Lirya sat at the table in her room, looking out the window and watching the first stars appear in the sky. She turned as she heard a knock at the door. “Come in.”

It was Jaeni. “I prepared a hot bath for you. You looked like you might need it.”

Lirya laughed. “I smelled like I might need it, you mean.” She walked across the room and took the servant girl by the hand. “Lead on.”

She kept Jaeni’s hand in hers as they walked down the hall and then into a side corridor. Jaeni stepped up to a small door and slowly pushed it open.

Lirya felt a puff of warm wet air on her face. Through the steam that filled the little room, she saw a half-full tub set into the floor.

Jaeni walked up to the tub and dipped a hand into the water. “Perfect.” She turned to Lirya and waved to the bench in the corner. “Sit down and let me help you with your clothes.”

It felt good. The warm steamy air was nicely relaxing. Slowly, a bit stiffly, she bent down to take off her boots, and then her stockings. Her feet flexed as muscles she hadn’t noticed for a while finally had a chance to stretch a bit, and she raised her left leg onto her right knee so that she could rub out the kinks.

Her companion stepped over and knelt in front of her. She reached toward Lirya’s foot.

“Don’t! For gods’ sakes; it’s all sweaty and filthy!” Lirya paused. “I’d be glad to take you up on that offer when I’m cleaned up, though.”

“All right.”

“Thank you.” Lirya smiled as she finished working on her own left foot, and then the right. Finally, she decided that she’d done as much as she could. The sooner she finished her bath, the sooner she could get the promised foot rub.

After loosening her riding breeches, she began sliding them down her legs. It was more difficult than she’d expected; the close-fitting leather was clinging, and her back and shoulders were feeling a bit strained from her adventure.

Jaeni had returned from stacking her boots and stockings on a shelf in the far corner. She helped tug the breeches down and off, then did the same for her underleggings.

Next, she brought her hands near Lirya’s right thigh, not quite touching. “If I may?” This time, Lirya did not protest, and Jaeni began firmly rubbing up and down her leg.

“Oh, thank you,” she murmured. Perhaps Jaeni would give her a more extensive massage after her bath.

And perhaps more. She noticed that the servant’s hands often wandered high up her thigh, under the hem of her chemise. On one particularly bold stroke, Lirya felt fingertips brush her pubes... and linger for a moment.

For the moment, she pretended not to notice, and began undoing the clasps of her jacket. Her shoulders protested a bit as she worked her arms out of the sleeves. Before she quite noticed it, Jaeni had set the breeches and jacket aside, and was helping her out of her chemise.

After stacking these last garments on the shelf, Jaeni took Lirya’s hand and helped her up, then continued to hold on and guide her to the tub as if she were a blind woman.

As she descended into the bath, Lirya felt her body beginning to relax as its heat reached her aching muscles. Standing up, the water came to just below her breasts. Bending her knees and tilting her neck back, she submerged everything but her face, basking in the warmth.

She came to a decision. It was time to see if what she read in her companion’s eyes and face and words and bearing meant what she thought it meant. Her hints were different, more... playful was the best word she could think of... than the lecherous advances she remembered from any number of men at the tavern, but the intent seemed to be the same.

“Er... don’t you need a bath too, Jaeni?”

“I... could wait until later,” she replied. However, she made no move toward the door.

Lirya watched her with a gleam of mischief in her eye. “You know, the morning after I first met Lady Malyenne, she told me about one of her customs. Usually, the servants address her as ‘Milady’... but sometimes, you address her in a different way.” Looking the red-haired servant girl in the eye, she continued, “When she summons you to her bed, or you wish that she would, you call her your ‘Mistress.’”

Lirya paused a moment as Jaeni stared down at her. “I know I told you I don’t like to be formal, but that’s such a clever idea that I’ll make an exception for it. Do you see what I mean?”

“Yes... Mistress.”

Lirya grinned from ear to ear. “Well, then, your bath doesn’t need to wait until after I’m finished mine. This tub looks large enough for the two of us.”

Jaeni’s face lit up with delight. She quickly yanked off her boots and stockings, and began to undo her breeches.

“Jaeni.” She paused in mid-unclasping. “Do you remember how I asked you to describe the countryside before we actually rode out to see it?”

“Yes.” She looked a bit puzzled, clearly wondering what this had to do with anything.

“I wanted to take a moment to imagine how pretty it would look before I actually saw it.” Lirya paused and looked at her companion a moment.

Jaeni nodded. “I see....” she replied as she returned to the task of undoing the garment... slowly and deliberately.

“Yes, you’ve got the idea.” Lirya leaned back against the side of the tub to enjoy the show.

The redhead lowered her breeches to mid-thigh level, and slid each leg down inch by inch. The cotton leggings beneath the leather clung tightly to her legs, highlighting her well-toned thighs and calves. As the garment finally reached the floor, Lirya craned her neck to get a better view.

Noticing the gesture, Jaeni slowly turned around. The lower end of her shift covered her rear, but it clung closely enough to reveal rather than conceal her curves. Glancing over her shoulder, she smiled as she noted her companion’s approval.

After a minute or so that seemed to last far longer, she turned again to face the tub. Her jacket was open, and continued to open bit by bit until it slid off her shoulders to fall to the floor behind her.

Making another quarter-turn, she bent down and peeled off her leggings. The hem of her shift rode up, exposing just a bit of her bottom.

Finally, she kicked the leggings aside and stood up. Grasping the lower hem of her final garment, she lifted it, inch by slow inch.

Lirya decided that she’d had enough of the coy striptease game. “Remember what happened when you described the cave behind the waterfall?”

Jaeni remembered. “You were eager to go see it. So, does that mean...?”

“Giddyup!”

Giggling, Jaeni yanked up her shift in one smooth motion, over her hips and waist and breasts. She fumbled a bit getting her arms free, then hefted it over her head and tossed it aside. As soon as she was finished, she took two steps forward to stand at the rim of the tub.

“What do you think, Mistress?”

Lirya took in the view. The reality was even more enticing than she’d imagined.

“Jaeni, that body of yours is just beautiful. All it needs is to get cleaned up a bit. That is what we came here for in the first place, isn’t it?” She raised a hand and waggled a beckoning finger.

“Of course.”

She sat down on the rim of the tub, dunking her feet and calves. The next moment, she swung forward and jumped in. A wave splashed Lirya’s face as Jaeni’s entire body plunged into the water. A moment later, her head and shoulders suddenly emerged, raising another splash.

As she was blinking the water out of her eyes, Lirya felt a hand on her shoulder and another at the back of her head, and then a leg wrapping around her calves. She reached out to return the embrace as their bodies pressed together.

“Mmmmm... yes.” For a little while, she was content to close her eyes and float, enjoying the warmth of the water and her companion’s body, letting her arms and legs and breasts and lips touch her where they would. Jaeni’s lips nuzzled her left ear, and then her right, and finally brushed her own.

At that moment, Lirya sprung into action. With a mock growl, she opened her mouth wide and thrust out her tongue, while tightening her hold on her partner’s head and shoulder. Jaeni yelped in surprise, admitting Lirya’s tongue, and then joined in and began to give as good as she got.

“I see that I was right about her eagerness to please.”

Jaeni and Lirya both froze for a moment, and slowly turned toward the voice. Lady Malyenne was smiling down at them.

Lirya was the first to recover her wits sufficiently to respond. “Well, she is very...”

She gently took hold of Jaeni’s chin and swiveled her face back toward her own. “...helpful.”

She then resumed the kiss where she had left off.

“So I see!” the lady chuckled. “That only leaves us with one question.”

The girls in the tub looked up questioningly.

“Do you think that tub can accommodate three?”

Lirya and Jaeni agreed that they always had room for their Mistress.

FINIS