Title:Special Delivery-Part 2
Author: Lanna C
All other info see Part 1

Their day began before dawn and to Qui-Gon's surprise, Khalya helped break camp and pack up the culpa. They rode the whole day and into the night speaking very little. Qui-Gon's thoughts were occupied by his concerns about going to the Noma for water. A Noma settlement was not the place for a young woman and their treatment of outsiders was known to be hostile at best.

Khalya's head fell forward then she jerked it back up, realizing she had nodded off. It was dark and cold and she could not keep her eyes open. She knew Qui-Gon wanted to cover as much ground as they could today. He was worried about their water supply. He had mentioned their need to travel to one of the waterhole settlements in such a way as to not lay the blame on her. Still she knew she was responsible. Her eyelids felt heavy again. Maybe if she just closed them for a second...

The next thing she knew she was in the arms of the Jedi knight.

"You started to fall." Qui-Gon said.

"Sorry," Khalya said sitting upright, "I was having trouble staying awake."

"Lean back and rest on me so you can sleep. I'd like to travel a little more before we stop for the night and this way I won't have to worry about not catching you in time if you fall asleep again."

"Thank you Qui-Gon." She said resting her back against his front. She fell asleep listening to the sounds of the night and the footfalls of the culpa.

~*~

Qui-Gon used his lightsaber to start a fire while Khalya set up the lean-to and unrolled the sleepmat. After taking care of the culpa they climbed wearily onto the mat. Qui-Gon lay on his side facing the fire. Khalya shivered at his back and moved up against him, putting her arm over his side.

"Do you mind?" She asked timidly. "It seems so cold at night."

"Of course not." He answered. This was hardly the same person he'd met a few days ago. Since he had caught up with her yesterday there had been a sad resignation about her. It did make her easier to get along with, but he had admired the fire and determination she had shown before.

"Why did you come after me?"

"Didn't you know that I would?" Qui-Gon asked her.

"I don't know what I thought." Khalya sighed. "I'm sorry for all of the trouble I've been. I have been rude and insulting. I hope that someday you can forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive. Jedi are taught to see every situation as a learning experience."

"Then I'm sorry you had to learn so much because of me." She said covering both of them with his robe.

~*~

Khalya woke shortly before dawn to find the Jedi watching her. He was on his side facing her, his head propped on a hand and his eyes dark and dangerous. She was at once frightened and excited, her breathing quick. Qui-Gon took his free hand and started to unbutton her bodice. She did not try to stop him as he slowly undid button after button until her breasts were bared. His hand slid over her right breast, cupping and squeezing it. She moaned quietly as he skillfully kneeded one breast then the other, occasionally twisting a nipple between his thumb and index finger. Her body reacted to his touch in ways that were foreign to her. Qui-Gon leaned over, kissing her hungrily. Khalya pressed her body into his, wanting everything he could give her. His hand slid up the inside of her thigh.

~*~

Khalya jerked awake, confused. It was still night. She had her arm around a sleeping Qui-Gon Jinn. It had been only a dream. She turned over on her other side, her body tingling. Maybe she shouldn't lay so close to him, she thought.

~*~

Qui-Gon was not sleeping. He was wide awake, struggling to subdue a powerful erection. He had sensed Khalya's erotic dream, heard her moans, felt her body move against his. He called on the Force to help calm his thoughts and desires.

~*~

The next day Khalya found she could not get her dream or the young Jedi out of her head. She caught herself staring at him as he loaded the culpa in the morning. He was magnificent! How is it she had never seen it before? She felt her face growing hot and looked away.

As they traveled, Khalya talked about anything and everything that popped into her head in an effort to keep her mind off the dream. She told him her whole life story, from her parents death when she was a toddler to her apprenticeship at an architectural firm. She told him of her love of design and seeing those designs come to life. She even joked about being so sweaty and dirty that her fiance would probably send her back home.

Qui-Gon did not know what to make of Khalya's sudden talkativeness, but it did serve as a distraction from the carnal thoughts that plagued him.

~*~

As evening approached Khalya saw large objects dotting the horizon. After so many days of nothing but rolling sand dunes she was awestruck.

"The Lost Mountains." Qui-Gon said at her sudden silence.

"Mountains?"

"Buried and eroded by the shifting sands, they are hardly more than rocks jutting from the sand now." He explained. "We'll stop there for the night. The Noma settlement should be only a half a day's ride away."

~*~

Qui-Gon lay on his back watching the stars. Tomorrow they would reach the settlement. In the morning he would tell Khalya what to expect when they arrived and his plan for getting the Noma to supply them with enough water to finish their journey.

He needed sleep to be focused and alert tomorrow, but it would not come. His mind kept returning to the previous night, the way Khalya's body felt against his. It didn't help that she was sleeping close beside him either. He had tried meditating but was unable to lose himself in the Force. There was only one thing he could do if he wanted to get any rest tonight. Easing away from Khalya, Qui-Gon rose and headed into the night.

~*~

It was the cold that woke her. Khalya shivered, Qui-Gon was gone. She sat up, a small groan pierced the night. Was he hurt? She listened carefully. There it was again. She got up, moving toward the noise. She caught a glimpse of him in the light of the fire and threw her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out. There he was leaning back against one of those large stones, totally naked. Khalya knew she should leave, but could not take her eyes off of him. His legs were so long and his skin seemed to glow in the night. His hand was between his legs, moving rapidly. Flushed with desire she went to him. Approaching from the rear, she climbed behind him on the rock, running her hands over his strong shoulders. His body went rigid.

"Leave me!" He roared.

"I can help you." Khalya said, snaking her arms around him. She covered his back with kisses while her hands roamed his front.

Qui-Gon melted at her touch, letting her ease him toward release.

Khalya pressed closer to him, her legs along the outside of his. She kissed along his shoulder blade, slowly tasting his salty skin. Her hands brushed over his nipples causing him to gasp. Her body quivered with sensations she had never experienced before. Getting to her knees, Khalya kissed and licked at Qui-Gon's shoulders. From this angle she could watch his hand pumping furiously at his erection. He was moaning now. Her center throbbed and grew wet as she watched him moving closer to climax. She kissed his neck, her hands everywhere she could reach. Qui-Gon threw his head back with a shout, his seed shooting into the night.

Khalya kissed him once more on the shoulder then climbed silently off the rock. Her legs were weak as she returned to the sleep mat. She covered herself with the Jedi's robe, curling into a small ball facing the back of the lean-to. One thought popped into her head, would a celibate man need that kind of release? Perhaps he would need it more. She did not know.

Qui-Gon returned a few minutes later. Khalya was instantly tense. Would he be angry at her for not leaving when he told her to? He said nothing as he lay down at her back. He simply put an arm around her waist pulling her closer. Khalya let go of the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and relaxed against him.

~*~

Qui-Gon was puzzled by Khalya. He knew how badly she wanted out of her marital arrangement. She could have easily taken advantage of his predicament earlier. His need was so great he would not have had the strength to refuse her and she would have been released from her contracted marriage. Women were sometimes an enigma to him.

~*~

"What do you know of the Nomas?" Qui-Gon asked Khalya as they rode the next morning.

"Very little, I know they live in clusters around scattered water holes." She answered.

"They are a somewhat simplistic people whose treatment of offworlders is known to be less than hospitable. Each settlement has a leader, usually the man with the most livestock. They are said to be physically and sexually unrestrained. An unattached young woman such as yourself would be claimed or challenged for as soon as she arrived. Therefore I think it best that we pose as man and wife. I will say we are newly bonded and have come from one of the northern settlements on our way south." Qui-Gon explained.

"Do you think they will accept us enough to let us have the water we need?" Khalya asked, somewhat worried.

He sensed her concern. "If we play our parts right they should. The Nomas consider each group as part of the whole. Stay close and do as I say and we'll be fine." He said, then added playfully to ease her mind, "If anyone had seen you on that rock last night they would have sworn you were a Noma."

Neither of them had mentioned the previous night until now. Khalya, surprised by his remark, turned to look at the Jedi. He was smiling, a definite twinkle in his eye. She felt her cheeks flush and turned back to face forward again.

~*~

Plant life began to sprout through the sand as they neared their destination. First just as scattered bits of green and purple then larger clumps of the same colors and finally trees and crops planted in neat rows.

A high wall of wet sand surrounded the settlement. Qui-Gon and Khalya rode in under a carved wood arch. Canvas structures were strewn everywhere. The sounds of animals and children filled the air. Here and there small pens were filled with short shaggy quadrupeds or culpas in assorted sizes. Everywhere men tended the livestock, and children played happily. A man dressed in a short open vest and loose pants that fell just below mid calf, approached them.

Qui-Gon spoke quietly to Khalya, "Stay on the culpa and try not to act shocked by anything you see." She nodded her understanding and Qui-Gon dismounted.

Khalya could see the two men talking, but from her perch high atop the culpa she could not make out any words. The other man nodded several times as Qui-Gon spoke, glancing up at her from time to time.

"Lairn here," Qui-Gon said when he returned, indicating the man he had been speaking with, "is going to take me to speak to the settlement ruler about getting some water. Wait here until I return." Seeing the worried look in Khalya's eyes, Qui-Gon gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before turning to follow the other man into one of the nearby tents.

Khalya was watching the children playing when a group of women emerged from another of the tents. They wore very little clothing, some of them naked from the waist up. Most looked not much older than she was, Khalya decided. They laughed and talked amongst themselves before a few of their group broke away to greet some of the men. She watched in amazement as one woman groped a man in the crotch, then pulled his penis from his pants and began stroking it. Another of the women climbed into an animal pen to have sex with the man who was feeding the livestock. Khalya tried not to stare. No one else was. Even the children did not take notice as they continued to play. As she looked around she saw more couples involved in various sex acts. Some involving three or more people doing things she would have thought impossible. Qui-Gon wasn't kidding when he said they were sexually unrestrained, she thought. She tried to act indifferent to what was going on around her, but it was difficult to do when she could feel her cheeks blushing and her heart racing.

Finally Qui-Gon reappeared followed by Lairn. "You all right?" He asked climbing up behind her on the saddle.

"Fine," she said. "Are we going to get some water?"

"Eventually." Qui-Gon answered urging the culpa after Lairn who was motioning them to follow. "We've been invited to stay for the Feast of Plenty tonight. Lairn tells me it is an honor for Hasso to request our presence at his side."

"So we have to go?"

"We cannot afford to insult our host. If we are convincing in our roles tonight we should be on our way in the morning with enough water to complete our journey." Qui-Gon said.

Lairn led them down a sandy path to their quarters for the night. They went through the outer flaps into a small area where Lairn said they should leave their boots. He gave them each a small hand broom to brush off excess sand from themselves before entering the main part of the tent. The main room was actually a bedroom with thick carpeting over the sandy ground and a large bed in the center. Khalya thought this was not too surprising considering what she had seen outside.

Lairn went on to show them the shower and toilet, pointing out how lucky they were to have one of the few tents with private facilities. Khalya couldn't think of anything that had made her happier than seeing that shower. She would fight the Jedi to get in there first if she had to. She had been covered in sweat, dirt and sand so long it almost seemed a part of her.

Qui-Gon walked Lairn out, returning moments later with a bundle in his arms. "Clean clothes," he announced dropping them on the bed. "Why don't you have a shower while I see to the culpa."

She was so happy she could kiss him. Then she picked up her clean clothes. "I can't wear these!" She gasped.

"It's how all the women dress here." Qui-Gon explained.

"I know, but I can't!" She held up the bottom of the outfit which was little more than a flap of cloth for the front and one for the back, tied together at the top corners. "Please Qui-Gon, don't make me wear this." The idea horrified her.

"I'm sorry Khalya. I had no idea anything like this would happen, but we have to see this through now." He cupped her cheek in his large hand as he spoke. "Take your shower, it will make you feel better."

~*~

Khalya had been in the shower a long time. Qui-Gon was beginning to think she may have run off again, when she finally emerged dressed in her Noma garb. He couldn't stop himself from staring at her in awe. His gaze travelled up her shapely bare legs to the bottom half of her outfit which rested on slender hips. Then up her tiny waist to the top part of the outfit that barely contained her bosom and finally to her lovely shoulders and neck. He wanted nothing more than to take her right then and there.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" She asked finally.

Startled out of his thoughts, Qui-Gon answered, "You look perfect." A bit of pale pink on her hip caught his eye. "What's that?" He said pointing.

"Just my panties," Khalya blushed, "this skirt thing doesn't cover the outsides of my thighs."

"You can't wear that Khalya. The Noma don't wear under garments."

"I gathered that." She said. "Who's going to notice a tiny bit of pink?" She could see by his expression that she wasn't going to win this. "Fine!" Khalya removed her panties, flinging them at Qui-Gon.

"I'm going to take a shower." He said putting her underwear on the bed. "Do not leave the tent, it's not safe for you to go out without me."

~*~

Qui-Gon took a long cold shower to calm his growing arousal, then dressed himself in the short open vest and baggy pants of the Noma.

Khalya sat on the bed braiding her hair when he returned. He sat down beside her, not wanting to say what he knew he must.

"I'm sorry Khalya, but you can't wear your hair like that. Noma women always wear their hair loose."

"I should have known!" She said in exasperation.

"Let me," he said when she had begun pulling her hair out of it's braid. He worked slowly and carefully unwinding each part one at a time until he was done. Then picking up her brush from the bed he started brushing her hair.

Khalya closed her eyes, losing herself in the strokes of the brush. He could be so gentle.

"Will you be ready to play the part of a happy newlywed later?" Qui-Gon continued to brush her hair as he spoke.

"I suppose I'll have to be won't I." She replied softly. "I'm sorry Qui-Gon, none of this is your fault. If I hadn't taken off we'd have had plenty of water and we wouldn't have needed to come here at all."

He set aside the hair brush and rested his hands on her shoulders. Her skin was soft and warm beneath his large hands. "That is all in the past, Khalya. Do not blame yourself."

"You can count on me to do my part." She put a hand on his, "I won't let you down."

Part 3

LC