*  *  *  *

The world had gone dark... his face pressed against warm [skin?]... coarse hairs prickling his cheeks… his nostrils filled with cheap perfume and something darker… more musky… and… wet?... something slick and hot and wet was slipping back and forth over his nose, climbing higher and higher up his face… it shifted forward and he was pushed into it from behind… his mouth and nose were suddenly engulfed in slippery soft heat… it quivered against him, squeezing in on him and then releasing. Each time it covered more and more of his face... inching upwards toward his eyes. He was sinking! He felt a turning sensation and he tried to push away… but something held his head… a huge hand?... in a grip he could not break… and something else… legs?... was pinning his body in place.  As he flailed he felt a leg come up over his shoulder and pull him in tighter. Hot viscous liquid was trickling into his mouth and nose.  He started to cough and sputter. This was getting serious. He was being eaten! Or worse he was being fed to something. Two hands pushed him further down and under. His whole face slid into the dark heat as he was shifted down into a wider part of the opening pressing down on him… up over his eyes... his forehead... the angle shifted again and the slimy bottom of the opening… filled with slick fluid… slipped down over his chin. It squeezed him again. Harder and from all sides. It quivered against him. Then something grabbed the hairs on the back of his head and gave a sharp tug. Something GAVE and suddenly he plunged upward… slick rippled walls sliding easily over his cheeks and pinning back his pointed ears. He sensed a small void in front of his face… the walls contracting around him now pulling him... he opened his elven eyes and could see clearly in the darkness… the walls dripping and undulating… flexing and squeezing… suddenly gravity shifts.  He is no longer under something pressing down over him. He is upside down... hanging suspended. He looks down and he is poised above a smaller more irregular tunnel filled with liquid and slowly widening and contracting..suddenly it yawns wide... wider than his whole body. He gazes into its dark depths and he sees no bottom, just an endless writhing tunnel descending into a darkness even he can’t pierce. Then whatever is holding him let's go and he plunges into it, and he screams.

*  *  *  *

Edovan jumped from sleep with a sudden start, his heart racing, his head pounding. Covered in a cold sweat. “What was that about!?” He asked himself, as he untangled from the sheets that were wrapped around his torso and legs. He was alone in the bed, he realized suddenly. And naked.

Yagaritte, who was sitting hunched over at the desk, working on something between her legs, turned and grinned at him as he suddenly looked over, scrambling to cover himself with the sheets.

“Don’t worry,” she assured him. “I had Mint collect your clothes for a washing. Didn’t look like they’d been washed in ages…” she said. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“Last… last night…” Edovan stammered.

“Oh, last night?” Yagaritte asked, an air of put on innocence. “You mean when you crawled into my bed?” she added, straightening up. Out of nowhere her right hand produced a wicked looking dagger with a black gleaming blade, she held it to her lips and blew something off of it.. (Red hairs?)...and pressed the point into the surface of the desk, digging into the wood. She spun it menacingly between her fingers, the blue jewel at its hilt glinting in the dusty sun streaming in through the only window in the room.

Edovan blushed deeply, and was very scared of that dagger, which he was certain could end his life in a flash. He chose his words carefully.

“I was just… you were asleep, and you…” he said, pulling his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, as he pushed back to lean against the headboard, as far from Yagaritte as he could get without leaving the bed.

“What?” Yagaritte asked, patiently, tilting her head at him. The dagger continued to spin rhythmically.

“Your… your...” Edovan stammered, looking away from her suddenly. He buried his face in his arms. “You were indecent,” he finished finally, voice muffled as he hid his face.

Yagaritte laughed. “So you decided crawling into bed with me was the correct option?” she asked him. There was no blush on her cheeks, no embarrassment in her voice. Nudity didn’t bother her, and teasing Edovan about it was just too much fun.

Edovan looked back up at her and shook his head fervently. “No!” he cried. “I tried… tried to cover you!” he said helplessly. He just wanted Yagaritte to know he hadn’t tried to take advantage of her! He was better than that, and didn’t want her to think poorly of him.

“Cover me with your body?” she asked him, raising her brows.

Edovan cried out in annoyance, shaking his head frantically. This was hopeless. Either she was teasing him mercilessly, or she was just plain stupid, and he knew better than to ever think the second choice was an option. “A sheet!” he said finally, huffing.

Yagaritte pushed up from the chair and let the dagger fall onto the desk. Without warning, she crawled back into the bed. She was still wearing only her shift, and her hair in sleep-crazed and tangled around her face. She was on her hands and knees, crawling towards Edovan. The neck of her gown was wide open, her breasts very plainly visible in the gap as the fabric hung low and beyond that his gaze traveled further down to the lush patch of soft curls between her legs, just a bit darker than her hair. (Now she wasn’t even wearing underwear?!) He swallowed hard.  

“If you wanted me…” she said, her voice throaty. She nuzzled her face against his, her breath hot on his neck. “You only had to ask,” she said.

Of course, she had no plans at all to actually do anything, but teasing him… she had yet to discover anything else in the world that was such a satisfying guilty pleasure as this was.

“I...I...” he stammered trying to sink back into the mattress. He was immensely thankful for the sheet between them, mainly because it was covering his instant erection.

“I’veneverbeenwithawoman!”  he blurted, turning his face away from her to avoid the look he knew he would see on her face.

Shame burned his cheeks. Surely she would laugh at him now. Though the whole world probably already knew after that disaster downstairs last evening.

And she did laugh, (Ohh that laugh…) but not in a mocking way. "Little mouse, that matters not to me,” she purred into his ear as she pulled his face back forward. It had been obvious to her that Edovan was a virgin, it didn’t take a genius to figure that out. And she surely did not mind or care one way or the other. She pulled herself up and straddled her legs on either side of him. She brushed against his arousal quite accidentally and she clenched involuntarily.  She could feel him just so against her through the sheets… but she didn’t want to press herself against him that much. That would probably be too cruel, even by her standards. Or was it more cruel to let him suffer an erection with no release?

For a second, she contemplated pressing slowly down on him, taking him, sheet and all, into her. She’d never done that before.  Would that work? Would that even count as sex? She imagined it would be a unique sensation for both of them, and Yagaritte was all about unique sensations. But, no. There would be plenty of time to experiment later if she chose to. And besides,  shouldn’t his first time be pure and perfect?  But truthfully, if she had to be honest with herself, more than anything, she just really enjoyed teasing him.

Her hips moved closer to his face as she rose up over him and arched her back, stretching. This should have embarrassed him even further, but logical brain had broken into the wine closet long ago and was now drunkenly cheering lizard brain forward. She was like a Goddess towering over him! From his position underneath her, between her smooth shapely legs, Edovan could see all the things. Her shift had hitched up around her hips, and had stayed there, as if by some magic. Her nethers where now a few scant inches from his face. Unbeknownst to her, he had been here before, but there was no flimsy strip of cloth in the way this time.  He stared upwards unable to think or speak. Lizard brain was busy trying to paint the image he was seeing into his permanent memory, to tuck it away for later… use.  

Her hips were wide, almost twice as wide as his narrow hips. He could see the thick thatch of lightish red-blonde curls where the tops of her legs met, it seemed somehow less wild than it had when he glimpsed it last night. The fleshy nub of her clit, as big as his thumb, peeking out between the apex of her outer lips. Her darker pink inner lips were pert and closed now, barely protruding from her inner folds, but parted just a few centimeters as she stretched, causing him to give a little gasp. He stared at those lips, each longer than his hand (Was she truly that large? Or were his hands just  that small?) He couldn't help but think about the night before, and how she had plunged her fingers into that hungry crevice. He licked his lips, swallowing the lump in his throat. His nostrils filled with her aroma, and it made his mouth water...

For her part, Yagaritte was having conflicting feelings as well. She had started this in teasing, but poised over him now, looking down into those big golden eyes… she wasn't so sure. She hesitated, thoughtful. Though small, he was well formed and perfectly proportioned, with the unblemished skin of one accustomed to a better life, and packed with far more sinewy lean muscle than a mage had any right to have (wood elves, they were all tiny little Adonis’s). His tousled brown hair framing his perfect baby smooth face, a random thought flitted through her mind... what would that baby soft skin feel like against her softest parts?

She could totally take him right now if she wanted. He wanted her, it was clear. Wasn’t it? (Wasn't it??) And it would be a mercy to his poor frustrated member trying to call her attention with desperation. He was well equipped for his size, as well she noted earlier. She'd seen bigger of course, but she'd also seen smaller, and on larger men than Edovan. All she had to do was pull that sheet away with one swift movement, and she could ride him right into manhood...

But something made her hesitate. She was definitely attracted to him, she could feel her loins stirring at the thought. But she also LIKED him? Which was not normal for her. She recalled waking to find the small bosmer pressed up against her, clinging to her. His leg had been lodged between her own, holding her tightly, face nestled in the underside of her breasts. She had laid there for quite some time, just enjoying the feeling of the two of them intertwined. How it felt to be this close to someone, who wasn’t this close just because they were inside her. She had marveled at how comfortable and snugly they fit together, before carefully dislodging herself and expertly removing his clothing for Mint to take away to the wash.

She COULD take him now, but something still made her want to hold back.

“Edovan…” she whispered huskily.  

It occurred to Edovan that that was the first time she’d ever called him by name, it sounded lovely coming from her mouth, the syllables enunciated in a way that sent shivers down his spine. He swallowed thickly, not even pretending, now, that he wasn't staring up at her crotch. Or up at her peaked breasts, which hung above him heavily.

Edovan looked beyond them, into her face, into her eyes. He saw no malice there, no mockery. Only the mischievous twinkling again. And something else? It was like the sadness from before, but… different, somehow.

She grinned at him, the joke was over.  “I’m sorry,” she said, and she meant it. If he didn’t do something about that thing soon it was going to strangle both of them. It would be so easy for her to ease his pain. And very pleasurable for both of them… but there was business to attend to. And if Yagaritte was dead serious about anything it was business.

She wanted him sharp and focused if they were going where she was planning to go. She knew the dangers well, and her heart paused at the thought of him getting hurt, or worse, on this first venture together. No, she wouldn’t let that happen! There would be plenty of time for celebrating afterward if they pulled this off. Maybe they could pop more than corks tonight? She smiled secretly to herself.  She flopped down on the bed beside him. There was just enough room for them to share side by side, with each of them pressed to the edges. She crossed her legs over each other and yawned.

“You’re just too easy,” she said, smiling ear to ear, deflecting her own confusing feelings onto him, hoping he was innocent and inexperienced enough not to pick up on it. He grimaced briefly, trying to decide if he was more frustrated or relieved that she had stood down. But then he felt her large soft hand find his, squeezing it gently as they just laid there together side by side.

There was silence.

Yagaritte closed her eyes, turning her head slightly to face Edovan’s (he had slumped back down into the bed beside her, now that the threat of congress had subsided, and he had relaxed). She opened her eyes again, and looked into the beautiful, golden orbs of his eyes. “It’s strange, isn’t it?” she asked him.

“What?” he asked, curious.

Yagaritte smiled gently. “That I need you,” she said quietly, looking away from him again. She squeezed his hand as she spoke. “And that I found you in that shop, and how my herbs fell into your pocket…”

He stared at her quizzically. The echo of “...I need you...” reverberating over and over again in his mind. NEED?? how?..need need? Like a friend? Lover? Adventuring partner? His mind was spinning. What do I say? I should tell her I need her too! And he did, somehow... his body, his mind, his heart. All of him needed her. He needed her like oxygen. But the idea that she needed him for anything, it just couldn't find a stable place to rest in his thinking. So of course he didn’t say anything.

There was silence.

Yagaritte sighed. Why was she such a dummy. “And that you know runes,” she added finally, feeling stupid and vulnerable all the sudden. She’d only known this man for a mere 24 hours, what was she doing speaking of things like fate and “need.” Idiot. This wasn’t like her at all.

She drew her hand away from his and sat up, looking out towards the window. “Well, thanks to you, think I ought to head back to the shop and complete my trade,” she said. She stood up and stretched, stifling a yawn. Without hesitation, she pulled her old shift off and tossed it onto the bed right over Edovan's face. Then while he was trying to uncover, she quickly stepped to her small chest of drawers, bending over right in front of him to pull out a fresh shift, and a fresh pair of underwear from the bottom drawer. She heard him gasp as he uncovered himself, only to find that he was staring directly at her perfect ass. She looked back and stifled a giggle as she wiggled her butt at him as she slipped into her panties and slowly pulled them up as she stood back up to her full height. A little show wouldn’t hurt, besides, some habits are just too hard/fun to break.

Also, she wanted to give him a little visual fuel for her next plan, one she called “Leave him alone trapped in her room for an hour so he can do what boys do when left alone in their rooms.”  To that end, she made a real show of pulling on her leathers. And made him help her lace up her protective leather bodice. She had pulled on her boots and was placing her daggers in their scabbards when he finally asked the question she had been waiting for.

“Where are MY clothes?”

“I will check on the way out and have them sent to you once they are dry.” she said very matter of factly.  Then she strode to the door, took her big key out of her belt pouch and unlocked the door. Then she tossed it to him on the bed. “Don't forget to lock the door again after I’m gone. That way NOBODY else can get in here while I am gone. Nobody comes into my room,” she warned. “Should be about an hour,” she added, winking. She blew him a kiss and out the door she went, humming a jaunty tune happily to herself. She stopped halfway down the stairs to pet the inn’s cat, curling her fingers through her tail. “I’ll get you some fish,” she promised.

Edovan stared at the heavy iron key on the bed. Then remembered. The BOOK. The one in the shop that had translations of Dwemer runes, the book he’d wanted yesterday! He had to get to that shop before anyone else could get that book!  He was sure if he had it he would be able to solve any riddle any ancient dwemer ruin could throw at them. THEN she would REALLY need him! But he was stuck in her room, with no clothes. He had to try to find something in here he could wear… even if it was just for long enough to get get downstairs to collect his own clothing.

*******

Margara looked up as she saw Yagaritte descend the stairs, the gray cat nestled in the crook of her arm, resting on her chest. It was purring loudly. “What’s going on?” she asked instantly, dropping what she had been doing and walking over to her. Never, in all her years living here, had Yagaritte allowed a man to enter her room. If she was bedding someone, she always used one of the other rooms, or went out with him elsewhere (where, only Yagaritte knew). “What’s gotten into you?” she demanded grinning, before Yagaritte had even had a chance to answer.

Yagaritte passed the cat over to her. It meowed softly then nestled back into sleep. A warm body was a warm body. “What are you on about?” she asked her, reaching behind the counter to grab one of the apples that Margara had just been polishing.

Margara huffed. “The little mouse!” she hissed. Of course she knew that Yagaritte knew exactly what she meant, but Margara was not in the mood for games. This was serious gossip! “He’s in your room. He slept in your bed!” she said pointedly.

Yagaritte shrugged, biting into the apple with gusto. “He needeth a plath to thay,” she said between crunching bites of apple. With that, she side stepped Margara, waved her arm up in a goodbye salute, and was out the door.

“Aye… that girl,” Margara said to the cat, resting her chin on it. She sighed, more confused than ever. Not to mention, the little mouse was still up there…

*  *  *  *

Edovan was determined to find something to wear. But not so determined he was willing to go with one of Yagaritte’s transparent shifts or a pair of her flimsy panties. Truthfully he’d actually already considered both at one point but the size difference between them made it all but impossible. He might as well use the enormous sheet he had discarded on the bed after she was safely gone.  He felt a little self conscious padding about her room completely naked with a halfy still going from her teasing earlier. But desperate times, desperate measures!  He was opening anything that he could open, searching every nook and cranny.

She had sooo much stuff!  He doubted even she knew everything she had amassed. She was clearly quite the adventurer. He was admiring an ancient imperial tapestry from the Alessian empire when he spotted a large wooden chest pushed back underneath a table covered in ancient pottery and dead discarded soul gems.  It was not as heavy as he expected it to be and he lugged it easily from its hiding spot underneath and placed it in the middle of the room. It was covered in dust and hadn’t been opened for some time. The lock was modern though and it only took one quick Open spell to unlatch it. He lifted the lid back carefully.

There was a small burlap bag in the bottom. He reached in and pulled it out. It held several small hard objects of uniform size and it tinkled slightly as its contents shifted inside the bag. He reached in carefully and drew one out.

He recognized it immediately as a holographic memory crystal. Through a magical principle similar to soul gems these crystals could be enchanted to hold and project a single 3 dimensional visual and auditory experience from the direct memory of the enchanter.  Wizards liked to use them to leave behind detailed messages for those who found their secret lairs centuries later. Messages like  “DIE YOU MISERABLE RAT INFESTED MAGGOTS” and “GAZE UPON THE TOMB OF THE MOST POWERFUL WIZARD WHO EVER LIVED”, etc. Wizards were an egotistical lot.

It was not easy magic, or cheap, though, so Edovan was mystified to find the rest of the bag containing dozens of identical crystals. Provided you could find someone capable of enchanting them they were worth a small fortune in the right circles, so why were there so many, and why did Yagaritte have them? Or better, why hadn't she sold them?

Was it possible they had already been used? It was a one time only process. You couldn't enchant a crystal again with new information if it had already been used, which meant the crystal at that point was really only worth the information that was on it. This begged the question, of course, what could possibly be on them? And could he figure out how to activate them?  

He held the crystal in his hands and searched the archives of his mind for the proper technique. He looked closely at both ends of the crystal. Sure enough there were tiny runes etched into the rosy pink quartz-like surface. By holding it on that end in his hand, and concentrating his majika on the other end, it should activate. Then he just had had to tap his hand on the other end and draw it upward slowly like he was pulling the image upward out of the crystal, and the recorded illusion should spring into being above the crystal!  He was so clever!

It was true of course, Edovan, if not exactly worldly wise, was in actuality,  an extremely intelligent individual. And like most extremely intelligent individuals, his thoughts ran in very rapid and logical directions. But they also ran in very narrow paths. Like a laser. So while he was focused intently on recalling ancient Magika techniques that he he'd only ran across once in a dusty tome deep in the off limits section of Academia Majika library, he completely forgot, of course, that he was stark naked in the middle of the floor of another woman’s room with a partial erection (knowledge is exciting!).

And, more importantly, that he also forgot to lock the door as instructed...

*  *  *  *

Bernadette flounced through the kitchen, grabbing a freshly baked pastry that was cooling on a rack in the middle of the counter (that she knew would earn her a punishment if Margara caught her), and taking a dainty nibble from it.  A good snack was what she really needed right now, after the night she’d had. Nothing had gone right since her altercation with that woman Yagaritte, it was about time things changed! And with Margara preoccupied out at the bar, she was home free! Her face screwed up in displeasure. Peach! Her absolute most hated fruit… peach! Who made peach pastries? She spit the bite out into her hand and tossed it, along with the pastry, into the fire.

“Eugh…” she groaned. First, she’d bit her tongue while working last night, bleeding all over her customer in the process. He flipped out on her and ran away, without paying her. Not even for the services she’d already rendered! Then she’d woken up to find Margara’s damned cat had somehow snuck into her room, and was sleeping soundly on the pillow beside her face. Of course, she was allergic to cats. She spent all night sobbing about her misery, burying her face in handkerchiefs during sneezing fits, her face red and splotchy, even under the makeup she wore to bed.  And now peach!?  

She did not like this recent turn of events.  Bernadette was used to having her way, especially with men.  The other girls said that if Bernadette had been a thief and not a whore,  people would pay her to rob them.  Most of her clients in fact paid her to do whatever she wanted to do with them. And most of them never spoke about their sessions.  They were always leaving in a dazed stupor afterward, but they always came back later. Once a man had been to Bernadette he was usually ruined for any of the other girls.  A fact she was personally quite proud of.

“Oi!” A voice called out from the washroom. It was adjacent to the kitchen, down a set of three stairs. Bernadette recognized Mint’s voice. She could hear splashing and the feverish sound of soap being rubbed on fabric. Mint’s pants and shirt were rolled up to his elbows and knees, and there were no less than three mountains of clothing and bedding surrounding him. He looked frazzled. “Do me a fave, love,” he said, as Bernadette sauntered down the stairs, licking the remnants of pastry from her fingers.

“What?” she asked him, leaning against the wall, her arms crossing over her chest. If Mint was asking her a favor, it was either to let him into her skirts or asking her to do his work for him. The first, she’d happily oblige provided he had the coin, and didn’t mind doing it in the laundry room.the other? Not so much. “I’m not doing your work,” she added.

“Please, love… I just need you to deliver these,” he said, motioning to a stack of clothes behind him, folded neatly on a table. “To Miss Yagaritte’s room,” he added, grunting as he wrestled with the soap against a stain on the shirt he was scrubbing.

Bernadette scoffed. “You couldn’t pay me,” she said haughtily. After yesterday's fiasco, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with that woman. Ever again. Everyone knew she was supposed to get all the smaller patrons.  What would the giant want with the cute little mousey anyway? Bernadette knew how to take special care of cute little mousey’s like him.  She had a special place to keep them warm and safe. But the giant had stolen him literally right out from under her! (and also quite a bit in, she recalled fondly)

She glanced with disinterest at the pile of clothes, then her face lit up with recognition. Those weren’t Yagaritte’s clothes. Those belonged to the little mouse!  Tender, sweet,  juicy little mousey..she had just wanted to gobble him up the second she laid eyes on him in the inn. So cute and innocent! And small.. She’d never seen a full grown man so small. Not some twisted mutation of nature, but  a genuine smaller man perfectly proportioned in every way..  With his perfect little head. She felt her loins twitch as she remembered how amazing his little face had felt and how far she had gotten it so quickly.  It was like he was MADE for her!

She stomped over to the table and snatched the clothes up. “You owe me,” she told Mint, as she pressed the bundle to her chest, and started to climb the steps. And with that, she could feel her luck changing!

“Don’t get your tits on them!” Mint called up to her. He’d just washed that suit, and didn’t need her makeup getting it all messy again…

“Oh yeah,” she added, turning back. She tossed a wadded up nightgown at him, hitting him in the face. “Be a doll and wash this for me,” she said. “And mind the stains!” Mint groaned, but added it to the pile.

If the little mouse’s clothes were here, and he was up in her room… he was probably naked. And alone. Bernadette burned with jealousy. That meant only one thing-- the giant had tasted her little mousey!. Even under her makeup, her face was red as she blushed with a furious, jealous, righteous anger. That wasn't fair! She wanted the little mouse ALL for herself…

...but she wasn’t above sloppy seconds…

*  *  *  *

Edovan stared at the pink rock in his hands with nervous anticipation. There was literally no telling what information  it contained. It could be anything from an old wizard's diary (history!)  To secret unknown magika research that only he would possess!  He  sat on his limber knees easily and held it in front of him by the marked end. Then he concentrated on the other end, like he was trying to charge the energy to summon something, but without forming the actual summons. The upraised end of the crystal started to pulse from inside with a glow and little filigrees of majika, tiny tendrils, of rosy pink light slowly emerged  from the tip and began forming upward. He gingerly brought his free hand over the crystal and lowered it, fingers down till the eldritch tendrils connected with his fingertips with a tiny spark. He was fascinated as they playfully flitted about, caressing and interacting with his fingertips. Once the the majika was securely attached, he threw back his arm in wide upward and back motion like he was trying to pull a long string up out of box with a single motion. The tendrils followed his hand as it rose, and then continued upward, free of his hand, as it flew back over his head.  They streaked forth upward far above his head and then instantly ballooned outward into a moving 3d image.  He heard music. And then his jaw dropped.

It was a woman. There was no mistaking that. His recent experiences had hardwired his instincts to recognize female form almost by the way it moved alone. And this one was definitely moving!  In front of him, just above the crystal, was now the image of a very large, incredibly beautiful woman, facing away from him but almost standing on top of him. She was dancing, quite slowly and sensuously. Long, bare, shapely legs, a fine chain low on her hips, from which hung two long gossamer strips of cloth, one in front and one in back, which he noticed with arousal were literally the only cloth on her entire body from the waist up OR down.  Long wavy strawberry blonde hair cascading in little circles down to the middle of her back. Large swells of the sides of her clearly ample breast appearing on either side of her as she swayed to and fro.  There was something about her that was familiar though.  A male voice with a Breton accent spoke from somewhere. Edovan supposed it might be the mage who recorded the original illusion.

“You are far better at this than you have any right to be...”   

“Am I?” she responded playfully, and then she laughed a beautiful musical laugh that would have lit up the entire room (if she had been real and not a recorded illusion).

Yagaritte??!?  And then she turned, and he knew her instantly. She was different..less curvy in both bust and hip, her face much younger but not any more fair, just not as full as it is now. It struck him then he didn't even know how old she was. Not that he cared. He knew she was older than him, having just cleared his 18th year. But even with his lack of knowledge on that subject, he could tell she was quite a bit younger here than she was now.  He’d heard Nords were pretty timeless in their aging, appearance wise. That either meant Margara was over a hundred, or she'd been born looking like an old woman. Edovan shuddered, wondering why he’d thought of Margara at a moment like this...

“Come closer” the male voice beckoned.

The illusionary Yagaritte turned now to face him. Still swaying sensuously above the crystal, and as she did, he glimpsed the now familiar sight of her strawberry thatch and bare nethers. She was slowly grinding downward toward the crystal in his hand, bending at her knees and dipping lower. He licked his lips but tore his gaze away to look at her face. Her long silken locks were loose and relaxed, sensually tousled around her face, framing it. She'd obviously been drinking, but he could still see the fire behind her eyes that always flashed when she thought of something particularly naughty to do.

“Like this?” she asked as she winked at him.

She came down on her knees now in front of him, straddling his outstretched hand and the crystal. She smiled wickedly,  looking at him.

“Haha… that might be too close,” the male’s voice answered.

He saw that flash in her eyes again.

“Oh, I can get closer than this...” she purred.

The hand holding the crystal was now directly between her legs, thighs spread far on either side of him as she knelt. Her breast hung heavily above him as she moved toward him rolling her belly and hips forward now in little waves. From this proximity he could see her labia were thick and distended and glistening with her natural wetness. He could tell from the movement of the cloth strip in the front, it was now draping over the hand of the person she was talking to. He unconsciously adjusted his arm to mimic the exact same position.

“How about this close?”

He watched in a trance as she lowered herself on to his hand, her lips brushing the pointed crystal. She rolled her hips back and forth slowly with a slight side to side motion until it was safely between them. Then she lowered herself down over it as it disappeared inside her.

Ok, now he was aroused.

Illusionary lifesize Yagaritte was rising up and down now, humping his hand slowly at first, but picking up speed and purpose. And as exciting as that was, he’d seen this show before. And in person. He recalled last nights adventures so vividly.  With herculean effort he tore himself from his trance and got up from his knees. Still carrying the crystal and the bobbing Yagaritte. He went over to small table and took one of the candle holders and firmly pressed the bottom edge of the crystal into the soft wax so the crystal stood upright with the now moaning Nord above it.

She’s quite a woman, he thought to himself, as he swallowed hard. He turned and went back to the bag on the floor. Alluring and exciting as that crystal was, he needed to know what the others contained. Besides, it wasn't really her. And he wasn't sure if he was even supposed to have seen such a thing (“Certainly not!” Logical brain exclaimed). He quickly activated a second one. A long cry of pure ecstasy from behind caused him to turn his head back to the original just in time to see it cycle back to the beginning of her dancing. But when he swung back around he was greeted by the exact same vision now eerily in sync with the first in both image and sounds. How could it be? Had this mage made copies somehow? He had never heard of such a thing, but he supposed it was possible. The Yagarittes laughed together at him as the scene replayed. He found a holder for the second crystal and opened the third. Familiar hips greeted him. What on earth was going on here? He opened a fourth. A fifth. They can't ALL be the same thing, surely? After the 8th, he decided he had gone beyond the point of no return, and his curiosity determined that he must open all of them. He wouldn't be able to sleep at night not knowing what may be in the remaining crystals.

He opened one after another placing each in candle holders scattered around the room, and as the final one danced above him, he suddenly realized he was surrounded by sensually dancing Yagarittes all in various time frames of the memory. As his visioned panned around him all he could see was hips and thighs moving sinuously, or grinding purposefully. Her creamy flesh filled his vision, even on the periphery. Her laughter filled his ears in sweet succession from different corners of the room as she rose up all around him, his heart skipping a beat each time her laughter trilled out. And her eyes sparkled again, and with a fire, as she thought her devious thoughts over and over again as her cries of pleasure echoed all around him, in a never ending cycle of delight.

Any momentary disappointment he had felt at opening the final crystal was swept under as he was carried away by the feminine flood of sensuality rising up all around him. He was lost in sea of giant horny Nord women, and before he knew it, almost unconsciously, his hand had found his arousal.

One illusionary lusty Nord beauty he might have resisted. But 25?  He didn't have a prayer.

*  *  *  *

As Bernadette slipped her way through the tavern proper and up the back stairs clutching her precious prize, all the girls in the main room craned their heads in her direction.  Why was Bernadette headed to Yagaritte’s room and why was she carrying the little mouse’s suit? One of the girls called to her before she disappeared around the corner. “Where do you think you are going with that?”

“I’m going to catch me a little mousey!” Bernadette crowed, as she practically ran up the stairs in her excitement. She stopped in front of the heavy oak door at the end of the hall, and buried her face in Edovan’s clothes one last time. Mint be damned!

Downstairs, whispers spread like wild fires in dry kindling. All the girls were tittering, now, most of them even slacking in their work in order to gossip with one another.

“Bernadette’s gotta death wish!”

“She’s going for the mouse!”

“Do ya think she’ll share?”

“She always gets the good ones!”

And then somberly, “They will never find her body…”

*  *  *  *

Edovan crawled up on top of Yagaritte’s bed, looking around the room, watching in awe as the Yagaritte illusions moved and undulated in time around him. With her throaty laughter and lustful tones, it was a wonder he hadn’t exploded at just that, especially with all the prior teasing he’d received. He leaned back against the giant stack of pillows on the bed and reached his hand between his legs again, stroking himself gently. Usually he’d have to use his imagination… but this? This was a treat beyond anything he’d ever expected in his life. He could imagine he was the man in the illusion, and that she was dancing for him alone… pleasuring herself in his presence, solely for him.

He stroked himself slowly, letting his head fall back to rest against the headboard, licking his lips as he watched Yagaritte surround him, all flesh tones, pink, and strawberry blonde, all flashing as the scenes played out from every point in the room. “Hnnnghh--” he groaned softly, picturing his mouth between her lips, his face buried in her musky nethers. The smell he knew… but the taste he could only imagine. “Ah--” he closed his eyes, letting Yagaritte’s voice envelop him...

*  *  *  *

Bernadette could hear through the door, the soft sounds of the illusionary scene playing, and if she didn’t catch the same sentence multiple times in a row, she would have thought for sure Yagaritte had snuck back up here for a second round at her little mousey. While she didn’t understand the strange thing that was happening, she knew the Edovan was in there, and he was naked and that was literally all she cared about. Bernadette could be very single minded when she wanted to be.

She pushed the door carefully, hoping against everything that it had been unlocked. It eased open silently, and Bernadette added another check to her list of reasons why things were going well for her now, and also, Yagaritte was a big bitch. She went into the room and closed the door carefully behind her. She turned to see Edovan on the bed, alone, exposed… and so innocent and sweet. Her tasty little mousey.

But around the room, all around the room in every nook and cranny imaginable, her. Bernadette rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, watching the scene play out. What a little slut she was, and how easily she gave it up! Though she had to admit her body was… no! Bernadette shook her head furiously, her internal struggle known only to her. She kicked over a crystal that was near the door and huffed in irritation as it toppled over silently, the scene blinking out of existence. She wouldn’t let that bitch distract her from her mission!

She dropped the clothes down onto a pile by the door, not even caring that they were freshly washed and ironed to perfection. She sauntered over towards the bed, shimmying her shoulders out of her dress expertly. She pushed it down over her breasts, her hips, then down onto the ground, stepping out of it gingerly. Under her dress was a lightweight corset, and a pair of bloomer shorts sporting a slit straight up the middle, her shaved mound just visible in between. She reached between her legs, watching Edovan as she stepped towards the bed, petting herself. She stopped at the foot and watched him for a moment, biting her lip. He was so small, so adorable, his face screwed up in pleasure as he stroked his cock. It was a perfect scene, and she wanted to savor it before it dissipated.

She moved around to the side of the bed, leaning over Edovan. She reached out to stroke his cheek as he cried out softly, moaning unintelligibly to himself. It seemed he was so deep into his own pleasure it wouldn't disturb him much if she helped herself, right? She crawled carefully onto the bed, towering over him as she put a leg on either side of him. She moved upward slowly, careful not to disturb him. When she finally reached his face, she stopped moving and reached between her legs, sliding her hand between the slit again, caressing herself. She flicked gently at her clitoris, biting her lip to keep from calling out. Already she was slippery wet. She was close, so close… she could sit on his perfect little face, burying him between her lips. Cover his nose, his eyes…

Bernadette moaned softly, and unable to control herself anymore, pressed herself down onto him. He did not immediately react, so deep was he into his own fantasies, that he was unable to process reality from illusion. He moaned quietly between her lips, his tongue instinctively searching her clit out. Inexperienced as he was, clearly his instinct had a few bits of useful knowledge. Bernadette arched her back, reaching to grasp at the bed’s headboard. She pushed herself further up his face, his nose sliding between her lips, and just beyond.

Edovan began to stroke harder, faster. He pulled his knees up, feet digging into the bed beneath him. His voice came out in a muffled groan, his entire lower face engulfed by Bernadette’s hungry pussy. Her juices flowing across his cheeks now, slick and sickly sweet.

She pulled up enough to give him a moment of breath, her hand reaching, now, to slide her fingers into his hair, pulling his head back carefully. It wouldn’t be any good if he suffocated down there. She was lustful, but at least smart enough to know not to smother him… not yet anyway.  She had done this many times. She knew exactly how deep to press him and when ease up so he could take another quick breath before plunging him back into her depths again.

Edovan’s body shuddered, and Bernadette knew his orgasm was fast approaching. “Ya… Yagaritte!” he cried out suddenly, lustfully, after he had gulped for air.

Bernadette tensed up. Not her!

“That bit--!”

She stopped herself, but it was too late.

He opened his eyes: The painted lady!

The illusion was broken! The spell was lifted!

Edovan jumped with a start, and might have jumped right out of his skin if that had been possible. He scrambled, unsuccessfully, to free himself from Bernadette’s thighs, feeling terrified, confused, violated. The Yagaritte illusions, undisturbed, continued to undulate around them.

Bernadette looked down on his little face sheepishly, only his terrified little eyes and above visible from underneath her. She gave a little wave. This, too, she was used to. Not all of her clients were totally receptive to her unique techniques the very first time. But she knew if she could just “ride it out,” pun very much intended, they would eventually come around... (or pass out, whatever worked, right?)

Edovan was small though, and very very quick. She felt him jerk and tried to clamp her iron thighs down on him, but she couldn't squeeze fast enough. She gave a little gasp as his perfect face slid rapidly down through her sopping cleft, mouth, nose eyes and all and then somehow he was free and scrambling naked from the bed onto the floor. He tumbled onto the hard stone, rolling over his shoulder and landing on his back with a dozen or more Yagarittes all towering over him. Bernadette was fast, too, though and she was off the bed in a flash and back on top of him again, this time facing his very, very confused and rapidly fading erection... his arms were pinned to the floor by her knees and she unceremoniously plopped her juicy cunt right onto  his forehead, this time much more forcefully just because she could.

She looked down into his frightened little eyes again and it gave her chills. She was going to enjoy this...

She launched into her shtick she used for her clients.  

“Hello little mousey.. I don't believe we've been properly introduced…” she purred.  Her voice nowhere near as low and husky as Yagaritte’s, but then again most men didn't come to her for her voice.

“I’m Bernadette, and these..” she said pointing playfully at her mound pressing down on him just above his frightened eyes. “...are the gates of paradise... You must pass through them to enter the fields of ecstasy, but only after you survive the trials…” she purred, licking her lips hungrily.

She glided herself forward across his face, purposely covering his eyes, then nose, the mouth… then pressed pressed down hard to seal off all his air. She just needed to calm him down a bit, that's all. Then they could get back to business.

Looking down at him, she was a little surprised, and gratified, to see his erection had reappeared as she slowly, expertly ground her hips over him. Silly penises she thought, they have no sense of self preservation.

“That’s a good little mousey,” she trilled. “You deserve a reward...” and with that she gave him a hard clench and then she leaned forward and took him swiftly into her generous mouth. Since she was bigger than him, she had to hunch over quite a bit, but luckily Bernadette was quite limber, and used to contorting this way or that.  She busied herself working his cock intently and grinding his face slowly and satisfyingly.  She marveled at how deep his small face pressed up into her hungry flesh, and ached to feel it slide further still. She’d done this a thousand times before. She knew exactly how long to press and when to release. There was an art to it.  As their pulses would slow and their bodies relax she would slowly extend the time between breaths, each time waiting just a little longer. Till eventually they would be waiting so long they thought it would never come, and they would perish there buried in her womanhood. Of course, by that time they all wanted to. And after that, they were all hers. That's why she was more than a bit concerned when he suddenly stopped moving entirely.

“Oh shit!” she said out loud. “I don’t wanna kill ‘im…” she groaned. She raised herself up a bit so he could take a breath. Thankfully she felt him inhale, but just as she was about to press down on him again she felt, rather than heard, him say a word. Felt, because the word had power, and not only because his mouth was mere centimeters from her still gaping pussy . She didn’t even recognize the word but she felt the tiny spark of energy travel from his mouth right into her body. Through her vagina, and out into the room. “You cheeky little mousey. What are you up to down there?” she questioned, and sealed him off again, this time tilting her hips forward to slip the top cleft of her dripping pussy over the tip of his chin. That part was usually hard to negotiate, but it slid in with ease and she pressed down over him till she quivered at the touch of her labia against his neck. Her juices ran down the sides of his neck and face as  she gulped him into her mouth again whole, shaft, balls, and all, which was no mean feat, because it was the only part of him that wasn't small. But she was a professional, dammit...

That's when she heard it, the unearthly hiss, followed by a low guttural growl that caused her stomach to drop through the floor.  It cut through the cacophony of Yagaritte’s endless laughter and cries of ecstasy like a plague cart cuts through a spring wedding procession. She looked up, her mouth still full of mousey and saw only two jaws full of crooked jagged teeth, dripping with rot and drool. Then its mouth opened as big as her head and its hot fetid sulphurous breath blasted over her as it roared!

Bernadette shrieked and practically vaulted backward off Edovan’s face, falling back on her ass. She scrambled up, tripping first over her own feet, then her dress piled on the floor. She didn’t care, not even sparing a second to scoop it up. She turned and fled through the towering Yagarittes, stumbling and tripping over several in her haste, each winking out as they hit the floor. She fell as she reached the door and scrambled through it on her hands and knees as fast as she could.

Or she would have. She heard the jaws snap shut behind her. It had her by the bloomers, its razor sharp teeth having barely grazed her soft behind. Bernadette was out of her mind now, but she was a survivor. There was a loud ripping tearing sound as she rolled sideways onto her back, kicking herself free of her bloomers while the thing from her nightmares kindly assisted her in removing them by thrashing its head back and forth like a dog with a favorite chew toy. She shimmied out of them and crab-walked backwards, out into the hall as fast she could go, flipped onto her knees and then sprinted, screaming and bottomless, down the hall, and down the stairs, through the tavern below, right past all the working girls and shocked clients and right out the front door, never looking back.

She didn’t even pay attention to the fact that the hallway was piled high with girls, one of them, who stood dumbfounded at the sudden activity, had a glass in her hand. She had been the one listening, relaying every raunchy detail to the other girls. It didn’t take them long to catch the low guttural growling emanating from the room, the creature tearing Bernadette’s bloomers to shreds in its great maw.

“O-oh… shit!” The closest girl shrieked and dropped the glass. It smashed onto the floor as she pushed backwards into the crowd, stumbling and tripping much the same way Bernadette had. She turned and pushed her way through them, shaking with fear. “Run!” she screeched, mostly because she wanted them to move the hell out of her way so she could run. None of them had ever seen such a creature before, and none of them had any experience in dealing with a threatening situation like this one. Even Margara, who had seen everything, probably wouldn’t know what to do.

Yagaritte, who was just coming back into the inn after finishing her trade, jumped back as Bernadette burst through the door outside, all but naked. She stumbled into a snow bank, but struggled back up, blind to everything and everyone around her, even Yagaritte, whom she despised most in the world. Even before Yagaritte could reach to help her, she had scrambled away, looking back at the inn in terror as she ran off.

“What the…?” she asked herself, stepping into the inn. Downstairs seemed mostly calm, but oddly quiet, and devoid of the usual hubbub of people. That was when she noticed the girls spilling down the back stairs, tripping and stumbling over each other in their haste, some of them landing in a pile on the floor.

Yagaritte strode towards the stairs, and picked her way, expertly, through the scrambling pile of girls there. She stepped over them gingerly, and finally reached the top of the stairs. She froze there, seeing her door was ajar. “What…??” she asked. What the hell was going on? What had happened, and where was Edovan?

The door to her room was half open. She crept quietly  towards it at the end of the hall, a dagger in each hand, one facing right and the the other facing left. There must have been something up here that had frightened them, and it had to have been more than a naked Bernadette.

She crouched low and slunk silently to the door frame, rising only after she had pressed herself into the nook between the wall and the door frame, giving no one inside any part of her exposed to shoot at.  From this position she could hear multiple voices..laughter ..clearly female..and. .moaning?  Somebody was having a good time.  She relaxed her defensive stance a bit, relaxing some, but clearly confused by what she was hearing. It didn't make any sense. Surely Edovan was not involved in some kind of crazy orgy. Unless she was a terrible judge of character (and she liked to think she was not), there was definitely something majikal going on. Perhaps he had accidentally conjured something?  That made more sense in her head. She risked peering around the frame into her room.

There was still someone in the room, several someones... and that arm certainly didn’t belong to Edovan. Neither did that leg… or those huge breasts!  They also didn’t even really look tangible… how very queer. She put her daggers away and stepped into her room. She could clearly hear the lilting voices of several women. And she could see them a little better. They were definitely not real, seeing as how they were semi transparent and suffused with a ghostly rosy pink glow. So NOT an orgy then. She heard a small growl and a snuffle.

She stepped further toward the sound and looked down at a small (to her) reptilian creature with mottled grey skin who was contentedly chewing some sort of ratty white cloth, soaked in its drool. The creature at first barely even gave her a second glance, happy with its prize. But it quickly looked back up at her again, and trotted over, sniffing at her curiously. She recognized it immediately as a clannfear. It was very common low level summoning magic, and she knew exactly who it belonged to. The pieces were starting to fall together.  

She knelt down and patted it on the head and it preened against her hand. She saw the ripped lace edges on the drool soaked cloth in its mouth and realized why Bernadette had streaked by bottomless. She scratched it under the chin. “Well, aren't you a good little protector… chasing that hussy away from our innocent little mouse. Remind me to treat you later.”  She thought of Bernadette tearing ass naked through the town screaming, and smiled to herself.

“You came come out now... she’s gone.” she called out into the room.

A familiar tousled head popped up from behind one of her many tables.

“I see you were lonely...” she gestured at the gyrating holographic woman in the distance.

He came out from behind the table still naked, hair all crazy and looking more than a little discombobulated.  He was so cute, she thought as he shuffled toward her. Even if Bernadette had been scared away, it looked like he at least had a little bit of fun beforehand… or Bernadette had, anyway, Yagaritte noted. “You mind sending Killer here back where he came from? I don't want him leaving any presents here in my room,” she said, eyeing the floor to make sure there weren’t any already.

She was trying to keep a serious face, but he looked so pitiful, and the whole situation so hysterical, it was everything she could do not to just roll around in the floor in laughter. She was still curious about the phantom women though. Had he conjured them to “assist” him in getting the job done?  She was a little miffed at that, considering all the visual fuel that she had provided him earlier, but she had to admit, the phantom woman (because by this time she had deduced they were all identical copies) was a looker.  A Nord, tall, powerful, busty. Maybe he did have a type after all, she mused.

There was something familiar about her though. Her voice, the way she moved.

It was then that she looked past her adorable little naked bosmer friend slowly shuffling toward her and spied the large chest open in the middle of the floor… and the crystals strewn about.

She stopped suddenly in her tracks as the sounds around her suddenly slammed into focus, her memory awakening with a violent jolt.  They were her… all of them, recorded memories of a time she had locked away on purpose, both physically and mentally, had all but completely buried in her memory, a time when she had been much younger and much less wiser… a time that NOBODY WAS EVER ALLOWED TO SEE AGAIN EVER.

“EDOVAN!” she screeched, striding easily across the remaining space between them. She bent down and snatched him up. “What the hell were you doing!?” she demanded, carrying him with ease under her arm, as she rushed around the room smacking and kicking crystals over, each illusion blinking out of existence as it toppled over. Now HER face was red, and oh how her cheeks burned! If Bernadette had been in here too... that means she had seen them, as well. Now two people would have to disappear, she thought grimly.  Her mind raced as she finished destroying all the evidence.  No... she couldn't do that. Bernabitch was Margara’s best cow. She would question why she had disappeared so suddenly. Unless... maybe she could make it look like an accident?  She shook herself from the thought. But Edovan, though, he was a different story. Nobody would miss him. She hauled him up in front of her, eye to eye, with her hands under his armpits.

“Explain to me why I shouldn't chuck you off the furthest pier in the harbor and let you swim back to wherever you came from.” She narrowed her eyes at him as menacingly as possible, “And choose your words very, very carefully.”

He was eye to eye with her now, and terrified beyond belief. Well logical brain was. Lizard brain was grinning because his half erect penis was now between her breasts.

Absolutely zero sense of self preservation.

She noticed.

“AUUUGH” she shrieked in anger and frustration.

Without another word, she strode to the door and tossed the tiny wood elf out onto his naked ass into the hall, which has filled again with feminine eavesdroppers. The door slammed shut with a resounding thud, loud enough to be heard downstairs and possibly outside, and the sound of her heavy iron key clunked out loudly as the door locked behind him.

He looked around at the half a dozen or so women in various states of shock and amusement. He was still naked.

“Please… my clothes… it’s freezing…” Edovan squeaked turning towards the door, his face pressed into her door, a hand covering as much of his manhood as it could, for privacy. He knocked. He didn’t have time to be as embarrassed as he would have liked, and getting clothes back was priority number one at the moment.

“Y-Yagaritte, I’m really sorr..…”

Suddenly there was a heavy click and the door flew open, Yagarittes long arm pushing Edovan back as he all but fell back into the room, having been leaning on the door. She threw his clothes into his face, and closed the door again, wordlessly. CLICK.

He took the clothes gratefully from the floor and the top of his head, and shimmied into the as fast as he could. It was cold, that was true, but he was more intent on covering himself so he simply wouldn’t be exposed in front of all the tittering women.

He ignored them and knocked again. She would calm down, he thought. Then they could talk about this like two rational adults.

“Yagar…”

The door cracked open this time.

“Go away!” she growled through the crack, and take KILLER here WITH YOU!” she roared. She pushed the clannfear through the gap, Bernadette's shredded bloomers still hanging from its jagged toothed jaws, and the door slammed again without another word from her.

At this, the women all shrieked and stampeded down the hallway and tumbled down the stairs in a blind panic, same as they had before. Edovan tried to call out to them that “Killer” was harmless to them, but they had all vacated the area so quickly he didn't have a chance.

“No… wait!  It won't... hurt… you...” he tried anyway, with a heavy sigh.

There was no one there.  The clannfear looked at him quizzically, like it wondered what new fun game they were going to play next. Edovan snapped his fingers and the clannfear dissipated into motes of light with a slightly surprised look on its face. Bernadette’s bloomers fell to the floor in a soggy heap.

It had been a rough day for Edovan to say the very least. It had started out so good, too. Very promising. He realized suddenly that in addition to being assaulted by painted ladies and thrown out by his ..  (well, he didn't know quite what she was to him before..even less now)...acquaintance?..that he hadn’t anything to eat all day except the painted lady’s nethers. His stomach growled loudly as he pulled his jacket on and reluctantly turned to head downstairs.

*  *  *  *