The virgin Maia steps from her time into the present to find Taurus, the man destined to protect her people from cruel invaders. But although he’s blown away by the uninhibited young woman who throws herself at him during Beltane, Taron is very much a man of today with a business to save. A little roll in the hay is as far as it goes—or is it? One moment he’s in his world, the next he’s jumped through fire with Maia and into the past.
If Maia and Taurus don’t mate on the night of Bel-fire, ancient beliefs and tradition will be lost. But their mating goes far beyond hot, naked sex. Beneath great spiritual fires, they begin a journey that will jeopardize their very lives.
Publisher’s Note: Novella originally appeared in the Ellora’s Cave anthology Equinox.
Available Now at Ellora’s Cave
Excerpt
“You are Taurus,” she said as she righted herself.
“Taurus? From the zodiac? You’ve got to be kid—what makes you think that?”
“The Lady told me.”
What lady? As Alice would say, things were getting curiouser and curiouser. However, unlike Alice, he wasn’t particularly interested in an explanation. Despite his all-but-legendary success with women, the truth was that his world didn’t revolve around the opposite sex. Like he’d told a few of his envious male acquaintances—except for Paul who’d grown up in foster homes himself, he didn’t really have what he could call friends—once you’ve humped a hundred women, it gets to be pretty much the same thing. Those acquaintances hadn’t agreed with him, but that’s how he felt.
Until tonight.
“I appreciate the compliment but—”
She leaned forward and cocked her head. “I cannot hear you.”
That he could remedy. Doing what he’d wanted to since he’d first spotted her, he draped his arm over her slender shoulder and drew her to his side. He’d expected her to be more substantial. Instead, she felt almost childlike. Shit! How old was she?
“I said—” He spoke into her ear, fought the desire to take her hair between his teeth and nibble it, to trail his hand down to her breast and tease her nub into hardness. “No man objects to being compared to a bull, but if you’re looking for someone named Taurus, you’ve got the wrong man.”
Either she hadn’t heard him, or she didn’t give a damn about his explanation. Because his wardrobe was sadly lacking in casual wear, he’d put on a pair of dress slacks today, expertly tailored to minimize his more-than-average-size cock since that was hardly what he wanted on display as part of his career. At least the camouflage worked when he didn’t have a hard-on.
“I am not wrong,” she said. Now, despite the noise, he had no trouble hearing her. “I know who you are.” She turned so she was facing him. “You are ready for mating?”
“What?”
Before he could even guess that it was going to happen, she closed her small, warm hand over his straining cock. “Your seed-organ is ready.”
“My…” How the hell was he supposed to think with her holding him like that?
“We cannot do the joining here.”
No argument there. They’d be crushed under the humanity. “You want to have sex? Just like that?”
“Sex? Ah yes, I must remember what you would call it.”
Eventually, maybe, he’d sort all this out. Right now, however, he had a dagger-armed, nearly naked, cock-grabbing broad to deal with. “One question before we take this any further.” Shit, did she have to handle his cock as if it were a slab of meat she was contemplating buying? “How old are you?”
“Of age.”
Whatever that meant. “In other words, I’m not going to get busted if we get it on?” What did he mean, if?
“Busted? Get it on?”
Unable to take any more of her enthusiastic and yet analytical groping, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her off him. “Sorry, lady. Much more of that and we’d have a spontaneous eruption right here and now.”
“Spontaneous? I do not—”
“Why did I know you were going to say that?”