in the sky like a giant eye, watching her.
She made shapes against the standing stones with her body, undulating her arms, arching her back, moving sinuously through the leaves. As a child she’d had a handful of ballet lessons, but any knowledge she’d gained had long since worn off. She simply followed her body, going where it wanted, moving as it dictated. It was like being guided by an external force, as though she were at the mercy of a powerful but benign puppet master.
Natalie had always imagined that the sensation of being naked outdoors would be scary. Instead, she found it liberating. Exhilarating. Even though there was no one to see her she felt watched by a thousand eyes. The crisp air against her naked skin, the cool mud between her toes … all of it made her feel primal and wildly sexual.
She didn’t really believe all that stuff Rhiannon had told her, that dancing naked under the full moon in an ancient site would show her the face of her true love.
‘Oh please,’ she’d scoffed. ‘I’m not after true love. Frankly, I’ll settle for a good shag!’
But in the end it had seemed such a lovely and slightly transgressive idea. How could she resist? Rhiannon had taken her along to coven meetings, read her Tarot cards and given her amulets and totems over the years. And while Natalie never really felt the presence of anything otherworldly, the pagan mindset appealed to her. She liked the idea of a religion that celebrated nature and sexuality instead of focusing on guilt, shame and fear.
Her movements grew more assured and sensual. More erotic. Her hands began to move, seemingly of their own accord, to caress her breasts, her belly, her sex. Without quite realising what she was doing, she sank to her knees on the ground and let her fingers slip down between her legs, where she was very wet. Losing any trace of self-consciousness, she moaned softly as she stroked the soft folds of her labia. Images from her plentiful inventory of fantasies flashed across her mind’s eye before she settled on the one she felt most fitting: the virgin sacrifice.
She pictured herself led naked into the clearing by sombre robed figures, an iron collar heavy around her neck, iron shackles weighing down her wrists and ankles. Two of the men guided her to the stone altar and laid her on her back without a word, securing her chains to rings they had bolted into the stone. The figures formed a circle around her splayed body, the flames from their torches flickering in the dark. Then, one by one, each man took his turn with her. Purifying her, defiling her. No inch of flesh was spared as they stroked her, scratched her, licked her, bit her, fucked her.
Natalie let loose a wild cry as the climax overtook her, surging through her body and then subsiding far too quickly. She blinked. She’d never come like that before. It usually took ages and she could run through any number of elaborate scenarios in her head before her body finally reached its limit. But then, it had been a long time since she’d last had sex. Proper sex, that was – the kind that left you shaken and disorientated. She collapsed in the leaves and stared up at the moon as the pulses began to subside.
‘Is that it?’ she asked, feeling cheated.
‘Only if you want it to be.’
The deep voice made her freeze, her eyes wide and staring up into the night sky. Had she imagined it? She lay perfectly still, her ears attuned to the slightest sound. When the voice came again it was close enough to feel.
‘I won’t hurt you,’ it said with a chuckle, ‘unless you want me to.’
Instantly Natalie scrambled to her feet and covered her nakedness as a man emerged from the shadows behind the tallest Maiden.
‘Who the hell are you? How dare you spy on me? I thought I was alone!’
‘Obviously. But you do realise this is private property, don’t you? Technically you’re trespassing.’
She drew herself up defiantly. ‘Fine. Call the police. Let’s see what they think about a man who spies on women.’
‘Who said anything about calling the police?’ he asked with a good-natured laugh. ‘I’ve as much right to be here as you. Or not, as the case may be.’
As he drew nearer Natalie’s outrage faded. He was gorgeous. All he had on was a dressing gown of deep blue satin but it didn’t seem at all incongruous under the circumstances. Clearly he’d had the same idea she had.
The stranger’s eyes were dark and piercing and his features looked as though they’d been carved out of marble. Shoulder-length dark hair whipped around his aristocratic face and Natalie found herself wondering if the rest of him was as appealing.
As though reading her mind, he unfastened the sash of his robe and slipped it off his shoulders to display a well-toned and muscular physique. Her eyes flicked down below his waist, but his cock was hidden in shadow. Even so, she could see he was excited. He held the robe out to her.
‘It’s only fair,’ he said.
She took the robe and slipped it on. It was warm from his body and she tied it tightly, more to trap the musky heat against her skin than to cover herself. Then she crossed her arms with a grin as she stared brazenly at his nakedness. He raised his arms and obligingly performed a little turn for her and she drank in the sight of him.
‘Mmm, very nice,’ she said, noticing with pleasure that his cock was a little bigger. ‘Now let’s see you dance.’
He quirked an eyebrow at her. ‘Oh, I never dance. Alone.’
She blushed as he took a step towards her, his hands outstretched as if to reassure a frightened animal that might flee at any moment. But she had no intention of running away. She stood still as he reached her and gently untied the sash of the dressing gown. It fell open, exposing her once again to the chilly night. And his hungry eyes. Natalie felt transfixed by his gaze as he slipped the gown off her shoulders and let it fall to the ground. He took her hands and led her back into the centre of the stone circle.
Natalie melted into his touch as he pressed himself against her and she felt her sex moisten in response to his hardness. Enfolding her in his arms, he began to gently sway from side to side, the kind of slow dancing that wasn’t really dancing at all. She slipped her arms around his waist, eyeing the altar stone over his shoulder. The wind lifted a corner of the blanket as though beckoning them. Natalie pressed herself against her companion, willing him to move in that direction.
But he was in control. Despite her hints he kept a firm hold on her and refused to be led. He glanced once at the altar and then back at her, shaking his head with a smile.
‘Don’t you want to …?’ she ventured at last in a husky voice.
He looked down into her face, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. ‘Oh yes. But don’t you think we should be as nature intended?’
She blinked in confusion but before she could speak he lifted her off her feet. He held her in his arms as though she weighed nothing at all and carried her to the edge of the clearing, where the overhanging trees had shed their leaves. He deposited her in the middle of the huge pile.
Natalie lay back in the bed of leaves, delighted at the surge of unfamiliar sensations. The leaves crackled and hissed beneath her, some damp and chill, others sharp and crisp. She felt them snagging in her hair and lightly scratching her bare limbs. They smelled like the forest, pungent and piny. She knew she would forever after associate the smell with sex.
She looked up at her mysterious companion and spread her legs
