Steampunk Harlots Ch. 45

Emma was on her shoulders doing some adjustments. "We will need one for the bar and another for the lounge if we think it works."

"Maybe we can put the other side in some of your rooms so I can have my own room to myself for a change." Liddy sighed.

****

Cat had hoped the duke would be chatty, but now she was quite ready to tell him to shut up. He had blathered on the whole time they were alone together. It was almost impressive how he could keep focused enough to stay erect and thrust himself into her while discussing the finer legal matters of running a city with two dukes. They both had the same family name and neither duke liked being referred to by a direction on the compass.

"Why not use your given names?" She asked, speaking for the first time.

He finally shut up and stared in dead silence at Cat with eyes wide in surprise.

Cat continued, not certain if she made a mistake or not by making the suggestion. "I mean, unless you share that as well, it might, given the circumstances, be appropriate." She started to put her dress back on but kept her breasts out in case she needed to keep him distracted.

He didn't even say a word as he hurried out of the room, quickly trying to dress.

Cat sighed, finished redressing, and left quickly to report back the interesting bits she had learned.

****

Mari skipped down the street wearing her clothes again, such as they were, and tried not to get too far from Conna and Laurel. She wasn't all that far from the ship when she crossed paths with a man holding one of the flyers Liddy had printed up. "Oh hello, looking for that ship?" Mari indicated to the flyer.

"I was, but I'd rather spend my money on your freedom." He indicated the collar around her neck. "I'd rather take a grateful woman to bed knowing I did some good."

Mari ripped the collar off and held it up. "This belonged to my friend. I cut it off her myself. I wear it to show her that the collar doesn't define who wears it. Now, if you want to buy and free an Emberborn, then do it! If you want to fuck me, come to the ship. I am many times more expensive, but if you want to pay me in Emberborn I would be happy to accept them! If you really want to do some good then free literally any of them, not just the pretty one you want to fuck."

The man watched Mari and her escorts carry on to the ship; he hadn't been expecting such a response.

Mari and her escorts arrived on the ship to the sight of everyone on the ship sitting on the stairs or in the lounge leaning over the railing and looking upwards. Soft moans were the only sounds, and she could see everyone was feeling themselves in some way, including Easy whose tongue was teasing her own breasts. Mari joined her and looked where everyone else was staring. She saw the mirror showing the sight of Inky holding Hannah by the hips and thrusting into her with her own shaft.

"Magic shit," Easy muttered when Mari had made a curious noise.

By the time Inky had burst herself inside Hannah, Hope and Cat came in. They were about to call attention to themselves to let everyone know what they learned when they also became distracted after looking at what held everyone's attention. They saw Hannah taking the silver artefact from Inky and using on herself as Ving laid on the bed to be mounted by the redhead.

"This needs sound," Cat muttered.

"This is magic, I just learned it, and it's my first time," Emma responded. "Sound wasn't included in the spell so unless Liddy wants to spring for some fancy microphones and speakers, deal with it."

Despite no competing sounds, nobody heard what Emma had to say.

****

Vile felt herself sink into Inky, who lowered herself onto the deep red shaft standing up between Vile's legs. "I didn't think Hannah would let it go."

"We all get a turn before clients show up as long as we are quick about it." Inky laughed as she moaned.

"I'm used to my tails doing this, but it feels so much better being inside you like this. I think I get men a bit better now."

"I know what you mean. I wouldn't want one all the time but on occasion, this is the best of both worlds."

Vile used her powerful hands to work Inky by the hips as she watched her belly shift with the hardness inside her. "So, that one from last night got his did he?"

"It would seem so. Hannah isn't going to leave the ship again while we're here just in case, though." Inky leant forward to grip Vile by her breasts and yank on them hard enough to make the demon wince.

"Don't you think that was a bit rough?"

"You don't like your nipples pulled?" Inky asked playfully.

"The guy!" Vile wrapped her tails around Inky's neck. "We all fuck men who think less of us, what made him so worthy of retribution? Most think that way out of ignorance, not malice."

"True, but he also fell in love with Hannah. And how she tells it, it was right away before they fucked." Inky slapped Vile hard on the breasts. "Then he goes and fucks a girl who stops him in the street and doesn't think he's done wrong. That he is somehow allowed because I wanted it from someone so 'superior' as he? No, it was only a matter of time before he latched onto some other girl and didn't let go. We might have framed him but it was hardly something that wasn't inevitable for him. He'd have lost his temper if his fixation talked to any man but him."

"I suppose." Vile grabbed both of Inky's wrists in one hand and held them up while she took her turn to abuse her lover's breasts. "I mean, you two have dealt with those kinds of men a lot more than I have. Still, it seems like a lot of assumptions."

"Look at it this way. Hannah and I are both soldiers. In a fight like some that we have been in, we accept that someone might get killed to complete the mission. If it's worth doing, it's the sacrifice you make. You mourn the dead and know it could have happened to you just as easily. We wanted to remove someone from blocking the effort to free your people. His life was a sacrifice like any other. Just one we don't have to mourn afterwards." Inky retaliated by moving her hips in a motion she knew Vile wasn't ready for and quickly felt the demon seed bursting inside her.

Vile needed a few moments to recover. "I suppose it's not so different than killing someone who may have just been working at one of the farms because they needed the money. Plenty of them didn't really like it, even if we all had the collars to avoid suffering as others did. But I killed them all the same because they were between me and my freedom. Just like one of my own that I killed yesterday."

"We do what we need to with what we have. It's an imperfect world with imperfect solutions."

Vile slid the silver shaft out of herself and put it into Inky. "I need to know what your seed tastes like."

"I was wrong, sometimes there are perfect solutions." Inky smiled as she used the white ivory horns on Vile to pull her head onto the shaft that was pushing down her throat and wrapped in her tongue.

****

As Liddy finally had everyone getting ready for work instead of playing around, save for a few down below who promised to be quick, Cat finally approached her.

"So it seems Crater Peak fancies itself strong enough to form its own kingdom and act as a buffer between the east and west. Or at least, that's what the idiot of the duke here thinks."

"We have one more stop between here and there. Then we can see for ourselves. My charter as a captain is from Crater Peak so we shouldn't have any issues getting in." Liddy saw Emma greeting the first client and checking the spell to see who they would be interested in.

Cat said, "He also mentioned armies on the march. The more northern cities have been a bit quicker to choose sides than the ones down here."

"All we can do is wait until we get there. Rushing on ahead won't help if we don't know what way the cities on our side of the line are thinking."

"What city are we hitting next anyways?"

"Lake Bottom," Liddy grumbled. "Yes, it's named literally like every other city."

"Well, at least Leira is going to be happy." Cat laughed.

"I suppose so." Liddy gestured her head to where Leira was leading a pair of men off to a workroom. "And when she finds out about our destination as well."

****

Leira wasn't sure how she would feel having sex with the artefact, but she was happy as she was having a body able to accommodate a man inside her. They had elected to take turns, and one watched as the other rearranged her insides with the force of his thrusts. He held her under her knees and faced her away so his friend had a full view of the mermaids bouncing breast's. She watched the man running his hand over his erection as he watched her in return. Before the one inside her finished, Leira was surprised to feel herself lifted off and tossed to the man seated, who caught her and took his turn within her body.

"Oh fuck!" Was all Leira got out as her breasts inflated to their full size and she climaxed from the sudden and surprising switch.

She started working her hips to feel the man moving through her as he held her breasts firmly and paid each one some attention with his mouth. Leira wondered how much practice they would have needed to perfect the move, and was happy she had experienced it after they had mastered the technique. Just as she was getting into the rhythm, Leira felt hands going under her knees again and found herself flipped over and caught with her face right against the member that had just been inside her. She took him into her mouth as she felt his tongue exploring her flesh between her legs. The men had real talent and she was amazed at how they were able to do what they did and not hurt any of them. Leira tasted the seed filling her mouth and swallowed while upside down until there was nothing left. Besides, the other man lifted her by the shoulders to take him. His friend continued to pleasure her as she enjoyed the second load of seed into her mouth. When they were done, they set her down gently.

"All right," Leira said while on her knees. "What do you two do for a living and how many girls have you practised that with?"

They both laughed, "We work at the circus, travel about and do all sorts of routines. We had to get good working with girls who weren't trained to tumble."

"Oh, I can tumble, just maybe we have different definitions of the word." Leira laughed and was joined by the two men. "Any more moves to show me?"

****

Liddy was happy with how well the flyers had worked, and everyone had done what they could to encourage the nobility to see things their way. However, things moved slowly in politics, and the week they had spent working in the city only ushered in the change in how the dukes were to be addressed. Cat took credit for it.

"At least there isn't any big and vocal opposition to it," Hannah mentioned after seeing the last client off the ship who had left her hair a dreadful mess full of his seed. "And I got away with everything. I really expected someone to come around asking questions."

"Go tell Ving to take off before that changes. Maybe fix your hair." Liddy pointed at her head.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Felt good to be working again. The gents seemed to enjoy the mirror as well."

"Yes, I think we were only on there for a minute or two before we both got taken away."

Hannah laughed in agreement as she went to talk to Ving.

"I know I had fun with Vile in your bed." Blaze came over with Harriot beside her, both in their uniforms. "Those tails..."

Liddy knew all too well what the tail felt like inside her. "How about you Harriot? You were on the other side of her."

"I know she is supposedly a demon but I was in heaven the whole time."

"Glad you two had fun." Inky beamed with pride at the pleasant mention of Vile as she turned to Liddy. "Everything is secure for launch."

Just then the ship lurched into motion.

Liddy turned to look in the direction of the bridge. "Someone might want to check on Hannah. I sent her to tell Ving to take off and we launched on time. Something must be wrong."

All the girls laughed as Foxy joined them, also smiling at the joke. "Overheard some nobles talking on their way out. Apparently, we are considered 'reliable private sources' when they were talking about the kingdom in the east. Not wanting to admit they heard about it during sex. Seems like they can leave a ship full of harlots and act like they were at a secret meeting the other knew nothing about despite them leaving together."

"Nobles have their own unique madness to their thinking sometimes," Cat added from behind the bar where she fixed herself a drink. "I'd call this city a win. Some mentioned an envoy from the capital arriving or would be arriving soon. Not totally certain but it seems like our side got here first."

"Well, now we just need to get to Crater Peak," Liddy explained. "I'm going to wire ahead when we reach the next stop and get some more reliable information. For some reason, this city doesn't have a direct connection."

"And you think the one that is apparently underwater will?" Cat asked.

Liddy glared at her for a moment before walking away in a huff, determined to go find Blaze and the artefact and work out her frustrations.

****

The trip was short, more so with the girls occupied with testing the artefact a great many times over. When they finally reached the lake, they didn't see much more than a lone platform sitting in the water. It was obviously a dock of some kind - but no other ships seemed to be around.

"If this is another abandoned city in need of a monster hunt, I am going to be annoyed," Liddy grumbled.

"All clear to land for once!" Ving called from the bridge with genuine surprise in her voice.

"I suppose if the town is under the lake, they don't need much on the surface?" Tonna shrugged with both sets of arms.

"Yes, but it's supposed to have nobility, a ruling class, and clients. That means trade and lots of airships!" Liddy was confused. "They certainly don't have a train!"

The women tried not to laugh at how easy it was to get Liddy flustered with the oddities of every new city.

As they set down on the water and Ving brought them to the dock, Leira came up almost naked and ready for a swim. Only a thin material made an attempt at modesty as it clung to her figure. "Swimming time!" Her voice carried like a song.

An official of some kind was approaching and as soon as it was safe to do so, Liddy stepped off the ship to go meet him. There was something odd to Liddy with the expression on his face. It was relief, and not something she was accustomed to seeing in that context. Usually, if someone was relieved to see her, it was because the waiting was too much. The official looked like he had been under a lot of stress.

"Oh, I am so glad you have shown up so fortuitously." The relief in his tone was even more obvious than it had been on his face. "You are going to make a lot of people very happy."

Liddy liked to think she always did that but suspected that wasn't how he had meant it. She was about to reply when Leira flung herself into the water with a delighted scream before the sudden splash of her dive. "Oh, Leira..." Liddy shook her head.

"Is she going after the monster herself?! I had heard of your reputation but I didn't expect a lone woman would fight it alone!"

Liddy would have cursed about being right but was now suddenly terrified. "Oh," she almost whispered before she ran to the railing and leaned over. "Leira!"