Second Skin Omnibus

by M Damon Baker

  Late in the afternoon, I retreated to my closet to choose a gown for the evening affair. Birt had begun filling the hangers and shelves, and there were a number of suitable dresses for me to pick from, but then, with an almost malicious grin on my face, I picked out what I thought would be the perfect outfit for the evening. I set the garment out to put on after Rhia and Wenda finished their work and went back to my bedroom where they were waiting for me.

  “No need to be so subtle this time,” I told the two of them as I sat down. “In fact, since it’s our farewell event, I’m looking to make quite an impression tonight.”

  An impression on a certain departing elf queen who’s been quite a thorn in my side the entire time she’s been here, I thought.

  “I can do that,” Wenda smiled as she went to work.

  The two of them spent quite a bit of time putting me together, and if I hadn’t requested them to go all-out, it might have been too much. But the dark shadows Wenda crafted around my eyes and the subtle way she’d highlighted my features while still managing to make her work nearly invisible was quite captivating. Rhia wasn’t one to be outdone, and she’d draped my hair down around my shoulders, framing my face and even accentuating Wenda’s handiwork. When I slipped into the gown I’d chosen, my look was complete, and Tási noted the dress I’d chosen when she helped me with the last few of its closures.

  “Are you sure you want to wear that one?” She asked flatly as she tried to keep her thoughts from entering into her tone.

  “Consider it a going away present, Tási,” I smiled back at her.

  “If you say so,” she replied doubtfully.

  Once we were both ready, Tási and I descended down the stairs to join the festivities. Unlike the other affairs we’d hosted, this one had been limited to the visiting dignitaries and their staffs; therefore, it was a much smaller gathering than the previous occasions. Still, I waited in the small room adjacent to the Great Hall, ready to make my entrance at just the precise moment. Then, when I saw Líann gathered together with the other monarchs, I made my move.

  I strolled into the Grand Hall and walked directly towards the four royals, snatching a glass of wine from one of the servers along the way. The dwarven King was the first to notice my approach and raised his mug at me as I drew closer. Nerec turned, and after a slight pause when he took in the garment I wore, mimicked the gesture as well. Nadiel raised not only her wine glass, but an eyebrow as well when she saw me, but it was Líann’s reaction I’d most wanted to observe, and she did not disappoint.

  Líann casually turned towards me as she realized who her fellow royals were greeting, and I saw her glass nearly slip from her fingers when she noticed that I was wearing the dress that she’d left in my closet. Her mouth actually fell open as she gawked at me, and I had to stifle my own amused laughter as she responded in exactly the way I’d wanted her to. I was wearing her own forest green gown, blatantly adopting her color for the night, but that was not what had prompted her stupor.

  The gown had been designed for her lithe, graceful figure, and the softer, gentler curves of her body. But when my Deathless powers shifted it to conform to the contours of my own more generous form, it had transformed into an almost completely different garment.

  Instead of the waistline highlighting Líann’s narrow dimensions, it emphasized the flare of my hips instead. And where the dress had clung loosely to her body and accentuated her modest breasts, it hugged my every curve and lent a rather impressive appearance to my fuller bust. Overall, the transformation was quite striking, and I was amused to see how it had rendered Líann speechless for once.

  “Is there some reason that you’ve chosen Líann’s colors for tonight, Empress?” Nadiel asked in amusement as she seemed to share in my pleasure.

  “Líann and I exchanged outfits,” I explained. “As a gesture of goodwill between us, I thought it would be fitting for me to wear it on her last night here in the Imperial District.”

  “I recognize the handiwork,” Nerec commented as he struggled to maintain eye contact with me. “But I didn’t know the elven seamstresses in Líann’s employ made their gowns in such… human dimensions.”

  “Are you calling me fat, Nerec?” I couldn’t help but taunt him, despite the fact that I knew all too well what he’d meant.

  “Ha!” Broda’s uncle burst out in laughter. “Don’t answer her, Nerec, you’ll only make things worse for yourself!”

  “And what about you, Líann?” I asked her almost mockingly. “You said you wanted to see me wear your gift. Now that you have, what do you think of it?”

  “It looks quite good on you, Empress,” she eked out before taking a quick sip of wine and excusing herself.

  “I’ve never seen her quite so ill at ease,” Nadiel commented as the others also wandered away. “Tell me how you managed that.”

  “I’m sorry, Nadiel, but that will have to remain my own little secret,” I replied. “Besides, even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to duplicate the effect on her.”

  “Such a shame,” Nadiel responded with true regret. “There are many occasions where I’d wanted to do what you just did to her.”

  Tási joined me once I’d finished with the monarchs, and we mingled for a while after that, thanking the various diplomats for their efforts and wishing them well on their journeys home. As the evening grew late, our guests began retiring for the night in preparation for their early departure in the morning. Then, just as I took a last sip from my glass and prepared to head back upstairs myself, Thelmé approached and asked for a moment of my time.

  “Thank you, Empress,” she began when I granted her request. “I only wanted to report my progress to you. Líann has taken well to the lessons I’m giving her, and although she still has quite a way to go, she’s trying hard and is taking my advice to heart. She’s always been quite intelligent, and a very quick study, so I’m optimistic that she’ll show great improvement soon.”

  I thanked her for the news and then dismissed it from my mind as we climbed upstairs. Whatever further progress Líann made, it would be far away in Íforn, and I only hoped that the next time I had to deal with her was some time in the distant future, when I’d had some time to figure out how I was going to deal with the Queen and her uncanny ability to put me at a disadvantage.

  “You’ll be saying goodbye to all of them again in the morning as they take their leave,” Tási remarked as we got ready for bed.

  “Yes,” I replied as I slipped out of my gown and under the covers. “It will be nice to let things get somewhat back to normal again.”

  “Líann will try to make her departure memorable for you,” Tási noted as she wriggled closer to me. “If only to get back at you for tonight.”

  “Probably,” I agreed, recognizing the truth in her words. “But there’s only so much she can do when we say farewell on the Palace steps.”

  “True,” Tási whispered as she wound body around mine and I felt nothing but her bare flesh.

  “But no matter what she does, I want you to be thinking about me the whole time.”

  22

  Tási certainly was on my mind the next morning as I waited to offer my best wishes to each departing monarch. She had poured everything she had into me the night before, almost literally.

  Almost as soon as she’d pulled herself around me, Tási had sent the strongest flows of emotion she had coursing through my body. If I’d had any idea of what she’d intended, I might have stood a chance against her far weaker powers, but she took me completely by surprise and immediately overwhelmed me.

  I’d found myself in the strange position of being at her mercy, and although I could have summoned my strength and countered her, I chose not to. Through the many rivulets of emotion that she’d sent running through me, I felt Tási reveling in her triumph, and I let her do with me what she wanted.

  Although she was much weaker than I was, Tási had learned to handle her tendrils almost as well as I could, and she sent them
running wild inside me as her hands slid over my body. For the first time ever, I abandoned all my defenses and let her simply have me. Letting go of all my control was strangely liberating, and I lost myself in the sensation of her soft mouth as it explored my body, and the passions that her flows ignited inside me.

  As Tási felt me abandoning myself to her, I experienced her sense of pure joy at having me at her mercy. In return, she left all her own desires aside, and pushed her powers to their limit to fill me with her most powerful currents.

  I felt her tongue lingering over me somewhere, but amid the passion that was coursing within me and the jumbled sensations of her touching me almost everywhere at once, I had no idea where the warm, soft brush against my skin actually came from. All I could say for certain was that it was the final thing that pushed me over the edge and sent me into a long, rolling wave of release.

  My whole body shuddered with ecstasy and I felt my thighs wrapping around her as I fought for something to hold onto. As my body quivered, my hands gripped the sheets tightly, and I heard the sound of ripping fabric as I pulled on them with all my might. Tási held onto me in return, and the sensation of her mouth still pressed against me sent a second burning wave flowing though me. Then, just when I thought she was finally allowing me to wind down, her hand slid along my inner thigh and she sent another wave of passion directly into me.

  My body shivered as her power slid inside me, and my hips pulsed reflexively as the overwhelming release wound its way through me and I felt my teeth biting down on Tási’s shoulder. Tási finally relented, and slowly withdrew her tendrils as I shuddered with a few lingering tremors. As I lay still on the bed, barely more than a quivering mass amid the tattered remnants of our sheets, Tási sent a new set of tendrils inside me. This time it wasn’t the waves of passion that she’d used to bring me to a crashing release. Instead, these were the warm, soothing waters that she had so frequently used to send me to a restful night’s sleep.

  The soothing touch brought me down softly, and although I couldn’t decipher her words in my overwhelmed state, I heard her whispering softly in my ear as I slipped away.

  So, as we waited on the Palace steps for the first of our guests to depart that morning, I couldn’t help but have Tási, and the amazing night we’d shared, dominate my thoughts—just as she’d intended.

  Each of the monarchs was to exit the Palace separately, where I would bid them farewell and they would make a show of marching off with their entourage. The separate departures for each was all just pomp and ceremony, however, as the monarchs would be traveling together for increased security for as long as possible.

  The dwarven King was the first to depart, and we said our farewells as he joined his escort and made his way towards the Garrison where he would await the others before they left together for the main trade route.

  Nadiel came next, and she broke decorum just slightly by taking me in a hug rather than offering the more correct tilt of her head. I only smiled at her when we parted, as I felt the same sort of affection for the halfling queen in return.

  Nerec followed closely behind and offered a polite nod as he promised to send me the five hundred troops the Charter obligated him to provide to the Imperial Army.

  “I consider it a matter of principle to provide you with my best, Empress,” he explained. “My Kingdom is by far the most secure among your vassals, and I can afford to rely on my lesser trained soldiers for a time.”

  “That is most generous of you, Nerec,” I replied gratefully. “I will remember your consideration in the future.”

  I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to let him know that his gesture was appreciated, and if the occasion ever did come up where I could repay his kindness, it would behoove me to remember his devotion and not let it pass unnoticed or unrewarded.

  My smile only grew wider as I anticipated Líann’s departure. The bitch that had originally arrived at my Palace had transformed into a real threat to me. Not due to her original shitty attitude, but because of her ability to wind me up in knots and tempt me into a relationship that I was simply unable to handle. I was looking forward to not having to deal with her manipulations, and her increasingly bold advances.

  So, as I glanced back at the Palace, I was surprised to see Líann’s junior aide stepping outside. The younger elf greeted me with an apology before explaining her presence.

  “Queen Líann has graciously decided to stay on with you, Empress,” the aide explained. “I will be returning to Íforn to convey her directives to the steward who shall govern in her absence.”

  The shock of the news left me speechless, and I knew that somewhere in the Palace, Líann was probably looking on in satisfaction as she got her revenge on me for what I’d done to her the previous night. My silence was shared by Tási, who had been looking forward to Líann’s departure just as much as I had.

  “I’m sorry, is there something wrong?” The aide inquired when neither Tási or I was able to respond to her.

  “I wasn’t informed of this change in plans,” I recovered.

  “Yes, apparently the Queen only decided to remain last night,” the aide informed me.

  I fucking bet she had, I growled in my head as I realized that Líann had once again outfoxed me.

  “Well then, I wish you safe travels, and please convey my best wishes to the steward and the people of Íforn,” I managed to utter.

  “You have to get rid of her,” Tási grumbled by my side as the aide departed.

  “She’s my damn vassal now,” I moaned in frustration. “I can’t just throw her out, and she knows it.”

  By the time we reached my residence, Talína already had a letter from Líann waiting for me. So, I sat down beside her desk and read it while Tási headed back to our living area in a huff.

  “Tási and Líann are somewhat at odds,” I confided in Talína as I opened the message. “In the future, please don’t say anything about Líann around her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Talína apologized. “I was not aware that there was any friction between them. If there is something you need to be aware of and Tási is present, I will be more discreet.”

  “Thank you,” I replied as I began to read the letter.

  It was a request from Líann to meet over lunch. She had heard the news that Gilfri would be coming, and ostensibly, wanted to discuss our strategy for my meeting with the treacherous elf King. While, in theory, this was a great opportunity for me, I was certain that Líann viewed our meeting as an entirely different sort of opportunity. Even more troubling, despite my desire to get her scribes, I’d never even broached the subject with her—all of our discussions had wound up diverted into other areas, and I’d never had the chance to bring it up with her.

  “You seem troubled by what Líann has written,” Talína observed. “Can I offer you any help in drafting your reply?”

  I didn’t think so at first, but then I realized that perhaps Talína just might be able to help me out after all.

  “Líann proposes to have lunch together to go over some important issues, but she has a way of manipulating our discussions away from the topics I wish to discuss,” I confessed to her. “I need to limit our talk to only the matter of dealing with Gilfri, and a request I have for some of her scribes.”

  “I can make sure that your reply makes your meeting with her conditional on her agreement to limit things to those two matters,” Talína replied. “This is actually quite a common thing when there are a great number of issues that could potentially come up between two leaders.”

  “Then please do so, and let me know if she accepts,” I responded in relief.

  “I will schedule you in the west meeting room in anticipation of her acceptance,” Talína informed me.

  When I returned to my quarters, Tási was angrily shuffling through a stack of papers, and pointedly said nothing to me as she rifled through them. She’d promised not to keep harassing me and was trying to keep her word… after a fashion, at least. But as she ste
wed, it only made me angry in response, so I left before things blew up into another confrontation between us.

  I wandered across my suite to the room where I was to meet Líann later to gather my thoughts. Even if she behaved herself and honored the limits I’d set for that day, I couldn’t always count on being able to restrict her in that manner. I had to come up with a way to buy myself some time before she pushed things too fast. The fact that Tási and I were already so at odds even before I developed any real relationship with Líann told me I was already on thin ice. I needed to be on much firmer ground before I could even consider adding Líann, with her powerful needs and drives, into my life.

  Just like last time, the kitchen staff arrived with lunch to interrupt my thoughts, such as they were. Truthfully, I hadn’t come up with a damn thing—the Queen was a far more accomplished debater than I was, and rather than retreating in fear from my displays of darkness, they only enticed her even more. In return, her beauty and the link that had been forged between us only drew me towards her when what I really needed was to get away. Far, far away.

  “Good afternoon, Empress,” she called to me sweetly as she strode into the room.

  When I turned around, I was surprised to see her in a simple dress and not one of the elegant gowns she had always worn before. While the outfit was still in her forest green color, it was of a more casual design, almost plain enough for one of the regular folk—almost. The gold embroidery around its edges gave away that this was an article that belonged to someone of importance, but all things considered, it was surprising to see Líann in something so relatively understated.

  “I see that you like it,” Líann commented with a flourish as she took her seat at the table.

  “It’s much more suitable for these casual conversations,” I replied as I sat across from her.

  “So, I understand that you felt the need to limit our little talk today,” Líann nearly pouted. “I had thought that my decision to stay on to offer my aid and counsel would be rewarded.”