Chapter 4

Tony woke up, uncertain of where he was. Opening his eyes, he gazed at the unfamiliar ceiling for a moment before he realized that he wasn’t alone. A warm, sticky body was pressed up against his and one leg was hooked over his hips and pressing against his slowly awakening manhood.

He took a deep breath and stretched slightly, trying to get his circulation going without waking whoever was sharing his bed. At his slight movement, Cherrill raised her head and smiled at him.

“Feeling better?” she murmured, careful not to breathe directly into his face. Even a phoenix can have morning breath.

“Was I shot?” Tony asked as memories of the previous evening came back to him.

“Several times,” Cherrill grinned. “But you got her in the end.”

Tony suddenly jerked, trying to sit upright. He grabbed his stomach as he felt a stitch tear open and gazed down at the gauze taped over his navel.

“That girl!” he exclaimed. “What was her name ... Sheryye? Is she okay? I mean ... Did I really kill her?”

Mmm, no,” Cherrill replied, relaxing after rolling out of his way. “She could have died, but she didn’t. Tia and Tara healed her wounds with their mind-fire. I think they’ve fallen in love with her – like a pet, or something...”

“A pet?” Tony asked, painfully sitting up. “She’s a human being...”

“Yeah,” Cherrill interrupted, “and the twins are Phoenix ... not human anymore, but they maintain their forms out of ... well... courtesy... to the rest of us.”

“So we’re like pets to them?” Tony asked, sounding disgusted with the idea of being an inferior life form. “I don’t really care for that...”

“Well, maybe ‘pet’ was the wrong word,” Cherrill replied, her pretty eyebrows scrunched in thought. “Maybe children would be better, ‘cause pets can’t evolve like we can.”

“Do you think of me as a pet?” Tony asked, stroking and gently pulling at a knot in Cherrill’s long, red hair. “Or a child.”

“Hmm,” Cherrill hummed, gazing into his eyes, “No, darling. I think of you as a lover – and a trainer. You’re still my teacher, but I can see in your mind that this always happens with young phoenixes. There is always a deep love between trainee and trainer – a bond that will always be there even after I’ve evolved.” Cherrill closed her eyes and brushed her lips against Tony’s as she spoke.

The door opened. “Good! You’re up!” Tanya smiled down at the two of them, then hesitated. “Oh, did I interrupt something?”

“Yeah,” Tony complained.

“No, it’s alright,” Cherrill replied, smiling up at Tanya. “We were discussing the relationships between Phoenix girls and humans.”

“Now that can get complicated,” Tanya laughed. “Every Phoenix has a different relationship with her favorite human make that plural – humans!”

“Well, I was more interested in what Phoenixes think of humans as a species,” Tony explained, checking to make sure the sheet covered his hard-on. “or rather, a sub-species.”

“Well, honey,” Tanya grinned, “We’re all the same – species – I mean. Only the goddesses are different, and they’re half-human; hybrids, the University kids call them. This ‘evolution’ process that they like to talk about is purely mental. The mind evolves but the body’s always human.”

“But that’s not...” Tony began, feeling frustrated, but Cherrill put her hand on his shoulder, distracting him.

“We can talk about this all day,” Tanya said, grateful to Cherrill for shutting him up, “but I want to look at your stomach to see how you’re healing. May I?”

With a disgruntled sigh, Tony lay back on the bed and Tanya pulled the bandage off.

“Hmm,” she said thoughtfully. “It looks good – not bleeding anyway. Does it hurt when you move?”

Tony twisted his torso slightly, checking, then replied, “No, not really. It feels really tight and sore, though. Like the bullet’s still in there or something.”

“Nope! I teleported it out,” Tanya informed him. “Then I filled the hole with that ‘pink goop’, as you like to call it. What you probably feel is scar tissue. I can teleport the less flexible stuff out, if you want.”

“What? Make another hole in my belly?” Tony actually whimpered. “No, thanks!”

“Okay, suit yourself,” Tanya quipped, rising up from her close inspection.

As Tanya stood, the bottom of her blouse caught on the sheet covering Tony’s pelvis and flipped backward. Both girls and Tony stared down at his beautiful hard-on for a moment before Tony, totally embarrassed now, yanked the sheet back over, covering himself again.

Tanya grinned at Cherrill and said, “Well, you two have fun ... Breakfast is being served and your friend Ric wants an early start. If you decide you won’t be joining the hunt, you should let someone know soon, so you won’t hold up the others.”

“Who all’s going?” Tony wanted to know.

“Well,” Tanya thought for a moment. “This is Ric’s first day, and the other group is going back to New Eden tomorrow. If you decide not to go, Ric can go with the other group today, and with you, tomorrow. That’ll give your belly button a chance to finish tying its little knot, if you know what I mean,” she grinned.

“That sounds okay,” Cherrill replied, looking at Tony for approval. “Then we can spend some time alone this morning and maybe come down for lunch, if Tony says it’s okay.”

“That’d be fine with me,” Tony replied as politely as he could, desperately wanting Tanya’s ass out of the room so he could be alone with his sexy Phoenix trainee. “Lunch, then.”

Tanya grinned and left. Tony was radiating his frustration so hard that she could feel it without even touching him physically.

Tony fell back and Cherrill immediately rolled over on top of him.

“Your tummy hurt, you big faker?” Cherrill grinned into his face. “You can’t hide anything from her, you know. She can read minds a lot better than me!”

“If you can read my mind,” Tony murmured into her mouth as they fervently kissed, “then you already know what I want!”

Meanwhile, at breakfast...

“But you could set a trap using live bait,” Ric was telling Joey through a mouthful of what looked like bacon but tasted much richer.

Joey had been complaining that he hadn’t been able to bring down any game, unlike that temptress Sheryye, who had fearlessly taunted a Tyro into attacking her on her first day here.

Sheryye sat, listening to the two men talk. Tia and Tara sat with her, none of the three talking – at least, not out loud.

‘That guy wants to offer up his wife as bait!’ Tara was thinking, mind-linked with Tia and Sheryye.

‘There’s a good chance that Joey will go for it, too!’ Sheryye thought, creating an image for the twins to see in her mind of Joey falling back when he noticed a raptor stalking her two days earlier. ‘He was going to wait for that bird-thing to jump me, then shoot it so he could ‘save’ me! The big jerk!’

But the raptor had only stalked her for a few minutes, then found something a little smaller and a lot more interesting, and pounced on it, instead. When Joey shot at it, he missed and scared it away. Joey and Sheryye had glared at each other for a moment, then he talked to her, trying to sooth her ruffled feelings and get back into her good graces. Still, she was suspicious of his true motives.

‘I’ve been getting weird stuff from that guy’s wife, ‘ Tia said, entering into the silent conversation. ‘She has some wild fantasies going through her head right now, and she’s not quite stable; at least, not emotionally. Remember how you felt when I ran a spear through your back that first time?’

‘Yes!’ replied Tara, radiating excitement. ‘You scared me to death! I thought I was dead! But it was so incredibly erotic seeing that terrifying spearhead coming right out of my chest like that!’

‘Well, that’s how that woman is wishing she felt, ‘ Tia explained. ‘She and that guy, Ric, have been playing fantasy games. She feels desperate to find out what it’s like to be mortally perforated, and Ric has been encouraging her!’

‘That rat!’ Sheryye exclaimed silently.

‘No, not really, ‘ Tia explained. ‘He and Vicky were on the ship with us when we all escaped from Earth, only they’re a couple decades older than we are. But in the society they grew up in, ‘Anything Goes’ was the creed of the day. A person could even kill someone if that other person agreed to it, and Vicky secretly wants Ric to kill her – preferable right after a really great orgasm!’

‘Sounds like they’re a perfect match... ‘ Sheryye began.

“Hi! Sorry I’m late!” Vanessa said brightly, dropping her barely clad butt down into a chair.

“Yow! Hot stuff!” Sheryye grinned, boldly staring at Vanessa’s completely transparent body stocking. “Your bippies are sticking out!” she added as she playfully flipped at one with her finger. “You’re not gonna keep the bugs off wearing that...”

“I only decided to wear this down for breakfast,” Vanessa replied, sounding completely innocent. “It’s not like I’m trying to win you away from those hot twins or anything ... I love sleeping alone!”