Chapter 17

After leaving the gym and freshening up, Sarah’s group went to have breakfast. In the dining room, they met Jean and Andy, along with Jessica, Patricia, and Sophia. The buffet line was set up with a hot breakfast so after filling their plates they sat down together.

“This is late for you all,” said Jessica when they sat down.

“Yea, it is,” replied Jill. “We lingered in the room for a while then went to the gym. Sally showed us some exercise and meditation routines.”

“Sounds interesting,” responded Patricia, “especially the meditation.”

“Hopefully,” said Sally, “we can be a bit more consistent in our workouts. Before coming here, we did them twice a week.”

“What did you do?” asked Andy.

“Today just Tai Chi and meditation. Normally we do Aikido which is a style self-defense sparing to keep up our skills and yoga to relax.”

“I am not familiar with Aikido but I recognize the name. I’ve seen people doing Tai Chi but never participated. Are these available to everyone?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

They chatted between bites of food. As they finished up, Terry asked, “How was your hike yesterday? Where did you go?”

Jean said, “Only Andy, Jennifer and I went as Sophia and Patricia spent the day in the dispensary. I had a good time.” The others nodded their heads in agreement. “It was really nice to be able to do that.”

Sally asked, “Have you seen anyone else this morning?”

“Some were finishing up when we arrived. They left shortly after that.”

Andy added, “I heard them talking about swimming after their chores were completed.”

Joyce said, “We are going to hike down to the water fall and have lunch there. Do you want to join us?” They all nodded affirmatively. “We need to be back by late afternoon so we have enough time to freshen up and help with dinner.”

“Donna would you check with Jim, Amy and Erica to see if they want to join us?” asked Rusty. “This is supposed to be a day of rest.”

Moments later Donna said, “They send their thanks for the offer but decided to pass it up. They plan on taking a break in a short while, to use the gym and pool.”

Since they were the last to eat breakfast, they split the tasks to clean up the buffet and dishes then prepared a picnic lunch. It was nearly an hour before they had everything ready. Their lunch, along with other necessities, was distributed between small backpacks. Rusty went and retrieved weapons for Sarah, Sally, Terry and him. Several of them gave him strange looks when he returned carrying the weapons.

Rusty said, “The security ring isn’t fully closed, so it is wise to be cautious. Actually, we should have taken them on our hike the other day.” With that they started off toward the path.

The group was surprisingly quiet as they walked through the mixture of woods and meadows. The weather was perfect with only a few clouds in the sky and a slight breeze. Several walked arm in arm where the path was wide enough to walk side by side.

This time Sarah’s group noticed that the split in the path wasn’t as visible as they remembered. In fact they didn’t see it until they were about to pass it. Rusty realized that if you weren’t expecting it, you could easily walk right past it. As soon as Sally, Sarah, and he turned toward it, it became fully visible. Sally and Sarah looked closely at their surroundings and then glanced at Rusty. He just nodded confirming their observations about the path’s visibility.

About 100 yards along the path, it became very narrow as it wound downward. Soon it opened into the meadow. On the far side they could see deer grazing, unperturbed by their arrival. They turned and followed the sound of water to the pond. The sun was bathing a portion of the pond and adjacent meadow. The face of the cliff and water fall were reflected on the water. It made a breath taking scene with the mountains in the background.

Everyone stood admiring the view. Alison said, “I don’t think I have ever seen anything this lovely.” Everyone quietly nodded.

“I now understand why you all were gone so long when you came down here before,” said Jean.

They placed their backpacks on the blanket. Everyone slipped their shoes off before heading for the pond. Several of them screamed when they stepped into the cool water, but it wasn’t cold enough to keep them from continuing their walk into it. The water quickly rose to cover their hips as they moved toward the falls. A few seemed hypnotized by the falling water until each of them had walked through it.

They played tag, swam and had impromptu splashing contests until they began to get hungry. Jill and Janet went to lay out lunch when they began to feel hungry, and also felt their spouses getting hungry. With the smell of food in the air, everyone quickly went to help them finish the preparations. Sally filled several containers at the water fall for their drinking water.

The group sat and ate as they admired the view around the meadow. The lions could hardly be seen in their positions around them. The most noticeable one was lying on the rocks near the top of the waterfall. Once everyone had eaten their fill Terry and Jean packed up the remains and the trash for the trip back.

Due to their exercise and a full stomach, it wasn’t long until they were all dozing. As they drifted off to sleep, they managed to use each other for a place to rest their heads. Sarah’s group chose one of their spouses on which to lay their heads. Most of Jean’s group rested against each other. A few had their head on one of Sarah’s group, and at the same time were touching someone in their group.

As they dozed, Alison, Erin, Tara and Claudette moved around spreading their legs. They were apparently having romantic dreams as the sunlight sparkled on the moisture forming on their swollen labia. Rusty woke up and saw how they were laying. Two of the lions were now standing nearby sniffing the air.

Rusty motioned them toward the four girls and said, “Go ahead and lick them if you want to?”

“It does smell very tasty,” replied Ge as they inched forward.

“You know it would really be interesting if we could do all four at once.”

Two other lions approached from their resting place. They all eased forward, being careful to not touch anyone. Sarah and Sally opened their eyes and when they saw what the lions were doing continued to lay quietly watching with hooded eyes.

“Rusty, you know this will likely arouse everyone.”

“I don’t think anyone will be offended.” With that Sarah, Sally and now Terry chuckled.

“Oh. You’re awake.”

“Yes, do you think they will scream or just respond to the touch?”

“Just respond.”

As he said that the lions began licking the four women. Each took long, light strokes with their tongue up the full length of the women’s labia then repeated it. The caresses caused even more moisture to be released. After only a few licks, their labia were literally dripping. In response, each moved their legs further apart. This separated their lips, so that now each lick penetrated the crease between them. All were soon moaning and thrusting their hips toward the tongues. The lions picked up the pace. Several times they pushed the tip of their tongue between the labia.

Alison reached down to place her hands on the sides of the lion’s head as if to pull it closer. As soon as her hands touched its hair she hesitated. Opening her eyes, they got real big, as she opened her mouth to scream. At that moment her orgasm crested. Her scream turned into a loud moan before she passed out. Her movements and noise woke everyone else up. By the time heads were raised to look around, the other three women’s orgasms peaked. It didn’t take long for everyone to realize what happened.

After the women began to relax, they opened their eyes to see the lions standing between their legs with wet mouths. All three shocked everyone by sitting up and pulling the lions to them by gently gripping their heads. They kissed them and their tongues touched. Alison recovered just then, when she saw what her three friends had done, she copied their actions.

Erin looked at the lions and said, “I thought, I was dreaming. Did you start that?”

The lions shook their head ‘no’ and then nodded toward Rusty.

Rusty chuckled. “No, they didn’t start it. You were apparently having a very arousing dream. Your legs were slightly spread and your labia were so wet I could smell your cream over here. They were sniffing the aroma you were emitting so I suggested they have a taste. Did you like it?”

“Oh yes very much,” the four replied as they drew the lions to them again. They gave them a hug. The fur caressing their breasts caused them to shiver, as their arms were wrapped around the lions’ necks. They kissed the lions again. “Thanks and we will let you do it again.” The lions now stood with the women between their forepaws.

“Don’t forget they have emotions as well? So if you do that you might want to think how you could reciprocate.”

“Oh. You’re right it wouldn’t be fair unless we could return the affection to them in some manner.” The women were beginning to become aroused again as the fur brushed back and forth over their bodies. Their nipples had swollen. The fragrance of their cream drifted through the air.

“It is enough to experience your love, affection and friendship,” said Ja. “We found our caressing of your bodies very satisfying. We would not object to having more hugs and kisses, but never feel you have too. Our purpose is to protect and take care of all of you as you permit.”

Jean exclaimed, “I heard what sounded like one of them talking.”

“Yes, we can sometimes communicate with you this way. Not everyone can hear us though.” Jean looked around and saw quizzical expressions on some faces. Jennifer’s face was the most perplexed.

“Judging by the expressions, I see that not everyone heard you.”

“Ladies, I think we need to start picking our stuff up so we can go back to the house,” said Rusty. “Judging by the position of the sun, if we hurry, we should arrive back with just enough time to freshen up before dinner.”

“If I understood the lions correctly, they are willing to be more intimate with any of you if you want them too,” said Sarah. “There is nothing wrong with having a close relationship with them. The relationship between you and them is unique because of its telepathic aspect. This adds a whole different dimension to interacting with them. As a group we are much more open about being intimate, but remember there are many ways to share affection.”

“You all are sick,” screamed Jennifer. “If it wasn’t for the changes Sylvia forced on me, I would leave. In fact sometimes, I think, I would have been better off to have been found there.” Jean reached over and tried to hug her but she pulled away. “I know Jean and Andy care for me, and I think some of the rest of you do too. This is all so different from what I was taught. God, what did I get myself into?” Then she began to cry.

Jean and Patricia held her as she cried. Her outburst was like throwing a bucket of cold water on everyone and significantly changed the atmosphere.

Rusty said, “Before we start back, let’s take a dip in the pond.”

The lions moved off to their lookout positions as the group prepared to leave. Once everything was packed, nearly everyone went back into the pond for a view moments.

“I wonder, what set her off,” said Rusty.

“I don’t know, except maybe the shock of how different this society is from any of Earth’s societies,” replied Sally. “I suspect she was shocked by how Alison, Erin, Tara and Claudette were interacting with the lions. I did notice she was quite aroused as she watched so she may think of affection only in terms of sex.”

“She doesn’t seem to mix with Jean and Andy’s group the way the others do,” noted Terry. “In some ways I think she is more standoffish than Alison was.”

“I am sorry for upsetting any of you,” said Ja. “We did not sense an issue with anyone beforehand or we would have never responded to Rusty’s encouragement.”

“Her reaction surprised us as well,” replied Sarah’s group addressing the lions. “She may not have understood what we meant by affection. We thought she was an active telepath but now I am not so sure. We sense that you are our friends and from that perspective we like the closeness we have with all of you. Since we’ve been here, we seem to be developing new dimensions in our relations with others. At times this dimension includes mutual or shared sexual love which in turn adds to the depth to the bond between friends.”

“Thank you. We feel the same about all of you.”

“We have no problem being intimate with you,” said Joyce, “using the word intimate in the way you meant it.”

“Guess that was my fault,” said Sarah.

“Not really. It was just that the two comments appeared connected, and could be, but not necessarily.”

“Okay. Now, I see what you mean. Ja used intimate to convey affection while the way I worded it made the comment seem to focus on only one aspect of being intimate. So how do I clarify it?”

“You don’t need to,” replied Joyce with a smile, “most everyone heard us.”

“Oh...,” said Sarah as she blushed. “I forgot about that.”

“It does take some getting use too,” said Tara with a smile. “You ought to be more proficient than any of us.”

Sarah responded by sticking out her tongue causing everyone to chuckle.

They gathered up their packs and started the walk back. Everyone was quiet. They casually gathered in groups as pairs or threesomes during the walk. Most of the time, either Jean or Andy walked with Jennifer who seemed in a hurry to return.

As they approached the estate, Jennifer stopped and waited until everyone caught up to her then said, “My apologies for my outburst which ruined our picnic. I enjoyed it but as you can see, I am still bothered by what was done to me. I feel that none of you mean me any harm. Although Betsy has told me I could be telepathic and it was my choice to activate it, or not, I don’t believe it. The fact you seemed to talk to the lions shocked me. Then the idea of being intimate with them was just too much. I realize that no one was going to force me to participate. I wish I would wake soon from this bad dream.” She turned and walked off by herself toward the barn. Jean and Andy just looked at the others and shrugged.

They arrived back just in time to freshen up before dinner. The two groups went to their quarters to let their milk down and cleanup. Sarah said, “Donna, have you talked to Jim or Amy since we left for the picnic?”

“Yes. They took a break shortly after you left, then they spent some time relaxing by the pool with Betsy, Connie and Erica. At the moment all of them are resting as they seemed to be very tired. I am not sure I should say this, but to me it is very unusual for them to be this tired. What is especially odd is that they each made that comment within a short time of each other. Currently, they are still resting. Dorothy asked about them a short while ago. When I told her they were resting she asked about your group. I told her that you had gone on a picnic with some of Jean’s group. I asked her if I should summon you and she said that it could wait until you got back.”

“Did Dorothy indicate what she wanted?”

“No, but based on her wording and tone, it didn’t seem very important. Dorothy and Maria spent most of the day in the dispensary with Mary and Jessica.”

They were just leaving their quarters when Alison said, “Wait a minute. This afternoon when Jennifer had her outburst, it bothered me as I know it did the rest of you. I have thought about it a lot since then.”

“We know. We could see how serious you were and were waiting for you to share with us.”

“It seems to me, that in addition to Joyce’s observation, the lions were offering us a way to show our affection for them like we do with our spouses.” They nodded. “They see that we use sex to reinforce and grow the affection between special friends as well as within families. It is also how it was done where they come from. So it was a way for them to show how much they care for us and at the same time let us return that affection.”

“Yes, that is what I sensed in Ja’s comment,” responded Joyce. “But like us the same guidelines apply.”

“So then if Jennifer isn’t an active telepath, she couldn’t understand the concept because she couldn’t sense the emotions attached to the thoughts.”

“That is a reasonable conclusion. Like Sarah noted earlier, sexual intimacy is only one aspect of intimacy.”

“I’m afraid there might be more,” said Sarah. “I’m not sure what is bothering me but I feel like I am missing a key. Or to put it another way, there is something different about Jennifer.” Everyone nodded agreement as they could feel what she was sensing as well. With that, they left for the dining area.

When they arrived, they were surprised to see the kitchen staff preparing dinner. “I thought we were going to have a group cookout this evening,” asked Joyce.

“Well,” said Wilma, “Gina and I were talking this afternoon and decided to surprise all of you by fixing the dinner as a way to show our appreciation in having this opportunity. It is a pleasure working in this kitchen. The food Donna provides us with is without exception of a better quality than I have ever seen before ... well except for what comes from our garden.”

“Well we’re glad,” said Judy. “I have never eaten so well in my whole life. I am concerned about how much weight we might gain if we keep this up.”

“With our Tai Chi exercises,” said Sally, “and practicing Aikido, we should be okay.”

“Aikido?” said Gina. “Tai Chi? What are they?”

“Aikido is a martial art form. Tai Chi is a series of forms or stretches. We are going to have sessions in the morning before breakfast then another in the afternoon before dinner. Anyone is welcome to participate. Why don’t you come and see if you like it? Tai Chi can be considered a structured exercise.”

They joined Nancy, Ann and Jean’s group as they were nearly the last to arrive. Just as Wilma told them the food was ready, Amy’s group arrived. Sarah’s group quickly noticed how tired they looked as they came into the room. Sally saw a strange expression pass across Jennifer’s face when she saw them. As they sat down to eat, the groups again blended together. This time it was more than they had in the past. Several of Sarah’s group glanced at Jennifer from time to time as they ate.

After dinner Erica came over to where Sarah, Rusty, Terry and Sally were sitting. “Except for the most recent, we’ve looked through the surveillance tapes since everyone arrived. We didn’t see anything to cause us any concern. However we are so tired, we were having trouble focusing, so we decided to leave the last three days till after we’ve rested.”

Sarah said, “You seemed fine yesterday. Has the autodoc checked all of you out?”

“No. We haven’t done that since it just seems like fatigue but that is a good idea. I’ll see how I feel in the morning. Maybe we just need a good night’s rest. Perhaps we should get the autodoc check us out as this is the longest we’ve been on Earth at one time. Your group is in charge tonight and we’ve advised Donna of it. We are going to bed.”

“Sleep well.” Sarah, Sally and Rusty glanced at each other with a mental frown as they watched Erica walk slowly away. Amy, Betsy, Connie and Jim just waved as they turned toward their rooms. It was several minutes before the three turned back to the activity surrounding them. It was then that Sarah and Rusty noticed Jennifer quickly turn away from them.

When everyone was done eating, they began cleaning up. Rusty looked around and smiled, as he thought I hope this continues. When clean-up was done, Nancy walked over and nudged him and said, “What are you smiling about?”

“I find it amazing. When they were finished, everyone put their dishes away then cleaned up their area and anything else they saw.”

“I noticed,” replied Nancy.

“I have never seen anything like the way this group works together. We’ve all only been here a little over two weeks. When a task needs doing everyone just chips to help in such a natural way, you would think we’ve been doing it for years.”