“Stop complaining,” Lynnria said scornfully. “Besides, we both know I need my hands more than you do.”
There was some truth to that. Not that logic was ever very persuasive when grievous bodily harm was on the line.
All I could do was sigh—defeated by my own strategy. Most people tend to throw rock more often than not, so the wise thing is to start off with paper. However, I had assumed Lynnria would know that, too.
“Who throws cut in the first round, anyway? Were you trying to lose?” she continued, oblivious.
I just rolled my eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”
She nodded then raised her ‘bow.’
However, far from mentally prepared, I needed to take a few moments to study my target. The doorknob was set with a downward-facing handle, no doubt intended to allow a person to both unlatch and slide the door open in the same motion. Simple enough.
What concerned me, however, was the added weight of the door. Just slapping the handle was not going to cut it. If I intended to get this thing open on the first try, I was going to need to jerk the thing pretty hard, and that would slow me down.
“Don’t over commit,” Lynnria advised, parallel to my own thinking. “We don’t know how much time you’ll have.”
I snorted. “You ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie.”
“Wh-what kind of expression is that?” she asked, clearly shocked—which seemed like a bit of an overreaction. She was obviously trying to stall. However, what I was about to do had taken up far too much head-space for me to bother explaining antiquated alien idioms.
“Never mind.” Fuck me… and just when my head starts to feeling okay again, too. I cracked my knuckles to steady myself. “Ready.”
Lynnria made a dissatisfied little noise in her throat before extending the wand, her eyes on me. She took a shaky sort of breath, preparing to fire her weapon, then hesitated. Her tongue fluttered nervously between her lips.
I nodded, trying to project confidence. For both our sakes.
Her head bobbed almost imperceptibly in reply. There was no use drawing it out any further. Her eyes flicked to the door.
“Dirt!”
Like a softball shot from a cannon, mud slammed against the door once again. And again, the curved blade sliced through the air just in front of the handle. I lurched forward in practically the same instant, grabbed the handle with both hands, and gave it one solid tug before throwing myself back.
And not a millisecond too soon.
As the blade descended a third time, I felt the wind of it brush against my fingers. For a moment, I just stood there, my chest heaving as unspent adrenaline thundered through my veins. Shakily, I brought my hands up, not yet convinced they were still intact… though they did feel a tad burned. And some of the hair was now missing.
“And the wizard pulls out the Dex save,” I whispered. “Chebs…”
Without warning, Lynnria thumped me high on my back and, as keyed up as I was, I almost jumped out of my boots.
“You did it!” she shouted, hopping in place jubilantly. And totally oblivious to the state of my nerves.
However, before I could comment, she flung her arms about my neck and kissed me soundly. And not a short one, either. Barely a moment had passed after our lips met than she seemed to forget her excitement and brazenly pressed me to the wall.
My natural hesitation toward the sudden intimacy melted almost immediately. Maybe it was all the stress. How worn down I was. My injuries. How much I missed my girls. I do not know. But I needed this. I needed to lose myself to the comfort of another’s arms… at least for a little while. It was not until her hands began to work their way up my tunic that I finally came back to myself.
“Lynnria, no,” I said breathlessly. “We can’t.”
“Yes, we can,” she argued in a daze, her teeth nipping at my chest. “I know you want me just as much—“
Abruptly, her head jerked to one side, and a shiver seemed to roll ever so slowly down the length of her body. While she was twitching, I saw a brief flash of fang through her parted lips. But it was over soon enough, and she sagged in relief.
“Hoo… sorry. I don’t know what—” She sucked in a shaky little breath and let it out in a subdued chuckle. Then, once she pushed away, she gave her stomach a considering sort of rub. “Sorry about that, Donum. I don’t mean to rush you. I think… maybe my bow is using Life Energy, after all? I’m starting to get pretty hungry.”
I stared at her. Both because I could not quite line up her words with the situation and because the last time something like this had happened, she had grown a tail. I could not see anything much different, though.
Although… maybe her ears are longer? Or no… they had flared outward. Not by much. Still, it was noticeable.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“What? You never get horny when you’re hungry?” she asked, surprised.
I blinked at the question, not quite certain as to whether it was in character for the girl or not. Sometimes she was prim as a duchess, and others she gave me the impression of an off-duty soldier cooling off at the pub. It was like she was pinballing between competing sets of moral outlooks.
Then again, we had just been kissing one another breathless. So perhaps a bit of openness was warranted.
“Not… really,” I replied. Though admittedly, I was plenty of both at that particular moment.
“Hmm… must be a girl thing,” she reasoned.
“Could be,” I said, going along with it. “I know my… mates certainly do.”
“Well, there you go,” she said with a wink and a grin.
And no fangs. Again.
When I did not reply, she thumped my chest with a knuckle. “Oh, lighten up. I’m sure they’ll love me. Now, come on. Let’s get moving.”
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
“Stop complaining,” Lynnria said scornfully. “Besides, we both know I need my hands more than you do.”
There was some truth to that. Not that logic was ever very persuasive when grievous bodily harm was on the line.
All I could do was sigh—defeated by my own strategy. Most people tend to throw rock more often than not, so the wise thing is to start off with paper. However, I had assumed Lynnria would know that, too.
“Who throws cut in the first round, anyway? Were you trying to lose?” she continued, oblivious.
I just rolled my eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”
She nodded then raised her ‘bow.’
However, far from mentally prepared, I needed to take a few moments to study my target. The doorknob was set with a downward-facing handle, no doubt intended to allow a person to both unlatch and slide the door open in the same motion. Simple enough.
What concerned me, however, was the added weight of the door. Just slapping the handle was not going to cut it. If I intended to get this thing open on the first try, I was going to need to jerk the thing pretty hard, and that would slow me down.
“Don’t over commit,” Lynnria advised, parallel to my own thinking. “We don’t know how much time you’ll have.”
I snorted. “You ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie.”
“Wh-what kind of expression is that?” she asked, clearly shocked—which seemed like a bit of an overreaction. She was obviously trying to stall. However, what I was about to do had taken up far too much head-space for me to bother explaining antiquated alien idioms.
“Never mind.” Fuck me… and just when my head starts to feeling okay again, too. I cracked my knuckles to steady myself. “Ready.”
Lynnria made a dissatisfied little noise in her throat before extending the wand, her eyes on me. She took a shaky sort of breath, preparing to fire her weapon, then hesitated. Her tongue fluttered nervously between her lips.
I nodded, trying to project confidence. For both our sakes.
Her head bobbed almost imperceptibly in reply. There was no use drawing it out any further. Her eyes flicked to the door.
“Dirt!”
Like a softball shot from a cannon, mud slammed against the door once again. And again, the curved blade sliced through the air just in front of the handle. I lurched forward in practically the same instant, grabbed the handle with both hands, and gave it one solid tug before throwing myself back.
And not a millisecond too soon.
As the blade descended a third time, I felt the wind of it brush against my fingers. For a moment, I just stood there, my chest heaving as unspent adrenaline thundered through my veins. Shakily, I brought my hands up, not yet convinced they were still intact… though they did feel a tad burned. And some of the hair was now missing.
“And the wizard pulls out the Dex save,” I whispered. “Chebs…”
Without warning, Lynnria thumped me high on my back and, as keyed up as I was, I almost jumped out of my boots.
“You did it!” she shouted, hopping in place jubilantly. And totally oblivious to the state of my nerves.
However, before I could comment, she flung her arms about my neck and kissed me soundly. And not a short one, either. Barely a moment had passed after our lips met than she seemed to forget her excitement and brazenly pressed me to the wall.
My natural hesitation toward the sudden intimacy melted almost immediately. Maybe it was all the stress. How worn down I was. My injuries. How much I missed my girls. I do not know. But I needed this. I needed to lose myself to the comfort of another’s arms… at least for a little while. It was not until her hands began to work their way up my tunic that I finally came back to myself.
“Lynnria, no,” I said breathlessly. “We can’t.”
“Yes, we can,” she argued in a daze, her teeth nipping at my chest. “I know you want me just as much—“
Abruptly, her head jerked to one side, and a shiver seemed to roll ever so slowly down the length of her body. While she was twitching, I saw a brief flash of fang through her parted lips. But it was over soon enough, and she sagged in relief.
“Hoo… sorry. I don’t know what—” She sucked in a shaky little breath and let it out in a subdued chuckle. Then, once she pushed away, she gave her stomach a considering sort of rub. “Sorry about that, Donum. I don’t mean to rush you. I think… maybe my bow is using Life Energy, after all? I’m starting to get pretty hungry.”
I stared at her. Both because I could not quite line up her words with the situation and because the last time something like this had happened, she had grown a tail. I could not see anything much different, though.
Although… maybe her ears are longer? Or no… they had flared outward. Not by much. Still, it was noticeable.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“What? You never get horny when you’re hungry?” she asked, surprised.
I blinked at the question, not quite certain as to whether it was in character for the girl or not. Sometimes she was prim as a duchess, and others she gave me the impression of an off-duty soldier cooling off at the pub. It was like she was pinballing between competing sets of moral outlooks.
Then again, we had just been kissing one another breathless. So perhaps a bit of openness was warranted.
“Not… really,” I replied. Though admittedly, I was plenty of both at that particular moment.
“Hmm… must be a girl thing,” she reasoned.
“Could be,” I said, going along with it. “I know my… mates certainly do.”
“Well, there you go,” she said with a wink and a grin.
And no fangs. Again.
When I did not reply, she thumped my chest with a knuckle. “Oh, lighten up. I’m sure they’ll love me. Now, come on. Let’s get moving.”
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
