The evening of April Fool's
Sweat poured from Marcus' brow; the hot and sticky kind you feel in sub-tropical rain forests. But Marcus was not in the Amazon or Congo. Marcus was enjoying an April evening; on a lake; in Austin Texas; temperature about 63 degrees. Or at least he had been enjoying it.
The spring wind blew and caressed Marcus' skin with the promise of warmer weather to come including girls in bikinis and perhaps ventures into skinny dipping. But Marcus interpreted the breeze as icy pins penetrating his cheeks, arms and legs. It made him shiver uncontrollably.
Lilly hovered over him. She was asking a question. He blinked then he blinked again. She needed more. "Marcus, are you sure you are ready? Say yes!" she said with an urgency intended to make sure that Marcus heard her through what she imagined was a Greek chorus singing in his head.
He breathed then choked back a sob. He suddenly swiveled his head to the right. It was resting on a makeshift cot setup by the lake. His eyes shined with fear. He could make out the blurry heads and torsos of his compatriots - his co-conspirators - his friends. "I don't get it" he whispered. "This was supposed to be Tim." There was movement but his blurred vision couldn't make out any details. He blinked. Then he saw one blurry image separate from the others. It approached him. He could sense almost an electrical connection. He tried to reach out but his arms were secured. It was Tim. He could sense it.
The blurry head moved close. His cheek touched Marcus's cheek. He stank of pot and strawberry conditioner. Tim's unseen hand caressed Marcus' forehead.
"Marcus. Dear Marcus." Tim started in his familiar lisp, sounding more diabolical than sympathetic. "I know you are surprised. We all are. You are the last person any of us expected to be lying here. But remember, we all agreed to the deal." With this Marcus half yelped and half sobbed. He shook at his binds and he shook his head.
Tim let the outburst run its course then cradled Marcus' head in both of his hands and stared deep in his eyes. They both huffed deep adrenaline filled breaths at each other. Tim imagined each of his breaths as chariots flinging themselves onto the field of battle. There they met similar warrior chariots dispatched from deep inside Marcus's lungs. They clashed and then in an instant were gone - evaporated into the air - into the past.
"Marcus, listen to me" Tim couldn't tell if Marcus knew it was him or not. "I know you are scared. But you are the luckiest person in the world." Marcus blinked and heaved several chariot breaths. "You get to spend the rest of your life at Lilly's side." Marcus began to sob. "You will be her one and only, her consort. You will share all of her secrets and all of her plots. There will be no confidences between the two of you. And there will never be any reason not to trust each other." Tim paused. "I know I was supposed to be the one laying here. I can't explain what happened. Maybe, Marcus - maybe it's fate."
"Fate!" Marcus spat out
"Yes, fate". Tim held on and responded earnestly. "Think Marcus, think. We all know you love Lilly. We've seen how you flirted with her for the last three years. I thought - I mean - Lilly and I thought that perhaps she and I would be the right partners. But maybe this test - this demonstration of my love for Lilly showed something even more true. You showed you don't lust after Lilly. You - and only you - truly love and respect her soul. It's fate Marcus. Fate"
With that Lilly appeared again in the background. She whispered in Tim's ear.
"Marcus" Tim calmly addressed him. "We need to know if you are ready."
"Marcus, this is Lilly" her voice seemed to ride along with the soft soothing notes of a lute. "I want you to know that I love you. I can't even begin to understand how you are feeling - and the fear you have about your - well - your sacrifice - but please, please know that I will be here for you. It will be you and I. And I have such grand plans Marcus. You and I - we will be conquerors."
The night suddenly held still. The fire crackled. The wind blew.
'slooop slish, sloop slish'. The waters of the lake licked at the rocky shore.
"Please say yes" whispered Lilly.
Marcus blinked some more. He needed to clear his vision. He took a deep breath. He squeezed his eyes shut then opened them wide. The stars appeared above him. He quickly searched the sky and found him off to his left. Orion, the hunter, still hung in the sky - not quite ready to disappear for summer. Orion was Marcus' mentor god and there he stood pointing down to this small patch of humanity on a lakefront beach in Austin.
Orion would not - could not stand for this. Marcus knew this for certain. But his ethereal advisor was a brute - a slaughterer. Orion lost his place on earth because of his own blood lust. Orion never consummated his love with Artemis - and perhaps he never fulfilled his destiny because of the wrath he brought down on himself. Remembered forever in the stars Orion contributed little to earth's destiny.
Could he and Lilly be different? Could they be modern conquerors?
"Yes" Marcus stated. Then surprised at how weak his voice had become, repeated himself with more strength "God, yes".
Marcus caught the glint of the scalpel - a white and yellow light reflecting the stars and the campfire. Then Lilly lowered it out of sight. A cheer rang out along with some laughter and some gasps.
Marcus faded into unconsciousness and dreamed of Orion bowing down to Athena. The Goddess stood proudly over the subject, then in a bath of light turned herself into a scorpion.
February 3
Marcus was right. Everyone knew that he was not supposed to be the one lying on the cot with his balls in the hands of a pre-vet student. In fact this whole morbid demonstration of love, virility and renewal was Tim's idea. Tim had planned his own castration and in typical Tim fashion it was meant to be Group Theater.
Marcus had first heard of Tim's "Balls with the Wind" epic drama not much more than 60 seconds after finishing his own Group Theater with Nina and Elana two months earlier. Marcus's sex life was well above normal for an upper class man, but this threesome was a new watershed even for him.
There was no striptease when the three started - or awkward undressing. All three were eager to blow off some steam. Plus, Nina, Marcus and Elana had all seen each other naked at one point or another - although this is the first time all three were banging together. Free love among Marcus's college 'study' group was probably too conservative a statement. Couplings were common - and even two sex parties had been arranged over the three and half years - although the orgies almost always consisted of couples doing it in front of other couples. What the three were about to undertake was a rarity. Three naked college kids sharing the same erotic dance and they were all giddy with anticipation.
Nina, small breasted and big hipped even had a plan. Stripped naked she pushed Elana down on the futon, kneeled to her right and signaled for Marcus to kneel to her left. Elana giggled as she stared at Marcus' quickly thickening member and she reached out a hand to grab hold- but at the last minute she moved her hand to his hip. She brushed the black hair that masked his dark skinned thigh, giggled again then looked at Nina.
Nina produced a bottle of pineapple and coconut massage oil and had positioned it over Elana's thin waist that was slowly rising and falling with each breath. She gave it a squeeze.
"Eww - hey - that's cold" Elana reacted with a high laugh.
Nina proceeded to dribble the sweet smelling slippery stuff over Elana's belly, down her thighs and then up and over her breasts. Marcus didn't hesitate. As the oily pina colada quickly sought lower ground, he got his hands on skin and began to smear. Nina now joined in and their first job was to smooth and smother Elana's thighs, stomach, breasts and shoulders. Within moments Elana glistened like a Greek goddess - the white sheets framing her lithe body and strands of her long dark hair splayed about the pillow like they were floating on water - Venus presented to the world in a clamshell.
Now Marcus slowed down and began to focus on Elana's thighs. Elana had a runners build. Her lean white thighs connected to slightly wider but firm hips. Marcus ran his hands down the inside of her leg. His large hands were stretched side by side and slid his fingers down and under the milky thigh. His hands were massive and stretched from her knee to her crotch. He pulled his hands back to the front of the leg, applying just enough pressure to leave a trail of pink on white as his hot touch pulled her blood to the surface. Elana closed her eyes. She shifted her left leg a bit closer to Marcus, leaving some space for him to reach nearer her sex.
