His hips rocked upward without conscious command at the surprising but welcome touch.
He gulped and looked over at Cindra. The statuesque woman was staring at Sthuza, though her blue tongue slipped out and traced along her lips as she listened to his Prime.
A glance at Sthuza revealed her to be equally focused on their conversation. Her face was a perfect mask of elegant beauty as she continued to talk.
The hand feels almost hot, so it’s Cindra, right? But she looks far too calm.
With his arms pinned beneath his bedmates, he couldn’t reach down and check. Besides, whoever was stroking him obviously wanted to keep it secret. It wouldn’t do to upset their intentions.
So Gabriel bit his lip as the mystery woman tightened her grip, then stroked his engorged member with more confidence and speed.
Keeping quiet became increasingly hard, especially once she achieved a steady pace. She would stroke him right up to the point of release, but either through skill or luck, left him hanging right on the edge.
I wish she’d stop teasing and let me finish.
She didn’t. Instead, the hand wrapped around him slowed and squeezed gently several times before releasing him. Then a cool claw teased along the length of his erection.
His aroused lust fled to the back of his mind when he felt the sharp claw trace his manhood, teasing along the head and back down the shaft. But he sighed and relaxed when the hard edge withdrew.
Gabriel glanced over to Cindra and blinked at her sleeping face. Her full lips had a hint of a smile, but she let out a soft snore and cuddled tighter against him.
Just as he started to wonder if the game was over, soft fingers encircled his girth again.
Feels like her hand can barely fit around me. Does that mean it’s Sthuza?
He swallowed at the renewed, eager stroking that quickly pushed coherent thought from his mind. When he realized the gorgon had fallen silent, he peeked at her.
The hand gripping his member pushed him closer and closer to release as he watched his Prime. Her eyes were closed, and her head-snakes lay motionless.
If she’s also asleep… It couldn’t be Reyna… could it?
Intent on checking for the gruff lycan, Gabriel looked to the foot of the beds. He and his bonded were under the light cover, but he didn’t see a lump large enough for the petite blonde to have slipped under with them.
The hand that stroked him changed pace and raced to push him over the edge.
Some part of him was unwilling to disturb either of his bonded. He didn’t want to wake whichever one wasn’t part of this secret stimulation, so he bit his lip and kept silent. His hips bucked despite clenched muscles as the pleasure reached a crescendo.
Gabriel felt his seed spray out under the covers, coating the hand that still milked him. He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned quietly when the warm, and now very sticky, hand slowed its frantic pace. He felt a few more tender tugs at his flagging erection, but he still had no clue which of his bonded was responsible.
I should cast that cleaning spell. But sleep sounds so good right now. Cleanup later.
The tension he hadn’t even noticed burdening him had fled with his spent seed. He stayed awake only long enough to place a chaste kiss on each monster girl’s exposed cheek.
I’m the luckiest man in the world.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Gabriel reeled from a terrible dream. He struggled to organize the fleeting memories. His mind felt disconnected from his body. Like he’d been using Dungeon Sense while sleeping.
A sinister voice had called out to him. Echoing oddly, it offered teases of power, wealth, women—anything and everything Gabriel could ever want.
But beneath the splendor and excess, a cloying, fetid stench suffused the air. It smelled wrong. So wrong, he could taste it.
The moment he recognized the flavor, the feeling, as Swarm, everything vanished.
Was that just a nightmare? Or is that horror haunting me in my sleep now?
A slurping sound startled him, and suddenly he felt the soft linen beneath him. Then he noticed the cool gorgon cuddled tight against his right side.
Sthuza’s silk negligee was all that separated her firm breasts from his chest, and he spent a moment enjoying her soothing presence. With his arm curled around her, it felt natural to stroke down her slender side. He traced the curve of her hips and further down along her smooth thigh.
Enjoying the feeling of his bonded pressed against him reminded Gabriel of last night. He tried to hug the hellhound who’d fallen asleep against his left side but found only rumpled covers.
Where’s Cindra?
Hot wetness dripped onto his balls and reminded him of the mess they’d made last night.
Hard to believe it didn’t dry.
Then a thick, dexterous tongue licked the full length of his painfully hard morning wood. A long, hot tongue. It coated his shaft in drool as thick and hot as melted wax.
Cindra is—
His thoughts blanked as the tongue wrapped around his manhood, and the mouth—which he knew had to be Cindra’s—engulfed him hungrily.
Please don’t bite it off!
Or burn it!
With Sthuza still snuggled tight against him, Gabriel focused on not disturbing the slumbering gorgon as Cindra sucked him off. The longer she worked his shaft, the more pleasurable the experience.
Her viscous spit flowed down his erect member. The hot fluid drenched his balls, then formed a puddle beneath him. Her tongue lacked the gripping ability of Sthuza’s, but she made up for it with her enthusiasm.
Cindra moaned around his girth, and the vibration was enough to push him over the edge. He bucked against her face, but the solid hellhound didn’t budge as he shot thick ropes of seed into her throat.
Eyes closed and mind overwhelmed by lust, Gabriel jerked back when the light comforter was ripped off the bed.
“Cccindra, Thisss wasss not part of the deal!” Sthuza said angrily.
He cracked his eyes open and slowly focused on the barely dressed gorgon as she turned on the hellhound who eagerly sucked the last of his seed.
Thankfully, Cindra withdrew him from her mouth and fell back submissively rather than bite down in surprise.
So glad she was in humanoid form.
Sthuza didn’t seem to notice. She ignored him entirely and stood over the squatting monster girl. The gorgon hissed so angrily that her words were barely decipherable. Adding to the chaos was the furious spitting and hissing of her head-snakes.
Gabriel was grateful his manly bits were still attached, and surprisingly clean, after being in the hellhound’s mouth. He got out of bed and quickly began to dress.
“Sorry, Lady Snakey, Packmaster just smelled so good, Cindra had to clean him up,” Cindra whimpered.
“I do not care what excuses you make, you agreed to wait until I approved,” Sthuza said, though she at least sounded calmer than before.
“Oh, good morning, Master,” she said when she spotted him grabbing his pants.
“Morning, Packmaster.”
“Good morning,” he replied.
Last night was fun, but I’m curious how you managed it.
‘I am pleased to hear that your night was pleasant, Master. But if you enjoyed yourself, perhaps you should let it be? Besides, asking a lady for her secrets is quite rude.’
Sthuza turned to glare at the much larger monster girl and said, “We will discuss this further at a late date.”
“Okay,” Cindra whined.
Gabriel didn’t want to let their argument, or the apparently secret deal about their sex life, derail the plans for the day, so he continued to dress. Once ready, he checked his pool.
Mana 57%
The seven percent recovery fit well with his expectations. Before he became a Dungeon Master, it had taken him just over two weeks to refill his pool. The denser Aether in the dungeon let him recharge about twice as fast.
But it also risks drawing unwanted attentio
n if we go back and forth too frequently. Besides, once we get the crystal back, we can stay down there all the time.
Sthuza restored her disguise and gave Cindra another pair of gloves to conceal her claws. It took several minutes to get the hellhound armored up, and she insisted on bringing her sword this time.
“Bout time you lazy murder hobos got off your asses and joined me,” Reyna said when they entered the common room. She glared at them, looking even more irritated than she had last night.
“Gah, you bastards reek of sex. What did you do, spray yer nasty jizz all over them?” she grumbled with a shudder.
Sounds like someone isn’t a morning person.
Sthuza giggled, obviously having overheard his thoughts. Gabriel smiled at her before he moved to join their potty-mouthed companion.
Breakfast was generous bowls of porridge with a few cold sausages on the side. They ate in relative silence. No one spoke, but Cindra provided plenty of ambient noise as she scarfed her food down.
After finishing their meal, and thanking the proprietor, they headed out to the Noble’s Quarter again.
“I still think we should split up to scout the place out, Master,” Sthuza said.
“Don’t worry so much. I’d much rather we risk standing out instead of leaving one of you to be attacked without the rest of us there to help. Besides, if anyone does look twice at us, they’ll probably assume we’re just starry-eyed tourists.”
Sthuza met his gaze, then pointedly looked at the towering juggernaut that was Cindra in full armor with the giant’s blade on her back. She could still pass for an exotic inutari, though Gabriel doubted anyone would notice her looks after they saw her sword.
He grinned. “Okay, so we’re really well-defended tourists. Or just paranoid.”
Sthuza shook her head, and reddish-brown hair billowed in the breeze, though a faint, serpentine hissing hung about her.
“Cindra will keep people from looking twice!”
Reyna snorted. “Yeah, that’s not happening unless you can do something about those ridiculous sweater puppies you’ve got stuffed into that armor. Seriously, did you not have enough money to buy a properly sized suit? That leather’s tighter than a gnome’s foreskin.”
Cindra glanced down at her breasts and cupped one curiously. “Cindra doesn’t have any puppies yet. Will Packmaster give me some soon?” she asked as she continued to idly grope her breast.
Reyna snickered and glanced at Gabriel. “Yeah, I bet he will, fucking letch.”
Mrs. Spaulding had provided the lycan with a clean set of clothes for today. Loose brown trousers and a cream blouse left her looking far more appropriate for the city than the highly enchanted sex costume she’d left the prison wearing.
I wonder if she kept it. Would the enchantment expand it enough to fit Cindra?
Sthuza hissed loudly behind him, which reminded him they were supposed to be investigating the castle’s security.
They had killed a lot of the baron’s guard when Kelith invaded, leaving the garrison weakened. Despite that, Gabriel had planned to leave the noble alone until after they recovered the stolen crystal.
But Reyna demanded that they’d deal with the bastard before they left. Getting her the revenge she craved would also punish the arrogant lord for his part in Gabriel’s murder and the attack on Merideva.
If the city wasn’t in such a decline, I doubt we’d have a chance, even with bonded as powerful as Sthuza and Cindra. Most nobles can afford more magical items than Adamantite-ranked adventurers.
Baron Alberik was about as low as a noble could be and remain landed. Even so, his title provided more power and wealth than most adventurers could dream of.
That’s how the spoiled pricks stay in power. One ancestor does well and sets the rest up for centuries of privilege. With so much wealth, they can literally buy power.
Gabriel had paid the few expenses his scholarship didn’t cover by selling mana to the Guild and its vast mana vaults. The Guild was one of the few buyers outside of the nobility. He knew the baron paid as well as the Guild for mana, but Gabriel had never trusted the noble after how harshly the baron’s son had treated him in school.
Course now Kelith is dead, and we’re about to punish his asshole father.
‘Yes, Master, but now is the time for calm.’
He took a few relaxing breaths, not having even noticed how worked up he was getting.
Thanks.
‘I will always protect you, Master.’
He grinned back at the smiling gorgon as they settled into a small teahouse that afforded an excellent view of their target. The luxurious two-story building had large, magically created glass windows that let the group watch the guards out front.
Cindra had made it very clear that she was not eager to hide in a cramped alley while they spied on the gatehouse. Gabriel hadn’t said anything aloud, but he privately agreed. So he was almost as excited as she was when Sthuza had picked out the quaint teahouse for their stakeout.
Seems like most of this trip has been spying, then rushing in to murder everyone we encounter. We even turned the tables on the saurians. Isn’t that basically what adventurers do to dungeons?
Sthuza giggled beside him. ‘Perhaps similar, Master, though Dungeon Cores want them to intrude, and unless I am much mistaken, our target does not.’
Good point. I’m going to spend some Essence to boost my magic before we do this.
‘A wise decision. We will keep watch.’
Trusting his Prime to manage their boisterous companions, Gabriel brought up the Interface.
Unassigned Essence: 151
That’s a lot more than the ninety-seven free Soul Essence I had earlier.
‘Is something wrong, Master?’
I have over a hundred and fifty free Essence now.
The moment he sent the thought to Sthuza, he realized where it came from.
It’s from killing that saurian adventurer, isn’t it?
‘I imagine so, though I must say, it is more than I would have expected you to receive.’
Doesn’t really matter right now. I’m going to stick to my plan and only spend a small amount right now. Don’t want to rush it and make a costly mistake.
Gabriel spent several minutes considering the options before him.
Intelligence and discipline are the main attributes that increase magical power. But I’m already pushing the limits for a normal human. Until I know why the cost multiplies, think I’ll pass on boosting those. How about the section under Prowess?
It took a second to navigate the Interface to the correct pane. The display looked just like it had the last time Gabriel checked: a long list of magical skills, most of which were grayed out. At the top, Arcane Magic had eighty-six. He concentrated and invested a single point of SE into it. Instead of the one point increase he’d hoped for, it climbed to eighty-nine.
Three for one?
Gabriel continued to spend one point of Essence at a time on Arcane Magic. He paused when the skill only went up by two, from ninety-five to ninety-seven. Investing three more points only raised it to one hundred and one.
Why did the ratio drop so quick?
Curious, he added points in Harness Mana and watched as it climbed up by three each time. It had started out one lower and jumped from ninety-four to ninety-seven, but then followed the same pattern as Arcane Magic.
When it reached one hundred, Gabriel stopped and switched to the last row with a rank.
Accuracy. Given it’s under the magic section, it has to help with aiming spells. Not sure how useful that will be.
Despite his doubts, Gabriel raised it to a hundred as well, then closed the Interface.
Yet another thing I need to learn. Does the growth slow because I tried to raise it several ranks at once? Or are there cutoff points where the rate changes?
He blew out a sigh and looked at his companions.
They’d started watching in the early morning. Since their arrival, the teahous
e had grown noticeably busier as the lunch crowded dined.
The four of them kept a watch on the flow of people in and out of the imposing gatehouse. There were guards but also several robed bureaucrats and servants.
Gabriel spent much of the time studying the glyphs that formed the Fireball spell. Despite what he’d told his companions, his plan was risky and had no margin for error.
The crowd diminished as the lunch rush passed, and Gabriel became increasingly aware of the waitress watching them closely.
“Do not worry about her, Master, she is no doubt curious why you have three beautiful women with you, and yet you do not flirt or behave inappropriately with us. Adventurers are not known for their decorum.”
“I could suck Packmaster’s—” Cindra offered loudly before Sthuza covered her mouth.
In mid-drink, Gabriel sputtered and sprayed hot tea out of his nose. That set off Reyna, who cackled from where she sat next to the hellhound.
Tears welled in his eyes as the still steaming tea seared his sinuses, and he coughed wetly.
Reyna snickered. “Don’t look at me, you pervy dog-lover, I ain’t wiping your nose or sucking your dick.”
“You truly are quite the charming young lady, Miss Reyna,” Sthuza replied.
“Aww, thanks, your scaliness. Glad you can see how special I am.”
A muffled growl made everyone focus on Cindra, whose mouth was still covered by one of Sthuza’s long-fingered hands.
“Oh, sorry, Cindra.”
“No worries, Snakey. Just wanted to say the group of soldiers left like you wanted.”
They had been waiting and watching in the hope that the baron would still deploy the weekly patrol. Every Godsrest, a squad of ten or more soldiers, led by one of his mage retainers, would head out and inspect the outlying villages and check for roving monsters in the barony.
Gabriel had been skeptical that they’d go. Sthuza assured him that the last thing a self-important minor noble would want to do is reveal any hint of weakness to his peers. Or the Guild.
Gabriel and his Prime glanced at each other.
Dungeon Bound 2 Page 19