Cheri backed up to the edge of the pool and sat on its ledge. Some of this began to make sense. She'd witnessed ritual matings in some of the so-called primitive cultures she'd studied. Looking back, there were aspects of her joining with Alex-or Lexus-that contained ritual qualities. And he'd never come. "He never climaxed in me."

"Atlantean men only climax with lifemates. They may have s.e.x with any woman who will have them, but they only e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.e with lifemates."

"And the women?" Cheri gulped. "Do they have s.e.x with other men?"

"Of course. We are a society of equals. Women may join with women and men with men. Isn't that the way it is Above-where you live?"

"Not exactly. And they can do this even after choosing lifemates?"

"Of course. It would be silly to restrict people to one partner. No one would ever choose a lifemate, and there'd be no future generation."

"Yes," Cheri admitted, "that is silly of me." She knew her sarcasm was lost on the two women nodding their heads and washing her thighs.

"May I touch it?" she asked Lydia, pointing at her scars.

"Of course. Didn't my lifemate do a good job of claiming me?"

Cheri swallowed, rubbing her fingers over the four distinct scratches. "How long do these scars last? How long until they fade and disappear?"

Lydia scowled. "They won't disappear. That would be terrible. Then other lovers wouldn't know you are already a lifemate."

"So what if I reject Alex-Lexus, I mean?" Her voice hardened and the two cousins stepped back from her. "Would they fade then?"

"Yes," Selma said, her voice shaking. "But we know when we find our lifemate. That is why I don't wear the marks yet. I haven't found mine."

"Can women be lifemates with women?"

"Sometimes," Selma explained, "if we have an abundance of children, then more women and men take their own kind as lifemates. If there are not enough, then the greater good of Atlantis is honored. No two lifemates may have more than two offspring. And there is no guarantee they will have any."

"I see. Interesting." Cheri blinked and gasped as each woman worked on her toes. Her newfound friends certainly knew about luxury. "So is it fair to a.s.sume I have to do something to make this pact with Lexus as a lifemate? His clawing me half to death didn't do it?"

"Absolutely not," Lydia a.s.serted, "Atlantean women have choices."

"How are you so certain I'm Atlantean?"

Selma smirked and covered her mouth. "You are."

"How do you know? Your cousin may be wrong."

She shook her head vigorously. "Only Atlantean women can accept the heat of an Atlantean c.o.c.k."

"Oh my G.o.d." It was Cheri's turn to cover her mouth. It hadn't been her imagination. His c.o.c.k had been scalding. Almost too much at first, then she'd adjusted. "And if I do accept Lexus as my lifemate, what do I do to let him know?"

Lydia smiled demurely. "Because you are Atlantean, you may stay in Atlantis whether you accept or reject him."

"And if I chose not to reject?" Cheri insisted, hardly believing her question or the strain in her voice.

"Then first you must make every orifice available to him."

Cheri stiffened. "Every orifice?"

"That's right. And you must open his orifices."

Cheri frowned.

"With finger or thumb."

"Jesus, what am I into."

"After that you must scratch him deeply on the left shoulder, which protects the heart. Finally, he will pump his seed into your v.a.g.i.n.a, sealing you as mates for life."

"But that last coupling must be witnessed by two others," Selma added. "Two others must see you claw your mate."

"Oh my." Cheri's heart stopped. "That's why the two of you came into the bedroom when you did. You weren't just there to tend to my wounds, you had to see him claw me."

Both women waited, letting her take in this information.

"Anything else?"

"They must be relatives," Selma pointed out. "Only relatives are permitted to watch lifemates mate. When you are mating with someone else, like us, then anyone is permitted to watch."

"Do you always have s.e.x with others watching?"

"Of course not. Most of the time not. But there are rules for those who want to watch. Even those who cannot any longer partic.i.p.ate or choose not to can enjoy watching. Don't you agree?"

"That had never occurred to me." She glanced down sharply at Lydia, who began to ma.s.sage a soapy substance along her v.u.l.v.a. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

Lydia shook her head. "We're not allowed to do that yet. No one will come to you until after you make a choice about Lexus. Have you been with women Above?"

Cheri swallowed and shook her head. She'd considered it, but she'd never gotten around to it. "So I become eligible whether or not I accept Lexus-unless I decide to leave Atlantis entirely."

"Of course. I thought you understood that," Selma said, looking quite hurt. "Does that mean you'll reject me, too?"

Cheri's heart wrenched for the young woman. Maybe she was more vulnerable than Lydia because she remained unattached. Cheri reached out and grazed the back of a hand across Selma's raised dark nipple. "If I do decide to stay and accept Lexus, and if I want to learn, it will be you I'll seek to teach me how to love a woman."

The girl beamed broadly. "That is good." She reached out and grazed the back of her hand across Cheri's taut nipple. "Then I will definitely pray to the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses for you to choose Lexus."

Cheri smiled at Lydia, who was brushing against her other nipple.

"Oftentimes two teachers are better than one," the woman said softly, "don't you think?"

"Apparently that's true here in Atlantis." She squeezed both women's hands and nodded. "I have prided myself all my life on being open to new learning experiences. Somehow, I expect that commitment to learning will be stretched if I remain here in Atlantis."

"I wonder if either your curiosity or your pa.s.sion can be satisfied." Lexus grinned at Cheris, who sat opposite him on the bedroom carpet nibbling on a juicy fruit. "It's a hybrid, sort of like the peach you're familiar with Above."

She nodded. "Superb taste." Seductively, she licked her fingers clean before reaching for a fig. "I hope neither my curiosity nor my pa.s.sion will be so sated that I'll run out of questions or desire."

"Doubt there's much risk of either happening." He reached for his chalice and sipped wine, admiring again his future lifemate and thanking the G.o.ds for his good fortune. Lydia and Selma had returned her to him adorned in a long light blue transparent gown. In addition to the jewelry she'd arrived with, his cousins had given her a substantial gold chain for her waist and a thin gold anklet chain. They'd also placed an engraved gold armband on her right arm. He smiled to himself. So his cousins believed Cheris would decide to stay in Atlantis. She'd receive a second armband if she accepted him as lifemate.

He tried to lift his gaze from her very evident puffy p.u.s.s.y to her eyes, which were crinkling and snapping. He knew her well enough to know she was enjoying toying with him. Yet she must know the stakes of their banter had increased exponentially since he'd transported her to Atlantis.

"So you really believe your historians are accurate when they say the island of Atlantis was deliberately imploded by your ancient ancestors to preserve its peace loving way of life."

"Yes." Lexus sighed, trying not to be annoyed with Cheris. While he couldn't keep his mind off what they yet needed to do to cement their bonding, she seemed at least as interested in pursuing her scholarly interests. "I have no reason to disbelieve. Our people were far advanced in the sciences as well as the liberal arts. They sank the island miles beneath the ocean under the cover of darkness. They had little choice. The alternative would have been conquest by the Athenians and subjugation to their many depravities."

"And as an amba.s.sador, you travel to the world above, but rarely does anyone discover you are from Atlantis?"

He chuckled at her arched eyebrow-there was a related question she'd failed to ask. "That's right. I've read some of your work on Shamanism around the world. From what I can tell, pa.s.sing through the membrane surrounding Atlantis is similar to experience of shamans who travel to other realities or worlds. You have joined shamans on their journeys."

"Yes." She smirked. "At first I thought it was a trick of the mind or a drug." Her eyes widened. "All that was preparation for my return to Atlantis, wasn't it?"

"I expect so, but who knows the minds of the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses. So have you returned to Atlantis?"

Cheris paused to chew on her lower lip. "I will be able to travel back Above with you?"

He folded his arms over his bare chest, making no attempt to conceal the tent rising under his loose trousers. "If you choose me as lifemate, you may go where I go, and I will go where you go."

She didn't hesitate. "Would you kiss me please? It's been too long."

He leaned across the s.p.a.ce separating them and gathered her in his arms. She tipped her head back and he settled his lips across hers. What started as a gentle, teasing kiss quickly turned into one of urgency. She separated his teeth with her tongue and probed the roof of his mouth. When her tongue withdrew, he chased it with his own until she suckled it.

Her fingers slid down his bare chest and under his trousers to wrap around his c.o.c.k. "Nice," she murmured.

He broke their kiss to lift her gown over her head. He covered a breast with his mouth while Cheris pushed his pants down over his thighs and he kicked the material aside. Her fingers skimmed his c.o.c.k. Her laughter filled his ears. He bit down on a swollen nipple before tearing himself away to stare at her.

"I wonder how the juicy fruit tastes a la c.o.c.k."

He grinned when she reached for a fruit slice and mashed it up and down his rigid length. She shifted to straddle his chest. Facing his groin, she lapped at the juices streaming down his c.o.c.k. He eyed her damp v.u.l.v.a hovering before him only briefly before reaching for a slice of fruit and sliding it along her fleshy folds. Her moans as she took him into her mouth delighted him.

Cheris had listened well to her coaches. She was opening her orifices for him. They'd already probed each other's mouths-now she was working his p.e.n.i.s into her throat. She pressed back against his tongue as he curled it into her slit. There. Her finger prodded his a.n.u.s, seeking entry. He held back a shout for joy.

He swallowed some of her juices mingled with those of the fruit. He lifted his b.u.t.t, encouraging her finger. She didn't disappoint. He settled back onto the carpet as her finger pa.s.sed through his outer ring. She contented herself with moving her mouth smoothly up and down his shaft and easing her finger in and out of his a.s.s, yet they both knew this was only foreplay. This was not about climaxing for either of them. He waited for her to lead.

She withdrew her finger, dropped his c.o.c.k from her mouth and moved away to wash her finger and nibble on another piece of fruit.

He didn't detect indecision in her eyes-perhaps a little wariness.

Then she bent over and hefted his t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es gingerly. "According to Lydia and Selma, I'm supposed to believe these guys have been saving up for me for quite some time."

He nodded. "During adolescence, Atlantean males are allowed to spill their seed. Once they reach maturity, they do their best to save their seed for their lifemate."

"And have you been a good boy?" Cheris's eyes sparkled with mirth.

"Very." He hesitated.

Cheris bit her bottom lip. "But you have something you must do first."

"That's right."

She nodded and turned to face the bed. She knelt as she had earlier, only this time she was surely aware his focus wasn't on her p.u.s.s.y.

He moved up behind her, admiring the curve of her a.s.s and how that little ridge between v.u.l.v.a and a.n.u.s stood out. He bent down and traced it with his tongue.

Cheris flinched and moaned.

He clutched her hands at her sides as he rimmed her a.s.shole. She shuddered under his oral caresses. He smiled at her delight. She appeared well practiced in the ancient arts of a.n.a.l play. His c.o.c.k strained for contact. Lexus leaned back and guided the head of his shaft to her dark portal. He pushed inward and paused, waiting for her to accept him. Cheris curled her fingers into the bed sheets. He pressed onward. "Holy Zeus, you're tight." He flexed out and back in, reseating. Half of his length still awaited entry.

"Good G.o.d!" Cheris squealed. "What are you doing to me?"

He froze. "Surely you've done this before."

She shook her head wildly from side to side.

"d.a.m.n Poseiden and all the others." He started to pull out.

"No," she cried. "I need to accept all of you. Please."

Lexus cussed under his breath and glanced quickly at the nearby couch where Lydia and Selma now sat watching intently.

Lydia nodded her head in agreement with Cheris's a.s.sessment.

He knew the rules, d.a.m.n it. How the h.e.l.l had the woman traveled the world and done so much and not taken a c.o.c.k in her a.s.s? He sighed, then beamed. That meant she'd been saving her a.s.s for him!

"Not much more," he said, rea.s.suring her as best he could. Again he flexed back a little before pushing forward. He grinned and his lungs filled with triumph when his c.o.c.k disappeared into her. She must've sensed her bottom pressing against his hips.

"Yes!" she shouted. "Now what?"

"Now," he said, "I withdraw as gently as possible."

"Whoa," she cautioned, tipping her head back. "Slow. I'm stretched so wide I think I could snap in two."

"There," he said, holding his tingling c.o.c.k in his hand. "This will become pleasurable for you, but it will take some practice."

She nodded her head. "I trust that. I've never felt so full. I'm still burning up back there."

"Selma will help you with that," he said, as Selma came forth with a jar of balm and Lydia with a bowl of water and soap.

Cheri fought to get her eyes back in focus. Then she saw Selma drop to her knees beside her.

"This will be soothing," the young woman said softly. "Trust me."

Cheri did her best to nod. She wet her lips as the girl's fingers worked nimbly and clinically spreading a cooling salve over her a.n.u.s. When finished, Selma took her by the hand, helped her up on the bed and arranged her on her back. Cheri watched Selma dip her fingers into a second jar and spread a sticky substance over and around her v.u.l.v.a.

Afterwards, Selma slid up to whisper in her ear, "You're ready to receive my cousin's seed, if that is your desire."

Looking over Selma's shoulder, she saw Lexus staring at her intently. Lydia had washed his c.o.c.k and now eased up and down his length almost glacially with her cheeks drawn in and with definite purpose. She dropped Lexus from her mouth to nod at Cheri. "He's ready."