Laura Jo Phillips (34 page)

Summer pulled back, then took him deep again, and this time Loni could not stop himself.  He roared his pleasure as he came, straining to hold his body motionless in an effort to prevent himself from pounding deeper than he already was.   

Summer felt Loni’s seed pour into her throat, and held herself still for as long as she could before pulling back for a breath of air.  She spent a few moments licking and kissing Loni’s sensitive cock, memorizing his taste and scent and texture as she had Maxim’s. 

She moved back to Maxim, and took him deep again, still stroking Ran with one hand.  Maxim gritted his teeth at the intense pleasure of being inside of Summer’s mouth.  He had very nearly climaxed at the sight of her taking Loni into her throat, and now he knew he was not going to last.  Summer pulled back to breathe and rested a moment as she ran her thumb over the head of Ran’s cock, causing it to harden further in her hand.

“Take him deep again,” Ran said hoarsely.  Summer glanced up at him, the intense grimace of arousal on his face causing her pussy to spasm.  She smiled slowly, then stuck out her tongue and gave Maxim’s cock a long, slow, deliberate lick.  Ran shivered in her hand as he grew even harder, and more come seeped from him. 

Knowing that Ran was watching her intently as she licked Maxim sent her arousal spiking to new heights.

“Deep, baby, take him deep,” Ran said again, and this time she obeyed.  She opened her mouth wide and took Maxim deep, swallowing just as he touched the back of her throat.  Ran groaned with pleasure at the sight and Summer stroked his silky cock faster as she pulled back, then plunged Maxim all the way into her throat once more.

“Oh yes,” Ran gasped as Maxim roared, his cock jerking and pulsing in her throat as he came, Ran’s seed spurting over her hand at the same time.  It was too much, too intense, too hot for Summer and, much to her surprise, she felt herself climaxing along with them.  It wasn’t the same kind of bone-wrenching orgasm as she’d had before, but it was intense and delicious in a different way, coming with Maxim in her throat and Ran in her hand. 

She pulled back and let Maxim slip from her mouth, resting her head against his hip as she panted and shivered.  When she caught her breath she looked up and smiled at her men, who were all gazing down at her with something warm and gentle in their eyes. 

Maxim reached down and lifted her up off the floor.  She hadn’t realized her knees were sore until she was off of them.  But she didn’t mind in the least.  Just thinking about it caused her to shiver again. 

Maxim gave her a gentle kiss.  “That was beautiful,” he said. 

“Hmmm…,” she replied, not quite able to form whole words yet. 

Maxim chuckled and turned her around to face the shower.  “Now you just relax, and we will do the rest,” he said as Loni reached for the shampoo and Ran the soap. 

Summer’s immediate thought was that she did not need them to wash her.  Then she realized that as limp as she felt at the moment, maybe she did.  Curious, she reached out for their emotions, and smiled to herself.  They were not doing it because she needed it.  They were doing it because they enjoyed it.  And they were enjoying it very much indeed.  She sighed softly and allowed herself to relax and enjoy it as well.

Chapter
35

Summer finished brushing out her hair and set the brush down on the dresser.  She gazed into the mirror for a long moment, watching Maxim, Ran and Loni’s reflections as they watched her.  It seemed so normal to her to be in this room with these three men.  Even if the feeling of normalcy itself seemed odd, which it did. 

Summer shook her head at herself, then turned around, her eyes catching on the katana leaning against the wall. 

“A lot of really strange things have been happening to me,” she said as she eyed the intricate designs in the saya.  “Things that I do not understand.”

‘What sorts of things?” Ran asked.

“For one thing, stuff keeps popping into my head.  I seem to just
know
if something is wrong or right, or needs to be done a certain way or discussed.  Like about Mara, I just knew you had to talk about it more, that what you were thinking wasn’t quite right.”

Summer shrugged.  “I know, that’s not very specific, but its weird and it seems to be happening more and more.  Then there’s the thing with the music box.  How is it that I made up words to that as a child, and then they turned out to be real words in a language I don’t even know?  Words that were needed to stop your blood rages.”

“Lariah and Saige have both said that they had dreams of their male-set as children,” Maxim said.  “Lariah had dreams of dracons, and Saige dreamed of the Lobos in their human forms.  You are made for us, Summer, as we are made for you.  Perhaps some part of you worked to prepare you for this when you were young.

“I don’t know why, but I’m actually going to go along with that,” she said.  “It just feels right, and there, see, its happening again.  Why does it feel right?  And then there’s the thing with the katana.”

“What thing with the katana?” Maxim asked.

Summer sighed.  She didn’t want to admit this because she knew it was going to sound more than strange.  It was going to make her sound like a lunatic.  But she had to tell them. 

“Before the day I met Sensei and he gave me that katana, I had never in my life held one,” she said.  “I’ve never even seen one used.  The closest I’ve ever come to one was a picture in a book.”   

“We saw you with Sensei,” Ran said.  “You not only moved with great skill, you held your own against him, and he is a master.  I have never seen anyone wield a katana as you did.  It was as though you were born with one in your hand.”

“And while it was happening, I felt like I was standing outside of myself, watching,” Summer said.  “I have no idea where it came from, or where it went.”

“Went?” Loni asked.

“Yes, went,” Summer replied.  “I very much doubt that I could repeat whatever it was I did that day.”

“Lets find out,” Maxim said.

Summer gazed up at him in surprise.  “How?”

“We will go to a training room and experiment,” he said.

“I’ll probably cut my arm off,” Summer muttered to herself, though she was already reaching for the katana. 

“We won’t use the real thing,” Maxim said.  “We will use
bokken
, wooden practice swords.”

“That’s a relief,” Summer said as she slid her arms into the back harness. Without even realizing she was doing it, she reached back to check the katana’s position, and made a small adjustment to the harness.  “You guys ready?” she asked, wondering why they were all standing there staring at her.

A few minutes later the four of them were in a practice room.  Summer shrugged out of the back harness and laid the katana carefully on a bench at one side of the room.  She ran her fingers over the jade inlay, amazed at the workmanship.

“It is quite beautiful,” Maxim said.

“Yes, it is,” Summer agreed.  “Do you know what these markings mean?”

“No, I’m sorry, I have no idea,” Maxim said.  “We can research it if you like.  What did Sensei say to you when he gave it to you?”  Maxim held up a hand as Summer opened her mouth. 

“Wait,” he said.  “If it is something you are supposed to keep to yourself, please do not feel you need to tell me.”

“No, I don’t think it’s a secret,” she said.  “Besides, Darleen was there, too.”

“Good, then would you mind telling me?”

“Of course not,” Summer replied.  “It was very weird though.  I spoke Japanese, which I’ve heard a couple of times, but have never spoken, and he spoke it back to me.  And somehow, I understood all of it.”

Summer repeated everything that both she and Sensei had said that day outside of the dojo, word for word.  When she was finished Maxim, Ran and Loni were all frowning down at her. 

“What?” she asked. 

“You said,
time is not measured in cups
?” Maxim asked.

“Yes, whatever that means,” Summer replied.  “Why?” 

“I’ve heard that before,” Maxim said.  “I just can’t remember where.”  Maxim looked at Loni who shook his head, and Ran, who shook his head as well.

“You don’t remember?” he asked Ran in surprise.  Ran usually remembered such things.

“No,” Ran said, still frowning.  “I can’t even remember
when
I heard it.  It could have been when we were children for all I know.”

“Perhaps it will come to you later,” Maxim said, still frowning.  Ran shrugged, though Summer had the sense that his inability to remember bothered him a great deal more than he showed. 

“Here,” he said, holding up a wooden practice sword that he had selected for her.  “This is about the same size and weight as your katana.”

Summer smiled her thanks and accepted the bokken from Ran.  She hefted it experimentally, hoping that the familiarity would come over her again like it had that day in front of Sensei, but it didn’t.

She wasn’t even sure how to hold it.

Ran, Maxim and Loni watched her carefully as she wrapped her hands around the hilt.  It was obvious that she had no knowledge of how to properly hold it. 

Maxim walked over to the rack of bokkens and selected one for himself.  He walked back to Summer, stopped a few feet from her and bowed formally.

Summer watched him, a small frown on her face as she wondered what he was doing.  He straightened from his bow, then took up an offensive stance, holding the sword in an attack position.  Summer watched him carefully, feeling as though the world around her had suddenly slowed to a crawl as Maxim raised the bokken and sliced it toward her.  Without thinking, her body reacted, blocking the blade while stepping forward into it, letting his blade slide along her own as she allowed hers to swing down and around in a circle, coming up to slice across his thighs.  Had he been a fraction slower, and had the blade been real, it would have been a severely disabling cut, if not a fatal one. 

Summer followed through, bringing the bokken up to complete the arc as she turned, swinging the bokken around towards his abdomen.  Again Maxim had to block quickly, abandoning his own offense in order to prevent a strike. 

The two of them flowed back and forth across the training room, neither of them holding back, both putting their all into each blow and parry.  Maxim was amazed by Summer’s sheer speed.  He knew that without his katrenca agility and magically enhanced speed, she would have struck him half a dozen times in the first few moments.  Several minutes later they each came to a stop.  They stood facing each other, their bokken held high, panting slightly from their efforts.  Then, as though on some silent signal, they each lowered their bokken and slid them into their belts, then bowed solemnly to each other. 

When Summer rose from her bow she suddenly noticed that there was a crowd of people gazing through the viewing window at them, and that they seemed to be cheering, although she could not hear them.

Summer frowned and looked to Maxim, Loni and Ran in confusion.

“They are applauding your skill,
saritu
,” Ran explained.  “As well they should.  I have never seen a more dangerously beautiful and graceful display as what you just showed us.”

Summer shook her head slightly.  She did not know how she had done what she’d done, and it felt wrong to take credit for it.  It had come to her from nowhere.

“Bow to them,” Maxim said softly as he approached her.  “No matter where it came from, it was you, and it was stunning to behold.  It would be rude to ignore their acknowledgement.”

Summer turned to face the viewing window and bowed solemnly as Maxim had suggested.  She felt a little silly doing it, but Maxim was right.  It would be rude to ignore them.

The people standing at the viewing window all returned Summer’s bow, then began to drift away.  Summer crossed the training room to the rack where the bokken were stored and returned hers to its place.  Then she retrieved her katana, but hesitated before putting the back harness on. 

“What is it?” Ran asked.  “Would you like some help with that?”

“No, thank you,” Summer replied.  “I just had this idea that I should wear it at my hip for awhile.”

Ran raised his brows and shrugged.  “That’s easily done,” he said.  “It would be better to use a wide sash than your belt though.” 

“Is the back harness uncomfortable?” Maxim asked as he removed his own sash and folded it in half before wrapping it around Summer’s waist.

“No, not at all,” Summer said.  “Do you know what the word
battojutsu
means?”

Maxim finished tying the sash and stepped back.  “Yes, I do,” he said, looking at her curiously.  “Why do you ask?”

“Because the word just popped into my head, and I do not remember ever having seen it or hearing it before,” Summer said.  “Like I said, strange things keep happening to me.”

“Well,
battojutsu
is not strange,” Maxim assured her.  “It is a method of fighting with the katana that focuses on defending against surprise attacks.  For example, it teaches methods of attacking your attacker during the act of unsheathing the katana.”