“Think they’d let us in?” I asked.
“Don’t see why they wouldn’t.” Suri had the slow grace of someone who was drunk enough to be relaxed, but not drunk enough to be sick. “Come on - I want to show you something.”
“What?” I grinned as she took my hand and began to pull me toward the party.
She chuckled. “You’ll see.”
We slipped in around the revelers into the shadows cast by the apartments to either side. There were pillars holding up the next floor, and when we reached the first one, Suri backed me up against one and bent down to kiss me. In high heels, she was tall enough that her breasts were at face height. The bare skin above her cleavage radiated heat. Before I realized what she was doing, she took my hand and slid my fingers under the links of her dress, pushing them through until they cupped the inside of her thigh. She was hot there, too.
“Are you serious?” I dropped my voice, but I didn’t push her away. “There’s people everywhere!”
“That’s kind of the point,” she whispered back. “Better unequip anything that’s going to get in the way, and keep those eagle eyes of yours peeled.”
My breathing sped as she slid her hand down my belly. She worked her fingers under the edge of my jerkin, and rapped on the leather cup protecting the Three Amigos. Swallowing, I quickly went to my Inventory, and unequipped that one small item of clothing.
“You’re a kinky bitch. You know that, right?” I looked around us as her hand slid lower, and then turned my face back into her chest. My pulse was racing under my tongue, in my fingertips, and in… other extremities.
“Uh huh.” Suri breathed against my ear as her fingers coasted over the tent in my pants. “You have no idea.”
Hesitantly, I reached up and grazed her nipple through the warm metal of her dress. She stiffened, then whimpered softly against the side of my neck. The sound nearly undid me: I began to rub against her hand, fighting to stay quiet as people chatted and laughed barely twenty feet away from us.
Suri licked my ear, dexterously unlacing my fly. “Shhh. Relax, ninja boy.”
I let out a startled, muffled yip as she slid her hand into my clothing. “You’re nuts!”
“And you’re hard.” She chuckled softly, and began to discreetly, carefully stroke, watching over my shoulder for anyone who might come up on us from behind. I began to gently roll her nipple between my fingers. She gasped and clenched her thighs together, I ducked my head under the cover of our cloak and used my tongue and lips instead.
“Yeah… that’s good.” Suri’s hand shook a little, but she didn’t break stride, pumping slowly as I suckled one nipple, then the other to hardness. She dropped her head down, panting, stifling back the moans that strained her throat.
“Think you can be quiet?” I whispered.
She nodded, swallowing hard.
I jerked my head back when I heard tottering drunken footsteps approaching. I casually hooked Suri’s dress back up over her breast and pressed her body in against mine, making sure neither of us were exposed as someone passed into the darkness barely ten feet from where we stood. They turned into one of the apartments, flinging open the door and staggering in.
As soon as the coast was clear, I jerked the neckline of Suri’s dress back down, and got to work with my mouth: circling her nipple with my tongue, and tugging on the other with my fingertips as she discreetly worked her magic under the cover of her skirt. As we heated up, I couldn’t stop my hips from bucking, and neither could she... and when she hiked her dress up and pressed me in against the unseen wetness beneath, I nearly lost it.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered, her voice high and breathy with pleasure. “Please.”
Glasses were clinking together behind us, voices getting louder, but my body was thrumming. As she pressed her neck against my teeth, I bit down and thrust into the warm heat, but the angle was all wrong. I could feel the entrance to her body, rubbing and kissing the head of my cock each time we discreetly pushed against one another, but I couldn’t slip inside.
Her breathing grew both harsher and sweeter as she picked up speed, reaching down to grind her against me and gasping as the points of my fangs broke skin. I bit down harder, and the tension left her body in a shuddering wave of ecstasy. She came in near-silence, clutching my back and gasping softly beside my ear.
There was only a little blood, but the taste was enough to drive me into a frenzy. I was so painfully, frustratingly close. I felt like I’d go crazy: all I wanted to do was turn her around, push her against the wall, and fuck her. Frustrated, I pulled my nails down across her breast, earning another stifled gasp, and thrust between the palm of her hand and her soft, swollen lips as my pleasure built. I had to let go of her neck, pushing back against the wall as the strongest but most frustrating orgasm I’d ever had tore free from the root of my spine and pushed out like a shockwave.
“Fuck!” I growled, and banged my fist back against the pillar wall. My heart was hammering, and I hung onto my self-control by a thread. All I could think of was tearing her dress off, pinning her down on the ground, and fucking her until she was a puddle on the flagstones. I wanted to feel her clench down around me. I wanted to hook her leg over my shoulder, and hear her moan and scream my name.
Suri laughed drunkenly against the side of my neck, back arching underneath my hand. The motion thrust my cock - still mostly hard - between her slick thighs, and my eyes rolled back in my head.
“I’d say we go in for round two, but that might be pushing it.” she whispered. It put her neck close to my nose, and I realized she was still bleeding. I hadn’t bitten her that hard… but hard enough.
“I think it might.” Breathing hard, I backed my hips up and adjusted her underwear and dress back into place, then fumbled with my own clothing. The thrumming drive to fuck was still there, a vibration in my bones. I was amped up, frustrated despite the orgasm, and starving hungry. All I could think about was sex, and food, and moving as fast as possible. Running, yeah… running sounded good. I had a mad, random desire to chase her.
“Race you to the market,” I said, backing up from her. “Speaking of Round Two.”
Suri let out a little laugh of disbelief. “Are you serious? I’m not running anywhere. We stuffed ourselves… did you burn all those calories off already?”
I blinked, and laid a hand on my stomach. It was true that I’d only just eaten – and yet when I checked my sheet, my food meter was almost back down to half.
“Uhh… yeah. I guess we shouldn’t eat anything else before we fly.” I shook my head. It felt fuzzy, hazy. Every time I blinked, I felt my heart stutter and my nerves jump. In the shadow of the apartment, Suri looked more than alluring. I had a mad urge to push her into a run, chase her, and… take her to the ground?
I rubbed my eyes, frowned, and shook my head.
Suri leaned in. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Dolphin cheese might be trying to come back up.” I forced a smile. “Like every man ever, I’m feeling that Exhaustion debuff after the big event. Don’t worry about me.”
“I will and I am.” Suri took my hand, kissed the back of it, and then pulled me off. “Come on, lover. Let’s get back to Karalti before she shits in Soma’s courtyard.”
It was a long walk and carriage ride back to the College, and by the time we arrived, I achieved a debuff I’d never had before:
[You are Sleep Deprived! -2 to all stats, -10 to all mental skills, 2x Stamina drain!]
I felt the small drop in stats like a kind of sluggishness, but even so, I was wired when I got out of the carriage. Karalti was waiting for us in the yard outside the warehouses, her nose turned to the sky, her wings flickering with tension by her sides. There were quite a few people hanging back from her, just watching her or praying to one of the Nine as they contemplated their first Real Live Dragon, TM. Rin was already there waiting for us: as a member of our party, she could see our dots on the map.
“Hi guys!” She bounced and wa
ved, loaded down like a Himalayan porter in a backpack almost as tall as she was. Her Artificed familiars, Lovelace and Hopper, were carrying luggage as well. “How did it go? Did you have fun?”
“Lots of fun.” I wagged my eyebrows at Suri. She smirked back to me.
Karalti craned her neck toward us, radiating impatience. “About time you dragged yourself in. Weren’t planning to back out on me, were you?”
“What? No?” I grunted aloud. “Had a good time. Ate a lot of food. Not enough food, apparently.”
Karalti snorted, and stiffly flexed her wings before sinking down to let us mount. I helped Rin up, then Suri. Rin’s turrets were able to Spider Climb now, so they skittered up like a pair of robot crabs and clung onto the saddle. I followed up last, but as soon as my hand touched Karalti’s wing, a pulse of … something transferred between us, an electrical current that tingled through my nerves in a pleasant wave. The dragon’s scales were hot, as if she’d been flying for miles. Her scent was very strong. Strong and sweet, hanging in my nostrils like perfume.
“You stayed here, right?” I climbed up, far less gracefully than usual – partly due to the Sleep Deprived status, and partly due to the boner that just would not quit. If I was alive, I’d probably be getting ready to go see a doctor. “You didn’t go flying?”
“No.” Her mental voice was terse. “Tell Suri and Rin to buckle in.”
“You could tell her,” I teased.
“I don’t want to.” Karalti got to her feet, shook herself a little, and began to preen her claws and muzzle. “I want to go home. So buckle up and hang on.”
Chapter 31
Karalti was silent through the short flight, teleportation, and landing. I could sense she was eager to get Suri and Rin off her back – and me, for that matter. The dragon stamped and pawed as I got down, and once Rin and her turrets were on the ground, I felt Karalti’s mind press into mine. “When you’re done, take my saddle off, please.”
“Unequip it?” I asked. “Karalti, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing. I’m just tired.” She snorted a cloud of steam into the cold night air. “Hang back with me?”
“Uhh… sure.” Remembering what I’d said to Suri before, I doubted she was just tired. “Let me say goodbye to Suri.”
“Thanks so much, Karalti!” Rin tentatively patted Karalti on the leg. “I’m so sorry to have to ask you guys to run me around. I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t important.”
“What are you working on?” I asked.
She linked her hands behind her back and hopped up and down. “It’s a secret! I still have some adjustments to make, but you’ll find out tomorrow morning. Just promise me something?”
“What?” I caught Suri around the waist as she slid down.
“Promise you won’t be mad.” And with that, Rin winked and then jogged off into the castle grounds before I could say anything.
Suri yawned as she unequipped her fancy clothes, and put on her regular underlayers: a dusky rose halter top that laced at the front, and a pair of clinging doeskin leggings that hugged her legs in interesting ways. A slow, lazy smile spread over her lips as I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.
“You kids have some good clean fun,” she said. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“After tonight, I think the list of things you wouldn’t do has to be pretty short.” I rubbed the area on her neck where I’d bitten her. Thanks to the magic of HP regen, the wounds had already healed, leaving nothing but a set of pink marks that would fade by morning.
“What can I say? Prison life doesn’t leave much room for modesty.” She rubbed her cheek against mine, then danced back. I smiled at her, holding her hand until she tugged it from my grasp and sauntered off toward the barracks, where she’d made her room.
“Ugh. Finally.” Karalti tracked her as she left, her nostrils flexing.
“What’s gotten into you?” I frowned up at her. “You were all sweetness and light this afternoon. Now you’re jealous?”
“I’m not jealous.” She began to preen herself again, grooming in a way I’d never seen her do before. She brought her hands up to her chin and ran her claws over it, almost like a gerbil washing its face.
“She said, jealously.” I held up my hands. “I’m just saying there’s a track record, okay?”
Karalti lowered her head until the tip of her nose was even with mine, and as she did, a cloud of scent descended over me. Karalti normally had a subtle, sweet scent that I loved, but tonight, it was like she had doused herself in a mixture of ecstasy and opium. My skin tingled, my fingertips vibrated, and heat - real, living heat - spread through my nerves and into my muscles, making them twitch and flex and pump. They weren't the only thing that swelled, either.
“Holy shit.” I swallowed thickly. “You know, Tidbit, I’m not sure… but I think I know why we can’t stop eating. It’s time.”
“Time for what?” She sniffed over me with great delicacy for such a huge creature, jaws parting as she inhaled my scent over her tongue, like a cat. “Mmm… you smell really good. Like food, and boy, and… mmm… all the things you were doing with Suri.”
“Okay. You’re in heat.” I drew a deep breath to steady myself, but in doing so, breathed in whatever it was being released through her skin. “Fuck. What do I do? I’m not sure a night of snuggling is a good idea.”
“You wouldn’t be trying to break your promise to me, now would you?” She uttered a drawn-out rattling sound, more resonant than a growl. It made the hair on my arms stand up.
I put my hands up. “You’re in heat, Tidbit. You’re wound up because I’m wound up, I’m wound up because you’re wound up, and-”
She snorted a cloud of hot, iron-tinged air in my face, then lowered her head and padded backwards on the dark stones. As she did, I noticed that her eyes were no longer violet. They were a blazing, glowing molten silver, and they were utterly fixated on me. For a moment, I wasn’t sure if she was about to launch herself into the air, run off crying, or eat me.
She did none of those things. Instead, she reared up tall on her hind legs, concentrated, and shifted down. Maybe it was the booze and the lingering high, but the way her body dissolved into a shower of kaleidoscopic light was abnormally mesmerizing, especially when the light cleared and left her standing nude in the center of the courtyard. For a moment, she was perfectly outlined by the glowing haze of mana, and I felt something deep and primal stir to life behind my eyes. Karalti seemed to sense it. She rolled her head to look at me over her shoulder, lips parted, eyes hooded.
“You know what to do,” she said. “I can feel the way you feel, right? Tonight, I felt what you were doing with Suri. Your heart was pounding so fast. I could hear it while I was sitting there, trembling, while that idiot Soma talked and talked… but the whole time, I was thinking about you.”
“You uh... you might want to put some clothes on.” I drifted toward her, glancing toward the lit towers ringing the courtyard.
“Oh, I might, may I?” Karalti flipped her hair back over her shoulders and lifted her chest up as I drew closer. She was a whole other creature to Suri: small and slim and lithe, small-breasted, her skin pale and pearly. Her being in human form did nothing to dispel the cloud of pheromones engulfing me like a hurricane. Before I realized what I was doing, I’d pulled Karalti into my arms and buried my nose in the heavy, silky length of her hair. And once I started drawing deep breaths of her, I couldn't stop. She squeaked in surprise and tried to push away, but I caught her, roughly, and pressed her back against my chest.
“Hector?” She moaned as I clutched the back of her thigh with an armored hand and squeezed, hard enough that the moan turned to a gasp. Her head tipped forward, sending her hair swirling over my nose and mouth. A dizzying wave of heat flushed through my skin, and for one breathless moment, I was sure I was about to compulsively strip off my clothes and take her right here, right now, right in the middle of the fucking courtyard. It was pure lust: selfish
, compulsive, and unstoppable. The trance was broken when she suddenly shoved back from me, tearing herself out of my hands.
“Oh my god. Karalti. I am so...” My apology was cut short when I saw her - really saw her. Her lips were flushed, skin peppered with goosebumps, her muscles taut with excitement. She was panting, chest heaving. Her eyes blazed molten silver, wild and feral. “So…”
“Catch me.” Her lips peeled back, and she snarled at me like a wolf as she backed up a few steps, light and graceful on her bare feet.
Karalti turned and sprinted off in a cloud of intoxicating perfume, and the desire to run surged back into my awareness. Before I realized what I was doing – before I had the sense to stop myself – I took off after her at a sprint.
My dragon laughed mockingly as she vaulted up onto some rubble, then sprung up to the shattered castle wall. She pulled herself up with inhuman speed and strength, pattered along the edge of it with the certainty of a cat and burst forward as I half-Jumped, half-teleported up behind her. The dragon was absolutely fearless off the ground, leaping out of my grasp onto a scaffolding rail and swinging herself up onto the rickety catwalk like a gymnast. I scrambled up after her, right into a cloud of lingering scent. Heart laboring, pulse pounding in my neck, all the hand-wringing I’d done over the ins and outs while Karalti had been growing up was shoved aside by the pure bull-grade testosterone surging through my veins. The catwalk shuddered and swayed under my boots as I put my head down and ran as hard and fast as I could, trying to head her off before she reached the shadowed vault of the tower ahead.
Warsinger Page 28
