Skulduggery

by Logan Jacobs

  “I’m listening.” She fluttered her eyelashes.

  “There’s payment in it for you,” I whispered in her ear as I kissed the dancer down her neck and across her shoulder.

  “Oh?” she sighed against my kisses. “I think I like the kind of payment you have in mind.”

  “Here is the first one,” I said as I tied an iron bracelet around her wrist that had an inexpensive crystal in the center. “I have a few dozen more. Tell all the other thespians to wear it. The bride insisted, or so you’ll tell them.”

  The dancer glanced down at the simple piece atop her wrist.

  “This isn’t quite the reward I was hoping for,” she said as she gave me a half smile.

  I smirked. “What were you hoping for?”

  “I think you know,” she purred.

  “I thought I did,” I said, “but whenever you come around you tell me you have another performance just as things become heated. Then you leave before I can give you what I think you want.”

  “Maybe I want to keep you chasing me,” she whispered as her lips closed over my ear lobe.

  “So that’s what you want?” I sighed as her lips worked down my neck. “For me to chase you forever?”

  “Maybe I just want you to want me.”

  “I do,” I said. “I thought I made that clear several times.”

  “Yesss,” she purred as her mouth moved to my chest, “but I don’t care for these baubles. I don’t need cheap jewelry, Wade. I want to be an integral part of your business.”

  “You will be,” I said as she slowly untied my shirt and kept kissing down my chest. “You’ll help me out with the dwarf party?”

  “Of course.” She hooked her fingers around my belt and then deftly flipped it open. “I will do whatever you need me to do, Wade.”

  “Then we have a deal,” I answered as arousal thrummed through me hot and bright.

  “No,” she said as she knelt before me and looked up with her smokey blue eyes. “You still have to pay me.”

  “Now I feel like I’m getting the better part of this deal,” I chuckled when she freed my erection from my pants.

  “I’m very fertile right now, so you’ll need to pull out,” she said as she wrapped her fingers around the base of my cock and began to lick my tip. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about me giving you a child.”

  “The way you say that makes me think you’d want one,” I gasped as her tongue began to trace down my tip and the underside of my shaft.

  “With you? Yes,” she murmured as she lay kisses under the crown of my cock. “But not right now. You have an empire to build, and my swelling belly would just be a distraction. Wouldn’t it?”

  “Yessssss,” I sighed as she took all of me in her mouth, but I couldn’t deny the thought of making the beautiful woman pregnant was causing my cock to feel twice as hard as it normally did.

  That was fine though, because Cimarra knew exactly what to do with it.

  And as it turned out, she didn’t have a performance for another three hours.

  Chapter 18

  It was the day of the wedding, so I gave myself a clean shave and combed my hair back into place to prepare for the event.

  Cimarra had helped me sneak the barrels into the back entrance of the theater the night before under the cover of darkness, since I didn’t want anyone to know where they came from or for the thespians to drink the lot of it before the day of the event. I expected Hebal’s payment at the reception, and I was sure the slaver dwarf would follow through.

  Or at least, I hoped he would. He wouldn’t have as much leverage after today, but he still had all the leverage right now.

  I entered the theater in the finery Cimarra lent me from the costume closet to see the turnout, and I wasn’t disappointed. The cavernous hall was filled with dwarves, and I guessed most of them were members of the mafia. I saw Wemder in the middle of the floor as he danced with a dwarf woman wearing a gown of white lace and gold trim. His new wife wore a wide smile plastered on her flat face, and I almost felt bad for what was about to happen to them.

  Almost.

  “Enjoying the festivities?” Cimarra purred in my ear, and I jumped at her sudden appearance.

  “Yes,” I answered as she followed my gaze out through the tobacco smoke covered dance floor. “These decorations are unbelievable, and it looks like the dwarves are having a grand time.”

  The space was decorated beautifully by the thespians. They had made garlands of flowers and hung them artfully from the rafters, and tables and chairs had been brought in to seat the guests, and the theater’s musicians played music for the guests to dance to. There was plenty of dwarven food, and the whiskey flowed freely.

  “This isn’t the first event the theater has held,” Cimarra answered as she looked over at the dancers with whiskey-filled platters. “This is our first one with alcohol though, so I’m not sure the dwarves will be the only ones intoxicated by the end of the night.”

  “We’ll just call it their bonus for serving whiskey at the event,” I chuckled as I watched the girls wiggle between the various tables beneath the weight of their whiskey-filled trays.

  “Would you like a taste?” Cimarra asked as she offered me a glass of whiskey.

  “Of the whiskey?” I asked as I took the glass from her hand, and my eyes wandered down to snag on her scantily covered breasts. “Or the sweet taste of you?”

  “Both?” Cimarra purred as I leaned in for a kiss, but before I could taste her mouth, she held up a glass between us.

  “I thought you wanted me to work?” she giggled as she raised a dark eyebrow.

  “You are a tease,” I groaned as I pinched the glass from her fingers.

  “You like it,” she laughed.

  She was right, but I decided to change the subject instead of admitting it.

  “Have you seen an old grouchy dwarf?” I asked her as I turned back to the crowd.

  “Aren’t they all old and grouchy?” she asked with a coy smile.

  “That’s fair,” I laughed. “He’d have the most jewelry on. Uncle of the groom and is paying for the whole thing.”

  “I think he’s in the--” she started to say, but then I saw Hebal approaching us.

  “Should I leave you to deal with him?” Cimarra whispered.

  “Yeah,” I said with a nod.

  “Good luck, Wade.” She spun around with a sweep of her dark hair, and I watched her ass sway back and forth as she cut through the crowd of dwarven party-goers.

  “Damn, what an ass,” I whispered to myself as I took a sip of my whiskey and pretended I hadn’t seen Hebal coming.

  “This is some fine whiskey, human,” the dwarf grunted as he raised his glass to me.

  “That it is,” I replied as we clinked glasses. “Looks like your people are having a great time.”

  “Yep,” he grunted, and then he tossed back a mouthful of his drink, let out a long groan of pleasure, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m going to be the talk of the city now.”

  “The barrels are in the back of the theatre,” I said as I nodded in the correct direction. “You have a cart to move them?”

  “Yep,” he said. “We’ll take them after the party.”

  “And you have my gold?” I kept my face passive when I asked the question, but my heart was racing.

  “Ahh, about that,” he said after he took a long breath.

  “You better not--” I started to say.

  “It’s back in my office,” Hebal chuckled. “If you come by tomorrow morning, I’ll pay you.”

  “That wasn’t the deal,” I hissed as I forced my fingers to relax around my glass.

  “That’s the deal now,” he scoffed. “You’ll get your money tomorrow morning.”

  “You said it was written in stone,” I said after I took a deep breath. I fucking knew this was going to happen, and now I really didn’t feel bad about my plan.

  “It’s written in dwarven stone,” he laughed. �
��You humans wouldn’t understand.”

  “I see,” I said as I gritted my teeth.

  “You can get your money tomorrow,” Hebal scoffed. “Don’t look like a kid who just had his toys taken away.”

  “Fuck you,” I growled.

  “That anyway to talk to your partner?” the dwarf snickered.

  “You aren’t treating me like a partner,” I pointed out.

  “You’re right, ‘cause you ain’t,” he laughed. “Just a dumb human who knows how to make whiskey, and you are gonna keep making it for me as long as I tell you to.”

  Then he took the glass out of my hand, let out another laugh, and sipped from it.

  “Talk to you tomorrow, human,” Hebal said, and then he turned to walk back into the crowd.

  I watched the dwarf’s stumpy legs move through the crowd, but then my eyes focused on another set of bare legs that flowed up to an ass just as pert and perfect as Cimarra’s. The woman was wearing a bright red dress, and the satin fabric clung to each of her curves as if it were a second skin. My eyes climbed up from her buttcheeks, appraised her narrow waist, and then rose to her small, but pert breasts. Then I let out a gasp of surprise when I recognized her pale skin, freckles, emerald eyes, and fiery hair.

  Penny.

  I couldn’t look away. She always looked nice in her silky gowns, but this was another level of exquisite. The pixie’s outfit blended in with the finery of the crowd, but she was beyond beautiful like a polished gold coin laying upon a mount of dirt. She glided through the crowd like her feet were made of clouds, but her smile was something else.

  Damn, her smile made me feel a thousand times better.

  It was a beacon of light, and I was the lost sailor who would follow it anywhere. Even into a wall of jagged soul-shredding rocks. I was entranced by her eclectic beauty, and I reached out a hand when I caught up to her in the middle of the dance floor.

  I knew she was mad at me, furious even, for the stunt I’d pulled with the Dwarf Mafia, but I didn’t care right now. I couldn’t let an opportunity such as this pass me up. My hand landed on her lace sleeve, Penny turned toward me, and her other hand dove for the knife hidden in the folds of her dress.

  “Oh, it’s you,” Penny hesitated, and she was obviously surprised.

  “Care to dance?” I asked as she looked around us with emerald eyes. “We have time to spare before the grand finale.”

  I’d planned to leave before the elves showed. Wemder knew I produced the alcohol and probably would have ratted on me when they arrived if I was here, but a dance with Penny was worth the risk.

  “One dance,” Penny huffed, “but if you step on my toes or the end of my dress, you’ll regret it later.”

  “And what will you do Penny?” I chuckled as I took her small hand in my own and wrapped my arm around her waist. “Slit my throat while I sleep or give me a slap on the wrist?”

  The Dwarven Shuffle began, and I was glad for the dance lessons Dar had given me at one of his family parties. Luckily, it was one of the dances we covered, and I wasn’t half bad.

  I led the dance as Penny spun and twirled in the comfort of my arms, and her lithe body moved in time with the lilting music. Penny moved as nimbly as a ballet dancer and met me step for step as we worked in tandem. We blended into a single being, and the dance floor became ours. The other guests faded into the back of my mind as I held the beautiful redhead in my arms.

  “I’m surprised you’re this nimble on your feet,” Penny told me as we danced. “Especially since I’ve seen the way you climb a wall.”

  “Maybe if you had given me a chance,” I began as Penny’s emerald eyes glittered up at me, “you might have found me to be quite a suitable dance partner.”

  “Just a dance partner?” Penny whispered hot in my ear as she pressed her body against me. “Or did you want something more?”

  “You are being rather nice to me. Why?” I asked as my manhood pressed against my pants.

  And I knew Penny could feel it.

  “Maybe because we are both dressed so nice,” Penny murmured as she pulled away from me. “Would you rather I be mean to you?”

  I was about to answer when the song ended, and I yanked Penny’s gymnast body tightly against mine again. A hair had escaped from her intricate bun during our dance, so I reached up and tucked the coppery strand behind her delicate ear with a steady hand.

  Penny’s skin flushed, but her emerald gaze never left my own. My pulse raced as we stood there, and lust flooded my veins as I glanced down at her pink lips and back up to her eyes. Then I placed my hand behind her neck as I bent down to meet her lips with my own.

  Kaboom.

  Penny and I broke apart before our mouths met as an upturned table skidded to a halt at our feet.

  “Table flipping contest!” one dwarf yelled, and he was met with a resounding chorus of cheers.

  The dwarves instantly became rowdy as the alcohol in their systems took effect, and they went on an absolute rampage throughout the dance hall. It was total chaos, and I was loving every second of it because it was going according to my plan.

  Now, I just needed the elves to show up.

  I turned back to look at Penny, but she had already disappeared into the fray, so I headed out the back and to the elephant stables as glasses were smashed and dwarves howled in their drunken stupor. Then I escaped into the busy streets amidst the chaos that unfolded as I pulled the hood over my head to hide my identity.

  “Let the games begin,” I whispered to myself as I spotted an army of elves in armor running down the street toward the theatre.

  Chapter 19 - Cimarra

  I had to swat away more than a few hands while I served alcohol to the pesky dwarves.

  These were the moments I was glad Count Kieran made us wear these chastity belts, and I was sure there would have been more than a few incidents of rape if the other dancers and I hadn’t worn them.

  The dwarves guzzled down the whiskey, and their antics grew worse with every minute that passed. I didn’t much like dwarves, since they were rude, ugly, and tended to hate my long-legged race more than they even hated themselves, but I wanted to win Wade’s affections, and helping him with anything he needed was my best strategy.

  Well, that and showing him a great time in bed, but lust was only fleeting, and I wanted him to feel the way I made him feel physically, emotionally, and intellectually all the time.

  But now I felt a bit frustrated.

  It was because of Penny.

  The pretty redhead was currently dancing with my love, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off them as the pair twirled across the floor. I didn’t know he could dance, but I suspected Penny could when I’d seen her walk around the stables. She was very good, and every step they took across the floor made me wonder what I could do to make myself more appealing than her. I knew she was a thief like him, but she also had beauty, intelligence, and could dance. Why would Wade need me if he had her?

  I needed to do more to help Wade. That was the clear answer. After all, the best things in life are earned, not given, and although I didn’t really want competition from Penny, having two amazing women helping him would only improve the chances of him being successful.

  Maybe he’d pick more than one of us?

  I was a bit lost in thought, which was unlike me, but Wade tended to fluster my thoughts. Then suddenly I heard tables being overturned and a scream. I turned back to the dancefloor and saw the disgusting dwarves were throwing tables across the hall and screaming at each other. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they were obviously drunk.

  Wade and Penny were gone.

  “Toss them!” one of the dwarves shouted, and then tables were upturned, and the beautiful floral garlands we had hung were ripped to shreds in the dwarves’ nicotine stained hands.

  The entire event was a mess, and I gestured for my sisters to edge away from the crowd so we could run away from the party-turned-fight.

  Then the main doors bu
rst open with a loud boom, and elven guards piled into the theater.

  Shit.

  “Everybody stop moving!” one of the guards yelled as they began to tackle dwarves left and right.

  The dwarven crowd ignored his orders, and the drunken mass ran every which way to avoid the elves’ thin fingers.

  I needed to get out of here, so I dropped my tray and ran for the back exit to escape the onslaught of elves, but my retreat was halted by a pointy-eared guard. I held up my hands in surrender, and he stopped as his eyes landed on the bracelet tied to my wrist.

  Then my stomach flipped as I watched him reach for the cuffs at his waist, and I was sure I would be sick.

  The guard leaned in close. “Tell your friends we will cuff them, but you will all be released after we take the dwarves away.”

  I blinked in surprise as he walked by me and used his cuffs on the passed-out dwarf behind me instead.

  The bracelet.

  Wade had gifted it to me when he asked me to serve his whiskey at this event. He organized this entire thing, and the elven guards were in on it. It was all a set up, and the bracelets were what he used to keep the theater folk out of harm’s way.

  I looked around again for Wade’s chestnut hair, but it was nowhere in sight. He must have thought it was best to escape before the dwarves blamed the whiskey making on him. My heart filled with pride when I realized he’d planned this to take out the dwarven mafia. He was so smart.

  I was herded into a corner with the other chained thespians, and I whispered to them about the bracelets as we watched the elves slowly round up the dwarves.

  “This is a warning,” the day elf captain bellowed as soon as the dwarves were mostly under control, “to anyone who dares smuggle alcohol into the realm like these idiot dwarves. They should serve as an example to anyone who dares sell or consume the substance, as their poison filled bodies are thrown into a cell.”

  The guard lifted the groom up by his cuffs and held his little legs off the ground, and the dwarf thrashed as he spit at the guard who held him captive.

  “Put me down, you bastard,” Wemder cried out. “It’s my damn wedding day.”