Passion Flower: 1

by Sindra van Yssel

  She lifted the flashlight to play around the trees and the vines, looking for arthrochilus nocturnem.She hadn’t expected the island to be covered with them, and it wasn’t. Not having any luck, she ventured farther in.

  Then suddenly she saw it. It was bigger than her fist, and its white petals were streaked with violet, two parallel lines on each. They looked almost too regular for nature, at first, until she looked closer, and the little wiggles and variations in thickness became apparent. Immediately she spotted several other blooms a few feet away. The little flashlight had revealed a diorama of striking beauty.

  She bent forward and sniffed a flower. It smelled oddly familiar, although she was having trouble placing it. It wasn’t entirely pleasant, but somehow she liked the flower more for it. Maybe I’m on the rebound. A little white moth fluttered across the beam of light and landed between two purple stripes. Against the white background, it was almost invisible. A perfect hiding place.

  She spotted the shadow of a large flower that had broken off and fallen on the ground and she reached out for it. She didn’t want to break off any of the blooms, but it would be nice to take a specimen back to her room so she could study it in better light.

  The “flower” moved, straight for her foot, and she shrieked and backed up. Whatever it was followed, scurrying across the jungle floor. She tripped backward on a root and landed on her bottom. She clutched the flashlight for dear life and used the other hand to try to break her fall. Hurriedly she tried to scramble away, but she had trouble getting her footing and her hand got tangled up in a vine.

  Suddenly something big moved from the brush. A large hand swept the “flower” up and tossed it out of sight.

  “Do try not to pick up the spiders,” Carter said drily.

  Natalie gasped. She whipped the flashlight around. Carter stood over her. He had on green camo pants and a matching shirt, and there were splotches of black paint on his face. He reached down for her with one hand and held the other up to shield his face. “Hey, watch where you point that thing.”

  Okay, so pointing it right at his eyes wasn’t nice. She lowered it to point at his chest. “You scared the daylights out of me!”

  He shrugged.

  “I thought you were with Rhonda,” she said, because it was the first thing to pop in her mind. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. His arm was steady and strong.

  “I told you she wasn’t my type,” he said. “Nice night for a stroll?”

  “Uh, yeah.” She’d been caught, but he didn’t know everything. Not yet. But she wanted to tell him. Wanted him to tell her it was okay. “Was that spider poisonous? I thought you said the jungle was safe. Or Tom did.”

  “Well, we didn’t anticipate anyone wandering during the night. The spider is nocturnal, but no, it wouldn’t have killed you. Its bite would have stung like a braided cat, and you might have thrown up, but you’d have been able to make it back to the house.”

  “Ugh.”

  He took her other wrist and turned the flashlight back on the flowers. “Beautiful, aren’t they? I was admiring them. Arthrochilus nocturnem.”

  “You know orchids?”

  “Not a clue. Except that they are beautiful. Nearly as beautiful as you, actually. I think you go together quite nicely, seeing you side by side.”

  His words made her feel warm all over. She could almost believe he meant them. She tried to stay on topic. “Then how do you know…?”

  He shook his head. “Maybe you should tell me the truth, Natalie.”

  She bowed her head. And then flashed the light around the ground, in case there were more spiders, as long as she was looking down.

  “Uh, Natalie?”

  She sighed. He’d obviously been lying in wait for her. Was it too late to confide in him? He seemed to know almost everything already, even if he pronounced arthrochilus all wrong. Maybe they still had a moment of time. A man who could lift her and spank her and make her come and then rescue her from poisonous spiders—he was someone worth taking a chance for.

  “Master, I’m sorry.” It seemed like a good place to start.

  “I’m still listening,” he said.

  She nodded and lifted the flashlight back to point to his broad chest. Through the reflections she could see at least some of his face that way, but she couldn’t read him. It was hard enough to know what he was thinking in broad daylight. “I came to this island partly, well, mostly, to look for this orchid. When I found out what the setup was here, I thought I, well, I’ve read a few books and always thought Dominance and submission was hot, but where would one find a real man like that? But I figured I knew enough to fake it.”

  “You’ve been faking?” He raised his eyebrows.

  “Um, no.”

  “Good, ’cause if you said you were I’d assume you were back to lying and I’d put you over my knee and paddle you.”

  “Maybe I deserve a paddling anyway.” She wanted to make amends for her deception. She wanted to make it all right somehow.

  “Oh, you definitely do. But if you tell the truth from here on out, we can do it in the comfort of the house.”

  She took a breath. Somehow his statement that he’d spank her made a lot of the stress go away.

  “There’s really not much more to tell. That’s why I sneaked out of the house that first night, diving in the water. That’s why I was out here today. To look at these orchids.”

  “And why do they matter to you, Natalie?” His voice was soft.

  “Because we don’t know why they bloom at night.” He probably thought that was lame, but it wasn’t. It mattered.

  “And why is that important? It’s interesting. But why is it worth paying thousands of dollars and running around naked with a bunch of perverts halfway across the world?”

  “It’s the only orchid that does. Anywhere. And well, science works like that, sometimes. You keep asking questions, and finding out the answers. Sometimes only a few people care. Sometimes it helps someone find another answer about something else.” Sometimes that led to finding out that a mold could kill bacteria and save thousands of lives, but one didn’t find things like that unless one kept asking questions. Chances were any one answer wouldn’t produce anything so helpful, and she wasn’t going to say that it would.

  He smiled. “I like your passion, Natalie.”

  “Maybe I did get a little wound up there.”

  He pulled her in and kissed her. She moved her hands to him and felt something hard and thick and long. But it wasn’t where a cock ought to be and it was cold.

  “I am happy to see you, but that’s a flashlight. I daresay better than the one you have.”

  She laughed and slid her hands between them. His cock twitched when she moved her hand over it. He pulled it away. “Later, Natalie. Let’s look at the flowers you’ve come so far for. And when we get back, we’ll deal with the rest.”

  “Will you let me make you come, Master?” she asked. Dammit, if he asked her to she’d go down on him right there. Providing he promised to watch out for spiders.

  “As long as you don’t tell any more lies, I’ll insist on it.”

  She nodded. “I’ll be good.”

  He clicked the flashlight open. In the better light, the flowers were even more beautiful. There were fine purple spots on the rims she couldn’t see before. And more moths, although they were such pale things they really didn’t detract from the beauty.

  “They’re lovely but they smell like old books,” Carter commented. “Which is fine, if they were old books.”

  That was it, the smell she was trying to place. “Thank you.” She bent down and sniffed again. That was definitely it. And old books smelled that way because of dust, but also because of mold. And some moths fed on mold. She watched as a moth flew up onto the labellum of one flower and brushed up against the pollen-containing anther. Little flecks of pale yellow pollen stuck to the moth’s body as it pulled away.

  The blooms were all for the little moths. A
nd most moths were nocturnal, to avoid daytime predators such as the birds she saw earlier. Flower, moth, bird, all caught in a little dance on a tiny island. It wasn’t certain, by any means. But it was a good working hypothesis, one she’d need days or weeks of study to verify.

  She told him, even though she doubted he’d be interested. But he nodded. “And you want know for sure,” he said when she was done.

  “Yes.”

  “You’re only here for a few more days. Is that enough time?”

  She shook her head. “Probably not. Maybe.”

  “Well then.” He chuckled. “I don’t think it’s enough time for me to get done with what I want to do to you either. We might be able to come to some kind of arrangement.”

  She blinked, not sure she’d heard him correctly. “You want to—do more things with me? More kinky things?” She blushed. “More sex?”

  “I want to see what it’s like being honest with each other. Trusting each other. And yes, more kinky sex.” He grinned broadly. “I had thought the main point of that statement for you would have been more time to study the orchid, but I have to say I’m rather pleased your mind went in another direction.”

  “I would have thought it would be too,” she said. “But…” She shrugged. “I guess I’m drawn to you like a moth is—”

  “Drawn to flowers that smell like old books?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Surely in your broad experience with biology you can come up with a better analogy than that.”

  She giggled. “Maybe that will be my next paper. ‘Attraction of the submissive female for the Dominant male in modern humans: An evolutionary perspective.’”

  “Sounds very erudite.”

  “So what kind of arrangement did you have in mind?”

  “I agree to let you stay here as my guest, past your paid time on the island. I’ll make sure you have time to do your research, and even use better equipment than you were able to smuggle in as a keychain fob. We could even make a trip off the island for gear, if you like.”

  It sounded as though she’d pretty much have everything the university asked for in its original proposal. “And what do I do in return, Sir?”

  “Whatever I ask.”

  She couldn’t agree to that. What if he asked her to do something dangerous, or evil? Then she thought about what she’d seen of him so far, the way he’d seen to her welfare first. He’d already had considerable power over her, if he’d wanted to take it. And he hadn’t. She couldn’t be absolutely sure—maybe no one could be sure of anyone but themselves—but she trusted him.

  And she wanted to submit to him. Badly. As much as she wanted to study the night-blooming orchid. She flashed the light on the ground and, seeing it clear of spiders, she went to her knees in front of him. “Yes, Master.”

  “Look up at me.”

  She looked up and repeated it. “Yes, Master.” The ground was wet, the moisture slowly soaking through her stockings. Her pussy was wet too. Neither were going to move her from her knees until he gave her permission.

  “Do you want to study your orchid now, or can it wait for tomorrow night?”

  She’d given him control, and he was asking for her preference anyway. It seemed like a good sign. There was only one thing she wasn’t willing to wait for. She wanted him inside her—no, more than that. She wanted to show him the pleasure he’d given her. To make him come. “It can wait, Master.”

  Every time she said the word, she felt it more.

  “Good.” He unbuckled his flashlight and handed it to her. It was heavier than she had expected and she almost dropped it. “You light the way. I’m taking you to the cove.”

  He picked her up. She managed to find the switch on the flashlight while he waited for her. Then he started walking down the path. After all the ways she’d thought of serving him, she found more pleasure than she would have thought in simply keeping the path lit for him. Dominance and submission meant teamwork as well, two people working as one with clear direction. No wonder the genes—if it was genetic, and she had no idea—had survived.

  When they reached the cove, he kissed her deeply and all thought of genetics vanished. She kissed him back hungrily, her lips bruising with the ferocity with which she pressed them against his, challenging him for control. She didn’t care that a smudge of grease paint ended up on her face. Their tongues wrestled for a moment and then he took the kiss back over from her, leaning her back and taking her breath away. She loved his strength.

  He knelt, lowering her to the beach. The waves beat at the shore, barely seen, a gentle roar.

  “This time, will you please seek your own pleasure first, and let me serve you?” she asked.

  He looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”

  “No showing me how much you can endure, how long you can last?” She wanted to feel all his desire, to know that he wanted her. She already knew he was skilled.

  “I set the rules,” he said darkly.

  She wanted that too. “Yes, Master.” She’d said her piece, now she’d have to let him make the decision.

  He grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head, then tossed it on the ground. He lifted her and put her butt on it. Then he stood up and started to undress.

  The flashlight lay beside her, pointing into the jungle. She watched in the reflected light as he shucked his shirt, taking in his six-pack abs and hard, muscular chest. She couldn’t resist picking up the flashlight and shining level with his belt for a better view.

  He grunted and smiled at that, then kicked off his shoes and pants until he stood gloriously naked, his cock jutting out proudly. She moved to her knees and reached out for it, folding her hand around it then moving her lips to kiss the head.

  He groaned. “I was going to fuck you.”

  “You can, if you want to. All of me is available to you.” She took him into her mouth and was rewarded with the salty taste of his precum. Yeah, he wanted her. It made her feel powerful and beautiful.

  He wrapped his hands in her hair and pulled her forward. For a moment she panicked, worried she’d choke on his cock, but he didn’t push her that far. She relaxed and sucked on him. He pulled on her hair, sliding her back, and then pushed down again. She closed her eyes and inhaled his musky, masculine scent. She tightened her lips around his cock and licked the underside while he controlled the pace. She’d never had a man take control like that before. Going down on a man had never been her favorite thing, but she’d always been in charge. Now she wasn’t. Somehow that made it ten times better. She wanted him to use her for his pleasure, to have him gush in her mouth and force her to swallow.

  She let go of the flashlight, which she wasn’t using anymore anyway, and slipped her hand between his legs. She caressed his balls for a moment, feeling the silkiness of the skin there before moving on. She’d never tried this before, but she’d heard guys liked it. She slid her finger between his cheeks and found his opening, then pushed. He moaned and his grip tightened on her hair. He almost pushed her down too far, in fact, and she gagged for a split second before he quickly pulled her back. His control wasn’t perfect after all. But clearly good enough to keep her safe. She licked the saltiness from the head of his cock before he thrust in her again, and then she wiggled her finger into his ass.

  The reaction was so immediate it caught her by surprise. He was so deep in her mouth that his first spurt went straight down her throat and she hardly tasted it. Her swallow was reflexive. She sucked on him, milking his cum out of him, swallowing it all down hungrily, greedily. She didn’t know what had come over her exactly, but in that moment it was as if she could see through his eyes the woman who was serving him, and that woman was incredibly sexy. And it was herself.

  He pulled her off him. He knew how to pull hair—she could feel it, and it was intense, but it wasn’t pain. He knelt down on the sand and kissed her hard and passionately. She was taken aback. No one had ever wanted to kiss her after she had done th
at. But he did. He crushed her to him and she gloried in his strength.

  “Mine,” he whispered.

  “Yours.”

  “I’m still going to fuck you.”

  “Don’t you need recovery time?” she asked mischievously. A nap, perhaps. She’d happily sleep with him on the cove.

  “Some. But I know what will get me there. Stand up and take the rest of that ridiculous outfit off.”

  She blinked. “Yes, Master.” She stood and he picked up the flashlight and played the beam across her body.

  “I’m not—” that much to look at, she had been about to say. But she stopped. For once she felt sexy. The way he looked at her, she might as well have been Amber or Rhonda. His cock was still big, half-hard. When she took off her bra, it grew. When she slid off her panties, it straightened. When she ran her hand over her bare breasts and then dipped between her legs, it jutted out from his body.

  “How do you want me, Master?”

  “On your hands and knees,” he said.

  She hurried to obey, her knees on the dress, her hands digging into the sand. He moved behind her and put his hands on her hips. Her pussy felt as if it was dripping. She was so ready for him, physically and emotionally. He slid inside her without resistance, but his girth stretched her. She held herself still, fighting the instinct to push herself back to engulf more of him. She wanted it to be at his pace.

  She didn’t have to wait long. He buried himself in her to the hilt, filling her pussy. His hands guided her into a rocking motion to accompany his thrusts, and then he slid them up her stomach until he could palm her breasts. “This is why I wanted you in this position. I want you under me, but I want to be able to feel these.”

  He gave her breasts a squeeze and she shuddered. Her nipples tightened against the roughness of his palms. He caressed her, drifting his fingers across her chest, tickling her tender peaks. Always, his hips kept rocking, his cock stirring her to her core.