Chapter 4

At first, Arilee was planning to cut down the amount of washing and mending she took in, considering she had almost enough money to pay another year's taxes already, but the second visit of Mazzar changed all that. She wanted to make sure that she could pay any amount asked, if Amos did not come to take her away before tax time.

Having all the work also helped her to pass the time, and dull the edge of longing she felt for Amos.

Her work done for the day, Arilee changed clothes and walked to the inn for a meal. One thing the extra money did allow her to do was eat properly. As soon as she could find the time, she planned to lay in stores at home for the first time in a very long while. For now, she took meals at the inn, since there was always something ready that she could eat and be on her way. It gave her time to have a bath before turning in, and let her get plenty of rest.

As Ari approached her home after leaving the inn, she started, thinking she saw something moving in the bushes along the road out of town. Quickening her pace, she covered the short distance to her front door at a walk so brisk it bordered on running. She glanced frequently at the bushes, but saw no further sign of movement.

She decided it must have been her imagination, but she still breathed a great sigh of relief when she closed the door behind her and locked it tight. She leaned up against the door for a few moments, trying to catch her breath and settle her nerves. Once she felt as though she wasn't going to jump out of her skin at the slightest sound, she walked through the entire house and peeked out the windows, seeing nothing out of the ordinary either within or without.

With a final check of the locks on both doors, Ari at last relaxed and made her way to the bath.

Mazzar sat still, sweat pouring from his body and stinging his eyes. She kept looking in his direction, and he knew that to move was to be seen. He was not that far away, and there was enough moonlight that the tiny movement to adjust his swelling cock upon seeing Arilee had been noticed by her. The liquid courage in his system was not helping him stay still.

Even as she was closing her door and sighing in relief, so did Mazzar. He waited for several minutes before risking a glance at the house. He almost immediately hid behind the bushes again, seeing her looking out the windows.

Once he no longer saw her in the windows, he crept from his hiding place and moved toward the house, making sure to keep out of direct view. She might still be able to see him if she looked far enough to one side, but the short time he would be visible was unavoidable.

He reached the house and leaned up against the wall, panting for breath and wiping sweat out of his eyes. He thought, Why does it have to be so hot? The night was really a rather pleasant one, but for a fat man sneaking about, it was hot indeed.

Mazzar scanned his surroundings, making sure that nobody else was in the area. It was doubtful, as the young woman's home was on the edge of town, far from anywhere that honest folk would be moving about this time of night, unless they were leaving town or coming to this house.

As he pulled something from his pocket, Mazzar's face split into a wide grin. The spying glass had cost him dearly to liberate from the locker where the magistrate kept confiscated items, but it was still far cheaper than if he had purchased the magic item for its real value. Taking a last look around, he crouched and pressed the round piece of glass up against the wall, peeking through it.

The magic allowed him to see through the wall, and the size of the item gave him a fairly wide range of vision. He was looking through a wall of the common room in the home, and saw Arilee walking down a hallway toward the back of the house. She carried a towel, and that caused Mazzar to lick his lips in anticipation.

Hurrying, as quickly as he could and still maintain anything resembling stealth, the corpulent taxman moved to the back of the house, to a wall he knew was part of the room where the young woman was going. There were a few short bushes near the house here, and Mazzar knelt down behind them and moved immediately to the wall. Pressing the glass up against it, he almost let out an aroused growl when he saw the young blonde start to remove her blouse. He hadn't missed a moment. Holding the glass with one hand, he reached down again to adjust his manhood as she opened the blouse, revealing her firm breasts, and their rosy pink tips. He licked his lips as she hooked her fingers under the waist of her skirt and pulled it down.

His cock throbbed as the action revealed her white panties, a dark silhouette in the front hinting at her sex. She turned, kicking the skirt over away from the tub, and then pulled down her panties, bending as she did so to remove them.

Her taut ass pressed toward him, and Mazzar leaned in closer to the wall. He could just see the hair on her mound as she bent, and then she stood up and turned around, fully revealing her bare body to him.

He had thought only to observe her until she went to bed and he determined that she was fully asleep, but this was a benefit he had not anticipated. He watched her step into the tub, deep noisy breaths escaping him as sweat continued to pour down his face.

Wash those tits well, my dear, he thought as she brought a lathered cloth to the globes. She was simply washing and relaxing, but to Mazzar, it was one of the most arousing things he had ever beheld. The cloth moved slowly over her, leaving trails of lather, as the taxman fought to keep his breathing under control. When she finished coating her breasts in suds, she reached down and cupped water in her hands, pouring it over her, to run in enticing streams down her body.

He didn't even notice the pain in his knees, from supporting his great weight, until Arilee at last stepped from the tub and dried her body with a towel. Wincing, he moved until he was seated, letting the stabs of pain subside for a time before he moved again. He could feel a wet, sticky spot in his trousers where pre-cum had leaked from him while he watched the young woman bathe.

You'll get a good taste of that soon enough, he thought, and then chuckled quietly. He leaned back against the wall, deciding to wait a few moments more before rising and moving to a wall of her bedroom, there to wait for her to fall asleep.

Arilee shivered, still feeling as if unfriendly eyes were upon her even after she left the bath. The feeling had crept over her just as she was about to exit the bath, pushing through her state of relaxation to sour her mood. Walking into the kitchen, she picked up a knife, feeling better once it was in her hand. Between the feeling she was having now, and the movement she thought she had seen earlier, having something she could use as a weapon helped to calm her nerves. She again checked the locks on both doors, as she put out the candle lanterns in the house, and then at last decided it was time for bed.

Yawning, she walked into her bedroom and put the knife into the top drawer of the small chest of drawers near the bed. Blowing out the candle in the lantern, she slid into the bed and soon drifted off to sleep.

Mazzar stood at Arilee's back door, taking a last look around before pulling a small wooden carving from his pocket. Yet another expensive purchase that would have cost far more, had he not bought it from an unscrupulous magistrate; he felt it was well worth the cost.

He placed the carving of a door cracked open up against the door before him, and heard a faint click. Reaching down to the doorknob, he turned it and pushed on the door. When it opened — the bolt locking it inside pushed away by the magic item — he quickly moved inside. As soon as he was clear, he pushed the door closed.

He paused to catch his breath, and to listen for any sound that might indicate the woman he was here for had awakened. His cock throbbed, and his mouth watered in anticipation. The time waiting for her to fall asleep had been exhausting, but nervous energy filled him now.

With stealth that belied his rotund form, Mazzar crept down the hall toward her bedroom. The door was unlocked; he had seen that as he watched her sleep. He paused outside the open doorway, again listening for a minute or two before pulling the magical glass from his pocket again.

Placing it against the wall next to the door, he smiled when he saw her still sleeping. Placing the item back in his pocket again, he withdrew his final, expensive piece of magic.

This was the most expensive item of all, because he had purchased it from a black market vendor at full price. At more than full price, if the truth were to be told. He had nearly balked upon hearing how much the filthy old man wanted for the magical bottle, but then thoughts of Arilee overcame his reservations. He wanted the woman, and he was going to have her, one way or another. He would simply have to raise his cut of the taxes next year to make up for the expenditure.

He moved as quickly as he could without sacrificing stealth, moving to the edge of the bed and placing the small bottle near the pillow where Arilee's head rested. He pulled the cork from the neck of the bottle and stepped back, watching the ruddy-tinged smoke drift upward and curl unnaturally toward the blonde woman's nose.

Her nose twitched slightly as the magical vapors reached her, and then her head fell over to the side. Mazzar smiled wide and let out a little growl of anticipation; the magic was working.

He waited impatiently until the vapors ceased to flow from the bottle, and then turned to the chest of drawers next to the bed. Opening the top drawer, he pulled out the knife and twirled it between his fat fingers, "I think we'll get rid of this, just in case," he said quietly and chuckled. Ari didn't even twitch, deep in the spell of the magical smoke.

Impatient, Mazzar simply walked to the door of the bedroom and hurled the knife out into the hall. He had waited too long to fuck this woman, and he wasn't going to wait any longer. Walking over to the bed, he said in a firm, husky voice, "Wake up."

Arilee wondered why her head was throbbing, and why she was dreaming about being in her own bed. When she saw the shadowy form of someone above her, she tried to scream and scramble away, but she couldn't move. Panicking, she turned all her will to trying again, but the magic still paralyzed her.

"Don't waste energy struggling," she heard someone say, but couldn't make out the voice, nor would her eyes focus properly to see who the shadowy figure was. It was large, but that was about all she could determine. She was having trouble thinking; every thought felt like it was slogging through thick mud.

"Stand up and take off your clothes."

Ari could not control herself, as she did exactly what the voice asked, swinging her legs off the edge of the bed and reaching for the hem of her nightshirt. She pulled it over her head, hardly realizing that she was moving before she dropped the garment to the floor and stood nude in the faint light of the room.

A large hand roughly pawed first her right, and then her left breast. "You don't know how long I've waited to touch those, my dear," the person groping her said with a slight slur. She knew now it was a man, but his face still would not come into focus. His voice was familiar too, but she still couldn't place it. The smell of stale sweat and beer washed over her, causing her stomach to churn.

After a final squeeze and a pinch of her nipple, the hand moved down her body, a husky chuckle coming from the man in front of her. Ari thought she saw his face for a moment, and then it was gone, overshadowed by surprise and shame as she felt a hand cup her sex roughly.

A moment later, two fingers curled inside her, weaving through the hair and slipping painfully into her dry sheathe. "Now, let's get that cunt wet, shall we," Ari's assailant growled.

Arilee felt her body fill with warmth, and her nipples stiffened as waves of arousal flowed through her against her will. Part of her, buried deep in her magic-addled brain, screamed in revulsion and terror. Her juices started flowing, and after a few moments, the fingers inside her pushed deeper, drawing another mirthless chuckle from her molester.

The man reached out with his other hand to run a fingertip over her hardened nipples. He moaned and said, "You want it don't you? Little more than a whore at heart, as I suspected. Well, I'll give you what you want, but all in good time."

The fingers inside her jerked free, and she felt a curious mix of disappointment and relief. "Look down," he ordered, and her head dropped so she was staring at the floor. After a moment, his hand came up under her chin, his fingers smelling strongly of her wetness, and raised her eyes until she was staring at his crotch.

His pants came down, revealing his small, but fully erect cock nestled in a mass of dark hair and partially hidden by a roll of fat hanging from his stomach. Arilee's stomach churned again, but she was helpless to move a muscle. The unnatural arousal she had felt a moment before vanished, however.

"Tell me you want it," he commanded.

"I want..." she paused, the words leaving a bad taste in her mouth. The stench of sweat and beer assaulted her again, and her lip twitched slightly toward a frown.

"Tell me you want it," he growled again.

"I want it," Ari said, her voice dry and with no hint of emotion. She almost knew his voice now, if she could have moved, she would have shaken her head in an effort to clear it. In fact, she felt the muscles in her neck twitch slightly as she thought about that.

"Get down on your knees. I've been waiting too long to have those pretty lips around my cock. Then I'll get a taste of that tight cunt before I fuck you." Lost in his desire, the final vestiges of polish in Mazzar's speech vanished, replaced by the crude words that truly spoke from his soul.

She knelt down after a moment's hesitation, and he stepped forward, his erection directly in front of her face. The smell of his unwashed genitals burned in her nose, acrid and nauseating. "Now suck my cock," she heard him say. She licked her lips, her stomach rebelling, and leaned forward, wrapping her fingers around the base of his cock to steady it.

Just as her lips were about to touch him, the magic over her broke. She jerked back, gagging, and scrambling away from the man.

Mazzar! she thought, getting up and rushing toward the wall away from him.

"Get back over here and suck my cock, whore," Mazzar growled, stalking toward her, kicking off his pants to free his legs.

"Get away from me!" Arilee screamed and bolted toward the door.

Mazzar panicked. He had to shut the bitch up, now. If he had to, he'd knock her out and fuck her dry, but he was determined that he was fucking her. He'd spent too much and waited too long. Intercepting her, he clamped a hand over her mouth.

Arilee bit down, jerking away from Mazzar when he screamed and pulled his bleeding hand away from her. She darted out the door and stumbled hard on her knees. She cried out in pain, hearing his heavy footsteps coming after her, and saw light glinting off something on the floor in front of her.

Just as he came out the door, Arilee snatched up the knife and stood up, turning to face him, backing away slowly.

"Put that down, or I'm going to have to hurt you worse. If you'd just behave, you might have a little fun too."

He darted forward, and Ari reacted, slashing his arm with the knife. Mazzar screamed in surprise and pain from the cut, and then again, when she slashed a second time before he could jerk his arm away.

Now suddenly sober, bleeding, and worried that he was going to be caught, Mazzar darted after the fleeing woman, his only intention now to shut her up and get away quickly. This had gone too far, and someone might have already heard her screaming. He silently cursed the old man and his failed magic for putting him in this situation.

Mazzar cursed again when Arilee reached the front door of her home and jerked the bolt away, flinging the door open. He picked up his pace, gasping for breath. He had to reach her before she got outside.

Arilee turned and saw him only a few feet away and darted out the door. She looked back to see him still following, and then screamed when she crashed into someone.

Mazzar ran out the door, a constant stream of curses running through his head. When he saw the huge man step out from the shadows and grab Arilee protectively in one arm, he tried to skid to a stop and run the other way.

He never got a chance as Tobair's huge fist slammed into his head.