Part Twenty-six
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"Would you like to join my Familia, Bell?"
He had been hoping to hear those words ever since he arrived in Orario. True, perhaps he had hoped to join a larger, more prestigious Familia, rather than a Familia of 2, but he'd seen how tough the competition was just to join a Familia.
The goddess Hestia had been so kind to him, happy to talk and listen to him, that when he'd been asked to leave the room his heart had sunk. He'd seen the look that Hestia's captain had given him, and he was sure it wasn't good. Surely he was going to convince Hestia to reject him, just like he had been rejected by all the other Familia he had approached.
So when Hestia spoke those words to him, his eyes sought out Blair, who was looking back at him with just a hint of a smile.
"Well?" Blair asked.
"Ye-yes!" Bell squeaked, wincing at the shrill sound of his voice. "Please let me join your Familia."
Hestia beamed at him, and he smiled back. "Wonderful. Come over here and take off your shirt."
"Wha?" He froze, his eyes flashing to Blair. The man jerked his head towards the couch where Hestia was sitting, tapping the cushion next to her.
"You need to receive my blessing," Hestia continued, either oblivious to or ignoring Bell's consternation. "And that means I need to see your back, so come on."
"Okay," Bell stuttered, trying desperately to ignore Blair as he pulled off his shirt and sat cross-legged on the cushion, with his back to Hestia and Blair.
He felt Hestia scoot around behind him. "You'll need to lie down for this one, actually," Hestia said. "The first one always takes a little longer. Blair, would you be willing to go fix something for us to eat? I think we should have a meal together as a Familia after this."
"Of course, Hestia," the man, soon to be his senior and captain, replied. Bell relaxed just a bit as he left the room.
"Please cut him a little slack," Hestia said as she maneuvered herself into position, her calves against his sides as she knelt over his back. "It's been just him and me for a while now, and we'll need a little time to get used to not being just the two of us anymore."
"O-okay."
"He's a good man," Hestia continued. "I'm sure you'll get along just fine."
Bell wished he could be as confident as the goddess. No, perhaps he should say his goddess, in just a few moments.
"With this gift of my ichor, I welcome you to my Familia, Bell," Hestia proclaimed. He felt a drop of something wet fall on his back. Ichor- her blood? It was followed by the soft touch of her finger. It trailed across his back in patterns, as though she were writing on his skin. And after a few moments, the feeling receded.
"Is that it?" he asked as he felt Hestia move from her position over him.
"You're officially an adventurer," Hestia said. "My second child. We're family now, you and me and Blair."
Family. The word brought memories of his grandfather's kind smiles to his eyes. Was that what this was? His new family?
"Here," Hestia said, holding out a piece of parchment to him. "It's traditional to give a written copy of your Falna after it is updated. Proof of your growth, and that you really have a Falna now."
Bell turned his eyes to the parchment.
Bell Cranel
Level 1
Strength I-0
Endurance I-0
Dexterity I-0
Agility I-0
"No magic?" he wondered aloud. He had been hoping to see it. Magic was at the center of so many heroic tales. To not see it at all was disappointing.
"Magic only appears in the Falna once you obtain it," Hestia explained. "Maybe you'll gain magic at some point."
Bell nodded. "I see."
"Welcome to the Hestia Familia," Blair's voice came from the door to the kitchen. "The food is on the stove, and will be ready shortly. We still have some things to go over as well, including your living arrangements while the church is being renovated."
"Blair's a good cook," Hestia said, grabbing Bell by the hand and pulling him along towards the kitchen. "You'll like it, I promise."
"Please take care of me," Bell asked his new captain.
"Of course."
The food smelled really good.
After dinner, he was walked back to the inn he was staying at by Blair. Due to the renovations, they didn't really have room for a third. Well, they did, but although Hestia offered a spot on their couch, he had taken one look at Blair's face and politely declined. He could wait a couple of days for a real bedroom to be added to the church for him.
It sounded like the two of them, Blair and Hestia, were going to be sleeping in the same bed, and Bell was pretty sure he'd be unable to sleep if that were the case. No, much better to stick with his current arrangement.
Still, the silence between himself and his captain was a little ominous as they walked through the dark streets of Orario.
"So, why'd you decide to become an adventurer?" Blair asked out of the blue.
"Huh? Why?"
"Yeah, you know. Money? The older man gave him a sly sidelong glance. "Women?"
Bell blushed at the echo of the question the adventurer at Orario's gate had asked him.
"I- I want to be a hero!" he said. A much better answer than he gave the first time. 'To meet people in the dungeon' he had said. The adventurer at the gate had seen right through that line. "Like in the stories."
"A hero, huh?" Blair muttered, looking back down the street.
"Why did you want to become an adventurer?" Bell found the courage to ask back.
"Me? I stumbled into it, I guess," Blair replied. "It found me, more than me seeking it out. After I arrived in Orario, I ran into Hestia, and that was that. I joined her Familia, and now here I am."
"What is the dungeon really like?"
"Scary," Blair replied. "Especially for the first time. You have to experience it for yourself, the feeling of a monster trying to kill you…"
"A goblin tried to kill me when I was younger," Bell admitted. "My grandfather saved me from it."
"Nasty buggers, goblins. You have a Falna now, though. A goblin won't be a match for you anymore."
Bell swallowed. He was still scared of facing one.
"Tomorrow, we'll take some time to get you ready for the dungeon," Blair said. "We'll stop by my blacksmith and get him started on gear for you, get you registered with the Guild, all of that."
"You'll be providing my gear?" Bell was startled. One of the reasons some Familias had turned him away was because he had nothing but the clothes on his back. No gear of his own, not even a weapon.
"Of course," Blair replied, as though it were a dumb question. "You're one of us now. And that means proper armor and a weapon. Wouldn't do to have you die stupidly because you didn't have some metal covering your important bits, now would it?
"N-no, I guess not."
"Exactly."
Together, he and Blair walked until they neared the inn.
"I'll meet you here in the morning, bright and early," Blair said. "If you're not up, I'll be coming in to get you."
"I'll be ready," Bell promised. He needed to make a good impression.
Before they parted, Blair handed him a bag of valis to pay for his stay for the next couple of days.
"Did you like what you saw?" Blair suddenly asked him out of the blue.
"Wh-wh-what?" Bell stuttered horribly, his mind immediately flashing back to his peeping.
"Did you think I didn't notice how beet-red you were when Hestia called you back in?"
"I'm sorry!" Bell exclaimed, blurting out his mind uncontrollably. "I didn't mean to! I was just nervous, and I was shocked- I mean- I never thought that-"
Blair's hand clamped down on his shoulder and he found himself staring up right into Blair's eyes. The older man was smiling, but it made him uneasy.
"Easy there, I'm not mad." Blair stared him right in the eye. "Just remember that Hestia is off-limits, m'kay?"
A chill ran down Bell's spine, like death itself was warning him of impending doom.
He nodded vigorously. No getting between the captain and the goddess, no siree. "Got it."
"Then we'll get along just fine. See you in the morning, Bell." And with those words Blair walked away, as though everything was just fine.
Bell dashed into the inn, giving the innkeeper a short wave as he passed by to get into his room.
The Captain was scary.
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Should I have done that? Maybe not. Did a little mild warning to the too-cute-for-his-own-good bishounen Bell make me feel better? Hell yes it did.
As long as he didn't insert himself between me and Hestia, everything would be just fine.
Not that anything I knew about Bell suggested he would, even without the warning, but some things are better out in the open. After all, Bell didn't even realize gods and mortals could have that sort of relationship until Volume 8. I'm pretty sure it was Volume 8.
No, better to cut that one off here and now. He can seduce anyone else his harem-protagonist nature pleases, but not Hestia.
"Welcome back!" Hestia greeted me from our room. "Are you ready to update your status?"
My eyes wandered over her, lingering on the soft curve of her cleavage. I wanted her.
"Not in the mood," I grunted as I closed the distance between us.
"Not in the- mmph!" Hestia mumbled unintelligibly into my lips as I grabbed her up off the floor and kissed her. I didn't want to think about anything. All I wanted was to drown my fears in the feeling of Hestia's body against mine.
"Hah. Hah." Hestia panted as I released her. "What brought this oooooooon-"
I scooped Hestia up in my arms and dumped her onto the bed. She looked up at me with those big blue eyes, already starting to cloud over with a hint of lust, and I pulled off my shirt.
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Blair was being unusually assertive, Hestia thought as her back hit the covers. It wasn't unpleasant.
His shirt came off, leaving her free to eye his muscles, now even more defined than last time. But he didn't give her much time to appreciate it, before his body bent over hers as he slipped onto the bed, and his lips claimed hers again.
She twined her arms around his back, fingers dancing over his skin as their tongues twisted between their lips. She wished she had more lung capacity, because it always seemed she was the one forced to break their embrace, rapping her fingers against his back as she ran low on air.
His hands reached for her, taking hold of the shoulders of her dress, and paused there. She could see the question in his eyes, and the lust behind it. If she said nothing, he was going to pull her dress down. He wanted to.
Hestia said nothing. She had no words. Not to say yes, or to say no. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed deeply, never looking away from her child as he slowly, achingly pulled away the straps holding her dress in place.
Her cheeks blazed, but she resisted her instinctive need to cover herself, instead gripping the sheets in vice-like fists as her breasts fell free of their covering, and Blair's gaze dropped away from her eyes.
Oh heavens. Every step on this journey of experiences was more thrilling than the last. She'd never allowed a man to see her like this, to let herself be so exposed to their desires. But she didn't recoil from Blair as his hands reached down to take hold of her breasts, or from his gaze when his eyes flickered up to hers.
She felt so exposed, and so small. Blair was so much bigger than she was, and nothing could stop him from doing whatever he wanted to her, save for his own self-control.
She knew her breasts were sensitive, but the feeling of his fingers exploring their flesh was something utterly new. Like her sensitivity had been turned up well beyond normal. She laid her head back and closed her eyes, content to just feel the experience.
True, she could snap him out of it if he went to far, a flaring of her divine presence would no doubt do the trick. But that feeling of controlled danger was thrilling. Perhaps even more so because she trusted he'd stop if she spoke up.
A wet sensation sent a shiver of pleasure up her spine. She'd gotten distracted by her thoughts, and opened her eyes to see Blair looking up at her, with his tongue grazing slowly across her nipple.
"Blair…" she whined.
"You're so beautiful," Blair whispered, tweaking her other nipple with his fingers. "And all mine."
"Please…" She felt her cheeks somehow manage to burn hotter still. "Do that again."
He smiled at her, eyes bright as he turned his attention back to the little nub next to his face, and his tongue ran gently across it again, then twisted around it.
Her back arched as his lips closed around her nipple, gently tugging it just a little bit as he raised his face from her chest. His other hand still pawed at her as he laid a trail of kisses up her right breast, then up her neck as she tilted her head away.
A soft tingling sensation overtook her as he used his free hand to tilt her head back to him and take another kiss from her. There was a sudden overwhelming sense of numbness, like she had lost all feeling in her lower body, and then a rush of something new…
Tears welled in her eyes as she grasped Blair close, breaking the kiss and moving her head over his shoulder as her whole body shook, holding on to his shoulders for dear life.
"Hestia?" Blair's voice cut through the overwhelming rush of sensation. "Are you okay?"
"Mmmm," Hestia slurred. "Ne'er better. So good…"
She released her hold on his shoulders and fell back those few inches into the sheets, and stared up at her child- her lover, with teary eyes.
He watched her carefully, and while his lust was in no way gone, the overriding thing she saw in him was concern. Even now, he still thought of her first.
"Love you," Hestia said.
"I love you too."
Sense slowly returning to her, Hestia stretched out, arms high over her head, and thrusting her chest back into his gaze. A sly little grin crossed her face as his eyes darted down to follow her peaks as they moved.
"I've never felt anything like that."
Blair started at her, before a smile stretched across his handsome face. "Did you just orgasm? From me playing with your chest?" he punctuated his statement by tweaking a nipple with his fingers.
Was that what it was? It must have been, considering the tingle that went back down her spine at his touch.
Hestia pat the bed beside her.
"Lie down."
Blair gave her a questioning look, but did as she said, lying down next to her as she sat up and slipped down the bed, before reaching for his pants and undoing the knot that held them up.
"Hestia…" Blair's voice held a note of warning to it, but she ignored it. She was ready for this much, especially after the experience Blair had just given her. His pants came off, his underwear with them, releasing their occupant into the open air.
It was very hard, standing up and out from the rest of his body. Hestia had no frame of reference for penises, but Blair's struck her as more than acceptably large…
So this was a man's… her man's...
She glanced at Blair, and saw awe in his eyes.
He really wanted her. So she'd just have to oblige him.
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I very nearly came the moment Hestia's soft, gloved fingers touched my dick. Her touch was hesitant, just feeling me out, but it was already enough to have me on the verge. I was more than a little bit backed up, but my desire to savor the moment was at war with my body's carnal nature.
I lost.
Her fingers wrapped around my head, and I came with a moan. Hestia started a little bit as I twitched between her fingers, discharging my semen all over her glove.
I gasped at the intensity of it, and found it hard to speak even enough to apologize.
Hestia stared alternately at me, my penis, her hand… like she couldn't decide what to look at. Then she started laughing, just a giggle at first, but then a full laugh.
"I- I should have maybe taken off the gloves," she laughed.
I was too embarrassed to reply. Honestly, what was I, a virginal teen to have come at the first touch of a woman?
Hestia peeled off her glove and tossed it aside, followed by her other, still clean one before she turned her attention back to me. She climbed up into the bed next to me, her now un-gloved fingers wrapping back around my penis and gently massaging me.
She wiggled herself in next to me, with her still bare breasts pressed against my chest, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, with my other reaching down to take hold of one of her breasts with a gentle squeeze.
"You can go again, right?" she asked, seeming less like a virginal goddess than a horny teenager.
I nodded. I could already feel myself rising to the occasion. After all the blue-balls I'd had to endure, god knows I could go another round or three. Maybe not three…
She looked back at her hand around my dick, and her movements slowed, like she was exploring... No, that's exactly what she was doing, watching my reactions to her touches. If you've never had a lover examine your dick like it's the most fascinating thing she's ever seen, let me tell you, it's almost as blissful a feeling as I could imagine.
Hestia made a cute little moan as I ran my finger around her areola, flicking across her nipple every few rounds.
"That feels so good," I whispered through my breaths, her hand gently pumping up and down my shaft. "You can go a little faster."
Hestia's cheeks were bright red, no doubt every bit as much as my own. Looking into her eyes, and seeing her looking back with the same desire I felt was even better than the mounting pleasure as I gasped out a warning.
"I'm going to- again…"
Her grip tightened on my shaft as she made her motions faster and smaller, her palm rubbing against the crown of my cock. Reflexively I groped her breast, eliciting another cut off moan.
"Let it go," she gasped out.
I shuddered as my second orgasm rocked my body, spurting my seed into the palm of her hand. She gave my cock a few more pumps before releasing me, and I watched in rapture as she observed her semen-coated hand.
"I'm- I'm going to go clean up," Hestia stuttered. The act done, it was like she was reduced to a blushing mess. She tried to scoot up to get off the bed, but I didn't let her, leaning forward and grabbing her wrist.
"Come here," I said, pulling her closer as she tried to move without getting her defiled hand on anything. I had to kiss her again. "I loved it, Hestia. Thank you."
"I enjoyed it too," she admitted in a barely audible whisper. "I- I wouldn't be opposed to doing it again…"
"I'll take you up on that," I promised, capturing her lips in a short kiss.
Hestia scooted off the bed awkwardly with just one hand, her breasts jiggling with each scooch towards the edge. "I'm going to clean up. You can use the bathroom after me." she said, covering herself with her free arm.
I collapsed back into the sheets as she left with a grin that was sure to leave my cheeks sore in the morning. Visions of Hestia's bouncing titties filled my mind. Damn, those were amazing on such a small girl.
And she had let me touch them, and more. I slapped myself in the forehead. I was such a dunce. What the hell had been worrying about Bell over? This Hestia - my Hestia - how had I been so insecure?
I had done Hestia a real disservice, hadn't I? Bell too.
"Blair, your turn." Hestia called to me from the door. Her dress had been fixed, but I could see those beautiful pink nipples in my mind's eye, jutting out from those wonderful bundles of joy on her chest.
"Stop ogling and get clean, lecher," Hestia snapped, slapping my back as I passed by her. I heard her all but jump onto the bed behind me. "I'll be waiting."