The Helicon Muses Omnibus: Books 1-4

by V. J. Chambers

  “Mmm,” said Sawyer, kissing her ear lobe. “Maybe.”

  His lips made her shiver. She gasped.

  Sawyer’s lips went lower, kissing the hollow just below her ear.

  Tingles burst through her. She moaned.

  His tongue darted out, tasting her.

  It was too much. She moaned again. She had no idea that place on her body could be so sensitive.

  “This is apparently a good spot,” murmured Sawyer.

  “Yeah,” she breathed.

  And then she was assaulted by Sawyer’s mouth on her ear and neck. Each new place he explored opened up more intense layers of pleasure and sensation. She couldn’t stop moaning. It felt so good that she couldn’t help herself.

  And then Sawyer’s mouth was on hers again, and she was wriggling closer to him, her hands running over his body, skimming over his shoulders, his back, tugging him nearer to her. She reached inside his shirt, her fingers on his warm, smooth skin.

  It was his turn to gasp.

  She didn’t stop touching him, letting herself discover the firm angles of his lean body, tracing his ribs with her fingers, investigating the swell of his muscles, which were sinewy and slim, not bulky.

  Somehow, in the middle of all of that, he ended up shirtless.

  He was beautiful. He was sleek and slender but angular and male, and she never wanted to take her hands off of him.

  Sawyer was struggling to catch his breath. He was kissing her again. His hands were inside her shirt, brushing the bottoms of her breasts. It felt good, so good.

  She groaned, reaching down to pull her shirt off, to let him have better access.

  And then he pulled away, sitting up. He took several ragged breaths.

  “What?” She felt disappointed that they weren’t touching anymore. She’d been enjoying that. She didn’t want it to stop.

  “Uh, so maybe we can’t.”

  “Can’t what?”

  “Can’t just sleep,” he said.

  She giggled. “Maybe not. Is that a bad thing?”

  “I...” He dragged a hand over his face.

  “Are you okay?” She sat up too, rubbing his shoulder.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He gazed into her eyes. “I’m better than fine.”

  “So, then, why’d you stop?” She kissed him again, slipping her hand back over the planes of his chest.

  “Mmm.” He kissed her harder, tangling his fingers in her hair as he pulled her face to his. “I didn’t want to.” He kissed her jaw, her throat.

  She threw her head back, sighing. “Then don’t. Don’t stop.”

  He groaned and then tore himself away from her. “You should go back to your tent.”

  She didn’t understand. “Why? I don’t want to. I want to stay here with you. I want...”

  “You want us to make love? Right now? Because that’s what’s going to happen if you don’t leave.”

  She swallowed. “I... I think so. I think I want that. Don’t you want that? Why is that bad?”

  He looked away from her. He seemed suddenly vulnerable, half-naked next to her.

  She wanted to comfort him. “Sawyer.” She reached for him.

  He evaded her. He got out of the hammock. “Can I be honest with you?”

  “Of course.”

  He glanced at her. “Honest like the way we were before. When we were just friends, and I could tell you anything.”

  “You can still tell me anything.” She let her feet dangle over the edge of the hammock. She felt anxious. Was everything okay?

  “It freaks me out.”

  “What does?”

  “You know... doing it. Together. Or whatever.”

  Nora chewed on her lip. “Well, it’s me, Sawyer. Am I scary?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Not like that. Like, what if I really suck at this? I have no idea what I’m doing. None.”

  “I don’t know if there’s that much to know. It can’t be that complicated, right?”

  “Easy for you to say. You’re a girl.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He sighed. “Nothing. I just...” He strode over to her. He caressed her cheek. “Nora, I care about you. And I want this to be... good for you. I don’t want to screw it up. And I don’t know how to do that.”

  “You were doing fine,” she said.

  “Yeah?” He didn’t look convinced.

  She smiled. “Yeah. You’re amazing, Sawyer.” She jumped out of the hammock to press close to him, to kiss him again.

  “You aren’t just saying that to make me feel better?”

  “Sawyer, don’t be silly.”

  He kissed her again. “Okay.”

  She brushed her fingertips over his shoulder blades.

  He broke the kiss. “I want it better than this.”

  “Better?”

  “I want to prepare. I want it to be perfect.”

  She giggled. “You are a girl.”

  He pressed closer to her, grinning. “You sure about that?”

  Her giggles deepened. “Okay, okay. You’re not a girl.”

  He kissed her again, cutting off her laughter. She surrendered to his lips and tongue, sighing.

  When he pulled back, he said, “Seriously, Nora. Not tonight.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  He kissed her forehead. “Valentine’s Day.”

  “That’s next week,” she said.

  “That okay?”

  She smiled at him. “Perfect.”

  He led her to the flap of his tent. “Then go back to your tent, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She kissed him in the doorway. She meant it to be a quick goodbye kiss, but once their lips were touching, they couldn’t seem to let go of each other. They tried several times. One of them would pull back, and they’d say goodbye. Then they’d lean in for one last brief kiss. But the brief kiss would linger, growing longer. It happened over and over again.

  Finally, Sawyer playfully pushed her out of his tent. “Get out of here.”

  Laughing, she started across the enclave. She stopped for a second to wave to him.

  The sight of him unnerved her. He was standing there, his chest bare, only wearing his skirt. His hair was tangled and mussed, his lips reddened from kissing. He was too gorgeous.

  She felt like some invisible force tugged her back to him. She walked back to his arms, and they were kissing again, kissing hungrily, as if they could devour each other.

  They might not have stopped if they hadn’t heard the voices of Agler and Jack approaching from the woods.

  Nora and Sawyer pulled away from each other and came face-to-face with their exes.

  “Um, hi,” said Nora.

  Agler took them both in, his gaze settling on Sawyer’s bare skin. He looked stricken. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” said Sawyer.

  Jack just shook his head.

  All four were quiet.

  “So, you two are, uh...” said Agler.

  “I was just, um, going to bed,” said Nora.

  “Right,” said Sawyer. “See you tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow.” She fled across the enclave to her tent, feeling awkward and embarrassed.

  * * *

  “The council recognizes Techne Lift,” said Phoebe.

  Nora and Sawyer were sitting around the main fire pit, eating brownies and ice cream. The council meeting had started during dessert again, and they were stuck until they finished eating.

  Across the fire pit, Techne stood up. She had long, pale hair. She was the head of the science enclave. “This has been on my mind for quite some time. I’ve been waiting for the right time to bring it up, but I’ve realized there never will be a right time. So, I’ve decided I want to talk about it today. I think the tweens and rebels enclave allows members at far too young an age.”

  Nora stopped chewing her brownie and looked at Sawyer. What was she saying?

  “I know that there are parents here who love having the enclave because
it means they don’t have to deal with their teenagers,” said Techne. “But I think that’s just lazy parenting.”

  Phoebe cleared her throat. “Techne, considering you have no children of your own, perhaps—”

  “Don’t interrupt me, Phoebe. You recognized me, didn’t you? I have the floor.” Techne smoothed back her blonde hair. “Now, as I was saying, the tweens are constantly causing problems. Two years ago, it was a tween who was causing those rips in Helicon that were letting in the Influence. Last year, those tweens made off with our dimension device, and now that’s in the hands of Owen Asher.”

  Nora leaped to her feet. “Now, hold on. That wasn’t our fault. We—”

  “Sit down,” said Techne. She shook her head. “You see how uppity they are? They think that they can speak out whenever they want, but tweens do not have a voice on the council.”

  Nora started to say something else, but Phoebe raised her eyebrows at her. Nora sank down into her seat, fuming. What did Techne know?

  “I’m proposing that we change the rules a little bit,” Techne went on. “Instead of allowing tweens to move into the enclave when they are thirteen, I believe they should stay home until they are at least twenty. And then they can move out into their own enclave. I move that tweens be forced to live with their parents.”

  It was quiet around the fire pit, but any tweens that were there were looking around wide-eyed and worried.

  “Well,” said Phoebe, “there’s a motion on the floor. Do I have a second?”

  Silence.

  Techne glared out at the other members of the science enclave. “We talked about this. I said I needed backup.”

  One of the science muses raised a hand. “May I speak, Phoebe?”

  Phoebe nodded. “The council recognizes Jenna Breeze.”

  Jenna stood up. “As I told Techne, she’s being much too harsh. She’s a bit older than some of us here, but many of us have fond memories of the tweens and rebels enclave, and we certainly don’t want it only open to older tweens. However, we see her point. There are children running around with no supervision, and all kinds of disastrous things are happening.”

  “My solution is a good one,” said Techne.

  “I would like to suggest an alternative,” said Jenna. “I move that we appoint guardians within the tweens and rebels enclave. Perhaps older tweens, ones who are more mature. Those boys who went to the fairy dimension last year, if they’re willing. These guardians could provide guidance and rules for the younger tweens.”

  Someone else in the science enclave raised a hand. “I second that.”

  “The motion has been moved and seconded,” said Phoebe. “Is there any discussion?”

  Nora jumped up. “I think it’s an awful idea.”

  “You’re too young to participate,” said Techne.

  “But this involves us,” said Sawyer.

  Phoebe held up a hand. “I’m sorry, but the rules are clear about tweens and the council.”

  Nora crossed her arms, feeling helpless and angry. Jack and Agler? In charge of the enclave? They didn’t need anyone watching over them. Especially not their ex-boyfriends.

  “Other discussion?” said Phoebe.

  “Well,” said Themis, head of the philosophy enclave, “I’m not sure that we can be certain that young people will learn better from harsh rules. It may well be that experience is a better teacher. Hasn’t the position of this council always been that we felt that young people purposefully didn’t listen to their elders, and that by making their lives regimented, we only encouraged rebellion?”

  Nora breathed a sigh of relief. Themis was talking sense.

  “We aren’t talking about harsh rules here,” said Jenna. “Simply a bit of guidance. They have been going so far astray recently. They must lack for boundaries.”

  “It doesn’t seem to fit with the spirit of Helicon,” said Themis.

  “I don’t see why not,” said Coeus, head of the engineering enclave.

  Oh, no. Now the philosophy-engineering feud was working against them.

  “Should we at least ask Jack and Agler if they’d be willing?” said Coeus.

  Jack and Agler were behind Sawyer and Nora. They both shrugged.

  “Can we speak?” said Agler.

  “Yes,” said Phoebe.

  “We’d love to,” said Agler. “We think there are definitely some younger tweens in need of guidance.”

  “I don’t know about that,” said Jack. “But, um, I figure better us than someone who doesn’t know what’s going on in the enclave.”

  Phoebe nodded. “Well, then, they accept, it sounds like. Is there more discussion, or should I call for a vote?”

  “I still think it’s a bad idea,” said Themis.

  Phoebe nodded. “I, too, have to admit it’s probably unnecessary. But if it helps to soothe the science enclave, I hardly see the harm. All in favor?”

  There was a chorus of “ayes.”

  “Opposed?”

  A chorus of “nays,” but quieter than the “ayes.”

  “Motion carries,” said Phoebe.

  Nora felt sick.

  * * *

  “Look,” Sawyer said, “it’s Jack and Agler. How bad can it be?” He wanted to sooth her as best as possible. She was really upset about what had happened at the council meeting.

  “Bad,” she said. “We used to date them.”

  “But we’re all friends now,” said Sawyer. Nora’s face got really red when she was angry. He thought it was cute, but he didn’t imagine she wanted him to point that out.

  She stalked across the tweens and rebels enclave towards her tent. “I don’t know if we are. I never talk to them anymore. Do you talk to them?”

  “I guess not,” said Sawyer, “but they know what goes on here. They aren’t going to change everything.”

  Nora opened the door to her tent. She grasped Sawyer’s hand and pulled him after her.

  But before they could get inside, Agler stopped them. “I don’t think so.”

  Nora turned on him. “What?”

  He grabbed her arm. “Jack and I are making an announcement.”

  Nora’s eyebrows knitted together.

  “Hey,” said Sawyer. “Let go of her.” He didn’t like Agler’s hands on Nora.

  Agler dropped Nora’s arm. He raised his voice. “Everyone, I’ve got something to say.”

  All around the enclave, tweens came out of their tents. Some bounded out of the tree house. Soon, there was a ring of them around the fire pit. Agler stood in the center, along with Jack.

  “There was a decision made at the council tonight,” said Agler. “And Jack and I have been appointed guardians for all the tweens under twenty years old. Everyone older than that, this doesn’t pertain to you.”

  There was some shuffling as some of the older tweens disappeared back into their tents, but some of them stayed to listen.

  “We’ve decided to make some rules around here,” said Agler.

  “Nothing too big,” said Jack, “but if we didn’t do something, then they’d just bring someone else in to do it.”

  “First of all,” said Agler, “tweens under twenty stay in the bottom of the tree house. The upper levels are for older tweens.”

  “It’s already like that,” called out a tween. “Everyone knows only the older tweens hang out at the top.”

  “Right,” said Jack, “well now it’s official.”

  “Tweens under sixteen shouldn’t drink alcohol in the enclave,” said Agler. “Elsewhere, it’s your business, but here, no way.”

  “What?” said Nora. “That’s ridiculous. Agler, you yourself gave me alcohol when I was fifteen. Right around this very fire pit.”

  Agler glared at her. “I had no idea you were so young when I met you.”

  “Anyway, that’s not the point,” said Jack. “We think sixteen and over is a good age, and we’re the guardians, so if you don’t like it, take it up with the council.”

  “How are we sup
posed to do that?” demanded one of the tweens. “We can’t even talk at council meetings.”

  “This isn’t a discussion,” said Agler. “There’s one final rule.” He squared his shoulders and looked directly at Nora and Sawyer. “Tweens under the age of twenty are not to be in the same tent with significant others.”

  Nora’s jaw dropped. “What?”

  A murmur went through the rest of the enclave, tween voices sounding annoyed and angry.

  “There’s just no reason for that,” said Agler. “The last thing we need is a bunch of younger tweens having loud sex in the enclave.”

  “That’s bullshit, Agler,” yelled someone.

  “Yeah, you can’t do that!”

  “I can,” said Agler. “And I have.” He strode out of the circle of gathered tweens, refusing to say anything else, no matter what they yelled.

  Jack shrugged. “He was really set on it. Sorry.” He followed his friend out.

  All of the tweens turned to glare at Nora and Sawyer.

  Sawyer swallowed. Great. So they were going to blame them for this, were they?

  * * *

  “Nora,” said Theia Spring, head of the visual arts enclave, “you look upset.”

  Nora was heading into the painting tent. She guessed she’d been scowling. She sighed. “Sorry, Theia. It’s just that stupid stuff that’s going on in the tweens and rebels enclave.”

  “Oh,” said Theia. “You mean after Techne stirred all that up last night? Don’t worry, Nora. It’ll blow over. No one really wants to spend time worrying about tweens. Why do you think the enclave exists in the first place?”

  Nora gave her a half-hearted smile. “All I want to do is make some art. Pour all my frustration into the canvas.”

  “Sure,” said Theia, patting her on the back. “But if you’re feeling up for it later, do you think you could help us start on Valentines?”

  It was that time of the year, wasn’t it? The visual art enclave was busy in February. They made enough Valentines so that all the muses who weren’t artistically inclined could give them out. Nora realized she was going to have to make her own Valentines too. That was only a week away. She probably should get started now, instead of painting.

  Nora stopped. “Actually, I’ll go with you now. Might as well get going on the Valentines.”

  “Are you sure?” said Theia. “If you aren’t feeling it—”