Panthera Spelaea Ch. 21-30

The banging on the bedroom door ruined the post-coital moment we were having. "Get up! That stuff smells too good to leave on the counter," Anna said. "Shower up, and I'll get it heated."

"Fine," Svetlana replied as we sat up in the bed. I took the opportunity to suck on the nipple that ended up in front of my face. She gasped at the sensation then swatted the top of my head. "Behave."

"I don't hear any complaints," I said as she pushed me away and stood up. "Can I join you?"

"The food will get cold again if that happens." Yep, probably so. "Get in the shower while I change the sheets. We're going to work you out after dinner, so wear running gear." I grabbed shorts, socks, and a T-shirt and headed for the bathroom. I held it in front, but that didn't stop Anna from commenting on my bare ass as I ducked through the door.

I was out five minutes later, and a naked Svetlana pushed me towards the kitchen instead of pulling me back to bed. "Help Anna with the table," she told me. I watched her duck through the door, unable to look away from the perfection that was her posterior. Makeup sex had been great, slow, and sensual, but later tonight? I was going to hit dat ass that so hard I'd spotweld to it. I hope the neighbors didn't hear too much of it.

We'd found two bugs in the apartment, with no idea how long they had been there. The girls knew not to say anything, so we left them alone. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner as we talked about things we might like to do. Anna wanted to take us dancing, while Svetlana hoped to show me the city.

While Anna was clearing the table, Svetlana got her medical bag and a notebook and started with my physical workup. My blood pressure and pulse were both excellent, on par with elite athletes. My pulse was 50 compared to a previous normal of 64. She had me do burpees for a minute, and it only got up to 90 before returning to normal a minute later. She raised an eyebrow as she wrote it down. "You didn't have vital stats this good in the hospital."

A hearing test was next. I downloaded an app to my phone, then took it while wearing earbuds. I didn't have previous results to compare with, but I was in the top percentile, noticeably better than Svetlana or Anna when they tried. They didn't know how to test my nose, at least until Anna had an idea. She pulled a peppermint candy out of her purse, let me smell it, then had me duck into the bathroom while they hid it. I was able to find it using only my nose in less than a minute. "I can't smell it unless it's under my nose," Svetlana complained.

We ended with a vision test with a Snellen chart, the old "read the smallest line you can at twenty feet" test. 20/20 vision means you can see at 20 feet what 'normal' people could see at twenty feet. My distance vision was better than 20/5, meaning I could read at twenty feet what most could read at five feet. Then I repeated the test with the curtains drawn and almost no light, getting the same result while Svetlana couldn't read a single line.

Once Anna was done, we went over to the park across the street and found a level patch of grass by an exercise area. Svetlana and I decided to start with the US Navy SEAL Physical Fitness Test to compare me against elite athletes, excepting the swim since we didn't have an Olympic-size pool. "We start with pushups, two minutes as many as you can do," Anna said. She had the watch while Svetlana kept the notebook.

I pumped out one hundred and fifteen pushups in two minutes.

Situps came next after a two-minute break. I had Svetlana hold my ankles while Anna timed them; one hundred and eight.

We moved over to the pullup bar. This test had no time limit; it went until you can't continue. I cranked out eighty-seven before I dropped off the bar.

Last was the 1.5-mile run (2.414 km). Luckily, there was a trail map available with the lengths of each segment accurately measured. Anna worked out a route that was 2.5 km and headed to the finish line. I took my mark, and when Anna was ready, Svetlana phoned her and gave the start command. I ran fast, passing other runners like they were standing still, and finished in seven minutes and thirteen seconds.

And I wasn't even breathing that hard. "How did I do," I asked the girls after my cooldown walk.

"You smoked this thing," Svetlana said with wide eyes. "The advanced standard would be more than a hundred pushups and situps, 20 pullups, and a nine-minute run. You're demonstrating elite-athlete level performance, and you've barely worked out!"

"I wish we had some weights to see how much you can lift," Anna said.

"Come here," I said. I stood on a concrete bench while Anna held on to my hand. I lifted her until my arm was straight up above my head without straining myself. "Svetlana? Grab on." I picked up both of them without a struggle.

"How fucking strong are you," Anna said as I let them down. "Between us, we weigh a hundred and ten kilograms!"

"I have no idea."

"We're going to have to find a gym to find out for sure," Svetlana said. It was getting dark. "One that's empty and doesn't have cameras in it."

"I think we know enough for now," I told them. "I was a college athlete, not elite, but very much in shape. I couldn't approach what I did today despite working out six days a week as a younger man. Something changed in me."

"But what? These changes don't make ANY medical sense," Anna complained. "I have to do more research."

"Don't do it at home," I told her. "The cops could be watching that too."

"Yeah." Svetlana had this look of worry, probably because she couldn't understand what was happening to me. I worried too, but more in a 'Flowers for Algernon' way. Were the changes coming at the expense of something else, like life expectancy? Nothing is free, after all.

We gathered our stuff and started walking back to their apartment, one girl on each side. We cut through an alley, and I stopped by a flatbed delivery truck parked in the shadows. "Watch this," I said. Going to the back bumper, I squatted down and started to lift. I stopped when I got both back wheels off the pavement, then held it for ten seconds before lowering it again. "No problem," I said as I wiped the dirt and rust off my hands.

Anna's eyes bugged out while Svetlana's mouth was catching flies. "Let's get back to the apartment and have dessert," I told them. Svetlana put on the movie while Anna got the three big pieces of Kyiv Cake from the kitchen. The cake was tasty; the chocolate cake with colored buttercream flowers on top included meringue, hazelnuts, fruit jam, and a buttercream-like filling. I ate mine and most of Svetlana's as we snuggled on the couch.

My plans for hot sex went out the window when Svetlana fell asleep halfway through the movie. I carried her back to bed, undressed her, then used the bathroom and crawled in with her.

Sleep didn't come easily that night as I thought through everything we'd done. I finally dropped off with Lana draped across my body and my nose buried in her hair.

Ch. 22

Svetlana showed me Moscow the next day. We rode the subway downtown without incident and spent the entire day sightseeing in Red Square. My hometown of Houston didn't have a long architectural history, and even the Boston area was proud of its 300-year old buildings. Red Square had buildings constructed in 1491, and they were beautiful.

We ended up in the famous Glavnyi Universalny Magazin (Main Universal Store) at lunchtime. In the Communist days, this was the store for the elite of the Soviet Union to shop, but now it was a fancy shopping mall with a glass ceiling over the central walkway. We went to the top floor at one end to Stolovaya № 57, a Soviet-style cafeteria with good Russian food at affordable prices. It was good, and I got a lot, taking it out to one of the tables overlooking the big mall. After lunch, we got ice cream and walked along the brightly lit central atrium to the other side.

My girlfriend had never been one of the rich, so she wasn't used to shopping at the high-end boutiques that served the Russian elite. I didn't care; I had money and someone to spoil, so I was going to, but not now. We toured the Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed, built on orders of Ivan the Terrible, plus the park behind it overlooking the Moscow River. We also toured Spasskaya Bashnya, "Tower of the Saviour," which was commissioned by Ivan the Great. I skipped Lenin's Tomb but enjoyed the State Historical Museum. "We barely saw half the sights, plus we didn't pick up anything to bring home," Svetlana said as we took a break on a bench.

"We can't do it all at once," I told her. It had been a fun day for new love, full of hand-holding, stolen kisses, and blushing glances. I looked at my phone; it was almost four-thirty. "Let's rest for a bit; your feet must be sore." Guys, few things short of great sex beat a foot massage after your woman has been on her feet all day. I had a travel-sized tube of lotion in my pocket for just this purpose, and I put that planning to good use. She was moaning and putty in my hands in moments. I loved the looks of the couples passing by, with lots of jealous looks from the ladies.

I was finishing up when a familiar voice came from behind us. "хорошего дня светлана (Good day, Svetlana)?"

"Anna! What are you doing here?"

"Your boyfriend invited me to join the two of you tonight," she said. She was wearing a shimmering gold formal dress and heels, looking like a billion rubles ready to head out on the town.

Svetlana looked confused. "That's new. Where are we going with you dressed like that?"

Anna looked at me like I was in trouble. "You didn't tell her?"

I smiled. "I like to keep Lana on her toes. Plus, I wanted to wait until you were here to help her pick something out."

Svetlana looked between the two of us. "What is going on?"

"Dinner at the Metropole Hotel in an hour, then Giselle at the Bolshoi Theater at seven. We'd better get you going so we can get your dress and shoes."

Her mouth dropped, then the panic set in. She looked a little like a fish on the dock. "An HOUR! I have NOTHING to wear and no money to buy anything!"

"Trust us," I told her. We went back into GUM, where the sales lady at the dress shop greeted Anna like an old friend. The sales lady already knew Svetlana's sizes and preferences and had a dozen dresses and matching heels ready for her to try on.

"How?" Anna pointed her towards the dressing room, where the choices waited, as I sat on a bench.

Anna just laughed. "I've been here since three. John gave me instructions to buy a dress and shoes for the ballet and to set this up before meeting you at four-thirty."

Svetlana nearly screamed when she saw the price on the dress. "JOHN! I can't afford this!"

"I can't afford to walk into the ballet without you on my arm. Pick the dress you like and don't worry about it. I wasn't able to spend much of my money in Siberia."

I could hear the animated talk in Russian of the three ladies but couldn't keep up. When Svetlana stepped out, she almost gave me a heart attack.

She struck a runway pose, smiling as her hips swung over the four-inch heels. The dress was silver, the shimmering fabric hugging her fantastic figure. The sleeveless design exposed tantalizing bits of cleavage, and the high cut showed plenty of tanned skin as she walked. Somehow my brain worked enough to ask her to turn around. The back showed the impossibility of wearing a bra, while the tight fabric showed off Lana's heart-shaped backside. The dress ended just above her heels. "That dress should be illegal," I told her.

"You like it?"

"Like is too weak a word." She and Anna smiled and ducked back inside. I went to another store in the big mall, putting on my rental tuxedo and leaving my old clothes in a bag. When I returned, they were still in the dressing rooms. They tried on a few more but decided on the silver dress and heels. The two came back out in her regular clothes. A young lady took her to another room, doing her makeup and hair for the night as the seamstresses made minor adjustments to the dress.

Seeing the two of them together was worth every ruble I spent in the store. There was not a man in Moscow who would not be jealous of me tonight.

We took a horse-drawn carriage from the GUM door to the Metropole Hotel. The next surprise for Svetlana was when a porter took our bags up to our room. Yes, we were staying the night in the historic hotel. "What about you," Svetlana asked her roommate.

"I'm not wasting a moment in this dress," she told me. "I'm hitting the clubs, and then I'll come by late at night after you two quiet down for the night. John got a double room so I'd have a place to sleep."

Dinner at the Metropole was every bit the fine dining experience, and I could tell how special it was for the two Russian nurses. I was right; every person in the place looked over at us, wondering if I was a celebrity or if they were models.

The Bolshoi Ballet was nearby and lived up to its international reputation. My mother insisted on exposing her children to the classics, so this wasn't my first rodeo. For me, it was like watching the difference between American soccer leagues and the best European teams. They were doing the same things, but the talent difference was apparent. We had champagne and caviar during the intermission and retired to the hotel bar when the performance was over. "Today was magical," Svetlana said as she leaned into me at the booth.

"You're not falling asleep on me tonight," I promised her.

"That's my cue to head out," Anna said with a giggle. "Don't wait up for me."

The room was luxurious, overlooking the city with a big bathroom with a shower and a soaking tub. I put my jacket on the chair as I pulled the sheer drape closed. I didn't want anyone else seeing my woman tonight. I slowly unzipped her dress, covering her back with kisses as I slid it to the floor. Draping it over the chair, I turned her around. She was heart-stoppingly gorgeous in heels, garter, and stockings. My hand moved up her thigh, finding her hot and ready underneath the lacy panties she was wearing. I dropped to my knees, tossing one of her legs over my shoulder as I put my face to her wet sex. "JOHN!" She was primed and ready after the night's events, and it only took a few licks and a nibble to send her over the edge. I drank up her release, holding her legs as she rode out the orgasm. "So good."

I smiled and stood up, wiping my face with a handkerchief. Svetlana returned the favor, slowly unbuttoning my shirt and removing it as she kissed my chest. She sucked on a nipple as her hands undid my belt and pants, letting them drop to the ground. Lana dropped to her knees, taking my underwear with her before finishing getting me naked. I was painfully erect as I stood over her, and she knew EXACTLY what she was doing to me. Looking up at me, my girl smiled and took my hard cock into her warm mouth. "You've been hard all night," she said as she popped off me.

"I'm only human, and you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

She went back to work for a minute, then stopped and looked up. "The first one will take the edge off. Please take me long and hard tonight. Claim me and let the world know you are mine."

She took me deep into her throat, swallowing around me as my orgasm roared in like a tornado. "Oh God, Svetlana, I'm going to cum!" She grabbed my ass, pulling me close as I started blasting my release into her throat. I felt like I'd been coming forever by the time she let me pull out. I saw stars from cumming so hard. "Wow."

"Shower, soak, and round two?"

"I love the way you think." We made love three more times before finally going to sleep just after two in the morning. I woke up when Anna came in, but Svetlana didn't even stir, and I was asleep before she exited the bathroom. We woke late, just in time to check out and eat the buffet downstairs before going shopping again.

Life was perfect.

Ch. 23

Anna hadn't gotten much sleep and didn't feel like staying up all day shopping, so she took Svetlana's dress and shoes with her and headed home. We headed back to Red Square for a few more hours touring, then to GUM for some afternoon shopping.

My girlfriend had been reluctant to accept me buying things for her, but I finally convinced her that I had money and I liked doing it for her. I promised not to go overboard, though. I bought her a pair of earrings, some sportswear, and a bag of unmentionables from a lingerie shop she bought without me. We spent more time shopping for food and drinks than anything else. After all, I was eating a lot.

My metabolism was off the charts when it came to food. I figured I was eating twice as much as before, and Svetlana's notebook backed that up. Despite the extra food, I hadn't gained any weight since I left the hospital. "I don't know where you put it," she complained as I polished off my big lunch, half of hers, and dessert. "I just LOOK at cheesecake, and I gain weight."

"I'll help you work it off," I promised. I'd have to figure out the best way to do that. She couldn't keep up to my pace, and I wouldn't find a workout sticking to her running pace.

"You did a fine job of that last night," she said as we ducked into a store selling hundreds of kinds of aged cheese. Their apartment didn't have a large kitchen or refrigerator, so we favored foods we could store at room temperature, including smoked meats, canned foods, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Svetlana's phone rang as we sampled various cheeses while the store owner talked about them. "Work," she said as she walked a few steps away. I pretended to look at the merchandise while focusing on listening in on the conversation. I didn't catch it all, but I could smell Svetlana's reaction.

Fear.

She hung up, white as a sheet. I walked over and pulled her into my arms as she began to cry. "What's going on?"

"I've been suspended pending completion of an investigation!" She wiped tears away, still clinging to me and speaking softly so no one would overhear. "Someone lodged a formal complaint with the hospital, claiming I had sex with a patient under my care! I'd never do that!"

It didn't take me long to figure out what was going on. "Viktor Kaprisov," I told her. "His lies about you being an agent didn't break us up, so now he's going after you to get me."

"But I didn't do anything!"

"I know, baby, but he doesn't care who he hurts to take me down." She buried her face against my chest as she processed all this. "What did he tell you about the investigation?"

"I have an interview at noon tomorrow."

I rubbed her back. "It's going to be all right," I told her. "This isn't about you. If they are smart, they'd know how good a nurse you are and how stupid this complaint is. There's no evidence, so it's just harassment."

"I can't afford to lose my job!"

"I won't let that happen." I got her calmed down, and we continued shopping. Her mood had changed, and I could tell her heart wasn't in it anymore. We at dinner at the Bosco Café, then purchased some boxed desserts to take home. By the time we returned to the subway station, I had six shopping bags full of purchases.

Anna was awake when we got home, and she'd gotten a call as well. She had to go in to work early tomorrow night and meet with Human Resources, but they hadn't told her why. I made dinner while my roommates discussed what was going on in Russian in the living room.

The news put a damper on the mood, and an hour later, I knew I had to distract them. "Who wants to go see FC Spartak play Arsenal Tula?" I'd checked their schedule while thinking about date ideas since their stadium wasn't far from here. Spartak was the second-place soccer team in the Russian Premier League, but you could get tickets if you were willing to pay for them.