Fantasy Journey to Year 1,000,000,000

[Note: This is a Science Fiction story with some erotic scenes. It is not a story with erotic scenes in every chapter. Some chapters have incredible sex scenes, but many others have none.]

Two days later, they noticed a change.

"There are a lot of happy people here, Michael," said Victor.

"Some people are happy, Victor," said Taylor.

"You're right, or at least, you were right," said Victor. "There are 42 men and 22 women on this planet. That means, not counting Suki and Elizabeth, that there are 20 happy women, and 20 happy men. That also means there are 22 unhappy men. Or rather, there were."

"What are you saying, Victor?"

Victor gave an enigmatic smile. "Come with me to the forest, and see."

Taylor followed Victor to the small wooded area where they collected fuel for their fires. The small wooded area had suddenly turned into a larger forest, with big trees.

And hanging from the branches of these trees were... women.

They were hanging from their necks, somehow physically attached to the trees. They were all nude. And all beautiful--blondes, redheads, brunettes, all with large breasts and perfect faces.

Taylor looked at them. "Are they alive?"

"I'm not quite sure how to answer that," said Victor. "Pull on one of them and see."

Taylor looked up at a blonde hanging above him. His head was at about the same height as her vagina, which had brown pubic hair. He tentatively reached out for a wrist. It felt warm. He pulled gently, and felt/heard a tearing sound, and the body came crashing down to the ground.

"Hehe, heheheheh," said the blonde.

"What is this?" Taylor asked.

"Humanoid, sort of," said Doctor McCrae, coming over with a hand scanner. "Just like the others."

"Others?"

"A whole forest full of them, all women," said McCrae.

"Are they alive, Doctor?"

McCrae made a face. "Sort of. They're alive the same way a plant is. But if you're asking me if they have any consciousness, I'd say no."

Taylor looked at the forest of hanging, nude women. "Why in the world...."

"I think you have your answer there, Michael," said Victor.

Taylor looked several trees over. He saw Crewman Spinelli, reaching out to squeeze a redhead's breasts. He had a broad smile on his face as the redhead giggled.

"As you said, Michael, there were twenty unhappy men on this planet," said Victor. "But I predict that very soon, there will be none."

"Do you think our crew, and these... these living dolls?"

Victor gave him a knowing look.

Victor was right. The situation changed quickly. Soon instead of there being twenty two unhappy men in the encampment, there was only one. Or two, if Victor didn't partake (Taylor didn't know and didn't ask). And then they were treated to the spectacle of Ensign Raleigh breaking up with his 68 year old girlfriend, Doctor Iris Weatherby.

"The balance of power has changed, Michael. For the first time in human history, not everyone with a vagina can automatically be guaranteed sexual satisfaction," said Victor.

Taylor didn't want to know. He saw the men, his men, going into the forest, and coming out sometime later. They had sex there, in front of each other, out in the open. They were becoming animals.

Taylor didn't stop it. He couldn't stop it. But he didn't go into the forest. At least, not for that.

But one day, he did go into the forest, and his jaw dropped.

He saw Pam.

She was hanging by her neck from a tree. Her breasts looked large and juicy. She was like a ripe fruit, just waiting to be picked.

He stared into her eyes. He imagined he saw something there, a spark, maybe. But he knew there was no intelligence inside of it. It was just an overgrown sex toy.

Even as he watched, some intelligence, or force, caused the body to drop to the ground. Pam dropped on her back, and started giggling. He stared at her face, and body, and the opening between her legs, and felt aroused and horrified.

"Well, go on, Captain."

Suddenly, Suki was at his side. "This is what you've been waiting for, isn't it? I heard you were pining for some blonde girl back on Earth. I presume this is her. So go to it. Fuck her hard, Captain. Fuck her hard like you won't fuck me."

Anger flared in Taylor's eyes, and he slapped her across the face. She looked shocked for a moment. But then she gave a smile. "At least that time it was real. At least that time you meant it." She walked away, leaving Taylor to deal with his confused feelings.

When Elizabeth heard the news, she couldn't believe it.

But Karen Levenson told her she had seen it with her own eyes, and did she want to go have a look?

Elizabeth's first instinct was to say no. But she found herself following Karen into the forest. She tried to shield her eyes from all the naked women. By now many of them had dropped down to the forest floor. Some of them had their legs bent and spread. They had obviously been used. And in every direction she had to shield her eyes to avoid the sight of her fellow male crewmembers, completely naked, as they thrusted against their new sex partners who were lying lifelessly on the forest floor.

"Uh uh uh uh," came the familiar voice of Wade Tanner. She couldn't divert her eyes because she was practically walking over him. She saw his buttocks moving back and forth, as he thrust between the legs of a near lifeless blonde. As she passed, he looked up, embarrassed. "Oh, hello, Elizabeth."

The men had lost their shame. All of them. They had become mindless sex creatures. And the worst part was that it was not because their minds were being controlled; it was just the way they were, given the opportunity.

"Are we almost there?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm sure it was around here," said Karen. "Yes, it was hanging right there," she pointed at a tree. "It's gone now."

Gone?

Suddenly they heard sounds. Sounds of lovemaking. Karen went around the tree. "Oh. Oh no. Elizabeth, stay back!"

Something inside of Elizabeth caused her to do the opposite. She had to look. She had to see-

"No, Elizabeth, no," said Karen, trying to block her.

Elizabeth sidestepped her. She came around the large tree, and the first thing she saw was--

her own face, nearly lifeless, giggling.

And attached to her face was her body. But most of it was obscured, covered by a nude male body on top of it, vigorously thrusting between her legs.

Oh. My. God.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, aaaaaaaaaah!"

Vincent Roman looked into Elizabeth's giggling face as he climaxed, filling her with his cum. And then he saw the feet just behind her face, and he looked up, and once again, he saw Elizabeth's face. But this face was not giggling.

"Oh. My. God," Elizabeth said. She had just witnessed Vincent ejaculating inside a sex doll who looked exactly like her.

"Elizabeth!" Vincent pulled out, but was suddenly embarrassed by his rapidly shrinking, wet penis. "It's not what it looks like!" he said, backing away from her.

"Really, Vincent? And what does it actually look like, then?" Elizabeth said, taking a step towards him.

Vincent pointed to the body, the exact copy of her body, with its vaginal lips crudely spread, with white liquid dribbling out of it. "It... she... it just appeared, Elizabeth. It...."

"Did it force itself on you, Vincent? Are you saying it raped you, that it had its way with you?" said Elizabeth.

"I, ah, uh-"

"Get out of here! Get the fuck out of here now!" said Elizabeth.

Vincent reached down for his clothes, but Elizabeth picked up a rock and threw it at him. It hit him in the back, and he went running. "If I ever see you back here, I'll break your head open, Vincent Roman!" she shouted.

She looked down at the other version of herself, so intensely violated.

Karen struggled to find the words. "Elizabeth... I'm so sorry... if I knew he was here, I would never have brought you to see this....."

And then came the next change.

Taylor returned to the forest. It was unavoidable, if he wanted to collect wood for the fires. More and more of the crew were shirking their duties, leaving the harvesting of the food and the gathering of firewood to fewer and fewer crewmen. They spent their time watching the waterfalls, or here, in the forest... but they weren't gathering wood. If anything, they were expending it.

Taylor averted his eyes from his... busy... crewmen. But now he started to see something different.

There were new kinds of dolls now.

There were men dolls as well.

He saw them, hanging almost lifelessly from the trees, totally nude, young, attractive men, already erect, ready to be used.

Taylor wondered whose desires had created them.

And then he found out.

He heard a deep feminine grunting.

He came around a bend, and saw a woman, mounted on top of one of the sex dolls. She was poling up and down. Her back was to him.

Taylor knew he should turn away, but he couldn't. He didn't.

When he came around to the front, he saw it all.

It was Suki Tanaka. Suki, riding up and down on some sex doll's erect penis.

No, not just some sex doll.

Him.

A physically perfect copy of him, Michael Taylor.

Suki saw him and smiled, not skipping a beat. "Do you like it, Captain? All I did was think about you, and there you were." She continued to ride up and down on his penis. Her breasts were sweaty; either this was not her first round, or she had been at it awhile.

"I like this version of you better," She said. "Less sanctimonious. Less hypocritical. Less complicated," said Suki. She bit her lip. "I feel it, Michael. I feel it. Oh, oh, oooooooh!" she cried out, her breasts heaving, as she stared him straight in the eyes, as she achieved her climax, while riding on his duplicate's penis.

If Suki was hoping for a reaction, she was disappointed; Taylor just turned and walked away.

"Could this be some kind of experiment, Victor?" said Taylor.

Victor shrugged. "Anything is possible... but I don't see what they would be testing for."

"To find out what we wish for."

"Well, that would be evident rather quickly." Victor made a face. "No, it doesn't feel like an experiment to me." He paused a moment. "I think... I think it feels more like... an amusement park."

"What?"

"An amusement park of the future. One where you get everything you want."

"Everything except escape," said Taylor.

"Does everyone want escape, Michael? You've seen people sitting in a daze at the waterfalls. Having sex in the forest. For some people, this is a paradise."

"And for you, Victor?"

Victor shook his head. "No, I'm fully rested now, batteries recharged. I'm ready to get out and explore again."

"But how do we do that?" Taylor asked.

Vincent Roman suddenly came running up to them, almost breathless. "They took her!"

"What?" said Taylor.

"Aliens," said Vincent. "They took Elizabeth captive!"

It took some time for Vincent to be coherent. The Ascended had returned. They had stunned Elizabeth, and taken her captive.

"Wait a minute. The Ascended?" said Taylor. "We haven't seen them in... fourteen million years. It's not possible the very same beings could be here now. They would have evolved radically."

"Michael's right," said Victor. "Mankind evolved from apes in seven million years. It's very unlikely the Ascended would be the same, fourteen million years later."

"That may all be so," said Vincent. "But I'm telling you, they looked like Ascended. Big eyes, big forehead, white robes? Not so easy to forget."

"Were you with Elizabeth when she was taken?" Taylor asked.

"Not exactly," said Vincent.

Taylor stared at him.

"I was nearby... all right, I was watching her, from a distance," said Vincent. "I... I have feelings for Elizabeth, Captain. Feelings which-"

"Aren't safe to express in close quarters," said Victor. "We understand. Tell us what else you saw."

"They took her. North. They took her away on foot," said Midge.

"On foot?" said Taylor. Stranger and stranger. They knew the Ascended could teleport, even fourteen million years ago. On foot, how far could they go? They had explored several miles to the north, and found nothing. He turned to Victor. "I don't like this, Victor. It feels like we're in another experiment."

"Yes, now it does, I quite agree," said Victor. "The question is, what are we going to do about it?"

"Only one female, Setmuth?" the Ascended asked.

Elizabeth gradually felt herself returning to consciousness. She was in a large tent of some kind. She was pinioned to the air.

And she was totally nude. "No... no, not again."

"This one is their leader. She has the most indomitable spirit, Kortit," said the other Ascended.

"No... it can't be," said Elizabeth. "We left you behind in the year eight million. This is fourteen million years later. You can't be here!"

"You believe you are the only beings able to travel through time?" said Kortit. "That is so short sighted of you."

"What is it... what do you want?"

"We have some questions, some questions that were not answered by the Judicator crew."

"You... you have the Judicator crew?"

"Some of them, yes. Mostly male. Very few females, though," said Kortit.

"What do you want?" Elizabeth asked.

"We wish to better understand human sexuality. Your breeding and reproduction habits."

"Why would you be interested in that?"

"As we have evolved over the millennia, our sexual abilities have decreased... slightly."

"Slightly?"

"We are considering an infusion of animal DNA, to improve our line."

"What do you want from me?" said Elizabeth.

"You must perform the sex act, with one of us," said Setmuth.

"Oh no," said Elizabeth.

"I think changing your mind will be easy to accomplish," said Setmuth. He lifted a box from a nearby table. Inside, Elizabeth heard humming. As Setmuth opened the box, she heard a sound, a humming. It sounded like-

"Momomomomomomom."

Setmuth took something out of the box. It looked like a pancake, but it was clearly alive.

"What... what is that?"

"It is your rider," said Setmuth. He moved behind Elizabeth.

"Don't put that thing on me!" Elizabeth cried.

"Take deep, easy breaths," said Setmuth.

"No!" Elizabeth cried.

"She is not taking deep, easy breaths," said Setmuth.

"Oh, it doesn't matter, just put it on her," said Kortit.

Elizabeth cried again as she felt something cold and clammy against her skin. Suddenly she stiffened, and felt tendrils in her mind.

"I can feel it!" she cried. "I can feel it in my head!"

"Don't fight it," said Kortit. "It will be over very soon."

"Oh... Oh... Oh," Elizabeth cried. Suddenly she felt terribly aroused. "What is happening to me?"

"The rider is filling you with sexual desire."

Kortit was right. Elizabeth needed sex, and needed it badly. "Remove it!"

"The rider will come off on its own once it has been satisfied. Once you have been satisfied."

"No," said Elizabeth.

"And now we may begin." Kortit took off his robe. Underneath he had the body of an emaciated man. He was extremely skinny and bony. And his penis....

Under other circumstance, Elizabeth would have laughed. His penis was tiny. Barely an inch long.

"We will now perform the mating ritual," said Kortit. "Setmuth, monitor closely."

"I shall."

Kortit moved closer to Elizabeth. She saw those giant egg yolk eyes next to her and wanted to scream. But she needed release, needed it so badly-

And then there was the distinct sound of a compression pistol firing, and then the same sound again, and suddenly, Kortit and Setmuth dropped to the ground, and Elizabeth, instantly released, followed them a second later.

And then Michael Taylor and Vincent Roman entered the tent.

"Elizabeth!" Taylor cried.

"There's something on her back," said Vincent.

Taylor turned her around, and grimaced when he saw the rider, nestled between her shoulder blades. He pulled at it with his hand. Elizabeth screamed when she felt a sharp stab of pain. "No, stop, it's killing me!" she cried.

"We have to get it off you," said Taylor.

"Just get me out of here," said Elizabeth.

They wrapped her in a white robe, and escorted her away. As they left, Elizabeth saw they were on the edge of a massive workcamp, at the base of a mountain. A mountain and a workcamp that hadn't been there several days ago.

"You, you came for me," said Elizabeth, as they hurried away.

"Yes," said Taylor. "And Vincent did too."

"Vincent?" said Elizabeth, turning to look at him as they helped her walk. She frowned at him. He tried to smile at her, but failed.

When they got back to camp, everyone clustered around Elizabeth. Taylor shouted them back. He called for Doctor McCrae.

McCrae examined the creature on Elizabeth's back, using his hand scanner. "That's a nasty piece of business, whatever it is."

"What is it?"

"A parasite of some kind. It's hooked directly into the human nervous system. If we try to remove it, it could kill Elizabeth."

"But we can't just leave it there," said Taylor, watching it pulsate.

"There is a way," said Elizabeth. "A way to remove it."

"Good. Tell us," said Taylor.

"Alone," said Elizabeth. "I must speak to Taylor... alone."

McCrae scowled, but left her tent.

Elizabeth felt the rider pulsating on her back, filling her once again with sexual desire. She reached up and started kissing Taylor. He was surprised, but tried to engage her in conversation between kisses.

"Elizabeth, does kissing me have anything to do with the way we can get rid of that creature on your back?"

Elizabeth nodded. She kept kissing Taylor, who started kissing her back. She whispered something in his ear.

"Really? Are you sure?" Taylor asked.

Elizabeth nodded again.

"With me?" said Taylor.

"Who else?" said Elizabeth, her eyes filled with need.

Taylor nodded. Elizabeth squealed with joy, and practically tore off his clothes. Then she cast aside her white robe.

Once again, he saw her small, round breasts. But he also saw her bush, very thick and wild looking, protruding between her thighs like a wild, untamed brown jungle. He immediately got an erection.

She looked up at him and said simply. "Take me, Michael."

Taylor lay her down on her blanket. His penis only got harder as he stared at the large, wild untamed growth between her legs. It looked like a large brown shrub, growing wildly in a 'v' shape between her legs. He couldn't even find the entrance to her vagina. Taylor pressed forward and felt for her lower entrance. She watched him with fear and impatience as he rooted around.

"I may have to call in a search party," said Taylor, frowning as he felt around with the head of his shaft, looking for the hidden entrance.

Elizabeth unexpectedly laughed, which that made her feel less anxious. And then her eyes widened as he found what he was looking for.

Elizabeth's eyes widened as she felt pressure on her vaginal opening, causing it to stretch and spread for a strange and exciting object which claimed the right to be inside her.

"Found it," said Taylor, his face solemn. "Elizabeth, are you sure you want this?"

"Want this? Michael, I need this." Her eyes were practically begging him.

Taylor nodded, took a deep breath, and gently entered her. His shaft disappeared without a trace inside her furry muff.

Elizabeth gasped as she felt herself suddenly full of a man's erect penis.

"Are you all right?" Taylor asked anxiously.

Elizabeth nodded, sucking in her lips.

Taylor started to perform the mating ritual, pounding into her furry muff with increasing vigor and enthusiasm with every thrust. It was as if his penis disappeared into a forest, only to reappear again seconds later. He loved the wetness, the friction, as he pounded into her hairy slit.

"Oooooh" Elizabeth cried, as her breasts heaved and she leaned backwards, fluttering her eyelids.

"Is it hurting you?" Taylor asked anxiously.

"No, it's just... I... I didn't know it could be this way," she said.

This way? Could Elizabeth be a virgin?

Taylor pumped her more vigorously.

"I wanted it to be you," she said, looking into his eyes. "I wanted you to be my first."

"Your first?" said Taylor.

"Almost first," said Elizabeth. "I've only done it once before. It barely counted. I've been attracted to you, Michael, ever since we met. I just couldn't bring myself to make the first move. Ooooh!" Her face grew pained. "I'm getting closer, Michael, closer!" She closed her eyes, lost in the feeling of being impaled by Taylor's hard tool. Elizabeth started to buckle, and yell louder, and soon she was shaking and trembling as she achieved her climax.

"Oh, oh, oh ohohohohoohoh OOOOOHHHHH!" Elizabeth cried, at the top of her lungs. No one within a half mile could have any doubt what was happening inside her tent. She had climaxed in just a matter of seconds.

Taylor smiled down at her as he pulled out. He hadn't climaxed, but for now, that didn't matter.

"Michael, tell me... is that how sex always is?" Elizabeth asked.

"It... it can be," said Taylor.

"I... I've missed out on so much," said Elizabeth.

Taylor smiled shyly. "How is the thing on your back?"

"It... it's getting looser. I feel it... I feel it starting to lose control over me."

"What can we do to get it off you entirely?" Taylor asked.

"It's... it's telling me what to do," said Elizabeth, rolling over so she was on top.

"It's telling you how to be rid of it?"

"It's hard to explain in words... maybe it would just be better if I show you," said Elizabeth shyly. She mounted him with a knowing smile to match his confused look. And then Elizabeth did what she didn't think possible: she grabbed his organ, which was still hard, and toyed with it, smiling at him.

Taylor stared at her with enormous surprise. He was still surprised when Elizabeth inserted it into herself, and started to ride him. Taylor watched as her small breasts bounced up and down as she rode him. Her rider pulsated and glowed on her back, sucking up her nutrients and energy as she worked up and down on Taylor's penis.

Slowly but surely Elizabeth worked her way to an orgasm. This time when she came again, they both did, looking into each other's faces with pained smiles on their faces. "Oh, oh," said Taylor.

"I feel it too!" Elizabeth cried. "Yes, yes..."

"Yes!" They both cried at the same time.

It took a full minute before Taylor could think again. "The thing on your back?"

"You mean this?" Elizabeth held it in her hand now. It was as stiff as a board and lifeless. She tossed it to the ground.

"You saved me. In more ways than one," said Elizabeth, hugging him.

"And Vincent."

"Yes, and Vincent."

And so Taylor and Elizabeth officially became a couple. It was awkward when Jennifer came up to him the next morning and gave him a hug. "Oh, Michael, I'm so happy for you," she said. Of course, she had to know. They all knew. The whole camp had heard Elizabeth's earth shattering climax. But it was still embarrassing.

"Thanks," said Taylor gruffly. He knew what Jennifer was thinking. Now that his own sexual needs were being taken care of, he could no longer be angry with her. Or could he?

Taylor and Victor talked after breakfast.

"What's going on here, Victor?" Taylor asked. "This Ascended base appeared out of nowhere."

Victor looked thoughtful. "The best I can figure out is that the planet created the Ascended who kidnapped Elizabeth."

"Can it do that? Create people?"

Victor shrugged. "It can create living dolls who hang from trees, perfect replicas of us except without any self awareness. I'd say the planet could do just about anything."

"But why, Victor?"

"It gives us what we need."

"We needed Elizabeth to get kidnapped?" said Taylor.

Victor smiled. "Elizabeth was alone, and miserable. You were alone, and also miserable. Now, what's changed, Michael?"

"We are... together." A thought struck Taylor. "Victor, are you saying this planet was... playing matchmaker with me and Elizabeth?"

Victor shrugged. "Occam's Razor, Michael. The simplest explanation is usually the right one."

"I don't know if that's the simplest explanation, Victor."

Victor put a hand on his shoulder. "Michael, would you accept some advice?"

"Sure, Victor."

He smiled again. "Why don't you take a short break from trying to figure it out, and just spend some time enjoying it?"

And so Taylor spent his days with Elizabeth. They worked together, harvesting food during the day, they talked together, and of course, they slept together.

Taylor had been worried that without the influence of the parasite, Elizabeth wouldn't enjoy sex as much. He worried about his ability to please her.

He needn't have. The next night when she shyly started to kiss him, to let him know that she wanted do it again, he readily complied. Soon he was sliding in and out of her. She was so moist, so hot! He loved the way her body slickened and her breasts jostled as he had his way with her. Elizabeth's eyes were half closed as she focused on the physical sensation, giving low moans that built up to a crescendo, at the precise moment that the feeling of Taylor's shaft rubbing against her clitoris brought her to a rip-roaring peak.

"Ooooooooh!" she cried out, her breasts heaving, as she climaxed again. And a moment later, so did Taylor.

As they lay together, hugging in the darkness, she said, "Is it always like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... does each time always get better than the time before it?"

Taylor was secretly pleased.

It was only later that he learned the details of the man who cost Elizabeth her virginity She had had a one time experience with a man named Henry who entered and left her life after their first sexual encounter, which left Elizabeth with feelings of inadequacy and emotionally scarred her for life.

"That's it?" said Taylor, when he heard her tell the tale. They were lying together, nude, in his tent. "That's why you're so... uptight about sex? Because one idiot disappeared after one rollabout?"

"I'm not uptight about sex," said Elizabeth.

Taylor laughed hysterically.

"What?"

"You are the most uptight woman I know!"

"I am not!"

Taylor grabbed her hair bun, and shook it. "That symbolizes it more than everything. Do you ever let it down?"

"Sometimes... when I shower."

"Let me do it," said Taylor suddenly.

"Do what?" said Elizabeth

"Take your bun virginity."

"Well, I don't know...."

"I do," said Taylor. And he put his hands over her head into her bun, and as he unraveled it he stared into her eyes. And then in seconds Elizabeth felt her hair dropping to her shoulders.

"You are so beautiful," he said, seeing for the first time how her brown hair lovingly framed her angular face. He looked down at her small, rounded breasts, her furry pubis, and saw her in a whole new light. "So beautiful, so sexy."

And Elizabeth was so turned on by the taking of her bun virginity that she tripped him up again right then and there.

They shared details about their personal lives. Elizabeth told him about Vincent.

"I wouldn't blame him either. If I were around you all the time I would stare at them too," said Taylor, fondling her titties.

Elizabeth laughed and slapped him playfully.

"You really should forgive him, Elizabeth. He risked his life to help me rescue you," said Taylor.

"He whipped me, Michael. He whipped me, and he loved it."

"He's smitten with you. Forgive him. That's an order, from your Captain." He kissed her around her neck.

"You can't give an order like that," Elizabeth chuckled.

"Then consider it an order from your lover," said Taylor. He slid a hand between her legs, into her wetness. He started to play with her clitoral hood. "Forgive him."

"No," said Elizabeth.

He rubbed her more insistently. "Forgive him!"

Elizabeth gasped.

"Forgive him!" he repeated.

"Oh... ohhhh, Michael," she said, her head falling back.

"Will you forgive him?"

"Kiss me, Michael," she said. "Kiss me, and I'll do anything you ask."

Taylor pressed his lips against hers, and Elizabeth felt as if she were being propelled through space and time.

The next morning, Elizabeth ambled out of her tent. She felt wonderfully sore. And the first person she saw was....

"Vincent!"

"I wasn't staring at you! Honest!" said Vincent.

"Vincent, come here!" said Elizabeth.

Vincent looked reluctant.

"Vincent! Come!" said Elizabeth.

He fearfully walked over to her.

"Closer."

He took a step forward.

"More."

He took another step.

"Almost there."

Vincent took another step, and now he was face to face with Elizabeth.

"Good," said Elizabeth. "Now... for once in your life, stop looking down at my breasts. Look at my face, Vincent. Women have those too, you know."

Vincent forced himself to look into her eyes.

"There, that's better," said Elizabeth. And then she did the most unexpected thing.

She hugged him.​