by Dante King
I could feel Anna feeling me. I knew she was experiencing the same thing—the dominant thrill of having her own body pinned beneath mine, helpless before my thrusts. She felt the power and control, even as pure submissiveness flowed through her own body. The combination was intoxicating, sending both of our pleasure levels right into the stratosphere.
Then, dimly, I became aware of Lyra.
A look of disbelief spread across Anna’s face, and I knew she was feeling it, too. Both of us sensed Lyra’s need, the arousal coursing through her veins even as she rubbed herself shamelessly through her panties. Fingers weren’t what Lyra needed, and all three of us knew it. Her body cried out for a hard fucking—begging to be sandwiched between me and Anna, taking my cock in her mouth as she cried out and opened herself to Cultivation.
She wanted it. She wanted it so badly. And that scared the hell out of her.
So I thrust even deeper into Anna’s tight, wet pussy, gritting my teeth. Anna felt me lose my rhythm and laughed triumphantly, her eyes rolling back in her head until only the whites showed.
“Yes!” she groaned, throwing her hands in the air. “Come for me, Eric! Come inside me!”
My cries of passion became a roar as I hit the peak and sailed right over. My cock jerked inside of Anna’s core, hammering her G-spot as the first thick rope of seed sprayed from the head. My balls emptied inside of her pussy, pumping every rich drop of cream deep into her womb where it belonged. Anna’s body looked more demonic than ever as she took my seed, her inner walls doing that crazy grip-and-tug routine that felt like she was trying to milk me dry. Then Anna was screaming along with me, her pussy gushing over as my climax triggered her own.
A second orgasm slapped me in the face, washing over me with no warning. This one felt different than the first—less a dam bursting than a flood bubbling up from the earth. Its intensity shocked me. I locked eyes with Anna, assuming this was a reflection of her pleasure amplified by the Mana, but she looked just as confused as I was. What the hell…?
Both of us looked over at the same time. Lyra, sobbing and shuddering with bliss, had her fingers knuckle-deep inside her spasming womanhood. She’d sent herself over the edge watching us make love—and we’d felt it.
Anna and I locked eyes. Both of us knew: we could make Lyra into a Cultivator. If we did to her what we’d just done to each other, she’d open up so wide she could start along the path of the Eternal Dao with us. She’d have to start from the beginning, like Hazel—as an Early Mana Gateway—but she could do it. Join our group. Our harem.
If she wanted it.
As I came down from my peak, I pushed Anna backward across the bed. I couldn’t curl up next to her with her ass hanging out in the open air, and Anna always wanted to curl up and get cuddly after a good, hard fuck. Within moments, the two of us lay beneath Lyra’s rich furs, naked and giggling. I never felt closer to Anna than during this process—both the orgasm and what came after sealed us together tighter, made us more of a couple.
Anna pulled one of my arms over her, snuggling her body tight against mine beneath the furs. “That was wonderful,” she panted, planting a kiss on my wrist. “You always know exactly what I need, Eric. You’re so good…”
Slowly, Lyra came back to her senses, her eyes heavy-lidded with bliss. “My goodness,” the redhead panted, lowering one foot to the floor. She crossed one leg over the other, hiding her beautiful pussy from our sight. “That was… intense. It was only a solo performance, but it felt better than most duets I’ve had in my life.”
“You felt it,” Anna whispered, reaching out from beneath the covers. Her hand beckoned for Lyra to come and join us, to get warm and naked under the furs along with us. “The Mana. We felt you, too, Lyra. If you let us practice Dual Cultivation with you, you’ll become a Cultivator, too—I’m sure of it.” She smiled from ear-to-ear, sleepily pushing her hair into my face. “We’re both tired right now, but I’m sure you could coax Eric into a round two…”
Lyra stared at me, her face hungry with need. Then she shook herself, like someone coming out of a trance, and rose from the chair. “I think I’ve done enough for tonight,” she said, a little more brusquely than she probably intended.
Anna frowned. “Are you sure? I know this is what you want, Lyra. Please let us repay all your kindness…”
Lyra held up a hand. “You’ve definitely given me something to think about,” she said, brushing a sweaty lock of hair out of her face. “And more than that, besides. You two get some rest. I’ll have Kij come wake you up in the morning, and we’ll all have breakfast.” Her expression softened as she realized how harsh she was being. “Let me sleep on it, okay? We’ll talk more in the morning.”
We said our goodbyes. Lyra withdrew swiftly, smoothing down her dress as she exited the suite. It wouldn’t do much good—she had a distinctly freshly-fucked look, even if neither of us had laid a finger on her. Anyone at the Hungry Herb who saw her tonight would assume she’d had a threesome with the new Cultivators she was letting stay on as guests.
Hopefully by tomorrow night, that’ll be true, I thought, snuggling Anna tighter. Yet to my surprise, the thought of her declining didn’t upset me. If Lyra wanted to remain where she was in life, that was alright with me. I wasn’t about to judge people for their choices, or try and force them into something they weren’t comfortable with. I just wanted to live my life the way I wanted, and I treated others with that same respect.
With the door closed firmly behind us, Anna turned her dark eyes on me. “You don’t think we upset her, do you?” she asked, sounding worried. “Maybe I shouldn’t have brought up the whole thing about Cultivation. If I’d just made it sound like we wanted a fun threesome, maybe she would have been more comfortable.”
“She’s fine,” I assured Anna. Her worries soothed away beneath my caresses, the smile returning to her face. “She just needs some time to think about things.”
“Yeah?”
“Trust me,” I said with a yawn. “That is one hell of a woman. I’m glad we ran into her when we did—I don’t know what we would’ve done without her. If she wants to join us, I’m sure she won’t be shy about letting us know.” I gave Anna a pinch beneath the covers. “Besides, you’re definitely not shy about wanting to turn this into a harem.”
Anna giggled, trying to pinch me back. “Hey, you’re the one who stares at everything with an ass and a nice set of tits we come across!”
“Yeah, but you’re the one who wants to bring them into our bed,” I growled, nuzzling the hollow between her breasts. I pulled back the fur, wrapping my lips around one of Anna’s nipples. It stiffened in my mouth, her pelvis grinding against me as she offered me her freshly-fucked pussy. “Admit it. The thought of having another girl in bed turns you on.”
“Never,” she gasped, grinning from ear-to-ear. “You’ll never pry it out of me, Eric!”
“Well then we’re not having a round two,” I said with a shrug, savoring the panicked look on her face. “I guess I’ll just get some sleep then. Maybe we can have a quickie before Kij gets us up in the morning.”
Anna’s expression collapsed. “Okay, okay. I do, alright!? God, I don’t know where it came from! I’ve never been the kind of girl to share a man before, but something about it just seems so… unf, hawt!” She squeezed her thighs together. “Especially with a cutie like Lyra. Or Hazel.”
I smirked down at her. “You’re thinking about her too, huh?”
A sad look entered Anna’s eyes. “I hope we can find a way to fix her,” she panted, wrapping her legs around my hips. My cock pushed against the entrance to her soft, silky folds, already back to full hardness. “Even if we don’t—I want that girl, Eric. She belongs with us—ohhh!”
I thrust deep into her, taking my girlfriend for the second time that night. “Don’t worry,” I growled against her ear, fucking her slow and deep. “You’re going to have lots of girls to play with soon, Anna. There’s no way we’re keeping it at just Dual Cultivati
on. Hazel, Lyra… from now on, you and I are going to be traveling in style.”
As Anna wrapped herself around me that night, eagerly welcoming me into her, it was all talk. But I had no idea how soon our harem fantasies would become a reality—and that all of it would start with our new friend, Lyra.
Chapter 14
The next morning, Anna and I woke up a few minutes before Kij entered the suite. The servant gasped, nearly dropping her tray of coffee as she saw us wrapped up in the blankets, grabbing a morning quickie.
“Mistress Lyra would like to see you downstairs!” the servant said through the door once she’d closed it. “Breakfast will be served any minute!”
As the servant retreated down the hall Anna laughed, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “Damn it,” the blonde panted, pouting up at me. “Rain check?”
I was already pulling out of her. “Sure thing,” I said, helping her get dressed. Both of us wore casual clothes for our breakfast with Lyra; we could change into something more formal later. Besides, I had more on my mind than sex that morning, strange as it might seem. Something about the previous night’s encounter nagged at me, even through the memory of Lyra fingering herself while I did my level best to fuck Anna into the mattress.
Something was different about last night, I told myself as I put on my robes. None of my comprehensions increased, and I didn’t gain any new powers, either. Neither did Anna. I couldn’t figure it out. The only difference I could think of between the encounter in Hazel’s cabin and the one in the Hungry Herb Tavern were the injuries I’d sustained. Anna’s fangs and claws had tried their best to make a meal out of me, but the awesome healing power of Dual Cultivation soothed those pains away in seconds, transforming them into pleasure. Was that really the key?
Once fully dressed, we made our way down to breakfast. Lyra had a spread waiting for us on a table in her back garden—no hanging out in the common room necessary. The smell of rich food mixed with the scents of the flowers, making my mouth water.
What a perfect place to have breakfast, I thought.
Lyra also had a couple foaming mugs of beer waiting for us. “Figured you could probably use a little hair of the dog,” the redhead said, rising to greet us. She threw her arms around Anna, giving her a quick, tight hug, then did the same for me. “We did some heavy drinking last night.”
“You don’t look it,” I said, giving her a quick once-over. Both Anna and I showed the hallmarks of a night well spent, but Lyra didn’t have a single hair out of place. She looked like she’d gone to bed early last night with a book, instead of fingering her wet pussy while watching her new guests practice sex magic. “How do you do that?”
“A lady has her secrets,” Lyra said with a smirk. “Maybe I’ll teach your girlfriend a few of them. Please, sit.”
To my surprise, another guest had already beaten us here. Hazel sat across from Anna and me at the garden table, quietly eating a bowl of rice with some of those spicy pork dumplings on top. A beer sat on a coaster next to her, untouched. She chewed mechanically, as if she didn’t even taste the food.
She looked a little better than yesterday, at least. I had that much to hold onto.
With Hazel staring morosely into her bowl of food, there wasn’t much room for conversation. As much as I could tell Anna and Lyra wanted to talk about last night, and their plans for the future, neither of them felt comfortable discussing it in front of Hazel. I couldn’t blame them. Talk about turning someone into a Cultivator in front of someone who’d had their Cultivation forcibly ripped from them? That would have been incredibly cruel.
Eventually, Hazel finished the last of her meal and rose. “Thanks,” she said, retreating through the curtain without saying a word to us. The atmosphere in the garden relaxed immediately once she was gone.
“Poor girl,” Lyra said, watching her go with a sympathetic gaze. “I feel so bad for her. Not only does she have to deal with her loss, she has to hide away from Governor Shingu and his troops.”
I finished off a pork dumpling, washing it down with some beer. Lyra had been right—a little hair of the dog was just what I needed. “Is it really that bad?” I asked, curious. “She can’t even walk around town?”
“Maybe if she wore a disguise,” Lyra mused, her fingers pressing against her chin. “But I really wouldn’t risk it. It’s dangerous enough having her here as a guest, as it is.”
Silence settled for a few moments. But Anna broke it when she leaned over and put her hand on top of Lyra’s. “Have you thought any more about our offer?” my girlfriend asked, smiling to show there was no pressure. “If you need more time, Eric and I totally understand.”
Lyra stared down at the hand for a long moment, choosing her words carefully. “I’ve thought about it,” she said slowly. “And I’ve decided that I’d like a repeat performance of last night.” She met my eye, the corner of her mouth curling in a sexy smirk. “As a participant, this time.”
Anna literally squeed with joy. “Oh my gosh, I can’t wait!” she said, downing a big swallow of her beer with gusto. “I’m so happy right now, Lyra! I promise you, you won’t regret this.”
Lyra held up a hand, stilling the girl. “In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do.” She scooted her chair back from the table and rose to her feet. “The Hungry Herb calls. I’ve been away for some time, so I need to get a handle on things.” She gestured at what was left of the food. “Please, take your time with the meal, though. Kij will bring you whatever you’d like.”
“Sounds great,” I told her. “We’ll touch base tonight.” I looked around the garden. “Uh, what should we do in the meantime?”
In response, Lyra tittered, hiding her mouth behind her fingers. “Why not go explore the town?” she asked. “If you need money, I’m happy to write you a note with my signature on it. Any of the merchants in the town would be happy to accept my credit—but you will need to pay me back.”
Her words hit me in my well-fed gut. “We’ll owe you?”
Lyra let out a wicked little giggle. Suddenly I couldn’t help but wonder how many hapless townsfolk she had in her debt, extending that wonderful ‘credit’ until it came back to bite them in the ass. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” she said. “There’s always work out there for Cultivators, even low-level ones. You shouldn’t have any problem picking up a little currency on the side…”
Within a few minutes, Kij came back with a signed note from Lyra. Please extend my credit to these two individuals—the Cultivators Eric and Anna. They are my guests in the town, and anything they need to purchase can be put on my account. It was signed with her name in a flowing, calligraphically perfect sigil.
“Well, that’s certainly nice of her,” Anna said as Kij slipped out of the garden. “Although I’m sure she’ll charge us interest. Maybe she’ll take a little bit of our tab off if we do a good job with her tonight?” She frowned. “What’s wrong, Eric?”
A single candle sat burning in the center of the table. I stared deep into the tiny flame, thinking. “We didn’t gain any power last night,” I muttered.
It clicked for Anna, as well. “You think it’s because we didn’t get hurt?” she asked, taking an idle sip of her nearly empty beer. “I like it rough as much as the next girl, Eric, but if we’ve got to get that wild every time to increase our power, I might need some aftercare…”
Still concentrating, I brought my open palm just above the tip of the flame. I’d done this enough times as a kid to know you could touch the fire briefly without burning yourself—as long as you limited yourself to the tip of the flame, where the fire burnt with the least amount of heat. This time, though, I simply held my hand there, letting it grow warmer.
“What are you doing?” Anna asked, peering in closer. The two of us sat alone in the garden, the sounds of the guests in the common room muffled through the walls.
“I want to try something,” I said, concentrating on the flame. “If I can’t join one of the Guilds around here
, that means I’ve got to learn how to Cultivate by myself. One of the ways Hazel talked about was something like this.”
Slowly, I lowered my open palm onto the flame. The tip sizzled across my skin, lapping tongues of flame across the lines in my hand. After a few seconds, the pain became too much, and I pulled back with a wince.
“Nice,” Anna said, making a face. “Congratulations, you’ve unlocked a first-degree burn. Maybe we could find someone in the town who’ll spar with you—”
I shook my head. “No. I’m going to learn Fire Mastery. In fact, I’m learning it already.”
Anna’s eyebrows rose. “You are?”
I smiled. Above my head, words floated in mid-air:
Beginning Comprehension of Fire
Initiating Memorize Stage (Level 1: Ember)
Memorize Stage reached 0.1% (Level 1: Ember)
It wasn’t much, to be sure. I hardly even felt it: compared to the burning pain in my hand, the knowledge seemed like a very small thing, indeed. But it was progress. That was the important part.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, I thought—a hoary old cliche, but sometimes true all the same. I’d just taken the first step toward my Comprehension of Fire.
“God helps those who help themselves,” I said, watching the flame. “Benjamin Franklin said that.” As the words left my lips, I felt a little bit of help—my Black Core, vibrating against my side like a hummingbird flying through the air.
My awareness of the world sharpened. Suddenly, I could sense the Mana in the living, growing things around me—Lyra’s garden was a veritable field of it. More streamed from my Core, wreathing around my body in long tendrils like the vines of one of those plants.