Lina inhaled deeply before dropping her full weight on Arabel, pinning her to the floor, while she pushed her knee hard against the woman’s swollen folds. Arabel responded by pressing back and grinding against Lina’s knee.
“You smell so good,” Lina hissed, as she removed her knee, trading it for her hand and fingers as she began enjoying all that her lover had to offer.
“Take me, Lina,” Arabel heaved. “Claim me as your mate.”
Lina leaned forward, pressing her nose to the gland behind Arabel’s ear, seeking out more of her scent, reveling in the intoxicant that was magnified ten-fold by the effects of tree flower they had both consumed. She focused her efforts on pleasing the woman she held trapped beneath her.
Lina found the place she wanted. She began pressing and rubbing.
The two women engaged in their passionate dance with Lina on top, probing, thrusting, inhaling scent, and Arabel pinned underneath, squeezing Lina’s fingers, shivering and moaning. Arabel’s occasional shivers soon turned to a constant quivering, and finally a great, uncontrolled shudder as Lina rode her from above.
At the end of their frenzy, Lina bit down hard on the back of Arabel’s neck with enough force to make her cry out. And that was sufficient to drag Arabel from her trance, to challenge Lina for dominance.
The two women continued rolling on the floor—a tangle of limbs—clawing, biting, and probing until finally it was Lina who lay still and arched her back, allowing Arabel to claim her this time. Lina offered no resistance as Arabel took charge, her fingers pressing and filling without mercy. Each foray of Arabel’s tongue circling Lina’s scent gland caused her to release a spray of pheromones in time with another sharp cry of ecstasy.
In a cloud of scent, Lina felt Arabel continue with increased enthusiasm, probing, licking, and clawing at her tender flesh. Lina lay as still as possible, though vibrating slightly throughout, while she reveled in the feeling of her lover’s claiming of her body. Finally, the two women shuddered as one, and Arabel laid her mouth on the back of Lina’s neck to sink her teeth in. Lina let out a final shriek before going limp.
The two women lay on the little patch of moss that had served as their lovers’ bed, sweat-soaked and chests still heaving. In the dim light of the bio-globes, Lina outlined the curve of Arabel’s lips with a fingertip and studied her face for a moment.
“What?” said Arabel.
“Thank you for not snapping my neck.”
“I’m sorry, I got carried away. Tree flower.” Arabel scrunched up her face for a second, as if stifling a sneeze, and then burst out into a raucous peal of laughter.
“You mated me like a drone.” Lina smirked. “I feel so dirty.”
“Mmm. You were so hot, baby.”
“You too.” Lina reached around to swipe a finger behind Arabel’s ear, but was stopped short by Arabel’s quick grasp and found her finger in trapped between Arabel’s teeth.
“Too sensitive, baby,” Arabel said, around the finger in her mouth.
Lina put on a pout, but her attempt at seriousness was quickly overridden by the tree flower still surging through her system, and the warm afterglow of their recent passion. She broke out into an uncontrollable fit of giggles, instead.
“Can you imagine?” Lina said, as she began to get herself under control again, “The life of a drone. Always thinking about mating, and then when you finally get to do it, you die in the process?”
“Eww,” said Arabel.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t speak so casually about ending. It’s got to be this tree flower that’s—”
“Not ending, baby. That’s not what I’m ewwing over.” Arabel held her breath until her cheeks turned red and her eyes bulged. She then let loose a snorting fit of hysteria.
“Oh, no. Here I go again.” Arabel rocked back and forth, slapping her palm against the grass on the floor. She paused and held up a single finger. “Tree flower. Tickles my nose.”
Lina rolled her eyes.
Finally, under some semblance of control, Arabel started again. “It’s not the ending,” she said. “It’s the idea of mating with a drone. I mean…eww.” Arabel lost herself to another peal of laughter. “Poor dumb bastards.”
“We should eat,” Lina suggested. “Maybe it’ll help you metabolize the giggles out of your system.”
“It’s your fault. Your scent makes me lose my mind.”
Lina peeled herself up off the mossy carpet and extended a hand to Arabel. Together they made their way somewhat unsteadily to the kitchen. Lina deposited Arabel at the breakfast bar before stepping around to fetch their salads.
Lina picked up her pair of chop sticks and poked at the bed of fresh greens and mushrooms, lifting and uncovering a few leaves here and there. “You didn’t sneak any more tree flower in here did you? To take advantage of me?”
“No.” Arabel straightened up on her stool. “Honest. It’s just a sapling. I wouldn’t.”
Lina blew a kiss.
The two haploid women attacked their salads with a voracious appetite and vigor that had previously been reserved for mating.
“You grow the best greens,” Lina said, still chewing.
“And I’d never snap your neck,” Arabel said. “I hope you know that by now. It’s just such a strong instinct…and I—I feel like I at least have to bite you.” Arabel brought another load of greens to her lips. “Just not hard enough to…you know.”
Lina nodded.
“Enough of this morose crap,” Arabel said. “I hear the rebels tried to blow your ass up this afternoon. That’s got to be exciting, huh? Did you have any of those gorgeous security officers sprinting to your rescue?”
Lina tried and failed to suppress a grin. Damned tree flower. “There were only two guards, and neither ever spoke to me, much less sprinted in my direction. They were
