But Neesha smiled at Tex and walked to the shore, untying her top. She pulled it off and tossed it onto the ground with her shoes.

  Tex traced his eyes over the line of her naked back as she gathered her hair above her head and let it tumble down her back.

  He pulled off his T-shirt and dropped it on the ground.

  Meanwhile, Emi’s hesitation vanished. She precipitously disrobed and hurried into the water, holding her arms against her chest with her fists balled up under her chin.

  Tex’s eyes wandered over her pretty blonde hair, her tiny waist, and the soft, round globes of her ass.

  God dammit, she’s like a doll.

  His cock throbbed to be released from his jeans.

  Gingerly stepping on the stones, Emi waded over to the waterfall, where she was stomach-deep. Facing somewhat away from Tex and Neesha, she leaned her head back into the gushing waterfall and ran her hands through her hair, just like she was taking a shower.

  Her perky little tits pointed provocatively as water streamed past them and trickled down her stomach.

  “Like what you see?” Neesha said over her shoulder, catching his eye.

  She nudged the bottom covering down her thighs, revealing her perfectly shaped ass. Then she leaned forward and pushed it down her thighs, letting it fall to her ankles.

  His eyes smoldering, Tex grabbed her by the waist. His hands explored her stomach and ribs until they came to her breasts.

  Neesha moaned and leaned against his hard body, giving him a bird's-eye view of her fantastic tits. Lifting them in his expert hands, Tex massaged her nipples into hard peaks.

  Neesha arched her back and moaned, pushing her backside into Tex’s groin. He kissed her ear and ran his tongue up the length of it. This drove her wild.

  She panted and writhed her hips as Tex furiously undid his belt.

  Neesha giggled and dashed into the water just as Tex shoved his jeans down and his cock bounced out.

  The sunlight baked his back as he lumbered into the pond, but it felt good to get out of his dirty clothes, and the water was refreshingly cool.

  The water climbed up Neesha’s thighs to the top of her shapely butt. She approached the waterfall, extending her arms to touch the cascading water.

  Laughing with delight, she turned around and faced Tex, but she didn’t look at him. She threw her head back and started washing her hair.

  Just below the surface of the water, a triangle tuft of hair was visible between her meaty thighs.

  “It feels so good to wash my hair,” she said as Tex approached. Batting her eyes at him, she bumpily turned herself around, making her big tits bounce up and down. Then she whipped her hair over her head and leaned forward, putting her head into the gushing water.

  Her back was arched, and her legs spread apart.

  Tex’s cock turned to steel as he gazed at her with flashing eyes.

  Plunging his hand underwater, Tex groped her thigh.

  She gasped and whipped her soaking hair over her head — making it slap onto her back — and leaned against Tex in complete surrender.

  He groped her mound, sinking his fingers into her soft valley of flesh. She was wet and warm inside.

  The elf writhed her hips against Tex’s fingers as tremors ran through her body.

  But Tex noticed Emi wading away from them. His eyes followed her protectively as she walked onto the rocky shore, water streaming over her delicate body. She didn’t stop to look at them; she just kept walking away.

  “Where’s she going?” Tex murmured.

  Neesha threw her arms around his waist.

  “It’s okay. She’ll run straight back here if there’s any sign of danger.”

  Emi walked through some nearby ferns, and Tex could see her sitting down on a rock with her back towards them.

  “You planned this together?” Tex intoned.

  She scraped her fingernails through his chest hair and glanced away, suddenly shy. “Is… it okay?”

  “Is it okay?” he rumbled.

  Grabbing her wrist, he led her into the shallow water, turned her around, and crouched down behind her.

  Holding her waist and gazing at her backside like it was a gourmet meal, he licked her ass cheeks, dragging his tongue up those soft globes of flesh. Then he buried his face between her cheeks and licked his tongue inside her soaking folds.

  “Is it okay?”

  Turning her around, he kissed the tops of her thighs adoringly. She spread her legs apart as he pressed his face into her mound, flicking his tongue onto her tiny nub of flesh.

  Neesha curled her fingers in Tex’s hair, rutting her hips wildly and grinding into his mouth. Her moaning became louder, echoing through the trees. Her body convulsed.

  “Oh, yeah,” Tex growled, squeezing her ass cheeks. “Cum for me. Cum on my tongue, babe.”

  But just when she was on the edge, Neesha suddenly let out a cry and pushed herself away from Tex.

  “No… I… I should be the one to bow down,” she said, crouching down. “It’s only proper.”

  Tex wasn’t about to argue. He stood up, and Neesha immediately started kissing the head of his cock and rubbing her cheek against it like a kitten.

  She stared at it reverently, eyes glazed, licking and kissing it with more and more passion. Then she started sucking, bobbing her head up and down.

  She moved her head fast, slurping her spit, obviously trying very hard to do a good job. Sometimes her teeth grazed his skin, and her rhythm was irregular, but her apparent lack of experience turned Tex on even more.

  “You want to please me, don’t you, kitten?”

  She moved her head back with a wet sucking noise, gasping for air. She moaned. “I want to please you, Tex.”

  She took a breath and opened her mouth again, but Tex took her face in his hands. Her big blue eyes looked up at him.

  “You’d love it if I used you however I wanted, wouldn’t you?”

  “Yes,” she whimpered, almost begging. “Please use me.”

  “You’re ready to take my load right down your throat, aren’t you?”

  She obediently opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue, her pretty eyes gazing at him imploringly.

  “Holy shit, you’re gonna ruin me. Not yet, sweetie.”

  Holding the sides of her head, he pushed his cock to the start of her throat. Her eyes widened with shock, at the same time sparkling with excitement. He lightly pushed into her throat, holding the back of her beautiful head for a few seconds, and then pulled out.

  Her chest heaved as she caught her breath, wiping spit from her mouth. Then she plunged onto Tex’s cock, sucking and slurping with abandon, and working her fist along the slippery shaft.

  Tilting her head back and looking up at him, she relaxed her throat and let Tex push his cock down. Fisting her hair, he fucked her throat faster, going down deeper until his heavy balls slapped against her pretty chin.

  All the while, her eyes gazed into his with a wanton, slutty expression.

  “You don’t mind choking on my dick to please me, do you?” he growled, pulling her hair.

  She moaned and started fondling herself.

  Her entire body convulsed as Tex beat himself off into her mouth, shooting an explosive stream of cum down her throat. Neesha instantly wrapped her lips around his head, sucking zealously, diligently, as if it was her duty to make sure she sucked out every drop and swallowed it.

  At the same time, she squeezed her thighs together and violently shuddered as she continued to orgasm.

  This display was so hot that it made Tex’s climax go on and on, surprising even him with how much jizz he pumped out.

  When his balls were finally empty, Neesha looked up at him, her big eyes seeking his approval.

  “You did well, Neesha,” Tex said, stroking her head. Taking her hand, he stood her up and kissed her lips.

  But the wind moaned through the forest. Branches creaked and leaves rattled. Feeling suddenly vulnerable, Tex scanned the ground for slate.

  It was time to make some weapons.

  Chapter eleven

  TEX SEARCHED FOR stones as he was drying in the sun. It didn’t take long to pick out several beautiful chunks of slate for knives and spearheads, as well as a couple of rocks that would serve as hammers.

  “I can make cordage,” Neesha offered as she stepped into her waistband. “I saw some plants over there I think I can use.”

  Tex grinned. “Great. Do it.”

  Emi emerged from the ferns and quickly got dressed. Tex averted his eyes, glancing at his jeans, lying in a heap on the ground. He wasn’t thrilled about putting them back on — the humid environment made them extremely uncomfortable.

  But he didn’t have a choice at the moment. They felt suffocatingly heavy as he pulled them on.

  “I’ll come with you, Neesha,” Emi said in a funny voice. Maybe she felt a little awkward after what had just happened.

  Hmm. Does she disapprove of it? Tex thought. I wonder what sort of sexual morality elves have?

  “Wait,” Tex said, pulling on his T-shirt. “I’ll come too.”

  “You don’t have to accompany us,” Neesha said. “If you’d rather start your work… We won’t be in danger.”

  The muscle in Tex’s jaw tightened. “Are you sure?”

  Neesha smiled, evidently very pleased to see how much Tex wanted to take care of them.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “The plants are just over there — I can see some of them from here.”

  He sighed. “Alright. Hurry. I’ll keep an eye on you.”

  “Okay, Mr. Bossy,” Neesha said with a giggle.

  Sitting down on a rock where he could see the girls, he started working on a piece of slate, in turns knocking off chunks of it and sanding it down against a wet rock.

  Neesha and Emi came back carrying large leaves of a very fibrous plant. They plopped them down near Tex.

  “I found some Widdik’s balm, too,” Emi said, holding up the bulbous petal of a succulent plant. “Better put some on or we’ll be roasted!”

  She squeezed a blob of the viscous juice onto her palm and handed the petal to Neesha. Then she smeared it onto her skin.

  So, sunscreen is a thing in this world. Well, that’s a relief!

  Tex completed two spearheads, one for himself and one for Neesha. He wasn’t going to make one for Emi, given her condition and small size. He figured she probably couldn’t hunt and it would be a burden for her to carry.

  But she came over and picked up a spearhead, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.

  “This is beautiful,” she said, running her fingers over it. He saw her eyes searching around to see if there was a third one, and her forehead creased a little when she couldn’t find it.

  Tex could tell she would have been hurt if he didn’t make one for her too, so he made a small one for her.

  As he was working on it, he tried to broach the subject of Kdar Tol.

  “About the leader of the Skrillings… Where does he live? How long do you think it will take for him to find out about me?”

  Neesha and Emi were working on the cordage, twisting the fibrous strands together. They exchanged glances.

  “He lives on Darkoveld,” Neesha said grimly. “It’s another island far from here.”

  “How far?”

  “I don’t know… I think it’s farther away than our island —I mean the one we came from.”

  “And how long did it take you to get here?”

  “We were eight days over land and then 24 days at sea. But, Tex —”

  “Twenty-four days?” he said in surprise.

  “Yes… but we pulled up on shore during the nights, of course. Sea travel is dangerous enough by day.”

  “So you passed other islands on the way, then?”

  “Many other islands — and many dangers.”

  This information fired up Tex’s imagination. Eight days over land? That is no small island. And it was one of many, populated with elves, sorcerers, pterodactyls, giant spiders — and God knew what else.

  It was the most exciting thing by far that he’d ever experienced. He was exploring a new frontier... literally a new world.

  Was it dangerous? You’re goddamn right it was. That came with the territory. Tex’s pulse pounded with excitement, and a new enthusiasm sharpened his mind.

  He considered how many days he might have before Kdar Tol came for him. The Skrillings would have to bring word of his arrival to their master. Suppose it would take 24 days for them to reach the Kdar Tol, and then another 24 days for the sorcerer’s killers to reach Tex.

  Forty-eight days in total. But suppose the Skrillings travel much faster than the elves. Call it one month then, to be conservative.

  “Well, we have more than enough time to get to the village, so that’s… good.”

  A sinking feeling came into his stomach. The plan was to get Emi to the Isle of Shayla and hopefully find her a cure.

  But then what? Pray to the goddess Shayla to protect them from Kdar Tol?

  No, he needed to think of something fast. If he was being honest, though, the situation was pretty hopeless.

  But maybe that’s too hasty. I know fuck all about this place. Gotta learn everything I can ASAP! One month. That’s all you’ve got. One month to figure out—

  Tex suddenly realized that the women had stopped their work, and they were looking at him with frightened, half-guilty eyes.

  “What is it?”

  Emi sighed. She gripped the cordage in her fists as her lip tightened into a straight line.

  “Tex, you said we have plenty of time, but… but maybe we don’t.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “perhaps he already knows you’re here.”

  Tex blinked. “What?... That doesn’t make any sense. How?”

  Emi shivered and glanced around at the trees. “He sees. He hears.”

  “Tex,” Neesha whispered, leaning towards him. “You want to reckon how long it will take him to come after you, right?”

  “Exactly.”

  She frowned thoughtfully. “It’s probably a matter of days.”

  Tex gaped in bewilderment. “Are you gonna tell me he can fly, too?”

  “No, but we think he can commune with his shamans from a distance… The Skrillings from the nearest islands could reach these shores in… perhaps a couple of days.”

  “Unless they’re too scared to come,” Emi said.

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” Tex murmured. He felt his stomach sinking. The forest suddenly seemed immensely more hostile.

  “On the bright side, it’ll still take the sorcerer himself more than 24 days to get here,” Tex whispered. He wasn’t sure why he was whispering, but the trees suddenly seemed to have ears.

  “That’s true,” Neesha nodded.

  “But that’s not the only bright side,” Emi said.

  Tex raised his eyes. “There are other bright sides?”

  “Yes,” she nodded earnestly. “You are the Prophesied Hero. You may not know it yet, but the Skrillings do. Many of them will fear you.”

  Tex smiled, but he thought to himself: Maybe that will buy us some time, but it will end the instant they realize I have no magic.

  Tex worked in silence, grinding the piece of slate against the rock, watching a perfect spearhead emerge.

  Emi suddenly rose to her feet. Neesha’s ears twitched.

  Tex stood up and grabbed his rifle. “What do you hear?”

  “There’s something coming,” Emi said. “Something big.”

  Tex strained his ears but heard nothing beyond the noise of the waterfall.

  “Get to the cave. Now.”

  As they marched away from the pond, something heavy crashed in the bushes. It was surprisingly close.

  Tex rushed Neesha and Emi to the cave, keeping his eye on the forest. Through the trees, he heard a deep panting and snuffling. It was a familiar sound.

  “Up!” Tex commanded.

  Neesha nimbly climbed up the rock face. Just as she turned and looked out of the cave, a giant furry beast lumbered through the trembling branches.

  It looked like a grizzly bear, with thick brown fur and a dog-like snout.

  But it was far bigger.

  The top of Tex’s head didn’t even reach the beast’s shoulders; it must have weighed nearly a ton. Also, its front legs were much longer than a grizzly’s — making them seem more like sloth arms — with long hands and claws.

  It had a thick skull, angry eyes, and sharp teeth.

  “Shit,” Tex hissed.

  It pissed him off the monster had the temerity to show up before he’d finished making his weapons. And besides that, he didn’t want a giant corpse festering near their campsite.

  Emi screamed. She was struggling to find places to grip the rock and pull up the weight of her body.

  “You can do it, Emi,” Tex said. “Stay calm. I won’t let it hurt you.”

  The bear took a few whiffs in their direction and then sauntered over to the pond. Its massive tongue came out and lapped up the water.

  Then it meandered towards them.

  “Woah, bear,” Tex said. “Woaaaaah bear!”

  That was what park wardens always told everyone to say if they came across a grizzly.

  But the monster kept strolling.

  Emi’s foot slipped. She screamed in fright, but Tex caught her under her arms. The bear stopped and snuffed the air aggressively. It licked its maw and started panting, baring its teeth in a horrible grin.

  Tex grabbed Emi’s bum and pushed her up.

  “Sorry.”

  Neesha reached down and gripped the little elf’s hand and pulled. Emi disappeared into the darkness of the cave, but her face immediately peeked out.

  “Tex! Hurry!” she squealed.

  Tex bolted up the rock and lay down at the cave entrance with his rifle at the ready.

  The giant bear sauntered to a stop, still panting and grinning. After a few minutes, it seemed to lose interest in them. It wandered back to the pool, sniffed around their work site, and languidly walked back into the forest, crashing through the brush as it went.