Seducing Gerald (1)

Gerald wiped the sweat from his brow as he worked the patch of the soil before him in the school's conservatory.

It had taken him years to get a Stollickian Lotus to successfully grow on Earth's soil. Losing the little plant when his luggage was incinerated was a setback, to be sure, but he was hoping he'd have more luck here on Central, since the soil conditions were far more similar to Stollick, and the tiled roof could be altered to create sunlight conditions from a variety of worlds. At least they'd be able to once the engineers got them working again.

Gerald set the rake aside and plunged a little stick into the soil, testing to make sure he had achieved the proper aeration and texture.

Suddenly a pair of shoes dropped down into the plot before him.

"Hi Gerald, what are you doing?" Cha'Rolette asked. She played with her necklace, trying to draw attention to her deliciously feminine neckline.

"I am preparing the soil for a seed," he explained.

"Soil?" She looked down at her sinking shoes and stepped back. "Awww, now my shoes are all dirty."

"My apologies," he said, picking up the rake again.

"Now I have to go track down a servant to polish them."

"It must be terrible for you," he said as he worked the soil anew.

She watched him for a moment. He had taken off the top layer of his cassock and tied it around his waist, leaving him bare from the waist up. A lifetime of working out in the sun had had its effect on him.

He definitely had a sculpted and athletic build with layers of natural muscle, and that healthy glow people get from being outside in the cool mountain air. The noblemen she was accustomed to seeing were attractive, but usually in a lean and pale kind of way. Not like this. This was something she had never seen up close before.

His back was particularly impressive, rippled, and strong from years of carrying heavy burdens. For a moment, she completely forgot what she was here to do and just stared at his chiseled physique as he worked.

"You know, I find it really attractive when a man can do things with his own two hands," she said as she stepped closer. Her ringlets began to glow with power. She casually reached out and touched his forearm to stop him.

He looked at his arm and his eyes widened a little bit, as if he had been bitten by something. When he looked back up, he found her beautiful jade eyes looking right back into his. Wide and inviting, with just a tantalizing hint of playfulness.

He felt himself getting lost in her eyes. They were hypnotic in a way that was hard to describe. It felt to him like lying down in the world's most comfortable bed, and drifting off to sleep. He felt like he never wanted to get up again out of that bed. Her ringlets glowed brighter and brighter. The tickle in his brain became a pressure.

Just as she began to lean in closer, he shook his head and snapped out of it. "I'm sorry, but I promised the cooks I'd help them with the dinner preparations. Apparently, they've never had to cook over an open fire pit before, and I'm going to teach them how it's done."

Gerald pulled his arms away and walked out of the conservatory. Tulda and Kamanie poked their heads out from behind a fruit tree.

"Is he playing hard to get?" Kamanie asked.

"Where did a country bumpkin like him learn such a high-level technique?"

Cha'Rolette gritted her teeth. "He should have been eating out of my palm after that. Okay, the usual stuff isn't working, I'm going to have to push a little harder."

*********

Gerald finished scattering the coals until he had a good bed of red-hot charcoal going. Laying down a couple of hickory knots for flavor, he placed the grill down and pronounced it ready. The cooks thanked him in their various ways and began laying out the prepared meats and kinds of seafood. Since all the preservation units were broken, it seemed like a good idea to use as much of the meat as possible before it spoiled.

Gerald leaned back against a marble counter and took in the scent. Already he realized how much he sorely missed the smokey scent of a fire pit, the airy hint of pine needles in the air, and the touch of salt that touched everything where he was from. Everything was so clean here in Central, but not in a good way. It felt like breathing out of a tank. So antiseptic that it felt unnatural. At times like this, he regretted ever leaving his little valley.

Cha'Rolette leaned up against the counter next to him, looking discomfited. "Oh, my shoulders are killing me," she complained, showing off her delectable neckline as she brushed her hair out of the way. "Do you know anyone who can help me?"

Her ringlets glowed brightly, and he felt his mind pressed in from all sides.

Gerald glanced over at her. "I can help."

"Really?"

"Sure thing."

As Gerald sat her down in a chair, and set up a chair behind her, a look of triumph came across her face.

When he set his hands down on her shoulders, she wriggled with delight.

"Oh, wow, you do have strong hands," she praised as he dug his thumbs into her tense muscles.

Then she felt cool air hit her neck as he undid the clasp at the back of her collar.

"Well, look at you, being all aggressive and... kyaaa!"

She yelped when he grabbed the zipper and pulled it down to her waist. She crossed her hands in front of her to prevent her top from falling off and exposing everything.

"Okay, Gerald, I like your enthusiasm, but I think this is going a little bit too farrrraaaaahhhh!"

She gave off a squeal as she felt a needle prick the flesh in between her shoulder blades.

"What in the world are you doing?" She demanded, spinning around. Her ringlets glowed brightly and a hundred kitchen knives came to life and zipped into the air, pointed straight at him from every direction.

"It's called acupuncture," he explained, holding up the small thin needle. "I just cleared your third chakra, that's where all the tension was."

As she sat there in stunned silence, he zipped her back up, reclasped her collar, and returned the needle to his little essentials kit.

"Let me know if there is anything else I can help with."

As he slipped away, the knives all came clattering down. Tulda and Kamanie snuck up alongside her.

"What did he do to you?"

"I don't know," Cha'Rolette said, rotating her arms. "But my shoulders haven't felt this good in months."

"Maybe he can do that for me too," Kamanie wondered aloud.

An invisible hand bonked her on the top of the head.

"Owie!"