The Den

Story by punjoke on SoFurry

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This is an idea I had a few months ago. The original story would have been much shorter, but I got a lot of feedback and suggestions from several of my friends that I feel ended up really improving it! And so, thanks to them, here it is. I hope you enjoy it!


Tareth stepped through the door and was greeted by the sight of about a dozen ladies waiting in the brothel's lounge; each was remarkably beautiful, and very scantily clad. The mercenary felt his loins stir as he surveyed the prostitutes on offer. They smiled at him, giggling and laughing, some acting coy, others flaunting their bare breasts in an effort to entice him. Tareth could have bedded any one of them and been happy, but today he had an inordinate amount of coin weighing him down, and he was determined to get his money's worth.

The proprietress, an older lady who was still notably attractive despite her more conservative dress, raised her painted eyebrows when Tareth approached the counter. "My, but you're a strapping lad, aren't you?" she said. "Welcome to The Den. This must be your first visit; I'd remember someone like you. Do you see anything that strikes your fancy?"

Instead of answering, Tareth pulled out his purse and dropped it on the counter. It landed with a heavy thud. "I'm looking for something exotic. Something special. Gimme your best."

"Ahh," the lady said, eying Tareth's coin purse. She tapped her fingers on the counter thoughtfully. "You were wise to choose our establishment then, wise indeed. We have something... very special, reserved only for our most discerning... and wealthy... customers."

Then she looked up at him, a hint of amusement in her eyes. "This is something that you can only experience here, but you should be warned: it is not for everyone, certainly not the timid! You are sure none of our regular girls are to your taste? I assure you that each one is as fine a companion as you will find anywhere!"

Tareth shook his head. This was an offer he was incapable of turning down. "Do I look like the timid type to you? I said give me the best; I'll pay!"

With a nod, the lady pushed the coin purse back towards him. "Of course, sir. But you do not need to pay up front; the cost of our special service will depend upon... how far you are able to go."

Stepping out from behind the counter, the proprietress beckoned for Tareth to follow her down the hall. The prostitutes all sighed with disappointment and waved goodbye to the handsome mercenary. "Good luck with her, stranger!" one of them called out after him. The remark was followed by a chorus of giggles.

They walked down several hallways and passed row upon row of rooms, several of which emanated the muffled sounds of customers in the midst of being satisfied, until at last they turned a corner and came the end. There was only one door here: a large mahogany door that stood out amongst the otherwise plain doors in the front part of the building. The proprietress stopped beside it and gestured towards the door knob. "If you are ready, go on inside. And I do hope you enjoy yourself; this will be an experience you will never forget!"

Tareth nodded to the lady in thanks and pulled the heavy door open. The rich smell of incense filled his nostrils as he stepped into the room. It was dimly lit and shrouded with all manner of silky curtains and smoky clouds of perfume. Tareth jumped as the door thumped shut behind him, further dimming the room. He squinted and peered into the opulent haze. The far side of the room was not visible to him through the many curtains. The mercenary shifted uncertainly.

A deeply feminine voice spoke to him with an unfamiliar accent. "Welcome to The Den... MY Den. Come closer, let me have a look at you."

His curiosity rising, Tareth made his way into the room. The curtains hung down from the ceiling, each a different shape and color. He pushed the silken maze out of his way, moving deeper, until suddenly he stopped. The mercenary's blood ran cold in his veins. His muscles tensed, ready for action, but he did not dare to move. Before him sat a creature that he had heard of before, but never seen.

The creature that lay sprawled upon a pile of velvet pillows before him was a fantastic amalgamation of woman and animal. She had the hindquarters of a great lion, but the upper torso of a woman, save for her arms which gradually turned to fur and ended in paws instead of hands. From her back - the human part of her back - sprouted a pair of feathery brown wings. It was a sphinx.

Keeping herself propped up on one elbow, the creature regarded Tareth with an expression of amusement. "My, you are a handsome one. So rugged and muscular. A warrior, I can tell." Keeping herself propped up on one elbow, she beckoned to him with her paw. "You may relax, my dear. Yes, I am a sphinx, but you need not fear me. Come, come. Am I not beautiful?"

The initial shock of this unexpected encounter began to fade with her reassurances, and Tareth allowed himself to look at the sphinx as a woman rather than a threat. She was beautiful; exquisitely so, in fact. She was completely naked, with olive-colored skin, voluptuous full breasts, almond eyes and jet black hair. It was odd to see such an attractive woman on the body of a lion, but Tareth found his arousal stirred regardless.

After giving him a few moments to look her over, the sphinx spoke again. "How much do you have to spend today?"

Tareth blinked and tried to recollect his thoughts. "30 gilds," he said.

The sphinx nodded. "It will be money well spent, I promise you. But only if you can satisfy me, as well!"

"Never been with a woman I couldn't satisfy," Tareth boasted, puffing out his chest.

But the woman laughed and shook her head. "I do not doubt it, but I do not think you yet understand how to satisfy a lady such as me!" Then, she reached down and stroked her lioness body with her paw. "Of course, this is your first time with a sphinx. Perhaps you would like to get a closer, more intimate look at me?"

Trembling as much from desire as from apprehension, the mercenary approached and sunk to his knees before her. He reached out and laid one hand on the sphinx's breast, but gently; he still did not want to risk inciting her wrath. Rather than becoming angry, however, the sphinx pushed her chest against his palm. Unable to help himself, he gave it a squeeze, and the woman cooed with delight. Emboldened now, he traced lines around one of her dark nipples with his finger.

"What do they call you?" he asked.

"I am Amunet," she replied.

Tareth's fingers left the sphinx's breasts and traveled down her stomach until they reached the point at which smooth skin became sleek fur. He had encountered lions before, as beasts of war used by the men of the east, but Amunet was different. Where they had shown the fury of a predator, Amunet displayed only feline elegance. He was surprised to find out how the mix of animal and human excited him. As his hands moved down her flank, he found that he desperately wanted to see what was between her hind legs.

Amunet, of course, did not hesitate to show him. When the mercenary went to stroke her white underbelly, she raised one leg up into the air with catlike dexterity. The pink slit of her sex was plainly visible to him now. He ran a finger along it, and was rewarded with another sigh of pleasure from the sphinx. It was damp and warm, and Tareth couldn't resist slipping one finger inside. Amunet purred and clenched her inner muscles down around his finger with surprising force. He pushed further into her tight hole, finger fucking her a few times, then withdrew the digit and brought it to his mouth. The sphinx's juices tasted tangy and exotic. He wanted more.

Dropping the rest of his inhibitions, Tareth knelt down further and brought his lips to Amunet's feline pussy. He kissed it gently, then stuck out his tongue and dragged it along the length of his mythical lover's sex. Her strong, enticing taste filled his mouth. Tareth reached up and grabbed her leg, pushing it further up into the air and giving him better access to her hind quarters. The sphinx's tail swatted back and forth in contentment, brushing against his face as he resumed licking her.

"Good," the sphinx said, a hint of urgency creeping into her tone. She placed a heavy paw on the mercenary's shoulder and pulled him closer to her. "Does my body excite you?"

There was no denying that it did. Tareth nodded, and thrust his tongue in between the warm folds of Amunet's pussy. He felt the sphinx's claws extend ever so slightly, digging into his shoulder through his clothes, but he was too far lost in his passions to worry about the incredible strength she must have had in her lioness body. Instead he redoubled his efforts to please her, taking the kneading of her paw as a sign that she wanted more.

He licked her fervently, his tongue running along her sensitive outer lips, then diving deep into her slit, searching out the most intimate corners of her offered pussy. With each caress of his tongue, her body undulated in a way that was both familiar and unfamiliar. Letting go of her raised leg, Tareth ran his hand along her soft lioness underbelly, as if reminding himself of the obvious differences. Her pleasure was the same as any woman he'd been with, but the feel of her body was unique. His fingers roamed, delighting in the feel of her soft fur and warm flush, until he ran across the small nubs of her feline nipples and stopped to play with each one.

Amunet's cat-like body trembled and flexed. Slick juices gushed from her pussy as it clenched down around Tareth's tongue. The mercenary lapped up what he could; the rest trickled down his chin and around Amunet's feline loins. The sphinx's lower body twisted, arched, and pressed up against him wantonly. Her paw on his shoulder kept him pinned in place; he could not have stopped servicing her now even if he'd wanted to. He changed his tactics now, sucking and nibbling at her tender pink folds, kissing and licking. Tareth left no spot unloved, either on the outside or inside. His fingers moved to each of her many feline nipples in turn, pinching and titillating them.

"More," the sphinx commanded with a harsh growl. Her wings, once folded, now stretched outward.

Tareth gave her more. He dug into her feline pussy with all of the enthusiasm he could muster. She was so warm and wet, so soft and yet tight. The tastes and scents of her arousal filled his senses as he ate her out. She was so close now; he could feel her orgasm building in every inch of her tensed frame, and Tareth spared nothing drawing it out of her. Mashing his face, lips and tongue against her, he grunted and moaned, sending deep reverberations into her.

For Amunet, this was the last straw. Tareth felt her entire body clench and spasm. The sphinx did not cry out, but rather let out a long, low moan; a purr, almost. Again he felt the tips of her claws dig into his shoulders, but even now she maintained enough control not to hurt him. Feminine juices flowed freely from her tight slit as wave after wave of orgasmic pleasure passed through her rhythmically. But Tareth did not stop; he continued to lick and kiss her pussy, keeping the intensity of his actions high throughout her climax. He gave her one last nipple pinch; then, as her orgasm began to taper off, he began to rub her belly soothingly. Gradually, he slowed the pace of his licks, until finally he stopped completely.

The tension had left Amunet's body now, and she removed her heavy paw from him. Tareth pulled back and wiped his mouth off on his sleeve; his face was sopping wet. So, too, were the sphinx's nethers, he noted. Her pussy glistened pink in the dim light, and the fine white fur between her legs was wet and matted. Amunet allowed Tareth to appreciate the results of his hard work for a bit; then she lowered her hind leg.

Grinning, Tareth looked up and met the sphinx's gaze. "Satisfied?" he said.

"Your boast was no idle; you do know much about pleasing a woman." Amunet smiled in the radiant afterglow of her orgasm. "Yes, my body is quite satisfied. But I require... more. Tell me, would you like me to pleasure you now?" The sphinx folded her arms underneath her breasts and leaned in closer to him.

Tareth's manhood was firm and hard in his pants. It ached for release. "Yes," he answered.

Amunet's eyes sparkled with mischief. "Then you must answer my riddles."

"Riddles?" Tareth asked, somewhat befuddled.

"It is the nature of a sphinx to vex," Amunet explained. "I will give you the most wonderful pleasures you can experience... provided you answer correctly. If you cannot, then I shall take my fee, and you will be left to... attend to your own pleasures." She smirked.

It was a peculiar challenge, but then there was much about this encounter that Tareth found peculiar. Tareth was not dumb, a mercenary had to be smart to survive for as long as he had, but the thought of matching wits with a sphinx was intimidating. Still, it was a risk that he knew he would take. His stiff manhood demanded it. "Alright, you're on," he grunted.

Amunet rolled over onto her belly and bade Tareth stand in front of her. He did so, the bulge in his pants obvious. The sphinx placed a large paw on his pants with a single claw extended. With surprising agility, she hooked the leather lacing of his pants and pulled at them until they came loose. Then she pulled the garment down with one playful tug. Tareth's cock swung free and pointed directly at Amunet's face. The sphinx purred in approval. She leaned in close to it, her lips parting slightly. Her tongue extended, drawing closer and closer to the bead of pre-cum that had formed on the tip of his penis, but then she stopped.

Still hovering close enough so that Tareth could feel the warmth of her breath on his tender skin, Amunet turned her eyes up towards him and spoke. "You can see nothing else when you look in my face. I will look you in the eye and I will never lie. What am I?"

Tareth couldn't help but chuckle at her cleverness. The only face he could think of right now was hers, poised directly in front of his aching erection, but he discarded that as the answer immediately. It was obviously a ruse to prey on the overeager, and as much as he wanted to feel the warmth of her mouth, he could not be fooled.

Amunet smiled coyly up at him, awaiting his answer, as he turned the riddle over and over in his mind. A face. Many things could be said to have a face, not just people. But what could have a face AND eyes if not a person? And what could never tell a lie? Tareth's brow furrowed and he bit his bottom lip in thought. If the references to someone's face and eyes did not refer to Amunet, then who else could it be? It would have to be somebody he knew.

And then the answer hit him. He grinned in triumph. "A mirror."

"Very good!" Amunet said. She seemed almost as pleased by the answer as he was. Then, still smiling widely, the sphinx stuck out her tongue and licked the head of Tareth's cock. The mercenary moaned and pushed his hips forward involuntarily. Amunet parted her lips wider and teased him by lowering her mouth ever so slightly around the head of his cock without actually making contact with him before pulling back. Moments later, however, the sphinx took mercy on him and put her tongue back to work. She swirled it around his tip, then ran it along the entire length of his shaft from below. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her cheek against his firm length, tilted her face, and placed her lips around him from the side, sucking ever so slightly. After a few seconds of this, she pulled back, running her tongue along his length again. Tareth's cock glistened with her saliva in the dim light.

"Such a wonderful cock you have," Amunet purred. "I do hope you don't cum too soon."

A shudder ran up Tareth's spine when, at last, the sphinx took him into her mouth. She closed her lips around his shaft just below the head and, slowly, slid down, taking inch after inch. Her mouth was warm, wet. The feel was incredible; Amunet was clearly a master at her craft, far better than any woman he'd been with before. Her tongue, pressed tightly against him in the confines of her mouth, still managed to slip tightly from one side of his shaft to the other and back again. Tareth closed his eyes and threw back his head.

And then the warmth was gone. Tareth looked down to see Amunet licking her lips. Her eyes met his, and again he saw the glint of mischief. She spoke to him again. "I am always hungry, I must be fed. The finger I lick... will soon turn red. What am I?" She emphasized the question by raising her paw to her lips and giving it a long, slow, feline lick.

Another riddle, Tareth thought in frustration. It was only now, too far into the game to turn back, that he realized how devious and cruel it was. And yet, he had to admit, it was exciting. There was a tense thrill to this. He had to answer correctly, had to feel her luscious lips against him once more. And yet that same desire that filled his body made concentration extremely difficult.

Tareth shut his eyes tight and tried to think. An insatiable hunger. What could be fed continuously, and yet never grow full? And turning one's finger red? How did they relate? This time he could think of nothing. Frowning, he thought harder. He couldn't give up, not with so much at stake.

The feel of something soft against his cock made him open his eyes and look down. Amunet had placed one paw against him. The rubbery pads on the underside of her paw felt good against him, and she rubbed his shaft very gently. "I do hope you can answer correctly," Amunet said. "I'm enjoying playing with you so much..."

Believe me, I'm enjoying it too, Tareth thought to himself. But he still could not think of the answer.

And then, as he looked down at Amunet, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He looked over and saw a small bronze bowl sitting behind the pile of pillows upon which the sphinx lay. It was an incense holder; thin trails of grey smoke wafted up from a pile of ash, the center of which still glowed with a dull red heat. And suddenly he had the answer. What had to be attended to, fed, constantly? Whose tongues could lick and redden one's finger?

"Fire," he said. "The answer is fire."

Amunet pursed her lips. "That was almost cheating," she said, but from her tone it was clear she was rather impressed by his resourcefulness - or his blind, dumb luck. "Still, I will let it slide. For the 'satisfaction' you gave me earlier!"

Once more the feel of Amunet's expert mouth engulfed Tareth's cock, except this time she was much more aggressive. The sphinx licked and nibbled at him before shoving him back into her tight oral confines. Instead of teasing her way down, however, she greedily swallowed his entire length. Tareth felt her nose press against his pelvis, and the head of his cock bump against the back of her throat, and he groaned. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the back of Amunet's head and pressed her down against his crotch. In the heat of the moment he did not spare a single thought for what might happen to him if he should incite her wrath; all he knew was that what she was doing to him felt incredible and he did not want it to stop.

Luckily, Amunet did not take offense. Instead she allowed him to hold her there with his cock buried deep in her throat. She braced one paw on his thigh, but did not resist as he thrust his hips back and forth, fucking her mouth with uncontained lust. Eventually, she tried to pull away; Tareth did his best to hold her in place, completely absorbed in his passions, until finally Amunet gave him a forceful push and ripped herself back. She gasped for breath, saliva dripping down her chin and onto her heaving breasts.

"Sorry..." Tareth said, realizing what he had done.

But Amunet was not mad. "So bold!" she said, wiping the spit from her lips. "Do you find my mouth so pleasing?"

And then she attacked him again, taking his cock back into her mouth and bobbing up and down. Tareth placed his hand on top of her head, but tried to restrain himself; at least at first. Soon the feel of her warm tongue and soft lips had him struggling with desire again. His firm hand guided her to take more and more into her mouth, each bob of her head going lower down his shaft, until he felt his cock press against the back of her mouth. Amunet was purring now; he could feel the subtle vibrations of her quivering flesh all around his penis. It was intense; her mouth was just as good as any pussy he'd fucked, maybe even better. Despite her request that he try not to cum too fast, Tareth was not sure how much longer he'd be able to hold out.

She was trying to pull back again. He held her in place, savoring every ecstatic moment of his cock being buried deep in her throat. His orgasm was close now; he wanted to fill her stomach with his thick seed. So close... so close...

But Amunet forced herself away from him again, gasping and panting, her eyes aflame with excitement. "Not yet!" she cried, although it seemed to him that she wanted the same thing he did. Tareth's wet cock throbbed in the air, but he waited for the sphinx to compose herself; waited and dreaded. And he was right to dread, for when she spoke again, it was another riddle.

"If you break me I do not stop working. If you touch me I may be snared. If you lose me nothing will matter." Amunet ran her tongue along her lips promisingly. "What am I?"

It was maddening, to be so close to the heights of pleasure, only to be snatched back. One more riddle, Tareth thought to himself, one more and then I'll fill that clever mouth of hers. But it was almost impossible to think now; his head was so muddled with desire. "Can't you just let me finish?" he growled at his beautiful tormentor.

Amunet shook her head. She placed her paw against his cock and batted at it idly, like a lazy cat playing with her toy. "You must answer."

With near superhuman willpower, Tareth concentrated one last time. Something that could be broken, and yet not actually break. But snared when touched? What did that mean? And it was something that could be lost, but it wouldn't matter.

Tareth shook his head, trying to clear it. This was a riddle. The words didn't mean what they sounded like they meant. He tried to approach the problem from another angle. If whatever it was still worked, then it couldn't be broken in the same way as a mechanism; the 'break' would be something other than its primary function. Following this same line of thought, perhaps the ensnaring touch was not an actual 'touch' as he was thinking of it either.

The mercenary groaned. He had come too far to fail now. Looking down, his eyes took in the sphinx that lay waiting patiently before him. This was the last thing he had expected today, and yet it was perhaps the most interesting encounter he'd ever had in his life. Amunet was amazing, he thought. He knew now why this brothel was so famous. Once one had experienced her charms, nothing else would do.

Suddenly it dawned on him. He knew what the final answer was. Looking Amunet square in the eye, he said "My heart."

Amunet's lips spread into a wide smile. "And you have earned your reward today."

There was a certain sense of urgency between them now. For Tareth, he was afraid that if he held off any longer, she would ask him another riddle, and he could not take it again. Amunet seemed to sense this too, and although she had claimed that it was in her nature to confound people with riddles, her actions betrayed an eagerness to bring him to climax. This time, she wrapped a paw around him, planting it on his backside and drawing him closer as she swallowed his cock. Tareth grabbed the sides of her head with both hands and hammered his throbbing manhood into her with all his might. He grunted and gasped. She cooed around her mouthful. Saliva mixed with salty pre-cum coated Amunet's chin and bare breasts. This was no mere transaction between a customer and a prostitute; they could both feel something more between them.

It didn't take long before Tareth felt the feeling of exquisite inevitability rising in his loins. He clung to Amunet as though his life depended on it, desperate to blow his load inside of her. Reading the signs his body were giving her, Amunet allowed him to have his way with her. Letting out a loud cry, Tareth rammed himself all the way down the sphinx's throat and held himself there. His cock throbbed once, twice. Erotic pleasure flooded every pore of his being, fulfillment like he had never known, and then he came.

The first forceful spurt shot straight down Amunet's stuffed throat. The sphinx gave him that visceral pleasure of depositing his seed directly into her; then she put her paw on his thigh and pushed him back, not far enough that his cock left her mouth, but instead just far enough that the next gush of cum filled it. And then some; Tareth came so hard that thick cum bubbled from between Amunet's lips and flowed down her face. She savored his taste, the taste of his love. Then she gulped it down, only for the next shot to fill her mouth again. She moaned in delight.

Without a doubt, this was the most intense orgasm Tareth had ever had in his life, and the size of his load was proof of it. He fed the sphinx gush after thick, gooey gush, and she continued to swallow it all obediently. At last, his orgasmic high began to fade, the spurts stopped slowed, and his cock began to soften in Amunet's mouth. She suckled him lovingly, letting nothing go to waste, until there was no more. Then she let his penis fall from her mouth and licked her lips in satisfaction.

Despite her best efforts, Amunet's chin and breasts were soaked with his cum. The sphinx ran one paw along her chest, gathering up some of it and licking it off. While she cleaned herself, Tareth wiped his brow and pulled his pants back up. Even now, having just finished his first visit, he knew that he would have to return.

"Did I please you?" the sphinx asked him.

Tareth nodded. "Better than I'd have thought possible," he said truthfully. "I'll be back. You can count on it."

"I would like that," Amunet said. "But I have one more riddle for you before you go."

"Another riddle? What for?"

The sphinx nodded serenely. "I drive men mad for love of me. Easily beaten, never free. What am I?"

This time, however, Amunet did not wait for Tareth to answer. Instead, she hooked her claws around his coin purse and pulled it free of its lacing. She smiled. "Gold."