Emma was reading through the books and notes she had taken the liberty of keeping from the mansion. Magic from textbooks seldom had the same feel as the personal notes from someone trying to do something strange. She also wanted to know just what happened and make sure she understood it.

While she was reading, Liddy walked by her room to find the door open. She stopped.

Cat had tried to call Liddy but saw she was obviously distracted, when she looked in the door she realised why.

Mari had the fairy on her back holding her by the breasts as they went to their room only to find Cat and Liddy there staring through the open door. They joined them and appreciated just what had them so distracted.

“Damn,” Blaze muttered when she looked to see what everyone was staring at.

Emma rolled over to see everyone at her door, looking in. She realised she had meant to change and got distracted while reading after stripping to lay on her bed naked. That they had been admiring her bum as she shifted positions to read from the books in front of her. It really surprised her, she was so used to being able to sense when someone's eyes were on her. She hoped Hannah appreciated being lent the artefact while she went looking for the witch in the swamp.

****

Hannah had been concerned when Foxy frantically hushed them to silence. Marching through the swamp they had to rely on hand signals because Foxy got really agitated about an hour into the search.

Foxy had been twitchy and irritated with her ears trying to scratch inside them. With everyone quiet, she seemed to settle down but military hand signals can only communicate so much, not why a fox might suddenly get itchy ears.

Hannah kept her eyes open and could feel when others looked at her thanks to the artefact Emma had given her. She knew they were all supposed to keep track of each other, but it never seemed like she would be looked at so often. Some glances lingered, as her own tended to do when something interesting was in her field of view. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers and crouched down as she sensed eyes on her from outside the formation.

Everyone followed suit and waited.

Hannah took cover behind a tree yet the sight was still on her. She laid down in the thick foliage and still eyes tracked her. She looked above and saw nothing, yet was certain that's where the eyes were located. As much as she didn't want to discomfort Foxy, she needed to speak.

“Check shot!” Hannah called out to let everyone know there might or might not be an enemy and fired into the air above her. Yet still the eyes watched her.

Foxy tapped her on the shoulder and started pointing insistently in a direction.

Hannah got up and moved everyone quickly since they had been spotted and made too much noise. The eyes followed her from above constantly and Hannah realised that whoever was looking at her, wasn't actually there. She hated it when magic wasn't working on her side. Hannah slowed down when the shape of a structure appeared in the swamp. She and the others took cover. The eyes suddenly stopped watching her, and it wasn't until a figure emerged from the wooden hut that they returned.

The woman was dressed in bits of snakeskin, bone, and wood. Strange fetishes covered her and hung from her matted hair. Her skin was darker than Inky’s and decorated with paints. “What be ye doing in here near my home?” She spoke with a strange accent. “And how did you know I be seeing ya before you arrived?”

Hannah was about to respond when Foxy yelled, “Hazard shot!” and fired at an assemblage of bones that hung from a tree near the hut. What was once a finely crafted piece of artistry was shattered when the bullet hit it. Foxy let out a hard sigh of relief as she scratched her ears again, keeping one hand on her rifle aimed at the woman.

“Messing with your ears, was it?” Hannah asked.

“It collected and funnelled all human voices from all over to this area. Things in the trees redirected them, but it wasn't until they got to that thing that it drove my ears insane. It's how I knew where to go, but even a whisper tickled my ears in a very uncomfortable way.”

“Right,” Hannah stated before turning to the woman and approaching her. “To answer your questions, we were hired to remove you from the land and I've got a thing. So, in the hopes that we can complete the job literally and not the metaphorical manner implied in the bounty, can you please pack your things?”

“You think I will leave me home because you asked politely?” The woman asked as Hannah met her on her porch.

“Hoped so, but I can settle for knocking you over the head and hauling you back.”

“I think you underestimate me power,” she replied while letting a snake that was in her hair wrap around her hand as she reached up to touch it.

“Shit, Vile? Did we bring any power?” Hannah asked, looking for her.

Vile approached, flames licking her body. “Damn bugs sure as hell know we have. Why are they not eating any of you?!”

“Didn't you get the bottle we handed out before we left?” Conna asked, coming partially out of cover in the trees.

Vile was nonplussed, “I may have not known what that was.”

“Anyways,” Hannah interrupted. “It seems that we brought some of our own. Also, we have a warrior priestess in full armor in a race ship in the sky that we can drop on you anytime so, ya know, good luck making this difficult for us. Also, why are you surprised to see her? Didn't you look at all of us?”

The woman wiped the shocked expression off her face and looked back at Hannah, “I saw you and you knew it, I was curious. Ya were much closer than I had time for with the fox keeping ya quiet. But my power is much more subtle than ya be used to.” She got really close to Hannah as she spoke.

Hannah swatted the snake that was climbing out of the woman's hair away. “Look, that's all lovely but I really just want to pick you up and go.”

“What kind of person just ignores a poison snake coming from me hair and into her face?”

“Well, I doubt they find enough to eat in your hair so you just put them there to scare us. Plus, they are black with red scales, not the red with black scales dotted white. So I doubt I'm in much danger. Assuming I remembered that trivia correctly. That guy was chatty and I was thinking of passing the wilderness survival course he was teaching by spending a night with him rather than a week in classes I had already taken.” Hannah paused to look at her friends. “They lost the papers saying I completed the training, and I had to do it over. He wanted to talk about the things he thought the class should have covered and took forever to get off!”

“Ye be a solder or a harlot?” the woman asked trying to take a jab her.

“Sometimes I’m both,” Hannah replied with a shrug.

“Well, ye be wrong about the snakes.”

“Are you sure?” Hannah asked. “Tonna, do you know how to tell what snakes are poisonous?”

Tonna slithered into view, “This might surprise you but no. I don't really know anything other than that some are.”

The woman looked worriedly between Hannah and Tonna before Hannah spoke up.

“Relax, she can't turn you to stone unless you are a man.” It was only then that Hannah checked out the woman as a woman and decided that what was under all the decorations was quite an interesting womanly figure.

“Ye said I could pack me things?” she asked, finally relenting to the idea that resistance was pointless and possibly unnecessary.

“Yes, though I would like to see how you were able to view me.” Hannah extended her hand. “Hannah.”

“A fair enough request. Sarasha.” She took Hannah’s hand.

Sarasha guided Hannah into her hut. Aside from the dilapidated construction out of basic materials, it seemed well kept. On a table was a bowl of water, where the surface reflected like a mirror.

“It canna see far, and only at familiar places. I having already walked all through this land.”

“Can I use it? To look at our ship?”

“Just touch the water and think of the place. Tha ripples will settle and you will see.”

Hannah decided to check in on Mari since she knew Ving was flying above them, and they occasionally heard her flyover. She touched the water and saw Mari and Easy’s room but it was empty. It didn't seem to find people, just places.

“Try Inky,” Vile suggested, towering over Hannah to get a view.

Hannah tried to focus on Inky’s bedroom this time and finally found Mari.

****

Inky was getting her uniform stripped off as she kissed Mari, who was already naked. It wasn't until the skirt came off that they could see Easy already between her legs. The viewers wondered how they had missed her, even at the angle they were viewing at. The three of them were at the foot of the massive bed made to support Vile.

Mari pressed her breasts against Inky’s and loved the pressure against them every time she embraced a woman. She assumed any men that embraced her loved getting to feel her breasts on them, but something about being with another woman made it better. Kissing made more challenging by the breasts between them felt more exciting as well. The hard breaths Inky made as she felt Easy slither her tongue deeper into Inky while the fairy hands played with both of them were enough to send Mari to an early climax. A good start to their fun.

“You ate Vile before she left, didn't you?” Mari asked before nipping Inky at the neck.

“And she me. I bet you both taste her.” Inky answered, grabbing Mari by the breasts and getting grabbed the same way in return.

“Mhmm,” was all that came from Easy below them.

“The four of us need to play sometime together, but I couldn't wait. Checking out Emma got me in the mood for us to include another, and Liddy called dibs on the elf.”

****

Hannah couldn't wait. She hit the water to look into Liddy’s room but didn't see her, so she hit it again for Emma’s. Vile protested a bit.

****

Emma loved how Liddy worked her tongue between her legs. The sight of Blaze kneeling behind Liddy doing the same was a bit strange, since one of the hands grabbing the bum in the air was artificial, but it was hard to focus on it. Emma laid back and teased her own breasts as Liddy did her thing. She knew it was an Emberborn fetish that Liddy had and that she herself never had an interest in women, but it didn't stop it from feeling amazing. Her books had fallen off the bed, forgotten for now, while her body writhed in pleasure. She saw Cat sitting across the room, touching herself at the sight, deciding to enjoy the show without overwhelming the elf. Despite not quite doing it for herself, Emma reached out and touched Cat with her spectral hand, and saw the reaction from Cat as she felt it touch her.

“Well fuck leaving me out of this!” Leira shouted as she came into the room.

Leira stripped naked, her breasts inflating as she slapped Blaze on the ass before kneeling in front of Cat. Soon, she felt the spectral hand between her legs while she took its place on Cat, who had already grabbed the mermaid by the hair and pulled her close, wrapping her legs around her.

Emma tried to make Leira orgasm for fun to get things started, but her own body spasmed in climax just as she tried, and she couldn't control herself. Every woman touching her, even through the spectral hand, climaxed as strongly as she just had -- and for a moment, they all felt the pleasure of someone else.

Emma felt she was only ever herself when her body was used in a way her father would hate. The desperate desire of Leira to please Liddy. Blaze at odds with her pleasure from women. The determined lust of Liddy who didn't want to be left out. Cat felt desperate to be an animal of lust to be used by another animal.

They all paused to process the sensations they had just felt, knowing they weren't their own.

****

“They stopped already?” Hannah asked rhetorically.

“Go back to Inky,” Vile commanded.

****

Inky was on her back with Easy between her legs, Mari sitting on her face, rocking her hips, while stroking the fairy on the head. She struggled against the pleasure of the long tongue flicking and wriggling inside her while she tried to match the same effect inside Mari with her human tongue. Not that she felt like she was doing poorly, having felt Mari climax twice already, but she knew she was never going to be as good. Still, the feeling of Mari playing with her breasts or laying down to run her own over her skin helped her forget any limitations.

Mari loved the smiles Easy gave her as she looked up, showing her tongue slide inside Inky and her own mouth. Although she knew it impossible, she liked to imagine Easy so deep into Inky that it was the tip of her tongue licking her, not Inky. She looked up briefly and saw Harriott holding the metal piece Mari had gotten back on the big ship. A quick nod had Harriott lifting her skirt and putting the piece inside herself after licking it to mimic a man's member. Still, the cold shock of it made Easy scream as it entered her and then moan hard as the thrusts into her body rocked it.

Harriott pulled her breasts out to let them move freely as she held Easy by the hips and thrust into her. The very same act moving the parts inside her and proving to be just as pleasurable. She wondered how it would have felt to have really been a man thrusting into a woman, but quickly decided it wouldn't have felt as good as feeling a man thrusting inside her.

Mari reached over to the cupboard over the headboard and opened it to find the toys Inky and Vile liked to use. She plucked a pair of chains from their bowl and found the clamp ends. She put one on each of her nipples, moaning hard at the pain each one caused, then tossed the chain to Harriott who held it with one hand while the other gripped the fairy. Mari screamed as the tugging on her breasts and nipples hurt with each subtle and not so subtle movement. She climaxed hard for Inky, who reciprocated quickly.

As much as Harriott loved holding the chain attached to Mari, she had an idea. She let go of Easy’s hip and grabbed her by the wings. It didn't take Easy long to figure out what she was doing and did what she could to help. Soon, Harriott had the chain clamped on the ends of Easy’s wings. With each flutter, the chains pulled on Mari. This let Harriott focus on ramming inside the fairy to make her wings move and yank on Mari, who in turn held Inky by the breasts. It, with the pleasure of the toy inside her from her own thrusting, let her enjoy her own climax.

****

Hannah felt both tails inside her as they watched. Vile had already freed her breasts and fondled them hard while working her tails. She felt Foxy hold her hand beside her since there was limited space to place it on the table. She had to support herself from Conna who was behind her, working her fingers inside the fox. They were all watching the sight except for Tonna and Sarasha.

“She not be kidding when she said both soldier and harlot,” Sarasha commented.

“It really doesn't take much to set them off like that,” Tonna replied, trying not to damage the hut as she pushed her tail between Vile’s legs, penetrating the demon. She spared a hand for Conna, who had been aching for someone to touch her between her legs. Tonna, too, got some attention from Vile who reached behind her.

Sarasha watched and tried to process just how different she expected things with the interlopers to go.

****

Hope took a moment from between Ving’s legs to speak. “You sure this is safe?”

Ving was strangely positioned -- one foot on her seat, the other on the side panel, giving enough room for Hope in the narrow passageway to the rear compartment to get under and pleasure her body. “Yes, the controls can keep us going in loops and I can see out the windows for any signals.”

“They stopped moving, so maybe they are trying to convince her or help her pack or whatever.”

“Yeah, don't care. Put your tongue back on me and make me climax. I want you deep enough for Hannah to taste. It's been hours and she's going to need it bad when we get back.

Hope did as Ving demanded. She loved how assertive she had gotten and certainly didn't mind being told to enjoy a woman. It was certainly better than walking through a humid swamp in full armor.

****

Tonna loved being in the room with the hot bath as Sarasha cleaned herself. While the woman scrubbed paint off herself, Tonna got to work on Sarasha's hair. It was a tangled mess, and she needed all four arms holding brushes she had collected from around the ship to make any kind of progress.

“I had been thinking that maybe you had been laying a trap, but your girls getting playful with my mirror and seeing this ship showed me otherwise. Ya really all be harlots for hire?”

“Yes,” Tonna laughed. “We try to be, but we keep running into monsters and THAT is what people remember most. It’s like people aren't surprised to see women selling sex on an airship but kill a few monsters and suddenly it's exceptional.”

“'Tis exceptional. But ye be right in thinking that we just seen as sex by default. It surprises no one ceptin' maybe when ye don't have a man calling tha shots.”

“Plus, with Vile and me, we don't really blend in as normal. Though I have discovered that it doesn't keep men from wanting us.”

“Only thing that keeps a man from wanting to put himself in a girl is a sharp tool and a wicked smile.”

Tonna laughed hard. She couldn't argue with that in the slightest. “Agreed, though if I want to keep getting laid and paid, I will hide the sharp objects and smile kindly.”

“Ye enjoy doing this then? None of ye Ember girls be wearing collars, but I dinna think you wanted this.”

“I was actually cursed with this form by someone because I had too much sex with other men, and while the curse changed things, it didn't diminish my sex drive. Like the rest of the girls, I want it bad, and if I'm gonna get it, I might as well get paid for it. Besides, these girls are the first to keep me from feeling like I’m trapped. I can go out there and get laid by any of them at any time. Just because I feel like it. None of them look at me, even with literal snakes as hair, and turn away.”

“Ye have any men on tha ship?”

“Nope. Not unless we are docked and seeing clients.”

“Shame, could use a plucking meself.”

“Not into women?”

“Nah, I like me the smell of men workin' hard ta please me. 'Tis what got me in tha swamp in the first place. Men came down to tha south and find me, bring me back like a trophy, but the locals dinna like the idea of me bearing him an heir, so they ran me out of town. Then they be blamin' me any time their men fall out a line instead of it being their own fault.”

“Did you cast any spells on them?”

“I dona have the magic ta bother them so far away. Just said unkind things in me own tongue ta them as I left, to make them scared.”

“From what I heard, any man who can't get it up is blaming you.”

“Bah! They had that problem long before me.”

“It's a kind of tradition on this ship for women to become harlots. Think you might want in on it? Can't promise they won't still have difficulties getting it up, but we can at least promise you won't be blamed for it.”

“The captain say I have till next port to decide what I want to do plus half the bounty that got put on me. I answer ye then.”

“Fair enough. If you don't want a woman, we do have a mechanical toy you might want to try. Should do you well enough for now. It vibrates fast.”

Sarasha peaked her eyebrows in interest.

****

Liddy hated having to wait to see the Duke, but she couldn't always have a head to toss into court and grab everyone's attention. Inky and the squad kept her free from unwanted conversations while she processed what had happened with Emma and the others. They had all felt another woman's climactic thoughts and been quite confused by the whole matter. She had felt Leira’s fear of being left out and abandoned. Despite all that had happened, it was still something that bothered her when others were having fun without her. Aside from that, she knew one of the others felt what she felt and that bothered her as well. They didn't talk about who felt what, but Liddy knew someone must have. Her thoughts dwelled on just how much she needed to be bothered by it. She knew it was no secret how much she liked Emberborn, and they all had their kinks that nobody else would understand.

While Inky didn't know quite what happened on the ship between the girls in Emma’s room, Hannah had explained what they had seen in the scrying bowl. The idea that Vile could watch her was exciting and she hoped she would get to see her with clients, but that was a different thing. Now, however, there was a slight vibe in the air, like when someone confesses something that nobody quite knows how to deal with or knows if it was good or bad. Blaze just looked confused but was doing her job, so whatever it was for her, it was minor. When a lesser noble approached them to inform them of an extended wait, Inky noticed his quick glance at Paje who also noticed his attention. She nodded slightly, and before the noble could say anything Paje intercepted him wearing her best smile. Inky grinned when Paje looked back with a smirk as he lead her away.

****

Hannah found the musty smell of books and the silence of the stacks to be comforting. The sound of footsteps from other patrons put her on edge, as if making a sound here was the highest crime. While the bookshop wasn't as impressive in size as a proper library or as stringent about the rules of silence, it still felt that way to her. She waited as the clerk thumbed through his card index to find the book she wanted. He glanced up frequently to eye her. Not that she could blame him. She knew what she was doing when she put on a shirt that tightly constricted her breasts and pushed the exposed skin higher. Combined with the short skirt from Mari and a leather jacket from Ving, Hannah was dressed to get attention. The jacket was mostly to hide the pistol on her belt at her back, but it smelled like Ving so she would have worn it anyway.

“Any luck?” Hannah asked, knowing he had found the card already and was pretending to flip through more to keep her in view.

“Ah yes, this one I think,” he replied. The young man smiled as he pulled the card out and showed it to her so he could inspect her while she inspected it.

“Perfect. Lead the way,” Hannah replied, seeing his distress the moment he realised he couldn't walk behind her rather than showing her where to go. She watched him hurry through the stacks, happy to have at least one part of the service happen quickly.

He looked at the card and then at the markings on the side of the stack before stopping and inspecting the shelves more closely. When he looked up and spotted his quarry, he turned to her and pointed. “It's up there.”

Hannah could see he was tall enough to reach it but decided to throw him off balance by reaching for herself before he could show off. She tried not to smile as his jaw dropped when her shirt strained to contain her breasts as she retrieved the book. “Thank you,” Hannah replied, pretending to inspect the cover instead of looking at the drop of saliva that dropped out of his open mouth.

“My pleasure,” he stammered as he focused himself and wiped his chin. “Anything else I can help you fuck- find!”

Hannah mused for a moment that the last time she had fun in a library, the books were the ones getting her off. “Sounds like you have certain books in mind. Never thought to find smut to read. Any suggestions?”

His face was red, adorably so to Hannah, and he seized upon the question to recover himself. “Yes, I think I know what might be good.”

Hannah thought it amusing that the man didn't need to check his cards to find the books this time. In the back, far away from any other customers or clerks, he showed her a set of shelves with recently read books. Little dust was found to be on them, and Hannah was relieved that they were also clean of anything else. She flipped through some, finding most to be rather dull and predictable with rather uninspired dialogue. “Any favourites?”

He reached behind the stack to fish out a book hidden there. “This.”

She took the book but dropped it on purpose so she could bend over to pick it up and show off the underwear she stole from Cat. The title read, ‘All Moxie, No Mercy’.

“What's it about?”

“It's a strange fiction in the future where girls compete in a strange school sport but also have their own lives in the space over the Earth. They feel more real -- the women, I mean. They want it as badly as I do.”

“You would be surprised,” Hannah started. “Most women want it badly, but can't say it because that would imply they were more than just there to please men. Better for us to keep quiet and play our roles. A shame really, a woman can't just tell a man to grab her breasts, she has to wait for him to just do it.”

He, despite a moment of uncertainty that died when her glance confirmed he wasn't imagining things, grabbed Hannah by the breasts and felt her flesh in his grip. When he heard her moan in pleasure, he held harder as he pushed her against the book stack. “Shush…”

Hannah thrilled at his sudden silencing of her, the foolish boy who couldn't hide his interest suddenly felt the rush of power that comes with finally getting what you want. She had seen it before, the kind of man who thinks things aren't for him but tries to steal what he can when suddenly being given a chance at it all. Of course, some steal more than just glances and if Hannah had suspected him of being that kind of man, she'd have left him a bloody pulp on the ground with a bullet in his groin. Instead, she felt his groin swell as he pushed it against hers while he kissed her, pinning to the stacks.

He grabbed the books from her hands and put them on the stack behind her before taking her hands and doing the same. While Hannah gripped the shelves, he lifted her shirt to show off her bare breasts and began to lick them as he gripped them again.

There was a fantasy in his heart and Hannah played along. Another story she was familiar with, they imagine something for so long that it gets deeper and more intricate as time goes by. Since playing for the fantasy of others was her job, and something she did normally anyways, she didn't mind it at all. For her, sex was about exposing your desires, and he obviously had his share. She watched as he covered her breasts in saliva, his tongue running over her flesh as if he had been starving and was finally able to feed.

He stopped only to pull a ruler out of his pocket. Hannah wondered why he carried one but that ended when he whipped it against her nipple. She gasped hard, trying not to make a sound but it was difficult. He frowned a bit, then got on his knees and reached up her skirt. His hands probed and groped before getting a hold of her underwear and started taking them off. After struggling to get them past her boots, he bunched them up and got ready to shove them in her mouth.

“Do it. I want what you want. Make me cry,” she whispered before getting her mouth filled with her own wet underwear.

He took her statement to heart and started whipping her with the ruler hard. It wasn't the best tool for the job and he lacked technique, but it still stung with each strike. Once her breasts were flushed and tender, water dripped down her cheeks to land on them. He returned to gripping them tightly.

She screamed into her gag at the tight grip while he licked her tears off her breasts and she climaxed hard enough to shed more tears. Hannah kissed him when he came to her lips, still gagged but she did her best to press her lips to his as hard as she could. As he stripped his own pants off, she widened her stance, pitifully moaning for him to enter her.

Already hard, he lifted Hannah’s spread legs so she had to grip the bookcase tighter, pulling her away from it. Not in any rush, he looked at his manhood pressing against her flesh, sliding through the folds but not entering. The teasing made Hannah move her hips in desperation as he admired her straining body.

Hannah was almost angry with how patient the man was being. Her arms were already sore from supporting her upper body and he wasn't even inside her yet. Her breasts stung and her legs were trying to rest on his shoulders but he kept shifting them off. Feeling him moving over the opening she wanted him inside, teasing her most sensitive spot just above, she wanted to beat him senseless for his cruelty. Then suddenly, she felt him slide right in with the passage slick with her fluids and she screamed again. He thrust into her hard like a rhythmic hammer as she spasmed in pleasure from her sudden release.

The clerk hadn't been sure the first time but he was the second time she climaxed. His patience had paid off. He looked at the woman gripping the stacks, her breasts bouncing with the force of his thrusts, and loved that he finally got what he wanted. A woman, a real woman, pleasured by him. The moment he saw her, he started making his fantasy for her, imagining all the things he wanted to do to her. Yet when she wasn't scared off by his slip of the lips, he started thinking something might actually happen. Now she had him within her body, suffering the desires he placed upon her. Seeing himself sliding in and out of a willing woman who took such pleasures from him, he knew he had what he always wanted. He slid out and let her down, pulling her arms off the stacks and putting her onto her knees.

Hannah was relieved to finally let go. Her arms hung limply at her sides as she tasted herself on the man pushing into her mouth, replacing the underwear gag with his manhood. She felt the sting in her breasts grow as the violent movements of her head shook them while he worked himself down her throat. With well-practised senses, she felt his seed moving through him and felt her mouth fill with it before he pulled out to put the rest on her face.

He slid his member over her skin, to make sure his seed covered it all while Hannah kneeled in front of him with her mouth open to show the seed in it on her tongue. Then he nodded and watched her swallow to show her mouth was empty. After getting himself cleaned off with her tongue, he put his pants back on.

Hannah re-dressed, including putting back on her underwear soaked with saliva, before picking up her books with her sore arms. “I needed that.”

“Will I see you again?”

“My ship is leaving later today and there are no men allowed. Don't fall in love with me. My girl is out buying me something right now.”

“Rub it into your face so it's not noticeable and then kiss her. I want to see it.”

Hannah did as he asked, rubbing his seed into her skin like it was a cream or makeup. Then, after paying for her books, she left the shop and looked through the window to see him waiting there. A short time later Ving showed up with a box and bouquet of flowers.

She kissed Hannah deeply. “Whore,” Ving whispered during a breath, able to tell instantly.

Hannah smiled as Ving made the kiss a bit sloppy to taste.

“Why didn't you come back tasting like someone else?” Hannah faked a slight disappointment

“I was being selfless and getting something for-” Ving was interrupted.

“Vile women!” a man shouted.

Hannah was about to make a snarky comment in agreement when she saw the flash of steel in his hand and her pistol appeared in hers. Two shots to his gut and he was screaming in blood on the street.

“I keep forgetting some people don't like two women together,” Ving stated.

“Me, too, I think we--” Hannah noticed the seven guards all aiming their weapons at her, “Should comply with the local authorities.”

****

Liddy was angry. “I don't care what the ‘metaphor’ was! The contract stipulated that the witch be removed from your lands. Now that she is on my ship, by definition the contract has been filled!”

The Duke, completely unaccustomed to anyone yelling with such anger in his court, let alone directed at him, was stunned.

“You intend to leave with her, do you not?” asked the noble Paje had entertained, who tried to cover for his Duke as much as accommodate the girl he had seeded as she smiled at him in court.

“Of course,” Liddy answered. As much as she wanted to get snarky, she knew she had to be a bit more diplomatic. “She won't ever come back here on either her or my accord.”

The noble looked at his Duke and nodded to suggest it was just as good a deal as anything. An act well above his station, but he was still riding high on the bliss of gratification.

“Agreed then,” the Duke relented. “Seeing as you are in the right of the legal wording as well as doing what we wanted, I grant you a favour in my court. Anything else?”

“Some of my crew were assaulted by your clergy and commoners. Some consideration for that would be called for.”

The Duke, clearly wanting the woman to leave as soon as possible, and wanting to be done with arguing with someone outside his direct authority, asked, “And what would that be?”

Liddy looked back at Hope as she tried to think only to see Hannah brought in clasped with irons, Ving accompanied them, holding some things in her arms. Neither looked upset, merely annoyed.

“I want that one freed.” Liddy pointed at Hannah. “Trust me, you don't want her in your city any more than you do the witch. Whatever she did was probably justified anyways.”

The Duke looked at the guard who was escorting Hannah. He withered under his Dukes gaze for a moment before shrugging and giving a nod. With a flick of his hands, the guard went about unlocking Hannah.

After getting her gun back and taking the books from Ving, the two of them joined Liddy as she left the court.

“Do I even want to know?” Liddy asked.

“Nobody died, just suffered from a serious case of stupid,” Hannah replied.

“Also, city guards don't like being in a carriage with a pretty girl they can't fuck. So I asked if I could ride with them. Surprisingly they weren't too dense to get the hint and now I smell like six different men for my girl.” Ving kissed Hannah.

“Poor bastard driving the damn cart just had to listen.,” Hannah said with a laugh.

“How did you get six men, plus the two of you, inside that thing with room to fuck?” Inky asked as she pointed at the carriage.

“Oh, it's got railings and steps on the side so two can hang off either side while waiting their turn or once they finish.”

Inky made an understanding noise as she nodded. “Sorry you had to sit that out, Hannah.”

“Oh I had mine in the bookshop right before, I’m happy enough with the show.” Hannah laughed. “Any of you have fun?”

“Meh,” Paje spoke. “Not as much as I pretended to have. Why do men always feel like they are in a rush? Do they think if they don't fuck us and get off quickly that we will disappear on them?”

“Time crunch. If they don't know how much time they have, they tend to be quick,” Ving explained. “Had to get six men in me by the time we arrived. Yours had a job to do. That being said, the answer to your question is more often yes. Like finally getting a favourite food after years, you eat it all quickly and it's gone, no savouring. Then regret.”

“I think that's the best comparison I have ever heard on that!” Inky remarked. “We need to start telling men they have plenty of time with us. Slow things down so that maybe we can get off more often.”

“Not sure I can handle ‘more often’. I think it might kill me,” Hannah commented. “But I will give it a try!”

The girls laughed. Liddy shook her head but couldn't disagree.

****

Tonna was exhausted and her arms were sore. All four of them. The many, many braids in Sarasha’s hair all tightly bound were incredible to see, but one needed four hands to make them and hers now felt dead. She had worked in beads and baubles into the braids as requested making Tonna wish the hair hadn't been so long.

“I hear that was your work,” Hannah commented as she walked to the bar and joining Tonna for a drink.

“Yes. Sexy as fuck but fuck my arms are killing me,” Tonna replied.

“Mine as well. First holding myself up on a shelf while a man only supported my bottom half, then touching myself while clasped in irons after getting arrested.”

Tonna regarded Hannah in confusion, “The first thing I do when I have a human body again is just follow you around and see how you get dragged into that sort of crap. What happened?”

“Well, it all started when I went to get you this.” Hannah passed over the book she had gone in to get in the first place.

Tonna was caught off guard to be given a gift but took it. She looked at the cover and saw the snake.

“It's a book about snakes, their general biology and identifying marks and whatnot. Point is that this way you can learn a bit about it so you don't feel silly for not knowing. People will just assume you know because of your body. But also because if you don't know about this stuff, how will we know if something ever goes wrong? I’ve read a few medical textbooks before and it's handy stuff. Figured you deserve to know--”

Tonna cut Hannah off with a hard hug with all four arms, ignoring their pain. She was already crying when she spoke. “Thank you so much. For caring enough to think of me like that.”

“Ving had her own issues hidden under the appearance of being a racing ace. I somehow managed to help her with that. It was a much less organised attempt. But the point is that no matter how strong we look, or scary, sometimes we need someone to help us. Yeah, you are a big sexy snake lady, but you are also a person who needs someone to care for them. So even if you haven't committed to another girl on the ship like some of us, we are still here to care for you.”

“Thank you. I have been bathing, brushing, and dressing a dark-skinned beauty all day, as well as teaching her how to use that vibrating toy, and I really need someone to fuck me silly. Also, you smell like seed, so good luck leaving this room with your clothes on.”

“This is the bar, not a room, but Ving is busy getting us airborne so why not. Lick my face clean with that tongue of yours.”

Tonna slithered her tongue all over Hannah’s face before wrapping it around the human tongue to pull Hannah close enough for a kiss.

“Really?!” Ving yelled from the bridge. “Yeah well… I am going to have Juno eat me out while I take off!”

Juno poked her head over the railing from the lounge upstairs and shouted, “Okay!”

“No sex during takeoff!” Liddy shouted.

“What the fuck?!” came Astra and Oda from behind the bar on the floor.

“I meant for Ving!” Liddy corrected. “You know, the one who can crash and kill us all if she's distracted!”

“Thank fuck!” Leira shouted from somewhere distant that Liddy suspected was her room.

Liddy shook her head as they started to get underway and noticed Blaze eyeing her. “Oh fine! But Juno, you have to wait till we're airborne and safe!”