Steampunk Harlots Ch. 23

A few moments after Hannah and Leira were back on board, the ship lifted off of the water. They were greeted by Conna and Astra who guarded the prisoners in the loading area. The man Leira had shot laid on the deck where Hope was tending to his wounds. The mermaid couldn't even look at him. Instead, her eyes settled on the other survivors. While she had intended to ask questions, she was far too angry to get more than a few sputtered noises out.

"Care to explain what the fuck happened?" Hannah asked, making a guess of the question Leira wanted to ask.

Liddy came down the stairs and sat on the steps, "I would also like to know what happened."

"Well," one of the men spoke up. "So, nobody was told Leira was being sold off. So there was a big fight over it. Lots of people got killed. At least, they died eventually. That man denied any involvement just so he wouldn't have to spend money on doctors. Once we found out, though, people got really angry. I didn't lose family, but we were all really close. Should have been settled quickly with all of us against him, but he shot some folk who tried to turn him in."

"With so much suffering, there was nobody to go fishing to bring in money. People were getting desperate and trying to leave. They didn't get far with the wounded, and they didn't want to leave them behind. Things seemed to settle down after that. Those who were left tried to carry on. The first catch of fish went upstream into town to sell, but they never came back. He thought they had fled with the food. Ordered everything to be locked in the hall so nobody else could steal any."

"People didn't want to go without, so they started turning on each other to get on his good side. There was a big fight and lots more died. Only this time they didn't stay dead. They would get up, no matter how hard you hit them or what you stuck them with. We sent runners to nearby villages as well as the town upstream for aid. Never knew if they made it or what, but a while later we heard a lot of screaming as people were being torn apart by those things. Some more time passed and we heard another fight. This one people actually made it to the hall with supplies and weapons. Their first group weren't prepared. Even so, only three men and their Emberborn made it in."

"They stuck it out with us until we heard all the gunfire when you all got here. They wanted to signal or make a run for it. He wouldn't let them, so he shot them. That's when they stood up and that thing formed out of one of them. Then you got there."

His story, poorly delivered due to his own personal trauma, left everyone silent. Months of pain, suffering, and death created the monster and its walking corpses. All because someone thought a living person was something that could be sold.

****

"Listen, you shit-guzzling pig!" Ving yelled loudly into the radio. "I don't give a damn what you have been told to tell me! Find the person who told you to tell me, and tell them to talk to me for you! You follow me?"

The radio was silent for a moment as Mari walked in. "So that sounded diplomatic and entirely straightforward."

"Don't tell me to calm down," Ving grumbled.

"Seriously? When have I ever been the voice of reason? You're banging the girl who usually tells me to settle down or whatever. Try threatening to rip off his dick and shove it up his ass. That's a classic."

"Done and done, and already moved on to new material. I wonder if..."

"Hail, inbound merchant vessel," a new voice on the radio spoke.

"Receiving your hail. A pleasure to be receiving you," Ving answered in a kind and polite tone she reserved for clients.

"I understand there is some kind of misunderstanding with my controller?"

"Oh, yes, he was most dreadfully rude. Entirely failed to clear my ship for landing."

"Ah well, you see the city is closed to any traffic in or out for the time being. Security is quite important to us."

"Well, I would be happy to accommodate any measures that would allow us to land. Surely your underling has made the name of our vessel and the nature of our services clear to you. I would greatly enjoy any... appropriate compensation you felt befitting a man of your stature."

Mari cocked an eyebrow at Ving who shrugged in response as they waited.

"The nature of your services... would they involve an extended stay here at the capitol?"

"Most likely, a week at the very least."

"Then please make a low altitude approach."

"For you, sir, I will practically be on my knees."

A startled cough came over the radio before, "Understood, Landing Control out."

"So, do you feel better or worse?" Mari asked Ving as she returned to the controls.

"Ask me afterwards. I'd feel better if I wasn't imagining the last controller being who I get on my knees for."

****

The sight of arriving at the capitol was probably made more impressive by the low altitude approach they had taken. The tall buildings, only describable by the word 'skyscraper', shattered the perception of what was possible. Lights shone over all of them from the tops to the busy streets below. Some buildings were even massive enough to admit their ship right inside, had they the money for that kind of privilege. Instead, they were directed to dock low near some warehouses. Liddy wasn't happy about the location, but it was better than not being able to dock at all. She turned to everyone who had been on deck to observe their entry.

"Alright, everyone. Take some time for yourselves, go shopping or whatever. I'm going to try and get us a better location for working. A few things to make everyone aware of. Firstly, this is a big city, so stay safe. Nobody goes anywhere alone and watch for pickpockets. Next, whatever this lockdown was about is still going on, so don't mention how we just arrived. Lastly, brothels aren't illegal here so we actually have competition. Keep an eye out and see what we might need to do for attention. Go have fun, spend all that money you have been making, and be ready to work tomorrow."

With her speech over, the girls excitedly conversed as they went about getting into the city. The only one quiet was Leira, sitting on the bench on deck looking at her feet. Liddy sat down next to her.

"Alright?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," she replied. "I feel like I don't know how I should feel. Whatever I thought was the real story isn't really what happened. But parts of it were. I just feel like knowing the real story should have settled things, not messed them up."

"Give it time. Spend some of that thinking about it, and spend the rest thinking about other things. Deal with it in small bites. Don't try to get it all sorted at once."

"I guess. Is it alright if I stay on the ship?"

"Of course. Take as much time as you need."

Leira stood up and went to into the ship while Liddy waited with Ving for whomever she talked to on the radio.

*****

Hannah walked down the ramp to the docks, her bum stinging from the slap Ving delivered after their parting kiss. She was sure her tight leather skirt made it hurt more. Mari held her by the arm.

"So, she's changed more than a little bit," Mari happily whispered.

"Yeah, I think she's finally got her head in a better place."

"Between your legs?" Mari giggled.

"Yes... but also metaphorically. Whatever was bothering her seems less important than what's making her happy. It's fun to have her enthusiastic about life and not just doing whatever because she was told."

"Sad she has to stay at the docks and can't come with us?"

"Nah, she should enjoy herself settling the bribe she promised, and now we get to have some fun like the old days."

"It feels like forever. What should we do?"

"Let's check out one of the local brothels. See what makes them special."

"And hijack clients?"

"I said like old times. We are going to cause trouble." Hannah gave Mari a wicked smile as they trotted into the busy streets.

****

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather go with her?" Emma asked Easy as they watched Hannah and Mari disappear into the crowd.

"They need some friend-time," Easy explained. "Besides, if you two are learning magic stuff, I am totally going to come with. I'd be happy to get a book on flight or something."

"Well, none of us has time for lessons, so books are what we are going with as well," Vile commented as she flashed a bit of fire in between her fingers. "That's how I learned in the first place. I'm glad you are both here, though. I've never been in crowds like this before."

"None of us have, but I suppose being on the farm you wouldn't have much experience with a city." Emma wasn't sure she was much better suited since even her experiences were in much smaller cities.

"Where were you before that?" Easy asked.

"A village in the forest, kind of a refuge. Is it just me or are people staring at us?"

Easy had noticed, "A fairy and demon are walking down the street without collars. Sexy as fuck and not acting like slaves. Yeah, people are looking."

"What about me?" Emma asked in a huff and fake pout.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, short-stuff," Easy retorted earning a stuck out tongue from the elf.

"Don't play that game with me, girl! Mine is longer and you know it." Easy stuck out her own tongue, not as much as she could, but enough to win the little game.

****

Both Ving and Liddy were left disappointed. Liddy didn't get a better docking assignment that would have helped business, and Ving had only started to unfasten the man's trousers before he covered her hands with his load.

"We need to start bribing more important people..." Liddy stated flatly.

"I need to wash my hands, this is too sad to lick clean, even if he had been eating sweet fruit all week."

"My bed after?"

Ving thought about it for a moment and decided Liddy would be the finest way to forget a disappointing man.

****

Hannah and Mari didn't need to travel for long before finding their way into the entertainment district, sensibly located near the docks. They prowled around looking for a popular establishment that doubled as a brothel.

"Mari, I think if we had just moved here years ago we would have been running one of these places by now."

"Nah, you would hate the tediousness of it all and I... well... I probably would be fine with working on my own."

"Maybe. But we would have avoided a whole lot of trouble."

"You are right. Life would have been really boring," Mari quipped with a silly smile.

"Yeah, no girls in our beds, no shooting things, no money to roll around in."

"Speaking of money, I think we left ours on the ship."

"I wonder how much these girls make," Hannah asked as they stopped in front of a place called 'The Guilty Pleasure'.

"Quite a lot," a voice informed. "A woman like yourself would earn even more."

The girls turned to face a man in a fine suit, eying them fully. Hannah adopted a naive look on her face as she shied away.

"Oh, I'm not sure I could really work in a place like this. I mean, it sounds fun but..." Hannah let her words hang, to let the man finish them how he wanted.

"Girls like you two would make a lot of money having this kind of fun," he said, trying to appeal to her greed.

"It can't be that much, can it?" she countered. "I mean if you and I went somewhere private and... did things... you would just pay me money?"

He smiled, the idea of luring a woman too coy to say the word 'sex' into working for him after he had his fun was a rare treat. "How about we go up to my office and I show you how much I can 'give' you?"

Hannah looked shocked for a moment before turning to Mari, who shook her head no. She paused before turning back to the man and nodding yes. Mari feigned trying to stop her as he lead her away before watching them enter the brothel. After a moment she smiled, and skipped as she entered to find herself some fun.

****

Ving slowly relaxed after her back-arching climax subsided, Liddy gave a final nip on her breasts and withdrew her fingers from between her legs. She remained partially on top of Ving, letting her blonde curls collect sweat from the heaving chest.

"Satisfied now?" Liddy asked with a grin as she ran her hand across Ving's belly.

"Finally. I'm not sure if I prefer men or women anymore, but competence is always a winner."

"Well, that's for certain. At least they told us why the city was closed."

"Seems a bit extreme for a manhunt, but I suppose if you piss off the wrong people, it's going to happen."

"I just hope the heightened security doesn't cause issues for any of the girls off the ship."

****

"I said!" the guard yelled. "Your kind isn't welcome on this street!"

Easy regarded the brawny man, who seemed to be doing his best to ignore the towering figure of Vile. "Customers? It's a market."

"I think he means women," Emma suggested.

"No, there are women in those shops over there and all over the place really." Vile made an effort to observe her surroundings.

"Look, sir, we aren't even shopping here today. We are heading to the college library."

Confused and angry, he shouted again, "Don't play dumb with me!"

"How dumb are people who usually go to the college to buy books?" Easy asked, trying to sound even more confused.

"I would presume that if we were 'playing dumb' we would be significantly more convincing," Vile assessed.

"I concur. If we were 'playing dumb', we would just shout nonspecific requests under the assumption that our vernacular monotony would infer our desired interpretation." Emma adopted the tone and pose of a disinterested aristocrat as she delivered her observation.

The guard stood staring dumbly like he had been hit in the face with a fencepost. His partner, however, seemed to have caught onto their act and cocked a smile.

****

Hannah almost rolled her eyes at the overtly-erotic art the man had hanging in his office. Paintings of women in vulgar acts that utterly failed to arouse her. Not that the acts were too vulgar for her, she noticed most were things she had enjoyed doing, and the others were things she might want to try - but none of their faces seemed to enjoy it. Every woman seemed as though the model who had posed for them lacked enthusiasm for the task.

"Ah yes, I suppose they can be a bit intimidating," he said, totally misinterpreting her reaction.

"Women really do those things here?"

"Indeed, every woman pictured works for, and posed with me for the paintings."

"And they get paid a lot to do these things? I mean, I like the idea of making money, but I've never had a man hand me money before sex. Or after, or whenever... How do you do that?"

"Before typically, some regular clients prefer during, and some respected regulars pay after."

"I know I don't work for you, but you brought me up here to try me for yourself. Does this mean you are going to pay me?" Hannah tried to feign the false confidence a girl trying not to get in over her head would attempt.

"Certainly," he said as he handed Hannah a drink, before going behind his desk to move a painting.

As he dialled in the combination on his safe, she dumped the drink into a tacky chalice that was sitting on a table. Not that she suspected he would drug her, but it was always better to play it safe. He opened the safe and stood aside, taking out an empty money bag to show off the stacks of bills it had been covering. Tossing the bag on the desk, he smiled a wicked grin as Hannah got closer and looked in awe at the money. He put his arm around her waist and held her close, looking down at her cleavage, looking forward to when he would release it.

"It's simple. Do what a man tells you, you get the money. If you want some of that, I want your breasts exposed."

Hannah looked up at him in shock for a moment before looking down at her breasts. Pausing a moment, before putting her hands around the edge of her blouse and pausing again. She looked up one last time and lifted her shirt up and over her head.

"Bra off," he commanded, holding a wad of bills in his hands.

This time she kept focus on the money in his hands as she undressed further. She knew the game. Entice and overpay to get her in, then sucker-punch when she's committed. Well, she knew the first half of his plan would go to plan. He handed over the bills and began to handle her breasts while she counted the cash. It was about as much as a few minutes of entertainment in the lounge would cost, but most other women would see it as a full day's work. He pushed her to slightly rest her bum on his desk as he went low to lick her nipples and suck on them. She held his head close with one hand and moaned softly while bracing herself with the other. His hand worked up between her legs that she tried to keep closed without too much effort.

"Spread them," he commanded again, this time showing more bills.

As she wondered when he would get to taking them from the safe, she took the bills and let him push her legs apart. He began to massage gently between her legs while continuing to move his mouth over her breasts. Hannah gasped sharply and shuddered when he started putting pressure on the right spot. Thankfully the man at least knew what he was doing with a woman, and the whole game was actually pleasing to play.

"Could you bite them?" Hannah asked, thinking of something devious. "My, nipples, I mean. I like them pinched and..."

She stopped talking the moment he bit down on them. Moaning harder now, not even falsely, Hannah smiled, feeling a finger worm it's way under her panties and inside her. A funny sounding giggle escaped her lips as she tried to moan at the same time while admiring her own plan.

"Now it's your turn to put your mouth to work," he said, pulling her bum off the desk and pushing her to her knees.

He pulled off his trousers to reveal his manhood. It had an odd curved shape to it, but Hannah smiled since she'd always enjoyed them this way. The curve tended to hit the right spot when she got taken from behind with it. A quick smile flashed across her face as she knew the next step in her game would be that much more pleasing. Greedily, she grabbed another wad of bills from his hand as she took him in her mouth, eager to get him ready for the next step. Although harder to fit comfortably down her throat it worked out since she was trying to play a girl without that level of experience. He withdrew it to slap her in the face with it, asserting his dominance, before having her open up wider to accommodate his testes. Making her gently appreciate them with her mouth and tongue, while Hannah used her hand on the curved shaft.

Ready to move on, he pulled Hannah up back to sit on the desk. Passing over another wad, she held it with the rest in her hand and looked about for a better place to put it. He picked up the empty money bag from the desk and held it open, Hannah saw him fasten the clips to close it after she put the bills in and knew her plan would work.

"Wait," she said, taking the bag back. "I got an idea."

She took the bag and tested the clasps on each handle before letting the springs close them. Then she placed one on her left nipple, letting out a pained gasp before a soft moan. Doing the other, the money bag now hung open between her breasts. Backing him up, she turned around to bend over the desk and let the bag tug on her nipples as it swayed below her.

"Oh yes, now please, make me earn it, sir," she moaned.

Lifting her skirt out of the way, he pushed inside Hannah and she let out a yelp as the curved cock hit her right where she liked it with each thrust. Then Hannah moaned a pout.

"Oh, it's not heavy enough," she complained.

Then, after reaching behind himself, he leant over her to whisper in her ear. "I will make it heavier."

The stack of bills added a pleasing weight to the bag hanging from her breasts, but nowhere near her limits. As he kept thrusting, Hannah would beg for more. He would respond with comments like 'you're a paid slut now' and 'it's good you don't want your dignity, I'm going to be selling it'. If Hannah was going to be honest with herself, it was actually arousing to hear those words. She always felt her best when others thought she was at her lowest. Made proving them wrong all the better. With each comment, though, came another stack of bills. His thrusting became more forceful as he thought to break her before his safe was empty. Yet each time he took a moment to catch his breath, she would wiggle her bum and ask for more weight in the purse. Hannah loved that each thrust made the clamps tug harder and harder on her until they suddenly slipped off as another stack landed inside. She screamed and suddenly climaxed hard as the bag hit the floor. Unable to wait for her to finish, he pulled out and put her back on her knees so he could push his seed onto her face. Still moaning and gasping for air, she felt it covering her and falling into her open mouth as she moved her hands behind her to pick up the bag. He was groaning hard until he was finished.