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Nathrrya crouching in the hallway rolls her eyes in disgust. That elf is having all the fun.
She considers how she might go about forcing the elf to swap places, but can't come up with anything that seems workable. She is too far away, even for her sensitive hearing, to pick up the words.
She sighs again, flipping through her scrolls to see what she can summon. She needs a distraction and, with any luck, she can get Nessa out of the way and take her place, leaving Valen none the wiser.
Now to deal with that annoying little kobold twit… She backs down the hallway and scribes a summoning circle in the floor with some chalk. She pulls out the scroll and starts to read.
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In answer, Valen lifts her easily and carries her from the pool. He sets her down carefully to the side, with a slow lingering kiss. He arranges their clothing into the semblance of a comfortable bed, stretches out on it, and beckons to her.
She practically leaps into his arms, twining hers about his neck. He cradles her head in one of his giant hands as his mouth closes over hers.
His other hand roams over her with abandon. Nessa gasps in surprise as his tail slips between her thighs.
He begins to return her earlier attentions to his ear lobe as she tries to recall what she was going to tell him. He rolls, carrying her with him, so that she's atop him now.
Still kissing her, his hands guide her as she tries to accommodate his bulk.
She can hear him whispering to her, "Lairani….oh love…gods…that's even better than I remembered…."
His hands continue to guide her until she finds a definite rhythm. She looks up and finds herself staring into his violet eyes. She almost stops, spellbound by the intensity in his gaze, but his hands reach up to guide her again.
After a while, she can feel him starting to tremble again and it's the most delicious thing, sending her into her own climax. Finally, some time later, she lies next to him, her head pillowed on his shoulder.
The elf has never felt so safe and loved as she does at this moment.
She sighs and speaks without looking at him, "Valen, love…I have things to tell you and it's important because my time is short."
Valen rolls to face her, clearly alarmed, "What is it, love? What do you mean your time is short?"
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In the hallway, a bearded devil pops into place, displacing the air.
He looks around and sniffs disdainfully, "Why have you summoned me mortal?"
Nathrrya, who is busy congratulating herself on a masterful plan, misses the devil's lack of respect. She's already stripped her clothing in preparation for the binding ritual.
If she had asked Valen, he'd have laughed since the sex isn't really an obligatory part of the ritual. It's just something that the infernals cooked up to get mortal women to bed them.
It's really quite the "in" joke in certain circles. Some of the more juvenile groups even have contests to see how many women they can dupe.
She begins to step into the circle as she speaks the words of a temporary binding ritual.
The devil looks at her and laughs heartily, "Oh, no you don't. I'm not going to do that…with you. You should have summoned up some other infernal for that. I'm really not in the mood." He looks Nathrrya over, "Nor are you likely to put me in the mood. The only thing you might do is put me off my lunch."
Nathrrya stands there, frustrated after listening to the lovebirds in the cave, and flabbergasted at having been turned down by a devil. Before she can stop him, he steps casually out of the summoning circle and walks back toward the main cavern, sniffing the air.
With her mind still locked up like a set of seized gears, Nathrrya stands there naked and openmouthed as the devil saunters casually away from her.
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Nessa reaches up and takes his face in her hands, "I would stay with you, if I could. I swear it. I have always loved you. I don't have much time left, and then I'll have to go. It's not by my choice. If it were up to me, I'd stay with you forever."
Valen wraps his arms around her and his tail wraps itself possessively around her leg as tears leak from his eyes, "No…No…I won't let them take you. You're not leaving me again…"
He tries to bury his face in her shoulder but she pushes his head back, so she can look him in the eye. She shakes her head, "Listen to me, my love, and listen well. I don't know exactly how much time I have left. I have things I have to tell you. You should be nicer to people – more like how you are with me. You might make some friends. That's not the really important part, though; this is and I want you to memorize it. Now repeat after me, "Nessa the elf loves you. Nathrrya is your enemy. Deekin doesn't like you."
Valen's eyes grow wide in astonishment and he shakes his head vigorously. "That cannot be, Lairani. Nessa wants nothing to do with me. Besides, she isn't YOU."
She strokes his cheek, desperate to convince him otherwise. "She really does love you, Valen. She doesn't know how to approach you. It breaks my heart to know you are so lonely. You can find happiness with her and that would please me."
Nessa hounds him until he starts repeating it. When she's satisfied that he'll remember it later, she lies back down next to him, content to remain in his embrace. He only tightens his arms around her, as his kisses and his tears rain down on her.
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Nathrrya, finally coming around, dresses quickly and steps into the cavern to see the devil talking to the kobold. The kobold is scribbling frantically in his book as the devil chuckles, nodding. Each time the devil chuckles, a small cloud of sulphurous smoke wafts out of his nostrils.
Nathrrya runs up to the devil and starts to shout at him., "What are you doing? I summoned you. I bound you. You have to do what I say." The devil turns to look at her for a moment, shrugs, and turns back to his conversation with the kobold.
Nathrrya grabs his arm, and shouts at him again, "You have to do what I say. I summoned you." The devil snorts, expelling another cloud of brimstone-laden smoke, "No." He starts to turn back to the kobold when Nathrrya tugs on his arm, pulling him back around to face her.
The devil laughs at her, pulling his arm back and sending Nathrrya sprawling. The devil rolls his eyes and says something in Draconic to the kobold, which Nathrrya can't understand.
What she does know is that Deekin thinks it's funny and that makes her pretty angry. She's drow enough to know when she's being laughed at. She leaps to her feet and stomps her foot in frustration.
"If you won't do as I command, then I'll return you to the Abyss." She casts the end part of the spell, the dismissal, and is horrified when nothing happens. Well, not quite 'nothing.' The insufferable snorting and chortling from the kobold and the devil gets louder.
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