Chapter 2

The group of students from University came back just before sundown, entering the lodge and infusing the room with new life and lively chatter about all the discoveries they were cataloging.

For dinner, a large roast with a claw at one end was turning on a spit in the open fireplace. A long table was set up with an amazing amount of both cooked and raw vegetables and fruits, many of which the guests didn’t recognize.

“That’s because they don’t exist in the present,” one of the chefs was explaining. “I mean, in the future – when humanity rules the Earth.”

“And we found one today,” Kristi, one of the three University students added, sounding excited, “that’s a kind of pear, and I swear this is true, it tastes just like cantaloupe! I think we’ll be able to transplant it to New Eden and, who knows, within, say, ten years, we’ll have a new fruit available in markets all over the place!”

“Is she a Phoenix?” Tony asked Cherrill as he stared at the lively, petite little beauty who dominated the room with her pure innocence and youthful exuberance for life.

“I don’t think so,” Cherrill replied, shrugging her bare shoulders. Then she grinned at her handler; “You just want to stick a knife in her belly ‘cause of that sexy bodysuit she’s wearing.”

“Well,” Tony murmured, realizing his fantasy couldn’t be hidden from his current charge. “She does look pretty hot in that.”

“It’s a nylon-rayon material,” Cherrill informed him, “especially designed to keep insects from being able to land on her, so they won’t bite her. Vanessa is wearing the same outfit, only hers is more transparent. A lot of University girls have started wearing outfits like that, even when they’re not doing field work. The guys really like it.”

“I can see why,” Tony replied, admiring Vanessa’s nearly transparent bodysuit as she innocently sliced a raw tuber into almost paper-thin sections before dipping each bite into pale greenish-gray sauce and delicately munching it into her delectable mouth.

Even after twelve years, the way the local girls of New Eden dressed still excited both Tony and Ric. As Tony understood it, clothing was once rather modest and conformed to more puritan standards before the arrival of the ‘Goddesses’, a hundred or so years earlier. The fact that these ‘goddesses’ tended to run around mostly naked had an effect on the local population, especially young females as they competed against the goddesses popularity by shedding or at least redesigning their own garments. Now, sexy, scarcely clad females were commonplace throughout the land, much to the delight of the male populace.

“Come on, then,” Cherrill sighed, pretending boredom as she rose, pulling Tony up by his arm.

“What?” Tony whispered hoarsely, surprised at being dragged away from the food table.

“Let’s take care of this,” Cherrill whispered against his cheek as she rubbed her palm down against the hardness in the front of his pants. “You’re a terrible conversationalist when you’re horny!”

“Where are we going?” Tony asked as Cherrill led him toward the main entrance of the lodge.

“Outside, silly!” she replied, almost laughing. “You want me to burn the place down when we do it?”

“Oh...” Tony said, finally understanding that he was about to get laid. “Yeah, right.”

“Besides, it’s more private outside,” Cherrill continued as she exited the room.

Outside, in the quiet of the night, the sounds of dinner in the lodge seemed surreal against the chirping, clicking and croaking of the primitive nightlife surrounding them in the darkness. The canopy of tall trees barely hid the brilliant stars high above in the moonless sky.

But Tony was ignoring the stars and the awe-inspiring night sky. He had Cherrill’s back up against the side of the lodge, with her top completely off as he kissed and nipped at her neck and shoulders, one hand gently caressing her ribcage just behind her left breast. Cherrill sighed in contented bliss, letting Tony take his time with her.

After a few minutes, Tony led her over to one of the long, wooden outside tables and helped her up onto it. Once on her back, Cherrill hoicked up her hips so Tony could pull her slacks down, then raised her feet so he could get them off.

On his way back up her long, slender body, Tony kissed and caressed her feet and lower legs, slowly moving up toward the juncture where her legs met.

“Ohhh,” Cherrill whispered, “That’s nice ... I was beginning to think you didn’t know anything about foreplay.”

“What?” Tony asked, stopping as he almost burst into laughter at her remark. “Oh ... Well, when Lisa is running those sessions, I don’t have much choice. She’s inside both our heads, and ... well ... personal preference sort of gets left by the wayside in favor of the goal, which is to get you to flame.”

“Hum,” Cherrill replied, starting to sit up.

“Hey, where’re ya goin’?” Tony asked, almost pushing her back down on the table.

“You stopped,” Cherrill explained. “I just assumed you wanted me to get up now that my clothes are off.”

“You haven’t had too many real lovers, have you?” Tony asked, smiling down at Cherrill’s confused face.

She didn’t answer, but instead looked around, somewhat wary, before returning her gaze to Tony’s face.

“What do you want to do?” she asked, finally understanding that she wasn’t expected to flame her body this time.

“For now,” Tony sighed as he gazed down at her luscious form, “you just lie there and enjoy yourself. This isn’t an exercise – this is for you...”

Placing both hands on the sides of her upper torso, Tony gently stroked his fingers down the sides of her ribs, increasing the pressure when he reached her softer midsection until, when he reached her hips, his fingers were sensuously dug deep into her soft flesh, yet not scratching or breaking the skin.

He did that several more times until Cherrill sighed, letting her pleasure escape into the warm, night air, then he gently began to caress her legs, running his hands from her knees upward, each time stopping just before he ran out of soft, smooth thigh. There was no body hair to contend with, as a Phoenix, even a trainee, regularly burned it off in the course of her training.

Now, he was stroking his hands along the length of her hipbones, gently furrowing his thumbs down toward Cherrill’s bare pubic mound. Cherrill was sighing with every breath, now, and her hips were gently jerking upward every few seconds.