Riposte (Purgatory Wars Book 2)

by Cobolt, Dragon

  Well, almost braining.

  More “teething” really, considering that the man rolled around on the ground, clutching at his hideously distended jaw. Liv didn't leave him long – she lifted her foot, to bring it stomping down on his throat.

  “Liam!”

  Meg's voice.

  “Back exit!”

  Liam ran towards the exit, narrowly avoiding getting an arrow in the ass. He saw that two of the humans had managed to get to the door and were fumbling at it. One of them held something in a cloth bundle that was exactly the length of his sword. He ran towards them and they spun to face him. He quickly saw, in their stance, that they were beyond the domains of Neb's darkness spell. Meanwhile, his own vision started to white out as Tethis's spell remained strong. Panting lightly, he lifted his sword.

  “I am Liam Vanderbilt,” he snarled. “I defeated a daughter of Aries in single combat. I survived a trip through the Ancients' tombs. I've slain basilisks and I've fucked angels. Do you really think you have a chance?”

  The men were silent.

  “Shit,” one rasped, his voice rough, as if he had been slashed across the throat at least once in his life. “She didn't pay me enough for this fucking crap.”

  A muffled clunk sounded as something hit the ground. The vision enhancing spell had left Liam looking into a searing whiteness that blotted out everything. He heard the door slam a moment later. Once they were out of sight, he sagged in relief.

  He staggered forward, kneeling down, fumbling.

  He felt something cold and metallic pressing to the back of his neck.

  “Gotcha,” a soft voice – feminine and demonic – hissed.

  Liam slowly lifted his hands. “Kill me and she won't let you get five blocks.”

  “That's why you're coming with me,” the voice said, sounding amused.

  “You do know we just want the sword, right?” Liam asked, his hands still raised. “You go out that door and let me go, and Megara won't give a fuck, right?”

  The woman was silent for a bit.

  “...Oh.”

  The door opened a moment later, then slammed shut. Liam shook his head. It pounded from the overdose of light his eyes were receiving. He closed them and felt the pain ease as he grabbed his sword. It felt good to hold her again. Almost as good as holding Meg again.

  Almost.

  Four

  It was a surprisingly quiet, subdued group that walked into Neb’s home. There was no revelry, no cheering, no laughter. Liam walked over to the cushion nearest to the fireplace and flopped himself down with all the grace and aplomb of an obese whale. Every bit of adrenaline that had coursed through him during the battle felt like it had drained away, but there was an added lethargy he didn’t recognize.

  Meg and Tethis both found seats around the fireplace. Liv simply leaned against the wall, her hands working on the ties of her armor. Neb rubbed her paw along her forehead, shaking her head.

  “Let me get some essence tea,” she said.

  “You have essence tea?” Tethis asked, sounding surprised. Neb chuckled and walked out of the room. Liam looked at Tethis and managed to find his curiosity, despite his tiredness.

  “Essence tea?” he asked.

  “It’s a, uh, plant that grows in the deep jungles. Crystalbacks eat them.”

  “Those are those rhinos with crystals that shoot lightning, right?” Liam asked, throwing one arm over his forehead and leaning back in the cushion. He felt his aches starting to fade.

  “Yeah,” Meg said.

  Neb returned, holding a bronze platter in her hands. Seated on the platter was a tea-pot and several cups. Liam was more of a Coke Zero kind of man, but even thinking about soda left his whole body panging for the fizz and tingle of drinking a soft drink. He closed his eyes, holding the warm cup of tea Neb had served him in his hands, and reminded himself that the choice was either stay on Earth and drink as much soda as he wanted, or come to Purgatory and taste Meg.

  Whenever he put it in those terms, the ache faded.

  “Drink,” Neb said, sitting at the writing desk. “It’ll help with the spell-fatigue.”

  Liam sipped on the tea. The taste was bitter and chalky, but a few moments after he drank it down, he felt his strange tiredness fade away, replaced with the normal fatigue that came after an adrenaline rush. He blinked and looked down at the tea. But before he could ask his questions, Tethis asked hers.

  “So, Neb, please forgive me if this is forward, but...” Tethis paused. “How in Duat did you afford this - and this - on tithes?” She gestured around herself at the house and the books and the fireplace.

  Neb laughed. “Immense amounts of debt,” she said, her voice shy and playful at the same time.

  Liam looked at her, concern filling his eyes. “That’s not something to laugh about, I’ve seen what banks do in this place. It’s worse than Wall Street.”

  Neb held up one paw. “Oh, no, no, it’s a jest. Well, technically, it’s true. I am in debt, but what many people don’t know - mostly because of my blessing, it makes it hard to, well, tell…” She shook her head, getting back on track. “Anyway, my father, Djau Deepdraft, owns a bank that operates out of Sifmoot.”

  “Let me guess,” Meg said, sipping from her tea cup. “He set eyes on one of Sif’s daughters and knew he needed to get someAesir ass?”

  Neb squeaked, trying to hide behind her tea cup. “M-ay-beee.” She split the word into as many sections as possible, as if trying to get away from actually answering Meg. Meg laughed, loudly.

  Neb looked back at Tethis. “I adopted the more Pesdjeti name Maatre when I decided to follow Anubis.”

  “So, basically, Daddy’s bankrolling you?” Liv asked, sounding ever so slightly judgmental. Neb sniffed, quietly.

  “I manage to provide a good chunk of my funds by performing funerary rites, soul-weighing, scribe works - though I am not nearly as good as you are, Tethis.” She nodded to the gobliness, who smiled at her. “I, uh, try to not rely on my father unless I absolutely have too.”

  “And let me guess,” Meg said, sounding cheery. “You absolutely have to buy all these books?”

  The entire group started to laugh - even Neb giggled, her hand going to her chest. Liam smiled and leaned back in his cushion. He planned to enjoy the rest of the evening. And he did enjoy listening to the girls talk. Tethis and Neb shared anecdotes about their time studying with different gods. Liv remained mostly quiet, but Meg was always there to interject with a quip or joke. Liv was the first to head to the stairs to get to sleep, followed shortly by Meg. When Tethis tottered upstairs, leaving Neb and Liam alone, Liam found himself suddenly without anything to say.

  Neb, her finger rubbing along the edge of her cup, watched him through her eyelashes.

  Beautiful, rich, exotic, Liam’s brain whispered. His thoughts dipped to the nipple rings he had seen through her shirt. Kinky.

  Liam tried to ignore himself. Instead, he grabbed for something, anything, to say: “So, do you, uh, blessed by the gods have a special name? Like, uh, furry? Or something?”

  Neb laughed. “Those blessed by Sobek would hate that. They have scales. And those blessed by Thoth have feathers. And those blessed by Thor are wreathed in lightning, while those blessed by Loki are protean and shapeshifting.”

  Liam tried to not imagine what a follower of Loki could do if they set their mind to evil. Hell, if they set their mind to mischief.

  Neb shook her head. “Some call us the Blessed. I prefer being thought of merely as the Chosen. It seems less stuck up.”

  “I don’t know. Still seems a bit pretentious,” Liam said, smiling at Neb.

  Neb smiled shyly back. “Sacrifices are chosen too, Liam Vanderbilt.” She stood, trailing past him to her bedroom. Liam shook his head. Something nagged at the back of his mind. Something that he couldn’t quite get his hands around. He frowned and watched the fireplace crackle for a few moments. But every time he tried to force his thoughts to settle down and sort themselves i
nto something coherent, he just thought of the battle. Of the run back here.

  Of Liviana’s svelte body.

  Of Tethis’ pussy.

  Of Neb’s breasts and nipple ring.

  Of how much he loved Meg.

  He stood up and started for the stairs. His thoughts couldn’t be forced. He was sure they’d settle by morning.Liam stepped to his room – feeling a warm glow suffusing his body from the essence tea – and stopped dead.

  For laying in the bed that Neb had so graciously let him sleep in was the single most glorious sight he had ever seen. Livanna - daughter of Aries, hero of New Athens and one of the most beautiful woman that Liam knew - had one leg cocked over Megara the Messenger – the other most beautiful woman that Liam knew. Meg's knee was pressed against a place between Liv's legs, and the only reason the elven warrior wasn't moaning loudly enough for Liam to have heard her from the library was because the two women's lips were locked together tightly.

  Hotly.

  Moistly...

  Liv made a quiet groaning noise as Meg's hands caressed one of her small breasts, her fingers finding and gently pinching the tip of her nipple, twisting gently. Liv did jerk her head back, moaning out loud. Meg worked her knee and a soft, wet noise filled Liam's ears.

  Meg looked at him, cocking one wing backwards, as if to say: Well, come on?

  “You'll catch bugs like that,” she said.

  Liam realized his jaw was basically on the floor. He closed it, setting his iPod on the table. “I, uh-”

  “Shut up, Liam,” Liv snapped. “I'm not your slave in anything but the fucking paperwork anymore. We've fought together and killed together – I am your warrior now, and in my culture, when two people fight side by side, they fuck – because if you won't lay down your life for your lover, you won't lay it down for anything.” She sat up, glaring at him. “Get over here and do your fucking du-”

  “I was just going to say, uh, I might not have enough endurance for, well, both of you,” Liam said, dryly, his hands going to his kilt.

  Liv opened her mouth, then closed it.

  “Well,” she said, looking at Meg. Meg looked at her. They both looked at Liam.

  “We're Hellenes,” they said, in unison. Meg grinned and added: “We'll manage.”

  “I noticed.” Liam had turned his deadpan delivery to eleven.

  Both women grabbed his wrists and dragged him forward.

  There was a moment of confused sensation – the feeling of softness, of hard muscle, of fingers working through his hair – the distinct sensation of his kilt being torn from its straps and sent flying. Then Liam was laying between Liv and Meg, their fingers caressing along his chest. Meg, as was her class idiom, simply traced the lines of his muscles – the dimples of his abs, the flatness of his belly. A body that he had worked on for years, but one that had been accented and refined by months in Purgatory.

  Liv, though?

  Liv's finger traced along the scars that he had. One she had given him. Others, he had given himself back on Earth. Her palm pressed to the furrowed line where a burning beam had fallen against him for a few moments when he lost his first house and his father. Then, dipping her head forward, the elf started to kiss along the scars that were more recent. Her tongue traced a slow, lazy circle around and around one of the fine white marks that were left over from the first attempt on his life in Olimurias.

  Meg – not wanting to be out done, it seemed – leaned forward and kissed one of Liam's nipples. Her mouth was warm, insistent, and had the expertise that came from lots of practice. Liam closed his eyes, rolling his head back on the pillow as he let himself wallow in the perfection of the moment, his hands tentatively sliding up and down their backs. He felt Meg's wing press against his arm before twitching away, taking advantage of that amazing flexibility of hers to beckon his hand further down her back. Taking the hint, he cupped her ass and squeezed. Fingers slipped between her crack, teasing the tightness of her asshole, and Meg purred against his nipple.

  His other hand had found Liv's ass. But Liv had different ideas in mind. She crooked her hips, then rolled and managed to catch his wrist between her thighs, trapping his fingers against her sex. She was hot as a furnace and wetter than some of Purgatory's most humid nights. Turning to look at her, he saw her eyes were focused on him with the same predatory edge she used in combat.

  Unnerving.

  Hot.

  He leaned forward and caught her lips with his, his fingers spreading her hairless elven pussy and sliding in. She bit down on his lower lip and made a noise more animal growl than feminine moan as she pressed herself against his chest. This meant that Meg only had to tilt her head slightly to capture one of Liv's nipples in her mouth. Now Liv purred, her eyes closing as her tongue darted into Liam's mouth, teased his tongue, slid back.

  When she broke the kiss, both were panting. That, Liam thought, was a good sign.

  “I want your cock,” Liv announced.

  “Hey!” Meg pouted. But she didn't fight very hard as Liv swung her leg up and over Liam's hips.

  Liv didn't so much slide herself down his shaft as impale herself. Her hips met his with a meaty slap, which was impressive considering how very slender she looked next to Megara. Her hips started to rise and fall as she put her hands on Liam's shoulders, pinning him onto his back. Her mouth opened, then closed, her nose flaring as she breathed in and out.

  “Fuck me,” she crooned. “You're as big as I thought!”

  “You didn't spy on him?” Meg asked, slapping Liv's ass. “Bad slave!”

  Liv snapped her teeth at Meg and almost caught Meg's nose. Meg laughed, then grabbed Liv's hair, roughly yanking her head backwards. Liv gasped – from the fluttering tightening of her sex around Liam's cock, she clearly liked it. Liam bit his lip hard and thought about his elderly grandparents playing cricket.

  Meg grinned at Liv. “He never was good at enjoying his prizes. I don't share his compunctions...”

  “Not... yours,” Liv hissed, her hips rocking forward and backwards, the motion slowing now that she was being held in place.

  “Mm, keep telling yourself that,” Meg said, then leaned forward. Her kiss lacked the gentleness and ease that Liam had used. She didn't so much press her lips against Liv's as she claimed the other woman's mouth. Her tongue and Liv's met, danced, fought for primacy. Meg’s breasts pressed against Liv’s back as Meg closed her wings around the two of them, her hands reaching down to squeeze Liv's hips, holding her in place.

  Liv's pussy and Liv's sweet moans made it clear just what she thought of that.

  Liam was now thinking of every single Republican and Democratic candidates for President playing golf as he remained perfectly still, unwilling to risk even an errant thrust. Not that he needed to move to get the best fucking of his life. It seemed like every few seconds, Liv's elven pussy did something new – a new contraction, a new sensation, a new gush of wetness – something that he had never felt with a human girl. Hell, even nothing he had felt with Megara.

  “Jesus Christ,” Liam hissed through clenched teeth.

  Meg broke the kiss, panting. Liv panted as well.

  “Draw,” Liv said.

  “Fuck that.” Meg leaned forward, biting down on Liv's neck, her hand reaching down to slap Liv's ass roughly. The elven warrior yipped, her hips starting to rise and fall faster and faster on Liam. Liam reached up – thinking faintly that he should at the very least help his girlfriend. His hands cupped and squeezed Liv's breasts, finding her nipples and tweaking them gently. She gasped and then Meg went from giving her a series of bright red bite-marks to kissing her on the mouth again.

  This time, Liv's eyes rolled back in her head, her spine curved into an almost C-shape, and her sex clenched on Liam so tightly that he felt his vision white out. He barely was aware of his balls churning, barely aware of the fact that his cock was surging and that his cum was filling Liv's pussy, her womb. The only thing he had in mind was the intense pleasure of the moment.
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br />   Then Meg broke the kiss and Liv collapsed backwards. She bent almost in half – her body as flexible as a gymnast – and her hips and her sex remained nestled against Liam's, even as her belly rose and fell, her chest glistening with sweat, her body quaking with the after effects of her climax. She blinked as she lolled her head backwards off the bed.

  Faintly, Liam heard her say: “You win.”

  “Hah!” Meg grinned, then pushed at her gently. “Get off, I want a chance at Liam's dick.”

  “No mas,” Liam mumbled. “No mas.”

  “He said that the last time we tried anal,” Meg said, her eyes dancing as Liv managed to wriggle and roll off Liam, his cock slurping out of her sex. He was softening slightly, his member still glistening with their shared juices. Meg's hand closed around his shaft, squeezing him very gently. “Never got him to explain what it meant.”

  She leaned her head forward, her eyes meeting Liv's dazed gaze. “But I did get him to change his tune... just... like... this.” Meg's tongue darted out, circling the tip of Liam's shaft. She sucked her lips gently around his cockhead, tasting Liv's juices and Liam's cum. She closed her eyes, then pushed her mouth forward until her lips touched his hips. She felt him harden against her tongue and looked up into his eyes.

  Liam, slowly, grinned.

  “...Okay,” he said. “Uno mas.”

  Liv looked baffled.

  Meg slid her mouth back, panting, and then smiled as she looked at Liam's cock. “Hmm,” she said. “You know, by now, I've ridden him in the wild, in the bath, in an alleyway – well, that was more him riding me...” She grinned, her eyes going distant. “We've done it in public once. Very secretly.” She fluttered her wings. “They're quite good at concealment, if you're clever.”