Prophet Seeking Pt. 01

The other maidens enveloped her, fixing a few more flowers into her hair and arranging her tunic. Many of them planted eager kisses on her blushing cheeks. Before she knew it, Claire was being led towards a large white tent that stood at the edge of the clearing. The moon, nearly full, hung over it like an enormous chandelier.

On the way they passed a smaller red tent. Just as they went by the breeze picked up, lifting the tent flap and revealing the scene within. A young maiden sat before a beautiful woman with her head lowered. The woman, dressed in ceremonial garb with long black hair, held a chicken over her head. She chanted some foreign words Claire couldn't quite catch and then suddenly slit the animal's throat with a dagger that appeared from beneath her sleeve.

The chicken's cries abruptly stopped and dark red blood poured from its severed neck soaking the table before the priestess, running down her chest and face. Only then did the woman look up. She looked directly at Claire and winked. Or so she thought but that wasn't possible because the woman's milky white eyes were clearly sightless. And very familiar.

"That's the love oracle. A disciple of Themis" Tessa whispered in reverence. "She finds those who are searching for love and shows them what they need to see."

"Will I meet with her?"

Tessa looked at her as if she had as many heads as Cerberus. "But you already have."

Before Claire could ask what she meant she was being ushered towards the big white tent. The walls of the canvas cascaded down. They billowed gently, looking as hazy and impermanent as smoke. As though it could all vanish with one stiff gust of wind.

Claire teetered just outside the tent. She should have bolted. Her rational mind was advising her to turn and run in the opposite direction of this strange place with as much speed as her shaky legs could carry her. But her body would not comply with the sensible conclusions of her mind. Something compelled her to stand firm and follow this adventure through to the end.

Call it academic curiosity.

No turning back now. Breathless and trembling, she lifted the tent flap and crossed the threshold. The heavy scent of wildflowers greeted her as well as a hint of something even wilder. In the center of the space stood a massive bed piled with red pillows. Marble pedestals circled it, each topped with bouquets of spring blooms.

Claire couldn't see anyone in the dim lamp light of the room but a slight tingle down her spine alerted her that she was not alone. Still that did not stop her from making a startled gasp when he emerged from the shadows, trapping her with his gaze.

Those eyes. Deep and golden. Like two pools of melted honey. They had the fixed, hypnotic look of a lion tamer. Intense. Alluring. Slightly savage. Apart from the fierce eyes the creature before her appeared surprisingly civilized. Although he radiated a power that screamed man, his movements were refined. His gate languid and graceful.

Her eyes slid down the length of this mystery man on their own accord. He was dressed in a long robe, open in front, revealing sun kissed olive skin that glistening with an iridescent glow. His body was long and lean and lithe with wisps of dusky hair dusting his chest. The trail of hair led to a set of six pack abs you could grate parmesan on. And beneath that, peeking out from the folds of the robe was his enormous rock-hard beast of a- Oh my! Claire immediately averted her gaze but it was too late. The image was already seared into her brain. Every. Veiny. Inch.

Claire was quite sure she had never seen a man like him before. So full of pure alpha male- well, maleness. And yet she couldn't shake the feeling they'd met before. It was then the light of a nearby oil lamp caught his face. As he turned it cast along perfectly chiseled cheekbones. The warm light moved across a straight nose and then lingered lovingly on a pair of sensual lips tilted in a half-smile. It glinted against a shock of short black curls revealing something odd peeking out from beneath. Were those horns?

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks just where she had seen that gorgeous face. Though the last time she saw those fine features they were a lot less lively, there was no mistaking it. The creature before her was a spitting image of the marble statue of Pan. Right down to the last rockhard detail. Claire could hardly believe her eyes! A genuine nearly nude sex god just feet away. It defied all reason and broke several natural laws. Yet there he was in the flesh. And what lovely flesh it was.

Claire swallowed hard, trying to ignore the tingle that had moved from her spine to someplace altogether lower- and naughtier. That certainly called into question the whole dream theory. Cuz the naughty tingle felt awfully authentic.

She tried her best not to look at the sizeable organ that jutted out from his robe. But if she looked up she risked being ensnared by his smoldering gaze. Which was just as bad. So she split the difference and settled for staring at his bellybutton, although that turned out to be pretty sexy too. Come to think of it, every part of him seemed to be perfect. If this was just a dream her imagination had really gone all out this time. Bravo.

"Hello Claire." The creature/satyr/god said in a surprisingly gentile voice, tinged with a vaguely exotic accent that made her want to cling to every word.

Claire's mind went blank. The guy was hotter than Adonis and Magic Mike put together and he was talking to her. Oh shit. He was talking to her! What was he saying?

"How do you know my name?" She said once the gears in her brain began to turn again.

"I know many things about you, Miss Ardens. But where are my manners? Pan, at your service." He pronounced with an exaggerated bow that caused Claire to stifle a nervous laugh with the back of her hand.

A thousand questions flashed into her mind so quickly she could only manage to blurt out one somewhat pointless query. "Where are your hooves?"

He threw his head back and the room echoed with deep mirthful laughter. "Oh you scholarly types, such a literal bunch. The hooves are merely a metaphor for the beast within us all."

"What about those then?" She asked boldly, gesturing to the small horns peering out from his glossy black curls.

"Every legend has an element of truth." He ran a hand through his hair, tugging playfully at the hard curved nubs.

"But you're not real." Claire whispered, mostly to herself.

A slow smirk crept across Pan's impish face. "What makes something real to begin with? Belief. Maybe if enough people believe in something it becomes real. Maybe you made me real. Called to me with your need. Willed me into being."

Could it be true? How many times had she gazed at pictures of his stony likeness, secretly wishing he'd come to life just for her? Like Pinocchio; if Pinocchio were a six-foot-tall horny-goat-god. And now here he was- very much alive and currently eyeing her as if he might gobble her up at any moment. Be careful what you wish for.

He took another step closer. So close she could almost feel the heat coming off his skin, his scent enveloping her. He smelled amazing, lush and wild, like a mossy forest after the rain. Reaching out to take her wrist, he guided her hand slowly to his bare chest. She half expecting him to turn to smoke and vanish at the slightest touch. Yet the flesh that met her palm wasn't anything like smoke. It was warm and solid. She ran her fingers tentatively along the firm planes of muscle feeling his heart flutter beneath her palm. Suddenly the tent felt too small and stuffy. Has it always been so hot in here?

"Do I feel real to you?"

"Yes" The word came out in a low hiss.

"Don't be scared. I won't bite." He smirked revealing the dazzling white teeth of a predator. Somehow they manage to be alluring and alarming at the same time.

"I'm not scared." Claire replied defensively. He looked straight through her false bravado with a raised eyebrow. She blushed under his shrewd scrutiny, feeling like he could see right through her. "At least I don't want to be."

"There is no need to be."

"I beg to differ. Your reputation proceeds you." She countered, snatching her hand away from his chest. Countless tales of poor ravaged nymphs ran through her head, tossing a bucket of cold water on the panty fire that was steadily building.

"You shouldn't believe everything you read Claire. Most of those stories were told by jealous poets or prudish holy men. It's true I enjoy the chase, but I prefer the surrender to be willing. It's more fun that way." A frisky grin stretched from ear to ear. "But if it'll make you feel better you have my word as an upstanding Eagle scout that you won't be forced into anything. In fact, you're gonna have to ask nicely when you finally come to your senses and beg me to fuck you."

"Fat chance." She winced at his vulgar language. The man might be part goat but he was 100% pig.

"We shall see." He said, a glint of humor twinkling in his eyes. "If you've read the stories then you know I've tempted many reluctant maidens throughout the ages. They consider it a privilege to worship at the altar of my mighty man-pole. What makes you so immune to lust?"

"Self-control" She countered. As well as use of the term mighty man-pole. "You might choose to be led by that- that- monolith between your legs. But some of us have better things to think about than mindless rutting."

"You are very confident in your resolve." He offered her a smug smile that was just begging to be slapped off his irritatingly handsome face.

"And you are very confident in your own abilities." Claire replied sharply. Deity or not, Pan was intolerably cocky and unbearably brutish. So why did she have the urge to throw herself at him like a sex crazed groupie?

"I know one way we can test my abilities." He taunted, closing the gap between them with a dangerous hunger in his eyes. "As well as your resolve."

He's going to kiss me, she had just enough time to think. I'm alone with a Greek god and he's going to kiss me.

The light brush of his lips against hers was shocking in its softness and yet it rocked her to the core. She had expected him to try to devour her. Instead he tasted her tenderly. She gasped, opening her mouth wider. Taking advantage of her parted lips, he snaked his warm, wet tongue into her mouth, kissing her deeply. So deeply that she forgot to breathe. Forgot to second-guess. Forgot everything besides the searing heat of his mouth. When he finally broke the kiss she had to suck in a deep breath to stop her head from swimming.

Claire took a quick shaky step back, needing to put some distance between herself and Mr. Tall, Dark and Horny. Pan was mythology's biggest horndog, after all. She had to stay on her toes. Even if his touch conjured visions of her firmly on her back with her legs wrapped around him like a pretzel. Woah, down girl. When he approached again she practically jumped in the opposite direction.

"Still in denial I see." His sinful lips turned down in a brief frown. "Didn't your studies teach you that we are all animals after all? Just one species of a particular genus of ape. Clever fellow that Darwin was."

"You know Darwin?" Her eyes grew wide with curiosity.

"Of course, The Origin of Species is a particular favorite of mine. Although it's no Twilight."

"Twilight? Seriously?" Claire raised a quizzical brow.

"What? I have a soft spot for werewolves. #TeamJacob."

So satyrs were fans of schlocky fantasy novels- and twitter. Good to know. Moving on...

"But judging from the décor and the attire it's roughly 4th century B.C. Darwin won't have been born for another 2,000 years."

"2,118 years actually."

"Then how do you-"

He shrugged casually. "To an immortal time is like a snake eating its own tail."

"But, but-"She sputtered.

"God's, you're a serious one." He grumbled as he prowled towards her. "As much as I'd love to play 20 questions with you I didn't come all this way to discuss the nature of space/time. Physics was never my subject of interest. Anatomy is really more my forte."

He came after her with a look of determination, his eyes glinting with the promise of savagery. Claire shrunk from that intense gaze, weaving in and out of the marble pedestals with Pan in hot pursuit. The preternatural grace of his movements reminded her that her would-be lover wasn't quite human.

"There are two kinds of people Claire, those who ease themselves slowly into a hot bath and those who plunge right in." He offered. Animal magnetism and superhuman arrogance poured off of him in potent waves too strong to ignore. Try as she might. "I bet you dip yourself very slowly into a bath, letting each part of you gradually get adjusted to the temperature."

In a soft whoosh, Pan lets his robe fall to the floor and with it went all the air in her lungs. His colossus of a cock was pointed straight at her like a spear. Claire gulped as he casually ran his hand up the long shaft to palm the swollen head. Her mouth went dry at the sight. Suddenly the task of walking seemed exceedingly complicated as her own feet got in her way. She tripped over the confounded things and found herself tumbling into Pan's waiting arms. He pulled her against him so that she could feel the tip of his cock prodding at her stomach.

His voice dropped into a dangerously seductive purr as he pressed his lips to her ear. "You have no idea how exhilarating it can be to dive right in. Let the shocking heat engulf you all at once."

Claire searched for reasons to keep her distance. There were many, no doubt, yet none sprang to mind. Her famously good sense had abandoned her. His raw sex appeal frying her synapsis, dissolving her judgment in a cloud of sweat and pheromones. Dive, dive, dive! He leaned in, his mouth poised to kiss-

"Why me?" Claire blurted out as she turned away. The internal Greek chorus of self-doubt chimed in just in time to remind her that she was no sex goddess. She wasn't even pretty, at least not in the conventional sense. Her nose was a little too upturned. Her breasts were too small and her thighs were too thick for model standards. She was just some shy, insignificant, little virgin. Mortal guys hardly ever noticed her. Pan, on the other hand, was the epitome of mouth-watering male magnetism. He could have any woman he wanted. What could he possibly see in her?

"After a few centuries one gets tired of randy shepherdesses and jaded nymphs. One look, a few cheesy pickup lines and their legs fly open faster than you can say Pandora's box. Where's the challenge in that?" He said. "No, the name of the game is temptation. And I've never seen a girl so in need of temptation in my life."

"Is that all I am to you? A challenge." She hummed in indignation. He let her wriggle out of his grasp.

He cocked his head and took a moment to search her face. "Do you really not know? That body, those eyes. You're beautiful, my dear. And not just beautiful. Smart, sexy, feisty. You're the total package. The world would know that if you didn't keep your charms so well hidden. I'm just glad I was the first to get a glimpse."

Now it was her turn to cock her head in disbelief. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Can you doubt it?" He pointed in the direction of his persistently hard cock and dropped his voice to a playful whisper. "Though I'd be happy to prove the point further. What's the sense in denying your desires, Claire? Say the word and I will give you just what you deserve."

"What's that?" She barely found breath to mutter.

"To put it bluntly- a good fucking." He pressed in so that she was backed against a pillar, towering over her smaller form. Plucking a lilac from behind her ear, he brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply. The mischievous smile vanished from his lips and a deadly serious expression took its place. "I can smell your arousal, Claire. You need someone to bring out the sex-kitten that lurks just beneath the surface. Tear open that cage of false modesty and release the animal within. Won't you let me?"

Claire fought to block out his seductive offer. She cast her eyes downward trying her best to avoid that scorching golden gaze that melted away her common sense and turned her insides into a pool of molten desire. She knew it would be her undoing- and so did Pan. His finger slipped under her chin tipping her face forward, forcing her to look him straight in the eye. Big mistake. Within moments she had sank into the depth of his gaze, feeling her lingering reservations dissolve in a haze of warm honey.

"Strip." He commanded in a matter-of-fact way, adding when she briefly hesitated. "Take the plunge Claire."

Before she could reconsider what she was doing, Claire began working to untie the sash of her tunic with her trembling fingers. As if in a trance, she stared helplessly into the golden eyes that refused to leave hers the entire time. Finally the knot gave way and her dress fell in a puddle at her feet.

Sultry night air rushed up to caress her naked body. A slow smile unfurled on Pan's lips as he drank her in. There was a reflexive urge to cover herself from his thorough examination, but Claire resisted. If she was honest with herself it was wildly exciting to be totally bare for his viewing pleasure. What was it about Pan that made her feel so unlike her usual self? Not insecure and timid, but desirable and unafraid.

"You are sublime." He announced after a long pause. As if to demonstrate the veracity of his words he stroked his cock that loomed up as hard as the marble statue that bore his likeness. It seemed to grow even larger in his fist.

The knowledge that she had done this to him simply by revealing her body made her feel truly beautiful and powerful. Like she could vanquish a whole pantheon of immortals with one swish of her hips. Ladies lock up your pagan fertility gods. With the power came a rush of wetness to her core. For the first time in the evening, she felt more like the hunter than the prey.

What now? She was a virgin after all. She didn't know what to do with a man, never mind one like him. Yet her instincts answered for her. Curious fingers found the shaft that reared up between them. Surprisingly heavy and snaked with thick veins, his cock was firm yet impossibly soft like bronze wrapped in silk. He responded to her touch by letting out a guttural groan.

"Gods, your sexy." He rasped as he reached out for her. It was his turn to explore her now, fingertips working magical little circles down her neck, along the shadow of her collarbone, to the creamy swell at the top of her breasts. His feathery touch barely brushed the tips of her painfully erect nipples forcing a frustrated moan from Claire's lips.

Her sex drive kicked into turbo mode. A blind need was racing through her system. One that would not be satisfied by such fleeting touches. If she didn't get what she needed soon she feared her head might explode.

As if he could read her mind the intensity of his touch increased, hands roaming wildly over her heated flesh. His rough palm slid down her stomach. In seconds his fingers were gliding along the folds of her sex. He lightly traced the boundary of her opening, testing, teasing, leaving her feeling empty. The walls of her sex opening wide and contracting hard, seeking fulfillment. Now she was really on the verge of detonation.

"Mmm, so wet and ready." Pan released a growl at he collected the dew that dripped down her thighs.

Then suddenly he was inside her. It was only one slender finger but the sheer bliss of being penetrated made her legs give out. Before she knew what was happening he had caught her around the waist and gracefully deposited her body on the bed in a whirl of action.