by HR Ringer
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.
“好的，Yueyn小姐。 這部分完成 [Okay, Miss Yuán. This part is finished], 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 by saying, “I wouldn’t mind seeing your bare ass every day of the week, Sà mǐ!”
* * *
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 mǐ… it’s about as perfect as it can get.”
Sam nodded her head, telling Ming to proceed. In fifty minutes, Ming stood up and stretched, 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 thirty 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 mǐ.”
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 mǐ,” 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 mǐ… 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 mǐ, 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 too much attitude. And I fell totally in love with you, Sà mǐ. 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 mǐ, 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 long time.”
Xiùlán looked at the face of this beautiful woman beside her. “Sounds like a capitol idea, Sà mǐ. When do we leave?”
Chapter 33: Separate Ways
Do not disregard or hate the maps on your skin and soul. These scars have never diminished your worth, they are the stories that make you whole – Nikita Gill
* * *
ANN – Alliance News Network
Inamorata – A woman with whom one is in love; a female lover (Italian)
Liǔyè dāo – literally, a willow leaf saber (柳葉軍刀), short sword with a continuously curved blade; some of these swords feature a sharpened back edge from the tip back about a third of the 96.5 centimeter length.
Nángùn – literally, a ‘southern staff’ – a polished, two-meter long white wax wooden staff
OTS – Officer Training School
* * *
* SOL SYSTEM • EARTH, SOUTH PACIFIC ISLAND OF FIJI *
Xiùlán had wanted to revisit the same vacation condo-unit in which they’d stayed after graduating from the Alliance Special Ops program on Earth’s moon and on Mars, but the place was booked solid for the next three months, so she had elected to travel to the South Pacific island nation of Fiji. As they actually had three full days and nights to relax, plus part of a fourth day for travel, it looked to be the perfect spot for some relaxation before reporting to Alliance headquarters in Vancouver for their assignments.
Xiùlán already knew she would be joining the crew of the Alliance cruiser SSV Tokyo, assigned to the Third Fleet stationed at Arcturus Station. She was also aware that Sammy was probably going to be assigned to work on the communications systems within Arcturus Station, so they might even be able to see each other occasionally aboard the station.
After a three-hour sub-orbital flight aboard an Alliance heavy shuttle, plus fifteen minutes at each end spent negotiating local traffic, the pair found themselves in a private cottage in Matei on Taveuni Island. The full-width deck had magnificent views out across the Somosomo Straits separating Taveuni from Vanua Levu, and a path led from the private back yard down to a wide, white sand beach. As they were each in possession of a
new, colorful back tattoo, they had to keep their backs covered while out in the sun, so splashing around in the surf wearing a tee-shirt wasn’t as much fun as it might have been otherwise, but Sammy was adamant their tattoos heal properly in order to remain as fresh looking as the day the colors had been applied.
Besides splashing in the surf, they spent a lot of time simply walking together, holding hands as they chatted about their futures. Xiùlán continued to gain stamina from walking in the loose sand above the waterline, and the scarring on her leg, while noticeable, did not appear to be as severe as Traynor had feared it would be. When asked how her leg felt, Xiùlán would shrug her shoulders while insisting she was fine.
Their first night, after doing a bit of shopping, Sammy had returned to their cottage to discover it empty. ‘Dammit Xiùlán, where are you?’ came the thought. Ever since her inamorata had been wounded on Cartagena Station, Traynor had a difficult time keeping her imagination in check whenever she wasn’t where Sammy expected her to be.
After putting her few groceries away, Sammy went outside to check the yard and beach; she did not have to search for long. Xiùlán was sitting – semi-reclining, actually – on a beach towel in the grassy yard nearest the beach, leaning back on her elbows with her long legs crossed, right foot across her left ankle. The sun was setting directly in front of her, casting an eerie glow in her ebony mane, a few of the long strands floating about in the cooling ocean breeze. She looked up at Sam’s approach, then pushed herself up to sit as she smiled in that special way that nearly always made Sammy want to weep with happiness.
Quietly clearing her throat, Sam asked, “What are you doing, Luv?” as she eased herself down to sit next to Xiùlán and wrapped her left arm around her lower back.
“Watching the water, my darling… Something that never gets old… watching the waves roll into shore, then recede, only to return again and again. The water is making fresh sand, Sà mǐ, little by little, every time it rolls into shore.” Turning her head, she brushed her lips across Sam’s cheek before returning her gaze to the ocean.
Traynor leaned her head down on the muscled shoulder beside her. “It is relaxing to watch… to listen to, isn’t it?” She didn’t expect an answer to her question as she used her hand to pull her lover a bit closer.
Xiùlán lightly rubbed her leg where the batarian’s polonium bullet had entered as she observed, “I’ll always carry this scar with me, Sà mǐ.”
“The asari could have fixed that for you, Xiùlán,” Traynor protested. “Why didn’t you allow it?”
“My leg is about as healed as it’ll ever be, Sà mǐ, yet it hurts me every day. This scar is a visual reminder of why it hurts. I’ll never be able to fight again as I did when we first met… and I’m okay with that. I can walk… run if I need to, but it hurts to stress the muscles too much, and I’m afraid it will always be so.” Sammy raised her head to look at Yuán’s face and discovered the tracks of tears trickling down her cheek.
“My God, Xiùlán… please, don’t. You know I can’t bear to see you cry.” Traynor used her right hand to bring Xiùlán’s face around and kissed her tear-stained cheek. “You were horribly injured, my love…” A kiss. “… and it has only been a short time since you were released from rehab.” Another little kiss. “I imagine that leg does hurt you, but it will get better in time. You simply have to give your body a chance… keep exercising. It’ll get better, I know it will.” Traynor zeroed in on a pair of lush lips, enjoying the feel of them as she explored them with her own lips.
Xiùlán moaned slightly in response as Sammy pulled back. “Come on, Ai… [愛 - Love (Xiùlán’s meaning is ‘luv’)] It’s getting dark. Let’s go in and have a bite to eat so we can cuddle in bed. I’ve had a very pleasant day, but the trip from Shanghai was a bit tiring.”
Traynor got to her own feet, then reached down to take Xiùlán’s hand, assisting her to her feet. She observed how Yuán walked across the grass as they headed back to their cottage, noting that her gait and leg motions were nearly perfect, with only the slightest hint of favoring her left leg. ‘She’s being too hard on herself, and once we’re apart, there won’t be anyone to keep her on task,’ she thought. ‘I’m gonna have to stay in close touch with her every day.’ Once inside, Xiùlán took a cool shower while Sammy prepared them a light dinner of salad greens and fresh fish.
Traynor heard the water go off, and looked to the bathroom as a still damp, totally nude Chinese goddess emerged. “Sà mǐ, would you mind looking at my back… just to make sure my tattoo is healing properly?”
Traynor smirked as she walked up to her lover. “I’d rather inspect your front, you know? But let me see your dragon anyway.” She followed Xiùlán into the bathroom, where she washed and disinfected her hands before having her lover lean over the sink. “For someone originally opposed to the idea, you seem awfully concerned about it healing correctly,” she snarked.
Xiùlán chuckled. “It’s part of me now, for good or ill… I’d rather it heal correctly so the colors remain as vivid as when Ming applied them.” She didn’t say what she was thinking… ‘Tā de shǒu àifǔ wǒ de pífū... Wǒ jiàng rúhé shēnghuó méiyǒu tā zài wǒ de shēnghuó zhōng měi yītiān?’ [ 她的手愛撫我的皮膚... 我將如何生活沒有她在我的生 活中每一天？- Her hands caressing my skin… how will I exist without her in my life every day?]
As if guessing the effect her touch was having on Xiùlán, she poured a bit of the special lotion Ming had recommended onto the dragon’s wings and gently spread it across the inked area; adding a bit more, she spread it down along Xiùlán’s shoulder blade and ribs, covering the entire tattoo. “Okay, stand and turn so I can look at your chest,” came the slightly snarky request. As Xiùlán complied, Traynor tried without success to hide the lust she was feeling as she applied some lotion to the hànzì characters between her breasts, then did the same for the characters soon to be partially hidden by pubic hair.
“You know I’m perfectly capable of reaching those myself, don’t you?
“Yeah, and where would be the fun in that?” Planting a kiss on the fresh tattoo, she continued, “Much more enjoyable this way.” Traynor rose, pausing to plant a kiss between her breasts as she did so. “Now, get dressed so we can eat. Remember, loose shirt… or… Hell, what am I thinking? You don’t need a shirt here with me! Better for your ink if you don’t wear anything on top.”
“What about you, Sà mǐ?” Before Xiùlán could say any more, Traynor shrugged out of the shirt she was wearing, tossing it aside as she turned to walk back to their small kitchen. The way the red dragon rippled as Sammy sauntered away nearly convinced Xiùlán it was laughing at her. It was damn sure going to be difficult ignoring her bare chest across the table while she ate.
* * *
Traynor and Yuán spent the next two days in blissful indolence, soaking in their private pool as they gazed at the numerous seabirds circling and wheeling over the Somosomo Straits, enjoying the local cuisine, going for long walks hand-in-hand, then spending their evenings in each other’s arms, each attempting to outdo the other in the intensity of their lovemaking.
Yuán had to call for a time-out after enjoying one particularly intense climax at Traynor’s hands. “What has gotten into you, Sà mǐ?” she panted. “You are absolutely insatiable; I don’t believe I have ever been so completely ravished by you.”
Traynor gently rolled a sensitive nipple between thumb and finger as she planted a long kiss on Yuán’s mouth; Xiùlán mewed with pleasure before trapping Sammy’s hand against her abused breast. “My God! Sà mǐ! You’re killin’ me here! Ease up, for pity’s sake!”
Sammy bared her teeth in an especially feral grin as she growled, “I’m making memories… for me… for you. Once we’re back on duty, opportunities like this won’t come around every day, Ai. [愛 - Love (Sam’s meaning is ‘luv’)] I’m attempting to make sure you don’t forget me.”
“By my revered ancestors, Sà mǐ. You cann
ot possibly believe I would forget about… are you really so insecure about my love for you?” Xiùlán smiled as she gently pushed Traynor up to a squatting position atop her hips. “I could never forget about you, Sà mǐ! Your name is tattooed above my xiá fèng [ 狹縫 – slit ]… not very likely I’ll forget that anytime soon.”
Traynor eased her torso back down until she could gently kiss a lightly freckled nose. “I’ll admit it, darling. I am terribly insecure. I know you love me… and that’s not the problem! It’s the rest of the people out there, Xiùlán. There’s a lot of predators in Alliance uniforms. I worry about them trying to get into your pants.”
Lifting her head slightly, Xiùlán reached for and captured Traynor’s lips with her own; dropping her head back, she whispered, “I have never lied to you, Samantha… not about to start now, so listen to what I’m telling you… I am yours! Okay? Nothing will change how I feel about you, ever. Now, let’s go get the sweat washed off… We need to apply more lotion to our dragons.”
Traynor eased herself off her lover; once standing, she grabbed a hand to help pull Xiùlán to her feet, then led her to the shower.
* * *
On their last full evening together, Xiùlán felt as if time had somehow sped up. They had an early dinner, cleaned up afterwards, then took their wine and glasses out to the pool, where they sat back in lounge chairs and watched the sun extinguish itself in the ocean waters of Somosomo Straits. The early evening clouds in the distance burned in fiery shades of orange and bright reds, cooling to magenta as their source of fire disappeared into the water.