the Leathermines

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The shuffling of bare feet on the wooden floor barely could be heard above the storm pounding outside the building.  But she had heard it.  Hearing it meant she was awake.

Laun listened to the feet.  One set.  And a slight scrape of metal on wood.  She could smell meat and possibly something sweet.  Liquid was poured into something, a slight sound that reminded her of when wine was poured into crystal.

There was a shifting, a weight on the bed.  Laun felt a pause in the person with her and then a light touch on her shoulder through the blanket.  She smiled and opened her eyes.

Beau was there, looking intently at her.  “You were sleeping soundly when I came back, my love.  I didn’t want to disturb you.”

There was a smile and Laun turned towards the Lieutenant.  “Thank you for letting me sleep.  Though I think it was to keep your own neck intact...”  She reached towards the line she had cut on his neck.

Beau grasped her hand and kissed it.  “My blood is yours, Laun.”

Laun blinked, and not just with the fierceness of his oath.  Her mind had woken enough to see him as he was.  He had taken all of his military garb off, no insignia or indication of his military service.  Other than the recently shaved sides of his head and his otherwise short, helmet-length hair.  He was wearing a plain tunic, no hint of anything but a civilian cut to the linen.  A glint of a gold chain under the neckline drew her hand to it.

“I have not seen you wear this before.”  Laun looked up into Beau’s eyes and saw perhaps regret, perhaps embarrassment reflected in the lamplight.  She put her hand on his cheek and he brought the chain out from under the linen, an elegant family crest hanging from it.

“The Dumonde heraldry.  My family.”

Again, Laun blinked.  “Do you have a sister named Kell?”

It was Beau’s turn to blink.  “Cousin.  I haven’t heard anything about her since her family took the journey to the other continent.  She was older...”  He brought his eyebrows together and shook his head.  “How do you know?”

Laun relaxed back into the pillow.  “She has been one of my healers for most of the last year.”  Laun smiled and giggled, the sound feeling far away for a moment as she closed her eyes.  “The world is small...”

There were warm lips on hers.  She parted her lips and a gentle tongue trailed along the tips of her teeth.  A hand was on her cheek and then her neck, holding her jaw up.  He pressed his lips firmly into hers and their tongues slipped in and out of each other’s mouths.  He took in a breath through his nose and sighed into her mouth.

Her eyes were open again and she saw relief.  “You fell asleep again so quickly, I was scared.”

Laun nodded.  She motioned and they sat up, Laun moving so that her back was against the cold wall.  “It’s the stuff I took for my head.  I can shake most of it off, but it is still there.”  Laun moved her head from side to side and smiled.  “The storm has been here for a while, hasn’t it?”

Beau was leaning on the wall next to her.  He took her hand in his and held it as he said, “About an hour.  It gave me time to watch you sleep, and to arrange our provisions.”  He motioned to the small table with his chin.

The sounds that Laun had heard had been the Lieutenant placing and rearranging a sumptuous looking meal.  “That doesn’t look like it came from the officer’s mess.”

He had a small blush across his face.  “Ma’am, I thought something different to tide us over would be good.”  He put her hand to his lips for a moment before reluctantly dropping it and scooting off the bed.  Beau picked up two small crystal goblets and gave her one, already filled with a honey-colored liquid.

The smell was unusual, sweet and slightly spicy.  Laun took a sip and smiled at Beau.  The taste was thickly sweet without being too sweet, the spiciness she smelled made by some sort of grain.  He sat next to her again and savored the drink.  He sighed with a contentment Laun had not seen in him before.  “It is a honey beer that my family makes.  The recipe came from the other continent, but it does not travel well, so the method and yeast was brought over several generations ago.”  He sipped again and had a sparkle in his eye as he looked at her.

“You surprise me more and more, Beau.  Thank you.”  Laun sipped on the honey beer and found that it was good enough to have by it’s self, not to counter food or be masked by it.

Beau smiled.  “I strive to please, my love.”

The storm raged around them, the building shuddering from the strength of the winds and the glass creaking in the window as the building shifted.  A blanket was drawn over the two of them as they shared the honey beer and the companionship.  A few words here and there were exchanged, but neither of them wanted to push the time they had together, enforced by the storm as it was.

Laun found that she was staring at Beau.  He glanced over and seemed to be caught by her eyes.  “Is...is there something wrong?”

She shook her head and said, “For someone who has only recently been, for lack of a good equal, deflowered, you are not as... Eager as I would think.  With a naked woman next to you and all.”

He smiled into his small crystal goblet.  “Laun, I am inexperienced, but I-”  He looked at the remainder of the golden liquid before downing it all in one gulp.  He put the crystal goblet on the bed next to him, knowing it would tip over immediately.  He turned under the blanket and drew Laun to him gently.  “I have seen what happens when men rush things with women.  If you were just a doxy or a cunt for hire, it would be different.”

Laun was expecting a flash of embarrassment at his choice of words.  There was none, the phrasing just a statement to him.  “You have declared yourself to me, I have taken your oath.  I know you do not believe I am a red scarf.  But in my experience, you are treating me as though we have been around each other for far longer than a week.”

He nodded and kissed her forehead.  “Because I want to have had you around for more than a week.  I don’t know when I may ever see you again, Highness, my love.  But-”

Laun felt a slight tremble in how he held her, his hands not seeking out her tender spots, just tenderly embracing.  His lips kissed down her face to her lips.  He brushed against her, not pressing in, but tasting her and breathing with her.  Laun relaxed more into his arms, somehow signaling to him to go further.

The kiss lasted for quite some time.  The soft edge of drugged sleep slid close.  Laun opened her eyes and pulled back slightly to fight the drug.  Beau’s eyes had been slightly open, but were wide when she moved.

“Love?”  His hand was on her neck, stroking gently.

Laun shook her head slightly before saying, “I am afraid to spill the last of this...”

He took the small goblet from her and pressed it to her lips.  They looked into each other’s eyes until it was tipped far enough that she could not easily see him.  The honey-beer was very good, but not as good as his lips.  The cold crystal was replaced with his warm mouth and they kissed passionately.

Laun felt the slight slowness that she knew from the drugs, but she did not care.  His lips were intoxicating by themselves, drawing her into feelings she had not felt for...  Over a year.  Possibly almost two years.  She was falling in love.  Laun sighed into his mouth and went for more of his kissing.  She reveled in the feeling that was rising in her, not lust, but something that made her stomach flutter thinking of the man with her.

Beau’s thumb was running over her lips, his breath warm on her chin.  “I think I woke you too soon.”

Laun opened her eyes and blinked at the seeming bright room.  “I don’t know what all was in that elixir from Maddoc, but I am not reacting the same as usual.”  She swallowed and tried to sit up.

Pillows were rearranged, a crystal plate with small bites of beef and fish displayed beautifully placed between them on the bed.  Laun smiled as she thought of the first meal she had shared with Ithian.  This time, she was the one being seduced, and she loved it.  They fed each other, fingers and lips being licked between bites.

“Laun.  I need to ask something.”

There was a serious note to his voice that she did not like.  “What do you need, Beau?”  Her head tilted to the side and looked into his eyes, seeing a flash of nervousness.

“Love, you are not gone to the North, yet.  But time with you has been precious.”  He leaned in and brushed his lips across hers.  “Do you wish for me to transfer to the Fourth Logistics?”

Laun pulled back, a reaction that she did not know she had in her.  She tried to calm the eyebrows that had drawn together.  She tried to relax the frown that was on her lips, still moist with his kisses.  “I would not ask you to do anything that was not good for your career.  I am hard to deal with.  You-”  He put her hand on his cheek and felt the heat of a flush on her palm.  “You are an officer of the Midlands army, sworn to the Kingdom.  I may be your love, but the Kingdom is your duty.”

He was quiet.  Laun watched as he thought about what she had said.  Beaus head turned and he looked away.  Laun could see that she had hurt him, but she needed to make sure he did what was right for him, not just something to stay near her.

Laun moved her head around slightly to try to catch his eyes.  “If you transferred to the Fourth, you might be able to see your cousin on one of the rotations.  But you would also see how I am with the rest of my family.  Are you ready to meet my Husbands and lovers?”

His eyes flicked towards her and could not look away.  “I-”  He shook his head.  “I don’t know.”

She smiled.  “By not knowing, you understand that there can be good or bad.”  She chuckled lightly and moved so that she was almost kissing him.  “If you stay here, I will look forward to traveling to Hamlis, knowing you are waiting for me.”

“Always,” he replied, a smile on his lips that slowly spread to the rest of his face.  He leaned in the rest of the way and they were kissing again.

Something hit the outside of the building and startled Laun, making her laugh at her own reaction.  Beau smiled at her and they started to kiss again.  Another strike on the building was heard, and splintering of wood.  Beau’s reaction was not to laugh, but to get up, covering the crystal plate with his part of the blanket as he stood from the bed.

Another strong sound and the sound of the storm was filled with yells.  Beau took the steps to the door before Laun knew that he was moving, the inner door open to the corridor before Laun was out from under the blanket.  She did not care she was naked as she followed into the corridor in time to have the door into where her assassins had taken residence fly open.

Objects from inside the room were pushed into the corridor, and not just from the storm’s sand-filled wet wind.  There were men in the room with Gem and Hazalam.  It was hard to see how many through the chaos of storm and bodies.

Gem was the first out of the room, thrown by one of the men and helped by the wind.  Hazalam was close behind, leaning into the wind and trying to hold onto a dagger with a wet hand.

The fighting and storm spread into the corridor.  Laun did not have weapons, other than herself, but she took a stance and started to defend Gem until the blonde could stand on her own.  The look of the man she was facing was full of confusion and disbelief, almost as much as the Corporal that was on guard duty.  Beau grabbed the knife on the Corporal’s belt and tried to get to Laun’s side.

Laun saw the door into the room Verat was in open and close again, a glimpse of the clapperless bell holding Sable making Laun focus fully on the men coming in from the storm.  There were seven so far.  They were all drenched, coils of rope around the shoulders of some of them.

“That’s her!”  Laun’s body reacted to the sound in time to sidestep a lunge from one of the men.  He had two knives out and tried to strike at her.  Hazalam saw the danger and jumped in front of the bandit, taking the next strike that would have landed in her.

Laun changed.  To those around her, she went from calmly defending, backing down the corridor away from the room that held her babies to suddenly turning into a raging storm herself.  Hazalam had not even fallen to the wood of the floor in the barracks when Laun lunged and had her hand on the man’s throat.

Before he could do anything, he was dead, his neck at an un-natural angle.   The Princess was seeing red, wanting blood and she was going to take it out of the men who had hurt her man.  She turned into the storm coming through the room’s door and took down another of the bandits, breaking limbs and getting screams before he was silenced.  The next man tried to back up, but found himself on the ground, the full force of the storm washing over them as Laun knelt her knee into his stomach, one hand around his throat and another being raised for a killing strike to his nose.

“Not again!”  Laun screamed into the wind and face of the man under her.  She felt the man under her kicking out, his hands wrapped around her wrist trying to move it to let him breathe.

“Mistress...”  Hazalam’s voice over the storm caught Laun before her hand landed against the choking man beneath her.  She moved her strike and left the man with a broken cheekbone.

She was suddenly cold.  Not because of the storm that was still whipping sand and detritus around her.  Because she had just killed.  Again.  She felt the legs of men go past her and into the storm.  Hands were on her, bringing her off the man she had just taken down.  She held out a hand and she got up herself.  Not even a second look back to the men she had fought as she went to Hazalam.

“It went through his side.”  Gem was holding a torn cloth on her guild brother’s wound and was looking at the pain in his face.

Laun’s mouth would not work.  It was thick and dry and words would not form.  She looked around at the Sergeants and Corporals that had been staying in their rooms until they heard the fighting.  Her hands started to tremble, but talked where her mouth could not.  “Take to medics,” was the first thing she was able to sign.

Salutes were crisp in the wet wind, several of the soldiers carrying Hazalam out and into the storm, Gem at his side.  A wool blanket went around Laun after she asked with her hands to see the men they had been able to capture on the deck.  They were lined up in the corridor as more of the men cleared the room before closing the door with several backs to help.

Laun looked at the men.  That was all she did.  All but one turned away from her when the stare was too much, a few seconds the most they could handle.  She waved the others away and stood against the wall across from the remaining bandit.  He was tall, a hint of blonde under the scarf that covered his head.  Leathers of a non-descript nature, as if anything that could have been on him to show personality or loyalties had been taken from them.  Military baring, but more than that, he was calm after having witnessed her killing and maiming his colleagues.

Her voice was soft, but it was back.  “Who am I?”

He shook his head, but she saw the recognition.  She wanted to know who they had been sent for.  Princess, Lady, Mistress?  Laun moved, pulling the blanket close around her.  She was shivering, but she could not let him see her weakness.

“How much were you paid?”

There was more of a reaction.  It had been quite a price to have gone after her in the storm.  It was good cover.  If they had been one door over, they might have had her, or at least her head.  A storm surge taking an unfortunate casualty.

“Where is the bell meeting?”

His mouth opened and a slight shock seemed to go through him.  He looked away.  His mistake.

Laun dropped the blanket and before it had slapped to the ground, Laun had the man on his knees, moaning at the pain of her hands in sensitive spots in his shoulder and groin.  He tried to reach for her, to defend himself.  She knew it would happen and had him on the floor, his nose broken and her shin on the back of his neck.

There was a breathiness in her voice as she said, “I will let you live.  I will let you go.  Tell Flint no matter what you were promised for my head, he will not have the satisfaction.”  He moved his head in an attempt to nod, blood smearing the floor from his face.  “I will meet him at the Bell Council meeting and face the charges.”  She leaned into him and whispered, “So say I.”  She let off the pressure and felt him take a full breath.

“Yes, Mistress,” he said into the floor, a bubble to his breath.

Laun did not get up.  She signed, “Escort to front gate,” and had a nod before she moved from the man.

Verat was there, both babies in his arms, after the bandit was taken away.  The blanket was around her again, her arms around her apprentice and friend, encircling the babies.  They were both on the verge of crying, but with their mother there, they made noises and hand signs, Ash saying, “Ma!” more than a few times.

The babies were calmed, even as Laun was getting shaky.  Laun kissed Verat on the cheek and smiled weakly before he took the children back into his room.  Laun stood and watched the soldiers as they cleaned up some of the broken furniture, and dragged the bodies towards the small common room in the building.

It was not going to stop.  She had to leave as soon as the storm was passed and the ship could sail.  She was putting too many people in danger.  She stepped over part of a table and to the room she had been in.  Laun did not bother to close the door as she went in.  She sat on the armless chair, leaning on her knees, staring at the floor as her body started to shake and tears clouded her vision.

The darkness swept up and through her.  It tainted everything good that had happened while they had been in Hamlis.  The Commander.  Lieutenant Beau.  Finding more of her families history in the Prince Commander pin.  Recovering and admiring the work Liam had done to her.  Seeing Liam recover, even if it was just a little.  Nothing mattered.  It was all there to be smashed again.  Everyone she touched was destined to be hurt because of her.

Her hand lost some strength and the blanket slipped from around her.  Laun looked at her hand and saw bruises on her wrist, bruises on the heel of her hand, cuts on her knuckles.  The adrenalin was wearing off and the damage she had done to herself in the fight was making it’s self known.  Her back was not happy, but the worst was her hand.

Her hand.  The hand that had just killed.  The hand that had not been able to save her man from a knife being plunged into his flesh.  The trembling hand that was not strong enough to hold the edge of a blanket, let alone a Kingdom together.

Another hand held hers.  Laun felt the streaks of warm tears through the cold salt water still clinging to her as she looked up.  The watery face of Beau was there, his concern coming in and out of focus depending on how many tears rimmed her eyes.

Concern.  And fear.  She would always bring fear to the people in her life.  Laun closed her eyes and bowed her head so she would not see the fear she gave him.  It was all she knew how to do - destroy the precious things around her, including the relationships she wanted and needed.

A cold cloth was being dabbed on her hand.  It felt good, but also stung slightly.  She looked and watched as Beau tended to her small wounds.  Her hand was shaking as he supported it.  He pulled slightly to get a better angle on the heel of her hand and the blanket slipped, an unnoticed scrape on her arm pulling open as it went.

No words.  He was quiet.  The men she saw in the hall were quiet.  Beau washed her scrapes and bruises, patted a damp cloth on the runnel of blood on her arm, put a sticky salve over some of her wounds, and all in silence.  Laun did not want to talk, did not want to explain or be consoled.  It was eerie, though, not having any noise from the men around her.

That did not last long.  There was a commotion in the corridor, voices after wet storm sounds.  A swirl of cold came to Laun, her legs becoming chilly.

“Highness!”  Listas was in the doorway, dripping salt and sand.  Beau moved from where he was kneeling as the Commander bulled into the room.  “Highness!  Did they hurt you?”

Laun shook her head and held up her loose fist to show the tended scrapes and bruises.  She still did not feel like talking, but she knew that Listas was going to want a report.  Her voice was scratchy, but it carried as she said, “Half a squad of mercs.  I let their leader go to take back a message to the person who hired them.  I don’t know how many were taken down, but I killed two, maybe three.”

Listas turned to Beau and got a nod.  “Fuck me, Laun.  I never want you angry at me.”

Laun looked up into his face and he looked like he wanted to take a step back.  Her face was calm, almost cold.  The darkness showed through her eyes, the smolder of bloodlust under a sheet of crystaline ice.  She put her hand over the peach flower cut into her skin and said, “This is what I am at the core.  I can be cleaned up, but I am rogue.  I am a killer.  I get information through blood.  I corrupt everything I touch-”

The strong facade was crumbling.  She could not hold back the shaking.  She looked away and tried to pull the blanket back over her, the cold of the air reaching into her, past the cold of her emotions.  She knew that they were looking at her, but they were not seeing her.  They were seeing what they wanted from her.  Laun sighed and dropped her head as tears flowed, not knowing what she wanted from herself.

They let her stay that way for a while.  She ignored their talk, ignored the men coming and going around her.  She felt other hands on her, pulling her hand away from the blanket to be looked at, the blanket changed from the wet wool to a dryer wool when yet another small cut had been found on her side.  More salve and something in a small metal vial.  Laun downed it without asking, hating the taste, but knowing that it was going to make her sleep.  It could not make her feel better.

A tunic was drawn over her.  She stood when hands lifted her.  She was in the bed, under the covers.  The tears would not stop.  The darkness consumed her.

She had someone in the bed with her.  She was facing the wall, did not care who had deigned to lay with her.  Arms went around her, but were not seeking more than to share warmth. 

Laun fell into a restless sleep.  She saw the faces of people around her, not just on bodies.  There were faces in trees as she ran through the snowy woods.  There were eyes in the rock of the cliff face she was climbing.  Mouths whispered to her from the grasses in the fields as she rode past them.  Grace moved under her and then her neck turned, her beautiful bay face changing, turning into Harcem.  He was laughing at her, spitting curses at her.

She sat up.  She pushed the blankets back and hugged her knees.  Her face was buried in the cotton of the tunic, the night lamp’s low light blocked.  She was awake, but she did not want to face that nightmare, either.

A hand was on her.  It was warm and beaconed to her to be under the covers again.  She lay back with her eyes closed, the body beside her warming her skin as the wool blanket was drawn back over them.  Tears started to flow from her again.  She sobbed and a finger was on her cheek to wipe some of the tears away.  He shifted next to her and she felt a breath on her cheek before a light kiss.  Another sob came out, the feeling of unworthiness bubbling through her.

“Mistress-”

Laun started at Verat’s voice.  Her eyes were open and she felt herself push away from him and into the cold wall before she knew what she was doing.  “You never... I mean-”  Laun shook her head and put her hands over her face, crying into them.

Verat came close to her again, covering them with the shifted covers.  “Mistress, You needed someone with you.”

She made a shrug as she lay there.  Her hands relaxed into the pillow and she looked at her apprentice.  “You have not been in my bed without...  Without at least Fount.  I am your Mistress, not your lover.”  Laun was just not understanding why he was there, could not fathom him wanting to even touch her.

His fingertip was gentle as it traced the tear from the corner of her eye to the pillow.  She saw through her tears a flicker of something and she just couldn’t focus enough to tell what it was.  “Laun, you needed me.  A body to warm you does not have to be more than that.”  She saw a small smile.  “And remember, my Love is a man, but I am well trained with women, too.”

The saying that Laun had been telling others for almost two years came to her lips.  “You do not have to do anything you don’t-”

His finger was on her lips, quieting her.  “I had been wondering if you were ever going to teach me some of your bed interrogation techniques, Mistress.”  His eyes sparkled in the low lamplight, but they darkened to worry when he saw how Laun reacted.

She shook her head.  Her eyes were tightly closed before her hands went over her face again.  “Flint is right to take my life.  I am nothing but a-”

His hand was pulling on her hands, the bruises already on one wrist making her gasp with the strength he used to get to her.  His mouth covered hers, his hands holding hers as he moved to be on top of her.  He held her, quieting with his mouth until she relaxed under him.  He became gentle again, lifting his weight from her.

Laun closed her eyes and turned her head slightly.  She felt herself fall into the place she had made for herself.  A place apart from her outer self, warm and quiet.  It was a place where nothing was happening, even if something was happening to her on the outside.  She knew that there was a man on top of her.  She knew that he was saying something, but the darkness liked it when she had put herself into her separate place and helped to block out what the man was saying.  She knew she was being moved, her limbs slack and falling once let go.

The warmth was back.  The covers were over her again.  The man’s arms were around her, his body stretched and curled around her back.  He breathed into her neck, whispered words blowing across her skin.  Some of the words came through, Laun’s eyes opening when she finally heard them.

“... I know that you would not break with pain, Mistress.  Now I know you do not break with forced sex, though I know what you have done to those who have tried.  You are so young to have the ability to cocoon yourself within your mind.  It is not an ability I have found in many bells.  Assassins can, with their catras.  Some lost nails can to protect their messages.  You surprise me more and more, Mistress.”  He felt her breathing change and lifted his head slightly.  “Your tongue and your hand are fast and deadly, but it is your quiet that is your strength.”

There was a sigh.  She had developed her quiet, her way of looking at people because she did not understand, did not know what she was supposed to do.  It had worked.  It had accomplished what she wanted at the time, but she had not thought of it as a strength.

“It is how you will face Flint and take him down.  You are broken, I know.  You are not one to be broken by others.  It is because you are fighting from within yourself that you survive, that you are the one who breaks others.”  His tone was firm and he was moving behind her, positioning himself so he could see her in the dim light.  “This is why I chose you to follow, Mistress Peach.  You are a quiet strength that I need to be able to grow to what Sand wished for me to be.”

Laun shrugged, feeling his arms around her tighten slightly.  “You learn what you need from me.  If you see stillness and quiet, then that will be what you shall learn.”

“I already have been, Mistress.”  He pressed his lips into her shoulder, almost uncertain if it should be a kiss.

Laun reached up and behind, finding his face at her shoulder.  “I know you miss Franc.  If you wish to use me-”

“No.”  He lifted from her and said, “Yes, I miss him, but I will not use you as a surrogate.”

Her voice was small as she said, “I cannot see you in my bed for any other reason.”

He turned and kissed the callused palm on his cheek.  “There are many reasons to be in your bed, Mistress.  Just being you is the big one.”

Laun found his hand going from around her waist to up to her breast, the heavy gold ring pushing into her as he grasped through the tunic.  It was not tentative, but there was a lack of passion.  “You have talked about your training.  It was forced on you, Verat.  Follow what you want to do, not what you think others need you to do.”

He moved and she rolled onto her back.  “You have your mind back from wherever you go when you are closed in.  You have also been in this bed for a night and you have had nothing to do but sleep.  I am sure you are ready for something different.”

Laun wanted to smile at the way he was trying to convince her.  She listened and heard the winds still blowing against the outer walls.  She felt the vibrations through the bedstead.  She listened and heard his breathing quicken.  She felt his body reacting and knew that he was able to do what he was offering.  She did smile.

He rolled onto her and then knelt between her legs.  Laun saw the flash of something again before he drew the cover over himself and moved down.  Beneath the blankets, Verat stroked down her body and started to use the training he had been given on her.

Laun gasped.  She had been on such a series of emotional crashing waves that she was certain that her body would not respond.  Verat proved that skill could break through several of her barriers as her hips left the bed and her head pressed further into the pillow.

His hands went up her body, one under her ass and up her back, one up to her breasts, pushing the tunic aside.  Tongue and teeth did not leave her womanhood as his fingers found places on her that reacted well to the touch.  She followed the pressure from the hand under her and was on her side.  Her top leg was over his back as he worked on her.  Laun curled around his head as he hit a really good spot.  Her hands were on the top of his head, fingers holding onto his hair to keep him where he was.

Verat let up on some of what he was doing and Laun relaxed.  He drew his hands up and down her as he moved, straddling her leg.  Her knee caught on his shoulder as he brought himself upright.  His manhood was hot against her.  She wanted him in her.

Laun looked up at him and smiled through a gasp as his fingers rolled her jeweled nipple.  “This is where I would be asking the questions, if I were in your position.”

“Mistress, if you were in this position, you have been hiding more than I thought.”  There was humor in his voice.  He moved and was in her, holding still as Laun’s body reacted even as her mind rebelled.  He felt good going in her, his talents having brought her wetness out to lubricate them.  But... There was the darkness, telling her that he was using her, wanted something and would hurt her by fucking her.

Laun closed her eyes and just moved with the man in her.  His hands were on her ass and playing with her nub as he stroked in and out of her.  Her hips rocked against him, the fingers bringing a few gasps here and there as they moved.

The leg that was on top was moved from almost up and down against his chest to on the bed, Laun liking the relaxed side position.  Verat leaned over her and changed how he was thrusting, his breath steady even as his manhood was going deeper into her.  He steadied himself with the hand near her breasts, the one at her back going to the nape of her neck.  He rubbed and then grabbed her neck at her hairline, pulling her slightly towards him at each thrust of his hips.

He was not going to climax for a while.  Laun could feel the control he had.  The darkness told her it was his lack of actual interest, that he was forcing himself to even touch her, the act of sex difficult to complete with her.  Laun sighed and rubbed her face with the heel of her bruised hand, the pain silencing the voice for a moment.

She did not relish the thought, but she knew that pain would continue to push that voice out.  She fought that voice from the shadows so often that knowing a way to keep it quiet, even for a while, was something to grasp for.  

But...  She was tired of being in pain.  She did not want to be recovering from something every few weeks.  There was one pain she knew would turn to pleasure.

“Verat...”  Laun’s hand was on his thigh.  He did not stop, but he did slow down as he looked at her eyes.  “If you don’t mind...  I am not clean, but I want you to take my ass.”

He stopped.  “Mistress?”  Verat leaned over her and held himself a handspan from her shoulder as he whispered, “I’ve never had a woman’s ass.  Are you sure?”

There was a nod and a smile.  “You don’t even have to follow my rule at that point, if you don’t want to.”

He thought.  His hips slowly moved him in and out of her as he thought about taking her other hole.  The pleasure he knew he had there with men, the pleasure he had when men took him there.  He smiled and nodded.  Verat pulled out of her womanhood and moved.

Laun was expecting him to just push into her, the flash of pain, the burn before the pleasure.  His hands fondled her, stroked her until he was kneeling further down on the bed.  His hands held her top leg against her stomach as he pushed his face into her crotch.  There was nothing timid about where his tongue went.  He went straight for her asshole.  The way he did it was practiced, but it had a different quality to it.  He liked this, and he liked doing it to her.

It was not what she had expected.  It pushed some of the darkness away because it had been unexpected.  Verat licked and sucked at her nether hole, his tongue going surprisingly far into her.  A finger started to go into her, a relaxing of her around him as he worked himself in.  He wiggled his finger in her as his tongue kept licking and providing some more lubrication.  Then Laun felt a second finger being introduced and her back arched.

Verat licked from her womanhood to her ass, bringing some of her fluids over where it was going to be needed.  He slowly drew out the two fingers before pushing them back in again, the action becoming easier and more enjoyable for Laun.  It brought something to having a head between her thighs that she had not had before.

Laun felt Verat move and straddle her leg again.  His fingers were still going in and out of her, deliberately not changing the stroke to help keep her body relaxed for him.  There was a slight change in the pressure, but Laun did not feel the pain she usually knew with having a cock in her ass.  The fingers were being replaced with his manhood and he did it skillfully enough that she noticed, but because it was a fuller feeling, not because of the stroke changing or any pain.

The darkness could not compete.  The pleasure was everything.  Both Laun and Verat were concentrating on the sensation, Laun blocking out the things she did not want to think about, Verat relishing the first time he had done something.  They moved against each other, with each other.

Verat grasped Launs’ hip and started to speed up.  His fingers dug in, the look on his face base concentration.  His eyes were not quite closed, but Laun was sure that he was not seeing her as she lay under him.  She saw teeth bite his lower lip.  His head started to drop and Laun saw a vulnerability.

She started to whisper, not seeing any reaction from him, but knowing he could hear her.  “This is so good.  The feeling of your cock going in and out is exquisite.  This could last all day.  But it can’t.  It feels too good.  Things are building, the feelings are almost unbearable.  Something new, and yet so familiar.  Forbidden and sweet.”  Laun felt the rhythm start to change, get deeper and slower.  His eyes were fully closed.  His head was dropped low and he started to lean forward, using her body to support him.

“Feel the pulse going through you.  It is different this time, but still the same.  You can remember times when this was all you wanted, to take someone, to feel them around you.  Times when you knew you had the control.  Times when you were the one that mattered.  Remember the time when you chose, when you took charge.  You were the center.  There was only you and the one you were taking.”

She felt a skip in his breathing, a stutter in his stroke.  She started to move her hips slightly, moving against him and with him to create a different motion.  Laun’s voice was low, almost to Edgar’s rumble as she said, “It feels so wonderful.  The sensations and the control.  There was nothing better than right then and because you were the one who chose him.  Stroke in and out and feel how deep you are going.  Come for me, my love.  Feel me around you and use me for your own pleasure.  Fuck me!”

“Yes, Lucas...”  Verat stroked in hard, pounding Laun’s butt with his groin and thighs.  He gasped and then a series of held growls came out of him as she felt his cock grow slightly and then pulse inside of her.  He was coming to his peak inside her, the strokes becoming uneven as his seed filled her.

He did not collapse on top of her, but his arms were trembling as his cock shrank slightly and was pushed out of her ass.  There was a wet feeling that slid down towards the bedding and the slight scent of shit.  Laun wiggled slightly to check how her back was doing and saw the bliss on Verat’s face.

Then his head came up and there was a horrified look on his face.  He did not move from on top of her, but there had been a change as he had come back from the wonderful place he had gone to.  He blinked and shook his head slightly.

“Mistress Peach, please...”  He looked at her and then away.  He tried to move from where he was and his arms gave out.  He was heavy on her, but Laun’s hips and back could handle him.

Laun touched his hair, a calming petting with long, restrained strokes.  Verat sighed, some from the knowledge that he had slipped and some from the safety he felt with Laun.  She did not say anything, had proved a point that Verat seemed to want shown to him.  She had liked being with him, the sensations had been good.  It had not been about that.  She had sensed from the start that he needed to prove or test in some way.

It took a while for Verat to move on his own.  When he did, he slid between Laun and the wall, his face away from her.  The covers were over them, the warmth they shared as the storm continued around them needed.  It was also wanted.

Laun held Verat, still not saying anything, but breathing into the back of his neck, his relatively long hair tickling her on her cheek.  He was not one to cry.  He was thinking, a sigh coming out once in a while.  He sought out her hand under the covers and held it.  They lay that way for a while.

“Mistress...”  Verat moved his head so that he was not talking into the pillow.  “Thank you.”

Laun kissed him on the skin she could reach.  “You are welcome.  I hope you found what you needed.”

He nodded.  “Fucking you was...  You are wonderfully responsive, Mistress.  I have had to lay with women who could have been sacks of potatoes for all they moved.  And how you just slipped into my mind.  I-”  He swallowed and turned slightly so that he was facing the ceiling.  He brought her hand up to his lips and spoke to her past her fingers.  “I have never heard of that type of technique.  It gets too close to exposing yourself when you do it.”

“You have been holding that close for a while, relishing in what happened, but not being able to share it.  I’m...  I’m sorry, Verat.”

He rolled over and looked into her eyes.  “For what, Mistress?”

Laun sighed and moved her hand from his lips to his cheek.  “For using the push.  I saw something and...  I’m sorry.  I should not use it on those with-”

“Yes, you should.  You just taught me some of your technique, and that it is hard to defend against.  Specially with your ass.”  He smiled even as Laun ran her hand roughly over his face and down to his mouth.

They laughed.  They laughed together.  Laun felt better about herself and felt something relax in her mind.  Then she felt something tighten somewhere else.

A finger was on Verat’s nose.  “Well, apprentice mine, something just shifted and I have to find the latrine.”

There was a small wicked grin as he said, “I should probably go get cleaned up myself.  You tasted good, but the oder...”

They laughed.  It was good.

A little cleaning up before heading out to the latrine was in order, partially to find tunics and such.  Laun pulled the bedding off the mat and was holding it like a baby as they approached the door.

“The babies?”  Laun stopped and looked at Verat.

“Being looked after by the soldiers.  After the attack, the Commander and your Lieutenant had conference and left.  Your Lieutenant did not look pleased, but he is all business when he needs to be.”

“How he was brought up, I believe.  Just like his Cousin.”  Laun saw the raised eyebrow but did not go further.

The corridor was not clear.  It seemed that a full squad was standing at attention as Laun came out.  She called at ease and they all went to parade rest.  She tried to go to where the hampers for the officer’s laundry went and had the soiled things taken from her before she had gone a few paces.  She turned and a call down the hall created a scramble of men that flew out of the latrine before she approached.  Laun laughed.

Laun had the latrine to herself for a few minutes.  It gave her enough time to let things come out that were going to and clean up what she could.  She did not rush, but she did not wish to tarry more than needed to let the men who had been there before the call could get back to what they needed to do.

She came out and said, “Continue, men.”  She turned and did not see, but heard several of the men rush back in.

Verat calmly walked into the latrine past her, the sign, “next,” on his fingers.  She smiled, but not at the meaning he might have meant.  She looked at the men lining the hall.  They were all still at parade rest, attentive to her.  She walked between them, looking at them, inspecting them.  She did not know if they were looking at her as she passed, the tunic not the longest and she knew she still smelled a bit like Verat.

She came back up the line and stopped.  She turned to the man she had chosen.  He was not the biggest of the men assembled in their dress blacks.  He was not the highest rank.  But he was a horseman, well shaved and a sturdy stance.

“Name?”

“Sergeant Monroe, Ma’am.”

“Monroe.  Personal assignment?”

He nodded once and said, “Yes, Ma’am.”

Her hands came up to her chest level and signed, “Fuck me?”

He nodded and said, “Yes!  Ma’am!”

Without turning, Laun called out, “I need new bedding.”

Before she had finished telling her rules and doing a little negotiation with the Sergeant, there was clean bedding in place.  She turned on her heel and strode to her door, not looking back to see if he was following.  He was, the hurried steps behind Laun a powerful thing to hear.  She stopped and motioned him in before her.  She turned, hearing one low whistle.  It stopped when she faced the bulk of the men in the corridor.  She smiled and raised an eyebrow.

“Pick who’s next, men.”

Laun saw the reaction and heard the shuffle as she closed the door.  There was a smile on her face as the Sergeant in her room was still at parade rest, waiting for her order.

Laun smiled.  She was going to have fun.

 

Onto chapter 19 The voyage up the river back to the Capitol City