Chapter 1

I grinned at Antonio, and pulled out my knives. Antonio was topless, wearing just a brief loincloth that flapped in the breeze. Not that I was wearing much either: a leather halter that ended just under my breasts, and a pair of leather shorts that just covered my ass. Mistress Travia, our trainer, thinks I should wear a loincloth like Antonio, but with tits like mine, I don't need to show more.

Plus, I like all that leather gripping my ass and nether parts. Helps make me horny, and that's the key to fighting.

The daggers help too, of course -- they are my choice for getting in close and personal. Antonio drew his sword and readied his shield. His fighting style is more visual, so he tends to want to stand back. Me, I'm all about the touching and rubbing. But then we are Medrhi, and that's the way we do things.

Travia shouted out "Go!" and we closed with each other. While I ran to get inside his reach, Antonio did that thing he does, where he stands there completely open, his skin glistening with oil or sweat, and something surges underneath his loincloth. He's predictable in doing that, and I was ready for it, but I still felt a flush begin to form, and a twitching between my legs.

I know it's part of being a Medrhi warrior, and while I'm very good at the fighting, I just don't seem to possess the ability to arouse my enemies. I mean, I know Antonio, we've been friends for years, and he's gayer than hell, and totally off my "to do" list. But here I was panting at the stuff beneath his shorts. And even if training had left me with no doubts about what was there -- I still wondered. At least this time, I kept from licking my lips.

"Don't be afraid of your lust, Kadja. Use it, it is your power as a human being, as an attractive woman. Tap into it, and strike at his loins with your power."

I wanted to argue, but I'd made all the arguments I could. Yes, Antonio was gay, and not the least bit interested in my body. But the power shouldn't matter. He was a sexual being, and the Medrhi can tap into that in any creature. Or so Travia had told me, over and over. I tried to reach into myself, as they taught, to tap into my power as Antonio had done and got what I always got: nothing.

I could do this, I told myself. I was a better fighter than him, a better sneak, more agile, everything except the inability to tap into my power. It was time to use my full knowledge. I could coax the power out, or defeat him in some other way.

I looked into his eyes with lust in my heart, and a promise of something. I needed to get under his reach, rub up against him with my thighs and ass, my breasts and lips. Anything to distract him for that take-down blow.

His sword swept around to me, and I parried with one dagger, his shield blocking my thrust with the other. I pressed my breasts against his chest, shimmying just a bit, to draw his eyes and give me the opening I needed. He pushed me back, and I jumped with it, flashing my thighs at him in a sweet back flip. He swung his sword again, and we began to parry back and forth. He was trying a new pattern today, and I let myself fall into it for a moment, to figure it out.

That was it, I noticed. A moment when he slightly extends himself, with his shield blocking my two daggers. One more round of this, I thought, while I turned on the charm. I shimmied and lured. If he'd been a straight man, he'd be at my feet. Instead I got more of his pattern. The sword extension came around, and I grinned at him. He grinned back, his body gleaming in the sun. I took a deep breath as I ducked under his overextended sword, and pulled up inside his reach.

I swung my dagger for his throat, and noticed -- just for a moment -- a twitch of him beneath his loincloth. I smiled, thinking I had an effect on him. It was enough to distract me from his shield as it swung for my head. I woke up, woozy on the ground, Antonio standing above me, offering me hand up.

"Very good, again, Antonio," Mistress Travia said. "Kadja, my office after you clean up. We need to talk."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I swore under my breath. I looked up at Antonio. "So this is it."

"The power is in you," he said. "I can feel it."

"Yeah, the problem is that it's trapped in there."

He shrugged. It was an old exchange. I glanced at him as he walked away, and my desire to do him faded back to nothing.

If only I could make him want me that much.

That was the core of my problem, really, and one I pondered while I showered. Fighting always got me hot and bothered, and fighting Antonio doubly so. We were friends, after all we had similar interests: men, the Medrhi fighting style, men, skimpy clothes, and men. I was attracted to him a little, and in lust with him because of the way we fought, and he was completely unattainable. At least my fingers weren't unobtainable.

Yes, I'm a woman and I like to masturbate. Is that so surprising to you? My lover says my second chakra shines bright like the sun when I do. It proves I'm enthusiastic about sex, at the very least. Right now I was horny from the battle, and needed to relax before talking to Travia. Plus a good come would wipe away the feeling of defeat from yet another loss. And put off what I knew was the inevitable result of our talk.

The grotto behind our training area has a hot spring that spills down like a waterfall. I like to lie under it, the warm water cascading over my breasts, and down between my thighs. I lay there, my right hand between my legs, opening my sex to the warm water. My left hand on my breasts, playing with my nipples, squeezing them until they hurt.

There's a certain amount of pain involved in being a warrior, and I liked that too. It fed my power, which would be great if I could touch it. I opened myself to it as I lay there, two fingers sliding on either side of my clit rubbing back and forth, faster and faster.

The water drowned out all other noise, and all other places. For a moment I forgot about my problems, trying to be fully me, and to touch my magic. I didn't feel it stirring, but I was used to that. Other stirrings I did notice. Antonio sloshed into the water, taking care of his own needs. I closed my eyes, and arched back in the water, feeling it cascade over my face and pound against my neck and breasts.