Connor unlocked the door to the basement and walked down the stairs, his way illuminated only by the flickering orange candle he held. As he got close to the bottom, the glow of his candle was joined by the glow of another. He stepped off the bottom step onto the floor, casting his gaze to the center of the room.
Samantha kneeled there, nude, her long golden curls hanging down her back, to her waist. Her hands rested palms turned upward on her creamy thighs. Connor saw that her eyes were closed, and her breathing slow and heavy and regulated. It was obvious to him that she was deep in meditation. Placing the orange candle in a wrought iron handle on the wall, he leaned back against the concrete wall, watching her, waiting for her to finish. The red candle she knelt before flickered and glowed, causing shadows to pass over the curves of her tiny body.
After a moment she opened her azure eyes and looked up, smiling as she saw him standing there. Connor smiled back.
"All cleansed and purified and ready?" He asked her.
Samantha nodded and gracefully lifted her small frame from the kneel.
"I've had nothing to eat but bread, honey and water for a week. I gave myself the rosewater douche and enema, as per your specifications. Then I shaved myself nice and satin smooth and bathed, using the bath oils you provided. When I was finished, I came out, lit the candle, and meditated. I'm ready when you are, my Lord."
He smiled and walked over to the closet, taking down the long white robe and crossing to where she stood, holding it as she turned and slid her arms into the sleeves. She turned back to him and raised her chin, and he tied the laces at the neckline of the robe.
"Give me a moment to prepare myself." He told her, taking the green robe down from its hanger and disappearing into the small bathroom in the back corner of the basement. Samantha knelt before the candle again, staring into it, mentally putting her mind in order for the coming events.
Samantha couldn't believe when Connor had told her about his plans for the Samhain ritual. When he had described her role in it, she had felt a tightening in her center. Of course she had agreed, just as she would have agreed to any demands he made upon her. The time had long since passed when she had fooled herself into believing that she owned herself.
She heard the sound of the toilet flushing, then the sound of the shower going on. As she continued to kneel and stare into the flame of the candle, a smile curled the edges of her lips. She could hear Connor in the shower, singing to himself. After a moment she heard the water shut off. Samantha pictured him rubbing himself dry with the large red towel hanging on the rack.
The door opened, and Samantha looked up. Connor stepped out of the bathroom, steam swirling around him. The green robe was tied at his throat, and hung open to reveal his nude body, just as hers did. The light of the candle glinted off the ring pierced through the head of his penis.
Connor looked at her and smiled, reaching his hand out towards her.
"Ready?" He asked. She arose from her kneel in a fluid motion and stepped towards him, placing her small hand in his. He gave it a squeeze and led her to the stairs, retrieving the orange candle from the holder on the wall as he passed. Together they climbed the stairs, leaving her temporary cell behind.
Pausing by the front door, they both slipped their feet into sandals. Connor opened the front door and held it for her.
"After you, my Lady." He told her, standing aside with his arm extended. Samantha smiled at him and stepped out onto the front porch, the cool autumn air causing her nipples to grow instantly hard as pebbles.
Connor took hold of Samantha's arm and led her down the front steps and across the leaf-strewn lawn to the line of trees at the edge. Holding his candle before him, the flame flickering wildly in the light wind, he searched for and found the footpath, and together they followed it to the little clearing. As she had made her final preparations for the ritual earlier, he had been here in the clearing, preparing it.
Connor led her to the center of the clearing and turned her to face him, looking down into her bright blue eyes. He untied the laces holding the robe closed at her throat, letting it fall from her body into a puddle at her feet. With a grin he reached out and gave the ring through her left nipple a playful tug.
"Down." He commanded quietly. With a smile and a nod she stepped out of the robe at her feet and the sandals, turned, and dropped gracefully onto her hands and knees, facing north. Connor untied his green robe and shrugged out of it, then bent and picked up the white one she had worn. He carried the robes and sandals to the edge of the clearing, hanging the robes on a convenient tree branch and placing the sandals at the foot of the oak.
Connor crouched down at the foot of the mighty oak and reached into the duffle bag he had placed there earlier, removing the items essential to tonight's ritual. He took the thick black pillar candles, the wooden bowl, and the small coffee can containing the oil and placed them next to Samantha where she knelt on all fours. He also set aside the goatskin of wine, the tray of cakes and fruit, and the silver goblet. Then he took the athame, the double-edged knife used in rituals, and walked to the northern edge of the clearing.
Connor raised the athame before his face, saying a quiet blessing in the name of the Lord and the Lady to it and calling upon the guardian of the North, then angled the point towards the ground and began walking slowly in a clockwise direction, defining the circle. He paused at the East, the South, and West, raising the athame each time and calling upon the guardian of the corresponding direction. When he had completed the circle, he turned and walked back to Samantha, dropping to his knees behind her.
Connor placed one of the candles on her back, over her right shoulder blade, to represent the Sun God, and the other over her left shoulder blade, to represent the Earth Mother. He struck a match on his thumbnail and lit each of the candles in turn, watching as the flames leapt up, melting the black wax. As the candles caught, the wax began to pool around the base of the wick.
"Hold very still." He commanded, her. She softly whispered her affirmation. Connor took the top off the coffee can and poured the oil into the wooden bowl, the heavy sweet scent of cloves wafting up to his nostrils. He dipped the blade of the athame into the oil and coated it, then raised the athame above her, holding it over her back. He shook his hand, sprinkling Samantha's back lightly with the oil, then dipped the blade back into the bowl.
Samantha bit her lower lip as she felt the cold droplets of oil splatter her soft bare skin, and concentrated on not moving. She was very aware of the candles balanced on her back. Her long golden hair hung in ringlets down around her face, so as to be out of the way of the candle flames. Connor had discussed the ritual with her before hand, and she knew her role as his altar, and what was about to happen. Still, the feel of the cold, oil coated steel blade of the athame against her right inner thigh caused her to gasp.
Connor traced the blade up her inner right thigh, then moved to the left, leaving her thighs glistening with the clove oil. He grinned to himself, knowing that they would soon be glistening with something else. Dipping the blade back into the bowl, he raised it up and placed it against the swollen lips of her sex, tracing and consecrating the cleft and the mouth of her cunt with the oil. He turned the blade in his hand, and tilted it downward, causing the oil to run to the tip. Then he carefully placed the tip of the cold steel against the swollen jewel of her clit, moving it in a slow circle, coating her nub with the clove oil.
Samantha moaned and shifted just slightly, causing the candles to tilt just enough for hot wax to spill out and run down the sides, landing on her back. As the burning wax touched her delicate skin, she flinched. Connor saw a droplet of blood form on the right inner lip of her cunt as the flinch caused her to press against the edge of the blade. He dipped the blade back into the oil and smoothed the blessed liquid onto the wound.
Samantha bit her lip harder as she felt the clove oil on her clit and the tiny cut begin to burn with exquisite pain. She concentrated hard on not moving, asking the Goddess for assistance. She felt a calm come over her, and knew that her prayer had been answered. Her clit and cunt lips still throbbed with the burn of the clove oil, but she knew that Gaia was with her, helping her to endure.
Behind her, Connor dipped his fingers into the oil, then lifted his hands and began applying it to the firm cheeks of her bottom, sliding his fingers down, across the tight, puckered star muscle of her ass, then coating his fingers again and slowly running his hands up along her sides, coating her breasts and nipples with the oil.
Samantha controlled her breathing as she felt his hands applying the oil to her. Connor ran his hands over her small but firm breasts, letting his fingers linger for a moment on the hard nipples. She could feel his body pressing against her, and smiled to herself. She could tell by how his solid erection throbbed against the right cheek of her ass that just as Gaia was with her this night, Cernunnos was with Connor.
Connor growled softly, pinching her nipples between his fingertips and grinding his cock against the smooth flesh of her ass. The bumping of their bodies caused the wax to spill from the candles again, splattering on her back, causing her to whimper slightly.
The whimper brought Connor's mind back to the task at hand. Giving her nipple ring a quick tug, he pulled back from her body reluctantly, rising up straight on his knees behind her. He lifted his arms to the sky, the half moon shining brightly directly above the clearing, and began to speak.
