by Lena Austin
Kella could not speak to tell him how much that drove her closer to the edge. She felt the heat between her legs rise to nearly unbearable levels knowing he intended to conquer her so thoroughly. The words he spoke, that he intended to bite her anywhere he pleased, made her lift her hips again in invitation.
Tanne watched with a smile before kneeling between her legs. His erection twitched with eagerness, not wishing to be denied. “In fact, I’ve an urge to bite, here.” He nipped the inside of her left thigh, so close to her sex his hair brushed her wetness in an intimacy that left her whimpering even while his teeth left tiny sparks of pain.
“And here.” His mouth covered her wetness, but he didn’t bite. Not precisely.
Kella moaned around the gag, and held on to the thinnest thread of sanity she’d ever had. Her whole awareness focused on what Tanne’s mouth and tongue were doing. His tongue felt as rough as a cat’s, yet velvety soft. The pressure rose in her like a boiling pot, with the lid ready to go flying.
Tanne thrust a finger ‑‑ or was it two? ‑‑ into her aching pussy, and Kella exploded. The gag only muffled her screams of pleasure, and she thought she’d surely swallow it or turn inside out.
He removed his fingers with aching slowness while she pulsed around his hand and climaxed again, and again. He pulled the gag from her mouth, wiped his fingers on it, and tossed it into the grass.
Kella was positive she would die if he didn’t sheathe himself in her. “Oh, please!” was all she could gasp out, but Tanne understood. He freed her ankles and placed her legs around his waist.
His cock stood poised and ready to enter her screaming pussy. The head caressed her intimately before Tanne put his arms on either side of her shoulders and thrust home.
Instantly, Kella’s pulsations wrapped around him and squeezed. She couldn’t stop, and didn’t want to do so, in any case, because so intimate an invasion made her yelp with ecstasy once again.
She looked up, knowing her eyes were wild and pleading. “I am conquered! Take me, Tanne! Take me while I die!”
Tanne’s eyes were half-shut, but still burned into her. “You won’t die.” Then he began to pound into her without mercy. He took what she willingly gave with a fury as feral as her own.
This, then, was the mastery of a stallion. She loved it, even while she clamped her lips over more cries. Now she knew she’d survive, and live for this. “More, Tanne! Give me more!” She shut her eyes.
His breath became too ragged to speak, and a groan ripped from his throat. His thrusts became shorter and more powerful, and she clamped her muscles down around the pumping shaft in an attempt to hang on.
Tanne shouted incoherently and shoved in so hard she was sure she’d be cleaved in two. His release was nearly as strong as her own, so she squeezed with all her might to milk it and receive every drop. Now his cries filled the meadow with sound as he gave her everything he had.
Kella opened her eyes to see Tanne’s face framed by his silver hair, his eyes tightly shut as he gave the last few short thrusts that signaled the end of his pleasure.
“Tanne.”
His blue eyes opened, still wild and hazy.
“Release me. I want to hold you and caress you.”
The magic fell away from her hands. “You’ll be the death of me, yet.” He rolled off in one fluid motion, and pulled her to him to cuddle in the meadow’s grass. “I didn’t even kiss you.”
She raised her head to laugh. “When you give me cause to complain, I’ll let you know. You can kiss me later when both of us have the breath not to smother.”
“A bargain.” He grinned and pulled strands of grass from her hair. “It seems I’ve ruined the results of your bath. Would you like another?”
Kella giggled. “Another what?”
Tanne sat up, chuckling. “Bath, you insatiable…” His voice trailed off as he stared out at the woods.
“What is it?” Kella sat up quickly, but Tanne motioned her to silence. She peered through the stand of horsetail in her way.
In the distance, it was easy to spot the black hide of the Herd Stallion. He seemed to wait patiently for someone.
Leonus appeared a few moments later, knelt, and groveled at the Herd Stallion’s feet. Talamar transformed to human, his golden hair flashing in the sunlight.
Tanne gave a small sound of disgust, and took Kella’s hand to teleport silently away.
Kella watched until the last possible second, as Leonus lifted Talamar’s tunic hem to kiss it, and then reached for Talamar’s crotch.
As if in benediction, Talamar laid his hand on Leonus’s head.
Tanne growled, and they teleported home.
Chapter Twenty
Five years, today. Five years since Tanne had first taken her into his life. It was a day worth celebrating. Kella saluted the day with her ubiquitous tea, and stepped into the morning light.
She was alone, for once. From the entrance to her cavern, Kella watched the sunshine pour down like a blessing from the gods on the meadow, and her garden.
The silence was a fine thing, at least for now. Soon enough, her peace would be disturbed. In the five years since she and Tanne had established this healing facility, they’d made a success of it.
Days like this, when no one needed ministrations in the main cavern or in one of the private rooms in the back, had become rare. She sipped her tea and reveled in the morning.
Le-An appeared in the distance, walking through the woods as if she owned them. Kella waved and watched her friend stride forward. In the years since she and Tanne had healed Le-An’s burns, she’d been a frequent guest. Sometimes she was a patient, and sometimes a friend.
Today, they were herb hunting together. Le-An, with her many forms, was an invaluable companion on such excursions. Kella checked her basket for the third time, noting her herb knife was sharp and the many linen bags were ready. She picked up the basket and poked the contents down into a compact bundle.
“Whew!” Le-An met her at the bottom of the slope that now comprised Kella’s extensive garden of herbs and flowers. “Sun might be warm today. Where are we going?”
Kella grinned and started walking, knowing Le-An could keep up easily. “Not very far. Just on the other side of the bridge and north a bit. Between the Dragons’ lairs and the crystal pond.”
“Well, Harpy droppings. If that’s where we’re headed, I could’ve met you by my tree.”
Kella laughed at the slightly disgruntled look on Le-An’s face. “You are the one who insists on coming here.”
Le-An’s face turned impish. “And turn down your cooking? Not in a century. Will Tanne take the duty today of waiting for patients?”
Kella nodded. “The Elf healer is visiting. They were deep in discussion of some esoteric anomaly. Something to do with the magic resistance of Dragon hide. After Red’s last fiasco with his mating flight, they’re trying to arrive at a solution to the problem.”
Le-An laughed and escorted Kella over the bridge. “Red is a good Dragon. I like him, even if he does beat me at chess constantly. I take it he’s gone home?”
Kella took the path that led to the patch of feverwort she wanted. “Yes, thank goodness. He and that huge nest of his took up half the cavern.”
Le-An took one look at the fungus Kella intended to harvest and wrinkled her nose. “Ugh! The stuff smells worse than Red’s droppings. Don’t know how you stand it.”
Kella snickered. “When it is dried properly, it has no odor. Go dig me some mandrake roots, if you like.” She pointed with her knife to a shady patch where the white blossoms could be seen.
“Now that’s more like it!” Le-An snatched up a linen bag and ran for the mandrake. She changed into a ferret and disappeared into the dense undergrowth.
Kella saw the small plume of dirt fan out from the mandrake and went back to carefully scraping the fungus off the old deadfall tree trunk. She teleported the bag to her stillroom as soon as it was full of the stinking mess. No sense in keeping the
pungent odor in range of her nose.
She stood and carefully washed her knife at the river’s edge, drying it on her pants leg. The knife went back into her basket, and she turned to offer her help to Le-An.
A small black missile shot out of the sky, landed on her chest, and knocked her into the river. The bat screamed and flew back into the sky before landing on the riverbank. Kella stood up, sputtering in the shallows, and angrily watched as the bat shifted into Reimy.
As Kella waded to shore and stepped onto dry land, Reimy pointed at her and laughed hysterically. “Well, look at you now. Sodden and muddy! How appropriate!”
The red eyes, white skin, and restless movements said it all, even if the scent wasn’t present. “Reimy, you’re in heat. Go home and get laid.” The signs of heat and bloodlust were the same, save for the scent of aroused female.
The weary, disdainful tone in Kella’s voice enraged Reimy further. “There’s no one to ease my aches, you stupid bitch! I must seek a loner to aid me. You brought ten new princes to us, and not one will bother. That handsome immigrant prince, Jem, even laughed and said he wouldn’t perform stud service.” She jammed a thumb into her breastbone. “Me! An acolyte of the temple.”
Kella dried herself with a small hint of her power, and then folded her arms across her chest. “Perhaps because you’ve become an arrogant, hate-filled creature who thinks that religious fervor is the answer to everything?” She grinned and didn’t resist the dig. “Perhaps if you pray hard enough, a stallion will come perform stud service on you.”
It was worth every instance of being pelted with rotten fruit and snubs from the villagers, especially Reimy, to see her nemesis scream with rage. Sedna had told her many stories of how Reimy had turned into a fanatic, positive that, if she prayed hard enough, the heretical immigrants would leave and things would return to the old order.
Reimy’s screech rose to heights that could burst eardrums. “I’ll not commit heresy by wishing a god of my own! Not like you.” She grew thoughtful for a moment.
Kella recognized the signs of her growing insanity. Some bitches became violent when their needs were not met, and Reimy appeared to be one of those who used the excuse of heat to rage indiscriminately. She readied her protections.
Reimy gave a sly smile. “Since the gods will not deign to punish you, it seems I, as their faithful servant, must mete out judgment. Perhaps they even feel it is the duty of their worshipers to punish heretics. I see it now.” She readied herself for a leap, half crouching.
The fireballs came easily to Kella’s hands. She shook her head at Reimy. “Don’t do it, Reimy. You will hurt, and I will laugh.”
Reimy eyed the green fire that did not scorch Kella’s hands. “I’ll find a way to make you pay for your crimes, heretic. You brought this chaos upon us by daring to be the stallion’s whore. When, not if, Tanne ever sends you packing, where will you go? Don’t come back to the village, heretic.
“You redoubled your crime by bringing more heretics to live among us. You are an agent of evil, and I will find a way to make you pay!” She shot into the sky, turning to bat and heading for the Vampire village.
Kella shook her head and let the magic dissipate. Reimy had hit upon the one fear that never left, even after all these years ‑‑ that one day, Tanne might lose interest and seek another lover. She squelched that tiny doubt firmly.
Le-An’s ferret form appeared from the bushes. Why didn’t you scorch her for that? Her mind-speech was laced with the acid of anger.
Kella shrugged and picked up her basket. “Let’s go into the woods to look for agrimony. There’s been a rash of sore throats lately.”
She stalked to the woods, not sure if she was angry with herself or merely frustrated. “Reimy was in heat, Le-An. I’m sure you heard me say so. Her rant was that there were no princes willing to listen to her preaching in hopes of being laid. Those princes have far better choices available. Heat drives some bitches like Reimy to violence, almost like a temporary insanity.”
Le-An changed form to human female. “I saw that.” Le-An’s voice was drier than old leaves. She pointed out the aromatic yellow flowers Kella sought. “So, since Reimy blames you for her woes, instead of her own bad behavior, as long as she remains in heat, she’ll continue to attempt to punish you.”
Kella shrugged again. “I suppose so. One of these days, I will get impatient enough to fry her tail. However, I promised Tanne I’d avoid using my magic for harm. It is easy enough to simply protect myself.”
“Hmph! Other than the slight inconvenience of getting dumped in the river now and then.” Le-An stomped over and began to help Kella pull leaves.
* * * * *
After a hard three days of healing a pack of Werewolves who’d all decided to lair in poisoned sumac, Kella and Tanne were relaxing at home.
“Halloo!” came the shout from the entrance.
They both jumped up to see Le-An swagger in, a proud smile splitting his face, for he was in male form this time.
“You wouldn’t happen to have some wine for a thirsty fellow, would you, Tanne? I’ve been busy, and I’m perishing for something better than water.”
Tanne teleported a delicate Elven wine and glasses onto the table before the great fireplace, while Kella laughingly pulled a chair closer. Her nose twitched. A distinctive musky odor of sweat and sex clung to Le-An.
Kella teasingly shook a finger at the man who plopped down gracelessly in the chair, but took the delicate goblet with the courtliness of a noble Elf. “What have you been up to? With you, the strut you walked in here with means you’ve been troublemaking again. Not that I can’t guess part of it with the smell clinging to you.”
Le-An grinned shamelessly. “Why, Kella! You should be grateful to me! Reimy won’t be attacking you anytime soon, now!”
His announcement had Kella sitting down and sipping her wine. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.” She covered her forehead with her free hand. “That was a big risk, Le-An.”
Tanne looked on, clearly puzzled. “What do you mean, Reimy won’t be attacking you again, Kella? And what was the risk Le-An took this time?”
Le-An chuckled, the wine dangling carelessly from his hand as he sat forward. “Oh, so Kella didn’t tell you that last week, Reimy attacked her while we were out herb hunting by the river?”
Le-An waved his other hand dismissively. “Oh, Kella was fine. Handled it like a good sorceress and didn’t fry Reimy. I would have, I must say. The crazy bitch was in heat, Tanne, and quite insane.”
Tanne looked thoughtful. “So, you took it upon yourself to remedy the problem? How?”
Le-An laughed. “I appeared in the village as a male Vamp and expressed my interest in the, er, young lady. She was so grateful to find a prince willing to fuck her, she was blind to the fact that my face was new.”
Kella, getting over her shock, chortled. “Now that’s desperate. I’ll bet she thought you were one of those who immediately took off to form that new village to the north of the old one.”
Le-An shot her a wicked look. “True. Since I listened to her diatribe of how her prayers had been answered by the gods, and made all the right agreeable noises, she didn’t question further.” His grin spread wider. “She didn’t like it much when I gagged her to shut her up, but she wasn’t about to protest when I yanked her clothes off and fucked her silly.” He shrugged. “She’s not bad with her clothes off, if a bit skinnier than I like it.”
Tanne grinned, apparently enjoying some masculine joke. “Somehow, I get the feeling you wouldn’t brag so much if there weren’t more to tell.”
Le-An raked a hand through his hair and gulped down more wine. “Perceptive, aren’t you? Yes, well, there’s more. I changed forms a few times while I had her on her hands and knees.”
The flabbergasted shout came at the same time. “You did what?”
Le-An waved his hand to calm them both. “Don’t look so nauseated. I’d already deposited my seed, and made sure she still sh
uddered. It was a rapid change from human to wolf to Unicorn. No more than a few seconds of each. Enough to shock her. Then I changed to hawk and got the hell out while she still quaked in pleasure and shouted something about being touched by the gods.”
Le-An grinned winningly until Kella gave up pretending to be angry and began to laugh.
Tanne chuckled. “You are a born troublemaker, Le-An. You say you did deposit in her. What if she bears fruit?”
Now Le-An laughed. “Not likely, old friend! After this number of years and many a female beneath me, I’ve never had a single offspring. I am sure nothing will happen this time, either! Don’t borrow trouble. I make enough of my own.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Tanne planted his feet firmly on the rug, surprising Kella out of her peaceful reverie in front of the fire. “Let’s go to the pools at the north end of the Valley.” His eyes reflected the glow of the mage lights that lit their chairs.
Kella blinked in astonishment and put her embroidery on her lap. “I take it you mean the colored pools? I’m not objecting, mind you, but it is late in the evening. Why the wish to go, and why now?”
“Did I ever tell you the uses of the different colored pools?” He leered suggestively and wiggled his eyebrows.
She could certainly guess one of them, but decided to play along with his game. “They have uses? What are they?” It was almost fun to pretend to be innocent.
“The first pool is deep purple. It infuses people with a sense of being pampered. This is very good for treating those who have been abused, or perhaps who have had too many troubles of late. It feels almost as if you’re wrapped in someone’s loving arms again, and the world cannot harm you.” He checked off the pool on one of his long, elegant fingers as he spoke.
“I can see where that would have benefits. What is next?” Kella leaned forward, fascinated.
“The second pool is almost blood-red. It is a power pool used to charge depleted mage energies in a hurry.” He ticked off another finger, and smiled. “Not that you have such need, with your ability to ground.”
