Authors: Summer Cooper
Luther slid behind her, running his hand up her dress, trying to soothe her by rubbing her back. She could hear the music coming from the bar, a thumping driving beat that soothed her instead of making her feel fractious. She let her head fall back against Luther’s shoulder, let the memories flow through her brain, feeling him breathe behind her, seeing Nathan breathing before her, slowly, in and out.
“Let it all go, let it fall into place,” she thought. Slowly all of the information from two men came together into her brain, forming a solid idea, her neck muscles relaxed and the urge to run screaming, calmed.
“We have to go back in time then?” She asked the men quietly.
“Yes, the sooner the better. Your birthday’s in two weeks, isn’t it?” Luther asked behind her, his lips brushing her ear. His hands had moved to her front now, rubbing down her ribs, over her hips and back up again. Distracting, implausibly erotic, the feel of his skin against her silken skin was overly stimulating, exciting. Nathan at her feet, rubbing them, somehow sending shivers up to her spine, giving her ideas she shouldn’t be having now.
“If you keep thinking like that, Hannah,” he murmured against her ear, the sound not helping, only making more images appear in her mind, “we won’t be going anywhere tonight. We’ll be naked on this couch, all three of us and I don’t know that you’re quite ready for that. So get up, go back to your hotel, and tomorrow morning we’ll come get you, alright? We have to get things ready for this. I’ll call you a taxi.” He kissed her ear as he finished speaking, his tongue sliding down the outer shell, biting at the lobe, making her squirm against him.
“Your own thoughts aren’t helping, Luther, let her up, come on before I ravish both of you!” Nathan said out loud to them, his teeth clenched. Her feet were pressed into him, the hardness beneath her toes difficult to not identify. She sucked her breath in, wanting to discover more about the images that kept flashing in her mind. Flashes of tangled bodies, sighs and moans filling the air, hands moving and bodies writhing. Yes, she needed out of here, or she might end up doing something she’d never considered before.
Luther seemed to be the first to get a hold on his passion as he jumped up, using a mobile to call a taxi for Hannah. He gave them the bar’s address, gathered her things, and took her to front. Nathan had written some things on a paper and handed them to her, putting them in her hand with a gentle kiss on her cheek.
Luther handed her a shot of something from behind the bar and she swallowed it quickly, letting the burn calm her nerves. He handed her one more, and she tossed that one back too, knowing she may need it if she wanted to sleep tonight. A flash of lights outside announced the arrival of her taxi and she turned to go.
“Hannah” Luther called out to her, “I’ll buzz you in the morning, alright?”
“I’ll be waiting for your call” she assured him with a smile, then walked out of the door, a little wobbly in the sandals she’d put back on her feet. Thinking she needed one more drink, she went into the little shop at the hotel, brought a small bottle of whiskey and went to her room with a full ice bucket in hand. Time to assimilate.
H
annah woke up early
, the sun barely above the horizon as she cracked her eyes open. Maybe she’d had too much whiskey. Maybe. Shutting her eyes, she pushed herself up and ran for the shower, hoping some hot water would make her head feel better. As the water poured over her head she thought about the things she now knew.
Because of the curse she could see the things that popped into Luther and Nathan’s minds, as they could hers. They were connected, that’s what caused the sexual attraction but beyond that, she found them both incredibly sexy with their soft denim and black leather. They both found her delicious; tall, elfin and beautiful, with an edge beneath the timidity that she’d been showing the world. They wanted to bring out her inner kitten and turn her into a full grown hellcat, apparently. But first they had to save her and themselves from their individual fates. She knew what they thought of her, what they knew and they were learning the same things about her but more slowly. She accepted it all, what else she could do after the last few hours?
Last night Hannah had been overwhelmed, not sure how to deal with the things she discovered. She’d finished off a good portion of the bottle of whiskey, but falling asleep had taken more time than she’d hoped. She was anxious to get started and hoped the men were early risers too. Getting out of the shower, she dried off, putting on jeans, a black sweater and trainers, not sure what they day was going to bring but wanting to be functional.
She ran to her phone as it started to buzz, flicking it to answer.
“Hannah” she heard from her speaker. It was Annie. Oh dear, she’d completely forgotten to call her friend last night!
“Hi Annie! I’m so sorry I forgot to call you. I met a really hot pair of guys and spent the night, well, not doing what I wanted to but it was interesting to say the least.” She just blurted it, not sure what to actually tell her friend at this point.
“Oh, do tell, Hannah, you have to tell!” her friend purred down the line.
“Not much to tell at this point but I’m meeting them again this evening so if I don’t call you tonight, don’t panic, alright? I’m waiting on them to call now.”
“Well, I expect pictures and a text later, at the least alright? How’s the other stuff going?” Annie asked, concerned.
Hesitating only a moment Hannah replied, “I’ve put it on the back burner for now. I’ll explain more later on, they’re calling me now so let me go, alright? Love you buddy!” she hung up before Annie could reply, wanting to answer the other call before they hung up. She thought it must be them; she’d not entered anyone else’s phone information into her phone under the name of ‘Sexgod L’. She must have done that when she was drunk. Eek, I’ll have to fix that, she told herself.
“Hello” she said, an almost frantic tone in her voice, afraid she’d missed them.
“Good morning, Hannah. How are you?” the voice asked over her speakerphone.
Reeling, out of this world? No, those weren’t good answers. Fine. She was fine.
“I’m alright, Luther. How are you?”
“Anxious to start the day. Shall we pick you up this morning? Say around a half hour from now? Get something to eat then we’ll head out.” He told her.
“Where are we going?” Picking up her bag she was already heading down to the café at the bottom of the hotel for something to fill her belly with before heading out.
“A castle, darling, where else? Be ready, we’ll be there soon.” He hung up the phone and she smiled as she slipped the phone into her back pocket. So bossy. She pictured him behind her, again, his hands wrapped in her hair, telling her to take what he was giving her. Her knees actually went weak as she waited for the elevator. Then her phone buzzed in her back pocket.
“Stop thinking those things, Hannah, I’m about to start driving! Be a good girl now and let me get to you. Then we’ll talk about what you just thought.-L.”
Grinning, she put the phone back and went down to the café. She had some orange juice and some scrambled eggs with toast and took a coffee out to a table outside after eating to wait for the fellas. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day in Germany. Raising her face to the sky she inhaled clean air and the smell of baked goods as her skin warmed. She heard the roar of a motorcycle and looked in the direction it came from.
Luther and Nathan were on separate bikes of course, each with a helmet and a leather jacket on. A smile spread over her face uncontrollably. She giggled when she saw Nathan wobble a little when she thought about both of them stretching her over one of the bikes to lick every inch of her skin. They parked up, got off the bikes and both hugged her as she came to them.
Nathan hugged her last, growling into her ear as he kissed her just below her ear lobe. “I’ll get you back for that later, I promise.” Swatting her bottom he laughed as she jumped away.
“So where are we going? Come on, one of you has to tell me.” She was almost dancing in excitement.
“We’re going up to the castle over there. See it on the ridge top? That’s where we’re going.” Luther pointed beyond her head. Turning around she couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before. A castle sat there, looking old and formidable still.
“Cool. Great, let’s get going, which one of you am I going with?” she looked at both of them, waiting on an answer.
“Hop on with me, Nathan might scare you. He’s the wild one when riding a bike. I’ll get you there safe. Put this helmet on, we can talk through a radio system in it while we’re on our way.” He handed her the helmet, helped her get it on and then helped her onto the motorcycle. He climbed on in front of her and they were all off, heading towards the castle.
“So what are we going to do once we go back? Stop Nathan from dragging this prince to the wrong side of the tracks or something?” she asked.
“Basically. It’s all we can think to do. If it never happens, then your family won’t get cursed and Nathan and I won’t be stuck as immortals anymore. We’ve lived a long time, it’s time to have a normal lifespan and go to our rest. There are a few of us left in the world but not like there used to be. With surveillance and technology as it is now, it’s hard to operate in a world where you’re always under a microscope or satellite. Most dragonkin have a longer lifespan, about 150 years, but we’ve had a far longer one because of the curse. We hope to end that.”
“But I don’t want you to die!” she cried into the helmet, gripping onto his back in front of her.
“That’s just it, Hannah, everyone we know dies, but not us. It’s time to go back to normal, though it has been fascinating over the years, watching everything change. We’re just ready to have normal lives. We can’t take the going on without our loved ones anymore.”
“I can understand that,” she replied. She’d lost both of her parents now. She understood a little of what they’d experienced. Kind of.
The rest of their trip was quiet and they arrived at the castle before lunch time. They parked in the car park and walked to a café on the castle grounds.
“Coffee?” Nathan asked.
Luther and Hannah agreed to a coffee and found a table away from other visitors.
“What’s the plan then” Hannah asked as Nathan returned with three cups of coffee.
“We have to go into the woods behind the castle, there’s a place there we have to do this. We’ll change your clothes first and send you out to find Nathan. You’ll have to find a way to distract him. Then we’ll come back and things should have changed. What do you think?”
“Won’t that cause a problem? I’ll be a woman on my own, in the 16
th
century. How am I going to find him?”
“We can’t go near ourselves, if we do, there will really be problems. You don’t exist in that time period though so you’ll have to be the one that changes things. We will be following you though and we’ll protect you as best we can. Nathan won’t know who you are in the past but he’ll feel a connection to you. You can distract him, and we know where he’ll be so just do what you can okay? Only do what you feel comfortable doing, too. You do have to remember though, this will change the future. So be careful. Alright?”
They’d been walking out to the forest as he spoke and came to a clear spot in the trees. It was shaped in a circle, as if the trees had been planted deliberately to form this shape. The men had brought two bags with them. Nathan took clothes out of his bag as Luther took two belts out of his. Nathan handed her the clothes, an elaborate gown, a chemise, head covering and some other articles she couldn’t figure out.
“I’m going to guess you two are more familiar with these items than I am, can you help me?” she asked after slipping out of her clothes and putting the chemise on. They helped her, layering the clothes properly until she stood before them in a gold, scarlet and black gown. They were arguing over her hair, though; Nathan telling Luther the fashion he’d put in didn’t exist at that time, Luther insisting it did. She laughed, two grown men arguing over a woman’s hair fashion.
“How about, if it doesn’t exist maybe I’m the reason it started? I won’t be there long anyway, right? A day or two? I’ll figure it out. Now, what else are we to do?” she put her phone in the waterproof bag they’d brought, along with her passport when a thought occurred to her.
“How is past-Nathan going to understand me?” she asked, making them both stop cold.
Nathan turned to her, making a noise but she wasn’t sure what it was. He looked into her eyes, told her to concentrate, and made the noise again. This time she heard it as “you’re beautiful”. Her eyes went round, realizing she knew their language; she’d known it since last night and could speak it herself. She moved her tongue, using her entire mouth to form the sound that meant thank you as she smiled at him. Awesome!
Quickly, the men put the belts on, guided her between them, spoke some words that weren’t really words, ones she did not understand at all this time and then the world went dark around her. When she opened her eyes again, she was in the same woods but something was different. A sound was missing. Then she realized she could hear something else, metal against metal, animals bleating but no cars or airplanes. Looking around, she saw two dragons in the now darkening woods and knew they were Luther and Nathan.
The Luther dragon looked at her, smiling even in dragon form and pointed at his back with his head. She climbed on, and in her mind she saw herself climbing onto his waist. She lightly thumped the dragon, telling him to stop. Something that sounded like a laugh coughed out of the dragon.
They flew in the darkness, not needing lights to guide them to the right part of the castle they needed to be near. They landed and the dragons became men again quickly, taking the belts off and putting them in the bags they had with them still. Hurrying over to a barn they hustled Hannah inside, closing the door quietly.
“Alright, you’ll have to go into the castle, in the dining hall. Both Luther and I will be in there. You have to distract Nathan, at the very least; it’s him that comes up with the idea of bringing Gunther over here. Are you ready?” he didn’t sound certain, he sounded worried actually and she wasn’t sure this was such a good idea. There were so many things that could go wrong, she’d tried to keep herself from thinking of them but now she was feeling overwhelmed with doubt.
Pulling her to him, Luther motioned Nathan over. “Tell her what she needs to know.”
“I’m easily distracted, smile at me, sit by me, and I guarantee you’ll have me eating out of your hands. In this time I was a little wilder, a bit naïve and a pretty woman could always take my attention. You’ll be like a bomb going off for me though, our attraction will pull, even in this time. I could suggest a way to distract me, but that’s up to you. I think you know what I mean.” Nathan told her, looking a bit guilty.
She knew what he meant and if it meant saving them, saving her father and the others before her, those that may come after; she could steal a moment or two of pleasure with this man. She hugged them both and left before she could lose her nerve. Walking down the path to the castle she ignored the dark places, walking past them with her head high, pretending to be a noble woman of high birth. Or what she thought one of those would be, anyway.
She entered the dining hall, the stench of the place overwhelming her senses. There was no Dettol in 16
th
century Europe, after all. There was also no electricity to make fans blow smoke away or keep areas cool. The inside of the dining hall was hot and smoky; Hannah covered her face. She slowly got used to it, but still wanted fresh air. She had a mission though, and she was determined to get it done.
Hannah stood by the doors, looking out over the hall. She spotted Luther and Nathan’s past selves at the end of a table and went over to them. They were dressed in finery, their hair grown out past their ears, cute little caps on their heads. Rings decorated every finger and Hannah wasn’t sure she’d seen such displays of wealth as she’d seen on the people sat around her.
She went to the men and sat between them. Bold for a woman of this time, perhaps, but she didn’t know what else to do. She used the language she’d gained from them to greet them, doing far more to attract their attention than simply sitting with them had. Taking the role to the extreme Hannah boldly spoke to them.
“I’m looking for two men to provide me with a bed and far more tonight. Are you two willing?” Her cheeks burned as she spoke but they immediately stood up, taking her hand and leading her out of the hall.
They led her to a hall, lined with doors, and entered one. The windows were open in here: no fire going, but a large bed filled the room.
“Would my lady like a drink?” Luther asked her. He seemed younger here, less sure of himself. Taking off his coat and shirt she also noticed he didn’t have a tattoo yet, either.
“My name is Hannah and yes, wine would be nice.” Taking a sip she found 16
th
century wine tasted slightly different from modern wine. She slugged it down, knowing she’d need her courage. She wasn’t a virgin but this was not something she’d done before.
Hannah quickly learned Nathan was just as bold in the past as he was now, even if he too was tattooless and appeared slightly younger. Nathan had come up behind her, pulled her cap off, then the outer parts of her dress, leaving her in her chemise. She pulled the chemise off, accepting one more glass of wine from Luther as she did so.