When she was honest with herself, she had to admit the idea was intriguing.
As was the thought of Sabiniano.
She shivered, remembering how he had made her feel in the bath the day before. Every touch had been like fire touching her skin. And when he had made her explode like that, clutching her tenderly and cradling her close afterwards, she had liked it. Despite all the reasons she knew it was a betrayal, she had like it a great deal. Resisting him was going to be very hard…
The lightning strike took her completely by surprise.
One minute she was walking along the path, clutching tightly around her shoulders the woolen shawl Irenia had given her, and the next she was flying through the air. Her first thought was that she had been hit, that she was dying again. Then pain lashed through her body, and she landed in a heap beneath a tree. Dazed, she looked around, trying to understand what had happened. Where she had been standing was a large tree, flaming against the night sky. Lightning must have struck it, she realized, and the force had thrown her nearly thirty feet. This was getting dangerous.
A thrill ran through her. For once in her life, she wasn’t afraid of the danger.
She picked herself up and started back up the trail, using every bit of her strength to keep on her feet. The wind howled and she could hear the baying cries of the Maenads in the distance. The small part of her mind that still housed the old Kalliara wondered if she might die; then a laugh broke through her lips.
Of course she might die.
But she had already done that once, and the underworld wasn't such a bad place. She had nothing to lose; there was no fear.
Opening her arms wide, she embraced the storm, reveling in the power of the heavens. Her feet were light, her spirit was high. She raised her head and howled like a banshee. The sound was swallowed up, carried by the wind, and the Maenads echoed her call. For the first time in her life she felt the tugging power of Dionysus’ madness on the edge of her senses, and a sense of longing washed over her.
No wonder the Maenads danced naked in the woods, screaming and chasing animals. This energy, this passion was exhilarating. Had Irenia been right?
Did she really owe Athena another life?
She crested a hill, and came into an open clearing. Around her the heavens raged. Rain started spattered the ground, pelting her face, and she raised her head in another howl of exhilaration. Another bolt of lightning struck. This time she felt the raw energy crackling through the air. She could feel her body crackling, too, and suddenly she made a decision.
It was enough. She wanted Sabiniano. She had lived one entire life without ever realizing how powerful a storm could be. She had never taken a lover, never given birth to a child. She had a second chance, and she was going to take it.
To hell with Athena.
As if in punctuation, thunder roared around her, shaking the ground with its force. She laughed out loud. Never before had she been more fully alive than right at that moment. It was time to celebrate and enjoy this life, however long or short it might be. Tomorrow could take care of itself.
When he first saw her, he thought she was a Maenad. Her long hair whipped around her body. Her arms reached up to the heavens, and she suddenly let loose with a howl that could curdle a mere mortal's blood. But he could hear the exhilaration in her voice.
The god's madness, he realized with a sudden burst of insight.
It was upon both of them. The storm coursed through his veins. Every breath he took corresponded to the wind, and every time he clenched his hands the seas rose. In the distance he could hear Dionysus laughing.
She turned to him, her face filled with wild pleasure.
"Sabiniano," she called, twirling in the rain and wind. "It's magnificent.
I've never stood out in a storm like this before. I was always too afraid!"
She laughed, and came running across the meadow toward him.
As she came closer, he could feel a new emotion intruding on his anger, entwining with it and filling his heart with red and black swirls. Lust. Her breasts rose and fell with each breath. Her rain-slicked face turned up toward him. She threw her head back, shaking her hair out with wild abandon.
Unable to control himself, he caught her up in his arms, dragging her against his body. He twisted her hair in his fist, holding her head at an angle before taking her mouth in a kiss meant to brand her as his property. It was a harsh kiss, brutal in its intensity.
She clung to him, responding as she never had before.
She was his prisoner, his captive, and this time he was going to take her.
She twisted against him, her body pulsing in a rhythm as old as time, and he clutched her impossibly closer. He wanted to squeeze into her, take every part of her being and make it his own. He wanted to fuck her in the mud, on her knees. And he wanted her to admit that they belonged together.
The storm changed around them. Where before had been confused, chaotic energy, the forces of nature took form. Lightning bolts continued to strike, taking on brilliant colors. The wind turned in a loose vortex, swirling around the island and growing more tightly controlled.
She whimpered, digging into his shoulders with her fingernails. It sent him wild.
His cock was a pillar of stone against her body. Everything in him cried out to push her down to the ground, to thrust into her again and again until she screamed out in ecstasy. She would beg for him with every thrust, pleading for his length inside of her. When he finally plunged into her hot depths she would beg for release.
Still holding her mouth prisoner with his kiss, he bore her down before him.
Her small form twisted, and he pinned her with his weight. No escape. The pleasure of feeling her beneath him was almost too much to bear. For the first time in a thousand years, he wondered if he would make it inside her body before coming. She made him feel alive, like a youth again.
How could he have possibly believed he could let her go?
He raised his hand, finding the collar of her roughly woven dress, and pulled it down. He had to touch her breasts, suck the nipples into his mouth and feel her tremble against him. He dragged his mouth away from hers, lowering it to her waiting peak. Her mouth moved, and he strained to hear the thin cry of her voice over the raging wind.
"I need you," she screamed, tears running down her face and mixing with the rain. "Sabiniano, I need you so badly."
He cried out in triumph, and the storm echoed his emotions. In the distance, alarm bells rang in the village. Trees flew out of the ground, born aloft by the winds. On the far side of the island a tornado touched down.
He didn't care.
All he cared about was getting rid of his clothing, plunging into her body.
He was going to fuck her until she screamed. There would be no mercy; no going back. After this night she would be his, branded by his touch for all eternity. He'd defy Zeus himself to keep her, he thought savagely.
He found her nipple with his tongue. It was small and round, a tart red berry washed in rain. He sucked it into his mouth forcefully, and she arched her body up into his. He reached down and yanked up her dress. She parted her legs for him with a gasp, and his knowing fingers found the cleft between her legs.
She was hot and wet for him. Another wave of lust struck him, and in his mind's eye he saw a bolt of brilliant red lightning striking the roof of Dionysus' temple. The force of the blow echoed across the island, shaking the ground. Boulders rolled down hills; the nymphs whimpered and cried in fear.