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punderdome · 11 days ago

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The Fine Print: Chapter 15

Summary: Raphael plans for his final assault on Zariel’s fortress. Tav finds a role in Raphael’s Infernal war machine.

[AO3]

Rating: 18+

Chapter 15: The Campaign

“Yes, and we’ve been over this several times before. If you want me to do that, you have to pleasure me first.” Tav placed a quick peck on Raphael’s cheek as they lay naked and coiled in their bed. Raphael’s claws tapped on her waist as he considered her argument.

“Fingers,” he provided his counteroffer.

“Tongue,” Tav insisted. Her husband’s eyes narrowed.

“I am Archduke of Avernus, it should be enough for you just to be with me,” he said with a smug grin.

Tav kissed him and stroked his shaft firmly with her hands. He arched into her touch. “I am a greedy, greedy Little Mouse,” Tav answered him. “I always want more.”

The two of them had barely left their room in almost a tenday. Raphael temporarily canceled her lessons, and he definitely wasn’t making any progress on conquering Avernus while inside her.

Tav’s husband had convinced her they should take a second, shorter honeymoon together. In response, Tav had successfully negotiated that she would be provided nara root tea to prevent conception for as long as she wished. Raphael was putting the contraceptive tea to good use as often as possible.

He was learning her body, and Tav could tell that he hated that he wasn’t allowed to enter her until she was sufficiently satisfied with their foreplay. He would use his fingers to pleasure her, and since Tav had told him he was a great kisser, he was only too keen to indulge. Though, it was never long before her husband wanted to at least grind against her or have her stroke him.

“You taste me, and I’ll taste you,” Tav reminded him, as his finger dipped into her. Raphael chuckled, thinking that the negotiation was still open.

“You are incredibly pliant like this, I shall just have to keep negotiating for what I want,” his mouth fell to her ear as Tav writhed and gasped around him. “I just have to wait and find the proper motivation.” He added another finger, and Tav moaned into his neck. “I always get what I want in the end,” he purred.

Tav removed his fingers from inside her, and as much as she wanted to continue their bedroom antics, the two of them had agreed that this would be the day that Tav returned to her lessons and Raphael returned to work.

Tav rose from their bed and donned a robe before heading towards the door. Raphael was scowling. She turned towards her husband and saw him pouting and impatiently patting his fingers on the sheets. It was amazing he ever gained enough motivation to look for the Crown of Karsus in the first place.

“I am not coming back to bed. We agreed on a tenday.”

“I’m open to negotiations,” Raphael purred lustily. He grinned and lay back in the bed. He pulled back the sheets to show her he was hard and eager.

“You are insatiable,” Tav sighed. “Don’t you have Hells to conquer?” Raphael growled to entice her, and she was not going to let her husband seduce her back into their bed. She quickly left the room, refusing to indulge him further.

She smiled to herself, unconcerned what any of the servants might think of the Lady of the House slinking back to her room barely covered in a robe and dripping with the Master of the House’s seed.

Tav walked down the corridor to her room and the Incubus appeared in front of her in a flurry of embers. Haarlep immediately wrapped their form around her and licked the back of her neck.

“Haarlep,” Tav greeted. “You seem frisky today.”

“Little Wife,” they purred back to her in their Archduke form. “It seems you and the master have been keeping each other busy. You haven’t even been kind enough to pay me a visit to wash the seed from between your legs.” They sniffed the air and reached underneath her robe between her legs, running their fingers over the remnants of Tav and Raphael’s last coupling on the scales on her inner thighs. “My, you have been busy making up with the master, Little Wife.” Tav caught a slight growl of irritation on their voice.

“Raphael and I have been enjoying each other’s company, Haarlep,” Tav confirmed matter-of-factly.

“The master can be easy to distract, but I am amazed it took you so long to figure out how to play him.” Tav twisted out of Haarlep’s grasp and turned to face the Incubus. There was something bitter hidden beneath their facsimile of her husband’s face.

“I don’t need to play him, Haarlep.”

The Incubus seemed slightly rattled by her response, but they suddenly twisted their body into a provocative pose with their thighs spread wide and their ass pressed out to distract from their lapse of focus. Haarlep raised their tail and let it thrash around seductively.

“Well, perhaps you would find games involving a third in the Boudoir to be much more fun than the games you are only playing with two,” they purred, reaching out to cup Tav’s face. She smiled at them.

“I would like to visit you in the Boudoir. A bath sounds relaxing,” Tav infused the statement with a deep level of warmth. “Perhaps then you can fill me in on all the House gossip and tell me about your most recent bedfellows.”

Haarlep seemed stunned. Tav kissed the incubus kindly on their cheek before walking around them towards her room.

After dressing and a bath, Tav sat for her lessons again. Atmos had assigned her more than a dozen portfolios containing advanced Infernal appeals bound in canvas portfolios.

“Read through these and write summary judgments. Critique the language of the original contracts and the appeals and come prepared with arguments concurring or disagreeing with the court’s rulings.”

“Fifteen? The Infernal courts have been busy.”

“The Master of the House has kept you too occupied for lessons, and now you are behind,” Atmos made some notes in the margin of a journal that he was keeping, likely sets of lesson plans. She was immortal, and it made no sense why she should have to follow strict lesson plans with timelines. Perhaps Raphael’s lusts for pleasure were wearing off on her.

“Of course. Would you prefer written documents or oral arguments?” Tav looked up at Atmos as he sat across from her.

“Both,” the Infernal master pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his nose.

Tav nodded. She should have expected that ignoring her obligations for a tenday was going to have consequences once she returned to her studies. She could only hope Raphael wasn’t going to be too disappointed that she had work to finish and wouldn’t be immediately available for a quickie on his desk.

To her surprise, Raphael had been the absent party.

It had been three days since Tav had seen Raphael at meals or in their bedroom. The servants had indicated to her that Raphael was indeed within the House of Hope but preoccupied with raising Infernal armies and plotting the downfall of an Archdevil. Since only a tenday of relaxation in his bedchamber had set Raphael so firmly behind on his work that it required constant attention, it was starting to make perfect sense to Tav why Mephistopheles had originally presented Haarlep as a gift to distract Raphael. Raphael would easily follow his cock should the opportunity arise.

Tav found her husband in his study, hunched over his desk with a quill in his hand. He was pouring over scores of contracts organized on his desk by importance and complexity. He was looking over and comparing a few of them with an Infernal ledger laying by his right hand.

“Raphael,” Tav started, sitting down at the chair in front of his desk. Raphael didn’t raise his gaze to meet her and continued his work comparing contract clauses and runes in the ledger.

“Dearest,” Raphael said curtly, carrying a sum from the bottom of the page and entering it into the relevant spot on the first line of the next page.

“I haven’t seen you in a few days, are you well?” Tav inquired, trying to keep the conversation short. She was hoping for a quick kiss and to be sent to bed or to convince her devilish husband to take a break for the evening and join her.

Raphael paused to dip his quill into ink. “I am well, Dear Mouse, though I am behind in my work. I have contracts that need to be finalized and presented to their signatories within a short time.”

“What are you calculating?” Tav asked him, interrupting his arithmetic. Raphael glowered at her.

“I am calculating exchange rates between soul power and soul coins. Some of my more valued contracts command higher price points on the soul market. Time being not infinite, I need to prioritize writing various contracts, and it is necessary to compare the souls’ values.” Raphael lowered his eyes to the exchange charts in the ledger.

Tav risked Raphael’s wrath and picked up one of the contract scrolls that he had set aside and read through the contents. Raphael hadn’t gone through the final edits on this contract for a disgraced patriar who was seeking to sell the soul of his spinster daughter in exchange for his family’s status being restored in the upper nobility and substantial wealth for an inheritance. Tav sighed. She hated reading contracts by proxy where the signatories had standing to sell the souls of their slaves or children instead of losing their own. If the cowards sought aid from the Hells, they should at least be prepared to pay the costs themselves.

Tav read through the rest of the contract and the stipulations. Proxy contracts tended to be far less valuable in power than contracts where the signatories sold their own souls, so it made sense why Raphael had deprioritized this patriar’s greedy plight.

Tav noticed an inconsistency in the description of wealth distribution that the patriar in question was searching to secure for the inheritance of his two sons. Raphael could change two clauses with equivalent meanings in Common tongue and completely change the value of the contract.

“Raphael, can I have a quill?” Tav asked, looking up at him.

“Tavara-” Raphael warned firmly.

Tav snapped her fingers impatiently, waiting for Raphael to present her a contract quill to write her notes. He clenched his jaw and handed her a quill to continue working on the draft. She made a few quick notes in the margin while he watched her tentatively. While Raphael normally would have been interested in seeing what schemes she would come up with, he didn’t appear completely amused this time.

Tav made a quick edit to another clause of the work and handed it back to him. Raphael started to read through her notes on the proxy contract, raising an eyebrow at her.

“If you adjust this clause and also ask that the patriar secure potential contractual discussions with you and his heirs, it will remove the proxy limitation on the contract and the patriar is guaranteed to default, giving you his soul instead of his daughter’s.”

Raphael sat up straight and motioned for her to continue. Tav pointed a few paragraphs back. “His daughter’s soul is bound to the contract upon signing. In Infernal, a request for meetings with children isn’t tied to gender, but the Common tongue translation implies children with land ownership rights which implies sons. He cannot promise you a meeting to discuss further business dealings because his daughter has no soul to deal with. He would immediately default on the contract.”

Tav tapped at the bottom of the contract. “He cannot purposely default a proxy contract, so the soul collateral would immediately transfer to him. Furthermore, the entire family would be restored to elevated wealth and status, and the father’s successful business dealings with you would likely entice his sons into future business dealings, and the odds are high you would collect them as well.”

Tav sat back in her chair and waited for Raphael’s judgment on her work.

“Clever Little Mouse,” he chuckled. “I see the lessons you are receiving from Atmos have been going exceptionally well. Your ploy is a slight gamble, but I’ll be paid either way with the daughter or the father depending on who dies first.”

Raphael took the amended scroll and snapped to have it cleanly rewritten with Tav’s suggestions. Raphael snapped and the final version was stored securely in his desk drawer awaiting signatures.

“You seem overly burdened between Avernus and your normal duties,” Tav observed.

Raphael had moved on to the soul ledger again and barely raised his eyes to look at her.

“Little Mouse, there are many deals to be made in my preparations for the assault on Avernus,” Raphael lectured sternly and growled, hoping to get her to leave him alone.

“Raphael, what if I took on writing some of your contracts?” Tav suggested. Raphael sighed and walked to Tav’s side of his desk. He sat down on the mahogany surface of his desk and stroked her cheek.

“Little Mouse, even if I completely corrupted you there is no chance that your soul could effectively write Infernal contracts from scratch.” Tav narrowed her eyes and barely managed to open her mouth to protest before Raphael placed a claw over her lips. “Tavara, do not confuse Infernal law and Infernal rules with Infernal dealings. You are very adept with the language, but mortals do not typically have the stomach for this type of work. Unless I suddenly learn that you were sired by Bane, I am confident the work would not be suitable for you.”

Deep down, Tav knew he was correct. A Fiend would have modified the contract to secure the souls of both the father and the daughter in her last amendment. Raphael returned to his chair to pick up his work again and dismissively waved Tav away with the back of his hand.

“You’ve taken on too much of the work planning the assault alone,” Tav pointed out. "You’re clearly struggling to get everything done by yourself.” Tav realized immediately that she had overstepped when Raphael’s eyes met hers in a death glare that was sure to result in debtor torture later when Raphael wanted to let off steam.

Raphael dramatically rolled his eyes. “And what, dearest, do you propose as a solution?” he said with his voice biting in irritation.

“Let me handle some of the menial tasks.” Tav motioned to the ledger of soul sums or his book of supply logistics. “I’m sure there are few reasons that the Archduke of Avernus needs to personally oversee the transport of Hellspears between your Infernal forges and the front line.”

Raphael sat back in his chair and pondered Tav’s proposal. “I’ll have you start with sanitation logistics.” She knew he was toying with her.

“Very well, then I will summon Yurgir and ask him specific questions about the weight of his night soil,” Tav grinned back at him.

Raphael laughed before closing his soul ledger and snapped. A pile of neat document portfolios appeared on the desk, and he handed her the stack.

“If you wish to assist me in assaulting the citadel, go through these reports and prepare responses for my approval.” Tav smiled like she was a child in a scriptorium. Raphael waved her away with the back of his hand affectionately.

Tav took up residence at one of the desks in the archive. Would Raphael get her a desk in his study if she asked?

“The Master of the House just put Master Malrai in charge of new contract drafts for his work on the Material plane.” Kilzare finished cataloging tomes and went to see her. “What else does Atmos have you working on while he is occupied?” He picked up one of the portfolios and opened it. Shelf life and shipping of Infernal meat rations.

“Are these plans for the assault on the Basalt Citadel?” Kilzare’s face was incredulous. “Does he really have you doing all the work managing supply logistics?”

“Latrines aren’t going to dig themselves, Kilzare.”

The Tiefling pulled up a chair and sat at the desk across from her. He picked up another portfolio and rifled through the contents. “Maintenance of Infernal chain mail,” Kilzare’s face wrinkled slightly with a twinge of disgust as he kept reading. “It needs to be polished with sand and oil from the fat of glutton debtors.”

“I’m surprised it’s not something far stranger, to be honest.” Tav made some quick calculations on how many fresh mortal kidneys Raphael’s army of Orthons was going to require per tenday before making another calculation on how many latrines would be required once said kidneys had exited the Orthons.

Kilzare picked up another leather-bound stack of parchment. “If he has you working on campaign logistics, why did he give you documents on the resistance against Zariel?”

Tav set down her quill and took the portfolio Kilzare offered to her. An underground resistance movement against the Archdevil by disillusioned former supporters and freed mortals from her slave armies. Their numbers were sizable though the reports indicated they weren’t well organized in their strikes against Zariel’s remaining strongholds.

Tav flipped through notes on their most recent movements before familiar names were listed as commanders of their toughest squadrons: Karlach Cliffgate, the Fury of Avernus and Wyll Ravengard, the Blade of Frontiers.

They were still alive and fighting against the same devil that her husband was battling. If they stood in Raphael’s way or interfered with his plans, her husband’s full wrath was going to make an appearance. She had to keep them out of harm’s way, and with any luck, she could get them both safely back to Prime Material.

Tav stacked the portfolios and went to meet Raphael in his study. She set the stacks of documents with completed reports neatly on his desk.

“Raphael, I need to prepare some Sending spells,” Tav asserted as she stood in front of his desk.

“I am growing quite close to assaulting Zariel’s fortress, and that would be an incredible lapse in security,” Raphael sat back in his chair and looked up at her. “What could possibly be so important that you would risk my plans being revealed to the enemy?”

Tav stared back down at him. “Wyll and Karlach have been leading an underground resistance against Zariel. I don’t want them and their allies to be caught in the middle of your battles with Zariel. They may be able to help you, or at least we can get them to stay out of your way.”

Raphael pondered her request. “You still hold affection for your mortal friends?” he taunted.

“Of course I do. May I at least bring them here to speak with them? I doubt you want the Blade of Frontiers and one of Zariel’s former agents working against you when they could both be working with you instead.”

Raphael grumbled as he pondered Tav’s request. “Should they decide to work against me, I could easily turn them both to ash and throw them in the chamber pot for my debtors to clean up,” he threatened halfheartedly.

Tav wasn’t amused. “If you harm them in any way, you will not like what vengeance I will seek against you.”

Raphael chuckled. “I do so enjoy seeing your ruthless side, my dearest, though your wrath needs further development to match the standards of the Hells.” He gave her a smug smile.

“Will you let me send them a message to come here?” Tav asked again.

Raphael nodded an assent. “You may contact them and invite them here, but in return they must be willing to discuss negotiations with the resistance against Zariel in my favor. Though they should be warned, if they’re planning to work against me, they will not be leaving here.”

“Thank you, dear husband.” Tav quickly left to find copper wire to send her message.

“Karlach, Wyll. Come to the House of Hope. It’s safe. Let’s discuss the fight with Zariel. Raphael can help. I love you. Tav.”

She couldn’t figure out two more words to say but figured her message was enough. Tav wasn’t sure what, if anything, they knew about her relationship with Raphael through the gossip of the Hells. Getting them to trust him would be a monumental undertaking.

The following afternoon, Tav was reading in the archive when she felt the prickle of a Sending spell on the back of her neck.

“Soldier! House of Hope? Raphael? Gross. Why are you in Avernus? We’ll come to see you. Don’t trust the cambion. Be there soon. Love you.”

Tav grinned and clapped her hands excitedly. They were really coming to see her! She was going to get to hug Karlach again! They were coming to visit her in her home. She was going to need to awkwardly explain why she was living in the Hells and who she was sharing a bed with. That didn’t matter now, and they would understand somehow. Tav tapped at the cover of the book she held in her hands.

Karlach would want her revenge on Zariel and a new heart so she could return to Faerun. Tav touched her chest gently. Raphael could easily use the Regalia of Karsus to restore Karlach’s heart so she could go home. Tav put her book away and went to see Raphael in his study.

Raphael raised an eyebrow at her. “Dear wife, what have you been up to this afternoon?” Tav moved the documents on Raphael’s desk out of the way and sat down on the wooden surface of his desk. He moved his chair closer to where she was posed on the wooden surface and settled himself between her knees.

“I need something from you, dear husband,” Tav requested. He shifted and leaned back in his chair. One of his claws traced circles over her knee.

“What kind of boon are you seeking, dear wife?”

“I need you to prepare two replacement hearts, one of flesh and one mechanical, for Karlach.”

Raphael laughed. “So your companions are coming to visit after all? Seeing as the former Warlock and the Tiefling have a particular hatred of the Hells, I am a little surprised they are willing to come here.”

“They didn’t sound happy about it, but they’ll be here,” Tav replied. “We can work through the details of their underground resistance against Zariel and keep the fighters out of your way.”

“Hospitality and two hearts is quite the favor,” Raphael smiled smugly. He ran his claws over her cheek. Raphael growled lustily at her, and she knew what he desperately wanted. He wouldn’t beg for it, but she was going to make him request it directly.

“Thank you, I knew you would do anything for me,” Tav moved to hop off of his desk, but Raphael stopped her, his claws lightly gripping her hips to hold her in place.

“What am I getting out of this deal?” he purred smugly.

“Gratitude from your wife and an improved sense of self-worth by performing a selfless act,” Tav fired back at him, running her hands over his horns and peppering his temple with kisses.

Raphael growled. “Charity isn’t in my nature, Little Mouse.”

Tav started to play with him. “It isn’t charity, it’s a gift for me.” Tav sat in his lap and buried her face in his neck, gently sucking and biting on the skin beneath his ear.

“Only good little mice get gifts and rewards,” Raphael countered. He groaned slightly as Tav lowered her mouth to the collar of his undershirt.

“Haven’t I been good enough?”

“No,” Raphael answered abruptly. “You are keeping me from my work.” Tav nibbled on his earlobe.

“You never seemed to mind before, dear husband,” Tav purred.

“Ah, but now you are seeking a gift of particular importance from me. It doesn’t matter to me whether your friend receives a new heart,” Raphael toyed with her.

“Though it does matter to you if your wife is happy,” she reminded him.

“Technically, Little Mouse, your happiness is not contractually mandated.”

“Neither are your orgasms, Raphael.” The smug smile immediately vanished from her husband’s face, and Tav smirked.

Tav lifted her skirts and moved to straddle his lap. She lowered her mouth to his and kissed him deeply. “So, are you going to prepare two hearts or not?” Tav challenged him, running the back of her hand over his cheek. Raphael’s hand immediately went to give her breast a gentle squeeze.

“I want you to pleasure me, Little Mouse.”

“You want to come in my mouth?” Tav asked teasingly, stroking the skin behind his ears. Raphael nodded. “You want to feel my tongue stroking every part of you?”

“Yes,” he said dominantly. “I want you to worship me with your mouth, Little Mouse.”

She was never telling Karlach about this.

Tav gathered her skirts and knelt in front of Raphael. She unlaced his trousers and looked up at him. His golden orbs were eagerly staring down at her, she made a show of slowly revealing his cock and holding it firmly within her hands.

Tav firmly pumped her hands over his shaft until he was hard. She licked gently around the head, and lifted her gaze to her husband’s eager, hungry eyes staring down at her and impatiently demanding pleasure.

Tav took him deeply in her mouth and Raphael let out a primal moan. She ran her tongue firmly over the head of his cock and Raphael began to squirm above her. She took him as deeply as she could into her throat, and he gripped the sides of her head to take control of her ministrations. She stopped pleasuring him, and Raphael gave a firm, indignant groan that his pleasure had stopped. Tav grinned up at him and wasn’t going to continue until he had relinquished control. She had an Archdevil completely under her spell.

“Do you want me to continue?” Tav asked him before tracing her tongue over the base of his shaft. Raphael groaned.

“Yes,” he moaned.

Tav licked her tongue firmly over the head of his cock, gleefully tasting his salty precum. Raphael moaned again as Tav took him entirely into her mouthh. She watched the pleasure on his face evolve with every caress from her tongue.

“Mouse,” Raphael moaned as he spilled into her mouth. Tav swallowed down all of his come while he continued to pant. He had a salty tang with a twist of sulfur, and Tav thoroughly enjoyed watching him come unraveled under her touch.

“Hells, I could get used to all of the pleasure you provide me, my Little Mouse,” Raphael moaned as he leaned back in his chair, basking in the afterglow of his orgasm. Tav gave him a smirk as she tucked his spent cock away in his unlaced trousers.

She straddled him and gently clasped her hands on either side of his jaws, bringing his gaze up to look into her eyes. “You are mine, Little Mouse,” Raphael affirmed with his clawed thumb on her lower lip. “Every piece of your delightful form belongs to me.” He grinned at her.

“I am yours, dear husband,” she confirmed. Tav kissed him deeply, moaning into his mouth. He ran his claws down her back. Tav unlaced her dress and let it fall to the floor. Raphael firmly squeezed her ass before running the tip of his claw over the hem of her smallclothes. Tav clenched her thighs and made Raphael groan underneath her. His hands grazed over her curves and sent a shiver down her spine. She quickly shed her smallclothes and kicked them to the floor.

“You belong to me, Little Mouse,” Raphael affirmed again as he stroked her breasts over her corset.

Tav grinded herself down on him until he was hard again. She lowered herself onto his cock with a deep moan. She shivered at the delicious stretch of him inside her. She carded her hands through his hair as she rode him. Impatient with the pace of her thrusts and the intensity, Raphael’s hands on her hips urged her on faster while his mouth nipped at her neck.

Tav grabbed his wrists and pinned his arms to the armrests of his chair while she continued to ride at the pace she wanted. His arms were tensed under her hands. Tav leaned back slightly to get a better angle. She released one of his wrists and stroked her clit. It didn’t take long before she made herself come with Raphael inside her.

He had a self-congratulatory look on his face and moved to take control again, but Tav stopped him. She stared deeply into his eyes.

“Raphael, you are mine.”

#raphael x tav #bg3 the fine print #raphael the cambion #smutty smut smut #stupid sexy raphael #this took me way too long to write #karlach is never going to find out

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