"Are you interested in ancient temples?" she asked.
Arthur looked up from his late lunch at the small Welsh country pub outside Pembroke. It was the thirteenth of August. The Summer sun had warmed the afternoon nicely, and the patio table he sat at was in a quiet corner. On the table next to his meal was an open book.
She was beautiful, was his first thought. The kind of dignified British beauty that instantly turned an American male's mind to stockings, garters, and hot sex over a table. And her accent was just as exciting. Her few words spoken so far had his cock growing stiff in his pants. She was in her forties, he guessed. A good ten years older than he was. She wore a light brown khaki jacket, jeans, and tall boots. Her blond hair fell past her shoulders.
"The Temple of Diana, if I'm not mistaken," she leaned over the table and looked at the picture in his book. "At Nimes, in Southern France?"
"Yes, history is a fascination of mine. I am studying for my doctorate in ancient religions," he said. "I'm on sabbatical for the Summer, touring the Welsh countryside and looking at the Roman ruins. My first vacation in several years."
She was so close he could smell her perfume. Cedar, and something else, maybe Frankincense?
"American?" she asked.
She was still leaning over the table. Their faces were mere inches apart.
"Yes..." he stammered, suddenly shy. "From Colorado."
"We don't get many Americans here in the unsettled country," she said and stood. "I would love to talk further. May I join you?"
***
"So the handle of the shovel came loose," Arthur said, "and I ended up on my ass covered in mud in southern Crete."
She laughed at his story from an archeology dig he had been on last year. Her name was Luna Morgan-Edwards, and she said her family owned a small estate nearby. Her glass of red wine was nearly empty. His pint of good dark stout was in the same condition. The sun was soon to set, and the full moon was rising over the horizon.
"We have Roman ruins on our estate," Luna said, taking their conversation back to when they first met. "The family legend is that it's a temple to the Goddess Diana."
"How unusual," Arthur said. "The history books don't have the Romans this far west into Wales."
Luna did not immediately reply. Instead, she sat and seemed to consider him.
"Would you like to see them?" she asked finally.
Arthur nodded, excited to be spending more time with her. He gathered his things. He stood but had to grab the table for support.
"Do you need help?" Luna asked, standing at his arm.
Arthur shook his head. He took a moment to steady himself, then lifted his backpack to his shoulder.
"A memento of my country's war in Afghanistan," he said. "A bullet wound and a bad knee."
"A warrior and a scholar," Luna said, smiling at him. "You are full of surprises."
***
The trip took longer than Arthur thought. From the way Luna had spoken, he had figured her family's estate was near, but the trip along the winding Welsh roads in her Jag took nearly an hour. She headed them East and into the mountains. Night had fallen, and the Moon shined down through the trees giving the countryside an otherworldly feel.
"Oh, wow," he said as they pulled into the driveway before the Morgan-Edwards manor house. "I thought you said small."
Luna laughed.
"Make yourself comfortable," she said after they had entered the house. "I'll need a few minutes to freshen up."
She climbed the wide set of stairs off the entranceway and disappeared. Arthur went through the open door that Luna had indicated.
"Wow," he said again to himself.
The room was large and filled with the antiques and paintings you would expect in such a home. There was a small second-floor library accessible by a spiral staircase. There was a large fireplace, lit and crackling. A large painting of three women by a lake hung over the mantle. They wore long white and pale grey gowns and danced along the shore. Beneath the painting was a bow and quiver. They looked old but well cared for. He reached a hand up to touch it.
"Be careful," a woman's voice said from above. "The arrows are sharp."
Arthur turned, surprised and a little embarrassed. At first, he thought it was Luna, but the woman had hair of dark brown. There was an uncanny resemblance, though where Luna radiated motherhood and hearth, this one radiated a much more predatory feel. The same as many of his comrades in the Army had, that of a hunter. She wore a long white and pale grey gown like was in the painting. She was on the balcony looking down.
"You must be our American visitor," she said, walking slowly down the stairs. "My sister said I should come and keep you company."
She held out her hand, and Arthur shook it. Her grip was firm. She smiled as she looked him over. Up close, the resemblance was even more striking. She could be Luna's twin.
"Would you like a drink?" she asked.
***
"Eight hundred meters?" she asked, with some disbelief.
Arthur nodded, sipping from the whiskey she had poured for him earlier. It was flavored with spices. Her name was Artemis, and she was Luna's half-sister, born to another mother. They were sitting before the fireplace and discussing some of the most spectacular rifle shots he had done in his time in Afghanistan.
"My Captain had them check the range afterward," he said.
Someone laughed. Arthur and Artemis turned. Luna was standing at the doorway, wearing a similar long white and pale grey robe as her sister.
"I hope she hasn't been boring you with questions," Luna said. "She loves her hunts."
Arthur shook his head and stood. If Luna had looked beautiful in the country gentry garb she had worn at the pub, in the gown she wore now, she looked gorgeous. Arthur felt his cock twitch in his pants. He had the strange desire to take her right there and fuck her on the floor.
"I promised you a visit to our temple," she said. "Follow me."
She led him down a side hallway and then to a door. It opened to a staircase downward. The basement was dusty and filled with sheet-covered furniture. Luna led him to a tall bookcase against one wall. She did something along its side, and the bookcase slid sideward, revealing another hallway.
"Secret passageways?" he asked with a grin.
"The Church was not very tolerant of pagan things during the Middle Ages," she said. "The family took steps to protect the temple, and protect us then."
She waved him inside. Arthur half expected flaming torches, but Luna flipped a wall switch, and a series of small, round LED lights came on. The hallway led deeper into the ground, sloping downward. Luna let him lead. The hallway was modern for a short distance, then took on a much more unfinished and older appearance. Arthur slid his hand along the wall. It was the natural stone, cut from the mountains themselves.
A hundred feet or so in, the passageway made a right turn then there were a set of steps leading downward. Luna nodded when he looked her way. The hallway continued, but soon they came to another turn with stairs going upward. They climbed perhaps twenty feet then it opened to a large chamber.
"Oh wow," he whispered.
The chamber turned out to be a large cave. They exited onto a broad ledge, looking down. At the center of the cave was a wide, blue pool. Above the pool, a large hole in the cave ceiling allowed the full moon's light to shine down onto the water. The rock which had fallen had made an island. Someone had worked the stone, cutting it flat and then using the rest to make a small temple. It had four round pillars of a classical design, with a wide flat altar in the center. There was also an opening along the cave wall, and he could see the forest outside.
Movement in the pool caught his attention. Someone was swimming.
Luna took a set of rough steps cut in the rock down to the temple. Arthur followed.
As he got close, he could tell the swimmer was a woman. She had her back to them. She dipped forward, her head entering the water and dove. Her naked butt and legs came into view, then disappeared. She reappeared in a few moments and turned towards them.
Arthur was again surprised.
This woman had the same face as Luna and Artemis. Her hair was midnight black and cut in a neck-length stylish bob. Her eyes pierced into his across the distance, and he shivered. She began slowly swimming in their direction.
