The Saga of Tallia the Unwilling Ch. 07

"Gods on high and in hell, Hi, I think..." she said something more after that, but it was not intelligible. It was more of a muffled grunt as she placed her head down into the rough bedding. Hilarius had guessed right. As sensitive as she was, as responsive as she, she was capable of having an anal orgasm. In the rogue's experience, most women can. Certainly, his proficiency with coercing them out of certain actresses and acrobats had made him a favorite recreation in a travelling troupe he had once been part of, oh so many years ago before his career as a courtier and an gladiator.

Oh and it works on men too. Gods, how many so-called 'straight' men had Hilarius given their first anal orgasm? It was a number that was not easily to calculate so right now, distracted as he was by Amazonian ass, so the little thief didn't try. Really, mused Hilarius, the anal orgasm is something that ties together almost all of humanity.

The effect of this deep, internal release within his partner was immediately noticeable. Tallia relaxed in that one post-orgasmic moment far more than his gentle, slow penetration had accomplished in a far longer span. He considered, was now the time to fuck her beautiful bottom with his cock? 'Let's give it a go,' thought the rogue.

She gasped at his entry. Even though he had barely put in tip, this was still quite a bit more girth than the slender, delicate finger of the rogue. By the seven gods of fortune, she was still tight. But now, he could at last really enter this prize long sought-after. He for the first time, truly penetrated the ass of Tallia the Unwilling. Hilarius was immediately sure, this was going to be a memory he was going revisit time and time again, especially when stroking his own cock.

He was also sure he wasn't going to last long. And who could blame him? When you've built up a thing so much in your private fantasies it can be difficult, in the actual moment, to stay in control. Hilarius was a skilled and giving lover, but about sex with Tallia -- well, let's just say that every man has his limits.

He pumped into her fine bottom vigorously for perhaps a few minutes. The feeling was beyond exquisite. The emotion of this moment was overwhelming. The symbolism in their developing relationship could equally not be denied. And so, Hilarius came. He came madly, quickly, powerful, frenetically, intensely and likely two or three other adverbs as well.

Hilarius collapsed, his cock still wedged into her bottom, across her back. "By the seven gods of fortune and fucking," proclaimed Hilarius, "that was... that was..." He strained for the right word. He struggled. He delved. He pondered. A vast panoply of poetic possibilities presently passed before the post-coital poet. The lad was lost in a lingering lassitude of lexicographic luxuries and lurid loquaciousness.

"Good," he finally arrived at. Yes, precisely so.

They at last uncoupled. Hilarius still sweating from love's exertions, cuddled up to his goddess. At last, he felt totally liberated from his time in the dungeons. At last he felt truly once more happy and free.

***

The pair of lovers rested, naked and entangled, by the pool for a short time. They did need to get back to Sang's camp with the refilled waterskins. There was also the possibility of sidhe-demons and beast-men patrols they had been ignoring now for some time.

As they fully awakened, stretched and regained their composure, they redressed. That did not take long. Tallia only had the blanket which she pinned and wore like a cloak and a stolen leather harness that crossed her chest and covered nothing. Hilarius at least had a loin cloth and his sandals. He also had a leather belt that held his short curving sword and his truly disparate collection of knives stolen from various beast-men.

Filing the skins took a few minutes and as they did that, the pair chatted pleasantly.

"I want you to know," remarked Hilarius. "I understand what you did back there."

"What did I do?" asked Tallia, puzzled.

"Keeping Liandra calm with that 'we-are-going-to-kill-the-wizard' talk. It was very clever. More clever than me. She was never going to listen to reason."

"Clever?" said Tallia. "I was serious."

Hilarius was taken back. "Tallia, my friend, my lover, my life, you are beginning to sound as crazy as the priestess. Am I missing something here? Have you forgotten the part of the last few days where that bastard Arion made you and me into his puppets with a single glance?"

"Of course, I have not forgotten," she said darkly.

Hilarius stopped filling the skins and slumped back against the wall. "I can't do it, Tallia. I can't go back there again. He... he frightens me. Arion truly frightens me. If I go back, I might very well lose my humanity, my mind, everything that makes me who I am."

Tallia almost said something, but could think of no answer. "Hi..." was all she managed.

"You must understand," interrupted Hilarius, "I have followed you into the jaws of death more than once. When you proposed becoming partners in the arena to save our skins, I was in. When we escaped and became monster hunters, still in. I went with you to hunt that man-eating eagle, the two-headed wolf and the horned bear even when everyone assured me each meant certain death. But this wizard... this wizard is too much for us!"

Tallia glared at the rogue silently.

"Oh, no," answered Hilarius in response to that look, "No silent stares or sulking through this one. If you want me to go with you back into that wizard's den, I need to know how you plan to kill Arion Three-Eyes. Convince me there is a single shred of hope and I'll follow you merrily once more to hell."

Tallia considered for a moment and then finally admitted, "I'm not sure. If I had my sword..."

Hilarius tried to keep calm, but was now doing a poor job. "Your sword?! You've had your sword in Arion's presence twice! Once he ordered you to hand it to him, which you very obligingly did. The second time, you threw it at him and he caught it with his mind. That's what you said happened!"

"That did happen," sighed Tallia.

"You're not giving me much to hang on to here, Tallia," said the rogue.

"Together, you and I can do anything!" said Tallia. "We killed that tiger-dragon together! Together we are mighty!"

"I've news for you, Tallia... Arion is mightier than me. Or you. Or all of us. He calls forth sorcery and possesses magic like I've never even heard of. He has an army of beast-men slaves. He's in league with a demon queen and makes monsters just for fun. The only reason we survived that arena and that damned prison is that he's an arrogant bastard who likes playing with his victims. No, not victims. We were toys, Tallia. He called us toys and he wasn't wrong. I'm not giving him another chance to play with me. We are out of our depth here!" declared Hilarius firmly.

"I can't give up on this, Hilarius," said Tallia equally firmly. "He peered into my mind. He saw my past. He knows all about me. He..."

"He violated you, yes," said the rogue. "Me too. When he dressed me in that pink shift, he told me 'so you're her girlfriend, you pathetic pansy.' I've told no one that you called me your girlfriend. There's only one way he could have known. He got inside my mind. That's what he does. He's a bad guy, Tallia. I'm not arguing he doesn't deserve to die. But we can't do it. We can't. We tried more than once and it is crazy to keep trying when we at last can escape."

"Liandra said that a god led her here," said Tallia realizing even as she spoke how crazy this all sounded. "She said..."

Hilarius interrupted. "This isn't about the gods, Tallia, and you know it. This is your own damned stubborn pride. Tallia the Terrible has never known defeat," said the rogue, "until now."

Tallia's eyes filled with tears. She was almost shaking. Hilarius looked at the Amazon, suddenly understanding. "You've got something you want to say to me. Say it then. You've always wanted to say it. Just spit it out and be done with it."

"I..."

"Say it!"

"COWARD!" cried Tallia.

The word struck Hilarius like a slap across the face. Light hearted Hilarius, the rogue who laughed at death, did not laugh at this. "Yeah, there it is. Coward am I? The same coward who risked his life to guard your back in the arena? The same coward who snuck into the palace of the mad prince only to save you? The same coward who followed a cursed warrior and dared to love him... her?"

"Hilarius, I..."

"I can't do it, Tallia. I would do anything for you but Arion... I've been a slave and a prisoner for too long. I can't do that again. Back in the prison, you called me a genius. But that's not true. I was just desperate. I couldn't die in that horrid place. Please don't do this, my love. Don't leave me."

"I must go back. I must finish this. I..."

Tallia and Hilarius stared at one another, each almost daring the other to speak another word. Finally, Hilarius broke the silence.

"In two days, I'm leaving with Sang," said Hilarius flatly, standing up and collecting the full water skins. "I hope by then that you've swallowed your pride enough to deign to travel with us cowards. Do you remember Yaath'Xin, Tallia? We fled that damned city together to avoid the legions of the mad prince. We ran to save our skins from too powerful a foe. How would this be any different?"

And with that, he left her alone in the deepening dark.

To be continued in Chapter Eight: Goddesses Gone Wild...