The Gates of Infinity (novella)
Genre: Erotic Pirate
Fantasy
THE GATES OF INFINITY lead to
a different world where passion and deception may yet destroy two universes
about to collide. Will time continue to turn upon itself, or will the mirror of
our world open the gate and return stranded pirates and their sorcerous consorts
to familiar shores?
The story poem that begins
the novella:
MAHJRAH
ocean kissed sands wink diamonds into
the night
the whisper of waves caresses nerves taut with panic
the
sea-foam surf is a balm to troubled spirits
and the abyss of down-soft waters
beckons as a lover’s embrace
out there, somewhere, is a ship
using
stars to guide a course to infinity
eternity, too, has a path to
follow
and a destiny to fulfill
standing on the rooftop of a
once-thriving inn
I wonder at the fate that pulls me ever closer to
death
isolation has become a way of life, my existence
against all my
efforts to turn away from the void before me
the sea calls to me, pulls
at my soul with seductive purpose
I hear voices carried on the misted
winds
promises that I can’t quite define
but which haunt my heart and
inflict greater agonies
I turn away to pursue the sandman of my
dreams
despite the knowledge that there will be no respite there
no escape
from transient demons and specters
no shelter in the arms of
Morpheus
eyes close and breaths lengthen and deepen
then he comes to
me, the devil who torments my being
with sensuous murmurs and erotic
promises
he shows me what my life is without, what I deny within
myself
the dream begins.....
the gentle sway of the ship is the
rhythm of passion and sex
the lap of waves the stroke of a lover’s tongue
over a swell of quivering flesh
the surge of the tide is his possession of my
eager body
the fall befits our writhing ascent into heaven
who are
you? I ask in mystified wonder
am I afraid of his answer, or anticipating
it?
he laughs, a hearty, faintly mocking reverberation of humor
and my
blood runs cold, then hot with rage
he is magnificent, this proud pirate
who steals
with the exquisite skill of a thieving seducer claiming his virgin
prize
dark hair streams and smoky eyes gleam with anticipation
and this is
what I have been born to desire?
Mahjrah
lover.... friend....
enemy.... destiny....
his hands have taught me love and pain
his heart has
scarred me with hatred and unbearable pleasure
Darius
mentor....
destroyer.... confidant.... father....
you drove me to his arms, intent on
betrayal
and in the end it was I who was betrayed, by myself
he
touched me, and I was whole in his hands,
balanced on the edge of discovery
and despair
I went willingly to his bed and his heart
asked desperately to
remain prisoner to his destiny
he kissed me, a soft caress that vowed so
much more would follow
and I stood before him, naked in all ways,
desiring
things I could not yet name, but knew within me
and he held me
with his gaze, searching for deceit, finding only trust
his hands
stripped me of everything, while giving everything back
his mouth, soft, wet,
suckling at my breast, gave me the taste of euphoria
hot, rigid velvet
sheathed within my clutching body tortured me with ecstasy
and his possession
defined my being and made me what I am
Veranna
sorceress....
companion.... seer.... hope....
I am Mahjrah’s mate, and his life is mine, as
mine is his
though we both have often wished it were not so
and I
have betrayed my beloved captain.....
Doren
comrade.... strength....
protector.... deception....
what we did was wrong, yet it, too, was
predestined in so many ways
Mahjrah made you my champion, and that story is
as old as time itself
and now I stand before him again, waiting and
afraid
trembling with need and terror, and reawakened love
yes, I love
you, Mahjrah, always and only you
and somewhere inside you, I feel the poison
of my treachery
you are uncertain, even as you stand solid and ever
strong
the serpent of doubt and suspicion has bitten deep
that venom
mingles with the heart’s blood of our bond
and I do not know which will
emerge as the stronger power
still, you have taken me again, in passion
and welcome
my body has been reclaimed, even as my spirit hides in
shame
try as I may, I cannot forget the rapture that you gave me
and all I
am able to offer you now is the frightened shell I have become
you
deserve far better, you have asked for little,
given everything without
question or price
until now, when a challenge far greater than others removes
our choices
now you charge me with the task of finding our home
I
have always thought my home was in your eyes
but the romanticism of that
whimsy is a joke in the face of this harsh reality
you demand a gateway to
another life
and I must find a way to obey this
command
Thaer.....
our world....
close enough to touch, to
feel....
the parallel of this prison in which we have been
trapped.....
Part Two: a short
scene...
The moon shone silver across
the restless waters of the cove, casting spectral shadows of ice into the
endless ripples of the current. Sitting alone on the shore, Veranna stared at
the magical night-scape and felt despair engulf her anew. They’d been stranded
for eternal weeks, and no member of the crew looked upon her with warmth or
friendliness now. Except the Captain, Mahjrah’s eyes held unflinching kindness
and undeniable love. Her salvation, she knew.
She shifted her line of vision
and shivered when her eyes came into contact with the repaired ship anchored in
the small harbor. The mast stretched upward and the rigging stood starkly
outlined, a wraith-like silhouette against the glowing orb sweeping steadily
across the sky. The Scarab waited with patience her crew did not possess. Waited
for her to summon knowledge and power she no longer controlled.
“Mahjrah’s looking for
you.”
Startled, Veranna turned, and
sighed inwardly at the cool masque of Doren’s indifference.
“I’m afraid, Doren,” she
murmured without conscious thought.
Anger sparked in his eyes and
she flinched. His expression softened with regret an instant later and he sat
next to her.
“We’re all afraid, Veri,” he
confessed with clear reluctance.
“I can’t imagine you, or
Ehtionne, feeling fear.” She smiled in spite of herself.
“Everyone’s afraid of
something, Veranna,” he chided. “Even Mahjrah.”
“You say that as if I should
know your fear, but not his.”
“You’ve seen my fear, Veri,”
he muttered, voice tinged with bitterness. “Even if you don’t remember it just
now.”
He added the last with
self-deprecating irony, and she felt a tremor begin deep within her. It burned
through her with shocking speed, leaving her quivering against all she didn’t
know.
“What is he searching for that
I am supposed to know about?”
“Ask him,” Doren told her
candidly. “Maybe that’s what he wants to talk to you about now?”
Suspicion flared in her dark
eyes and he laughed at her.
“He doesn’t tell me what he
wants from you, Veranna,” he said with a hint of derision.
“I suppose he doesn’t really
have to, does he?” she retorted and rose. “He wants the same thing the rest of
you want, the impossible.” She strode away, angered beyond reason by the
exchange. She was still scowling when she found Mahjrah further down the
shore.
The tall captain watched her
approach, his expression guarded, but curious.
“You look as if you wish to
kill someone, lady,” he remarked.
“Perhaps I do,” she replied,
looking past his shoulder to the men who were standing a short distance from
them. “What is it you want, Mahjrah?” she asked, suddenly weary.
“Darius is near, Veranna,” he
said quietly, very serious now. “We need an escape from this place before
Isiress pinpoints our location.”
“Isiress can control her
magic, Ehtionne,” Veranna reminded him, uncomfortably aware of the many ears
listening to their words. “I have no such strength. You ask what I cannot
give.”
Dark eyes glittered like onyx
in the flickering flames of the torches that had been lit. Veranna held her
breath, waiting for anger, hoping desperately for understanding.
Slowly, Mahjrah nodded. He
went to take her by the elbow, then led her toward the small circle of huts
they’d erected for the duration of their stay on the isle. When they reached the
relative privacy of their quarters, he sat her down and knelt before
her.
“I know you can defeat this
sorceress who guards The Pharaoh’s Ghost,” he began firmly, but gently. “But you
must know it, too, my lady,” he continued, tone pitched to a sensual purr of
sound. “You possess great power and knowledge, Veranna, and we need both while
we are so vulnerable.”
“I’ve been trying, Mahjrah,”
she assured him. “I want to help you!”
He considered her words with a
seriousness that inexorably woke fear as she waited for him to voice whatever
dark thoughts were creating such fierceness in his handsome features. When his
low, gravel-textured voice finally stirred the air between them, she
trembled.
“We need to take a great risk,
love,” he began ominously. “One that may be our last hope of recovering your
lost memory.” Dark eyes clashed as he forced her to meet his stare. “Do you
trust our bonds, Veranna?”
It seemed a totally
inappropriate question, and that, too, frightened her for eternal seconds as he
awaited her reply. Unable to form the words, she nodded mutely, the response an
intuitive answer born in her heart. He accepted her nod after only a second’s
hesitation, then rose and left. A moment later, she heard his strong voice
shouting for Doren. Hugging herself tightly, she listened as Mahjrah ordered his
mate to bring Veranna’s trunk from the ship. When he re-entered the hut again
short minutes later, Mahjrah carried a silver bowl etched with magical rhunes
and filled with ashes. Behind him, Gianni came in with hands full of the
mystical candles. He put them next to the bowl that Mahjrah had placed in the
center of the hut’s rough floor, then he left them without a word.
“Tell me what you remember,”
Mahjrah ordered.
“Place the candles that
contain sky, earth and fire in a circle around us,” she replied without thought.
His smile was an encouragement she responded to, and she continued quickly, lest
she lose the precious strand of knowledge. “Strength, divination, and earth
power.”
Mahjrah did as she requested,
and by the time he was done, Doren and Marcello had retrieved the heavy case
that had a permanent place beneath the captain’s bunk. Doren looked Veranna, his
doubt clear, but he held his silence. Moments later, the captain and his lover
were alone again.
“Choose your magic, lady,” he
said and indicated the case that stood inside the doorway. “I fear that we have
little time.”
Trusting to instinct once
again, Veranna rose and went to the case. She opened it, and inhaled the
enticing aroma of spices and herbs, and the tingle of mystical power that
emanated from things hidden in the lowest levels of the case. As before, music
was an undercurrent that guided her, attuned her to the very earth on which she
stood. She lifted the upper tray of items and looked into the more powerful
objects held in the chest. Mahjrah’s hand reached past hers, and he retrieved a
key from the corner, a key that was gold on one side, and silver on the other,
perfectly melded together, each side carrying the symbols that were on the coins
contained in the chest they guarded. The key dangled from a cord made of strands
of hair, hers and his, entwined with ribbons of blue and ebony, the colors of
their eyes; he slipped it over her head and smiled when it came to rest just
above the shadow between her breasts.
“Aphrodeesia
enchantrae,” he whispered roughly, his hands gliding over her back, before
he moved to stand behind her and cup full breasts as he began to nuzzle her
neck.
Shaking with another layer of
emotion now, Veranna reached for the requested amalgam. She sucked in a rasp of
air when the pressure of his hands increased and his sure fingers teased already
straining nipples to greater sensitivity. Guided by instinct, she let the powder
fall into the silver bowl, mingling with the ashes that would stir to life and
reawaken her memories. The music that symbolized her power began to rise and
find voice inside her.
