by Amy Sumida
“Lovely,” Re said.
“She's not done,” Tristan said.
“This is a long story,” Re noted.
“You asked for it,” I reminded him.
“Fair enough,” he agreed. “Continue.”
“Oh, thank you, Great Sun God,” I huffed.
Tristan giggled again and it made putting up with Re worth it.
“So, I proceeded to get sloppy drunk with Renee, Ray, and my brother,” I went on. “We had a nice buzz going until we nearly got blasted away from a rendition of 'The Circle of Life' by that damn opera singer. Honestly, I didn't think anyone actually knew the words to the beginning of that song, much less could sing them so very loudly.”
“Nants ingonyama bagithi baba!” Tristan sang out, startling all of us.
“Vas zat Zulu?” Kirill asked as he came into the room.
“That's the opening line to 'The Circle of Life,'” Tristan explained.
“Actually, I think it is Zulu,” I mused.
“You should sing it for Fallon,” Kirill suggested as he took a seat. “He vould love zat.”
“Elton John sings it, honey,” I said as I patted Kirill's hand. “It's from The Lion King.”
“Vervain's telling us a story about her human life,” Re said.
Tristan blinked. Yeah; it was strange for me to hear it put that way too. My human life; as if it were completely separate from the life I was living now. But I guess it was.
“Anyway,” I went on before Tristan started looking depressed again. “The drunk was Zulued right out of us. Then we wandered around the Aquarium, and I got lost trying to find Nemo.”
Kirill and Trevor chuckled while Re frowned.
“I finally had some success when I got to the Clown Fish tank, but I couldn't decide which of them was him. I asked a little girl for help, and we spent a bit of time looking for one with a gimpy fin, but then her mother pulled her away from my drunk ass.” I chuckled. “Then I ended up sprawled across the benches in the shark arena contemplating the similarities between it and my life. That's where my brother found me. He was shouting something about trying to get me another drink before the bar closed, but Caleb wouldn't give him one because it was too close to closing time. T.J. went on and on about what a prick Caleb was, and I was like, 'It's okay, Brother, I'll get my wine. Don't you worry.'”
“Oh, no,” Kirill murmured.
“I stumbled out of the shark arena with my brother and plopped down in my seat at our unreserved table to wait for an opportunity to present itself,” I said. “T.J. ran off to yell at someone else so it was just me and Renee. By that time, most of the partygoers had left, but we were stuck there because a drunk doctor had crashed his Porsche into a coconut tree and blocked the only road out.”
“He crashed into a coconut tree?” Trevor asked dryly.
“It happens.” I shrugged. “So, anyway, there was this camera crew going around recording messages for my cousin. I noticed them nearby, and the guy with the mic met my eye. He said to my Aunt, 'Hey, we haven't got those two ladies yet.' My Aunt looked at me, and I saw pure panic fill her eyes but she couldn't say no without looking like a jerk. So, she brings them over reluctantly and says to me, 'Okay, Vervain, just say something nice. Tell Micki that you want her to be safe and to be a good girl up at college, okay?' And then she left; the fool!”
Tristan chortled.
“The guy handed me the mic, and I say to the camera, 'Micki, your mother just told me to tell you to be good at college. Don't be good! This is not the time for good! College is where you spend your mother's money and have a good time! Have as much fun as you can! But be safe. Remember to always use a—' and then Renee grabbed the microphone from me and sweetly said all the things my Aunt told me to say.” I laughed. “When she was done, the camera crew started cracking up, and the guy asked me, “Ho' sista, you like me delete that?' I said, 'Come on; tell me that isn't the best footage you got all night.' He nodded and agreed that it was, so it stayed. My aunt was not pleased.”
Tristan laughed into his wine.
“Finally, it's time to go home,” I wound down my story. “I'm sitting in my grandma's minivan while she says goodbye to everyone and opportunity finally presents itself. I look over at the truck next to me and notice that the bed is loaded with all the leftover bottles of wine; those big party bottles that are like three bottles in one.”
“You didn't?” Trevor laughed.
“I got out and grabbed me a bottle of red wine.” I nodded. “Then here come two of my younger cousins; Ikaika and Nohi. They walk up to my window, and I grin at them. Nohi narrows his eyes at me suspiciously and asks why I look so pleased with myself. I point at the bottle of wine at my feet and smile wider. Ikaika asks me how I got the wine, and I get out of the car and grab another bottle, this one white. Then I hold up my pilfered wine and say...”
We all said it together, “I got red. I got white.”
We all laughed.
“But it's not quite over,” I said. “My grandma drove me back to help with the unloading but before we get to my Aunt's house, I told her that we had to stop by my car so I could put the stolen bottles of wine in my trunk first.”
“You told your grandmother that you stole wine from your aunt?” Trevor asked.
“My grandma looked at those bottles and said, 'Good! They're not gonna drink them, those fuckers!'”
“Your grandmother said that?” Trevor gaped at me as Tristan and I laughed.
“There's a reason why I never introduced you to her, Honey-Eyes,” I said. “That's my grandma from the South; she's a bit hardcore and rather unpleasant.”
“V?” Tristan asked. “Can you pass the red?”
“Sure thing. Cause...”
And right on cue came, “I got red. I got white.”
Chapter Three
I took Tristan back to Hawaii later that evening. We had spent the day drinking, laughing, crying, and cursing Jackson's name. Oh, and making fun of his new fiance. I honestly couldn't understand it. The guy Jackson had left Tristan for was ugly—I'm not even saying that as a supportive friend; this man was gross looking—rude, and arrogant. For Jackson to have left a ten-year relationship for someone like that and then jump into an engagement with him was mind-boggling. It was enough to make me wonder if magic had been involved. I might be paying Jackson's fiance a visit soon.
By the end of Tristan's visit, I was more hopeful, though. It had made me realize that I needed to make a greater effort to have time for my human friends. They were important; especially since they wouldn't be around as long as my god friends. I was determined to find time to visit with all of my old friends. Tristan had been the first to meet Lesya, and I haven't seen Sommer's kids since before the Twins had been born. Four years was the blink of an eye for an immortal, but now I was realizing how much I had lost with my human friends during that time. Not just my friends either. That story I'd told of my cousin's graduation had reminded me that I haven't seen my niece and nephew in ages. That was just unacceptable. T.J. was probably pissed at me now.
On a happier note, Azrael had come home from his first day of school ecstatic. He loved his art classes, but he especially enjoyed the interaction with his fellow angels. The University had been a social outlet that he'd been denied for many years simply because he was Lucifer's son. But it had been Jerry denying him entrance, not the other angels, and the Host was happy to have Azrael with them.
“It was glorious!” Azrael raved on as he reclined in my giant bed. “The University has huge wings dedicated to art. They have pieces that humans believed to be destroyed. Nearly the whole library of Alexandria is there! The Host rescued it.”
“That's amazing,” I whispered. “How did they save the library?”
“They swooped in right before the city was taken and collected as many pieces as they could,” Azrael said.
“Literally swooped.” Trevor chuckled.
“Did you get to see any of it?”
“
I walked through,” Az said. “There were so many other things to see, and Anael wanted to give me a tour of the whole place before we went further into the individual collections.”
Anael was Azrael's new college buddy. I couldn't stop smiling. The Angel of Death was making friends.
“Did you decide on a schedule?” Kirill asked.
Kirill was lounging on the couch in the entertainment area next to our bed. He had just come back from putting Lesya down for the night.
“I'm going with three days a week for now; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday,” Azrael said. “Anael and I peeked into a few other art courses that I'm interested in. One is a painting course.”
“That's wonderful,” I said. “You can teach me some angelic painting techniques.”
“Do zey have sculpture class?” Kirill asked. He was a very talented wood-carver and had made me a pair of lion hair combs for my birthday one year.
“They do.” Az nodded. “It looked interesting. I'll bring you a textbook.”
“Zank you.” Kirill grinned.
“I'm so happy for you, Az,” I said as I got out of bed.
I headed to my dressing room to change into a nightgown for bed. I never used to bother with a nightgown before, but now that Lesya was walking, she'd often come downstairs on her own in the morning, and I didn't want her to find her mother naked in bed with a couple of her uncles. So far, she'd accepted that Mommy, Daddy, and Uncles were all a family, and Mommy loved Daddy and all her uncles. We'd even touched on the subject of sex. With her advanced maturity, that talk was coming a lot sooner than I wanted it. And with our family, it was kind of necessary. I was seriously contemplating putting doors in at the base of each tower stairwell so I could lock them at night. Or even during the day when I wanted some alone time with one of my men.
As I slipped into my lacy nightgown, I decided that I would. I even had the perfect item to use to make a door with; my old mirror. I'd just need one more thing for the second door. I looked around my dressing room for something. Perhaps an old comb or a jewelry dish? I headed for a little crystal tray on my vanity and as I reached for it, a chill went over my skin as if a frigid breeze had blown through the room. I went still and slowly looked over my shoulder at my new mirror.
I don't know what I was expecting to see but it must have been something horrible because when I saw my own reflection staring back at me, I jumped and then relaxed in the way you do after you've had a stupid scare.
“What's wrong with me?” I huffed at my reflection. “It's just a damn mirror.”
But as I stared at it, I got another chill. Maybe I wouldn't turn my old mirror into a door just yet. I wasn't sure how long I'd be keeping this new one. As much as it was beautiful, and I didn't want to hurt Re's feelings, I was also certain he'd understand if I told him I didn't want it in the Palace. As a Witch/Goddess/Faerie I never ignored my instincts, and my instincts were telling me to stay the hell away from that mirror.
I found a cloak and tossed it over the mirror. As soon as it was covered, I felt better.
“That's it,” I muttered. “You're out of here tomorrow, Mirror. I'm not that kind of witch and you don't even hang on the wall.”
I went back to my husbands feeling much better. I even closed the dressing room door for good measure.
Chapter Four
When Trevor became alpha again, he had declared that my bed was his bed, and he would share it with me whenever he wished. There would be no more schedules of who would get to sleep with me anymore. It had been one of the things that led the others to believe that Trevor wasn't going to be easy to get along with. But once the Wolf had been sated, Trevor returned and a few of the Wolf's more aggressive announcements were modified. Trevor didn't have a problem with treating everyone fairly. Nor did he have a problem with sharing my bed with another man. It was usually Kirill since Trevor and Kirill have always been close.
Last night had ended up being one such instance, and I woke up sandwiched between Kirill and Trevor. The guys had loved my idea of installing doors at the bottom of the stairs and had quickly gone into the butterfly garden—an inner courtyard behind the glass wall my bed was set against—and found a couple of twigs for me to transform into doors with my territory magic.
I glanced at the locked doors with a grin before I turned onto my belly and slid beneath the covers. It had been awhile since I could confidently engage my husbands in some morning sex. My hands swept down two thickly-muscled chests; fingertips trailing over the sexy dips and smooth skin until they trailed through springy curls, and I found the flesh I was searching for. With a happy purr, I started rubbing Kirill while I licked Trevor. The Alpha comes first, I thought with a grin.
The men stirred around me and angled toward me to make things easier. Then they slid closer together until they laid side-by-side. I ended up lying astride their legs—Kirill's left leg and Trevor's right—grinding myself over their shins and rubbing my breasts against their thighs as I moved back and forth between their cocks. Decisions, decisions. Nope; I couldn't decide. I was going to have both.
The masculine sounds of Kirill's and Trevor's delight were muffled by the blankets over me and the scent of their arousal was intense under there, but I loved it. I felt naughty hidden under the covers with their lower bodies. I rubbed my face against their silky skin, flicked my tongue over them from root to tip, and massaged them until they were both writhing with rapture. Their legs moved against me—bringing me with them in arousal—until they tossed back the covers, the cool air hitting my overheated face, and pulled me up between them.
Trevor pulled me beneath him and surged into me while Kirill kissed me passionately. My alpha's mouth was at my breast, his back bowed as his body thrust possessively into mine. I wrapped my legs around his waist tightly as I pulled Kirill closer with his thick braid of hair. But then Trevor moved suddenly, rolling us until he was beneath me and I was straddling his waist. I looked down at him in surprise and saw the Wolf staring back at me. He grinned at me savagely, and I smiled back before I leaned down and kissed him hello.
Trevor and the Wolf were technically the same person; they were just different aspects of the man I loved. But they were also very different beings. The Wolf was far more aggressive than Trevor and had a commanding presence that couldn't be ignored. Or denied. He was primal, passionate and possessive; all teeth and claws and cock. He moved and thought in ways unlike Trevor. The Wolf also took over every time he showed up in my bed. But I didn't mind at all. Nor did Kirill.
“Kirill,” the Wolf growled as he slid his hands down to my ass and spread my cheeks.
That was all that needed to be said. Kirill moved behind me and between the Wolf's spread legs. My breath came faster as I felt Kirill's hands on me; spreading me further.
“Let me wet my cock first,” Kirill's voice had gone low and sexy.
Before the Wolf had come along and spent days locked up in a cabin with me, I'd had several sexual hang-ups; things I just wouldn't do. I hated chains and any type of bondage. Re had gotten away with silk ribbons but anything more than that had me cringing because of all the times I'd been bound and tortured. And as far as anal sex went; nope, that wasn't for me. I had no desire to experience that and couldn't imagine how it could be pleasant. Quite frankly, women don't have the right nerve endings there for that to be fun. But the Wolf had taken care of all my anxieties and reservations. These days, if my men wanted to try it, I was game.
As far as the gross-factor, it turns out that backdoor sex with Gods was a bit different than with humans, especially with the right partners. Our bodies healed faster and functioned more efficiently. Without getting into the disgusting details, it was a lot cleaner than it was with humans. On top of that, faerie women are more sensitive than humans. I had been shocked to discover how enjoyable it could be; especially with other areas being simultaneously stimulated. I was so shocked, in fact, that I mentioned it to Isleen, back in the Fire Kingdom.
Ever since I'd stumb
led across Isleen with a lover in one of the castle corridors, I'd gone to her with embarrassing sex questions that concerned my feyness. When I asked her about it, she said that the Fey were born to enjoy every pleasure possible; they could be very hedonistic in that respect. But Fire Fey, in particular, were overly passionate and extra sensitive in our erogenous zones.
The Wolf slid out of one of those erogenous zones—making both of us groan—so Kirill could thrust himself inside. I went back to kissing my wolf as Kirill pumped into my sex; getting himself nice and slick. Then he pulled out, and the Wolf smoothly replaced him. That alone threatened to roll my eyes back into my head, but then Kirill gently nudged the tip of himself into my other entrance, and I shivered with need. The Wolf took my ass in his hands again and spread me wider for Kirill as Kirill ran his hands forward to massage my breasts. In the middle of all of this rapturous sensation, Kirill eased his plump tip slowly inside me.