I WANT Page 5

  She'd been a coward, unable to turn and face what she feared most. Another loss of control in the heat of passion. Her first sexual experience had taken so much from her that when she'd finally been freed, it was as though she still was imprisoned, afraid to experience what the world had to offer.

  She shook her head. So many wasted years of unhappiness. All this time she thought she'd had control of her life, and instead she now realized she'd never gotten the control back. Until now. And she wanted to cry with the power and energy she now felt infused with.

  The path came to a halt at the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast horizon of a sparkling sapphire-blue sea. A lone figure stood at the edge looking out. She walked toward him, thinking he looked so alone. He'd given her so much, yet had taken nothing for himself. Did he never take for himself? Who gave him pleasure?

  "Mercury." He turned to greet her.

  "How do you feel?" His silvery blue gaze stroked over her body.

  "I feel absolutely wonderful." She reached him and his scent surrounded her. She cupped his face, rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

  She dropped her hands to caress his hard nipples. "I want you to fuck me," she whispered.

  He looked down at her with an intense fiery look. "You don't have to do this."

  Her hands dropped to grasp his cock. She looked down at the huge, engorged head, and defined veins pulsing along its impressive length.

  "Will it fit in my mouth?" Slowly, she dropped to her knees. She flicked her tongue over the head, along the slit, and beneath the ridged hood. She teased the length, grasped it firmly with her hands at the base and stroked slowly with her hands and her tongue. Pre-cum began to ooze from the slit and she licked at it like a particularly delicious ice cream cone, taking her time to savor the taste of him.

  His essence tasted of the ocean, clean and salty, and an undercurrent of exotic earthiness that she couldn't quite name. She looked up at him as she opened her mouth wide to encompass the girth of his penis. She felt his shudder, saw the light in his eyes shift, as the tip popped between her lips to enter and fill her mouth.

  So very big, she had all she could do to take him, but she was determined to taste as much of him as would fit. She relished the taste of the sleek steel. Her hands stroked over the pulsing heat as her mouth suckled the head. She heard him moan, felt his hands thread through her hair.

  "Ahhh," he said after long moments of her teasing. He lifted her up and his penis popped out of her mouth. His breathing sounded like he'd just run a marathon. "You have a devilish mouth, Nettie," he said just before he captured her lips and drove his tongue deep inside, molding her to his hot body.

  She felt her pussy gush with need, readying itself for pleasure. He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist, opening herself to him. She felt his cock against her slit as he rubbed himself against her. He lifted his head.

  "I am not a man, Nettie. I have the cock of a daimon. You are not obligated to fuck me."

  She tilted her head as she looked up at him. "Don't you want to fuck me?"

  "Woman, you have no idea how badly I want to fuck you. That's all I've thought about since you walked into the bar." His cock ground more firmly against her pussy, pressing insistently at the entrance. "But this adventure is for you; it's about you. I oversee all that occurs here, but this island is about what you desire."

  She wound her arms tighter around his neck and scattered kisses along the side of his face. "Well, what I desire right now is you."

  He sank to his knees and lay her on the soft carpet of cool grass. He kissed her lips, her chin, the pulse at her throat. His hands cupped her breasts, kneaded and tweaked. He glided his tongue between the valley of her breasts, downward to her navel. He swirled his tongue through the silky nest at her mound, ever downward.

  He reached down and opened her thighs wider, raised her knees so her feet were planted flat on the ground. He lifted his head to look up at her between her legs, and she caught her breath at the devilish lights she saw there.

  She saw him close his eyes and inhale, then open them again to pin her beneath his decadent gaze. "Damn, you are beautiful." Then he dipped down and she felt his tongue breach her moist entrance and burrow deep inside.

  Oh, God, how could anyone have a tongue as long as that? It felt like he touched her very center as he tasted and flexed and moved inside her. He withdrew and tasted her clit, swirled around and over it, then swiftly entered her again, slowly, like a cock--yet not--thick and hot, firm yet pliant, swirling inside her, driving her higher.

  She felt herself flying as his mouth played over her body, inside and out--she could have sworn there was more than one moist tongue driving her crazy. Fast and quick, first inside, then along her lips, her clit, inside her again. She thrust her hips upward, wanting him deeper. He reached for her hips and held her firmly in place as he drove her higher and higher.

  She exploded hard and fast, yet he didn't stop. She had no idea how many times she climaxed as his tongue and mouth refused to let her land. She screamed and screamed from the pleasure curling and carrying her.

  Finally, as her body still continued to spasm, his tongue left her and she felt a hand removed from her hip and fingers dipped inside her. My God, so many fingers--first two, then three--oh my God, he had to have four driving and thrusting inside her.

  And she knew what he was doing, preparing her, widening her, to take his massive instrument. And again, she climaxed at the vision of taking him, of fucking him, of being fucked as she never had before.

  It didn't frighten her. She eagerly sought to have his presence there. She felt him leave her and she felt empty. "Mercury," she protested.

  He nipped at her breasts and then brought his head up to look at her. "You are truly stunning. You have so much passion and it only needed to be freed. Are you sure you want this?"

  She nodded. "Very sure."

  He turned onto his back, pulling her over him. "Then you do it. Take as much or as little as it pleases you to have. I've prepared you as much as possible and you're as ready to take me as you'll ever be."

  She quickly straddled his hips. Rising above him, she grasped the huge prick and centered it at her dripping, quivering vagina. Thick and hard, so very wide, slowly she pressed down and the head passed through the opening. My God, what a snug, tight fit. Would she be able to take all of him? She had no idea, but she was damned determined to try.

  Slowly, inch by pleasurable inch she lowered herself onto him, feeling the friction of the passage as her vagina widened to take him. She wanted to take him--wanted all of him. Wanted to feel him all the way to her soul.

  Closing her eyes, Nettie concentrated on the massive, hot presence inside her, touching each new nerve as it passed. It seemed like hours she worked his cock, deepening his presence. Up and down, rotating her hips, easing him in. Sweat glistened on both their bodies as she worked herself over him. He gave of himself, without taking from her, allowing her to control the aching, exquisite pleasure.

  She breathed and relaxed, envisioned in her mind the cock of this half-daimon inside her vagina, claiming its place inside her body, fitting snugly, perfectly, as though her body had been made to sheathe only him. Her body molded to accommodate. This was the most important challenge she had ever undertaken in her life.

  She felt him pass inward and finally stroke at her womb and she knew at that moment, he was buried completely. So full...she felt so totally filled by him. Only then did she open her eyes and gaze down at him. Her breath caught in her chest at the expression on his face--needy, dark desire, yet he kept it contained, unwilling to unleash it, protecting her, and giving to her all that was in his power to give her.

  She rose up and slammed down, feeling herself expand and accept all that he was. She felt the ache of soul-deep pleasure undulate through her. Again she rose above him and then dropped to possess him, over and over, as climax after climax consumed her.

  Powerful emotion gripped her. She co
uldn't stop herself...she needed him, wanted him. Her eyes widened. "I know what I want," she screamed. "Oh, God, I know what I've always wanted."

  Chapter 8

  * * *

  Antoinette gasped as she felt the hard wood floor beneath her knees, her pussy gaping and grasping empty air, still spasming from a powerful climax. She was back in her own apartment. Alone. Oh, God. No! This wasn't where she wanted to be. It wasn't what she now knew she desired most. So how had it happened?

  She knelt there for long moments, trying to assimilate the change, and knowing it had been real, not simply a dream. The sensitivity of her vagina told her graphically how very real it had been. And the emptiness she now felt, informed her that she wasn't going to get what she wanted.

  Shakily, she rose to her feet. Why did he make her experience all that, if he was just going to throw her back into her old lifestyle? She wanted more--so much more. And she was no longer afraid to reach out for it.

  Not just the sex, but what she'd discovered by freeing herself to experience all the sensual delights offered within the freeing embrace of Desirata. She entered the bathroom and turned on the shower. She could still smell the island on her skin. She lifted a hand and held her wrist to her nose and inhaled deeply. His earthy scent and the scent of freedom intermingled in her nostrils.

  Emotion swept through her, rippling, calm waters lapping at her, reminding her to live and to stop cowering from life. She stepped beneath the spray of the shower. Why had he sent her back just at that moment? The very moment when she realized who she was and what she needed? Tears mingled with the flow of warm water over her skin.

  She didn't get a chance to tell him. She had wanted so much to give to him. For an instant she had felt his struggle--the pain of having a foot in two worlds. And there was a flash of insight into what he desired. She had wanted to give to him, and at that very moment, she had been swept back to her own reality.

  All she had ever wanted was to give and receive in like kind. Her affair back in college had garnered her only one thing--the knowledge that there were people that took and gave nothing in return. She'd had no protection back then, had been naïve, and then when it had ended, she had closed off all her passion, afraid of losing herself. She'd become a miser with her emotion, unwilling to unlock the strongbox of her heart to give or receive. And then threw away the key.

  Mercury and her time on his island had revealed her passion, given to her in ways she could never repay. She stepped out of the shower and toweled herself dry. They had found the key she'd tossed away long ago and, having unlocked the box, she'd left the key on an unnamed island within a group of islands known only as Desirata. She didn't even know where to begin to look on a map to find out if they were real. They could be uncharted. That is, if they really did exist.

  Quickly she dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, and pulled on socks and sneakers. She would go back to DreamTime and confront him. He didn't understand. She strode out of the bedroom, grabbed her keys from the dining room table, and raced out the door. Passing a newspaper stand, she glanced at the date on a paper. It was Saturday, the day after she'd been to the grill. So little real time had passed, yet it was a lifetime for her.

  She could grab a cab, but she wanted the time to think, to figure out what she was going to say to him. She wanted Mercury--wanted to be with him, wherever that was. He was half-human, so maybe they could be together here. She had a good job and if it wasn't enough, she could find something different. But she no longer wanted simply the power and the money--she wanted more.

  Did she love him? In a way, she guessed she could say she felt love for him. But she desired him, and what he could give her. And just before she'd been sent back here, she'd felt the same desire in him--to explore a relationship with her. He had wanted her. But in that last instant, she'd felt him pull back and then everything had fallen away.

  She liked what he'd shown her about herself, and she embraced the sensual inner core of her power. At first, she'd fought it, but in the end she couldn't hide from it. It had ended up being so much more than she could have anticipated. She wanted to explore more of it and she wanted him for her guide, knowing she could give to him as well.

  She walked past her office building and down a block, to the place where DreamTime...should have been. She gaped at the vacant, run-down building that stood there. It wasn't possible. She walked toward the door, but it was locked. She peered through the dirty windows, but couldn't see anything except old broken furniture and cobwebs.

  She turned away, her heart heavy in her chest. He was gone and she'd never see him again. Slowly, she dragged herself back to her apartment. That was the thing about desire and want--one couldn't always have what they most desired in the world. Reaching for dreams could be a heady experience...and painful. It wasn't fair.

  But that was life, wasn't it? One minute euphoric ecstasy, and the next a painful pit of darkness. There was that balance again--and she was going to have to find out where hers lay. She took a deep breath as she closed her apartment door behind her. She wasn't going to retreat inside herself again. Desirata--and Mercury--had taught her that much. They'd re-lit the fire and she wasn't going to let it die out. She'd figure out what she had to do to stay among the living. She would never forget Desirata...or her daimon lover who'd taught her to live.

  Monday morning, she stepped off the elevator and walked toward her office. Heads turned as she walked by. She stopped at her assistant's desk. Maggie looked up and her jaw dropped.

  "These are for you." Antoinette held out a colorful bouquet of daisies, tulips, and daffodils.

  "What?" It was as though she couldn't take in that Antoinette was making a thoughtful gesture.

  "The flowers. Take them."

  Maggie eyed the bouquet suspiciously and then reached out. "What did I do? Are you planning to fire me?"

  Antoinette laughed, and it felt good. She no longer carried the heavy weight of anger on her shoulders--in her heart. "Not at all. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate all your hard work."

  After accepting the flowers, Maggie dropped back into her chair without saying another word, staring suspiciously at her.

  Antoinette turned away and walked into her office. That had felt good. Doing something nice for her assistant felt damn good. She had forgotten how wonderful it felt to be nice to someone without assuming they'd take advantage or try to use it to control her. She'd forgotten there were nice people in the world. It felt good to smile again. It was going to be a good day.

  Three weeks later as she sat at her desk pouring over a mountain of incoming correspondence, the intercom on her desk buzzed.

  "Antoinette, would you come to my office, please?" It was the voice of the company president. She stared at the phone in surprise and then pressed a button.

  "I'll be right there, Mr. Draper."

  A presidential summons was very unusual and she wondered what it meant. Whatever it was had to be important. Standing, she smoothed out the creases in her emerald skirt, checked her hair and makeup in a small mirror in her desk drawer and took a deep breath. Was she about to be fired because of the long ago staff meeting she'd failed to attend? Or had she done something else that required reprimand?

  She took the elevator up two floors to the executive offices and presented herself to the president's assistant. Doris looked up at her inquiringly.

  "Good morning, Miss Travis."

  "Mr. Draper wanted to see me."

  Doris picked up her phone and punched in a couple of numbers. "Mr. Draper, Antoinette Travis is here to see you." Nodding in answer to whatever his response was, she hung up the phone and turned to Antoinette. "Go right in. He's waiting for you."

  Her heart thudded in her chest as she opened the door to the executive office. It was a huge room with a panoramic view of the city below. Henry Draper sat behind a large solid oak desk and looked up as she entered his office.

  "Come in. Sit down, Antoinette."

  She
did as he asked, her posture stiff, prepared for bad news.

  "Let me get right to the point. Tom Mulligan is retiring next month."

  She nodded. "Yes, I had heard that." Tom had been with the company almost since its inception. He was one of the vice presidents and oversaw several of the departments in Research and Development.

  "You've been recommended to take his place."

  She blinked and her jaw practically dropped as she quickly sought for control. Three weeks ago she'd been devastated when she was passed over for the Marketing Supervisor position. And now she was being offered something even better? She had to be dreaming.

  "Miss Travis? Are you with me here?"

  She shook her head and pulled her attention to the man sitting across from her. "I-I'm just surprised, that's all."

  "Your improvement in attitude over the last few weeks has been noticed. It isn't that we never thought you were qualified for advancement. You've shown yourself to take criticism constructively and have taken steps to correct the situation. I like that. I think you can handle the job. You're young and can lend a fresh perspective. Tell you what--you think about it for a few days and get back to me with your answer by the end of the week. Get with Tom and he can go over with you what the job entails." He pinned her with a hard look. "I like initiative and I've watched your progress. I have full confidence you're more than capable of handling the job. I'll await your decision."

  Antoinette understood she was dismissed and rose from the chair. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Mr. Draper. I'll let you know as soon as I decide. And I'll talk with Tom Mulligan in the meantime."

  She pivoted and left his office in a daze of disbelief. Vice President! It was totally unexpected. It also meant a substantial increase in salary. Talk about dreams coming true. It was like pieces of her life were starting to fall into place and fit together. Yet, there was still one piece missing--a very important piece--and she didn't know how to go about retrieving it.