by Sarah Hawke
“The Senosi must have drained you quite thoroughly.”
I bit down on my lip and studied her profile. Kaseya didn’t look or sound jealous, but there was no way in the bloody abyss my antics hadn’t annoyed her at least a little bit. I would have been upset if I’d been forced to feel her fucking another man all night. At least Silhouette had given both of us a piece of the action.
“I’ll figure out a way to make this up to you when we get to town,” I told her. “I promise.”
“You do not need to—”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “You deserve better than this. Escar’s mercy, you deserve better than me…”
Kaseya finally turned. “I am not sure I will ever understand your need to saddle yourself with guilt.”
“Join the club,” I murmured.
“Your friend brought you a great deal of pleasure—pleasure I was able to experience through our bond.”
I cocked a curious eyebrow at her. “So…you enjoyed it?”
“Of course I did. I was nearby—I’m certain you heard me cry out.”
“Once or twice,” I said, grinning despite myself.
“The conditions were not ideal for a silent patrol, and I had some difficulty concentrating upon my work.” Kaseya smiled back. “Still, it was…pleasant. Your friend obviously knows what she’s doing.”
“That she does.”
“I am grateful that our bond can grant me the benefit of her experience.” Her smile turned almost dark. “I am also grateful that she has no means of benefitting from mine.”
I frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Kaseya set down her bow and offered me her hand. I took it, confused, as she helped me off the ground and led me over to a nearby stump. “Sit.”
“I don’t—”
“Sit.”
I paused, tempted to activate my ring and figure out what she was up to, but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and do as she asked. “All right,” I said, tucking the cloak onto my backside so I could sit on it. “Now what?”
“The sun woke you before I could this morning, Kaseya said, kneeling and pushing apart my knees. “An amazon does not neglect her duties.”
My cock was in her mouth before I could respond. It hardened in mere seconds thanks to the loving caresses of her lips and tongue, and my hand instinctively clasped the back of her head. Her slurps and licks soon drowned out every other sound in the forest.
As my eyes rolled back into my head and my member swelled in her throat, I became convinced that I was, without a doubt, the luckiest son of a bitch in the entire Northern Reaches. Sure, I was being pursued by an insane amazon-turned-mageslayer who less than a day ago had tried to castrate me. Sure, I was almost out of a coin and had no legitimate gold-making prospects on the horizon. And sure, in all likelihood I would die at a young age, either to the blades of fanatics or the corruption of the Aether.
But in the here and now, two gorgeous women were vying to see who could milk me dry first. If Escar himself appeared in front of me offering eternal life and salvation in exchange for Kaseya and Valuri’s affections, I would have gladly told him to go straight to hell.
“Shit,” I gasped. “Here it comes!”
I held her tightly against me as I pumped every drop I had left into her waiting mouth. Kaseya groaned from her own collar-induced climax the instant the first jet struck her tonsils, then again when I fired another four solid volleys down her throat. When my eyes finally refocused, I saw Valuri standing on the incline a few feet away from us.
“And here I was thinking about picking berries for breakfast,” she said, crossing her arms and smirking in amusement. “Just make sure you don’t waste any, girl.”
Kaseya slowly pulled away and licked at her lips. She flashed me a contented smile, then turn towards Valuri. “We should get moving. The longer we’re out here, the more likely my sister will catch up to us.”
She grabbed her bow and shield and started down the nearby path. Valuri chuckled and reached out a hand to help me.
“She and I are going to get along great,” Valuri said, her eyes glimmering coyly. “I can feel it.”
***
We arrived back in Highwind a few hours before dusk. Rather than attempt to stroll through the gate naked, I sent the girls ahead to buy me some clothes. I was a little worried about leaving them alone together, given Valuri’s penchant for pointless antagonism, but to my surprise Kaseya didn’t get irritated even once. Her mood remained calm and focused, and a few times I even sensed mild amusement. That actually worried me more than if she had suddenly gone into a rampage. It belatedly occurred to me that Valuri could—and almost certainly would—tell Kaseya embarrassing stories about me all day.
The realization made my stomach flutter, and I was tempted to sprint through the gate and risk a public indecency charge just to separate the two of them before Valuri could completely sabotage Kaseya’s opinion of me. Thankfully they returned before I did anything incredibly stupid, though Valuri’s smile was far too smug for comfort…
“I hope you have a plan besides waiting for this half-elf whore to contact you,” she said as I laced up my new boots. “If Ayrael isn’t back in the city already, I suspect she will be soon. And we’re not exactly inconspicuous—she won’t have trouble tracking us down.”
“It’s a huge city,” I reminded her. “There are plenty of places to blend in.”
“You and I, maybe. But our friend here tends to stick out.”
I glanced back at Kaseya and pursed my lips. Her amazon armor was pretty memorable on its own, and her pretty face and long, shapely legs practically guaranteed that every man she passed would remember her.
“I’m afraid Val is right,” I said. “We might have to get you a disguise.”
“We purchased a few additional outfits,” Kaseya said, nodding towards the bag they had brought with them. “I can wear one, if necessary.”
“That might not be a bad idea. You should probably change now before we head back in, actually.”
“I’ll help you with those straps,” Valuri said, winking at me as she helped Kaseya disrobe. My cock stirred inside my new trousers, but only for a moment. The girls had only brought back a few silvers, which meant that after dinner and a room tonight, we would officially be broke.
“It’s too risky to stay at the Knight’s Lantern again since Ayrael knew to contact us there before,” I murmured. “We’ll swing by the Silken Rose and see if Silhouette left us a message. If not, our best bet is probably the Iron District.”
Valuri eyed me quizzically. “Which is what, exactly?”
“The place with most of the city’s smelters and smiths. It’s heavily populated and we should be able to blend in easily enough.”
“We cannot hide from my sister forever,” Kaseya said. “We need a plan to confront her.”
“One problem at a time,” I muttered, eyeing her new outfit up and down. Seeing her wear a simple, no-nonsense blouse and skirt was incredibly bizarre. It also wasn’t particularly convincing—she still walked and moved like a soldier. For the moment, however, it would have to do.
Night had long since fallen by the time we returned through the gates. I wasn’t particularly worried about Ayrael or the Senosi catching up to us just yet, but we stuck to the main streets just in case. I had assumed that the Silken Rose would be incredibly busy at this hour, and I was proven right. Unfortunately, the long line of men standing outside weren’t customers.
They were Highwind Guardsmen.
“Oh, shit,” I hissed.
There were at least thirty soldiers fanned out in front of the brothel, including six Knights of the Silver Fist and three wizards from the Mage’s Guild. A small crowd had gathered nearby to watch and see what was going on.
“Why are they arresting the whores?” Kaseya asked, frowning at the sight of several half-naked women being escorted out in manacles.
“I’ll give you one guess,” I muttered. �
��Come on, we need to get out of—”
“Hello again, Mister Farr. What a coincidence to find you here.”
I swore under my breath as I slowly turned around. Strolling up behind us, flanked by guild wizards on either side, was Magister Rethon.
“Magister,” I said, struggling to keep my expression neutral. “Is something wrong? We just strolled by and noticed all the commotion.”
“Yes, I’m sure you did,” the man murmured. He sized up Valuri and eyed the crossbows on her hips. “You have a new friend, I see. Another bounty hunter?”
“One of my many talents,” she said with a smirk. “Are you looking to hire someone, honey?”
“No,” Rethon replied, not bothering to hide his contempt. “I would actually like to thank Mister Farr here. Without his help, we never would have been able to track down and identify so many of the Black Mistress’s assets.”
The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up. “What are you talking about?”
“I didn’t buy your ‘explanation’ at Artificer Dieran’s shop, so I ordered my wizards to scry upon you for a few days and see what they could learn,” Rethon explained, a faint but unbelievably smug smile tugging at his lips. “You left quite an Aetheric trail, I must say—one that led right to a young woman calling herself ‘Silhouette.’ She didn’t want to talk at first, but I eventually convinced her that it was in her best interests to help us out.”
My lip twitched despite my best efforts to stop it. This was bad. Not as bad as hanging naked from the ceiling with my cock in a vise, probably, but bad enough.
“Evidently some of the other whores here have been working for the Black Mistress as well,” Rethon went on. “At least three of these women are guilty of channeling the Aether without an Academy license, including enchantment and illusion magic—very dangerous and very illegal. But of course, you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
“Jorem is a sorcerer—of course he knows about such things,” Kaseya said. “Why would you ask such a pointless question?”
I resisted the urge to smack my forehead. I really, really needed to work on her social skills…
Rethon’s smug grin grew even wider. “What a charming young woman. Though I must say, you looked much better in that armored skirt of yours.”
“I did not ask for your opinion,” Kaseya said. “And I do not require your approval.”
The magister’s expression sank. “I am afraid that is no longer true, my dear. Perhaps the four of us should return to the Grey Citadel and have a private chat. I’m sure we could learn a great deal from one another.”
“We’re a little busy, but if you ever have a job for us we’d be happy to stop by and talk about it later,” I said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us…”
The two mages flanking him on either side stretched out their arms and whispered the words to a spell. An instant later, a pair of glowing magical manacles materialized in their hands.
“Perhaps I didn’t make myself clear,” Rethon said. “That was not a request. By order of the Highwind Council, I am placing the three of you under arrest.”
To be continued in The Black Mistress, coming this September!
Also by Sarah Hawke
The Elf Slave Series
Slave to the Empire
Unbound
Unchained
Unbroken
Unleashed
The Spider Queen Collection
Web of the Spider Queen
Slaves of the Spider Queen
Bound to the Spider Queen
Vengeance of the Spider Queen
The Dragon Bride Chronicles
The Dragon Bride
Dirty, Filthy Fantasies
The Priestess’s Gratitude
The Headmistress’s Punishment
The Ranger-General’s Submission
The Amazon’s Pledge
The Amazon’s Pledge
Mark of the Huntress
The Black Mistress
For updates about new releases, you can follow Sarah on Tumblr (https://hawkenovels.tumblr.com/)
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About the Author
Sarah Hawke is a thirty-something aspiring spinster with two cats, a horse, and a car that is technically capable of moving her from place to place. She loves the cold, hates the heat, and desperately watches anything made by Joss Whedon for fear it will get cancelled.
