by Jan Stryvant
Cali dropped the robe then and Sean had to admit she was beautiful. More beautiful than the first time he'd seen her in the room where she and the others were being held naked. Because then she was just another nude woman in a terrible situation.
Now she was a young lovely woman who was offering all of herself to him, in the hopes that she would finally have something in her life that offered more than pain and suffering.
"Cali," Sean said looking down at her, a perfect picture of a beautiful young woman, there for him, a young woman who probably knew more ways to kill a man than he ever would.
"Yes, Milord?"
"I'm not your lord," Sean told her, and as she started to wilt in his arms, her eyes showing her disappointment, he pulled her closer, "I'm your husband."
The look of shock on her face was instant, and Sean lowered his lips to hers and kissed her, after a moment she pushed at him and he pulled back and looked at her.
"Milord is joking?" she almost growled it out.
"Cali, the others want you, my lion wants you, and most importantly of all, I want you. You're mine now woman, just like the others."
Sean suddenly found himself being kissed rather passionately as Cali grabbed onto him and wrapped her arms and legs around his body, her hands tearing at the back of his shirt as she clung to him.
Sean moved backwards across the bedroom and when the back of his knees hit the bed he fell back onto it. By then Cali was kissing her way down his body, tearing his shirt apart as she went, so she could kiss his skin. Watching this red headed, black skinned, and intensely sexy young woman working her way down his torso was incredibly erotic and when she got to his pants she ripped them open with an amazing display of determination, and pushing them down she immediately went after his shaft.
Sean ran his fingers through her hair and just moaned in pleasure. She was both talented and incredibly enthusiastic, and she didn't let up until she'd drained him dry.
When she had finished, he pulled her up and kissed her, then rolling over on top of her he took her legs and put them over his shoulders and without any preliminaries he just plunged right in. She was more than ready for him, and from the amount of muscle control she exhibited he realized that she hadn't been exaggerating at all when she told him she'd been trained in sex as well as seduction.
But he didn't care, all that mattered right now was claiming her, and with the way her fingers were grabbing at his ass and trying to pull him deeper on each down stroke, as he pushed her knees down into the bed to either side of her head, he could tell she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
The only thing that kept it from being over quickly was her previous draining of him, but for all of that, it was still over sooner than he would have expected. But the best part of it all was that when she came with him, she cried out his name.
Panting above her and dripping his sweat down onto her, Sean smiled and moved his hands off of her legs so she could unbend and he could lower his own face closer to hers.
"I love you, Cali," he told her and kissed her.
"I love you, Sean," she whispered back.
"See, that wasn't so hard," he grinned and kissed her again.
"What wasn't?"
"Calling me just by my name."
Cali looked embarrassed for a moment, but then looked up at him with the most beautiful smile that he'd ever seen on her face.
"Now, let's see how many more times I can get you to yell my name," Sean chuckled and started to explore her body, just as she'd explored his.
§
Sean opened his eyes and immediately realized this was another one of those places his lion took him to while he was dreaming. This one was different from the last one however; it was a large stone room, with narrow windows that looked outside and candles that lit up the room, while a fire burned in a large hearth to provide heat.
He also realized that he was in his hybrid form, instead of his full lion form. Sitting on what was very obviously a throne was his lion, also in hybrid form. Sean found it interesting that while he was big, at eight foot; his lion was bigger, probably over nine.
"So where are we tonight?" Sean asked his lion while looking around, there was one other lion hybrid in the room, and he looked suspiciously like Sean did.
"This is a recreation of my old throne room, from back when we lions played at games of war and conquest, to the detriment of all those around us. I keep it as a reminder of the power I once had, and how shortsighted I was while I had it."
Sean nodded; he remembered his lion telling him about those times.
"So, why am I here?" he asked.
"Someone wanted to speak with you, now that you've become aware enough to actually do so."
Sean turned back to the other lion that was standing there, waiting.
"Sampson?" he asked.
Sampson smiled and nodded, a little sadly.
"Yes, Sean. It's me."
Sean smiled broadly and stepping over to him, he hugged him warmly, "Thank you!"
Sean felt him bristle a little, "Thank you? What are you thanking me for? I took your life away from you, Sean. I dragged you into a war not of your own making! How can you thank me for that?"
Sean held onto Sampson's shoulders as he stepped back and looked into his eyes, "Because, it is my war! They killed my father, my real father! And they killed you! My adopted father!"
"I was never your father, Sean," Sampson growled.
Sean laughed, "That's what you think! You're as much my father as my real dad was, and that reminds me!" Sean glared at Sampson, "Why the hell didn't you ever nail my mom and make her yours? I mean, really Sampson! The two of you cared about each other, and I sure as hell wouldn't have minded a little brother or two!"
Sean was surprised to see Sampson look a little uncomfortable as he said that.
"Our cultures, our positions in life, it wouldn't allow us to do that. It wouldn't have been right."
Sean was about to open his mouth when he felt his lion's influence inside his head, telling him to leave it alone.
"Well, at least I've gotten to meet your daughter," Sean said with a smile, "though again; I wish I'd met her sooner."
Sampson nodded, looking a little relieved. "I've heard that you've taken up with Roberta?"
Sean nodded and suddenly felt rather embarrassed, "Um. I err, hope you don't mind, Sampson. But I've made her mine now."
"You didn't have to do that, Sean."
"Actually, I did it because I wanted her, pure and simple." Sean sighed and shaking his head a little guiltily he looked into Sampson's eyes. "Sampson, I like being a lion. I like that this gift you gave me that will let me complete my father's work and punish his enemies and yes, my enemies. I like being a big tough bastard who gets to set things straight and lay down the law. Hell, I even like being stuck with him in my head," Sean waved at his lion and was surprised to see Sampson's look of surprise.
"You're okay with having him in your head?"
"What, you know him?" Sean felt stupid as soon as he said it, of course Sampson knew him, all of the lions knew him.
"I'm his seventh wife's grandson," Sampson grumbled. "I used to worry about just what he would do to you, once he got his claws into you; for all that he promised me that he would let you be."
Sean smiled, "Well, he's definitely kept his word and he's really helped me when I needed it, but that's not even the best part."
"And that would be?" Sampson asked.
"My wives," Sean smiled, "I've found so much love that I don't have any time left to feel sorry for myself for all the shit that happened to me growing up, nor the shit I'm being asked to deal with by his highness over there!"
Sampson looked at Sean's lion who just shook his head, "I had nothing to do with it."
"But you didn't discourage it, I bet."
Sean's lion laughed, "I don't think I could have if I'd tried. Sean's got a very strong will, that's why he's able to be here. Nope, he wanted them, they wanted him. He's
a lion, grandson; I won't give you any grief for not biting him sooner, not with seeing how he's turned out. But he's very much one of us."
Sampson looked back at Sean, "You really are happy with all of this?"
Sean nodded, "Yeah, I am. Oh, I wish you were still alive, I do miss you. I miss my real father too, now that I can remember who and what he was. But I've come to terms with all of that. This is who I am now, and this is what I was meant to do, even without the interference of a bunch of self-centered and overly self-opinionated self-appointed gods," Sean said and gave a nod back towards his lion.
"All those years I held everything inside, everything in check, kept my head down and just muddled on through trying not to come to anyone's attention and make the best of a bad situation," Sean shook his head, "Well once you bit me and I got my beast, that all changed. He unleashed me and set me free. That alone right there changed my life. I wasn't just along for the ride anymore; I was the one doing the driving.
"With the help of my beast and with his help as well," Sean nodded towards his lion again, "I have a chance at winning this. As a human, I would have died months ago. Hell, without my wives, I would have died more times than I care to count. But now? Now I'm going to win this thing. For my dad, for you, for my wives, for all of our people. When all this is said and done, I'll be able to look back on my life and see that I accomplished something, something meaningful."
Sean gave Sampson another hug, "How in the hell could I be mad at you for giving me that?"
"After all that had been done to you, Sean, I was worried that you might not appreciate me adding to that burden. Now?" Sampson looked a little guilty, "You have no idea how proud I am to know that you've become your own man, how much I wish you really were my son."
"I am your son, Sampson," Sean said and hugged him again, "just as much as I'm Ben Valens' son. You taught me how to be a man; you helped make me what I am today. Thanks, Dad. For everything."
Sampson hugged Sean back then and smiled at him, "In that case, Sean, I expect you to kick the ever loving shit out of your enemies and lay down the law on Reno. Make me proud, my Son."
Sean could only smile and hug his father again.
Get Set
Sean yawned and stretched, it had gotten a cold out last night, so he'd gone 'furry' and shifted into his hybrid form. Daelyn and Cali, who didn't have such luxuries were curled up against him, to either side, Jolene was curled up against Cali with a furry Peg against her, while a furry Roxy was very much wrapped around Daelyn. Sean at times wondered who was corrupting Daelyn more, Jolene or Roxy.
All of the girls had been very welcoming to Cali last night, especially after Cali let it slip that Sean was the first man where it had been her decision to have sex with him. There had been a few shocked faces when that slipped out and Sean thought about some of the things that Deidre had told him and had a few very dark thoughts. Life as a dark elf was apparently a lot rougher than he'd realized.
Working himself free of the others, he headed off to the shower with a yawning Roxy in tow, followed by Daelyn who apparently was the only one who did mornings well.
When they finished in the shower and headed back to the room to get dressed, Jolene, Cali, and Peg were doing things that sorely tempted Sean to join them, apparently Cali had about as much shame as Jolene, which was to say, none at all.
Heading off to breakfast with a wistful sigh as Daelyn snickered and Roxy flat out laughed, Sean started to think of the things that had to be done today. This was going to be the big one, the fight with the council of Vestibulum. He wasn't looking forward to it, because people were going to die, and he was going to be responsible for their deaths.
However the path to freedom lay down that road and there weren't any detours that he could take. Just as he'd told Chad to shut up and soldier, he had to shut up and lead.
"Deep thoughts?" Roxy asked as they sat down in the dining room and the cooks started to serve them breakfast.
"Just worried about tonight," Sean sighed, "and then what the hell are we going to do tomorrow? Even with the Vesti's lycans freed, how many more are there among the smaller councils? In private covens? We're going to have to scour all of Reno, then the surrounding counties," Sean shuddered, "I don't even want to think about what'll happen when we get to Vegas."
"Vegas won't be too bad," Roxy told him.
"Why's that?"
"No councils, none. Oh, we have some small covens down there, but that's it."
Sean looked at her in surprise, "How the hell did that happen?"
Roxy shrugged, "Back when the mob ran Vegas, they wouldn't put up with any competition. Anybody that tried to set up a council in there quickly found themselves very dead. Rumor is there are a lot of bodies in the desert surrounding the city.
"Anyway, by the time the feds got the mob pushed out of Vegas, all of the councils were pretty well established in other places, and well, people like my dad have continued to discourage any exploration."
"Being sheriff must help with that."
Roxy nodded, "The mob snuck as many lycans into the city government as they could get away with. Same for the police. Lycans settled out here long before any of the magic user's councils showed up, part of why we're so much more numerous than they are."
"I get the impression that their breeding rates are pretty low," Daelyn said, "from what Jo's told me."
"Really?" Sean asked.
"The ability to cast or manipulate magic doesn't always breed true," Daelyn looked at Sean and Roxy and then sighed, "You can ask Jo about it, if you want to, but apparently it's a pretty touchy subject with her. Peg told me that children without talent are shunned, if not outright disposed of in some councils."
"That's pretty damn harsh," Sean said shaking his head.
Daelyn sighed and nodded, "And I thought that I had it bad. I think Jo had it worse and I don't even want to think about what Cali went through."
"Assassins have to be cold, Dae," Roxy said with a shrug. "The people that make them aren't going to want them to empathize with the people they're killing."
"That doesn't make it right, Rox," Daelyn grumbled.
"No, it doesn't," Roxy agreed. "And now that she's got people who love her, we all need to keep an eye on her, to make sure she doesn't hurt herself."
"Hurt herself?" Sean asked.
"Starving woman suddenly dropped in the middle of a feast. She'll eat until she gets sick, throws up, maybe hurts herself in the process, maybe even gets a little jaded from over indulging. She's going to be acting like she's drunk or on drugs for the next week or so. All of this is new to her, so keep her grounded."
"I keep forgetting you have a psychology degree." Sean sighed.
"I hope you told Jo that," Daelyn snickered.
Roxy nodded, "Jo knows. We had a long talk about it while Master Sean," Roxy winked at him and leered outrageously, "was adding her to the family last night."
"I should make you all call me that," Sean grinned.
Daelyn snorted, "I think we feed your ego too much already as it is!"
"I don't know," Sean said grinning at Daelyn as she picked up her orange juice, "considering how much you all use and abuse my poor body, it might just a welcome change to get some respect."
Roxy giggled as Daelyn choked on her drink, then smacked Sean on the butt loud enough for everyone in the room to hear it.
"Well, enough fun and games, I need to go track down all the team leaders and make sure everything's in order," Sean said grinning as he got up. "You wouldn't want your Master to be late now, would you?"
Sean ducked as Daelyn threw her now empty glass at him, and left the room before she could throw anything else.
"Ass," Daelyn grumbled.
Roxy grinned, "But at least he's cute and good in bed."
Daelyn grinned back, "Well, yeah, at least there's that."
Morgan walked into the room and smiled as everyone stood up. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces in the room today, but for
once that was a good thing.
"Gentlemen, please be seated," Morgan said as he walked over to his chair, directing the man who had come in with him to take the open seat at his right. They'd had to shuffle a number of seats around to make sure that none of their guests felt slighted.
Morgan stopped behind his seat, before sitting down and looked over the nearly two dozen people who were assembled in the council room today. Boston had sent out two of their best men, so had Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, and Dallas. Best of all, they had all brought teams with them to bolster the teams that Morgan already had in place.
"Jerry," Morgan said as he took his seat, "you have the floor."
"Thank you, Morgan," Jerry said, making sure to look every bit as confident as he felt. "As you've no doubt been informed, we have been having some serious troubles with a young upstart who fancies himself something of a freedom fighter. If you look at the packet of papers I've handed out, on the second page you will see a picture of one Sean Valens.
"Do not under estimate Mr. Valens. Both Gradatim and the Ascendants did, much to their misfortune. In fact it was due to Mr. Valens' actions that we were able to remove the Ascendants almost completely from Reno."
There was a smattering of applause and Jerry smiled, "Thank you, but the credit for that action goes squarely to Al Summers and Morgan." Jerry couldn't help but noticing Morgan's smile and Al sitting up a little straighter in his chair. Jerry had warned Morgan not to go harsh on Al, regardless of how smart they thought Valens' might or might not be, his string of successes needed to be taken into account.
"We know that Mr. Valens has a considerable amount of support from the local lycan fellowship, and apparently fairly deep pockets financially. He's taken several women as mates; one is the Sheriff of Las Vegas's daughter, a lycan who is with strong connections in the state government. Another is the niece of the local leader of the council of Sapientia, which probably explains their recent change in policy. Another one is a dwarf, who I posit may be related to someone of importance in the local dwarven community, seeing the support he's gotten from them.