Chapter 7
"OW!"
Iolaus slapped the back of his neck.
"What’s eating you?" Hercules asked.
"Eating is right! "Iolaus exclaimed, "It’s these damn no-see-um bugs – they’re eating me alive!"
"I haven’t seen any bugs."
Iolaus looked at him with vexation, "That’s why they’re called no-see-ums!"
Hercules shrugged his shoulders. "They haven’t been bothering me." He turned his head to look back at where Jessa and Mystic trailed them a few yards away. "And they certainly can’t be bothering Jessa – she’s sound asleep."
Iolaus turned to look as well. "Gods! How does she do that!"
Jessa sat on Mystic – her back was straight, yet her head was drooped and her cascading hair screened her face.
"She grew up with a nomadic people – it’s probably just a fact of life for them," Hercules reasoned.
His head was turned to the side, looking at his friend, as he was speaking. A movement caught his attention – just out of the corner of his eye.
"OW!" Iolaus slapped his neck again and rubbed it in irritation.
Hercules looked down and attempted to cover his smile with his hand.
"Hey! It’s not funny!"
Hercules just snickered and, reaching out, plucked something from his friend’s shoulder. He held it out in the palm of his hand for Iolaus to see.
It was a seed. Tiny and black, it was bristling with short, sharp spines.
Iolaus looked at his shoulders – they were covered with the seeds. "How did those get there?" he wondered, brushing them off.
Hercules snickered again – his eyes shifted.
Iolaus caught the sign. He looked back at the sweetly slumbering redhead. His jaw dropped. "You mean she…"
Hercules nodded grinning.
"Well I’ll be a Minotaur’s breakfast!" Suddenly, Iolaus’ eyes narrowed and his face took on a calculating smirk. "So that’s how it’s going to be, is it…"
"Iolaus…" Hercules warned.
But it was too late – they had just rounded a sharp bend in the trail and Iolaus disappeared into an out-cropping of rocks.
Hercules rolled his eyes in exasperated resignation. "Here we go again!" He stepped off the path and stopped, leaning back onto a tree, arms crossed.
Mystic and Jessa appeared from around the bend. Mystic stopped, and Jessa looked up.
"What’s wrong?" she asked Hercules.
A roaring, maniacal creature leaped from the top of a boulder above their heads. Sweeping a screaming Jessa from the saddle, it bore her to the ground. A frenzied, intense wrestling match ensued.
Hercules yawned and patted his open mouth. Mystic rolled his eyes and snorted in irritation. "My thoughts, exactly," Hercules agreed.
Squealing in frustration, Jessa squirmed as Iolaus held her pinned to the ground, facedown, his knee in her back, both arms twisted behind her.
"Let me go!" she demanded.
"This’ll teach ‘ya! Mess with me will ‘ya!"
"Well you deserve it! You’re nothing but a big, overgrown brat! Or should I say little, underdeveloped brat!"
"Am I going to have to separate you two!" Hercules stated sternly.
"Well he tickled my feet!" Jessa accused.
"But you stole my necklace!" Iolaus retorted.
"And you stole my dagger!"
"But you started it!"
"I did not!"
"You did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did…"
"Enough!" Hercules shouted. "Let her go Iolaus."
Iolaus released her and Jessa climbed sullenly to her feet, brushing the dirt from her cloak.
"Besides," she jeered at Iolaus, "I let you win!"
Iolaus gasped, scandalized. "In your dreams!" he jeered back.
"Stop that!" Hercules ordered.
Jessa stuck her tongue out at Iolaus. Iolaus made a horrendous face back at her.
Suddenly, they both broke out laughing
"When you sneaked that salt into my cup of water at lunch… that was a classic!" Iolaus praised between gasps of laughter.
"Oh, no!" Jessa objected, hysterical, "When you managed to tie my hair to Mystic’s tail without my catching you… that was the mark of a true genius!"
"And the clods of dirt!" Iolaus could hardly breathe he was laughing so hard.
"And the beetles!" Tears were streaming down Jessa’s face.
The two pranksters fell into each other’s arms, clinging to one another for support.
"If you two are finished comparing feats of legendary idiocy – perhaps we can continue on?" Hercules urged.
"Huh?" Iolaus said as he finally began to recover his control, "Oh! Yeah! Yeah! Sure." He released Jessa. She staggered for a moment, but then regained her equilibrium. She was still giggling.
"You know," Hercules informed them, "Due to you two messing around so much these past couple of days, were not going to be able to make it to that village by nightfall as we had planned."
Still struggling to suppress her giggling, Jessa attempted to look chagrined, "Sorry."
Hercules shrugged his shoulders, "It’s no Golden Fleece off my ram, but I thought you were looking forward to getting some new clothes."
Jessa lost the giggles as she flapped the fabric of the cloak in an attempt to make a breeze between it and her naked body. "Yes, this thing is hot!" She scratched at herself. "And it itches!
"You know," she said, "A week ago, I wouldn’t have given you a plug dinar for a whole lake full of water – now, I’d give a whole bag of gold for just a tiny, little stream to splash myself with."
"Well, then, I hope your saddlebags are fully loaded," Hercules stated, "Look."
Hercules gestured with his head and Jessa looked down the path – there, in the distance, could be seen the glittering that sunshine makes off of the surface of water.
Jessa exhaled in surprise. "Thank the gods above," she exclaimed in delight, "I can finally take a bath! Frankly, I don’t know how you guys were able to stand me, this cape made me sweat so badly in this heat!"
"Tell us about it." Iolaus remarked dryly.
Jessa looked at him in surprise. He was smirking. She stuck out her tongue at him again.
"Last one in, is a satyr’s uncle!" Jessa cried. She sped off down the path.
"Hey!" Iolaus raced after her.
Hercules rolled his eyes, but then ran too.
By the time the two men reached the water’s edge, Jessa was nowhere to be seen – her cloak lay in a disheveled heap on the ground.
"Where’d she go?" Hercules wondered.
The stream was quite wide and deep but huge, rounded boulders poked up in clusters everywhere.
Abruptly, Jessa surfaced, her red hair darkened and plastered to her head by the water.
"It’s warm!" she cried in surprise.
"It’s source is a hot spring further up stream," Hercules told her.
"Oh, but it’s perfect for a bath!" Jessa exclaimed in delight. "Come on, guys, it’s marvelous!"
"Well, you don’t have to ask me twice!" Iolaus began rapidly stripping his boots and clothes.
Hercules cleared his throat nervously.
"What?" Jessa asked. Then she got it. "Oh, for Gaea’s sake!" she said rolling her eyes. "Alright! Will this make you happy?" She turned and struck off swimming into a nearby cluster of boulders.
"Yee-ha!" Iolaus cried as he cannon-balled into the water. Hercules soon followed, but with a more sedate dive.
They both surfaced.
"She’s right," Iolaus said smiling, "The temperature is perfect!"
"Yeah. You know, since we’re so far behind anyway, why don’t we spend the rest of the afternoon here – I think we all could use a beak," Hercules remarked.
"Good idea. It’ll be good for Jessa’s spirits too," Iolaus said.
"I don’t know if I can stand it if Jessa’s spirits get much higher," Hercules stated dryly.
Iolaus laughed, "Yeah, she’s come a long way from how she was a week ago."
Hercules smiled warmly, his gazed turned inward, "Yes she has – she’s a whole different person."
"Isn’t she?" Iolaus smiled – his vision, too, was turned inward.
"Where did she go anyway?" Hercules wondered suddenly, looking around.
"I don’t know," Iolaus said.
Jessa’s scream tore through the peaceful quiet.
"By the gods!" Iolaus cried.
"This way!" Hercules shouted as he started swimming strongly toward the boulder cluster into which Jessa had disappeared.
The two men swam into the boulders and found themselves in a dead-end alcove of rocks.
"Jessa!" Iolaus cried urgently.
"Where could she be!" Hercules’ head jerked back and forth scanning the alcove. "Jessa!"
"Gods!" Iolaus cried in sudden alarm. He was trying to peer down through the reflections of the water’s surface.
"What’s wrong?" Hercules asked.
"Something just slithered past my legs!" Iolaus looked at his friend, his face a mask of shock. "It’s got…"
Iolaus abruptly disappeared – jerked straight down – under the water.
"Iolaus!" Hercules cried.
He got a funny look on his face. "Uh, oh."
With a jerk – he also disappeared.
Hercules opened his eyes under the water – he was face-to-face with Iolaus. Their faces were mirrors, each of the other – surprise and alarm written all aver them. They looked down.
There was the creature that had nabbed them – a certain grinning redhead. Her giggles rose to the surface encased in tiny bubbles. She released the men’s ankles.
When they had surfaced, sputtering a bit from the abrupt dunking, Jessa also surfaced.
Her peals of laughter echoed off the rocks surrounding them. "You should have seen the looks on you’re faces!"
Hercules pushed back the hair that was plastering his face. "Jessa!" he scolded.
"We thought you were in trouble!" accused Iolaus.
Jessa just laughed. "What you send around, comes around," she archly said to Iolaus.
"Come on Herc," he challenged, "We can take her!"
"Ha!" Jessa’s face was defiantly arrogant.
"I don’t know Iolaus…"
"Oh, by the way, shy-boy," Jessa said winking at Hercules, "Did anyone notice how wonderfully clear the water is?"
Hercules’ jaw dropped. "That’s it!" he cried, "Let’s get her, Iolaus!"
They charged through the water.
Jessa squealed in alarm and desperately swam as fast as she could to the alcove’s only exit. Once out into the open stream again, she darted for another group of boulders. The two men pursued. They were gaining on her.
Jessa swam amongst the maze of boulders, zigzagging this way and that through the huge rocks, trying to shake them. She cut to the right around a particularly large boulder.
"You follow her," Hercules whispered, "I’ll try the other way, and see if I can cut her off at the pass!"
"Right!" Iolaus agreed.
The two men split up.
Jessa kept going, weaving around boulder after boulder. She was running out of steam. She shot a glance behind her to see how close they were. They were no where in sight. "Thank the gods!" she gasped, "I’ve lost them!" She ducked behind another boulder and stopped.
She stayed there, catching her breath and trying to listen for any sounds of pursuit. There were none. She grinned in triumph.
Suddenly, her eyes got big and round. She abruptly disappeared under the water’s surface.
Iolaus’ face hovered before her own astounded face – his blonde hair made a shimmering, golden halo around his demonically grinning face.
Jessa grinned back. They hung there, suspended in the warm waters as their grins softened into smiles. Iolaus reached out and stroked Jessa’s face softly, looking deeply into her eyes. He then drew her to him, in his arms, and kissed her.
Slowly, their intertwined bodies rose, floating up. Their heads broke through to the surface, and Iolaus broke the kiss only for a much-needed breath of air.
"Iolaus…" Jessa whispered.
"Jessa…" he whispered hoarsely back. He drew her into another deep kiss. Jessa’s back was to a rock and he pressed her against it with his body. He broke the kiss again, but then began moving his mouth along her neck.
Jessa moved against him. "Iolaus…"
The writhing of her water-slick body excited him. His desire mounted quickly and his hands pulled her hips hard to his own as the urgent fervency of his kisses quickened his breathing.
Jessa placed her hands to his shoulders. "Iolaus, please!" She pushed at him.
He drew back and looked at her in puzzlement.
"Iolaus, I can’t!" She was clearly upset.
Iolaus’ face was suddenly filled with chagrin. "Oh, gods, Jessa! I’m sorry!" He released her and backed off, treading water. "I should have realized! It’s too soon!" He was miserable. "I did it again."
"What?" Jessa asked, puzzled, "What do you mean, ‘again’?" Then she realized what he was referring to. "Oh, no! No, Iolaus! It’s not that!"
He looked at her, still miserable.
Jessa touched his face tenderly. "It’s not that at all. It’s just… well…" She broke off, misery on her face as well.
"What?" Iolaus asked gently.
"Listen, Iolaus, I was pretty upset and confused when I first met you and Hercules. You see, Ares wanted… Ares and I… that is, Ares had…"
Iolaus touched his fingers to her mouth, stopping her. "You don’t have to go into any details."
"But I think I should tell you…"
"No," Iolaus broke in again gently, "Herc and I well know what kind of person Ares is."
"Alright," Jessa said. She managed a smile, "But I know what you’ve been doing Iolaus… and I really appreciate it."
Iolaus smiled back. "Well then, you’re the only one who does – Herc and I both think you’ve gone bonkers!"
Jessa giggled. "Really, Iolaus, you’ve brought out a whole new side of me that I never knew existed – you’ve set the child inside of me free. I like it. Growing up the way I did, I never really had a real childhood."
"Herc says I’ve gone and let the genie out of the bottle and now we’ll never get it back in."
Jessa giggled again, but then turned suddenly concerned. "Does it bother him – does he think I’m being too much of a pest?"
"Not at all!" He was wondering at her sudden change of attitude.
"Are you sure?" Jessa asked.
Iolaus was beginning to suspect the reason for her concern. "Yes. In fact, I think he really likes it."
Jessa beamed. "Really?"
Iolaus was now sure of his conclusions. He gave her a soft smile. "You’re in love with him."
Jessa blushed and lowered her eyes. "It’s that obvious?"
Iolaus stroked her hair. "It must be, if even I can see it."
Jessa looked up into Iolaus’ eyes. "Do you think he knows?"
"I think so – on some level. But I think this is one time that even blind old Iolaus had quicker vision than he does."
Jessa looked at him, puzzled.
Iolaus smiled. "Just go to him."
Jessa’s face lit up. "Oh, thank you Iolaus!" She wrapped her arms around him and gave him an enthusiastic hug.
Iolaus squirmed uncomfortably.
"What’s wrong? Can’t I even give you hugs now?" She was definitely disappointed.
"No, hugs are fine, " Iolaus reassured her, "But perhaps we should limit them to when we aren’t both totally naked."
"Oh, right." Jessa released him.
She turned to go.
"Oh, and Jessa…"
She looked back.
Iolaus was rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe you can spread a little of your ‘inner child’ around to Herc sometimes?"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hercules was lost.
When he had taken the path to the left of that fateful boulder, he had entered a labyrinth of the huge rocks that seemed to go on forever. He had kept on with the chasing game, until he finally resigned himself to the fact that he was totally lost. The only thing he was sure of now, was that he was headed upstream.
"Iolaus! Jessa!" He had been calling without response for some time now.
He swam around another of the seemingly endless, identical boulders – only to be confronted with a view of more of the same. He threw up his hands in defeat.
"That’s it! I quit!"
He turned to head back down-stream again, but then paused – there was a rushing sound that had been building now for some time, but he hadn’t paid it any attention until now. He turned back around and went upstream again.
This time, when he rounded the boulders, he was rewarded with a new site – a tall waterfall shimmered and thundered softly in front of him.
He smiled. "Well, this makes it all worth while."
He swam to the edge of the stream and climbed out onto a ledge that led to the base of the falls. He closed his eyes and stepped into the cascading water.
The water was much warmer here – he had come that much further upstream towards the stream’s hot-spring source. It beat down on his shoulders with a firm force that massaged his shoulders. He sighed with pleasure.
After a while he moved closer to the edge where the water’s force was less intense and, tipping back his head, ran his hands through his hair as the water streamed through it. Then he began running his hands over his body.
Another, smaller, pair of hands joined his. Reaching from behind, they stroked him in gentle circles on his chest and abdomen. A soft body pressed against his back.
Hercules took one of the hands in his and turned around.
"Jessa…"
"Shhh…" Jessa placed a hand over his mouth, but then removed it to replace it with her mouth. Her arms slipped around his neck.
Hercules’ breath was quickened and his heart thundered in his ears by the time that kiss ended.
Jessa started to reach for another kiss but Hercules drew back a little.
"Jessa, are you sure..."
Jessa looked deep into his eyes.
"Oh, yes," she breathed.
Hercules’ hesitation was only slight – then he slid his own arms around her waist and pulled her body to his. The kiss began soft, but quickly elevated to a passionate height.
Their lips pressed hard against the other and Jessa moaned into his welcoming mouth. Hercules slid his hands down from her waist and pulled her tighter against him – Jessa’s feet left the ground. She arched her back and Hercules allowed her to bend back, exposing her throat and chest.
Water beat on his back as Hercules bent over Jessa’s arched body, kissing her. He began with the sensitive area just behind her ear before beginning his sojourn down her throat. As he swept his lips over her chest to her breasts, Jessa moaned again. He paused for a moment, sipping the water that gathered there in the valley between her breasts, before he then began his ascent. He lingered there until she was gasping – her fingers pressed hard into the muscles in his arms, her body shook.
Taking a few steps, Hercules passed through to the underside of the falls. There, the cascading veil of water concealed the lovers from any who might see.
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