by Shawn Keys
Heather watched the whole affair, mouth slightly apart in amazement. Zahn knew the image he was giving, and it wasn’t an accident. The two women might be his, but he was totally and completely theirs as well. They were dearer to him than anything had ever been. More important than the magic of the Fountain itself. He would willingly surrender that if it meant spending the rest of a finite life with them.
Zahn clung to Angelica with one hand and pleasured Kaylee with the other. As the two purred for their own reasons, Zahn met Heather’s riveted gaze and said, “That’s why I love them.”
Angelica’s hands clawed around his thighs, and her tongue grew more needy.
Kaylee unleashed an orgasm, and her inner walls clamped onto his thumb as if it would never let go.
He’d never said that before. But he knew it now for certain. Apparently, his two lovers agreed.
Heather devoured the scene. She was there, but not quite a part of it at the same time. There was a hunger to be one of them instead of a spectator. “Can I ask you a question, then?”
“A personal one?”
Her lips twitched with sensual humor. “Very personal. ”
Zahn nodded. His hands shifted, pulling Angelica to his shaft while he replaced his thumb by plunging two fingers into Kaylee. His own breathing sped up a little. “I’m ready, I think.”
Heather curled up off Angelica’s thigh into a half-seated lounging position. “Then I’m curious, can you love another?” She turned away from him, and settled on her hands and knees. She flipped her hair back over her shoulder to show him golden-brown eyes smoldering with intensity. “There’s an old saying; Fortune Favors the Bold.” She licked her lips again, and this time there was no subtlety. “Take what you want, Zahn. Make me yours.”
Chapter 12
Two days passed in a glorious haze. They rarely left Heather’s executive suite, and then only for food. When Zahn was recovering, he watched in shameless delight as the three women bonded in conversation and lovemaking. By the time the second morning dawned, the Fountain’s magic had done its work. The three looked more like sisters rather than women who were separated by decades of age. Heather was the spitting image of her past self, as if she had stepped right off the movie posters from her earliest work.
Best of all, she had cast off the black-lace throat brace forever. She had reveled in the freedom. Not just from the material, but the constant pain that had plagued her. The constant reminder of her mortality and impending doom was gone. The strain on her soul was lifted. That was as beautiful to see as her joyful orgasms.
Angelica was on her stomach on the bed, propped up on her elbows as she stared into the screen of a laptop. Heather’s internet connection was routed through a few dummy servers. She wasn’t a tech specialist herself, but a friend she trusted had established the connection for her. Only a few people in the world would have the skills to track down her internet usage, and only if they knew they should be looking.
With that sort of protection, Angelica had felt safe enough to reconnect to the net and see what she had missed.
She let out a soft moan and looked over her shoulder at Zahn. “That’s really distra… ahhh… ahhh… acting.”
“Want me to stop?” Her legs were spread into a narrow ‘v’. Zahn was laying between them. His shaft was deep inside her as he lay along her back. His mouth was wandering along her spine and the nape of her neck, kissing in interesting ways meant to make her tingle. Part of it was a game to see how much he could distract her. Part of it was just enjoying the heat of being inside her. Not really aggressively pursuing release, he stirred his cock inside her as he savored her body for the sake of it.
She nibbled her lip as she struggled to concentrate. “N… no… mmmm… n…”
She didn’t sound convincing, and Zahn smiled. That was the point .
Next to them was a jumble of milky white and mocha-cream legs, which on closer inspection was actually Kaylee and Heather locked in a ‘69’ cuddle. Both of their mouths were hidden between each other’s thighs, and neither of them had been up for air in quite some time.
Watching them was inspiring. Zahn’s palms were curled around Angelica’s sides to cup under her pert breasts. They squeezed a little tighter as the two other women exchanged a few deeper moans.
Angelica gasped loudly.
Fearing he had grabbed too tightly, Zahn relaxed his hold and asked, “You alright?”
She caught her breath and murmured, “Oh, oh yes. Nothing about that.” She wriggled her nipples against his palms to prove it. But she added, “Can you read this over my shoulder?”
Zahn repositioned a little, sinking totally into her to gain a sight-line where he could make out the screen. “Your wombat account? The one you gave to Carter?”
“Got it in one, my love.” They had shared the word openly amongst each other now, and all of them were a little drunk on using it. Zahn knew it was probably silly, but it felt nice. She went on, “Told you no-one else uses it, but figured I had to check. This is from Carter. He wants us to call him. Won’t say why.”
Zahn grimaced. “Yeah, he wouldn’t on any medium that leaves an easy-to-access record. Phones might all be tapped by the NSA according to some conspiracies, but at least they try to hide the fact.” He huffed in mild humor. “Could he have actually changed his mind?”
Their conversation had drawn the other two women from their enjoyment. Kaylee crawled around to press her breasts into Heather’s back and spoon her while they talked. The young actress asked, “Would it change anything? Like you said, this is their problem.”
Zahn nodded, but then suggested, “I’d like to think he isn’t going to waste our time trying to convince me to hunt down Lars. I was beyond clear about that, right?”
Kaylee nodded.
Angelica moaned under him.
That made Kaylee grin. “She meant yes.”
Zahn returned the playful grin, and rocked a little more deliberately inside of Angelica. “Try to focus, love. ”
Angelica whimpered, “You are soooo terrible, you know that?”
He chuckled deep in his chest, but didn’t let up. The pace was lovely, and her sex felt equally lovely as it massaged him. “I could make it even more wicked? Could slide in somewhere else…”
Angelica’s breath caught with mingled thrill and fear. “Please, no! Look at this email! We may have to run soon! It took a day last time before… you know… before walking was… ahhh… you know… totally comfortable again…”
Kaylee’s eyes widened and she let out a peal of naughty laughter. “You let him do that , Angie? Oh, I had no idea. You two were being wayyy naughtier than I thought before I showed up!” Kaylee nibbled thoughtfully at her lower lip, appraising Zahn in a whole new light. “Did… it feel good?”
Angelica was blushing furiously now. “Leea, stop!”
Heather was looking thoughtful, and offered, “If he feels as good in there as he tastes, I imagine it could...”
Angelica was now red from head to toe. Zahn could tell, since she was naked beneath him. He found it fascinating that she could be this embarrassed while being ridden softly from behind while her bond-sisters watched. “There’s this really important email to talk about, you know. Can we please talk about my adventures in bum sex later?”
Kaylee grinned saucily at Zahn, “I thought we were talking about having our own adventures!”
Zahn was getting harder inside of Angelica, the wicked discussion threatening to take him off topic. Struggling away from the sweet trap, he came to Angelica’s rescue, “Naughty stuff later. Let’s focus on this. As I said, Carter heard me loud and clear. Which means, if he wants to talk, he has to have changed his mind about the Staff.”
Kaylee repeated, “And so does that change anything? We’re safe. We’re together. Let him worry about this Staff.”
An old urge prowled around in Zahn’s heart. Normally, he would bury it and keep it secret. But these were his lovers, and he wasn’t going to hi
de from them. “I did my best to look calm in front of Carter, my love. I hope I fooled him; I really do. But I only fooled him so he would leave us alone. If he knew how much I wanted it, he would have kept up the pressure on us.”
Heather was the only one who hadn’t been there. She asked, “What staff? ”
Zahn emphasized, “The Staff. Merlin’s Staff. It’s a relic that carries enough power to unmake half the world. Enough to power pure wishes or conjure the impossible. Carter wasn’t lying. If it’s real, it could bring real magic back into the world. I’m not totally convinced it is real, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious to find out.”
Angelica had regained herself enough to think logically. “If we summoned real magic back, wouldn’t it simply fade away? No-one believes in it, right?”
Zahn answered, “If it was done carelessly, yes. That’s what Carter is scared about. In this cynical world, magic would be disbelieved and discarded. The world would have to be readied to receive it. Primed. And then given only to groups who would cherish it and help the essence build back toward the levels in ancient times.”
Heather whistled. “Should that even be done?”
Zahn replied honestly. “I don’t know. But until you hold the power in your hands, the question doesn’t matter. The question I ask myself is who I would trust to handle it right. That list is awfully short.”
Kaylee agreed, “I’d rather screw it up trying to do the right thing rather than have some evil bastard gut the whole world on purpose.”
Angelica heard the consensus forming between them. “So, we take his call. Do you have a land-line as secure as this internet connection, Heather?”
Disengaging from Kaylee’s arms, the naked, nubile, newly-young Dame padded across the room to pluck the local receiver off its base. She returned, tossing it down to Angelica. “Nice and secure. And the transmitter isn’t powerful enough to get past the bedroom walls.”
Angelica read the screen and punched in the number. Then, she handed it up to Zahn. “Want to do the honors?”
Zahn eased out of her sex. Both of them let out a near-simultaneous moan of mild unhappiness at the loss. He squeezed her behind fondly. “More to follow.”
Angelica rolled onto her side and beamed a smile his way. “Whenever you want, my hero.”
Settling onto the bed among his lovers, Zahn started the call and put it on speaker.
Their number was going to show up as ‘blocked’. Fortunately, the old Guardian on the other end accepted it. He must be used to his teams being on stolen or burner phones. He answered sharply, “Carter.”
Zahn started off light, assuming nothing. “What do you know? You gave me the name you actually use. I was never sure if you lied to me.”
“Zahn! Damn it, lad. You took your sweet time getting back to me!”
Zahn hit the mute button and said to the women, “There’s more panic in his voice than anger.”
Angelica nodded, “Something’s gone wrong.”
Kaylee added, “More wrong than an ogre smashing their people up.”
Heather balked, “There was really an ogre? I thought you were all joking around about that!”
Zahn gave her a wink, then activated the speaker again. “We told you, Carter. That wasn’t an email we check every minute of the day. Are you going to waste more time talking about it?”
Carter pulled away from the phone, and it sounded like he spent a couple seconds cursing Zahn’s name. Then, he was back. Irritated, but a little calmer. “I’m going to be straight with you. The damage Lars did with those nightmares was worse than we originally thought. We lost eight of our researchers. We had back-ups of our data, but a few of the researchers hadn’t backed up their findings and conclusions in a while.” He sighed heavily. “On top of that, Lars took out all three teams we sent after him. He either has help, or he’s more deadly than we thought.”
Zahn huffed with dark humor. “You’ve got to work on your sales pitch. Why would we get involved in this garbage situation?”
“If Lars gets the Staff –”
“– if the Staff is real and if he can follow the path of clues and if he doesn’t die along the way. What’s real is that he’ll kill us for getting in the way, whether the Staff is fake or not. I have a lot of good reasons to live, Carter. Putting all that at risk so you can have the Staff sounds like a terrible idea.”
Carter fell silent again, frustration getting to him.
Zahn struck again, “I’m not a Guardian, Carter. Stop treating me like one. You’re desperate. I’m not going to be an asshole about this, but I’m not here to do your bidding, either.”
“My Circle would have my head for contacting you. But they’ve charged me with defending this Staff, and I can’t fail.” After one more frustrated pause, Carter admitted, “I need your help. To secure the Staff, I’m offering you a guaranteed cache of relics. I’m sure you can guess that the Guardians have acquired quite a few items of power over the years. Whatever you find on this mission, they will be added to our coffers. But once done, you and the women with you can claim any three –”
“– four…”
“Four?”
Zahn’s eyes flickered to Heather. “Don’t ask. I’m not offering any information. But that’s my price.”
Another pause. Then, Carter continued, “…fine, you can claim any four relics that are not one of the master-relics we are sworn to keep out of anyone’s hands. Any four in our archives or that you find on this mission. How many months and years would it take you to research and execute that many missions on your own? We could advance your dreams all in one swoop. I recognized the women who were with you. If you are friends, then I know I can’t tempt you with something mundane like money. But they can’t buy these treasures. Nor can you.”
Zahn bought a little time with a joke. “That money belongs to them. I might be more tempted than you think depending on how many zeroes you add.”
Carter wasn’t about to get distracted. “You’ve risked death for far less than what I’m offering, Zahn. Don’t insult me with distractions.”
Zahn traded glances with the women around him. He sensed they wanted to hear more. And so do I , he had to admit. “So, you’ll give me what you know about the Staff, and I’ll find it for you first. Best case scenario, we beat Lars to it and we’re gone without ever seeing him.”
Carter added, “And if you meet him along the way, I’ll send Ash with you along with my most experienced team. They’ll fight him off while you get the Staff and get the hell away from him.”
Zahn gritted his teeth at the idea of working with Ash again. They’d rubbed each other the wrong way since the beginning. Then again, he had to admit having her on his side for once might be nice. “One second. We’re talking about it.” He hit the mute button again, then talked to the women around him, “We won’t be able to fully trust her. If we do find the Staff and there’s no sign of Lars, I can see her betraying us if Carter gives her the green light.”
Heather shrugged. “What difference is there? If Carter intends to betray you, he will do it whether Ash is there or not. And we’ll deal with that if it happens. For now, her guns will protect you from this maniac.”
Angelica nodded her agreement.
Kaylee fought a grin onto her face. “If she gets feisty, we can tie her up. She looked good tied up.”
Zahn hung her head and took a moment to shake out a laugh. Sobering as quickly as he could, he gave Kaylee a warning look. “Behave?”
She fired back a bit of playful sass. “Make me.”
“You’re asking for a spanking later.”
Kaylee twirled a curly strand of hair as she teased, “Promises… promises…”
Zahn punched the mute button again before the banter got more out of hand. “Fine, Carter. I’ll agree to those terms. Send the information you have so we can look it over. We’ll be in LA within forty-eight hours. Pick the spot, and we’ll meet Ash and her team. If your information is any good, I s
hould have a couple trails to follow. We’ll get it done.”
Carter grumbled, “Then I guess… welcome to the team. I’ll send the details. I don’t have a lot of trust, lad. The first sign that you’re messing with me, I won’t take it kindly.”
“You’re the one with a ‘Circle’ behind you, old man. I’m taking your word that you’ll keep that shadow organization of yours in line. But keep this in mind: if you don’t play this straight, you might find out a loner like me can wreck a lot of havoc. Let’s do right by each other. My friends reminded me that by the diver code, you’re the one who has done the research. Or at least, you’ve had others give you the rights to it. That means the Staff is yours. You have my word on that. I’m going to trust in yours.” Zahn felt naïve. He had never trusted anyone in his whole life. What the hell am I doing getting this close to a fanatic?
But he knew the answer. For all his hard stance in front of Carter, he just couldn’t ignore the chance to stand in front of Merlin’s Staff and know that it was real. He was a man of his word, and he would turn it over if he found it. But that didn’t mean he would never hold it again.
Carter grunted, “We’ll see.” The line went dead as he hung up .
Zahn let out a long exhale. “Well. There it is.”
“At least we have a couple days to get ready.”
Zahn shook his head. “Oh, no. I didn’t intend to wait here. That’s just a line I fed to Carter.”
Angelica objected mildly, “You know we’re with you, love. But I honestly didn’t think you intended to double-cross him. Especially not right away.”
He caressed her cheek. “And you’re not wrong. We’re going to meet Ash when we promised. But I wanted to follow a bread crumb Carter isn’t going to expect. There’s another wild card out there, and I hate that idea.”
Kaylee snapped her fingers. “You’re going to find that other relic-diver. Burt Crawson?”