It was about four-thirty when Callie entered the clearing that had the location most squarely in the middle of the lodge's hunting field. In their two previous encounters, Amanda had entered the open space with the sun to her back and the sun was now low enough in the sky to make this tactic even more advantageous. However, it occurred to Callie that Amanda might vary her pattern this time, counting on the fact that Callie would be expecting her to be consistent.

Or not.

Nothing could be taken for granted.

Callie had scouted the area around the clearing very well, and she knew that there were some advantages that this particular location had, including a very special one, but she wasn't confident that she would have a chance to make use of any of them.

Only three and a half hours left before the hunt was due to end.

Three and a half more hours to experience the tingling excitement of knowing that Amanda and her raging hunger for human flesh were out there.

A day of high tension had given Callie some pain in her shoulders and she administered one-handed self-massages as she rotated, scanning all three hundred and sixty degrees of the surrounding trees.

She still had the modified bola with its single remaining rock. Now that she was in the open, she could unwrap it from around her waist and see if she could make any use of it.

She found that when she simply swung it over her head, it had a radius of about six feet. While she couldn't really get the hang of flinging with any accuracy, she could, maybe, use it to keep Amanda at a distance. For a while, at least.

Callie took a couple more bites of her high energy bar and another sip of water.

As she had meandered through the woods to get to this clearing, she had often sensed that Amanda was still very much present in the woods, still hungry, still focused on her.

Minutes passed. The sun got lower. Shadows spread. Soon the entire clearing would be in shadow, even though it was hours before darkness would fall.

She felt the presence of the tiger-woman, the sophisticated savage, a woman for whom she was no physical match in any respect except speed. The only way she could win this contest would be to keep it a simple matter of which one of them was the faster. If she couldn't succeed in that, well, she knew what she was up against.

Amanda was a martial arts expert. She was much bigger and stronger than Callie. Her physical prowess was real, not a projection.

But there was even more to Amanda than that, as Colonel Stoneridge had told her.

"Besides being a blood-thirsty killer and eater of women," Stone had explained, "Amanda is other things as well. And you would do well to keep in mind all that she is."

Callie figured that Amanda would make her move before the sun hit the crests of the trees. She was not disappointed.

Just as the sun touched the treetops, Amanda stepped into the clearing, very much in shadow. She had her arms spread and her hands open.

"Callie, you must be exhausted. It's been a long day for both of us. There is an inevitable end to this hunt, and we both know what that is."

Amanda stepped closer and Callie coiled the bola.

"You know what I want," Amanda said, "and I know what you want - what you really want, not what you tell yourself that you want, but what is your true heart's desire. I can fulfill that for you, Callie. You don't have to do anything except surrender. Surrender to your own nature - and to me."

"Stay where you are," Callie warned, beginning to swing the bola over her head.

"Oh, come now, Callie, we both know that you don't know how to use that thing. You've even cut off two of the rocks that make it work. Maybe you did that because you don't really want it to work." Amanda was being friendly, suggesting that she really understood Callie. "Drop that silly thing and let's have some pleasant time together before we, well, call it a day."

Amanda was smiling, revealing her teeth. She was also moving, not straight towards Callie, but to the left and right, slightly in profile, displaying her magnificent body, the body of which Callie's flesh could become a part.

"Your arm will get tired of swinging that thing. Your legs are already tired," Amanda in sympathetic mode. "You probably fancy that I've been wearing myself out chasing you all day. I haven't. You've been running yourself ragged and I'm as fresh as when I first stepped out of the lodge this morning. Any advantage that you may have had has been wasted."

Amanda was swaying side to side, raising one shoulder slightly and then the other. Snake-like movements. The stripes on her body seemed to weave, roll, something like an op-art effect. She was dancing a dance of seduction, of invitation. And she was also moving closer again.

"If you do hit me in the head with that thing, which is really unlikely, it might do some damage, but mostly it would just make me mad. Now, you don't want that, do you? You want me in a good mood when I take you, don't you? You wouldn't want any hard feelings between us, since I am going to be such a significant person in your life, do you?"

Amanda was now only about twenty feet from Callie, who had been backing up slightly. She couldn't let Amanda back her into the trees.

Amanda seemed to read her mind. "You have a pretty good sense of how far you are from the trees, but you don't know exactly how far you are, do you? And you don't dare to look back, even for a split second, do you? 'Objects in the side mirror are closer than they appear,' but you don't even have a mirror, do you? Just the memory how far they were when you started backing up, a vague memory of a tired woman who has had a tense day, a day from which she deserves a well-earned rest. A pleasant conclusion to the most exciting time of her life."

Weaving mass of tiger stripes with the bright sun in the background, sunlight through leaves dappling the moving stripes, pleasant and engaging to look at. Soft, soothing voice. Callie was, indeed, tired, she realized. And her arm was getting tired. Or was she being hypnotized?

"You can't really hurt me with that rock on a leather thong, now, can you? Just put it down and come to me, Callie." A very friendly tone, but Callie could detect the imminent threat of a low-aimed spring just about to take place if Amanda got two feet closer.

"No, I can't hurt you," Callie admitted, "but I think.....I can.....make you.....DUCK!"

Callie released the bola in Amanda's direction, turned and ran without waiting around to see the results. She was in the trees within two seconds. She thought that she had seen Amanda lunge to the right, but she wasn't sure.

No question this time but what Amanda was right behind her. Callie could hear the pounding of the huntress's footfalls.

Maybe Callie's legs had had more of a workout than Amanda's and almost certainly Amanda had more sheer strength in her leg muscles. But Callie had been running for years. She was carrying much less weight than Amanda. Callie was used to higher altitudes than Amanda, and, therefore, probably had better wind. Yes, Callie knew she had some advantages when it came to running, but that was not all there was to be considered, as Colonel Stoneridge had pointed out.

"The first thing that you should keep in mind when challenging Amanda is that she is an Englishwoman. Now, don't worry," the Colonel assured Callie, "I'm not going to wax jingoistic on you and I'm certainly not going to suggest any sort of ethnic superiority. But, it does make a difference that Amanda is English. It isn't about genes or chromosomes or anything like that. It's more of a cultural thing, but it is important, nevertheless."

Areas of very dense tree growth were located near the clearing and Callie headed for them. Callie was as tall as Amanda, but low hanging branches could still be a problem for the huntress with the wider shoulders and hips. Amanda might be pretty scratched up before long. That would not necessarily slow her down, though.

"You see," Stone had continued, "an Englishman or woman will not back away from a challenge, particularly one in which there is some chance of failure involved. If you tell one of us, 'Well, maybe you aren't up to it,' the last thing you will ever hear as a response is, " 'You might be right. Maybe I'm not.' "

In a simple footrace, Callie was sure that Amanda would be eating her dust, and the longer the race, the more dust she would eat. Even in cross-country running, Callie's experience and speed would give her an advantage. Amanda surely knew that, but that might affect the outcome of this contest in a unexpected way.

"Now, I'm not suggesting that we Brits have a patent on this matter of rising to meet a challenge," Stone had said. "I think you Yanks are often very similar in that respect and it's probably true of many other cultures as well. But it is a very basic part of our character that a true challenge is a real motivation for us and that motivation has historically carried us through to some astonishing accomplishments. I won't bore you with a history lesson about defeating the Spanish Armada or building the Empire that the sun never set on or Nelson at Trafalgar or holding the Nazis at bay until your team decided to jump in. But a big reason for those successes was the enormity of the task and the very good possibility that we might fail. And this principle extends to the individual level. Sir Edmund Hillary, whom you mentioned a few moments ago, is an outstanding example of the truth of that extension."

Callie had been running full tilt for twenty minutes, not moving in a straight line for more than twenty feet at a time and usually less. Amanda had to be wearing down by now. There were too many obstacles for it to be safe for Callie to look back, but the sound of branches being crashed into had seemed to come from an ever-increasing distance. But as Amanda fell back, she could easily become even more motivated to win.

"Amanda strikes me particularly as the type who almost needs a serious challenge in order to bring forth her best effort," Stone had observed. "And, if a situation does not present a sufficient challenge to motivate her, she may very well make one up for herself, just to make an activity interesting. I believe that you may have seen supportive evidence, or at least what you can infer is supportive evidence, of that proposition in the dvd that you watched. What, indeed, did Amanda do that brought the entire film crew to the dinner table at the end of the film? And WHY did Amanda do that? What were the events that the three survivors of being hunted by Amanda were so unwilling to discuss, even though the women had diverse feelings about Amanda? And what was Amanda's motivation in those events?"

Callie reminded herself, as she dodged tree limbs, that, not only was she probably a faster runner than Amanda could ever be, but - what were the numbers? - she had survived at least four times as many hunts as Amanda had won. And Callie's success rate was one hundred percent, whereas Amanda's was high, but not perfect. And a significant number of Amanda's victories were against first time runners, while most of Callie's triumphs - ALL of them, in fact, if the hunts with the members of the dinners' club weren't considered - were against experienced hunters. In any other sport, the stats would make Callie the defending champion here, not Amanda, "home court advantage"aside. Of course, Colonel Stoneridge's analysis had taken that into account.

"Now, you are probably the most experienced quarry that Amanda has ever faced. And there is a very good chance that, if you can confine the contest to your own specialty, you might able to get the best of her. And, trust me, that will inspire her to put forth even more than her usual effort and, therefore, increase her chances of winning."

Callie was confident that Amanda was now significantly behind her and she had enough of a lead and clear space ahead to risk a look over her shoulder.

She looked back.

Tiger-stripes blocked by trees, at least forty feet behind her. At the start of the run, Amanda could not have been more than twenty feet behind her.

Callie was winning.

"Take my word for it, my dear, Amanda will want to win a hunt with you as badly as she has ever wanted to win any contest."

Callie's eyes returned to the path ahead of her and she saw a downed tree about thirty feet ahead of her.

"And there is something else to consider."

She would have to make a sharp turn to the left or right to avoid it entirely. The tree was long - maybe twenty-five feet.

"Amanda is the best hunter of people in the world - at least, that's what the records indicate and, even if you do manage to stay away from her, that fact won't change. She will still be world's best."

Amanda could see her turn, make a less sharp turn herself. Pythagorean theorem in real life. Amanda could close the hard-won gap considerably.

"You know that, I know that, and, most important, she knows that. As a hunter, Amanda has no doubts about her capabilities. Her reputation is not on the line. There will be no considerations of pride to interfere with her effort."

The best choice for Callie was to go over the downed tree rather than around it. But hurdles had never been a good event for her - at best, she had come in second place.

"Trust me, Callie, the odds will be against you in a contest with Amanda."

The tree trunk wasn't very thick. Less than three feet. Go for it.

"If there is any way Amanda can catch you, she will."

Get the timing down. Jump....now!

"She will exploit any circumstance she can. She is very good at improvising."

Callie cleared the fallen tree...

Almost.

Her foot touched the bark, not enough to injure her, but enough to throw her off balance.

Callie hit the ground, curling into a ball and rolling.

Soft, well-executed landing. Uninjured but on the ground.

Amanda saw what had happened and charged on.

Powerful leg muscles would carry her over the obstacle.

Callie saw the tiger face grinning. Eyes burning bright.

Callie realized that Amanda was the abyss into which one stared and it stared back.

Stared back with intelligence and will behind it.

Inviting you in, but, at the same time, capable of reaching out and engulfing you.

Amanda cleared the tree easily, a tiger-striped harpy in flight.

A moment of sheer terror...

Or it would have been, except for the fact that it was just the way Callie had planned it.

With her knife, she cut a vine that was attached to a sapling beside the fallen trunk, a sapling she had bent over earlier that morning so that it could not be seen from the other side.

The sapling flew up, caught Amanda on the shin, and sent her sprawling, arms waving, an astonished expression on her face.

Callie had begun to roll the instant she cut the vine and she was on her feet just as Amanda had hit the ground.

Not even looking to see Amanda land, Callie bolted, her energies renewed by the triumph of her plan.

"Yea! Callie! You've done it again!"

One of Callie's favorite Katherine Hepburn movies was Adam's Rib one of many that the great star had made with her real-life lover Spencer Tracy. Callie enjoyed the movie for many reasons, including its treatment of feminist issues in a way that was novel for 1949 when it was released. Another reason that she liked the movie was that it included a song by her favorite songwriter.

The plot of Adam's Rib called for Hepburn's character to have an ardent and very irritating admirer who demonstrated his affection by composing a song for her. The song was supposed to sound sincere but not be exceptionally good because the admirer was sort of a doofus. Hepburn called on her friend Cole Porter to write one for the movie. It was a busy time in Porter's life and, as much as he wanted to oblige the great Kate, he really didn't have time to write something from scratch, particularly since the song wasn't supposed to be very good. He did, however, have a song called "So Long, Samoa," which he had written after a visit to the island, and he had no significant plans for the song. It had the right mood and tempo and would work very well for the movie if new lyrics were added.

The problem was that the name of Hepburn's character did not scan anything like "Samoa" and was difficult to rhyme without resorting to an Ogden Nash-like distortion. So, the name of the character was changed to "Amanda" and "So Long, Samoa" became "Farewell, Amanda," which Callie joyfully sang as she ran from the fallen huntress.

" 'Farewell, Amanda.
" 'Adios, adee or adieu.
" 'Farewell, Amanda.
" 'It all was great fun,
" 'But it's done. It's through.
" 'Still, now and then,
" 'Fair Amanda,
" 'When you're stepping on the suns above,
" 'Please recall that wonderful night
" 'On the veranda,
" 'Sweet Amanda,
" 'And our love.' "

Callie stopped singing after a few repetitions of the song, but she did not stop running until she was in the very northwest corner of the hunting grounds.

She sat with her back to a tree, prepared to watch the setting sun, pulled down her shorts and began a frenzy of masturbation.

She had experienced the greatest thrill of her life, facing deadly desire in the form of a gorgeous woman.

It was a moment she would be able to relive for the rest of her life.

She relieved her pent-up sexual tensions and brought herself to a series of climaxes. When she was finally satisfied, she stopped her self-lovemaking, stared at the setting sun, and glanced at her watch. Four minutes before seven. In an hour, she could go and join Amanda back at the lodge for a victory celebration.

But...

"Hi, there." A large strong hand on Callie's shoulder. Unmistakable voice. "That was an excellent show you put on. As advertised, you are multi-orgasmic. I like that in a woman."

"Hi, Amanda. What happens now?"

"You know perfectly well what happens now. We've thoroughly discussed that. Pull up your shorts and let's get moving while the night is still young."

Together the hunter and captured quarry walked to a cabin to complete the day's business. Amanda kept her hand on Callie's shoulder, and they looked like two girlfriends out for an evening stroll. Amanda's grip was gentle but firm. Any attempt to bolt and run would be countered with a firm, almost collarbone-crushing squeeze. Amanda would know just how much pressure to apply.

"Nice spring trap," Amanda complemented her. "Need I say it - I fell for it."

"Thanks," said Callie.

"Rachel did something very similar in our first hunt together."

"I know. Colonel Stoneridge told me about it."

"Dear old Stoney. I figured he had. I've retold the story myself many times. I always like to give credit where it's due. I'll be retelling the events of today for years to come. Your legend will spread."

Callie found that gratifying.

The cabin they arrived at had been gloriously prepared. Silken sheets on the bed. Wine. Tasty treats to munch on.

"I took the liberty of having this place prepared in advance," Amanda explained. "I knew that there would be a big party here, no matter who won today."

"Very thoughtful. Thank you." Callie's appreciation was genuine.

Amanda bolted the door. The two women stripped. Callie was delighted to see that the tiger stripe pattern of Amanda's outfit was reproduced with paint on her bare skin. Noticing Callie's smile, Amanda said, "I thought you'd like that."

"You know me well." Callie still smiled.

"It's the job of the hunter to know her quarry." Amanda took the slender woman in her arms. "Shall we?"

Callie melted into the embrace of the tiger-woman. "Thank you for asking. Of course, we shall."

Amanda kissed her, nuzzled her neck, bit slightly. Callie responded with a full-body shudder and wrapped her legs around Amanda's hips. In that posture, Amanda carried her to the bed and laid her down on smooth sheets.

"Do you like chocolate covered cherries?" Amanda asked, opening a box on a table beside the bed.

"Yes, I'm very fond of them."

"Probably not as much as your friend Dee Dee. Yes, I researched more than your track record. Here, open wide. In memory of Dee Dee." Amanda poised a piece of candy over Callie's mouth.

"In memory of Dee Dee." Callie accepted the chocolate with gusto.

"I'm rather fond of them myself. Of course, where dining pleasure is concerned, presentation can be everything." Amanda placed a chocolate on each of Callie's erect nipples.

"So I understand."

"You make a lovely candy dish." Amanda kneeled on the bed astride Callie and bent down and licked the left cherry, then opened her mouth and engulfed most of Callie's small breast along with the cherry. She bit down, hard enough to leave a mark, and scooped up the cherry with her tongue. She sat up, chewing the cherry slowly, then bent down and kissed Callie on the lips with the taste of the juicy candy still in her mouth.

Callie hugged Amanda tightly and returned the kiss.

"Very tasty," said Amanda. "Only the beginning though. As they say, 'Life is short, so always eat dessert first.' "

"I think it was Duchess of Windsor who said that," Callie commented.

"Such an educated Yank! I like that in a woman, too."

Callie felt herself to be a dainty, tasty morsel, a much-sought-after, hard-won, and deeply appreciated prize, as the huge goddess of the hunt engulfed her slender body in an embrace of power and desire. Concern for consequences was sublimated to surge after surge of erotic fulfillment as the plug was pulled on a well-developed, but heretofore untapped, reservoir of passion. What had been planted long ago, carefully and generously nourished, was now being reaped. All that had been imagined was now realized. The potential was actualized.

Amanda took her time bringing Callie to climax after climax, far more than the three she had first promised.

Finally, as Callie was in a complete state of near ga-ga, barely able to tell what was happening, Amanda bit down on her right carotid artery, gently at first, but with increasing pressure. She also pressed on the left carotid with her finger.

Memories flashed through Callie's mind as she faded into darkness, including the memory of the anecdote that Colonel Stoneridge had told her.

"I'm going to shift the subject and tell you a story, but I am going to stay with the idea of people who are the very best at what they do.

"Have you ever seen the movie, Marathon Man? With a title like that, I'm sure a runner like yourself would be drawn to it."

In response to Callie's answer that she had seen it on a classic movie channel, Stone responded:

"Really? (Sigh) It is frightening sometimes how quickly something can become a 'classic.'

"As I'm sure you recall, the movie starred two men who, by almost anyone's estimation were the very best actors their countries had to offer at the time: Sir Lawrence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman. England's leading actor and America's leading actor, together in the same film.

"Now, as good as both men were, they had very different approaches to their craft and that difference is highlighted in a story that you may very well have heard, but indulge me, please.

"On a day when they were planning to shoot a scene in which Sir Larry's character tortured Hoffman's character in a dentist's chair, Olivier arrived on the set after Hoffman and found the American in a state of what appeared to be exhaustion compounded with starvation.

" 'M'boy, you look like hell!' Olivier exclaimed. 'Whatever is the matter?' "

"Hoffman then explained that, in order to get himself into the proper frame of mind to play a person being tortured to the limits of his tolerance, he had stayed up all night long and gone without food. He may also have listened to loud, annoying music - who knows what he did. In any event, he did, indeed, look like someone who was right at his breaking point.

"Having heard all of this, Olivier laughed and said, 'Really, dear fellow. You ought to try ACTING. It's much easier on the system.'

"By which, of course, Sir Larry meant that an actor can convey an emotion to an audience simply through his skills as a thespian.

"Now, Callie, you may be the very best quarry that Amanda has ever hunted, but that won't worry Amanda at all. It will be a challenge to her to bring you down, but it is a challenge that she has faced and overcome many times before. This particular kind of challenge won't ruffle Amanda very much and, while I'm sure she will find it interesting, there is another challenge that you are uniquely qualified to pose to her that she might very well find even more interesting.

"Callie, besides being topnotch quarry, you are also something else. And, while it might be an exaggeration to say that you are something that Amanda would fear - I can hardly imagine Amanda being truly afraid of anything - you are certainly something that Amanda would face with some uncertainty. If she were not a person who loves a challenge, you are something she would seek to avoid facing.

"Callie, Amanda is, after all, an actress. And you, Callie, are a sophisticated audience.

"You've felt that special tingle that you get from knowing somebody wants to eat you many times, but it has never been quite intense enough to take you all the way to peak of arousal that you know is there.

"Now, if Amanda could give you that thrill, really make you feel the excitement you crave, even though your life is not actually in danger - why, what a wonderful actress she would be!

"I think Amanda is the sort of sportswoman that, if you give her a really good contest she will be grateful for it - so grateful that she would want to repeat the experience. But if she wins and it is understood that she will kill you if she does, she WILL go through with that. She will kill you dead and eat you. She may have a bit of sadness that the best competition she ever had is gone, but that won't be enough to stop her. She may, in fact, someday wish that the hunt hadn't been real, that she could do it again - but that won't mean that she will have any second thoughts about killing you.

"However, I think a part of her really would like to see you lower the stakes in the contest.

"And I am absolutely sure that she would love the challenge of giving you that same exquisite pleasure of feeling the hunger emanating from her by sheer force of her skills as an actress and not by actually threatening your life.

"I do get the impression when I watch her show on the telly that, while she enjoys the jumping and fighting and swordplay and action, there is probably a part of her that would also like to show off her abilities as an actress and the scripts she's given really don't offer her much opportunity. What talent she is able to show invariably gets buried under special effects, dazzling visuals, overly clever editing, and, of course, what is known popularly as the 'T and A' factor.

"It may well be that she doesn't know whether she's a good actress or not because she's never been challenged to be one.

"Challenge her not only as a hunter but as an actress. Challenge her to create within you, who are a very tough audience, the thrill you seek even though your life won't actually be on the line.

"Why don't you present that proposition to her and see what she says?"

Seeing that Callie was asleep, Amanda sat back and waited for her to awaken. While she did so, she recalled the conversation they had had the previous week when they had modified the terms of the hunt.

If Callie had expected anger or chagrin, none was forthcoming. Amanda simply nodded. "I did wonder if you might have second thoughts."

"I hope you're not too disappointed," Callie said, feeling, absurdly, almost miffed that the huntress wasn't more put out.

Amanda shrugged. "I don't count my chicks until they're trussed. That way lies eternal bitterness and the sulks." Amanda mocked a teenage pout. "Life's so UNFAIR!" Callie couldn't repress a smile. "I can't deny I was quite looking forward to eating you, but I wasn't counting on it. And no, I didn't 'know' you'd change your mind. I'm not psychic. It was just an obvious possibility. And I am gratified that, though you don't know me well, you trust me that I won't really harm you during or after the hunt if I say I won't."

"Well, you have Colonel Stoneridge to thank for that - and Marsha Dillon."

"Marsha? Where do you know her from?"

Callie became a little uneasy. "Years ago when she was still a sheriff, I had hunt in her jurisdiction. I've never told anyone the details, but I think Marsha knows what really happened."

Amanda recognized instantly that Callie had killed someone and done so without regrets. She just didn't like to brag about it. Good for her.

"Anyway, Marsha spared me a lot of hassle and I was grateful and knew I could trust her. I called her after talking to Colonel Stoneridge, because, when he told me about the part she played in your second hunt with Rachel, I knew you and I had a friend in common. By the way, she sends her best regards to both you and Rachel."

"Say 'hi' for me, if you talk to her again."

"I will. Anyway, she said the 'scoop' on you is that you're dangerous as hell, but you can be trusted completely. She said she hoped we both enjoyed the hunt."

"That was nice of her. You said you had another proposal?"

Callie explained that the hunt would be a lot more fun for both of them if Amanda could do her best to make the hunt seem real, to give her the feeling that she really was in danger, in spite of the explicit understanding that she wouldn't be.

Amanda considered that. She knew that if Callie was in a high state of excitement, the sex following the hunt would be much more fulfilling for both of them. Besides, Amanda thought. acting the part of a blood-thirsty cannibal bent on eating her - I won't exactly have to take acting lessons from Meryl Streep to do that. A good time in the sheets versus a fantastic time in the sheets for both of us and all I have to do is let me be me, as the Yanks say. It's a no-brainer. But...

"Well, Callie, I might be interested in going for that, if you would sign a release form anyway."

"Release form?"

"Just to cover me in case there's an accident. You know, accidents happen and I wouldn't really want have to bother answering a lot of questions. Besides, everybody already thinks the hunt will be for real. You wouldn't want people to think you were the type who changed her mind from one moment to the next, would you? That would be a sad way to remembered in case there were an accident, wouldn't it?" Just a trace of the sinister in Amanda's intonation.

Callie's nipples got hard and she shifted in her seat, thinking,I guess Amanda is already starting the act. Or is she leaving herself the option of changing her mind? Stone said she is a woman of honor and I already figured her for that anyway. Still, if she's just acting, she's really, really good.

"I'll sign the form," Callie agreed.

"Good girl." Amanda gave her an evil-looking smile. "So nice of you to oblige me."

Amanda was sure that Colonel Stoneridge had persuaded Callie to take her life off the table as a stake in the contest. Amanda didn't mind the well-intentioned interference; the Colonel was wise man and - who knows? - he may have, at some level, considered her best interests as well as Callie's. Amanda would forego some meals if she kept her word, but there were gains for her, too: it had been a great hunt and a competition of the highest quality, and it could be repeated, perhaps for real, someday. Also, Amanda was expecting another payoff.

She was sure Stone knew that she didn't take herself very seriously as an actress and that, in fact, her execution of her role as a barbarian warrior was more a matter of toning down her true nature than creating a new persona. The day that the world of syndicated tv would be ready for the "True Amanda" - well, people in Callie's part of the world would probably say that the sky would be filled with airborne swine before that day.

Nevertheless, this had been enough of a challenge to make the day interesting for Amanda. The trick was to let the dark, flesh-consuming tiger-goddess manifest herself enough to thrill the experienced-almost-to-the-point-of-being-jaded quarry now lying unconscious on the bed and yet keep that avatar from taking control. Self-control was one of Amanda's strongest virtues and the world was a safer place for that. But that self-control was usually and most safely practiced by keeping a tight lid on the box that held the avatar. Today, she had opened the box enough to let the avatar be glimpsed by an appreciative audience without really endangering that audience. Callie had seen more of it than any other living person. It had been a day of risks for both of them, though Callie had been the only one who could have been physically harmed.

Yes, the release form had been signed. If Callie were to die, nobody would ever know that Amanda had broken her word. Only Stoneridge and Marsha Dillion would have any grounds for suspicion and neither of them would be rash enough to try to avenge Callie. Even if something was widely suspected, nothing could be proven. It would be a perfect murder.

But it would be a murder. Not a victory in a hunt.

And she would be murdering someone she was getting very fond of and had reason to believe she would be even fonder of in the morning.

Callie blinked her eyes. "Hi, there."

"Hi, yourself. What happens now?"

"I think you know just what happens now, even though we haven't discussed it."

Callie pounced Amanda, threw the huge, powerful, but unresisting woman on her back and began exploring every inch of her body with her tongue, caressing her with hands, teasing her with fingers, stroking her with thighs and belly, bringing their clitorises and pussy lips together, humping her, performing cunnilingus on her, biting her, teasing her, taking her into bliss.

Amanda had found herself on the bottom before, had found herself in the role of Do-Me-Queen, but the passion she felt from Callie had rarely been equaled. And there was something new here.

Callie took a handful of chocolate-covered cherries, smashed them on Amanda's breast, brought her mouth down on the firm flesh, bit hard enough to leave a mark, looked into Amanda's eyes, red filling running down her chin, and said, "Tasty. Very tasty. Amanda, you'd be delicious. Enough to feed an army. I could live on you for years."

Callie became like a net-sack full of kittens atop Amanda: hands, mouth, feet, thighs, belly, and breasts all going about their individual explorations of the great huntress's body. At times, it was as though parts of Callie wanted to bury themselves in Amanda, become one with her. At other times, it was as though Callie wanted to stretch herself over the whole surface of larger woman. Callie was a congregation of worshipers adoring the goddess that had given them life, seeking nourishment from her.

There was an insistence, an urgency about the homage Callie was paying to her, that made Amanda wish that she could oblige the worshiper/supplicant, give of her own substance in a way that would sustain the devoted one long beyond the moment. And, very quickly, Amanda realized she had already done that: Callie's libido would thrive for years on the sensations she had experienced today. What Callie was doing now was a metaphorical gesture, suggesting that the needs of her physical body could be satisfied by Amanda's physical body, just as her spirit had been satisfied by Amanda's spirit.

And there was something a little more than metaphorical going on here.

While Amanda would probably never be turned on by the idea that someone wanted to eat her the way Callie was, she was getting just enough pleasure from that aspect of what Callie was doing to understand why there was usually more than terror in the eyes of her quarry at the end.

As for the effects of the rest of what Callie was doing, Amanda had rarely experienced so much enthusiastic attention from one person in a single night. Callie was all over her like honey on a biscuit.

During a come-up-for-air pause in her adoration of Amanda, Callie said, "Pity we can't change roles. You'd be delicious. You'd be de-lovely.

"You're the best, top grade.

"Amanda, you're the top!"

"No, Callie. You're the top. For this moment, at least. My turn is coming up again"

Both women wanted to do this all again, but knew that they didn't have to.

Anytime they wanted, they could feel this good anytime they wanted, from this moment on.

Love-making continued all through the night.

THE END - cue exit music