Arcanum - Of Steamwork and Magic Ch. 09

I nodded. "But with the king dead..."

"Torren had a daughter, the elder, whose husband was the only Dragon Knight to return from the field of battle alive and with his honor intact. He brought his father in law's body home, despite his wounds, and was considered a great hero. His wife, the princess, had learned from the war and from her father's death. But Torren also had a son, the younger child. He...believed in nothing."

I frowned. Maxine's voice had become grim. "And the mages heard what the daughter said -- about how Cumbria needed to look forward, not backwards. To use magic and science. And they saw the Duma circling about, ready to declare the heroic husband the King and the princess the Queen. And so, quietly, they took the Princess' mind and body and when she once more had control of herself, her husband was dead, and the knife was in her hand." Her eyes glinted with unshed tears.

"Maxine..." I whispered. "You're...Princess Maxine Torren!?"

She looked at me, then shrugged. "Please," she said, her voice raw. "Call me Max."

I took her hand. Quietly, I said: "I have a ship. Once I find it, once they know I am not dead, they can take you off this island. We can clear your name, we-"

She shook her head. But she did not draw her hand back. Instead, she simply looked into my eyes. "No, Rayburn," she said, quietly. "It's too late for me."

"It's never too late, Max," I said, my voice firm.

Max looked down at my green hand. Her finger traced along my knuckles and she pursed her lips ever so slightly. Slowly, she smiled. "Well...there was an old friend of mine. The former captain of the Dragon Knights, retired before the war. Warren Pel Dar. He knew my husband, and he was loyal to me. If maybe...if he's still alive, if you can get into contact with him..."

"I swear it," I said, squeezing her hand.

Maxine smiled at me. Her wrinkles did not detract from her beauty -- others might have called her handsome. But I detested such fripperies. She was beautiful, and that was the end of it. I leaned across the table and kissed her, with confidence. My tongue plunged into her mouth and Maxine froze, her eyes widening. She had clearly never expected to be looked at with passion again -- but there was passion in my touch. I caressed her cheek, my thumb caressed her ear, and she drew her mouth back a moment later, making a quiet gasp -- somewhere between a plea and a sound of negation. "Nnh, w-what are you doing?"

I smiled. "I thought you knew about rumpled sheets, Maxine," I said, quietly.

"I am a Princess," she hissed, sounding a mix between affronted and terrified. "And...old enough to be your mother. And...human."

I smiled. "I thought you were just Max."

Her cheeks flushed. Hard. She looked aside. "As if you really want to lay a shriveled up old prune like me..." She whispered.

I stood, my chair rasping on the ground behind me. I prowled around the table, took a hold of her chin, then leaned down. If before my kiss had been passionate, now it was close to incandescent. My tongue plundered her mouth and Maxine responded, her hands grabbing the base of my neck. She had all the strength of her long time in the wilderness, despite her age, and she held me close, using me as a brace to draw herself to her feet. She pressed herself against me, moaning into my mouth. I broke the kiss, and she panted heavily.

"I haven't done this in quite a long time, Ray..." She whispered.

I smiled. "I'll be gentle."

She was silent for a moment. Then, quietly, she growled. "I don't think I need gentle right now."

Her hands went to the collar of her leather outfit and her fingers tugged the bindings loose. The leather outfit began to slough off of her like the shed skin of a snake, and Maxine squirmed, trying to cover herself with her arms while still stripping. I took hold of her wrists, lifting them above her head, pinning her to the wall. Her breasts had quite a sag to them. Her belly had stretch marks. She had scars and patterns of abuse across her body, from bites, burns, claw marks. Her body had traveled a long, hard road, and it showed it in every inch of her frame. The silver of her public hair did not conceal the glinting arousal between her thighs.

Quietly, I whispered. "Beautiful."

I pushed her onto her bed. Maxine surrendered with an eager groan, her legs falling open as I crawled onto the bed. Carved from local wood, with fur blankets and thick padding made from some kind of vegetation, the bed was comfortable enough indeed. My palms glided along her thighs, cupped her knees. I lifted her up and she spread her legs with the same wanton eagerness as Cynthia had -- but she bit down on her knuckles to keep from moaning.

It wouldn't be proper for a princess.

My tongue lashed along her sex -- mercilessly. My nose rubbed against her clit as I buried my face between her muscular thighs, breathing in the thick musk of her unwashed body and her soaked pussy. My eyes closed as I focused myself entirely on pleasuring her sex with naught but my tongue, my lips, the tiny, blunt tips of my smallish tusks. I licked and sucked, seeking what caused her to muffle herself with more and more force. What had started as nibbling on her knuckle became clapping her hand to her mouth, but even that was not enough to keep the moans from filling the cabin as my tongue slid into her sex and crooked up, finding her G-spot and rubbing it furiously. Her back arched like a cat in heat and her hand slapped out, grabbing onto the edge of the bed to keep herself rooted as she screamed.

"Rayburn!"

Her juices flooded my mouth and I drank her down, my eyes closed tight. As I drank and drank, Max gasped and continued to twitch, her whole body quivering as she sprawled on the bed. Her knees slowly sagged and I let her thighs settle to either side of me, sitting up. She gasped, and her eyes -- her beautiful, gray-green eyes -- glinted as she looked at the ceiling. Her silvery hair sprawled around her head like a halo, fanning outwards underneath her as she panted, clearly trying to still her racing heart.

I smiled, then started to strip. As I strip, I saw her eyes attain the same focus as a finely crafted telescopic sight. They glued to my still bandaged chest, even as I felt small aches twinge to life throughout my body. I wasn't fully healed yet. I grinned down at her, my voice soft. "Like what you see?"

She bit her lower lip. "I shouldn't..." she admitted. "You're..."

"A bestial, mongrel mut?" I murmured.

Mutely, Max nodded. Her cheeks were brilliant red and she squirmed as I grinned down at her. I watched her desire mounting, even as I started to undo my pants, sliding my rope belt off, then casually shucking the leggings. Her eyes widened and she drew in a sharp, short gasp as my member sprang free, slapping against my belly.

"Gods," she whispered.

"You like my big half-orcish cock, don't you?" I murmured. "A horny princess, desperate to ride greenback."

She turned her head aside, unable to look at me. "I..." she gulped. "Yes." Then, quietly. "Rayburn, I...my back hurts. And my hips. I don't think-"

"Shh," I said. "I think I know what position to take."

Max watched me, her eyes widening as I laid beside her. I glided up behind her, as if we were spoons in a cupboard. There, my hand glided along her belly to her breast, fondling her gently from behind. Her nipple was hard as a rock, and as I teased her, my cock slid between her thighs. She started to lift one leg, but I whispered. "No, no, it's okay..." I breathed. I started to thrust against her -- moving my hips in slow, gentle movements. I let her grind against my cock, her sex rubbing along every single inch. Maxine let out a keening, mewling noise. Her eyes closed and she shuddered, clenching her thighs tighter, which added an even more delicious edge to the sensation of grinding against her sex. Her voice became higher and higher pitched as she panted and gasped. Then, desperately, she let out a whine: "Rayyyy!"

"Yes, Princess?" I whispered.

She whispered something. Something so soft that I couldn't hear it -- but I knew what she was saying.

My teeth nipped at her ear, my hand sliding underneath her knee. Cupping her.

"What was that?"

"Fuck me..." She whispered.

"Louder..." I purred, thrusting faster and faster, grinding more and more. Her voice was being drawn as taut as a violin string, and my cock was the bow -- creating the music of her pleasure.

"Fuck me!" She begged. "Please, gods!"

I lifted her leg just enough to allow me to draw back, press my cock to her desperately soaked pussy...and then I slid into her. I thrust deep and my cock bumped against the depths of her body, bringing out a wail of pure bliss. The vast jungle around the hut was nearly silent compared to the sound of Maxine as years of courtly decorum and hermitish reserve was torn away in a single plunging thrust. My balls slapped her ass and I thrust my hips in a steady, fierce pattern, feeling her breast jiggle against my hand as I stroked her chest, panting in her ear.

"You like that?" I purred.

"Yes, god, yes, yes, yes!" She whispered.

"You like fucking orc cock?" I groaned.

Max shuddered in bliss, her sex tightening on my cock. "Oh gods!" She closed her eyes, turning her head to mash it into her pillow, muffling herself more. "Ray! Ray! Ray!"

I was too keyed up. I couldn't possibly keep this up more, not after that long tease, not after that delicious feast. I thrust home once more, lifting her leg just a bit more to give me even more of an angle. I felt the entrance to her womb accepting the tip of my cock and I emptied myself into her. Spurt after spurt after spurt of cum filled her and Max let out a long, delirious groan. Her eyes fluttered open and I could see the whites as she nearly passed out in pleasure.

Then...

She went limp. Her eyes were closed. She breathed slowly.

I did not draw out of her.

I simply held her.

***

In the morning, Maxine stood and walked with a slight stoop -- which provoked quite the smile from her. She escorted me out of her hut, giving me some more supplies. She kissed my cheek, and I caressed her cheek back.

"The woman's camp is on the eastern edge of the island," she said, quietly. "Near a small harbor. You can't miss it if you keep going that way." She threw her arm out. "Make sure the moss is growing on the side away from your direction. That means you're still going west. If you reach the beach, you can travel along it until you find the harbor and them."

I nodded, then smiled as I reached into my belt, drawing out a small bandanna. I tugged it around my head, then nodded to Maxine.

"How do I look?" I asked.

"Ah, Cynthia told you about the signal, then," Maxine said, nodding. "This should give you a fifty fifty shot."

I frowned. "Only fifty fifty?"

Maxine slapped my rump, like I was some comely young thing she had seduced. Which...in a way, she was. Her grin was bleak. Her teeth were still white -- which did raise questions as to how she had managed dental hygiene out here. But her voice was serious. "They lay traps. So be careful."

I bowed. "I will, my lady."

"Max!" she shouted as I started to jog off. "Call me Max."

I grinned, then waved over my shoulder. "I'll return Max! I promise you this!"

I started off, heading for the east. The next few hours passed in a confident, brisk mood. I felt good about myself -- having given some much needed pleasure to a fine woman, and to have hope that a kingdom that had fallen far might become great again. And if the queen of that kingdom might have a better attitude towards those with green skin...well. Then. That was that. I nodded to myself, even as I made my way through the thicker jungle, making good time. But as I heard the distant sound of the surf, and as the smell of the sea became closer and closer, my confident mood faded and I started to slow.

I took things carefully then, to ensure I would not fall into one of those aforementioned traps. But I had not yet seen a single sign of a footprint, or any other hint of civilization. My sharp hearing and my sensitive nose did not detect any humanoid signals. No sounds of conversation. No smell of a cook fire. That only heightened my foreboding sense as I walked, and I was tempted to draw my pistol...but no. A white flag meant little when paired with a gun.

I was checking the trees ahead of me to make sure I did not step underneath any snare traps when the ground beneath my feet suddenly gave way -- leaves cascading off one another, creating a hissing rasping noise that nearly drowned out my cry of 'oh fucking damn it!'

The only good thing that came of the pit trap was that it was not filled with spikes. Instead, my feet simply hit the ground and my knees bent and I fell to my side, groaning as I checked my legs. Nothing felt broken, but one of my ankles felt as if it had been twisted nastily. I sat up, looking around to see how high the pit was...and ugh. Not only was it quite deep, but the edges were sheer and smooth. It was a well made trap. I grabbed onto the wall, trying to drag myself up -- but the wall gave way, providing no purchase.

"Bloody hell," I muttered.

And then the figures appeared around the pit.

Looming around it, they looked down at me. I saw the slender, pale form of an elven woman. A muscular, green skinned half-orcess. Two humans. All were dressed in crude leathers and metal plate, and all held bows. The bows looked well made, recursive kinds, and they had stone tipped arrows knocked to them. They looked down at me. I leaned against the wall of the pit, smiling.

"The tribe of warrior women, I presume?" I asked.

A moment later, I was trussed with my ankles and my wrists lashed against a long stick, which was resting upon the shoulders of two burly women. Both marched wordlessly towards the east. The half-orcess was casually sharpening a knife she had drawn from her belt as she walked beside me.

"I did come to, uh, talk?" I hazarded, looking at the half-orcess. She smirked at me, her eyes cold.

"Our leader will want to talk to you," she said, her voice quiet. "She's got quite the appetite. And happens to have told us what to do with strapping lads like yourself." She looked up. "Blindfold him."

The last thing I saw was that knife, sharpening on that whetstone. The next twenty minutes were actually surprisingly restful, assuming one could ignore the fact one had been kidnapped by a tribe of, honestly, quite rightfully misandrist women, considering the conditions on this benighted island. I simply swayed from my arms and my legs and waited. But once the twenty minutes had come to their end, I was taken within some place that felt enclosed. I was laid upon furs, which themselves laid upon hard ground. Before I could speak, a knife slid against my skin -- the blunt side pressed to my skin. The sharp edge...well, it tore at my clothes. Soon, I was dressed in nothing but the blindfold and the bindings that lashed my arms to a stick that felt firmly driven into the ground.

I had never been bound thus before.

I...

Was doing my best to not panic.

Heavy footfalls thumped into the room.

"Here he is," the half-orcess said. She sounded like she was grinning.

"Here he -hic- is, yeah..." A familiar voice said.

I tensed. "Sally!?"

"Hey Ray," she said, cheerfully.

I sagged with relief. "Oh thank the gods, you're here? And they made you their chief?"

"Nah," Sally said, jovially. She laughed and the half-orcess laughed.

"We're just fooling with you," the half-orcess said.

I nodded. "So, you're going to unbind me and take off this blondfold now?"

Silence.

"...right?" I asked.

Sally...chuckled. And I heard something large and soft plop to the ground -- something suspiciously like a shirt fit for a half-ogress.

"Oh boy," I whispered.

TO BE CONTINUED