Another Journey Begins

\"Okay, we will work on something new today,\" Justin announced as he lead the way into the makeshift gym.

Something new? Tara was puzzled but excited. She hadn\'t been allowed to deviate from her routine. Justin must finally be satisfied with her strength training. She eagerly entered the gym and faced her trainer, waiting for instructions.

\"Today we will work on this trampoline.\"

Tara frowned. Trampoline? She didn\'t want to learn circus tricks. What did he mean trampoline? Justin had apparently seen her reaction, because he smiled and gestured to the circular contraption.

\"You need to learn balance to learn the skills I will teach you, small one.\"

\"Balance?\" She quirked a dark blonde brow up at him. \"This will teach me balance then? Are you sure?\"

\"Very. Now, up you go!\"

Tara eyed the trampoline for a moment before cautiously getting on. She struggled to remain upright, waving her arms around. Finally achieving balance, she looked at Justin and smiled. The dark haired man smiled back then put one foot on the trampoline and pushed down. Tara waved her arms around wildly and jumped a little, but landed on her rear end about a foot away from the blasted thing.

\"You need work.\"

\"You\'re not helping,\" she growled.

\"Are you just going to sit there?\" he asked helpfully. \"Or are you ready to try again?\"

Tara glared at him before giving the evil trampoline a scathing, fulminating glance. Who would win this particular fight? She decided she would. This damned thing was not going to stand in the way of her transformation. She was still working out the details of who she would be, but she needed Justin\'s training to make her capable of handling herself, and this damned piece of equipment was not going to get in her way! She picked herself up off the floor and advanced on the thing. \'We\'ll see who\'s boss!\' she mentally directed at it.

Two hours later she was finally getting the hang of bouncing up and down on the trampoline without falling. Justin smiled and watched as she jumped up and down over and over. The queasy feeling had even gone away and she could keep her balance easily now.

\"Very good,\" Justin said. \"Let us stop for now. You need to eat.\"

\"But I haven\'t really done anything,\" she slowed her jumping, slightly winded.

\"You have,\" he explained. \"And you will need your nourishment for later.\"

\"What\'s later?\" she asked as she began her stretches beginning with her right leg.

\"More of this.\"

\"But I\'ve learned my balance!\"

\"You are only just beginning, small one,\" he laughed. \"You need to learn more than just jumping up and down. I will not be satisfied until you have learned flips and other such moves, and can do so comfortably.\"

\"Flips?\" she stretched out her other leg.

\"Oh, yes. There are many moves you need to learn to become as agile as those wrestlers you so love to watch.\"

She grumbled to herself as she started stretching out her arms. Justin\'s methods may seem odd to her, but Tara reminded herself that she wasn\'t in the position to complain. Moreover, she needed to keep her tongue to herself if she didn\'t want to put Justin off from future training sessions. Sighing, she followed him back into the house, surprised to find she was actually looking forward to eating.

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\"How is she doing, love?\" Sven asked as he fell into Justin\'s arms.

\"Better,\" Justin sighed as he ran his tongue around Sven\'s ear lobe. \"She will master the trampoline before long. Now, why are you still wearing your pants?\"

The blonde man chuckled as she slipped out of his pajama bottoms easily. He rubbed himself against Justin\'s groin and the dark haired man gasped in surprise.

\"Going commando, baby?\" he bit out as he flipped his blonde lover beneath him. \"You realize that is an invitation I can never ignore?\"

\"Realize it?\" Sven chuckled. \"I was counting on it.\" He reached up and pulled Justin\'s mouth down to his and explored its deepest recesses while his lover\'s hands roamed all over his body.

Sven loved the feel of Justin\'s muscular frame pressing him into the bed. It never failed to amaze him how much he did love being with Justin. Considering he was once a happily married man and a devoted father, many would agree. Yet, he had accepted long ago that the murder of his wife Ragna and their son Eirik had changed him forever and that he was no longer the man he used to be. That acceptance took years to achieve only when he had found Justin had he truly begun to make a new life for himself. The years in between were mere existence.

Justin\'s fingers around his shaft brought Sven out of his musing and back to reality. He slowly and gently scratched his nails up the dark haired man\'s back, eliciting another sharp gasp and sending Justin into a frenzy of kisses and small nips. Justin was the most sensual lover Sven had ever known.

\"I love it when you do this to me,\" he whispered into Justin\'s ear.

\"Good, because I am never going to stop doing it to you.\"

Justin gyrated against Sven, their ultra-sensitized erections nearly bursting from the friction. But the blonde knew that his lover wouldn\'t stand for that outcome. A few seconds later he proved correct as Justin reached for the lube and coated two fingers then slipped one into Sven\'s waiting and throbbing orifice. The blonde sucked in a ragged breath and arched his back into the mattress.

\"You had better not take too long to prep me, my heart,\" he growled. \"I have been dreaming of you all day, you know.\"

\"You better dream of me,\" Justin smiled. \"And only of me.\"

\"Possessive, are we?\" Sven returned. \"Two can play at that game.\"

\"I was counting on it,\" Justin teased, adding the second finger.

Sven pushed himself into Justin\'s hand and swiveled his hips, making Justin hiss in response. The dark haired man finally pulled his hand out and positioned himself.

\"No condoms tonight?\"

\"Are we not monogamous?\"

\"We had better be!\"

\"That\'s my love,\" Justin grunted as he entered Sven in one smooth motion, the act of man who had done so countless times. \"We have been tested twice,\" he continued. \"We are both clean and will never seek others.\"

\"Never!\"

\"Good,\" Justin slowly leaned down for another deep and heart thumping kiss, exploring Sven\'s mouth again. \"God, baby, I\'ve waited forever to truly and properly claim you.\"

Sven could only mewl and push against him as the need to be one with Justin took over.

\"You belong to me, Sven,\" Justin growled as stared down into his lover\'s soul. \"And I belong to you. As far as I\'m concerned, we\'re married now.\"

\"I have felt married to you from the first night, Justin,\" the blonde gritted out as he met his lover thrust for thrust. \"I accept your claim and you must accept mine.\"

\"Done,\" Justin purred then he increased his tempo and covered his mate\'s mouth with his own to swallow both their cries.

Sven tensed up and pushed forward furiously, his release crashing over him like a tidal wave. Justin, unable to withstand the sensual onslaught of Sven\'s release constricting around his cock, followed right behind him.

\"I love you so much, Justin,\" Sven cried, a tear rolling down his sweaty face.

\"I love you, too, baby. I always will.\"

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Tara lay in her bed down the hallway, contemplating the ceiling, trying to put off the sleep that would bring the nightmares. She had heard footsteps from Sven\'s bedroom a little while ago and figured her guardians were occupied right now. They actually made the perfect couple, if anyone asked her. Justin\'s dark, serious strength was tempered by Sven\'s light, almost motherly ministrations. Well, they apparently didn\'t want her to know, so she wouldn\'t ask about it.

It was high time she decided who she was going to become. This in flux state, while calm, was not comfortable. She still felt too much like her old self and she had a feeling many of her nightmares stemmed from that. First, she needed to settle on a personality. Not any personality would do, though. She needed to become someone cold. Someone so emotionless that nothing could faze her. It would have to be someone who was the complete opposite of her usual warm and sensitive self. This person would also have to sound and look nothing like her.

Well, in the South American fight organizations, masks and body paint were routinely worn to conceal the fighters\' identities. She could always find a way to fashion a mask and wear a wig. The look had to be cold, though. Like steel. Yes, metal was cold to the touch and that is what she wished to convey. She would work on the mask idea.

Now for the voice. She still had her New England accent, and it reminded her too much of her past life. She would have to work on that. Sven could probably help her with voice lessons. But what did she want to sound like? She didn\'t want to use Sven\'s accent because she found his voice warm and comforting. Justin\'s was too mono-toned, and she didn\'t want to sound robotic. That would be too emotionless. She still needed to get her rage across when she wanted to. She needed to come up with an accent that could sound cold yet evoke fear.

She turned over in her bed and mulled over the possibilities. What voices sounded like that? She ran over the various accents she\'d been hearing through the satellite system. She\'d been scouting voices for some time now. Spanish was too emotional, German was too harsh to do for long. She\'d tried and got a headache. Indian was too lyrical, as was Italian and French. The Eastern European voices sounded much better to her. Russian. She remembered watching a Russian newscast, not understanding a word of it, but entranced with the sound of the anchor\'s voice.

Yes, Russian. That would do. It was harsher than some of the others, but less so than German and she could be as cold as she needed to be when the situation required. Russian would work. Smiling to herself, Tara snuggled into the sheets and prepared for sleep.