Excerpt from The King of Avalon

    "You want me to do what?" Dermitt asked.
    Galena drew in a deep breath. She had already explained what he needed to do and why it was so urgent. But, Dermitt seemed to want to hear her instructions again. Perhaps he had not yet known what it was to be with a woman. His rugged features, ebony hair and deep blue eyes made Dermitt pleasing. Galena would certainly enjoy teaching him how to be a part of creation with a sacred joining.
    Trying hard to be patient, Galena stepped toward Dermitt and took his hands in hers. "Really you will find it pleasurable once we begin. It can cause some fear the first time..."
    "You think I have never done this before?" Dermitt asked, a dangerous glint in his blue eyes.
    Instinctively, Galena stepped back. "I don't mean to presume, but you seemed so confounded..."
    "I'm not confounded. This is just, just FUBARed," Dermitt stammered. "Listen, the act, I understand. In fact I understand how to do it very well. Thank you. What I don't get is, why?"
    Mentally, Galena groaned. She sank onto the damp grass. The men of Avalon all understood what power a sacred joining had to bring people closer to the gods. They held the ritual in the deepest reverence. But, she suspected they would participate even if it were not a way to commune with the deities and bring the magic of love and creation into the world. Now, she had a man who did not believe in the force of a sacred joining, but would not do it for the simple pleasure it could provide.
    Dermitt dropped his pack on the ground and slumped down next to her. "I am sorry I lost my temper. Right now, I don't know what to think. My stuff is gone. Your friends are gone and we are lost in this damned fog. Then you tell me the way we can get them all back is to have sex. Now to make matters worse, you claim that sex is not sex but some kind of ritual."
     The damp air and moist ground began to chill her skin. Galena rubbed her shoulders, trying to trap some warmth. "The power of two people becoming one is awesome. Have you never been with a woman and felt the hand of the gods upon you? When a man and woman are connected they are two halves of the whole. In the right place, like here, that power can be harnessed. I hope that power will be enough to catapult us back to Avalon."    more >>