Chapter 16: “Acting Up”

            “Sam?  Samuel Mist?  That Sam?”  A drunken man’s voice came from behind her, filled with skepticism and hostility.  Sam reflexively reached for a pistol through her open jacket before she recognized the voice she releasing her grip.  Sam cringed internally because her flirting with Liam was interrupted.  It kind of sucked, in these moments where she’d started to accept herself and how feminine she was behaving, to be reminded she used to be a man.  Sam’s tail twitched as she turned towards the voice, recognizing him immediately.  Sam took a breath to try and relax herself.

It was Jared Kopp, a taller guy from their age group, he’d developed faster than Sam had during their school years and singled out Sam because of it.  In fact, Sam focused more on her speed and agility growing up since it seemed to take longer for her to hit puberty compared with her peers back then.

He had a very punchable and arrogant face with brown hair and matching eyes.  He was wearing an old brown jacket that he had hanging open, exposing a grey shirt that had some writing on it, but Sam couldn’t make it out.  He had on a pair of jeans that were still wet from outside.

“Ha.  No friggin way.”  He guffawed.  “Wow, I always thought you acted like a little bitch, but I never expected you to literally turn into one!  Haha!” 

“What are you anyways?  Some kind of dog-girl?  Hahaha!”

Jared reached out to flick Sam’s ear – something he used to do in class.  He’d flick her ear whenever he got the chance throughout the day until it was red and puffy.  If she didn’t let him, then he would beat her up.  It was annoying, and by the time Sam had finally grown up enough to defend or get revenge, school had already ended.

Sam was about to slap his hand away but somehow Liam beat her to it and stood, grabbing him by the wrist.

The days when Jared could physically overwhelm them were long gone.  Well, maybe not for Sam anymore, but Liam for sure.  He grinned at Jared as he stood half a head over him.  “Touch her and I’ll break your hand.”  Jared grimaced and tried wrenching his hand from Liam, who stood stock still.  Sam’s ears twitched as she felt a slight thrum of power from him as he used his strength to keep Jared locked down.

“None of that.  Not here, or I’ll throw you both out into the snowbanks and pour yer beer down yeh pants.”  The bartender said to their group before going back to cleaning some mugs once he’d noticed the commotion.  He was a thin and wry man, but even to Sam’s untrained mana sense she could feel power emanating off of him.  Probably a magic user, she thought.

Jared yanked his hand from Liam’s grip, who’d only released it after the bartender spoke up.  He rubbed his wrist while looking at Sam and Liam hatefully, “I always knew you two were close.  But Liam, she’s not even human – are you really going to let your children be… Freaks like she is?”

“I said ENOUGH.”  The bartender’s magically enhanced voice rang out, causing Sam’s ears to flatten.  “Jesusfuckingchrist.”  He muttered under his breath while shaking his head, but Sam still caught it. 

“Jared, that’s it.  You’re cut off for a week.  No buts.  You started this and you know the rules here.  Discrimination is corrosive - I won’t tolerate any of it in my establishment.” 

Jared looked like he wanted to say something but before he could the bartender spoke again.  “You’re lucky it’s only a week.”

Jared deflated, putting his anger away in a flash, and said meekly, “Sorry sir.”  He made his way over to the bar and paid his tab before slowly walking towards the door.

It seemed like he enjoyed coming here, or maybe the bartender was that scary.  Either way, Sam hadn’t ever seen him cowed that quickly.  Maybe he’d developed a drinking problem?  Sam felt a pang of sympathy for him if that was the case.  There were plenty of young men and women who’d drank themselves to death or into addiction after they’d lost their families and loved ones from the convergence. 

When it’d happened, after all, the world was intact and yet shattered at the same time.  People had access to whatever they wanted, and nobody was around to stop them.

That sympathy was killed almost as soon as it’d formed however, when Jared glared at her before walking out of the pub.

Sam turned back to the table as Liam took his seat next to her before he rubbed her back.  “Forget that loser, he’s just mad that he hasn’t improved since school years.  Last I heard, he hasn’t gone beyond the walls in months – for all of the boasting he used to do back then, he still hasn’t done anything impressive.  He’s just sore.”

Tony offered his own opinion after finishing his drink.  “He’s been scared of me ever since I used a little magic on him.  Sam, you should do that too sometime when you get a handle on your abilities.”  Tony finished his last sentence with a belch. “Put him in his place a bit.”

Meghan grinned and added on, “He picked on me once, but I threw him against a wall, and he’s not really bothered me since.  He might have a phobia or an inferiority complex about magic.”  She giggled.

Sam smiled, entertaining the idea of pushing Jared against the wall with magic while she toyed with her drink absentmindedly before taking a sip.  Meghan and Cassie were to her left, and Liam took the chair to her right when they’d sat down earlier.  To Meghan’s left was Fred, then Eric – across from Sam, and then to the right of Liam was Tony.

They swapped stories about Jared’s former antics for a few minutes amongst themselves before Sam noticed the bartender making his way over towards their table.  He left the waitress who’d taken their orders earlier to watch the bar, winding his way through the room towards them.  He wore a simple getup consisting of a loose blue t-shirt and a faded pair of jeans. 

As he got closer Sam realized he had beastman traits, he had two ram’s horns sticking out from the sides of his head which curled around into spirals, and his brown hair was actually curly brown ram’s fur.  Sam noticed his eyes were like a rams as well, with horizontal pupils.

Ah, that kind of explains things. 

He sighed heavily as he approached their group and introduced himself.  “Ladies, Gentlemen.  I’m Barney.  I’m very sorry you had to experience that.  I’ll comp your drinks for today’s meal.”  He turned towards Sam before addressing her directly, “I hope you weren’t too upset by him.  I can’t stand ignorance.”  He shook his head, “I used to be called ‘Satan-Spawn,’ if it makes you feel any better.”  He gestured towards his horns and shrugged.  “I get it though.  Some scriptures say he has horns like these.”  He paused a moment, “But.  Things are better now – that was back then.  Still though, I don’t tolerate it in my establishment.”

He turned to walk away, but as he did so, Eric who’d been quiet a while spoke up.  “Sir, you mentioned rules earlier to him, might we know what they are so we don’t break any?”

Barney turned and pointed over his shoulder at a sign on the wall behind him with his thumb before he turned back.  Sam read the rules as Barney returned to manning the bar.

“You break it, you buy it.”

“No brawling.”

“Treat each other with respect, or respectfully be removed.”

“Barney is always right.”

Pretty simple rules, and surprisingly comprehensive.  The last one was iffy though, maybe it was just a joke.

After he’d left, the conversation slowly resumed at their table.  They each talked about their plans for the week, but Sam’s attention was drawn to Liam as she felt his hand rest on her thigh.  It drifted upward slightly.  She could feel a certain warmth beginning to spread through her from her abdomen.  Sam’s mind started racing as she tried to distract herself, but his hand moved further up her thigh again and squeezed – firmly but gently.  With intent.  It scattered her thoughts and her breath caught in her throat for a moment. 

Sam Squirmed in her chair for a moment, feeling herself growing wet.  She reached down and grabbed his hand to stop him, which had made its way between her legs.  “…Liam?”  Sam breathed out quietly as she looked at him.  He just grinned at her as if he couldn’t feel the heat coming from her crotch.  He’s doing this on purpose!

Despite her grip on him, he slid his hand deeper between her legs and cupped her womanhood possessively for a moment before he withdrew his hand entirely.  Great.  Sam felt her arousal slowly rise, like flames that had found fuel it slowly grew within her.

Sam was mad for a moment.  Liam knew about her mark and he was doing this intentionally.  But, in a flash, a lewd thought occurred to Sam who let out a low chuckle as she felt her cheeks begin to warm slightly.  “Ehehehe.”

He wants me tonight.

It was a queer rush for Sam, knowing that Liam could do this to her whenever he wanted to.  With just a touch he’d declared his intent and the mark made it inevitable.

But Liam greatly underestimated the effects of the cursemark.  Sam no longer focused on the conversation, having withdrawn into herself somewhat as her mind was filled with lewd thoughts.  It went unnoticed for now but Sam herself wasn’t sure how long that would be the case.  She squirmed in her seat from time to time, unconsciously grinding her pussy against the chair when she did.

Sam panted lightly, and ran her hands through her hair, trying to shake off her thoughts. 

An elbow from Cassie brought her back to the conversation, Sam looked up and saw that they were all looking at her.  “I asked if you were alright, you’re looking a little flushed.”  Cassie said to Sam once she’d finally gotten her attention.

“I uhh…”  Sam panted slightly between words sometimes.  “… I might be a lightweight now.  I think I might need to go home actually.”

“Awww!  Sam you should have paced yourself more – I didn’t even think about it, I just poured you your normal amount…  I’m sorry.”  Eric shook his head, taking the blame upon himself.

Cassie chimed in again, rubbing Sam’s back lightly.  “Yeah, Sam you’re all hot.  Probably wanna go home and nap it off, huh?”

Sam nodded, feigning tiredness.  She turned to Liam and kicked him hard under the table before smiling at him, “Will you walk me home?”

Liam smiled and stood while offering his arm.  “It would be my pleasure, miss.”

Sam sighed and took his arm.  He had no idea the revenge she had planned for him.

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            The walk back was torturous.  Sam didn’t feel the cold at all, only the heat of her lust.  Her tail swayed as she walked, as if fanning her pheromones out for potential mates to find.  The knowledge of what lay at the end of their walk was never far from her mind as they went.  Sam clutched Liam’s arm as they walked, leaning on him for support.

“Wow, I know you said this would happen, but its still something else.”  Liam commented after Sam let out an involuntary moan.  She had to fight her urges with every step, and every step seemed to bring her an aching pleasure, not to mention that the scent of Liam was driving her crazy.

“Hnn.  Fuck you.  Uhhn.”  Sam moaned out as another wave of arousal coursed through her.  It was like all of her erogenous areas had become a hundred times more sensitive; being stimulated by her clothes as they rubbed against her.

Liam leaned in and breathed into her ear quietly so that some close passerby couldn’t hear him.  “Actually, I’m going to fuck you.”  Sam gulped as she felt her walls clench, suddenly very aware of that space between her legs.

“Hah… are you going… hah… to do this the whole walk home?”  Sam panted out.

He grinned, “Yes.  Yes, I am.”

Ungabungachunga

This one is about ~400 words shorter than usual. 
Tomorrow I will post at 12:00 EST as normal.