Alkalians (64 page)

“
You too,” Lyn replies
after him before the door closed. She then sits back, sighing and
palming her forehead as she wonders what just happened. If she and
Matt have something between them, as she believes they do, how
could he have rejected her advances? He could have at least enjoyed
her breasts, they wouldn’t have had to go all the way, but that
would have been nice, too. She shakes her head and decides to worry
about it later before standing to put away the glasses. Perhaps
they weren’t ready for it yet, but later they could try
again.

***

The next day, besides being the eve of
the Royale Project finale, goes by normally for most of the student
community, including Matt. In the middle of something that has
become routine to him, steam rises around him as he eases himself
into a hot bath, sighing with relief as the water comes up to his
shoulders. Joining him in the bath across from him is Amelia,
submerging herself until the top of her breasts are just above the
water. Looking at her with a dreamy smile as she shrugs, briefly
pressing her chest up for a more revealing view, he asks, “How did
I do this time? I think this is the first time I actually made you
scream.”

“
Ah, Matt, you sure did.
This was the best time between us, and I haven’t been moved like
that in a long time.” She opens her eyes, smiling back at him.
“You’re a pretty quick learner, at this.”

“
Heh, thanks. I’m glad to
hear it.” Pleased as he feels Amelia’s legs reaching through the
bath to stroke his, he leans back and closes his eyes with another
sigh. “How many times have we done it, now?”

“
Oh, I think this was the
fifth. There was the first time, after Cynthia showed up to join
our cause, then there was the second time, after Lyn ran off to
deal with Irene. So we’ve done it three more times since, in the
bath here after our second time, last night when you came to my
cabin, and now today. It was a good thing you didn’t happen to hit
my sweet spot last night, or we may have woken up my cabin
mates.”

“
Hah, yeah. That would
have been embarrassing.” Opening his eyes, Matt ponders what he
feels like doing next. The first time they had this bath together,
they had simply relaxed before washing themselves, and the second
time, as Amelia recalled, the hot water and steam had hypnotized
them into having intercourse again. This third time, though, Matt
feels he has to talk to Amelia about something. “Do you know where
I was, before I stopped by your cabin last night?”

“
No, you never said why
you came over. Was it more than just having a need for me,
again?”

“
Ah, yeah, I’m afraid so.
I, I had to clear my head, cleanse my body, of what happened
earlier. Lyn made a move on me, at her cabin.”

Sitting up with more concerned
attention, Amelia asks, “She did, huh? What did you do?”

“
Well, fortunately, I knew
enough of what to expect to know I shouldn’t do it with her, and I
pushed her off. But, she, she didn’t see why I had refused her. I
tried to explain otherwise, but, I now believe she has a huge
infatuation for me.”

“
Ah. That could be a
problem. When Lyn gets set on something, it’s difficult to turn her
elsewhere.” Reaching across and out of the bath, Amelia retrieves a
sponge and soaps it up before turning her back to Matt. “Could you
scrub me down?”

“
Of course.” Floating
through the water to close the few feet between them, he takes the
sponge and begins washing down Amelia’s back, parting her long hair
as he spreads soap across her smooth skin. Trying to think of
something else to say, he looks around the luxurious bathroom,
their bath in the center of it by the wall opposite the door, a
wide sink behind him, and a spacious shower stall beyond Amelia.
“So, why is there a bathroom like this right next to the study
hall?”

Amelia chuckles, her body tingling
with pleasure as Matt brought the sponge underwater and past her
waist. “Because college studies can be tough work, Matt. Some
students who use this study hall may pull all-nighters, and then
take baths or showers in here before beginning another day of
classes.”

“
Wow, really? Have you had
to do an all-nighter, like that?”

“
Hmm, a few times, I
think. I wasn’t alone, though, some more of Lyn’s associates were
with me, before we shared bathing in here.”

“
Uh huh. What was that
like, bathing with them?”

Turning to him sharply enough to
startle him, Amelia dares Matt, “What was that?”

“
Gah, uh, nothing! I’m
sorry.” Nodding at his correction, Amelia relaxes while he
continues to wash her, the sponge sliding over her shoulders and
chest. Spending a little more time on her chest, Matt frowns before
looking up to her face. “What should I do, if Lyn makes a move on
me, again?”

“
Just tell her the truth,
as kindly as possible.” She looks down to him. “Are you sure you
don’t have any desire for her?”

“
Um, yeah, I’m
sure.”

Amelia smirks. “You can be honest with
me, Matt, I won’t mind who you love more. Do you really have any
affectionate desires for Lyn?”

“…
No. No, I do not desire
her.”

“
Oh? And why is that? She
is kind and compassionate, and her figure is decent. And if she
wants you so much, who’s to stop you?”

Matt doesn’t respond at first, a
strange look coming over him, before the sponge bobs to the bath’s
surface out of his grasp. “Who I’m looking at, now.”

Blushing when he embraces her,
pressing himself against her with rising desire, Amelia gasps as
she looks into Matt’s eyes, seeing something beyond lust in them.
“Ah, Matt…” She strokes his cheek, admiring his feelings for her,
before her lips meet his in a deep kiss. The kiss and the embrace
become more passionate as they move back to the edge of the bath,
sinking deeper into it as Matt sinks himself deep into her and
moans from them both are muffled by their locked lips.

As they are well into their sixth time
of intercourse, the heat of the bath and their passion binding
their bodies together, the steamy atmosphere is pierced when the
door to the bathroom flies open, and Matt and Amelia whirl to see
Lyn standing in the doorway. Their flushed expressions pale with
shock, but not as greatly as Lyn’s with her right eye twitching and
the rest of her body trembling as something threatens to explode
out of her. Judging by the fire rising in Lyn’s teary eyes, Matt
has a good idea what it is, and as she lowers her darkening
expression he tries to say, “Please, Lyn, this isn’t, let me
explain…”

“
Get out,
Matt.”

“
Wha-what?”

“
Get. Out.
Now
.”

The tone in Lyn’s voice, so quiet but
full of rage about to boil over, causes Matt to hesitate, but
Amelia assures him, “It’s okay, Matt, go on.” She adds with a
whisper as they separate under the water with urgency, “Get to your
cabin as fast as you can, and don’t look back. You’ll be safe
there, whatever happens.” Not sure whether that scared him more
than Lyn at the moment or not, he nods, climbs out of the bath, and
grabs a towel on his way out of the room, pass a still trembling
Lyn with her back to him and her breath fuming.

Matt had finished hastily
drying off and gotten half his clothes on when the door to the
bathroom slams closed and Lyn’s anger at last erupts, focused on
Amelia trapped within. “You filthy bitch, how
dare
you do this to me, behind my
back!? You knew, you damned well knew how I felt for Matt, and
you
stole
him,
seduced him for yourself! You, I left you with him, I
trusted
you with him,
and you betrayed me. You were my closest acquaintance, my friend,
and you BETRAYED me!!”

Amelia tries to speak up
in her defense, but Lyn cuts her off, near screeching, “I should
have known, spirits burn it all, I should have known, with your
disgusting adulterous ways, I should have known you’d make a move
on Matt, luring him into your web and having your damned way with
him! And I suppose he doesn’t care about you sleeping with others,
does he, as long as he’s getting a taste of your ass, too! I’ve
overlooked your horrid habit, I’ve let it slide because of your
kindness and loyalty, but now, I regret ever being
near
you, you
black-hearted bitch, and I hope the Fire Spirit burns you in
hell!!”

Not sticking around to hear more of
Lyn’s rage, Matt rushes out of the study and down the hall, running
for it. If that was how she was treating Amelia, he did not want to
find out what she’d do to him. He soon gets out of the college
building, but doesn’t slow down as he shifts into his battle morph
to rocket across the fields on air balance, reminded by Amelia’s
warning to not look back. As the cabins come into view, he
discovers why when a wolf’s howl, full of fury, claws at him from
behind, and he makes a final burst through the cabin
plots.

***

“
Ugh, I don’t wanna
study,” moans Sean stretched out on the couch. Nearby is Rose,
sitting at a desk working on her own homework in their cabin’s
living room, and she seems to ignore him as he complains, “I don’t
get it, we’re the finalists of the Royale Project, why do we still
have to do our schoolwork? Shouldn’t we, you know, be resting up
for the big day, tomorrow?”

“
I don’t know, Sean, but
we did get the past few days to rest.” Not looking up from her
deciphering some notes, Rose says, “And besides, our course grades
are more important than some fight.”

“
Some fight? This ain’t
just any old fight, Rose, this is the championship! This is the
chance at eternal glory in the college’s, no, in our whole
country’s history, and instead of getting prepped for it we’re
supposed to worry about papers and exams! I’m telling ya, this is
an extreme injustice, and I really think the school should…” A
sudden, heavy thud into the side of the cabin jolts him and Rose,
and he exclaims, “What the hell was that? Who’d be throwing people
against cabins out there!?”

He gets his answer when the door
clicks unlocked and Matt shoves it open, panting as he swings it
closed. Immediately on their feet in worry, Sean and Rose flank him
with his head against the door, and Rose asks, “Matt, what’s wrong?
What’s going on?”

“
I, I may be in trouble,
guys, I’m sorry.”

“
Trouble?” Sean asks
skeptically. “What kind of trouble would send you ducking in here,
like…” Something else, with a vicious snarl, smashes against the
door outside, making all three freshmen jump back. “Earth Spirit
crush us, what was that?” When a blood-curdling howl penetrates the
door, his and Rose’s expressions pale when they slowly turn to him.
“Matt. What, did you,
do
!?”

Matt sighs, pacing in distress and
shame, and replies, “I, I don’t know, it just, it just all happened
so fast! We weren’t ready for her, she, she didn’t understand, and
now…”

“
Whoa, Matt, slow down,”
Rose says, trying to be calm despite the Wolf growling outside
their door. “Does this involve Lyn, and Amelia?”

“
Amelia?” Sean asks. “What
would Amelia have to, to…” He looks back to Matt, even more aghast
than before. “You
didn’t
. You cheated on Lyn,
with
Amelia
!?”

“
No, no, see, you don’t
understand, either!” Matt groans and tries to explain. “I was just
taking lessons with Amelia, she, she was educating me in it, but,
but we got out of hand, and, I think Lyn believes we have something
going, but I don’t, with her. With Lyn, I mean! But with Amelia, I,
I don’t know, it’s progressed so far, and, and Lyn, she just burst
in on us.”

“…
Aw dude, you’re screwed.
Lyn is gonna bite your head off, if she ever catches you outside.
But, as long as you stay in here, you should be…” A clawed forepaw,
crackling with electric power, stabs through the door, making the
three jump back again. “Although, spirits know I’ve been wrong
about these things, before!”

Rose, briefly speechless, looks back
to the men, a searing look lingering on Matt. “So, you didn’t stop,
with Amelia, this whole time. How many times, Matt?”

Matt looks back to her, barely meeting
her eyes, as Sean glances between them and the door. “Rose, please,
it wasn’t…”

“
Matt. How, many,
times?”

“…
Six. But, it was just
for the sex, it wasn’t because I didn’t…”

“
Stop, Matt. Just stop.”
As Sean gapes again, Rose surprises them both when she goes to the
door, not in morph. Sean exclaims, “Rose, what are you doing? You,
you’re not thinking of…” When Rose opens the door, he nearly
faints, falling back onto the couch. “Spirits, why?”

Stepping out through the threshold,
Rose stands between the cabin and Lyn in her Wolf morph, her fangs
bared in a snarl and cold fire in her eyes. A crowd of students,
mostly freshmen but including those of higher classes, have
gathered around the scene. When Lyn growls at her, Rose doesn’t
flinch, crossing her arms while glaring back at her. “Go ahead,
Lyn, tear through me when I’m not in morph, and you’ll be no better
than Cain.”