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