his escape from the deadly bite, that Ponkert felt the hair being shaved from his biceps.
Rolling on his shoulders in one smooth ukemi movement, Ponkert came upright and stood face-to-face with his would-be assassin. The highwayman had recovered from his empty blow and advanced. He held the wicked blade in a two-hand grasp before him. A self-assured smile of victory twisted his lips evilly.
With a loud cry, the bandit swung the razor-sharp sword over his head again and charged. As the honed length of death arced downward, Ponkert launched forward and caught one of the man's massive wrists in a perfect seoi-nage, the Earthman twisted into his assailant, throwing him over his shoulder.
To complete his attack, Ponkert, still grasping the fallen man's arm, twisted in a violent application of kansetu-waza. The joint-rending action was all that was needed to break the swordsman's arm at the elbow.
His chest heaving, the loin-clothed Earthman stepped back and viewed the results of many hours of judo and karate training. The fight had lasted less than a minute, though Ponkert, living it in the slow motion timelessness of a trained fighter, felt as if the encounter had lasted for hours.
Suddenly Terri was all over him. Her arms were tightly wound around his neck and her lips kissed wetly over his face between flourishes of praises of his strength and courage. Through the golden forest of her tresses, Ponkert watched his last opponent limp from the inn, clutching his mangled arm.
'Get away from him, you oversexed wench!' a loud voice belonging to the girl's father boomed. 'I might have known my ugly daughter would come home with a common street brawler!'
The aproned innkeeper was beside them, his arms wrenching them apart-an action which Ponkert felt showed a definite lack of gratitude on the man's part. After all, he had just been saved from being skewered on the wrong end of a sword-or maybe two swords.
But before the Earthman could protest, Terri was bubbling forth a story of how Ponkert had met and defeated Sir Yngvi and fourteen of his men, chased them back to the black knight's iron castle and threatened their castration if they ventured from behind the walls again. As she went on, Ponkert was amazed to learn he was a king from some far off province on a sacred quest. He also learned his clothing was lost in a single-handed attack of the equivalent of a fire-breathing dragon.
Ponkert watched the man's face soften from a hard visage, then absolutely glow with pleasure when Terri mentioned something to the effect that the Earthman was a king from a distant land.
A wide grin splitting his face, the innkeeper slapped Ponkert on his bare back, 'Milord, 'tis a pleasure for my humble house to be visited by royalty. I am called Vern Hogar and I would be greatly honored if you would deign to accept my simple hospitality. 'Tis not often I can claim that a king slept within my inn.'
'I'm afraid Terri exaggerated a bit… ' Ponkert began, then paused as the glow on Hogar's face started to fade. Realizing a few more words could return him to the status of a 'common street brawler' he continued, '… I didn't lose my clothes fighting a dragon. But they were so scorched, I was embarrassed to be seen in them with such a beautiful lady as your daughter. So I discarded them!'
Somehow the story just didn't seem to fit right with him, but Hogar was delighted, which was all that mattered.
'By all the gods of Ulfbom, you must rule a woman-poor kingdom to think Terri the least bit attractive,' Hogar laughed, once more applying a friendly, but stinging slap to Ponkert's back. 'But a king is a king and I'll not dispute your word. But you must see my other daughter, Letti.'
The innkeeper called out. Immediately a second girl hastened into the room from the kitchen, where she had apparently hidden during the fight.
Ponkert was hard-pressed to believe the sight that met his eyes. This gorgeous creature was a carbon copy of the girl still clinging around his neck! The same flowing blonde hair, the deep, emerald green eyes that danced with light, and the same fabulous body. His balls did some nice-feeling flip-flops. An old twentieth century advertising slogan flashed through his mind, 'Double your pleasure, double your fun!'
From the corner of his eye, Ponkert noticed Terri's mouth turn up slightly with disapproval at the gaze he had given her sister. But a quick light kiss remedied the frown.
'… and you must realize that Terri will bed anything that wears pants because she is so poorly endowed. At first I took you to be another one of the riffraff she brings home. But a king, even of a small province-that's a different story!'
Hogar still babbled on, 'If it would not offend you, sir, I have a fine set of clothing which I took in payment for a room from a nobleman down on his luck. I also have an old, but sturdy mankil left by the same nobleman which should prove to be a fine mount for your sacred quest, whatever it be. It's the least I can do to repay you for saving my hide, not to mention my gold, from the highwaymen.'
Ponkert didn't protest as the innkeeper maneuvered him away from Terri and up a small flight of stairs to a room.
'Make this your home while you are here,' Hogar said. 'The nobleman's clothes are bundled in the corner.'
As the man left, Ponkert entered and found his new attire spread across a chair. He chuckled to himself as he donned the rather gaudy black and white checkered trousers that fit him like tights. The loose blouse-like shirt, complete with puffed sleeves, was red. To top off the strange costume, there was a bright yellow cape, which he swirled to his shoulders with a flare that would have put Errol Flynn to shame.
Feeling somewhat like a clown, but thoroughly enjoying the medieval garb, Ponkert slid his feet into black knee boots, then strode back down to the main room of the inn like a strutting rooster.
The praises that came from Terri and Letti and their father seemed to be a little too much, but Ponkert didn't mind. Nor did his ego suffer as they led him to a wooden table and proceeded to array a feast of delectable meats and tasty vegetables before him. Although he couldn't identify one of them, the meat was fantastic; so was the service provided by the twin sisters. Ponkert suppressed the urge to order one of the girls to peel him a grape.
After the sisters cleared the remains of the meal away, Hogar placed a large earthen jar on the table, then seated himself opposite the Earthman. The wine, a transparent orange and quite tasty, flowed as the sisters returned with four mugs. Ponkert listened to the innkeeper's bawdy stories and laughed in the appropriate places. He also managed to learn the planet's name from the man-Keller. The mankil, which the innkeeper had given him as part of his reward, turned out to be Keller's equivalent of a horse, only with six legs.
After awhile, Hogar grew silent and Ponkert, in turn, told tales of his own. Every word of them were lies, but then no one seemed to mind.
Ponkert silently thanked Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard and Caer Ged for their tales of derring-do, from which he drew heavily.
As the log in the fireplace had turned to embers and due to the considerable amount of wine under his belt, the Earthman was finally allowed to be excused. Taking his arm, the still half-nude Terri helped him up the stairs and into his room. Somewhere below he heard the door to the inn open and another visitor enter, but he paid little attention to it.
Instead his complete attention was given to the woman who had begun undressing him. Terri's fingertips traced all sorts of soft, warm patterns over his body as an extra touch, while she stripped the gaudy costume from him.
As she neatly folded his clothes over a chair, Ponkert pulled back the covers on the massive four-posted bed that filled most of his small room and slipped in. Smiling at her self-made king, Terri's fingers tucked beneath her rag briefs. Watching his eyes following her movements, she wiggled her full, jutting hips slightly and slithered from the g-string.
For a few moments she posed for his admiring eyes, allowing him a total view of her obvious attributes.
Then in a tit bouncing little leap she was on the bed with him, her arms around his neck. Accepting the invitation, he pulled the willing girl to him. Her mountainous mammaries flattened against his naked chest as their lips met.
Easing his tongue into her mouth, he explored the dark, sweet harbor with an intensity that grew and grew. He felt her teeth gently nibble at his probe. Teasingly, he withdrew, then thrust back playfully, duelling with her moist pink tongue. Urgently, his arms tightened around her, locking them together as their tongues twirled and twined and danced madly over each other.
When he broke for a deep breath, he allowed his teeth to nip tauntingly at her lips. She moaned and quivered, shoving her body even closer to his nakedness. Sliding a leg out from under the covers, he maneuvered it between
