Once they got going again, Kylie and Ethan took the lead and, eventually, they came to a fork in the road. Kylie looked back, and then her eyes strayed down each path. They hadn't seen Stephen and Dinah for a long time, but they arranged in advance which way they would go in advance, so she was surprised to see that Ethan went the wrong way. "You're going the wrong way," she said.

"We're not going the same way as they are," he replied. "We're going to watch the sunrise."

​​

Kylie smiled and said, "You should have said something earlier. I could have prepared a tent, and we could have camped on the top of the hill."

"If you want to camp out," Ethan replied, "I could ask Elliot to bring a few things out here for us."

Kylie said, "There is no need. I was just thinking out loud…"

***

When they reached the summit, they got off of their bikes, leaned them against a tree, and meandered over to a giant rock that looked out over the valley below. Ethan laid his coat on the rock for Kylie to sit down on, and then he went off in search of dry twigs and stuck to start a fire.

"You seem to have a lot of experience surviving in the wild," Kylie said as she watched him and, as he returned with the wood, she slowly built a fire. "I find it extremely sexy."

Ethan laughed as he put some hay in with the wood. He lit it with his lighter and then blew on it gently in order to feed it oxygen.

Kylie hadn't ever seen a man so confident building fires, and she asked him if he had been in the military and if he had been on any dangerous missions. Ethan admitted that he had been in the military. He had been a commando, though, so all of his missions had been of the secret variety.

Hearing this, Kylie rolled her eyes and pouted.

"Believe me," Ethan sighed, "I would tell you if I were at liberty too. Look at William's father. He died on a mission, and his family still has no idea what happened to him. They thought that he'd been a secretary for a company in Hong Kong!"

"That's sad," Kylie admitted. "I am glad that nothing happened to you."

"Me too," Ethan laughed.

***

They'd been sitting there for about thirty minutes when Stephen and Dinah appeared. Ethan laughed again when he saw them, and he said, "It looks like you've found us. Well done, Mr. Holmes."

Dinah put her bike against a tree and walked over to where Ethan and Kylie were sitting. She looked out on the valley and said, "This has always been one of my favorite places to go to think. Everything is so peaceful and beautiful here. If I ever wanted to commit suicide, this is where I'd do it…"

"You're such a chatterbox!" Stephen grumbled. "And a downer. Come and help me put up the tents."

When Ethan saw that Dinah had brought tents, he was pleasantly surprised, but when Stephen saw that there were only two tents, he said, "You only brought two tents! What were you thinking?"

"One is for Lord Ethan and Ms. Parker," she replied, "and the other one is for you and me. Did I do wrong? We have certainly slept together many times in the past. If you wanted more tents, you should have offered to help carry them. I couldn't have carried four by myself!

"Anyways," Dinah continued. I'm not going to do anything for you! Why are you suddenly so nervous?"

Kylie stood up, walked over to where Dinah was setting up the tents, and she said, "I'm here to help."

Once the tents were set up, Stephen pulled a six-pack out of his rucksack and handed out the sandwiches and beer. Kylie looked and the beer and sighed. "I guess I won't be losing any weight today after all," she said as she opened the can that had been handed to her. Just as she was about to drink it, though, she was reminded of Ethan's three rules, and she handed the beer to Ethan and asked for permission to partake.

Ethan frowned at the beer and said, "It is fine, but go easy. I don't want to have to carry you home."

"Don't worry," she laughed. "I don't even want to get drunk!"

Dinah pulled a bag of marshmallows from Stephen's bag. She pulled it out, threw it at Kylie and asked her if she'd roasted marshmallows ever on an open fire. Kylie said that she had and went off in search of some good marshmallow roasting sticks. She found a few quick, handed one to Dinah, and sat down beside her.

As Dinah and Kylie roasted marshmallows over the fire, every once in a while, Stephen glanced at Kylie – he did not dare to look at her openly, but he couldn't help himself from looking glancing in her direction. He knew that if Ethan caught him looking, he would be dead meat.

It wasn't long before the men had to urinate, and they went off in the bushes together. Dinah sighed and said, "It must be nice to be a man and be able to pee wherever you wanted too."

"And never have a period," Kylie added.

Dinah said, "That too…"

"I like you," Kylie said. "You're straightforward, and you say what's on your mind."

"It comes from being around men too much," Dinah laughed. "You know how they are. They are always telling perverted jokes and saying any damned thing that ever comes into their brain. There is just no filter. And Ethan and Stephen are just as bad as any other man that I've met. Of the nine masters, though, Ethan is the most serious. He is our captain."

Kylie nodded. That was exactly what Ethan was. Of the masters, he was the fifth. Stephen was the sixth. Nate was ninth; she had never met any of the other masters. "Where are the rest of the masters?" she wondered.

"They were all killed while on patrol," Dinah replied sadly.

Kylie felt a bit nervous and turned to look at Ethan and Stephen. The two men were standing in the dark, so she could only see their shadows.

Ethan looked at Stephen as he gave his penis a good shake and tucked it back into his pants. He said, "Thank you for helping me take care of Kylie, but from now on, she won't need your help. Is that clear?"

"If you do not cherish her," Stephen replied, "Then I will take her away from you."

Ethan curled his lips and cocked his head to look at Stephen, and then he threw the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it very hard. "You won't have a chance," He snarled.

Ethan patted Stephen on the shoulder and strode away. Before he got too far though, Stephen called after him: "When will you tell Kylie the truth about her origins?"

Without even looking back, Ethan went and sat beside Kylie. She handed him a toasted marshmallow and said, "Here, have one. They're good."

"No, thanks," he replied. "Did you forget that I don't like sweets?"

Kylie shrugged and said, "No matter. That only means that there is more for me!"

After eating a few marshmallows, Kylie leaned over and began to kiss Ethan passionately. She forced her tongue into his mouth and sucked his tongue into her mouth. If he didn't eat sweet things, she figured, then he could at least taste them as their flavor lingered in her mouth.

Ethan's right hand found her left breast as they kissed, and he began to play with the fatty tissue. In her peripheral vision, Kylie could see Dinah watching them, but she didn't care. The girl is young, she thought, perhaps God has placed her here so that she can learn something more about the ways of satisfying a man…

She pulled away from his mouth and asked him if he'd liked the taste of the marshmallow. "I don't know," He replied. "It is unlike anything I have ever tasted. Let me have another taste."

"I am more than happy to oblige you," she replied as she brought her lips to his once more.

As they were kissing, Ethan pulled Kylie's shirt and brassier up so that he could have better access to her breasts. Watching this was so overwhelming for Dinah – and it made her so horny – that she couldn't help but slip her hand into her panties.

She had just begun to masturbate, though, when Stephen grabbed her collar and hissed into her ear, "This is an ADULT'S ONLY show, you pervert!"

"I am an adult now," Dinah snapped as she pushed him away.

Stephen pointed to the tent and said, "Get into the tent before I drag you in by your fucking ear!"

"Fine," Dinah sighed as she slowly came to her feet. "Lead the way."