Fire: Chapter Six

As the kiss deepened, Shannon breathed in the scent of this beautiful man who was in her arms. Despite all he had been through, he smelled clean, warm, male and musky. His soft lips tasted delicious with a slight hint of tobacco as she surrendered to his exploration of her mouth with his tongue; it had been a long time since she had been kissed like this - a long time indeed, since she had been with a man at all.

"Oh...God....Michael!" she gasped when he finally let her breathe.

The wide, innocent puppy-dog eyes gazed into hers, amused. "What...? Is this not good for me?" That smile...where had she seen that smile? He was so familiar somehow - and that voice - she knew his voice from somewhere - a middle-class London accent, but underneath it something else - a northern lilt? Manchester? Durham?

Shannon shook her head. "No, I mean yes, actually yes it is.... I mean," she giggled a little, in spite of herself, "It's good for the circulation. It certainly won't do you any harm..." she trailed off.

Michael grinned, and his face lit up. "Well, if that's your medical advice, doctor..." He tracked little kisses from her ear-lobe down the side of her
neck to her collarbone. She raked her fingers through his hair. This was getting... she had to know who he was.

"Oh....Michael..." she sighed. Get a grip!!

"Hmmmm??" he teased.

"Michael, who are you?! I have to know! You look...familiar, like I've seen you before, and...and..."

"And?" the kisses continued across her collarbone, to the little dip at the base of her throat, then down...

"Oh....God! Jesus Michael..." Her nails dug into his shoulder muscles. He was incorrigible. "Michael !!!" she almost yelled at him and deftly, like she was made of paper, he flipped her over so that she was on top of him.

"Yes, doctor?" he replied, innocently. Those wide eyes again, with a slightly insane twinkle. "Christ! Michael, please. Who are you? Why do I know you? I can't...I haven't..." Shannon's eyes started to well up. It had been too long.

All at once the amusement faded from Michael's face and he looked concerned. "Hey...don't do that," he said, gently. "You're not married, are you?" He looked slightly worried, and he looked over his shoulder.

Shannon blurted out a laugh, in spite of herself. "No! No, it's not that..." she said, in between giggles.

"Well, what then...?" Michael said, a sudden look of mock hurt crossing his face. "Don't you want me?" he muttered, pouting.

Shannon grinned. "Of course I want you," she replied. "God, do I....! But...I've been alone for a long time and, well...it's been a while..."

Michael smiled, and stroked her hair, as though she were a child on his knee. She looked down at his angelic face, and in spite of her struggles to contain it, a single tear escaped and dropped with a soft "plink" onto his chest. "Don't cry, sweet girl," he murmured. "I'll tell you who I am - if it helps. It might scare you even more!" Shannon shook her head. "My name is Michael Palin, and I'm an actor. Have you heard of Monty Python's Flying Circus?"

Oh. My. God. Of course!! Shannon mentally kicked herself. "Yes!! That's why you look so familiar! Geez... I used to watch that show years ago.... but what were you doing here? You guys split up, right?"

Michael seemed lost in her hair, waist-length as it was, and now dangling over his face and chest. He combed it gently with his fingers, then buried his face in it, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Mmmmm....yes we did...but we're making a film...right here, up at the castle...oh God,
Shannon your hair smells amazing..."

Shannon wasn't letting him off that easily. "But what were you doing in the lake?"

Michael grinned up at her, like a naughty schoolboy. "I fell off my horse. Dumb beast - I'm no equestrian - the dumb beast would be ME, by the way - I thought I'd take her out, you know - a practice run - or trot, or whatever - but she threw me off! I landed in the lake and I guess I hit my head on a rock or something. I don't remember anything until you brought me round."

Shannon frowned, and stroked his cheek with the backs of her fingers, at which gesture he closed his eyes and sighed. "And nobody knew you were out riding that early in the morning?"

Michael made a face. "To tell you the truth, I had wanted to get away from them. They'd been driving me barmy! Nobody knows I'm here. They were all hitting the booze last night so they're probably not even out of bed yet...especially not Graham!"

"Wow..." Shannon sighed. She gazed deep into Michael's eyes, and ran her fingers through his hair. "So, we have a bit of time to ourselves then....?" she ventured, shyly.

"That's the spirit!" Michael grinned, as he spun her onto her back once more. "Now, where was I...?"

A log cracked in the grate and the fire blazed into new life. Shannon groaned and dragged her fingernails down his back as he continued his trail of kisses, down her chest until he found the hard peak of her nipple, which he took into his mouth, lapping with his tongue as Shannon arched her back and raked her fingers through his beautiful soft hair. "Ohhh....Michael..."