Sound explodes—the drumming thud hacking through me with such force I’m sure it rattles my bones.
I step forward, looking down from a mezzanine carved into the stone, out across a huge cavern strung with a web of lanterns that drape the space in a soft, golden glow.
A small waterfall at the far side pours into a pool, then streams through the center of the space. Trees heavy with clusters of bold red fruit twist up from the mossy ground; a strange sight in an underground cavern. A statuesque trio of red-haired drummers draped in loose clothing sit on stools atop a large, flat stone that sets them higher than the gyrating crowd.
There must be over two hundred men and women—heavy lidded, most sparsely dressed, others wearing nothing but masks and the erotic confidence of their utter bareness as they move to the beat like a throbbing heart. The raw smell of sex is heavy in the air, making my skin tingle with a disarming warmth.
I swallow thickly, taking in the scene with damning intrigue.
“During their heat, women drink tonics that keep them barren,” Gael yells over the pounding racket, unclipping the clasp of her cloak. “Then, they come here and fuck whoever—whatever—they want until the blaze dims.”
My eyes widen. “Whatever?”
“I took a nymph once,” she says dreamily. “They’re very elusive, and often appear the same as everyone else, but I assure you, they’renot.”
My cheeks heat, her implication striking a rebellious ember low in my belly. Or perhaps that’s just the beat. The smells. The masks. The moss beneath my feet.
She shrugs off her cloak, revealing a strappy garment made from golden material that sculpts the curves of her body like strokes of paint, and I envy her for the ability to strip down and bare herself so beautifully.
Confidently.
“Some people come here to feel the beat and let loose and justenjoythemselves … and then there’s those who simply want to screw,” she purrs with a wink, ripping one of the plump, red fruits from the net of vines woven across the wall that seem to sprout from the stone, the colorful bangles caught around her wrist tinkling against each other.
“What sort of fruit is that?”
“Not the sort for you.” Her tone is less playful now. “The forest nymphs grow these. They heat your blood and drug you with reckless desire.”
The words thud through me like blazing arrows.
“Thelastthing you need right now. Women have been labeled witches and burned at the stake for breaking their seals in the lead up to their coupling ceremonies.”
“What?”
A nod. “Less so recently, but …” she shrugs, waving at my bag, “For some, the moment you accept a cupla, your body no longer belongs to you.”
Heart in my throat, I stare at her, chewing her words from all angles.
She takes a deep bite of the fleshy fruit, red juice dribbling down her chin while Cainon’s words ring loud in my ears …
So, if I took you right here, right now, you’d bleed for me?
They made my blood crackle then.
They make itsizzlenow.
Gael moves toward the stairs carved into the wall. “You coming?”
I draw a deep breath that does nothing to shift this suffocating lump that’s sitting on my chest. “I’ll be down soon.”
She frowns. “I haven’t scared you, have I? We can go if you’d like.”
I shake my head. “It’s fine. I want to stay. I just—I need a moment.”
“Okay.” She smiles, her eyes starting to twinkle over with a lusty haze as she takes another deep bite and speaks through her mouthful. “I’ll be near the waterfall. There’s usually a few familiar masked faces there I enjoy the company of,” she says with a wink. “Just make your way down when you’re ready. No pressure.”
I watch her descend the stairs from the quiet mezzanine. Watch her embrace a masked woman baring a short pixie cut. They share a deep, tender kiss before Gael weaves their hands together and leads the woman into the charged beat, disappearing from my line of sight.
I step back and lower to the floor, spine planted against the vine-smothered wall.
