Real Life

The Muse giveth and the Muse taketh away . . .

After a spectacular catch-up on the weekend, I have now fallen behind on my NaNo again.

*sigh*

It was only partially my fault. I was 300 words behind on Tuesday, but I still took the time to go to the movies. Woman cannot live by writing alone, so I feel absolutely no guilt.

Yesterday, however, I had a PowerPoint presentation to get ready for today on videoconferencing. A five minute presentation. Nineteen slides later I was in editing hell.

Don't you just hate it when real life intrudes? :-)

Anyway, I recall promising another excerpt this week. (I really have to stop making rash promises!) This one is pretty self-explanatory. It actually comes before the first one and is the dream Simon had.

* * * * * * * * * *

By the time Arianna reached the glade, darkness had fallen and the man was asleep. He’d been busy in her absence. Half the fruit was gone, the other half set aside presumably for his breakfast. He’d set up a bed roll on the sand near the base of the cliff and built a small fire in a circle of stones.

She was pleased to see he’d taken care with the fire. It was not close enough to the forest to cause problems, even should a wind arise, and it appeared he’d collected deadwood to burn, nothing freshly cut. It was possible that the reason he used discarded wood was because he lacked the means to cut it, but she chose to believe he was showing consideration to the land.

The night was cool and he shivered slightly as he slept. Perhaps he needed something more than the fire to keep him warm, she thought mischievously. Kneeling beside him, she rested her fingers lightly on his temple and then entered his dreams.

Simon walked on the shore of a lake. It was night and the water was calm, two moons filled the night sky, one a soft white, the other a pale pink. He came to where a stream fed into the lake and began following it to its source. The grass was soft under his feet, that’s when he realized his feet were bare, as was the rest of him.

The night was warm as he continued walking along the edge of the stream. He heard the sound of a cascade and the stream widened into a pool at the base of the waterfall. There in the pool, as though waiting for him, was his dream woman.

Moonlight reflected off her perfect form. Long dark hair cascaded down her back, so long it floated in the water. She beckoned to him and without hesitation he joined her. They met in the center of the pond where she slid into his arms as though made for him. Her kiss was sweeter than the fruit he’d eaten earlier, her touch set him on fire.

With a groan he swept her up in his arms and waded out of the water. She wound her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for another kiss. Without breaking the kiss he laid her gently on the sun-warmed slab he’d napped on earlier in the day and lowered himself down beside her.

Pulling back slightly, he studied her pale form. She was lean and long-limbed, but generously curved in all the right places. Moonlight made her flawless, white skin glow. Dark red, full lips parted on a sigh as he stroked the slope of one perfect breast. She arched upwards towards him and he bent his head down to take one pink tipped nipple into his mouth.

Slim hands wound through his hair as she held his head to her breast. He teased the taut peak with tongue and teeth until it was a hard, rosy bud and then replaced his mouth with his hand so he could move to the other breast.

She writhed under his touch and her hands slipped down to clutch at his shoulders and run up and down his back. He raised his head to capture her lips with his again, kissing and nibbling at the seam of her mouth. She opened eagerly for him, her tongue dancing intimately with his.

Simon groaned and moved to cover her body with his own. He slipped inside her as though she were made just for him, a perfect fit. She arched to meet him, her long, slender legs wrapping around his waist.

They moved together in perfect harmony. She was all sweet, silken heat. He wanted to be gentle but he had waited too long for this, too long for her. The tightening of her legs around him was all the encouragement he needed to sink into her harder, faster.

She made little mewling sounds of pleasure, her eyes glowing. He braced himself with one hand, using the other to caress her breast, her stomach. The hand slid lower and she began to tremble as he found the sweet bud between her thighs.

Arching her back in a bow she cried out and came apart in his arms. With a shout, he followed right after. As they lay together, trembling in the aftermath, a thousand questions chased each other through his mind.

He rolled, taking her with him so that she lay draped over him. She smiled sleepily and reached up to brush a stray lock of hair off his forehead.

“Sleep now,” she whispered.

His questions were forgotten as he drifted into sleep.

Arianna pulled out of his dream, swaying in shock where she knelt in the sand beside him. Desperately she tried to gather her scattered wits, she had only meant to tease him a bit, not . . . this. The sun was just beginning to rise as she left him in a dreamless sleep, shaken to her core.