Dark Journey [Ariel's Desire 2] (16 page)

With the rules explained his tongue went to work.
 
She was already wet from watching the interlude before hers.
 
He discovered, for this one at least, she liked a soft, slow lap.
 
His finger pumped slowly and deep as his tongue worked her folds and clit.
 
She was gasping and tightening against him.
 
He was getting frustrated because the women behind him were stalling the orgasm he wanted.
 
He nipped her clit and she pounded the grass and groaned while his sperm erupted.

Okay, this isn’t funny, really. This should be at least a two night test.
He was exhausted.
 
The women let him rest for a while, then went to work on him.
 
He groaned.
 
His tired shaft made a weak salute.
 
A finger breached the tight ring of his ass.
The gland, I forgot about the damn gland.
 
The women hadn’t. The soft strokes and presses of the slim digit forced him rock hard.
 
It was painful and not the aroused erection like when they stroked him.

“He made it through two on his own.
 
That’s not bad,” one of the women said. “We can help him through the rest.”

While his head attended to the next wet feast, he decided not to ever consider what it would be like to have multiple women pleasuring him in his bed again. It used to be one of his favorite fantasies.
 
This was a nightmare.

Luckily, the rest of the women had been so worked up watching the proceedings it didn’t take long to have the women happily gasping away.
 
The painful forced orgasms were exhausting, but he was almost finished.

When his last jet of seed erupted and the last clench on his drenched fingers ended, he wanted to roll into a ball and sleep for a week.
 
He doubted Gentle Wave could get a response from him.
 
The women let him rest while they got dressed again, all with satisfied looks on their faces.

He heard them approach through the grass.
 
Hands pulled him to his feet and wet cloths wiped his face, hands, groin and thighs.
 
“You have one sense left to test, stallion.
 
It’s the sense of sight.”

He was so tired he didn’t care if they poked his eyes out of his head.
 
He sighed wearily.
 
Gray Dove panicked, but asked the question required.
 
“Do you wish to continue your journey?”

Hell yes. I haven’t journeyed through stallion to quit on cougar.
He stood straight and lifted his jaw.
 
All the women had been holding their breaths when it looked like they had beaten him.
 
The stallion heard their relieved exhales.

Gray Dove pulled down on his collar and he bent his head.
 
She removed the blindfold and he was relieved to see the buckskins back on them.
 
One by one the women approached him.
 
“I am Shining Star.
 
Know me by sight as the wife of Wind Seeker.
 
You will never look on me with the passion due your wife.”
 
She walked away.
 
Each woman said the same thing and wandered toward home, until he was left standing with Gray Dove.

All the women knew the stallion was cougar.
 
He worked hard to pass their test and she was proud.
 
She would tell Fierce Bear what a cunning proud man the cougar would be.
 
“I know you hold my daughter’s heart.
 
She asked me to tell you she misses your blue eyes.
 
She dreams of you.”
 
Gray Dove saw the flicker of desire in his weary eyes.
 
She wanted to make sure the cougar Gentle Wave wanted would be hers.
 
He would be a great addition to their family.
 
They needed another man.
 
Not someone as weak as Straight Arrow, but a proud strong man.

Gray Dove straightened.
 
“I am Gray Dove.
 
Know me by sight as the wife of Fierce Bear.
 
You will never look on me with the passion due your wife.” She started to wander off and he was bewildered.
 
He wasn’t leashed or reined and didn’t know what to do.
 
Gray Dove turned around and pointed to the ground two feet behind her.
 
He followed her back to the teepee with no lead tied to him.

Fierce Bear had spent the past three hours nervously stirring the ashes in the fire pit.
 
He watched the wives as they returned, but couldn’t discern from their expressions the outcome of the test.
 
Finally, it was Grey Dove who came into view.
 
Gentle Wave heard him whisper, “I know you’re awake, daughter.
 
They’ve returned and he’s not reined.
 
I think that’s a good sign.”

Gentle Wave peeked out of the flap.
 
Her mother and her stallion weren’t smiling, but they looked exhausted.
 
It took her a minute to realize his traces were gone.
 
And the reins!
 
Her eyes narrowed while she studied his full lips. She hadn’t noticed them before he’d gotten the bit.
 
Surely, if the reins and traces were off, he was a cougar.

They wouldn’t know until Wind Seeker declared it in the morning.
 
She’d never get to sleep tonight.
 
She listened while her mother talked about how he’d passed the tests.
 
Of course, the women didn’t describe their tests, only that they were passed.

She pointed to a spot on the ground for the tired stallion to sleep and his eyes closed almost immediately.
 
Gentle Wave hurried to lie down before Fierce Bear and Gray Dove came into the teepee.
 
Her mother caught her eyes before she rolled over to sleep and smiled.

The next morning the women from the training showed up while they finished breakfast.
 
“You were wonderful, Gray Dove,” Wild Flower said.
 
As each woman complimented his wife, Fierce Bear sat straighter, his usual scowl replaced with a broadening proud smile.

“You have such sensitivity, Gray Dove.
 
My husband was right in choosing you for this part of his journey,” Shining Star agreed.

Fierce Bear glanced around to make sure other villagers saw them praising his wife.
 
For a warrior like Fierce Bear not to have a son, it was hard.
 
After Gentle Wave’s difficult birth, Gray Dove never conceived again.
 
Depressed, they resigned themselves that it was not to be part of their journey together.

Fierce Bear studied the stallion as he knelt with his back straight and proud jaw.
 
If he was a man, he would still need to be taught the skills of the warrior. He would still need to learn how to hunt and provide. Perhaps, he was to be Fierce Bear’s son. Perhaps, I was not ready in my own journey to teach a proud warrior son until now.

Yes, this stallion would be a man. A man a father would be proud of.
 
Fierce Bear was determined that no other warrior would try to have their daughter steal the stallion away to strengthen their family.

Gray Dove rose and waved her hand for the stallion to stand.
 
She set her jaw and reached for his wrists.
 
Her eyes rose to his, “Keep your hands by your sides, stallion.”

“Gray Dove, are your sure this is a good move?
 
Wind Seeker should free his hands if he decides he’s passed the test.”
 
Fierce Bear was astounded that his timid wife would make such a decision.

“He will be a cougar, Fierce Bear.
 
All the women know it.
 
Wind Seeker needs to know we’re committed in our agreement,” she said calmly.
 
She pointed behind her and the stallion walked two steps behind Gray Dove as they headed toward Wind Seeker’s cabin, hands unbound for the first time in three months.

Fierce Bear and Gentle Wave followed closely behind them.
 
Fierce Bear noticed with satisfaction that several villagers just happened to be gathered and talking near Wind Seeker’s cabin.
 
He knew they were now paying attention to the stallion because he might be a man soon and part of the tribe.

He looked around.
 
Grazing Fawn’s father was there, but his daughter was standing with Straight Arrow.
 
Surely, the warrior would know that little Grazing Fawn would not be strong enough for a man like the stallion would be.

Soaring Crow and Peaceful Prairie were together as they had been for three years.
 
He was sure they would not separate no matter what Rising Sun said.

Little Moon and her father could be a problem.
 
Fierce Bear watched Night Wind’s face as the cougar proudly walked by and saw his eyes widen when he noticed his hands by his sides.
 
Little Moon’s eyes lit up as her eyes traveled up and down his form.

Fierce Bear slammed a fist into his open palm in frustration.
 
He should have told the stallion to slouch, to look at the ground instead of holding his head up, daring the villagers to say he wasn’t a cougar.
 
Fierce Bear’s eyes narrowed as he studied the warrior.
Yes, Night Wind is thinking of the possibilities.
He was sure of it.
 
He was already preparing Little Moon to seduce the stallion away from Gentle Wave.
 
Fierce Bear was shaking with anger.

Gentle Wave tugged his sleeve.
 
“Father, what’s wrong?”
 
She could feel her father’s happiness changing and worried he may have seen a sign her stallion could not be a cougar.

Fierce Bear tried to calm his voice, but his predictable scowl came through. “Night Wind wants the stallion for his son.
 
Little Moon is already scheming,” he fumed.

Gentle Wave almost sighed with relief.
 
“The stallion knows she has interest.
 
She studied him by the stable.
 
His eyes smiled at me, Father.
 
Trust that I’m the one for his journey.”

Her words calmed him, but he glared at Night Wind in defiance.
 
Gentle Wave looked up at her father, challenging the warrior with his scowl.
 
She realized the wisdom of Shining Star’s words and Wind Seeker’s wisdom in choosing her mother for the stallion’s journey to cougar.
 
Now, her father could see the stallion would be a strong enough man for her.

All conversation stopped as Wind Seeker, Black Horse and Yellow Hawk came out of the cabin.
 
“Fierce Bear looks like he’s going to explode if his face gets any redder.
 
Night Wind better wipe that amused look off his face,” Black Horse whispered.

“I wanted him to consider the stallion’s worth, not attack the other warriors over him,” Wind Seeker replied.

“Little Moon isn’t helping with that ogling.
 
Fleet Cougar looks like he’s ready to tear into the stallion,” Black Horse chuckled.
 
“You better get this over with before there’s a war.”

“Have you noticed the stallion’s hands have been freed?” Yellow Hawk asked.

Wind Seeker chuckled.
 
“I’ll be damned.
 
I didn’t think Gray Dove had it in her.
 
She’s openly challenging me to refute their decision.”

Black Horse and Yellow Hawk stayed on the porch while Wind Seeker walked out to the street.
 
The six women stood straight, but their eyes glanced at the stallion’s unbound hands.
 
There were very few opportunities for a woman to earn a feather for her family.
 
They were shocked with Gray Dove’s open defiance to Wind Seeker’s judgment and it made them all nervous.

“Gray Dove, you presume to present me a cougar.”

Gray Dove thought she would faint again.
 
She felt all the eyes of the village were on her, gossiping that she couldn’t possibly train a stallion to be a cougar.
 
She glanced at Shining Star, standing proud and trying to encourage her unexpected challenge.

“Yes, Wind Seeker.
 
The stallion has found his senses.
 
He is a cougar,” she declared in a slightly trembling voice.

“You all agree he is a cougar?” Wind Seeker’s eyes traveled down the line of women.