"No mate, perhaps, but did you ask about lovers?"

"You were free to have any lovers you wished, and to mate as well," he conceded, looking back out to sea. "But I was not told of any."

"Lovers aren't always common knowledge," Sabrina answered. He had said, hadn't he, that he had not seen a woman in a year. She grasped at her false advantage and played it. "Perhaps I did not wish to wait for you."

"A woman may have as many lovers as she wishes," he admitted, "and I would not begrudge you any. You are beautiful and many could not resist you. But I had hoped..." He trailed off.

"Well, you could hope all you wanted. You left and you left me. Maybe you would never return. Maybe you are only here for a night, a month, who knows. There are many girls in your village who would be happy to take the edge off your yearning. A year without a woman is a long time for a man." She turned away. Why didn't she simply welcome him back into her arms? What perverse need did she have to punish him, and herself along with him? And yet she would not give in to that desire, let him have her so easily after his desertion.

She took a few steps away from him, walking further down the beach. No one ever came this far down. The sh.o.r.e was smooth with few rocks for fish to lurk in, making it a poor fishing spot, and the high dunes made it unsuitable for den building. They were completely alone. The sun's last rays peeked over the trees inland, turning the sky orange and the water a golden russet. A few more steps and she turned back to him.

He had not followed. He stood there, looking out at the water as he had on their last night together when he had stopped after heating her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to an ardor that had sent trails of shock and desire below. After he had stopped and told her he was leaving.

She shook her head to clear it of the past. Her long hair brushed the sand at her feet. The wind had died for the moment and she looked at him glowing in the sunset, willing him to turn to him.

It was as though he heard. She stood motionless. He had to come to her. She would not go to him. He took a step forward, tentative. Then another, three long strides and he was upon her. His hand came around her neck under her hair and she felt its warmth and strength. He pulled her to him and his lips came down to hers. And stopped.

Sabrina put her tongue lightly to his lips. He tasted of the sea. She waited. His other hand came around, across her shoulders, down to the small of her back. Still his lips hovered and she would not move to engage them. The moment lingered. She kept her hands at her sides, not moving, not breathing. Then his mouth crushed hers, burning full lips on her waiting mouth and she was tasting the salt. Her lips parted to welcome him home.

He pulled her head back with her hair and still his mouth was on hers. His tongue and hers met, tangled and fought. She put her hands to his chest, pushed lightly, trying to create some distance, get some air, but he moved closer, relentless. Her mouth yielded to his, her arms bent, abandoning the idea of distance. Her hands slipped around his broad back, caressed the strong muscles under the warm, smooth skin. And she remembered that she was naked.

Danilo's hands had clearly not forgotten. The hand on her lower back dipped to the curve of her b.u.t.tocks and she felt the strength of his grip as he cupped her. His upper hand released her hair, then was on her soft breast. He stroked the tender orb and lightly brushed her nipple. It responded immediately, hardened under his fingertips. But the memory of his last foray, his teasing caresses so abruptly ended, made her tighten in rebellion. He took his hand away.

No, she thought. This time, please don't stop. But she could not say the words. Pride would not let her ask with her body, and his mouth, still on hers, would not let her speak. He pulled away, releasing her lips. "No," she started. He let her go and turned away. Reach for him, she commanded herself. Speak to him. But she could not.

"I'm sorry," he said, not looking at her. "You're right. I can't come back to you."

The breeze felt cold even with the warmth of the evening. Her body cried out for him, her heart yearned for him, but her head was hard. "You're a coward!" she spat.

"A coward? A coward? I'm many things, Sabrina, but that's one thing I'm not." Now his voice was hard, angry.

"You are. You run away. Do I scare you? Am I too much for you?"

"You scare me, but not the way you think."

"You leave. You hide. You start and you stop. Aren't you a man?" Sabrina longed to shut herself up, but the words poured from a wound unhealed.

"I'm a man, all right," he answered. "But I'm not a brute."

"No. That's certain. You're a careful, worried little sailor. Can you love a real woman? A woman so filled with pa.s.sion your careful little world will fall apart with her touch? Can you?" Angry tears formed in her eyes, tears she had not cried in the year he had been gone. She turned her head away so he would not see.

"Are you that pa.s.sionate woman? Are you saying you want me?" She didn't answer. "Say it, Sabrina. Say the words, and you will have me."

"No. No and no. You say the words. Tell me that you want me, show me, then we'll see if I want you. You fled, I didn't. You say it."

"Gladly," he shouted. "I want you, Sabrina, and I'm going to have you. Right here, right now, on the beach." He grabbed her long hair and pulled her into his chest. He pulled her head back again, and again kissed her hard and long. His tongue thrust into her mouth and once more he cupped her a.s.s, but this time his fingers grasped her tightly, kneading her soft flesh.

Then his other hand went to her breast, all as before, but there was no gentle caress. He pulled the tender flesh to himself, and releasing her mouth from his, dropped to her nipple. He sucked on it until it was fully hard, then nipped with his teeth. Sabrina shuddered again, but this time with desire, as the jagged current of heat ran from nipple deep into her core.

Danilo's fingers on her a.s.s pulled the cheeks apart and felt for her sweet female opening. Sabrina felt those fingers enter her and her juices ran. Her legs parted of their own volition as he drove one, then two fingers into her. His mouth and other hand attended her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and with each touch to her nipples, her slit moistened with need.

He pulled his fingers, his mouth, away from her and stood.

Sabrina tensed, anger on the edge of her brain, waiting for him to stop once more. But instead, he lifted her off her feet and laid her on the beach. The sand and small sh.e.l.ls scratched lightly at her, but she had no time to think of that as Danilo pulled her legs apart and knelt between them. With his knees, he pushed her wider.

Sabrina looked up at him, seeing him as he was now. His black hair rustled in the wind. His tanned, muscular shoulders flexed as he looked down at her on her back before him. The dark hair across his chest feathered down to curls below his waist. She could see the bulge beneath his sarong. She felt his hard thighs pressing against her softer ones. And his big, powerful hands waited for her. She watched him, and she watched him watch her.

He was still, looking at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her waist. Then he lifted her legs to his shoulders, and to her shock, he looked at her wet, warm s.e.x. "Oh, yes, I want you, Sabrina," he whispered.

His fingers parted her l.a.b.i.a. She squirmed at the intimate touch, so open to his hands and eyes, but he continued. He opened the lips wider, stretching them, and, then gently touched the pleasure b.u.t.ton above them. Sabrina moaned. He flicked it she flinched. Again, he flicked it more lightly, and her body fought between flinching and opening for more. And even more lightly, he stroked the sensitive nub, wetting his thumb with her own slick juice and rubbing on the perfect spot.

Sabrina could not help her reaction as her legs opened and she arched towards his touch. But he pulled her legs in and put them back on the sand. He leaned forward and kissed her lips lightly. Then his mouth traveled down to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, where one hand teased and pinched the nipple of one breast, while his mouth attended the other.

The sensation, now that her c.l.i.t was aroused, was intense. With every lick, pinch and nibble, she squirmed, unable to control her reaction as her p.u.s.s.y heated with desire. She put her arms around Danilo, pulling him down to her, trying desperately to bring his strong body onto hers. But he was strong, stronger for his year at sea, and he resisted. Again, he pulled back, up on his knees. Sabrina reached for his sarong, ready to bare his c.o.c.k, ready to see, finally, the source of the bulge beneath the cloth.

He brushed her hands away. He tore off his sarong.

Sabrina gasped as the sight of his huge, wide c.o.c.k. It was long and thick, and stood at furious attention. She reached for it and it was hot and hard. She stroked it and was amazed at its controlled power. She ran her finger around the corona and was gratified at Danilo's shudder. Two could play at this game, and if she could only breathe, she would tease and taunt him as he had done to her.

Danilo reached behind Sabrina's head and pulled her to sitting. Then he moved out of the way, and flipped her onto her stomach, her face toward the sand. He straddled her, this time holding her thighs together, and stroked her b.u.t.tocks. He pulled apart the cheeks, and with that hot, huge c.o.c.k, traced the crease between them.

Sabrina could not wriggle away and the sand rubbed against her sensitized b.r.e.a.s.t.s when she tried. He continued to tease her, playing with her p.u.s.s.y, which all the tensing of her thighs could not shield from his invading fingers. And his c.o.c.k pressed and pushed against her rear opening, sending slivers of pain and pleasure into her.

No matter what way she moved though, nothing touched her c.l.i.t. That b.u.t.ton now longed for play, for attention and for pleasure, but it met only sand. Sabrina could only last a bit longer before she would yield and beg for him. She had to find a way to reverse the game. But Danilo had taken control and she could not wrest it from him. As she started to despair with desire, Danilo relented. Or so it seemed.

She felt him caress her back, then move off her. She started to turn back, but he was too quick and strong. Using her long hair, he wrapped the thick strands around one of her wrists and wrenched it behind her back. Then he took her other wrist and tied it to the first, pulling the hair taut so that her head was back and her face off the sand. Then he pulled her around so she was still on her belly, hands behind her back, but facing him. He cupped a hand under her chin.

"Do you want me, Sabrina?" he teased. She didn't answer. He smiled and pulled her head back farther. Her lips parted. "Good. Lick your lips."

Sabrina felt herself slipping so deep into desire that resistance was impossible. She obeyed. Then she felt the tip of his c.o.c.k against her lips. She opened her mouth. But he was so thick, so wide, she could not take him in.

He lifted her head some more, changing the angle so she was directly above his c.o.c.k.

She opened her lips and moistened him as much as she could with her tongue. Then he lowered her mouth over himself and she felt the huge, hot, salty column enter her. Her breath stopped, everything stopped, and the only thing that existed in the world was his c.o.c.k. She was filled to capacity, and yet there was more, and still more. He lowered her more and still there was part of his shaft she could not reach.

She tried to lick him, to suck a bit, but there was no way to maneuver. He lifted her head, and when she sought relief, he pressed her down once more. And again, again, until she could think of nothing but that invasion.

His hands tightened on her head and he thrust with his hips, driving his c.o.c.k into her throat.

She heard his hoa.r.s.e breathing and knew he would climax soon. Part of her was eager for him to come, not to please him, but because it would end this torment. But part was unwilling to give up, just yet, the prospect of that c.o.c.k entering the s.p.a.ce between her legs that was designed and waiting to receive him. But that would take asking for him, and she could not. His thrusts slowed and she knew he was at his moment. But he pulled her head off him and held her face up.

"I want you, Sabrina, make no mistake," he breathed.

And with a single motion, she was on her back again, her hands behind her. She looked at his c.o.c.k. It was dripping a single tear.

"Spread your legs wide," he said. The sand was gritty, and when she obeyed, she lifted her b.u.t.tocks from its rough surface. "Yes," he said, "lift it up."

She immediately flattened against the sand. She would not give him that kind of satisfaction. She would not let him know her desire. With her legs open, she could not avoid his touch and he returned to his intimate caresses. This time, when he touched her c.l.i.t, he plunged his fingers into her p.u.s.s.y. She bucked toward him, then again restrained herself.

He smiled. Moving back, he put his hands on the inside of her knees, and keeping her legs spread, he lowered his face to her p.u.s.s.y.

"What? No!" she said. Then his tongue was on her c.l.i.t and the sensation was beyond anything she had ever felt, anything any other man had done, or anything she had ever done for herself. For a year, she had had no one but herself, and before Danilo, she had only had the most inexperienced of lovers. This was entirely new. And terrifying.

Danilo did not answer and he did not stop. He flicked her c.l.i.t, sucked and bit it, and she writhed and squirmed, only to intensify the unreal fire that he was starting.

His fingers opened and plundered her p.u.s.s.y and his lips and tongue kept returning to her most sensitive spot. Her vision narrowed, darkened, and her toes began to curl. Her breath came fast and high and her back arched. And then, he stopped.

"Now, Sabrina. Now. Say it. Say you want me. I won't force myself upon you, so say it." He was smiling slightly as she pulled herself together.

"No. I won't say it," she gasped.

"Yes," he answered, "yes, you will." He pulled her legs up and the head of his c.o.c.k was against her wet, quivering p.u.s.s.y.

Maki's good counsel flashed through her mind. Don't be too proud. Think long and hard. Sabrina shut her eyes tight. "Fine. Now. Go ahead."

"That's not it. Do you want me, Sabrina? Please, please, Sabrina, say you do!"

And it was that plea that melted her broken heart and mended it. "I want you, Danilo. I want you!" And Danilo plunged into her. Without grace, style or reserve, he thrust his full length into her. Sabrina cried out. She had never been filled like that. It felt as if he would impale her, break her to pieces. He thrust hard, and with every thrust, she felt stretched, and pressed and overwhelmed. And then, she stopped fighting it, and her body yielded, submitting fully to his desire, and to her own.

She felt her p.u.s.s.y soften, open, and the movements became pure pleasure. Her c.l.i.t, engorged and waiting, throbbed from the pressure of Danilo's c.o.c.k, and the colors became muted, then faded to black as she bucked and parried his thrusts, faster and harder, until the roar of the surf was the thunder in her ears and the sea between her legs became the pounding of the rhythm of her breaking and release.

Danilo's roar of conquest and joy rang out over the sea and he collapsed on top of Sabrina, sweating and spent. They lay there, on the sand, exhausted from their year-long wait, until the foam of the tide tickled them to awareness once again.

"Why did you reject me?" she said softly.

Danilo looked deep into her eyes. "Reject you? Reject you? I love you!"

"You didn't love me then. You didn't want me."

"I wanted you," he said hoa.r.s.ely. "I wanted you more than I've ever wanted anyone. But I couldn't. I couldn't have you, if I was going away."

"There's no law that says we have to be mates to enjoy each other," she said. "You know that. The only thing reserved to your mate is the fathering of children and we knew how to prevent that."

"Our world is doomed, Sabrina. Your den is far from sh.o.r.e, but you know how high the tide is rising every day. How many dens are destroyed? Our islands are sinking and we're all that hold the sea from Atlantis. We all feel the change and we're losing our grip on our traditions. I had to find another land, to take you to, to keep us alive. To keep our child alive. I didn't want to start a child until I found it. And I found it. Be my mate, please, Sabrina? Please? Come with me, away from here, to a new land."

Sabrina shivered in the breeze. Leave her island, her den, her sisters. Could she do it? She looked into Danilo's eyes. "What about the rest?"

"We'll organize fleets. Those who will leave can come. There are islands, not a month's journey from here, where we can live. There are people like us, too, almost like us. There is plenty of room for anyone who will come. Will you come with me?"

Sabrina lay her head on his broad shoulder. "Yes, Danilo. I will. I feel our child starting inside me already. We will make her safe in our new world." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply the scent of him, and the ocean, and the aroma of love.

SUBTERFUGE.

Diane Layers Leroy Duncan woke early and, after stretching to remove the kinks from a night's sleep, walked through the upstairs area of his family's home. On the walls of this area, the length of his family's line was evident. In front of the portrait of his mother, he stopped. After a moment of inner reflection, he nodded to her image forever painted on canvas, then moved on through the darkened hallway and down the stairs to the lower floor. On this level of his home, his eyes remained on the floor.

His personal feelings of this area, was an insult to his masculinity. It waited endlessly for the feel of a woman's touch. Not just any woman's touch, which for Leroy would be an easy task to fill among the females of his acquaintance, but he wanted the personal touch of one woman, the touch of Kori Burr.

Entering the gym area of his home, he turned on the lights and, after a warm up session, began to work the equipment with a familiar knowledge. So instilled was his routine, his mind could work in other items for thought as his body tasked through his work out.

Across the gym, a four by six picture in a frame was the only picture of Kori in Leroy's possession. He stared at it, envisioning his hands entwined in her long hair that draped over her shoulders and across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He figured she was at least a thirty-eight C, maybe forty. Her eyes flashed with a fire that made his desire spark. Before long, she would be his.

As Leroy neared the end of his workout, the house began to liven as the daily routines of the staff started around the mansion. When his butler, Marjan, entered the gym, he carried the special laptop under his arm. That one laptop was as private as possible, only accessed by Leroy, but held and protected by Marjan, as things on that machine would reveal more than he wanted known about him.

Marjan set the laptop on a small table against the wall and opened the top turning on the machine. "It is near time," he said, then left the gym.

Leroy finished his current repet.i.tions, then wiped the sweat from his face and neck as he walked to the small table and sat down on the rolling stool, then brought a chat messenger online. A devilish smile crept across his features seeing her screen name illuminate several moments later.

He felt it was by dumb luck that they met online in a late night Friday chat room and soon began speaking in private IM about anything and numerous items. During one of their discussions, he found out that Kori was a member of an environmental group called MacLanahan Zoological a.s.sociation, or MZA for short. MZA kept watch over the wild life of the planet. They were a large operation and one that Leroy wanted involvement with as their prestigious name carried weight with many governments around the world.

Tossing the towel in his hand across his shoulder, Leroy opened a chat box and thought a moment of how to write his revealing information. Once he typed it in, he hesitated before sending it. Is this the way I want our relationship to begin? He smiled thinking about the chase, ending with her in his bed. He looked at the enter key, and, then depressed it. The game is on. As soon as the message went, he wanted to be a fly on the desk to see her face when she read the message.

When the chat box came up on her monitor, Kori read the message as she munched on a toasted and b.u.t.tered Grimack roll. Grimack breads were a high protein snack food that contained blood and shreds of Grimack meat. Bug bread was the slang term for Grimack bread snacks.

She cleared her mouth and read a loud. "I shall see you at our appointed meeting where all will be revealed." She laughed. "How human he is to think I am what he was contracted for. What a surprise he will get when he realizes I am just the instrument to get him to the real Oredal Queen." She closed the chat box without answering and dropped offline.

When Kori dropped off line, Leroy knew he got her attention. He closed the lid on the laptop, and saw the aged yellow envelope behind it. It was the letter of contract, made between Wenda and Leroy's mother many years previous. That letter stated Kori was to be his.

With the laptop under his arm and the letter in his hand, Leroy hurried up the stairs to his suite of rooms to prepare for his day. Upon entering, he saw two housekeepers making his bed. Both of the women looked at him and smiled at his entrance. The new housekeeper's lengthy look at his body, top to bottom and slight half smile, told him more than words ever would. He easily returned the interested look to each woman.

Betty wore her usual casual dress, but Leroy could not envision her as his lover that morning. He looked at the new girl Pam. He remembered he hired her only because of her youthful looks. With Betty's help, an older woman with years of experience, the new housekeeper would learn the ropes required in cleaning the house.

Betty, as did several others in his employ, knew it was Leroy's job to teach her the other part of her job if she was willing. He looked at the girl and let his eyes drift over her body, her high small pert b.r.e.a.s.t.s, the curve of her hips and the junction of her body was enough to make his body respond. He knew, then that morning's release would be with her if she wished him to fill her with his c.o.c.k. Leroy looked at Marjan waiting in the entry to the bathing area and nodded quickly.

Knowing what he was to do, Marjan walked into the bedroom area. "Betty, would you please come with me to the kitchen area, I wish to discuss this week's menu with you."

Betty stopped her work, looked at Marjan, then at Leroy. She felt slighted at his choice of a younger partner that morning.

Leroy saw the spark of anger in her eye and smiled. Betty would get her piece of him, but it would be at his time set, not hers. He was master of his body. "You best see to the details, Betty," Leroy said with an undercurrent of threat.

Having been in the employment of the family for many years, Betty knew well the danger of not following protocol with Leroy. He considered it a game, s.e.xually testing his employees to see if they deserved the attention of his needs or not. If she balked at his wishes, she could feel the sting of a layoff notice instead of the pleasure of his body.

"Sure," Betty said, then looked at Pam. "Pam, make sure there are clean towels in the bathing area for Mr. Duncan's shower, then continue to clean this suit of rooms. I will return as soon as I can to help you with the rest of the items."

Pam looked at Betty and nodded. "Yes ma'am," she said, then went back to tucking in the sides of the bedclothes and straightening the bed.

Once Betty and Marjan left, Leroy picked up a remote controller and locked the door that opened into the hallway and headed for his shower.

"So, how was your first week?" he asked as he casually gathered the items he would need for his shower from his dressers and such.

"It has been great, Mr. Duncan. I thank you again for giving me a chance."

"You're welcome Pam. Do a good job and learn the ropes and you'll have a steady full time job here," Leroy answered, then moved into his shower area. Quickly undressing, he put his gym clothes down the laundry chute in the bathroom and pulled on his robe.

When he exited the bathroom, he stood looking at Pam, bent over the coffee table in the sitting room dusting. He licked his lips looking at her a.s.s. It was a remarkable sight and his arousal grew. "Pam, did Betty happen to tell you what all the training would include for you to be employed here full time and not just part time?"