by Sam Cheever
“Why do you ask?”
Bleurgh! I so did not want to answer that question. “Um. Well. It’s just that…I noticed the clock wasn’t moving as quickly as it should at times.”
Lachesis’ wide green eyes were piercing, unyielding. “What times?”
Damn! I shrugged and started refilling their glasses, willing them to drink. I turned to Clotho. “More cake?”
She nodded eagerly and resumed her finger sucking, watching Lachesis carefully.
Knowing she had until the end of time to wait, whereas I had only a few hundred years, Lachesis knew she could easily out-wait me. Finally I blew out a resigned breath. “Okay, when Bion and I are together time stops.” I held my breath, expecting the worst.
Lachesis kept her scary green eyes on me for a couple of beats, just long enough to make my palms sweat and then nodded once. “We had nothing to do with that.”
My eyes widened. “But that’s impossible. Who did then?”
Clotho, apparently feeling that the scary moment had passed, resumed stuffing her cake wedge into her mouth.
Lachesis toyed with her wineglass.
“When you test the Fates strange things happen.” Atropos threw her sisters a look and they giggled.
I scowled at them. “But you just said you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Lachesis smiled. “We didn’t.”
“But…” I expelled a frustrated breath. “You aren’t making any sense.”
Clotho stood up and looked at her fingers. The chocolate smears that remained on them disappeared. “You have willingly pursued a relationship with this human. You know how it must end. Yet you continue on.” She stopped licking at the chocolate around her mouth long enough to slant her eyes at me intently. “Why, Daphne? Why do you set yourself upon this path when you know it will be your undoing?”
I dropped my butt onto a stool at the counter. “I don’t expect you to understand. I don’t even understand it. If I didn’t know better I would think Bion and I were fated to be together.”
The Graces shared a look between them that made me frown. “Are you sure we’re not fated?”
Lachesis picked up her wineglass. “Did not Clotho tell you she saw no human on your thread?”
I sighed and nodded. “Then I can’t explain it to you. Ever since the first time I saw him I’ve been drawn to him. No, it’s more than that, I’m not just drawn to him, I’m obsessed with him.”
They shared another look.
“I know he’s there before it’s possible for me to know. I sense him through walls, through doors, even through buildings. For the first time in my career I can’t make myself give a client to his match. I just can’t give him to her.” Tears slid down my cheeks. “The gods help me I can’t do it.”
Atropos reached over and plucked a tear off my cheek with one finger. “It was a cruel twist to give you Cupids such large hearts, my child. But it is the cross you must bear. It is your battle to fight. In all things there is a right path and a wrong one. You must choose correctly in this. We have seen your future in your thread. It is not an easy one. But you will lead the way for all Cupids to come with your phenomenal strength. It has been recorded thus.”
I looked up at her, viewing her from behind the moist curtain of my tears. “I don’t want to do what’s right. What’s right for the Fates is wrong for me.”
Lachesis handed me her wineglass. “That is the dilemma, isn’t it, Daphne? You must find the path that makes it right for all. If you do not…all is lost for you.”
Clotho handed me a tissue. I set the wineglass on the counter and wiped my eyes and nose. When I turned around they were gone.
I sat for a moment at the counter thinking about what they’d told me, not liking it at all but, despite myself, feeling a bit intrigued. Then I cast aside my thoughts and pushed myself wearily to my feet. As I tidied up the dishes I realized that one of the wineglasses was missing. Sighing, I decided I’d need to buy more glasses the next time I had a chance. Between breakage and kleptomaniac tendencies, the Fates went through more dishes than a one-armed dish washer at a wine taster’s convention.
Chapter Eight
Achieving Equine-imity
The next morning, I lay in bed reliving the incredible moments with Bion in the elegant dress shop the day before. My mind studiously ignored niggling reminders of my visit with the Fates.
There would be plenty of time for misery and regrets later, after Bion moved on with his life. Leaving me crushed and alone. I was not going to let the misery set in a moment sooner than it had to.
After a while I rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. As I stood under the blissfully hot water and went over my schedule for the day I kept getting distracted by thoughts of Bion. I finished up in the shower and stepped out, grabbing up a large, soft towel to dry off with. I heard my cell phone ringing in my bedroom, where I’d left it beside my bed.
I hurried into the room and grabbed it up.
“Good morning, sexy.”
Warmth pooled immediately between my thighs at the sound of his husky voice. “Hey there.”
“I think a little sundress and flats would be best. I won’t complain if you forget to wear those little lacy things underneath the dress.”
My smile widened. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
“And wear sunscreen, we wouldn’t want that beautiful skin to burn to a crisp, would we?”
“But…”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it, wondering what the hell had just happened. I looked at the clock. I needed to be at my first appointment in an hour. And after that I had an incredibly full day ahead of me. But, with Bion, I had all the time in the world before I had to face that schedule. I decided to trust that the time thing would work itself out as it had been doing and decided to just go with it.
Grinning like an idiot, I headed for my closet.
*
It was really big and really brown and smelled kind of interesting. The thing and I peered at each other doubtfully, each of us probably thinking the same thought. “What the hell am I gonna do with this?”
Bion finished his brief discussion with the creature’s owner and shook the man’s hand. He headed toward me with a smile that set my blood to boil.
Then the creature, standing a few feet away from me, snorted mightily. I jumped away with a shriek as warm snot sprayed my arm. The thing stamped one very large foot on the dusty ground in annoyance.
I grimaced and twisted my arm to wipe it on my dress, grimacing at the green spot it left on the flouncy, light-as-air skirt.
“You ready?”
I gave him my best “You’ve got to be kidding me” look. “For what?”
He chuckled and dragged me into his body with one arm, kissing me soundly. “For the adventure of your life.”
I couldn’t help smiling. “That sounds promising.” I flicked a hand over my shoulder toward the snorting, stamping creature behind me. “As long as it doesn’t include that.”
He threw back his head and laughed. Watching the way it flexed under the movement, I just barely resisted the urge to nibble the sexy, golden brown column of his neck.
Something warm and soft touched my arm and I turned to find a huge brown nose nudging me. The large nostrils snuffled gently and, incredibly, a long pink tongue swept out to taste my skin.
I gave a little shriek but Bion just pulled me more tightly against his body and reached to stroke the invasive nose. “He likes you. That’s good.”
My eyes widened. “Bion, look, I don’t know what you’re thinking but I can assure you, whatever it is, I’m not into it.”
He arched a dark eyebrow at me as he continued to stroke the creature’s nose. “You are Greek, right?”
I frowned at him, instantly feeling my ire rise. I was oh so sick of all the clichéd, misconceptions of the Greek race. One of which was the whole abnormal relationship w
ith animals thing. My hands flew to my hips with my indignant outrage. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He shrugged, favoring me with a slow, knee-melting smile. “I just thought you would understand the beauty and elegance of the horse. It’s all over your histories and myths.”
I flushed, realizing that what I’d been thinking was pretty sick and understanding that he realized it too. When he laughed, I looked down at my pretty pumps, which were now covered with a fine, brown dust.
“You have a very dirty mind, Daphne Charissa…”
I flushed an even darker red.
“And I like it.” He swept me up into his arms and, before I even realized what he was doing, plopped me gently onto the saddle.
“Hey!”
Then he stuck his left foot into the stirrup and slid into the saddle behind me. “Turn toward the front and put one leg on either side of the horse.”
I shook my head. I was clutching the front of the saddle with my right hand and something that was covered in denim with my left.
“Daphne, if you don’t let go of my crotch we aren’t going to have any fun later.”
I squeaked and pulled my hand out of his lap. But unfortunately the sudden action unbalanced me and I started to topple forward.
Bion reached for me just as my butt started to slide downward, toward the hard ground below, and somehow managed to heft me back up onto the saddle. My dress rode up to my waist, leaving me clutching frantically for the gauzy material and looking around to make sure the owner of the beast wasn’t around.
Bion reached around me and grabbed an indecently exposed thigh in each of his big, hard hands, pulling them gently but firmly apart.
I clutched his forearms and tried to resist the gentle pressure, experiencing a thrill as cool air wafted between my legs despite my best efforts to keep them tightly shut.
“Gods, girl, your thighs are more tightly clutched than a Catholic novice in a nunnery.”
“Please don’t make me ride this thing.” My voice came out in a panicked whisper that sounded so pitiful even I was alarmed.
He chuckled, the sound rumbling from his broad chest to vibrate in mine. “You’ll be fine, Daphne. I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. Don’t you trust me?”
I gulped. “Up until just now I did.”
He laughed again and this time the sound traveled south and did some very pleasant things to my sensual core that I couldn’t believe were possible right at that moment. His lips found the back of my neck, just under my ponytail and he initiated a soft trail of tingling warmth from my hairline toward my bared shoulder, nudging aside the thin strap so he could give my shoulder a gentle bite. By the time he’d followed the bite up with a swipe of his hot tongue I’d forgotten to clamp my thighs together.
He took quick advantage of my negligence. I soon found myself straddling the huge brown horse. Bion immediately snugged one arm around my waist and pulled me in close. “Now isn’t this nice?”
“No.” I responded petulantly but it was very hard to ignore the fact that something in his jeans was poking me insistently in the back.
“It will be.” And with those promising words he clucked gently at the horse and I felt his thighs flex behind me. The horse shot into a fast trot and I squeaked, grabbing at his forearm around my waist desperately.
Bion laughed, his warm breath tickling against the still sensitive skin of my neck. “He likes to go, this one. I think he’s gonna give us quite a ride.”
“Just awesome,” I mumbled petulantly as I struggled mightily to hold on to something…anything. “Why doesn’t this damn thing have any handles on it?”
Bion did something with his body and the horse dropped into a reluctant and very fast walk. “It does have handles, you just need to know where to look for them.”
I turned my head to look at him and almost slid off again. He grabbed me and shook his head.
“Where?”
“Hmmm?” His lips were on my other shoulder now.
I shivered in delight. “Where are the handles?”
He reached around me and grabbed a handful of thick, black mane. “Here’s one.” He stuffed the coarse, shiny hair into my stiff fingers. I clutched it like a lifeline. Then he took my other hand and wrapped it around the front of the flat, black, leather saddle. “This area here, where it rests above the horse’s withers, has enough room for your fingers to grab. See there?”
I nodded. I felt a little better now that I had something fairly stationary in each hand.
Bion’s head lowered until his lips were next to my ear. “But I prefer the third handle the best.”
I shivered and felt my body responding to his nearness, warming and tingling for his touch. “Where’s that one?”
Before I knew what he was doing he had reached around me and grabbed a thigh in each big hand. Then he lifted and swung me around in one smooth motion until I was sitting sideways in the saddle, with his arm supporting my back. Both of my legs rested on one of his denim-clad, muscular thighs. A gust of wind swept my skirt up and I grabbed it as it plastered itself to my face.
I heard Bion gasp at the view. “I’m glad to see you took my advice and left the little lacy bits at home.”
I managed to stuff the skirt between my legs and glared at him. “If I’d known what you had in mind I’d have worn armor and a helmet.”
Bion laughed. “Which is why I didn’t tell you.”
He clucked at the horse again and it shot into a trot, bordering on the next speed, whatever that was. I gasped and threw my arms around Bion’s neck, scrambling to get a leg on either side of him. When I’d managed it, with more than a little help from Bion, I looked up to find him smiling at me. “I see you’ve found the third handle.”
I opened my mouth to tell him I wanted to get off and he lowered his mouth to mine. Very effectively shutting me up and making me forget I was bouncing along at a frightening speed with nothing but Bion to keep me from plunging to certain death on the rocky ground below us.
His kiss wiped all thoughts of death from my mind. With a little moan, I tightened my arms around his neck and my lips opened to invite his probing, hot tongue to tangle with mine. My legs wrapped more tightly around his hips until I could feel every ridge and seam of his tight jeans through the soft fabric of my ridiculously inadequate dress.
Bion held the reins in one hand and swept the other one up my back, leaving a warm tingling trail wherever he touched. He cupped the back of my head, holding me under the sensual onslaught of his kiss.
My hands left his neck and I found myself ripping his shirt open to get to his smooth, golden brown chest. He groaned as my fingers found his hard little nipples and tweaked them gently. His stomach contracted with pleasure, highlighting the taut lines of a truly buff body.
I pulled my lips from his and took his bottom lip into my mouth, sucking it gently and nibbling it just a little bit between my teeth before moving down to suck on his chin. As usual, the skin there was stubbly with the beginnings of a beard that seemed to spring perpetually from his face. I let my tongue rasp gently over that stubble for a moment, enjoying the way he shivered under the sensual assault.
Then I started to nibble my way down the thick column of his neck and toward those beautiful pecs, which quivered in anticipation as I closed my lips over first one and then the other rigid nipple.
The spaghetti-thin straps of my dress slipped off my shoulders and were replaced by the heat of Bion’s hands. He skimmed them down my arms until they slipped off over my fingers.
Bion pushed me gently away from his chest and lowered his dark head to my breast. I moaned as his hot mouth closed over the first nipple and he sucked gently, bringing the tiny bud to a hard peak. My hands found his shoulders and my head fell back.
It was then that I remembered we were sitting on a moving horse. Overhead the trees swung by at a steady and rapid rate, branches occasionally swept the top of our heads as the horse moved through the trees under its own
steam, directionless. The rhythm of the horse’s movements made our bodies arch and settle, creating delicious sensations where we touched and adding another dimension to the sensual dance. I suddenly realized my body had been riding that rhythm for several moments without conscious awareness.
It was a good rhythm. A natural rhythm.
Bion’s arm flexed slightly and the horse slowed to a walk, snorting in the silent woods. The trees had thickened to the point where there was only a path about four feet wide where the horse walked and the sun was reduced to occasional plays of light on our faces and shoulders. In the distance I could hear water tumbling gently over rocks. Bird song filled the air around us.
Bion’s lips found my neck and his hand found a naked thigh. “I want you, Daphne, like I’ve never wanted another woman.”
I gasped as the hand moved upward, sliding easily under the worthless barrier of the thin dress. “Let’s find a patch of grass somewhere.”
The hand closed over my throbbing mound. “We will. Eventually.”
A thick finger slid into my wetness. I groaned and leaned backward to give him better access. I nearly slid off the horse as my back encountered nothing but air behind me and I remembered where I was. Bion’s hand caught my shoulder and the horse stopped moving. He lowered me down gently, until my head rested on a soft nest of mane. Though I could feel the horse quivering with excitement beneath me, he didn’t move.
Bion’s finger took up a gentle rhythm and his thumb played across the tiny nub that was the seat of my pleasure. I moaned and arched into the hand, feeling his ministrations like jolts of electricity running up my body and through my limbs. He bent at the waist and took a hard nipple into his mouth, nibbling it between his teeth gently and then sucking it hard, just to the point of pain, before releasing it and repeating the performance on the other nipple.
The finger increased its rhythm and my body met it thrust for thrust, mating with it enthusiastically. Suddenly the finger disappeared and I whined pitifully, opening my eyes as I felt Bion move. He grabbed my arms and lifted me into a sitting position.