Flame of Cytherea: Cytherean Chronicles book 1 (18 page)

She put her arms behind her and backed away slowly, an
innocent look still on her face as she asked, “What is it love?
 
Something wrong with dinner?”

He growled and pulled her in for a kiss, but she ducked and
danced to the side.

“What is it dear?
 
Did
you… want something from me?” she asked coquettishly, slowly backing away
again.

He both loved and hated when she did this, it drove him
crazy with lust every time.
 
He rushed
her again, this time he got a good hold and spun her by the arm, pushing her up
against the wall.
 
His weight held her
still as he held her arm behind her.
 
He
reached with the other hand to unclasp her breeches, mind clouded by lust, by
her beauty, and by her teasing.

She said in artful innocence, “I was enjoying dinner, shouldn’t
we go back?”

At the same time she spoke, she was driving him crazy by
grinding her ass back against his painfully hard cock and rocking her hips, not
coincidentally keeping him from getting a hold of the clasp.
 
He spanked her hard, which brought out a moan
and she pushed back against him firmly, he finally managed to unclasp her
breeches.

Once he got them past her sexy hips, they slid slowly down
her legs far enough to expose her.

She breathed out in faux innocent confusion that caused his
lust to spike again, “What are you doing?”
 

He spanked her bare ass hard, then checked her.
 
She was dripping and she moaned loudly when
he put his hand on her sex.

He growled as she turned her head, faux wide eyes full of
innocence, protesting his actions and rough treatment.
 
All he could think was she drove him insane,
so expertly manipulating him in this game as she seduced him into rough
sex.
 
He knew it was play, yet his body
and emotions didn’t get the message, he was overcome with lust and needed to
claim her, to take her, to fuck her hard and fast.

He took care of his own clothing and bent his knees a
little, then he thrust up into her in one quick stroke.

It only made his lust rise further as she whimpered in
pleasure and flooded his pole, screaming his name on the very first stroke as
he impaled her.
 
He gasped when she
ground herself against him, her inner walls hugging him tight during her
bliss.
 
When he released her arm, she braced
herself against the wall as he grabbed her hips.

He started to pound into her from behind, pushing her hard
against the wall with each thrust as her hungry core greedily sucked him in
each time their flesh spanked together.
 
He couldn’t hold it for long, it was all just too intense, her grasping
heat milked him time and time again as she rolled from orgasm to orgasm, his
manhood pleasured deeply inside her hot, wet sex.
 
He never stopped, couldn’t stop, taking her
hard and fast until he felt his legs start to numb…

He spanked her hard again right before burying himself up to
the hilt, growling out, “Here it comes, I’m going to fill you.”

He felt her tremble and tighten around his invading flesh
again at his words, his pole surged and started to empty itself into her hot
welcoming sheath.
 
He couldn’t help
smiling back at her, at the little smile of triumph on her mouth.
 
He pulled her head back by her hair and
twisted her head to the side, kissing her hard before releasing her.

He may have pinned her against the wall and ravaged her, but
he was under no illusions, she had been in charge the whole time.
 
They got dressed and went back out to the
common room of the suite, they did need to finish dinner after all.

He almost choked on a bite of food when he felt Nora’s foot
slide up his leg and she started to gently massage his manhood…

Nicci had enough feeling sorry for herself.
 
She sighed.
 
There was no choice really.
 
She
loved her father dearly, but Justin was her future.
 
She just had to hope her father came to his
senses one day and they could be a family again.
 
Until he could see her for more than a little
girl needing protection, which she hadn’t been for quite a while, it was
inevitable.

Even if she chose to stay, the cycle would just repeat
itself.
 
No, Justin was her future, and
she would not give him up.
 
Hopefully the
king would come to his senses quickly, but even if it took years to reconcile,
that wouldn’t be her fault.
 

It would hurt, she would miss him, but it was the way it had
to be.
 
She also determined she would not
sneak out like a child, like she had almost two weeks ago.
 
This time she was taking the front door.

She sighed gazing out her window, it was the middle of the
night and she was wide awake.
 
That’s
what she got when she cried herself to sleep and slept the day away.
 
She was wary though on the timing, if she
marched to Justin’s rooms and joined them, her father could make things
difficult for them.
 
Even by simply
throwing one or the other out of the castle.

But she wanted to at least let Justin and the others know
her plans, that she would not abandon them and what they had.
 
Her new family.
 
She slid the secret door open and slipped
inside…

-----------

Nora woke fully alert and looked around.
 
She could swear she heard a latch click.
 
When the book shelf pushed out from the wall
and a figure stepped in the room she prepared an attack.
 
Before releasing it, she saw it was Nicci and
started cursing up a storm.

Nicci giggled, “It’s good to see you too!”

She said frostily, “Damn it Nicci, I almost took your head
off.”

By this time everyone else was awake and pulling Nicci into
a hug, including her.

Nicci said, “I’ll join you all when you leave, I hope that
won’t be too long…” she went on to explain her choice.

“Nicci, why don’t you just join us now?” Sally asked.

She was wondering that too, but she agreed with Nicci when
it was explained.

“I want to, but I am afraid that my father’s anger with me
for making this decision will be turned toward all of you.
 
At least when we are leaving we will all be
out of his sight.”

She considered that, she had never known the king to be
petty, but then, things might be a different story involving his obsession with
keeping Nicci safe.

She hugged Nicci back fiercely when the princess made her
rounds before kissing Justin hard and fast.

Nicci said regretfully, breaking out of Justin’s embrace,
“I’m curious about your day, but I need to get back to my room in case someone
checks.”

She watched as Nicci slipped into the passage before she lay
back against Justin and tried to fall back asleep…

----------

Sally yawned.
 
She was
trying to wake up after last night.
 
She
had decided to give Justin a rest after he slept with both Kat and Nora earlier
in the evening, but she had been having a very pleasant dream when Nicci woke
them all up.
 
Needless to say, she was
running on very little sleep.

She was happy to see the smile on Justin’s face though; the
change in him had been obvious once Nicci had stopped by to share their
plans.
 
He also looked a little too awake
after their time together last night.
 
Then it hit her, of course he looked awake.
 
She leaned into him and whispered.

“Would you give me a little pick me up, you tired me out
last night.”

She smiled as she felt his magic suffuse her with energy and
love from the goddess.
 
She kissed his
cheek and thanked him and got back to eating her food.
 
She hoped they found out what he had to do
today, and that it would all work out…

--------

Kat knew it had just been a day, but she was missing the
smells and sounds of nature.
 
The city
looked nice, but it wasn’t comfortable for her.
 
She had an urge to change and run into the surrounding hills, go for a
hunt.
 
Nothing overwhelming, her talent
didn’t control her, but it did make the city an uncomfortable place to be and
she just felt uneasy.

She felt better when she reached out and took Justin’s hand,
as they walked back to the temple.
 
She
hoped the high priestess would see them as promised, so they could go.
 

She studied her intended mate as they walked.
 
He was walking with more confidence now.
 
She could see his inner strength reflected on
his visage, though he insisted he was just Justin, she saw so much more than
that.
 
She wasn’t sure if he was even
aware of it, he was humble and always trying to downplay his own importance.
 
But he radiated a calm authority now that she
and the other women could sense.

It just made her love him more.
 
She wanted so much, she wanted his child, a
long life together, but she knew it had to wait.
 
When he caught her studying him and gave her
a questioning look, she just smiled and winked.
 
She couldn’t exactly tell him could she?
 
How besotted he made her, or how amazing he was?
 
It would make him uncomfortable, or worse,
arrogant.
 
She preferred him just the way
he was…

----------

As they walked up to the temple he saw the priest from yesterday
waiting at the door.
 
He almost groaned
at the looks he got when the priest bowed to him.
 
He most definitely did not want to be
famous.
 
At least the bow was brief.

The priest said respectfully, “Follow me please.”

They were led down the same hallways as yesterday, but then
kept going deeper into the temple.
 
There
were large murals on the walls as they got further into the temple.
 
Some depicting the act of sex, some were just
a couple standing together that was drawn so well you could see the love in
their eyes.
 
There were also drawings
depicting pregnant women and some of families with young children.

They were led into a room with comfortable couches and
chairs, it looked like a lounge of some sort.
 

The priest said diffidently, “Please make yourselves
comfortable, the high priestess will be here shortly.”

They sat on one of the couches, they did not have to wait
long.
 
A short time later their chatting
was interrupted by the door opening.

The high priestess Celia was in her mid fifties, but she was
still in good shape and quite attractive.
 
She smiled at them and said, “Welcome to the temple of Cytherea.
 
Please, call me Celia, we will have no
formalities between us Flame of Cytherea.”

He relaxed at her friendly greeting and said, “You must call
me Justin then, if that is the case.”

She smiled at his response and said, “My priest tells me you
want to know about the last Flame, I assume that is because you are at a loss
as to what our goddess asks of you?”

When he nodded she said, “Normally I wouldn’t tell anyone,
but then, you aren’t just anyone.
 
You
need this information to do our goddess’s will, yet, I would have an oath from
the five of you that what I say here will never pass your lips for the remainder
of your lives.”

He thought about that for a moment, then replied, “With the
exception of needing to for success, and that I will extract a similar oath
from that person, I would be okay with that.
 
Specifically one of our number is missing today, and she will need to
know what we are doing.
 
And who can say
if any others will be needed?”

The ladies all agreed with him on the necessity of not being
completely locked down.
 
Celia didn’t
exactly look thrilled by the exceptions, if it became general knowledge they
could face a new crisis weekly from idiotic power hungry assholes, but she
would accept it as long as he extracted an oath first and said as much.

When they finished giving their oaths, Celia began
explaining.

“Two thousand years ago, the goddess came to this
world.
 
There is much speculation about
it, but we truly do not know the reason why.
 
Before then, we had worshipped gods that simply weren’t real, in an
attempt to explain the world around us.
 
The goddess loved us, and wished to walk with us personally, and be a
part of our lives.
 
But she could not do
so without compromising our free will.

“It is said she loved us so much that she found a way.
 
Shortly after that, all the children being
born had magical talents.
 
As you know,
when we use them we can feel the goddess’s love, yet, she does not interfere in
our free will or how we use them.
 
It is
simply enough for her to have this personal connection with all her children.

“I don’t understand it completely, but free will is a gift,
and as such, we believe knowledge of our goddess, and other gods, were given to
us.
 
That way, we had a way to choose to
reject our goddess, even choose another god.
 
Regardless of what the full answer may be, the result was a cache of
knowledge was found.
 
Knowledge of our
goddess and other gods.”

She frowned, seeming to collect her thoughts, then
continued.

“There is much we don’t know, we are not truly sure why or
how the knowledge was given, but it is what we suspect.
 
Most people had no inclination at all to
replace our goddess, or even invite a second one in.
 
But it only takes one.

“The wrong man got a hold of the wrong knowledge, and
through diverse rituals managed to summon a semblance of a new god.
 
It is said this new god offered the man power
and riches if he created an anchor through which the new god could enter this
world.
 

“The greed of the fool caused him to agree, and do so.
 
He also found like minded men and they
committed atrocities to forward the cause of this new god, and while he was
rewarded with power as promised, he also changed.

“The new god was a dark god, who slowly consumed his
soul.
 
The man had unwittingly given his
free will away and he became nothing but a puppet.
 
As the darkness spread the people turned to
Cytherea for help, begging for her assistance.

“That was why, and when, the first Flame of Cytherea was
born.”

He sat back as she paused.
 
She rose from her chair and she offered them all something to
drink.
 
He thought about what he heard as
she passed out refreshments, and it sounded like she was half guessing on a lot
of this stuff.
 
Hopefully she was right
about the important things.

Celia took a sip of her drink then continued, “It was
brutal, the war that started up.
 
With
the Flame’s help however the darkness was pushed back and enough of the dark
god’s followers were killed, that his anchor to this world became vulnerable.

“You can do many amazing things with your protective powers
Justin, but that is the true reason for them.
 
You can cleanse the anchor that allows the dark god influence in our
world, as long as his followers are limited.
 
Right now I think you have a good chance, but wait too long and it will
be too late, except for another large scale war that will ravage the world once
again.
 
If you try when he is too
powerful, when he has too many followers, you will die.

“When the dark god was banished for the first time, the
people that were left two thousand years ago decided to destroy all knowledge
of the rituals and spells designed to create that anchor.
 
The spells which form the anchor were
inscribed on an altar of some kind.
 
That
is why I extracted your oaths.
 
Free will
is preserved, but without the knowledge of how to make deals with the dark god,
every power hungry fool won’t be able to repeat it.

“Unfortunately we failed to find all the knowledge, that is
why you are here, and the dark god is once again in this world.
 
If you do not stop him, this world will
slowly turn into a living hell before finally dying.”

He thought about it for a moment, then asked, “How do I find
it?”

Celia replied, “If the king of
Egeria
is truly responsible, it will be somewhere in his castle.
 
You will be able to feel it when it’s near.”

Right…
 
So they just
needed to waltz into an enemy’s caste and find an altar…
 
He snorted.
 
Forget the danger of the altar, just getting to it will be a nightmare.

But all he said was, “Thank you Celia, is there anything
else you think we should know?”