Atlantean's Quest Volume 1 Read online

  “What did he mean by that?” she asked.

  Eros’s innocent expression didn’t fool her one bit. “What?”

  “When he said he looked forward to seeing more of me tomorrow night? Look at me. I’m as good as naked here. He can’t possibly see more of me, so what did he mean?”

  “Custom dictates that Ares be part of the ceremony. ’Tis nothing.” Eros shrugged, but she noticed he avoided eye contact while answering her.

  Suspicion sank into her gut, taking up permanent residence. Rachel didn’t believe Ares’s involvement in the ceremony was nothing. It certainly didn’t feel like nothing. She crossed her arms over her chest. She’d let it go for now, but she wasn’t about to forget it. Tonight she’d ask Eros again and this time he’d better give her an answer. For now, she’d enjoy being out of the hut and in the fresh, albeit muggy air.

  Rachel would have never thought that walking around topless in a see-through skirt would be erotic, but it was. The brush of the material against her shaved mons, the slight movement the rings in her nipples made when she inhaled, all wreaked havoc on her sensitive skin. There was a certain freedom that came with nudity, and despite her misgivings she found the whole thing titillating and more than a little exhilarating, even if it meant having to put up with the odd greeting here and there.

  Her eyes strayed to Eros’s lean form. His legs flexed as he walked, splitting into corded muscles. His loincloth separated with each long stride, exposing glimpses of his tight, rounded ass. She watched his biceps curl and flex as he pointed out different buildings and their functions in the encampment. Most were tucked up into the trees, but the jungle foliage camouflaged a few on the ground. Had he not pointed them out, she would’ve never seen them.

  A thin sheen of sweat coated his body, giving him a golden glow. She watched a stray droplet work its way down his corded spine before sliding into his loincloth. Rachel’s mouth went dry and she coughed. His musky scent surrounded her, subtly inviting her to touch his hard form. She clenched her hands to keep from reaching out.

  “Tell me about Atlantis,” she asked, trying to ignore her body’s animal urges. Damn Ares and his stupid greeting.

  “In the beginning, Atlantis was no different than other warring nations. As technology grew, so did the peace among the people.” Eros paused at the edge of the jungle to pick an orchid growing on one of the trees. He handed the bloom to Rachel. “We realized that with new developments came greater dangers, so the sages took precautions to prevent disaster. But it was too late…”

  “Why?” Rachel spun the stem of the bloom in her hand, before inhaling the sweet intoxicating fragrance.

  “The damage had been done to the environment. Our island became uninhabitable.”

  Rachel pinched off the stem and tucked the flower in her hair above her ear. “What happened? Why didn’t you leave?”

  “My people weren’t from Earth. They were from a planet called Zaron. We colonized Atlantis many millennia ago. When a few of the wiser sages realized Atlantis was in danger, they met to devise a transport system to return us to our home planet.”

  “Didn’t you have space ships?” she asked, hardly believing that she was having this conversation.

  “The ships had stopped coming long ago.” Eros took a deep breath, as if gathering strength to continue. “So instead, the sages developed an advanced technology out of fire-crystals. These held such awesome power that several of the sages feared they could not be controlled.” Eros watched a pair of monkeys playing in the trees. The tension stretched his body, making each breath labored. Rachel waited, giving him the time needed to continue.

  Finally he turned to face her, his gaze softening. “The transport succeeded and many of our people made it off the planet. But before the sages could transport the remaining Atlanteans, a volcano erupted, causing a tidal wave to bury our continent beneath the sea.”

  “I’m sorry, Eros.” Rachel touched his shoulder.

  “So many deaths.” Eros’s gaze clouded. He still stood in front of her, but in his mind he was a million miles away reliving the horror. “So much screaming.” His body flinched and his sensuous mouth twisted into a bitter slash. “My parents sent me, along with all the other children they could find, through the portal with the four remaining fire-crystals and the stone symbols. But with the collapse came a malfunction in the machine. We ended up here in this jungle. We’ve been here ever since, trying to get home.”

  She squeezed his hand in silent support. “Can I see the ruins?”

  Eros led Rachel from the village. They walked for about ten minutes in comfortable silence. Rachel caught glimpses of parrots in the trees. Monkeys chattered as they swung from branch to branch, their playful cries sounding like noisy, excited children at recess.

  The jungle smelled green and alive. Rachel never knew the earth had such a strong distinctive odor. She hadn’t slowed down long enough in New York to notice. Even if she had, the smells of the city overwhelmed everything else. The breeze filtered through her hair lifting it away from her face. Every once in a while the air shifted and she caught the scent of Eros, his skin a tempting aphrodisiac to her senses.

  The path narrowed, becoming dense with overgrown vegetation. Leaves brushed Rachel’s bare skin, sending delicious shivers down her spine. Sunlight dappled her face and arms. The weight of the gold hoops continued to tease the nerve endings in her nipples, causing them to pebble and ache. No wonder piercings were so popular back home.

  Rachel lifted the edge of the skirt to step over vines. The material brushed over her thighs and gooseflesh rose on her legs. Her eyes darted to Eros’s big hands, then across his smooth, glistening, broad back. It didn’t take long for her imagination to kick into high gear.

  She could almost feel those rough palms covering her breasts, molding, as he brought her eager nipples to his hungry mouth. The moisture between her legs grew as she pictured Eros’s thick cock, throbbing as he positioned the plum size crown at her entrance. Her clit pulsed and she bit back a moan.

  Rachel glanced up in time to see Eros’s step falter. His breathing had deepened and his gait was awkward as he continued down the trail. His skin held a slight flush. When he stepped over a felled branch, Rachel caught sight of the massive hard-on under his loincloth. She licked her lips, then blushed, realizing he’d been listening to her private musings. At first the thought angered her, but the anger soon faded, quickly replaced by understanding.

  For the first time in her life she felt powerful, feminine, all woman. Rachel couldn’t prevent the grin that stole across her face. It was a heady feeling knowing her thoughts, emotions, and form held sway over Eros, who was larger than life. She was thinking of ways to torture him, when they came upon a man-made clearing.

  The energy in the air suddenly changed. It practically crackled as if a storm neared. The hair on her arms stood on end and the hoops at her nipples vibrated. Rachel’s body trembled as if an internal power struggle had begun. Her head spun and her stomach churned for a few seconds while she fought to control her equilibrium.

  This ground held the power of life and death, good and evil, yin and yang. Black lava rocks were strewn about the area and four large red crystals lay toppled on their sides.

  Eros placed his arm around her shoulder, enveloping her in his strength. His loving touch settled her. “These are the symbols I told you about. As you can see, they hold much power.” He pointed to the lava rocks.

  “Yeah, my head is still a little fuzzy, but I’m okay.” Rachel walked up to one.

  At first glance they appeared to be ordinary volcanic rocks, but upon further examination she discovered symbols etched on the sides. She picked up the first rock, turning it slowly so as not to miss any part of the glyph. Her brows furrowed as she returned the piece to its original resting spot. Rachel gathered two more stones, placing them by the first. She rotated each symbol back and forth until they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

  “I think I might be able
to read this once I get it pieced together.” Rachel glanced over her shoulder at Eros.

  He nodded and smiled. “Good.”

  Rachel and Eros retrieved all the pieces scattered about the ground and brought them back to the original three.

  “It’s going to take me a while to figure out what piece goes where,” Rachel said as she considered the rocks. “Even then, who knows if I’ll be able to understand what the symbols mean. Reading and understanding are two different things.”

  “I have faith in you.” Eros picked up one of the rocks and ran his fingers along the design. “How long do you need?”

  She shrugged. “A month, maybe longer. It depends on how long it takes me to decipher the writing.”

  Eros continued to examine the stone in his hand.

  Rachel walked over to one of the fire crystals several yards away. The minerals reflecting in the sunlight gave off a flawless prism. She was about to return to Eros’s side when she noticed a yellow flower growing at the base.

  She picked a few buds and held them up to her face. The flowers smelled spicy like cinnamon, but with a strange lingering odor that she could taste in the back of her throat. She inhaled deeply. Rachel couldn’t seem to get enough of the addictive scent.

  “What are these?” She held the blooms up for Eros to see, then quickly brought them back so she could smell them again.

  She watched his color drain. “Where did you get them?” His voice cracked.

  “At the base of the crystal. Are they poisonous?” she asked, eyeing the flower warily.

  “No, not in the way you mean,” he said.

  Rachel felt her skin flush and her womb begin to ache.

  His eyes bulleted to her hand, then face. “How many times did you smell those?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t remember.” Her nipples beaded and throbbed. “What’s happening to me?” she cried out, dropping the blooms to the ground.

  Eros rushed to her side. “You have inhaled the Atlantean bama plant.”

  “What does that mean?” She reached out and grabbed Eros. “Please, help me,” she gasped, tugging her skirt off with a jerky motion, unable to stand the material next to her heated skin. Rachel couldn’t seem to control her actions. It was as if she’d been possessed by a succubus. She began to rub her body against Eros’s hard length. She was wet, needy, out of control with desire. Her fingers snaked down his chest, along his flat stomach, slipping beneath his loincloth, until she grasped his cock. “I need this now!”

  Eros jumped, but didn’t pull away. “The bama plant only grows here, near the crystals. It aids in building desire. My people brought the seeds with them from Atlantis. The blooms were never meant to be inhaled by an ordinary human.” Every muscle in his body clenched.

  “Are you saying the plant makes you horny?” she rasped out. “I could’ve told you that. Make it stop.” Rachel’s fingers clasped the base of Eros’s cock, working their way up and down, stroking, gliding, taunting.

  His breathing came out in rapid pants. “I cannot.”

  She growled in frustration. “How long does it last?” Rachel trailed kisses over his chest, a second before she slipped one of his nipples, ring and all, in her mouth. She suckled at him, sliding her tongue back and forth over the hoop, probing the flat disc.

  Eros groaned. “It depends,” he bit out, “on how much you inhaled.” She swirled and licked. His knees buckled and he dropped to the grass, taking Rachel with him.

  She ground her hips against him, leaving a trail of moisture behind. “Make it stop.”

  He shuddered. “I told you cannot. Not without joining with you.”

  “Then fuck me, for goodness sake,” she pleaded, incapable of understanding why that was such a bad idea. “I’m giving you permission.”

  “I want to, but I can’t,” he rasped. “The ceremony…my people.”

  What was he talking about? Rachel attempted to grasp onto his reason for about two seconds before her body’s clawing need ripped all thought from her head. From that moment on, all she knew was that she couldn’t seem to get close enough to him.

  Her fevered body demanded release. Rachel pushed Eros onto his back with her free hand and straddled him. She let go of his cock long enough to strip him of the loincloth. Then she grasped him again, trying to guide his cock to her drenched channel. Her clit twitched, causing her to cry out.

  “Please, Eros…”

  She rubbed her sex along his hard length, grinding her body against him. Eros reached out, lifting her from him far enough away to roll her under his heavy bulk. She released his cock under protest.

  He thrust hard against her, grinding his shaft into the sensitive nub between her legs. Sweat beaded his brow as his tongue sought out her nipples. He nipped and sucked, his movements urgent, primal—frantic. Her areolas stabbed out, engorged. She cried out and begged for more. His cock slipped into place, ready to ram into her moist entrance.

  * * * * *

  Eros froze. The breath left his lungs. He balanced on fate’s precipice—once crossed, it could not be undone. Rachel tried to scoot down and impale herself on his shaft. Eros held her firm, his entire body shaking with the effort. His people depended on his self-control. He wanted to fuck her more than he wanted his next breath.

  “Rachel please,” he begged. “You know not what you ask.”

  “I know exactly what I’m asking for. I want you to fuck me. “ She bucked her hips and the head of his cock slid inside her.

  Eros grunted. Her vaginal walls gripped him, pulled at him, urging him forward. She felt like heaven on earth, slick and hot, moist and welcoming, and oh so tight. The demon voice in his head taunted him to seek his release, while giving Rachel hers. Eros closed his eyes, begging the goddess for strength. His massive body quaked, while every fiber in his being screamed to thrust—to claim.

  But he couldn’t. He had to be strong.

  With more strength than he knew he possessed, Eros pulled back and rolled away from Rachel. His great lungs labored as he fought for control. A pearl of liquid seeped from his shaft, mingling with her essence.

  Rachel swooped down upon him like a scavenger, her lips forming a tight seal around his cock. Instantly Eros shuddered, spurting seed deep within her throat. The flow so great he thought it might never stop. He couldn’t believe how close he’d come to ruining any chance his people had to escape the planet. After she’d swallowed every drop, she sat up, her eyes glazed, incoherent.

  Eros laid Rachel down on the grass. Her legs fell open, exposing her wet lips to his hungry gaze. He swooped down, covering her mound with his mouth and proceeded to ravish her. Eros licked and suckled at her clit until she was mindless. Rachel orgasmed twice, but still her body ached. She wanted more, needed more, demanded all.

  He plunged his tongue inside her dripping channel, stretching its length until he nearly reached her womb, then he curled the lengthy muscle back, repeating the action over and over again. Finally he thrust forward and hummed, sending an energy surge from his tongue into her velvet grip.

  Rachel screamed, her body shattering with its third release. Eros twisted his tongue in a quick corkscrew fashion and she came again. He swirled around her inner walls, until Rachel grew hoarse from crying out. Her limbs trembled and shook as the effects of one orgasm after the other rolled through her, blending into endless sensation. He devoured her mercilessly until she finally collapsed with exhaustion.

  * * * * *

  Her breathing was ragged, but her body felt sated for the first time since inhaling the pollen of the bama plant. They lay side-by-side, watching butterflies dance in the air. Rachel propped herself up on her elbow and looked down into Eros’s strained face.

  Rachel felt ashamed by her behavior. Never in all her years of dating had she ever acted the sexual aggressor. It was easier to believe it had only been the bama plant affecting her and not some baser desire she’d kept hidden away. “I’m sorry. I—”

  He held up a hand, stopping h
er words. “’Tis my fault. Had I not been lost in the past, this never would have happened.”

  “But you said something about your people...”

  “All is well. We stopped before we could join fully.” Eros sat up and pulled Rachel to her feet. He held her until she was steady enough to stand on her own, then helped her slip her skirt back on.

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You will.”

  She ran a shaky hand through her tangled hair, before taking one last look around the clearing. In the future, Rachel would stay far away from the harmless looking yellow flowers.

  Eros nodded, a solemn look upon his handsome features. “’Tis time you meet, Ariel the Seer.” He brushed his palms on his loincloth, before grabbing Rachel’s hand and leading her away.

  Rachel was torn. One side wanted to go home to New York and her friends more than anything in the world. The other was so fascinated with the lava rocks and the secrets that they held that she couldn’t wait to get started in trying to decode them. For the time being, she’d leave the fire-crystals untouched. But that would mean staying here, for at least a month, possibly longer.

  Rachel pulled her hand free. “Eros, how old did you say those symbols on the lava rocks are?”

  “Over two and a half thousand years, give or take. When the sages created them, the stones they used were already four thousand years old, according to legend.”

  She blinked at him. “That would make you two thousand years old.”

  “A bit over a two, but who’s counting.” He laughed.

  Rachel stared at him. Was he kidding? He didn’t look a day over thirty. Her mind tried to wrap around the information he’d just so casually shared. She didn’t like being made a fool of, especially by a man she was beginning to care for. Not many people reached a hundred years old, much less two thousand.

  He grabbed her hand once more. “Come, my Queen, the Seer will explain everything.”

  As much as she hated to admit it, Rachel was beginning to question Eros’s sanity again. That was the only thing that made sense. But what if he was telling the truth? Not only had she made the biggest scientific discovery of the century, she’d also just proven that we were not alone in the universe. The ramifications were mind-boggling. She should be frightened. If she had a lick of sense, she’d be scared out of her wits, but she wasn’t. Rachel glanced at their intertwined fingers, then to Eros’s profile.