The first day of interviews had been exhausting and mind-bending. He’d gone through some thirty people, and he had given them a good fifteen minutes of time on average. The ones who impressed him got longer to further impress him. Starting at eight, he finished just after eight, not loving life.

  On the second morning of the interviews, he had the amazing idea to have Tara summon Regina back in, but to make sure she came alone.

  “You’ve got it, big guy,” she said, winked and gave him a knowing smile before heading out.

  They were back in only fifteen minutes. He was just about to interview another Guardsman when the two of them showed up: Tara almost a head taller than Regina, and Regina blinking innocently at him.

  “We didn’t have an opportunity to conduct your interview yesterday,” he said in the midst of closing the door.

  “So,” Regina said, “are you sure that there was a god involved? Because I wouldn’t bme you if you came onto this hottie and she wanted to be your second girlfriend.”

  “Could you keep your voice down a little?” He asked, gncing toward the door.

  “Oh, I like her,” Tara said, while Regina shrugged nonchantly.

  “I guess this is maybe the most important interview,” I said, and motioned toward the chairs.

  For nearly a half hour, I tried to get the situation as clear as I could in my head. The girls surprised me by falling into an easy rapport. Tara and Regina knew each other, obviously. They were part of the Rangers, and part of the Rangers who were stuck in the castle doing make work. Though they hadn’t talked a lot, they had spoken some.

  Which left me with what became a very weird interview, because it was about sex. Regina answered easily and calmly, but only perfunctory responses. Yes she was in. No she didn’t have a problem with me having sex with Tara. Yes she was attracted to girls, and Tara specifically. She shrugged as she said this, while both Tara and I stared at her in wonder.

  Yes she could keep secrets.

  As the discussion went on, Regina spread her legs and gave me a view up her skirt. Not long after she put one foot up on the chair so I couldn’t just get a hint of what was going on down there, I got the whole view.

  For Tara’s part, she appeared somewhat mystified by Regina’s responses but more into the interview itself. She wanted to know if there was anything Regina considered gross (no) or off limits (ehh… no toilet stuff), and whether Regina had ever done this kind of thing before.

  “Nope,” she said, smiling an easy smile, “but I’m getting turned on just thinking about it.”

  “Why is that?” Tara asked.

  “Dude, need I remind you that there’s no porn in this whole world?”

  Tara burst out ughing. “Fair point,” she said. She stood up. “So if I were to tell you that I’m going to get Fletcher hard…” She began to slowly advance toward my desk, while unbuttoning her shirt. “…and let him do whatever he wants with me…” Here she dropped the shirt to the floor and caressed her bra-covered tits. “…what would you say to that?”

  Regina sat up in her chair, grinning and eyes locked on the long-legged beauty. “I’d say you’re most of the way there. Fletcher’s already rock hard, so step one is out of the way.” I could feel her arousal through my Affinity attribute. She was generating a field of magic. That’s what happened when people got horny in this world. She might as well have her tongue hanging out and drool dripping onto the floor.

  “What if I asked you not to get involved this time?” Tara asked quietly.

  Regina finally blinked and shook her head. “That’s fair, and fine. What about next time?”

  “I’ll need some time getting used to the idea,” she said. “I thought we’d just be sharing him as sex friends, like you Monday and me Tuesday through Sunday.”

  Regina snorted ughter. “More like I get him Monday through Friday and you can have whatever’s left over on weekends.”

  “Um, hello?” I asked.

  I have to say it was the weirdest, most fttering conversation I’ve ever witnessed in my life, being bandied about like a piece of meat. It made me stiffen just to hear them talk about all the sex I would be getting.

  “We can give him a rest day,” Regina said, grinning. “I’ll even offer up one of mine.”

  Ah, they were kidding. They were definitely kidding. I was pretty sure they were kidding.

  “You’re not the only one who’s conducting tryouts,” Tara said, in the middle of slipping her yoga pants off, and kicking them expertly up to one hand so she could pull them off the second ankle in a move so smooth I wondered if she practiced it at home.

  She wasn’t wearing anything underneath. It was just gleaming bronze flesh, a nding strip of dark brown hair, and then obvious wetness.

  “I’ve been looking forward to this all week,” she said in a low tone. She’d gone into full arousal mode, staring down at me in the chair. Finally, she parked her cute butt on the desk and put one foot up on the arm of my chair.

  Regina looked at me. “What did you do to this girl?”

  I held up my hands. “It was a god, okay?”

  “Okay, big guy,” Tara said. When I darted a gnce over toward Regina, she reached down and pointed my face up at her. “Right now, she’s not here. It’s just you and me. If you were going to invite me to be part of your little fellowship, it’s time for you to impress me. Regina will have to impress me next time. I haven’t thrown the idea out.”

  “I knew I liked her,” Regina said from behind her. When Tara turned her head, she raised her hands defensively. “I’m not here.”

  But then her head appeared in my peripheral vision, and I could sense her intense gre. A lot was at stake here; clearly Regina wanted some Tara, and maybe some threesome fantasies fulfilled. That gre told me in no uncertain terms not to fuck this up.

  It was time not to fuck this up, though fucking would definitely be on the menu.

  First though, I started with a massage. Her one calf muscle, nice and slow, varying pressure, followed by her thigh and hamstring. I wasn’t used to touching other people so much, let alone gorgeous women, so I really got into it, running my fingers over the underside of her feet and rubbing in tight little circles. I wasn’t a foot guy, like I had no inclination to suck on toes, but I wouldn’t mind rubbing her feet on my cock.

  Tara’s eyes flew open, but they quickly drifted close again as she blissed out. She was on her feet all day, running here and there, so this massage was badly needed. She groaned when I took hold of her other leg and lifted it up onto the chair’s arm as well.

  After that, I asked her to y down, and she rolled onto her stomach on my desk. Legs initially together, but they parted before I even got back to touching her.

  I kneaded her silky flesh for long minutes, loving the appreciative sounds coming out of her. I got in real close to the junction of her thighs before backing up and massaging both hips. This required me to straddle her. All three of us were on board with this.

  One look at Regina told me I was doing well. She was slouching back in her chair with her skirt hiked to her waist and her hand working between her legs. Her face was sck.

  I went to work on Tara’s ass cheeks. Pressing down where the bones came together, around her tailbone, and loving the tortured groan she emitted. She actually pushed her butt up into my hands.

  I didn’t know how she ended up with statue metallic skin, but it certainly felt natural. And I saw her nether region appear and disappear as I squeezed and appreciated the globes of her butt cheeks.

  This went on, up her back and over her shoulders, then down her lower back to her ass again.

  Now her legs had parted, and we could begin. Sliding my hand down between them, I slowly got a feel for exactly what Tara felt like, and how turned on she was.

  The answer was a lot.

  Pleasure’s Bounty (Special Ability) may be activated during this intimate act. Would you like to spend 1 Token of your choice?

  The answer was of course yes. I loved having Tokens to spare. This one I felt should come from Physicality.

  As soon as my finger penetrated her even a little, she arched her back off the desk and cried out.

  “Fuh… Fletcher!” she groaned.

  “I’m here,” I told her.

  “In…inside me. I need you inside me.”

  “How about we py a little more?” I slipped my fingers lower, to where Regina showed me her clit was, and I began pying with it in tiny circles. At the same time, I slipped a finger fully into her with my other hand.

  “Nnnn… no fingers. Just dick. Ugghhh…”

  “Soon,” I told her quietly.

  “Ohhhh gods.” She went back down, head on forearms, and began to shake violently.

  Unconsciously, she’d drawn herself up onto her knees and pushed her ass out at me. It was easy to bend over the desk and get a mouthful of her juicy slit.

  Regina tasted of wildflowers and fresh breezes, but Tara had a fresh taste to her. Like juicy berries. Like watermelon. I got in there and parted her lower lips, and licked around, loving the taste. Maybe this was what Regina had meant when she said she liked my seed. I even paid a lot of attention to the clit, and sent her into overdrive.

  Soon she was arching her back, shoving herself back against my face and riding the air, moaning and groaning, head thrown back and eyes closed.

  Finally she sprang up to her feet and advanced on me. She grabbed a hold of my cock and looked at me with such an expression of fury and arousal that she looked like a wild animal.

  “You’re going to put this,” she said, and squeezed, “in me, and you’re going to do it right now. Forepy time is over.”

  This was how, perching her ass on the desk with her legs spread wide, she led me by the cock directly inside her. She enveloped me, far tighter than Regina, scorching hot and already so wet.

  “Yesssss,” she hissed, and grabbed onto my hips so I would start pumping away at the rhythm she needed.

  Soon, aside from the sp of our bodies coming together over and over again, the only other sound was a quiet squeaking coming from Regina’s side of the room. I kept right on plowing Tara hard, and she soon slumped down onto the desk again.

  She was soon mewling and crying about how she was going to orgasm, again. I watched her mouth open in a soundless scream, and locked eyes with Regina, who was biting her lower lip and also shaking.

  I’d gone from practically a virgin to having someone watch me have sex in under a month. The very idea was enough to push me close to the edge. Watching Regina orgasm did it for me.

  “I’m going to—”

  Tara’s feet locked around my waist again. “Keep going, don’t stop. Don’t stop!”

  I couldn’t just wrench her feet apart. Her legs were stronger than my arms. I was too close anyway. And as she threw her head back, muttering about how I was not to stop, and went still before her orgasm, I had no choice but to release. With Tara convulsing with her third orgasm, I couldn’t help but erupt all the way up inside her.

  “T-Tara!” I groaned, and came. And came and came and came, it seemed.

  I wanted to ask her what she was thinking. It wasn’t a safe day. She told me st time it was safe, and that was a week ago. Hell, I could feel the vitality through my magic sense. Affinity let me know she was swirling with magic down there. Her legs released me too te.

  My thoughts were interrupted by Regina, who tugged at my hip, and immediately slurped my cock into her mouth. She eyed Tara’s dripping sex for a moment before my long-legged beauty sat up to watch.

  “What are you doing?” Tara asked, but she sounded amused.

  “Cleaning up, obviously,” Regina replied in between licks, sucks and slurps. “I’m not touching you.”

  Tara smirked. “Enjoy it.”

  “Oh, I am. It’s fluffing delicious.”

  ~2~

  In the aftermath of the situation with Tara, I realized I’d neglected to ‘bring her into the fold’ with Entwined Ecstasy. Still, just like with Regina, I received notifications that I’d gained abilities from the sex… somehow, regardless.

  The reason was, of course, that the Lovers had given her the exact same powers as me and she was already ‘brought into the fold’ without me having to spend the Tokens.

  Tumbling with Tara gave me an ability called Eagle Eyed.

  Entwined Ecstasy: You have entwined with Tara Harkenen. Your retionship status is acquainted. This is common for new lovers. These lovers have shared a bed only a handful of times.

  Pleasure from intimate acts between acquainted is boosted moderately.

  The next UI message that arrived pertained to bringing her into the fold.

  Entwined Ecstasy: Tara Harkanen was already brought into the fold by The Lovers. She has gained the ability Diagnostic. You have gained the ability Eagle Eyed from entwining with Tara Harkanen. Entwine more deeply with Tara Harkanen to unlock further abilities.

  Next, came a write up for my new ability.

  Eagle Eyed

  (Special Ability, Common, passive)

  Your eyesight becomes better than human. You are able to discern details at a distance, and analyze close objects much better than base humans.

  The Wild Lore ability proved to be pretty amazing. I didn’t have a skill called Identify, so I was only able to make easy checks against my Ingenuity or my Affinity, but a small write up about the pnt or animal would pop up, giving me its name and its rarity. The castle didn’t have anything amazing, except for a massive old tree in the courtyard, but I couldn’t score enough successes to get more than its name (Methuseh Scarple) and its rarity (Rare). With Eagle Eyed it was even easier to zero in on a pnt outside the city, or spot Nakamamon roaming around beyond the guardhouses.

  On the third day of practicing Wild Lore, I actually gained a rank of the Identify skill, which shocked the heck out of me. The organic gaining of skills was mentioned briefly in the manuals given to me by Abbie, but there hadn’t been any specifics.

  The team assembled three days ter and left at dawn. The castle might have been some things, but it was not a haven for privacy. Not was it too busy to make their departure just another thing going on.

  No, everyone saw the team together on the nding ptform. People ringed the ptform, hung out of windows, watched with those retractable telescopes you’d see in pirate movies, and rode their Nakamamon companions if they could fly or hang on castle walls.

  I had chosen ten members for the team, wanting to have every css represented. This included two natives to this world. Larelle was the first.

  Larelle had come to my office and squeezed in the doorway, asking telepathically whether she would be considered as an addition for the team. She had a magmamander, after all, and had already assisted in crafting a cure for a god. She cimed that she would be honored to join the expedition. She seemed almost frantic with need to get away from this castle and back out into her native nd.

  I assured her that she was welcome to join my team, and I doubted I would be choosing any other Guards over her.

  The other native was a Guard as well, but didn’t appear to be one. She was also nothing, absolutely nothing like Larelle. First off, she was whip thin and floated just off the ground on a tattered skirt of white. Her whole body glittered with tiny facets, like she was made of ice or snow.

  Second, she had any number of arms she needed. That was… odd. When I’d asked her to demonstrate why she was a Guard and how she could be expected to assist us, she shed out with about ten of these arms, producing eight daggers of different sizes, along with a tower shield and a spear some ten feet long, made of the same substance as her body. She then unched those daggers into a wooden chair, and they formed a neat line when the st one finished thunking into it.

  “What are you?” I asked, amazed.

  It turned out there was no real word for her species before humans showed up, but they were now called frostlings. He name was Chrysta. Not Crystal.

  “Have you done much guarding in your time here?” I asked.

  Surprisingly, the answer was yes. She mostly guarded people from making stupid choices and doing violence with one another. Humans were kind of violent, when it came down to it. They kept getting this poison into their systems, this alcohol, and doing strange things while under the effects.

  Two natives and me meant that after Regina, Tara, that brand new Wizard named An, I had five more human being on the team.

  Timmy was not among them. I actually caught sight of him as we were boarding a huge flying carpet created by a team of wizards. Gring at me. With his storm ferret standing on his head, also staring at me.

  Honestly it would’ve been adorable if not for the fury written on Timmy’s face.

  This is Christopher getting out of the world of human influence, and not soon enough.