The morning began to dawn, the cool colors of the jungle night melting away with the first peak of sunlight over the horizon. Very soon the first of the morning sounds would start; the twitter of a bird, or whoop of a monkey, for now all was silent. Well, not completely silent. There was, if one stood close enough and cocked an ear up towards the lush canopy of a particular tree; a soft, vibrating rumble -- the unmistakable sound of a human gently snoring.

Up in the treetops, the owner of this decidedly adorable snore slumbered sweetly -- but not alone. The young woman, known to her friends as Jewel, but to the wider jungle community as "the girl-cub", slept soundly within a cocoon of serpentine coils, piled lazily up to her neck. Only her strikingly beautiful face could be seen under a mass of tousled nut-brown hair, soft lips parting with each gentle exhale, squeezed slightly by the topmost coil wound round her neck.

Near at hand, their owner (coils and girl-cub both) could be found. Snoozing away in a heap of his own length lay Kaa, a rather...perverted old python of great size and fearful reputation. At the moment he slept as contentedly as his curvaceous captive, his appetites sated and satisfied by his seduced slave-girl once more.

For many moons past, the two had done this curious dance. Kaa, having stumbled upon an errant human in his part of the jungle, found it amusing to...entice her to stay. Dominating her mind with his hypnotic eyes, it was easy to convince Jewel to forget her old life, being reborn as one of the jungle's own residents -- the one they called "the girl-cub." At the same time, he had clouded her memories of him, until the light of a certain moon could be seen. He wasn't even certain it would work, but he watched with rapt interest (from a safe distance) as Jewel learned the ways and laws of the jungle, and slowly but surely earned the respect of at least *some* of its denizens. He took a strange sense of pride in her progress, as if of a mentor or a lover. And yet, Kaa was uncertain, apprehensive, until that fateful moonlit night when he awoke from a nap to a gentle tug on his hanging tail, discovering a dazed and dreamy-smiling woman awaiting him, eyes spiraling madly in mimicry of his own hypnotic orbs.

Since then, the girl-cub had learned (and then forgotten) pleasures and wonders she had never known. This past night having been especially vigorous, her sleep was deep and sound, filled with sibilant whispers and intoxicating spirals of color. Her lids fluttered slightly with a snore just a note higher than the rest, causing her master to stir.

Kaa leaned his neck forward and blinked, looking over at his sleepy pet. Suppressing a chuckle, he stretched forward, bringing his tailtip up at the same time to brush back one of the jungle beauty's bangs.

"...You're snoring.." Kaa hissed teasingly in the sleeping girl's face.

"...ss..sssorry..." came the reply, breathy and slow, as though it had taken the girl-cub great effort.

"SssSssSsSsss...That isss allright, my sssleeepy sslave. It issss, however, time for you to awaken. After all, you have muuuccch to do; a jungle girl'sss life is quite full, from what they ssssay..." Kaa slowly began unravelling his coils, revealing a very naked Jewel beneath. Repositioning the coils into a cushion and securing the half-alseep girl-cub, he gently lowered her down to the ground. His tail fished up a red loincloth and fabric top from somewhere further on the branch, presenting them to the girl as she began to blink the remaining spirals out of her eyes.

"W-What, where, am...IoooOOOHH" she yawned, arching her back as Kaa's tail set her onto the ground.

"Ah, ah ah, bessst not to asssssk quesssstions, my dear Jewel." Kaa playfully scolded, his eyes flashing with a brief but dazzling display of color.

The woman, caught off-guard, and conditioned to his hypnosis already, slipped easily back into trance. She beamed at the serpent.

"Take theeeessse, and return to your home, little one. Make ssssure to clean them, asss well as your beautiful sssself." he hissed inches from her face, the tailtip caressing her curves as it finished unwinding around her.

"Until our nexssst encounter, my beautiful Jewel of the jungle..." he departed back to the treetops, leaving the dazed girl-cub to stumble back in the direction of her dwelling. After a brief walk, she half-remembered arriving at her lean-to, donning her skimpy red garments and slipping into the adjacent river to bathe. With Kaa's post-hypnotic suggestions fulfilled, the fog lifted from Jewel's mind as she dried herself off. Her passionate night of coils, kisses, hissess, and...other things faded like a dream. Jewel's stomach rumbled, and the huntress rubbed it thoughtfully, grabbing her spear and donning her typical floral clothing, stashing away her red undergarments and heading out for the morning's hunt.

---

Somewhere else in the jungle, a different human trekked through the undergrowth. Rani stepped lightly in bare feet, her dark brown eyes scanning the environment as she picked out a trail. Raven hair, long and braided, spilled down her back, flowing over the seam of a cropped choli. The young woman's outfit was completed with a purple Sari over one shoulder, thin enough to reveal a toned midriff. Tucked away at her side, a simple satchel bag contained a few more odds and ends, all the possessions Rani had been able to bring with her.

As the sun rose overhead, she breathed a small sigh, and looked over her shoulder at the way she'd come.

"Well, I'm really doing this...leaving the village behind." the words tumbled out of the woman's mouth, as automatically as they had come to her mind.

"No going back now. I should be able to cut across a good distance before I come out near the city. Here we go!"

Leaving her small village behind was both exhilarating and terrifying to the 20-year-old. While it offered safety, and some degree of comfort as the daughter of well-off farmer, the people, the rules, and the limits it placed on Rani were stifling. There wasn't a lot of opportunity for a woman like Rani, unless her ambition was to marry into a wealthier family. Not that she was opposed to getting married, of course, but all of the prospective suitors her father had humored were...not exactly Rani's type. In the city, she knew there would be any number of people, all with interesting stories to tell. And lots of people meant there would always be work for an entertainer and artist.

Smiling at the thought, Rani picked up her pace, step by step, as she delved deeper into the morning jungle. Never in her wildest dreams, however, would she have imagined what, and who she would find there...

---

The morning had faded into a hot and humid afternoon, the sun lazily sailing through the sky on its daily path. Jewel had hunted her fill, and washed her breakfast down with water from a clear stream that flowed into her favorite pool; a serene place shaded with many trees, fed by a roaring waterfall. Ducking the afternoon sun, the jungle girl straddled a shaded banyan branch hanging over the stream. It was Jewel's favorite spot, show by her friend Bagheera not long after she first came to the jungle. The thick leaves overhead not only shaded her from the sun, but also from the view of any animals at ground level. Given Jewel's mixed reputation with the jungle's other residents, it was perfect for her to catch up on any interesting gossip without having to deal with potential rudeness.

Not that there was anyone else around to listen to at the moment, however. And so, the girl stretched in place, leaning forward to lay on her stomach across the cool bark, panther-style. She dozed softly, head resting on folded arms. The sun continued its slow arc overhead, unheeded.

All of the sudden, the peaceful silence of the pool was disturbed by a rustling sound, accompanied by frustrated mutterings. A curious thing then happened; in all the vast jungle, the two humans, dweller and visitor, happened to be in the same place. The odds of such a thing occurring would be beyond comprehension of any of its denizens, were there any at hand to observe it. At any rate, Rani, somewhat more disheveled and wearier than before, stumbled into the clearing of the pool.

"Whooooo-oof, now there's a welcome sight. I was starting to think I'd never manage to find anything suitable to drink in this overgrown place."

The village-dweller availed herself of the stream, drinking her fill and topping up a canteen, before dipping her tired feet in its cool shallows.

"Aaahh, now that's the stuff...Mmm..hmmm..."

She began humming pleasantly to herself, a half-remembered melody from her childhood.

Up in the branches, the snoozing Jewel stirred at the sound.

"Now, what could be making that noise? It almost sounds like..."

she clapped her hand to her mouth, covering the shock and surprise at observing, in the flesh a living, breathing, human!

Filled with curiosity, the jungle girl slithered, silently as she could to the edge of the branch for a closer look. Peering down, she eagerly observed this newcomer. She wore rich-looking cloth that struck Jewel as elegant, despite having no basis for comparison. The woman was also several shades of brown darker than Jewel herself, with long, flowing raven-colored hair and teak-colored eyes. Her figure was lithe and graceful, and Jewel marveled at the slight but toned muscles she could make out on the woman's exposed legs and midsection. Her heartbeat began to quicken, and a feeling like hundreds of butterflies flapping about in her stomach surprised Jewel. She was so thrown off, that she had failed to notice the slight cracking of the branch she leaned on.

Down below, Rani filled in the last few lines of her song with a melodious voice that caused her hidden admirer to blush.

"...I'll send her to fetch the water,

"I'll be cooking in the home..."

she trailed off, looking serenely at the water.

"It's funny" Rani thought, "How a mind will recall the strangest things, and make patterns out of nowhere. It almost looks like there's a reflection of a face above my own in the pool."

Jewel leaned further forward, and the branch gave way.

*CRRAAACK*

*SPLASH*

"WHA-WHADAFUCK WHAZZAT??!!" she cried out, tumbling over backwards as something fell heavily into the pool right in front of her, a torrent of water drenching the surrounding area. The village woman slowly got to her feet, ringing out her flowing hair and wiping water out of her eyes to see.

Jewel came up for air, her tangle of nut-brown hair obscuring her own vision as she swam for where she knew the shore to be. Reaching it, the jungle girl shook her head, spraying water in all directions. Blinking around, she spied the dripping wet woman, her mouth agape as she stared back at Jewel.

"W-what, WHO, even, are you??" Was all the incredulous woman could sputter.

Jewel stood up and made to move closer to Rani. "You are...human? Another human?" she spoke clumsily, her heart thumping again with the woman in clear view, trying to ignore the attractive curves, the full lips, on the lovely face...she shook her head violently, shocking the already startled Rani.

"Yes, of course I'm human -- like you! What are you even talking about? And you didn't answer my question. What are you doing out here in the jungle?"

Rani took in more of this strange woman. Her skin was, despite a significant tan, light, and her hair, somewhat unkempt, was nonetheless a pretty shade of brown that flowed past her shoulders. Her curious eyes blazed in an emerald green. Across her toned upper arms, the girl had markings that Rani thought might be scars. But strangest was her attire -- what looked like a roughly-made bra and skirt of woven leaves made up all that this stranger wore. As Rani checked her over, she couldn't help but notice a confident air about the woman; something in the way she carried herself was...powerful? Assured? Either way, it was appealing. She eased her guard.

"I live here. The jungle is my home. What are you doing here? Other humans haven't been seen here in a very long time...at least that's what my friends told me..." Jewel's shoulders dropped a bit, and she stood on one foot, suddenly unsure of herself. Some of that self-assuredness disappeared, and Rani thought she detected...shyness?

"Your friends? I don't understand. And there are lots of humans, my village is on the other side of this jungle, and there's a big city *that* way...I think." Rani seemed suddenly unsure herself, having gotten turned around over the course of the day.

"That-that can't be true. I would have seen them before. I would know them!" Jewel felt suddenly suspicious. This stranger was alluring, both in her appearance, and in promise to unspool the mysteries of Jewel's past, but what she said didn't add up. She might be lying, but to what end?

"It IS true, are you calling me a liar? How do I know you are even what you say you are? It's unbelievable that all this time there would be a...a..." she tailed off for a moment catching glimpses of the woman's cleavage, her hips, and the way the angry scowl she wore somehow only served to highlight her pretty features. "...some strange, half-nude...white girl!" she managed to get out.

Jewel didn't understand everything the stranger said, but she got the impression that she was meant to be insulted. She huffed, and turned away, walking to the base of a tree to retrieve her spear, idly inspecting it and trying to appear bored.

"You know what? Maybe you DO live in the jungle -- it would explain your lack of manners!" Rani sniffed. "Since you don't want to tell me what's really going on, I'm leaving. See you later." She turned her head to hide her flushed face, and waved sarcastically, treading her way back into the brush. Jewel watched out of the corner of her eye as she went, frustration mounting as this newcomer had only increased Jewel's confusion about humans. The frustrated huntress burned off some steam practicing her spear thrusts before cooling her head in the stream once more.

---

A few hours and a picturesque jungle sunset had done little to improve Rani's mood. She walked hurriedly, anxiety creeping in as the woman began to realize how lost she had gotten. Her map had been useful near the edges of the jungle, but deeper in it had become too difficult to estimate her position.

That might not have been a problem if she'd still had a compass, but somehow the village girl had lost it. And so, Rani continued along the literal path of least resistance, her way lit only by a torch she'd fortunately packed.

"Can't believe her...what a crazy girl..." she muttered to herself, trying unsuccessfully to block out the picture of Jewel in her mind. She could see the strange woman now, her long flowing brown hair, the confident gaze of those brilliant green eyes, the smoothness of her skin...

Rani shook her head. No, she had best forget that girl -- she had to concentrate on getting...well, un-lost.

Unfortunately for the newcomer, she was about to cross paths with a certain serpent who all but assure she never left the jungle.

Kaa slept lightly, his massive bulk piled around him as he dreamt pleasantly of his pet human and their previous night together. In his slumber, a few of his coils shifted, swinging off the branch of his tree and startling the snake awake. He blinked, and made to curl himself up once more when he heard a curious voice -- a human, but not the one he was familiar with. He glanced down, perceiving in his surprise a lovely-looking woman dressed in the cloth of a man-village, carrying a stick alight with that infernal invention of theirs -- the red flower. His stomach rumbled and a devious idea formed in his head.

"What an opportune...ssssnack..ssSssSss..."

Rani walked slowly, her eyes darting left and right as the nocturnal sounds of the jungle started to set her on edge. She swung her torch around herself in a near circle, looking about to ensure nothing was creeping up on her. Then a sound from above made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. A rattling hisssss echoed in her vicinity, and she turned and called out, in a faltering voice: "W-who is it! Who's there?"

But Kaa was not behind her. Chuckling from up in the canopy above her, the sneaky serpent descended upon the girl.

"Why, hello there, little one..." he began, eyes alight with spirals as he made himself known. "Who are you, and what are you doing out in thissss jungle, hmmm?"

Rani wheeled around; her gaze drawn upward to the sound of a voice unlike any she had heard before. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of a large, spade-headed snake descending from above, speaking to her plain as day. She gasped, recovered herself, and was about to speak when she noticed something even stranger. The snake's eyes were changing, a strange, pulsing light emanating from them in a dazzling display of colors. Rani's eyes locked onto them, and felt them pull her into their depths. Her pupils shrunk, spirals to match the snake's blossoming in their place as they disappeared. The girl gazed, transfixed as her mouth hung uselessly open. Her grip slackened, the torch falling from her hand as her shoulders dropped. It fell harmlessly onto a patch of dirt, extinguishing the flame. Kaa's eyes were now the only source of light for Rani to see.

"SssSSssSsss..." the python laughed at the helpless expression on her face. This would be an amusing morsel, indeed. "Are you losssssst, little one?" He intoned, his face full of mock concern as he encircled the entranced village girl.

Rani, her mind awash with a haze of colorful spirals, felt herself spun around, her own spiraling eyes desperate to keep staring at Kaa's. A pleasant feeling washed over her like a wave with every word hissed into her ear. A dreamy smile played on her lips. She felt her head nodding, following the dazzling display in front of her.

"Are you....hungry...?" Kaa continued, bobbing his head up and down comically, watching as Rani followed along like a marionette. "I am....ssssssstaaarrved..." He pulled his head back, prompting the helplessly hypnotized girl to follow. He wound his way up towards his branch, keeping eye contact as Rani stopped below him, her neck craning up to keep staring into his alluring eyes. The smile on her face was wide now, her lips parted in blissful relaxation. Oh yes, she would be delicious. Kaa reared back, and opened his jaw to swallow his prey in one go.

Suddenly, a stone came whizzing out of the brush opposite the two, striking Kaa right on the head as he descended. Spirals turned to stars as the serpent crashed face-first into a thick bush, his bulk unwinding and piling onto itself as it fell alongside him. A few seconds later, a figure emerged from the spot whence it had come, spear in hand and high on alert.

The scene Jewel beheld would have been laughable, had it not been nearly deadly for this new human. A pile of snake coils flopped around, their owner out cold with an angry-looking bump, and in the middle of them all, the village girl herself, eyes pulsing with bright colors and staring off into space with a dreamy smile on her face. After double checking that the snake would not easily awaken, Jewel took a moment to consider this curious cutie. Up close, she was even more beautiful than Jewel had thought, and she had to fight a sudden urge to lean in and kiss those lips parted in hypnotized bliss. She slapped herself to focus, then took Rani by the shoulder and shook her, gently at first, until the woman blinked, the spirals fading away.

"Who-wha---whahappened? She slurred, her eyes coming back into focus slowly. When she recognized the jungle girl from earlier, she shook her head, clearing it of the last of Kaa's hypnosis.

"You were almost a meal for that big snake over there." Jewel cocked a thumb at Kaa's motionless bulk. "It's a dangerous jungle, you should be wandering in it without a guide."

"Y-you...you really ARE a jungle girl, then? You actually live in this jungle??" incredible as it was, Rani was forced to reckon with the idea that Jewel hadn't been lying to her. She cast her eyes down in embarrassment.

"Yep, as long as I can remember. And you really ARE from a village of humans, yes? What um, what are you called?"

"R-rani. My name is Rani. And....I'm sorry. For calling you a liar. It's pretty clear you know your way around this jungle."

Those green eyes seemed to sparkle, and a grin appeared on the jungle-dwellers face. "Jewel. I'm called Jewel. Come on, I'll show you to my sleeping-space, it's safe and isolated." And taking Rani's arm into hers, Jewel led the newcomer off into the darkening jungle.

---

Kaa slowly came to, his head smarting as he shook out his entire scaly body in confusion.

"Oooh, that'sss not going to help my sinusssess..." he trailed off, looking about before spying the rock. He hadn't seen his assailant, and few would dare attack him -- not even those trouble-making bandar-log. He picked up the stone in his coils and turned it around, an uneasy thought growing in his mind. Could it possibly have been....? No, surely not. Out of the question. But if she truly hadn't recognized him... Kaa slithered back up into his tree, trying to get comfortable and sleep off the throbbing in his head.

By the time Jewel and Rani had reached the little lean-to bordering the stream, the two of them were talking like old friends. Incredible as each seemed to the other, the conversation never dulled for a moment. For Jewel, this new human was already helping her to unravel the mysteries that baffled her. She was now certain that she couldn't have come from a nearby village as Rani had, but it *was* possible that she had originally come from the city (a kind of really, REALLY big Man-Village, as Rani had managed to convey), that was home to all sorts of people, even those with lighter skin like herself. Her head was awhirl with the possibilities, but also with the growing realization that she liked every little thing about Rani. Her easy smile, her energetic manner, the way her hips swayed when she walked...Jewel had insisted on "watching her back" and keeping a few paces behind while she sneakily caught glimpses of the woman's beautiful behind.

For Rani, Jewel was a fascinating, wild and unique spirit, strong and capable insofar as things pertained to the jungle around them, but understandably naive in some matter that was...adorably endearing. Her earnestness and forward way of speaking was refreshing to Rani, as used as she was to the minor politics of village life. And the strength of her wiry frame, her full breasts, and piercing green eyes conjured up in Rani's romantic mind an image of a wild rose, thorny but beautiful. As the two talked and shared a pleasantly-roasted bit of game that Jewel had hunted earlier that day, her thoughts wandered into...steamier territory.

"Hey, Jewel, I realized that I haven't properly thanked you for saving my life. I told you I'd been travelling to the city in order to start a new life for myself, but I never told you what I was going to do there."

"What...you were going to do? Besides just live?" the jungle girl inclined her head, confused.

"Aw, sorry I forgot that you really don't know how human societies work. We...have these things called 'jobs', where we do a kind of work, or task, and we get money in return, that we can use to buy things to live and be comfortable."

Jewel stared blankly, trying to make sense of what her new friend had said. "You get... 'muh-ney'? How does it work?" she finally inquired.

"Uhh, well...you know what, never mind that. All you need to know is, I was travelling because I wanted to become a famous dancer. You know, someone who performs on a stage, with other people watching for entertainment."

"Hmm..." Jewel puzzled over this as well.

"Maybe I can make it clear, if I...show you what I mean." Rani's eyes flashed mischievously, a suggestive grin on her face. "Just let me change into something more...fitting." With that, the woman slipped just outside the clearing, taking her pack with her. Jewel heard a faint rustling, and then a clinking of several small metal objects, her curiosity growing. Finally, a brief *click*, and slow, sensual music began to play, as if by magic.

"There, now I think I can give you...a private show, in gratitude." Rani stepped out from behind a tree, her outfit shining in the dim light of the campfire. Gone were the now-weatherworn Sari and Choli, replaced by a long flowing skirt of sheer red fabric, a hip-scarf of crimson adorned with jingling golden coins wrapped around the topmost section, just below her bare midriff. A bra top of an equally-rich red cupped Rani's breasts, her ample cleavage shown off another dangling set of coins. A simple red choker completed the look, and the dancer stepped closer to the fire, her eyes blazing in its reflection as they fixed Jewel intensely.

The jungle girl felt as if her stomach was filled entirely with butterflies, and warm ones at that -- if the flush she felt rise to her face was anything to go by. Rani slid up to the fire, arms raised gracefully above her head. She began to sway to the beat of the music, a slow, sinuous motion that caused Jewel's heart to beat faster in her chest. The dancer spun, arms weaving complex patterns in the air as her skirt swirled around, coins clinking together to add to the din. Rani kept her hazel eyes locked on Jewel's green ones, thrilled to see the effect she was having on this wild woman.

"You know~" she purred, mid-shimmy. "Whatever it was that snake was doing to me -- when you saved me -- it was, actually kind of nice. The dazzling colors of his eyes were...hypnotic, really."

"Hyp...not-tic?" Jewel asked distractedly.

"Yeah, it's like...a kind of magic. When your mind is completely caught up in something so....*fasscccinating*~" She drew out the word for emphasis, unintentionally mimicking the serpent she'd been referring to. "You jusssst want to let go of control, you know?"

"I, uh...." Jewel stammered, her gaze drifting up between Rani's smolder, then back down to her suggestive undulations. "I don't really understandd..." So flustered was the usually stoic huntress, she could hardly get the words out.

"That'ss okay, I coooould....sssshow you, if you like? I...could...hip...no...tize...you~" she rocked her body back and forth at each word.

There was something oddly familiar in the haze and heat Jewel was feeling, but she couldn't put her finger on it. All she knew was that this newcomer, Rani, was the most beautiful creature she had ever laid eyes on. An irresistible curiosity overtook her, and she nodded assent, gazing longingly into those brilliant eyes.

Rani arched her eyebrows, smile growing wider as the music shifted into a deeper, more percussion-based tune. "Wellll then....I want you to jusst do one little thing for me....jussst lisssten....lissten to my words...and watch my dance~" she sidled around the fire, circling Jewel, who flushed a deeper shade of red if possible.

"B-but that's...that's two thi-"

"Husssh, no need to speak....jusst lisssten, my Jewel" Rani gently laid finger on the jungle girl's lips, silencing her before leaning back to continue her performance.

Sashaying back around in front of the jungle girl, Rani stretched out her arms, arcing them and swaying in an s-motion. "You sssee, this dance is a very old art form, one of the earliest ones that humans, like us, practissse...some ssay we learned it from watching snakess, in fact...don't my armss resssemble...a sssnake, after all?"

Jewel's breathing was heavy, her eyes fixed on the gorgeous display in front of her. "Y-yeah..." she breathed out, the edge of her vision beginning to fog.

"Gooood...you are doing wonderfully, Jewel. Jusst continue to ssstare, watch my sssnakelike movementsss, and let yoursssself relaxsss..." she kept drawing out her words, letting sibilance creep into her induction, inspired by her earlier brush with seductive danger.

Jewel's shoulder relaxed, her guard lowering. Her eyes continued to pick up on every movement, every sway of the hips, every swing of the arms, every seductive flash of the dancer's eyes.

"Yesss, jussst ssstare, and let yourself go....go deep into trance for me....you...trussst me, don't you?"

It was getting harder and harder to think inside the pink haze of Jewel's mind. The dazzling display before her occupied every bit of brainpower she still had, and she shivered, her body involuntarily stirring at the word "trust". Her eyelids drooped a bit as she mumbled out "Yes...I tru-trussst you-u...Rani..."

"That'ss a good girl...a very beautiful Jewel...a very....ssssexy Jewel..." Rani suggested. The jungle girl's heart beat faster, the blush on her face a furious red to match the dancer's outfit, her loins stirring, while the rest of her body sank deeper into relaxation.

"You are sssooo sssleeeeeeeepy, aren't you, Jewel? Yesss, ssoo ssssleeepy...thooosse eyelids are jussst...too....heavy...."

Jewel's head began to sink forward, only for the brunette to jerk it up at the last moment, eager to keep watching the swaying dance before her.

"Poor, sssexy thing....you want to keep watching....but sssleeeep is beckoning..." She inclined a finger in front of Jewel's face, the 'come-hither' gesture emphasizing her words.

Jewel sank forward, jerked up again, and began to sink again, only to pull herself up once more, trying to follow the movement of the fingers, the movement of those hips, the words of the dancer whispering such sweet seductions to her. The feelings of bliss and arousal were strangely familiar, and yet so new to her. Her breathing came slower, and the jungle dweller began to pant, heat exhaled in each breath.

"Yess....ssooo...ssssleeepy...

can barely keep those eyess open...

You want to...sssink for me...

You want to....ssssleeep for me...

You want to....submit...to me...

3....so sleepy, eyes heavy weights...

2...nearly there, siinking into the blissss of trance...

aaaand....1...SSsssleeeeeep, deeep ssleeeep now, Jewel..."

At that the flowing fingers snapped and Jewel the jungle girl flopped forward into the still-swaying Rani's embrace, eyes obediently falling closed.

"Good, sssleep my beautiful Jungle Jewel..." Rani whispered as she stopped her dance, stroking the wild woman's untamed hair lovingly.

After a few more tender moments, Rani cupped the hypnotized woman's chin, lifting it up to her face. "Jewel...lisssten to me...open your eyesss, but remain deep, deep under my sspell...do you underssstand?"

Jewel's eyelid slid open, her expression adorably submissive and blank. "Yeeesss..."

"That's gooood. Now, my beautiful Jewel, ssince I have you here, ssooo submissive to me, would you tell me truthfully...do you have...feelings for me?"

"Y-yeesss..."

"And what....are thossse feelings, exactly?"

Even mesmerized as she was, Jewel hesitated and bit her lip. "I..I-I think you are...the most beautiful thing I have seen...I-I wanted to jusst sstare at you forever, even from up, in that tree..."

Now it was Rani's turn to blush, the passion of Jewel's hypnotized response even more than the woman had hoped to hear. She recovered, still cupping Jewel's chin gently.

"Wow, I...AHEM-Jewel...that is sssoo..sweet. I...I thought you were the most gorgeous woman I have ever met. Not to mention the bravest, and most capable...you saved my life...and I think I know jussst how to thank you for it..."

Rani sank down to her knees, still holding Jewel's chin, careful to keep her in a comfortable position. Putting one arm behind the jungle girl's back to brace her, the dancer leaned forward. Their lips met, hands moved to wrap around one another, exploring and reveling in the thrill of sensuous discovery. The fire died down, the hidden cassette player soon exhausting its tape of dance music. The moon shone faintly overhead, its pale light reflecting off the slowly entwining lovers on the jungle floor below. Hidden safely in the quiet of the clearing, nocturnal insects and bird chitters blended with sounds of human passion that echoed into the night...