Cat and Mouse (2)
"Pardon?"
Cloud doubted his own ears.
He could take a married woman to his bed? Having only recently come to know the taste of a woman, he cheered inwardly—yet he couldn't help wondering what she was really after. And so, rather than revealing his true nature as a drooling wolf, he answered like a courteous, well-mannered gentleman.
"Marde, hearing you say that so suddenly has me rather flustered. Haha... Might I ask you to explain the circumstances?"
Marde, who had been leaning against the door, spoke up shyly.
"For as long as anyone can remember, our village has kept a custom in which a traveler and the host's wife share a bed for the night. You see, not a single road leads here, and the land around us offers nothing of note, so the village has fallen hopelessly behind. Outsiders almost never visit a place with so little to recommend it, and when you trace the bloodlines of everyone here, most marriages have ended up between kin."
"Babies born of such unions rarely live long, or else come into the world deformed, and to prevent that we had no other choice. There are fewer than a hundred of us as it is—and even now, most of the young have left, leaving only the old behind."
"The few young people still trying to keep the village alive labor to continue our line through the old custom of letting our wives lie with outsiders. It is all to preserve the traditions and culture our ancestors breathed life into—so that this village may endure for ages to come, instead of vanishing like a mirage on a midsummer night."
Cloud, who had been listening intently, nodded and asked, "Then the reason your husband kept pressing me with all those questions at dinner was..."
"Yes. It was so that we might receive the seed of a capable man rather than some worthless vagrant. We do not lie with just anyone. With the village's numbers already so thin, we need clever, courageous children to keep it alive, so we put you to the test, Cloud. Forgive me if it gave offense."
Cloud waved a hand in dismissal.
"Think nothing of it. That said—if you've come to my room dressed like this, then does that mean I passed?"
"Yes... my husband has given his consent."
Of all the answers Cloud had given, ninety in a hundred had been lies. He smirked to himself. And he marveled that a village existed which would put its own wives into travelers' beds for the sake of its survival.
At the same time, Cloud took their plight to heart and resolved to make a charitable donation of his talents.
"Well, if those are the circumstances, I can hardly say no. Come here, then. I'm but a humble man, yet I shall strive my utmost for as long as my strength holds out."
"Thank you, brave hero."
Marde stepped closer. He had seen her at dinner as well, but back then she had merely struck him as remarkably fresh for a married woman in her forties; the woman standing before him now seemed an entirely different creature.
More beautiful, even.
Perhaps it was the lewd lingerie, but she looked downright sexy.
She was soft with flesh without being fat by any means—lustrous brown hair, a bountiful bust, smooth skin, and a firm, springy backside.
Cloud took her by the hand and led her to the bed.
"Have you ever been with a man other than your husband?"
"Twice... I have done it twice."
Marde's lips seemed frozen with tension. Like a bride on her wedding night, her voice came small and trembling.
"When was that?"
"In my late twenties, and again in my mid-thirties."
"Did either of them succeed in getting you with child?"
"No. I have yet to conceive..."
"And children with Kuluyi?"
"None."
"Oh dear."
Cloud's gaze drifted to Marde's plump thighs. The short skirt of her lingerie could not hope to cover them. Perhaps aware of his stare, she awkwardly drew her legs together and gave her thighs a light shake.
"There's no need to be nervous. When it comes to this sort of thing, you must first open your heart wide—that is how conception takes best."
"Is... is that so?"
"It is. Take it from a seasoned expert who has known countless couplings across his adventuring days—try trusting me just this once."
Cloud firmly resolved to pour every last drop of his vigor into her.
I'll get her with child if it's the last thing I do!
He laid Marde neatly down on the bed, showering gentle kisses upon her lips and the nape of her neck as he stripped her lingerie away piece by piece.
"Hah... hah...!"
From mere light fondling, moans were already spilling from her, her breathing turning ragged.
Could she be innocent?
Cloud wedged his knee between Marde's thighs and spread her legs apart. Then, with his fingers, he gently stroked her soaked sex.
"Aaahn, C-Cloud..."
Their skin had only just touched, yet the nectar coating his fingers was already considerable. And the way the pleasure-drunk married woman cooed his name—coquettish in a manner that ill became her demure face—set his blood ablaze.
His thirst now thoroughly awakened, Cloud shed his trousers and freed his swollen member out into the world. He had just gripped it and was bringing it toward Marde's face to request a suck when, all at once, the sound of the house's front door being kicked open rang out from beyond the room.
BANG!
"Cloud! I know you're hiding in this house! Do not even think of fleeing—come out this instant! I warned you plainly that I would chase you to the very depths of hell! Today shall be the day of your funeral!"
The killing intent that rolled into the room was so terrifying that Cloud's once-eager, rock-hard member shriveled in an instant, dwindling to the size of a chrysalis.
"Wh-what the hell?"
The voice belonged, astonishingly, to Sylvia.
At the sound of it, Cloud's chest lurched and his heart began to pound.
How the hell did she track me here? She should be convinced I went to Huan Village...
"Wh-who is that?! Do you know them, Cloud?"
Marde asked in startled bewilderment, but Cloud ignored her, silently stepping out of bed and walking over to the laundry line strung by the window.
He pawed through his wet clothes hanging there. On the back of his shirt he discovered a small magic sigil drawn into the fabric, glowing and flickering on and off.
When the hell did she plant this on me?
A hollow laugh escaped him unbidden.
Not bad.
So Sylvia, too, had prepared her move in advance, just in case.
Cloud applauded her cleverness. And he offered equal praise to her heart, which had refused to trust him to the very end.
"Cloud! I shall kill you! Hiding will avail you nothing!"
Sylvia's shrill voice rang out again from beyond the door. Doors could be heard swinging open and slamming shut one after another—she seemed to be turning the whole house upside down.
If she caught him now, he would be dismembered limb from limb. Which meant Cloud could not afford to be taken quietly.
"As if I'd tremble at that?"
Cloud curled his lips into an amused smile.
"What do we do? I think she has a sword!"
Marde looked at him with a face full of worry.
He chuckled.
Then, tossing aside the pretense he had worn until now, he said, "That woman is dangerous. She will kill me, make no mistake."
"Why? What reason could she possibly have?"
"She's a noble. She fell for me so hard she proposed marriage, and I turned her down flat. She's been like this ever since."
"You refused a proposal, and now she means to kill you?"
"Yep. She's got a temper like wildfire—hot-blooded, fists before words. And she's even sworn to kill every woman who has anything to do with me. So..."
Cloud glanced back and forth between his own body and Marde's.
"You're naked, my cock's hanging out—if she walked in on a scene like this, neither of us would come out of it in one piece. She'd swing that sword right then and there without a shred of hesitation."
Marde clapped a hand over her mouth in horror.
"Wh-what do we do?! And a noble, on top of it all...!"
She wrapped both arms around her trembling body. Sitting atop the threadbare blanket, she hunched over and burst into tears. Cloud came close and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. Just do exactly as I tell you, and you'll come through this safe and sound, ma'am."
"Is there truly a way to survive?"
"Of course. On one condition—that you play your part without a single slip."
Cloud promptly scooped up Marde's lingerie from the floor, tore it to ribbons, and flung it onto the bed. Then he ruffled her hair into a wild mess.
"When that woman comes inside, cry your eyes out and tell her you were raped."
"By you, Cloud?"
"Yep. Tell her I seized the moment while your husband was away, stripped your clothes off, and tried to rape you. That the knight arrived just in the nick of time and saved you. And that I fled through that window."
Cloud pointed a finger at the window.
"Will... will she believe it?"
"She'll believe it, all right. She's been on the receiving end herself."
Cloud smirked.
"Then I'm counting on you."
He promptly gathered his clothes from the laundry line, flung the window wide open, then slipped into the wardrobe and hid.
Before long, the door to the room burst open.
"Come out, Cloud! No use hiding!"
The instant the door flew open, Marde, huddled on the bed, broke straight into sobs.
"Sob... sob...!"
"What is the meaning of this?! Why are you unclothed?"
Sylvia, utterly baffled, approached the bed with her sword clutched in one hand.
Marde raised her head and pleaded with pitiful eyes.
"He did it! At first he disguised himself as a courteous guest, but the moment he learned my husband was not home, he turned into a beast and set upon me! Sob!"
"What did you say?! Cloud did this to you?!"
Marde sniffled and nodded her head vigorously.
"I tried to resist, but I was no match for his strength! Had you not come, sir knight, I would have been violated! Sob...!"
"That rutting son of a bitch!"
Sylvia raged, grinding her teeth.
"As if hounding me were not enough, now he lays hands on honest women!"
She turned her blazing eyes back upon Marde.
"Where has the wretch fled?!"
"The moment you appeared, sir knight, he lost his nerve and escaped through the window. He cannot have gone far!"
"Understood!"
Sylvia hardened her gaze and vaulted through the window in a single bound. Her speed was nothing short of lightning, charged with a terrifying resolve that swore she would let him escape never.
Scarcely moments after she vanished outside, the wardrobe door swung wide open.
"Phew... thank you! You saved my life!"
Cloud stepped out and heaved a long sigh of relief. Marde, huddled on the bed, scrambled over to his side and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"That was terrifying!"
"You've nothing left to fear. I'm leaving now, so take care of yourself. This is my chance to slip away. By the way—is there any other way out of the village besides the main entrance? Some rat hole leading beyond the village, say."
"There's a footpath through the cedar forest behind the village. Follow it about two kilometers and you'll come upon a field overgrown with thick brush."
"Really? Thanks for telling me. Then, in the name of a clean getaway—care to bestow a lucky kiss upon me?"
Cloud winked.
"Of course. Whatever happens, don't let those wicked nobles catch you. You're a hero, after all."
Nestling into Cloud's arms, Marde planted a deep, lingering kiss upon his lips.