Chapter 23

“Do you think what you did with Yalli, getting her to understand we are there for her, would work with other girls?” Scarlet asked as she and Kal enjoyed their morning tea on the poopdeck.

“If you mean your human crew, then I sincerely doubt it. What I did with Yalli worked because of monster girl’s nature and their almost constant desire for sex.”

“You make it sound like we humans are celibate prudes.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Kal. “But I think that monster girls’ need to mate takes up more of their personality. You are a prime example of what I mean. That first night I was merely a bonus in your eyes, but Tavorah’s desire was much stronger and more ingrained, much like the rest of the monster girls. Wonna had little interest in me when we first met but still came to me for her turn. Even after their experiences at the hands of the slavers, the monster girls on your crew are having difficulty turning me down. I would enjoy saying that more if my charm and stunning good looks drew them to me instead.”

Scarlet snorted as she sipped her tea. “You’re cute, mage, but not that cute. Besides your performance by the mainmast yesterday, how did things go with Yalli?”

“Excellent, in my opinion. I can touch her almost anywhere without her armoring up. Her groin, butt, face, and breasts still require a moment for her to control herself, but after that, she’s fine. She’s still adjusting to me taking a more active and dominant role. While I’m okay with letting her set the pace, not all men she comes across will be so passive. When Kashka and I disembark, I hope I’ve prepared Yalli for a healthy and pleasurable sex life with her future mate.”

“You really are a strange one,” said the captain.

“How so?”

“Most men I’ve known want to turn my crew into their harem. More than one passenger like you has tried, and a few have taken a girl with them. But you have no interest in claiming the women aboard as yours or furthering your relationships with them.” Scarlet sipped her tea, “But then I suppose you don’t need to. I’ve watched you and Kashka together, and the love between you is easy to see.”

“Remember that I also have more women back home who I love just as much. I don’t need more lovers to take care of and worry about. But I do like making friends, especially friends like your crew.”

“Just my crew?”

“No,” he chuckled, “not ‘just’ your crew. I wouldn’t say no to a night with you alone.”

Scarlet grinned at him over her cup. “Alone probably won’t happen, but it is nice to know you still find me desirable after sleeping with almost my entire crew. The last one, Emru, should be arriving later today.”

“Emru is the woman you mentioned yesterday?”

“Yes. Continue working with Yalli until she gets here. After Emru, it’s Tavorah’s turn again. I believe she’ll let Roka go ahead of her and have you join us for supper again.”

“I was wondering about that. I thought that first night was your turn, not hers.”

“A perk of being the captain’s lover. I mentioned then that you were there for her more than me.”

“That you did. Can you tell me anything else about this Emru before we meet?”

The Scarlet Bitch’s captain shook her head, frowning. “No, I think it might be best to know as little as possible. I am asking you not to eat any gondas weed this morning. When I said there aren’t many of her kind left, I wasn’t exaggerating.”

“I understand, but don’t expect me to drop my pants the moment she arrives. I want to know a little bit about her first. You consider her part of your crew, and I respect that, but your secrecy worries me. If This woman has saved you and your crew multiple times but turns out to be a vile and hateful bitch, I’m not leaving a child in her.”

Scarlet scowled, “I can assure you she’s neither of those things. I’m tempted to tell you more, but I’m worried after hearing about some of your adventures. This may be the wrong decision, but I’m just going to ask that you remember her kind do not prey on humans once you finally meet.”

“That’s an odd and slightly worrisome thing to ask, but I’ll try.” He stared at the bottom of his empty cup for a moment. “I guess that’s my sign that it’s time to go to work.”

“Work,” Scarlet snorted as he stood up.

“Just because it’s pleasurable doesn’t mean it isn’t work,” he called over his shoulder before descending the steps to the quarterdeck.

“Kal, Ratt seems very interested in something coming toward us, ” Kashka sent over the bond along with the image of a spray of water vapor far in the distance.

“Is this our final crewmember?”

“From Ratt’s excitement, it might be.”

“Keep me informed. I’m a little busy at the moment, ” he replied.

Looking down from where he sat on Yalli’s bed, he watched the woman struggle not to switch back to her armored form as she held half his shaft in her mouth. The armadillo-girl appeared to be having more difficulty now than yesterday during their first time together.

As Yalli calmed herself, she took in another quarter of his shaft and started the whole process over again. The silver fox’s idea that she was taking back a part of herself by being active and enjoying sex again struck a chord with the armadillo. After letting Yalli ride him to a mutual climax, she and Kal went through this same process as he took her from behind, then laid on top of her. Yalli explained her mouth and bottom were the slavers’ favored targets once she couldn’t shift back to her non-armored form. Now she was determined to rediscover pleasure from both places once again.

Despite having his cock inside a woman’s mouth, the situation wasn’t very pleasurable for the mage. Watching Yalli battle her memories made him ashamed to be of the same race as those who made her like this. It also reaffirmed his belief that slaughtering the bandit encampment in the jungle and any similar acts in the future were completely justified.

Yalli slipped forward until he bumped the back of her throat, causing her to gag slightly. The armadillo girl jerked her head back and closed her eyes tight as she fought the unwanted transformation.

As her body stabilized into her more human form, she let his cock slip from between her lips and leaned back. “This is taking too long,” she muttered, clearly unhappy with her progress.

“We can take as long as you need,” said Kal.

“No. I want this done and over with.” She looked up at him, “Can I trust you?”

The mage chuckled, “It seems a little late to ask that, but yes, you can.”

“Then I want you to fuck my mouth.”

Kal’s eyes widened in surprise. “As much as you’ve been struggling, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Remember what you told me yesterday. The difference is it’s my choice to let you do this. But more importantly, I need you to cum. I need the orgasm your seed causes to give me an anchor to work from.” The armadillo-girl smirked. “Those bastards loved how their seed could make us cum no matter how much we fought it. Now I’m going to use it to undo their damage.”

“Fine,” said Kal. “What will be my signal that this isn’t working and I need to stop?”

“If I armor up and stay that way for a long time.”

Kal stood, placed his cock at her lips, and then took Yalli’s head in his hands.

“Just so we’re clear, I’m not comfortable doing this to you.”

“Understood,” she said before opening her mouth in invitation.

Kal gradually fed her his prick to give her time to adjust, but she grabbed his hips and pulled him deeper. Yalli’s face became a mask of emotional pain as he slid in and out from between her lips, but she controlled her transformation well enough she never completely changed to her armored form. As Kal sped up, the look on her face gradually relaxed. The mage moved one hand to the back of her neck and continued thrusting into her mouth. Yalli’s eyes popped open, and she looked up at him in momentary confusion as he began running his fingers through her hair with the other hand. Kal hoped the simple gesture would reinforce he wasn’t a slaver using her for his pleasure but someone she could trust and, while not a lover, at least cared about her.

Moving his hands back to the side of her head, he held her gaze while continuing to slide deeper. Yalli gagged a little as he bumped the back of her throat but didn’t try to push him away.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

The armadillo-girl hesitated briefly before nodding.

“If it gets to be too much, tap twice and I’ll stop, okay?” Kal said, then silently berated himself for not deciding on a stop signal before they began.

When she nodded a second time, the mage grasped her head more firmly and started pushing again. A few seconds later, she swallowed and the head of his cock slipped into her throat. Yalli’s body jerked as though shocked while her armor plates appeared all over her body. The armadillo’s stomach rippled as she gagged, and one of the hands holding his hips slipped down to his thigh and raised up before settling back into place without tapping.

The tightness around the head of his cock felt amazing, but he felt horrible for thinking such thoughts as Yalli fought to remain in her human form. On the other hand, his seed was essential to this exercise, so he probably needed to focus more on those pleasant feelings.

Yalli pushed lightly on his hip, and Kal withdrew from her throat. The woman’s tongue went to work on his shaft as she breathed deeply through her nose. Her armor shrank back into her body as the armadillo-girl caught her breath. By the time Kal again slipped into the tight confines of her throat, she had returned to her more human form.

On their third attempt, Kal began moving. He used short strokes while in Yalli’s throat, then longer ones in her mouth when she caught her breath. As they continued, her time armored waned until it became just a flicker across the patterns on her body each time he slipped into her throat.

“I’m getting close,” he warned. “In your mouth or straight into your belly?”

She pulled back. “A little bit of both,” she said before swallowing him again.

Amazed by her resilience, Kal recalled his conversation with Scarlet that morning. Perhaps part of the monster girl’s advantage over the human crew lay in the armadillo girl’s idea. Yalli was guaranteed an orgasm by getting him to cum inside her. The mage felt this positive reinforcement, coupled with her intense drive to take this part of her life back, must be the reason for her drastic and swift recovery.

Kal closed his eyes and concentrated on the pleasure from Yalli’s lips and tongue as he felt the familiar tingle in his groin and his hips began jerking uncontrollably. The armadillo girl grabbed his hands and yanked them away from her head. The mage froze in surprise, worried she had changed her mind or he had done something wrong. When he stopped moving, Yalli sucked in a deep breath and buried his cock in her throat again before using a quick bobbing motion to finish him off.

The mage gripped handfuls of the woman’s hair and groaned through clenched teeth as he poured his seed straight into her belly. The armadillo girl pulled back and caught the last few spurts in her mouth as his climax subsided. Seconds later, Yalli took him to the hilt again as her orgasm swept through her. Kal cringed as the head of his softening, oversensitive cock slipped back into her throat. Despite the little bit of pain, the mage smiled. After pulling his hands from her head, she hadn’t shifted into her armored form.

The armadillo-girl withdrew slightly and nursed his cock for a few moments, sucking out the last few drops before letting him slip from her lips. Her expression seemed pleased but distant.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

Yalli nodded. “I’m fine. I just need a minute to process what I just did,” she replied without looking up at him. “Could I have a few moments alone?”

“Absolutely,” he said. Dressing quickly, he kissed the armadillo’s forehead and quietly left, leaving her kneeling beside the bed.

A few hours later, Kal lay in his cabin thinking about the events earlier in the day when someone knocked on his door.

“Come in,” he called out.

Tavorah slipped inside and grinned at him. “Emru is almost here,” she told him while stripping off her trousers. The silky skin of the elf’s long beautiful legs was a sight to behold.

“That’s good news, I hope,” said Kal, sitting up.

Tavorah walked over and pushed him back down onto the bed. “Kashka told me you were laying here doubting your ability to get a woman off without cumming inside her.”

“It was just a fleeting thought. I don’t really believe that.”

The elf hopped onto the bed and threw a leg over him, kneeling above his head. Kal found his eyes glued to the beautifully smooth pussy and delectable ass above his face. “Why don’t you prove it to yourself. Make me cum, mage,” she said while lowering her sex to his mouth.

As his tongue speared into the elf’s sex, he heard a faint giggle from Kashka over the bond.

“Just to warn you. I may have mentioned that making women cum on your tongue turns you on. It sounds like they want you horny enough to stick your cock in anything when this Emru arrives,” she sent.

The cat’s assessment seemed accurate as Tavorah freed his cock but only kissed and licked around the base while one hand gently played with his balls. I felt good, but wasn’t nearly enough to get him off.

That they were going to so much trouble before he met with Emru worried him.

The mysterious crew member arrived an hour later. During their wait, the elf rode his tongue to a couple of quick orgasms, then sensuously licked her juices off his face afterward. Tavorah then scooted down the bed and lavished attention upon Kal’s cock and balls, but never enough to make him cum or even get close. It reminded him of Laika’s ‘lazy day blowjob’ where her intent was to make his cock feel good but only get him off once or twice over the entire day.

When Roka announced Emru’s arrival, Tavorah sucked him into her mouth and bobbed her head a few times before releasing him and getting up from the bed.

“I wish she had taken a little longer. I was enjoying that,” she said while offering the mage a hand and pulling him to his feet.

“So was I,” said Kal as they started dressing. He still had his shirt on, but she removed his trousers earlier when slipping down between his legs. “Though I don’t appreciate why you’ve been here and away from your duties for so long.”

The elf grinned. “Saw through that, did you?”

Kal nodded. “I won’t hold it against you. I know you’re just taking care of one of your crew, but I don’t like how you and the captain have been acting about all this.” The mage looked upward, staring through the ceiling to where Kashka stood in the crow’s nest. His eyes narrowed for a moment before focusing on the elf again. “And not just you two,” he grumbled as he realized the cat had muted her side of the bond so he couldn’t pluck Emru’s image from her thoughts.

Tavorah wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his chest. The gesture felt odd to Kal until he realized that the elf had spent more time with him than any other woman on board except Kashka. “She’s one of us, we owe her a huge debt of gratitude for saving us from pirates many times, and she’s not like similar monster girls you’ve met in the past.” Tavorah looked up at him, her eyes pleading, “Just remember those things when you meet her, please?”

“I don’t think you eased my fears much, but I will try,” he said, giving her a quick hug in return. As she left the room, the mage wondered what she meant by monster girls he had previously met.

Outside, the entire crew had gathered by the main deck’s port-side rail. The women chatted excitedly until one of them noticed Tavorah approaching with Kal a few paces behind her. Kashka stood off to the group’s side, her expression worried.

The elf wove through the crowd to the drenched, naked woman beside the railing and hugged her before stepping to the side. “Kal, I’d like you to meet the last of our crew, Emru.”

Despite her skin looking like she spent too much time soaking in the bath, Emru seemed quite pretty. She was relatively thin, which confused Kal since he thought someone had mentioned she was a large woman. Her hair appeared to be a dark blue-gray instead of black. He couldn’t recall ever seeing quite that same color on a woman before. Aside from those small oddities, she seemed quite attractive with a pleasant face, firm breasts topped by pale pink nipples, and long smooth legs that drew his eyes up to her hairless sex.

But her face and breasts didn’t make Kal stop in his tracks and glare at the woman. The mage’s first sign of something wrong came from Emru’s posture. She slouched, and her knees bent like she wasn’t used to being out of the water. More specifically, it looked like her body didn’t support its weight, much like another monster girl he had recently encountered. Kal’s expression hardened as he leaned to the side and saw the thick, tongue-like tendril draped across the ship’s rail and pointed at the woman’s back.

Across the bond came an image of a huge, fish-like creature swimming next to the ship. Kashka’s memory showed the woman in front of him exiting the creature’s mouth on the end of a muscular tendril and rising up to the ship’s deck.

“She’s not like the sandworms. They give birth to live young, not eggs, and feed their calves milk like the rest of us. Even though she looks like a fish, her kind still needs to breathe air.”

Kal flashed a glare at the cat-girl before spinning around and stomping back to his cabin.

Tavorah stepped forward to go after him, but Kashka stopped her with an outstretched arm. In silence, they watched as the mage disappeared into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Kashka looked back at Emru to find the girl on the verge of tears. “As bad as that seemed,” said the cat, “that wasn’t a ‘no,’ that was a ‘not right now.’” Turning to Tavorah, she snarled, “I told you this wouldn’t work. He should have known everything about Emru from the day we set sail, so he had time to mentally prepare himself.” The cat looked up where Scarlet stood, watching from the quarterdeck. “Captain or not, don’t ever ask me to hide anything from him again. I warned you this was a stupid idea from the beginning, and you came damn close to completely ruining Emru’s chances to have a child.

“I’m taking the rest of the day off. Because of this idiocy, now he’s mad at me for being part of it, and I need to make things right.”

Roka growled. “Don’t talk to the Cap—”

“Shut up,” she snapped at the First Mate, then pointed angrily at Scarlet. “Her decisions caused this mess, and she probably deserves a lot worse than a few harsh words,”

As Kashka made her way to Kal’s room, the crew looked up at their captain.

Scowling, Scarlet looked at Roka. “‘Not right now’ isn’t good enough. Find out if he at least will still help Emru have a child. You’re too angry at the cat to go yourself. Send one of the other girls,” she said before returning to her cabin.

Kashka entered Kal’s room and found him pacing back and forth across the tiny space.

“I’m sorry,” she said, standing by the door.

Kal waved off her apology, “I saw what happened in your head as you were yelling at Scarlet. I’m annoyed you didn’t tell me, but not mad. Ria, come out here. I need any books you have on giant sea creatures.”

The sprite appeared a moment later. “Nothing I have access to. All the books on creatures you might encounter on this journey are currently inside your tent.”

The mage swore under his breath. They didn’t check to see if he could set up the tent on board while they were still in port. Once they set sail, it was simply too risky. Considering how the sandworms couldn’t tunnel beneath the magical shelter, he worried the tent might punch a hole through the ship if he set it up.

“What else do you know about Emru?” he asked Kashka.

“Ratt told me that her kind are called whales. They are hunted by humans for the oils rendered from their body fat, and their numbers are dwindling. Those who became monster girls have a huge advantage over the non-magic whales, but as those become rarer, they turn more towards her kind.”

“And she wants to bring a child into the world under the constant threat of being hunted and killed?”

“I asked the same thing. If Emru gets pregnant, she will help the Scarlet Bitch until she’s ready to give birth, then swim south to warmer waters to calve. Afterward, she plans on staying away from the coastlines and out of the whale hunter’s reach until her calf is weaned.”

Kal closed his eyes and tried to focus on the sight of Emru. After a few seconds, her visage switched to the cold, predatory expression on the Sulerin sandworm. His stomach churned with revulsion, much like when the sandworm said she wanted to mate with him. He shook his head to clear the thought away. “I don’t know if I can do this,” he said. “I know that Scarlet, Tavorah, and many of the other crew were putting their hopes in me. But we’re coming into port tomorrow, and I don’t know if I can overcome the disgust I’m feeling in so little time.”

“You managed to yelp Yalli in less than a day,” the cat offered.

“But she also had days to mentally prepare, a strong desire to have a child, the support of the entire crew, and her nature as a monster girl to help her. I only have the support of the crew, and right now, I’m not very happy with a few of them.”

“What about staying on longer? I know you’ve been thinking about it.”

Kal glanced northward, his eyes focusing on something far beyond the cabin’s wall. “I have. I looked at some of the helm’s maps and think Ikuno’s shrine is closer to the middle of Azumbaho. Staying on the Bitch would take a lot of time off our journey. If there isn’t a port nearby, we can just ask them to sail closer to the coast, and we’ll fly to shore.”

A knock at the door interrupted them.

“Come in,” the mage called, then raised an eyebrow as the squid girl, Naivoo, entered.

“Master Kal?”

“Yes?

“I came to ask if you were still willing to help Emru have a daughter. If you are, I could be your go-between, so you don’t need to do anything with her directly,” She blurted out before he could answer

“What? How?” asked Ria.

“Because her human part needs to have sex, then she shoves it inside—”

“We know how they mate already,” said Kal in a tone that told her to get on with it.

“My body is soft enough that I can slip inside her and put your seed right where it needs to go.”

Kashka looked skeptical. “But she’ll climax after you do that. Will you be able to get out in time?”

“Emru says that doesn’t happen with her big body, only the small one. I’ll be safe.”

“I can tell this isn’t settling well with you,” said the cat-girl, “but it may be the best option.”

Kal shook his head. “No. Go and tell Emru to give me some more time. I can’t keep seeing her as something like a sandworm just because their lures look similar.”

“Lures?” Naivoo asked.

“The sandworms use their human ... appendages ... as lures when looking for humans to mate with or for their next meal.”

“Oh, no. Emru sings when she’s trying to attract a mate. You couldn’t even fit in her big body’s mouth. She mostly eats tiny fish, so her throat is very small. Emru couldn’t eat you even if she wanted to.”

The mage frowned. “That would have been nice to know before we met.”

“Wait. How would you even know that?” Ria asked the squid-girl.

Naivoo grinned and said, “Because I’ve been in there.” She raised a hand that unraveled into two tentacles down to the elbow before making a short thrusting motion upward.

“You fucked her inside her mouth?” When Naivoo nodded, Ria turned to Kal, “That’s a little weird but kind of hot too.”

“Maybe for you,” he replied, rolling his eyes.

“Actually, it was pretty hot,” said the squid. “Emru is a lot prettier In the water. Her body’s not all limp like when she’s on the ship.” Looking back at Kal, she asked, “You want me to tell her to wait?”

“Yes, and let her know I’ll be requesting to stay on board after our first port of call in Azumbaho. I’m not doing this for her specifically, but it will give me a chance to wrap my head around getting intimate with her.”

“What about letting me help?” she asked before pointing at her open mouth.

“That’s a little too impersonal for me when conceiving children. We’ll use it as a last resort, but if this happens, I’d rather it be more natural.”

Naivoo smiled, “I can understand that. I’ll let her know.”

After arriving home yesterday afternoon, Perra sent out word of Sera’s arrival and invited everyone to the farmhouse the next day to meet the gorgon.

It was Refia’s turn for pup-watching duty, and she couldn’t come, but Alina and Dax were there. Silma declined the invitation claiming the blacksmith’s current order was too important for her to leave. Aradelle would listen in over the bond, but there was already an expedition to the north side of the mountain planned so she and Sera could meet in person.

Having met Sera the day before, Gerda and Bas remained at Felli’s mountain. Shaping tons of rock for hours on end proved taxing even for monster girls as powerful as the golems. To avoid fatigue, they decided to take turns helping the dwarves.

They found a small cavern below the worksite with soil adequate for Sita to eat. The mushroom girl wasn’t excited about the area’s ‘taste’ or being away from Ikuno’s cave. However, she understood that her normal feeding spot was too far away for the golems to keep her safe from subterranean predators.

While alone in the little copse of glowing mushrooms where Kal found her, Sita never needed to worry about predators. Gerda didn’t think she was in much danger since few creatures that would see humans or other monster girls as food would find her fungal flesh tasty. The underground grazers who ate mushrooms, molds, and slimes were probably a greater hazard. But most moved slowly to prevent attracting predators and had mouths made for scraping the rock for food, not biting.

Elta, Bren, Kahrin, and Deena showed up shortly before noon and were the last to arrive. Ruce delivered the invitation as the cleric enjoyed a breakfast prepared by the Inn’s kitchen and extended it to the innkeeper and strongman. Once Deena discovered Sera was in town, she insisted on coming along.

A few townsfolk still found it jarring to see a harpy land in the middle of town or a dog-girl casually walking into a store. But each day, it felt more commonplace. The exploits of the town guard and Daxas’s pack were a common topic of conversation and helped the monster girls gain acceptance. The naysayers discovered it hard to argue against the pack’s usefulness when the guardsmen and dog-girls led horses of now-deceased robbers into town, then heard how Dax’s pack gave the men ample time to ambush the bandits.

Bren’s presence at the farmhouse nearly put Daxas in heat. Out of loyalty to Kal, she hadn’t approached the Inn’s strongman. But seeing the wolf-girl’s lust for Bren nearly had Perra telling Dax to throw together a few silver and buy the man for a night. If nothing else, it would satisfy the wolf’s curiosity before Kal returned and formed a bond with her, Alina, and Refia. On a personal note, Perra thought it might be nice not to have the place smell like aroused wolf-girl whenever they were in the same room. Thankfully she had the windows and doors open to let the breeze in, so Dax’s scent wasn’t overpowering.

Ghoss, Kuto, and Bea chatted with Veir off to one side of the living room while Thom and Tain enjoyed mugs of ale at the table and tried not to ogle all of the exposed breasts and bottoms.

The harpies were on the lookout for more of their kind now that Telsin had discovered their usefulness as messengers. In particular, Jurien and Nina greatly appreciated their help. For a couple of coppers, the apothecary could get medicines or salves to the outlying farms instead of delivering them himself or letting them sit on the shelf until his customer made a trip into town. This also meant he got paid quicker, worried less about his products going bad, and had more time for his wife. The blacksmith was slowly warming up to the idea of paying them to deliver repaired tools and parts, and even Tanner had grumbled about how handy the winged women appeared to be.

Medicine and goods weren’t the only things they delivered. The harpies had also transported Elta to an injured person in time to save their life.

The first incident happened as Ghoss delivered medicine to a farmer’s wife. The harpy relayed Jurien’s instructions to the woman while her husband attempted to break a young mare in a makeshift corral nearby. The horse bucked the farmer, and the man landed square on his back, knocking the wind from his lungs. The mare spun in place as it continued to buck and kick. Still gasping for breath, he tried to roll away, but not before one of the horse’s hooves came down on his chest. Ghoss and the man’s wife heard his ribs crack where they stood by the farmhouse.