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Sentences within one asterisk are private thoughts; sentences within two asterisks are shared or 'Voiced' thoughts. It's not an ideal method of distinguishing thought from dialogue, but it's what there is.

The helicopter banked over the valley one more time and then turned, heading back to the airstrip. I sat back and did calculations in my head. Numbers don't lie, and the numbers said this was going to be the big one. I closed my eyes, ignoring the chopper pilot, the way I ignore most people. It's safer that way.

Heading back into town in the stretch Hummer I shivered and came back to earth. The woman was sitting quietly, her dark eyes veiled. I couldn't remember her name, and she wasn't Beth, so I just looked at her.

'Celebration time, honey.' People do what I say. She smiled and raised the partition to exclude the driver, then began to unbutton the jacket of the dark business suit I'd insisted she wear; she wriggled out of the skirt and put it on the seat. She was wearing a maroon bra and wide-legged French knickers, matching hold-ups contrasting with the creamy skin of her thighs.

'Everything?' she asked. I eyed her for a moment.

'Leave the stockings.' She reached back and undid the bra, her ripe breasts scarcely sagging as she freed them, then lifted her ass and eased the knickers down. She parted her thighs and stroked her mound, ruffling the strip of dark hair that bisected it. As her finger dipped lower, slipping between her smooth labia, I unzipped my pants and extracted my cock. It was semi-flaccid, lolling in my hand like a fat pink animal.

'Wide open, fingers in, ' I muttered, caressing my cock luxuriously as it came to life, thickening and stretching. She used her other hand to hold her pussy lips apart and pushed one, then two fingers into herself. Her hips rose and she rolled the ball of her thumb over her clit. I watched as her nipples stiffened and stroked myself slowly, spreading precum over my glans, my eyes fixed on her face as she masturbated. She smiled again and glanced down. I followed her gaze and saw that she now had three fingers buried in herself, her wrist curved awkwardly as she pushed down on them.

Watching her as she thrust up towards her womb brought my cock to attention.

Watching was OK. Risking her life wasn't an option.

'OK.' She dropped to her knees, shuffling forward so that her mouth was poised over my crotch, and then looked up at me pleadingly.

'Deal with yourself later, ' I said as mildly as I could. 'You're on my time.' Her shoulders slumped slightly but she lifted her hands to my prick, holding the root delicately so that it stood away from my body, then paused, waiting. I leaned back and nodded. She lowered her head and drew me into her mouth, closing her lips hard over my shaft, and began to slide her tongue over and round the taut head.

I let sensation fill me as her mouth coaxed me to full erection. She was good, I thought.

Hell, for a grand a day, she should be good. Her breath was snuffling in her nostrils and I lifted my hips, forcing myself further into her. She squeezed the base of my cock and pulled her head up slightly.

'Keep going, honey.' I learned a long time ago that people respond well to displays of affection.

Hell, why not let her celebrate too? 'You wanna come, you can come, ' I said, filling my voice with warmth. She glanced up and her eyes thanked me, then her head dropped again and her mouth resumed its task, suckling me with renewed enthusiasm as one hand slipped between her legs.

Funny how they always do better when they think I care. The thought floated into my head as my balls tightened, and I felt her prepare for my ejaculation, one hand jacking me coaxingly, the other a blur, rubbing her clit as she whipped her tongue across my glans. I closed my eyes and groaned, thrusting deep into her mouth as my cum flooded into her. She quivered as she swallowed, faint tremors transmitting themselves to me, and I guessed she'd come as well. Well, why not? It wasn't costing me any extra.

'Off.' She obeyed immediately, moving back and reseating herself. Her neck and chest were flushed and her pussy was damp and glistening.

'Get dressed now, honey. We'll be at the hotel in a minute.' I tucked myself back into my pants.

Later that evening I rocked back in the chair, my calculations confirmed. It was as big as it could be, and it was all mine, and I'd be right up there with the serious players. My cock stirred. Might as well get my money's worth, I thought.

'You there, honey?' 'Where else would I be?' There was a hint of nervousness behind her casual answer.

Just as it should be. She was naked, her body glowing in the last rays of sunlight.

'You're on the clock again. Lube.' Apprehension and expectancy flickered over her face as she hurried to obey me. Maybe she gets off on it, I thought. Maybe I should be getting a discount, a little lagniappe to sweeten the deal. But what the hell could she offer that I didn't already have?

Don't ask that question. Don't try to answer it either. I stripped off my pants and boxers and settled myself on the sofa. She came back and knelt in front of me, looking at me questioningly.

'Like last night. You're heading into bonus country, honey.' She flushed, then dipped two fingers into the tub of lubricant and began to massage my cock gently. Her fingers slipped over my length, rubbing delicately as I grew. The lubricant spread over me as she worked, and the double vein along the bottom of my shaft began to pulse. She looked up at me again.

'Your turn and lemme watch.' I heard a touch of urgency in my voice. She immediately scooped more lubricant and swiveled, dropping to all fours and presenting her ass to me. One hand slipped between her legs and spread the gel round her pussy, and she held herself open.

'Not there, honey. Open your ass up for me.' My voice was hoarse now. She smeared her dark little ring, and pushed a finger into herself, then another, working lube over her inner walls. Better. I might hurt her, but she wouldn't die. I slid off the sofa and settled myself behind her, then closed my hands over her hips, my heavy cock nudging the crease of her buttocks.

'Showtime, honey.' Her fingers made a sucking noise as she pulled them out of her ass and my cock throbbed. Taking hold of me she raised her butt and pushed my glans down towards her anus. When the head was nuzzling her half-open sphincter she pushed back, and after the briefest resistance I breached the slackened ring of muscle and was nestling just inside her. I moved slowly, flexing myself, settling myself comfortably before working my girth deeper. Her breath caught and I felt her muscles tighten, then relax.

I leaned forward, gaining another inch, and she gasped as I rolled my hips and widened her passage even further. I pushed again, the engorged veins of my cock gliding past her gates, and nearly smiled as a moan was forced out of her. My breath was quickening, and I withdrew slightly. She held herself open, then forced herself back and I felt my pubic hair tickle her ass. I grunted and began to stroke, holding her hips hard, taking my time, savoring each slow thrust. Getting my money's worth, I thought.

I did my best to keep it slow, and for a while I managed, and then couldn't help but tense up, my thrusts becoming more urgent; she squeezed her sphincter down hard on my shaft, her fingers dancing over her slit, reaching back to my balls and stroking them, sliding forward again and rolling her slippery clit. I didn't have the heart to tell her stop.

I drew my breath in with a sobbing gasp and my balls grazed her perineum as they tightened, then I swelled inside her and my contractions began. The hot spurts bathed her bowel, and her ass quaked round me. Hell, she did get off on it, I thought as her ring tightened again over my softening cock.

'OK, honey. Wash up time and then sleep. Don't make any noise: I gotta busy day tomorrow.'

My shirt was damp with sweat as I wrestled the four by four up the narrow track. I'd seen the cabin from the air, and the map insisted that this was the only access, but Jesus, it was going to take some work to make it fit for heavy vehicles. Six miles so far, and branches were brushing both sides of the jeep.

Maybe I should have delegated this part, I thought humorlessly, and then almost smiled.

No way. No way was I sharing this with anyone till it was watertight. I'd checked out of the hotel, sent the girl back to the coast with a good bonus, ignoring her tears when I told her I didn't do goodbye kisses, picked up the rental jeep and set off by myself. This was the last piece: land, access, agreements, contracts; get them nailed down and then tell the fucking world I was on my way.

I braked, a surge of annoyance filling me. Two thick trunks were almost touching, leaning across the track like sentinels. It'd take three hours and a power saw to get the jeep past them. I sighed and squeezed out of the vehicle. Nothing wrong with feet, and at least I was dressed for the part. The trunks loomed over me menacingly as I ducked under them, and a shiver ran down my back. They'd be gone soon, I thought as I carried on up the trail.

A mile further on the timber thinned and the trail finished in the clearing I'd seen from the chopper. I stopped and wiped my forehead as I examined the scene. A couple of horses and three cows grazing placidly on the two or three acres of springy turf; a stream hurrying along one side of the clearing, falling from the steep slope above me; an old-timey cabin with a wisp of smoke leaking out of a clay chimney. Hell, I thought, as I started towards it, the damn thing looks as if it grew from seed. Two hundred years old, maybe. It must have been almost the first building erected when this part of the country was opened up. I paused five yards from the steps that led up to the porch.

'Hello, the house.' I was proud of that. Someone told me once it was what country folk said when they visited. There was no reply, and I called again. 'Hello, the house.' Silence. I shrugged to myself. Might as well wait on the porch. There was a rocker there that looked as if it had seen some use. I put my foot on the first step, then my head started buzzing and everything went black.

I was prone, and the gentle rasp of soft wool was caressing my body. I tried to sit up, but it was as if I was trying to lift an impossible weight. I tensed and pushed, and felt my breath being remorselessly squeezed from my body. When I relaxed the pressure disappeared. I lay, panting slightly, and tried to move my head. No problem there.

I was on a low wooden bed in what must have been the large single room of the cabin. I could see comfortable looking furniture and a big scrubbed table. At the end of the room was a range with a flat stone top, and a naked woman stood, her back to me, stirring something in a clay pot. A mane of blonde hair spilled over her shoulders, reaching almost to the dimples above her buttocks, and beneath it generous hips flared into a succulent, ripe ass. Strong thighs and sturdy, shapely calves led my eye down to her bare feet. She reached over to add something to the pot and I caught a glimpse of a rich, full breast, heavy and firm.

What the fuck is happening? As if she'd heard my thought the woman turned and glided across the room to me.

'Awake, huh? Gaia, but the housewarden surely hit you a big one. It's been a coupla hours. I been wonderin' whether I'd hafta bury you out back.' She stood, hands on hips, her breasts, capped by dark rose nipples, swinging slightly as she leant over me. Her waist was slim and her stomach curved smoothly down to a thicket of blonde hair. Her face was deeply tanned, like the rest of her, but unlined. She was past forty I guessed, but her scent and bearing were those of a younger woman. She was beautiful and she looked slightly embarrassed.

'Warden hit on you to stop you enterin', I guess, ' she said apologetically. 'She's gettin' kinda old, kinda stubborn. The thing is, she ain't gonna let you get up, and I can't make her change her fool mind. Warden listens to Sapphire, and she'll be back in a while, but ... tell the truth there ain't nuthn' I can do and it's kinda shameful. You wanna drink?' Part of me wanted to protest, to threaten, to wave lawyers at her, but ... she looked so anxious and her explanation seemed so reasonable that I just nodded. It was almost as if I already knew her.

'Maybe some water, ' I said. She nodded and looked fixedly at the ceiling, muttering under her breath, then appeared to be listening.

'Sit up, yes, get up, no. I don't know what in Gaia's gotten into her. She surely smacked you good. I felt the hit from t'other side of the clearing. You plannin' to rob me maybe?' As she spoke she slipped one arm under my shoulders and drew me effortlessly upright, using her other hand to pull the pillows forward. The rhythm of her voice tugged at my memory. One of the foster homes. The lady had died and the state had taken me back. Her breast was brushing my shoulder as she supported me. I matched my voice to hers.

'I don't know what's happening, ma'am, nor who you are, unless you're the owner of this here land: if that's you, then you're Mrs. Salvaterra. Hell, I'm no thief. I just wanna make you rich.' The pillows were arranged to her satisfaction and she stood up, looking at me curiously.

'My name's Ayesha, and you better not laugh. Whaddya mean rich? Like metal rich?' Two immediate riddles. Why would I laugh at her name? And what was "metal rich"?

'Money rich.' She snorted, as if I'd said something foolish...

'Metal, money, whatever you people call it now. Metal's like syrup: a little oughta go a long way. How you plannin' to make an old lady rich then?' Her voice was warm and interested and I noticed that her eyes were very blue; deep and blue and inviting, wanting to know what I could do for her. I started the pitch, but a fit of enthusiasm took me and I heard myself telling her everything. Everything. I poured it all out and set it at her feet, like a dog bringing back a stick, and the part of me that was screaming to shut the fuck up didn't stand a chance. Finally I ran down. She was looking stern, and reminded me of a doctor with bad news to deliver.

'Lemme get this straight. Takin' away the snake oil, what you wanna do is sluice all the earth in the valley down into the river, where you're gonna put it in some kinda machine, and use poison to get some kinda rare metal out of it, and then haul the metal away and sell it so's you get more metal and then go away and leave everything dead.

And you want this here land because it's the only way you're gonna be able to haul the metal and the dead stuff away, seein' as everything else is Federal. That about right?' She stared at me and I cursed myself for saying so much.

What the hell came over you? 'Ma'am, Ayesha, there are hundreds of millions of cubic yards of earth in that valley, and it's loaded with ore. Hell, it's the cheapest deposit to process I've ever seen: net after processing could be around a dollar a yard, and that's a pure miracle.' More like two dollars a yard, but that's not the point. 'Ten cents in the dollar for you, ma'am, royalty payments, and you wouldn't have to do a thing. Buy yourself a slice of paradise, have whatever you want. This place is quaint, I guess, but it's no place for a rich woman to live.' My brain caught up with my mouth and I stopped.

Jesus Christ, I've just suggested a partnership. What the hell is happening? When she replied her voice was outraged. 'Gaia's core. I seen people like you before, long time ago. You wanna kill the whole valley and the river as well, just for metal, and you think I'll help you? I never heard such madness in my life. Good job Sapphire's not here, or you'd be singin' soprano right now. You mind if I probe?' 'Ma'am?' She looked at me consideringly, then closed her eyes. My head started to buzz again, and I stiffened, then relaxed as the buzzing faded away. I felt safe and warm, as if my mom had just bathed me, and tucked me up tight, and was going to come kiss me goodnight in a minute ... Anger flooded through me like lava and my eyes jerked open.

'What fucking mom?' My voice was raw and I struggled to get up but the weight crashed onto my chest again. Ayesha had staggered back and was cradling her head in her hands.

'Gaia, there ain't ten alive today who can stun like that... ' She stopped and examined my face. 'Fool housewarden was right. You're rogue blood... ' 'What the hell are you talking about, lady?' Another wave of anger crackled through me, the sort of rage that makes people agree quickly to what I want, and she winced slightly. I looked at her squarely, wondering why she was so shocked. She spoke again, more hesitantly.

'You don't know? So how in Gaia's name can you stun?

'I know you tried to hypnotize me or some damn thing, and tried to make me think you were my mom. You do that to everyone? You better let me up, lady, before I get annoyed.' A deeper part of me wondered interestedly why the idea of an invisible bodyguard in the ceiling didn't seem more peculiar.

'I wouldn't ha' gone past the surface, ' she said defensively. She seemed to have retreated into a careful wariness. 'But you are one sick puppy, Peter Rogue Campbell. I ain't seen the metal-sickness so bad since forty-nine. We're gonna wait for Sapphire.

You're too much for one old woman and a cranky warden.' 'How come you know my name? You been into my wallet? My laptop?' She shook her head.

'Your clothes and the thinkin' machine and the talkin' machine are on the porch.

Warden's watchin' them.' She ran her hands through her mane of blonde her and shook herself. 'I'll get you that water.' I watched her as she moved to a wooden pail that stood next to the range and bent to pour a dipperful of water into a mug. The pose showed me a hint of pussy, plump and dark rose like her nipples and I felt my cock stirring under the blanket. As I tried to draw my legs up to hide the tent something slammed them flat.

She came back with the mug.

'Don't try to get up. The warden knows you now, and you can't stun an avatar, even an old one.' Her eyes dropped to the blanket and her lips quirked in amusement. 'Held down by a warden and sicker than I ever seen, and you can still manage that? You're some kinda strong. Let's take a peek.' She flicked the blanket off and exposed me.

'Well, Gaia's womb, will you take a look at that? Must be my birthday.' I felt myself flush scarlet. My cock was pointing rigidly upwards, straining, painfully hard, and a naked woman, older than me, was standing, hands on hips, looking at it clinically. A drop of precum squeezed out of me and fell slowly to my stomach, suspended on a glistening string. Ayesha dropped to her knees beside the bed and grasped me gently, weighing my cock in her hand. She licked her lips.

'You mind?' Without waiting for a reply she leaned forward and drew me into her mouth, a look of concentration flickering across her face as her lips slid down my shaft and her tongue explored my bursting glans. Her head lifted.

'Well, you surely are of the blood after all. A lotta people got the look, and you can't set no store by that, but you got the double vein and the taste and everything, and that ain't for fakin'. And the warden managed to get you before you could block. You must be slippin.' She was grinning from ear to ear and suddenly looked twenty years younger.

'Whoo boy! You stay right where you are, Mr. Rogue who don't know a damn thing.' She said the name ironically and then sank her mouth over my cock again, humming deep in her throat as she worked her lips down the shaft.

Her mouth felt right. That's the only way I can describe it. Hell, blowjobs are blowjobs, some better, some worse, and the worst one I ever had was great, but this was of a different order. Her full lips caressed me and her mouth was a warm cavern of delight, a soft glove fitting itself round me and suckling me tenderly. Her eyes were closed, her thick lashes trembling on her high cheekbones. The scarcely audible humming never stopped and my shaft quivered as the vibrations rippled along it. One hand crept to the base of my cock and lifted me slightly, letting me slip deeper into her mouth, and the other slid into her crotch, pushing through the tangled fleece as her fingers searched for her own pleasure zones. I tried to move my hips but couldn't, still trapped and immobile while my balls tightened under her ministrations. My breath was thickening as the pressure mounted, then the door burst open.

'There's a jeep on the trail and a laptop on the porch and ... MOTHER! What in hell's name are you doing?' Ayesha's head whipped up and my cock thudded against my belly.

Framed in the doorway stood a naked young woman, a backpack slung casually over one shoulder. She was a slimmer version of Ayesha: the same blonde hair, but cut short on top and neatly trimmed below; the same ripe figure, but more slender, the flesh tauter and less weather-tanned; the same heartstopping face; as beautiful as her mother, but a fresher, less experienced beauty. Her blue eyes were snapping fire and she looked ready to kill.

'Who the hell is this, and why the hell are you blowing him, and why the hell is the warden wound up like a cocoon, and you'd better start explaining right now.' Ayesha had risen to her feet...

'I don't like you usin' them metal world curses, Sapphire, and I'd be purely grateful if you quit. It ain't the sort of language to use in front of your mother. I never shoulda let you assimilate so much. Now close your mouth and listen, and when you done that, talk to the warden. She's crankier than an unmilked goat.' Mother and daughter faced each other and I sensed a faint faraway buzzing. Part of me knew they were communicating and the rest of me wondered how I knew. Moments passed like hours as I watched them. Sapphire's eyes got wider and her jaw dropped slightly. Then she looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. After a minute she lowered her head and looked at her mother again.

'Are you sure?' Ayesha shrugged and jerked a thumb at me.

'Look at him hard and close, ' she said, 'and if you wanna check, taste him. Gaia's womb, girl, if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.' The younger woman turned and looked at me.

'Who are you really, Mr. Campbell?' Her eyes were as compelling as her mother's and I closed my own in self-defense.

'Either I've gone crazy and you're a hallucination, or you two are a pair of crazies, or there's something I don't have a damn clue about. I came up here on business.' I paused. 'I guess it's me that's crazy. I ought to be spitting nails, but I'm not, and damned if I know why.' I felt a whisper of breath on my face and opened my eyes. She was leaning over me, so close I could feel the warmth of her body. One perfect breast brushed my chest as she examined me. Her blue eyes were mesmerizingly deep. She shuffled back and examined my cock with care, then straightened up and shook her head slightly.

'Hell, I don't know. Will you excuse me a minute?' Before I could answer she took me into her mouth, swallowing me right to the base, then letting me slide slowly out as her tongue probed and swirled. Her eyes were half-closed and she looked as if she was blind-tasting a fine wine. I half-expected her to spit. Her hand snaked under my buttocks and I felt her finger slide into me. My cock jerked involuntarily and as she bent her finger and rotated it I ejaculated without warning. Her cheeks bulged as she took my seed, then she lifted her head, her lips tightly closed, and stood up. I was still spurting and the last gouts landed on my belly, trickling and pooling in my navel. She swirled my semen round her mouth, then swallowed and beckoned her mother.

'Taste.' Ayesha knelt and sucked the cum out of my navel, performing the same ritual.

Then she swallowed too and their eyes met. Sapphire nodded imperceptibly and turned to me.

'What's your real name, rogue?' I was still gasping from her attentions. I wanted her mouth on me again so badly that it hurt. Her lips had felt as if they were taking me to a place where I belonged.

'My name's Peter Campbell because anything was better than John Doe.' She frowned, and when she spoke again her voice was harsh.

'My mother and I are going to deep probe you, Mr. Campbell, and the warden will be watching. If you try to stun she'll hit you so hard you won't wake up for a week. OK?' I felt a surge of fear and tried to hide it.

'Don't try to make me think you're my mom.' I closed my eyes and clamped my lips shut. After a moment the buzzing began in my head again. I tried to resist it for a while and it faded, but then it came back with a rush and everything went black again.

The cabin was bright with evening sun. I was still naked and my head ached like a bastard and I still couldn't move, but I didn't care about that: I had more pressing needs.

I turned my head and was eyeball to eyeball with Sapphire. She was kneeling, watching me closely. Her eyes looked different somehow, and when she spoke her voice was mellower, more as if I was a person.

'How are you feeling?' 'Lousy, and ten seconds away from incontinence. Do I just piss where I am?' Her hand flew to her mouth.

'I hadn't thought.' She stood and looked at the ceiling, muttering something authoritative, then turned back to me. 'She's still suspicious, but she'll behave. Up you get. Behind that partition in the corner.' She bent and raised me by the shoulders and I managed to swing my legs off the bed. They still felt heavy and I was forced to shuffle.

She shadowed me, obviously trying to avoid helping.

'Your thug still has hold of me, ' I said grumpily, 'and I feel about a hundred ten years old.' She almost smiled and piloted me round the screen.

'In the corner where the drain is. If you need to squat, go ahead. It goes down to a composting pit.' I did as I was told and felt a wave of relief swirl through me as my bladder emptied. She politely averted her eyes as I performed.

'You'll feel better if you have a shower, ' she said when I'd finished. 'It's cold, but very clean. Twist that pipe above your head.' I tried to reach up but my arms weighed about thirty-seven tons each and I couldn't raise them higher than my waist. She made an exasperated noise and stepped into the cubicle with me. 'I'm sorry about this. When we've talked and you understand a bit more she'll relax. She's very old and very set in her ways.' She was standing distractingly close to me and I could smell a light floral scent that seemed to rise from every part of her. She twisted the pipe and a sudden stream of ice-cold water exploded over us. I gasped involuntarily.

'It comes straight from the stream. Can you handle it?' I managed to shrug.

'I never had a hot shower till I was eighteen, except in the foster homes, and not all of those. Soap?' She reached behind her and picked up a pot of what looked like mud.

'Scoop and scrub. Mom mixes it and it's the best.' The cold water had tightened her nipples into hard little knots and my cock stirred, brushing her thigh. She raised her eyebrows but said nothing, then looked at my dangling arms.

'Damn warden. I'll scrub you. Stand out of the flow and hold still.' She scooped up a handful of mud, put the pot back on the shelf and started at my neck. The goop was slightly gritty and rubbed up into an astringent lather which she spread over my chest and shoulders with firm, strong strokes. She squeezed round me and treated my back the same way, then squatted and I felt her hands running over my buttocks and down my legs. She swatted me. 'Don't tense up.' Her fingers teased into the crease of my ass and cleaned the day's sweat away with a couple of firm swipes. I felt her straighten up and she moved round to face me again. She scooped a little more soap-paste, then dropped to her knees and began to wash my stomach, her hands sliding over me, moving inexorably downwards. The inevitable happened and I felt myself thickening in anticipation. The cold water sluicing down my back didn't seem to have any effect. Her hand slid past my groin and grasped me.

'There isn't much that puts you off, is there?' Her hands moved busily, lathering my crotch and groin and my cock grew as she worked, till it was straining upwards. She cupped my balls experimentally. 'Still full? I'll help you with that in a minute.' She stood and tipped more goop into her hand and rubbed it into my hair. 'Good job you keep it short. I don't know how mom manages with hers, but she won't cut it ... stand back and rinse.' I rotated slowly under the stream, letting the lather slide away, and tried to force myself to think. Mt headache had gone but I still didn't know what was happening. She and her mother had put me to sleep and when I'd woken up everything had changed: I was being treated like family, and now it looked as if I was going to get another blowjob. It wasn't just country hospitality, and why wasn't I doing something to satisfy my curiosity? I felt weary and passive and at the back of my head there was an unfamiliar sense of being safe. She twisted the pipe closed then sank to her knees in front of me again and grasped my balls gently. The tip of her tongue flickered out and swirled over the head of my cock and my attempts at thought vanished.