Science Fiction

She blinked. He was right--she was their wife now. How peculiar.

"You forgot?" He was looking at her with more amusement dancing in his eyes. "Marn, Tamer, she forgot we were wed."

Blushing was a lost cause, but she did it anyway.

The other two turned and grinned from their places at the front of the shuttle.

"I don't know whether to be amused or offended." Marn snickered. Apparently, he was choosing amused.

Tamer took the other option. "I am offended. We haven't even had a chance to prove ourselves in private and already she has forgotten all about us."

The thought of facing them all in the bedroom at the same time was daunting, but she wasn't even sure that that was how it was going to work. Sure, her fantasies revolved around all of their hands on her with two of them inside her at the same time, but asking for that image to be fulfilled was beyond her. Well, it was beyond her now. Who knew what a few weeks with them would bring?

"I haven't forgotten about you, I just don't know what to think. How does this work?" Her phrase brought heated looks from all three. "I mean…I know how sex works, but is there a plan for this?"

It wasn't the proper subject for travelling a few thousand feet in the air, but the questions had been bubbling in her since she first met them.

"There is indeed an order to this. Marn is first, I am second and Zel is third." Tamer nodded to each in turn.

"Does that ever change?"

Zel laughed. "Only if Marn or Tamer die. If I may explain?" He was asking his comrades and they nodded.

"Marn is first, he will trigger ovulation. Tamer is second, he has insemination capabilities. I am third. I am the spare in case one of the others becomes incapacitated. It was a built-in backup in case of wounding or death."

She could feel how wide her eyes were. "So, to get pregnant…"

"You would have to take Marn and Tamer to your bed within hours."

"Oh." She thought about it, "But you and I could…"

"Anytime, anywhere, Pelly." His smouldering gaze caught and held hers as he came in close and licked her lips slowly. The kiss that came after was a continuation of the tasting and Pelly raised her hands to hold his head.

She wanted him against her, pressing into her and she whimpered as she fought the restraint of the seat belt.

"Zel. Zel!" Tamer's muttered curse registered with Pelly a moment before the delicious bundle of muscles and male that was Zel was ripped from her.

"Hey!" She was suddenly cold and horribly alone.

"Sh. Calm, Pelly. We don't want you transporting while we are in the air and it seems that Zel was overwhelmed by your charms. Laws of motion indicate that if you are moving when you travel, you will be moving when you land. We are at far too high a speed for that." Tamer was stroking her hair back from her face, soothing her.

She had been close to her transport level. If she hadn't been tied to the seat, she would have straddled Zel's thigh and rocked her way to orgasm. It wouldn't have taken long.

Tears pricked her eyes as she looked into Tamer's sympathetic gaze. "I am sorry. I didn't realize."

His fingers traced her cheek and neck. "It is fine. We should be in Morvin in an hour and home fifteen minutes after that. I hereby give you full leave to jump me and strip me at your discretion."

She chuckled weakly.

"Why don't you sit next to Marn for the rest of the flight? He is a little more stable than we are and I think you will be safest with him." Tamer unclipped her harness and helped her forward to the co-pilot's seat.

She tried to ignore the feeling of his hands grazing her breasts as he buckled her in but failed miserably.

Marn tried to comfort her. "It is only for an hour, Pellisa. If you wish, you can think of your response to us as confirmation that we are truly designed for each other. I won't say we are not eager to have you under us, but if you tell us to stop, we will. That is the bonus of us outnumbering you."

She hadn't thought of it like that. A woman always experienced a certain vulnerability during sex, but with two men nearby, one could not get out of control.

"That sounds better and worse at the same time."

She looked out the windows and gasped. Below her were tiny squares that had to be farms. Large spiders that were towns and cities and an expanse of blue sky that went on forever.

"Does it always look like this?" She strained at her harness, wanting to look around the instrument panel.

"No. We have seen idyllic countryside torn by war, ravaged by fire, damaged by violence of nature and man. This is simply beautiful."

She nodded in agreement and fell into a stupor of vistas and imagining the people beneath them. She didn't need to imagine their lives. She lived their lives.

Pelly smiled and looked around the cabin of the shuttle. She would bet her last coin that the women below had never imagined the life she was about to start living.

"Where do you live?" She was watching them haul all of her possessions and a haunch of meat that her mother insisted she take.

"We rent a house on the outskirts of town. It isn't too far." Tamer grunted as he swung her clothing chest into the back of the hired carriage. The driver was bemused at all three men lifting and hauling, but he didn't have the nerve to ask which one of them she was wedded to.

That caused a trickle of fear to run down her spine. How would the good folk of Morvin react when they learned that she was wife to all three?

She didn't have time to dwell on it as she was boosted into the carriage and they were on their way.

The open carriage got a bit of attention, especially from the women who were hanging out windows and flashing their cleavage to the Lawmen.

She gave a rueful glance at one lady calling Zel by name, "I am guessing you were not pining for me."

Zel and Tamer blushed. Marn just laughed. "We did not know you were on Gallo, let alone on the same continent. We had to keep busy."

She laughed. After all, she had been doing the exact same thing. "Do you think they knew what they were doing when they built high sex drives into us?"

Marn lifted her hand to his lips. "They had no idea."

Their conveyance pulled up at a tidy house in a quiet neighbourhood. Marn paid the driver while the other two started to unload her copious baggage.

She was getting excited. Each box inside the house made it one step closer to her falling into bed with them.

"The tradition is to carry you over the threshold, but that may be awkward if only one of us does it. Hold still." Marn took her shoulders, Tamer, her waist and Zel her knees. They marched her into the house like a battering ram. Her laughter rang through the house as they marched her through the whitewashed halls and into a large bedroom.

As they put her down and started to undress her, things ceased to be funny.

"It's just a game." She cut off his rebuke by placing a finger on his lips. "You'll love it."

Ferris turned his wrists. His trance of emotions dissolved, but then Mysan tickled his nipples with her tongue. He moaned. Her body brushed his and catapulted it to a new height. This was outstanding, and his body reacted immediately and heavily. He wanted her to take him. "Please…" She went down his belly with her teasing, tickling tongue. His heartbeat hurt. He swallowed dryly. He didn't know what had been done to him aside the prolonged chastity, but he was horny enough for two. "Don't let me…" She kissed him, shutting off whatever plea he was about to make before she undid her bra and revealed her breasts to his bulging eyes. He wriggled on the sheets. "You're killing me. By the Gods of Erian, please, I beg of you, let me touch you!"

She whispered a feeling no and gently touched his face with her nipples, drawing a breathless moan. He opened his mouth to kiss her skin, but she withdrew, giggling.

Ferris felt the heat in his cock climb so high it became unbearable. He lifted his head to watch her drop her panties. Her pubic hair was shaven to a perfect V.

"Don't let me wait any longer. I can't stand it."

"Oh, you will." She ran her tongue down his shaft and, unexpectedly, swallowed his length.

He screamed mad with lust and at the same time feeling tormented to a degree he had never experienced before. He lifted his butt to get more of her hot mouth. The same moment she jerked up her head. Again, Mysan left him dangling between heaven and hell. His body twitched, he clenched his fists, unable to control himself. He was dizzy with excitement, unable to swallow, unable to focus. It was the sweetest torture the scientist could have chosen.

She straddled him, but ignored his hot, hard cock. "Do you want to take me, Ferris?"

He hardly heard her through the pulsing of his blood. "Yes."

"Will you go down on me forcefully? With all you have?"

He hesitated a moment, insecure of her purpose. "Yes." His mouth was so terribly dry, and his brain so utterly drained. "If you let me."

She slipped her hands under the covers and smiled even broader when he moaned upon her touch. He lay back and closed his eyes. Dasha kissed his chest and relaxed with him, enjoying the closeness. He massaged her shoulders and gently let them travel down her spine. Only then did he realize her nakedness and opened his eyes.

"Surprised? Don't. I couldn't wait for you to wake up."

He kissed her lips and pulled her on his body. "Wake me for that every time. You're so beautiful."

"Hum, I like your looks, too. But more I like what you got in your head." She kissed his brow. "You are easy to love."

"Easy, hum?" Ferris intensified his caressing, keeping the thought to himself that no encounter would lead to a love he craved for. "You make it easy, don't you?"

"How are you feeling?" Dasha kissed his chest and throat, chuckling when he let go of his breath.

"I slept well. Must be the company." He kissed her nose. "I can forget about everything right now. Do you want me?"

Dasha laughed and caught Ferris's chin between her thumb and forefinger. "You're a dope, Ferris. If you don't take me right now, I'm going to force myself on you and take what I want!"

"Uh, that's a threat I truly can't bear!" Ferris tickled her back, and she wriggled in his arms, laughing like a child. They wrestled within the blankets and when Dasha was on top again she pinned him down with her hands on his shoulders. "No further resistance! I'm going to seriously devour you right now."

Ferris looked up to her, dropped his arms, and smiled mischievously. "Take me, mighty clan leader, take me as I am."

"Do you swear to not bite and beat me?"

"I'll be as kind as a young gronty, my love."

"That's a promise!" Dasha fondled his nose with hers, then began kissing him passionately.

Thomas and Cecilia were assigned to one of the largest suites in the entire kingdom, only slightly less than that reserved for the Queen herself. He carried his new bride up to the door and over the threshold into their temporary new home.

The dark stone walls were illuminated by candle torches. Bright orange, pink, violet and blue flowers sat on almost every free surface. Thick velvet tapestries covered walls, fur rugs lined the floors, and in the center of the room stood the largest bed Thomas had ever seen.

Cecilia's face erupted in a smile and she squealed with excitement. "I can't believe this is ours."

Thomas never felt happier. Here he was with the most beautiful woman in the entire land, about to start their new life together. After years of isolation in the forest, finally things were working out and nobody deserved nice things more than his Cecilia. His chest puffed out with pride. He squeezed her a little tighter and kissed her on the cheek. "A far cry from the cabin, isn't it?" "I happen to love our cabin. Once our honeymoon is over, I want to go back out there to the forest."

Thomas scowled and raised his eyebrows at her. The cabin was nothing more than a wooden shack with a couple of rooms, none of which were well insulated from the winter's cold. Thomas was thrilled to be out of there. "You do?"

"Of course, don't you?"

He scratched his head. "Well, not really."

Cecilia hit him in the arm. "Where is your sense of sentimentality?"

Thomas shrugged. "Uh…"

"That's our place out there, Thomas. I know it's simple, but I want our son to be born in the forest, where he was conceived, in the place where we first met and fell in love."

"You are a romantic," Thomas observed. He still didn't understand why their son had to endure such a mundane entrance into this world when they had more to give him, but if it made his wife happy, he would do it.

Cecilia crossed her arms like she always did when she had a point to make and didn't want to compromise. They never did figure out how their ages compared to each other, but through the years, they concluded she was a bit older than him and sometimes she used it as leverage to get her way.. "Yes, and you should take a lesson or two. Don't you think he should be born outside this musky palace?"

Thomas didn't care one way or the other, but he wouldn't mention that to his wife. "If it's what you want, that's what you shall have, my darling." Thomas laid his wife in the center of the bed and pressed himself against her. His passion rose. He felt his blood rush into his loins and harden him, heating up his entire body with desire.. "I have never seen you look more beautiful than right now."

Cecilia giggled and rested her hands on her belly. "Are you thinking what I am?"

Thomas unbuttoned his shirt, loosened the belt on his pants. "I am."

Cecilia reached for the white lacy bodice squeezing her torso and untied the silk threads.

"Stop. I want to do that. You just watch me."

Cecilia hands fell to her sides. "As you wish, husband."

Thomas removed his clothes quicker.

Cecilia reached her hands to his shirt and raised her eyebrows. "Shouldn't I help you with that?"

"Not in your delicate condition, love. You are my queen now and I will take care of you tonight and every night for the rest of our lives." He tore off his shirt, tossed it aside, kicked his pants to his knees and away from the bed before leaning over her and kissing her neck. "You taste so good."

"So do you." She kissed him and ran her hands through the hair on his chest, down his back to his ass. Thomas straddled her, reached for the silk threads to her bodice and untied them with fervor, tearing open the top of her gown. Her full breasts spilled out and he took one in his mouth, eagerly sucking her into a frenzied state of arousal.

She moaned, brought his head up and kissed him hard on the mouth.

He slipped his hands under her gown and slid the white lacy gown to her ankles, kissing every newly exposed inch of her on the way.

Cecilia arched her back in anticipation of their joining. "Oh, Thomas." She kicked off her shoes, pressed her growing belly upward toward him.

He kissed their son, flicking his tongue down to her lower regions as he parted her legs. Her scent was intoxicating. The warm feeling of her smooth skin sent shivers all over his body and stiffened his cock. "I don't want to hurt you. We haven't done this in awhile, you know."

"I love you," he said.

His words conjured terror in her heart. The blaring sounds of the loudspeakers and the edict against love and sex repeated in her mind. If anyone ever found out they loved each other…No. She could not allow herself to love this man, no matter what. They would never survive. She sat straight up in bed, pushing him away. "No, no, you can't! You'll get us both killed!"

He brushed his hand tenderly through her hair, and laughed. "What do you think they would do to us if they knew you were here with me now, in my arms, naked in my bed?"

"I know, I know, but still. You shouldn't say that."

He held her close. "I can't help my feelings, Myra. I've loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you, out on the Production Line. You were so beautiful, kind and caring, so concerned with my well-being."

Myra pushed him away, jumped from his bed, and started dressing as quickly as possible. "I remember what you said to me the first time we met, Cecil. I care too much about you to allow this to go any further. It's too dangerous. I'm sorry I came here tonight. I shouldn't have. It was selfish. I wasn't thinking about the consequences, or what might happen to you. I'm so sorry!" She put on her coat and moved toward the door.

Cecil walked toward her. "Wait. I wanted you tonight, Myra. I called you here with my mind and you answered. Don't you understand? It's a sign."

Myra had to admit the bond she shared with Cecil was inexplicable. She heard him whisper in her mind throughout the day, she imagined his touch, couldn't wait to be with him again. "I agree we do have a connection."

Cecil took a step closer, towering over her. He held out his hand. "Then what are you afraid of?"

She slowly scanned his face, his thick muscular neck, shoulders and chest. Perfect abs rippled over his triangular torso, his thin waist framed the most perfectly formed buttocks she ever saw. "Cecil, you look magnificent, better than this afternoon."

"I know." He smiled. "I think it's because of this..." Cecil ran his hands over her hips.

"What? The food?"

He laughed. "No, you!"

"Me?"

"Your love is saving me, Myra. You bring the life force back into my body, mind and spirit."

She laughed. "I think the steak is saving you, Cecil, not me."

"No, I think it's both." Cecil released her and walked over to his bedside table, removing a silver cover from a dish. A half eaten piece of dark brown meat sat in the center of a white dish. "You are part of it, Myra, but I have to admit the steak…it's saving my life."

"Is that steak? I've never seen it before. I've only read about it in books."

Cecil cut a piece of the brown meat with a knife and walked toward her. "Yes. I saved some for you. Here."

She shook her head. "Oh no, Cecil. I can't take that from you. It's obvious you need it to live."

He shrugged, ate the bite himself, then cut off another slice, stabbed it with his fork and ran the meat directly under her nose "Please, try it."

Something strange happened. Myra felt the same tingling sensations she'd had only moments earlier when Cecil explored her. "My goodness, that smells wonderful."

Cecil noticed her nipples grew erect from the scent and he ran appreciative fingers over them. "I can tell you like it. Now here, have some."

Myra shook her head. Nothing ever felt so good before. It must be wrong. "What is happening to me, Cecil? I don't understand what you're doing to me."

Cecil ran the steak over her bare chest in a thrilling exchange. "Myra, you know you want it, so go ahead. Eat! Suck on it!"

As difficult as it was to resist, she pushed it away. "No Cecil. I can't. You need every mouthful you can get."

Cecil took the steak between his teeth and walked closer to her. "Don't you want it?" he asked again, wafting the meat in front of her nose as he barred down on it with his teeth.

Her nipples hardened. Her mouth watered. "What's happening to me?"

"Do you want it?" he teased.

"I want it. Yes, I want it!"

“Silus,” the voice spoke, “I like that name.”

Silus scowled. “You like my name?”

“Um. Silus Daniel Phelps. I see you’re twenty-four years old, six two, one eighty, dark hair, dark eyes.”

The voice seemed to fade out. Silus folded his arms across his chest. “You do realise that what you are doing here is barbaric.”

“Yes and it’s about to get more barbaric. Take off your clothes.”

“What?”

“Your clothes, get them off, everything. Naked. Now.”

“Why do I have to take off my clothes?”

“Because I said so.”

“And if I refuse?”

“I’ll send for the soldiers and they’ll do it for you. They’ll rip them right off you. It’s better if you do it. Now, go ahead.”

With a sigh, Silus took off his shirt, his pants, underwear, shoes and socks. He held them awkwardly in front of him, perplexed.

“Throw them over there on the floor.”

Silus did as he was asked. The way he saw it, he didn’t have much choice, did he?

Again, silence.

“Hello,” he said, shielding his eyes against the glare of that light. “I believe I have a right to counsel. Why have I been denied the right to a phone call?”

“You have no rights. You will do what we tell you. Do you realise that you are a candidate for execution?”

“Just fucking great and why’s that?”

“The computer almost busted a component on your file. It says you’ve had too many lovers to count, all men. So you prefer men I take it.”

“You tell me. You seem to know all about me. And what great authority told you I have had too many lovers to count?”

“It’s in your file. Apparently, many of your former lovers were eager to testify.”

“I bet.”

“Not only that, the computer estimates how many lovers you’ve had based on many variables. It’s accurate without a margin or error of point six. Computers today are—”

“You needn’t explain. Computers are my job.”

“Oh, yes, you’re right.”

“And I know all about statistical probability. One can prove any thing with numbers.”

“So why don’t you believe in love, Silus?”

Silus sighed. “It’s bullshit.”

“So you’d rather die than marry?”

“I’d rather not set myself up for a big deception.”

“I see. Would you be willing to go to the matching center and enter your information?”

“No.”

“So just how many men have you slept with, Silus?”

“Too many to count, just like the computer says, and secondly, none of your fucking business.”

There was a sudden burst of laughter.

“Is this a joke? I don’t share your humour.”

“Of course you don’t. But I assure you, it’s not a joke. I find you amusing, not to mention, devastatingly beautiful. You must have them at your feet, these lovers you can’t keep track of. I can understand why you don’t need to settle for one.”

Silus was speechless.

“Put your hands behind your head and turn around.”

“You got to be kidding.”

“Do as I ask you, pretty boy. You don’t want to piss me off.”

Silus slowly raised his hands and turned to the wall. Execution? Can I really be put to death for not wanting to spend my life with one individual? It didn’t seem possible.

Gross tried to remember the last time he'd been fucked. In reality, that was. In his mind…in his fantasies, the crewmembers all took their turn with him. He especially loved the fantasy involving him, Infinity and Beckett. He could come just at the mere thought of Infinity fucking him with his massive wang.

He examined the rod. It felt warm and heavy. It was about ten inches long, almost two inches thick. All day he'd fantasized about having the whole thing shoved into his ass as he fucked himself to mindless orgasms. He couldn't wait.

The rod's initial gray color now showed green glints. Wow! A sexy fuck toy! He lay on his back, his cock growing hard as he kept the rod by his side. He had to prepare himself for such a power tool. He licked his fingers, spread his legs and started to stroke his neglected ass hole. He found his thumb strumming upward, toward his balls, stroking them, coming back to the base of his cock and back under the ball sac again.

He'd had a commanding officer years ago who'd introduced him to the secret pleasures of his perineum, however, nothing beat having a tongue in that sensitive area.

His breath grew shallower as he used his other hand to stroke his cock. He had two fingers inside him now, but he couldn't wait. The rod crackled at his side.

Gross stopped what he was doing and gulped. The rod was almost completely green. Oh man, he wanted that thing…and he knew it wanted him, too.

He placed it between his legs, right at his warmed-up hole. Which fantasy would he use? His eyes flew open as the rod slipped inside him. Oh, God. This was great. He could swear the rod was doing its own thing, entering him, snug inside his ass. He was certain it was fucking him without his assistance. Oh…oh, man…he tried to think about which crewmember fantasy would bring him off. No. It wasn't a crewmember. It was the mechanical bull.

Gross bit off a maniacal cackle as he relived his favorite fantasy…

Only the gay crewmembers knew the bull had a massive cock that could be lowered via remote control. Only Gross had tried and kept trying it, crawling underneath the bucking bronco as its mechanical cock came out from beneath its mechanical loins. He waited, on his hands and knees, the remote in his hand to adjust the tempo as the bull's cock entered his ass.

Gross gasped when he realized it was really happening. He was underneath the mechanical bull, taking the huge cock into his ass. It fucked him fast and furiously, no matter what buttons were pressed.

"Shit!" he screamed as he came all over the place. His head dropped to the floor, the bull cock continuing to ride him. As usual when he was getting a decent ass fucking, he yearned for a cock in his mouth.

"Open up," Infinity said and Gross's mouth flopped open for the ship's doctor's massive cock. Gross sucked on the big black man in front of him as the cock inside him pumped away. It was fucking him too aggressively for him to even brace himself to stroke his cock, but he sound found he was coming again.

Surrendering to her fervid arousal, Theresa filled her eyes with the image of her one true owner and likewise filled her mind with every deviant depraved thing he could do to her. The illicit onanism was even more succulent because of its covert nature. She was stealing her pleasure from right under his nose and should she be discovered she was sure he would be terribly vicious in his retribution. He might even render her forcibly chaste with some nasty Dregakk device. The notion of applied chastity that she could not defeat was almost appealing to Theresa and she danced her latex-smothered fingertips to her clit. Only Eldral could take her in such a state. She would be his and his alone, her pussy kept sealed and reserved for his cock alone. She would not be able to touch herself, would have her own pleasure taken away and meted out as he saw fit.

He withdrew suddenly. Theresa’s eyes bulged and her throat gurgled from the effort of not flinging her limbs out and screeching from the flight of his manhood from her sensitised and quivering sex. As one final, spiteful test of her obedience, the crop flew on an underarm trajectory and laid its leather tip to her rosy pussy. The burning influence embraced her belly and it took long moments to start to fade and let her relax her brutalised frame.

“Kiss,” he ordered.

Theresa opened her bleary eyes and saw the tip of the baleful weapon before her eyes. There was a vague sparkle on the leather and whether the moisture was a lingering mark of her arousal or from Setchak’s passion, she puckered her lips forward and placed a kiss to it. The taste of his seed was distinct and had been captured from the final stroke to her ravenous sex. She ran her tongue over her lips to capture more of the tang and her body quaked from its influence.

Theresa wandered over to one of the males and looked across his bare form. The sight of his flaccid shaft reminded her of the ravishing she had suffered at the hands of her own kind.

She grabbed the cock and squeezed tightly. Increasing her vice-like hold, she made the slave squirm and jolt. His cries of anguish were subdued by his crushing hood, but the shuddering of his body more than revealed his misery.

“You’ll suffer, too,” she promised, and clapped a hand to her bracelet to reveal a long cabinet. The interior was stocked with clothing, apparatus, and weapons of torture and discipline. Theresa took down a set of fishnet stockings, looked over the fine weave, and flung them absently to the Theocrat.

“Put these on and get on your knees, slave,” she uttered, and continued to fish around for her desired implements.

Theresa closed her hands about a hood and a gag, and chose to apply them before continuing. She wanted to deprive the alien woman of any clue as to the rest of her ordeal and then Theresa could ease her own anger before trying to affect her situation.

Gathering in the sides of the latex sheath, Theresa walked back and stood before the female. Towering over her, the feeling of control coursed through her veins like a hot tide.

Theresa drew the sculpted bag down over the Theocrat’s face with rough tugs. Once hauled into position it cut off all sight and muffled her hearing. Only apertures at nose and mouth granted breath, and Theresa was intent on hampering both. But first there was something she needed to know.

“What is your name, slave?”

“Khara, Mistress.”

Theresa smiled. She didn’t want to know this creature as the High Theocrat, rather she wanted her normal name, her everyday private identity. She wanted a name for the individual, not the name of the post. It was the first step in dragging her down from the lofty and powerful pinnacle with which she had become so dissatisfied. Even the other members of the Holy Order would only know her title, but Theresa now knew her normal, banal name.

Theresa lifted the gag. It was a construct of sturdy leather and lifting up the front plate, she presented the internal face to her captive’s lips. The plate spat out a smoothed and sizeable box with a hollow interior that beckoned for something to capture and keep.

“Open your mouth and slip your tongue into the hole,” she demanded.

Then Felice had discovered something about the bed that was out of this world. As she lay staring upward, she saw a ghostly figure appear beside her. She turned and looked to be sure she wasn’t imagining things. A holographic projection firmed into a man. A naked man. A naked man with about the biggest hard-on she had ever seen.

Or felt. She could not help herself. She had to touch it. The flesh felt warm and throbbingly alive as she stroked up and down the shaft.

He gently pushed her flat onto her back, reached over and pressed his warm hand into her belly. A moment of fumbling at the fastener, then he pulled her blue satin miniskirt down over her hips and legs. He tossed her skirt to the foot of the bed and then devoted his entire attention to her. She felt large, strong hands moving on her bare flesh and sighed. This was only an illusion, but what an illusion.

“Oh,” she gasped out, when insistent tugging got her panties entirely off. Her pale blue eyes flickered open, and she saw a broad back rippling with muscle reflected in the overhead mirror. Then gentle, persistent hands pushed apart her legs, exposing her wantonly.

“What an illusion,” Felice said breathlessly. She started to sit up but weight held her down just as if a real lover mounted her. Reaching out she touched the shimmering shoulders. She felt firm flesh under her fingertips. Muscles. Warm and hard and flexing.

And then something else that was warm and hard caused her to gasp, lift her hips off the bed and grind her pussy down. A shaft impaled her. The ghostly lover had entered her as he slid his arms under her legs and lifted them, bending her double to increase the sensation by changing the angle of penetration. He filled her with hot cock and began fucking her. In spite of knowing this was only an illusion, Felice started responding. Her tight inner muscles clamped down around the length sliding back and forth within her until she was gasping and moaning with true sexual pleasure.

Holographic hands clutched at her still-clothed breasts. She felt her nipples growing hard under the pressure of his palms. Those hard nips throbbed and ached, and the cock within her seemed to expand until she was sure she would be pulled apart.

The carnal heat of friction building between her inner pussy walls and the immense erection driving with such power and assurance into her set her senses ablaze. Thrashing about, pinned under her phantom lover, she cried out. Her pussy tightened as orgasm gripped her. She trembled all over in reaction and got off. Sinking back to the bed, she had smiled just a little and reached out to hold her lover.

He was gone.

“It’s good to see you again, Jonathon,” Alpha said.

“You are never to address me by my name,” he said. His rumbling bass voice filled the room.

Jana edged back, thankful for the faint light cast by the kerosene lamp that left her partially in shadow. Jonathon stared lustfully at Alpha and nothing else. Jana swallowed hard when she saw how the sexbot’s robe had fallen open. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought Alpha was entirely human. She had a body to die for and never had to worry about getting fat or old and saggy.

“Whatever you say…master,” Alpha said.

Jonathon stepped forward, giving Jana a better look at him. Again she wondered about him being a blacksmith. She couldn’t think of any other occupation in this era that would have given him muscles like that. She stepped back a little more and then pressed herself against the cold stone wall, one arm along the side of the wardrobe. If he looked in her direction, he couldn’t help but see her since she was only partially concealed. But Jonathon had eyes only for Alpha.

He stepped forward and laid his hand on the sexbot’s cheek, then grabbed her hair and forced her to her knees. “You know what to do,” he said.

“Yes, master.” She reached up and began unlacing his fly.

Jana licked her lips at the slow process, wishing she could be somewhere else and yet anticipating what was going to happen. Eventually, Alpha pulled free the last of the lace and let the man’s erection spring out. Jana closed her eyes and tried to make herself invisible. She had seen big cocks in her day, but nothing like this. Men with such thick chests and huge biceps seldom had other equipment in proportion—or so she had discovered in her more modern time. She guessed it might have something to do with all the steroids needed to bulk up like that.

Whatever Jonathon did to pump up his muscles hadn’t hurt the way his cock pumped up.

Alpha daintily took it between her lips. Then the man jerked hard on the handful of hair and pulled her face completely into his groin. His long, thick cock disappeared into her mouth. Alpha never flinched. Jana began to see why the sexbot was so popular in the Hellfire Club. She was a machine capable of doing anything these men—these members—demanded of her.

She wasn’t as much a sexbot as she was a sex slave.

A million ideas flashed through Jana’s mind as she watched Alpha giving head to this giant. She had to escape, but with Alpha here, too, any escape became more complicated. Both of them had to get away since neither belonged in this time. She tried to figure out the temporal energy mismatch that had occurred but couldn’t do it without her lab computer and time to do a lot of high level math. Right now, she was distracted by the sucking noise and the moans of pleasure Jonathon emitted as he guided Alpha’s head back and forth.

Jana couldn’t get out of the room with Jonathon standing in the center and Alpha kneeling in front of him. There had been a tiny bit of luck in how Alpha had gone to her knees and turned the man so he partly faced the window, but if he looked over his shoulder, he would spot Jana in a flash.

Would that be so bad, sucking on him? Jana wondered. Then she knew it would be. The Hellfire Club demanded sexual slavery. The restraints in the other bedroom showed that, and the way he treated Alpha was as if she was nothing more than as his slave.

To be his slave, rattled around in Jana’s mind. Getting Alpha away from here right now wasn’t going to happen. She looked around for something to hit Jonathon with and maybe knock him out. Jana had never done that to another human being, and she didn’t want to hurt the man, even if he was a sexual predator.

The room was bare save for the bed against the wall opposite the door and the wardrobe. The Hellfire Club didn’t believe in over furnishing their rooms.

“Good, very good,” Jonathon said in a ragged voice that betrayed how good Alpha actually was at giving head.

“More, master? I can do much more.”

“I know, my dearest, I know.”

His words took Jana aback. They were gentle and had a loving tone to them that was completely unexpected.

“What do you want now?”

Jana had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out in surprise. Jonathon was asking Alpha and not ordering her. This might be part of some sick game where he enticed her to commit to some sex act and then denied her, but Jana quickly saw how wrong she was.

“I like it when you fuck me slowly,” Alpha said in a voice tinged with love.

No, no, no! Jana thought. This can’t be happening. Alpha’s in love with him—and he’s in love with her!

She had no idea what emotional programming had been imprinted on the sexbot, but it had to be well enough developed to fool Jonathon into thinking he was with a real woman. Physical responses were one thing, but this went far beyond.

Jana remembered how Erik had fallen in love with another sexbot, Lorra, a hundred years in the future. She had been far more advanced than Alpha, but obviously Alpha was capable of learning and changing and evolving into something more than her inventor had intended. Lorra’s human qualities were obviously come by through a century of sexbot development if Alpha was this close to being human.

Moving as quietly as possible, she slipped around the wardrobe and got completely behind Jonathon. Alpha was keeping him busy, showing him her breasts and telling him how much she enjoyed the feel of his hands roving over her trim body. Jana almost snorted in disgust. Alpha wasn’t a real woman. She was nothing more than a pile of wires and circuits and nano relays that mimicked a real human.

Not sure where she wanted to go but knowing she had to leave the room, Jana opened the door just as Jonathon swept Alpha off her feet and carried her to the bed where he gently deposited her. Alpha pushed open her robe and scooted about a little so she could lift her knees and spread her legs in wanton invitation.

From the sight of how Jonathon’s cock bucked and jumped, nothing was going to distract him from completing what Alpha had urged him to do. They were going to be fucking for a good, long time.

As Jana slipped into the corridor, she felt a pang of jealousy for Alpha. The sexbot had messed up her relationship with Erik, and now she was getting laid by a really sexy guy.

She turned and crashed into Sidney, whose arms circled her like steel bands. He pinned her arms to her sides and then rocked back slightly, lifting her feet off the floor so she couldn’t get any traction at all.

"I like this," he said, running his hand over her mons. She shivered as a finger lightly flicked at the tiny pink spire of her clit, sending echoes of desire throughout her body. "You were ready for me."

"I was more than ready," she said. She gave in to the weakness in her legs and dropped in front of him. Her hands fumbled to open the fly and let Kevin's huge erection come snapping free.

"All for you," he told her. His hands worked through the mass of her blonde hair and pulled her face closer. She didn't need any more invitation.

She kissed the very tip of his cock. Jordan recoiled at the reaction. His prick had been hard before. Now it jerked harder and grew in both length and girth.

"Wh-what are you doing to me?" His voice sounded distant, strained.

She kissed his cock again. It hardly seemed possible but it grew even more. She opened her lips and took some of the cock into her mouth to suck and lick and tongue. He quivered in the heat of her mouth and pressed hard against her lips. She had sucked him off many times but never had he been so huge!

Jordan backed off, licked the underside of the trembling shaft of man meat and then kissed the underside.

"Oh, oh!" Kevin clutched fiercely at her head, holding it in place. "I can't… oh god!"

She dived back to the tip of his erupting cock in time to engulf the head and take every drop of his cum. She sucked hard to drain his balls and still he came. She wondered if it would ever end when a final quiver foretold the end.

"I never got off like that before. Not from a blowjob," Kevin said, gasping for breath. "I'm still on fire. If I had an erection, I'd fuck the living hell out of you."

"Maybe it won't take so long getting up again," Jordan said. She knew it had to be the lipstick laced with her new aphrodisiac that had done the trick. Kevin had been a monster in her mouth. She had no complaints about him at any other time, but now? Immense!

"I want to, doll face, I do, but I can't." Kevin sounded distracted now. She kissed his slowly deflating cock, but there was no response. It continued to deflate like a child's popped birthday party balloon. Disappointed, Jordan watched until it turned into a pink worm.

 "We don't want him to be shocked when we do a century or two jump. He has to be comfortable with time travel."

"Is that ever going to be possible?" Jana asked. "We aren't comfortable with it. There's always something new to see when we get our probes back."

Case turned and locked the door behind him. Jana had seen the expression on his face before--and loved it.

"What kind of probe did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I don't know. One that's nice and long and hard and hot." She moved forward and ran her hand down his belly between his waistband and his skin. She found what she wanted right away. His penis was growing. With her eagerly squeezing it, he had a full-grown erection in nothing flat.

"That's uncomfortable," he said.

"I didn't mean it to be. I wanted it to be exciting."

"I meant that it's uncomfortable being trapped inside a cloth prison." He unzipped his pants and loosened his belt, letting his pants drop.

"Oh, yeah, I agree. So much nicer this way." Jana sank down and lightly kissed the tip of his quivering cock. He caught his breath when she took the plum-tipped end into her mouth and began licking and teasing.

"I want you," he said in a soft voice. "That feels great, but I want more. I want to give you more."

Jana mumbled around the thick plug in her mouth. She was happy with this, or maybe having him pick her up, spin her around, and eat her out as she sucked on him while being upside down. She appreciated the strength that took and the need for her to be completely in his control.

“Claw me, bite me—under every known star I’m going to love you!” This is Starlight, the sex-fever of the felinus shifters that burns brighter than a supernova.

 John traced his knuckles over her cheek. “My tastes are a hybrid of man and cat. Which would you prefer me to be, Samantha?”

“Yourself.”

His smile was tender. “Most women would demand the exotic.”

She shrugged. “A sensualator is exotic enough for me. I’m not most women, just Samantha. I don’t think I could face a felinus…or any shifter. From what I’ve heard, I’d be eaten alive.”

“Honey, what makes you think I’m not going to eat you?”

“I…um…”

He laughed. “Cat got your tongue?”

“You’re playing with me!”

“Right now, you don’t understand what it is to play, but at the end of tonight, you’re gonna know its meaning good and proper.”

As they continued to climb higher, the air began to thin and the trail narrowed, forcing the heaving horses to walk single file. When they finally reached the level plateau at the top, Garth stopped and waited for Kayla to draw abreast of him.

“We’ll turn off here,” he told her. “There’s a good place to camp for the night on the other side of this ridge.”

Out of breath from the climb, Kayla could only nod as she used her legs to urge Hawk onto the new trail behind the mare.

The red sun was just beginning to slip below the tree-lined horizon when the path suddenly opened into a clearing.

Hawk’s steps slowed and he would’ve stopped, but Kayla urged him on. Keeping her eyes on the high cliffs that surrounded the meadow, she cautiously scanned the rough walls for any sign that something might be lurking in their shadows.

“Don’t worry, water dragons prefer the deep, quiet waters of a lake,” Garth assured her, indicating with a nod of his head the small waterfall cascading from the rocky heights of the cliffs into a sparkling pool at its base. “The mountain streams and pools are too cold and shallow for them.”

Drawing the mare to a halt, he dismounted and waited for Kayla to drop to the ground beside her mount. “I’m going to make camp under those fir trees. Why don’t you go for a swim and get cleaned up before it gets too dark,” he told her with a meaningful look at her mud-caked form.

“That sounds like a great idea.” With more bravado than she felt, for she was very conscious of the way she must look covered in grime and wearing such scanty clothes, Kayla threw her saddlebags over one shoulder and quickly unsaddled Hawk so that he could graze with the black mare.

Finding a large, flat rock to sit on beside the pool, Kayla rummaged through her bags. She was relieved, and still puzzled, that most of her things had survived the rough trip from the orange grove. Unfortunately, one of the items that had not survived had been her spare jeans. Made partly of man-made material, they had disintegrated into mere scraps of rotted material.

Shrugging her shoulders in resignation, Kayla leaned back against a large slab of stone and removed her muddy boots and, hesitating for only a moment, she peeled off all of her filthy clothes and tossed them into a nearby water-filled stone hollow to soak.

“Well, here’s hoping that lake monsters really don’t live in the mountains,” she mumbled to herself nervously as she grabbed her bar of soap. Climbing to the top of a large boulder at the edge of the pool, she dove into the clear, green water.

Swimming under the surface, she emerged in the shallows to stand waist deep in the sun-warmed water where she vigorously and thoroughly soaped her hair and body, determined to remove the stench of dried blood and muck clinging to her.

Feeling much too tired and sluggish to dwell on the day’s strange events, Kayla rolled over and floated on her back, basking in the simple pleasure of having clean skin again. As her mind cleared and she was able to think back on the day, she was only mildly surprised that, in spite of the danger she’d encountered, she felt no particular desire to return to what was already beginning to feel like someone else’s life, or perhaps a faraway dream.

Diving to rinse the rest of the soap from her hair, Kayla chased a school of small fish along the bottom until she needed to surface to breathe. Rising, she stood and shook her long, pale mass of hair back and wiped the water from her eyes. She was studying the odd pattern of colors in the walls of stone enclosing the meadow when her gaze fell on Garth, standing naked on the same boulder she had used, preparing to enter the water.

Entranced, she stared at the beauty of his heavily muscled body, the skin dark with an all-over suntan as he prepared to dive into the water. He broke the spell when he leapt from the rock, arching into the water where he cleaved the surface so cleanly that he barely made a splash.

Suddenly remembering her own nakedness, Kayla splashed into the deeper water uttering a small shriek at its coldness.

Garth erupted from the water in front of her, his deep brown eyes brimming with laughter. “Hey, where are you going? You don’t have to leave on my account.”

“I thought you were making camp!” Uneasily, she back-paddled away from him, her arms folded protectively to hide her breasts from his gaze.

“Now, how can you swim with your arms up like that?” he laughed. His hand darted under the water and snagged one of her feet, jerking her under.

Kayla broke the surface sputtering, modesty completely forgotten as her temper flared hotly at being dunked. Taking a deep breath, she dove to the sandy bottom and used it to propel herself back to the surface. She emerged only inches from Garth’s body, bringing a tidal wave of water with her to surge over his smiling face.

Bobbing about, laughing hysterically at her prank, Kayla managed to swallow a mouthful of water and began to choke.

Wiping the water from his face with a rueful grin, Garth reached for her and slapped none too gently on her back to clear the water from her lungs.

Still hiccupping with laughter, Kayla allowed herself to remain in his arms as he held her close against his bare chest, still patting her back.

“Were you planning to drink all of the water, or are you finished now?” he laughed at her. Bending his head, he gently nuzzled her neck and kissed her small ear.

Full awareness of her compromising position striking her, Kayla stiffened in his embrace and tried to push away from him. In spite of her innocence, she knew that she had let things go too far already.

“No! We cannot do this!” She struggled desperately to escape his powerful grip. “You don’t understand,” she moaned. “Stop!”

“Don’t be afraid, little one. I won’t hurt you.” Garth held onto her firmly, continuing to cover her neck and face with kisses as he moved them into shallower water. Feeling her struggles easing, he held her more gently and claimed her mouth with his to silence her weak protests.

Kayla allowed her fears to be appeased and gave into the feelings that had assailed her from their first meeting. She could feel the firm muscles of his body as he crushed her against him. His kisses were so unlike what she expected, she thought irreverently as his probing tongue ignited a fire deep within her.

Moving her body against his, she could feel the fully aroused maleness of him pressed to her soft belly. She returned his kisses with a fevered passion that was new to her and brought her small hands to caress lightly the bulging muscles of his biceps.

Garth lavished her firm breasts with kisses and took her nipple in his mouth, sucking gently until it felt so hard. She thought that surely the skin would burst. He closed his teeth on the swollen tenderness of the nipple and felt her body go rigid.

Kayla threw her head back, moaning in pain and pleasure. “Oh please, I don’t think I can bear it any longer,” she gasped as he brought an expert hand between her legs and touched the center of her being, tormenting her until she begged some more, “Please, Garth, please.”

"Oh yes, please, I want you so much." Kayla struggled to control her need, afraid to let it overwhelm her. She could already feel the heat of her body growing even as her need became unbearable. She felt his big hand caress her hip and the surge of fire leap from the brand he had placed there when they had been bonded. And she could wait no longer.

She could feel the tensing of his muscles under her hands and against her body and the hardness of him seeking, probing between her legs. With a shift of her hips, they were one.

The feel of him inside her, driving, thrusting nearly drove her mad. She wanted him so deep within her, wanted to feel the heat of his blood throbbing against the tender walls of her belly. She was suddenly aware of the surge of energy flowing from Garth to her. At first she tried to slow her intake, but when she realized that she could not, she relaxed and let him have her.

Garth tightened his grip on her, reaching with his mind and his soul for this woman he loved so much. There were no more secrets between them, no reason not to let her into his heart.

The fires of their passion were no longer figurative, as the water bubbled and steamed around them. Kayla's body twisted and clinched around the rock hardness of Garth's manhood as he exploded within her. The wave of energy flashing through Kayla's body and into his would have killed any other man.

"No! Let me out of here!" Dani was shaking so hard, she could hardly stand on her own.

"Now, that's no way for a good little slave to behave," growled Vorack as he dragged her into the center of the huge room. Reaching for a pair of leather cuffs hanging from the high ceiling, he locked one of her wrists in and reached for the other.

Totally terrified, Dani screamed, kicking and scratching hysterically. She managed to score a couple of solid kicks on his chest and groin and left a trail of bloody scratches across the good side of his face before he was able to capture and secure the second hand above her head.

Vorack stood back out of reach of her kicking feet a moment to wipe the blood from his cheek and glare down at her.

"You can't keep me here like this!" she screamed. "I have friends and they'll find me! You'll pay for this!"

Without warning, Vorack struck her, knocking her half-unconscious. Blood leaked from her cut lip.

"I told you that's not the way a good slave minds her Master." Seizing her chin with one hand, Vorack covered her mouth with his, his tongue rudely probing the depths of her mouth. When her resistance faded, his kisses became gentler, and he drew her lips into his mouth, one at a time, licking the blood from them.

His hands began moving over her naked body, eliciting an involuntary moan from Dani's throat. Taking her breasts into his big hands, he squeezed them until she yelped in pain before bending his head to her hard nipples and sucking them until they throbbed.

Dani tried to scream when she felt the roughness of his hand between her legs, driving his fingers up into her, but her voice seemed frozen somewhere deep inside her chest. She twisted and squirmed, but there was no escape.

Her stomach churned with nausea and her mind ranted in fear, but still, her body betrayed her, the ache in her groin growing until she thought she would surely die, for she could not stop herself from moving in time to his thrusts.

"No, please, stop," she cried desperately, and to her surprise, Vorack stopped touching her and left her twisting from her chains in an agony of need.

For just a moment, Dani was too afraid to open her eyes--until the rattle of more chains made her eyes fly wide, seeking the whereabouts of her tormentor. She found him standing a few feet away, his back to her.

Vorack had discarded his cloak and now wore only a black leather jerkin and britches much as Brandt had, only his were even more form-fitting, outlining every muscle and bulge of his body.

Sensing her eyes on him, Vorack turned. "What do you think, my dear? Do I compare well with your last lover? Let me allow you to fully appreciate my attributes," he said and began to undress.

Danielle had refused to answer him but found that she could not turn her eyes away either, for Vorack was indeed an exceptionally well-built man. Standing over six feet tall, his shoulders were broad and muscular but not to the same extremes as Brandt's. His muscles moved fluidly under his well-tanned skin, rippling across his chest and groin as he unfastened his belt buckle.

But as his britches fell to the floor with the rest of his clothing, Danielle began to struggle against the chains holding her once again, for where Brandt had been adequate, Vorack's manhood stood erect and huge.

"Ah, do not be in such a hurry, little elf," he laughed, deliberately misconstruing her anxiety as he reached for her. Kissing her deeply and running is hands over her body ever so slowly, he told her, "First, you must earn what it is you want so much." He pressed the hardness of his manhood against her belly, making her moan with need before moving away. But in a moment, he returned to remove her boots and fasten a leather cuff to each of her ankles.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Dani sobbed, rattling her chains in frustration.

"Because," he snarled and thrust his ruined face into hers, "you owe me for this!"

After an endless and all-too-short time, Luret collapsed and rolled to his back, breathing heavily, but the fires of Mariah's need still burned high, and the voices of the stone surrounding them sang to her, driving her need higher. This time, the Taureen had met his match, and she had no intention of letting him off this easy.

Mariah rose from the rumpled bed, making no effort to cover her nakedness. Knowing that he watched her with lusting eyes, she made her way to a cabinet of polished ebony and opened it to remove a carafe of heavy liquor and a silver cup.

"For you, lover," she purred as she filled the cup and passed it to him.

Luret reached for the cup with one hand and drew her back to the bed with the other.

"Not many women would still be willing," he grinned, "or able to return to a Taureen man's arms after that." He took a big swallow of the brandy and began kissing and licking her breasts.

Returning his caresses, Mariah did not answer him as she moved to him, kissing and massaging the bulging muscles of his chest and biceps. She knew it would not be long before the powerful herbs she'd added to the brandy would take effect, and her lover would find himself burgeoning with renewed need and strength. As his erection grew, Mariah eased herself onto him and drove her hips down on it.

Luret's cry of pleasure was followed by the hollow sound of the cup hitting the stone floor.

"Easy now, lover, you just lay back and let me bring you the pleasure a man like you deserves," she crooned to him when he tried to seize her hips in his big hands. Keeping his hands clasped in her own, she lifted them above his head without breaking the rhythm of kisses and soft nips to his body. Now, Mariah controlled the pace of the lovemaking, and she had no intention of returning it to him. With the blink of an eye and a thought, she caused the cuffs dangling from the corners of the bed to rise and close around the wrists she held extended.

The place was deserted.

According to the sign in the window, both the seen-better-days Bangkok Café and the Quonset-hut garage next door would be open for business at 6AM. Five hours from now. And in the meantime...

Coyotes.

The sound of them...their distant, drawn-out and faintly disturbing, primeval yowl...was as familiar to Sarah Sutton as the sound of her own name. As familiar as any other sound she'd heard since the very start of her life. But it made her shudder. Made her straighten away from the sign in the dirt-streaked window, twitching nervously at the hem of her barmaid's blue jeans mini-skirt as she peered with anxious eyes at the desert that spread for miles in every direction, black and sinister and no longer feeling at all like home.

Nothing moving out there. Nothing but coyotes. Certainly nothing in the 'town' of Bangkok, New Mexico.

Groaning deep in the back of her throat, Sarah adjusted her cowboy hat and shoved a wisp of copper-colored hair back from her face as she stepped off the concrete pad at the front of the restaurant.

Her ancient Ford pick-up sat fifty feet away, midway between the garage and a weather-beaten Texaco pump. Right where it had finally coasted to a stop after dying on the last, long hill that led into 'town'.

Nothing moved out there. Nothing was out of the ordinary. And yet...

There was something about this particular night. Something about the heat lightning that flickered blue-gray above a distant, jagged rim of hills. Something eerie. Expectant. Vaguely unsettling, and yet hypnotic.

As if the night waited.

Shuddering again, shivering deep down inside, Sarah turned back to her truck. Until the morning came, she'd feel much better...much safer...locked inside.

Far out on the desert, the coyote began its wavering cry again only to bite it back abruptly, half-uttered. And this time Sarah shivered harder, looking around at the ink-dark night shrouding those distant hills and the deep valleys in between...darkness that shrouded everything, right up to the edges of the faded-yellow circle of light from the single fixture mounted high on a pole above the gas pump.

All movement had ceased. All sound, too.

No breath of wind stirred dust-dry air.

No night creatures scrabbled past on secret rounds.

Shadows froze, and so did time.

The desert paused. Listened. Held its breath. And for the tiniest fraction of a second, so did she. Then, shivering again despite furnace-like heat that hadn't dissipated in the hours since the sun had gone down, she tucked her hands into the pockets of her skirt to still their sudden trembling and hurried across rough gravel toward the safety of her truck.

The silence was...wrong. It was...