Chapter 29: Peril

The perilous tides of deceit do rise,
beckoning precipitous fate with all of its lies.

A Fool's Book of Wisdom

A sharp, yet soft cry of pain escaped Christine's mouth as her body surrendered its innocence to Erik. She sucked in a hissing breath then released both the breath and the tense muscles of her body. With trembling hands, she took hold of Erik's shoulders, firmly grasped the taut body of the man above her and began to rock her body against him.

"Christine?"

His voice barely a whisper, she knew what he asked without him speaking the words. She answered him by pulling down on his shoulders and thrusting up with her hips. The momentary pain had been surprisingly intense, but her burning desire for something more soon overcame the brief discomfort. She burned for him. For months, they both denied their bodies this long awaited joining. The titillating torture of allowing Erik to touch her every day as he retrained her body was now at last at an end. They were one now.

"Always yours..."

"Forever mine..."

"Together..."

"For all time..."

Christine heard the words, but she was so lost in her desperate need to slake the fire, which raged through her body that she had no idea if she spoke or if Erik spoke them. And, she did not care.

"Oh, Erik! Oui!"

He allowed a relieved groan to slip free as her words shattered the last bonds of his restraint and he began to fulfill her need with his own urgent rhythm. His mouth moved down the delicate column of her throat and he nipped at her delicate flesh. Dragging his hands away from her breasts, he planted them on either side of her and held his torso above her.

"Look at me, Christine!"

His words were a plea, not a command. Gentle and beseeching. She opened her eyes and lifted them to his. Their eyes met. Flaming amber and burnt umber. They could not look away from each other. They had no wish to look away. Erik surrendered to his body's overwhelming need. His hard shaft pistoned into the welcoming wetness of her sheath with an ever increasing rapidity. Christine met each of his thrusts with powerful, fluid movements of her own. Still their eyes held fast, one to the other. And, in the depths of their eyes, a small flame sparked and a fire ignited. The fire kindled and burned brighter as time seemed to hold its breath and waited for the moment of their completion. They hovered at the brink of ecstasy, the joy of their coupling evident in the passionate duet of their gasps and sighs. At the moment of their release, the fire within their eyes seemed to explode, which caused a mystical shower of sparks visible only to the eyes of the lovers. The fiery bits of light danced about their heads before slowly drifting down to settle like snowflakes on their naked bodies entwined on the bed. They panted heavily and smiled dreamily. The flaming amber eyes now held flecks of burnt umber. The eyes of burnt umber held sparks of flaming amber.

"Je t'aime, Christine."

"Je t'aime aussi, Erik."

The lovers sighed, sated and exhausted. Then, in the wondrous stillness of the chilly autumn night, the two held one another close, rolled onto their sides to face one another, kissed tenderly, smiled sleepily, closed their eyes and allowed Hypnos to lead them together into a corner of his realm prepared especially for them.

Edgar allowed Khalid to lead him away from the window, but when Helen began to shout, the man dropped his hold on Edgar's lead rope and rushed to her side. The mule's lips curled in a bestial approximation of a smirk when he heard the indignant tone of Helen's voice.

"Poor thing! Today has brought some rather unexpected changes to her life, but the largest shock of the day still awaits her. For sitting on her bed is ... Well, someone she never thought of as a person. But, I allow my mind to wander and I do not have time to muse. I need to find help. As I no longer seem the center of their attention, there is no better time than the present, I suppose. Well, off I go!"

And, with surprisingly little sound, the beast with a soul that once belonged to a king, trotted away into the forest unnoticed. He wandered for quite some time, pausing only to lift his nose to scent the air. The trees became thicker, the forest floor dense with deadfall and the light dimmed by the impenetrable canopy of branches overhead. After stumbling over a tree stump hidden under a pile of moldering leaves, Edgar halted, flexing his forelock. He sighed with relief as he noted he had done no serious damage to his leg and then stood there panting for a moment as he tried to catch his breath.

"I need to slow down if I intend to catch the scent of the being that is the subject of my search. It would be just my luck to run past in my hurry and miss it altogether. Very well old boy ... breathe in ... breathe out. In. Out. That is much better. I just wish I could find some water ... stop it! Concentrate! Time is short! Taste the air ... can you catch the scent?"

Lifting his head high to clear the air of his own scent, he closed his eyes and breathed. He concentrated on each flavor carried on the breeze into his large, flaring nostrils. He was not certain what he sought, but for some reason unknown to him, he knew he would know it as soon as he smelled it. Long minutes passed and he began to despair. A gray squirrel, a red fox, a brown hare and the almost overwhelming scent of decaying autumn leaves surrounded him. Somewhere, far in the distance, the odor of wild boar and freshly dug truffles lightly teased his nose. It was the truffles, which caused a thrill of excitement to course through his body, although he was unsure as to the reason why. He inhaled deeply once more, curling his upper lip to hold the scent inside his nostrils and caught it. He tossed his head and gave an excited snort.

"Oui! That is it! I must follow that scent! Now, I can only pray that I am not too late!"

"And, just what do you find so amusing? How dare you laugh at me? How dare you? This is my home ... that is my bed! This is the one place that no one could..."