Miniarc-Sleepover-6

Despite the mild hiccup of falling asleep on Lou’s chest, Alana had a wonderful afternoon. Kierra returned and, with a touch to her brow, cured her hangover before she could really experience it. As promised, Alana received a tour of the garden. A novel experience. Victory was not known for its greenery and upon leaving it, she never had cause to admire flowers. The elf cultivated unique specimens, enough to give even a girl who grew up admiring steel a sense of wonder.

Afterwards, they retired for dinner. It was as wonderful as she expected, to the point Alana feared for her ability to choke down the dry rations used on the campaigns or suffer a soldier’s cooking. She was having such a good time, she forgot her worries about the sleepover.

She was soon reminded of them when the first hiccup of the night came. Lou announced her intent to take a bath.

“Stop looking like a dragon is about to swoop down and swallow you,” Lou scoffed as she stood from the dining table. “I told you, the bet is over. You don’t have to join me. Though I do recommend trying my bath. Soaking is wonderful.”

“I know.” There were many bathhouses in Victory, the hot water pushing back the cold nights and easing the aches of training. Like anyone else from the fort, she liked a good bath.

“Great. We have a nice selection of bathsoaps too. Go ahead first, I’ll—"

“We can bathe together.” Alana ducked her head as Lou looked at her, heart hammering. She didn’t know what she was saying. The warm feelings in her stomach and chest had usurped her mind for control of her mouth. “A bet is a bet. It’s just sharing a bath.”

“But the bet is—"

“Lou!” she hissed standing up. Doesn’t she realize she’s making this harder? “I’m saying it’s fine. Let’s just…do it.”

“…alright, Alana. Whatever you want.”

“I will stay and enjoy a drink more,” Kierra said with a chuckle, shooting Alana a knowing look that made her fidget. She almost broke into a run to escape the dining table but managed to constrain her nervous energy to a walk as she followed Lou up the stairs and to her bedroom.

“The bathroom is right there,” the noblewoman said while waving at a door. “A novel idea, that. Nobles usually only put in a small water closet off the rooms so they don’t have to go wandering the halls at night. Tacking on a whole bathroom is interesting and quite convenient. Though they don’t have methods of bringing or heating water. I suppose the Hall assumes anyone in one of their estates can handle such mundane matters and aren’t the same spoiled bastards in the capital. Am I right?”

“Mm.” Alana was too distracted to answer with anything more as Lou had started stripping the moment she entered the room. Her belt was flung onto the bed and her shirt was pulled over her head, revealing her strong shoulders and slim back, most of her skin hidden by a dark corset. Alana felt a strange tingle move through her body at the sight. She’d been expecting a chemise at most but she was reminded that Lou was a noblewoman and had picked up at least a few practices from the upper nobility.

“Do you have any smells that irritate you? I prefer the scented soaps myself but some of them are quite strong. Worse now with my new nose.” Her hands dexterously reached the strings of her undergarment, undoing it with quick tugs. “If you’re going to sit in water for half an hour, it better smell to your liking. Any preferences?”

Her pants dropped, pooling around her ankles before being kicked away, leaving behind extremely short shorts. They resembled the underwear worn by men but the legs were even shorter, cut and curved to conform to her tight ass. Even at a glance, she could tell it was made of a much finer material than usual, perhaps silk. Those went to, falling to the floor before being kicked aside. Alana gulped.

“Alana?”

Her eyes looked up to see a violet gaze watching her with amusement. Lou stood before her wearing only a small smirk. A hand casually undid the tie holding her hair up and the violet-black tresses fell down to her shoulders artfully.

“You getting in like that? I won’t tell you no but it’s bound to be uncomfortable.”

Saints give me the strength. Alana searched for something to say, anything that would dispel the rising tension, but her tongue seemed caught in a trap.

“The bath is ready.”

She turned to see the thrall exiting the bathroom. Damn the women in this house and their looks. It almost felt ridiculous keeping up any pretense when everyone seemed to peer into her heart without any trouble. “Have you decided on your soaps and shampoos?”

“…let’s go with unscented.”

“As you wish, my summoner.”

The succubus dipped back into the bathroom and Lou turned back to her. “If you want some privacy, give me a moment and I’ll get into the bath first. And, ah. You read my mind, Bell.”

“Coo!” The imp entered the room, carrying a stack of towels. Alana groaned softly as Lou bent over to grab them, not understanding why or why her eyes stayed glue to Lou’s backside as she dropped them on the bed.

“There’s a guest room down the hall if you prefer. Same room I had your bag dropped.” Lou turned to find Alana in the same place she’d been since the moment Lou started to undress and sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”

Alana’s eyes widened as the noblewoman stalked over to her, closing the distance until they were less than an arm’s length apart. Hands tugged on the hem of Alana’s shirt. “Maybe you’re standing there because you want my help?”

Something in Alana’s gut tightened, a bit painful, a bit pleasurable. She didn’t agree but she didn’t decline either and that was good enough for Lou to tug on her shirt. Her body reflexively raised her arms to assist and the shirt was lifted over her head, tossed aside to join the other discarded garments.

A dark finger traced the cloth wrapped around Alana’s chest. “Binding isn’t good for you. I’ve heard horror stories.”

Alana wanted to say that it was the norm in Victory and she had never tied the cloth too tight. She also wanted to point out that corsets could be just as bad. Unfortunately, her tongue still felt heavy as iron and couldn’t form words.

“What am I going to do with you?” Lou whispered as her questing fingers found the knot holding the cloth in place, yanking it free with a quick tug, throwing it aside with the rest of the clothes. “I am doing my best, my absolute best, to be considerate. To keep this comfortable for you. To not rush anything. But how am I supposed to keep this innocent if you keep staring at me like you want to eat me alive?”

Something inside Alana snapped. She didn’t know if she was imagining it but she heard it clear as an explosion spell fired from the top of Victory’s walls, but it was much subtler. Like the sound of a bowstring snapping. The thread of her reason giving  under tension it could no longer bear.

She wanted. She intensely wanted to share Lou’s wanton confidence and overflowing satisfaction with the direction of her life. She even wanted the woman’s sensuality, something a knight had no use for but she was coming around to the idea that she didn’t have to be just a knight. Or an unwanted daughter. If she was strong enough, she could have it all, like the greedy noblewoman who reached for more and more with seemingly no consideration for consequences or going beyond her limits. Alana wanted that strength too.

She was done being reticent since it hadn’t worked very well anyway. Truthfully, she wanted Lou. The strength of her desire embarrassed her, mortified her, but saints help her, she wanted to feel those arms wrapped around her when they weren’t sparring. She wanted to savor one of their kisses without pulling away to maintain a stupid facade. She wanted to know what caused all the women around Lou to become fascinated with the noblewoman and learn the secret to the sounds she’d heard from the lovemaking she’d witnessed.

It’s fine, she told herself as her desires surged. Who cares if I make a bit of a fool of myself? Lou has thoroughly destroyed her image in the eyes of most people, including me, and seems the better for it. Besides, we both knew it was going to come to this. That’s why she’s been so infuriatingly confident. Always wearing that smirk. Well, I bet this wipes it off.

As the dark hands moved to the hem of her pants, Alana’s arms came up and looped around Lou’s neck. She had a moment to appreciate the noblewoman’s surprise, a moment where she almost lost her nerve, before she mashed their lips together.

She didn’t have much experience in the matter. Lou was only the second person she’d ever kissed, the first affair a clumsy fumbling between children. Nothing like the voracious clashing of lips and tongues she’d witnessed between Kierra and Lou. She wouldn’t know how to do such a thing even if she wanted, settling for pressing their lips together. Not that she didn’t enjoy the simple act. Lou’s lips were warm and soft. And they had a kind of taste to them, one that made her eager for more.

Which made Lou’s continued attempts to pull away rather annoying.

“Mm!” Lou finally wrenched her lips away, holding Alana back by her shoulders. “Wait a moment, wait!”

“Why?” Alana whined in a tone that would have her burying her head under her pillow when she woke up in a more reasonable mood. “I thought—"

“You thought absolutely right. Saints! There’s just one little thing to take care of. One of those secrets, but it’s not a big one.” Alana could hear Lou’s desperation in the quickness of her speech and it mollified her, calming her raging desire enough for her to stop her insistent attempts to move closer and listen. “My body. I didn’t just pretty myself up and make myself stronger.”

“I already know that,” Alana grumbled, eyes moving down to the other woman’s crotch that was missing a certain addition.

“Not that! Well, not just that. My body is meant to entice, every part of me. I’m a, eh-hem, a walking aphrodisiac, to put it mildly. Which is why I need you to be really sure about what you’re doing because the longer this goes on, the less you’re going to want to stop. And I don’t want us to do something and you to regret it in the morning and hate—"

“Lou!”

Her shout cut off the tirade and Alana inwardly chuckled at her wide eyes. Looks like there’s a hint of innocence in her after all.

“I like you, I want this. Will you shut up and get on with it?”

The hint of innocence was swallowed by the smug smirk Alana was starting to become dangerously fond of. “Alright, Alana.”