Chapter 2

As nightfall neared, Bear at last rose from where he had sat down immediately upon secluding himself from the village. "I go to my meditation with the Great Spirit."

Laresa asked, "Do you wish me to remain here?"

He nearly said no, but something inside him disagreed quite strongly. Although he did not acknowledge it, he felt calm in her presence. Even the emotional devastation of his transformation stung with less pain this time. "You may come, if you wish."

"Then I will. Perhaps I might find some answers of my own with you. I have found them before upon that hill."

Bear nodded, and then said, "Come, the time approaches."

As Bear trotted off, steadily increasing his speed, Laresa could feel the darker emotions within him evaporating. Increasing her pace to match his long strides, she found his exhilaration contagious. Her silvery hair whipping in the breeze, she ran beside him, bringing her power to bear for a moment to restrain her bouncing breasts. That irritant eliminated, she fell into the building joy of the run.

Reaching the top of the hill, Laresa let the peaceful nature of the place seep into her. Bear turned to the sunset, as he always did, and Laresa sat down in the grass nearby to join him. Reaching out with her power, she summoned up the calming pendant given to her by the Incan priestess. The divine magic of the item quickly did its work, further relaxing the Djinn. No words passed between them as the sun sank slowly toward the horizon, painting the sky in lustrous shades of red and orange.

Bear gathered up what he needed for his meditation fire, and soon had it burning. He pulled off his leather vest and slipped out of his moccasins, but paused in the process of reaching for his loincloth. It was only then that he remembered he was not alone atop the hill.

Laresa could sense his discomfort, and said, "I have seen you so before, Bear. If this is part of your meditation ritual, you shouldn't change things because I am here."

Bear hesitated for a moment more, but then nodded and tugged at his loincloth again. Laresa averted her eyes, which required a great deal of effort, watching the final sliver of the sun vanish in the distance. A few moments later, she could smell the herbs burning in Bear's fire, and could feel him slipping into a meditative state. Clearing her mind, letting the scent of the herbs and the earth permeate her, Laresa too let the world otherwise fade into the background.

Laresa started out of her trance, stunned that she had slipped so fully into the meditative state, and shaken by what she had seen.

Bear's voice arose from behind her, asking, "You had a vision?"

Laresa folded her arms in front of her, staring at the stars and trembling slightly. She could manage only to nod her head in the affirmative.

"Do you wish to speak of it?"

Laresa's first instinct was that talking about her vision was the last thing she wanted to do. After considering it, however, she changed her mind. In a soft voice, she related what had come to her in the vision, "I saw a beast arise within me. It gnawed at me, and held me tight in its grip. Its aspect changed constantly, becoming previous Masters, and others. I saw Nathifa, and your grandfather as a babe. I saw a cruel Master named Aaron, and a couple who loved me as a friend. I was afraid to fight the beast, and it fed upon my fear. No matter how often I wrenched free from it, it always pulled me back with terrible claws. In the end, it became my ring. That is when I awakened."

Bear asked, "Do you understand the meaning of this vision?"

Shaking her head, Laresa glanced down at the pendant hanging between her breasts, irritated that its magic didn't appear to be having any effect upon her now. The fear and desperation from her vision lingered within her, holding her in a grip as tight as the beast it had revealed to her.

Bear stood and walked over to the Djinn, laying a hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "Some visions are not meant to be understood in the moment of their giving. They prepare the way for understanding when the time is right." He stood in silence for a few moments, softly squeezing Laresa's shoulder in a comforting manner. "My vision was of you. I saw you calming the dark beast I become when I change, taming it with your touch."

Laresa turned, looking up into his eyes. As their eyes connected, something more passed between them. Laresa's unease vanished as if it had never been, and desire flared to brilliant life within Bear. As his feelings washed over her, they kindled need within Laresa as well. A twitch of his cock in her peripheral vision, so close to her face as she sat at his feet, built Laresa's passions even higher.

A brisk wind swept over them, whipping both white-gold and dark gray hair with its strength. Shortly thereafter, the rain followed as they stared in silence into each other's eyes. Only a few drops fell at first, but the strength of the storm grew by the moment. In the distance, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, drawing closer with each resounding boom of nature's power.

"Perhaps the beast within you does not need taming, but understanding," Laresa said, spinning around completely to face him and stroking his muscled legs. "You call it a curse, and yet it saved a girl this day. When confronted with slaying a helpless man, you controlled the beast, sending Storm Cloud away instead. The beast serves the people, but it serves you as well. You are within it, even as it is within you. If it would not harm one who meant you harm, why would it harm one you love?"

"I doubt still," Bear responded, his voice thick with restrained passion.

With a thought, Laresa caused her clothing to vanish, baring her body to Bear as his was to her. Rivulets of water cascaded down their bodies, illuminated by the flashes of the approaching lightning.

"You seclude yourself from the people, and your desires, because you fear the beast's power may bring them harm. The beast could not harm me, Bear, were it to be released, which I do not believe will happen." Laresa's hands moved upward, her thumbs sliding along the inside of his thighs, and her breasts lifting as she raised her arms. Bear's manhood began a steady rise, impossible for him to resist in light of her soft touch.

"Give me your passion," Laresa gasped out, the statement punctuated by a clap of thunder, which shook their bodies with its power.

Leaning forward, Laresa lapped his nearly erect organ from root to tip, drawing a gasp from Bear that was carried away by the wind almost as quickly as the sound passed his lips. As she looked up into his eyes, swirling her tongue over the purple helmet of his manhood, he laid his hand on her rain-soaked hair, pulling her toward him on pure instinct.

Laresa parted her lips, taking him in her mouth with skill that only a Djinn with centuries of experience could possibly possess. In one smooth motion, she engulfed his entire length, the tip slipping into her throat and her lips pressing into the iron-gray curls at the root. Her throat, lips, and tongue all caressed his organ, the sounds of his groans lost in the howl of the wind and the booming of thunder.

Laresa's saturated tresses whipped against Bear's legs as her head bobbed over his cock, one of her hands curling around him to grasp his slick buttock, while she rested his heavy balls in her other hand and caressed them. Despite the whirling of the wind, the scent of Laresa's arousal tickled both their noses, mingling with the smells of wet earth and ozone.

A burst of flavor brought a fresh rush of saliva to Laresa's mouth, as a drop of pre-cum seeped from him. She moaned around him, savoring the flavor while continuing to suck him with quick strokes.

Bear's hands reached under her arms, pulling her upward, and off his throbbing cock. He popped free of her mouth as she rose from her knees, and she immediately pressed her lips against his in a hungry kiss, as soon as she could reach him. Their arms wrapping around each other, their slick flesh met, and they released their pent up desire into ardent kisses.

Bear grasped her buttocks in one powerful hand, placing his other hand on her back just below the shoulders. Dropping to his knees, he pulled her with him to the whipping, dripping grass below. He lowered her to the ground, supporting her easily in his arms. As soon as her back touched the earth, Laresa parted her legs wide, the hunger in her expression illuminated by bright flashes of lightning.

The feeling of Bear's cock sliding into her hot, wet embrace was beyond compare. Both had been denied this pleasure for far too long, and the groans that escaped them as he settled into her depths overcame even the cacophony of the storm's raging.

Laresa's breasts bounced from the power of his thrusts, and only his tight grip on her parted thighs prevented her from sliding away from him across the slippery grass. Popping her eyes open to watch him penetrating her wet heat, Laresa was almost surprised not to see the pounding rain hissing into steam against her burning flesh.

Laresa's pleasure mounted quickly beneath his powerful assault, even as the storm continued to batter them with its full strength. The hot pressure behind Laresa's mound reached a painful intensity, growing larger and larger, filling her body with heat that seared her. A blinking strobe from the overhead lightning illuminated Bear's face for a moment when Laresa's eyes were open, and she knew that he too was near the point of no return.

Bear's cock slammed into her a final time, the sounds of his release lost in the noise of the storm. The bubble within Laresa burst at the first hot spurt of his semen into her depths, the power of her orgasm causing her back to arch until only her bottom and the top of her head supported her. Laresa pinched her nipples tight as Bear continued to pulse, filling her abundant pools of cream.

As they reached their peaks, so to did the storm. Nature unleashed its full fury around them, illuminating their trembling bodies in an endless series of strobes from the flickering electric bolts. The thunder rattled them with its power, and the rain was so heavy that it obscured the climaxing couple from each other despite the bright flashes of light. A tree a short distance away exploded as one of the storm's fiery forks of power reached down for it from the heavens.

The intensity of their orgasms sapped the strength from both Bear and Laresa. They collapsed to the earth, spent beyond the ability to move — still joined by the bridge of his throbbing organ buried in her tightly clenched depths. The lightning slowed, and the rain slacked off, allowing them to hear each other panting and gasping for breath, if only barely despite their faces being mere inches apart.

The storm moved on, leaving in its wake an exhausted couple, who only rose from their place in the grass with great effort. Even then, it was a while before Laresa could summon up the strength to transport them back to Bear's teepee.

Laresa blinked her violet eyes, feeling quite strange to be awakening outside her ring. Upon learning that she did not truly sleep while in the outside world, Bear had wished that she be able to do so if she desired. Waking up lying next to Bear, with her head cradled in his arm, was quite a pleasant new experience for the Djinn.

Slipping from the furs, so as not to awaken him, she found that not everything was perfect with this new arrangement. She stretched for a few moments, attempting to work out the kinks in her muscles, only to cheat and use her magic when the exercise didn't help fast enough.

Feeling better, Laresa decided that a special treat was in order, after the previous night's lovemaking amidst the storm. Calling forth her power, she manifested a plate of sizzling bacon, eggs, and well-buttered toast. As an afterthought, she created a cup of coffee as well.

The smell soon roused Bear, who opened his eyes and sniffed deeply of the intoxicating aroma. Sitting up, he said, "Good morning, what is this?"

"Something special I've discovered in my travels through time. Try it," Laresa said, handing Bear the cup of coffee.

Bear's eyes opened wide with the first sip of the beverage. "What is this potion?"

"It is called coffee. It is common enough in many places, especially in the future. It will help wake you up too. Do you like it?"

Bear sighed and took another long drink, "Very much." Nodding toward the steaming plate, he said, "If this is as good, you will spoil me, Moonhair. I will soon be as big as the bear for which I am named."

Smiling at him, Laresa responded, "I think I would like spoiling you, although I prefer you fit and handsome." Just enough suggestion crept into her voice to tell Bear exactly what she was thinking of when she said it.

Taking a bite of the bacon, obviously savoring the taste from his expression, Bear said, "Do you regret our joining?"

Laresa shook her head. "Not at all. I find it difficult in recent days to forget that one day you will pass on, or I will pass to another Master, but I am content."

"Perhaps this is your beast — the one from your vision," Bear suggested, taking another sip of his coffee.

The vision returned to Laresa now with perfect clarity. Bear was correct; the beast was her dissatisfaction with slavery to the ring. She assumed that the strong emotions the vision had roused within her had prevented her from seeing what seemed so simple now. It was her heart that all the people she had encountered over the centuries clawed at, whether they had meant to or not. Every attachment she formed would one day end, and there was nothing she could do to prevent it.

"I believe you are right," Laresa agreed. "The vision told me nothing of how to face this beast, however."

"Some visions reveal truths, others bring wisdom. Perhaps another vision will grant you the wisdom to confront your beast, or you will discover it through knowing the truth of it," Bear suggested.

Laresa smiled and said, "And what of your beast? Have I tamed it?"

"Perhaps I better understand it," Bear replied with a somewhat sheepish smile. "I would be pleased to have your touch continue to soothe the beast within me."

Moving close to him, Laresa said, "And I would be pleased to do so."

Knowing now that he was still in control when he transformed into the great black grizzly, and that his passions would not trigger the transformation, Bear ended his seclusion to some extent. He went among the people more often, interacting on a purely social level in a manner not seen since his first transformation. Much of his time was still spent in his teepee and by himself in the wilderness, however.

Or so the people of the village thought.

In truth, he and Laresa became as husband and wife. Laresa found that by sleeping outside her ring, her strength remained for longer periods of time. Often, it would be weeks before she needed to seek the refuge of her ring to recharge her powers. Laresa could sense that Bear's family, the only people who knew of her, did not entirely approve of the arrangement, but this was tempered by their joy at return of Bear's once jovial nature.