Chapter 18

Just where had Karen gotten herself off to?

The old gray wolf emerged from among the tall pine trees and limped down towards the little stream, favoring its left front leg. Stopping on the bank just above the water, he raised his head high and sniffed the air. There still was that scent, of something familiar, and yet unfamiliar, subtly different, in the air. The scent was almost, but not quite, the scent of human. He turned to his left, following the flow of the water, and limped along the bank, continuing to follow the scent towards its source.

The wolf had been cast out from its pack several days before, the pack he had led for so long. One of his pups had finally defeated him for the dominance of the pack, just as he himself had once done to his own sire. He had barely escaped with his life. With such life as he had left, living on his own, hunting on his own, unable to share in the pack's kills.

The wolf was now very hungry. He had not eaten now for over three full days, other than some berries and a few bugs, since his last meal with the pack. The pack had brought down a stag in the last hunt he would ever lead. He had spent most of the three days since following the stream down, leaving the pack's hunting territory. The closest he had come to a real meal had been this morning when he had surprised a rabbit. But he had misjudged his pounce, his injured foreleg giving way at the last possible moment. He had only gotten a paw on the rabbit before it had slipped out and hopped away. The wolf had also seen some deer, but alone and with his bad leg he didn't have a chance of running a deer down, let alone of bringing one down. Since then he had been following this scent.

Going down to the water's edge, the wolf saw the source of the familiar, yet strange, scent. Lying motionless half in and half out of the stream was the body of a human. Normally he would not even attempt to attack a human, they were too dangerous and the meat wasn't that tasty, much too lean and stringy. But he was hungry, and this human appeared to be alone.

The wolf didn't realize it, but any human observer would have immediately noticed that the human was female. Very female. A very distinctly female body, long lustrous black hair floating behind her in the slow-moving water, nicely tanned skin contrasting with the light rocks of the streambed. The hypothetical human observer might have guessed her age at about twenty, or perhaps a little under that. If that hypothetical human observer had looked closer, the observer might have noticed that there seemed to be no visible signs of injury on the woman's flawless body. If it wasn't for the lack of any signs of breathing, the observer might have thought that the woman was simply sleeping.

Going closer, the wolf saw that the human not only appeared to be alone, but that it also appeared to be dead, he could detect no movement. He nuzzled the body, the body was still warm but he could detect no breathing, no heartbeat. He couldn't smell any blood. Hunger won out over caution. He began to gnaw at a leg. He was puzzled to find that his still sharp fangs could not tear the seemingly soft flesh. He bit down harder on the leg, using all of the strength in his jaws and using his good foreleg to hold the human's body down as he tried to tear off a piece of the flesh.

The hypothetical human observer might have been amused at the location of the wolf's right front paw. Or perhaps 'amused' would not be the right term. The nearly black hair of the wolf's paw merged with the black hair between the woman's legs. As the wolf struggled, pulling with its teeth and pushing with its leg, first one of its toes, and then nearly the whole foot, went into the woman's sex.

The girl awoke to feel somebody softly caressing her left thigh. Even better, there was somebody inside her. Holding her breath she opened her eyes. She was surprised to see that it wasn't somebody she remembered. In fact, it wasn't a somebody at all, but rather a something. She was definitely surprised to see what appeared to be a dog, and it was definitely not caressing her leg. It was gnawing at her leg, apparently trying to eat it. It had a paw on her crotch. In fact, it was practically fucking her with the paw. A very large and unkempt dog, its long dark gray fur matted with dried blood.

Something wasn't right. It was much too big to be a dog. The woman suddenly realized that it was a wolf, not a mere dog.

The girl gave her leg a shake to free it from the wolf's mouth. With a whimper the surprised wolf withdrew a few paces, limping as it favored its left front leg. Then with a low growl it leaped at her, coming for her throat, its ears pinned back. She swung her arm, catching the wolf in the side. The wolf yelped with surprise as it flew and tumbled into the shallow water ten feet away. The wolf got back to its feet, shook off the water, pinned its ears back, and with another growl, almost a howl, came at her again. Again she fended it off with a sweep of her arm, putting a little more force into it this time, sending the wolf flying head over heels for more than twenty feet to crash against the line of boulders on the other side of the stream. The wolf slid down and splashed into the water. This time when the wolf got back up to its feet it did not growl at her. Instead, with a whimper, and with its tail tucked between its legs, it started to limp away, still favoring its left front leg. It walked along the stream, looking for a place where it could climb the bank.

As the girl watched the wolf limp away, she realized that it was old, very old. She could see numerous scars through its ragged fur, in addition to the fresher wounds. It had probably been banished from its pack by a younger male, left to hunt alone.

The old wolf reminded her of an old Arion Warrior Prime that she had known back on Aria. She had befriended him after he had been discharged from the military. A veteran Warrior Prime, the survivor of countless campaigns, cast away simply because he was now worthless as an individual fighter. His skill, his accumulated experience, his accumulated knowledge, had meant nothing to the younger Warriors Prime. She had loved to listen to his stories about the worlds he had been to, the worlds that he had seen.

She focused her vision on it, no, on him, she corrected herself, it was definitely a him. She saw the fresh wounds on his flanks, the fur matted with dark blood. The left front leg that he was favoring looked like it had been recently broken. She hoped that she hadn't been the cause of any additional injuries, she hadn't intended to hurt the wolf, she had just wanted it to stop trying to eat her. After all, the wolf's teeth couldn't penetrate her skin. From the way the ribs were visible through the torn fur, she knew that it must have been quite some time since he had last eaten. And with that injured leg, it might be quite some time longer before he caught anything to eat again.

Before she even realized what she was doing, her right hand darted into the water. It emerged holding a large trout. Holding the trout up in her right hand, she let loose with an earsplitting whistle.

The wolf had never been treated like this. Even when he had been a little pup his sire had not been able to send him flying like that. And he had certainly given a better account of himself in his last fight, the fight for the domination of the pack. He tucked his tail between his legs and began to limp off.

He heard a loud whistle behind him. He immediately spun around, preparing to defend himself from another attack. But he met with no attack; instead he was met with the beautiful aroma of fresh fish, a fish being held by the human. The human that had so recently thrashed him.

Torn between hunger and fear, he warily approached the human, prepared to leap away at any moment.

As the wolf came closer the girl knelt down so as not be so threatening. She smiled to herself with that thought. She might be short for an Arion Beta, but she towered over the wolf, even if he did outweigh her by a good amount.

As the wolf closed to within a few yards of her she tossed the fish to him. The startled wolf yelped and jumped back, almost falling as his injured leg gave out under him. He sat down on his haunches and cocked his head and looked up at her, his clear blue eyes expressing his confusion.

The wolf was startled as the fish plopped down onto the ground about a foot in front of his snout. Caught by surprise, he yelped and jumped back. Never in all of his years since he had been weaned off of his dam's milk had anyone offered him food. In his world a meal was something you fought over. If you didn't risk losing blood then the meal just didn't exist. Sitting down on his haunches, he looked up at the human. He looked down at the fish, flopping around on the rocks. He looked up again at the human.

"No tricks," the girl said. "Eat up."

Even though the wolf couldn't understand her words it apparently sensed the tone of her voice. Walking up to the fish it lowered his head and after a sniff devoured the fish in a couple of big gulps.

The girl was taken aback by how quickly he had consumed the fish. He must really be famished. With a motion too fast for either human or wolfen eyes to follow she plucked another trout from the stream. She tossed it to the wolf, only this time she forced him to come a few steps closer to her in order to claim his meal.

The wolf quickly gulped down the second fish just as another landed a few feet from him. Moving quickly to that fish he quickly gulped it down as well. Suddenly he found that the air around him was filled with a sweet fragrance, a fragrance even more enticing than that of the fish, a fragrance that he somehow could not resist. He looked up at the human; it was only a few feet away from him, holding up another fish. Now though it was the sweet fragrance of the human that drew him in, the edge having been taken off of his hunger.

The wolf was now standing directly in front of the kneeling girl, practically in her lap. In a moment that took her breath away their eyes met, the crystal-clear blue of his wild eyes meeting that of hers as two worlds came together for a brief second.

The wolf took the fish from her hand but dropped it at his feet; he seemed much more interested in her. She allowed his cold wet nose to explore her body; she knew that she had released a fair amount of pheromones in enticing him to get closer, and she decided to let him satisfy his curiosity, including letting him sniff briefly down there.

She was about to push him away when she felt his tongue enter her sex. She shuddered involuntarily as the large rough tongue caressed her most tender and intimate parts.

All thoughts of pushing the wolf away disappeared from her mind as she felt an orgasm approaching. Her right hand came up to softly caress her breast. The wolf seemed to sense her need, his tongue continuing to caress her most intimately.

The girl knew that she shouldn't be doing something like this, but what harm could there be in it? She felt a little guilty about having hurt the wolf as she had thrown him against the boulders. Besides, this was a wolf, not a human. A male, but not a man. What could possibly happen?

The wolf continued his intimate caresses, lapping up all of her copious juices. As she felt her orgasm approaching, she began squeezing her breast even harder. She fell back, gasping for breath, even as her squeezing expressed a drop of a clear liquid out of her engorged nipple. The drop ran down her body, until the wolf's rough tongue lapped it up with her other juices. A few moments later she was concerned when the wolf collapsed practically on top of her, trembling with the effects of her nectar.

Recovering her breath she stood up, cradling the wolf in her arms. She carried him back to the water's edge and gently laid him down. She began cleaning the wounds and washing the blood out of his fur. She stayed besides the wolf, stroking his fur and talking softly to him until he awakened. She could feel his muscles growing harder as his old body was completely restored and rejuvenated by the nectar of a goddess. Soon the wounds had disappeared; even the old scars had faded away.

Waking up, the wolf looked up at her, and then licked her face with its large tongue. She returned his affection by hugging him around his neck. The wolf pushed her back until she fell over backwards, splashing into the water. Keeping her arms around his neck she managed to roll over, bringing him into the water with her. When she let go of him the wolf retaliated by standing up and scampering out of the water, shaking off the water and spraying her with it.

She stood up, laughing. Her laughter was cut short when the wolf reared up on his hind legs, putting his forepaws on her shoulders and licking her face once again. She then got her arms around him and was able to sit down out of the water, setting the wolf down on the bank.

After a final lick of her face he picked up the last fish in his jaws and practically swallowed it in one gulp. He then turned and disappeared into the trees with a burst of amazing speed, with absolutely no sign of his former limp. The girl instinctively knew where the wolf was going and exactly what he was going to do when he got there. Somewhere out there was a cocky young male wolf who was going to be taken down a notch or three.

After the wolf had disappeared into the trees she tried to remember where she was, and how she had gotten here.

She saw that she was sitting by a small pool alongside a small stream, with tall pine trees on both banks beyond the boulders. She was puzzled; she didn't remember being anywhere like this recently. She didn't even remember having seen anywhere like this recently.

The last thing she did remember seeing was the Arion plasma grenade headed in her direction. She and her Velorian 'cousin' had been tracking some suspected Arion-connected arms smugglers through the Arizona high desert. It had all been water-eroded hills and cacti and sagebrush, nothing like the tall green forested hills that surrounded her now.

They had discovered the smugglers' base of operations. A pair of RVs had been parked beside a dry creek bed, covered by camouflage netting. The two of them had been watching from above, believing that they hadn't been spotted. They had been surprised when three Arions had sprung up on them from behind.

Her cousin had immediately launched herself at the largest of the Arions, the Warrior Prime who seemed to be in charge, leaving the other two, smaller Betas, for her to deal with. She had dispatched the male with relative ease; his Beta strength had been no match for her own part Prime strength. She had turned to look for the other Beta, a woman.

The Beta woman had sprung across the small ravine to the left and was standing about fifty feet away and above her. As she had prepared to go after the Beta, the Beta had withdrawn something from a belt pouch and thrown it at her.

She had immediately recognized it as a plasma grenade. Stars, the Beta must be really frightened! A plasma grenade normally wasn't used as an anti-personnel weapon. A plasma grenade was capable of killing even a Warrior Prime, at least at very close range. She also knew that she wasn't anywhere near as tough as a full Prime. She had tried to get away from the grenade's trajectory, diving as far and as deep as she could into the right-hand ravine for cover. Then the grenade had gone off....

Looking down at herself, Karen realized that she was completely naked, the wolf had had completely unimpeded access to her body. Being close to an exploding plasma grenade wasn't too good for one's wardrobe. But she did not seem to be injured in any way. Being that close to an exploding plasma grenade should not have been too good for her skin, either. And that wolf certainly hadn't hurt her; there wasn't even a red mark where it had been gnawing at her thigh. Or at where it had been poking her, either with his paw or with his tongue. But that plasma grenade! Not even a full Prime should have come out of that unscathed! Her 'cousin' Julie, maybe, but not a half Prime like her!

But she obviously had survived unscathed. How by the Stars was that possible?

Deciding that she wasn't going to find any answers while sitting and wet, she stood up and shook the water off of her. Again she wished that she had heat vision like her cousin Julie.

She realized that her best hope for finding any people would be to follow the stream down. She climbed up the near bank to discover a narrow trail. Too narrow for any vehicles, it must be a foot trail. Or perhaps merely an animal trail. She followed the stream down, jogging at an easy thirty miles per hour.

After a few minutes, she smelled smoke. And roasting meat. Aha! Fire. Civilization. People. Maybe even a barbecue! Her mouth began salivating at the thought; it had been a while since she had last eaten. Perhaps she should have eaten with the wolf, even though she really didn't like fish all that much. Especially when it was uncooked, though Julie certainly liked sushi.

Her cousin Julie could go for days without any food, but Karen couldn't. Nor would she want to, especially when it was accompanied by fresh orange juice. But Julie sometimes would get so wrapped up in her work that she would forget that other people needed to eat and sleep. Though sleep usually wasn't a problem. Karen could usually convince anybody to go to sleep. Even Julie. Though then sleep normally wasn't the first item on the agenda on those occasions. She picked up her pace some, though still keeping it at an easy jog; soon she was jogging at over sixty miles per hour.

Around the next bend, she saw what she had smelled earlier. It wasn't a barbecue. It was much worse. It was enough to make her lose her appetite completely. In a clearing by the stream was a small wooden farmhouse. Or rather, what was left of a small wooden farmhouse. Most of it had been burned down; the embers were still glowing. The roasting meat turned out to be a man, or rather, what was left of a man, almost half of his body burned away.

Looking around the clearing, she saw a flash of color among the trees. Approaching to investigate, she discovered another body, this time that of a young woman. The woman was lying on her back, an arrow sticking up out of her stomach. The flash of color she had seen was the woman's blonde hair.

Wait a second! An arrow? She bent down to examine it. It didn't look like an Indian arrow. At least it didn't look like any of the pictures she had seen of Indian arrows. Besides, Indians didn't use arrows any more, did they? They all had guns. At least the ones that wanted them did. That was one of the reasons that she and Julie had come here; the arms smugglers had also been inciting some Indian unrest on the nearby Indian reservations.

She pulled out the arrow and removed the woman's clothes. She only felt a momentary pang of guilt; the dead woman no longer had any need of her clothes. If Karen was going to meet any other people, it would be better if she was dressed. They fit her passably, though they were of an unfamiliar design. The sleeveless shirt was a bit on the large side, which suited her just fine since her breasts were a bit on the large side too. It covered her chest, and allowed her plenty of freedom of movement. The pants were a bit long, but she was able to roll up the cuffs. She had to take in the belt further, tying it around her waist. The leather shoes didn't fit her, so she stayed barefoot.

She explored the rest of the farm. She didn't find much of value. She did find a large leather bag, which she filled with some food from the farmhouse. Not that there was much, some not-quite stale bread and some smoked meat. She wasn't sure what it was, but she was pretty confident that at least it wasn't human meat. With her appetite gone, all she could eat was a mouthful of the bread.

She picked up a smaller leather bag held containing some liquid. She took a small sip of the foul-tasting wine. She poured out the wine and filled it with water from the stream after first rinsing the bag out to get rid of the taste of the wine. That bag went into the first bag.

It struck her as somewhat odd that she found no signs of electricity. These people must have really wanted to get back to nature, to get away from civilization. She couldn't imagine an Arion living like this. Not even a battery-powered radio. She found no weapons, other than a couple of crude knives. Crude hand-shaped metal blades attached to bone handles. She tucked two of the better ones into her bag, just in case.

By the time she had finished her exploration, it was almost dusk. She wasn't too keen on spending the night here with the dead couple, so she resumed her jog down the streamside trail.

After a few more miles the stream flowed into a larger stream. Just beyond that she found a road. Not much of a road, it was hardly more than some ruts in the bare hard-packed dirt. Looking closer, she saw that the ruts were much too narrow to have been made by automobile tires. She could find no trace of any tire tracks at all. But there were other traces, other tracks. Without the telltale shape of horseshoes, Karen did not immediately recognize them as hoof prints.

At least the road was wider than the trail, and provided better footing. Karen picked up the pace, jogging now at better than fifty miles per hour down the dirt road. The road continued to run alongside the stream.

After about ten more miles she heard a voice above the babbling of the stream, coming from somewhere up ahead of her. Finally, a human voice. A male human voice. She came to an immediate stop. Normally the sound of a male voice would have drawn her on, but she didn't know if this voice belonged to one of the arms smugglers. It might even be an Arion. Or worse, an Arion Warrior Prime.

Cautiously she crept forward. Now she could hear the voice more clearly. But she could not understand a word of it. It was not in a language that she knew. She didn't think she could even identify the language. But from the tone of the voice, she didn't think that the speaker was very happy. In fact, she thought that he might even be swearing at somebody.

She cautiously came around a bend in the road. Even in the deepening twilight she could see that the speaker was a tall young man with reddish blonde hair. A rather cute guy, at that. At least he wasn't an Arion, she thought to herself. But other than that, she didn't know who he was. His rough clothes were of an unfamiliar style, though she thought that it wasn't that different from the clothes on that burnt man back at that farmhouse. Or from hers, for that matter, other than for the obvious differences.

She also saw that he was indeed swearing at somebody. Or at something, rather. She couldn't tell whether it was the horse or the cart, however. The cart seemed to be laden with large cloth sacks, probably filled with grain. One wooden wheel was stuck in a muddy rut in the road. The man was alternately trying to drive the horse forward and to push the cart out of the rut.

She was about to step out and lend him her muscles when she heard something else, this time coming from behind her. She jumped off of the road, hiding in the trees to the side, to see what this new sound was.

Market day was over. Erik had spent most of the day at the village, where he had successfully bartered some vegetables for grain. But he hadn't been able to barter anything for any time with Brigid. She had been with that man from a farm on the other side of the village. Again. Now he was almost home, leading the bay mare pulling the cart laden with the sacks of grain.

That had been when one of the cart's wheels had gotten stuck in a muddy rut. He tried helping the mare pull the cart free. He put his shoulder to the cart and tried pushing the cart free. Nothing that he did helped get the wheel out of the mud.

He was just getting ready to begin the backbreaking job of unloading the cart when he heard the sound of rapid hoof beats approaching from upstream. He knew that the only people who would be riding in this area at this time of day would be bandits. He put his shoulder to the cart and pushed again, but his efforts only mired the wheel further into the mud.

The hoof beats approached nearer. Soon he saw three horsemen round the bend and head towards him. Definitely bandits, they weren't anybody he recognized from any of the farms and villages in the area. Erik stepped back from the cart and drew his only weapon, the knife at his belt.

The bandits drew up and surrounded him, brandishing their swords. Erik stepped back, putting his back against the cart. From their words he knew that he was going to have to fight for his life. It didn't look like it was going to be a long life, not with just his knife against three mounted swordsmen.

He was surprised to see a young black-haired girl, dressed in simple farm clothes, slip out from among the trees and approach the nearest rider from behind.

From her vantage point behind the trees Karen saw the three horsemen surround the lone young farmer. Even though she couldn't understand any of their words, she instinctively knew that the horsemen were the aggressors, probably bandits, from the way they were threatening the young farmer.

She slipped out from her hiding place among the trees and quietly walked towards the nearest rider. Reaching him, she reached up and grabbed him around the waist. She lifted him from his horse and turning around, she threw him across the road and into the stream.

Erik was surprised to see the girl effortlessly lift the bandit from his horse and throw him into the water. The bandit's surprised scream diverted the attention of the other two away from him. They turned away from him and charged the girl, leading with their swords.

The other two men charged towards her, brandishing their swords. Karen thought back briefly to the last bunch of street thugs she had faced. They had seemed so proud of their knife fighting skills. They just hadn't known that their knives were of absolutely no use against her growing nearly Prime powers. These swords were no more than just bigger knives, she thought to herself, preparing herself for the confrontation.

She stood her ground, watching them come. As they passed on each side of her, they swung their swords at her. She put her hands up and caught the two swords, the blades digging into her palms as she closed her fingers around them. With a simple twist of her wrists, she took the swords away from the horsemen.

Tossing the two swords at the feet of the young farmer, she turned around and ran after the horsemen. Catching up to the horses before they could turn around she reached up and grabbed each man by the back of his belt. She lifted them up off of their horses and tossed them into the stream to join their colleague.

Relieved of the riders' weights on their backs, all three horses stopped and began grazing on the grass beside the road. Gesturing to the young farmer to tend to the horses, Karen walked over to the stream bank and stood over the three very wet and very surprised bandits.

The first bandit, the only one still with a sword, charged up the bank at Karen. As he swung for her neck she parried the blow, catching the sword blade in the palm of her left hand. She closed her hand on the sharp metal blade, being careful not to damage it too much. She had a little fun with him, playing tug-of-war with his sword, his two hands on the hilt against her left hand on the blade.

She ran her right hand through her hair once to get it out of her face, before pulling back on the sword and giving it a twist. The man refused to let go of his sword even as his feet left the ground. He flew through the air right at Karen. Reaching with her right arm as she sidestepped, she caught him as he went by. She pulled the sword out of his grasp before throwing him back into the stream.

The other two men had seen enough. Even before the first man splashed into the water they turned and began scrambling up the far bank. As soon as he regained his feet the first man turned and followed his two colleagues up the bank and into the trees.

Erik could not believe what he had just seen. The girl had first taken the swords from the two mounted swordsmen. Then she had taken the two men off of their horses and thrown them into the water. And she hadn't looked like she was exerting herself any more than as if she was simply picking flowers.

He knew that his knife wasn't going to do him any more good than the swords had done for those three bandits. If she was a Valkyrie, come to take him to Valhalla, then there was nothing he could do about it. Though he didn't think that he had done anything to merit even the Elysian Fields, let alone Valhalla.

Even as he put away his knife and collected the horses' reins he continued to watch the girl. She had easily disarmed the first bandit as he came charging up the bank towards her. Soon all three bandits had turned tail and were in full flight, running as fast as their legs could carry them away from this unbelievable girl.

He was trying to find a good way to hitch the other three horses to the cart to get it out of the rut when the girl walked up to him. He tried to thank her for saving his life, but she apparently did not understand his words, just shaking her head. A very pretty head, he noticed, a pretty face and apparently a beautiful body to go with it.

When she spoke to him, he found that he could not understand the words her sweet melodic voice spoke. He shook his head in reply.

He wondered what she was trying to say. Was she friendly? How could he defend himself against her, if she attacked him? All he had was the knife at his belt, and he didn't think that it would help much. After all, what good had those three swords done for the bandits against her?

Then she communicated something to him in a way that he understood quite clearly.

Karen still could not understand a single word of his. Apparently he couldn't understand a single word of hers either. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't going to hurt him, or to rob him, or to do anything like that. She thought she knew one sure way to assure a man that she meant him no harm, but she wasn't sure if this was either the time or the place for that. So instead, she pulled him into her arms and kissed him.

Erik was stunned when the girl swept him into her arms. Instinctively he tried to push himself away from her. But pushing against her shoulders with his hands, he found that all of the strength in his arms could make no difference in her tight embrace. Then as her lips found his, he found that he didn't want to push her away. But then he found that he was having difficulty breathing with her lips on his and her tight embrace around his chest.

Karen liked the way he responded to her. But she let him up for air before she started to get too carried away with him. Or before she started to carry him away.

Finally she released him and he was able to gulp in some air. Momentarily disoriented, he looked around himself. He quickly remembered where he was, and what he had been doing here.

By pantomiming, he tried to get her to understand that he was trying to hitch up the other three horses to his cart so that he could free the mired wheel. He showed her the reins of the three horses that she had somehow relieved from the bandits. He showed her the cartwheel in the muddy rut. He pushed against the cart to show her that it wouldn't come free.

She bent down to look at the wheel in the mud. Then she stood up and turned to face him. Smiling, she motioned for him to step back. Puzzled, he did. He didn't know what she intended to do.

What she did do only further amazed him.

Carefully trying to avoid stepping into the mud, Karen approached the mired cartwheel. Bending down to examine it, she saw that it wasn't broken, but only stuck in the mud. Standing back up, she gestured to the man to step back a bit. Then, grasping the bottom of the cart and bracing her feet on the dirt road, she lifted and pushed.

The girl bent down to take hold of the cart, and then started to straighten up. Erik could see the muscles bulging on her bare arms and shoulders. Not even Siegfried, the village blacksmith, had muscles that looked like that! And the blacksmith was a giant of a man, and also the strongest man he knew about. But this girl was incredible! He gasped as the girl pushed and lifted the cart out of the mud by herself. He had to run forward in order to lead the mare forward as the girl pushed the cart forward. Actually, it was more like she carried the cart out of the mud.

Erik knew that the blacksmith could not have lifted that cart, laden as it was with the grain. Yet this slim girl was doing it, and seemingly without any effort. Why, her waist wasn't as big as one of the blacksmith's arms.

Getting out of the muddy area, Karen set the cart back down on the dirt road. She turned around to see the young man staring at her. She smiled at him and went over to pick up the three discarded swords. These she tossed in the back of the cart. Then she got her bag from her hiding place and tossed that in the back of the cart also.

She then pantomimed a 'where to?' for him, hoping that he wouldn't mind if she tagged along with him. She still didn't know where she was. Though she was now quite certain that she was no longer in Arizona, so one direction was about as good as any other. But she hoped that he was going home, and that he would have a meal there. Something that he would be willing to share with her.

And maybe a telephone so that she could call Julie or Aunt Joan. Though she wasn't too hopeful of that.

Erik realized that the girl wanted him to lead the way. Or at least that she wanted him to be on his way. He certainly hoped that she would come with him.

He tied the reins of the bandits' horses to the back of the cart. Walking up to his mare, he pointed the way and started to lead the mare down the road. Down the road and towards home. Much to his delight, the girl walked alongside of him.

He tried to talk with her again. Despite her clothes, which were of a common enough style around here, she seemed to be from somewhere far away. Her speech was as strange to his ears as his must have been to hers.

At least they could exchange names. He tapped himself on his chest and said, "Erik."

She seemed to understand immediately. She tapped his chest and said, "Erik." Then she tapped her chest and said, "Karen."

As much as he wanted to, he refrained from tapping her on her ample chest. He already had a vague idea of what she did to people whom she didn't like. Instead, he pointed to her face and said, "Karen." At her smile, he smiled back at her.

The first step towards communication had been taken. Or the second step, he remembered the kiss that had started the communication. He hoped that it wasn't going to be the only one.

As they walked, he was again struck by how beautiful the girl seemed. Her bright blue eyes offset her pure black hair quite nicely. She seemed to have a lithe graceful body under her stained clothes. There was little to indicate the muscles he had seen before on her arms and shoulders.

It wasn't long before they reached his parents' farm. He couldn't tell whether his parents were more surprised at the three horses he had 'acquired' on his trip, or at the girl he had 'acquired'. His mother had needed no special urging to set an extra place at the table for supper.

But they had needed more than just an extra place. She ate like she had not eaten for days. She probably ate more at that meal than the three of them put together.

While the girl continued to eat, Erik and his father went to work in the small barn. It was a tight fit, but they were able to make enough room for the three new horses among their own two and the cow. They were also able to clear enough room so that Erik could sleep here while the girl could have his room in the house.

It was a good meal that Erik's mother, whom Karen learned was named Frieda, prepared. Even if she ate a little too much, now that her appetite had returned in full. She had also learned that Erik's father was named Karl.

As she ate, she looked around the interior of the farmhouse. It was similar to the one she had seen earlier, the one that had been burned out. No sign of electricity or plumbing. The water for cooking and washing was in barrels, carried from the stream. The utensils were mostly of carved wood.

After the meal, she noticed the men working in and around one of the outbuildings. When she went out to join them, she noticed that they had placed some blankets in one of the stalls in the barn. Erik noticed her looking at them. With his motions, she understood that he planned to sleep out here tonight, leaving his room in the house for her.

Karen thought that it might be great fun to sleep with Erik, either in his room or in the stable, but she also thought that it might be better to wait until she found out exactly where she was. Also, she didn't want to impose too much on the hospitality of these farmers. Besides, she knew that she was better suited to survive the night chill than Erik was. She tried to tell him that she would be fine sleeping out here, that he should keep his room. He seemed to understand her, but he also seemed to insist that she take his room anyway.

She finally managed to persuade him to let her have the stable by picking him up and carrying him to his room, setting him down upon his bed. She resisted the urge to stay right there with him, and went back to the stable.

As she lay there wrapped in her blankets, she thought about what had happened to her. It was obvious she was no longer in Arizona. The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that she was also no longer in the present. Somehow the explosion of that plasma grenade had pushed her into the past. Or else into a parallel dimension.

In the middle of the night she got up and went outside to look at the stars above. The constellations looked familiar, silently she thanked Aunt Joan for pointing out the visible constellations from this planet. At least she apparently was still on Earth, though possibly not in the same dimension.

But how was she going to get home? Would they even be looking for her? Or would Julie assume that the plasma grenade had killed her? Was she ever going to see Julie again? And Aunt Joan and Uncle Steve and George and Mark and Linda and the rest of her friends?

In the morning she had breakfast with her new friends, with Erik and his family. In addition to feeding her they also started to teach her their language. It started out simply; they would point to things and tell her their name for it. Karen knew that verbs and abstract concepts would be much harder, but by the end of breakfast she had a good smattering of nouns.

After breakfast the family prepared for their daily chores. Pantomiming, Karen offered to do whatever she could do to help. Erik motioned for her to come with him. Grabbing a sack with some food for lunch, he led her outside and towards the fields.

They began walking along a stone fence. Erik picked up a stone that had rolled off of the fence and put it back on. Karen quickly realized that they were out to mend the fence. She lightly jumped over the waist-high fence and walked along on the other side, looking for any loose stones on her side of the fence.

It was midmorning when they came upon a section of the fence that had completely fallen. Even the biggest boulders had rolled down the hill a ways. The boulders that had taken him and his father and their two horses to position.

He called across what was left of the fence to Karen. He pointed back home and said the word he had taught her for 'horse' several times, along with his father's name.

Karen saw Erik pointing back the way they had come and saying 'horse' and 'Karl'. She realized that he wanted her to go get his father and some horses for the fence repair job. She also knew that she could do a better and quicker job than any four men and four horses.

She shook her head at Erik and walked over to join him on his side of the fence, the downhill side. She walked over to one of the medium sized boulders. She bent down and picked it up, holding it with one arm on her shoulder while she used her free hand to point around herself, asking Erik where he wanted it.

Erik could not believe what he was seeing. The girl was holding a boulder that two men together would be unable to lift. She was holding it on her shoulder with one arm!

He realized that she was asking him where she should put it. He quickly went over to the fence and pointed out where he wanted it. She waited until he withdrew his hand, then set the boulder down as lightly as if she was only setting a plate down on the table.

Under his direction she moved the boulders back up the hill and began repairing the fence. He could not believe her strength. Even the largest and heaviest of the boulders seemed to give her no trouble at all as she carried it easily on her shoulder. She often carried two of them at a time, one under each arm.

The day grew hotter. Even though Karen really wasn't sweating, the humidity was making her shirt sticky, encumbering her movements slightly. Looking around, she knew that she and Erik were alone. She also realized that Erik had already taken his shirt off, even though she was the one doing most of the work.

Putting the boulder down at the indicated spot, she peeled off her own shirt and tossed it on top of Erik's. She heard his gasp of surprise. She turned around slowly, letting him get a good long look at her body. She knew that her body had gotten pumped up somewhat from the exercise even though none of the boulders were heavy enough to cause her to exert herself fully.

She stood and admired his body for a few moments before going down the slope to the next set of boulders. She continued to work, her topless body distracting Erik more than a little bit. But not enough to keep them from finishing the job. She could sense his eyes on her body the whole time.

The girl was fantastic! She continued to carry and place even the largest boulders, without seeming to tire in the least.

Then she turned out to be even more fantastic. She took off her shirt, exposing that upper body, the upper body that had been carrying boulders for much of the day. Erik didn't think that the entire village could have repaired that fence quicker than Karen was doing. Soon there was only one more boulder to replace.

As she lifted the last big boulder up to her shoulder, she felt his hands on her arm, exploring her muscles. She stood there and flexed for him. As she walked towards the fence he walked with her, his hands caressing her arm. She placed the boulder down in the gap. She continued to flex for him as his hands moved up her arms to her shoulders.

She took one of his hands and moved it to her chest. She then began to flex her pecs. His other hand also came to her chest to feel her pecs. Then his hands started moving down her body and she flexed her abs, keeping pace with his hands.

She put a hand behind his head and pulled his face down to her breasts. That was all the invitation he needed. He began to kiss her soft breasts as her hands started to play along the muscles of his back. Soon he had his lips around her nipple as he suckled.

Despite their inability to communicate verbally, or perhaps because of it, she knew that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. Remembering to be very gentle with him, she began to push him down to the grass.

Karen was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Not to mention the strongest person he had ever seen. As she hoisted the last boulder up to her shoulder, he reached out to touch her arm. She seemed to like it, for she allowed him to feel her entire arm. He squeezed her bicep, but found that he could not make even the slightest dent in her rock-hard muscles.

He walked with her as she carried the boulder to the fence and put it down. She then allowed him to feel her other muscles, taking his hand and placing it on her chest. He then worked his hands down her body. He could feel her muscles rippling under her smooth flawless skin.

She then pulled his head down and put his face to her large firm breasts. He eagerly suckled at a large hard nipple. His hands came up to try to surround the breast. He found that his large hands could not quite surround that mound. He was amazed at how soft, yet firm her breasts were.

He felt her pushing him down to the ground. For a moment he tried to resist her, but found that he could not do anything to stop her.

Karen easily got him down on the grass on his back. She ran her tongue over his broad muscular chest, enjoying the feel, and the taste, of him. She also enjoyed the feel of his hands on her breasts.

She then rolled over and pulled him on top of her. She guided his mouth to her breasts. He definitely seemed to enjoy suckling. She certainly enjoyed having him suckle; it was such great fun.

When she sensed that he was ready for her, she rolled him off of her and onto his back. It took her a little time to remove his pants, she fumbled a bit with the unfamiliar fastenings. She didn't want to just rip them off of him; that would have been quicker, but then he would have to go home without them. And that could be a little awkward to explain to his parents.

She then removed her pants and mounted him. Oh yes! By the Stars, this was such great fun!

Erik couldn't believe this girl! He instinctively knew that he could be as physical as he wanted to be with her. Not with a girl who could toss three bandits around and carry those big boulders. But she took physical sex to new levels. He knew that it was only a few hours, but she kept him going all the way. Every time he thought that he was completely drained she somehow got him ready for another round.

Finally she stopped, letting him rest. They didn't bother to dress before eating their simple lunch of bread and smoked meats.

With Karen doing most of the work, they had finished the fence work much earlier than he had expected. By mid-afternoon they were completely done. With time left over, he decided to take Karen to the village. He hoped that Brigid would see him with Karen. He also knew that he would never want Brigid again. Not if Karen was anywhere nearby.

When they reached the end of the fence, at the road and the stream, Karen expected them to turn around and head back for home. Instead, Erik pointed down the road and gave her a questioning look. Apparently he wanted to go that way. She didn't mind going anywhere with him. She smiled and nodded. She offered him her hand as they started walking down the road.

Before too long they came upon a small village. Now Karen knew for certain that she wasn't in Arizona. Nor was she anywhere else in the present. By the Stars! Where was she? When was she? Just what had that plasma grenade done to her?

Still holding her hand, Erik led them to the largest of the wooden buildings. Going in, she saw that it was the village tavern. The aroma of roasting meat hit her at once. So did the sound of many voices.

Erik saw Siegfried, the village blacksmith, sitting at a table in the back of the tavern. He was just putting down the arm of a farmer. Siegfried was the undisputed village champion at arm wrestling; he seldom had to buy his own mead here at the tavern. He also picked up some occasional silver that way. Erik could hold his own with the other farmers in arm wrestling, but he had never even come close to defeating Siegfried.

He suddenly had a wild idea. Could Karen actually defeat Siegfried at arm wrestling? Could that slim girl defeat a man who stood more than a full head taller than her in a test of strength? As another farmer sat down across from Siegfried to test the strength of his arm, he decided to ask her.

Erik tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the back of the tavern. She saw a large red-haired man arm wrestling with a smaller man. The smaller man was about Erik's height, though not quite as wide. The smaller man was straining as hard as he could but the bigger man defeated him, though not without some effort.

Looking back at Erik, she saw the question on his face. Did he want her to arm wrestle the giant? Raising her right hand, still holding Erik's left hand, she pantomimed arm wrestling while raising her eyebrow. Erik nodded. Apparently, he did want her to arm wrestle with the giant.

The giant was as large as an Arion Prime was, if not even larger, but with his red hair he couldn't be an Arion. Nor could he be a Velorian. And she had seen him strain some to defeat the smaller man. Much more than she herself would have to strain to defeat an ordinary Terran. She knew that she could take him. She smiled at Erik and nodded.

Apparently Karen thought she could defeat Siegfried at arm wrestling. He certainly hoped so. Erik smiled back at her and led her to the back table. He dug into the pouch at his belt and removed some silver coins. He placed those on the table. Siegfried looked up at him, smiled, placed his money on the table, and then motioned him to sit down. "No, Siegfried, not me," he told the blacksmith. "What odds on the girl?" He indicated Karen. Siegfried and the other men laughed, but when they saw that Erik was serious they put additional money on the table.

Karen saw Erik put some coins on the table while he said something to the giant and pointed to her. So, this was going to be for money. Well, it would be one way for her to repay Erik for his family's hospitality. The laughter from the giant and the other men around the table told her that Erik probably was asking for odds. The giant and some of the other men, including the one that had just been defeated, placed some more coins on the table, confirming her guess. She smiled at the men and sat down at the table across from the giant.

The men were still laughing as they clasped hands. The giant said something to her and pointed to her other hand, apparently inviting her to use both arms. As a fresh round of laughter started, she smiled at him and shook her head. One of the men started counting them off. She suddenly realized that she didn't know when she was supposed to start. She braced her arm and decided to wait until he started pushing.

Apparently the giant had the same general idea; she could not feel him starting to push. She looked up at Erik, raising her brow. He nodded, apparently the match had started. She gave a little tentative push, using no more strength than an ordinary Terran woman would show. She felt his arm stiffen as he pushed their arms back upright. She continued to push, increasing the force a bit and forcing his arm back a few inches. The giant countered, bringing their arms upright again. He seemed to be teasing her, raising a wooden cup to his lips with his free hand and taking a few swallows.

Well, two could play this game. Using her free hand, she pantomimed taking a drink. One of the men put a wooden cup into her hand. She took a sip. The thick liquid was like beer, but sweeter. Not too bad. She drained the cup, while pushing his arm back about half of the way down to the table.

Erik was worried. He was gambling almost all of the money he had on Karen, and she didn't seem to be able to defeat Siegfried. The blacksmith seemed to be toying with her, drinking mead from his cup with his free hand. Then he saw Karen smile and ask for something to drink. He was saved from having to buy a cup of mead when someone put a cup into her hand. As she did so, he saw her push Siegfried's arm down towards the table.

That seemed to do it. She felt the giant pushing back against her. She let him bring their arms upright, then stopped him. Putting the empty cup down, she brushed her hair back from her face.

The giant was still pushing at her arm, the effort beginning to show on his face. Remembering his earlier offer to let her use both arms, she pointed at his free hand and invited him to use both arms. She saw the indecision in his eyes, but he refused to use his other arm against a woman.

Smiling at him, she slowly increased the pressure, pushing his arm back and down towards the table. When it was about halfway there, he finally brought his other arm into the action. She didn't slow the pace at all, still continuing to force him down.

There was a hushed silence as the giant's hands reached the table. Looking around, Karen noticed that everyone in the tavern was standing around the table, looking in amazement at her.

She did it! Erik gathered up the coins and put them into his pouch. Karen then stood and gathered him up in her arms and kissed him. He then led Karen to another table. Motioning Brigid over, he ordered some mead for the two of them. He wanted Brigid to see the girl with him. Or rather, to let Brigid see that he was with the girl who had just convincingly beaten Siegfried at arm wrestling.

A crowd soon gathered around him, all talking at once and asking questions about the girl. He tried to tell them about her, and discovered that he really didn't know a thing about her. Well, he did know a few things about her, but decided not to tell the people about those things. No, those things would stay just between the two of them.

At first Karen was intimidated by all those people, all of whom seemed to be speaking at once. All she could catch were the few words that she had learned from Erik and his parents. But from they way they were all looking at her, it seemed that they all wanted to know about her. Except for the pretty blonde girl who brought them their drinks, she seemed to have eyes only for Erik. But Erik only had eyes for Karen.

Even the giant that she had defeated had come over. He was still shaking his head in amazement even as he brought her a cup of the beer-like drink. He seemed to be a good sport about having lost, even about having lost to a woman. Karen briefly thought about what it would be like to have him with her, instead of being with Erik.

She noticed that Erik seemed to be having trouble with some of the answers. She realized that Erik knew as little about her as she did about him and his world, probably even less. The world that was looking more and more like it was going to be her world as well.

Her fourth world. First Aria, then the colony, then the Earth of Julie and Aunt Joan, and now this Earth. If this actually was Earth. It certainly seemed like it. The people certainly seemed human; Erik was oh so definitely human. And the language wasn't completely unfamiliar, as she had been learning the words she had distinguished some cognates. She wasn't sure, but she thought that the language was related to German. Not that she knew much German, her training had only involved English.

Erik realized that it was getting late. He really should be going home to help his parents with the farm chores before supper. Karen seemed to understand, she rose to her feet as soon as he did. Taking her hand in his, he led her to the door, and outside.

As they walked hand in hand, he was again struck by just how special this girl was. So beautiful, and yet so strong! Were all girls like this where she had come from? He wondered just where she had come from. She had shown up from out of nowhere, dressed as a simple farm girl, without anything much more than just the clothes on her back. Yet she didn't know the language, though she was picking it up fast.

As they walked home, he also realized that it was later than he had thought. He started to pick up the pace a bit. Soon they were jogging. When she looked at him questioningly, he pointed at the sun and pantomimed it going down.

Karen realized that Erik wanted to hurry, the sun was beginning to set. She pulled him to a stop. When he pointed to the sun and tried to keep jogging, she smiled at him. Then she reached down and got an arm behind his legs, and picked him up in her arms. Adjusting her load so that she was comfortable, she began running up the road. Not wanting to jar him too much, she kept the pace slow, only about twenty miles per hour. When Erik put his arms around her neck, she picked up the pace, until she was going at nearly forty miles per hour.

When Karen picked him up, Erik realized what she was trying to do. As she began running, he put his arms around her neck. She smiled down at him as she kept running. Soon, they were moving faster than he had ever been moving before. Even faster than when he had almost won that horse race at the harvest festival last year.

He thought back to that harvest festival. People from several villages and the neighboring farms had gathered at one nearby village to celebrate the completion of the harvest and to give thanks to the gods.

Among the events had been the horse race. They'd had to race across an open field, around a large tree, and then back to the starting line. He had taken the early lead, mounted on his mare, and held the lead until almost to the end. The mare had hit a rock and stumbled, almost throwing him off of her back. But that stumble had allowed another rider to pass him, costing him the race.

He wondered if they would let him ride Karen in the race this year. She could probably win the race while carrying a horse! He knew he wouldn't be thrown off of her. But would she let him ride her? She certainly had seemed to enjoy riding him earlier in the day.

Even though she was running much faster than any horse, the ride was much smoother than that of any horse he had ever ridden. And so much more enjoyable! He could feel her large breasts bouncing against his chest and stomach with each long stride.

In almost no time at all they were approaching the farm. He suddenly realized that he didn't want his parents to see him this way. He hadn't been carried in a woman's arms since he had been a small child. Well, except for last night when Karen had carried him to his room.

Karen must have realized the same thing, for she put him down just outside the gate. Together, hand in hand, they entered the gate and walked up the footpath to the house.

As her son's new and mysterious girlfriend helped her with the chores around the house, Frieda again wondered just where Karen had come from. And just who was she, anyway?

At first she had thought that Karen was feeble-minded. What was a girl that age doing not being able to speak? But as the days turned into weeks she quickly picked up the language. She must have come from someplace far away, where they spoke a different language. But what was a young girl doing traveling that far, and all alone?

Frieda didn't know just how far Karen had come. Both in distance and time.

She also no longer minded that Karen slept with her son in his room. Since Karen had been with them, Frieda and her husband had started enjoying sex again. Somehow just having Karen under their roof had made Karl, and herself, act and feel so much younger.

Frieda also didn't know about Karen's pheromones and the effects they had on people around her.

Karen had begun to accept the fact that she was stuck in the here and now. She threw herself into the simple but hard-working life of the farm and the village. She helped with all of the chores, putting her muscles to good use.

She was also rapidly picking up their language. She knew that it was a language she had never learned before, but somehow it felt familiar, as if she was merely refreshing her memory instead of learning it from scratch. She still made some mistakes in the word order, much to the amusement of Erik and his parents, and even her ears could detect her own accent. But at least they didn't have to pantomime much for their day-to-day communications.

She and Erik never had any trouble with their nighttime communications.

She enjoyed going in to the village with Erik. Especially the arm wrestling. Sometimes she would take on two men at once. Siegfried, the giant she had beaten at arm wrestling the first time, became one of her biggest fans and supporters. And a friend.

One market day, while Erik was bartering their vegetables, Karen strolled through the village to Siegfried's smithy. Looking in through the door, Karen saw Siegfried inside the courtyard, struggling to move some heavy blocks of ore from a wagon. With his shirt off, she could see his large muscles rippling with the strain. "Can I help?" Karen called out.

Siegfried had been upset when the miners had dropped off the ore for him. Instead of staying to help him to unload the wagon, they had gone on to the tavern. He had to unload the wagon by himself. Well, nothing he could do about it, but to set to work. Last year, he would have been helping his father with the job. But since his father had died over the winter, he would have to do the entire job by himself.

Taking off his shirt he started moving some of the ore blocks, though some of the larger ones were too heavy for him to handle. Those, he would leave until the miners returned. Assuming that they could still stand up after they finished at the tavern.

Then Karen had shown up and offered to help. Even though she was the only person to have beaten him at arm wrestling in a long time, he was still doubtful as to whether she really could help with the ore. If nothing else, at least she could keep him company. He waved her on in.

Siegfried whirled around. Seeing Karen, he smiled and waved her in. She walked in and picked up the block that Siegfried had been trying to move. Hoisting it up to her shoulder, she asked him, "Where?" turning to face him and gesturing with her free hand.

His mouth was wide open as he saw her effortlessly holding the block that he could barely move. Wordlessly he turned and pointed to where he wanted it. Karen walked over and put it down on the pile. She went back and grabbed another block, moving that one to the pile.

With the slender young woman moving the bigger blocks and the huge man moving the smaller ones, they quickly finished the job. He grabbed some rags and tossed one to her, using another to towel the sweat off of his body. She discovered that she had actually worked up a bit of a sweat. He then ladled some water out of the barrel and offered her a drink. When she declined, he drank his fill.

"Thank you," he told her.

Karen had been watching Siegfried's rippling muscles out of the corners of her eyes as they had worked. She had definitely liked what she had seen. The man was huge! Even bigger than Slanek, bigger even than some Primes. The combination of the sight of his rippling muscles and the exertion from her work had definitely gotten her aroused; not all of the moistness she could feel on her body was sweat. She wondered whether he really wanted to show her his gratitude, in the best way. Well, there was one sure way to find out. She walked over to stand before him.

Stars, he was huge! The top of her head fit under his chin. Even his nipples were above the level of her eyes. Not even Slanek had been this big. Not even Meelek, she thought, before she quickly dismissed that thought from her mind.

Well, she knew of a sure way to eliminate the difference in their heights. Despite his size, she remembered to be gentle with him as she undressed him and pulled him down to the floor. Though not quite as gently as she had been with Erik, or with Mark. But certainly more gently than she had been with Slanek. And certainly much more gently than she had been with Uncle Steve and Cousin George.

He was amazed as the slender girl moved even the largest and heaviest blocks without any signs of effort. With her help, the job went much quicker than he had hoped for. A little guiltily, he realized that the job would have gone almost as fast even if he hadn't been there to help her.

But what she did afterwards stunned him. This was Erik's girl, even if there had been no formal betrothal, who was standing in front of him, running her hands over his chest. He tried to resist, but he could not control his hands as they came up to her arms and shoulders. Then she flexed her arms, showing off her incredible muscles. They felt like they were carved of stone.

Then she took off her shirt, continuing to show off her muscles. He couldn't resist her invitation. She didn't resist as he ran his hands over her chest. She still didn't resist as he cupped her large breasts in his large hands. They were the firmest breasts he had ever felt.

He didn't resist as she started to unfasten his pants. Nor did he resist as she forced him down to the straw-covered floor. He tried to remember that this was someone else's girl, but he could no longer control his body. She was in full control, as she removed her pants and started to work over his body. He could not prevent her hands, her mouth, from going where she wanted them to go.

Siegfried had had no lack of young women eager to sample him. Even many of the older, married women had made it plain to him that they were available for him. But he always had to be so careful with them, not hurting them with his large manhood. For his manhood was of the same scale as the rest of him. None of the women had been able to take in his full length. Yet this slender girl, no taller than the other women, had been able to take him in fully.

He had also often wondered what it would be like to be able to use all of his strength while making love to a woman. And to have the woman use strength that approached his while making love to him. That day he found out, and then some. The more he used of his strength the more she seemed to enjoy it. Her strength not only approached his, but exceeded it by far.

Erik had finished the day's bartering at the market. Looking around, he couldn't find Karen. Leaving the horse and cart, he went to the tavern to see whether Karen was there, perhaps arm wrestling with some of the other men.

When he got there, however, he did not see her inside. Neither did he see Siegfried. He wondered if she had gone to visit him, the two of them had become good friends after their arm wrestling match. He went back outside and walked to Siegfried's smithy at the edge of town.

Looking inside, he didn't see anybody at first. But then he heard some noises coming from inside. Going in, he was surprised to see Siegfried lying on his back on the floor. With Karen on top of him.

Karen heard a gasp from behind her. Turning her head, she saw Erik staring in amazement at her and Siegfried. She reached out and took hold of his hand. She pulled him down to her and kissed him, while still continuing to pump her legs. She then pulled his face down to a breast, holding him there with one hand while her other hand began removing his clothes.

When Siegfried shot his load into her, she got up off of him and reversed the two men for another round. She kept swapping the two men until they were too tired to continue.

As they rode the cart home, Erik went over the day's events in his mind. Karen had been insatiable, draining both him and Siegfried back there on the floor of the village smithy. By the end of the session both he and Siegfried had been unable to stand up on their own. Karen had lifted them both to their feet. After they had dressed, they had both leaned on her as they walked to the tavern for some mead. Siegfried had declined all challenges to arm wrestle.

When he first saw her with Siegfried, he was afraid he had lost her. The large blacksmith was the only man who could even come close to matching her incredible strength. But here she was, riding in the cart with him, snuggling up close to him under his arm as he held the mare's reins with his other hand. And telling him to wait until tonight, for some real action.

He knew exactly what was coming up tonight, the action that she had in mind. Ever since Karen had joined him, the hardest part of the day's work came at night, when they were alone in his room. Yet somehow, when he woke up in her arms in the morning, he always felt refreshed. And he certainly never complained about the 'work'.

Karen really enjoyed the time she spent with Erik. In some ways he reminded her of Mark. She often imagined that this was a younger version of Mark, with all of the enthusiasm, if not quite the skill, that Mark had always displayed for her. But then, Erik hadn't had Cousin Julie to train him. Oh no, Karen was having great fun training him herself, teaching a Terran man how to make love to a Supremis woman. And he certainly was a good student, willing to practice everything that she taught him.

Her new friends and family were almost enough to make up for the friends and family that she had lost. The second family that she had lost in her as yet young life.

She had never known her father, and her mother had died shortly after Karen and Korek, her twin brother, had enlisted. Her brother was now entombed in a rocky grave in the Aleutians, killed at the hands of an Arion Warrior Prime.

She had had the good fortune to be adopted by her second family. Aunt Joan and Uncle Steve had been almost like parents to her. And Cousin Julie was, well, Julie was Julie. She was a Velorian. What more could she add?

The wolf got back to his pack's hunting grounds. He saw that the pack had just brought down a deer. He trotted up, intending to take the best parts for himself, as he had done for years. The other wolves, after taking one look at him, made way for him. All of them except for one, that is.

His pup, the one who had defeated him a week earlier for the pack dominance, stood his ground, blocking the way and snarling. The old wolf snarled back at him, warning him away. The youngster continued to stand his ground, ignoring the warning.

As the old wolf kept walking towards the deer carcass, the young one leaped at him, going for the throat. The old wolf turned, meeting the charge head-on. In a matter of seconds the old wolf had the young one down on the ground on his back, yelping in surprise. The old wolf went for the pup's throat, intending to rip it out.

At the last moment he stopped, with his jaws around the pup's throat. The pup was his own get, and one day he would make a good leader for the pack. He had been training the pup for that day. But that day was not yet here.

He closed his jaws a little, letting the pup know that he could rip out its throat at any time. Then he opened his jaws and backed off.

After a few seconds the young wolf scrambled up to its feet, looking at his sire in confusion. But he did nothing as the old wolf, clearly again the pack leader, started eating. The other wolves also began eating, according to their rank, following the proper protocol.

The old wolf noticed that the pup was still standing there, not eating. With a couple of barks, he invited his oldest son to join the rest of the pack for the meal.