What the fuck is she saying?

  Jealousy stabbed his gut.

  Endellion’s hand slid inside Phia’s panties as Brune approached.

  His knuckles turned white, he was gripping the chains so hard. What the fuck was she doing?

  Vladnoch’s commission required that Phia be returned with her virginity intact. The guild would conduct a virginity test; if Phia was violated, their otherwise lucrative payout would be reduced to a paltry sum.

  Vladnoch would still take Phia back, but he wouldn’t marry her. Instead, he’d probably just pimp her out in one of his brothels.

  Brune ground his teeth and cursed. He’d been trying really hard not to flirt with Phia. Because he knew: one caress, one kiss, and he was done. But here was Endellion, going right to the edge.

  So close that she might fall over it any second.

  But it wasn’t even the threat to their commission that made him so furious.

  Fuck the commission.

  It was the fact that someone other than him had been the first to touch Phia’s sweet little cunt.

  Brune’s cock throbbed against his thigh as he watched Endellion’s hand working inside Phia’s panties.

  The two girls were passionately making out as he came up to them.

  Endellion stopped and gave Brune a sidelong look, smiling mischievously and brushing the hair from her face. Phia’s eyes darted towards Brune. She quickly pulled her skirt down and turned her head so that her hair fell over her face.

  Endellion helped Phia to her feet, straightening out her dress and brushing the dust and grass away.

  “Here, let me see your face.” Licking her fingers, she dabbed away the blood from a bruise on Phia’s forehead.

  “Hargish is going to put some restraints on you now, okay, honey?”

  Phia’s big blue eyes looked at the elf and then looked at the ground. She nodded her head.

  Endellion caressed her cheek and kissed her, before moving behind her to gather up her hair.

  “I’m sorry, Phia,” Brune said thickly. “I have to put these chains on you. Lift up your chin.”

  Her lip quivered, but she obeyed.

  Brune put the iron bondage collar around Phia’s neck. It clicked. He took out a key and double locked it.

  Gazing down at Phia’s lips, another burst of jealousy swelled in his chest. He could not get over the fact that Endellion had fooled around with her, kissing those lips, putting her grubby elf fingers down those panties!

  It was as if he and Endellion had agreed to guard a primordial meadow where no one had ever set foot, but the vulgar elf had trampled into it when Brune turned his back.

  Fuck you, Endellion. If I’m not going to be the first, why the fuck should you be?

  But then again, why should anyone be?

  “Hold out your wrists.”

  Phia raised her wrists to Brune. He shackled them.

  Her ankles were next.

  Slowly taking a knee, he looked at her dress as it stirred in the breeze, pressing against her hips. Brune’s face was inches away from the heaven between her thighs. The smell of her sweet body tortured his nostrils.

  He put a leg iron around her left ankle quickly, before he did something he regretted.

  CLICK

  Trying to ignore her dress brushing the top of his head, he put the other one on.

  CLICK

  Brune stood up, clutching the chain that connected to the bondage collar around Phia’s neck. Her eyes followed him.

  “Come on,” he said.

  The trio returned to the carriage in silence.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ENDELLION CLEARED HER throat.

  After four hours on the road, it was the first vocalization any of them had made. The sound pulled Brune out of a reverie. Lulled by the clip-clop, clip-clop of the horses, his mind had been revisiting the events in the field.

  Why had Phia given in so abjectly after such a spirited escape? This bothered him at first, but after thinking about it, he realized she probably saw there was no hope of getting away from them.

  Also, Endellion had gotten inside her head—manipulated her sexually. This made Brune want to strangle the elf. Partly because it was abominable, and Phia deserved better. But even more so because he was jealous.

  Brune focused his ears on the seat behind him.

  “So, Phia,” Endellion said. “I’m curious about this uncle of yours. Could you tell me about him?”

  Phia’s chains tinkled. Would she even talk to them at this point?

  She finally answered quietly. “I don’t know much about him.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Rowkis Fragan.”

  “And you hadn’t met him before?”

  “No. He just came out of nowhere.”

  “Was he kind to you?”

  “No! He’s a weasel.”

  “A weasel demi?”

  “No, no. I mean, he acts like a weasel. All sneaky. And his smell!” A tiny retching noise came from the back seat as if Phia was choking on a furball.

  “Like ashtrays and sweaty clothes. He was always standing too close, putting his smell on me.”

  “Did he tell you anything about your parents?”

  “He never talked about my parents.”

  “You didn’t ask him?”

  “I didn’t want to. Sister Cassia is my mama. When I was a little girl, I asked her if she could be my mama, and she said yes.”

  “So you enjoyed living at the temple, then.”

  “Well… when I was younger, I always wanted to run away. I thought I was going to become an adventurer. But when I had to live with Rowkis, I missed the temple so much.”

  Phia was warming to the subject, and Brune could hear a hopefulness in her voice.

  “I heard the sisters are strict,” Endellion said.

  “They are, but it’s because they want to bring out the best in you. They always kept us busy—going to class, studying, cleaning, hunting, helping the poor. Even during your free time, you had to pick an activity—like reading, playing board games, praying...”

  Brune scratched his chin.

  Did she say hunting?

  The idea of cloistered priestesses going anywhere near a weapon seemed silly to him. But then he remembered seeing statues of Lucia, the patroness of the Sisters of Feron; she always had a bow and arrow.

  Well, shit. I guess I really know fuck-all about the Sisters of Feron.

  He thought about Phia’s acrobatic exit from the carriage and her scratchy fighting. That must have been pure instinct; the sisters might have taught her to hunt, but there was no way they engaged in combat training.

  Endellion said, “Does Fragan live in Skrull?”

  “No, in Bambioch. He has a fancy house in Castlewood. And he works in one of the big government buildings. Thinks he’s a regular aristocrat because of it.”

  Bambioch was the administrative center for Westerforn, the westernmost region of the Erwyndic Empire.

  “How does he know Mr. Vladnoch?” Endellion said.

  Phia huffed. “I don’t know. They seemed to be acquaintances. My uncle said he wanted to introduce me to an esteemed gentleman. Mr. Vladnoch came for dinner and slobbered at me the whole time. The next day, my uncle said Vladnoch wanted to marry me.”

  * * *

  It was an hour before sunset when they reached the town of Farsh. Brune rubbed his eyes as he drove down the main street, which was really the only street.

  Endellion tapped the seat. “I’ll get off here.”

  Brune pulled the reins and spoke to the horses: “Woah there.”

  “Don’t stop,” Endellion said as the carriage slowed. “I’ll meet you there.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Messenger’s office.” She gestured across the street to a stone building. “I want to send a note to my mother.”

  “Your mother?”

  “Is that so weird? I haven’t written to her in a long time. Gotta let her know I’m alive. I’ll meet you there.”

  “You don’t even know where I’m going.”

  “I assume it’s the Raven’s Feather, because it’s either there or the other place.” Endellion jumped out.

  Brune narrowed his eyes. “The Dented Helmet. What’s wrong with it?”

  “Are you serious? That place is a dive. The wallpaper makes me want to vomit.”

  Brune shrugged. “I never noticed the wallpaper, but the place has character—and good stout. Anyway, I don’t care where we go. Raven’s Foot, then. See you there.”

  The Raven’s Feather was a pleasant wood building with a large porch where guests sipped tea in wicker chairs.

  Phia wasn’t able to climb in and out of the carriage with the chains on, so Brune had to pick her up. When he came to her side of the carriage, she stood and turned towards him, crouching down to meet his hands as he reached for her. She gave him a look through loose strands of hair. Her lips were parted, eyes glazed.

  Her dress lifted in the air, giving Brune an eyeful as he set her down. She raised her shackled hands to brush her hair aside, biting her lip to suppress a self-satisfied smile.

  Phia looked at the inn as if it were a fairy castle. “It’s lovely!”

  A couple of rangers sitting on the porch watched as Brune carried Phia up the steps and set her down, taking up her chain leash. They gazed at her body like she was a chunk of fresh meat hanging in a butcher’s window.

  Few men would be so bold if they thought Phia was Brune’s lover, but the chains no doubt gave them the impression she was a slave in transport. People always felt entitled to stare at slaves.

  The plump front desk lady’s eyes momentarily bulged when the giant monster walked in with his leashed monster girl. But she quickly resumed her calm demeanor.

  “Room for two,” Brune said. “Our carriage is outside.”

  The room was on the third floor, so Brune had to carry Phia once again.

  She stared up at him. “It’s like I’m your bride.”

  Brune looked down at her face and felt himself melt a little.

  Her eyes widened and then went hazy. She smiled. “I wish I could be so lucky.”

  Brune missed a step and lurched forward, provoking a scream from Phia, but he regained his footing.

  “Be careful, adventurer,” Phia breathed.

  “Stop being so distracting then.”

  “I didn’t know I could distract you.” He felt her eyes exploring his chin and neck.

  Brune groaned deep in his throat. “Like hell you didn’t.”

  He set Phia down at the door and fumbled for the key. She stood right in his way, wafting the intoxicating scent of her hair at him.

  “Look out,” he said, nudging her aside.

  The room’s decor was too feminine for Brune’s taste, with frilly curtains and flowery paintings. There was even a dainty bathroom with a flush toilet. At least that part was a definite improvement over the Dented Helmet, where you just had a chamber pot under the bed.

  “It’s pretty,” Phia said, kicking her shoes off and walking into the room. She suddenly froze in front of the beds. “Um. There are only two beds.”

  “Endellion and I will take turns sleeping. Someone has to stay awake to make sure you don’t escape.”

  “Oh.”

  Phia sat on a bed as Brune wrestled off his boots. Then he took off his wrist guards, setting them down on a dresser, and began unbuckling his pauldrons.

  He glanced at Phia and saw her watching him. He looked away and started unbuckling his leather chest armor.

  “Brune,” Phia said in a whiny tone.

  She’s using my first name now, is she? He continued undoing his armor.

  “Brune.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Can I go to the bathroom?”

  “Go ahead.”

  The chains clanked past him. A moment later, he could hear Phia tinkling in the toilet. She’d left the door ajar.

  Gods dammit, why doesn’t she shut the fucking door!

  “Brune.”

  He sighed and pulled off his chest armor, dropping it beside the coat rack. He wore a sleeveless tunic underneath.

  “Brune!”

  He coughed. “What?”

  “Can you help me?”

  After a moment of hesitation, he pushed the bathroom door open.

  “Gods dammit what the fuck are you doing?” he growled.

  The bathroom had a wooden chair and a basin for sponge baths. Facing Brune, Phia was standing beside the chair with her panties around her ankles over the leg irons. She was dragging the dress up her thighs.

  Brune’s tongue involuntarily licked his lip as the skirt neared Phia’s cunt. When she saw the intensity of his gaze, her thighs squeezed together hard.

  “Fuck,” Brune grunted, turning his head and putting his fist on the bathroom door.

  Phia’s eyes pulled his gaze back. She was biting her lip, watching him. Shame painted her cheeks red, but she was apparently determined to carry out her plan.

  Taking a breath, she lifted her skirt up past the very tops of her thighs, all the way to her belly button. She watched Brune’s eyes move to her delta, up to her little blonde patch of curls, and then back to her delta.

  “Do—do you like it?” she said in a trembling voice.

  Brune sucked air through his teeth. He looked away, wishing Endellion would walk into the room. Because that was the only thing that might have brought him back from the edge.

  Phia stood on tip-toe and positioned her lips above the rounded back post of the chair.

  “What are you doing?” Brune rasped, anger building in his voice.

  His length pressed hard against his pants as Phia lowered herself onto the wooden protrusion. She whimpered as it tucked inside her slick folds.

  “Stop it. You can’t do that.”

  Phia moved away from the chair, leaving it glistening with her juices. “If I lose my virginity... Vladnoch won’t want me. Ohhhh…” She lowered herself down again, slipping the wood into her lips. “Then we can be together.”

  “It doesn’t work like that. Stop it.” Brune stomped towards her, putting one hand on her waist and taking her chain leash in the other hand.

  His heart was pounding in his throat. He could barely swallow. This girl had been tempting him for too long. He couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Lean down,” he ordered, looking at the chair.

  Phia bent down so that her elbows were on the chair and her ass was in the air.

  “L-like this?”

  The monster crouched and lifted Phia’s dress, pushing it over her backside. He ran his hands up her soft legs and caressed her hips, trailing kisses across her voluptuous ass.

  “This is what that werewolf wanted to do to you.”

  He pushed her legs apart more and then dragged his tongue over her glistening cunt. He licked it again and again, lapping up her juices like a dog. Phia’s tail stood up, curved over her back, the fur standing on end.

  Undoing his pants, Brune stood up and let his cock bounce free. He rubbed it on Phia’s ass.

  She gasped and tried to look at it.

  “Don’t look,” Brune said. “You don’t want to see this. It would split you in two. I’d fuck you deep, sweetie. You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

  “Yes, I do,” she whimpered. “Please, Brune…”

  He rubbed his tip over her lips. “That’s the sweetest little cunt I’ve ever seen.”

  Phia pushed her hips back, but Brune moved his cock away. Then, staring at her perfect legs and running a palm over her shapely ass, he started stroking himself.

  “If I can’t make you mine...at least I’ll mark you before Vladnoch does.”

  “But I want to be with you…” Phia breathed.

  “I’m worse than Vladnoch.”

  “No!”

  “I am. His villainy is smoothed over by opulence. And he hires others to do his dirty work. People like me and Endellion! You don’t know us, Miss Callidora. We’re cutthroats.”

  “I don’t care! I can be like you! I’ll do anything you want! I’ll be your slave, anything! Please, Brune...”

  Phia’s channel became even wetter when she declared her devotion to Brune and Endellion. Brune recoiled at her self-debasement—but his cock got even harder.

  “I’ll show you,” she continued, arching her back even more. “I can be like you; you’ll see—”

  SMACK

  Brune slapped Phia’s ass—not too hard, but enough to leave a sting. She jumped at the impact, panting and rolling her hips, desperate for friction between her thighs.

  “You’re becoming a little whore for me, aren’t you?” Brune rasped. “I’m gonna...put my mark on you...right...now.”

  With an animal groan, he shot ribbons of cum all over Phia’s ass, inside her crack, onto her channel. He kept pumping out more and more and then rubbed his tip on her skin to clean himself off.

  “Not so virginal now, are you?” he said, smearing his cum over her behind and rubbing it onto her cunt.

  Phia shook and trembled. “Brune... Please! I... need…”

  “Stand up,” Brune commanded, putting his manhood away.

  He brought her over to the counter and pushed aside a collection of dainty soaps and fragrances. Lifting Phia onto the counter, he dug in his pockets and took out the keys to her chains.

  Phia looked at him with drowsy, glazed eyes.

  Brune dropped to his knees and removed her leg irons. Then he pushed her legs apart and licked her bud. That very spot she was always afraid to touch because it felt so overpowering that she didn’t know what would happen.

  Brune licked again and again, flicking his tongue relentlessly until Phia screamed and her thighs shot together around his head.

  Her fingers were in his hair, and he felt her claws on his scalp as she gasped for breath and trembled violently.

  This might be a little stupid. She could scratch my eyes out.

  At least when Endellion was fooling around with Phia, she had her pinned to the ground. Still, she wasn’t likely to interrupt him when he was making her orgasm—maybe for the first time.

  Phia’s claws scraped over the back of Brune’s neck. Luckily, he had very thick skin.

  Phia’s voice was desperate: “Oh Gods, oh Feron, Oh no—wait...it’s too much, oh Feron.”