Chapter 28: A Date with Darkmaw (◆)

virgilknightley

Darkmaw's art is in the Discord. The uncensored nude art is a Patreon exclusive. The sequel to Esoterica is available on Kindle today!

"I'm not here to play," I said, my eyes taking in the sight of her breathtaking nudity. I'd be lying if I suggested the idea of a frolic in the grass with her held no appeal to me, at least on a physical level, but emotionally the notion still repulsed me. Not after Silver Moon's death, anyway, which she was still responsible for. By her own admission, her wolves did it, even if she didn't have a direct hand in it.

She cocked her head sideways, eyeing me suspiciously. "You want to fight, then, Apex Hero?"

"Not really," I said, still on edge. "If that's what I was hoping for, I would've brought friends."

She frowned, lowering her head, her eyes glowing red and glaring. "I don't want the other man."

"Then behave," I snarled at her, trying to sound tough. It worked, I thought. She kept staring at me with a look that seemed almost submissive--almost. "Tell me how you know so much about my girls and the sanctuary."

She grinned, baring fangs. "Play first. Then talk."

I held my ground. "Talk first. Then maybe I'll play a bit, depending on what that entails."

She leaned on one hip and narrowed her eyes at me. "I do not mean for you to breed me, if that is what you are wondering. Not yet. When I am ready for that, you will eagerly beg for it."

"Un-fucking-likely," I scoffed. I didn't even beg the girls I loved for sex.

She laughed a powerful, husky laugh that oozed with both confidence and femininity. It gave me the chills. Horny chills.

"When the time comes, you will see. But that day isn't today," she said, enunciating every word for me as crisply as she could. "Our courtship is only beginning."

"There is no courtship between us," I said straightly, but at least I understood what her intentions were. "Now tell me what I want to know."

"About the informant?" she asked, her eyes going dull. "How boring. No. I won't tell you that."

"Then I won't play."

She growled at me. "You will play. I cannot tell you how I know what I know because I promised not to tell. My promise is my bond, and it cannot be broken."

I balled my fists tightly in frustration, but I begrudgingly had to admit I was a bit impressed. "I'm surprised to find you demonstrating something resembling a sense of honor," I said.

"You know nothing about me," she said, her voice warm and soothing and brimming with sensual confidence. "But you will know everything about me in time. When we are one, my secrets shall be yours, but until then, I am afraid I cannot tell you what you want to know."

I stared at her in silence for a moment, and then I turned my back on her in a show of disrespect, goading her. I was somehow confident she wouldn't really do any damage to me on purpose, and I also knew riling her up might be a way to get her flustered enough to gab a bit more. She howled in anger at me, and before I knew it she was on top of me, her naked body pinning me to the ground.

Her womanly musk was intoxicating, like sage and sandalwood mixed with a tinge of sweet feminine sweat. Her heavy thighs bestrode me, pressing me against the grass as her hands shoved my shoulders down.

I summoned all the strength I could to reach back and grab her by the arm, briefly imbuing my limbs with the power of the minotaur, Daisy's shifter gift, changing just enough of my body to hurl Darkmaw in front of me.

She hit the ground with a heavy thud, and her glowing eyes found mine as she got back onto all fours. She was grinning. The General pounced again, just as I was starting to get up, and this time I grabbed my lance and brandished it threateningly, but pulled it away at the last second, letting her collide with me. I knew she wasn't trying to be lethal, so it didn't feel right that I should go for the kill. Hubris, maybe, but I just couldn't bare the thought of impaling her in cold blood without her giving me the reason to do so.

"I knew you wouldn't hurt me," she said after knocking me over again. I knew she wouldn't hurt me, too. This time she was looking down on my face with an aroused smile. A hot breath hit my nostrils, and it smelled like mint leaves and cooked meat. It should have been a disgusting smell, but combined with the rest of her fragrances and the very raw, physical context, it was oddly sexy.

I was pinned beneath her again, her claws digging into my shoulders and pushing me back, but it would have been trivial for me to jettison her off of my body with my legs, and she knew that, too. We were... playing.

I let it happen. I reached around her waist, doing a crocodilian death roll that ended with me on top of her. She gasped, her voice husky and low but oozing with womanly appeal. She bit her lip enticingly as she stared at my chest as my muscles flexed beneath a tight tunic.

"You have too much armor," she complained, smiling mischievously. "Remove your garments."

I almost groaned at the suggestion, feeling my cock spring to life in my pants at the implications. "I'm not playing with you," I repeated. "I'm leaving." I stood up, and she frowned--until she saw the tentpole in my loose-fitting pants.

"I knew you enjoyed me. Your self-control is legendary," she giggled. "I will savor making you love me."

"Good fucking luck," I growled, taking a step away from her, but her hand found my ankle.

"I didn't dismiss you." Her tone was suddenly serious. "You don't get to decide when we're done. Not today, at least. Not until you prove yourself my Alpha."

I looked back at her. "Frankly I want nothing to do with you. You're a murderer and a servant of the Goblin Queen."

"You know nothing," she laughed, letting go of my ankle. She had said those words to me a few times now. "It's almost cute. Almost, but not quite." Then she looked me over hungrily, her eyes ravenous with perverse intent. "But you have plenty of other cute features to make up for your ignorance."

"Either you talk, or I'm leaving, and I'd like to see you try to convince me otherwise," I said, taking a step away from her.

Before I knew it, I was knocked back onto the ground in a single fluid motion, and I was on my back, but this time it wasn't her face that stared down at me, but her two heavy tits.

"Easy enough," she said, her voice sultry and smooth as silk. "What if I told you that you could do whatever you wanted to my body, except for breed me, if you manage to pin me to the ground? Would you play then?"

I certainly hoped I had more self-restraint than that. "I've got half a dozen eager hotties waiting for me back home," I said, though that nipple was looking mighty enticing.

"Not one of them would be able to fulfill you like me," she promised. "I've experienced more, seen more, done more, hungered more. I have no inhibitions when it comes to love. I will make you plead for the taste of my cunt, and you'll love every second of your own begging. And then, when you've made me yours, when you've dominated me completely, it is I who will beg you."

Lord help me, I could tell she believed it. She was sexy, for sure, but she wasn't better than any of my girls--no one was. Still, she was something else, for sure, and I found myself getting swept up in her singular appeal. I felt my hand reaching out for her waist almost on its own, but I thought better of it at the last second. However, before I could commit to my refusal, she lowered her body, bending her elbows to drop one of her heavy tits onto my lips.

It was something about her smell, I was certain. Something about her strength. Was I even in control? Was it something in her musk? I couldn't stop myself at that point. I reached up and pulled her hips down against me, and my lips latched onto her tit, and she laughed with self-satisfaction.

"Such a good boy," she cooed, moaning indecently at the kiss of my lips upon her bosom. "This was harder than I thought, but still. Oh, don't feel bad, Apex Hero," she soothed me as I guiltily slurped her nipple. This was so fucked up. I was so fucked up for doing this. "It's fate," she said. "We're meant to be, you'll see. I'm your lover, not your foe."

I pulled my head away from her incredible breasts and protested, regaining my composure. "No," I protested. "This is wrong. You murdered Silver Moon. I won't do this with you."

"If that's your only hangup, then let me assure you I had no part in it," she said, her hand brushing my hair as she guided her breast back into my mouth, but I closed my lips tight and turned my head away from her. She pouted at that. "A group of wood elves spooked my wolves, driving them away from me. I only showed up in Tater Town to take them home, and I was also disturbed to find the goat girl dead. I tried to stop it, but was too late. When you came, though, I just had to play. To test you. And you were the perfect way to draw my wolves away from anyone else who might have been more vulnerable."

I froze. Could that be true? But wasn't the Goblin Queen one of the Dark Queens? And wasn't Darkmaw some sort of general in the Goblin Queen's army? What the fuck was going on here?

"This doesn't make sense," I said, pushing her off of me and sitting upright. "You're evil and a servant of a Dark Queen."

She grinned. "Can I let you in on our very first secret, Apex Hero? You must promise not to tell anyone. Even Autumn."

I winced at her casual use of my catgirl's name. She truly knew too much. "You're a traitor to the Goblin Queen?" I guessed, but she laughed.

"No," she said. "The Goblin Queen isn't the enemy of monster girls. Have you not noticed that I'm a monster girl, too?"

There was no getting around that. "Then why is she one of the Dark Queens?"

"Because she carved up the western territories of Goldenvale to protect them from the Demon Queen," she said. "Her orcs are mindless, wicked things, corrupted by the sway of her betraying generals, but her mission is to stir chaos in this realm just enough so that monster girls stay in their homes where it's safe and don't attract the attention of the Demon Queen's armies. Monster girls cannot reproduce quickly enough to fight back, so this is the only way."

I squinted. "So the Goblin Queen is good?"

"She certainly isn't bad," she agreed, gazing intensely into my eyes. "But the other generals are after her power. It’s their goblins and orcs that do the killing—not hers. She… doesn’t know the full truth. They want to use her and control the orcs and attack the villages and Aurora City. This will destabilize everything, inviting the demons into our home. There are threats in these lands, but the Goblin Queen is not the villain you think she is."

Huge if true. My world had just been turned upside down. But it would need to be verified some other way until I knew for certain I could trust her. If I couldn't find a way to safely do that, then I'd just have to proceed with caution.

"General Keenfury?" I asked, recalling the name.

"The horned ogre," she nodded. "He and General Dingore, who also resides with his lieutenants near Keenfury's Keep, both desire to enslave the Goblin Queen."

"If that's true, what are you doing about it?" I asked.

Her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed. She spoke in a lower whisper now. "Staying close. Keenfury's Keep isn't far from here. I am watching his movements. The Goblin Queen doesn't believe me, or refuses to take action, which pains me, but it's true."

I shook my head and stood. She stood with me, her expression now serious. "So, let me break it down. The Goblin Queen is a balancing power, not an oppressor, but she pretends to be evil to maintain regional stability and deter the Demon Queen. But she does breed orcs and other greenskins, right?" I said.

"Correct," she said.

"And they are evil. At least they seem to be to me," I pointed out. "I've never met one that didn't immediately attack me. The first thing I saw in the world was a group of orcs and goblins trying to enslave my holstaurs."

"May Belle and Daisy," she nodded. It still chilled me that she knew their names so well. "They are so pretty. And yes, orcs are vicious creatures, as are most greenskins, because they have to be to keep up the illusion and keep monster girls from expanding and putting themselves in the path of the Demon Queen. But it used to be that orcs didn’t ever kill. That changed when Keenfury took his rank." There was real hate in her voice.

"Surely there are better ways?" I asked. "It sounds so fucking contrived." Still, I couldn't actually offer up anything else now that I was thinking about it. The system apparently worked.

"The Goblin Queen has sought many means to bring peace. This is what she decided upon. But I fear it won't last forever, even if Keenfury is defeated—you are right. There are too many moving pieces in the world now. Eventually the Demon Queen and the Witch Queen will need to be reckoned with. Some say they may combine forces."

"So, the Goblin Queen is basically in danger of being assassinated," I said.

"No," Darkmaw said grimly. "Keenfury needs her to produce more greenskins. She is in danger of becoming a breeding slave."

I swallowed hard. "That is bad." I had just gone from seeing the Goblin Queen as my primary antagonist to seeing her as a potential damsel in distress. "But how do I know that you're not telling me some bizarre lie?"

She looked offended. Genuinely disgusted by the notion. "I would never lie to my mate. Never." Suddenly I felt a spur of guilt as I thought of Daisy's confused face as I headed off to this rendezvous. Something I needed to make right soon.

"The mate thing... That's another thing we have to talk about," I sighed.

A distant howl sounded in the forest to her back. She looked up at the moon as if confirming something. Then, her eyes fell back upon me. "I must go. Meet me here again if you need me. I will always be waiting for you." She leaned forward, and I tensed, expecting a kiss, but it didn't happen. Instead, she sniffed me--a deep, inhaling sniff. 

"What the fuck was that?" I asked, making a sour face.

"I have memorized your scent completely. I will never lose you."

"It would be fine if you lost me every once in a while," I groaned.

"Never," she said, shaking her lustrous mane. "And soon you will be hungering for me to find you. Just wait, Apex Hero, until your cock knows my lips, and your tongue knows my womanhood. You shall see. I will serve you like no other without shame or reservation. You are destined to be my Alpha." She grinned. Then the kiss came in the form of a surprisingly chaste peck on the cheek, and scant moments after that she assumed the form of a wolf, disappearing into the thicket.

I sighed. "This complicates things." But then I thought about her incredible body, her obvious fixation on me, and about how, if what she said was true, it at least took away a lot of the guilt I was feeling about being with her. I smiled to myself. "Or maybe it makes it all a bit simpler."