Rites of Passage Redux (Armphid & Haremfaery)

((Sounds like a plan to me))

He watched her go and wanted to stop her. He wanted to scream or smash something to pieces. Or throw her down on the spot and show her exactly how interested in her he could be.

"Damn it," he growled, the words meant for no one in particular. This had not gone well at all. And it seemed that he'd managed to make some bit of peace between them and then it had all gone topsy turvey again.

Tiernan looked back up at her home and turned on his heel, his face like a storm cloud as he walked back towards his family's house. Those who saw him would have called out or waved but the expression on his face silenced them as he all but stomped past.

Sinnead Nic Flynn watched his retreating back with wide eyes and leaned over to her friend, "I've never seen him in such a mood before."

"Nor I," Roisin answered. "Do you think that those two are actually..."


The next few days passed quickly and in a flurry of activity and work as the holy day approached. The O'Banions arrived and were settled in their various host locations. Tiernan had been among the men who'd met them coming in and escorted them to the king's house. They did not seem to be looking for trouble...but he would watch them nonetheless.

Not that he had the time or mind for it. He and Aine had spoken not a word since the fight between them a few days ago and that wore on his mind. Especially given what would happen tonight. Tonight, he would be the vessel of the God and would lie with the Goddess...a sacred duty and trust, yes. But it would also mean breaking his troth with Aine.

Tiernan leaned on a low wall around his father's house and watched the sun finish rising and covering the land in golden light. It was a holy day and he would have a position of great honor. Why then did he feel so uneasy?

Aine refused to listen to her mother's scolding nor her father's counsel when it came to Tiernan and her impending marriage.She assured them she would do her duty, no more, no less.

She was thankful that they were housing some of the O'Banions, it meant that her parents could only bring up the subject when they were alone. However, the guests could not fail to see there was tension about the match.

At least one man overheard an argument that ended with Aine stamping her foot. "You do not understand! He has no interest in me. It is a sad thing when a woman must marry an indifferent man." She pouted. Aine was feeling the stress of being the vessel for the Lady, and then knowing she must marry. She was not thinking about Tiernan's warnings at all.

After that argument, Eaon O'Banion made a point to be around Aine whenever he could.
-----

Aine rose early Beltaine morning and bedecked herself in the flower garlands she had made the day before. She joined the other young unmarried ladies of the clan to follow as the young men carried the maypole around the village. There was singing and dancing and the mead was flowing already. The eligible youths were wearing white robes, later they would be given hoods and masks to hide who they were, so no one would know who the Lord and lady had chosen to be their vessels.

Aine was nervous, excited and a little frightened. At least she would know the love of a god before she had to marry Tiernan for the good of the clan. She hoped the God chose a vessel who knew how to treat a woman. But then, it would be the God himself who would be her lover. The body, who it belonged to, that was not as important.

They finally brought the Maypole to the center of the village and placed it in the hole already prepared for it. The men filled in the hole amid cheering and more singing.

((OOC: I know very little about Beltaine but I read up a bit for the post. If something doesn't fit or jars improperly, please let me know and I can edit.))

Beltaine was as merry as any in memory, at least for the rest of the clan and their visitors. The maypole was set and there was cheering, singing, and dancing. Some might have noticed that in all the festivities, and though bedecked with flowers himself, Tiernan Mac Gowan seemed to sing little, cheer less, and danced not a jig. While it did his heart good to see the clan rejoicing and gaining the gods' favor with the traditions and rituals of the holy day, he felt only tension and anticipation.

The O'Banions had behaved thus far but they were still here, and it seemed to him that one of the younger men had a habit of always being close or trying to be close to Aine. The possessive anger he felt at that surprised even himself. He tried not to let it show. If Aine noticed, she'd likely flirt and tease the O'Banion just to spite Tiernan.

That tension, as well as the tension between himself and his betrothed, not that they spoke to one another save in brief, clipped pleasantries in passing. He knew his parents were displeased at this turn of events and was sure that her father and mother were as well. In truth, he would have liked to corner her and try to have it out but with the festival, there was simply no time. Or privacy.

But there was another source as well. Tonight, he would be the vessel of a God and lay with the Goddess. He felt a kind of wary anticipation and eagerness dappled with dread. To be with a goddess was, well, an honor and a privilege. How fine she would be, and how amazing to make love to her! But then he also wondered if he'd even be aware of any of it; the God would be within him, after all.

But the day went on with merry making and toasting and feasting and games. And during it all, the fires were prepared and built, though not yet lit. But then they would be fired up and the herds driven through them, and then...Tiernan would take his place and meet his goddess.

((Ack, it's been awhile--so sorry. Things have been busy. I keep thinking they will slow down, but they don't for very long. Blah. I would much rather be writing.))

Aine launched herself into the festivities. She flitted like a butterfly from group to group, from thing to thing. Dancing, drinking, eating, dancing again. As if being in the center of a whirlwind would keep her mind off her marriage and more immediately, what this Beltaine night would have in store for her.

She occasionally saw Tiernan. He seemed to be in a somber mood. Probably thinking of all the ways the O'Banions might disrupt things. Eaon O'Banion acted more like her intended than Tiernan ever did. She danced often with Eaon and he seemed to appear from nowhere with a cup of mead or a sweetmeat for her. She though him handsome, but he was a bit snug for her taste.

"If you think to get me in the mood for a tumble, think again, Eaon O'Banion. I'm to be a married woman soon, and besides, this is my first year to join the ritual to see who the Lady chooses for her vessel." It was one thing to flirt, and flirt shamelessly, it was another to actually follow through on it. Besides, she didn't want the likes of Eaon, handsome as he was, to have her maidenhead. She had gone this long, the God himself could take it. Perhaps that was why she was chosen.

--

Finally it was time to light the fires. The druids chanted blessings, the herds were driven though the fires, then the people danced around and through them for wealth and prosperity and for the women: fertility.

The druids gathered the youths together who would participate in the ritual. They were all dressed in the same plain white robes, white hoods on their heads and the same masks on their faces.

They were led back to the fires. The wine and honey cakes were blessed and passed out to all of the young people. The wine was very strong and mulled with special herbs. The concoction would bring on a state of euphoria allowing the Lord and Lady and chose their vessels. Of course, the druids had already planted that suggestion into the minds of Aine and Tiernan, making them fertile soil for the deities to take root. Not far from the fires a special structure had beem made. A sort of arbor draped in garlands where the God and Goddess would retire to complete the rite. The others would be free to choose companions for the night if they desired.

Aine found herself looking around the circle trying to see which might be Tiernan or any of the clan's youths that she could recognize, but it was to no avail. The firelight played tricks on the eyes, the wine played tricks on the mind. The druids chanted and she fell into a sort of trance.

They called the Goddess down and begged her to join them in their festivities. She swayed and moved with the rest of the group, but somehow, she ended up in the middle of the circle before the small altar the druids made.

"Are you the Goddess among us?" They asked.

"Yes," she murmured. "I am the Goddess made flesh." They offered her more wine and put a garland of meadow flowers on her head.

The druids chanted again, calling for the God to meet his Goddess. Aine chanted as well, as if she were calling her Lord to be with her. She was the goddess and she longed for her Lord. She could feel the yearning in her whole being. She looked around the circle.

((I understand how life can go, believe me. I've been having some ups and downs myself lately. I'm excited for the thread though and glad that we're still going!))

Tiernan's irritation and jealousy, for he was wise enough to know that it was jealousy, began to fade as the evening came on and the time of the ritual was upon them. It still galled him to see how Aine laughed and danced and flirted with that damned O'Banion. Was she doing it to spite him? Likely not, she'd have to care about him first to have spite.

Thoughts of Aine continued though, even as he along with the other young folk donned the white robes and pulled the mask on over his face. He thought he caught sight of her before the hood was pulled up to shield her fiery hair and then lost her as they all moved together, the identical garb and the shadows of the night robbing them of who they were. They marched back to the fires and as the cakes and wine were passed, the druids began to chant, all the young folk taking it up after they drank and ate.

Tiernan was no stranger to wine but the brew of the druids was potent and mixed with herbs and magic, so that almost as soon as it passed his lips he began to feel different. Sounds were at once more vibrant and yet muted, seeming to come from their sources but also from everywhere at once. Colors seemed to have other hues and shades flickering around them and he wondered if this was how the gods saw the world of men.

The druids called for the Goddess to join them and the call was taken up by all of those gathered. Tiernan called as well, and chanted, eager to see the divinity among and feeling...feeling a longing for her that was new. Until now, he had looked on this event with as much dread as honor, but now there was only want. He wanted the Goddess known and before them, so he could stand by her, and be with her, and take his place as her Lord.

Then she was there, standing in the middle of the circle before the fires and she spoke. Her words were simple but strong and her voice was...familiar but unknown, filled with musics and tones he had never heard in a human voice before. Then they called for the God, and she did as well, and her call made something within him ring as though it were a bell struck hard.

He was unaware that he had moved until he found himself before the druids, their forms cast into shadow by the blazing bonfires behind them. A challenge rang out, "Are you the God among us?"

"I am," he answered, "I am the God made flesh." He knew it was his own voice, and yet it sounded strange to him; more regal and sure. The masked Goddess looked to him and he felt a surge of pride and desire. With the God within him, she would be his Lady this night, and they would know pleasures together unlike any known before by man or woman.

The druids offered him a fresh cup of wine and he drank deeply; and then another was poured for he and the Goddess to share. Tiernan, if he was Tiernan still, took it in his hands and turned to face her. He bowed to her and raised the cup, turning it three times in his hands before she drank as he tipped it for her. Then she took the vessel from him and did the same, allowing him to drink. The feel of her fingers touching his hands as they passed the wine a shocking delight; she was so warm and so soft.

The druids took back the cup and threw their arms wide, leading now a rising chant and call for the blessings of the God and Goddess on the world and on the clan, and especially upon the young people.

Again Tiernan turned to the hooded and Goddess and he smiled at her, his lips the only thing that could be seen of his face with the mask in place. He held out his hand to her, upturned, the other gesturing to the arbor.

((This plot is near and dear to my heart and I just love Tiernan, I think Aine is a haughty little thing and needs to be taken down a peg. And that was a beautiful post you made. My muse is not cooperating very much right now--damn her.))

Aine felt drawn to this young man before as she had never felt to any other. He was her Lord and her God. She placed her hand on his and a thrill went through her.

The chanting turned to exuberant singing. Some began dancing around the two urging them toward the arbor.

She felt lighter than air. She yearned for this man as parched earth yeard for rain. She had no more fear or anxiety. All would be well. She felt an upswell of love for everyone and everything around her. This could only be the Goddess within her. How beautiful to feel such love.

They entered the arbor and turned to face each other. he seemed so tall and broad. Her young God. She longed to see his face, but such divinity would surely kill her. She gazed up at him and felt such a fire in her. A passion she had never known. The passion of a goddess.

She ran her fingers up his chest to rest upon his shoulders. She tipped her chin up. She parted her full moist lips. She would taste his lips, drink from them, breathe his breath and return it to him.

((Muses can be a real pain that way, but I think your post was great! Let me know if this is all right; I don't know if they need to stay clothed for anonymity's sake or if the masks and drugs will be enough.))


As her lips parted to beckon him, they were claimed. His arms pulled her against him as he kissed her, tasting the dregs of wine on her lips, as well as a sweet softness, and a taste that was both intimately familiar while being beyond description. But this was the Goddess in his arms, and a bit of her was in every woman, surely that was the familiar feel and taste that so touched his heart and his loins with fire.

Her body felt amazing against him, even through the robes they both wore, soft and generously curved. His manhood was wild and ready; and he groaned into her lips as he felt it brush against her stomach though their garb still covered them.

He drew back from the kiss and smiled slow and warm. She was amazing, all he thought she would be. Madly, desperately, he wanted her. Tiernan, was he still Tiernan now? He wanted to tear the robes from them both and sink into her hot heaven here and now.

But no.

No, he, if he was still him, prided himself on being a true lover to his partners. She would scream out her pleasure by his hands and his mouth and he would explore all of her divine form before they finally were one.

His hands went to the belt of his robe and untied it, letting the garment fall open. Reaching for her, he pulled her into another deep, soul saving and searing kiss, his hands traveling over her hips to stroke the small of her back before running over her ass. The kiss broke and his lips moved, kissing her chin and then down her neck, tasting the smooth skin, lightly touched with sweat from the heat of the fires and their own desire.

((I think the masks and drugs will be enough, plus the dark of night and only the bonfire and torches for light. Perhaps in a few days Tiernan, may have flashes of memory of red hair. Not that Aine is the only redhead in the clan...I think she will have no idea who she was with.))

Aine was left breathless from the kiss of the God. She could feel his throbbing desire for her through the fabric of their robes. It called to mind Cernunous and his giant priapis. In the back of her mind, the very human Aine was feeling apprehensive. But the drugged wine that allowed the Goddess to fll her body pushed that aside. Her body wanted him. The Goddess wanted her Divine Lover and had no misgivings whatsoever.

The light from the torches planted throughout the field cast shadows emphasizing the youths muscled chest. Her eyes did not have a chance to look lower because he took her in his arms again with a passion she had not believed was possible.

His kisses burned and ignited fires within her. She tilted her neck to the side to let him kiss her better. Her fingers fumbled with her own belt. She wanted to show him herself, her vessel. She shrugged off her robe then slid her own hands up his chest. She pushed his robe from his shoulders impatiently. She lifted his head to capture his lips again. Those wondrous lips. She pressed her breasts against him. her nipples were so hard, she thought they might cut him. A blood sacrifice to his goddess.

He could feel impatience as she pushed his robe off his shoulders, a tiny sound of frustration coming from her mortal and immortal lips. It brought a flicker of amused desire to his face; he loved her ardor, her eagerness for this. It was in every motion she made, every distorted, echoing sigh and moan, every white hot embrace of their lips.

Whoever he was groaned as she pressed herself against him; the hard points of her nipples dragging over his warm skin. Such want, such desire rose in him as they kissed again, trying to drink as deeply of one another as of the wine, that he felt his manhood throbbing even harder, so much it felt as thought it might rip the skin from the tension.

His hands slid over her stomach and up to her shoulders, caressing down the lines of her back before cradling her ass and dipping her back. He gazed down at the exposed wonder of her chest for a few moments before he lowered his head to press his lips in fervent bliss to each hard, stiff nipple. Then he kissed up the curve of one breast, his breath hot on her skin, moving to the other. Holding her up with ease, he eagerly devoured and worshiped her breasts; pert, high, fine examples of the young goddess' perfect features before his seed made her bloom into full womanhood.

His hands moved as he held her, massaging and kneading the plush flesh of her rear as he kissed and teased her breasts. Whether this was fully the form of one of the clan girls or if it was remade by the Goddess' divine presence, it was marvelous and glorious. He'd been with other girls, as Tiernan, but none so fine and well sculpted.

Aine wrapped her legs around her lover, her god. She gasped and sighed. Her body responded to his every touch. She had felt yearnings before, but this...This was was different. She wanted this man before her as she had never wanted another. It must be the Goddess's want. The Goddess's need. But it did not matter, she was filled with the Goddess and this was all she could think of: Lying with this man who made her burn for him.

She put her lips next to his ear. "Take me to our bed. Make me your queen." She was ready to give herself over to him, her Lord, her God. She had no fear now. Only intense desire like she had never known.

Her lord seemed, not reticent, but languorous in his caresses and kisses. Did he not burn for her the way she did for him? Or was this how it was to be, that he would drive her to madness with desire so she lost what tenuous grip she had of herself as a human woman? She gave herself over to the sensual blliss of being in his arms.

Her voice carried a want and a lust in it that was unlike anything he felt. It vibrated and sent hot chills through his body. Her words, so simple and direct, inflamed his mind and his loins. Her legs were about him, pressing their bodies closer than he thought possible without entering her; and his strong arms pulled her even tighter to him.

"Make you mine, now and ever." The words were his own and not but wholly and truly meant. He reached down to grope and then grasp her buttocks before lifting her fully off the ground. She seemed to be light as air itself; though her skin felt as if it would burn his with the heat of the fire within her.

He laid her down on the bed and stood a moment over her. His eyes gleamed brightly under his mask as he drank in the sight of her there, yet only for a few pounding heartbeats before he was on her again. His lips sought hers, hands fondling and massaging her breasts before one went lower. His fingers left trails of touch along her stomach and her waist before slipping between her legs to caress the fiery wetness of her sex.

Aine cried out in surprise and pleasure at her lord's bold hand. Her moans were swallowed by his kisses. She had never been further than clumsy kisses and clumsier gropings with a few of the young bucks, yet her body knew what it desired. Her body had no fear. It must be the goddess within.

She knew the Goddess loved her and wanted her to be happy. Why else would she have been chosen for such a great honor? She must relax and let the Goddess guide her.

She moaned again and let her hands trace over her lord's chest, his shoulders, his back. Her hands strayed lower with a mind of their own. But in truth, she wanted to discover all of him. She ran her fingers across his firm flat stomach to the nest of soft curls. She found his cock hot and so hard. She marveled at how soft the skin felt, like the finest wool. She did not have words to describe how it felt in her hand.

She moaned with renewed desire and pulled his head down to her to kiss him with all the fire in her soul.

His groan as her hand wrapped about his cock shook his whole body; deep, primitive sound of shockingly strong and pleasant sensation. Her touch had felt as though it left little trails of fire on his body but this...the feeling almost blasted his mind from him and made him ravish her then and there.

They kissed; a sweet, soft, hungry thing; lips and tongues drawing forth more want and joy that could be real, could be possible. It was the God and Goddess at work; their holy and divine lust for another pouring into him and the woman who bore the Goddess.

His hand caressed and explored her wet sex with clever, practiced touches. One finger teased her entrance, rubbing around it and dipping just a hair into her. The others spread her lips apart to display her pink perfection while his thumb traveled up to find her pearl. He let out another growling chuckle as he found it and ran his thumb over it; soft, tight, little circles first.

He, and he wasn't sure which he, the God or Tiernan, wanted her pleasure. He wanted her to scream joy as she'd not known before to the skies before he joined them and made her cry out again. Could he wait so long? It was an effort not to simply plunge into her now; she was so willing and so wet and so sensual. Would she let him?

The God's kisses, for they must be the God's--no man could inflame her passions so. The God's kisses were a torch to soul. She was made of straw and his fire threatened to engulf her.

She burned for him. It was all the more frightening because she had never felt anything like this. She had never been in love. Never really felt infatuation for any of the lads in the clan. The feelings overwhelmed her. How could she ever be with a mortal man at all after this?

Aine first made a squeal of surprise which modulated into a loud moan of pleasure. She clung to his shoulders and panted. She had tensed at his slight intrusion, but his fingers were gentle and deft, yet insistent. She opened her legs further and tilted her hips urging him to touch her further.

"My Lord, my God." She moaned. She was helpless in his hands. She barely remembered that she should be touching him, giving him pleasure as well. She reached for his fine hard cock again and squeezed it time with her pounding heart.

Her shuddering form clinging to him, her legs spreading wider, hips pressing her sex to him, all things he had felt before yet it seemed as though those occasions had been dreams, without sensation and reality compared to the purity and relentless passion of these moments with her.

Firm and sure, confident yet giving, his hand caressed and explored and delighted in the hot, wet heaven of the Goddess' pussy. It was taking all his will, all his power, his and the God's, not to simply take her. But pride, and he would never know if it were his own or the diving being using him, kept him from it yet. Yet. He wanted her to cry out for him, to need him first.

Then his back arched and the arm cradling her to him pressed her harder to his body; his hardness grinding deliciously against her softness. "Uhhn!" Her touch! Her perfect, sweet touch on his manhood! It was as though each pumping caress struck him with lightning, and for the first several moments he could nothing but groan and gasp for air at the glorious shock.

Her voice had been one and yet many; no woman's voice and a mingling of any he had heard that ever he desired all blended into one. There was one voice in all of that wonder and perfection that struck him as so familiar and yet strange, a voice that he never thought to hear in such a way...yet he could not recall whose it was.

"Yes, My Lady, My Goddess," he answered her as his hand resumed his touch, "So perfect and pure; and to be mine, to be yours."

Aine moaned and rocked her hips pushing against the God's clever fingers as he discovered the secret parts of her. She was nearly beyond thought. Everything was sensation. His hot breath caressed her skin inflaming her with the same intensity as his hand on her sex. Her skin tingled. She tasted colors and saw music. Her mind expanded to sense the entire world around her while her body balanced on a sword blade of exquisite sensation.

"My Lord," She moaned again louder. She let go of his divine manhood to clutch at him as she felt an overwhelming pleasure mounting inside her. Like waves crashing on the shore, or running headlong down a steep hill. It was giddy and exhilarating. She kissed him desperately. Then had to tear her mouth away. She cried out as her body shuddered.

"Please, Lord." She moaned. "Make me your queen." She kissed him again.

Her cries and her moans, her almost pleading him to take her, rang in his mind and his heart; shaking the very earth under him. Against that awesome, world altering power, he could no longer hold.

He kissed her hard and lay her down on the bed prepared; flowers strewn over it and about it, even woven into the mattress itself. His eyes seemed to burn like fires behind his mask as he gazed down upon her for a few moments before he knelt down to spread her legs with strong but gentle hands.

Her scent washed over him and made his manhood throb with want; so rigid and hungry he felt like it might split his skin. The being that was once Tiernan and would be again moved over her, letting out a shuddering moan as his pillar encountered her hot wetness. Not entering now, but touching and rubbing against it.

For a few more moments he ground his member against her sex, coating himself with her fluids to ease his passage. Then he reached down and guided himself to her core, pausing as the crown of his majesty touched her entrance. "My Queen now," his furnace hot words rolled out, "Be one with me."

He slid into heaven; silken and smooth yet textured, wet, hot, welcoming. But then he encountered something unexpected. The eyes behind the mask went wide; his Goddess' vessel was a virgin. Untouched and unknown to men before now. "Such a gift," he whispered and leaned down to kiss her, "Such honor. It will not be forgotten."

Then he thrust again and her maidenhead could not withstand him. He sank into her deep, plunging into her core until he could go no further, hilted in the divine flesh of the living Goddess.

((So sorry for my absence, I've had a nasty cold for weeks that I just can't shake. ))

Aine's heart thundered. She felt as if she were on fire. Her need--the Goddess's need was overwhelming. She had never felt such lust before. It must be the Goddess longing to be united with her Lord.

She moaned loudly and moved her hips as the God teased her with his member as he prepared, finally to enter her. His voice was thick with lust, his words, almost a growl, sent a thrill through her.

She felt her face flush when he spoke of the honor she brought to the God, perhaps that was why she was chosen--to truly be a maiden for the vessel of the Goddess.

She kissed him back with a passion, nearly crying out for him when he pulled away only to thrust deep inside her. Then she did cry out. Once. A short cry of pain as the thin membrane of her maidenhead sipped to allow the God to enter her fully. She dug her nails into his back.

The pain was swiftly replaced with an entirely new indescribable feeling. She moaned again and relinquished herself to the God. Letting him take the Goddess within her. She felt transported. How could one experience such bliss and still live?

She moved her body in time with her Divine Partner. She was not even aware of the sounds he was drawing from her as she felt herself scaling some impossible height of pleasure.

((I hope you're feeling better! Sorry for my own; it's just been a few crazy weeks RL and that's taken a bit of a toll here. But I'll be on for more now!))

Everything about her, about this, filled his being with fire and even more dire need. Her skin under his hands was so flushed and hot, so smooth and fair. The vision of her ripe body writhing and moving with him was wild and enthralling. The smell of their mingled sexes, tinged with the copper tang of her virgin blood, filled his joined being with primal desire. The groans and cries that escaped her lips shook the world beneath them and called out to him to answer it as though it were a summons.

And above it all, through it all, came the searing pleasure of her body around his manhood. She was a furnace; her folds molten and wet but blazing around him, clutching him tightly as she were made for this day.

They moved together, as if they had taken their bliss from one another a hundred times before. As he plunged into her heaven, her hips answered him to press them together more firmly and sink him deeper into her. When he pulled back, she did as well; allowing more of him to enter her again and increase the maddeningly delicious friction between them.

Tiernan's mind reeled inside his fused being. Never had he felt anything like this; anything so pure, so true, and so intense in sensation with any of the women he'd been with. Whether it was the divine nature of it all, or if the woman who bore the goddess was the mate of his soul, he would never be able to say. But now, now he truly knew what sex was and could be. And it haunted the back of his mind, even in his joy, to know that he would likely never feel this again.

His pleasure mounted, and he drove into the Goddess' perfect vessel with more speed and strength now; his arms cradling her against him almost as though he could press the boundaries of them apart and push them together in all ways. It had been hours, days it felt like, maybe years or centuries since he first plunged into her, and all he wanted was more.

It would not be forever. He could feel his body tensing and tightening, every fiber and cord and part of him preparing to pour his essence, his very power into her waiting womb and fulfill the promise of the Gods.

((I'm much better, thanks!))

Aine was lost in their union unaware of the cries she was making. This was pleasure beyond pleasure. It eclipsed everything. All thought. All emotion. She was one with the Goddess and in union with the God. Past, present and future meant nothing to her.

"My Lord, oh my sweet!" Aine cried out. She felt like she was dying and yet more alive than ever before. "Make me yours! Claim me! Claim me!" She screamed. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as her body tensed. It was as if a great flood was unleashed inside her. She clung to him as if she were drowning and only he could save her.

She screamed; mind, soul, and body all crying out in ultimate sexual rapture. Her words rang out as though struck from bells hanging in the firmament above them and they rippled through him as she demanded to be his, to be claimed. The pain from her fingers clawing into his shoulders was a sharp, sweet counterpoint to the senses shattering pleasure that rolled through him as she quivered and shook.

Her core seemed to pull at him harder, groping and clutching his manhood as it plunged into heaven again and again. A flow of hot, heavy joy pushed at him and slicked both their thighs and it was worth more than all the world's gold to feel it.

And it was more than he, than any being could bear. His head went back and he cried out, calling to her and to the universe itself as he felt the divine glory within him stir and then burst free. The joined man and God hilted in his lover, his queen, his goddess and felt his power and essence roar out of him as a surging river; more than man alone could make, he was sure, rushed from him into her. He let out a rising, praying groan with each buck of his hips and each wave of his hot, heavy seed filling her belly and consummating all of nature and all of man.

Aine pulled the God/man down to her. She needed to feel his weight press on her body, needed to feel his lips on hers. She was afraid she would explode, her body shattering and becoming one with the universe. Or that she would evaporate like the morning dew. She needed him to ground her. Every particle of her being had been shaken, was still shaking. Her legs were still wrapped tightly around his waist. She wanted to hold him to her to keep him inside her, to make this moment continue for as long as possible.

She interspersed her kisses with terms of endearments. Words she thought she would never say, certainly words she would not say to her husband. But thoughts of her life after this night were far from her mind. She could only think of the God and the sacred honor of being his vessel. She could only pray that their union would give her a child to remember this night.

((And if we want to move this along...))

Eventually her breathig slowed and Aine fell into a deep sleep wrapped in the arms of the God who had shown her what it meant to be a woman.

Later, when the druids were sure that all of the masked youths were sound asleep, they moved the two 'vessels' from the sacred arbor and placed them and the others randomly around the fire so that when they awoke no one would know who they had been with the night before, and more importantly, no one would know who had been chosen.

((You can have Tiernan wake up in you next post if you wish.))

The sun was shining and there was the smell of burned wood. Not burning, but burnt, ashen and heavy in the air. He groaned and shifted, carefully shifting away from the nude figure next to him. He was..."Tiernan," he murmured. Why had he almost forgotten that?

That's right...he could remember now...kind of. He had been the vessel of the God. Laid with the Goddess, but this...was this her?

He blinked his eyes against the normally soft light of dawn that seemed so sharp and harsh now. He recognized the girl lying beside him, her slender form bare in the growing light. Roisin. She didn't look right...he remembered her hair was red. And Roison had pretty hair, but it was the brown of rich earth. This place, lying at the foot of a tree at the clearing's edge, it wasn't right either. He'd been somewhere else with the Goddess. Hadn't he?

Of course, she could have taken him anywhere and placed him anywhere afterward. He got to his feet slowly. He wasn't supposed to know, after all, who the vessel of the Goddess had been. So the deities had separated them, mixed them among the others.

But he'd always wonder who she was. That night, what he could remember, had been...beyond his words to describe. And it was likely the last he would know that involved a women's embrace filled with love.

Tiernan shook his head. He was up and there was now more to do. He lifted Roisin's cloak from the ground and draped it over her, the girl stirring a bit as he did so. Then he took up his own and brought it about his shoulders. Others were stirring as well, rising and helping others up. He heard a yawn and a then a chuckle behind him, "Good morning, Tiernan. It was surely a glorious night."

If she only knew. "That it was, Roison." He turned to help her to her feet. "But there is more to the day yet. We should return with the others." His eyes looked past her though, trying to spy Aine in all of this. Where was she and who...it would not do to think about it. This had been for the gods and at their wills, there was no harm in any of it.

Aine rolled on her side and cradled her head on her arm but she could not escape the sun. She could see its brightness even with her eyes closed. She sighed softly. Her head hurt. There was no doubt she was a mere mortal again.

She opened her eyes squinting even in the dappled light where she lay under a tree. There were others scattered about, some still asleep, some beginning to move about. But this was not where she spent the night. She had fallen asleep in the god's arms, in a bower or sweet smelling flowers, after the most glorious night in her admittedly short life. She had known the love of a god. She stretched luxuriously and felt a twinge between her legs. If she closed her eyes it was as if she could still feel him.

To be in those arms again. How empty she felt after such a glorious night. It must be the loss of the goddess. Now she understood why the women of the clan who sometimes Draw Down the Moon, to bring the goddess among them, but in another way.

How could she ever be happy in her marriage after being with the god? It was true, she did not wish to marry Tiernan, but part of her thought at some point they would settle into some kind of comfort. But now that she knew what bliss could be had from love...

She stood up. She needed food and drink. Ian O'Banion had been watching her. It looked like he had fallen asleep nearby.

"Aine, might I walk with you? It seems we both had a fine night."

"'Tis Beltaine, we must honor the gods." The God could not have chosen an O'Banion for His vessel. Could He? What irony in that. That she could possibly have a merry begot who would be Clan leader and who was also an O'Banion but without giving them claim to anything.

"Why so somber, my dove? Now I know you were not with me, else there would be a smile on your face to shame the sun." Ian laughed.

"I am sad because my wedding is soon and I do not think that my wedding night will be surpassed by this Beltaine.

Ian smirked, "It's possible 'twas I last night. Take me between your thighs and see. I promise not to be a disappointment. I would be happy to bring you pleasure anytime, now or after your handfasting. 'Tis a wife's right to bliss an' if the husband not provide it..." He gave her a wink.

Ian was just as bad as the other young men, but at least he showed more interest in her than Tiernan. And it was true. If things were that awful between them, she could take a second husband. Aine actually smiled.

"Sometimes I wish...I wish..."

Ian stepped close, "What do you wish?"

"That someone would carry me off away from this marriage. But I have a duty to my clan and my family."

"'Tis Beltaine," He grinned at her. "Forget the future, honor the gods with me."

Aine felt the strange twinge and thought she would prefer not to honor the gods for some time. "I think not. I am still overwhelmed from last night."

"Perhaps tonight then?"

"Perhaps."

She longed to feel those feelings again, but the more she talked to Ian, the less she thought he had been the one to be the God's vessel. If she could find who it was, yes, she would spend every minute with him until the day of her handfasting and she would cling to that memory of love for the rest of her days.

Tiernan's mouth flitted from smile to frown so quickly once he spied Aine that it was almost as though the first expression had never been. That Ian O'Banion was with her.

He fought off the urge to walk up and strike the smirking arrogance off the other man's face, schooling his features into cool neutrality. He took a deep steadying breath and then approached, "Good morning, Aine," he said and inclined his head to her. It was a wonder how she looked now; tousled and wild she looked as fine as many other women did polished to their finest. "And a joyous Beltaine you've had, I hope."

He looked over at Ian with a curt nod, "Ian O'Banion." Then he turned back to Aine, "If you will allow, I would walk with you to your father's house, Aine."

"No need for that, I'm walking with her now," Ian all but smirked at the other young man. "If you'd wished to be by her side, you should have come earlier, Mac Gowan."

Tiernan's anger surged a bit inside, as did his jealousy. His eyes narrowed a hair, his nostrils flared a bit, and his hands tightened but that was all to give away his feelings. "A woman's wishes and pleasures are not a race won by first to finish," he snapped back, "though I've no doubt you're always first in that regard." The young noble nodded to Aine, "I've no need of your permission in any matter; I asked her."

He turned his gaze back to the redhead in question, "May I join you?"