In Love and War

Both mercenaries nodded.

"We haven't had much fun these last few years, but there's a couple of storytellers who like to come by in the evenings, and we've got a few instruments in the tavern. Also..."

Maybe it was the excitement she felt from liberation, or the fact that Bjorn had saved her last night, but she was feeling rather bold towards the orc. Although Rachel was unskilled in the art of love, she had heard stories, and had often dreamed of bringing what she had heard to life. This seemed as good a chance as she would ever have; Bjorn was more heroic than anyone else she was likely to meet.

"Also, Bjorn... I think I might have something to interest you in my room," she whispered, blushing furiously as she said it. Bjorn choked on his beer and sent a spray of foam over the rim of his mug, while Aiva raised her eyebrows and whistled.

"Alright, I'm impressed. Bjorn, why don't you take some time off?"

"Thanks Captain," Bjorn mumbled, blushing as red as Rachel. He took her by the hand and she smiled at him invitingly, leading him up the stairs to her room, much to the amazement of the soldiers, many of whom were probably planning how to bed the girl themselves.

Rachel's room was located to the immediate right of the stairs, barely more than a glorified closet. There was only one bed against the wall by a window, with a dresser and a desk taking up most of the other space.

"Sorry it's not much," Rachel blushed as she stood by the bed.

"Fine by me," Bjorn shrugged. "I sleep in a hummock."

The initiative Rachel had shown in leading Bjorn up to her room was rapidly fading away as she realized just how inexperienced she was. Rachel flashed him a smile and scoured her mind for anything that might help her proceed.

"First time?" Bjorn asked understandingly. Rachel nodded shyly.

"Pretty girl like you?" He said. "I'm surprised."

"It helped that I had someone willing to defend me," Rachel grinned. "So, um. I don't suppose you know what comes next?"

Bjorn grinned wolfishly, showing several of his canines. "Just lie back and let me handle it."

Rachel sat down on the bed and kicked off her sandals, wondering what the orc had in mind. Bjorn straddled her lap and gently kissed her. The tenderness of his mouth surprised her; Rachel had expected him to be as fierce a lover as he was a fighter, but Bjorn showed a great deal of finesse as he explored her lips. His tongue soon sought entrance to her mouth and Rachel froze, unsure of how to respond. None of the boys she had kissed before had ever tried anything like it; the entire practice struck her as unsanitary.

Then again, Bjorn did seem to know what he was doing, so wouldn't it make sense to trust him? Rachel parted her lips and let Bjorn's tongue enter her mouth. The sensation was unfamiliar to her, but not altogether unpleasant. She found herself relaxing and even aiding him in his exploration of her mouth with her own tongue. The orcs she was familiar with had atrocious personal hygiene and would no doubt have tasted like something foul, but Bjorn seemed to have kept himself well groomed. True, he smelled rather strongly of sweat and beer, but it was oddly fitting on him.

The bed squeaked as Rachel fell onto her back, inviting Bjorn to press on. She grabbed hold of the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head, exposing her shapely breasts to him again. Bjorn gently massaged her right breast while planting kisses across her left. His lips wrapped around her nipple and he sucked on the little nub like an infant, occasionally flicking his tongue across the top and sending a stroke of pleasure through Rachel's body like lightening. Sharp teeth raked the skin of her breast and the nipple, never piercing her but driving her wild with the thrill of it. Rough, battle hardened fingers toyed with the other breast, their previous gentleness lost to passion.

Goodness, was this what she was missing, Rachel wondered. She cast her inhibitions to the wind in search of more pleasure and wriggled out of her skirt. The motions forced her to distance herself from Bjorn, and he watched amused as her breasts shook in front of him. With her skirt discarded, the only thing between him and her flower was her underwear. The orc slowly slid down until he was kneeling on the ground and took the band of her panties in his teeth. They slid over her hips with a gentle tug, revealing her moist flower to him.

Much to Rachel's surprise, the next thing Bjorn did was to latch his mouth onto her flower and lap away at it. Rachel squirmed in embarrassment at having someone become so intimate with her nether regions; they were untidy and could not have possibly smelled good. Why would he be willing to taste them? The serving girl tried to escape by pulling herself away, but Bjorn held her in place by the legs. His rough tongue could separated her petals and dove into her folds, lapping away like a wolf. The wave of pleasure that rolled through her surprised Rachel: she had played with herself before, but never had it felt as good as this. She stopped resisting and laid back as Bjorn's tongue worked it way in deeper until he had pressed his nose against her bud.

It was like lightening had struck; Rachel arched her back and shuddered as a storm brewed between her legs. She squeezed Bjorn's head with her thighs to capture him so that he would never stop pleasuring her mound. Bjorn grinned in the dim light of the room and caught her gaze with his amber eyes.

"I think it's time we moved on," the orc whispered. Rachel whimpered as he stopped attending to her in order to shed his garments. His manhood stood proud and erect when it was freed from the confines of his trousers. Its bulbous head, thick veins, and dark grey skin looked different from what Rachel imagined a human's would be like. It also seemed too large to fit in her, though again, Rachel did not have much to compare it too.

"I.. will I be able to take it?" She asked nervously.

"Should," Bjorn grunted. "It's basically what you'd get from a human. Well, with some cosmetic differences."

Well, Rachel supposed that Bjorn would know. She tried to relax as much as she could given the situation and spread her legs for him. The orc took a step towards her, but then stopped to fish through his pants for a silver ring, which he slid over his rod. It fit snugly and contrasted with his dark skin; Rachel wondered what its purpose was. A few delicate maneuvers later found Bjorn poised at Rachel's flower, with his head rubbing her petals.

A pearl of thunder rolled through the storm clouds in Rachel's mind as Bjorn penetrated her soft folds, bringing himself up to her virgin barrier. The young girl wrapped her arms around her lover's neck and urged him on. With one smooth motion, Bjorn penetrated her maidenhead so swiftly that there was barely any pain, only a feeling of pleasure as he explored the unknown depths inside of her.

Hot lips pressed against Rachel's mouth and stifled the passionate moan that escaped her throat as Bjorn filled her entirely. The silver ring he had slipped on nestled against her entrance and touched the bottom of her bud. It felt cool at the start, but soon warmed up as Bjorn stayed in her and let her adjust to his size. The sensation of being so full and having warm metal pressed against her was quite strange to Rachel, who barely even touched herself normally.

Another gasp of pleasure escaped Rachel as Bjorn pulled out until his head was just separating her lips, and she worried that the customers downstairs might hear her. Dear Mithras, what they must be thinking of her now? Rachel tried to imagine what was being said about her by the soldiers and blushed, but her embarrassment only served to increase the heat in her valley. Her body became incredibly sensitive to Bjorn's touch, not only in her flower, but on her neck, shoulders, breasts, arms... everywhere he touched was set on fire as they indulged their passions.

Slowly, guilt began to accumulate in Rachel's stomach. Bjorn had done so well in pleasing her that she felt ashamed that she could not return the favor. What did orcs like? Despite having lived under their rule for more than half a decade, Rachel still did not understand the beasts. They enjoyed violence, cruelty, and drinking. As far as she knew, Bjorn only shared their love of drinking - and maybe the violence. Maybe.

Violence? A thought began to form in Rachel's mind as she formed a tentative plan to entertain Bjorn. Her hands reached past Bjorn's shoulders and down to his back, grabbing a good deal of skin in her fingers. Rachel let her nails rake deep into the orc's back as she pulled her hands up, leaving deep scratch marks in their wake.

A primal howl shook the walls of the building as Bjorn thrust into her harder and faster than ever. Rachel hung onto him by the neck as he pummeled her furiously, driven to a frenzy by her actions. Another wild cry joined his, and Rachel realized that it issued from her body, which had abandoned all pretense at modesty and sought only to find its release.

The storm between Rachel's legs broke as she pushed back against Bjorn. Lightening flashed before her eyes as the clouds released a torrent of rain. Rachel snared his waist with her legs, holding him against her as her as her flower milked all the nectar it could from his manhood.

Chapter 3

"Sister!" Sophia shouted as she heard Rachel's voice pierce the sounds of the tavern. The young girl had never heard anything like the racket coming from their room, which sounded more like a fight than anything else. The bloody butcher's cleaver she was holding came with her as she shot out of the kitchen and ran for the stairs, only to find her way blocked by a red eyed girl about her sister's age, wearing black clothing and a brown cloak.

"Sorry kid, but you're sister's... busy," the girl said with an amused look on her face. "Why don't you sit down and we'll have a chat?"

"Are... are you sure?" Sophia asked nervously.

"Believe me, she'd probably want you to stay down here as well." The girl chuckled and pulled out a seat for Sophia. "Name's Aiva, what's yours?"

"Sophia..." the cook reluctantly sat down next to Aiva and laid her cleaver on the table. "I cook."

"I was figuring that or some sort of psychotic murderer," Aiva joked, putting an arm around Sophia. "So what's your story?"

"I live here," Sophia replied, out of confusion and an honest lack of things to say. As far as she knew, only heroes had stories. "No one special, really."

"Are you sure?" Aiva asked. "You know, you don't quite feel like a blank."

"A what?" Sophia did not quite understand the slang that the foreign girl was using.

"You know, a mundane. Someone who can't do magic. Those soldiers over there are blanks, my girlfriend's a blunt since she knows a little, and I'm keen because I'm a full fledged sorceress."

"Those are funny nicknames."

"Yeah, we mages are an arrogant bunch," Aiva grinned. "Of course, we can also fuck with reality so it's not altogether unjustified. Maybe I could try and teach you some magic? You do seem to have a nice... endowment."

Sophia blanched at the innuendo. Was Aiva flirting with her? Why would she do that?

"There's some really intriguing tantric exercises I've been dying to..." The sorceress trailed off as the tavern door opened. Sophia looked over to see a woman with horns and a tail stalking over to their table. Whoever said that jealousy was a green eyed monster must have had a vision of Kathryn in mind; Aiva saw the assassin's emerald eyes narrow dangerously as she saw how Aiva's arm was wrapped around Sophia.

"I swear, I was just being friendly!" Aiva's arm snapped back to her side as if she had been struck by lightening, and Sophia hastily excused herself to the kitchen in order to resume her cooking.

"We'll talk about this later," Kathryn hissed, glaring daggers at Aiva. "Brent's been liaising with the cavalry commander, who has requested our help defending this place."

"Not like I've got anything else planned for the evening," Aiva shrugged. "Sure, we can help stand guard."

"You're telling me that all these boys can't hold onto a town we took for them?" Kathryn asked sceptically. "Come on, you were there last night. Those orcs were a pushover. I swear, most of them pissed their pants when they saw Bjorn 'cleave their chief in twain'."

"Still, I'd prefer if we had something to stop them from having another go at us."

"If you wanted a watchdog, you should have brought Cassie along."

Aiva rolled her eyes. "Please, I've had enough of that mutt. Do you know she sneaks into my room every day, no matter how many wards I put up? It's driving me crazy; there's no way the bitch should be able to do it, but it keeps happening. I'm fucking sick and tired of being woken up by her drooling over me."

"So I guess it's your fault that we have to stand guard now." Kathryn shot back. "Now where's Bjorn?"

"Er... about that... I think he deserved a bit of R&R, don't you?" The implication was not lost on Kathryn, as she realized the serving girl from her earlier visit had been replaced by the tavern owner.

"Whatever," the tiefling waved dismissively. "Lead on, Captain. We're supposed to watch the main gate."

The two walked out of the tavern with Aiva leading the way, quietly making way towards the town's main gate. Aiva did feel a little guilty at having flirted with the cook, but was not sure exactly how to apologize to Kathryn so she let the silence build between them until the town wall came into sight. A heavy barrier made of red bricks, it had been build by slaves so that the orcs would be able to hold the town in the event of battle. Fortunately for Aiva, their attack yesterday came from inside.

For a while it looked like they were in for a long night of standing around doing nothing. While it was not a problem for Brent, since he was a machine, Aive found it tedious and let her mind wander. Hot, uninhibited, wanton sex with Kathryn struck the sorceress as a better use of her time, though that did not seem likely to happen now. Aiva snuck a glance at her lover and noticed that Kathryn still looked plenty upset, even though they were well into the night by now.

Gradually, Aiva became aware of a slow and persistent grinding noise from somewhere around her. Kathryn heard it as well and began craning her neck in search of the source. From what she could tell, it came from somewhere in the wall, which in her experience was seldom a good thing. Before she could shout out a warning to the others, their section of the wall collapsed. Brent activated jets in his legs and shot up into the sky, but Aiva and Kathryn found themselves trapped in rubble as war drums began beating. The shadowy outlines of orcs appeared in the dim moon light and quickly advanced on their position.

The rubble was too heavy for Aiva to move, so she decided to cast a teleportation spell and move both her and Kathryn back up to the parapet, which was rapidly filling with human soldiers.

"Fucking hell," someone said in alarm as they caught sight of just how many orcs were there. It seemed as if all those who had been routed yesterday had come back with reinforcements; over five hundred figures charged at the town from the front alone.

"Stand your ground!" Aiva barked, drawing a pistol from her belt. "We've kicked their asses before and we'll do it again. Ready your bows and fire on my mark!"

-

"Kat, am dead?" Aiva spoke with barely more than a whisper as she leaned against the broken wall of someone's house, with an empty revolving pistol in hand.

"Not yet, kid." Kathryn dropped down next to the sorceress and put an arm around the tired girl. The last seven hours had been hell, but the town was still free and the orcs had been beaten back once again.

Aiva looked rather disappointed at the news. "Can you kill me?"

"Maybe later," the assassin laughed wearily. "Want me to make you feel better?"

"Out in public?" Somehow, Aiva mustered the energy for a look of disapproval.

"Mind out of the gutter," the tiefling admonished playfully. "Here, put your feet on my lap."

Aiva hesitated. "Kat, you know how I feel about that..."

"Relax, it's just a massage, Kathryn said. "Lie back and get some sleep, you need to recharge."

There was a trace of skepticism in Aiva's expression, but the prospect of a massage of any sort was too good to pass up. The tired girl laid down in the shattered remnants of the building and let Kathryn unlace her boots. Kathryn carefully slid them off and peeled the socks off of Aiva to expose a pair of small, well formed feet. Ashley's long toes had nails which were full and clean, while the soles of her feet had only a few callouses from her active lifestyle.

Slowly, Kathryn began to knead Aiva's muscles and tendons with her thumbs. The sorceress initial look of discomfort slowly faded and she began to nod off under Kathryn's ministrations. Kathryn watched her lover sleep and slowly ran her nails up and down the soles of Aiva's feet, thinking what a pity it was that the sorceress could not appreciate her body more.

There was a scrambling sound behind her, and the girl Aiva was flirting with yesterday appeared on the street. Kathryn subtly reached for her dagger and kept an eye on the girl, who made a beeline for them. She looked rather distressed, though Kathryn supposed that was to be expected of someone whose home had been the site of two large battles in the space of two days.

"What do you want?" Kathryn demanded harshly, though she was careful to keep her voice down for fear of disturbing Aiva.

"I need to talk to Aiva," the girl whispered with a shaky voice.

"She's sleeping. Piss off."

"But... but..." Sophia appeared to be on the verge of tears, but Kathryn did not care and drew her dagger out of its scabbard. That managed to shut the girl up and cause her to run away, which gratified Kathryn to no end. Aiva stirred slightly, but Kathryn resumed the foot massage and soon the sorceress was snoring away, blissfully oblivious to the world around her.

Many hours later, Aiva awoke in a soft, clean bed back at the tavern, with Kathryn's bare body curled firmly around her own. Aiva grinned at the sight and rolled over so that she was lying on top of the assassin, with her cleft pressed against the woman's thigh and her head resting on Kathryn's supple breasts. The sorceress gave a content sight and was about to drift off to sleep again when a metallic knock came from the door.

"Come in," Aiva groaned. Brent deftly squeezed his large body through the door and closed it behind him before anyone could see the women lying on the bed.

"Captain," the construct began, "I trust that you are well and have regained your spells?"

"Feels like it. What's up?"

"Preliminary reports indicate that we only sustained moderate casualties during this attack. Bjorn estimates that the enemy dead number two hundred or so, but he expects that they have a fallback position somewhere in the area that allowed them to regroup so quickly after our first engagement. I have taken the liberty of marking on our map several possible locations for their base of operations, with the canyon to the northeast being the most tactically advantageous."

"Good work, lieutenant," Aiva said lazily. "Is there anything else?"

"We did receive a request," Brent continued. "Major Feurst notified me that several of his men and townsfolk may have been taken prisoner. He would appreciate it if we could assist his men in mounting a rescue mission."

The sorceress tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Tell you what, give me two hours and then have Bjorn meet us back here and we'll discuss it."

Brent gave a stiff salute and marched out of the room, leaving Aiva to enjoy Kathryn's pillows for the time being. She nuzzled against them tenderly, basking in their warmth and taking pleasure in being able to hear Kathryn's heart beat and lungs breath through them. They were magnificent, and the sorceress found herself idly wondering if Kathryn would be able to produce any milk. It seemed highly unlikely, but Aiva put her mouth to Kathryn's nipples and began suckling from them anyways. It turned out to be quite fun, even if they were dry.