Night of Fire (8 page)

The soldiers were again focusing on their weapons. Any
moment now they might lose their awe of the lighter and attack in mass. For
maybe a second the priest looked indecisive. Then he yanked the dagger out of
its sheath.

“No!” Taron bellowed. He started forward.

Quicker than Taron could believe, the priest lifted the
dagger so that the gentle firelight glinted off the red jewel. Then he plunged
it into Maia’s side.

“No!” Taron yelled, he felt sick.

Struggling not to be undone by the blood already soaking
Maia’s garment, Taron closed the remaining space between himself and the loudly
chanting priest and shoved the lighter against the bastard.

The man’s robe instantly burst into flames. He gaped at
Taron then began beating frantically at himself. The flames grew and,
screaming, he ran at the soldiers.

“Save me! Save me!” he begged.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Taron scooped Maia up in
his arms and ran.

Being stabbed did strange things to her body. No matter how
hard she tried to make sense of what damage the dagger had inflicted, Maia’s
mind refused to focus. Some of it, she knew, came from loss of blood, but she
kept thinking about how wonderful it felt to be in Taurus’ strong, protective
arms and that stopped her from concentrating on anything else.

He was breathing like a horse at the end of a race, and his
body, like hers, was drenched in sweat. His heartbeat felt quick and desperate.
He hadn’t run all that long, but neither did he show any sign that he was ready
to stop.

That was fine with her, wonderful in fact. Why she felt like
that didn’t matter.

She closed her eyes but opened them again when that conjured
up an image of the priest with his robe ablaze. The man had stabbed her and
tried to kill Taurus’ child, she could hate him, couldn’t she?

Taurus hadn’t wanted the baby, had called her a liar…

He staggered and nearly dropped her. Jarred out of her
semiconscious state, she lifted her head off his chest.

“Taurus, put me down.”

“Thank god! You’re—I thought—are you all right?”

She wasn’t, but as her memories of the horrible things he’d
said to her became clearer, she couldn’t think about that.

“Put me down,” she repeated, more forcefully this time.

He did so, reluctantly it seemed. She tried to stand, but
her legs wouldn’t hold her. If he hadn’t eased her to the ground, she would
have collapsed.

“You’ve lost so much blood,” he whispered. Although she
tried to brush his hand away, she soon gave up and let him pull up on her gown
and look at her side.

“Damn,” he cursed. “That crazy old fool—look, I’ve got to
get you into the present right now. What do we have to do, run under a fire
arch?”

“The present?” She couldn’t make him come into focus.

“My time. I
have
to get you to a doctor.” He sounded
on the brink of panic.

“No.” Her side burned, but the pain wasn’t anything she
couldn’t handle. “My belly? The dagger did not penetrate it?”

“No.”

Relief flooded her. “My baby is safe. That is all that
matters.”

He didn’t say anything. “The dagger is blessed, its origins
and future beyond comprehension,” she told him. “It is given to those who need
it. Such a gift would not destroy life.”

“It’s going to kill you unless I get you some help.” He’d
been kneeling beside her, his hand on her shoulder. Now he ran the back of his
hand over her cheek. “Maia, it’s just a knife, that’s all it is.”

“No.”

“Yes. Damn you, I know where your thinking is going. You’re
content to stay here and wait—for something. Black magic or some damn thing.”
He slipped his hand between her legs. “We had something—something mind-blowing
going between us. I’m not going to let it end.”

She felt his hand on her pussy, and yet she didn’t. Her mind
held remnants of climaxes so intense that the drums of Bel-fire paled in
comparison, but those body eruptions lasted only a little while. What would be
part of her for as long as she lived was her role in the clan—and the role her
child would play in Bel-fire’s future.

“It is over,” she whispered. “You and I do not matter. Only
this place and time, my people do.”

“No! Damn it, Maia, you didn’t need to risk your life just
as you didn’t have to seduce me the way—”

“Go!” She weakly swatted at his hand and tried to pull her
legs together. “I do not need you anymore. Your job is finished.”

He didn’t say anything, and in the silence she wondered if
she was dying—not from the wound, although that was possible—but because of
what she’d just told him. His fingers continued to rest against her labial
lips, causing her to heat and moisten inside, but that wasn’t enough. He’d
provided the seed-maker that her baby-place had needed. Now he could go, return
to his place, be safe.

“I do not want you,” she whispered. “You had my virginity.
Is that not enough?”

“You don’t want me?”

I don’t know, I can’t think. And I’m afraid for you.
“Go
to The Lady. She will show you how to return to your time.”

“I’m going only if I can take you with me.”

“No!” she exclaimed and tried to sit up. “No! I do not
want…”
I cannot leave those who need me.
She needed to tell him that,
didn’t she? Desperate to find the answer, she blinked repeatedly, but his
features remained blurred. She felt herself being sucked into a deep hole. The
last thing she knew was his fingers caressing her pussy.

* * * * *

Taron had tied his shirt around Maia’s wound with shaking
fingers and was trying to take her pulse when he heard approaching footsteps.
He jumped to his feet, positioning himself between her and the unknown
intruders. If only he really was a bull, anything except a shirt-and-tie,
helpless-as-hell businessman. He still had Paul’s cigarette lighter but wasn’t
sure he could chase off anyone with it. A branch-turned-spear or handful of
rocks might delay the inevitable.

“Maia, Taurus, it is us.”

The voice of The Lady was a relief. At the same time he was
leery of her reasons for wanting to find Maia. Not only that, she wasn’t alone.
Silent, he waited for the newcomers to come into view. The Lady, naked as the
day she was born but with her long, flowing hair covering her breasts, was on
horseback as were the three old men.

They stopped as one when they spotted him and Maia. After
giving him a cursory glance, they focused on Maia. Finally The Lady dismounted
and approached. He had to hand it to her. For a woman who looked to be in her
fifties, she was a fine figure indeed, lean muscle under the slightly sagging
skin, and pride in the way she carried herself. He wondered if Maia would have
that same bearing and self-confidence when she was that age—if she lived that
long.

“She is alive,” The Lady said. It wasn’t a question.
“Taurus, thank you.”

No longer concerned with correcting anyone about his name,
he nodded. “She’s lost a lot of blood,” he said. “What about those damn priests
and their puppet soldiers? Where are they? What about the one I torched?”

One of the old men grunted. “The priest tore off his robe,
all could see his reddened shoulders and arms. His hair is burned, it stinks.
The last we saw, he was standing naked with his white belly hanging down over
his man-thing.”

It struck Taron that the old man hadn’t said
seed-maker
,
maybe because the priest had no value in that department. The Lady dropped to
her knees beside Maia and placed the back of her hand over Maia’s nose. “Yes,
she breathes,” she said softly. “Taurus, again we thank you.”

“Someone had to do something,” he snapped. “Everyone else
was standing around with their hands in their pockets.”

No one said anything.

“I don’t want some witch doctor or whatever you people have
caring for her. I’ve got to get her to a full-service hospital, pronto.”

“Hospital?”

Shit. They weren’t going to waste time playing word
games, not with Maia’s life at stake.

“Look.” He grabbed The Lady’s shoulders and hauled her to
her feet. Too late he realized that put him face-to-face with a buck-naked
woman. His cock paid no mind. “Maia said you know how this time-travel stuff
works. Whatever you have to do, do it! I’m getting her to an emergency room,
damn it!”

“That place is not what she needs.”

“What are you, a trauma specialist? Never mind. We both know
the answer to that. What’s the mortality rate around here? I can guarantee it’s
a hell of a lot higher than where I intend to take her.”
If I can figure out
how to get there.
“You want her to live, don’t you?”

“She will.”

The Lady’s calm and certain tone distracted him, he almost
believed her. He sure as hell wanted to, but when he heard approaching
footsteps, he dug into his pocket for the lighter. Why didn’t any of these
people carry weapons?

“Do not be afraid,” The Lady told him. “Her family knows
what must be done.”

“What? Leeches? Don’t get anywhere near her with something
like that. You so much as try and I swear…”
What, you idiot? Run off the
whole village with a Bic?

He didn’t know what to make of the ragtag bunch coming their
way. It was light enough now that he saw everything from a baby in arms to a
woman who had at least one foot in the grave. There were maybe twenty of them.
Except for the young woman carrying the baby, they all had an armload of
firewood. To his dismay, they piled the wood around Maia. He would have stopped
them except—except what?

“Where is your fire-maker?” The Lady asked. “Light the one
closest to her head.”

“The hell I will!”
Shit, where was Rambo when he needed
him?
“Don’t you get it? She’s—she might be dying.”

“She is,” The Lady said, causing his heart to skip. “But
spring’s flames will save her and the child.”

He opened his mouth but nothing came out. There wasn’t
anything remotely frightening about these people. Quite the contrary, their
expressions were universally gentle—almost as if they felt sorry for him. There
was something about their presence that gave him a sense of peace, When had he
last felt that?

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“There is not time to explain it all, Taurus,” The Lady told
him. “This is Bel-fire, the time to celebrate the land and the life that
springs from it. During the moons of winter, seeds have lain dormant. No
newborn animals suckle at their mothers’ breasts. It is as it must be, the
world rests. But with our celebration, we awaken the souls of those seeds. They
know that our need for them is great. The souls of all living things come
together in the flames of Bel-fire. They will see Maia and give her their
energy, their life.”

Any other time he would have retorted that that was the
biggest bunch of bull he’d ever heard, but he didn’t. For the life of him he
couldn’t say why. Maybe it was nothing more than the older woman’s soft,
sincere tone. Maybe the way everyone nodded agreement had something to do with
it.

Possibly—probably—the utter and complete faith in everyone’s
eyes had seduced him. Feeling as if he’d lost all control when he was
accustomed to exactly the opposite, he walked over to the pile of brush closest
to Maia’s head and lit it. Once the flames took hold, The Lady pulled out a
burning branch and used it to light the other piles. It was now dawn and yet
the flames provided enough of a contrast that they painted her naked flesh in
bright red. When he looked at the others, he saw that the same thing had
happened to them.

Then he looked down at Maia and forgot everything else. Her
features were paler than the villagers, almost white. Weak, he dropped to his
knees and used his thighs as a pillow for her head. His cock stirred.

I don’t know where you are,
he told her.
Or
whether you can hear me. I want you to know I’d do anything to get you to a
hospital, but I can’t find the way. If you’re aware of what’s happening here, I
need you to come back so you can explain.

That sounded selfish, a piss-poor reason for her to fight
for life.

There’s a lot that’s unsettled between us,
he
continued.
We had something—something mind-blowing going. Do you know that?
Look, I don’t have the statistics, there probably aren’t any. But almost no
virgins climax the first time, I’m sure of that.

“Sure you are,” he muttered. “What’d you do, take a survey?”

You came
, he told her
. That’s proof that you’re
one sexy broad, and I’m one hell of a stud. Can you imagine what would happen
if we were given half a chance? We’d never get out of bed. We’d probably kill
ourselves, but what a way to go.

That was all wrong! He shouldn’t be begging Maia to live so
he could fuck her senseless. No matter how appealing that sounded, there was
still the matter of the crazy priests and their mindless soldiers. But
first—first Maia had to live.

Unable to think beyond that, he cupped his hands around her
breasts and began fingering them. Her nipples hardened, but she gave no other
sign that she was aware of his presence—his touch.

All around him the flames danced with the rising sun. Drums
began playing.

Taron figured he must have dozed off because suddenly The
Lady was beside him. Instead of explaining what she was doing, she slipped
something into Maia’s hand, kissed her on the forehead and then walked away.
When he blinked and looked around, he saw that the villagers were leaving. The
fires would soon be down to coals.

A soft, unexpected sound made him start, but when he
realized it was coming from Maia, he relaxed. The priests and their henchmen
couldn’t hurt her—at least not right now.

“What is it?” he whispered. “Are you in pain?”

She opened her eyes but seemed to be having trouble
focusing. Finally, her attention locked on him.

“Why are you here?” she asked. She sounded strangled.

He didn’t answer because the truth was, he didn’t
know—either that or he wasn’t ready to confess all. As the survivor of more
one-night stands than he cared to remember, he knew how to end things with a
kiss and a closed door. When her stare intensified, he drew her attention to
the dagger The Lady had returned to her.

“I don’t know how they recovered it,” he told her. “Probably
the priest dropped it, and someone found it.”

She held it up so she could study it. Her movement was a
simple one, nothing nearly every human being on the planet couldn’t do without
thinking about it, but it thrilled him. Maybe the worst was over and she was
going to live. Did the fires and drumming and songs have anything to do with
it? Maybe his insistent finger-play while she’d been unconscious had turned the
tide.

“Do you remember what happened?” he asked because he didn’t
feel strong enough to face the questions he’d just asked himself. “That priest—”

“My blood is no longer on the blade.”

She did remember.
“No, it isn’t. Someone must have
cleaned it off. Are—are you sure you want it around? It’s going to remind you—”

“Why are you still here?”

She was lying near him, her blood-stained grown just barely
covering her crotch, but if she was aware of that, she didn’t let it show. She
might not have the strength to sit up, but there was no ignoring the fire in
her eyes.

“What did you want me to do?” he retorted, furious without
knowing why. “Walk away?”

“You wanted to return to your time. You did not want to
stay.”

“So I could get you to a hospital.”

“I have what I need here. Bel-fire’s magic is healing me. My
child will live.”

“
Your
child! In case you’ve forgotten, I had
something to do with it—if indeed there is a child.”

“You do not want one?”

“Don’t do that! Don’t! You knew what you were doing when you
seduced me, didn’t you? The thing is, you didn’t clue me in. That was devious.”
The moment the words were out, he wanted them back—or did he? Damn it, she
needed to know that he felt manipulated. Changed in ways he didn’t understand
and that scared him. “Being seen as nothing except a sperm donor isn’t as much
of a compliment as you obviously think it is. I believe I deserve to have a say
in…”

She was no longer looking at him, and he had the sneaking
suspicion she wasn’t listening to him either, so why the hell should he bother?
What he didn’t understand was why he was angry at her when not that long ago
he’d been terrified that she was dying.

“This,” she indicated the dagger, “this sent me to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, she rolled over onto her good side and
tried to sit up. She might have been able to make it without help, but he
didn’t give her the opportunity to find out. She crossed her legs slightly and
leaned forward, apparently oblivious to the fact that her pussy was now fully
exposed. It took everything in him not to stare at her there, and he wondered
when, not if, she’d noticed that once again he had an erection. Given the size
of it, it was pretty damn obvious.

One thing about the lady, she knew how to get him hot and
bothered.

“This.” She indicated the dagger, which she held as lovingly
as if it were a child and not the weapon that had nearly killed her. “This is a
gift. It comes to those who need it.”

Maybe he should be used to the way she switched from being a
practical and grounded woman to a sprite not at all in touch with reality. But
the truth was, he was no longer so sure what constituted reality.

“It is not for me or anyone to know what magic rules this.”
She ran her finger over the side of the blade. “It is enough that I am
blessed.”

“You nearly died because of it.”

“No,” she whispered, “I did not.”

Instead of trying to amass arguments against that, he simply
watched as she stroked the ruby-like jewel. Even unconscious, her breasts had
responded to his touch. What would happen if he ran his hand over her belly and
between her legs? Was she healed enough that she’d want sex—one last time?

“The first time I looked into the jewel,” she said softly.
“I saw my journey to you. I saw us together, mating. I knew what my task was.”

“Did you?”

“I knew I would find you on the night of Bel-fire, that I
would love mating with you, and that you would guide me to becoming a woman.”

His cock strained against his wrinkled and dirty slacks.

“I did not know that we would ma—that we would have sex more
than that one time.”

Much more of this trip down memory lane and I’m going to
be adding a new chapter.
“Ah, did you know about that?” He pointed a less
than steady finger at her still-sore-looking side.

“No.”

That surprised him enough that a margin of sanity returned—a
very small margin. “That’s all you learned from that crystal ball then?” he
asked. “That you and I would get it on? Mate,” he amended when she gave him a
confused look.

“Then.” She was still whispering. “Now I know the rest.”

Just like that, his heated blood cooled. His erection was
still undiminished, but it no longer commanded his attention. Instead, he
struggled not to be undone by her somber tone.

He slid closer so their thighs were touching, but although
he wanted to take her hand—such a simple thing, taking a woman’s hand—he tried
to see what held her attention about the stone.

“What’s in there?” he asked.

For the first time since regaining consciousness, she looked
down at her crotch. With her free hand, she touched her pussy lips. “I was like
a child there,” she said. “My—my cunt was something I barely understood. You
changed that.”

Although—damn it—he’d love to help her expand her knowledge
of herself, now wasn’t the time. If he could just get the message to his cock.

“Maia, I asked you something. What do you see in the stone?”

She withdrew her hand from her pussy. “You do not want to
know.”

Go with that, all right. Don’t push. There’s nothing
wrong with ignorance.
Even as he tried to convince himself of that, he knew
he couldn’t hide from the truth.

“You’re probably right,” he said. “But I need to.”

She didn’t say anything, prompting him to take her wrist and
turn it so he could look at the stone. At first all he saw was the flawless if
simply finished jewel, but as he continued to stare, the ruby-like interior
changed. There was a mist in there, and something he recognized as a figure
began walking out of the mist. Even before he saw the long, glossy black hair,
he knew it was Maia. How could there be any confusion when he’d already
memorized her curves and angles?

Instead of the gauzy gown, she was naked, and her breasts
were larger, harder-looking than now, the nipples darker. For as long as he
focused on her breasts, he couldn’t pay attention to anything else, but
eventually he forced himself to study the rest of her. Her arms and legs were
as long and smoothly muscled as they were now, her neck slender, her features
small.

What had changed the most was her belly. She wasn’t due to
deliver yet, but it was definitely distended.

His child. His financial responsibility. His tax
deduction.

Disgusted with himself, he shook off the materialistic
thoughts and continued to study the jewel. He couldn’t see enough of what was
around the small Maia figure to know where she was, but there didn’t seem to be
anyone near her. She walked slowly as if her thoughts were elsewhere. Her
shoulders were slightly slumped, and she wasn’t smiling.

Maia—the real Maia—sighed.

“What is it? Are you in pain?”

She shook her head. “I knew it would be like this.”

That I would be alone.
Numb, he couldn’t do anything
except watch as the Maia figure plodded along what had now revealed itself as a
narrow path. The land around the path came into focus, and he could tell that
wherever she was, it was summer. The bushes on either side of the path were
alive with bright leaves and flowers that covered the full spectrum of colors.
He swore he could smell grass.

“Where are you going?” he asked. “Do you know?”

“To be with my people.”

Your people, not with me.
“Is it safe to be there?
What about the soldiers?”

“I do not know,” she said after a moment. “That part of the
future has not revealed itself.”

But your being alone has.

“What about the child?” he managed. “Is it all right?”

“Taurus, my child belongs to my people. Look.”

Although that might be the last thing he wanted to do, he
had no choice. The Maia figure had reached a collection of huts, and a number
of people were coming out of them and enthusiastically greeting her. An older
woman who he didn’t think was The Lady placed a cape around Maia’s shoulders
and then dropped to her knees, widened Maia’s stance, and began what he had no
doubt was a gynecological examination, although Maia continued to stand.

“Who is she?”

“My grandmother. She will guide me during birth, and when my
child is born, she will wrap it in furs and take it to our spirit-leaders to be
blessed.”

Your child? What about me? Shit, that’s right. I have a
business to try to save.
“What then, Maia?” he challenged. He tried to
focus on his company and the pride, effort and determination behind it, but he
couldn’t. “Just because I caught that priest’s robe on fire doesn’t mean the
threat to your way of life is going to go away. Your people don’t know how to
fight for their rights. You can’t guarantee that
our
child will be
safe.”

“The child is my people’s hope, our future. He will carry
the clan’s soul and spirit, and yet he will be more. His blood will be that of
Taurus the bull. He will have great courage and that courage will protect our
way of life.”

Taron had never seen himself as a parent. To his way of
thinking, a child needed a fulltime father, and his company claimed so much of
him that he wouldn’t be able to give his children the love and attention he’d
never gotten. His son—
son!
—was nothing more than a collection of cells
right now and yet…

His hand was less than steady as he focused on the dagger.
He wasn’t sure what he wanted to have happen, the last thing he expected was to
have her image fade and be replaced by one of him.

He
was standing in a massive, expensively decorated
living room, something that would grace the pages of an upscale architectural
magazine. The ceiling was ridiculously high, the white leather couch so large
he wondered how they’d gotten it through the door. A large-screen TV and
entertainment center dominated one wall. The carpet felt lush under his feet.
No doubt about it, the place belonged to someone who’d
made
it.

“Where are you?” Maia asked.

In the home I promised myself I’d buy if I defeated the
take-over attempt,
he nearly told her but couldn’t spit out the words.
“That’s what houses—huts—look like where I come from,” he said instead. “At
least some do.”

“Where are the others?”

“Others?”

“Who lives there with you? Surely it is too big for one
person.”

Surely.

He didn’t think he was capable of manipulating an image, but
by concentrating, he propelled
himself
through opulent rooms until
he
opened a pair of double doors and found
himself
in a bedroom nearly
large enough to play football in. The king-sized bed was masculine with a dark,
wood headboard and a royal blue bedspread.

“What is that?” Maia asked.

“Where I’ll sleep.”

“Who—who sleeps there with you?”

“I’m not sure.”
Maybe no one.

“It is so big. Perhaps many people—?”

“No.” He rested his hand on her thigh. “That’s not the way
it’s done in my time. The only one who’d share that with me would be a woman.”

She didn’t say anything, but he could hear her quickened breathing.

“What?” he asked. He started working his fingers toward her
cunt. “How do you feel about that?”

“About—what you are doing to me?”

“That too. I was talking about my bringing a woman to my
bed.”

Not looking at him, Maia drew the dagger out of his grasp
and laid it on the ground, stone down. So much had happened since she’d first
approached Taurus, but this morning none of that mattered. Without checking it,
she knew that her wound had nearly healed, just as her body told her she was
carrying Taurus’ son. When The Lady had chosen her to mate with the bull from
the future, she’d willingly accepted her role, but that’s all it had been back
when she was still a virgin—her responsibility.

Since then everything had changed.

“When will you leave and go live in your house?” she made
herself ask.

“I don’t know.”

“It must be soon. Your time waits for you. You said you had
important things to do.”

“I guess.”

She couldn’t think of anything else to say. Just the thought
of his walking out of her world brought her to the brink of tears. She should
stand, pick up the dagger and return to her people so The Lady and elders could
tell her what she must do next—and learn what the priests and soldiers were
doing. But how could she with Taurus’ hand on her?