned to look at him. Yes, that was wonder and joy in his eyes, lights she hadn’t seen even when they were having sex. He wanted, needed this! It was his life. His soul. “Nacon?”
Shaking himself, he turned his attention to her. “Advanced, yes. All children went to school. We had judges and tax gatherers, poets and artists, elected leaders, and military commanders. Each city had its own ruling council.”
As her surroundings came into ever clearer focus, she noted a massive gray pyramid behind the marketplace. From here she couldn’t tell enough about the pyramid or temple to be sure of its use, but the only one to come to mind made her shudder. Before she could make up her mind whether to mention the structure, she sensed a change in Aztec. He was still standing beside her, his eyes constantly moving as he took in what must have been as foreign to him as it was to her. Spotting a group of boys a short distance away, she wondered if they’d be afraid of the jaguar. What if they tried to kill him? Was Aztec asking himself the same question?
“Nacon?” She squeezed his hand. “Is Aztec still safe?”
“Watch.”
The boys had already huddled together and were speaking animatedly. Before long, two of them hurried over to a nearby stall where flowers were being sold and grabbed a long strand made up of what appeared to be roses woven into some kind of vine. From the shopkeeper’s reaction, Dana guessed that the boys were his children, and when they pointed at Aztec, he at first stared and then nodded. The two rejoined their companions and the group started toward Aztec, Nacon and her.
“We’re visible now, Dad. No more watching without being watched.”
The boys approached slowly, almost reverently. Maybe Aztec had interpreted their body language because he relaxed and cocked his head. The closer they came, the more other people noticed. They paid her and Nacon little attention, but were obviously in awe of Aztec as witnessed by how a number of them dropped to their knees and lowered their heads as if praying.
When the boys were close enough that she could see they all had beautiful dark eyes, they began talking in hushed tones. She couldn’t understand anything they were saying, but Nacon responded, his incomprehensible tones harsh and fascinating. His eyes continued to spark with new life, and she sensed he was reaching out to the boys in ways that had nothing to do with what they were doing. How long had he been longing to talk to his people, not just talking, but being part of their lives?
“What do they want?” she asked despite the lump in her throat.
“To honor the sacred beast.”
Maybe she should have expected that, but could she blame herself for being unable to stay on top of everything that was happening? After all, she’d just now realized that Nacon and she were dressed like the others, she in a dress with shells and bits of turquoise around the neckline while Nacon wore only a top-of-the-thigh skirt-like garment, also with shells woven into it.
Questions about how she’d gone from being naked to dressed could come once Aztec had been honored and a million other issues faced and questions answered. When the boy who’d been holding the flowers and vines held out his offering and shuffled even closer to Aztec, she blinked back tears. The jaguar had gone from being isolated to the center of attention and was obviously enjoying his new status.
Nacon said something to the boy which caused him to smile shyly, take two more steps and drape his gift over Aztec’s neck. Then he s
tepped back and dropped to his knees. As he did, his companions followed suit. Even more of the adult onlookers knelt. Judging by the energy sparking through Nacon, she half expected him to do the same.
“They really are honoring him, aren’t they?” she whispered.
“Yes, of course. Jaguars are assured of an afterlife. They are cautious, wise, proud and powerful. To be a Jaguar Knight is a great honor.”
He was speaking in the present tense, but no wonder. Surrounded by not just the sights of the world he’d come from, but sounds and smells as well, she barely remembered the world she’d always known. This place with its multitude of voices and exotic scents was vibrant and real. Nacon’s reality. Or at least it had been until he’d been ripped from it.
With a start, she realized that the boys had gotten to their feet and were backing away, their task completed. Others were returning to whatever they’d been doing as if in retrospect seeing a wild animal in the middle of their marketplace wasn’t all that unusual. Even Aztec now appeared disinterested in his surroundings, and his attention was on the land beyond the temple. His nostrils flared and his ears came forward. Every line of his body was on alert. Instead of asking Nacon for an explanation, she strained to see what Aztec was looking at. Unfortunately, everything that far away was a blur.
Aztec started walking, his paws seeming to cling to the ground before breaking free. Intrigued, she took a step of her own only to be reminded that she still held Nacon’s hand. When she glanced back at him, a shiver of pure need ran through her. “I’d like to follow—”
“So would I.”
Chapter Fourteen
Walking through the city on their way to the outskirts gave Dana a good idea of how large the city was. She was impressed by the housing quality, but even more awed by the temple or pyramid or whatever she should call it. Knowing that this was where lives were forcefully ended made her a little sick to her stomach, but if she were ever going to fully understand Nacon’s roots, she would have to accept this as well as the good.