by Jan Stryvant
Sean laughed and pulling her up he gave her a kiss, "Well I feel very rewarded, you really have no idea how much I hated doing all that paperwork.
"But for now, I think I better go get some food and spend some time with my wives before they string us both up for running off. Plus I suspect Cali and the other two would like their room back."
Deidre laughed, "Yes, to all of that. Cali fancies you, you know."
Sean blinked as Deidre rolled off of him and he got up off of her bed and grabbed his pants.
"She does?"
"You should pursue her."
"I thought you were pursuing me?" Sean asked, a little confused.
"And I got you too," Deidre said with a grin. "You need to understand that while we have spent a fair amount of time in your world, our culture is a fair bit different than yours. You are the lord of this manor, the leader and master of this house. Cali is coming into the bloom of her womanhood, if you fancy her at all; she'll welcome your attentions.
"I know a fair amount about lions, Master Sean, Cali would make a fine addition to your harem."
"But you wouldn't?" Sean asked, putting on his pants.
"If you wanted me, you wouldn't be putting your pants back on."
Sean thought about that, he'd dallied with a couple of others in the last few weeks, and while he suspected Sheila would probably find her way into his bed again, and now Deidre as well, he didn't see either of them as wife material.
Bending over he gave her a kiss, "Well, I still care."
"And that's yet another reason why I wanted to," Deidre said looking up at him, "because these days, so few do. You're a good man, Master Sean."
"Lion," he corrected again with a grin.
"Lion," Deidre grinned, "and among the ranks of the magical and the supernatural beings of great power, that is a very rare thing indeed. That is why the men follow you, and the women want you. Your beast is strong within you; I have felt it here, while we made love. There is much caught up inside you, and you wield it well and wisely, for one so young.
"I will serve you, Master Sean, willingly, for so long as I shall live. Now go, before they come looking for you!" Deidre winked.
Grabbing his shirt, he pulled it over his head, and then gave her a hug and another kiss.
"Shouldn't I sign those forms before I go?" Sean teased.
"Did I say I had forms for you to sign?" Deidre looked up at him, all innocence. "I must have been mistaken."
Friday
"I'm still a bit surprised that you weren't dragging Deidre along when you came back to the room last night," Roxy whispered to Sean as they sat down to eat breakfast.
"She wouldn't have fit in," Sean whispered back.
"What, don't like her?"
"Oh no, I like her, she's nice. Fun too," Sean said with a wink. "But she wouldn't have fit with the rest of you; she just wasn't, I don't know, wife material?" Sean shrugged.
"So, no dark elves to play with?" Jolene teased from his other side.
"Oh, I don't know if I'd say that," Sean said with a smirk, "I said she wasn't wife material, I never said anything about lover material, now did I?"
"Ooo! Well in that case," Jolene said with a wink of her own.
"Just don't leave poor Rox out in the cold," Sean said with a grin.
"Oh, wouldn't think of it, keeping her nice and warm is one of my favorite pastimes," Jolene said with a cheeky grin.
Sean notice Roxy blushing just a little bit, but she was smiling all the same.
"Well just remember, family comes first, and if you ever so much as flirt with another man, I'll put you over my knee after I rip him to shreds."
"Lions are so possessive," Jolene teased.
Sean snorted, "Lion hell, that's all me."
Roxy and Jolene both gave his leg a pat.
"So what's on the schedule for today?" Sean asked.
Each of the girls went over what they were doing today, which was pretty much the same as what they'd told him yesterday.
"What are your plans?" Daelyn asked.
"I'm going to check out what's been built of my new lab so far, maybe do a little work if any of those battery slugs show up. Then maybe I'll grab one of the teams and take a drive by our building to see how the clean up is going. After that, meeting with the fellowship, then back here."
"Take Peg with you," Roxy said.
Sean noticed Peg's head come up.
"Huh?" Sean said and felt Roxy kick him under the table. "Oh, yeah, right," he nodded, and smiled up at Peg, "I'll come get you when I head out."
Peg smiled back at him and Sean reached over, out of sight of the others and patted Roxy's leg, making her smile. Apparently he hadn't been paying Peg enough attention.
Finishing up breakfast, Sean got Daelyn to tell him just where they were building his shop; he'd only looked at the construction plans once, and only briefly at that. As far as he was concerned Daelyn would do a better job laying it out than he could, so he'd left it all to her capable hands.
The shop was still being framed out when he got there, and from the stack of concrete bags and the mixers that were being set up, he guessed that they were going to pour the foundation today. Checking with the foreman, Sean made sure that there were going to be several thick copper rods sunk into the ground at a few key locations before they poured the concrete. He then went and started making a list of supplies that he'd need.
After that he went and found Deidre and gave the list to her to deal with and told her to move into his office, that they'd share it for now, which got him a rather saucy smile. All the while that he was talking with Deidre he couldn't help but notice Cali, who was watching him, without trying to look like she was watching him. Sean had to admit, it was kind of cute, he'd never been the object of all that many crushes before. In fact this was probably his first, considering that the others had all made their interests in him known rather aggressively.
Unlike the yoga pants that Deidre seemed to prefer, Cali was wearing black leather pants that fit like a second skin and a pair of rather nice looking boots with low heels. Sean wondered for a moment if dark elves ever wore anything that wasn't skin tight, as he'd noticed the twins also seemed to fancy the same kinds of clothing.
For a top, Cali was wearing a t-shirt, under a leather vest, and as someone had cut a deep vee into the front of the t-shirt, there was a generous amount of very dark skinned cleavage on display.
"Well, I need to grab Peg and head into town to check on things," Sean said and noticed Deidre's eyes glance over towards Cali.
"Something in your eye?" Sean teased Deidre, who frowned at him and he figured she would have kicked him, if he'd been close enough.
"No, my eyes are fine, Master Sean," she grumbled.
"Oh good! Then I don't have to leave Cali behind to keep an eye on you so you don't hurt yourself," Sean grinned.
"What?" Cali said from the bed she was sitting on, looking up at him.
"Come," Sean beckoned to Cali as he turned towards the exit. "I'm sure you could use a bit of air. We just need to find Peg and we'll be on our way."
"Yes, Master Sean!" Cali said and he was rather impressed out how fast she jumped off the bed and followed him out of the room.
He had to admit that it was kind of cute, the way she kept trying to keep close to him, without appearing to be actually staying close. When he finally caught up with Peg, she looked at Cali and then looked at him.
"I thought she might enjoy getting out for a while with us," Sean told Peg as he gave her a hug and a kiss, and then pulled her to his side as they walked off to find a car. Peg beamed and Cali almost pouted.
Sean was surprised to see both his mother's car and Sampson's old car in the parking area. He guessed one of the girls must have sent someone out to get it, he'd forgotten to mention it to Oak when they'd gotten back. As Sampson's car had been at Steve's, which he'd also forgotten about, it only made sense that it had ended up here.
The keys were in Sampso
n's car, so motioning for the girls to get in; he got into the driver's seat and started it up.
"You can drive?" Peg asked, a little surprised.
Sean laughed, "Yes, I can drive. Dae's just way better at it than me; also I don't think she can actually be in a car if she's not driving it."
Pulling a rolled up hat out of a pocket of his cargo pants, Sean put it on, and then got out a large pair of sunglasses and put them on as well.
"What's that for?" Cali asked.
"Disguise. I don't stand out as much." Putting the car in gear, Sean pulled out of the parking lot, "That reminds me, I know Peg has her license, but can you drive a car, Cali?"
Cali shook her head, "No, Master Sean, back home, cars were too expensive in this world and they don't work in the other one. I can ride a horse though."
"Well, I guess we can get someone to teach you, eventually."
Peg looked back at Cali, "Are you and Deidre related?"
"Not really, Mistress Peg," Cali said.
Peg snorted, "It's Peg, calling me 'Mistress' makes me sound like a madam at one of the houses outside of Sparks."
"Yes, M... Peg."
"Better," Peg grinned, "so what do you mean by, 'not really?'"
"We're from the same house; Deidre's a second cousin by marriage."
"She's married?" Sean said surprised.
"Not anymore," Cali sighed, "he died a while ago, before I was born. So when our house found itself being subjugated by another one, she was offered up along with me and my younger sisters in order for the house to remain free."
"Those two younger girls are your sisters?" Peg asked.
Cali nodded, "Yes, Dania and Rania."
"Why'd they offer you and not someone else?"
"Because we're young and beautiful?" Cali said and blushed a little, "But also because our parents were not important members of the house and agreed to let us be given up in exchange for an increase in their status."
"Damn, and I thought I had it bad," Peg grumbled.
Cali shrugged, "Normally these things are not that bad. We would have been given to men of status in the house that won us, and we would have been treated well, maybe even loved," Cali sighed heavily. "But they decided to go against our traditions and sold us instead to a broker of pleasure slaves for money."
Both Sean and Peg could hear the distaste in Cali's voice as she spit that out.
"We ended up after several trades in the hands of that group you called 'Ascendants.' They were a most unpleasant people, and to be treated so lowly. Selling us was a great insult to both our house and our people."
"That's the real reason why you can't go back, isn't it?" Peg said in a soft voice, "Because you were sold?"
Cali looked down at her hands and nodded.
Sean reached back between the bucket seats to pat Cali on the knee as he drove and noticed that Peg had also reached back to take her hand.
"Well, you're with us now," Peg said, "and I've already learned that none of that matters to anyone here."
"Truly?" Cali asked.
"Truly," Peg answered and Sean echoed as he pulled his hand back and concentrated more on driving again, seeing as they had come to the main roads. Sean had wondered just how all four of them had ended up in that room when they'd rescued them. From the sounds of that story, there must have been some pretty big animosities between the two houses, if they'd taken women of Cali and Deidre's caliber, not to mention the twins, and sold them off instead of keeping them. Maybe one day he'd get the whole story from Deidre.
"You know, Sean. After we stop by the building, we should take Cali shopping," Peg suddenly said, surprising him.
"Shopping?" Sean asked and looking up in the mirror he noticed Cali start a moment and then smile just a little bit.
"With everything we've been through, we're all running low on clothes. I know I could use a few new outfits, and I bet she could too."
Sean smiled and gave a nod, after hearing that story, anything to cheer her up was probably a good idea. "Sure, we can hit the mall."
"Won't I stand out?" Cali asked, a little self-consciously.
"Not in Reno," Peg laughed. "While skin as black as yours isn't common among humans, I doubt most people will think twice about it."
Cali nodded then, "I'd like to go shopping."
"Great!" Peg said and turned back around to face forwards as Sean got off the highway and drove over to their building.
"Hey, Alex," Sean said as he got out of the car. "How are things going?"
"Slow," Alex admitted, "but at least they're going. I talked to the guy in charge of those dwarves you hired, Samis, right?"
Sean nodded.
"I asked him if they could take care of our shop and waiting room first. He said he'd have to talk to you, but if you gave him the okay, he'd see what he could do."
"Why don't you call Deidre and have her order you one of those portable offices?" Peg asked, "Like they use at construction sites? Use that as a waiting room?"
"I can do that?" Alex said looking at Peg, and then back at Sean.
Sean nodded, "Sure. Whatever it takes. I'm not doing this to make a profit, Alex. I'm doing this to get these guys working skills and into the system so they can have real lives. As long as we're breaking even, I'll be happy."
"Great! I'll call her right away. Thanks, Sean!"
"Hey, you're in charge of the detailing business, Alex. Don't be afraid to do what needs to be done." Sean stopped and thought a moment, "Oh, and make sure I'm paying you enough money. I wouldn't want to lose you."
"Oh, I don't think I'll be going anywhere," Alex grinned.
"Yeah, I don't want to lose Demon either," Sean grinned and winked at Alex who looked shocked a moment and then laughed as well.
"So, you ah, noticed?"
"The girls noticed, it just never occurred to me, because as long as everyone's happy, I'm happy. I just don't want you worrying about what I think. You're my friend, Alex, I don't give a damn who you're sleeping with, it's not my business. I'm just happy that you're helping me with all of this.
"Oh, if you want to move in with Demon up at the house, I'm fine with that too."
"Thanks, Sean."
"You're welcome," Sean smiled, "Now, I need to go take a look at the building and talk to Samis's foreman and find out how things are going."
Heading over to the building it didn't take more than a minute to find the man Samis had running the show, Sean just asked the first dwarf he ran into and was immediately pointed to another dwarf with a blue hardhat on.
"We got the basement cleared out," he told Sean as he led Sean over to a large panel van, that he had a table in the back of with plans on it.
"We found the remains of the kid that was missing a few hours ago. I had our cleric supervise everything. We'll be bringing him up to your place tonight so you can give him a proper burial."
"Thanks," Sean told him, "I appreciate it."
"We also found a lot of stuff in the remains of your lab, like a large blob of gold, and all those collars and tags you were using."
"They're still in one piece?" Sean was a little surprised by that.
"Well, the stones on a lot of the collars are cracked, but as for the rest? Tungsten melts at over six thousand degrees. Gasoline fires rarely get that much above two thousand."
"Great! You didn't find a bunch of large metal owls down there as well, did you?"
The foreman nodded, "As well as a bunch of metal slugs the same size."
"That's wonderful," Sean smiled, "could you box them all up and send them up to our place?"
"Absolutely."
They went over the job estimates then, overall the original time estimate that Samis had given Sean was still a good one and they were still sticking to it. So Sean thanked them, and taking Peg and Cali in hand, they got back in the car and he drove off to the mall.
"Didn't we get followed the last time we left there?" Peg asked, a little worried, as Sean drove.
"Yup," Sean said and looked up to check the mirror as he turned down another side street, taking the back roads instead of just getting on the highway again.
"I'm curious to see if we pick up anybody this time."
"What'll you do, if we do?"
"I thought I'd have you cast an illusion to lead them in the wrong direction," Sean said and smiled at Peg, "After what you did at Sawyer's I'd think you'd be pretty good at it."
"Is that why your brought me today?" Peg asked suspiciously.
"Nope. My original plan was to have Claudia's people ambush 'em on the way up to her place for the meeting. But seeing as we're going to the mall first and you're here," Sean smiled at Peg, then turned back to driving, "I figured this was a lot better than pulling over to the side of the road and shooting up their car with my pistol."
"We don't have to go to the mall," Cali said in a soft voice from the back of the car,
"We promised you shopping, and you're going shopping," Sean said. "Right, Peg?"
Peg nodded and took a moment to look around at the street. "Turn left up ahead, and give me a minute."
Sean nodded and did as she said, as Peg began to gesture while mumbling phrases that made no sense to him at all.
"Pull over and stop," she said suddenly, and Sean did just that, surprised to see what looked like their own car continue to drive down the street. A minute later a white Lexus drove by following it.
"How long will that last?" Sean asked.
"As long as they believe in it," Peg said, panting. "Which may not be too long as it's only going to keep driving straight down this street."
"Well, at least it's a long one."
"Yeah, but the moment another car gets in the way, it'll be history."
"Is it safe for me to pull out?"
"Yeah, as long as they're focused on that, we can't be seen by them."
Nodding, Sean checked his mirror, then pulling out he turned around and headed back off for the mall.
When they got to the mall, Sean parked in the middle of a large group of cars, so as to not be easily spotted, and then they all headed inside. Once again, he had Peg tucked under his left arm, with Cali on his right side, standing close, but not touching.