“Hiyah!” Rose's voice bellowed and shook the evening air.

Her sword came crashing down from above, a few centimeters short of cracking my skull open. I watched the wood blade cracked open a hapless stone instead, an unfortunate rock that was lying on the ground between us. The poor thing had been minding its own business on the forest floor just a moment ago. It was in good company now, because it had been completely split in twain. Obviously I wasn't already terrified enough with Rose chasing after me swinging that plank around. I've had to watch the surrounding forest be systemically annihilated stone by stone and tree by tree as I fled and desperately dodged every slash and thrust. I scrambled backward and tried to take refuge behind another of the old growth trees that littered our surroundings.

     “Woah woah woah! Time out!” I cried out desperately. “You said this was just sparring. You're gonna kill me if you hit me with that!”

Rose calmly stamped her foot on the ground, curled her talons into the earth, and then with a single pull, yanked the sword free. She had driven it into the dirt like a railway spike, the very thought about the forces involved in sent shivers down my spine. She didn't seem to share my level of concern, all she offered back was a mischievous smile and a playful snort as she rubbed the back of her free claw against her nose to wipe away some clods of dirt off her face.

     “Kill ya? Nah. I'm only hitting ya with the stuff that can kill you when I know you can dodge it.”

So she admits she has been delivering possible deathblows all this time...

     “That's not the point, Rose! If you do hit with- Ack!”

I was forced back behind the tree when Rose leaped forward and took a swing at where my head was just a second ago like she was swinging around an axe. She struck the tree like she was dead set on chopping the massive old growth monster down. Even with just a wooden sword, the thick bark of the tree cracked and the sword disappeared into the trunk.

     “If you hit me like I'm going to die!” I yelled.

     “It ain't gonna mean a thing if I don't go all out.” Rose stated in a manner of fact way while she once again freed the sword with a single yank. “And stop runnin' around and dodging. You've got enough practice with that already. Come on, try to hit me!"

She said the last bit in such a jovial manner you'd think we were just a couple of children playing a game of tag. The ear to ear smile across her face was almost disarming, almost. There was still evidence all around of mayhem like a tornado had torn through the area. If I was going to keep on living, I think I was going to have to disappoint her and continue playing cat and mouse. After all, mice don't survive by picking fights or standing up to their predators. I just had to last until Chris came back from scouting. If I could last that long, I'd run out the clock. Even Rose would have to relent, our strategy meeting is more important than this farce she calls 'training'.

I decided to capitalize on the precious few seconds Rose had to waste on this tree to push away, make a break for it and take cover behind another tree. I'm living my life second to second right now, so every second I could buy myself is precious. Turning my back, I tried to make a break for it. But I felt warmth on my back that started to get very hot, very quickly. When I turned around, Rose was already bearing down on me, her tail a raging inferno, her white toothy smile glistening with excitement. She's never that fast- No, she must have really decided to get serious. I suppose even a rat when cornered will try to bite. So that was her game... Get serious and force me to confront her. There wasn't much for me to do, my option were limited- No... Limited is too liberal a word; I only had one option: I had to parry.

In an act of desperation, I threw my wooden sword up in front of me. A fat lot of good that did, I didn't have the time to see she was going for a thrust. When my back slammed up against another tree I pretty much got rid of all my options to get away. In my dire straights, instinct took over and I shifted my head right and up against my shoulder. Rose's thrust stabbed into the tree truck, where my head had just been, a good four centimeters. Impressive, because it's just a blunt wooden sword after all. Okay, impressive is a bad choice of words. I rescind that word and replace it with 'terrifying'. The very sound of it cracking the thick bark was deafening as chunks of bark exploded outward like a bullet had slammed into it instead. If my head were there, I would have died for sure.

Such an aggressive attack, which was very Rose, was also equally risky. An opportunity had finally presented itself, maybe. If I just scored one hit, just one, she might relent a bit. Maybe just a bit. That is if she was just trying to prove a point.

With her left arm extended and her sword still stick in the tree, I made a large swing with the sword in my right hand. Her arm is crossed over her eyes, she'd have a hard time seeing it come from that wide, or so I thought. Her right arm darted out and she wrapped her claw around my wrist and caught me. She had a firm grip, I couldn't pull back. I'd be done for if I did nothing, so when she pulled her sword free I quickly darted out and grabbed hold of her wrist as well. We were both locked in place, trying to hold our sword arms still so neither of us could take a swing at the other.

We were stuck in a deadlock.; at least that's how Rose wanted it. Every time I tried to pull loose she'd let me make some gains before pulling back. Likewise it took everything I got just to keep her still. She had a cocksure grin on her face as she was no doubt enjoying herself. It pissed me off. She said fight seriously. It doesn't mean a thing if you're not serious. Being tossed handicaps like that makes one part of me which is trying to keep me alive relived, but another more reckless part of me pissed on my pride was being trampled upon. My persuasions to keep the latter part quiet, mostly reassurances that getting carried away will lead to pain, oh so much pain, seemed to be falling on deaf ears as I felt my blood begin to boil.

I flared my teeth and growled as I let loose a growl as I tried to pull my sword free while pulling down on Rose's other arm to lower it down somewhere where it wouldn't be an immediate threat. Rose kept steady for a second and slowly let me break free, but when she tried to reverse it, like Casey at Bat it was too late. I had all the leverage, it only takes a couple kilos of pressure in the right places, that's just how joints work. A little rage goes a long way too as I started to push Rose back slowly even when she knit her brow together and tried to push back. Just a few more seconds and I start bending her over backward and she'd lose her footing, or not.

While I was busy pushing back, Rose shifted her weight, freed up one leg for a brief moment and swept my legs out from under me. I went tumbling down and I was too stiff and rigid from concentrating and exerting all my strength to do anything about it. I twisted around mid fall and slammed my arm first against the forest floor and rolled over in pain. That is until a weight fell down on my chest and pinned me down. My eyes were still unfocused and I was seeing stars when I heard another loud thunk as Rose planted her wooden sword into the dirt right next to me head. An overhand drive into the earth.

I lost. All the tension in my body melted into the dirt, the lactic acid built up made me feel like I might just sift into the soil like water. I shook my head violently to chase off the stars and I saw Rose sitting on my stomach. She pulled her claws away from the hilt of the wooden sword and placed them on my shoulders. Her fiery tail was whipping back and forth behind her, the embers giving off a bit of a roar and crackle at every flick and during each swish.

     “Good. Very good!” She said, bouncing up and down with excitement. “I almost thought you had me there for a second.”

I tried to make some snarky comment, but all I managed to do was groan and wince in pain. I was still out of it, I didn't even notice when her talons danced their way across my shoulders and chest to my cheeks where she squished them together in the palms of her claws.

     “But you need to work on that tunnel vision. You leave too many openings.”

By the time my eyes focused and snapped to attention it was already too late: Rose's face came rushing up like a runaway truck and her lips wrapped around my own like that truck which came to its inevitable stop by wrapping itself around a lamppost. Rose's passions had run amok yet again as she was grinding her hips against my torso and squishing her breasts against my chest. My efforts to grab her by the shoulders and push her away so I could actually catch my breath were in vain.

     “Ahem!” Came an abrupt and out-of-place cough.

Rose came back to her senses immediately and threw a dirty look in the direction of the sound. Sitting cross legged on a nearby boulder was Susan, with a book in her paws. She slowly and deliberately turned another page, the crinkle of the old paper echoing loudly in the silence. Then she lazily looked up to meet Rose's glare.

     “I apologize. Did I interrupt?” Susan said, very passive aggressively.

That's enough to set Rose off for sure.

     “Huh~?” Rose menaced like a gangster. “You wanna say something?”

     Susan didn't seem intimidated at all when she calmly replied, “Yes. Please extradite yourself from Laven.”

The sheer audacity surprised even me, it certainly caught Rose off guard too who dropped character for a second with a dumbfounded look upon her face before she recovered.

     “This is training time. “We all agreed on that, so back off.”

     “All three of us agreed, yes. We agreed self defense would be crucial, yes. However... Laven will require healing and time to recover now.”

     “Don't be treating Laven like some kind of weakling!” Rose shouted out pointing a talon at Susan incriminatingly. “He's way tougher than he looks! Needs work...” She muttered quietly under her breath. “But he's sturdy at the core, good foundation and fundamentals!”

     Susan sighed, “That is not what I am referring to. Laven fell upon his arm at an unusual angle. It may be fractured.”

     “No way!” Rose cheerfully denounced the notion as she playfully punched my arm.

Maybe it was because my head was still spinning and I was a bit stunned, but after getting that shot to the arm, a piercing sting from my arm spread out over my entire body and I shook in pain. I almost shouted out in pain, I still couldn't help but seethe through my clenched teeth. I was starting to think Susan was right and Rose must have hit the bullseye.

     Rose gave out an awkward laugh, “Well. It's not like you always get to fight with two good arms... A luxury even. We can have another go! It's more real than tying on your arms up. You just have to last half the time! How long was that last time?”

     “Fifty-four seconds.” Susan stated.

     “See? Three seconds more than the time before that. Come on!” Rose cheerfully said as she tried to pull me up off my back by my good arm. “Try to last twenty-three!”

     “Twenty-seven.” Susan said, correcting Rose.

     “Ah, shut up!” Rose barked back.

Susan clapped her paws together, closing her book at last and set it down on the boulder she was sitting upon. She then jumped off and onto her feet and made her way over toward the two of us on the ground. Her eyes were serious and her voice empty of emotion but still carried weight to themselves

     “Laven requires healing now. We cannot suffer any injuries at this juncture in time. We cross dangerous territories and cannot afford to suffer any handicaps.”

     “You said you knew damn well how important this is. Back off.” Rose growled, her tail standing up and smouldering just like her sullen eyes that glared coldly at Susan. "Maybe you just don't get what kind of places we're gonna be walking through. We can't stick to forests or follow Marru River forever. There are a lot of places up here, not so far North, where people will take a swing at Laven just cause he's seen anywhere near one of us. If it happens that none of us are then when it happens..." She cast her eyes downward, a thought, an image she didn't want to see must have surfaced.

     “You were also given the responsibility of procuring dinner tonight. I will not be the one arguing with Chris when she returns from her sortie and fresh game is not roasting over a hearth. Surely you have not forgotten?”

     “That's not what I'm talking abo-” Rose was about to argue again, but then came a rumbling from her stomach.

The mere mention of food caused a stomach grumble loud and as she rubbed her belly probably a cramp painful enough that she could not longer ignore it. Gallivanting about the forest floor and destroying it with nothing but a wooden sword all this time had probably depleted a lot of her stored up calories. Rose's face contorted into a frown as it dawned upon her that she had lost the debate and didn't have a leg to stand on against Susan right now. Susan had resorted to end game early, Rose's insatiable appetite. Rose was left with no choice but to slowly stand up and relieve me of the weight which was pressing down on my chest and making breathing laborious. I took in a long hard breath in celebration.

Rose walked with heavy feet over to her pile of things near the center of the little camp we had set up only a short distance away from our area of rampaging. She collected her sword and a few other odds and ends of survival gear before heading off to hunt. Her shoulders were slumped the whole time. She threw a few longing and wistful glances back toward me. Perhaps a little melodramatically. It was an odd thing to watch and I have to confess it worried me. Rose, this isn't the end of Casablanca, you know?

     “Laven... This way please.” Susan ordered as she appeared beside me.

She graciously waved her paw over a nearby stone With my one good arm I pushed myself off the ground then cradled my injured arm. Susan supported my weight as I stumbled my over toward the boulder and sat myself down. It wasn't much bigger than a stool and Susan sat down seiza in front of me. She reached out with her paws and took the hand of my fractured arm and slowly, gently massaged her fluffy digits up and down its length. I winced in pain several times as she pressed down on, no doubt to find exactly where I was injured.

     “You allow that brute too much leniency.” She said, finally breaking the silence.

     “I actually agree with her... To a degree.” I said then backtracked.

Susan looked up with a surprised look on her face for a second, followed by a brief gloom before she put her poker face back on, “Injuries such as this will continue to surmount until you make it perfectly trenchant that her regimen is overbearing.”

     “I think she just shows concern differently. I did get knocked around a bit back at the castle...”

Susan's paws came to stop and she cast her eyes downward so that I couldn't read the expression on her face. An awkward silence descended on the clearing as we both came to a standstill. Not too surprising; that was only a couple days of two weeks ago. Once again I had come very close to death. I was on the ground, down for the count and one finishing blow away from being snuffed out for good. If the princess had not decided to sacrifice her humanity and innocence... I wouldn't be alive right now. I was trying not to dwell on it, but I'm sure it was something that the three girls were not capable of doing so easily.

Chris had been hanging over my shoulder going at length over a million other ways I could have handled the whole scene 'cooler'. About seventy percent of them involved doing thing that were physically impossible for me and another thirty percent too embarrassing. However, I could see from the root of her message, was looking out for my safety. She had a penchant for the dramatic and a way of looking at the world that wasn't exactly accurate or grounded in reality. However, that world she saw was a much brighter place. I can't blame anyone who falls for it and I certainly do not knock anyone who fights for it.

Rose's 'training' regimen is probably borne from the same concern. If I was going to keep throwing myself in harm's way, I had better be able to handle it. If only she had more common sense, maybe she'd realize that beating someone with a stick day in and day out isn't always the best way to learn anything. You don't always make something stronger by constantly beating and hitting it. Sometimes these things break instead. I suppose that simple world view she sees reality through is one of the reasons she seems to have gotten along so well with Chris. Fools usually find good company with one another.

At the end of the day I can't blame Rose. Even when arguing with Chris it was painfully obvious she was just desperate. Desperate to make sure I wasn't mere moments from a coup de grâce ever again. There was only one way to assure that in that messed up head of hers: 'If he can stand up to me, I only have to be afraid for him so far as I'm afraid of anything else.' That's a tall order though. Chopping into iron bark trees like these with just a wooden sword... I think that's a little beyond what's humanly possible...

     I looked down at Susan who was still averting her eyes and had not moved since and solemnly said, "I'd do it again."

Susan raised her face and met my gaze unflinchingly. I was the one doing the flinching though, she was wearing a rare warm smile on her face and soft eyes.

     “I know.” She said warmly. “I understand that is the kind of man you are. I felt as such the moment I first laid my eyes upon you.” I was a little embarrassed, but then her tone suddenly changed back. “Now please remain still. This may be painful.”

The marks on her abdomen glowed a pale green and a pale green aura surrounded her paws. My arm which was wracked with the stabbing pain like it had been pierced with a thousand pins and needles was replaced with a tingle as though my whole arm had fallen asleep. That didn't last long before I felt at first a dull pain that slowly became a serious throbbing pain as though an invisible hand made out of fire was squeezing my very bones together and soldering them back into one piece. I winced in pain and almost fell over backwards off the stone. I would have, but Susan was holding onto me tight and wasn't planning on letting me go.

     “Susan.” I called out to her through clenched teeth. “What do you think you're-”

     “Please bear with it, Laven.” She said rather coldly.

Had I done anything to offend you, Susan? What's with the passive aggressive treatment? I don't remember healing hurting this much.

At last Susan's glow subsided, but my arm still felt like it was being assaulted with the pins and needles from before. Susan didn't seem quite ready to call it off, tell me to take two and call her in the morning. She moved down from my arm to fingers and caressed them, moved the digits of her paws through them.

     “Fractured phalanges.” She said coldly. “Most likely from the trauma and shock of having to endure the forces involved in blocking that barbarian's blows while maintaining that white knuckled grip upon your sword. They'll swell eventually, the pain will be inevitable.”

     “They don't look swollen to me.” I said breathing heavily to endure the dull pain.

     “I recognize the signs, Laven.” She said coldly as she studied my hand. “It appears my magic is having even less an effect today than usual...”

Susan pulled my hand down and touched it upon her abdomen. My mind reeled in response. What was she up to? Why would she-? It was very warm though. She winced for a moment as my cold hands touched against her bare stomach, against the white exclamation mark tattoos. But she held them tightly against her as they once again glowed a pale green. I felt an even stronger flow of magic before. If that is magic I feel. My whole arm, up to my shoulder this time, tingled as though they had fallen asleep. When the light finally subsided, the tingling also subsided, but the dull pain merely returned again.

     “Your hands are frigid.” She complained.

Are you looking for an apology? I can't do anything about that.

     “Your injuries must be more serious than I originally anticipated.” She said as she guided my hand in her paws up her stomach to between her breasts.

A feeling of warmth spread not just into my hand but across my face as well and I could feel myself turn beat red. Even Susan who was still maintaining her signature poker face and calm and polite manner of speech was blushing heavily, a stark contrast to her appearance as a whole. Even through her top I could feel warmth radiate as she guided my hand over her ample left breast. My hand was still twitching from the nerves in my arm spasming gently. As my hand was guided her heart and she pulled me closer till my hand sunk in. Even with the top in the way, I could feel a hard nub of flesh tweak in the palm of my hand and catch between the grooves between of my fingers.

     “S-susan?” I said, my voice cracking, pleading for some kind of explanation.

     “Shh.” She shushed gently. “Concentrate on my palpitations. Feel the flow from my heart to yours.”

     “I'm feeling something, but it isn't your heart.”

Susan looked up, her expression telling me she wasn't amused that I wasn't taking this seriously. Whether through punishment or by design, she moved my hand up her breast toward her collarbone. Her breast bouncing and jiggling seductively back into place afterward. She then raised my hand in front of her face and she studied it carefully with her eyes.

     “It appears this will require a more direct approach.”

My body felt like it was burning hot by now, it was a therapeutic feeling, like being wrapped in one great heat pad. There was still a dull throbbing pain in my arm that told me the injury was still there, but that wouldn't last long. Susan slowly caressed her 'fingers' over my fingers which had been cut, scabbed and blistered from many hard days of work and enduring Rose's training. Every minor scrap being sensitive to touch. Then Susan did what I certainly did not expect. She brought my hand toward her lips and her tongue licked the length of my index finger, slowly. I could feel the rough texture and wet saliva layer on my skin and then she pulled the finger into her mouth and held it there, coiling her tongue around it.

My finger felt a warmth completely unlike before, I could feel every ridge of Susan's tongue and I could feel it bathe and juggle within her damp mouth. The smooth, soft and puffy walls of her inner cheeks and the strong caress of tongue. Every cut and bruise on my finger seemed to melt away. After servicing my index, she invited my middle finger to join it as she sucked on them both, coiled her tongue around and kissed them both.

I had no words. I simply sat there while Susan continued. She had progressed to my thumb by the time I returned from my daze, which she was busy tumbling seductively, almost playfully in her mouth. She looked up with a bewitching gaze that made me start to doubt this was about healing at all. I then noticed from the corner of my eye a brief glow of red light, but when I turned my eyes toward it, it was already long gone. My intuition led me to only one conclusion.

     “Susan... That light.”

     “Tis dusk now, Laven. It is merely the sun.” Susan replied as she finally released my thumb from her grips.

I noticed at last the dull pain in my arm had vanished completely. I could freely move it about, but I was most surprised when I inspected my hand and noticed that every cut, bruise and blister had vanished. The skin on my hand was healed, soft and smooth, no healing salve or moisturizer could hope to compete. While I held my hand up in front of my in front of my face to study it, Susan's paw slowly coiled itself around it, sliding her fluffy digits between my fingers. I looked up to see that she was no longer sitting before me. She pressed her weight up against me as she sat down and spread her legs to sit down on my lap. She wrapped her other paw around my free hand and she leaned in, running her tongue along my collar bone.

The very sensation caused my whole body to shudder, but I couldn't move. I couldn't even fall off my stone stool, I felt rooted in place. Susan's head and her long straight raven black hair below wafted a sweet smell into my nose and straight to my brain. Her jackal like ears atop her head twitched and tickled my chin as they did, and the sweet aroma wafting up toward me smelled like cinnamon scented shampoo. I swallowed hard, my eyes began to water and my lips stirred restlessly. My mind was still caught in second gear, unable to handle all the sensations at their current ferocity.

Susan pulled back and brought her face right before my own. She was blushing, her face was completely red, her tan skin becoming a rust like color. She pressed her forehead against my own, our noses brushing up against each other like an Eskimo kiss. A gentle smile and alluring eyes betrayed her usual calm straight-laced expression. Against my knees and shins, I could feel her bushy tail whap against them again and again as it swished uncontrollably behind her.

What was next was inevitable, I was sure of that. Without a word, without some long winded declaration or polite speech, she gently kissed my upper lip and then pulled back again.I didn't get a chance to interrupt or say anything before she pressed in again pressed her lips up against my own. She pushed all her weight onto me and most of it felt as though it was bearing down on my from her lips. I could feel a sweet scent and hot air tickle me from her nose as she continued to press her lips against my own. I had long closed my eyes, but I could easily tell it was her tongue that finally began to lick over my lips, cheeks and nose. It was like some kind of instinct she was following, it was clumsy, awkward, but there was a sincerity behind it all. That alone had an irresistible and bewitching charm all its own.

A dull red light was still basking over the two of us, a red light I could see even through my shut eyes. There was a sinking feeling in my chest, a part of me remembered that light all too well, but I wasn't in any position to do anything about it. My body acted on its own in spite of my wandering thoughts when at last my body set into motion and I reached out with my tongue and met Susan. There was a slightly salty taste as our tongues collided and pressed up against each other. It only lasted for a moment, because our tongues slipped and slid past one another as they mingled and dove into one another's mouth. We sunk even deeper into each other as the kiss deepened and became increasingly passionate.

Both of us starved for breath pulled back at the same time and heaved warm breaths that tickled both our senses. My mouth was still moist and I could now feel the beads of sweet pool over my whole body. I could feel my shirt drench and cling to my skin, and everywhere it stuck, I could feel like pins and needles, although this time it felt like wells of endorphins. But that feeling alone was enough for my mind to kick into third gear. I stole a glance downward to see a dull red light in Susan's tattoos.

     “Susan... Did you, curse me? Agai-?”

My words got stuck in my throat when I felt one of Susan's paws wrap itself around the bulge at my groin. I had been so focused elsewhere that I didn't even notice it till now; the mere contact over the denim of my jeans almost caused me to cum immediately. My underwear felt drenched regardless, so much precum must have built up already and I somehow didn't even notice. All this time, Susan was slowly building up a Curse of the Mummy. A curse that makes the victim's body many times more sensitive than normal. Its true purpose is to create a sensation so strong it ties a soul to the body, even after death, but I've learned from before it can be abused for other purposes.

     “What an incurable Pharaoh you are, Laven.” Susan said staring me dead in the eyes, her voice cold, calm and cool but her face lascivious and seductive. “Your faithful servant merely desires to attend to your wounds and look what has become of you.”

     “Susan~...” I tried to say condemningly but unable to muster the proper willpower to do so.

My ability to resist had been sapped away and I couldn't muster the strength or the will to push away Susan's arms as her claws pinched the zipper of my pants. Neither could I do anything when her paw reached in, between the folds of my underwear and the soft pads of her paws seized my throbbing and bloated penis. The tissues had become so sensitive and coursing with so much blood that any more would no doubt be painful. Every squeeze, every tickle of soft downy fur caused an electric shock from my pelvis, up my spine that shook my brain. My vision nearly went white with each sensation. When my member was guided from its prison and exposed to the comparatively chill forest air, I nearly came again, but a firm grip squeezed around it, preventing me to do so.

I shook violently from the dry ejaculation, a great deal of pent up fluids held up in their place of origin. The muscles in my pelvis spasming in protest, each time sending another cascade of lightning to my already fried brain.  Susan's paw had a death grip around the base and she had pinched it tight.

     “Now now.” She rebuked. “Not so hastily. Not without physician's order.”

My eyes were unfocused, my breathing heavy, almost heaving, but my throat was still wet from the kiss before. My hands dropped helplessly to my sides as Susan held herself up on me by the shoulder and another gripped around my cock. Dragging my sensitive tip along the silky fabric of her black and golden ornate underwear, she used the glans to push aside the heavenly fabric to expose her own womanhood to the cold spring air. I was burning hot, but that didn't mean I couldn't feel the throbbing and burning heat that was coming from her own folds hovering only a few centimeters above my dick. Neither of us seemed to have the patience to embrace and enjoy this heat and anticipation because I soon felt a weight drop down upon me. A weight that enveloped and wrapped itself snugly and savagely around my erect penis.

I throbbed outward and each throb felt as though it would not stop and grow outward to infinity if not for the throbbing fleshy walls that pushed back. A meeting of an unstoppable force and an immovable object, in perfect harmony. From just the insertion I felt a wave of contractions in my body, but once more I heaved dryly and I felt the traffic jam in my balls escalate to another level as they swelled uncomfortably and shook. A dull white light glowed from Susan as she panted, seated and straddled on top of me.

     “Not yet.” She said. “Not yet.” Each time with heavy seductive breaths.

Susan's paws wrapped around me neck, her pelvis slid up against my abdomen and her breasts pressed up against my face. Her cheeks pressed against the top of my head and rustled my hair as she caressed and rubbed herself on me. I felt her take long breaths, her breaths tickle the top of my head as though she was greedily taking in every scent of me that she could. Her body writhed on top of me as she sunk further and further down my shaft until she reached the base and I could go in no further. I could feel myself being bent, squeezed and milked inside her as her vaginal walls coiled, squeezed and pulled me in. Our genitals greedily fought to embrace and when Susan lifted her hips for the first time, I wasn't sure if she dropped down on her own, or her body pulled her back down on top of me.

She started slow, shaking her hips back and forth and pushing off the ground with her 'feet' before lowering herself back down. It started rough and awkward, but it soon became a rhythm; a melody of each contraction and throb a note in percussion and each thrust the beat of a drum. It was hypnotic. Each and every movement felt like it was enough to have me explode, but a force was holding me back. It had to be Susan who was responsible. As though in a trance she kept ordering me to hold. Those orders soon sounded like pleading and eventually lost all pretenses and sounded like words drenched in ecstasy.

At last I felt my body finally shift into forth gear. My idle hands sprang into action and moved up to her hips, but unsatisfied they crawled up her to her slender smooth waist, across her tattoos and finally to her breasts. I slipped my hands underneath the fabric and in each hand seized roughly her breasts. Pulling her top up which now wrapped around her collar I guided one of the nipples into my mouth and teased it between my front teeth. While massaging the soft body of each with my hands, the nub that I kissed and sucked within my mouth, Susan's back arched as a shiver no doubt shot through her entire body. Her whole body contracted and a squeeze from down below that was more savage than all the others shook me as well. But still I heaved another dry contraction in my pelvis. I think that one drove me insane.

I switched over to fifth gear and was firing on all cylinders. Any sense of reason or restraint I had left was on leave. My body which had mostly kept still, jumped into action. Perhaps it had done so because moving itself tickled every nerve in my body. Maybe it had done it on its own volition for my own safety, but that kind of caution and restraint had gone out the window. I rocked my own hips back and forth and kicked up my legs by the balls of my feet to raise Susan into the air and then drop her back down. The rough and unexpected movements caused her back to arc again, which in turn caused me another dry heave when the squeezed down again. It only spurred me on.

     “Laven!” Susan screamed in ecstasy as her legs, the fluffy sensation of her calves and paws included, wrapped around my back.

She hugged and squeezed her body against mine even tighter.

     “Laven~. Do you sense mine? I can feel yours. Your heart~ Laven?” She called out to me.

I had no sense or reason left to respond. I could only respond with my body and muster the energy to double my efforts.

     “Laven~” She cooed. “Laven~ Love... I love you! Laven~!”

As though all contractions before were nothing but practice, a powerful surge exploded from Susan's body. From my shaft, to the glans and tip I felt Susan wring me out like a towel inside her. Our mingling lewd juices which had pooled and the constant slapping of our bodies against one another came to its crescendo. My balls which were heavy set, suddenly rose up and twitched uncontrollably. All at once I felt a surge and rush of semen pour into Susan with each and every pulsing of the muscles in my pelvis. A warm pleasurable feeling cascaded across my whole body as a pleasant feeling of release tempered by a savage bestial impulse shook the two of us. More spunk than I thought I could produce flowed out and into Susan's womanhood. It greedily lapped it up, but even it had limits as it oozed out from the folds where we were joined and trickled down her thighs and onto the forest floor.

I lost count of how many contractions my body shuddered with, but after about a minute they finally ceased. My body went limp and so did Susan who light girly frame rested on me, but was stilled curled around me with her legs locked around my back. We breathed heavily, desperate to catch our breaths as though we had been drowning only a moment ago.

     “What was that... Last part you said?” I asked between my gasps for air.

I pulled back to get a better look her face, but she was looking away in embarrassment, flushed a copper red with a vexed expression on her face. There wasn't much room for doubt, I'm pretty sure I knew damn well what she said, but she hardly seemed the type to scream it out like that. I suppose I just decided to bully her a little on impulse.

     “I-I didn't mutter a thing.” She mumbled. She remained silent for a moment before she spoke again more clearly. “That twas more to your preferences. Was it not? You are more forgiving of rash and reckless action...”

Hold up. What was she going on about now?

     “I-I too can be so bold! Just as... bold... reckless...idiotic...”

Is this all about...

     “Hold up.” I said pressing my finger up against her lips.

She let slip a surprised yelp as her tail twitched and went rigid.

     “I, in now way, intended to make you feel like that in any way. You're not Rose or Chris. Sure. I've been fortunate enough to run into some incredible and kind peo- monsters since I get here. I'm sure I'd be dead or worse without all your help. Don't think you have to fit a role or even act a way that you think I'd prefer. I don't want that, nor the guilt of having a girl do that. Being your usual cold self is enough. Besides, you bring an important level of well... sanity by just being there. I think-”

I stopped in my tracks as Susan cast her eyes downward again. A few droplets of water falling from her face onto the ground below. I was going to say something and reach out, but she rubbed her paws against her face before I could react. She looked up with her usual calm and cool face, even though her eyes were red and puffy. She let out a slight smile behind that mask of hers. No, I'm pretty sure that's just part of her, not just a mask.

     “I suppose that I remain somewhat a fool in the end. Doubting that heart of yours again.” She said wistfully, if only slightly so.

A silence and tension returned and hung over the two of us and I felt a magnetic like force pull our faces toward one another, but a sing song tune from above broke the spell.

     “Da, da da dum, dum dum dum da, DUM DUM DA!” A voice rang out from above.

Circling and slowly descending from the skies above a tall green figure came in and with a loud crash slammed into the ground of the clearing by the camp fire. The impact shook the very earth. It was Chris, there was no mistaking that voice and apperance. Landing on one knee and one of the talons on her wing like some kind of super hero she quickly rose to her talons.

     “Sssshaaaa.” She made a noise like the release of steam. Seeing Susan and I's backs to her only a short distance away she snapped to attention and saluted. “Scouting mission: Complete! Local surroundings: Recoded and Anaylzed! I am ready to begin debriefing!”

Susan and I were still mostly locked in embrace, but Chris looked stoically, but then eventually confused.

     “Master?” She said pensively, calling out to me.

     “Ah.” I squeaked. “G-good work.”

Chris gave me a wide smile as though she was most pleased with even the faintest of praise.

     “Is that Chris I hear?” Came another voice from the bushes.

From the forest Rose came in with a deer over her shoulders in a fireman's carry. She spotted Chris who was hard to miss but when she swept her eyes over to Susan and I, she stopped mid step, one claw suspended in mid air as color left her face. A critical hit, stunned. That didn't last for long though, she recovered quick enough, let the deer slide off onto the ground in a heap before her tail exploded in an inferno and she came marching toward the two of us in a fury.

Susan pulled out, straightened herself out the best she could and backed away from me all at once.She kept calm under pressure as the literal back-draft of heat come crashing down upon her. Rose went right up into her face like a drill sergeant and didn't hold back.

     “What in the blazes is this!” She roared.

     “A simple healing ritual for-” Susan calmly replied.

Deny deny deny. A classic tactic.

     “Healing my tail!” Rose interrupted. “I leave for a few minutes and you're on him in a flash, like you're in heat, you damn mutt!”

     Susan's facade twitched, the corner of her mouth tweaking. “Mutt?” She growled. “In heat!” She exploded. She pressed her forehead against Rose and they ground their heads against one another, giving off a sound not unlike two actual grind stones rubbing against each other. “What an odd accusation. I recall a certain individual attempting to mate with a certain injured person! I recall once reading about a saying about stones and glass houses. From the one ALWAYS in heat at that.”

Susan prodded Rose in the chest with one of her claws and she didn't take too kindly to it at all. She grabbed hold of it, they struggled and eventually locked their fists together in a mercy fight. Pushing against each other.

     “Oh ho! This isn't about me now! Don't you dare dodge the question!”

     “This has very much to do about you. In heat, you're always in heat. You never stop to think you might be causing Laven problems.”

     “Huh~” Rose growled and twisted her head like a gangster. “So you've gotten to trying to not just tellin' me what I think but Laven too? Get bent!”

     “Trying to browbeat and intimidate? Look twice in the mirror and dare say that in my presence again!” Susan fired back.

     “Go crawl back to your cave ya mutt! You damn secondary. Laven's MY husband, not your chew toy. He loves me, I love him!”

     “I also lo- I... Laven is also important to me as well!”

I was exhausted and slumped on the stone wondering what the hell I was going to do when I felt Chris' weight fall upon my back. Resting her chin on the top of my head as I could feel my back sink into her chest. I was still a little sensitive from the curse so the sensation sent shivers down my spine and into my groin.

     “Why are we yelling?” She bellowed.

Chris and I watched as Susan and Rose didn't even notice anything other than their fight as they ground their foreheads together. I cradled my face in my hands and was wallowing in abject defeat at my inability to make it stop. When I pulled my fingers across my face in despair, I realized Chris' face was hovering just off to my side, studying me. It was then I realized my fly was still open and I was once again standing at attention down below. I hastily stowed it away in a panic. She continued leering at me with an expression I couldn't quite decipher.

     “Master~?' Chris finally chimed. “I'm hungry. You're hungry too right?”

I simply nodded. Chris pulled her face back and I wasn't sure what expression she was making behind me.

     “Very well! For our journey is long and arduous, evils strewn along our path, we must remain strong!... And well fed.” She declared thumping her wing against her chest.

Her stomach also growled loudly.

     “Ahahaha.” She laughed mirthfully with a hint of embarrassment before strolling off to recover the deer carcass Rose had recovered.

Rose and Susan didn't seem ready to relent any time soon, maybe the smell of food would break it. I also sat there still unable to figure Chris out. Was she playing, that naive or is she really?... Anyways, my own stomach is starting to churn with hunger pangs, but not so much as my head was trying to figure out how exactly all four of us have managed to make it this far.