A Rarity

Aniu woke up again, and it was still very dark when she did so. It seemed that her full belly wasn't helping her stay asleep. It had been a grand effort, though. She shrugged at her thoughts as she listened to the snoring and sighing women sleeping around her.

Her body ached. Perhaps she had slept in an unhealthy position? She stretched her limbs. Then she massaged the back of her neck, occasionally moving her head about. She knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep for a while. So, she quietly slid out of her low bed, carefully tip-toed over to the table that held up the clay oil lamp, and slid its drawer out. There were small candles and candle holders, along with a few tinderboxes, inside the drawer. She hoped nobody would mind if she used a candle.

She used the flame from the oil lamp to light a candle. Then she set the candle inside a little candle holder that had a loop for fingers to curl through. She searched the area near her bed for her new, yet also old, robe. She tied it about her figure with a thin cord. Then she picked up the candle holder and went off in search of a nightly adventure.

As quietly as she could, she slid one of the walls away. It seemed that the walls were designed not to make very much noise. She didn't disturb any of the sleeping females.

Aniu's candlelight soon revealed tall wardrobes and a few wooden chests. Assuming it wasn't in her best interest to snoop around in other people's things, which would certainly anger her new family, Aniu left those containers alone.

She wandered around a bit, playing with the walls. The concept of a sliding wall was still very new to her. She loved experimenting with just how big, or how small, she could make a room, walking about and admiring the results of each change she made.

Soon, though, she paused, because she came across an area with a narrow set of wooden stairs. She raised her candle, and she saw that the stairs led to a very dark, mysterious area. The darkness seemed to be luring her in, seducing her natural curiosity, singing a silent tune. Her free hand gripped a polished railing as the other held her light up. Her bare feet were cooled by the steps as she ascended the staircase.

The room she ended up in was small and thin. There were lovely mats on the floor. The now familiar, almost cushion-like texture against her feet was comforting. Aniu moved her candle about. There was a tall chest of drawers, but nothing else. She went to an interior wall and moved it away. More sparsely furnished areas were soon revealed. There were no lamps, though. It seemed that there weren't any women on this floor, meaning that nobody lived on the women's side.

She was all alone in a place full of retractable walls.

Aniu giggled.

Her feet made muffled little padding noises as she experimented again, moving interior walls this way and that.

She was roughly in the center of the women's side when she heard a thick voice say, "What are you doing?"

Aniu halted. For a moment, her hand froze against a wall's edge. She realized there was a bit more light than just what her candle was giving. Her feet moved, turning her body around.

She faced a section of two horizontal walls. She knew they were horizontal, even in the dim lighting, because the upper one was moved aside.

Jodok Rundle was leaning a teeny bit into the room, his fingers stretched out over the edges of the opening he had made, his features literally dark and shadowy, but still visible, his brow low and his well shaped lips set in a frown.

Some distance behind him, there were a few lit sconces on an outer wall. There weren't any floor lamps, which made sense, because there were a few piles of loose straw around. That material could catch fire very quickly, and centaur bodies were more likely to knock over a floor lamp than a human's. Near the lower wall and in the women's side there was a glowing candle in a holder, similar to what Aniu was holding. Jodok seemed to have placed it there.

Aniu made a soft uuuuuhm noise in her throat, realizing that she might have angered the master of the house. She looked down, then up, then down again, as her mind scurried about in search of words that could mollify this man.

Patiently, very patiently, Jodok waited for her to explain herself. As he waited, his face softened. He even smiled a little. The change was a balm to Aniu's nerves. She took a relaxing breath, and she said, "I'm terribly sorry, Master."

She was interrupted. "You don't have to be so formal with me." His blunt fingernails drummed on the walls, making heavy little dots of sound. His smile lengthened, and there was a quiver in his cheeks, as if he wanted to laugh but also wanted to be quiet.

Aniu found that she was the one who needed to be mollified, and she was. A relieving, blooming calm rose in her chest, fooling her into wondering if her breasts had grown a bit larger. She smiled quite naturally, and she said, "I'm so sorry. Sleep escaped me, and I couldn't rest in bed. So ... well, never before have I been in a house with moving walls. I wanted to ... play with them."

Jodok's bare, thick arm stretched over the lower wall as he said, "Play with them?" Was he technically nude?

He picked up his candle holder and went back to a straight position. His face became brighter, even more handsome than before, but Aniu still wished she could see him in daylight. She still didn't have a clear image in her mind of his appearance. She was certain that the horse-like part of him was black, or at least a dark brown. She was certain that he had long black hair, a wide nose, a firmly muscled body, and a very gentle smile.

But she couldn't see the color of his eyes, his exact skin tone, whether or not he had any freckles, or any other finer details. It was frustrating, and she wasn't even certain why she cared so much.

Aniu nodded to him. "I know I seem undignified, but you must understand that such walls are not common in my homeland. I meant no harm."

"I suppose I could understand." Jodok's voice was buttery and hot. One of his eyebrows rose as he seemed to judge her attire.

Aniu wanted to say something witty, but she couldn't come up with anything of the sort. Her face was heated by the reminder hidden in Jodok's scrutiny. She only had on an old robe.

There was a hissing noise. Aniu assumed it came from his mouth, shooting out between his teeth. Then there was a faint licking sound; he was licking his lips.

Did he ... did he think she was attractive?

Something that should have been fairly obvious exploded in her thoughts. Her lips parted. The toes of one foot seemed to try to dig into the floor mats.

"Jo ... Jodok?"

"Hm? What is it?" There was a new quality in his voice, hoarse and hopeful.

"When you found me in the woods, and you learned I didn't have any family in this nation, did you ... did you ...?" Aniu forced down a load of nervous saliva. The question she was trying to form was very upsetting. "Did you imagine that ... I was an opportunity?" She lost her bravery in the end. She wanted to ask if he wanted to marry her, since it wouldn't cost him any money, and otherwise he'd pay a bride-price.

"Are you disturbed by the idea?"

She looked down at her struggling toes. "I suppose it could be considered the best solution, but I wish it had happened under better circumstances." It wasn't common for higher class people to know their betrothed very well anyway. Marriage wasn't an opportunity for affection. It was normally a way for families and clans to make pacts with each other. Or at least, that was how it was done in her homeland. It seemed to Aniu that things were a bit more extreme in Breden.

There was a somewhat accusatory tone in his voice as he gave a retort. "Did you want to be groped and lapped up by an appraising Examiner? Did you want to be sold off right away?"

Aniu's clitoris throbbed and silently whined. Her candlelight wavered as her hand trembled. A tiny whimper rolled out of her throat.

"Lapped up? Is that an accurate description of what these Examiners do?" It wasn't as if Aniu would've known any different.

"They boast about it to all the other men," Jodok said quite seriously. There was a sliver of ire in his voice, but Aniu didn't believe it was directed towards her.

She stepped closer to him, taking in the mixed scents of the straw, the packed dirt floor, and of the centaur's body. "But ... but aren't you taking a risk? Considering me as a possible bride when I haven't been examined? What if I'm a faulty product?"

Quiet.

There was quiet.

Her breath seemed to be collecting in her lungs. She heard a pensive little hum in the centaur's throat. His jaw looked particularly tight. He exhaled quite loudly.

Then he spoke. "Your wrists would be tied behind your back, and your ankles would be together."

The shock of his statement, which implied that he wanted to go along with her suggestion, almost had her dropping her candle holder. Luckily, her fingers gripped the handle harder, and the candle didn't fall. The light did flicker, though.

Aniu said a little bit too eagerly, "You won't have to restrain me. I'm not going to resist."

She heard Jodok's hooves thud against the dirt floor as he moved back, taking his candle with him. "Wait a moment." Jodok unlocked a wall and pushed it away, moving out of Aniu's sight. With a cool patience, Aniu waited. She heard very soft dragging noises and the occasional thunk of something ramming into something else.

Then, more hooves against the earth. Jodok came to her, and he wasn't holding a light. His body was so dark that Aniu couldn't make out any basic details of him. "Put down your light. I don't want to risk it falling to the straw."

Aniu put her candle holder onto the floor, near the lower wall. Then she felt more than saw two great hands press into her waist. She gasped at the heat and virility she sensed in those hands. Then she was lifted up and out of the women's side. Her body was held against a hard torso as the hands moved, and broad arms pinned her in place. She felt his muscles flex as she was carried through the dim area. Soon, the arms loosened, tilting her backwards. Very carefully, gently, she was placed onto a hard, wooden surface.

Aniu pushed herself up. She sat on her haunches and tried to examine the area. It seemed to be a place without straw, or at least she couldn't see any. There were a few floor lamps about, giving the place spots of firelight. There were also a few chests and wardrobes. She soon understood that she was on a very tall table. At first, she wondered why the table was so tall. Then she remembered that centaurs in general were taller than an average human woman.

That was when he saw him walking towards the table. He was a bit clearer than normal. Aniu could see that there was a fluffiness where his humanoid belly met the more horse-like part of him. She could also see a lovely sheen on his black coat. The hair on Jodok's head was pulled over his shoulder, but still loose and free, sleek and shiny in the candlelight. His eyelids were somewhat lowered, putting an almost sleepy expression there. His lips seemed to be a little bit puffier, even as they parted.

And he reached for her ankle, dragging her closer until her backside was close to the edge of the table. Aniu yipped at the movement, and she even fell back, but she caught herself. She was then gripped at her shoulders, forced back into an upright sitting position. Jodok's healthy teeth were in line with her sight. Her brown eyes lowered, and she saw a small indentation in his chin.

"Open your mouth," Jodok said with an usually assertive tone. Her stomach lurched, but not in a sickening way. She let her jaw drop. Jodok's hand rose and held her mouth open. A moment later, and he said, "Ah, good teeth. That's highly desirable." It was probably too dark for him to make an accurate assumption of her teeth, but perhaps he could smell a lack of rot, and that was enough for him.

His hand left her jaw, and he combed his fingers through her hair, against her scalp, putting little tremors down her body. "No odd lumps here. That's good." The hand left, and then he grabbed the cord holding her robe together. He untied the robe and jerked it down her arms. Her nipples contracted in the warm, yet stimulating air. She gripped the robe around her wrists and back as if it was a luxurious shawl.

Suddenly, her breasts were gripped, the flesh tenderly held. Then their individual weights were tested, lifted one at a time. Aniu had rather large breasts for her frame. A moan trickled out of her mouth as his hands pleased her.

"Fine size, no lumps." His fingers seemed to come together as he gently moved to her nipples. Then he pinched them.

"Ahh!" Aniu's head tilted back. Her toes, so lonely as they dangled in the air, rubbed against each other. Amazing little jolts were being sent from her nipples to her clitoris.

"Very responsive. Highly desirable." His fingers moved again, sliding down, leaving invisible lines of fire behind them. Then he pushed her thighs apart. "And for the insides?"

She gave a short, concerned, "What?"

His finger sunk inside her, caressing her muscles. Aniu's brain was lunged into an ocean of stretching hysteria. Even though it was only a finger, it felt thick enough for her slick muscles to nearly panic around it. She thought there were sparks in her vision.

"Ah, you're still responsive, and you feel quite pleasant here." His finger curved, ribbing against an area inside her she didn't know even existed, calling forth little quakes in her thighs. Aniu's clitoris was peeking out, engorged with blood and pure want.

His thumb lowered and caressed the tender little nub, putting spates of maddening sensation in her body. Her hips repeatedly ground against the table as she tried to find even more pleasure.

"Go on, then. A typical man wants a woman that can enjoy a sweet touch. They'd even pay a high price to touch such a creature."

Aniu thought she was dying of bliss. She didn't care. Her mind was balancing on a thin edge of something perfect, and then she fell off into something even better than perfect, if that was even possible. She screamed into the dark ceiling, her back curving, her breasts high and wanton.

Eventually her body sagged, and Jodok pulled his finger out of her. She heard a quick licking noise. Her eyes dragged down Jodok's humanoid torso, and then to that bunch of hair. Something was sticking out.

Astonishment had her eyes bulging.

His voice was still rough, but there was amusement there. "By the by, centaurs have two penises, one in the front and one in the back. Would you like to choose one?"

Did ... did that mean there was a big ... horse's ... uhm ...?

Aniu shook her head. "I'm not ready to make any attempt with the ... one in the back."

His hands went up to her cheeks, and he looked down at her with hazy eyes. "Feeling sensible, I see." Then he kissed her mouth, swirling his tongue around hers. Her eyes closed as her arms encircled his torso, her fingers lightly brushing against his hair. His own arms responded in kind, holding her close, touching her hair, spreading warmth all around her. Then he gripped her hips.

And ... she was impaled.

It was so ... tight, sticky, and so deep that her pubic hair mixed with his fluffier hair. She gasped into Jodok's mouth. Her fingernails scraped lines down his upper back.

"Hmmm!" Jodok pulled his mouth away with a little pop of a sound. His breath seeped into her as he growled, "You have NO idea how great this feels!"

Well, excuse her for not having a penis.

In spite of her cheeky thoughts, Aniu licked her lips and said with slow words, "I'm happy to please you."

"Damn it, Woman! I'll blame you for my lack of patience!"

He pulled and pushed her body, back and forth, plunging into her. Aniu screamed, but she let it happen. It didn't matter that her body was only just learning of this experience. She endured, and as it went on, her body took the lesson well. Her spasming channel adored the thickness sliding in and out of her.

"Do you like this? Do you like me ramming my cock into you?"

"Yes! Oh yes, Jodok!"

"Hmm?" He seemed to twitch and flex inside, intensifying the wonderful feelings deep within her.

And she hollered out all of the nonsense noises she was capable of making.

Soon, he was making shorter thrusts. He gurgled and groaned, and then his fingers tightened over her backside, nearly hurting her. Aniu felt the hot gush of semen, and she sighed.

***

In the morning, Dasuna happily put one of her older, but still pleasant gowns over Aniu's curvy form. It wasn't made of silk, but it was dyed a lovely green color with yellow circles bordering the hem and long sleeves. Then she combed Aniu's black curls into two long sections, laid them against Aniu's great bosom, and put several white ribbons around them in crossing patterns, keeping the hair in check without braiding them.

Once that was done, Katell gave her some faded, yet study dark blue stockings with small cords to tie them below the knee, to keep them from falling down her legs. Then Katell gave her a pair of soft, flexible leather shoes that had to be laced closed around her feet. She wasn't meant to do much outdoor walking. The shoes were mostly decorative.

After a pleasant breakfast of bread, cheese, and nuts, Aniu heard Jodok knock on one of the walls, his voice alerting her of his intentions. Aniu opened the wall and saw him, his horse-like flank facing her. A side-saddle was on his back. The daylight was flattering for the centaur. His black coat was particularly shiny and smooth. His tail was black too, and Aniu honestly wanted to braid it.

She mounted him very carefully. As she belted herself in place, she saw Jodok's human torso twist a bit. Aniu looked up and saw a pair of pale green eyes appreciating her form.

She blushed. Jodok's profile was very nice. His cheekbones seemed higher than she'd remembered. His lips seemed more playful. His skin was a deeper tan than she'd thought, especially since he was a merchant. Perhaps, since he used to work in masonry, he'd spent a long time outside, and so, a desire to be outdoors had lingered on him. Or maybe, he naturally had darker skin?

He was wearing a cute little hat with a small white feather in it. His hair was in a looped braid that Aniu wanted to tug on. She didn't, but she wanted to. His tunic was yellow with brown lines weaved and embroidered at his wrists and neck. Aniu wondered if it was silk or not. The garment certainly had a sheen similar to silk.

Her thoughts were changed when she saw and heard Jodok's brother lightly walk close to him. Odilon's horse-like body had a lighter brown coat, and his hair turned out to be a darker blond color. He seemed to be wearing a garment of padded leather on his human torso, and his saddle wasn't a side-saddle. He gave Jodok a friendly greeting, and then he did the same to Aniu. Aniu couldn't help it. She had to ask if he was up to anything this morning.

She was them reminded that Odilon was a border guard. It turned out that both centaurs and dwarves would look after the borders of both the dwarven and centaur's nations. Typically, a dwarf would be seated on a centaur, and they'd work together very well, with a dwarf serving as an archer and the centaur serving as a strong and highly intelligent sort of vehicle, often carrying his own weapon. Odilon's exact shift depended on the day of the week. He said that he was very fond of his dwarf partner. Apparently, he told good jokes.

Jodok carried Aniu out of the house then. The day was bright and lovely. Goats were chewing up grass, keeping the area clean for all the centaurs, and there were plenty of centaurs. Some of them even had women or girl children on their backs, or even the occasional dwarven friend, but most of the centaurs had nothing on their backs, not even a saddle.