Chapter One Hundred: Team Building Exercises

Chapter One Hundred: Team Building Exercises

The first part of my day wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as I’d been hoping for. Not even close. It involved a lot of bullshit that had me ready to raid my armory and take control of the brothel the old fashioned way, consequences be damned.

I spent most of the morning in a series of meetings with Cynthia, her minions, and a representative sent by Rolar. It took absolutely forever, but we finally managed to iron out a contract that Madame Reade would have no choice but to accept. It involved using a combination of my status, money, legal loopholes, and the information Valith and Seven had been able to provide us on her doings. It managed to skirt the line between leverage and blackmail, but considering the things we had on her I hardly had it in me to feel guilty. Especially when Seven’s information just confirmed what I’d been suspecting all along.

The Silver Swallow, while being a successful brothel at face value, was the core of a well organized and widespread trafficking ring that was responsible for providing Arthal with the demi-humans he needed to reach whatever end goal he was vying for. Once we used this contract to scoop the Swallow out from under Reade, Sandrel’s men would be paying her a visit to see just how much she truly knew. I didn’t know what exactly that entailed and, after all the lives she was responsible for ruining, I didn’t ask.

But all of this meant it would be days yet before Stella was free and clear. Every day she was imprisoned in the basement of our enemies was another day something could go wrong, and each one was even harder to endure than the one before it. I still wanted desperately to simply go and liberate her, [Sever] the connection between her brand and her Patron and whisk her away to somewhere I could protect her, but I’d been talked off that proverbial ledge.

It was clear there was more behind Stella’s position than we knew. Her disappearance could very well tip off Reade and end our plan before it even had a chance to begin. Even though the others had a point, it wasn’t until Stella herself (through Festus/Rhallani) weighed in. She wasn’t going to trade her safety for the futures of all the other girls under Reade’s roof.

So we agreed to keep a damn close eye on Reade and her comings and goings. Seven seemed to think it would be some time yet before she had enough demi-humans to smuggle out of the city, but Sandrel had men in place all the same. The proof we had was damning, but if we could catch her red handed then it would accelerate things nicely.

The one silver lining of the whole morning was my own amusement at one of Cynthia’s minions. Deverin, a human who couldn’t have been much younger than me, was one I’d been seeing more and more often. A few times I’d interacted with him in Cynthia’s stead. With a smaller build, a head of curly hair, and thick glasses I’d overlooked him at first, but he proved to be sharp as a whip and more than capable of handling Cynthia when she needed handling.

Like when she started scooping up papers after our meeting ended, mumbling to herself about the things she needed to do today. Deverin pointed out that she needed rest after pulling an all-nighter, and when she tried to brush him off he rolled up a paper and swatted her on the head with it. She pouted at him—a noticeably uncharacteristic expression for her, I felt—but folded under the arched stare he shot back at her and meekly handed over the pages she’d started stacking.

I decided then and there to see about giving him a raise.

Lunch turned out to be a much more enjoyable affair. I ended up in one of the smaller, cozier dining rooms with Allie and her team, Vanni included. Things were a tad awkward at first, but in no time we’d settled into a comfortable conversation. Therese had warmed up to me considerably by the time we called it, though Nora was still... well, Nora. I got the sense she didn’t dislike me, she just wasn’t an overly expressive person. The way her eyes glowed anytime she looked Allie’s way, though, was more than enough for me.

Vanni was having a grand old time. Apparently they’d finally gotten the first set of clothes in that had been made especially for her unique frame. She wore a baggy four-sleeved sweater that hid her figure completely yet didn’t impact her cuteness in one bit. I couldn’t help but notice that she usually had at least one hand playing with the soft fabric, though it felt less like a nervous tick and more like she was just marveling at the garment. From what I’d been told about how Allie had found her it wasn’t hard to guess she was enjoying something comfortable and not designed to show off her body.

Already she was more energetic than she’d been when they’d first arrived. I hadn’t been sure what to do with her when she’d arrived, but she’d taken to standard tasks like cleaning and cooking like they were some of the most fun things she’d ever done. I suppose for someone who’d been a glorified trophy for the last few years of her life that wasn’t so surprising.

Rose, Therese’s dryad companion, was present, though she didn’t say a word the entire lunch. She sat near enough to be considered a part of the meal but not close enough to ever partake in any of the conversation happening. We exchanged a glance at one point and I hated the familiar shadow I saw in her gaze almost as much as what it told me she’d been through. I inclined my head to her, apparently imparting even more than I meant with the short exchange from the way her eyes widened slightly in surprise.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say she was more comfortable after, but it certainly felt like she was a little less on edge. I wished I could help her escape the demons I knew had to be haunting her, but it wasn’t my place. Besides, Allie was probably just as suited as I was for the task if not more so. The best I could do was try to keep an eye on her from afar and be ready to help if the need ever arose.

I’d just stood to take my leave when Therese called my name. “A moment?”

I paused. My lips had just parted to ask her what she needed when they were covered by her own. I felt her hand on my chest as she leaned into the kiss, her tongue swiping at my lower lip before her teeth nipped at it.

She was gone before I could collect myself enough to return the favor, caught completely off guard. She grinned at me first, then turned to look at Allie over her shoulder. Her expression was one of shock and unbridled lust. One glance at her face, her cheeks flushed and her lips parted slightly, her breath coming in short gasps, had my pants tightening.

Theresa turned her satisfied smirk back towards me. “That look means she liked what she saw more than she’s willing to admit.” Then her pink tongue darted out to wet her lower lip in a stark burst of color on her pale face. “Can’t say she’s the only one, either.”

“Yeah? Then she’ll love this.” Therese’s eyes widened, her mouth opening in what might have been protest, but she made no move to stop me as I captured her chin and pulled her mouth back to mine. Any objections went out the window as she reciprocated eagerly, moaning softly as her head tilted so she could fit her lips against mine. Her tongue slipped out again to taste me, but I wasn’t caught off guard this time.

I pulled her hips to mine as I used my own tongue to wrestle hers into submission. She tried to resist for maybe a second before she wilted. She melted into my front, only the hand fisted in my shirt and the arm she’d thrown around the back of my neck keeping her knees from buckling underneath her completely.

When I finally released her from the kiss she stepped back a little unsteadily. Color had bloomed across her normally pale cheeks and her pupils were blown wide. Her breaths came heavy as she touched two fingers to her swollen lips, also a few shades pinker than normal. “Oh my...” she breathed.

It wasn’t hard to see that Therese was usually the more dominant of the three in their relationship. It was also no secret that she didn’t mind me taking control in the slightest, judging by her expression and the way her teeth sank into her lip.

If Allie had liked the first kiss, the second broke her. I’d barely turned towards Allie, prepared with some smug comment or sarcastic remark, when she barreled into me. My back hit the wall as she devoured me, as if she was trying to replace every bit of Therese’s taste with her own. She groaned eagerly into my mouth before sucking my bottom lip between her teeth and biting down hard.

I fisted her hair and used it to pull her body against mine, earning the sweetest of moans from her. “Fuck,” she panted, “I was going to try and take this slower, but I don’t think I can.”

“Mmh,” I tilted her head back so I could suckle on her pulse point, “Not sure I’ve got it in me to disagree right now,” I mumbled, my lips still pressed to her throat. Her legs parted and my knee slipped between them. She wasted no time pressing her core against my thigh, leaving no room for doubt as the wet heat started to seep into my pants leg. “I’m trying to remember why we shouldn’t do this and I’m coming up empty.”

I nipped at her neck and groaned as a hand slipped past my waistband to grab my cock. Then I started when I realized Allie had one hand in my hair and the other on my neck. I pulled back and looked down to see Therese fishing me out of my pants with her eyes locked onto where my flesh and Allie’s touched.

I groaned when she took the head into her mouth and swirled her tongue around the crown. My head fell back as pleasure rippled through me from her soft lips and hot, slick tongue. “Fucking hell... fuck...”

Allie took advantage of my momentary distraction to dart in and lick her way up the column of my throat until she could press her lips to where my jaw met my neck. I couldn’t suppress my moan, nor could I hide the way my cock throbbed with it currently hitting the back of Therese’s throat.

I grabbed a handful of Allie’s ass in one hand and threaded my fingers through Therese’s hair with the other. She ceded control of the blowjob immediately, her opalescent eyes never once leaving my face as I dragged her lips up and down my shaft.

Nora finally decided to join in, pressing against Allie’s back and pinning her between our bodies. “Seems Rhallani wasn’t kidding,” Nora noted. Her hands threaded under Allie’s arms until they were on her breasts, kneading and massaging while she undid the buttons of Allie’s tunic.

“Fucking... Rhallani...” I panted. I slipped a hand beneath Allie’s waistband. I knew she was wet from how she’d soaked through her pants but I was unprepared for just how soaked her hot core was. From the way she bucked as my fingers brushed against her clit I didn’t think she was completely prepared either.

“Ngh! Fuck, Zaren!” Allie panted, giving my neck a break. She pressed the side of her face to mine, panting as I slipped a finger into her pussy. “The information network that is your harem is impressive.” She leaned away long enough for Nora to pull her top over her head, revealing a lacy red bra underneath. I only had a moment to enjoy the sight of it before Allie caressed the slightly glowing crest that I could only see because my hand was pulling her waistband out. “Your Arelim especially,” she breathed.

Therese hummed around my cock as I swelled in her mouth again at the sight of the contraception crest on Allie and what it meant. When I felt her long, nimble fingers around my sac while she worked my shaft I couldn’t help but fall over the edge. Not with her and Allie all over me, the head of my cock slipping into her throat, or the sight of Nora playing with Allie’s nipples that peeked out over her bra.

I managed to grunt out a warning before shoving Therese’s head down even further and spilling myself straight into her throat. Her eyes glowed with heat, only leaving mine to look at Allie. I couldn’t see her face since she was just as locked in on me blowing my load in Therese’s mouth as I was, but I could feel the way she clenched around my finger.

“Mmh,” Therese hummed, licking her lips. She stood slowly, running her hands up my body from my thighs to her shoulder, lifting my shirt up and off along the way. Her face inched towards mine only to change direction at the last moment. Allie made a pleased sound of surprise as Therese pressed her back into Nora’s front with her tongue down Allie’s throat. Her hand slid down to join mine, rubbing circles around Allie’s clit while I slipped a second finger in and curled them towards me, her other hand lazily pumping my already-hard-again cock.

It didn’t take long before Allie was screaming out her release, pinned between the three of us. Her body convulsed, but Nora held her tight with those powerful arms. Arms that pressed against me as Allie sagged forward, though the tall warrior didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. Therese and I, without so much as a single glance, kept attacking her core until she was coming a second time. I thought about pushing for a third before I saw the heat in Allie’s eyes and registered exactly what she was asking for.

“H-how long before—” she panted.

“He never even went soft,” Therese supplied, running her fingers through Allie’s hair and scraping her nails against the side of Allie’s scalp.

Allie’s eyes rolled back as she leaned into Therese’s touch. She sagged a bit in Nora’s grasp before she collected herself. She turned an uncertain gaze towards me. “Zaren I know this is—”

I silenced her with a kiss deep enough that I was glad Nora still held her up. “Just tell me how you want me,” I said, our lips still touching.

She groaned, desire and frustration warring in the sound. Her hand joined Therese’s and her eyes widened. “Fucking hells, remind me to thank Allura when I see her again.”

I chuckled. “Seems to be a common sentiment.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” She looked around the room, her eyes falling on Vanni. I’d all but forgotten that she and Rose were in the room still. “Shit, Vanni, sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

Vanni’s eyes went wide. All four of her hands raised (two of which had been resting deep between her legs) in surprise. “Oh, not at all! Don’t mind me!”

Allie leaned into me. “I do mind, though. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I mean, you absolutely can—” her eyes darted to me, “—it’s okay, right? If she stays?”

I chuckled. “A bit late for that, don’t you think? You’ve seen the pit, right? I’m hardly bothered by an audience at this point as long as they want to be there.”

“Fuck Allie!” she panted, desperately grabbing for any leverage she could get as I pressed her knees to her chest and thrust into her from above. “You’re. Lucky. He. Feels. So. Good,” she panted between thrusts.

But Allie wasn’t done, apparently. She slipped around me, grabbing one of Therese’s ankles in either hand and bending her even further, tilting her ass upward towards me even more. I let Allie take control of her legs and wrapped my fingers around her slim ass cheeks, spreading them wide as I hammered her from above.

“Gods, love,” Allie cooed, “I love when you top me, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing you under our man.”

The only answer Therese managed was an incoherent babble, which is also all she got out before her face vanished between Allie’s thighs as she sat on Therese’s face, still folding her by the ankles. “Fucking hell I love your tongue. Don’t leave a drop of his cum behind.”

Fuck I wasn’t sure I could get any harder. Thanks to Therese’s completely exposed position it was easy to thumb her clit without sacrificing any of the leverage I had. Therese writhed under us, her screaming muffled by Allie’s cunt, and I felt another climax roll through her.

Allie wasn’t far behind thanks to how oversensitive she was. Once her eyes had returned their trip from inside her skull she licked her lips. “Take her ass,” she commanded.

My pace stuttered. “Seriously?”

She nodded eagerly. Therese flailed as much as she was able thanks to Allie’s grip, but no spells went flying so I didn’t think she was entirely against it. It was Nora’s amused smirk that told me I was okay to slip free of Therese’s pussy to press against her tight pucker. Her muscles clenched at first, then I felt her relax under me completely.

Her ass opened up for me and I slipped in with a surprising ease once my crown made it past her tight rim. With the position Allie was holding her in I couldn’t stop myself from sliding all the way in with a single thrust. Therese’s toes curled and she groaned into Allie’s core loud enough for me to hear.

Allie hummed in satisfaction, watching inch after inch of me vanish into Therese’s rosebud. Then she leaned down and stuck her tongue as deep in Therese as she could reach. Nora immediately slid in behind her, her hand slipping behind Allie’s rear to do who knows what to her while Allie licked, sucked, and nibbled at Therese’s cunt and clit.

I pounded into Therese’s rear while Allie worked her front and Nora worked Allie. The closer to her next climax Allie got the more vigorously she attacked Therese. It didn’t take long at all before I could feel Therese’s body start to convulse. Her ass was already gripping my cock unbelievably tightly, so when she clenched down as she came again I didn’t stand a chance.

“Getting close,” I grunted.

Allie pulled back with one last lick. “Finish in her cunt.”

I was too far gone to even think of arguing. I came free of Therese’s ass with a pop, leaving her gaping pucker behind, and slammed all the way into her pussy with so much force I shifted all three of them back. I came with a roar, emptying myself in Therese for a second time today, just in a different hole. Allie sitting on Therese’s face was the only reason the entire house didn’t hear her scream, but the force of it sent Allie spiraling into her own climax.

As release claimed Allie, she let Therese’s legs slip free. If there was any question as to Therese’s opinion on the matter they were silenced as her long, lithe legs immediately wrapped around my waist to hold me close. It wasn’t until after all three of us had come down fully that she finally released me.

Allie didn’t seem to have the strength to lift a single one of her limbs so Nora had to practically lift her off of Therese. Once uncovered, the blonde stared at the ceiling with glazed eyes and an air of satisfaction. I slumped back on the couch to catch my breath while Nora and Allie helped one another shift Therese to a sitting position.

Nora and I briefly made eye contact and I inclined my head in question. She frowned for a moment, contemplating, then shook her head. “No, not yet. I did not develop an immediate crush on you like Therese. Though,” she said, looking up and down my body appraisingly, “I will admit I am beginning to see the appeal.”

Therese huffed. “When I can form complete, rational thoughts, I will be yelling at you for saying that.” In response, Nora just leaned Therese over until she was nestled under the crook of my arm with her head resting on my chest.

Allie sidled up on her other side, sandwiching the mage between us and interlocking her fingers with mine as she beamed up at me. “You saved her mother, apparently. She grew up on stories about how you were the real hero of the Seven.”

“Huh,” I said, frowning. I turned Therese’s face up by her chin. “How do I live up to the legend?”

She licked her lips. “They left out certain key pieces of information, but for the most part you exceed expectations. I’m not sure why your women even let you out of the bedroom when you can do that.”

I chuckled. “If I never leave the bedroom I never get pissed enough to need to vent my frustrations. Apparently my girls look forward to that.”

Therese’s brows rose, then she looked to Allie. “So how long before you piss him off?”

Allie just shrugged, cuddling in deeper. “I’d give it a day or two, tops.” Then she hid most of her face in Therese’s mussed hair. “Does this mean we’re welcome in the pit?”

I scoffed. “Welcome? Rhallani might drag you there herself if you try to avoid it.”

Therese hummed and trailed a finger on my half-hard length. “I suppose there’s no reason to put off Forging a Link with Nora and I now, is there? If it improves our combat efficiency and ties us to your household more firmly, then...”

I checked my essence pool. “Yeah, I should have enough to manage two more bonds. We can discuss Vanni and Rose at a later date, when they’re ready.”

“Speaking of,” Allie said under her breath. We all took a peek at where the two demi-humans in the room still sat.

Rose was tucked into Vanni’s side snoring softly while Vanni gently stroked her hair and back at the same time while lazily fingering herself. The Ashra paused, blushing, when she realized we were all looking at her. “Oh, um, sorry. I guess I zoned out a bit.”

Therese’s fingers dug into my thigh as she sat up. “She’s sleeping,” she noted. “Without nightmares.”

Vanni tucked a verdant strand of hair behind Rose’s ear. “I might have cheated a little. I calmed her, like I did Allie before. She’s been coming to me every so often to get some dream-free rest.”

“I thought she’d been acting different,” Therese said.

“Mm,” Vanni pressed a kiss to Rose’s forehead and I felt a soft exchange of magic take place. Rose sighed, smiling softly and sinking deeper into Vanni’s arms. “I’m just glad I can help. She seems to be doing better. I think being in a household full of demi-humans that are treated kindly has helped tremendously.

“If there’s ever anything I can do...” I said.

Allie squeezed my hand. “I know. Maybe in time. The Patron Therese saved him from...”

I nodded in understanding. “I wish it weren’t such a common story. It won’t be if I have my way.” I knew she was closer to Therese than to anyone else, so I threaded my fingers through Therese’s hair. “If you ever feel the need to make said Patron disappear, I do know people.”

A dark flicker passed behind her eyes. “What makes you think there’s a Patron left to vanish?”

Well. Shit. That probably shouldn’t have gotten me ready for another round, but with her finger still trailing my shaft there was no avoiding it. “Fair enough.”

“So,” Allie said, stretching her arms above her head and sending what blood was left in my body south, “Links, then more sex? There’s plenty of time before dinner, after all.”

Therese showed her support of the idea by wrapping her fingers around my length. “Hm, I dunno. I don’t really want to drain him before his experiment with Jack. Pretty sure we all know what’ll happen if it goes well, and I don’t want to be on that girl’s bad side.”

Allie just scoffed. “Please, that girl doesn’t have a bad side. Have you seen her?”

Nora made a sound of agreement, sending fantasies roaring through my head. I found myself really hoping Rhallani’s prototype worked for a number of reasons, least of all Jack being able to join the rest of us in the pit at her leisure.

“Don’t worry,” I trailed my fingers up Therese’s inner thigh, “I had good stamina before Rhallani got ahold of me. If I can handle two Kitsune’s heats I think I can manage.”

I regretted my words instantly as a challenge lit up all three girls’ eyes. Allie licked her lips, but Therese palmed her face and pushed her back. “Links first, hornball.” She shook her head at me in exasperation. “I swear, take a lonely girl and give her a few dozen orgasms and she becomes insatiable.”

I snorted. “Story of my fucking life.”

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