The room stank of sweat, cheap wine, and blood.

I lunged straight at Pietro first.

He barely had time to widen his eyes before my shoulder slammed into his chest.

The smile on my face probably looked insane to him.

I didn't stab or slice. just drove him back hard enough that his skull cracked against the stone wall.

He crumpled like wet paper, out cold.

Carlo was next.

He actually knew how to hold a blade, kept his stance low, tried a quick feint toward my ribs.

I parried once, twice, then stepped inside his guard and rammed my elbow into his throat.

He gagged, stumbled.

I twisted his wrist until the knife clattered free, then drove my own up under his ribs.

One wet crunch and he went limp.

The others rushed me together after that. three, maybe four more.

Didn't matter.

I moved through them methodically.

A slash across one throat, a boot to another's knee followed by a downward stab, a quick sidestep and thrust into the last man's heart.

Bodies hit the floorboards one after another until the only sound left was dripping blood and my own breathing.

Lana stood frozen near the far table, eyes huge.

Her white hair had come half-loose from its knot.

"You… you were that customer," she said, voice cracking on the last word.

"The one who bought the dried figs last week."

I wiped my blade on the nearest dead man's shirt and sheathed it.

"Long time no talk."

She swallowed hard but didn't back away.

I walked over to Pietro.

He was starting to twitch.

I crouched, grabbed a fistful of his greasy hair, and smacked his cheek twice. hard.

His eyes fluttered open, dazed and panicked.

"Where's the girl?" I asked, loud enough that it echoed off the walls.

He flinched like I'd burned him.

"Alive. alive, I swear! Back room, back room, please, don't. "

"Move."

He scrambled up, legs shaking, and half-ran, half-stumbled toward a narrow door behind a stack of barrels.

I followed close, knife out again.

Lana came right behind me without being told.

Inside was a small storage room lit by one shitty oil lamp.

A teenage girl sat tied to a wooden chair, blindfold tight across her eyes, wrists bound behind her back.

She flinched at the sound of boots.

Pietro started babbling the second we were through the door.

"See? Not a scratch on her. Still pure too. we kept her untouched. Virgins fetch triple in the eastern ports, you know how it is, business is business. "

I backhanded him so hard he spun and hit the wall again.

"Shut up."

I stepped past him and sliced the ropes on the girl's wrists first, then tugged the blindfold off.

She blinked against the dim light, dark eyes wide and wet.

Looked maybe sixteen.

Same sharp cheekbones as Lana.

"You okay?" I asked.

She nodded fast, throat working like she couldn't find words yet.

I turned back to Pietro.

He was curled against the wall, hands up.

I glared down at him until he stopped whimpering.

"To make sure you don't pull this shit on anyone else," I said, "you're going to be the slave from now on."

His mouth opened, closed.

"W-what?"

I pulled the small leather pouch from my belt, shook out the thin black parchment with the binding sigil already inked on it.

Old spell, nasty one.

I pressed it to his forehead, muttered the three trigger words under my breath.

Red light flared once. sharp, like a brand.

and when it faded a raised crest sat in the center of his skin, faintly glowing.

His eyes rolled back for a second, then refocused.

Blank terror.

"Stand up," I ordered.

He stood immediately, jerky, like strings were pulling him.

"Stay here. Don't move until I come back for you. Understand?"

"Yes… master," he croaked.

I grabbed the girl's arm gently and steered her toward Lana.

The older woman wrapped both arms around her granddaughter and pulled her close, murmuring something soft I couldn't catch.

We left Pietro standing there like a statue and walked out into the night air.

I led them straight toward the docks.

The money belt I'd stripped off Pietro's corpse was heavy against my hip.

gold, silver, a couple eastern gems.

Enough to matter.

At the pier I stopped near the gangplank of the next ship heading south.

"This one's going close to your village. Get on."

Lana looked at me for a long second.

Her hair was fully loose now, white strands catching the lantern light.

Even after everything, her body still held that full, confident shape.

hips wide, chest heavy under her blouse.

She stepped closer.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"For saving us. For… all of it."

She patted the money belt I'd pushed into her hands earlier.

"With this I can reopen the shop. Everything's gone otherwise."

I cleared my throat.

"Village chief can't let a good merchant like you go under. Bad for trade."

She glanced at her granddaughter.

"Go buy some fruit from that stall over there. The red ones you like. I'll be right here."

The girl hesitated, then nodded and walked off, clutching a few coins.

Lana turned back to me.

Her smile was slow, knowing.

Without another word she grabbed my wrist and tugged me sideways into the narrow alley between two warehouses.

The moment we were out of sight she spun, planted both hands on the rough brick wall, and shoved her pants down to her knees in one motion.

Pale skin, thick thighs, that soft heavy ass I'd noticed every time she bent over her stall back home.

"Fuck me," she said, voice low and rough.

"You were hot back then, pretending to browse my figs. Do it now."

I didn't waste time talking.

I stepped up, shoved my own pants open, and pressed against her.

She was already slick.

nerves, adrenaline, whatever.

I slid in one long push and she groaned, head dropping forward so her white hair curtained her face.

"Harder," she muttered.

"Don't baby me."

I gripped her hips and gave her what she asked for.

The wet slap of skin on skin filled the alley.

Her body rocked forward with every thrust, ass jiggling each time my hips met her.

She pushed back to meet me, greedy, like she'd been waiting weeks for this.

I reached around, found her clit with two fingers and rubbed firm circles.

She cursed under her breath, thighs trembling.

"Turn around," I said after a minute.

She did, pants still tangled at her ankles.

I lifted one of her legs over my arm, opened her wider, and sank back in.

Face to face now I could see every flicker.

how her lips parted, how her eyes half-closed when I hit deep.

She clawed at my shoulders, nails digging through my shirt.

"Ass," she panted suddenly.

"Do my ass."

I pulled out, slick with her.

She turned again, braced on the wall, reached back and spread herself.

Her hole was tight, pink, already twitching like it knew what was coming.

I spat into my palm, smeared it over myself, then pressed the head against her.

Slow at first.

she hissed, then moaned long and low as I sank in inch by inch.

The grip was brutal, hot, her inner ring clenching down every time I pulled back, like it was trying to keep me inside.

I watched it stretch around me, that pale pucker gripping tight, then relaxing only to clamp again on the next stroke.

"Fuck. yes. like that," she groaned.

"Deeper."

I gave it to her.

Long, steady thrusts that made her whole body shake.

Her ass bounced against my hips, soft and heavy, the flesh rippling every time I bottomed out.

She reached down between her legs, rubbing herself fast while I fucked her open.

The sounds were filthy.

wet squelch, her ragged breathing, my own grunts.

I could feel her starting to flutter inside, the spasms running up my length.

"Gonna come," she warned, voice breaking.

"Do it."

She did. hard.

Her back arched, ass clenching so tight I almost lost it right there.

I kept going through it, pounding her through the shudders until she was whimpering.

Only then did I let go.

Buried deep, I came with a low groan, filling her up while her hole milked every pulse out of me.

We stayed locked like that for a few seconds, panting.

Then I pulled out slow.

She winced a little, but smirked over her shoulder.

We yanked our pants up just as footsteps approached.

Her granddaughter rounded the corner holding a paper bag of fruit, cheeks flushed from the night air.

Lana smoothed her hair like nothing happened.

"Ready, sweet girl?"

The girl nodded, glancing between us but saying nothing.

I walked them to the gangplank.

The captain took one look at the gold Lana handed over and waved them aboard without questions.

As the ship started to creak away from the dock, Lana leaned over the rail.

"I'll repay you properly when you get back to the village!" she called, grinning wide.

"Don't you dare avoid my shop!"

I just shook my head and raised a hand.

They disappeared into the dark water.

I turned and started the walk back to the inn where the rest of the girls were waiting.

My legs felt heavy, mind still buzzing.

I didn't notice the woman standing under the big oak at the edge of the square.

Hood low, arms crossed, watching me the whole way with sharp, interested eyes.

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