Sufferance Ch. 10

In our subsequent matings, in spite of what the Priestess had said before, she didn't demand I be taken anally (again) when I seemed so willing to do as she said. She wanted the best chance of me catching, didn't she? It was a good thing she underestimated me, mostly due to my young age. She would mention how young I was in one way or another, whenever she could.

Now, after four times being bred under heavy incense and having her watching, commenting, and demanding to participate...Wilsira had left with Shyntre, and the room was quiet in a way it never had been with her present. Kerse and I stared at one another.

The Draegloth was crouched down, one arm resting on his thigh as his other hand balanced him as the third point of contact with the floor. I saw his free hand move between his legs, not lewdly but almost in a proper hand sign. I only saw it because I was fully facing him; if anyone had been to the sides, they'd have seen nothing.

Only when he repeated it did I straighten up off the wall and began methodically checking the room before eventually reaching intended my goal: the two lanterns in the room. I found two bloodstones immediately.

Magic was not my strong suit, but thanks to my spy-related specialties, I knew that bloodstone was a fine choice for a scrying spell. One could choose either visual or aural scrying, but not both. The reflection or echo of any life energy was absorbed to be replayed later either for the original caster or a designated user—but only one time, so take notes—and also did not record for longer than a few marks at best once the magic had been tapped, all depending on the strength of the caster.

It was possible the Matron of the House set these in here, but I thought it was much more likely that it had been the Priestess.

Glancing at Kerse without moving my head, I saw him nod subtly without making eye contact, and I took the stones into the bathing room, wrapped them up in a cloth and filling the sink with water, submerging them and—for good measure—adding a piece of raw iron from my pouch into the water. The water would muffle all sound and that particular metal would disrupt the magic to a degree.

The Draegloth finally smiled a little when I returned, some of the tension easing in his shoulders.

"Anything else?" I asked.

He shook his head, though I did another sweep anyway and he just watched me without seeming insulted. I didn't find anything.

"Did you see her put those bloodstones in here?"

Kerse shook his head. "Fffeel magicks."

"Upon our arrival?"

Again, he shook his head. "Ssoonn affterr. Mmotherr's."

"I see." I was still fully dressed, and I leaned against the sturdy writing desk and breathed out slowly. By the Goddess, I was tired.

"We have about a quarter mark left before I'm ready," I murmured. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Nneed slleeep," he commented, gesturing at me.

"I look that bad, do I?" I smirked. As long as we were being honest... "Why did you warn me before?"

He tilted his head as if confused. He wasn't going to acknowledge that he understood what I meant. Assuming he did.

No, I was sure he did. I may have been physically compromised, but I had heard him clearly.

"Why did you penetrate my netherhole the first time?"

"Wwannted itt. Ttighterr."

I waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"She wanted you to breed me. Like you did Curgia, correct? You know how."

Kerse shook his head as if he was confused.

I pressed for more on Curgia but he stopped talking altogether. I was forced to turn it back to my original point.

"She wanted you to seed my sex, Kerse. She assumed you had, that was clear by what she said afterward. But you didn't."

He shrugged, looking down almost embarrassed. "Missundrstoodd. Exxcitted. Hhave yyou. Nott wannt to admmitt..."

"Drider dung, Kerse."

He stopped talking and looked annoyed, but simply waited. I got the feeling he wasn't telling me anything. He was playing dumb or being evasive.

And I was being too direct; he saw my purpose for every question. Granted, that was because I both sleep-deprived and didn't know enough about his kind and the Priesthood to ask the subtler ones. Damn it.

I sighed and began the familiar ritual of removing my possessions and uniform, and Kerse perked up out of his slight sulk. Once nude, I wrapped up everything but the larger weapons in my cloak and place it and all else in Wilsira's trunk, which she had agreed to leave open for me on the condition that I would get some sleep. I wouldn't be able to get dressed until she came back, as she was the only one who could open it, but all the pieces of my uniform would be secure.

Truthfully, that was likely the only way I would be able to slip into any sort of restful reverie.

Before closing the trunk's top, I noted of hers that only the clothing and beautification items were left. She'd taken more than usual with her this time; two leather bags were gone for sure. Well, what could I expected? Of course I would go through them if she'd left them.

I secured my own things then I stretched out on the bed, leaving it up to Kerse what he did next, and rubbed my hand over my eyes and forehead. I definitely had a headache.

His hot hand gently touched my ankle, and when I didn't pull away, it slid up my calf to my knee and I felt the heavy weight climbing onto the foot of the bed. Both hands caressed my thighs and nudged at them, voicelessly asking me to spread them as he loomed over me.

He had plenty of self-restraint when he chose. He had even learned to watch his strength. A blatant lie, claiming he had been too excited in wanting my ass to follow his mother's directive. What was he up to?

I opened my legs for him, and he quickly cupped my upper thighs and settled down to nuzzle between them. I did genuinely enjoy the way his tongue felt; both longer and stronger, and surprisingly versatile. He was unable to use any lips because of his teeth, so this could never be mistaken for a Drow's mouth. He purred as my breathing quickened, content in my pleasure for a time.

I felt my nipples tighten and glanced at the candle mark by the bed. Another fraction to go before I could take him, just to be safe. I was better off drawing this out, so I worked on writhing my hips so that he couldn't manage constant stimulation on my nub. My thighs brushed his wide, hard shoulders as he slipped large hands beneath my bottom, lifting me up slightly and trying to hold me in place.

Novel.

A flush crossed my chest as he licked harder, alternating his pressure spots and catching multiple sensitive points in quick succession, and I tensed full-body as my toes curled in the air. Lolth, he was good at this...but then when one possibly had more than four centuries of one-on-one tutoring, one should be.

Good for him; he didn't stop until I'd come.

Gasping and with a more relaxed moan, I glanced at the candle again. I was in the clear; it was a quarter mark past the minimum time.

"Nnoww?" he rumbled.

I nodded. "It's working." He took a moment to look confused and I added tersely, "Cut the act, Kerse, just spurt inside me."

The Draegloth chuckled roughly—he'd shown over the last two cycles that he relished not having to pull out of me prematurely as he had been required at the trial. I wasn't even sure withdrawal was an option anymore once he got that knot inside his companion's hole.

I had also wondered recently whether that alteration in his physical form had been a factor in the sudden changes between him and Wilsirathon...perhaps even indicative of other changes, mental, magical, or otherwise.

Just how many forms could a demon-blood ultimately take in his lifetime? And was that life as long as a Drow's, or shorter? Much longer? I had no idea.

In pure reflex, I braced my arms over my head as Kerse grasped my hips and lifted them straight off the mattress, settling the length of his uneven erection against the lips of my cunt. My head was tilted against the pillow and my back arched backward, my own tits in the way so I couldn't watch as he pressed into me. I only felt his adjustment and the hot tip sinking into my cleft.

He grunted as he pushed all of himself inside—he hadn't developed the knot yet so that was possible—and stroked himself eagerly in my sheath.

I'd never tried this position before; it had never really been practical with the smaller male Drow, or even appealing given how little control I had. Kerse liked using his strength to try to impress me, however, and I could grant that it was the one thing the Draegloth had over his full-blood brothers.

It took getting used to, but I'd made the conscious decision to be more compliant to his and his mother's desires over the last few cycles. I wanted to observe and, being without back-up and having my reserves of strength constantly taxed, I needed to choose my battles.

The brief lack of control now made me want to kick and strike out, but I kept in mind that I knew he was trying things with me that he'd already learned from the Priestess or other encounters. They were not experimentation on his part, I could tell, they were far too practiced and he did seem to want to please. So at the very least, I was learning some intimate details about him and Wilsira.

Blood rushed into my head as an odd sensation began to climb; my ears seemed to develop a layer of water inside as all I heard for a moment was low rushing and a sound like the clang of a metallic heartbeat. I lifted myself higher with my arms, and with Kerse kneeling straight and holding my hips, I remained suspended off the bed. I shook my head to try to dislodge a different, distracting, and unsettling sound: the chiming as if my blood were beginning to turn to shards of crystal bouncing off each other.

Then I was sure I felt claws tracing lightly over my bare abdomen, but I knew Kerse somehow still held my hips with both hands...

I reacted violently in a surge of panic, my legs snapping around his waist to counterbalance the raw strength of my core so I could pull myself up. I grabbed hold of his shoulder with one hand and had my other raised and fisted, ready to strike him or whatever with my full arm and he flinched, pausing our coupling as he folded his legs down and held me impaled on his lap.

He whined and tensed for the blow, but I paused when I could not see anything amiss.

I was breathing too hard, trembling, and I didn't know what had happened except something had been touching me with all hands accounted for...

I felt his bulb then, nudging at my entrance, and the simple weight of my sitting pillion encouraged my slick flesh to slowly expand to allow it in.

He muttered a toothy, "Ssorryy..."

I didn't hear that often. "Sorry for what?"

"Beauttiffull," he rumbled.

I didn't give a damn whether that was flattery or not, I focused on the problem. "What happened?"

He shifted, his hips moving and he nudged at me with his knot again. "Sstopped magickss."

I wasn't positive that I understood what he meant and would have followed up, except that right then he passed the point of no return and my snatch opened just wide enough for a genital lock. I settled on him completely before my own muscles snapped tight again around him, plugging me up and binding us together.

I cried out, and so did he, instinctively trying to thrust a few times but not able to do more than rock now that he was tied to me. He squeezed my backside and breathed raggedly, clutching me tightly to his chest as he trembled and his cock twitched and began flooding me.

I hated not being able to move; I squirmed in his lap, but it only caused him to hold tighter until I could barely fill my lungs. I stopped fighting so I could draw in some air, although my most base thoughts had already gone through several ways I might try to kill him if I really needed to escape...

The Draegloth shuddered every few seconds for quite a while, his warm tongue flicking out to taste the skin of my shoulder or neck now and then. The vibrations coming from his chest were nearly a type of song that one heard in the deepest caves, crooning and keening lower than a Drow could hear; one felt it in the teeth and the bones before one realized it was a sound meant for the ears.

I found I could not remain tense this entire time; I was tiring more quickly than before. His skin became superheated and moist as he held me and finished his enviably long orgasm; his breathing came in deep rows of rushing air behind my ear as he rested his chin on my shoulder. Unintentionally I relaxed with him, my exhaustion setting in more strongly than before we'd started. My eyes nearly fluttered shut.

I couldn't get to any stimulants, they were locked up at the moment, but I also thought this was the best opportunity I'd had so far to rest. Just me and the Draegloth; he was sated, his mother and the wizard weren't here. Kerse wouldn't allow me to come to harm when he still had at least two more cycles enjoying my permissible twat.

The Abyssal creature leaned forward to gently lay me on my back—quite like he had just before he'd plunged into my body during the trial— and tugged to test the current fit; a good pull would disconnect us. While I thought he might linger a little longer, he didn't, taking that good pull to withdraw himself. His semen flooded out of my pussy to soak the bedding beneath.

We both groaned aloud as he did this; that part never had been incredibly comfortable for either of us, but he always seemed hypersensitive afterward so I figured the discomfort was more intense for him.

"Slleeepp," he hissed softly, the weight of his body depressing the mattress next to me. "Nneedd slleepp."

*I know, I know...* I breathed out, felt myself already starting to drift, not caring that I lay in a wet spot.

He nudged me and, damned if I knew why, I turned on my side. He immediately moved closer until we were sharing body heat and his chest and stomach curled protectively at my back. He tentatively draped a long arm over me, tucking his claws in to settle his knuckles against my stomach. I was too tired to protest.

I fell into reverie the next instant, kept still and warm by a large and changing body.

******

*What have you done to us, Drow?*

No. It wasn't just me. It was as much you.

*We know what we want.*

Then you know more than most do. It'll change.

*Accept what you've done.*

It happened. What else is there to accept?

*The merging of minds.*

But still separate.

*Stronger when embraced.*

But at the cost of something else.

*Everything costs.*

We agree. Leave me. I've best on my own.

*Not anymore. Too late. You know that.*

Why give up what's hard-earned so easily?

*To be the best at something else.*

Impossible if I don't know it as I've known myself.

*Knowing ourselves is the weakest of walls. It breaks often and we rebuild often. The blind pretend it was never broken.*

So...how does one know what may cross over to stay, before the wall is rebuilt?

*Only when we face it on the other side...*

My eyes flew open and I was standing vertical and bare-footed on the carpeted floor before I fully realized that I'd heard the door unlock. Wilsira and Shyntre entered and all four of us were staring silently at each other as details became apparent.

The wizard's nostrils flared and he gave a twitch of an expression about the strength of the scent in the room. He carried a bottle of something and two small glasses.

The Priestess was studying my hips and thighs and looked pleased; I had not cleaned up and the Draegloth seed was visible, sticky in some places and flakey in others.

Kerse sat up slowly on the bed and churred a greeting to his dam.

"You can stand down now, Sirana," she said, almost soothing. "No one is attacking."

I realized my hand had been fisted as if holding a non-existent dagger, my stance one ready to fight, even though any recent attacks weren't ones that could be handled directly with sharp blades...

Wilsira smiled at Kerse. "Are you feeling better, my own?"

He nodded an affirmative and crawled off the bed to crouch before the Priestess as I'd often seen him do when he was at her disposal.

"And did our dedicated warrior rest at last?" She was still talking to Kerse, not me.

Again, he nodded. "Slleepp."

"Excellent. The sharper a Sister's awareness, the better!"

The Priestess looked too pleased, in my opinion. Had Kerse been instructed to do something to me while I slept? It could be paranoia, except that I knew she really was out to trap me.

If I didn't find anything on me, though, D'Shea would. I'd insist on it if she didn't, although I wouldn't think my crafty Elder mage would allow me back at the cloister without a thorough inspection after being alone with a Priestess for so long. Particularly since I had been unconscious at least once.

That was on Kerse, though, whether he had taken any initiative, and how. It wasn't up to me, except in that I would try not to have to sleep again on this trip.

It was late eve and the House dining had already occurred. I'd been asleep for eight marks, easily twice as long as I normally needed. I retrieved my belongings from Wilsira's trunk and went into the bathing room again, washing myself and inspecting everything thoroughly, piece by piece, as I redressed.

Physically, I found nothing unusual or missing, and sadly, I wasn't sensitive enough or knowledgeable enough about magic to be able to do more than sense the magic in the items I already used as part of the Sisterhood. Nothing foreign in my skin that I could feel or see, no marks on my body, nothing in my braids as I combed them out and then plaited and secured them again.

"I am going to the kitchens, Priestess," I said on exiting, feeling much better for having my uniform on and weapons back to hand. "I must eat."

The Priestess had reclined in a comfortable chair with a glass of whatever Shyntre had carried in. She nodded, but then Kerse growled; he was looking straight at the wizard as Shyntre shifted nervously.

Wilsira chuckled. "Why don't you take him with you, Sirana? I'd like to be alone and my son will protect me. Just don't roll the mage again where the House can see you."

Shyntre seemed just as eager as I felt to leave the room at last. He breathed out as we walked farther down the hall, but said nothing directly. I let the silence remain until we'd found the kitchens; Shyntre stood slightly behind me at all times and let my uniform get the immediate service one could expect, even though those of the House had been entirely surprised at my arrival and had to be given time to respond.

The surprise was the most necessary factor in coming here, unless I wanted to go out and hunt down my own meal.

"The stew, the bread, that fruit, that water."

I watched as the head Drow instructed the little Peches to serve up generous helpings of only the things I could see that were part of a communal supply—nothing specialized, nothing that plenty of others didn't share as well. They assumed the wizard with me needed a meal, too, and handed him a platter laden with double servings.

Shyntre began to protest, but I said, "Thank you," and gestured for him to follow me.

We found a small patio out of doors, and I could enjoy the open air, even as my eyes never really stayed still and were constantly scanning the place. Shyntre set down the platter on a table and I pulled it toward me to begin eating immediately. I was in desperate need of fuel.

"You will eat mine as well, Red Sister?" he asked wryly though quietly.

"Yes. I presume you've already eaten with the Priestess?"

"I have."

"Good."

He studied me. "Are you eating for two, Sister?" he leaned to whisper with a smirk.

I kicked him under the table and he yelped, rubbing his unprotected shin through his robe. I didn't respond further; I was too hungry. I did manage to eat most of what was on the platter and Shyntre still regarded me with surprise.