Chapter 496: Photo Making Factory [Bonus - ]
The moment the command was given, the ruby orb shot down the hallway like a miniature crimson comet, leaving behind a harmless warm draft of mountain air as it disappeared around the corner.
Silas laughed softly, shaking his head.
’Once the Princess finishes washing that battered bird, we can gather in the grand study and have Eluned translate the Beast Goddess’s stone tablet...’ Silas planned mentally, navigating the wide marble staircase.
He paused at the landing of the second floor, his blue eyes drifting toward the western wing.
’Before that... I need to check on Talira. If her dragon core is still fluctuating from Thor’s lightning, I might need to channel my Gold Core’s affinity to ground the excess mana.’
He turned down the quiet carpeted hallway, stopping before the heavy oak door of the guest suite.
He didn’t knock as he gently turned the brass latch and pushed the door open, stepping silently into the dimly lit room.
Silas looked toward the massive, four-poster feather bed in the center of the room.
Lying flat on her back, sprawled out in exhaustion was Talira.
The dragon woman’s wild, crimson hair was splayed across the white pillows like a violent splash of blood.
She was dressed in loose dark linen sleeping shorts and a sleeveless undershirt, completely unconcerned with modesty.
Her skin was flushed a deep feverish bronze, and two small leathery crimson dragon wings jutting from her shoulder blades twitched rhythmically in her sleep, fluttering like the wings of a dozing bat.
And from her parted lips came a sequence of deep earth-rattling concussive snores.
HROOOOOO-SNK... WHUUUUU! HROOOOOO-SNK... WHUUUUU!
The snores weren’t quite as loud as Thor’s starving stomach rumblings, but they carried enough draconic bass to make the glass water carafe on the nightstand rattle softly against its wooden saucer.
Silas smiled wryly.
He turned his gaze toward the floor beside the bed.
Sitting on a thick sheepskin rug, her upper torso slumped forward with her face buried directly into the edge of the velvet mattress, was Kadi.
The Sand Mage had clearly collapsed from exhaustion.
Her long dark braids spilled over the duvet, her slender shoulders rising and falling in deep peaceful breaths.
A protective barrier of fine golden sand still hovered lazily around her ankles... an instinctive defensive reflex that had stayed active even while her consciousness drifted into sleep.
Silas chuckled under his breath, stepping forward with soundless deliberate steps.
"Stubborn girl," Silas whispered affectionately. "Sitting awake all day watching a snoring lizard."
She was going to be okay, Silas could see as much.
’It also seems she awakened a new affinity.’ Silas thought as small sparks of white lightning covered her. ’Maybe next time I should reincarnate as a dragon.’
He bent down, slipping one strong calloused arm beneath Kadi’s knees and the other beneath her slender waist.
With effortless strength, he lifted the sleeping mage into his arms, pulling her gently against his chest.
Kadi let out a soft sleepy whimper, her face nuzzling instinctively into the warm silk of his bathrobe, inhaling the scent of clean pine and soap but she didn’t wake.
She simply sighed, her smaller hands lightly clutching at the fabric of his lapel as her defensive sand dispersed into harmless dust.
Silas carried her out of the recovery room, using his heel to gently pull the door shut behind him to let the dragon woman sleep off her energetic fever.
He walked down the quiet corridor to Kadi’s private quarters, pushed the door open with his elbow, and carried her inside.
Silas walked over to her bed, gently lowering her onto the soft mattress as he pulled off her lightweight leather traveling boots, set them neatly by the bedstand, and drew the thick wool duvet up to her shoulders, tucking her in securely.
Silas brushed a stray dark braid away from her cheek, lingering for a brief second as a soft smile touched his lips.
"Rest well, Kadi," Silas murmured. "Thank you for looking after her."
He stepped back, quietly pulling the door shut until the brass latch clicked into place.
Silas made his way down the central corridor toward the master suite at the end of the hall.
He reached out, pushing the heavy double doors open, stepping into the warm luxurious expanse of his private chambers.
A crackling fire roared within the granite hearth, casting dancing orange shadows across the bed in the center of the room.
Sitting cross-legged in the center of the massive bed was Eluned.
The former World Spirit was clad in a loose flowing emerald-green silk nightgown that pooled around her slender thighs like liquid moss.
Her long radiant green hair cascaded down her back in stunning waves as she was humming a soft melody with her delicate pale fingers casually combing through the damp strands, working out the small tangles left behind by the mountain blizzard.
From the adjacent master bathroom, the sound of splashing water and humming pipes echoed softly.
SPLASH! HUMMMM!
Morwenna was clearly still occupying his private soaking tub, washing the salt and stone dust from her skin after Eluned had finished her own bath.
The moment Silas closed the heavy oak doors, Eluned’s humming abruptly stopped.
Her emerald eyes snapped toward the entrance.
Seeing Silas standing there... his dark hair damp, his bathrobe tied loosely around his chiseled frame and his golden ringed blue eyes soft and relaxed made a breathtaking light ignite within her gaze.
SWOOSH!
The Goddess didn’t bother climbing off the bed.
She vanished in an emerald blur and moving with the frictionless terrifying velocity of wind, she launched herself across the ten paces of open floorboards.
"Hubby!"
Silas didn’t even flinch. He planted his back foot, opened his arms, and caught her cleanly out of the air!
"Oof..."
𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
Her soft, fragrant body slammed against his chest, her slender arms wrapping tightly around his neck as her legs instinctively coiled around his waist.
Silas wrapped his strong arms firmly around the small of her back, holding her tight against him as she buried her face into the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply.
Before he could say a word, Eluned pulled back slightly, her emerald eyes blazing with possessive adoring heat, and captured his lips in a deep breathtaking kiss.
"Mmph~"
SMACK!
The kiss was demanding as Silas groaned softly into her mouth, his hands tightening against the silk of her waist, lifting her higher against him as he returned the kiss firmly.
When their lips finally parted with a wet breathless gasp, a thin silver strand of saliva connected them for a fleeting second before snapping in the warm hearth-light.
Silas looked down into her flushed radiant face, his lips curving into a dry fond smirk.
"Well," Silas chuckled. "Aren’t you remarkably cheeky tonight? Did the mountain air get to your head, Elu?"
Eluned pouted, her cheeks puffing out with exaggerated girlish indignation that contrasted wildly with her status as a goddess.
She reached up with both hands, aggressively rummaging her fingers through his damp dark hair, messing up the neat strands with wild affection.
"I missed you, you stubborn man," Eluned whined softly, resting her forehead against his chin, her voice dripping with sweet honey. "You left me to deal with so many girls and a foul-mouthed pirate queen all morning while you were off playing with diamonds!"
She tilted her head up, a slow lewd smirk spreading across her porcelain face.
Her emerald eyes narrowed into half-lidded crescents, brimming with ravenous desire.
"Heh~" Eluned purred, her slender hips subtly grinding against his waist through their robes, sending a violent spike of heat straight to his groin. "You set the decree, Lord Graves as the greatest harvest takes the sovereign prize."
She leaned in, her warm sweet breath brushing directly against the shell of his ear, sending shivers down his spine.
"I mined the highest tonnage in the entire territory," Eluned whispered, her voice husky and trembling with raw lust. "I shattered an impenetrable mountain with my roots and I delivered an entire Phase One Titan Golem filled to the brim with virgin alloy so... you have to give me a very, very good reward tonight~"
She swallowed hard, her throat bobbing as her imagination ran completely wild.
Her face turned a feverish shade of red as dizzy blissful smile stretched across her lips.
"And all of that reward..." Eluned breathed, her fingers digging into his shoulders with hunger. "...should be your thick, hot cum buried deep inside my fertile womb~ Every single drop~ Fill me until it leaks down my thighs, Silas... let’s make a little divine sprout tonight—"
Silas let out a rough ragged breath, his heart slamming against his ribs as blood surged furiously through his veins.
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to throw her onto the king-sized bed, tear that emerald silk to ribbons, and take her right there on the velvet sheets.
’It’s always like that with this woman...’
"Elu..." Silas groaned, his hands gripping her hips with bruising strength. "I would love nothing more than to give you that exact reward... but there are bigger fish to fry right now—"
SLAM!
The master bathroom door was violently kicked open with enough force to rattle the hinges.
"I MINED TOO, YOU GREEDY TREE-WITCH!"
Morwenna stormed out of the bathroom with her heavy boots completely absent as her bare feet slapped against the hardwood floor.
Silas and Eluned froze, their heads snapping in unison toward the sound.
Standing in the doorway with her hands planted aggressively on her hips, was the Pirate Queen.
Morwenna was naked.
Thick fragrant white soap suds covered her bronzed, athletic body in swirling patches... clinging to the hard sculpted ridges of her abdominal muscles, dripping from the swell of her sun-kissed breasts, and lathering across the wide powerful expanse of her hips and muscular thighs.
Her messy black hair was soaked, plastered flat against her back, and water dripped from the tip of her sharp chin onto the floorboards.
She looked completely furious, her amber eyes burning with fierce competitive fire as she glared at Eluned.
"You didn’t do it alone!" Morwenna barked, her voice booming through the bedroom with zero regard for modesty. "I was the one who commanded the perimeter! I was the one who mapped the secondary fissures! If she gets a reward, I’m getting—"
Morwenna suddenly stopped with her amber eyes flickered downward.
She looked at Silas, who was currently holding Eluned in a tight, waist-wrapped embrace, his dark bathrobe parted slightly and his eyes wide as he stared directly at her soap-lathered naked body.
Morwenna looked down at herself.
She saw the white suds dripping from her bare chest and she saw her completely exposed waist.
’I forgot...’
An apocalyptic shade of deep bruised purple-red instantly exploded across Morwenna’s face.
"WAIT—NO—" Morwenna’s voice hitched.
SWOOSH.
From the wide sleeves of her emerald nightgown, Eluned’s hand blurred with terrifying speed as she whipped out the rectangular runic-enchanted camera.
FLASH! CLICK-WHIRRRRR.
A blinding burst of white light illuminated the bedroom, freezing Morwenna’s horrified soap-covered wide-eyed scream in high-definition.
"YOU MOSS-COVERED BITCH!" Morwenna shrieked in mortified agony.
She threw both hands over her chest, spun on her bare heel with the agility of a cornered cat, and sprinted back into the master bathroom.
BANG! CLICK!
The bathroom door slammed shut so violently the entire wall shuddered, followed immediately by the desperate sound of the deadbolt sliding into place!
"OPEN THIS DOOR AND DELETE THAT RIGHT NOW OR I WILL SINK THIS ENTIRE KEEP INTO THE MOUNTAIN!" Morwenna screamed from behind the heavy oak with her voice muffled by the wood, practically weeping with embarrassment.
’Ah... Sink my Keep?!’
Still wrapped securely around Silas’s waist, Eluned threw her head back and let out a wild hysterical cackle.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!"
WHIRRR-ZIP!
From the lower slot of the enchanted camera, a thick glossy piece of enchanted photographic paper slid out smoothly.
The image developed in real-time, showing the fierce terrifying Pirate Queen of the seas standing completely naked, lathered in soap bubbles and her mouth open in a comically wide shriek of pure horror.
Eluned held the photograph up between her two fingers, waving it through the air to let the ink dry.
She leaned down toward the bathroom door, shouting with mocking sisterly delight.
"Keep scrubbing, Pirate!" Eluned laughed, resting her chin comfortably on Silas’s shoulder as she tapped the photo against his chest. "You are a photo-making factory! I’m framing this one in Silas’s office!"