Antonio's motorcycle sped through the deep canyon, passing foliage and boulders that could barely be seen in the thin streams of moonlight reflecting off the walls. The bike and its riders were dwarfed by the majesty that surrounded them - white-faded cliffs and hoary outcroppings that resembled ancient gargoyles in Gothic architecture. The canyon was the wild heart of the mountains, frighteningly beautiful.

Antonio banked into a sudden curve and Stephanie touched his indrawn arm, her body swaying into him naturally. The warmth of his skin startled her and she drew back involuntarily. Everything felt charged and spiky between them now, she realized. Even accidental touches were made premonitory by a sense of something about to happen.

"Where are we going?" she called to him. All he had told her was that the ride of initiation wasn't over.

"Up ahead" he called back. He wanted to ride with the motorbike gang -- The Warlords - badly indeed. In order for him to be a part of the gang, it meant that he had to initiate her as well, to ride with them.

The canyon opened up onto an amphitheater of living rock -- smooth sleek granite, jagged slate and ribbed limestone. Antonio headed for an opening in the cliffs in front of them, a dark, yawning maw that looked endless, as though it might connect the mountain with an alternative universe.

"It looks like a cave," she said. "Why are we going there?"

"Hang on. You'll see."

She felt wafts of cool air caress her face as they cruised into the mouth of the tunnel. The engine's soft rumble ricocheted off the walls and almost instantly they were swimming in a darkness so total it felt like deep-sea water. Stephanie's field of vision was obliterated. Disorientation swept her and she clutched Antonio, thankful for his reassuring warmth.

It seemed to her that they'd been riding forever and then a sound came to her from far away. It was silvery and melodious, like the shimmer of harp strings. The darkness above them sparkled with eerie phosphorescence and Stephanie had the feeling she was staring up at open sky, at stardust and infinity.

A shaft of light burst out of nowhere. Stephanie inhaled sharply as more and more light poured through the darkness until the path before them was illuminated. The rustling sound became a breathtaking roar. Before she knew what was happening, the wall alongside them had dissolved in the thunder of a waterfall. A fine spray coated Stephanie's arms and face as Antonio drove past cautiously.

"The grotto," he said a moment later as they rolled into an open-air fairyland. Exotic ferns hung from jutting rocks and a pair of waterfalls oozed from crevices between the boulders and spilled into a lagoon like pool. Stephanie looked up and saw that the stardust above them was the real thing. The sky was studded with constellations.

"This is breathtaking," she said, aware that Antonio had slid off the bike and was waiting for her. She spent the next several moments admiring the grotto, remarking on the lush greenery and the sparkling pool that bubbled up like warm champagne. Drinking in the scent of honeysuckle, she gazed up at the starry night until she was dizzy. And all the while, she wondered what was going to happen next?

A sparkle of curious humour lit Antonio's eyes. "Are you planning on getting off the bike anytime soon?" he asked.

"Well......sure."

She took his outstretched hand, aware that she was not only alone with him but more isolated from the world than she'd ever been with a man. She'd already sensed what this part of the ritual involved, but she didn't want to ask and have fears confirmed.

"I guess that we're not here for a picnic," she said softly.

Antonio agreed with a shrug. "Not unless you brought some food." He said, then looked into her eyes. "Nothing has to happen Princess.......not unless you want it to."

"If I did want it to, what would it be?" she said out loud.

Antonio studied her flushed expectancy, beguiled by the unconscious innocence she projected. She was irresistible. She made him feel dangerously male, both predator and protector. He wanted her body like hell on fire and now that he was a Warlord, there was nothing to stop him. Nothing but her. The initiation he chose for her had to be right. Slow and sweet. Sexy and mind-blowing.

"Have you ever heard of the Maiden's Spring?" he questioned.

She thought a moment. "It comes from mythology, doesn't it?"

"Close...It's a Celtic legend about a timber wolf who wanted to make love to a woman." He walked to the waterfall and held out his hand, letting the water splash through his fingers. "According to the legend, the wolf led the woman to the Maiden's Spring and when she drank its charmed water, he took human form.

Human form, Stephanie thought, drawn to Antonio's dark hair and mesmerizing bear brown eyes. "And did he make love to her then?"

"No he couldn't. She had released his body from animal form, but not his spirit. The woman could see he was in agony and she began to cry. The wolf gave her a wildflower for her hair and told her to bathe in the pool and wash her tears away."

"And did she?"

He nodded. "Afterward, she took the flower from her hair and set it adrift on the water. The flower was a Larkspur. It symbolizes freedom."

"And that released him?"

"Yes.......and then they made love."

Stephanie felt warmth radiate up her throat. Her heart was a little crazy but she actually thought the legend was rather lovely. "And that would be my initiation?"

"Yes.......there's one thing you should know, Princess. When the woman released the wolf, she gave up her right to refuse him."

"Refuse him what?"

"Anything he asked."

His eyes darkened as he said the words and Stephanie's heart went completely crazy. "Anything he asks?.......Anything?" She stepped back from him.

"That's the legend, Princess."

Stephanie's breathing sharpened painfully as she thought about what he was asking of her. She brought a hand to her throat, drawing together the neckline of her top. "I'm not sure I can do that."

"Do you want to do it?"

Stephanie's heartbeat went thready as he approached her. It was happening to her again, she realized, the same bizarre physical reaction she got when he was close. She felt strange, loose at the joints and dizzy.

Antonio touched her forearm and the heat of his skin shocked her. She pulled back and felt him respond with a staying hold. Stephanie blinked down at his hand, at the facile strength of his fingers. The sight of him holding her and the unexpected contact of their skin set her imagination on fire. Deep inside she felt a clutch of something that could only be desire.

It shivered through her like restless water. It gripped and caressed her tender parts like seeking fingers. Stephanie resisted the sensation, her stomach muscles tightening. Too fast, she thought. It was happening too fast. That was what frightened her about being with him. Her responds were lightening quick. One touch and she was liquid.

"Are you alright Princess?"

He drew his finger along the inside of her wrist, a gentle stroking gesture probably meant to reassure. Instead it inflamed. A whimper locked in her throat and it was then that the truth of her frantic responses hit her. The need to be physical with a man, to be held and caressed, to feel his hard muscles and harder bones pressing into the tender parts of her body.

"Tell me what you want, Princess."

His voice was gentle. It was husky and rich with male sexual ardor. Stephanie felt herself melting inside. "Princess". She turned to syrup when he talked like that, called her that.

"What are you doing to me?" Her voice was as whispery as the water cascading behind them.

"Nothing......yet."

"You know what I mean. I'm not the kind of woman who whimpers and melts all over the place. It's not my style, this drowning-in-passion stuff. So what are you doing?"

"I think you're doing it Princess. Give yourself credit."

"I don't want credit."

"What are you afraid of?"

"That's easy. You."

"What do you think I'm going to do to you?"

"I don't know. All kinds of things.......everything."

"I will if you want."

She couldn't take her eyes off him. She was transfixed by his features, caught in a way that she knew would haunt her dreams forever. She would close her eyes tonight - and every night - and see those bear brown eyes, black lashed and piercing, set like gemstones in an outlaw's handsome face.

Stephanie watched, fascinated as he wet his lips with his tongue. It made her think of the time she had touched her own lips.......and he'd become aroused just by watching her. Remembering, she did it again.

"Don't do that, Princess," he said. "Not unless you want a wild man on your hands."

Stephanie's heart quickened. And yet she continued, drawing her forefinger along the width of her lips and watching his eyes go smoky. She could hardly believe her recklessness.

"Don't say you didn't ask for this," he said, his mouth closing over hers roughly. He clamped a hand to her behind, palming her intimately as he brought her up against his lower body. It was frightening and thrilling to feel every inch of him so explicitly.

He deepened the kiss, crushing her lips under his. His free hand curved to the heavy ache of her breast, as though he could touch her anywhere he wanted, take any liberties with her body as he chose. Stephanie knew she had to stop him, but the riot of sensation inside her was shattering her control. The kiss was hot and hard and sexy, its message clear. He massaged her breast in rhythm with the deep movements of his mouth, roughing her up a little before he let go of her, his eyes blazing.

"Is that what you wanted?" he asked.

She shook her head, her heart throbbing painfully. Her lips tingled with the shock of what he'd done. "That was unbelievably crude. Why did you do it?"

"Because I'm crude." The fire in his eyes banked a little as he considered her indignant distress. "Don't play games with me Princess." He walked to his bike and hit the kickstand.

"What are you doing?" she asked, turning.

"I assumed you'd want to leave."

He could leave just like that? Unaffected? When she was shaking from head to toe. She wished she could shake him up a little. "Don't you ever lose control?" she asked.

Laughter sparkled in his eyes. "I think I just did."

"No I mean really lose control, the way I do..."

He was suddenly alert and faintly predatory. "How do you lose control?" He left the bike and walked toward her.

The words spilled out of her haltingly. "I fall apart when you touch me. I have these warm, watery feelings inside that make me think I'm drowning."

He stood in front of her and touching only her cheek, he bent over her and kissed her gently, a delicious drifting of warm breath across her waiting lips.

Afterward, he curved his hands to her face. "Drink from the spring with me Princess, and let me show you how good those feelings can be, how wild, sweet and tender."

As he stared into her eyes, Stephanie felt penetrated. It left her weak with need. He could do that so effortlessly, she realized.

He led her to the waterfall. Then he walked to a lush bed of greenery that grew in the mossy rocks alongside the pool. When he returned with the wildflower he brought back, he tucked it into her hair.

"Pink larkspur," he said. "To free the wolf."

She knew she had to undress and enter the pool but, she could feel his eyes on her as she walked towards the pool. The thought of him watching her, unnerved her so much, it made her hands shake.

"Don't watch me," she said, her voice a whisper. As she worked the button of her jeans loose and found the metal tab of the zipper. The jeans dropped to her ankles and a delicate shudder took her as she stepped out of them. She couldn't bring herself to look at him but, she knew he was there.

Her skin was misted with dampness and the clingy cotton top and panties she wore seemed part of her flesh. She crossed her arms and grasped the hem of the shirt in her fingers, drawing it up until her midriff was exposed, then hesitating an anxiety soared inside her.

"Turn away," she pleaded softly, looking up. It took her a moment to locate him in the dark. As she did, she realized two things that astonished her. The first struck her with nearly physical force. His back was to her! He hadn't been watching. She had asked him not to, but it never occurred to her that he would honour the request.

The second realization shocked her to the core. She WANTED him to watch. "Antonio, I -----"

She saw his head lift and her breath caught. She waited, but he didn't turn and his hesitation forced her to try and finish the sentence. "I want you to -----"

"You want what?"

He began to turn and Stephanie thought she would die of heart failure in the time it took him to come around. "To look at me," she breathed.

Even in the darkness, she could see his eyes. They were luminous, like animal eyes caught fire. Beautiful eyes, she thought. Demon eyes. Whatever responses she'd felt before were magnified a thousand times as she resumed her painfully awkward striptease. She couldn't look at the man watching her, but she was aware of him in every cell of her body.

Her breasts shimmered with sensation as she pulled up the top. Cool air touched her damp skin and the shock of it made her dizzy.

A sweet pain flashed through her limbs, but the most riveting awareness was the aching pull of her nipples. Their sensitivity brought back a sense memory of his hands on her body. Rough, thrilling hands. Her flesh strained as she remembered how possessively he'd kissed and handled her. She still ached from his touch.

She caught one last glimpse of him as she drew the shirt over her head. He'd moved into the light, his hair flaring around him. Stephanie shuddered with excitement and apprehension as she bared herself to the moonlight and to him.

The cavern went breathlessly silent.

The man went still, frozen in motion.

Animal instincts burned high in Antonio's blood as he watched her. He'd wanted women before, but never as he wanted this one. Rage, he thought, feeling the kick in his groin muscles. He was in a sweet rage of need.

She was slightly built, almost boyish. Her breasts were small, and yet voluptuously formed. Aureoles the colour of caramel crested the delicate swells of flesh. God, it made him hard just thinking about her breasts.

She was made to give pleasure to a man, he realized, his groin muscles tightening as he imagined all the ways in graphic detail. She was made to drive a man wild before he got the pleasure. He never knew a female who could confuse and arouse the way she did. His strongest drive was to claim ownership, to take her lithe, trembling body and make it his, the sooner the better.

The low throb he felt intensified as he locked it away from his awareness. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. There was another drive, a conflicting impulse that he couldn't quite smother. He also wanted to protect her, improbable as that seemed at the moment. From predatory beasts like himself !

"You have a beautiful body, Princess," he said, his voice echoing harshly in the cave. "Show it to me."

She was naked except for the silk panties . Maybe it was the conflict in her that intrigued him. She was staring at him as what he'd ask of her was impossible and yet he knew she was obsessed with the idea of making love with him and had been since the afternoon they first met. Some men could sense a woman's sexual threshold. There were plenty of giveaways - a scent, a nervous smile, a tension.

As the panties dropped around her feet, she looked up at him. Antonio felt as though all hell had burst loose inside him. The rules were clear however, he couldn't touch her until she took the flower out of her hair.

Stephanie stood naked and trembling in the moonlight. She was aroused and sweetly confused. She kept expecting him to come to her and yet he didn't move.

"The pool." She heard him say.

As she entered the deliciously warm water, she looked up at Antonio and even from a distance she recognized the fever in his eyes. He was waiting for her to release him. Her heart accelerated as she reached up and touched the flower in her hair and for the first time in their relationship she knew the subtle thrill of power.

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