Lady Lure (18 page)

“Why should I when you are doing an excellent
job of laying out our options?” Halvo asked. “I am impressed,
Perri. You have been studying constantly and learning your lessons
well.”

“What I have learned from the ship’s computer
and from you,” Perri said, “leads me to believe we have only two
options. We can remain where we are, in which case we will surely
die. It will be a long, slow, and painful process. Or we can accept
the risk involved in helping ourselves. If we die trying to leave
this planet or trying to land somewhere else, at least it will be a
quick death.

“As Rolli says, you are far more experienced
in this area than we are, Halvo. But if you were to ask my opinion,
I would vote in favor of attempting to get into space again and,
once there, to find a more pleasant place in which to make full
repairs. We will also increase our chances of survival if we can
lose the Regulans who are following us.” She stopped because Halvo
was grinning at her, and she could not help smiling back at
him.

“We still do not know where we are,” Rolli
said. “Nor will we until we are in space and our navigational
instruments have been fully activated, assuming they can be fully
activated.”

“We’ll manage,” Halvo said, his eyes still
locked on Pern’s. “We’ll find a way. Let’s give the
Space
Dragon
one more work period. And we will take two more long
rest periods before we leave because once we are on our way we
won’t have time for sleep.” The tone in which he spoke that last
sentence told Perri that rest was not all he had on his mind.

“Yes,” she said.

Much later, it was Halvo who had a question
to ask Perri. They were back inside the cave, sheltering from the
cold. Once again Halvo had raced from ship to cave entrance, where
he had arrived gasping for breath, though it seemed to Perri that
he was neither as weak nor as dizzy as the first time he had made
that brief trip. To protect Rolli’s main circuitry from the extreme
temperatures they had again brought the robot’s head with them.
Securely wrapped in a sheet, it rested with their supplies. Perri
knew the main circuitry was not working at the moment, but even so
she was glad to have Rolli’s eyelights covered.

Perri knew she and Halvo would make love
soon. She had been aware of his building desire all day. What
astonished her was the realization of her own eager need. It had
never been so with her before, but Halvo had changed the way she
felt about many things.

“Eat all of it, Perri.” Halvo noticed how she
was picking at her food. “You are going to need every calorie
before we reach safety.”

“Safety?” she said, smiling. “You cannot
promise that we will ever again be safe. And if you could, I am not
sure I would be happy to arrive at such a place. Since this
adventure with you began, my life has been far more exciting than I
ever dreamed was possible. I am beginning to suspect that I am of a
temperament to be bored with a safe existence.”

“I have been bored on occasion,” Halvo said.
“When I was on active duty I endured occasional regimented dullness
without complaint because propriety is expected of the Admiral of
the Fleet and because I knew such times would not last long. The
dullness was interspersed with periods of great excitement, thus I
never had reason to be seriously bored. Planning new space
ventures, fighting the Cetans and negotiating the treaty with them
after they were defeated, visiting planets that were considering
Membership in the Jurisdiction – those were good times. Then I was
wounded and the boredom began, relieved only by my need for
therapy. The boredom continued until I met you.

“First you reawakened my curiosity, next you
jolted me out of my despondency. Whatever happens to us, I am glad
we met.”

“Perhaps we were fated to meet,” Perri
said.

“I don’t know much about Regulan philosophy.
Do you believe in predestination?”

“I think I do now, though it is strange to
think of those wicked men, the Chief Hierarch and Elyr, as the
agents of some great cosmic plan.” Perri lapsed into a pensive
silence, and Halvo asked a serious question. “Perri, when he
visited your bedroom, exactly what did Elyr make you do for
him?”

“We never did what you and I have done,” she
cried, suddenly defensive.

“I know. Technically speaking, the first time
we made love you were a virgin. However, you definitely were not
inexperienced.” They were sitting side by side while they ate.
Reaching toward her, Halvo smoothed her hair away from her face,
telling her without words that he did not despise her, no matter
what she had done with her betrothed. “I have my suspicions about
Elyr’s demands upon you, but I think you and I ought to discuss the
matter so there is no misunderstanding between us.”

Perri sighed and relaxed. It was only fair to
explain to him what her compliance with Elyr’s wishes had meant,
and how much she had always disliked what she was commanded to
do.

“If you wish, I will show you,” she said. “I
do not mind, Halvo.”

“I will only consent if this is something you
truly want to do,” he said.

“How could I not want to help you in any way
I can?” she cried. “I have been kissed more in the last few days
than in all the years since Melri died, and as for the way you made
me feel when you demonstrated your Demarian customs – Halvo, I
never dreamed such joy was possible.”

“You still believe you have an obligation to
please me,” he said. “You are not obligated, Perri. You have a
right to your own pleasure.”

“In that case, after I have shown you what
you want to know, I will ask you to pleasure me again.”

“You do learn fast, don’t you?” he said.

Perri loved the way his face lit up when he
smiled. He always made her want to smile back at him.

“Do you wish to remain sitting?” she asked.
“Or would you prefer to stand or perhaps to lie upon your
back?”

“Why don’t we adjourn this party to your
blanket?” he asked.

“Whatever you wish, Halvo. You will not have
to remove your clothing this time.”

“What a pity. I like the sensation of my skin
next to yours. But just this once, we will do things the Regulan
way.”

Perri followed him across the sand, then
stood waiting while Halvo stretched out on her blanket. He clasped
his hands behind his head, crossed his legs at the ankles, and
smiled up at her.

“I trust you, Perri. I put myself completely
in your hands.”

“Have you any special requests?” she
asked.

“How can I make a request when I don’t know
what you are planning to do?”

“Of course.” She did not tell him that at
that point in the proceedings, Elyr had always made a sarcastic
comment about her previous performances, followed by a warning to
her to do better this time. But unconstrained by any demands, she
would do what seemed to please Halvo. That thought pleased
Perri.

“I can see,” she said, “that our discussion
has fueled your need.”

She knelt beside Halvo. Reaching out one hand
she laid it over his half-erect masculinity. Halvo drew in a short
breath but lay quite still. Beneath her fingers she detected a
swift surge of increasing hardness. Gently she manipulated him
through his clothing until he shifted restlessly, uncrossing his
ankles.

“Perri.” His breath was becoming ragged.

“Yes, Halvo. Just lie still. I will tend to
your need.” She saw his face go hard and reminded herself that he
did not like her to be subservient. She decided she would take the
opportunity to show Halvo just how active she could be.

She lifted his tunic and unfastened his
trousers. At once his engorged flesh sprang forth. Keeping her
touch light, Perri began to stroke him. Halvo grew harder and
larger, his eager need throbbing in her hands. Perri bent her head
to lap the tip of him with her tongue.

Halvo’s hands clamped around her wrists,
pulling her away, holding her so they were face-to-face.

“This is what you did for Elyr?” he said.
“Every time you were together and without removing your
clothes?”

“Yes, of course,” she said.

“He never did anything else with you?”

“Sometimes he wished me to take him in my
mouth. He taught me how to do it so I would not hurt him. Halvo, if
you found my fingers too rough, I can be more gentle. You must be
desperately uncomfortable.” She glanced at the source of his
discomfort, then looked into his eyes.

“You cannot possibly imagine how
uncomfortable I am,” Halvo said. “But before we go any farther, I
want to be certain that we understand each other. Did Elyr do
anything to relieve your discomfort?”

“With him, I never experienced discomfort. I
felt nothing but indifference toward him. I did dislike having to
provide the aid he required, because it was something he demanded
of me, regardless of my feelings.”

“Did Elyr have other wives or mistresses whom
he may have preferred to you? Or was what he made you do simply the
Regulan method of birth control?”

“I do not know of any other women with whom
Elyr found comfort,” Perri said. “But then, as you know, much was
deliberately concealed from me. Halvo, I see now how wrong it was
for me to touch you the way I just did.”

“It was not wrong!” he said. “Blast Elyr! If
I ever have the chance, I may well strangle him for the way he
treated you. Perri, what you just did is part of a perfectly normal
repertoire of lovemaking skills. As you now realize, it is not
everything. And it is only wrong if there is coercion involved,
which apparently was the case with you.”

“Elyr insisted. I could not refuse him. He
was my betrothed.”

“I understand. You were not to blame, Perri.
By the way,” Halvo said, “what you did was so delightful that I
remain extremely uncomfortable, though my only serious complaint
about the process is that I am still fully clothed. And so,
unfortunately, are you. Do you think we could remedy this situation
in the near future?”

“I have a proposal to make to you,” Perri
said.

“Yes?” Halvo brought her hands to his lips
and began kissing them. “I am listening.”

“I suggest that we attempt to discover a
means of blending the Demarian way and the Regulan.”

“What a good idea.” Halvo put on a serious
face, but his eyes were dancing. “In my capacity as an admiral, I
have occasionally been called upon to mediate disputes and assist
in drawing up treaties, so I am aware of several interesting
methods of carrying on negotiations between diverse cultures. Of
course, considerable patience is usually required when translating
the messages given and received, in order to be sure no
misunderstandings occur. And then, one must always take care not to
insult either involved party.”

“Halvo, you are teasing me.”

“Am I? How can you be sure?”

“I have never insulted you!”

“Oho! I could mention an occasion or two.
However, in the interests of interplanetary peace, I will note only
your peculiar insistence that I should remain fully dressed during
the most intimate moments.”

“It is the Regulan way!” Pern’s pointed chin
tilted upward.

“It is not the Demarian way!” Halvo’s eyes
showed a dangerous sparkle.

“If you wish to be unclothed, I will unclothe
you, Admiral!” With that, Perri flung herself at him, tugging hard
at his tunic. Halvo burst into laughter and rolled over, pulling
Perri along with him. She ended with her back jammed against the
smooth rock wall and Halvo tight against her.

“Do you see how easily negotiations can break
down if one is not careful?” he whispered. “It appears that we will
be obliged to look farther afield in order to find an acceptable
compromise to end our disagreement, some activity that is neither
Regulan nor Demarian.”

Perri was not sure how she ought to react.
Never having associated sex with laughter, she was bewildered by
Halvo’s actions and by his joking words. But she did like the
sensation of his strong body lying along hers, and she held tightly
to him.

“For example,” Halvo murmured, his mouth
against her throat, “we might attempt the Jugarian method, though
since we lack antennae, we will probably not succeed in attaining
the exquisite and prolonged ecstasy that well-mated Jugarians
supposedly reach.”

“Have you made love to a Jugarian woman that
you know about this supposed ecstasy?” Perri asked, still clinging
to him and achingly aware of his hardness pushing against her
abdomen.

“Not I, though I was once told how it is
done, in case I should ever need to know.”

“So that’s how admirals spend their time! You
huddle together, gossiping about the reproductive customs of the
various Races!” If he was not going to allow her to touch that
rigid segment of his body with her hands again, then she wished he
would revert to Demarian custom and do what he had done the last
time they had lain together. The memory made her warm, and that
warmth growing inside her made her long for a recurrence of the
intimate closeness and the stimulating friction. If only ….

“Perri, would you mind telling me exactly
what you are trying to do?” Halvo said. “You are driving me
mad.”

“I beg your pardon. I will stop at once.” She
had been moving around in his arms, attempting to find a position
in which that wonderful, hard part of him could fit into the right
place in her body. She was growing hotter and more frantic by the
moment and she did not know how to tell him what she wanted so he
could do it in time. She wanted him to do it soon, immediately if
possible. She did not think she could live much longer without
Halvo inside her.

“Then there is the Styxian way.” His tongue
touched the corner of her mouth. “Though we do not have scales to
become iridescent as our passion rises, we might find the Styxian
version of lovemaking an interesting variation. Have you an opinion
on this matter?”