Chapter 23 - Go With the Flow 3

Like a noble samurai, moments before seppuku, Maki held her head high, back straight, and wore a look of grim acceptance. It wasn't quite what I had in mind with my earlier Seduction roll, but I'd take it. The lesbian was committed fully to anything we might do, and that had been the heart of the matter. 'As nasty as you are comfortable with,' she'd said, though I wouldn't be so cruel as to so completely ignore her hard limits. On the contrary, I'd be entirely focused on them, my goal being to push, soften, and erase them with every step.

"So, how should we start? M-more kissing?" she said. It was amazing how quickly composure could leave the woman. "You asked me to grab my purse? I'm sure you know that I don't keep condoms on me."

I had, though if I'd known she'd use it to diligently protect her upper thighs from view, I might have reconsidered.

With a small hiss of pain, I moved from kneeling to sitting on my butt and patted the space in front of me. "Not much of a point to them for me unless we're trying to prevent a mess. I have total control over my fertility and am immune to STDs. No, I was actually after the victory Kit-Kats."

Maki shuffled forward, still kneeling but now between my spread legs, close enough to kiss. "Are you sure now is the time? If you need the energy, I can make you something more substantial," she said, pulling the candy out regardless.

I took the green tea flavored chocolates from her, snapping a bar off. "I'm a man of my word, Maki. I said we'd celebrate with them after we won, didn't I?"

"I would feel much more comfortable celebrating after we've stabilized your ongoing blood loss."

"They can serve towards that purpose too. Watch. Open your mouth." Maki raised an eyebrow skeptically but followed along. I stuck half the chocolate bar into her mouth and laid it on her tongue. "Now bite down, but not through."

Once she'd done so, I leaned forward with a small grin, and then took the other half of the chocolate in my mouth, kissing her lips before snapping through it. Maki reared back and clapped her hand over her mouth, blushing brightly.

She chewed down the snack as quickly as she could in order to reprimand me faster. "What are you doing?! That was far too romantic!"

I laughed at her, making her grow redder with anger and embarrassment. "You were the one who proposed we go as far as we could."

"Yes, exactly! So please skip the foreplay!"

"Oh lord." I placed my hand on her shoulder and called forth the telekinetic limbs of the Three Python Force Technique. They wrapped around her waist and legs with care and turned her around to face the other way, pulling her back to me so that she was resting against my chest, cocooned by my limbs. She squeaked indignantly. "Romance and foreplay are the foundations of good sex, woman. You can as much forget about them when making love, as you can forget about the basement walls when building a house. Really, Maki, what kind of terrible sex have you been having?"

She elbowed me lightly, turning her head to glare up at me. "As I told you, my assistance in these matters is about healing and strengthening you. I'm not your girlfriend, I'm your partner. We aren't making love."

I slid my arms around her flat belly and rested my head on her shoulder, her still-damp hair tickling my neck and face. "And I'm telling you that the romance is a part of it. However, if you aren't comfortable with that, we can go in the total opposite direction too. Both work equally well – though the specific Rewards will differ."

"That entails?"

I tightened my grip around her waist, not enough to bruise or even hurt, but causing enough discomfort to inform her exactly what to expect. "A more forceful approach."

She took a small, sharp breath, startled, I think, by the feelings evoked by my arms. The system had asked me to roll a Sensuality + Seduction just now, and while I'd only gotten two Successes, I totaled five with Hero's Harem – more than enough to cast the reserved woman into disarray.

"Do," she gulped nervously, "do what you must."

I sighed. "I am. There are two paths to our destination – I'm asking which you'd prefer." Maki stiffened, obviously unsure of either. "Or," I added, "you could take charge too. That would also work."

She took some time to think about it. I passed the almost minute or so enjoying her warmth and the relative daintiness of her frame. Marianne was a soft, full-figured woman, and Annie's every inch was that of an athlete, muscular and firm, but Maki was thin and delicate, like a beautiful work of glass.

"I think…you should just do whatever you like. If we were dating, I would like to—well, never mind, actually. Just do what you want, James. I know you're obviously very worried about me, but I'm just as worried about you. I only want you to be strong enough to survive whatever your next harebrained scheme is, or the trouble you're inevitably going to barrel headfirst into. I want to help – that's all I can really say."

I nuzzled my nose into her neck and breathed out a long, warm exhale as I traced a path up to her ear, causing the thin, small hairs to rise as goosebumps. Mouth close enough that she could feel my lips move when I spoke, I whispered, "And if I'm inclined towards romance tonight?"

She squirmed a bit and then froze at the sensations that were brought out. Answering in an equal whisper, she said, "Fine."

"And if I start ordering you around?"

"If it means we can get this over with, then please do."

I chuffed in amusement. "So eager. You'll need a safe word."

"I won't. I'm fully committed, like I said."

It became less believable every time she said it. "If you're fully committed, then it won't make a difference if you have a safe word. Can only be a positive, really."

"No! I won't use it; I don't need it."

I pulled back a little, somewhat alarmed by the vehemence. Maki wilted slightly, before turning to look at me pleadingly. "Sorry. But please don't insist, please."

"O-kay…I guess you did say you wanted to get nasty."

That brought a small smile to her otherwise crestfallen face. She returned to leaning her back against my chest, a bit more comfortable with doing so than before. Seduction really was a game of inches with Maki, no pun intended.

"It's not that. If I tell you something, will you promise we'll keep going?"

"Sure."

"Promise," she demanded. "And that you won't hold back either. In fact, I want you to promise that in exchange for me telling you about this very vulnerable, closely held secret, you will, in short, completely disregard your overly paternalistic fretting about the quality of my consent and proceed to ravish me like the beast we both know you are fully capable of being."

I had to repeat the request a few times in my head to parse it. "You know, Maki," I said slowly, "you might be the most uniquely neurotic woman I've ever met in my life."

"How rude. I haven't insulted you at all." I almost exclaimed in response, but her lips quirked up in a way that told me she was joking in her own, adorably annoying way.

"Oh my god, yes, fine. I promise."

She turned slightly to examine my face. "You promise to…"

I rolled my eyes. "I promise to leave you as a cum-covered mess regardless of whatever you are about to tell me."

"Ugh, don't be gross," she said. Then, at the sight of my mouth dropping, she gave me a genuine, girlish giggle that instantly won me over. "But, good. Anyway, I just thought that I really ought to tell you that I've never actually…well, I don't think I've ever had a real orgasm. At least, I don't think I have." She leaped to add, "I didn't think it mattered because you managed to bless me just fine at the restaurant, but the topic of a safe word made me worry. Everything I've read says it's a matter of psychological inhibitions, and I'm afraid that if you give me the rip cord to make us stop, I'll be in the wrong headspace to…well, you know."

"You have total anorgasmia?" I asked, shocked. I was of course familiar with the condition, it was fairly common among women on Alan's Earth, but I thought that surely, in this porn world, the gods would have been kinder to the fairer sex.

"N-not total." She turned bright crimson, more embarrassed than I'd seen her yet. "There was once, ah – do you remember those vibrating broomstick toys that were briefly popular when we were younger. I-I borrowed one at recess, we were playing make-believe and – oh Kami-Sama."

I couldn't help myself. "Ahahahaha! You're kidding. Oh no, Maki, don't tell me that was the last and only time."

She covered her face with her hands. "It was humiliating, and of course no one let me live it down either."

Taking her small wrist, I gently peeled her hand off her face and kissed the back of it. "You'll forget all about it after tonight, or rather, you definitely won't think of it as your first orgasm. Tonight will be your introduction to pleasure."

She frowned but loosened up a bit. "To be clear, I've had and enjoyed sex. It's about the intimacy of holding a woman close for me." I pulled her to me tighter, then laughed, as Maki blushed from my unspoken retort. "Ah, yes, I guess I'm hardly unique."

"I know exactly what you mean," I said, eyes twinkling, "but that's not what I'm talking about. This, on the other hand."

My thumb pressed into her palm and began to massage it in circles, while my other fingers began to idly play with hers, lacing them together, and stroking the backs of them softly. I slipped my Qi into her body and began to tease her meridians, sending a pleasant fire across her nervous endings, rolling for Aura + Erotic Sorcery, minus of course, all the Dice from the Injury penalty. It was still a respectable pool, however, and I was lucky enough to roll seven Successes.

Maki gave a sudden jerk, twisting in my grasp and gasping out loud. Her back arched, shoulders pushing against my upper chest for support, and I could see her nipples grow to diamonds under the cotton of my button-up.

As much as I wanted to revel in the sight, I had to work quickly to begin entangling the slowly rising tide of sexual energy from Maki. This was different from what I had captured at Tamaki Grill. That had been years-aged pent-up psychosexual frustration roaring out of her at last; this was a more physical pleasure, coaxed forth by me with deliberate intent.

Of course, I couldn't let her cum just yet. I needed to gather much more power to cast the stabilizing spell. It was a simple task, but the nature of my injuries required a great deal more energy. So instead, I kept the palm massage at a steady pace, allowing her to get her own bearings.

"Have – ah – we started?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yes."

"Good," she exhaled with relief, happy to finally be on with it. "What should I do?"

As much as I might have enjoyed watching her squirm helplessly, I knew this would be easier for her if she had some task to focus on. "You got me curious earlier. Tell me, how do you enjoy your sex with women?"

While speaking, I began to wrap my invisible force pythons around each of her thighs, pulsating and squeezing them rhythmically, while the other teased up and down her languidly and without a pattern. There was one fewer Die in the pool, but I got even luckier with eight Successes. I breathed a mental sigh of relief, these two rolls in combination would carry this interaction.

I was still badly hurt, and while I could push through it like any good action hero, it was affecting me. But these first two checks, while being purely mystical and thus not gaining the benefit of Hero's Harem, relied on my outrageous Aura. I had been counting on my raw power to brute force the problem.

Maki tossed her head back and whimpered. She took a breath to answer me, but it caught in her throat, and she was left momentarily gasping like a goldfish. But she was, as ever, a stubborn woman.

She grinned with a sort of bratty playfulness. "Fun-ny - mm! - you ask. I did think in the shower about how I'd go about showing you the advantages of a woman's body once you learned to shapeshift." She paused, looking up at me to examine my reaction, then pouted in disappointment.

Ha! Maki thought she could make me squeamish about sex? That was a gross over- and underestimation of our respective talents for degeneracy.

I stopped my palm massage; it was growing too hard to multitask both it and wrangling the growing erotic energy around us. Instead, I grabbed a meaty handful of her lower thigh and squeezed firmly, making her jump in my grasp. "Go on."

"Right. Well, f-first of ah!~ all, let's be honest, you would be incredibly easy to seduce as a woman."

"Hey! You practically had to defend a thesis to get me to agree to this!"

My other hand nimbly undid two of the center buttons of her shirt and slipped in. Palm resting on her diaphragm, I drummed my fingers up a bit, and then down, tantalizing her with the ultimate destination.

Her breath quickened, gaze flicking between the heavy hand on her thigh and the one playing mischief beneath her shirt. "All I'd have to do was ask if you wanted to learn a secret lesbian fingering technique, and you would fall over yourself to learn."

I scoffed. "As if I'd believe you would know any secret lesbian fingering techniques."

It was her turn. "Hey! I'll have you know I excel at finger play! I'd prove it if you were a woman."

I opened my mouth to rebut her but paused, and pursed my lips. "Damn it, that would work on me."

The small victory drew out a breathless giggle and helped level her out. She closed her eyes and continued her fantasy. "I'd slip in behind you on the couch, and draw you back in my arms, laying us both down so that you were resting on my chest. A little like this, except not on a hard concrete floor," she added without any real complaint. I got the feeling she knew as much as I did how our little, pointless disagreements could serve to calm her nerves.

I began to inch both my hands up, so that the top of one just barely grazed the underside of her breasts, and the other began to dip under the hem of her improvised shirtdress. She tried to shift herself in response – away or towards, I couldn't tell – but she was helplessly captured by my telekinetic limbs which continued to circle and tease her.

After a shuddering breath, she continued. "First, I'd run my hands through your hair and massage your scalp with my fingertips. Then would be your ears, then your neck, and then your shoulders, where I'd stay until you were putty in my arms."

She shivered a little at the conjured image. I jumped on that, eager to learn more about what made her tick. "Why?" I whispered into her ear, taking a moment to kiss the lobe.

"Why?"

"What about that do you enjoy, the teasing, the foreplay?"

"Ah." She considered it. "No, I think it's more that I want my lovers to feel safe. And when a woman relaxes herself completely while I'm holding her, then I know she trusts me completely, that she feels safe with me." She turned her head up and looked at me with curiosity. "What an interesting question. I hadn't ever thought about it before. Thank you."

"Do you feel safe now?"

Maki's smile was small and sweet and spoke volumes. She leaned up and gave me a quick peck on the lips. This 'medical procedure' of hers had certainly grown very intimate. "More than I've ever felt in my life."

Her body, as if to prove the statement, went totally limp and liquid, like a pleased cat, molding into me. Even as I moved my hand up to cup her breast, she remained just as still and relaxed, though I could sense through my Sorcery that she liked the sensation quite a lot. Funny – it was as if through conversation, we had talked her physiological responses into acquiescing.

"And when you were relaxed," she said, closing her eyes and finally allowing herself to do just that and enjoy the ride, "I would slip a hand underneath your shirt and bring it to your breasts. I also like to touch a girl when her shirt is still on. When it rides up and you can see her tummy flexing as you play with her – it's exquisite, no?"

My cock, now painfully hard and straining against my boxers, twitched in answer where it rested against her lower back. The feeling made her jump slightly and smile wide in triumph. Before she could get too full of herself, I began to work the soft flesh under my hands. I massaged her breasts gently, able to tell from how she bit her lip when I started that they were exceptionally sensitive. My other hand, now fully under the hem of her shirt, was more forceful in working her inner thigh. I circled her areola with my thumb, occasionally glancing against her hard nipple, but spared her sex even that.

She wet her lips, mouth hanging slightly open. I wondered if she could tell how close she was to her first real orgasm, or if she was so ignorant to her own pleasure that it would come as a surprise. With my Qi intermingled with hers and my magic working as fast as it could to gather the erotic power, I had no doubt that she was teetering on the little death. I could have forced it, a little touch of sorcery and a pinch of her nipple, and I could take her there, but I thought it better to let it happen naturally.

She continued narrating her fantasy, breathing much shorter and faster. "I'd play with your breasts first, to teach you their superiority to a man's chest. Their softness, their weight, their sensitive delicate skin, all working towards our mutual pleasure. Like you're doing now, but a bit harder." I obliged the indirect request, adding just a bit more force. "Ah! Yes! Like that, ex-exactly like that."

Her leg kicked out spontaneously and her thighs would have clamped down on my hand were it not for my force pythons. She lolled her head to the side, silent save for her heavy breaths.

After a moment, she continued, "When your breath was tight—"

"Like yours?"

Her lips quirked up. "Just like mine. And right before I slipped that first finger into you—"

"To teach me your secret lesbian fingering techniques," I interrupted with a smile.

She laughed. "Yes. Before that, just before, I'd tip your face up, so that I could see your beautiful, entrancing brown eyes." As she narrated, her neck craned up, though her eyes remained closed, fully enraptured by the scene in her mind. "Then I would kiss—"

I took the obvious hint and stole the rest of her words away, leaning down and kissing her deeply. Her mouth, already open in mid-sentence, welcomed my tongue with all the warmth and passion of a long-lost lover. I cursed the clatter of dice in my mind for interrupting this sweet moment between us. Still, the five Successes, after various bonuses and penalties, objectively enhanced the experience for her, so I forgave the system for now.

Maki, for her part, wasn't a great kisser, but I think my saliva was to blame. Once she had a proper taste, her tongue set about to lapping at mine, and her lips to slurping up what she could. It was a messy, nasty kiss that caused a huge spike in the erotic energy flowing out of her.

I followed her directions, slipping my middle finger into her sopping-wet sex and curling it upwards to stroke the top of her walls, my thumb pushing down on her clit. The fingers molesting her breasts pinched and tugged at a nipple, following her nonverbal cues.

Together, the sudden sensations sparked an explosion within her. Her muscles tensed as one, before she started to buck in my arms, limbs trembling, head tossing back and forth, whipping me with slightly damp hair.

I would have loved to watch it happen, but I had eyes only for the vast amount of erotic energy she released. My Qi vacuumed it from the air around us and pulled it into me through her skin, molding and working it in my dantian towards the purpose of healing me.

Thankfully, stabilizing bleeding was as simple as a Medicine roll could be. My only real worry had been that it would require multiple spells since I wasn't sure how much Maki had in her – it had been a long night for both of us. But the dice gods smiled on me and a lucky critical let me hit the eight Successes I needed to stabilize it all in one go. My wounds began to itch as they started to scab and coagulate. I was still terribly injured, but at least I could close my eyes for the night without worrying about dying in my sleep.

[Hidden Quest Complete!]

Survive a Hunt with only 1 Health remaining.

Reward: 10XP, +1 Endurance, Gain Minor feat Down to the Wire

[Ally Quest Complete!]

Give Maki her first real orgasm.

Reward: 30XP, +1 Wits, +2 Insight

[Minor Feat] Down to the Wire

When you have only one unmarked Health box, you may ignore all penalties to your rolls.