Merrie felt raw but elated as she crawled down the street. It was well into the morning and the streets were quiet. Only one lantern in ten was lit and the dark pools of light were a balm against her raw senses. The rain had stopped while she was in the Shadowed District and a heavy fog had rolled through the town, clinging to the street and wrapping her world in a muted silence.
Tamin paced next to her, his massive form shifting in the streamers of fog. He burned with shadow magic. It boiled beneath the skin and reached out for the night around them.
Her own cloak responded. It flowed and spread out, but as it reached closer to the hound, it caressed his muscular body, tracing the curves and clinging like static. Shivering of pleasure ran through her senses, from his body, through the cloak, and into her.
The gaping hole in her soul was still there and she desperately missed her master, but she could feel how Tamin had anchored her. The connection was always there, just a tiny thread that somehow saved her life. It was enough to keep her from plummeting fully into a world of despair. It was stronger now, a full leash that bound them together. His thoughts pulsed in her head and she could feel the power rolling in his mind. Raw potential, energy she could use, both pleasure and despair.
She smiled and bumped against him, enjoying the solid feel of his form against her naked skin. He towered over her, but there was no question of who dominated the relationship. She listened to his heavy footsteps on the cobblestones and how his weight squelched the loose bricks.
Leaving the Shadowed District was easier than she expected. Merrie didn't fear the Shadows anymore and they simply crossed over, walked a few steps, and came back down in the street. They avoided Gillette and the others. No doubt, the warrior farmer would spend months clearing out the creatures that roamed the district. She would help him from the darkness, at least to remove the larger areas of shadows.
Guilt filled her as they passed the last of the memorials. She had to.
(Will you reveal your home to the light?)
Her home. Merrie looked up at Tamin and smiled. The mansion was her home, even though she couldn't bring Nir there. She shook her head. (No, but we can let the world see the area around it.)
("The subtle shadows hides the longest.") It was quote from her master's master.
Radiating amusement, she brushed up against him. (It is our home. We can't hide forever, but at least we can prevent others from being lost in it.) She paused and looked back the way they came. Her amusement crumbled. (It was so easy to create, but it will take a long time to undo it.)
(How?)
Merrie kissed him and they continued walking down the street. (By the things I do best: fuck. Pleasure burns away the despair, leaving only shadows behind. I like the dark, it makes everything feel better when I'm blind.)
He responded with affection but no words.
They walked in silence, both in thoughts and words.
Merrie spent the time figuring out a home for Nir. She settled on Tai. She knew the guard wanted to take care of someone, and it wouldn't take much for Gail to be convinced. It would be a quiet life, but at least someone would take care of Nir.
Nir was as close as Merrie had to a pack before Tamin returned. But, Nir couldn't go where Merrie was going. It was more than just being a whore. She was being pulled into something greater, and far more dangerous, that she could imagine.
They came up to the guild around three in the morning. The mist glowed from the guild where the lanterns still lit up around the openings and the windows. The building never slept because there was always someone working, no matter how late. The city was always fucking.
Merrie reached out with her mental senses and looked for Nir. The teenage girl was upstairs in Kirin's room. To Merrie's surprise, Nir's thoughts were glowing with excitement and flashes of heat. Pleasure sparkled around in a familiar halo of an orgasm. She was being fucked.
Stumbling, Merrie looked up at the top floor. She didn't think Nir would ever enter the guild willingly, not with the fear of rape in her mind. But, there was no question that not only was Nir inside, she had gone consensually and was now glowing from a series of orgasms.
Merrie smiled and continued along. Something had happened while she was gone and she was curious to find out.
As they came up to the front door, Barrel staggered down the street. He wore only a leather thong and carried three whips over his back. His thighs, back, and shoulders were crisscrossed with red marks. Bruises darkened both sets of cheeks, ass and face. But, he was smiling and humming, still lost in the afterglow of pleasure and pain.
She dropped the shade as she paced next to the submissive.
They were almost up to the front entrance when Barrel noticed her. He gasped and jerked to the side. He bounced off Tamin's solid chest and flung back.
Merrie reached up to catch him. At the same time, Tamin snapped out and chomped on the whips. Between the two, Barrel didn't fall, but it took him a moment to regain his feet. When he did, he was gasping for breath and laughing. “B-Bitch! I didn't see you there. And—” he glanced over at the massive hound still holding his whips.
Tamin opened his mouth and let the leather strands fall out. Drool dripped from the loops as they hit his legs with a wet snap.
“A-And, you got yourself a new friend, didn't you?” Barrel was smiling to hide his fear. “Will he bite?”
Merrie nodded and smiled at him, pulling back her teeth and a sly smile.
Her expression brought a flush to Barrel's cheek, the submissiveness rising. She felt it hum inside her and teasing heat between her legs. She loved to see him smile.
“Um,” a flush rose on Barrel's cheeks as he peeked towards Tamin's hip, the unthinking thought rising up. “Will he bite me?”
Merrie kissed Barrel and continued inside. The young man followed after them nervously.
As they entered, the room grew silent. There was only about fifteen whores in the guild that night. Most of them were lazing on the couches and two were having a drinking contest with small glasses of spirits. But, even the contest paused as Merrie entered.
It wasn't the first time silence greeted her. Merrie was never at home at the guild. She loved the fucking, she loved the people who would talk to her, but there was an uncomfortableness that surrounded her. She had made every one of them come at the same time, without touching them or even being in the same room. It hung over all of them knowing that she could do it.
“They should just accept it.” Barrel rested his hand on her ear, stroking along the ridge. She shivered at the touch and closed her eyes in pleasure. None of the submissives distrusted her, they were used to be used and loved what she had done. “It was a beautiful.”
Merrie kissed his thigh again. Tamin lapped at the other side, which caused Barrel to jump.
“Um, is he going to do that a lot?”
Merrie nodded and pulled away to head up the stairs. Tamin paced her, moving with the ghostly silence that surrounded both of them. Their footsteps crushed the soft carpet on the stairs.
Scorch sat on the landing, at the top of the first flight of stairs. A haze surrounded him as he watched with amusement. “You know, according to the city, we aren't allow the perversions of real animals in the guild.”
Merrie's cloak blossomed out, unwrapping from her body and leaving her naked. It snapped over to Tamin and surrounded him. The hound stepped across into the Shadows as the cloak pulled back. In a heartbeat, she was alone on the stairs with a smile on her lips.
Scorch chuckled. “I thought so. Your little friend is up with Kirin. I promise you, she came in willingly.”
Merrie stopped next to him. She reached over and kissed his cheek and his lip, drinking the hot air and smell of soot that surrounded him. With a third kiss on his lips, she pulled back and continued alone.
As soon as she passed, she let her cloak flutter back out and Tamin stepped back across, moving as if he never left her side. And he never did.
Behind her, Scorch laughed.
Up on the third floor, they headed to Kirin's room. The hook was almost empty and the little numbered tiles were scattered all over the ground. Her eyes were drawn to Kirin's bed where Nir was splayed out on the white-streaked sheets. Her eyes were closed but there was a big smile on her lips. Her pussy, freshly shaved, glistened with cum as did the rest of her body.
Merrie could feel magic filling Nir, centered around three runes that had been inscribed on her right thigh. One for sterility, one for cleansing, and a final one to protect against disease. None of them were the permanent runes, like what Merrie had between her legs, but they were red-rimmed with freshness.
She never looked at Nir as a sexual being, but Merrie saw her as one now. The girl was on her back with her legs spread. Nir's breasts stood up as two proud mountains. Her nipples, low and wide, was hard as fresh globs of cum rolled down from them. Nir thought they were ugly, but Merrie knew they were beautiful.
One of the whores, a dominating man who specialized in ball torture, shook as he came on her face and body, coating her with four long ropes of sperm before he staggered to the side and off the bed. He nodded to Kirin who sat in a chair next to the bed.
Kirin was sprawled out in one of her gold corsets. Her cock was at half mast and she had both legs and the tip of her cock resting on Elf's back as the submissive acted as her stool. She twirled a glass of black wine with three fingers as she watched the bed.
Another whore, a woman with a top hat and nothing else, crawled on the bed and straddled Nir's face. She delved her hand into the girl's cum-soaked hair and brought Nir up to her pussy. “Think you can, honey? Just use little licks for me.”
Nir's lust rose up and she willingly shoved her face into the woman's sex, lapping and sucking.
Merrie felt a sympathetic heat rising inside her. She crawled over to Kirin and sat down next to the guild mistress.
Tamin circled around and took up an opposing position.
Kirin didn't notice, but Elf looked up with a smile. The hairs on his back were soaked in a puddle of precum forming underneath the massive cock of the mistress. His movement cause his body to stir and a droplet rolled off and hit the ground. It sizzles as it burned away on the white marble, leaving a slightly brighter patch.
“Bad boy,” whispered Kirin.
Elf moaned and closed his eyes. His cock, not the largest thing, jerked and precum of his own splattered down on the marble. Unlike Kirin's, it didn't sizzle or hiss.
Merrie guided Tamin to lower his body and bring it up underneath Kirin's glass, to form a table for her.
Kirin jumped when the hound's body cradled her drink. Then, she looked at what was holding her glass. With a gasp, she stood up from her seat and backed to the side, stopping centimeters from Merrie and spinning around. Relief flooded her. “Oh, thank the fucker. Bitch, you surprised me.”
Merrie grinned and wagged her tail.
Kirin sank back down and reached out automatically for her wine glass. Tamin held himself steady as she plucked it off. Taking a long sip, she set it back down on his broad head.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
Merrie nodded and glanced over to Nir. The teenager was lapping hard but slowing down. She was exhausted despite the pleasure filling her. Her legs were pressed together and cum glistened across every square millimeter of her skin as she clutched her lover's hips tightly to keep lapping.
“It was Elf that got her to relax. He came over to bring me something and they got to talking. I left the two of them alone for dinner. A few hours later, she made the request to come up here. Elf sponsored her and Monk cast the runes.”
Merrie turned her attention to Elf.
The large man looked back at her and his strap-on wings shivered. “I promised I would protect her.”
Kirin reached out with her foot and pressed it against Elf's mouth. The submissive man opened and sucked on her toes. “My little Elfie is one of the guild's protectors.”
Merrie couldn't believe it, even when Scorch mentioned it earlier.
Elf pulled his mouth off Kirin's toes, saliva connecting him to her. “Butterfly enemas really hurt.” He smiled and jammed his mouth back on Kirin's toes.
Merrie giggled and looked away.
“Elfie, that's two punishments for talking out of turn.”
He pulled his mouth off and panted, “Yes, mistress.”
“Three,” came the reply and Elf moaned. Kirin shoved her foot back into his mouth. “You have to gag him or he'll go until he has a thousand.”
Elf mumbled with a full mouth, nodding.
“Normally,” Kirin continued, “we only need him and the others when we have customers who don't pay. Of course you, Bitch,” Merrie felt Kirin's attention focusing on her, “need to actually try to get paid first. I've been meaning to talk to you about that… again.”
Merrie ducked her head. Her skin tingled as she felt exposed. On the other side, Tamin's ears drooped also but he kept his head rock-steady.
“I know you are using the money from your other marks, but it isn't about payment. It's about a contract. A social contract. You whore, they pay, understand?”
Merrie nodded. Her ears drooped against her head as she stared at Nir.
“It will be important since that girl looks up at you as a role-model. You and Scorch, though I have no clue why that man would ever look out for her. And, unlike you two, she has no magical powers. She can't set cheaters on fire or… whatever you do. Though,” Kirin said as she tapped Tamin on the head, “we might have to get you into some of the dog and pony shows. I have a feeling you'd fuck this thing and I have no doubt that his cock is huge.”
Merrie's pussy clenched and she nodded. On the other side, Tamin panted happily.
“Though, normally I would be hesitant to let a undead war hound brimming with shadow magic into my guild.”
Merrie jerked at the words. She stared across the chair at Tamin. (Tamin?)
(I have no idea what she's talking about. I feel the same.)
Kirin sighed. “Magic fuels his heart and his veins are as black as your shadows. He isn't a construct though and there is no necromantic energy around him, but the only thing keeping his heart beating is that connection to you,” she swept her finger through the air and the shadowy braid flickered in response, “and a core of darkness in his soul. I've seen something like this before, but from demons not the shadows. I didn't think anything from the Shadows was capable of bringing back even a hound like this.”
Merrie shivered at the words. Tamin's memories rose up inside her, of how the Lord of Shadows bring Tamin back to life.
“Be careful, Bitch, anything capable of doing this,” Kirin tapped Tamin on the head, “always wants something in return. And the price is usually far costlier than what you're getting from him.”
(Tamin?) A sick feeling rose in Merrie's stomach and her throat felt tight. (Do you know what she is talking about?)
Tamin turned his head to look at Merrie. His eyes were pitch black, stained by the Lord of Shadows. (I will die for you, alpha.)
Merrie shivered at his projected thought. When he first said it, right after the Lord, it was something familiar and comforting. But, now with Kirin's words, she heard something else. It wasn't only Tamin speaking but a promise. The Lord of Shadows wanted her for something and Tamin was there to protect her until the Lord got what it wanted.
Even with the dark thoughts burning in her head, she could feel Tamin's love through their connection. It was the same raw passion and protectiveness that she remembered from the first day they bonded. His emotions were laid bare to her and there were no secrets in his thoughts. If the Lord of Shadows had corrupted him, she couldn't sense it, but the Shadows were adept at hiding.
She sighed and leaned against Kirin's chair. She couldn't abandon Tamin, not after just getting him back. Even knowing the Lord of Shadows wanted something in return couldn't stop the love she felt in her heart. He was her pack, comforting and protective. He was hers and she was his. She craved the feeling of having a connection with him. Torn, Merrie looked over at Tamin who watched her unblinkingly.
(Do you not want me, alpha?)
Even as he projected the thought, Merrie knew she couldn't lose him. She felt sick to her stomach. (No, I can't lose you again.)
He sent a pulse of love and she shivered in his warmth.
Kirin rested her hand on Merrie's head, her finger stroking along the ridge of Merrie's ear. “If you're curious, it was worth it for me.”
Merrie jerked and looked up into the blue-gold eyes of the guild mistress.
The guild mistress smiled at her as she continued to stroke Merrie's ear. “He was the greatest seven months of my life. Even knowing what… I needed to do, I wouldn't have given him up for anything.” A tear rolled down Kirin's cheek.
Elf reached up to pat Kirin's thigh comfortingly.
Kirin smiled and patted Elf's hand and Merrie's head. “I'm just saying, don't let it hang over you. Know that there is a price but cherish every moment and every passion.” She sniffed. “I didn't and when it was over, I realized the last thing we did was fight. It probably tore me apart more than anything else. My humanity verses love? Fuck being human, I'd give up anything for him.”
Merrie whimpered softly and glanced over at Tamin.
He sent a wave of love back to her. (I love you, alpha. For as long as I can.)
She knew that she couldn't give him up. Even knowing there was a price. She promised she would cherish every moment and sent an intense wave of love toward him. (I love you. No matter what happens.)
Their tails began to wag in synchronization, thumping against the ground.
“It's hard to believe,” Kirin said as her fingers continued to stroke Merrie's ear, “that you are probably the most dangerous thing to ever pass through the arches in the history of this guild. And, despite that, you are still just a fragile little girl.”
Blushing, Merrie leaned into Kirin's fingers. She could feel the shadow of the Lord hanging over her and Tamin, but Kirin gave her hope. The guild mistress didn't regret the price she paid and Merrie took her words to heart. She would cherish Tamin.
(And fuck me?) There was a primal hope in his thoughts.
With a grin, Merrie sent a hard pulse of pleasure through the connection and Tamin shivered from the sudden orgasm. The wine glass on his head quivered, threatening to fall before Kirin caught it.
“You're adorable, actually. Not unlike your little friend here.” She gestured toward the bed where the woman with a top hat was staggering off the edge of the bed, her cheeks flushed with excitement. Sweet girl, though. She has followed you from one side of the city to the other. I half expected her to propose to you months ago."
The guild mistress' words were true, there was affection inside Nir for Merrie. It would take years before it blossomed, but Merrie could see one path that would lead them to living a sweet life at the mansion. But, she couldn't marry anyone anymore. She had her master's memory and her pack and, now, a price. She shook her head and gestured over to Tamin.
“I thought so.” Kirin sat up and turned her back to Nir who was switching partners again. The mistress leaned over the edge to whisper to Merrie. “Does this mean you'll be staying at the guild now that you aren't protecting her on the streets?”
Merrie looked up into the blue-gold eyes. She had a home but the guild wasn't it. She shook her head.
Sadness filled Kirin's eyes. “Are you leaving? I didn't mean to ruin getting your dog back. I don't think I've ever seen you happier.”
With a smile, Merrie reached up, rested her breasts on the side of the chair, and stretched up to kissed Kirin on the lips. She wasn't going anywhere for a long time, no matter what Sari, the dead guild master, said.
“Good. I'm quite fond of you.” Kirin sat back up and looked to the door. “Looks like Talbot is the last one. What do you think, Elfie, think she's in?”
Elf slurped around her toes before releasing them. “Sixty-one for yes, three against.”
“We have a consensus then.” Kirin picked up her feet and let her cock slide off Elf's back. “Clean her up so I can welcome her to the guild.”
The large man squealed and scrambled to his feet. Kirin's precum dripped off his back and hit the ground, sizzling on the marble before fading. He used a towel to wipe off the remaining on his back and bounded toward the bed.
Merrie watched the towel blacken from the touch of Kirin's precum. It didn't smell of anything but the sharp smell of cum.
“The problem,” sighed Kirin, “about fucking demons is that it changes you. Kind of like fucking the shadows, don't you think?”
Merrie giggled and nodded. The shadows had changed her in ways she didn't expect. She glanced at Tamin who watched everything with quiet amusement and anticipation.
On the bed, Elf crawled over to Nir. His wings shuddered with his movements.
Nir, spotting him, spread her legs and held out her arms.
But, Elf didn't mount her. Instead, he took a deep breath and cried out. “Cream pie!” And then dove between Nir's legs, his mouth seeking out her pussy.
With a gasp, Nir grabbed his head and arched her back.
From the arch, Barrel gasped. “Oh, I'm just in time! Cleaning time!” He scrambled across the room, stripping off his thong, and launched himself on the bed. His tight, marked ass waved for a moment before he clamped his mouth down on Nir's upturned breast.
Merrie felt a pang of heat rising up. She grinned and crawled toward the bed.
“Leave my wine stand.”
With an order for Tamin to remain in place, she flowed up the bed and across the sheets. She breathed in the strong smells of cock and pussy before she caught Nir's other nipple with her mouth. It was slick and dripping and tasted of both fresh cum and women's juices.
Nir whimpered and her body tensed up as three mouths laved her. “Oh, gods!” Her body flashed with an orgasm, the tension rippling up her limbs before she slumped down.
Merrie smiled at Barrel across her breasts as she planted her arms against Nir's side. She lapped at the cum on the heaving breast, moving in wider circles to clean every hint of sex from the girl's body.
Nir cried out wordless as she writhed back and forth. The three mouths steadily worked across every centimeter of her skin.
Flushed with the taste of cum, Merrie reached her face first. She smiled at Nir before she lapped at her face, removing hours of cum from her face.
When Nir's eyes could open, she did. She saw Merrie and gasped. “Ears!” she said in a broken whisper. “I… I had sex! And it felt good.” She grinned sheepishly and whispered, “It felt really good.”
Merrie nodded and kissed her. Their tongues danced across each other before Merrie returned to her duties of cleaning Nir's face, throat, and then into her hair. The rasp stung her tongue, but Merrie continued along her duties. Her own naked body ground against Nir's. She was careful to keep to the cleaned areas to avoid smearing cum across the teenager's glistening skin.
“A-And,” Nir gasped with a moan, her eyes closed, “Elf said he would protect me from anyone, even my parents.”
Elf lifted his face. It shimmered with the juices he was cleaning off her. “Of course, sweetie. You're guild.”
Kirin, from the her chair, called out. “That's four. Screw that, I'm suppose to be the one telling her! That's ten, Elfie!” But, there it was mock anger that resonated in her voice.
Elf moaned and delved back down to suck the cum from Nir's feet.
It felt good to lap and clean, but Merrie didn't feel the rush of submission or the excitement of being dominated. It didn't matter. This was for Nir, not herself. She continued to clean her off until they flipped her over and started on the back side.
Tomorrow, she would find someone to force her into submission and make her cum. She could use the pleasure to right the damage she did to the district.