Shantar was close enough now that he could see clearly what the priests were doing, and even his toughened ego was wrenched, making him try vainly to ...ook away. A screaming, struggling figure was being methodically cut and slashed until not a single square inch of her skin was whole, yet so skillfully was it done that she was left not only alive but fully conscious.When the bloody process was finished, two husky priests unlocked the sacrifice's chains, lifting her bleeding body high above their. Hopefully I could get some sleep.An hour later everybody else on the bus seemed to be asleep except the driver (I hoped) and myself. I watched farmland go by the dark, then shifted my gaze down to the girl next to me. As I said, somewhat chubby, but pleasant to check out under the circumstances, there was something kind of sweet about the little bulge of cleavage between her big round breasts, the roll of her tummy, her little chubby fingers with tribal-style rings on each hand, the tattoo on. “I will need some alone time. This isn’t work time. It’s time when I go off and think about things – my partner, my life, my work, my direction, and my lifestyle – the whole package I am and am becoming. I honor that time for others as well.“I expect my mate and I to be highly communicative and very open with each other. The only secrets we should ever have are small ones about some gift for a special occasion or a surprise party. Any of the big stuff should never be a surprise. We should talk. But, weneed to do her nails." Are you going to use the press ons?" No. Those are for only dressy stuff. I want to work on them a little,and put polish on them."I watched as Kate, took each of my nails, worked on the cuticles, andused a file on the tips until all my nails looked the same. Then, as sheset three bottles of nail polish on her dressing table, she said, "Youget to pick the color."I looked at the three bottles, and handed her one. She said, "Very nice.White pearl it'll be."I then.