“More, more, more, more,” Fei panted. She let out a low purr and pressed herself against Nathan. Her crotch slammed into his erratically. The muscles in her thighs tensed as she climaxed.
For several moments, she moaned into Nathan’s neck. He ran his fingers through her messy black hair, which had grown even longer. His cock throbbed inside her. She gripped him tightly, both outside and in, and he felt a warm mess squish around his length.
Fei straightened up. Her hands pressed against his chest and she smiled at him. Her green eyes were glazed over and filled with limitless lust for him. She started moving again. A messy pool of mixed white and clear liquids splashed against their legs every time she hilted him inside herself.
A rush of heat poured out from Nathan’s cock.
“Ahh,” Fei moaned. She froze, her expression shifting. Then her tongue lolled out, and she grinned at Nathan. “Even more kittens.”
That wasn’t how it worked, but Fei was completely lost in her rutting. He thrust into her several times, enjoying the squeaks and moans she let out as he emptied himself inside her.
As before, she began riding him after a few seconds of rest. Fei’s stamina was limitless.
Almost literally, right now. This had been going on for over three days now. Nathan was using contraceptive magic, which was fortunate, because Fei’s rutting was more intense than most beastkin he was used to.
It was more intense than hers had been in his original timeline. Maybe she loved him more here. Or maybe she was younger and hornier.
He hoped she settled down next year.
Close to a week passed before she finally let him do things without sex. He hadn’t even been able to eat without her burying her face in his crotch. Showers hadn’t been about getting clean for a while.
“I’m fine,” Fei mumbled into her pillow.
Nathan combed out her tail for the first time in a week. The room still reeked of sex despite Nathan’s efforts. He’d need to ask a cleaner who knew some cleansing wind and water magic to help.
“Get some rest,” Nathan said. He patted her back.
“I’ll be cleaning myself for like a week,” she whined. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this full in my life.”
Nathan left her in the room. She’d get over it.
And to think, a week ago she’d been begging him to take her off the medication. He wondered if she’d be as interested in the future.
They were back in Gharrick Pass, but it was practically deserted. Almost everybody was busy elsewhere. Seraph was in Tartus, assisting with the security for the negotiations. Sunstorm oversaw Fort Taubrum. Up in Castle Forselburg, Sen and Narime were preparing a new type of gateway to connect to Gharrick Pass.
That left only Fei and Nathan to hold down the home fort.
Which was why it was a surprise when a beastkin knight reported that several carriages with Anna’s emblems were en route.
It was even more surprising when she didn’t greet him, and instead went straight to her bedroom. Curious, he tracked her down.
Anna sat in her usual guest bedroom, doing up her hair in the mirror. A percolator rumbled in the corner. Kuda pottered about, preparing a cup of coffee.
It was Kuda who spotted Nathan. “Care for a coffee?”
“Please,” Nathan said. He entered and shut the door behind him.
Anna glanced at him, before turning her attention back to the mirror. She remained silent. Once Kuda served the coffee, she gestured for him to leave the room.
After the door closed, Nathan said, “I thought you were in Tartus.”
“I was in Tartus,” Anna said. “I thought I was going to die in Tartus, given how long some of the days were. The archdukes would monologue for hours at a time. I think the Emperor wandered off for a coffee once. If I were smarter, I would have used the wireless like they did.”
“I don’t think you would have gotten away with it,” Nathan said.
“No, I wouldn’t have,” she admitted. “Even Alice and that dark elf ambassador showed up in person. Only the archdukes and the Emperor didn’t. I suspect they would have been there in person if we weren’t at war with Trafaumh.”
“I still can’t believe we didn’t forge a peace treaty,” Nathan muttered. He had hoped that annexing the Federation would have halted the war with Trafaumh.
The news of the Empire conquering another nation had made Trafaumh pause. The Pearlescent Canyon was still in play, with the Empire barely in control of it. There was a great opportunity to achieve peace, or at least a ceasefire. Trafaumh had seen the Empire’s might firsthand. Their enemy had conquered the Federation at the same time they waged a war in the north.
Instead, the Nationalists used the victory as a rallying cry. The war dragged on.
“Don’t be too hurt.” Anna gave him a look. “The negotiations have basically wrapped up. They’re ironing out the details. Voting rights, some insane complexities with the Diet that I don’t pretend to understand, the military situation with the dark elves.”
Anna’s look turned frosty. “Did you have sex with that dark elf or something? Because that Astra woman praised you as much as she insulted everybody else.”
“No, I think she just doesn’t like humans,” Nathan said.
“Then why does she like you?”
“Because I defeated a Messenger. I think.” He scratched his head.
Astra wasn’t somebody he knew overly well. She and Nurevia went back a long way, but that was about all he knew about the two. That, and the fact that Astra’s greatest joy in life was seeing her enemies broken and defeated before her. She and Sunstorm would probably get along.
Nathan hadn’t known Nurevia remained in contact with Astra.
“Well, she likes you. Thinks you’re amazing,” Anna said. “But more to the point, the annexation has been decided. Everybody is surprisingly happy.”
“Everybody?”
“Close enough. I don’t count the archdukes, because why should I?” Anna said. “It was crazy to listen to them try to justify their excuses for sabotaging the negotiations. Milgar blew up one day and nearly called them traitors. Invoked the goddess a few times. We had to recess for a few hours. I suspect a separate conversation was had.”
“I bet,” Nathan said. “Why, though?”
Anna’s face was incredulous. “You’re kidding right?”
“Remember that you haven’t told me what was decided at the negotiations. Or even discussed,” Nathan said. “The Empire is annexing the Federation by force. Why would the archdukes oppose it?”
Anna drummed her fingers on her dressing table. “You’re aware how the archdukes have gained the power they have?”
“I am. While the Empire was splitting at the seams, with Falmir and Trafaumh declaring independence, the archdukes removed every noble in competition with them,” Nathan said. “There used to be grand dukes, archdukes, dukes, and all manner of flavor of count. Now, the archdukes control everything, and every count answers to them. The Emperor is powerful, but he’s a political figurehead.”
“There’s still Imperial Counts, who only owe fealty to the Emperor. But almost all of them belong to families that were once Emperors,” Anna added. “But yes, that’s the gist of what’s happened since the Watcher Omria ascended.” She fixed him with a harsh look. “And you’ve upended that.”
“I have?”
“You have,” she repeated. “Because every regent is becoming a duke, and with that they gain a vote in the Princes College. Which is—need I remind you—the most powerful part of the Diet. It’s a glorified cabinet for the Emperor right now. But with twelve new members, the power dynamic has changed.”
Nathan stared at Anna. He disliked politics, but he knew enough about how it worked to understand the political calculus involved.
The Diet made the laws for the Empire. At its very top was the Princes College, formed of the most powerful nobles in the Empire. Right now, that consisted almost entirely of the archdukes. That allowed
the archdukes to prevent the other nobles in the Empire from doing anything.
“This breaks the deadlock that happened during winter, doesn’t it,” Nathan whispered. “The Nationalists prevented the Emperor and Leopold from stopping the war against Trafaumh, because two of the archdukes supported them. But now…”
“Now, it’s anyone’s game. The archdukes were furious when they realized the Emperor intended to reduce their power in the Diet.” Anna smirked. “You didn’t even realize this was what Milgar and the Emperor were up to, did you?”
“I don’t really do politics,” Nathan said. He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Torneus’s drunken ranting rose to the forefront of Nathan’s thoughts. Had all of this been a plot by the Emperor to strengthen his political position? Had Nathan played into it?
That was an insane idea, particularly given how little influence the Emperor had played overall.
But the cause of the cascade remained a mystery.
“What about you?” Nathan asked.
“What about me?” Anna asked, avoiding his gaze.
“I’ve conquered a lot of territory for you, but it needed to be confirmed. Is that happening?” Nathan asked. Leopold had given permission for Anna to rule the newly conquered region, but the Diet needed to confirm it.
Otherwise, any noble could conquer random land and claim ownership of it. That would be a bad precedent to set.
Anna coughed. “I said there were twelve new members of the Princes College, didn’t I?”
“I assumed they were replacing Torneus,” Nathan said. “That’s you?”
“In a way…” Anna trailed off. She sighed. “I’m being granted the title of Imperial Countess, and Gharrick County is being extended all the way to Tartus. I’ll be given all the territory east of the Gharrick Mountains that you conquered, Tartus, plus a lot of the land close to it that you marched through. Milgar cited some ancient rule about how I had a claim to the land because you walked across it or some such nonsense.”
“You’re not a duchess?” Nathan asked.
“I don’t want to be a duchess,” Anna snapped. She froze, then looked away. After a few moments, she added, “Milgar is also giving me some of his territory to the south that is occupied by the beastkin.”
“Anna,” Nathan said.
Her lips thinned and she refused to look at him.
“Anna, I think we need to talk,” he said.
“We are talking.”
“No, I think we need to talk about things that don’t have to do with politics,” he said.
Nathan stepped up to her desk and at on it. She glared up at him.
“So, let’s talk,” he said. “Why don’t you want to be duchess?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” she muttered.
“Try me.”
Minutes passed in silence. Nathan’s coffee had long since gone cold as he had ignored it. Anna made another for herself and complained that it tasted terrible. Did she ever make her own coffee?
“Before you came here, my greatest dream was to turn Gharrick County into a place that my father would be proud of. To attract people to it, restore the merchant trade, and grow Trantia into a modern town,” Anna said eventually, her back turned to Nathan. “I felt that if I did that, I’d be accepted by other nobles.”
“Accepted?” Nathan asked.
“I mentioned before that most of the committees and councils my father sat on didn’t invite me to them. Despite my efforts, I never achieved anything in the Diet. Father had dreams and ideas. He never achieved any of them, but people listened. I wanted to make them a reality and prove that I am just as much a noble as he was,” Anna said.
Nathan kept his feelings off his face as he listened. Some of Anna’s behavior felt different now that he heard her speak like this.
“Then you arrived. You took me seriously, like all the nobles had taken my father. For the first time since I became countess, I had somebody who treated me like a countess, instead of another woman to be ignored. You asked for my help, cut through the nonsense, and understood what I was trying to do.”
Had he? Nathan frowned. “I’m pretty sure you’ve complained that I don’t ask for your help.”
“It’s my soldiers that you drag with you everywhere you go. My butler that runs your fortress and manages your finances. My county that ensures that you have food and supplies for your campaign. You organize things and tell me what to do, but it’s my power as countess that makes it all happen,” Anna said.
“And? Why don’t you want to be a duchess?” Nathan pressed.
“Because Gharrick County is my home, Nathan. My dreams are rather small,” she said, a sad smile on her lips. “That’s what bothered me so much about Alice. She appeared and took over your life for a few short weeks. And I realized that was where you were destined to be. I’m a countess. I want to run my corner of the world and make my people happy. I want to see people like Lord Fleitz brag about the success of their family brewery.”
Anna shook her head. “Alice’s life is terrifying. Hobbies don’t exist. She lives and breathes politics. Both of her grandfathers are some of the most powerful nobles in the Empire. Although she plays around with magic and swords, she’s an Imperial Princess. I’m not. One day, she’ll take you somewhere that I can’t go.”
Stepping up to Anna, Nathan took her arms. She stared at him, eyes wide.
“Is that your choice?” he asked.
Anna didn’t respond.
“Anna, I’ll respect a choice that you make. But you need to make it,” Nathan said. “I’m telling you that there is no destiny. No guarantees in life. If you want something, then you need to take it. Things only slip away because you choose to let them.”
Her lips parted.
A moment later, her hands gripped the back of Nathan’s head and she pressed herself against him in a hungry kiss. Her tongue pressed against his teeth, clumsily trying to find a way in. He took control of the kiss and bent her backward. Her leg rubbed against his calf.
They moved backward and fell onto the bed.
Anna stared up at him, eyes wide and glistening.
“Are you sure?” he asked. His hands run up her frilly black dress.
“I am,” she whispered. “I think you’d do well as Nathan von Clair.”
Her hands pulled him down and into another kiss. He raised her dress and lowered its top. Her small orbs bounced out, perfect for his hands. His lips closed over a nipple.
When he pulled away, she stared up at him with longing. Her red lingerie was soaked. He parted it. Stripping her down would take forever given what she was wearing. Juices poured over his hand, and she moaned as he ran his fingers lightly over her sex.
“Nathan, please,” Anna moaned. “I want my first to be you.”
Her request was music to his ears. He slipped his erect cock out and placed it against her entrance. She gasped from the slight pressure he applied against her. Her legs rested on his shoulders. She lay on the bed, and he was on his knees in front of her, ready to enter her.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Nathan,” she whined.
He entered her slowly. She hissed as he slid inside her. Her arms rose up, and she pouted at him.
“Hug,” she said.
He chuckled and obeyed. She gasped when the motion pressed her legs against the bed, almost doubling her over. He slid deeper inside of her, eventually bottoming out.
Moans and gasps escaped Anna. Nathan ran his fingers around her sex while kissing her and enjoying the sensation of her naked breasts rubbing against his chest. Her voice gradually turned sweet. She began bucking against him.
“Move. Please. This is what I’ve wanted,” she said. “I can feel you inside me.”
He moved. Her insides wrapped around his length, and heat rose rapidly inside him. He thrust into her in a steady rhythm. His thighs slapped against her fleshy ass, and juices ran down his balls. Slowly, he felt himself reaching climax.
Heat poured out of him. Anna’s eyes widened and she moaned, low and long.
When he pulled out, a trail of white connected his tip to her.
“Warm,” she said, running a finger over the gobs pouring out of her. “Sticky.” She made a face after tasting it. “Salty. Fei says she drinks this stuff daily. How?”
“I think she’s developed a taste for it,” Nathan said.
“Let’s stick with it going down here for now,” Anna said. “I’m guessing you’re using a contraceptive spell?”
“If I wasn’t, Fei would have been fighting in Tartus with a much bigger belly.”
“Good,” Anna said. “We can think about children later.”
Then Anna grabbed Nathan and pulled him onto the bed beside her. She got on top of him. “I’ve heard amazing things about your stamina. Given you’re still hard as a rock, let’s test it out.”
Chapter 41
“You seem awfully happy with yourself,” Kadria said. “And you can’t even complain that history is repeating itself now.”
“I can,” Nathan said. He browsed through the books in her shelves. Now that they were more than simply outlines, he was curious what they said. “A lot of things were terrifyingly similar to my past. What I got wrong was what was repeating. It’s like we skipped ahead to the part where the Federation collapsed.”
“You’re going to blame predetermination for that?” Kadria said.
Nathan frowned.
Her room had changed again.
No, calling it a room was wrong. It was now more like a small house.
The bedroom was a just that. A bedroom. It had walls separating it from the dining room and bathroom. A long window allowed him to see into the adjacent room, however. Through there was the dining room set from his last visit. The kitchen was there as well, but larger.
Color had been added to the bathroom, and the bedroom now had visible purple carpet.
Nathan felt almost certain that Kadria’s mental world grew in complexity each time he claimed a binding stone. What would happen when he reached the level of power he had been in his timeline?
Heretic Spellblade 2 Page 38