The Deviants 1-3

Praise for the writing of Treva Harte

The Deviants, Book 1 I love a completely outlandish plot, and all the unique ways this author finds to create startling images and thought provoking concepts. A great ride from beginning to end is what you’ll get from The Deviants! -- Connie, A Romance Review Treva has done it, again. She’s written a story with both erotic content and a story of adventure and love. All the characters are well written and believable, even in this altered world. -- Irene Marshall, Timeless Tales

Changing the Odds, Book 2 Multi-layered characters, and an attention grabbing plot, are what makes Changing the Odds wonderful. I can’t wait to read the third in the series, World Enough, which tells Faye’s story and introduces us to Edmond. -- The Word on Romance Ms. Harte continues to delight us with her humor and twists and turns in Deviants:

Changing the Odds. -- Debi Sullivan, The Romance Studio

World Enough, Book 3 Insecure, vulnerable, strong and smart, a fine cast of many, blends with the ease and grace Ms. Harte is known for! I grinned from ear to ear throughout this book, and wiped a tear away at the end when my adventure in Femmeland was over. Then I consoled myself by remembering, there are more of Ms. Harte’s work I have yet to discover! -- Connie, A Romance Review

THE DEVIANTS: VOLUMES 1 - 3

Treva Harte

www.loose-id.com

Warning This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. Loose Id e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

***** This book is rated:

For substantial explicit sexual content, graphic language and sexual situations some readers may find offensive (ménage, same-sex partners, anal sex).

The Deviants: Volumes 1 - 3 Treva Harte This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by Loose Id LLC 1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-29 Carson City NV 89701-1215 www.loose-id.com

Copyright © November 2004 by Treva Harte All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing, photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

ISBN 1-59632-055-9 Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

Printed in the United States of America

Editor: Catherine Gilbert Cover Artist: April Martinez

Book 1: The Deviants

Chapter One “Cheryl, I swear I’d be really happy if men were just swept up and sent to another planet.” Tory stared down at her glass of beer. Two other women at the bar overheard her and giggled. Tory lowered her voice. “I mean, this is the final humiliation. Can you believe that Jeff was lying to me? Jeff!” “Well, we always said he was too good to be true.” Cheryl signaled the waitress for another tonic water. “Yeah, but I didn’t mean it that way. I believed he was in love with me and that he was going to get around to asking me to marry him in a few weeks or so and -- Stop laughing, Cheryl.” Tory put her chin in her hands. “I really did. Then I find out he’s been hot for some little clerk in his own office the entire time. He used me! He used me to make her jealous.” “I don’t hear you saying you’re brokenhearted about the whole thing, though.” Cheryl didn’t sound too concerned. Of course they’d known each other a long time. “Well, I ought to be.” “Uh-huh.” “Jeff may be the last heterosexual single male on the planet who seriously wanted me. I mean, who I thought seriously wanted me. I was working up an interest in him.” Tory tried not to sound defensive. “Oh yeah. I could tell.” “I was.” “Don’t strain yourself.” Cheryl looked at her knowingly. Tory began to laugh. “I do love you, Cheryl. It’s too bad I can’t change my sexual preference. You’d be a great partner. You’ve got it all -- you’re good-looking, you and I can talk together about anything…”

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Her best friend grinned. “I’m six months’ pregnant with my husband’s child,” Cheryl reminded her. “My hormones may be out of whack, but this really wouldn’t be the time to adopt an alternative lifestyle.” The two of them laughed. Cheryl patted Victoria on the shoulder. “You’re gorgeous. I’d kill to have that strawberry-blonde hair of yours. You’re smart, you’re funny and you’re great to be around. Don’t worry. You’ll meet the perfect guy for you.” Tory smiled but wondered how often Cheryl had repeated that mantra to her over the years. They used to say things like that to each other when they were single and temporarily manless. But Cheryl had made it happen for herself years ago. Tory was twenty-eight and figured things were definitely not going according to plan. “Listen, I already kept you and the baby up late enough. Why don’t we call it a night?” Tory put some money on the bar for a tip and Cheryl carefully got down from the barstool. “My back is killing me, I must admit.” Cheryl rubbed it as they walked to the door. They got to the little parking lot outside and Cheryl carefully eased into her Camry. Tory sighed. Cheryl even had a married woman’s car. She waved to her friend as she left the parking lot and then took her car keys and walked over to her Cabrio. Tory looked at the car. She’d bought the Cabrio to make a statement. It stated she was single. Single women bought cute little convertible cars. Was that the right statement to make? She didn’t know anymore. It didn’t seem to be getting her much in the way of action. The two giggling women from the bar walked out into the parking lot behind her. Victoria put her key in the door lock and decided there was something wrong in the world when all these women couldn’t find dates for a Friday night. “And we’re not the ones that are wrong. It’s men.” Tory hastily looked around, hoping no one had heard her talking to herself. Oh oh. The two women were looking at her now. One of the pair walked over to her and smiled, hesitantly. “I’m sorry.” The woman spoke English perfectly -- maybe just a little too perfectly. She didn’t sound American. “We seem to be lost. Could you point us in the right direction on our map?” The other woman held up her map, looking confused. They were nice-looking women. She’d noticed them at the bar the minute they sat next to Cheryl. One was tall and blonde, the other petite and brown-haired. Tory decided to feel sorry for them as well. After all, they were as alone as she was on a date night. Any man ought to want them, she thought with a glower. In fact, he ought to want all three of them. Her eyes narrowed. Or at least there should be one man for each woman. Yeah. That was it. “Sure, I can probably help.” Tory walked toward them. “Where do you need to go?”

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She felt a sharp prick in her arm and looked down. Was that a needle? Before she could figure it out, she saw nothing but blackness and could feel herself pitching forward…

***** “Thank Zorah! She isn’t dead!” Tory heard a female voice say above her. “Of course not, Mitzi. You always worry needlessly,” another female voice replied. It sounded relieved, despite the words. “Well, we didn’t know how this one would react to the drugs. She isn’t one of us.” Mitzi’s voice sounded a little fretful. “She’s female, isn’t she? She’ll become one of us.” “That remains to be seen, Amma.” Mitzi didn’t sound reassured. “Nonsense. How could she prefer that land of hers? It’s a barbaric place.” Hands began to gently bathe Tory’s face with a wet cloth. “Here, now. Tory, isn’t it? Time to wake up,” Amma told her. Should she open her eyes or pretend to be unconscious? Did it matter? It also didn’t seem to be the right time or place to inform them that her real name was Victoria. “My arm hurts,” Tory grumbled, feeling groggy. “My head too.” She wasn’t sure if she should do what this Amma wanted, especially since it appeared the two of them had drugged her, but she didn’t know what else to do. Tory opened her eyes. They didn’t look like criminals. Tory glanced back and forth between the two women suspiciously. “I’m afraid the arm is a bit bruised. Amma was a little too enthusiastic when she jabbed you.” Mitzi made a vague, rather helpless gesture with fluttering hands. “And when you toppled over, you hit your head before we could cushion the fall. I am sorry.” Mitzi was the woman with the odd voice who had asked her for directions. The petite, fragile-looking one. Damn. They’d seemed so nice, too. “Why did you do this to me?” Tory burst out. “I’ve never done anything to you. Is this a robbery? I don’t think I have more than twenty dollars with me. This doesn’t make any sense!” She winced at the sound of her own yelling. Mitzi’s face crumpled at the noise. “Hey, don’t shout at her.” Amma wound her arm around Mitzi’s waist and glared down at Tory. “We did you a favor. After all, you asked for it.” “I asked for it!” Tory’s voice rose again. “That’s what men have told women for years to justify horrible things. Now I have two women telling me the same thing! I didn’t ask for you to do anything.” Mitzi whimpered and hid her head on Amma’s shoulder.

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“But you did.” Amma patted Mitzi on the back. “You said you wanted men on another planet. Well, welcome to Tierra. Everything here is just the way you wanted it to be.”

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Chapter Two “Now I really don’t understand.” Tory wondered if her mind had been terribly messed up after her fall. Tierra indeed. “I’m where?” “The planet Tierra. In the country of Femmeland. All right, men don’t have their own planet, but they do live in a completely separate nation. We really aren’t troubled by them much. In fact most women don’t ever have to look at a man in their entire lives.” Amma went back to bathing Tory’s face. “Femmeland.” Tory repeated the name carefully. “Yes. Generations ago the men and women of the planet realized that we were just too different to co-exist. We’ve chosen to divide into separate nations. Things have been much better since.” Mitzi smiled down at her. Tory wasn’t sure what to say. She stared down at the bed she had been placed on and thought about what she’d just been told. She soon gave up. No matter how she tried, those last few sentences were too bizarre. Then she realized she wasn’t crazy. Those two must be. Yeah, that was it. After all, she’d been kidnapped by the two of them. At least they didn’t seem dangerous now…but they hadn’t seemed dangerous last night either. Or whatever night it had been when they’d kidnapped her. Tory decided to play along. Maybe she could get away if they thought she was buying the whole weird package. She decided to ignore the unsettling thought that these women didn’t feel insane to her. Stranger still, she found herself wanting to hear more about Tierra. No, no. They were crazy. Not her. She had to remember that. Her gaze flicked over them. “How do you get more Femmeland inhabitants without men?” she asked seriously. “Are we all kidnapped?”

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“Oh, no. We get many volunteers to be breeders. We just impregnate them with sperm,” Amma told her. “In fact Mitzi just volunteered. We got the results a few weeks ago.” Mitzi smiled, a little shyly. “Amma and I are pretty excited. We’ve considered becoming parents for a long time and we’re sure we’re ready at last.” Amma patted Mitzi’s stomach and then kissed Mitzi’s neck. Amma and Mitzi. Mitzi and Amma. Amma and Mitzi were a couple. Of course. Along with that thought, Tory suddenly realized she was naked. She hastily pulled the blanket up a little higher over her breasts. The other women began to laugh. “Don’t worry. You’re quite attractive, but neither of us is looking for a new mate.” Mitzi chuckled. “We’re happily married.” Tory smiled, trying not to look uncomfortable. “So, what happens if this sperm turns out to have the wrong chromosome?” Tory asked. Both women looked blank. “What if you have a boy?” Mitzi’s face crumpled again and Amma began to glare once more. Tory sighed. Mitzi seemed to personify the words “shrinking violet.” Then again, that shrinking violet had fooled Tory into being drugged and dragged off somewhere. There might be more to Mitzi than what appeared on the surface. “We hope that won’t happen, of course, but that’s the barter system we’ve worked out,” Amma explained with a large, false smile. She sounded like she was saying the words through gritted teeth. “We get sperm, men get all the male babies. We’d just have to try again. Now, Mitzi, don’t worry.” “Well, then, you have to deal with men, don’t you?” Tory pointed out, pragmatically. Why did she keep questioning them? “Just a few of us.” Amma began to pace. “In fact, Mitzi and I were both designated traders with men up until recently. It’s not a pleasant job, talking to them and living here on an outpost, but because of that, it’s lucrative. However, now that Mitzi is pregnant, she really doesn’t want to deal with anything so upsetting. Besides, we both think it’s best to have a mother staying at home with the children. When she resigned I told the leaders I’d find someone to take her place.” Tory sighed. Shrinking violet indeed. Well, probably. At any rate, there was no point in upsetting Mitzi. Tory looked around. The room was light-filled. The furnishings were a little strange -- she could have sworn she’d seen a radio that looked like something from the ‘40s on the bureau and the decorations on the bed were definitely beyond ornate -- but the place

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looked nice enough. The two women had probably done very well for themselves as sperm traders… Tory caught herself. She was not falling for this routine. Whatever it was these two really did, they probably made money at it. There was a short silence. Tory realized the other two women seemed to want her to say something, but she had no idea what to tell them. “Actually, besides the obviously altruistic reasons, we rescued you because we thought you might be helpful to us in that department,” Mitzi timidly ventured. “What department might that be, exactly?” “How would you like to enter the trading business? We thought you might be willing to deal with the males, since on your planet the two genders still mingle. Seeing the occasional male might not be too traumatic for you.” Amma tried not to look eager and failed. “You’d be perfectly free from any harassment. After all, the men won’t be interested in you. We only meet because we must. It’s just business.” Tory’s eyebrows shot up. “I ought to be all right doing that then,” she dryly agreed. “That pretty much sums up my life on Earth so far.” “Why don’t you rest now, Tory? I think you won’t have any lasting bruises but that’s a nasty lump on your head,” Mitzi worried aloud. “After a little nap we can talk some more.” “Sure. Right.” Tory nodded and smiled. The two women nodded and smiled back. Weird. “Before I forget -- welcome to Femmeland. I hope you like the outpost we live in. Snapdragon is small but rather charming in its way,” Amma added. They shut the door to her room. Tory let out her breath. Whatever loony world those two lived in inside their minds, they did seem nice enough. Better yet, they thought she was living in that world with them. They didn’t seem to suspect her of any ulterior plans at all. Clothes. She needed clothes first. Tory walked to the closet and pulled out what looked like a red-checked pinafore. Oh God! She’d look like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz in that! She rummaged around some more and found bolero pants matched with a bright pink shirt that had a Peter Pan collar. That outfit wasn’t much better, but she didn’t have time to try again. Besides, she didn’t have too wide a selection of “borrowed” clothing. Kidnappees

can’t be choosers. After shoving the clothes and some tennis shoes on -- and refusing to look at the mirror to affirm how hideous she looked -- Tory cautiously went toward the window. So far, so good. She was on the ground floor and there weren’t any bars. She hastily opened the window and swung her leg out. She took another peek at the bedroom door. Was this too easy?

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Well, she had to find out. Tory jumped to the ground and began to run for the cover of some nearby trees.

***** Aric could hear the younger men in the barracks starting their morning exercises. He grunted as he pushed himself up off his futon. Not too long ago he’d have been out there himself. First one up, eager to work on his strength and coordination. That would have been his plan. He still went out there often enough in the morning and could whip any of the younger pups who tried to match him. But not today. Feeling like a fool and unable to stop himself, Aric checked over in the mirror as he got dressed. He was presentable enough, he thought. He was still in fighting shape and in his uniform he looked like a soldier should. His uniform dress tunic was black -- well, he always wore black -- but it was one of his newest. And he’d just been barbered yesterday. Not too bad for one of the old men in the Unit. Most men left the Unit long before this, but no one would ever think he was anything but a military man even though he had a dozen years on most of those youngsters outside. Aric liked the Unit. He liked the military discipline; he liked how his days were filled with order and precision. He looked down at the badge on his sleeve denoting his position.

Femme trader. It wasn’t a position anyone else in the Unit would ever want. When Aric had volunteered for the work almost a decade ago, the other men had teased him until he’d had to kick a few butts. But his commander had told him he was impressed that Aric was willing to take on whatever the Unit needed, even the worst job they had. Aric had begun his rise in the Unit soon afterwards. What he didn’t tell anyone, especially the grim-faced commander, was that he didn’t mind the job. No, that was wrong. Too weak. He loved the job. Aric briskly combed back his short hair and pulled on his boots. It was almost wrong to be promoted for taking on this duty. He loved to do what other men hated. After all, he was a deviant. He’d be doomed if anyone else knew his secret, but he stayed in femme trading because he got to see women. He adjusted his tunic carefully. After each one of his biweekly visits to a Femmeland outpost he spent useless hours dreaming about women. Undoubtedly this trip would be no different. Aric might never act on those fantasies -- in fact, he was sure none of the women he saw ever realized they were looking at a man who was dressed and looking his best just for them -- but his visits had kept him happy for years now.

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Whistling, he bounded down the stairs just as exercises were ending. He had that timed down to a science. “Hey, you!” Aric barked at one rookie who hadn’t made his exit from the courtyard quickly enough. “C’mon. You’ve just volunteered for duty.” He made sure the youngster strode at his heels while Aric began his task of rounding up more “volunteers” for duty. Most of them were newer recruits. A lot of the experienced soldiers knew to hide when Aric marched out. Aric sometimes went to other barracks to demand volunteers, but today his own barracks was on duty and he knew exactly where to swoop down and collect victims. Once he had them, of course, they were all smart enough not to complain to Aric or anyone else. After he’d rounded up a half dozen unhappy men, he quick-marched them into the company truck, his face unsmiling. Underneath that no-nonsense military exterior, however, a little boy was chortling as he headed to the candy store. They were off to one of Femmeland’s most remote outposts, the one closest to his nation of Androvia: Outpost Snapdragon.

***** Tory walked down the street, looking for a policeman. She hadn’t seen anyone at all yet. Wherever she was, it wasn’t anywhere she recognized. The tiny cottages looked sort of like what she imagined English cottages looked like back in Great Britain. An older Great Britain. Tory was getting a slightly nervous feeling in her stomach. Things just didn’t look right to her. Everything seemed…foreign. The cottages were cute, the flowers all over looked rather sweet, but something was just too different. She couldn’t believe how relieved she was when she caught sight of her first human. Tory had been starting to wonder if the whole place was deserted or worse. She’d never been a fan of The Twilight Zone. Tory ran to the woman and then paused. The woman was dressed as weirdly as Amma and Mitzi had been -- sort of a ‘50s housewife look. Maybe they were all part of some cult. Some really weird, hopelessly out of style cult. Tory decided to proceed cautiously. “Hello.” The woman smiled pleasantly at her. “Are you new here?” “Pretty new, yes.” The woman had the same accent as Amma and Mitzi. Tory began to feel more uneasy. “How did you guess?” The woman laughed. “That just proves how new you are. We hardly ever see visitors in Snapdragon. And we definitely know who lives here. The outpost is so small, you know? I bet it’s the tiniest one in Femmeland!” “Yeah. I bet.” Tory thought she might throw up as she walked past the woman. Tory’s head began to ache again, and her teeth began to chatter. She didn’t know why, she didn’t even know how it was possible, but something inside screamed at her that nobody here was

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delusional. She really had been transported to another place, another world. She clamped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from crying out loud as the realization congealed in her gut. How would she get out of here? She didn’t know how to get home. No one she knew would even know where to come and rescue her! Tory blinked back sudden tears. Who would want to rescue her anyhow? Jeff was history. The folks at work would merely be puzzled and annoyed if she didn’t show up, though eventually someone might call her house. Cheryl would be concerned, she knew. She might even call the police in a day or two, but Cheryl had her own family to think about. Even then everyone would think she’d been abducted by someone on Earth. Face it. No one would investigate her disappearance that thoroughly. No one particularly cared. Mom was dead and her father thought of her about every other Christmas. At least that was the only time he contacted her. Tory wasn’t even sure she knew his address anymore. A tear dropped on her hand. Until she figured out how to get out, she was trapped here. She stared down at the teardrop for a long moment. What was she going to do? She knew what she was going to do, she told herself adamantly. Stop crying. Stop moping. Keep going. Tory took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. Hey, things were up to her. That was nothing unusual. She could handle this new complication. Somehow. “I guess it’s time to go back to Amma and Mitzi and start sorting things out,” Tory whispered aloud.

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Chapter Three “You know I’m not really sure this is exactly the right job for me,” Tory said for what she was sure had to be the hundredth time. And just like before, Amma was selectively deaf. Tory knew she might just have to give up trying to change Amma’s mind. She’d never met anyone more stubborn. This time Tory shut her mouth instead of persisting. She never won arguments with Amma -- if saying the same things over and over with the same result was an argument at all. Besides, maybe this really was the right job for a transplanted Earthling who had no idea what to do with herself in a strange land. She wasn’t going anywhere else. Amma and Mitzi just looked baffled whenever Tory suggested, then demanded, that she be sent home. The last time Tory pressed the issue, Mitzi managed to look hurt again and Amma had hustled the two of them away so as not to upset an expectant mother. Tory had already been told it was too dangerous to let people come and go. Apparently only a select few scouts, carefully trained and screened, were allowed to go to places like Earth. Lucky Tory had been the scouts’ one-and-only kidnappee. Tory told herself she wasn’t giving up or giving in to Amma’s plans for her future. However, it looked more and more like she was staying in Femmeland for the foreseeable future. If she was staying, she knew she had to do something or go crazy. From what she’d heard so far about Femmeland, it might be good to live in quiet little Snapdragon until she got the hang of the place. If you stayed in Snapdragon, you couldn’t avoid having a connection with the sperm trade. Sperm was the only reason for the outpost’s existence. That was why Tory was standing in the sperm bank this late morning. Her headache, the one that had started when she hit her head but came back to make her miserable whenever

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she ran across something too weird in this world was down to a manageable pain. She could even smile once in a while, although her teeth were clenched. She was dressed in a drab gray dress and a starched apron that looked exactly like Amma’s. Faye, a dour medical tech who stood guard at the door, was dressed the same way, too. Tory looked just like everyone else. Badly dressed. Tory really hated this particular style of Femmeland clothing. They all looked like a cross between a ‘50s sitcom housewife and prison guards. Actually, most of Femmeland -- or what she’d seen of it anyway -- reminded her of a bizarre ‘50s sitcom. The fashions, the oldfashioned furniture…it was a Father Knows Best world without Father. Tory tried not to fidget. She glanced over from her post in the hall through the opened door to the next room. Several women were sitting patiently in the waiting room, reading magazines and giggling together. They had all made the drive earlier or stayed overnight for their big chance at breeding. “Amma, I don’t know about here but I thought usually sperm gets frozen and thawed later for women. After the guys show up, are these women going to -- you know -- right

now?” Amma looked stunned at her question. “Frozen and thawed? Like a frozen meal? Well, some women who simply can’t get here themselves do that, but it’s rare. Everyone in Femmeland wants fresh sperm. All the doctors say it’s easier to get pregnant the first time that way.” Tory couldn’t remember anything much about artificial insemination but that didn’t sound right to her. Then again, she was new here. Suddenly the sound of a loud siren shrilled through the room. She jumped. “That’s the warning. They’ve reached the outskirts now,” Amma explained, straightening her back. “The Androvians.” The women in the waiting room fell silent, their discomfort apparent. Tory inched her way over to the hall window so she could peek out. An extra large military Jeep with a canvas top on the back had just parked in front of the building. A tall man jumped out. He briskly walked to the rear of the jeep and undid the latch. Tory swallowed hard. Oh God. Maybe she hadn’t seen a guy in too long, but even this one’s back was incredible. It alone made her want to drool. Of course it wasn’t alone. There was a body with that back. Oh, yum. Tall, lean, muscular. Broad shoulders. Long legs. Nice buns. Then he glanced over toward the window and she got a look at his face. That was when she wanted to whimper. Blond hair. Rugged face. Nice sensual lips. Gray eyes that looked through you. Then there was the rest of him. The fancy gold braid was all right, but what

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was really great was the fit his broad shoulders, and leggings designed to show off muscular legs and a tight ass. The belt that cinched in to a tight, small waist. She wondered about what was below that belt buckle. Was everything about him so totally masculine? She’d love to unwrap his uniform and find out. She wanted that one. Puh-leeze, couldn’t she have that one? Oh God. Her legs were actually getting weak. Even more embarrassing, she was feeling…well, tingly. Oh hell. She’d gone beyond tingly. She was feeling hot. Just looking at this guy made her wet. “Get a grip, girl,” Tory whispered softly. She was lusting after a man from Androvia. That meant he had no interest in women. She’d had better odds when she believed Jeff was going to marry her. At least Jeff would pick a woman for the ceremony. This guy was going to be so totally not interested when they met face to face. Maybe she should think of him as an art object. Something beautiful to look at but without any useful function. The door opened. Tory braced herself. This was going to be one very weird experience. “Ladies.” It was her guy. Nothing like a tight ass in uniform. Somewhere between the Jeep and the door he had put sunglasses over his eyes. That was all right. At least Tory could hear his voice. He had a great, rumbling voice. An object d’art, she reminded herself. Damn. More men followed her guy inside. “Please, could we shut the door?” A woman in the waiting room spoke up, timidly. Amma hastily went and shut the waiting room door, safely isolating the women from all the testosterone. Lots of testosterone. Tory blinked. Somehow she just hadn’t realized what to expect. She could understand why this wasn’t the place to be if you didn’t like men. They filled the small lobby. All of them were young, big, broad-shouldered, fit…completely and utterly uninterested guys. Tory looked at the blank, stern faces. A few looked uncomfortable. Not a one looked at her. Objects d’art, she mentally grumbled. Well, Tory qualified, maybe her guy had looked at her. After all he had sunglasses on so she could imagine him staring at her with lust in his eyes. That’s what guys on Earth did. Yeah. Right. “Very well, Captain Aric, why don’t you see your men are sent to the individual deposit rooms?” Amma spoke in a professionally polite voice. He was an officer. Yummy. “Let us know when we can pick up the bottles.”

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Eww. They were going to have to…? Tory hastily tried to make her face blank. Too late. Captain Aric, the hottie in the sunglasses, was definitely looking at her now. “I haven’t seen her before. Does she know what to do?” he asked. “Forgive me. Captain, this is Tory. She’s a trainee. Tory has been instructed in everything she needs to know,” Amma said.

No she hasn’t. Liar, liar, pants on fire. Tory had a feeling if she did know, she might run screaming from the building. What she’d expected from a sperm bank, Tory wasn’t sure, but the whole thing was just too weird. “Actually, Amma, she hasn’t,” Faye spoke up. “She couldn’t have been taught the proper procedure for reluctant donors.” Amma shot Faye a reproving glance and then smoothed her own face out. “You’re right. But we can defer that part of the training until sometime when it’s necessary for Tory to learn the procedure. I’m sure none of the captain’s men require --” “Tory isn’t a certified sperm worker without that part of the training,” Faye cut in, smoothly. “She can’t really work with us otherwise.” “Gentlemen, you may retire to the deposit rooms,” Aric said. The words sounded like a request, but Tory knew an order when she heard it. The men did too. They each walked off to the tiny cubicle-like rooms. Tory couldn’t imagine a place less likely to produce sperm from a guy. But then, maybe Androvians went for the barren decor. She had a feeling Earth guys expected some magazines, a few films, a lot of praise for their efforts. As if their job was as difficult as giving birth. The captain stayed in the hall. Thank God he wasn’t one of the donors. Tory really wasn’t sure how she would manage to pick up that deposit bottle. “There you are, ladies.” He nodded his head, just a trifle. “Everything should be taken care of shortly.” “Oh, Captain! Just a moment. Could you help us out here a little more?” Faye sounded sweet. Maybe a little too sweet. Why wasn’t she shrinking away from the big, bad male? “Yes?” “Since you are in charge of sperm donors today, couldn’t you volunteer to complete Tory’s training?” Faye gestured to Tory. Tory saw the brave captain go pale. Amma made a strange noise. Oh oh. Whatever was going to happen next wasn’t going to be pretty.

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“Of -- of course.” He didn’t sound very sure of himself suddenly. “I can’t imagine anyone else volunteering for this.” “Then I’ll just get the examining room ready. It won’t take a moment.” Faye smiled and disappeared. “Really, Tory, you don’t have to --” Amma told her. “Have to what?” Tory tried not to sound as desperate as everyone else looked. “There are certain accepted procedures we use for reluctant males.” Amma began talking a little faster than usual. “A sperm bank helper is trained to assist in collecting sperm…” Stripping for the donor? No, that wouldn’t work on this planet. If she was doing the stripping it might not even work on Earth. A hand job? What? “All ready!” Faye called from the door. Everyone in the hall stepped forward at the same time. Faye handed the captain a hospital gown. Faye smiled again and handed Tory some surgical gloves. Tory took Faye’s offering, stared at them and gulped. She knew she wasn’t going to like this. “I’ll get ready.” Aric sounded stoic and brave as he stepped into the examining room. Sort of like someone regretting he had but one life to give for his country. “What am I supposed to do?” Tory hissed once he was gone. “Don’t worry, dear. I’ll explain step by step. Just remember this is one reason we get paid so well. The procedure will be over quicker than you would imagine,” Amma said. “Sometimes it takes longer,” Faye commented. “Faye, I can take over. You may leave now.” Amma’s tone sharpened. “The fewer the witnesses, the easier things go.” Faye smiled, far too sweetly. Tory was really beginning to dislike that smile. “Don’t forget the special gel,” Faye murmured as she glided away. Tory almost dropped the gel when she saw what waited for her. Captain Aric had a hell of a nice naked tush. There he was legs apart, knees slightly bent, leaning over the examining table, showing off his buns of steel. “Steady, Tory. Perfect position, Captain,” Amma said. Oh, yeah! Perfect. “Tory, put on the gloves and grease up your fingers.” Oh. My. God. “I’m not sure how familiar you are with male anatomy living on -- I mean, living where you did. However, we have discovered that certain massage techniques can persuade even

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the most reluctant of donors to do his duty.” Amma sounded like she was rattling off a rehearsed speech. “Tory, the first step is to insert a finger…there.” Amma pointed. Tory gulped. She thought she heard an echo of that gulp from the male in front of them. She was rattled enough that she almost didn’t cop a feel off those fantastic buns before she gingerly pressed a finger on the anus of a man she hardly even knew. She was glad she had her index finger well lubed, since for a moment the tight opening resisted her probing. It wasn’t that she hadn’t done something like this once or twice with other guys… But this was weird. She put her other hand on the captain’s rigid back. “Relax and this will go a lot better,” she murmured. “Exactly.” Amma sounded pleased. “Now, Tory, if you just slowly and gently push your finger further in until you reach the prostate…do you know what to look for?” “I think so.” Tory rubbed a tiny circle around his asshole first. He relaxed, infinitesimally. “Then go ahead.” The captain let out a sharp breath as she wedged her finger in slowly, carefully past the hard round ridge. This was Deviant World, for heaven’s sake! Why was the man acting like a virgin? This couldn’t have been his first time. Well, it probably was his first with a woman working on him. Tory leaned over his back and whispered in his ear, “I promise to be very gentle.”

“Dominus.” She hoped that meant he was all right with what she was doing. Gradually she slid in further, found the bump that was his prostate. Thank God. She didn’t think either of them could stand too much probing. “Got it,” Tory managed to say. “Then rub,” Amma ordered. “I must say, you are a quick student.” Tory could feel him begin to tremble as she began the massage. She heard him drag air in and out of his lungs. He leaned his head on the massage table, giving a sound rather like a sob. He bucked and Tory wasn’t sure if he was trying to jerk away from her finger or toward it. Clenching her jaw, Tory rubbed faster. His ass rubbed against her hand in a harsh rhythm. Her other hand rested against that muscular back. It trembled. God, he needed to finish fast or she was going to jump him. This was actually getting her hot. “Oh, Zorah!” Amma lunged forward with a jar. “This is happening much faster than usual.” He moaned, collapsing against the table, and Amma tsked.

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“That was a little too fast. I didn’t have a chance to collect anything.” She sounded disapproving. Tory very carefully pulled her finger out. He gasped again. “Sorry.” The captain muttered, keeping his face away from them both. “I’ll just clean myself up here, if you’ll excuse me.” “Very well. Not bad, Tory, for a first time.” Amma turned toward the door. Tory hesitated. She pulled off the glove and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, staring at her with a wild look in his eyes. Tory smiled weakly and whispered, “Thank you.” When he walked out, he was dressed in his uniform, all traces of disorder gone from his clothing and expression. Tory thought he did walk a little more stiffly. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, ladies.” Aric nodded to them and walked outside. The captain was back. Tory watched that gorgeous ass disappear from view and shifted uncomfortably. She’d probably never get her hands on those buns again. However. However. However… Captain Hottie had just taken himself off duty for a few minutes. He probably would yawn in her face, but what was the harm in going and trying to strike up a conversation with him? Besides, she should talk to him about…about donor screening. Yeah. That was it. Those guys looked mighty strong and healthy but Amma hadn’t said anything about how the donors got selected. What tests did these guys pass? It was her duty as a new Femmeland inhabitant to check on this with the Captain. Yeah. That’s right. After all, he was in charge. “I’ll be back soon too,” Tory whispered. “I know, dear. You did very well but the first time is a bit unsettling. Come back once you’ve regained your composure.” Amma patted her on the back. She did feel a little unsettled. Maybe not for the reason all those women in the waiting room did, but Tory was definitely edgy. Now she could imagine -- in detail -- what all those guys had to be doing in those rooms. It was a weird turn-on. Though realizing they were doing it under orders made it all seem like such a waste. But the captain had volunteered. More or less. Maybe watching the captain look bored -- or embarrassed -- when he saw her would snap her back to reality. Femmeland reality, anyhow. She knew she could try to act nonchalant and pretend her next meeting with Captain Aric didn’t matter. But nothing was going to keep her from tracking down that hot male body and seeing what else she could rub. In private.

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***** Usually Aric strolled around the outpost a little during these trips. Women’s ways of living fascinated him. Androvian barracks were kept clean. Any shrubs were trimmed and orderly. But here there were buckets of flowers on the doorsteps. Flowers? There was no point to flowers. But they were colorful and feminine. Aric had paused to sniff the colorful blossoms more than once, hoping no one caught him doing such a foolish thing. Women were just such different and exotic creatures. Today, though, Aric knew he couldn’t linger among the brightly painted little houses and try to imagine what the inhabitants were doing. He headed for the back of the Jeep and, for just a moment, rested his forehead against the canvas, breathing hard. It had happened. After years of coming here just to be near the women, he’d finally lost his mind. The new one. Tory. She had actually looked at him. He was sure she’d really noticed him. Not just a passing gaze, but a real up-and-down stare. As if she was interested. Even before… It hadn’t been just the look, though that stare had promised delightful things. Things he wasn’t even sure he knew about but now desperately wanted to know. No, it was more than how she watched him. It was everything. Tory wore a uniform like everyone else but she looked different. She looked like someone who wouldn’t mind getting out of that uniform. He even liked how she moved. She walked…sexy. She walked as if she knew he was looking at her. Even better, like she knew and liked him looking. And then she’d -- oh, Dominus. She’d talked to him afterward. She’d thanked him. She’d done things to him that he’d never let another male do in his whole life and things no female had ever wanted to do to him. He’d have given his right arm and maybe even more important parts of his body to have some woman do half of what she’d done and she had thanked him. A shiver ran down his spine. If he hadn’t gone out of his mind, maybe he’d found another deviant. A female one. He hadn’t even known that was what he’d been waiting for all these years. “Captain?” He stopped breathing for a moment. Aric already knew the sound of that voice. It was husky, but not masculine. It sounded amused and interested and…female. Very female. “Ma’am?”

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He was afraid to turn around. Despite his recent adventures, his body was already showing too much interest. If she wasn’t a deviant she’d scream and run to have him arrested. But he couldn’t help wondering what she’d do if she was… She touched him. Her hand rested on his elbow. He looked down at it, stunned and delighted. “I wanted to ask you a question, if you don’t mind.” “Yes?” He was afraid he would say yes to anything she asked. “It’s about the donors. I --” She had already managed to slide her body closer to his, although he still wasn’t facing her. And his body was reacting very strangely. He wasn’t completely innocent. He’d been part of the Unit most of his adult life. He’d heard enough talk and seen enough in the barracks concerning sexual arousal, of course, but Aric had never felt anything quite this strong before. Not for a flesh-and-blood person. Funny. He’d thought he never would. People admired him for his stoic indifference to things. Pain, delight, and comfort were all things he accepted but didn’t try to either achieve or avoid. Now a female hand on his elbow was driving him out of his mind. His erection was becoming almost painful. Then the female body the hand belonged to moved and stood directly in front of him. His hands were still spread on the Jeep’s tailgate. Her head was between his two arms. And her body was much too close to his. It was almost like an embrace. He could smell her. Women smelled different. Aric had never been close enough to one to know that. He liked this one’s scent. Her brown eyes, wide and -- interested, definitely interested -- looked directly into his. “I was wondering how healthy your men are.” “Healthy?” “Uh huh. Since they’re donors, they need to be…healthy.” “Everyone in the Unit is healthy or they don’t stay in the Unit.” His voice didn’t sound normal. He was afraid to clear it, though. “I thought so. You look really…strong, for example. But it doesn’t hurt to be sure.” She put a hand on his shoulder. Sweat trickled down his body, almost the way it had in the examining room. His cock, aroused and very curious, was already brushing the woman’s thigh. What had she done to him? He was doing everything he could to keep himself from ramming his penis against her and he wasn’t sure he could prevent doing so much longer. “I don’t think what you’re doing is a good idea,” Aric managed. “Females aren’t permitted to touch Androvians without good reason.”

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Aric grimaced. She ought to know that. Didn’t she know that? Why had he been stupid enough to tell her if she didn’t know that! He wanted her to touch him. If he could just control himself, that is. She smiled at him. A real smile. “Sorry. Then I suppose I should never do this?” The female straightened herself as high as she could and kissed him. Things got a little unclear after that. He remembered how good her lips and then -- oh, Dominus -- her tongue felt. The next time his brain focused at all, he realized he had Tory pinned down on the floor in the back of the truck and was running his hands under her dress. Yes. Her skin felt so good. Soft and supple. Delicate. He touched her breast. Amazing. When his callused fingers stroked her female nipple, it changed under his hand. Aric was intrigued. Intrigued and hard enough to explode. His other hand fondled the second nipple and it, too, tightened into a hard point. He wanted to touch more, to see what else this female’s body could do. She was making strange, whimpering noises. Or was that him? He ought to try to stop. Whimpering was damned unmanly. Then she reached under his leggings, and slowly her fingers drifted down. They hesitated.

Please. Hurry. No, wait. This felt too good. A female hand that knew exactly how to tease and pleasure his cock? This had to be a fantasy. Please. He didn’t want to wake up. She ran her fingers lightly over his cock. Traced her way to his balls. He whimpered louder. He wasn’t soft or delicate. He was rigid, rather than supple. He -- he forgot what he was. When those maddening fingers lingered, stroking the head of his cock, all he knew was he had to get inside her or he’d die. Inside her? Could a man get inside of a woman? The strange red haze that had swept over him after she’d kissed him swept back again and he lost track of what happened for a while. “Hurry, oh please, hurry,” was what he heard her whispering in his ear when he was actually able to think again. He realized his leggings were pulled down somehow and her dress was undone. The glimpses of her naked body below that dress made his breath hiss in. Oh, Dominus. He knew he shouldn’t be doing whatever it was that he was doing right now. This was so delicious that it had to be deviant sex. Even if what she was doing to him felt wonderful. Even if he’d die if he couldn’t experience more and more. Her fingers stroked his balls and he bucked against that delightfully female body. Then her fingers guided his cock to rest against something warm and yielding.

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All his internal protests stopped abruptly. This had to be wrong, but he didn’t care any more. Aric had to keep going. Had to. He hurt from wanting whatever the next step was in this mystery. Aric knew, somehow, this present hurt was going to change into something even more achingly wonderful soon -- but by now even this hurt felt more like pleasure than pain. His very hard erection began to slide into that something. A something that was soft and tight and hot and wet and…different. Very different from anything he’d ever imagined. Tantalizingly, deliciously different. He thought his heart might stop from the wonder. This was even better than what she’d done last time and he’d loved that. He groaned long and loud. “Good. So good.” Aric could hear his voice muttering those words over and over. He looked. He wasn’t sure if you were supposed to, but he had to look, to watch his cock bury itself deep into a woman. To have his thighs rub against a woman’s thighs. He’d never seen anything more beautiful. There was nothing more beautiful. She felt even better. Could all women feel this wonderful or just this one? Did it matter? The inside of this woman was able to cling tightly to his erection. She could sheathe his entire demanding cock inside of her. Even better, once she did, her muscles kneaded the most sensitive areas on his body, demanding that he get harder, thrust longer, push further inside. He wanted to, desperately, but he also wanted to linger and explore. He might have been able to just stop and savor the difference for a while if the woman below him hadn’t started to twist and squirm. Not that he wanted to complain about it really. What she did just heightened the wonderful feelings she was managing to create. Her sheath, wet and clinging, tightened around him still more until he needed to convulse into her. He tried to wait. He tried to hold himself steady and not move. She was obviously not of the same mind. Her fingernails bit into his shoulders and then her teeth did the same to his chin. Somehow that was too much. His body screamed at his mind to give in. His body won. Aric thrust forward hard. Dominus. That wasn’t helping him linger. The friction between their bodies increased the tremendous pressure building inside him. But now he enjoyed the pressure. He threw back his head to groan, still trying to keep control, but then -Aric exploded. He’d sexually relieved himself often enough before, in his room, alone in the dark, with wicked thoughts about a woman in his mind. Better yet, he’d just had that done to him for the first time in a brightly lit room while a woman massaged his anus and another looked on. He’d never climaxed in a Jeep with his uniform still half on and a sobbing female beneath him. Dominus, this was the best of all. Wildly, Aric wondered if he could stop. He’d never come so long or so hard before. When he finally finished, Tory let out a gasp and he

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felt her tighten around him, even more fiercely, as if to be sure to get every last drop of sperm he was capable of creating. Aric was more than willing. He emptied himself completely. When it was finally over, Aric felt a weird mix of triumph and disappointment. He felt good. Really good. Better than he could ever remember feeling in his life. But now it was over. He didn’t like that part. But, like it or not, his world was changing back to normal. Gradually Aric felt the air creeping back into his lungs. The sweat dried on his body. He began to notice just how hard the Jeep floor was on his knees. Yes, he must be back to himself again. He let out a long sigh and managed to push himself off of the smaller body below him. Crushing the woman would be a poor reward for the best experience of his life. Then he fell to the floor next to her. He wasn’t quite back to normal. Apparently he’d been curiously weakened from the experience. Perhaps he just needed to rest. He licked his lips and refused to open his eyes. His brain wasn’t resting. It had filled with questions. What was he supposed to say to this woman? She had been willing, he was pretty sure, but she wasn’t saying anything either. Females were a mystery. What if she hadn’t been willing? Aric swallowed hard. Or what if she had been, but he’d done things all wrong and now she was horrified or angry? Then he heard her stirring next to him. When a sly, wet tongue licked one of his ears, he jumped. “So, Captain.” “So?” he squeaked. Squeaked? Oh, Dominus, what had become of him? “You think you might want to do this again?”

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Chapter Four Yes. His eyes opened and he saw amused brown eyes looking back at him. She certainly didn’t appear angry or horrified. “Not now,” he managed to say. He didn’t think he could give her anything more right now. Suddenly those eyes didn’t look amused. They looked quite hurt. “Pardon me.” Her voice had gone icy. “Sorry if I disturbed you.” “Disturbed me? You shattered me, woman!” Aric grumbled. “I just meant --” He frantically tried to think of some excuse other than his own strange inability to perform the way she had obviously wanted him to. “I meant that I’m sure we have to be back at the clinic.” Aric finished the sentence and then it registered. Dominus, they did have to be at the clinic! She blinked and suddenly looked confused and embarrassed. Aric was entranced. Did all women have such constantly changing moods? “I forgot.” “We can’t be caught,” he said with more command than he felt. Aric began to straighten his tunic, praying he didn’t look too rumpled. “Right.” She jumped to her feet and smoothed her apron carefully before fumbling about for her undergarments. “I knew that.” She paused and winked at him. “Don’t worry. You still look great. I’m the one who is going to look like a slut if I can’t find those damned high heels.”

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“You look wonderful,” he told her and felt heat creeping up his face when she stared at him. He was gazing down at her with stars in his eyes and they both knew it. She looked up at him -- way up at him -- and smiled. Oh, Dominus, he was getting turned on again. She was intriguingly small. Tory might be taller than most of the women at the outpost but she was smaller than almost any man he knew. She had beautiful red-gold hair that was cut shorter than most of the women in Femmeland, but hair that still glittered and enticed. She had delicious curves on her body that he’d been allowed to touch freely. Yes, she definitely looked wonderful. Aric was sure he’d never seen anyone sexier in his life. He picked up a piece of her clothing and then almost dropped it as he realized what he had. He was handling a woman’s frilly…underpants. He handed it to her and she took it slowly, deliberately stroking his palm as she reached for her clothing. Things had changed. Just an hour ago the thought of touching a woman’s underpants would have been enough to enthrall him for days. But now he was kicking himself for passing up a second chance to see what must be underneath her clothes. Or what wasn’t. “Maybe I’ll keep this,” Aric heard himself saying, refusing to loosen his grip on what had become his prize. “As a memento.” She ought to be angry. That was crude. She probably knew what he would do with it when he was alone. Instead her eyes smiled at him. “What do I get in return?” “What do you want? I don’t have anything as lovely as your clothing. Or you,” he finished boldly. “I think that may be the nicest thing any guy has ever said to me -- especially considering the circumstances.” She shoved her shoes on, grimacing as she began to walk in them. “So you aren’t mad at me for jumping you?” “Just let me have the chance to reciprocate.” Her eyes lit up. He thought, but couldn’t be sure, that she’d released a pent-up breath of air. “Sure! Oh yeah. Definitely,” she said with that odd accent that he was becoming fond of. Her enthusiasm warmed him too. “But when? Where?” “I don’t know. This isn’t the best place.” Aric swallowed as he realized he was trying to figure out how to make an assignation with a female. That was outside his entire spectrum of experience. “I know that!” She sounded impatient. “But I’m new here. Isn’t there anywhere a male and female can meet together?” The revelation hit him. She truly did want to be with him again. In fact she was anxious to see him. For a novice he must not have done too badly. Her interest was flattering -- and terrifying.

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“No.” Aric started to say. But his mind was racing almost as fast as his heart. She wanted them to meet. How often did a chance like that happen? He had to think quickly! Then he had the answer. “No-Land.” “Noland? Where’s that?” “No-Land. It’s where known deviants live. Deviants, outcasts, outlaws.” Aric had been there once or twice to retrieve men from the Unit who had committed crimes and run. He’d never thought he would willingly suggest it as a place to meet anyone. “Where is No-Land?” “Further out. Right on the border between our nations.” Aric could feel his skin crawl as he said the words. He wasn’t an outlaw or outcast. He’d spent his entire life promoting law and order. He liked law and order. He thrived on predictability. Then he looked at the woman in front of him, her hair slightly ruffled from their shared sexual experience. He fingered the panties that were safely in his belt pouch, and reminded himself that he was a deviant. No-Land was the only place that deviants could safely go. “Sounds perfect. How will I get there?” She wasn’t ashamed of her deviancy. In fact Tory seemed to enjoy what they’d done. Well, he had too. But shouldn’t he feel guilty? She smiled at him before she jumped down from the back of the Jeep. For a moment he caught a glimpse of her thigh as the breeze swooped her full skirts up. He knew then he felt more aroused than guilty. “Meet me outside the outpost tonight about a half mile from the main road. I’ll take you there,” Aric heard himself saying. Perhaps this was some elaborate trap to catch him and expose his hidden desires. He’d be thrown out of the Unit in a heartbeat if anyone knew about his perverted needs. His whole life would be tossed aside. Tory pursed her lips and blew him a kiss. He swallowed very hard. Of course if no one ever asked him about his deviant sex life and he never told anybody, this all just might work out. Aric jammed his sunglasses on his face and followed Tory back into the clinic. With his eyes hidden, he could enjoy watching this particular female rear end. He sighed. Why even try to kid himself? It didn’t matter if he eventually got caught. He was about to embark on a life of deviancy and he couldn’t wait to begin. He couldn’t ever settle for just fantasy again. He’d found a beautiful, sensual, sexual deviant and he wanted her like he’d never wanted anything else before. Oh, Dominus.

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***** Tory smiled as she swirled her white wine around in her glass. She couldn’t believe this. Apparently Friday night was party time at Outpost Snapdragon. Amma and Mitzi were having a cocktail party at the Outpost Recreation Center and it looked like almost everyone had showed up. “Some melon balls? Maybe some brie?” Mitzi came up with a tray of hors d’oeuvres. “Not right now, thanks.” Tory’s stomach was in knots. She was supposed to meet Aric in about an hour and it looked like the whole outpost had not only arrived but was settling in for the duration of the night. If that wasn’t enough for her stomach, the white wine was really too sweet to drink. “Some hummus?” “Hey, Mitzi. I just realized something. Is everyone a vegetarian in Femmeland?” “Oh, not really. We all just think we need to be conscious of our health. Some of us do have objections to using animals, of course.” Mitzi scooped up some hummus and put it on Tory’s plate. “No steaks, no chicken, no lamb?” “Once in a while. I mean, I believe you should do everything in moderation. When Amma and I feel like splurging we often eat salmon pate, for example.” Mitzi smiled and drifted on to other guests. What did guys eat in Androvia? Tory wondered. Raw steak? They probably smoked cigars afterwards. Then belched. Tory smiled to herself. Then she realized there was a brown-haired woman smiling back at her from the corner. Oh God. She was finally a femme fatale at a party and it was an all female party. When Tory had borrowed the slinky little black dress from Mitzi she’d had in mind meeting Aric after a quick stop at the party. Now she realized she and her dress were the main attraction here. Mentally Tory kicked herself. She should have realized that. If she’d been at home she would have counted on it. After all, she was new, she was young, and she was unattached. It was sort of like the meat markets she had avoided for years at home. She was the fresh meat. Thank God no one could see what she had on underneath. Someone had turned on the clunky-looking radio in the corner. Mitzi came back to Tory with a new tray of food. The brown-haired woman walked up, tapped Mitzi on the shoulder and said, “Hey, you’re already taken. Mind if I snag this one instead?” She turned to look directly at Tory. “I’m Daisy, by the way. Pleased to meet you.” Mitzi laughed and stepped back. To her shock, Tory was whirled away to dance. Wonderful. The music was slow and Tory was dancing cheek-to-cheek, breast-to-breast with a woman. She tried to imagine herself dancing with a sister. That’s right, a sister.

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Daisy leaned over and blew in her ear. Despite herself, Tory shivered with delight. Apparently it didn’t matter who blew in her ear. She still loved it. Tory tried to come up with something clever to say but could only manage, “You’re a great dancer.” “Only when I dance with a beautiful woman like you.” Daisy giggled and twirled Tory around, then let her hand trail down Tory’s naked back. When Daisy gave her a little dip, Tory almost bit her tongue. Finally -- finally! -- the music ended. Tory smiled and hesitantly said, “I really need to talk to Mitzi now. Thanks so much.” She had to get out of here before Daisy did that again. Tory tried to walk quietly rather than scuttle back to her mentor. When Tory found Mitzi she almost sobbed in relief. It was definitely time to leave the party. But how? “Mitzi?” Tory had a brilliant idea. “Yes, dear?” “I think I need to leave early. I guess it was the work at the clinic this morning. I’m just not in the mood to party tonight. I just need to be alone to calm down.” “Oh, you poor thing! I know just how you feel.” Mitzi fluttered around her. “I’ll walk you home.” “No! No! I just want to be alone.” Tory could see her whole evening going down the tubes while the other woman mothered her. “Really.” “I hope the job won’t be too much for you.” Mitzi’s concern was genuine, but Tory wasn’t sure if the concern was for her or for the problems it would cause if they needed to find another sperm bank worker. “I’ll get used to it.” “I hope so. Amma and I need to talkneed to talk to you tomorrow. The leaders are a little perturbed with what we’ve done. Actually Amma couldn’t make it here for the party because they’re keeping her in town a little late to talk to her.” Mitzi smiled but Tory knew there was more than that perturbing incident going on. Mitzi whimpered over minor things. When she smiled without a care in the world -- that meant something was very wrong. “Tomorrow.” Tory couldn’t think about what the problem might be tonight. She’d deal with Femmeland tomorrow. She sidled towards the door, avoiding the glances of one or two women. Once she shut the door behind her, Tory let out a sigh of relief. She was headed manward.

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Chapter Five Tory almost walked past him, he blended in so well. She would have missed him in the dark if his very large, muscular arm hadn’t shot out to stop her. “Hey.” Tory stopped. She just stayed there, letting his arm rest against her. If anyone else had told Tory that she planned to do this, Tory would’ve said that person was nuts. It was dangerous going out in the dark to meet men you didn’t know well. Come to think of it, it was dangerous to have sex with guys you didn’t know too. Then again, this was Aric. Tory could already tell the guy was probably too honest for his own good. Besides, she was the one who’d done all the pouncing. Someone probably should have warned him instead. Damn, he just felt good. She couldn’t help herself. She was being forced to pounce again. Tory leaned forward and gave Aric another hot, open-mouthed kiss. Like before, he hesitated then responded. Within seconds, all hesitation gone, he took over. At the point he had her leaned up against his motorcycle and was beginning to inch one finger up her thighs, she realized she trusted him completely. She had from the minute she’d seen him. Why else would she let him do this? Besides… “You’re wearing a motorcycle jacket!” Tory did her best not to sigh. “A black leather motorcycle jacket and black jeans.” “I wear black. I ride motorcycles.” Aric sounded puzzled. “So I wear a black motorcycle jacket and jeans.” She decided not to talk about her own little fantasies -- especially since Aric had already stopped moving his hand up her thigh while he tried to figure out what she’d let slip so far. But he was so perfect! Sure, some other guys she’d been out with had biker gear, but not a one looked tougher or more competent in that gear than Aric. It was too bad she could

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barely see him in the murk. Then again, if she ever got to a place where she could really make a study of him, she’d probably go insane with lust. Tory smiled a little. He wasn’t the only one wearing something sexy. Her borrowed dress must be working. Aric was obviously glad to see her. Very glad. “Would you like to skip No-Land and -- um -- camp here?” Tory suggested. “Here? The squitos would eat us alive if we took our clothes off!” Aric stopped and his voice held the faintest note of uncertainty. “That is, if we’re going to take our clothes off?” “There’s some other way to have sex?” Tory asked. Then she stopped. He was going to dump her. She’d finally found an equally sex-starved maniac on this insane planet and he was going to dump her. What was wrong with her? “I just wasn’t sure if you wanted to.” “I came here, didn’t I?” “Females don’t think like we do. I wasn’t sure.” Aric shrugged. “Besides, I just…well, I wasn’t sure.” “About what?” “If you liked it.” “It?” Tory fought a desire to laugh. “You know,” he said quietly. “What we did before.” “All the moaning and twitching I was doing didn’t convince you?” Tory did laugh at last. “I was just being polite?” “Well, I don’t know, Dominus take it! Maybe all women do that. How can I tell?” He snapped the words out at her. Tory bit her lip. She shouldn’t have laughed. Aric’s ego must have been very hurt. The light dawned. This guy was really inexperienced. Of course he was. He didn’t know much more about No-Land than she did. If he didn’t, and she was sure he didn’t, how else did he meet heterosexual, willing people? “I think you’re asking if it was good for me.” She leaned over and brushed her tongue across his lips. He jumped, his eyes half shutting. He looked a little like Cheryl’s dog getting a belly rub. “Trust me, no woman leaves a party in the middle of the night and braves the…um…squitos and everything else to meet a guy unless she wants to meet him.” “Really?” His voice sounded fearfully hopeful. “Oh, damn.” Tory knew she couldn’t resist that tone any more than she could resist Cheryl’s dog when it begged for more belly rubs. “Actually we don’t have to have our clothes off to have sex. At least a little sex.” He gulped a bit roughly. “A little…?” She leaned over and fumbled for his fly in the dark, then felt him jump when she found it. She heard his quick hiss when she finally unbuttoned him. Poor guy. He couldn’t have

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ever done anything like this before either. Tory slid down his body and fastened her lips over his straining penis. “Tory?” he rasped out. “Is this what you’re supposed to…” Aric stopped talking abruptly. His fingers gripped her shoulders as he began expanding inside her mouth. “Oh, Dominus.” Tory would have giggled if she could have. Her deviant really liked this. If it was possible to ignore a cock straining in her mouth, she could’ve figured it out just from the noise. The continuous, not entirely human grunts he was making inspired her to work even faster, even deeper. Of course his almost involuntary thrusts were a good clue too. She had just begun working her fingers around his swollen balls -- something she could tell he approved of because the grunting turned into moaning -- when she heard a different sound. Tory hastily tore her mouth and hands away. “What…?” Aric gasped. “Don’t stop now!” “There’s a car on its way!” Tory stood hastily and pulled them both further into the shadows. “We’re on the main road, for heaven’s sake!” “I forgot.” Tory permitted herself one small, smug smile as they watched the car’s headlights come closer to them. Of course Aric had forgotten where they were. In another minute he’d have forgotten his own name. They watched the big old Hudson go by them and Tory relaxed. They had somehow gotten out of that one. “I guess we shouldn’t do this on the road.” Tory figured she was the one who had to be sensible here. She wasn’t sure how sensible Aric was feeling at the moment, especially from what she could feel with him pressed up against her rear. “No. We shouldn’t.” He sounded mournful. Then his tone changed to brisk as he adjusted his pants. “What we should do is go.” Aric unexpectedly swept her up and put her on the motorcycle as easily as if she didn’t weigh -- well, never mind. He was even stronger than he looked, and he looked plenty strong. “It will be dawn before you know it and then we’ll need to get back.” Clinging to his back, Tory pondered just how happy Aric was to see her. Was it her…or anyone? When they got to No-Land would he hook up with some other deviant woman now that he realized everything he’d been missing before? Maybe she was just the first step on his downward path. He didn’t have anyone else to compare her with. Tory tightened her grip. Fine. She’d make sure he didn’t have the chance to compare and contrast. This one was hers.

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With that thought, Tory let her hand drift down his waist and between his legs. She heard a familiar grunt and smiled. Then she deliberately unzipped his fly and fondled that very thick cock. She knew Aric was thinking of nothing but her right now. “If you want us to get there at all, you have to stop.” Aric’s voice sounded husky. “Oh. Sorry.” Tory smiled again. No she wasn’t. And when she got to No-Land, whatever else it offered, she hoped there was a hotel room. That was her goal and she wasn’t going to let anything distract her from her purpose.

***** Tory finished sucking down her weak strawberry Daiquiri. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting from No-Land, but a bar that looked a lot like her neighborhood bar from home wasn’t quite it. Beside her, though, Aric was staring. Well, he was trying not to stare but he kept looking up and forgetting to look back down. Tory suppressed a sigh. How could she blame him for staring? She had to imagine herself in a gay bar for the first time. “Tory…” He bent over and whispered to her. “That man and woman are dancing together.” “Yes, Aric. They are. That happens all the time on --” She bit back what she was going to say. Aric was already having a tough time grappling with No-Land. What would he do if she started to describe Earth to him and then mentioned she was from there? “-- all the time here, I’m sure,” she finished. Aric was mesmerized. No-Land music was a bit peculiar…it sounded a little like Motown ‘60s music without the pep. Sometimes it sounded like something from the ‘50s. Still, the couple dancing seemed to enjoy it. “Do you want to dance with me, Aric?” she asked. He looked at her as if she’d proposed that he strip and dance naked on the table. For a moment her mind wandered to that possibility, and then she firmly reined that unruly imagination back. He swallowed. “Sure.” If he would do that, maybe he would strip naked and dance on the -- well, she could suggest that some other time. For now Tory stood up and he followed her to the floor. The music began a nice slow tune. Aric smiled down at her, a little uncertainly. Then they held onto each other and began to sway. “This is nice,” Aric murmured, sounding a little stunned. “I get to touch you this way.” “Isn’t that good?” Tory snuggled closer. This felt so much better than her last dance.

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Tory tilted her head up and blew in Aric’s ear. Now that she’d been reminded just how fun that was, she planned to convince him that deviant women also loved that kind of thing. At least this deviant woman did. Preferably when a male did it. He jumped and then stared down at her. For a moment he looked puzzled and then he gave her a slow smile. He’d gotten the message. He leaned forward and returned the favor. Mmmm. Captain Hottie seemed like a quick learner. Tory was sorry when the music ended and they wandered back to the table. Once they sat down, though, Tory realized Aric was focusing all his attention on her and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. What did Androvians talk about? “You make me nervous.” The two of them said the words at the same time. They smiled at each other. “Me?” Tory asked, breaking the ice. “Why do I make you nervous?” “Because I want to impress you and I don’t know how.” Well, Aric wasn’t one for hiding behind light conversation. And he didn’t mind showing his insecurities. Tory discovered she liked that. Maybe it made her more nervous, but she liked it. She reached out and took his hand. He stared down at the two palms touching, and cleared his throat. “I don’t understand females.” Aric looked at her for help. “Of course not. No man does.” Tory smiled at him. “But, trust me, I find you very impressive. You look so -- so big. And tough. And I’m finding out you’re also sort of sweet.” She thought he turned red then, but he said, “That impresses women?” “I can’t answer for women. I’m not women. I’m one woman. And I like your whole package.” “I like your package too.” Aric stopped and thought. “That doesn’t sound right. I like how you look. Very much. You look very different from a man. How different women are has always…intrigued me. But you also look different from any other Femmelander I’ve ever met.” Should she tell him why? Tory hesitated. She didn’t want to lie to someone who was being so touchingly honest. “I am different,” she compromised. “Someday I can tell you all the reasons why. But all women are different from each other.” “That sounds very complicated.” Aric’s fingers began to stroke her palm, cautiously and he smiled. “What do women -- no, what do you like? I want to know.” Tory wondered if he meant those words the way they sounded. She could imagine telling him just what she wanted in bed. Amazing. This guy didn’t even know how to use a pickup line and she was ready to melt just from what he said and how his hand felt against hers.

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But he was nice. Really nice. Incredibly, everything he was saying was unrehearsed. He hadn’t just hustled them off to a motel, which was what she’d half-expected. Aric really wanted to know about what she liked. She might have had to go to another planet to find him -- a gay planet at that -- but Tory had the feeling she’d finally discovered a really good guy. “Well, it seems to me that I like you. And I want to know about what you like too.” Tory smiled back at him. “I like talking to you.” Aric sounded stunned. “I’ve never really done that with any woman before. Not just talking to talk.” He qualified that with a sigh. “The women at Snapdragon don’t like to talk to men.” “I want to talk to you but --” Tory decided to be a little more direct. “I wouldn’t mind learning even more from you. We don’t have much time left tonight.” In a moment of inspiration, Tory slipped her shoe off and then ran her foot up the inside of Aric’s leg. He jumped as if he’d been hit with a cattle prod. Then he slowly settled back in his seat and stared at her. Tory was pretty sure he’d liked it. Aric was a little jumpy but he seemed receptive. She tried stroking her foot against his thigh again. This time he stayed there but he quivered. “Would you want…d’you think…?” Aric seemed to have lost his ability to say anything more. He finally managed, “Would you like to try sex again?”

Oh dear Lord, yes. “Yes. But not here.” Tory decided Aric wouldn’t faint if she raised one of his fingers to her mouth and sucked on it. He didn’t faint. But he looked like he wanted to. “Let me go to the restroom first and maybe we could find…another place?” She wasn’t sure how explicit she needed to be with Aric. “I thought you’d never ask.” He sounded almost as eager as she felt. But Tory didn’t leave immediately because he smiled at her. He really had such a nice smile. She blinked and made herself pull her hand away. “I’ll only take a minute,” she told him and meant every word. She didn’t want to be away from him much longer than that.

***** Tory wasn’t sure what instinct led her to look back before she got into the bathroom. Maybe the stare actually pierced through the cocoon of sensual pleasure she was starting to feel after finally getting to touch this guy in public. Maybe she was starting to feel as selfconscious as Aric. Anyhow, Tory looked his way and then gasped.

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Faye was looking back at her from across the bar. Then she deliberately turned away and went back to talking to Aric. This wasn’t the prison-warden-dressed Faye that Tory remembered. While the Faye at the clinic looked as sexless and dour as the Grim Reaper, this Faye had on a clinging red dress and fishnet stockings. Damn. Her red dress looked just as good on her as Tory’s black dress did. Even weirder, this Faye was smiling nicely. Not that fake smile she’d used before. She looked really pretty when she smiled. Damn it, she was smiling nicely at Aric.

Faye was a deviant? Tory tried to think fast but she wasn’t coming up with any ideas. Meanwhile Faye, still grinning like a loon, was leaning even closer to Aric, giving him a good view of her low cut her dress. Momentary disbelief over, Tory’s possessive instinct kicked in. Forget the potty break. Tory stalked back as fast as her high heels would carry her. Someone was moving in on her deviant. Faye stood up and pulled back the chair for Tory. Tory sat. Faye then moved another chair up and sat down between her and Aric. Faye smiled -- that damned sickly sweet smile again! -- before she wiggled a little closer to Aric. “What are you trying to do?” Tory demanded. Faye crossed her legs and shook her hair back. “Isn’t it obvious?” Faye drawled. “If I’d known Aric wasn’t just one of the boys I would have said hello years ago.” Tory wasn’t sure whether the strangled sound came from her or from Aric. “Greedy little hands off,” Tory hissed. “I got him.” Then she leaned over the table and kissed Aric slowly, lingeringly. She made sure that her hands touched everywhere and that her breasts moved against his chest. He kissed her back. His kiss was just as hot, just as possessive as she meant hers to be. Tory could feel herself weakening at the knees. He was the one who moved away first before she could turn into a big melted puddle of hormones at his feet. Staring at him, she knew she was almost as stunned as Aric looked. It took a moment or two before Tory remembered she had something else to do. She turned to Faye. “See? Mine.” “Oh?” Faye lifted one eyebrow. “If that’s how you claim him…” She leaned over and, just as slowly, rubbed herself against Aric. Then she kissed him. About the time Tory had recovered enough from her amazement to decide it was time to pull Faye away -- preferably by yanking her hair out -- Faye eased back. But not before she deliberately sank her teeth into Aric’s lower lip and purred. Faye then looked at Tory over her shoulder and said, “Mine now.”

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***** Aric wasn’t sure it was possible for him to get more aroused. He already knew that if he stood up, something he wasn’t even sure he could do right now, everyone in the bar would be able to tell just how hard he was. He’d been burning since he first touched Tory outside Outpost Snapdragon. Now he was blazing. Did this happen all the time in No-Land? He’d been a fool to stay away so long. “No.” Tory’s voice didn’t allow for argument. But the taller woman with the dark hair -- Aric remembered her from the clinic although he’d never been introduced -- didn’t seem inclined to argue any more. She just smiled and leaned over to sip from Aric’s beer. “Delicious.” She smiled at him. Then she turned to Tory. “I don’t think you understand. You live in Femmeland. No one knows where you come from. People are very curious about you. If anyone found out about you being a deviant -- well, Amma and Mitzi couldn’t help you. In fact they’d be in trouble themselves for sponsoring you and getting you a job.” “Why would anyone find out, Faye?” Tory glared at her. “I saw you back at the clinic. That’s why I followed you two out here. I just thought you ought to be warned about how people in Femmeland feel about public deviancy.” This Faye person was threatening Tory. Aric knew he ought to intervene, to back up Tory. He would if he could just get his mouth and brain functioning together again. And if he could think of some way to defend Tory. Aric desperately tried to switch his mind away from images of him watching the two women in front of him undressing him, kissing him, touching him. He wondered if having a permanent erection would be something he could get used to or if it would always demand as much attention as he wanted to give it now. He tried taking deep breaths. He had no idea what the standards for sexual behavior were in No-Land but, after a lifetime of repressing his desires, Aric had no intention of showing everyone in the bar just how aroused he could get. Too many men in Androvia didn’t care if anyone caught them having sex. Aric did. It didn’t matter that he was already in trouble as well as insanely lustful. He wasn’t going to break all his internal standards in just one night. He would not beg for sex in public. He hoped. The worst part was, watching the two women talking to each other in low, hissing whispers, almost mouth to mouth, was giving him some very inappropriate ideas. Aric wasn’t sure how excited he could get before breaking down. He already knew he was about ready to burst right now and he could tell that this was only the beginning. He’d also lost the thread of the conversation. He just barely managed to turn his head toward Tory when she said, “Right, Aric?” “I don’t know,” he responded as honestly as he could. He had no idea what she was asking.

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“Aric! You don’t want to…um…share, do you?” He bit his lip before he moaned out loud. He shouldn’t. He was still desperate to get inside Tory. He shouldn’t want more than that. All right, he might beg for sex in public. But he wouldn’t have it in public. Would he? “Of course he does.” Faye leaned closer toward him and he felt her hand drift down his pants. He knew he wasn’t hiding anything. “All real male deviants love that sort of thing. Trust me.” Then he felt Tory’s hand reach out -- whether to stop Faye’s hand or fondle him too, Aric didn’t know. He just knew that he was in Real Male Deviant Heaven with both their hands placed where they were. Or he would be if they just had some privacy. “Aric!” Tory sounded outraged. And intrigued? Aric hoped it wasn’t wishful thinking on his part, but he thought Tory sounded intrigued. “I’ll do whatever you want, Tory.” He cleared his throat. That statement hadn’t come out quite the way he meant it. Or had it? He squirmed, trying not to be obvious. But he was in the most painful pleasure of his life at the moment. Neither woman removed her hand. He began reciting the multiplication table in his head. “I like that attitude in a deviant.” Faye winked at him and then turned back to Tory. “So? He isn’t objecting. In fact he’d sell his soul for the chance. Now, Tory, why argue? It’s such a waste of time.” “Faye, this isn’t --” “Keep your voice down. People are starting to notice us. You need to be discreet, you know. If someone finds out, both of you lose your jobs. The only way you’ll ever be able to live that way is in No-Land. Believe me, I’ve visited here enough to know that you only want to visit.” Faye traced her finger round the rim of Aric’s beer bottle while she pouted at them. Leave the Unit? Impossible. The Unit had given him everything. He barely knew the woman who had encouraged him to throw over his disciplined life for a few hours of illicit and illegal sex. Frighteningly enough, Aric knew he was besotted enough to at least consider giving up his whole way of life for Tory. But he certainly wouldn’t for another female who was willing to threaten him and Tory both. “Besides, I’m really, really good. I promise you’ll like it. Both of you.” Faye looked expectant. “I beg your pardon?” Tory gulped.

“I don’t mind sharing.” Faye twined her fingers in Tory’s hair and gave her a kiss. Tory squirmed, struggled, and finally relaxed as Faye kept on and on.

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Aric gripped the table. The chance to see Femmelanders together -- better yet several Femmelanders with him -- was another very private fantasy coming true. He switched from multiplication to dividing fractions in his head. Tory finally pulled back, looking stunned, her lipstick well smudged. Aric longed for the chance to lick the rest of it off. He started on mental trigonometry problems. He heard Tory sigh. “Fine. I’m more of a one gender at a time female, myself. But if I prove to you how good Aric and I are in bed, will you just leave us alone?” Aric mentally patted Tory on the…on the back, of course. If they gave in they could blackmail this Faye as effectively as she could them. After all, she was forcing them to do this. His cock twitched again. That meant right now his big and little heads were telling him that giving in was a smart idea.

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Chapter Six “So you’re telling us that you decided to abduct an Earthling without consulting anyone and then transport her here?” Leader Randa asked. “Without authorization? Without any preparation on this Earthling’s part? Without others on the outpost knowing?” “Yes.” Amma had been through this line of questioning before. None of the long answers had suited so she decided to save her breath. “Did any of our physicians check to see if she brought any diseases with her?” Leader Ursula broke in. “We’ve spent a considerable amount of money and time eradicating all sexually transmitted disease. I’d hate to have a new outbreak.” “No.” Amma braced herself and then tried a last-ditch attempt. “Tory fits in at Outpost Snapdragon. She’s taken on her duties there without complaint and it’s not an easy task. She seems uniquely suited for her job given the conditions we rescued her from.” “I guess we’ll have to see for ourselves,” Leader Randa told her grimly. “I expect to see you, your spouse, and the Earthling here tomorrow morning. Early. We’ll decide what to do then.” “You’ll see someone who was made for life in Femmeland. Really.” Amma spoke as confidently as she could. After all, her reputation depended on that certainty. “Tory is a perfect fit.”

***** Being a little drunk when a woman took you to bed helped, Tory decided. Maybe she should have tried that with Aric… Oh, right. She didn’t need to. Aric was next to her and he looked a little befuddled too.

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Then again he’d looked befuddled most of the evening. She wasn’t sure if all the beers he’d been drinking were really to blame. After all, while he drank, Faye had discussed at length what she wanted to do, along with where and when. Aric had looked more and more dazed as she went on. As they walked into the hotel lobby where Faye had a room, the hotel clerk looked up. She yawned and then blinked at the three of them. “Nice job, Faye,” the woman said. “Both of them are really prime.” “I do my best, Bett,” Faye answered. Bett tossed Faye the keys and smiled at Tory. “That one’s prettier, though. Let me know if you don’t want to keep her all night.” “I don’t get it,” Tory said as they went down the hall. “Aren’t all these folks deviants?” “Bettina isn’t. She’s here for the same reason a lot of females are here. She had a son.” Faye put the key into the hotel door. “What?” Tory was really puzzled now. “Once in a while Femmeland inhabitants don’t want to abide by the contracts we’ve signed,” Aric told her. “They want to keep a claim on their male offspring after the children are born.” “More than once in a while, bucko,” Faye said. “That’s why my sister lived here. Women get attached to the little rug rats, even though they are the wrong gender. When the time comes to give the boys up, the mothers run instead.” “That’s sad.” Tory wondered how she would feel if she had a son and had to give him up. Well, as long as her birth control pills held out she was safe. Besides, if any place in Tierra had contraceptive devices around, No-Land would be the spot. She caught Aric’s eye. For a change he didn’t look befuddled. He looked…tender. “I’d take care of him,” Aric whispered to her. “I’ve never mentored a small child before but you know I’d volunteer.” Tory’s breath caught. Of course he would. She could imagine a gray-eyed, serious little boy… No. No, she couldn’t. That would just be miserable. She could never leave a baby behind, not even with Aric to take care of him. And Tory was going to leave. She didn’t know how she was going to manage it yet, especially since she’d been unconscious for most of her trip to Tierra, but she had every intention of getting back to Earth. Amma and Mitzi might not tell her, but she’d find out somehow. “Hey. Hey, come back!” Faye nuzzled her neck and Tory shivered again. “We’re here. Alone at last. Just the three of us.” “Yes, we certainly are,” Aric agreed.

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Tory looked around. For a cheap motel room, it wasn’t so bad. The sheets even looked clean. Faye knew the right places to go, obviously. She relaxed a little as Faye switched on the tiny bedside lamp. This might not get as tacky as she thought. “So what would you like first, big boy?” Faye asked. “All you have to do is ask.” Or maybe it would get just that tacky. Tory smothered a sudden need to laugh. Her guy would never ask. Tory was sure of it. Just the look on Aric’s face told her that. They all waited. “C -- could you undress? Slowly?” A slight blush appeared on his face. “Both of you?” Wrong again. While Tory hesitated, Faye didn’t. She sat down and, after inching her short dress up her thighs, began to slowly push those fishnet stockings down. Her hands stroked her thighs as she did. Tory saw Aric was spellbound. Damn it, she didn’t have any stockings. Well, she could improvise. Tory began to unfasten the snaps on the side of her dress, one by one. Aric jumped with each click. It was a wonder his neck didn’t get whiplash as he whipped it from one woman to the other. Tory let the dress slide down her body. All she had left were her high heels and underwear. Aric finally stopped turning his head from side to side as he stared directly at her. Tory had chosen her undergarments with care today, all the while thanking God that Femmeland did design some sexy lingerie. She looked good in pale peach. It almost matched her skin. Almost, but not quite. Still, someone had to look twice to realize she had anything on. The guy in front of her was looking more than twice. Aric hadn’t seen Tory in her panties and bra before but he was making up for lost time. Faye, realizing she was losing in the undressing contest, pulled her red dress off with one quick motion. Tory took a look at the competition and mentally cursed. Who would’ve thought Faye was so big on top? And lots of guys went for black underwear. Aric was certainly distracted. Faye tilted her head to one side and then, her eyes fixed on Aric, she began to stroke one breast. You could actually see the nipple tightening through the sheer fabric. Aric stared, reaching his hand out like Faye’s tit was a magnet. Damn it! Tory unhooked her bra and sauntered over to Aric. Stepping between the two of them, she stopped at the right place just in time. Aric’s hand landed on her breast instead. Behind her, Faye hissed. Aric took a backward step and ended up against the wall. Tory reached out one high-heeled foot and snagged his leg, propelling him closer to her. She moved very slowly against him, her arms around his shoulders. With her high heels adding just a few inches of height, their bodies fit together perfectly, as if made for each other. Tory turned her face to nestle it in his neck, just smelling him. He even smelled perfect. Like maleness and sex and…Aric.

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“Nice, Tory. But we really don’t have all night.” Faye laughed, momentarily conceding this round. “Listen, why don’t you unzip those jeans and let us take a look at that monster? We don’t want him to injure himself.” Tory blinked. She’d actually forgotten Faye for a moment. Well, who was she to argue with someone who also knew what she was doing? Tory unsnapped the waistband of Aric’s jeans and felt him flinch for a moment against her hands. “Are you all right, darling?” she asked. His gray eyes lit up for just a moment and then he said, “I think so. But do be careful. I don’t want to…um, go off…in your hands.” “Why not?” Tory grinned at him as she very carefully unzipped. “I have a feeling we can revive you.” She could have sworn she heard him mutter something about x equaling y or something. At last the zipper gave way. Tory pulled his jeans down, trying not to lick her lips too obviously as his cock sprang out. “You’d better let me help.” Faye got closer and began to pull down his underpants. “Ohhh, that does look yummy.” Aric let out a long breath of air and then backed up against the wall again. Tory couldn’t help staring. She really hadn’t gotten a chance to fully study his cock before. Faye was right. Aric had a perfect cock -- big and erect and obviously more than ready to make some woman very happy. Maybe two women. His balls were already drawn up tightly from excitement as he obviously strained to not come immediately in front of the two of them. Tory watched Faye’s fingers stroking the darkening penis head and saw some fluid slowly leak out onto her hands. Aric’s cock jumped, fiercely. Without any more preliminaries, Faye dropped to her knees and began to suck him off. “Oh, Dominus,” Aric said very faintly, and then he slid to the floor, looking glassy -- eyed and just barely able to sit up. His legs spread further apart. Faye slid with him, never pausing in her work. Tory bit her lip when she heard Aric begin to groan. She’d heard those sounds before. He was close to coming right then. She wasn’t going to be left out, damn it! Aric’s cock might be occupied but maybe it was time for him to learn some other ways to pleasure a deviant. Tory, none too gently, nudged Faye aside a little and positioned her pussy in front of Aric’s mouth. His eyes stared exactly where she wanted them to as she slowly, carefully, slid her panties down. He gazed up into her face, looking wild and questioning at the same time. “Do to me what Faye is doing to you,” Tory instructed him. “What?” He sounded as desperate as he looked. As she felt. “Suck me. Gentle. Hard. Any way. I’m ready to scream I’m so horny. Lick me until I scream and come.”

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There was a millisecond of hesitation as Aric processed the idea, then he leaned forward and gave a first, tentative swipe of his tongue, just grazing her clitoris. Even that almost made Tory’s legs buckle. “Damn it, lick me! That’s an order, soldier!” she yelled. His hands immediately reached out to cup her rear and hold her up. God, he was strong! Once she was pressed closer to him, Aric leaned forward to concentrate on the job. He might be a beginner, but he quickly proved he was a natural at sucking pussy. She realized she’d only thought she was getting wet before. She was dripping now as she writhed hard against the suction of Aric’s mouth and tongue. That man was a good soldier. Now that he understood his orders, Aric was going to drive her out of her mind. She must be a pervert. A really happy pervert. She could feel him twitch and whimper every time Faye hit a particularly sensitive spot. The whimpering and its vibrations against her clit really set Tory off. Screw delicacy. Tory ground her clitoris closer to Aric’s very eager mouth. Listening to the sucking sounds of two other people, the harsh breathing from two other people…Tory had never had any idea she could really enjoy something like this so much. Aric broke first. She couldn’t blame him, since she knew he’d been ready to come for hours now. Just hearing him yell and watching his face as he spurted into Faye’s mouth was almost exciting enough for Tory. Almost. When he moaned, Tory pushed her pussy against his mouth again, letting the vibrations stimulate her. She didn’t want to miss a second of what seemed to be the closing of the show. But she soon discovered she had plenty of time to let his orgasmic moans do their work as he shuddered underneath Faye. Tory realized Faye wasn’t going to let up her long sucking until he was quite drained. That was exciting, too. Tory was really close to going over the top. She and Aric moaned together as she clamped her thighs against his jaw. When the last of his climatic shudders finally stopped, he pushed away and leaned against the wall, looking exhausted. Too exhausted. His eyes shut and he slid down to lay flat on the floor. “Well, damn.” Men were the same, the universe over. Once they were satisfied, off to sleep they went. All the women got afterward was a snore. It had almost been enough to watch, but not quite. She was still hot and bothered and unsatisfied. Very hot. Very bothered. Very uns… Faye, still on her knees and looking very pleased with herself, smiled at Tory. “Next?” Faye inquired sweetly. “Trust me, Tory. I know all the pleasure spots you’ve got. By the time I’m finished, you’ll thank me. Aric, too. Because he’s going to be staring at us the whole time. He’ll be hard and ready for action soon.” Tory scowled uncertainly. She was starting to realize how Aric felt around Faye. Faye’s invitation sounded wrong. So wrong that Tory was tempted.

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“For Zorah’s sake!” Faye sounded impatient. “Come over here!” She pulled Tory closer and then placed her, legs spread apart, over Aric’s prone body. Tory was pretty sure Aric’s eyes fluttered open by the time Faye stood before her, her own legs spread over Aric’s head. “Do this,” Faye almost hissed. Faye’s fingers began to rub against Tory’s pubic hair and then slipped between the folds of her labia. Tory yelped as one finger made direct contact. Heat zinged through her. Faye’s other hand reached over to grasp Tory’s wrist and pull her hand closer to Faye. Tory tentatively stroked. “Harder,” Faye said, between clenched teeth, and demonstrated on Tory. Tory whimpered. This had to be bad but Faye made it feel really, really good. Then she heard Aric take a noisy breath beneath them. Oh God. He was definitely watching this. Watching and enjoying, too. Somehow that made Tory feel more comfortable about exploring with Faye. Not to mention that she was starting to get beyond hot and bothered and go into someplace wild and exciting she was sure she’d never been before. Tory let out one sharp cry. Faye hadn’t been lying when she promised that she’d know all Tory’s pleasure points. She was even finding some Tory didn’t know about. Or else the situation was getting Tory very sensitized to everything Faye knew how to do. But Tory had no intention of just receiving and not giving satisfaction. She bit her lip, concentrating on where she was sure she would make Faye go wild. She began to trace Faye’s swollen clitoris. Faye moaned. Yeah. She guessed right. Tory’s hands slipped as Faye got wetter. Tory could only imagine what Aric was looking at and feeling with both of them giving him a complete view. Yes. She could imagine it and that was getting her hotter yet. Two pussies, fingers sliding against clits that were wet and swollen and needy -Tory could feel her legs trembling. Faye gasped, loudly. Aric’s hands gripped Tory’s ankles to steady her, then his hands reached up further to tickle the inside of her thighs. Ohhh. Tory writhed. This was too much…and not enough. Tory wanted to scream, to fall apart -“But I can’t come!” Tory wailed suddenly. “I want to, but I just can’t!” “I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.” Aric’s voice had never sounded that thick before. His hands pulled her down. That must have been what her body was waiting for. At least it didn’t want to wait any longer. Tory felt sensations ripping through her already primed body as she slid past Faye’s body and then slipped down onto Aric’s hard cock. Penetration, thickness, discomfort, heat, pleasure, more pleasure, ecstasy. She threw her head back and screamed. Bright lights danced before her eyes as everything inside her tightened before flying apart. Oh, she could come now, all right.

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She rode him vigorously, slamming up and down onto his cock while he moaned and groaned, his breath coming out in pants. She burst again, far too soon, this time damn near sobbing when she came. When Tory finally got a bit more lucid, she realized she was crouched over Aric, still gulping for air. “Are you all right, Tory?” Aric’s voice was anxious. “I never -- I wasn’t sure -- are you all right?” “Oh. Yes.” Tory barely managed to get the words out. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t move and Aric’s cock was still thick and moving slightly inside her as if it couldn’t keep still. She knew what he wanted and she couldn’t blame him. A minute. What she needed was just a minute. Tory moved slightly, to push her hair and sweat out of her eyes. Aric moaned pitifully beneath her. “Tory, I’m going crazy here,” he muttered. “Damn it, what about me?” Faye sounded aggrieved. And sexy. “It’s definitely my turn for a chance at that big boy.” Tory didn’t have strength to fight her, even if she could’ve guessed that Faye would simply kneel down and push Tory off that lovely male body. His thick cock slipped out of her, leaving her empty. Looking over at them, Tory let out a small gasp and then a louder one. Faye wasn’t going to let anything deter her from her goal this time. She was riding Aric hard and fast, much like Tory imagined Faye would do with a good strong stallion needing a workout. Aric apparently really needed that workout. It seemed to take him an inordinately long time and a lot of groaning to come near to satisfying the two of them. Oh, yes. Tory had to admit watching the two of them in action was beautiful. She saw Faye’s head snap back with her hips still moving. Tory knew how good Faye must feel right now. Tory felt almost as good just from the sight of Aric’s body in motion, moving fast, slicked with sweat. At least for now Tory wasn’t jealous. After all, she hadn’t ever had the chance to just observe a real male body in the flesh having sex. Not like this anyhow. Oh my. Just watching Aric was almost as wonderful as real sex. That’s when Tory realized she was fondling herself. When was she going to settle down? She could feel shocks of pleasure going through her as she watched and squeezed her clit. “That does it. You two are hot but you’re crazy if either of you think I’m going to settle for just watching,” Tory said out loud and moved toward them determinedly.

*****

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Aric opened his eyes cautiously. He was alive. He hadn’t gone blind -- at least he was pretty sure his problem with seeing was because it was still dark outside. He was alive and a warm female body had just snuggled herself next to him on the floor. Oh, Dominus. One of them wanted more? “Aric?” At least it was Tory. “Yes?” “I just wanted…” Aric braced himself. He was reasonably sure that anything she wanted would be outside of his ability at the moment, but the unreasonable part of him was ready to try. “I just -- I just wanted to be here with you. Just to cuddle. I know guys don’t always like that but…” her voice trailed off. “Cuddling?” That sounded nice, especially if cuddling involved having her head snuggle against his shoulder, and her arm draped over his chest the way Tory was doing right now. “All right.” They lay close together for a while, not saying anything. Aric could feel their breathing slowing, matching each other’s. Cuddling was pleasant. Yes. “I’m going to make you pay for letting us have a threesome. Not now. I’m too tired. But someday.” “Pay?” Why did his cock give a slight twitch at the somewhat ominous sounding words? “How much?” “Not how much. How. I think I’ll tie you up and make sure you pay attention to just me.” “Ohhhh.” Aric swallowed. He had never been interested in such talk when he heard it among the Unit. Now he could see possibilities. Perhaps she, too, would allow herself to be tied. Was that also permissible? “I’ve never done that before. Then again, I’ve never done any of this before,” Tory told him. He could hear her yawn. “Maybe I’ll give you another one of those special prostate rubs to start things off.” Dominus. That idea was too much. The rest of his body might be exhausted, but his cock was now hardening. “Tory?” Aric forced himself to speak. Pronouncing the word was almost too much effort. “Mmmm?” She sounded as sleepy as he did. “Do you mind if we have more sex? Just a little? Cuddling sex? I thought I would never be able to get my penis to work again, but feeling you near me and listening to you seems to have…um…changed its mind.” “‘K.” Her voice was still sleepy but sounded receptive as she rolled away from him. Aric wasn’t sure why she had agreed and then turned her back to him until her ass slid against his

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crotch, inviting his penis to enter from behind. Aric nuzzled his nose against her hair. Delicious. She smelled so good. So inviting. And his penis, no longer desperate, enjoyed slipping inside that warm, receptive body. She felt better than she smelled. Still on their sides, their eyelids more closed than open, they absorbed each other quietly. So this was sex, too. Aric smiled. Somehow he felt closer to Tory right now than he had all the other times in the last twenty-four hours. Apparently there were countless ways to do sex. So far he’d enjoyed every one.

***** “What do you mean she isn’t in her room?” Amma stared at Mitzi. “I just checked. She isn’t there.” “We have to find her before the Leaders’ Council tomorrow morning! Where is she?” “I don’t know!” Mitzi wailed. “Oh Zorah, Zorah, what have we done?” Amma rarely lost her composure but she was ready to now. They heard a sputtering car engine outside. Mitzi peeked outside. The large old Hudson pulled up to near their door. “Isn’t that Faye’s car?” Amma asked. “Yes.” Mitzi frowned. They stared out as someone in a short black dress climbed out of the passenger’s side. She wore one shoe and carried another. One sleeve of the dress looked ripped. The two women looked at each other. “Isn’t that Tory?” Mitzi asked. Amma nodded. Outside Tory tried to smooth down her reddish blonde hair. It was showing a tendency to stand straight up. She had obviously forgotten she had only one shoe on, since she almost fell over when she took a step. As she got to the door, Amma grabbed Mitzi and hastily pushed her into their bedroom. They heard Tory walk unsteadily down the hall to the guest room. “Well.” Amma began to smile. “Well, well. I told them Tory fit in here. She already has a girlfriend.” “She may not be in any condition to talk to the Leaders tomorrow,” Mitzi warned. “I can do the talking. We can say she wants to stay here. She obviously had herself quite a night tonight.” The two of them smiled at each other.

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“It’s so sweet to see two women in love.” Mitzi blinked back a few sentimental tears. “It reminds me of our first night.”

***** Tory carefully took off her other shoe. It was lucky that Faye had been willing to take her home or they never would have had time to manage that last fascinating threesome. Sucking pussy definitely had its moments, especially while Aric’s cock was shoved inside you at the time. Oh my God. Once Aric lost his shyness, he had no problem coping with two women. Tory tried not to feel too proud about that last time. She’d figured Aric had done all he could do by then, but she’d only had to look at him -- just look -- while she was working on Faye and, with a groan, Aric had staggered over and slipped into her from the rear, as hard as if the two women hadn’t drained him three times already. Each time had been good but in some ways that last bout had been the best. Tory had been so sensitive by then that each slick move of his cock against her clit had made her moan with pleasure that was almost, but not quite, pain. Each moan of pleasure had made Faye twitch with delight. They’d worked up quite a chorus before the end. Tory yawned and tried to work up a little indignation. Aric better not think this was going to be a regular weekend night out, though. She could keep him plenty occupied on her own. Faye had better realize that, too. She giggled, falling tiredly onto the bed. On the other hand she’d had quite a night.

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Chapter Seven It was a hell of a morning she’d woken up to. Tory tried to look awake and interested. On any other morning she’d have managed to give it a really good try. This morning she ached in places she didn’t think she could’ve used for sex, her head throbbed with a hangover, and she’d had all of about five hours sleep, if that. She felt insanely good. Tory sighed. She couldn’t start giggling in front of what was obviously an important meeting. She even saw what had to be television cameras trained on the podium before her. But she had just thought about what Aric must look and feel like now. Neither she nor Faye could wake him -- and they’d tried almost everything -- after their last lovely sex bout. The poor man had been completely exhausted. She was lucky Faye had been able to drive her to Outpost Snapdragon. She didn’t envy Aric straddling that motorcycle for his trip home. “Tory Hynde. Step forward.” Amma patted her hand. “I think I made a good case for you. Just go along with everything I said and we’re out of this,” she whispered. Tory nodded and smiled. What the hell had Amma been telling them? Tory hadn’t been paying attention to anything the woman had been saying. Suddenly very alert and focused, Tory stared at the gray-haired battle-ax at the podium who was glaring down at her. “Your name is Tory Hynde?” This was a trial? Did she have to tell the truth? Damn, she couldn’t ask that in front of all these people. “Victoria, actually. Victoria Hynde. But everyone calls me Tory.”

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“Vic-tor-ia. I see. Well, then, Victoria, you’ve been put upon Tierra against your will and without the Leaders’ consent. What do you think should happen to you?”

I should be sent home? With Aric. Yeah. That’s what should happen to me. “I don’t really know. I’m not a Leader or anything, so I don’t know what would be best for everybody. Maybe I should be sent back?” “No one has ever left Tierra to go back to Earth. We have no desire for Earthlings to know about us.” Obviously she didn’t know a lot of important history about Tierra. This probably wasn’t the time to be filled in either. Tory swallowed and shifted her feet. Looked like Answer A wasn’t the right one. Try for Answer B. “Then I should be allowed to stay?” Tory ventured. “You weren’t invited here. We have no idea whether you should be allowed to stay. We’ve always carefully screened the inhabitants who wished to come here.” Answer C. What was Answer C? “Well, I’m running out of options,” Tory admitted. “I don’t think Androvia would welcome me. The only thing left is No-Land.” There was a long silence at the podium. Oh damn. Was Answer C the totally wrong answer or the totally right one? Uh oh. Tory had just thought of another option. Answer D might be not being allowed to live at all. “Only deviants and outcasts live in No-Land.” The voice no longer sounded so stern, however. Were they feeling sorry for her? Because she was going to be executed? If so, she would give them an earful first. “Well, if I can’t live anywhere else then what else am I but an outcast?” Tory answered. “That’s not fair. You know, to be honest, Femmeland is a lovely place but I’m troubled at the attitude here and, I guess, in Androvia. On Earth there may be problems with men and women all living together, but our deviants -- the people you think would make good Femmeland and Androvia citizens -- can at least also live among us. I always thought Earth wasn’t very tolerant of differences but we seem to be more accepting than here.” Amma looked like she might throw up. God, Tory hoped she didn’t get poor Amma and Mitzi in trouble. But still -- Tory squared her shoulders. If she was going to be thrown out or killed, she might as well be thrown out or killed for a good cause.

***** “Captain Aric. You’re here for cause?” The Commander seemed slightly stunned.

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“Yes, sir.” Aric tried to look stoic rather than ill. Not only were the beers not sitting well, but he’d never once been called before the Commander for a demerit. Not since he was first recruited into the Unit as a teenager. “I hear you failed to report for morning call.” The Commander stared down at the papers on his desk. “You’ve never failed before.” “No, sir. I’m sorry, sir.” “You had a good reason for this failure?” A night of seduction might be a good reason to him but not to the Unit. “No, sir. Absolutely none.” “The watch says you came in late looking like you’d either been in a fight or at an orgy.” The Commander studied him over. Damn the watch. “I’m more regulation now, sir.” “Yes.” The Commander continued to say nothing, just studied him silently. Suddenly he gave a slow smile. “Congratulations, Captain. “ “Sir?” “We’d wondered when you were finally going to show a little humanity under that regulation demeanor of yours. It’s good to know you aren’t just a soldier after all.” “Yes, sir.” Aric tried not to look as confused as he felt. Had he been insulted or complimented? “Just don’t make a habit of it. Dismissed, Captain.” Aric went to the Officers’ dining hall, feeling even dizzier than before. Nothing was as usual. Worst of all, he himself was the most unusual part of the puzzle. No matter how he tried, he didn’t feel like he fit in his old world or the world that he had just entered last night. He passed a large screen television, showing its black-and-white picture and blaring out some nonsense. Aric didn’t have much interest in the professional sport teams programs, which was almost always what was on. Today, though, the officers gathered around the television weren’t cheering. They were silent, looking almost as stunned as Aric. “What does she mean?” one finally asked. “Who is this female?” Another had a hostile edge to his voice. “Is she on trial?” “Some Earthling named Vic-tor-ia. Or Tory. Or something,” the third answered. “The Leaders there want her out.” Aric’s head snapped up. He joined the crowd. When he saw her face, blurred as it was by the television, he clenched his hands into fists. It was Tory. His Tory.

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She was so beautiful. She looked more fragile on television, big-eyed and delicate. Of course she’d had a similar evening to his and he felt pretty fragile and big-eyed himself. Gradually Aric began to do more than let himself enjoy the sound of her voice. “Differences are frightening and annoying, but they can teach you things about yourself you never knew. After all, Androvians and deviants are people too. So are Earthlings. How can you be sure we’ll harm anything? Maybe we’ll help.”

Dominus! Tory was an Earthling. She must come from a world where everyone was a deviant. Of course. That was one of the things that made Tory different from all the other females on Tierra. He probably should have known that even if she couldn’t tell him. The men in the Unit looked puzzled and exchanged glances. “She thinks we’re all right?” the first one asked. “Ah, they’ll arrest her for sure,” the hostile one said dismissively, but Aric noticed he didn’t move from the television set. “Well, I’m sure you know best what to do with me and you’ve already made up your mind. But I hope you’ll at least consider what I said.” Tory finished with an audible gulp and then stepped away from the microphone. The camera rested on her questioner for a long moment, during which nothing happened. “Ladies, take Victoria Hynde away. She is under house arrest until we render judgment,” the black-robed Leader said. Aric gasped. Fortunately the other men weren’t paying attention. “Damn women. They already made up their minds long before she was able to say anything,” one of the men said. “Too bad. She seemed nice enough for a female. No worse than a Femmelander, anyhow.” A sports game blared back on and soon the others were absorbed. Aric carefully walked away, trying to remain calm. He was always calm. He always worked out a plan of action. Once he got to his quarters he’d work through the terror he was feeling. He’d figure out what he could do to help Tory. He just had to get there. Aric absently nodded to various soldiers, sidestepped some of the talkative ones, and kept moving toward his one quiet refuge at the barracks. Aric opened the door to his quarters, stepped in and shut his eyes. Safe. “Captain?” The voice quavered a little. Aric nearly jumped. His eyes snapped open and he saw there was someone else there. A naked someone else. A terrified, naked, young recruit was stretched out on his futon. “What in Dominus’ name is going on here?” Aric snapped. “I -- I -- You may not remember me.” The young man swallowed and obviously couldn’t go on.

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Was this some sort of trick the rest of the Unit wanted to play on him? If so, they’d picked a damn poor time. Aric opened his mouth to snap an order and then paused. This wasn’t a game. The young man looked terrified but -- oh, Dominus -- adoring. Aric couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a young man try to pick him up. Years, probably. All of them had long since given up by now or had heard of his reputation for curt rejections and never made the attempt. Or maybe he was just getting too old to be interesting. Dominus, Aric was starting to think he was ancient. This one must be all of eighteen or nineteen. Had he ever been as young as that? Probably not. He’d certainly never been that young and in love. He couldn’t blast this young man. Now Aric knew what it was like to feel desperate over someone. But how to get rid of him? “What made you think I might be interested, Nils?” Thank Dominus he did remember the lad’s name. “Have I ever been interested in anyone within the Unit?” “N-no, Captain. In fact you never seemed interested in anyone at all. I would have never said anything, s -- sir, but I was on the watch when you came back this morning and…” Ah ha! That was where Aric remembered him. He congratulated himself on remembering anything from this morning. “And?” Aric was curious now. “You looked different this morning. You looked…” Nils sucked in his breath. “You looked human. You looked like someone who might be interested in sex -- maybe even in sex with me if I just asked the right way.” He had to help Tory but he couldn’t just boot the youngster out and throw his clothing after him. Aric tried to think of something tactful to say. “I won’t ever become involved with someone in the Unit, Ensign. Never.” Aric knew that was the truth. “You’re obviously a -- a good-looking young man. You don’t have to try for me. Others will be more than happy to be with you.” “I -- yes, Captain. But I don’t want others. I love you!” He turned red. “I’ll do anything. I’ll leave the Unit. Anything you say. I’ve been in love with you ever since I joined the Unit.” Aric resisted the urge to groan. He tried again. “No, Ensign. If you’ll truly do anything for me, you’ll leave and find yourself someone else. I’m already…um…coupled.” Nils’ face fell. “Couldn’t I tempt you even once?” he asked miserably. “I’d never ask for anything else from you.” “No!” Aric barked and then gentled his voice. “I mean, no. I’d never go back on a promise. Not even once.”

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“No. I couldn’t love someone who would, I suppose.” Nils dragged himself off the futon at last, looking forlorn. Aric waited until the ensign slowly left his room before shutting the door. He even waited another moment or two, giving himself credit for more patience than he knew he possessed, before he barred and locked the door. Aric didn’t want the kid to think he was locking the door on him even though he was. Now -- what to do for Tory? Aric began to throw things into his duffle bag as he considered the problem. He knew he must not give in to the panic that threatened to overwhelm him. He wasn’t sure what Femmelanders did to punish miscreants. He hadn’t heard of anyone being killed there. But he didn’t know enough about the workings of their government. He certainly wasn’t going to let her be punished. That was out of the question. He’d do anything for her. Anything at all. Aric paused for a moment, startled. He’d just heard those same words -No! No, he didn’t feel that way about a female. Did he? Deviancy was one thing. Loving a female was too much. Wasn’t it? Aric grunted. He didn’t have time to think about that now. Before he unlocked the door, he paused again, switching the intercom on. “Commander?” he asked. “Captain Aric Herron here.” “One moment.” He knew he was about to be transferred over. “Captain?” The commander’s voice filled the room. “Is it an emergency?” “Not exactly, sir. Requesting an indefinite amount of leave, sir. Starting immediately.” There was a long silence. Aric knew it wasn’t that he didn’t have the leave. The problem was that he’d never requested to use any. Ever. Where else would he go? “Indefinite? Captain, are you in some kind of trouble? Some problem related to what happened earlier this morning?” “No. Well, yes, sir. A little. I just need to straighten some things out, and it’ll take some time. I’ll report back to you as soon as possible.” “Very well, Captain. There aren’t many soldiers I’d agree to do this for. I trust your judgment.” Aric was horrified. He realized at that moment he might almost cry. “Th -- thank you, sir.” The intercom switched off. The commander trusted him. He hadn’t had a better compliment from the Unit in his entire life and now he was going to deliberately betray that trust. At least -- Aric looked around the little room that had been home -- he didn’t intend to return. The request to the commander had just been a little CYA. If he ever did come back, he’d hate to explain why he’d taken off without permission. But Aric wasn’t counting on coming back.

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Chapter Eight Tory tidied her bureau, not that she had a whole lot there to tidy. She leafed through the glamour magazines and wondered how she could get fashions in Femmeland to change. She knew they had no intention of sending her back to Earth -- that much was a given. What would happen, she didn’t know. The Capri pants were all right, she thought with a sigh as she flicked through the pages, but the fluffy skirts had to go. And the bouffant hairdos couldn’t even be considered. She would shave her head, first. She glanced down at her baby doll pajamas, minus the bottoms, and knew she did what she could with what she had available. Looking sexy was so damn difficult here. Not that she was overly concerned with fashion at the moment; it was just something to occupy her mind instead of other things. Tory tried not to think too much about the conversation she’d had with a shaken Amma and Mitzi when they’d first gotten back.

“Thank Zorah it was only house arrest.” Mitzi tried to be cheerful. “Surely they can’t mean to give her the worst sentence then.” “Who knows?” Amma wasn’t going for the positive spin. “The televised proceedings mean they think the matter serious.” “What might the worst sentence be? Exactly?” Tory tried to sound casual. “Treason is one of the few death sentence crimes we have.” Amma put her head in her hands. “Treason! What treason?” “The term treason is a very elastic one here in Femmeland,” Amma answered. “We so rarely use it that no one knows how far it can be defined.”

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“It’s so rare that I doubt Tory would be sentenced for it,” Mitzi said, briskly. “Now Inciting Words, that is a possibility. But that would just mean imprisonment or perhaps banishment.” “What kind of a stupid rule is Inciting Words?” Tory yelped. “The kind that doesn’t allow young women to go blabbing on television without penalty,” Amma snapped. Tory decided it was time to be quiet right about then. Femmeland wasn’t the United States, obviously. Maybe she should have talked about free speech rights on television instead. Meanwhile she was under house arrest. Since she lived in the same house with Mitzi and Amma, they were pretty much under house arrest too. The electronic alarms that were immediately installed to prevent anyone from leaving worked for them as well as for her. The crowds of gawkers at their door were as annoying for them as for Tory. Everything was monitored. There had never been any television reception this far out in Femmeland but now not even newspapers were allowed in the house. No radio. No visitors. No nothing. Before all this they’d talked about Tory finding a new place to stay once the happy couple decorated the spare room for a nursery. Now the three of them were isolated, all trapped together in one small cottage. Tory knew she was lucky Mitzi and Amma hadn’t killed her themselves and saved Femmeland the trouble. Tory also knew she didn’t want to think about any of those things. But anything was better than thinking about… She was not going to think about what Aric was doing right now. He probably didn’t even know what had happened to her. He wouldn’t know why she hadn’t tried to contact him, why no one at the clinic would forward any messages to her. Then again, maybe Faye had told him. Tory’s fingers dug into her palms. Faye would be more than happy to substitute during Tory’s absence. She was such an idiot. She might be facing death or imprisonment or who knew what and she was wasting most of her anxiety on whether some idiot male was being faithful or not. He probably didn’t even know he was hers. Maybe all the deviants in this insane place jumped each other whenever they could, however they could. It certainly seemed that way from Tory’s only experience in No-Land. Aric might go back there tonight, looking for her -- or not looking for her -- and meet up with scores of hungry females. She wasn’t going to waste her time being jealous and losing sleep over Aric. She was going to figure out how to get out of this mess. Tory looked at the bars and alarms fastened on her bedroom window and sighed. She had no idea how she was going to get out of this mess. She was trapped, at the mercy of some country -- some planet -- she knew nothing about. If she escaped, where would she go?

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Maybe she could overpower her guards when they came to take her to…to wherever. Tory thought about that. They’d be female, right? They probably wouldn’t be as strong as male guards. Maybe she could conceal a weapon somewhere on her body. Tory snorted softly. “Yeah, right. And maybe I’ll have time to learn some martial arts before I go before the firing squad,” Tory said aloud. “Then I can kick my way to freedom.” “No need. I know marital arts.” Tory gasped and turned toward the voice. He was here, she thought -- hoped. She might be hallucinating by now but Aric looked like he was here. In fact he looked better than just here. He looked larger than life. He looked like her hero. Oh hell. Hallucination or not, Aric looked wonderful. Besides, Aric was scowling. He must be real. “How did you get here?” She didn’t wait for the response before she launched herself across the room and onto Aric’s body. He staggered back onto that stupidly ornate bed. Tory laughed, absurdly happy again. She was still a prisoner with an uncertain fate ahead of her but now she had Aric below her on a bed. Things had taken a turn for the better. Tory bent and kissed him. She meant to just give him a happy, welcoming kiss but somehow something changed in mid-plan. He just tasted so good and his arms were so strong around her… “Tory, we can’t. Not right now!” Aric’s voice came through eventually. “What? Oh, no. Of course not.” Tory realized she had flattened herself on top of him and was growling softly as she slid her pelvis against something very hard and growing. “We have to get you out of here immediately.” Aric sounded like he wasn’t sure of that at the moment. “Leaving in the dark is safest. I don’t want people to see me. I don’t really look like someone who lives here.” She understood. They had to leave even though she wouldn’t mind lingering for a while, having a little sex, having a little more sex… Tory pushed herself away from his body slowly, feeling as if the action was the most difficult thing she’d ever done in her life. No. She’d be strong. There were more important things going on in her life than having immediate gratification with Aric. Damn it. “How did you get in anyhow?” Tory asked. “Sweetheart, I’ve been part of the Unit for a long time. Getting in without sounding the alarm was simple. Getting you out without sounding the alarm will be just as simple if you do exactly what I say.” Aric glared at her as if he had his doubts whether she would obey.

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Tory grinned. Now why would he have that notion? “I know when I’m in the hands of an expert, Captain.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “I’ll obey your every wish.” His slow grin came and went. Then he put on the face she’d seen when she’d first met him. The impassive soldier face. “All right then. The only problem will be that you’re an amateur at this. But most of these Femmeland contraptions aren’t much better than amateur anyhow.” He walked easily over to the window and peered cautiously past the curtains to the outside. Suddenly he hissed and flattened himself against the wall. “What is that?” he demanded. “What is wha…? Uh oh.” Tory peeked out too. She stared, forgetting all about concealing herself until Aric’s arm pulled her next to him. “I have no idea. Lord, you don’t think they’re coming to burn me out or something, do you?” At first it had looked like there were a few women outside her house. Within minutes, though, dozens of women had arrived, all of them with candles. More and more seemed to be gathering. “I’ve never heard of that particular Femmeland custom,” Aric said, but he kept his arm around her. “Well, that does pose more of a problem for our escape.” “Maybe you’ll have to dress in drag.” Tory kept her face very serious. “We can mingle with the crowd.” Aric let out a soft laugh. “It might come to that.” “To-ry!” She heard someone call from the crowd. She could see the flashes of light through her window. More people must be lighting candles. Soon others took up the cry. “To-ry! To-ry! To-ry!” “It’s kinda like a rock concert,” Tory muttered. “A what?” “Never mind. What do we do?” She shut the curtains. “Wait for them to go away.” Tory stared at him. “Just -- wait?” “You have any better ideas?” Aric shrugged. She thought about that for a second. Then she walked over to him and cupped his chin in her hands. Such a nice chin. Such a serious mouth. Such a sweet kiss. “No. But I can think of something to do while we wait,” she murmured. “There are maybe a hundred crazy women outside your bedroom door and you expect us to have sex?” But in another moment Aric’s mouth was responding more and more hotly to hers. Tory led him over to the edge of the bed, walking backward and never breaking their kiss. All the while the two of them began to strip Aric of his clothes. By the time she reached

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the bed’s edge, Aric was buck-naked. He gently pushed her down and knelt over her. His knee nudged her legs open and he slid easily inside her, knowing exactly where and how to head for home by now. God, his cock was sweet too. “Oh, Dominus. I love being a deviant,” he murmured. “Tory? Tory! Come out!” That was a voice from within the house. Right outside her door, in fact. Her unlocked door. Aric gave the most amazing leap. For a moment Tory thought he was going to levitate in the air. Then he disappeared under the bed. The change in atmosphere took less than a minute. She lay on the bed, still trying to assemble what was going on in her somewhat dazed mind.

“Tory!” “Just a minute, Mitzi! I’ve got to get myself decent.” Tory tried to keep the panic out of her voice. Oh boy, had she not been decent. But that had been a second ago. Now it was like Aric had never been around. Tory shook her head a little and sat up. She walked to the door, still trying to compose herself. “What, Mitzi?” “Can’t you hear the crowd outside?” “Yes. But what does it mean? Trouble?” “No. It means they approve of you. They’ve gathered here in a show of support. Amma has been putting out some inquiries --” Tory didn’t want to ask how or find out who was risking what to tell Amma anything “-- and you’re becoming a cult figure.” “A cult figure?” Tory glanced toward the window. “Well, damn! It is like a rock concert.” “You’re tremendously popular. Letters have poured into the Leaders’ Council asking for your freedom. Newspapers are running articles about you. Girls have been asking for your hair style at the stylists!” Mitzi poured the news out in a rush. “Considering those bouffant dos in the magazines, mothers everywhere in Femmeland ought to thank me.” Tory said the first thing in her head. “I think we’re safe, Tory.” Amma came to the door too. “The Leaders were ready to free you before that speech of yours. Now they may not be happy with you, but they’d look intolerant if they punished you in any way.” “Intolerant? Them?” “Don’t let anyone hear that sarcasm in public. We just need to wait a little more. I expect to hear tomorrow from the Leaders that you’re free to move about as you wish.” Amma blinked hard. “I’m so relieved.” “Oh.” Tory sat down hard on the bed. Then she remembered what was underneath and cleared her throat. “I guess I’ll go wave at my adoring public and then -- oh Mitzi and

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Amma, go to bed. None of us have had a decent night’s sleep since this started. Maybe now you two can get some rest.” Mitzi and Amma swept her up in a three-person hug. Then they all went to the window and waved madly. Tory’s adoring public waved their candles back. Tory shut the curtains together again. “Good-night, dear,” Mitzi said. “I just knew everyone would see what a wonderful young lady you are. There should never have been a second of doubt that you’d do fine here.” “Thanks, Mitzi.” “I do hope you want to stay on in your current job,” Amma added. “You’re needed here and -- well, we’d miss you.” “I’m certainly going to think about it if everything turns out the way you say it will,” Tory answered, gamely. Would her well-meaning, rejoicing friends ever leave? When they finally did, Tory waited a moment or two. She didn’t want to hurt their feelings. Then she hastily shut and locked the bedroom door. Finally she turned to the naked man who was now sitting on top of the bed. He looked at her with his arms crossed over that broad chest and…Tory tried to keep her mind off sex. Aric had probably been right. This wasn’t the right time. “I guess we don’t have to escape then,” Aric observed. “No. I’m a cult figure now.” Tory sank onto the bed next to him. “No, I’m not. I shouldn’t be, anyhow. Aric, what I really am is a mean, deceitful worm.” “Oh?” “They’ve fought so hard to help me and I can’t tell Mitzi or Amma this, but I’m going to escape. Maybe not now. But someday. I want to go back to Earth. There are only two things holding me back.” “I see.” Aric reached out to grasp her hand. “And they are?” “One, I don’t know how to get back.” Tory sighed. “But I’ll find out.” “That could be a problem. What else is?” “You.” Tory looked down at the large hand intertwined with hers. “I don’t want to leave you.” “Then don’t.” “I can’t stay here forever, Aric! It isn’t home!” Tory almost wailed. “I can stand it for now because it’s new and interesting and because I think of it as a long visit to someplace exotic. But I can’t live here.” “Take me back with you.” “You’d come with me?” “Why not? You made a good case for living on Earth when you spoke on television. I don’t really understand what it’s like, even though I learned something about Earth from my

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school history courses. You have to tell me more. Later.” Aric began to pull down the neck of her pajama top to kiss her shoulder. Thoughts of sex flooded back into her mind, but she resisted. “But -- but -- you’d leave the Unit? Androvia? Everything you know?” Tory sputtered. “Why not?” “Well -- why?” Tory’s eyes narrowed. “Women. You’d meet hundreds and hundreds of women who would want to have sex with you.” Aric blushed and began to shake his head violently. “No. No! I mean, all that stuff with you and Faye, it was fun, but now that I’ve had a chance to think about it, I realize I’d rather be with y --” He stopped and scowled. “You want to go back to Earth because there are hundreds and hundreds of men who want to have sex with you.” Tory laughed. “I wish!” Aric’s face stiffened. She turned serious when she saw he’d misunderstood. “No. No, I don’t wish. I just want you, Aric.” Aric blinked and then cautiously responded. “You do? Am I that important to you, Tory?” “All the time I was stuck in this room I thought I’d die if I couldn’t see you again.” Tory knew she was the one blushing this time. Damn the man for asking her that. On the other hand he had come to rescue her. Aric must’ve known he was risking a lot and he did it anyhow. My God. No one on Earth had been willing or able to do it, but she’d finally found someone who cared enough to try to rescue her. He might be from a different planet, but for once maybe she wasn’t in this alone. And maybe this meant Aric wanted more than sex from her. “Yeah. Well.” Aric shut his mouth, looking beleaguered. “If it’d make you happy, I’d do about anything.” Tory felt a sudden rush of tenderness. Aric was such a guy. A great guy, but a guy. That declaration had probably been the most explicitly romantic thing he’d ever said in his life. And he was going to drop dead of embarrassment if she didn’t do something to change the subject soon. Fortunately, Tory knew what would help. She took off her nightgown. “Anything?” Tory asked. His hungry gaze raked her all over. Her nipples changed and hardened as he stared at them. Then he looked lower. She felt changes starting there too. “Name it.” Aric bent his head and began to tease at her thighs with his tongue. Ohhh yes. That felt extraordinarily good. Then he blew on her skin and she shivered. That was even better. “Oh, damn. I guess we could stay here for a while.” Tory fell back onto the pillows and spread her legs. “Tierra isn’t so bad.”

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“Yeah. Give us another hour or two here at least. And keep your legs open just that way. I think I’ve got this sex thing figured out now. At least I’ve got some plans.” “Only for an hour or two?” Tory couldn’t help smiling. He looked up for a moment and said, “Well, after that we can make some new plans.” Outside she heard her name being chanted. Inside Aric began to use his tongue to slide up from her thigh closer and closer to her pussy. Tory shifted, restlessly. Why didn’t he hurry? This would take hours at this rate. “Don’t worry…” Aric paused long enough to mutter. “This’ll be worth the wait. I’m going to make you howl, Tory.”

“Tory! Tory!” The crowd outside was chanting louder. Aric used his tongue to trace out her name on her thigh as they chanted. Great. Aric had to get this perverse sense of humor right now? Not that it didn’t feel wonderful…

“TORY! TORY!” “Can’t howl. Too many people around.” Tory managed to say that just before his tongue pushed itself between suddenly very sensitive folds of flesh. “Mmmm.” He moved his mouth away just as she bucked against him. “That is a problem. Remember when you had to stop when you were showing me what a little sex was like?” “You wouldn’t stop now. I’d kill you.” She wasn’t reassured when all she heard in response was a very depraved sounding chuckle. Tory tried not to squirm. It wasn’t smart to squirm when your lover was deliberately teasing you. “You said you’d obey me, didn’t you?” Suddenly Aric put one hand over her mouth and the other hand traced the path where his lips had just been. Tory did scream then, though his hand muffled much of the sound. Oh God. Aric was getting the right idea. “When we do get someplace more private, Tory, I’m going to make you beg,” he whispered. “I loved to hear you beg me to fuck you. Remember? I thought Faye had finished me off. I got to watch the two of you. That should have been enough for all of us but then I heard you making those husky sounds, just begging me to get in you this time. I knew I had to fuck you right then. Just had to.” She found she loved to hear him talk dirty to her, in that deep rumbling voice of his. “Yes.” Tory was able to manage that much before he put his hand back over her mouth. Her nipples ached, her pussy ached. The only place Aric was touching her right now was that hand over her mouth. But his words were driving her crazy. “It got me hard all over again. Just listening to you want me that badly was enough.” Had she ever thought Aric didn’t say much? He knew just what to say to get her wet and aching.

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“How many times did I come that night, Tory? I lost count. All you needed to do was ask me and I knew I had to get inside you, had to feel that tight pussy squeezing me, had to touch that sweet ass of yours --” Tory shut her eyes and arched, silently begging him to do that to her again right now. “Show me. I showed you that night. Show me how much you want me, Tory.” His voice whispered in her ear, his cock finally almost where it needed to be. Tory stroked his cock. He laughed, softly, and she felt his arousal grow harder as he thrust against her hand. “No, Tory. I know how badly I want you. Show me how much you want me.” Tory blindly reached down and began to stroke herself. She heard Aric’s harsh breathing as he watched. Then she stopped and waited, spreading herself open with her fingers. He had to see how wet she was now. He had to finish things. He had to -She bit at the fleshy palm of his hand, desperate for more. She screamed against that hand of his when his cock slammed inside her. They couldn’t go slow. Tory refused to allow slow deliberateness after all this. Thank God Aric seemed to feel the same way. She used her legs to press herself closer to his body, as he rocked the two of them against the bed. The roar of the crowd outside increased suddenly, and Tory was dimly grateful for the noise because the bed began to creak like it might break. She’d kill him if he stopped, she’d die if he stopped, she’d -He didn’t stop. Thank God, he didn’t stop. She shook as she got closer and closer. When she finally moaned in release with Aric’s hand still over her mouth, Aric sat back and grinned at her. “That’s the first one,” he told her. He might have looked at her with that smug smile, but his voice wasn’t quite steady. “There are several more orgasms in store for you tonight.” “Several, huh?” Tory could already feel parts of her body taking a definite interest. After all, Aric was still hard and sweaty. Very hard and sweaty. How could she keep from taking an interest? Aric kept getting better and better with practice. “I don’t have anything better to do until your fan club clears out.” “You’re getting awfully arrogant now that you’ve gotten the hang of sex with a deviant.” Tory smiled lazily, too pleased to be angry. “Naw.” Aric’s smug smile slipped for a moment. He pressed his face against her neck, then he whispered against her skin, “That’s not why I want our sex to be good. I want you to be happy, Vic-tor-ia. I love you.” For just a second Tory had a strange urge to cry. When had a guy last said that to her? When had anyone?

“Tory! We love you, To-ry! To-ry! To-ry!”

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Oh Lord. They all loved her. One guy and hundreds of women. To be honest, she cared more about the one guy than all of the women. “There are lots more ways you can make me happy, Aric. I do love trying out all this deviant sex with you.” Tory put her arms around his neck and grinned, rotating her hips until he groaned. “Stick with me, Aric, and I’ll show you the rest of those ways.” “Great. I’ll probably keel over dead from all you try out on me. You don’t show any mercy, woman.” Aric stopped talking and looked thoughtful. He returned her grin. “Then again, no one lives forever.”

***** “To-ry, To-ry, To-ry.” Faye snorted to herself. “They’ll keep the whole outpost up all night caterwauling that idiot’s name and no one minds except me.” It made no sense. None at all. The stupid Earthling made a speech -- just one stupid speech! -- and everyone decided she was special. They didn’t even see that the woman was smuggling males in and out of the place. Faye would bet that Tory’s special male pet was there now. At least Faye had always kept her deviancy in No-Land, where it belonged. “We love you, Tory,” Faye muttered. “Why?” What had Tory ever done for Femmeland? They ought to be screaming Faye, Faye instead. She was the most important person in Femmeland, more important than Tory and all the elected Leaders combined. After all, she was single-handedly helping all Femmeland. Nothing in life was fair. No one could know what she did. She was vitally important and completely anonymous.

“To-ry! To-ry!” Faye sighed and pulled her pillow up over her head. Then again, she knew. Tory and her friends might ignore her now, but who would have the last laugh?

Book 2: Changing the Odds

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Chapter One “Ewww. It’s a male!” Clea squealed. Rho looked up from her biology book and sighed. If she ever hoped to pass her summer course she had to finish the chapter. On the other hand, although she could usually tune out Clea and her little friends’ voices when she chose, that last sentence was too strange to ignore. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on them this afternoon. Rho strolled to the door of the cottage and looked out. Something unusual was out there, though she couldn’t quite see what it was with the crowd of jumping, yelling girls gathered around it. “Clea! Stop poking at whatever you have with that stick!” she yelled and gathered up her long skirt to run outside. After grabbing the stick away from the still squealing Clea, Rho turned to investigate more closely. Somehow the little girl hellions had managed to uncover a trap. A man trap. The cottages out here were so isolated that several of the people in the outpost had set traps in case wild animals or men should trespass onto their property. She pushed the curious little monsters away and peered inside. Rho blinked. For once Clea wasn’t exaggerating. It was a man. Or close to a man anyhow. He looked young and battered and…and naked. She took a step back but couldn’t help staring. She’d never seen a man, any man, before. This one glared up at her with hot, angry eyes. His face was bruised and dried blood crusted his mouth. “Clea, go get some help,” Rho ordered. “Who should I get?” Clea demanded.

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Rho hesitated. Even though they were close to the clinic, few of the inhabitants had ever seen a man either. Most of the women would be of no help. They’d be terrified or disgusted. Dealing with men was left to the sperm traders. “Call Amma or Tory!” They were sperm traders. They’d know what to do with this feral creature. “Have them come quickly. All of you go and leave the man be.” As Clea and the others ran screaming down the small dirt track to the clinic, Rho edged a little closer. Did the man talk? Cautiously she reached a hand into the cage, expecting him to snap at her the way a wild animal might. Her hand touched his thigh. He flinched. Rho froze, afraid to move until he grew used to her touch. He stared at her, his eyes wide, breathing heavily. “I won’t hurt you,” Rho soothed. “I’m going to help you.” Rho’s mouth dropped open. As her hand rested gently on his thigh, the -- the most male part of this caged man began to change. She frantically thought back to her college text. While the information hadn’t seemed particularly relevant then, she now remembered that part was called a penis. And it was growing! She couldn’t help staring. She couldn’t tell what the face would look like without the bruises and cuts, but this male body was very different from any other she’d seen. It was bronzed with hard angles and muscles where women didn’t have any. Even bruised and bleeding as it was, she thought it quite beautiful. And that penis -- she wanted to touch it, to marvel at how it could expand. She didn’t know why, but the whole sight made her feel uncomfortable. And interested. Very interested. She leaned forward a little more, her face and breasts pressed against the bars of the cage. “How close do you think you might want to come, sweetheart?” the man asked in a raspy voice, startling her. “Once you do, I’ll tell you just how you can help. In detail.” Then, suddenly, his eyes rolled back in his head and he pitched forward, falling heavily.

***** When Dag finally became aware of his surroundings again, he realized he was now lying on blankets. He stretched out his arm despite the sharp pain he felt from moving. Yes, he could move the arm. That meant at least he was out of that damned cage. He never would have fallen into it had he been strong enough to do anything but stumble along, half-blind with pain, after the beating. But where was he now? His blurred eyesight tried to make some sense of his location in the dark, but both eyes were swollen. He hoped he wasn’t going to have any damage to his vision. A gutter rat needed as many of his senses as he could to stay alive. “I thought I’d keel over when I saw her holding onto his leg, yelling for someone to come quickly. The girl has more sympathy and courage than most of the women around

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here. I suspect any of the others would have run down the road in the opposite direction.” He could hear someone speak, though the voice was muffled. Was the person in another room? Dag wondered if he’d heard that voice before. He thought perhaps he had while slipping in and out of consciousness. It was a woman’s voice. How had he managed to come in contact with women? Damn, he felt weak. He wasn’t sure he could move far. Dominus. He was wasting too much energy worrying where he was. The more important question had to be how was he going to escape from this? “I’ll check him out and then get him out of your way as soon as I can,” a male voice responded. “I’m sure most of Snapdragon is uneasy about his presence here.” He knew that voice. Dag’s brain went on alert even though his body wouldn’t cooperate. He had to get out now. That voice meant danger. The footsteps came closer and he shut his eyes, trying to look limp. There was the sound of a door opening. He could feel eyes on him. “Here now, son.” The male voice was gentle. “Let me take a look at you.” Dag waited, bracing himself. “Huh!” The voice changed. “I know him. I’m afraid Rho -- was that her name? -- picked up some trouble this time. I’ll have to check with our records at the Unit. This one’s probably wanted in Androvia. That cage you saw him in may not be his last one. I’ve had to arrest him before.” Dag refused to react. There was no reason to arrest him this time. That didn’t mean some of those damn Unit keepers might not find it amusing to restrain him anyhow, especially if he had no ability to resist. Dag hadn’t thought this Unit-keeper would do that, but he’d been wrong before. He had no reason to expect fair treatment at any rate. “Aric!” The female voice didn’t sound outraged, just chiding. “Look at the boy. He can’t be moved right now.” “He’s not a boy. He’s eighteen or nineteen at the least. Maybe a bit older. I’ve had runins with him for years. I know he’s a thief and I’ve heard he’s a whore for some of the worst elements in Androvia. He shouldn’t be staying at your home, Tory. I want you to be safe.” Aric’s voice was stern. “I’d risk him before I’d risk you.” How often had he heard Aric’s voice change from warm to stern? I expected more of you

than that, Dag. You’re a bright lad. Why do something you can be punished for? Dag swallowed against the bitterness and reminded himself to lie still.

Why not join the Unit instead? I’ll put in a good word for you. You can ask me for help if you need it. Someone as strong and smart as you could become an asset to the place rather than a liability.

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Right. He’d had others promise to “help” him before. Others who praised how strong he was -- or how pretty. Aric was kinder than most. At least he was cleverer. So far Aric hadn’t tried to fondle him or any of the other things those men had tried. Still, that didn’t mean Aric didn’t plan to do what every other man who made that offer wanted to do to him. Dag could imagine his life in the Unit. Discipline, rules, order. That would be difficult enough. But then came punishment for disobeying the rules. Punishment Captain Aric might be pleased to administer himself. In his own quarters of course. The worst part was that Dag rather liked Aric. Dag prided himself on his ability to discern what people truly were and he still liked Aric. There was something upright about the captain. Dag reminded himself that Aric was probably a decent man. Having a boy toy was no crime in Androvia. That didn’t mean Dag would let himself be beguiled into joining the Unit under Aric’s command. He wasn’t going to let himself be sent back to Androvia with the captain, either. At least not without some kind of struggle. Dag wondered if he’d have the strength to resist if Aric insisted on taking him now. He might not, but he’d give it a terrific try if Aric laid hands on him. “Aric, you worry about me too much.” The female voice was soft now. “Is the boy truly dangerous?” “Not that I know of.” Aric’s voice was oddly muffled. “I rather liked him, you know. But I wouldn’t trust him.” “Then don’t worry about me. We won’t move him into my house if you mind it so much.” “I can’t help worrying, Tory.” Dag heard odd noises. They sounded like -- but they couldn’t be… Puzzled, he ventured to half-open his eyes again. Once he got a good look, he forgot about concealment. His eyes hurt from almost bugging out. Fortunately, the two people in front of him weren’t watching him. Far from it. Aric was embracing the female. She was embracing him right back. Then Aric bent down and kissed her as warmly as Dag had ever seen any man kiss one of his evening companions in Androvia. That kiss went on and on, deeper and steamier by the moment. Dag processed the sight, still staring. The two of them were…deviants. They had to be. Deviants, odds, whatever you wanted to call them. Amazing. He’d seen many sights, but he’d never seen a male and female kissing. He watched Aric unbutton the female’s shirt and press his lips to her body. Her hands reached out to trace Aric’s cock underneath his uniform pants. Dag swallowed. The captain’s cock was already getting bigger. Dominus! In another few seconds he might be seeing deviant sex.

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Once again, just as it had with the other female, Dag felt his body respond. His brain might tell him he had to stop the two before things became too intimate, but his cock was telling him that it liked this strange intimacy very much. The weird reaction his body had given when the other woman had put her hands on him had puzzled him, but he’d been too groggy to make much of it until now. Now he had plenty of time to think. He’d always believed himself to be cold. Frigid, even, though he would die before admitting that to anyone else. Still, Dag knew he’d never become really aroused by the idea of sex before. In fact he hated having men put their hands on him. That could be a handicap when a guy was a stripper at the rowdiest bar in Androvia, but Dag was good enough and pretty enough to make it work for him. The bar owner had been amenable to Dag’s suggestion about keeping Dag a little away from the crowd at the bar when he’d first started stripping. The crowds liked that -- they knew Dag was special, not one of the usual toys that got immediately pawed at when they worked. The crowd could look but not touch…at least in the beginning. With that innovation, Dag’s tips had soared. The drawback was by the time they did get to touch most of the men were ready for more -- and Dag never did more than strip for his audience. Of course that meant some men figured Dag was just a more expensive toy than most. They just got angry when he made it clear he wasn’t for sale outside the bar. Dag didn’t want to think about what that had led to. He decided to shut his mind off about his predicament until he knew what to do about Jasper and his thugs. Besides, right now Dag was more focused on what Aric was doing with his hands and teeth to the woman -- Tory? -- and her underclothes. The top layer of clothing had long since gone. Aric was pulling at the woman’s breasts with his mouth, sucking hard. Tory was moving herself against Aric as if she enjoyed what he was doing to her. The couple in front of him moaned together. Dag bit his lip to keep from moaning too. Dominus! His own cock was getting harder. Had this been his problem all his life? It wasn’t that he didn’t want sex. Apparently what he wanted was deviant sex. His cock seemed to twitch in violent agreement with the thought. How long might he have gone on, not knowing his particular perversion? Forever. Without Jasper’s beating and his orders to dump Dag into the wilderness, Dag might never have known. He hadn’t seen a female since he was seven or eight, when he ran away from No-Land to try his fate in Androvia. There was no reason for him to have ever seen one again. Most men didn’t. “I worry about you all the time, Tory,” he heard Aric saying in a thick voice as he moved his hand between the woman’s legs. “Just like I miss you all the time. I’m not used to this.” Dag was vaguely embarrassed. This Aric was the same man others had nicknamed Captain Ice? The one who never showed much emotion? No one would ever believe Dag if he told them what he’d seen.

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Then Dag felt a bit of ice-cold fear himself. If Aric ever knew he’d witnessed this, he would kill him. Dag wouldn’t even blame him. But Dag couldn’t help but look, as he saw Aric’s pelvis rocking hard against the woman. And Dag couldn’t help but imagine what the woman’s body felt like. He bet she felt good. “Aric, we can’t do this now.” Tory’s voice suddenly seemed less dreamy. “We’re in front of the boy, even if he is unconscious. And others could show up any time.” “Right. I’m sorry.” Dag watched Aric blink as if he’d just realized that. “It’s just -- I haven’t seen you for almost a week.” “Five days and ten hours,” Tory answered. “I know. Don’t you think I miss you, too?” “This is killing me. I want to be around you more than this. Dominus, I can’t stop thinking about you.” Aric reluctantly took his hands away. “I know.” Tory reached forward and Dag saw her tongue enter the captain’s mouth, watched it enter and retreat once more. “That’s one reason why I want the boy -- what’s his name, anyhow? -- to stay.” She grinned. “You’ll need to come here more often to check on him.” “I see.” Aric suddenly lifted the woman up, holding her close against him. “We can talk about that later. Where can we go that has a locked door?” “I love a masterful man.” Tory laughed as Aric swept her out, kicking the door shut behind them. Dag didn’t laugh with her. Even though the door muffled the sound he heard a cry. He knew what that noise meant -- he’d heard enough of that sound on Androvia. The two of them were probably already having sex. If not, at least one of them had already reached more pleasure than he knew he’d ever had. He was left alone on his pallet, hard and aching.

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Chapter Two “Hello.” Dag woke up again, sweaty and half-aroused, remembering his dreams of a naked woman rubbing herself against him the way Tory had against the captain. But this time the woman looked different. She looked like -“Rho. My name is Rho. I don’t know if you remember that or me.” The voice was young and hesitant. He opened his eyes. Thank Dominus he could see. And thank Dominus most of him was under a blanket. This sudden hardening of his cock was becoming far too routine. The female beside him looked even better than she had in his fantasy. This Rho was too beautiful -- ivory skin, big green eyes, golden hair. She looked delicate and untouched. No. She was delicate and untouched. “H’lo there.” He managed the words though his throat was still bruised. “You look better than you did last time I saw you.” Rho smiled at him. “I was worried, so I finally came to see you.” She touched his face. “There aren’t any scars then?” Dag asked. He hadn’t been given a mirror. “I don’t think so. The cuts seem to be healing. The bruises are still there but they’re fading.” Rho leaned over to stare more closely. “You look like you’re going to turn out handsome.” Then she pulled back abruptly, blushing. “Good.” He relaxed. “I need to keep looking good. Men don’t pay to see scarred up faces.” Then he stopped. His throat hurt when he talked and she looked too interested. Puzzled, but interested. If he ever told her why men paid to see him, she’d probably be horrified. He

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could tell she wasn’t street scum. She wouldn’t understand. Probably no one was a stripper in Femmeland. She’d figure him out soon enough, or someone would tell her. Until then he liked having her around. Rho smiled again, and held out a small bunch of flowers. Dag stared at them, then at her. “I picked them on the way,” she said. “It’s to help cheer you up.”

Flowers? Dag took them, very carefully, from her hand, letting his fingers brush against hers. What did you do with flowers? Rho stood up and took them away from him. Very puzzled, he watched as she grabbed a cup from near his pallet and placed the flowers into the cup. “There. I’ll put them where you can see them.” She bustled around and he watched, a little bemused. You looked at flowers? People brought them to you and you looked at them? Femmeland was a strange place. And women were strange creatures… Rho slanted a glance over at him and smiled. He smiled back.

But nice, he thought. They were nice. Too nice to stay around him for long. Dag knew he had to accept that fact or it would hurt if -- when -- everything changed. Besides, he’d be sent back soon. As soon as possible, he suspected. “What do you do for a living?” Rho asked. “Not important.” Dag got the words out. “What do you do?” “It’s not important, either.” Rho made a face. “I’m a student.” “Student?” Dag was startled. “How old are you?” He’d been fantasizing about a child? “A college student.” Rho giggled. “I’m twenty-one. I should’ve graduated this year but I took some time off when my mother got ill. I hope to finish up this summer.” “And then?” Dag had never met a college student. He’d never been to school at all himself. He tried not to feel too impressed. “Teaching, I suppose.” Rho made another face. “I’m not sure that’s what I really want to do, but it’s a living.” “Rho! That’s your name, isn’t it?” Aric’s voice broke into their conversation. “Why are you here?” Rho jumped and looked guilty. “I’m just visiting…I don’t know your name.” She turned back to Dag. “Dag. Dagger.” He tried to make it sound like a normal name. “I’m Rho. Rhoanna Davies.” She smiled at him.

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She had a pretty name. He wished he had a last name to tell her. Hell. He wished he had a real first name. “Well, Rhoanna Davies, before you leave, check your pocketbook. Dag is sometimes a little too handy with others’ belongings.” Aric folded his arms and looked down at the two of them. Dag almost blushed. “I don’t pickpocket,” Dag protested. He fought to make his voice sound normal and authoritative, rather than scratchy. Aric just looked at him. They both remembered what Dag had been doing the first time Aric had caught him. Annoyed, Dag snapped, “Anymore. I haven’t for years.” “Not since you took up your new line of work?” Aric almost sneered. Dag tried to gather his strength. If the captain told Rho what he did, Dag was going to do his best to jump him. He wasn’t sure he could take Aric on even when he was full strength and Dag knew there’d be no contest right now, but he’d try. “Right. It pays a hell of a lot better.” Dag’s chin stuck out. “And it’s legal.” Aric looked at him and didn’t say anything more. Rho looked even more curious, but kept quiet as well. “I guess I’ll go now.” Rho stood up. Dag realized she was shy, but she wasn’t fleeing the scene because two angry men were in the room with her. She had some quiet steel in that fragile-looking body of hers. “But I’ll be back, Dag.” She hadn’t been intimidated by Aric’s none too subtle suggestion that she leave, either. Dag liked that. He smiled at her. She smiled back. “Captain.” She nodded at the other man before she left. Dag watched her leave before he caught himself and went back to watching Aric. Aric wasn’t someone to ignore. “It pays a hell of a lot better,” Aric mimicked when they were alone. He snorted. “Did you get well paid to be beaten up too? I thought you’d gotten into a fight with the wrong man this time, but was all this part of some rough sex coupling?” Dag blushed and thought he might jump Aric anyhow, just for making him do that. “No! And it’s none of your business.” Dag reminded himself to keep quiet. That was the best way to deal with someone from the Unit. The less they knew, the better. “I’ve been out here three times this week to check on you and it’s none of my business?” Aric laughed, although he didn’t sound amused. “I know why you’ve been out here and it’s not to watch over me,” Dag retorted and then shut his eyes. What kind of idiot was he? Had the beating affected his brain? “Later on I wondered.” Aric’s voice was a little too soft. “I know you’re trickier than you look, son, with that baby face of yours. I wondered if maybe I’d been just a little too open

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with Tory in front of you. Tory can get me stupid. But don’t worry. She’s the only one who makes me that way. You’re someone I know how to deal with.” What Jasper’s thugs could do was probably nothing compared to what Aric could do to him with just his hands or feet. Dag swallowed but this time refused to say anything. It might be too late, but he finally remembered his street smarts. When he met Aric’s gray eyes, though, Dag felt a slight blush starting again. Aric didn’t look murderous. He looked a little rueful, perhaps, but nothing more. “You don’t make the most reliable witness, Dog.” Aric deliberately used his less complimentary street name. “I figure no one will believe you if you did say anything. Especially since you’ve been telling folks I planned to have sex with you if you ever were stupid enough to join the Unit.” “I was wrong about that. Unless you like sex both ways,” Dag added. Aric laughed. “No. I have enough problems with just one gender, thanks,” he said, carelessly. “Not that I’ll admit any of that unless I must. I want to stay in the Unit until something better comes along. So far nothing has. And son? You need to give my reasons for having you join the Unit a second thought.” There were other reasons, good reasons, not to join the Unit. Dag shook his head. “All right. I expect you’ll be back with the rest of us men in a few more days at most. Maybe you need to start telling me how you got thrown out for dead.” Aric leaned against the wall, looking like he could wait all night. Dag shut his mouth hard. Aric could just wait all night if he expected Dag to tell him more. That was a sure way to get killed once he got back. Informants never lived too long. “You can expect to receive worse next time, Dag, if you let this slide.” Aric’s voice was gentle. “I don’t want to have to pick your dead body up off the street.” “I’m not letting anything slide,” Dag mumbled. “But you don’t have anyone to back you up. You’re tough enough, son, but the folks who did this to you will be back for more when you return. They’ll get reinforcements if they can’t do the job more thoroughly themselves. You’re going to need help.” Dominus, they both knew Aric was right. He was in trouble. Jasper would wait to get him in an alley again and offer him the same choice. There was no choice. He’d die either way. Dag stared down at his hands, looking at the healing scabs on them. “I don’t need help.” “All right, Dog.” Aric used his street name again. Dag winced. He could hear the contempt when Aric used it. “I can ask again. You can think about it some more. But we only have a few more days.”

***** “Stupid kid.” Aric grunted and then added on a long-drawn sigh, “One thousand six.”

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He lowered himself down again. Tory sighed, too. She thought she’d had a brilliant idea when she suggested that Aric do a somewhat modified version of his daily pushup exercise routine. She’d been right about her brilliance. Aric was getting his aerobic workout and -- he pulled himself up again, almost off of her body, his cock just barely at her vagina’s entrance -- she was getting an aerobic workout, too. Since she was feeling so clever, Tory decided Aric needed to have his annoyance worked off. He had taken her challenge and was proving much too good at pretending she wasn’t there. But they both knew better. On the count of one thousand seven, she fastened her legs around his hips and tilted her pelvis up. They both knew a perfect way to get Aric less irked. She tightened her vaginal muscles and felt him shiver. Aric understood the message. His measured, controlled sexual pushups ended abruptly. Play was over. His next push was suddenly much more fierce. Ahhh. Aric was about to get very serious about his sex. Very. Tory moaned as his thrusts turned more and more frenzied. She began to rotate her hips invitingly. Aric hastily moved his hand closer to her clitoris and began to tease at her dampened nub. “I can’t hold out much longer, Tory,” he muttered. “You feel too damn good.” “That’s okay,” Tory managed as she dug her heels into the small of his back. His fingers danced knowledgeably against that very sensitive flesh of hers. “You’ve been feeling just as good for just that -- long!” Aerobics ended with the two of them entwined in a panting, thrashing heap. Even after coming, Aric thrust against her several times more as if he hated to stop. Tory had to agree with that. When they were finally both still, Aric remained joined with her just a moment or two more, his head resting on her shoulder. Tory smiled against his hair. She liked this part too. Eventually Aric gave her one last kiss on her nearest breast and leaped up. He held a hand out to her to help her rise. Then, both of them completely naked, they strolled over to the butterfly chairs to collapse in them, side by side. Aric hadn’t forgotten the original conversation, though. He scowled as he stretched himself out more comfortably on the chair. “Dag’s not only stupid, but he’s too proud for his own good.” “And you like him too much for your own good.” Tory slowly stretched out her arm. She’d poured out two goblets before their “exercise” just so she could hand Aric some of the outpost’s special homemade wine afterwards. After he took the glass, she slumped back into her chair, exhausted. “Try some. It’s almost drinkable.” Aric drank, sputtered, and then put the goblet down. “You women can’t make a decent drink.”

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Tory smiled at him. “But we can make you sit up and take notice,” she reminded him, sweetly. “And don’t you forget it.” “I never can forget that around you.” Aric leaned forward to kiss her, lazily. “Other women might make me look but my body damn near stands to attention every time you walk by.” They slouched next to each other for a long moment. Tory thought about how domestic it all seemed. Too bad they could only do this in secret. Rules in Femmeland and Androvia were strict. No fraternization between the genders. That worked out fine for almost everyone. Unless you were a deviant, lusting after someone of the opposite gender. Things got even worse when you did more than lust after one. Once you wanted a particular one around for more than sex, things moved beyond difficult into almost unbearable. Tory reached out her hand to catch Aric’s. “Damn, I could get used to this.” Aric’s thoughts echoed hers. “I love you, Tory. I’d like to come home to you at night.” “That reminds me. I may be gone for a week or so,” Tory told him, reluctantly. “I have an interview to give on the other side of Femmeland. And the scientists want to consult me again.” “Why?” Ever since she’d been discovered to be a recently arrived Earthling, women had made her into their idol. What she liked in hairstyles and fashion had been broadcast everywhere. Her views on tolerance among the genders had been publicized and now the scientists were grilling her on the latest in Earth inventions. “Every time a wave of Earth immigrants arrives, Femmeland and Androvian scientists learn about our new innovations.” Tory yawned. “Since I’m the first immigrant in the last thirty or forty years, they hope to get a lot more information out of me. Too bad I can’t be of more help. I don’t know how microwaves or computers or cell phones work.” “Will Mitzi let me visit Dag?” Aric asked. “If both you and Amma are gone, she’s the one who knows most about men. The others will defer to her.” “Probably, if you don’t fuss too much with her. She gets flustered with men, which is why she gave up sperm trading. Besides, she’s all absorbed with her impending birth.” Tory laid her head on Aric’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to her before I leave. Speaking of leaving -- you’re going to have to go soon. No one is going to believe you visited Dag for over four hours.” Aric sighed. “I’ll have to take him back in another week at most. I don’t know what to do for him. He must be scared out of his mind. He’s even willing to stay here rather than go back. Most Androvians would be trying to crawl their way out of Femmeland by now.”

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“Are you sure?” Tory asked. “I couldn’t swear to it but I notice a gleam in his eye when he looks at me. I don’t think he means anything by it, but I would swear he’s not all that interested in men.” “He’s looking at you because --” Aric stopped. He wasn’t going to tell her what Dag had managed to see when they were together. “Tory, that young man is a stripper in one of the most notorious bars in town. He’s one of their top performers and every thug in town competes to have Dag be his own personal toy. The kid is too pretty not to be some man’s pet.” “Is he?” “Probably.” “But no one knows for sure?” “No.” Aric scowled at the line of questioning. “Well, no one thinks you could be a deviant because you’re so macho and all. Maybe Dag is just as good at hiding his preferences.” Tory didn’t give up her idea even with Aric frowning at her. “Not every man in Androvia is a deviant, love,” he told her. “I doubt there are more than a handful of us. There’s always No-Land for the misfits. Androvia is for men who want other men. And a lot of those men want younger men who look like Dag.” “That would be very difficult if he is a deviant, then.” Tory wasn’t convinced. “Even more difficult than your life.” “Much too difficult,” Aric agreed. “That’s why it can’t be.”

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Chapter Three Mitzi was in tears. She was in tears a lot lately, even more than usual. Apparently her upset hormones only enhanced her normal behavior. Tory suppressed an inward sigh. This wasn’t going to be a quick, careless conversation. Tory took Mitzi’s hand and patted it. “Hey, honey, what’s wrong?” She kept her voice gentle. “Nothing. Everything.” Mitzi sniffled and blinked her eyes. “Amma was sent on a scouting mission --” “I heard.” “-- and she won’t tell me where or for how long. She said she didn’t know!” Mitzi looked distressed. “How can she treat me this way in my condition?” Mitzi’s condition looked great. She looked plump and healthy and very pregnant. Tory patted her hand again. “I guess she just didn’t know how long she’ll be gone. You know she wants to stay here for you right now. So I’m sure this was important.” Tory hoped this soothing tone was going to work. “I suppose.” Mitzi pouted. “I think she’s afraid I’m going to fail.” “Fail? Lose the baby?” Tory was startled enough to let her gentle routine crack for a moment. Mitzi’s eyes teared up again. “Oh no!” she said. “How could you mention something so awful? I just meant that I might have a boy.” “Oh. Well, I guess the odds are fifty-fifty on that.” “Not on Snapdragon.” Mitzi smiled. “Our clinic almost always has girls.”

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“Huh?” Tory stared. She didn’t know much about sperm banks -- which was the way Androvians and Femmeland inhabitants procreated -- but that had to be wrong. “That makes no sense.” “I think it does,” Mitzi said. “Who wants to give up their babies to Androvians? Anyhow, Amma and I noticed that nine out of ten women who use our clinic have girls. That’s one reason Femmeland women love to come here to Snapdragon. We have waiting lists.” “Nine out of ten? Those are really amazing odds,” Tory said, slowly. Of course Mitzi did exaggerate a lot. “Right. I’m sure I’m just being foolish.” Mitzi patted her stomach. “Our little Lulu will be a perfect girl.” Tory winced at the name but patted her stomach too. Mitzi expected people to do that. “Speaking of Androvians, will you give Captain Herron permission to see our wounded male? I expect you’ll be in charge with Amma and me both gone.” “I really hate being in charge of the clinic.” Mitzi pouted again a bit and then said, “Of course. The sooner the captain finds out the male is better, the sooner he can take him away.” Mitzi had a practical streak underneath all her fluttering. Tory gave her an air kiss and then a real hug. “I’ll let him know then,” she said and headed for the door. Life was less complicated now that she had rented her own little cottage away from Mitzi and Amma’s house. The couple were delightful people -- if you forgot that they had kidnapped Tory and brought her to this crazy planet -- but Tory was happy to have her own life to herself. Particularly when Aric found a way to come visit.

***** Dag tried to relax on his stomach as the fingers dug into the small of his back. He failed miserably. “A massage is very therapeutic,” Rho told him once again. Right. She was straddling his hips, spreading her small palms against his shoulders. Relax. Therapy. “Listen, Rho, I’m not used to this.” Dag was proud that his voice sounded so casual. “I realize you probably aren’t used to women touching you but that should be all right, shouldn’t it? After all, it isn’t like a man trying to…um…feel you up…” Rho trailed off. Oh Dominus. That was all he needed. Now he was thinking about Rho feeling him up. “I just -- well, I don’t like having hands on me.” Dag knew he was lying. He didn’t like men putting their hands on him. Feeling Rho’s hands was giving him entirely new sensations. Too good entirely new sensations.

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“Dag, this will help you. You said you think you’re leaving soon. Well, you’re still stiff and sore. A good massage will unknot muscles and make you feel much better.” Rho sounded impatient. Feel better, maybe. Unknot anything? Dag had his doubts. Something was already knotting up underneath his belly. What if -- ? He could do this. He wanted to do this. Maybe he wanted to do this too much. Dag tried to figure out how to manage a massage without scaring the hell out of Rhoanna. A thought dawned. After staying for this long, he’d graduated to a bed here in the back room of the clinic. Thank Dominus. He couldn’t manage this with just blankets on floor. Dag braced his hands and legs against the bedposts. He felt a few twinges but nothing important. If he could just remember to keep his hands and legs right where he’d placed them, nothing should happen. Nothing too frightening for Rho anyhow. He gripped the posts. “Go ahead.” Dag gritted his teeth. “Honestly, Dag, it’s a massage. It’s not torture.” Right.

***** Tory stared at the records trying to figure out what she saw. The clinic was very careful about listing how many clients came for sperm and equally careful as to the number of transfers -- the term they gave to giving up male children to the Androvians. No one bothered to say whether the rest were live births or girls since no one came back to the clinic for those procedures. The sperm bank was one of the few legitimate ways any Femmeland citizen ever saw a male so it was logical that this was also where boys were also sent off to Androvia. Meanwhile girls were just absorbed into the various female families. But this was weird. Mitzi had been wrong. There were even fewer boys than she had thought. Tory could count on the fingers of both hands how many boys had been transferred to Androvia this year. The year wasn’t over, of course, and Tory had been told some women fled to No-Land rather than give up their babies -- but this was weird. There were record numbers of women clients who came in for sperm. There were close to a hundred more women this year at the clinic than all of last year combined. And less than ten had boys? Tory scowled. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Maybe she didn’t understand about Femmeland and women did have more girls here but -- Aric would have the answer. She had to tell him about this. She heard women’s voices down the hall and hastily shut the record book. Whatever was going on, Tory didn’t want anyone else to know. Or at least know that she knew. Tory slipped out of the office and met Faye in the hall. Faye grunted at her. Their night of giddy threesome sex a few months ago hadn’t cheered Faye up much. She still had a dour

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look outside of the bedroom. Tory was sort of glad Faye never pushed getting into a conversation. Tory still felt strange about some of the things they’d all done. She would have felt worse than strange if Aric hadn’t managed to convince her -- with many hours of nice, sweaty sex -- that he would rather have sex with just her than sex with her and someone else. “Just trying to finish some stuff up for Amma before I leave,” Tory told Faye, wondering why she bothered. Faye never seemed the least bit interested in what other people were doing at the clinic. Sometimes Tory wondered if she had imagined Faye’s flirting and then threats that one night in No-Land. She knew she hadn’t imagined some of the things she and Aric and Faye had all done. Tory’s imagination would never have been good enough to come up with some of Faye’s ideas. Faye grunted again and kept walking, leaving Tory with her problems. How the hell was Tory going to let Aric know about what was going on? It wasn’t as if there were a lot of direct phone lines between Femmeland and Androvia. This wasn’t an emergency. Tory pondered and then wrote a quick note. She wasn’t sure how reliable he was, but she was pretty sure Dag would deliver a message to Aric when her guy showed up next. Dag had no reason not to and, even though he and Aric had some of the usual male suspicion of each other, there also seemed to be some healthy respect there too. Yes. Of course Dag would give Aric the letter. She tucked the note in her pocket and began walking toward Dag’s sickroom. Tory had to admit she’d almost miss the young man when he did leave. He was amusing and extremely polite toward her, though she wondered what he was thinking behind that outwardly good behavior. She grinned. Once a deviant, always a deviant. Of course she’d miss him. He was also very nice to look at.

***** Faye scowled after Tory as the woman bounced down the hall. She always ran around looking cheerful. Then again, why shouldn’t she look cheerful? Tory was the one with the deviant who hung around whenever he could find a reason. You wouldn’t find Miss Tory doing any work if the captain was sniffing around. Oh no. Faye was the one who had to head for No-Land to try to capture a stray male, one willing to try to satisfy both their deviant urges. She hated No-Land. Always had. It was an ugly place where people came and went. But Faye did what deviants had to do if they didn’t want to move out permanently -- she kept her perversity to herself and didn’t upset the proper order of Femmeland. Faye suddenly smiled. Well, she didn’t upset the order of Femmeland in any bad way.

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***** “Do you want me to stop, Dag?” Rho’s sweet voice tickled his ear. “This doesn’t seem to be relaxing you at all.” She was right. Dag could feel himself sweating. His fingers were almost numb, he’d held the posts so tightly. Dag swallowed and cleared his throat. “No. Don’t stop.” He had no idea how he was going to manage to keep himself from coming much longer but he would rather die than have her stop now. Her hands paused for a moment under his shoulder blades then slid all the way down to his thighs. Oh, yes! Dag bit his lip for about the tenth time so far. Oh, no. This was it. This would be the last tortured pleasure he could endure. Her hands slid between his thighs and he let out a small groan. Dominus, he couldn’t help groaning. “Are you sure, Dag?” “Yes.” He knew he couldn’t manage any more verbal reassurance. Dag shifted his body. For just a moment he thought he felt lips press against one thigh. He swore his heart stopped just before his eyes opened wide. “Rho?” He breathed out. He wasn’t sure what he would ask her next, but he knew he had to.

“Dag!” That wasn’t Rho’s voice. Someone else was in his room. He wouldn’t have noticed if an army of women showed up, the state he’d been in a half minute ago. But with the threat of a new presence, his body calmed enough to let his mind slowly kick into gear. “Tory?” Rho sounded stunned. Dag turned his head. Tory looked a little stunned too. Dag thought about the picture he made. Rho was straddling him, with her skirts up -- he knew every inch of skirt that had slid up her legs while she worked -- and his body was spread out below her with just a towel over his ass. Rho might not know what they looked like cuddled together, but Dag wasn’t that naïve. “Well,” Tory said. “Well, well.” “I was trying a therapeutic massage for Dagger,” Rho piped up. “He’s still stiff and sore.” “He’s stiff and sore. Yes.” Tory’s voice remained neutral. “Rho was trying to help.” Dag felt compelled to try to defend Rho, even though he winced when he saw Tory glance his way. Then Tory began to laugh. She held out a hand to Rho and pulled her off Dag’s back with one quick motion. Dag wanted to weep, though he wasn’t sure if it was from relief or frustration. “Rho, shame on you,” Tory scolded. “I don’t know how you managed to con Dag, but you shouldn’t try to get the poor guy excited and then pretend its therapy. Especially when he might actually misunderstand and not do anything about it.”

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Dag opened his mouth to protest. Then he saw Rho turn red and begin to giggle at the same time. “You are so aware, Tory. I knew you would be all right about things if you found out. How could I help trying? He just is so…so touchable.” Dag’s mouth stayed open. His angelic Rho looked positively devilish at the moment, especially when she glanced his way and then let her eyes linger on his body. His mind slowly grasped that Rho had meant that torture deliberately. And that he’d been putting up with it when he could have just turned over and… “Damn.” Dag’s mind raced. “Well, don’t mind me,” Tory said, stepping back. “But if you two want to indulge in each other, try locking the door next time.” “It doesn’t lock,” Rho said, mournfully. Dominus! She’d already checked out that detail? Dag cursed himself for an idiot. He’d fallen for her otherworldly innocent look. Hadn’t he learned by now never to believe in what appeared on the surface? Tory hesitated, then put a white paper on the stand near the bed and said, “Listen, I’m leaving. Dag, please see that Aric gets this letter. It’s important. And put a chair under the doorknob the next time you jump on him, Rho.” Then she stepped out. Dominus! She was going to leave him alone with Rho knowing perfectly well what he and she -- what they -“By Zorah, Tory is so aware. She doesn’t even blink an eye at deviancy. Ever since I first heard about her she’s been my ideal woman.” Rho spoke in an almost awed tone. “If I was normal, I’d probably want to have sex with her. Do y’think I’d look good with my hair cut shorter, like hers is?” Dag blinked. He was trying to get over being hard as a rock for what seemed like hours with no relief and Rho was thinking about cutting her hair? Then he saw her lick her lips nervously. She wasn’t meeting his eyes. Rho was embarrassed too. But she wasn’t leaving. Dag took that as a definite sign of encouragement. “Bring your hair over here and let me take a closer look before I decide.” Dag used his sexiest voice. Rho stared at him. Then she began to grin. Yes, indeed. His angelic creature had a definite grin on her face. “Let me just put a chair under the doorknob first.” His cock sprang back into full alert at that. Dag sat up and let the towel slip down from his hips. Rho paused, her hand still on the doorknob, her lips parting slightly and her eyes on his body. Dag wasn’t the best stripper in Androvia for nothing. He made the moment last. By the time the towel was all the way off, Rho was turned completely toward him, all pretense of shyness forgotten while she stared.

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“The chair, Rho,” he prompted her. “Hurry up. I’ve been waiting almost two weeks for this.” Rho shoved the chair under the doorknob and walked toward him, still staring. Dag knew he was grinning too. His cock was already waving hello to dainty Rhoanna Davies as she began to untie the strings to her peasant blouse and let it slip off her shoulders. “You didn’t have anything on under that skirt and blouse. I wondered but I wasn’t quite sure until now.” Dag pointed out the obvious as she unbuttoned the skirt. “Why would I? I was hoping to seduce you before you left,” Rho said in her sweetest voice. “Are you angry? Please don’t be. I needed to be with you and didn’t know what else to try. You know, I didn’t even realize I was a deviant before I saw you in that cage, all naked. But you showed me what was wrong in seconds.” “Dominus.” Dag swallowed. “I had to be naked for you to figure it out? You must be slow. All you had to do was touch me for me understand what I wanted. That first time -- I was already half out of my head. Then you put your hands on me and I went completely out of my mind.” “Like this?” Rho put her hand on his thigh, almost the way she had the first time. His cock reacted just the same way it did before. Her eyes widened and she wet her lips. “I see. Sorry. I guess I am a little slow.” She was so lovely. Dag wanted to look at those breasts. He wanted to run his hands down her rounded thighs. He wanted to explore the fascinating area that was hidden by those short, golden curls. He wanted -“Get on top of me and finish what you started,” he growled. “I’m so glad I kept studying my college biology text,” Rho cooed back. “It gave me all sorts of interesting ideas when it talked about old-fashioned sexual positions.” She was tantalizingly close, straddling over him this time. He couldn’t stand any more teasing. But he didn’t have to. Fiercely, Dag pulled her down far enough on top of him and they both yelped. His penis zeroed in on her entrance and moved inside of her wet, warm flesh as if it had known all along where to go. He stilled, panting. He felt the slightest of barriers up inside of her. Knowing only that he needed to be inside her body before he died of agony, he thrust in hard and the barrier was gone. They spoke at the same time. “Dominus!” Dag moaned. “That feels good.” “Ouch!” Rho cried. “That hurts, Dag!” They stared at each other. Rho looked surprised and distressed. Dag breathed hard through his nose. All he wanted to do was ram himself over and over into that warm sheath of hers. But things must be different for women. All right. He would fix it. Somehow.

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She was wiggling insistently above him and his fingers dug into her hips. That felt good but he knew she wasn’t doing that to make him feel good. She wanted off. Oh Dominus -- no. No! No! No! She wasn’t going to leave now. Not when he was so close… “No wonder people don’t want to be deviants.” Rho arched her back, trying to get away. “If this is all there is, I can just forget about sex entirely. Let me go, you lout!” “Damn it, stop moving!” Dag snarled. “I said let me g --” He managed to turn her over so that he was on top now. She lay under him, her eyes wide. “Why aren’t you going to let me go?” She had gone back to looking fragile and waif-like. “Hush, Rho. I’m going to make you like this,” Dag promised. Inside, he panicked as he tried to figure out a way to make her feel the pleasure he had. “Just wait a minute. If you don’t like it in just a bit I’ll let you go. I promise.” “In a bit is no good. Make me like it quickly.” Rho scowled at him and the waif was gone. What he had now was a demanding woman. “Just a moment, Rho.” She just had to wait while an idea of how to make it good for her came to him. What the hell might a female want? Dag smiled. He remembered what Aric had done. Tory had liked that just fine. They both had. Dag leaned over and tentatively licked one nipple. Rho’s breath caught. Was that good or bad? He touched her nipple with his fingertip. He’d wanted to do that before he’d been sidetracked by getting inside of her. The nipple felt good to him. Velvety and soft, starting to harden a little. He rubbed the tip between his fingers and heard Rho whimper. Good or bad? “You like this?” he managed to ask evenly. “Y -- yes. I think so.” Rho’s voice sounded the way his had when she’d massaged him. “Let’s make sure.” He bent his head down again and used his tongue against the other nipple. “Holy Zorah!” She whimpered a moment. “Yes. Do it some more.” Dag reached a hand down and tentatively let one finger rub between those folds of slick flesh that he so desperately wanted to explore. He shifted his weight, feeling his cock readying to explode once Rho whimpered again. He moved his cock gently, easily against her, the way he had with the finger. She shut her eyes and arched herself against him instead of pushing away. And that warm, wet flesh of hers surrounding his cock suddenly tightened. “Huh,” Dag grunted. “Don’t do that unless you want this to be all over.” “What?” Rho sounded confused and -- pleased. Yes. Pleased. Thank Dominus.

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He increased his strokes against her with his cock, trying to be gentle and slow since hard and rough hadn’t worked. He closed his eyes, gasping for air as he slid in and out of her slippery body. Finally, her amazing tightening happened again. Once. Twice… The third time Dag knew it was all over for him. She might never want to see him again but he couldn’t be gentle and slow anymore. He began to thrust faster, faster, faster… “Daaaag!” Her voice wailed in his ear. He could feel her fingernails digging into his back. Oh Dominus, he’d promised her he’d stop, he’d promised -Just a bit more. Yes, just a few more thrusts. He gritted his teeth as he drove into her hard, groaning from the delirious pleasure of her tight flesh contracting around his. She was gasping and clawing at him and… His brain was scrambling as the rush of pure feeling took over. If this was how it felt no wonder men paid money for -Right now he’d do anything, give anything to keep going until he climaxed. He tried to pull out, he truly did, but his cock was outraged at just the thought of being deprived. Suddenly Dag realized it was too late. As he began to slide out, his whole body protesting, he groaned, and could feel himself burst at last. For a moment he forgot about anything but the sensations ricocheting around him, shattering, regrouping. And then he felt Rho’s sheath tighten again, gripping him harder than before. Rho screamed and shuddered against him. Dag shuddered along with her as he felt the last of his essence completely empty from him. Oh Dominus. Even the end of such ecstasy felt good. But his brain was already beginning to work again. That brain which was warning him of complications. Had it been good or bad for her? He heard Rho trying to catch her breath underneath him and his brain warned fiercely that he’d overpowered her. Hurt her. Dag pulled out, his cock deflated but still protesting the exit, and stared down at Rho. Her eyes fluttered open. “Dag?” “I’m sorry.” Dag put his head down next to her neck, ashamed to look at her, but not willing to completely leave her yet. Not until she ordered him to. This wasn’t fair. Why was something that felt so good for him so bad for her? He didn’t want to hurt her. He never wanted to hurt her. Everything had gotten confused. He finally muttered the beginning of an apology. “I did it wrong again.” “You did?” Rho sounded confused. “It gets better?” Dag opened his eyes. His heart began to pound again, almost like when he’d been inside her. “You liked it?”

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“Didn’t you? I mean, it didn’t feel right at first but then you were perfect. I’ve never felt like that. Ever.” Rho sat up suddenly. “Let’s do it again. I bet you’re right. We can do better.” Dag groaned, pitifully. “Give me a minute before we start or you’ll kill me. Hey. Listen to me, Rho. Just tell me what you want next time. What you like, what you don’t. That has to be easier.” Rho thought things over. “Well, I don’t know all I want yet, but I’m willing to give that a try.” She reached over and patted his rear. Then she leaned over to lick his nipple. Dag had thought his cock might never move again but with her tongue lashing against him, he realized he could be proven wrong.

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Chapter Four Tory rubbed the back of her neck as she dragged herself into the bed and breakfast. Femmeland wasn’t big on hotels but every town of any size had at least one bed and breakfast. All of them were decorated with the choicest objects their owners had. Tory hated most of the knickknacks Femmeland natives chose. She also would have given anything if one of the fluffy beds held Aric instead of a chocolate candy. “And I like chocolate a lot,” Tory mumbled to herself as she opened the door to her latest lodging. A chocolate was popped into her mouth and then very strong arms dipped her back while a very warm mouth kissed her between her breasts. Tory shut her eyes to savor her chocolate before she swallowed it. Her sugar treat slid down her throat. The other treat lingered even longer. “Miss me?” Aric murmured softly. “Yes!” Tory wound her arms around his neck. “What are you doing here? And how do you never get caught coming and going?” “You know the answer to all those questions. I work for the Unit. Even with your fans hanging around outside, it was easy. I’m trained to use stealth. And after leaving me that note, what did you expect me to do? Twiddle my thumbs until you deigned to tell me more?” Aric began to unbutton her shirt as he spoke. “It took me long enough to track you down.” “You’re twiddling something really well right now,” Tory pointed out before kissing him very hard. “And I wrote down everything I know so far.” “Then talk to me.” Aric began to strip her out of her clothing. “We’ll figure out what more you know.” “Not like that you won’t,” she protested as he used her silk panties to stroke against a very aching clit. “I can’t think or talk when you do things like that.”

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“Sure you can. This way we get two things done at one time. It’s more efficient. Your news caught me by surprise, though I should have caught on to what was happening before. Maybe I would’ve if I was in charge of taking the babies to Androvia. But I’m a Femme trader, not a baby-tender. I never thought to check.” Aric’s jaw tightened as he watched Tory wiggle her hips, but he sounded more coherent than Tory knew she was. “C’mon, Tory. Speak up. You’re telling me that the clinic has come up with some way to get female babies instead of males.” “Am I? Maybe all the boys died…or…ahhh, again, Aric. Please. Again. Or there is some other reason.” Tory shut her eyes and shivered. “There is no other reason.” Aric tickled the silk against her. She could feel his cock straining against the leggings he wore. “Probably not. Those are all the wrong percentages. But how is it happening? And who is doing it? Someone has to know how to change the odds in the female’s favor.” Tory moaned. “Damn you, Aric, don’t make me think right now. Especially about percentages.” “Or all the women who come to the clinic to be inseminated know how to do this.” Aric removed the panties and replaced them with his cock, but just nudged at the edge of where she wanted him to be. “How could they manage it?” “I don’t know. I didn’t study much about genetics or biology -- No, stop it for a minute, Aric. I’m thinking.” Tory’s eyes opened. “Rho!” “The college student? She’s doing this to Androvia?” “No. No. She’s studying genetics and biology this summer. I’ve already used some of her textbooks to find out about modern Femmeland history. Tierra is fascinating --” Aric’s cock moved slyly against her and Tory shut up about history. Biology was more than enough. “I’ll read up on it when I get back.” “Fine.” Aric pushed in a half inch and Tory twitched. “In that case, let me try out these condoms. Too bad you ran out of birth control pills. That’s something else you should tell those damn scientists when they ask about recent discoveries on Earth.” It was a struggle with Aric’s cock so temptingly near, but another thought dawned. “Oh my God!” Tory gulped. “Rho!” He grunted. “Now what? Don’t tell me you’ve given up deviancy with me to think about that girl?” He sounded more irritated than worried. Tory batted at him and said, “No. No, not that. Birth control.” “Yes? I have the condoms. Cost a pretty penny in No-Land too, since that’s the only place you ever need them.” “No, no! Those two idiots probably don’t know anything about it.” “Who? What?” Aric sounded like he was thinking now too. He might not understand what was going on, but his brain was now focusing on more than Tory’s cunt.

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“Oh shit. Oh shit. I left with the two of them ready to fuck like rabbits and didn’t even think to tell them anything!” Tory wailed. “I have to cut this trip short and go back to tell them.” “Who, damn it?” “Rho and your precious Dag, of course. By the way, did we bet anything about Dag being a deviant? Because I won.” Aric’s jaw went slack. He absorbed the news for a moment and then, without any more preliminaries, slid himself tightly inside her. Tory let out a little gasp. How did the man always manage to feel so good? “OK,” he rasped. “You win the bet. You chose having hot sex. Wasn’t that it?” “Must’ve been. Wait a minute.” Tory pushed on his chest. “I think it was hot sex with me on top. Right?” “I’m sure you’re right.” Aric stretched out docilely on the bed, spread-eagle. “Take me, you brute. I’m yours for the night. Anything you want, however you want it.” Tory looked thoughtful. For just a moment, watching him, her chest hurt. He was big and strong and extremely male, but he was waiting there for her move. Aric was so incredible. How lucky could she get? Then whatever it was that was too painful to think about was shoved aside in favor of pure lust. Tory climbed on top of that body and began to inch her pussy slowly, carefully, down Aric’s cock. “We can’t make any noise,” Tory reminded him. “The hostesses sleep right next door.” “I know.” Aric was breathing a little hard. “We’ll manage. We’ve been quiet before. Damn it. I like to hear you.” Tory nuzzled her face into that nicely muscled masculine chest. She could hear his heart beating a little faster than usual. Mmmm. For tonight -- for a number of nights so far -- this was all hers. She moved her face lazily to lick at one masculine nipple. She could feel Aric moving restlessly under her. Tory smiled. She had settled her body on just so far, no farther. But this guy was a man of action. Any minute now, Aric was going to try to change her mind. “This is hot sex?” he muttered. “I’ll have you sweating in a second more,” Tory murmured back. “This is long, slow, quiet, hot sex. My way.” His fingers gripped her wrists very tightly as he arched up just a little. Smiling, Tory lifted herself up a little, refusing to go any further. He scowled at her, not saying anything right away. “Please?” she heard him whisper at last. “I love feeling your pussy, Tory. You know that.”

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He was going to play dirty. Tory tried not to shiver, but they were so close, he could feel it. She watched that smile of his slowly light up his face. “It’s so wet, Tory. It’s so tight. It was made for my cock. We fit together just right. C’mon, Tory, sweetheart.” She bit her lower lip, hard. She couldn’t resist him when he finally started to talk that way to her. They’d been together long enough that he knew it too, the devil. She clenched and watched him shiver. “Tory. You feel so good. Slide yourself up and down on my cock. You want to. We can both feel how much you want to. Please?” His voice was pleading but it promised things. Wonderful things. “Let me in all the way, Tory. I’ll make it good for you. Better than good.” Damn it. This was supposed to be her show tonight. But she couldn’t resist and she began to ride him longer, deeper. She watched him shut his eyes and tighten his jaw, trying not to make a sound. He’d begun to sweat, just as she promised. She could do that to him. She loved to do that to him. And watching his helpless fall into sexual desire, Tory knew they were both lost. Slow was gone, teasing was gone, thought was gone. Faster. She needed his cock faster and harder. Aric knew that and gave her what she wanted. What they needed. They were gulping for air, making soft groaning noises, their bodies getting slicker. Tory could feel how close she was to climaxing and forgot about everything except that hard penis and her own desperate need. “Ahh --” Tory felt Aric’s hand reach up just in time to push his fingers in her mouth before she shattered. She bit down hard, rather than cry out during her orgasm. As she fell forward, she felt Aric push his face into her shoulder and bite down hard enough to make her wince before he groaned out his own pleasure against her skin. The two of them lay close to each other for a long moment, panting. Then Tory slowly moved her arms, just far enough to twine themselves around Aric. She was sated, pleased with herself and him, and she still wanted to hold onto him. The man was addictive. “You probably made me bleed,” Tory murmured, stifling a yawn. “Blood-thirsty monster.” “I’ll make it up to you,” Aric answered, still not pulling out of her. “Sometime before morning. Several sometimes. I promise.” They lay there, arms around each other, and Tory tried not to think how right it would be to do this all the time, not just until early morning. There was no point in thinking about it, because that wouldn’t happen here. The two of them knew by early morning Aric would have to spirit himself away.

*****

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“And I don’t ever want to become a parent. Explaining stuff like this is way too difficult.” That was how Tory finished her little speech about where babies came from. The two faces in front of her looked absolutely blank. Dag was the first one to show a brief glimmer of intelligence. “So -- so…we could be parents?” he tentatively ventured. “You mean all those sexual positions actually still work to make babies?” Rho sounded stunned. “I guess I didn’t read that chapter carefully enough.” “Give them both a cigar!” Tory snapped. “Yes and yes! That’s exactly what I’ve been telling you for the past half hour!” “How soon?” Rho cut in. “I mean, how soon could we know?” Tory frowned. “There are tests we can run at the clinic within a week or less. They may not be accurate if we do them too early, but --” “All right.” Rho swallowed. “We can find out soon then. Probably.” No one said anything for a long time. Then Aric, who had been quiet up until that point, cleared his throat. “I offered this once before for Tory and I’ve been thinking about it again. Even with birth control there is always the possibility of pregnancy. Anyhow.” He cleared his throat again. “I mean, I’m willing to be a mentor if it should come to that.” “You’d take my baby if it was a boy?” Rho asked gently. “Yes. If you want.” “No!” Dag sat up as if he’d been pricked with a pin. “No. I’ll take him. It’s my baby too.” Rho smiled at Dag even while her eyes began to tear. Aric scowled at him. “No you won’t. Baby mentoring goes through a careful screening process in Androvia. As soon as you find out, I’ll put myself on the list. Me, not you. No one would ever approve you as a parent, Dag. Look at what you do for a living!” Aric snapped the words out. Dag looked stubborn. “I didn’t know about the screening since I was never mentored. But I’ll pass. I can do something different. I can charm the screeners. If I have to, I’ll take the baby to No-Land, the way my mother did for me.” “I can see that worked out well,” Aric said, dryly. “Things would have been fine if she hadn’t died. That won’t happen to me.” Dag jumped to his feet, fists clenched. “I’ll take care of the kid. Damn it, don’t belittle me!” “You’re talking about a child, not some stray puppy you picked up on a whim!” Aric retorted. The two men looked about to square off, so Tory cleared her throat. Loudly. “Aren’t you forgetting someone in your rush to have a fight?” she asked, sweetly. Then she pointed to the one silent person in the room.

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By now Rho was crying, not just tearing up a little. Tory had to admit she looked beautiful doing it. Tory couldn’t blame both men for staring or Dag for hastily getting on his knees in front of her. “What’s wrong, honey? What can I do?” Dag held both her hands and actually kissed them after he asked the question. Tory gave him points for gallantry she’d had no idea the young man possessed. She looked at the sun glinting off Dag’s honey-blond and Rho’s white-gold hair. Damn, they were a good-looking couple. They looked like they were posed for some picture. She caught herself before she got too carried away. They were a picture. They were the poster children for what happened when people were ignorant about where children came from. “You don’t have to do anything. Don’t worry. If I’m pregnant and if I have a boy, then I’ll go to No-Land.” Rho’s voice sounded wispier than usual but Tory heard the stubborn note. Rho, at least, had made up her mind. “No, you aren’t,” Dag snapped back. Apparently he wasn’t listening to the steel behind Rho’s words. “You can’t stop me.” “Rho, you don’t understand. You’d hate No-Land. I lived there until I was old enough to get out. It’s miserable. People never know what will happen to them. They’re despised in Androvia and Femmeland both so they can never go back. It’s poor and it’s squalid -- it’s everything you aren’t.” Dag gripped her hand. “I don’t care.” “Maybe not now. But you would. And you’d care about it for the kid.” Dag spoke urgently. The two of them stopped talking abruptly, realizing that nothing the other one would say was going to change anything. “Listen, this is all very hypothetical,” Tory began, speaking carefully so as not to create more crying. “We can have Rho take the test and then make some calm plans --” Dag stood up, his shoulders squared. Tory stopped talking and stared along with everyone else. Dag seemed to be thinking, inwardly gathering courage. He took a deep breath. When Dag finally did speak, he ignored everyone else to look directly at Aric. “Captain Herron, I have some money saved up. Legitimate money. Some furniture too. That’s about it for material things, but I’m strong and I’m healthy. You may not believe this, but I’d be absolutely reliable.” “Yes?” Aric frowned. “I’m not doing this very well. What I mean to say is --” Dag took another breath. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my spouse?”

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Chapter Five Aric squawked. Since Tory had done something very similar when she heard the question, she couldn’t laugh too hard but she knew he’d definitely squawked. “Are you taking some kind of drug, Dag?” Aric finally calmed down enough to ask. “No. Think about it. I know you’re an odd -- no offense, I mean a deviant -- but so what? So am I. All of us are. You said you’d mentor my kid. Well, probably the baby screeners prefer a two-adult household. We’d be two adults. They’d want someone at home for the kid. I can do that. I work nights anyhow, so --” “They don’t want hoodlums who strip for thugs to be a parent!” Aric burst out. Dag flushed and said, “Fine. I’ll figure out some other work to pay my way. They’ll see me squeaky clean, wholesome, anything they want. And you’d get something out of it. With me around, no other guy’d bother you. You can’t tell me I wouldn’t get you points if we got married. Most people would envy you, damn it. And I can clean. I’m not even a bad cook. Most importantly, neither of us would complain if we visit Femmeland once in a while.” “You guys, we don’t even know Rho is pregnant!” Tory yelled. “It’s way too early to panic!” “But it takes a long time for mentors to be approved. Screeners observe potential parents for months,” Aric said, slowly. “I’m not agreeing to anything, Tory, but I can see why Dag is mentioning it now.” “I’m not sure I want to sleep with a married man,” Tory objected and then added softly, “Especially one married to a guy who is prettier than I am.” Aric flashed his old, half-reluctant grin at her before saying, “I don’t care how pretty Dagger here is. I’m not swapping you for him.” “We won’t have to --” Dag started and then stopped. “Oh, Dominus. You two don’t have to kiss in front of other people, do you?”

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Aric ignored him to kiss Tory very thoroughly. Tory had just enough time to get over her surprise that he’d do such a thing in front of others when she heard him whisper in her ear, “If we can pull this off, love, I think we’ve saved Dag.” Tory shook her head just a little, both from the kiss and the words. Save Dag? Oh. Right. If Dag was wholesome and all that other stuff he wouldn’t be anywhere near the people who beat him up. Aric would be keeping a close eye on him, though Dag might not completely realize that yet. Why would he clue him in? Until now Tory had never realized how devious Aric could be. “Hey. We need Rho to be pregnant,” Tory said. “Or else I need to be.” “What?” Aric jumped and then just sighed. “You know, too many shocks to my system today might just kill me. I’m sure you can explain that.” “We need to find out what’s going on at the clinic. To do that, either Rho or I need to decide to get pregnant. I bet we’d find out then.” “You mean all this might be useful?” Rho suddenly spoke up. “Not just some horrible mistake?” That was when Tory knew that Rho was feeling like her usual self again. Rho’s tears were gone and she looked curious again. Somehow this could work. “Yes. You could help us out a lot. Let me explain,” Tory said.

***** Dag slicked his hair back with his hand, and looked around nervously. He’d vacuumed, he’d put a pie in the oven, he’d tidied up the place even though not much was out of order. Aric had probably lived too long in a military barracks -- he never left anything lying around. Aric wasn’t too bad to live with, for a Unit-keeper. Not much of a conversationalist, maybe, and more likely to go for a ride on his motorcycle than stick around the house, but Dag could live with all that. But perhaps the men coming in the next hour wouldn’t like Aric’s hobbies. They might not be child-oriented. Dominus, how would he be able to tell Aric to come up with some hobby that made him look right for mentoring a baby? Dag bit his tongue. He couldn’t. Even if he could figure out what he wanted Aric to do, he’d never convince Aric in time. Dag was quite willing to tell these guys whatever they wanted to hear. Aric was more honest, Dominus take it. Dag looked around again. The house was something he had more control over. If he knew what more to do. “Maybe the place looks too tidy.” Dag shifted his feet. “Not lived-in enough. Kids mess a place up. Probably we shouldn’t look too neat. You think?”

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“I think you’re driving me crazy,” Aric growled. “Listen, go do the wash. Run around the block. Take a shower. Just don’t hover around the house like this. It makes us both nervous.” “Maybe I’ll go soak in the hot tub.” Dag’s face lit up. “Yeah. That’s bound to relax me.” The hot tub was the one hedonistic spot in the house. Aric had the feeling it was also the one thing Dag enjoyed about his new life. Dag made a beeline for the back room, stripping off clothing as he went. Aric almost called out for him to pick up his damned clothes and then stopped. The kid was wound up already. He needed to calm down or he’d shatter the second the baby screeners showed up. Aric looked down and saw his fists were clenched. He carefully unclenched them. Maybe he was a little nervous himself. He checked the clock. Almost an hour before they arrived. Plenty of time to rehearse and re-rehearse the lines he and Dag had come up with to show their ability to be mentors. Within seconds after that thought the doorbell rang. Aric jumped. He looked out the peephole and saw some very official-looking men with notebooks standing at the doorstep. Dominus. They came early. Aric opened the door, cursing to himself. He should have known the officious baboons would try to catch them off guard. “Androvian Family Services,” the taller one said. “Captain?” “Yes. Herron here. Come on in.”

***** “You don’t have to do this, you know.” Tory had been rethinking her splendid plan ever since the test came back positive. Rho looked paler than usual, but she shook her head. “I do have to. The quicker the better. No matter what, we need to make this look right,” she reminded Tory. “How else am I going to explain being pregnant?” “We could come up with something…” Tory frowned. “Whoever is doing this probably doesn’t want to be caught. I don’t want you hurt.” “Don’t worry, Tory! You fuss the way my mom always did.” Rho paused, looked beautifully sad for a moment and then went on. “Tory?” “Yeah?” Tory had learned not to trust Rho’s thought processes when she wore that innocent look. “It is so amazingly good that you’re a deviant,” Rho began. “You and I are more alike than I ever thought.” She paused for a brief moment. “I always figured I had to have something wrong with me. I thought you were so great but I just couldn’t see me trying to have sex with you --”

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“Please.” Tory winced. Some of her fans had tried. “I never had sex with anyone until Dag. I’m pretty sure he hadn’t either --” Tory held up her hand to stop the flow of chatter. “We’re going to Mitzi with serious business here. You’ve just discovered you want a baby because you have no other family left and now that you’re about to graduate you think you’ll have a job and stability. Now try to act motherly, OK?” Tory made her voice sound business-like. “I’m going to be acting that way soon enough, like it or not. I’m trying not to think about being a mother,” Rho muttered and then stopped. “I know. I know. I’ll try to calm down and act right.” Tory knew she ought to talk to Rho. The girl was still stunned and didn’t look particularly happy about impending motherhood. But what was Tory supposed to say? Tory didn’t know what being pregnant was like so she couldn’t help Rho there. She wasn’t Aric or Dag. She couldn’t offer to take on a baby. Even if she had wanted a baby, she wasn’t planning to remain in Femmeland… And if she talked to Rho now, Tory was afraid of what she might stir up. Some role model she was. Tory resolved to make it up to Rho later, to listen and offer suggestions and…help. Somehow. Meanwhile they had to get through this next step. Tory crossed her fingers as they knocked on the clinic’s office door. “Tory?” Rho’s voice sounded a little thinner than usual, then she cleared it. “I just have one more question before we start.” “What, Rhoanna?” “If it turns out to be a girl after all, do you think you’d mind -- well, I’d like to name her Tory. Victoria, I know. But Tory.” Oh shit. Tory knew she was in trouble the moment she felt this strange flutter in her heart. The flutter induced feelings not unlike nostalgia…and excitement. Damn. “That would be an honor,” she whispered. “OK then. That’s settled. Now for this.” Rho took a deep breath as the door began to open.

***** “So. How long have you known Dagger, Captain?” The shorter one picked up his pen to make notes. “Years.” Aric said it firmly, hoping they weren’t going to ask more closely. He had collared Dag first when the kid was about nine or so, swiping wallets from drunken Androvians. “Interesting. Yet your coupling has been recent?” The questioning continued.

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“We -- we decided to be a couple recently, yes. Not that I hadn’t thought about it before. I just wasn’it.” Aric decided now was the time for a lie. “Ahh. We notice that you’re new to this, Captain.” “New?” Damn, he was new at lying. But he didn’t think he was that obvious. “Others have remarked on your lack of romantic involvement before. Remarkable lack, might I add.” The taller one stepped in now. “What is that supposed to mean?” Aric decided to take the offensive this time. “Are you suggesting some lack in me?” “No, no, no.” The tall man looked faintly alarmed. “I just wondered what brought on this sudden change of heart.” “Dag, of course.” Aric inwardly cursed. It was bad enough to go through this charade -- now he had to bleat out romantic nothings as well. Next he’d he be forced to place his hand over his heart while he quoted Shlagspeare to Dag for the questioners’ benefit. He’d rather go a few bouts in the gym and risk some dislocated bones instead. “Have you met him?” Too late, Aric realized just where they might have met him. “Ahh, not personally, no,” the shorter one said. “But we’ve heard of him. You two seem quite dissimilar. Forgive our surprise at this sudden whirlwind of domestic bliss when you seem to have successfully avoided this for so long. And Dag -- well, I doubt anyone would have thought his career had prepared him for permanent coupling.” “That was all before Aric swept me off my feet,” Dag drawled at the threshold. “How could anyone hold out against him?” All three men turned and stared. Aric bit off an exclamation. Dag didn’t have any of the clothes that he had scattered on his way to the tub. All he wore was a small red towel wrapped loosely against his hips. Dag stood there, letting everyone look, his hand on his hip. Then he smiled and deliberately walked over to Aric and swept him into his arms. Aric knew what they must look like. Only he could feel how tense Dag was. “Get some clothes on, Dag.” Aric forced his voice to sound indulgent. “We have guests.” “Get undressed, get dressed.” Dag pouted. “You really need to make up your mind, darling.” He squeezed Aric’s ass. A good, hard squeeze. “Dressed. For now.” Aric managed with difficulty to keep his voice from shooting up several octaves. He tried desperately to imagine it was Tory he was talking to. Tory never blew him an air kiss and minced across the room, deliberately slow about picking up articles of clothing along the way. “I’ll be back in a minute,” Dag promised.

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Damn, Dag sounded -- almost sounded -- like someone familiar. Not Tory, thank Dominus. Aric wasn’t sure he could have handled that. Then it hit him. Of course. The kid sounded like Rhoanna Davies. He’d seen the sweet, innocent, sexy act Rhoanna put on in front of Dag. Just because it was an act didn’t mean it wasn’t sexy. He’d seen Dag look at Rho with his tongue damn near hanging out and Aric didn’t blame him. What he hadn’t realized until now was that Dag knew it was an act too. Dag had the innocent lust voice down almost perfectly. Aric wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard one of other men sigh as Dag left the room. Aric swallowed hard. If he was starting on deception, he might as well make it convincing. He might not do as well as Dag, but he’d try. “Well, gentleman, any questions on why I find Dag so attractive?” Aric asked. “He was too young before for anything serious. But I finally took a chance that he might be willing to -- uh -- be with me.” Aric was running out of things to say. He already felt like the world’s prize idiot, but the other two men were nodding in agreement, looking a bit dazzled. Damn the boy. He must have something. Something Aric couldn’t quite figure out. “Aric’s too modest.” Dag came in, dressed and looking the picture of calm domesticity at last. Aric relaxed a little. If the kid pranced around any more, Aric would’ve had to run away screaming. Dag smiled at him. “I’ve always thought he was amazingly attractive, but it wasn’t until recently that I found out my interest was…returned. If someone like Aric wants you, you’re willing to change your life around. I can’t wait to make a family with him.” The other men looked at Aric. To his horror, he thought he saw a bit of the same dazzled look when they stared at him. Aric resisted the urge to gag. Then another thought hit him. He wouldn’t have wanted to gag at all if Tory had said that about him. Shit. That would never happen. So far she hadn’t even managed to say she loved him. Did Rho say that to Dag? The boy had echoed the way Rho talked so far. Maybe she did tell him those words and mean them. Was anyone that lucky? “I’m so lucky.” Dag almost cooed the words out. “I mean, honestly! He’s all man, isn’t he?” Aric saw the other men nodding agreement, the way they had when he’d spouted off about Dag. Dag slipped an arm around him and put his head on Aric’s shoulder. Aric smiled down at him. In response, the monster let his hand drop possessively -- and dangerously -- near Aric’s asshole. Aric gritted his teeth and just kept smiling. The boy better not get any closer. “Well, we have just a few more preliminary questions,” the tall one said. “I’ll admit right now you two look all right. But you have to understand we can afford to be selective. Very selective. Male babies are at a premium right now. Demand is very high and, unfortunately,

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supply simply hasn’t met the demand in the past few years. All right may not be good enough.” “What?” Dag forgot to coo. “If we’re all right, what’s wrong?” “Well, the process can sometimes take years.” “Years? What the fu --” Dag swallowed, his hand dropping back to his side. “Years?” “Precisely.” They asked the questions quickly, scribbling down the answers without comment. Within a few minutes the two of them had taken their leave with promises to be back once they had assessed this data. Dag smiled. Aric nodded, as pleasantly as he could. Notebooks in hand, the men walked out with Dag escorting them. Dag waved, then shut the door. Dag looked hard at Aric for a moment then sprang out the backdoor and around to the front where the other two were walking. Aric put his ear to the door. “…listen, I didn’t know about this taking years. Aric -- well, he’s getting older, you know. We don’t want to wait years. Is there any way I can speed up the process?” Dag asked. The two men looked at each other, then at Dag. “No legal way,” the bigger one said. “Well, Aric, he’s a legal kind of guy. Now me…I’m willing to admit money talks and I’m not quite as legit. Is there any way to get a baby quickly?” There was a long silence. Aric’s fists clenched. Maybe Dag’s sudden wild ploy was wrong. If so, Dag could kiss any chance of getting his boy -- of any kid -- good-bye. “How much money, Mr….er, Dagger?” “I’ve been saving up my money from my previous line of work. I got paid pretty well. How much money might be needed?” Maybe Dag’s ploy had been right on target. “It depends on how soon you want a child.” The voices dropped lower, grew more intense. Finally there was silence. Aric waited, his patience wearing thin. Finally Dag came in the backdoor and faced him, his shoulders stiff with tension. The two of them stared at each other. “Keep your hands off my ass, and, while I’m at it, off my cock and balls,” Aric said pleasantly. “In fact, if you even look at me that way again I’m going to belt you.” Dag laughed. “Believe me, if I’d had to keep that going, I would have wanted you to knock me out and release me from my misery. I haven’t put on a performance like that even when people were paying big money for a private show. You do realize some men would kill for the chance at even that little fondling I gave you?” “Don’t push it, Dog.” Aric’s voice was a low growl. Dag continued without skipping a beat. “But I think we convinced them that we are in loooove. Just like I convinced them we are willing to put up money for a boy.”

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Aric grinned a little. He’d almost -- not really, but just a little -- started to think the kid might be serious about everything. Naw. Dag was a hell of an actor. And a deviant like him. “I guess I can stand having them think we are in love. And that I’m stupid enough to let you fool me.” Aric began to twist his shoulders, getting them to unknot. Maybe he’d been a little tense himself. He decided to be gracious instead. After all, the kid had put on a real performance. “No matter what happens, living here with you hasn’t been so bad. It’s kinda pleasant, actually. I guess I’d gotten tired of the barracks, but I hadn’t realized it.” Most men, if they stayed as long as Aric had in the Unit, lived off-barracks. He’d just never had any reason to before now. But the house was more relaxed. And Dag did know how to cook. It beat the Unit’s food anyhow. “It’s better than my apartment too,” Dag muttered. He hadn’t let Aric see the place when he moved his furniture in but Aric knew the area from the address. Dag hadn’t put any money into gracious living. He took another deep breath and said in a rush, “Thanks. For going along with all this. After all, it’s not your baby.” “It’s okay.” Aric had wondered plenty of times why he’d agreed to do this -- had offered to do this. But he knew he couldn’t let Dag flounder into the predicaments he seemed to manage to get into alone. And -- well, maybe he was ready to settle down. Since it didn’t look feasible that he would ever settle down with Tory -- even if she wanted to -- this wasn’t so bad. It was platonic and always would be, but it beat being alone. “I grew up in the Unit’s child care. Boys weren’t at a premium then and no one was interested in mentoring me. I liked the Unit all right, but a kid probably should have a family and home. On the other hand, I don’t think a parent should be whoever is the highest bidder.” “Yeah.” Dag hesitated. “I know you’re probably going to go along with this only to see who is running all this and arrest him. But, Aric --” “Yeah?” “I want my kid. I am willing to pay for him if I have to. I’m willing to do about anything it takes.” “Understood.” Aric sighed. Life had become so much more difficult once he’d become involved with other deviants. “I’ll see what I can do to help.” “Dominus. I keep wondering what’ll happen if after all this it’s a girl.” “Just worry about what’ll happen if it’s a boy.”

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Chapter Six Rho sat in the office, trying not to let her foot jiggle nervously. Just to be sure, she carefully put it back on the floor and clasped her hands. She wished Tory were here. Forget it. She wished Dag were here. Just being around him made her feel secure…or he used to make her feel secure until she realized what they’d managed to get themselves into. But she had to fill these forms out by herself. She didn’t even have Mitzi or Amma here to ask the questions. Instead Faye, who always looked like she was about to deliver bad news and enjoy it, was the questioner for the official parent selection process. “You’re in good health?” “Oh yeah.” Rho cleared her throat. “So, why did you decide you want to use our clinic’s services?” “To have a baby, of course,” Rho said. Then she re-thought. “Oh, why do I want one?” “Yes, exactly.”

She could have said it that way. “Because ever since my mother died, I’ve had no other family. No one close anyhow.” Rho decided that didn’t sound good enough. “Besides, I love kids. That’s why I decided to go into teaching.”

Actually I decided to go into teaching because I’ve never really seen anything else. I’ve been in school my whole life. “Well, there are other ways to have a family, Miss Davies. Why pregnancy?” “Huh?” Rho felt like she was being stupid or somehow she was getting trick questions. Then the light dawned again. Why did the woman ask her questions all sideways? “I’m not married yet because I haven’t met the woman I want to marry. I don’t know if I’ll ever have that kind of family. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be an excellent mother.”

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“Well, it’s usually wise to have a two-parent home. The clinic prefers to accept those women who have committed partners.” Faye tapped her pencil, waiting. “Just the way we prefer a woman to have just one child. That way a great deal of love and attention can be given that girl.”

Officious biddy. I had no idea Femmeland was so strict about letting just the right women be parents. Not that they can figure out who they’d be anyhow. But now that I think about it, most of the single parent households I know of had women who split up from their partners after the kid was born. Just like Mom. “I don’t know of any laws to that effect,” Rho snapped. “There aren’t any. But licensed clinics are encouraged to use these policies unless there is a good reason to make an exception.”

Oh Dominus. An exception. What kind of exception? Rho leaned forward and spoke desperately. “Faye, how old are you?” “Me?” Faye looked startled. “Why?” “You’re older than me. You don’t have a kid. You’re single. You don’t have that nice stable two-parent home. How do you feel about that? Maybe you’re happy with your life right now. I hope so. But I wouldn’t be. I want a baby. I’ll want my kid ten years from now. What’s the point of waiting? What if the right woman for me doesn’t come along? Do I have to hold on until I’m old enough to experience problems having a baby? Until I’m unhappy and miserable and have lost hope in everything? I want a kid now while I’m healthy and feel ready.” Rho swallowed, hoping this argument wouldn’t backfire. But damn, Faye didn’t look happy with her life. What had waiting done for her? Faye’s pencil tapped again. Rho felt her foot begin to jiggle nervously. “I suppose I can come up with some reason,” Faye finally said, not looking at her. “Now. Do you want a boy or a girl?” “A girl of course,” Rho answered. “If I want a family why would I want a kid I have to let go to Androvians?” Faye looked at her now. Her gaze was almost scary. “How badly do you want a girl?” Rho wet her lips. “Very badly.” “What are you willing to pay?” “P -- pay?” Rho tried not to squeak. “We have our usual clinic costs, of course. But I could arrange a special service for you. For an additional fee.” Faye waited. “What service?” Rho’s heart began to hammer. “I can’t guarantee you a girl. But I can guarantee I will increase the odds of you having a girl considerably. Very considerably.” Faye went back to looking at her pencil.

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“I -- I have some money I inherited from Mom. Not much,” Rho whispered. “Maybe it’s not enough.” “We can take care of that too.” Faye tapped the pencil and Rho jumped. “If you are willing to have a boy this time, there are men in Androvia who are willing to make it worth your while. Very worth your while. And if you have a boy, you could always make sure you have a girl next time. We always agree to additional pregnancies if the first children are boys. I’d be happy to take care of all the arrangements.” “I’d get paid for having a boy?” Rho squeaked. “Oh yes. You have no idea of the demand for boys in Androvia.” Faye smiled. “For some reason there just doesn’t seem to be many boys produced recently.” “I -- I’m a little overwhelmed. I don’t know what to say.” Rho knew that was the truth. She hadn’t prepared for this option. “Can I tell you at the time of the insemination?” “Not in front of witnesses. But of course you may.” Why not? Either way Faye got her money.

***** “She isn’t home.” Dag stopped so suddenly that Aric almost fell over him. “Dominus take it, boy, pay attention! I don’t have any problem getting here by mysel -- not home?” Rho’s house was certainly dark. “Where the hell would she be around dinner time?” Aric could feel Dag’s anger rising as he spoke. “Visiting friends. Getting an early night’s sleep. Any number of things.” “She ought to know we’d come to find out what’s happening as soon as we could. And she knew I’d want to find out how she’s feeling.” “Hey, now.” Aric put his hand on Dag’s arm. “You sound angry that she isn’t waiting for you. You can’t expect her to be sitting at the door every second, anticipating your arrival. Be reasonable.” At least Tory never did that. He frowned. Dag snarled as he began to follow Aric toward Tory’s house. Aric scowled. He didn’t mind having the kid around most of the time but having a witness for when he met Victoria wasn’t his idea of necessary. “Listen, kid, women are -- are different.” Aric could feel the urgency inside him as he got closer. And he understood completely Dag’s disappointment. Dag was even newer at this than he was. Aric decided to give him the benefit of his months of experience. “You can’t push them into things like new recruits to the Unit. They resist. You have to finesse your way around ‘em .”

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“I can finesse. What I can’t do is understand what they want. They don’t make sense, you know?” Aric grinned and was about to try to expand on his advice when he forgot the whole conversation. “What’s going on here?” he hissed and stopped short. This time Dag almost tripped into him. He took a look around Aric’s shoulder. Tory’s house blazed with lights and the sounds of female laughter could be heard through the open windows. “It looks like your Tory is having a party.” There was a trace of laughter in Dag’s tone. “Then again, I suppose she didn’t know when you might show up either.” Of course it was unreasonable to feel disappointment. But Aric felt disappointed anyhow. He didn’t relish the idea of waiting out in the dark until his woman was finished with the friends. But then again she didn’t have to wait for him. And, Dominus take it, she didn’t think of herself as his anyway. Aric’s sour feeling, the one he’d been carrying and trying to suppress for quite a while, rose up along with the disappointment to make a nasty brew inside. She acted as if she didn’t want him to go with her to Earth. Why should she want him around in less important times? Suddenly Dag’s head cocked, almost like the Dog he’s been nicknamed. “I think I hear Rho,” he announced and then bounded closer to the window. “Stop --” but Dag ignored Aric and common sense to head toward the house for a look. The boy hung there, in plain view, for a good half minute before he turned and gestured vigorously for Aric to join him. Didn’t the boy have any notion of concealment? Didn’t he know anything about paying attention to what his elder and wiser did? Didn’t -Aric joined him.

***** “And women wear these? Without being arrested?” Rho stared at herself in the mirror. “All the time in the ‘60s. They’re becoming popular again now on Earth. Besides, I got to tell Daria what fashions I think are outstanding from the past four decades. Mini skirts are definitely outstanding.” Tory giggled, suddenly. The noted Femmeland designer, Daria, had begged for Tory’s input about Earth fashions a few weeks ago. The boxes had arrived today. Getting what Daria had come up with was like getting a free shopping spree. “Oh Dominus. You can almost see her crotch, Aric. No, don’t look.” “It doesn’t seem right but --” Rho surveyed herself in the mirror again and stared at the leather mini skirt from the rear. She bent over slightly and the skirt inched up, dangerously close to illegal. “Yup, just as I thought. I have fat thighs.” “I love those thighs.”

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“Keep your tongue in your head, you bastard. Those thighs are mine.” “I’m trying not to look… They’ve heard us. Duck.”

***** “Was that a noise outside?” Tory, clad only in her panties and a halter-top, stopped trying to put on hot pants and turned to look out the window. She didn’t see anything so she went back to reassure Rho. “No, you don’t,” Tory told her. “That’s an unfortunate side effect of minis. Everyone thinks that. I do have fat thighs -- so I don’t wear mini skirts. You look perfect in them.” Rho began to unzip the skirt. “You’re nuts, Tory. I think you look gorgeous. And I also think I’m starting to look pregnant.” She took the skirt and threw the offending garment on a chair. She went back to staring at herself in the mirror, dressed only in her underwear. “Isn’t my stomach starting to puff out?” “That skirt was big on you. Trust me. Leather mini skirts are never big on anyone except twigs.” Tory bent over and pulled out a leather-fringed vest. She took off the halter-top and tried the vest on, giggling at how the fringe almost concealed her most vital assets. She looked at herself from the back. The fringe almost concealed her vital ass too. “You look perfect, Rho. I’m the one with the big butt. Hey, you know what the best thing about all this is?”

***** “Now you keep your eyes where they belong, Dog. And stop shifting around like that.” “I can’t help shifting. I’m getting damn uncomfortable. She doesn’t have a big butt, though. It’s an outstanding butt. Haven’t you explained that to her?” “Keep your mouth shut. Your eyes, too.”

***** “What’s the best thing?” Rho stared at the dark power suit she had selected to try on next. “It might be more business-like if I had a shirt on under the jacket, you think?” “The best thing is that you ladies will have the benefit of all Earth fashion and get to skip what was worn in the ‘70s.” Rho stiffened slightly. “What?” Tory asked. “Nothing,” Rho murmured. “Nothing at all.”

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But she walked slowly over to Tory. Something in that walk made Tory very uneasy. When Rho suddenly took her hand and gently rubbed it against Tory’s rear, Tory became very, very uneasy. What the hell was going on? “Your butt is beautiful, Tory. Trust me. Anyone would love to look at it or touch it. Anyone.” “What the hell!?” “Now you shut up. Just enjoy.” Then Tory heard that sound outside again. And she saw Rho, ever so quickly, wink at her. Okay. Something was going on. Tory would be sure of what that something was except that her guy never made noise. “I’m glad you like it,” Tory told her. She added quickly, “Now me, I’ve often appreciated your breasts. They’re soooo big. I’ve always wanted big breasts. I can just imagine what they’ll look like once you’re further along with your pregnancy.” She cupped them and made sure there was a nice unobstructed view of Rho’s knockers if anyone just happened to be looking through the windows. Rho quivered slightly but Tory had the feeling it was with giggles, not passion. “Unfortunately my hips are what’s big --” Tory nodded to Rho to put her hands there. “That just doesn’t seem fair.” “I always wanted hips.” Rho moved a little closer. Tory leaned over and nuzzled her neck. She murmured softly, “Let’s not take this too seriously, huh, girl?” Then she blew into Rho’s ear. Rho giggled and stepped back again. “What is this?” Rho picked up her next clothing selection.

***** “I can’t stand this anymore. If she puts that on I’m gonna jump her in front of you, Tory, and anyone else who wants to watch.” “That should be interesting, Dag, especially since I bet she puts it on in the next ten seconds.”

***** “A bikini. For swimming. You’ll have to take all your clothes off to put that on. Do you need any help, Rho?” “Hmmm --” Rho squinted thoughtfully at the two pieces of material. “The top seems a bit small for me. But I guess I can squeeze into it.”

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“Why don’t you try that on for me? Alone?” Dag’s voice came through the suddenly opened window and both women jumped. “Both of you?” Tory saw her guy behind Dag. “How long have you been peeping at us, you sneaks?” Both of them looked sheepish as they climbed though the window. And, if she wasn’t mistaken, they looked fascinated. And aroused. Tory avoided another look at Dag since that didn’t seem right, even if he was a lovely sight, and concentrated on Aric. Yes. Definitely aroused. “You’re both perverts. And what do you think of mini skirts?” Rho asked them calmly, looking particularly angelic. “I think I need a private showing,” Dag rasped. “After the bikini. Can we use your spare bedroom, Tory? I don’t think I want to wait for this.” Tory laughed and waved them on. Dag grabbed Rho by the hand and almost dragged her out of the room. “And I need to tell you what’s been happening today, Aric.” Tory resisted the temptation to titillate her guy just a little more. Reluctantly she put on her bathrobe. Of course the fact that it was nearly transparent sort of took away from her good intentions, but you couldn’t have everything. “It’s really important.” Aric finally uttered his first word of the night to her. “Later.” Tory mentally rubbed her hands. This was going to be fun. He bent her over the sill of the opened window. She hadn’t ever really thought about how low the windows in Femmeland were before. They seemed made for -“Ohh, that feels so good, Aric.” “I didn’t mean to do this, I don’t even want to…you drove me crazy. You and Rho.” Tory wanted to smile even while she wanted to writhe against that hard cock resting against her. She knew Aric’s little fantasies about watching women. How could she help it when they’d fulfilled those fantasies the second time they’d met? Aric began to fondle her breasts with one hand as he nudged the bathrobe up higher on her thighs. “Dominus, I’m weak where you’re concerned.” His voice echoed behind her. She grinned. “You don’t feel weak from where I’m standing.”

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Chapter Seven “You could act grateful or something.” Rho was proud that she made the words sound annoyed, rather than hurt. “After all, tomorrow morning I’m supposed to go to the clinic and we’ll actually catch Faye in the act. Plus everyone will figure I’ve been inseminated and not…not knocked up.” “Why should I feel grateful that you’re risking the baby?” Dag snapped back. “All this has nothing to do with me.” “I wouldn’t risk the baby!” Rho gasped in outrage. “I’d never do that! Besides, I’ve been the one worrying about eating right and trying not to puke every morning and…and all you ever did for this baby was have sex with me.” “Dominus! All I ever did was have sex, just one week, with you. Now I’m pretending to be Aric’s trophy spouse, putting up with prying questions from nasty-minded baby screeners, keeping house when I’ve never had a house before in my life, staying careful…what do I get out it? I don’t even know if I’ll get the baby after all this. I don’t even get to see you --” “You certainly don’t have to see me if it makes you so angry --” Rho began but Dag stormed on. “Now that I do, I find out you’re risking your life! I’m trying to be a good person here, do the right thing, and I find out you’re deliberately getting yourself in trouble.” Rho felt her palm itch -- just itch -- to slap him. A loud, choked cry from the other room stopped her. Aric and Tory seemed to have figured out something better to do than fight. The something Rho had been sure Dag wanted to do before they started squabbling. Rho stopped herself. She remembered she didn’t quarrel. She didn’t like to quarrel. She had discovered she liked sex with Dag, though, and this was not getting her what she liked. She took a deep breath. Along with the deep breath she had a sudden insight. “Dag?”

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“What?” “Are you worried about me?” He scowled ferociously and then said, reluctantly, “I suppose I am.” Rho smiled back and took a step forward. “I’m sorry I got you worried. Tory and I have the whole clinic thing under control. And Dag?” “What?” “I did miss you. Maybe it’s the pregnancy and my hormones are all out of control, but I missed you terribly.” Rho took another step and put her hand against his face. “And I’m sorry we only had one week of sex.” “Well, it was a good week.” Dag’s ferocious scowl eased. “When I showed up here in Snapdragon tonight I hoped…well, I hoped maybe we could have more.” “Thank Zorah!” Rho put her other arm around his neck. “I think it’s the pregnancy hormones. All I do is think about you and sex lately.” “I doubt it’s the pregnancy. Because that’s all I think about, too.” Dag put his hands on her waist. “I suppose one reason I was so angry just now was because all I really want to do is have sex with you. Right now. I don’t want to talk.” “Oh. Then let’s not.” “Have sex?” Dag sounded horrified. “No, silly. Talk.” Rho giggled as Dag took her at her word. Thank heaven Tory was such an aware woman.heaven Tory was such an aware woman. In Tory’s house no one would care that Dag lifted her up. No one was worried about him ripping her clothing off. No one would wonder why she gasped. But wouldn’t you know the night he chose to rip off her clothes she’d been wearing a Daria creation? That power suit would never be the same. Rho opened her mouth to complain and then forgot what she was going to say. “Dag, oh! Oh wow!” In that week of almost constant sex, right before Tory came back to announce the bad news, Dag had figured out all her sensitive spots. Instead of just ramming into her, the way she thought he would after tearing off her clothes, he paused to tease at one of her very most sensitive spots. She purred as his penis just lightly toyed with her clitoris. “Yeah. I love it when you make that sound, Rhoanna.” His hand slid up, slyly, to trace the veins in her breasts. “Do it again.” She couldn’t help herself. She did. “Dag?” Rhoanna wanted to say it before her brain lost all ability to make words. “I have a favor to ask.” “What? Anything you want, Rho.” “Will you dance for me?”

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Dag’s hands stopped where they were. Since they were on both her nipples, Rho didn’t mind too much, but she knew it wasn’t a good sign. “How did you find out what I do? I mean did?” he asked carefully. “Dag, you know that Androvians and Femmelanders can get each other’s television broadcasts. I hadn’t thought much about it since I usually don’t watch Androvian stuff, but I happened to catch an ad with you in it. The place you were working at was very pleased to show some of your…um…activities.” She held up a palm. “Don’t worry. I didn’t get to see anything too wild --” He should know that since all broadcasting was censored, but he was looking at her with such horror, she thought she ought to remind him. “That was months ago but I finally remembered just recently. After all, I had no idea I was ever going to meet the famous Dog in the flesh. So to speak.” She got a smile from him then. Not a big smile, maybe, but she did get one. Very deliberately Rho unbuttoned the first button of his shirt. “C’mon, Dag. Fair’s fair. You took off my clothes. Now yours. I’m not hiding my body. Show me what you have.” “You know what I have.” He looked faintly embarrassed. “You’ve seen it.” “Let me see it again.” “You know, my stripping isn’t…well, I never worried about how people saw what I did until recently. People liked it, I got paid nicely for it and that was that. Then I met you and didn’t want you to know what I did. And lately I’ve started thinking about Aric. People respect him. Those damned baby screeners would have never considered me a fit parent except that he was my partner. I could use a little more respect. I’m probably never going to strip again.” “Dag.” “Yeah?” “Strip for me,” she whispered. “Just me. I promise I’ll still respect you. In fact I’ll respect you more if you give me a good show.” Rho gave him her best beseeching look. “Please?” For a moment she thought he might refuse. Finally she could see Dag relax. “All right, Rho. Since this is a command performance.” He turned to the radio and fiddled with it until he found something playing that was very slow and sexy. Then he winked at her. “I usually don’t allow this immediately but for you I’ll make an exception. You’re welcome to put your hands on me any time during the show, sweetheart.” Rho could feel her mouth go dry as he took his boots off. She was in trouble, she knew it, because just watching his hands take off his socks was starting to make her ache. For a moment he just looked at her, his hips moving just slightly, and there was a smile on his face. A tender smile.

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Then that smiled changed into something more predatory. Rho suddenly realized she’d started something that might be more than mere fun. What he did next could end up frightening. Rho wasn’t too scared since she knew whatever he did would be arousing. He unfastened his hair from the ponytail he usually kept it in. It fell down, long and fascinating, half-concealing his face. She wanted to put her fingers in and play. “Why do you keep it tied back all the time?” she murmured. “I don’t know. Long is just for work.” He shrugged. Well, Rho had to admit it worked for her. Dag unfastened the button below the one Rho had undone for him. Then another. But when he was finished with the buttons, he didn’t take the shirt off, the way she’d expected. She caught glimpses of his chest as the shirt moved and swayed with his body, revealing and then concealing. Rho let out one soft breath of air, watching for those flashes of skin. He began to slide his belt off. Rho’s eyes dropped to his waistband, unable to stop looking. He undid the button at the waist of his pants and she tensed. But he stopped there and, instead, moved slowly, sensuously in front of her. His pants settled just a little lower. She watched his hips, mesmerized. Then he took his freed belt and draped it around her. “Dance with me, sweetheart.” His voice rasped nerve endings all over her body. “Dance.” And, caught tight in his belt, she found herself moving nearer to him, following his movements. Rho slid her hands under his shirt, experiencing close-up how his muscles stretched and tightened as they moved together. She could feel his cock hardening against her as they rocked back and forth, their bodies close, almost as close as when they made love. Dag took her hand and pushed it against his aroused penis. She slipped her hand under the loosened fly, under his underpants, and just let it stay there, pressed against him. She had all this for the asking. Except her mouth was too dry to ask. But Dag knew. He knew everything. His one hand covered hers, holding her hand against his stiff penis while with the other she felt him unbutton his pants all the way, slowly…very slowly. Still close to her, he eased his pants down and away. He let her go, and she gasped at her sudden release. The music changed, turned into something faster, hotter. He backed away from her, still moving to the beat, dressed only in short, short underpants and the shirt that almost covered his body. Rho drew in a longer breath, trying to calm down. Her legs were shaking now. He winked at her again and let the shirt fall down his body, to rest at his feet. Apparently he wasn’t going to let her calm down. Very deliberately, he ran his finger down the length of the cock that was jutting out of his one remaining piece of clothing. Down and then up. “You want this, sweetheart?” Dag’s voice was getting her wetter. His voice and his movements. “Y -- yes.”

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He pulled the underpants a quarter of an inch further. She could see the hair that ran in a straight line to that huge cock of his. She took a half step forward, he took a half step back. “You really want it?” he asked thickly. “Show me.” She nodded, unable to talk anymore. With a sudden, quick movement, he pulled the underpants down, and slid them past his hips and thighs. Her breath caught. So beautiful. She’d known his body was beautiful but she marveled at it all over again -- the flat stomach, the blue eyes that watched her, eyelids drooping a little…sexily. And the cock. Oh yes, that beautiful cock… He didn’t move any closer, and she couldn’t stand anymore. Teasing was over. Rho didn’t even realize she was on her knees, holding his thighs, tasting him, until she did it. She could taste him, just a trace of his seed, when she used her tongue against that tempting cock. “I didn’t mean…oh, Dominus, Rho! What’re you doing?” His voice was hoarse. She wasn’t sure, but she knew they both liked it. She used her teeth, just lightly, to punish him for prolonging that delightful previous torture and he bucked against her with a groan. Then she began to use her tongue, exploring the fascinating length and strength of his cock. It had always attracted her, right from the beginning. She’d had no idea that using her mouth to suck hard on the head would make him cry out. Or that his legs would tremble when her tongue swirled against the large vein in his shaft. She hadn’t known, but she wanted to do it over and over again. This was something they’d missed out on doing that first time together and she didn’t want to miss a single moment now. Rho could feel Dag begin to shake and the groan start low in his throat, but she didn’t lessen the movements of her tongue, the moist sucking in and out of her mouth. She even used her fingers to first stroke the inside of his thighs and then his scrotum. Finally she felt his fingers grip deep in her hair and could feel his whole body tighten. Ahhh. This was what he tasted like. There was just a little of his essence at first. This was Dag. Rho swallowed and sucked harder. She wasn’t going to let him off easily. She wanted everything. “Rho, it’s too much.” Dag’s voice sounded thick. “ ‘s too good --” Rhoanna would have laughed if that were possible. Too much? What did he know about too much? Or too good, either. She took his penis as deep as she could. She could feel him holding himself absolutely still for a half-moment. Rho heard his harsh breathing. She brushed her tongue against that sensitive head of his. And then he broke. Dag moaned and shuddered, holding her hard against him for what seemed like a long time. Rhoanna wondered if she would choke on the vast quantity of fluid that spewed out, but she didn’t want to stop now. Not when Dag was helpless with lust.

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When he was finally done, he slid down to the floor, facing her at last. His hand reached out, still shaking a little, to touch her face. “Rho. That was…I didn’t know women knew how to do that,” he whispered. “I didn’t know what it would be like.” Rho’s jaw hurt a little, but she could feel herself grin triumphantly anyhow. “I didn’t either. Tell me what it was like for you.” “Like…like every part of my body shut down except for where your lips were. Like I was going to die if you didn’t suck my cum out. And when you did, it was like…it was like…Rho, I can’t decide what I love better. Your mouth or your pussy.” She blushed, but agreed. “Then we need to do it again so you can decide.” That tender smile of Dag’s appeared on his face with her words. He touched her hair, gently this time. “Beautiful Rhoanna,” he whispered. “It’s your turn now. Let’s see what my mouth can do for you.” Rhoanna could feel herself getting wet at just the idea. Why hadn’t they thought of doing this before? Watching Dag get on his knees before her was almost enough to make her climax right then. He looked up at her face for a moment, almost as if he could tell what to do from that, and then a brief, wicked smile lit his face. Dag could look like an angel unless someone saw that smile. He was really a devil. Rho gulped when his fingers spread her open and she felt the first tentative lick of his tongue against her. She was already excited from what they’d done before. Oh Dominus, was she too wet? Maybe she didn’t taste or feel right… She tried to move away. His hands reached to hold her buttocks firmly. “No, girl. You have to take your medicine.” He didn’t even look up when he spoke, he was so intent on her body. So Dag wasn’t disgusted, she thought. And with that knowledge, Rho felt her legs tremble, like Dag’s had for her. And then his tongue was…everywhere. Trying out patterns, pausing just a moment before his lips and tongue went nuzzling and exploring again.

***** She tasted salty and exotic. And like Rho. He had smelled what she was like when she was aroused before. Now the taste was equally enticing. “Daaaag?” Rho’s voice sounded wild and questioning. Like the first time they’d made love. This was a first time, too. If she was feeling the way he had, and judging by the way she twisted underneath him she had to be, it was almost as good, maybe as good, as when he’d

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first discovered what the inside of Rhoanna was like. Now he was discovering her in a new way. And this time it didn’t hurt her. Dag inwardly cursed his previous ignorance. If he’d just known… But he was learning now. And she was too. They both discovered she might seem delicate where he kissed and licked and sucked and finally nipped, but what he did caused fiercely wonderful sensations. This first time, when she moaned and cried, it was from sheer pleasure. And this first time Dag already knew females could collapse from their pleasure and start all over again. Immediately. And since the taste and smell and experience wasn’t anything he wanted to stop right away, he went on. She cried out a lot more. In fact, Rho screamed and pleaded and held herself against him tightly as if she was either being tortured or very well loved. And while she did all that, he could feel himself get harder and harder yet. “You beast, I can’t…do more. I…Dag, please, please, please…” Neither of them was sure what she pleaded for, but he kept up his ministrations until she moaned out that last cry and slid down against him. “Well?” he said, feeling tight and needy against her body, especially now that he couldn’t taste her anymore. He wanted more. More of Rho. Everything of Rho. “I’m dead,” she panted. “That was so good you’ve killed me.” She sounded as dazed as he had. “Not yet. Don’t die yet.” Dag slid his hungry cock inside her. “I have to --” “Dag, you do want me dead?” Despite her words, she slid shaking legs up and over his shoulders. “That’s okay. I don’t mind.” Which was better for his cock. He let himself pound into her, knowing she was ready, more than ready. Dag felt like he knew every inch of Rhoanna now, every delightful, demanding, hot, tight, eager, moving inch -They groaned together this time, their aroused flesh slapping against each other’s as his hips rocked back and forth and he thrust inside of her over and over again. And as he came inside her, feeling her come too, Dag knew he would have to start trying to decide which was better all over again. Soon.

***** “Aric? I tell you we’ve found out what’s going on. Or we’ve found out a good part of it.” Tory pushed Aric’s arm, but he continued to stare out her window. What was wrong with him? He’d gone after her like an animal less than an hour ago and now he wouldn’t look at her. “We haven’t done anything about it yet. We waited to ask what you think we should do. Hey! Don’t you even care?”

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“Of course I do. This is going to be a big international incident,” Aric said, almost absentmindedly. “The Femmeland Leaders and the Androvian government are going to have huge arguments over this.” “The thing is that from what Rho got from Faye and what we could get out of Rho’s textbooks, we’ve figured out this isn’t such a hard thing to do. When vaginal pH is acidic, there’s more X-sperm and you’re more likely to produce a girl. Faye just manages to increase that acidity before she inseminates women. We don’t know if Faye came up with this on her own or if other clinic technicians are involved. You’ll probably have to check all the clinics in Femmeland. Aric?” Tory resisted the temptation to shake him. “Are you listening?” “I heard. I understand.” Aric swung around to face her. Tory took a half-step back. He looked miserable. “Tory, I have a different question.” “All right,” she replied uneasily, wondering why he could possibly be so upset. “Go ahead.” “Would you ever have my baby? Would you ever even want to?” Tory stared, her jaw agape. Aric looked serious. Miserable and serious. A moment passed in silence. “What brought that on?” she ventured at last. Were they going to have a fight? But they’d just had wonderful sex. Damn. She’d thought she’d been so clever in avoiding all this. But now, when she’d least expected it, Aric was going to fight with her? “Would you, Tory?” Aric moved away from the window and began to walk toward her. “Do you care enough? You know how I feel but I never hear anything back from you. You never tell me you love me. “ Oh boy. He was going to confront her now. Tory hadn’t expected it to come this way and without warning. She sat down on her bed with a sigh. “I care about you, Aric. A lot. But no -- no, I don’t tell you I love you. And I wouldn’t have a baby with you right now.” She knew that was coming out wrong and she didn’t want to see the look on Aric’s face. “Well, that’s clear enough.” She didn’t need to see his face. Hearing his voice, gone formal and careful, was bad enough. “No! No, it’s not!” Tory hurried the words out. “Aric, I told you I don’t intend to stay here. The way families work here is just one reason. If I had a baby here and had to either separate from him or separate her from you, it would be…it would be…there’s no words for how that would be. I’m already sorry for Rho and Dag.” “And, besides, you don’t love me. Right?” “I -- I don’t want to say those words. “ Tory felt a lump in her throat. “You’re so dear to me, and I care so much about you but love -- I’m scared of that. Everyone I’ve ever loved died or left. And now I’m the one who plans to leave. If I let myself say the words to you, I don’t know how I could leave.”

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Tory realized she had her knees up against her chest and was holding herself in a tight little knot. Tears were threatening. Oh damn. No. She hadn’t felt like this, hadn’t held herself like this, since before Mom died. Not since she was a little girl and her dad moved out. “I said I’d go with you.” Aric’s voice was less formal now, more uncertain. When he sat down on the bed next to her, Tory felt a small bit of the icy fear loosening. Maybe he wouldn’t leave. Not yet. “You see, Tory --” “When going with me would make you an alien? Cut off from your life here? It sucks being the only alien on a planet full of other people. I know how that feels now and I don’t want you to feel the homesickness and loneliness too.” Tory couldn’t let him talk anymore. She turned her head and, still blinking hard to keep tears away, looked at Aric. “I wish you didn’t love me. And I don’t want to love you. It’s going to hurt us both too much.” She wanted to reach out anyhow, despite the words, to have him hold her and keep the pain away. But she didn’t. If she was going to cut things off between them, she had to do it now. The cold pain and fear surged up inside her. Tory hadn’t even realized how much she’d counted on Aric’s warmth until she couldn’t have it. That was all right. She’d manage alone. She always had before.

***** “You may not believe this, kid, but I’m going to be a good father.” Dag whispered the words, almost audibly, to Rho’s stomach. “It might be hard to be with me, especially if you’re a girl, but you’re going to know who I am.” He hoped to Dominus that Rho stayed asleep. She ought to. Between the sex they’d had and her pregnancy, she seemed exhausted tonight. Good. He didn’t need any witnesses to this lunacy. But he had awakened knowing he had to do this. He just didn’t want any witnesses. “I’ll be around. I promise. When you say Daddy, you’re going to know who that is, just like you’ll know who Mommy is. If you’re a boy, well, I’m sorry I won’t know your real last name but you’ll have a good one. Aric’s is one to be proud of, even if it’s not mine. This is gonna work. Somehow.” He tried to imagine a miniature of himself. No. Bad idea. No one could raise a miniature of himself. He pictured a small girl with Rho’s hair instead and, for a moment, he thought he’d cry. How was he going to raise someone that precious? He was going to mess this parent thing up for sure. “Dag?” He froze. He could feel the heat of embarrassment surging up through his face. He knew he was going to make an idiot of himself. Dominus, he was out of his league all around. He

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didn’t know anything about what he’d gotten himself into. So he made stupid promises that he didn’t know how to keep and ended up looking like a fool in front of the very selfpossessed woman he’d accidentally gotten pregnant. Why had they done something this stupid anyhow? He didn’t know her. She sure didn’t know him. If she did, she’d have never risked getting close enough to get knocked up by some ignorant runaway who did whatever he had to for survival. Rho had a future. He was the bad risk. “I should’ve known I’d wake you up. I was just getting acquainted with the kid. Sort of.” Even now he couldn’t help it. As long as she was awake he could touch the way he’d wanted to. His hand traced a circle over her stomach. He couldn’t feel anything yet. Tory had told them maybe in a few more weeks -“For a minute I thought I was dreaming that you were talking to my stomach. But I’m not, am I?” “No. But forget it. I just…this was dumb.” “No. It wasn’t dumb.” Dag looked up and, even though it was dark and he wasn’t sure, he thought he saw Rho’s eyes shining at him. “I think it’s wonderful. I haven’t really thought of him or her as a person yet. It helps that you do. But then, you’re actually much sweeter than I am, Dag.” “Dominus! Don’t be stupid!” Dag spat the words out but Rho just laughed. “Let’s go to my cottage. Then we can talk some more. To each other. I think we need to.” Rho nestled against him when he picked her up to carry her away. No, she didn’t know him. She’d made up some fantasy about what he was like. But, while carrying her that way, just for a moment he did feel wonderful. Possibly even sweet. And in control for the first time since he got the news about his impending fatherhood. Maybe they could manage this after all.

***** Tory shivered as she looked outside. Dag and Rhoanna had finally left. She’d heard them go, even though they’d been quiet. She was too awake not to hear. She watched as the cottage nearest to her, the one Rhoanna was watching for the summer, had the lights blink on and then off. Lucky bastards. She knew what must be going on there. She heard Aric mutter, sleepily, “Come to bed, Tory.” “Soon,” Tory answered. But she knew she wouldn’t. She couldn’t sleep near him, knowing this horrible hurt stood between them.

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She might have been able to sleep with Aric without making love if she’d had to. There had been plenty of times when she’d woken up and known she loved to have his body against hers at night, just to listen to his breathing. But she couldn’t right now, knowing he didn’t want to make love to her tonight. The first time ever. Tory waited at the window, looking out, refusing to go back and lie next to the man who was hurting just as much as she was.

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Chapter Eight “I want Tory with me. She’s my friend and I need a friend.” Rho laced her fingers through Tory’s hand. When she heard no forthcoming arguments to the contrary, she released Tory’s hand and climbed onto the examining table, feeling very exposed. “Fine. Tory can stay.” Faye didn’t look happy, but then she didn’t look any more unhappy than usual. “Get on the examining table, put your feet in the stirrups. Tory, you can go and get a donation.” Rho swallowed. This was the time. She was going to be alone for a few minutes to tell this disgusting woman what kind of baby she wanted. Rho studied Faye as Tory walked out the door. Faye looked ordinary enough, if you discounted her perpetual scowl. How could Faye, of all people, become the person who created a whole illegal baby market?

***** “Dag?” Tory stuck her head in the cubicle. “Yeah?” “Rho needs some sperm.” “No she doesn’t. I already gave her some.” Dag hunched up a little defensively. This had been one weird experience. One he didn’t care to repeat. After all, fantasizing about a woman and…well, taking care of the results was one thing. But having someone collect those results was yet another. Tory smiled. “Just give me the bottle.” “I bet I have more in there than most of the ones you collect.” “I’m sure you’re right, stud.”

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Dag handed her the bottle and, when Tory turned to leave, he followed her out. She glared at him and made shooing motions as they walked. “You think I’m gonna let you and Aric be the only ones to help Rho?” He mouthed the words but he knew she understood. They didn’t have any more time to argue because Tory swung the door to the insemination room open, gesturing to him to wait. So Dag waited, listened to the murmur of voices inside, and shifted his feet. If someone found him now he’d never explain this. Finally the door opened again and Tory let him inside. First he saw Rho’s face, suddenly relieved and happy when she realized who it was. At least someone appreciated what he was doing here. Then he took another look at Rho, sitting on the table, legs spread, and said the first thing that came into his mind. “You know that table with those stirrups could give me ideas.” Dag hastily shut the door behind him. Rho suddenly looked a lot less pleased at the sight of her rescuer. Women got upset just because a guy was honest? Dominus. “How did you manage to sneak in here?” Rho asked. “I’m a sperm donor.” Dag knew his voice was a few degrees short of revulsion. But only a few. “I know. But I thought you already gave.” Rho’s laugh sounded a little hysterical. The inner door leading to the lab opened. Faye stepped in with the bottle. “What in Zorah’s name is going on here --” Faye began and then fell silent as the door Dag had shut opened yet again. Aric surveyed the scene. “Dag, I told you to wait for me. You’ve obviously gotten Rho upset. Rho, stop that laughing, please. We have more important things to deal with here than hysterics.” His voice was as calm as if men walked into women’s insemination rooms every day. He glanced at Faye. And as calm as if men caught women doing illegal sperm tampering every day. “First of all, confiscate that deposit bottle. Second, you’re coming with me, Faye. I’m lodging a complaint with the local Femmeland magistrate for sperm tampering.” Faye’s mouth pinched together a little more tightly, but she gave no other reaction. Her hands didn’t even shake when Rho reached forward and gingerly took the small vial and syringe Faye had brought with her. “I suppose you think you managed something clever,” Faye finally said as the silence grew to an almost unbearable length. “But I expected someone to try to stop me sooner or later. In fact, it took longer than I thought.” “We’re all witnesses, Faye,” Tory spoke up. “I don’t know what goes on in this country but in mine you don’t have to say anything until you have a trial. Actually not even then if you don’t want to.” “If anyone had ever bothered to look at the records they would know something is going on at this clinic.” Faye ignored the warning and laughed, one scornful bark of laughter. “That

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stupid Amma and Mitzi had no clue. Of course it helped that one of them handled the sperm and one of them handled the baby transfers. And that all the real work was left to me to do.” “You did this for the money?” Aric asked. “Sure. I like money and going to No-Land can be expensive. But mostly I did it so no one would have to do what my sister did.” Faye shrugged. “I told you two she ran off to No-Land to keep her little boy. What I didn’t say was that didn’t do much good. She died when the kid was about seven. I didn’t find out for weeks and by then the boy disappeared for good. None of that would have happened if she’d had a girl.” “So you were being noble?” Aric kept his voice carefully neutral. “No. Practical. I got money from this and a lot of women were happy because of my actions. And don’t hope this ends with me. I didn’t come up with whatever formula it is that creates girls. Someone in your precious Androvia came to me with the idea.” Faye tossed her head back. “Someone a little more, organized -- about their crime if you catch my drift. This complaint is going to create all kinds of problems.” Dag saw Tory and Aric look at each other. Amma, Mitzi, Faye…and now Androvians. There would be plenty of trouble to go around. And, once again, Dag was on the receiving end of that trouble. “We already have all kinds of problems,” Dag finally burst out. To hell with careful questions. “What kind of person would profit from keeping people from having babies? There are Androvians who are desperate for a family right now. Don’t you understand that?” “Why should I care about them? Do they care about me? If it makes any difference, though, I thought about my sister every time I gave some woman the option to pick.” Faye shrugged. “My sister and her little Dagmar didn’t have any options. Being forced to live in No-Land wasn’t much fun for either of them. That boy probably died out on the streets years ago.” “Her son’s name was Dagmar?” Rho’s voice was sharp. Almost as sharp as the sudden pang Dag felt with Faye’s words. “Yes, Dagmar. What of it?” “How old would Dagmar be now?” “Shut up, Rho.” Dag’s voice cut in. “I don’t want to hear this.” Dag knew. Dag knew what she was going to ask. And he knew that he didn’t want to know this. Stories like Faye’s sister, stories like his mother, happened all the time. They weren’t connected. They couldn’t be connected. “Nineteen -- almost twenty.” Faye stared at Rho. She crossed her arms over her breasts. “What difference does that make to you?” “It’s nothing to me,” Rho said. “It might mean a lot to Dag, though.” “It means nothing to me.” Dag turned his head, shutting out any emotion, but he could feel Faye was staring at him now.

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“Dag? Zorah, you do look a little like my sister! She got all the blonde genes in our family.” Dag hunched one shoulder to ward off the words and the stare. “I didn’t ask for this. My name has been Dagger for years. I thought that was what my mother called me. No. I don’t just think that. I’m sure it’s my name.” But he wasn’t sure now. It had been so long ago and he couldn’t quite remember his mother’s voice calling for him. Faye took a step closer to Dag, ignoring his silent warning signals to keep away. “Your mother -- I mean, my sister -- was Lianna Blaise. She worked at a bar in No-Land for years until she got sick. Blonde hair, big smile.” Her voice became insistent. He took a deep breath. “My mother worked at a bar. So what? There isn’t a whole lot else for women to work at there. If they aren’t an odd, there is nothing else.” And her name had been Lianna, he thought. Other forgotten memories swirled back, things he hadn’t wanted to remember in his rush to survive and ignore the pain of the loss of his mother. There had been a woman who came, sometimes. She’d hugged his mother. She’d brought him presents. He couldn’t remember her face precisely -Dag finally looked back at Faye. That could be the face, over a decade older. He forced the words out. “I think I remember an aunt. She disappeared when my mother died.” She looked desperate for him to believe her. “I lost you and my sister. I didn’t disappear!” “Listen, this family reunion can continue after we’ve filed the complaint.” Aric cut in. “I want this done quickly and quietly, especially if there are others involved. Do you care to tell us who else they may be right now, Faye?” “It doesn’t matter really. Not now.” Faye sounded as if she meant that. She touched Dag’s face and he flinched. “The man who got me involved is a thug in Androvia. His name is Jasper. I never learned his last name.” “All right.” Aric nodded. “By the way, Dag, we need another sperm sample to show this one was tampered with. Go on back to your deposit room. We’ll come to collect in a bit.” Dag yelped.

***** “I don’t want you doing this.” Aric used his most military voice, the one that gave orders and others obeyed. “We can have the Unit just take him on.” “This is easiest.” Dag ignored the voice. Suddenly he batted his eyes at Aric. “Darling, you know how I get when you try to boss me around.” Aric growled. Tory bit off a laugh. Aric was serious and the situation was serious, even though Dag wasn’t listening. She could feel Aric’s baffled frustration. Poor thing, he wanted to protect people. If he hadn’t been born with that gene, the Unit had trained it into him at

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an early age. Dag’s insistence that he be allowed to step into danger alone obviously outraged Aric, even though Aric might not think twice about doing the same thing. Tory felt that pain in her chest again, right at her heart. Aric wanted to protect her too. He didn’t care what happened to him. She’d told him she wanted to escape and he offered to help. Why did he have to be so damn selfless when she knew what was best for him? She’d had to push him away before she wanted to because he refused to realize the inevitable: he couldn’t step in this time to help her leave. Tory had to do this herself. She wasn’t going to let him sacrifice his way of life for what she needed. And now it looked like Dag wasn’t going to let Aric do it either. “There’s no reason for you to step in, Dag.” Aric’s protest sounded a little desperate, a little less like an order. “No? It’s my long-lost family that helped start this. I’m afraid, like it or not, it became my problem.” Dag stared thoughtfully at his fingernails rather than up into anyone else’s face. “Besides, if anyone can get Jasper alone it’s me. Thank Dominus he isn’t one of those men who want a crowd when they visit a boy toy. Dominus take it, Aric, it’s not like I’m going to enjoy what I have to do. But I can give head with the best of them. How else do you think I’ve kept my ass safe from men all these years? I can pretend to be normal, at least for some things.” Dag was wise not to look up. Aric looked angry and Rho was giving him her best fearful waif-like look. It didn’t matter. Tory could already tell neither of them was going to convince Dag to stop. “Well, don’t worry, Aric. We’ll back Dag up,” Tory said. “What?” Aric wheeled toward her, all his reserve gone. “You’re not going anywhere near that thug. Or Androvia. None of you are.” “How could we?” Rho’s voice was sweet and calming. “We’re female. We’d be caught.” “Right.” Aric visibly relaxed. “I’m glad one other person around here has some sense.” Tory opened her mouth to protest and then pondered just how sweet and innocent Rho looked at the moment. Rho gave another one of her winks and Tory relaxed. Rho had a plan.

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Chapter Nine Aric strode down the stairs to the main courtyard, automatically searching for the men he wanted. His mind was on other things.

Damned female. Never could figure out females. They probably should be kept in another nation, away from men who just want to live their lives in some sane way and not have them tossed upside down on some womanish whim. Oh that’s right, he frowned, they are. Aric caught a glimpse of a familiar back and opened his mouth to call out. Then he saw there was someone else’s arms clasped around that back and shut his mouth again. This wasn’t the time to ask Nils to volunteer for a special assignment. There had been a time he would have snapped out something like, Keep it in your pants in public. But that time was gone. Dominus knew Aric would have been more than willing, had come close to doing some damn inappropriate things in public if and when Tory gave him the right encouragement. So now he tried not to look at the two entwined bodies as he went more quietly down the courtyard. It hadn’t been long ago that Nils had been naked in Aric’s room, begging Aric to love him. Nils had obviously gotten over Aric’s refusal and found someone else, not that Aric begrudged Nils any happiness. Aric sighed. He just wished he had some happiness himself. Life was easier when you were normal. If he wasn’t a deviant he would go home to Dag, or someone, and have that someone be there for him. Someone who would say, I love you. Someone who didn’t make you feel crazy and horny and rejected and unsure of yourself. “Why the hell can’t I just make my mind up to find some nice man and be fucking happy?” Aric muttered to himself.

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Maybe he would. Maybe he could. Maybe he would will himself to forget Tory and all her annoying, irresistible traits. If she didn’t love him, maybe he could stop loving her too. “Yo, Nils!” Aric lifted his voice, sounding authoritative and in control. “I have a special assignment for you if you want it.” “Sir? Of course, sir.” Nils looked alert as he pulled himself out of the stockier man’s arms. He looked ready to follow orders, or as ready as a man with his leggings down to his knees could look. Damn, Nils and the others trusted him. Expected to obey him. So he should just do his job, the job he knew he was good at. He had to push the other junk out of his head. “So this is the Great Almighty Aric?” The other man looked up. Aric scowled. This one didn’t sound interested in orders or obeying. “Well, well. I should count myself honored to be interrupted, I suppose. Nils damn near comes at the sound of your name.” “Shut up, Mart.” Nils snarled then steadied his voice to a more soldierly response. “He’s not in the Unit, sir. Mart doesn’t understand.” “I understand I have to work my cock and balls off to get you hot and you’re getting hard just at the sight of him.” Mart scowled as he put his hand on Nils’ hip. “Don’t. Not in front of the Captain.” Nils looked as he wanted to step back. But when Mart cupped his partner’s balls, Nils quivered and stayed in place. “It’s just sex for him, you know. Him and me.” Mart looked over his shoulder, staring directly at Aric. “He doesn’t mind if we fuck in the courtyard where anybody else can find us. But in front of you -- you he minds.” Aric cleared his throat. Dominus, hadn’t Nils gotten over that crush? “I said stop it!” Nils’ voice dropped. “What’s wrong with you?” “Nothing. Nothing wrong with being your fuck toy all month and then kicked aside when your precious Captain comes along. Why not invite him to join us? Then we all can get something we want.” Aric wondered if the thickening in Mart’s voice was sexual or -- or surely it wasn’t from tears? Perhaps it wasn’t just sex on his part. Perhaps this Mart was as enamored with Nils, as Nils had been with his captain. Dominus. Aric knew how it was to be in love and get nothing but sex in return. “Nils knows I don’t get involved with other members of the Unit.” Aric kept his voice neutral, calm. “Then let me do something.” Mart turned toward Aric, not bothering to hide his own erection. In fact he tilted his pelvis up to display it better. Aric could see what Nils found so attractive. The man was hung like a horse. “I can suck cock well enough to make picky Nils here beg for more. I’d give you anything you want. My ass. My mouth. Hands. Cock. And anything you want from Nils. Look at him. He’d kiss your feet or whatever body part you wanted. Together we’d service you like you’ve never been serviced before.”

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Nils was trembling, trying to stand at attention. Hope, desire, and resignation chased over the young man’s face. He and Aric had already done this dance before. Aric fought a sudden desire to rub his hands over his own face. A real man would have one of the two on his knees and another up his ass within half a second of that offer. And all he wanted was to leave. “You fool, shut up! Aric is with one of the best-looking men on the planet. Why would he look at either of us? Or both of us, for that matter?” Nils hissed the words out. Then he looked at Aric and swallowed hard. “What do we have to offer him? We’re nothing out of the ordinary for the Captain.” “No. It’s not that --” Aric caught himself. “I do have Dag at home. Thank you, but I can’t.” “Of course, sir.” Nils swallowed. “I absolutely understand, sir.”

No. He didn’t know his Captain was a liar. Had spent his whole life lying. “Why don’t you -- ah, finish up?” Aric gestured vaguely. “Tomorrow morning is soon enough to discuss operations.” “Yes, sir.” Nils actually gave him a salute before Aric turned away. He hadn’t walked far before the two behind him began to bicker. “You fool! Stop it with your perverted tricks. He’s too good for us.” “You like my perverted tricks well enough --” Aric increased his pace to shut out the sounds that changed from bickering to soft moans. Dominus. Aric’s depression grew blacker than ever. Too good for them indeed. He’d be the shame of the Unit, rather than the leader if anyone knew. Dag, or well, someone like Dag, should be his bedmate and his soul mate. He ought to be panting with lust over the stripper’s body. Dominus, what a fraud he was. He could imagine every detail of what a real life should be like.

“Dag! Where are you?” “In the kitchen. I’ve been waiting.” “For dinner?” “For that and for -- other things.” Dag, dressed in that ridiculous red towel, strolled toward him like a cat on the prowl. “You’ve been away for hours.” He waited until Dag was finally close enough before he dragged the younger man even closer. Not that he needed to be dragged. “Am I late?” “A little. I kept everything warm for you.” Tory kissed him, warm and sweet and long. His cock was already hard but he rubbed himself against her just for the joy of getting harder against that sweet body.

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Tory. Aric stopped, shook his head. He couldn’t. He couldn’t even fantasize properly. He was hopeless.

***** “Smile, lieutenant,” Aric growled softly to his subordinate. “We want to be here, remember?” He knew he had to take his own advice and not look as disdainful as he felt when he passed by the howling, drinking men, and others who were doing even less acceptable things, while they watched the strippers in the front of the bar. The music was loud enough to deafen. Behind him two or three of his men kept close, laughing and nudging each other. They were supposed to act as if they were here to have a good time. Right. Aric had gone with some of the men to places like this when he was younger. He’d forgotten how little he enjoyed it. But the others probably were having a good time. Nils shoved a drink in his hand, slopping a good bit on Aric’s tunic. Aric laughed and nodded at him. A good time. They were here for a Saturday night at The Rutting Stag, drinking, laughing, and looking at naked men. A good time. If he was ever going to will himself to find an attractive man, this might be the time. He had nothing else to do until Jasper arrived anyhow. Aric surveyed the crowd. Hopeless. The damn idea was hopeless. If he couldn’t work up an interest in someone with a face and body like Dag’s, what hope was there for him to find someone in this swinish crew? Not many had ever been in the Unit, he could see that. Beer guts, unkempt hair. The Unit would have shaved and worked all the hair and fat off of them in no time. Didn’t these men take any pride in their appearance? Aric forced himself to stop thinking about what he’d do to shape them up if he had just a few of them under his command. That wasn’t going to get him interested in anything but trying to recruit for the Unit. No. He needed to find a man for himself, not for his work. Or not. Aric slumped in a back booth, Nils on the other side, and wondered how hopeless a task he’d set for himself. He’d never find -He saw two boys sitting up front, right near the strippers. He wondered if they were old enough to even be in the place, not that the bar seemed to be too particular about the ages of the men who entered. They were pretty enough. No wonder the older men were easing their way up to their spots, talking. Maybe doing more than talking. Neither of the boys looked particularly happy with the attention. Aric’s fingers tightened on his drink. It wasn’t any of his concern but one of them -- oh Dominus take it, one of them had hair the color of Tory’s. With a sigh, Aric stood up. Stupid

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or not, he was going to step in. All he needed was to have himself injured somehow right before the real action started. But the boy even looked a little like Tory from the back. And Aric knew he couldn’t stop himself. Hopeless. This was hopeless. Dominus, the kid reminded him more and more of Tory. He could feel his body tightening up with more than just the anticipation of a barroom brawl. Aric snarled to himself. He was worse than hopeless. Suddenly he was interested in a male, just the way he’d wanted to be, but this way was all wrong. Maybe, though…maybe he could do this. Even Dag had managed oral sex. If he shut his eyes, one mouth was much like another. Maybe it was sick, but he could pretend his sex partner was Tory. Couldn’t he? After all, he was already imagining her in someone else. “Pardon me, pig face.” Aric didn’t even bother for a pause in the conversation as he saw a burly male leaning over to talk in the kid’s ear and fumble at the kid’s crotch at the same time. The kid was leaning back in distress. “You’re in my damned way.” The burly man turned, with a snarl. Then he saw the look on Aric’s face. Aric had the feeling it was clear he wanted to kick ass right now. The man hesitated and Aric didn’t. One good punch was all it took, though. Aric was disappointed when the man sank down, unconscious. For a moment the bar fell silent. Aric looked around, ready for a fight. No one challenged him. Within seconds the crowd started up the usual din. Annoyed, Aric fastened his hand on the strawberry blonde’s shoulder and whirled him around. A fight wasn’t all the excitement he craved right now. His cock was hard and ready. Damn, his hands were itching to touch the body in front of him, just the way they did for Tory. Aric wondered if he felt elated that he finally was getting some normal urges or depressed because they were over someone who reminded him of his woman. His woman -- oh, Dominus! -- this was confusing. “Listen to me --” Aric stopped. And gaped. He was hallucinating. The body was a boy’s. The eyes that looked back at him, the face…oh Dominus. Then the mouth shaped up into a smile… “Hello, big boy. My hero. Wanna buy me a drink?” The other kid, the one he’d barely looked at, whispered in his other ear, “It was all my idea, Aric.” He knew that voice. “Oh hell.” Aric got that out just before someone by the door yelled out. The door opened and an entourage entered. Goon after goon swaggered in and the crowd made way. Since they were headed to the same part of the bar where Aric and the other two were, Aric grabbed both of them and swept them toward a corner. He knew who the bodyguards were clearing the way for.

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And then Jasper arrived. Once again there was a short, respectful silence as everyone eyed the new visitor. The man was big and intimidating and looked as mean as his reputation. Aric could hear both his prisoners audibly gulp as Jasper settled on the barstool. “Dag is going to take that brute on?” one of them asked in a low voice. “No. I am,” Aric’s answer was grim. And, as if it had been arranged, which it probably had been, the music changed. The crowd turned, all silence gone. The howls increased in volume. And Dag stepped on stage.

***** The two of them stood face-to-face in the small room. The noise outside faded into unimportance. Dag’s return appearance at The Rutting Stag had almost caused a riot. When he finally danced in front of Jasper’s table, breaking all his own precedents for aloofness, and then dove underneath the table, the audience got worse. Jasper sat back to be pleasured for a while as the noise levels rose frighteningly, but then, as Dag had hoped, Jasper decided he wanted him alone. Jasper wasn’t one to waste time when he wanted sex a particular way. The thug simply picked Dag up and carried him out to the private room in the back. From the sounds in the bar behind them, Dag figured his disappearance had finally set the near-riot into a real one. Jasper didn’t care what happened outside. His eyes didn’t leave Dag’s oiled, naked body. Why should he care what happened outside this room? After all, he might not own the bar, but everyone knew better than to cross Jasper. If he needed the private room in the back to play with his new toy, then even if all hell broke loose beyond that room, no one was going to stop him. Right now Jasper was pleased. “So. You’ve finally realized you belong to me.” His nasty face looked almost happy and relaxed. Dag knew what that meant. He tensed, but the force of the backhanded slap almost knocked him off his feet. After all, Jasper outweighed him by a hundred pounds at least. Dag was faintly proud he didn’t fall. Or throw up. “Yes, Jasper. I’m yours.” He even managed to say the words. “Remember it. Don’t try any running away again.” Jasper actually smiled for a halfsecond. With one quick movement he snapped the ownership collar onto Dag’s neck. “Now I want to see you finish the performance you were putting on at the club. For me.” Dag wiped the blood off his mouth and lowered his head. “Sure, Jasper. However you want it.” Jasper laughed, grabbed Dag’s hair, and pulled him closer. “I want.”

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That was when the door was kicked in. Dag wondered if Rho, trapped at the clinic with Faye, had felt the same way he did when Aric walked in. Dominus, the man was reassuring to look at in an emergency. There were about five men behind him, all carefully picked by the Unit captain. All of them held the rare submachine guns that the Unit issued. They looked pretty fucking reassuring too. “Jasper Younger. We are here to put you in custody --” Aric began. “Wait a minute.” Dag looked into Jasper’s face and crooned, “Hey, thug. This is to thank you for that last lover’s kiss.” The punch damn near numbed his hand. He danced out of the way before Jasper retaliated with more blows, but Dag enjoyed the sight of Jasper’s blood. A lot. That all changed when they heard the scream in the hall. And the shots. Damn. Dag knew it must’ve all gone from triumph to shit in half a second. He turned to see a half dozen of Jasper’s bodyguards stream in. That was bad. Then he saw who ran in behind them. That was worse. Right then was when he heard Jasper yell, saw Aric stagger back with his gun drawn, and more shots were fired. “Get down, get down, get down!” Dag screamed. Dag hit the floor, trying to crawl toward the two women in the room before they got lost in this mess. If Aric was gone, it was up to him to protect them both.

***** “Oh God oh God oh God --” the voice muttered it over and over. Tory wanted to tell the voice to shut up until she realized the voice belonged to her. She kept stroking the prone body, checking to see if he was still breathing. He wasn’t dead, he wasn’t dead. But he wasn’t conscious either. Tory stared at the face and finally, when she saw his eyes open, she let out one short sob. “Are you all right?” she asked. “No. You’ve made me insane.” The voice was faint but, despite the words, quite lucid. Aric’s gray eyes stared back at her, looking the way he had before they’d fought. Smiling. Smiling at her. “I thought you were dead,” Tory confessed. She was dimly grateful that Dag had managed to half-support, half-carry Aric back to the men’s home. She knew she was beyond caring what people might hear her say, but Aric would. She’d been terrified because once they got back, Aric had passed out again. She touched his hair, his face, his mouth. They were there. All still there. She didn’t want to ever stop touching.

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“I’m all right, Tory. The flak jacket saved me.” Aric’s voice was patient. Tory knew that should be obvious, but she needed to hear the words. To hear him say them. “I’ll be fine. Listen, you came here to see I was all right. It was a crazy idea but you got away with it. I’m all right. Now you better leave before someone finds you and Rho out.” She could see him gathering up his reserve, the shield he used against her. “I have to stay.” Tory didn’t care if Aric was angry with her anymore. She just wanted to get rid of that memory of him almost falling right in front of her. “I think that’s a bad idea, Tory, given the circumstances.” Damn it, Aric’s pride had returned. He was going to be difficult again. Tory didn’t care. She could be even more difficult. “I don’t care what you say right now, Aric. I know you’re refusing to come near me because your pride is wounded.” “Is it my pride? Just my pride?” Tory didn’t want to hear anymore. She kept talking. “You can’t stay apart from me. This hurts us both too much. Don’t you love me?”

“I have no problem telling you I do.” “Show me. Damn it, show me! I thought you were going to die, Aric. I thought we’d never be together again.” Tory, sitting between his legs, moved closer so she could bend down and kiss his mouth. Hard. That wasn’t the only hard thing between them. But Aric shifted away a half-inch. “We probably shouldn’t be together. This whole situation is messed up.” “Is it? Your cock seems to know what’s going on.” Tory stroked it, just to be sure. “I’m not sure of anything. Do you know how damned confused I felt when I thought I finally wanted to jump a boy?” Aric growled. “How did you manage that? You’ve never looked like a boy before.” “My breasts are all bound up flat. You want to help me release them again?” Tory teased him but her smile couldn’t stay firm. She couldn’t laugh with him tonight. She couldn’t let pride stop him. She had to have him now, reassuring her. He was alive. They were together and he was alive. That was what was important right now. She could feel his hesitation. Tory wasn’t going to allow it. She couldn’t. She moved toward him and kissed him again. Tenderly this time. She didn’t want him to be so far away. Not ever again. So she put her body over his, trapping him on the bed, while she ran her hands over his shoulders, his arms. This time she knew they were all right, but she just wanted to touch. His body was so strong, but now she knew were it was vulnerable. She softly kissed the spot where he had been bruised, where the bullet would have hit his chest. She could feel his heart pumping under her lips. That touch did it. Aric shivered and she got his real response at last. He reached up, took her head between his hands and pulled her face down to kiss her. She leaned into that kiss. The comfort was what she felt first from him. But Tory didn’t want just that. She knew he

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didn’t either when his tongue surged inside. Without his pride holding him back, everything between them surged up in a huge wave of emotion -- love, fear, desperation, relief, desire. A lot of desire. Tory wasn’t sure what to do with most of those feelings but she knew what they could do together about the desire. What they always wanted to do. Their tongues stroked, impatiently soothing and provoking. Tory found herself gripping his tunic, desperate to get it off of him, to feel him under her hands, but unable to loosen her hold long enough to manage to strip him. Besides, he might be hurt. She couldn’t rip the garment off him. But Aric didn’t seem to have the same problem. He already had her tunic half off of her before he abandoned that to work on stripping off her leggings. Her teeth scraped his bottom lip. She wanted to hurt him, she wanted to feel him, she wanted to be inside him, so much a part of him that he couldn’t let her go. Finally she gave up on the tunic and fiercely pulled his leggings down. Then she climbed up over him, twining her legs around his waist and pushed herself onto him, desperate to get his cock inside. “Help me, Aric.” She didn’t have to waste her breath. Aric arched up inside her fast and hard. She wanted to swallow him whole, she wanted to be absorbed by him. God, she’d never felt this desperate for someone’s cock in her life. Aric withdrew and Tory almost cried. But then he twisted, moving to hold her down in turn and thrust his cock back inside. All right. Tory could handle him being the dominant one again. She could handle anything as long as they were fused together like this. But once he was inside her, the desperation eased. She didn’t want this to end, to ever stop feeling him. Aric’s fingers dug deeply into her buttocks. His breathing was harsh in her ear. But he wasn’t moving the way she thought she’d wanted. He had to feel the same way she did. Yes, of course he did. How did he manage to know what she wanted, even when she didn’t tell him? Then he began to move, slowly. And she could think of nothing more. Nothing but him. Each time he buried himself inside her she fought to keep him there. Each time he withdrew she wailed to have him return. She lost track of the number of times he moved against her that way. Gradually, though, his rhythm and the slap of his body against hers became rapid. She realized she needed that now too. Then everything changed…there was sudden rising heat, an added desperation. Now it was as if they couldn’t move together fast enough, his cock sinking balls-deep into her warm pussy over and over again. Tory clenched her body in what seemed close to agony, the most wonderful agony she could imagine, and she heard him moan in what sounded like joyful anguish above her. With that sound she shattered while he burst. They held onto each other afterward, shaking.

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“I might --” Tory wet her lips, knowing she couldn’t be flippant this time. She steadied her voice. “I might lose you in the future, Aric, but I can’t let you go now.” “You have me, love. I’m right here. Now. Forever.” Aric sounded gentle again, tender. He was back to being her lover and Tory was stunned by her relief at his return. “Now, right now, is fine.” Tory laid her head on his shoulder. “That’s all I can ask of you, but that’s enough.” “I’m not sure that’s enough right now.” Tory was briefly afraid that meant another fight until she realized Aric was amused. “Let’s try this again and let me enjoy the experience a little more. Besides, with your breasts still bound, this will be the closest I ever get to not being a deviant.” “Hey! I’m not sure I like that. Besides, these breast bindings hurt.” Tory smiled, absorbing his returned tenderness and readiness to play. “Want to help me get this off instead? Then you can kiss all the hurt away.” Aric laughed. “Maybe that would work. I’m not sure I can pretend you’re male anyhow. Apparently I have to face, as Dag would crudely put it, all I really am is an odd. That’s all I can ever be.” “Pervert.” Tory smiled back. “But I love you that way.” Aric’s hands stopped short and he looked at her. “Do you?” Her brow furrowed. What had she said? Oh shit. “I -- I didn’t mean it that way. Exactly.” Tory had a sudden trapped feeling. She didn’t want to think about what she meant. What kind of idiot was she? She hadn’t wanted to even hint at love. Had she started the argument all over again? “Ahh.” Aric kept looking at her. Tory knew she couldn’t stand it if he turned away now. Not again. She shut her eyes, once more fighting the need to cry. She didn’t want to do that. She had always hated crying. Instead of rejecting her, Aric leaned down and kissed her. Tory shivered. No fights? No hurt feelings? This was too good to be true. Surely he was going to spoil it all with what he said next. But, amazingly enough, Aric just whispered, “Well, let’s keep working at this until I see what exact way you did mean.” This was going to go the way she wanted their relationship to go? No strings, no regrets? Tory ignored her niggling perverse desire not to let things drop after all. She was lucky that Aric finally saw things her way. Yeah. Lucky. “Aric, if I was stupid enough to admit I love you, that doesn’t change anything between us.” Tory didn’t want to hear the words coming out of her mouth but there they were. “This has to be temporary. I’m still leaving someday.” “I understand that, Tory. So temporary is the way you love me then?”

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He wasn’t going to let up. Tory knew he would keep on trying nicely but relentlessly until she answered. She might as well give in now and save her time and energy for better things. “That’s one of the ways.” Tory reached up to bite his earlobe. She was ready to start on the better things now. “But we haven’t hit all the possibilities yet.”

***** “So this is your place.” Rho looked it over with bright, assessing eyes. “You and Aric are much tidier than I am.” Dag rubbed the back of his neck. He’d never realized how interested females were in how people lived. Rho had surveyed the kitchen, the living room, even the hot tub. Then she’d demanded to see in here. “It’s just my room.” Rho touched the weight bench. That equipment and his futon was just about all Dag had for bedroom furniture. Except -- Dag took a hasty step forward. Too late. Rho stopped in front of the small, covered lump and lifted the blanket. Dag looked at his feet as her breath caught in her throat. “Oh, Dag,” she whispered. She knelt down and ran her hands over it. “I know it’s not very good.” He resisted making an apology. “Aric has been trying to teach me what to do. I thought I’d have time to fix it up more before I brought it to you.” “I think it’s good. I think the cradle is beautiful.” Rho’s voice cracked and then she cleared it. “You scare me, Dag. This cradle -- you’re making the baby real for me. And you’re making me think how much you’re planning for the baby and I’m not.” “I made something for you too.” As long as she wasn’t laughing at his less than perfect craftsmanship he decided to press his luck. “Look inside the cradle.” Rho reached inside and said, “It’s a trinket box?” “Yeah. Women seem to like trinkets. Anyhow, it’s yours.” Dag sat down next to her. “It’s not much. I know that. I just -- I wanted to do…something.” “I know.” Rho touched the cradle and it rocked, a little precariously, back and forth. “Dag, I’m really glad you’re the baby’s father,” she murmured. “Yeah?” Dag had a sudden burst of unfamiliar emotion as he absorbed her words. He was -- proud. That was it. That was something new. He’d done little enough to deserve Rho’s words. Still, Dag talked fast before he could stop himself. “Rho, no matter what, I’m proud to be your baby’s father. And -- and if it’s a girl d’you think you could manage somehow to let me see her? Maybe you couldn’t have her be with me or anything, but I’d like to see her.” “You’re going to be around -- at least if you’re willing to come to No-Land with us.” Dag sighed. “I told you, Rho. That is a really bad idea. Give it up.”

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She reached out and touched the collar at his neck. “What can I say? Maybe this gives me ideas.” Dag scowled. He hadn’t been able to figure out how to unfasten Jasper’s badge of possession yet and they’d been too busy for him to worry about it much. “I’m not a dog. Or a possession.” “Maybe. But it would be fun to have you belong to me.” Rho shut her mouth after she said those words and suddenly looked nervous. Dag felt a sudden pang in his stomach. “I’ve never belonged to anyone in particular.” He spoke carefully, not even sure what he wanted to say. Did he want to belong to anyone? Did Rho want him to? She’d never said anything like that before. “I don’t mean you’d be a possession, Dag.” Rho’s finger ran along the inside of the collar, easing the slight chafing. “I meant -- well, I’m not sure what.” She touched his hair, still unconfined, and twirled one finger around a lock. She smiled, tentatively. Dag’s breathing started to feel slow and heavy. Was she claiming him? “I love your hair, Dag. Did I ever tell you that? And I like that you wear it loose just for me.” “Just for you and whoever pays me for a show.” He had to remind her what he was like. He had to remind himself. She just smiled and stroked his hair again. Dominus, they couldn’t have sex right now when they needed to talk to Tory and Aric. But what she was doing, just lightly touching him, was making him want her. Dag couldn’t even quite figure out why. But if they weren’t going to make love, then maybe they needed to talk instead of having her touch. He forced himself to move back a little. But only a little. “I don’t know what you mean about belonging either, Rho. But if you ever figure it out, we can talk about it more I guess.” Rho opened her mouth and then they both heard the noise. “They’re coming out.” Rho pushed herself to her feet. “Come on. We have to tell them.” When they met in the living room Aric looked a little pale but his arm was draped over Tory. He looked all right. Healthy enough. Dag realized he’d been worried. He’d come to like the guy. More than Dag had ever thought he could like a Unit-keeper. Dominus, Aric looked more than all right. He had a smile he wasn’t bothering to hide on his face when Tory kissed his cheek. Dag almost dropped his eyes. Aric didn’t smile like that most of the time. It was almost embarrassing when Aric let his emotions show. It meant too much. Oh, Dominus. Maybe he looked like that around Rho. “Hello, you two.” Tory tried to sound casual. “We have news.” Rho didn’t try.

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“What?” “You got a call from the Commander.” Aric made the announcement. “He heard about Jasper?” “No. Well, yes. He congratulated you on that, but this is something new.” “Yeah?” Aric had slowly eased himself into a chair but now he sat up straight. “Another mission?” “Yeah. He told me he wasn’t at liberty to give details even though I am your spouse. He also told me this could mean big things for you if you succeed.” Dag looked at Aric. “So? What is it?” Aric smiled. “It’s a secret mission. I don’t even know for sure what’s planned, though the Commander hinted a few things to me a day or two ago.” Everyone waited but Aric just kept smiling. “What did he hint?” Tory asked. Aric shrugged. “Aric!” Tory put a little threat in her tone this time. “Let me put it this way, Tory. I’m going to need you to tell me a great deal about Earthling customs. A great deal. Enough so that I can act like I belong there.”

Book 3: World Enough Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime. -- To His Coy Mistress, A. Marvell

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Chapter One Faye spat when they put on the handcuffs, even though she knew the gesture would be useless. She yelled and tried to trip up her male guards as they dragged her out of the cell, even though they were more powerful. They didn’t lay any more than a carefully restraining hand on her -- but she could see their faces when she managed to kick one unguarded ankle. Thank Zorah, she got some reaction beyond professional restraint at last. Overall, she was just not in the mood to be told she must see her new solicitor. Even if her jailers were determined that she do so.

***** He could hear her cursing all the way down the hall. Edmond Jarvish let out a small sigh. Why had he agreed to meet with the woman? He had more than enough work, a fine reputation, and he liked quiet. He heard a crash and winced. “I do appreciate this.” The remarkably beautiful young man before him stood up hastily. “But I think it would be better if my aunt didn’t see me here.” “I think it would be better if she didn’t see either of us,” Edmond said, pensively. “I --” The man tensed and then relaxed. His smile flashed out. “You were joking.”

Not entirely. Edmond rolled his shoulders, shrugging off the stiffness and wondering just why he had agreed to see the female. Was it because Ivan, his spouse, had died almost two years to the day? Was it because their son had long since left the house for college? Maybe it was because the shutdown season would be here in a matter of weeks. Edmond always got bored and restless then. Whatever the reason, he’d accepted this new client and he was a man of his word.

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“Here’s the back door.” Edmond opened it and watched his first visitor leave. The second one arrived a split second later, the guards sweating and iron-jawed. He braced himself for…anything. What he saw, instead of a she-demon, was an angry but very attractive person. For a female. She didn’t have her nephew’s coloring, though her dark hair and fierce green eyes were just as striking. And she was tall for a female -- she could look him in the eye. For a moment he did look into those eyes and felt a little dizzy. There was outrage and power there. More emotion than he’d ever want to contend with. The back of his neck prickled. Maybe the effect of her glare was the same on everyone there. At any rate, everyone in the room fell silent as she stared them all down. Then she went back to staring at Edmond alone. “They want a man for my solicitor?” Her voice was husky. “Do they intend to leave me no chance at all?” “This is going to be the first co-gendered trial in the history of Tierra.” Edmond pushed his thin glasses up the bridge of his nose. If he must contend with his client, then he would. “Having a man lead your defense strikes me as a wise move. Especially since it’s the men of Androvia you’ve injured the most.” “An excellent attitude for my defense,” she drawled. “Exactly what I’d expect of an Androvian.” She looked him up and down and added, “A tiny Androvian at that.” Against his will, his blood stirred a little. Argument was what he was best at. Sarcasm was something he used himself. “Not just any tiny Androvian, Faye Blaise.” He spoke even more calmly than usual, knowing it would infuriate her the more. “One of the direct descendents of the original Androvians, known to all as the Champion of the Defenseless, and paid -- handsomely -- for representing defenseless Androvians. You will be a most unusual departure for me. I’ve never spoken to a woman before, much less defended one.” “I didn’t ask you to depart from anything!” “No. But your nephew Dagmar did. And I think this trial should be something worthy of my talents.” He laced his fingers together and nodded a dismissal to the guards. “Free her hands. I’ll want the half hour.” That was the maximum time any solicitor got to visit with an imprisoned defendant. He wondered if she would even deign to deal with him that long. Her lips were pressed tightly together. Would she say anything more? Edmond prepared to wait her out. He settled into the rather uncomfortable chair provided. Taking a notepad out, he jot down possible legal defenses. No need to waste time until she came around.

*****

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“We don’t have much time.” Aric sighed and then repeated the lesson. “All right. On Earth men and women shake hands. They often hug each other. In greeting or to say goodbye. Sometimes they even kiss. On the cheek. On the mouth if they are related or intimate or would like to be.” “Aric? Why don’t we have much time?” Tory’s attention fastened on the one thing that was news to her in all this. “Soon Mitzi will be delivering her baby. I don’t know where Amma has disappeared to, but I know she was sent on a scouting mission to Earth. If we’re to get Amma back in time to see their child born, we have to hurry.” Aric stood up and began to pace. “Even more importantly, soon it’ll be shutdown time. We have to leave for Earth by then. If we’re lucky, we’ll be back before it starts. No one knows how long shutdown will last.” Tory stopped her rather despairing ideas over searching all of Earth for one stray Femmelander. “What does shutdown time mean?” “What?” Aric paused. “My dear Earthling, I forgot you haven’t been with us for that long. Shutdown season is when nothing can come or go on Tierra. We stock up our supplies and wait for the worst.” “Because…” “There is wind. Enormous wind. And sand storms. And snow. And fog. Floods after the snow rapidly melts. Every evil weather possibility that Tierra possesses. No one dares move. Or if one does, it’s a calculated risk.” He moved forward and kissed her gently on the mouth. “Is this what they do on Earth, Tory?” “Sometimes we open our mouths a little. When we want to be even more intimate.” Tory smiled at him and then showed him what she meant. As if she hadn’t shown him a thousand times before. “This lesson is much more fun than brushing up on guiding a shuttle.” Aric pulled his head back and traced her mouth with his finger. “Seems like I’ve spent weeks on that so far. I’d rather work with you.” “Well, it’s fun but you also really need to be prepared for our customs. I mean, Tierra was a shock for me, after all; and you need to blend into Earth immediately. Earthlings don’t separate the sexes. Men and women are intimate -- sometimes we’re even friends. “ “Sounds like paradise,” Aric breathed against her mouth. “At least for a deviant like me.” Suddenly Tory reached up high and banged a fist against his shoulder. “What do you mean guide a shuttle?” she yelped. “You know how to do that?” “Unit members all have to have basic training in shuttles. It’s been years.” Aric, who’d also had more than basic training in self-defense skills, took a step back, looking at her balled up fist. “I’m not really going to do that anyhow. The shuttle captain will. I’m just a backup.” “All this time I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out how to return and you know how to get me home?”

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“No, not really. Well, maybe. Tory, honestly, it’s been years! I was just recruited and they ran us through a few basic maneuvers, mostly to see which of us had a talent for certain jobs.” Aric kept an eye on her fist and talked fast. “It’s not as if anyone would let me just trot over to a shuttle and take off, you know. And we’re going on a Femmeland shuttle. I know even less about them.” “Yeah. Captain Aric, the toughest Unit member of them all, has been recruited to be on a Femmeland shuttle flight.” Dag strolled in the door as Aric spoke, blew a kiss toward the two of them, and tossed his leather jacket on the floor. “Dangerous mission.” “My commanders think so. They figure I know how to deal with females since I’m a Femme trader.” Aric picked up Dag’s jacket. His voice went flat. “And they trust me.” “So they should. You’re frighteningly trustworthy.” Her temper forgotten, Tory immediately defended him against the unhappiness in his eyes. “Except that I lie to them constantly about what I am. Would they really want me on this mission if they knew I find women attractive? They think I’m safe. That of course I’ll return with what they want.” “You’ll get them what they want, Aric. You just may not return along with it.” Tory voiced the thing she and Aric hadn’t talked about since they discovered he’d been selected for this rare journey to Earth. The two of them stopped talking. The sounds of Dag in Tory’s kitchen, as he made his way unerringly to the pots and pans there, were loud and homey. Dag had gotten very good at hiding in the Unit transport and slipping into the house, sight unseen, and then making himself at home whenever Aric showed up. But the background noise, promising a companionable meal together, suddenly didn’t matter. Tory felt the quiet loneliness Aric usually refused to talk about. And she wondered, even more frantically than usual, about his silence over just what he would do when it was time to send the shuttle back to Tierra. “If I did what was expected of me, Tory, and came back here, what would you do?” Aric’s voice was soft. Tory bit her lip. This time she was quiet. She didn’t know the answer. All she knew was that this was the closest she had ever gotten to returning to Earth. Aric had to get her there. If he truly, truly chose to go, then it wasn’t her fault. Once on Earth, Aric wouldn’t -- just couldn’t -- leave her there without him. Could he?

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Chapter Two “It’s useless, you know.” “Twenty minutes.” “Fry your balls in oil, Solicitor.” “You’ve wasted twenty minutes of our precious consultation time in silence. You’re right. At this rate it will be useless. However you define ‘it.’” Faye glared at him. She wished he didn’t sound so calm. She wished he wasn’t right. And she wished she didn’t feel so aware of this damned Androvian. She’d been around males before. She worked at a sperm bank. She’d even been around deviants who liked females during her secret No-Land visits. Why was this man, who showed no interest in her as a person, much less a woman, making her feel warm? Faye suppressed a sigh. Life was so unfair. Why had she been born a deviant anyhow? She championed Femmeland to the extreme…that was why she’d been arrested and branded an enemy to both nations. But she did love men. At least she loved having sex with them. “You don’t even want to help. And if you did, the situation is hopeless. I did the crime.” Even a pointless argument with the man was better than feeling this stupid sexual tingle. She knew her problem. She just wasn’t used to being close to a male this long without having deviant sex with him. Androvians barely acknowledged females were alive if they ever saw any at all. The few No-Land males she did know were almost painfully aware of women -- and always had sex with her when she showed up. But there was never any sitting around with other men, refusing to talk while being intensely alert to each other’s presence. Edmond Jarvish was confusing. “You call it a crime then? You acknowledge that?” “I mean others would think it a crime. What I actually did was help any Femmelander who wanted a child of her own.”

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“By depriving Androvians of their children.” Faye scowled. She’d helped women have children -- female children. Any male babies had to be given up to Androvians. What mother wanted that? So she’d fixed things. “I made things easier for Femmeland women to birth a child with the gender they chose. Women loved that. They flocked to my clinic. No one asked questions until Miss Tory and her minions came around. No one wanted to ask questions.” Edmond glanced at the clock on the wall. She knew without him saying more that they were almost out of time. Soon the guards would reappear and, just as she was sent here against her will, they would drag her away without her consent. “In order to mount a defense against sperm tampering and, more importantly, treason, I need something to defend you with.” “Treason to what? My country ought to be grateful for my help.” Edmond tapped his pencil thoughtfully. “A sympathetic defendant would also be helpful.” “Well, that’s your problem, isn’t it?” Faye shrugged and then stepped closer to him. He didn’t flinch, as she thought he might. “Along with all the other things you think I need, add a sympathetic advocate for me.” “You seem to ignore the seriousness of the situation.” Edmond stood up to meet her advance on him. Since they were close to the same height, his stance shouldn’t have been imposing. She felt a little fear anyhow. “Not in the least. I accept that I’m doomed. You look nervous, Solicitor. Do you think I’m going to hit you?” Faye almost smiled. “I hadn’t planned to -- yet.” He didn’t flinch even when she put her hands on him. Somehow she knew he wouldn’t. Edmond Jarvish was damned proud of being unflappable. That Faye was sure of. So she let him have it. She twined her arms around him and kissed him. Hard. Forced her tongue through his lips and kissed him sensuously, hotly, suggestively. Aggressively. Faye could feel the shock hit him first, freezing him in place. She nipped his lower lip, then went back for more. By the time she was done, he’d run screaming from the room and resign his precious position as her advocate. She ran her fingers down his spine and then dug them into his really nice butt. The sound of the guards’ footsteps could be heard before she finally felt his reaction.

Zorah! This wasn’t what was supposed to hap -He was excited. Aroused. And suddenly his hands were pulling her head back by her hair, and he was kissing her back. Just as sensuously, hotly, suggestively. And even more aggressively. She moaned into his mouth when he moved his hips hard against hers and she felt his erection between them.

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Oh Zorah, the guards were fumbling at the locked door. Very deliberately, he bit into her lower lip the way she done to him before he let her go. She was safely two feet away from him before the first guard entered the room. Edmond sat down behind the prison desk and shuffled his notes. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Faye Blaise.” His voice was as calm as ever. “Perhaps you can be more helpful at that time.” She was so stunned that she let the guards put the handcuffs back on without even taking a swipe at them.

***** Leonie decided cold weather was especially brutal in New York City. Wind whistling through tall buildings could hit your body with the force of a professional football tackle. She fumbled at the door lock. Herman had insisted they add a new dead bolt lock last week when their neighbor had been robbed. If they waited for the landlord they’d never have one. The new lock resisted her efforts for a chilly few seconds before she finally stumbled into the hallway. She didn’t even bother to check the elevator, which had needed repairs for the past three weeks. Instead she tugged her grocery bag up on her hip and began to climb the three flights of stairs. It could have been worse. There were two more flights beyond her apartment. Herman was home before her, looking faintly reproachful as she walked in the door. He hurried to take her grocery bag and began to rummage through it. “I’m starving!” He pulled out some cheese spread. “There was absolutely nothing in the place for dinner.” Leonie pulled the scarf off and then her coat. Within minutes she was slicing up vegetables for stir-fry. Herman spread the cheese on crackers and munched while she dumped the food into the wok. “Work was hellish today,” Herman announced. “The boss dumped all these assignments on my desk at noon.” Herman never asked how her work went. But then, since she worked at home most days, no one usually asked how her work went. If you worked at home for yourself, you must not really be working. Funny, her head hurt just as much and her deadlines seemed just as unreasonable but dinner still had to be fixed. And she was the one who had to fix it. “…anyhow, what do you think? Now is the time. Don’t you agree?” An unusually pleading tone cut across Leonie’s mealtime preparation thoughts. “What?”

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“Leonie, once again you’ve been woolgathering while something important is happening.” Herman laughed a little. “Then again, I suppose it isn’t a big deal. We’ve been together since college. I just thought now was the time to make it official.” Leonie squinted at him. “What?” “Official. Go to City Hall and get married.” Leonie felt a nick on her finger and jumped. She’d managed to cut herself with the knife. She ran to the sink and began pouring water over the wound. “Right, Leonie?” Herman followed at her elbow and then smoothed her dark braids back from her face. Leonie turned the water off slowly. “Married.” Leonie repeated the word thoughtfully. The first year they’d lived together she’d waited expectantly for Herman to ask. The second year she’d debated whether to make an issue of it or not. By the third year she felt silly asking. The fourth and fifth year had just gone on without her thinking about the idea much at all. “We could, I guess. But why now?” Why was the sixth year the charm? “Well, it just seems time.” After a long silence, Herman looked a little sheepish and muttered, “Well, my boss said something about how stable married guys are. I was thinking it might help for promotion.” “Oh.” Leonie wasn’t crazy about that reason but it was better than the suspicion that crossed her mind first. She was so close to making some breakthroughs on the original prototypes Grandpa had -- when she did, she could finally make decent money and not rely on the small trust fund her grandmother had set up years ago. If Herman thought she was close to real cash, would he marry her just to get some of it? “Well?” Herman was starting to sound anxious now.

How much did she love Herman? “Honey, is something wrong?” Herman put his hand on her cheek and looked at her. “Have I done something? What do I need to do to make it right for you?” When had Herman last sounded that concerned and sweet? Leonie’s heart gave a little twist as she looked into his worried eyes. “It’s fine, Herman. Really. When would you like to get married?”

***** “What do you mean I have to be sedated if I go?” Tory stopped eating to stare at Aric. She was too stunned to be angry for a moment.

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“That’s the only way I could assure the planners that you wouldn’t be a risk.” She saw Aric and Dag exchange nervous glances and began to remember she should be angry. Very angry. “And they still say if.” “Don’t they trust her?” Rho had already figured out the angry part. “What’s wrong with them?” “Um…” Tory wavered a moment. “Why should they trust me? I plan to escape, remember?” “Oh. Well -- but that’s not why they want to sedate you, is it? I mean, otherwise they’d have to keep you sedated the whole time you’re on Earth!” Rhoanna pointed out. “Or handcuffed to me.” Aric grinned for a moment, looked at Tory’s face and immediately sobered. “Wrong.” Tory kept her eyes fixed on him, menacingly. “Absolutely.” Aric nodded. “So why do they?” Dag asked. “Security.” Aric looked at everyone’s faces and added hastily, “So you can’t find out how we get to Earth and back. It’s been a tightly held secret ever since Lionel Morse collaborated with the Tierra natives to perfect his original shuttle. No one knows unless they need to know. Not even the Unit keepers know everything unless they are chosen to work with the shuttle.” “Why?” Tory asked. “Why? Why what?” “Why does it have to be such a secret? On Earth we’re proud when we send up a rocket. Everyone gets to see it on television. Why is it such a big secret here?” “Because of what happened before,” Rho answered. “When Lionel Morse took off on one of his shuttles and didn’t return.” “I don’t remember hearing about that,” Tory said. “Who is this guy and where did he take off to?” “Well, it’s not exactly a secret, although no one really discusses it very much.” Rho looked uncertainly at Aric. “We haven’t exactly entered it into the history books.” “I didn’t know. Well, maybe I heard a little street talk, but who believes that?” Dag said. “You are just around for your looks, not your educational background,” Rho told him sweetly. Dag bopped her on the head with a breadstick. “Morse helped create the wave of Earthling immigration to Tierra.” Aric took up since Rho had been distracted. “Over the years Tierrans mingled in with Earthlings since there weren’t many natives left to start with. But it hasn’t been easy. Earth isn’t that far from us, but our technology wouldn’t get us there. Until Morse. When the native Tierrans were down to the last hundred or so, he showed up with the technical knowledge to save the planet.”

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“Showed up? From…Earth?” “Where else?” “Where else? We’ve managed to get to our own moon and back with manned flights. Now you’re saying some nut just zoomed on over to Tierra and no one else on Earth ever knew about it? We aren’t you. At least in the United States people find out about stuff like that! Was he from the United States?” “Oh yes. New York City.” “Some people might argue about whether that’s the United St -- kidding,” Tory added hastily as she saw Aric mentally going back over the geography lessons she’d given him earlier and looking faintly puzzled. “And people from Earth did know. At least the ones who immigrated here knew,” Rho said. “And it wasn’t just once. Morse did this several times over a decade.” Aric laughed at Tory’s face. “I guess you don’t know everything about your United States.” “You’re telling me both that my government had the know-how to send immigrants off to Tierra, not once but several times, and that no one ever found out?” Tory sat down hard. “I know there are lots of people who believe in government conspiracies but I don’t believe this. No one could do this and keep it secret for decades.” Aric and Rho shook their heads almost in unison but Aric was the one who answered, patiently. “The government didn’t create the shuttle. It was Morse.” “No individual has the money or expertise or --” Tory stopped. “Never mind. Obviously somebody had.” “Or still has.” Aric got up then and said, “Is everyone else done? I’ll clear the dishes.” “You are a clean crazy,” Dag told him. Tory wondered just what Aric wasn’t saying as he began to stack plates. The others didn’t seem to notice but she knew he hadn’t explained why she needed to be sedated. He hadn’t really explained why they were going to Earth. After all, an Androvian wouldn’t be ordered to risk his life to rescue Amma. There had to be more to this mission. Much more. Damn. The man held way too many secrets nowadays.

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Chapter Three She moved up his body slowly, inch by slow inch, twisting, tempting, rocking her hips against his. When he felt the groan beginning, she bent to swallow the noise with her mouth. Deviant. He was a deviant but how could he help himself? She was so sexy. How could any man who had the chance to be this close to her not want to be hard inside her, moving against the softness, feeling the tightness as she sheathed him -“Oh Dominus!” He sat up in the bed, breathing hard. He was dreaming. Dreaming of a woman. Deviant. He’d never suspected it. Ivan and he had developed a pleasant enough relationship over the years and if he’d missed…something…he’d decided it was his own fault. But how could he have known? Androvians didn’t have the chance to meet females. It would be like imagining a new organ to have sex with -- you didn’t know what you wanted until you saw what you missed. He’d see her tomorrow. What would she do to him next? He’d wager his fortune that she would try something more. Something exotic. Something he’d never considered. Fortunately he was blessed with certain talents. He’d be able to match her, no matter what she tried. Overmatch her, more likely. Edmond was unusually impatient for tomorrow.

***** “You can’t go after all.” “What do you mean?” Tory felt her stomach knot. “Mitzi was just saying how happy she was to hear I would be on Earth to help find out where Amma had disappeared to.”

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“The authorities changed their mind again. There’s no more time to rearrange things.” His voice was flat. “We’re leaving almost immediately. Shutdown season appears to be coming early this year and we must be gone before it starts.” “Why can’t I go?” “I told them no.” The gentleness Tory usually saw in Aric’s face was now hidden behind his professional warrior’s mask.

“You did?” “Yes. It’s only fair that I tell you now.” Tory fought a sudden burning rush of tears. Did it matter why? Aric had made up his mind. And when he decided something would happen, it did. “It’s too dangerous, Tory.” Aric spoke as if something inside was forcing him to answer what she didn’t ask. “Please. Please don’t look like that. I can’t even tell you why, but trust me. I won’t risk you.” “That makes me feel better? You’ll risk yourself in something you’re too afraid for me to join? I know you’re going to go no matter what.” “I have to. Tierra needs this mission. If -- if it works, there will be others. The next time you can go. When it’s safer.” “If it works. If it fails, there will be no more? I’ll be here and you’ll be…you’ll be heaven knows where?” “I can’t talk about this. Please. You make me tell you more than I’d ever tell anyone else on the planet!” Tory made up her own mind right then. This conversation was going nowhere. She had to try something else. “Fine. Let’s not talk.” “You’re not going to talk to me?” he asked. Tory shook her head. Then she got on her toes and kissed him. He stared at her. “What then?” She reached out to caress his thighs and then she moved her fingers toward his balls, cupping and stroking them through his leggings. He hissed out a breath and then asked, a little uncertainly, “You aren’t angry?”

Her sweet, still innocent Aric. “Oh yes I am. And hurt. But you’re leaving. If this is the last nookie we’re going to have for…for a long time --” damn, he hadn’t even told her how long he’d be gone --”then I don’t want to waste time being hurt or angry or afraid for you. I just want to love you. So shuck those clothes, bucko.” Without any more argument, Aric unbuttoned his tunic. “All right then. Sometimes you think like an Androvian, Tory.”

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“I suppose that’s a compliment.” “Since it means we can have sex, it’s beyond a mere compliment.” He bent and kissed her. She remembered when he hadn’t had a clue even how to do that -- but he’d learned fast. He was fast and skillful and clever and sexy and hot and…and other things. She couldn’t think of any more words when he used his tongue like that. “No. My turn.” Tory began to undo his clothing, easing off the tunic and then the leggings below that. Then she pushed him down, crouching over him, surveying that naked body and deciding what to do. He breathed deeply under her, waiting. They both swallowed. She bent first to flick her tongue over one nipple and watched his eyes begin to shut with pleasure. He was already getting hard. Perfect. Her tongue trailed over that flat stomach. Life in the Unit kept him muscular and fit. She loved feeling the muscles in his abdomen. All his muscles. Everywhere. His breath was speeding up. Tory tucked her smile away and kept cataloging his assets with her tongue and mouth. Soon. He might wonder for a moment more why she was willing to have sex rather than fight but soon he’d forget his usual self-protective instincts and she’d get her way. His body was coated with sweat and she began to ache for that cock of his. When he tried to reach for her, she pushed his arms down. Not quite yet. But close, tantalizingly close. Her hand touched that fine, pulsing erection of his. Oh yes. She was going to torment him and her both into a lovely, wild frenzy. He groaned. “I do love you, Tory. I’m going to be in misery from wanting you with me on Earth. Everything I do there, I’ll be thinking of you while I do it. You know that.” “Oh, damn.” Tory began to feel tears well up. The first one dropped on his chin. “Damn, damn, damn. Don’t spoil things.” How the hell could she use sex to cloud his mind when he said something like that to her? She was going to have to make love to him instead. She let him pull her down on top of him, then push his tongue inside her mouth, first hard and then gentle. She put her hand over his mouth. “I love you, Aric.” Aric traced one of her tears and, after tickling the palm of her hand with his tongue, moved her hand away to speak. “I know, Tory. That’s why I don’t want to just have sex with you right now. I want to make love the way you promised me first. So kiss me back.” And, like the mindless, lovelorn idiot that he always turned her into, she did. She put her arms around him and their lips touched gently, sweetly. She slid to her side and they faced each other. Tory could feel his penis slide into her, just as gently, as if it belonged.

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And of course it did belong. They belonged exactly where they were, locked together, without separation. His mouth traced the veins in her breasts, his hands slid lightly, possessively down her skin. He knew her body. He owned her body. She licked his neck. She used her tongue to trace the outlines of his ear. She knew his sensitive spots. She owned his body right back. Her leg curled around his, into one giant embrace. They didn’t move for a moment, just absorbed each other. Aric’s eyes, looking into hers, his mouth, close to hers. And even when he moved up into her and she bucked against him at last, long last, and even when the excitement inside them both made them move faster, and faster yet, they could feel the ties between them. Tory’s climax came slowly and tenderly. When Aric finally slid his sated, sweaty body out of hers, they still belonged. They were still together.

***** “Dominus!” Aric moaned. “Tory, just when I think we can’t make love better than before, you surprise me.” Tory pushed her damp hair back from her face and snickered into his shoulder, fighting the last waves of love that washed over her. She reached to get back to their usual give-andtake. “Me, too.” Her leg slid slowly off his thigh. Aric smiled, cradling her next to him. Their hard breathing gradually slowed and gentled. Tory moved her head so that it rested on his chest and she listened to his heart beating steadily beneath her. “I’ll have to leave soon,” Aric told her. “I know.” The ritual had become familiar, even though it hurt each time. He couldn’t stay. Androvians didn’t stay overnight with Femmelanders. Tory was already risking gossip or worse just by having him over as often as she did. The only reason she got away with it was because everyone knew she was supposed to be teaching Aric Earth customs. “One excellent Earth custom is that females can spend time with their male lovers after they do kinky things to them.” Tory kissed his chest. “I really wanted to show you that.” Aric stretched, long and slow, letting his body slide against hers. They smiled at each other. She could see the sadness in his eyes just as she knew he could see hers. “You make me feel like garbage with how well you’ve taken this. Despite that, I like the sound of being a lover. Your lover, Tory. It took you too long to agree that’s what we are.”

Earth was going to be the perfect place for him. For them. “I made up for it afterward.” Tory took his hand and leisurely kissed his fingers. Then she placed those fingers against her breast.

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Aric’s eyes narrowed as he felt her tight nipple. “Make up for it again. Shutdown season is unpredictable but we have a few more hours before departure.” She remembered her original plan, dimly. “Can I see you off? Let me have that much, Aric.” Aric sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

***** “You look pale, Faye Blaise. Are you well?” “Catching my breath.” She tried to calm the hammering in her chest. When the guards had dragged her down the hall and out to a waiting prison car she’d thought -- she didn’t know what she’d thought, but she’d been terrified. “I didn’t expect to be brought to your home.” “Welcome.” He made a slight gesture with his two hands that might be construed as welcoming. “How do you like it?”

Like it? How do you like anything after spending an hour being sure you were going to be summarily executed or worse? She looked around for a long, full appraisal. “It’s tasteful. Not gaudy, but expensive.” “But how do you like it?” “I don’t. At least not the hall and the other bits of what I saw. It’s all too much. Too dignified. Too impressive. Except for this place. I like your library. This looks expensive but actually used. The rest of the house is for show.” She almost went to look at some of the books -- real, hardbound ones -- but caught herself. She wasn’t here to tour the man’s belongings. “Ivan decorated the rest of the place. His ideas of my importance were somewhat exaggerated.” Edmond’s smile was slow but seemed genuine. “You have a spouse.” Faye wondered why she was surprised. Why were all the most attractive Androvians normal or coupled? Or both. “I did. Now it’s just our son and myself. And our son really just visits now from school. He has his own life.” “How old is your boy?” “Seventeen. He came before you began your experiments on sperm, I suspect. Ivan arranged a private sperm donation and we had a son with our very first attempt.” Edmond touched the artist’s picture of two men, one a younger Edmond who looked much the same though without the lines around his eyes, and another attractive man who held what appeared to be a small replica of Edmond.

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Faye didn’t want to see Edmond, the family man. He looked too much like the typical Androvian father and spouse on the canvas. Typical? No. She wouldn’t believe it. “Why am I here? Not to chat, surely?” “You’re here because you are now under house arrest. My house.” She stared. Then she laughed, one quick disbelieving chortle. “You are a hell of an advocate. You managed to get me out of jail and to stay in an Androvian home? How?” “One reason is that I’m standing surety for you and I’m trustworthy. The second reason is I need to talk to you, and when shutdown season arrives it may be impossible.” Edmond shrugged and his one raised eyebrow was the equivalent of another man’s smug grin. “And, of course third, I have connections and I used them. Ruthlessly.” Faye thought hard. Her guards and her handcuffs were gone. The only one keeping her captive was one slightly built, overly civilized solicitor. But her hands were starting to sweat. She was more nervous now than she’d been in jail. “So now what?” There had to be something more here and there was no point in avoiding the truth. Whatever truth Edmond Jarvish had in store for her. “So now we really work on getting you freed. We’ll put in some grueling hours and I will ask you many personal and insulting questions because it’s necessary. We’ll probably not get on very well but we’ll learn to work together.” He spoke the words easily enough in that slightly affected, completely emotionless upper class tone she hated. Then he hesitated. “But I suppose it’s only fair to warn you of my own peculiarities.” “Ohhh?” Faye had seen a lot of deviant peculiarities in her time and now she was going to be alone with a male captor. “I’m not quite -- myself -- during shutdown time.” Edmond stared into her eyes but she wasn’t sure what to read in them. “My late spouse used to leave town whenever possible during the season. I’m…I’m difficult.” Faye laughed. “I’m difficult no matter what the season. Perhaps I ought to be warning

you.” “No need.” Edmond pushed his glasses back up his nose. “I'm aware of that problem already. Well. Shall we begin with the juror selection? It will be half Androvian and half Femmelander. This will be the first such juror selection in Tierra’s recorded history. The judge is a woman whom I don’t know, though she did issue me your house arrest. That’s a good sign, I think. I hope. However, I don’t understand the subtleties of the female mind. You will have to enlighten me while we go through the list of females who may be selected for the jury.”

Difficult? What in Zorah’s name did that mean? Faye eyed him thoughtfully as he pushed the list over to her. He was the consummate bloodless lawyer now but she’d heard rumors of what native Tierrans were like. If half of the stories of ancient times were true, she

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was in for a treat soon. On the other hand, looking at him now, hunched over the list with his glasses slipping back down his nose, she had to wonder if she’d just dreamed his response at the jail. There was one other thing she needed to get clear with him as well. She cleared her throat. He didn’t respond. “Edmond.” He looked up, one eyebrow raised, probably over her sudden use of his first name. “Faye?” “Don’t.” “Don’t what?” “Don’t let me start to hope if it’s hopeless. I’ve resigned myself now to death.” She thought about how she’d felt earlier when she thought death was to be today, and reminded herself she’d just been surprised then. “I don’t want to start thinking I’m wrong for no reason.” “I don’t like taking on hopeless causes.” Edmond looked his most austere. “They’re bad for business when you lose them.” Faye wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry. Solicitor. He was nothing but a stinking solicitor. How could she have felt even the least flicker of desire when he put his hands on her? “Faye.” “Yes?” “Several things I want to do with you are probably unprofessional. There are no rules against it, mostly because no one has ever thought about an Androvian defending a Femmelander.” “What do you mean by that exactly, Solicitor?” Faye felt…itchy. “You do realize I probably won’t be maintaining a professional distance, don’t you?” “What makes you think I can’t keep you away?” “I can feel some of the first winds of the shutdown season coming. I always know when it will start.” For a moment he looked…unlawyerly. He stood among his books and papers, with his eyes narrowed and his head up as if he scented something. “Neither of us will be able to keep away. Unless you choose to leave now. Your choice. We can find ways to communicate apart.” Faye snorted. Leave him alone for weeks or months to decide her fate? She repeated the ridiculous Earth phrase that had swept Femmeland, along with all the other fads Tory Hynde had brought with her. “As if.”

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***** He could smell her when she was close. Ridiculous. He felt ridiculous. Nonetheless he could smell the femaleness of her. He could imagine what she’d look like, feel like, sound like close to him while they had sex. Dominus. He’d never had anything like that happen to him before. He felt like he was going to combust if she didn’t show up soon. Or if she did. Was this some sort of middle-aged insanity? He’d heard of such things and never imagined it could happen to him. He probably shouldn’t defend her, feeling the way he did about her. But if he didn’t, no one could. No one else even wanted to. She needed his services. His professional services anyhow. And he -- no, he didn’t need her. But he very much wanted Faye Blaise. More than he’d ever wanted anyone. Perhaps it was because she was female and he’d discovered his deviant itch. Perhaps it was the shutdown season craziness on him. At any rate he had to have her. And she had to have him to save her life. So he must be both solicitor and lover to her. The prospect should have worried him. But he was too eager for her. Edmond stared at the study door, as if he could will it to open. He’d let her leave after dinner, certain she’d return, certain he could wait until she did. Now he wasn’t sure of anything. He forced himself back to his law treatises, returning to what he knew. Edmond stared once again at the definition of treason. In both Androvia and Femmeland the definition of treason was vague. The defenses were almost as vague as the charge. The only certain thing about treason was that conviction meant banishment or death. Edmond rubbed his forehead. How in Dominus’ name was he to defend Faye from punishment? If he failed her he’d never forgive himself. He fought a smile. She’d never forgive him either. He could imagine her cursing him as she went off to execution. Was he going to get her into his bed with the false promise of freedom? This time he laughed out loud. Faye would come to his bed because they both wanted it. He couldn’t imagine her either being fooled by him or choosing to have sex with him for any other reason than she wanted to. She’d probably had more lovers than he’d ever imagined, much less bedded. Dominus, when would she arrive? And when Faye opened the door, all his impatience and uncertainty vanished.

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Chapter Four “Mitzi, I need your help,” Tory told her. “Aric won’t let me go with him to rescue Amma.” Mitzi, round and soft and maternal, blinked at her. “Of course you’ll go, Vic-tor-ia.” Mitzi’s fluttery voice sounded remarkably firm. When she called Tory by her full name she was deadly serious. “I want an Earthling to help locate her and get her back. Who else could find out why she disappeared? I’m simply not having this baby without my spouse at my side.” Tory believed it, too. If necessary, Mitzi would force labor to suit her conditions. “That’s why I need help. Aric is -- ah -- ah -- distracted right now with his preparations --” passed out after sex didn’t sound like something she could say to a Femmelander “-- but he’s leaving soon so I have to hurry.” “What can I do to help?” “Do you know why Amma went back to Earth alone? Or why Androvians are willing to help look for her?” “Not exactly. I mean, Amma can’t tell me everything the Council requires her to do.” Mitzi pouted a moment and then remembered the importance of the conversation. Her tone changed, growing brisker and more direct. “But I think I know why the Androvians are involved. It’s the only thing that makes sense.” Sense and Mitzi sometimes didn’t work. Then again -- Tory leaned forward. “Yes?” “Amma went with me when we rescued you from Earth to see if there were any possibilities of a new recruitment of Earthlings. You were our first.” Mitzi smiled at her. “Recruiting usually involves some choice, Mitzi,” Tory said.

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“What, dear?” “Never mind.” Tory was sure Mitzi had already dismissed and forgotten her part in first drugging and then kidnapping Tory off to Tierra. In Mitzi’s world, any sane female would want to stay in Femmeland. And attempted explanations would only interrupt Mitzi’s current hypothesis. “Femmeland wants more Earthlings? What about all those females being born lately? Once Faye tampered with the sperm it’s been pretty much nothing but female babies being born.” “Yes. But how many babies? Not nearly enough. We don’t have many people and we only have one baby a family usually. And when they’re boys a distressing number of women run away with them to No-Land.” “That would be why Androvia wants to help get Earthlings, too. But why don’t they just recruit on their own?” “Yes, I’m sure Androvia needs more people now. Probably even more than we do. But -- well, Femmeland shuttles are a bit…old. Unsafe. And I haven’t heard of any Androvian shuttles being used for years. They may be worse.” “Hmmm.” Tory scowled. No one in Femmeland was known for their scientific expertise. Repairs on shuttles probably weren’t well done. Maybe Aric had some basis for worrying about her safety. “That’s very interesting, Mitzi. Thanks.” “Oh, Tory!” Mitzi’s eyes teared up. “You don’t think Amma’s little hover shuttle fell apart, do you?” “Oh no. No, of course not! Absolutely…ah, well, I’ll just have to find out, won’t I?”

***** She wasn’t in colorless prison garb any more. Faye was dressed for sex. Her thigh-high skirt and high boots, her leather bustier all shouted her intentions. Her eyes were sparking in that frightening, exciting way he’d first noticed about her. Edmond didn’t usually like the obvious, but he swallowed hard when he saw her. Sometimes shouting for attention worked all too well. Everything in his body was on alert. Faye stood there, her hand carelessly on one hip as she looked at him. Edmond stared back, willing himself to not respond. His mind half-resented how his body was demanding he get closer, to do just what she wanted. His body just appreciated her appearance. He waited for her to speak, an old tactic he used in court. Were they on trial? Or had he just grown so used to tactics that he couldn’t give them up, even now? “I can hear the winds starting to blow myself,” Faye said. “Are you getting restless?” Forget tactical advantages.

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“Dominus, yes.” Edmond moved fast, faster than he knew she expected. But she tilted her neck back when he bit at her shoulder, exposing more of her neck so that he could move up to kiss where her pulse beat in her throat. Forget subtlety, too. He tore at the fastenings of her top. His hands traced one breast, fascinated. Faye moved it even more firmly into the palm of one hand and rubbed against him. Ahhhh. Edmond peered down at the nipple, studying this new body part. Then she moved his other hand further down, under her skirt. He bit the underside of his lip to keep from moaning when he felt what was there. Soft hair, then a dark, moist cavity that called for him to come explore that as well. Another fascinating new body part… Then she rubbed herself against that hand, too, and he took in one quick breath. His erection was already feeling painfully confined in his clothes and they hadn’t even begun yet. The wind began to shudder against the windows outside.

***** “Good-bye then,” Aric looked at her, uncertainly. “Take care of yourself. You know you can ask Rho or Dag if you need something.” Tory gritted her teeth. They were where almost anyone could walk in at any moment, but right now just Rho and Dag were nearby. They wouldn’t talk. “I love you.” Aric muttered the words. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to keep their secret from the general public or just hideously embarrassed about saying that in front of anyone but her. “Kiss me good-bye,” Tory demanded. He hesitated. She threw her arms around Aric. His mouth came down and moved over hers in a hard kiss. The warning siren let out a wail and the shuttle door began to shudder and then move. Several things happened almost all at once. Aric knocked her arms down and the syringe Tory held fell to the floor. “Grab her, Dag!” Aric yelled as he backed away. He shook his head as Dag held onto Tory. “Sweetheart, I know you too well by now. I love you and I’m sorry but I’m telling you it’s too dangerous to go with me.” Then Rho stepped toward Aric and jabbed his arm with the second syringe. Aric jerked, blinked, and then his body swayed. Dag stepped forward to grab Aric before he crashed. Tory skipped ahead, around the two men, and through the passage where the door was slowly closing. “I know you know me, Aric,” Tory murmured. “And if you’re going, danger or not, I’m going as well.” “Let go, Dag!” Rho yelled. “He won’t be on the shuttle in another minute!”

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Tory jerked Aric’s body toward her by his belt as Dag was momentarily distracted. The momentum threw Aric her way but the door just narrowly missed his feet as he crashed backward. Tory lurched against the metal walls as the shuttle shot forward. Rubbing her shoulder, she cautiously pushed herself off the wall and inched toward Aric. “Who are you?” The voice sounded slightly hostile. “Wha --” Tory jumped and then relaxed. Of course. The pilot. She turned. The blonde-haired, big boobed, long-legged, over six-foot pilot who was currently scowling at her. “Victoria. Tory.” “The Earthling Aric has spoken of?” “Yes.” “Where is -- what is he doing on the floor?” “Umm. He’s passed out.” The giantess gave both her and the oblivious Aric a look that could wilt fertile farmland. She turned on her booted heel. “Wonderful. Well, you’ll have to do. The shutdown winds have started too early and I don’t know if this pile of garbage will hold together. Come along. Now!”

***** He’d ripped off her skirt. “Edmond?” Was Edmond really the man who was currently teasing her into a burn using her own thong underwear? The material caught between the folds of her labia, rasped delightfully as he pulled it back, then stripped it off. His other hand lightly traced the hardening tip of her nipple. She was going to go out of her mind. “Shhhh.” His teeth were clenched as he slipped the very upper tip of his penis within her hungry sheath. “I’m…learning you.” That was Edmond. He was a scholarly sort. Faye had a sudden, almost tender pang at the idea. He was going to study her like a new foreign language or a complicated legal argument. “Is this the right thing to do?” He sounded eager but tentative suddenly. “What?” The right thing to do? Edmond was having scruples at this moment? She’d kill him, she’d -“Oh. Right. Yes. Absolutely.” She’d forgotten. He wasn’t one of her experienced deviants. He actually wasn’t sure where to enter her. She’d bet anything he’d hated to ask the question. Edmond didn’t like to admit he didn’t know everything. Hard as a rock and vulnerable too. Faye suddenly realized she liked that in a man. Very much. Another quick

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wave of even stronger almost-tenderness hit her again. For a moment all she wanted to do was kiss him. She gripped that almost-entered cock with her body instead. Hard. Edmond shut his eyes, his body completely still. She could hear his lungs pumping air. With a growl, he suddenly pushed fiercely up and in. Every muscle in her vaginal walls clenched in response this time. To hell with stupid tenderness. Her body felt as if it had unexpectedly rocketed off into air, burning into the sky. They stood, locked together, unmoving for a moment, and her thoughts gathered themselves together. All right. Perhaps this wasn’t exactly like one of Edmond’s academic exercises. Her heart was beating too hard for that -- and he was too hard, too. His mouth covered hers and nipped at her lip. He’d remembered. He’d remembered and he knew she liked biting. Faye shivered. Zorah take gentle kisses. This was exactly what she craved. He bit her again. Faye closed her eyes in delight. Edmond was going to be an experience. He was already. Then he began to move. Slowly for one delightful slide out, then in. Then not slowly at all. He pumped into her as if -- well, as if he’d never been in a woman before. Faye let out one crow of delighted laughter before his mouth fastened over hers and his tongue probed within her as hot and fast as his cock. She scratched his back. She pulled at his hair. He groaned, deeply. For a moment she thought he’d climaxed already but she knew she had to be wrong. Edmond was still as hard as -- there was nothing she could name that was that hard. This was what she’d wanted, fantasized about forever. He kept going, harder and faster, until she thought she would be rammed through. She wouldn’t be, she was too wet and too willing. She’d been strong, always, with a strong sexual appetite. Maybe she’d finally found a cock that could match her strength, that wouldn’t wilt from a little intense sex. The long, full length of him ripped into her, withdrew quickly, and then repeated itself over and over. Zorah, Zorah, blessed, dear Zorah, she’d never been screwed so fiercely. She could feel her legs shaking with the effort to draw him in still deeper. “There are other ways?” he gasped into her ear. “What?” She tried to remember her vocabulary. “Yes. Others. Lots.” And suddenly she was being pushed to the floor, rear up and head down, and he was trying yet another way. Deeper, harder yet. He could penetrate her even more deeply in this submissive position and he was. Faye writhed like the most desperate female in existence. She knew it and she couldn’t help her movements though she bit her lip to keep from begging for more. Thank God his cock obeyed her body’s silent pleas. Deep. His cock slid deep and as it did, stroked against what felt like every sensitive nerve she had. Faye gripped her own ankles

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as she bent over, trying to hold on to…to something. What? Her control had been lost quite a while ago. She felt his body tight against hers, slick with sweat. Hot. She was so hot. She wanted the feel of him over and over. More. Even though he’d already done so much. “This is so…good!” she managed before she felt her whole body start to shake with the ripping climax he’d managed to create. For a moment everything went quite black. She slid forward, still quivering, and realized that even though he’d climaxed with her since she could feel the cum deep inside, he was still fully erect and hard. Maybe even harder than before. “Oh yes,” Faye whispered. “Oh yes.” This was beyond a fantasy realized. This was a miracle. He held her, his cock staying buried and insistent. For a moment they both panted. “What would you like next? Tell me.” Edmond’s voice was a bit hoarse, but calmer. “I want to try all the ways.” “Edmond, you are a female deviant’s dream come true.” Faye turned her head to smile into his eyes. For once he didn’t have his glasses on. If they hadn’t had sex, would she have ever found out how handsome he was without his spectacles? She stared into those beautiful hazel eyes. The colors shifted, darkening as he stared back. “What about a bed next time? My body could stand something soft to rest on after that pounding.”

***** She fell asleep, four orgasms later, a big smile on her face, and his cock still inside her. A girl could get used to that. But when she woke up later, with the winds howling nastily outside, she realized she was alone.

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Chapter Five “Why are you here?” “I can’t sleep. I usually work most of the night during this season. After I wear out my partners.” Edmond put down his pen. “Ivan took to hiring pleasure companions for me at such times. Two or three weren’t enough. I’m sorry I subjected just you to --” “-- to sex like that? Oh, be sorry some more.” Faye untied her robe and let it slip down her hips and thighs. He winced at the red and darkening marks on them even while he admired her nakedness. “I just needed a little rest. And you -- you need to eat and drink. When have you done that last?” He blinked, trying to focus on something besides her body and her uncharacteristically concerned tone. Her voice enticed new, unexpected emotions -- ones he didn’t want to name or acknowledge. “I don’t know. I don’t need much of anything.” “Anything but sex? Well, some dinner couldn’t hurt. Just to keep your energy up, you know. I asked your cook to fix something light.” Faye picked up the tray she’d put on the desk behind her. “A little fruit? Some manjo nectar? Maybe some cheese and crackers?” “Thank you.” Edmond stood up and Faye gasped. “What is that?” He looked down and laughed. “You should know by now.” “Your cock was big but it wasn’t that big before! I’d have definitely noticed. No wonder you can’t sleep.” She moved forward as if fascinated. “That was in me?” “Oh yes. Several times, as I recall. Faye, surely you’ve heard about native Tierrans before this, an experienced female like yourself?” “I heard you were big but --”

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“We get bigger. Every time we ejaculate. Unlike those lesser males of Earthling ancestry we don’t get limp. We…keep growing.” “Zorah. How big do you grow? You must have added almost two inches already.” “I don’t know. I’ve always had to stop before I found out.” He felt himself grow just a little more from her avid stare. Dominus. He might end up hurting her before they were done. “That’s the main reason native Tierrans always kept the genders apart except during shutdown and mating season. We’d never have gotten anything else done otherwise.” “L -- let’s eat. You’re going to need your energy. And then we can test the limits of your growth spurt --” Faye reached out to trace the length of his cock with one finger, looking quite fascinated. Edmond fought himself and what his instincts were screaming at him to do. He could smell female sex. He’d already felt female sex. He didn’t know the extent of female endurance but she was so tight… Hard and fast with the length he had now must injure a woman. He wanted to throw her down anyhow and fill her with his swollen cock. Instead he took the fruit she offered and then placed it against her delightful female labia. Very gently he rotated it there, close against her, and she sucked her breath in. Edmond fought a smile. Odd. He wasn’t prone to smug grins, even when he felt as proud of himself as he did at the moment. Faye looked dazed. He knew it had to take a lot to do that. What could he do to continue that bemusement? “I’ll be happy to eat some fruit, my dear Faye,” he murmured in his smoothest tone. “Let me just prepare it first.” “Blessed Zorah.” Faye said, almost reverently. She backed up against his desk and leaned herself back on her elbows. Edmond paused for a moment, tempted by those breasts. They were so round and the nipples were so puckered. However, duty first. He’d promised and he liked to keep his promises when he could. Edmond knelt down to eat dinner.

***** His tongue was tentative to start, but Faye still shivered as it began to stroke inside her. The man had made her so sensitive to his touch that when she felt him suck out the first bit of bayana, she cried out. His chuckle rumbled against her thigh when he heard her and made her shiver again. Her legs locked around his shoulders. “Don’t be shy,” she murmured. Not now. His tongue carefully removed every morsel of fruit from inside her. Zorah, had she ever had such a thorough tasting? But then Edmond had proven himself to be a very thorough man.

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She moaned as his teeth carefully nibbled. His tongue’s strokes were shallow, tantalizing her. Curse the man, how had he grown so skilled at this so quickly? Edmond’s intensity was focused on her so closely now that she wondered if he knew her sexual responses better than she did. Had anyone ever focused on her just the same way? Before she could decide, he suddenly moved another piece of that cursed bayana up further inside her and she screamed, her thoughts scattering as the rest of her body’s sensations escalated. Then he began slowly sucking the fruit out yet again. How often would he find it necessary to repeat the process? Zorah. She was going to die. Slowly. Miserably happy. After he had managed to lap and suck every bite out of her, he paused. Faye moved her hand to show him just where he could stimulate her if he wanted. She heard his breath hiss in as he watched. She would have smiled if she could, but her own masturbation and his observation was getting her too excited. Her hips moved up and down. Then, suddenly, as she moved upward again, his cock slid into her. That enormous monster of a cock. She could feel each delicious inch of it move up unerringly inside. And every time they did this it would only expand -- ? She screamed again.

***** Aric opened one eye cautiously, the screaming inside his head subsiding enough to let him focus. He saw Hilda bracing herself as she used the steering apparatus. He saw Tory crouched over a bag, making retching noises. And he realized the torment in his stomach might not have come just from the accursed sedative Rho had managed to inject into him. The whole ship was bucking violently. “Told you it…was dangerous,” he managed to croak. His mouth felt dry. Tory retched again. When she was done she managed to lift her head long enough to glare. She must have felt terribly ill though, since she didn’t talk. “Stop telling us and do something,” Hilda snapped. “I could use some muscle. The midget here is useless for anything that requires a bit of strength.” Aric got to his knees and then, more cautiously, to his feet. Gripping whatever solid thing he could find on his way, he moved toward the controls. It dawned slowly. There was gravity. “Are we almost there?” “For Zorah’s sake, what do you think? You’ve been snoozing through most of the trip.” Hilda threw her weight into the rudder as it creaked viciously. “We’re going to get there much faster than we want to if you don’t damned well help, Androvian!” Aric hurtled forward, heedless of the weakness of his body and the strong gravitational pull. He braced his body against Hilda’s and they fought the rudder together.

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Tory felt another surge of nausea as she watched them. She wasn’t sure if it was from the motion or seeing how nicely Hilda’s body tucked itself against Aric’s as they gripped the metal bar together. They looked like a matched pair -- strong, competent, able to deal with danger. Aric really did love women, Tory reminded herself grimly. And she was about to have him set foot on a planet where there would be a hell of a lot of women who appreciated him back. Well, if they made it to Earth at all. The tiny metal shuttle stopped suddenly, with a loud crash, then careened forward. All of them pitched headfirst into each other. Tory opened her eyes to see Aric’s butt pillowing her face -- and a very nice pillow it was -- and Hilda’s legs tangled around her own. At least she’d managed to separate them. Tory carefully untangled the legs but let herself rest a moment longer on Aric. “Well.” Hilda cleared her throat and began to slowly get to her feet. Aric cleared his and didn’t move. Tory turned her head slightly to bite into his very tasty ass. Aric scooted away and Tory’s head bounced to the floor. “Well, indeed.” Tory rubbed her head. “Well what?” “We’re here.” Hilda finished the sentence. “Where is here?” Tory asked. “Exactly?” “If my co-ordinates were correct we’re in New York City. Cooper Square, to be exact.” “We just flew a spaceship into the City and landed in the East Village?” Tory squeaked. “Oh. My. God.” “It’s in the middle of an Earth night. No one will see.” Hilda sounded calm. “New York is, to use a cliché, the city that never sleeps. Especially in the East Village.” Tory pulled up her legs and began to run toward the hatch. “We have to get out of here before someone arrests us.” She banged on the door. “Hurry up, Hilda! Open this rinky-dink flying saucer! Move!”

***** The worst of Tory’s fears seemed to be wrong as they pulled themselves out of the shuttle. No one was there. Well, only one homeless man who looked at them wearily then tucked his head back under his blanket, as if he were used to seeing similarly strange things every day. Maybe he was. Tory looked at the cube statue in the square and realized things looked about like always in the City.

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“There are some twenty-four hour restaurants nearby,” Tory said. “We could go and get something -- if we had any money. Do we have any money?” “We have some Earth money.” Hilda took out an iron bar and began to dismantle the shuttle. Tory just hoped she knew how to put it together again. “Today’s money or stuff from the ‘40s or ‘50s?” Tory tried to remember if anything was too different in the way of currency sixty years ago. Tory thought about the good old days when she could just go to an ATM or whip out a credit card. She wondered what had happened to all her plastic. Tory shrugged. They would have all been deactivated months ago. With no one to pay the bills, her creditors were probably searching Earth for her. If she tried to use them now, some collection agency would be there for sure to welcome her home. But she could’ve searched her remaining Earth belongings for the few dollars she’d had with her. When they left she’d been more anxious to get to the sedatives and Aric than prepare for what would happen when they arrived on Earth. “When Amma and Mitzi scouted for us last time, they collected some money.” Hilda carefully stuffed the disassembled pieces in a large bag. “We have it.” “Oh. Great!” “We have at least fifty doll-ars.” “Oh, great.” “Hi there.” A new voice broke into Tory’s bleak thoughts. “Hello.” Aric sounded hesitant. Tory turned to see someone in a very short black leather miniskirt standing in front of Aric, hands on hips. “Well, aren’t you big!” The voice was amused and husky. “I bet we could have a great time together. I loooove big men. Wanna be friends?” “Friends.” Aric repeated the word thoughtfully.

Earthlings don’t separate the sexes. Men and women are intimate -- sometimes we’re even friends. Tory hurled herself forward. Aric was about to make a big mistake if he picked up on her previous lessons. Maybe an even bigger one than he was aware of. “Oh no, you don’t!” She grabbed Aric’s hand and tugged him toward her. “This one is my friend, bucko, so go find some other buddy.” “Oh. Well, if he likes your type --” The drag queen tossed careful blonde curls and stalked away. “Earthlings are friendly.” Aric looked at her sideways. “Perhaps that…man?…was a little too friendly. I’m not interested in males here any more than --” He looked at Hilda and bit off the rest of the sentence. Instead he asked, “Why do men dress like women in New York City, Tory?” How to explain?

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“There are all types of people in New York City, Aric.” Tory sighed. “If men or women dressed like that come on to you on the street, warn them off, too. There’s friendly and then there’s too friendly.” “Women dress that way and are friendly?” Aric brightened. Tory eyed him suspiciously. That question sounded just a little too gullible to be real for her Androvian guy. He took a quick half step away from Tory before announcing with a grin, “I love New York!”

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Chapter Six “Mother, I don’t really know what I’m going to wear. What difference does it make? I’m just getting married!” Leonie adjusted the phone receiver on her ear. Mom had been talking about the ceremony for the past half hour. “Well, sure, I understand why you and Herb can’t come out. Maybe in the spring, sure… It’s just a civil ceremony to legalize things, OK?” And she wished people wouldn’t make such a big deal about it. Every time someone said ‘married,’ Leonie’s stomach lurched a little. If they’d just gone ahead and done the deed years ago, she wouldn’t have been nearly as frightened, she was sure of it. She looked at her calendar. There it was, the date circled in red marker. Just three more weeks. Her stomach lurched again. Mother mercifully stopped talking at last and Leonie hung up. All these calls made it really hard to concentrate on work. Leonie stared at the darkened computer monitor. Maybe she needed to make some tea and take a little break. And stop wondering if she should carry flowers to City Hall. And why Herman wasn’t buying her flowers if it was so important. And if she should wear a gold dress to highlight her coloring. She’d never thought about these things up until a week ago when Herman had to bring the whole marriage thing up. “What a waste of time,” Leonie said out loud. The words sounded right and made her feel calmer. Now if she could just muster the gumption to say the same thing to everyone else. The wedding was unimportant. She had so many bigger things to deal with. For example, coming up with the funding to actually get some of Grandfather’s ideas working instead of just testing their feasibility by computer would be a really worthwhile project. Too bad some of his ideas had been so wacky no one in the scientific community was willing to

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endorse the necessary trial experiments for research. And no bank was willing to take on the loans without someone saying they’d be profitable.

“Damn fool idiots won’t loan me a dime.” “Why not, Grandfather?” “‘Cause they’re damn fool idiots, child. But I’ll fix ‘em. I can use most anything if I just can come up with the right plans. I’ll prove anyone can do space exploration yet. You wanna have a famous grandpa, child?” “I just want you, Grandfather.” Leonie sighed. She knew some of this could work if anyone would bother to look at what she’d come up with in her tests. Grandfather had some very feasible ideas from what she could find. Too bad he was crazy enough to pretend they had worked. That had spoiled everything. That was the same old problem she’d gone over and over, ever since inheriting all of Grandfather’s old papers. Right now she had other things to do. Like make sure she had film in her camera to take pictures for her mother during the ceremony. The buzzer to her co-op shrilled. Leonie hit the intercom. “Yes?” “Leonie Morse?” “Yes.” “Special delivery message.” “OK. C’mon up.” Maybe it was a gift for the wedding. Leonie knew she hadn’t ordered anything recently. Leonie turned off the whistling kettle and poured out the hot water into a mug. The deliveryman knocked on the door and she carefully opened it a crack, peering out. The deliveryman was a female. A non-threatening looking female with a quick smile. Leonie opened the door a little wider. “Yes?” The woman moved faster than Leonie could anticipate. Within seconds she had shoved her way in and had shut the door behind her, placing her shoulder so Leonie couldn’t run out. “Hello, Miss Morse.” The woman nodded her head to her. “My name is Amma and I’m here from Tierra to ask some questions.”

***** “I hope you can put the shuttle back together again.” Tory looked at the pack of pieces she was expected to carry.

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“I hope so, too.” Hilda pulled her backpack up easily. Tory tugged on hers and grunted. The damn thing was heavy. “These shuttles were made to be reassembled, Tory,” Aric told her. “And we can’t leave it all here. We have all the important pieces.” Tory looked at the artistically arranged rubble left. It looked like some avant-garde sculpture. Maybe people would let it sit here by the real cube sculpture in the middle of the square until they could come rescue it. Maybe not. At any rate, Tory knew she couldn’t lug much more around the City. “How far do we have to go?” Tory asked. It wasn’t like they could afford a taxi to take them places. “We don’t know exactly,” Aric said. Tory felt sweat trickling down her back. It wasn’t just from the backpack. She’d heard Aric’s carefully unconcerned tone before. He was trying not to worry her. “Um. How much exactly don’t you know?” Tory asked. “We’re looking for an L. Morse. We know Lionel Morse or a relative of his lives here.” Tory swallowed. This couldn’t be as bad as she thought it sounded. “But you have an address? Are we going to meet Amma and she’ll tell us more?” “Address? What’s that?” “Amma knows, right?” Tory asked, trying not to sound desperate. “You guys actually have some idea where Amma is, don’t you? You just couldn’t tell Mitzi, right?” Hilda and Aric looked at each other. Aric turned to smile at her. His best don’t-freteverything-is-under-control smile. “That’s why you’re here, Vic-tor-ia. We figured an Earthling could tell us how to meet this Morse. And we hope Amma has found the Morse person, too. That was her mission when she left. We’ll all meet there.” Tory groaned. Loudly. “We’ll start with a phone book. There can’t be more than a few hundred L. Morses in the general vicinity,” Tory said. “It could’ve been worse. Like it could’ve been L. Williams or Smith. Jones. Brown.” Aric and Hilda looked at each other and shrugged.

***** “You need to sleep.” Faye nibbled on a tasty drumstick as she pointed out the obvious. Edmond looked beyond weary. By her estimate, though she’d managed some long, lovely sleeps after two nights of otherwise almost non-stop sex, Edmond hadn’t even catnapped. He had huge rims of black under his eyes.

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“I don’t want to. It will spoil my energy cycle right now.” He was shuffling through what looked to be tattered parchment. Whenever she fell asleep, Edmond was off pondering legal treatises about treason. He certainly couldn’t be faulted on not giving her enough attention, one way or another. “How could getting some rest spoil anything?” Faye asked. He kissed the inside of her thigh. Since she wasn’t wearing anything at the time, the kiss felt particularly erotic. Faye sternly ignored her libido. “Edmond, don’t distract me.” “If I sleep, I’ll shrink.” Edmond’s eyes glittered at her. She wasn’t sure if it was lust or exhaustion. “And I know how you’ve been enjoying my skills in that area. If I rest, we have to start all over.” Faye looked at the Frankenstein cock they’d already managed to create and her mouth -- and other places -- began to moisten with anticipation. Then she looked at Edmond. His hands were shaking a little with exhaustion. “Starting over isn’t so bad,” Faye said. “I’ve enjoyed everything so far.” He gave something that could have been a laugh. “What’s with you Tierrans anyhow? I mean most Androvians are lucky to get it up twice or so a night.” Faye finally realized she was curious. Before she’d just been appreciative. “Our reproductive cycle is different. We start off with a small amount of sperm and we create more sperm each time we come. It takes a great deal of -- um -- effort before we produce enough sperm to reproduce. Undoubtedly that’s why our race was almost extinct before the Earthlings mingled in with us.” “That does it,” Faye stood up. “Any man who can say undoubtedly in a sentence needs to get some sleep. C’mon, big boy.” “I was just translating this ancient Tierran declaration --” He looked at her, yawned, and then said, “Oh, all right. Sleep with me?” “Clever, Mr. Solicitor. But I think not. I’ll tuck you in, though.” “I’d rather I tucked myself into you.” He yawned again. “Maybe just once more and then I’ll sleep?” Another odd pang of tenderness hit Faye again as she pulled on his hand. He followed her quickly enough to bed. He took off his clothes, comfortable with her watching him. He was slight, with a runner’s wiry physique, and their nights of sex had made him all the thinner. But he still radiated energy and intensity. Faye swallowed. He radiated sexiness. “You shouldn’t bother to dress in the first place. I’ve given it up,” Faye remarked. “I don’t want to shock the servants more than I must,” he answered with a yawn.

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She hid a grin, not sure why that amused her so. Maybe because it sounded so like Edmond. He would screw her silly but worry about propriety. He slid onto the bed, his hands behind his head, tacitly agreeing she would arrange this particular bout. Faye decided he looked too tired for finesse or foreplay. Besides, she didn’t need any at the moment. Maybe his damned pheromones were too powerful for her by now. At any rate she was ready for sex. Almost as ready as his erection looked to be. She wiggled onto his amazing organ, wondering if for the first time in her life she’d met a penis she couldn’t manage. Had it grown another half inch today? Faye almost laughed. Of course if she wanted to she could handle it. All it took was some maneuvering. She maneuvered. Sensuously, carefully, then faster and with no care at all. When he was finally completely inside she wondered if she would ever feel this full and stretched again. She could feel him, pressed up hard against her vaginal walls. Perfect. She was already primed for anything. And that anything was up to her. She felt her nipples tightening with the combination of his full length and her limitless ideas. Better yet, she could do what she wanted, as long as she wanted. She was in control. Faye rode hard and fast, gloriously free to enjoy herself as long as she wanted with her personal penis. The penis that never failed. She’d hit the sex jackpot at last. Except -Edmond moaned. Something was different. Something she’d experienced all too often with other men but never with Edmond. Faye realized this was it. His moan was like the rumbling of a volcano about to erupt. This was the end of the line. The big finale at last. He fought it at first. She watched the sweat forming, saw his teeth clench hard. Why would he resist? Then she remembered. Of course.

“Zorah. How big do you grow?” “I don’t know. I’ve always had to stop before I found out.” Edmond was hitting the unknown. He’d never had his own personal big climax before. Not with his spouse or his paid companions or even alone. Not with anyone but… Her. Just her. Faye could feel herself trembling at the thought, the heat rushing up over her. That was the thought that made Faye go over the top, squeezing his cock fiercely as she went. For a moment she saw stars. Oh Zorah. If he came with half the intensity she just had he was in for a treat. She blinked down at him. Not yet? He was still hard. Was that possible? Definitely not yet. He lifted her up and away from him. His cock still jutted out, huge and big, with a thin trickle of wetness dampening the tip. She moved her stare back up to his face, bewildered from her physical exhaustion and his actions, trying to make sense of what seemed impossible. Why would he push her away now, when he needed release the most? She took a long breath. Edmond looked -- different. Not urbane. Almost menacing. “Lie back.” His voice was a growl.

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Faye almost snarled back and then decided she owed him for her last head-ringing orgasm. She lay back on the bed this time and watched with half-opened eyelids. “Spread yourself. I want to look.” Faye knew she should ignore that command -- because it was a command. She didn’t submit to orders and… Faye’s fingers spread herself open and she saw Edmond smile. For a moment all he did was watch what her fingers displayed for him. She could feel the tendril of half-guilty, half-thrilled sensation as she realized how he was enjoying her obedience and how much she enjoyed obeying. One of Edmond’s fingers reached to touch, fondle. Faye’s hips moved forward as he traced her swollen clitoris and then probed deeper. “Rub my balls.” She reached out one shaking hand and stroked. He made a low noise in the back of this throat. “Harder. Very hard. Squeeze. It won’t hurt.” She started off gently and, as he gestured impatiently, harder. She began to squeeze ferociously, realizing he meant what he said. She watched him begin a slight, continuous trembling. And then his hands gripped her wrists and pulled them above her head. “Good hands. Perfect.” His fingers pushed up into her waiting sheath, stroking, tormenting. Faye gasped. “A beautiful pussy. Wet. Ready. And mine.” Edmond’s voice rasped into her ear. “All mine.” Then he slammed into her. All the air in her lungs released in surprise. Edmond was damned well manhandling her and -- Faye shivered. And she had just discovered she loved being mastered. She couldn’t do much of anything but clench and writhe and moan. Loudly. This was Edmond’s show and she was there for the ride. One amazing ride. Edmond’s teeth showed in a parody of a smile as he slammed into her again and again. She could hear the sound their flesh made as they fused together and then ripped apart for his next surge inside. Faye whimpered. She might get ripped apart. Then again, she was too intensely excited right now to care. She came again, this time sobbing. Faye’s orgasm was the trigger. Edmond’s climax, when it came, was worthy of all the buildup. Faye watched his whole body stiffen and then shake violently, almost as if he was in pain. His face set and then everything happened. She’d thought she’d had ferocious sex before. She’d had nothing compared to this. Nothing in her body was left untouched as Edmond’s cock bucked and gyrated within her. It

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seemed as though Edmond wasn’t going to stop -- wasn’t able to stop. About then Faye realized she was going to have another intense orgasm within seconds of her last. As she gripped him, milked him of his already spurting seed, he threw his head back. She heard him howl like a beast. Her reserved, understated Edmond had done that? Faye’s body shot arrows of heat into her at the sound. And she, faintly, heard her scream right after him as they both convulsed with something beyond pleasure. Finally they were both still, Faye almost crushed beneath him. She slowly pushed him away to his side. Edmond lay, gasping for a moment. His eyes shut. “Never had anything like that happen before. But this may be all I can do for you…for a while. I’m spent.” Edmond’s voice sounded as if he were more than half-asleep. His eyes opened, though not very wide. “Can you put up with nothing for a bit?” “I never put up with males who can’t get it up.” Faye realized her voice was much gentler than the words. “Why bother?” “Thought so…but ‘member I’m still your ticket to…freedom…” and his voice paused as his eyes shut. Of course he wasn’t done talking. Faye didn’t expect him to be. His hand grasped her shoulder while he mumbled, “You need to stay…a while longer. It’ll…be worth it.” They were both silent. Just as Faye’s eyes began to droop too, she heard, in Edmond’s usual faintly acerbic tone, “My thanks.” She thought she would sleep then. How much could a woman take after all? Multiple orgasms and a man like Edmond thanking her all in one night was enough to stun any female into slumber. She’d liked controlling his strength. She’d even liked it when his strength controlled her. All that energy had dissipated now and there was nothing else to do but rest. But when Edmond finally relaxed, his hand slipping off her body, completely motionless as he fell into the sleep of the deeply exhausted, Faye found herself holding his head against her breasts and staring out through the window to where the slowly dying shutdown winds still managed to whip debris past her sight.

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Chapter Seven “Don’t hurt me,” Leonie said, although the woman didn’t seem that threatening. Of course the stranger was also holding out something that looked like a weapon from a bad Science Fiction movie and aiming it directly at Leonie, so Leonie couldn’t feel entirely at ease. “Why don’t you finish making your tea?” The woman sounded unnaturally calm. Did people discuss tea while they were kidnapping/robbing/murdering people? Maybe this psycho kidnapped/robbed/murdered all the time and it was boring. And it made her thirsty. This was a new experience for Leonie, so she couldn’t really figure out the proper procedure for whatever they were doing. The woman went on, “I could use a cup myself if you don’t mind.”

If I don’t mind? “Sure. Um. Milk? Sugar?” “Earthlings. What silly ideas. No, nothing but tea.” Leonie thought about that statement as she put the teabags into the water. Was the woman a loony? Did she think she was some kind of extraterrestrial alien who’d been beamed down to rid the world of female inventors? Most important, after all these years, had Leonie finally hit a New York crazy she couldn’t ignore? “So.” Leonie handed the Amma woman a mug. “What brings you here?” She might as well know now. Herman wasn’t due home for another couple of hours and no one else was going to disturb them. Leonie wasn’t much of a conversationalist. She couldn’t imagine keeping this woman talking until Herman came back. “You. Well, your grandfather really.” Amma sipped and made a face. “You make lousy tea.”

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“Sorry. You knew Grandpa?” She was a loony. She had to be. Only loonies and Leonie remembered Grandpa any more. Then again, she might not be a separate category. People weren’t so sure about Leonie, either. “How old do you think I am? I was a child when Lionel Morse was last on Tierra.” Amma scowled. “An infant, really.” Leonie could feel her hands get even sweatier. No one knew about Grandpa’s stories. His scientific theories had been beyond belief as it was. He’d only talked about other planets to her. As far as Leonie knew, nothing had ever been written down about Tierra. “You…uh…know about Tierra?” “Know about it? I’m from it!” Amma stared at her. “Do I look like someone from your planet?” How to answer that? Leonie studied Amma. The polka dot blouse might be a little too retro for some people’s tastes but could have been bought at any consignment store. No. Amma looked normal enough by City standards. Of course those pink go-go boots might not pass the normalcy standards of someplace like Akron, Ohio, but around here Amma fit in fine. “Oh, never mind,” Amma waved her hand. “The point is that Tierra needs your help. Desperately.” How often had Leonie fantasized about someone telling her that when she was a kid? Probably every time she watched a science fiction show or heard Grandpa talk about what he was up to. Somehow the words sounded different when someone like Amma meant them. Leonie tried to smile. “Uh. Great. How can I help?” “I need your Grandfather’s plans. I need your expertise. I need to get my shuttle working.” Amma’s gun hand began to wave as she grew more agitated. “And I don’t have much time! It took me too long to discover how to use your New York telephone book to find you!” That was when the door Leonie had forgotten to lock behind her burst open. “Help!” Leonie screamed, realizing this was her one chance. Her help had arrived. “For God’s sake, I have a crazy woman here!” The group standing in the door were strangers. But what difference did that make? They would realize the danger as soon as they saw Amma’s gun -Amma’s gun clattered to the floor and she burst into tears. “Tory!” she shrieked. “You came!” “Amma!” One of the women in the group cried back. They ran into each other’s arms and air kissed. “Oh, Amma!”

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The one man in the room hastily picked up the weapon. “Aric! I’m even glad to see an Androvian in this horrible Earth!” Amma held out her hand tentatively and grasped the man’s, then hastily dropped hers again as if there was something wrong in touching him. “Oh, Aric! Oh, Tory!” “Oh, shit,” Leonie said.

***** “So. Why did you do it, Faye Blaise?” “A woman could interpret that question a lot of different ways, Edmond Jarvish.” Faye smiled at him. “Since we are talking law now, all I’ll say is -- do you realize that’s the first time you ever asked me that? You’ve been preparing my defense and you never wanted to know why before.” “I wanted to know why. I just didn’t want to p-prejudice my thinking before I formulated the legal problem and the questions I needed to ask.” “And you’re stuttering.” “I’ve done that before. Quite a b-bit in fact. As a boy. I worked to correct myself but sometimes when I’m tired or nervous, it comes back.” Edmond spoke even more precisely than usual. “Please answer my question.” She might have argued, but she saw the effort he was making to sound in control. To humor him, she told the truth. “I liked the money, I wanted to help Femmelanders, and I remembered what my sister had to deal with when she had a boy.” Faye studied her nails. She wondered if Edmond would like red polish. She wondered whether he was tired or nervous. Or both. “Running away to No-Land to keep from having to give up her kid to the Androvians ended up killing her. She wasn’t made for life there. And all because she had a son. Everything fell apart because Dag was a boy.” “Go on. Expand on your answer. I need to know everything. We haven’t much more time. Shutdown season is ending and the trial will start as soon as the weather is safe.” “You weren’t as worried about the urgency of the trial when your cock was expanding instead of my answers.” Faye wasn’t sure why she wanted to bait him. Maybe to see how he’d respond. Edmond never did the obvious. She was right. He tapped his pen thoughtfully and said nothing for a while. “I need facts and figures about No-Land,” he said aloud. “Ordinarily a solicitor has little reason to think about a place with no law.” “I know something about the place,” Faye admitted. He glanced over at her and once again, didn’t ask the obvious question. Maybe he didn’t want to hear the reason why she went to No-Land. Maybe it was obvious. If someone had a

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deviant sexual bent, where else could you go? Unless you got arrested and put in the custody of an Androvian whose normal sexual bent you could -- warp a little. “I need to know the population numbers. How long people stay. Why they are there.” “I haven’t taken a census, Edmond! No one could. And what was your childhood like? Why were you nervous as a boy? I bet you grew up with all the money and clout you have now.” “Your nephew could find out more about No-Land, I suspect. And, yes, my family was wealthy and powerful. My father made private arrangements for my conception and found a native Tierran Femmelander to accommodate his plans. He was pleased with a boy and did his best to make me aware of my importance.” Faye paused, unwanted sympathy starting. She’d learned to pick apart what Edmond didn’t say. “But was he pleased with you?” “Well, not p-particularly.” Edmond made another notation. “After all, I was a bit small for a male and not tremendously attractive. But we both made do with each other for family.” “I suspect you made a much better father than he did.” “Why should you think so? I’ve never talked to you about relationship with my son.” “Because you work hard to be good at things you think are important.” Edmond looked at her, blinked, then looked back down at his notes. “I try. Thank you. Now can we go back to your trial preparation, Faye Blaise?”

***** “After the crash landing I realized that I had ruined something important with the hover shuttle. Everything really. The whole shuttle is destroyed as far as I can tell. And our communication equipment never did work with the position of the Earth being where it is relative to Tierra.” Amma was talking almost rationally and the others were nodding their heads as if they understood.

Grandfather had always had a theory there was another planet in the solar system. One directly opposite Earth on the other side of the sun. Could it be true? No. Of course not. “I’m afraid the same thing has happened to our shuttle though perhaps not as badly.” The tall blonde -- Hilda -- said. “I doubt we can use it again as is. The shutdown winds we went through and then the landing damaged things considerably.” Tory said, thoughtfully, “That means we all must stay here.” “What?” Amma’s voice rose. “Why didn’t you say you had a problem before?” “Well, if we could just get our hands on the plans Lionel Morse had to build the shuttle I’m pretty sure the shuttle could be re-created. There was no need to worry anyone until

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then.” Hilda stretched her legs out from the kitchen chair. She grinned, a quick flash, at Leonie. Leonie fought a sudden urge to smile back. “You know, with a little work, this tea could be drinkable.” “I’m so glad you think so. And it’s wonderful everyone is having a cozy little chat in my home. But enough is enough.” Leonie stood up. “I don’t know where you dug up all this research about my grandfather. I don’t know why you’re going through this charade. But I’m not buying any of this.” “Well, we have a backpack full of spare parts from his original shuttle,” Aric said. “Would that help convince you?” “And you could see the rest of the shuttle if it hasn’t been carted away by now,” Tory added. “Or if some homeless folks haven’t rooted through it and taken most of the remaining parts.” Leonie couldn’t help it. She was probably as crazy as the rest of this group but she could feel the excitement mounting. A real shuttle -- she had her grandfather’s plans but never had the money to get all the materials together to make a shuttle. If there was just the faintest possibility any of this was remotely true here was the chance of her lifetime. “Where is this shuttle?” “Cooper Square. The East Village.” “I have a car.” She was willing to give up her hard-to-find parking spot by the door for an event like this. “Let’s go see the rest of this so-called shuttle.”

***** “You need a haircut.” Her Androvian lover looked her over with a critical eye. “You need a lot of things yourself,” Faye snarled and then caught herself. What was he up to now? “For the jurors. I’m going to sit you there in front of them while we make the selections.” Edmond looked her over. “With the proper haircut you could look rather delicate and fragile. Your features are right. The hair isn’t. You need to make it -- oh, wispy. And I can’t do anything about the look in your eyes. You’ll have to keep your eyes down a lot.” Faye began to breathe hard through her nose. She caught the sideways glance he shot her and calmed down again. He was baiting her for a reason and she hated falling into traps. “Very good, Faye. Keeping your mouth shut now is good training for the trial. Say as little as possible. Do you understand? I’ll tell you when to talk, how to talk, what to say.” He sounded almost urgent for an urbane solicitor. “This is going to be difficult for you but I’m trying to save your life. What you will appear to be is what I hope the jurors will believe you are. I want them to see a fragile woman, crushed by her sister’s death and manipulated by others into sperm tampering.”

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“I hope I’m not sick to my stomach by the time you’re done with me.” Faye let out a long sigh. “Looking a little sick wouldn’t be a disadvantage.” Edmond smiled, slyly, and then, surprisingly, grabbed her and gave her a kiss. He’d been a little less prone to touch since shutdown season was over. This time his hands lingered over her rear for a moment. “What?” Faye stared and then tried to recover. Why did she let him throw her? “You’re a challenge, woman. I haven’t had one this big in a long time and I find I’m looking forward to what’s next. Shutdown season is over. The juror selection will be tomorrow. Our work is starting and everything will begin to speed up. Most trials don’t take much time once they start.” “You’re going to enjoy this,” Faye grumbled. “My life is at risk and you see it as a challenge.” “I prefer to see it that way.” Edmond shrugged. “If I see the potential for failure I’m more likely to fail.” “Oh. Well in that case…” Faye swallowed. She had to remember things were different for him. This was his work, not his life, at stake. Damned if she’d tell him how terrified and fragile she felt. And how alone. Faye managed a smile and careless drawl instead. “Let the games begin.”

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Chapter Eight “This won’t work.” Leonie scowled at the assembled parts. “What do you mean it won’t work? We spent hours doing this so far. It looks just the same as it used to be!” Amma yelped. “Exactly. And that shuttle crumbled on impact. So did Hilda’s. All of you were lucky,” Leonie said. “So was Grandpa, if he used the same thing. Then again, he must have taken a different shuttle to get here.” Leonie’s scowl was more thoughtful than annoyed this time. Everyone else waited, almost able to watch the thought waves pouring out of the scientist. Leonie finally smiled and everyone relaxed. “Uncle Claude.” “Yes?” Amma prompted. “Uncle Claude is a packrat. He took tons of Grandpa’s old materials. If his shuttle is anywhere, it’s with Uncle Claude’s stuff.” “And where would that be?” Tory asked. “That is a problem. You see, Uncle Claude retired to Florida over a decade ago.” “Noooo!” Tory moaned. “But he has a lot of things stored with my cousin Sarah.” Leonie moved toward the phone. “She lives in Queens. I haven’t talked to her since Thanksgiving last -- or maybe the year before last -- but I’ll check with her.” “Forget calling. Let’s go there!” Amma stood up. “Not today.” Leonie shook her head. “Why not?” Amma demanded.

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“We have to put all this away.” Leonie pointed to the partially constructed shuttle on the floor. “But we just put that together!” Amma said. “Herman is coming home soon. I don’t have any idea how to explain all this to him.” Leonie bent down and began to pull apart the elaborate framework. “Who is Herman?” Hilda asked, squatting down to hand things to Leonie as the Earthling began packing the parts back into boxes. “Herman is the man I liv -- the man I’m marrying.” Leonie corrected herself. “What if we don’t find this shuttle in your Uncle Claude’s --” “Cousin Sarah’s --” “-- storage?” Amma asked. “I’ll have to reconfigure this shuttle.” Leonie squinted, as if visualizing the concept. “That could be done. Not as easily, but it could be.” “How long will all this take?” Amma swallowed. “Mitzi could be giving birth now if she’s early.” “It can’t take longer than three weeks. I’ll be married and honeymooning in the Poconos after that.” Leonie wondered if those words sounded as odd to the others as they did to her. “Three weeks! That’s forever.” Amma’s voice was tight. “Just three weeks.” Leonie’s voice was equally strained.

***** “Why aren’t we having sex the way we used to? If we do, you usually make sure I climax and then go away.” Faye finally burst out with her grievance. “Is the trial that important to you?” She thought Edmond might not answer at all, sitting there with his charts on the new jurors. They’d been sitting there discussing the jurors for hours now. Just sitting and talking. “I thought you’d be glad I want to concentrate on the trial.” Edmond spoke at last. “If I concentrate on just your body, we’ll get nothing done. You have to know how intense sex with you is for me.” “You said you’d never come like that before.” Faye hoped she didn’t sound like she was pleading for reassurance. “Not that I necessarily believe you…” “It’s the truth. I could make myself stop trying for a climax during shutdown season. Eventually. But my body never craved that ultimate climax the way it did with you. I think…I think my body needs a woman to make things work the way they did.” He underlined a characteristic underneath one of the female juror’s names. Faye stared at the highlighted word CURIOUS.

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“And now that you’ve had your climax, I’m not as interesting? As sexy?” “You’re sexy. I can see or smell you when you show up in the room and my whole body reacts.” Edmond looked remote. “But things are different now.” “Different how?” “You’re mine now. I’ve had you --” “Listen, Androvian --” “That’s what my body tells me. While I truly want to have sex with you, I don’t need to claim you quite as urgently right now. You’re already marked. So I can concentrate on helping you in a legal capacity.” Faye clamped her lips shut. She wasn’t sure how to respond. There was a mix of anger and fear and…there couldn’t be some pride in being claimed and marked, could there? And were they going to have sex the way they had again? Ever? Or at least some time before the next shutdown season?

***** “So if we just use something to reinforce the side right at that point, there ought to be a lot more strength without a lot of weight --” Leonie pointed out the flaw in the halfassembled shuttle. “Got it.” Hilda picked up the strange Tierran tool she had brought with her. Leonie found herself liking Hilda. She didn’t talk. She just went to work. Leonie could use an assistant like that. By now everyone else had given up. Amma, Aric and Tory had helped haul boxes in and sort out all the things Uncle Claude had collected. But of everyone in the group, Hilda seemed to understand best what was required to make this shuttle actually work. Leonie had sent the rest of them to repack Uncle Claude’s clutter while she and Hilda tinkered. They’d made so much progress and if they just pushed a little for another hour or two -“Leonie?” Leonie looked up and focused on a staring Herman. She hadn’t even noticed him come in the door. She swallowed and decided to brazen things out. “Hi, honey. Something wrong?” Just looking at Herman and anyone would know something was wrong. “It’s evening. Where’s dinner? Who are all these people? And what is that monstrosity doing in our living room?” Herman sounded upset. “I forgot dinner. I’ll get some takeout. Um -- these people are -- um -- distant relatives who came for the wedding. Cousins. On my dad’s side.” Leonie knew that Herman didn’t keep track of her family. “They showed up this early?”

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Damn, she was so bad at lying. “They wanted to visit New York. And the monstrosity is a -- a model of one of my experiments.” “Hi, Cousin Herman!” Tory waved from the corner of the room. “Nice place you have here. Pleased to welcome you into the family.” “Don’t you realize our wedding reception is going to be here in three weeks? Less than three weeks now!” Herman gulped. “This place is a mess! Worse than I’ve ever seen it.” His eyes narrowed with a sudden, obviously unwelcome thought. Herman took a step closer to his bride-to-be. “They aren’t staying here, are they?” he hissed. “No.” Amma stepped forward. “They’re staying with me.” Herman relaxed. She should have been relieved everything was going to blow over but, perversely enough, Leonie grew even more tense. “Has that been working out for you, Amma?” she asked. Leonie realized she had been so absorbed in the work lately that she’d gotten worse than usual. Her companions had appeared and disappeared for the past few days and Leonie hadn’t even questioned where they went. “Where do you live?” “It’s fine, dear.” Amma patted her on the hand. “I live right above the shop where I work. Lesbia Books and Treats.” “Oh my God,” said Herman. “All right.” Leonie refused to give Herman the satisfaction of sounding shocked. “Folks, get in the car. We’ll take you there. You shouldn’t have to deal with the subway system after working this hard today.” “Why not?” Herman muttered. “Other people do.” “Other people aren’t these people,” Leonie said. “They’re my relatives. Come on, everyone.”

***** She sat, hands folded, looking meek, as Edmond stood up. For one moment she caught his eyes. What was he thinking right now? She had no idea. So far he’d been a superb solicitor. He’d calmed nervous potential jurors, he’d deferred to Judge Katrina Elsen to the point where the Femmelander had bestowed a rare, icy smile on him, and he’d been exquisitely polite to his opponent -- especially when the other man made the slightest fumble. Worried as she was, Faye had to bite off a grin at Edmond’s tactics with the grim-faced prosecutor. “You can’t find that paper? How unfortunate. Your Honor, I’d be delighted to get

the learned prosecutor a copy of that if you would be gracious enough to allow him a few

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more moments to prepare… Oh, pardon me, Juror Number Eleven. I’m sure my colleague didn’t mean to mispronounce your name. It’s a rare but very old one. Not many people know that the F is silent.” Faye suspected the prosecutor wanted to kill Edmond, a polite and uncharacteristically humble Edmond, but couldn’t come up with a good reason. For a moment, though, when she looked at Edmond and he looked back, she thought she saw the real man inside. Warmth spread through her even though she wasn’t sure what to read in his eyes and face. It didn’t matter. She hadn’t lost the man she knew in the solicitor who was currently playing a role.

***** Edmond fought a sudden dryness in his throat. Dominus, he shouldn’t have risked a glance at Faye. She was looking too right in her part as frail defendant, up against terrible odds. He could manage all this as long as he didn’t remember who he was fighting for and what would happen to her if he failed. Not that he’d fail. Of course. Thinking of failure when one made an opening argument could be fatal. No solicitor could afford to look less than secure when he began his work to the jury. “Gentlemen and ladies --” thank Dominus he hadn’t been rattled enough to forget to add the unique and ladies to his usual opening, “Today we begin a trial to determine the fate of one Femmelander. We depend on you to be impartial and to weigh the facts as we present them to make your determination.” He slowed his delivery, making sure all of them knew the importance of their task. It didn’t matter that he gave this part of his opening statement every time he spoke to a jury. He could smell her again. Imagine her taste. For a moment he wanted to go over to her -- no. What was wrong with him? Suddenly the urge to hold her was so strong he almost wept with his need. He didn’t weep. He didn’t need. Not that strongly. Ever. Much less during the start of his arguments. “You are to determine several charges against Faye Blaise, the defendant. The most important of these is treason. Why do I say it is so important? Because you can determine if she lives or dies…” And he had to help them determine her fate. Dominus help him if he didn’t do this right. He could feel other unnecessary urges and desires slipping into the background as his customary solicitor role came back to him. “The problem is that no one has ever defined treason since Femmeland and Androvia formed into separate nations. I have studied the written legal texts of both lands and assure you there is nothing there. People have been convicted in both places and people have been exiled or killed for the charge, but no one knows precisely what treason is.” Edmond let the silence lengthen as the six males, six females of the jury pondered that.

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Then he walked toward them and let his voice drop. “So I went back further. Back to when there were no separate nations. No Femmeland and Androvia. No one here recalls that time. Some of our grandparents may recall the era before the two nations had a name, but none of us have lived in a place where males and females co-existed together, as you ladies and gentlemen of the jury will be expected to do during the trial.” The jury and the audience stirred, looking puzzled. Edmond let them wonder a moment. “There was such a place here. Tierra had its own laws and treaties. When Lionel Morse and his Earthlings came, they superimposed many laws on us, but where they were silent, our old laws stay in effect. The old nation, which had no name since it needed none, defined treason. They wrote down what treason meant in their language. Very few people can read old Tierran. I am one of the few who can.” “And how can we depend on your translation, Master Jarvish? Surely you must admit you are biased!” The prosecutor rose to make his point. “Silence!” The judge rapped her gavel. “These are the opening arguments. We will discuss what evidence can be admitted at the proper time.”

Ah yes. Make the introduction of my evidence sound even more important. Excellent. “It is my job to convince you that under the definition of treason, Faye Blaise is no more guilty than any of us are. And I count on being able to convince you, ladies and gentlemen. More importantly, Faye Blaise counts on it, too.”

***** “I hate gray. I hate the uniform I had to wear at the sperm bank -- that’s gray, too. And I hate this dress,” Faye announced as they walked through the door and into his huge hall. She began to unbutton it as they walked. “I’m not wearing it any longer than I absolutely have to.” “Sir?” The butler looked faintly startled as he entered the hall. “Never mind. We’ll be downstairs later.” Edmond gave a half-smile. “Have the cook fix us a cold dinner.” The man nodded and hastily departed. Just seeing a hint of her cleavage was probably too risqué for him, Faye decided. Zorah take them all -- servants, jurors, audience. “So how are you going to convince everyone I didn’t commit treason?” Faye asked. “You didn’t say.” “No, I didn’t. And I won’t convince anyone you didn’t commit treason,” Edmond said. “I didn’t promise I could do that.” Faye scowled.

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“Are you doing some fast-talking, solicitor? How are you going to get me free if you tell them I’m guilty?” “Stick around and be surprised.” Edmond actually gave a real laugh after he said that. Then, suddenly, he turned and pinned her shoulders against the wall by the stairs. “So far everything is working according to plan. You have any more gray dresses to wear tomorrow, my dear? That color on you is just what the solicitor ordered. They make you look ill. Perfectly wan and pale.” “Isn’t that the truth?” Faye muttered in disgust. “Apparently that doesn’t matter to my libido. You realize I’ve controlled myself all day? Played the courtroom as well as I can? But right now the thought of ripping that dress off you has overwhelmed me.” Edmond sounded as calm as ever, but that cock of his jumped hard and close against her. Was her body trembling with joy and relief? She ought to kick him in those Tierran balls and tell him he wasn’t the one to decide when they would play and when they wouldn’t. He’d been driving her mad for the past week, wondering if he would ever want her so desperately again. He ought to pay for that unhappiness. Faye nuzzled his neck instead. “You were damned controlled. I’ll admit, clever solicitor man, you were impressive in the courtroom today. You got anything to back up what you said you were going to do in your opening arguments?” “Oh, yes.” She could feel his erection nuzzling her in response, even more urgently. “I always have plenty to back up my words. Don’t you know that by now?” She swung her legs around his hips and arched against him. “I forget. Remind me a few times.” “All right. But we’re stopping with just a few, my insatiable Femmelander. We can’t go on the way we did earlier. Not right now. I have work to do tonight. So do you. We begin with the witnesses tomorrow. The prosecution goes first. And you will definitely be one of the people they question.” “Wonderful.” Faye wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic over his words or truthful about how his cock was making her feel. He was using his cock to slide against her now achingly needy clitoris. “You can’t argue back. You can’t get angry. In short, you can’t be yourself.” “Make it worth my while to agree with you,” Faye invited. He finished unbuttoning her dress, rather than ripping it, and bent his head to suckle on her breast through the sheer bra’s material. He unfastened his own pants. Faye sighed. “I can only try,” Edmond lifted his head to tell her. “However I can promise to make you look very, very tired and weak tomorrow.” Then, without warning, he thrust into her. Faye gripped his waist hard with her legs and clenched all her muscles, fighting to keep him inside.

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“Do,” she invited. They started out as they usually did -- hard and fast. Faye gripped his shoulders with her hands and his cock with her body as they fought to keep upright, fought to keep the slide of their bodies going at the rapid pace they set. Faye wasn’t sure when the sensual fight changed. Perhaps as Edmond slowed, gradually, with her back still pinned to the wall. Perhaps when he looked at her, with that frighteningly intent stare that softened as he studied her face. All she knew was that her breath caught as she looked back. The emotion that swamped her this time couldn’t be pushed aside. It was too intense. More intense than the sexual thrills they’d had together. Different from the sexual thrills. “Zorah, Edmond -- what? What do you want?” Faye whispered, almost frightened. They were chest-to-chest, panting and sweating. But Edmond looked almost -- almost sweet at that moment. His eyelids drooped lazily as he smiled at her. He burrowed his head against the side of her face. “I want you, Faye.” He whispered it into her ear and she trembled. “Body, mind, soul. Your heart.” “I don’t think I have a heart.” Faye let her nails bite into his shoulders and deliberately stroked her breasts against his body. She didn’t want words. She was afraid of his words. For a moment she thought her heart might just break into pieces with the force of…whatever it was she felt. “Finish us off, Edmond,” Faye tried to make her voice forceful. “The sex. That’s what we need now.” His hands tangled into her hair, tentatively. She leaned forward and rocked her pelvis, grinding hers next to his. His breath sucked in. “Fuck me, Edmond.” His hands yanked her head back and he bit her lip the way he had that first time. Then he began to ram hard, deep, pounding. She moaned. “Yes, that’s right. Fuck me hard. Harder, harder.” She imagined his cock expanding inside her, growing more rigid, bigger, more demanding. Yes. That was what she wanted. “Your pussy is wet for me,” he growled. “You always want to be fucked. By my cock.” “Yes, that’s right.” Faye wasn’t sure what she said exactly, but she knew the words were making their sexual dance increase in tempo until she thought she was going to climax -- had to climax. “Dominus take it! You are mine, aren’t you?” He paused a fraction of a second. Faye could have hit him. “Yes, yes, I am. Now keep going!”

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She thought for a moment she might be rammed in half as he responded with a huge, battering thrust. She didn’t care. The sensation was so wonderful that she could feel the tension coil up inside her, tightly. She whimpered, wondering how much more of that tension she could handle. It was good but she needed, she wanted -Finally pleasure shattered through her. But he kept thrusting, pushing through the seconds where she was so sensitive she might have stopped, past that to where she could feel herself begin the cycle all over again. He kept going. She kept convulsing into higher, hotter, more intensifying pleasure. And every time, before she reached the next huge wave of orgasmic delight the fiend who was her lover would pause, panting, to demand, “Are you mine?” And, every time, Faye heard herself answering, “Yes. Yes, I’m yours,” until at last she finally draped herself against him, dazed and sated and exhausted. His arms closed over her. For a long time she felt nothing but a drowsy peace. Then the chilly fear hit.

What had she said? Zorah, why had he asked her?

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Chapter Nine “I got this job soon after arriving here,” Amma said with some pride. “The owner was nice enough to let me stay upstairs in what used to be the storeroom.” “Oh God,” Herman said. “This place is just as bad as I thought it would be.” But he started toward the side labeled SEX TOYS just the same. Several women looked up and then moved away from him. “Aric, what’s wrong?” Tory edged closer to him. “You’re quiet.” “I usually am.” “Different quiet.” He shrugged. Tory waited. Was this about the sex kitten in the spandex top who’d whistled at him while they walked down the sidewalk to the store? Aric had stopped and almost gaped after she did it. Then the hussy had winked at him. “It’s just -- this New York City. There’s so much of it. So many people. The buildings are so tall. I suppose Earth is a bit much to digest all at once.” “Sensory overload.” Tory nodded. “Well, this is a huge city. Not all of Earth is like this.”

He had to like her Earth. He had to like it enough to want to stay. “I can show you other spots. Quiet, green spots. Noisy, fun spots. Places with no people around. Oceans. Mountains. Anything you want, Aric. Prepare to be amazed.” “Some truly friendly people. I’d be amazed at that.” “There are those here, too. There’s -- there’s Cheryl. My best friend. We can visit her.”

How will I explain Aric to her? How will I explain disappearing? “What the hell is this, then?” Herman said, loudly, picking up some merchandise. “And why would anyone want it?”

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He held it up and Leonie fought a nervous giggle. It was big enough to be a nightstick, though she doubted it was regulation police issue. “Herman, be quiet!” Leonie hissed out the words. “Don’t be a lout.” Just as she spoke one of those awful quiets hit the store. All eyes turned toward Herman and Leonie. The hush spread and intensified. Leonie’s cheeks began to turn pink. “I don’t know what they call them here.” Hilda stepped forward, her tone pitched so the whole store could hear. “Where I come from, they’re called dildos. A large, glass dildo. They pleasure women. But I suspect you don’t know anything about that.” Herman turned red. A few nervous titters began from the back of the store, where some of the customers had gathered. “And these?” Hilda lifted them up high, for everyone to see. “These are some of my favorite toys. Chocolate body frosting. You know what I do with that, Herman?” “I -- don’t care…” he choked out. “First I take it and spread the frosting out on all my partner’s most erotic spots. Her breasts, of course. Her lovely pussy. But then I try for the less obvious places -- the back of her ear. The nape of her neck. We’ll explore to find ones she hasn’t thought of.” She might have been talking to Herman, but she was staring at Leonie. Leonie could feel Hilda’s stare pinning her in place. Then again, Leonie wasn’t sure she wanted to move. Hilda’s eyes were mesmerizing. “I just want to touch her. I want to feel her getting wet. I want her to moan. I want her to know how hot her moans make me. I want to feel her skin under my hands and my tongue.” “That’s enough,” Herman whispered. “Do you do that for her, Herman?” Hilda’s voice lowered, too. But she didn’t take her eyes off Leonie. “I want her to enjoy herself. I want to lick and taste everything she has, do everything that would make her happy. I want her to come. Loudly. Over and over. I want

her.” Leonie knew she ought to feel repulsed. Or amused. Or embarrassed for Herman. People were staring harder at them. “You go, girl!” one of the other women yelled. Had Leonie ever felt like that? With Herman? With anyone? She fought a sudden need to touch her lips and keep them from trembling. “Hilda --” Leonie started. Stopped. “I want to know you. Absolutely. Every way. With sex toys and without. In bed and at work.” Why had Leonie ever thought Hilda didn’t talk? “Come on!” Herman broke into the intensity as he grabbed Leonie’s hand. “We’re leaving.”

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He almost dragged her out of the shop. At the door, Herman turned to call, “And you’re not invited to the damned wedding!” Oh God. She was getting married in less than three weeks.

***** Faye did feel tired and weak. How Edmond managed to look calm, self-possessed and alert was beyond her. As they stepped out of his long black roadster the flashing lights took her completely unaware and almost blinded her. “You’re our heroine, Faye!” someone shrieked. “Faye! Faye!” A chant began. A roar of hisses whistled through the air next. Male voices yelled incoherent threats. More light flashed into her face. “What in -- Zorah’s --” Faye broke off. She wasn’t supposed to swear, either. Edmond took her arm and hustled her into the courtroom. “The craziness is starting,” he muttered into her ear. “I expected some. Let’s see how wild it gets and where it goes.” “What’s happening here?” Faye demanded. “They’ve allowed Femmelanders into Androvia just for the trial. It seems you have developed a following in your land, Faye Blaise. And, now that opening arguments are done, the newspapers are allowed to cover the actual trial. They’ll be watching everything.” Edmond looked merely faintly amused, but she could see his eyes taking in the courtroom, assessing. As the days had passed in the longest trial in recorded Tierran history, Androvians and Femmelanders had gradually given up sitting on opposite sides of the room and sat wherever they could get room. Next to each other. Almost in each other’s laps. They stood in the back of the room and the sides. Outside they looked through the opened windows. The room was packed already and more people crowded in every day. “Excellent. It looks like a combination of Femmelanders and Androvians. This should be quite the interesting mix.” Faye remembered when a crowd of Tory’s supporters caused a near-riot in their peaceful little outpost of Snapdragon. And she remembered how she’d thought they ought to be chanting Faye’s name rather than Tory’s. She’d been an idiot to wish for such a thing.

***** “Your name?” The prosecutor glared at everyone and raised his voice over the noise.

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The courtroom still hadn’t gotten over all the murmuring that took place when Dag entered the courtroom. Faye felt a little family pride surge up. Dag hadn’t been Androvia’s top stripper for no reason. He was beautiful. A lot of the men there seemed to think so, too. Faye wondered if any stray deviant women felt the same. “Dagmar Blaise.” “Why are you here?” “I was one of the people who caught Faye Blaise at sperm tampering. One of the few witnesses available.” “You have the same last name as the defendant.” “Yes. I’m her nephew.” The murmuring started up again. “You were willing to help arrest your aunt?” “I went along with my husband. Well, that’s not official yet -- I mean the man I’m permanently coupled with. He’s a Captain with the Unit. Aric Herron. He’s really the lawkeeper of the two of us.” “And he is unable to be here with us today?” “Right. He has duties elsewhere.” The judge looked uneasy. They’d all agreed that they couldn’t disclose Aric’s secret mission…not that they knew anything about it anyhow. But it would look odd if the person who’d made the arrest wasn’t at the trial. “Very well. Describe what happened before you made the arrest.” Faye saw that Edmond wasn’t going to interfere while Dag went through their capture of her. How she’d gone to work with the sperm she’d been given. What she’d said. How so many women had been able to have female children because she had fixed the sperm. Faye tried to fight just how afraid she was suddenly. She’d done everything Dag said. Everything and more. Guilty. She was completely guilty. She’d forced her only living relative into this trial. She was going to shame him in front of Androvia and Femmeland. Edmond stood up for questioning when Dag finished his testimony. “Dagmar Blaise, when your aunt went away with your sperm, you knew that what she was doing was useless, didn’t you?” Edmond’s voice was calm. “Yes, sir.” Dag’s voice was equally calm. “The girl who had paid for altered sperm was not going to get pregnant with that sperm, was she?” “No, she was not.”

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“Your Honor!” The prosecutor stood. “This is completely useless questioning. Since we know the arrest took place before the sperm was -- er, introduced into the female, of course she would not get pregnant.” “That’s not what I said, your Honor. And not what I meant.” Edmond cut into the protest. “Then what do you mean by these questions, solicitor?” The judge asked. “The prosecutor seems to think the woman would not get pregnant. Nonetheless she is.” Dag stood up, too. “What she is has nothing to do with the trial!” His voice was fierce. “You said Rhoanna wasn’t going to be brought into this.” “No. You told me she wasn’t. I said nothing. But she has agreed to testify. When she does, the prosecutor might note that Rhoanna Davies is, quite undeniably, pregnant.” Edmond’s voice was silky now. “And you might ask her how advanced her pregnancy is.”

What in Zorah’s sacred name was this? Faye tried to look unmoved by curiosity. She’d forgotten about the pale little wench until this moment. Now she was as curious as everyone else in the courtroom about the girl. Everyone’s curiosity was satisfied within moments. Dag was dismissed, his face and body stiff with anger. The court guards kept a careful eye on him as he took his seat. Rhoanna Davies was brought into the courtroom and more murmuring, this time from the female side, began. Faye realized Rhoanna probably was a tasty enough little morsel if people liked their females looking sugar sweet and impossibly young. Edmond would have had no problem telling that one to look innocent and fragile. But Faye didn’t believe her looks for a moment. After all, the sweet child had managed to get her arrested. “Your name?” “Rho. I mean, Rhoanna Davies.” The wispy little voice grated on Faye’s nerves. “Would you describe Faye Blaise’s request for a bribe? And why someone might want to pay this bribe?” The little voice described what had happened with precise, damning detail. How they’d discovered almost no male babies had been born at the Snapdragon sperm bank for years. How she’d gone to Faye and how much Faye wanted to charge to alter sperm so Rho could choose what gender of baby she wanted. How Faye had altered sperm when Rho arrived at the sperm bank to become impregnated. When she was done the prosecutor hesitated but was obviously too curious to avoid the question. “I see you’re pregnant.” “Yes.” She looked as if she could barely carry the huge belly she had.

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“When are you due to have your child?” “In two months.” The murmuring began. “But --” The prosecutor cut off the next question everyone was thinking, realizing there was a trap in the answer. “Faye did not inseminate me, no. I was already pregnant when I went to her.” Rho smiled and answered the next unasked query. “No one inseminated me. I became pregnant when --” “Rho!” Dag stood up and then shut his mouth when Rho shot him a fierce look. Faye wondered if she was the only one who saw that -- and the quick movement Edmond made under the courtroom table with his foot that tumbled Dag back into his seat. “-- when I had deviant sex without protection. It was very foolish of me, I realize, but I didn’t know better at the time.” Rho finished, looking particularly angelic. Faye was one of the many people who forgot to breathe for a second at the enormity of what young Rhoanna had admitted. Moments later, as the courtroom erupted with noise, the judge adjourned the trial for the day. Edmond took Faye’s arm very gallantly so he could move her hastily outside and away, but she caught the smile that lingered on one side of his mouth.

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Chapter Ten “We didn’t have to leave quite so early in the morning,” Tory said in a sleepy voice. “I felt just a little in the way there,” Aric answered. “Males weren’t wanted.” “I want you.” Tory yawned. “There was that problem, too,” Aric said. “If we stayed much longer I would’ve tried crawling into your bed, love, and Dominus only knows when Amma or Hilda would wake up and find us.” “You’re sneaky when you choose to be.” “Not sneaky enough to manage that. Just horny enough to try, though.” Aric gave her a leer. The bus slowed and then opened the door. Tory sighed, longing for the days when she could hop in her car -- what had happened to her cute little Cabrio? -- and go where she wanted. When you had fifty Earthling dollars and whatever you could borrow from Amma’s meager earnings, you traveled as cheaply as you could and felt guilty for wanting to go. “I guess we walk from here,” Tory told Aric.

***** “What is she doing here?” Faye asked. “She’s hiding from some overexcited members of our audience who have threatened to do some rather evil things to her,” Edmond replied, his tone almost bored. He took Rho’s hand and actually bowed over it. “Thank you for your testimony, my dear.” He’d never bowed over her hand and Faye brooded about that omission.

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“I hope it helps.” Rho’s other hand fluttered up to pat Edmond’s. “By the way, I told Dag where I was. He’d be much too worried if he didn’t know. I hope he isn’t too angry when he gets here.” “I hope he isn’t too obvious with his arrival. I invited you here since I thought it would be one of the last places anyone would ever expect to find you. I don’t need him leading the mob to my house.” “I’m a little less obvious than that.” Dag appeared from the hallway, his face still fierce. “Give me a good reason why I don’t tear you apart.” “Because Rho will defend me.” Edmond’s half-smile flicked on and off. Dag whirled toward Rhoanna. “You!” He snarled. “What got into you? You’ll never be able to go back to Snapdragon.” “I never planned to,” Rhoanna said calmly, though her chin trembled. “I’m going to live in No-Land. With you.” “I told you that was no place for a woman. We had it all worked out -- that’s why Aric and I agreed to pretend to be a couple. I could take the kid if it’s a boy -- and you don’t even know if you’re going to have a boy --” He stopped. “You aren’t listening again.” “Not about that. You made all those plans without listening to me. I say we’re going to No-Land.” “There’s nothing there! No proper doctors if the baby or you get sick. No social life except bars. No schools. Damn it, Rho, you can’t wish that on our kid. I never learned to read --” Dag stopped, looking appalled. “I wondered.” Rho said, softly. “I wasn’t sure because you’re so clever at hiding it, Dag, but I wondered.” “I don’t want my child growing up that way.” “I’m a teacher, remember? Just got my certificate and everything. There will be at least one new school in No-Land. And while I’m at it, I’ll teach you, too.” Rhoanna smoothed a hand down her stomach. “You can be my prize pupil.” “You’ll probably have No-Land whipped into shape before the kid is out of the crib.” Dag gave what sounded like a snort. Faye stared at the two of them, smiling at each other. Why did she feel alone again? “That’s what I wanted to save women from. A life in No-Land,” Faye said, but her words sounded heavy, wrong, forced. “So many women ended up there to keep their boys…” “I see. I see much more clearly now.” Edmond took her hand, a little absently, his eyes still on the young couple. “That will be useful.” “I can see more clearly now, too,” Faye said. “These children are going to be banished because of me. If anyone finds out what you’ve done so far for them you’ll be banished as well.”

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“I doubt it would go that far,” Edmond said. “I do have influence.” “And if they start to ask about why I’m still staying with you after shutdown season?” Faye suddenly began to think about what a mob could do and was terrified. “Any of your servants could gossip and your reputation would be gone.” “You worry too much. My servants are paid not to gossip.” “This is all wrong. There’s too much risk for people who shouldn’t have to think about any.” Faye felt her stomach twist. She didn’t like worrying about other people. She’d rather they just looked after themselves and left her to do the same. But now they were entwining themselves in her life and she felt -- Zorah, she felt responsible. “We’ve accepted any risk, Faye,” Edmond said, softly. Faye couldn’t imagine Edmond banished for deviancy. Away from his house and work? He wouldn’t be Edmond. Or what if he was somehow found guilty of treason? “No. Just tell everyone I’ve decided to plead guilty and be done with it.” Edmond stared at her. Dag and Rhoanna stared. Faye glared back, defiantly. Then Edmond gave a long sigh. “Dag, Rho -- please excuse us. I need to administer some private lawyerly advice to my client.” Edmond stood up and took Faye by the hand. “You aren’t changing my mind, you ass!” Faye snarled at him as he tugged at her arm. “I know the risks to all of you for doing this --” “Shut up,” her usually mannerly lover growled. Edmond opened her bedroom door -- a polite fiction since it had adjoining doors to his -- and he slammed the door after tugging her in. “You can’t push me around like a mindless ninny, Edmond Jarvish! I have a mind and I’m telling you --” And then he shoved her hard onto his lap. He was full and hard against her stomach. “Damn you, Faye.” His voice was almost laughing. “I’ve had a viciously hard day. I persuaded a young woman to risk her reputation and freedom for you, your nephew is furious at me, and I’m dead tired but now, now to top it all off, I’m going to have to spank some sense into you.” “Don’t even think --” And his hand smacked down onto her bottom. For a second Faye stopped breathing. Curse him, she’d never allowed anyone to do such a thing to her. She should be furious. She was furious. Of course she was. She should never feel a sudden, guilty thrill from the stinging sensation. She should never want him to do it again. Faye cursed. She thought about biting him and told him exactly where. And his hand smacked a second time. Damn that spreading guilty delight, the one making her melt. She squirmed.

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“Settle down, Faye,” Edmond ordered her. “I’ve always liked that pretty rear of yours. It’s so firm and round. Delicious. Now you’re getting me excited and we really do have a trial to worry over.” His hand stroked those cheeks for a moment longer. Then they traced further and reached up, under her panties, into that wet, guiltily aching part of her -- the hand traced the return path back. Faye moaned and hated herself for moaning. She felt the finger touch her anus and her breath stopped. “Let me know if this hurts,” he said. The finger inserted itself inside, slowly. She’d never let any man do that to her, ever… She moaned again, and realized that she’d moved her ass cheeks up so that his finger could go deeper. Edmond laughed, the bastard. “If you’re very good, I might try putting something else up there. But you’ll have to be very, very good, Faye.” He gave one more hard smack to her rear. “Tempting though you are when you’re bad.” He let her up. She sprang to her feet. “I’ll kill you while I’m at it!” Faye spit. “As long as I’m going to be executed, why not off one spanking weasel?” “Because I’m going to keep you from execution. And because you want my cock too much, Faye.” Edmond’s eyes sparkled as he stood up to meet her charge toward him. “You aren’t going to plead guilty, are you, darling?” “Why not?” Faye snapped. They fell onto the bed together. Faye crouched over him. He pulled her up tightly to him, holding her arms close enough so that she couldn’t hit him, and they kissed, fiercely. “Are you?” he asked. “No. But don’t think you can distract me this way all the time, you --” As they kissed again, he placed a hand over her still stinging butt and she shuddered at the remembered swats. “I suppose I could kill you later,” she sighed at last as he began to pull off his conservative trial lawyer pants.

***** “So. You’re interested in Leonie,” Amma twisted the teacup in front on her, not looking at the other woman. “I tried to make that obvious enough,” Hilda stared into her cup. “Why?”

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“Why?” Hilda looked up. “You barely know her. She comes from a different culture and place. She’s had sex with a male -- plans to marry him. Why?” “Well…” Hilda scowled. “I’ve had other offers, of course. A shuttle captain has plenty of women to make offers. Leonie is different. She’s intelligent and sexy and…and amazing, really. But she belittles what she is. What she could be. I could help change that for her. I want to.” “So you feel sorry for her?” “Not entirely.” Hilda smiled and then stopped. “She needs to make some choices for herself. I want her to look at what she is and choose to be with me.” “I understand.” Amma nodded. “I remember when Mitzi agreed to be mine. It was -- we cried.” “Leonie will help get you home to Mitzi. I know that.” Hilda settled into her chair. “When do you suppose our deviants will be back?” “You know about Aric and Tory? It took me far too long to realize, I admit.” “Hard not to know. They look at each other…the way I want Leonie to look at me.” “You need to talk to her. Maybe she’ll like living on Tierra. I know Femmeland wants her desperately.” “Zorah! I didn’t think. We haven’t talked about anything. Not even Tierra.” Hilda slumped. “I’m bad at this. I prefer doing to talking.” “You’ll get better.” Amma smiled. “And have you thought over what happens to you if Leonie won’t go? Or if she goes but doesn’t want you?”

***** “This is Cheryl’s place.” Tory wiped her face with her sleeve. She was sweaty and tired. She knew she probably looked like hell. But they’d made it. She stared at the baby toys sitting on the porch. “She had her baby,” Tory whispered. “Of course.” It had been so long. For a moment Tory hesitated. Aric looked at her with interest and she knew she couldn’t change her mind with a witness standing there. She walked up the sidewalk and rapped on the door before she could change her mind. Tory’s stomach hurt. What if it wasn’t Cheryl? What if she wasn’t home? What was she going to say to her good buddy? The door opened. There she was. Cheryl stared at her as if she’d never seen her best friend before. “Tory?”

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Tory stared back, swallowing hard. Cheryl shoved the screen door open and grabbed. “Tory! Victoria Hynde! Where the hell have you been?” Tory hugged her back, suddenly not quite able to talk or see because of the emotion clogging her eyes and throat. All the things that felt wrong on Earth suddenly, momentarily, clicked into feeling right again as they hung on. “Tory?” Cheryl cleared her throat and asked again, “Where have you been all this time? And who is the hunk you brought along with you?” “Aric. This is Aric.” Hadn’t Cheryl always screened her dates? And hadn’t she screened Cheryl’s? For the first time since forever, Tory wasn’t concerned that this guy would flunk Cheryl’s tests. He couldn’t. “Hello, Cheryl. Tory has missed you. She very much has wanted me to meet you.” Aric held out his hand and suddenly he got a hug instead. Oh, man. Tory’s eyes widened. Cheryl had never hugged any of her other guys on first sight. “You brought her home. Thanks.” Cheryl sounded a little weepy again. Then she reverted to herself. “Well, come in. The house has been a total wreck ever since the baby’s been born. Fortunately you guys can leave the place at the end of the day. The husband and I have to live in it. “So was I right?” Cheryl chattered as they followed her down the hall, carefully skirting the diaper pail in the center. “Was it the World Trade Center?” “Huh?” “The bombing? Were you in that somehow? You disappeared around then.” Tory bit her lip. This must be something she should know about. But they’d all been so busy with nothing but the shuttle that no one in the group had thought about or done anything else. “I hit my head. I can’t remember what happened exactly.” Tory had rehearsed that much and it was almost true. She had hit her head when Amma and Mitzi tranquilized her. “Uh…what bombing?” Cheryl stopped smiling. “What planet have you been on, Tory? What do you mean what bombing?” “Tory has been…ill. We haven’t talked about the bombing.” Aric stepped into the silence. “I am sorry, Tory.” Cheryl gulped. “I didn’t mean --” “She’s probably feeling well enough now. If you want to discuss it with her, who better to tell her than her best friend?” Aric’s voice was gentle, inviting Cheryl to confide in her buddy.

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Tory carefully didn’t look at Aric. When he decided to practice deception he was damnably good at it. “Sit down, you two. You need to stay awhile.” Cheryl swallowed.

***** “Do you think we should ask what is going on up there?” Dag almost laughed. They’d heard Faye yell. They’d heard some thumps. The house was big though, and neither of them heard anything more until a sudden wail split through the house. Silence fell again. “No. They might tell us.” Rho giggled. “I like him. More than I thought I would.” Dag prowled the library restlessly. “Me, too. I even like Faye now. More than I ever have,” Rho said, quietly, watching him with Madonna-like serenity. “She has what she wants. I don’t mean just good sex, though you can tell they have it just from the smile she gets on her face when she looks at Edmond. And how he looks at her.” “What else would Faye want? I’ve never figured her out, even though we both lived in Snapdragon together. She never let anyone get close. I never thought she did what she did just for the money.” “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her for years. But I think she did want to be close to someone. Who doesn’t?” Dag paused and deliberately came nearer to Rho. “And you can tell Edmond is sticking damn close to her.” “Who would have thought? They don’t seem like they’d go together.” Another wail was heard from upstairs. Dag smiled and touched Rho’s cheek, very softly. Despite the almost chaste touch, she could see the look in his eyes and she licked her lips. Slowly. “We probably don’t seem like we’d go together.” Rho heard her voice, huskier than usual. “Naw. Street rat and schoolteacher? We shouldn’t fit at all.” He cupped one of her full breasts. The beast knew how sensitive her breasts were now that she was pregnant. Oh, damn. How sensitive her whole body was now that she was pregnant. Rho pushed her nipple up tighter against his palm and rubbed shamelessly. “But we do fit, Dag. Perfectly.” Rho knew she was close to coming already, just because his thumb and forefinger had begun to pull on one nipple. “I should be angry with you rather than reward you, you know.” Dag bent his head, pushed open the fastening in front of her breasts and began to lick. Rho bucked against his mouth and the hand that had reached to clamp hard against her dampening pussy.

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“Why? I helped save your aunt. I hope.” “You also made sure things would go exactly the way you wanted them to.” Dag made a circling motion with his hand and Rho moaned. “Of course. I always do. You know that.” “I shouldn’t want to stay coupled with you, I know. You’re dangerous.” Dag tickled her clitoris and Rho whimpered. “You’ll probably think you can call all the shots when we live in No-Land.” “I know I can.” His hand stilled and Rho laughed. She hoped she sounded teasing instead of desperate when she added, hastily, “I lied. I lied. Please, Dag! Do something more.” Three fingers slid up high inside her and Rho felt herself begin her release right there, in the library, still completely clothed. She pushed herself down against Dag’s hand, hard, riding it and crying softly. He had wicked, knowing hands -- one that stroked her body, the other that concentrated on one spot, the spot that ached the most. Rho twisted and then climaxed hard and embarrassingly quickly. Dag’s arm slid around her back to support her as he led her to a chair. “Ouch.” Rho said in a more normal voice, rubbing her back. “Being pregnant makes me very horny. But I keep cramping after I come.” “What?” Dag sounded panicked. “Are you --” “No, idiot. My legs cramped.” Rho smiled at him. “So you agree that we’re going to NoLand together, right?” “Right.” Dag sounded resigned as he knelt before her and began to rub her legs. “Once I can read, maybe I can find something to do besides strip.” “You could. On the other hand, deviant women like naked male bodies in No-Land. Good looking ones anyhow.” Rho bent over and nipped his earlobe the way he liked. He twitched. “I’m a deviant. I like your body a lot.” “So you don’t mind sharing my body with other females?” Teeth closed over his earlobe a little more sharply. He yelped. “Look, don’t touch. Remember that, Dag. Same rules for No-Land as Androvia, bucko.” “Yes, boss.”

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Chapter Eleven “Earth is so strange. Women look right through me.” Hilda stared into her tea. They’d gotten used to the habit of drinking this way together while Aric and Tory were gone. It was an old, familiar habit from their former life. Femmelanders liked having tea together. Amma laughed. “I bet you’re not used to that.” Hilda blushed. “I -- well, no I’m not, but I don’t mean it like that exactly. It’s just -- they look at men. I can understand it but… I can’t understand it. It feels all wrong.” “I know. I miss Femmeland where everything makes sense.” Amma sighed. “How do the Earthling women tolerate life like this?” “How does Leonie put up with that man?” “She doesn’t want to.” Amma said. “She thinks she ought to.” “I don’t know if she wants me instead, though.” Hilda propped her chin in her hands. “All we do is work on the shuttle together. She likes my mechanical ability. I know I’m not someone she ought to want. Not on Earth.” They said nothing for a long moment. “I wonder if some women on Tierra get their spouses just because they think they should.” Amma pursed her lips, trying to get around that new thought. “What do they do if they’re deviants in Tierra? Do they feel like we do here on Earth?” Hilda and Amma looked at each other, puzzled. No one in Femmeland ever spoke of such things. No one ever thought to.

***** “I’d like to go into a little history about our planet. I’ll be brief since I have no intention of making this a history lesson.” Edmond had the audience so wrapped around his little

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finger that no one even twitched at the prospect. Faye sat, feeling more than a little resentful, but listened with the rest. He’d laughed at her. She had been willing to make a sacrifice for him and he’d laughed. After he spanked her, he’d said, “We didn’t all risk our necks for you to have you give in now, Faye Blaise. Watch and learn tomorrow.” “I’ve reminded everyone that segregation by gender is a relatively new thing on our planet. But up until Lionel Morse arrived, total segregation was never thought of. We separated only because if we didn’t, no one could think of anything but sex. Even after the separation, women and men met together on Tierra regularly to mate.” There was a confused mutter in the courtroom, which silenced as Edmond continued. “Lionel Morse was the person who created Femmeland and Androvia. The arrival of Earthlings changed our Tierra dramatically. There weren’t that many Earthlings at first. Ten, twenty. He kept shuttling them in. Fifty. A hundred. More.” Edmond paced the room and no one spoke. “Everyone knows he kept our planet from extinction. We were desperate. There were so few Tierrans left. But the changes he made were dramatic. He came because he didn’t like how men and women lived on his planet and he thought he’d found a better way. His immigrants stated that now it was wrong for men and women to mate, the way Tierrans always had. The way Earthlings did on Earth.” “Your Honor! What does any of this have to do with the trial? We rarely discuss such history as it is -- it’s totally unnecessary now!” The prosecutor almost whimpered. By now he knew when he was outclassed. “I must admit we seem to have digressed, Solicitor Jarvish.” The judge tapped her fingers and waited instead of simply stopping Edmond. “This has a direct bearing on my definition of treason, your Honor. But I will be even more brief.” “Go on then, sir.” “Lionel Morse himself decided he didn’t like how Tierra had been divided. As you know he took one last shuttle mission almost forty years ago but never returned. It is rumored -- though no one has been permitted to see the note -- that he left a note saying he would never return. Tierra had been spoiled.” “Your Honor!” “Forgive me. Laws are rarely written down in our new Femmeland and Androvia. People are simply expected to know how to behave. Usually we do. But Tierra had several written laws and we are expected to defer to them unless they are expressly contradicted in an Androvian or Femmeland treaty. There is no such treaty for treason. But I have found a written document about treason from Tierra.”

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Edmond carefully pulled out a tattered document that Faye dimly remembered him studying before.

***** “It’s finished.” Leonie gulped. “We need to test it and see, but I think the shuttle is finished.” “It’s a hover shuttle,” Hilda pointed out. “That’s the best I could do with the few materials we could cobble together from the two shuttles --” Leonie stopped her usual defensive beginning and smiled. Hilda never blamed her for things Leonie couldn’t help. “You don’t mean it that way.” “What way?” Hilda sounded puzzled. “I mean it will fit three people. Just three.” Of course. “Well, Amma must go. She’s desperate to go.” “I think Aric will stay with Tory.” Hilda looked at her. “Like I’ll stay with you.” “Hilda --” Leonie swallowed. “I’m supposed to get married in less than two weeks now.”

Supposed to? No, I am getting married. Why didn’t I say I am getting married? “So, we’ve all assumed you would just go to Tierra with us. None of us asked. We need you on Tierra, Leonie. Will you come with me?”

I could escape. Why am I thinking that? “No one ever talked to me about going to Tierra.” “I realized that. That’s why we came here, you know. To collect Lionel Morse’s scientific achievements and plans. And you. We thought of you as a substitute for your grandfather if he was no longer alive. But now I suspect you’re beyond just a replacement. You’re as good as he ever was. Better. You know everything he knew and learned still more.” Leonie gulped. Had anyone ever bestowed praise on her that could mean so much? “For years I listened to my grandfather and wanted to be just like him. Then my mother and grandmother told me he was nuts. He’d disappear for months at a time and come back with these crazy stories to justify whatever he’d done. So I lost faith in him. That made logical sense. So I belittled him -- and myself, I guess -- in my mind even while I tried to use his knowledge. I guess I was the crazy one, right? But you all came and gave me back my old vision of Grandpa. And a new faith in myself.” Leonie fiddled with one of the leftover bolts. “Thank you.” “So you’ll go to Tierra?” “No. Grandpa told me about his newly discovered planet. How pretty it had been when he first arrived. And how he learned to hate the society he helped create. The only people he found on Earth who were willing to give up everything and go to Tierra were people who wanted nothing to do with the opposite gender. Grandpa had just thought men and women

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would appreciate each other more if they didn’t have to live together. But he didn’t like how restrictive Tierra became. He even learned to miss Grandma -- and from what I remember of Grandma, that took some doing.” Leonie chuckled a little. “No. I believe his stories now. I won’t go there.”

“I had this plan for how things could work, Leonie, and everyone else spoiled it. Bringing in their prejudices. Refusing to listen. And they were queer, Leonie. Queer!” “What does that mean, Grandpa?” “That’s none of your concern, Leonie. Lionel, hush yourself!” “Sorry, dear. I haven’t got anything against ‘em myself but -- their notions were stranger than they were! Never having se -- I mean, um, never being with someone of the opposite sex. Never even seeing any. That wasn’t in my plans. I like ladies. Sometimes.” “Lionel!” “Sorry, dear. And all these unwritten rules. Folks looking at me like I was nuts. If I wanted that, I woulda stayed on Earth.” “I might like to go to Tierra someday, Grandfather.” “Now see what you’ve done, Lionel, filling the girl’s head with these tales of yours!” “No, you wouldn’t, Leonie. The whole place will be that much worse once you’re grown enough to go and everyone’s settled into a routine. It’ll be damn boring, if you ask me. I’ll never go back.” “Lionel, you’re almost seventy with a bad heart. You aren’t going anywhere, much less to some imaginary planet. In fact, it’s time for your medicine now.” Hilda said nothing. She wouldn’t stay, of course. Leonie’s stomach knotted. This was a respected Tierran who loved her planet and could now come and go as she wished. What did Leonie have to make her give all that up? Not that Leonie wanted Hilda to give up anything. “Then I’ll just go take up work at the Lesbia Books & Toys store when Amma leaves. Will we live there or here?” Leonie gripped the bolt tightly. Less than two weeks. Unless -- unless she made up her mind. “I guess here,” Leonie said. “It’s a lot more spacious.” Hilda smiled. Then she leaned forward, deliberately placing her hands on Leonie’s shoulders. She took one of those hands and tilted Leonie’s head up. Then she put her lips on Leonie’s. Leonie tensed. She was going to hate this. Just because Herman wasn’t what she wanted didn’t mean Hilda would be. And she’d never been good at kissing, she’d… Leonie relaxed into a slow, slow kiss that lasted and lasted and grew warmer and more intimate.

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The warm glow that Hilda began intensified into an atomic heat. Hilda’s lips flickered, her fingers both soothed and enticed. Images of the two of them together, naked, no longer seemed fearful. They seemed necessary. Desperately necessary. When Hilda was done, Leonie opened her eyes and licked her lips. “More,” Leonie whispered to her lover. “I want more.” “Are you sure?” Hilda asked. “Because I’ll give you everything I can.”

Had anyone told her that? Not Herman. Not anyone. Ever. “Yes.” Along with the lovely warm pleasure came an equally lovely warm certainty. Here was her security. Here was predictability. She was sure Hilda was going to make her lose her mind and bring her back again. Hilda was her safety. And her excitement. Leonie suddenly knew it right through to her heart. “Yes.” Leonie nodded. Then she slid her arms up around Hilda’s neck and kissed her back, open mouthed, tongues touching. Hilda’s hands were gentle, slow, moving down her body, touching her breasts. Leonie pulled away and pulled her T-shirt off. She didn’t want clothing to hinder Hilda’s touch. Hilda bent and kissed each nipple. Then she sucked each one into her mouth, in turn. Leonie shivered. Nothing felt wrong any more. Everything Hilda did felt almost too right. Leonie spread her legs open and Hilda smiled at her. Her hand traced up Leonie’s thigh, slowly, excruciatingly slowly. Leonie felt her legs twitch. “Please, Hilda?” Leonie looked at her. “What do you want? Show me. I want to do whatever you want. I want it, too.” “That’s right.” Hilda whispered the words. “That’s how it will be for us. We’ll show each other and we’ll want each other.” And she gently took off Leonie’s skirt. Leonie trembled. Leonie pulled her wet panties down herself. And Hilda bent her head to trace the folds and whirls of her labia with a persuasive tongue. Safety. Excitement. Everything. Hilda was going to have her explore the universe without a shuttle. Leonie moaned.

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Chapter Twelve “The definition of treason was simple. It’s a bit difficult to translate because Tierran thoughts and language are not our present thoughts and language…” Everyone in the courtroom, even the judge, moved restlessly. “But it says, the only treason our nation has is a failure to create the next generation. It is our duty to mate with those of the opposite gender and procreate. Having done that, it is our duty to provide for the children’s growth and well-being.” Faye watched while the audience looked at each other, puzzled. Edmond put the document down. “If Faye Blaise may be guilty of treason, then so are we all. With the possible admitted exception of Rhoanna Davies, who here has mated and procreated with those of the opposite gender? At present the only members of our planet who may not be committing treason are those exiled to No-Land for deviant sex.” He smiled his thin smile. “And Faye Blaise is not guilty of treason for the reasons you have charged her.” There was a long, terrifying silence in the courtroom. Faye shut her eyes. Her life was depending on a few sentences from some ridiculous old Tierran document? And such stupid sentences, too. The judge would laugh them out of court. The people inside and out would rise up and destroy them. “Then it’s time for us all for make a change!” Some female screamed outside the courtroom. “I love you, Androvians!” And then everything erupted. The guards threw themselves on top of Faye and Edmond as the crowd went insane. Smothered under a burly Androvian, Faye could only hear the noises and screams, the cries of: “You’re wrong!” “The solicitor is right!”

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“Long live Femmeland!” “I’ve always wanted an Androvian!” “Change! Change! Change!” “Will you have my baby, Femmelander?” “THE JURY WILL RETIRE UNTIL THEY COME BACK WITH A VERDICT! COURT DISMISSED!” Judge Elsen’s roar carried over the crowd’s chanting and grunting and crying and then Faye was hustled out the back door and could hear no more.

***** “This is taking forever.” Faye paced. She stopped in front of her solicitor to glare at him. Edmond turned a page in his antique book and said nothing. “You never said it would take so long to get a verdict,” Faye accused him directly next. Edmond looked up, placed a bookmark in his book and sighed. “The Unit keepers are still fighting off riots throughout Androvia, Femmelanders are flocking to our country to throw themselves on men -- literally -- and a small thing like a long jury deliberation worries you?” Edmond’s ironic voice didn’t embarrass her this time. “Yes. Exactly.” “Me, too.” Edmond sighed. He put the book down to hold her tightly. She let herself absorb his warmth and strength for a moment. “We’ll manage this somehow, no matter what the verdict. You’ll get out.” His voice was gentler than usual. “How?” Faye tried to laugh. “You’ll arrange my escape from jail?” “If necessary.” There was a sudden knock on the door. Edmond stood up instantly, his lazy pose gone. The butler led the court bailiff into Edmund’s library. “The verdict is ready,” he said. “It’s time to come back to the court.” “What took so long?” Faye demanded. “The charges were clear enough!” “Faye --” Edmond began. The guard looked sly. “Apparently the jury had made up their mind days ago. But it was a matter of prying the Androvians and Femmelanders out of each other’s -- um -- beds. It was a very long trial, you see, and all the jurors had become a bit too friendly. The judge told ‘em they had to deliver a verdict if they had one, sex or no.” “Zorah.” Faye sighed.

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“Ha. It looks like the planet is now going to do more than just follow our old Tierran religion,” Edmond smiled. “I could go back to our ancient lifestyle.” “I can’t see everything changing that fast,” Faye scowled. “There are plenty of people who like our countries just as they are. I just hope they aren’t the ones who decided things on the jury. After all, you’ve told me majority rules in jury verdicts.” “I see you sometimes listen to what I say.” Edmond gestured to the door. “Well, shall we go to court, my dear?”

***** “How the hell did this happen?” Tory blinked at Aric. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. We were supposed to be on Earth.” “Are you sure?” Aric smiled a little, not looking at her. “If you wanted to stay, Tory, you could’ve stayed.” In a country where huge buildings could be destroyed with the people inside. No. She was thinking wrong. In her own country. The one she missed. A country that wasn’t the same as she remembered it. Things had changed since she left. They would keep changing whether she was there or not. Tory went for bluster rather than trying to sort out how she felt about that. “Wrong, bucko. It’s we. We’re a pair, a unit, a couple. I’m not staying anywhere without you. Not even Earth.” “Thank you.” “I feel manipulated somehow.” Tory scowled at him. “Like maybe you didn’t want to stay on Earth.” With the nymphets in spandex and the sex toys and the choices Aric could make any time, anywhere. Right. Tory scowled some more. This was confusing. Aric had chosen. And his choice seemed to have nothing to do with what she had thought he’d find important. Not access to all kinds of women. Not just following her lead. “I want to stay with you.” Aric kept his eyes on the steering equipment. “For me both Earth and Tierra have their advantages and disadvantages. I wouldn’t mind shuttling between the two forever. And it’ll be easy enough. This hover shuttle is definitely improved.” “It’s faster too.” Amma sounded pleased. “Hmmm.” Tory could live with two worlds. In fact she could see them doing just that. They could see Rho and Amma and Dag and Mitzi on Tierra. On Earth they could see Cheryl with baby Victoria and, of course, be able to make out in public if they wanted. “I suppose

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that idea wouldn’t be so bad. And, just think, when we hit Tierra again we’ll be the biggest news since I first arrived. Nothing ever happens to change that place.” “Get ready,” Aric said. “We’re going to land.”

***** “No one cared about our return, Aric.” Tory whispered as Amma took them in the big roadster, whipping down the road to Snapdragon. “Feeling deprived, love?” Aric asked. “No, dolt!” Tory refused to acknowledge that tiny sense of surprise that no one had been there to say anything. The one Femmelander there had checked over the hover shuttle hastily and left. “But something strange is going on.” Aric shrugged. “We can find out why later. Amma needs to get to Mitzi now.” “I know that. Amma has made that very obvious.” Tory turned her back on her uncomprehending lover and stared out at Tierra. Was it her imagination or did it look more beautiful than ever? “After shutdown season, everything grows bigger and greener than ever.” Aric echoed her thoughts. “I love this time of year.” They twisted through the narrow roads to the isolated village. The trip seemed to take forever. Tory couldn’t help but feel almost as tense as Amma. They only had a clinic in Snapdragon. Was Mitzi well? If anything did go wrong it would take a long time to get to a larger town and medical help… “We’re here. Finally.” Amma skidded to a stop in front of the cottage and jumped out of the car. “Mitzi chose to have her birthing at home,” Tory said. “If she’s really having it now at all. I don’t know why Amma is so convinced it’s happening now.” “Amma and Mitzi have a bond. Maybe Amma knows.” Aric opened the car door and let Tory out. Tory put her hand on the half-opened door. She could hear a hum of people inside. If there was a birthing, half the village would be there to “help.” After all, a birth was an event. A happy community event. “Let’s go, Aric. I want to see.” Aric’s hand grasped Tory’s shoulder. “Should I go in?” he asked. “Wouldn’t it be intrusive?” Tory sighed. After their time on Earth, she’d quickly forgotten just how segregated the genders were. Probably his presence would be intrusive. And she couldn’t bear for people to snub Aric.

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“I suppose Mitzi wouldn’t like it,” Tory admitted. “But you were the one who got Amma back safely! That’s not fair.” “I could miss watching labor. From what the books say, it sounds painful and rather messy,” Aric said. He hesitated and added, quickly. “Not if it was your baby. Ours. I’d be there for you.” Tory swallowed. Aric’s baby. They’d talked about it before. For someday. Maybe. But suddenly that maybe seemed more like for sure. Soon. “It’s a boy!” One woman’s voice yelled out loudly. The hum inside stilled. Tory and Aric both held their breath. Having a boy was closer to a tragedy than a joyful event. “Don’t worry, Mitzi.” Amma’s voice was clear in the silence, carrying through to the outside listeners. “I’ve learned something about males in the past few months. There’s nothing to fear. We can manage him.” “I’m not afraid.” Mitzi sounded like her old self. “You’re here. And he’s a beautiful boy. Of course we can manage. I believe we’ll simply have to keep him.” They heard the baby give out a loud cry, as if in agreement. “Can she do that? How can she do that?” Aric muttered, wide-eyed, to Tory. Tory sniffled a little and then laughed. “I don’t know. But if anyone can do it, Mitzi can. Watch out, Femmeland.”

***** “Well, then.” Edmond didn’t look at her as he began to pull together the papers on the table and carefully put them in a file. “Congratulations, Faye Blaise. You’re a free woman.”

What did that mean? Better not to ask. Better to leave it alone, be civilized. “What do you mean, you lawyer weasel?” Faye knew she couldn’t leave it alone. And she wasn’t civilized. She’d never felt less civilized in her life. “Congratulations? I’m free? Are you dismissing me then, like -- like a bad employee?” She slapped her hand down on one of the papers he was reaching for. He stopped and looked up. Oh, surprise. She couldn’t read his emotionless face. The bastard was able to pull a mask on at will. “It’s not my right to dismiss or r-retain you,” he said. “You can do whatever you want now.” “I see.” Faye swallowed something nasty down. Something that tasted a lot like hurt. She lifted her hand from the paper with an effort. “And Femmelanders can’t live in an Androvian’s house without an excuse. We don’t have an excuse any more. We don’t even have a reason to see each other any more, right? You did it all. Even got the sperm tampering charge dismissed. And the trial’s over. We’re over.”

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Edmond took the paper again and placed it neatly in the folder.

You’re going to make a fool of yourself, Faye. You never beg to anyone for anything. Much less to a tiny, fussy, pedantic solicitor weasel. “I was ready to toss it all in for you,” Faye heard herself spit out. “Give up my life so you wouldn’t have to risk your -- your reputation. But I guess I got confused. I was just a client to you. Fine. Send your stupid bill to me, not Dag. I’ll pay it. Somehow.” To her horror, she felt her eyes begin to water. “Faye? You’re letting your temper get in the way of sense again.” Edmond sounded impatient. And he sounded like something else. Something Faye couldn’t identify. “I’m not dismissing you. Why would I? I tore down a huge chunk of Androvian and Femmeland society for you. You think what I did means nothing?” “I think you probably enjoyed being able to do something like that. Arrogant bastard.” “Maybe you’re right. I am rather arrogant, I suppose. But, on a more personal note, I’ve been selling off what I own, gradually, these past few weeks. The house goes next week. I knew whatever happened next we couldn’t live together here. I need to talk to my son, Tammas. I hope he’ll accept what must happen. But accept or not, I’m doing what needs to be done. You see, I’ve been working out a plan. Changing things. F-for us.” This time she caught the stammer behind the calm tone. The stammer he said he’d outgrown except when -“You’re not tired.” He shook his head. “You said the only time you stutter now is when you are tired or --” Faye blinked the tears away to look at him. “What are you nervous about?” “You. Myself.” He wasn’t making any move to hold her. His hands were still gripping the papers, as if for support. But his hands were trembling, just a little. “Both.” “The big, bad solicitor is afraid of us?” Faye inched her way forward, cautiously, and put her hands over his. He twitched a little. She figured that was his equivalent of throwing his hands up and ducking from a blow. “Why?” “Because this is a challenge. But it isn’t a game. None of what I did for you ever was, even though I wanted you to see the trial that way. And because what we do next is important.” He straightened his shoulders. “I love you and that’s a frightening thing.” Fear. Weakness. They’d both shown it. She usually hated those emotions. But she felt joy creeping through, slowly. “A woman could take offense at how you put that.” “A smart woman, one who is about to move to No-Land to live with a solicitor, wouldn’t.” “What would a solicitor weasel do in a land with no laws?”

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“That sounds like just the place for a solicitor. Virgin territory.” His eyes glinted. “And if it doesn’t turn out to be that way?” “I have money. I’ll write. Make love to you. Raise our child.” “Child!” “Of course. I claimed you. We consummated our relationship. You’re going to have my child. I thought you understood that. I’ve been trying to go easy on you with the sex. Let you rest up in between bouts. You’re pregnant, after all.” “I used protection.” Faye fought against the sudden crazy idea that she might like having a small Edmond around. Edmond snorted, rather inelegantly for him. “Protection for Earth sperm. Not a real Tierran’s. Trust me, it takes a while to arrive, but when it does, there is no protection from Tierran sperm. You may have noticed while I’m still hard around you, I haven’t been growing. My cock knows you’ve already received my sperm and you’re with child.” “Zorah.” Faye sat down, abruptly. “You can’t go back. Not even to the new Femmeland your rather crazed compatriots plan to create. Not with your notoriety. Not with a child. And, even if someone was mad enough to hire you again at your old job, there may not be a need for sperm banks anymore.” “Zorah. What will I do?” The enormity of the idea was almost too much. She was free but with nothing left of her old life. “You can only go forward. With me.” “I hate No-Land.” Faye knew she sounded sulky. She wanted to sound sulky. She certainly didn’t want to sound like someone who was willing to change everything in her life because a male told her so. Even if she would. Then again, so would he. Edmond arranging a jailbreak and leaving his social position in Androvia? Impossible and yet -- he would. He seriously would. For her. That damned joy wouldn’t go away. It kept spreading through her faster. “You love me. We’ll make No-Land quite different. We’ll turn it into a world we both can live in. I promise you.” He smiled. “I never promise things unless I can perform them. Do I?” “I’m not easy to live with. Promise you’ll love me even after the excitement of the trial is over?” Faye couldn’t believe she was saying what she’d promised herself never to say. “Of course, Faye. You’re my excitement. All the excitement one rather staid solicitor can take.” He dropped his papers on the table and pulled her against him. “Now shall we shock the next person to come into this courtroom or go find a bedroom?” Faye bit her lip.

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“Trust you to start off our life together by giving me a tough choice,” she complained. “Why do I love you?” “Well, you’re an odd creature, my dear.” His hands tangled into her hair as he kissed her. “That must be the explanation.” Faye moved quickly and pushed him onto the table. “Take off your pants, my fine solicitor weasel,” she ordered. “I say this time let’s go for the shock effect.”

~*~

Treva Harte Treva Harte read far too many romances for far too long. One day the inevitable happened. She started writing her own brand of romance. She claims taking care of the family’s neurotic miniature dachshund and raising two elementary school age kids is a full time job itself, but in addition she works as an attorney in a city with many other attorneys. She and her husband both like writing in whatever time they have left, so they often fight over -- sorry, since they are attorneys they NEGOTIATE -- keyboard time. You can visit Treva on the web at www.trevaharte.com, or email her at [email protected].

***** Read on for a tantalizing glimpse of

Lost in Emotion by Melissa Schroeder Coming Soon from Loose Id

Lost in Emotion

He swallowed again and broke eye contact. The problem was his gaze traveled down her body. It was a long trip. She stood only a couple inches shorter than he did. She was slim and lean but with curves enough to interest any hot-blooded male. Including her buddy, Deras. Just thinking the man’s name angered him. So his voice was a little more forceful than he intended. “What the hell was going on back there with those Gorgons?” She raised one sculpted eyebrow, apparently not happy with his tone. “I was on my way back to my place. I had some info for Marcus and I was going to transmit it and get the hell outta here. Deras caught me and dragged me into that bar.” “How do you know him?” She blinked and hesitated, just enough to raise his hackles. “You know I’m here for Marcus, so you can tell me.” “I only answer to Marcus.” Her voice sounded as if she expected no argument. He ignored that and steamed right ahead. “Princess, whatever you tell Marcus, he’ll tell me.” She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and narrowed her eyes. “David, is it? I have no reason to believe you. I’ve arrived at the ripe old age of twenty-five because I don’t trust anyone. If my own mother was here, I’d question her motives so you can drop the space ranger in charge routine and get me to Marcus Carlyle.” Irritation threaded her words. For a second, he didn’t react. He just couldn’t. He was used to giving orders and people jumping. Having a cool drink of water like Genoa tell him no just didn’t seem to register for a few moments. Agitation tingled along his skin, along with a fair share of arousal.

Melissa Schroeder

Damn. It wasn’t only his irritation but hers. And, the arousal. Shit, he’d never felt anything so damn strong in his life. He felt the heat of her desire as if she were skimming her fingers down his chest. What the hell was going on with him? “I thought you were against going to Earth?” She crossed her arms. “I don’t want to go to Earth. I hate that place. But if that’s my only option, then that’s what I’ll do.” What she had couldn’t be any more important than what David was privy to as Marcus’ right hand. “If you hate the place, why not give me the info, then I’ll tell Marcus.” She shook her head. Her long tresses spilled over her shoulder and across her chest. He had a vision of the same curls against the smooth ivory skin of her breasts, her nipples peeking through the stands. The hum of arousal he had been fighting was turning into a freaking chorus, singing through his blood. He felt hers too, just under the hostility she emitted. He shifted in his seat, trying to ease the ache in his balls. Drawing in a deep breath, he concentrated on what she was saying. “I can just transmit the information, then you can drop me off on Langilia.” She shifted in her seat to look out the port view. He thought of the planet, desolate desert on one side, frigid ice caps on the other. The extreme temperatures kept the population to a minimum. His gaze traveled down her long body and then back up again. She wasn’t one for roughing it. “Marcus didn’t mention you were from there.” He hadn’t even stopped there on his way through the sector. She turned to look at him. Damn if the defiant tilt of her chin and her mocking smile didn’t turn him on more. “I didn’t say I was from there.” Even her smart-assed tone lit a fire in his blood.

Lost in Emotion

“Well, you can forget it. Marcus wants you in the flesh. I don’t plan on disappointing him.” She laughed, her eyes sparkling with her amusement. “Take it from me, you’re cute, but you’re not Marcus’ type.” “What?” “Marcus is into women, human women at that.” She touched the top of her blouse, slipping her fingers through the sheer purple fabric. He curled his fingers into his palm to keep from joining her. Then, her words registered. “You think I’m interested in Marcus?” Her lips curved into an evil smile as a wave of fear intermingled with something that felt almost like panic washed over him. “I just figured you were so intent on making him happy…” Her voice trailed off as he stood. His anger and pride matched the anxiety she was letting off. Never in his life had he been accused of being interested in men. He saw it what it was for. She was trying to put him in his place, build a wall between them. It didn’t matter. He’d passed reason the moment he’d seen her in the club. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. Even in her ridiculous little slippers, she stood eye to eye with him. She blinked once. The color of her eyes deepened. He dropped his gaze to her mouth and almost groaned aloud when her tongue licked her pouty lower lip. Every thought cleared out of his mind except one. He had to have a taste. He yanked her closer, enjoying the surprise in her eyes and the angry flush in her face. Anticipation, annoyance and a dash of fear lashed from her to him. Her body fell against his, and he wrapped one arm around her waist. Before she could protest, he took hold of her chin, bent his head, and touched his lips to hers. At first, she didn’t respond. He could almost feel her quivering, standing on the edge of surrender. He pressed closer, tracing the seam of her lips with his tongue. Her soft curves molded

Melissa Schroeder

to his body, the hardened tips of her nipples against his chest. His hands slid down to cup her ass to pull her tighter against his groin. One more second of resistance, then her mouth opened and he dove inside. The first thing he thought of was wild strawberries. His favorite fruit. She was sweet and tart and just like the taste of them when you picked them off the vine. He’d never sampled anything so innocent and sinful at the same time. Possessiveness lanced through him. The need to conquer, to have this woman for his own, caused him to deepen the kiss. Genoa moaned. Her tongue tangled with his, and he was lost. He could no longer control any of his emotions or hers. They swept through him, racing through his blood. He dug his fingers into her rounded cheeks, rubbing his erection against her mons. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed closer, joining in his rhythm. Oh, God. He could feel her damp heat through their clothing. He wanted to drag her down on the floor and rip through those layers of clothing, and sink his cock into her. David pulled back from her. Her legs were still around his waist, her eyes half closed and filled with unrelieved desire. He knew, right then, he couldn’t stop. He knew what she wanted, what she needed. He could feel it thrumming in him, striking a familiar cord. In two steps, he made it to the conference couch. They tumbled onto it, without much ceremony. The next instant his lips were on hers, tasting, devouring, loving every minute of it. Her arousal took a swift turn upward, biting through him, edging him so close to coming in his pants, he was almost embarrassed. Almost, because it just felt so damn good. Being on the edge of a free fall into ecstasy was one of his favorite feelings. And this woman was pushing all the right buttons, from her smart-ass mouth, to her defiance, to the overwhelming maelstrom of emotions rolling off her. He broke from her mouth, and trailed kisses down her neck. As he nipped and licked her skin, he reveled in the feel of it, soft and sweet. Her unique scent rose and mixed with her

Lost in Emotion

emotions sending every available drop of blood to his dick. He ground his groin against hers. She moaned in response. The sound sent another wave of need through him. He grabbed hold of the top of her blouse and pulled it down revealing the most beautiful pair of breasts he’d ever seen. Ivory skin, small, but bottom heavy, and tipped with rosy nipples. Every bit of moisture in his mouth dried up, as he watched them pucker tighter. A sense of apprehension mixed with a heady dose of desire spun through him, weaving a seductive web he was helpless to avoid. His balls twisted thinking about seeing the rest of her skin laid bare. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to rip the damn fabric from her body. He continued rubbing his cock against her as he brushed his fingers first over one hardened nipple then the other. She shifted beneath him, matching his rhythm. He bent his head and grazed the tip with his teeth. She shivered and sighed in reaction. That one little sign of want had him taking the nipple into his mouth, circling it with his tongue and sucking. Her thrusts picked up rhythm, as she bucked beneath him. He wanted her to come, to lose all control. David was sure it would be beyond anything he’d ever felt before. A second later, he moved to her other breast, nipping at the sensitive skin between them. Her fingers speared through his hair, then tangled in the strands. He took the other nipple in his mouth the moment she murmured his name. Her moans increased along with the waves of desire that flowed from her to him. Her feelings were so strong they rippled along his skin and tingled down his spine. Primal urgings pushed all sane thoughts to the side. He needed to be inside her hot, moist sheath or he would go insane. A bright light flashed and the ship shuddered.

*****

What people are saying about

Voices Carry Melissa Schroeder's Voices Carry is her first book published by Loose Id. I found myself literally glued to every page of this futuristic romance, enthralled by the very engaging characters and an interesting and quick paced plot. Despite the fact that this is a shorter length book, the story is satisfying and the sex scenes are HOT. Voices Carry is a wonderful addition to my library and Ms. Schroeder's name now belongs in my author autobuy list. -- Mireya Orsini, Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Voices Carry is an exceptionally well-written story. Melissa Schroeder has created a whole new world that begs to have more stories set in it. Ms. Schroeder definitely knows how to write some hot and steamy scenes. I highly recommend Voices Carry and hope that there will be a sequel or two. --Nicole, Romance Junkies I loved this book and couldn’t put it down until I finished it. The plot is great and kept me interested throughout the entire book. I recommend this book for anyone who loves to curl up with a great book. You won’t be disappointed. -- Angel, Sizzling Romance

Voices Carry is one hot, steamy romance. It's a classic alpha male, alpha female struggle with passionate results. Although a short story, the author gives just enough characterization to Marcus and Shana to make their attraction believable. Fans of erotica should not miss Voices Carry. It gives new meaning to the phrase: "Can you hear me now?" -- Kathy Samuels. Romance Reviews Today