Temple of Cocidius

by Maxx Whittaker

  “But you’re half mortal.”

  She concentrates completely on stroking me. A little too much.

  “You have,” I guess, working two fingers into the hot cleft of her pussy.

  Her eyes roll back. She grips me mercilessly and we both moan. “I’ve thought about it.”

  “Tell me.”

  She shakes my cock in her hand. “Can I show you how?”

  Gods, yes. “Show me.”

  “You won’t think…”

  I slide my hand further under her pussy and bury two fingers inside. They slide in with no friction, no resistance; she’s still so wet. Her hips buck and the face she makes...Gods, I’m on the edge. “Yes. All the gods. Please.”

  She nods but doesn’t meet my eyes while she wriggles onto her feet. Freya bends my cock, presses the head against her clit and slicks it through her wet heat.

  I grip the furs, the side rail. Anything I can reach. Her clit works me like a tongue and her pussy radiates heat. My head throbs like a heartbeat.

  Her smile is pure delight. “It feels good?”

  “Oh...oh yes.”

  This relaxes her. She leans back on one hand and spreads her thighs. She slides my cock along that beautiful glistening pussy. I want to cum, don’t know how I can hold back, except I don’t want to ruin this for her. I want to see her face when she orgasms.

  Freya’s tits bounce wildly, hips rolling. Her pale skin flushes a soft pink, and her lip is between her teeth. I can smell her pussy; how close she is. Her hand inadvertently strokes my cock a little with each pass. Just when I can’t hold back, she cries out. Her orgasm almost makes me cum right then as her pussy shudders on top of me, and I use every trick I’ve ever learned to hold back. Her arm slips, and she falls back between my legs, gasping.

  I work my body over her, laughing at how surprised she looks. “Good?”

  “In,” she demands, breathless, slamming her hips up into mine. “In. Ohhhh...I feel like I...like it’s about to happen again.” She runs her hands down my back, grips my ass and pulls. I thrust my cock deep in one go. She’s so hot, wet. I have to catch my breath. Freya isn’t waiting. She writhes beneath me, rolls her body, making small desperate sounds.

  “I don’t want to–” I try to hold her still. I don’t want to rush this.

  She throws her legs around my waist, not giving me a choice. I pull from her, rest my cock in her folds, then drive in again. Her face softens, lips parted around a moan. She meets my thrusts; our bodies match rhythms and we fuck each other hungrily. My fingers are tangled in her hair. Freya crushes her lips to mine and I taste her on my mouth. Her nipples brush my chest and our skin sticks with sweat.

  “Yes, yes, yes ohhh...” Freya shudders violently, clinging.

  Need builds in my gut then rips free when her body clenches around my cock. I pump hot inside her, fighting the strangling convulsions of her pussy, wringing out every last drop of pleasure.

  I flip into my back, taking her with me. Freya collapses with her head on my shoulder. As I stroke her gently-heaving back, I can feel the tracery of her tattoos.

  I love the way she feels. There will be others, but I have my doubts that it can match this. Once you’ve let a woman nearly kill you and yank you back a couple times…I can laugh, but I also have to admit what’s coming feels awkward now.

  Freya yawns softly and pulls away, rolling to her back beside me. Her body, pale and sheened with sweat, practically sparkles in light from the high windows.

  “I almost wish I could warn the others,” she mumbles sleepily. “No woman should come into this as unprepared as I was.”

  She’s just killed my awkwardness and boosted my ego immeasurably. Then, something occurs to me. “What new ability have I gained?” I tease, cupping her breast and playing.

  “Watch…” Freya sits up, beyond my reach. She zips a fingernail down my inner arm, leaving a thin crimson line. Almost as fast as she makes the cut, the edges weave together. Freya swipes the blood away with her finger, and the wound is gone.

  “Incredible,” I whisper, still staring.

  “Just know that it’s not without limits. The greater the wound, the slower the healing. Some of me is in you, now, and the more we couple, the more powerful that becomes. But mortal wounds...they’re still mostly mortal. You can’t regrow limbs.”

  “Got it. I’ll leave that to you.”

  “Well, if you overcome the temple and we leave here, I can still heal you, but even I have limits. In the trial, Cocidius gives me almost unlimited healing life force, and I can undo anything but death. Outside this trial, that ends. Life magic is demanding, fatiguing. You’re not invincible, and I cannot heal everything.”

  I sit up. “Close enough.”

  Freya rests a hand on my shoulder, one eye covered by the tumble of her hair. “The next two chambers...You’ll need a different strength than what today required.”

  I can’t say I’m sorry to hear that. What I’ve just been through, what we’ve just been through, my mind still shies away from remembering. I have a feeling it’ll be a long time until I can talk about it.

  But Freya’s just given me a clue, something I didn’t think the ‘artifacts’ were allowed to do. I have to press my luck. “Will they take–”

  Freya shakes her head, glancing around us. “I’ve already risked punishment today and been spared. I can’t say more. Just – keep yourself safe.” She slips from the bed, and I feel a moment of regret as she draws on her robe. “The Garden is open. We should go.”

  She brings me my leathers and pack. I contemplate her words the whole time. Maybe the Gardener will have some insight.

  Freya waits at the door. She smiles when she sees me, a smile that reaches her eyes, pinks her cheeks. My body stirs all over again.

  “Ready?”

  “Yeah. I think I am.”

  –The Garden–

  She opens the longhouse door, and when we step through, we’re in the Garden.

  This place will never stop playing with my head.

  Night has fallen, a dark blue canopy scattered with a million gold and silver shards. Torches burn along the rotunda walls, setting fire to ripples on the pond. Beautiful as it is, it makes my disorientation worse and reignites my awareness that I have no concept of time or how much has passed.

  The Gardener appears from inside the grove, skimming the blades of grass. “Freya returns to the Garden.” She sounds pleased.

  Freya’s nervous expression fades at the tone. “It feels wonderful to be back.”

  The Gardener’s stone face turns to me. “And you completed the second chamber before midnight on the first day. Well done.”

  “I didn’t realize I was supposed to. What would happen if I hadn’t?”

  “Your soul would be cast into oblivion.” She sounds somewhat delighted at this, but not joking in the least. “Aspirants would loiter here for ages. There must be some means of motivating each of you to solve the chambers with alacrity.”

  “Great.” Information I could have used before I started the trials. I decide to keep the quip to myself. “Any other soul consigning rules I should know about?”

  “Only the one about vampires.”

  “I always sort of wanted to be undead, so this could be good.”

  The Gardener hums with low laughter, and there’s something in her rigid mask, almost like a smile. I must be imagining it. “Your humor is a welcome change. I will reward you. I have placed a boon in your pack, for the next trial. A small advantage that no other aspirant has received.” Well, that sounds good. After the nightmare of the steppes, I could use a boon. Or five.

  The Gardener slides away. “Go, and rest for tomorrow’s trials.”

  Freya and I exchange looks as she drifts back into the darkened copse.

  “I take it that’s not usual?”

  Freya shakes her head, leading me over the lawn toward the sleeping chambers. “I haven’t been to the Garden many times, but knowing the Gardener...No. Don�
�t worry, though,” she offers brightly. “It’s just as likely to be a curse or a giant serpent.”

  “Oh, yeah. No worries there. Can’t wait to hit the next trial and discover what horror may or may not reside in my pack.”

  Freya walks ahead of me, almost dancing into the garden, steps light. She trails her hands along trees, grass, bringing dew to her lips. She gasps in delight. “Oh, how I’ve missed this.”

  “And what about me, darling?” The voice, low, sultry, echoes from deeper in the garden. Freya clasps her hands in what I swear is girlish delight, and I can’t help but laugh as Meridiana saunters from trees, seeming to materialize from the night.

  Freya rushes to her, and they embrace. Meridiana’s still wearing her bustier, is still a vision of sex and lust, and something about Freya in her arms seems vulgar, dirty in a way that makes my cock throb.

  But my mind is too slow to explore those thoughts further. I trail behind the girls as they chatter happily, Meridiana’s hand running up and down Freya’s arm. Exhaustion drapes over me like a blanket, and I wonder briefly if the garden is to blame, forcing some sort of lassitude onto me.

  But no. I woke this morning on a camp bed, passed two trials, bonded with two incredible women, and almost died more times than I want to remember.

  I’m just fucking tired.

  We pass the pond, trees, columns, as they lead me toward what I hope is respite. And there it is: A bed. Gods, thank you.

  I fall heavily into it, not removing my leathers. The bed is simple, but more comfortable than any I’ve ever lain in, and I’m close to gone the moment my head hits the pillow.

  “Ah. Should we let him sleep?” Meridiana pouts.

  “Yes,” Freya says. “He’s been through a lot today.”

  Meridiana leans over, and her lips brush my cheek, cold, two searing lines. “Until later.”

  Freya’s lips touch the same place a moment later, warm, and the contrast makes me shudder. “Sleep well, my champion.”

  I mumble something, but they’re already moving away, hand in hand. “Let’s go find refreshment and catch up,” Meridiana says.

  Their voices fade. I’m almost asleep, but movement catches my eye. The spider clambers from my arm, then pauses, watching me a moment.

  “Thank you,” I whisper.

  It hops, then trundles off the bed. A moment later it nestles into a bush a few feet away.

  My thoughts drift. To whatever tomorrow and the next rooms hold. To what the Gardener left in my pack.

  Turns out, I don’t have to wait long for my answers...

  PART TWO

  -The Temple Garden-

  Sunlight through the columns burns behind my eyes, waking me just as it crests the horizon. Nights here are fucking short, or I was beyond exhausted from the first two chambers. It feels like I closed my eyes just minutes ago.

  I don’t feel ready to drag from the blankets. But knowing I have a time limit puts some spring in my step. So does the idea of revenge, and the added responsibility of seeing the artifacts, the women here, freed. I don’t doubt my ability, but for the first time I really feel the weight of it all. My brother Tagan would say – I try not think of what he’d say. It’s too hard.

  I dress and gather my pack and start through the garden in search of someone.

  The Gardener, usually hovering or offering her cryptic wisdom, is conspicuously absent. I’m almost to the terrace when I see Freya...in the pond. Her back rests against the edge, elbows perched on the stony bank. Her tits bob gently on lapping ripples.

  I grin, happy to see her. “I thought you didn’t do water?”

  She doesn't smile back. Her face is tense, and she doesn’t meet my eyes. “Just...giving it...a try.”

  “Not really enjoying it?” She looks borderline miserable. “If it’s not good you should-”

  A moan tears from her lips. Freya arches, perfect breasts surfacing above the water.

  I grab for my sword, no idea what I’m fighting, what’s happening.

  Freya’s louder now, her body shuddering. Her arms are spread along the lip of the pool, and her fingers are tight, gripping the rounded stones so tightly her knuckles are white. She pants, making little whimpers that sound a lot like when I taught her about –

  Wait. No way.

  Her body tenses, and I’m sure the moan that escapes her can be heard by anyone still outside the Temple. Her body shudders, eyes rolled back in her head. When it’s over, she slumps, sliding under the surface to her chin.

  Meridiana pops above the surface, a deep shade of plum, water trickling between her breasts. She licks her lips, slowly, making it entirely clear what she was doing. As if I had any doubt. “Oh. Lir. I didn’t think you’d be up,” she purrs.

  Both women look guilty, but neither look ashamed. Meridiana’s eyes fall below my waist, where my cock has gone from exhausted to resurrected. Her tail flicks me with a spray of water. “But since you very obviously are...up–” Her full wet lips pop around that last consonant in a filthy way, “why don’t you join us?”

  I cannot believe this. “Freya, did she compel you?”

  Freya shakes her head, frowns, then brightens. “Oh...yes. Yes!”

  “I did,” interjects Meridiana, a little too quickly. “I bound her will.”

  I throw down my sword and turn a look on Freya. “Our time together got you a little curious, did it?”

  She blushes and doesn’t try to hide a smile. “It did. And now...More so.”

  Meridiana emits a throaty, wicked chuckle and bobs on her back atop the water, her chest defying physics. “In or out, Lir…” She rings her lips with a forked tongue. “In…” She brushes fingers over the ruby curls of her pussy and moans, “Or out.”

  “I feel like this is one of those distractions the Gardener warned me about,” I mutter, tearing off my leathers. “But you both deserve to be punished for tempting a decent, Pantheon-fearing man.”

  “Sit on the bank,” demands Meridiana.

  “Are you compelling me?”

  I can, her voice breathes between my temples. Air and energy swirl around my cock, a telepathic stroke of her hand. I have no choice but to obey.

  Water gloves my legs at, of course, the perfect temperature. It cools a little as Meridiana drifts closer. She positions herself on one side of my knees and beckons Freya close.

  “Like this.” Meridiana circles two fingers around the base of my cock and takes them away punishingly fast. It spasms, a wave of pleasure coursing through me.

  Freya mimics the move.

  “Tighter.”

  I gasp. My cock throbs at her pressure.

  Meridiana flips wet strands of hair over her shoulder. “Now like this.” The tip of her tongue rests above Freya’s fingers in a cool pinpoint and she paints a line up my shaft.

  My groan is deafening in the morning stillness.

  Freya bends and licks. Her tongue is so hot by comparison. My cock jerks.

  “Good,” Meridiana purrs.

  When I realize what’s happening, I’m so aroused I ache. A succubus teaching an alicorn how to pleasure a mortal? No fantasy I’ve ever had comes close.

  They both lick, hot and cold sending the most intense waves of pleasure deep into my gut, my balls.

  “Unf!” Freya stiffens and jerks away. Meridiana glances up at me and winks while dragging the flat of her tongue over my head. I can’t understand Freya’s reaction. Was this too much? Did we go too far?

  Then I notice Meridiana’s tail. It’s almost invisible, taut from its base, its length tucked tight in the cleft of her ass.

  No…

  I raise my foot and feel beneath the water. Meridiana’s tail trails forward between her legs, writhing between the lips of her pussy, and then... I run my toes along its taper to where it disappears inside Freya’s pussy.

  She is. Fuck me, she is.

  Freya’s mouth is on my cock again, and she moans her pleasure, the sound vibrating along my length as the tail slips in and ou
t of her. She cums, her entire body spasming, and I don’t think it’s intentional when she takes the entire length of my shaft. My head smacks the back of her throat, and I can feel every shuddering bit of her orgasm as I rest deep in her mouth.

  She slides from me, lips gripping my cock, and then turns, kisses Meridiana so hard that the succubus’s eyes widen in shock. The she melts into the alicorn, and their lips dance, their tongues darting and playing. Their hands knead each other’s tits, and holy shit, this is the hottest fucking thing that I have ever seen.

  But they’re not done with me. “Again, but like this,” Meridiana says. Her mouth is on the side of my cock. Freya follows suit, from the other side, and they kiss again. It’s as intense as before, their eyes close as they ravage each other, with my cock between them. It’s not like anything I’ve ever felt, so fucking incredible.

  They both lick harder, suck, take turns playing with the head of my cock. Freya glances up at me when I fill her mouth, eyes hot with lust. It’s so fucking amazing, the way she’s looking at me.

  Helpless, I bury fingers in their hair and let wave after wave build. Freya’s moans vibrate through my shaft. Meridiana’s little yelps tease my balls when she takes one in her mouth, tonguing it.

  “Oh fuck, I’m-” I never felt anything so intense. Meridiana cradles Freya’s face, guiding her to bring her lips down over my cock. I cum violently into her soft mouth. She cries her muffled orgasm down my length, and Meridiana thrusts herself along her tail, screaming with my balls stuffed in her mouth.

  I fall back against the damp grass, gasping. “I feel dirty. Fuck.” Dirty in the best way.

  Someone licks the last drops of cum from my exhausted cock - Meridiana, guessing by the chill along my skin. Her hand cracks my hip. “You enjoyed it.”

  I crack an eye. Meridiana is looking Freya over with intensity. “You both enjoyed it,” she chuckles.

  “Did you just get inside her head?”

  “She did,” Freya slips herself onto the grass, giving me a coy glance. “And she’s not wrong.”