This file is a part of Elf Sternberg's Collected Works on ASSTR.  The
complete archive of Elf's work can be found on his website at:

http://www.drizzle.com/~elf

The author can be contacted at:

mailto:elf@drizzle.com

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------


Aimee', Chapter 7

In the depths of a cold and still winter night, Bethsany stood by the
window and committed an act rare and precious to her: she prayed. It
was Tuesday, and in keeping with their agreement Aimee' was supposed
to come and study with one of her girls. It had been three weeks since
the last tale; on the two occasions since, Aimee's appearance had
shown clear signs of abuse and struggle, and of the two occasions, she
had looked worse the second time.

Bethsany wondered if Teltirray was getting what he wanted out of
Aimee', and if so, would it be enough. She knew now of Teltirray and
his hunger. She understood him so clearly it terrified her. She knew,
ever since she had killed the Centaur who had enslaved her, what it
felt to take the pain of an enemy, and eventually, to take the life.
She knew that an innocent could bring even stronger sensation. She
knew how to feed on that. And she knew she could draw pleasure from
it.

It no longer made her wonder. She knew what kind of person could draw
that kind of pleasure, for she was that kind of person. But she was
also stronger than that. She knew what it meant to be human and not an
animal. Few animals killed for pleasure. Man was one of those few.
More than the pleasure of power, she understood the pleasures of love.
She understood the joy of sharing. She knew that life was for living
and not taking.

So she prayed, quietly, to a name she had not invoked in many years.
Kasho, the goddess who gives women strength, had been her guiding name
for many years when she had lived in Darachmod, and now she called on
the name again.

A knock came at the door. She had been staring at the sky for some
time, and now directed her attention at the ground. Footsteps in the
snow marked the passage of a lone walker, footsteps that were slowly
being obliterated by the fall of white flakes. She rose from where she
knelt and walked to the door. "Yes?" she asked the girl who stood
there.

"Aimee' has arrived. I have sent her to see Rissim."

"Was it that bad, Brandy?"

The girl nodded slowly. Tears stood in her eyes. Bethsany drew her
breath and sighed. Perhaps there would be no chance to tell Aimee' the
final tale. Perhaps it would be better if she crammed both stories
into one day. She debated.

What she wanted, more than anything else, was to save Aimee's life. To
preserve her from the horrors and pains that Teltirray inflicted upon
her in his demands for more. She knew that he must have been making
demands of both her personal strength and the magickal strengths that
Darynn was helping to build within her. Although no mage can give
another magical strength, when it exists in one, another can help give
it meaning, focus, exercise. Like the muscles of the body and the
mind, the strength of magic must be exercised. Like the strength of
love, and even that of compassion, doing leads to the strength to do
more. Bethsany had chosen her path, as Darynn had his. She hoped
Aimee' would have a worthy path to choose.

"Take me," she finally said. Brandy turned and walked down the stairs.
Down one flight, and then another, into the basement where Rissim, the
chirgeon Beth kept in her employ, was applying alcohol to a wound over
Aimee's left breast. It looked like a burn. Although she bore it
stoically, the pain in the young girl's eyes was both apparent and
undeniable. There could be no surcease.

"Forgive me, Miss Bethsany, I... The chirgeon will not allow me to
kneel."

"Don't you dare, Aimee'," Bethsany said, reaching down to touch
Aimee's face. "You need not bow to me. You know that better than I do.
Do not bow to me."

"Yes, Miss."

"Aimee', he will kill you."

"Probably, Miss. This may even be our last talk."

"I feared as much." Bethsany closed her eyes. "I had, at first, the
wish to tell you two tales in as many visits, one of my day amongst
the Braban, and of the day I lost Myr. I shall, instead, tell both
together, although they were separated by many years. I want you to
hear both of them, Aimee'." In her sickened heart, Bethsany cursed
Teltirray. He at least had the "common decency" to allow his girls to
hide themselves and then kill themselves when he reached this stage.
Aimee', though, continued to play out the role of student with her
teachers. Teltirray was as much as telling Darynn and Bethsany what he
did to Aimee', and he did not care if they knew.

Aimee' stared, not saying a word. "Do you want to hear them?"

"Yes, Miss."

Bethsany glanced back at the chirgeon and at Brandy. Both had heard
this tale once or twice before; another sit-through would hurt
neither.
  _________________________________________________________________

It was in the early summer of the first year I lived in Darachmod that
the Braban came to visit. Six of them appeared at, or perhaps I should
say over, the gates of the city, smiling and waving. One has trouble
imagining the Braban, but if the Darachmod have a living model, the
Braban are it. Each woman of the Braban stood over twelve feet tall;
each towered over any woman in Darachmod. One does not fear women like
that, for one cannot; I merely stood in awe of their immensity. Having
known the love of both Myr and Cyl, together and separately, I felt
free to admit that I immediately knew lust for the women of the
Braban.

They were led into the city amongst singing and waving and cheering.
These were clearly friends, beloveds. I had heard many stories about
the Braban, of how they assisted their smaller sisters in many a
battle, often appearing at the last minute. Nobody knew if they were
goddesses or mortals or giants; all we knew was that they were our
allies and, sometimes, our final help.

That night, Darachmod became engulfed in a celebration honoring the
arrival of the women of the Braban. A fire was cast in the center of
the city on that hot summer night, pigs were slaughtered and spitted
over cooking fires, and the wine flowed freely.

I had a great surprise that night, although thinking back on it, I
suppose it shouldn't have come so greatly. As a well-known warrior
amongst the Darachmod, Cyl clearly could hold the attention of even a
jaded Braban. But I was still speechless when she stepped up behind
me. "I know that look in your eyes," she spoke to me slowly. "I know
lust when I see it in you." She laughed gently then. "I see it every
day when you look at Myr."

I swallowed. "Cyl, do you feel upset that I feel that way for Myr, but
not so strongly for you?"

Cyl shook her head. "No, Beth, for I do not question the natural order
of things. The moons, the seasons, and the snows come at their own
times and sometimes not at all. The moons are always on time, the
seasons usually, the snows usually not. Love... love is never on time.
You love me in a different way. You warm me, Beth, and you make me
cry."

"Cry?" I asked, turning around. "I... I do not want to make you cry!"

"It is a good cry, Beth. Do not be ashamed because I have tears of joy
for you. I cannot explain. It comes from within. Myr is another
different thing. She is your age, lithe of limb and strong of bone and
lovelier than the summerest flowers to watch. Do not be ashamed of
your love and your lust for her. It is nothing to be ashamed of.
Please. Now, would you like me to introduce you to my friend?"

"You have a friend amongst the giants?" I asked.

"Viselle!" Cyl called out, attracting the attention of a blonde
Braban, one of the largest, sitting by the fire with a large mug of
beer and a larger grin. "Viselle, I would like you to meet Bethsany.
Bethsany, Viselle. Both of you are amongst my most counted friends."

Although she was sitting on the ground and I standing, her head and
mine were at the same height. "It gladdens my heart to know the friend
of a true warrior like Cyl. How did you come to know her? Cyl, she was
not born here I take it?"

Cyl shook her head. "We rescued her from a band of brigand Centaurs,
the leader of which was using her as a toy for his gross lusts. After
we attacked them, we found her standing over his dead body. A few of
our arrows had slowed him down, but his final death had come from the
blood he lost after she cut off his privates in revenge."

"Truly?" the Braban asked me, stunned.

I nodded, ashamed. I felt both pleasure and fear at the memory.
Sometimes, the nightmares came back.

"Well," Viselle said, "That is truly the kind of friend Cyl should
know well, and take care of. You are so young. Myr's age?"

"Yes, Miss."

Viselle roared with laughter. The sound echoed throughout the city
streets and passed over me like a spell of stunning. I'm afraid I
pulled away slightly in fear. Her monstrous hand reached out to touch
my shoulder, and I shied away further. "I will not hurt you, Beth. I
want to know you as Cyl and Myr know you." I eased; her voice and
manner were no longer threatening; with one simple sentence all my
terror drained from me. Her hand gripped my shoulder gently, and I
sensed the great strength held within it, many times that in my own
hand. It covered me from my collarbone down to elbow. Try that,
Aimee'. Place your hand on your shoulder and see how much it covers.
Imagine that kind of touch over your entire body. I think few people
try this experiment and would be surprised if they knew just how big
their hands truly are. Perhaps artists, especially those who can get
the hands right, know.

"Vis! Vis! Vis!" she said. "Call me Vis! I am nobody's 'Miss,' Beth. I
am a bloodied warrior and a true lover of women and nobody calls me
anything but my name!" She laughed again. "I cannot imagine being a
'Miss' anything." She paused, thinking soberly, then said "Come, sit.
Tell me your tales."

I sat by her side and did as she asked, telling her my tales. I had
very few by that time, although I think I had more than Myr. She had
heard all of Myr's before, except for the ones about loving me. Myr
managed to make me blush strongly with her talk, embarrassing me with
her frank talks about my beauty and my enthusiasms. I had a little
revenge by replying back in kind, although it became clear later in
the conversation just how much I had revealed about myself in the
doing.

I drank beer, too, and I'm afraid I became a little drunk. Eventually,
as the night grew cool I found myself lying against Vis' body, my head
on her thigh, when I felt her hand caress the top of my head. That may
not sound like much, but it was ecstasy to me. "You are very
beautiful, Beth'Sany."

"Th... thank you, Vis."

"Don't thank me, Beth'Sany. If you have a deity, thank Her, for she
gave you that beauty." Her hand stroked my arm slowly. I felt her
massive body shift slightly, then felt her breath against the side of
my face. "It is hard for someone sized as I to be subtle, but truly, I
would like you and Myr to join me for the night."

I didn't quite know what to say. I was frightened; would I even be
noticed touching a body of her size? Would even two of us matter to
her? She weighed many stone more than we did.

My curiosity and lust won out. I wanted to know; I had to know.
Apparently Myr did as well because the first thing she said after Vis
spoke was, "Do you really mean that?"

"I do," Vis said. "Your mistress, Cyl, and I had a few occasions
between us many years ago. Do you remember, Cyl?"

"Well I do, Vis. Take them, if they'll go."

"I am going!" Myr replied.

"Then I am too!" I insisted.

Vis smiled and nodded. As she stood up, I had a strong awareness of
several things. That she had drunk as much as Cyl, Myr, and I put
together, that standing she was even larger than I had imagined seeing
her sitting on the ground, and that should she fall over anyone in the
path of her dropping body would be in serious danger. So we were
careful to stay with her and yet to also stay quite far out of her
way.

She led us to her tent. The city had not rooms large enough for her or
her friends anywhere, so they had set up tents in the center. Not that
tents were required; the weather was both at its warmest and certainly
was also surprisingly dry. Cyl had told me that it frequently rained
at this time of year.

Inside, all was as one would expect, with the one obvious difference:
Everything was scaled to her size. She sat down hard on her sleeping
cot. "Come here," she said, gesturing to us. I was easily in range of
her grasp and she was still steady enough to catch me almost without
effort. I giggled and as she gathered me up I grabbed ahold of her
tunic and held on. "Vis?" I asked.

"Yes, Beth?"

"May I tell you you are beautiful?"

"It's a lovely lie, Beth."

Myr demurred. "But it is not a lie, Vis! You are beautiful."

Vis smiled and held out her other hand. Myr took it; it was like
seeing a massive glove cover Myr's hand and part of her arm. The
delicacy of Vis' touch surprised me, as her hand stroked my back and
dragged purrs from my lips.

It's hard to forget that night, so special and different. I instantly
fell into a wishful trance of wanting to help Vis, wanting to make her
feel a pleasure that we all get so very rarely from the world around
us. As the three of us stripped off our clothing, Vis tossed her shirt
carelessly away, and it landed on me instead. I realized just how
large she was; the cloth of her tunic was a tent to me; I could sleep
under it and feel protected from colder winds.

Naked, we descended upon one another, we three. My mouth found her
chin first, as she pulled me up towards her.

I cannot get across to you how large she was. My feet rested literally
in the tangle of her pubic hair even as I strained to reach up and
kiss her cheek. She was simply a giant. Her fingers were as thick as
sausages.

Myr and I crawled down between her thighs and, with plenty of room,
licked at the enormous expanse of her sex, pulling her lips into our
mouth. Her clitoris was the size of my thumb, large even for a woman
of her size, and it took both of us to suck on it, in turns. I filled
her by placing my arm within her, halfway to my elbow before I reached
the end of her vagina and touched her cervix.

That, oh! Aimee', it was like touching magic. It was a doorway into
that chamber that made her a woman. Everything else about her was made
to support that one purpose, and there was none other. I'm sure others
disagree with me and talk about the warrior spirit or the communal
strength or whatever, but to bear children, that is the pleasure of a
woman only. Men have warriors and men have communities, but they do
not carry child.

I feel... I feel so inadequate describing this night to you, Aimee'. I
want to tell you the joys of touching her, of feeling the wet
slickness of her insides surrounding my arm, my wrist, my hand, of
feeling the pulse of her blood against the skin.

And when she returned the pleasure, her massive tongue against my
cunt, Aimee', how can I describe it? There is no feeling like that in
all the world, her broad pad, a little less accurate, a little more
impressive. The slick wetness that invaded not just my cunt but
covered my thighs. As she licked me, Myr covered my face with her own
sex, doubling my pleasure until I was utterly lost to it. I came in
spasm and moans that only Myr's muff prevented from being heard 'round
the city whole!

Once my pleasure was sated and we sat down to sleep, I reflected that
no pleasure like that would ever stream through my body ever again. In
a way, I was correct, for even though I saw Vis every year for the
next five years, and though I was to love with her in many a warm
summer visit, nothing ever reached the joy and wonder of that first
time.

The same, Aimee', was true of my loving of Myr. Yet my pleasures with
her grew greater, not less, at the turn of the seasons. With her, I
grew to treasure constancy and comfort, not adventure and change. She
returned that comfort in equal measure. We were lovers and friends,
stability in the changing sea of women. And I did love her so.

What changed? Ah, that is the question. For Myr asked for her freedom
from Cyl because of my friendship. And Cyl granted it without
reservation. I thought myself the happiest woman that ever lived.

What changed, dearest Aimee', was a discovery that started with Vis
and ended with a tragedy. The tragedy was not something unusual or
dramatic, except perhaps to my story. Myr died. In the most simple of
ways, too. We were picking apples in the city orchard, doing our duty
to ourselves and our city, when she fell from a branch and broke her
leg. The leg never healed; indeed, it grew worse. Something within her
grew out, burst in pain. Finally, she slipped into that merciful sleep
where the embattled go to escape the pain, and she never returned. She
died within a month.
  _________________________________________________________________

Bethsany wiped a tear from her eyes as the girl named Brandy wrapped
her arms around her. "I am sorry, Momma," the young girl said, kissing
Bethsany's face.

Bethsany reached back and hugged her. "I will be fine, Brandy," she
said softly. "It is an ancient tragedy. I know, that makes it no less
tragic, but the wounds of it have healed and now I face a world with
less fear. But perhaps with less love."

"Bethsany?" Aimee's face was stained with slight tears, like the old
matron's. "How did you come to leave Darachmod? That was the second
half of your tale."

"Aye," Bethsany replied. "So it was. And we have not much time to tell
it. But I shall endeavor to do my best."
  _________________________________________________________________

In the spring of the following year, as in every year, the women of
Darachmod prepared to travel down to the city of Melefar to trade the
products of the past winter's efforts. Darachmod was poor in metals
but rich in growing things, and frequently the lower cities coveted
the fruits of our fields. We used this to our advantage, dressing our
travellers in great baubles of steel and copper, outfitting our
warriors with the brightest of armors. Lost in all that and as badly
in grip of their testicles as ever, the metalsmiths of Melefar were
easy prey for the deals of our best merchants.

I asked to go with them. It was a trade I wished to learn and, truth
be known, I could no longer stand to live in the house that Myr had
built. Perhaps not the outside shell, but every trace of the indoors
looked of her and smelt of her. Her herbs I still found in the pantry;
one whiff of her favorite cilantro and melancholy swept me. I needed
to get away from my memories, and alcohol did not answer my needs.

Dyn readily agreed, as did Cyl. Both knew that I might not return,
that the men of Melefar would easily treasure a beauty of Darachmod
for themselves, and although I no longer presented myself easy prey to
their crude wishes I knew I could easily summon the desire of any of
their lesser minds.

We headed out on a rainy morning in early spring. Although the weather
was wet, it was also lovingly warm. I had come to view all the
blessings of nature as gifts, and this was truly one of them. Better,
perhaps, was that by afternoon the rain cleared, the road never so
badly mudded as to foul the asses. The company was twelve strong;
eight warriors lightly armored astride beautiful chargers guarded my
three merchanting companions, who were named Tann, Fahr, and Fela.
Tann was by far the loveliest of the three, a raven-haired woman with
eyes the palest blue the clearest sea had ever seen. Soft and round,
she quickly chose me as her bedmate and I joyfully agreed. Although
the beautiful strength of Myr and Cyl and Vis and Dyn had their
attractions, I recognized that I was destined to be a big woman, as I
am now, and I found such a body as Tann's beautiful to behold.

At first, I was concerned that I had become attracted to a woman who
had no interest in lovemaking, but I found a few days later that I was
wrong. She was simply slower than most. I found that reassuring. She
wanted my pleasures, but only if we were both sure of our willingness
to share.

On the fourth night we camped in the forest at the foot of the
mountains, six days from Melefar, when she finally turned to me.
"Beth, do you think me beautiful?"

"Tann?" I whispered, surprised. "How can you ask? You are the most
beautiful woman in this entire dozen!"

"Don't let Fahr here you say that," Tann whispered back in the dark,
"She's not known for her lack of jealousy." I nodded, smiling, as she
closed the distance between us and her lips found mine, kissing
earnestly. I knew by then how not to keep my hands off a woman and
reached out to stroke her belly through the rough texture of the lace
she wore underneath her heavier dayclothes.

We tumbled to the bedding as her breasts tumbled out of her outfit.
Hers were very large and lovely, with a touch of droop that
accentuated her completely. I could bury myself in them and inhale
forever.

On the other hand, although I was destined to be a big woman I was
forever doomed to have small hills for teats, firm but not very
impressive. I was to forever envy women who had large breasts, but I
was also to find great pleasure in them, too.

She giggled as I played with hers, caressing them back and forth.
"Now, Beth," she chided playfully, "Let me have my fair share, too."

She pushed me back onto the bed and undressed both of us, tossing
aside her clothing. She smelled of lilacs and light, and her hair had
the scent of honey as it fell in straight lines down about her face.
She kissed me as her fingers sought out my privates and stroked my
lips. We kissed with our tongues. She slowly pushed my legs apart as
her fingers sought deeper. I coated them with my wetness. She gasped
at my enthusiasm, I think, because she told me later her nipples were
not all that sensitive, and in a city of women large breasts were
common. But I had gone for so long without the attention of anyone
that the caresses of one woman were more than enough to inflame me.

Her fingers went deeper within me. I was completely entranced by the
feeling of her within me; Myr, for some reason, had not liked having
fingers inside her and avoided putting her fingers into me. What Tann
was doing was something of a treat.

She slid down between my thighs and pressed her sweet mouth to my
lips, licking the insides of my thighs. She told me to look at her,
and I did just in time to watch her pull her fingers from my cunny and
place them in her mouth, her lips pursed around them to catch every
last droplet of moisture. Then she slid them back into me, her warm
breath sweeping over my mound, and then the touch of her tongue to my
mound. I grew light-headed with the pleasure she gave me.

She licked as well as any woman knew how, her mouth absolutely
talented with its pressures and pleasures. Her tongue flickered over
my clit and her fingers stroked the walls of my cunt, finding all the
secret places here and there within me, making my chest heave with
gasps and moans.

She was a merchant, but like me she was also a farmer, and one of the
many things we carried to market were early summer squash, shaped like
a man's sex. Although I don't think any healthy man has had a sex that
was dark, textured green, nor have I ever seen one that really had the
rounded corners this one did to make it look round. She reached into
the basket by her bed and pulled one out; I watched, a little scared,
as she pulled it up under her chin between my thighs. "Easy," she said
gently as the cold tip of the vegetable touched the insides of my
thighs. It slid along my leg until it pressed against the skin between
them. Her fingers pulled me a little more open and the tip of the
squash slid into me.

I gasped from the cold, for that vegetable was as chill as the night.
At first. But as Tann licked my sensitive flesh and coaxed two
explosions from me, she began to slide the squash back and forth. I
was fuller than I had been since killing Styur, and suddenly I knew
what I wanted. I wanted the attention of man.

None of these thoughts, however, distracted me from what Tann was
doing. At least, not much. I gasped and twisted under her expert
mouth, until finally I found myself gently hitting her shoulders to
get her to stop; I could take no more.

She told me, "You are beautiful, Beth." But I didn't hesitate, getting
up as the squash slid out of me and pushing her to the bedding. I
wanted to feast on her.

One of the reasons I love larger women is that they have such soft
bellies, and a belly is what defines a woman. Surely, we have teats
and cunts, but it is in there that I find the definition of woman. I
kissed and licked hers, punishing it with peppered kisses, licking at
her belly button and her breasts, sliding down between her legs and
kissing her large thighs, looking forward to the taste of her cunny.

She had no hair down there. I found that a mystery in the extreme, but
she later explained that she shaved it off at her home- love's
request. "It gets in the teeth," she said. Her cunny was baby smooth
and soft, and as I kissed the lips I realized that the fat of her body
caused even those to swell.

Perhaps I make Tann sound to be the world's largest woman. Not at all
true; she was actually smaller than I am now. But for her, the
softness was distributed to perfection, in her teats, her softened
belly, her legs and her cunt. I licked at her as she parted her legs;
her fluids were the sweet droplets of a woman who rarely, if ever, ate
meat, clear and, I swear Aimee', as pure water-blue as her eyes. She
oozed sweetness and I licked at every little drop that coursed from
her hole down the line of her buttocks.

I pressed my face between her thighs, getting myself thoroughly wet as
I licked at her sweetness, slopping as a happy pig against her fluids,
tasting the reddening pinkness of her vagina and suckling, literally,
on her clitoris.

Apparently I did a good job, too. As I seized the squash and pressed
it inwards, she moaned and twisted and came, her fists striking the
floor of the tent. Her legs trembled and threatened to squeeze me
between them, but she knew better than that; I would have stopped if I
lost air, after all.

When we were done, we cleaned each other up as well as we could
without leaving to find a stream and bedded down for the night.

As was the custom, we took over an Inn, two women to a room. The best
Inn for our purposes was a place called the Tired Dog, a name fitting
with the feeling we women had as we fell into the place. Tired and
dogged.

Although I was well and easily familiar with life in cities when I was
13, I was now nineteen years old and found my memories and my vision
disagreeing on a few points. None of them were any great deals by
themselves, but added up they made me wonder if perhaps I had been
away from cities too long.

The next day we made our deals and sold our wares. I was surprised at
how easily we wangled deals out of men who, to other men, looked to be
the stingiest and most unfair dealers in all the world. It was more
fun then was fair, I guess. But at night, as we headed back towards
the Tired Dog, I realized that I wanted this life again. I wanted to
stay in the city, return to city life and enjoy the hustle and bustle
of the city. Worst of all, I found myself staring at men with an ache
in my loins that would not go away. I didn't know what to do with it
at all, and I was afraid to ask Tann about it.

That night, Tann turned in early. Although I probably could have
interested her in play, she didn't seem all that lively that night, as
if the day's contact with men had drained her of the energy to spend
on women. I, on the other hand, decided to spend at least some of my
evening downstairs. Three of the warriors from Darachmod were also
down there, so I didn't think I would have any trouble.

As I made my way back into the darkened tavern, the sounds of
uproarious laughter reached my ears. I wondered what they were doing
down there that could be so entertaining.

My eyes looked across the room, where all the patrons were all
pointed, and I could see the target of their laughter... a stage had
been erected and a puppet show was in progress. There were two
characters on the stage, one a man and the other a woman, and through
the artistry of such control as puppets take the woman was beating the
man with a skillet. The audience seemed to think it was uproariously
hilarious.

"No, m'lady!" the man's voice came from behind the curtained puppet
stage, "I meant the fat on the meat! The meat!"

"That's not what you were staring at!" The audience roared again. I
guess I missed the starting part of the joke since I didn't see
anything funny in the punch line. Ah, well. The play ended shortly, to
be followed by another, again a sort of comedy, this time about a
cruel husband who loses his manhood in the end. The women in the
audience all loved it, but the men were grabbing their crotches to
protect themselves by the time the play ended. As I was watching,
though, I felt very strange. Because the voice of the young man
playing all the males parts was entrancing. I don't know if it was the
fact that, for the first time, there were men all around me, but I
knew that that young man, in particular, was holding my fancy without
a doubt. His voice entranced me.

"We're going to take some air," I heard him say. "It gets a bit
stifling under here. Misha, if you will?"

A young woman's head poked up from behind the stage, her hands full of
puppet strings and the wooden slats to hold them. She smiled as she
put them aside and brushed her full, black hair back out of the way.
My heart felt heavy; and I found myself hoping that she and the man
back there with her did not have something between them. I was
confused, Aimee', so confused.

It got no better when he finally stuck his head out from behind the
curtain as well. He, too, had a full head of long, black hair. His
eyes were large and bright and he had a smile on his sweaty face that
would charm the virginity out of even the most innocent of maidens. I
had to get to know him.

Then he stepped out from behind the curtain. Aimee', you don't know
what confusion is until the lust and desires I was feeling are blended
with the fear and loathing that accompanied that motion, for he was a
centaur. Not a barbaric one like Styur and his band. No, this young
man'taur was well groomed, dressed. I wanted him. And I feared him.
Yet he seemed so likeable, so approachable. But, he was an actor. I
didn't know if his look was as much facade as the voice he took on
when he played behind the curtain.

And yet, I did not want to fear him. I wanted to approach him. So I
did. As he grabbed a mug of beer and stepped outside into the cool
spring night air, I followed him. He was standing there, just outside
the door, staring up a the stars. "Sir?" I asked.

"Hello," he said, turning to me with a smile. "Are you enjoying the
show? Say, you're not one of those women from Darachmod, are you?"

I nodded, fearfully. "Yes, I am."

"I understand you had a little trouble with the Gespil last year. They
are a brutal people, the Gespil."

Although I suspected that I knew what he was talking about, I had
never heard Styur refer to his people by name. I said, "I do not know
the word."

"The barbarian Centaurs from the north who were flushed out in the
last great war up there. They took refuge in your mountains, I
understand. I want to assure you that not all Centaurs are like that,
just as I'm sure you know not all humans are wont to be kind and
loving, either. I'm glad your people wiped them out in the end. They
deserved it. And their bloodline has been preserved elsewhere. We'll
keep the breed alive, but hopefully not the attitude." He grinned and
sipped his beer. "What's your name?"

"Bethsany," I replied, nervously.

"Adam," he said, reaching out a hand. I took it, and he shook gently.
"Glad to meet you, Bethsany. I'm always pleased to meet someone who
actually comes out and thanks me for my work. It doesn't happen nearly
as often as I'd like."

"Adam," a voice came from the door. "Time to get started again."

"I haven't even finished one mug!"

"That's because you're slow. Come on!" The female centaur, Misha he
had called her, stood there, waiting for him, tapping her front hoof.

"In a second," he said. She tossed her hair in annoyance and walked
back inside. "You see what I have to live with?"

"Are you and she... ?"

He laughed. "A long time ago. Misha and I work together very well, but
we've no bent to be lovers anymore." He gave me a curious look. "Why
do you ask?"

"I... I..."

He smiled. "It's just a body and a voice, Bethsany. I do this for a
living." With that, he walked back into the Inn. I watched the whole
show, enraptured by him. I don't think there was anything to it other
than my curiosity, my lust, and an instinct that said he was right. He
would be safe. I wanted him to be, at least for one night, mine.

As the show was breaking down, he waved to me. "Did you really watch
me all night long?"

"Uh-huh," I said to him. "I... " I looked away. I couldn't look him in
the eyes and say what I wanted to say. "I had to stay." I looked at
his face, then away again. "I... I need something. I haven't ever been
with a gentle man."

"Do you suspect me of being gentle?" I nodded, looking up into his
eyes. He laughed. "You may be right. But I am a Centaur, Bethsany."

I looked away again. "I know. I could handle that."

"How do you know? You're a woman of Darachmod. Have you ever slept
with a man, much less a Centaur?"

I found the courage Darachmod had given me and looked into his face.
"Adam, I know I could handle you. I was not originally a woman of
Darachmod. I was a slave of the... the... Gespil."

His eyes went wide. "And you're alive? Oh Gods, that's... I'm sorry. I
didn't know... What are you doing coming to me?"

"I... I don't know!" I whispered. "I wish I understood myself, but I
don't." I reached out and touched him on the arm. "All I know is that
I want you... to... "

"Take you to bed?" He sounded surprised. I wonder why.

I nodded. "Please?"

"What if..." He glanced across the room, where one of the warriors
from Darachmod sat, watching us with guarded eyes while we talked.

"I will talk to her." He gave me a strange look, then nodded. I walked
over to where she stood. "Selam? I am... spending tonight in Adam's
company."

She nodded. "The time was coming." She smiled, rested her hand on my
arm. "Never forget, Beth'Sany, that we all love you much. One day, you
will understand." She rose and left, leaving me alone. Alone but for
Adam.

Like a guilty child, I followed him up the stairs to his room. Inside,
he turned around (no mean feat for someone built the way he was!) and
pulled me into his grasp. I was surprised, but the smell of his skin
so close to my nostrils inflamed my desire. I did not understand it,
but it was somewhat akin to the shame I felt when I had climaxed
beneath Styur all those times. Only, for this time, I was allowed to
feel pleasure. To enjoy the touch of my centaur lover, whom I had
chosen for my bedmate tonight. Whom I wanted. "Oh, Bethsany, what are
you doing in my room?" He looked me in the eyes. "Don't you know I'm
going to leave tomorrow? Is that fair?"

"Yes," I breathed. "For there is no danger in loving you except what
you choose to do, Adam. I just need to be treated right tonight."

"Very well," he smiled, touching the sides of my face with his hands
and lifting my gaze to meet his. He pulled me close, and I waited. But
instead of my lips, his mouth first touched my nose, then my cheek.
And then he kissed my mouth. I moaned, Aimee', with a lust I knew was
pure and honest. This was what I wanted, truthfully, and I could not
give it up. I missed the attentions of men. Although I loved women,
and indeed, once I'd saturated myself of men for a while had returned
to the loving arms of women again for many years afterwards, now,
right now I needed the arms of a man. Adam was it.

My hands roamed his chest, touching his body through the simple shirt
he wore. I looked up at him. "Take this off," I implored him. He did,
dropping it to the floor at our feet. I am not a tall woman, but he
was barely taller than I was. I wondered at the size of his prick. I
wanted to find out. I craved the idea of it being within me.

I touched his naked chest. His skin was light-olive and creamy soft;
my hands glided over it as if they were oiled, even though I knew his
skin was dry. I looked down and touched his nipples, caressing them.
He gasped and shivered. "Strong!"

"Sorry," I said.

"No, no, I like that. It's just that it is a strong sensation. Please,
be more careful when you do that."

"I shall," I replied. I grabbed him by the bicep and pulled him
towards the bed. We fell into it together, and I laughed gently.
"We're being so serious! This is pleasure!"

"I don't want to hurt you."

"If you hurt me, I will tell you. Just like you told me." I kissed him
again, trying to treat him with the same strength I apply towards a
woman. He responded eagerly, and finally his hands found the courage
to caress my breasts. I gasped and moaned as his hands found the skin
and caressed the flesh of my breasts. Any of my girls will tell you I
love to have my breasts touched, caressed, grabbed and stroked. And he
did. "Harder," I moaned, telling him what I wanted, and feeling him
give it to me. He pulled at my nipples, and oh, Aimee', when he closed
his lips about my nipples I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I
wanted him, I wanted all of him. I felt his hands caressing my thighs,
his fingers plying between them, seeking my insides, and when he found
them his fingers made liquid, squishing sounds. I was wet. My hair was
sodden with wants, and I admit that. I wanted him so bad.

He pushed me back on the bed and dove between my legs with his head,
licking and kissing me. I was pulling up the bedsheets in mad,
passionate lust, Aimee'. There was no telling what I would do next, I
was so crazed at the stroking, kissing, pleasing touching he was doing
to me. I couldn't go on forever like that, or could I? His tongue was
probing my secrets, and I knew one rumor was dead. The women of
Darachmod believed that no man could or would lick a woman properly.
Oh, but he knew! He did!

I climaxed under his tongue, Aimee', and I could not believe it when
it happened. I was delirious with pleasure even as I came, struggling
underneath his strong grip. He was holding me down, stopping my
thrashing body from going anywhere. Yet I knew if I has said "Let me
go!" he would have.

Finally, he did stop, and I think it was mostly because he knew I was
tiring. I could barely move by the fifth or sixth climax. Oh, yes, I
lost count. I looked up from him, brushing the hair from my eyes, and
then dove upon him, kissing him and biting his lips before sliding
down to his torso. And then onto the horse of him, desperate for more
of him. I found his prick hidden between his rear legs. It was large,
but after Styur nothing would ever be quite so dangerous. I kissed and
licked at it, and he needed no encouragement. It dropped out and slid
forward. And still, I was a madwoman, because I tried to get all of it
into my mouth. I went crazy. I wanted him.

He tasted heady, as warm flesh should, with the sent of horse and man
and sweat and even a little piss as I tasted his prick and felt the
slick skin against my tongue. I slid down until it was at the back of
my mouth and I was gagging. I wanted more of him.

I took him out, though, and stroked his prick with my hands while I
buried my nose in the musky heft of his balls, tasting the furred sac
that carried them and licking up the sweat that had collected there
while he had labored under the hot flap that formed part of his
curtain. His fingers were still touching my cunt, still urging me
onwards. I was soaking. He was hard and gasping. "Bethsany," he
sighed.

"Adam," I replied, looking up at him. I slid off and away from him.
"Fuck me."

"Now?"

"Now," I gasped. I slid off the edge of the bed and dropped my feet to
the floor, spreading my legs wide. I wanted my ass to be high in the
air, an unmistakable target for him. He grinned and slid off the bed
as well. "Very beautiful. You are a wildcat, Bethsany."

"I want to be your mare, not your cat!"

"In either event, you're definitely a pussy worth taking." He walked
forward, taking care not to step on my feet with his forelegs. I felt
his body cover mine, felt his hands in my hair. "Beth... How gentle do
you want me to be?"

"Not at all," I moaned. "I've had enough gentleness."

"Then if I do this, it's okay?" He reached down and gathered up my
hair in his hands, pulling it hard.

I moaned. "Yes, yes, that's more than okay!"

He took that as a cue. He slid his hard prick up against my cunt and
began to push, the head slowly finding its way inside me, and the rest
of it following. He pulled my hair harder, forcing my head down to the
bed by the bend of my neck even as his huge prick found its way into
my cunt. I felt him enter me as his prick filled my belly. I swooned,
passionately wishing for more. I knew I could take him forever.

He thrust me down to the bed, pressing me against it. I was sandwiched
between the thrusting of his heavy belly and the mattress, and I was
filled with the passion of his huge and lovely prick. I came as he
fucked me, Aimee', over and over. Madly, screamingly. I'm afraid I may
have woken up some of the other guests of the Inn. His back haunches
thrust into me over and over, the lips of my cunt spread open for him
and I felt the heat of his balls more than their impact with every
push. I gasped and groaned, twisted and whispered his name.

"Oh, Beth!" he cried as his climax grew closer, and finally he came
with a shout, his thrusts fast and hard as he finished his act,
pushing me down to the bed even harder. I feared being crushed, and I
found that idea thrilling. I climaxed again! He was so wonderful.

Afterwards, he stood up and slid off me. I didn't move for several
minutes, but lie there quivering as he sweetly grabbed a soft towel
and cleaned the fluids that dripped down my legs. "Beth, are you
alright?"

"Uh-huh," I replied He reached under my shoulders and slowly turned me
over. I was completely deranged by then, unable to move from the
pleasure he had given me.

"Bethsany, I'd like you to stay until Misha awakens us."

"Adam, I would love to." He smiled and pulled back the covers for both
of us. We cuddled together for a while, and then I fell asleep in his
arms.

When I awoke the next morning, he had one arm tossed over me and one
rearleg dangling over the side of the bed. I can't tell you how good
it felt to have a male's arms wrapped around me. I wanted it to never
end. But one thing the women of Darachmod taught me, and that was to
keep my promises. When Misha woke us, I kissed him gently, thanked
him, and returned to Tann. I let Adam go with just two words. "Thank
you."

I spent another year with the Darachmod before...
  _________________________________________________________________

A knock sounded at the door of the brothel. "Bethsany! You have my
student in there! Open up, you've had her for far too long!"

Aimee' whimpered, and Bethsany recognized the voice too. Teltirray had
come to claim his possession. Brandy and Rissim both turned to look at
the door, and then both turned to give Bethsany the same look.
Bethsany returned the glance, equally angry. "I can't. I can't fight
him."

"He'll kill her!" Rissim whispered.

"He'll kill us all if we don't," Bethsany replied. She stood up,
surprisingly fast for her bulk. "Rissim, tell him we're downstairs.
Aimee', come with me."

Aimee' joined Bethsany as they fled down the stairs. "Rissim is right.
He will kill you."

"No. You're right. He's not going to kill us. Aimee', I may end up
hating myself for the rest of my life, because I've come to like you
very much. But I won't see my household suffer pointless." She began
rummaging through a large, wooden chest, coming up with a small
necklace of silvery links. "Here, take this. It was... It was Myr's.
It has no magic. It just has my memories. Take it." Aimee' stared.
"It's all I can do!" Bethsany whispered. "Please."

Aimee' took the necklace and put it on, just as the two women heard
the door upstairs rack open. "Bethsany! Where do you have my student?"

"Down here, Master Teltirray," Bethsany replied, trying to be calm. "I
was just finishing up. I'm sorry it took so long."

"Damn too long." The tall and imposing Teltirray walked down the
stairs. His bald head glinted in the lantern light, but he looked as
if he meant Bethsany no harm... at least not right now. "I came to
collect her. I realized it was late, and I was walking by. I had
assumed she would be home, but when I called my servant he said she
had not arrived." He reached out for Aimee's arm. "I see you have
helped her recover from this mornings... exercises." His smile was so
foul Bethsany had to repress an urge to reach up and choke the life
out of him. "Good. Come, Aimee', we have some learning to do this
night." He started to haul her out of Bethsany's establishment.

"Master Teltirray?" Bethsany asked. "When will we be seeing Aimee'
again?"

"Next week, as usual." He paused. "If she makes it through her
lessons. Good night." Even before she had her cloak about her
shoulders, he tossed her out into the snow, walked out the door, and
slammed it shut behind him.

"What do we do now, Miss Beth?" Brandy asked.

Bethsany was stunned at the Teltirray's brazenness. He had as much as
admitted that he was eventually going to kill Aimee'. She looked from
Brandy to Rissim, then back to Brandy. "We call Mabel and Riza. And we
pray."
  _________________________________________________________________

Original document is available from:
http://www.drizzle.com/~elf/aimee

Aimee
is Copyright (c) 1989-2000 Elf Mathieu Sternberg. Distribution limited
to electronic media not-for-profit use only. All other rights are reserved
to the author.
