1 comments/ 15912 views/ 1 favorites Fires of Beltane Audio By: golden smog * * * * * Click Here to listen: .mp3 format or .ogg format. (39 min/mp3) * * * * * Scotland: 1559 Margarete and Lise had come to Scotland in May, so the shortness of the days approaching midwinter was a somewhat disturbing marvel. Accustom to the light and mildness of the countryside around Bordeaux, They beheld the late sunrise and early sunset with wonder and dismay. As an active person, Lise was used to tramping around fields and hillsides, ostensibly to search out useful herbs. As attendant to Margarete, her duties were somewhat poorly defined, and the intimacy they shared gave her more latitude in such things than servants usually enjoyed. Since the injuries she had sustained to body and spirit at Lamas, these tramps had been curtailed, but as the days shortened, she felt a growing need for them. Though used to going about alone, she did not object to the presence of Owen on such rambles. Though she wouldn't admit it to herself, it felt better to have someone with her after the violence that had befallen her at the celebration of the first harvest. Also, it gave them time away from the constraint and constant observation of daily life in the great hall. After a long and skillful courtship during which each gave as good as they got, they had become lovers, but only for a day. The same license that had lead her to wander away into the woods with him that day, had allowed her to disregard a lifetime of hard lessons, and put herself in the path of the violation that had nearly rubbed her of her will to live. That terrible time had passed, but, confused in her mind about cause and effect, she did not know herself, nor how to return to their former intimacy. For his part, Owen was a singer of songs and a teller of tales, and had a vast threshold for the range of human behaviour. To regain what they had shared so briefly, he was willing to wait, though perhaps not passively. She likewise had spent a large part of her life as an entertainer. As a favoured lady's attendant, such skills were rarely called upon, but she and Owen had often traded tales for entertainment, and other more subtle purposes. Sometimes on their walks to absorb as much daylight as they could, they would pass the time by telling each other stories. At first, these were childrens' stories, amusing tales of fabulous animals; fairy encounters; childish exploration; the first venturings into the larger world. One afternoon when the sun was shining and the wind still, they found themselves in a sheltered open space where the sun warmed them, and heaped dry pine needles offered rest. When they had sat down, one of the awkward silences descended between them. It was one of the times when Lise was disoriented by memories and obscure fears, and conversation was difficult. She regretted having stopped. It was easier to pass off such moments when moving. Owen broke the silence in his easy, good-natured tones. "Shall I tell you a story?" She smiled and nodded with relief. Regardless of the story, the sound of his voice with its Welsh lilt was always soothing to her. He looked slowly around the small clearing. It was bright. The warmth of the sun was a sensual delight, and it brought out the pungency of pine needles. He considered. It was the sensuous warmth of the sun that made him decide to leave childish stories behind. "I will tell you a wholesome tale of how a young man discovered his favourite pastime." Lise raised her eyebrows in enquiry. "The lesson came not from a school master or craftsman, but from a lively dairy maid with an adventurous spirit and a roving eye." With one mischievous glance into her eyes, he lay back on the abundant needles and his voice drifted comfortably up to her, while his eyes remained fixed on the treetops. "This lad had been fostered far away from home, but his fosterage was a fortunate one, and he had a genuine place in the life of the castle where he lived. He had long since begun paying attention to girls and women, so he noted immediately when the younger sister of the chief dairy woman came to bide there. "She was pretty and brown-haired, and possessed desires too strong to be constrained by convention, though she did achieve a successful show of modesty as a way to leave herself relatively free to make sport with grooms and labourers. She had a special eye for lads who she judged to be unschooled in such pursuits, and took on their education with a will. This lad was far too inexperienced to recognize her pursuit, and she executed it with no little thought and skill. "The lad was not assigned to any particular guildsman or training, but to all. This meant that he could be ordered about at the need of whatever aspect of castle life required labour. Somehow, the crafty dairy maid managed to be there to show him how to churn butter, chop vegetables in the kitchen, or some other such task which required her to lean close in demonstration or assessment of his work. He would stand rooted, telling himself that she was oblivious of her breast pressing up against his arm, or her forearm brushing his. Her little advances were such that he could never convince himself that she meant what he hoped she meant. "One day, when he had gone down to the lakeside to bathe, he found a woman's garments on the shore. Looking out, he saw that the dairy maid was before him in the water, not knowing that she had hurried down on hearing that he was headed that way himself soon. "She made a mild show of surprise and concern upon seeing him, but she did not shriek or warn him away. On the contrary, she lingered, her shoulders chastely below the water's surface, but her body not entirely invisible. He tried and failed not to stair. "Far from reproving him, she said coolly, 'I fear I have placed my garments too near the water's edge. Will you move them further back for me lest they get wet?' "She stayed where she was while he did so, shifting languidly in the water. "'Did you come here to bathe?' she asked. "'Y... Yes,' he got out, but panicked at the very idea. He longed for her to climb out of the water for he had never seen a woman naked before. At the same time, he was so nervous that he found himself stammering an apology and stumbling off back to the castle, so he didn't see her smug smile. "One day in late summer, many folk were occupied with the first harvest, and in the morning, she asked him quietly to meet her in the stable after the noon meal so that he could see something she had found in the hay loft. At last, he began to hope that his weeks of trailing after her like a dog with its tongue hanging out might finally avail him. "He was there before her, and fidgeted horribly with nerves until she came. Putting a finger to her lips, she went before him up the ladder to the loft, offering him a tantalizing glimpse into the mysteries of feminine undergarments, and no small portion of her well-turned leg. He was up after her in a trice. "She put her finger to her lips once more, and all that then passed, passed in silence. "She pressed herself against him and kissed him. At first he didn't trust her not to be teasing him for her amusement, but the genuine flavour of her own enjoyment was so apparent that he no longer doubted. "She guided him silently in undressing her, but when he would have moved with more initiative, she gently but firmly placed his hands away from her, making it clear that he was to do her bidding, which suited him better than he would have liked to admit, since he had almost no idea what to do. "When they had both undressed, she pushed him on to his back and introduced him to pleasures more subtle than he had dreamed. She kissed him in a place and manner that left him powerless. A woman of experience, she liked to please men in this way first for several reasons. Primarily, she wished to prolong matters later on, and knew that this caress, while endearing herself to any young man's fancy, would also ensure that she got as much of what she wanted most as possible. She was aroused by the power gained by rousing another. In this young man, she had found one who expressed his appreciation of her attentions in just the right way to inflame her desire further. "She engulfed him fully in her mouth. He watched this with awe, and felt it with a dizzying pleasure that made him want to do many things at once, but most of all to stay as still as possible lest he break the spell of her tongue. When her skilled movements caused the explosion of pleasure he had only ever experienced at his own hands, he lay dazed, motionless and silent for a time. One hand gripped her shoulder lest she dissolve into fantasy. "She smiled up at him knowingly, then moved to lie beside him. He turned toward her, touching her wonderingly. Her touch on him was less ethereal. She kissed him, overcoming his initial discomfort considering what had just happened. She pressed herself against him and drew his hand between her legs to show him the effects of him on her. He explored, fascinated. "It wasn't long before he was ready for her. Eventually she would introduce him to many positions from which they enjoyed feeling his strong thrusts inside her, but that first time she straddled his hips and thought mostly of pleasing herself. Accomplished from wide and eager experience, she used his hard penis and enthusiasm to satisfy weeks of accumulated lust. He learned, to his amazement, that women too could reach a peak of pleasure, but when he looked covertly for the result, he found only the pervasive slippery moisture that made it so much more pleasurable than he could have imagined to thrust in and out of her. "She was a kind lass, as well as a lusty one, and she made it clear that she'd welcome his attentions whenever discretion and opportunity offered. Of course he fancied himself in love with her, but this illusion did not survive his discovery of her in the hay loft with the senior groom some months later. She was gentle to him, but firm in her assertion that there was no understanding between them, and that he was as free as she to seek other companionship. "After some time, and some ruthless ribbing by more experienced lads, he came to see that she spoke wisely, and he became somewhat widely known among the maidens, and even some of the matrons of the castle." Owen sat up slowly to find Lise gazing peacefully at the surrounding trees, her lips curved in a small smile, her body no longer speaking of constraint. Slowly she turned her eyes to him. "A fine tale," she said calmly, but the spark in her dark eyes told him that she knew who the young lad might have been. On inclement days, Lise and Owen would sometimes find one another in the great hall of an afternoon. Lise's nominal domestic duties discharged, and his grueling work of helping in cottage building halted by the weather, they would sit companionably, she doing needle work, he cleaning and maintaining the musical instruments of the castle or polishing blades. On one such afternoon, he said into an easy silence, "Tell me a story." Nothing loathed, she cast about for something to amuse him. "Your tale of the young lad and the dairy maid put me in mind of a story about two travelling entertainers and an in-keeper." She glanced around, perceiving that, though episodic activity was going on around them, none were close enough to overhear. "I must warn you it is quite a scandalous tale.... Perhaps you would rather hear about the boy and the three geese?" He knew that she herself had made her living as an entertainer before entering Margarete's service, and he raised his eyebrows in enquiry, as she had done that day in the sunny clearing. "There are no others to hear; pray tell me your scandalous tale." "There was a very young woman who habitually travelled with a group of tumblers and musicians. She had made her way very much alone in the world, and was therefore perhaps even more prone to girlish idolatry than most of her age. She had conceived a consuming longing for an accomplished tumbler in her company. He was not unkind, but he was self-serving, and quite discriminating in his pleasures. "Midsummer happened to take them to Marseilles. There was an inn there which they had often frequented. It was run by Natalie, an able and attractive woman whose husband spent months at a time at sea, leaving her womanly needs unsatisfied. She and the tumbler had long been lovers whenever the opportunity offered itself. The very young woman did not know this. "The younger woman was drawn to Natalie because of the woman's kindness and competence, but also by something nameless and exciting that arose in her body when Natalie gave her long affectionate hugs. With the freedom of women together, they would sit, arms about each other on the settle during the inn keeper's brief spates of inactivity, and the younger woman would experience a heightened awareness of Natalie's body, an intense enjoyment of the closeness. She never really thought about how these feelings shared a quality with her longing for the tumbler, never really thought about why Natalie seemed to enjoy softly caressing the back of her neck, or brushing her with a feathery touch just above the collarbone on rising to resume her work. "As I have hinted, the tumbler was crafty in the procurement of his pleasures: a quality he shared in good measure with the inn keeper. On an evening when the long days and warm temperatures afforded chances less common in winter, these two laid a cunning plan for the young lady, trusting in her ignorance and eagerness. Their trust was not misplaced. "The tumbler had been aware for some time of the young lady's feelings toward him. Likewise, Natalie perceived that her subtle importunities toward the young lady were not rebuffed, were in fact met with the glassy-eyed expression of almost unconscious arousal. "At twilight one evening, the tumbler asked the young woman to come to his inn room that he might show her some costuming items he had purchased that day, and which he thought she might like to make use of. He was standing very close to her, laying a necklace of beads around her neck and secretly enjoying the sight of her dilated pupils and flushed cheeks, when there was a knock. Natalie's musical tones were audible through the closed door. "'I have brought your washing water.' "The tumbler allowed an expression of alarm to show on his face. "'Quickly' he whispered, 'It would be improper for you to be found here. Hide behind this curtain until she is gone.' "Uncertain of what such an impropriety might mean, the biddable and naive young woman did as he commanded. "When Natalie entered, she set the pale of water down on the wash stand and turned eagerly to the tumbler. After a silence which the young woman found puzzling, she chanced a peek from behind her concealing curtain. What she saw made her dilated eyes widen even further. "Natalie stood within the circle of the man's arms, her face upturned, her lips pressed to his. As the young woman watched, the man and woman began running their hands eagerly over one another and divesting one another of every stitch of clothing. It being a warm day of midsummer, the two lay down together on the bed, having no need of a blanket. From where she stood, the young woman had a clear view of them as they continued to kiss and caress one another. "She watched in fascination as Natalie turned onto her back while the tumbler took each of her nipples in turn into his mouth. As Natalie made soft sounds of sensual delight and writhed sinuously against her lover, the young lady found her own body moving in gentle sympathy with Natalie's. Natalie rolled over to face the man and cupped his muscular behind so suggestively that the watcher behind the curtain seemed to feel his flesh beneath her own hands. Natalie flung her leg across the man's hip and rocked her pelvice against him with a rhythm that made the young lady long to feel that graceful leg thrown over her own hip, to move her own body against it. "Natalie turned onto her back once more, and this time the man followed. His body seemed to cover Natalie's, but from where she stood, the young lady could see how his erect penis slid against Natalie's body, then disappeared between her legs. "As Natalie let out a soft cry of pleasure and satisfaction, the young lady was barely aware that her hand had strayed between her own thighs and was moving slowly there. The sheer force and physicality of what was happening on the bed might have been frightening had it not been patently obvious that Natalie relished his attentions. Indeed, while the young lady's conscious longings had been for the tumbler, it was the sight and sounds of Natalie's pleasure that caused her breath to quicken and the pressure of her hand against her own body to increase. "This went on for a time that went unmeasured by all, until first Natalie then the tumbler convulsed in what was clearly a peak of pleasure. The man still lay atop the woman, but the woman's eyes opened and slowly, seemingly at random, moved about the room. They came to the curtain. So absorbed had the young lady become, that she failed to remember concealment. Natalie's eyes opened wide, and her mouth made an o of astonishment so well done that the young lady didn't suspect that in keepers can also be players. "Natalie gave a muted cry of surprise, and made to leap up. Dislodged, the tumbler went up on his knees and turned to follow Natalie's gaze. Natalie gave an excellent performance of outraged and dismay. "'You bad girl! What do you mean by sneaking around and peeking at us so? Why are you hiding there behind the curtain? Why ever did you come to this man's room alone? How could you intrude so?' "Dazed by unfamiliar arousal, intimidated by the two adults, uncertain of exactly which proprieties she had violated, the young lady was completely taken in, and utterly failed to discern the outrageous contradictions and inconsistencies in Natalie's outburst. On the contrary, her distress left her inarticulate, and so distraught that she felt tears prick her eyelids. She had been drawn to both these people, and now they were viewing her with apparent disdain and disapproval. The unscrupulous plan of these two lechers was proceeding exactly as they had hoped. "At the young lady's obvious distress, Natalie abandoned her outrage and began to show signs of sympathy for the young woman's fear. She sat back on the bed and sighed. "'Oh my dear, do not look so. I am not angry, just shocked to find you here and... Well you have seen something very private. You know you must speak of this to no one!' "Her tone sharpened markedly, and the frightened expression on the young woman's face became even more pronounced. Natalie made a convincing show of remorse, and a sincere show of compassion. "'Come here little one. You need not be frightened. You will be discreet won't you. Come and sit here with me.' "The young woman sat tentatively on the bed beside Natalie, reassured by her gentle expression. Natalie put an arm around her and drew close. She ran a comforting hand down the young woman's back and toyed fondly with her hair. "'I am not angry with you, do not fear. You surprised me greatly. Never mind, I will not ask why you were here, and you do not need to ask why I am here do you? What lovely glossy black hair you have. I have often wished to see it unbound. May I?' "With practiced fingers she loosened the young woman's hair and fanned it out across her shoulders. "'Lovely: are you less frightened now?' Fires of Beltane Audio "'The young woman nodded, unable to speak. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew she wanted it to keep on happening. "'We have all had a shock,' Natalie said in her sweetly modulated tones. 'I think we could all enjoy some refreshment.' "She looked at the man, then to the unwatered wine on the side table. He poured a large goblet, drank some himself, then offered the cup to Natalie. Natalie drank, then passed the cup to the young woman who still nestled against her. At Natalie's urging, she drained the goblet, then handed it shyly to the man who placed it on the table once more. He touched her shoulder lightly then sat down near her but not touching her. "'You will keep our secret?' he asked her a little sternly, reinforcing the young woman's delusion that she and not they had been caught in a morally ambiguous situation. She nodded shyly, still unwilling to speak, afraid of breaking whatever spell it was that held her between them. The unfamiliar scent of satisfied desire seemed to be as intoxicating as the unwatered wine, and she leaned confidingly against Natalie, longing for she knew not what. Natalie continued to stroke her back, the back of her neck, her flushed cheek. "'It is very warm in here,' Natalie said. 'Would you like us to help you take off your clothes so that you may be as we are?' When the young woman nodded again, the tumbler and the inn keeper, with unhurried sensuality, took off one item after another until she was as naked as they. Natalie touched her all over lightly with brushing fingertips. "'You are so pretty. Have you been touched like this before? Have you lain with a man before? I thought not. Did it look frightening? I assure you it is very pleasant! Would you like us to show you? I will touch you and hold you while it happens, and make sure you feel it all the right way.' "She ran knowing fingertips over the young woman's shoulders and breasts. She leaned forward and pressed her lips first against her throat, cheek, then against the young woman's open mouth. The tumbler sat on the bed at her feet and began running patient hands up and down her legs, reaching each time closer to the top of her thighs. "After a long time, Natalie and the tumbler changed places. He knelt over the younger woman where she lay on her back. He kissed her lips, then moved his mouth downwards to her full breasts. She lay feeling the subtle differences in the way each touched her. Natalie's caresses were soft, agonizingly delicate. Though his movements were not aggressive, still, she sensed the leashed masculine power behind them. It was exciting in a way that set an almost painful longing somewhere inside her. Natalie's hands had reached her vulva. They began by moving together in broad pressing movements, then became more precise. When she at last allowed herself to find the slippery confirmation she had known would be there, she caught the tumbler's eye. "'She is ready.' "Natalie lay down beside her, cradling her while the tumbler positioned himself on top of her. He guided his penis between her legs and rubbed the head along the length of her vulva, pausing on her clitoris, then moving downward, teasing her for long moments before he began to slide, with cultivated restraint, inside her. "having ridden astride for many years and spent considerable effort in men's clothes learning the strength and agility of tumbling, the young woman's maidenhead troubled her only slightly in the losing. After one uncomfortable moment during which the man stayed courteously still, the young woman was ready for him to begin moving slowly inside her. "Natalie leaned over her, kissing her deeply and squeezing her breasts in hands grown firm and urgent. The young woman perceived that the role of spectator was nearly as satisfying to Natalie as the role of participant had been. The tumbler reached out the hand nearest Natalie and played with her dark pointed nipple. She gasped with pleasure and pressed herself against the young woman's side. "'Take her nipple in your mouth,' he said to Natalie, and guided one of her hands to the younger woman's other breast. He went up onto his knees so that he could watch them while he thrust slowly and rhythmically. "Judging the moment with a practiced eye, Natalie reached her hand downward. For her own pleasure she wrapped her fingers briefly around the hard, slick cock as it moved in and out, then applied herself to pleasuring the younger woman with her hand. She was skilled, and the young woman very ready. It was not long until the younger woman learned to know the peak of pleasure, and then to know the secret thrill of feeling another reach that peak because of her. "When they had rested, Natalie said, 'Now I will show you a thing.' "She leaned over and took the tumbler's flaccid penis in her mouth. The young woman watched in amazement as he grew hard once more. He urged Natalie away from him and onto her hands and knees. Obviously willing, Natalie leaned forward, offering herself to him. He moved quickly and without restraint this time, entered her from behind. The young woman found as much enjoyment as observer as Natalie had. She sat cross-legged facing them, running eager hands over Natalie's breasts and belly, watching hypnotized as the man coupled energetically until the paroxysm overtook him. "During at long night, the two coached and guided the younger woman until she had sampled more delights than many know in a lifetime. That company came again to Marseilles, and those three enjoyed a rare and beguiling companionship whenever circumstances allowed." During this recitation, Lise had allowed herself only brief glimpses of Owen's face. She looked her fill now however, and found that her description of flushed cheeks and dilated eyes would have been apt for him too. The daring that had sustained her during the telling fled. With impeccable timing, Margarete chose that moment to enter the great hall from the courtyard. Catching Lise's eye in the familiar way that said Lise's presence was required, Margarete turned toward the spiral staircase leading to her chamber. Obediently, Lise rose to follow. "I have enjoyed our afternoon together," she said with sang fois which even she admired, Good day to you." Since their return from pilgrimage at Samhain, Margarete had enlivened preparations for sleep in her chamber each night by inventive attempts to rouse Lise's desire. Well pleased though Margarete was in her husband's bed, she had been deeply grateful that physical intimacy between herself and Lise had resumed, on the surpassingly rare occasions when it was safe for them to indulge themselves thus. Between Lise and Owen however, Margarete understood that matters were not so simple. Therefore, each night while Lise brushed and braided Margarete's hair or assisted with her clothing, Margarete engaged in a gentle, episodic seduction which left Lise stimulated but unsatisfied. Margarete had no experience in healing such wounds as Lise had received on Lamas night, but she sensed that part of Lise's path back to intimacy with Owen was the simple rousing of carnality. Months of deep kisses, sensual touching, creative tails of lust fulfilled told across a forgotten chess board, had left Lise stimulated, unsatisfied, edgy with roused passion: but still prone to spells of distraction, disorientation and fear of the act for which she longed so powerfully. On the day of Beltane, she was unsurprised when Owen proposed in midmorning that they withdraw discreetly from the more public festivity, and find their celebration alone together. They had done so on Lamas day with wonderful and unforgettable results, but the violent events of the following night had left Lise a different woman from the one who had frolicked so heedlessly then. Their walk that morning of Beltane was not the rambling one they had taken on Lamas. He guided them unerringly back to the sheltered clearing where he had told her the tale of the lad and the dairy maid. She did not question him. They both knew what this day held for them, and she was glad he had chosen a spot that was sufficiently secluded, but bright with spring sunlight. When they had shed the bulkiest of their clothing, and lain down facing one another on the bed of needles covered with cloaks he had made, he spent long silent minutes convincing her that he was in no hurry. She touched him shyly, which she had never done before this day. She felt like an inexperienced girl, not knowing what she should do or what it would be like. She was not an especially young woman, and it had been a very long time since she could have described herself as inexperienced. With the now familiar confusion about her sense of herself, she felt the immobility of uncertainty taking hold of her, and longed to forestall it. "Tell me a story?" she said in an entreating tone he had never heard from her before. Much moved, he told her the only story he could, at that moment, recall. "There was a woman of whit and cunning. She had made her own way in the world for many years, but eventually found herself in the service of a young noble woman. Such a life was foreign to her, but she was adaptable, and service soon grew into love and devotion between them. Her young mistress was given in marriage to a foreigner. These two set out together on the long journey to their new home, sustained by their bond of love for one another. "For her own reasons, the young noblewoman deeply wished to know to what manner of man she had been betrothed. Particularly, she desired to know how best to captivate him in their marriage-bed. The cunning and resourceful servant, eager to allay her mistress's fears, and not unwilling to undertake a dangerous adventure, fell into the company of some traveling entertainers who were to visit the soon-to-be bridegroom's castle. Donning a player's mask, the cunning and lusty adventurer charmed her way into his bedchamber. There, she found more than she had expected, but not more than she could cope with. "It transpired that she was not the only lass to find her way there that night, nor her mistress's betrothed the only man. On the night of Beltane, the castle's lord was disposed to share his prenuptial revels with his sworn companion. It was not the first time the two men had enjoyed such revels in company, and they knew an ease which the resourceful adventurer admired. She had no difficulty getting into the spirit of Beltane, and had her clothes off as quick and lively as any. "Though she was there primarily to observe her mistress's betrothed, she welcomed the attentions of the other man, for she liked his looks, and liked more the way he touched her." In the sunny clearing, Owen ran a hand smoothly across Lise's cheek, down her back, over the curve of waste and hip, and back again with a persistent but undemanding firmness. "The man found her low voice and active body very appealing, preferring her to any of the other lasses who sought to entertain him. She moved with a confidence and grace that captivated him, and, being a man of some experience with women, he could tell that her response to him was not the practiced one of a paid professional. When she took him in her mouth, he felt her skill, but also her liking for such a task. When he pushed her back on the bed and laid on top of her, he felt how her body reached up to his, urging him to enter her. When he thrust inside her he felt how her body thrust upwards to meet him, how her inner muscles took him with fierce joy, how her pleasure mounted with his." Owen traced his fingertips confidently down Lise's throat to the place over her collarbone where he knew her to be most sensitive. He noted with approval her dilated pupils and flushed cheeks, and smiled fondly into her eyes. "He would think back often to that night, wondering who the masked player had been, and whether he might ever encounter her again. "When the wedding party arrived, he was of course impressed by the beauty of the bride, but persistently intrigued by her lady companion. How could it be that she looked like no one he knew, but that when she moved or spoke he was enthralled? "This perplexity persisted in him, and contributed to the energy with which he pursued a flirtation with this enigmatic woman who bore herself like an athlete, played and sang like a professional musician, and only barely managed to maintain the humble and unassuming mien of a servant. She matched him move for move in this subtle dance over many months, and on the day of the festival of the first harvest, they two slipped away together, unable to wait for the sanction of the darkness outside the ring of festival fires that night. "Though cunning, this woman was honourable, and would not give herself to the man while he remained in ignorance of her identity. Haltingly and with much trepidation, she described her role in the Beltane revels, and found to her amazement that her deception merely served to enhance his admiration for her." Through the thin linen of Lise's shift, Owen's agile musicians hand traced a path around the curve of her full breast. "He had her in the grass. He had her in the pond. He had her against the trunk of a tree. She gave herself lying open on her back. She rode him till her own pleasure overcame her and she must collapse on top of him. She took him into her mouth and offered herself to his. They gave and took in equal measure, and had never known the like to each other." His tone had lost the story tellers impersonality. Her distraction and confusion dissolved. There in the sunlight, she remembered how it had been on Lamas day. She remembered it in her mind and in her body. She reached out carefully but not shyly to touch him, and found him as ready as herself. She urged him to remove all of his clothes, and did the same herself. She positioned them so that they still lay facing one another, but so that her lower leg was now beneath his waste. They kissed and caressed, and so gradual was the slide of his erect penis over her vulva and inside her, that it was no shock, and no troublesome barrier for her to overcome. Soon she found herself pushing against him in rhythmic thrusts that seemed to come of their own accord. He reached between her legs and stimulated her until, to her own amazement, she cried out with the joy of the perfectly satisfied woman. That night they took their places around the Beltane fires, and all could see that things were once more right between them. They sang and told stories for the entertainment of all, and more than once, their absence was noted as they slipped away into the darkness to honour the festival of Beltane in the time-honoured fashion.