Mud and Magic Ch. 10

The image flickered and died, leaving Rhys with a murderous headache and a myriad of questions. The ache in his chest was horrible but not as brutal as the hit his forehead took when he crumpled against the wash basin.

* * * *

Something wet and cool dragging against his skin woke him up. A dangerous thumping in his head warned him not to move hastily so Rhys remained still and only opened his eyes. He was on his back, staring at the wooden beams holding the ceiling of the room he was to share with Borna. A small island of light was visible above him, probably from an oil lamp on the nightstand. An icy cold wet cloth covered his forehead. There was the fresh scent of herbal soap. Borna's face came into view, her angelic features a mask of disapproval.

"Stupid boy," she hissed. A relieved smile managed to slowly take over her face.

"Wha... ouch," Rhys mumbled. "What happened?"

"You tell me," Borna snapped. "When I left, you were sitting on the bed, being all tired. When I came back, you were face down near the wash basin, surrounded by mirror shards and out cold."

"I... I tried to find Lishaka and Chassari," Rhys said softly. "I used the mirror to scry for them."

Borna growled. "Maybe you should have tried something less demanding. You know, walking before running? Small magic stuff before big magic stuff?" She dunked a cloth into the wash basin, wrung it out and swabbed at his skin. "Or do you want to die that badly?"

"Dying?"

"Well, that was almost as stupid as trying to fight Faedal one-on-one," Borna said, her tail pointing at the space where the wash basin had been. "You're lucky you didn't split your skull."

"Feels like I managed that just fine. Please, don't tell anyone about this."

Borna snorted. "I don't have to. The bump will be visible for miles."

Rhys closed his eyes and groaned.

"Was it at least worth it?" Borna asked, slowly dragging the wet cloth along his stomach. Rhys shivered.

"Not quite sure," he muttered. "I saw Lisha... having sex."

"With anyone we know?" Borna asked. The wet cloth grazed Rhys' rod.

"I saw Chassari there as well, along with a dark elf and a cat girl."

Borna chuckled. "Can you scry into the afterlife?"

"Who knows? Maybe it was just a figment of my imagination. That was the first time I scried without Idunn's magic crystal ball. I have no idea if it even worked."

"That Allura priestess you met in Storm Harbor... what was her name?" Borna asked.

"Najat. Why?"

"Was she the same color as the cat thing in your vision?"

"No. Najat had golden fur with dark spots... the one eating out Lishaka had white fur. No idea about the dark elf Lishaka was sucking off though."

"Oh, interesting details," Borna purred, again using the wet cloth to caress Rhys' crotch. He went hard under her touch. "That means your scrying attempt probably was successful. You didn't imagine your goblin girlfriend playing with the Najat person."

"Hm. That makes sense," Rhys said. "So... assuming I can't scry into the afterlife and I haven't imagined something... does that mean they are alive?"

"Unless we know for certain, why not? Or do you want them to be dead?" Borna asked.

"Heavens no!" Rhys protested. "Although I'm not quite sure what to think about Lishaka enjoying herself that much." He squinted along his body. "What are you doing there exactly?"

"I'm washing you, of course. You haven't seen a wet washcloth since Faedal kicked your ass," she said sweetly. "And since you were knocked out, you couldn't do it yourself."

"Aren't you soaking the whole bed?" he asked.

"Interesting thought. I would have asked about my claws first," Borna rasped, doing a gentle swab down his balls. "Aren't you afraid?"

"No. I wouldn't have joined you on the floor last night if I were," Rhys said. "And you haven't given me any reason to be."

"That's very sweet," Borna said. "I have draped one of the bedroll bottoms over the bed before I soaked you. I can wring it out later." She moved the cloth along his rod again, causing Rhys to gasp in pleasure. "There's one other thing I would like to do while I have you like this," she muttered. "If you let me."

"What's on your mind?" Rhys asked. "You know you can talk to me about anything."

Borna pulled a soft towel off her thigh and dabbed Rhys dry. He suddenly snatched one of her hands, holding them up to his eyes. "What... what have you done?" he asked, aghast. Her claws had almost disappeared, reduced to dull nubs of black matter at the tips of her armored fingers.

"Something I should have done years ago," she said. "Simply asked a blacksmith if I could borrow his grindstone. Ever since Desire had cursed me, I have taken my whole existence lying down, never questioning anything happening to me, never trying to change anything. I simply ran and hid." She flashed Rhys a grim smile. "You, of all people, have shown me that I should stop hiding and start thinking." She claimed her hand and used all ten fingers to caress along Rhys' body, starting at the shoulders. Her plated fingertips were a weird, alien sensation, almost like marbles rolling over his body. Eventually, her fingers converged on his crotch and she closed her fingers around his hardness. They sighed in unison.

"That's the first time I am actually caressing someone," Borna whispered. "If you don't mind." Her hands moved along his thighs, stopping short of the knees. Her eyes glinted in the light of the lamp.

"You can sense my skin through the armor?" he asked.

"I always wondered why Desire would let me feel every hit against my armor," Borna whispered, her hands traveling back up Rhys' body. She altered the angle of her fingertips, dragging her blunted claws over his flesh. "You can tell me to stop anytime now," Borna muttered.

"Do you want to stop?" he asked.

"No."

"Then don't. Just let me get off that wet canvas." Carefully, he rolled off the sheet Borna had draped over his side of the bed. Growling, the cursed girl rose to her hooves and yanked the sheet off the mattress. She balled it up and tossed it into a corner.

"Get back here, I'm not done with you," she snarled, her tail moving in a serpentine motion between her shoulders. Her rod stood up proud in front of her stomach, the tip going past her navel.

"There's room enough for you," Rhys said, patting the mattress. "Hop in."

Borna growled again and pulled him to the edge of the bed. "Hold still," she ordered, hunched over his prone body. Her stinger - not blunted at all - hovered over her shoulder threateningly.

"S-sure. Whatever you want," Rhys said, raising his hands. Borna again caressed the length of his body, this time examining the structure of his jaw and his neck with her fingertips. She leaned in and pecked a shy kiss onto his lips.

"For someone not being afraid you are quite afraid," she whispered.

"Like Astra'il said, you're one intimidating... woman," Rhys muttered. "May I touch you?"

"Why do you ask? Last night you didn't have any issues sliding your cock along my butt crack," Borna purred, closing her fingers around his rod. "Please tell me should I hurt you."

"You are not," he replied, his hand snaking between her legs. "And you tell me when I should stop." His fingertips caressed along the soft skin between her thighs, where no armor covered her sexes. His index finger circled the protruding nub of her clitoris.

Borna closed her eyes and hissed. Then she lowered her head, languidly dragging her tongue against the skin of his chest. Rhys' hand closed around her rod, pumping it slowly, thoughtfully while she licked and kissed along his stomach, leaving traces of heat and wetness in her wake. Her hot breath stopped shy of his erection. "May I?" she asked.

"You don't have to ask."

Borna looked at him, her angelic features flushed with heat. "Believe it or not," she whispered, "this is the first time this is happening on my terms. The last few times I had a man's cock this close to my mouth, I was chained in a cage and-" She lowered her gaze. "Not the right time for that story."

"You don't have to-" Rhys began. Her lips closing around his tip cut him off. Almost reverentially, Borna kissed his cock, gingerly holding his erection up by two of her chitinous digits wrapped around his base. The other hand slowly fondled his balls and the sensitive skin covering the area before his butt.

"And you don't have to bother at all with my misshapen crotch," Borna said between licks, her hot breath on his sensitive skin. She explored his full length, her tongue shockingly long and dexterous, a triangular beacon of heat teasing his throbbing rod.

"You deserve this much more than me," Rhys muttered, his breath catching. "How do you...?"

Borna giggled around his cock. With a lewd pop, she let him slip from her mouth. "Rhys, I can read. The Tower's library has books on every subject known. I've spent many an instructive night fucking my pillow while reading raunchy dark elven tales."

"Ah," Rhys said. "That's why you asked Astra'il."

"Yes," Borna growled, placing a knee on the mattress, allowing Rhys easier access to her unarmored nethers. "Those books full of dark elven debauchery make you question things, you know?" Her mouth closed around him again, her armored fingers digging into his butt cheeks as she took almost his full length. She sucked, causing Rhys to arch his back against her.

He grinned fiendishly. His headache had subsided some time ago. There was no reason he had to take Borna's ministrations laying down. He removed the cooling cloth from his forehead, rolled onto his side and angled her cock a certain way.

Borna squealed and shot upright when his tongue touched her gleaming white skin. "What-!" she snapped.

"I'm only doing what you are doing. Trying some things. Maybe you should finally join me."

"Have you just tried... your mouth on my cock?" she asked, flustered. "Why would you do that?" She climbed onto the mattress, her knees to either side of Rhys' head.

"You don't seem to have a problem with mine." Rhys shrugged.

"Well, in all the books I've read the women do it," she said. "So let me do it. I have other things you can play with." She reached between her thighs and spread her pearly white labia for him. "I haven't felt a tongue down there before."

Rhys reached up and gently pulled her close, caressing the soft skin of her behind. "You don't like your extra appendage, do you?" he asked gently, his hot breath on her skin.

Above him, Borna shivered. She lowered her body onto her elbows, the cool, smooth chitin of her torso a strange sensation against his naked skin. Her hand closed around his cock and she licked him languidly, tickling his glans with the point of her tongue.

"No," she admitted softly. "I hate it. It's another insult on top of everything else Desire has done to me."

"Doesn't it make you feel good when someone plays with it?" Rhys asked. He kissed her labia and sneakily closed his hand around her shaft. Borna froze atop him.

"That's the problem," she hissed. "It feels too good. Better than anything else I can do to me."

"Is that so?" Rhys asked. He parted her nether lips with the tip of his tongue and circled her most sensitive spot. Borna shot upright, squealing. He held her hips in place by grabbing onto two chitin plates and caressed the valley between her nether lips with his tongue. Borna squirmed above him, moaning.

Rhys stopped pleasuring her. "How was that?" he asked, slightly out of breath.

"What... what did you just do?" Borna gasped.

"Lick your pussy," he answered, choosing to be blunt. "Now, for a comparison." He closed his hand around her rod and angled it downwards, until he could close his lips around the tip like he had done with Chassari. And as with the serpent-woman, he snuck two fingers between Borna's nether lips and played with her, caressing the soft skin and the protruding nub.

Her reaction was swift and violent. A squeal turned into a grunt, she rolled her hips forward, at the same time impaling herself onto his fingers and pushing her rod deep into his mouth where it promptly exploded. Rhys coughed wetly, showering her nethers with a spray of her own juices. Mortified, Borna rolled off him, her face a mask of utter terror.

Rhys coughed some more, wiping his drenched face on a corner of the covers.

"I- I'm terribly sorry," Borna panted, slowly scooting backwards. Her stinger slashed through the air and brought up the towel she had used to wipe Rhys dry.

He shook his head, his eyes sparkling. He made a 'come hither' gesture.

Borna eyed him curiously. "What-?"

Rhys crawled across the bed and snatched her head, pressing his cum-stained lips onto hers. Borna froze, then her tongue slithered out and licked at his lips, his tongue. Eventually she broke the kiss.

"What was that all about?" she asked, panting. "You are not mad at me?"

"Something the first girl I was with taught me. 'A taste of your own cum never hurt anybody,' she said. And 'If you get used to it, you might find interesting opportunities,'" Rhys said, caressing along Borna's thigh. To his amazement, her cock greeted his fingers. "It takes more than a faceful of seed to make me mad." He pumped her re-emerging hardness a few times, causing her to gasp against him. "More importantly, how was it for you?"

"Violent," Borna admitted, casting down her gaze. "And you didn't..."

Rhys placed a kiss onto her lips. "How long has it been since you last played with yourself?"

"You know that damn well, you oaf," Borna growled. "After I saw you and Lisha doing it."

"Did you...?" Rhys asked, caressing her rod.

"No. I was too afraid someone might see me. And then that poor deer happened."

"Then it's no wonder you erupted so suddenly. Want to try again?"

"After all the mess... you'd be willing to...?" Borna stammered.

"If it makes you feel good, I'd be willing to do anything," Rhys said with conviction. "Well, maybe not kneeling. Not right now."

Borna's eyes sparkled. "I could ride you, like Lishaka did," she suggested. "Or rather... no. I'm not sure I could control myself not to hurt you." She closed her eyes. "I don't want this to be our last time."

"Then how about this? Lay down on your side and let me cuddle you from behind," Rhys said.

Borna did as he had asked, rolling onto her side. She trapped her whipping tail under her shoulder. "Like this?" she asked, her head resting on a pillow.

Rhys slid behind her, his eyes gleaming. "Yes, very nice," he purred, pressing the length of his cock against her butt crack. Borna made a strange sound, somewhere between a purr and a growl. Rhys closed his arms around her narrow waist and pulled her close "If you want me inside you, you'd better open your legs," Rhys suggested.

A strange feeling of elation washed over him. Not too long ago, he had been an awe-struck boy marveling at the things men and women could do together, and now here he was, imparting his limited knowledge to someone else. The feeling was incredibly empowering, especially when Borna heeded his wish, lifting a leg. Rhys reached between them and altered the angle of his cock, allowing his length to rest against her labia. His tip bumped against her protruding clit. A moment later, her plated fingers were there, caressing him.

"Go on, do me already," Borna rasped. "You don't need to be gentle. I can take whatever you put in me."

"That's not how it's supposed to work," Rhys muttered, a bit cross. "This is supposed to be nice for the both of us. If you think you have to do it just for me, I don't want no part of it."

"Stop being such a damn knight and fuck me already," Borna hissed, her fingers maneuvering his tip between her labia. On instinct, Rhys' hips rolled forward, pushing himself deeper into the hot cove she had guided him into. Her voice faltered as he withdrew again until just the tip of his glans was in her. The cursed girl growled threateningly and let her tail slip free. The chitin-plated appendage whipped over the sheets and landed on Rhys' back, a poignant reminder that she wouldn't tolerate any chickening out.

Rhys pushed in slowly, causing Borna to moan incoherently. She moved backwards as he advanced, driving his full length into her. When her armored hip skirt touched his crotch, he held perfectly still. Her fingers caressed along his sac.

"This is... strange," she rasped. Her insides squeezed Rhys' cock. "It doesn't hurt."

"Oh Borna," Rhys whispered, his hands caressing along her front. "It is not supposed to." He moved his hips, withdrawing ever so slightly. Borna gasped in surprise. Emboldened, he pulled out more, turning the next gasp into a moan. Her tail pressed against his spine, rather unsubtly reminding him to push back in. Rhys obliged and fucked her slowly. He heard fabric tear and straw rustle as Borna dug her armored fingers into the mattress. Her hips rolled against him, urging his length deeper and deeper into her.

Holding himself against Borna's back with one hand, Rhys closed his fingers around Borna's throbbing hardness. It was sticky and slick, thick gobs of her juices dribbling down its length. He pumped it, using the pad of his thumb under her glans to apply extra pressure. Borna froze against him, her insides clutching at Rhys like a particularly firm handshake.

"What are you doing?" she snarled, even as her rod erupted, shooting a long rope of her cream across the bed.

"Making you feel good, I hope," Rhys rasped. Her hot tunnel fluttered around him and Borna gasped as numerous shivers ran through her body.

"I'm... I'm not used to someone touching me like this!" she wailed. Almost brutally, she peeled his other hand off her waist and slapped it onto her cock.

"But you like it," Rhys said, using both hands along her impressive length.

Borna's answer was a guttural growl. Her monstrous cock made wet, sloppy sounds as she fucked his hands. On the downstroke, she impaled herself onto Rhys' lance, driving her shuddering body hard onto it. Her tail whipped across the bed behind them, carving splinters out of the headboard. Torn between panic and lust, Rhys simply held on for dear life as Borna writhed before him. A few frenzied moments of her thrashing, her insides clasping him with renewed vigor, and Rhys could feel himself fall over the edge. He spurted shot after shot of his seed into Borna's grasping tunnel, groaning with the force of his release.

A third time she erupted, much less violently, her utterances now mere whimpers. Borna shuddered once more against Rhys, one of her hands carefully caressing the seeping mess where his rod had entered her. She craned her neck and carefully peeked over her shoulder.

"Are... are you still alive?" she asked, her voice tinged with fear. "Did I break anything?"

Rhys withdrew from her and rolled Borna onto her back. She offered no resistance. He looked past her. The mattress on her side of the bed was a soaked and shredded ruin. The headboard was missing long slices of wood. Her chitin-covered breasts heaved and one of her hooves had kicked a straight hole into the bed's foot board.

"I'm fine," he said, panting. "A bit out of breath and a little scared but that's nothing compared to what you did to the bed." He snuggled up to her, his head resting on her seed-spattered breastplate. One of Borna's hands tousled his hair, the other found his member.

"And you're still hard? After all that?" Borna asked, gently caressing him. "Haven't I-"

Rhys closed her mouth with a kiss. "No. You haven't traumatized me. You haven't grossed me out. You have kept your promise and didn't hurt me." He caught her tail and waved it at her face. Growling, she yanked it away from him.

"You are one strange farm boy," Borna muttered. "Now what?"

He closed his hand around her rod, mimicking what she was doing to him. "We could stay like this, see where it gets us." He yawned. "Because even if I wanted to try and tame you once more, I'm not sure I could stay awake long enough."