The strapping hunters, clad in deep green, felt the shift in the wind and crouched low, watching the pair of chamois abruptly still.
“Shhh, they hear you fidgeting, Nikolas,” warned Josef.
“Something else spooked them,” he whispered back.
A sudden gust, and the animals leapt away through the spruces to the right.
The men hurried to follow the tracks, coveting the animals’ hides and already tasting the tender, lean meat on their tongues. They soon spotted the pair huddled before the dark mouth carved into the limestone. Josef was removing the bow slung high over his back when the wind changed direction again. Their prey disappeared into the cave.
Before the men could follow, a kettle of vultures spiraled downward in narrowing circles to rest on the bare branches of a dead tree.
“Pesky scavengers,” snapped Josef. “You’ll get none of our prey.”
Nikolas swore their disproportionately large eyes were fixated on them, but said nothing.
As they trod lightly into the cave, Nikolas’s torchlight was immediately snuffed out by the darkness.
~ooOoo~
Nikolas looked close to death. His flesh was pale as the winter’s snow, with his mouth stuck agape, and his pupils had swallowed what little color was left in his eyes.
Melina tried to calm him to find out about Josef, but Nikolas made no sense, only babbled incoherently about the air, a cave, and evil while pointing over the north ridge where the trees grew thickest.
Her husband was missing, so no matter what was out there, Melina had to find him.
The songbirds had long quit singing, and the sun was barely visible when she finally stumbled upon the cave Nikolas had described. The air shifted unnaturally around her as she followed the footprints into the opening. The quietness inside frightened her. Only her love for Josef pushed her forward when her senses screamed at her to turn and run.
Once inside, she moved carefully, sticking close to the jagged stone walls, until she thought she heard whispers and stopped.
An unsettling gust blew by her, sounding like a lonely wailing, before a black swarm tore from the stalactites. Their flapping wings were like thunder. She shrieked, dropping low with arms flailing, imagining the bats tangled in her hair.
Be quiet, woman. The words softly echoed within the chamber.
Her head snapped side to side. “Who’s there?!”
Who are you? Why have you come?
Something dark gathered in the narrow passageway ahead, churning as it moved toward her.
“I’m… Melina. I… well, you see… my husband, Josef… he came here,” she stammered.
Her hair lifted, and a cool breath blew against the nape of her neck. She spun around, but no one was there.
Melina, Melina. Such a beautiful Melina.
“Are you doing that?”
I have not felt anyone in so long.
Another whisper of a breeze brushed against her ear.
“Show yourself!”
Warmer air blew, pushing her hair back from her face. She swatted at the air, then held her hair down with her hands.
“Stop! Where’s my husband?!”
Your body likes what I’m doing, Melina.
Her eyes dropped to the goosebumps on her arms, but she persisted. “I said, ‘Stop!’”
The wind hissed. You? Order me? I could take the air from your lungs.
Suddenly, her throat tightened as if squeezed. Her hands flew to her neck, yet no fingers were there, but the pressure remained. Forceful. Constricting. She panicked, unable to breathe. She clawed at the air. Then the sensation vanished.
She stumbled backward, sucking in oxygen. Her legs quivered so that they barely held her upright. Evil was here.
“Don’t hurt me.” She drew in another deep breath. “I just want to find Josef.”
He’s here.
Those words calmed her somewhat. “Show me.” She quickly added, “Please.”
Moments of eerie silence followed. She closed her eyes; instinct told her to brace herself. Then charcoal smoke surged once more, blowing her back against the chilly stone. When she dared open her eyes again, the graphite haze had fully formed into a man, dark and undeniably beautiful. Hair like glassy obsidian framed the handsomest face she’d ever seen. She realized he wasn’t wielding the wind; he was the wind.
She couldn’t stop staring. “Who… what are you?”
He spun around her, whipping around her clothes while he whispered his answer.
I am gentle.
I am unpredictable.
I am… ferocious.
That last word prickled her flesh while her mind struggled to make sense of what her eyes were seeing. “I only want—”
You want? What about what I want?
Her hands protectively flew back to her throat. “What do you—”
He interrupted her again, his desire growing. I want to touch you in this form, and for you to touch me.
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
As he moved around her, his edges blurred, and air tickled down her arms to her fingers, then he reformed, pressing her against the wall with his hardening form.
How would such small hands touch me? Shyly, or with a hidden passion. Melina.
Despite her best efforts to resist, he was seducing her. His otherworldly beauty and knowing touches quieted the assuredness of her next, “I won’t.”
I could take what I want without asking.
The air lifted a strap from her shoulders. Her breath quickened and she wrapped her arms around herself.
I only ask you to give me what you give him.
He moved closer and bowed his head. The faintest pressure of his mouth brushed her neck, then the hollow at the base of her throat, then he looked at her again. Her quickening pulse gave her away.
Afterward I’ll take you to him.
“If I… if I let you….”
Yes, he answered, not letting her finish.
“Then… I will.”
Her straps slid off her shoulders. She clutched the fabric against her breasts.
“What are—”
I need to touch all of you.
The spinning air caught her skirts and they billowed, revealing her thighs.
I know where you pulse. What feels good to you. Give in to me.
The air swooshed around her, and she leaned into him to keep her footing, accepting what would be. It helped that he was so very handsome. She focused on his bewitching face. No lines or blemishes. Just dark perfection. His eyes of coal demanded more from her. She couldn’t help herself and reached up to cup his face as their hair whipped about. He pulled her closer and kissed her.
What started as a soft, slow kiss quickly turned urgent. Despite the chill of her surroundings, she warmed to him and released the fabric hiding her breasts. It blew from sight, and his hands flew to palm her breasts and rough up her nipples.
He broke their kiss and pressed his forehead against hers.
Such a torturous existence, Melina. Out there, I can brush against you, yet your response is detached from me. He pinched a nipple and held it. Do you know how I ache for this? Such a simple touch as your nipple, you take for granted. But not I.
He pressed his lips against hers again, moaning in his husky voice. How easily her mouth fell into a rhythm with his. There was no wetness in his kisses, but a caress as if by the softest fabric.
She slit her eyes to find him watching her. Her lips parted for him, inviting his tongue, and she felt herself floating with him. She threaded her fingers through his long hair when his tongue thrust against hers.
He pulled away to move behind her, one hand around her waist while the other coaxed her lips open. She rested her head back against his chest. Her fingers curled around the strong arm holding her in place to fully absorb his plunging, thick fingers.
Like his lips, his fingers were smooth. They knew where she needed them. She cried out in pleasure as he led her to the edge, then held her there. Only when she begged did he send her crashing over the cliff.
When she came, her hands clutched the ridges of his thighs. He sucked on the sensitive flesh of her neck until her hips stopped quivering.
Touch me, Melina.
She turned to look down at the hardness that had been persistently pressing into her backside when he fingered her. His dark cock hung long against his thigh. When she curled her small hand around it and squeezed, the wind howled.
Deep, guttural howls bounced off the stalagmites while she stroked him.
Melina…
He was so hard and pulsed in her palm. She knew she shouldn’t, but wanted him inside her. They floated higher as the swirling air held her legs around his waist while he slipped inside her warmth. At first, he held his position, fattening until he filled as much as she could take. She squeezed her pussy tighter around him. He roared and thrust upward with vigor. She clung to his massive body, mashing her mouth against his while he fucked her with the strength of a tempest. They wildly twisted together.
All she’d known was the gentle lovemaking with Josef. But this was… violent. And exciting.
She screamed her wants to the wicked wind, and he responded quickly and with a powerful, passionate force that wrecked her body. Her cumming noises sounded as unnatural as his. They tremored as one, then his body began to lose its composure.
She cried out, “Are you alright?!” as she clinched to hold him within her.
The energy needed to hold this form has been spent.
The rotating smoke gently lowered her back to her feet, but stayed wrapped around her.
Even in a confined space, I can only hold form for short periods of time.
She stroked the air around her, feeling a sadness in her heart for him.
Stay with me.
His request unsettled her. “You know I cannot.”
You still wish to see him?
“Of course. He’s my husband.”
I know you enjoyed my touch, Melina.
“I did, but I love him.”
She grew anxious with his silence, knowing what he was capable of. Was he not going to fulfill his promise?
Finally, he spoke.
As you wish. His steely voice dissolved into a dispirited tone.
She breathed a sigh of relief, and yet…
In thoughtful silence, she followed him through gaps in the stone, all the while carefully avoiding the growing number of bones scattered about the floor. The musty smell became more pungent. He stopped short of another opening, turning to face her. She watched him struggle to hold his male form to look her in her eyes. He opened his mouth, then closed it, not sure how to start.
“What is it?”
He wanted to hurt me.
“Josef?”
His eyes held hers, quietly pleading.
He wouldn’t listen. Fought me.
Melina’s heart seized. “What did you do?!”
I… reacted… in the only way I know.
She brushed past him, and he dissolved into thin air. In the next chamber, a cathedral of crumbling rock, lay Josef on the cold, damp floor. At first glance, she thought him unharmed. But as she rushed closer, his stiffness became evident. There were no visible wounds, but his color was all wrong. His chest did not rise and fall with breath.
He was dead.
~ooOoo~
Melina never revealed to a soul the happenings inside the cave. Her empty eyes said enough while she drove a wooden cross into the soil with unsteady hands.
During her time spent grieving Josef, the panes would rattle. Sometimes, there’d be a sharp bang against the glass before the noise would cease. Other times, the rattling would persist until she’d cover her ears with her hands. The wicked wind was haunting her. He refused to let her forget.
And she grew to understand the pain of loneliness. She had companionship with the other villagers, but it was touch she needed. So one night, she turned the latch, raised the window a crack… then waited.
A breeze slipped into the room and rushed to brush against her cheek. The caress stirred the longing for deeper touches. She settled onto the bed and raised the hem of her nightgown over her hips.
She drew his air into her.
Forgive me, Josef.
