We hadn't left the academy until late in the afternoon, so there wasn't a lot of time for travelling before we had to stop for a light supper. Victoria had a huge smile on her face and had a difficult time eating. Her hair was windswept and she didn't try to tame it at all.

She explained that she hadn't tied her hair up into a ponytail just for that reason, so she could feel the wind in her hair. It was also one of the reasons she liked visiting her good friend Captain Cynthia Wing on her scout ship, because it was so fast. I was smart and didn't try to mention any of the other reasons.

When we were done eating, we took off at my best speed, because we would run out of daylight soon and we would have to stay at an inn overnight. Victoria said she was fine with sleeping in the boat and I reminded her that staying on the open water in anything smaller than a full sized ship was as dangerous as sleeping in the woods without wards up.

We made it to a good sized town when it was full dark and I pretended the boat needed to be poled in towards the dock. I secured it with ropes and number ten potion, and we carried our packs with us. I paid the tiny fee for docking for the night and we found the closest inn. It was only ten silver for the both of us to stay for the night, breakfast included, and Victoria insisted that we only needed one room, as long as there were two beds.

The innkeeper laughed at her. “You're a funny lady! Just for that, it's only 8 silver and I'll give you adjoining rooms.”

Victoria laughed and nodded, so we had a discount and went to our rooms. She took the better one, or so she said, even though they looked close to identical. She checked the door that was between the rooms and liked that it was actually a double set of doors.

“It's like a grand suite and they converted the living room into a room for you.” Victoria said with approval as she looked around. “Yes, this will do.”

I gave her a searching look and she laughed.

“Shall we go over the assault plan for the marsh? We have a bit of time before we need to go to bed.” Victoria said. “Then again, we could just cuddle for a bit and relax.”

“You're a bit more excited than usual.” I said as I took off my coat and put my pack beside the bed.

“I need to burn off some of this energy or I won't sleep much tonight.” Victoria admitted.

I took her hand and walked over to the fireplace on her side of the rooms and waved a hand over it to light it on fire. I had years of practice with controlling the heat, so I made it toasty warm immediately and dragged one of the nice rugs over in front of it. I tossed a couple of pillows down onto it for us to relax on and took her pack and coat to put it beside her bed.

“Let's do both.” I said and pat the pillow beside me as I laid down in front of the fire.

“Are you trying to seduce me, my lord?” Victoria asked, her huge smile becoming a smirk as she laid down next to me and then she turned onto her side to face me.

“If I was going to do that, you would already be naked on the bed with me buried deep inside you.” I said without hesitation.

Victoria laughed. “I am not that easily conquered, David.”

“I know. I would have started hours ago with teasing you while we rode in the boat and you were having so much fun, caressing your sumptuous body in random places to drive you wild, and teasing you by not actually touching the parts you wanted to be touched.”

Victoria blinked her eyes at me. “D-David, what... why are you telling me this?”

“So you can keep trusting me like you always have.” I said and her eyes widened. “I won't take advantage of your vulnerable nature, when I easily could, because I don't want to disrespect you any more than you want to disrespect my fiance.”

Victoria stared at me for several moments in silence, then she let out a long sigh and moved closer. She took my arm and cuddled it in a very similar manner as Hope did, then she gave me sorrow filled eyes.

“I do trust you.” Victoria whispered. “Unlike every other man that I've tried to tease, you're the only one that I've gone so very far with. I wouldn't have done a quarter of the things to another man that I've done to you.”

“Even a quarter must have made them want you very much.” I commented and she nodded.

“Just a hint that I might be interested, made them pursue me for months afterwards.” Victoria said and snuggled her head down onto my shoulder. “I know I'm not the prettiest woman you've met...”

“You don't have to be gorgeous to be sexy.” I interrupted and her hold on my arm tightened slightly.

“David, you really do understand.” Victoria whispered. “Just being around you makes me feel so sexy.”

“I couldn't tell.” I joked.

“Good god, that lie almost hurt my brain!” Victoria laughed for a moment and then she sighed as she rubbed her cheek on my shoulder. “The risky things I'm tempted to do around you, sometimes makes me giddy enough that I laugh at random times as I imagine your reaction.”

“Giving me an erection isn't enough?” I asked and she laughed again.

“It's not that.” She said and I huffed. “Okay, it's not just that.” She said with a chuckle. “It's the look in your eyes. Your intense gaze as you intentionally look at what I'm showing you or teasing you with. That gives me a thrill that I just can't get from anyone else.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“They all... all... try something. All of them.” Victoria said. “Each time I do something, I always feel a grab, an intentional mistaken caress with them saying 'oops, my hand slipped', them tripping and falling on me, or making me fall onto them when they pull me close.”

I reached over with my free hand and lightly touched her cheek. “I'm sorry that they didn't understand.”

“So am I.” Victoria said and closed her eyes.

We laid there in silence for several minutes like that before she spoke again.

“If we were in a relationship, you'd still let me do what I've been doing, wouldn't you?”

“Yes. It's what you want.” I answered. “I'd still make you scream in pleasure at night, however.”

Victoria barked a laugh and then sighed. “You are very good at adapting to different environments.”

“I've grown up learning that ability. Adapt, change, survive.” I said to her. “I would have permanently died a long time ago if I hadn't.”

Victoria was quiet for another minute. “What happened at Ester's Village?”

“Looking back at it, it was my own fault. I was trying to emulate the Hag and not adapt to the situation like I was supposed to.” I said and she lifted her head from my shoulder to look at my face. “Given another few days, I might have become a full village citizen again and none of the rest of it would have happened.”

Victoria took in a sharp breath. “David, you... you wouldn't have come to the capital.”

“I doubt I would have gone to the next town, let alone come here.” I said and her eyes widened. “I didn't know anything but the marsh and some of the village back then. I had no clue about anything else.”

“Oh, my.” Victoria whispered, then she leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I know what you went through to get here was horrible; but, I'm glad you did it and that you made it here.” She said and laid back down. “I can't imagine what my life would be like without you in it.”

“The same as it was before you met me.” I said and she didn't respond. “Without me showing up...”

“I don't want to think about that.” Victoria said and hugged my arm tightly. “Tell me about what to expect in the marsh.”

“You don't have to expect anything.” I said and she chuckled.

“Tell me another joke.” Victoria said, amusement in her voice.

“I'll give you a protection ward when we reach the village, the same ones I have on my house.”

“Really?” Victoria asked.

“Yes, and I've made it the same size as the concealing repellent medallions.”

“That's convenient.” Victoria said. “I don't think I could walk around for long with that big one foot wide wooden coin hanging around my neck. It would be bouncing everywhere when I move.”

“You'd have to hug it to your chest a lot.” I said, remembering that Gloria did that when she ran with the one I had given her. She was the little girl in Ester's Village that was bitten by a death spider and was now afraid of them.

“I'd never be able to pick anything up with two hands.” Victoria laughed softly. “At least the smaller one I can tuck into my shirt or sweater.”

We fell silent again and neither of us broke that silence for a long time. We laid there and basked in the warmth of the fire. The only sounds around us were the crackling of the wood pieces in the fireplace. It really was relaxing and I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep before I realized it.

The morning arrived and we were cuddled up on the floor together. Victoria was no longer holding my arm because she was hugging me and had her head resting right in front of mine. We were both on our sides facing each other and her leg was over me, which couldn't have been a comfortable position for her to sleep in.

I realized that her arm under me was tucked into the space between my neck and the pillow, which meant I hadn't been putting pressure on it all night. That was a relief.

“Victoria.” I said and she didn't move. She was sound asleep and looked quite peaceful. I thought about moving my hands that were suspiciously placed, now that I was becoming fully aware of my body. One was firmly gripping her breast and the other had a firm hold on her ass. When I tried to move them, she let out a groan and I felt her hands grip me. I felt one of her hands grip my shoulder tightly and then I discovered where her other hand was.

It was firmly gripping my erection.

I glanced down to see that my pants were undone and her hand was buried inside. Her pants were loose as well, so my hand was only blocked from touching the skin of her ass directly by her underwear. It was not a fair trade in the least, if I was going to consider it a trade and not a blatant misuse of my trust.

I almost laughed at that thought. I had been so worried about Victoria trusting me after what happened between Eludora and myself, that I didn't even consider the fact that she might take advantage of that.

“Victoria, let go.” I said, firmly.

“Mmm.” Victoria moaned and her hand moved... except it didn't let me go and moved back, then she did it again and again.

“You're not my maid.” I said, clearly trying to shock her out of her half-awake fantasy.

“Yes... yes...” Victoria mumbled and her hand sped up. “Your maid... mmm... want to see...”

“Victoria!” I exclaimed and she ducked her head.

“Too... loud.” Victoria said and then she mumbled something and I felt magic roll over me as her hand moved more.

“Stop!” I said and she didn't react, so I moved my hand from her ass to try and grab her hand, except there wasn't enough room between us for me to do that. “You're not supposed to do this!”

“Forbidden... so tempting...” Victoria mumbled as if she didn't hear me. “Want... so bad...”

I thought about pushing her away, except we were so intertwined that she would definitely be hurt if I tried. I also couldn't move back for the same reason. Her arm was under my neck and around my shoulders and she held on tightly to keep me close. I tried to cast Dispel to break whatever she cast, only I couldn't concentrate with her jerking on me like she was.

“One more time... before he wakes...” Victoria mumbled and that made me blink my eyes.

One more time? I asked myself and then I felt it build.

If I didn't do something, I was going to finish and it was going to make a huge mess on the both of us because we were pressed so close together. I twitched down there and suddenly she had somehow let my shoulder go and moved down to my waist. Her moving hand was quickly replaced with her mouth and she sucked so hard that it was a shock. The change in sensations was so jarring that I couldn't hold back and I released it into her mouth.

“MMMMMM!” Victoria moaned loudly as I spilled myself into her sucking mouth, as if she was my maid, and she kept going.

“Stop!” I said and she didn't react. She must have... cast a silence spell... on just herself.

With my hands free, I could grab her and stop her... except she had my quite delicate manhood firmly in her mouth. I touched her head to stop her movement and I felt her teeth graze me. I immediately let her go, knowing the threat was real.

I might have had a tougher body than a normal person, thanks to all the things the Hag did to me over the years; but, even I wasn't going to bet that I could get her off of me before she bit me. Also, the head on the shaft would act like a stopper for her teeth if I pulled, which would guarantee that I would be disfigured and in a lot of pain.

I wasn't going to do that, since I had suffered enough as it was this morning, so I let her do what she wanted. When I finished again a short time later, Victoria made a loud swallowing sound and moaned happily as she sat up... then she saw my blank and wide awake face.

“D-David! I... I...”

“You can't hear me.” I said and she widened her eyes, clearly not hearing me, and I felt a slight bit of magic from her.

“Oh, god.” Victoria said and covered her mouth. “What... what have I done?”

“Something I've been begging you to stop doing.” I said and stood up. “I hope you enjoyed it.”

Tears came to her eyes and she started to shake her head. “I was asleep and... I thought it was a dream and...”

“I tried stopping you and you blocked me from doing that.” I said with no inflection in my voice.

“David, I... I'm sorry! Just... just pretend I was a maid! Yes! I was your maid and...”

“That justification won't work.” I said and walked away from her to go into my room.

“David!” Victoria gasped.

“You can find your own way back to the capital from here.” I said and closed the doors before locking them with the spell. I ignored the knocks on the door and went to wash off, adjusted my pants and put them back into place, then put on my coat and my pack. I left the room and quickly left the inn, ignored the free breakfast, and jogged to the dock.

I set the boat free and ignored the pole as I used the enchantments right away. Several people on the dock stared at me as the boat took off at its fastest speed and I ignored the shouts of surprise. I had a marsh to get back to and a few more things to handle, one of which was going to be painful, I was sure. I had to tell Helena what had happened.