"Are you okay?" Iarin's voice echoed in my ears. I opened my eyes and saw Paug and him looking over me. I was flat on my back on the cold stone floor of my training room. Light from the opened gate filled the space we occupied like an orange blanket. The gate led out to a large courtyard that had been sealed off with wood fencing.

"Absolutely." The smile came easy to my lips as I pushed back the memories and focused on my friends. I must have succeeded in my quest to end her. I no longer felt tormented by her presence, I no longer warred with my desire and repulsion toward her, she was dust, as Malek’s letter had said, along with everyone else I had ever loved or hated. I could pursue my goal now unhindered by emotion. "I am ready to go again." I flipped my legs under my body and sprang to my feet.

"Are you sure?" Iarin asked with concern. "You've been hitting it pretty hard for the last hour. I know you said you wanted to rest for five minutes, but we've been calling your name loudly and you didn't wake up."

"No I am fine. Are you both ready?" They sighed and nodded. "Great! Let’s begin."

I walked over to the side of the large room where there were several dark gray bags of sand and lead beads. I lifted the largest up onto one of my shoulders and squatted. It was a comfortable load for me, around a few hundred pounds, and I jumped up with the weight. The movement caused me to shuffle forward for a few feet and I repeated the motions until I had reached the far corner of the room. Once there, I moved the bag onto the other shoulder and hopped back.

My breathing had picked up and my body filled with energy. I had torn and ripped the muscles in my legs, back, stomach and shoulders with the movement. They healed quickly, becoming slightly larger and stronger as my body forced them to adapt.

"Half a minute break!" Paug called out from his desk. He flipped over a small time glass and scribed my training notes on a thick leather bound journal. We had been tracking my progress during the last three weeks while I used the new room. I had made great improvements.

"Handstand dips for two minutes!" Paug turned over another counter.

I flipped my body over onto my hands and brought the top of my head down to touch the ground before pushing it back up until my elbows locked. I repeated the motion until my lungs burned and the sweat dripped off of my body.

"Keep going!" Iarin shouted. "You are almost there." The woodsman had proved an invaluable training partner. He didn't have the strength that my magic granted me, but he already knew the exercises and was well versed in the kind of verbal encouragement that I needed to push my performance.

"Time! Half-minute break!" Paug shouted as I collapsed to the floor.

"One hundred and six!" Iarin said.

"New record! Great job Kaiyer!" I think I groaned out something. Perhaps this was a bad idea. My muscles were screaming as they tried to heal.

"Weighted pull-ups for two minutes!" Paug yelled again. Both Iarin and I sighed and sprinted over to the iron rings that the duke's men had drilled into the thick stone ceiling twenty feet above us. I jumped up to a dead hang and felt Iarin's hands grab around my ankles as he dangled from them.

"Shut up and pull Kaiyer!" the normally mild-mannered woodsman yelled when I started to scream at my fiftieth repetition. I don't know how much he weighed but it seemed like I was pulling a mountain off of the earth. Each lift ripped apart the muscles in my hands, arms, stomach, back, and legs.

"Time! Half-minute break," Paug called.

"Eighty-eight," Iarin called back.

"Wall flips for two minutes!" Paug yelled. I was already up and placing the ball of my left foot against the smooth stone. I pushed off of it, twisted my body in the air, and landed on my feet with a spring. Then I repeated the motion with my right foot. This one was easy but still got my heart to pump.

"Time! Half-minute break," Paug sang.

"Seventy-two," Iarin called the count.

"Log flip is next," Paug said, and I walked up the small set of stairs outside to the open courtyard where we had set up other training devices. One of them was a large log, measuring four feet in diameter and twenty feet long.

"Twenty flips!" Paug called. I squatted down and dug my hands beneath the end of the log closest to me and began to lift. I got it chest high before I had to squat and propel it over my head. Then I walked my hands down the length of the timber, each step making it more vertical until with a final push, it toppled over end.

"That's one," Iarin said next to me. I shot him a glare as I sprinted around it to pick it up and repeat the movement. "What? I'm happy drinking beer at the tavern all day. You're the one that wanted my help." He laughed and I forced a smile before I gritted my teeth, tensed my body, and lifted the log again.

"Done!" Iarin called up from the dungeon. The sun was slowly sinking into the west and the air started to cool.

"Half a minute before weighted pushups!" Iarin and I both groaned again. He pulled out a cloth strap and shrugged as we walked back down the stairs.

I got into the push up position and Iarin, who was beginning to look and weigh like he had been spending a lot of time at the tavern, sat on my back. He wrapped the strap under my chest as Paug yelled to start.

"Ninety-two!" Iarin yelled after Paug called time and I face planted into the cold stone.

"Yes! New record!" Paug yelled. At first he had wondered why I wanted to write everything down but he understood now. "We are almost done with this set!"

"What's next again?" I sputtered from the ground. The sweat from my body drenched every part of me.

"Back bridge flips across the room to two arm horizontal holds, then back again. Get ready."

I got to my feet and walked to the far side of the wall. When the boy called out to start I leaned back as if I wanted the top of my head to touch the floor behind me. Before I made contact with the ground I stopped my fall with my palms on the stone. I held there for a few seconds, my back bent and stomach facing the ceiling. I continued the movement into a brief handstand and finally landed on my feet. It was a break session in my routine so I tried to do them slowly. When I reached the opposite end of the room, my heart was beating at a calm rate.

This next exercise looked like a push up, only my feet didn't touch the ground. My palms pushed against the floor while my back and stomach forced the rest of my body into a straight line parallel to the tiles. I slowed my breathing and relaxed. I could feel my muscles experience tremendous amounts of tension, but I was able to keep up with the healing. Paug called time after two minutes and I repeated the sequence.

"What is next?" I called out when I had finished.

"Just a jog around the courtyard to relax. That is all you have for the rest of the day." He closed the book and put the quill into a holder. "Do you want to eat here when you get back?"

"Yes. I'll need to stretch." I began to walk out the door. The day was heading into dusk now. "That was it? I thought there was more?" I said over my shoulder.

"That was all you had written down in your log. You've been exercising almost all day. We'll bring back a lot of food!" He called cheerfully as he and Iarin walked out the opposite door that led back into the main castle.

I took a deep breath of fresh air and began a light jog through my private courtyard. The fence that protected prying eyes from my yard was similar to my lifting log. As I got near the wall I jumped up, grabbed the top of the stacked logs with my hands, flipped myself over, and landed in the soft grass on the other side.

Running around the inside perimeter of the castle walls was my favorite part of my exercise. I usually did four or five laps which I figured to be less than twelve miles. Along the way I could study the castle, watch the troops train, and exchange pleasantries with various servants that I ran past. I went at a casual pace and it took me about three quarters of an hour to get back to my private area. Fall was in midsession and a brisk wind from the north cut through the castle. Normally I finished my jog before the sun had fully set, but today I was not so lucky.

Nadea was waiting for me when I got back. She was sitting at Paug's desk and flipping through my training log. She was wearing her usual tight-fitting pair of leather pants and close-cut blouse that displayed her athletic body. There was a short sword strapped to her hip which she usually didn't wear around the castle. I figured she must have lit the torches on the wall.

"Hello Nadea," I whispered into her ear as I stroked the side of her neck.

"Shit Kaiyer!" she jumped out of the chair in surprise and spun around to face me. "I didn't hear you enter." Her heart was racing.

"I haven't seen much of you in the last few weeks. I miss you." She leaned backward a bit against the table and put the palm of her hand on my chest. I didn't know if she did it to touch me, or because she didn't want me to move closer to her.

"I've missed you too,” she breathed out in a sigh. “I've been working with my father and the king on some things." She looked away from my eyes and her heart beat oddly. She was lying, but I decided not to question further.

"Paug and Iarin are bringing back food. I'm sure there will be enough for you if you want to join us."

"Sounds like fun. I'd love to. You are really sweaty," she said as she removed her hand and looked at it.

"I just finished exercising."

"Yeah. You also stink." She wrinkled her perfect nose at me. Memories of Shlara shot through my head. Did we ever become lovers? I couldn't remember. Sometimes they seemed like someone else's memories.

I moved a few feet away from her and she gave me a dazzling smile.

“No more dresses?" I said as I motioned to her attire.

“My father hasn’t said anything yet. Looks like you are exercising a lot."

"I have been. Did you read the journals Paug has been keeping?"

"Only briefly, I was speaking more about . . . well," she paused for a second as she appraised my body. "You look stronger. It's only been a few weeks but you must have gained twenty pounds."

"I probably weigh one hundred and twenty pounds now." I smiled at her. The door to the room opened behind her.

"We've got some food!" Paug said triumphantly as he entered. He had two large pitchers of water. Iarin and three servants followed him with massive trays of food.

"Oh Nadea! Didn't know you would be joining us," Paug said with worry in his voice.

"I think we might have enough," Iarin said with a laugh as he set a tray down in the corner on a long table we had dragged in here for such purposes. The servants followed suit.

"Can you bring us more water and food?" Paug asked them. "Also, some chairs." They nodded and left hurriedly. The servants always seemed unnerved by the dungeons and were eager to leave.

I was already tearing into the food. One of the trays had assorted sliced meats, breads, and cheeses.

"Most of the time people like to sit and eat. It is considered polite," Nadea said. Her arms were crossed and she frowned at me. I shrugged at her and continued to eat. I was ravenous and satisfying my hunger was more important than making her happy at the moment.

"He's been working hard all day. You should come watch him tomorrow," Paug told Nadea with pride. "Iarin and I are his trainers."

"What have you been doing with yourself Nadea?" Iarin asked her as he found a tomato and cut it up into thin slices.

"Studying and talking with my father," she said. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye and her heart rate skipped around again.

The servants came in with another plate of food and more chairs. Everyone sat down and began to eat. Conversation lulled for a bit and after a handful of minutes I took a break from the food and began to stretch my muscles.

"How long did you exercise today?" Nadea asked as she watched me stretch and eat a small apple.

"We started this morning at dawn," Paug spoke for me. Nadea nodded and looked out into the night air.

I spent about half an hour finishing my stretching. It relaxed my muscles and cleared my head. Nadea, Iarin, and Paug had finished eating by then, but the food was only half gone so I set about cleaning the trays.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone eat as much as you," Nadea said as I got close to the end.

"I have a good appetite," I said to her with a smirk.

"Yes you do." She chuckled.

Iarin and Paug hid yawns behind their hands at the same time.

"You guys should go to bed. I am going to finish eating, bathe, and then do the same. I'll meet you in the morning."

"Okay. Good night. Bye Nadea," Paug said as he got out of his chair. Iarin smiled to Nadea and me as he joined Paug in his departure.

After the door closed I looked to Nadea.

"So what is really going on?" I asked her.

"What do you mean?" she said. Her heart started to beat faster.

"You lied earlier." I set down the apple core and drained the last pitcher of water.

"When?"

"When you said you had been working with your father and the king." I got out of my chair to close the massive wood door that led to my outside courtyard. After it was closed I placed two heavy iron bars over the latches to keep the doors from opening. Nadea hadn't answered when I turned back to her. Her face was troubled.

"How did you know that?" she asked me with a challenge in her eyes. I shrugged.

"You just confirmed it." I winked at her. Our eyes met for a few seconds and she finally frowned and sighed.

"The empress sent an envoy last week. He offered new terms to the king." She looked over to me. I could tell she wasn't happy.

"Let's walk and talk. I need to bathe. I think my smell is going to make you sick." She smirked and nodded in agreement.

We walked out of the training room and into the hallway. Air passed through my body as I forced the torches in the room to extinguish behind us. Nadea had already moved past me and didn't notice my magic.

"Tell me about this envoy," I said while we climbed the stairs up from the dungeon.

"It is impossible to tell their age," she said as she came over to me. The passage way was dark but I easily saw her face. "He showed up last week and asked for a meeting."

"And?"

"He made the king an offer. Several offers actually." We made it to the main part of the castle and she hadn't said any more. Part of me wanted to scream at her to tell me what the bastard wanted, but I was tired and relaxed from the day of rough exercise. My skin was sticky from the exertion and I just wanted to get into the hot water of the bathtub.

There were servants moving throughout the halls, preparing and delivering dinner. It was still early in the night.

There was a break in the servant traffic and I looked toward Nadea with an eyebrow raised.

"This is . . . difficult for me to talk about with you," she said.

"Why?"

"Because the envoy wanted to meet and talk to you."

"That would have been a bad idea. I would have torn him limb from limb." She looked frightened for a moment. "He isn't in the castle anymore is he?" My muscles tensed again, tired as I should have been I now felt primed to attack.

"No. He left a few days ago," she said quickly, before another stream of servants passed us.

I opened the door to my room and invited her inside with a hand gesture. I thought she would object, but she glided in without question and I closed the door behind her.

"Sit down there," I instructed her, pointing to one of the padded chairs next to the sofa in my room. I walked through the room and inspected the rafters in the ceiling. Looked under the bed, opened the dresser, and looked out on the balcony. I hadn't heard any heartbeats in the room, but it was better to be paranoid than dead.

"What are you doing?" she said, puzzled.

"Making sure the room hasn't been disturbed." I walked into the bathroom. I had told the girl that cleaned my room that I liked to bathe around this time; she was eager to please me and always left a dozen large candles burning. "Come in here and let's talk more." I turned on the hot water spout and began to peel the sweaty clothes from my skin.

"Wait, what are you doing now?" she asked from behind me when she walked into the bathroom.

"You said I smell, so I am going to bathe." I threw my sweat drenched clothes on the stone tile and stepped into the tub. The water was scorching hot but that was how I preferred it. I leaned back in the tub and sighed. I didn't remember having hot baths in my memories.

"Tell me what the Elven—I mean Ancient envoy wants with me," I said.

"He wanted to meet you, first of all," she called out from the main room.

"Come in here," I said.

"No! I can't be in there when you are without clothes!" she argued

"I don't understand."

"It is improper for a lady to be around a naked man that is not her husband," she said.

"Just come in here. I don't understand you people. You need to talk to me about the envoy." Her angry boot steps echoed as she walked in the room, she kept her eyes to the ceiling. "You'll need a chair." I remarked and she huffed angrily. Returning with one quickly she slammed it down and sat facing away from me. She crossed her legs and her arms. It was a good thing she had agreed to come in so easily. I didn't have enough energy to argue with her anymore and would have just yelled into the other room from the warm water.

"Why did he want to meet me?" I asked as I grabbed the soap.

"He thinks you are the O'Baarni. He referred to you several times by that name. We didn't correct him. Are you sure you are not the O'Baarni?" she had begun to bounce her crossed leg, and her heart rate was picking up slightly. I didn't answer for a while.

"Kaiyer?" she asked after a dozen seconds. She turned to look over her shoulder at me out of the corner of her eye. When she saw me watching her back she quickly turned around.

"No. I am not the O'Baarni. In my memories no one ever called me by that name. I was in his army. A general. I've told you this already."

"I know. I know. He just insisted that you were the O'Baarni. Also . . ." She looked over her shoulder again.

"You can turn around to speak with me. I'm in the bathtub. Haven't you ever seen a man naked?" I asked teasingly.

"Maybe," Nadea sighed in defeat. "I really shouldn't be here," she said as she spun her chair around to face me. Her arms and legs were still crossed and she avoided eye contact with me, looking everywhere but the tub.

"I agree. You should be in the bathtub here with me. It is very pleasant." I swirled my hand in the hot water, watching the surface grow oily as the grime of the day came off of my skin.

"I'm not getting in that bath with you," she said confidently.

"Suit yourself. It feels great." I leaned back into the water with a smile and sighed. I remembered I was supposed to be cleaning myself so I took the bar of soap and lathered it in my hands and over my chest. The army used to bathe in rivers naked in front of one another. Nadea's culture seemed very uptight about hygiene.

I reclined more in the tub and closed my eyes again, thinking about the beautiful woman sitting a few feet from me. I was persuasive. She was uncomfortable being around me, but was in the room with me now. Within a few minutes she would be in this tub with me, then she would be in the bed with me, and then she would be eating breakfast with me tomorrow morning. I shuddered as I imagined devouring her pert breasts with my mouth and running my hands over the smooth skin of her body. It would be a perfect way to end a productive day of exercising. "Please continue,” I said to her with a hungry smile.

"When you speak about your past, when you told us today about what happened with the humans, you spoke of the army as if it were yours. ‘My troops,’ and so on. And you mentioned them looking to you for advice. You made important decisions. If you were not the leader, you must have at least been very high-ranking and powerful. Do you remember meeting the O’Baarni?”

“I will have to wait until I remember more before I can answer that.” She huffed a little, not happy with the answer. I understood her frustration, but I didn’t know how to bring my memories back, they seemed to be triggered at random during the day or when I slept. I was confident that in time I would recall more, and while I wanted to be able to help them, to know more about myself, another part of me did not wish to remember everything. While it was maddening living between my past and my present, unsure who I was or what I had been, I feared there were memories I had submerged in my subconscious for a reason.

“The king and the duke thought it would be a bad idea to have you meet him, considering what happened to the last Ancients you met." She was looking at me now, at my face alone. Hers was serious, her eyes firm and hard, warning me not to persist in my attempts at seduction. The soft light of the candles in the room made her skin glow with a coppery sheen. Her heart was still beating faster than normal.

"They were probably right," I nodded in agreement.

I washed my face and my hair with the soap and then worked on my feet. She was trying not to watch but I saw her eyes drift toward me. I didn't understand why she was having such a problem being in the same room as me.

"Nadea?" I asked softly.

"What?" she snapped back.

"What else did the envoy say?" she was hiding something.

"He talked to the king about negotiating a truce." She looked at me and quickly looked away. Her heart fluttered again. She was stalling. For some reason she didn't want to talk to me about the envoy. Yet here she was, alone in my room with me.

"If you aren't going to talk to me about the envoy I can think of other things we can be doing to occupy ourselves," I said with an eyebrow raised. She looked at me and flushed.

"I bet you can. I should really be going." She looked into the other room and continued to bounce her crossed leg and booted foot. But she didn’t get up from her chair. She was definitely going to be making love to me tonight. I was surprised at how little I seemed to care about the Ancient envoy.

"Take off those clothes and get in here with me. I need someone to wash my back," I said as I pointed behind me.

"No! I already told you that I am not getting in there with you. Are you daft?" She frowned at me disapprovingly but she wasn't looking away anymore.

"I think you are daft for not coming in here with me. You want to." I spun one of the handles on the side of the bath and more hot water began to trickle into the tub.

"Oh? What makes you think so?" She raised her eyebrow. She had uncrossed her arms and was stroking her ponytail absently. The foot of her crossed leg did slow circles.

"Because you keep stalling instead of speaking about this envoy. You could have just said what you were going to say about him and then departed." She knitted her brows and scowled at me. It made her look even more beautiful as I imagined the look she would have on her face tonight when I first entered her.

"I am getting to it!" She crossed her arms again and tossed her thick dark mane back behind her. "Are you always so presumptuous? It makes it very difficult to be around you."

"I don't understand what that word means. Does it mean that you should come into the bathtub with me? Because it should," I said to her with a smile. She looked so flabbergasted that I almost laughed.

"No! It means that you have no regard for appropriate behavior and you lack any sort of modesty!"

Then I did laugh lightly, which made her angrier.

"I don't understand what I am doing wrong. You seem to believe that it is inappropriate for me to want us to be lovers."

"It isn't just that. You want to fuck anything that has breasts." She looked away with her nose upturned a bit.

"If this really was a problem would you still be in this room with me?”

"The problem is that I don't want to be a notch on your bedpost. I'm not your whore, whose sole purpose is to please you until you find another bitch that you want more. I will make love when I choose, to someone I love, not some horny bastard who feels entitled to using women for his own pleasure." She was glaring at me now. Her brown eyes flashed dangerously in the candle light. The water was almost to the top of the tub, I pulled the stopper on the drain so some of the soapy lake in which I was immersed could escape.

"I know I have upset you and I don't mean to do so. I really don't understand. Please be patient with me. What is a notch on a bedpost? What is a whore?"

"You don't know what a whore is?" I shook my head. "Paug probably didn't translate the word for you. It is someone who takes money in exchange for sex." I frowned. "Notch on a bed post means I don't want to be one of your many sexual conquests."

"I don't have a word in my language for whore," I said plainly. "We were slaves, often women would be taken by their male Elven masters because it pleased them to torture and rape. I think that was what happened with my mother. My father never spoke of how she died. He had only said that she was beautiful, and that he wished she was alive to see my brother and I grow up."

"I'm sorry," Nadea said with sympathy. "What about when you were in the O'Baarni's army? They normally have women that the soldiers can use."

"No. Half of the troops were women. If two people wanted to be together they could find comfort in each other. There was no shame in it, just as people were not ashamed of their need to eat or sleep. We never knew when we were going to live or die, so release and pleasure were high on our list of priorities. After we trained and took care of our duties of course." I recalled Shlara.

"Did people ever become married? Were you? Sorry, I don't mean to pry. It is very interesting." Her eyes met mine.

"No. No one married. We didn't have a word for it. People would have multiple lovers. Even ones of the same sex if they felt like it. How could you commit to someone when you or they might be killed in battle the next day?" Her face looked horrified.

"What about children?"

"Some women bore children. Sometimes their lovers would help raise them. Sometimes they wouldn't. It was decided between the parents. Other women chose to use herbs to prevent pregnancy. A few warriors only chose lovers of their own sex, maybe so they wouldn't have to worry about it. We had systems in place so that the young would be assimilated into the army. They would be trained, taught, and put into the war machine where they would have the best purpose."

"That's awful! Children in the O'Baarni's army? This man sounds like a monster." Nadea's voice cracked.

"What else could they do? We were all born as either slaves in bondage or slaves fighting for our freedom. There was nowhere else for the children to go, no other way to live. You have this whole world here outside the pending war. You send soldiers to fight while your people wait and live their lives. There was no other world for us. There was only the war. There was no home to return to or defend. We were building a new world for ourselves, and the children had no choice but to join the fight, it was for them, for their future, so they would be free from slavery. The O'Baarni didn't do this to our children. The Elvens did." I slid back into the tub and closed my eyes.

She was quiet for a few minutes.

"Did you . . . have many lovers?" she asked. Her heart thumped in her chest and indicated to me how important the question was.

"I don't remember any besides one. My position made it difficult to take lovers."

"Your position as a general?" I nodded without opening my eyes. A few more minutes passed. My muscles were completely relaxed now. "Your . . . lover. Was she beautiful? What did she do in the O'Baarni's army?" I opened my eyes and met Nadea's. She was biting her lower lip. I remembered Iolarathe's deadly smile, the sounds of her moans when I was inside of her, the sharp, surprising but pleasurable sensation of her claw-like nails ripping the skin from my back.

"Yes she was beautiful, almost as beautiful as you. It was a long time ago, and it does not matter." She nodded and I could hear her breathe out carefully. It was the answer that she wanted and it was true. No one was more beautiful to me than her, especially not a faded memory. "The point is that I think of sex a little differently than you. I don't mean to upset you. I don't have any need to conquer or possess you. I just want to please you and be pleased by you. If you don't want to, I understand, but you are in the room right now and you aren't talking about the envoy.” My eyes met hers again and I could see her look down into the tub and back up to my eyes, then my lips. Her hands began to stroke her hair and her crossed foot started to do quick, small circles.

Our eyes stayed locked for what seemed like a few minutes. Her heart began to beat faster and I watched her chest rise and fall with quickened breath. Finally, she spoke softly.

"The envoy said that if we surrender you, or if you surrendered to them, they would form a truce with Nia and our allies. They have sent envoys to all the other countries to tell them about the proposed offer. The king is getting tremendous pressure to hand you over to these Ancients. It's completely ridiculous." She sighed.

I sat back into the tub again and considered.

"It is a good move for the Ancients to make. Maybe they have convinced the other leaders that they will truly be left alone if I am surrendered. The Ancients will kill me and they will be free to destroy the rest of you."

"I know. I know. I have been explaining that to the king. He agrees with me as well. Hell, even Maerc thinks it is a fictitious proposal and is putting more worth into you now. There are envoys from all of our allies demanding you to be turned over though." She lifted up the hem of her left pant leg and exposed her boot. It climbed high up her calf. With a practiced move she undid the knot at the top and began to loosen the leather laces.

"The truce isn't going to do anything. A piece of fucking paper won't stop their arrows or their magic," she said angrily as she grabbed the heel of the boot and slid it off of her foot. There was a thin silk sock that remained on her foot, but that too shortly joined the boot on the stone tile next to her chair. Then she reached for the knot on her other boot. Her eyes avoided mine as she went at her task.

"What do you think will happen?" I said as I watched her take off her boots with fascination. My skin tingled with anticipation. The water was probably too hot for her so I turned the small wheel that added more cold water to the mixture.

"I honestly don't know. The king will stand firm, but Nanos argues with him daily and has other noble supporters." Her other boot and sock joined their mates on the floor. Her bare feet had high, beautiful arches and I wanted to rub them. She carefully stood up out of her chair and faced down to me. Her heart was beating fast and her cheeks were as red as I had ever seen them. Her firm and perfectly round breasts pushed up against the smooth fabric of her blouse and I could see her erect nipples push out into the material.

"Turn around," she said as she waved her pointer finger in a circle motion toward me.

"Why?" I raised my eyebrow

"I am going to take off my clothes."

"And?"

"I don't want you to see me," she sighed in frustration.

"I am going to see you naked in the bath when you get in here with me. Then I am going to see you naked in my bed when we make love for the rest of the night." She gasped and I couldn't stop from grinning. She had a very odd sense of modesty, but now there was no question for her as to what would be happening if she got into the water with me.

"I can't believe I am doing this." She bit her lip and looked down at me. Her eyes were on fire with lust as she slowly began to unbutton the front of the shirt. She removed her top, exposing the breasts I had been fantasizing about since our first campfire conversation. Her stomach and chest were the same light tan as her face. Her breasts almost didn't need the support of her blouse; they stood firm and high on her chest. Below them were vertical rows of perfect abdominal muscles that I was going to be running my tongue down and exploring within the half hour.

She undid her belt and pulled down her leather pants with a slow wiggle. Her eyes still locked with mine, judging my reaction to her naked body. Like her upper body, her legs were composed of long, toned muscles that were only acquired through disciplined exercise. I had seen Shlara naked several times and the similarities between her and Nadea's body compelled my erection to become even harder. She had a small strip of dark hair above her entrance that she tried to cover up with her hand. She seemed to realize that it was a futile attempt and she moved her hand away so that I could see.

Her heart was beating even faster now, her breathing was almost labored. I drank in the sight of her lithe form and then looked into her face. She was still biting her lower lip and her eyes were excited.

"Oh Nadea," I purred from my spot in the warm water. "How can I have any worries with your perfect body in front of me? Come in here so I can taste you." She let out another gasp of pleasure and took the two steps required to reach the side of the bathtub.

Her left leg lifted up to get over the edge of the tub and I got a perfect look at the moist pink entrance that led into her body, then her pointed toe broke the top of the water.

"Oh shit! It's hot!" she said, startled.

"Go slow," I reassured her as she put the rest of her foot and then leg in with a hiss. My right hand came up and stroked the flank of her thigh. She gasped again as my fingers danced across the smooth skin.

"It's really fucking hot. Damn. How do you stand it?" Instead of answering I pressed my lips and tongue against the skin of her upper leg, just slightly under her hip bone. For a few seconds she seemed at a loss for what she should be doing other than moaning. Finally, her left hand went to the back of my head and her fingers rubbed against my scalp through my hair as my tongue licked in slow circles across her sensitive skin.

"That feels really good Kaiyer," she whispered between labored breaths.

"I haven't even started yet." I gave her a small chuckle and was rewarded by another soft moan of anticipation from her throat. "Let me turn on more cold water," I said as I reached over with the hand that had been stroking her leg. I spun the cold wheel more and tightened up the hot wheel.

With a hiss of displeasure, she submerged her right leg up to her mid-thigh in the hot water but didn't sit down into it. I slid forward and wrapped my hands around the back of her legs and grabbed firmly onto them. Then I continued to run my mouth over the smooth, taut skin of her thighs for a few minutes.

"Hum mm. Okay. This was a good idea," she muttered under her breath. I chuckled again in between licking and kissing her legs. She was holding them tightly together so I didn't have access to the lips around her entrance, but it would only be a matter of time before I would get there. I would savor the road to my final destination.

My hands moved up to the back of her legs and cupped her muscular buttocks. My lips climbed higher on her hips as I began to rub the muscles gently. She let out another long sigh.

"Kaiyer," she whispered while she ran both of her hands through my hair. "Let me get in the rest of the way."

I moved back to my end of the tub and watched her slowly lower her slender form in the pool. The water came up to her breasts and they seemed to try and float on the surface. Her arms hung along the edges of the rim on the tub as she leaned back against the far wall. Her legs stretched out almost the length of the space and lay on top of mine.

"Ah . . . this does feel really good." Her eyes closed briefly as she relaxed and then opened to meet mine. The candles gave them a yellowish glow and her lips twisted into a smile of lust and desire. She inhaled deeply and exhaled with contentment.

My hands reached down to her feet and began to knead the muscles in her arches with my thumbs. I was going to touch, rub, and lick every part of her tonight. This would be a good place to start.

Her hands tightened around the rim of the tub and she let out another moan of deep enjoyment. Her mouth formed a perfect round expression of pleasure and surprise as my fingertips massaged her feet.

Suddenly a thunderous chime echoed in our room. We both sat upright in surprise. The bell rang out again, defiantly loud. I heard voices crying from a distant hallway.

"What the hell is that?" I said as I pushed my hands against my ears, spraying water out of the tub. I hadn't expected the noise and my brain felt like it had been drop kicked.

"It’s the alarm!" Nadea screamed as she got out of the steaming water, her smooth, wet skin reflected the glow from the dozen candles in the room. "We are under attack!"

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