"Mmph… Mmph… Mmph."
An electric jolt ripped up my spine, knocking aside every vertebra in its way to set the pleasure center of my brain alight. My thoughts raced behind my eyelids, bouncing off the walls of my mind in a blind panic-fueled heat and confusion that the mind could not parse when half asleep. It was as stimulant a thousand times more potent than a cup of coffee and yet, I couldn't immediately tell wear it was coming from.
"Mmph… Mmph… Mmph."
Forced back to consciousness by the sun pouring down on me through the window, somehow the first thing I'd noticed was that Mana was still beside me in bed, slumbering away. It was the steady rise and fall of her chest that made me realize I had at some point started groping her tiny breast again.
"Mmph… Mmph… Mmph."
But the slick, warm sensations assaulting my lower half stole away with my attention. Groggy, but mostly alert, I sat up on my elbows to find that Yua's spot on my right side was empty. However, she was not gone. She simply tossed our half of the blanket off onto Mana and migrated between my legs.
Bent over, I could see her own sizeable breasts slowly rocking back and forth through the extended collar of her nightgown each time she lowered her face over my hips. After a night of sound slumber, her nightgown had become a little loose on her, offering the occasional quick glance at the pink buds that were normally just out of sight.
It was like waking from a dream, only to fall right back into another.
Seeing that she'd roused me, she smiled, her luscious, peachy lips wrapped tight around my enraged morning wood. Her ears gave a flick, as if to say she'd done her duty waking me this morning, but she lowered her head again regardless. Shocked speechless by the experience and by pleasure, I could say nothing as I watched my cock slowly disappear behind her lips.
"Mmph… Mmph… Mmph."
My eyes rolled back as her tongue assaulted me. I almost fell back into the pillow, almost ready to give in to this dream-like situation and let her have her way without question when…
"Mmn…"
Mana cooed in my arms. Her eyes didn't open and her small slumbering smile didn't waver. She was still perfectly asleep. I realized that I'd accidentally squeezed her breast to combat the pleasure.
Yua's emerald eyes noticed this, but the casual flick of her tail was all that she needed to get the message across. Despite her loving service, she did not mind where my hand was. Instead, her delicate fingers cupped themselves around my package and slowly fondled away.
"W-wait, Yua," I whispered, my voice wavering. "What about Mana?"
The whole reason we held back last night was for her sake. Yua knew that, but for her to jump on me first thing in the morning…
"Mmph… Mwah!"
With a wet, smiling pop, she slipped my cock out of her mouth. Looking upon it as though its shining rigidity were some great accomplishment, she let out a small laugh.
"Hehe. It's fine. Knowing her, she'll sleep right through this as long as you keep your voice down," she said, then pressed her tongue hard against my shaft before dragging it up, as if testing me. I failed. "Besides, I did promise to practice this every morning, remember? Mmph…"
Before I could respond, she drew me back into her mouth and her heat enveloped me.
"…! But you didn't do it yesterday."
"Hmmph?" she hummed, her tongue vibrating against me. "Mmph… But I did. I woke up, licked your penis, then went to wake Daddy. Meeting my people must have just exhausted you so much that you didn't wake up. Oh, but don't worry. I swallowed your semens like you asked me to. Mmph…"
"That's hardly the issue here… Fuck."
The saliva she left dripping down my shaft caught the breeze carried by her voice and I shuddered with every syllable. And then she took me again without any sort of warning.
I couldn't tell which was worse, the feeling of an approaching orgasm I'd missed most of the build up to, or the fact that my first wakeup blowjob had gone entirely unnoticed. I could almost reprimand myself for missing such an important show of affection from her, but my attention was mislead by the sight of her head bobbing so enthusiastically. Never in a thousand years did I think she was being serious when she made that flirty offer.
She said she was practicing, but I didn't need to be any sort of beast-kin to know that that wasn't entirely true. The coquettish quirk in her lips may have been leaking with saliva and precum, but I could tell she was enjoying the fact that she was bringing me a great deal of pleasure. It was the will of the cat-kin to make sure their mates were left satisfied and I'll be damned if she wasn't doing just that.
But, Goddess, she didn't need to practice at all. It was only her third time doing this for me and, while she still couldn't take more than half my cock at a time, the way she moved her tongue was enough for my braincells to begin an emergency shut down in protest of the flood of pleasure.
Her ears flicked the same time her tongue lapped around my lower head. I shuddered, clenched my hips and reflexively squeezed Mana's breast again. And seeing this, it almost looked like Yua smirked.
I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was using her ears the same way I used my perfect memory. Where I searched and memorized the places that made her squirm with unrefined ecstasy in bed, she was dutifully listening to the palpitations of my heart to probe for better ways to assault me.
And the fact that I had to keep my voice down was torture. It was all I could do to mutter a quiet apology for asking her to hold back last night. Damn near every night without fail, we'd embraced each other. She must have become just as accustomed to it as I had. And I'd left her wanting.
"Mmph… Mmph…Mmph…!"
Just when I'd surrendered to her tongue and released the flood gates she worked so diligently to weaken, Yua's eyes darted to Mana as her cheeks began to fill with an explosion of one-sided lust.
"Mmn… Big Bro, stop squeezing my booby so hard."
Sitting up, but not bothering to remove my hand from her chest as the blanket fell away from her nude body, Mana rubbed at her eye. With an unladylike disregard for appearances, she through her head back and yawned loudly. Then her ears flicked.
"Hmm?"
Still sleepy, maybe even actually still half-asleep, Mana turned her big blue eyes to Yua. Yua gulped. Then gulped again, and then again, a third time and yet her cheeks still remained filled. Weak as she made me, my hand fell from Mana finally just in time for her to tilt her head at me.
"Big Bro, why is she eating your manhood again?"
Of course, I knew we didn't really need to hold back due to her sensibilities, or lack thereof, but she just woke up to find the climax of Yua blowing me and she didn't look remotely bothered. Hell, even Yua was greedily gulping down the fruit of her effort just to answer her.
"Mmph… Haaa… Haaa… I told you before, I'm not eating it. I'm licking it. It makes him feel good."
"Eh? Oh yea… Mm. Big Bro," Mana rubbed her eyes again. "Human beds are so comfy. Do you have one where you live with Big Sis?"
Barely able to finish her question, Mana threw a leg over my hips and fell forwards onto me a hug, nuzzling her cheek into my bare chest. Unbothered by the fact that she was suddenly faced with the sight of Mana's swaying tail as well as her bare pussy, Yua wiped her chin and started drying my monster off with a handkerchief she'd found in her backpack. Smiling warmly, she didn't look at all upset for the interruption.
My eye twitched at her every sensitive touch, but I distracted myself by patting Mana's head. My first night in a real bed after a month of sleeping on only hard surfaces had me feeling extra energized. And seeing Mana so cutely snuggled up to me, looking ready to fall asleep again, I resolved to make time to track down a proper bed for us all.
After Yua's lewd wakeup call ended and after bribing Mana with a breakfast of her choosing just to get her to put some clothes on, we all got straight to work feeling refreshed and energetic.
It took some time, but after asking around a bit, we found the Duke's place. A lone mansion stretched out in front of us, one larger than any I'd seen in Amoranth. The only one in the city, it almost looked like it'd eaten the homes of all the other nobility in the area and swelled with their size, but it was still almost perfectly inviting. Almost.
Were it not for the ten-foot wall of brick and steel that stretched around it and the armed guards patrolling the gate, it might have looked like a popular tourist destination.
"Halt!"
One such guard quickly spotted us walking down the road and hurried over. Clad head to toe in armor that was so overly polished that the glare reflecting off it was blinding, he had to lift his helm's visor to look at us. He didn't seem to like what he saw.
"You are trespassing on Duke Callahan's property. State your business or leave."
Trespassing? Why even give me a chance to speak if you think I'm trespassing?
Seemingly just as confused, the other guard manning the gate palmed his forehead and sighed. I guess this one was new?
"Excuse me, Sirs," I said politely after the warning I got from Yua yesterday. "If possible, we'd like to speak with the Duke. We don't have an appointment, but it's really important that…"
"Denied. Now leave."
"Please wait, Sir," I said. "We've come to warn the Duke that a group of thieves have been spotted in the forest near here."
"Then you should take this to the Captain of the Guard, not the Duke. Duke Callahan is too busy to worry about such trifles."
"… Then could you tell me where I can find the Captain?"
"In the mansion," he said flatly, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "And he's busy speaking with the Duke, so don't bother him."
"But…"
"I said the Duke doesn't have the time to be bothered by a couple of peasants. Ship off or I'll have to put you in irons."
I knew it'd be hard to get an audience with the Duke without making some sort of request, but why's this guy got such a huge stick up his ass? Is this what it means to be a guard for the nobility? You have to act like an unmovable dick every time someone steps up to your post?
No. The men guarding the city gates weren't this abrasive, and they actively thought Yua and Mana were up to no good. I mean, even the other guard is shaking his head!
"Um…"
Stepping up beside me, Mana craned her neck to look up at the man. With a sneer, he turned his attention to her and his eyes widened. Mana, seemingly unawares of the guard's attitude, tilted her head cutely to the side, her long black hair spilling down from her hood. Her big blue eyes were locked dead on his and he went still, suddenly gripping his spear for support. Nearly falling anyways, he was transfixed.
"Why can't we meet your Chief?"
"O-Our chief?" the guard stammered, the cheeks of his helm steaming. He coughed into his fist. "The Duke is making plans to meet with a very important nobleman from another country. He does not have the time to meet with anyone else today, regardless of appointment."
"You mean Lord Argento, right?" I continued, piggy-backing off Mana's cuteness. "That's why we wanted to warn the Duke. The thieves are working with him."
"What? Utter nonsense. Why would…"
"Hold it." The other guard, whose armor was much less shiny, stepped up an shoved the other back. "I am Sergeant Nilhorn. Charle here is new and, clearly, he doesn't understand how to greet the Duke's guests. Here I thought you'd learned your lesson yesterday."
"M-My apologies, Sergeant!"
For some reason, Charle's knees started knocking together in a violent tremble. Sergeant Nilhorn sighed at the sight, but couldn't quite stop the slight tremble in his own knees from showing when it made his armor clank and creak.
"Do please excuse his rudeness."
"Sir, he's the one disrespecting the Duke, showing up unannounced."
"Oh, quit trying to cozy up to the Duke already," Nilhorn said over his shoulder. "Your family made off like bandits when he married your cousin. You're ingratiated enough. Now be quiet."
"… M-My apologies, sir."
Wow. Must have hit the nail on the head there. He didn't even try to deny it.
"Now," Nilhorn turned back to me. "What's this about thieves?"
"My name is Alex, an Adventurer from Amoranth. These two are Yua and Mana. I was hired by their people to investigate a disturbance in the forest. That's how we found out about the thieves. We came to warn the Duke that we overheard them speaking about a partnership with Lord Argento."
He nodded with a quizzical arch to his brow, but he didn't look anywhere near as concerned as I thought he'd be.
"And why, pray tell, have you come to the Duke with this information? Why not the captain of the guard, as my companion suggested?"
"Because we also heard them mention a meeting between the Duke and Lord Argento."
I couldn't exactly tell them we were technically working with one of the thieves, but I was happy to see that this sparked some genuine shock in the man. His eyes widened and he looked to Charle, who shook his head violently. However, he then put his hand on the hilt of his sword, his entire body tensing to draw it if the need arose.
"Only a select few in this city know about Lord Argento's visit or about that meeting. I only know because I received the Lord's messenger a few days ago. How exactly do you know about it?"
"Like I said, we overheard the thieves talking," I said, gesturing to Yua. She kindly took the hint and lowered her hood. Noticing her pointed ears, Sergeant Nilhorn eased up a bit.
"I see… Alex, right? If your friend here heard all that, what else did she hear?"
Showing that indominable warrior's spirit, Yua didn't so much as flinch when the conversation turned to her.
"They are stealing cart-fulls of Essence Crystals from my people."
"C-Cart-fulls? Of Essence Crystals? How could your people possibly buy that many?"
"We found a mine full of them in the forest," she said. Apparently, she'd judged that neither of the helmeted men were beast-kin that could tell she was lying through her teeth. "They were trying to sell them to Lord Argento, but the shipment was delayed."
"Cart-fulls… Wait, why was the shipment delayed?"
"We don't know that part," I said. "But we know this because we heard one of the thieves speaking with Sir Astore down by the docks."
"By the gods…"
Hearing that man's name, Nilhorn stumbled back a step before catching himself. It looked like he received a heavy blow to the gut, but I was pretty sure Yua didn't hit him. And, cute as Mana is, I doubted her face was the culprit.
"What's so worrying about him?"
"You don't know? Sir Astore's a master duelist. For the last ten years, he's remained undefeated in Dragma's annual sword-fighting competition. And he's a former commander in Dragma's imperial army. It's said that, when once his troops were routed in battle, he alone stayed behind to face several hundreds of soldiers so his men could retreat. That day, not only did he return mostly unharmed, but he single-handedly cut down over a hundred men and continued to swing his sword until the his enemies fled from him in terror. Stories of his prowess in battle have made it to every kingdom on the continent."
Fantastic. I knew he was a higher level, but if any of that was true, he must be incredibly skilled. And if true, Nilhorn's worry made sense. If things here turned violent, he'd be one of the ones forced to fight that man.
"Why is he working for a guy like Lord Argento then? If he's so powerful, shouldn't he be glued to the Emperor's hip?"
"How the hell should I know? But if he is, and what you say is true… I need to warn the Duke."
"That's what we're here for. If you would just…"
"No," he said, composing himself. "The Duke is busy. We are under strict order to allow no one to pass. Rest assured, though, that I will relay everything you've told me here today, but your part in this is done."
Sergeant Nilhorn headed past his befuddled companion for the gate.
"Wait. About the thieves. There's at least twelve of them, maybe more. And their leader is a dwarf named Tillmann. Have you heard of him?"
"Can't say that I have, but thanks for the warning. You go on and head home. Once the Duke hears about this, he will want to gather a subjugation force to deal with them after the meeting. If you want to be a part of it, wait by your local guild. Until then, speak of this to no one," he said, then added to Charle, "That goes for you too."
"Wait, what do you mean after the meeting? They're out there right now and they're working with Lord Argento."
"I agree that it's worrying, but it's not up to me. Regardless of the circumstances, this meeting must happen."
The trade negotiations, right? Arthur mentioned as much, but is it really that big a deal? Better yet, does it matter? The Lord might be offering to make a deal, but it could all be a ruse, an excuse to be there to smuggle the crystals onto his boat. Surely, they have to see that.
Without leaving room for further debate, Sergeant Nilhorn slipped through the gate and locked it behind him. For what it was worth, he did take off running towards the mansion. At least he took this seriously.
Charle stared at us, some of the wall-like façade he wore before returning to him. Yua pulled her hood back on and we reluctantly made our exit.
"Well, that didn't go exactly like I thought it would," I said, falling back into our bed at the inn. "Least we got the message across."
Can't really say I thought the Duke would rally his troops the moment we spoke to him, but I was hoping he'd do something. If he's planning on requesting aid from the Adventurer's Guild in Amoranth, then we can't really expect help anytime soon.
"And now that the Duke knows that Lord Argento might be playing him, he might be extra cautious in sending his own men to handle the thieves."
For all the good it would do, I couldn't exactly warn him that Tillmann's level was actually higher than Sir Astore's without explaining how I knew. If he thinks Sir Astore poses a greater threat, then he'll keep his men here to defend the city should something happen, meaning Tillmann is free to do as he pleases.
At least the thieves don't seem to be outwardly violent, preferring to keep to themselves inside that barrier.
"Alex," Yua started, pensively clenching her cloak. "I know you wanted to do this yourself, but I really think we need to warn Daddy. Tillmann's one thing, but if that Sir Astore picks a fight, then…"
"… You may be right."
An over-leveled dwarf is one thing, but if some famous knight from another country gets involved, we won't have a choice but to ask for his help. Relying on the Duke to convince Lord Argento to give up his ambitions would be stupid. And that's assuming he even meant to try. He might still only think of the meeting in terms of trade negotiations, except, maybe he'll choose his words a little more cautiously to not provoke Sir Astore's blade.
"Yua, go back to the village and tell your father everything. Tell him everything we learned about the thieves, the barrier, the crystals, about Tillmann, Sir Astore and Lord Argento. Leave nothing out."
"Okay, but aren't you coming with me?"
"I'd love to, but…"
I don't think my heart's ready to return to that nudist haven just yet. Besides…
"If I go, Mochi's just going to try and pin me down and demand I send Mana home. And obviously Mana doesn't want to go back yet, either. Right?"
"Yup!"
With a huge grin that seemed pleased I remembered, Mana jumped onto the bed to sit beside me. Locking her arms around mine, she might as well have chained the both of us to Guerraway.
Yua's shoulders and tail slumped, but she ultimately nodded.
"Mochi's definitely going to try that with me, too. But maybe I can get Daddy to keep him off me. Although, it might at least ease his mind if I tell him you made it safely to us."
"Yup! Thank you, Big Sis. I know I upset Daddy, but I don't regret it. Oh! Don't tell him I said that. Just, um, tell him I'm sorry. And let him know that Big Bro is keeping me safe. And that the human food here is tasty."
"And?"
"And? And what?"
Staring down at the smaller cat girl, Yua crossed her arms and waited. The expectant arch to her brow proved useless, though, as Mana didn't seem to get what she meant. And frankly, neither did I.
"Ugh… Don't you want him to know that Alex hasn't bled you yet? He must be worried sick about that."
"Oh, uh, yea. That too, please."
Her tail swishing happily, Mana didn't look remotely embarrassed to have that subject brought up. And with her father, no less.
Still, that was the second reason why I didn't want to go. I couldn't say with any level of certainty that he wouldn't attack me on sight. And with how I woke up this morning, I can't say I wouldn't deserve it. Last time was accidental, but I'd noticed this time and didn't stop myself. Can't exactly tell him my lower brain was having the time of its life while I was groping his daughter.
Sighing no doubt for the headache to come, Yua slipped off her cloak and folded it neatly into her bag. Then, reaching for the buttons of her blouse, she froze, her tail nearly going stiff with unease. Biting her lip, she slowly turned to me.
"A-Alex, I know you won't be there, but…"
"It's fine, Yua," I said, knowing what she wanted to ask. "You don't need to ask anymore. As long as it's your village we're talking about visiting, you don't have to worry about clothes. In fact, in your village and only in your village, feel free to live as one of your people."
I've met her people and am fully aware they won't look at her in a sexual light purely because she has a mate, me. Their ways are too strict in that regard and the constant nudity surrounding them means they wouldn't even give her a second glance. Least, not in that way.
Experience says there's no point in worrying. I was fine with this. And I've been away from them long enough to say I was thinking clearly on the matter.
"Yes! Thank you!"
Dashing across the room, Yua nearly tackled me into the bed. Her thanks came in the form of a dozen or so kisses placed wherever her lips found me. Pulling back, I saw that there were the beginnings of tears in her eyes as she hurriedly unbuttoned and threw off her blouse.
Did she think I was only going to allow it the one time? After seeing how much it meant to her, I don't think I could ever reject the idea of given her the freedom she so craved. At least, not unless I knew non-cat-kin were going to be there to ogle her.
Hurrying as though she thought I was going to change my mind, Yua pulled off her panties and crammed all her things into her bag, this time without stopping to fold any of it.
"That means I don't have to wear clothes too, right?" Mana said, hitting me with a sneak attack of her puppy dog pout. I had to clench my jaw to withstand it.
"Obviously. I'm not going to let her do it and not you."
Mana's hands flew to her cloak, but I stopped her with a pat on the head.
"Hey!"
"I meant when you visit the village. Here you still have to wear them. Besides, you and I still have things to do."
"Eh? Really? I thought we were just gonna wait for Big Sis to come back. I wanted to lay on the bed for a while."
I blinked at her. They said she was lazy, but even at a time like this?
"You and I are going to go talk to some people. That's all."
There was no help in the fact that Yua would need time to share what she learned and instead of lazing about, we were going to try and help in our own way.
If Tillmann thought spreading rumors about the cat-kin would keep people out of the forest, then spreading our own rumors about a bunch of thieves doing wicked things in the forest ought to rile up the people into demanding action. In theory, anyways.
Maybe I'll throw in a "oh, woe is me, they're kidnapping people to force them into helping their crimes," too. Might as well ruin their reputation the way they did the cat-kin's.
"U-Um, Alex," Yua said, standing before the both of us in her birthday suit. Her tail was practically whipping up a storm in anticipation. "Can you, um, the portal?"
I laughed, knowing that I probably shouldn't. The final reason why I was sending her alone was because she was the one that wanted to go the most. She pretended to be calm when we left yesterday, but I knew she was hiding her desire to stay longer for my sake.
So, I cast Dimensional Step and threw open a portal connecting to the spot by the river near the village, thinking it might be free of any Mochis trying to reach through and strangle me. She waited as impatiently as I'd ever seen her for the blue lights to swirl into place.
"Thank you!"
"And Yua."
She whipped around to me, wearing a smile like a child waiting in line for a rollercoaster. She dashed back, planted one more kiss on my lips and rushed to the portal.
"Try not to start too many fights."
"I won't!"
"I'll teleport you back in a couple of hours. Watch for the portal in the same spot!"
With that, Yua jumped through the portal and into the section of forest miles away from where I sat. I let the lights fizzle out as soon as she was through and Mana and I sat in silence for a moment. But only for a moment.
"… She's going to fight everyone she meets, isn't she?"
"Yup, definitely. Big Sis is just like that."
Nothing to be done about that. At least she wouldn't come back to me in a bunch of broken pieces with all those Monks living there. I should be more concerned with what might happen should Mochi try to follow her back through.
I stood and offered Mana a hand to get us started. But she didn't take it. Thinking she was just pouting about the clothes thing or second guessing her wish to stay, I leaned over to look at her.
Her eyes were wide and full of hate as she stared at the bedroom door. She stood, then immediately lowered into a crouch as her fingernails extended into claws. Ready to pounce at the slightest provocation, her ears gave a sharp flick, signaling the approach of something a human like me couldn't even guess at.
"Mana, what is it? Who's there?"
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound of someone rapping their knuckles on the bedroom door resounded across the room. It was such a dainty set of thuds that I knew it had to be a woman.
Did that cyclops innkeeper somehow notice the girls? Yua made sure we were alone before we teleported into or out of the room. And the window's closed, so the sound-proofing enchantment is still in effect. Nobody should know they're here with me. Or did someone notice we spilled the beans to the Duke? Did they follow us?
I grabbed the hilt of my sword and started to draw.
Maybe I should call Yua back. She can't have run too far in such a short amount of time.
"Who is it? Can you tell?"
"The evil ones."
"You mean the thieves?"
She shook her head, growling like a rabid animal. Then…
"Grrr... Hmm?"
A wave of curiosity suddenly hit her. She shook her head sharply and sniffed the air a couple times, then stood again. Now looking completely and utterly relaxed, she hid her claws and sprawled out on the bed, once more in a very unladylike fashion.
Did I just hallucinate the sheer menace she was exuding a second ago? Did seeing the true beauty of Yua's naked form break my brain?
"Um, Mana, what happened?"
"It's okay," she said, hanging her feet off the bed to kick them. "It's not Booby-Lady. I thought it was, but it's not."
Confused, but confident in her calm, I unlocked the door and opened it. There, waiting in the hall, hand raised to knock again, was a dog-eared girl. Complete with frilled white-on-black dress. The only things openly dangerous about her were the bustline and cleavage that her tight maid dress accentuated.
Hiding her surprise, Erika took a short step back and bowed. Her floppy dog ears dangled loosely over her short black hair.
"Good afternoon, Sir Alex. Please pardon my intrusion, but my mistress wishes to speak with you. Alone."