Steampunk Harlots Ch. 07

"Your Lordship." Hannah bowed. "I come here to regretfully inform you that your soldiers have either committed treason or an act of war."

With his Duke unable to speak, one of the advisors Hannah didn't recognise spoke up. "Explain this, Captain!"

"Your Lordship," Inky started. "The Colonel ordered a group of soldiers accompanying a senior officer to seize a foreign state's merchant vessel and detain its crew in direct violation of your laws to the contrary. While executing this order, they assaulted and attempted to rape its crew. Our soldiers were slain by the crew as they exercised their right to defend themselves."

"Why is this woman here then? Why not the soldiers responsible for killing our people?"

"I was the soldier predominantly responsible. The rest were committed by the crew themselves, given no alternative other than to endure rape."

The vein in the Duke's head was bulging past the fat as he finally sat down before speaking. "You killed my soldiers because..." he was interrupted by a whisper in his ear from the advisor who had so enthusiastically disappointed Hannah earlier. "...you were well within your rights of course, but the fact remains that my soldiers are dead at your hands."

"My hands but it was his orders." Hannah indicated the colonel. "He either neglected to discover or simply ignored the fact that our ship landed bearing the token of this city."

"Where did you get a token of my family?"

"Elsa."

"My daughter! How?"

"I met her in Clifftop. We got to know each other." Inky rolled her eyes not needing to imagine in what capacity Hannah got to know her. "She gave me the token in appreciation for my assistance. Also, I would like to congratulate you on the imminent birth of your grandchild."

"Ah yes. Well... You see, though, the matter is complicated. The Colonel is the highest ranking officer with my general out in the field and I'd like to oblige by ordering his summary execution..."

A gunshot rang out moments before the colonel's body crumpled forward. Hannah holstered her pistol.

"As you commanded, your lordship." Hannah bowed.

The look of utter stupefaction on the face of the noble Lord Duke would have been worthy enough to frame, had a photographer been set up. He maintained it long enough for proper exposure and then some. A nudge on his arm from the client advisor brought him back to what he considered his senses.

"That was not..." he paused to listen again. "...the appropriate procedure. There are specific customs that must be observed."

Hannah's client spoke up directly. "Obviously, his lordship understands a foreign soldier wouldn't be aware of said customs, but would appreciate it if you would contain yourself and allow his own soldiers to obey his orders."

"Yes, indeed." the fat man bobbed, trying to nod.

"Understood." Hannah bowed again.

"Now could someone summon the Major and inform him that..."

"The Major directly carried out the colonel's orders. He's dead," Inky interrupted the advisor.

They shared looks with each other for a moment as one of Inky's girls showed up to whisper something in her ear.

"Very well, Captain. For the time being..." again the advisor was interrupted, this time by his Duke.

"I will not have a woman commanding my garrison! It's always been senseless to me that they serve, let alone become officers."

"Then your Lordship, I will make this easier for all involved," Inky stated before removing the pin with the Valley Hub icon from her jacket. "Consider this my formal resignation."

She tossed the pin to the floor near the severed head before turning away and walking out. Her soldiers followed suit, tossing their pins and walking away. Hannah snapped her feet together and saluted before walking away herself, sparing a glance and a wink to her client who returned the favour.

Outside, Hannah caught up to Inky. "That went well. Nobody is chasing after us."

"Ignoring the fact that you are a crazy bitch. I don't get why that old fop was on our side."

"Oh, I fucked him and his friends earlier. I convinced them I was a woman of culture and that he was a virile man able to satisfy women with confidence. Though he was terrible at it. I forgot he was on top of me a few times while watching one of my crew have her fun on a table. Now his bodyguard. That was satisfying."

"So that's the 'client' you were talking about that got you off the ship. Well, let's get you back there as soon as possible."

"Are you going to be alright? I wasn't expecting you to resign like that."

"Well, with everyone above me dead or in the field, he would have promoted some junior officer over me in a day and made life impossible. Things were already pretty bad, but when you don't have the right to just walk away, things get tough."

"Really? Things that bad that they won't allow discharge?"

"More than that, the conscription effort is in full effect. We probably would have been sent to the front lines somewhere to get rid of us now that we had proven a nuisance. Before, we were just women who couldn't fight, so 'leave them at home'."

"Still, I doubt then that they would let you walk away."

"That's why I was hoping we could fly instead."

"On our ship? Of course, I will talk to Liddy. Can't think of any of us who would refuse a pay cut to hire you all. Plus, you're all women, so that keeps things easy."

They arrived at the garrison to meet the rest of the squad. Only eight including Inky, but they were all packed to leave. Hannah clued into the fact of what Inky had been whispering before. Getting out of dodge quickly and warning her girls was a good idea. Those already with Hannah and Inky grabbed their bags from their squadmates. Marching out the front gate, they were all stopped by a young soldier with a broken nose.

"You again. What do you want?"

"Wondering why the Colonel authorised these trucks." He handed the papers to Inky who took the papers and gave a cocked eye at the boy. "The whole reason they grabbed me for their squad is because I can write like anyone whose penmanship I read. So I got these trucks that should get you to your ship, overheard the girls, so I knew what you were planning. Also raided the Colonel's safe. Notorious for taking bribes, kickbacks, extortion, and plain old robbery. With his goon squad taken out, everyone is going to be looking for it. Our squad all knew the safe combo, so I emptied it and left a note in his writing about the safe being a ruse and a vague list of all the locations he buried his loot. All over the Duke's estate in fact. So someone should be finding it soon enough or asking me to open the thing. It will keep the troops too busy to bother with you."

Hannah fixed him with an icy glare, but could see the guilt-ridden expression on his broken face. Inky ordered her girls into the trucks and they left without a word to the boy. Pausing only to take the bags full from the contents of the safe from him.

Back on the ship, Emma sat in her room on her bed. Liddy knocked and then entered after not receiving a reply.

"Emma I am so sorry about all of that," Liddy comforted as she sat next to her. "It's my fault I didn't plan on protection. I depended too much on the law. You deserve to be safe and I don't want to keep you somewhere where you don't feel safe."

"I couldn't do anything. I saw all of you who had been so wonderful to me being hurt and scared, and all I did was cower and obey. I've never felt safe. Not as a slave, not with my freedom, not until I came here. I thought that now that I finally had something I would finally be able to stand up for myself, but instead, I just wanted to hide."

"You weren't supposed to do anything. There was nothing any of us could have done."

"I know, but why do women always have to suffer like this for men? It wasn't even because I was Emberborn. Are we just not able to equal them?"

"You clearly missed what Hannah did. Emma listen. Yes, men are on top of almost everything. They are, on average, bigger and stronger than us. Yet Hannah beat them at what they are regarded as being the best at. So all those natural advantages are a lot less important than you think. Never underestimate what you can do and if you can't beat them one way, learn to use others. I had to wait until I was naked in bed with one of them before I made my move. Ving had to wait until they were distracted. Mari was foolish and gave them some lip, getting herself knocked down. Can't really blame her, but she would never have won that."

"I want to stay. I want to have friends. I want to have fun and enjoy life. But I also want to be able to feel safe."

"That will be taken care of soon enough. Don't worry. This is a mistake I won't repeat." Liddy kissed Emma on the cheek. "Come upstairs, Hannah will be back soon."

Upstairs, Ving and Easy were cleaning up in the lounge while Mari rested on the couch.

"Easy, I know it's a pain, sweetie, but could you go chip off more ice from the ice box. This rag has all melted," Mari mumbled trying to keep her mouth closed.

Easy stood up and took the rag that she had wrapped the ice in from Mari. "Shame you won't let me find other ways to make you feel better."

Mari breathed deep, feeling Easy putting her hand between her legs for a few firm strokes. "Not while my jaw hurts too much to gasp or moan. Even clenching hurts."

"My poor Mari. You know you are in rough shape when you don't want it to hurt more." Easy withdrew her hand and fluttered her wings as she trotted down the stairs.

"What's it like? Being so close to a woman like that?" Ving asked, once Easy was out of earshot.

"Don't know. Never been. But it sure is nice." Mari kept her words short.

"I'd love to have that."

"Feel free, Easy has a wicked tongue. Hannah won't mind."

"What? You know?"

"That you have a crush on Hannah? Sure, do. Go. Horny little Easy needs to make someone scream."

Ving started for a moment before dropping the empty bottles the soldiers had left lying about and rushing off down the stairs. Ving knew Hannah would love to have sex with Easy. Since her body belonged to Hannah, Ving knew it would be acceptable.

She caught up with Easy in the kitchen, briefly wondered if it was wise to combine with the laundry room, but there was only so much free space on the ship. Easy was about to open the icebox when she saw Ving close the door and lean against it. Easy was puzzled for a moment until Ving spoke.

"So Mari tells me you have a wicked tongue and need to make someone scream."

"Oh, I love this ship," Easy muttered, quickly stripping off her dress as Ving started taking her own clothing off.

Her wings fluttered as she crossed over to Ving, kissing her deeply, having had an easier time getting off her dress. Ving had only gotten her shirt and jacket off, but eagerly took the fairy's tongue in her mouth and abandoned taking off her pants to grip the soft breasts pressing into hers. Slowly Ving wrapped her arms around Easy, holding her tightly into the kiss, pulling her closer. Feeling their breasts pressing against each other, Easy quickly fumbled with Ving's pants to get them loose and sliding down. Using her feet, she took them the rest of the way off, including her boots. Easy wrapped her tongue around Ving's tiny one, holding it hostage inside her mouth. Feeling it struggle as Easy slid her hand between Ving's legs and penetrated her with her middle finger.

Ving could feel Easy exploring inside her with another finger soon after the first made its entry. Wrapping her hands around Easy's lower wings where they attached to the base of her spine, Ving pulled on them to grind Easy's hips into hers to trap her hand there. Her lips closed around Easy's tongue to suck on it like she would a man. Easy pulled it back and pressed it inside Ving's mouth, again and again. Mari never sucked on it that way yet, and Easy was thrilled at the new sensation. Ving whimpered as Easy withdrew her tongue but soon felt it on her breasts, coating them with a mixture of their saliva. She watched the long serpent of a tongue move around her breasts. The long licks it took over her nipples only happened a few times before she began to shudder. Rapidly, Easy dropped to her knees to drive her tongue deeply inside Ving as she shook in ecstasy. Hands holding Ving's breasts in a tight grip as her hips bucked against her head. Easy swallowed greedily as Ving's juices flowed over her tongue. Keeping her nose right on Ving's clit, wiggling it to keep her gasping for air.

Suddenly Ving's knees started to shake, and she slowly slid down the door to her knees. Easy withdrew her tongue and simply licked whatever part of Ving was at her face level until she could once again penetrate her mouth. Ving tasted herself on the long tongue filling her mouth and shivered again slightly for a moment. Keeping the kiss, Easy pulled her forward to lay her down on the floor where Easy broke the kiss. Her plan, after retrieving a pillow to go under Ving's head from the laundry, was to straddle the green-haired woman and plant her face between her legs. Ving tasted the sweet young woman as her tongue ran over the soft flesh and lamented that her own tongue wasn't nearly long enough.

Easy fluttered her wings and ground her hips into Ving's hungry mouth. With one hand holding her own breasts, switching between them as her mood dictated, the other rested on one of Ving's. She loved looking into the eyes of the woman below her. The desperate desire, the pleasure, the joy of sex. Ving reached up to grab Easy by the breasts and used her own to keep them there as she leant forward to grind harder. Soon, Easy was holding Ving's hands out in front of her so she could lean forward even more. Ving watched as the woman kneeling over her bounced her body on top of her. Her sparkly skin shining in sweat as her breasts bounced under her hanging so sweetly. She wanted to reach and grab them again, but Easy kept her hands busy supporting her. Her own hips thrusting again in desire for attention, she was about to try and change position when Easy let out an almost silent scream. Tasting unlike any other woman, Ving moaned at the privilege of being able to drink from another woman.

Coming down from her climax, Easy slithered down on top of Ving to kiss her. Not a ravaging with her tongue but a sweet kiss of kindness between two new friends. She could feel Ving thrusting again against her and simply slid down the rest of the way. Ving lay there, suddenly feeling a tongue on her flesh again, but instead of going inside her it kept to the surface as a small delicate hand put three fingers inside. A fourth soon followed, and Ving took a sharp breath as suddenly a whole hand started pushing inside. A few moments of effort and suddenly Easy looked into Ving's eyes as she was past her wrist inside her. Easy moved her arm back and forth, switching between a relaxed hand and forming a fist. Smaller than Hannah's fist but still a tight fit, Ving spasmed again but muttered the word...

"Harder."

...after another climax. Easy grinned and kept her hand in a fist as she pumped it back and forth, as roughly as Mari liked it when Easy fit it inside her. Ving's back arched in the air, with only her head and hands touching the ground aside from her widely spread legs. Again she cried as suddenly her final climax struck her, and she collapsed to the floor in a dizzy fit. Easy was tapping her cheek before she could realise what was going on.

"Ving, are you okay? You passed out."

"Yes... I'm good. Easy, I've gone my whole life not getting the thing I craved the most, and now that I can without repercussion, I loose control."

"I know exactly how you feel. Or at least I think so. You just need to learn how to pace yourself. That's what Mari keeps telling me. Now, let's get dressed and get back to work."

Ving could barely move her naked body off the floor, but slowly felt her strength return as she dressed. Easy was chipping away at the ice in the icebox and smiled at Ving as she left her to her work. Returning back to the lounge, she saw Mari smirking on the unbruised side of her face.

"Glad you had fun. Told ya."

"Yea. That tongue..."

Mari just moaned in response, thinking of the wonderful memories and the future pleasures yet to come from that tongue.

"You are sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all. This isn't the ship to form exclusive relationships on. After seeing you in the bath with Hannah I figure you gotta expand the scope of your lust so you don't focus too much on her."

Liddy came up the stairs with Emma, and was about to make a comment about how Ving's sex noises didn't make for very comforting background noises while she was talking with Emma. Then she spotted two trucks pulling up with Hannah hanging out of the passenger window.

Hannah jumped out of the truck and hurried up to the main door to see everyone in the lounge staring at her.

"Liddy, I'm sorry. I did it again," Hannah apologised as eight women filed in behind her.

"Can I ever let you off this ship without bringing sexy back?" Liddy smirked.

"Well, maybe, but I have a plan."

"I know. She had one of her girl's radio ahead to ask before they resigned."

"Oh?" Hannah turned to Inky.

"Yes," Inky explained. "Well, life would have been impossible after all this anyways, and leaving sooner is better than later. But not before I had a plan."

"I see," Hannah recalled the whispered message delivered to Inky at court. She returned her attention to everyone else, "This is a friend of mine from my time in the military. I trust her and I think it's safe to say that we need the protection she can offer."

"Agreed. Consider yourself employed." Liddy offered.

"Former Captain Maxwell at your service," Inky bowed.

"Leftenant, now. I'm already captain, and former ranks don't suit officers due respect," Liddy explained.

"Thank you. These are my girls. I'm sure we will all get along well enough. Though introductions might have to wait. Leaving as soon as possible would be a good idea."

"Agreed. Gather anything you brought with you and we will take off. Ving, get to the helm."

"Yes, Captain. Though I'm curious why one of them needs a gas-mask," Ving commented.

"So am I, but it's generally a tactless thing to simply blurt out."

"Apologies." Ving bowed to Liddy, then to the woman whose head was covered in thick canvas and a mask hooked up to an air filter.

"It's quite alright. I have allergies. Serious enough that this is simply the best way to ensure I..." she trailed off as Easy walked into the room with more ice for Mari.

"Sorry, this took so long." Easy grinned at Ving before Mari, then suddenly noticed the soldiers standing with Hannah filling half the lounge. "Oh my, Hannah really does bring sexy women home with her."

An awkward silence stood for a few moments before the woman with the gas mask reached behind her head and unfastened something. She pulled the mask off to reveal a long narrow, face covered mostly in a deep red fur and pointed ears sticking up and out from her head.

"You're a fox!" Easy exclaimed with glee.

"Yes. I wasn't expecting there to be Emberborn here let alone without a collar. I hope I didn't make a mistake."

"Oh no! They are wonderful people who have treated me well. Actually, Mari wears my collar now. My name is Easy. What's yours?"

"Foxy, it's kind of a joke. Emberborn hidden in the military who can't show her face, called something that sexy women get called, but is actually a fox."

"Alright, we have time to talk later. Get out there and haul that shit in. Lower doors if you please." Inky ordered, receiving a round of assent from her girls.

As soon as things were loaded, the trucks were left on the docks and Ving lifted the ship into the air.

As they passed over the Duke's estate, they could see bands of soldiers digging up the grounds no doubt having fallen for the ruse laid by the boy whose life they spared. Hannah couldn't forgive him, but she could at least approve of the direction he was taking and the talent he was showing for it. She returned to Mari and held her by the hand. She looked her in the eyes and without words, let Mari know just how thankful she was that she was alright.