on the bed and started to really explore her naked body. Shay called my name. “Bob, you don’t have to, but a gentleman would offer me the chance to take an orgasm pill so I could have some fun too.”
“Shay, pulling orgasms out of a woman without her needing to take an orgasm pill is one of the things I do best,” I told her with what I hoped was my most adorable smile.
“Really?” Shay asked carefully.
“Yes, really, this time you trust me.” I took my time exploring Shay’s naked body. Shay was a professional who was deeply attuned to her sexuality. When the orgasm began to build she started screaming. When her orgasm crested, she grabbed my ears and nearly ripped them off. After she climaxed Shay wouldn’t stop kissing me until I gently pushed her away.
Shay gave me a happy smile, looked deep into my eyes, and gently kissed me on the lips. “Bob, I can’t remember the last time I had an orgasm without taking an orgasm pill. This way is so much better than taking an O pill. I can’t wait to tell the other girls.”
I took Shay’s hand and pulled her close. “Shay, how would I go about hiring the six of you again?”
Shay smiled at me gently. “You can’t. Someone has to purchase our services for you. We all decided that our services work better when the man we are caring for doesn’t know we are coming. Besides, I think I could become addicted to a man like you and there are too many other men I want to meet before I let myself fall in love.”
“Shay, I know a woman as beautiful as you wouldn’t have anything to do with someone like me if she weren’t being paid to.”
Shay’s face lost its smile and became serious. “Bob, I’m not twisting my words. You’re cute, you’re smart, you’re funny, and my god, when you got on the star transport on Kinzu Prime the Kinzu looked at you like you were their hero. I’ve never seen a Kinzu look at a human like that before. The fact that you can pull an orgasm out of a woman without her needing to take an O pill is just icing on the cake. If I would turn my back on everything else in my life for one man, it would be for someone like you. It’s just that there are too many other things I want to do before I settle down. Besides,” Shay said as her happy smile came back, “I’d have to use a Thumper club to fight off the other women who’ll be chasing you.”
“Can I give you my address so that if you change your mind I can see you?” I asked her trying to keep my emotions out of my face.
“Bob, we mostly work for Barrilleans who hire us as a reward for humans who work for them or have done them an important service. If the girls and I ever decide to retire, I’m sure Merritt could arrange for us to meet. He seems very impressed with you. For now it really has to be goodbye.” Before I could say another word, Shay kissed me quickly on the lips, turned, and was gone. It was a storybook end to a storybook adventure.
After a brief stop on the planet of Market to acquire several varieties of grape vine, another star transport took me back to Cocuru.
When I got off the star transport, Michael, Mildred, and Cedric were waiting for me. I gave the cart with the grape vines to Michael. He took the cart from me with a relieved look on his face. “Did you get the line of credit?” Michael asked me.
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face when I handed Michael my journal showing the readout of my account on Market. “I don’t think money is ever going to be a problem again,” I told him. As Michael stared at it, Mildred swept me up in a massive hug, then let me go.
“What’s that around your waist?”
I pulled up my shirt and Cedric let out a roar of triumph.
“That’s a setti spine belt. I told you he was on Kinzu Prime hunting setti.”
Michael looked up from the readout, “And this was your fee? This can’t be real. There are far too many zeros for this to be a personal account!”
“No, that was for my time and trouble whether I hunted setti or not.”
“I suppose you hunted those horrible things with your bare hands?” Mildred was not happy.
“That’s why they wanted me. The setti got into a gloride mine where they couldn’t use force rifles.”
“You said you weren’t going to hunt gloride monsters anymore.” Mildred’s disappointment hit me like a blow.
“I couldn’t say no to a Kinzu. Michael, if a Kinzu asked you to do something, could you turn him down?”
“No I couldn’t. If a Kinzu asked me, I would do whatever they asked me with all my heart and soul,” Michael replied.
“Michael you are supposed to back me up here. We agreed it would be better if Bob didn’t fight any more gloride monsters,” Mildred said as she tried to stay calm.
“Setti aren’t gloride monsters,” Cedric said as he grabbed my hand. “Come on Bob, I am taking you into town to show off your belt. You can scold him later Millie. Bob, do you have a recording of you killing the setti?”
“No, but I have a good one of me harvesting the spine to make my belt.”
Michael looked at the expression on Mildred’s face. She wasn’t happy, but she gave her husband a nod. “Wait up, I’m coming too,” Michael said as he ran to catch up.
When we got to ‘Tully’s Tavern’ it was filled with men. Cedric had told everyone to come here as soon as my transport landed. I took off the belt and let everyone take turns holding it for a moment. I played my recording of me harvesting the belt. There was a groan when I told them I didn’t have a recording of me actually killing a setti. I did have recordings of me dragging dead setti in front of point recorders and I explained what the hand signals meant. No one would let me pay for a drink. Everyone congratulated me and swatted me on the back.
Barnabus asked me when I was going on my first quest. “Getting a setti spine belt is the start of a warrior’s adventures, not the end,” Barnabus told me.
Silus said I was swimming in a lake of luck. “While you’re in there be sure to splash around a bit. Maybe the rest of us can get wet too!”
The tavern owner Tully wanted a life size still recording of me harvesting the belt to hang above the bar. I told him he could have the still recording, “but please leave the still recording of the naked women up there because they have been there forever and everyone would miss them terribly.”
Tomorrow was a working day and one by one everyone stumbled out. Michael had much too much to drink and Barnabus took Michael home with him. “I live closer and my wife Sara has hot coffee ready to pour into us. I shot a message to Mildred’s journal and she shot back telling me to send Michael home when he could walk on his own,” Barnabus told me as he struggled to keep Michael standing up. Cedric’s brother lived over the tavern and as Cedric had far too much to drink as well, Cedric slept there.
I drove home alone. I knocked on Mildred’s door and she said to come in as the door wasn’t locked. Pepper was glad to see me; her tail was wagging so hard I thought the poor dog might break in two. Mildred sternly said “Pepper!” and the dog's tail dropped as Pepper headed for her bed. I almost headed for my bed as well, until Mildred came to the door with a welcoming expression on her face.
“I just wanted to tell you I understand,”
