You are a dangerous collection of all my favorite things. An old soul, a heart of gold and hands that make my body sing. — Nikita Gill

Ai'a me – a trusted friend and unquestioned ally (Thessian)
Inamorata – A woman with whom one is in love; a female lover (Italian)
Nángùn – literally, a 'southern staff', polished, two-meter long white wax wooden staff
Qíngrén – [情人] ·· Lover
Siame – "one who is all", a loved one cherished above all others (Thessian)

• SHANGHAI, CHINA · SOL SYSTEM, EARTH •

Xiùlán and Sammy's transport from the Alliance base in Vancouver BC had finally arrived at the Alliance dominated shuttle parking area on the edge of Shanghai's huge Pudong International Airport; from there they had loaded their gear bags into a large aircar for the ride to Yuán's parents home just north of the city center.

Xiùlán had been rather quiet all during their flight across the ocean; she was still quiet, with her head against the small viewport beside their seats. As she gazed at the city spread out below her, she idly toyed with the gold and platinum wrist-cuff presented to her by Matriarch Elesia's aide, Maracela T'Rhyn.

Xiùlán smiled at the memory of Mara's flustered look of dismay when the human started to protest such an expensive gift. Sam had been standing to the side and behind Mara, and had managed to gain Xiùlán's attention; with a pleading expression on her face, she firmly shook her head NO without being seen by the asari. After reluctantly accepting the gift—"… your people have restored my injured leg, Mara! No other gift is necessary!"—and allowing Mara to place it on her off-hand wrist, Xiùlán had surprised Maracela with a heartfelt hug, every bit as intense as the one Mara had received earlier from Traynor.

The asari had groaned slightly just before Xiùlán released her; she had been further surprised when the human turned and kissed her on the cheek. Looking from Xiùlán to Sammy and back, she had exclaimed, "Goddess! Are all human females so … passionate as you two?"

Xiùlán replied with a chuckle as Sammy attempted to explain. "We usually don't display our affection for someone, at least not publicly. But this is different … we're getting ready to leave for home." Sammy reached out to place a hand on Mara's upper arm. "We may never see you again, Maracela T'Rhyn. Hugging you before we depart is our attempt to make sure you understand how much we care about you … and so you will have pleasant memories of our parting after we are gone."

"How could I not?" exclaimed Maracela. "I feel as if we have been acquainted for a very long time … certainly much longer than the few months since the Goddess chose to grace us with your presence!" The asari assured them both she would never forget them. "You are ai'a me … trusted friends and allies … and being able to view the recovered carving of Janiri in the museum will ensure I always remember my human sisters," she had concluded.

When Yuán Chaoxiang opened the entry door in response to Xiùlán's activation of the door chime, he first bowed graciously towards Sammy, before enveloping his daughter in a heartfelt hug. Sammy was surprised to be the next recipient of a hug from Xiùlán's father, along with one from her mother, Lì húa, and her grandmother, Xiuying. Of course, Xiùlán had told her family of her injury, subsequent rescue and extensive treatment; Sammy was unaware of how extensively she herself had figured into Xiùlán's telling of their adventure.

Before dinner that evening, three people sat in rapt awe as Xiùlán told them an abbreviated version of their mission on Cartagena Station. Lì húa was extremely impressed when Xiùlán explained how Sammy had single-handedly taken on over a dozen batarians as Griff and Xiùlán had waited for the asari evacuation shuttle to arrive. Traynor did her best to follow along with Xiùlán's narrative, catching only every eighth or twelfth word—if she was lucky; her lover was speaking excitedly, waving her arms to emphasize salient points of the story. Her parents and grandmother couldn't help but notice that whenever Xiùlán glanced in Traynor's direction, her eyes shone with utter love and devotion.

Sammy knew Xiùlán had reached the part concerning their escape when she heard the sound of asari names intermingled with the words spoken in Mandarin. As Xiùlán's telling of their mission slowed and finally came to an end, Sammy gave her a worried look and asked, "You didn't tell them how badly I treated the batarian that shot you, I hope."

Xiùlán smiled as she replied, "No … I thought it best to simply say you killed him."

As Xiùlán finished answering, her mom rose from her chair and stepped right in front of Traynor; gently taking her hands, Lì húa said in halting English, "Thank you, Sà mi, for saving … my daughter … my graceful orchid, and for killing the …" here she paused, as the English word eluded her. Saying "Hùn zhàng!" [混帳 – bastard] she continued "that so terribly hurt her." She gave Sammy's hands a gentle squeeze before releasing them to turn and return to her chair.

Xiùlán looked at Sam and said, "I also told them we planned to go out for dinner, and invited them to accompany us."

Sammy smiled as she replied, "I'm ready, Luv … was beginning to wonder when we were going to eat."

As Xiùlán relaxed and reconnected with her parents and grandmother, Sammy had taken to exploring the area near the Yuán home. It took her only a day to discover a small shop, sandwiched between a pair of larger businesses, which turned out to be a tattoo parlor, its exceedingly sparkling interior in shining contrast to the somewhat dingy exterior.

She had been toying with an idea since returning to Earth with Buchanan, before their assignment to ferret out an assassin employed by the terrorist group known as Cerberus. Meeting the proprietor of the tattoo shop solidified the notion in her head—she wanted a tattoo on her back—something to visibly tie her to Xiùlán; she planned to convince her Inamorata that she needed a matching design mirror imaged on her back. But what image should she commit to having permanently inked into her skin?

Jiang Mingli was an artist by trade; he had become a tattooist in order to make a living. What had drawn Sammy into his shop was the large number of colorful drawings depicting dragons of every style, from the Chinese to the European; there were even depictions of what she learned were wyverns—dragon-like creatures with a single pair of legs and a pair of wings in place of forearms, analogous to those of a bat.

What she had in mind for herself was less a true depiction of a mythological creature and more an abstract idea of a dragon … shapes in curves, triangles and rectangular blocks depicting the beast's body and tail on the right side of her torso, with a horned head on her shoulder blade looking to the right, the body down to the lower area of her rib cage and broad, sail-like wings reaching just past the center of her back to the left.

She worked with Ming, as he insisted she refer to him, to create the shapes in brilliant shades of red, with deep red shadowing along certain edges to depict shadows. Ming assured her the creature would appear to be three-dimensional when he was finished. When the design was drawn to her satisfaction, she asked the artist to create a mirror-image of the design in vivid greens and gold. When he had finished, she paid him for the designs and requested that they be for the exclusive use of her and Xiùlán. Setting up a three-hour appointment for the next day, she sent a message to Xiùlán's omnitool asking her to meet for lunch.

Xiùlán entered the cozy café that Sammy had discovered; spotting her lover at a table near the back, she strode up to her lover and asked, "May I join you?"

Traynor smirked as she replied, "Only if you're buying."

As Xiùlán sat across the table from Sam, a waiter appeared as if from thin air and asked, "What would be your pleasure today, ladies?"

Sammy looked up at him with an expression of amazement. "Your English is very good."

"Thank you," he replied. "I wasn't sure if I should ask in Mandarin or not." Glancing at Xiùlán, he added, "Your companion appears to be from this area, but the way people travel these days …" he finished by shrugging his shoulders before asking again, "What may I bring you?"

Xiùlán smiled as she ordered Shanghainese wonton soup with chicken for them both, along with two glasses of Huiquan Beer. The waiter smiled and replied, "Very good, Ma'am. I'll be right back with your drinks."

Sammy smiled at Xiùlán as the waiter left to place their orders and pour their beer. "Ma'am? My gosh, Luv, do we really look like matrons?"

Xiùlán chuckled at the snarky question. "Don't take it personally, Sà mi … I expect he treats every woman customer in the same fashion."

"Maybe I should try a bit of my Mandarin on him when her returns."

Xiùlán grinned and said, "Think about it quick, then … here he comes with our beers."

The young man set a filled glass in front of each of them, followed by the opened bottles containing the remainder of their beverages. As he turned to leave, Traynor said, "Fēicháng ganxiè ni. [非常感謝你。– Thank you very much.]

This startled him so much he nearly dropped his serving tray as he spun back around. Not having seen which of them had spoken, he turned towards Xiùlán to tell her she was welcome; when she pointed to Traynor, the man's eyes grew wide in amazement. "Forgive me … I had no idea you knew how to speak Mandarin."

Traynor smiled as she explained, "Truthfully, you just heard the majority of what I know. I've always thought that being able to offer thanks to someone in their own language was the polite thing to do."

With a smile and a small bow in appreciation, the man turned to go check on their orders.

After taking a sip of beer, Sammy smacked her lips and said, "That's a nice brew, Luv. I may have to have a second one of those."

Xiùlán took a sip from her glass and agreed with Traynor's opinion before saying, "Okay, wo de ài, [我的愛 – my love] why did you have me meet you here?"

Traynor's attempt to look innocent wasn't convincing. "I've been thinking about this for some time now—ever since I returned from Thessia to work with Buchanan." She pulled several small, rolled pieces of rice paper from her pack and handed them to Xiùlán. "Take a look at these dragons, darling. They're custom designs, done for each of us," she explained as her lover unrolled the paper to reveal the mirror image designs. "What do you think of them?"

"Truthfully? They're absolutely beautiful, Sà mi … like fine art! But, why are they mirror imaged, and different colors?"

Sam responded in a quiet voice. "They're designs for tattoos, my love … I intend to have the red one applied to my own back, and … I had hoped you might like the design enough to have the green applied to your back." Before Xiùlán could answer, Sammy added, "If you don't wish to join with me in this fashion, I understand. A tattoo is permanent, and the application will hurt like all bloody 'ell … you've been through more than your share of pain these past months."

Xiùlán studied the designs on the rolled out rice paper; Jiang Mingli had super-imposed each design on an outline of a woman's back on a second piece of paper so Sammy could show Xiùlán how the results might appear. Spotting the waiter bearing their lunch, Xiùlán quickly re-rolled the papers and handed them to her Inamorata while saying, "Let me think about it, Sà mi. I'll look at the designs again, study them this evening before I turn in." Leaning back in her chair to give their waiter a bit of extra room, she finished with, "Now, let's enjoy our lunch."

Lunch finished, Sammy and Xiùlán walked the neighborhood near the restaurant, looking in the windows of the many small crafts shops, until coming upon a large park; here they strolled and sat on benches by turns, enjoying the dappled shade and brilliant sunshine. Sammy quickly discovered she was the subject of mostly covert scrutiny by many of the other people out for a walk in the sun. When she mentioned this to Xiùlán, her lover smiled and said, "Your features and skin color mark you as a foreigner, even in this city … people are simply curious."

"Makes me realize how you must feel on the Citadel," Traynor replied. "Humans are plentiful there, but Chinese people among that population are still a rare sight." As she looked directly at a man who was obviously staring, she added, "Almost wish I was wearing a helmet with a tinted visor." The man hurriedly looked away from Traynor's direct gaze and quickened his pace to put some distance between them.

Xiùlán laughed at this. "Oh Sà mi, that would only add to their curiosity. Just ignore them … they mean you no harm."

Sammy huffed as she answered. "Hard to ignore, Luv … goes against all my training."

Xiùlán moved close to place an arm around her back as they walked. "You have a valid point, but …" she made a show of checking their surroundings. "I cannot see any batarians hiding behind the trees or lying in wait in the bushes."

Traynor looked at her friend and said with a smirk, "What about Cerberus? You don't think there could be a Chinese branch of that group?"

Xiùlán's expression went cold for a moment before she answered.

"You've come up against them more than I have, but, from what little I have seen, I believe their xenophobia has no bounds … certainly not along racial lines! For Cerberus, it's humans first and foremost! I'd not be surprised to find lots of Chinese people among them."

"What about assassins?"

Xiùlán's expression hardened slightly. "Professional assassins have existed in this country for thousands of years, Sà mi, mostly associated with the ruling families of the ancient dynasties, but such can still be found to this day. I certainly wouldn't rule out Chinese assassins being employed by Cerberus. Perhaps one was employed to end the lives of Darius Holden and Marianna Walsh in their cells on Mars … maybe an additional reason why the video footage was scrubbed to eliminate any visual clues."

They continued walking as Traynor thought about what Xiùlán had said. "Makes sense, I suppose. We never did hear of anything Corporal Phillips may have discovered after she shared photos of those dead murderers with us. Makes me wonder if Alliance Command shut her down before she could dig deep enough to expose a pile of shit they didn't want out in the open."

"Ah, there's my Sà mi … still looking for conspiracies." Yuán shook her head in mock annoyance. "We are on vacation, wo de baobèi … [我的寶貝… – my darling …] we're supposed to be enjoying ourselves. You look different from almost everyone that lives in this city … it's to be expected that people are going to look at you. When you catch someone and they're close enough, just say, 'Ni hao, ni hao ma?' [你好，你好嗎？]—means Hello, how are you? Should embarrass them enough they'll quit staring."

Traynor grinned. "That will work just fine, unless they choose to tell me how they're doing."

Yuán laughed as she pulled Sam close and planted a kiss on her cheek. "I can see I need to enroll you into a school that teaches conversational Mandarin. Can't imagine the trouble you'll get into without some way to communicate with the natives here."

Sammy chuckled. "I think I can talk my way out of any trouble that finds me … and if I cannot, I'll just have to use a bit of what I learned from hanging around you so long."

They had reached the far edge of the park, so Yuán called an automated taxi to transport them back to her home. "Mom's fixing a nice dinner for us … wouldn't want to be late."

After a sumptuous dinner, Sammy wandered into the small exercise area behind Yuán's apartment building; in actuality, a courtyard shared by the other buildings surrounding the small rectangle of hard clay soil. She was still too full of food and drink to even think of doing her more vigorous exercises, but felt the slow movements of the Neigong form of Tai Chi she practiced would help her digestion as she thought about her earlier conversation with Xiùlán.

She placed her hands together in front of her chest and took three deep, cleansing breaths, breathing in through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. Concentrating on her stance as she assumed the various positions, she found clarity as her mind relaxed from its constant state of anxiety regarding her surroundings. She felt safe enough here in Shanghai, yet hadn't truly relaxed until today; the intense training she had endured during her first year, along with subsequent missions against batarian controlled facilities, had her in a near constant state of readiness, a condition necessary in the Traverse; not so necessary here on Earth.

Xiùlán joined her when she was about halfway through her second set of repetitions. "I wondered where you were … everything alright?"

Traynor looked at her for a moment, then huffed, "I'm fine, Darling. Just trying to relax a bit. Care to join me?"

"You even have to ask?" Xiùlán waited until Sammy was done with her second set, then moved to stand facing her in order to mirror her lover's movements. Sammy smiled at this … she generally ended up taking a shower with Xiùlán, followed by what Xiùlán referred to as quality time wrapped around Sammy's muscular body. The pair invariably needed a second shower afterwards.

• JIANG MINGLI FINE ARTS TATTOO •

Traynor went into a changing room, there to remove her blouse and undershirt. Holding a modesty towel across her chest with a forearm, she came out and sat down on a special bench, configured for her to lean her chest against what was normally the padded and upholstered backrest, in order to allow Jiang Mingli unfettered access to the skin of her back.

After carefully washing the area with gloved hands, Ming shaved the skin he was going to tattoo, then used rubbing alcohol to recleanse the area. As Jiang Mingli was an old school artist, he had transferred Sam's design in reverse onto stencil paper, which he applied to her dampened skin. After carefully pulling the stencil away, he turned to a modern method in order to allow Traynor to see the design actually on her skin—he used his omnitool to project an image of her back onto a monitor set in front of her. "Oh gosh! That's so perfect, Ming," she exclaimed. "Where will you begin?"

"With the head, of course," came the reply. "Outline and shading first, then I'll apply colors to fill in the shapes. Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay, then." His reply was partially drowned out by the sudden buzzing of the tattoo gun; the hot sensation of something scratching her skin instantly set her teeth on edge. The buzzing alternated every 10 to 20 seconds or so with a soft, absorbent cloth wiping the just abused area of excess ink and the small amount of blood drawn to the surface by the ink-tipped needles. This went on for some 40 minutes as Ming worked his way down the skin on her back; Traynor was nearly ready to call a halt when Jiang Mingli put down his gun, stood from the bench he had been straddling and said, "We need a break, you and I … give your body a few minutes to recover, me a few minutes to rest my hand. I'll show you how much I have done."

Ming activated his omnitool as he had done previously, allowing Traynor to see how much of the design was now permanently a part of her; Sam expressed her admiration for Ming's expertise. A bit surprised at the amount of ink Ming had been able to apply in such a short time, she said, "Looks like the application of the wings are all that's left."

Ming smiled as he nodded and closed his omnitool. "Yes, and then the real fun can begin—I will apply the several shades of red that will make this dragon soar off your back."

Traynor grinned. The application, while somewhat painful, seemed to be progressing well; Sam couldn't wait to see the design completed on her back. More importantly, she wanted Xiùlán to be with her, to share her joy and possibly to see how beautiful the results would be. Activating her omnitool, she sent a quick message to her Inamorata, asking her to come to Ming's shop.

Ming straddled his bench and picked up his gun, asking, "Are you ready to continue?"

With a quick nod of her head, she said, "Let's go."

Traynor had decided that simply enduring the hot scratching of Ming's tattoo gun was foolish; closing her eyes, she began to silently recite her personal mantra, thus inducing a meditative state of mind. The sound of the tattoo gun faded to nearly nothing; the hot scratching on her skin gradually ceased to be anything but a slightly annoying itch.

A hand, cool on her bare shoulder, massaged the muscles in tiny circles, breaking her concentration. Blinking her eyes, she was aware of someone standing beside her, softly saying her name. "Sà mi … Sà mi … Wake up, my love."

A familiar face swam into view … Xiùlán. Lifting her head, Sam said, "Hey … how long you been standing there?"

"Only a few minutes … I got here in time to see Jiang Mingli finish the outlines and shading of the dragon's wings across your back. He's done for now … you'll have to return in eight or ten days for the colors."

Traynor tried to look over her shoulder without success, prompting Xiùlán to chuckle as she observed, "It's all bandaged, Love. Go put your shirt on so we can go home."

Sam slowly got to her feet and, followed by Xiùlán, walked back to the changing room, where she submitted to her lover's assistance in pulling on her undershirt and blouse; this prompted Xiùlán to ask with a smirk, "What, no bra?"

"Didn't think I'd want a strap and back band digging into my skin … my undershirt is bothersome enough." Sam looked at the woman for a moment before asking, "Have you come to a decision regarding the matching design?"

"Let me think about it for another evening, Luv," came the reply. "We still have time."

"Okay, and just so you know, I have a surprise for you, but I don't want to tell or show you until it's a permanent part of my body."

Yuán looked at Samantha, surprise plain on her face. "More tattoos, Sà mǐ? Why are you suddenly so interested in permanently marking your body, wo de ài? [我的愛 – My Love] I love every square centimeter of your skin, as it is … it's absolutely beautiful!"

Sammy smiled as she replied, "I'm adding to that beauty." Pointing her thumb over her shoulder, she continued, "This dragon? It'll look as if it's alive, ready to leap into the air. I just…" She paused for a moment before continuing. "I want to have something that's ours alone … something no one else has, something that cannot ever be taken from us."

Xiùlán instantly regretted expressing doubt about Sammy's desires. "I'm sorry, Sà mi … please, forgive me. You know I love you, and the designs you helped Jiang Mingli create are really beautiful. I absolutely did not mean to imply disapproval of your choices or a dislike of the symbolism you wish to create, Siame." Xiùlán placed her hands on Sammy's waist to draw her close for a kiss, then released her, saying, "Come on … lets go for a walk before going home. There are several craft shops just down the street from here. Might find a present for my parents."

• SHANGHAI, CHINA · AT LARGE •

Samantha and Xiùlán became frequent visitors to Jiang Mingli's shop; Samantha's dragon, having been started first, was rapidly completed, with jewel-toned shades of red and orange making for a truly striking image. The expertly applied dimensional shading gave the creature an appearance of simply resting before flying off to places unknowable by mere mortals.

After talking with Sammy and thinking about it for another evening, Xiùlán decided to have the mirror image dragon applied to her own back. As it was begun several days after Sammy's, Ming completed it several days after the design on Traynor's back was done; the jewel-toned shades of greens and golds gave Xiùlán's dragon the appearance of finely carved jade, as if it had been unearthed from a mountain fully formed and alive.

Jiang Mingli took several pictures of the pair after the application of the colors had healed, with Traynor on the left, her right arm around Xiùlán's shoulders; Xiùlán held her left arm out in front of herself, forearm across her abs, so they could get as close together as possible. With her ebony hair cascading down the center of her bare back and one of Traynor's butterfly swords in her left hand—the hilt and blade visible beside her waist and right arm—the impression seen when viewing the photo was of restrained power.

Traynor's surprise for Xiùlán was also a tattoo, made up of traditional—as opposed to the more modern simplified—hànzì characters for the words You make my life complete, with her given name in old fashioned script at the end, thus: 你讓我的生活完成, Xiùlán. "It'll be right across my lower back, just above my tailbone," she said with a big grin. "You're probably the only person who will ever see it."

Xiùlán felt the need to point out that Traynor was still in the Systems Alliance Navy, and would most likely wind up showering with other women. Undeterred, Sammy simply explained that no one would understand the meaning of the characters. "I have one for you as well, my love," she admitted in a shy tone of voice.

"Of course you do," Xiùlán groaned. "So, let's hear it … what do you want me to add to my skin?"

"Something that will take people's minds off the scars on your thigh," Sammy said brightly. "Your saying for me—My love for you will never end, Samantha—[我對你的愛永遠不會結束，薩曼莎].

As Xiùlán looked at the words and the hànzì characters, she commented, "This is a rather long string of words, Sà mi … just where do you envision me having this applied?"

When it came to her love for Xiùlán, Traynor was nothing if not bold. "Right between your nipples," she said with a leering grin.

Yuán murmured, "Uh-huh," as she shook her head. "A good portion of these characters would be on my boobs … both of them! Is that really what you'd like to see?"

"I'd like to see it stenciled on your chest, just to see how they'd fit."

"You're talking about me having needles applied to my boobs, Sà mǐ! My ancestors will rise up from their graves to haunt me if I do this! Why shouldn't we reverse this? Your saying on your boobs, mine across my butt?"

"Because we don't sleep that way, darling," she remarked. "If we're not facing each other in bed, then you're almost always spooning me from behind. Makes sense for the words to be together when we're sleeping."

"Only in your galaxy, Sà mi! I mean … Xiělínlín dì dìyù! [血淋淋的地獄！– bloody hell!] The dragon's one thing, but tattooing my boobs is something I've never even contemplated!"

Samantha could see that arguing the point with Xiùlán was getting her nowhere; despite really wanting to see the characters across her chest, she'd let the matter rest while she had her own words done.

• IN XIÙLÁN'S HOME · SHANGHAI, CHINA •

Xiùlán was dreaming. There was a hand … cool, soft … gently caressing her forehead and cheek. Another hand, also cool, was using fingers to gently trace imaginary patterns on the back of her left hand. The sensations invoked by the contact started in her chest—a feeling of deep contentment, of being cared for, of … being loved. She had felt this contentment … this love … many times, and had reciprocated just as often.

Xiùlán allowed her eyelids to part just enough to reconnoiter her immediate surroundings. The hand on her face was attached to a forearm, its rippling musculature and veins visible beneath skin the color of light caramel. There was only one person Xiùlán knew with an arm so developed and colored. Turning her head slightly and lifting her eyes a bit more brought a familiar face, mere centimeters from her own, into focus. "Sà mi …" she whispered. "How long …" Traynor interrupted the question by placing her lips on those of her lover, using them to caress Xiùlán's mouth as softly as she had caressed her cheek with her hand.

"Just woke up, my love. Been watching you sleep. You are beautiful when you sleep, you know that?" Before Xiùlán could reply, her lips were once again enveloped by Sammy's, causing sensations of an entirely different sort to make themselves known.

When Sam lifted her mouth to take a breath, Xiùlán couldn't stop the words that rushed out. "My God, Sammy! I want you … I need you to do more than kiss me … please?"

Traynor grinned, the expression giving her face an especially feral look. She relocated the hand that had been caressing the back of Yuán's hand to her taut stomach, enjoying the feel of the rippling abs responding to the light contact. Re-exploring territory she knew by heart, Sammy gradually slid her hand under Xiùlán's gown, angling up towards her right side, until the tips of two fingers bumped into a slight obstruction after sliding up to the peak of a softly firm mound of flesh; this caused a sharp intake of breath from the owner of the obstacle, which Sammy interpreted as a wordless invitation to massage the nipple and areola she'd encountered during her exploration.

Xiùlán's heart rate increased in lockstep with Traynor's slow exploration of her breasts; she was also feeling an increasing amount of heat in her core, enough so that she shifted her hips as she bent her right leg until her foot was beside the knee of her left.

This did not go unnoticed by Sammy, who responded by sliding her hand down to a warm armpit and pulling her Inamorata tightly against her own body. Sammy used her lips and the tip of her tongue to explore Xiùlán's brow, eyelids, bridge of her nose, cheeks, chin and neck. While so occupied, the exploratory hand left the vicinity of her armpit to slip lightly down her ribcage, where it paused for a moment at the juncture of torso to right thigh, still raised at an angle. The hand shifted direction again, moving sensuously up across a hipbone before descending through her thatch to gently grasp her mons with a palm, while sliding the tip of her middle finger between her labia. With an ease borne of practice, Sam touched the moist hood covering a thoroughly aroused and needy rose bud, leading to additional dampness and an immediate shudder throughout Xiùlán's body.

Sammy slid herself down as she pushed Xiùlán's gown up to expose her breasts; a moan of desire escaped her as Sammy began teasing her left nipple with lips, tongue and teeth while the hand on Xiùlán's hair covered mound moved in little circles, providing a gentle massage as her middle finger dipped into an increasing pool of moisture. Sammy raised her head from the breast she'd been kissing to look at her lover's face for a moment.

Seeing a woman in the throes of sexual ecstasy, Sammy decided to kick things up a notch. Releasing Xiùlán's sex, Sammy quickly rose from the bed, moved around to the other side and tugged on her right leg; understanding what Sammy intended to do, Xiùlán pulled her right leg up further while moving her left to the side. Sammy pulled herself up from the foot of the bed until her head was level with Xiùlán's navel, which she promptly kissed. Following the same path her hand had traveled earlier, Samantha planted little kisses downwards until she could taste Xiùlán's essence.

She quickly discovered a still unsatisfied pink pearl, which she proceeded to kiss in between licking the folds of flesh and the copious amounts of fluid being secreted from the mouth of her lover's arousal; Xiùlán was now rhythmically rocking her hips as she pleaded with Sammy to hurry.

Sam used two fingers to enter her core as she continued to rapidly flick the tip of her tongue against an engorged clitoris; in a matter of moments, Xiùlán's entire body went rigid as climactic waves of pleasure washed over her in a series of contractions, accompanied by a rush of liquid which Sammy did her best to lap up. Xiùlán was panting as if she'd just run a 5 kilometer race; Sam was back on her feet and at the head of the bed, where she used both hands to cup her lover's breasts after pulling her gown off over her head. Xiùlán reached up to Sammy's shoulder and pulled her down for a brief, passionate kiss. "Damn! That's the best one yet, Sà mi!

Traynor grinned as she climbed back into bed beside the love of her life; placing her right arm across the woman's chest, breast in hand, she laid her head on Xiùlán's bare left shoulder and closed her eyes in contentment as she listened to Xiùlán's heartrate gradually slow to its normal resting level. "You've been cleared for your normal exercise routine, haven't you?"

Xiùlán tipped her head slightly so she could plant a kiss on Traynor's head. "By Doctor Shakia, yes, but I still need to have an Alliance doctor evaluate my physical readiness. Why do you ask?"

"I think you're a bit out of shape, Luv. We need to be working out together a bit harder than we've been doing."

Xiùlán chuckled. "Ah, my darling Sà mi. Neither of us are likely to be going dirtside again. I'll be training for a second officer's position on a warship, and you … you'll be designing and installing super high-tech communications gear at Arcturus, at least for the foreseeable future."

Sammy raised her head slightly so she could look at Xiùlán's face. "No reason for us to let our bodies go to 'ell, Luv. I'm certainly not going to allow what I've developed to go away just because I'm not likely to be fighting batarians again … I worked too damned hard to put all this muscle on my frame, darling."

Xiùlán smiled as she kissed a light brown cheek. "Not saying we let our bodies go, Sà mi. Just pointing out we're not likely to be put to any real test anytime soon, at least not physically."

Sam laid her head back on Xiùlán's bare shoulder as she idly caressed the exquisite breast under her hand.

"Keep doing that, and I'll be forced to demand an encore," came the snarky whisper.

Traynor giggled at that, deftly planting a kiss on the breast just below her head, eliciting a groan of pleasure from its owner.

• JIANG MINGLI FINE ARTS TATTOO •

Xiùlán, sitting topless with her fingertips on her nipples, gritted her teeth at the itchy feeling of the tattoo gun's fine-line needle as it drew the hànzì characters envisioned by Sammy on her chest. The only modifications she'd requested was a slightly different placement of the characters—each end slightly above the centerline between her breasts, with the characters dipping down and back in a gentle curve to follow the contour of her breasts in order to keep the characters visible in her cleavage—and a comma after the last character—the'束'at the end of the words never end (永遠不會結束，)—she had a much more intimate place in mind for Sammy's name.

Xiùlán had not told her Inamorata that she was going to have the phrase inked into her chest, choosing instead to tell her she was going out to do some shopping. Sammy wasn't scheduled to have her lettering done until tomorrow; Xiùlán had persuaded Ming to take her in between his regular appointments.

"Hao de, yuán xiaojiě. Zhè bùfèn wánchéngle" [好的，袁小姐。這部分完成了，[Ok, Miss Yuan. This part is done,] Ming said. Xiùlán stood and looked at her bare chest in a mirror close by. Twisting her body from side-to-side and raising her arms in order to watch the reaction of the inked letters to the motions of her breasts, she nodded in satisfaction, turning back to Ming so he could apply a thin coat of medigel to the freshly inked letters, after which he covered the fresh ink with a thin dressing of gauze. Xiùlán gingerly put her shirt back on; after setting an appointment for an hour after Sammy's tomorrow, she bowed to Ming and left to go home.

The next day, Xiùlán accompanied Sammy to Jiang's tattoo shop, wanting to watch as he applied the hànzì characters for the phrase her lover had chosen across her tailbone, even after Traynor had accused her after dinner the previous evening of just wanting to look at her bare ass. Xiùlán didn't help her case by readily agreeing with her lover's opinion, saying, "I wouldn't mind seeing your bare ass every day of the week, Sà mi!"

When they arrived for the appointed time, Ming had Traynor loosen her belt, then unbutton her pants and roll the waistband down far enough for him to work; she also had to roll her shirt up to her midriff. She straddled the chair in much the same fashion as she had done previously when he had applied the dragon to her back.

Ming set the stencil in place, taking pains to insure it was centered side-to-side and as low as possible without any characters dipping into the top of the valley between her cheeks. Sam asked Xiùlán for her opinion on the placement, to which she answered, "Oh, no. You need to make that decision on your own; I don't want you blaming me if it isn't exactly where you want it to be." Standing directly behind her, she used her omnitool to send an image of her lover's nearly bare backside to Traynor's omnitool. "Take a look, Sà mi … it's placed about as perfect as it can be."

Sam nodded her head, telling Ming to proceed. In 50 minutes, Ming stood up to stretch, then carefully wiped the entire area of excess ink and blood before applying a thin coat of medigel and a gauze bandage to protect the freshly inked characters.

As Traynor reset her clothing, Xiùlán came out from the changing room with a towel wrapped around her waist; she straddled the bench chair Sammy had just vacated, leaning back as Ming lowered the backrest.

The surprised look on Sammy's face was totally worth every bit of discomfort Xiùlán was about to experience, particularly when she opened the towel to reveal her pubes, nude and shaved bare the previous evening. "What the 'ell, Xiùlán? What are you doing?"

Xiùlán grinned, saying, "Getting the rest of the phrase applied, of course. Wasn't room on my chest, so," she looked down at her crotch, "your name is going down there."

Traynor had her hand across her mouth to keep from saying anything. As Ming carefully cleaned the skin, applied a razor to be sure every last bit of hair had been removed before cleaning again, Sam sat in a nearby chair, completely amazed at Xiùlán's choice. Ming carefully applied the stencil, then quickly set to work—in 30 minutes, Sammy's name—薩曼莎 in hànzì, or traditional Chinese ['Sà màn shā' in Pīnyīn]—had been permanently inked into the skin at the top of her sex.

Xiùlán smirked at Sammy as she stood and inspected Ming's work in the mirror. "When the hair grows back, your name will be mostly hidden, Sà mi."

Traynor couldn't think of anything to say except, "Wow!"

Xiùlán waited for Ming to cover her newly acquired ink with medigel and gauze, then lifted her shirt so he could inspect his handiwork from the day before. "Looks like those will heal quite nicely, Xiùlán. I hope these words, and your dragon, bring you and Ms Traynor pleasure for the rest of your lives."

Xiùlán and Sammy thanked the artist profusely, then left for home. "What are your parents going to say, Xiùlán?"

"That you have totally corrupted me, Sà mi," came the snarky rejoinder. After a moment, Xiùlán added, "They don't know, and unless we tell them, they never will, my love. What we have done … had done … we did together. You didn't twist my arm, Sà mi … I did this because I love you. We're a pair of dragons, you and I … hidden dragons. The Alliance won't turn us loose again, I fear … they'll keep our training and assignments a closely guarded secret."

"No doubt about it, Luv," Traynor replied in a bitter tone of voice. "All of that training? What the 'ell good did it do us?"

"You're kidding, right? Sà mi, the training we received, I can't even begin to tell you how important it was to me … and, to you as well." Xiùlán stopped walking as she grasped Sammy's upper arm to turn her. Grasping her other arm, she continued, "Look at you, Luv. You're as physically perfect as any male in the Marines. You're confident. You have an attitude … maybe a bit too much attitude. And I fell totally in love with you, Samantha Traynor. What are the odds, if neither of us had entered the program?"

Xiùlán released her arm so they could continue walking. "I don't know what the future holds for us, Sà mi, but I do know that my love for you will only grow, no matter how many star systems separate us."

Traynor listened silently as they walked; reaching over, she grabbed Xiùlán's hand and interlaced her fingers with those of her lover. When she finally spoke, she said, "We have a few days before we have to report back to Vancouver. Should we pay a visit to the South Pacific? Maybe spend two days on a deserted island, playing in the surf and walking on the beach? Might be the last chance we get for a really long time."

Xiùlán looked at the face of this beautiful woman beside her. "Sounds like a capitol idea, Sà mi. When do we leave?"