Candidate (Selected Book 4) (26 page)

"Not influence. They were the ones to decide."

"Oh, my."

"Sometimes when a young Tutor offers herself to another family, she does not specify the nature of the adversity. I offered myself, and I offered to carry a child. I did not know how much it would hurt."

"Cherish I'm sorry."

"You understand that physically I was an adult. And this is a part of our culture down to our biology. But when a young Tutor offers herself, she becomes very obedient to the older Tutors."

"That's why you wanted me to kneel."

"Until I was too large with child to do so, I knelt that way each night before our meal and again before we climbed into bed together."

"Did you offer your body?"

"That is almost always a given part of the relationship. We become a sort of servant, but we simply use the word Third. I became their Third. If it were a single woman, I would still be her Third."

"I see."

"They promised they would do their best to make me ready. That's all they said. And so I served their needs, and they put a child into me. I carried the child, and I taught the child. I nursed the child. And then, when she was one year old, they came to me while I was nursing her. They pulled her from me and ordered me from their home."

"That's terrible!"

"To a human, it was terrible. It was painful. But in that night, I grew up. I was not yet mature enough, but I was sufficiently mature to join the training program. They gave me to another woman, older, and I became her Third. I attended training during the day, and I was her Third at night. And she offered more adversity." Cherish looked away. "I will only say I became quite mature."

Then she turned back. "I wasn't going to make it though. We can test maturity, much like Jasmine Brighteyes can with her human mating candidates. But we are far better at it, at least when testing Tutors. I wasn't going to make it."

"Yet you did."

"You could not say the name of the woman to whom I was third. Let me call her Paula, a name you can say."

"All right."

"My maturity was tested, and I was behind. And so Paula had me serve her dinner and see to her other needs, and then she told me I wasn't going to make it unless she did something drastic to me."

I pursed my lips together. "Is this going to make me cry?"

"I don't know," she said. "There is something we do to criminals."

"Cherish."

"We do not produce pheromones in the same fashion as the Octal do. But we each have a scent, unique to ourselves."

"All right. I like your scent."

She caressed my cheek briefly. "We do not have prisons like you have here, and we do not execute people. But we do something else. One thing we can do is change a woman's scent. We can change her so that her scent is unattractive to other Tutor. The change is permanent, and it is illegal to try to reverse it."

"Did she tell you that's what she was going to do?"

"No. I asked her to help. That night, we shared bodies, we shared passionately. You understand, I enjoyed this. I enjoyed it with her, and I enjoyed it with the mothers of my daughter."

"I understand."

"Then, when we were done, she gave me a drink. It made me sleep. And while I slept, she had me taken. And they did this change to me. I can work with other Tutor, but no Tutor will ever wish to be close to me."

"Oh, Cherish. I think that's horrible."

"It gave me what I wanted," she said. "I am here, and this is what I wanted. This is a beautiful world, and I find humanity fascinating. I love your water. We have little water on my home, and you have seen how I love to swim."

"I have." I leaned closer, and she didn't stop me as I buried my nose in her neck. I inhaled deeply. "I think you smell good. Like cinnamon and vanilla, but it is subtle." I leaned back. "You smell a little like my grandmother's cookies."

She snorted. "I did not hope to remind you of your grandmother."

"Maybe you smell bad to another Tutor, but you smell very good to me."

She caressed my face again. "Now you know my story. To other Tutors, I smell like a criminal."

"Couldn't you have it reversed? You're here on Earth, not on your home world."

"It is illegal."

"Not here, it isn't."

"To me, it is illegal. It would make me a criminal. A healthy mature Tutor can never do something she feels is illegal. I literally am unable to do this. But even if I could, the other Tutor in human space already know me. No, Andie. For me, this is permanent."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Don't be. If Paula hadn't done this to me, I wouldn't be here, and everything I gave up in the first place would have been for nothing."

"It is still hard to consider," I said.

"It is part of being Tutor," she said. "To mature, we must face adversity. To mature quickly, the adversity must be powerful. In a way, I am grateful."

I nodded then cuddled against her for a moment. We sat quietly, but then she turned my chin towards her. "If you want, we can play the game some more. Or we can sit and talk."

"Or..." I prompted.

"You may say no."

"Ask, Cherish."

"For tonight, will you be my Third, Andie?"

"Will you answer a question first?"

"I will try."

"Is this our only night, or do you want more."

"I want more."

"I will be your Third, Cherish."

"You will obey me?"

"Yes. But you must not offer me adversity. I have had enough lately."

She snorted. "Only sharing."

She stood, collected my hand, and said, "Third. Come." And she led me to her bedroom. There, she taught me how a Tutor accepts pleasure. And then she ordered me to tell her how a human accepts pleasure.

And if we were each clumsy, we were learning. And that was okay.

A pattern established. I swam every morning. Most of those mornings, I found myself with company. Cherish swam with me most mornings, and I enjoyed her company. But she was not the only woman to swim with me, and over the coming weeks, my retinue would grow. But I get ahead of myself mentioning that.

After my swim was breakfast. If I lost the previous day's challenge, I would have no clothing, but I'd be given a robe after returning the breakfast tray, and then I could walk to the changing room and put on whatever Jasmine offered me. The selection would change shortly, but that is also getting ahead.

Then I worked. I helped to run events, and I studied the women who were to arrive. I talked to both Jasmine and Clover, and they both told me I would be the one directly overseeing all four women, but with both of them watching me and providing guidance. And so we went over everything I would do, and I began to learn about the various types of challenges I could offer. But I wouldn't begin to pick the selection grid until we knew whom they were each paired against.

I had a second challenge with Jessica Maple, the Ardent. I lost this one almost immediately, and so I became hers for the night.

She didn't know what to do with me, and so we shared a meal and conversation. It was later that she admitted, "I don't know what I am doing."

"What do you want to do?" I asked her.

"I don't know."

"We can be friends, Jessica. We can determine another reward for winning and losing."

"I like holding you."

"I like when you hold me."

"I think about doing more."

I thought carefully. "And?" Yes, it was a non-committal response, but it was the best I had.

"I am afraid I'll hurt you."

"You have always been gentle."

"If my passions become involved, I do not know if I would remain gentle. And I do not know if I would be satisfied if I had to be."

Again I thought carefully. "I will not accept being treated roughly."

"I know. And when my passions are calm, the thought of anyone hurting you, well, it inflames my protective passions."

I laughed.

Then we grew quiet until she asked, "Humans kiss."

"We do. Do Ardents?"

"No, but I've thought about kissing you anyway."

"And?"

We were cuddling, but neither of us was looking at the other. At that, she used a finger to turn my head. "Would you show me how to kiss?"

"Yes, Jessica." I smiled and then rotated, throwing my leg over hers. It was far too wide a stretch, so I squirmed around until I found a comfortable position. She wrapped her arms around me, holding me in place, and that helped. In the end, I was really kneeling on her lap, and then I moved closer.

I caressed her face. She watched me intently.

"Close your eyes," I whispered. "And let me take off my visor."

We did both, setting the visor aside. She sat quietly, although as I stroked her face, I could feel her trembling.

"Am I too heavy?"

"No."

"Keep your eyes closed," I said. "Let me do this." And then I leaned forward and kissed the corner of her eye.

"That is not how humans kiss."

"We're warming up," I said. "If you begin to enjoy this and want to offer encouragement, you can move your hands onto my ass. I'll take that as meaning you want more than kissing."

She didn't move, but I didn't want her to yet.

I kissed the corner of the other eye. I nuzzled underneath her neck. I nibbled her ear while caressing the rim with my fingers.

Then I moved to her mouth. "Earth animals lick," I said. "And I think this derived from that." I kissed the corner of her mouth, then the other corner. Then I nuzzled some more, caressing her, pressing against her.

And she trembled but let me control everything.

Then I kissed it all again, but this time I kissed her mouth, the corners first, small kisses, then I moved in. I kissed, and I even licked a little.

And none of it did a thing for me, not one little bit.

Finally I sat back, and she opened her eyes. She looked at me sadly.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "But we can be friends."

"Friends," she agreed.

* * * *

My evening with Dark Skies, of course, went quite differently. It began with a tight hug at her door, and if she used pheromones, I couldn't tell.

We shared a meal as well as touches. Innocent touches, but they felt nice. And we talked for a while, first over dinner, and then after, sitting in her living room.

She didn't warn me when she began using her pheromones, and she did it slowly. I felt myself growing flushed, and I began panting. At the time, she was across the room, and we continued to carry on a conversation.

But it grew increasingly difficult for me.

I slipped from my chair, intending to move to her, but she said, "No. Sit in your chair, Andie."

Obediently, I moved back. I couldn't even consider disobeying her.

She ordered me to watch her, and then she partially undressed, She ordered me to watch her hands, and she began to caress her own body.

And I went a little insane, but she had ordered me to stay, and so I had to obey.

"Tonight I am your queen," she said. "I have captured you, Andie, and while you knew it was to happen, you didn't realize until it was too late."

I didn't say anything -- I couldn't say anything, not really.

"Crawl to me, slowly."

I lowered myself and crawled until I reached her. She gave me a foot and told me to lick it. She promised it would taste better than anything I had ever licked before. And it did.

She ordered me to remove her clothing, and then my own. And then she ordered me to crawl as she led me to her bed.

I crawled.

And then she ordered me to do more things, and more, and I did them all and begged besides.

From the sounds, I gave her such pleasures, and every whimper of pleasure cut to my soul, filling me with my own pleasure.

And then she told me I would enjoy what she was going to do to me. She did things to me no one had ever done before. Oh, they may have been things I wanted done, if only I had known how good they would feel. And then she did more. And she did more.

And then we were both worn to the core, but we lay together in her bed. I was insanely happy and entirely satiated. We held each other, and she murmured quietly to me.

"I'm letting your head clear," she said.

And I was together enough to know what that meant. "No, Dark Skies."

"Enough for you to think," she said. "Not enough you can disobey."

"Yours," I whispered, snuggling more tightly.

She continued to talk gently to me, asking me questions from time to time. And while I remained entirely committed to her, I gained some ability to think.

"You are my friend, Andie," she said. "You will forever be my friend." She told me that several times, and it settled in and became true.

"As your queen, I must take care of you," she said. "Andie, we cannot do this too often. If we do, you will grow desperate for me, even when your head is clear. And I won't be able to let you go."

"I don't want you to let me go."

"I know you don't. But eventually two must become four, and we would lose. We would become mates of a new queen."

"We would be together."

"We would be together, but not together. Our new queen would not let us share affection, Andie."

I grew still at that.

"You would belong to her, and I would belong to her. But we would not belong to each other anymore."

I buried my face in her shoulder.

"You want me to be queen, don't you?"

I nodded frantically. I unburied my face. "I can be everything you need."

"You cannot. Octals are driven to become eight. It is unhealthy for us if we do not become eight. A queen of four will be very careful to remain queen, but in time she will take risks to become eight, even if she will no longer be queen."

I buried my face again. She stroked my hair. "I want you to know, if I could keep you, I would. But it would not end well. And so we cannot do this too often. When I do not invite this very often, it is not because I do not want to. It is only because doing so would end poorly. Do you understand?"

I unburied and looked at her. "You want me, don't you, Dark Skies?"

"I do. But I cannot take you only to hand you to a different queen."

"I understand." But I was filled with sorrow, and I would have buried my face again. But she set a finger on my chin, and I froze.

"Are you tired?"

"Yes."

"I bet you aren't too tired," she said. And then she didn't just slip her pheromones into me. She pulled my head against her, ordered me to lick, and they slammed into my bloodstream.

I went insane with need.

* * * *

My head was clear by morning, but we lay entwined, and it was the first morning I wouldn't swim.

"Dark Skies. Thank you."

"Thank you, Andie. Believe me, the pleasure was all mine."

"Not all yours," I replied.

"You're probably still feeling a little obedient."

"Please don't order me from the bed."

She caressed my cheek. "I am going to finish releasing you now. You will stay where you are and obey me, won't you?"

"Yes," I whispered.

She rolled over me, and then she pulled my nose against her. I was helpless but to let her do what she wished. "Lick me," she said. "Don't stop licking."

But then, slowly, my independence returned to me.

And I stopped licking. She actually tasted a little, um. Not bad, but I didn't want to lick her anymore.

At that, she slumped down to cuddle against me again.

"You have your own antidote?"

"Yes."

"How efficient. Dark Skies, I heard what you said last night, but please, tell me this isn't our last night like this."

"It's not," she said. "Unless you find someone else first." Then she smiled. "Although if you do, I might just take you both."

"That would be three."

"Oh, I'm sure I can find a fourth."

I laughed and kissed her forehead. "I suppose we can't stay here all day."

"Probably not. There would be women in the arena and no one handling their event."

"They might not mind."

"Some would, and I imagine Jasmine Brighteyes would mind a great deal."

I sighed. "Always the practical one," I complained.

* * * *

That was not our last night together, and it wasn't the last time we woke in each other's arms. But we were only to have a few more nights like this.

But Dark Skies will always be a dear friend, regardless of the physical distance that might grow between us.