Fragile Crystal: Rubies and Rivalries (The Crystal Fragments Trilogy) (6 page)

Her toes were stretched out, just making contact with the floor, and her thighs were spread across his lap, the front of her dress covering their loins as she began to grind into him. Her breath was coming in short, sharp bursts, and beneath the fabric she could feel her nipples stiffening, her breasts swelling with excitement.

She was about to begin moving more quickly, when voices echoed from the dark entrance way across from them. Panicking slightly, Kris made to move but Daniel grabbed hold of her wrist, not allowing her to rise any further nor for his erection to slip out of her. “Did I say you could fucking move?” he growled in her ear in a low voice. She shook her head.

He lifted her legs up gently, pressing them together. That made her sex squeeze around his shaft which already felt as though it was pressing into her womb, and the sensation was such that she almost began to climax there and then. Her feet were now off the floor, dangling above his own feet, and Daniel returned his hands to hers, holding them firmly in her lap.

When the other couple came through the doorway, ducking their heads although the truth was they were short enough to clear it easily, Kris wanted to giggle and had to stifle her laughter. Daniel was kissing her back gently, between the shoulder blades, and Kris was glad the light was so poor here as she could feel her face burning.

“
Bom dia
,” the man said. The diameter of the well was only twenty feet or so, but he felt uncomfortably close to her. They were a couple, perhaps in their fifties, stout and fit and smiling as they looked at Kris and Daniel.

“Hello,” Kris replied in Portuguese.

As the other couple moved into the centre of the stone floor and began to take photos of the open entrance above them, Daniel twitched his cock, a throb throughout his length that made Kris bite her lip. She could not prevent a slight whimper escaping, however, and the woman looked at her with some concern, her face kindly, a tuft of greying hair falling across her brow.

“Are you okay?” she asked, still speaking in Portuguese.

“Yes,” Kris replied, her voice trembling. “It’s just a little... cold down here.” And so it was, although she felt anything but cool at that moment.

The woman smiled, and turned her attention back to her husband. Again Daniel made his erection swell and throb inside her, causing Kris to press her hands down hard in her lap. Her clitoris was burning, itching, and she so wanted to scratch and rub it.

“Don’t you dare,” he whispered into her ear, his hand gripping hers even more tightly. “You don’t fucking come until I say so.”

It took all Kris’s effort to stop herself from moaning. She could feel the walls of her vagina rippling around the thing inside her, her womb pressing against the head. If only she could shift her position, press her pubic bone down, she would be able to climax, but he refused to let her move. She was so fucking wet now, sodden down below.

Although the other couple could have only been in the well for a few minutes, cooing and making appreciative noises as they looked up to the stairwell that spiralled around, it felt like an eternity to Kris. She was burning now, and her breasts were aching, desperate to be touched. She wanted to feel herself, to run her hands all over herself, but Daniel held her in his iron grip, her legs dangling down over his as his cock pulsed inside her, twitching and making her even more sensitive with each motion.

At last, the couple began to climb up the stairwell, and Kris wriggled her buttocks a little, eager to gain some traction inside. Daniel, however, squeezed her thigh hard on the delicate inner flesh, making her eyes shoot open as a gasp escaped her lips—and also causing her to flood him a little more.

“Don’t. Fucking. Move.” His voice was deep, quiet, ominous. She could imagine his eyes now, glaring like a demon’s as he concentrated, and that thought alone was enough to bring on another tremor inside her.

The voices of the other couple were receding now, and Kris let out a moan as Daniel made himself throb and pulse more quickly. Now, at last, he let go of her hands and immediately she opened her legs, pushing her toes down to the floor and lifting up her hips. She was so wet that as she raised herself up his erection almost came out of her, but hurriedly grappling its slick shaft with her hands she placed herself back over him and forced herself down, almost slamming into his lap.

A few more times of doing this, rising and falling on him, and her orgasm began. She was trying not to cry out, and Daniel’s hand came up over her mouth, forcibly preventing her from screaming. She bit down hard on his finger, a bite that was savage and must have hurt from the way he grunted, but he simply bucked his own hips upwards to meet hers, his thickness swelling even more as his seed began to shoot inside her. As her climax rose, she lifted her eyes. Above her, the blue disk at the top of the well was incredibly clear, clouds floating across it and though it was so far away she felt she could reach up and touch the sky.

He held her quietly for a moment, but before long they could hear someone else beginning to descend the stairs. When she slid from his lap, her hungry sex filling with air as his massive cock evacuated her, she thought she would fall to the floor, but he grabbed her with one hand as he used the other to fumble with his flies. She wanted to turn around, to get on her knees and taste that sticky cock, covered with her own juices and his semen, to lick it clean.

Instead, they stumbled through the open doorway, giggling like teenagers as they did so. For a few seconds it was completely dark and they couldn’t see anything, and Daniel let out a cry as he bashed his head on a low-hanging rock, something that made both of them laugh out loud. Then a string of fairy lights appeared around a corner, lighting their way as they slowly groped along the cold, dank walls. At last, ahead of them the passageway opened up to the light and they re-emerged at last into the light.

Kris was still damp between her legs, and she could feel a lukewarm stickiness that was both intoxicating and faintly repulsive. “Oh God,” she murmured, hugging Daniel’s arm and jumping up for a moment to land a peck on his cheek. “I feel a complete mess.”

He grinned at her, then looked down at himself. The front of his trousers were marked and messy and, for the first time since she had known him, he looked genuinely embarrassed. “Great,” he laughed apologetically. “You’re not the only one. Come on, let’s go and clean up.”

As they walked down the hill towards nearby toilets, several people stared at them either in curiosity or, in a couple of cases, with something approaching disgust as they recognised the cause of Daniel’s predicament. Kris still had no knickers on—her lover had not thought to return them to her—and a cool breeze blew between her thighs. “Can I have those back?” she asked, gesturing to his pocket.

He shook his head. “No. A trophy, I think. Anyway, if I have to go around in a state for the rest of the afternoon, I want you to share my predicament.”

This made her laugh and she entered the lavatory, cleaning herself in a cubicle as much as she could and, when she was sure no-one else was around, splashing water from a basin between her legs.

When she came outside, Daniel was already waiting for her. His own attempts at self-cleansing had resulted in a large, damp patch across his crotch which, if anything, drew more attention to him than before.

“Come on,” she said, gesturing to a nearby garden where waiters were serving drinks. “Let’s get a coffee while you dry off.”

“Well, that was fun,” he said as they sat down beside a metal table. A waiter came over to them almost immediately. He was handsome in a conventional way, with dark hair and eyes and a swagger to his step that made it clear that he knew what women thought of him. He was also evidently keen to serve Kris, attracted no doubt by the flush of her cheeks and sparkle in her eye.

“Senhor, Senhora,” he said, directing his attention only briefly to Daniel.

“Two coffees, please,” she answered in Portuguese. “And two pasteis as well.”

The waiter dipped his head and glanced towards Daniel again, his smile fixed as in this position he could clearly see the dark stain across Daniel’s trousers.

“Don’t worry about him,” Kris continued, her eyes glinting. “He’s an old man and suffers from incontinence.”

“What did you say?” asked Daniel as the waiter left them in some confusion.

“I asked for coffee and cakes for my handsome lover,” Kris replied with a wicked smile.

Daniel shook his head. “Somehow I don’t believe you,” he told her with mock pain. “Not that it matters. Can’t believe I—we—just did that.”

“It was
fun
. This whole place is fun. Thank you for bringing me here,” she said, leaning across the table to kiss him fully on the lips.

The waiter was returning with their drinks and stared at the two of them now with something approaching contempt. They ignored him, however, and drank their coffees and ate the small custard pastries in peace.

After the garden, Daniel called Filipe. “Yes,” he said. “I know I said a bit longer, but I thought we’d go to the castle... Don’t worry. Finish your meal.... We’ll see you in half an hour... at the gates to the Quinta da Regaleira.”

By the time they had dawdled through the house, as ostentatious, gaudy and wonderful as the gardens, and come to the main gate Filipe was there to meet them. Holding the door open for her, Daniel let Kris get into the car first and then shuffled alongside her, passing instructions to Filipe to drive them both to the castle.

As they wound along the steep road that led to the Castelo dos Mouros, Kris held onto Daniel’s arm, nuzzling against him. The patch on his trousers was, to his relief, drying now, but he smirked when she pointed this out to him. She was glad. He looked relaxed, completely at peace.

Daniel dropped them off at the entrance to the castle itself and, joining the queue of tourists, they paid and entered, following the tree-lined path that led alongside the huge, stone walls of the ancient fortress. Built by the Moors first of all, its conquest by Afonso had marked a turning in the tide. Since then, it had been added to and expanded over the centuries, and while parts of it lay in ruins its solid walls still ran along the mountain top in dramatic fashion.

They passed beneath the gatehouse and walked through the central ruin, coming to the front walls that had been renovated in recent years. Kris went ahead, almost skipping as she ran up the steps and, behind her, Daniel raised an eyebrow as the wind lifted her skirt, showing a brief glimpse of her buttocks as she moved.

She was oblivious to everything, however. This was a place she had known before and loved. Her father had brought her here, lifting her on his shoulders so that she could look down over the valley in which lay Sintra as well as across the mountains and hills to the blue, shining Atlantic.

The parapet of the castle wall was low, and the wind was much breezier up her. Kris had to hold down her skirt while she gripped onto one of the crenellations in front of her. She was admiring the beautiful view—even more beautiful than her memory—when Daniel finally came and stood beside her.

“I want to go up there,” she said, pointing to one of the towers that dotted the walls, a narrow stair leading up the outside of its stone walls. Daniel said nothing but nodded tersely.

By the time they came to the top, he able to see much more than her modesty as she climbed in front of him, she felt alive and buzzing with vitality. Daniel, however, was silent, and when he stood beside her, his fingers almost digging into the stone, she noticed that his knuckles were white and his face pale.

“Are you okay?” she asked, resting her hand gently on his arm.

“You know that bit in
Vertigo
, when Jimmie Stewart tries to run up into the bell tower after Kim Novak and can’t move...”

“Yes,” she replied, frowning.

“Well, I feel a bit like that now.”

“Oh, you big pussy!” she said, mock-punching him on the arm. “You’re safe as houses up here.”

“Houses maybe. It’s castles I’m not so sure about.”

She stared at him. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were scanning the horizon, refusing to look down. She raised a hand to her mouth. “God, you’re not joking, are you?” she said softly.

He shook his head, grimly. “I need to go down,” he told her.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No! No. It’s fine, really. You stay here, enjoy the view. You’d think a man my size would have a head for heights. It never works out that way, though.”

She watched him go, smiling thoughtfully. Daniel Stone, so strong, so big, so rich—and so obviously scared at that moment. When he had gone, she turned her attention back to the landscape. On one side she could see the glorious terracotta and lemon walls of Pena, perched atop a neighbouring mountain like a palace from a fairytale. Down below was Sintra itself, and if she turned she could make out the distant suburbs of Lisbon.

It was glorious to be there at that moment. She still had a lingering warmth between her legs, and though the wind whipped around her at this height she felt safe and secure, happier than she had in a long time. Everything was perfect, just perfect, she thought to herself. If only they didn’t have to leave here.

As she descended the stairs, taking a little care to ensure that no passers by caught a glimpse of her tenderest secrets, she spotted Daniel in the grounds of the castle. He was watching her walk, and even at this distance she could see that he was smiling. She waved and felt a glorious swelling in her chest when he waved back. She couldn’t believe she had been so foolish the day before: he was hers, dammit! And that was an end to the matter.

As she came to the final section of the wall, he had stood and was slowly coming towards her. She felt her spirits lift and all her cares left her. One, two steps and he was closer, and closer still. With a laugh, she decided to jump down into his arms, as lovers should.

The look of panic and horror on his face as she leaped into the air told her instantly that she had misjudged the distance, that he was too far away. But by then it was too late. He had begun to run immediately, and she almost made it to his arms which swept up to meet her, but the pain in her leg was excruciating. As it shot up through the bones inside her, she felt sick and the world started to spin around her, rotating too quickly for her to see it clearly any more. The sky that only that morning she thought she could touch now crashed down upon her.