Talla's Temple Ch. 09

He pulled his lips away from hers and looked in to her eyes.

"We can't," she panted desperately. "Not here. We'll be caught."

Right. Sex outside was against the rules. He remembered that.

"Then when?"

"I don't know," she said, looking pathetically at the ground. Anything to avoid his eyes. She couldn't control herself if she looked in his eyes.

And it really wouldn't be that hard. She could just push her underwear to the side ... there was no one in the street ...

No.

"Maybe another heat bell," she begged. "If we do it right."

"Not tonight?"

He would have to come to town. Could he meet her somewhere? His sense of the oncoming mesh was getting stronger and stronger -- and harder and harder to fight.

She shook her head.

"I have duties tonight," she explained.

Duties?

"Serving someone?" he asked.

She shook her head again, looking up in to his eyes.

"No. Priming."

"What's that?"

He would already know, wouldn't he? He just didn't know the name.

"Remember the girls that got you ready for my upgrade?"

"Yeah."

"Primers."

"Oh."

Oh! His eyes lit up.

"I'm doing an upgrade tonight!" he exclaimed.

Her eyes lit up, too.

"Where? Endowment?"

"Um, same gate as when I did yours."

She would get to Prime him? They would see each other soon enough, then.

More kissing, then. His arms wrapped around her tiny waist and her hands in his hair. But it was a contented kiss, both of them being satisfied that more was coming.

It still wasn't easy to pull away. The burgeoning mesh that they were incubating was not a force to be treated idly. It seemed to have a life of its own. It was primal, simple even. It had no notion of rules or propriety. It intended for them to conclude this accidental encounter properly and they just couldn't afford to do that.

They also couldn't stop. Not with their bodies pressed together. Not of their own volition.

"Talla!" someone called.

They both jerked away. The moment of fear had torn through the mesh like an axe through kindling. There was violence and pain in that separation and suddenly there was nothing left of their arousal.

Zhair'lo looked around in panic. No one was in sight.

"I have to go," Talla pleaded as she slipped away along the alcove wall towards the door. "I'll see you tonight."

"I'm coming!" she called back in to the building.

Zhair'lo took a deep breath.

It wasn't like that with Natta. It just wasn't.

He started running.

-----==================----

"You've never done this before?"

"No," Talla answered.

"When did you become an Initiate?" Tina asked.

Tina, like M'lis, was a Neophyte. Crossed sashes for a top and a knee length skirt on the bottom. Talla and Tina were sitting in a small room between the Augmentation Chamber and the men's waiting room.

"Um -- last night, I guess," she replied.

"Oh, okay," Tina said, eyeing Talla's breasts somewhat suspiciously. Tina did not appear to have heard about Talla's situation.

"Well, our job's not too hard," she said. "Men come in one door. We undress them, wash them and make sure they're good and ready to do an upgrade."

"Good and ready," Talla acknowledged with a nod.

"Hard," Tina clarified. "Do you remember the guys from your upgrades?"

"Um, yeah," Talla said, not bothering to correct Tina's use of the plural.

"Well, they weren't ready by accident," Tina said. "Two girls were in this room making sure that your Conduits were good and hard."

"Right."

It wasn't much different from what M'lis had told her. It was just a lot more vivid now that she was standing in the little shower room. She hadn't really dwelt on the details of what went on in here.

"So, ah, what do we do?" Talla asked.

"Follow my lead," Tina said. "I've done this several times before."

If they needed two girls for Priming, then the math of it dictated that every girl had to do this twice for every upgrade she got. Had Tina done it more than that? Maybe it went by aptitude, too. Everything else did.

"The key is to get them as hot as possible -- but without making them come," Tina explained. "That would be a disaster and we'd have to cancel somebody's upgrade."

Talla nodded warily, hoping to see Zhair'lo come through the door shortly.

-----==================----

He figured that he ought to be tired. The hot day together with the afternoon run should have taken him down but his excitement kept him going. The crash afterwards was going to be horrific, but it would be an entirely satisfactory horror.

The men were queued up in the waiting room. There were three boys ahead of him. The four of them had just come from their joint briefing to wait in line with the older men

-----==================----

A boy had entered the small shower room, led in by an Officer.

"Tina and Talla will see to you," the Officer had said and left.

Tina took the lead and approached the boy. He seemed, to Talla's eye, to be a bit older than Zhair'lo. He was more filled out in a muscular sort of way.

"A'kan, isn't it?" Tina asked.

He nodded, slightly anxious.

"I'm Tina," she said as she slipped her skirt to the floor, "and this is Talla."

That seemed about the right time for Talla to start undressing, so he dropped her much smaller skirt. Tina had told her to ditch the underwear before A'kan had even entered the room. A'kan's eyes went back and forth between their bald mounds for a moment.

"Just relax," Tina said. "We're going to get you cleaned up first."

-----==================----

There was a boy sitting across from Zhair'lo, looking more nervous than anyone he had ever seen. He kept looking around the room as if he were waiting for someone to come take him away.

"Hey," Zhair'lo said.

The boy nodded.

"You done this before?" he asked Zhair'lo.

Zhair'lo nodded. "Yeah. Your first time?"

He nodded.

"What's it like?"

That struck Zhair'lo as such an odd question. He had been assuming, from the beginning, that his experience was abnormal. He had spent the last couple of days wanting to do nothing but ask other people, "What's it like?", and here was someone asking that question of him.

How should he answer?

Should he tell him what it was like? What it should be like? How he would have liked it to be?

"Um, neat, I guess," Zhair'lo answer noncommittally. "You've done an Initiation?"

"Twice," the boy said, nodding eagerly.

"It's like that but, well, you were at the briefing." Zhair'lo shrugged.

"Yeah," the nervous boy said, trying to calm himself with a deep breath. "Are there lots of women watching?"

The situation seemed to warrant a small lie.

"Just a few, I think."

The boy calmed down considerably. As long as he didn't get the hyperactive eyesight Zhair'lo had had, he would never know that he'd been misled.

"Oh, okay. I hope I can do this."

You and me both, Zhair'lo thought, but didn't want to say it. No point adding to someone else's misery. They learned that when they were young, too.

The door to the small shower room opened and a large-breasted woman in orange stepped through for the second time.

"Zo'kar Ch'lai?" she asked.

The nervous boy jerked his head up to look at her.

"You're up," she said. "Come this way."

"Good luck," Zhair'lo said, and meant it.

Poor guy.

-----==================----

Zo'kar was next.

Go figure. She'd been so looking forward to seeing Zhair'lo that she hadn't thought to wonder who else might be on the docket.

"I'll lead if it's okay," Talla told Tina. "I know the guy and he was pretty nervous at my Initiation."

"If you think you're ready," Tina replied amicably.

It wasn't complicated and there wasn't much protocol, at least as Tina had described it. You could do pretty much whatever needed doing as long as you didn't make him come and didn't let him in to your vagina.

Oh, and you had to keep your clothes on until the woman in orange left. That was the only rule Talla couldn't fathom. It seemed more a style issue: letting the guy watch you undress. She couldn't understand why they had made it a rule, but she didn't care either.

She forgot about it quickly. She had just put her top back in place when he was led through the door.

He recognized her immediately and called out, "Talla?"

She nodded and smiled. "Your first time doing an upgrade?"

He nodded. He was a lot stronger than the last time she had seen him. She remembered how pathetic he had looked, how immersed he had been in his previous failure, how much fear he had carried with him. She could see that he was still shy, but he was steady. His feet were planted.

"Don't worry," she said. "We're here to take care of you."

With that, she unlaced the side of her skirt and let it drop to the floor. Zo'kar started at that. She heard Tina doing the same behind her and the two of them advanced.

Helpless, he let them undress him before they removed their own tops. Zo'kar stared unabashedly from one set of breasts to the other. Tina was a devotee of Strength and had one upgrade in Abundance. Talla, quite accidentally, had four.

"Come on," Talla said and led him by hand over to the shower spigot. Tina kicked it on for her and warm water began spraying over all three of their naked bodies.

Tina gently forced Zo'kar to lean back and poured fragrant liquid soap over his hair. Talla soaped up her hands and, shielding his body with her own, began washing his chest and arms.

Now the fun part. If she was going to put a penis in her mouth -- and it appeared it would be necessary -- it was at least going to be a clean penis. She kicked the lever to turn off the water and knelt on the floor in front of Zo'kar.

Fair enough. He was shy and only a little bit aroused. With two freshly soaped hands, she casually scrubbed at his thighs and worked her way between them and under his testicles. That got a encouraging reaction. She continued tickling him underneath with one hand while she pulled back his foreskin and very lightly rubbed the head of his penis.

More swelling. Good. Tina was done washing his legs from behind and had stood up already. Talla kicked the lever again and sent a spray of water down over three soapy bodies. They twirled Zo'kar around to rinse him off before bringing him to face Talla again.

"A little more help, I think," Talla said as she knelt once more.

Well, then.

She'd seen Tina do this just a few minutes ago -- and with such grace. Maybe in a little while she'd do it for Zhair'lo, too. Wouldn't he be surprised? Practice, then. She followed Tina's pattern, it being the only one she knew.

Her breasts were larger than Tina's which made the first part easier. If she got up high enough on her knees, she could lift one of her breasts up with one hand and use the other hand to rub his penis against it. He looked down in surprise as she traced the tip of her nipple along the underside of his penis.

"Just don't come," she warned him. "We'd be in ever so much trouble."

Zo'kar nodded and gulped.

It was the phrase Tina had used. Talla had copied it. Unbeknownst to either of them, it was a phrase that had been passed down for generations from one Primer to the next, spoken for centuries to almost every single boy on his first trip through this room.

"Make sure he's looking when you do it," Tina had advised. "They love eye contact."

He was looking at the ceiling, breathing deeply. Talla measured the strength of his erection. She had to be careful, she knew, but she didn't think he was that close. He wasn't even completely stiff yet.

She made a clicking sound with her tongue, just to get his attention and make him look down. He did. The moment their eyes met, she opened her mouth and did it. As quickly as she could, afraid that she would lose her nerve were she to delay, she took as much of his penis in to her mouth as she could. In fact, she took a little too much. The head was just hard enough to push down on the back of her tongue and she gagged in panic. She swallowed, hard, and managed not to pull completely off him.

Breathing through her nose, she managed to calm down. Back to work, then.

The sweet spot was supposed to be underneath. Erect as he was, the foreskin wasn't in the way. She could wiggle her tongue directly on that tender stretch of skin just behind the head of his penis.

He gasped.

Yep. That was the spot. There was a taste in her mouth. A bit bitter; a bit salty. A passing thought -- what would ejaculate taste like? Ignore. Go on. There was a job to do.

Someone knocked at the door. It was the series of four knocks that they called the two minute pattern. It meant that the next woman to be upgraded was about to be let in to the Chamber. Tina said nothing. She simply slid around Zo'kar and knelt beside Talla.

Carefully, they arranged themselves so Tina could work her tongue around Zo'kar's testicles while Talla continued to bob up and down on the end of his shaft. One of Tina's hands snaked around the back of Talla's leg and pinched. It was part of the code that Tina had quickly explained beforehand. That particular signal meant that the boy in question wasn't quite hard enough.

Talla agreed and started stroking Zo'kar as hard she could while sucking on the tip of his penis. Tina took his testicles in to her mouth. For his part, Zo'kar merely moaned, helpless under their ministrations.

Tina was getting nervous. They were pressed for time. She detached herself to fetch a towel, leaving Talla to maintain Zo'kar's erection. Tina then began ruthlessly drying the boy off. Talla had done the same thing when Tina had taken lead.

"Whatever you do," Tina had advised, "don't give up on him. Keep working him right to the last moment. He has to go out there in front of all of those people and that erection has to hold."

Tina deemed their charge dry enough and threw the beige shirt over his shoulders while Talla remained on her knees. Any moment now and that door would open to take him away. He was good and hard in her mouth. She felt like she'd done her job well.

On went the lower part of the robe. Talla kept her head underneath it while Tina fastened it around Zo'kar's waist. No point stopping now. She'd do it just like Tina had -- right up until the door opened.

She couldn't possibly walk on her knees to lead him over to the door. She had to stand and lead him by hand. When they got to the door, she went down again.

"Alright, kiddo," Tina said. "They're going to come for you in a second. You ready?"

Zo'kar nodded.

"Good. You'll do fine."

She kissed him on the cheek.

The door began to creep open. That was the last that Talla could do. She slid him gently out of her mouth and let the pleats of the bottom part of the robe fall around his erection.

"Good luck," she whispered hopefully as the door slid the rest of the way open.

Zo'kar nodded, still anxious but a little more certain, and strode forward.

-----==================----

The third boy had already been called in. Zhair'lo was left waiting with the men -- again. He didn't recognize any of them. All that mattered was that he was going to see Talla. They were doing an upgrade about every ten minutes tonight. He just had to wait a little while longer and he'd get to see her .

-----==================----

Talla had to admit that she was surprised by the size of the Augmentation Chamber. She'd never seen it in daylight, so she hadn't known how far the observing area behind the thrones of the Queen and Sorceresses went. It looked like there was seating space for at least two hundred women there, more if they got cozy enough on the benches.

The first two rows were reserved for those wearing orange and it was always the privilege of those of higher rank to push back those of lower rank. Tina swore that the seating arrangements could get pretty stratified if something important were to happen. But on this night no one particularly high ranking was getting upgraded, so there was plenty of room available.

They were told that A'kan and Zo'kar had both been successful. Indeed, Eletta had already washed herself and was sitting a few spaces over from them, not so discreetly examining her swollen breasts. Tina, Talla and Eletta had all missed the third upgrade of the night. The guard at the back of the Chamber had prevented them from entering. Women simply weren't allowed to come and go while an upgrade was in progress. Protocol ruled it out as too likely to cause a disturbance.

So they'd stood outside in the hall behind the Augmentation Chamber and waited until the third upgrade was done. Having seated themselves, they waited for the fourth upgrade to begin.

Talla was interested to watch it, just to see how it looked to someone on the outside. She also hoped that she hadn't missed Zhair'lo. What a disappointment it had been when Tina had told her it was time to leave.

"Leave?" she had asked. "Aren't there more?"

"We do two a night," Tina had replied. "Someone else will come for the next guys."

There was a short recess after each upgraded girl was led out. Attendants meticulously wiped down and dried the altars while the Officer with the spear watched officiously. Once the attendants scurried out of the way, the Officer took a signal from the Queen and went to fetch the next girl from the waiting room.

Whispers quieted down.

A quick knock and a quiet conversation. A moment later and the Officer was leading a fourth long-skirted Virgin in to the Chamber.

"There's a fourth one?" Talla whispered to Tina. "I thought there were only three recruits."

"There were," Tina said. "Didn't you see the docket?"

Talla shook her head.

"Sealed Virgin."

"What?"

Tina, wary of violating the Protocol that demanded silence, covered her mouth and spoke directly in to Talla's ear.

"Some girls don't take their first upgrades. So they bring a stronger Conduit and a stronger source."

Stronger Conduit? Did that mean Zhair'lo, then? It had to. She'd been damned disappointed to have missed him in the Priming room, but at least she hadn't missed watching him in the Chamber.

She listened in silence as the Officer introduced Nadine, just as Talla herself had been introduced.

"And what do you seek, Nadine out of Marta?" the Queen asked.

"Point, Highness. My first upgrade."

"I see no fault. What say you, Point?"

The Sorceress of Point, off to Talla's right, replied, "Neither see I any fault, Highness."

"Then who will stand for this Virgin?"

It was a bit eerie, watching the whole thing play out from the other side. It was so easy to look at that slight, brown-haired, white-clothed girl and imagine herself standing there.

"I will stand myself, Highness," the Sorceress of Point answered.

"Very well. Let it begin."

Which was the signal for the drums to begin beating.

The Sorceress dismounted her throne and came down the steps to meet the Virgin. Talla had met her own Sorceress but had entirely forgotten about the other Sorceress who had been there the night of her upgrade. The Sorceress of Point had just about the darkest skin Talla had ever seen on any woman. There were probably cities where skin of that colour was common, but Gern certainly wasn't one of them. It was an idle point of interest. Talla had more concern for the proceedings.

She could just make out Nadine's facial expression. The girl seemed a bit worried and more than just a little depressed. How many times had her upgrade failed to take? The Sorceress put a hand on the girl's shoulder, said something which seemed to comfort her, and began to undress. The bright green sash came off first. She folded it in a neat, green bundle and handed it to an attendant. It was followed by her bikini top.

Talla could only see the larger woman's muscular back. Firelight really did wonders for showing the contours of muscles. She couldn't even see Nadine around the larger woman. All she saw was an attendant take away Nadine's top.