World Without End

Comfortable and Safe

Part B

Warning: implied m/f 

Note: Dr. Lamaze introduced his ‘painless childbirth’ in the 50s. It might have been too soon for Hank and Carolyn to use, but I’m going to pretend it isn’t. Thanks to Silk for looking this up for me.

Part 19 

Hank’s POV

“Doc!” 

He was striding ahead of me, back toward our quarters. 

John was trying to convince Timmek, and whoever was with him from the council, of the necessity of emerging from these underground caverns. 

Herb had taken Deen and disappeared to gather the boy’s belongings. Sure, that’s what they were going to do. Doc and I had both muffled a snicker when the radioman announced his intentions. 

Doc was waiting for the door to slide open, his mouth grim now. I was afraid I had angered him. 

“I’m sorry, Doc. I shouldn’t have shot off my mouth like that.” 

“What, Hank?” 

“I shouldn’t have brought up the fact that in each generation fewer are born, and of those, fewer survive! They’re condemning the human race to extinction!” I couldn’t get the images of those tiny bodies out of my mind. 

Doctor Galbraithe’s arm went around my shoulder, and as the door opened, he urged me into our quarters. “You’re right, Hank. We have to help these people, in spite of themselves. 

“You’re not mad that I put my foot in it? You might have persuaded Timmek to go along with the plan if I hadn’t said anything.” 

He sighed. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Hank. Timmek might have been wavering, but it was seeing Mories that kept him from considering our offer. We’ll just have to keep trying.” 

He dropped his arm and walked away from me. And I felt bereft. 

“Can I ask you something, Doc?” 

His fingers hovered over the menu. “Shoot, Hank.” 

I joined him and made the selection, keeping my eyes on the keypad as I tried to figure out a way to bring up this subject without looking like a horse’s ass. “When you lost your wife, how did you manage? How did you get over it? How long was it before you found someone to replace her?” 

His brown eyes were warm with memories. “I didn’t manage, Hank. Not for a very long time. I drank heavily, put myself at risk. Herb got me through the worst of it, but you’re never completely over it. He made me see that Beth would not be happy if I drank myself into an early grave. And she would have been even more unhappy if I had gotten myself killed over a whore.” 

My mouth hung open. “You were seeing hookers, Doc?” 

“From the worst part of town. I was lucky Herbert followed me and got me out of there in one piece!” 

“And did you find anyone else?” 

He was seeing something no one else could. Then he shook himself out of his reverie. “No one can replace Beth. She was my wife, and I’ll never remarry. Just as no one will replace Carolyn, Hank. She’ll always be there, in the back of your mind. But you will find someone else to share your life with. Give it time, my friend. And don’t try to forget her, or your kids.” 

I thought I was handling it okay. I hadn’t cried since we discovered the graveyard, and I realized my family was long dead. But now I felt my lip tremble, and my eyes fill. And then Doc pulled me into a comforting embrace and held me while I wept. 

His beard-roughened cheek rubbed against my temple, and his hands threaded through my hair. “It will get better, Hank. I promise you!” 

I dried my cheeks on his shoulder and turned to say something. He turned at the same time, and our lips met, for just an instant. His were dry, but tears were on my mouth, and he tasted them. “Sorry, Hank. You don’t need this.” 

He eased his hold on me, in case I wanted to pull away from him, and his eyes were wary. I guess he was afraid I might want to take a poke at him, too. The last time we had all looked, I didn’t go Greek. 

I wouldn’t let him go. “Maybe I do, Doc. Maybe this is exactly what I need. I…I’m just not sure how to go about this. All I do know is that I…I need you.” 

“We’ve got all the time in the world, Hank. We can go as slow as you want.” 

I knew I had to be blushing. I felt like a virgin bride. I said as much, and blushed even harder. “Shit! I don’t mean like we’re married, or anything, Doc! Hell!” I took in a deep, cleansing breath, held it, and then blew it out, remembering those painless childbirth classes I had taken with Carolyn. “I’m not expecting a commitment!” 

Doc didn’t laugh and look relieved, as I expected. “Well, I’m afraid I do, Hank. I’m not a tomcat like Herb is. Like Herb was,” he corrected himself. “If I take you to my bed, you’ll be the only one sharing it with me. But if you can’t commit to me, then we had better just remain friends.” 

He let me go and turned to pick up the coffee the menu had dispensed for him. I grabbed his sleeve and held on. “Doc… Easy…” 

The next thing I knew, I was in his arms and his lips were plundering mine in an honest-to-God, knock-your-socks-off, curl-your-toes tongue kiss that left me weak and shaking and with the first hard-on I had ever had that was not caused by my wife. 

We had known each other since she had moved next door as a teenager. I had taken one look, and never looked at another girl. She wasn’t the first girl I kissed, but she was the last. We had each been the other’s first, and only lover. 

Doc… Easy… had loved like that, and he wouldn’t expect me to bury my memories of Carolyn. He would understand when I grew quiet, swamped by my loss, and he would hold me until the grief became bearable once more. 

He cupped my cheek, his thumb capturing the stray tear that clung to my eyelashes. “It’s been a tough day, Hank. Why don’t we go lie down for a while?” And he held out his hand. I stood looking it at it for the tiniest moment, then put my hand in his, and squeezed it. 

We were about to walk toward his bedchamber when the door to our quarters slid violently open. 

Easy released me casually and looked toward the men who had burst in on us. “Yes?” he asked. 

Timmek strode in, his face livid. “Search!” he barked, and the men peeled off and disappeared into our rooms. 

“What is the meaning of this?” the Skipper snapped, for now he was no longer my lover, but our leader.

“The weapons are missing!” The heat with which Timmek said this stopped Doc in his tracks. 

“Oh. Well, I’m sorry, but surely no harm has been done?” 

“No harm? Is that all a man’s life means to you?” 

“*What*?” 

“James is dead! Killed by a blow to the head!” 

“But… you can’t think we were involved?” 

“You wanted the weapons, and you took them!” 

“No!” 

A young man we had never met came running in and whispered something into Timmek’s ear. At his signal, our arms were restrained, and we were hustled into another chamber. We could hear John whistling as he was about to walk into this trap. Before we could call out a warning, our mouths were gagged by their hands. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” we heard John shouting. “You have no right!” 

We were shoved back into the main chamber just as the man who was searching Herb’s room emerged triumphantly, the guns in his hands. 

Timmek looked apoplectic. “I am an old man, but I wish I had died before I saw this day!” 

The door opened once more, and Herbert was shoved into the room, his arms so tightly bound he couldn’t move them at all. Behind him was Deen, his face white. 

“Doc! What’s this all about?” Herb wanted to know. 

“James is dead. They found the guns in your room.” 

Herb went pale. “Ah, Skipper, you don’t think I had anything to do with that?” 

“No, Herb. I know you wouldn’t kill a man over anything as frivolous as a gun.” 

“Take them to the council chamber!” Timmek ordered, and we were hustled out of our quarters. 

**** 

We were numb, too shocked to take in what was happening. Herb kept looking for Deen, but they wouldn't let the boy near him. We waited to learn when we would be tried. 

Timmek emerged from the rooms behind the chamber where he had been consulting with his fellow councilmen. 

“This is our decision.” 

“Wait a minute!” John interrupted. “Don’t we get a trial?” 

Timmek looked at him disdainfully, and continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “You will be set out of our tunnels three hours after sunset. You will be given your weapons,” he spat the word, “and what you arrived here with. Nothing more, nothing less. And we will endeavor to forget you ever entered our lives!” 

“But…that’s a death sentence!” 

He ignored the Skipper, turned on his heel and left the room. We were returned to our quarters to prepare to leave. They cut us loose, but there were guards outside our door who would see to it no one left. Or entered. 

They wouldn’t let Deen in. 

I had never seen Herbert look so devastated. As we gathered our belongings, he sat with his head in his hands, despair in every line of his body. 

I looked around my chamber, making sure I was leaving nothing behind. Doc came in and stood behind me. I leaned against his comforting presence. 

“I’m gonna regret just one thing, Easy.” 

“Just one thing, Hank?” He smiled, but it was strained, and his hand gripped my hip. 

“Yeah. Just one. I’m gonna die a virgin!” I turned my head and kissed him. 

“What did Shakespeare say? ‘Oh, a kiss, long as my exile, sweet as my revenge!’” He returned my kiss and then stepped away. 

We went back into the main chamber. John was fiddling with the menu. “I managed to order up some food for us, Skipper, but nothing else is coming out now.” 

“I guess they figured out we might try that.” 

“Do we have everything?” 

Herbert looked up, speaking for the first time since we had returned to these quarters. “No. I don’t have Deen.” 

####

Part 20 

Mories’ POV 

Everything was falling nicely into place. 

The strangers would be thrown out of our lives, and by morning would surely be dead. I would be President of the Council, Garnet would be my wife. And the Beast would become my personal property. 

Granted, I had committed one, small error. But other than that, my life was everything I could want it to be. 

Things were excellent. 

**** 

I examined my reflection in the mirror. My skullcap was securely covering my head. My face was smooth and free of any obscene hair, reminiscent of the beasts that dwelled above, so I did not need to have a depilatory wipe. And my teeth were shiny and brightly white. 

I gave my tunic a tug and proceeded to the council chamber, where I intended to convince Timmek that it was time for him to step down and name me as his successor. 

**** 

I strolled into the room and came to a dead halt. The strangers were grouped together, and turned as one to glare at me. 

Garnet was being held by John Borden. She was wearing a pair of sandals that left her toes bare, and I observed them with disinterest. 

I felt a jolt of shock. 

Why was I no longer aroused by that sight? And why was it that the thought of being swallowed by my Beast’s mouth left me hard and aching? 

A young female, who looked almost old enough to soon be released from the crèche, was sobbing in Timmek’s arms. 

“We were afraid you would never believe us,” she wept. “Just as you found it easier to believe that Deen was simply clumsy and wasn’t being abused!” 

“Is this true, Mories?” Timmek demanded. 

I put on my best, most innocuous expression. “Is what true, Timmek?” 

“Were you the one who killed James?” 

I began to sputter. “I…They…You… How…how dare you even insinuate such a…such an insane accusation?” 

“The children of the crèche saw you strike James! Explain your deception!” Timmek thundered. He could still summon the forceful demeanor of his earlier years of governing. 

I curled my lip at him. “And you believe these little wretches over your administrative assistant?” I asked disdainfully. “I have never been so insulted! I don’t need to stay here and be humiliated in this manner!” 

I stormed out, struggling to maintain my facade of indignation. I was able to restrain my panic until I reached the corridor. And then my hands were at my mouth, and I bit furiously at my nails. 

In a heartbeat, all my marvelous plans and dreams for the future had turned to ash. 

Everything I wanted would be taken form me! I would be mocked, vilified. 

Held accountable for my actions! 

I had to escape! 

I could feel drops of perspiration beading under my skullcap, at the nape of my neck, at the peak of my forehead. They started to trickle down from my temple and stung my eyes. I dashed a hand over my face and was dismayed to see the fine tremor in my fingers. 

Just then I heard Timmek summoning men to find me. The sound of footsteps pounding behind me flooded my system with adrenaline. 

I ran. 

**** 

I found myself in an old tunnel, possibly the one in which the strangers had taken shelter. 

I didn’t stop to think, or to reason out my next more. I just kept running. 

The footsteps were growing louder and closer at this point, and I was terrified. 

The door to the outside slid open. Fool that I was, I never stopped to question it. I was through it and out into the waning sunlight of the late afternoon. For the first time in my life, I on was on the outside, away from the safety and comfort of the world I had known for my entire life. 

I whirled around, but the door was already closing. I pounded uselessly on it, before realizing abruptly the extent of the danger I was in. I could not stay there, on that mountainside. 

I ran once more. 

My precipitous flight took me down a sloping hill into a clearing that was surrounded by brush and boulders. 

And then the howls began, as one-eyed deformities burst from cover and surrounded me. They swung at me with primitive weapons, and pain exploded in my back and shoulders. My skullcap was ripped off my head, and they grew silent and still. 

They approached with something akin to amazement as my shorn scalp was revealed. 

One who was not quite as tall or as gruesome as the other beasts reached out to touch my head, and I jerked away in fear and disgust. He came closer. 

Another creature that must surely have been the epitome of a fever dream stalked forward aggressively. It was obviously the leader. At least seven feet tall, with a single, demonic eye and a nose that was a couple of slits off-centered in its face, it seemed to grow more immense and more horrifying with each step that brought it closer to me. 

There was a confrontation. Harsh, guttural sounds issued from the pair of them, as they seemed to argue about something. 

I was too dazed to understand what was happening. The smaller one seized my tunic and yanked me toward it. 

The larger of the two pushed the less burly one away from me and growled menacingly, tossing me aside. I fell backwards onto my ass. The one who had been so curious about me looked as if it might challenge the leader. But then it hesitated, and backed down. It…he…the smaller brute turned his back and the big one flung up the other’s furs, shoving an impossibly huge prick into his ass. 

The leader’s single eye closed, and an indescribable expression crossed his face. He grunted as his hips thrust rhythmically. The smaller one actually seemed to be enjoying it! 

I shuddered in horror and willed myself to disappear. Instead, unable to be anywhere but there, I tried to make myself as undetectable as possible, and scuttled away from them. 

The hairy legs of the rest of the band stopped my retreat. I was ringed in by them. The massive leader pulled out of his subordinate with a satisfied sound and dropped his furs, but not before I saw that he was still hard, the tip of his prick glistening with pre come. 

And then he turned toward me.

#### 

Warning: male rape, character death. Oh, come on, you know you’ve been waiting for this!

Note: In spite of what my good friends know about me, this is not a Mary Sue!

  Part 21 

Deen’s POV

They wouldn’t let me see him. 

They would never permit me to go with him. 

And I knew they would never believe me. 

**** 

Hurrying back to my chamber, I had every intention of raiding my own menu. No matter what The Others intended, when Herbert left this place, I would leave with him. 

The door of my chamber was about to slide closed when one of the older inhabitants of the crèche slipped in. “Velvet! What are you doing? You know you’re not supposed to be here!” 

She looked distracted. “In another few days I’ll be allowed to leave the crèche for good!” She was a pretty sixteen year old, and if I didn’t prefer my own sex, I might easily have fallen in love with her. 

Although I was older than she by a good four years, I had to look up to meet her eyes. Being so short, always being perceived as a boy, was something I had had to deal with since I had attained my full growth some years ago. 

I sometimes wondered if that was the reason why Mories selected me to torment. Of all the adults who dwelled in these caverns, only I was shorter than he. 

Thinking of him made me uncomfortable, so I banished him from my mind, concentrating on the woman/child before me. “I’m busy right now, Velvet. Can this wait for another time?” 

She regarded me with intelligent green eyes. “I don’t think there will be another time for us, Deen.” 

I went pale. “I beg your pardon?” I said cautiously. I thought she was my friend, but when it came right down to it, she was also one of The Others. Would she, too, try to keep me from leaving, from being with my Master? 

As if reading my mind, she hurried on. “Oh no, I won’t try to stop you; I’ve seen how happy you’ve been since the strangers were found in the tunnel. I…wish it might have been me who made you happy, but…But there’s something you must know!” She ran a hand through her short, ash brown hair, leaving it attractively tousled. “*Mories* is the one who struck James!” 

I know the grip of my fingers on her arm must have been painful, but she didn’t protest it. “What are you saying?” 

“You know the adults never see us, even when we’re right in front of them. I was playing the Jack game with the children. We saw Mories go into James’ chamber, and we hid to find out why he was there. When James came to the crèche and went in, we heard noises. I peeked through the door and saw Mories use one of the weapons to strike James. Then he ran out.” 

“To hide the weapons in my Master’s bed. He has been condemned because of Mories’ action!” I swore savagely in the language of my people. 

Velvet’s face became bloodless. For the first time in all the years I had known her, she truly saw me as a Beast, and she backed away in fear. 

And that hurt. “Do you really think I would harm you, Velvet? You, who have always been kind to me?” She shook her head, but I no longer believed her. “Go. You will not see me again!” 

Tears filled her eyes and she reached for me, but I snarled at her and avoided her touch. I was out the door before she could say anything more. 

**** 

So, Mories was the one who had killed James. 

Timmek and his councilmen would never believe anything I had to say. I was a Beast, and I had thrown in my lot with one of the strangers. 

My Master and his comrades would be exiled for a crime they had not committed, and the man who had done it would go free, rising in position, to live a long and happy life. 

No. 

I could tolerate anything that was done to me, but I was not about to stand for Mories indulging in his nasty little games with someone who actually seemed to…care about me. 

My supplies were still in the tunnel where I had stored them. They were waiting patiently behind an odd-shaped boulder, and right at the top of the bundle was my knife. 

I took it out and thoughtfully tested its edge on my thumb. It drew a drop of blood. I sucked at it. And I grinned. 

**** 

The acoustics of the tunnels were nothing short of amazing. I heard the desperate gasps long before the runner reached the passageway I was using to make my way back to the caverns. I faded out of sight and waited. 

And the Being who looks kindly on Beasts granted me my fondest wish. 

Mories was staggering toward the end of the tunnel, glancing frantically over his shoulder. Sweat stained the silver skullcap he wore and the underarms of his tunic. As I watched, he stumbled and fell, shredding the knees of his leggings. His breath whistled and whined as he fought a losing battle to contain his panic. 

He was being pursued. By his own people. 

I slid deeper into the shadows, starting when my hand brushed across the control that worked the door of this tunnel. As if they had a mind of their own, my fingers closed around it, twisting, and the door rose with quiet elegance. 

Equally silently, it shut after Mories bolted through. I could hear the muted thuds as he rained blows on the steel door. 

The men who had been following him halted in dismay. They glanced around, confused. I stepped out of the shadows, respectfully approaching them. 

“May I help you, Sirs?” 

The leader regarded me intently, and then dismissed me. “We’re searching for Mories. Have you seen him, Beast?” 

“I thought I heard someone running in that direction, Sir.” I gestured toward a tunnel that I knew would return them, after a long and circuitous journey, to the main corridors of their underground city. 

“Good…” He caught himself, chagrinned. What should he call me? If I were one of The Others, he would have called me boy, or lad, or man. But I was a Beast. He satisfied himself by simply saying, “… work.”

He led his men to the tunnel I had indicated, and I stood there listening to their footsteps become more and more distant. 

And then I ran lightly back to the passage that opened up higher on the mountain. 

**** 

By the time I walked out into the waning sunlight, I could hear the howls of my people, and I knew they had found their prey. 

I carefully peered over the rocky ledge and saw the silver-clad figure vanish under the sheer weight of their numbers. They might save me the task of destroying Mories, but I wanted to be there to watch it. 

What did you expect? I am a Beast! 

I worked my way down to the edge of the clearing, pausing only to smear my face and hands with dirt, to camouflage my appearance. A sudden roar sent a quiver through my gut, and for the first time in twelve years I beheld the chief of my tribe. 

Naga was haranguing a follower who was dangling Mories from a massive paw. The follower was smaller than the others in the hunting party, although not by much. Naga shoved him violently, and Mories was sent tumbling aside. 

With a gesture from the chief, the smaller one backed off, and then turned to submit to Naga’s dominance. His furs were tossed up out of the way. 

I could see Mories’ eyes almost bug out as he watched Naga shove his huge cock into his follower’s ass. 

I crept closer, concealed behind the bushes that would block their view of me, but which would do nothing to hinder my line of vision. The grunts and moans were clearly audible, and my own cock became hard. I had not witnessed such a buggering since I had been banished from my tribe. 

When this situation with Mories was resolved, I would find Herbert and present myself to him. He was a thorough, considerate lover, but what I wanted right now was to be fucked into the next day. I licked my lips. 

Resolutely, I tucked that thought away for a more appropriate time. I ignored the throbbing of my arousal and watched avidly as Naga finished with his follower and turned toward Mories. 

Mories tried to scoot away from the chief, but his flight was halted by the other members of the tribe. A whimper escaped his throat. Naga reached down to drag the little man to him.  Mories’ eyes rolled up in his head, and he pitched forward, in a dead faint. 

Naga didn’t care. This was not about pleasure; it was about forcing his opponent to submit to him. He ripped off Mories’ leggings. The pale flesh of the other man’s ass fascinated him. He was used to the deeply tanned bodies of the tribe. Curious fingers probed and pinched Mories’ buttocks. 

A muffled groan told us that the man of The Others was regaining consciousness. Naga continued his exploration of The Other’s body. He parted the globes of Mories’ ass and examined the puckered opening with a blunt finger. 

Mories squirmed uncomfortably, and then shrieked as the finger pushed its way past the tight ring of muscle. Naga grinned, exposing a mouth filled with blackened, broken teeth. He removed his finger, only to replace it with two large digits. 

Fat tears rolled down Mories’ cheeks, and he began to sob as Naga finger-fucked him. 

From my vantage point I could see Naga’s cock, deeply purple and oozing pre come. Perhaps it was best that the small man did not know what lay in store for him. Naga’s free hand was pressing down on Mories’ shoulders, forcing his ass high. The chief pulled his fingers free, causing The Other to hiccup around a moan. 

But before Mories could think he was gaining even a moment of respite, Naga slammed his impossibly huge cock into the abused hole. The chief had a punishing grip on the small man’s hips, and he pounded away at him. 

With each thrust, Mories screamed like a woman giving birth. 

He tried to pull free, but he hung from the cock that impaled his ass, and Naga cuffed him indolently about the head. Even such a minor blow from our massive chief could be lethal. Mories was not so lucky. 

His screams became whimpers as he hovered on the verge of unconsciousness. But his ordeal was not over. 

A dark flush mounted Naga’s cheeks above his beard, and he began to bellow out his climax. As each spurt of scalding semen flooded Mories’ bowels, shocking his overloaded system, Naga’s fists struck the small man. 

I heard ribs snap like twigs, and knew one must have punctured a lung when a froth of blood appeared around Mories’ lips. 

With one last howl of satisfaction, Naga pulled free of The Other and let him drop to the ground. Ropes of come dribbled from the small man’s ass, streaked with blood. He toppled onto his side, gasping painfully for breath, weeping hopelessly. 

Naga strode away, his mood, for once, making it safe to approach him. His followers were quick to catch up, although they were still wary enough to give him a wide berth. One could never tell with the chief. 

I waited until they were gone, over the next hill, before I left my hiding place. As I drew closer to Mories, I could tell he was clinging to life, but just barely. 

I stood over him and nudged him with my toe. He flinched and tried to roll away, but his pain was too great. His pale eyes were open, but they were blind with suffering, and he couldn’t see me. 

I squatted down beside him. And waited. 

**** 

I crossed the clearing, trudging back up the slope of the mountain to the steel doors that concealed The Others’ tunnels. Behind me lay the body of the man who would have let someone much finer than he be punished for his own actions. 

The moon, so enormous I felt that if I reached out my hand I could touch her, began her journey across the sky, her light sending my shadow on ahead of me. 

It was three hours after sundown. 

When I reached the door to the upper tunnel, I was unable to restrain a low cry of dismay. Where I had left it open, it was now tightly closed. My head fell forward to rest against it. 

How was I to get back to my Master?

#### 

Note: It’s been a long time since junior year Latin, and I’m sure I got the spelling wrong. Rough translation, “We who are about to die, salute you.”

Part 22 

Herb’s POV

They had grown complacent over the years, these people who represented all the hopes of mankind. 

They had retreated to the comfort and safety of these caverns, and there was no strife, no quarrels, no crime. 

No striving for the impossible, the unreachable. 

As Hank had noted, with each passing generation their numbers grew fewer and fewer. And while they claimed to have the solution within their grasp, it was easy to see that this pocket of humanity was closing fast on extinction. 

**** 

The men Timmek had sent out to search for Mories came stumbling back into the main cavern, exhausted, their faces streaked with dust and sweat.

“Have you found him?” the president of the council demanded. 

The leader’s head whipped around as if he expected Mories to pop out from hiding. A look of confusion washed over his face. “You do not have him?” 

“Obviously not!” 

“But…the Beast told us Mories came this way! We’ve been following that passage for at least an hour!” 

“You saw Deen?” I grabbed the front of the leader’s tunic and dragged him up close. 

Strong emotions seemed to frighten them, but Nicter, the leader, struggled to maintain his composure. “Is that his name? Yes, we saw him in one of the tunnels deep in the mountain.” 

“That’s where he’s been then, Herb. He hasn’t left you. You worried for nothing.” Doc had my shoulder in a comforting grip. 

“Then why hasn’t he returned, Doc? If it’s been an hour, as he says,” I nodded toward the leader, “then where is he now?” 

Nicter cautiously freed himself from my clutches. “Why are you worried about him?” 

I stared at the man, unable to believe his disregard for the boy’s safety. “Mories is out there. He’s killed once; there’s nothing to stop him from killing again! And Deen is so small!” 

“Be that as it may,” Nicter straightened his tunic, “the creature is a Beast. He can take care of himself!” He turned away to lead his men to another passage in search of Mories, never knowing how close he had come to having his lungs ripped out. 

I took a step after him, fully intending to do him grievous hurt, when Garnet said something that brought me to a complete halt. 

“He is not so young as you seem to think, Herbert Ellis.” She turned in John’s embrace, watching me from those beautiful violet eyes; beautiful, and yet so calculating. “Deen may be short in stature, but he is not a boy. He is at least twenty years old.” 

“Nice to know you didn’t rob the cradle, isn’t it Herb?” John asked. 

“Borden, do the letters F O ring a bell?” 

He hid his face in Garnet’s hair, trying to stifle a chuckle, and reluctantly I had to grin with him. 

But I was still worried. 

These people were helpless to face an aberration like Mories. They had no experience with murder. The caverns were huge, prepared originally to hold tens of thousands. 

Mories could spend the rest of his life comfortably, safely hidden. He would spend those years alone, but he would be alive. 

Well, fuck that! 

I unwrapped a stick of Bazooka Joe bubble gum and grimly stuffed it into my mouth. “Nicter, which direction was that tunnel?” 

**** 

I was finally able to find the tunnel in which my Sunshine had last been seen, although it took the teen, Velvet, to lead me to it. 

It seemed the children of the crèche were not quite as helpless and puny as their elders believed. Under Deen’s protection, they had explored many of the abandoned passageways and corridors of the underground caverns, although Velvet assured me that he never took them into the tunnels, deeming them too dangerous for the little ones. 

“But I followed him, a few times,” she told me. “Those times when Mories would beat him and then get that strange look on his face.” 

I could imagine what put that flushed, frenzied look on Mories’ face, and Velvet suddenly made sure there was an arm’s length between us. “Sorry, sweet pea,” I murmured. “Mories has more to answer for than murder.” 

She nodded, but kept a safe distance. “Deen was quite furious when he discovered that Mories was the one who killed James.” 

“He…he was quite fond of James?” I felt as if my nuts had been kicked up into my throat. If he cared that much for the man… 

“Deen accepted James, as the one who supervised us in the crèche. But he had no feelings for him.” 

“I don’t understand. Why was he so angry then?” 

The pretty teen slanted me a smile. “You are the one he calls master?” 

Under her interested gaze, I could feel the color heat my cheeks. I tugged at my collar, only to find that it wasn’t buttoned. Finally, I simply said, “He’s called me that, yes. But what does that have to do with anything?” 

“Do you know, I’ve known Deen since I was a small child, and never once in all those years have I ever seen him lose his temper. He did when he realized that Mories was the one who endangered you.” 

“Oh? Really?” The smile on my face had to be sappy. “I guess he does care about me then.” 

Hank heard my last remark, and the look he gave me assured me that he sincerely doubted my mental acuity. 

Doc glanced at our navigator, struggling to keep his amusement contained. He slid his arm around Hank’s shoulder and tugged him close, rubbing his cheek against the shorter man’s hair. “He’s a pistol, Hank, but I never vouched for his brains!” 

“Hey! I resent that!” 

“Herb, a blind man could see the boy thought the sun rose and set with you! Why didn’t you see it?” 

How could I tell my old friend that no one had ever cared for me like that before? Even Doc had taken what I offered, never bothering to look beneath the surface to the longing I kept hidden. 

I had learned that if you kept things light, they couldn’t hurt you. 

But it was lonely. 

**** 

We got to the tunnel where we had taken shelter. Was it only a few days before?  It was deserted, and that sinking feeling started taking up residence in my gut again. 

“Herb.” 

I turned toward John, but I didn’t see him. He grabbed my arm and shook it. I focused my attention on him. “What?” I asked hollowly. 

“Remember when you thought we were being followed? Where were you standing when you got that feeling?” 

I was ready to grasp at straws. Carefully I paced down the passage toward the outer door. “Here?” I looked around, at first seeing nothing. And then I noticed a shadow that seemed darker than the rest. Only as I approached did I see that it extended beyond where the other shadows ended. 

“Doc! Flashlight!” I thumbed it on and saw that a narrow corridor led through the rock wall. “Morituri te, salutemus,” I called over my shoulder as I stepped into the darkness, never realizing that they were following me into that pitch-black maw. 

It was a good thing that I’m not claustrophobic. Those walls never narrowed, but there were times when it felt as if they did. I was covered in clammy sweat by the time I came out the other end, to find myself in a good-sized chamber, moonlight flooding in through the open door. 

As I watched, it slid shut, and I cast about with the light, trying to see why the door had suddenly closed. John sprang away from the wall, where he had inadvertently stumbled into the mechanism that triggered the controls of the door. 

“Sorry, Herb.” 

I shrugged. The chamber was empty, and I felt deflated. And then I whirled around. “Listen! Did you hear that?” 

Doc and Hank exchanged glances that clearly said they thought I had gone off the deep end. 

“*Listen*!” I commanded, but the sound wasn’t repeated. “Goddamn! John, try to get this door opened!”

“How?” 

“How the fuck should I know? You closed it, now you can goddamned well open it!” 

He scowled at me, but turned his attention to the wall he had leaned up against. Long seconds ticked by before he expelled his breath in a sigh of relief. “This just might do it!” He twisted something, and the door began to slide up into the ceiling. 

And standing in the opening was Deen, his shoulders slumped, his face dirty, his clothes torn, but looking so precious that I swallowed my gum. 

“Sunshine!” His name emerged as a whisper. 

His head shot up, and such joy lit his face that I felt my eyes sting. 

“*Master*!” 

And then he was in my arms, almost climbing up my body in an effort to get closer. And I closed my eyes, breathed a silent, “Thank you, Lord!” and found his lips.

 #### 

Part 23 

Doc’s POV

We watched the pair, almost feeling like peeping Toms. 

“You came for me!” 

Deen closed his eyes. I watched his lips move soundlessly, and wondered if he was offering a fervent thank you to whatever Being his people prayed to before letting Herb take his mouth. 

And then reaction set in, and the next thing we knew, Herb was shouting at Deen. “What were you doing out there?” He shook him. “Do you realize how dangerous it could have been?” He shook him again. “If we weren’t here to open the door, you would have been stranded on the outside!” Deen hung from his grip, his mouth a solemn line. “Were you out of your fucking mind?” 

I was dumbfounded at Herb’s loss of control. He never let anything, or anyone, get to him, and now here he was, shaking the boy with each word. I was afraid Deen would not forgive Herb for manhandling him in that fashion. And then I saw the warm glow in Deen’s eyes, and I realized the boy was not at all disturbed by Herb’s behavior. 

In fact, it was making him hard! 

 “I could whale the tar out of you!” Herb pulled the boy tight into his arms, shudders wracking his body. “Oh, God! I could have lost you!” The last was an agonized whisper. 

“No.” Deen rubbed his cheek over the rough material of Herb’s shirt, his feet once more on the ground. “I would have come back to you if I had to dig my way in with my bare hands.” He pressed his hand to the radioman’s jaw, caressing the beard-roughened angles. “You will never lose me. Have I not marked you as my own?” Deen touched the spot above Herb’s heart. “Herbert Ellis…” 

I would have turned and left them then, taking Hank with me. They needed some privacy. And so did we. 

But John had other ideas. 

“Excuse me? Herb? I’d like to know if Deen has any idea where Mories is, or if we need to go chasing after him again?” I could see that John was uncomfortable with the open display of affection between the boy and Herb. His face flushed, and his eyes slid off the couple even as he peppered Herb with questions. 

Deen glanced at him. “You need not concern yourself with Mories any longer. If you wish to return to the lady Garnet, you may do so with no qualms.” 

“Deen, it’s extremely important that we bring Mories back to the council,” I said carefully, not sure he understood how imperative it was that the former administrative assistant be taken into custody. “We have to find him! He murdered James, and he must be punished for this.” 

“He has been punished, Doctor Galbraithe. Do you think I would have returned here if he had not been?” 

“What did you do, Deen?” For the first time, I understood how thin the veneer of civilization that he wore was. I felt the color leech from my face. 

“I?” His eyebrow rose to vanish beneath the fringe of thick black hair that fell over his forehead. “I did nothing. I simply watched.” 

“Deen, we really don’t have time for this nonsense! Where is Mories? What’s happened to him?” John looked as if he wanted to shake the boy as well, only not because he had been worried about him. With an obvious effort he reined in his impatience. 

He shrugged. “He’s dead.” 

“*What*?” The four of us spoke as one. 

“What do you mean, ‘he’s dead’?” John demanded. 

“He is no longer alive.” The boy spoke patiently, as if to a backward child. “What do you find so hard to understand about this statement, John Borden? He ran down into the clearing and was attacked by my people. Naga killed him.” 

“And you let him go?” 

“I am just a Beast. It is not my position to question the actions of one of The Others.” 

“You knew how dangerous it is above ground! You could have brought him back here!” 

“You have seen my people, Sir. And you see me.” Deen extended his arms to indicate his small size. “Tell me, how was I, alone, to defeat them? And why would I want to?” 

Borden had to concede that there was nothing Deen could have done to prevent Mories’ death at the hands of the chief, but he was unwilling to let it go. “Why did he go out of the caverns? Mories wasn’t stupid enough to try escaping to the outer world without making thorough preparations!” 

“He was afraid.” 

“How could you know that? And how did he get that door open?” 

“I know because I saw him running, and I could smell the fear on him. And I opened the door so that he could use that as an escape route, if he so chose.” 

“You could have stopped him! Why didn’t you stop him?” 

I could see that Deen was tired of being questioned as if he was the one who had done something wrong. “I did not stop him, because I knew that once outside, it would just be a matter of time before he met with a rather appropriate death.” He stepped away from Herbert and confronted the other man. “And if Naga hadn’t killed him, I would have!” 

It was only then that I saw the knife in Deen’s hand, and it was perilously close to John’s family jewels. I gasped and took a step forward, but Herb was there before I could intervene. 

Two strong arms encircled Deen and held him fast, and Herb whispered softly in his lover’s ear. “It’s all right, Sunshine. John doesn’t mean anything by it! Calm down!” 

“Back off, John,” I ordered. “The man is dead.” 

“But he should have been brought back to face a tribunal, Skipper!” My pilot’s frustration with the whole situation was palpable. 

I was losing patience as well. “John, Mories was guilty. And now, the man is dead. As far as I can see, justice has been served.” 

John’s face flushed, and he gritted his teeth. “He still should have had a fair trial!” 

For the first time, Hank spoke. “Fairly tried, and fairly hung?” 

“You know that isn’t what I meant!” 

 “Then what, John? What would The Others have done with him, then?” 

John was unable to answer that. 

#### 

Warning: Um, how do I phrase this? Just so you know, we’ve got an underage teenage female, lusting after an adult female. It’s all in her mind. Right now.

Part 24 

Velvet’s POV

They wouldn’t let me go with them through the passage to the oldest tunnel. 

I stayed behind, chewing my nails and waiting impatiently. 

And truthfully, I was scared. 

**** 

Deen was the only one of all the inhabitants of these caverns who looked after us, truly looked after us. He could never understand why the elders avoided contact with the little ones. 

Among his own people, the women and the old men who could no longer hunt or fight cared for the children. 

When one of the older boys blurted how odd that was, considering they were just animals, Deen’s eyes took on a wounded look. “Even Beasts love their young!” he said softly, and he walked away from us, only to collide with Mories, who was administrative assistant to our president, Timmek. 

Mories grabbed Deen’s wrist and jerked him against his body. “What are you telling these children, Beast?” he spat viciously. His face was flushed. “You…you young ones go tend to your lessons! The Beast needs to be reminded of his position in this community!” 

He dragged Deen along after him, never seeing me follow. 

That was the first time I ever saw one of my own kind strike another living creature. 

I didn’t see Deen for a few days after that, and when he finally returned to the Crèche I was so relieved that I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight. He gently freed himself from my embrace, his face pale, and it was only then that I noticed how he favored his left side. 

“Deen, what’s wrong?” 

Another first: he lied to me. “Nothing, Velvet. I just stumbled and fell. I’m very clumsy.” 

**** 

The strangers returned, finally. And when I realized that Mories was not with them, I became even more frightened. 

Until I saw Deen, more relaxed than I could ever recall seeing him, secure in the hold of the one he called Master. He was looking up at the tall man, who chatted casually with one of his companions. The expression on Deen’s face made my breath catch in my throat. 

And I wished that there were someone who would look at me like that. 

Herbert Ellis was grinning as he glanced down at my friend. His smile slowly faded. He cupped Deen’s chin in his strong fingers and brought their mouths to within a millimeter of each other, but didn’t kiss him. 

The tall one’s eyes were on my friend’s mouth, and then rose languidly to gaze into his slate grey eyes. When Herbert spoke, his breath fanned Deen’s lips, and I found that more erotic than a blatant kiss. “On second thought, Doc, Deen never did have a chance to pack up his belongings. We’ll meet you back at our quarters later.” His mouth quirked up in a lazy grin. 

I watched as they headed to Deen’s chamber, the taller man keeping a possessive arm around my friend’s shoulders. An ache was building to a demanding itch between my thighs, and restlessly I rubbed them together. I decided to return to the Crèche, intending to find some place secluded. 

Just then, Garnet came running out of the council chamber and hurled herself at John Borden. His arms came around her, and he swept her into his embrace, kissing her fiercely. She laughed a protest. 

The craving became worse. I needed to be touched, or to touch myself. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath. Nothing was keeping me here, and I really wanted to get away somewhere, alone. I turned to leave. 

And saw the redhead standing in the doorway, watching Garnet and John Borden. Her pale green eyes were etched with sadness. 

Oh, but she was beautiful! 

I glanced at her hands, suddenly wondering how they would feel cupping my breasts, those long fingers toying with my stiffened nipples. Her own breasts were high and firm, and my palms tingled with the need to stroke over her naked flesh. 

My cheeks flushed, and I felt as if desire were written across my face, visible to any who chose to look. 

And I was a fool. It was obvious that she had feelings for the blonde, and even if she didn’t, I still wasn’t officially out of the Crèche. She would never look at me. 

The ache nagged at me, begging for attention, and I left the council chamber, almost at a run. 

**** 

The Crèche was dim and silent, the little ones long since having been put to bed. I slipped into my little cubbyhole. Once we entered our teens, each of us was given a private cubicle. It had taken a while to get used to being alone after being surrounded by other bodies for so long, but now I was grateful for the solitude. 

The door slid shut, and I walked into the ‘fresher, stripping off my clothes. My skin was so sensitized that the jets of water did nothing to cool it down, and I shivered with need. 

I stepped out, but didn’t dry myself off immediately. Instead, I examined my reflection in the mirror, watching as drops of water beaded down my torso and thighs. Instead of being petite and curvy, like Garnet, I was tall and slender. 

My breasts were …simply breasts, although that didn’t seem to bother the older boys who teased me to let them to touch them. But I never would. I ran my hands over the soft flesh and plucked at the pebble-hard nipples, which tightened to the point of pain. I wished I could bring them to my mouth. I wanted to know what it felt like for them to be suckled. 

I reached for a towel and dreamily began to dry myself off as I padded into the other chamber. My eyelids felt heavy, and I dropped the towel and lay on the sleeping platform, thinking of the beautiful redhead. If she had me here on this bed, what would she want to do to me? 

Would she touch me… here? My fingers toyed with the pale brown curls that shielded my femininity. 

Or perhaps… here? They ventured a bit lower, finding the plump folds moist with desire. 

Would she find the little nubbin of flesh, stroking it with just enough pressure to make me writhe and whimper with want? 

Or would she slide a finger, maybe two fingers, into my hot channel, filling me, driving me toward the peak that shimmered just within reach? 

Would she…? Would she…? 

With a muted cry, my body tautened and I came, trembling and shaking with the sensations that washed over me. 

I sighed, satisfied, and yet not satisfied enough. 

I curled onto my side and drifted into sleep, only to awaken, again and again and again, from dreams of red hair and green eyes. 

#### 

Part 25 

Doc’s POV

We went back to our quarters, at least Hank and I did. Since we were no longer facing the eminent possibility of our demise, I was eager to make our navigator comfortable with the idea of spending the rest of his life with me. In my bed. 

We left John in the council chamber, earnestly speaking with Timmek, trying to convince the older man that his intentions toward his daughter were nothing but honorable. 

As for Herb and Deen, well, Herb claimed they were going to collect Deen’s belongings from his chamber. The way he was looking at the boy spoke volumes. If he did any collecting, it would not be clothing. 

Hank glanced at me, and we shared a smile, remembering the scene deep in the mountains. 

“I never thought I’d see the day when Herb fell in love,” I remarked casually as I led Hank into my sleeping chamber. 

“But he’s had more affairs than Carter has pills! I mean, come on, Doc! Six dates the day we left Earth?”

“There’s safety in numbers, Hank,” I told him, reaching up to remove his tie. I tossed it aside and began unbuttoning his shirt. 

“What?” His eyes focused on the movement of my lips, and he lost his train of thought. 

I grinned with satisfaction. I could feel his arousal nudging my abdomen and leaned forward to lick a path from his collarbone to his jaw. “Sure. He keeps himself, kept himself,” I corrected, “surrounded by gorgeous women and the occasional dreamboat, and none of them ever got close to him. Clever ploy, until you, yourself can’t see the forest for the trees.” 

“What?” He wasn’t even listening to me anymore. He just watched as I unzipped his trousers and eased them over his hips, letting them slide to the floor. 

Hank was wearing white boxer shorts. They were tented, and a small circle of pre come dampened the placket. 

His legs were long for his body, pale and covered with the same wiry hair that curled at his groin. I stroked the length of his thigh up under the leg opening of his shorts, the tips of my fingers finding and teasing his erection. 

He leaned into me and shuddered. “Easy?” 

I tilted my head until our foreheads touched, and closed my eyes, drawing in a deep breath. “Relax, Hank. We’re going to take it nice and slow. I’m going to make this perfect for you!” 

I backed away from him, but only far enough so that I could get my own clothes off. I didn’t want to give him time to get nervous. Another time I’d make a show for him, stripping slowly, revealing a nipple here, a buttock there. I might be a grandfather, but I keep myself in shape. 

Well, you did in our job, or you didn’t go into space, no matter what your academic qualifications. 

Hank licked his lips and just stared at me. “You might be more comfortable on the bed, Hank.” I bent over and untied my boots, kicking them off so I could remove my trousers. I stepped out of them and left them in a puddle on the floor. 

I took him in my arms and kissed him. For a second, he didn’t move, and I began to worry. And then he did move, his lips parting to accept my tongue, and I could feel his prick, still hard against mine. I seized a handful of brown hair and tipped his head, fitting our lips more nearly together. My other hand caressed the base of his skull, kneading the indentation there. 

I released him and stood back. 

“Want me to take those off for you?” I asked, nodding toward his shorts. 

He blushed and shook his head, and eased himself down onto the edge of bed. “No, that’s all right. I can get them.” 

But he sat there, looking so tense, as if the slightest move might shatter him. 

“Hank,” I slowly reached out a hand to run my fingers through the lush thickness of his dark hair. “Are you having second thoughts? If this,” I gestured to my quivering prick, “alarms you, well, I’m not planning on jumping your bones right this minute. I’ll give you as much time as you need to get used to the idea.” 

“It’s not that, Easy.” I breathed a sigh of relief. If he was still calling me Easy, then it wasn’t the idea of taking me as his lover that was disturbing him. “It’s just…as far as I’m concerned, I’ve only been away from Carolyn and the children for a few weeks, at most. How could I suddenly be wanting you? Have I been… gay…all these years?” 

I pulled him up and into my embrace. “It’s a word, Hank; it’s just a word.” I drew in a deep breath, and I was almost dizzy as his scent filled my being. “Like friend, or… love… or chili pepper!” I concluded briskly, hoping my precipitous declaration of love would slide by, unnoticed. 

“*Chili pepper*?” He looked confused and amused, and as I hoped, my oblique statement was overlooked. 

“As in ‘you’re hotter than a…’” I grinned at him and let my hands wander down his back, casually drifting under the waistband of his shorts. I had seen his ass in the showers, back on the base, and, truthfully, had fantasized over it once or twice, never dreaming it might one day be mine. 

But Hank was so wound up in his family, that if I ever saw him looking back, it wouldn’t have dawned on me to take advantage of it. 

Now, we were all so cut off from those we had left behind that I wasn’t really surprised he would to turn to me for comfort. I wished it was for love, but I was old enough to accept that a man can’t always get what he wishes for. But he was willing to commit to me, and that would have to be enough. 

I just hoped I’d be able to move as slowly as I promised him. 

The man did have a fine ass! 

**** 

Hank jumped as he felt my hands palm the curves of his ass, and our pricks collided. While the fingers of one hand explored the sensitive skin behind his balls, the fingers of the other stroked the ridge of bone at the base of his spine, and he gave a breathy moan. 

I nipped his earlobe and worried it gently, and he shuddered. “You’re all tense, Hank.” 

He angled his body away so he could look into my face. “You think, Easy?” he responded with a small smile. “It couldn’t be because it’s been a bitch of a day!” 

“Lie down on the bed. You’ll never enjoy this if you’re so wound up your muscles won’t respond.” 

Hank sighed and pushed himself out of my arms, climbing onto the sleeping platform and stretching out on his stomach to make himself more comfortable. 

When I had been investigating the bathroom earlier that morning… Good God, was it only that morning that sugar had turned to shit? …I had found a bottle of oil, and I retrieved it now. 

I cradled the bottle in my palms to warm it. Straddling Hank’s hips, letting my prick nestle in the crevice between his buttocks, I dribbled some oil onto his back and set the bottle aside. Then I began working the muscles of his back and shoulders, pressing hard enough to work the knots out of them. 

I kept the strokes steady, rhythmic, undemanding, rocking back and forth until finally he arched drowsily into the contact. He didn’t even realize it when I scooted back and with a light movement removed his shorts, revealing taut buttocks, so round, so firm, so… I sighed and shook my head, a little dumbfounded at where my mind was taking me. 

It had been too long, if I were comparing my lover’s ass to a Madison Avenue commercial! 

The lure of those cheeks proved to be too much. My touch became fondling, caressing, and I couldn’t resist sliding a finger into him. He was relaxed, almost boneless, and he murmured a pleased sound as he accepted me. I hadn’t intended to do this yet, wanting to get him used to us being naked together first, but I wanted him. I pushed my finger deeper, and found the small bump that was his hot spot. As I teased it, he purred. 

I smiled, although it was more a grimace, and withdrew my finger, intending to return to the massage. 

Only, while I was concentrating on Hank, I didn’t realize my own climax was about to broadside me. Slick from the oil I was working into his skin, my prick slid between his buttocks, prodding the puckered opening. 

Hank gasped. “Easy! Please, give it to me!” 

But I wasn’t about to take him so crassly. “No! Hank, you’re not…Don’t move!” I groaned, but he wriggled backwards, as if trying to impale himself on my length. 

I couldn’t stop myself, and my hot semen began spilling over him. He moved just the tiniest bit to one side, and I breached his hole, sliding in just past the tight ring of muscle that guarded the opening. 

While I thought the top of my head would explode, he was fucking himself on me. I rolled carefully to my side, keeping us joined, and grabbed for his prick. I smeared the precome that was weeping from it over his shaft and began pumping him strongly. 

With a hoarse cry, he came, filling my hand to overflowing with his essence. 

As fucks went, it was nothing to write home about. 

But as lovemaking, it was the greatest thing since ginger ale!

#### 

Part 26 

Deen’s POV

I sat on my sleeping platform as my lover explored the tiny space that comprised my living quarters, idly swinging my legs back and forth. He pulled open a drawer, finding it stacked with neatly folded black leggings. Another drawer held the plain black tops. 

“No underwear?” 

“Pardon me? What is…underwear?” 

“It’s…um, it’s murder!” I wondered what he found so amusing, but dismissed it. He was smiling, and that was all I cared about. “Is this the only color you wear?” he asked, his jaws working as he chewed on something. 

“Yes,” I murmured. The Others felt it was more suitable to me than the bright colors they favored. I couldn’t stop watching his mouth. Until he rubbed the material of my clothing between his fingers, and then I couldn’t stop watching them, wishing they were on me. 

His lips pursed, and a large pink bubble appeared. I stared, fascinated, and jumped when it popped loudly. He caught my stare and grinned, biting the pink stuff off his lips and chewing some more. 

“Bubblegum, Sunshine.” He saw my confusion, and his grin broadened. “Never mind, I’ll show you how to blow a bubble some other time. Come here!” 

I felt my cock stir at his order, and I slid off the platform to stand before him. My tongue came out to moisten my lips, and he dragged in his breath. He took the ‘gum’ out of his mouth and stuck it on the wall. To my amazement, it stayed put. 

He pulled me into his arms. His eyes closed, but I kept mine open. This was still too new to me. I was afraid that if I shut my eyes, it would all disappear, and when I opened them again, it would be to find Mories holding me. 

And then his tongue was licking at my mouth, pleading for entrance, and I moaned. The small sound and movement gave him the opportunity he was seeking, and his tongue eased between my lips, gliding past my teeth.

His taste was …enhanced: my Master, and yet something else overlaying the flavor that was uniquely him. It was sweet, the way I imagined Spring would taste, and I realized it must be this ‘bubblegum’ he chewed. 

I pushed the thought aside and opened my mouth wider, inviting further invasion. His tongue thrust in, mimicking the movements of his hips when he was inside me. It was as if he were fucking my mouth, and this time, instead of being repulsed, I was driven wild. 

I tried to suck his tongue deeper into my mouth and swallowed his groan. His hands were on my ass, parting my buttocks and rubbing the crease, searching for my opening through my clothes. Herb pulled my lower body closer, rocking his hips so that our cocks pushed together. 

“Master! Take me!” I begged. My fingers wound through his hair, tugging his head closer to mine, and it was as if that was the signal he was waiting for. He ripped off my leggings, tearing them with one hand, while the other found and squeezed my weeping cock. I moaned and thrust into his fingers, which smeared pre come over my shaft. 

Somehow, I found myself on my sleeping platform, and I scrambled to peel off my tunic. I stroked my cock as he got naked, all the while watching my Master with longing in my eyes. 

The livid bruise I had placed above his heart was visible, but I would need to suckle it again soon. It was the belief among my people that as long as that mark remained there, he would belong to me. 

I knew it would not be forever, but for as long as I could, I would see that that mark was on his chest. 

He saw where my eyes had settled and reached to touch the spot with fingers that were coated with my essence. “We’ll talk about this later, Sunshine.” 

My mouth went dry. I was afraid I knew what he would tell me: that he did not want a Beast’s mark on him. “Master?” I hated the uncertainty in my voice. 

He shook his head. “Later! Right now, I need to fuck you!” 

I sighed in relief. The inevitable had been postponed, at least for as long as it took him to find satisfaction in my body. 

I knew how I wanted him to take me, but it was not up to me: it was his choice. I licked my lips. And wound up licking his as well as his mouth came down on mine at the same moment. 

“Roll over, Sunshine! I want you on your hands and knees this time!” 

It was all I could do to prevent myself from coming all over his torso as he leaned over me. 

“*Master*!” 

His fingers feathered through my hair, loosening it from the thong that kept it off my face, and it spilled around my shoulders. He rubbed it over his chest, and tangled it on his pebble-hard nipples, which had become so sensitive that he groaned at the light caress. 

His tongue was lazily fucking my mouth, and I shuddered with the need for him to fill my ass. 

He drew back and gave me enough room to turn onto my belly. I got my knees under me and for the first time in my life presented to a dominant male. I cradled my head on my arms and waited for him to shove roughly into me. 

But gentle fingers explored the shadowed crevice between my buttocks, spreading a lubricant that was cool in contrast to the heat I felt flowing off me in waves. He teased the area just behind my balls, and I shifted away from the tickling sensation. 

“Don’t move, Sunshine!” He lightly caressed my ass, and pulled me back to the position he desired. A finger exerted a steady pressure against my hole, and then slid past the tight ring of muscle. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but this position and the angle just made it …different. 

My breath whined as he found the spot that caused me to burn. He leaned over me and nipped the skin where my shoulder and neck joined. His breath was warm in my ear. “I’m going to stretch you so you won’t tear. I want this to be good for you!” 

A second finger joined the first, and the sense of fullness increased. I tried to back onto them, wanting them in deeper. “Master, you have made it good for me! Each time!” 

“Did I say good? I want it fan-fucking-tastic! I want you to feel me in you even when I’m not around.  I want you to look at me, when we’re in a crowd of people, and think of me doing this to you. And I want you to know that not another man, not. another. man. will make your breath catch, or your skin tingle, or your soul yearn as I do!” 

And he was pulling his fingers free and pushing his cock into me, rocking me forward with each powerful thrust. His hands reached around to seize my cock, and he jerked me in time with every pounding stroke of his erection in my ass. 

It was powerful, rivaling everything I had ever seen when I was above ground. He didn’t know it, but with this dominant action, he was claiming me as assuredly as I claimed him by marking him. 

I burned as time and again he slid across that spot inside me, and sweat matted my hair. I made my body even more subservient, accepting his domination.

He was hot inside me, plumbing my depths, making me feel him to the core of my very being. 

And then he erupted in me, hoarsely calling my name, and I could feel his essence pulsing into my passage. His thrusts became harder, deeper, as his cock quivered, and my inner muscles milked the last of his climax from him, and his sweat mingled with mine. 

He collapsed bonelessly on me, forcing me down beneath him. I hadn’t come, but it didn’t matter. I had been dominated, by my Master, and that was satisfaction enough for the moment. 

His lips wandered over the skin of my back, tracing the ridges of long-healed muscle. “Who did this to you, my pretty boy?” 

I smiled into the mattress at his endearment. “Not Mories, if that’s what you’re thinking. Those are very old scars. Twelve years old scars. The last beating from Naga nearly killed me.” 

His hand was under my head, my cheek resting on it, and I nibbled the knuckles and explored the webbing between his fingers. He moaned and bit my ear, and his cock stirred in its resting place deep inside me, but it was too soon for him to become roused again. 

He drew in his breath so sharply it locked in his throat. His flaccid length finally slid out of me, and he turned me onto my back. “I was that close to losing you?” 

I raised my head, watching him languidly, and lost myself in the blue velvet of his eyes. “It didn’t happen; it doesn’t matter.” I petted his cheeks and  shrugged, the movement of my body bringing it back into contact with my lover’s. He looked down at me. 

“You haven’t come yet!” 

Before I could have told him that wasn’t important, he slithered down to my groin and began licking me. And then I was deep in his throat. His head moved a couple of times, and I don’t quite know what he did, but all of a sudden, I was there, coming so hard I thought I would die. I grabbed his head and held on, and he swallowed everything I gave him. 

**** 

 “Deen? Deen! Come back to me, Sunshine!” 

I sighed voluptuously. “Have I gone to Beast heaven, Master?” 

“Not the last time I looked.” I could hear the smile in his voice. “So you…enjoyed what I did to you?” 

“Mmmm!” I stretched and arched against him. “Again?” 

“After we get back to our quarters. I want to take you in my own bed the next time!” 

“Yes, I like the thought of that.” 

He wound his fingers in mine and tugged at me. “Let’s get cleaned up and then we’ll pack your things and get out of here.” 

I glanced at him hesitantly. “Would you mind if I did not bathe right now, Master? I’d like to keep the scent and the feel of you on my body for as long as I can.” 

The look he gave me was indescribable, and I feared that I had angered him. And then he crowded me back to the bed and followed me down onto to, his cock eager once more to ride my ass.

#### 

Part 27 

Hank’s POV

For the first time since the weeks before the mission to Mars, when I knew I’d have no choice but to accept the Air Force’s request that I navigate the XRM, I slept well. 

In spite of what I Love Lucy and Ozzie and Harriet depicted as normal married life, Carolyn and I slept in the same bed and had an extremely active love life. 

I always wanted to wake up being cradled and loved by my wife, but she was more conventional, content to have all the moves made by me, and I loved her too much to deny her that. 

But this morning, I was in Carolyn’s arms. Warm lips nuzzled the skin just behind my ear, and knowledgeable hands wandered over my torso, gently squeezing my nipples, before working their way down to my groin. I moaned and brought my knees up to give her better access to my private parts, wanting her to press against my hole so badly. 

But that was something she never did, and I bit my lip to prevent myself from begging her. 

And when she did touch me there, I couldn’t stop my hips from rolling backwards, wanting even more, and I moaned again. 

A hairy thigh insinuated itself between mine, rubbing high against my balls. And I froze. 

A hairy thigh? Even those times when she insisted her legs needed to be shaved, Carolyn was never this hirsute! 

This was not my wife who was in bed with me, arousing me to the point of madness. 

And I came fully awake, remembering everything: the XRM spinning out of control, landing on an Earth that had been decimated by nuclear war, discovering a pocket of humanity underground and then being accused of murdering one of its members. 

And Doc taking me to his bed the night before. His intention was to make sure I could accept him as a lover, but his touch drove me wild, and I managed to get him inside me as he came. 

He hadn’t been able to get much past the muscle that guarded my opening, only entering me an inch or so, but it was enough for me to know that I would want to try it again. 

But not now, not after waking to think the whole thing with the XRM had been a horrible dream, and I that was safe in the arms of the woman I loved, our children sleeping soundly in their beds just down the hall from us. 

I rolled onto my stomach, my shoulders shaking from the effort to contain sobs. 

Doc wouldn’t let me go, though. He pulled me back against him, his hands on me comforting, and undemanding. “It’s all right, Hank,” he whispered in my ear. “It’s all right.” 

“How can you say that, Doc? All your family is gone as well!” I turned in his embrace, wiping my hands over my eyes, trying to dry them. I was afraid he would have contempt for me, for coming apart like this. Real men didn’t weep because their lives turned sour. 

Instead, his lips brushed softly over my face, and he licked my cheeks, sipping my tears. “I’m here for you; I’ll always be here for you. We’re family now, Hank.” 

I drew in a deep breath, somehow feeling better. “So, who’s the husband and who’s the wife?” 

He smiled. “Suppose we take turns.” 

**** 

Doc was watching me as I got dressed, and I could feel heat rising in my cheeks. His mouth kicked up in a grin, and he reached for me. 

I forgot about the socks I was about to put on and straightened, ready to go into his embrace. 

And Herb sauntered in, looking so satisfied that I examined his mouth for canary feathers. 

“Good morning, gentlemen! And isn’t it a lovely morning? Hey, Hank. Deen’s got toes just like yours!” 

I looked down at my feet, a sock dangling in my grip. There was webbing between my toes, a legacy of some great- great-. I had had to suffer the nickname of ‘duck foot’ as a boy, until I learned to fight back. Even my son Hal had that characteristic. 

“Want to make something of it?” I asked, mock aggressively. 

He held his hands up and backed away, grinning. “Not at all, Hank! I just find it incredibly sexy!” 

Doc stepped in front of me, putting himself between me and his friend. “Not with him, you don't!” And I felt...cherished. 

“Good God, no!” he responded, appalled. “No offense, Hank!” 

I bared my teeth at him, secretly pleased to have him at a disadvantage. 

“Where’s your boy, anyway?” 

He gestured toward the outer room. “Getting us some breakfast. I still can’t figure what I’m doing wrong with that damned menu!” 

Before I could get my socks on, John entered the room I had shared with Doc. “Hey!” I protested. “What is this, Grand Central Station?” 

Borden was looking tired and satisfied. And he carried a scent that was decidedly feminine. Had everyone gotten laid the night before? 

“Have a good night, John?” Doc asked. 

“Oh, yes! And I’ve got great news!” He spared a glance at my feet. “Weird toes, Hank!” 

I curled my lip at him and drew on my socks, covering my toes protectively. “Has everyone got a toe fetish this morning?” 

The others laughed and went into the other room while I stepped into my boots. I hurried out to join them, not even bothering to lace them up. 

Deen was setting plates before my companions. He gave me a small smile and waited until I was seated to hand me my breakfast. 

“So, what news on the Rialto, John?” Doc asked as he took a cautious sip of his coffee. A beatific look filled his face, and he leaned back, sighing with pleasure. “*Very* good coffee, Deen.” 

The young man nodded in acknowledgement and went to stand behind Herb’s seat. I watched with interest as Herb snaked an arm around his lover’s waist and dragged him onto his lap. “You don’t serve me, Sunshine,” he said softly. He snagged a slice of toast from his plate and held it to Deen’s mouth. 

“Master, this is not acceptable!” 

“Sunshine, this is nothing but acceptable! Open wide!” 

Hesitantly, the young man parted his lips and allowed himself to be fed. Never once did he take his eyes from Herb’s. His soul was in them, and I felt as if I were spying on an exceptionally private moment. 

I turned away, only to catch John watching them, the look in his eyes enigmatic. 

“John?” 

“Hmm, Doc?” 

“Your news?” 

“Oh, yeah, the news.” He took a sip of coffee and cleared his throat. As if fascinated by the dark brew, he stared into his cup. “Timmek is willing to do anything we want. He feels Mories’ actions cast his entire community into a bad light, and he’ll bend over backwards to make up for it.” John grinned, but it was not a pleasant expression. “He’s even giving me his daughter.”

”What?” 

“Huh?” 

“Excuse me?” Doc was the most accepting of the three of us. “Mind explaining that, John?” 

Deen just looked from one to the other and took what looked like a strawberry from Herb’s plate. He regarded the piece of fruit thoughtfully, and when he saw me watching him, a deep blush swept up to the fringe of black hair that fell across his forehead. 

I wondered what he had in mind for it. Eating it off Herb’s abdomen? Or having Herb eat it off him? 

If the boy could come up with something as intriguing as that, I was sure I could as well. John disrupted the luscious fantasy I found myself in. 

“Congratulate me, gentlemen. Garnet has consented to become my wife.” 

This came as no real surprise to us. We had seen how he spent every spare moment with the beautiful blonde. 

“So when’s the wedding to be?” I asked. 

“Just as soon as we’ve established a foothold for them in the outer world.” 

Doc rubbed his hands together briskly. “Well, I suggest we get cracking then! Hank, the men in the machine shop seemed to get along well with you. How about you let them try making weapons with yours as an example?” 

“Fine by me, Skipper.” I tossed down my napkin and rose to go to my chamber. “Oh, could you give me a hand here, Doc? I need you to take a look at something.” 

“What is it, Hank?” he asked anxiously as he stepped into my room. 

“Just this!” I breathed as I pulled him into my arms and started kissing him. 

#### 

Part 28 

Herb’s POV

I was rummaging around in my quarters, when I sensed I was no longer alone. A glance over my shoulder revealed my young lover, hovering in the doorway. 

“C’mon in, Deen.” 

“May I do something for you, Master?” 

I turned, leaning back against a battered storage unit that was built into the wall. “What did you have in mind, Sunshine?” I grinned at him. 

I stopped grinning as to my utter shock, he dropped to his knees before me. His fingers ghosted over the front of my trousers, gently tracing the outline of my cock. “I want to taste you!” 

After what Mories had done to my Sunshine’s mouth, I never dreamed he would ever want to do that. “What the fuck…? Deen, what are you doing?” I tried to stop him, afraid he felt he had to do this. 

He looked anxious. “You will not allow this? I know I have no talent…” 

“No, Sunshine! No! I didn’t mean…” 

The tension left his body. He undid my pants and reached in to tug at the material of my shorts. “Underwear?” he asked curiously. 

I nodded, my mouth so dry I couldn’t get a word out. 

He grinned up at me, and I suddenly saw what he might have been like if Mories had never entered his life. “We do not have this type of clothing here.” 

I swallowed as he carefully eased my cock free, and petted me. “Your people, you mean? I can understand that.” 

“No.” He leaned forward and I could feel the warmth of his breath as he examined the drop of pre come that had appeared at the tip of my cock. “The Others do not use ‘underwear,’ either.” 

I was determined to let him explore me at his own rate, but that jolted me back to the here and now. “What? You mean all these gorgeous babes are naked under those little skirts?” I couldn’t help laughing. If I had learned that interesting little tidbit back in my own time, I would have been salivating like Pavlov’s dog. 

Deen sat back on his heels, and my cock quivered, abandoned and bereft. “Would you prefer I find one of the ladies for you, Herb?” 

I tangled my hands in his thick black hair and tugged it back so that he met my eyes. “What I’d prefer is that you put your mouth to better use, Sunshine. Pretty boys like you should not be talking bullshit!” 

And then I realized what I had said. I never wanted him to feel coerced, or to make him do anything he was uncomfortable with. I closed my eyes, cursing myself for three different kinds of a fool, and I waited, resigned, for him to withdraw from me. 

Instead, my arousal was suddenly bathed in moist heat, and I looked down to see his tongue stroking hesitantly across the tip, probing the slit. If I kept watching, I knew I’d come, and I didn’t want to come that soon. I looked away and reached down to squeeze the nerve at the base of my cock. Hard. 

“You don’t have to…!” I groaned and leaned back as his lips surrounded me, and he took me deeper into his mouth. His hair had loosened, and the feel of those long strands against my groin added to the sensations bombarding me. I let them sift through my fingers as I kneaded his scalp. 

I couldn’t prevent myself from thrusting forward, but I tried to keep my movements shallow, so I wouldn’t hurt my Sunshine. His nails scraped the muscles of my thighs, and he drew back far enough so that only the head of my cock was still between his lips. 

A blowjob had never felt so wonderful, and I found myself babbling. “Oh, my God, Deen, that’s fantastic!  That feels so good! Sweet baby Jesus, what a wicked mouth you’ve got! Mother of God, do you know how much I want you?”

My head slammed back against the wall, and I fastened my eyes on the ceiling, trying to find a distraction. I couldn’t drag in enough oxygen, and for a second I thought I would pass out. 

Deen pulled my trousers down past my hips and stroked the curves of my ass with one hand, while the fingers of the other plucked at the soft skin enclosing my balls. He took them in his palm and rolled them together. 

I had to let his head go, or I would have started fucking his mouth until I came. My nails dug into the wall as I tried to keep some kind of control. But when a questing finger pressed against my hole, I knew I was lost. I shuddered and dragged him up, forcing him to release his hold on me. 

“Master?” 

I spun him around and backed him up against the wall, humping the arousal I could feel through his leggings. I tore them aside, desperate to feel his flesh. I took his lips and my tongue surged past them as they parted in surprise. His breath hitched and caught with excitement, and his hips rocked forward jerkily as he tried to match my movements. 

I couldn’t breathe. I had to release his mouth to gasp a lungful of air. “Stay with me, Sunshine!” I begged, and swooped to catch his lips again. 

My mouth caught the sounds he was making, and gave them back to him. His cock was slick with precome, his as well as my own, and we thrust harder and harder, until the rainbow came closer, was within our reach, and then we were spinning over it. 

Deen would have slid to the floor, but my weight kept him upright as we struggled to bring our breathing under control. 

He was whispering something under his breath in the harsh language of his people. 

“What, Sunshine?” I managed to ask. 

He started, then smiled softly. “Roughly translated, it just means…thank you.” 

“Oh.” Why was I disappointed?  I sighed and started to step back to give him some room. 

His hands tightened on my waist and he refused to let me go. He dipped his head forward and licked the spot over my heart, then began to suckle it. Amazingly, I felt myself stir, and I sighed in contentment. “No one has ever done that unless I’ve asked for it. It makes me so hot when you do that to me,” I told him. 

“Does it, Master?” He ran his fingertips lovingly over the deep purple bruise. “It means you are mine.” 

“Excuse me?” 

He laid his cheek on my chest and held me closely, and I knew he was avoiding my eyes. “Among my own people, this is a symbol of pairing. If any in my tribe saw this, they would know that you are taken.” 

“And am I?” I asked curiously as I tipped his head back. 

“Yes,” he said simply. “For as long as you will allow.” 

“And how long will that be?” I wanted to know. I had always protected myself, never letting anyone get too close, but somehow Deen had managed to slip under my guard. Pain blossomed in my chest as my heart stuttered at the thought that now that he knew how good sex could be, he’d consider experimenting with other lovers. That maybe he would find someone else, love someone else. 

He shrugged, trying to find the answer he thought I wanted in my eyes. “A day? A month? A year?” The last sounded hopeful. 

Piss on that! I was the dominant one in this relationship! He called me master; that made him mine! I wasn’t about to let him go. “No, I’m afraid that won’t do.” 

For a second, his face crumpled, and his grey eyes darkened with pain. “No, of course not. I knew it couldn’t be for long.” He tried to free himself from my embrace. 

I closed my hands around his shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. “I want nothing less than the rest of your life.” 

He began to tremble, his head burrowing under my chin, holding to me so tightly the tremors made my body vibrate. 

**** 

We were in the other room when Hank stalked in, closely followed by the Skipper. 

“What can you expect from lads who never made a weapon before?” Hank demanded, holding up the ruined gun by the thumb guard. The barrel was shattered. It resembled a flower in bloom, the metal peeled back upon itself. 

I unwrapped a stick of bubblegum and pressed it into my lover’s mouth. “Just chew until you have it worked nice and soft,” I instructed him as I tossed the wrapper onto the table. “What options do we have now?” I questioned our mathematician. 

He ran a distracted hand through his hair. 

Doc ordered himself a cup of coffee and sat down to gaze broodingly into space. “How many tries does this make?” he asked. 

Hank shrugged. “Too many I’d say, Easy. And not enough.” He leaned over and rested a hand on the Skipper’s shoulder. Hank snagged his cup, helping himself to a healthy sip. 

Doc’s expression relaxed and he smiled at his lover. For they were lovers, and I wondered when that had happened, and why I hadn’t seen it. I grinned with satisfaction. 

And then Doc snapped up the gum wrapper and stared at it, turning it over with wonder. “What’s the simplest, hardest hitting piece of artillery you know of?” 

Hank’s eyes sharpened. “A hunk of pipe with the kick of an army mule! A rocket launcher!” 

“Right!” Doc grinned, waving the colorful piece of paper with the kid in the funny hat on it. “A bazooka!” 

 #### 

Part 29 

Doc’s POV

Once we sketched out a design for the bazooka, the men in the machine shops had no trouble following it and producing a workable weapon. It took a little longer to get the rockets made, but all we really needed them to do was land where Herb aimed them and go boom. 

As the youngest of us, Herb was in the best shape to tote the weight of the launcher, and he was our best shot. 

We checked our personal handguns, making sure the chambers were loaded, and there was a round under the hammer. As we made our final preparations, slipping the ammunition for the bazooka into pouches that would be carried over our shoulders, Timmek arrived to see us off. 

Without Mories there to constantly undermine his authority, Timmek no longer appeared an ineffectual old man. 

“Setting up guard posts will be feasible then?” he asked earnestly. 

I nodded. “Once we’re able to get to the XRM safely, and see to her repair, I intend to lift off.”

“Do you really think there are other pockets of civilization left in the world?” 

“New Zealand, perhaps, or Greenland. They may have escaped the clouds of radiation.” 

He worried his lower lip. “We have records of once being in contact with others who survived The Great Blow underground, but it’s been at least two centuries since we last heard from them. Our assumption was that they were forced to the surface, as the forebears of The Beasts were, and we considered them lost.”

I mulled over his words. “Herb said it was as if radio waves had never been invented. We’ll just have to see what we shall see.” 

“Will John Borden go with you?” He gestured to where John was saying a final farewell to Garnet. 

“He’ll do whatever he feels is in the best interest of mankind. We all will.” 

Timmek’s lips twisted in a small, private smile. “It seems my daughter will have much to learn about the man she has chosen.” 

We all would need to learn about those we chose as our lovers: John and Garnet. Herb and Deen. Hank and me... 

Hank wandered over to join us, standing behind me and resting his chin on my shoulder. Now that I thought of it, he did that quite a bit. I glanced at him sideways, and saw his eyes fastened on the movement of my mouth, a grin parting his lips. 

I cleared my throat and shifted my stance, trying to ease my suddenly snug trousers. I could see in his eyes the remembrance of my promise, that we would take turns pitching and catching. I so rarely bottomed, but I found myself suddenly needing the feel of Hank over me, on me, inside me. 

I shifted again, this time bringing my rump into contact with my lover’s arousal. And we both grinned. 

**** 

Garnet was holding onto John, as he told her he was going to do whatever needed to be done to insure the continuation of the human race. She realized for the first time that he wasn’t a puppy dog she could lead around on a leash. I happened to get a glimpse of her beautiful amethyst eyes. They glowed with extraordinary heat. The lady found that decidedly exciting. 

Herb was leaning on the bazooka. Every once in a while, he’d crane his head, searching for his young lover, but Deen was nowhere to be seen. 

We had no reason to postpone our sortie any longer. 

“Gentlemen, let’s be on our way.” 

“May the Supreme Being, Who watches over us all, keep you safe,” Timmek intoned. 

“Doc! We can’t go yet! I haven’t said goodbye to Deen!” 

I glanced around. “Has anyone seen Deen?” 

The little teen, Velvet, started, catching my eye. She was pale, and she looked as if she had a secret she wasn’t comfortable keeping. 

I crooked my finger at her, and she turned her face away, as if she hadn’t seen my command. 

Interesting. 

I approached her. Herb saw where I was heading, and was there before me. “Where’s Deen?” he asked shortly. 

She gulped and tried to smile. It wasn’t very successful. “Deen?” Her voice rose to a squeak. “Umm, I don’t know, sir.” 

“Velvet,” I said patiently, “we don’t have much time to scout the layout of the land above. Herb needs to know where Deen is. Please tell us if you know.” 

The girl looked conflicted. And then two hands descended onto her shoulders and gently moved her out of the way. It was Elaine, placing her body as a shield between us and Velvet, protecting the teen. 

“You will not frighten our children!” she said in a very contained voice. 

“I’m not a child, lady,” Velvet whispered. 

Elaine glanced back at her, obviously surprised to find that the two were almost on eye level with each other. She was tall for a woman, almost six feet, and Velvet wasn’t too far behind her. 

“I’m not!” Velvet insisted. “I would have been out of the crèche if James had not had other things on his mind.” 

“You’re a little girl,” the scientific assistant said indulgently. “A very pretty, little girl. And I won’t have these men bullying you!” Her green eyes hardened, and her glare swept from me to Herb. 

“Elaine, I need to know where Deen is!” Herb pleaded. 

Her smile would have shattered steel. Whoever said the female was the weaker sex? “And this should matter to me? You’re petrifying this girl!” 

“Please, lady, Herbert Ellis is not scaring me.” She had the grace to look embarrassed. “Well, not much, anyway. But Deen did not want him to know that he was going to the surface to make sure it was safe.”

Herb looked ill. “Deen was going through the upper tunnel?” he barked. The girl nodded. 

“But he was not given permission to leave the caverns!” Elda, head of the science division, sputtered. “No one is allowed to use those tunnels!” 

I stared at him in amazement. “And you think that would stop him? Herb…” But my friend was already racing down the passageway that led to the tunnel to the outside, swearing every step of the way. 

**** 

The sound of running footsteps approached us, growing more and more distinct. And then Deen burst into the corridor. 

“Master, Master!” He tried to skid to a halt, but instead collided with Herb, who caught his young lover before he could stumble and fall to the rough ground beneath our feet. 

“Sunshine!” He held Deen tightly, running his hands over him to make sure he was uninjured, and then began to shake him. “Where have you been?” 

In spite of the tension, I had to grin. This was like déjà vu, all over again. 

“I had to make sure the way was safe for you!” the boy said reasonably, wriggling to get free. 

I had never seen Herb so frightened, or so angry. He poked a finger at the boy’s chest, driving him backwards with each word. “You could have been killed out there! If Naga got hold of you, what he did to Mories would be nothing compared to what he would do to you! What’s wrong with you?” 

Deen clearly was not expecting a reaction like that. His face flushed, and his eyes went wild. He began poking Herb right back. “I lived out there for the first eight years of my life! I would not have been killed! If he caught me, Naga wouldn’t do more than beat me! And the only thing wrong with me is that I am a Beast! And I love you!” 

Herb dropped the rocket launcher and grabbed for Deen. But the boy slid out of his grasp. “Do you think my life would mean anything if you were hurt, or killed because I stayed safe in these caverns?” He struck Herb’s chest with a clenched fist, then dashed a hand over his eyes and turned to me. “Doctor Galbraithe, my people are massing at the foot of this mountain.” 

“Sunshine…” 

Deen shrugged off Herb’s touch. “I can show you the safest way down.” 

“Wait a goddamn minute! You can’t make a statement like that and then just pretend it’s nothing!” Herb proclaimed. “And you’re not coming with us!” 

The young man suddenly appeared more than capable of surviving on the outside. “You don’t own me!” 

“You don’t think so?” Herb pulled him into a rough embrace and slammed his mouth down on his young lover’s. Deen’s lips were parted in protest, but Herb ignored what the boy might have said and just kissed him senseless. “You’re mine. You’ll always be mine!” 

And then Herb released him. 

Deen staggered backwards and scowled at his lover, but thought better of challenging him. “I can say whatever I want!” he said sullenly. It was a feeble response at best, and Deen realized it. He licked the taste of Herb from his lips. “And how do you plan to stop me, Herbert Ellis?” This was more forceful, as if the boy was on more certain ground. “Once you are out of these caverns, none of these people will make a move to prevent my leaving here. 

“Take me with you. Or I will follow. But I will not let you face my people alone!” 

Herb just stood there, speechless. I handed Deen a pouch of ammunition and nodded to Elda. 

The head of the science division twisted the controls of the door and it quietly slid up. We gathered ourselves and stepped out into the harsh desert sunlight.

#### 

Part 30 

Deen’s POV               

I was very unhappy with myself. After all the years I had spent with The Others below ground, you would think I would know better than to blurt out my feelings. 

But I had been so hurt by the angry words my lover hurled at me. As if I couldn’t take care of myself. As if I were nothing more than an ignorant… Beast. 

My lips tingled from the force of Herbert’s kiss, but I resolutely thrust that out of my mind and led them down the mountainside, pausing as we approached the clearing to apply more dirt to my face and hands and clothing. 

John Borden watched me with disdain. “Is that really necessary?” 

“Sir, Naga does not like The Others. And you already escaped him once. He will not look kindly on you. I would do whatever is necessary to keep his attention from me.” 

“I knew it!” my Master snarled. “This is dangerous!” 

I kept my gaze blank. “I never said it wasn’t.” 

Herb thrust the rocket launcher blindly at Hank and took me in his arms, rubbing his chin over my dusty hair. “I’m so afraid I’m going to lose you, Sunshine. And I’ve only just found you!” 

“Master,” I said softly, “you will not lose me. Wherever you go, I will go. Even to hell’s hot mouth.” 

His lips found mine in a kiss that promised me always. He whispered something in my ear, but my blood was pounding loudly, and I couldn’t be sure I understood him. “What? Say that again? Please?” 

He nuzzled my hair out of his way and took the lobe between his teeth, tugging it gently. “I… think it might be best to continue this discussion when we’ve completed our mission out here.” 

Reluctantly, I backed away from him and rearranged the pouch over my shoulder. 

“If you’re quite finished, gentlemen?” John snapped. “It looks like we’ve got company!” 

“Herb?” 

“Right you are, Skipper!” 

My people were pouring down from the hills on the opposite side of the clearing. 

Herb retrieved the bazooka from Hank and settled himself on one knee. Hank loaded up a rocket, stepped to the side and patted Herb on the head, signaling that he was clear. 

I watched as my Master squinted through the sight, drew a deep breath, and then squeezed the trigger. 

The rocket hit the hillside behind my people, kicking up clots of dirt, scattering bits of shattered rock. There were animal whines and whimpers as frightened, they retreated back behind the boulders and brush. 

“Hank? Got another one?” 

“Sure thing, Herb.” Hank briskly shoved a second slim rocket into place and gave Herb the all-clear. 

There was another explosion, this time just below where my people hid, and they scrambled over the hill, out of sight. 

The four men started across the clearing, grinning in triumph. I gnawed on my lip, but didn’t move. 

When he realized I wasn’t behind him, Herb turned back toward me. “Deen?” 

“Master, that has ambush written all over it!” I nodded toward the gorge that dipped from the other end of the clearing where we were now standing. Herb immediately squatted down, prepared to fire again. 

John snorted derisively. “After that last shot, they took the hint and just kept going!” 

“I think the boy’s right, John.” Hank was stripping off the pouches and tossing them to Doctor Galbraithe. “I’m going to take a look. Cover me.” 

“Hank!” Doc looked ill. 

My Master tried to spin out of his crouch to rise, and got tangled in his legs. He toppled over, losing his hold on the rocket launcher. “Hank, no! I’ll go!” 

“Hank, this isn’t necessary!” John tried to convince him. 

“You said yourself it’s good military procedure to send out a scout, John.” Hank grinned at him, cocksure on the surface, knowing, deep down that he was probably facing death, but determined all the same. He gripped Doc’s arm, and then drew his weapon. “I’m grabbing the check on this one!” 

“You’re a fool! A goddamned, noble fool!” Doc growled helplessly. “Come back to me, or I’ll fry your ass!” 

“Count on it, Easy!” 

Herb grimly took up his position, and John loaded the bazooka. Doc pulled his weapon from its holster. None of them noticed when I moved off to the side, keeping pace with Hank from a distance. 

I could see the drops of sweat forming on his brow. He raised an arm to blot them before they ran into his eyes. 

On an outcropping above and to the right, a huge figure suddenly appeared. Naga, brandishing his spear, and howling his rage. 

I heard the gasps of shock. None of them had ever seen Naga before. Standing almost seven feet tall, weighing as much as two of them put together, the leader of my people had a disposition to match his appearance. 

His arm drew back, and he flung the deadly missile with swift and frightening accuracy. 

I was already moving, but I couldn’t reach the navigator before the spear caught him high in the chest. My knife was out, and I was prepared to kill whoever attempted to approach us. 

But before we could be attacked, Herb launched a rocket. As my people withdrew deeper into the surrounding foothills, John and Doc fired their weapons, giving my Master enough time to get to Hank. 

“How bad is it, Herb?” the shorter man gasped. Bloody froth covered his lips. 

“This? It’s a pinprick! Show-off! Trying to make the rest of us look bad, Hank?” He was about to pull the spear free, but I touched his arm and shook my head. His eyes narrowed. “I have to get it out, Deen! I can’t carry him with that bloody great splinter in his chest!” 

I had seen a wound like that long years before, and I wasn’t happy about my Master’s decision. But it seemed there was no other option. Herb pulled out the spear, and blood began pulsing out with each beat of Hank’s heart. 

“Shit!” 

I stuck my hand in the hole in Hank’s chest and pressed down hard. And Hank lost consciousness. “We must move him now, Master!” 

Herbert got to his feet, cradling Hank in his arms. Together, we scrambled back to the two men who were only firing the occasional shot, now. Doc was devastated when he saw the blood that covered his lover’s shirt. 

“Oh, Jesus! Hank!” 

“Please! We must get him back inside. The Others will be able to repair this wound, but we cannot remain here like this!” 

“Herb, give him to me!” 

“Doc!” 

“Please, Herb!” 

In spite of what he felt, Herbert transferred his burden to his Skipper. I cast one last look at my own lover, and then struggled with Doctor Galbraithe to get the wounded man safely inside the mountain. 

**** 

I returned alone, loaded down with more pouches of ammunition. 

“How is he, Deen?” 

“The Others will have no problem repairing the injury, but he has lost a great deal of blood.” 

“And having your dirty hand stuck in his chest is sure not to do him any good!” John sneered at me. 

I didn’t question his attitude toward me. 

But my Master did. “Why are you angry with Deen, John? I was the one who insisted on removing that spear! Take a swing at me if you’re so upset.” 

John Borden’s lips tightened, and after one last glance at Herb, he turned away. I had seen a look like that before, on Mories’ face, when his blows became caresses and desire ran hot in his blood. John Borden wanted my Master? 

“He’ll be all right, then?” 

Thankfully, I turned to Herb. “They will try to match his blood type. Doctor Galbraithe has already told them he is not a suitable donor, and the supply they can draw from is limited.” 

“Oh, hell! Hank’s got one of the most rare blood types on Earth! And John and I aren’t a match either!” 

There was nothing we could do about that right now. The Others were trying to replace the volume Hank Jaffe had lost with fluids into his veins, until they could find someone to give him blood. 

“We have a more urgent problem.” John gestured back toward the hill. 

Naga stood there, his voice rolling down harshly. I felt sick. 

“What’s he saying, Deen?” 

I swallowed the bile that rose up in my throat. “Naga has ordered all those of my people who look like The Others to be taken deep into the caves. If you make any attempt to destroy him or his warriors, he will have them all killed!” I looked at the two men, shaking my head in despair. “He will have them killed!” 

Herb tossed aside the bazooka. “Tell Naga that he is a coward, and a killer of children! Tell him that I will fight him!” 

“Master, no…” I moaned. 

“*Tell* him!” 

My throat felt clogged. “Naga?” I cleared it and tried again. “Naga! Ubay ma-louk! Ubay badulo ma-lor!” 

The chief seemed to go mad. He screamed his response. 

Reluctantly, I translated. “Naga says you do not fight like a man. He says you have thunder and lightning on your side.” 

My Master began to unbuckle his side arm. “Tell him I will leave my thunder and lightning behind. Tell him I will fight him with this,” he held up his knife, “and this,” his hatchet. 

I did as I was ordered, feeling tears start to roll down my cheeks as Naga roared his assent. 

“No, Herb!” John took the weapons from him. “This one is mine!” 

“John!”

The other man grinned. “*I’m* the pilot; I outrank you! And this is a direct order!” He licked his lips, and his eyes glittered with the heat of lust and impending battle.  “He’s only got one eye, no depth perception. And in any battle a civilized man should win!” 

Herb grabbed him and hugged him hard. “Be careful, Johnny!” 

John Borden grinned like a madman. “I’m going to kick some mutant ass!” 

#### 

Part 31 

John’s POV

No matter how I looked at it, I came to the same, miserable conclusion: I had to be nuts. 

Insane. 

A few bricks shy a load. 

I was fucking out of my mind! 

Garnet was mine, guaranteeing me the future position as president of the council. 

Herb was quite willing to go down to the end of the clearing and do battle with that charming fellow, Naga. 

Instead, here I was, telling Herb that I outranked him, and that I was going to take on the monster! 

“In any battle, a civilized man should win!” Holy God, I was so stupid! Naga outweighed me, and his reach exceeded mine. If he got his hands on me, he’d snap me in two like a twig! 

But I was going to do this. All for Herb’s good opinion. And for a hug from him. 

Why had it taken me so long to realize I wanted what he offered?  

**** 

We danced around each other, Naga and I, and I managed to stay just beyond the creature’s reach. His ax was the size of a small state, and when he swung it I could feel the wind of its passing. I came up inside his grip and swung down with Herb’s hatchet, slicing into the brute’s leg, trying for his hamstring, but landing the blow behind his knee instead. 

Naga howled in pain, and I flinched from the stench of his breath. That movement saved my life. His ax whistled past my chest, missing me by mere millimeters, and I stumbled and tried desperately to keep my footing. 

“John!” 

I fell on my ass, and Naga snarled in triumph. He sprang toward me, his movements unbelievably swift for such a huge creature. I rolled to the left, avoiding his grasp, and scrabbled away from him on my hands and knees. 

Something dug into my back, latching onto the waistband of my trousers, and irresistibly I was dragged backwards. I flung myself away and dug my toes into the ground, hopelessly trying to gain some purchase. There was a tearing sound, and a sudden draft as the material gave way. 

And then I did the smartest thing I had ever done. Or the stupidest. I flipped over to face the creature who would haunt my sleep for the rest of my life. 

Naga was lunging at me like a runaway freight train, his hands outstretched to seize me. I ducked under his clutching fingers and dove forward, driving my knife deep into his throat and then slashing across it. 

Blood gushed from the severed carotid and the mangled jugular. Naga’s eye stared at me in disbelief, and then clouded as he pitched forward to pin me under him. To my horror, I could feel his cock pressing hard against mine for endless seconds until it softened and all life left him. 

It took both Herb and the boy to roll the monster off me. As I staggered to my feet, I reached for Deen’s shoulder. “Tell them I’m the chief now!” I nodded toward the deformed remnants of humanity. “Tell them to go!” 

As Deen translated my orders, I heard Herb say, very quietly, “The chief is dead. Long live the chief!” 

**** 

I was struggling with my trousers, trying to cover my ass before it was sunburned. “Herb. Tell the boy to go on ahead of us. I need to speak to you!” 

Deen’s head whipped around, and he wedged his body between his lover and me. “No.” 

Herb’s hand massaged the boy’s shoulder, and Deen leaned into his touch. “There’s nothing you can say to me that can’t be said in front of Sunshine.” 

I recoiled; I couldn’t help myself. I tried to pull him aside. “Herb, I want to be more than your friend!” I whispered in his ear. 

Herb smiled at Deen, a smile that hadn’t been directed at me in too long. “John,” he began, pulling the boy tight against his side. 

I interrupted him. “You wanted me back home, before this mission started!” 

“I learned something since then, John. I learned what it feels like when someone wants me back. When someone loves me.” Herb turned to the boy and enfolded him in his arms. He said something in Deen’s own harsh tongue, and the boy’s face turned bright red. “It does mean what I hope it means, doesn’t it, Sunshine?” 

“Master!” Deen murmured, reaching up to beg a kiss. “How could you…?” 

His eyes burning a bright blue, Herb rubbed his cheek on the boy’s dusty hair. “I’ve got a quick ear for languages, did you know that, John? My accents are flawless. I have no idea what I just said, but if it wasn’t ‘I love you’ I’m going to feel pretty stupid.” 

Deen nestled against his chest, and I felt as if I had been kicked in the gut. But I had to at least try. “You can keep the boy, I don’t mind. And I’ll have Garnet. We won’t need to live in each other’s pockets.” 

And then I was shaking my head groggily, staring up at the two of them from where the boy’s blow had landed me. Deen was standing above me, his hands clenched into fists. “He will have no one else but me, Sir. Tempt him at your peril!” 

Herb gently moved the boy to the side, then reached down and extended a hand to help be back on my feet.  The grin on his face was the silliest I had ever seen on an adult male. “I think that means ‘no,’ John. Guess we can tell who’ll be wearing the pants in this relationship!” 

He looked at Deen, his gaze so sultry I felt my cock quiver in response. He slid an arm around the boy’s shoulders and turned to walk back up the mountainside to the door to the tunnel. 

After a moment, I felt the rocks digging into my ass and managed to get to my feet. But I couldn’t get the image of Herb’s joy out of my mind.

I tightened my grip on my torn trousers and began to follow them. 

 ####

Part 32 

Deen’s POV

I followed Herb into the mountain to suddenly find shudders wracking my body. 

“Sunshine…” He turned and saw me leaning against a wall, pale and trembling. “Baby, what’s wrong?” 

“You could have been injured as badly as Hank! You could have been killed! After I left Hank with The Others, I ran all the way back to where you were, but I might not have gotten back in time!” 

He dropped the bazooka and came to me. His fingers threaded through my hair, loosening it from the thong, and he massaged the base of my skull. “You got back in time, Sunshine. And I don’t even have a scratch!” 

I touched the stains that covered my lover’s shirt, blood that had fountained from Hank’s chest wound. “This could have been your blood! You could have died!” Adrenaline was still rocketing through my system, and I shuddered in his arms. 

 “It’s okay!” he whispered, emphatically. “*I’m* okay!” 

I clutched him closer and rubbed myself frantically against his thigh, my cock hard and aching. “Please, Master! Take me! I need you to make me come! I need…” 

His mouth found mine, and his tongue thrust past my lips, filling my mouth, as I needed him to fill my body. He slid his hands into my leggings, shoving them past my hips and freeing me. I was already leaking precome, and I pushed into his grip. 

I wound my fingers in his hair and tried to get inside his skin. I shivered as he stroked me harder. And then he let me go. I whimpered a soft no, struggling to get him back into my arms until I heard the rustle of clothing as he opened his trousers, and his hands were on me, covered in gel that was cool, but that heated rapidly. 

And filling his two hands, thrusting strongly against me, with me, was his own naked cock. I moaned and reached for his mouth, biting at his lips, so lost in the remnants of battle lust and the fear of losing him, that I didn’t even realize that I was growling sex words in the language of my people. 

Until I heard them growled back at me, in Herbert’s flawless accent. He might not understand my words, but he was an experienced-enough lover to know what he would say in a situation like this. 

The sound of those words, which I never thought to hear addressed to me, pushed my level of excitement so high that everything else faded to nothingness in my mind. I was almost sobbing when, too soon, I reached the peak and began pouring myself into his hands. Two more strokes, and he followed me, spurting over my tunic. 

He continued to hold me as I slowly recovered, from my orgasm, from the fear of losing him, from the heat of battle. 

“You will not leave me?” I asked, willing to beg, willing to do anything to make sure he would stay in my life. 

He brushed the hair out of my eyes and licked the silvery tears that clung to my lashes. “Not in this lifetime, Sunshine. Not in whatever lies beyond that. To hell’s hot mouth, Deen!” He quoted my own words back to me. And his mouth caressed mine. 

**** 

Doctor Galbraithe found us. Not before we had gotten our clothing once more in order, but only just. 

He was accompanied by Nicket, the head of security. "Timmek insists you come to the council chamber and inform us of the entire battle! Decisions must be made, and we need as much information as we can get. We don't want to make another trifling error!" he informed my Master. 

“*Trifling* error?” Herb snarled. 

But Doc indicated he should do as requested. “Meet us in Medical as soon as you can!”

The older man’s hand was tight on my wrist as he dragged me to Medical, informing me on the way of how  things stood. 

It appeared The Others had discovered, that of all the people who dwelled within these caverns, only I had a blood type that matched, in every significant aspect, Henry Jaffe’s. Such a perfect match was usually found in family members. 

Doc pleaded with me to allow the transfusion. 

As advanced as The Others were in many fields, they still had nothing to replace human blood, and until they discovered that I had the blood type that was such a perfect match to Hank’s, his system had been slowly shutting down, the odds of his survival decreasing exponentially. 

So now I lay tensely on a hard platform, a tube running from the vein in my elbow, blood slowly flowing through it. 

I disliked being in the medical section. For too long after the last time I had been there, I had been tormented by nightmares of impersonal hands dragging me into the cold, sterile room and restraining me. Of the sharp scalpel cutting into me. 

A warm hand squeezed my shoulder, but it was not the hand I desired, and I accepted it grudgingly. 

“It’s all right, Deen,” Doctor Galbraithe said softly. “They’re not about to hurt you again. We won’t let them.” 

He glanced at the cot that had been set up next to mine. Herbert Ellis was on it. He had gotten here in time to see the first drops of my blood flow into the tubing. 

Herb’s eyes had widened, he’d turned a pasty white, and then, before anyone realized what he was about to do and could catch him, he pitched forward in a dead faint. The sound of his head hitting the floor had Doctor Galbraithe and me both flinching. 

They wanted to take him to another room, but when Doc saw how agitated I became, he insisted Herb remain within my sight. A couple of assistants got my lover onto the other platform. 

“Shouldn’t he be awake by now?” I fretted. I propped myself up on the arm that didn’t have a needle in it, and kept a worried eye on my Master. 

Doc grinned. “He’s got a head like a rock, Deen. Don’t worry about him!” He continued stroking my shoulder. I found his touch comforting, in a paternal way. It was going to take me some time to get used to the casual physicality these men showed each other. The only ones who ever touched me here, aside from Mories when he was striking me, were the children I cared for. 

I tried to grin, but it was a sorry excuse for an expression. 

“This means a great deal to me, Deen; I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you’re doing. I thought I was going to lose Hank…You didn’t have to agree to this, you know. Thank you,” he said simply. 

“Doctor Galbraithe, you’re wrong. I had to do this. You brought me the one thing that has made my life whole: my Master! How could I not do this for you?” I shrugged, and winced as the movement jogged the needle in my arm. “As for thanks, you do not need to thank me, Sir. The Others will not, you know.”

For the first time I saw him truly angry. “Don’t you dare compare us with these people, young man! We take care of our own, and you’re one of us now!” 

My mouth dropped open and I pulled away from him, just staring at him. I blinked furiously to halt the moisture that burned my eyes. 

“What’s wrong, Deen?” Doc was worried now. 

“You…No one has ever called me man before!” 

Very gently, the older man put his arms back around me and held me securely, rocking me as if I were a child. 

I leaned into him and let myself be comforted. 

“Y’know, you’re my best friend, Doc; I love you. And you’re getting kind of old, so I’d really hate to hurt you. But you’ve made my Sunshine cry. And if you don’t get your hands off him, I’ll break every bone in them!” 

“Herb! You’ve decided to rejoin us!” Doc released me and sat back, not in the least disconcerted by my Master’s threat. 

“Just in time, it would seem. Are you putting the moves on my lover?” 

“Herb, jealousy doesn’t become you.” The older man was grinning with relief. “And do you really see Deen as allowing anyone other than you to touch him in anything but a fatherly manner?” 

That drew Herb up short. “Well…” Now he appeared a little uncomfortable with his display of possessiveness. 

“Are you feeling better, Master?” I asked, concerned that such a strong man should have fainted. “You weren’t injured and didn’t tell me, were you?” 

“Why would you think I was hurt?” 

“You passed out.” 

He looked sheepish. “It was the sight of that blood.” 

I was confused. “But you saw more blood on Hank when you pulled the spear out of his chest. Why would this small amount bother you?” 

“It was your blood, Sunshine!”

 ####

Part 33 

Deen’s POV

“Herb.” 

He had me up against a wall and was kissing me senseless. My hands were tangled in his hair, tugging his mouth closer. With one final nip to my chin, he turned and grinned at the man entering our quarters. “Johnny, m’lad! And did you have a good night?” 

John Borden scowled at my lover and flung himself down at our table. I straightened my tunic and went to the menu to order him a cup of coffee. I offered it to him, and he accepted it with reluctance. “*You’re* pleased with yourself,” he sneered at his friend. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Herb was looking relaxed and so young. “I spent the night with everything I’ve ever wanted wrapped in my arms.” 

Actually, he had spent it buried deep in my body. I could still feel the ache. If John Borden hadn’t invaded our chambers, I was sure Herb would have found a way to bend me over the table and have me again. I shivered in anticipation. 

“Yeah, well, we all can’t be so lucky!” John snapped peevishly. 

“Ah? There is no joy in Muddville?” 

The other man huffed. “My wife never had any quarrel with the way I made love to her.” 

“Umm, John…” 

But he was lost in his memories of the woman he had lost. “I mean, we had a routine, you know? I’d kiss her; she really liked to be kissed. And then I’d toy with her nipples a little. She liked that too. And then we’d make love. What more does a woman need?” 

I could see this topic was making my lover uncomfortable. Generous in the extreme, he was at a loss with someone who was locked into a pattern and was unwilling to try anything new. “John, I really don’t think…” 

But again John Borden interrupted Herb. “If I wanted to fuck someone’s ass, it certainly wouldn’t have been the woman I was planning to make my wife!” 

We both choked on the coffee we were sharing. 

“How do I put this politely, John? Umm…” Herb realized there was no polite way to do it. “Umm, Garnet likes it up the ass?” 

John glared at him. “Don’t you dare laugh at me! And don’t say a word about this to anyone! I’m dealing with it! I am!” he tried to assure himself. 

“If you say so, John. Did you come here to tell me that your future wife has somewhat esoteric tastes when it comes to sex?” 

“No. As a matter of fact, I didn’t.” 

Herb sat down and leaned back in his chair, his hands folded behind his head. “So, what can I do for you John?” 

“Timmek feels there’s a possibility that some of Deen’s people may still be in the caves, afraid to come out. He’s put me in charge. I need the two of you to go check on it, and try to convince anyone left in there that no harm will befall them.” 

My lover glanced over at me, and I shrugged. “They are no longer my people, but I have no quarrel with them. I will go to the caves. There is no need for you to come with me, Master.” 

They spoke at the same time. 

“What do you mean, ‘no longer your people’?” John Borden demanded. 

“What do you mean, I don’t need to go with you?” Herbert Ellis barked. 

I decided it was easier to answer the other man. “Sir, Herb, and Doctor Galbraithe, and Hank Jaffe are my people now.” 

“*Deen*?” Herb was frowning at me, and I sighed. 

“Master, there is no need for you to go to the caves. And it is not dangerous.” 

“Not dangerous like the last time wasn’t dangerous?” Herb rose to his feet, as lithely as a hunting mountain lion, and began stalking me around the table. I backed away from him. “Then there shouldn’t be a problem with me going with you, should there?” 

I tried one more time. “It is not necessary…” I was cornered, and he pounced on me, his hardened cock nudging my abdomen, and his tongue seeking entry to my mouth. 

“I’ll assume you both will see to this matter!” John growled as he turned on his heel and strode from our chamber. Herb and I ignored him. 

My Master certainly had a way of getting his point across. 

**** 

I had not been in those caves in twelve years, but I remembered all the grottos and passages. We carried what Herb called ‘flashlights’ to illuminate our way. 

Our search was futile. Those we came across had been dead for a few days, since Naga had been defeated, and the warriors had left the caves. 

Eventually we found ourselves approaching the last in a series of convoluted tunnels and heard the first sounds since we had entered the caverns. A weak moan, filled with pain, echoed eerily around us. 

Running toward it sure-footedly, I rounded a jagged outcropping of rock, and the light splashed across a woman in the last stages of labor. Herb skidded to a halt behind me, almost knocking me down. 

“Oh, Jesus!” 

Her single eye was squeezed shut as she concentrated on delivering her child. Her sweat-soaked hair clung to her neck and shoulders, and her lips were swollen, bitten raw. The flaps of skin that covered her nose slits vibrated with her efforts to draw in oxygen. The huge mound of her belly rippled as another contraction tore through her. 

I thrust the light at my lover and pulled off my tunic, dropping to my knees to try to catch the infant before it dashed its head on the rocky floor of the cave. Herb held the light so that I could see what I was doing. 

A head covered by wet, black hair was in my right hand. It was misshapen from its journey through the birth canal. Gently I rotated its shoulders, and with a gush of fluid and bright red blood, it… he slid into my hands, squalling at the indignity of his entrance into this world. 

If Naga had still been chief, this child would have been destined to live his life as a slave, for his features were what The Others considered normal. I wrapped him in my tunic. The woman was bleeding profusely, and there was nothing I could do to stop the red tide that flowed from her. 

Hesitantly, I presented her son to her. 

“Deen?” 

In shock, I stared closer at the woman who took the infant from me. “Mama?” 

She cuddled the baby for a moment, and then raised her hand toward me. I flinched, and her expression saddened. “I did not do well by you, my son,” she whispered in our harsh language. “I was so young when I gave birth to you, and was terrified by your strange looks. I am sorry.” 

I ducked my head, and felt my lover’s warm hand on my shoulder. “Can we save her?” he asked in a low voice, but she heard him and gasped in horror and tried to scramble away from him as she saw him clearly for the first time. 

“Do not fear him, Mama. He belongs to me and will not harm you.” 

She didn’t seem inclined to believe me, but she was fast fading toward unconsciousness, and she held the infant out to me. “He is yours now. I give him to you.” 

I took the baby, and her hand lingered for a moment on mine. “By the Being who watches over us all, you are ugly!” With a soft exhalation, she died. 

I rose slowly and started to walk back to the passage that would lead to the welcome light of day. 

“What are we going to do?” Herbert asked, glancing back over his shoulder to where the woman lay dead. 

 “We must get this little one to someplace warm, and then he will need to be fed.” 

“God, he’s an ugly little bugger!” 

“Don’t say that!” I shouted, disturbing the baby. He began to wail. “There! See what you did?” 

“What I did?” 

“If you hadn’t called him ugly, I wouldn’t have gotten angry and shouted! It’s your fault!” 

Herb had never seen me angry. Well, I never permitted myself to lose my temper. What was the point? Only now, I had a reason. I glared at my lover. 

“Okay, Sunshine. You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. Although it’s true,” he said so softly I nearly didn’t hear him. But I was unwilling to argue further with him. “So we get him cleaned up and fed. Will The Others take care of him then?” 

I stopped, hugging the baby close to me. “No,” I said hoarsely. 

“Then who…?” 

I looked at my lover through the fringe of hair that fell over my forehead. I knew my decision might drive us apart, but I had no choice in this. The infant had been given to me. And he was my brother. 

“He’s mine, Master. I will.” 

 ####

Note: Haven’t done one of these in a while. We all know what artificial insemination is, but back in the 50s, the hoi and polloi had no clue. At least no one in my family did, although they wouldn’t have discussed it with the kiddies, anyway. So I’m going on the assumption that none in our party would have been privy to the technology at the point the story started. Oh, and if anyone wants the joke about the lady and her ugly baby, contact me off list. 

Part 34 

Hank’s POV

Slowly I swam up to consciousness through a mire of quicksand. My eyes felt gritty, and my mouth tasted as if something particularly nasty had died in it. But I was so filled with painkillers that I felt good! 

I peeled open an eyelid and observed my lover sitting at my bedside. “I’m still alive?” My voice was weak. 

“Yes, you are, you stupid, selfless son of a bitch! And I’d appreciate it very much if you wouldn’t do something so idiotically noble again! You nearly took ten years off my life, and I don’t have that many to spare, you know!” But Doc was grinning at me, relief evident in his easy smile and relaxed demeanor. 

It belied the horror that I knew had ripped through him when he saw the blood that poured from the hole in my chest. I had regained consciousness in Medical, as Deen removed his hand from the wound that had somehow missed my lung, but nicked an artery.  “Somebody, do something!” Doc’s voice had been strident with fear. 

They had succeeded in saving me, but the ‘hows’ were lost in the fog of the drugs. 

“How…? I lost a god-awful lot of blood, Easy. I thought I was a dead duck for sure! What saved me?” 

“The Others found someone who matched your blood type, Hank.” 

“Impossible!” I tried to lean up on my elbow, but an IV line kinked, and some machinery began to beep. 

“*Not* impossible!” he assured me, as he gently pushed me down. The annoying sound stopped.

“Do you know how freaking rare the factors in my blood make it? Maybe a handful of people in the world have it! My grandfather had that type. So did my father, who passed it on to me. Hal has… had it as well.” 

Doc caressed my lips with his thumb. They tingled. “Well, someone else does. Care to venture a guess?” He replaced his thumb with his tongue, distracting me for a moment, soothing my parched lips. 

“C’mon, Easy,” I grumbled halfheartedly. “I’m not a well man! I hate guessing games!” I was growing more and more tired. I battled to stay awake, needing more of his kisses, wanting more information. My eyelids drifted shut. I jerked them open with a start, but they began to droop closed again. 

“What would you say if I told you I think we may have found a descendant of yours, of Hal’s, here in these caverns?” 

That brought me back from the arms of Morpheus with a vengeance. I forced my eyes opened as I struggled to fit together all the pieces of the puzzle. “Who…?” 

Doc leaned over me, carefully avoiding the tubes and bandages that covered me, his need for physical contact as great as mine. “The toes, the blood type. It all points to one person: Deen. I’d say we’ve found a grandson, Hank.” 

“*We*, Easy?” I couldn’t battle fatigue any longer, and I started the slide into a healing slumber. 

“*We*, you sexy devil, you! You’re mine, and that makes your family my family!” Doc wrapped his long fingers around my hand and held it tightly. I could barely hear his fiercely whispered avowal. “I love you, you big lug! So don’t you dare die on me! We have too many years ahead of us. And I don’t intend to spend them alone!” 

I needed to be awake. I needed to tell him I loved him too. 

But my body insisted I needed to be asleep more. 

**** 

The next time I roused, it was to the sounds of a contretemps, the likes of which, I’m sure, The Others had never heard. 

“You will see to this child, or you will discover how a Beast truly acts!” 

I managed to get my eyes opened, to see Deen snarling at a pale-faced medical technician. Deen, his eyes glittering with fury that somehow did not seem out of proportion to the situation, stood bare-chested, a tiny bundle wrapped in his tunic. 

Herb was behind Deen, his hands strong on the young man’s shoulders, towering over his lover like an avenging angel. 

I could feel the tension vibrating through him, and tried to angle up on my elbow, setting off the machines again. 

“What is the meaning of this?” my lover demanded sternly. “Henry Jaffe needs the utmost quiet in order to heal from wounds he received in aid of you people! I will have silence here!” 

I had to smile. In spite of his nickname, Easy could be quite impressive in a rage. I reached for his hand and squeezed it, and felt him become calm. 

We had a connection now, the four of us, I to Doc, Herb to Deen. And Deen, to my amazement, closing the link by leaning into my lover’s bulk. “This baby needs to be cleaned, and a source of nourishment must be found for him.” 

“What…?” I could almost hear the thoughts that flashed across Doc’s mind. ‘Good God, what an ugly child!’ 

I hissed at him, “If you say, ‘And we’ll get a banana for your monkey,’ I will shoot you, Easy!” 

His glance was startled, and then filled with amusement. He stroked my hair back off my forehead and stooped to kiss me. “Feeling better, handsome?” 

I blushed and nodded. This was the first time he had ever publicly displayed anything more than platonic affection toward me. 

“Where did he come from, Deen?” 

“The caves.” Deen set the baby down on an examining table and gently began cleaning the residue of his birth from the infant. “John Borden asked us to make sure there was no one remaining in them. We found his mother giving birth to him, but she had been in labor too long, and I could not stop her bleeding.” 

The technician curled her lip. “I do not want this Beast in my infirmary.” 

We ignored her, and she was not happy about that. Her mouth took a sulky turn, and she hurried out to find the doctor who was in charge of this section. 

“He’s ours, Doc,” Herb said to his friend. “The woman gave him to Deen just before she died. She seemed to know him.” 

“Why would she give you the baby, Deen?” 

The young man looked at Doc. His eyes were so sad I wanted to cry out in protest. “She would not have kept this little one in any event, Doctor Galbraithe. He would grow up too different from all the others. She would have pushed him aside, just as she did me,” he murmured so softly that I was the only one who heard him. He had finished working on the infant, and had found a blanket to wrap him in. “I must go to the Crèche. There will be formula there for him. Master?” 

Herb accepted the tiny bundle and cradled it in his arms, not looking in the least out of place to be caring for such a small infant. He leaned his face to it and nuzzled the soft dark hair that covered the baby’s misshapen skull. “Doc?” 

Doc went to examine the baby, and sighed in relief. “This is just the normal result of his birth, Herb. In a few weeks at most, his head will be perfectly round.” 

Herb sighed, relieved himself. “I can understand why Deen is so protective of this infant, having spent his entire life as an outcast. If I hadn’t agreed to accept this baby, I really think he would have left me!” 

“Surely not!” Doc exclaimed. He saw that Herb had no doubt over the choice his lover would have made. “Will you be comfortable with becoming a dad, Herb? Most men have at least nine months to get used to the idea.” 

I couldn’t believe the joy that lit the younger man’s face. “Yeah, I think I will, Doc. It’s the only chance I’ll ever have.” 

John walked in on the end of that remark. “I rather think Timmek has plans for you, Herbert. He wants to diversify the gene pool as much as possible. Yes, very nice,” he stated absently as Herb displayed his new son to him. 

“Do I see your machiavellian hand in this, John?” Doc asked shortly. “Is he expecting the same from Hank and me?” 

Borden seemed surprised that we should even question this. “Of course, Doc. We all have to do our part for the greater good of mankind. And don’t get excited, you won’t be expected to actually sleep with any of the lovely ladies who will be lining up for a chance to bear your offspring.” 

“Mind explaining, John?” The thought of sinking my cock into a woman no longer held any appeal to me. I actually felt as if I would be cheating on my lover by acceding to John’s request. 

“They use something they call artificial insemination. You jerk off into a cup, and they’ll take care of it from there, using a special syringe to insert the sperm.” 

I shuddered and lay back on the platform. “Easy?” 

“You needn’t worry about this for a good long time, Hank. You’ll need to get your strength back before I allow them to come near you!” 

“You’re so masterful!” But I let him see that what I really wanted was to feel his prick deep inside me. 

“So that just leaves you, Herb. What’s your problem?” John snapped as he saw Herb quietly shaking his head. 

“No can do, Johnny.” 

“You’re not impotent! I’ve seen the way your trousers tent whenever that boy is around!” 

“I didn’t say I was impotent. I just said I couldn’t get anyone pregnant. I’m sterile, John!” 

“*What*?” 

Herb shrugged, gently rocking the dozing baby in his arms. “When I was sixteen, I contracted a really rabid case of mumps. A few years after I recovered, I found out I would never father a child.” 

Doc was pale. “That was the summer you screwed everything on two legs!” 

The younger man had the grace to look abashed. “Yes. I gave you a hard time that year, Doc. I never told you how sorry I was. I came to terms with it, eventually. And now I’ve got my own child to raise!” 

“But he’s a child of the outside world! You’re going to accept the offspring of one of those creatures?” John sputtered. 

“Sure.” Herb extended his arms toward John, allowing him to better view the baby. 

Deen came in with a small bottle filled with a creamy liquid. He retrieved the infant, who opened eyes that were not the normal vague blue of newborns. They were slate grey. 

“Sunshine.” The young man looked inquiringly at his lover, thick lashes framing his grey eyes. Herb smiled and tugged at the long black hair that swung free from the thong that usually confined it. “He’s got Deen’s coloring, don’t you think?” 

#### 

Part 35 

Velvet’s POV

Timmek ventured outside for the first time, and was observing the various aspects of the community that had him fascinated, especially our younger children who were rough housing with their counterparts from the surface. “A few months ago, they were puny, wretched little creatures!” he stated, ignoring the fact that until the scandal with Mories had broken, he had never seen those children. “Which are the puny ones now?” he demanded smugly. 

Doc’s eyes were beginning to glaze over, and I joined them and smiled. “Doctor Galbraithe, Doctor Jaffe would like a moment of your time, if it wouldn’t be inconvenient?” 

“Not at all!” he exclaimed, trying to conceal his relief. “If you’ll excuse me, Timmek?” 

“Of course, of course! No need to stand on ceremony with me, dear boy!” 

Doctor Galbraithe’s eyes got a little panicked at Timmek’s slightly flirtatious tone, and I patted his sleeve. He hurried to where his lover was teaching a group of shaggy haired, scrawny children to speak our language. It would be some time before those survivors of the caves began to fill out: for too long they had been denied the most basic of life’s necessities. 

But no longer. As well as nurturing their minds, Henry Jaffe was also seeing that their bodies were cared for as well, making sure that they were well fed. 

Doctor Galbraithe approached his lover. Their eyes met, their hands touched briefly, and even from where I stood, I could feel the love that flowed between them. 

Timmek sighed, and I turned to see him watching the two men with longing. “It’s been such a long time! Being president of the council is a very lonely job!” 

“Indeed, Sir. But now that John Borden has taken over that task, you should have plenty of time to devote to yourself. The community owes you that for all your selfless service over the years.” I nearly gagged from the treacle I was spouting. 

Timmek patted my shoulder, and unseen by anyone else, his hand slid down under my skirt to fondle my naked bottom, tracing the crease that parted my buttocks. 

“Oh look!” I exclaimed, stepping smoothly out of his grasp. “Isn’t that Elda signaling to you? I have heard that he has very warm feelings for you, Sir.” 

“Really?” Timmek smoothed a hand over his sparse hair. Now that we were soon to be living on the surface permanently, the men had ceased wearing those abominable skullcaps. “He is a very fine looking man, isn’t he?” 

He raised his hand to pat me again, but I murmured a hasty, “Oh, mumblemutter is looking for me! I must run. Good day, Sir!” 

I breathed a sigh of relief to have his attention elsewhere. Elda truly did admire our former president. Perhaps he would welcome those liver-spotted hands on his body. After all, he was fairly well covered in liver spots himself. 

**** 

Elaine joined Doctor Galbraithe and Henry Jaffe where they stood by the makeshift schoolroom. She spoke briefly to them, and they smiled and accepted the canteens and pouches of food and the blanket that she handed them. 

I watched her as she took over the class for the two men who wandered out of the clearing. And then I started as her eyes met mine, and the corner of her mouth tilted in a soft smile. 

I dropped my eyes and hurried away from the clearing, unconsciously following the path the two men took. A quick glance over my shoulder revealed the redheaded beauty gently instructing the children of our ancient enemies, her eyes following me. 

She was beautiful, and I imagined her firm body under my hands. A ripple of desire flowed along my nerve endings. I bit my lip to distract myself from my heated thoughts and rounded a boulder, to find the men ahead of me had spread out the blanket, and Doctor Jaffe was reclining on it. 

I found a patch of soft grass. I folded my legs under me and sank down, interested in spite of myself. 

**** 

“You’re not too exhausted, are you, Hank? It’s only been a couple of weeks since you’ve been out of sick bay.” 

“Easy, you worry too much! I’m fine. I promise you there’s nothing wrong with me that a little loving from you wouldn’t cure!” 

Doc looked up sharply from where he had been carefully dividing the food, his eyes growing hot. He took a deep sip from the canteen and stretched his body over the blanket toward his lover. He fitted their mouths together and nudged Hank’s lips apart, letting him drink from his mouth. Then his lover sat back. 

Hank’s face was flushed, and his arousal was straining against the front of his trousers. 

Doc pulled out a pocketknife, selecting a peach from the different comestibles in the pouch. Doc never took his eyes off the man he loved as he delicately peeled the luscious fruit and cut into it. He placed the slice against Hank’s lips and waited patiently until his lover accepted his offering. 

The juice glistened on Hank’s mouth and dribbled down to his chin. Doc leaned over and carefully licked the juice, savoring the taste of both the sweet fruit and his lover. Hectic color again swept over the other man’s cheeks. “Easy…” He reached for Doc’s hand and pressed it against the arousal that was imprisoned behind the zipper of his trousers. “Don’t tease me! I’m hornier than a three-balled tomcat!” 

Doc grinned broadly. “Are you, handsome? Well, we’ll just have to see what we can do about that! Lay down!” 

He sank back, following orders. Doc had Hank’s trousers opened and his turgid cock out before Hank had any idea of what he intended. He smeared the juice of the peach over the empurpled tip of his lover’s erection, and then took it between his lips, letting his tongue swirl over it, dipping into the slit, lapping up each drop of the sticky sweetness. 

Hank moaned low in his throat and spread his legs further apart. Doc eased his trousers down over his hips, giving himself better access to the flesh that had been denied him since his lover had been injured. While his mouth was busy working Hank’s cock, Doc’s fingers fondled the twin sacks and the sensitive skin just behind them. 

One inquisitive finger ventured past that, finding and rubbing across the opening that was still new to the games Doc wanted to play. Applying a gentle, steady pressure, he breached the ring of muscle and sucked harder on Hank’s quivering cock. 

With a sound somewhere between a whimper and a moan, Hank began to come, pouring himself into his lover’s mouth, his head thrashing and his hands tugging at Doc’s hair, seeking to bring him closer. 

When Hank finally sank back bonelessly, Doc crawled up his body and brought their lips together once more, sharing Hank’s taste with him, and cradling him in his arms, restlessly rubbing his own cock against his lover. 

Hank freed him and began to fondle him. It didn’t take long for the older man to come as well, and the pair nestled against one another, drowsing in the midday sun. 

**** 

I felt flushed and breathless; hollow, and in need of being filled. The ache at my core was throbbing in time to the slow, heavy beat of my heart. I scrambled to my feet and squeezed my thighs together, embarrassed to have witnessed such a private moment, and afraid I might be caught observing them. 

But only regretting that it was they and not I who enjoyed such passion! 

I hurried away from that secluded spot, but I must have gotten myself turned around, for instead of returning to the clearing, I found myself in a tiny grotto. I was not alone, however. At the far end were two other lovers. 

**** 

My friend Deen was already living on the surface with his lover, Herb and their little boy. They called him Hal, after another little boy. 

I came across them the other day, and Herbert was still patiently trying to teach Deen to blow a bubble. Deen was thrusting his tongue into the soft, pink mass, in an effort to make a space to fill with air. I think that was the point where his Master became more interested in watching the movements of my friend’s tongue. He held his hand before Deen’s lips. 

“Spit it out, Sunshine!” 

Deen did, laughing, and found his mouth being ravaged by his lover. 

I had to hurry to my chamber after that, and I spent a long time in the ‘fresher, touching myself. But I only succeeded in climaxing when I thought of the tall redhead and pictured her hands on me.

#### 

Part 36/End 

Velvet’s POV

I was restless. On this day when we were finally able to enjoy the soft breezes of the surface, my friend and his lover were also sharing a picnic. I paused, unseen, at the mouth of the grotto and watched their evident enjoyment of each other. 

Herb was lying with his head resting comfortably in the younger man’s lap, telling him of his younger years. Deen combed through Herb’s hair, letting the mahogany strands sift through his fingers, listening avidly.

“What made it so difficult was that I knew my parents. Unfortunately, they were killed by a drunk driver when I was quite young,” Herb was saying to Deen.  “But not quite young enough. Most people want babies; they don’t want older children.” 

“They were fools not to want you, Master. I would have taken you!” 

“I dunno, Sunshine. I had a mouth on me!” 

“You still do, Master.” He bent to kiss that mouth, brushing his lips over the other man’s lazy smile. “A very fuckable mouth,” Deen murmured. 

Those deep blue eyes glinted with humor. “*Not* what I meant, Sunshine!” Herb stroked the lips just a whisper from his, then squirmed up until he was reclining on his tailbone. He leaned back into his lover’s embrace, and pulled his arms around him, Deen’s hands resting snugly on Herb’s burgeoning arousal. He continued speaking. “So I went from one foster home to another. They cared for me, but they never cared for me, if you understand? And I spent most of my time getting into trouble.” 

Herb was gazing into the past. Deen slid a finger under his chin and turned his face toward him. His slate grey eyes wandered over the beloved visage, before he bent to caress his lover’s mouth gently with his own. “Poor Master.” 

The kiss deepened. Herb casually dropped his hand on the bulge that strained the front of the young man’s leggings. He grinned against Deen’s lips, as his lover groaned. 

“That last move was the roughest; I was just starting high school. But that was the year I met Tony Galbraithe. Don’t ask me why, but he chose me for a friend. Every chance I got, I was at his house, and for the first time, I felt the warmth of a home open to me. Doc and his wife, Beth, became like my own parents. They treated me better than any of the families I had been dumped on.” 

I could see Deen’s arms tightening around his lover, offering unquestioning understanding. Herb pressed a kiss into his palm and took up the thread of his story. 

“I managed to get through school, but my grades were barely good enough to get me into college. I was determined to get out on my own though, and I was willing to work at any kind of job I could find. And I left the last of the foster homes behind me.” 

Deen’s arms were snug around his lover, and his lips roamed the face that was so close to his. “If I could, I would go back and hurt them all, for how they hurt you, Master.” 

Herb sighed happily. “You do love me, don’t you, Deen?” he marveled 

“Of course!” The younger man was surprised. “Did you have any doubt? Tell me about this ‘college’, Master.” He loved hearing Herb talk of those long ago days. 

“I think I’ll save that for another time, Sunshine. But I was accepted into the same college as Tony, and we were able to room together.” 

“Did you love him the same way you loved Doc, Master?” 

Herb looked startled. “Good God, no! He was my good friend!” He chewed on his lip. “How did you figure out that I loved Doc, Sunshine?” 

Deen shook his head, unable or unwilling, to explain how he had known that. “Do you still love him, Master?” 

Herb’s expression was a remembering one. “Yes. But not in the way I used to. And not nearly as much as I love you, Sunshine.” He reached up to cup the back of the younger man’s head and pull him down to his kiss. “I’ll never love anyone the way I do you!” 

“Master!” Deen breathed against his lover’s lips. “Fuck me!” 

“No. But I’ll make love with you!” Herb rolled over and pulled Deen under him. Without rising, he yanked his lover’s leggings off. Catching Deen’s knees over his shoulders, Herb pushed the younger man’s legs back toward his chest, and quickly unfastened his own trousers and shoved them down off his hips. Fumbling for the tube of lubricant in his pocket, he coated his fingers and inserted first one, and then two, using a scissoring motion to loosen and open him. 

Deen was breathing in harsh pants by the time the broad head of his Master’s cock found his puckered opening and began to slide past the guardian muscle and into his passage. 

Herb was not in any rush. The rhythm he set was slow and languorous. Deen hooked his hands under his knees and pulled his legs back even farther. That angle made it very easy for Herb to cross the spot over and over that had his lover moaning in mindless rapture. 

But nothing lasts forever, not even the most voluptuous moments of lovemaking. Herb’s hips moved faster. Deen brought their mouths together in kisses that were savage with unrestrained passion. And then that passion spun out of control, and their climax swept over them. They came with hoarse groans. 

Moments passed while they struggled to bring their breathing under control. And then Deen picked up the tube his Master had fortuitously brought with him, and waggled it between his fingers. Herb gave a huff of laughter. “Never leave home without it!” he murmured in a voice replete with satisfaction. 

**** 

The ache between my thighs was becoming more unbearable. I wanted someone to touch me as my friend had been touched by his lover. 

I plucked a bloom from a nearby plant and sighed, and slipped quietly away. There was still no one for me. I was very alone. Everywhere I turned, people were happily paired. 

Or not so happily paired. Witness John Borden and the lady Garnet. They had chosen one another. But John Borden’s eyes often strayed to the firm ass of Herbert Ellis. 

And I had seen Garnet gaze wistfully after Elda’s scientific assistant, Elaine. 

But their positions in the community precluded them from ever acting on those feelings. And so they were stuck with less than perfect mates. Their passion for each other cooled rapidly, and soon, while affectionate in public, they barely tolerated one another in private. 

John Borden would never have Herb; the other man loved Deen too much to look elsewhere. But Garnet was so lovely. Surely Elaine would forgive her the choice she made, and allow the beautiful blonde back into her bed? 

Glumly, I entered the tunnel to our underground city and began making my way to the chambers that had become mine once I was given permission to leave the Crèche. 

I had been twirling the flower between my fingers. Something sharp caught my thumb and I yelped and dropped the bud. “Darn.” I bent to retrieve it. 

 “Very pretty!” a soft voice behind me said, as a warm hand fondled my bare buttocks. 

I whirled around. “Lady!” 

The redhead smiled at me and walked forward. “*Elaine*,” she said. She reached for the flower and held it to her nose, inhaling the heady fragrance. “*Very* pretty!” she repeated, but the look in her green eyes told me she wasn’t referring to the blossom she was holding. 

“Lady…” I swallowed and closed my eyes. This had to be a dream, like so many that had tormented my nights. 

“Elaine, Velvet. My name is Elaine.” Her elegant fingers stroked the flower across my breasts, causing the nipples to peak and harden beneath my clothing. She cupped the weight in her palms and kneaded the lush flesh. “I’ve been wondering if you’ll taste as sweet as you look.” 

“Ohhhh!” I sighed at the tingling the flower caused. I opened my eyes, certain I would awaken, alone in my bed. But the beautiful woman was standing before me. 

“Take me to your chamber, Velvet.” 

“Elaine, you love the lady Garnet!” 

“Do I? But I’m here with you, not with her!” 

“You’re angry with her now, but soon you’ll forgive her, and you’ll break my heart when you go back to her bed!” 

She touched my hair, bringing a lock to her face and rubbing it against her mouth. “I’ve been watching you, Velvet. You’re loyal to your friends, and you care deeply. I need that. Will you share your warmth with me?” 

I hesitated, then nodded. How could I refuse this beautiful woman anything? “You want me, lady?” 

“Take me to your chamber, and I’ll show you how much!” 

I licked my lips and stepped back from her. Her face saddened, and I seized her hand and raised it to my mouth. “It’s this way, lady.” 

“*Elaine*, precious!” 

I smiled at her, sure that my future would be complete with passion-filled days and nights. 

“Oh yes,” I murmured as I pulled her along after me, laughing joyously. “Oh yes, precious Elaine!” 

**** 

A Final POV From Deen 

**** 

We spend our days outside now, under the blue vault of heaven, beneath the warm caresses of a sun many had never thought to see. 

Soon the homes above ground will be finished. 

Beryl, who heads up the team of builders, is just showing a set of ‘blueprints’ I think he calls them, to Doctor Galbraithe. Doc points out that the water lines need to go in first. And then everything else will fall nicely into place. 

Herb stands behind me as we watch the activity in the clearing, his arms securely around me. 

“What we’re seeing, Sunshine, might well be the rebirth of the human race!”

~End~

Back to the Table of Contents