← Samuel the Rogue: Where the Feathers Fall

Chapter 9: A Rogue’s Gambit

Chapter 9: A Rogue’s Gambit

“Stay low,” Aeolin whispered as we made our way down toward the arena floor. “Ignis won’t hold their eyes forever.”

“Right. Stealth. I’m good at stealth,” I muttered, promptly tripping over my own feet and nearly tumbling down the remaining steps.

Aeolin caught me by the arm, steadying me with a sigh. “Perhaps we should reconsider who retrieves the items.”

“No, no. I’ve got this,” I insisted, trying to sound more confident. “You’re too recognizable. I’m just some weird human nobody will notice.”

Aeolin looked skeptical but nodded. “Just... try not to die.”

“That’s always on my to-do list.”

We continued our descent, Aeolin occasionally pulling me back when I was about to step into view of a patrolling harpy. I was stepping on twigs and nearly walked straight into the path of a group of mating harpies. At one point, I tried to do a fancy roll between two columns and ended up sprawled on my back, staring up at Aeolin’s exasperated face.

“What?” I whispered. “That’s how rogues do it.”

“Is it also how rogues get caught and killed?” he asked dryly, helping me to my feet.

Finally, we reached the arena floor, and it all hit me at once. The ground was sticky underfoot. I didn’t need to imagine why, and the air was so thick with pheromones I could barely think straight. The smell was intoxicating, musk and sweet mango that made my head swim.

“Samuel!” Aeolin hissed, when he saw me standing there with my mouth hanging open.

“Right. Focus. On the mission. Not on... that.” I gestured vaguely at a particularly enthusiastic trio of harpies nearby.

Aeolin found a shadowy spot beneath an overhang, perfect for keeping watch. Before we separated, he gripped my shoulder, his green eyes fixed on mine.

“Be careful,” he said, dead serious for once.

My heart raced at his touch, which didn’t help my focus one bit. “Always am,” I lied.

He gave me one last nod, and I went. I started toward the wall, trying to look casual while also staying out of sight. It turns out you can’t do both at once, and I was terrible at it.

Despite my fumbling, I was making progress. The spear and the ring were only a few yards away now. I could see the ring glinting right next to Aeolin’s spear, and my palms were sweating.

Just as I was about to make a dash for it, a commotion erupted above me. I looked up in time to see a harpy tumbling from a branch, knocked loose by whoever she’d been fucking up there.

Without thinking, I positioned myself to break her fall. It was pure instinct, I swear, and in stories that’s exactly how the hero gets squashed.

She crashed into me with surprising force for such a small creature, sending us both sprawling in a tangle of limbs and feathers. The impact knocked the wind from my lungs, and I ended up flat on my back, a dazed harpy straddling my stomach.

When she recovered enough to look at me, her eyes went huge. She was gorgeous and strange, her feathers pink and purple, shimmering in the light. She had small, almost flat breasts, and I could feel her bare ass warm against my stomach. Her leg feathers didn’t start until below her knees, so her thighs were bare and smooth, and they looked way too skinny to have hit me that hard.

She chirped excitedly and ran her fingers through my hair. I froze. I had completely blown my cover, and I was pinned beneath her with the spear and the ring just out of reach.

I risked a glance toward Aeolin and saw him watching from the shadows, and he was smiling. Great. At least someone was enjoying this disaster.

I decided to call the harpy Iris in my head because of her iridescent feathers. She kept examining me, chirping questions in a language I couldn’t understand. She ran her fingers all over my face, lingering on my ears, which apparently fascinated her.

“Um, hello,” I said, smiling so I wouldn’t look terrified. “I’m not here. Don’t mind me.”

Iris tilted her head. She clearly didn’t understand a word, but she looked delighted by the sound of my voice. She answered with a trill that might have been her name or might have been “what a funny-looking thing you are.”

I needed to get out from under her without causing a scene. If I could just convince her to let me up, I could grab the spear and the ring and run.

Before I could try, Iris launched into what I could only guess was some kind of mating dance, still straddling me. She could do things with her body I’d only seen acrobats do at a traveling show, and every move got a little dirtier than the last. Her feathers flashed as she moved, and I couldn’t stop staring.

She made trilling sounds that drew glances from nearby harpies. My face went hot. We were drawing a crowd.

“Look, this is very flattering, but I really need to—” I tried to gesture that I wanted to move slightly, but she interpreted this as participation in her dance, taking my hands and placing them on her hips.

Other harpies were definitely watching now. Some of them looked like they were taking notes. I realized with horror that I had turned into an impromptu demonstration of “How to Mate with Strange Creatures from Beyond the Jungle.”

Even with the mission, and with Aeolin still stuck in my head, I couldn’t stop noticing how hot Iris was. The pheromones in the air were definitely affecting me now, making it hard to remember why I was trying to escape. Her dancing got better by the second, and my body was responding in ways that were going to be very obvious very soon.

I caught another glimpse of Aeolin through the crowd. He was grinning and leaning forward to get a better look. When our eyes met, he actually gave me an encouraging nod. I was glad, and I had no idea what to make of it.

Iris’s dance became more elaborate. She pulled moves that should have been physically impossible, her body bending and twisting with incredible flexibility. Her chest was small and flat, her butt was round and cute, and I couldn’t decide which one to stare at while she moved above me.

I decided to use her movements to my advantage. As she shifted her weight, I squirmed on my back a few inches closer to the spear, dragging her along with me. If she noticed, she took it as me joining in.

She leaned down to kiss me, and I “accidentally” turned my head, causing her lips to land on my cheek instead. That brought us closer still, and my fingers touched the spear’s shaft. The ring lay right beside it, and I closed my other hand around it.

Iris got even more into it. I guess she figured she’d caught herself something rare, because she wasn’t about to stop.

The pheromones were getting to me now. This had started out awkward, and now I was getting seriously turned on. Iris’s chirps and the brush of her feathers against my skin made my head spin.

Her hips rolled against my stomach, and I gasped, half in surprise, half because I wanted more. I could feel how wet she was, her slickness painting lines across my bare skin as she ground herself against me.

“Fuck,” I rasped, voice ragged, trying not to buck my hips. Trying... and failing. My cock throbbed inside my pants, fully hard, pressed up between us, pinned against my stomach while she rocked on it.

Iris chirped sweetly and leaned down, her tongue darting out to flick against my neck. Her hands braced on my chest. God, her fingers were so light and curious, so careful as they explored every inch of bare skin.

I clutched the ring in one hand and the spear in the other, and neither one mattered anymore.

Her mouth found mine. It started out light, a little peck to see what I’d do, and I kissed her back hard, desperate for more. Her teeth nipped at my lower lip, her hips shifting lower, grinding across the length of me, until—

Her fingers brushed the waistband of my pants.

Oh no, I thought.

She stopped and blinked down at the fabric. I don’t think she’d ever seen pants before. All at once her eyes lit up.

“Oh,” I squeaked.

With a delighted chirp, she slid her hand inside, and I forgot all about stealth and escape. The pheromones in the air were overwhelming now. Her body pressed against mine, all pink feathers and warm skin.

She pulled me free, her hand wrapping around me, stroking once, twice, featherlight and curious. Her eyes widened. Another trill escaped her, this one sharp and hungry.

She paused, looked down between us, and gave a delighted trill, and lifting her hips, she—

“Wait, wait—”

It was too late. She sank down.

My head slammed back against the dirt floor of the arena, a choked cry escaping me as the tight, scorching heat of her enveloped me inch by inch. She was so small and tight, but she took me like she’d been built for it, her body clenching with every flutter of her wings.

My legs trembled. My fingers went slack, and the ring and the spear dropped into the dirt.

Iris moaned, a high-pitched, melodic song, her whole body quivering as she bottomed out with a little shudder.

“Holy shit,” I wheezed.

She moved slow at first, her hips rising and falling with a rhythm that grew more confident with each thrust. She rode me hard, her head tipped back, her throat vibrating with a low trill of pleasure that made nearby harpies pause to watch.

I was panting, lost in her, and whatever control I’d had was gone. Her inner muscles clenched, massaged, and pulled me deeper. My hips met her halfway, instinct kicking in, chasing her pace. I groaned, each thrust driving the breath from my lungs.

She clung to me, her small chest pressing into mine, her mouth at my throat again, panting, chirping, squealing in time with each bounce. Our bodies slapped together wetly, loud in the thick, musky air.

I was going to come. This was too fast and too deep, way too much.

“Iris,” I gasped, though the name only existed in my head. “I—fuck—I’m gonna—”

She let out a euphoric trill and slammed herself down, hard.

Once.

Twice.

Three more times.

My hands held on to her warm waist as she pulled herself up and leaned back, a gorgeous smile on her face, her eyes closed. I couldn’t resist sliding my hands lower and cupping her cute bubble butt.

She squeezed tight around my cock and pulled me back into her, again and again.

That was it.

I came with a helpless cry, my back arching, my hips jerking upward as I emptied into her, again and again, shaking all over.

Iris cooed and clung to me, her hips rolling in lazy circles as I spilled inside her, milking every last drop. All I could see was her, this strange, gorgeous bird-girl who’d claimed me without saying a single word.

I went limp in the dirt, spent, chest heaving. She collapsed on top of me, her little body against my chest, her heart beating frantically.

“I’m so, so screwed,” I told the canopy above.

But when I looked up at her flushed face smeared with dirt and her lips swollen from kissing me—

I couldn’t help it.

I grinned.

Even with Aeolin on my mind, Iris had gotten me hard as a rock, and I hadn’t faked any of it. So I liked him, and I liked girls too. That was a weird thing to figure out with my cock hanging out of my pants, and figuring it out felt pretty good.

Afterward, Iris was drowsy and content, nuzzling my neck with sleepy chirps. I needed to make my escape now, while she was satisfied and before the guards got back to their spots.

“My... my flock... calls to me!” I stammered, gesturing toward where Aeolin waited. I had no idea if she understood, but it was the best I could come up with.

Iris looked disappointed but happy enough, giving me one last affectionate nip on the ear. I wriggled out from under her and tucked my cock back into my pants. I grabbed the spear off the dirt, closed the ring in my fist, and got up holding the spear awkwardly. I tried to walk back to the shadows like nothing had happened, but the knowing looks from other harpies made my face burn.

One male harpy actually gave me an approving nod, which made it worse.

When I reached Aeolin, he was grinning ear to ear.

“Quite the performance,” he said, sounding amused, or maybe a little turned on. I couldn’t tell which.

“Not a word,” I muttered, still red in the face and still half hard. “I got what we came for.”

“So I see,” Aeolin replied, eyeing the spear with satisfaction. “And you seemed to enjoy the process more than expected.”

“The pheromones,” I said quickly. “They’re really strong down here.”

“Mmm,” Aeolin hummed, not sounding convinced. “Is that all it was?”

Before I could answer, I felt the ring pulse with warmth in my clenched fist. It felt nice, and rings weren’t supposed to feel like anything. It was like holding a live coal that somehow didn’t burn.

I opened my palm to show Aeolin the ring, which was glowing.

“This thing is more than pretty jewelry,” I whispered. “And I’m pretty sure Zephyra is going to want it back.”

Aeolin’s eyes widened as he stared at the glowing ring. “We should leave. Now.”