The Sun Gods Woman Part 9

Chapter 7.

The table was loaded with all kinds of sumptuous fare for the delectation of the High Priestess of the Moon G.o.ddess and the High Priest of the Sun G.o.d.

Quiet servants padded to and fro waiting on Annie and Kyle as they sat in the rays of the setting sun to enjoy their meal.

Annie had already found the food delectable, developing a strong partiality for the local dates. Kyle loved the lamb dishes, and the various grains and vegetables that accompanied it.

"There is a lot more variety in the food than I'd supposed," said Annie conversationally, as she helped herself to a barley meal kind of starch, which tasted vaguely like couscous. "And thanks for inventing spoons."

Kyle chuckled. "I just made use of a few appropriately shaped objects I found lying around. I don't think that will drastically alter the timeline-most of the servants think I'm nuts, and wouldn't use one if you paid them."

Annie smiled around her mouthful of food.

"But you're right," continued Kyle, moving into professorial mode. "The location of Sumer, in what will be Mesopotamia-which means 'land between two rivers'-provides for plenty of well-irrigated arable land."

"Should I take notes, or will you be handing out a worksheet?"In full swing, Kyle ignored her. "When the rivers flood in early spring, the fields are left fertile and readyfor planting. You'll notice that barley is especially prominent in the diet..." he gestured to the loaf ofbappir, the sweetly pungent bread that was a staple on the dining tables of Kushuk, "because it's readyto sprout at any time. Then of course, there are the fruit orchards, the vegetable fields, the plentiful fish,the spices..." he sniffed appreciatively, "mostly cardamom, I believe."

"Okay, you were a teaching sub in history, right?""They're a fascinating people, Annie." Kyle leaned towards her and gestured with his fake spoon. "Doyou realize that we're sitting right in the place and time when writing was invented? That these people were the first humans to form a society? That they left enormous amounts of cuneiform tablets and no oneknew what it all meant?""I'll take the tablets," groaned Annie. "Make them aspirin. Two. Extra strength."Kyle sat back and gave a little embarra.s.sed laugh."I'm sorry. I suppose it's just that this is the first time I've been able to say to someone 'hey, look at this'

, and know they'll understand."

Annie's smile answered him. "I do understand, Kyle. This is a mind-blowing experience for me too. It'sjust that you went way off into 'lecturesville' there, and I was always a lousy student."She pushed her plate back with a relaxed sigh and reached for her goblet. "One thing I would like to know about is this." She nodded at the liquid that was frothing nicely."You know what it is, of course?"Annie looked down her nose at him. "I may have been a lousy student, but I went to college, for heaven'

s sake. It's beer. Or sort of, kind of, like beer. Nearly." She peeked into her goblet again. "Or not."

"You're right. It's the forerunner of our beer, and the Sumerians were the very first to brew it. And thatmay be part of the problem that is besetting Kushuk." He sighed."Enshilla mentioned something about a problem too, what is going on?"The beer was strong enough to give Annie a delightful buzz, and she sat contentedly as the sun set around them, watching the light play in Kyle's green eyes.

Sheesh, he was d.a.m.ned adorable and so sickeningly good-looking. Even the long skirt he wore looked

fabulous on him. Especially where it fell in soft folds on his lap. She wrenched her mind out of his crotchand back to his words."Kushuk has a reputation for very fine beer. Ninkasi is well pleased with her subjects in this town.""Ninkasi?""G.o.ddess of Brewing.""Of course. Silly me."

"Well, recently, other towns have been brewing their own beers, and it seems that Kushuk is losingbusiness. And people. Especially to Ur.""To Ur is human," murmured Annie apologetically.Kyle rolled his eyes. "Couldn't let that one go, could you?"

"Sorry.""The brewers are trying their best, but most do not want to deviate from the age-old recipes. The farmersdon't want a change because they're afraid they'll lose the business. But they're starting to produce lessbecause there is less demand for beer as the population declines-and so on. You see the problem."

Annie nodded, fascinated at this glimpse into the human side of history.

"So what's the answer? Does anyone have any ideas?"

"There are factions within the temples that think placating the G.o.ddess might help, and some are quite

adamant about it. ""What do they want to do, sacrifice a keg?"Kyle paused and looked steadily at her. "No, they want to sacrifice you."

* * * * *There was a stunned silence in the room as Kyle's words sank in to Annie's frozen brain cells."Excuse me, for a moment there I thought you said they wanted to sacrifice me?"Kyle's lips twitched. "And they think I should do it, too.""Ah."He stood from the table and moved to Annie's chair, holding out his hand to help her rise.She looked at it. "I don't think so.""Oh come on, Annie. I have no intention of sacrificing you. Sacrifice is not part of this culture anyway.

This is all political and has nothing to do with you as a person."

"I'll remind you of that if I find myself stark naked on a sacrificial altar with a large knife hovering over myheart." She sighed, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet.As always, the touch of their skin brought a reaction to Annie's nerves and she felt her nipples tighten beneath the light wrap she'd bullied Ronnil into providing for her."Let's stroll a while, shall we?"Kyle pulled her arm beneath his and led her out into the halls of the Sun G.o.d's ziggurat.He guided her to a doorway that led out onto one of the many balconies that circled the great building, and Annie smiled with pleasure at the sight of the last rays of sunlight shining on the warm bricks.

Flowering plants were everywhere, and the fragrance of night-blooming shrubs was beginning to tickle her nose."This is marvelous isn't it?"She threw a quick smile at Kyle who tightened his arm on hers. "Yes it is. This is one of my favorite times of day...the sun sets, and the twilight sometimes seems to last for hours, until the first stars come out. The

sky is so clear, no pollution or lights to distract the eye. You can look up and see forever..." "Why Kyle Pendrake, you're a romantic after all," teased Annie. "Who'd have thought a techno-wiz could appreciate a starry night?"

"Oh I appreciate things, Annie, don't think I'm all science." He brushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear and encouraged her to stroll the length of the quiet balcony. "I appreciate the stars at night, the dawn, laughter, a good meal, a beautiful woman..."

His eyes were a very vivid green as she glanced self-consciously up at him. Quickly she glanced away, not quite ready to venture into what might be dangerous territory. Soon, though, what was between them would have to be dealt with. A little voice deep in Annie's brain was yelling things like "oh goody" at her. She did her best to ignore it.

"And I appreciate my friends too. Ronnil, especially, has been a real treasure. And I'd like to talk to youabout him-it concerns your friend Enshilla."Annie smiled. "You noticed too, did you?""Couldn't help it. Ron was practically drooling.""And Enshilla did tell me that there was someone special she kind of liked.""You get the feeling we're in recess?""Yeah, very much so. If I give you a note, can you pa.s.s it to Ron in gym?"They both laughed at the absurdity of the situation."They're grown people, Kyle, if they are meant to be together it will happen," said Annie, sensibly."Yes, I suppose..."

"Do I hear a 'but' there?""Well..." Kyle shuffled his feet and looked a little embarra.s.sed. "Ron made a confession to me earlier,and given this evening's set up, I think we might have a chance to encourage matters along, so to speak."

Annie raised one eyebrow skeptically at Kyle. "Define 'encourage'..."They had arrived at a corner of the ziggurat, and Kyle waved Annie to a seat that had been carved intothe wall. The air was warm, the twilight sky stunning and Annie couldn't believe anything more beautiful existed on Earth at that moment. Sharing it with a s.e.xually charged hunk who made her nipples ache only added an extra layer of pleasure to the mix.

She sighed then laughed at herself. "d.a.m.n, I'm turning into Enshilla. So what's your plan to shove Ron

and Enshilla together, lock them in a closet or something? That ought to encourage them."

Kyle leaned casually against the wall and took Annie's hand. She shivered inside.

He played absently with her fingers. She trembled inside.

He raised her hand to his lips and started nibbling on her knuckles. She wrenched her hand away.

"Okay, Mr. Smooth Moves. Enough with the seduction bit. What's the plan, Stan?"

Kyle twinkled at her, and she knew he could see beneath her bravado to her pulse, which was

hammering like a steelworker on uppers."Ron confessed to me that he didn't know anything about using his mouth during lovemaking.""Oh." Annie blushed for absolutely no reason."Yeah," breathed Kyle, smiling even more widely."That's...that's surprising, given the X-rated stuff that goes on in the temples around here.""Yeah," repeated Kyle. He licked his lips, and Annie's eyes followed his tongue as it stroked the sensual curves."So I was thinking..."Here it comes, thought Annie. I hope."That since they'll be viewing us in our room tonight, we ought to give them a demonstration of what it's all about."

Annie shut her eyes.

For a few moments she gave herself over to the wonderful mental image of being splayed wide, with

Kyle Pendrake's chestnut hair spread across her thighs. His head was between her legs and he was..."Whoa there! Sun G.o.d or no, don't you think that's kind of personal? I've known you for exactly, what,four or five hours? And now you want me to give you a...a...I mean you think I should..." she waved at his c.o.c.k, "...you know! Just to get Ron and Enshilla all s.e.xed up in the back room. Like a couple ofvoyeuristic perverts.""Yes.""Oh."Annie gnawed on her lip. Kyle's eyes were the ones who followed her movements this time around."Can I have a little while to think about it?""Sure."Silence fell on the couple enjoying the evening and for a few moments there was nothing but the quiet sounds of the approaching night.

"Have you thought about it yet?"

Kyle Pendrake was desperate. He'd never run into a woman he wanted to f.u.c.k as much as he wanted to f.u.c.k Annie Lynden. He wanted to f.u.c.k her body, sure, but he also wanted to imprint himself on her mind, he wanted to be in her pores, under her feet, between her toes and all over the back of her neck.

He had no illusions about his looks-they had served him well in the past. In fact he'd used them shamelessly when getting venture capital for Pendrake Industries. He'd spent hours making sure that all the VC companies he'd gone begging to had had at least one woman on their Board of Directors. Business was business, after all.

His s.e.x life up to now had involved the occasional quick toss between the sheets, lots of political duty dates who'd wanted to end the evening in his bed but hadn't, and a big hole where emotions were supposed to be.

Until Annie.

Her violet eyes had nailed him to the spot when he'd glimpsed her at the symposium five years ago, and within minutes of seeing her again here in Sumer he knew she was something different. It wasn't the almost-white hair, although that was a charming feature in itself, nor was it the impish smile that peeked out now and again. Perhaps it was Annie's total lack of awareness of herself as a beauty.

Maybe her rapid-fire humor. Or perhaps her interest in anything and everything around her. Whatever it was, it was playing havoc with Kyle Pendrake's emotions, and he would have done just about anything to get her to willingly surrender.

The fact that she was supposed to be his s.e.xual mate for the next month was a wonder and a blessing, but Kyle knew he could never take her by force. She had to want him, hopefully somewhere near as madly as he wanted her.

Yes, Kyle admitted to himself, he had it bad.

And if she didn't say something within the next five seconds, he might just possibly do something reallystupid, like grab her, strip her, and ram himself into her until her eyeb.a.l.l.s wobbled."Okay."Kyle choked.Annie slapped him on the back with a resounding thwack."All right... all right," he coughed. "Enough beating."He eased away from Annie's pounding hand, which would probably leave bruises."You said okay.""Yes.""Just like that?""Well, no, not 'just like that', as you put it. I did give it some considerable thought.""Like what?""I don't get you," said Annie with a puzzled frown. "I just said yes let's go have oral s.e.x and instead of turning handsprings and ripping my clothes off you want to know how I reached my decision?""Um-yes.""Sheesh. "Annie stood up and moved to the wall edging the balcony. The stars were coming out now, and her hair was turning to liquid silver as darkness fell. Kyle knew his c.o.c.k was probably hard enough to punch holes in the wall of the ziggurat, but he was determined. Determined that Annie would do this, and everything else he had in mind, willingly.

It was the "everything else" bit that really made him fidget."Okay, you asked," muttered Annie. "Firstly, I care a great deal for Enshilla. She's been patient,forgiving, helpful, understanding, and a whole bunch of other adjectives along those lines. She'd get the Girl Scout badge for 'Really Nice Person' if I had her in my troop. So if it will help make her happy, I'mall for it. Whatever 'it' is.""Good reason," said Kyle, trying not to snarl."Secondly, I trust your judgment when it comes to Ronnil, and the look I saw on his face today makes me believe that he really does want Enshilla with a major pa.s.sion."

"Another good reason. So you're basically doing this for Ron and Enshilla?" Kyle's teeth snappedtogether."Well, you don't need to look so fierce about it. Isn't that why you asked in the first place?"Caught in his own web, Kyle had no answer."But I actually have a third reason...""Oh?" he croaked."Something caught in your throat?"Kyle waved away her question. "What's your last reason?""It's kind of personal.""My G.o.d, woman, so is what we're planning. Spit it out, will you?"Annie looked down at her hands as they rested on the stone wall. She took a deep breath and hissed it out between her teeth. "I've never had the chance to try that on anybody." She closed her eyes for asecond. "I'm curious."Kyle looked stunned.

"You're as bad as Ron and Enshilla, aren't you?""No. Absolutely not. I know exactly what to do." Annie swung round with her hands on her hips and thelight of battle in her eye. "I read all the right magazines, I pay attention on girl's night out, and I can finishan ice cream cone in about ninety seconds using only my tongue. Provided it's chocolate ice cream ofcourse..."

Kyle's eyes crossed.

"It's just...I never wanted to...I mean, the guys I have dated, well, I just never felt the urge with them,you know?"She looked pleadingly up at Kyle, her violet eyes dark now as the light had all but vanished from the sky."And now you have the urge?" he asked gently, closing the distance between them.She gingerly reached out and touched his bare chest with her fingertips. It was a delicate brush, but it felt like a blast with a flamethrower on Kyle's flesh. He burned."Do you, Annie? Do you have the urge now, here, with me?"She licked her lips as if her mouth had suddenly gone dry, and he had to bend his head to hear her response.

"Yes."

Chapter 8.

"Do you think they're here yet?"

Kyle watched Annie as she prowled nervously around his chamber, touching the walls and peeking in corners.

He smiled as she tapped on some bricks, for all the world as if she was looking for a secret pa.s.sage.

His c.o.c.k ached, and he wondered if he was going to make it through the next few hours. He doubted

that the sight of the Sun G.o.d's designated representative coming all over himself about five seconds aftertouching Annie would inspire either Ron or Enshilla. Let alone Annie herself.But the thought of that soft mouth around his c.o.c.k was driving him completely and absolutely nuts.

He turned and gritted his teeth.

"Enshilla and Ronnil will come and make sure that we are settled for the night before taking up their observation posts, Annie. There is a small recitation of the laws to go through."

She turned with a look of interest."Do you know where they'll be?""I'm not supposed to," he grinned, "but I have lived here a few years and done a bit of exploring."He beckoned her to him and she hurried over.Gently, Kyle put his hands on her shoulders and leaned forward so that his mouth was almost touching her ear.

"They will be in a small chamber behind the carving over to your right," he whispered, feeling her skinquivering beneath his hand.He couldn't resist the temptation of her soft scent, burying his nose just behind her ear and inhaling.

"Small chamber?" she echoed, eyes closed."Yes," muttered Kyle, risking a quick lick around the rim of her ear. "That's where they'll be.""Who will?" she breathed, eyes closed."I forget."His lips traced her earlobe and moved down her neck to her shoulder. He nibbled and licked, and made her moan.