2807 lines
148 KiB
Plaintext
2807 lines
148 KiB
Plaintext
CONTINUING EDUCATION
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Julian looked at the other man, attired nearly identically to his
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Lady, with more than a little trepidation, still holding his Lady's
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hand, the hand that held the chain to his collar. He wore nothing
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else, as was required by his training.
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"This is Rala, my friend, Doctor. He will be helping me during your
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next lesson." Julian swallowed.
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"How?" His voice wavered slightly, betraying his uncertainty. He
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felt his Lady's arm around his waist, protective and caring, as she
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stood behind him.
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"He will help teach you the next lesson, how to give yourself freely."
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His head turned; his eyes sought hers. "I trust Rala," and she took
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the other man's hand in hers, kissing the palm, "implicitly."
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"I only wish to merit your trust, Lady," Rala replied, his own voice
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rich and deep. He was slightly shorter than Julian, level with his
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Lady, and his hair was the color of ruddy sand, his skin fair. Large
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eyes were set over a straight nose and sensuously full lips. He was
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well-built, with the waist and chest of a South Seas pearl diver,
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narrow and strong. Between creamy hips was his own sex, slightly
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erect, surrounded by tow-colored curls. A perfect round peach was
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his buttocks, right down to the coat of gentle fuzz. His long legs
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looked strong, at least what Julian could see of them that was not
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also covered in his dark tan boots, a contrast to his Lady's jet
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ones.
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Julian looked up then to see that the other man was examining him as
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closely as he was being examined; he felt blood go to his face and
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heat rose from his blushing cheeks. His hand tightened on his
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Lady's.
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"You have never tasted a man?" Rala asked him softly. Julian only
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shook his head.
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"I . . . I've never . . . wanted to before . . . " he stammered. His
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Lady came up behind him then, and he felt her against him, felt
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himself drawing strength from her nearness, her warmth.
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"Doctor," she said, "would I ever lead you into something that would
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harm you?" Again, his eyes sought hers.
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"No, Lady," he replied, with perfect trust, complete sincerity. His
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eyes went back to Rala, silent and watching. His Lady's hand rose to
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his warm face, and her lips closed on his. She felt the thin sweat
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on his upper lip as she kissed him, and wiped it away with her thumb.
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Then, she turned and nodded to the other man.
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Rala walked forward, placing one gentle hand on Julian's bare waist.
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His dark stomach tensed and his eyes widened with apprehension. Rala
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drew nearer, and Julian's Lady stood close behind him, against him,
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until he could feel her breathing. "I'm right here, Doctor," was all
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she said, all she needed to say. Rala said only:
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"I will never hurt you, Doctor" -- and kissed him.
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Julian closed his eyes, shivering, and felt his breathing rate
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increase. Rala's lips moved against his, and he would have whimpered
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had he not felt the calming presence of his Lady behind him, stroking
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his stomach lightly. He could smell the other man's maleness, feel
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an arm slide around his back and hold him against a hard chest.
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Warmth enveloped him from all sides. Gentle but firm bodies were
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against him. Caressing hands seemed to cover every inch of his skin.
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Almost without realizing it, he found himself returning the man's
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kiss, felt his own lips move against Rala's, felt his own hand rise
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to take sand-colored curls in his fingers. The gently pressing
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bodies against his moved closer and embraced one another around him,
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and he felt as though he were losing himself. Deliciously, he felt
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himself pulse and awaken, felt himself pressing against the other
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man's body, becoming firm against his firmness, and with a wondering
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jolt, he understood that he was being held against a body like his
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own.
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Rala's tongue traced out his delicate lips, and his own did the same.
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Hesitantly at first, they began toying with each other's tongues.
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The room seemed filled with the soft sounds of their mouths against
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each other, their playful tongues exploring one another's mouths.
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Julian moaned softly, a light feathery sound. Then, Rala pulled
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away, and Julian felt the warmth against his chest fade. His heart
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was pounding.
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His Lady put both arms around him then, against his slim chest. "I
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would never expose you to anyone not gentle, dear Doctor," was all
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she said. He lay his head back against her shoulder as the other man
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regarded him, hearing only the deafening quiet that seemed to settle
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on the room.
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Then, the light vanished, and he could not see. His head flew
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upright and he gasped. A gentle hand laid itself against his
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stomach, and he could not tell whose it was. Moments later, he
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became aware of the blindfold that had been placed on him, soft and
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entirely blocking his vision. His muscles were rigid and stood
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outlined in the candlelight. Reflexively, he reached for his Lady's
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hand. "Lady . . . " he said, but before he could continue, he felt
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only a soft mouth against his, and the scent of a man rose up to his
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nostrils. Rala.
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Without thinking, he returned the kiss, and felt the mouth trace
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itself down to his neck. He gasped, and felt his head fall back.
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Another kiss awoke his lips -- his Lady -- and he felt a tongue push
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its way between them as another tongue drew whirls against his toffee
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skin. Then, that was elsewhere also against his neck, and joined by
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the other mouth and tongue, the other gentle lips. Softly, he felt
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the mouths, the fingers, meander over the surface of his body,
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wandering and kissing and fondling until he could no longer tell them
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apart. His knees buckled with the pleasure, and two sets of firm,
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gentle hands caught him and lowered him softly to the floor.
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All traces of hesitation vanished; each mouth, each tongue was
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another to enjoy, another to please. All over him, hands wandered,
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and he felt overloaded with touch. An electrifying sensation of warm
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wetness embraced his now rigid sex, and while it was not the gateway
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of his Lady, he had no idea who it belonged to, and did not care.
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All he could think of was drowning in the tender pleasing mouths all
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over him and pleasing them when they arrived at his.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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It had been a long day, too long once he had seen the arrival
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schedules for the station. It had been an achingly long five months,
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and the minute the date had turned, he had begun searching through
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the schedules every day; the terminal in his quarters as well as that
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in the infirmary had been set to search for her ship's name ever
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since she had left. At first, he could not keep himself from
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checking them constantly, but as the long weeks had dragged on, he
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had stopped doing it for the most part. Today, the terminal in his
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quarters had beeped at him, as it had done hundreds of times since
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she had departed last, and he had walked over to it, wondering whose
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prescription was up to be renewed, or what offloading of medical
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supplies had to be signed for.
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And it had blinked quietly up at him, showing only one line:
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Ariad. 15:40 hours. Bay 1.
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His hands had trembled then, as he stared at the screen. A keystroke
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would have cleared it and left it in memory to be accessed later, but
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he couldn't touch the keypad, had to keep it glowing quietly up at
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him, making her arrival seem more real. He closed his eyes, and
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brought two shivering hands to his face.
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What did he remember of what she had taught him? What would she say?
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What would *he* say upon seeing her? Would she still want him? And,
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if she did, what . . . what would she teach him now? He rubbed at
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one fist with his palm, and a flood of memories ran over him, washing
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at his feet. The unity. The electric warmth and acceptance. The
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gentle discipline. He shook once, and his back tingled with the
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awakened memories of the spots of candlewax against his skin, the
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tingling of her blows.
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The ungentle discipline.
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A glance at his schedule confirmed that it would be a busy day -- two
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prenatals, six physicals, and seven returned test results from the
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lab. At least he wouldn't be left by himself, like he had been the
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last time, wondering what was going to happen. He smoothed his
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uniform nervously, and licked his lips. His face felt cool, and his
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hand went to his upper lip; he was sweating.
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She's here, he told himself, almost not believing it. She's almost
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here. He would never be able to eat anything for breakfast; his
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stomach was in knots.
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What if she has forgotten me? he asked himself, the question that
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threatened to paralyze him. He had to confront it, had to ask it of
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himself or he would be unable to function the entire day. He
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wouldn't do that to his patients. What if all that I read, all that
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I researched means . . . nothing? He ran through the files he had
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accessed on Ishtarian women and their training in his mind, all that
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he had read compulsively after her departure. All that he had
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studied against the day she returned. Might I never put it to use?
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What if she has found someone else? What if one of her pupils after
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me was . . . more than I was? Better? All the unspoken fears ran
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through him, gibbering, and threatened to overwhelm him. With a hard
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snap of flesh on plastic, he struck the keypad, bringing up the day's
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medical schedule.
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The first prenatal was in the morning, he saw. One of the Bajoran
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civilians on the station. Her fetus was of a different blood type
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than she was, as common in Bajorans as humans, and she needed some
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special monitoring; one of the station midwives and he had conferred
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the night before about the case. No cause for concern, but seeing it
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steadied his nerves. Something medical. A chord had been struck in
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him, and the knowledge of what he would have to do, the actions he
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would take, passed before him like a mantra, calming him.
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And, he would see what happened after that. He was off duty at 18:45
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hours. Perhaps he could call her ship . . . ask after her as she
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approached. Still nervous, he walked briskly out of his quarters on
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the way to the infirmary.
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By lunch he was ravenous, and had downed enough food to march an army
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on. It threatened to make its presence known again after he had
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eaten it, though, and he had beaten a hasty exit from the replimat.
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After returning to the infirmary, his nerves had steadied again, and
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he took the opportunity to lose himself in the work offered by the
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returning test results. By the time 15:40 hours had arrived, he was
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standing over a vat of bubbling viscous material that would have made
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anyone but a medical researcher queasy and poking at a tricorder.
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His combadge chittered at him. Absentmindedly, he struck at it,
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leaving a streak of the medical stew on his smock as he did so.
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"Bashir." His greetings sometimes degenerated when he was
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distracted.
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Kira was on the other end. "Doctor. There's a shipowner just
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docking who'd like a word with you."
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And he had almost dropped the tricorder he was holding right into the
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vat. "What?" It's her, he repeated to himself, over and over, it's
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her, it's her. He gripped the sides of the vat, closing his eyes.
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"The ship is called the Ariad. Should I pipe it down to you?"
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"Yes!" He steadied his hands, and put down the tricorder. Seconds
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passed like centuries --
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"Doctor!" It was her voice, her beautiful voice. Still clutching
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the sides of the vat, he raised his eyes to the ceiling and sighed in
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relief.
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"Yes!" he replied.
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He could almost hear her smile across the circuit. Then, "My
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beautiful doctor," she said to him in a voice filled with affection,
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with caring, and his heart convulsed with the same dedication he had
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felt the last time he had seen her. She hadn't forgotten him. She
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still wanted him! "It's been a little longer than five months. I
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hope this hasn't been . . . inconvenient for you."
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His mind's eye spun back to the last time he saw her, framed in the
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entranceway to her craft as he stood with his collar in his hands.
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He saw her face, could see her lips moving now, speaking the words he
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was hearing. "No . . . no." He swallowed. "I saw . . . the docking
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schedules today. I -- I saw your ship on it and . . . " He trailed
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off at this point. The vat of goo was nearly forgotten; once his
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shaking hands placed the stasis field around it, it was completely
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so. He couldn't trust himself to concentrate while even hearing her
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voice. "I get off duty at 18:45 tonight."
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Quiet. He could hear muted voices on the other end. Then, "19:00 it
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is, then, Doctor. Unless . . . " Another pause. "Is this
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satisfactory? You have nothing else planned?"
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"No! I mean . . . yes! I mean . . . " He stopped himself before he
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lost all coherency. A gulp of air steadied him. "That will be
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fine!"
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"Do you still have the collar?"
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He could feel the smile dawning on his lips and was glad he was
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alone; he felt himself go scarlet to his hairline. Impishly, he
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replied, "Of course, Lady." The smile widened.
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He heard her smile in her voice as well. "19:00 then, Doctor." She
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chuckled. "My lovely doctor . . . Until then."
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"Yes, Lady, " he replied, and the communication ceased. Some small
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part of him wondered if Kira had eavesdropped, and the larger part of
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him did not care if she had.
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If he had thought the previous part of the day passed slowly, that
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was nothing compared to the crawl it had slowed to now. Desperately,
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he wished for some patients, some interaction. The silent goop in
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front of him offered no conversation, no opportunity for distraction.
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Again and again, he found himself making the same measurement several
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times, checking and rechecking figures he would normally be able to
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hold in his head with no effort. Finally, he called the computer
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and asked it to pipe in some music. His first choice was doumbec,
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but the throbbing rhythms only made things worse. Finally, he was
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forced to choose the spare ornamentation of Bach, and hummed it
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softly to himself as he worked.
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In the middle of the Partita No. 3, the quiet alarm broke in, its
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gentle beep sounding like a klaxon to him. He looked up at the
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chrono on the wall over the entrance. 18:45.
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In minutes, the smock was thrown off and he was out the door, on his
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way to his quarters. The collar was in a drawer; he had not worn it
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since the last lesson. He remembered seeing it there each time he
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opened this drawer, picking it up, holding it -- but never wearing
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it. He couldn't bring himself to put it on.
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He entered his quarters, opened the drawer. The collar lay there,
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the chain slightly tarnished, the soft kid leather slightly stiff.
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With trembling fingers, he picked it up.
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A faint scent of jasmine still clung to it -- or was he imagining
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that? His eyes went to the chrono near his bed. 18:48. He
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considered just heading straight for Bay 1, but caught a reflection
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of himself in the mirror over his dresser that stopped him. Smiling
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slightly, he ran his hand over his uniform.
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No. His lips curled wryly as he remembered. He fingered the
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synthetic fabric, black and brilliant royal blue. Quartermaster
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would want to know why he needed two more uniforms after less than
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six months, and he certainly couldn't explain that. Quickly, he
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removed the uniform, and realized while pulling the tunic over his
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head that it would also not do to appear at his Lady's ship still
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carrying whiffs of medical sludge on him. Stilling his shaking
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hands, he dashed into the shower, unable while there to keep from
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running his hands over his bare skin as the steam surrounded him,
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imagining them as hers. He might have lingered over the
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anticipation, the wanting, but wanted nothing so much as to see her
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again, hear her voice, feel her on and around him. Anticipation be
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damned -- he wanted his Lady, wanted to be near her, see her eyes on
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him, feel her hands, her mouth, her body . . . and please her with
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his own.
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He jumped out of the shower, dried himself, and pulled on a crisp
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white shirt, blue trousers, and his uniform boots. The chrono
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blinked at him. 18:56.
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He turned. His hand went to the collar, picked it up once more. He
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looked down at it in his fingers, and as he considered her parting
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comment about how it might fit her, he was unaware that his eyes had
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begun to glitter with something that was not surrender. Standing at
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the mirror, he slowly raised it up and held it against his neck,
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wrapping it around his skin, still moist from the heat of the shower.
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He did not fasten it there. His eyes closed, and he felt the subtle
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throbbing, the insistence at his thighs.
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18:57.
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His reflection gazed back at him, holding the collar again as a
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talisman against his chest. He swallowed, turned, and exited, the
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door closing over him. With only a little trembling in his legs, he
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walked to the docking ring, to Bay 1.
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His fingers still trembled at the chime. Seeing them took him back
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to the night, centuries ago, when he had last done this, last awaited
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entrance to her ship -- ignorant and completely unaware of what was
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to come. Briefly, he considered that he was now more knowledgeable,
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more urbane, but as he stood there, not pressing the chime, he
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realized that that was not the case -- nowhere near it. He still was
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uncertain, and knew nothing of what was to come. He knew only that
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she was on the other side of this airlock, and that he belonged on
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that side, with her -- with his Lady. But, he thought, we will see
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how the collar fits her as well. His mouth curled upward in a dark
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little smile of which he was unaware.
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He might give her a few surprises.
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Julian pressed the chime once. In breathless anticipation, he
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watched the bay door roll away, and saw the entranceway to her ship
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part before him, welcoming him into its dim, ruddy depths. In one
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corner, he could just see one of the standing flame lamps.
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As if sleepwalking, he moved, his body seemingly taking him forward
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of its own volition. Lightheaded, he moved out of the airlock, into
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a place beyond normal space, normal time, into the protective circle
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of his Lady's ship and his Lady's presence. The entrance slid closed
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behind him, cutting him off completely from the station. The same
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voice that had commanded him so beautifully during the past time of
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surrender and desire floated at him from nowhere.
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"My beautiful doctor . . . " and trailed off.
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"Lady . . . " he murmured, looking around himself.
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Then, "Put on your collar."
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He did so, and felt the leather around his neck again, stiff but
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still a good fit. For long moments, he simply stood there, aching to
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see her, wondering when she would come to him.
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Again, then, the voice from behind him. "That's better." He spun.
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She was directly behind him, and held the chain to his collar in her
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hands. "In your bonds, I can greet you properly." He only stood,
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feeling himself fall forward, into her eyes, her welcoming smile.
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Her hands reached out to him. "My lovely pupil."
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She still wanted him.
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He bent one knee before her, a knight, and the only thing he could
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utter was, "Lady . . . " She was before him, warm and accepting,
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clothed only in her hair, longer than it had been when he had seen
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her last. It was a satiny black cape, brushing the tops of her
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thighs. Aside from that most beautiful of cloaks, she wore nothing
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else.
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She chuckled again, low and velvety. Standing before him, she
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touched his hair softly as a mother's kiss. She did not kneel, but
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only looked at him, memories also taking her for the time. Her
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fingers toyed with his dark waves of hair, her hands ran over his
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slender shoulders, the crisp whiteness of his shirt shining like new
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snow against his deep skin. She traced his jawline, his neck, his
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brow -- as lost in thought as was he. Moving closer, she took his
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head in her hands and drew it close, holding it against her hips. He
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turned his head and laid it there, feeling her fingers in his hair,
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caressing him. Her own ebon curls tickled at his cheek, and he
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kissed them. Raising his arms, he embraced her, feeling her strong
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thighs under his hands. "Lady . . . " he whispered again, drinking
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in the sensation of acceptance that washed over him in a cool tide.
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He raised his eyes to her face, smiling down at him, and tugged
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firmly and steadily on the chain she was holding, his chain.
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Now is as good a time as any, he told himself. Do it.
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She saw that his expression had altered slightly, impishness and
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something darker shining at her out of his eyes. She stood still,
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and felt his hands grip her own forearms, and pull her downward. At
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first, she resisted, but then felt herself drop until she was eye
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level with him or perhaps a little lower, as he was taller than she.
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"I've waited . . . " he began, "I've waited . . . " but he could not
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continue. His hands wreathed her face, pulling it toward his own.
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She placed her hand on his chest again, but he overruled her with his
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own hands, kissing her deep and strong, pressing himself into her.
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He ran his tongue over her tense lips hungrily, hearing her wordless
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protest, and parted those lips -- probing deeply into her warm mouth.
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Toying with her tongue, he let himself be submerged in the soft
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sounds, the scent of her, the feel of her hair under his hand, her
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tense body against his, even through the clothing.
|
|
|
|
His eager boldness grew. One hand slid down her back to her own
|
|
buttocks, pressing them to him, pressing his hips to hers; he could
|
|
hear rough sounds of friction, his clothing against her jet hair.
|
|
Her hands were around his upper arms, gripping them like steel, and
|
|
he waited. Waited for her to relax into him, as the files on
|
|
Ishtarian training he had perused during her absence had advised.
|
|
|
|
For long minutes, they were like that, tasting each other, he gently
|
|
moving his hips against hers until he felt himself again pushing to
|
|
be released from his clothing; he knew she could feel his occasional
|
|
pulsing. Time passed. He tightened his grip on her buttocks,
|
|
feeling the soft skin give under his hands, and felt her own grip on
|
|
his arms slacken just a hair. Now, he told himself. He pulled away
|
|
then, ending the kiss, and could feel her body leaning into his,
|
|
watching her face closely.
|
|
|
|
It was there, just as he had hoped -- surprise, desire, a hint of
|
|
frustration -- as she caught her breath. He could see all of what
|
|
she felt running over her face, through her eyes. He smiled at her,
|
|
the impish little smile he had worn in the airlock. "Lady . . . I'm
|
|
ready for my next lesson."
|
|
|
|
Her chest was rising and falling quickly, and she raised one hand to
|
|
her neck. For a moment, she did not reply. Then, she smiled, and a
|
|
new realization shone from her tilted eyes -- a gauntlet had been
|
|
thrown. "Yes," she said simply, her voice breathier than she would
|
|
have wanted. "You may indeed be."
|
|
|
|
His eyes ran over her face, and he pitched his voice sensuously low.
|
|
"I am." He pushed himself into her more closely, pressing her
|
|
backwards, digging his fingers into her soft skin.
|
|
|
|
Slowly, her eyes began to smoulder, and he saw then the challenge in
|
|
them, the arousal and the strength. She looked through him, and her
|
|
gaze nearly melted him on the spot. Steam rose from her, or seemed
|
|
to. "We will see." Her eyes narrowed, and she smiled at him, the
|
|
smile of new respect. "You have been reading during my absence,
|
|
Doctor," she remarked, appraising him.
|
|
|
|
He blinked, unsure of how to respond to this. She had seen what he
|
|
was trying to do quickly.
|
|
|
|
Leaning closer to him, and grasping his own buttocks firmly, she
|
|
whispered, "I spent years studying to be what I am." His eyes darted
|
|
down to her lips at his face, caressing his clean cheek. "I couldn't
|
|
fail to recognize the technique." Her tongue darted out, tracing out
|
|
his sharp cheekbone. She pulled back. "You are what I imagined
|
|
you'd be, Doctor. One of my most dedicated pupils." Her sibilant
|
|
voice was soft and gentle. "Remove your clothing." She released his
|
|
chain, and he felt it fall against his thigh; he jumped slightly.
|
|
|
|
This commanding tone was not what he had expected -- but then, again,
|
|
he was forced to admit that he still did not know what to expect.
|
|
"What will you teach me?" he asked.
|
|
|
|
"Remove your clothing, Doctor." She stood, and he followed after
|
|
watching her body rise before his eyes. "I will return shortly."
|
|
And she left the room, leaving him there wondering what to do. Voices
|
|
floated out of the other room, his Lady's and another's -- the new
|
|
voice low and quiet. He strained to make sense of what they said,
|
|
but could determine nothing.
|
|
|
|
After waiting for several seconds, he pulled his shirttails out of
|
|
his trousers and hesitantly tugged the shirt off over his head. Cool
|
|
air struck his slim chest. His previous boldness had begun to
|
|
dissipate, and he began to wonder what she had planned, and what form
|
|
any reprisals would take. She would take up his challenge, he was
|
|
sure of it, and he hoped he could bear whatever she put to him. A
|
|
slight tug, and his hands moved down his hips; he felt the fabric of
|
|
his trousers sliding along his skin as they fell to the floor. He
|
|
was again as he once was -- unclothed and uncertain, in his collar,
|
|
on her ship and at her mercy.
|
|
|
|
Gathering himself, he promised that it would not be so . . . one-
|
|
sided this time, but it was easier to be bold and promise her a new
|
|
pupil in his mind three months ago, he safe and clothed and sitting
|
|
in his quarters, than it was now. His certainty vanished like snow
|
|
on hot ground when she entered again with her assistant . . .
|
|
|
|
. . . and he was now enduring the overload of sensation that this
|
|
newest lesson -- or the beginnings of one -- had brought. Writhing
|
|
blindly, the floor cold and hard against his back, he felt his spine
|
|
curve as the moist warmth enveloped him further. His wrists were
|
|
seized and held, not confined but merely held, a reminder of his
|
|
bound status. A nimble tongue traced out the outlines of the head of
|
|
his sex, and he felt every movement of it, each slow, deliberate
|
|
millimeter's worth. Pulses ran shuddering through him from there,
|
|
and the soft mouth took him in completely, and pulled back, took him
|
|
in yet again, and pulled away again, seeming to know exactly what he
|
|
wanted. The other mouth was against his neck, almost unbearably
|
|
sensitized, and the firm and gentle hands seemed everywhere else.
|
|
His wrists were pinned against his sides; he badly wanted to bring
|
|
his hands to the head of the unknown person pleasing him so
|
|
wonderfully and could not. Expressions of gratitude were confined to
|
|
his soft voice, wordless, growing stronger as the overload continued.
|
|
|
|
He turned his head, felt smooth thick hair against his cheek, and
|
|
understood with a shock of pleasure that Rala was the one pleasing
|
|
him, taking him in, teasing and delighting him. The realization
|
|
coursed through him like hot fire, making him throb even harder, the
|
|
tension and horrible ache tripling. In his mind's eye, he could see
|
|
himself, abandoned and twisting, on the floor with his Lady's mouth
|
|
on his, and Rala at his hips -- his body arching, even his
|
|
expression. It was etched on his eyes as if in glass.
|
|
|
|
He could hear himself moaning.
|
|
|
|
Voices sang in his mind, and he felt the mouth at him retreat
|
|
completely. His teeth clenched in frustration, but he recalled the
|
|
final lesson of his last time with his Lady -- patience. Limber
|
|
fingers stroked at him, keeping him aroused while other fingers, both
|
|
mouths, concentrated on the rest of his body, awakening every nerve,
|
|
every square centimeter of skin. Gradually, strong hands began
|
|
kneading him, relaxing him, one set working at his thighs, another at
|
|
his shoulders; he felt a wet warmth at his stomach and knew his Lady
|
|
to be straddling him, her firm hands working the muscles in his
|
|
chest. Slowly, the tension and mad wanting he felt began to ebb into
|
|
a melting feeling. Soft lips kissed at his genitals, and he started
|
|
at them and at the warm tongue that traced out the textures of his
|
|
inner thighs, also being kneaded by firm, strong fingers.
|
|
|
|
The moist warmth at his stomach departed, and he was just barely
|
|
conscious of being lifted from the floor and held against a strong
|
|
hard chest. Rala again, his strong arms supporting Julian, taking
|
|
him to something he knew not what. His own arms now free, he wrapped
|
|
them around Rala's chest, holding himself more closely to his Lady's
|
|
assistant, his mouth and body sweet and shockingly different,
|
|
shockingly the same. He felt also his Lady's hand at him, keeping
|
|
him aroused and rigid, while he buried his face in Rala's warm flesh,
|
|
pulling himself up to run his eager tongue over the other man's neck.
|
|
He felt Rala's head turn to face him and his hand ran over the other
|
|
man's cheek and neck. Again, the sweet mouth was on his, gently
|
|
devouring, the moist probing tongue against his lips. Hungrily, he
|
|
lifted himself in Rala's arms further, pushing the man's face against
|
|
his while their mouths pressed together.
|
|
|
|
A voice was at his ear, and he gasped, turning his head blindly.
|
|
"Doctor," it whispered, the sensuous voice of his Lady, "you learn
|
|
quickly, my beauty." Another gentle kiss against his cheekbone,
|
|
another soft set of lips to toy with. He felt his body against
|
|
something soft as he was laid on his back on the bed that he had been
|
|
seeing for so long in his dreams. The blindfold was removed, and he
|
|
opened his eyes to Rala beside him, releasing him from his arms. Of
|
|
its own volition, his hand moved to touch the other man's pert sex,
|
|
close by his head and so like his own. A smile crept over his face
|
|
as he gazed at this, delighted in some part of himself he could not
|
|
name, amazed at this so like his own body. Out of the corner of his
|
|
eye, Julian could see his Lady smiling on them both; now, though, he
|
|
had eyes only for Rala. An unspoken current of understanding,
|
|
mutuality, flowed between them. "Like me," he murmured. Rala
|
|
nodded, and as he gently touched Julian as well, replied with a
|
|
tender smile, "Like me, as well, Doctor." The smile grew into
|
|
impishness, and Julian returned it.
|
|
|
|
He turned his head to see his Lady, watching them both with a
|
|
delighted expression on her face. "My pupils," she said, low and
|
|
rich. "You must spend some time alone as well." She sat back
|
|
against the headboard; Julian could close his eyes and still feel it
|
|
against his chest like icy fire the time she had disciplined him.
|
|
"But for now, Doctor, we must begin the lesson." He sat up, and she
|
|
took the chain of his collar on her hands, not bothering to bind his
|
|
wrists to it. "Your hands may remain free this time, Doctor," and
|
|
she shared a look with Rala that he could not decipher.
|
|
|
|
"What is this lesson to be?" he asked as she placed her hands on him,
|
|
pulling him toward her until he was facing her; Rala was behind him,
|
|
and warmth began like a little fire in his chest and spread out at
|
|
the feel of her hands on his hips and Rala's at his waist.
|
|
|
|
She shook her head as she faced the men. "You will see." He cocked
|
|
his head at her.
|
|
|
|
"I will see?"
|
|
|
|
"Yes." Her hands rose from his hips to run over him and her eyes
|
|
became lost for a moment. "I had forgotten. Oh, I had forgotten
|
|
. . . " she said quietly, almost to herself, as she felt his skin
|
|
under her fingers, saw his slender body before her, a slim and
|
|
graceful caramel sculpture -- hard chest, beautiful tense stomach,
|
|
his hips and thighs only slightly lighter in color than the rest of
|
|
him and giving the impression of buttery cream, his long graceful
|
|
arms and legs, and . . . Her lips were at his neck, his willow slim
|
|
neck, long and sensuous, and she nearly moaned as she inhaled his
|
|
scent and found herself carried back months ago to the last time she
|
|
had buried her face in him.
|
|
|
|
She pulled him to her more closely, and he felt Rala tilting his hips
|
|
forward with his hands. He, too, was drinking in the scent of her,
|
|
letting it touch his memories and arouse them. Her skin was against
|
|
his, and he could feel her moving underneath him. He felt as well,
|
|
with an electric thrill of anticipation, Rala behind and against him,
|
|
gently rubbing himself against the soft skin there. His hands
|
|
tightened in his Lady's hair, and his eyes closed as he fell forward
|
|
into the want. Strong man's hands ran lightly over his outer thighs,
|
|
caressing every curve, and Julian again felt himself pulsing and felt
|
|
the thirst begin. He wanted to say something, to express this, but
|
|
could not -- could not think of who to tell, which one's sensations
|
|
against him and all over him were the more delicious. In the end, he
|
|
simply sighed, softly and lightly, and just let the pleasure and
|
|
anticipation wash over him and take him.
|
|
|
|
Rala's soft undulations were growing more forceful. Julian matched
|
|
them, feeling the two bodies against his, the two warm bodies.
|
|
Opening his eyes, he saw his Lady silently reach to her bedside and
|
|
take two little jars; one he recognized, one he had never seen. With
|
|
no further preamble, she took his hips firmly and guided him with
|
|
infinite slowness into her. The faintest of liquid sounds
|
|
accompanied her movement, and he could only gasp when she stopped
|
|
short, allowing only the head of his rigid sex into her. He watched
|
|
her silently, questions in his dark eyes, but the inquiring
|
|
expression on his face was wiped away utterly as she gripped at the
|
|
head, massaging it with herself, squeezing at it over and over. He
|
|
pushed himself forward against her hands, but was unable to overcome
|
|
both sets of arms that had immobilized him. He could only stare as
|
|
she clutched, and as Rala leaned into him, pressing his chest against
|
|
Julian's back, rocking back and forth.
|
|
|
|
Then, the two sets of hands resumed their motion, and he felt himself
|
|
entering her completely, seeming like hours; he could feel each slow
|
|
millimeter's liquid progress until his hips were at hers and he was
|
|
again inside his beautiful Lady, taken in by her.
|
|
|
|
Rala reached past him with negligent grace, taking the second of the
|
|
little jars behind Julian's back. Julian tried to follow it with his
|
|
eyes, but was prevented from doing so by his Lady's grasping his head
|
|
and turning it to her own. He then saw only her mouth approaching
|
|
his, felt only his tongue parting her lips and hers doing the same.
|
|
Soft sounds danced around them as they toyed with each other, almost
|
|
but not quite masking the soft sounds Julian could hear behind
|
|
himself. He felt a firm hand in the small of his back pushing him
|
|
forward and making him arch his spine; he flowed forward into his
|
|
Lady with it, and started when he felt Rala's limber fingers at him,
|
|
gently painting him with something cool and moist. His own hands
|
|
tightened around his Lady's arms and his eyes were wide.
|
|
|
|
"What . . . " he asked, but did not continue. She placed a finger at
|
|
his lips and picked up the other jar, the one he knew.
|
|
|
|
"I can feel you softening, Doctor." Rala stopped then, but at a nod
|
|
from her, continued. Julian's eyes were alive with uncertainty and
|
|
just a little fear, his body tense as wire, and she kissed him
|
|
gently, caressing his cheek and jaw. In her hands, his face moved,
|
|
his head lifted, and he bit his lower lip only for a moment until she
|
|
smoothed it with her fingers, as he felt Rala's fingers softly
|
|
probing, preparing. His Lady's fingers wandered down his neck from
|
|
his face, lazy and delicate. She could see Rala over Julian's
|
|
shoulder, see his arms moving as he finished preparing himself and
|
|
the doctor. In his eyes, she saw something like what she herself had
|
|
felt when she had first seen him, centuries ago. Amazement at his
|
|
beauty. Desire. Gentleness. Rala smiled at her past Julian, who
|
|
shivered once, and nodded -- he was ready.
|
|
|
|
She opened the jar and took out something he had not seen before -- a
|
|
tiny silver spoon. Taking a mound of the kamireh in it, she held it
|
|
before him, watching as, with his eyes, those eyes, on her he took it
|
|
between his lips and pulled back slowly, taking the sweet cream in
|
|
his mouth. He swallowed and closed his eyes, awaiting the surge of
|
|
fire.
|
|
|
|
It was strong, powerful, more than what he had remembered.
|
|
Immediately, he became firm, and felt himself stretching the moist
|
|
skin of his Lady. She heard him moan, and saw the expression of the
|
|
other man behind him as he too witnessed Julian's reaction. Hunger
|
|
awoke in Rala's eyes, and she held out another little dollop of
|
|
kamireh for him too, taking a small taste for herself as well.
|
|
|
|
Then, barely aware, Julian saw her pick up a smouldering censer. He
|
|
was only slightly conscious of her holding it, waving it, under his
|
|
nose, but felt his reaction to it, whatever it was. As the hot
|
|
thirst from the kamireh swelled in him, another part of him became
|
|
detached, serene, and a wonderful sense of flowing filled him as
|
|
well and made him even more aware of the fiery glow, made it more
|
|
intense as like a relaxed reed he bent against swiftly flowing water.
|
|
Lightly panting, he flowed into two sets of arms, and felt an
|
|
astonishing sensation of acceptance himself as Rala began to enter
|
|
him with utmost tenderness. A wave seemed to break over him, and his
|
|
eyes opened wide in amazement. A thin line of sweat was drawn down
|
|
his back, and he could feel himself pushing back, withdrawing from
|
|
his Lady's wet embrace into another, different embrace, one in which
|
|
he was accepting. It was his turn to leave nail impressions in his
|
|
Lady's skin.
|
|
|
|
"As gently as you wish, Doctor," Rala whispered to him from behind
|
|
one shoulder, and Julian nearly melted at the sound of his voice. He
|
|
felt the strong hands at his hips, pulling him back slowly, slowly,
|
|
and he felt himself filling with delicious ease. He released his
|
|
Lady's arms, felt himself pulling out of her, felt himself being
|
|
filled and stimulated in a way he had never experienced before.
|
|
Depths in him were slowly being touched and awakened, and he felt
|
|
his upper body rise to lean back against Rala's supporting chest.
|
|
His eyes were closed, his lashes fluttering, as Rala pressed his
|
|
buttocks against his hips at last, and his head fell back against a
|
|
fair shoulder. He was panting lightly, with hot sweat breaking all
|
|
over him, making him shine. Rala embraced him around his chest,
|
|
running strong hands over him, supporting his slender body as it was
|
|
taken by training. Very gently, so as not to remove him completely
|
|
from his Lady, Rala rhythmically rocked his hips a fraction of an
|
|
inch back and forth, back and forth, lifting Julian in his strong
|
|
arms mere millimeters. A gasp met his actions, followed by the most
|
|
delicious moan Rala had ever heard. His arms tightened across
|
|
Julian's bare chest, and he gazed at his Lady past one smooth
|
|
shoulder. He is beautiful, he said silently to her. She smiled, her
|
|
own eyes barely able to tear themselves from Julian's shining body,
|
|
stretched and oblivious before her.
|
|
|
|
I know, she replied silently. Her hand reached to Julian, and she
|
|
touched his stomach, dabbling the sweat there softly. Then, she
|
|
began to massage the head of his sex, still inside her, as Rala also
|
|
rocked back and forth. Their combined actions were met only with
|
|
wordless, though not silent, astonishment. His moans were nearly
|
|
cries. If he thought his nervous system was overloaded before,
|
|
months ago, it was nothing compared to what was crackling and
|
|
crashing over and through him now. Every movement of Rala's, every
|
|
rocking motion, every push or pull, was mirrored inside him, and he
|
|
had never felt anything remotely comparable. Rala moved, he felt it
|
|
in him; as the other man undulated his hips so slightly, Julian could
|
|
feel himself do the same, inside, and he had never known that was
|
|
possible. He felt submerged in a thick soup of cloying vapor, felt
|
|
as if he no longer had conscious control over his body, had no idea
|
|
what was happening outside his own skin so amazing and intense were
|
|
the things bursting and burning inside. Like an icy and prickling
|
|
spark of voltage, he felt as well the clutches and grasping of his
|
|
Lady as she took the head of his thirsty sex and massaged it in her.
|
|
It was barely inside her, and the slightest backward movement would
|
|
remove it completely. He felt balanced on the head of a pin, as if
|
|
he were teetering, barely supported, and relished the feeling of
|
|
exquisite instability it created in him.
|
|
|
|
The rhythm of Rala in him was matched by a rhythmic sensation inside
|
|
as he was touched in depths that had never before been stimulated.
|
|
His head tossed from side to side, and he only retained the barest
|
|
awareness of strong hands running over him, running all over him,
|
|
over his chest and stomach and waist, over his thighs. Panting and
|
|
lips slightly parted, he turned his head to nestle in Rala's warm and
|
|
moist neck and felt a warmth between his lips, a wet probing. Dimly,
|
|
he understood that Rala had placed his tongue in his mouth, but he
|
|
could not manage to return the kiss. He could only moan, strongly.
|
|
His hand reached to Rala's head, gripped his hair as he moaned.
|
|
Then, he felt the hands at his hips go away to be replaced by another
|
|
set and he began to feel himself pulled forward. As the astonishing
|
|
sensations behind him began to draw back, those before swelled and
|
|
washed over him. Limply, gracefully, he released Rala's sandy curls,
|
|
his nerveless fingers dragging along damp fair skin. He could again
|
|
feel himself entering his beautiful Lady, stretching her gently as
|
|
she pulled his hips to hers, feel the wavelike contractions of her
|
|
muscles as she squeezed at him, seeming to pull him more deeply into
|
|
her. Then, he was against her, and Rala only barely inside him,
|
|
still moving gently and rhythmically.
|
|
|
|
Oblivious, he could only lean against her, feeling her at his chest,
|
|
feeling her soft breasts at him, her lips on him, her beautiful voice
|
|
in his ear, telling him something he could not make out. The scent
|
|
of her hair overwhelmed him, the tickling of it at his face was like
|
|
an icy skittering, and he grasped her arms firmly as his voice became
|
|
more urgent, more pleading, more abandoned than before. He felt only
|
|
overload and could not have told how much longer he could withstand
|
|
what he was feeling without losing consciousness. Like an upwelling
|
|
of coherency, he suddenly made out some of her words, graven on his
|
|
mind with utter clarity:
|
|
|
|
"You can withstand much more, Doctor. You are strong."
|
|
|
|
Beyond gasping, beyond pleading, he only felt his body melt further
|
|
into hers. She held his dark head, with his hair curling into wet
|
|
ringlets wreathing his face and the back of his neck, and embraced
|
|
him firmly, whispering soft assurances that were lost to him. Then,
|
|
with agonizing acuity, he felt her hands pull away from him, and his
|
|
hips were once again grasped by Rala and pulled slowly and inexorably
|
|
back. He slid out of his Lady with a liquid sense of emergence, and
|
|
again felt the fullness of holding another man inside himself.
|
|
Again, the sensation shook him, consumed him; he felt as Rala rocked
|
|
his hips with more force and further than he had before, pulling
|
|
Julian's body up as masculine arms wrapped around his chest to
|
|
support him, yet allowing him to remain just barely inside his Lady.
|
|
Rala rocked himself backwards, sliding forward and tilting his hips
|
|
until gravity pushed Julian down on him more firmly; he was nearly
|
|
melted himself by the other man's moans and gasping. Under his
|
|
hands, he could feel the slim chest rising and falling, the sweat
|
|
running over the dark skin, darker by far than his own. He embraced
|
|
Julian with all his strength, burying his own face in the warm skin
|
|
at his neck, fondling it with his tongue, tasting the salty sweat.
|
|
Rings of damp hair brushed his own face, and he felt Julian tighten
|
|
around him in response to what he knew he was feeling, to what Rala
|
|
himself had felt many times, what he had given others, men and women,
|
|
many times.
|
|
|
|
Steadying himself against what he too was feeling, he leaned back and
|
|
braced his arms and, with care so that Julian would yet remain in his
|
|
Lady, Rala flexed his strong legs, jounced his hips, and tossed the
|
|
other man's body very slightly upward. Were it not for his Lady's
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grip on the chain of his collar, Julian would have fallen back and
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away, oblivious. As it was, she had to reach forward and grasp his
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slim upper arms to keep him from toppling. Rala tossed him again at
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a nod from her, and his own eyes closed as he felt the other man
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clutch and tighten at him, as he felt his round buttocks drive down
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onto him. Julian's astonishment was beyond moaning; he could only
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inhale slowly, shudderingly. His Lady ran one hand over his chest
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and neck, caressing his skin, drinking in the sight of him stretched
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and shining, being buffeted by the pleasure she and Rala were giving
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him. He began to undulate his hips himself, bucking softly against
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Rala, growing stronger and stronger, and his gasps took on the same
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cadence. Acutely, he felt slim fingers at his sex, still tenuously
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held and gripped by his Lady, felt her coat the shaft with something,
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knew it to be kamireh though he could not think the word. For a
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brief few moments, he took control of himself, just long enough to
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throw his upper body forward and against her, still pressing himself
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over and over into Rala. Without waiting for her hands to guide him,
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he pushed himself into her, exhaling with a soft cry as he did so;
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her words had flown from his conscious mind, but their flavor
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remained. He knew that he was unable to stand any more, and wanted
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his hot and nearly panicked thirst slaked.
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Rala's hands dragged down his back as he felt Julian withdraw from
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him and caressed his sides, making the other man moan and buck even
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more. He withdrew from his Lady then, and pressed himself against
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Rala once more, tight and urgent. Then forward, to his Lady, who
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could feel him becoming more and more wild, could see Rala over his
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shoulder, eyes closed, becoming wild as well, grasping Julian's
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slender waist with a grip of iron, his own body taut and shining.
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While Julian was still forward, hot and hard against her, she reached
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past him and pulled Rala to herself as well, drawing him against the
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other man until Julian lay against her chest and Rala against him.
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Their hips were together, each inside the other, Julian's thrusting
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back and forth, back and forth, pressing hard to overcome the
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closeness, the constraint. She could see the muscles along his sides
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tightening as he pushed himself back against Rala with hungry
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strength, felt his arms around her pulling himself against her body
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and driving into her wildly.
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And he continued, over and over, growing in strength. Pushing to the
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man, clasping the woman to himself. Being drawn back and accepting
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the body of Rala prone against him and lightly moaning, and losing
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himself in the warmth and wetness of his beautiful Lady, whose eyes
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were closed and lips parted. Julian pushed his tongue between them
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and felt hers toy with it, felt Rala's against his flushed skin, his
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exquisitely sensitive neck. Against, between, her lips he moaned
|
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strongly, a quivering cry that grew in volume as he felt the soft
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tongue of Rala against skin so sensitized he felt that the slightest
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further stimulation would send him plummeting down to a warm bubbling
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waterfall of sensation.
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His hips bucked back and forth, wildly. He felt his Lady's breath at
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his neck as she whispered one outrageous word at him: "Patience."
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Seconds passed as his overloaded brain, preoccupied with touch and
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taste and scent, understood her. His hands raised to her head, and
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he took her hair in his fists; he felt Rala's hands gripping his arms
|
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like steel as he pushed himself against him. His eyes did not open,
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and only a bare few words could he manage.
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"No . . . patience . . . " he said through clenched teeth, then
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plunging his tongue more deeply into her mouth and pressing himself
|
|
into her with all his strength, crushing his lips against hers. His
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|
hand was at the nape of her neck; her head was immobilized. His
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|
breath came in short powerful bursts as he drove himself inside her
|
|
stretched gateway, drove himself against the man behind him. Every
|
|
muscle in his body was tense as he lay against her, hot and covered
|
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in his own sweat and hers and Rala's as the other man's weight on him
|
|
pressed him down.
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All of his skin was touched, covered, and the heat from the other
|
|
bodies surrounded him in a cloying fog. The tight embrace was a
|
|
total one, like nothing he had ever felt. His hips pounded back and
|
|
forth, stretching his Lady, stretching himself. The peak was nearing
|
|
for him, and he could feel the tightening, the awful tightness,
|
|
beginning to grip him. He heard two wordless cries, one Rala's and
|
|
one his own. A third joined them -- his Lady. He felt Rala tensing
|
|
and driving harder, further, touching him even more deeply and the
|
|
wildness pushed him closer to the peak.
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Then, Rala threw himself against him, crying out and clutching
|
|
Julian tightly. His back curled and his hips drove so deeply into
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Julian that he thought he would hold Rala in him forever. Over and
|
|
over, the powerful muscles of the man behind him hammered into him,
|
|
driving his own hips even more deeply into his Lady, their bodies
|
|
jarred by the mad thrashing. Once, twice, the hammering kept going,
|
|
and Julian felt himself finally tighten to the breaking point, adding
|
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his astonished voice to Rala's, as his Lady added her own voice to
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both.
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From cortese Mon Feb 27 20:53:46 1995
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Return-Path: <cortese>
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Received: by netcom19.netcom.com (8.6.9/Netcom)
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id UAA25704; Mon, 27 Feb 1995 20:53:46 -0800
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Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 20:53:46 -0800
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From: cortese (Janis Maria C. C. Cortese)
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Message-Id: <199502280453.UAA25704@netcom19.netcom.com>
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To: aleph@netcom.com
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Subject: CE ptII
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Status: O
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The holosuite program was not what it was before. There was no
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jasmine, no rolling hills or soft breezes, only black sky studded
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with stars, and presenting a huge and awe-inspiring ringed planet to
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the observer. It was in crescent phase, its rings edge-on, like a
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tightly drawn iridescent bow with an arrow of silver. Julian looked
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down at his feet; the rock under them was also iridescent, and each
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thing, himself included, cast two complementary shadows, one from the
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distant cold sun and one from the shining jewel overhead, far
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brighter than the star that illuminated it.
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Ten feet before him was another bubbling hot pool, a must, he
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realized when he again awoke stiff and sore, after any lesson. As he
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lowered himself past the mist into the water, he looked overhead. He
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missed the jasmine, he concluded, but here the view was better.
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He had awoken in slightly better shape than the time before, as his
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hands had not been bound, but his muscles were still tired and stiff.
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There had been no sign of his Lady; only Rala was with him, curled up
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and sleeping beside him. For a long time, he had simply lain there,
|
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watching the other man sleep, watching his chest rise and fall,
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fleeting expressions dawning and passing over his face as he dreamed.
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His sandy hair was still stuck to his brow in some places, though the
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ringlets it made were not as distinctive as on his own head; Rala's
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hair was already quite curly. He was on his side, one hand under his
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cheek, one arm thrown forward, his legs drawn up.
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His hand ran lightly over the other man's sandy hair so as not to
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awaken him from slumber, and again he felt the first amazement swell
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in him. He shook his head, and as if in sympathy Rala's moved in
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sleep, back and forth under Julian's hand.
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Another man, he thought to himself. Like me. He closed his eyes and
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thought back to the tight heavy embrace the three of them had shared,
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how it had nearly overwhelmed him until he relaxed into it and
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allowed it to do so. Until he welcomed being overwhelmed. His
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Lady's velvety hard body beneath his, accepting as he vanished inside
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her. Rala's behind him, again like his, as he accepted. As he gave
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the embrace, opened himself and allowed someone inside instead of
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being the one accepted.
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Again, he shook his head, and realized that he had lain there for
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nearly a half an hour, just watching the other man in sleep and
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thinking quietly to himself. His body had grown even more stiff and
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uncomfortable. Yawning, he rose and wandered into the holosuite,
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hoping that the spa was still in memory as he knew his muscles would
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seize up without it.
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It was; in fact, it was up and running, as if his Lady had
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anticipated it before she had gone to wherever she was -- probably
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Quark's, he mused. A wry smile curved his lips; she had better not
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get or give another knife wound while he was here! He stood admiring
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the program for some time and unfastened the collar at his neck; the
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chain made light chittering noises as it fell against the stone.
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And now, he was relaxed against the side of the warm pool, his head
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leaned back, his body gradually softening and relaxing as the
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bubbling melted into him. He inhaled and dropped his head below the
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water line, feeling the water over his face and hearing the rushing
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in his ears. Normally, his spare body did not float easily; swimming
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did not come naturally to him. Here, though . . . he mused idly that
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there was probably a sufficient concentration of mineral salts in the
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water to render him buoyant as he felt himself rise. Opening his
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mouth, he could taste it was so.
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Allowing himself to go completely limp, he simply laid back on the
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water and let it cradle him, his arms and legs drifting slowly
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downward and his face and upper chest well clear of the water. It
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filled his ears, though, and he was surrounded by the subdued
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rumblings of the bubbling spa. He felt himself beginning to drop off
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again, and allowed his mind to drift into a state somewhere between
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wakefulness and sleep, lazily dozing. Several times, his eyes
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drifted open and the view of the immensity overhead intruded itself
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upon him. He simply let himself drift, occasionally bumping into the
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sides of the pool and pondering the magnificence he saw.
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The entrance to the holosuite slid open, and he righted himself in
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the water; it was Rala, looking as sleepy as he probably had when he
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had first entered. Without knowing why, he reached to the edge and
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drew himself there, to where the rock surrounding the pool could
|
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cover him, whether out of modesty or uncertainty he could not have
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said. He wouldn't have imagined that modesty would be possible for
|
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him after what had happened, but admitted to himself that this was
|
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still quite new to him. "Hello," he said, quiet and low.
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Rala rubbed his eyes. "Hello, Doctor." He yawned and stretched.
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Julian swallowed, still nervous without the calming presence of his
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Lady, and watched the other man's body, watched his muscles outlined
|
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under his fair skin as he stretched. He felt himself shiver, despite
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the warm water. "Do you mind if I join you?"
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Julian shook his head, and swallowed again. "Go ahead. You probably
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need it as much as I do." He was nervous and could feel the watery
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feeling in his joints, cursing it and asking himself why. He had
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held this man inside his own body; why was he shivering? He could
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not tear his eyes from Rala as the other man stepped into the pool
|
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opposite him and lowered himself into the water. He smiled at
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Julian, who smiled back and lowered his eyes. Heat rose to his
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cheeks, and he hoped that it was lost in the flushing brought by the
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warmth of the water. "How are you feeling?" he asked still looking
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down through the water.
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"A little sore but not too bad." Rala stretched again. "It makes a
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big difference when you are not bound."
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"Yes, it does."
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"And you?"
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He shook his head. "Just a little tired." His eyes rose to Rala's
|
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face again, then dropped demurely. Rala chuckled and appeared to
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read his mind.
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"Thanks to your Lady," he replied. When Julian didn't reply, though,
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he nodded. "And," he added softly, "thanks to me." He was rewarded
|
|
with a blush that he could just make out through skin already flushed
|
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by warmth. "You are still . . . " he trailed off.
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Julian's voice was soft, barely there. "I guess I am," he replied.
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"Uncomfortable?" Rala asked. The other man's eyes rose to his.
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"No . . . " His gaze was earnest. "Just . . . uncertain." His slim
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shoulders rose in the undulating water in another shrug. "It's not
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what I'm used to," he amended. Rala's smile became very gentle.
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"But . . . " he prodded. He watched the doctor prepare his words,
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eyes yet cast down with such astonishing long lashes, his dark hair
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glistening over deep wet skin, and felt the same amazement he had
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felt during the lesson. Doctor, he told Julian in his mind, you are
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so very beautiful.
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The other man's eyes rose then, and he saw the expression on Rala's
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face, the way he was looking at him. After a moment, he returned the
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gaze, held it firm. "But," he finished, "I have been . . . curious,
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I guess."
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Rala's smile became quite boyish at this. "Curious? How?"
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Julian smiled back. "There were two people next door to my room in
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the Academy; they went into epidemiology. Well, one did. The other
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ended up in high energy physics. And they were married."
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"And they were . . . " Rala prodded again. Julian's gaze did not
|
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drop this time; he only looked back at Rala as if to say, I wish
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you'd stop doing that.
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"They were both men. There were also three women and two men in a
|
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group marriage on the hospital staff there." Rala lowered himself
|
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even further into the water as he listened. "I wondered . . . but
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the opportunity never came up." Another languid shrug. "I've just
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been attracted to women."
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"As you should be; they are beautiful people," Rala responded. "But,
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it is a pity you have restricted yourself thus far."
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"I . . . hadn't thought of it as a restriction," Julian replied.
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"Until now."
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Rala did not speak immediately, only digested this. Then, "Doctor,
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have I just been complimented?"
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Julian mimed Rala's own impish grin. "I suppose you have." The grin
|
|
widened, and he felt himself relaxing in the other man's presence.
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"It's just that I . . . " He trailed off, and laughed at himself.
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"This is just all very new for me, Rala." His arm rose out of the
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bubbles and he made a motion indicating himself.
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Rala's eyes softened. "There is, Doctor, a first time for every-
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thing." It was his turn to shrug. "This was yours." Julian gazed
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silently at Rala for long moments.
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"What of yours?"
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"My what?"
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"Your first time."
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Rala chuckled again, and Julian felt himself shiver at the sound, low
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and rich and delicious, despite the warmth. "Doctor, Ishtarian
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culture is rather different from yours. There is never any question
|
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of preference between the sexes; we enjoy complete freedom. As such,
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I cannot clearly recall my `first time'."
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"You are Ishtarian?" he asked in amazement.
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"Yes," Rala replied easily, still smiling. "You did not think that
|
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only women were from Ishtar, did you?"
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Julian felt a blaze of something he could not place. "Then, are
|
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you . . . her consort?" He held his arms in front of him, a guard
|
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against what Rala would say. He did not like the thought of
|
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jealousy.
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"No, Doctor, I am not. I am a pupil, such as yourself."
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"No, not such as me," said Julian. "I could never . . . teach
|
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another person."
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Rala considered this, and shook his head very deliberately. "I think
|
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you could. And," he indicated the outer room with his head, "she
|
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does as well. This is not the only lesson for you this time, Doctor.
|
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There are many things to learn, many things she wishes to teach you."
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An inquiring expression met his. "Did she tell you that?"
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"Yes, she did." Rala leaned forward then, toward Julian, who watched
|
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as one fair arm lifted out of the water, one fair hand laid itself
|
|
against his cheek. "She also told me that you were beautiful, and
|
|
she was right." Warm, wet fingers caressed his jaw, his neck, and
|
|
ran slowly over his chest, beneath the bubbling water. "You are a
|
|
very beautiful young man, Doctor."
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Julian did not know what to say to this. He lowered his eyes again,
|
|
following Rala's hand, still caressing him. Then, it was gone, and
|
|
Rala leaned back against the side of the spa, opposite him again.
|
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Julian looked up at him, felt the distance separating them acutely.
|
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Unable to think of a thing to say, he simply laid back and rested his
|
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head against the side of the spa, letting the bubbling permeate him.
|
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For several minutes, he remained that way, with thoughts unspoken
|
|
running through his mind. He felt a shift against him, saw through
|
|
closed lids the light from the ringed planet overheard change, and
|
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opened his eyes to see Rala bending over him, one hand cupping his
|
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jaw, silhouetted against the glorious view. Rala's face dipped
|
|
closer, and they kissed as the warm water caressed them both, and as
|
|
the sightless planet looked down on them, ignored and forgotten as
|
|
they enjoyed each other, as Julian felt warmth and gentle scruff at
|
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his chin, as Rala felt the other man's soft lips, fresh and taut with
|
|
sweetness as summer grapes, give gently under his tongue.
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Rala pulled back, and felt a tugging inside him at the expression of
|
|
the man beneath him, at the dark eyes, aroused and wondering. Julian
|
|
sat up against Rala, his own hands reaching to the other man's neck.
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And he dunked him.
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Rala's head vanished, and the last thing Julian saw was a very
|
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surprised expression, and two wide cornflower blue eyes. He released
|
|
him quickly, and Rala came up laughing as a grinning Julian watched.
|
|
"I was waiting for that," he said, laughing and wiping the water out
|
|
of his eyes. "I was waiting for the opportunity to do" -- and
|
|
quickly, he reached for Julian, and returned the favor. Julian came
|
|
up sputtering and laughing as well, and reached back for Rala.
|
|
Within a matter of seconds, the little spa was furious with activity
|
|
as they wrestled, laughing and dunking and grasping at each other in
|
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a tangle of fair and dark arms and legs and bodies, splashing plenty
|
|
of water out of the pool until the spa was forced to compensate.
|
|
Laughter and gasping punctuated the playful roughhousing as one or
|
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the other of them would break the surface and hook an arm or a leg
|
|
around part of the other, throwing him off balance. Julian had just
|
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gotten his arm around Rala's thigh and pulled it out from under him,
|
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throwing the other man lightly onto his back and slapping the water
|
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in front of him for the splash. Rala threw his arms up to guard
|
|
against the water and disappeared under the surface to wrap his arms
|
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around Julian's waist in a rugby grip and tug him under as well.
|
|
Panting and still smiling, they floated to the surface, still in that
|
|
position. They were yet laughing lightly, looking at one another and
|
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smiling like little boys, Julian on his back and Rala at his side,
|
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his arms around the other man's slender waist. They bumped up
|
|
against the side of the spa, and Julian reached behind his head and
|
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tugged himself close to the edge, resting himself against it, still
|
|
getting his breath back, still smiling.
|
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Rala was doing the same, one hand yet on Julian's chest and the other
|
|
propping himself up against the shallow bottom of the spa; the bottom
|
|
sloped up toward the edges of the water, and was deepest at the
|
|
center. For a long time, they just laid there, the smiles lingering
|
|
on their faces, catching their breath, a few chuckles still surfacing
|
|
in their throats.
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|
|
Julian could still feel the smile curving his lips, and inhaled
|
|
deeply once, and again, to get his wind back. He blinked a few times
|
|
to clear the water from his eyes and just laid back, gazing up at
|
|
Rala who was lying beside him, propped up on an elbow and looking
|
|
back at him. His smile had changed from one of playfulness to one of
|
|
wonder, and he was unaware of it as he reached his hand out to touch
|
|
Rala's chest, strong and broad, far broader than his own slim chest.
|
|
His hand wandered up to the other man's neck, caressed the skin
|
|
there, wrapped around it. Slowly, he pulled Rala's face closer to
|
|
his, aware that his breathing rate had increased again, and that he
|
|
was warmer than could be explained by their rough and tumble play.
|
|
With his dark eyes on Rala's light ones, their lips touched, lightly.
|
|
Once, twice, three times they kissed gently, their mouths moving
|
|
against each other's. Julian pulled back; so did Rala. Each saw the
|
|
same expression in the other's eyes, the same desire shining there.
|
|
Julian felt himself falling into the blue of Rala's eyes, and Rala
|
|
felt himself becoming lost in the oak brown of Julian's own large
|
|
eyes.
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|
Their mouths met again, more hungrily, and the kiss deepened. They
|
|
drew close, into a tight and wanting embrace, pressing their bodies
|
|
together. As the sounds of the bubbling spa gave way to the
|
|
delicious and erotic sounds of their mouths, their lips and tongues,
|
|
against one another, as the mineral heavy scent of the water gave way
|
|
to the scent of the other man, as the warmth of the spa faded behind
|
|
the warmth of the skin against his, Julian again felt the same
|
|
electrifying jolt that he had felt initially, realizing that he held
|
|
a man in his arms, that it was a man he was pleasing, that was
|
|
pleasing him. He lost himself in the sizzle as it ran through him,
|
|
until there was nothing he knew but the feel of Rala's warm skin
|
|
against his.
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|
The embrace tightened, became deeper. Passion engulfed them.
|
|
Julian's hands wandered down from Rala's neck to his back, his waist,
|
|
running over the man's round buttocks. Pressing himself against
|
|
Rala, he ran his hands over creamy hips, feeling himself against the
|
|
man's sex, feeling himself becoming rigid against it, feeling Rala
|
|
doing the same. He moaned lightly against Rala's mouth, still unable
|
|
to believe what was happening. Long fingers twined tightly in Rala's
|
|
sandy curls, and his training in control and patience fled completely
|
|
as he devoured the other man's mouth. He wanted to give Rala what he
|
|
had been given, touch him as deeply as he had been touched, though
|
|
his gibbering mind was not aware of it. Only his body was active,
|
|
and coherent thought was not part of his motivation as he wrapped
|
|
himself around Rala's firm body, spooning against his back, as he
|
|
reached around to take the other man gently in his hand . . .
|
|
|
|
"Wait, Doctor." It was Rala, eyes closed, lips parted in eagerness.
|
|
"Beautiful Doctor . . . " He, too, was barely able to speak as he
|
|
leaned over the edge of the spa, his upper body supported against the
|
|
luminescent stone.
|
|
|
|
"Wait?" All his wanting came through his voice; Julian did not want
|
|
to wait. "Rala, I want to be in you now . . . " His chest pressed
|
|
against the other man's shining back, and his tongue ran over his
|
|
skin; heat from the moist flesh wreathed his face, mingling with the
|
|
steam of the spa. His hands, moving surely, clasped at the other
|
|
man, tugging gently and caressing, feeling him grow firm between his
|
|
palms.
|
|
|
|
"Yes, and I want you in me as well . . . " The other man reached out
|
|
and produced seemingly from nowhere another of the ubiquitous little
|
|
jars; Julian knew what would be inside. Nimbly, Rala turned until he
|
|
was facing Julian, and the mad arousal in fair eyes matched that in
|
|
dark ones. He opened the jar, losing the lid in the bubbling water.
|
|
"This . . . " he began, but then lost his thoughts as he saw the
|
|
beautiful face at his, the burning feline eyes. Julian pressed
|
|
himself forward into Rala, enjoying the way his body bent gently back
|
|
against the stone, feeling Rala's firmness pressing into his own as
|
|
his hips jutted forward. Then, Rala disappeared, lowering himself
|
|
until his face was level with Julian's own hips. He took out a
|
|
little ball of the sweet white cream and, as Julian gasped in
|
|
astonishment, began to apply it to the waiting sex before his mouth
|
|
with his tongue. Fighting the mad urge to thrust himself more deeply
|
|
between Rala's lips, Julian simply allowed the other man to finish,
|
|
gripping the stone ledge in front of him until his knuckles paled,
|
|
keeping his body rigid against the voices that sang at him to drive
|
|
himself into the other man's throat.
|
|
|
|
The sensation ceased, and Rala was once again at his face, amazed at
|
|
the beauty and lithe sensuality of the Starfleet officer before him.
|
|
"Control," Julian said simply, as a mantra. Rala kissed him gently.
|
|
|
|
"That is for lessons, Doctor." Their hard masculine chests pressed
|
|
together. "I am not a teacher, but a peer." For a moment, the
|
|
wanting had him in its grasp as well, and he allowed his eyes to run
|
|
over and around the dark slim body. He turned around and presented
|
|
himself prone against the shimmering rocks, his back and fair
|
|
buttocks shining from sweat and warm water. His choirboy face peered
|
|
demurely over one shoulder. "You may be . . . wild . . . with me."
|
|
|
|
Julian's eyes drank in the sight of the strong body lying before him,
|
|
the lovely round peach presented to him, and he could barely recall
|
|
his own name. His universe had narrowed to naught but himself, and
|
|
Rala. Slowly, his hands roved over the other man, caressing the
|
|
perfect buttocks, wondering at what he was about to do. Gently, as
|
|
if in a dream, he pressed himself against them, feeling the tight
|
|
entrance, feeling it relax slightly against the pressure. With
|
|
hypersensitive awareness, he felt himself sliding inside, felt as the
|
|
head of his sex was swallowed up, felt as Rala tightened around him,
|
|
tighter than anything he had ever experienced before. Lights danced
|
|
before his eyes, and he was unaware of his voice, his expression of
|
|
astonishment. With tender delicacy, he continued, pushing firmly
|
|
until he had disappeared completely inside the other man. He felt as
|
|
Rala grasped at him, tightening further, and he fell forward against
|
|
the wet skin shining in front of him.
|
|
|
|
Rala had begun to push himself against Julian, his soft buttocks
|
|
rising to the other man's hips, and in response Julian began to
|
|
undulate himself against Rala's body, feeling the waves of tension
|
|
and release against his sex. Rala's moans nearly dissolved him into
|
|
a pool of nothing but mad want, but taking control of himself, he
|
|
lifted his upper body until it was nearly straight, and began to rock
|
|
his hips with more force, pressing where he knew it would be most
|
|
sensitive. Rala gasped.
|
|
|
|
"I . . . " His fair head flew backwards, lips parted, and his words
|
|
were lost in delighted moans. "You said you had never . . . how did
|
|
you . . . ?" He could say nothing further, but only clutch at the
|
|
stone sill underneath him, and buck against Julian as the other man
|
|
found his most sensitive places.
|
|
|
|
Julian continued rocking himself against the beautiful prone body,
|
|
and found it within himself to speak. "Rala," he managed to say,
|
|
"I'm not a doctor for nothing, you know." The other man laughed.
|
|
|
|
"Oh, yes . . . "
|
|
|
|
And the rest of his words were swallowed up in passion as Julian gave
|
|
himself to the wildness that Rala had spoken of. He wanted it to
|
|
last, wanted so badly for it to last for hours, for days, but knew
|
|
his own limitations. He knew that this was so new, so thrillingly
|
|
erotic, that the barest of releases on his part would send him well
|
|
past the point of no return. Julian tried to tell Rala this, tried
|
|
to apologize for his eagerness, but could not squeeze the words past
|
|
his open lips. All he felt was the clutching, the smooth skin
|
|
beneath his hands, the bubbling warm water all around his legs, all
|
|
he heard the delighted low moans of his partner, all he knew the
|
|
sensations flowing over and through him.
|
|
|
|
His eyes opened fractionally, tilted feline slits, and he smiled
|
|
tenderly as he saw Rala's body writhe; he recalled how it felt to
|
|
hold someone inside him, and wanted to give that to Rala, wanted to
|
|
repay him a thousand times over. Rala's upper body rose until the
|
|
other man was propped up on his hands, and Julian leaned forward,
|
|
nuzzling his neck. He had just taken a few strands of damp curly
|
|
hair between his lips, tugging gently, when the holosuite entrance
|
|
slid open yet again, to reveal his Lady, her sinuous body uncovered,
|
|
her expression tender. Both men paused, facing the entrance, Rala
|
|
smiling slightly when he saw who it was, Julian peeking demurely over
|
|
one fair wet shoulder.
|
|
|
|
She stood in the entrance for a few moments. "I wondered where you
|
|
two had gotten to," she said with great affection. She entered the
|
|
`suite, walking over to one pillar of shimmering stone. The two men
|
|
said nothing, but she could hear Rala suppress a chuckle, see just
|
|
out the corner of her eye as Julian jabbed him in the ribs, wearing
|
|
another of the impish grins he seemed to have found since he arrived.
|
|
|
|
Draped over the pillar was a wrap that seemed to be made of liquid
|
|
light and flickered in her hands as she picked it up. "I thought I
|
|
left this here," she remarked, and she tossed it over her shoulders
|
|
with grace. In the spa, Julian rocked himself just a fraction of an
|
|
inch against Rala, making the other man writhe. Rala turned to look
|
|
at him, and could only laugh at his delighted grin and dancing brows.
|
|
|
|
"So," she said to the two of them, grinning like a sprite as she
|
|
paused at the entrance. "What have you two been up to since I've
|
|
been gone?"
|
|
|
|
At first Rala only lowered his eyes, but then he lifted them to peer
|
|
incredulously over his shoulder as Julian replied brightly, "Oh,
|
|
nothing!" Dark eyes twinkled mischievously until Rala squeezed at
|
|
him hard, making his eyes close and his hands grip at well-muscled
|
|
upper arms.
|
|
|
|
"Ah," she replied. "Well," she added, tying the sash at her waist,
|
|
"I suppose I'll leave and let you two get back to . . . nothing."
|
|
Her gaze lingered gently for a few moments on the elfin and smiling
|
|
Julian, and then she was gone. Silence hung in the air of the little
|
|
`suite for several moments, broken only by the everpresent bubbling
|
|
of the water, and then it was dissipated by delighted laughter.
|
|
|
|
"Nothing?" Rala echoed and stuck out his tongue.
|
|
|
|
Julian nipped gently at it with his teeth. "Oh, shut up and enjoy
|
|
yourself." Another firm rock of his hips, and both men once again
|
|
began to dissolve in one another's arousal.
|
|
|
|
Their Lady stopped for a moment in the outer room, and shook her head
|
|
in amused satisfaction as she heard her pupils' laughter through the
|
|
thick door.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
For the thousandth time, Julian bit down on his lips, stopping the
|
|
irrepressible whistling that had begun to grate on even his nerves.
|
|
That, the finger tapping, the bounce under his heels . . . he felt as
|
|
if he were completely energized and had felt so ever since reporting
|
|
in. And he knew exactly why.
|
|
|
|
His appointments had gone well all morning long, and a glance up at
|
|
the wall chrono told him that lunchtime was nearing. Taking a small
|
|
breather in the time between appointments, he let his eyes wander
|
|
around the infirmary, the lights reflecting back at him in sparkles
|
|
and slashes against metal, ceramic, and glass. Idly, he leaned his
|
|
elbows against the chest-high counter behind him, crossed his feet at
|
|
the ankles, knit his hands over his chest, and felt a grin surface.
|
|
His fingers had begun to tap arrhythmically at his sternum when a
|
|
tinny beep behind him signalled that the incubator had finished with
|
|
the bacterial sample he had placed there fifteen minutes earlier.
|
|
Spinning in place, he removed it with a flourish, and waltzed across
|
|
the room to the analyzer, humming tunelessly to himself. The damned
|
|
thing had always annoyed him before, as it was located at knee level
|
|
and required him to crouch down to place or remove anything inside,
|
|
but its position gave him an excuse for another flourish when, after
|
|
placing the bacterial sample inside, he stood, turned around, and
|
|
closed the access panel with a crisp bang via a light and airy
|
|
dancer's kick.
|
|
|
|
"Well, you seem to be in a good mood today." He spun at the voice,
|
|
and saw a brightly smiling Dax entering the infirmary. She stopped
|
|
and regarded him with one brow raised.
|
|
|
|
"Really?" he replied, grinning back at her, eyes sparkling. "I
|
|
hadn't noticed."
|
|
|
|
Dax walked further into the room. "You've been like this all day,
|
|
Julian." She leaned herself against the examining table, and crossed
|
|
her arms over her chest, giving him the Trill version of a
|
|
significant look. "Anything special?"
|
|
|
|
He stood still for a moment, then returned her impudent expression to
|
|
her, raising one brow. Tapping his hands against the sides of his
|
|
thighs, he replied, "Jadzia, I have no idea what you're talking
|
|
about."
|
|
|
|
"Ah." She nodded, then moved off the table. "Well then, are those
|
|
samples I asked you to break down finished yet?"
|
|
|
|
"Not quite. I just placed the last one in the analyzer now; it
|
|
should be done in . . . " He was interrupted by yet another tinny
|
|
beep. "Oh, right about now, I should think." Together, they walked
|
|
to the display panel for the device. "There you go," he told her.
|
|
"Do you have a tricorder ready to take this?"
|
|
|
|
"Right here," Dax replied, taking the one she held in her hands up
|
|
and plugging it into the wall socket at the front of the analyzer,
|
|
and looked back at Julian. "You're still doing it."
|
|
|
|
"Doing what?" he said, infuriatingly vague.
|
|
|
|
"Grinning like that," she told him, one of her own little grins
|
|
threatening to widen further.
|
|
|
|
"Like what?" he asked, and she got the distinct feeling that he knew
|
|
exactly what she was talking about.
|
|
|
|
"Oh, nothing." Pulling the tricorder out of the wall, she exited the
|
|
infirmary, but not before saying breezily, "Cheer up, too. You've
|
|
been in such an awful mood today, you know." The door shushed open
|
|
and closed over her parting smile, leaving a grinning Julian behind.
|
|
|
|
He looked at the wall chrono and saw that lunchtime had indeed
|
|
arrived. Finally! Tossing his smock onto a lab table, he exited
|
|
in the general direction of Quark's after leaving the computer
|
|
instructions on where to reach him in case of an emergency.
|
|
|
|
Copyright 1994(c) by Janis Cortese. This story may not be reproduced in
|
|
whole or part in ANY medium without the permission of the author.
|
|
|
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From cortese Mon Feb 27 20:53:58 1995
|
|
Return-Path: <cortese>
|
|
Received: by netcom19.netcom.com (8.6.9/Netcom)
|
|
id UAA25729; Mon, 27 Feb 1995 20:53:57 -0800
|
|
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 20:53:57 -0800
|
|
From: cortese (Janis Maria C. C. Cortese)
|
|
Message-Id: <199502280453.UAA25729@netcom19.netcom.com>
|
|
To: aleph@netcom.com
|
|
Subject: CE ptIII
|
|
Status: O
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|
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The replimat was fairly busy with the shift changes all over the
|
|
station, but with the variety and number of different people on the
|
|
station, it was never really completely quiet. The array of faces
|
|
and languages had once fazed him slightly, but no longer. Now the
|
|
kaleidoscope of variety was simply taken for granted.
|
|
|
|
Today, though . . . he took special pleasure in the walk. Colors
|
|
seemed sharper to him, smells more enticing. Each person's unique
|
|
face demanded attention and interest. The sussuration of speech --
|
|
vocalized, clicked, whistled -- sounded like a linguistic dagwood to
|
|
his ears. Nice day, he remarked, watching out the port as the
|
|
wormhole writhed into existence, admitting a ship, in or out he could
|
|
not say. Even that sight, which he freely admitted was one of the
|
|
more spectacular he had ever seen, appeared to be more vivid, more
|
|
immediate, today than since the first time he had witnessed it. The
|
|
stately whirlpool spun in place for a few moments, revealing the
|
|
throbbing interior glowing with strange light, and then flashed into
|
|
a point and disappeared, as it had countless times since he had
|
|
arrived on the station.
|
|
|
|
He looked back from the window with a jerk, suddenly aware that he had
|
|
spent quite a few minutes simply staring out the port and watching
|
|
the stars. That's ten minutes less time you'll have for lunch, he
|
|
told himself sternly, but he didn't really care. With the same light
|
|
step he had used all day, he continued to the replimat, sat down, and
|
|
ordered his meal. As he brought the first mouthful to his lips, he
|
|
realized that his sight, his hearing, were not the only senses to
|
|
have been sharpened for some reason. The curry had never tasted so
|
|
marvelous to him, and he had never been nearly sent into a reverie of
|
|
philosophical contemplation by the hot and cool contrasts of mint tea
|
|
before. He thought back to his appointment schedule and pondered
|
|
whether he could get away with taking an extra quarter hour for
|
|
lunch; he didn't want to rush the experience. Chastened by his
|
|
desire to put off his duty but unhappy at having to rush, he began to
|
|
eat just a little faster.
|
|
|
|
There. Ten minutes left. I can stop by Quark's, get something to
|
|
wash this down with -- the mint tea was the only decent beverage the
|
|
replimat was capable of producing -- and get back in plenty of time.
|
|
After entering his account number into the table, he wiped his lips,
|
|
rose, and exited the replimat.
|
|
|
|
Quark's was also relatively busy at the time; he always got the
|
|
overflow from the lunch crowds, and then there were the barflies who
|
|
never seemed to leave the place as well. He had just asked the
|
|
Ferengi behind the bar for an apple synthale (Quark was not in
|
|
evidence) when his eye fell upon one of the corner tables. His Lady
|
|
sat there, quietly drinking a starduster, and going over what
|
|
appeared to be cargo manifests. The bartender handed him his synth,
|
|
and where previously he would have been uncertain about approaching
|
|
her away from the ship, he walked over and smiled to her. She smiled
|
|
back and he felt a tug at his spirit.
|
|
|
|
"Doctor," she said, pleasure in her voice as she put down the little
|
|
handheld display she had been tapping at. Her smile was genuine,
|
|
with only a little hint of scandal. "Please," she added, gesturing
|
|
to the seat next to her in the booth, "have a seat." Her eyes
|
|
watched him as he sat. "How are you feeling?" she asked him, leaning
|
|
back. He smiled at her, slowly and slyly.
|
|
|
|
"Well, I'm not tired, if that's what you mean," he said, matching her
|
|
light tone. "I got plenty of rest while I was on the Ariad."
|
|
|
|
She sat silently for a few moments, then spoke. "Actually, that's
|
|
not what I meant," she said. "I mean how are you feeling." Her
|
|
expression was penetrating but tender. Julian nearly blushed.
|
|
|
|
"Oh," he said lowly. He did not answer for a few moments, but his
|
|
Lady could see fleeting expression dawning on his face and flying to
|
|
make room for others. Finally, he smiled openly, and shook his head.
|
|
He looked up into her eyes. "I feel wonderful," he told her,
|
|
shrugging. Unable to think of anything else to say, he sipped at his
|
|
synth.
|
|
|
|
She nodded. "Yes." She took a small sip at her starduster, and he
|
|
watched as she licked at the moisture left on her lips when she put
|
|
the glass down; he was unaware that she had watched him similarly.
|
|
"I was hoping you would. So does Rala."
|
|
|
|
Julian looked into his drink. "Where is he?"
|
|
|
|
"Off somewhere," she told him. "Sightseeing, I suppose." She patted
|
|
him on the arm. "Your experience meant a great deal to him, as
|
|
well." At first, Julian did not respond. Then:
|
|
|
|
"I didn't know that was really possible," he said. "It wasn't
|
|
something I had . . . considered for myself before." He looked up at
|
|
her, leaning back against the booth, clad in the most clothing he had
|
|
ever seen her wear since the first time he had encountered her.
|
|
Unbidden, his eyes imagined the contours of her body beneath her
|
|
clothing. "I had thought . . . " His voice trailed off, ending on
|
|
the merest breath of air. Softly, tenderly, he felt her hand against
|
|
his thigh, caressing.
|
|
|
|
"Had thought what?" she prompted, concerned. He squirmed just a
|
|
little, uncertain of how to continue. Finally, he simply spoke.
|
|
|
|
"I was afraid it would get in the way of . . . of what I felt for
|
|
you," he told her, honest and entreating. His face was so open, she
|
|
saw, so sincere. His uncertainty, his fear at losing her shone out
|
|
of his eyes as if they were lit from inside. The synth, forgotten,
|
|
sparkled under his chin.
|
|
|
|
His beautiful Lady did not respond at first, touched and surprised at
|
|
his response. By now, she reminded herself, no depth or magnitude of
|
|
devotion from this young man should surprise you. "Doctor . . . "
|
|
she said. "Doctor, I should not be surprised to hear you say that."
|
|
|
|
"Surprised?" He was not following her.
|
|
|
|
Her sharp face was tilted down, her eyes narrowed just a little.
|
|
"Every time I encounter you, you show me greater depths of caring and
|
|
devotion." Her starduster was also forgotten, and she turned herself
|
|
in her seat to face him more directly. How I wish we were back on
|
|
the ship, she told herself . . . back to where I could touch you
|
|
openly, wih no fear of being seen to make you shy from me . . . She
|
|
could not keep her hand from wandering languidly up his thigh,
|
|
brushing him just briefly. "I wish I could touch you now," she said
|
|
finally. His face betrayed his inner jolt of emotion at her words.
|
|
"Your pleasure in Rala and what he has opened you to could never keep
|
|
you from enjoying anything else, Doctor," she said simply. "No one
|
|
pleasure can block another. Often, it can deepen all others, all
|
|
other sensual pleasures, making them far more rich and textured. At
|
|
least . . . that is what I have found, starting during my training
|
|
and continuing up the present day." She chuckled. "You may find
|
|
that my next lesson for you will be the richer for what he has shown
|
|
you. For what you have shown each other."
|
|
|
|
He was beginning to fall forward, and the feel of her hand on his hip
|
|
had begun to excite him. Warmth and tingling radiated from where she
|
|
had touched him, and he saw that if he didn't get up and leave now,
|
|
he would be in a . . . less than collected state upon returning to
|
|
the infirmary. Jumping slightly, he saw that he was due back in less
|
|
than a minute. "Lady . . . " he said.
|
|
|
|
"You must go." She removed her hand, paining him.
|
|
|
|
"For now. I will be back at the Ariad" -- back with you, where I
|
|
should be -- "later tonight."
|
|
|
|
"Good." She took another sip from the starduster and watched him as
|
|
he rose, her keen eye aware of the barest signs of his arousal that
|
|
no one else would see. She could say nothing else, and her only
|
|
thought as she watched him exit the bar and return to duty was sorrow
|
|
at his departure, his devotion to his duty.
|
|
|
|
Damn it, she thought. Never another Starfleet officer. Never again.
|
|
Shocked, she raised her hands to her eyes and felt a hint of moisture
|
|
at their corners. What a consort he would make.
|
|
|
|
Unsettled and unhappy, she picked up the padd and resumed her perusal
|
|
of the cargo manifests.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
Two patients brought in from an accident during routine maintenance
|
|
and one false labor from the Bajoran woman he had seen the previous
|
|
day -- nothing too demanding. The Bajoran woman had had a history of
|
|
uncertain births, so he had been well prepared for such an emergency.
|
|
The most complex part of the repairs to the accident victims had been
|
|
the transporter-based removal of the bone chips in the woman's left
|
|
leg, which had been shattered like ice under a falling girder that
|
|
the safety fields had failed to catch. Had they been left in her
|
|
system, they could easily have blocked an artery in her heart or even
|
|
her brain, leaving her dead. The bone itself had been matched and
|
|
stabilized, and the patient dozed under the restraining field as the
|
|
regenerators placed over her leg worked to heal the break. The
|
|
diagnostics showed her system clear of any bone chips or fragments;
|
|
she was out of danger. An eventful day, but not really a demanding
|
|
one.
|
|
|
|
He rubbed his hand over his chin, and felt it scratching against his
|
|
palm. His beard repressor had evidently worn off some time ago; he
|
|
automatically walked to the little cabinet near his desk where he
|
|
kept personal items against the time he might have to sleep in the
|
|
infirmary; the student habits of medical school and very late nights
|
|
as an intern died hard. However, as his hand signalled the drawer,
|
|
he caught a reflection of himself in the door of the trans-autoclave
|
|
where the instruments were kept. His own face shone back at him,
|
|
through a shadow wreathing his jaw, and it seemed darker to him. The
|
|
reflection-Julian's brow knit slightly. He had no other patients
|
|
today, and it was only twenty minutes until his shift ended. He
|
|
could afford to look a little less than . . . professional for a few
|
|
minutes until his shift ended. And then . . . we will see. The
|
|
other Julian seemed to agree,and the deep eyes over the shadowy veil
|
|
of darkness on his cheeks narrowed in anticipation.
|
|
|
|
She will definitely get a few surprises, he thought. That was how he
|
|
could pass the time! He sat at the desk and called up a few of the
|
|
files on Ishtarian training that were not proprietary that he had
|
|
archived on his account and spent the ensuing twenty minutes brushing
|
|
up, getting himself in the proper frame of mind for what he would do.
|
|
His eyes glazed slightly as he envisioned her strong supple body
|
|
beneath his hands, what he would do to it, and what he would ask of
|
|
it . . . Unknown to him, his eyes had narrowed, their natural tilt
|
|
accentuated until they appeared nearly feline. His delicate lips
|
|
curved slightly.
|
|
|
|
The alarm sounded again, signalling the end of his shift as it had
|
|
the night previous. Without another thought or look back, he stood,
|
|
snapped off the viewer on the desk, and strode rapidly out of the
|
|
infirmary on the way to his quarters.
|
|
|
|
Fifteen minutes later, he again stood at the entrance to his Lady's
|
|
ship, his hand on the chime with far more confidence than previous.
|
|
With deliberation, he pressed it once. In response, the door slid
|
|
open silently, revealing the interior, dark again, but lit with one
|
|
lone candle in the center of a small table standing beyond the bed.
|
|
The ports, which he had not realized were there, were completely
|
|
transparent, and the effect was that the entire far wall of the ship
|
|
was completely open to the stars. Her ship was on the far side of
|
|
the station, facing away from the planet below, and toward the
|
|
wormhole. Glittering cold lights from a million stars sparkled back
|
|
at him, ignorant of his existence but aware of his pleasure in
|
|
observing them. Moving further into the room, as if in a trance, he
|
|
found himself being drawn toward the ports. There were plenty of
|
|
them on the station, and he had been outside in the runabouts many
|
|
times, but never had he seen such a large expanse of stars at one
|
|
time, like a solid wall of them before him; EVAs were not typical
|
|
training for medical staff. As he moved closer to the port, placing
|
|
his hands against it, he felt as is he were dangling over the edge of
|
|
a precipice that called to him like a siren. Rapture of the deeps,
|
|
he told himself, aware of the phenomenon that had been known and
|
|
spoken of for most of human history.
|
|
|
|
He did not turn or jump as he felt warm strong hands at his back,
|
|
which slid quietly up against his shoulders. "The ports can be
|
|
dialed to opacity if the sight disturbs you," she said, unwilling to
|
|
break the cathedrallike silence with more than the vaguest whisper.
|
|
For a moment, he did not respond.
|
|
|
|
"No," he finally said back, his soft voice complementing the silvery
|
|
stars. "No . . . " For what felt like a few brief centuries, they
|
|
both stood, simply looking at what was presented to them. Julian
|
|
felt his Lady's warmth behind him, against him, and in the darkness
|
|
he smiled. He leaned back just a little into her body, and felt as
|
|
she held him, nuzzling his neck just a little. The melting started
|
|
again, the bodymelting he felt upon being with her at any time, and
|
|
his arousal appeared to delight the stars that watched them. With
|
|
the tolerant love of a great matriarch, they seemed to smile down
|
|
upon the doctor and the trader, blessing their desire and their play,
|
|
ringing like little sparkling silver bells in approval.
|
|
|
|
Still they watched the stars, and felt the other's breathing until
|
|
their chests were rising in spontaneous synchronization. Two voices
|
|
were stilled, two minds calmed, as they watched the stars quiver with
|
|
a consciousness they could taste. They waited until they both felt
|
|
the energy, the vibrance, as they began to resonate in tune with one
|
|
another. His beautiful Lady reached up past his shoulder to place
|
|
her fingers against his slender neck, running gently down from his
|
|
chin to his collarbones, feeling the warmth, the texture, the living
|
|
pulse. Finally, Julian was able to turn his eyes from the stars, to
|
|
see them in his Lady's eyes as she gazed at him. Caught by her eyes,
|
|
whose color he could still not fathom, he took her face in his hands
|
|
and moved closer to it. With difficulty, she placed her hands on his
|
|
chest.
|
|
|
|
"Doctor, I cannot," she told him, her body so close to his that he
|
|
could feel her heart beating.
|
|
|
|
"Yes," he told her, placing one hand against the back of her neck.
|
|
"You can." Firmly, gently, with unyielding tenderness, he kissed
|
|
her, unbound and unbonded. It was only the second time that his Lady
|
|
had kissed a man out of bond, and he felt her body stiffen against
|
|
his; she did not push him away.
|
|
|
|
After a time, he moved his hands down her back, pressing his hips
|
|
into hers, toying with her moist lips, feeling his shadow rough
|
|
against her skin. Boldly, he began to probe her mouth with his
|
|
tongue; it seemed so warm, so open to him, and after a time, her
|
|
tongue rose to meet his. The silence that had risen up out of the
|
|
stars that watched their play was broken, or simply caressed, by her
|
|
sighs. She sounded like an angel.
|
|
|
|
Her body had begun to move against his as well, and she writhed
|
|
against him. He felt her fingers twining in his hair, pulling his
|
|
face against hers more firmly, tasting him more deeply. That, her
|
|
hips between his hands, her body against his, her lips and tongue
|
|
under his, the scent of her, the soft sounds of her mouth . . . he
|
|
felt himself beginning to lose his individuality, drowning in the
|
|
sensations again as they stood by the ports, by the stars. With
|
|
effort, he pulled away from her; he did not want to destroy her
|
|
training completely, or even a little, but she had said that she may
|
|
wear the collar this time. Perhaps she would wear it on her heart
|
|
and not just her neck.
|
|
|
|
"I'm not trying to hurt you," he said, softly, looking at her evenly.
|
|
"I know this is against your vows."
|
|
|
|
She seemed to be gathering herself, breathing more quickly than
|
|
usual, pressing herself into him. She did not reply right away, but
|
|
only closed her eyes as she felt herself on him, feeling her lips
|
|
pulled to his skin, to his beautiful long neck. His warmth was
|
|
intoxicating, and she nestled her face there for a brief time,
|
|
letting it fill her like a sweet liquor.
|
|
|
|
"Doctor, I don't know what my vows are anymore," she said simply. "I
|
|
haven't wondered this since I was invested . . . " Shaken, she stood
|
|
away from him, her raised hand between them, halting him from putting
|
|
his arms around her and comforting her. "Please do not . . . " she
|
|
said on a breath. Words jammed on their way out of her mouth, and
|
|
Julian could only watch as his normally calm Lady had to gather her
|
|
thoughts. "Doctor . . . " she said at last, "I must teach you the
|
|
next lesson."
|
|
|
|
"I know," he replied softly. He brought his hand to her face, and
|
|
she did not shake it off, though the touch seemed to distress her.
|
|
"I'm ready to learn."
|
|
|
|
"I know, she echoed. "But . . . but I may not be ready to teach."
|
|
Confused, Julian only looked back at her. She walked away from him
|
|
then, stood with her back to him, the starlight coating her in her
|
|
plain drape of gossamer grey; she needed no ornament. "I must teach
|
|
you," she repeated, and Julian got the distinct feeling that she was
|
|
speaking more to herself than to him. "I have sworn it, and it is my
|
|
duty for a pupil so skilled as you." She turned to face him. "I
|
|
must begin as your teacher . . . but I do not know if I can remain
|
|
that way." Alone in the middle of the wide room, she looked back at
|
|
him, his reed-slender body outlined by the stars -- a dark shade,
|
|
only the eyes reflecting back light. He walked toward her; she could
|
|
not see his face against the port.
|
|
|
|
"I don't understand," he said to her.
|
|
|
|
She knit her hands and composed herself. "Doctor, I have been here
|
|
for several hours, ever since seeing you on the station, thinking to
|
|
myself. I have spoken to no one of what I've thought, not you, not
|
|
Rala." A breath, the vaguest whisper. "I have contemplated my vows,
|
|
thought back to what I told you when we last met, the time before."
|
|
Without conscious volition, her hand rose to move gently over his
|
|
chest as he came close. "I can only join with a consort, or a man in
|
|
bond. It is against our way, the way of teachers, to do otherwise."
|
|
|
|
"But," he said, and pain was in his voice, regret as well, "I am not
|
|
your consort." She saw his thoughts flickering over his face, saw as
|
|
the memories of their last time, pressed close and warm, ran through
|
|
his mind. "I cannot be your consort," he continued, his voice
|
|
softening almost to the point where it vanished. He closed his eyes,
|
|
and she saw him swallow.
|
|
|
|
"I do not know if I can remain only a teacher to you," she said.
|
|
Only. Would she ever have called a teacher "only" anything until
|
|
now? "I do not know if I will be able to keep from calling you
|
|
consort, even if it cannot be legitimated." She could not restrain
|
|
herself from placing her body close against his, feeling him against
|
|
her skin. "I may not be able to -- remain true to what I am."
|
|
|
|
Julian placed his arms around her, holding her close. I don't know
|
|
if I can keep from calling you beloved, he thought silently, though
|
|
he did not say it. Her hair was at his face, the fragrance in it
|
|
rising to suffuse him in a warm vapor. He felt the silkiness under
|
|
his lips, felt as it caught against his face, his rough chin.
|
|
"Lady," he said at last, "I don't know if I can . . . see you leave
|
|
again." Her head jerked upright. "I had to tell you."
|
|
|
|
"You will have to," she said. "And I will have to see you stay
|
|
behind." A rueful chuckle, with great sadness behind it. "It's too
|
|
early for us to get so maudlin," she said. "We have another lesson
|
|
yet to learn ahead of us." Stepping away from him yet again, she
|
|
smiled at him. He dipped his face close to her and brushed his lips
|
|
against hers.
|
|
|
|
"And what will I learn now?" he asked.
|
|
|
|
"I'm not sure. I'm not sure what I can teach you now," she said
|
|
quietly. "I don't know if I can remain as teacher for the entire
|
|
lesson; I can't tell you what you will finally learn." She nuzzled
|
|
his cheek with hers. "It may be that I will learn -- learn that I
|
|
judged too well when I first saw you, that I took too much of a
|
|
chance in teaching you." Her voice had nearly disappeared. "I may
|
|
learn that I am not the teacher I thought I was." Julian looked back
|
|
at her, horrified.
|
|
|
|
"No . . . "
|
|
|
|
"It may be," she said firmly. "I do not yet know." Her face became
|
|
wondering, something he had never seen. "You are unlike any pupil or
|
|
man I have ever encountered. Young, unlettered, impulsive . . . kind
|
|
and loving, caring and with depth that even you cannot guess at." He
|
|
simply stared back at her, unwilling to accept what she was saying.
|
|
|
|
I am a doctor, he thought -- the first thing that came to mind
|
|
whenever he contemplated his life, his purpose. That is all. A good
|
|
doctor, an . . . egotistical one . . . Someone who hasn't had half
|
|
of what he says he's had, or wants. Someone who speaks before
|
|
thinking, and does precious little of one, too much of the other. He
|
|
shook his head, chastened. "Lady . . . I don't think I am what you
|
|
seem to think."
|
|
|
|
"I think you are," she replied simply, and walked to the bed. She
|
|
turned and sat on it, watching him. "I want to show you," she said.
|
|
|
|
"Show me?" He was confused. "How can you show me . . . "
|
|
|
|
"What you do not know yourself?" She smiled. "I know it is there,
|
|
and I have seen it in others, though never before as clearly . . .
|
|
as purely. Come here," she told him, her hand on the bed next to
|
|
where she sat. "I will show you what you have inside yourself."
|
|
|
|
Like a sleepwalker, he moved to where his Lady was sitting. He felt
|
|
an impulse to kneel before her, but controlled it. He sat next to
|
|
her. He looked into her gaze, placing his hand on hers. "What will
|
|
you show?"
|
|
|
|
"Something you need to know about yourself. Something you suspect is
|
|
there, something I know is there . . . what is drawing me to you."
|
|
She rose. "Wait here." Following these pregnant words, she
|
|
disappeared from the room. Julian sat, awaiting her return, but she
|
|
did not do so. His heart began to beat more strongly, and he
|
|
wondered why she was taking so long. Idly, his eyes began to roam
|
|
the room -- over the bed, the tapestries serene with the voices of
|
|
ages speaking silently from them, over the few other articles of
|
|
furniture, the flame lamps, which had lit them last time . . . His
|
|
eyes fell on something at the foot of the bed. Black, matte . . . he
|
|
reached toward it and found a pair of the boots, the same ones she
|
|
and Rala had always worn, in black suede this time instead of
|
|
leather. They were like butter beneath his fingertips, smooth and
|
|
swallowing what light fell on them. He unrolled them; they looked to
|
|
be nearly the right length and size . . .
|
|
|
|
. . . for him. He looked more closely at the animal skin, and ran
|
|
his fingers over the top cuff of the left boot; embossed on the suede
|
|
he saw a tiny Starfleet emblem, the little trefoil glowing up at him,
|
|
the only shiny thing on the boots catching the starlight. Without
|
|
realizing it, he smiled thinly. Their size appeared to be no
|
|
coincidence. By himself, he laughed. Why not? It was a matter of
|
|
moments for him to pull off his boots and undo his uniform, tugging
|
|
it past his hips. One quick pull and his shirt was off as well,
|
|
tousling his hair. He removed his underclothes also, folded them
|
|
into a neat pile, and placed them all on the table upon which sat the
|
|
flickering candle.
|
|
|
|
He turned to the port then, to see the stars, to stand before them,
|
|
and the blue candylike glow coated him from head to heel. Placing a
|
|
hand against the glass again, he watched them twinkling at him for a
|
|
few moments, then turned away and picked up the boots.
|
|
|
|
The cool suede felt wonderful sliding over his skin. He had been
|
|
concerned that they would be too tight around his calves and thighs,
|
|
but his fears were unfounded. They were . . . snug, almost more like
|
|
suede tights. Tugging firmly, he brought them up to his upper
|
|
thighs, feeling the loose upper cuff of skin caressing him as he
|
|
moved his leg. The little emblem flickered back at him as he moved,
|
|
and quickly, its twin joined it on his right leg. He tightened the
|
|
laces along the back, and stood. The suede kissed his skin,
|
|
languidly, and massaged his legs as he walked. He felt the upper
|
|
cuff tickling at him as well, and the dangling laces tapped against
|
|
his thighs. Like his Lady's, and like Rala's, there were no heels on
|
|
these boots, but only supple soles that did not impede his movements
|
|
at all.
|
|
|
|
Grinning, he considered that they were more comfortable than his
|
|
uniform boots. Pity I can't wear them on duty, he said, and actually
|
|
chuckled out loud at himself. He walked back to the bed and resumed
|
|
his place on it. As he suspected, his Lady returned not long after.
|
|
|
|
He turned to see her entering from the other room, and watched as she
|
|
watched him. She appeared to slow her pace for a few moments, then
|
|
resumed.
|
|
|
|
Oh . . . she had to catch her breath at him -- slim, feline, with his
|
|
eyes glittering at her over his darkened cheeks. His angular body
|
|
was supplely turned toward her like a dancer, and his legs looked
|
|
impossibly longer, coated in the buttery soft animal skin. One was
|
|
underneath him, one stretched out before. The starlight was on him as
|
|
well, outlining his fine slender shoulders, his graceful arms, pooled
|
|
like quicksilver at his collarbones and neck. His entire back was
|
|
coated with the bluish-silver glow . . . She lowered her eyes,
|
|
taking control of herself, and began to play her part.
|
|
|
|
Julian watched her as she dropped her eyes; her entire demeanor had
|
|
changed. She simply stood before him, her hands clasped before her,
|
|
her gaze on the floor. Clutched in her hands was the wine-colored
|
|
collar she had shown him before he left, the one she had promised she
|
|
might wear, if he so chose . . . Her eyes did not come up to meet
|
|
his. She remained where she was, silent and waiting.
|
|
|
|
Julian got up and walked toward her, curious. "Lady . . . ?" he
|
|
asked. Her eyes met his at last then, but almost timidly. She was
|
|
not the woman who had left the room so recently. Julian smiled,
|
|
understanding, as again her eyes fastened themselves to the floor.
|
|
With deliberation, he held out his hands and looked at her
|
|
expectantly, an amused expression on his sharp face. She was still
|
|
for a moment, then took a deep breath and placed the collar in his
|
|
hands. He took it from her, regarded it for a few moments, then
|
|
tossed it at the bed; it clattered loudly against the wall and slid
|
|
down behind the headboard, disappearing.
|
|
|
|
"I don't think we'll need that," he told her easily, his voice
|
|
resonant and sensuous. Courtly and smiling, he held out a hand to
|
|
her; she placed hers in it, and he led her slowly to the edge of the
|
|
bed. "I need not bind you here," he told her, running one finger up
|
|
her neck to her chin, tilting her beautiful face to his. "You will
|
|
wear your bindings here," he said, tapping her chest over her heart,
|
|
"the softest bindings you will ever know." She closed her eyes at
|
|
his words, and sighed. He dropped his face then, to her chest,
|
|
kissing the place over her heart lightly, lingering there to drink
|
|
her scent, to nuzzle her breast with his shadowed cheeks. Dropping
|
|
to one knee, he wrapped his arms around her hips, embracing her with
|
|
passion. Her strong thighs, muscular yet not without softness, gave
|
|
under his fingers as he ran his hands over the velvet skin. Her
|
|
round buttocks as well filled his hands as his rough chin brushed
|
|
against her tight black curls. Slowly, lazily, he took locks of the
|
|
ebon ringlets between his lips and tugged very gently, nuzzling. The
|
|
faintest scent of her rose to his face, and he felt himself begin to
|
|
throb, to thirst. Revelling in it, he told himself strictly that he
|
|
would slake the thirst, in time. Her hands were at him, running so
|
|
lightly over his skin, his shoulders, his neck, toying with his hair.
|
|
She tried to kneel to face him, but he gripped her legs too strongly,
|
|
compelling her to remain standing. "No . . . " he whispered, and
|
|
stood, his body merest inches from hers. With infinite care, he
|
|
embraced her and laid her gently onto the bed, taking care not to
|
|
catch her hair, which draped over her body, her only clothing. For a
|
|
time, he simply looked at her, as the silvery starlight poured over
|
|
her, turning her forearms, her legs, the points of her hips, to
|
|
liquid metal. His fingertips roved over her as he knelt once again
|
|
next to the bed; belying the metallic sheen, her flesh was warm,
|
|
pliant, delicious. Shimmering flashes of it caught in her hair, and
|
|
as he brushed his fingers through it, it shivered and danced like
|
|
water. Dazzled, he wondered where to start. He could kiss and
|
|
fondle, taste and adore, every part of her at once.
|
|
|
|
She lay back, watching him, watching his eyes, feeling his cool slow
|
|
hands on her, and felt like fleeing. Badly, she wanted to run, to
|
|
dash away from here, from what it meant confronting. Unseen, her
|
|
fists clenched. My vows . . . she told herself again, appalled at
|
|
the lack of conviction in her thoughts. Closing her eyes, she felt
|
|
nothing save his gentle touch roaming tenderly over her body, his
|
|
palms brushing over her, his lips at her skin again; she gasped
|
|
slightly. My vows . . . Throwing her head back, she opened her eyes
|
|
at last and looked at the stars against which the headboard of the
|
|
bed was placed. They watched her back, and whether they were
|
|
accusing or approving she could not say. Perhaps, she thought as she
|
|
felt his lips travelling with agonizing slowness over her breasts and
|
|
neck, moving toward her own, they simply did not care.
|
|
|
|
Suddenly, his lips were on hers, the subtle warmth of his face at
|
|
hers, the scent of him evanescing from his skin. Startled, she
|
|
turned her face toward his, shadowed against the stars and by the
|
|
darkness on his cheeks and chin, and caught her breath as his lips
|
|
descended toward hers. Again, her fists clenched as she felt herself
|
|
dissolving into the kiss, into the warmth and darkness.
|
|
|
|
She opened her mouth just a fraction, sighing against him, and fought
|
|
to keep control over herself, to keep playing the part she must to
|
|
teach him what he needed to learn. From wanting to run and hide, she
|
|
had gone to fighting a passionate desire to fall into him, to clutch
|
|
him to her, to lose herself in him, never coming out . . . to keep
|
|
him forever, no matter their duty. With a will of absolute iron, she
|
|
compelled herself to stay in her designated role. He is pupil, I am
|
|
teacher; he is not my consort. Her tongue rose against his, and ran
|
|
over his lips. She felt him take it, gently sucking at the tip,
|
|
toying with it.
|
|
|
|
"Lady . . . " he breathed, and she heard the devotion in his voice as
|
|
well, the wanting. His hands then came up around her face from where
|
|
they had been caressing her and she felt them at her cheeks as they
|
|
kissed, their passion growing. They began to devour one another; she
|
|
too took his face in her hands and pulled him to her. Firmly,
|
|
though, and with care, he grasped her wrists and pulled her hands
|
|
from him. She looked as his breathtaking eyes pinned her where she
|
|
was.
|
|
|
|
"No," he told her with such gentleness that she nearly melted. He
|
|
placed her hands back down near her sides, pressing them there.
|
|
"Relax, my Lady," he said. "Relax" -- as he began to toy with her
|
|
again, with her face, her neck, with her ears, and she began to move
|
|
beneath him. She tried but could not suppress the sounds of passion
|
|
stirred from her throat, she felt him smile against her as they rose
|
|
to his ears. Her arms strained against his grasp, but not by much,
|
|
and after a time, they stopped altogether and she simply gave herself
|
|
to him and the passion he roused in her. Play the part, she told
|
|
herself, play the part . . .
|
|
|
|
He sat atop her now, still devouring her skin, moving down toward her
|
|
breasts, toward the tender skin there and at her stomach, her hips,
|
|
still gripping her wrists. Julian felt her gasp and start when he
|
|
took her breast, firm and athletic, into his mouth, again teasing and
|
|
playing with the baby-soft nipple. He felt it grow firm in his
|
|
mouth, and the knowledge of her arousal multiplied his own. Running
|
|
his tongue over her gently, slowly, he began to draw lazy shapes on
|
|
her skin, his chin rough on her skin, leaving a cool trail of
|
|
moisture behind. Beneath him, against his chest, she shivered and
|
|
her stomach tensed; he felt her hips rock just barely forward, and
|
|
her hands tightened into rocks. For what seemed like hours, for what
|
|
may have been, he teased and delighted her this way, feeling himself
|
|
grow firm and pressing into his body, pressing into hers as well.
|
|
Finally, he began to trail his eager mouth further down to her hips,
|
|
to kiss and fondle everything in between, to grasp her thighs in
|
|
strong hands and part them ever so slowly. He cast a glance at her;
|
|
her head was back, her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling
|
|
rapidly. Again, the bluish glow of the stars lay over her like a
|
|
thin sheen.
|
|
|
|
He returned his gaze to her gateway -- beautiful, fragrant, ringed in
|
|
tight and soft black curls. Julian kissed each curl in turn and ran
|
|
his lips over them all, beginning to drown in the softness and scent.
|
|
Tenderly, he kissed these lips as well, running his tongue over the
|
|
niche between them and her thighs, making her gasp yet again in
|
|
pleasure and want. Teasing her yet further, he toyed with her lips
|
|
for several long languid minutes and felt as his own sex urgently
|
|
pressed into him, pulsing in time, jolting him with its insistence.
|
|
Steady . . . he told himself against the voice that told him to rise
|
|
and plunge himself into her; he was shocked at how much easier it was
|
|
to resist this time. The knowledge of her impending delight, and
|
|
his, and how both would be the greater for the wait, made it nearly
|
|
trivial, until he took a pure strong pleasure in forcing himself to
|
|
resist, feeling his body sing to him with sensation. Finally, he
|
|
parted her lips with his own, searching for the place that the
|
|
Ishtarian mythology called the temple jewel, the place of holy life,
|
|
where life began. Yes . . . there. He took it between his lips,
|
|
tasting its sweetness, its moist delicious softness, and felt her
|
|
hips rock against his mouth as the sensation ran itself through the
|
|
body of his Lady. Moaning, she tried to break his grasp on her
|
|
wrists, but he increased his strength and held them firm as she
|
|
fought to free her hands. He flicked his tongue over the jewel,
|
|
quickly, distracting her until she no longer tried to free herself
|
|
but instead was simply forced to lie back, allow herself to be
|
|
buffeted by the stimulation.
|
|
|
|
Then, suddenly, he pulled away from her, leaving her gasping and
|
|
moaning beneath him. He looked to the little table and saw . . .
|
|
yes! It was there; she had known he would need it and left it out.
|
|
He rose from the bed, leaving her there.
|
|
|
|
It, too, was turned into shimmering light by the stars, but the glow
|
|
only added to its already silvery sheen. He removed the lid, taking
|
|
out a small dollop onto his finger, and walked back to the bed where
|
|
his Lady lay, watching him. Her face was . . . as he looked, he saw
|
|
a flicker of emotion, deep and strong, that shook him slightly.
|
|
Could she be . . . he wondered, then stopped himself. He must trust
|
|
her as well as himself, trust that she will tell him what he needed
|
|
to know, about the training, about her own feelings, about himself.
|
|
|
|
He returned to the bed and resumed his position at her. Smiling, he
|
|
took the little ball of sweet cream on his tongue and bent down to
|
|
where she was open, wet and wanting. Her hips rocked yet again, but
|
|
this time she did not give him cause to hold her wrists, as she felt
|
|
his tongue probing inside her, coating her with the cream. He felt
|
|
the powerful surge of appetite in himself, and heard his Lady's voice
|
|
as she did as well. The thirst gripped him, and he began lapping at
|
|
her even more strongly, burying himself in her sweetness, devouring
|
|
her as she bucked against him. For a brief few moments, he lost
|
|
himself in her, then pulled back, remembering that it must last, that
|
|
he must not rush, no matter how badly he had to resist. Again, he
|
|
concentrated on the resistance, on the hunger; it was harder this
|
|
time to find pleasure in it, but it was there, deeper than it had
|
|
been before and more rewarding.
|
|
|
|
Julian opened his eyes at her gateway, panting, trying to take
|
|
control over himself. A teacher he was not. He moaned, light and
|
|
delicate, and laid his cheek against her curls, regaining his wind,
|
|
and his control. He had nearly given himself to it, nearly lost
|
|
himself. "Lady . . . " he breathed. "I am not . . . I don't have
|
|
what I thought I had."
|
|
|
|
Her voice was far softer, more pliant-sounding, than anything he had
|
|
ever heard from her. "You have . . . more than you think," she
|
|
breathed, her hand rising from her side to caress his hair. You have
|
|
enough to make me question myself in ways I never thought possible,
|
|
she finished, though she did not say it. After a time, after he had
|
|
regained himself, he rose above her; she watched his slim body
|
|
stretch before her eyes. He turned then, and picked up the little
|
|
jar of kamireh.
|
|
|
|
"Lady," he said, "I'll need your help for this part." A trick of the
|
|
light? she thought, or was he actually smiling like that, that smirk?
|
|
She shook her head then, and watched as he opened the jar and scooped
|
|
out another little ball of the white cream. He leaned toward her,
|
|
his hand going to her mouth, and again she caught her breath. "Will
|
|
you help me?" he asked. She nodded. "Good." She felt her lips
|
|
parted gently, and her tongue rose to his fingers. "Here," he said,
|
|
placing the ball of kamireh on her tongue. She held it, between her
|
|
lips, and he rose before her, moving slowly up her body until his
|
|
wanting sex, pulsing in firmness, was against her cheek. Her eyes
|
|
went to his face, looking down on her with the dollop of cream on her
|
|
tongue. He said nothing, and she knew what he wanted from her.
|
|
Doctor . . . her mind was a wisp, a mere veil over a warm sea of want
|
|
at his actions. Doctor, you are more pupil than anyone I have ever
|
|
taught, she told him with silence, with her eyes as the cream began
|
|
to melt from the heat of her mouth, entering her system and making
|
|
her mad. Turning her head slightly, she took him into her mouth
|
|
then, feeling him slide into her without effort, slowly. He did not
|
|
push, did not thrust but merely . . . entered, with careful
|
|
gentleness. With her tongue, she coated him all over, down the
|
|
length of his shaft, and heard him moan, low and quiet.
|
|
|
|
With a loud clap, he laid his hands on the edge of the headboard,
|
|
gripping it convulsively as she excited him further, as she felt the
|
|
hot surge of hunger build in her from the kamireh. She saw his head
|
|
fall back, saw his body arch, and felt his hips rise against her
|
|
mouth. The wanting was in him, and his voice gave it life. He was
|
|
atop her, but she had him in her grasp, in her control. The solidity
|
|
of her position relaxed her just a little, the part she played less
|
|
likely to make her feel that frightening falling. You are playing a
|
|
part, she told herself again, you must not live it . . . She toyed
|
|
further with him, drinking in the intoxicatingly musky male scent,
|
|
feeling his tight curls tickling her nose. Relaxing, she took him in
|
|
more deeply, as deeply as she could or as she needed to, massaging
|
|
him against her throat. His voice grew more insistent, more
|
|
plaintive. Suddenly, she felt him withdraw from her until he was
|
|
inches from her lips, shaking before her, his body tense as piano
|
|
wire, his hands still clutching the headboard in an absolutely iron
|
|
grasp. Whimpering lightly, he knelt there, his knees on either side
|
|
of her shoulders, still as a statue but for his subtle shaking and
|
|
the quivering of his shining sex. She moved forward just a little,
|
|
licking the starlight from the head, and felt him jerk away from her
|
|
again.
|
|
|
|
"No . . . " he breathed, almost begged. She brought her hands up to
|
|
his waist, and his eyes jerked open. "No," he repeated more firmly,
|
|
taking her wrists and placing her arms at her sides once more. He
|
|
took several gulps of air, steadying himself, then resumed his
|
|
earlier position, kneeling with his hips just below hers. He could
|
|
just barely make out the dizzying folds of her gateway, beckoning
|
|
him. Clenching his jaw, he parted her thighs again and, sliding his
|
|
knees under hers, he entered her, slowly and carefully. She moaned
|
|
to him, and pushed her hips further against his, and he saw her eyes
|
|
widen as he drew himself back, keeping only the head within her.
|
|
You, he thought, you would take me only so far at first. I will give
|
|
you only so much at first as well. He placed one hand against her
|
|
hips, stilling them. "Wait," he told her, watching her breasts rise
|
|
and fall as she breathed. Then, "I'll enter you, but you must do
|
|
something for me first." Her response was on a wisp.
|
|
|
|
"Yes . . . "
|
|
|
|
He placed his hand, his sure hand, over her jewel, caressing and
|
|
tickling at it with his fingertips. Her body writhed. Now, it was
|
|
time for this, he thought. Not from any Ishtarian manual, perhaps
|
|
totally unfamiliar to her . . . "I will continue for ten counts," he
|
|
informed her, barely able to keep from plunging into her as he felt
|
|
her twitch in response to his caresses. He swallowed. "During that
|
|
time, if you move or make a sound, I withdraw." She moaned at this,
|
|
unbelieving, and incredulous eyes met his. Indeed, she had not heard
|
|
of this before. Then, as he continued, her head simply fell back
|
|
limply, and she moaned again in abandonment. "If you withstand until
|
|
I count ten," he said, leaning against her, "I enter you completely."
|
|
A pregnant pause; he placed his lips against her sensitized skin.
|
|
"Do you agree?" Silence, then the barest of nods. "Let's begin."
|
|
|
|
He pressed into her wet jewel, flicking it lightly, just a few times.
|
|
"One." Just a few more flicks, and he watched his Lady's face, saw
|
|
her tensing muscles as she fought to hold herself back. He pressed
|
|
slightly harder and felt her suppress a jolt. "Two." Twitches
|
|
against him, around the head of his sex, nearly made him lose
|
|
concentration, but he let himself fall into the rhythm of his
|
|
partner, and found it again. The slightest of quivering was all she
|
|
betrayed, making the starlight on her skin shimmer like water.
|
|
"Three," and he moved his fingers more lightly, more lazily. "Four."
|
|
He looked down and could see the milky cream running in pulses from
|
|
her.
|
|
|
|
"Five." As he watched, she bit her lip, and swallowed what would
|
|
have been a strong and delicious moan as he felt her legs jerk just
|
|
slightly. He had found a very sensitive place.
|
|
|
|
"Six." Yes, this place and this movement was what she thirsted for,
|
|
what she wanted. Again, her stomach muscles grew tense, pulsed, and
|
|
she gasped like a drowning diver. He concentrated his fingertips on
|
|
this place, pressing just slightly harder, and his Lady had never
|
|
looked so abandoned before. His heart was soft; he could never do
|
|
anything other than enter her, no matter what she did. But she did
|
|
not need to know that.
|
|
|
|
"Seven." He continued, just a touch more slowly. There was no need
|
|
to raise her so close to the peak that he would have to bring her
|
|
over into the fall; that would be unconscionable.
|
|
|
|
"Eight." He began to move his fingers in a lazier fashion, bursts of
|
|
movement followed by even stillness, a stillness during which she
|
|
would clutch involuntarily at him, her breath coming sharply at each
|
|
of the clutches.
|
|
|
|
"Nine." He wanted to tell her something sweet, something kind and
|
|
loving, but kept from doing so; he could not break the flow of what
|
|
he was doing. With several sharp flicks, one, two, three, he brought
|
|
her even higher. She could not help herself -- her back arched
|
|
slowly.
|
|
|
|
"Ten," he finished, feeling her tense finally, and was shocked to
|
|
hear her moans. They seemed as if . . . he looked closely at her
|
|
face. In the darkness, he could not see her well enough to tell
|
|
normally, but with the ports open and the stars looking in at them,
|
|
their light was just enough for him to make out the glittering at her
|
|
eyes. "Lady . . . " he said, astonished.
|
|
|
|
"Ju -- Doctor," she replied, and her voice caught. She gasped
|
|
deeply, unable to keep her body still. Still supine, not fighting
|
|
his hands, she simply gazed back at him. "Doctor . . . you who
|
|
cannot be my consort . . . "
|
|
|
|
Immediately he was against her, his chest pressing into hers, his
|
|
face at her face. He had slipped out of her but did not realize it.
|
|
His hands wreathed her features, and he watched in helplessness as
|
|
she wept quietly. "No," he breathed, his cheek against hers, his
|
|
lips fondling her skin. Nuzzling against her, he kissed her neck
|
|
tenderly. "Lady, no . . . " He could barely stand her tears.
|
|
Gently, he placed his hands on her wrists, bringing her fingers to
|
|
his face; she held it then, her hands at his jaw, still weeping
|
|
quietly in the darkness.
|
|
|
|
"Doctor . . . " They kissed then, the abandonment and passion, the
|
|
wildness of their timeless desire for each other finally surfacing in
|
|
both. "I cannot . . . " she began, but could not continue. Julian
|
|
Bashir stilled the failing lips of his Lady with his own, devouring
|
|
so hungrily, so lovingly. "I must play a part, but I cannot . . .
|
|
you would have me live the part." His gentle lips were at her cheek.
|
|
"Live the part of the taken lover, the initiate." Between gossamer
|
|
sobs, she spoke. "I must show you how to take an unlettered lover,
|
|
and I must play that part, I must play that to you . . . and now
|
|
. . . " His eyes too began to grow moist and shining. "I am no
|
|
longer playing the unlettered lover, I *am* the unlettered lover."
|
|
Her moist eyes ran over his face in amazement. "I cannot finish as
|
|
teacher, and yet . . . I must finish. I must have you, and I must
|
|
have you take me."
|
|
|
|
He closed his eyes, and kissed her with more depth than he had ever
|
|
felt before, more so than at any time previous. "Then take me, let
|
|
me take you -- as consort." Her lips quivered at his.
|
|
|
|
"I cannot," she replied simply. "Ju . . . " Her voice trailed off.
|
|
He knew what she had nearly done, the nature of the precipice upon
|
|
which she teetered. No teacher could speak the name of a lover not a
|
|
consort, and most especially not that of a pupil. He had learned
|
|
that much during his perusals of the Ishtarian lessons during the
|
|
last five months.
|
|
|
|
The nearness of her breach, how close she had come before catching
|
|
herself, frightened her. She gazed up at him in the darkness, and
|
|
her eyes became warm and soft as she saw him over her, saw his
|
|
concern and even his love.
|
|
|
|
"Lady," he told her, "I never wanted you to be hurt."
|
|
|
|
"I chose you," she said, "that day, so long ago . . . I chose you.
|
|
Perhaps I chose too well." She kissed him so softly that he nearly
|
|
wept at her touch. "You did not wish to harm me; I know that. You
|
|
could never have foreseen . . . "
|
|
|
|
"Lady, take me as consort. No one need know . . . " His eyes burned
|
|
brightly and his chest rose quickly against hers. "I've felt it,
|
|
too. I've felt it with you . . . the feeling like I'm being
|
|
awakened, like I'm in a dream that's not really a dream, that's a
|
|
reality more real than anything in my waking world . . . " His voice
|
|
trailed off; the words were so hard to find. His kisses trailed down
|
|
to her neck, powerful and strong. "Lady, you've shown me parts of
|
|
myself I didn't know I had." He stopped entirely, afraid of sounding
|
|
too prosaic, too maudlin. She was looking back at him, silently.
|
|
|
|
"But you must stay here," she said. "And I must go."
|
|
|
|
"Yes." Another kiss.
|
|
|
|
She gasped and caught her breath, quelling her tears with iron will.
|
|
"You cannot have only me," she told him. "You must take others."
|
|
|
|
"I will, I promise."
|
|
|
|
"You are the best pupil I have ever known; for you to refuse to take
|
|
others would be . . . unthinkable." He swallowed.
|
|
|
|
"I will, Lady," he said weakly. "I promise." Starlight on tears
|
|
drew a trail of quicksilver on his sharp cheek.
|
|
|
|
"You will find other parts of yourself, new ones with each person,
|
|
new ways of feeling caring, trust, love, lust . . . and you will grow
|
|
deeper with each person, woman and man."
|
|
|
|
"I will," he said with a kiss she could barely feel. "Old sailors
|
|
kept lovers in every port. I can be here for you."
|
|
|
|
"And I must return, trade or no." Her eyes burned into him, and her
|
|
hands caressed him with care and love. The candle on the table
|
|
behind them burnt down to the end at last, leaving them awash only
|
|
in the glow of the stars. "I will return, Doctor." Their mouths
|
|
touched, and through their kiss, they became one being of passion and
|
|
love. "My love. Julian, my love."
|
|
|
|
Her thighs embraced him, slowly, and with liquid grace, he lowered
|
|
himself onto and into her, feeling her envelop him, feeling her fluid
|
|
embrace. He slid into her very slowly, and saw as she reacted,
|
|
closing her eyes in pleasure and satisfaction, finally able to say
|
|
what she had felt, to give voice to what he had felt as well -- the
|
|
unity, the trust, even the love.
|
|
|
|
When he had entered her fully, pressed against her, he kissed the tip
|
|
of her nose; she opened her eyes. "You have used my name, Lady, but
|
|
I still don't know yours." He felt her hips moving against him then,
|
|
and felt her hands running along his slim back, wrapping around his
|
|
waist. His Lady smiled.
|
|
|
|
"Come here," she said. He leaned down close to her until he felt her
|
|
breath stirring his hair, and she told him what he wished to know.
|
|
On the softest breath, he whispered it back to her, his voice filled
|
|
with love.
|
|
|
|
"It is done . . . Julian," she said. "No pupil knows my name, not
|
|
you, not Rala, no other. You do; you are my consort." Her lips
|
|
brushed his. "My beautiful consort away from me."
|
|
|
|
"But you will return," he stated.
|
|
|
|
"Of course." Her smile was a smile he had waited his entire life to
|
|
see. "I must return; I am bound here, to you." It took him a few
|
|
moments to realize that she was not speaking metaphorically; she was
|
|
indeed bound to this place, and to him. It took him the merest
|
|
sliver of time to realize how fully he was bound as well.
|
|
|
|
"Lady," he said as he began to thrust lazily, caressing her entire
|
|
body with his, feeling her skin moving on his, her body beneath his,
|
|
"do you believe in a soul? A spirit?"
|
|
|
|
Surprised by his question, she took a moment to reply. "I believe in
|
|
a spirit," she said. "A liquid spirit . . . " Her voice halted as
|
|
she felt him touching her, deeply. " . . . which is poured into a
|
|
great cauldron upon each death. The cauldron is mixed, and new
|
|
spirits are dipped from it." She smiled coyly, and sighed like
|
|
melody. "We may have been dipped from similar spirit," she told him.
|
|
|
|
Julian smiled. "We may have been," he responded, then began to
|
|
thrust more strongly, yet retaining his easy pace, synchronizing
|
|
their appetites. The bond deepened, beyond what he thought was
|
|
possible. Closing his large eyes, he laid himself full against her,
|
|
and closed down his mind until all he knew was the warm pliance of
|
|
her flesh on his, the curves and textures beneath him as his body fit
|
|
into hers, against hers. Her warm body seemed to glow against him,
|
|
and he concentrated until he could hear even the soft sounds of his
|
|
gentle thrusting, and the scent of both their bodies echoed in his
|
|
spirit. He wanted to sing, or to dance with his soul. How could he
|
|
not? How could he feel this, all over him, all five senses and his
|
|
heart and mind, and not want to? The music of her spirit called to
|
|
him, and he moved himself against her; indeed, he told himself, I am
|
|
already dancing.
|
|
|
|
It seemed hours, and could never be long enough. There could never
|
|
be enough time to explore all of him that I must, nor to find all of
|
|
myself in him. His weight was on her, and yet she seemed to float
|
|
with him, in a choir of emotion, of taste and scent and sound. My
|
|
consort, she thought. My consort. She felt her eyes growing moist
|
|
again, and did not stop to dry them. She did not need to; Julian saw
|
|
them and, with his fine lips, took the wetness from her into himself.
|
|
She kissed him, and could taste the salt of her own tears on his
|
|
lips. Joyfully, she smiled at his love, then laughed aloud. He
|
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heard her, and his own smile then dawned and grew until they were
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both laughing in their love for each other. Amazing! she thought,
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and laughed again. She threw her arms around him tightly, and felt
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as she embraced him with herself. The energy between them grew,
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flourished, until they shared it with each other, one person loving
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itself. Outside the ship, the stars as well shimmered with their own
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laughter.
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He felt himself pushed upright until he was sitting on his heels, his
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Lady atop him, and together they rocked to a gently rolling music
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that she hummed, punctuated by occasional gasps as she held him
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inside her more tightly, two bodies together warm and soft. Her
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hands were on him, caressing, fondling, toying over the curves and
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dips, the landscape of his slender, lovely body. His arms were
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around her, his face nuzzling with such tenderness, his graceful body
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bending into hers. He was so smooth, so soft; she had never felt
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anything like him, never seen anything alike. The soft suede of the
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boots kissed her inner thighs as she moved herself on him, and could
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not compare to his tender skin.
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They were approaching the peak, the delicious peak; both the doctor
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and his Lady. Their bodies, their minds felt the teasing tightness,
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the mad feeling of desperate want, and did not fight it but drowned
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themselves in it until at last, they plummeted over the precipice
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into a warm waterfall of moist joy. Julian felt his Lady's hands
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clasping at his waist, her thighs tensing around his body, as if he
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no longer inhabited himself, and felt her cries in his own mind,
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music he could gladly hear for the rest of his life. His Lady could
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feel him swelling, bursting, inside her, and felt his spasms against
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her stomach, felt/saw/heard/tasted a glorious starburst of emotion
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and sensation that made her gasp in amazement. The energy grew past
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them both until when it finally abated, neither could tell where the
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other stopped and they began. In the darkness, together, they slept
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peacefully, each filled with the other. Starlight coated their
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oblivious bodies as they slept, in a tangle of arms and legs and
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hearts and minds. From time to time, each would drift lazily into
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wakefulness, open sleepy eyes, and see the astonishing multitudes
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of stars. Eyes would then close, and the stars would vanish,
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replaced by dreams to which even they could not compare.
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Copyright 1994(c) by Janis Cortese. This story may not be reproduced in
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whole or part in ANY medium without the permission of the author.
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From cortese Mon Feb 27 20:54:05 1995
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Return-Path: <cortese>
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Received: by netcom19.netcom.com (8.6.9/Netcom)
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id UAA25746; Mon, 27 Feb 1995 20:54:05 -0800
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Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 20:54:05 -0800
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From: cortese (Janis Maria C. C. Cortese)
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Message-Id: <199502280454.UAA25746@netcom19.netcom.com>
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To: aleph@netcom.com
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Subject: CE ptIV
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Status: O
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He awoke at last to a touch on his brow. Shifting his position, he
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felt that a coverlet had been laid gently over his bare skin. His
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eyes opened slowly, and he saw a smiling impish face before his.
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"Rala . . . " he whispered.
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"Yes." The other man leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on the
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tip of Julian's nose. "You have been asleep for a long time."
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Julian's eyes widened then.
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"Am I -- "
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"Late for duty? No, you are not." Limber fingers ran delicately
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over his cheeks and neck, toying with his rumpled hair.
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"Where is . . . my Lady?" he asked.
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"She has been called elsewhere," Rala told him softly, seeming to
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know why he asked. "She wanted me to be here with you when you
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awoke." He brushed the backs of his fingers against Julian's cheeks,
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and both men could hear the rough scratching. Rala smiled
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beautifully. "A choirboy in shadow," he remarked and was rewarded
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with yet another blush beneath deep cafe au lait skin.
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One dark hand came out from under the warm coverlet, taking Rala's.
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Julian brought it to his lips, and kissed the palm. "Will she be
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back soon?" he asked. Does Rala know?
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"I would imagine so. She did not wish to leave." The misty blue
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eyes seemed to look straight through him. "Come." He held out his
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hands to the Fleet doctor, indicating that he should rise. "We will
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break our fast in the spa; she will know where we are when she
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returns." Uncertain, still shaking from his epiphany, Julian rose
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slowly, his head spinning partly from his rising, partly from
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something else. Rala's peaches and cream body stood before him; he
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wanted so badly to want him, to feel desire, but so wrung out was he
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that he could feel nothing more tempestuous than caring and
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tenderness. Rala seemed to sense his emotional exhaustion and simply
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stood before him smiling, then stepped back as Julian rose and placed
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his hands in his. "You seem tired," he said, brushing his fingertips
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over the other man's slender chest. That chest rose under his
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fingers in a beautiful sigh.
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"I suppose I am." He said nothing else, though, and Rala did not
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pry. For the better part of an hour, they sat in the warm bubbling
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water, back in the jasmine field with the birds serenading one
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another overhead. Delicious light foods were there, fruits and other
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things appropriate to fast-breaking. They ate in easy silence at
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first, then could not resist play as they fed one another and finally
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spent the rest of their time in lazy love. Julian's Lady entered not
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minutes after they had drifted apart in the water, and removed her
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clothing wordlessly, lowering her body into the water with her pupils
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-- her pupil, and her silent consort. Both men drifted to her and
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kissed her lovingly, and yet one's eyes spoke more loudly, more
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impassioned.
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"I have something for you, Doctor," she told him. "I will give it to
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you later." Again, time passed in friendly silence, with Rala's head
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cradled in Julian's lap, and Julian's against the moist breast of his
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Lady. Three bodies dozed together, quiet and sated in innocent
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animal togetherness.
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Time passed, however, and Julian could not put that out of his mind.
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I must go soon, he found himself thinking. She must go. We cannot
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be to each other what we must . . . Tears, lost in the bubbling
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water, traced fragile tracks down his cheeks that were only a bit
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warmer than those traced by his sweat. He pressed himself more
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tightly against the body of his Lady while Rala dozed in his lap.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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He tried to put his uniform on with slightly more cheer than a
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condemned man, but failed to do so. Rala saw this, and came up
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behind him, touching him so tenderly. Julian turned to face the
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other man, and again felt the electrifying newness of what he had
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learned from him. His body began to react to Rala's nearness again,
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and had he not been so preoccupied with his leaving, and the leaving
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of his bonded love and Rala, he might have found pleasure in it. As
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it was, he could only drop his gaze as he stood so close to the other
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man's unclothed body, like pink marble. One hand lifted of its own
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accord to fondle the fair chest, and drifted down to Rala's waist and
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hips, to his pert sex in strawberry curls.
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"Like me . . . " he murmured once again, and his eyes rose to Rala's
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then; the other man caught his breath. Drawn together, separated by
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no propriety, the men kissed, their lips brushing over each other's
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so delicately that Julian felt the hairs at his neck stand on end.
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They embraced, and for a brief few moments, Julian let himself be
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supported by Rala, falling into the other man's strong arms. His
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eyes were tightly closed. "Rala . . . " Strong hands rubbed his
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back, pressing away some tension.
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"I will always remember what we did for one another, Doctor," the
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other man breathed quietly.
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"What you gave me . . . " Julian began, but could not continue. "Oh,
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Rala . . . " He held his lover's back more tightly.
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"Doctor, I've shown you something that has always existed; it's
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always been there for you." He nestled his face against Julian's
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elegant long neck. "I just opened a door for you. It's up to you to
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step outside."
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"And will you be outside, waiting for me when I do?" Julian pulled
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away from Rala, his eyes shining but his cheeks dry.
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"When I can be." Again, they kissed, with measureless devotion and
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tenderness. "But Doctor, there's more than just me on the other side
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of that door."
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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"When will you be here next?" was the only think he could think to
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say to her. When will you take me inside you again?
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"I do not know," she said, her sorrow at his departure, at her own,
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so evident in her eyes that Julian wanted to cry. They touched.
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"But I will return." Her eyes gazed straight into his. "I swear
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it." He could not stand to see her before him and not take her in
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his arms. She stiffened, still shaken by her bond to him. "Julian,"
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was all she said. He said her name on a breath, and held her more
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tightly. She pulled away from him then.
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"Here is what I have promised you." She walked to where a little
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device was sitting on the bed, pin straight and neatly made after
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their shattering play. Picking it up -- he could not make out what
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it was -- she turned and came back to him. "Hold out your hand," he
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was told. He did so.
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She placed the mouth of the little device between his thumb and
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forefinger, on his palm. It gripped the little flap of skin gently,
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and he felt a sensation of warmth, and a light stinging. Taking back
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his hand, he massaged it firmly. "What was that?" he asked.
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"Look." He did so, and saw a tiny shape there, so tiny that it would
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have been mistaken for a smudge had he not looked more closely.
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Peering at his hand, he could just make out three little shapes --
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circles, they were. One white, one red, and one black . . . she had
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explained to him the significance of the colors, and the circles, and
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he had understood, or thought he had. And yet . . . "It is
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permanent," she told him. With an undercurrent of urgency, she took
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the hand in hers and brought it to her lips, kissing the little
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emblem fervently. "You are marked." Her lips moved against his
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palm. "You are mine."
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"Lady . . . " he said, but she raised a finger to his lips.
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"No. You need never call me that again. At least . . . " and she
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smiled deprecatingly, "not when we are alone." He did not reply to
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this though, only took her face in his hands and brought it to his
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own. She gasped as they kissed, he without bonds, for the first time
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in the light of day.
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"Julian, I . . . " she began. "Oh, my consort . . . " Her arms
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embraced him tightly.
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"My love," he replied.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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His fist clenched as he recalled the pain of their parting, and he
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nearly crushed the glass he had been holding in his hand. It had
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been three weeks since she had left, and each passing day had gotten
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better, but only barely. His head jerked upright, and he realized
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that, despite the noise and lights of the bar, he had fallen into
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reverie for the fourth time since coming there. He had sat alone,
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and his empty expression had forbade all from disturbing him.
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For the first few days, he had felt only the glow of what he had
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learned, both about his Lady and about himself. He had been
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delighted to see the bodies of the people in Quark's -- men and women
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-- as beautiful, and had had a number of sessions of light flirting,
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though nothing beyond that. He still couldn't bring himself to do
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anything so soon . . .
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Sighing, he supposed that sooner than he thought, he would be able
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to enjoy a liason with any of the beautiful people who entered and
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expressed a desire to do so, but for now . . . the pain of his
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Lady, of his bonded love's departure was still uppermost in his mind.
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He swirled the apple synth in his glass, watching the little vortex
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spin down in the center, seeing the glittering lights all throughout
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the interior of the bar sparkling and turning into spun candy in it.
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The sounds of the people, ecstatic victory huzzahs and moans of
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fickle bad luck, spun into the drink as well, and he sipped it. His
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love had told him of how wonderful sights and tastes and scents would
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be for him; he had spent several long moments at a Promenade vendor
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caressing a bolt of midnight blue velvety material just that morning.
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The sensation of it slipping between his fingers had nearly
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intoxicated him. That morning, he had almost been late for duty, and
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had to gulp his gahwa after falling into the sharp cinnamon taste.
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Even music seemed deeper to him, and he wondered about learning an
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instrument. In a quiet moment, his love had told him that his hands
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were those of a musician, with his long nimble fingers and supple
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wrists, and while he had never had an ambition toward music before,
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he wondered at it now. Doumbec, he thought. Or Spanish guitar.
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Perhaps sitar? He had sat up late that night, listening to playbacks
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of Ventachakalam and Segovia and Yodh and wishing that he could make
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such music.
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Cookbook tapes had begun to spring up in his quarters, almost
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littering the place. He had tripped over one while getting out of
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the sonic shower and since then they had been arranged a little more
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neatly on his desk instead of being strewn all over the floor and
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bed. Atop these tapes were others on massage, and shyatsu. The base
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methods were certainly familiar to him as a doctor, but not as a
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devoted practitioner; he was unacquainted with the subtler spiritual
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nuances of each.
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"Julian? Are you all right?"
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Again, he had fallen into reverie; his head whipped around, and he
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saw Dax standing in front of his table. "What?"
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She looked down at him with some concern. "I asked you if you were
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all right," she repeated. "You've been a little . . . down lately."
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Down, he thought. That's not the half of it. "I'm okay," he said.
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She took the seat opposite him.
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"You don't sound okay. You were practically walking on the ceiling
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that day, and then you just about shut down." She leaned forward.
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"What's wrong?"
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An outright lie was beyond him, especially where Dax was concerned.
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She was so beautiful, and he had gradually grown horrified to learn
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that he had begun regarding her as a big sister of sorts as his time
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on the station grew. "Nothing I want to talk about," he said.
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"Sure?"
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"Yes." He smiled a thin little smile then. "Sorry for the past few
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weeks, though. I guess I've been a little . . . out of sorts." A
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silent nod. "I'll get over it." He smiled again, to reassure her,
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and his eyes dropped back to his drink. The smile disappeared.
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Dax reached across the table and patted his hand. Normally, the
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mothering gesture from her would have annoyed him, but this time he
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only took comfort in her offered friendship. "If you want to talk,"
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was all she said. He smiled at her again, a little more genuinely
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this time.
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"I know." She rose then, and was gone from his field of view.
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Another long string of minutes passed as he watched the synth descend
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the glass, and heard the cacophony of the bar whirling around him.
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He had just fallen into another reverie when yet another voice
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disturbed him.
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"Friend?" Julian turned and looked up to see a slim caitian standing
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before his table. She looked down at him quizzically. At his
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silence, she smiled. "You pretty human," she said conversationally,
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"but seem not so happy." She gestured to the seat opposite him.
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"Sit?" He nodded finally, with a tired but honest smile.
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She sat fluidly. "You less than happy," she told him again.
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He stared at his empty glass. "Yes," he told her. "Less than
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happy."
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"Why?" The expression on her angular face was quite genuine, and he
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saw that she was very slender and tall for one of her kind. Her mane
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was tawny, almost butterscotch, and her claws had been cut back and
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decorated -- a merchant marine of her people; he recognized the
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pattern.
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"I've lost someone very . . . important to me," he said slowly, unsure
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of how he could explain this to her.
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"Lost someone?" she queried. "To life after life?" He recognized
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the caitian metaphor.
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"No," he told her. "She hasn't died, just gone away." He sighed.
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"They've both gone away."
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"Two people lost?" She leaned forward, and he saw that her eyes were
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exactly the same shade as her mane; her skin was barely lighter. She
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looked as if she had been carved out of amber.
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"Yes, two lost." He swallowed.
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"Pretty human, you love both?" Caitians were known for being rather
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direct, but the question still startled him.
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He nodded, and his eyes were drawn down to the little mark of his love
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and his bond. For the thousandth time, he fingered it and clenched
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his fist. "Yes, I love both."
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She sat back, her fluid spine settling into the booth easily. "You
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play?" she asked him gently. He did not reply. "You feel better
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after." She gestured to him. "You pretty human. I take care you,
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and we not play if you not want play."
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Her eyes were on him, and her smile was very open and sweet, even
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with her curved canines glistening at him over her lips. The offer
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was so direct and so honest, he found himself no longer wanting to be
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so painfully alone in the bar. The thought of her getting up and
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going elsewhere, and leaving him to melancholy, suddenly seemed very
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unattractive to him. "I don't know if I'll want to play," he told
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her.
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"I know," she replied. "But you sweet pretty face. I no want pretty
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face be so sad." Her hand brushed his cheek. "We not play if you
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not want play." Despite himself, Julian smiled. "You treat my
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shipsister," he was told. With sudden acuity, he recalled the
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caitian woman who had been rushed into the infirmary with plasma
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burns over her back; her deep auburn fur had been singed off in
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places, but she had responded well to treatment, despite being
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badly frightened. "She like you, say you nice to her. I nice to
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you."
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Julian's smile grew, finally, and he felt as if the albatross had
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finally begun to find its wings again. He was still unsure of
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playing, as she put it, but felt hungry for some closeness and
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warmth. "I'm Julian," he said, holding out his hand. She took it,
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taking care not to scratch him.
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"My mother-father make Serengeshtal," she told him.
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"Serengeshtal," he repeated, and she smiled at how close he had come
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to pronouncing it correctly. She nodded, copying the human gesture,
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and stood up.
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"Come, pretty nice Julian. Play not, or maybe play. I make close to
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you. You feel better."
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I feel better, he echoed silently to himself. Again, he smiled and
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laughed just a little, standing. The caitian woman, Serengeshtal,
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grinned back at him, her canines making her grin seem larger. She
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clapped her hands once, the caitian expression of suppressed
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laughter, then held out one to him. He placed his in the palm,
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taking care to avoid her claws, then saw that she had sheathed them.
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"I no scratch," she said, then her grin took on a hint of wickedness.
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"Unless you like scratch."
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He laughed again, even lighter this time and with no hint of wryness.
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"We'll see, Serengeshtal." They exited Quark's, hand in hand.
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THE END
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