Alice's ass was stinging from the cold. The loose chains around her wrists clanged loudly when she shifted her position, and she winced.
It was the eighth day of her stay at the monastery. Her initiation night.
Alice could still slip the chains off. She could still walk the long, slanted road back down to the village. But of course, she'd be stoned to death as soon as someone recognized her.
Her breath rose in white clouds up to the ceiling of the cavern.
Faded frescoes of naked beast-head gods danced up the walls. If Alice squinted she could just make out an orca-woman lying entwined with a seal-woman, their hands outstretched to the smattering of stars outside. Moonlight cast down over where she lay, her naked body lightly covered and even more lightly restrained, waiting on the altar for her initiation rites.
Footsteps echoed quietly in the cavern, accompanied by the steady clunk of a staff. A tendril of earthy incense wafted towards her. Alice squeezed her eyes shut. Her chest heaved involuntarily, the thin sheet draped over her body shifting lightly against her hardened nipples.
The footsteps stopped in front of the altar.
"Widow Alice?"
She opened her eyes.
A handsome priestess was watching her carefully. She had jet black hair streaked through with grey, slicked back on her head like a leopard seal. Despite her greying hair, the woman's smooth skin and hazel eyes made Alice think she might only be about thirty or so, the same age as herself. The priestess' lips were set in a thin, grim line on her face, cut through with faded white scars that slid down her cheeks and into the neckline of her embroidered ceremonial garments.
The priestess spoke with a deep, slightly hoarse voice. "Widow Alice, have you cast aside your family name and earthly possessions to meet the gods with pure intentions?"
Alice breathed slowly. In and out. "Yes." She wanted to stay in the monastery; to call this place her new home. That counted as pure intention, didn't it?
"Do you understand the rites you are about to undergo?"
Alice bit her lip. "The Abbess explained everything to me..."
"But you have questions."
"I-I'm afraid I won't be able to perform well for you," Alice whispered. She'd never met this woman before. She didn't know what she liked in bed, or how to please her...
The priestess blinked. For a long moment, they stared at each other.
"You don't need to do anything." the priestess said slowly. "I will be the master of ceremonies tonight, I will act on behalf of the gods and perform the rites on your body. Just say whether you wish to proceed or not."
"Oh. Um, yes. I do wish to proceed." Alice's face burned despite the cold.
The woman smiled ever so slightly, and set down her smoking staff. The incense fizzled on the marble tiles. "My name is San. I promise I will be gentle."
The priestess came up to the altar and traced the outline of Alice's body through the cloth with her fingertips. Alice shivered.
"Now remember, this rite isn't meant to humiliate you," San murmured. "It's only a demonstration of what the gods can offer their devotees."
San's fingertips lightly, barely, touched on the tips of Alice's nipples. Alice's back arched involuntarily.
"I will endeavor to teach you the meaning of devotion for the believer."
Without touching her skin again, San gingerly lifted the chains off of Alice's wrists and ankles. They clinked as they spilled onto the floor, leaving bands of cold skin prickling in their absence. Alice missed their weight. They had almost felt warm.
San sighed. In an almost inaudible voice, she said, "The gods love those who come to them with desire."
San's warm fingers parted Alice's legs. Alice gasped again. The silk cloth that draped over her body now rubbed between her thighs where it was damp with her arousal. Warmth seeped into the rich fabric and cooled against her skin. Theodore had never touched her so sensually before, not even on their wedding night. She'd never known anything but furious drunken sex--a twisted man's idea of love.
San tugged at the fabric so that it whispered over Alice's clit. Alice whimpered, her thighs pulling up to squeeze, to chase the intoxicatingly light pressure. San pushed her legs apart again and Alice moaned helplessly. The white sheet slipped off of her.
Alice gazed at San, how she was dressed handsomely in her thick, intricate robes, how she looked hungrily at Alice's naked body. Like I'm her bride, she thought.
"You must know how much the gods want you," San murmured. Her eyes devoured Alice in the low moonlight, tracking the soft shadows where her breasts rested heavily on the curve of her ribs, where the darkness pooled between her legs.
Alice was keenly aware of the age on her body. Ten years had passed since the day she'd stood in front of that makeshift altar. She'd worn an oversized gown that was more yellow than white, borrowed from one of Theodore's cousins, and signed away her maiden name to him on the faded town registry.
Alice searched desperately for the cloth to cover herself with, but it had already completely slithered off the altar and out of reach.
"Don't hide." San pushed her back down, gently. Alice's back met with the cold marble again and she moaned. "The gods see all of you; they must have all of you." Slim brown fingers took Alice's chin and guided her to meet San's piercing gaze.
"How can you say all that?" Alice whispered. "When you don't know who I am, or what sins I've committed?"
San stopped her speaking with a firm kiss. Her lips were thin but soft, and very warm. "Alice, I am your initiator. I know all there is to know about you. I have become the love of the gods incarnate so that I may please you."
San slipped off her shoes to climb onto the altar. She settled on top of Alice's hips, knees pressing warmly against her waist on both sides.
Alice panted hard, unable to stop herself from grinding up into San's heat.
