by Dante King
The townspeople gathered before the bonfire and began to celebrate, singing and dancing. They had their town back, and the enthusiasm was infectious. It was hard not to smile at the cheerful air that had returned to the tiny hamlet, even if there was a lot of work left to do.
One person wouldn’t be staying to complete it, however. As soon as Bao the Cultivator packed away his share of the Beast Cores, the man came up to shake my hand and say his goodbyes.
“Are you sure you won’t stay here tonight?” I asked him, cocking an eyebrow. The smells of cooking wafted from the nearby inn. It sounded like the Jinshu elders were cooking up one hell of a feast. Bao’s pack bulged with new rations the townspeople had given him, but surely fresh food tasted better, right?
“As much as I would love to remain with you and your group,” Bao said sagely, “the road compels me on. Bao the Cultivator is a nomad, young Eric—I must spread my legend far and wide, protecting people wherever they are in need!”
I nodded. I could see the honor in that, if not necessarily the sense. “It’s been a privilege, Bao,” I said, giving the man’s hand a hearty shake. Despite the uselessness of his cultivation, I found myself telling the truth—I really did like the man.
Bao chuckled. “You, on the other hand, should enjoy yourself,” he said, gesturing toward the inn—and my women. “As the new Governor, it’s important for you to meet with the leadership here. Fortify your position. And for the sake of the Gods, get a new cart!”
I laughed loud and long at that. Lyra’s old cart had been used as kindling to start the bonfire in the public square. With all of its screws and fastenings rusted away, it hadn’t been much more than a pile of kindling, anyway. “I will,” I told Bao. “You be careful out there in the world, Bao.”
“A cultivator is always careful,” the man said, wiggling a finger. “It is the world that is not careful, young Eric Hyde!”
Isn’t that just the truth, I thought, watching the back of Bao’s robes as he made his way out of town. I’d miss that strange man, even if he did get in my way almost as often as he helped. I didn’t have many people in this new world I could call a friend, and I was proud to use that moniker for Bao.
As I watched him go, Anna came up behind me. I turned with a sigh, then grinned at the sight of her in her tight tunic and her demonic form. She’d been battle-ready the entire time we cleared the streets of Rust Beetles, and now she looked ready to party.
“The elders want to speak with you,” my girlfriend said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. “They’re planning to fete all of us tonight—they’re throwing a feast in our honor. They sound really grateful that you cleared the town out.”
“Wonderful.” My stomach gave a growl at the thought. “We’ll stay here tonight and head to the next town in the morning, then. Will they have a cart ready for us?”
Anna nodded. “They’re bummed we lost Lyra’s stash of beer on the drive up here, but apparently they’ve got this rice wine that’ll knock your socks off. They’ve promised as much as we can drink to every member of our party, and I’m pretty sure the townspeople will be imbibing, too.” Anna grinned from ear to ear. “Wanna make a few new cultivators tonight?”
I met her expression with one of my own. “There’s only one I’m thinking of,” I told her, the image of Hazel filling my mind.
“Me too. I’ve been fantasizing about that girl since the cabin in the woods. I can’t wait to get my hands on her.”
As it turned out, however, Anna would have to wait. The feast the elders planned encompassed the entire town square—and as it turned out, nearly every person in the town wanted to toast us or slap us on the back. Before long I found myself in a back room, in deep conversation with the elders about the future of their town and the Hollow Frog Guild.
I found out that they hated the Hollow Frog Guild almost as much as I did. They’d met with the cultivator Seth, that little worm who’d pissed Hazel off, right at the beginning of the Rust Beetle infestation. He’d promised them he’d clear the Beetles from the mine for a price, and the elders gladly paid it.
According to the elders, he’d come back down from the mines with a face as pale as a ghost—demanding double the amount the town had already paid him.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Seth had run into the Bronze Shade—and run away like a scared little baby. Extorting the town elders was just the icing on the cake. The people in charge of Jinshu hadn’t gotten a single li back from Seth or the Hollow Frog Guild, which meant they were more than happy to tie their fortunes to me, instead. After all, I was the man who’d killed the Bronze Shade and freed their town. I had a whole crew of gorgeous women at my side, who transformed into weapons at my command.
By the time the meeting was over, I was pretty sure these people would follow me to Hell and back. The Jinshu elders had no love for the Hollow Frog Guild, and the new boss looked so much more appealing than the old one.
The merrymaking had died down a bit as midnight passed, with most of the villagers staggering drunkenly back to their homes, now clear of the horrible Rust Beetles. Only a few familiar faces remained in the common room of the town’s inn, and those looked like they’d settled in for the long haul.
I sidled up to the bartender, a fresh-faced young woman who looked like she’d sampled more than a little of her own stock that night. “Hey there,” I said, glancing around the room. “How’s things?”
The woman gave a start, a hiccup passing her lips. “You’re the guy who saved our town!” she said, her eyes widening in recognition. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you! Can I fix you a drink? Whatever you want, it’s on the house. Hang on, I’ve got the good stuff under the counter…”
“That’s alright,” I assured her with a chuckle. I’d had enough of the good stuff from a glass for the evening. Right now I wanted the ‘good stuff’ waiting for me in bed. “I was wondering if you’ve seen my companions. A woman with light colored hair and horns about yay long, hanging out with a redhead a little older than I am? They might have been holding hands, kissing a bit?”
The bartender’s face flushed with warmth. “I know exactly who you’re talking about,” she said, her tone letting me know Anna and Lyra had definitely been kissing down here earlier. “They’re upstairs on the second floor. The big suite overlooking the main thoroughfare. The elders said it belongs to the heroes tonight.”
“And so it does,” I told the girl, downing a shot someone had left on the counter. Something Lyra said to me earlier echoed in the back of my head; without thinking, I blurted: “You’re not interested in cultivation, are you?”
The bartender did a double take. If this was my way of propositioning her, it was almost shameless in its directness. The old me would have been so embarrassed I’d have slunk off without waiting for a reply—but the new me, the one growing more comfortable in this world by the day, just met her gaze with a smirk. Why not propose some fun with a cutie who works behind the bar at the town you’d just rescued? All in a day’s work, right?
“Cultivators are so glamorous,” the young woman purred, fiddling with a lock of her straight, dark hair. “Not to mention heroic. I’d love to be one, but…”
“But what?” I asked, leaning forward. “If it’s a question of not having the ability, that’s no problem. My girls and I, we have this method—”
“Your girls have told everyone about your method,” the bartender said with a giggle. “Trust me, the town’s heard it multiple times tonight. It’s not that at all.”
The thought of Anna and Lyra telling the people of Jinshu what went into Dual Cultivation—in explicit detail—made me want to go upstairs and visit with them even more. But I wanted to be clear about this bartender first. “Then what’s the issue?”
The bartender glanced backward, looking over the row of expensive-looking bottles along the top shelf. Some of them looked older than I was, caked with dust from long years of disuse. No doubt the alcohol inside of them w
as some high-quality stuff, though.
“This is my job,” the woman said, turning back to me. “This bar’s been in my family’s name for three generations now. It’s a pillar of the Jinshu community. And I’m my father’s only daughter. If I left and became a cultivator, he’d have no one to run the place.”
I felt my brows furrow together. “He could always run it himself,” I suggested.
The bartender tittered, putting her fingers to her pouty lips. “Hardly. He’s one of the Jinshu elders.”
Things rapidly became clear in my mind. “So one of those fellows wining and dining me earlier was your father,” I said, the pieces clicking together.
“Right.”
“He’d be fine with you having a little tryst with the new Governor,” I mused, leaning over the counter. “Hell, it would probably butter me up even more—”
“Probably,” the bartender shot back with a wink. “But that’d be my decision, not his.”
Point taken. “But he’d be upset if she decided to leave home and become a cultivator. Do I have that right?”
The bartender leaned forward, checking the room quickly to make sure none of the remaining guests were staring at us. With an impetuous grin, she placed the pad of her index finger on the tip of my nose and giggled. “Bingo.”
“I didn’t know you folks had bingo,” I said, shaking my head with a grin. “My grandma used to play that game.”
“Mine too,” the bartender said. “My name’s Kim, by the way.”
I nodded. “Well, Kim, I have a perfect solution for you.”
The two of us were vibing. Have you ever just jumped into a conversation with someone and felt as if the two of you had been friends your entire life, or found yourself thinking ‘she’s the one’ midway through a first date with an utterly bombshell knockout? That’s the way I felt about this woman. Like fate had dropped her in my lap, intending her to become part of our group. A perfect cultivator and harem girl, a valuable addition to our team.
I wasn’t going to propose as much just yet, though. Didn’t want to scare her.
Kim gave me an odd smile, as if she weren’t sure she was sure she wanted to hear what I was about to say. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” I grinned from ear to ear. “We don’t Dual Cultivate, you and me. We just fuck.”
Kim’s mouth dropped open, her lips forming a little ‘O’ of surprise. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “I have a couple companions upstairs who’ll want to join in, but somehow I don’t think that’ll be a problem for you, will it, Kim? From the way you talked about them earlier, you find my friends just as attractive as I do.”
Kim swallowed hard. “I do,” she said, shocked at her own boldness.
I cupped the girl’s chin. “You like boys and girls, Kim? You like having a man and a couple ladies in bed with you at the same time?”
Kim looked like she’d just been handed a winning lottery ticket. “Uh huh,” she panted, her face going slack with need. “Do you?”
I shook my head with a smirk. “I just like girls,” I said, spreading my arms. “And I really like girls who like girls, too. Why don’t you come upstairs with me, Kim?”
Kim stared at me a moment longer. She literally slid over her own bar, like the Dukes of Hazzard going over the hood of the General Lee. In addition to her tight, low-cut top she wore a pair of the breeches popular among the townsfolk—but hers fit so close that I could see every curve of her ass and mound as she stepped onto the other side of the bar.
Landing with a giggle, she put her hand in mine. “Let’s go, hero,” she panted, staring up at me with her dark eyes. “Oh, by the way, I’m not on birth control right now. I hope that’s not a problem?”
I nearly fell over. This close to the finish line, to hear a thing like that come out of her mouth…
Why say that? I wanted to ask. Instead, what came out was, “Only if it’s a problem for you?”
Kim guffawed. “Are you kidding? My father would throw a whole second feast if his only daughter wound up pregnant with the new Governor’s baby. He’d lose his mind with joy.” She glanced sideways at me, sizing up my reaction. “He wanted me to throw myself at Governor Shingu during his last visit, but things didn’t work out. That man is… strange.”
“Was,” I said, thinking of the monster that tore itself out of the Governor’s carcass. Strange indeed. “And I don’t want to think about him tonight. Just you.”
“And your companions,” Kim said, as smooth as silk as she led me to the stairs. “I believe they’re right up here…”
As we made our way up the stairs, I couldn’t help but reflect on how I was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world. Most men’s girlfriends would kill them if they brought a girl as cute as Kim to the bedroom at a time like this. But my harem girls had been needling me ever since we arrived at Jinshu to start adding new cultivators to our roster. Yes, I knew Kim said she wasn’t ready for that yet, but I already had a plan to break down her resistance. I gave it fifty-fifty odds that she’d beg me to Dual Cultivate with her in the bedroom tonight—but even if she didn’t, explaining to her father that accompanying the new Governor as a cultivator more or less assured she’d get pregnant with his child…
It was a great plan, and I was already looking forward to seeing the Jinshu’s elders faces when I pulled it off. Unfortunately, fate had different plans.
As Kim and I reached the second floor landing, a figure stepped out of the shadows. I tensed, expecting an attack, but it wasn’t a bandit or a monster from the mines that we’d overlooked. It was something potentially much worse.
“Hello, Eric,” Hazel said.
Chapter 12
“Hazel!” I froze on the top stair. Kim bumped into me and lost her footing, nearly tipping over and falling down to the first-floor landing before I grabbed her around the waist and hauled her up. “What are you doing skulking around? I was just getting ready to go to bed…”
Hazel didn’t respond right away. She stared at the door of the suite at the end of the hall, her arms crossed beneath her ample breasts. Her gaze was fixed on Kim, as if to say I know exactly what you were about to do, Eric Hyde—and I don’t approve.
Something about her gaze rankled me. I didn’t like it one bit.
“To bed,” Hazel repeated blandly, smirking at my newest companion. “Right.”
She’s drunk, I thought, the realization shocking me more than anything else about her. I’d never seen Hazel drink before, as she was normally too straight-laced and buttoned-down for it. Even now she didn’t appear truly wasted, just tipsy—as if she’d had a couple drinks in order to gather her courage before this conversation. Why would she need to do that, though?
“Exactly,” I said, hoping to defuse the situation before it could become a fight. “Kim here was just showing me to my room. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to go ahead and head over there now—”
“I’ve been thinking about your offer,” Hazel said, cutting me off.
Kim glanced at the former cultivator, then at me, worry lines appearing in her forehead. “Maybe I should go,” the bartender whispered, clearly more than a little intimidated by Hazel. “Raincheck?”
“What? No!” I glanced down at the cute bartender, irritation filling my stomach. Hazel was not going to cockblock me! “I can handle this, babe. You just sit tight while I deal with her—”
But Kim was already shaking her head. “You’re going to be here tomorrow, right?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. “I’m sure you and the group won’t file out of here until late—everyone’s going to be sleeping in after the party. I’ll come find you—don’t worry. I can wait.”
She stood up on tiptoe, planting an eager kiss on my lips. For a moment the two of us were fire, burning so hot I didn’t even notice Hazel grunting and rolling her eyes in the background.
“Besides,” Kim purred, palming my cock through my pants, “the waiting will m
ake it all the sweeter.”
Before I could stop her, the girl stomped back down the stairs, exiting our conversation. I watched her go, my eyes trained on the curve of her luscious ass. God, that girl’s got a booty that would get her in music videos back home, I thought, watching as she winked over her shoulder. They grow them good down in Jinshu, man…
“So,” I said without turning around. “Now that you’ve ruined my hook up for the evening, care to tell me what you’re pissed about this time, Hazel?”
When she didn’t answer at first, I turned around. I expected anger—but instead, a knowing smirk spread across Hazel’s face. What the hell?
“You know exactly what offer,” Hazel said, taking a step forward. “The one you and your friends have made me every day since the Silent Auction.”
Oh. Oh.
“That offer,” I said, unable to stop myself from looking the woman up and down. Hazel was a gorgeous specimen, no doubt about that. Having sex with her would be like fucking a supermodel and Wonder Woman at the same time. The only problem was her attitude, but I had the distinct impression that it could be tamed once we slipped between the sheets.
Hazel nodded. “I know you want to fuck me, Eric.”
I did. I had since we’d shared that shelter in the forest—or even earlier. From the moment I saw her sleek form drop from between the trees, her steps sure and even, I knew I wanted this woman. Wanted her the way a general wanted to conquer a country, the way an astronaut wants to make his mark on an unexplored planet.
I wondered: was Hazel unexplored? I’d never seen her with a man.
Careful, Eric, I told myself. Despite the way Hazel threw herself at me, I sensed caution was a necessity here. Hazel’s desire felt brittle, easy to break with the wrong words or an improper gesture. Hitting the gas, like I’d just done with the hot barkeep downstairs, would only cause her to snap and give into her guilt yet again.
So instead, I weighed my options. With her eyes still on me, I glanced over my shoulder and stared at the doorway at the end of the hall. The suite the Jinshu elders set aside for me and my group lay within, I knew from Kim’s explanation, and inside of that room Anna and Lyra waited for me. The two of them were probably naked in bed right now, just waiting for me to be the meat in their sandwich.
