The duelist 2, p.1
The Duelist 2, page 1
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Chapter 1
Life didn’t even feel real.
Exhaustion as thick and sweet as honey trapped me and wanted to pull me down, but the sensation of being buoyed on either side kept me from falling into unconsciousness.
A pair of soft hands feathered through my hair, and another pair flowed down my chest like water and massaged the area over my heart.
The combined scent of ginger lilies and fresh clovers filled my sense of smell, and I hummed low in my throat.
“Alex…” a voice as clear and cool as water called me toward the surface.
“Aleeex,” sang another voice, which was as vibrant as a flame and as melodious as a nightingale.
I frowned because I didn’t want to leave the embrace of this perfect dream. There was a chance my alarm would be going off any minute now, so I could get ready for another dull day at old man Leary’s jewelry/clock repair shop, and I groaned. The idea of dragging myself through another shift of cleaning the shop and dealing with customers in an existence that was colorless at best, and unsatisfying at worse, was torture, and I wanted to stay in this comforting in-between world where nothing hurt and everything was beautiful.
A deep rumbling clank roused me from my half-conscious state, though, and I was confused because that definitely wasn’t the buzzing sound of my alarm clock.
“What the--” I shot upright and looked around.
The circular stone chamber of the massive spire elevator I piled into after the heart-stopping race and subsequent Duel with my sworn enemy stared back at me. Did all of that really happen? And when did I fall asleep?
When I glanced down in search of answers, I was met with the deep blue eyes of Zoie, my sexy cat-wife, as she stared at me with a small grin and a flick of one of her black velvet ears.
“Hello, husband,” she said in her low smoky voice.
A chiming giggle sounded from my left, and I shifted my gaze to the vibrant emerald eyes of Shale-Lea, the gorgeous phoenix-woman, and consequently my second wife.
“Are you well, husband?” she trilled and then bit her delicate lower lip with her straight white teeth.
I bobbed my head between the two of them, and when I realized this was reality, I tucked them even closer under my arms.
“Hell, yeah!” I exhaled and kissed them both on the tops of their heads.
“Hell, yeah?” Shale-Lea tilted her head.
“Uhhh… sorry,” I chuckled. “I mean ‘Mercedes be!’ That’s what I’m supposed to say, right?”
“Yes, and we will make you a native to Aventoll, yet,” Zoie laughed, and then my two wives helped me to my feet when the stone elevator finally came to a halt.
“What are we doing again?” I asked Zoie through the haze still clouding my vision and gumming up my mind. “I won the race, right? Or was that a part of the dream I was having?”
“You won the race, my love,” she said as her ocean-blue eyes gazed at me with awe. “You defeated Bala Ren with your herald blade, and now you are in dire need of a healing bath.”
“I did it…” I murmured as she cupped my feverish face. “Shay is free?”
“Yes, you did well,” Zoie replied and placed a cooling kiss on top of each of my burning eyelids.
“Why’m I so hot?” I smacked my dry lips and frowned.
My brain felt a little like mush, but it didn’t matter because I had all I needed on either side of me, and any other brain function aside from water and bed was unnecessary.
“Are you sure he is well, Zoie?” Shay asked with a worried crease between her scarlet eyebrows.
“Yes, he is just exhausted from using his time-trance power,” Zoie said, and then she placed the back of her hand on my forehead. “It takes a lot of energy for him to channel that much conviction. I’ve only seen him like this when he repaired the protective lanterns around the manor house. He must have poured everything he had into defeating Bala Ren.”
“He also flew with Prosper for longer than we ever practiced,” Shay added. “It takes a lot to maintain the telepathic connection with a canterfly, and especially one with such a strong will as Prosper.”
I almost lost my balance when the spire’s elevator suddenly started to rotate around, but Shay and Zoie helped steady me on either side.
“Where is Prosper?” I asked when I realized I lost track of the black and orange butterfly-pegasus after my fight with that eagle-bastard Ren. Then I chuckled when I remembered one of the last images I mentally shared with the canterfly. “Also, I may have promised him that he and Victory could spend more time together. He seemed to really like flying with her when we trained together, Shay.”
“I could tell Victory has a fondness for Prosper as well.” Shay smiled. “Rest assured Rylan has taken charge of both of them, and they will be waiting for us later.”
The rotating lift finally ground to a stop and revealed a dim flickering corridor that seemed to be hewn right into the natural mountainous landscape of Nata Isle.
Along the cave-like walls were glowing stones mounted every few feet, and the dim golden light began to blur behind a screen of fragrant steam billowing in from the baths beyond.
Along with the healing steam, the flowering vines and roots crawling along the walls and ceilings added their own fresh scent to the air reminiscent of early spring.
“Come, let us refresh,” Zoie said, and the three of us walked toward the large elevator door and down the steps where a half-dozen maidservants were waiting in plain white robes.
“Welcome to the palace baths,” one of the maids said with a graceful bow of her antlered head, which caused the heavy flowers twined around them to sway as if she was a tree in the breeze.
Then the servants moved in to separate the three of us, and I had a brief moment of panic.
“Our baths are separated, but trust us, your wives will be taken care of like royalty,” the antlered maid said. “You will meet them in the healing courtyard above when you are rejuvenated.”
“We will be fine, dear heart,” Shay murmured and stretched up on tip-toes so she could place a kiss on my lips.
“But--” I said when she moved away, but before I could try to reel her back, Zoie was there cupping my face and filling my vision with her steady gaze.
“The danger is over, husband,” she said and nuzzled her nose against mine. “You did well. You protected us.”
“For a second, there, I thought I was back in my old life,” I confessed quietly, and I leaned my forehead against hers as I closed my eyes. I still felt a little panicky about losing sight of the two of them, but Zoie’s grounding presence calmed me, and I squeezed her narrow waist to confirm once again this was all still real.
“We are all here, and we will be waiting for you,” she whispered, and then she pressed a cool water kiss against my lips, so I allowed myself to drink her in for a few seconds.
We broke apart, and I felt a little better, even though I had to watch them leave my sight.
“Come with me, Champion,” the antlered maidservant said as she took my arm and led me through the fragrant mist and down a corridor that branched to the right.
Then I was escorted into a private chamber where there was water trickling from the cave walls in a soothing babble, and a bowl of clean water sat on a stand behind a changing screen.
The maidservant handed me a small folded pile of clothes and then instructed me to enter the main chamber when I was ready. Then she left me alone while she exited through a larger door near the back of the room that must have led to the baths.
I stripped down and donned the pair of cotton-like shorts the antlered maid gave me, and then I slipped on a light silver robe that felt like satin. When I tied the robe around my waist, I also untucked the Duelist Stone so it wouldn’t keep pressing uncomfortably against my chest.
I held it up so I could take a moment to observe the etchings on the Stone’s face.
The shield design in the center was the same as it always was, but instead of the usual three fish circling around the shield, there were now four.
When I killed Bala Ren, my Stone absorbed his status, and now I was a rank-four Duelist according to the laws of Aventoll. If killing Ren ever seemed surreal, this was the proof I needed to confirm he was actually gone.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.
What a wild trip this has all been.
After I got situated, I went through the door on the other end of the small room and entered a large private chamber with an almost pool-sized bath sunken into the floor. More vines crawled along the ceilings and dripped their hanging boughs of ivy and blossoms toward the ground, which made the place look like some Babylonian paradise.
The next thing that hit me was the spicy medicinal smelling steam that opened my sinuses wide and cleared out the cobwebs festering in my brain.
“Woah,” I said as the tingling sensation of something like menthol filled my lungs. I was still bone-tired, but the haze in my head was gone, and I felt a lot more of my usual clarity beginning to return. “Smells good.”
“Yes, the steam is infused with ashroot oil which has many invigorating properties,” the antlered maid said as she came out of the mist with two other plainly dressed and nondescript maids. She then ushered me over to the deep pool cut straight into the stone floor. “Come. Immerse yourself in the h ealing waters.”
One of the other servants came over and slipped the satiny robe off my shoulders, while the second one poured a warm liquid on my skin and began to massage the spicy ashroot oil into my aching shoulder muscles.
“Take as much time as you need to feel replenished, Champion,” the antlered maid said and ushered me down into the sinfully hot water.
“Thank you.” A groan left my lips as I eased back, and she placed a damp cloth over my eyes.
“Enjoy,” she said, and I heard the sound of the door closing as I was finally left to my own devices.
The water was the perfect temperature, and the oil dug deep into my muscles, which sent a clash of icy shivers racing along my skin. Before a chill could set in, however, my skin was then immediately warmed by the piping hot bath water, and the delicious contradiction made me shudder in pleasure, so I shucked the cotton shorts I was wearing and sunk even lower until the water was all the way up to my chin.
I was just on the verge of dozing off when I heard the door creak open again, and then it quietly shut.
I pulled the cloth off my eyes just in time to see a robed maid pour a ladle of water over a brazier of hot coals I hadn’t noticed before. More steam filled the air with a hiss and made everything look dreamy and ethereal.
“Thank you,” I murmured and put the cloth back over my eyes. I waited for the sound of the door again, but everything was quiet.
Suddenly, a pair of very familiar legs dangled on either side of my shoulders as expert fingers combed soothingly through my hair.
“Um, miss?” I smirked as I reached up to clasp those fine-boned feet, and I was careful to gently brush my thumb over the still-healing cut I could feel curving over the top of the right foot. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m married.”
“Hmm,” Zoie’s voice purred in my ear as she leaned forward, and her soft hair brushed the side of my face in a curtain of jasmine and clover perfume. “I think you might be able to make this exception.”
I chuckled and then tossed away the cloth covering my eyes so I could turn around and fill my sight with my black-haired beauty. Then I knee walked closer on the stone step I was sitting on so I could bracket her hips with my hands in case she had thoughts of leaving.
“Hello, my love.” She smiled and tilted my face up so she could kiss me.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked as I stroked her sides with my thumbs. She was clad in this maddening robe, and I really wanted to tear it off the toned body I could barely see under the gauzy material. “Not that I’m complaining. Also, where is Shay?”
“Shay was led off to get a special healing treatment…” Zoie trailed off, and my thoughts darkened when I remembered how Zoie and I had to tear ourselves away from her while she had to play her part as Ren’s wife.
I could only imagine the type of cruelty that ponytailed fuck was capable of, and if I could decapitate the mother fucker again, I would in a heartbeat.
“Is she okay, Zoie? Like, really okay?” I gripped her waist and peered up into her soulful eyes even though I was almost afraid to see what her expression would tell me.
“Shale-Lea is a strong woman,” my cat-wife said as she rubbed my shoulders. “And she will reveal her story to you in due time, but trust me when I say everything is okay. In fact, it was she who gave me the idea to come and find you.”
“I’m glad you did,” I said as her words finally sank in, and that last bit of worry evaporated like the steam rising all around us. Then I rucked the robe she was wearing up her thighs so it bunched up around her waist. “Are you going to get in trouble for being in here?”
“I do not care.” Zoie’s eyes burned like blue gas lamps, and her fingers trailed down her neck in a sensual caress I couldn’t tear my eyes away from.
“Me, either,” I muttered distractedly.
Then I followed her hand as she tugged open the neckline of the robe so the valley of her breasts was revealed in dusky shadow.
When I couldn’t take the temptation anymore, I reached up with both hands, and I brushed the robe off where it was clinging to her bare shoulders as if I was unwrapping a present without ruining the paper.
The material dropped away to reveal her rosy breasts, and I surged up so I could wrap my arms around her and bury my face where her beautiful heart beat within the cage of her ribs.
“Please, touch me, husband,” she rasped as she flexed her legs on either side of me in an echo of the blood pulsing through my growing cock.
“Don’t have to ask me twice,” I groaned and removed the rest of the obstructing cloth keeping me from my prize.
“Alexxxxx,” Zoie sighed as my hands roved up her smooth toned back.
She arched and shuddered, and I stood so I could lay her back with her hips poised on the edge of the bath.
Then I lowered myself so I could grind my erection against her soft mound while I licked and sucked at that succulent puckered nipple until it was red and swollen.
When I was satisfied, I moved on to suckle her other breast while my right hand kneaded the one I’d just abandoned.
“Ohhhhh,” Zoie moaned out, and then she bit her bottom lip to try and stifle the sound of her pleasure as it echoed off the chamber walls.
I grinned against her silky breast, and then I nibbled and sucked a trail down to the peach folds of her pussy lips.
Zoie huffed as her tummy fluttered in the way it did when I knew she was really turned on, and the small whimper that left her throat sent a powerful surge right to my groin as my cock throbbed. I couldn’t wait to be engulfed by her sinful walls, but first I had to make her climax and blossom.
It really wasn’t a hardship, especially when she clutched my hair with one hand when I got my mouth on her. She used the other hand to fling over her mouth as a series of desperate whimpers left her throat, and my blood raced as my dick gave a mighty twitch, which caused me to reach down with one hand and give myself a quick stroke.
The feeling of my hand grasping my steel shaft under the hot water was almost too good, and I reluctantly pulled my hand away so I could focus on my task.
Zoie’s thighs trembled, and she whimpered even louder when I swirled my tongue around her tangy center and lapped up her sweet and musky juices.
“Aleeexxx,” she hissed and fell apart when I flicked my tongue rapidly over that tender spot nestled just above her opening. “Ohhhh, Goddess, please! Inside me, husband, ah--!”
The end of her sentence cut out as her climax began to crash over her, and I dragged her forward so I could seat myself in her pussy in one fluid thrust.
The tight walls of her satiny chamber were even hotter than the bathwater, and I had to beat back the sharp edge of my orgasm as she spasmed strongly around me.
“Fuckkkkk, baby,” I groaned into the side of her swan-like neck as her nails dug into my shoulder blades and her hips juddered and shook. “You still coming, kitten?”
“I’m st-still co--!” She gasped again when I rocked my hips gently and eased her down from the intensity of her second abrupt climax.
“That’s it,” I said as I pressed her closer. I relished in every pulse and contraction against my cock even though it took all of my willpower to stop myself from plunging into her over and over until my caveman brain was sated.
“Spill inside me, husband,” Zoie whispered in a rough voice, and she locked her ankles around my waist as she tugged me against her. “I want to feel your passion. Put your kits inside me! Fill meeeee!”
“Fuck,” I growled and stood to my full height with her in my arms and my cock still snug inside her.
“Oh!” Zoie cried out and then buried her face into my collarbone as I hoisted her up and down on my hard shaft. Her arms wrapped around the back of my neck, and she gyrated her body sensually against mine in a way that almost made my knees buckle. “Faster, Alex. Let me feel how strong you are.”
My thighs burned from holding her and bouncing her up and down on my cock, but it was a satisfying type of burn, especially when she pulsed strongly around me.
I could tell she was right on the edge, so I opened her hips wider and drilled up into her as fast as I could while I searched for the right angle.
“There!” she suddenly hissed and circled her hips faster.
“Come on, Zoie,” I urged just as she clawed harder at my back. “Come with me, ah, oh, god--!”
