Chapter 5

Shawn woke the next morning to the sun warming his face through the slats of the window shutters. He blinked sluggishly as his mind struggled against the sweet embrace of sleep that seemed unwilling to let him go. He felt a serene sense of comfort finding himself wrapped up in a tangle of limbs belonging to his two bedmates. Denza had moved in the night to be perched nearly on top of him, with her legs wrapped around his and her head resting over his heart. His eyes focused on what parts of her face he could see without jostling the sleeping elf. Her eyes were darting rapidly behind her closed lids and the tips of her ears twitched in a way reminiscent of a cat while it napped.

Cassidy had taken possession of the other side of his body, clutching his left arm to her chest, her leg draped over his. Cassidy’s eyes opened halfway and she stretched languidly, pushing her breasts into his arm and wrapping herself tightly around him. He could feel the rising heat between her legs as she nestled her face into his arm and breathed in deeply.

“This is the second time you’ve taken me to bed without actually taking me in bed, you know that right?” Cassidy sighed, pulling herself tighter against him.

Shawn felt a cold shock of adrenaline shoot down his body and into his stomach. Embers of arousal flared into life in his groin. He couldn’t suppress the shiver that rolled down his spine as the heat radiating from Cassidy sent his heart pounding, “It hasn’t really been the right time, ya’know? With everything that’s been going on, all the fighting and traveling.”

Cassidy rubbed his growing stiffness with her leg and let out a soft sigh of approval, “Is now a good time? It’s been nearly two weeks since we came to this place. I know you’ve admired my body now that I’m no longer a stick with no tits or ass. This new body is soft, hot, and strong. I want to really break it in, don’t you?”

Shawn struggled against the thick cloud of lust and sleep that fogged his brain. In truth, yes. Always yes for Cassidy. Even when she was sick she was still a wonderfully pretty girl with a glowing personality. Her new found confidence and her filled out body was like a tempting buffet he wanted to enjoy to the fullest. She was ready and oh so willing. In any normal circumstance, he would be on her like white on rice. He made peace with the fact that he wouldn’t be seeing Jenny until his time in this world was over, locking his love for her away in a box so that he would never lose it.

His torpid brain was slowly rising to the idea of joining Cassidy and satisfy his needs that he had been pushing aside, except for one problem. One equally soft and alluring, pointy-eared problem, who at that moment decided to wake up, “That sounds so good. Our bond desires us to become one, but Shawn has to be stubborn.”

Shawn rolled his eyes at Denza’s sleepy complaint, “We both know we would have regretted sleeping together if we were forced to.”

“I know I never have,” Cassidy purred, speeding up her gentle teasing of his erection.

“That was different, Cass,” Shawn objected, trying to shift himself unsuccessfully away from Cassidy’s tempting flesh.

“You have two willing girls who want you, already in bed. Why not take advantage of the situation?” Cassidy suggested. Her hand replaced her thigh, deciding to stimulate him more directly. Her hand felt small and warm around his length. He jerked reflexively and she smiled at him with a twinkle in her eye.

“Finally!” Denza growled, shifting herself so that her face was directly over his. Her eyes were burning as if her green-speckled grey iris’ were alight with dancing flames. “It’s tiring fighting against my urges. This is a less than ideal situation, but I don’t care anymore. I have needs you must attend to with due haste.”

Shawn groaned as Denza straddled his stomach and lowered her face to his, kissing him fiercely and assaulting his tongue with hers. He tried to protest, but Cassidy squeezed him firmly with her hand and trailed kisses up his arm to his neck. Once she reached his ear she blew gently and whispered, “Our little ranger has been hankering for something hard. So have I, but I think she needs you more than I do.”

Denza growled her approval, grinding herself against the strong muscles of his stomach. Shawn’s resistance faded fast and he fully welcomed Denza’s hot tongue into his mouth. His hands drifted to caress the hot skin of both women, one hand finding Denza’s breast under her shirt and the other pushed against Cassidy’slick womanhood which she gladly shifted to allow him access.

A knock at the door caused the three of them to freeze. The door opened a crack and Nessa’s head poked through the opening. Her dark hair was tied back in a loose ponytail and her face was mask of disapproval, “Near death experiences have a profound effect on the libido, but I need to ask you to refrain from any rigorous activity.”

“Nessa!” Cassidy complained, propping herself up to look over Denza’s back. Her hand was still stoking Shawn’s member under the sheets, “We won’t make him move at all, we’ll do all the work. Promise!”

“Mmhmm,” Denza mumbled distractedly, still focused on her tongue wrestling match with Shawn.

“Ladies, I’m more worried about what you’ll do to him!” Nessa said sternly. “I understand you are both eager to have him back in tip top shape, but you’ll have to wait until he is finished healing. He should be well enough to get up and walk around, but his body’s been through a considerable amount of strain both physically and magically.”

“What kind of crap is that? I’m sure we can manage not to injure him if we are on top and Shawn is a good boy and just sits back and enjoys the ride,” Cassidy objected.

“Cassidy,” Nessa leveled a look at the eager girl. “If you are as eager as you were during the exam, I’m afraid you might actually do more harm than good. Shawn is a lucky man to have the attentions of both of you, but you really do need to let him rest. Doctor’s orders.”

Denza broke away from her kiss with Shawn and glared at Nessa, “That is completely unfounded. I am this close to finally having him inside me!”

“I’m more worried about you than Cassidy. You aren’t going to be satisfied with just once, are you?” Nessa arched an eyebrow. “Once from both of you is still twice for him. Remember that.”

Shawn chose that time to groan at the thought of trying to satisfy both ravenous women one right after the other. Denza looked down guilty, but didn’t know that Cassidy had sped up her assault on him. Waves of pleasure coursed through him as her fingers worked him in the ways Cassidy knew he liked. Her strong slender fingers massaging his rigid shaft and teasing the glans with a tantalizing finger tip.

“Fine, I’ll have to wait until he is fully recovered,” Denza griped. She looked down at Shawn with an intense look, glaring at him menacingly, “You owe me. Soon.”

Shawn couldn’t help but chuckle, “Yeah, fine. I promise.”

“Denza, why don’t you get dressed and start looking for a lead on your sisters? We’ll be down in a minute. Shawn still needs to take his medicine and change his bandages,” Cassidy inclined her head towards Nessa, “Maybe Nessa can help you dig up any information if that slimy clerk tries to stonewall you. We’ll go to the merchant’s guild after that to open accounts and deposit our money.”

Denza looked longingly towards Shawn, then back towards Nessa at the door. Shawn could feel her indecision between wanting to stay with him and starting to look for her sisters. Nessa saw Denza’s dilemma and offered, “Fill me in on what happened and I’m sure we can discover something.”

Denza bit her lip, then nodded, “Alright.”

She dressed quickly and followed Nessa out of the room, glancing behind her as she closed the door with a nervous smile. The prospect of finally getting answers had proven to be a strong motivator. Her sense of trepidation at what she might or might not find showing on her elfin features.

Once the elf had left, Cassidy laid back down and pulled Shawn in for a kiss of her own. Shawn did he best toresist, trying to heed Nessa’s warning but Cassidy wouldn’t have it. She stripped her shirt off and pushed her breasts together in an effective display that rendered him dumbstruck.

“Shawn, Nessa said nothing strenuous. This isn’t too hard on you is it?” Cassidy asked, slowing her stroking down and removing her fingers until just the tips were caressing him.

“No,” He croaked. His eyes were fixed on her deep blue ones that held him in a hypnotic trance.

“You’ve always made me feel beautiful, looking into my eyes while you made love to me,” Cassidy whispered, her full lips curving into a smile. “But please look at my tits for once, I actually have them now.” She tantalizingly slid her hands down over the swell of her chest.

Shawn struggled to tear his eyes from hers, but managed to drag his attentions down her body to the full mounds of her breasts. Her nipples stiffened as she shivered, enjoying his hungering gaze. He felt himself grow harder as his heart pumped even more blood into his rigid organ. The heat rising in his chest and stomach urged him to roll this luscious creature onto her back and push himself into her wet and waiting folds.

Cassidy gave him a knowing smile and leaned down to kiss him gently, pressing her breasts into his chest, “uh uh uh, Nessa said nothing strenuous. I’ve seen the look in your eyes. I remember homecoming our sophomore year. While I’m not against being pushed down into the mattress and given a firm pounding, we can’t have you hurt yourself. Can you behave?”

Shawn nodded mutely. She was talking to him as if he were an animal and not a human but he conceded that in the moment he might have been closer to the prior. His hands reached up the cup the globes of pliable flesh that hung above him, reveling in their softness. He rolled the peaks of each dark pink nipple between his thumb and forefinger, teasing the taut flesh. Cassidy rolled her head back and pushed her chest more insistently into his hands. Cassidy’s breasts had always been sensitive, but there had never really been much to play with before.

He took a clue from her and toyed with her tits while she worked him under the sheets. Cassidy’s breathy exhalation quietly encouraged him to further his attentions. He pulled her down so that he could latch his mouth onto one of the sensitive tips. She clutched the back of his head as he nursed gently, teasing her with tongue and tooth until she moved his head to the sister peak. He took the opportunity to gingerly nip her when she pulled away, causing her to let out a small squeak and put her whole hand and arm into stroking him more strongly as a reward.

Cassidy pulled away from him, panting. She lifted herself over him and sat down with his cock pressed between her slick cheeks, “I love this body! It feels so much better than the old one! My tits were always sensitive but I felt like I could have cum if you kept that up.”

Shawn laughed and reached up to continue playing his her breasts, “So why did you stop? I was having fun.”

Cassidy rocked back, sliding her slick folds over his stiffness, “Because I need you inside me, badly.”

Shawn let out an involuntary groan, the heat from between Cassidy’s legs made him feel closer to the edge than he already was. His hands dropped from her chest and down to her wide hips.

“I need you to take care of me, like you always do. Remember? You’ll always be there for me, and right now I need you in me. Can you do that for me, Shawn? Can you take care of me?” Cassidy puffed as she, ground herself along his shaft.

“Yes,” Shawn hissed, bucking his hips in an attempt to bury himself inside her.

“You want to take my virginity a second time? To have me wrapped tightly around you again?” Cassidy pressed herself harder against him, rocking faster.

“Jesus christ, yes!” Shawn groaned, trying to time his bucking with her rocking hips to slide himself into her dripping heat.

“God, I need you to fuck me Shawn. I need you to spread me open and take me! Plunge your--” Cassidy gasped as he found just the right angle to align the tip of his tool with the welcoming opening of her womanhood. The force of Cassidy’s grinding hips caused her to impale herself to the hilt on her next pass. Her head lolled back at the sudden fullness, the muscles of her abdomen rippling as she went rigid.

Shawn gritted his teeth to stop himself from erupting the moment he slid home. Cassidy had always been tight, but the new body she had was virginally tight and well muscled. He felt her coil around him in such a way that it felt like he was being gripped in a velvet fist. Her muscles spasmed around his member as she sat astride of him, struggling to breath.

Once she collected herself, Cassidy laid down on his chest and kissed him hungrily, “That was the first time I think I’ve cum from penetration.”

“I think you just worked yourself up, you got pretty excited,” Shawn grinned, enjoying the molten heat of Cassidy’s internal muscles flexing along his shaft lazily.

“You have no idea how horny I’ve been. It started after Cadder showed up,” Cassidy sighed, starting to rock her hips gently.

Shawn laughed, running his fingers down her back and took the firm cheeks of her rump in his hands, “Cadder is the one who got you hot and bothered? We need to talk about your taste in men.”

Cassidy growled and sank her teeth into his shoulder, biting him playfully, “No way! Seeing you kick his ass was one of the hottest things I’ve seen. Then seeing the way Denza is all over you, it’s weird that it makes you seem so much more powerful. Then the thing you did with Saoirse and through the testing ... all of that and you’re still mine. I’ve been dripping for days.”

“This new layer of confidence you have is pretty amazing too. You’ve come a long way from the old Cassidy. I’ll always be yours, and you mine,” Shawn moved his hand to gently stroke her hair.

He felt a warm wetness on his chest before he heard a sniffle, “I’m so happy you’re here with me. I know I’m a total bitch because I’m took you away from Jenny, and I know I’m selfish to want you to be by my side.”

Shawn stared at the ceiling as he thought about her words and his own feelings. He had rationalized the whole Jenny situation, with him considering it being a farewell for now instead of a goodbye forever type situation. He had resolved to stop thinking about interdimensional long distance relationship moralities that transcended timetreams. So he closed his eyes and smiled, and let himself fully enjoy being with Cassidy in the moment.

“I’ll deal with things as they come. Being here with you is where I’m supposed to be. You’ll always be the other half of me,” Shawn murmured into her hair.

“This has to be the oddest situation anyone has ever been in. You are currently balls deep in me talking about being non-romantic soulmates while having sex, all whilst I’m slowly dying and you have a committed relationship,” Cassidy pushed herself back up into a sitting position, sighing as Shawn was pushed deeper inside of her.

“And I’m bound to an elf, we have magical powers, and currently live in a fantasy world straight out of an RPG,” Shawn added with a smile.

“This is so bizarre,” Cassidy shook her head, then beamed. “I love it!”

“So we agree that us having sex is basically masturbation, right?” Shawn joked.

“Why, worried Denza will think you’re cheating on her?” Cassidy teased, increasing her pace as rolled her hips in a circular motion.

“Because Nessa said we couldn’t have sex, but didn’t say I couldn’t masturbate,” Shawn grinned.

“I like the way you think, Raine,” Cassidy giggled. “We best hurry up then because the others are waiting. So shut up and let me do all the work.”

“What about...” Shawn started, looking at her lower abdomen in concern. Was there such a thing as fantasy birth control?

“I said shut up,” Cassidy growled, putting more of her weight on his chest. “Don’t worry about it. Just enjoy yourself.”

Shawn rolled his eyes and let himself enjoy Cassidy’s ministrations. Her moans and cries were barely contained as the bed creaked beneath them. Shawn felt his impending eruption draw near, the waves of pleasure washing over his body. His resumed his attentions to Cassidy’s bouncing bosom and helped her along to her own climax as his thumb circled and strummed her sensitive button.

Cassidy was the first to crest with Shawn’s aid. She fell forward and bit the pillow next to Shawn’s ear to stifle her cries as her internal muscles spasmed and gripped him sporadically. At the tail end of Cassidy’s pleasure Shawn felt his muscles contract and his stomach flex as he shot his seed into Cassidy’s warm waiting depths. She let out a moan of approval as she felt each spurt filling her, she ground herself against him to draw out the feeling of bliss they shared.

The two lay together unmoving for many minutes until Cassidy began to shiver as their passionate heat leached from them. She rolled off him and took several deep breaths. Shawn rolled over onto his good side and pulled her into his chest. Cassidy gladly welcomed his embrace, but wrinkled her nose, “Down side of fantasy life, no plumbing so far. We need a bath.”

“Agreed. We also need to air out the room. It smells like a Cass in heat,” Shawn chuckled at his own joke.

“Don’t quit your day job,” Cassidy rolled her eyes.

Cassidy and Shawn got dressed and made their way down to the common area of the Expeditionary Guild. After being in bed for three days his muscles felt stiff and sore, even more so after Cassidy’s tender loving care. Cassidy slipped between the crowd to talk to Nessa who was studying a stack of fliers with Denza.

Shawn felt a surge of irritation and frustration come screaming down the bond as Denza’s head shot up and she met his gaze with an accusing stare. Shawn had the decency to look guilty, figuring that she could smell the sex on Cassidy. He noticed Nessa was also less than pleased, but couldn’t keep the amused smile off her face as she chastised her offending pupil.

They received directions to the nearest public bath house from Nessa and quickly rushed to clean themselves. The bath house was a few streets over, so they were able to find their way after walking for about ten minutes. Shawn cleaned himself the best he could and had Cassidy help him dry and wrap his arm and chest with fresh bandages, having taken Nessa’s potion before they left.

When they returned to the guild, Nessa and Denza had made their way through mountains of old job listings. Shawn could feel the mounting frustration as she discarded another stack before pulling a new stack towards her.

“How goes the search?” Shawn asked the two women.

“Horrible,” Denza said dejectedly, her ears drooping.

“We’ve gone through over a thousand listings going back five years, all roughly around the time of Denza’s sisters’ disappearance,” Nessa frowned, abscently twirling a loose strand of her dark hair around her finger. “So far we’ve found nothing.”

“Maybe we would have found something if someone wasn’t fucking on the job,” Denza sneered at Cassidy.

Cassidy had the grace to look sheepish, “I’m sorry, Denza. How can I help?”

Denza continued to glare balefully at Cassidy until her face fell and she buried her head in her hands, “I don’t think there is much else. Like Nessa said, we’ve gone over nearly a thousand listings.”

Shawn sat down next to Denza and put his arm around her, “Well, we are here now. Let’s start from the top and see if we can’t find something with two new sets of eyes.”

“Let’s start with going over what happened,” Cassidy suggested, pulling a large stack of listings towards herself.

Denza sighed and recounted what she knew, “My sisters Aoiza and Rozelle were both invested in my father’s business in Oculsa. He had a shipment that was to be sent out to a prospective buyer on the southern part of the continent in the Manticore’s tail, in the Islands Dutchie.”

“Is that part of Velain?” Shawn asked.

Nessa shook her head, “No, the Islands Dutchie is a vassal to the Queendom of the Suncoast, their territory spans the eastern coast of the continent on the far side of the mountains. The Manticore’s tail is referring to the island chain that is the extreme end of the continent.”

“How do they defend their territory if it’s so long?” Cassidy asked, brows furrowed.

“They have mountains on one side and ocean to the other. They are predominantly a seafaring nation. The geographical barriers make for a good natural defence from land based armies, and they are the country with naval supremacy if it ever came down to it,” Nessa shrugged.

“Please, continue,” Cassidy smiled at Denza.

Denza nodded, “As I was saying, the shipment was going to be sent out of Cresantia, the city-state to the south of both Velain and the Imperium. The caravan was heavily guarded and had mostly human guards, so it was a safe bet to travel through this country to get to Cresantia. Something happened along the way and we got word from the buyer that no shipment ever arrived.

“My father hired some expeditionaries to travel along the route and find the caravan. They reported back that not two days into Imperium territory the found the ambush site and the corpses of the hired guards. My sisters and the shipment were nowhere to be found.”

“We were looking for anything relevant, such as a raid on an Oculsan caravan, or a seek and destroy mission, anything that might be related,” Nessa added, looking at the massive pile of listings beside her.

“Well, let’s start with the obvious,” Cassidy pursed her lips. “Is it illegal to hit a merchant caravan?”

“Yes, if it’s an affiliate of the Merchant’s Guild,” Nessa clarified.

“Which my father is,” Denza added.

“So we wouldn’t find any requests for it,” Cassidy concluded. “I’m assuming the Expeditionary Guild vets all contracts to make sure they are legit, right?”

“Correct,” Nessa nodded.

“So it’s safe to assume this was a criminal enterprise,” Cassidy continued, she gestured at the stack of listings, “There would be no written record of this.”

“That isn’t entirely true,” Shawn interjeted. The gears in his head turning.

“What do you mean?” Cassidy asked, eyebrows raised.

“The contracts are vetted as legitimate, but that doesn’t stop someone from lying,” Shawn drummed his fingers on the table as he thought out loud. “We might be looking for an obfuscation. Taking elves through combat is legal here, so is assault and theft as long as it’s done in the name of being a stronger individual. So we might be looking for a targeted mission for Aoiza and Rozelle, and not the shipment.”

“But that would mean someone knew they were going to with the caravan!” Denza looked shaken. “That would mean someone betrayed my family. There are caravans from Oculsa that pass through the Imperium all the time, even though most people of each country don’t like each other, they still have open trade and travel policies. We took precautions!”

“I think we should be looking for any job listings that deal with retrieval,” Shawn glanced over at the counter where Garen was sneaking glances at them. He had a sneaking suspicion that he might know something they didn’t, considering he handled all the contracts for the chapter.

“Cassidy, I think we need to go ask Garen very politely if he knows anything,” Shawn got up and casually made his way to the request counter. Cassidy smiled wickedly and followed him. Nessa and Denza looked after them with worried expressions.

“Hello, Garen,” Shawn smiled pleasantly at the man.

“What do you want?” Garen grimaced at him.

“I was hoping you could help me with something. I’m looking for an old listing that has to do with the capture of two elven women. It might be a retrieval, maybe listed under stolen goods?”

“And why would I help you?” Garen spat, but the effect was ruined when he glanced nervously between him and Cassidy.

“Because it’s your job,” Cassidy said sweetly.

“I don’t have to help you do anything,” Garen started to turn away from them.

“Garen, if you don’t find what we need, and soon, you might have an accident in the near future,” Cassidy continued in her sweetest voice. “And I would hate to see anything happen to your greasy little head.”

“Cassidy, we came here to ask for his help, not to threaten him!” Shawn said exasperatedly.

“Threaten? Me? Never! I’m simply saying that bad things happen to bad people. Cadder already learned that lesson. It’s a dangerous world out there!” Cassidy said with faux-concern.

“I will report you to the chapter head!” Garen tried to sound brave, but his face had drained of color. He had seen what Shawn, Cassidy, and Denza could do.

“If you feel like that’s a wise move,” Cassidy shrugged.

“Garen, look, buddy, you know it’s a crime to attack a sanctioned Merchant’s Guild caravan right? If we were to find out you had prior knowledge of this attack on guild personnel, how do you think they would react?” Shawn looked sadly at the greasy man. “I don’t think they would take that lightly, do you?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about!” Garen insisted.

“I’m sure. But we will find out who took those elves. When we do, it’s not going to be only the guild out for blood, but also the merchants in Oculsa. Just fair warning,” Shawn shrugged. He and Cassidy turned and walked from the counter.

They got three steps before Garen called after them in a trembling voice, “W-wait! I might have seen something about runaway slaves a few years ago.”

Shawn and Cassidy shared a smiled before turning around, “Oh? That is wonderful. Bring us the listing and we’ll take a look!” Cassidy smiled brightly at the clerk.

They took their seats at the table with Denza and Nessa when a sweaty Garen hustled over and placed an old listing in front of him, “I didn’t think it was anything until you said something, I only handle the listings.”

“Of course,” Shawn agreed. “The important thing is you recognized your error. That will be all, Garen.”

Garen nodded and looked worriedly at their table before vanishing into a back room. Denza, who had watched the whole thing glowered after him, “If I find out that swine helped in the abducting of my sisters, I will hang him by his own entrails!”

Shawn patted her back and shook his head, “He most likely didn’t have anything to do with it except turning a blind eye to a shady deal.”

Nessa picked up the listing and read it carefully, “Whoever took the contract was anonymous, and they used a local noble’s household as a drop off location.”

“So we go talk to the noble and see what we can’t dig up?” Cassidy asked.

“Sadly, no,” Nessa shook her head, “This noble has been dead for over twenty years. It’s an abandoned plot of land with a run down manor house in possession of the empire. That should have been flagged to begin with. It’s also listed as payment upon delivery.”

“Does it say who took on the contract?” Shawn asked.

“There are fifteen names, I only know a handful of them. Three have been dead for a number of years, and the other two have been out on business for the past few weeks. I usually travel a lot and the fort isn’t my home, so I don’t know every one of the guild members. We could ask Edwin?” Nessa looked around until she spotted the towering dark skinned warrior and waved him over.

“Edwin, maybe you can give us a guiding light. Do you know any of these individuals listed?” Nessa handed over the worn listing.

Edwin gave her a speculative look then glanced at the faded ink on the page, “Huh, that odd.”

“What is?” Shawn asked curiously.

Edwin placed the listing on the table and pointed at the remaining ten names, “I was recently asked to look into the disappearance of several of these expeditionaries. From the information I’ve been given, none of them have reported in for a number of months. Their trails go cold when they each took a job that took them out of the empire.”

“Fairche and Thompson both took jobs like that,” Nessa frowned.

“So everyone on the list is either dead or missing,” Cassidy mused. “Sounds like someone is cleaning house.”

Edwin shared a serious look with Nessa before addressing Shawn and the girls, “I’m going to ride out and see if I can’t find Fairche and Thompson, if their jobs weren’t urgent, they should be easy to catch up to. Whatever it is you are looking in to, it seems someone is going through a lot of trouble to keep it under wraps.”

“Edwin is right. We need to proceed with caution if this turns out to be more than just a really big coincidence. Some of these people were masters in rank and not so easily killed. If you make too many waves, you might be targeted,” Nessa cautioned them.

Denza gritted her teeth in impotent fury, “I’m going to find out who is responsible, then I’m going to kill them very slowly.”

“I’m not too worried. As long as we don’t run into someone like Saoirse, I think we can handle ourselves,” Cassidy shrugged.

“Didn’t we agree that we should be more cautious?” Shawn asked her pointedly.