Royal Blooded, page 21
part #1 of Royal Blooded Series
She was barely able to contain herself. “I wonder where we could find someone who works in law enforcement and would be able to track down the owner of a bank account. Maybe even someone who specializes in financial crimes…” She said, glancing back and forth at the papers in Eli’s hand.
“What are you- oh.” He said, the realization hitting him. “Zee.”
“Who?” Faelor asked.
“Zebeyana bint al-Ramil.” Eli responded, recalling her full name. “Anar’s champion for the Verinthas. She might be able to help.”
“How can she help?” Faelor asked.
“She’s got some connections.” Eli responded, not wanting to reveal her occupation. She had trusted them with her secret, and he wasn’t about to break that trust.
He began dialing the number. While it rang, Aria and Faelor began conversing quickly and quietly in Elvish. Eli couldn’t make out the words, but he was almost sure he heard Anar’s name. Before he could ask though, Zee picked up. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Eli.”
“Oh! Decided to take me up on my offer for a sparring partner? Or are you here to ask me out on a date?” She purred into the phone.
He shook his head. “Maybe the first, maybe the second, but that’s actually not why I called. I need a favor, and it has to do with your work.”
Immediately, her tone changed to something more businesslike. “This line isn’t secure. Don’t say too much.”
He thought for a moment on how to phrase his request. “Did you hear about the thing that almost happened to a certain person I call princess a few weeks ago?”
“Yes. It was terrible.” She responded.
“We think it may have been a professional job. We have their account number, but no name.”
“Ah.” She said, pausing for a moment. “Say no more. Text me the number.”
“Thanks Zee. I owe you.” He said.
“I have to go, but don’t worry - I’ll come to collect on that debt later handsome.” Her seductive voice had returned.
The phone clicked as she hung up. Freya reappeared, handing him a piece of paper with the account number before taking up a guard position just outside the door. Eli quickly texted the number to Zee. “Done.” He said, looking back at Faelor. “We should get an answer soon.”
“Thank you Eli.” Faelor said. “You’ve done me a great service.”
“Father.” Aria said, looking at him. “Tell Eli that starting a harem is a good idea.”
Eli’s face immediately went red. Faelor grinned before answering. “Eli, I know it’s human custom to only have one partner. But believe me when I say having more than one wife is a blessing everyday. I could never rule without Selendis, Morathi, and Aurora by my side. We protect each other, help each other, and make each other happy. I love them, and while it’s not the sort of family you’re used to, it’s just as much of a family as in a monogamous relationship.”
Eli’s embarrassment started to fade. The way Faelor described it, the idea of a harem sounded almost wholesome. Sure, it wasn’t conventional but a group of people loving, protecting, and caring for each other sounded a lot like any other family.
A ping from his phone interrupted his thoughts. He read it quickly, then shared it with Aria and Faelor. “Zee says the account is owned by a company called ‘Innovacorp’, based in Perth, Australia. Do you know them?”
Faelor’s eyes narrowed. For the first time, Eli saw raw unbridled fury behind them. “No, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’ll lead a team myself, and we’ll go to their offices. I’m going to take their building apart piece by fucking piece.”
Eli’s eyes matched Faelor. “I’ll go with you. Let’s get these assholes.”
Aria stepped between them. “Both of you, stop.”
That was enough to make both of them look at her. Aria shook her head, then spoke. “Innovacorp sounds like a generic corporate name. Almost too generic. How much do you want to bet that it’s a front? If you try a frontal assault, you’ll probably just catch some low-level human employees. If you want the real perpetrators, you’re going to have to be a little more patient.”
Taking a deep breath, Eli nodded. “Fuck. You’re probably right. I’m sorry, I just got caught up.”
“No, it was sweet.” She said, kissing him on the cheek. “I know you’re just trying to protect me.” Then, she turned to her father. “How about you use your investigators? Place them outside of the office, figure out how to get in and out undetected?”
Faelor nodded, seeing the logic and cooling off. “Good idea. They can record who is coming and going as well, so we can make sure we get all of them in one shot.”
“Good. It’s settled.” Aria said.
Faelor placed one hand on Eli’s shoulder in a fatherly way. “Thank you Eli. You’ve done a lot for this family. Now, I need to go talk to my investigators. I’ll let you both know if they turn up something.”
Faelor left the room and closed the door before Aria turned back to Eli. He leaned in, kissing her and tasting her perfectly soft lips quickly. “I hate to ruin the mood, but what were you saying to your dad about Anar?”
Surprisingly, Aria giggled. “I was asking where he was. Turns out he hasn’t been back since the Verinthas. He’s been so embarrassed about losing to a human that he’s been staying in Avallonè with his princess friend, delegating all his responsibilities as a representative to someone else.”
Eli grinned. “I’d say I’m sorry, but…I’m not sad about him being gone. Especially since the whole ‘death threat’ thing.”
“Me neither.” She said, before leaning in for another kiss. “So what do you think about me asking Lilly and Freya to join us in bed tonight?”
“I’m tempted.” He replied honestly. “But isn’t that a little weird for you? They’re your…employees, I guess? Wouldn’t they feel sort of obligated to say yes?” He said, struggling for the right words.
“Don’t think of them like that.” Aria responded, shaking her head. “We’ve been friends since birth. Our mothers got pregnant at the same time. Sure, I pay them to be my handmaidens, but they could leave anytime and I’d support them. They’re practically family, and they’d be free to say no to the offer.” Then she started to grin. “Even though I know they won’t say no. They’re the ones who asked me if they could join. As far as they’re concerned, it’s open season on you now.”
Eli groaned as she finished talking and started to kiss his neck. Last night she had discovered he liked that, and was taking full advantage of it. Determined to finish this conversation, he continued. “Okay, but that doesn’t solve the bigger problem. I don’t want to have sex with someone I barely know. It took weeks to get to know each other, and my Elvish isn’t good enough to get to know them deeply.”
Aria pushed Eli onto the bed, curling up beside him. Her hand snaked into his pants, slowly teasing him. “It doesn’t have to be tonight then. Stay here with me, work on your Elvish, and get to know them better. If you decide you like them, we’ll take things to the next level.”
“And if not?” He asked.
“Then we don’t. Eli, you and I are in this together. We don’t invite anyone into our bed unless both of us agree. Okay?” She began to stroke him to full hardness.
“Okay.” He agreed. “I’ll get to know Freya and Lilly better.”
“And Zee. And Naz.” She added, stroking slightly faster and making him moan.
“Fuck. Fine. Them too.” He said as she pulled his pants further down.
“Good. Now, you deserve a reward for being my big strong protector.” She said teasingly, trailing kisses down his body while stroking his cock. In one quick movement, she wrapped her lips around it and began to bob up and down, running her tongue along the base.
As Eli got closer and closer to cumming, his mind started to wonder what it would be like to be doing this with two women at once – or even three or four. The thought sent him careening over the edge, and he shot his load deep into Aria’s mouth. After swallowing, she looked up at him.
“We might need to get a bigger bed soon.” She said with a grin.
Chapter 19
The next morning, Freya and Lilly accompanied Eli to a neighborhood in Irandell which he’d never visited. Aria was in court, and at her prompting Eli had agreed to use the time to meet up with Naz. She insisted that she was safe while in court and that he should take Freya and Lilly with him, to ‘show him how to get there’. Lilly was in her full dryadic glory, but Freya had stayed in her human form. For his part, he was suspicious that Aria was just trying to find excuses for him to spend time with them but as he walked through the unfamiliar streets he was grateful for the guides. Still, they didn’t have to escort him there linked arm-in-arm with one woman on either side.
“Here.” Freya said, stopping in front of a door.
The building looked like a warehouse. The doors were made of steel, and the walls were a plain grey concrete. Even though it was small for a warehouse, it was easily large enough to fit four regularly-sized houses in it and still have room left over. “Are you sure?” He asked Freya.
She nodded at him, smiling. Shrugging, he disentangled his arms from Freya and Lilly before balling his fist and banging it on the door three times. “Coming!” he heard a voice shout, before the door swung wide open.
Naz stood in front of him. Her black hair hung loose down her shoulders and her eyes went wide as she saw Eli. She was wearing only a black sports bra and matching black bikini bottoms. Eli’s eyes couldn’t help but wander up and down her frame, taking in her body in a way he hadn’t before. Despite her obvious muscles, she had all of the curves that would normally make him drool.
She smirked as she closed the door behind her. “Hey there champion.” She said flirtatiously. “Come to meet your fans? Or do you just have green-skinned fever?”
Lilly giggled behind him, her green skin glowing beneath the vines and leaves that covered her. Eli held up his hands in front of him, waving them. “Slow down Naz. We’ve gotta talk.”
She raised one eyebrow, but allowed him to continue. “I’m still trying to get my head around the whole harem thing. Aria insisted that I explore the idea with women I think are attractive-”
“You think I’m attractive?” Naz interrupted.
“Yes.”
“Score!” She said, pumping her fist. “I think you are too. So what are we waiting for?”
“Hang on Naz, I was getting to that. I have some rules before we do anything. If you can agree to them, we can see if there’s something between us. If you can’t, then we shake hands and part ways as friends.”
Naz frowned, but nodded. “Let’s hear them.”
“Rule 1: Nothing happens unless everyone consents. That means you, me, and Aria.” He paused, waiting for her reaction.
“Duh. Of course. I’m not going to jump into an unstable harem.”
“Okay, that was easy. Rule 2: if we get to the stage where we want to get physical, you can’t be with any other guys. You’re exclusive with me and the others in the harem. I don’t share with other guys. I’ve got reasons why which I can talk about later, but…that’s a hard line that I won’t cross.”
“Eli, these are easy to agree to. Orc men don’t have what I’m looking for, and most other races would never give an orc a chance. Once I get into it, I’m a ‘one man’ kinda woman, even if I have to share that man.” She responded.
“Great. Rule 3: No sex until we know each other better. I want to figure out if our personalities fit before we get to that.”
Naz pouted. “What? I’ve been so fucking pent up since the Verinthas. I was hoping we could spend a few hours here together, naked. That counts as ‘getting to know each other’, right?”
Despite his mental images of the two of them intertwined on a bed, Eli held firm to his principles. “No, Naz. These are my rules. I hope you can agree to them.”
“How come you get to make the rules? Is it because you’ve got a dick?” She asked.
Eli chuckled. “No, it’s not. And these are just my rules. You get to have rules in our relationship too, ones for me. If I can’t follow them I’ll let you know, but if I can agree to them I promise to respect them.”
“What about them?” She said, gesturing to Lilly and Freya behind him.
“They’re playing by the same rules.” He responded. “For the record, I’m taking the time to get to know them too – so you know I’m applying the rules equally.”
“Fine.” Naz said with a sigh. “Your rules are fair. As much as I hate to admit it, the fact that you have some principles somehow makes you more attractive.”
Eli blushed for the first time in their whole conversation, causing Naz to grin. “So how does this whole ‘getting to know you’ thing work anyways?”
“Well, usually we go somewhere and talk. I share some stuff about me, you share some stuff about you. Maybe we find things we like to do together – no, not sex.” He said, seeing the look on Naz’s face. “Other things. And then we go from there.”
Naz nodded and opened her mouth as if to say something, but was interrupted by a giant thump on the metal door behind her. She winced, shaking her head. “Fuck. Well, if we’re getting to know each other you should probably start now. Why don’t you come in?”
She swung the door open and stepped inside, beckoning him to follow. He stepped inside and his eyes took a moment to adjust to the dim light. Freya and Lilly followed him, and their gasps were matched by the way both his eyebrows raised in surprise.
The room was filled with orcs. There must have been two dozen of them in the warehouse, making it look distinctly smaller. To his right there was what appeared to be a boxing ring where two orcs were sparring. To his left there were piles of blankets, furs, and pillows where several orcs were sleeping together. Further into the warehouse there was a large fire pit where a few orcs stirred a pot over an open flame. The few small windows on that side of the warehouse had been thrown wide open to let the smoke escape, but it still cast the entire warehouse in a hazy gloom.
Eli turned to Naz. “So…you live here?” He asked hesitantly.
“Yes.” She said. “Orcs are tribal. We share resources with our tribe freely, and that includes living space. We live together, eat together, sleep together…we do everything together.”
Eli started to absorb the idea. “Wait, so if you met someone and wanted to be together, does that mean they would join your tribe?”
Naz shook her head. “No. Anyone is free to leave the tribe at anytime. If hypothetically you and I wanted to be together, I would join your tribe and leave them. They’re practically family though, so I would still want to see them often.”
Eli nodded. “That makes sense. How does a tribe form?”
“Usually it’s a group of orcs who are all around the same age. We all find somewhere to move in together, and help each other grow up. As we get older, some members of the tribe leave to form new tribes, and the remaining members of the tribe usually have children. Then the cycle begins again.”
Eli listened as he continued to look around the room. Focusing on the sleeping pile in the corner, he saw that two orcish women weren’t actually sleeping. They were naked, slowly grinding their bodies together as they kissed. His eyes went wide as he watched one of them kiss her way down the other woman, settling between her legs.
“Careful, don’t stare too long or they’ll drag you in there with them. We don’t have any men in our tribe, so they’d be only too happy to let you join.”
Looking away pointedly, he scanned the room noticing that her statement was right – there weren’t any orcish men here. Turning to her, he asked. “Is the gender ratio for orcs the same as it is for elves? Many women to one man?”
Naz shook her head. “It’s even worse. Orcish men tend to be even more aggressive and stubborn than the women, and do stupid things that get themselves killed. It’s more like a ten-to-one ratio.”
“Ah”. He said, recalling Naz’s rage during their fight. “That sounds…intense.”
“It is. That’s why we make sure we have space for fighting in every tribal house. It helps us take out our aggression before it boils over and we accidentally kill someone.”
“Doesn’t that result in a lot of injuries though?”
“Not really. Orcish magic is all about increasing our ability to fight. We can use magic to heal faster, trigger our blood rage, make us bigger, stronger, and faster – that sort of thing.”
“Hang on. How often do orcs fight?”
“Everyday.” Naz responded.
Eli’s mind started to work through the implications. “You must be amazing fighters.”
“We’re some of the best. A good orcish warrior can go toe-to-toe with just about anyone. We might not win against a fully grown dragon or something like that, but we’ll certainly make it hurt.” She said with a grin.
An idea popped into Eli’s head. Turning to her, he grinned. “Will you help train me?”
“What?” She responded.
He took a deep breath. “I know I got lucky against you in the tournament – in a fair fight, you would have destroyed me. Same goes for the other opponents I fought. I’ve only ever been in one ‘fight-to-the-death’ situation, and I barely survived. Now I’ve got a giant target on my back for being royal blooded, and I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time before someone comes after me. When that happens, I’m pretty sure all the martial arts skills in the world aren’t going to protect me.”
Naz furrowed her brow. “So what do you want me to do?”
“Train me to fight against someone using their magic. I’ve got magic of my own now too – train me to use that in a fight. I need to know how to protect myself and the people around me. As an added bonus, it means you and I get to spend time together getting to know each other. It’s a win-win.”
Naz nodded slowly. She was about to speak when Freya interrupted, saying something in Elvish.
