by D. R. Rosier
“Thanks to Joseph’s incompetence, and insanity, we’re in bad shape. That means we need to be vigilant and have a good defense. The vampire’s time will come, but it will be at least a generation before we’re in a good place to do that. Right now, we need to focus on rebuilding our strength. If more than half of you disagree with that, I’ll lead our people in an attack anyway, but I highly recommend we don’t take that step. Does anyone disagree?”
The wolves and bears looked unhappy, but they didn’t object. Probably because they knew they’d be voted down by the rest of the packs.
Damon asked, “Anyone have suggestions on how we can better fortify our homes from vampire attack?”
Gina said, “The warlock is targeted by the vampires as well, perhaps others could pursue a treaty. We lost none of our pride, thanks to the wards he placed in our pack house.”
Damon frowned, “No. No treaty at least. The mages are targeting him as well, and we can’t afford to earn their enmity, or risk having to fight them. Plus, we aren’t prepared to meet any demands on fielding shifters to help him defend, which we’d have to do under a treaty. But… what if we just hired him to place wards in our homes, for cash. A straight transaction. We could pay him… two thousand a month per pack house to maintain the wards, fourteen thousand a month total. Will you bring him this offer?”
Gina looked at her. She thought it made sense, for them at least. It was a purely defensive move that would keep them safe while they could rebuild the packs. What she didn’t like, was doing that would make Andrew a bigger target. The vampires would hate him for it.
Julia cleared her throat, “I’ll discuss it with him later tonight, and get back to you through Gina.”
That was about all she could promise. The meeting wound down after that, shifters were nothing if not direct…
Katia gazed in the mirror, she couldn’t deny the little black dress that hugged every curve, and the three-inch red high heels looked good. Between the heels, and no underwear for unsightly lines, her tight raised ass was turning herself on, and the dress pushed her tits up and together, making them look even bigger than her usual thirty-six C. She felt… sexy. Lilith had also put her hair up and gave her a touch of light makeup that was just about perfect.
She just didn’t know why. The succubus had teased and bullied her into getting dressed up for dinner, at home.
“What’s going on?”
Lilith smirked, “You look gorgeous, Andrew will be speechless.”
She blushed, she wasn’t sure if that was true or not. She knew she looked good of course, but she was like a candle next to the flame of Julia’s effortless sexy beauty. She didn’t doubt his love for her, and wasn’t jealous of Julia, couldn’t be jealous anymore, it was just a simple fact.
Lilith slapped her ass, which made her yelp.
“None of that, or did you forget he prefers how we look, not that her beauty doesn’t please him greatly. Go on, main dining room.”
She frowned, “What about you?”
Lilith said, “Private dinner, I’m just the help tonight.”
She hugged the succubus impulsively, “Never that.”
Lilith blushed but looked delighted, and pushed her toward the door.
She walked around the U-shaped hallway, past the other bedrooms, through the luxurious living room they’d never even used yet, and then down the other side past the kitchen and into the second door. The dining room was very dimly lit, with two lit candles at the far end. Two place settings had been put out, and there was subtle soft piano music playing in the room.
But her eyes barely took note of that, as she stared at Andrew, who was impeccably dressed. He always looked good, but in the new clothes, somehow, he looked even more confident, sexy, and handsome. She felt a little breathless, wasn’t he the one that was supposed to be speechless? She bit her lip, and he was hers. Hers to share maybe, but hers.
Then again, he was still checking her out, and looked a little speechless himself. That gave her a shot of confidence. It wasn’t like they’d never been on a date before, but he’d never owned clothes like that.
She smiled, and walked toward him confidently, and when she was just a few feet away she felt a little naughty doing it, but she spun for him slowly, and enjoyed the hooded look of desire in his eyes as she closed the distance, and gave him a hug and a chaste kiss.
He said, “You look… beautiful, my Katia.”
A pleasant shiver went down her spine, and straight to her core, at him calling her his.
She smiled, “Thanks, you don’t look so bad either.”
He laughed.
She still thought this a little strange, a date at home, but she was surprised when he pulled her chair out. She sat, and watched him move around the table. She waited until he sat down.
“This is nice,” she glanced around at the romantic setting for two, “but I’m a little confused.”
He said, “I wanted to take you out, a romantic date. Hopefully we can do that for real once things settle down, but right now vampire assassins are hunting me, so I don’t want you put in harm’s way. That means not being seen with me outside these walls.”
She frowned, “So I’m not allowed to leave?”
He shook his head, “You are, but not with me. You can leave to go shopping or whatever, you’ll just be one more human woman entering and leaving an office building with hundreds of others. Your demon guards will be in energy form and nearby, to protect you.”
She wasn’t happy about that at all, but she also didn’t want to ruin this dinner.
She asked, “Can’t you just shield me, like you do Julia?”
He nodded reluctantly, “But as soon as your identified as being with me, you’ll need to be shielded every time you leave, and if you’re alone you’d have no way to fight back, and the shields could be overcome before you made it to safety. I also can’t do both of you at the same time, not fully anyway. Maybe some kind of generic magic shield instead of six, it would take more power but if we were attacked we’d retreat quickly with you along.”
She nodded, “Sorry, this is wonderful Andrew. I’ll wait for you to figure it out, and for now we won’t go out together.”
He smiled, “I love you Katia, but with my power and wealth, and an insanely violent supernatural society, comes extraordinary restrictions.”
She said, “I know that. I just… let’s change the subject, and enjoy dinner, I’m sorry I brought it up.”
She truly was sorry, this sort of thing wasn’t a surprise to her, and it would be worth it once things got sorted out. He was doing the best he could. She’d also ruined the romantic buoyant mood, and hoped they could get it back. She’d given up her jealousy for him, and would be working for him, he was worth everything. She wanted to grow old with him. Tonight, was just a minor annoyance, and was far more of a romantic gesture than the small irritation that she couldn’t go out to a restaurant with him.
In short, she felt bitchy complaining about it.
Lilith came in from the kitchen with plates of food, and poured them both glasses of wine. The succubus winked at her and then left.
She asked, “What happened today?”
He told her about meeting Samantha, and then about the duplicity of the mages, and that they were probably technically at war with the vampires right now.
So much for regaining the mood, he looked angry now, though not at her, at the mages and vampires.
He asked, “So how are you settling in?”
She said, “Lilith and Julia are wonderful, and I love being here with you. I also have some ideas on how to be useful, otherwise I’ll go crazy. Or is it crazier?”
He laughed, “The second one,” he said, and then he smirked.
She giggled, “Fine, and probably true. Regardless, there’s a lot of stuff about being a warlock that isn’t dangerous, and I can put my business education to use on those things. I imagine I’ll be quite busy until I figure it all out.”
Ther
e were a lot of blind companies, subsidiaries, and other things to hide money trails, and to make it harder for their enemies to trace their wealth. She also had plans to track his heirs in addition to their own son, kind of a backup just in case he and Julia were killed. She’d set up their monies, hidden apartments, and other things. The last thing she wanted was to see that happen of course, but chances are if the worst did happen, she’d slip through the cracks of their enemies’ radar as an unimportant human. It was important, she might be the last line of defense to avoid him losing his cushy afterlife and being subjected to a truly hellish afterlife on the infernal plane. She wouldn’t allow that to happen to him, even if it was the last thing she’d do on Earth. Despite not having powers, all that would make her feel very useful, instead of being just a useless trophy wife who does nothing. That would kill who she was, just as much as the jealousy would have, she would be useful in his world and make a difference, powerless or not.
He said, “I’m happy to hear it. If you need anything to make that happen let me know.”
She replied, “I will, but I think Lilith has it covered, she knows about all of it better than either of us.”
To her relief, their talk moved away from business at that point. They reminisced about the past a bit, decided they wanted two more children in the future, and regained the romantic mood. Her whole body was tingling, especially her center, when they finished their meal.
She playfully asked, “Is this when you take me home and take advantage of me, I hope?”
He smirked, stood, and held out a hand without answering.
She bit her lip and took it wordlessly as they headed toward the bedroom. When they got to the living room music started to play, and she shrieked when he pulled her close and tightly to him.
He said with a smile, “Not quite yet, this date is dinner and dancing.”
She laughed, he was too much sometimes. She also enjoyed it immensely, as she let her body go and move to the beat, letting him lead her in a dance around the living room. She was on a high, she loved to dance, and in this case it was like foreplay with him touching her, spinning her, and staring deeply in her eyes.
She doubted the night could get better, but then it did. After the dance was done, he went down on one knee, and took her hands. Her heart stopped beating for moment, as she realized what he was about to do. She felt dizzy for a second, and gasped in a breath as her heart restarted and beat like a snare drum.
“Katia, I love you, and can’t imagine my life without you. Would you be my wife, marry me?”
Her throat was closed up, and her heart was racing, her core burning, and all she could do was nod. She felt tears in her eyes as he stood up, and kissed her breathlessly. She giggled, when he scooped her up, and she sighed in contentment and wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head against his chest. His steady heartbeat was calming to her, and she felt heated with desire.
He put her down next to the bed, and slowly pealed her tight little black dress down her body, and kissed her all over, chasing the fabric with is lips and fingertips as she caressed and played with his hair.
They made love in the bed that evening, and she lost count of how many times his gentle but firm body and touch brought her to bliss. She was a quivering, happy, and quite a sated mess as she snuggled into him. She’d never forget this night. She also started to make plans in her head, she’d have to call her mother, and his… tomorrow.
Chapter Eight
It was about two in the morning when I grabbed a coffee and headed into the study. The date tonight had thrown off all the schedules, but it’d been worth it. After I’d made love to Katia, and all the excitement involved in the night, we’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms around eight last night. Then Lilith and Julia had woken us both up at eleven, with sex. I’d woken up with Lilith sucking me off the way only a succubus could, and Julia was happily going to town with her tongue and fingertips between Katia’s legs. After a three-hour foursome of wild sex and debauchery, Lilith and Julia had gone down for their three hours, and Katia needed another five or six.
So, in short, if it isn’t too late, I was on my own for a few hours. Quite possible for the first time since this insanity all started.
I was highly impressed with Samantha’s notes, she used the book explanations and then dug in even further with deeper details followed by clarifying paragraphs to elucidate it further. It was complicated, but her approach made things much clearer for me, and it was a couple hours later when I was sure I understood it. I still had a lot more to learn of course, all of this just clarified the extremely simple warding structure I’d built. The new wards though still relatively simple, if not for me, would be more efficient, and harder to hack by a mage.
Once I had a good grasp of that, I redesigned it the way she suggested. I could fix the wards with a little effort to the new configurations next time I visited the Pride to recharge their wards and just visit.
I looked up as Lilith and Julia came in, both gave me a kiss good morning. Julia was dressed professionally again and looked fantastic in a dark blue pencil skirt, and a red blouse. Lilith was dressed in another business appropriate dress, this one a creamy white. It still boggled my mind that all three could be mine, and for a very long time if I was smart enough and clever enough to keep my life, and make a place here in Seattle.
Lilith, the goddess she obviously was, took my empty coffee mug and went to pour another cup for me. I imagined Katia would still sleep another few hours.
Julia said, “I have news, and maybe an opportunity with the shifters.”
She took a few minutes to brief me about the new alphas, Head Alpha, and what they proposed.
I asked, “Do you think I should do it?”
Julia nodded slowly, “If you weren’t a target of the vampires I’d say not, because it would make you one, but you’re already a target. It also makes a good warning, although I’m not sure if a purely defensive approach will be strong enough, but it’s a start.”
“The mages?”
Julia shrugged, “It might tweak their noses, but the mages won’t sell defensive or offensive advantages to either the shifters or vampires, it would be taking sides. Technically, you won’t be cutting into their business or profits.”
I nodded, I was okay with tweaking their noses, and I didn’t make any promises not to sell services, just that I didn’t have the intention to.
“Let’s do it then, I’ll need a few hours to work something up. They won’t need the anti-rape and abuse wards internally, so technically it should be easier to set up. It’s too early to get started on it anyway.”
Julia smirked, “How was the date last night?”
I smiled, “Good, she accepted. I imagine she’ll recruit you for wedding planning help.”
Julia nodded, and curled up on the couch. Her presence was distracting, and soothing at the same time. Lilith returned with my coffee, and I gave her a grateful look as I took a sip. I got to work on setting up the ward configurations to protect seven more pack houses. Though in those cases, just from vampires, not from other shifters with less than honorable intentions.
Time seemed to fly when I was focused on magic, because it only felt like a few minutes later when Katia walked in. She too was dressed more professionally than usual, and it suited her. I was focused on finishing the ward design, but I heard enough of their conversation to know Katia would be setting up new bank accounts, and a consulting firm subsidiary to bill the shifters fourteen thousand a month for consulting services. That tickled me a little bit. Magical wards, consulting, I supposed putting magical wards on the business forms, and tax returns, might throw up red flags with the humans.
When I finished up the ward design, I cast partition and then all the usual spells to protect Julia and myself, then I went into the summoning room and summoned two demons, just in case Katia wanted or had to go out. I wasn’t sure how long of a day it was going to be, but setting up the wards on seven pack houses wo
uld be time consuming. Maintaining them however, would take about an hour a week with Julia teleporting us around.
I was only left with one more free thread in my partitions with all the spells cast, and again I felt the need to improve that to thirty-six, instead of the current twenty-five. With eleven more spells, I could protect Katia fully. Right then we believed she was safe and unknown, but what if we were wrong?
There was also another option, one that wasn’t ideal but I’d have to think about. I found a protection spell that protected from all four elements. It was less efficient magic wise than using four spells, one for each, but it also wasn’t as inefficient as the protection from all spell, which included physical and general magic spells as well. Regardless, that meant there’d be only three protection spells needed, instead of six, which meant I could do all three of us now. But… we’d all be protected less, because that one spell would be overcome easier, even with my limitless connection to pull infernal magic from Lilith, it was limited on how much I could pull at once.
In other words, I could pull infernal magic constantly, but the rate of the pull was limited, which made the less efficient spells easier to overwhelm if I couldn’t maintain it.
Magic was complicated.
I headed back to the study.
“Who should we do first?”
Lilith smirked, and raised her hand with a naughty look in her eyes.
I spanked her, and let out a chuckle. Leave it to the succubus to make an innocent remark into something sexual.
Julia looked amused, “Snakes. Politically it makes sense, since Damon, their alpha, is now Head Alpha.”
I nodded, “That makes sense to me, do we need to call first?”
Julia shook her head, “I called Gina when you said yes, she’ll have notified them by now. I guess you were too focused on your studies to notice. They should be expecting us.”