Free Ariadne's Diadem by Sandra Heath Page B

few minutes’ disobedience? Sylvanus decided to take the chance, and after a sly glance up at the Corona Borealis, he snapped his fingers.
    As Anne stirred and began to open her eyes, her subconscious re-created the wheat field fantasy that had always meant so much to her. As a result, the first thing Gervase felt was that the spring night had brightened into the warmth of a summer day. He seemed to be standing by a hedgerow at the edge of a waving sea of golden corn, beneath a cloudless sky where skylarks sang. His nostrils were filled with the seductive scent of honeysuckle, but as he looked into Anne’s wide green gaze, he neither knew nor cared that the hour, the seasons, and even his own common sense had been turned topsy-turvy. An erotic charge swept irresistibly through him, and his whole body throbbed with excitement. He was conscious of the sweet invitation of her lips and the captivating curve of her breasts beneath the tight-fitting jacket of her riding habit, and he couldn’t help sinking to his knees to put a loving hand to her cheek. She sighed and moved against his fingertips, and his heart tightened with intense joy.
    Gervase’s face was an anonymous blur, yet Anne knew she loved him more than anyone else in the world. She was reliving the caresses seen all those years ago, and the gratification was exquisite. She smiled sensuously and began to unbutton the jacket of her riding habit. So firm and taut were her breasts that she needed no stays or other undergarments to give shape to her figure, and her nipples were pert and upturned. Her breath caught with almost feline pleasure as he cupped both in his palms. Her hand crept tentatively to his thigh, and then slid slowly up to enclose the fierce erection that now strained the front of his breeches. After a few moments’ hesitation, she dared to stroke the steely shaft through his clothes, and his groan of desire intensified her own. Her whole body ached for the consummation she knew was about to take place.
    The exquisite sensations passing through Gervase were almost painful. He wanted to be inside her, to feel her warmth encasing him, to feel his own final capitulation. He lay down and pulled her against him, finding her lips in a kiss that flamed so fiercely through them both that he felt he would lose his senses. Her mouth was sweet, and for a moment their tongues slid together. She pressed her body to his, molding to his shape so perfectly that she might have been fashioned just for him. His erection felt as if it would explode as she moved against it.
    Suddenly, out of the clear starlit sky, there came a blinding flash of lightning. It struck a tree in the hedge behind the barn and lit everything with vivid electric blue. Bacchus had been watching after all. Gervase and Anne became frozen in mid-caress, their sensuous embrace caught as if upon a canvas, and Sylvanus gave a bleat of dismay as he at last realized why his master had put Anne in danger. It had been to create the very circumstances that might tempt a foolish faun into using forbidden powers. And he, Sylvanus, had fallen into the trap!
    Confirmation of this came immediately. “You have been found wanting yet again. Faun!” Bacchus’s voice was inaudible to anyone except Sylvanus, who squeaked with dread.
    “Be merciful, 0 Great One!” the faun begged, his teeth chattering so much he could scarcely be understood.
    “ I was merciful the last time,” Bacchus reminded him severely.
    “I’ve learned my lesson, I swear!” Sylvanus bleated tearfully.
    “ I doubt if you will ever learn, Faun,” came the weary reply. “Can’t you be trusted to do anything—except the wrong thing?”
    “B-but if you put an end to me now, the duke will be on his own.” Sylvanus could only hope to appeal to what remained of the god’s better nature.
    There was silence, and Sylvanus prayed that this boded well. “It won’t happen again. Master, please believe me,” he pleaded, his tone only just