Wanderers 4: A Tough Act to Follow (The Wanderers)

by Richard Bamberg

  I abbreviated the story to a quick five minutes while Cris grew more concerned with each minute.

  Finally, I finished by telling her Verðandi had left to find a method to fix me, but with no promises of success.

  “Well, damn, that is bad,” Cris said.

  “Yeah, pretty bad. I wouldn’t have troubled you if I weren’t desperate.”

  “Yes, I understand. Well, this isn’t exactly how I thought you’d ride back into my life, but I’ll take what I can get. Let me contemplate your problem. Nothing immediately comes to mind in any of my studies, but give me a chance before you give up on me.”

  “I’m not expecting you to be able to fix me, I just thought you might have come across something or someone who might could help,” I said.

  “And none of the other Wanderers have been able to help?” Cris asked.

  “She doesn’t know?” Tess asked.

  “Know what?”

  “Cris, Tess, and I are all of the Wanderers left. Rowle killed all of the others before the Huntsville showdown.”

  Cris’s face paled. “You’re kidding; I thought there were like a dozen or so of you. How could he have killed all of them?”

  “That’s the truth according to Verðandi and I have no reason to doubt her. I don’t know the exact mechanism, but apparently it was over a short time or one of us would have gotten wind of it.”

  “And Verðandi didn’t warn you what was happening?”

  “Verðandi isn’t big on giving us much information. I gather that there’s some kind of restriction on the Fates that keep them from telling us too much.”

  “Well, this just keeps getting better,” Cris said. “And Alex? You said he’d been killed and reaped by Verðandi?”

  “That’s right. Unfortunately, Rowle got to him first,” I added.

  “But how can Rowle claim him? Rowle gave up being a Wanderer, didn’t he?”

  “According to Verðandi, Alex should have gone to me to be my apprentice, but Rowle has him now. I don’t understand how Rowle was able to reach him; he shouldn’t have known he’d been reaped. Usually only the Wanderer assigned to an apprentice knows anything about him.”

  “Well this certainly puts a damper on our reunion. I’m sorry about Alex. I was looking forward to having an apprentice of my own,” Cris said.

  “Imagine how I feel. It was bad enough to learn my son was killed–”

  “What? Wait a minute, Alex was your son?” Cris demanded.

  “Ah, yeah, I guess I never got around to telling you that. The subject never really came up.”

  Cris picked up a fresh bottle of wine, topped off Tess and my glasses and then did the same for herself.

  She set the nearly empty bottle back on the coffee table and took a large swallow before saying, “Oh, wow! I was going to apprentice your son. That’s unreal, but surely Rowle can’t hold Alex once you find them.”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “But he’s your son, surely he’ll side with you,” Cris argued.

  “Yeah, about that.”

  I hesitated.

  “What are you leaving out?”

  “You might as well tell her, Rafe. She needs all the information we have if she’s going to help,” Tess said.

  I hesitated a moment longer, took a breath, and then let it spill. “Verðandi dropped a few other tidbits of information. It turns out that all of the Wanderers are direct descendants of hers.”

  Cris hand went to her mouth. “Oh, my goddess. You’re descendant from a god?”

  “That’s only half of it,” Tess said.

  “There’s more?”

  “Yeah, it turns out that both Tess and I are also descended from Rowle. He’s something like our great-grandfather, about six times over.”

  “Shut the front door!” Cris exclaimed. “The man who keeps trying to kill you is your ancestor. That’s messed up.”

  I shrugged and took another drink from my own glass before saying, “I don’t think he’s actually been trying to kill me or at least he hasn’t done it when he had the chance. He told me once that he thought I’d leave Verðandi, eventually, and join him. I don’t know why he didn’t reveal our kinship.”

  “And you and Tess are cousins.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Yeah, there’s a bit of an ick factor there,” Tess said.

  Cris turned slightly toward her and then nodded. “I figured you and Rafe had to be sleeping together. I remember how hot Cynthia got for him after they had practiced just one spell together. I couldn’t believe you could have been training under Rafe for nearly six months without jumping him.”

  “Six months, hell, I didn’t let him go six days before I had him,” Tess bragged.

  “There were, ah, extenuating circumstances,” I said.

  “Oh?” Cris said.

  “She had some pretty horrible injuries that needed healing. You know that healing spell works faster if you’re flesh to flesh,” I said.

  “Oh, yeah, I know. Still six days, doesn’t show a lot of restraint on your part, Rafe,” Cris said.

  “He tried, Cris, but I’m not one to take no lightly, especially when we were sleeping together practically naked.”

  The two women smiled knowingly at each other and I felt like a piece of meat, a well-appreciated piece of meat, but a filet is still meat.

  Cris leaned toward Tess and held out her glass. Tess leaned forward and they clinked their glasses together.

  “Good for you, Tess,” Cris said.

  “Ahem, I’m right here,” I said.

  Cris turned and kissed me. “We know you are, Rafe. Don’t pretend you don’t appreciate the interest.”

  “I’m just saying you could act a little more circumspect when I’m in the room with you.”

  “Ah, did the big bad Wanderer get embarrassed at the attention?” Cris said.

  Tess snickered and then covered by raising her glass to her lips and taking a sip of her wine.

  “I’m going to order pizza before we fill up on snacks. What do you two like?”

  “A supreme,” Tess said. “As long as there are no fish on it.”

  “Got it, no anchovies. Rafe?”

  “The same will be fine with me.”

  “Good, that’ll make things easy.” Cris walked to the kitchen counter and picked up her phone. She called up an app and made a few selections before setting the phone back down.

  “Pizza will be here in twenty minutes or there about. Tess, I imagine you’d like to freshen up before dinner. Grab your bag and I’ll show you around. Rafe, you come too.”

  Cris led us on a short tour of her house and pointed out the guest rooms and guest baths. Tess dropped her saddlebags on the bed of the first guest rooms and then disappeared into the bath.

  Cris took my hand and dragged me down the hallway to the master bedroom. She took my saddlebag and set it on the bed before putting me into another lip lock. I thought of pushing the door shut, but then realized that without my magic, I’d actually have to walk back to the door to close it.

  When Cris finally broke the kiss, she leaned back and met my gaze. “That was nice.”

  “Sure was,” I agreed.

  “Do you think Tess would want to join us in the big bed?” Cris asked with a provocative smile.

  “What?”

  “Don’t act naïve and don’t pretend you haven’t been thinking about a threesome. Even without my soul reading ability, I know men. You all fantasize about two women. Besides, I won’t believe you’ve never thought about it or that you’ve never tried it.”

  “Hey, just because I’m a guy–”

  She raised a finger to my lips and hushed me. “If you’re worried what Tess will think, I can ask her.”

  “Ask me what?” Tess said from the bedroom door.

  Oh, crap.

  “I was wondering if you would rather share our bed rather than sleeping alone,” Cris said bluntly.

  “Cris!” I exclaimed. I couldn’t believe she’d j
ust blurt out such a question.

  I turned so I could see Tess’s reaction. At least she hadn’t stormed out of the room. She actually appeared to be considering the question.

  “I appreciate the offer, Cris,” Tess said as she walked closer. “I’m obviously not as worldly as you are, but I must admit I have thought about a threesome. As interesting as it sounds, I’m not sure if I should tonight. You and Rafe haven’t been together in some time and you must want some time alone.”

  She reached us, cupped my face in her hands, and kissed me passionately. When she pulled back, there was devilment in her eyes. “Cris, ask me again, if we’re still here tomorrow night.”

  “Ah–” I began.

  “If you don’t wear him out tonight,” Tess added and left the room.

  Chapter 24

  Raphael

  Our kiss was full of desperate need and only broke when Cris pushed me into her bedroom. I pushed at the door as she started pulling my jacket off my shoulders. My own fingers attacked the buttons of her blouse, unfastening each one with dexterity and a growing haste. She let my jacket drop to the floor and started at my belt buckle. By the time I had her out of her blouse, she had my pants undone. Her warm hands dipped into my shorts and wrapped tightly around my member. I moaned into her mouth as she squeezed. I started sliding the blouse down her arms, but I stopped because then she’d have to let go of me.

  Cris stroked me a couple of times and my blood boiled. I picked her up and carried her to the king sized four-poster bed that took up a small portion of the large room. Without breaking our lip lock, I gripped the bedspread and top sheet with one hand and flung them toward the bottom of the bed. Laying Cris out on the sheet, I found the button of her jeans, unsnapped them, and slid down her zipper. My fingers slid between the elastic of her panties and the smooth, flat, flesh of her belly. They moved down, over the small, well-trimmed bush that formed a triangle of soft brown fur that pointed downwards toward what I sought. My fingers found the hot flesh of her nether lips, parted them, and slipped inside her dampness.

  She moaned into my mouth. Squeezing me tighter, Cris began to stroke me with more enthusiasm. I moved closer to the bed, pinning her hand between our bodies while my fingers moved into her and my thumb found her clitoris. I brought one finger out of her to spread some of her dampness across her clit’s tender bud and then caressed it between thumb and forefinger. She shuddered against me and moaned again. I felt the walls of her vagina spasm and then her hips rose off the bed as she bucked into my hand. While she quivered uncontrollably, I gradually eased up on my administrations to her sensitive flesh.

  As her body came under her control again, I raised my lips from hers and met her lustful gaze. My fingers left her moist center, slid up her flesh to lightly caress one nipple, and then rose to her lips. She nibbled at my index finger and then sucked it into her mouth. Her hand released my penis as she yanked my pants and shorts down together and then clasped my cheeks and squeezed as she pulled at me. I pulled my finger from her mouth and replaced it with my tongue while I shoved her pants and panties down her legs and threw them off the bed. I tore at my shirt, frantic to get it off of me as Cris hastily discarded her blouse. I kicked off my pants as I climbed onto the bed and between Cris’s muscular thighs.

  I held myself above her on my hands and stared down at her while her fingers dug into my cheeks and tried to pull me down.

  “I want you,” Cris said.

  “I know. I want you too.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?”

  “Do you want to mesh first?” I asked.

  In response, one hand left my butt and clasped my penis in a firm grip. She pulled and I followed as she led me into her center. In one long slow thrust, I slid into her and the walls of her vagina squeezed so tight against me that I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull out. Both of her hands grasped my cheeks again and pulled as her pelvis rose to push me deeper into her.

  Cris’s vagina walls began to spasm around me and I found that I had lost all control. We bucked against each other in a frantic insane rhythm until as a raging, quivering beast; I exploded inside her.

  We lay entwined, our sweat creating a layer of damp warmth between us, until we’d both caught our breath and were able to do more than pant. I kissed the hollow of Cris’s neck and then rolled us onto our sides.

  “Still the gentleman, eh, Rafe?” Cris chuckled.

  “Always for a lady,” I whispered back.

  Her teeth nibbled the side of my neck and she murmured something I didn’t catch.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  She bit me hard enough to draw a surprised yip.

  “I said, ‘who says I’m a lady?’”

  I rolled again, pulling her with me until she was stretched out atop me.

  “Well,” I said with a mischievous leer spreading across my face. “Then who says I’m a gentleman.”

  Before she could say anything in response, my right hand rose and came down solidly against the flesh of her lower cheeks.

  As her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, my other hand pulled her face back down to mine and we kissed, our tongues embraced, danced…and I spanked her one more time.

  She squirmed against me and bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.

  I slid the fingers of both hands along her ribs and tickled. She writhed, noticed that I’d recovered and moved in a more orderly fashion against me. My fingers left her ribs and moved softly over the swell of her breasts to capture her nipples and roll them tenderly. Her lips returned to attack my mouth as her knees came up to either side of my torso and she began to thrust back against me in earnest.

  After a few minutes, her pace increased to where she couldn’t maintain contact with my lips. She pressed her palms against my chest as I gathered her breasts into my palms. Arching, she threw back her head and rocked atop me in wild abandon. I was nearly there when I felt the walls of her pussy quivering as she climaxed. It was enough to finish off any hope I had of holding back my own climax. Our movements grew staccato and then she collapsed to my chest, her breath coming hot and fast against my throat. I sucked in air and slowly caressed her sweat covered back from shoulder to thigh. I paused there to cup her cheeks and run a finger down her crack to where our bodies were joined. She shuddered again. I brought my hands, and their teasing fingers, back up, tracing her spine to her nape. Gathering fistfuls of her hair, I raised her head off my chest and lowered my mouth to hers. We kissed long and deep, but with tenderness that had been missing from our last kiss.

  “Ummm,” Cris murmured.

  I felt myself slipping from her and felt her tense as I did.

  “That was nice,” she said into my mouth.

  I pulled her face back, kissed each of her eyes, and the tip of her nose just as a drop of sweat dropped from it to my tongue. “You’re welcome.”

  “You cad,” she said and tried to bite my lip, but I had a firm grip on her hair and held her back as I slid out from under her.

  “What are you doing? Let me go,” she demanded playfully. I knew she was more curious than anything else.

  “Don’t get your knickers in a bunch,” I said and dropped to my knees beside the bed.

  She giggled. “I can’t very well get my knickers in a bunch if I’m not wearing them.”

  I kissed her nape and then her spine between her shoulder blades. She made cooing noises and tried to reach for me, but I shifted my grip from her hair and held her hands at her sides.

  “That’s not fair,” she protested.

  I kissed her lower back on either side of her spine and then lowered my lips to her right buttock, where a slight red glow marked the spot I’d spanked. I kissed it tenderly. I moved to her other cheek and repeated my kiss.

  “That feels nice.”

  I kissed her cheek one more time and then stepped back. I rolled Cris onto her back and then off the bed, into my waiting arms. Her hands went around my head. Her fingers intertwined in m
y short hair and she pulled my lips down to hers. We kissed, softly, tenderly while I carried her into the master bath.

  We broke the kiss and I smiled down at her wide brown eyes. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you being in pain.”

  She raised two fingers to my bloody lip. “I think this must hurt a lot more than my butt does. Besides, that sting reminded me of our pleasure.”

  I reached for her, but she held me off and spoke a healing spell. Where she’d bitten my lip, my flesh warmed and in a couple of seconds, stopped aching.

  “There, now we’re both healed.” She reached down and played with my penis. “I don’t guess this is ready to go again?”

  I chuckled. “Not immediately. Give me a few minutes, I’m an old man.”

  “Hell, your body can’t be twenty-five years in whatever years you call someone who ages as slow as you Wanderers do.”

  “Maybe, but then you still have the body of a teenager. You’re expected to be able to go all night.”

  “Ha. Well, if you can keep getting it up, then I’m willing to give it a shot.”

  She left me and moved to the large shower that took up the back third of the impressive bath. There wasn’t a door, but instead the tile walls were deep enough and the floor sloped to keep all the spray inside the shower area. Two shower heads were mounted in opposite walls made of glass tile. Tess turned on both faucets and the water warmed immediately. Soon a thin cloud of steam filled the shower.

  She moved under the left stream, even though the two streams of warm water met in the center. I moved behind her and put my arms around her waist, across her tight belly, and pulled her back into me. She spun around, slowly, rubbing all of her body against me as she did. We kissed briefly.

  “Want to get a washcloth and do my back?” Cris asked.

  “Only if I can do more than your back,” I said.

  “Deal.”

  I walked back out of the shower, leaving wet footprints on the tile, and immediately found a tall linen closet on the right wall. I picked out the top two cloths and towels and returned to where Cris was letting the water splash against her scalp and cascade down across her body. I smiled, watching twin waterfalls spill off her nipples.