Claeri’s mouth opened in surprise, her breath sweeping over Alden’s face. His hands rested on her lower lips, floating before her head.

“Escape? What if we’re caught?” She spoke in a whisper, even though they were alone.

“We won’t be. This place isn’t a high-grade fortress or prison, it’s another degenerate clan in Wessfarrow.” Alden planted a kiss on her lip; he had to charm her. “We’ll get out, the world and all its opportunities lying before us, and we can do whatever we want.” The reality of Alden still having to work his guild jobs wasn’t as captivating of a proposition.

Alden was up and close, bring out his most flirtatious self, yet the lovesome Claeri who hadn’t been able to stop kissing him since he’d arrived wasn’t giving him so much as a smooch. Her eyes scanned the ledge of the pool, her nervousness evident. “What would we even do?” Claeri drifted back, leaving Alden to paddle himself afloat. “We’re safer here.”

“Safer here? In this camp of slaves and slavers, no-good thugs who like to bully anyone around them? And I’m only including the local camp, never mind its branches and the rival clans all around us, and with Gharn’s kingdom breathing down the throat of this country? We’re only safe until the next parade raid this camp and take us, and then we pray for the mercy of our new lowlife, thug overlords.”

Claeri said nothing. Her neck and collarbone emerged, one hand rubbing the opposite shoulder.

“I shouldn’t be the one telling you this.” Alden swam towards her again. He had been here for just a day and seen how Lady Hex treated her. That had to be one of many instances. “You know this life better than anyone. Do you enjoy it? Do you want it to continue?”

She bit her lip, staring down at the water. No, she didn’t. Her body language screamed it, the words she kept for herself were full of the same sentiment. But something was missing. She liked him, Alden should have the tools to persuade her. He thought back to how she always kissed him, and he remembered the moment right before Big Bertha interrupted them. Claeri was aiming him between her legs, at her most delicate parts. Alden had something to bargain.

Claeri stood up further now, her small breasts above surface now. Alden made his way to those pale mounds, locked on that dark maroon nipple like a fish darting towards a bait. With a hug forward onto her breast, Alden kissed the nipple, a flesh so soft and yielding his face sunk right into it.

Claeri stuttered, a quiver in her voice. The first reaction took her backwards, leaving Alden alone on the water again. But she corrected that quickly, drifting back and presenting the nipple to him again.

“Imagine if we were free.” Alden opened wide and swallowed that nipple up, stuffing his mouth with it. Bertha’s toes had felt soft back then, but having this for contrast made all the difference. This was true softness, its celestial cleanliness giving it a sense of purity. Toes were for Alden’s unique preferences, but these nipples were true objects of worship. Her chest fluttered, beset with an irregular breath. “We could do this whenever we want.”

He glimpsed her expression, and she had both her fists balled up under her chin expectantly, trying not spill all her emotions. She was overjoyed at his devotion. The smile was suppressed, lips flat together. If Alden hadn’t had his love muscle left so fatigued from all the orgasms throughout the day, he feared he’d be the one charmed by her.

“Can’t we do it anyway?” Claeri said. “Here?”

Alden parted from the nipple with a suckling kiss. “Can we? Big Bertha owns us, Lady Hex can do whatever she wants. I’m not making excuses when I say my dick is all done for the day. Others just sweep by and take their turns. If we’re free, we’re the only ones taking turns.” His mouth returned to the nipple, kissing, licking, and sucking. This was more rewarding. At Bertha’s toes, Alden’s best efforts were simply something expected. Her attention was full of demand. Claeri’s reception was more thankful. It filled her with genuine bliss to be the object of such attention. Even though lust didn’t drive Alden anymore, it meant something to do this.

Her hands wrapped around him, picked him up. Alden was brought before her face, where she came forward and planted a deep kiss over his head and chest. “Thank you.”

“You’re sweet.” Alden caught a tuft of her wet, tendril-like hair, thick as a coil of rope to him. He would have adjusted it behind her ear if he could reach. Instead, he ran his fingers through the strands. “What do you say? The two of us, on our own path?”

“It sounds nice.” Claeri waded her way back to the ledge, cuddling Alden up against her nose and lips. “But… let’s wait.”

Alden didn’t mind that answer. He had to build the case. It would be terribly optimistic to expect her to hop on his plan so soon, a plan which, honestly, Alden himself hadn’t known about since a few moments ago. It was either this plan, or taking Big Bertha’s offer.

This was something he should tell Claeri. “I’d rather make it out of here with you than work with the Sorrel Clan, even if Bertha made a pretty good offer.”

“A good offer?” The pool sloped up, where Claeri could sit, holding Alden against her left breast.

“She said I should work here, that there’s human mages in the Sorrel Clan, and that whoever makes themselves useful will climb the ranks. It might be the first time someone has made an offer like that after finding out I’m the Artless.” He ended the sentence by circling his tongue around her nipple. It had stiffened.

“Uhm, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Claeri said.

Alden had to contain his smugness, trying to make his smirk look like something born of curiosity. “And why is that?” he asked in pretend curiosity. It was a basic bargaining move; let the interested parties know other buyers are interested.

“They won’t take you seriously. You’ll always be at the bottom. They have their own people, and only they are allowed anything around here.”

“Interesting,” Alden said. “Though I might try it out still.” The skies were getting darker, the evening coming towards an end. “Didn’t Bertha say we had to be at her quarters before sunset?” He punctuated his previous point by applying his most delicate swirl of tongue-action to her nipple yet; here, in their imprisonment, their action was interrupted. Together, out there, they would be for themselves.

“Hmm, yeah.” Claeri watched the skies beyond the great treetops, then back to Alden. She brought him lower, and lower, past her ribcage then belly button. The water neared, his legs were dipped back into their flowing warmth, and her pink lips were before him. Claeri said nothing, though what followed didn’t surprise him. Her cupped hands over his backside, Claeri hugged him into her pussy. The mood wasn’t one of fiery action, she held him still and steady before the heat of her most sensitive flesh, only snuggling. Acting accordingly, Alden stuck his head out to reach the top, where the clit was hiding, and rubbed his cheek against it. She sighed, long and deep. Alden gave it a kiss, no more than that.

“I like you,” she said.

“So do I,” Alden said. A part of him felt guilty. He was manipulating her, in a way. Once he was out of here, he would find his way back to his ordinary life, and perhaps try and see where Claeri could find hers. She was pretty, sweet, and loving, but he was lying if he said he wasn’t spinning her a fable. Once they were out of here, things would end between them. However, Alden trusted himself that he wouldn’t drop her all cold and sudden. It would be a smooth transition, an amicable break-up, for she deserved that. Those problems were also lesser than the one he faced now, captivity in a Wessfarrow clan with an uncertain future. Above all, he had to escape this. All other problems were secondary.

After spending some time in his thoughts, Alden returned to the present moment and realized it felt different. He was still snugly encased between her hands and her pussy, but he thought he could hear her heartbeat now. A steady pair of drums coming every second, relaying anxiousness, a fear of loss. These were Claeri’s emotions. He wasn’t guessing or reading her expressions, he knew this to be true.

Alden’s body was lost on him; he was no small figure in this vast pool anymore, but he was sitting on its ledge, and its size befitted him. Its bottom was underneath his feet, his head high in the skies, the treetops level with his eyes.

He was giant.

Alden snapped back. No, he was small, this pussy his peer. It was when his head left her clit that he felt the return to his own body. Claeri’s eyes were wide open, frowning at her surroundings.

“What’s wrong?” Alden said, then added, “Did you feel something strange?”

“Yeah… I don’t know what it was. I felt powerful, I think. I’m not sure if it’s possible to feel power like a sensation, but that was it.” They shared a moment of silence.

What was that? Alden had never experienced anything near it, for all his time as a mage.

“Oh, no.” Claeri cut their affair short as she got up from the pool, Alden in her hand. “It’s getting late. We can’t be late, or Bertha will get mad.”