Country Mage 2, page 22
“Do it,” she moaned, her voice hoarse from her own orgasm. “Cum inside me, James…”
With a grunt that transitioned into a growl of satisfaction, James came hard, pumping rope after rope of cum into her waiting womb, sending waves of pleasure coursing through him as he filled her with his seed.
Corinne gave a deep moan of satisfaction as he spurted the last of his warm seed inside of her, then leaned back, the back of her head against his chest, her arms reaching around as she turned her head to give him a kiss. His cock still deep inside her, he met her kiss with passion, pulling her close against him as they shared the final embers of their fiery lovemaking.
“Oh my Lord,” she said softly when she finally broke the kiss. “I love you, James. And I love loving you.”
James smiled at the words and kissed her forehead.
“Hmm, that was great,” he grunted, still feeling the warm water clatter on his back. “The perfect ending to another perfect day with you.”
She giggled, then shook her ass a little. “I’ll say,” she purred.
Then, James let out a sharp hiss as the shower — which had been pleasantly warm a moment ago — suddenly turned cold as a mountain stream. Corinne yelped, then broke out laughing as she loosened herself from their embrace and hopped out of the shower to escape from the cold.
“Looks like the boiler ran out,” James said, then joined her in her laughter.
But he didn’t get out yet.
A cold shower was nothing he wasn’t used to, and he wanted to rinse off after such an intense session of lovemaking.
From behind the shower curtain, Corinne shivered and laughed. “I can’t believe you’re staying in there!” she exclaimed.
He chuckled. “Just making sure I’m proper clean before I get in bed with you.”
She giggled. “Well, you’ll be squeaky clean after this. How about I towel myself off and we’ll head downstairs to relax by the fire and warm up before we go to bed?”
James nodded with a smile as he did his best to ignore the cold. “Sounds like heaven,” he said. “I’ll be down in a sec.”
After he toweled himself down, James found Corinne already dozing off by the warm fire. They sat on the couch together — Corinne leaning against him as he watched the flames play and flicker. Soon enough, his fatigue overcame James as well, and he put out the fire and brought Corinne up to bed.
There, they experienced a brief revival of energies and made love a second time under the clean and fragrant sheets.
After that, Corinne nestled herself against James, and they fell asleep together.
Chapter 43
The next morning, James enjoyed a quick breakfast with Corinne before heading back to the cabin. He was eager to finish work on his expansion, and he was pleased to find that the boards he had prepared with his Board Crafting spell were now ready for use.
The next stage of construction was a little more difficult. He would use High Magic to cut the planks and beams to the size he needed them to be and set them in place, forming the framework for his expansions and workshop.
To that purpose, he would use the Woodcraft spell he learned when he had witnessed the old woman build a log wall from a pile of raw lumber.
The way he would use the spell differed slightly from what he had seen in the vision — he was not using raw logs, but rather seasoned boards.
Additionally, he would use the Woodcraft spell to build the log walls for the actual cabin expansion. After that, James would have to remove the old walls to open up the expansions. He expected the Woodcraft spell might work for that as well.
He would begin construction on the skeleton of the expansions and the workshop first, then put the boards and logs in place, and he expected he would have to do most of the hammering manually.
But cutting the planks in the right shape and placing them where needed would be achieved with High Magic, which would shave a lot of time off the entire process.
In fact, James thought, I think I should be able to finish this in two days.
Before he got started, he headed into the cabin to find Sara.
The cat girl was nowhere in sight, but there were sure signs that she ate breakfast there before heading out for the day. Hopefully, she would drop by later today and check in on him. Even though he’d had loads of fun with Corinne, he still missed Sara.
After he had a mug of piping hot coffee, James went outside and got started.
He measured out several large beams that would form the framework of his project — the skeleton to which all the other boards or logs would be attached, and which would have to hold the entire structure together.
When he was confident that the beams were of the proper length and sturdiness, he arranged them all on a piece of tarp and moved to an excellent position to oversee his entire lot.
Satisfied with his vantage point, he took a deep breath and began casting his spell. He visualized the result he wanted; the framework of the expansions and the workshop as he had drawn them out.
Once he locked that mental image in his mind, he began focusing his intent on that result, drawing forth the mana from his core and sending it out down the channels of his body, willing the result into existence.
When the time was right, he raised his hands, opened his eyes and spoke the words he learned from the ancestral memory of the old woman:
“Vanhoudt tod kervthoudt.
“Bawerckinghe, maacken. Kraft.
“Vanhoudt tod kervthoudt.
“Danoock, vanealders tod meinenwil.
“Brengang, furanderinghe. Kraft.
“Vanealders tod meinenwil.”
And as he had envisioned, the beams began moving into the proper positions, fitting into the holes he dug for them. They came together smoothly, fitting perfectly, and he made the requisite carvings in their corners, allowing them to lock together.
So fitted and put into place, the boards latched together to form the crude framework of James’s expansion on the north side of the cabin — the kitchen and the lean-to workshop.
All right, he thought with no small sense of wonder. That worked.
Up next was the bedroom expansion on the west side. He used the same process and placed the beams where he needed them, applying High Magic to make the necessary carvings so it could all latch together.
It worked like a charm.
He let out a deep sigh of relief, chuckled to himself, and gave a nod. Up next was the actual physical labor.
He had a stepladder for this work, and he had done plenty of the type before: driving nails and self-tapping screws into the wood. Still, it took him a while until the frameworks were sturdy enough that he was satisfied.
He could only imagine how much work it would be if he focused himself on larger projects, and as he worked up a sweat in the morning sun, he agreed with himself that he would master more magic to aid him with construction once he would further expand the cabin.
Come afternoon, the framework stood.
James then headed back inside and took a break for lunch.
James was happy to find that Sara joined him for lunch after he took out his sandwiches to sit in the sun and relax.
She came from the tree line this time, dressed in a simple and loose-fitting shirt and a matching skirt — an outfit that would work well for anyone on the move or hunting.
And by the bloodstains on the collar of her shirt, James guessed that was exactly what she had been doing.
“James!” she purred happily at the sight of him, her yellow eyes growing large. “You’re back!”
He grinned and nodded, and she came up to give him a warm hug and a kiss. She smelled wild — of the forest, and he was certain that she had been romping around, hunting things and having a good old, primal time.
“I’m happy to see you, too,” he said. “What have you been up to? Hunting?”
She laughed and nodded. “You won’t believe this, James,” she said. “But I’ve actually met up with Astra, and we had a little hunt of our own. We made it into a competition…” She loosened herself from the embrace and stood a little straighter. “Naturally, I won.”
He laughed. “I am not surprised at all.”
She grinned and flopped down on the porch steps beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as her left ear gave its signature twitch.
“And you?” She asked. “How were things with Corinne?”
There was a teasing note to her voice that told him she had her expectations about how things would have been.
He laughed. “They were good. I helped out at the farm, and we ate dinner together.”
She nudged him with her hips. “I bet that’s not all that you ate.”
He laughed and shook his head. “That mind of yours is permanently in the gutter, isn’t it?”
She rolled her eyes playfully. “Don’t act like you don’t like it, James,” she purred.
James smiled at that and kissed her on the temple. “I talked to her about staying with us at the cabin more often.”
Sara tilted her head to one side. “Oh? What did she say?”
“She liked the idea,” James said. “Only a few nights every week.”
“So, things are serious?” Sara asked, her yellow eyes big as her tail gave a playful swish. “Good! I like her!”
Her gaze drifted to the frameworks James had reared. “And it looks like you’ve been hard at work?”
James nodded as he took a bite of his sandwich. “Yeah,” he said around a mouthful. “I want to finish it tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow? Sara asked.
“Well,” he began. “If Corinne is going to stay with us from time to time, will need more room. I also want Lucy to drop by more often; with her in town, I see less of her than I would like.” He shrugged. “Long story short: we need a bigger cabin.”
Sara laughed and nodded. “Okay,” she said. “I like that. Is there anything I can do to help?”
He thought for a moment. “No,” he said at length. “I have it under control. But things might get trickier when I want to further expand the cabin. I will need more powerful magic in order to do the work well and quickly. Maybe you and I can sit down together for an hour or so and try to think how High Magic could help the construction project.”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Sure!” she said. “I bet we could come up with a few ways to make life easier.”
He smiled and gave her a pat on the thigh. “Good.” He shot her a sideways glance. “So… how were things with Astra?”
Sara laughed and shook her head, her tail curling playfully.
“She is not as bad as I supposed she was. She’s… Well, there is something arrogant about her; I won’t lie about that. But I expect you were right; there is a good person — Dragonkin, I mean — underneath all of that. I expect that the more we see over, the more she’ll be able to drop that mask.”
James nodded. “I had the same idea about her.”
Sara leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek, then her eyes turned big as she considered something. She placed a finger to her lips. “But if she ever comes to live with us at the cabin,” she mused, “you’ll need to build her a roost or a nest or something.”
James laughed. “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe. I don’t know how Dragonkin live, but I can imagine a woman like Astra will have her specific requirements when it comes to where she lives.”
“Hm-hm,” Sara agreed.
James squeezed Sara’s knee. “But let’s not think about that too much. For now, I have my eyes on Corinne and Lucy — and on you, of course. If we can expand the cabin just a little, we should be all right. More important are the creature comforts — hot water, refrigeration, heating for when fall begins... stuff like that.”
Sara nodded. “Yes, we’ll definitely need those.”
“And we will have them,” James said. “Anyway, I’d better get back to work.” He rose and stretched.
She nodded and gave him a kiss on his cheeks. “I’ll make you some coffee and a snack for later in the afternoon, okay?”
“You’re an angel,” he said as he blew her a kiss, then strode over to his construction site.
Chapter 44
James’s estimate ended up being correct. He spent the rest of the day and the entire next day on his construction project, carefully placing planks and logs where he needed them with his High Magic.
Thanks to the meticulous perfection afforded by his magic, James could cut the logs and boards down to the perfect size and make them latch together. He then fastened them with wood glue, nails, and self-tapping screws.
He left openings in the walls for windows, although he had not yet come up with a way to make window frames.
For now, he would attach shutters to the outside. That way, he’d have fresh air and ventilation for the remaining days of summer. Once the fall began, he would shut them to keep the cold out.
The work was satisfying. Like most of the things he undertook since he came to Tour, there was something deeply rewarding about physical labor that resulted in something tangible.
This differed completely from order picking, sorting boxes, or handling customer calls — not that those things were not respectable or satisfying in their own right, but there was something innately rewarding about building things.
James enjoyed it. Not just the result, but the process as well — coming up with new ideas, making drawings to test their feasibility, troubleshooting designs, and finally putting his plan into action.
Although he needed to put in a little overtime on Thursday, by Friday mid afternoon, he surveyed his finished expansions with no small sense of satisfaction.
On the north and west sides of the cabin now rose two expansions with log walls and slanting roofs of sturdy boards. The wood was still pale and fresh compared to the more seasoned logs of the cabin itself, but time would solve that.
The workshop leaned against the expansion on the north side. It was a rectangular structure of planks neatly fitted and nailed together, with a continuation of the expansion’s slanting roof overhead.
It would all need a little more work in the days to come, especially the roofs, which consisted of bare boards right now. He still needed to seal them and make them as waterproof as possible.
But he was not in a hurry to do that. He expected the rain spells of fall would not begin anytime soon.
Thoroughly happy with the result of his work so far, James finished the day with an extremely satisfying job: opening the walls to his expansions and laying the floors.
Normally hard work, this was a job almost wholly done with High Magic. His Board Crafting and Woodcraft spells allowed him to open up the walls to his new expansions, then cover the level floor with neatly fitted and seasoned boards.
It a way, putting in the floors was almost like playing Tetris.
James had to laugh at that thought.
He finished up by putting matching baseboards in place and making sure any cracks were sealed to keep out the bugs — although an occasional bug was part of any life in the woods.
After that, he moved most of his tools into the workshop. Admittedly, he wouldn’t be able to use the workshop until he had completed the workbench and done the last bit of work, but moving his tools to their new home gave him a sense of completion.
When he had finished moving the last of them, the sun was already on its way down.
Finally done, he thought as he surveyed the result of work.
He was tired but happy, and the light shimmering behind the shutters of the cabin looked very inviting. Sara would probably be home in a few minutes, and they would cook a delightful meal together.
With a satisfied nod, he turned toward the entrance of the cabin.
And that’s when he saw the eyes.
They looked at him from the tree line — big, one blue, one green.
Kesha.
She had come back again.
James stood silent on the porch of his cabin, studying the skittish fox girl as she eyed him.
She was beautiful; her red hair fell past her shoulders and her light skin made her appear ethereal. She drew her lips into a smile as she studied him carefully with her beautiful eyes — one green, the other blue.
Her fox ears stood upright, and three fluffy tails bristled behind her. She wore a simple white T-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts underneath, almost as if she were out hiking.
“Looks like you finished it,” she said, cocking her head slightly.
He smiled, happy that she had been the first to break the silence — happy that she had come back again. He had nothing else planned for the rest of the day except to move his tools into the workshop.
And that could wait another day.
He wanted to talk with her, and the way she looked at him promised she had made up her mind as well. She wanted to get to know him better, perhaps even be closer to him.
“Thanks. I worked hard on it. It took me forever to get all the wood together.”
Kesha nodded and turned her gaze down to the finished project. “Forever?” she asked. “I think you did it fairly quickly.”
James wriggled his fingers in the air and grinned. “Magic,” he said.
She laughed, her posture relaxing. “You’re not even joking, are you?”
He shook his head. “No,” he said. “I learned a couple of new spells that were of great assistance. In fact, going forward, they will help me further expand the cabin and make it exactly the way I want it to be.”
She stepped out from among the trees, her luscious hips swaying as she kept her heterochromatic eyes on him.
“So the cabin is getting more expansions,” she asked. “Just like you said it would?”
“Hm-hm,” he said. “Corinne is coming over to stay a few days a week.”
She came to a stop, placed one hand on her hip as she regarded James’s cozy home with a raised eyebrow.
James grinned and crossed his arms as he studied her. “Anything on your mind?” he asked.
She licked her lips as her gaze returned to him. “I liked staying here,” she said.
