The Artifact of Foex (27 page)

“Here, give me that," she said, grabbing his
drink and slugging it down.

Chet sat back in his seat, curious and
slightly alarmed. Aureate seemed larger than life, especially after
that performance. Was she always this way? He remembered when she’d
snatching Knife’s hat earlier to beg change from the crowd and
decided that yes, she probably was. Aureate turned her mesmerizing
gaze upon him, and all thoughts fled from his head. Her honey eyes
glittered in the dark; a trick of the light, he decided after a
breathless second.
Not magic. There is no Magician-style magic
left in the world.

“So tell me, Chet Baikson, do you like
Flame?”

“I didn’t think I did, until I met Journey,"
he answered truthfully, not sure what she was getting at.

“You seem like a real charmer. Tell me about
yourself.”

Chet’s face grew hot. He’d never seen himself
as charming—Fenimore matched that description far more than he did.
Studious, serious, bookish... he’d answer to any of those
adjectives. Why was Aureate trying to flatter him? She seemed to be
playing a game with him, but what? He couldn’t play along until he
knew the rules. Yet something inside of him—a facet beyond his
rational self—sat up and took notice. Whatever it was, it had a
ready-made answer for Aureate. Chet surrendered to instinct and
smiled.

“What’s to tell? Apart from the past few
days, my life has been rather dull.” Moved by the same instinct, he
leaned forward and touched her arm; she was very warm indeed. “I’m
far more interested about you. Tell me about yourself.”

She giggled. “What, you want the whole
Book of Twelve
or just the footnotes?”

“Flame, I can read just as fast as you
can.”

It was like diving into the depths of the
ocean while feeling an astonishing confidence that he could swim.
Had he really learned this much in a week? He was
very
close to her now. She smelled fantastic. Ichor probably went into
overtime when sweat was involved. Her lips were close, too.

Chet leaned in and kissed her.

Aureate kissed back, her tongue enthusiastic
and highly active. He found himself being pushed back in the chair,
her hand raking his hair. When they parted, Chet realized he was
panting.

Her eyes were glazed with longing. “That was
exactly
the right thing to do. Come on. I have a key to a
more private space.”

They stumbled out of the lounge together,
holding hands like teenagers. Except Chet had never actually held a
girl’s hand as a teenager, or anyone’s hand, for that matter. Rory
had come much later.

People were everywhere. They’d spilled out
onto the decks and were drinking, smoking and chattering away. No
one could leave the ship until it docked. Chet vaguely wondered
whether the patrons were planning on staying up all night. He’d
heard someone say there was gambling on the deck above with a piano
act starting in an hour. Maybe the ship would calm down after a
while, but Chet doubted it.

A couple of people in grass skirt costumes
burst out of a door. They were—
what
were they doing?
Aureate grinned and called out to them, but she was ignored. Chet’s
eye finally decoded their tight cluster as wild kissing. Three
women were kissing one of the men, his headdress still on. No, that
wasn’t a man, it was Journey! Journey was the one being
kissed—almost attacked, really—by the dance-troop women.

They banged against the deck railing, and
Journey gasped, crying out, “Wait, stop. Don’t want to fall over
the rail! Not in the wa—mph. Mph! Here, let’s move to the other...”
He yelped as they pulled him back toward the ship.

One of the women reached under the grass
skirt and grabbed hold of—well. Chet was fairly certain she’d
caught his penis with both hands, but he couldn’t see in the dark.
They slammed back through the door they’d just come out of, the
woman with the handful of cock leading the way. Journey followed—by
necessity—with a breathless grin, not protesting.

Aureate was laughing and shaking her head.
“You get those girls going and they
go
. Journey should
have figured that out before starting. They’ll take Journey apart,
piece by piece.”

Chet drew Aureate close. “Glad I’m with you,
then!”

She grinned up at him, her teeth showing. It
was less a grin and very nearly a territorial snarl. “Oh, I could
take you apart, too. I’m just not in that kind of mood
tonight.”

Message received
. He followed her
down to the lowest deck; this area was much quieter. More private.
She unlocked a door and snapped on the lights. It was a tiny room—a
closet really—decorated as someone’s office space. An enormous,
empty desk was built into the wall with a chair and not much else.
It had a nice view featuring the sparking lights of Plainsdaugheau
out curved windows, several of which were cracked open.

Aureate sighed. “Sorry there’s no bed. The
troop is bunking down together in a communal room. I have a key is
because the owner is a personal friend.”

“That’s okay. At least it’s private.” Chet
realized that he hadn’t experienced privacy with a woman—or a
female-shaped person, rather—since these events had begun. They
could do anything they wanted without an audience.

Aureate pulled off her crocheted sweater,
then removed the skin-tight shirt underneath. She wore no bra.
Aureate leaned back against the desk as Chet stared at her naked
breasts with rapt attention. She grinned and crooked her finger at
him. “Come on, then. Journey says you’re a tits man. Try me out.
Taste me.”

He approached and sank into the desk chair,
scooting it closer so his head was exactly at the level of her
chest. Giving in to his aching desire, he buried his face in her
breasts. Both his hands engaged, he took a nipple in his mouth,
then the other.
Oh, Pantheon, that’s good.
He couldn’t get
enough. Chet rubbed her tits up, down and sideways, endlessly
fascinated by how they moved and bounced. After a time, Aureate
pushed him away. He reluctantly let go.

“I want you to fuck me in the ass.”

Chet paused, taken back. “I don’t want to
hurt you.” He’d been fucked in the ass so many times since this had
begun—by Fenimore, Journey and that dickhead smuggler in the
truck—but had yet to inflict such treatment on another.

She smiled, her expression rather smug. “You
can’t.”

Oh, yeah. Shapeshifter. Right.
Chet
smiled uncertainly. He turned off the lights, self conscious at the
lack of curtains. “Um. I’m not sure how to begin.”

In answer, she pulled down her skin-tight
pants and let them fall to the floor, then kicked off her heels.
She was naked, now. Chet caught his breath. She was
serious
. Aureate turned her back and stuck out her behind,
leaning against the desk.

This was going too fast. Chet touched her
back and ran his hand down to her posterior. She had the
best
ass. Well, of course she did: whether she was twenty
or a hundred and twenty, she could shape exactly what she wanted.
It was heart shaped and firm, yet round and soft in the right
places.

Chet realized he was in control. Aureate had
her back turned, waiting for him to take the upper hand. He could
do anything. As long as she let him, he could try something... new.
Freedom rippled through him, and he grinned. Moved by instinct, he
drew back and spanked her, his open hand slapping her firm, bouncy
buttocks with an audible crack.

Aureate cried out in shock. Chet shrank away,
a hand at his mouth.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to... uh...”

Aureate hadn’t moved. She was grinning, he
realized, as she looked over her shoulder. “Why, Chet Baikson, I
didn’t realize you had it in you. Do that again.”

He exhaled, his hand falling to his side.
She’d liked it.
He
certainly liked it, now that he knew it
was allowed. He liked being in control: it was such a new feeling
to be in control of a sexual situation. Of any situation, really.
Chet started rubbing her ass in earnest. He swung back and spanked
her again. She cried out, but this time she undulated her hips and
pelvis, obviously enjoying herself. He spanked her a few more
times, then realized he wanted a different position.

“Climb on the desk,” he said. As she did so,
he shed clothing rapidly until he was down to his boxers and
tee-shirt. Chet arranged himself so that he was beside Aureate.
“Drape yourself across my lap. Face down.”

She obeyed. She obeyed him! It was possibly
the sexiest thing anyone had ever done with him. His cock was
achingly erect, but he wouldn’t let it out yet. The pressure of her
body draped across his lap was wonderful, yet he wanted to enjoy
her, not focus on his own pleasure.

Her
pleasure was what he really
wanted.

Chet began spanking her, softly at first,
building up to a faster crescendo. Aureate moaned and gave little
sexy screams that sent chills up Chet’s spine. He wanted more. He
did want to fuck her in the ass. Journey had told him days ago in
the prostitute’s van that Flame basically lubricated their own
rectums. That seemed... kind of gross. Yet what did he have to lose
by investigating the claim? Women did the same thing in the front
end, after all.

Chet rubbed Aureate’s ass and pulled her
cheeks apart. She squeaked, hands splayed on the desk, attentive to
his every movement. Her attention was sexy as her body. He fingered
the outside of her little pucker of an anus. Then, taking a
courageous breath, Chet stuck a finger inside. It was wet in there.
He withdrew and rubbed his finger and thumb together; the wetness
was thick, viscous. A lot like the way Journey’s cunt had felt,
actually, not that he’d touched her there with more than his dick.
That seemed like a bad call, now. Chet smelled his finger, still
suspicious. It did smell of ass but also strongly of ichor.
Well, then.

“Get up. I’m going to sit in the desk chair
and you’re going to be on top of me, with my cock in your ass.”

“Yes," she agreed instantly, drawing herself
up.

He climbed down and settled in the desk
chair. It was solid and didn’t have armrests, fortunately. Chet
pulled out his erect penis and held out his other hand to Aureate.
With luxuriant, leisurely movements, her tits bouncing ever so
subtly, she climbed off the desk and turned her back to him.
Aureate sank slowly onto his lap. He found her rectum with
difficulty, but once he fingered it open, he didn’t let go. Chet
tucked himself inside of her, breathing harder as he did.

“You are to do all the moving, here. I’m not
going to move at all.”

“Oh, yes.” Her face turned so that he saw her
profile. On cue, she barely moved atop him, undulating just a
little.

Chet reached around and rubbed her breasts,
his hand open on her nipples. He slapped a tit and she cried out,
sinking fully on his penis.

“Do that again," she said, her breath coming
faster.

He grinned and took her at her word. After a
time, curious, Chet felt down her body until he reached her
hairless pubic area. It was very, very wet. He fingered her, and
her breath caught. He brushed against the raised mound near the
front, and she let out a little scream.

“You like that, huh?” he whispered in her
ear. She whimpered in response.

Chet loved this. He felt entirely in his
element for the first time in his whole life, the odd man out no
more. He brushed against the tiny, erect mount again, and she
leaned back into him, making wimpering noises.

“Please, please," she said in an unending
litany.

He began rubbing her there. Endless circular
movements, that seemed to be the trick. He realized his other hand
was still hovering over her breasts. Reminded of their presence, he
slapped her tit again. She moaned, head thrown back. Aureate’s
reactions drove him on—every sound, every breath she took—let him
know what to do next.

Her body was a roadmap in the dark.

Chet had almost completely forgotten his
cock... but she hadn’t. Aureate pulled herself up, until just the
glans head was inside of her, then settled down upon him again, so
he was enveloped.

He rubbed Aureate harder, and she thrashed in
his arms. Tit slap, rub, slap, pinch, lots of rub. Playing Aureate
was far more interesting than woodwinds or the brass section.
Chet’s hand—buried in her hairless sex—was so wet he might as well
have been under water. He was enveloped by her, surrounded by her
power, yet he was also in charge of the situation. Aureate was
thrashing with such intensity, Chet feared he might accidentally
come. The next time she arched up, he pulled out on purpose. Then
he plunged both hands into her sex, still rubbing, his other
fingers buried in her cunt and ass.

With almost clinical curiosity, Chet squeezed
his fingers together. Aureate went insane. Her body became an
electrical arc. She screamed in his ear.

The screaming stopped. Everything stopped.
She sank into his arms, her body limp. “Thank you," Aureate said,
sounding surprised in the dark.

He wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Are you
okay?”

“Better than. Do you know how long it’s been
since a man
did
that to me? Not this lifetime, for
certain.” Her words were slurred, and she cuddled against him, her
knees drawn up. “You know, I usually like women. I don’t normally
pick up guys, if I’m the one doing the choosing. Guess I knew
something was different about you. You did well.”

Chet settled back in the chair and breathed
out. He wasn’t exactly limp, but he wasn’t erect, either. He felt
absolutely no desire to fuck her again or come. It was as if her
orgasm had somehow illuminated him. Made him larger. Probably the
effect of little sleep and lingering alcohol, but still.