My pause had only made Serin look more embarrassed in her situation. I wasn’t going to let that feeling grow to the point where she decided against continuing.

I crouched down, slipped her panties to the side, and started to lick her clit. She was already soaking wet down there from the prolonged effects of “special heal”. I decided to cut to the chase and made my way up her body, gently parting her legs.

As I slipped inside, Serin wrapped her arms around me. “Yes, Theo.”

Things went much more gently with Serin. I just couldn’t bring myself to go all out on her in the end, not when she looked like that and when she was already struggling with the situation as it was.

As I finished up, I felt a hand press down on my shoulder.

It was Beth. “Theo, please turn of that skill… I-I can’t take any more.”

I span around and tried to kiss her.

She held me back. “No, I don’t want to…” She looked at me. “Well, I do, but not now. You need to deactivate the skill! You need to rest.”

I could hear Liz laughing from across the carriage. “Oh, come on Beth!”

“I’m not trying to spoil the fun! I want to join in as much as everyone else, but he’s been at this for ages now and with that skill… We’re all getting carried away. It’s the middle of the day and it’s not as if we’re entirely safe here.”

Listening to Beth’s words, I caught myself and deactivated the skill.

She let out a sigh of relief. “That’s better.” She rummaged around at her side. “Here take these.” She handed me a mana and stamina potion.

I didn’t take them at first. “I have my own.”

“I know, but you need those more than I do.” She pushed them towards me “Just take them.”

I gave in and took the bottles from her hands. I popped the tops a drank the potions one after the other. I could almost immediately feel myself regaining some energy. I hadn’t realised it in the moment, but I was getting quite drained.

Beth looked me up and down. “Good, you’re looking a little better now! Things we’re getting a little crazy, remember you’ve just fed Celine too.”

“I wasn’t thinking that clearly. Thanks…”

She pulled me towards her and hugged me. She leant her head on my shoulder and whispered into my ear. “Don’t think this means I want to be left out! Later when you’ve recovered, and we have a watch set…”

I nodded. “I won’t leave you out.”

Beth let me go and sat back down on the bench “Phew! I can think clearly again now.”

Serin had been slowly picking up her clothes and dressing. “You were right to do that. I doubt that any of us in here would have been much use in here if we’re attacked back then.”

“Trust me it was a struggle to control myself…” Answered Beth. “It probably wasn’t just us, with the range on that thing I’d be surprised if Altria and Rosa weren’t under the effects, probably our two new recruits as well!”

“Yes… We all got carried away. I should’ve done something to stop it before it got that far.”

We had been riding at the far edge of the settled realms, close to the border with the demon held lands quite possibly close to helpless.

Beth shook her head. “No, you couldn’t help it. I don’t quite know how I managed to resist the urge to join in myself. Anyway, nothing came of it.”

“We were just lucky. I won’t let it happen again.”

The driver’s hatch slid open, and Altria’s face appeared at the opening. “I suppose I’ve missed out on the fun this time?”

Serin looked over. “You could hear us?”

“Not so much, but I could feel Theo’s skill…” She laughed. “I’m not sure how Rosa kept control of the horses like that!”

“I was careless…”

Altria shrugged. “I would have stopped him it came to it.”

After all the excitement the girls all settled down after some time. Serin had gotten fully dressed and Liz and Celine both seemed to have completely recovered.

Now things had quietened down, I remembered the reason it had all started in the first place. We needed to contact the harpies.

I looked across the carriage to Celine. “Are you ready to find the harpies?”

“Yes master! Thanks to you I feel completely refuelled.” She said almost beaming.

“Good, I’m glad we managed that at least.”

“Should I go now?”

I glanced to Serin for confirmation.

She nodded. “If you can. I’d like to know if we need to look for somewhere else as soon as possible.”

I turned back to Celine. “If you’re ready.”

“I am. I’ll try to be as quick as possible.”

With that Celine vanished.

At least our plan hadn’t been derailed, and nothing had come from the entire party being distracted by our escapades. I just needed to remember in future that Celine’s powers and Liz’s magic had quite the effect on my judgement.

 With Celine gone the carriage was fairly quiet as we travelled.

Liz looked to be pretty pleased with herself. She was sat quietly in the far corner of the carriage, she had a satisfied smile on her face. By contrast Serin didn’t look so pleased.

I shuffled a little closer to her, I wanted to try and put her mind at ease if I could. “You know what happened wasn’t your fault… I only needed to feed Celine, I shouldn’t have activated my skills. You shouldn’t blame yourself for getting carried away.”

She looked up at me. “Perhaps, but I should’ve put a stop to things before they got to that point… Ever since we lost Lillia I’ve taken it upon myself to lead our group. I can’t let myself put everything at risk like that. I let everyone down…”

“Serin…” I reached out and tried to take her hand.

She pulled away. “Not now…” She sighed. “I’m sorry Theo, I just need to be left to think for a while.”

“It’s okay, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have.”

I felt awkward, and guilty. None of what had just happened was down to Serin. It was me, but I knew she felt responsible as our party leader.

The last thing I wanted was things to be awkward between us. I decided I would give her some space as we travelled. I just hoped we would have a chance to talk later.

I moved back to the centre of the bench to give Serin her space. As I did so I looked up and caught Beth’s attention.

As if she could sense how I was feeling she smiled. “It wasn’t your fault either Theo… We all got caught up in it.” She glanced to her side at Liz. “Some of us more than others.”

“Still, I should’ve known better. I know what that skill does to people…”

She smiled again. “Don’t worry Serin isn’t upset with you. She just doesn’t like losing control like that…”

I hoped that was true.

Liz had just been listening to us, she sat forward and crossed her legs. “I for one feel much better after that. Just the thing to return clarity to mind.”

Beth shook her head as she laughed. “Well, I’m not surprised that you feel better after that. Surely you can understand Serin though.”

“I can… But there is always a place for some relaxation, some relief. I’m sure once she stops feeling guilty for letting her guard down for a moment, she’ll feel better than before.”

“I hope so.”