MayanCraving (11 page)

Her eyes fluttered. Then those big brown eyes looked down at
him. Not staring off into nothing, but really looking at him.

He stood up, dropping the dwindling fuse. “Nancy?”

“Ash,” she said, her voice filled with desperation.

“Can we go now?” he asked.

Her head bobbed only slightly, but he took it as an
affirmative. He grabbed her by one arm, crouched down and threw her over his
shoulder before starting toward the exit at a run.

“Ash,” she cried.

“No time now, baby. We’ll talk later,” he called over his
shoulder.

He practically tossed her to the ground, pushing her through
the cave where it tapered to a crawlspace. When the ceiling climbed higher, he
picked her up again and took off running.

The explosion inside the cave sent heat and smoke shooting
through the winding passages. Asher lost his footing and they both tumbled to
the ground. He pulled her to her feet. “You okay?”

“I think so.”

“Good.” He dragged her by the wrist.

She stumbled. He barely broke stride as he lifted her like a
sack of potatoes and ran from the cave. Already outside, he kept running until
he heard the loud explosion that, he prayed had collapsed the main cave
entrance. Part of the rocks above them buckled and small stones tumbled across
the sand at his feet.

Asher stopped, sat on a large boulder, eased Nancy from his
shoulder and pulled her into his lap.

A moment later the silence of the desert was broken.
“You
think you’ve won something, humans. I have eternity to be reborn. You are only
a fly to be swatted.”
The voice became weaker and the last words barely
made it out before Mictlan faded with it.

“Maybe,” Asher responded, trying to catch his breath. “But I
think we’re more of a force than you counted on.”

“He told me you were dead.” Tears ran freely down her
cheeks.

He hugged her tightly and brushed errant hairs away from her
eyes. “Shhh, we’re both okay now.” He tried to comfort her but in truth his own
stomach still roiled from the idea of how close they both had come to dying.

Nancy suddenly collapsed in his arms. “Nancy?” His chest
burned with terror while she lay lifeless in his arms. He pressed his fingers
to her throat, but her pulse felt strong and steady. “Passed out.” He sighed
with relief and hugged her tightly, kissing the crown of her head.

A growl from the rocks above echoed down the side of the
mountain. Asher placed Nancy gently on the ground and pulled the nine
millimeter pistol from the back of his jeans. He held the gun out in front of
him and watched for signs of movement. The jaguar leaped from the rocks. The
animal was at least five times the size of a normal beast. It had its ten-inch
fangs bared, and headed straight for Asher’s throat.

He fired. Electricity erupted. The giant cat flew through
the air and dropped, smashing against the boulders.

Asher dropped to the ground to protect Nancy. When he looked
up, Aileen and Ian were standing over him.

“You okay?” Ian asked.

Asher smiled and stood, lifting Nancy’s still unconscious
body with him. “We’re both fine. Nice shot, Aileen.”

“The Eagle is dead too,” Aileen said. “We never saw the
serpent.”

Asher shrugged. “Let’s go home. We’ve done all we can do
here.”

* * * * *

Nancy woke up alone in Asher’s bed with no idea how she’d
arrived there.

She stretched, ready to get up and go looking for him as
she’d done the last time she woke up alone in his bed. Now, however, she found
him sitting in a chair a few feet away, watching her.

“How did I get here?” she wanted to know.

“You passed out and slept the entire drive home. I carried
you here.”

“How is everyone else?” she asked. Moving to sit up shot
pain to every muscle in her arms, legs and back.

“Geoffrey, Marc, Jessica and Jim Drake didn’t make it. The
others are fine.”

“What happened to Geoffrey?” she asked. Then she remembered.
“The crash?”

“Yeah. He got busted up on the inside. I couldn’t save him.”

“He was a good man.” Her throat tightened.

Asher nodded. “Yes he was. They were all good people and
they died for something they believed in. You and I almost did the same.”

Neither one spoke. For a long time she was caught up in her
own thoughts and memories of the night at Chichen Itza and the Caves of
Balankanche.

When she finally looked up, she saw something in his eyes
that she had not seen before. Asher looked worried. He had always been the
eternal optimist. What could have changed while she slept?

“What are you doing over there?” she asked.

He shrugged. “You’ve been through a lot. I didn’t know if
you’d want me in bed just yet.”

“So you slept in the chair?”

“No. I was there,” he pointed to the space beside her in the
large bed, “for a while, but you’ve been asleep for nearly three days.”

“No wonder I’m so hungry.”

He sprang up from the chair and rushed toward the door.

“Wait. Don’t go.”

He ignored her demand and closed the door behind him. A few
minutes later, he returned with a tray of food. After placing it on the bed, he
moved away again.

“Stay.” She patted the edge of the bed beside her.

Asher sat down on the bed while Nancy took a long sip of
water and then tore a piece of bread from the small loaf. She spread butter on
the morsel and ate quickly until Asher told her to slow down.

“How do you feel other than hungry?” he asked.

“Not bad considering,” she said honestly. She tested her
twice-bitten shoulder. A large bandage had been wrapped around the wound while
she slept. From the smell of herbs in the dressing, she guessed Doc had been to
see her. It ached, but was bearable. She should feel much worse after all she’d
been through, but when she thought about it, she really didn’t feel bad at all.
Her limbs were stiff from sleeping so long and her stomach growled from hunger,
but all in all, she and Asher were both alive.

“Nancy, Aileen told me not to ask, but I have to know, what
happened to you.”

She moved the tray and sat up. “I ran toward where you
crashed the Piper. Before I got there, Mictlan blocked my path. He held the
serpent or maybe they were joined. I’m not sure.

“When he told me you had been killed, for a moment, I lost
all hope. That tiny falter was all he needed to take advantage of my weakness.
After that, I belonged to him. I knew what I should do, but he took away all my
power to do it. After a few minutes I started to forget everything other than
what Mictlan said.

“I have no idea how much time passed in the cave. I was part
of the tree of life for what seemed like several lifetimes. I couldn’t remember
not being part it. There was only Mictlan and then I heard you talking. You
told me that you loved me and reminded me of all the reasons I loved you. Once
I made the decision to disconnect from the Tree of Life, Mictlan no longer had
any power over me. Free will is his weakness.”

“I didn’t think you could hear me.” He watched her.

“My heart heard.”

Asher took her in his arms while he rained kisses across her
cheek, down to her ear and neck. When his mouth found hers, she could not help
the sigh that rumbled in her throat. Her tongue danced with his. He tugged at
her bottom lip with his teeth and leaned over pulling her under him. Already,
she could feel the familiar stirrings between her legs. Her skin became more
sensitive to every touch.

“Should I stop, Nance?”

“Why?”

“Mictlan.”

“He has no power here.” She tugged at the button of his fly.

The tray of food crashed to the floor, followed by discarded
clothes. When he reached between her legs and palmed her mound, she cried out
for a deity she wasn’t even sure she believed in. He slid two fingers between
her sopping labia and squeezed her clit between them, at first gently but then
harder. She trembled with pleasure as an orgasm began to bubble just out of
reach. Her hips lifted off the bed and she gasped and called Asher’s name.

He stopped the steady motion that was driving her mad,
forcing her to open her eyes. She watched as he adjusted to hover above her.
His arms, ripped with muscle, trembling on either side of her head, with either
exertion or expectation. Dark intensity shone in his eyes as he entered her in
one smooth motion.

Their cries mingled in the room, and he held perfectly still
for a long moment. Her body ached for more, but she could see the strain on his
face and did her best to keep still. He closed his eyes, his jaw was tightly
clenched, and his hair spilled around his face leaving him in shadow.

Mine
, she thought and arched up to deepen his
penetration. He pulled back and then slid forward until his body slammed into
hers. Sweat beaded up on their skin. With each thrust, she felt her orgasm
building and spreading.

“Tell me this is different than what he did to you.” Asher’s
voice sounded strained.

She heard his words, but her climax was so close she
couldn’t answer.

He stopped. “Tell me.”

Her breath was ragged and she looked up. She could see his
fear clearly in his dark eyes. His face was etched with lines that had not been
there before. She reached up to smooth the crease between his eyes. Her lack of
faith had caused him this distress. Remorse tightened painfully around her
heart. “This is nothing like that, Ash. The tree never offered love, only
release.”

“Thank you.” His head dropped to her shoulder in relief.

Slowly he eased forward, filling her. He rocked back and
forth. Each movement rubbed her clit, rekindling the fire of her orgasm. It was
like hunger, starting small and spreading from her core. Then, at once, she
burst with a rapture that shattered her. Nothing in the cave could compare to
the explosion that spread out from her core and touched every nerve in her
body. Asher covered her mouth with his to muffle her screams. Her orgasm
stretched out, while he continued the rhythm until he too found release a
minute later.

“We’re going to have to live at your house or learn to be
quieter.”

A giggled escaped her lips and she could feel the heat of a
blush flooding her cheeks. “Are you saying you want to live with me?”

He leaned on his elbows so he could look at her face. His
expression indicated that he was surprised. His eyes narrowed and watched her
carefully. “I’m saying that if marriage was still in fashion, I would get down
on one knee right now and propose. In fact, I’m going to do just that.”

Her giggles turned into gales of laughter when he sprang
from the bed, stark naked, and knelt down in milk soaked bread on the floor.

“Marry me, Nancy Lynn Jones. Make me the happiest man in the
world and marry me.”

“Where are we going to find a preacher?”

“Is that a ‘yes’?” He smiled.

“Of course it’s a yes,” she said, still laughing.

He leaped back on the bed and started jumping like a child.
A moment later, she joined him, until they both collapsed against the pillows.

“I love you.”

He breathed a deep sigh. “It’s about time, since I’ve always
loved you.”

“Better late than never.”

A.S. Fenichel adores writing stories filled with love,
passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem tossed in for good measure.
Books have always been her perfect escape and she still relishes diving into
one and staying up all night to finish a good story. Originally from New York,
she grew up in New Jersey. She now lives in the southwest with her real-life
hero, her wonderful husband. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys
cooking, travel, history and puttering in her garden.

A.S. welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email address on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.

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Also by
A.S. Fenichel

Mayan Afterglow

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Mayan Craving

ISBN 9781419939181

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Mayan Craving Copyright © 2012 A.S. Fenichel

Edited by Briana St. James

Cover design by Caitlin Fry

Photos: Joshua Haviv, Curaphotography and Helga Chirkova

Electronic book publication May 2012

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