Skulduggery 8: Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “Fuck,” I groaned.

  While Cimarra gripped the back of Ashlin’s head to help her move up and down my cock, I began to drive my hips forward to fuck the brunette’s mouth. I could feel how close I was to another climax, and every time I looked down at the two women, I just got that much closer.

  “Fuck, I’m gonna come,” I said as all my muscles started to clench.

  “You should come in her mouth,” Cimarra said with a smile. “After all, she said she wanted to taste you, didn’t she?”

  Ashlin’s lips were wrapped firmly around my cock, but she just looked up at me and nodded, and that was all the encouragement that I needed.

  I pushed my cock into her mouth a few more times, and then when I felt like I was just about to explode, I shoved it in again and just held it at the back of her throat.

  Instantly, my body spasmed and poured my seed into the beautiful brunette’s hungry little mouth. As more cum streamed out of my cock and into her throat, Ashlin gagged but stayed where she was, and when I was finally finished pouring into her, she swallowed, slid her lips off my cock, and then licked the corners of her mouth to make sure that she had tasted every last drop of my seed.

  “By the fucking Ancients,” Ashlin swore. “I had no idea it could feel like that. Or that you would taste so good! I mean, I kind of figured you would, but I didn’t-- oh, I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”

  “I think I do,” Cimarra laughed as she helped the other girl back onto the bed. “You’re trying to say that felt amazing, and it’s more than you ever dreamed of, right? At least, that’s how I felt the first time Wade and I slept together.”

  “Yes, exactly!” Ashlin said. “Thank you… I mean, thank you both.”

  “I’m glad you came to talk to Cim when you did,” I said with a smirk. “That was some good timing.”

  I climbed onto the bed between both women, and all three of us laid back on the pillows.

  “I didn’t think it was possible to feel this good,” Ashlin murmured as she rested her head against my chest. “Or to be this happy.”

  “Well, you better get used to that,” Cimarra said with a smile. “Because with Wade, anything is possible.”

  My raven-haired dancer rested her head on the other side of my chest, so I slipped one arm around each woman and pulled them a little closer to me.

  I knew that if I was going to make it to the boat race in time, I would really have to hurry back to the Gold City in the morning, but for tonight, I didn’t plan on going anywhere. I just wanted to enjoy the feeling of these two beautiful women in my arms.

  And once our muscles recovered a little, I planned to enjoy them both again even more.

  Chapter 19 - Ava

  The morning after Wade brought me back to our city, I woke up early to a roaring growl in my stomach. As soon as I could get dressed, I hurried down from the apartment above the bakery, and I was relieved to see that not only was Osman already awake, but he had already made coffee and biscuits for me.

  It was nice to be taken care of so well.

  I definitely wasn’t used to that yet, just like I wasn’t used to the fact that so many people wanted to help take care of me, but it made me feel a little more relaxed and a little more like I could be myself. And it sure as hell made me feel more confident for the future of my child.

  I especially loved how protective Penny had been toward me ever since she found out I was pregnant. She was almost as fierce about protecting me as Wade was, and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to ever piss off the redhead or get in her way, so it was nice to know that she was always looking out for me.

  But even though it was nice to have so many people who wanted to make sure I was safe and healthy, it was still strange to feel like I was part of a family. But I’d heard about things like that. About people who spent all their time together, who took care of each other, and who even laughed and joked and ate together. And sometimes, when I’d been on a mission, I had seen families like that through open windows or out at a market together, and I had wondered what that must be like.

  And somehow now, thanks to Wade, I was actually beginning to understand how that felt.

  And it was wonderful.

  I moved silently through the kitchen toward the table that Osman had set up for me, but right before I got there, I realized that the djinn had his back to me, so he probably didn’t even know that I was awake yet, much less that I was downstairs.

  Normally, I would have teased him and tried to scare him. I was an assassin, after all, so it wasn’t like that was hard. But since the djinn had made me breakfast and had arranged everything for me so carefully, I thought maybe I would be nice this morning and not make him drop his coffee all over the bakery floor.

  When I was still a few paces behind him, I cleared my throat to let him know that I was there.

  The blue-skinned djinn jumped anyway, and the empty teacup in his hand went flying. As soon as he jumped, I saw the flying teacup, so I leaped forward, stretched out my hand, and caught it just before it shattered against the floor.

  “Sorry, Osman,” I said with a smile, and then I held out the teacup to him. “Believe it or not, I really didn’t mean to scare you just now.”

  “That’s a likely story,” the djinn chuckled as he took the teacup and set it back down on the table. “Even when you’re not trying to be stealthy, you still manage to move like a cat with padded slippers on.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “So, is all this for me?”

  “Well, I had planned to join you, if that’s alright,” Osman replied, “but otherwise, absolutely-- eat as much as you want.”

  “You all know that a pregnant woman doesn’t actually need twice the amount of food she normally eats, right?” I grinned.

  “Psh, I doubt that Wade would agree with you,” the djinn laughed. “I’m sure he wants your child to be as big and strong as possible, so that means you should eat as much good food as you can.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I said, “but you have to realize that you made enough for a goddamn army here.”

  “Maybe,” Osman said, “but I bet you can put more of this away than you think.”

  After we both sat down at the table, I piled my plate high with all the food that Osman had laid out for me. There were flaky biscuits, spicy sausage links, warm porridge with golden raisins, handheld pastries stuffed with baked fruit, and of course, as much coffee as I could ever ask for.

  “It’s a special blend of coffee,” Osman told me, “so it’s safe to drink for the baby.”

  “That’s very thoughtful,” I said. “Thank you.”

  As I started to eat all the food that Osman had made for us, I thought about the training that I was supposed to begin today. I had never trained anyone else before, not really, but I knew that I could do it.

  I would train the human guard in this city to be more than just soldiers. I would train them to be assassins, too. Then they would be prepared for any kind of mission that Wade needed them to do, whether it was something that required stealth or brute strength.

  Besides, I would have Skam to assist me in training the humans, and I knew that would be a huge help. For one thing, it wouldn’t be safe for me to demonstrate all of the moves myself right now, but it would also help the humans to train against a burly dwarf like Skam.

  He was a strong opponent, and even though he’d been a thief instead of an assassin before his imprisonment, he had clearly been in enough fights that he knew what he was doing. After all, I didn’t think that Skam would have been able to survive the labor camps if he didn’t know a thing or two about self-defense.

  “How do you like the biscuits?” Osman asked.

  “Oh, everything is delicious,” I said.

  “You don’t think they have too much butter?” the djinn asked. “Because Marver seems to think that I put too much butter in my biscuits, but I told him that’s only because he likes them dry, and I prefer mine to melt in your mouth without any toppin
gs, so--”

  “I think they have a perfect amount of butter,” I laughed. “So you and Marver are still arguing over recipes?”

  “Don’t get me wrong, the old chef certainly has some good tricks up his sleeves,” Osman replied, “but he’s also a halfling, so some of his ideas about food are… well, let’s just say that they’re a little different from my own tastes.”

  “Well, he’s wrong about the biscuits,” I said. “They’re perfect, and these pastries with the fruit inside are to die for.”

  “Damn,” Osman sighed. “Those pastries are Marver’s personal recipe.”

  “Well, I won’t tell him how good they are if you don’t,” I said. “I have a feeling Marver likes to gloat.”

  “You’re not wrong about that,” Osman said, “even though I’ve been known to gloat from time to time myself.”

  “Who?” I laughed. “You?”

  I had just finished my second plate of breakfast when someone knocked on the door. I pushed myself back from the table in case it was an enemy, but I doubted that an enemy would knock first. Besides, it wasn’t like we had any real enemies left in this city.

  Wade had already taken care of all of them.

  When Osman opened the bakery door, I saw that it was only Skam, so I exhaled and let my hand drop from my knife.

  “Oh, good, I’m glad you’re up,” the tattooed dwarf said. “I know ya said that ya wanted to get an early start, but I thought I’d go ahead and come over and see if we could get an extra-early start.”

  “Why’s that?” I asked.

  “I just got word that the blacksmith has our order ready for us,” Skam said, “so I thought we could pick up all our new gear on the way down to the human district. I even brought the wagon.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said.

  “Do you want to take any breakfast to go, Skam?” Osman asked. “That also goes for you, Ava.”

  “I think I’ve had plenty, but Skam, you should know that the biscuits are especially good,” I said with a wink to the djinn.

  “Oh, aye,” Skam said. “We’ll have a day full of training, so I don’t mind if I put a little extra food in my belly.”

  After Osman made a to-go bag of food for the tattooed dwarf, I gathered all my weapons and led the way to the wagon parked just outside. I drove so Skam could eat his breakfast, and by the time we reached the blacksmith’s shop, the dwarf had finished every last scrap.

  “Now I feel ready for a bit of training,” the tattooed dwarf laughed. “Do ya think we should have brought extra for your recruits?”

  “Not until they’ve earned it,” I said with a shrug. “I wouldn’t want them to think that this will be an easy job.”

  As soon as the blacksmith came out and saw us, I hopped down from the wagon and started toward him. I could already see all the equipment that we’d ordered, since it was all stacked together on one side of his booth, and the sight of so many shiny weapons and so much bright armor all together in the same place was enough to make me sigh.

  There were fifty sets of armor, plus fifty spares, so it was a good thing that Skam had brought one of our bigger wagons. On top of the one hundred sets of armor, there were also one hundred sets of weapons. Fifty were meant for the guards, and fifty were meant to serve as back-ups, but that meant there were a total of one hundred swords and one hundred battle knives, and each of them looked sharper and more dangerous than the last one.

  “That’s a beautiful fucking thing,” I said. “You’ve done outstanding work, as always.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” the dwarven blacksmith grunted.

  But before he could turn away fast enough, I saw the little smile that my compliment had given him. The smith liked to pretend that he was nothing but tough shit, but I knew he was sweet underneath all his gruffness.

  Of course, my friends probably thought the same thing about me.

  But I didn’t mind that. To the rest of the world, I could just be a brilliant assassin-- someone who could kill anyone at any time I wanted to. But to Wade and to my friends, I could be more than that.

  I could just be Ava.

  Once Skam and I had loaded up our wagon with all the new weapons and armor, we continued down to the human district and the meeting place that we had agreed upon with Dryson. There was a large park in the southern part of the human district, and it had plenty of space for us to spread out and move around while we trained.

  I had thought at first that we might need to train somewhere secret, but then I remembered that the human guard wasn’t a secret. In fact, the elves themselves had approved the idea, so we could train right out in the open.

  Of course, the elves didn’t know that this human guard would become the most elite soldiers in Wade’s future army, but that would just make it all the better when we finally rose up against them and made their blue blood flow all across the fields of the empire.

  When we reached the park, Dryson had assembled all the human guards into neat columns. The fifty main guards that he had hand-picked were out front, and the two dozen that he had chosen as spares stood in rows along the back of the crowd. Of course, I knew that I would train them all exactly the same way because the ‘spares’ were only listed like that for the sake of the elves. In reality, all of these humans were going to be guards.

  And that was because eventually, all of them were going to be soldiers in Wade’s army.

  While Skam and Dryson unloaded all the equipment and put it somewhere for safekeeping, I started to walk up and down each row of humans to see what I had to work with. Eventually, I would hand out their weapons and armor to them, but I wanted to train them in hand-to-hand basics first. After all, they had to learn how to walk before they could run.

  Most of the guards were men, but there were a few women scattered throughout the crowd as well, and it made me glad to see so many humans who were willing to fight to protect their own. They all looked pretty nervous, and even the confident ones couldn’t seem to stop shifting back and forth from one foot to the other.

  When I had finished my assessment of all the troops, I strode back toward the head of the group and climbed up to stand on the seat of the wagon, so they could all see me.

  “You have all been chosen for your strength and your skills,” I began, “but more importantly, you have been chosen for your loyalty. You care about your district, you care about each other, and you care about the condition of humans as a whole.”

  The human guards all straightened their postures and stood a little taller.

  “I am Ava, I am an assassin, and I will train you to be the best fighters this city has ever seen,” I continued. “My dwarven friend here is Skam, and in case you can’t tell from his size or his tattoo, Skam knows a thing or two about how to fight and how to survive, so he’ll be demonstrating some of the more dangerous and complicated moves for you all. Is that clear?”

  “Clear!” the humans all responded at once.

  “It looks like someone has been training them already,” I told Dryson with a smile. “You’ve made a great start.”

  “I just organized them,” the human leader replied, “but they’re all yours now, so you just let me know what I can do to help.”

  “You can help me demonstrate tactics with Skam,” I said.

  “Absolutely,” Dryson said.

  As much as I wanted to get into the more complicated moves, I knew that I had to start with the basics, and that meant they needed to learn a basic punch and block. Sure, they had all probably thrown a punch before, and some of them might have even blocked one successfully, but if they didn’t have good form or good technique, then their performance in a fight would all just be a matter of chance.

  Instead, I wanted to make sure that it was a matter of skill.

  Since it was a basic move, I demonstrated it for them with Skam, and then I had them all practice with a partner. Then while they practiced, I moved from one row to the next to correct their forms or adjust their stance
s, and when I moved on to the next demonstration, I did the exact same thing.

  I didn’t expect them to remember everything I taught them today, especially since I knew I was giving them more information than they could absorb in just a few hours, but I wanted to make damn sure that anyone who came back for training the next day was fully committed to the cause. If they dropped out overnight, then they weren’t meant to be Wade’s elite guards anyway.

  As they continued to train and practice with each other, I went over the basics of hand-to-hand combat with them.

  “Never let your opponent take you to the ground,” I said, “and if they do, get back up as soon as possible.”

  “Wouldn’t it just be easier to just bring them down to the ground with us?” a human woman asked.

  “Sometimes,” I said, “but if you’re on the ground, you can’t see your surroundings as well, and your opponent may have an ally that will stomp your skull into pieces before you even see him coming.”

  “So is that like how you said that you always want to have the high ground?” another human asked.

  “Exactly,” I agreed and then watched as one of the guards threw a solid punch at their partner.

  “How was that?” the guard asked me.

  “That was good,” I said, “but remember, you want to strike through. Don’t just stop when you hit them. You want to keep going, like you’re trying to punch all the way to their internal organs.”

  “Got it,” the guard said and then tried again.

  “Good,” I said with a nod, and then I turned to their sparring partner. “And remember, you can try to dodge, block, or counter-attack their hits, right? So if he’s too slow when he pulls back from his punch, then you can grab him by the wrist or elbow, like this.”

  The man yelped when I grabbed his wrist, and I was careful not to break it as I twisted it away from his body in the opposite direction of where it was supposed to go. Then once I had his joint locked, I could move him any way that I wanted to, because if he didn’t go along with it, I could just snap his joint.