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“You know that you’ve ruined me for other men.”

“Good, because there shall be no other men welcome in your body. You are mine. This is mine.” He pressed her clit for emphasis.

Their eyes met a second before he began to move. The ride was excruciatingly slow at first, the gentle glide rasping the inner muscles of her channel while steadily stroking her clit. The rings pulsed, sending waves of heat lashing through her body. Brigit’s hands clamped down on top of Orion’s arms.

“You’re making me crazy,” she gasped as her nails dug into his flesh.

Orion smiled. “I want you to know who possesses you.”

“Possess? I don’t think s—” He thrust hard. “Ohh.”

“Think again,” he said rolling Brigit beneath him. He began to fuck her in earnest.

All thoughts of possession scattered on the wind. Brigit wrapped her legs around his firm ass and hung on for dear life. Surge after surge of energy rolled through her sending her into an endless orgasm. Orion refused to stop, even after she started begging him to. Brigit didn’t think she’d be able to take much more of this without her clit exploding, but she was wrong.

“Be still, little love. Our brief separation has left me famished and I’m not nearly sated.” He stroked the side of her head, brushing her damp curls away from her face.

“I don’t think I can do this,” she ground out between gasps.

Orion kissed her. “Yes, you can.” He pulled his cock from her body and rolled Brigit onto her stomach. He lifted her hips until she was kneeling, then pressed her face onto the soft mossy ground. “Ah, so beautiful,” he murmured, brushing a finger though her swollen pussy lips.

Brigit quivered.

“You are like a flower in bloom for my eyes only.” Orion brought the finger that dripped with her juices to his mouth and sucked hard. “Your feminine pollen is sweet. I think I need more.”

Brigit moaned, the sight so erotic that she thought she might collapse under the weight of it. Her nipples stabbed toward the ground and her pussy ached with renewed fervor.

Orion lowered his head and stuck out his incredible tongue, until it was flattened from her anus to her clit. Brigit’s body wept as she slowly curled it over her flesh. “Please Orion,” she whimpered.

“Does this please you as much as it does me?”

Brigit rocked her hips in response unable to speak.

Orion chuckled, the vibration strong enough to reach her clit.

“Oh God,” she cried out.

“The Goddess cannot help you now.” He plunged his tongue into her greedy channel, filling her completely.

“Yes,” Brigit screamed, trying to get closer, but Orion held her hips. Warmth spread through her, building in intensity. The sensation was strange, but wonderful.

Orion continued to tongue-fuck her.

“What’s happening?” Brigit asked, gasping as her womb started to flutter.

He didn’t answer. Orion’s skin glowed one minute, then a wave of light burst from his body, washing her into oblivion.

Orion pulled his tongue out of her, then sank his cock in. He rode her hard, branding her with his body. Brigit mewed as her release reached a final crescendo, collapsing on the ground, taking Orion with her. A moment later, he grunted and emptied himself inside of her. His orgasm seemed to go on forever, bathing her womb in his seed.

He rolled off her and then pulled her into his arms. They lay panting on the moss covered ground, drenched in sweat and sated like two fat felines intoxicated by catnip. He stroked her hair, while placing tiny kisses on her shoulder. His touch was gentle and
loving
. Brigit closed her eyes against the well of emotion threatening to swamp her.

“What do we do now?” she asked softly, not wanting to break the fragile connection they’d just formed.

“We’ll have to go through the portal.”

Brigit sat up onto her elbows. “What do you mean we have to go through the portal?”

He glanced at her with a patience that hadn’t been there before and then rose to get dressed. Brigit followed suit.

“Come and I shall show you.”

He led her through a thick grove of trees into another clearing, much smaller than the last. An ancient-looking stone circle dotted with giant red crystals stood on end. Yellow flowers grew around the small field, their fragrance strangely arousing.

“What is that thing?” Her voice cracked.

“‘Tis a portal or transport if you will.”

Orion approached the stones and began rearranging them. When he slipped the last stone into place, the transport activated. Dark clouds began to swirl and form at its center, thickening before their eyes. The sound rose like a tornado dropping a car onto a tin roof.

Brigit gaped. “You’re not getting me in that thing. It doesn’t look stable.” She scratched her thigh and then swatted another blood-hungry mosquito.

“It’s perfectly safe,” he said glancing uneasily at the swirling mass.

“Have you ever used one?”

“Yes.”

She pointed. “Have you ever used that one?”

Orion shook his head. “No, but your friends did.”

Her eyes widened. “Jac and Rachel went through that thing without coercion.”

“Yes.” He nodded.

Her brow knitted. “Are you sure? That doesn’t sound like something Jac would do, unless someone was chasing her.”

“Someone was,” Orion’s voice chilled.

Brigit glanced around at the jungle. “Are they still here?”

“Not that I can detect, but that does not mean we aren’t in danger.”

She hugged herself. “I don’t know.” She wasn’t sure which was worse, dying by a spray of bullets or having that stone structure collapse and crush her to death.

“‘Tis the only way to return. I would not ask this of you otherwise.” Orion’s face grew pained.

“Are you sure this thing leads to planet Zaron?” She walked behind the portal. “It looks like nothing but jungle to me.”

“Yes, it leads to my planet.”

Brigit began to pace. “Orion, I really want to believe you, but…”

His jaw firmed. “No ‘buts’. Either you trust me or you don’t.”

She stopped and stared at the ominous entrance. “I trust you.” She stepped toward him.

“But do you care for me?” His question brought Brigit to a halt.

She blinked in confusion. Where had that come from? Brigit searched her heart and realized she no longer felt the panic that rose every time she confronted her feelings. Shocked, she realized she did care about Orion. She might even love him.

“Yes, I do care for you,” she admitted to him and herself.

“Enough to join with me?”

“I thought you said we were already
linked
.”

Orion hesitated, uncertainty flashing in his jade and aqua eyes. “We are, but ‘tis not complete without the blessing of the Atlantean people.”

“Atlanteans? As in lost continent of Atlantis?”

“Yes.”

“Whoa! This is too much to grasp, even for a New Age lover like me.”

“‘Tis your choice.” He touched her gently, love shining clearly in his face.

Tears sprang into Brigit’s eyes as the full import of his words hit her. “You are giving me a
choice
.”

The silence stretched between them.

“You’ve always had a choice,” he whispered so low she almost didn’t hear him.

Brigit smiled, then let out a squeal before kissing Orion soundly on the mouth. Her fingers curled into his biceps, relishing the feel of his strength beneath her hands.

“Now I must contact Cassandra, so she can secure the portal behind us. I’ll remove a crystal as I step through and she can disable the rest.”

Brigit released him and then stepped toward the portal before she lost her nerve. “What are we waiting for?” she asked as she stuck her foot inside the tumultuous mass.

“Wait!” Orion shouted and tried reach for her. “You must lean back or you’ll fall.”

Brigit felt the tug the same second she heard Orion yell. She tried to turn, but it was too late. His hands swiped through the air missing her, while his words garbled in the roar of the machine. Had he said to lean forward? The dark air swirled around her, disorienting Brigit until she wasn’t sure which direction was up. She screamed in terror, but the sound disappeared, swallowed by the churning gray mass. Oh God, she couldn’t breathe. The air was too thick. The next second Brigit was falling. Instinctively, she held her hands out in front her.

She collided with something or someone hard, sending the object sailing a second before she fell to the ground. Her wire-rimmed sunglasses slipped to the floor. Brigit heard feet shuffling, but her eyes refused to focus. As the room slowly came into view she saw a man impaled on a sword, blood seeping out of his head. The other man holding the weapon tilted his sword and the body slid to the floor with a thump. Crimson pooled on the opaque tiles.

“I’m sorry. “I didn’t mean to—” Brigit sputtered and frowned. She squinted and tried to make out the figure on the ground. “Who is that?” She pointed to the body lying twenty feet from her.

“Brigit!” Jac and Rachel’s voices cried out in unison.

Brigit turned to see her “pregnant” best friends struggling to break the grips of the men holding them. She blinked, unable to believe what she was seeing. She picked up her frames and wiped the lenses on her shirt before slipping them back on. It was true. Everything Orion told her was true. Brigit didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

The transport once again whirled and darkened. The men who looked like guards raised their swords in preparation of attack. Orion appeared through the mist.

“Orion?” The men called out. Their voices held myriad questions.

“Honey, what have you done?” Orion asked, as his gaze went to the man lying on the floor. “I told you to lean back, transports always throw you forward.”

Brigit glanced at the body and then over her shoulder and scowled. “Oh, shut up! I don’t want to hear ‘I told you so’ from you, especially since I didn’t catch all the instructions before that monstrosity sucked me through.” She looked back at the body and began wringing her hands. “This is bad, very bad.”

Rachel and Jac rushed forward. Rachel wore a long white diaphanous gown. Her rich brown hair was braided and woven with jewels the circumference of Brigit’s thumb. Jac dressed in a short jade skirt that showed off her legs and complemented the single emerald and gold headband encircling her short blonde hair. Wow! Talk about a fashion statement. Suddenly Brigit felt woefully underdressed.

“Brigit, it is really you?” they asked at the same time.

She laughed. “Who were you expecting?”

“Only you.” Rachel and Jac embraced her.

“Did you guys know you were pregnant? How?”

“How?” They giggled and looked back at the men who’d been holding them, before shooting a curious glance in Orion’s direction.

Brigit followed their gazes. “Huh-uh, not me, sisters.” Her gaze dropped to her flat stomach. The seed of doubt suddenly planted.

Jac and Rachel arched their brows as they stared at Orion.

“Don’t ask,” Brigit said, shaking her head. It didn’t take a psychic to read her friends’ minds. “It’s a long story.”

“We can’t wait to hear
all
about it.”

Brigit ignored their comment and stepped around them as the group converged to surround the body. “Is that Professor Rumsinger?” she asked, shock ricocheting through her.

Rachel nodded.

“Is he dead?” Brigit trembled as she leaned in to get a better look.

A blond-haired man crouched down, touching two fingers to the repulsive man’s neck. The body twitched one final time and the professor’s head cracked the rest of the way open, splitting down the middle like a melon from the sword blow.

The man touching the body turned to look at the group. Brigit felt the color drain out of her face and she swayed on her feet. Orion stepped behind her, resting his hands lightly upon her shoulders.

The man confirmed what everyone knew.

Brigit teetered again, her gaze beading on the professor’s twisted pain-filled face. She leaned into Orion’s body for support. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Brigit swallowed hard to keep from getting sick. This whole thing was surreal. She was on another planet, surrounded by an alien race and she’d just killed a man. How does anyone handle something like this?

Pull it together, Brig.
A moment later, she nodded to herself and opened her eyes to stare at the group. She glanced back at the man who’d caused her friend so much pain and suffering. Killing someone wasn’t right, but the bastard deserved it.

“It’s about goddamned time,” she declared, then glanced out the window at the green sky. “Did you guys notice that the sky is green?”

The unexpected statement exploded the tension filtering in the air as effectively as if she’d detonated a bomb. Nervous giggles came from Jac and Rachel while the men barked with laughter.

“Come. ‘Tis over,” the man holding Rachel said, then herded everyone away from the grisly scene toward a set of jewel-encrusted double doors, which appeared to be made out of crimson crystals. “I believe this and your friend’s return is cause for celebration.”

Orion’s expression hardened. “Ares, I must speak to you before we feast.”

“What is it, my brother?”

Orion dropped to his knees. “I have broken Atlantean law and accept punishment by death.”

A hush fell over the small crowd, while the guards began to murmur in the background.

“Silence!” the blond man bellowed.

“Speak!” Ares demanded. “Tell us, what have you done? You know you shall be judged fairly.”

Orion nodded. Brigit’s stomach balled into a knot.
Broken laws, death sentence, what in the world had he done to warrant that happening?
They’d only been apart for two days, but she couldn’t think of anything she’d witnessed that came close to what she’d just done to Professor Rumsinger.

“I left my post while in search of the Seer and Coridan to go find Brigit.”

Ares’ jade eyes narrowed. He shot a look at the blond man who’d been speaking only moments ago. “What were your exact orders?”

“To find Brigit and relay her friends’ words then seek out the Seer and Coridan.”

Brigit stepped forward, interrupting their conversation. “Hold it one minute. You mean to tell me that because he came to make sure I was okay you plan to kill him?”