Steel and Mana

Chapter 17 – A Steamy Night

It was at night, and I was holding a torch, coming down from the mountain, feeling extremely tired. We were making good progress; the stone pipes were all in place and being reinforced, and I was using my cement solution to make doubly sure they were well sealed at the points we connected them. My day went with going up and down constantly, following the route we made, and ensuring everything was in order and up to my expected quality. The real test will be when we let the river flow into it and see where it starts leaking! Meanwhile, the people below were also surprisingly ahead of schedule, laying the foundation of my city.

By now, everything was flat; the sewers and pipes were finished being connected to the first castellum. As per my instruction, they were laying down square stones at the moment and creating the streets to my exact specifications. I had to make it known multiple times that they followed my words to the letter, and the newest, talented trainees did not disappoint! I took a measure, and they nailed the width of the main street and the side streets connecting to it. The former could accompany four carriages side by side, while the latter was perfectly wide enough to let them go past each other.

I did not bother their brains about the extra information; I just told them it would be so everyone could come and go without holding up the other. They did find it weird that everything was measured at a ninety-degree angle, but they will get used to it. When I arrived back at camp, I could already see the base of my future home, the buildings taking shape in my mind's eyes… it already looked gorgeous!

But… for now, the place I returned to was my personal tent. I felt battered and exhausted as I opened the flap, coming in, already in the process of undressing. I only stopped when I realized I was not alone, mid-way of pulling my pants down.

"Sasha?" I asked, surprised to see her here, wearing only a nightgown.

"I made… bath… water!" She mumbled, red from her toes up to her ear, but she was telling the truth. My tent had a big wooden basin, and hot water was steaming inside of it, calling me like a siren.

"Huh." I blinked my eyes rapidly, but I was not to refuse her and squander her efforts! With a confident move, I stripped naked, not covering anything on me, letting her stare. Hehehe… I won't say it was the first time she saw something like mine… but going by her eyes, it was the first one she liked~! "Thank you, I do appreciate it, I'm beaten!"

With an honest sigh, I sat into the tub, enjoying the water that was hot enough but not so that it would burn me. A moment later, I lay forward, letting Sasha kneel behind me with a sponge and something that counted as the most luxurious item of all… soap. Of course, it was not the simple rough soap they were making here, made out of ashes from an oak tree, some tallow, lime, and whatever else, mixing and stirring to create it… I ensured ground-up petals were added to it with some extra ingredients so it had a pleasant scent and wasn't so rough!

In my time, this would be the choice of girls, smelling like a flowerbed but damn it! I also liked it! Who wants to smell like the forest or… the waves… or whatever other bullshit when you can smell really lovely instead? It was something that I mentioned in passing to Mother once, and since then, my household has started producing it, albeit in very few numbers. Oh well, once my city is ready, we can mass produce it, and everyone can say bye-bye to smelling like a wet hog. Wait... could I make a profit of it? The thought alone stiffened me and stopped Sasha from moving her hands, thinking she hurt me.

"Leon?"

"This is nice…" I moaned, not thinking about the idea further, as she scrubbed my back. Her fingers were ever so gentle that I could fall asleep amongst them.

"T-thank you!" She replied to me, clearly startled but also happy, continuing it with a bit more vigor.

"I like it when you are this caring… it is so relaxing… Why don't you come and get in, too?"

"But… um.. I… Um... okay…"

I was surprised once again! I expected her to say no, but instead, I turned around and watched her undress while looking sideways. She tried not to glance at me while she climbed in, and in return, I had time to inspect everything about her… from up close this time.

"You are beautiful, you know that?"

"No…" She murmured, playing with her hair. I could see she was genuinely embarrassed this time. Back then, when she first came to my room and threw her clothes off, it was because she didn't look at it as something… intimate. It was just a thing to get over with, but now? It was completely different.

"Come here…" I smiled, holding her hand, and before she could protest, I pulled her into my lap, hugging her from behind, splashing water everywhere, but I didn't care.

"Kyah?!" She yelped, flustered, especially when her butt slid up against my sword.

"Sorry, can't help it; as I said, you look stunning!"

"Will… Will you… do… you know… that…” She murmured, looking everywhere but at me, letting out another yelp as I started rubbing her body all over before settling down on her perky, small breasts.

"Nope!"

"Nope?" She stiffened, looking back at me over her shoulders while I kept grinning.

"Oh? Does this mean you WANT to do it?"

“I… never did it before…” Well, I could have guessed it. And it seemed we were going in circles.

"It is something that is very important, Sasha." I continued talking, seeing how it was relaxing her body. Or… was it the result of my unruly hands? Her nipples stood erect and at attention, listening to me just like her. "It is not something to squander away! Especially for a girl!"

“I… I…”

"I am glad you opened up, but if you are in a rush because you are afraid that you can only stay here if you catch me in your net… then you will come to regret it. Look, I am more than happy to do it with you! I want to do it with you! But I'm not a guy who takes advantage of those I care about!"

"..."

"I see that you are confused," I whispered, and she nodded honestly, making me chuckle as we sat in the wooden tub. "Well, I'm going to help you relax a little, and maybe it will clear up your head! We will… come back to this after you reorganize your thoughts!"

"What do you meaaaah?!"

She pressed her legs together with a loud moan, but it was too late. My right hand had already slipped between them, and my fingers were exploring her hidden valley, looking for the little monument erected in it. It wasn't hard to find it and start caressing her in a way she knew nothing about. I enjoyed how she constantly wiggled in my embrace, moaning and grabbing onto my hands, her nails digging deep into my skin... She was… beautiful. And a bit wild. Holding her right breast in my left hand, keeping her from escaping, I played with her body until she finally reached the peak of sensation. I felt something warm hitting my palm underwater, but I didn't mind; it was quite the opposite… it made me proud. I still got it…

Watching her eyes go misty and her body falling limp, I just held her in my arms, letting her breathing return to normal, gently rocking her like a baby. When it did, I realized she had also fallen asleep yet still clung to me. I wasn't about to wake her up, so I sat there, caressing her, and after I got out of the tub, I dried her and myself. Even through all that, she didn't wake up at all. I was still pent up… and had no outlet for it now, but... it was worth it. I wasn't in the mood to dress up, and neither did I put clothes on her. I simply carried her to my bed and snuggled up to her while pulling the sheets above us. This is the way to go to sleep... for sure!

It didn't take long to doze off and relive everything in my dreams… hehe… in there, it was even more exciting as I didn't have to hold back at all…