Quality Assurance
#5 of As Did the Ancients
Thales is brought to the emperor's summer villa and is introduced to another of Aemilius' harem, the wolf Vespasia. She takes the liberty of showing him around the harem complex, and takes a chance to try the newest acquisition out for herself, all while putting on a little show for the guard.
A (primarily) M/F installment again! These will probably turn out to be less common than primarily M/M chapters, though I do expect threesomes and groups to start factoring in as Thales warms up to his new role in life. My understanding is that most of my current audience is more interested in male-on-male, but I'd love to hear from you! Drop me a comment about your favorite characters and their shenanigans so far; I may just take it into consideration when I plan future chapters.
It took the better part of of an hour to get to Aemilius' villa, situated as it was on an adjacent hill to the town center, wreathed in vineyards and sunlight. The town had learned of the emperor's arrival by now, and Aemilius could barely walk a fifteen yards before being hailed by another eager citizen. He never seemed to tire of it, waving or calling a greeting with a smile to anyone brave enough to call out, but the guards on each side coughed conspicuously if they approached, and so nobody did. Thales was the only one allowed inside the knot of guards, walking half a pace behind Aemilius, who valiantly attempted to maintain a conversation despite the constant interruptions. One of the guards, a lithe wolf with expressive brows and trim brown-tinted fur, stayed within arm's reach of Thales at all times, a silent reminder that however much Aemilius might like him, he was not yet trusted. Thales tried to ignore him, to little avail.
They arrived at the massive villa in the heat of the day, and Aemilius called for a servant to tell him if any guests had yet arrived as the guards dissipated into the building, duties discharged for the moment, though Thales noticed the trim brown wolf remained nearby, eyes still trained on him. He did not hear them discuss whose job it would be to remain nearby; how they determined who was to stay behind escaped him.
"It seems like we beat Maenus here after all," Aemilius said with a happy sigh, "despite all those interruptions on the way here." He turned to address the fox. "Now, if you have no objection, I would like to introduce you--"
"If you say any name besides mine, I'll never sleep with you again," a mocking voice careened down the hall, and Aemilius smiled as Thales turned around to find the speaker. A wolf glided down the hall, thick silver pelt rolling over her as she stepped towards them. She wore a thin red loincloth that trailed past her knees and a matching crimson slash of fabric across her chest. Aemilius laughed as she crossed to him and grabbed his chin, loose gold bracelets shimmering as she drew him into a long, deep kiss. Thales looked away as they explored each other's mouths on polite reflex, but as the kiss dragged on for a full quarter-minute, it occurred to him that he would likely be expected to do the same sort of thing soon. The thought made his hackles rise in nervousness and excitement.
At last, Aemilius broke the kiss and addressed Thales, still holding the bitch around her waist. "Vespasia, this is Thales, your newest colleague."
"He remembers my name, this time," Vespasia said, putting her arm on the emperor's shoulder but looking at Thales. "Advice for the newcomer: If you don't like how he's behaving, just threaten to withhold and he straightens out."
"I saw her out of the corner of my eye and mistook her for Laetitia," Aemilius explained with an exaggerated eye-roll. "I could never forget Vespasia even if I wanted to; you'll likely find the same, Thales."
Vespasia couldn't hide her intrigued smile as she looked Thales up and down. "Well, it looks like our horned prince finally caught boy fever. Can't say I'm surprised; he'll mount anything that moves." Aemilius scoffed and the two of them swatted at each other as she continued to taunt him. "At least he only makes the best of his permanent playmates, right, Thales?" Thales laughed and agreed.
Aemilius released Vespasia from his hold and addressed her. "Will you show our new playmate to the harem? You can take the time to get to know him, and then come down to the courtyard. I've someone for him to meet," Aemilius said, glancing ominously at the fox before turning to leave. Vespasia bowed melodramatically and beckoned, and Thales followed her down the hall. Behind him, the guardsman quietly shadowed them, the sound of his leather armor in the otherwise quiet hall the only indication of his presence.
The harem complex was in the main building, along with the emperor's chambers and the guest rooms, rather than sequestered with the servants' quarters in a separate part of the villa. The complex itself was a bunch of small rooms off of a large antechamber, decorated with mosaics depicting nude wolves in various states of arousal, and stuffed with couches and pillows, nooks containing scrolls and three stands for kitharas and lyres. It was empty when Thales arrived; its denizens were out enjoying the sun. Vespasia guided Thales to one of the couches and sat on it facing him.
"I was told another Rhaic would be joining the harem soon enough, but I hadn't realized Aemilius had finally found his first todd," Vespasia said, leaning forward as Thales sat on a facing couch.
"News travels fast here, then. I was recruited an hour ago," Thales said in surprise.
Vespasia laughed and flicked her tail. "There have been designs on you for a while now. Or at least on a male fox in general." She reached a paw towards him and leaned further in, conspiratorially. "You're the one Almene was talking about? Maenus' retainer?" Thales just nodded, and Vespasia whistled. "Surprised he pulled that off. I guess I shouldn't be; what Aemilius wants, he gets. Favorite retainers, senators' daughters," she tossed her head, sending the heavy gold-and-peridot pendant around her neck swinging, "all of them."
"You are that Vespasius' daughter?" Thales said with surprise.
"The very same," she replied, in obvious satisfaction.
"How on earth did he recruit you?"
"Same way he got you, I imagine," she said, staring into his eyes with a small smile. Thales felt his hackles rise in embarrassment, and the wolf laughed so hard she nearly feel from her perch on the futon. "That confirms it."
Thales found her snark amusing and decided to fire back. "You jacked him off in the public baths, too?"
The wolf's eyes went wide in surprise, and it was Thales' turn to smile. "Seriously?" Thales just smiled at her, and the two stared at each other for a long minute as the same smile crept onto Vespasia's muzzle. "That wolf never ceases to amaze me." She tossed her head again, regaining her suavity. "For me, it was a tryst in my father's bedroom that sealed the deal. I wanted imperial dick, he needed cultured courtesans, I said I'd audition right there if he wanted."
The two of them gazed at each other through half-lidded eyes, and Thales felt his sheath stirring. Vespasia was luxurious, soft-pelted and languorous in her movements. The polar opposite of Almene, and comely its own way. He suddenly realized that their breathing was synchronized, long and slow, and his own only came with significant labor.
"You must have killed that audition," Thales said after a moment.
"Wanna see how?" she asked, rising out of her seat and perching with one knee between the fox's thighs. Thales barely managed a half-formed exclamation of surprise when she cut him off. "You didn't think Aemilius would recruit his first male courtesan without checking how he did with women, did you? Sure, Almene likes you, but he wants an unbiased pair of eyes to put you through your paces."
Thales reflexively brought a paw up to her hips to steady her, and sighed as his paw nearly disappeared in her silky fur. "I'm not complaining, but I did figure it was less relevant to him given that he's male."
The wolf laughed as she ran her paws gently over Thales' ears. "You may work for the horniest ruler in history, but there will be more than just him to satisfy. Our art requires range." She spoke loftily, but her face was mischievous. "Enough preamble, test starts now" she said, pulling his muzzle to her stomach.
Thales breathed in the scent of her--heady, crackling, and smoky, like incense in autumn--and brought his other paw to the inside of her thigh, just beside the red loincloth. It was a tremendously light and delicate fabric, an expensive import from across the ocean. His fingers quested up until they found her clit through the fabric, and massaged it lightly as he kissed her just below the navel.
"Did Aemilius actually send you up here to test me, or is this just for fun?" Thales asked as the wolf gasped in pleasure.
"Both," Vespasia said nonchalantly, tugging at the loincloth with a firm hand until it suddenly released, fluttering down into Thales' lap and leaving her hips bare. "I'm a courtesan, darling, if I didn't think sex was fun I would be miserable all--" she cut off to moan in delight as Thales played his fingers across her entrance, teasing the lips apart to find she was already nicely wet. "--all the time." Vespasia adjusted so that she had both knees on the futon, straddling Thales' thighs. Thales looked up at her, staring down at him with a delightful predatory expression, as she ground her hips slowly against his fingers. He gasped when he felt wetness on his thighs--she was dripping on him.
"Someone really liked finding out about my adventure in the baths," Thales said, leaning in to kiss the exposed clit as Vespasia agreeably gasped. "You are going to soil my tunic at this rate."
"You'll never wear it again," Vespasia said nonchalantly, pushing against the back of Thales' head with both paws to force his muzzle against her. "You'll be in finer garments, when you're wearing anything at all." Suddenly she plucked at it. "In fact, why are you still in it? Come on, let's see what Aemilius was so enamored with, fox."
Thales laughed as Vespasia pulled the undyed white tunic over his head, nearly ripped it in two as they fought to extricate him. She tossed it carelessly in the corner and took a long, appraising look at the new courtesan beneath her.
"Only half hard, fox? I'm kind of offended," she said at last, pushing the fox's snout back into her body and grinding against it. Thales sucked the lips one at a time as the wolf kept teasing him. "Am I not pretty enough to earn a full erection?" She didn't give the fox enough space to separate his mouth from her and reply, so he made do by wending his tongue between the folds to lap inside her. She spoke with bravado, but Thales felt her whole body quiver as his tongue drove home, and he huffed with satisfaction. She gasped again when he lifted his muzzle slightly, pressing his nose against her clit as he drove his tongue deeper, and when he looked up again, her tongue was out as she panted happily.
He felt her knee slide forward, pushing up against his groin until his member was half-buried in her fur. "Seems like you're all ready, finally," she said. "Took long enough." Thales grabbed her rump with both paws and drove his tongue further into her and she cut off with a heavy groan, bucking hard against him and leaning forward until he was forced backwards, toppling into the futon. She followed him down, paws planted to either side of his head as she slipped her legs over his to straddle him and started grinding against his maleness.
"I could have you do that forever," she said as she slid forward pressed down, and Thales felt his tip press into her. "But I have other things to do to you, as well."
Thales shuddered in pleasure and gripped her hips reflexively even as he voiced his concern. "Is this allowed--?"
"What boy, you think I'm here to trick you?" she said in annoyance. "If you were a wolf, then yes, this would be against the rules. But luckily, my darling Aemilius brought me a fox to play with," she slid backwards slowly, achingly, and Thales moaned through her speech as he was engulfed in warmth and joy, "and since foxes can't give me pups, I'm free to use you as I please."
Thales buried his muzzle in her neck as she slid down to rest against his rapidly forming knot, massaging her hips and butt encouragingly with both paws. "That was exceedingly thoughtful of him, for both of us."
"Yes, our master is surprisingly considerate toward his harem," she replied as the two of them settled into a steady rhythm. "Insatiable, too, but is that really a bad thing?"
"I'd be disappointed if he wasn't," Thales said, matching her movements from underneath her. The too of them stopped talking for a long moment, staring into each others' eyes as the wolf rocked and the fox slipped a paw between them to play with her as she impaled herself on him.
She made a delighted murmuring noise as his paw pressed to her clit and picked her pace up. "Listen to us, getting each other off by talking about Aemilius. Back before I became a courtesan I'd have found this weird."
Thales chuckled. "If I hadn't recently done exactly that just yesterday, I probably would, too. But I enjoy the banter as much as you do."
"Yesterday, hm? My little fox stud gets around," Vespasia said. "Care to share?"
"We can trade if you like," Thales countered. "One for one?"
"Deal! I'll go first," Vespasia said. "Want to see a neat trick?"
"Yes," Thales said, eyebrows raised.
Vespasia curled her tail up over her back and leaned forward, craning her neck around. "Sextus Munius Asellio, come sit on this other futon. We know you're watching us and not the door, anyway."
Thales looked over at the entrance to the chamber as the wolf guard who had been following him whined loudly. "I'm supposed to be watching him, Vespasia! He's new and we should be careful," the guard called Asellio protested, though he did what he was told. He was wearing a heavy layered tunic, probably with a leather breastplate underneath, and he had a gladius at his belt--in addition to the one swinging between his legs, Thales noticed with a smirk. The guard's tail was wagging even as he protested.
"And you'd better come investigate, Asellio, this rogue fox is spearing my brutally with a gladius he smuggled in here somehow," Vespasia said as the wolf sat on the futon behind her, wiggling her rump at him. Thales agreeably thrust upward into her, and she giggled as she turned back to him. "Asellio here always takes the late night shifts guarding the harem. You know why?"
Asellio groaned in protest and looked at Thales with a long-suffering expression. "She's a devil, fox, don't ever share anything with her in confidence. She won't keep it."
He sounded resigned, but his hand was under his tunic, so Thales just laughed. "I can guess, based on what I see behind you."
Vespasia pumped herself onto Thales' maleness and wagged her tail as she looked back at the forlorn wolf jacking off behind her. "I used to think he was just a night owl, or that he was particularly dedicated to protecting the emperor even in the dead of night, until one day--"
"Vespasia!" the guard protested to no avail.
"--I looked up from where my dearest Aemilius was breeding me like a stallion at stud--"
"Come on, Vespasia, really?"
"--and discovered that our noble guardsmen was playing with himself as he watched Aemilius have his way with me! Lucky for him, the emperor is a bit of a show off."
"So now I'm on harem duty every night, so that he can tease me," Asellio interrupted. "And he posts a second guard a little down the hall just in case I get too excited and try to sample the merchandise. There. Happy, Vespasia?" Asellio said, flipping his tunic up to expose himself as he jacked off harder.
Vespasia turned back to the supine Thales and winked conspiratorially. "Our guard likes being teased, huh?" the fox asked, bucking his hips up into the lupine courtesan with greater vigor. Vespasia knew her work, and he could feel himself churning with immanent release.
"Oh, not just that," Vespasia said. Her tail was wagging maniacally and her breath was coming in gasps. Thales was fairly certain she was getting off to teasing the guard as much as she was to having sex with him. "You know he never spies on us when it's just us girls in here, even though we're so often nude." Asellio's protestations hit a higher pitch, and Vespasia giggled and huffed. "But here he was watching us again today! I think he specifically likes watching other males fuck us girls."
"Why would you tell him that, Vespasia?" the wolf said mournfully. Thales saw his tail was wagging out the corner of his eye.
"So that he knows to put on a show for you, of course, dear," the courtesan said. "If you're going to peep every time he gets his dick wet, the fox should at least know so he can play to his audience." The wolf guard made a strained noise as Thales felt himself close to finishing. Vespasia felt it, too, as the fox's thrusts became erratic inside her. "So, Asellio, should I finish him with his knot in me?"
"Take it, take it!" Asellio pleaded, reticence lost as he stared at the courtesans' colliding bodies. Vesparia growled happily and sunk her hips down onto Thales, who launched his hips upward until his knot collided with her, straining to spread her open and sink in.
"Tie her, fox, tie her!" the guard urged as sparks crackled behind Thales' eyes. Vespasia knocked his paw from her clit and slammed downwards, popping the fox into her and howling in triumph. Thales pumped upwards frantically as she sat up and fingered her own clit, and he felt her walls tighten around him in a violent spasm, sealing him inside her. The wolf watching them yipped excitedly, and Thales shuddered as he released, filling Vespasia with sticky white ecstasy as she cried out in pleasure.
After a long moment, the female wolf collapsed atop her vulpine partner, panting and wagging her tail high to show off her knotted entrance to the wolf behind them. "I think I leaked a little of that precious fox cum, darling," she said. "Lick it and make sure, Asellio."
The wolf whined, and Thales heard shifting down below him as Vespasia kissed him on the muzzle, long and slow, until both of them cried out at the sensation of a wet, sloppy tongue running in one hard lick up the fox's balls and into female's stretched and stuffed hole. Asellio kept licking as the two of them groaned and sighed above him, and Thales heard the guardsmen growl as he played with himself until he, too, came.
Vespasia sat up at long last, playfully dusting the guard's head with her tail. "I'm going to make you do that every time from now on, wolf."
"You are a cruel little harpy, Vespasia," Asellio said, nuzzling the base of her tail and sighing happily. "The whole barracks is going to laugh at me for this."
"I won't tell them," she said. "Better beg Thales here not to, though."
The guardsman's panicked eyes turned the the fox, and Thales laughed. "As long as I'm satisfied with your cleaning, I won't tell a soul."
Vespasia laughed, and even Asellio chuckled reluctantly. "You're going to get on great here. I shouldn't have worried," the silver-pelted courtesan said. "But next time you owe me that story."
"Deal," Thales said, then suddenly furrowed his brows. "Wait. Wasn't Aemilius waiting on us in the courtyard?"