Explicit
Annalisa awoke all fuzzy and feeling stiff and somewhat sore and was perplexed until she felt the warmth of another body in her bed with her. Her eyes snapped open and she turned her head to find herself nearly nose to nose with Lao, who was looking at her through drowsy eyes and a half
smile on his face.
"You sleep quiet, don't you," Shih Lao observed, "I like that in a woman."
A woman, Annalisa thought, I am a woman now. Am I Lao's woman? Or is that a separate thing? Do I sleep quiet? I don't know, I've never seen myself sleep. Is it the next morning? Or the day after? Did I sleep twenty-four hours? Or am I just stiff from…Here words failed her. She had no words to describe the events, and yes, the feelings of the previous day. She was pretty certain it had only been the day before that her Ragath had risen in her first mating flight. She hoped it went as well for Ragath as it did…
It did, dear heart, it did, Ragath said, I am in his weyr and he is in your bed. Proper places for these doings. I believe it is still early, no one has stirred much, so go back to sleep, my beloved Annalisa. Rest easy.
A hand stroking her arm brought her back to where she was.
"How did you know that Shih was my last name, not my first?" Lao asked her as he brought himself up to one elbow to look at her easier. Her tousled hair, her slightly swollen lips begging to be kissed again, her nakedness nestled up against him under the blankets
"I'm not sure, maybe something my parents had said, early in my childhood before they died. They were linguists. Experts in the languages of Earth. We traveled a lot, and they would immerse themselves in the culture of each new place. Learning the language, the various dialects, the customs of the various districts within a country. It has been awhile, but I remember knowing fifteen separate languages before I was six. Most of them were from the Asian continent," Annalisa said reflectively. She looked over at her recent lover.
"What happens now, Lao," she asked plaintively, "Do we go our separate ways? Do you continue to stay with me? Do I have to share you with other women?" Here, Annalisa's eyes moistened with unshed tears.
"I've never had anyone all my own," she whispers, eyes downcast and looking sad.
"We can do whatever we want," Lao said, pulling her to him and kissing her into laughter. "We can stay a-bed. We can go have lunch, we can have it brought to us, we can go on a picnic! You, my dear Annalisa, are truly a Queenrider and seldom do folks interfere with a Queenrider!"
Then Lao sobered and looked down at the lovely face of his new woman and said, "Annalisa. You can have ME for your very own. I was not lying when I said yesterday that I have loved you since you arrived here at Benden. I count thirty one years upon Pern. My parents are still alive. They have a place in a cave system to the west of us. I would love for you to meet them, but only when you are ready," here Lao paused, then reiterated, "I love you Annalisa, and don't want to share you with anyone! But I also know that you were an untried young girl and a thirty one year old man is too old for you. You should probably be with someone much closer to your age…"
Annalisa flung her arms around Lao's neck and declared, "No one, NO one, could have been as gentle with me as you were yesterday! I would not give that up just to have 'a younger man'," here, Lis' scorn was alive and large. "I may not have begun the day loving you, but you loved me into loving you! I do NOT want another man!"
At this point, the two dragons in weyr beyond the curtain gave voice to their opinions, too.
"Okay, okay," Lao acquiesced, at least for now. Let the novelty of a mating flight wear off and we will see where it leads, but right now, "We can shelve the discussion for now. I had the late staff bring up some consumables that could handle being out for a while. Are you hungry?" he asked as he sat up and slid out of the bed to get the packaged food.
"Yes, starving," Annalisa said, glancing his way and seeing his nude body, she sat up and quickly covered her bare breasts, flushing when she remembered what Lao had done to them and the feelings he aroused in her.
Lao had turned and seen the flush mount her cheeks, and the lowered head, and since he was shameless in his nakedness, could tell it had bothered her.
"Would you like me to get dressed?" he asked gently.
"NO!" she spoke quickly, "Just get back in bed with me so I don't feel…so I feel like you belong here!"
"I do," he said, and slid back under the blankets. He opened the pack and found fresh fruit wrapped in large leaves to keep it fresh. He plucked out a couple of sticky pastries that he put in her hands, then out came a couple of minced meat savory rolls and lastly, a small flagon of beverage. Lao opened the stopper and immediately could tell it was alcoholic and not plain water.
He didn't want Annalisa impaired with wine, so he laid it aside and instead, got up again, picked up the small pitcher she had on the side table and filled it with water from the bathing room. He found a couple of glasses she had and brought both back to the bed.
He settled back into bed, and handed her the glass he had filled with water. He was hoping she would hand him one of the sticky pastries, leaving her hand sticky. He wanted to suck the sweetness from her fingers in foreplay for another bit of lovemaking.
And so she did. She handed him the sticky bun, which he laid aside, and before she could wipe her hand on anything, he took up her hand, and looking at her to gauge her reaction, he slowly put one finger into his mouth and sucked all the stickiness from it. She stared at him, mesmerized. One finger followed another which followed another and then the index finger and she was quivering with wantonness. She leaned into him, kissing the stickiness from his lips. Two could play that game! She was young, yes, but she was a fast learner.
The dragons had fallen back to sleep, which was just as well, because the human pair egged each other on until in a frenzy of delight, they came together in a lightning bolt of heavy sex.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
M'hall and Torene were just rousing when they heard a happy chortle and gurgling laughter from the open doorway of the room across the living area of their apartments.
"What did I ever do to deserve such a happy, cheerful baby?" Torene asked M'hall, slipping out of bed to go get Toreal.
"You didn't do anything specific," M'hall chuckled, and started ticking things off, "You made innovations to our masks that keeps them from fogging up, you solve everyone's problems for them, you find unexplainable food sources, you can hear every dragon and last but not least, you kept Nora from committing suicide." M'hall got up and went into the bathing room on the other side of their bedroom, calling over his shoulder, "Today will be a Gather Day at Fort, if you need anything. I figure we could go after Threadfall if you aren't too tired. It's one of the light fall days, so unless injuries are up, we should be able to spend a few hours at Fort," this last was barely discernible as M'hall had gotten into the water and was already splashing around.
Torene took the loveable, happy little boy out of his bed and settled him on his back to change him out of his jammies. She wiped him clean, dried him off and got squirted in the face for her trouble. She quickly got out of range of the little stream and started all over again and included herself in the makeshift bath. He was nearing sixteen months and doing a lot of things for himself, but she liked to do this little morning ritual as long as he would allow it.
Settling him on the floor with a couple of toys, she went through to the bedroom and got dressed for the day. Since Thread came early today, she was outfitted in her flying clothes, and opening a carisak, put gather clothing for all three of them inside for later.
M'hall came through to the living area of their apartment, tugging his shirt over his head. He went to the row of hooks that held their frequently used flying gear and donned his leather trousers, then stamped into his boots.
"Da?" Toreal said, pointing to his father. M'hall spun around and Torene looked down at her son. They had been wondering when the little tyke was going to take off speaking. They had almost been worried, but both knew of families where the first born had taken their sweet time in speaking words instead of merely vocalizing.
"Yes, sweetheart, Dada," M'hall swept the little boy up into his arms, "all this practicing is paying off!"
"And it's all that talking that Verona does with him," Torene said, "I can hear her talking to him like he's an adult. It's cute, because he babbles back and Verona will say, "Is that so, Mr. Toreal! What do you think your Da would say if he heard that coming from you!"
They headed for the outer doorway and took the stone staircase down to the main floor of the caldron, turned left, then right and found Verona already in what they called "the Nursery" with one other little tyke.
"Ah! There's my loverboy!" Verona said as she caught sight of the three, "I just love nuzzling on your son! He belly laughs when I tickle his belly and squeals with delight when I blow bubbles on his tummy!"
Both M'hall and Torene smiled indulgently at the young woman. She, too, had lost a good portion of her family to thread, and caring for the infants seemed to be good for her. It certainly was for the children.
They left Toreal in the young woman's capable hands and went up to breakfast. As usual, only Makayla, Tarrie and Jen Bailey were there . Jen, of course, was manning the grill for those who wanted bacon or some fresh meat with breakfast. Makayla was bleary eyed, but poured the drinks without spilling. Tarrie was everywhere at once, making sure the rest of the repast was ready when everyone came in for breakfast.
The Weyrleaders went from one station to the other and picked up their breakfast, then settled into seats at a table just inside the dining area doors. After they finished eating, they put on the rest of their fighting gear and headed out into the early morning sunshine and asked their dragons to come get them.
The early sweep riders were coming back from reconnoitering the expanse of land that would be covered by the Fall that day and reported that the Holds were ready and that all animals were in shelters. As M'hall and Torene took the report from the various sweep riders, the Wings were gathering and forming up on the grounds behind them.
M'hall and Torene turned as they heard a horse clopping through the tunnel and onto the floor of the main caldron, then started laughing as they heard the horse come galloping up and out and around the caldron to where the dragonriders were all gathering in the drilling field.
"Excellent!" the Benden holder, Broderick Rathburn, said as he bailed off his horse, just as it realized it was smelling dragon, and started pitching and fighting for its head. Rathburn hung onto the reins of his mount, making it circle around him until it was so dizzy, it had to stop.
"Was hoping I'd catch you before you took off!" the young man exclaimed. Everything Rathburn did was exciting to him, having been raised in an apartment on Old Earth's East Coast. Being here on this wild planet suited him right down to the ground, but he loved making it glorious. "I have new crops of maize and cotton down below the lake. They are tucked under a partial canopy of birch trees just beyond the clearing. If you wouldn't mind keeping an eye out for me, I'd really appreciate it. I know, I know, Thread isn't supposed to get this far, but I'd hate for those immensely accurate charts to be wrong this one time!"
"Of course, Broderick, we'll keep an eye on them. You've got them grubbed, too, right?" M'hall asked although he was pretty sure he knew the answer.
"Sure, sure." Broderick replied, "Ted wasn't good for much but those grubs of his are worth his weight in gold!" And with that, Broderick had his mount under control and leaped into the saddle and went haring off down the hillside again.
"Alright, Wingseconds, let's see where we stand!" the Weyrleader said. He turned to his Wingseconds and each one in turn gave him a thumbs up or a salute indicating readiness of those in their command.
They usually took off from the caldron floor, but it was beginning to get a little tight on space down there. Dragons could lift off from anywhere, it was just a little harder down in the caldron where they had to take off straight up. Out here, the space allowed for a running step or two before liftoff.
"Queenriders! Are you ready?" M'hall shouted to the back row of the gathered dragons.
"You don't have to shout, you know," Torene chuckled in his head, "there are other means of communication.."
"Yes, I know, I was just emulating our esteemed Benden holder," he answered back in kind, "Seen Shih Lao or Annalisa?" he enquired of his wife.
"Since it's a short fall and the Gather is later and Annalisa sounded breathless when I spoke to her this morning," and here, M'hall heard his wife's sexy chuckle, "I suggested they take the morning off to recover and meet us at Fort after Fall"
"Guess it went well," M'hall said.
"Yes, sorry you had to deal with the other," Torene said soberly.
"I know. But it had to be done. Alright," M'hall shook himself a bit to dispel the memory, "Let's get these dragons aloft."
Aloud he shouted, "Do you all have your visualizations?" As the air filled with affirmations, M'hall gave the familiar pumped fist and Brianth lifted off cleanly.
Everything went smoothly during Threadfall, with only a little bit of char blowing back into the faces of riders too close when their dragons flamed Thread from the sky. Thankfully the face masks protected them from the hot part of the char and then the rest fluttered harmlessly away. The Queenriders didn't have one single rescue, and didn't even finish the liquid HNO3 in their flamethrowers.
Torene swung by the cavern and picked up Toreal from Verona while M'hall took the stairs two at a time to pick up the carisak that Torene had prepared earlier and his own pack.
He heard some laughter from down the hall, realized it was Shih Lao and wondered when the last time it was when he had heard the man laugh. It had been some time. Shih Lao had lost all his siblings during the First Fall, M'hall recalled. The five siblings had been scientists and out in the field and had not survived. His parents, being in their twelfth century, were safe at home.
M'hall was so glad to hear that laughter that he almost went to Annalisa's quarters and congratulated them. Then thought better of it and turned away and went back down the stairs to meet Torene and the dragons.
"Nice hearing laughter from Shih Lao," he said as he mounted his bronze.
Torene looked over at him, a mischievous smile on her face. She finished packing Toreal in front of her on Alaranth, leaped up on the golden dragon's back and then turned to her husband.
"Yes, it has been over twenty years since his sisters and brothers died. I am so very happy you heard him laugh. I think he may have found love and laughter with Annalisa," she said.
"Now, wait a minute!" M'hall said, "Just because I heard him laugh doesn't mean…"
"Wanna bet me, husband o' mine?" Torene asked, lifting an eyebrow, "have you heard him laugh in those twenty some odd years?"
"Well," M'hall said, "I have not been in Shih Lao's company every day and every hour of every day!"
"Nor have I," his lovely wife said, "but I am of a firm conviction that there will be another nuptial coming up soon for our youngest Queenrider and her lover."
"Hope these couplings taper off,"M'hall said, "or the single bronzes won't have anyone to fly after!"
"Oh, I believe there are enough free-spirited women for our dear bronze riders to find plenty to bed!" Torene laughed as she asked Alaranth to rise.
"Last word junkie!" M'hall called after her, as he asked Brianth to rise.
They winked into between and then met, wing tip to wing tip above Fort's fire heights. The mass of people already gathered was staggering. It seemed that all of Pern had come to this Gather. The fire heights and the caldron rim were lined with dragons and not one of them seemed inclined to give the Weyrleaders of Benden space.
Alaranth asked of Torene, May we go to the river since it is early yet?
Torene conferred with M'hall, then, Yes, go ahead. But leave the river at sundown so you will be dry by the time we leave, alright? Alaranth acquiesced.
They each dismounted on the ground in front of Fort Hold and let the dragons lift off before going inside.
"Torene! M'hall!" They heard their names called, and having accustomed their eyes to the dim hold, found themselves in a crush of people on the main floor, with Sean and Sorka on the steps to the private quarters, waving at them.
They wended their way through the throng of people and went up the steps to M'hall's parents.
"You can change your clothing in our rooms," Sorka said, reaching out to take her grandson, who babbled and chortled with glee at seeing his grandmother.
"There's my sweet boy!" Sorka said, to which Toreal responded,
"Dadadadadadadada!"
"No, sweetheart," Torene corrected, "That's Gramma!"
"Gammma, gama, gama" Toreal repeated, chortling with giggles, "gammmma, gamma!"
"Yes!" Sorka responded, "It's gramma, gramma, gramma!" and planted kisses all over the little redhead's cheeks.
Sorka bounced the little guy on her hip as she turned and went back up the way she had come, leading the others to their rooms like they had never been there before.
Torene and M'hall quickly changed while Sorka and Sean fawned over the sweet little boy. When they emerged, all ready for the gather, Torene said to the pair, "Ragath came into season earlier than expected yesterday, and I think we now have another committed pair, Annalisa and Shih Lao."
"You don't know that for sure," M'hall was shaking his head, "just because I heard him laugh from her quarters!"
The senior Weyrleaders looked at their son, then their daughter-in-law, and back again with a frown furrowing Sean's forehead. Sean tipped his head to the side, as if he was trying to recall something buried. He blinked, then blinked again, before his frown cleared and his eyebrow went up in a quizzical look at his son.
"Shih Lao lost all his siblings in the First Fall," Sean said, slowly, feeling his way along his memory, "and although his parents survived, they are much older than their youngest son, if I recall correctly."
"Like you do anything else," his wife ribbed him.
"So, if Shih Lao and Firth flew Annalisa and Ragath yesterday and are still with them today, I would imagine that Torene is correct."
"Yes, but," M'hall started. Then stopped. Two of the people he trusted most thought that Shih Lao had finally found happiness. Who was he to fuss?
"I hope you're both right," he said, grinning at both his wife and his da.
They left the rooms and went back downstairs to mingle with the other gatherers, meandering along to the food shelters.
The Gather was well in progress, with table upon table of wares set out. Handmade instruments from the musicians; knives and utensils from metal workers; cloth, what little there was left, along with leather, suede and furs were set out by seamstresses and leather crafters. Food tents were spaced out among the wares and people were talking and laughing; kids were running, shouting and playing. Everyone was having a great time.
The four weyrleaders stopped at one promising cloth vendor, and noticed three blonde children in attendance.
"This has got to be it!" Torene said excitedly, then turned to the oldest of the children and said, "Is your mama, Sheri, here?" Mutely, the three nodded towards the opening into the second shelter, where Torene could see Sherilayn.
"Ah! Sherilayn! I'm so glad to see you!" Torene said happily. Sherilayn came out and met the weyrleaders with her trademark lovely smile.
"I'm so glad I am here to be seen!" she quipped, engulfing the slim, tall girl and her baby in a loving embrace, "and I was sure hoping I would get to meet Toreal!"
"Sheri!" Torene exclaimed, "What a memory you have! I believe you have only heard of our son once!"
"Yes," Sherilayn acknowledged, "but I love babies, as you well know, and Toreal is such an interesting name!"
Torene held her son out to the motherly woman, and Toreal squealed and held his hands out to Sherilayn, who brought him up close and kissed him, then nestled him in her arms like she was his mama. He looked up at her and squirmed around until his little body was up against hers and promptly fell asleep.
His mama just shook her head, beaming, "My goodness, didn't realize he was that tired! Must have had a busy day with Verona!"
But someone wasn't happy!
"MAMA," Paul said loudly from where he stood just inside the tent, eyes wide and mouth turned down, like he was about to cry. "Thas my Mama!"
Sherilayn looked around at him and said quietly, "Now Paul, you must learn to share. You remember we talked about sharing? Remember?"
Paul looked at his mother, then at the four other adults, then at his mother again. He looked ready to take umbrage, but thought about it again, and said softly, "Iss otay, Mama, I share."
Sherilayn reached down with her spare hand and ruffled Paul's hair.
"Thank you, Paul. You are my pride and joy!" and the little boy just beamed, glad to be back in his mama's good graces again. (Although truth be told, he had never really been out!)
The six adults chatted on for awhile, then Sherilayn said to Torene, "Was there something in particular you were needing?"
"Why, yes!" Torene said, "I was hoping you had some of the sugar beet linen woven up. I'd love to get some for a rug in front of Toreal's bed so he doesn't get up to a cold floor."
"Any particular shape, pattern or colors?" Sherilayn asked, rocking side to side with Toreal limp in her arms.
"Well," Torene said, thoughtfully, "I haven't got a pattern, but a star of pale yellow on a blue ground might be nice. And maybe a half circle shape…I don't know…"
"You mean, something like this?" Sherilayn reached behind her into the second tent and brought out a lovely woven rug just the perfect size for in front of Toreal's bed and it was in a gorgeous shade of light blue with a golden yellow sun woven into it in a half moon shape.
"WHAT?" Torene squeaked in astonishment, "But how did you know?" and before she finished her sentence, she had whirled around to M'hall.
"You did this! You had this done for your son!" she said excitedly. "Thank you both, SO much! It will be perfect in his little pale blue and yellow room!" She stood up on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"M'hall swung by after a fall last season and asked me to make it in exchange for him and Brianth digging up some old dead trees down in the swamp land so we can plant more sugar beets," Sherilayn said, hugging Torene again.
M'hall just beamed around, proud of his little secret for his gorgeous wife. Sean whacked him on the shoulder and Sorka squeezed his arm, so proud of the husband he was becoming.
"May we leave it here, Sherilayn, until we head back out?" Torene asked her tall, lovely friend.
"Only if you leave Toreal here, too, for Paul to get to know," Sheri said, a smile dimpling her cheek. She knew she would get her way with that grin.
Torene shook her head, laughing, "Of course you can, as long as we can bring you back something from the food area."
"I haven't had one of those baked berry pies I keep smelling," Sheri said, "if you could bring me one of those, I could probably eat the whole thing by myself, but I'll share!"
"Deal!"
And so the two sets of Weyrleaders went, meandering through the rest of the Gather, stopping now and again to speak to folks, take a sample of a delicious morsel, nodding at friendly looking complete strangers, and chatting with others. Sean and Sorka stopped to chat with friends while Torene and M'hall continued on until they reached the tent from which the lovely berry pie smell was emanating.
"How in the world did you bake those and get them here, Deboreen?" Torene asked, so surprised to see her there at Fort.
"Ha! That's all you know, Torene! I didn't bake them at Benden! I baked them here with my mother, whose dwelling is right behind this curtain!" Deboreen said, so happy that she could pull one over on her friend, who always seemed to know everything. It was nice to surprise her.
At that very moment, Deboreen's mother, Irelene, stepped through the curtain with another platter full of smallish pies.
"And here she is," Deboreen said. Her mother smiled, set the platter down and unloaded the pies onto the counter before her.
"Hello," Irelene said, "You have to be Torene! My daughter speaks so highly of you. It is so nice to finally meet you!"
Torene reached out to shake the woman's hand, but the sweet-faced lady came around the end of the counter and engulfed Torene in a hug.
"Thank you so much for defending my daughter and granddaughter against that other queen rider. That was so unexpected. To think such as you all would defend the average person," the woman continued.
"Ma'am," M'hall said, "That is just the way Torene is, and I'm hoping most dragonriders are of that same vein. We are protectors of the people of Pern, but we are just people, too."
"I wish all dragonriders thought the way you two do," Irelene said, rather sourly, "there are some that act like they own everything they look at."
"Who might that be, Irelene?" M'hall asked quietly, "Are they possibly 3 bronze dragon riders?"
"Why, yes!" Irelene said, surprised that the man in front of her knew that.
"Rest assured, Lady Irelene, they will bother you no more. They have died," M'hall said quietly.
Deboreen's small gasp alerted the Weyrleaders that the Headwoman of their Weyr was unaware of what had transpired at the Anwell Hold. So dragons and dragonriders could keep confidences. M'hall was gratified by that.
They spoke of the events at the Anwell Hold, and M'hall asked them to keep it to themselves. Then went on to talk about babies being born to non-dragonriders and staff members, people that had become partners and crops that were coming along.
Everyone seemed to know about the grubs now, and the Weyrleaders were thankful for that. It would help when Threadfall hit the crops to know that all would not be lost if a thread got through the upper layers of dragon protection, and got missed by the Queenriders and even the ground crews.
Sean and Sorka reached the tent just as the next batch of pies were removed from the oven, so they got theirs piping hot.
The Weyrleaders took their leave of Irelene and her daughter, Deboreen, with Torene kissing both on the cheek as they came away with five hot, succulent pies.
They went straight away back to the Anwell tent where they found Annalisa holding Paul and Shih Lao holding Toreal while Sherilayn was taking orders from a couple of ladies for mats at their holdings.
They all watched, bemused as Shih Lao talked to Toreal, listening to the little boy's responses and noticed their son had an arm around Shih Lao's neck, the little red-gold curly-haired head next to the larger black haired head of the man whom they knew so little about. Toreal was pointing to something on the ground and Shih Lao told him what it was, then reached down and gently picked up a cricket, which settled on the man's long graceful finger. He held it up to the little boy and Toreal pulled Shih Lao's hand closer so he could get a good look at it. The cricket walked off the finger and onto the little boy's nose. Toreal squealed with delight and put his own finger up to his face and the cricket obligingly walked onto his little finger.
Paul, in Annalisa's arms, said "Go! Go!" which Annalisa correctly took to mean go see the bug. The cricket jumped from Toreal's finger to Paul's outstretched hand. Both little boys squealed in delight and Paul very sweetly moved his hand up over Toreal's hand and the cricket jumped down to Toreal's, and so the game continued with each little boy moving his hand so the cricket jumped to the other's hand.
Sherilayn finished with her customer and turned to observe the game and how patiently the two adults holding the children were being. She knew and loved Annalisa like her own. Indeed, the young woman's coloring helped her blend right in with her own blonde family. Shih Lao, on the other hand, was only known to her as a bronze dragonrider. Sheri didn't know much about him or his family, but from the look of adoration on his face when he glanced at 'Lis, and how his look changed to indulgence when he was helping the boys, she knew she was seeing a wonderful pair of future parents in the making.
She looked over at the four Weyrleaders, then especially Torene, who had been watching the game, entranced. Torene felt the weight of her friend's glance and smiled. Sheri's face melted into that special smile of warm regard and she stepped over to between the younger Weyrleaders and said, "what a beautiful couple they make and what great parents they will become," hugging both of them close, "maybe as good as you two!"
Torene just beamed while M'hall did a double take and then stood with a pensive look on his face. He had thought Shih Lao was a lone wolf kind of guy. He hadn't joined in many gatherings at the weyr over the years. M'hall was a little put off that he had been that far wrong about the man. He had to have been, though, because Shih Lao looked positively glowing, if men could glow. He looked so engaged with the boys, so helpful with keeping the cricket up on little hands.
Sherilayn saw his expression and shook his arm, "M'hall." She waited until he looked at her, "Don't be so hard on yourself," she said, "You're young yet, plus, it is more of a woman's intuition thing than a discernible man thing. Your dad even missed things when he was younger, ask your mom."
That really set M'hall back on his heels. Sean? Missed cues?
"Occasionally," Sheri said, interpreting his look.
At that moment, Toreal had spotted his mama, and Paul had spotted his mama. The cricket forgotten, both boys set up a wail, arms out for their respective mothers. Who could resist?
As the mothers took their children, Shih Lao's arm encircled Annalisa's waist and she leaned into his embrace, unaware that such a small action was being taken in by her weyrleader.
M'hall handed two of the cooling berry pies to Brenae, who had come out of the tent to receive them, and they all bid farewell to the Anwells, with Paul and Toreal calling out to each other as the distance widened, "bye bye" "bye bye" "bye bye."
The six dragonriders went back through the Gather at a faster pace than they had come into the Gather site. It was getting on to suppertime, and they knew where the best food tent was, so they hurried to it before the line got long. Torene didn't want a fussy child in her arms while awaiting supper, so it was a good thing they were near the head of the line. I know it isn't sundown yet, Alaranth, love, but we're getting food and will be needing a ride before night falls, Torene told her beloved dragon.
We have been back from the river long enough to be dry, Alaranth said, adding slyly, for a dragon, and so have Ragath and Firth. Torene chuckled quietly and thanked her queen.
The line moved quickly, and they filled their plates with roast beast, fluffy tubers with sweet cream, beautiful dark greens and a mix of spring squashes that had taken root in the fertile Pern soil and thrived.
They sat down at the tables provided, pleasantly tired from their jaunt, and the three women took turns feeding Toreal items off their plates until Shih Lao leaned over, his plate clean, and took the little guy from Sorka, whom he was sitting next to with an asking look of permission. She nodded, glad to finish up without the little squirmer in her lap.
He had had enough, by the way he took to Shih Lao and snuggled up against his neck and fell asleep. The three women just cooed. Sean and M'hall rolled their eyes.
As they were finished, they arose, gave their plates to the folks who were accepting them, thanked them for the wonderful meal and headed out to their dragons.
The dragons were ready to head home, too. Sean and Sorka kissed Torene and M'hall, turned to Annalisam who stepped up to Sorka and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, moved over to Sean and hugged him around the waist, then backed away into Shih Lao's empty arm. He still held Toreal.
Sorka leaned past the baby and kissed Shih Lao on the cheek, noting that tears had sprung into his eyes. She kissed the other cheek and whispered, "welcome back, Lao." This was too much for Lao. He released Annalisa for just a moment, hugged his former Weyrwoman close, bending his head to kiss her hair and released her to curve his arm around Annalisa again.
Sean and M'hall noted the exchange, then gripped each other's right forearms for their "goodby."
Lao turned to his young Weyrwoman and opened his arm for her to take her sleeping son. She looked up into his eyes and smiled, kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "I am so sorry, Lao, that it took so long for you to find happiness, but I am so glad that it did."
"Me, too," he murmured. Then he turned and helped her mount Alaranth with Toreal in her arms, helped her settle the little guy in front of her in his riding harness and assisted her in bundling his blanket around him for between.
M'hall leaped aboard Brianth, nodded to his parents and Lao and rose with his wife in a beautiful display of synchronization. They winked between at the fire heights of Fort Weyr.
Sean and Sorka mounted Carenath and Farenath, saluted Lao and Annalisa and they too rose to the fire heights before winking out.
Lao turned to Annalisa and without a word, kissed her soundly and passionately. She responded in kind, believing it was pent up emotion from the last hour or so, playing with the boys, having his name spoken familiarly without his surname, sharing emotional whispered farewells with his former and current Weyrwomen. And for the most part, she would have been correct. But a large part of the passion was just for her.
They called their dragons, who were just out of sight, and when they arrived, Lao lifted Annalisa up and set her aboard Firth, slipping up behind her. She snuggled up against him, feeling his erection big and strong on her back and shivered in anticipation. They lifted off and rather than go between, they went higher and higher and then, Ragath flipped over on her back and Lao fumbled with Annalisa's skirt for a moment, then leaned her forward and as Firth penetrated, so did Lao. It was a glorious experience, with sensations in places different than before. Annalisa shivered and bucked and shivered and screamed out Lao's name as sensation after sensation washed over them. Their dragons began a controlled fall until their orgasms added to their riders, then Firth disengaged, and Ragath did a slow rollover away from her beloved.
Annalisa squirmed around until she was facing Lao, and although room was tight for her, she bent down and pleasured them again.
They flung a heavy blanket over their half naked selves, went between and came out above Skyview Lake. Annalisa looked about her in surprise, but eagerly awaited until Firth had landed and slid down the side of her lover's dragon and could barely wait for him to dismount. Firth left the ground in a swirl of soft sand and Lao caught up Annalisa again. Lifting her above at arm's length, she wrapped her white legs around his olive torso and he let her slowly down onto his erection. He could not seem to get enough of her! Her kisses were like honey. Her soft mound trapped him like a bee in a flower. She couldn't seem to get enough of him, either. And for initiating her from her virgin status, she seemed as insatiable as he.
They faintly heard their dragons grunting overhead and Lao was amazed at their insatiability, too. Firth had never risen more than with a queen's mating rise. He felt privileged to have multiple orgasms that were dragon fueled. Fleetingly he wondered if anyone else experienced this, then felt foolish. Of course they had. He gave himself up to the exquisite pleasure his Annalisa was giving him, and nuzzled her neck in appreciation.