"Tillek?"
Tillek whirled around at the female voice calling out his name. He hadn't asked for --- let alone demanded --- any female company tonight. Still, the voice was familiar. "Mai?" he asked, blinking at the figure silhouetted in the light spilling through the door.
It was indeed Mai, her dark blonde hair picking up the light and framing her face. "Can I come in?" Without waiting for an answer, she entered his room and closed the door behind her.
Though he longed to go to her and take her in his arms, he remained where he was and held his hands to his sides. She had been injured so bad, lying unconscious for days, burning with fever, while he had been helpless to do anything for her. Or perhaps, not quite helpless, though it had been Leysen who'd done the bulk of the work.
And then it had been Leysen who had taken the older female under her wing, as it were, training her in the use of her new strength. Strength that was now, if not at full Prime levels, still at least a hundred times his own. But had Leysen been able to teach Mai this particular usage? "Mai..."
She took a step toward him and then hesitated upon seeing his reaction. Reaching up to her throat, she unfastened her garment and let it fall open. The light glinted on something at her throat. Without having to ask, he knew that it was one of Leysen's gold necklaces. But whether that changed things enough, he didn't know.
Before he could say anything about it, she was in his arms, her arms around him, pulling him to her, her breasts pressing oh so firmly against his chest. "I missed you," she murmured into his ear.
"Easy," he managed to gasp out before all of the air was forced out of his lungs by her crushing embrace. She loosened her embrace but didn't completely release him. "Mai..."
"Quiet. I won't hurt you." Then she was holding him again, pressing her lips against his, keeping him from responding.
Not with words, at any rate. His mouth responded adequately, meeting her kiss. And his hands, running up her sides and stroking the outside of her breasts. And the increasing pressure against her stomach.
Getting an arm around her legs, he picked her up and carried her to the bed. When he set her down, she pulled him down on top of her, guiding his face down to her chest.
He'd always liked her breasts, so firm for a Talisi, almost like those of a Beta. But now they were even firmer, almost like what he remembered Leysen's to be. They also seemed to be a little larger, though that could just be his faulty memory --- it had been a while since he'd had them in his hands. Knowing that he now couldn't hurt her even if he tried, he squeezed them as hard as he could.
He was rewarded with a low moan from her lips as she shifted position under him.
He'd always had to hold himself back a little with Mai. Now, he knew that he didn't have to hold anything back --- her body was now much more durable than his could ever hope to be. And even with the gold around her throat, she was still far stronger than he was.
It had been a while, but their bodies fit together with the practice borne of many repetitions. Finding her ready for him, he thrust himself into her and began.
Her arms closed about him, holding him tighter than she'd ever had before. This was something that they hadn't practiced. She was holding him so tightly that he was having difficulty moving. His chest was being pressed hard enough against her breasts to make it difficult to breathe. "Mai!" he gasped out. "Mai!"
It took a couple of seconds but the pressure eased up as she opened her arms and let him roll off of her.
Mai had grown accustomed to holding Tillek with all of her strength as he thrust into her. Feeling him fill her after so long without him, it was only natural that she fall back on her old habits.
Those old habits had been acquired before she became more than ten times stronger than he was, even with the gold around her throat. She still didn't understand how it had happened, she simply knew that it had.
Hearing Tillek cry out her name, she opened her eyes and looked at his face. She snapped her arms open, letting them fall to the bed at her side. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you."
He pulled out of her and rolled over, gasping for breath.
She rolled over onto her side, propping her head on an elbow. She started to reach her other hand toward him and then pulled it back. "I'm sorry, Tillek. I didn't mean to hurt you."
His breathing slowed as he gulped in big lungfuls of air. "I... I just wasn't expecting that," he finally managed to get out, reaching out and putting a hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry," she repeated yet again, shaking off his hand and getting up from the bed.
"No, Mai. Don't go." He reached out for her, taking hold of her arm.
She almost pulled him from the bed before stopping and turning back. "But, Tillek..."
He placed his other hand on her cheek, stopping whatever she was going to say. Feeling his insistent pressure on her arm, she allowed him to pull her back to the bed. The hand on her cheek guided her face to his, her mouth to his.
Again, she allowed him to roll her over onto her back. Opening her legs, she allowed him to enter her. This time, however, she refrained from wrapping her arms around him.
Leysen had started Mai off slowly, lifting boulders that weighed no more than she did. She had yet to fully exert herself. But now, it was time to move on to heavier ones. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she looked around.
Selecting one, she walked up to a boulder that was about waist high. She squatted down and reached her arms around it. She then started to straighten her legs.
The boulder rocked a few times as the girl tried to free it from the mud. Then it came free with a wet PLOP. Chips of rock broke off as she adjusted her grip, and then she was hoisting it up and holding it over her head.
She pressed the boulder over her head a couple of times before lowering it to her waist and then letting it drop to the ground, rolling end over end before the mud and gravity took hold and reclaimed it.
Leysen then walked up to another boulder. This one was much bigger, nearly as tall as she was. She then squatted down next to it and reached her arms around as far as she could. There was a series of squishing sound as she rocked the boulder, freeing it from the mud. Even with everything that she had seen recently, Mai still couldn't prevent a gasp from escaping when Leysen straightened her legs and lifted the huge boulder.
Leysen adjusted her grip, getting her hands under it. Another gasp came from Mai when Leysen lifted the boulder up over her head. Leysen then set the boulder down and took a step back. "Now, you try it."
Could she really do it? She was having to adjust her thought processes, her perceptions of abilities, of strengths. It wasn't easy, but she was beginning to believe in her own strength now. Still, that was an awfully big boulder. Was she truly strong enough to lift it?
There was only one way to find out. Still a little skeptical, she approached the boulder. Squatting down next to it, she wrapped her arms around it as she had seen Leysen do it.
The boulder rocked but wouldn't come up.
She stepped back and turned to face Leysen. "It's too heavy, Ley."
"Don't talk, do it," Leysen encouraged her, motioning her to try again.
"I can't do it, Ley."
Leysen approached her. "Try it. I'll help you."
Stepping up to the boulder, Mai squatted down and wrapped her arms around it again. Leysen squatted down on the other side and put her hands on the underside of the boulder. This time when Mai lifted, the boulder came up. Straightening her legs, she held the boulder against her stomach with the girl on the other side supporting a good portion of the weight.
"There you go, you got it," the voice came from the other side of the rock.
Mai wasn't so sure; the boulder sure felt heavy. And it seemed to be getting heavier with each passing moment.
A small part of her mind told her that Leysen was relinquishing her hold on the boulder and transferring more and more of its weight to her even as the rest of her mind concentrated on keeping her grip on the boulder and maintaining her balance.
The boulder was too heavy for her to hold. She released it and jumped back just in time to keep it from coming down on her feet. Stumbling over the uneven ground, she lost her balance and fell, sitting down in the mud.
Mai looked up. Leysen was standing with her hands on her hips, looking down at Mai with stern disapproval on her face. Mai opened her mouth, whether to apologize or to make an excuse, she wasn't quite sure.
Leysen beat her to it. "I know you can do it, Mai. And we're going to stay here until you know it as well. Now, do it!"
The tone of her voice brooked no argument. Standing up, she brushed the mud off her rump as best she could and approached the boulder again.
The boulder rocked, came up, and then came back down again.
Mai presented the Council with quite a perplexing problem.
It was one thing to allow Ley to handle weapons. After all, she could hardly make them if she couldn't touch them. And she --- along with Tillek and Velder --- had come from somewhere else, where they might have different customs. Of course, the Council didn't know from just how far away they had come.
But Mai, now. She had been born in Panture, and had lived her entire life here.
Just a few short days ago, she'd been at death's door, badly burned all over her body. Now she seemed fully recovered, and Tillek wanted to give her some of a warrior's training.
"Females don't handle weapons," one of the older warriors was still arguing. Several others nodded in agreement.
"What about the crossbow?" Tillek asked, attempting to offer a compromise. The other warriors still had not accepted Leysen's new device.
Eventually a compromise was thrashed out. Tillek and Leysen could train Mai in the use of the crossbow. But Mai was not to be treated as a warrior; she could not wield a sword. Nor would she be permitted to stand sentry duty or go out on patrols and raids.
Unfortunately, warriors are born and not made. Mai had no trouble learning to use a crossbow. Nor did she have any trouble aiming it. The problem was in hitting what she aimed at.
Nor was she all that much better at unarmed combat. It wasn't that she was clumsy, for she wasn't. It was just that she didn't have any experience at it, the Talisi females not even roughhousing very much when young, and never with the males.
The crossbow is a weapon of skill. Strength does not matter very much --- that's the whole point of the cocking mechanism. Hand-to-hand combat --- whether unarmed or with swords --- is a completely different thing. Strength and quickness make all the difference in the world.
Of course, there is more to it than just strength and quickness. It does require some skill. Perhaps not much --- when the female had the strength of several hundred warriors --- but some nonetheless.
With her inexperience --- not to mention her new strength and quickness --- it fell upon Leysen to attempt to teach her the rudiments of unarmed combat. Mai was just too strong and quick for Tillek, unless he wanted to risk serious injury to himself.
In some respects this was nothing new, since Leysen was still working with Mai in getting her accustomed to her new abilities. It was just a short step from going to learning to use and control her strength against boulders and chains to using and controlling it with another person. Especially when that person was a young Arion Prime, whose body was able to withstand much more punishment than boulders and chains ever could.
And despite all the handicaps, Mai was a willing student.
"Come on. I can use a swim. It'll get rid of the mud." With that, she launched herself from the bank.
Her flat dive carried her more than twice her height across the water before plunging in. Her powerful strokes carried her the rest of the way across the pool, not surfacing until she reached the other side. Turning around, she headed back, this time on the surface.
It wasn't until she came back up --- water streaming from her hair --- that Mai realized that Leysen had shed her santha pelt garments. She swished them around in the water to get rid of the worst of the mud and then laid them out on the sand to dry in the sun.
Turning around, she headed back for the deeper water. Going under when she had the room, she swam almost the entire width of the pool underwater.
She surfaced in front of the stream that fed the pool. "Come on in, Mai," she invited, raising an arm and waving her in.
Removing her own garments, Mai stepped into the water. It wasn't as cold as she'd expected it to be. Or perhaps it was, and the cold just didn't bother her, just as the hard rocks hadn't bothered her.
Pulling her garments in, she rinsed them in the water before laying them out to dry next to Leysen's.
They splashed and swam, Mai again amazing herself, this time with how fast she could swim from one side of the pool to the other. She also discovered that she could stay underwater for much longer than she ever could before.
After the swim, Leysen climbed out of the water and laid down on the rocks to let the sun dry her off. Mai joined her, stretching herself out beside her. Their garments between them, her own leather ones and Leysen's santha pelt.
Mai's earlier curiosity came to the fore. "Ley, that pelt..."
Leysen looked down at the garment drying in the afternoon sun, then back up at Mai. "What about it?"
"You killed that santha, didn't you? It wasn't Tillek and Velder like you told everybody."
Leysen simply nodded in response, her eyes clouding over as she thought back to the trek over the northern mountains with only what meager supplies they'd been able to salvage from the lifeboat. They'd had no weapons with them, other than a young Prime still in school.
Mai was beginning to wonder whether Leysen was going to tell her any more about it when Leysen spoke again. But it was not what she had been expecting to hear.
"We were almost out of the mountains," she began, closing her eyes as she started to remember. "Tillek and Velder told me that the santhas didn't come down that far. They were wrong. Apparently this one couldn't find food higher up in the mountains and had come down. I was gathering wood for a fire when it attacked them."
Mai remained silent. She knew that two warriors stood almost no chance against a hungry santha. She remembered the last time that a santha had been spotted near Panture. A party of warriors had gone after it. They had succeeded in killing the santha --- and its mate --- but several of the warriors had been injured, two of them severely. Chaddik would spend the rest of his life walking with the aid of a cane.
She also remembered that Leysen had been quite fond of Chaddik, and vice versa. "You cared about Chaddik, didn't you?" she asked softly.
If Leysen had heard, she gave no sign. "I saved them from the santha," she said softly after a pause. "Then after I killed the santha, I almost killed them."
Mai was shocked. "But why, Ley?"
Leysen's eyes remained closed, one hand absently rubbing a breast. Then her eyes snapped open and she moved her hand to her throat.
"I... I..." She had tried to forget that incident, but the memory still haunted her. "After I killed the santha, I... I..."
Mai wasn't sure whether she should pry, but she couldn't hold herself back. "What happened, Ley?"
"Do you know how you get..." she didn't know the Talisi word for horny, "how... how you want a man after you use your new strength?"
Mai felt her cheeks reddening. "Yes, I..." She remembered her first time with Tillek after her recovery from the fire.
Leysen's cheeks were also reddening. "I didn't want them quite that way, but..." Suddenly realizing that she was stroking her own breast, she snatched her hand away, at the same time turning her face away.
Keeping her face averted, she continued on quietly. "Well, I'm so much stronger than they are, and after killing the santha, well, I almost crushed them."
"But... You weren't wearing your gold?"
Leysen sat up, turning toward Mai with a snort. "For fighting a santha?"
Mai thought about it for a brief moment. "I suppose not."
Both females were silent for quite a while, their own private thoughts running through their minds even as the warm sun bathed their bodies.
Eventually, Leysen sat up. Looking up to gauge the angle of the setting sun --- only feeling a small twinge at the lack of accurate timepieces --- she turned to her companion. "I think it's about time."
Mai stirred but didn't open her eyes. "Hmmm?"
Leysen reached out and laid a hand over Mai's. "Time to head back to the village."
Opening her eyes, Mai blinked several times as she looked to the sun. Then sitting upright, she reached for her garments. "Ley! We have to go back!" It was as if she hadn't heard Leysen's previous statement.
Shrugging her shoulders, Leysen reached for her own garments and started putting them on. They then set off on the return journey.
They ran through the trees back to Panture at an easy jog. Though what was an easy jog for the two females, not even the fleetest warrior could have hoped to match.
Slowing down to a walk when Leysen spotted the first sentry, they passed through the gate into the village.
There was more activity than usual for this time of day. Warriors were beginning to gather in Panture from many of the neighboring villages --- from most of Panture, in fact. The Council of Warriors had been meeting for most of the day in preparation for the larger meeting the next day. Rumors were flying fast and furious --- each one seemingly more outrageous than the one before --- in the kitchen as the females, now joined by Leysen and Mai, worked to provide enough food for the visitors.
Leysen was unable to get a word out of either Velder or Tillek during the course of the meal. Chaddik wasn't much more informative, though in his defense it could be said that the young warrior really didn't know any more than did the female.
After the meal, Velder still wouldn't tell her anything even after she threatened to throw him out of the bed.
The full Council met the next morning. Despite her contributions, Leysen still was not allowed to sit in on the Council meetings. She spent some time in the smithy, working with a couple of younger smiths who had accompanied their elders to Panture but were likewise excluded from the meeting.
Abuzz with curiosity, Leysen tried to single out Velder when the Council broke for the midday meal. However, he continued an animated discussion with a group of warriors from other villages, her super-hearing only allowing her to catch a word here and there. The discussions died down completely whenever they saw the approach of a female.
When she tried to separate him from the group, he merely dismissed her with a simple shake of his head. Feeling miffed, she sought out Tillek, only to receive a similar treatment from the other Beta.
None of the Council would discuss what they had been meeting about, instead eating quickly and returning to their meeting. Returning to the smithy after the meal, she discovered that her students --- warriors too young to be included in the Council --- had had no more success in finding out what had been going on than she'd had.
Velder was a little more responsive that night. Hehad barely started to outline the plan when Leysen sat up bolt upright on the bed. "Where? You're planning to go where?"
As the young communications officer led the way into her quarters, General Estrad Strahzi paused at the threshold. What am I doing? he asked himself. Ever since he'd lost his wife, he'd had a self-enforced policy of never getting involved with any of the permanent personnel on station. And most definitely not with anyone under him in his direct chain of command. And since being promoted to Deputy Commanding Officer, that included most everyone, not only on Tiburon, but in the entire sector. She's far enough down the chain of command, he told himself, trying to excuse himself.
Somehow, that didn't seem to help very much. He'd been unable to get her image out of her mind ever since first seeing her at the reception for Princess Lestan'th. He'd had his aide do a little discreet checking into her background. The young communications officer's background, not the Princess'.
She started to stand up. "Let me slip out of my uniform and into something more comfortable."
"There's nothing wrong with what you've got on." He reached out for her.
"I think you'll like this. Just give me a minute." Evading his grasping hands, she got up and went into her bedroom. "I'll be right back," she said over her shoulder, just before she closed the door behind her.
He knew better but that didn't stop him from trying to look through the wall, but --- like all Prime quarters --- the walls contained lead to prevent just that. Instead, he looked around at the rest of her room.
The room was rather austere, at least for a woman's room, almost as austere as were his own quarters. It might be due in part to the fact that she hadn't been here on Tiburon all that long. Still, she had been here long enough, he thought, to have added her own touches to the decor. But it also somehow managed to fit her personality.
At least what little he'd gotten to know of it in the weeks since she'd been assigned to his staff here at Tiburon. She was a rather private person, guarding her past, only talking in broad generalities.
He knew that she had once been married, to an infantry officer who had lost his life in the line of duty. Other than that, he didn't know anything about the young man.
He noticed a small hologram projector on the desk. Out of curiosity, he clicked it on. The image was that of Tarrin with a young man, lounging on a rock by the sea. Or was it water? The color didn't quite look right. It might be molten lava instead. With a sudden flash, he realized that young man must be her late husband.
I'm too old to be in this meat market, he thought to himself. I'm almost old enough to be her father. Yet with the lifespan of an Arion Prime, he was only now entering middle age. The difference in their ages wasn't all that great. He still had a lot of good years ahead of him, assuming he didn't meet his end against a Velorian Planetary Protector as Tarrin's husband had. And as his own wife had.
He quickly banished those thoughts from his mind, turned off the image, and stepped away from the projector.
True to her word, she returned quickly. He started to stand up when he heard the door open.
His jaw dropped when he saw what she was wearing. Her tiny red outfit left very little to the imagination, the style bringing to mind a spider's web.
A very appropriate image, as he knew that he was caught in her web.
As if to complete the picture, she walked over and stood over him. "Do you like it?"
Without waiting for his answer, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face to hers, kissing him deeply.
"Yes. I. Do," he gasped out when she finally let him up for air.
"I'm glad you like it," she replied, before pulling his face down to hers again.
It wasn't long before they were in her bedroom. Taking that red outfit off of her was even more enjoyable than simply looking at her in it.
What happened after it was off --- as well as his own clothes --- was even more enjoyable. It didn't take long for him to discover that she enjoyed it physical, almost rough.
Tarrin Krilti hadn't had a night like this since her all-too-brief honeymoon. She hadn't had too many before then, either.
General Strahzi wasn't merely the most senior officer whom she had ever taken to her bed, he was by far the oldest man whom she'd ever taken to her bed. That wasn't to say that he was too old, he was rather young for his rank. And with the long lifespan of Arion Primes, it didn't make too much of a difference.
No, age had not diminished his abilities. If anything, age had increased it. Or perhaps it was simply experience. Whatever the reason, it was pleasurable. Very pleasurable.
And apparently, it was just as pleasurable for him. Feeling him approaching his climax, she tightened arms around his body and her inner muscles about his shaft. He continued his powerful thrusting, each stroke pushing his chest against her breasts as he drove her closer and closer to her climax.
He almost brought her off before climaxing himself. Rolling him off of her and mounting him, she brought herself off twice while bringing him off.
And that was only the start. Since being stationed on Tiburon, she'd never had a man spend the entire night in her quarters.
Waking up and rolling over, she felt something warm beside her. Opening her eyes, she reached out and laid her arm across Estrad's chest. He stirred at the touch, turning his head toward her and opening his eyes.
Estrad Strahzi just lay there and looked at Tarrin. She'd just given him the most incredible sexual experience that he'd had since the loss of his wife. In the dim light, her face blurred and for a moment it was replaced by that of his wife.
His wife hadn't just liked it physical, she had liked to be in complete control. Just as Tarrin had been tonight.
He wasn't sure, but it seemed as if Tarrin was somehow physically stronger than he was. Just as his wife had been.
He and his wife had enjoyed pretending that she was actually a Tsetwindlar, one of that ancient mythical clan whose females were much stronger than were ordinary Primes, stronger than even the Velorian Planetary Protectors were. It hadn't taken too much pretending on their part. She'd pin him to the bed on his back and tease him, having her way with him, ravishing his body, making him beg her for more.
A more that she gladly gave him. But only when she was ready.
Blinking a couple of times to dispel those memories, he looked again at tonight's partner. It was definitely Tarrin's own face, though there were some superficial similarities to his wife's face. After all, that had been what had drawn him to her in the first place.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked.
He almost started to tell her about his fantasy about the Tsetwindlar. "I was just thinking how beautiful you are," was what he said.
"Thank you." She reached out and ran her fingertips lightly along a pair of scars that ran parallel from his left shoulder, across his chest and stomach, almost to his right hip.
Of course, 'lightly' is a relative term. Her caress would have broken the ribs of any of the Betas who had served under her.
He responded to her caress by reaching out and fondling one of her breasts. "What are you thinking about?" he asked when she sighed at his touch.
"Have you ever heard of the Tsetwindlar?"
He started at the mention of the ancient myth, taking his hand from her breast and looking up at her face. Had she just read his mind? Did she know about his private fantasies, the fantasies that he'd only shared with his wife?
"Why do you ask?" he asked, trying to keep his voice level.
"Oh, I was just thinking," she said, running a finger between the two parallel scars.
"Thinking about what?" he asked, trying not to think about what her fingers were doing.
She smiled slyly. "I was thinking about what I might do to you if I was really a Tsetwindlar."
"And just what might you do?"
"I might start with something like this." She rolled him off of her and onto his back. Getting on top of him and grabbing his wrists, she pinned them to the bed above his head. "I'd make sure you were helpless."
He raised his arms, putting just enough force into it to lift her from the bed momentarily before she slammed them down again. "That's it, male," she told him with a smile, putting her weight on his thighs and leaning forward. "Try to resist me."
Still not using his full strength, he arched his back, putting their combined weight on his hips and shoulders. She moved up, sitting on his stomach and forcing him down again. She leaned further forward, her breasts dangling just inches from his face. "That's it, male. Feel the power of a Tsetwindlar."
He bucked again, this time with most of his strength. Dislodging her, he threw himself on top of her, pinning her to the mattress with his greater weight. Capturing her wrists, he pinned her arms to the bed in much the same manner that she had done earlier.
He held her down through a couple of her attempts to free herself, though the second one took all of his strength. Feeling her body tense for another attempt, he eased up.
She took full advantage of the opening, throwing him off of her and then throwing herself on top of him. She grabbed his wrists and pinned his arms again. "Nice try, male," she said sweetly, leaning close and again almost pressing her breasts against his face.
Instead of trying to throw her off of him, he bent his head forward to try to get one of her nipples into his mouth. She pulled her chest back, without quite releasing his wrists. "Another nice try, male." She swung her chest from side to side, making her breasts bounce.
She then started to lean forward again, bringing her breasts closer to his face.
That had been one of the things that she'd enjoyed with Kelnik, Rentik, and her other Betas, though naturally she had never told them. She could pretend that she truly was a Tsetwindlar and that they were in actuality Primes, not even their strength able to resist hers.
She'd never played the game with another Prime before. And with another Prime, it was a game; it required cooperation on his part, for as strong as she was, she was no Tsetwindlar.
