Karen’s first awareness of waking was the gentle protests of her body. Movement required effort. She heard a scramble of activity close by and opened her eyes to see Logan’s worried face hovering over her, brushing strands of hair back from her face.

“Karen, can you hear me? Are you alright?”

She blinked at him and considered the question. Am I alright?

Every part of her felt tender, especially between her legs. It was a strange, but not uncomfortable sensation. Quite the opposite in fact. For the first time ever, the gnawing, ever-present lust of her damnation had been… satisfied? No, that word was too weak.

Beaten to a pulp with an orgasm hammer, she decided.

“You’re smiling.” Logan breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m going to take that as a good sign.”

He helped her to sit up. “What happened?” she asked.

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

Karen blinked a few times and struggled to focus. She could see the worry in his eyes and something else… guilt? Memory of their wild encounter returned and with it, recollection of her efforts to encourage his very enthusiastic response.

“Did I pass out?” she asked.

Logan looked shaken. “Yes, you did. We were having sex, we both came and then… you blacked out. A moment later you started to convulse like you were having a seizure! It was terrifying and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it. Thankfully, it didn’t last long and you seemed to settle down. That was hours ago. You have been unconscious ever since, until just now.”

“I am so relieved to see you awake!” He reached out as if to touch her hand, then hesitated. “I am so sorry. I honestly don’t know how this happened. Did I hurt you?”

“I… no, you didn’t,” Karen replied, then laughed. “Not at all.” She smiled. “I liked it. A lot.”

“I honestly have no ideas what came over me,” he scowled.

At his stricken expression, Karen reached out to squeeze his hand and offer a sweet smile. “It’s fine. You know I would do anything for you. You can have my body anytime you want it. Any way you want. I adore having you inside me.”

Leaning back, Karen rubbed her belly and sighed. “Truth be told, I feel amazing! My skin feels all tingly. I can still feel your seed inside of me. It’s still warm!”

“Still warm? he asked. “How? That was hours ago.”

Karen smiled and shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. It feels good. That’s all that matters to me.”

The next moment caught them entirely by surprise, all three of them.

A man walked around a corner and into the orange, crystal light. In his open palm was a golf ball-sized shard of crystal glowing with a dim, beige-colored light. He was naked, thin, pale, middle-aged, and otherwise thoroughly unremarkable looking. Dirty, blonde hair barely covered his scalp in wispy, strands. His eyes, a pale brown, flew wide open as his gaze swept across Logan’s camp sight and on them. He stared at Logan. The man’s mouth fell open in shock.

He began to back away. “Oh! I am so sorry. There isn’t supposed to be anyone… I didn’t realize….”

Logan leaped to his feet, slinging the scabbard from his sword blade and pointing it at the intruder. Somehow, the man’s eyes got even bigger as terror painted his features in lines of near panic.

“Stop!” Logan barked. “Don’t move. You so much as breathe wrong and I will cut you in half.”

The man obeyed and staggered to a sudden halt, holding his hands up in surrender. “I meant no harm! I thought the cavern empty and was just passing through to the outside. Please don’t hurt me!”

Karen watched the scene play out, torn between conflicting emotions. A cold trickle of fear crawled down her spine at having an intruder in their shelter. At the same time, a pulsing warmth radiated from her core to look at Logan standing there, half-naked and all burnished muscle. Armed and fearless in his determination to keep her safe from a hostile world.

“Passing through from where?” he demanded in his deep, sexy growl.

The stranger licked his lips and glanced back the way he had come but offered no answer.

Logan nodded. “From deeper in the caves then. You didn’t think anyone would be here and I have been here for more than a week. That means you live back there, doesn’t it?”

Karen could not help but admire Logan’s quick mind. Almost as much as she appreciated his other attributes. She watched as the man reluctantly nodded.

Logan considered, then reached down for the scabbard and sheathed the sword. “Alright then. You don’t look like a threat, so let’s sit down and start again like civilized people. My name is Logan, Logan Proud Bear.”

*****

Logan eased down to a sitting position and gestured for the other man to do the same. Karen sat to one side, silently observing. The air was charged with tension. The newcomer looked ready to flee at a moment’s notice. As if he expected Logan to sprout fangs and claws.

“Hello, Logan. My name is Alan,” he offered a hesitant smile.

“You alone, Alan?” Logan asked, then nodded in answer to his own question. “You hesitate to answer, so I am going to take that as a “no” and you are trying to protect or hide someone. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.”

“I…” Alan’s mouth moved but no more words came out.

Logan nodded again. “I understand wanting to protect your own.” He held the sheathed sword up and then set it down in a symbolic peace gesture. “Believe it or not, I wish no harm to you and yours. There is enough violence already in this fucked up place. However, you just walked through a back door in my home that I did not know was there. That bothers me greatly, friend. Surely, you can appreciate that?”

Alan seemed to relax a bit. He nodded. “I can. In fairness, this cavern was unoccupied the last time I passed through.”

“That’s a reasonable answer, except for one thing,” Logan replied. “As far as caves go, this one is fairly comfortable with light, drinkable water, and even someplace to sleep. If you have been down here for a while, why would you not make use of this area?”

He waited but nervous silence was the only response Logan got. “Alright, keep your secrets… for now. How about this. Since you know where we live, how about you show me where you live and I can meet your people so we can be good neighbors. That’s only fair, don’t you think?”

“Will you be armed?”

“For self-defense, yes,” Logan replied.

“I don’t know if I can do as you ask,” Alan said.

Logan leveled his dark green eyes on the other man. When he spoke there was no threat or anger in his tone, only the certainty of fact. “You might not want to make the mistake of thinking I’m asking.”

Alan stared at him and swallowed hard.

Logan smiled and sat back. “Look at it this way, Alan. I don’t intend to stay hidden in this hole forever. Sooner or later, you and your people can have it back, no harm, no foul. I mean to find a way out of Hell. After that, the place is all yours again. Until then, I don’t see why we can’t be friends, yeah?”

“That’s… very interesting,” the man replied. “I too have given much thought to that idea.”

“Really?” Logan responded.

Alan chuckled and shrugged. “Well, there isn’t much else to do down here except think and I am something of an expert on the subject.”

Logan leaned in. “An expert on thinking?”

“On Hell,” Alan replied. “That is to say, from a Biblical perspective. I have seen very little of it personally, even after being brought to this Circle by my old Master and escaping into the wastelands.”

“Hold up!” Logan did a double-take of surprise. “Are you saying you traveled here from another Circle of Hell? How?”

Alan looked at him as if the question made no sense. “By ship, of course.”

“By ship,” Logan repeated. He looked at Karen. “Does this mean anything to you?”

“I have seen this, yes, but I hide until they are gone,” she replied.

He looked back and forth between Karen and Alan. “I don’t understand. I have scouted miles in every direction and not seen so much as a pond of water, much less rivers, lakes, or oceans for ships to sail on.”

“Well, yes,” Alan said, clearly warming up to the topic. “According to legend, there are indeed rivers and lakes in Hell, which is in itself, a most fascinating observation. Five to be specific and-” He held up a finger as if to emphasize his point. “All of Greek rather than Christian origin I might add. Notably, they are the Archeron or river of pain where the newly dead are said to be ferried to their punishment by Charon the ferryman, the Lethe or river of forgetfulness, The Phlegethon, also known as the river of fire. The Styx, supposedly a swamp in the Fifth Circle, and Lake Cocytus where all rivers eventually end in the Ninth Circle.”

Logan blinked at him. Alan blinked back. The nervous crack and pop of Logan’s knuckles were rather loud in the abrupt silence.

“Fascinating,” Logan replied. “And which of those did you travel on to get here? You know, on the ship you mentioned?”

“Well, none of them, of course,” Alan chuckled. “That would be silly.”

Logan counted to ten in his head. His voice was deceptively calm. “Why exactly is that silly, Alan?”

“Because my large friend…” Alan replied. “Everyone knows ships in Hell don’t sail on the rivers. They fly.”