Chapter 1
Meeting the Priestess
The 737 landed hard after a long, bumpy flight. Ethan only fully relaxed when the plane slowed to a smooth roll. At the gate, he stood to stretch his legs, but remained awkwardly hunched under the low baggage bins. Only when he stepped out of the jetway and felt himself expand into the bustling airport that he felt the true freedom of his new adventure.
He threaded the crowds of the C gates and navigated the complex of the shops and food court. Here, in this moment, he felt more adult than he ever had in his life. Anything was possible. He could be anyone. No parents. No teachers. Nobody checking up on him, worrying about where he was. Of course, shortly he would meet his host family, but for this moment, he was as free as anyone else in the airport.
Past security, he scanned the waiting crowd for a sign with his name. The woman holding it was tall, elegant, and her figure caught his eye. He quickly remembered to look up: smiling blue eyes; long dark hair with brown, maroon, purple, and hints of blue, a sharp contrast to pale, clear skin.
"Ethan!" she said.
He nodded and reached out his hand. She took his hand in hers. Her palm was warm and dry, and she pulled him into a light embrace.
"Welcome to Seattle!"
He felt the ample curve of her chest lightly brushing his own, but she immediately released him.
"Let's get your luggage. Marcus is with the car. Emily has practice, so you'll meet her later."
Ethan felt a thrill. He appreciated the American accent, the friendliness, the sense of genuine welcome. And he felt stirrings of excitement.
"Thank you, Mrs. Witlow."
"Amy, please, Ethan! This is the west coast. We don't do Mrs and Mr here."
Once he had his luggage they stepped out into the late afternoon light, which seemed bright with possibility and smelled of a breeze from the sea. Marcus was near with the trunk open. A tall man, dark hair salted with grey, and a powerful build. He held out his hand and pulled Ethan into a strong grip. "Welcome. Good to have you."
The highways were smooth and open, although Marcus warned him they were lucky it was Sunday. Ethan drank in the sights of a new country, a new environment. Dark green fir trees, hills and distant mountains, rugged and exotic. Eventually the city came into view as they rounded a curve along a hillside. Such an American experience: tall buildings clustered together against a backdrop of sea and sky and mountains.
Driving through the heart of the city, they eventually pulled up in front of a modest house in a neighborhood of trees and yards. Another quintessential American experience, Ethan thought.
"Now I know you are going to be tired from such a long flight and the time zone change, so let's just have a quick bite and then you can hit the hay early."
Ethan grinned at the phrase. Did Americans really say that, or was it some kind of joke? He didn't care.
Over a pasta dinner, Amy quizzed Ethan on the details of his life in Scotland while Marcus seemed preoccupied and lost in thought. Emily, whom Ethan had been looking forward to meeting, was apparently out with friends. Ethan felt some disappointment at that: did she have no curiosity at meeting him? They would be spending the next four months in the same house! But Amy kept him talking until at last she pushed back her chair.
"Ok, you must be tired. You'll want to unpack. If you want a shower, it's a little inconvenient: you're next to us upstairs, but the shower is downstairs, outside Emily's room. We have our own bathroom, but... you probably won't want to come through our room for that.
"Now, if you need anything else, just let me know."
He thanked her, and headed upstairs. As he did so, he heard her say to Marcus: "You chose well, I think."
Not trying to figure that out, he tossed himself on the bed before unpacking or even undressing, and was instantly lost to sleep.
~~~
He woke, feeling awkward in his clothes. It took him a moment to realize where he was. The red digits of a clock indicated it was 1:14am. Light from the streetlamp filtered in through his curtains and he saw his door was still ajar. He quietly moved to close it, but realized he had to use the bathroom.
He tried to creep down the stairs quietly, but it was an older house and the stairs creaked as he did so.
He made his way to the bathroom, and saw that light was shining underneath Emily's bedroom door. He paused for a moment and heard a girl's voice, giggling. Was she not alone? He held his stillness and listened, but it seemed to be only her voice. He couldn't make out her words, but the tone sounded gossipy. Probably on the phone. He tiptoed onward, into the bathroom.
He realized that there was no hiding his presence. All the watery bathroom sounds seemed suddenly deafening.
Upon opening the door to go back to his room, he was surprised to see Emily leaning in her open door. She was in a rather revealing nightgown, and Ethan caught his breath. Look up, he reminded himself. She had her mother's blue eyes, but softer features and a sharply curious smile.
"I guess you're Ethan?"
"I guess I am."
"Sorry I wasn't around. The parents wanted you to get settled before we met, but I just had to have a look at you."
"Have a look at me?"
That mysterious smile deepened. "Well, I've never met a man from Scotland, before."
A man
...
"But, now I have. Hope you get back to sleep!"
She turned, and closed the door. His eyes held the lingering image of her bare back, and the flare of her hips.
Good God
, he thought.
Fantastic.
He undressed properly this time, and got into the bed, feeling the crisp sheets slide smoothly over his body. He did sleep, but restlessly, in and out of dreams in which his tiny stone home in Dundee seemed to flow in and out of this Seattle house.
But he awoke with a start in the early hours of dawn to the unmistakable sound of a woman in pleasure.
There was a moan, long and low, and he matched it to a slow, rhythmic sound. He rolled out of bed and crossed to the wall that he shared with Amy and Marcus. Here he could get away with putting his ear against it, and the sounds became clear.
There was the bed, creaking at a slow, easy pace. There were Amy's gentle moans and gasps, the seemed to go in time with the bed.
He slipped his hand down and took hold of himself, feeling his cock swell and harden in his hand. He listened to the beautiful moans and throaty sounds that Amy made, seemingly right across the thin wall. He could hear her breaths, and also Marcus'. They seemed to be breathing together, deep breaths and then her little moans and gasps, and he could hear Marcus too, with low growls.
Ethan imagined Amy on her back, her legs wide open, and Marcus between them, plunging into her in this slow, steady way. This imagining was not from his own experience, but only things he had watched on the internet.
And then she spoke, and with his ear to the wall, Ethan could make it out with little trouble.
"Are you looking forward to doing your job?" Marcus was speaking in a low voice, but with intensity.
"I am."
"I saw him looking at you, you should have no trouble."
"Wait til he sees Emily, though..."
The rhythm didn't stop, and their voices were breathy and aroused.
"Don't worry, you'll have no problem with him, I can tell you. But I'll take Emily school shopping. You'll have the place to yourself."
She moaned, and the pace began to pick up a little, their breath still in unison.
"He's a good size," she said after a bit, between moans.
"You looked?"
"A woman can tell."
