The Wounded

by Marilyn Foxworthy

  I said, “Yes, it was. Before the cataclysm, we had the ability to make very wonderful and very intricate machines and the unicorn was one of them. It was in storage while I slept, but you girls wanted to see a unicorn, so Mandy got it ready and brought it to meet you.”

  Lark said, “It’s no less real because it is a machine. I am a machine in some respects. Tell me about Clarice.”

  I said, “OK. Clarice’s body is like a machine. She’s like us except that our bodies are made of flesh and her body is made of minerals. Her body doesn’t grow or die. Her finger nails and hair don’t grow like ours. She can make then grow if she wants to, but she has to make them. She has fluids and muscles, but hers are made of non-living materials. Her brain is more electrical and ours are more chemical. Do you know what I mean by all of that?” I asked.

  I knew that Lark had no background in electricity or chemistry or mechanical design, and I didn’t know how much of what I was saying would be understandable to her.

  Lark said, “I think so. Not the details. Clarice’s body is like mine, but made of things like metal and cloth, but not really cloth. She has breasts, and they can have milk all the time, not only when she has a baby. Her milk isn’t really milk and her body doesn’t make the milk. She drinks the milk and stores it in her breasts.”

  I said, “Yes. That’s right. And she doesn’t need to eat to get energy. She gets her nourishment from sunlight and other energy. She needs to drink the milk because her body uses it to lubricate her joints.”

  Lark said, “And her pussy. She has a wonderful body. She is like the Nogud.”

  I said, “Well, she was designed to look like the very first Nogud, my grandmother, Honey. She was the most beautiful woman who ever lived, from what I could tell. It seemed that everyone thought so.”

  Lark said, “So, Clarice’s brain is different than mine?”

  I said, “Yeah. It works similar, but it is made of different materials. So, Clarice and the nymphs, like Mandy, have their own personalities and they think for themselves, but instead of being born from a mother and father, Pops, my grandfather, and I made them in a special workshop. They were a birthday present and made so that they could take care of me and love me and protect me. Even before the cataclysm, I think that things were getting strange and I think that Pops wasn’t sure if I would ever have a mate, so he made Clarice.”

  Lark said, “So, the reason that I can’t see them the same way is just because they speak a different language.”

  I asked, “What do you mean?”

  She said, “Our emotions and feelings speak a different language than our thoughts and our words. Clarice speaks the same language that we do with her thoughts and her words, but she has a different language for her feelings and emotions. We speak the same words language and thoughts language, but I don’t know how to understand her feelings language and her emotions language.”

  I said, “I guess so.”

  Lark said, “That makes sense. It’s like ‘We’, the other part of me.”

  I asked, “How so?”

  She explained, “We speaks the same emotional language and the same feelings language, and the same words language, but a different thoughts language. So, she can translate my feelings into words using different thoughts that I don’t have language for. People are stranger than they realize. People like us, anyway. Clarice and the nymphs are very good at expressing themselves through words and thoughts. The strange dialect that they speak helps. And even if I can’t see behind their eyes, I don’t feel like there are secrets that they aren’t telling me. I just wondered what she was, because I know that she’s different. No one else needs to know, of course. Well, Raven and Viola and the rest of your women will know, but no one outside our bed will know. I’m happy that Aspen is coming soon. The bad thing that is coming, um, it will be better if it comes before Aspen gets here. I’m so glad that you love me even though I’m so strange and that you don’t let it bother you. Joshua, I could never have had any other man but you. I think I’m like Clarice that way.”

  I said, “In what way? How are you like Clarice?”

  She pulled her head off my shoulder and smiled at me and said, “I was made for you. To love you and take care of you and protect you and help you. I think that we all were. All the Nogud. I’m glad that you were asleep for so long so that it was my generation that was alive when you woke up, instead of Yuki’s. I think that she was made for you too, but now she gets to be your mother, not your lover. I was the lucky one.”

  I kissed her as she clung to my waist.

  I said, “I’m the lucky one. I love you Lark. So, you don’t know what’s coming, you just sense that it’s something hard for me? Is it bad for all of us?”

  She said, “I don’t know. This afternoon might be hard. I think we need to be prepared for a difficult afternoon. Just know that we all love you and we will be fine when it’s over. You are the Wizard of Bonvale and you will handle whatever comes our way. Are you excited about Aspen?”

  I smiled and said, “Are you changing the subject?” and I squeezed Lark’s bottom where I held it in my hands around my waist. She giggled and squirmed and I continued, “No, I don’t feel excited yet. She freaked me out the other day and I’m actually a little bit afraid of her.”

  Lark said, “That’s about to change. You’ll see. Aspen will be the love of your life, even before she comes.”

  I smiled and said, “You are the love of my life!”

  She hugged me and said, “No, we are the love of your life and Aspen will be one of us before you fall asleep tonight, even though she won’t be with us for a few more days.”

  I asked, “Lark, what do you know?”

  She said, “I only know what I’ve told you. Today will be hard and before you sleep, you will love Aspen and know that she is one with us. Oh, and that tonight I am going to do my best to blow your mind and body sexually in ways that I haven’t had the chance to yet. And quit wiggling down there, you impatient master.”

  I was pulling Lark’s crotch into my body and wiggling my penis into position as best I could.

  She squealed and said, “No. Stop it. You don’t want to do that right now. I told you, trust me.”

  I protested, “No, you said that you couldn’t suck on me right now. You didn’t say anything about this.”

  Lark got slightly wicked look on her face and said, “Oh, didn’t I? Well, in that case, let’s do what you want” and she reached down and pulled herself up slightly on my body and guided me into her slick, warm vagina.

  She moaned and said, “I’m always wet for you, beloved,” and she leaned backward, forcing me more deeply into her folds.

  She was indeed warm, wet, and inviting. We went slowly, moving gently as Lark practiced squeezing me hard with her vaginal muscles. Vigorous sex in the water can be difficult, but Lark and the other girls were exceptionally well lubricated, and we were fine in the chest deep water of the cove. We alternated having Lark lean backward and push herself onto me, and then hugging tightly while we kissed each other with passion and intensity. Lark experienced her ‘little death’ several times and after about 20 minutes or so, I did too. When my climax was done, I continued to hold her lovely body against mine until she had one or two more and then we kissed for a while longer.

  It was difficult to separate ourselves from each other, but we bathed again and swam a bit, eventually leaving the cove, dripping wet and naked in the sun.

  On the beach again, Lark started to pick up our little pack holding our clothes and I tried to take it from her, but she insisted on carrying it.

  She said, “Let me carry it. Please. It isn’t heavy.”

  I said, “Lark, if we stay here and play all day, I won’t have to face the hard thing that you say is waiting for me.”

  Lark smiled and said, “That’s true. But if I remember right, what I said was that you have to walk a hard road this afternoon to get to the place where you fall completely in love with Aspen and the rest
of us all over again. It’s a treasure hunt. You just have to go through the dark to find it.”

  I smiled myself and said, “Ah, well if you put it that way, let’s go. I am a treasure hunter after all. And if you and the others and Aspen are the treasure, then I will face any danger and any hardship to find you. Lark, you make it exciting! If it’s just me that must face danger and difficulty in order to win you as my prize, I can do anything eagerly. Let’s go get started.”

  Lark said, “That’s my wonderful brave master! How much farther to Havenrest?”

  I said, “About a mile or so. About half an hour.”

  Lark said, “I assume that we don’t have to put on clothes.”

  I said, “Nope. No need for clothes,” and we started walking toward the house.

  Chapter 6 The Sapphire Road

  We followed the Sapphire road from the river to Havenrest, holding hands as we walked.

  I asked, “Lark, this is the first time that you’ve been really naked since the first day, when we met; how do you like it?”

  She beamed and got a dreamy look and said, “I love it. It’s nice when we’re alone in our apartment or at Paul’s cove for bathing, but to just walk through the world naked, with nothing to fear and no one to cover up from, it’s glorious. Clothes do feel nice sometimes. I like it when you slide your hands up underneath my dress and it feels different than just being naked and somehow even more sensuous sometimes, but this is so magical.”

  I said, “I think so too. Clarice said that before the cataclysm, that we would go away to an island and stay naked for weeks at a time, except for meals, and even then the women were all topless.”

  Lark laughed and said, “Topless? What do you mean?”

  I laughed too and answered, “Without anything above their waists, covering their breasts.”

  Lark asked, “So, they would let down their dresses, off of their shoulders?”

  I said, “Oh, no, not dresses. Um, they would were short skirts and no tops. Um, don’t you have skirts that cover just from the waist down and then a woman wears a blouse, a shirt, like a man does to cover the breasts?”

  Lark said, “No. I’ve never heard of that.”

  I said, “Well, picture one of the summer dresses. A short one. If it were cut in two, at the waist, and a hem added at the waist, it would be a short skirt from the waist down and a blouse on top. Two pieces. Topless would be if you wore the bottom, but not the top.”

  Lark smiled again and said, “A skirt for the bottom and a blouse for the top. It sounds nice. It would make it easier. I like the idea very much. It will be much better.”

  I asked, “How? What will be better?”

  Lark said, “If I wear a dress, you can easily reach under for my bottom, but my top half is harder to reach. With the blouse, it will be easier for you to reach my breasts if you want them. Does a blouse have buttons, like a man’s shirt with buttons? Or does it pull over the head, like a man’s shirt with no buttons?”

  I said, “It can be either.”

  Lark looked pleased and said, “So, it could be worn open? And if the skirt is short, lovemaking would be easy and the blouse could be open at the front. It would be easy to make love and to be touched at any time. Can I have one? I want to fuck while wearing a skirt and a blouse. I can get a summer dress from Susan and I can try to make a skirt and a blouse for you. I might not be very good at it…the sewing, not the fucking, but I can try.”

  I said, “I think that if you want a skirt and a blouse that the nymphs can help you. I think that they’re very good at making clothing.”

  Lark said, “That will be fun. And then I can be topless at dinner.”

  We walked on for another 15 minutes or so and the house at Havenrest came into view. I was surprised that no one had appeared to greet us yet, but I assumed that they were all busy with some chores or something. It was early afternoon when we arrived at the door to the guest house.

  As we approached the door, Lark commented, “It’s built underground, in the side of the hill.”

  I said, “Yeah. It’s very nice inside, but I’ve only seen a very little bit of it. I don’t think that we can see the main house yet. There’s a little guest house, like a large apartment, but with its own kitchen, for us, but the main house is bigger. I think that they are still getting the main house ready. There’s a lot of work to do.”

  Lark asked, “Will I be allowed to help? I’d like to work if I can be useful.”

  I smiled and said, “Maybe, but they say that they won’t let me in until it’s all ready. Maybe there are things that you and I can do on the outside together. If you go work in the main house, and they won’t let me in, I would be by myself.”

  Lark smiled and said, “Well, I don’t want that. I’ll work making a skirt and a blouse and then I’ll practice wearing them until I’m proficient at it.”

  I laughed, “I don’t think it will be hard to learn to wear a skirt and a blouse.”

  Lark said, “If you don’t get hard, I’m not wearing them right. We’ll have to let me practice until it’s hard all the time.”

  I laughed again and said, “Oh. I suppose that would be best. OK, you can work on making and learning to wear a skirt.”

  Lark laughed and said, “No blouse? Well, you are the master, so if you say so, but I think that I can learn to wear a blouse in a very hard way if you’ll let me.”

  I grinned and said, “Well, if you want to try it, I’ll do everything I can to help you perfect your technique. We’ll have to try it out in a lot of different places to make sure it works pretty much everywhere.”

  Lark said, “Leaning over a table would be a good one to start with.”

  I said, “Or up against a wall, or a tree.”

  Lark said, “And in a chair, don’t forget about chairs.”

  I said, “Oh, I promise, I won’t forget about chairs. And on the arm of a sofa, or against the counter while you prepare dinner.”

  She said, “And on my knees while I scrub the floors. Don’t forget about that. I’ll have many chores to do, but we mustn’t let that hinder us.”

  I said, “Of course not. And then there’s the evening ritual.”

  Lark said, “Of course at the evening ritual. But also several times a day when I drop to my knees and deep-throat you, while you have important discussions and conduct business.”

  I laughed, “Well, not while I conduct business.”

  She said, “Oh yes, I expect so. You’ll stand at a counter at Paul’s shop and talk to the customers while I kneel behind the counter where no one will see me and I’ll suck you to orgasm several times. Or, at the cafe.”

  I said, “At the cafe? And just how will you do that?”

  She said, “We’ll find a table with a table cloth and you’ll sit with Clarice and tell the village stories and all the while I’ll be under the table, sucking on your wonderful cock and having orgasms as you shove your tree branch down my throat.”

  I said, “Lark, you’re starting to sound like Aspen.”

  She asked, “Does it frighten you? Maybe it should. But, we’ll have to make the skirt and blouse first, and then we’ll have to practice for a while before we’re ready for anything like that.”

  I said, “Lark, you won’t be able to wear the skirt and blouse in public. Not if it’s as short as I’m picturing it.”

  She smiled and said, “No? How short are you picturing it? No matter, I can make a longer one that will be perfectly acceptable for wearing in public.”

  I asked, “And what will the women of the village think of that?”

  Lark got slightly more serious and said, “Joshua, we have explained that all women hope to be ready for their men and that’s why they would never wear underwear. If the blouse and the skirt are modest looking, but give better opportunities to be even more accessible for her mate, a woman will want to wear it. We’ll make short ones for at home and long ones for in public.”

  I said, “Assuming that our experiments i
n chairs and sofas and against the wall, and so forth go well.”

  Lark laughed, “And we’ll have specially designed versions for house work. I’m sure that you can help me with ideas.”

  I said, “Um, actually, now that you mention it…” and I paused.

  Lark raised an eyebrow and prompted me to continue my thought.

  I said, “Well, if the skirt was short, and it had a slit in the back and wrapped around a little bit, then…”

  And Lark finished my thought, “Then, it would cover my pretty butt if I was standing up, but if I bent over at all, it would fall open, exposing everything that you find attractive, displaying my womanhood like a window with curtains at the sides. I think that sounds like a good idea. My husband, you are a fashion genius. A sex clothes designer. We could open a new shop in the village; a secret shop that only the women knew of and they would come and buy clothes designed for fucking. And I would be under the counter sucking your penis the whole time.”

  I said, “Lark, we aren’t doing that and you know it.”

  She said, “If you say so. But, I can make you let me do it eventually. Not all the time, but someday, as a special treat, it will happen, trust me. You will always give me what I want, and for some reason, I want it. Not all the time and not so that anyone will know, but it will happen at least once. And I predict that when it does, you will be fully in favor of it and have no hesitation whatsoever. We’ll see how it goes. But first, I have to have a skirt and a blouse.”

  I said, “And, we should go in and see Raven and the others instead of standing out here at the door,” and I took hold of the door handle and pushed the door open to let us in.

  When I opened the door, I was surprised to see both Clarice and Raven sitting on the sofa, facing the door, laughing.

  I looked shocked and asked, “What are you two doing?”

  Clarice said, “Listening to you and Lark talk about mini-skirts and crop tops! And starting your own lingerie shop!”

  Raven said, “And having me and Lark under the counter, taking turns with your big penis!”

  Clarice added, “And wearing skirts while doing housework so that you can take us with that fat meat pole while we cook dinner and clean the floors! Unfortunately, we have little helpers to scrub the floors and they don’t wear skirts, but I’m sure that we could pretend. It sounds like a lot of fun.”