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not my type. You are far too fickle. A nice compound fracture and I would be yesterday’s news.” Simry chuckled.
    “I am not that fickle. It would have to be major body trauma to take me away from the pools of your eyes.”
    “I thought it was my deep purple hair that caught your attention.” Simry flipped the cropped locks of her hair.
    “Yes, but the crystal blue of your eyes keeps it.” M’rin winked.
    They sat in silence for a moment, and then, Simry sighed. “Do you really think he is interested in me?”
    “He massaged the legs of the simulator until it wanted to be with him. I am pretty sure that he is learning for you.”
    Simry felt a light blush running over her skin. “Well, I am still not going to volunteer to be manhandled in front of a crowd.”
    M’rin nodded. “Of course you aren’t. Drink up. I intend to ply you with alcohol, vids and conversation to get you to bend to my will.”
    Simry emptied her glass and held it out. “You are welcome to try.”
    “Oh, I do love a challenge. So, what shall we watch tonight?”
    “Greatest mech fights in the last three months?”
    M’rin grinned and ordered the vids. “I think there was a championship.”
    Together, they huddled on the couch and cheered on the mech pilots as they smashed the machines to pieces in organised combat. It was a girls’ night in to remember.
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    Lying on the massage table, Simry could feel N’kad staring at her. Too bad for him, she was the class dummy, and M’rin was demonstrating on her.
    The sheets were tucked and draped across her hips and breasts. M’rin demonstrated how living tissue did not move like the simulators.
    “Simry very kindly ran her talent to the edge, and now, she is a giant knot of muscle and pulled tendons. She is a mess. I want each of you to come here and examine what actual, genuine tension feels like, and yes, she is allowed to make noises.”
    The six students converged on her and nearly everyone touched a limb or joint.
    It was the fourth time that she was offering herself for groping, and at least, this class was being careful.
    “Ow. Knee. Ow.” She twitched as the student tried to straighten her leg.
    N’kad was at her feet with his hand just above her ankle. “Simry, where is your point of greatest tension?”
    She looked down her body and up to his face. He was serious and intent.
    “Left leg, calf and ankle. Inner knee.”
    He nodded and edged the other student out. “May I touch you?”
    “Yes, you may.”
    The other students pulled their hands back with a jerk. It was the first rule of therapeutic massage at the Citadel that agreement had to be given before the treatment could start.
    His examination was slow, and M’rin invited the other volunteers in to lie at the different stations. N’kad had asked for permission, so he got to work on Simry. She was the greatest challenge in the class.
    He worked along her skin, applying a massage oil to let his fingers glide over her.
    “You are right; this leg gets very tense.”
    “I am surprised you figured out the permission thing.” She twisted her lips and relaxed.
    “I picked up on the clue when Instructor M’rin said you were allowed to make sound.” He smiled slightly, but his eyes were focused inward. He was concentrating on what his hands were telling him.
    She groaned when he lifted her leg slightly to test her range of motion.
    “Could you turn onto your stomach for me?”
    He held the sheets for her, and she rolled to her stomach. When she was settled, he put the sheets back in place over her hips but removed the one in the center of her back.
    She lay face down, and he slid his hands up and down the backs of her thighs and calves. Her feet, toes and ankles were all given his complete attention.
    When he moved to her back, her legs were limp. He worked on her lower back and discretely shifted her sheet to work on one hip and buttock at a time.
    She smiled at the floor. Many students were afraid