Beyond Charybdis by Bruce McLachlan Page A

another log, and then another, and was gratified as the weakening flames began feasting on the fresh wood, curling around it and hungrily devouring the new sustenance, their flames dancing strongly up into the air again.
    Warmth spread out from the fire, caressing their tightly bound forms, and Trisha, shivering with cold, moved closer, spreading herself out on her side and cuddling up on the blanket. Mina spooned up behind her, helping to warm the cold pony-girl, and the two of them huddled close, their bodies releasing faint trails of steam as they dried. They lay together watching the flames lick and spit, the soothing crackle of the logs echoing through the cave. Mesmerised by the sight of the flames, they found solace and comfort lying by the fire pressed together, their helplessly bound forms as one.
    Content and lazy, they dozed off, relishing this meagre time together and enjoying it to the full. But they knew they had to return to the stables, and as the fire once more began dying, they lifted themselves up and wandered back towards the mouth of the cave. The rain was still coming down hard outside, descending as an obscuring sheet, rendering the world a variety of grey shadows and erasing the horizon. The tide was beginning to come in, creeping up the slender beach, giving them only a little time before their way out of the sea cave was cut off. Mina was tempted to deliberately become stuck in there, which would give her and Trisha more lovely time together. People would search for them and find them, but their disobedience would be exonerated by the tide. She did not wish to upset her owners, however, for she loved them passionately, and for that reason, not out of fear, she obeyed them now, as always. Although it was tempting to gain punishment for the crime of tardiness, she was more eager to have them be proud of her obedience and loyalty.
    Turning to Trisha, Mina smiled warmly and kissed the girl before she walked out into the rain. The water rolled over their forms once more, banishing the cosy warmth the fire had ignited in their flesh. Moving onto the sodden sand with Trisha close behind her, Mina headed back towards the trees and entered the forest, walking in a straight line hoping to come across the main house while the canopy of leaves provided a little more protection from the deluge. The pitter-patter of droplets overhead was almost deafening in its intensity as streams of water wound down the trunks and through breaks in the ceiling of leaves and branches.
    The open field around Poseidon’s mansion finally came into view between the trees, and together the two pony-girls stepped out onto the well tended grass, walking slowly and calmly back to the stables through the storm’s onslaught. They found their stall open and waiting, and a single maid manning the door in expectation of their return. The girl was young, perhaps in her late teens, her long red hair tied into a plait that hung down to her chastity belt. She was short and slender, her eyes dark and full of a passion that reminded Mina of the smouldering fire she had helped stoke back to life.
    â€˜Welcome back,’ she said with a slight English accent, giving them a smile as she let them into their stall and applied their reins. She clipped them back to their rings and locked them to the wall, making Mina sigh with anticipation as rain played a soft drum roll across the roof of her new home.
    â€˜Mm, you two look so beautiful together all tied up and helpless and bound into beasts,’ the maid commented, her nipples tickling Mina’s body as she placed both hands on Mina’s hips and smoothed her palms over her corseted waist, feeling the tightness of her bondage and seemingly envying it. ‘Oh, I’d so love to be a pony like you some day, but they say I’m too young still.’ She rose up on tiptoe so she could kiss Mina’s chin. Her fingers tweaked Mina’s nipples, clasping the erect teats through