“Do you wish you hadn’t come?”
“Of course not.” She laid a hand on my chest and moved in close. “It’s all worthwhile to be with you.”
“And sharing me with Vesma and Faryn?” The elvish Wood Augmenter had returned to the Radiant Dragon Guild, but she was still very much on my mind. She’d mentioned something about being my wife before we’d parted, and I couldn’t help wondering whether I was now married to three women.
“My idea, remember?” Kumi said. “I know the Swordslinger’s appetites have to be met, and I’m more than happy to help.” Her hand crept around my back. “Speaking of which…”
She stretched up and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight, crushing our bodies together.
“Let’s find somewhere a bit more comfortable,” I said.
I led her to a house I’d spotted while we walked, a little away from the shrine and with all its walls intact. The sand went a quarter of the way to the ceiling, so we only had to crouch a little to get inside.
We found a hardened patch of sand and knelt together before we exchanged a deep, passionate kiss. Our hands roamed over each other’s bodies, toying and teasing, making my heart beat faster and the blood race in my veins. Her every touch was electrifying, her kisses as sweet and refreshing as spring water.
I unfastened my outer robe and laid it down on the sand. Kumi discarded her top and then her skirt before laying back on the impromptu bed. In the red dusk light spilling in through the window, I gazed at her wonderful curves and smooth skin, drinking in the marvel that was the princess of the Qihin.
I cast off my other clothes and knelt by her feet. Slowly, taking care over every inch, I kissed my way up her legs. My hand ran ahead of me, up her belly, and across the mounds of her breasts. As my lips reached the softness between her legs, she gasped in pleasure, and I set to work dispelling thoughts of homesickness. I lingered there, enjoying the taste of her and the joy of her as she writhed in pleasure.
“Oh, yes,” she moaned. “My Swordslinger.”
She reached down to brush my face.
“Come closer,” she whispered.
I kissed my way up her belly and across her breasts, until we were face to face. Then our lips met, at first in brief, brushing, teasing touches, then descending into a deep, passionate kiss. I slid closer, and our bodies joined with a shared moment of joy. She wrapped her legs around me and pulled me in harder, deeper, faster.
I tangled my hands through her hair and tipped her head back so that I could kiss her neck. She sighed and arched her back, ran her fingers up my spine and then back down. My flesh tingled, and I grabbed her more tightly, losing myself in the softness of her skin and her sweet smell.
She drew me in with arms and legs, pulling me tight as we gave in to the urgency of our passion. Lingering kisses and low moans gave way to the desperate drive of desire as our excitement mounted.
Kumi pressed her hands against my chest and pushed me off and onto my back. Then, she was straddling me, a huge grin on her face as she sank onto me and I into her. I ran my hands over her curves and down to her hips, felt the wetness of her as she rose up and down, at first slowly, then faster and faster.
“My hero,” she whispered. “My champion. My betrothed. My glorious, Immortal Swordslinger.”
My whole body thrummed with pleasure, a blissful moment in which there was no quest, no desert, no Gonki province, just me and Kumi and the last rays of sunset illuminating the curves of her chest. She flung her head back as she shuddered in joy, and I felt myself hit the crest of that wonderful wave, in which there was only the two of us, briefly and brilliantly become one.
Afterward, we lay for a while in that sand-swept house while the sky outside faded from red to steel gray.
“We should get back to the others,” I said.
At last, she sighed, rolled off me, and reached for her skirt. “I suppose so,” she agreed.
In the confines of the house, I found my pants and tunic and started getting dressed.
Suddenly, a strange noise came from outside, a drawn out rasping hiss.
“What’s that?” I pulled on my robe and went to look out the door.
A figure was standing in the village. He was humanoid, around five feet nine inches tall, dressed in pale robes. His skin was scaly, and horned ridges ran along the sides of his head.
“Hey there!” I called out. “Can I help you?”
The creature turned to look our way, revealing a lizard’s face. He seemed to smile at me, a twinkle in his eyes, then darted off between the buildings.
“Nice to meet you, yes,” he hissed. “Must be going now.”
“Hey, wait!” I shouted.
Kumi and I ran after the lizardman, who was heading straight for the shrine.
“Kegohr, Vesma, we’ve got company!” I shouted.
They came running out of the shrine, weapons raised. The lizardman, less than six feet from them, suddenly vanished in a swirl of sand.
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed.
“Oh, yes, yes!” came his hissing voice from inside the shrine. “Such lovely, tasty things.”
We ran in to see him standing behind the altar, one of our haversacks in one hand, rummaging through it with the other.
“Tasty, tasty fishies!” He pulled out a fish and waved it around.
“That’s ours,” Kegohr said and grabbed at him.
There was another swirl of sand, and the lizardman vanished into the ground.
We looked around as we scoured the room for any sign of him.
“Not done yet,” came the hissing voice from outside. “Time for bold adventurers to come out and play.”
Suddenly, the sand was swirling all around us. Not a focused funnel, like the ones the lizardman had vanished into, but a roaring, chaotic
