Chapter 3

I awoke shortly after dawn. I could tell the sun was shining brightly from a crack in the tent flap. And I was utterly amazed that A'moth was still sleeping in my arms, my hand still surrounding her breast. When I fell asleep the previous night, I was expecting her to vanish before daybreak.

I snuggled against her and started to caress her breasts and stomach. She awoke slowly, stretching and pushing back into me with her hips occasionally, just to let me know she enjoyed what I was doing. She finally said, "Ah... What a nice way to wake up."

I couldn't contain my curiosity any longer. "A'moth, how old are you?"

She was silent for a moment, considering, making an enormous decision. She finally spoke. "Would you think me hideous, if I said five-thousand twenty-six years?"

I gasped. I couldn't help it. "No. I know the legend of the Chungiera."

It was her turn to gasp. "What?! Oh, my diary! Of course!" She caught her breath. "Gary, am I in danger of being revealed?"

There was no accusation in her voice, just pure worry. I replied, "I think you might be okay. I never showed anything except pictures of the strings to one person. I met him recently again, a chance meeting at a textile museum. He thinks the ropes were a joke, and he's lost the pictures too."

A'moth turned around and looked into my eyes. "Show me?"

"Huh?"

"Let me read your memory?"

"Oh. Okay." I felt her hand come out to mine, felt her fingers settle into the pulse point on my wrist. A'moth's eyes were all business. They bore into my eyes, my brain, my mind, my soul...

"I see Hernando clearly," she whispered. "I see his laugher, in his shop last year, in the museum last month... He told you he accidentally threw them in the trash in the museum. In his shop, telling you of the Chungiera."

"My gosh... yes..."

"I see the museum. I see the woman standing with you. I see your affection for her, and your emotions, how pretty you think she is, how captivated you are by her gentleness. Her name is... Carlotta... I see you glancing at her profile, admiring the curves of her breasts and hips... Oh!"

A'moth suddenly gasped and turned her head away, breaking the eye contact. Her fingers left my wrist. "Gary! Forgive me! I'm feeling jealous, and it's so inappropriate!"

At first I was at a total loss for what to say. We both lay there in silence just thinking. I finally said, "A'moth, there's absolutely nothing to forgive. I think I'm feeling what you're feeling. I'm so confused about feelings of loyalty... and sexiness too. Uh, am I making any sense?"

A'moth nodded. "Yes, perfect sense. I don't need to read you to know how sexy you think I am, and how much you want to offer me kindness." She sighed and was silent.

After a moment A'moth turned around and butted back into me. I could tell she was asking me to hold her. I curled up again around her back and placed my hand across her, low on her stomach. A'moth sighed in relief. "Gary, would it be okay if I accept your kindness and affections now, but we put off the loyalty issue for a while?"

I stroked her stomach. It felt so good, so right to hold her. "Sure. I think that's a good idea. Let's try to grow the trust at... at... Hey!"

"What?"

"You have no naval!"

A'moth giggled. "Yes I do! It's just not where you're expecting it. Here, let me show you. She unbuckled her jeans. "Here. Go down on my left side... Lower... Oh Gary, don't be bashful! Lower on my hip, to where my groin meets my thigh... more left..."

My fingers were sliding in rich, dense pubic fur. I finally found it, almost to her leg on her left side. My finger began to probe it through the dense fur. Without thinking I started to slide my finger into her naval.

A'moth began to shake and laugh. "Oh, that's so ticklish! And sexually arousing! Gary, please stop!" She burst into laughter. I withdrew my hand from her naval and pants. She took my hand and kissed it. "Sorry! I had forgotten how sensitive I am there. I didn't think you would probe me..."

She turned to face me. "Gary, I want to trust you. I offer you my heart. I'll tell you everything you want to know. The legend is true. There were thirty-three of us women at Caral, including my mother and me. We were dropped off by a prison ship... an automated prison ship."

I stared at her as her words sank in. "Oh my gosh..."

"Yeah. What sort of prison do you make for people who can teleport thousands of kilometers?"

"My gosh... my gosh... They exiled a child?"

"Me? No, not intentionally. All the women were drugged unconscious for the trip. Someone must have raped my mother before the flight, raped her body."

I cringed at thinking of what A'moth's childhood must have been like. "And your group started... starting feeding on the humans?!" I shivered.

A'moth sat up and adjusted the blanket, making sure I was well covered. Then she cuddled with me again. Her body was delightfully warm and I hugged her.

She answered my question. "Yes. By design. I gather their society measured the worth of a person by how well they could see and read, with empathy I mean, and how far they could teleport. Not just the exiles, the whole society. The humans measured zero on both counts and were considered animals."

I whispered, "Uh... A'moth... Their society?"

A'moth tensed. "Gary, I'm deeply ashamed to admit it, I'm a murderer. But I'm not a monster. My values are human, not Chungieran."

Neither of us said anything for a while. We just lay there hugging each other. I finally kissed her cheek and whispered, "Sorry..."

She hugged me fiercely back. "It's okay... My body is Chungieran, I'll give you that. I think my genetic planet had more gravity. I'm as tall as a human, but my muscles are built for power. I'll show you my legs sometime, if you want. The rest of me is close to human feminine norm, on the outside. I think my legs look masculine. My insides though are a lot different.

"I chuckled. "Yes, I know!"

A'moth laughed back and looked at me with great affection, briefly giving my penis a gentle pull and squeeze. "Yeah, I guess!" Then she turned serious again. "I've never done this Gary, in five thousand years I've never done this, try to take a companion who understood my true nature. Please don't betray me."

I nodded. "I won't. I promise..." We petted each other for a while. "A'moth?"

She was lying on her back with her eyes closed, sighing in contentment as I caressed her breasts. "Yeah?" she mumbled.

"If you could feed all you want, how much would you take?"

She was still for a moment, keeping her eyes closed. "About seven pints, if I had enough semen to go with it. Each pint lasts about seven months. I can go for more than four years with a full meal. I won't try to hide it from you, what horrible things I've done."

"When was the last time you weren't hungry?"

A'moth sighed. "The last time I had a full meal was... the year was 1470 I think, in Romania... The place used to be called Transylvania..."