by Aaron Crash
Skylar had dropped her clothes in a pile. Her breasts sagged a little, a little belly pooched out beneath them, and stretch marks lined her body. But all that somehow made her more alluring, not less. She was an experienced woman, a sexual being who had known sorrow and loss and yet had made it through. She approached them, caressed Steven’s back, then bent and kissed his ear.
Skylar got onto the bed and climbed in front of him, straddling Aria’s body, pressing her back into him. She turned her head to kiss him over her shoulder, her right hand gripping his hip as he continued to thrust into Aria, and he almost lost it. She smiled, her lips pressed against his, then she bent forward to kiss Aria, raising her hips toward him.
He’d asked Skylar if she was ready, and she’d hissed “Yes!” greedily before turning her attention back to Aria. He slid out of Aria, gripped Skylar’s hips, and slid into her. Sabina said she liked it hard and fast, so he didn’t hold back. He slammed into her, over and over, while Aria moaned, stroking the older woman and herself below, until he erupted inside Skylar even as Aria kissed the older woman and gently pulled on her nipples.
Gunfire rang out. He was yanked out of the memory.
Several pink blobs flashed through the falling snow. They were Tessa’s stun bullets, special ammunition she’d created to incapacitate, not kill. Her Peacekeepers were true wonders, guns from the Old West, and yet not any kind that were made on this version of Earth. Back in the cowboy days, Peacemakers had been prevalent, not Peacekeepers, but these had words of power engraved on their long barrels, guns from another world. Like Tessa, they were a mystery.
Steven ducked the pink orbs. He then spewed out fire, lighting up the dark day. He saw Tessa in her heavy white coat, but he was using his own eyes, not the Magica Divinatio magic. Dammit.
The whole point of Divination Tag was to find them using the torn pieces of cloth.
Yes, reliving the sex with Skylar from the night before was awesome. He loved how he’d felt when she’d watched him and Aria from the shadows. Even better, feeling a new body under him had done wonders for his libido. But dammit, he needed to use his divination skills in combat. He didn’t need the horny flashbacks.
Movement to his left. Sabina lashed out with her white cane. Her eyes were glowing green, so she could see.
He parried Sabina’s cane with Samael’s Lash, then tried to trip her with his tail. She nimbly stepped over it since, yeah, she was an expert at parrying attacks because she could see into the future. But he snapped his tail around, flicked it out, and lightly tapped her on the arm. Tagged. He’d gotten her.
Steven raced away from the Latina Magician using SerpentGrace. He swatted a Peacekeeper out of Tessa’s hand, dodged her pink force field, and then slipped in to lick her face with a forked tongue.
“Gross!” she giggled.
“Tagged,” Steven growled.
Steven slammed Samael’s Lash into the ground and whipped off the cloth tied around the hilt. He then whirled and took flight in his True Form.
He’d try it again. “Magica Divinatio!” He focused on the rag clutched in his claw.
Snow melted off his steaming body. Having black scales when everything around him was white wouldn’t hide him. But that might not matter if he kept on the offensive. If he could find the other pieces of the sheet, tied around Aria and Mouse in their dragon forms, then he could swoop in and get them.
Pretty McGillicuddy filled his head. He was in the top bedroom of the tower, where he’d been with Skylar and Aria. It had been Uchiko’s room before she’d left to watch over Steven’s and Tessa’s families. The room was done in red silks and cushions with a big window they’d added to give the room a view of the sunset. In his vision, twilight grayed the sky and the air was chill. Candles flickered around them, giving the room a romantic air. Pretty had tears in her hazel eyes, only for a second, before they leaked down her face.
Steven glanced down. He was buried in her sex. His eyes traveled up her stomach, complete with an outie belly button, to her breasts, the small nipples puckered, and then to her eyes. “I’ve come to love you, Pretty,” he murmured. “You’re gentle, and kind, and shy. I’m so glad you joined my Escort.”
Pretty sighed and then pulled him down for a dove-like kiss as their bodies moved together, slowly, like timid waves lapping at the creamy sands on some distant shore in paradise.
A freezing gust of wind caught Steven’s wing, slamming him up, nearly tipping him over. He’d lost focus, caught in the soft sex he would have with Pretty McGillicuddy. These damn visions were not helping him.
He leveled off, enjoying the flapping of his wings and the snow pelting his body. His armored scales protected him from the pinging ice, and his internal fires evaporated any moisture immediately. No way would he ice up.
He saw a flash of red up ahead. That was Aria, had to be. Steven triggered ShadowStrength, draining the Indian dragon to feed his own muscles. With an added dose of SerpentGrace, he slithered through the sky, reached out, and tagged her.
Aria let out a roar. “No fair!” She then lost altitude and disappeared into the blowing snow. Steven followed, making sure she was okay. Yeah, maybe using ShadowStrength wasn’t exactly in the playbook. He’d apologize later.
Aria landed. She shifted into her Homo Draconis form and gushed flame from her mouth. Sabina and Tessa stood near the flames to warm up.
Steven landed and stayed in his True Form. Oh, the look Aria gave him. He was in trouble. He’d tagged three of them. But where was Mouse?
Third time was a charm. Steven cast another divination spell, again focusing his mind on the cloth. A woman was hurt, bleeding, and reaching out to him. She was naked, but this wasn’t about sex, this was about battle. She wasn’t a dragon, he knew that, but what was she? He didn’t know, but she was in pain. Shaggy, golden-brown hair framed a face with the most amazing blue-green eyes he’d ever seen. Those eyes begged him for something, but what? She was a big woman, with big hips, and yet she was small-chested. That wasn’t important. Saving her was.
A desert wind screamed in his ears, full of dust and debris. So loud, so dry, and above it, the roar of a dragon, gunfire, large caliber weapons, and the grind of metal on metal. Both he and the hurt woman stood on a hard scrabble desert under a bright blue sky.
Then Mouse, in her True Form, tapped a claw on his nose. “You couldn’t find me, Steven. I tag you, and you lose. Boom.”
“That was not fair to use ShadowStrength on me!” Aria said, her dark eyes in her scaled face flashing.
“Wow, ShadowStrength?” Mouse growled. “That was a baller move. Good for you. But you totally couldn’t find us. I was on your tail the whole time, and you had no idea.”
“Let’s talk about it inside,” Tessa said through chattering teeth. “I’m cold and wet, which is no fun. Hot and wet? Much more fun.”
Collecting their things, they all went inside and huddled in blankets around the roaring fireplace in the great room. The five widows had gone into town for supplies and had offered to cook a big meal for them all, as Bud and Liam were coming in for the logistics meeting.
Steven told his Escort about his experience trying to use the Magica Divinatio spells. “Total bust,” he said.
“Sex is obviously on our minds,” Sabina said. “I guess with the new women in the Escort, we shouldn’t be surprised.”
Tessa frowned. “That last vision wasn’t sex, though. It was a battle in the desert with a new woman. Frizzy blonde hair—”
“Golden brown,” Steven corrected without meaning to. It seemed important. “Sorry, but it wasn’t blonde, but this deep golden-brown color. And blue-green eyes, big and wide. She was young, scared, and she wanted something from me.”
Tessa laughed, showing teeth. “Oh, I’ll bet. Okay, yeah, you are an expert on gathering an Escort, obviously. Good news for me. Pretty McGillicuddy is, well, pretty awesome.”
Aria nodded. “This is as it should be. Steven will need soldiers for battle, and with all of
us wanting him, that will keep his Animus full. I approve of what is going on.”
“Chica, you make it sound like we hired a really good plumber. This is about love. But I’m glad you forgave him for cheating,” Sabina said.
“Using ShadowStrength was cheating!” Aria insisted. “I’m glad you see that.”
Mouse was quiet, huddled in the blanket, looking into the fire. Steven had expected a sarcastic sting from her.
“You okay, Mouse?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s nothing.” With how flat and dead her voice came out, Steven knew he would have to talk to her in private later. Something was bothering her, and it didn’t seem to have anything to do with the new women or his inability to see anything other than sex and weirdness when he cast divination spells.
Bud showed up, as did Liam, riding in together. They’d made it up I-25 before they closed the roads. The five widows made a Mexican feast of fajitas with pounds of chicken, pork, and beef fried in onions and peppers. Michaela Montes—dark skinned, dark haired, good haircut—made homemade tortillas, which were doughy, yet had a crispy texture to them as well. Perfect.
They reorganized the great hall with three tables lined up together. Altogether, there were twelve of them, a big group. But again, Mouse was oddly quiet.
Tessa, though, the group’s most extroverted extrovert, loved every single soul. She flitted around the room, helping everyone feel comfortable, laughing, joking, and having a wonderful time.
After dinner, they moved the tables and replaced the sofas and sat down. The wind continued to whistle snow against the panes. Liam and Sabina had cast divination spells, and nothing was incoming.
Steven wanted to get started with the meeting, but Bud had started with cervezas and had moved to tequila. He was in no shape to talk about anything. They tucked him into a bed in the barracks where the Onari Guard had slept, in the tower.
On his way down, Steven stopped off in the library and opened the third volume of his father’s book again. The topaz pen with the sapphire feathers lay next to it. Samael’s Lash hung on the wall.
“Let’s try it again,” Steven muttered. “Magica Divinatio.”
Again, he felt his mind open. Gazing down at the encrypted pages, he saw words form on the paper.
Not yet time.
Wait for the next torch.
Then you will open one eye.
A knock came from behind him, not that there was any kind of door. No, it was Mouse, rapping on a bookcase.
The magic left Steven. The words were gone, if they had ever been there in the first place. The ink returned to rushing around in circles on the page. Steven remembered how paragraphs used to show up, like it had been someone’s journal. He hadn’t seen anything like that in months.
He looked up. “Hey, Mouse. Come to talk about what’s bothering you?”
She smiled sheepishly. “Yes. You must have mindreading powers or something.”
“Obviously not,” Steven said. “When I try and use my magical powers to see shit, I only get porn. So, yeah, no mindreading mojo for me. But when you stop being sarcastic, then I know something is wrong.”
Mouse approached the desk. Her brow was furrowed. She sighed. “Oh fuck it. Steven, you won’t forget about me, will you?”
Steven rose and held Mouse’s hands. “No, Mouse. Remember, I had to fight to get you to join my Escort. I mean, literally, fight. We had the wooden swords, and you were beating the shit out of me, but I won.”
“By cheating.” Mouse raised an eyebrow. “Like with Aria. Using ShadowStrength. She’s still pissed.”
“I tagged her, didn’t I?” Steven laughed and pulled Mouse into an embrace. He leaned back to gaze into her face. Her eyes were so blue.
“I’m just feeling insecure is all,” the petite blonde said quietly. “With Rhaegen Mulk, he tossed me away when someone prettier showed up. I know you won’t do that, but come on, five women at once with Miss Golden Brown Hair coming soon?”
“Sabina said there will be three more joining us,” Steven said. “It’s a lot, I know, but I have plenty of energy. And you’ll always be special to me, Mouse. You joined me before I could even breathe fire. You got sober with us. We couldn’t live without you.”
Mouse finally smiled. “You just love me because of my subtle joking and pleasant personality.”
That made Steven laugh. He kissed her and held her for a long time, not saying a word. Her body slowly relaxed into his.
“Are you going to marry us?” Mouse asked, her voice slightly muffled against his chest. “And demand babies and your slippers and a sandwich every night at midnight?”
Steven had considered the marriage thing. When a Prime married a woman in his Escort, the pact was sealed with a gold band on her ring finger. It bound the woman to the Prime and only strong magic could break it. With the vows and the ring, the seductive powers of the Prime over his Escort were multiplied, and they were connected with a kind of psychic link. Steven remembered when they’d pulled Mouse’s ring off her finger, Rhaegen Mulk had known.
Steven thought of Skylar and her experiences. That was probably the main reason why she’d succumbed to the Stockholm Syndrome and not bitten off the head of the Prime who’d killed her children.
“Marriage? No, Mouse,” he said. “Not unless you want that. If you do, I will marry you. And if you want babies, I can help with that as well.”
“What if I want a really bad case of chlamydia?” she asked.
Steven laughed. “I can’t help you with that. Our Animus burns out all STDs, thankfully.”
“Yeah, one good thing about being a dragon.” Mouse didn’t ask about marriage again, but he had the idea she was thinking about it. And babies.
The pair kissed again, and that led to the floor and to more passion. Juggling all the women was going to be a challenge, he realized, but he swore that he would take care of their every need, no matter what.
The next morning, Tessa was up making coffee. Of course she was, she was a barista, after all. Bud came down with his eyes half-open. His usually perfectly styled hair was a messy swirl on his scalp.
The snow had stopped, and the temperature had plunged. It was an icy wonderland outside, but toasty warm in the ranch house.
“Hey, Cool Whipp,” Bud said. “Sorry about last night. It’s been really stressful lately, and I’ve been working like a dog. I had to blow off steam. And dude, those five women? They’re all yours?”
“No!” Tessa called from the big open kitchen. “They own themselves. Steven and I just borrow them every once in a while. Like Pretty and me, last night. She’s so fucking sweet!”
Steven winced. “Keep your voice down. Mouse and I were up late. And you know how she likes to sleep in.”
“Sorry!” Tessa stage-whispered.
Aria came out, showered and dressed, her hair pulled back into a bun. She was ready for business. She sat down at the table in the dining room and opened her laptop. Steven had bought them all new computers, the best money could buy. When Mouse complained they weren’t Macs, Tessa had laughed and said they weren’t that rich.
Aria called Liam, who’d used his Exhalant Inferno to clear a path from his little home to the big ranch house. Skylar walked in with him.
After a quick breakfast of eggs and the fajita leftovers, the six of them got down to business.
Bud cleared his throat. “The good news is that you’re worth two point five billion dollars at the very low end. The high end might run into the tens of billions of dollars. Anyway, it’s official. You’re the ‘B’ word.”
Steven grinned. That was a kick-ass way to start the day! But what was the bad news?
SIX
Tessa let out a yelp of pleasure. “‘B’ is for bam. ‘B’ is for bang. ‘B’ is for Bitch, we’re billionaires, so back the fuck off!”
Steven squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t stop smiling. He’d known he was rich—he’d gained a small fortune from the various holdings of Rhaegen Mulk, Cassius
Pine, and Jaxon Wenck—but the unimaginable wealth of Rahaab had made him mind-blowingly wealthy. Nine months ago he’d lived on potatoes and onions. And now he was rich. The money, though, wasn’t as important as growing in power to keep his family safe.
Bud shuffled papers on the dining room table. “Yeah, that’s still a rough estimate. I mean, the Mont-Saint-Michel Aerie doesn’t have a price tag on it, right? How much does magical trans-dimensional real estate above a beloved national monument go for anyway? But with your normal real estate, the normal Aeries, the art, the vehicles, as well as the stocks and bonds across the globe, you have quite a chunk of change. Now, for the bad news.”
Steven frowned.
Skylar had her arms across her chest. Liam sat forward in his chair, hands clasped together. Aria was looking up something on her laptop. They all waited.
Tessa broke first. “Ugh, Bud, you’re the worst. Just tell us.”
“The Queensland Primacy. This Harold Finkfuss is a nightmare to work with. When he’s sober, he goes over every number with a fine-tooth comb. When he’s drunk, he throws lavish parties, like fucking Great Gatsby parties. And I’ve talked to the wives, three remaining, including one that is very pregnant. That’s Adelaide Sima. She and her sister wives are freaking out. And they’re all waiting for some rando Dragonlord to come strutting in to make a name for themselves… so…”
“So I should go to Australia,” Steven said. Long-distance dragon flight was taxing but would probably be better than a commercial flight. They needed a private jet. That was on the agenda.
“Wait up, Cool Whip.” Bud got out his phone and swiped through screens. “We have another thing. You see… okay, Boaz & Jessup have really helped me out with the legal side of being a dragon in the twenty-first century. They were the law firm Rahaab owned and who fought us every step of the way until you did the whole HeartStrike thing.”