Scent Marked

Hiking high up in the Himalayas, the landscape seems barren and devoid of any life forms. It goes to show how much they avoid human detection because with our motion sensor cameras we managed to capture all manner of different creatures scuttling about. Our first capture was a colony of marmots, scurrying past our camera to find shelter in a snow drift. Marmots are large mountain squirrels that burrow in rock formations, though they have no cute bushy tail like tree squirrels. We also saw many pika darting in and out of the light. Pika look like a cross between a rat and a rabbit, with large rounded ears that resemble a rabbit's but with a small body and eyes and nose that look more like a rodent.

Both the marmots and the pika went about in rushed movements, constantly looking around nervously before daring to leave the shelter of the rocks. A few clips later we saw why, as a golden eagle swooped down and carried off a marmot right in front of our camera! Everyone yelped in surprise upon witnessing such a sight as if we were standing right there.

"Look how huge that thing is!" Taz exclaimed.

"It is difficult to gain an appreciation for their size when you see them soaring in the skies high above, searching for food. Though they range all over Europe, the ones in the Himalayas are the largest," Sonam told us. "Locally, we call them 'berkut,' which I always thought meant 'great lady' because the females are about a third larger than the males, and they are fierce!"

"That's perfect B-roll, we'll use it," Vanessa said, which I had learned is filmmaker lingo for background and contextual footage. We also had footage of plenty of bharal, but as yet no cats.

"I collected some leopard dung," exclaimed Greg, proudly holding up a little baggie with said poop inside, "so I know we're on the right track."

"Yeah, I sniffed under a lot of rocky outposts and took swabs under the ones with the strongest scent, just like you suggested," Taz echoed, also holding up her proof.

"Awesome! Did we label each one with date and geo-coordinates?" I asked.

"Yes, mother," came Taz's sarcastic reply.

"What do you think, we're amateurs?" Greg asked.

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry. I just get nervous about these details because I'm not out there to help," I apologized. We needed all that information because our plan was to take the samples back to our labs and run both DNA and chemical spectrographic analysis. In doing so we hoped to put together a picture of how many cats we had in the area and the extent of their range. I was also hoping to map all the chemical compounds released in their scent markings. Greg would do the same in the fecal samples he collected. In this way, we were hoping to do a lot more than just "see" the cats - we wanted to get a better scientific understanding of their lives.

The next morning I found myself quickly rushing the two teams off on their respective journeys right after breakfast. I was dying with curiosity to check the footage on my hidden camera and I needed my privacy to do so. Sonam wanted to check my ankle again, which meant unwrapping it and exposing it to the cold. I didn't even put forth a protest, so anxious for him to just get it over with and leave.

When they finally left I raced to retrieve the memory card from my hidden camera. What was captured was basically a repeat performance from the night before. Elias again started on his back, his head periodically turning from side to side. He and Greg were sleeping on the inside, with Greg to his left and me to his right - the same side that I had scent marked. As the night wore on Elias gradually turned more to the right and before I knew it he once again turned over onto his stomach with his face planted square on to my scent marking.

I was absolutely giddy as I made notes in my journal. On both nights all this had taken place within two hours of us falling asleep. On night one Elias buried his face in my scent mark at 2:26 AM, five hours and twenty-six minutes past lights out, which was roughly 9 pm. On the second night his face plant came at 1:05 AM - more than an hour earlier.

I was also filled with more questions. Was he awake or dreaming? If he was still asleep, in what manner had my scent invaded his dreams? What face and body had his mind attached to the scent that had made him so restless with need? There were so many unanswered questions that I wanted to find a way to explore.

I clicked on the next video and there again was Elias dry humping the ground, merely inches away from me as I slept peacefully. This went on for about 40 minutes before Elias turned back over onto his back, a frustrated scowl on his face.

The next video saw Elias's left arm come out of the sleeping bag and drape over his eyes while his right arm remained hidden, making a universally recognizable up and down motion that originated from his right shoulder and terminated at his waist. As I watched spellbound I felt my labia sliding apart as they flowered, and wetness trickling out of me. My right hand slid down into my pants to play in my garden while Elias's right hand increased speed and urgency. It wasn't hard to tell when he came. His body convulsed and his face twisted up in sweet agony, just as mine was doing at that same moment.

As pleased as I was with the results, I knew I had a lot more testing to do. I needed to know if Elias was having a specific response to me, or if this was a general response to any woman's scent marking. To figure that out, I needed to test Elias's reaction to the pheromones of someone else. How in the world was I going to accomplish that?

When the idea came to me, I immediately rejected it in shame and horror at myself. In trying to think of other options, nothing came to me - at least not anything that would work. My mind kept drifting back to my first idea. The fact that I was violating Elias's personal space without his permission and defiling his belongings already had me feeling guilty enough as it was. How could I even think of violating someone else's privacy as well? The fact that Elias had been trying to sleep with me for years lessened the guilt I felt about what I was doing to him, but there could be no justification for what I was contemplating in that moment.

Before I could lose my nerve, I grabbed Taz's backpack and took a peek inside. Just to see if it would even be possible, I told myself. To decrease the amount of weight we carried, the only changes of clothes we had were our undergarments: wool socks, knickers, and a few shirts and leggings made from wicking material that draws moisture away from the body. The clean items she had yet to wear were neatly folded, and I thankfully discovered that - just like me - she used a plastic bag to store her dirty items and keep them from smelling up the clean ones. I opened the plastic bag and found what I was looking for inside: her used panties.

Ok, I had what I needed, but which pair to use? They were not fancy - basic cotton full cheek panties in various pastel colors. I knew Taz had sexier underwear as I'd seen her change before. They made no sense for this trip, though. Like me, she'd gone full utilitarian, choosing strictly for comfort. There were four pair in all, in black, grey, pink and green. We were told to bring ten pair, and we were told to wear each pair for 3 days, thus giving us a month's supply. If Taz was following along like I was, the four pair before me represented 12 days of wear. After 3 days wear during strenuous hiking, each one should have been potent with her scent. However, best research practices for a comparison group would dictate that I needed to select the pair worn most recently. Unless I planned on asking her, there was only one way to find out. I couldn't believe what I was about to do. Could I really? No risk, no wickets.

I selected the grey pair and located its gusset. A light, cloudy discoloration on a raised ridge of the material bore witness to their prior use. I steeled my nerve and took a whiff. Her strong musk invaded my senses. It was ripe but not offensive, slightly familiar and yet different all the same. The light stain in the gusset was dry and the cotton felt a bit stiffer there to the touch, so I surmised that pair had been shorn many days ago.

I repeated the same process with the pink one next. The stain in the gusset was less noticeable against the pink backdrop, but the fabric had a wrinkly stiffness there just the same. Her scent seemed less potent, and I repeated my inhalation to make sure. I concluded that they must have been worn prior to the grey pair.

Next I took up the black pair and immediately discovered that the gusset was cold yet still damp. Jackpot! The cloudy stains stood out prominently to the eye and I guessed right away that they were the ones worn most recently. Still, something in me made me want to check. Just to be sure. I held them under my nose and drew a long breath, filling my lungs with her essence. Her musk was powerful, almost overwhelming. It was definitely beyond what was considered polite to present to one's lover, but still not offensive. The urge to take a second whiff was near overpowering, a direction I recognized as coming from the primitive part of our brain. There was a strong component of sweat, faint traces of urine, but mostly just the unmistakable concentrated scent of a woman.

I sniff tested the green pair and my hunch was confirmed - the black ones were the most recently worn. Mission accomplished, I returned the other worn pairs to the plastic bag and then carefully placed it back among Taz's belongings, just as I'd found it.

Working out this phase of my experiment was a bit tricky. I couldn't just leave Taz's dirty panties out in the open to be seen -by her or Elias. I needed to keep them hidden until everyone was sound asleep, and then place them on either side of Elias. That required delicate moving around in the dark without waking anyone to catch me in my mischief. I also needed to scrub any remnants of my own scent from Elias's sleeping bag so as not to taint whatever reaction he might have to Taz's undies. I pulled out the baby wipes and got to work.

Finally, in order to not get caught the next morning, I needed to wake up earlier than everyone else, find Taz's panties and steel them back. That last part was actually the trickiest. Afterward I set the alarm on my watch to vibrate at midnight and again at 6:00 am. That was a full half hour before our usual rise and shine but if I set it for any earlier there would be no light and I wouldn't be able to see. We all slept hard after a full day's hike, so we generally didn't wake up any earlier than necessary. I prayed that would be the case the next morning, and I then took a nap. I wasn't going to get very good sleep that night so I might as well try to get some rest in early, I reckoned.

That night I slept with my watch resting just under my face to make sure its vibrations woke me. When my alarm went off late that evening, I remained still in the dark for a while, listening to everyone's breathing to confirm that they were all still asleep. Satisfied that they were, I slowly pulled Taz's undies out from under my sleeping bag and planted them on next to Elias's head. He was sleeping right next to me so it wasn't a far reach. My heart was beating out of my chest, so hard that I feared it might wake him. When my adrenaline died down the exhaustion overtook me and I drifted back off into dreamland.

The second alarm took me more by surprise. I was disoriented for a few minutes while the fog cleared in my brain. There was just enough light outside so see inside the tent. I gingerly raised my head to peak over at Elias in search of the evidence of my misdeed. He was snoring pretty loudly for a change - usually it's only Greg making all the racket. I saw nothing on either side of him. Bloody hell. Panic started to set in as I mentally berated myself for trying something so risky.

'Think, Priya!' I admonished myself, trying to control my rising anxiety. The loudness of his snoring was a testament to how soundly he slept, which meant I could probably peek under his sleeping bag and not wake him. I took a deep breath and lifted the lip of his sleeping bag just a few inches and looked inside. The good thing is that I saw Taz's panties - right by his side near his open left palm. His right hand rested on top of his groin, as if that was his last preoccupation before falling asleep. The bad news is that even with all of our combined body heat, it was still cold in the tent outside of our sleeping bags and me lifting his up allowed in a draft that made him stir. With a groan Elias turned to his right onto his stomach and pulled the sleeping bag tightly around his shoulders. Shitty bloody bollocks!

I was in almost full panic by then. All I could do is wait him out to see what would happen. Luckily, once he fell back asleep and his snoring resumed, he loosened his grip on the bag. I didn't dare raise it again - my best bet was to try to reach in blind, and hope that Taz's knickers were still somewhere near where I had just seen them. I steeled my nerve and began to slowly snake my arm into Elias's sleeping bag. Once my hand got down near his waist I began to delicately feel around, praying to every God I could name. One or more of them had mercy on my soul as I felt the smooth cotton make contact with my fingers. Mission accomplished.

Anxious rather than excited is how I would describe my feelings later that day as I retrieved the memory card and slipped it into my laptop to view the footage I had captured. From a scientific perspective, it was great. Just as on the previous night, Elias gravitated toward Taz's panties until he was nose deep in them. Later in the night he was on his back with the garment held to his face while he masturbated. I could even tell the moment he came as his body tensed up and his hips arched into the air. It was great for my data, but my heart sank a little watching him have the same reaction to her scent.

As I began to review the footage captured by our other remote cameras, I found it hard to concentrate. The disappointment I felt over Elias's reaction to Taz's scent nagged at me. My ego got the better of me and I surmised that the only way soothe my pride was to make a direct comparison. As if the previous nights' experiment wasn't difficult enough to pull off! In for a penny, in for a pound, right? I put down the laptop and reached again for Taz's bag.

I discovered that instead of wearing one pair for three or four days that she was switching every day to give each pair an opportunity to air out for a bit. There was a lavender pair added to the pouch of dirty undies, and my nose confirmed that it was her most recently worn. Then, I pulled out my own most recently worn pair for comparison and tried to further comprehend the overpowering allure of these smells.

Mine were a tan pair of cheekies, almost matching my skin tone. Evidence of personal stimulation was clearly visible in the gusset. They smelled just as ripe, perhaps even more so because of all the masturbating I did in them over the past couple of days. The subtle differences between our fragrances couldn't have been due to diet, as over the past two weeks we had both eaten the exact same meals and snacks. That fact actually made for a more perfect comparison, for if Elias expressed any preference for either it could not be ascribed to differences in diet which can definitely influence how the secretions of our bodies smell and taste.

Again that night I stayed awake until everyone else was asleep. I repeated my routine from the previous evening, only this time it was both mine and Taz's freshly worn panties that I planted on opposite sides of Elias. When they were all set, I settled down for the night in my sleeping bag, making sure my alarm was set to wake up first.

Retrieving each pair the following morning went a bit easier that day. For starters, Taz's panties were in the same place as I'd left them and were easy to grab without any commotion. Taking a quick peek inside of Elias's sleeping bag I spotted mine, crumpled in his right hand. I had to get him to release them before I dared reach in. It took me a minute but I finally tried using my hair to tickle his nose. It worked! His right hand came out from the warmth of his sleeping bag to scratch his nose, then he turned over and continued sleeping. That meant he had released my panties, finally allowing me to retrieve them.

It was immediately obvious to me that they felt heavier than normal. Further inspection revealed that they were wet and sticky inside, way beyond the dampness I'd left in them. A quick sniff confirmed my hunch. The feral smell of a man's seed is unmistakable. A girl might even find it off putting if it did not have such rich associations, and I guess some women do. For me, the earthy combination of Elias's freshly spilt seed mixed with my musk set my neurons to firing, generating warmth between my legs.

That warmth was quickly replaced by nervous fear as I contemplated the significance of finding his cum in my knickers. Had he used them to masturbate? If he had used my panties to masturbate, did that mean he was sniffing Taz's knickers while he did so? If that was true, it would be great data but a serious blow to my ego. I'd have to watch the videos to find out.

Later that morning I feigned sleep while the others began to stir. I could sense a commotion to my right where Elias lay but I kept my eyes closed and didn't look.

"You lose something?" I heard Greg ask.

"I must be losing my mind," Elias replied, sounding frustrated.

"The altitude sickness is getting to him," Taz giggled. "Delirium is setting in."

Curiosity got the better of me and I let my eyes flutter open and took a long stretch. Elias was turning his sleeping bag inside out, frantically in search of something. It took all my strength not to laugh.

"Did one of your socks fall off?" asked Greg. "I hate it when that happens."

"It must be his car keys," croaked Taz. "I can never find mine."

"Very fucking funny," Elias growled. "I swear one of you must be messing with me."

I took a moment to study his face then. His eyes were bloodshot and the skin underneath them looked puffy and irritated. He was clearly sleep deprived. Poor guy.

"Dude, who peed in your coffee?" I did giggle then. Back in graduate school, Taz and I tried to use the word 'dude' in mimicking American speech, yet with her accent it came out as 'dood.' We teased her at first but after a while we were all calling each other 'dood', exaggerating the long vowel sound. Hearing her use it to tease Elias brought back all those memories.

Elias scrutinized us both for a minute, giving us accusatory looks as the wheels turned in his head. I employed my best theatre skills to feign innocence. Taz didn't have to act.

"You're starting to freak me out, Elias," I said, sounding concerned. "What's wrong?"

He thought about it for another second and then we saw his whole demeanor change. "I'm sorry. I'm just having these strange dreams. It seemed so real that I thought one of you was playing a joke on me."

I exchanged puzzled looks with Taz and then turned back to him. Would I dare ask?

"What kind of dreams?" Greg asked for us.

"Never mind," he sighed heavily. "Let's just go have some breakfast."

As had become our routine, Greg and Elias left the tent first so Taz could help me rewrap my foot and get dressed. I had worked out handling my other private business on my own, supporting myself on my knees rather than trying to put any weight on my ankle. Taz was eternally grateful that I never had to ask her to help me poop. So was I.

While she helped me into my layers of pants, I pretended to brush off the accusations that Elias leveled against us and talk about something else. She, however, was more suspicious.