by Eric Vall
I made a plate, carried it to a chair in the corner, and started to devour it, but my mind drifted to the earlier scene at the cave. The mage had carried a specific knife, and he knew a nexus spell that could have destroyed the entire forest. Hell, it could have destroyed the city. If he wanted to destroy things, why not just cast that on everything? What did he need the living creatures for?
“You look like you have a lot on your mind,” Aaliyah murmured as she sauntered up next to me. She hadn’t changed clothes since the hunt, and I could smell the Sect members’ blood on her.
The memory of the lioness ripping into the traitor made my own blood run south.
“I have a few things in there,” I mumbled as I stabbed the last piece of meat on my plate with my claw. “I just feel like we missed something.”
“Besides the interrogation?” Aaliyah responded with an eye roll. “Yeah, that would’ve been nice.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely part of it,” I agreed, “but there’s something else. I’m just not sure what yet.”
“Would you like me to help take your mind off these things?” the lioness inquired with a half-smile.
“I think a distraction would be nice,” I chuckled.
With that, Aaliyah grabbed my hand, pulled me from the chair, and led me out of the dining hall. She was headed for my room, but I had another idea.
I tugged on her hand and guided her to one of the offices I’d seen earlier. The room contained a large, wooden desk, inlaid with the same gold paintings I’d seen in the queen’s chambers. I picked up the chair from behind the desk and shoved it under the doorknob.
Then I turned to the lioness and gazed up and down her gorgeous body. She untied the ribbon around her waist and stared into my eyes as she let her robe fall, and my jaw was nearly on the floor.
I’d seen her naked many times before, but fuck was she gorgeous. Her bronze skin seemed to shimmer in the dim lighting, and I could see the ripples of muscle in her toned arms and legs as she stood tall before me. I wanted to taste every inch of her muscular body before I filled her with my seed.
“Come here,” I growled as I wrapped an arm around her naked waist and pulled her to me. Her breasts pushed against my chest, and she shuddered as her tight nipples rubbed over the fabric of my shirt. I pressed my lips to hers for a hard kiss before I shoved my tongue inside her mouth and ran it over hers.
Aaliyah groaned against my lips and put her arms around my neck, and I guided her left hand down my chest and abs to my erection, which was standing at full attention now.
“Oh, gods, I can’t wait to have that inside me,” she moaned as she slid her hand into my pants and began to rub my shaft.
“Fuck,” I groaned, and I slid my hand from her waist to her round ass. Then I gripped her full butt cheeks and lifted Aaliyah’s body up onto the desk.
The lioness spread her legs, and I took in a sharp breath as she revealed her pussy to me. She was already glistening when I leaned down to lick her mound, and she shuddered as I ran my tongue up and down her slit and then sucked on her throbbing clit. I felt her body tighten, and she grabbed my head to push my face further between her legs. I grinned, and then I slid one finger inside her and pumped it in and out. Her back arched away from the desk as her first orgasm shook her entire body, and her juices poured down my hand and face as her climax racked her toned frame.
“Yes!” Aaliyah cried out through her orgasm.
I pumped my fingers and suckled her clit until her shudders subsided, and she took a deep breath.
“Now, it’s my turn,” the lioness gasped and lifted my head from between her legs.
She pressed her lips to mine and pushed herself off the desk in front of me. Then she pulled away from my lips, dropped to her knees, and pulled my trousers down as she went.
“Oh, fuck,” I murmured as Aaliyah grasped my erection and ran her rough tongue up and down its length.
In response, she shoved my whole cock into her mouth, and I groaned and grabbed onto her braid. She nearly gagged as she thrust my dick as far into her mouth as she could, and my balls tightened in response.
The lioness sucked and licked me until I couldn’t take it any longer. I pushed her head into my hips as my orgasm released, and I filled her mouth with my load. She moaned as my seed dripped down her throat, and she licked the last remaining drops from her lips before she swallowed.
“I love when you do that,” I growled, and I grabbed her hips and turned her around so her ass was facing me and her tail swayed in my face. I pushed her chest down to the desk to give me access to her dripping pussy. Then I slid my still wet cock inside her tunnel and watched her claws grip the desk as my shaft filled her.
“Yes, Evan!” Aaliyah moaned as I thrust in and out of her hot, wet canal, and her walls tightened around my cock as she instantly climaxed again.
I pumped my erection in and out of her pussy until her orgasm finished, and I slid my cock out to turn her around. I lifted her back onto the desk and climbed on top of her with my knees on either side of her hips. Then I slid back into her dripping tunnel and thrust into her again.
Aaliyah sighed with pleasure as I crashed into her over and over again. She wrapped her legs around my hips and pushed me deeper inside her. Within minutes, her claws dug into my back, and she climaxed again.
“Gods, fuck!” she squealed as I kept pushing my cock inside her tightening pussy.
“Yessssss,” I growled as I felt my own orgasm crash to the surface.
I dumped my hot seed inside the lioness’ body, and I held her hips as I shoved my erection deep inside her so that I could empty my load directly into her womb.
After I had filled her to the brim, we kissed passionately for a few moments. Eventually, though, I slid my cock out of her and watched my juices drip down her thigh before she lifted her head up to face me.
“Ready for round number two of your distraction?” she asked with a coy smirk.
“Fuck, yes,” I growled, and I reached for the lioness once more.
Chapter 7
For the second day in a row, the tolling bell stunned me out of my sleep. The sun streamed in through the window, and I stretched my body out as I tried to wake up.
“What now?” I groaned as I covered my eyes with my arm.
“What is it?” Aaliyah asked as she rolled over and rubbed her face with her hands.
“Surely not another kidnapping,” Alyona murmured as she blinked her violet eyes a few times.
Somehow, Aaliyah and I had made it back to my quarters after our time in the writing room last night, and we’d curled up in my bed next to the princess. I was getting used to this whole harem thing, and it was fucking awesome.
But our cuddle session was officially over when the bell tolled again.
I threw the blankets off and groaned once more when I saw the women’s naked bodies underneath. Aaliyah’s bronze skin contrasted perfectly to Alyona’s porcelain body, and all I could think of was how I’d like to taste every inch of each of them before I thrusted my morning wood deep inside their waiting pussies …
This had better be a real fucking emergency.
I shook my head to regain my focus and pulled on my clothes and boots, while Alyona and Aaliyah put on their robes. Then we strode down the hallway to the sitting room, where the queen paced back and forth and shrieked at the other centaurs in the room.
Mona’s chestnut hair was wild and unkempt, and her long black robe was wrinkled and tied haphazardly around her waist. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days with her wide, red eyes. Her hands waved wildly as she spoke, and I knew something was seriously wrong, but I waited until she’d finished yelling at one of the centaurs who worked in the castle before I spoke to her.
“What is it, Mona?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
“Archer,” the queen gasped as she whirled on me, and then she put her face in her hands. “He’s gone.”
“What?” I growled. Her oldest son wasn’t too old to
be wandering off, but with the events of the last few days, I was immediately on guard. “Are you sure he didn’t go somewhere on his own?”
“He knows better,” Mona insisted, and she was on the verge of tears. “I kissed both of them goodnight. And they were there when Cesar checked on them after I went to bed, but this morning when I went in to wake them, only Leo was there.”
“So, only Cesar saw them after you?” I asked, and I narrowed my eyes at the thought of the butler. I knew I didn’t like that guy.
“Yes,” she confirmed, and she looked up at me with watery, jade-colored eyes. “I don’t know how this could’ve happened. You freed the other hostages and killed the skyraptor. So, who took my son?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question just yet, but I was damn sure going to find out.
Then I turned as Laika, Nike, Ravi, and the dryad sisters walked through the doorway. They all looked confused as they gazed around the frenzied room, and I walked closer to speak to them.
“What’s going on?” Nike asked me, and he brushed his unruly black hair out of his silver eyes.
“Archer, the queen’s son, is missing,” I replied in a quiet tone. “The Green Glass Sect is behind this. I know it.”
“I agree.” Laika nodded her head. “How will we find the child? We don’t know where the rest of them are hiding out.”
“I have a feeling someone here in the castle can answer that,” I murmured. “We killed the skyraptor. There has to be someone inside who’s helping the Sect.”
“Oh, no,” Polina gasped as she covered her mouth.
“Who would do that to the little horse child?” Trina asked, and anger flashed in her emerald eyes.
“I’m not sure yet.” I watched as a dozen centaurs trotted in and out of the room. “But I’ll find out. And he’ll be sorry.”
I turned back to the queen, who gnawed on her nails as she stared blankly across the room. She was a wreck, and I didn’t blame her. Just the idea of someone stealing my egg was enough to make me want to burn down a city, and her son was actually gone. It was a miracle she hadn’t lost her mind yet.
“Your Highness?” Alyona murmured and put a hand on Mona’s arm. “We’d like to help, if you’ll allow it.”
“You’d do that?” the queen asked with misty eyes. “You’ve done so much already. I couldn’t ask you to do this for me.”
“No one hurts a child on my watch,” I growled. “Where’s Cesar? I’ll start with him since he was the last to see Archer.”
“He’s out with the search parties,” Mona responded. “The Sagittarius Order is searching all the homes in the city first in case Archer went to a friend’s house or someone from Lumin took him.”
“Let’s go,” I muttered to my comrades.
Then we stalked out of the castle but I paused my party right outside. I didn’t want to accuse the queen’s right-hand man without something more concrete to support my gut feeling, but I was mighty suspicious.
“You suspect Cesar?” Aaliyah asked as she cut right to the point.
“Well, it seems pretty weird that he was the last one to see them because he supposedly checked on them in the middle of the night,” I mused. “I think he’s just trying to keep the other centaurs from knowing when Archer went missing.”
“Then they wouldn’t know if they should blame a kidnapper or if the boy wandered off,” Nike completed my thought. “That’s why she started the search within the city, and now whoever took him has more time to get further away.”
“Plus, the boy probably trusts Cesar, so he would’ve gone with him willingly,” Laika chimed in, and her gray wolf ears twitched atop her head. “That makes more sense than a stranger getting into the castle and taking Archer without anyone hearing a thing.”
“Good point,” I agreed and pursed my lips. “We need to find Cesar, but we’ll have to split up, so Polina, Trina, and Marina, you take the eastern part of the city. Laika and Nike, you take the western part. Aaliyah and Ravi, you take the south. Alyona and I will check the north. We’ll meet back here as soon as you’ve checked with every search party in your section. Be careful, and watch each other’s backs.”
Everyone nodded in agreement, and we headed our separate ways. Alyona and I walked north and saw what we expected. The centaur search parties were banging on doors and looking through every home and shop for the boy. The other centaurs in the city looked confused as the warriors stomped through the streets to each building. The citizens began to gather in groups and whisper among themselves, probably to ask what was going on, but we didn’t have time to worry about the people talking right now. We just made sure to watch each search party as they entered and exited the buildings, since we needed to be certain if Cesar had disappeared, too.
I watched a few citizens get angry with the Sagittarius Order and their searching, but none of the arguments lasted long.
“You can’t just barge in here!” a shopkeeper yelled as the warriors pushed past him to enter the building.
“It’s the queen’s order,” one of the centaur fighters grunted as he stood with the citizen in front of the door.
“Why?” the shopkeeper demanded while he watched the warriors check every nook and cranny of the shop.
“The oldest prince is missing from the castle,” the warrior answered and crossed his arms over his chest to wait for another response.
“Ah,” the shopkeeper muttered, and he deflated a little before he gestured to his building. “Please, search anywhere you like. The boy isn’t here.”
I knew we wouldn’t find the boy in town, but I wanted to find Cesar. I figured he would stay and look for the prince to keep up appearances, but we weren’t having any luck so far.
So far, we only saw members of the Order searching the homes, but we scanned each search party anyway. We had to be certain.
“Do you think we’ll find him?” Alyona echoed my thoughts.
“I don’t know,” I admitted under my breath. “If we don’t, I think that speaks for itself.”
After about an hour, we’d run into every search group in the northern section and still hadn’t found Cesar. We hadn’t heard from any of the other members of our group either, so we headed back to the palace to wait for them.
One of us had to find out something.
As we arrived in front of the castle, we found River giving instructions to more of the Sagittarius Order. The handful of warriors stood in rows with their horse tails swishing in agitation, and they all wore the bows and quivers on their backs that I’d become accustomed to seeing on the members of the Sagittarius Order.
“Any luck finding the boy?” I asked the centaur commander once the soldiers had moved to carry out his orders.
“No,” he growled. “Archer is still missing.”
“Have you found Cesar?” I questioned.
“I haven’t seen him since this morning,” River replied, and he looked surprised at the question. “Why?”
“Supposedly, he’s helping look for Archer,” I said with a quirked brow. “He isn’t with one of your search parties?”
“No.” River shook his head and stomped his hooves. “He came out of the castle earlier when we were dividing up, but now that you mention it, it seems like he disappeared right after that.”
Just then, the rest of my party showed up, but it seemed like they were empty-handed.
“No luck?” I addressed the group, just to be sure.
“He’s not here,” Laika responded with a solemn look in her gray eyes, and her ears were pinned flat against her head. “I believe you were right, Lord Evan.”
“You think Cesar’s involved in the disappearance?” River questioned, and his dark eyes widened.
“It’s looking more and more like it,” I growled. “How else would someone go missing from inside the castle without an inside man? Not to mention, we already rescued the other hostages. We know the skyraptor took them, and we know we killed it. So, it obviously didn’t come back from the dead
to take Archer.”
“Shit,” River muttered and looked up at the castle. “How are we going to tell the queen?”
“I’ll tell her,” I told him. “But I don’t know how we’re going to find Archer if Cesar has already left the city.”
River cursed again and turned to the door.
We followed him inside the castle to the sitting area, where Mona was definitely not sitting. She still paced the room, and now she ran her fingers through her hair repeatedly. Her younger son, Leo, sat in a chair near his mother and clutched a stuffed animal. His eyes were red from crying, but now he sat in silence and stared blankly across the room. He didn’t even react when we walked in, and for a moment, I wondered if he had any idea what was going on.
I strode into the room and stood in front of Mona, but she barely noticed our entrance and didn’t stop moving.
“Mona,” I said and waited for her to turn and look at me. “I think Cesar’s involved in Archer’s disappearance.”
“What?” Mona stared at me and awaited an answer. “Why do you think that?”
“He’s gone,” I answered simply, since there was no sense in going through all of my logic right now when she was so out of it.
“Well, he’s looking for Archer,” the queen said and cocked her head to the side.
“No, he’s not,” I told her. “We checked with all the search parties.”
“It’s true, Your Highness.” River stepped forward to stand next to me, and the horse-man lifted his chin as his tail snapped in agitation behind him. “Cesar left the castle, but he never joined us.”
The queen finally stopped pacing, and I watched as anger flashed in her eyes. Then she took two deep breaths before she spoke again.
“You can’t be serious,” Mona argued and shook her head. “He’s been my trusted assistant for years. He loves my boys.”
