Dragon (S)Layers Ch. 05: The Paladin

A number of paintings lined every square inch of the walls and the stench of mildew and. . . something much sharper, more primal, lingered in the air. For a moment it reminded him of an animal's mating scent but it was even muskier than that. Gods what kind of temple was this?

As Caldion considered the question, a stunningly attractive woman came down the rickety stairs. Her copper hair hung lazily aside sharp, exotic features and full, pouted lips upturned into a coy little smile. But what struck him the hardest, what got him the hardest he'd been since that night at the farm, was her curves. She wasn't fat, but she had a healthy body and reveled in it-- high quality silks sheathed her body like a second skin and by the roll of her hips, the sultry, commanding sway with which she walked, she knew that she was the one in control.

For a moment. Just one. Caldion thought he might have been staring at the goddess's avatar, but then he noticed the silver rimmed glasses and the pointed ears-- a half elf. But gods, she was something beautiful. As she got to the bottom of the steps, Caldion realized he was staring at the short woman and looked away.

"Well, hello there." Her tongue rolled over each letter as though it were its own entity. Her voice carried a western accent that set his already hard prick at firm attention. What else could she do with those lips. . . that tongue. How would she sound as she climaxed?

Caldion coughed into his hand, looking away when she caught his eye again. "My apologies, my lady, I. . . did not mean to stare."

The short woman stopped at the banister and laid both hands atop the rail, grinning at him playfully. When she spoke, her voice was smoother than any wine Caldion had ever tasted. "Shall I take that to mean you have good taste or no manners, then?"

"Ah. . ."

The half-elven beauty chuckled. Caldion's cock ached in his leathers as a reminder of what he shouldn't be thinking about.

"You're blushing." She said with that same salacious grin. "Any darker and you'll be as red as my hair, dear boy."

"Begging your. . . pardon, my lady." Caldion forced himself to meet her gaze and smile as best he could. Even as he did, he saw her gaze lingering on places it shouldn't have in polite company. None the less he refused to show his self-consciousness. Propriety in all dealings.

The woman leaned forward, pressing her ample chest into her forearms. Her breasts strained against the blouse and the silk vest she wore over it, drawing Caldion's gaze ever so briefly. She was smiling again. "We've only just met and I have you begging? My, it would seem I've not lost my touch even as I get on in my years."

This one he was ready for. Caldion smiled. "My lady, were the stars to speak of your beauty, they would do so for decades to come."

That drew a smile but there was a subtle flicker of something in her jade eyes; challenge. "But then what will they say about yours I wonder, my good man? Forsooth, nothing nearly as flattering as is filling my mind at this very moment, surely."

Caldion stared at her for a moment and this time her gaze wandered him deliberately, unashamed and completely fearless. She eyed his crotch, flicked her gaze up to his eyes and smirked. His cock betrayed him and so did the heat that burned his face. Some paladin he was turning out to be. One look at a strong woman and he was hard as stone and blushing like a kid. He exhaled his frustration in a huff, got his shit together and looked her in the eye. "I'm here to help you kill a dragon."

"Mmmmm," the sound rumbled in her throat like a purr. "Are you now?"

"You are a priestess of this. . . temple, are you not?" He held up the papersheet. "These are your fliers?"

The half-elf smiled a crooked little grin. "I am going to disappoint you, but alas! Your princess is in another temple. I do not serve the Lady, though I do enjoy Her teachings." She leaned forward more, arching her back. "Perhaps you would care to learn of them, hm?"

"I-. . ." Caldion closed his eyes for a moment. "With due respect, my lady, I--"

"You've the look of a warrior about you, I think we could use your talents-- but please tell me you've more armor than this?"

He was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden frankness in her tone. She was eying him with scrutiny that belied a cold, calculating mind behind those eyes. She had the look of Caldion's father in that moment and it immediately raised his hackles. "I'm afraid I do not. Though, I will not ask for compensation, I will earn my own keep and work in whatever way must be done so that we are successful."

She gave him another appraising look and abruptly smiled. "I do love a man that's not afraid to get his hands dirty." She offered her slender hand with the back facing up so he could kiss it. "Might I know the name of the man who's name I may be screaming out in times of intense emotion?"

He didn't hesitate. Looking up to her eyes from the slightly supplicate pose, he said, "Caldion Lemaine, my lady, a paladin of Alaecon."

The woman's facade of charm and merriment burned away like early morning fog, leaving her exotic features a mix of emotions. "I'm sorry, what did you say you did for a living?"

"I'm a paladin, my lady. . .?"

"That's what I thought." She withdrew her hand, rubbed her temples and murmured something in lyrical elven. "Always the cute ones."

"My lady?"

"You can see yourself out, dear, I've things to do."

"B--"

"This is not a polite suggestion," suddenly she was pointing a strange wooden device with a small metal pipe built into it at his face. Her finger was wrapped around something that looked like a crossbow's trigger. "You can see yourself out or be carried out."

And that's the moment Caldion's life became irritatingly complicated.