Skulduggery 8: Building a Criminal Empire

by Logan Jacobs

  “Just a little riot or two here and there,” Golierian said. “And for dwarves, that really just means a handful of idiots who tried to attack the barracks down there, but we quickly got them sorted out.”

  “Good,” I said, “because I’m actually here to talk to you about something related.”

  “Sure, just tell me what I can do for you,” Golierian said.

  “It’s about the power vacuum that was left in the human district,” I said. “Now that the elven soldiers are gone from there, there’s no one there to patrol the streets.”

  “I know,” the captain of the guard groaned, “but I really don’t have any soldiers to spare.”

  “And I don’t want you to,” I said. “What I’d like to do is create a human guard there. You know, humans to patrol human problems and enforce the rules down there. It would be under your command, but it would be a self-sufficient unit.”

  “That would solve a lot of problems,” Golierian said. “But how the hell are we just going to start a human guard from scratch?”

  “It wouldn’t be completely from scratch,” I said with a smile. “I was actually thinking that we could just convert the fire brigade into a guard unit. ”

  “I didn’t know there was a human fire bri--” he began.

  “It wouldn’t have made sense to concern yourself with something so trivial as a human fire brigade,” I explained. “They could still serve as fire-fighters part time, but they could also serve as the law enforcement in that district.”

  “I think that’s fucking perfect!” Golierian said and then glanced up and down the street to make sure no one had overheard his excitement. “So should I go meet with them and try to set it up, or--”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Ava said. “We can take care of the details for you, just as long as you take care of the paperwork headaches for us.”

  “That’s not a problem at all,” Golierian said. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll make sure everything is taken care of on my end, and I know you’ll do the same on your end.”

  “We always do,” I said. “Now, since we have a lot to take care of and we did just interrupt your morning, we’ll leave you to it, alright?”

  “Sounds good,” Golierian said. “Thanks so much, Wade.”

  I waited until the night elf reached the entrance of the courtyard, and then after he turned around to wave goodbye, I nodded, slipped my arm around Ava’s waist, and guided her back through the streets toward the Entertainment District.

  “Easy,” I said. “Now we just have to tell Dryson.”

  “And let Cim and Twila know about the blacksmith orders we want to place,” Ava said.

  “Yes, that, too,” I agreed.

  We grabbed Cimarra from the theatre when we passed it, and the beautiful dancer said she wanted to bring Ashlin along, too, since the younger woman was her new assistant. The dancehall was just down the road from the theatre, so when we reached it, all four of us slipped in through the back door.

  Twila was already up in the kitchen, but the rest of the girls were still asleep, and that suited me just fine. We didn’t need them for this conversation, anyway.

  “Wade!” Twila smiled. “I didn’t know that I’d get to see you again so soon, handsome.”

  “Surprise!” I laughed. “We needed to take care of a few things, so I figured there was no better place for us all to meet up than here.”

  “I’m flattered,” the golden-haired halfie said. “Are we expecting anyone else to join our business, or will it just be the five of us?”

  “We should have one more, but I’m sure he’ll be along shortly,” I said.

  “Then I’ll make tea while we wait,” Twila said. “Any special requests?”

  “Do you have anything with ginger?” Ava asked.

  “Absolutely,” Twila said. “Anyone else?”

  “Ginger’s fine with me, too,” Ashlin said and then flushed pink, like she hadn’t actually meant to say anything out loud.

  “Yes, thank you, Twila,” Cimarra said with a smile, as she laid her hand on her assistant’s arm.

  By the time Twila finished making tea for all of us, Dryson arrived and joined us around the kitchen table. The golden-haired halfie made sure that all her girls were still asleep, and then once she returned to the kitchen, she took a seat and nodded.

  “So what’s all this about?” Twila asked.

  I quickly told them my plans to use the human fire brigade as the base of a new human guard, and they all agreed that it was a good idea. Dryson didn’t seem surprised, but there wasn’t much that could surprise that man.

  I was just glad that he was so capable at everything he set out to do. It was good to know that whenever I was in another city, I left my own town in the most capable of hands. Dryson ran the human district for me just like I would have, Golierian was always happy to do anything I asked of him, and Cimarra and Twila ran the rest of the whole damn town for me like a perfectly tuned pocket watch.

  “Easy enough,” Dryson said when we finished discussing the major details. “But that does mean I’ll need weapons and armor, right?”

  “Damn right, it does,” I said. “That’s where Cim and Twila come in. Do you two remember Ava’s blacksmith that we all went to see a few weeks ago?”

  “Of course,” Twila said as she twirled the rose-shaped ring on her finger that she had gotten from the smith-- it was pretty, but it could also dispense poison if she wanted it to.

  “So give it a few days before you do anything about this,” I said. “I want to make sure that Golierian has time to straighten things out on his end, and I want Dryson to have enough time to sort through his men and pick out the ones who would make the best soldiers.”

  “Okay, and then what?” Cimarra asked.

  “Then you’ll go to the blacksmith and place an order for as many sets of armor and weapons as Dryson needs,” I said. “But make sure it’s a minimum of fifty sets of equipment.”

  “I understand,” Cimarra said. “We’ll make sure to take care of it for you.”

  “I appreciate that,” I said. “I know I can always count on you to make sure everything gets done.”

  “Absolutely,” Cimarra said with a smile. “I take it that means you’re both headed back to the other city pretty soon?”

  “By the end of the day, yeah,” I replied. “We have a lot of shit to take care of there, and I know we’re leaving this town in capable hands.”

  “Damn right, you are!” Twila grinned. “Don’t even worry about it. Um… Ava?”

  The blonde assassin looked up from her steaming cup of ginger tea.

  “Are you feeling okay?” Twila asked. “You’ve hardly said a word this whole time, and I know you’re usually quiet, but you seem extra quiet, even for you.”

  “What do you think, Ava?” I murmured.

  “We can tell them,” the blonde said as she looked up at me with her big blue eyes. “Dar and Penny know, so it might as well be public knowledge.”

  “As long as you’re sure,” I said.

  Ava nodded and gave me a shy smile.

  “So actually,” I said, “it turns out that Ava’s pregnant.”

  “What?” Twila demanded.

  “It’s true,” Ava said. “We’re expecting.”

  “Congratulations!” the golden-haired halfie said as she clapped her hands together. “That’s amazing! I didn’t know we could… you know, as halfies, I didn’t know that Ava and I could--”

  “I didn’t think so, either,” Ava said and bit her lip.

  “That’s really wonderful,” Dryson said. “If there’s anything I can do for either of you, just say the word.”

  “Yes, me, too!” Ashlin said. “I can’t believe you’re gonna have a baby!”

  “I appreciate that,” I said, but when I noticed that Cimarra hadn’t said anything yet, I glanced over at the dark-haired dancer.

  “I’m so pleased for you,” Cimarra said as she shook her head like she had been som
ewhere else.

  I suddenly wondered if Cimarra felt jealous. After all, she had been my woman for the longest, and I knew that sometimes, women got jealous of each other when it came to things like that. But as I watched her now, the dancer’s shoulders relaxed and she smiled at Ava before she spoke again.

  “Really, Ava,” Cimarra said, “I’m very happy for you both, and if you need anything, I hope you know that you can rely on me.”

  “Thank you, Cimarra,” Ava murmured.

  If Cimarra was jealous, that meant she wanted to have my baby, too, but at least for right now, her smile seemed warm. I knew that she would be a huge support for the blonde assassin, but I also knew that I just might have to make another baby with my beautiful dancer pretty soon if I was going to keep her happy.

  “But if Ava’s pregnant, then what does that mean?” Cimarra asked. “Will she keep working like normal, or does she need rest? I wouldn’t want her to push herself too much.”

  “For now, we’re just going to carry on like normal,” I said, “but obviously, we’ll make sure that Ava is extra careful in everything that we do.”

  “But actually, since you did bring up being tired,” Ava said, “I wouldn’t mind getting a little bit of rest before we head back through the portal. If that’s okay with you, Wade?”

  “Whatever you need is okay with me,” I said. “You could lay down here, I guess, or--”

  “Why doesn’t she come back with Ashlin and me to the theatre?” Cimarra asked. “She can lay down in my room, and then you can just come get her there whenever you’re ready to go back to the Gold City.”

  “Are you sure?” Ava asked. “I wouldn’t want to get in your way or anything, so if you--”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” the raven-haired dancer said as she reached over to rest her hand on the other woman’s arm. “You could never be in my way. I just want to make sure that you’re taken care of, okay?”

  “Okay,” Ava said with a small smile.

  “I’ll come get you soon,” I told the assassin, “but until then, just get some rest.”

  The blonde kissed me quickly and then left with Cimarra and Ashlin, and as soon as they had gone, Dryson said he would go ahead and leave, too. He wanted to begin preparations to turn his fire brigade into a human guard as soon as possible, so everything would be ready and in place by the time he received the first order of weapons and equipment from the blacksmith’s shop.

  That left only Twila and me in the kitchen of the dancehall, and the dancehall girls all seemed to still be asleep in their rooms.

  “What about you?” I grinned at the golden-haired halfie. “Do you have anywhere that you need to be? Or any errands you need to run?”

  “Not a single one,” Twila laughed as she turned toward me in her chair. “I’m as free as a bird, and that only leaves one question.”

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Well,” the halfie said as she spread her legs just wide enough to tease me, “do you have anywhere else that you need to be?”

  “No,” I said and then leaned forward until my lips brushed against her pointed ear. “But I can think of some place that I’d like to be.”

  “And where might that be?” Twila purred.

  “Deep inside that perfect pussy of yours,” I said with a smile, and then I took her earlobe in my teeth and pulled on it gently.

  “Wade!” The golden-haired halfie giggled and pretended to be shocked.

  “Did I say too much?” I grinned.

  “Not at all,” Twila said. “You just took my line, that’s all. I was supposed to tell you how much I wanted you inside me.”

  “Oh, you can still tell me that,” I said as I pulled away from her and leaned back in my chair. “Maybe you can also tell me about how much you’ve been thinking about fucking me since the moment I walked into the dancehall this morning.”

  “I could,” Twila said. “But what makes you think I’ve only been thinking about that since I saw you this morning?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I mean,” the golden-haired halfie said as she slowly began to slide her hands up my thighs, “that I’ve been thinking about your cock ever since the last time we were together, and I damn near haven’t slept since then because of it.”

  “Well, then, I guess we’d better do something about that,” I said as I felt my cock harden as her hands grazed up the inside of my thighs. “But I can’t for the life of me think of what we could do.”

  “You’re a terrible tease, Wade,” Twila said, and then she climbed out of her chair and knelt on the floor in front of me. “You know exactly what we can do, just like you know exactly what I want from you.”

  “Aren’t you worried that your girls might walk in on us?” I asked with a nod toward the open kitchen door.

  “We can move to my room soon enough,” the golden-haired halfie said as she reached over and slammed the door shut, “but if you make me wait even a second longer, you are gonna be in some serious trouble.”

  “Are you trying to threaten me with a good time?” I laughed.

  Twila narrowed her eyes and made a face, but then there was no more time for teasing because her hands finally reached the crease in my hips, and she immediately moved her fingers toward my cock. She started to rub it through the fabric of my pants, and I groaned at how confident her strokes already felt.

  Then she simply unfastened my pants, pulled my full length out, and started to massage it even more firmly. Her fingers moved swiftly up and down my shaft, and as I leaned back even further in my chair, the beautiful blonde looked up at me with a sly grin and then moved her lips toward my cock.

  She slipped her delicious mouth around the tip of my shaft, and then she started to run her tongue around the tip and along the sides of my cock to make it ready for her. Then she slowly inched her mouth down onto me a little bit at a time.

  Every time her soft lips slid a little further down onto my shaft, I felt my cock grow even harder inside her mouth until finally, my full length was inside Twila’s mouth, and the tip of my cock pressed up against the back of her throat, so the golden-haired halfie made a soft gagging noise against me.

  Before she moved at all or really started to suck my cock, Twila looked up at me with her big blue eyes, and the sight was almost enough to make me lose it right then. But then she slowly moved her lips back up my shaft, inhaled through her nose, and then took all of me into her mouth again.

  I wrapped my hands in the thick golden waves of her hair and started to help her move up and down along my cock. Whenever I was fully in her mouth, Twila moaned against me, and the vibration sent an extra little shudder of pleasure through my body. And every time she pulled away from my cock, she just looked up at me again, ran her tongue gently along the sides of my shaft, and then bobbed her head back down.

  Her mouth felt so goddamn good that I just wanted to let her suck me off for the rest of the fucking day. I thought about just letting her, but when I glanced down and saw her cleavage where it spilled out the top of her brightly colored corset, I knew what I wanted more.

  I pulled the golden-haired halfie off of my shaft but kept my hands in her hair as I raised her all the way to her feet. Only when she stood up in front of me did I drop my hands from her hair and then slide them back down along the sides of her corset.

  I grazed my fingertips along the front of her hip creases, and then I used one hand to lift up her full skirt, while my other fingers brushed up the inside of her leg until they skimmed across the soft lips of her pussy.

  “No underwear for you today?” I grinned.

  “Oh, I was wearing some,” Twila giggled, “but then you showed up, so I excused myself and slipped them right back off.”

  “Really?” I asked. “Did you think you might get lucky or something?”

  “Oh, I really, really hoped so,” Twila sighed.

  I brushed my fingers against her lips again and then gently flicked her clit. My cock throbbed w
hen I felt how wet she already was for me, and all I wanted to do was plunge my full length into her waiting tunnel.

  But first, I wanted to make the beautiful blonde’s legs fucking shake for me.

  I massaged my fingers around the outside of her lips, and every so often, I used my thumb to rub against her clit. I could feel her whole body respond to me, but I didn’t want to make her come right away. I wanted her to ache for me, and then I would let her orgasm to her heart’s content.

  When my fingers damn near dripped from how wet the beautiful woman was, I slid out of my chair, knelt in front of her, and then raised her skirts a little higher, so I could slip my face underneath them and bring my lips toward her pussy.

  I wrapped one arm around the back of her legs to help keep her in position because I didn’t want her to sit down just yet. I really wanted to feel her tremble against me, so I held her up with one arm and then began to gently kiss along the edges of her entrance.

  As I began to taste her sweet juices, I started to slip my tongue inside her waiting tunnel, and I felt the beautiful halfie gently roll her hips in little circles to increase the pleasure that my tongue gave her. I moved my tongue in circles inside her to match the roll of her hips, but then I started to slide it in and out, so I could massage her clit with my tongue, too.

  Twila moaned a little louder each time I grazed my tongue along the edges of her lips all the way up to her clit, and then she groaned again when I went back the same way. Her legs had already started to tremble, and the more I kissed her and thrust my tongue inside her, the more she started to shake.

  Finally, I felt the beautiful halfie reach down and grip my thick hair, and I knew that meant she was about to come for me. I massaged her clit with my lips, while I continued to thrust my tongue in and out of her narrow entrance, until finally, her muscles all tightened around me.

  “Ohhh, Wade!” Twila purred. “Oh, Waaaade!”

  The golden-haired halfie shrieked as she climaxed against me, and I kept my tongue inside her until I felt her orgasm crest and then subside. Her legs trembled on either side of my face, so I finally pulled away, brushed down her skirts, and looked up at her with a grin.