Of Wounds and Wards
"Good morning," Bashuk whispered in her ear as Cassandra woke in his arms. She reacted by snuggling up against him with a quiet moan. He caressed her, his lips touched her temple, and he kissed her. "It's okay, it isn't time to get up yet, and I love holding you like this". His prize caressed him back, feeling safe in his embrace. Yesterday's events had proven many things, one of them being that the orc she was now caressing was willing to give his life to protect her girls. She had already sort of assumed he would, and that the pack's males would too, but now he had proven himself beyond any doubt.
You proved yourself too, she thought, to him, which is why you are where you are now, in his bed once more...
It felt good, having re-earned his trust, she decided, very good, and so did her decision to grant him true access to her heart. He kissed her forehead, and as she looked up at him, he kissed her on her lips. He raised up, and Cassandra saw in his eyes that he was brooding on something.
"I have a visit planned after morning tea, with Urgan, about what happened yesterday," he said after a moment.
The former Kangess felt herself blush, "Will I be required to accompany you?"
She looked down, fearing the answer, and the huge orc ruffled her hair, "Yes, of course." She sighed, and he chuckled, "I'm going to visit Urgan at his private quarters..., and due to certain sensitive aspects of the situation, relating to your earlier little mishap, it'll be just us two pack-leaders and our prizes." Cassandra looked up at him questioningly, and he shrugged. "I'm going to be his guest, and I will instigate nothing. If Urgan offers me his prize though, in a situation like this, it means he wants to further strengthen the bond between our packs. It wouldn't be just impolite of me to refuse such an offer, it would also be a sign that I don't want our packs to become more close."
His prize nodded slowly. "If he does offer me his prize, and I accept, it would be impolite of me not to offer him my own prize in return..." Cassandra whimpered softly, and he reached out and ruffled her hair. "It's part of the job girl..." She nodded slowly once more. "I thought you liked Urgan," he said next, "and I'm sure he will be nice to you." She swallowed. "Also, remember he helped protect you, is still helping to protect you, and has stuck his neck out by doing so..." Her master was right of course, and she dropped her eyes, feeling a little ashamed. "And if he doesn't object, and I don't expect him to object, our prizes will be allowed to chat..."
Cassandra's eyes flew up, and her master winked at her, "I knew you would like that..." She snuggled up to him, to show him her gratitude, and then there was a soft knock at the door. "Yes?" Bashuk called after a moment.
One of the living-room doors opened ajar, and a smiling Denora peeked around it, "Bathing time..., and breakfast will be served in half an hour."
The door closed again, Bashuk sat up in the bed, and he stretched himself. The pleasure slave sat up too, her master hugged her, and then he got up and led her to the bathroom leaking semen, as usual. When they entered Denora was waiting for her with the small washing bowl, and the majority of the pack was already in the tub, busy bathing. She watched her master enter the bath while Denora cleaned her nether regions, and then the two of them followed him in together. Denora met up with Batul, and Cassandra found Bashuk sitting on the edge of the tub, with his bandage removed.
He got up, and she started washing him, and then the bathroom door opened, and Leavy led Vala inside, with Kurgan bringing up the rear. Bolar was nowhere to be seen. "No bathing with a stitched-up wound," Bashuk said, and she froze as he did. He chuckled, and as she looked down, he was covering the dressing on his small wound with one of his big hands.
She looked up at him, and he winked at her. "I..., I didn't know..." she stammered.
He reached out with his other hand and ruffled her hair, "I did... It's not the first time I got nicked..." She smiled apologetically, and resumed washing him, taking care to keep the soapy water away from his belly. "I expect the kombar-karan after breakfast, they'll show you and Vala how to take care of a wound." She nodded, and then she noticed how Leavy and Vala were busy washing Kurgan. By the time her master was clean and moved to return the favor, Leavy and Kurgan were washing the redhead. It was the principle of the pack at work, she realized. With Bolar unable to take care of Vala, Leavy and Kurgan were standing in for him.
Denora was looking at Leavy proudly, and Cassandra bit her lower lip as her master gently spread her legs and started washing the most intimate parts of her anatomy. It was another thing that had been growing on her, the intimacy of washing him, and getting washed by him, it was also something she was pretty sure hadn't been part of the dispensation Brando had provided her with. She felt herself blush as she realized not much of the relation that had developed between her and her master since the surrender was covered by that dispensation, especially the step she had taken last night.
But wouldn't her betrothed have preferred this for her? For her to become the orc leader's personal bed warmer, and be cared for by him, even becoming his lover maybe? Instead of her ending up in an orc army brothel getting fucked by dozens of different orcs every day, and giving birth to cubs without even knowing who the father was? She knew what her former maidens thought on the matter: that she should just consider Brando a closed chapter in her life. And if she were honest with herself, she should acknowledge that Brando would probably agree with them. Probably... And now she had decided to let Bashuk in, if he wanted to, while she was still undeniably in love with Brando.
The huge orc had been in love with her, he had as good as confessed it to her. Had been... The question was if, after her betrayal, he was willing to go there again. Bashuk was hugging her, caressing her, and she realized she had drifted away, and given him reason for concern. She looked up at him, and he bent down a little and kissed her on her forehead. "It's okay," he said softly, "I'm happy with what I've got..." He said it like he meant it, and she decided not to push him, just to be ready to welcome him should he decide he wanted more after all. She rose on her toes and kissed him on his lips, and then they got out of the tub, as the others had done before them without her noticing.
***
Her master took her back to the bedchamber with him, and there they dressed, and she noticed again how much nicer her old clothing felt on her skin, and how much of a difference not having to wear the damned garter belt made visually. "Almost no traces of your strapping remain," her master informed her, and as she checked in the mirror, she saw he was right. Bashuk had gotten into his casual clothes, and after lacing up his soft leather boots for him she followed him to the living room, where the girls had just started setting the table. They sat down, with her hopping onto her master's lap, and just minutes later breakfast arrived.
It included bacon and eggs, and as she looked towards where Polly was sitting a big smile greeted her. She totally agreed with the petite blonde; bacon and eggs were yummy... They were just about to dig in when the doors to the private hallway opened and Bolar and Vala came in to join them. The pack's junior male was looking much better already she saw, and he was more his old self again too. They had a great breakfast, chatting as usual, and when they were finished, and the girls started clearing away the dishes, Denora turned up with a familiar looking jar. They followed the males to the couches, and the auburn-haired girl patted her lap after sitting down on the side of the bed.
Denora took care of her butt, applying the salve gently. "Your breasts are fully healed already," she said as she screwed the jar close again, and your butt is almost healed too," confirming Bashuk's earlier assessment, and her own. She got up and presented her former maiden her bruised lower arm. "Ahhh," the girl reacted, unscrewing the lid of the jar again.
"As he was aiming to kill me, I didn't hold back when I parried his sword," Cassandra said softly as Denora applied salve to the bruising, "and steel is tougher than flesh..."
As she moved back to her master she eyed his lap longingly before kneeling next to him, and once she was in position, he reached out and ruffled her hair. "Your loss as much as mine..." he said softly, making her feel warm inside. The girls returned and sat next to their mates, and once they had there was a knock at the door and one of the guards let two familiar looking females in.
Kira and Solsis ordered Bolar on his back on the bed, and then they ordered Vala and Cassandra to come and watch them. "Next time it might be another male getting hurt..." Vala said, checking with the other pack-mates, as she moved towards where Bolar was laying.
That didn't fall on deaf ears, and a moment later another five girls had joined them around and on the bed. "Just keep still while we work," Kira told Moiga and Polly, who were the ones that had moved onto the bed to watch the proceedings. Both girls nodded frantically, and then Solsis removed the bandage, being careful to leave the dressing in place. Kira then lifted its side a little to check the wound and told the girls what to watch out for in order to catch infections early. And then she told them not to change dressings too often, and certainly not within the first day, unless there was a clear need too, and what qualified as a clear need.
Next came the cleaning around the wound area with a sanitized towel moistened with boiled water, and then how to apply a clean bandage. "It's important to keep the wound dry until it has closed," Kira explained, "and not to soak it until it has fully healed, which normally takes about a week for orcs, and two weeks for humans." She locked eyes with Vala, "Everything is looking just fine. We'll probably replace the dressing tomorrow, and a week from now your mate is going to be as good as new."
The redhead beamed, and Solsis beckoned her closer. "Before we get to work on our esteemed leader, let's have a look at that cut of yours, young lady."
The kombar-karan checked the cut on Vala's throat. "It has closed already," Kira ascertained, "so just be gentle when washing, and don't use soap on it. Also, put a little zabo salve on it a couple of times a day, and no scarring will remain."
Vala nodded, looking happy, and then it was Bashuk's turn. "This looks familiar," he said, looking up at the gathered female faces looking down at him not much later, "but last time there were no green ones, and that naughty blonde wasn't there either..." Cassandra pouted, the girls all laughed, and the two kombar-karan looked questioningly, "Sorry," the huge orc said to them, "but I can't elaborate, as I don't want to embarrass anyone, especially as there's six of them and only one of me..."
