The dark-haired man looked concerned. She looked at him again. He looked like Marrock, but a little older. This was not the boy from her village. This man's arms and hands were different. His fingers were smooth and free of calluses where he touched her. He said something to her but she could not understand the language.
Mike saw the woman was frightened by her surroundings. "Honey, it's okay, it's me," he said, even though he knew this wasn't his Erin. He saw her eyes fix on the moon. "Do you want to go outside?"
Sorren panicked. Somehow she had passed through the veil to the other side. The god and goddess had seen fit to take her away from her home, away from the Beltane fires. The only element she recognized was a naked man beside her. He had been touching her sexually as she awakened. Maybe Brigid intended for her to couple with him. Maybe this was a sign that she had not given Marrock a chance.
Hesitantly she put her hand in his. With a gentle touch he pulled her from the wide soft pallet. She looked at the moon, she looked at him. It didn't seem like he wanted to hurt her. She followed his naked form down a dark passageway. Her feet stepped on a soft surface. She was frightened but didn't know what else to do.
Beltane Through her drugged senses, Erin saw the men rotate around her. The one who had been holding her left breast knelt between her thighs. He leaned forward and easily slid into her soaking passageway. Through her haze of confusion and sexual bliss, she realized -- or thought -- this was her third partner tonight. His member was bigger than the other man's. She moaned and lay back, receiving him into her body. She was starting to feel sore, but knew the ritual had to be completed. A puddle of fluid soaked the earth beneath her. More seed would spill before long.
Earth Day Mike led the woman into the back yard. She looked relieved to be outdoors. She reached for him, rubbing her hands on his chest and exploring his body. He sensed her need was not only sexual. This was her way of connecting back to some other reality. "Marrock," she said again. He touched a finger to his chest and corrected her. "Mike." She looked at him in confusion, then appeared to dismiss the conversation. She put her arms around his waist.
Naked, they embraced in the moonlight. His cock sprang up against her groin. Her pubic hair was sticky against his tip. He put his hands on her breasts and kissed her, feeling her body respond. She said something. He didn't understand the language but the meaning was clear. The urgency in her voice drove him on. Her foreignness aroused him. He knew he was making love to some ethereal creature, a woman from another plane of existence.
She wrapped her arms around a tree and stuck out her behind in clear invitation. Briefly it crossed Mike's mind that here was a real tree-hugger, that people who called themselves that these days were faint imitations of the genuine article. Her connectedness with the earth, with life itself, was palpable. As he took her he merged with some spiritual incarnation of the earth. He groaned at the feel of her vaginal walls, so velvety smooth and tight — like his wife, or a near twin of his wife.
Who was she and what the hell was he doing? He couldn't have answered, and he could not stop. In just a few minutes he was near exploding. He reached around between her thighs, wanting to give her pleasure. She jumped as if no one had ever touched her that way and made a noise that woke the neighbors. Her head snapped around and the look on her face said What are you DOING!?
Beltane The stranger erupted, making a noise that sounded nearly like pain. As he did so the men supported Erin's breasts and pinched her nipples. She had never experienced such intense sexual stimulation. She arched her back at the searing orgasm that flooded through her. She writhed and moaned, almost in agony. Her body shook. She found it nearly impossible to breathe. In the haze it seemed that someone lifted her head and placed it in his lap. Erin barely knew who she was.
Earth Day The women saw her fall and appear to pass out. Shock and concern gave way to confusion. Skyclad, sure, in the throes of passion, but this? Had she hit her head? The ritual broke like a smashed water balloon. "Don't move her!" said one, but it was too late. Someone had already lifted Erin's head into her lap. One of the women ran to call 911. Another tried to cover her without moving her around too much. That one stared in amazement at Erin's groin. How did that get there?
Mike didn't hear the ringing phone. Erin's doppelganger had convinced him to go another round. In fact she had been very insistent. He lay beside her in his back yard, spent and looking up at the moon. He was still breathing hard. Sweat rolled from his forehead.
Suddenly he heard someone calling his name. He got to his feet, aware that he wasn't wearing a stitch. Now this could be embarrassing. He headed around to the deck where the voice was coming from. It was Ruth, one of Erin's coven. She looked him up and down. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded. "We've been trying to call you!"
"What's wrong?" Instantly he knew it had something to do with his wife.
"Erin passed out in the labyrinth. We don't know what happened but she's in the ER. For god's sake get your clothes on and let's go!"
"Wait --" he began. He looked around for his out-of-time lover. But she was gone.
* * *
In the emergency room Mike answered the nurse's questions. Forms, always the damn forms. "Is there any chance that your wife is pregnant?"
"Well, we've been trying, but I don't think so," he answered.
The nurse lifted her eyebrows and gave him a look he couldn't interpret. "Has anyone told you about her condition?"
"What do you mean?" He listened in amazement. This night was turning stranger and stranger. The samples weren't back from the lab yet. How had he and his wife been chosen for this bizarre set of events?
* * *
Nine months later... Erin gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby. He had green eyes, unlike either of them, but they didn't care. They wept with joy as they held their son. The nurse asked what they wanted to name him.
"David," they said. They didn't know why but the name seemed right.
Sorren, too, was got with child. The boy had dark hair. She named him Ahearn, for the man in her vision was dark like the ironsmith. She often thought of her mysterious journey beyond the veil, and looking up at the moon, felt at peace, and blessed.
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