by Freya Garth
She saw that Saban’s lips had set in a tight line. ‘Did Goril see these?’ the older woman asked.
Mabbi rolled her eyes. ‘Of course he did,’ she said.
Doraya nodded dumbly.
‘Good,’ Saban said. ‘Dragon riders don’t like it when people hurt their women.’
‘I wasn’t a dragon rider’s woman then,’ Doraya said.
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Mabbi said. ‘Goril will want revenge.’
Doraya’s spirits sank. She didn’t want anything more to do with Berato or Merlan, or anyone else from King Panac’s castle. Yes, she had wanted to hurt them while they were hurting her, but they couldn’t hurt her now. It had been such a relief to let go of her past and fly away on dragonback. She didn’t want to think about those times ever again.
But there was hardly time to think about anything because Saban and Mabbi were leading her toward the left-hand waterfall. She did manage one quick thought, impelled by the vulnerability of her nakedness.
‘Do the dragon riders come in here?’ Doraya flung a glance over her shoulder to the entrance of the grotto.
‘No,’ Saban said, ‘they have their own grotto on the riders’ side. This is the women’s side, so only women will be here.’
Mabbi thrust Doraya underneath the waterfall, and she hissed at the chill of the water on her sore, aching body. It wasn’t freezing, but cold, sparkling, and invigorating, tasting of mineral salts on her tongue.
Saban and Mabbi rolled up their sleeves and picked up smooth stones, each fitting comfortably into a palm.
‘Let us wash you,’ Saban said. ‘It’ll help you relax.’
Doraya tried to relax, but it was impossible. The stones were slightly abrasive, making her skin come alive beneath the softly falling water. Saban and Mabbi were gentle, but there was so much to feel in her recently awakened body. Even the soreness of her bruises felt enlivening. When Mabbi began to stroke the stone gently between Doraya’s buttocks, she jerked away, only to be held in place by Saban.
‘We must wash you thoroughly,’ Saban said. ‘Be still and let us do our work.’
‘More like fun, if you ask me,’ Mabbi said. ‘Can I do her breasts next?’ She flicked a wink at Doraya, who blushed as red as her hair. ‘Ooh, look, everyone, we’ve got a live one here!’
The other women clustered around Doraya, admiring her blush, tutting at her bruises, soft hands touching here and there. Their touches and words were gentle and encouraging, so different from the women in Berato’s kitchen. The common view seemed to be that Doraya was beautiful and sexy but much too thin. She enjoyed the sensation of warm hands touching her flesh under the cold running water, particularly Mabbi’s, which seemed more deft and sensitive than anyone else’s. Could Mabbi do what Goril had done on the towertop, give her that same pleasure? She felt her quim moisten at the thought of leaning back against the other woman’s bouncy breasts, and was glad she was standing under a waterfall so nobody would know of her arousal. Then Mabbi slid a gentle hand between Doraya’s legs, and she let out an involuntary gasp.
‘Bit turned on, are you?’ Mabbi spoke softly, her eyes dancing with amusement. ‘I won’t use the stone, then, just my fingers. And I would advise you to keep quiet. We’re not supposed to amuse you before Goril says we can.’
Doraya quivered at Mabbi’s touch, but managed not to let out any more gasps, although it wasn’t easy. Every stroke of Mabbi’s fingers sent ripples of delight through Doraya’s body. She felt herself reaching for her peak of pleasure, but then Mabbi’s fingers withdrew, making her moan which she swiftly turned into a cough.
‘Enough cold water for you,’ Saban said firmly. ‘Into the pool.’
‘All of us.’ Mabbi pulled off her dress, and the other women followed suit, each of them naked beneath their tunics.
‘Wash first,’ Saban reminded them.
The water in the pool was deliciously warm. The ground sloped down gently into the pool, and Doraya found it wonderfully comfortable to lie fully submerged with her head resting on the poolside. All her aches and pains seemed to disappear when her body was buoyed up by the warm pool water. As other women climbed into the pool, small waves surged against her inflamed clit, and she opened her legs a little to get the full effect, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the sensual feeling. Then she heard a wet sound she couldn’t identify and opened her eyes again to see two women on the other side of the pool, one on top, sucking the other’s nipple, each with the other’s thigh between their legs, rocking back and forth. The woman below had her head thrown back in abandon, an expression of ecstasy on her face.
Doraya had never seen anything so arousing, apart from Goril’s muscular body, but here and now she longed to join in with the women’s activity.
Mabbi slid into the pool beside her and followed her gaze. ‘Benka and Paleen never miss an opportunity,’ she said.
Doraya wasn’t sure if Mabbi’s voice held contempt or envy. ‘I wouldn’t either, if I had the choice,’ she said boldly.
Mabbi looked at her face, a cool, assessing look. ‘I’d be inclined to help you,’ she admitted. ‘In fact, I think I might enjoy it, but I can’t. I have to leave you for Goril.’
Doraya twisted in frustration, letting out a huge sigh. Goril better come for her soon. Her experience on the dragon tower had felt like the start of something. She didn’t know what, but she was hungry for it, whatever it was.
Saban lowered herself into the pool on Doraya’s other side.
‘Saban,’ Mabbi said, across the top of Doraya’s head, ‘our new woman has needs.’
‘I’m sure she does, but we can’t help her with them until Goril gives us the go-ahead.’
‘How about if I held her and she did it herself?’
While Doraya waited for Saban’s answer, she thought how different this was from the last time women spoke about her in her presence. The kitchen wenches called her bitch and slut, although she’d never had a man. She’d never had a woman, either, and until today she hadn’t even known such a thing was possible. These dragon riders’ women were trying to find a solution to her very present problem. Her quim, which she had barely noticed before today, felt like a hungry animal, searching this way and that for its quarry.
‘I think that would be all right,’ Saban said slowly.
‘Doraya?’ Mabbi asked. ‘Do you want to?’
She could hear the excitement in Mabbi’s voice, knew Mabbi wanted her to do whatever it was she was suggesting. The trouble was, Doraya wasn’t exactly sure what that was.
‘I want something,’ she said. ‘What was it you had in mind?’
‘I can’t arouse you,’ Mabbi said, sounding regretful. ‘But I can hold you. You can lie here in the water’—she pointed to the space between her open legs—‘and rest against me, and touch yourself as much as you like.’
Doraya saw Mabbi’s little nipples standing stiff atop her breasts, and realised Mabbi wanted her much as Goril had wanted her. It was so nice to be wanted. She, too, was full of wanting, much more for Goril than for Mabbi, if she was honest, but Mabbi had been kind and her hands had been skilful.
‘I’d love to,’ she said, and slid across to Mabbi. The water took some of her weight as she lifted herself on to Mabbi’s cushioned body, and Mabbi’s hands helped her, too, lingering near her breasts and hips.
‘Now touch yourself.’ Mabbi’s breath came quickly.
Doraya slid a hand down between her own legs and found slickness there, a different wetness from the wetness of the water. Oh! So that was how Mabbi had known she was aroused. She found a little nubbin which seemed to be the source of sensation, and began to stroke, swaying her hips instinctively to increase her pleasure. Women crowded around her in the pool, watching, touching each other.
‘Show us, Doraya,’ Mabbi encouraged her.
‘Show us your pleasure,’ another woman said.
‘You’re beautiful, honey,’ said another.
Doraya worked her hand down her slit as
her hips came up, then up as they went down, back and forth, pumping faster as her excitement grew.
‘Come on, baby,’ Mabbi whispered in her ear, pushing her own pubis up against Doraya’s back.
‘She’s nearly there,’ someone said.
Slurping sounds told their own stories of women exciting each other or themselves.
Doraya remembered Goril on the towertop, his purple cockhead appearing and disappearing as he thrust his rigid cock between her breasts. ‘I’m close,’ she muttered, and then let out a long moan of ecstasy as her climax washed over her, pulsating through her pussy and making her whole body quiver in Mabbi’s soft embrace.
Saban leaned over and stroked a strand of Doraya’s hair away from her face. ‘You’re a perfect treasure, Doraya,’ she said. ‘I hope, when Goril gives us the go-ahead, you and Mabbi will put on a show for us sometime.’
‘I’m sure we’d love to,’ Mabbi said.
Doraya nodded, not yet ready to speak, not sure what she was agreeing to, but happy to do anything that might repay the kindness of these women.
‘Now,’ Saban said, in a no-nonsense voice, ‘we have to get Doraya back under the waterfall and untangle her hair.’
Doraya must have looked dismayed because Saban grinned at her disarmingly.
‘Don’t worry,’ she said, ‘you can have another rest in the pool afterward. Switching from warm to cold and back will help your bruises heal. Come on.’ She stood up, water sheeting from her body, and held out a hand to Doraya.
Most of the women seemed to help untangle Doraya’s hair. It took ages, but they were gentle and didn’t pull much. The cold of the water caused more discomfort, her nipples standing out like little stones and her skin beginning to turn blue by the time they had finished.
‘Back into the pool with you,’ Saban said, and hurried her across to the welcome warmth of the still water. The feeling of her hair, loose and clean now, floating around her shoulders, was delightfully sensual. Doraya lay, half sleeping, until Saban chivvied her out of the pool and wrapped her in a soft, warm blanket.
‘Now we need to feed her,’ Mabbi said.
* * * *
Once Goril had washed away the dust of travel in the men’s grotto, he went to search for his father. He found the old man in his bedcave, sitting too close to a roaring fire, lost in thought.
‘You’ll singe your beard, Papa,’ Goril remarked.
His father’s head shot up, delight in his golden eyes, and he pulled himself up with his staff to hug his son. Goril winced as a fist pounded him on the back in greeting. Papa might be old, but he was still strong.
‘How was Panac?’ Papa gestured to Goril to take a seat by the fire, and reclaimed his own.
Goril rolled his eyes. ‘The food was good.’
‘Isn’t it always?’ Papa sighed. ‘But nothing else.’
‘There was one other thing, actually.’ He couldn’t help a grin spreading across his face.
Papa’s expression was a comical mixture of hope and disbelief. ‘Tell me.’
‘I brought a new woman for us.’
‘My son, that is wonderful news!’ Papa banged his staff on the floor to emphasise his words. Then his brow furrowed in concern. ‘Did she come willingly?’
‘Of course!’ Goril was hurt by the implication in his father’s question. ‘I’d never bring a woman any other way.’
‘I know, my son, I know.’ Papa held out his hands, palms upward in apology. ‘It’s just so unusual.’
‘She’s an unusual woman.’ The thought of Doraya excited him so much he was on his feet and pacing. ‘Papa, wait till you see her. She’s stunning.’
‘You’ll enjoy the next two weeks, then.’ Papa winked at Goril.
‘The next month, if I have my way.’
Papa’s eyebrows rose.
‘She’s completely inexperienced. And she’s been beaten and half-starved.’
The angry glint in Papa’s metallic eyes reminded Goril that the old man was emotionally as well as physically strong, but Papa only said, ‘I’m glad she asked to come to us.’
‘Me, too. She’ll need very gentle handling. Do you think the tribe will agree?’
Papa shrugged. ‘Worth a try.’
* * * *
Doraya felt too tired to eat, but went with the women to a warm cave where a fire was lit and cushions strewn around low tables. She sat close to the fire, still wrapped in her soft blanket, and the women brought her a bowl of savoury soup, some fresh bread, and some fine old cheese. She ate half of the soup and a little of the bread, but couldn’t manage more.
Saban tutted, and Doraya was afraid of her displeasure until she realised it wasn’t her Saban was cross with. ‘Stupid people,’ Saban muttered, leading Doraya away from the firelight. ‘Working you so hard, treating you so badly, half starving you. What were they thinking?’
She took Doraya to a small cave with two bedsteads bearing hay-stuffed mattresses and pillows covered in warm blankets. Doraya’s eyes almost fell out of her head. She’d only ever slept on a thin pallet on the floor. Saban turned down the blankets on one of the beds.
‘In you get,’ she said.
Doraya slid between the blankets and lay there in wonder. She had never been so comfortable in her whole life. This was something to relish, not something to sleep through. There was no way she was going to miss a moment of the time she spent in this fabulously comfortable bed.
The next thing she knew, she was opening her eyes with the realisation that some time had passed. The low light in the cave hadn’t changed, and the other bed was still empty, but her body was more relaxed than she ever remembered it being before and she knew she must have slept.
Being alone was an interesting experience in itself. It had rarely happened at King Panac’s castle, and when it had, she always knew where other people were and what she should be doing. Here, she had no idea where anyone or anything was. Should she get up and go to find someone? Or should she wait here until someone came?
Before she had time to decide, Mabbi tiptoed in and then saw that Doraya was awake.
‘Hello, Doraya.’
Doraya was surprised to see that Mabbi looked a little shy. ‘Hello,’ she said.
‘How are you feeling?’
Doraya stretched experimentally. ‘Fine,’ she said, and then, to her own surprise, ‘hungry.’
Mabbi’s face lit up with an impish grin, her even, white teeth shining against her brown skin. ‘Good! I’ll call Saban.’
She left the cave again and soon returned with another bowl of the savoury soup, a smaller piece of bread, and no cheese but a large piece of cake instead. Doraya’s eyes bugged out again.
‘Cake is only for high-ranking people,’ she blurted, repeating the phrase that Berato had used so many times.
‘We all eat cake here,’ Mabbi said. ‘Especially people who need to put on weight.’ She fixed Doraya with a spearing look. ‘Dragon riders are high ranking. So are their women, even if we never go anywhere. Now see how much of this you can eat.’
Doraya managed the soup, some of the bread, and half the cake before she had to admit defeat.
‘Now you need to dress,’ Mabbi announced, and passed Doraya a pile of clothes. ‘Try these on for me.’
Doraya tried three before she found one that fitted, in a beautiful shade of pale green. The dresses had soft cups inside which held her ample breasts in a comfortable display.
Mabbi stood back admiringly. ‘That does wonders for your eyes,’ she said. ‘And your hair is so beautiful.’
Doraya pulled a strand over her shoulder to examine it. She couldn’t remember last time she’d been so clean, and she didn’t think she’d ever known that her red hair was streaked with gold. The harsh soap she used to wash, back at the castle, whenever she got the chance, always left her hair and skin feeling dull and rough. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and smiled at Mabbi.
‘Do you know,’ Mabbi said, ‘that’s the first time I’ve s
een you smile? You should do it more often. It suits you.’ She hugged Doraya affectionately. ‘I’m so glad you came. It’s lovely to have another young woman to talk to.’
‘Aren’t there other young women here?’
‘No, just the women you’ve met.’
‘How many dragon riders are there?’
‘Thirty-five.’ Mabbi wrinkled her nose. ‘They made some stupid pact, whole lifetimes ago, not to try to attract women.’
Doraya thought of Fiami’s needs. ‘How do the dragon riders who don’t have a woman manage?’
‘They always have a woman when they need one, honey.’
Doraya didn’t understand, and it must have shown on her face because Mabbi explained further.
‘We belong to all of the riders. Any rider can call for one of us when they need a woman.’
Chapter Two
Mabbi escorted Doraya to the dining cave, chattering all the way, but Doraya couldn’t take in any of Mabbi’s words. She was trying too hard not to show her shock at Mabbi’s revelation. So she was not one man’s woman? She belonged to thirty-five men? Yet Goril had told Saban that Doraya was his, and Mabbi had said they mustn’t touch her until Goril gave permission. So Goril must have some claim on her.
The dining cave was spacious and pleasant with a table for the women and several tables for the men, several of whom were already seated. The buzz of conversation intensified as Doraya entered, and she found herself the focus of many interested golden eyes. Her cheeks burned, and she hurried to sit down by Mabbi.
Dragon riders brought trays of food into the dining cave and placed one on each table, serving the women first. The tray held thick, juicy slices of meat and steaming tubers, but Doraya wasn’t hungry.
‘Try to eat a little,’ Mabbi coaxed her, so she took a couple of bites, but her mouth was dry and it was hard to swallow. A goblet in front of her held liquid, so she took a swig and found it warm and rich on her tongue.
‘What’s that?’ she asked.
‘Good red wine,’ Mabbi said, smacking her lips.
