Defiant Necromancer (Book 2 stubbed)

Aoife was unsurprisingly the first to be served by the very nervous-looking dressmaker.

She stepped behind a curtain and reemerged a few minutes later dressed in a crimson floor-length gown that gave her a kind of regal presence. She had also put her hair up, probably conjuring a pin or something to hold it in place.

“Well?” she asked a little impatiently, eyes looking imperiously down at the others. She was the tallest of the women present, shorter only than Tybalt.

“I think it suits you,” said Mariella, nodding appreciatively.

“You are fit to be presented to a king,” Vidalia said.

“Hm,” Aoife grunted. She looked at Tybalt - and then at Kistana. Her body language seemed to suggest those were the two opinions she cared most about.

“I wouldn’t have thought someone who could fight like you would clean up so well, honestly,” Kistana said after a moment. “Are all dragons beautiful?”

Aoife’s expression softened. She opened her mouth to reply, but then looked at Tybalt, waiting for his response.

“I agree with Kistana,” the necromancer said. “Many strong women end up being physically unbalanced. The amount of muscle gain can leave them looking masculine. I’m fortunate that none of those present ended up in that situation. Kistana, Mariella, and you are all quite strong without compromising on beauty.”

Mariella was no longer physically stronger than Tybalt himself, but all three women were still far stronger than the average person.

“Very good, then,” Aoife said, puffing out her chest and clearly trying to sound as if she had expected that answer. But she couldn’t conceal a smile. “Wrap this up, and I will take it to go.” She started stripping again, but the dressmaker managed to coax her into going behind the curtain before her large, full breasts came into view again.

“I guess I’ll go next?” Kistana asked quietly.

The girls huddled up quickly, and then Vidalia stepped forward and said, “The order is Kistana, me and Mariella, and then Vicky.”

Victoria looked at Tybalt a little nervously as if seeking his approval for her going last.

“I’ll enjoy the banquet,” he said, grinning, “regardless of the order.”

Victoria, Mariella, and Kistana all blushed at that, while Vidalia gave Tybalt a look that could melt ice.

As Aoife came out, Kistana stepped back behind the curtain with the dressmaker. Vidalia moved over to Tybalt, stood on tiptoes, and whispered into his ear, “We have more lamia venom, if you truly wanted to make today a ‘banquet.’”

That sent a rush of blood straight to his manhood.

“We should wait until we’re all here to do that again,” he managed after a moment.

Dero was with the high elves, and considering how lusty the dark elf was, Tybalt was fairly certain she wouldn’t want to be left out.

“All right,” Vidalia said. She turned around, her tail flicking at Tybalt’s legs. Before she moved away, she reached back with one hand, found his shaft, and gave it a playful squeeze. “Whatever you say.”

She returned to the others. Only Mariella seemed to have noticed what had happened, and she quietly laughed at the expression on Tybalt’s face.

The curtain parted a minute later, and Kistana stepped out in a surprisingly risque outfit. It didn’t seem that way looking straight-on; in fact, the collar didn’t even expose her collarbone.

But at the sides, the dress was completely open except for flimsy ties at the waist and a bit of fabric around her hips. Tybalt could see the entire length of her long, shapely legs, her toned, muscular waist, and the sides of her breasts.

Holy shit. The dragon was dressing to look presentable. Kistana dressed to present herself to me… on a platter.

His pants tightened significantly, and he licked his lips. Then he finally noticed Kistana’s expression. Her eyes were staring him in the face, looking for his reaction.

“You look great, kitty-cat,” Vidalia said.

“I feel as if I should have chosen something more becoming now,” Aoife said, nodding thoughtfully.

“If this is a competition, you’ve both had your shot,” Mariella said. She paused and added, “And you both looked very becoming.”

“Judging by Tybalt’s posture, he would like to touch and not just look,” Victoria said, looking the necromancer slyly up and down.

Tybalt realized his fingers were fidgeting slightly. He had been imagining ripping the clothing off of Kistana. That, plus his expression and his noticeably tightening pants, had given away where his mind was even to the relatively innocent Victoria.

“I was concerned about freedom of movement,” Kistana muttered, looking at the ground. Her cheeks were very red. Her eyes darted up to Tybalt’s then back to the floor.

“You do look great, Kistana,” Tybalt said. He moved closer to her and pulled her head slightly so he could whisper into her ear, “Makes me want to have you right here.”

The catgirl jerked to a standing up straight position instantly, her lips curving in a helpless smile.

“Whatever my future husband wants,” she said after a moment, trying to sound as if she was giving in to him in some way.

He sighed and stepped back before he actually did something. “You’d better have that boxed up. You’re not going to get to wear it anywhere.”

The catgirl looked confused as Tybalt stepped back, until Vidalia stepped forward and whispered into her ear. Then she grinned and nodded.

You won’t get to wear it out, because if I see you in that dress, I’m going to push you against a wall and we won’t go anywhere for a while. He looked at the dressmaker, whose expression seemed to be teetering between pride at the reactions her clothing was getting and concern that the powerful people in her shop might do some damage while they were there.

I’ll make sure I order some bed clothes for all of them here, too, to make up for bringing a dragon here and terrifying the owner.

Even if Aoife was in her human form now, she still had her horns and glowing golden eyes, and enough of the town had seen her show up and transform that her real nature was far from a secret.

“Us next!” Vidalia announced.

She practically leaped to the other side of the curtain with the dressmaker, and Mariella followed a moment later, giving Tybalt a little wink as the curtain closed behind them.

It took less than a minute this time for the curtain to part. Vidalia emerged in a gauzy blue-gray dress that matched the color of her eyes. Mariella wore a shimmering silver evening gown that accentuated her bosom.

Why does it feel familiar? His eyes widened, and he instantly flashed back to a night, months ago. The dream he’d had in the cave with Mariella before they slept together for the first time. It was a Vidalia-engineered dream, and the two women had been wearing dresses just like these two - not exactly like them, but very similar - in the dream. They had danced and kissed each other in what Vidalia had later told him was a bid to win his attention.

Then that dream became the foreplay that led into Mariella giving her virginity to Tybalt.

“Thoughtfully chosen outfits,” he said quietly as he stepped closer to them.

He kissed each woman deeply, and then they kissed each other, only slightly more chastely.

“Save these for home, too, then?” Vidalia asked.

“We’ll wear them to dance with you,” Mariella said, running a hand down Tybalt’s side.

“Or for you,” the foxgirl added in a sultry tone.

I’ll employ a band of very discreet musicians to keep our home full of music, then, he thought. Maybe I can find some undead who know how to play. Or make some.

While he, Vidalia, and Mariella were quietly flirting, Victoria slipped past them and behind the curtain.

Tybalt didn’t turn away from them until he heard the cloth move to the side again.

He smiled as he took in Victoria’s choice of garment.

It wasn’t as regal as what Aoife had chosen or as unintentionally sexy as Kistana’s, but it tapped into a little of the same thing that Vidalia and Mariella had conjured: nostalgia.

Victoria’s dress was comparatively modest, cut to just above the knees and just high enough on her chest to barely show a hint of cleavage. Her shoulders were bare, puffy sleeves stood out around her upper arms, and the whole thing was covered in a floral print.

It reminded Tybalt of his first essentially solo outing with Victoria. Though Kistana had followed from a distance to keep them safe, she had been nearly invisible as a presence.

When Tybalt asked Victoria to take her somewhere that was special to her, she had brought the necromancer to her garden on the mountainside.

The dress recalled the colors of the flowers she had cultivated.

Tybalt stepped away from the others to Victoria and looked her up and down, trying to pretend he was giving her a critical eye. Her gorgeous, lightly tanned skin, long legs, angelic face, and generally adorable presentation were almost perfect, and he could have stared at her all day - though, frankly, that was the case with all of his women.

“Do I look presentable?” Victoria asked softly, obviously fishing for a compliment.

“You need something,” Tybalt said instantly. Her face fell slightly until he continued, “A flower in your hair, maybe on one ear, and you would be perfect. I’ll have to give you one.”

“We should give the two of you some time alone,” Vidalia suggested from his other side.

“Don’t we have more to do—” Aoife began to speak, but she stopped after a sharp shake of the head from Kistana.

“We don’t have any plans for the day,” the catgirl said in a firm but quiet voice.

Tybalt could feel in the glances back and forth among Vidalia, Mariella, Kistana, and Aoife that the first three had an agenda of some sort that they were trying to convey to Aoife without words. It seemed simple enough to the necromancer. They wanted him to spend some time with Victoria.

When he thought about it, that made sense. She had been supportive, adaptable, and undemanding.

The squeaky wheel got greased, and conversely, the quiet ones went unnoticed. Even if they needed or deserved attention.

“Do you have plans for after this, Vicky?” he asked, turning back to her.

She shook her head silently, and he took that as his cue to take her hand.

“Would you like to go spend some time together?” Tybalt asked.

“I would. I’ll just change back into—”

“Actually, I really like this dress on you. Why don’t you wear it out? I’ll just pay the dressmaker, and—”

“We’ll take care of it,” Mariella said lightly. “You two go and have fun!”

The necromancer smiled. He stepped over and whispered in the fire mage’s ear about the bed clothes order, and she nodded.

“Sure, of course.”

As Tybalt and Victoria walked out of the shop, the others all seemed to be smiling back at them.