Westrons Pt. 15

Avette, classy lady that she was, didn't say anything. She just gave me a gentle hug.

- "You were right." I said. I repeated what Berandot had said, in her attempt to infuriate me.

That led to loud requests from Tallia, Aneli and Nasta and Koroba to have me describe exactly what had happened, from my perspective.

- "Really?"

- "We couldn't hear very well." said Nasta. "We were too far away."

- "You'd best tell them." laughed Tudino. "Otherwise, they'll just make something up."

- "Yes." said Kanitz. "I wonder how many versions of the story will be circulating by nightfall. But I doubt that Berandot will be the heroine in many of them." I quite enjoyed the sight of the Queen's Chancellor laughing.

- "You may as well tell it." said Esyle, putting her hand on my shoulder. "They'll just keep pestering you until you do."

She and Tallia were sitting next to - or on me, to be more precise. It was as if they needed to touch me to be sure that I was really there. I felt the same.

So I re-told the whole thing, from what I remembered.

I looked straight at Yehla when I repeated what Berandot had said about hybrids. My former bodyguard swallowed, and fought back tears.

Tudino nodded along, confirming that I'd said or done exactly that. But even she was surprised when I admitted that I'd 'adjusted' my package, just before Berandot shot.

- "You didn't!" shouted Tudino.

- "I did." Then I raised my glass to Avette. She smiled, and nodded once.

- "That's so rude!" said Koroba. "I love it!" I was glad that she and Nasta approved, because it was plain from the expression on Ishana's face that the commander of my bodyguard was less than impressed.

- "I am still proud of you." said Langoret. "Despite your unorthodox methods."

- "Why didn't you shoot her, though?" asked Aneli. "I don't understand!"

- "He hurt her worse." said Avette. "He might have missed, or he could have injured or even killed her. But what Cook did hurt her more. He shattered her pride."

- "She can just challenge him again."

- "Oh, no." said Kanitz, with a glance at Avette. Those two exchanged a very interesting look. "Everyone will believe that Cook spared her - that he was merciful. For her to pursue another duel would publicly brand her as ungrateful, even dishonourable."

- "She would rather die, than be humiliated." said Avette.

- "Exactly." said Kanitz. Those two made eye contact again. "She cannot challenge him again - by her own code."

- "That's a fitting punishment, then." said Tallia.

Tallia's hand began to roam a little higher on my thigh. I wasn't about to complain, but it felt odd to have my lover caressing me, when we were sitting with a gathering of women who ... well, let's put it this way: I'd had sex with 6 of the women present - and was hoping, or expecting to have sex with 2 or 3 more.

It also struck me that 3 of these women were hybrids, and that three more were mothers of hybrids (not counting Kanitz and Tudino, who might be pregnant).

What a place.

Tallia almost dragged me upstairs before our guests had gone.

- "It won't take long." she whispered, directly into my ear, so that I could feel her hot breath and her wet tongue.

- "It would be rude. Besides - I want it to take a long time ..."

I didn't want the party to break up too soon. There was something about Kanitz's expression ... somehow, I knew that gatherings like this didn't happen often enough. Four Colonels, the Chancellor, four Countesses ... could this be the beginning of something bigger?

***

Tallia and Esyle just about wore me out, over the next week. If they'd had some kind of schedule, or some kind of agreement about sharing me, that quickly went out the window. They both wanted me - every day. I did my best to keep up.

Avette's note arrived a week after the duel. Her hemmer was due to begin.

Tallia and Esyle were agreed that I shouldn't - or couldn't - turn down this invitation. I understood their logic: it wasn't polite to turn down a friendly invitation to have sex (multiple times, over several days). I was still amazed, though, after all this time, at their lack of jealousy.

Avette had rented a cottage outside the city, just like Tudino, only hers was larger and more luxurious. My bodyguards were impressed. First class all the way for the new Countess.

She greeted me at the door with a brief hug and a light kiss on the cheek.

I was shocked, because I could tell, right away: her hemmer was well under way. I was instantly, painfully hard. Her scent was powerful, heady. I could feel her arousal, and my body temperature was swiftly rising.

But Avette was remarkably composed. In fact, her body language was unequivocal - not just yet, she was communicating, without saying a word. Patience.

She gave me a brief tour of the cottage. It reminded me of a ski lodge, or an alpine chalet. She offered me a tray of smoked meats, with some cheese and bread, in deference to my Pylosian eating habits.

- "That's very thoughtful." I said. "Thank you."

I wanted her. I wanted her very badly. But if Avette enjoyed this patient buildup, it would've been churlish of me not to go along.

She poured me a glass of light wine, and then another for herself. She indicated a chair for me, and then sat down on a couch opposite.

- "Will you pledge a toast?" she asked.

I touched the edge of her glass with mine. "To a graceful lady. I've never been so happy to see someone as I was when we met on the field at Limset."

"But you almost matched it when you opened the door for me, today."

She smiled. "You could have been a courtier."

- "I fear that my knowledge of ... the proprieties is limited. For example, I have no idea if it's acceptable to tell a woman that her ... fragrance is intoxicating."

- "If you are alone with her, and she is in hemmer ... then, yes, that is a suitable topic for discussion."

I knew better than to compare her to others. It might come across as bragging: 'Well, at the other hemmers I've attended ...'

- "I am quite awed, Avette, by your composure. Your scent is very potent, and I can feel you - as if you were trailing fingertips across my skin. I'm sure that I'm flushed. I feel warm, and ... very, very aroused."

"But your self-control is amazing. I don't know how you do it."

- "The same way you do." she said. "I know what is to come, but I don't surrender to it immediately. The rewards of patience are immense."

- "Pleasure deferred is pleasure intensified."

- "Exactly." Avette smiled. "That's it. I'm very pleased to hear you say that."

- "It's your hemmer, Avette. I reserve the right to surprise you, here and there - but we'll proceed as you wish."

- "Your self-control is impressive." she said. "Countess Kanitz told me about it, but I must confess that I thought she was exaggerating."

- "You are definitely testing my limits." I told her. "But I want to please you, first."

- "That has the sound of a challenge. Let me see if I can test you further."

Avette put her glass of wine down. She stood, and then - slowly - lifted a hand to the top of her shirt.

What followed was the most incredible striptease I've ever seen - I emphasize the tease. Her movements were so deliberate, so slow ... she didn't gyrate her hips, or pout - she simply tantalized me as she took damn near forever to undo one button.

The body she revealed - ever so gradually - was spectacular.

High breasts, with splendid aureoles and erect nipples ... a trim waist ... I was already an admirer of her olive complexion, but by the time she lowered her breeches to her knees, I was firmly convinced that there should be statues of her all over Cercen.

Avette sat down on the couch, her knees together, turned to the side. She was naked, and yet somehow she managed to look almost demure.

I knelt at her feet, and rested my hand on her silky smooth leg. I stroked the top of her thigh. She didn't protest; the expression on her face was difficult to read, but I interpreted it as encouragement - along with a little curiosity.

She let me run my hands over her magnificent body. She didn't flinch when I cupped her superb breast. I helped her stand, so that I could reach even more places on her body.

Then she stopped me - but only so that she could begin to undress me. She took her time, again, teasing both of us as she drew out the simple operation of undoing a button. Her hands roamed, too, but she never reached, or over-extended herself.

I sat her down again, and this time she let me spread her knees. I kissed the inside of her leg, and gradually worked my way up her inner thigh, while I trailed my fingers across her mound.

When I first kissed her pussy, Avette stopped breathing for an instant.

- "Oh - Oh, you really do ..."

I smiled, with my lips on her labia. I hadn't even kissed Avette on the mouth, yet. But she'd evidently heard that I'd gone down on someone ... Kanitz? Or Tudino?

Westron females do love to talk about sex. Unfortunately, their hemmers are often so powerful that it short-circuits the brains of Westron males. Many can't think of anything but a mad rush to orgasm.

Avette had already made her preference clear, and I was more than prepared to indulge her: what followed might have been the most protracted session of oral sex in the history of the Westron Kingdom.

I paced myself. My knees got tired long before my tongue did; I shifted her position so that she was lying on her back - that way I could lie between her legs, on my stomach.

After a long, long time, Avette reached down to run her fingers through my hair. Then she shuddered, and let out a sigh.

- "Shall I continue?" I asked her.

- "Mmm - no. I think that you should enter me, now."

She was warm, and wet, and surprisingly ... accommodating. I wouldn't use the word 'loose'. Considering that they only had sex once a year - or less - I would've expected Westron women to be quite tight.

But their hemmer obviously got them over that difficulty. In addition to driving males mad, and causing consistent erections for days, the females were incredibly lubricated, so that they could copulate a dozen times or more, without experiencing any significant chafing or soreness.

I entered Avette in the missionary position. Long, deep strokes, followed by a few shorter thrusts ... all of them slow.

- "Mmm ..." I think she was letting me know that she approved of the pace.

After quite some time, my arms got tired of supporting my upper body. But I didn't want to lay down atop her, and make her bear my weight.

Avette sensed my dilemma.

- "Shall we move to the bed?" she suggested.

She laid me on my back, and took charge of the motion, and the pace. Slow. Unhurried. Gently rocking her hips, she slid back and forth on my erection for quite a long time.

When she eventually tired, Avette lay down beside me, facing away. She had me enter her from behind. My first orgasm crept up so slowly that it surprised me.

I can't quite explain it. It felt - at least to me - that we did nothing but fuck, or rest in between bouts. But when I tried to figure out, afterwards, how many times we'd ... coupled, until I came inside her - the only number I came up with was six.

She was very fond of spooning, because it required so little energy. But she was also happy to change positions frequently, and she did seem to enjoy doggy.

When I introduced her to face to face, with her sitting astride my thighs, she was quite keen. Yet she said very little. It was no less intimate, but it was definitely unusual.

I'd never experienced anything like it - or anyone like Avette. Coupling with her was like gliding, or stroking. There was no pounding, no pummeling ...

It was like skating, instead of running, or jumping.

Her hemmer lasted a little less than two days.

***

- "Another invitation?"

- "Looks like." said Esyle, weighing the heavy envelope in her hand.

After the duel with Berandot, or perhaps after the news of Tudino's four-day hemmer - who knows? - I started to receive invitations from females I'd never met, or could barely remember meeting.

The invitations were all the same: they were asking me to 'attend' their hemmers.

I insisted that we discuss it - Tallia, Esyle, and me.

- "I'm not interested in sex with strangers." I told them. "I have more than I can deal with, as it is. In Pylos, I'd be thrilled to be in a monogamous relationship with either one of you."

"Look at your father: he feels lucky to have your mother - and so he should."

- "You're not our father." said Tallia.

- "Thankfully." added Esyle.

- "Honestly -" said big sister. "We should consider some of these invitations. You could make some important connections. New friends ..."

- "I prefer to have sex with people I like." I said. Yes - I actually said that.

Esyle was letting Tallia argue with me, while she opened the latest bulky envelope.

- "Oh!" she said.

- "Who's that one from?" asked Tallia.

- "Countess Iloni. She's inviting Cook to ... dinner."

- "No." I said, a split-second before Tallia did.

Esyle looked thoughtful. "I don't know if you should refuse. She may not like that."

- "Too bad."

Neither sister tried to talk me out of my decision.

***

"Could we speak to you, Colonel?" asked two of my bodyguards. It was the two blondes, Koroba and Nasta.

- "Always. No need to be so formal." I said. "What's on your mind?"

Koroba produced a bottle of resin wine - the cheap stuff.

- "Can we talk over a drink?"

- "You didn't have to bring a bottle." The Belere was well-stocked, thanks to Tudino.

- "Well ... we wanted to offer you a drink - not ask for one."

- "I see. Alright." I ushered my two bodyguards into my study - at least, that was what Esyle called it. There were books, and maps, and functional chairs.

I brought in three glasses, and Koroba popped the cork on her bottle.

- "To successful duels, and happy hemmers." she said.

We touched glasses. Nasta had trouble meeting my eye, while Koroba was grinning impishly - her customary expression, really.

Nasta was a big girl - tall, blonde, blue-eyed - and built like a shield-maiden from the Kievan Rus. She wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she had a good sense of humour. The first thought to cross her mind was often instantly transformed into words, spilling from her mouth without any checks or controls.

Koroba was shorter, slimmer, and much quicker in every sense. She had a wicked wit. She also had that combination that had so bedeviled me when I first met Themis: blonde hair, a fair complexion, and brown eyes.

The wine was ghastly.

- "What's on your mind?" I repeated.

Koroba grinned. "Nasta has to ask you something. But she's too shy. Or embarrassed. So she asked me to speak for her."

- "Fair enough."

- "She doesn't want to have her hemmer with you."

- "Koroba!" said Nasta. "That wasn't -"

Koroba couldn't help it: she started laughing

- "Sorry - sorry!" she said, to Nasta. Then she turned to me. "Sorry, Colonel. I couldn't resist."

"Here's the long and the short of it: Nasta wanted to hemmer with you, but then she met this guy, and now she's in love, because it could be serious."

"So Nasta feels bad, because she's worried that you were expecting to be there, at her hemmer, but ... well ... there you have it."

- "I'm sorry." said Nasta. "I hope you're not disappointed, or ..."

- "Oh, but I am." I said.

- "Umm ... what?"

- "I turned down Countess Iloni, just this very morning, because I was expecting to be with you."

The look on Nasta's face was priceless. She flushed, and moved her lips, but no sound came out.

Until Koroba's peal of laughter startled us both.

- "OH! You should see your face! He got you! He got you good!"

Nasta was still confused. I reached out, and took her hand.

- "I was just joking. I'm really glad, if you've found someone. I understand, completely."

Koroba was still laughing.

- "You're a piece of work, Colonel. I love it!"

We had to reassure Nasta - she was still confused. Eventually she realized that I wasn't angry. Koroba drained her drink, and re-filled all three glasses.

- "That was the first part." she said. "The second is ... my hemmer. I still want you, Colonel. I mean - if you wouldn't mind." For the first time since I'd known her, Koroba sounded slightly tentative, as if she wasn't completely sure of herself.

I decided not to tease her. "It would be an honour and a pleasure." I assured her.

***

The next invitation came in an even bulkier envelope. It took Esyle a few moments to figure it out. She started passing pages to Tallia.

- "There are multiple invitations in here! A concert, a Grand Ball ... even a boat party. For all three of us."

- "What's the occasion?"

Both sisters turned to me, with almost identical expressions of exasperation.

- "The Royal Wedding!" they shouted, in chorus.

- "Weddings, actually." said Tallia. "The Queen is getting married, and so is her sister - Princess Maia Simonia."

*****