by Noah Layton
‘It’s all rhetoric,’ I replied. ‘It’s just a way of making it seem to the public like he was a good man. The High Council want to present the bounty hunters as good people, so it would make sense that they would try and present him that way.’
‘Doesn’t that make you angry?’ Veronica asked. ‘He was as corrupt as the rest of them. Maybe more.’
‘Our job isn’t to appear like the good guys. In fact, our job isn’t to appear at all. Our job is to get in, kill the bad guys, make a huge stack of gold and get out without anyone being any the wiser.’
‘Sounds like a good life to me,’ Cassandra winked.
‘And what’s more, this is good news.’ I spun both pieces of paper around and presented them to the girls. ‘Two separate bounties, for two separate incidents. Not only did these crimes take place at different places, but the High Council is treating them as two separate crimes, which means that they don’t think that they’re connected. In their eyes, these were committed by two different people, probably because of how far apart they occurred in such a small space of time. Which means that they definitely have no freaking clue about what really happened, or who was responsible for it. We’re totally in the clear.’
Veronica and Cassandra exchanged a look, the both turned back to me and smiled strangely.
‘What?’ I asked. ‘Do I have something on my face?’
‘Crimes,’ Cassandra repeated. ‘Is that what we’re calling them? Crimes?’
‘That’s what you’re taking away from what I just said?’ I laughed. ‘Not the whole we’re-safe part?’
‘No-o-o,’ Cassandra said teasingly, waving her hand through the air dramatically as if she was presenting a banner. ‘You said crimes. You’re a criminal. Drake Masterson, the criminal bounty hunter.’
‘Oh, Maker…’ Veronica whispered, running a hand over the thick stubble on my cheeks. ‘I think I want you even more than I usually do…’
‘I guess that name can stick,’ I smiled, as Veronica managed to drag herself away from me. ‘But the important thing to take away from all of this is that we’re free. We’re really home free. Hell, forget that, we’re home.’
‘Yeah we are,’ Cassandra laughed. ‘I just can’t wait to get out of this apartment. I love our hideaway and all, but I’m getting cabin fever.’
‘Don’t worry,’ I assured her. ‘A few more days and I just know that this offer will have sunk to the bottom of the pile. The High Council will just be doing it to satisfy the public’s need to make it look like something is being done. Once another crime that’s big enough takes its place, it will drift down into the mire, and the whole thing will be forgotten.’
‘How do your injuries feel today?’ Veronica asked, running a soft hand over my shoulder.
‘Better. By the time it’s safe for us to head back out, I’ll be healed.’
‘And in the meantime we need to figure out how to pass the time. I’m so bored. This place is squeaky clean, and there’s only so many elaborate meals that I can cook for us.’
I looked over to Cassandra, who was still propping herself up on her arm and watching us. Her upper teeth were tugging at her bottom lip, and her other hand had slid down her navel and was now stroking lightly between her legs, over the silk of her underwear.
‘You never did tell me what you girls used to get up to back when you lived together,’ I said.
‘Of course we did,’ Cassandra smiled. ‘You just fell asleep while we were talking about it.’
‘I guess you must have been bored,’ Veronica teased.
‘I definitely wasn’t bored. I was exhausted from a busy day. I’ve got plenty of time now.’
‘I don’t know if I feel like telling the story,’ Cassandra said, joining in on the teasing. ‘Although we could show you… What do you think, Veronica?’
Veronica looked over to Cassandra and drank in the view of her perfect form as she spread herself out on the bed.
‘Over there looks comfier than over here,’ Veronica said, pushing up from my lap and sauntering over to the bed. Her fingertips grazed the edge of the bathtub as she passed it, moving slowly as her pert behind shook back and forth.
Cassandra sat up in anticipation as Veronica joined her on the bed. They kneeled before each other in their underwear and gently began to run their hands over each other.
‘We are together now,’ Veronica said, turning to look over at me. ‘And Drake, you are our husband and our master. We are loyal to you only. That is how it works in the old kingdoms that I used to travel – like I said, a strong man may take many women, and we are yours.’
I couldn’t take my eyes away from them as they traced their gentle hands over each other’s bodies. They smiled at each other, my foxgirl and my catgirl, and gently their lips met.
They kissed each other slowly at first, teasing each other with their hands and their lips, before moving into more passionate moves as their tongues slipped between their lips and their hands traced each other’s breasts, my wives pleasuring each other before me.
Could life get any better than this?
***
A few days later, after we deemed it safe enough to head out again, my women and I headed out for drinks to celebrate, along with my dwarf companion who had made all of our successes possible.
‘What’ll it be for you ladies and gentlemen?’
Mavis stood by our private corner table in the corner of the Queen’s Steed as Bungooli finished up his set on the stage with a bow to riotous applause.
‘A pint of your finest ale, m’lady,’ Grimdrom said.
‘Your finest bottle of whisky for me,’ I said.
‘Are you sure, Drake? 21-year Abernathy. Runs for 200 gold pieces a bottle.’
‘What the hell, I’m celebrating.’
‘I’ll get in on that action,’ Cassandra said.
‘Apple schnapps for me,’ Veronica added.
‘Coming right up,’ Mavis smiled, turning and taking off to the bar.
‘Well,’ I started, ‘I must say it’s pretty damn nice to be back out in the real world again.’
‘What do you mean?’ Grimdrom laughed. ‘This is a day out for me. Most days I’m wrapped up in my work, confined to my workshop as I toil away.’
‘That’s so sad,’ Veronica said in earnest, batting her huge eyes at him.
‘Why would it be sad? If anything it’s sad me being in a place like this. I hate leaving the workshop. I love my work. Although the ice-cold mug of ale about to come my way might sweeten this outing.’
‘Oh, come on,’ I protested, ‘you can’t tell me that you didn’t at least have a little fun during our last escapade.’
‘Fun? I don’t know if I would call it fun. Exhilarating, terrifying, amazing, death-defying, maybe.’
‘I’ll take that.’
‘Just how did you realise that that was going to work out?’ He asked in disbelief. ‘How could you possibly know that things would go that way?’
‘Because I knew our enemy,’ I replied, ‘and I had faith in my companions; you guys. I knew you would have my back the whole time, and I would have yours every step of the way.’
‘Listen to you, Drake,’ Cassandra smiled. ‘For a second you sounded grateful. What’s gotten into you?’
‘What do you mean?’ I scoffed. ‘I’ve always had faith in all of you. You’re my team.’
‘Your team?’ Veronica said. ‘Is that what we are?’
‘Well, I thought we did a pretty good job of taking down my ex-boss, as well as a few wanted criminals along the way. And, as much as I didn’t realise it early on, I have to admit it – I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without the three of you. I was filled with rage, and I would’ve gotten my ass kicked if I tried to take it all on by myself. So thank you for making sure that I didn’t get myself killed in the process.’
‘I do not think that you give yourself enough credit, Drake. None of this would have happened in the first place without your skills, y
our resolve and your tactics.’
Mavis returned at that moment with our drinks; the 21 year-old bottle of whisky, the apple schnapps and the mug of ale. Our glasses were filled and our minds happy and relaxed.
If there was one thing I had learned since this whole adventure had started, it was that I couldn’t complete all of this alone, as much as I thought I could.
I knew my goals, but they couldn’t be achieved without the help of my companions.
Cassandra raised a toast.
‘To Drake – the maddest son of a bitch I’ve ever met. There’s no other man I would rather share a bed with.’
‘Hear, hear,’ Grimdrom said as we knocked our glasses together. ‘Wait, wait, I mean the first part about him being a bastard I agree to,’ he corrected quickly. ‘The second part about sharing a bed with him might be fine for you two, but leave me out of that one.’
I had already taken a drink of my whisky – a delicious, smooth beverage that tasted like heaven – and ended up spitting out a mouthful all over the table as I laughed my ass off.
‘Say it, don’t spray it,’ Cassandra said.
‘You literally just spat out 10 gold pieces,’ Grimdrom laughed.
‘We’ve got money to spare right now,’ I said, filling my glass back up and raising it. ‘Another toast – to the guild.’
We knocked our glasses together once more and drank deeply before sinking back into our seats.
‘So the guild?’ Cassandra said. ‘Is that what we are now?’
‘If you’re all willing to stick with me after the madness of the past week. There was a lot of blood, a lot of fighting, a lot of explosions…’
‘And a lot of gold,’ Grimdrom added.
‘Cheers to that. So… Are you all with me?’
My companions looked between each other. Cassandra refilled her glass and mine with whisky.
‘This has been, without a doubt, the most exciting, meaningful, well-paid week of my life. Of course I’m in.’
‘Me too,’ Veronica said, ‘as long as you keep coming home dirty.’
‘I think that’s a given,’ I replied.
‘And as long as I can keep blowing stuff up and getting paid for it,’ Grimdrom added, ‘them I’m in too. But mainly the blowing stuff up part. Speaking of which, I could do with an apprentice.’
‘An apprentice?’ I repeated. ‘What for? I thought you liked your privacy.’
‘I do, but I need somebody to operate my more experimental explosives. I can’t count the number of times I’ve almost blown my thumbs off cooking up new batches.’
‘Better you than me, buddy.’
‘If we’re going to recruit more members then we’re going to need a real headquarters,’ Cassandra said.
‘What’s wrong with our hideaway?’
‘Nothing, I love our hideout, but if we’re going to start recruiting more members for our new guild then we’re going to need a bigger place. I’m not sharing my bed.’
‘You’re pretty territorial, aren’t you?’
‘Well…’ She replied, looking up and twitching her ears, ‘It kind of comes with the package.’
‘Just one thing I’m unclear about,’ Veronica interrupted. ‘Who is it that we’re going after now? With gold in our pockets and your enemies dead, who is left to kill?’
‘We haven’t even gotten started yet,’ I replied. ‘Now we start going after the people I’ve been wanting to take down for years; the gangs. They’ve had control of networks within his city for too long, and it’s time to bring them to justice. But we’re going to need to fight dirty if we’re going to do that. We need to turn them against each other, and turn the corrupt bounty hunting guilds against each other too.’
‘So what are you saying?’ Grimdrom smiled with an inquisitively raised eyebrow, taking a large gulp of ale.
‘I’m saying,’ I replied, lifting my whisky to my lips, downing it and tapping my empty glass down on the table. ‘Let’s go start a gang war.’
BOUNTY HUNTING: FOR GOLD AND REVENGE
WILL CONTINUE IN BOOK 2
If you’d like to keep up with my latest releases and publications, please sign up to my Official Facebook Author Page – you can find it at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/Noah-Layton-Author-1091856721016326/
Thank you for reading!
