Chapter 14
They removed the gag from Starsky's mouth and dumped the brunet's limp body back inside the cage, locking the door firmly and once again securing the chain round his neck to the post sunk into the dusty earth outside the bars. Starsky was almost insensate but a groan was wrung from his body as it hit the compacted ground and his head connected with the bars. Maddox grinned evilly, rattled the ceiling bars of the cage and walked away as Talicia shuffled forward in her cage.
'Dave?' she called softly. 'Oh my God, Dave, what did they do to you? Dave…..DAVE!' she hissed.
Slowly the voice penetrated the curly haired man's pain and his eyes opened a crack, looking around him cautiously. It was difficult and painful to move, but his head lifted a little from the dust and his eyes locked on Talicia's.
'Heyyyy' he whispered softly.
'Hey yourself. Dave, are you ok?' she asked, realising just what a stupid question that was.
Starsky snorted softly and then doubled over in pain. He coughed carefully, spat bloody spittle onto the ground and fought to get his breathing under control. 'I've had…..better days. Nuthin…..a few weeks in……Caribbean wouldn't handle.'
'Well I know a nice little bar down on the beach in St James on Barbados. It does the most wonderful Mojitos. We should go there when you get us out of here' Tally said encouragingly.
Again Starsky's eyes cracked open. 'Hon I couldn't get us outa….wet paper bag right now. Need t'sleep…..hurts.' He let his head fall to the ground again, the effort of holding it up too much. The brunet closed his eyes wearily feeling the fever begin to build in his body again. As he rested his pounding head, he felt something soothing against his forehead and realised Talicia had managed to crawl to the very perimeter of her cage and had reached her arm through both sets of bars and could just reach his brow. She soothed it, stroking gently and Starsky relaxed marginally against the soft touch, glad of some reassurance after the harrowing ordeal in the doctor's room. There was no way he would tell the woman about his treatment, but in a way he felt almost as safe with Talicia as he did with Hutch. Despite the fact they were both held captive, there was something about the woman, some characteristics she had that Starsky recognised in himself and in his blond partner. She had the same resoluteness, the same composure under stress and, he had to admit the same bloody mindedness.
Quietly, with Talicia's touch, he drifted off into a fevered sleep, his body starting the healing processes all over again after Dr Leach's "ministrations". Tally watched over him, running her fingers through curls that were soon damp with sweat as Starsky twitched and moaned on the floor of his cage.
The woman knew what was happening. She'd seen it many times before and had experienced the healing fever herself once or twice. The accelerated healing had its advantages but it was not the most wonderful experience in the world.
There was no getting away from the fact that Starsky was here because of her and her kind. He'd never chosen to be a werewolf (not that any of them really had) and he'd certainly never chosen to be Luprex but despite all that, he'd come alone into the camp to try to save her. Talicia smoothed her hands through the chocolate coloured curls now grimy with dust and wondered. As Queen, she'd inherited some of the powers from Lya, but had yet to use them. Tally didn't even know whether she could use them as Lya had died before she'd been able to give her second in command any instruction, but the young woman felt she owed a debt to the curly haired cop in the next cage and so she closed her eyes and concentrated on entering Starsky's dreams and sending him some of her healing energy to join with his.
Talicia concentrated on Starsky, her fingers working gently at his curls. She felt his consciousness stir as she touched on the fringes of the brunet's dreams and slowly her breathing quickened to come into time with Starsky's own ragged breaths. The mists of her mind parted and she took a first curious and slightly scared look into the brunet's dreams.
Starsky was on the edge of a volcano, looking down the precipitous drop into the hot, red caldera. The hot wind from the erupting magma buffeted his curls and made him stagger back, almost losing his balance and he stopped suddenly feeling a hand on his shoulder. Turning he looked in surprise into the beautiful brown eyes of the young woman.
'Tally? What are you doing here?' he gasped.
'I wanted to help you. You looked so hurt, I needed to do something.'
'I don't understand.'
'I'm here to help. I can share the healing with you…..make it hurt less.'
'But I'm….'
'Asleep, yes' Talicia smiled. 'But I'm here in your dreams to help you.'
'You can do that?' Starsky asked.
'I'm here aren't I?'
'I guess, but it's not the nicest place to be.'
Tally looked down into the fire in the huge crater. 'You're right. That's the fire of your fever.'
'It is? Wow!' the brunet could think of nothing more to say. 'Don't like it much.'
'Then ease the fever. Cool it. Move away' the young woman urged.
'I don't know how. It hurts too much. They hurt me.' Starsky's eyes turned sadly to Talicia and her heart melted.
'I know they did my love. But you can do this. You can heal yourself and we can be together.'
'I'd like that, but I don't know what to do. Where would you rather be, an' how do we get there?'
Tally smiled. 'This is your dream Dave, only you can decide that. Cool the fever and ease the pain. Think of somewhere you'd love to be and someone you'd love to be with. Think of what you'd like to do and make your mind take you there. While your mind is busy, your body will heal.'
'It's as simple as that?' Starsky asked.
'Uh huh.'
'Anywhere…..with anyone, an' I can do what I like?'
She smiled. 'That's pretty much it. Your dream, your healing fever, you decide.'
'And all I have t do is think about it for it to happen?'
'Yes, just imagine who you would most like to be with and where, and what you want to do. Close your eyes and imagine.'
The brunet took a deep breath, his indigo blue eyes closing slowly. 'Relax an' think' he mumbled. 'Think of who I wanna be with an' what I wanna do.'
A moment later, Hutch popped into sight in the distance and started to walk towards the two of them. Starsky turned to Talicia. 'This is just a dream, right? I mean it's not real except in my head, an' I can do what I want?'
She nodded.
With a sly grin, Starsky looked back at Hutch's approaching figure. 'Don't take this the wrong way Blondie, but um….not right now huh?' the flaxen haired figure disappeared in a puff of smoke and the heated tortured landscape started to morph away. The caldera with its raging pool of molten rock moved, flattened, the earth moving beneath Starsky and Talicia's feet until it was flat and a cerulean blue ocean had appeared in front of them. Talicia looked around her at the brunet's imaginary place. A stand of bright, white sand stretched in a narrow ribbon around a crescent shaped bay fringed with swaying green palm trees. Small waves lapped at the shore with quiet hisses and to her right, a beautiful waterfall cascaded down into a pool made for swimming. She sighed appreciatively.
'Why you big romantic, Dave Starsky. And not a Hutch in sight!'
The brunet took her hand in his. 'Sometimes he just gets in the way' he mumbled, pulling Talicia along with him gently as they headed for the fern fringed pool. The water was clear and Talicia dipped her toe into it, finding it neither too warm nor too cold. Her shining eyes found Starsky's indigo blues and she reached up to run her fingers lightly down his cheek.
'Who would have thought that you could be so romantic?' she said softly.
'Hey, I aint all guns an' cuffs ya know.'
'Guns I hate, but the um…..cuffs sound kinda…..' Talicia never finished as the brunet swept her up into his arms and covered her mouth with his. Gently, he kissed her, his hands entwined in the curtain of her hair. Talicia opened her mouth, her tongue gently and shyly exploring new territory. Starsky captured it, sucking gently on it before his own tongue took over the exploration. Tally moaned into his mouth and pushed her body against his. Breathlessly, Starsky pulled away, looking down at her with shining eyes.
'Let's swim' he said gently.
'Because you don't want to kiss me?'
'Because to swim, we should really be naked' he replied, his eyebrows tenting in question.
Talicia smiled shyly. 'Totally naked?'
'Uh huh.'
'This is your dream, you could have imagined me that way.'
The brunet grinned. 'I didn't want to be presumptuous. An' apart from that, half the fun of bein' naked is the getting there.'
Tally put her arms above her head, inviting the curly haired cop to remove her blouse. Starsky didn't need asking twice and grasped the material, pulling it over her head gently. She wore no bra and her lightly tanned skin glowed in the sunshine. Starsky bowed his head and kissed a line down from her jaw to the top of each breast. With his left hand, he gently ran his thumb over her nipple, feeling it rise up hard with desire beneath his touch. Tally sighed against him and he bent to suck the pink nub into his mouth, lightly flicking his tongue over the proud flesh.
Talicia's hands were working at his belt now and within seconds, the woman had unbuckled it and was pushing the soft denim fabric down and over Starsky's slim hips even as the brunet unzipped Tally's skirt. Within moments both lovers stood naked, each drinking in the sight of each other.
Slowly, Tally did a little pirouette allowing Starsky to see her body in its entirety. He growled, deep in his throat and the sound ignited the passion in the woman's heart like no other. He scooped her up in his arms and laid her down gently on the powder soft white sand, laying himself down beside her as she nestled her head into the crook of Starsky's right arm.
'I thought it was me comforting you through your healing' she mumbled lazily.
'Believe me honey, you are' he sighed, bending to kiss her neck gently. The warmth of her jugular with its pulsing blood running just beneath the surface attracted him and for a moment, he wanted nothing more than to bite down on the pale flesh and feast. With difficulty, the brunet tore his eyes away and instead, his hand went to work on Talicia's body even as he felt her small hand encircle his rigid cock. He looked down.
'That's what I like about small hands' he muttered. 'They make things look even bigger.'
She giggled. 'Isn't it big enough already?'
'It's getting' there honey, especially when ya do that' the brunet moaned as Talicia set up a gentle stroking along his length. Collapsing back on the sand, Starsky allowed the woman to own his body. Her hands ran down the length of his chest, from beneath his throat to the top of the wiry hairs at his core. Each touch sent electric bolts lancing through him, each gentle stroke eliciting a moan of pleasure.
Talicia rose up and straddled the relaxed brunet, the centre of her own body poised over the centre of his. She could feel the demand of his cock against her, but smiled wolfishly. 'You're so eager' she whispered. 'Slow down. You have a lot of healing to do. Make this last.'
Starsky smiled up at her lazily, sheer contentment in his eyes. 'I'm all yours honey. I can hold out as long as you like.'
She grinned. 'You can huh?'
He smiled back. 'Uh huh. This is my dream aint it?'
Talicia nodded. 'But I bet even in your dream, I can make things happen' she said softly, bending her head to kiss down his chest and across the washboard abs. She shuffled lower and Starsky felt warm wetness engulf his cock as he closed his eyes and moaned softly.
'Keep that up an' we can put it to the test soon enough' he whispered, abandoning himself to the sensations assaulting his body.
Talicia grasped him in one hand and licked down his shaft, pausing at his tip to blow gently and coldly against the wetness. She smiled to herself as the body beneath her shivered in anticipation and continued her exploration of her lover's body. She was by no means an expert, but she was inventive and seemed totally attuned to Starsky's every desire. With every touch of her hand and every brush of her lips against his body, she brought the brunet closer and closer to his peak until Starsky was writhing in pleasure, his hands clawing at the white sand as he fought to keep himself in check. Finally he could stand it no longer and he groaned.
'Honey, please…..ya gotta do sumthin' he mumbled desperately.
Talicia smiled 'You said you could go on as long as I wanted' she said teasingly, her hand keeping up its slow manipulation of the brunet's core.
'Ok, I was wrong, I was wrong' Starsky panted. 'Please honey. C'mere I need….need… ohhh yeah' he sighed as the woman rose up and carefully positioned herself over the cop's cock.
Talicia lowered herself slowly and gently. Starsky was big……bigger than anything she'd taken before and she took her time, seating him inside her and pausing to acclimatise herself to the massive intruder. Carefully she leaned forward and kissed her man tenderly on the lips. 'OK?' she asked.
'Yeah….k' he replied, slightly dazed by the feelings assailing his body.
Slowly, Talicia straightened and began to rise up before seating Starsky deeper inside her. Both sighed with anticipation and as Starsky reached for the woman to caress her shoulders and breasts, Tally set up her own rhythm, slowly at first and then gathering speed until both lovers were frantic with their need for release. When it eventually arrived, they both came together in a perfectly orchestrated climax and they collapsed into each other's arms, gasping and totally satiated.
Inside the cages in the dusty street, Starsky's fevered twitching finally started to abate and Talicia slowly opened her eyes. How long they had been connected she had no idea, but the dreams had been everything she could have hoped for and more. Carefully, she ran her hand over the brunet's brow, feeling it damp with sweat by markedly cooler. The crisis had passed and Starsky seemed to be sleeping easier now. With a groan that marked the stiffness of her muscles, Talicia reluctantly withdrew her hand and relaxed against the bars of her own cage. Despite her exertions and her tiredness, she settled down to wait, eyes open, alert for trouble while her lover continued to heal in the cage next to her.