Natural Beauty (The Cubi Book 5)

by Meraki P. Lyhne

“But seriously, I love that you test me and all, but I haven’t got a chance when I don’t know all the clever little things you’ve done over the past four hundred years to secure us.”

  “No, but it’s fun just the same,” Elakdon said.

  “Ela,” Geodin said.

  “What? It is, and he just said he loved it.”

  “Yes, he did, but I think you should share some of all the knowledge and wisdom you’ve collected over the years. I know you’re great at telling stories, and maybe, if I may suggest it?” Geodin looked at Daniel with such softness. “The King might need a little peace and quiet and time for deep thoughts once your natural beauties have arrived. It’s important that you remember to take care of yourself, too.”

  “She gets the best ideas,” Elakdon said. “Like her mother. And she’s right about one thing. I tell great stories.”

  Daniel smiled and looked at Seldon and Caledon.

  “I think you need it,” Caledon said, nodding, and Seldon copied the Lord because he agreed.

  “I’d like that,” Daniel said to Elakdon.

  “Good.” The King stood. “So, when your natural beauties have arrived, we have a short time when they acclimatize. I’d like to invite you to my little spot. Hopefully, by then, Kaydon is capable of joining us, if only on a stretcher or in a wheelchair. I would prefer my hird gathered for such an occasion.”

  Daniel lit up, and Seldon felt grateful that he’d found such a friend in the old King. Had his closest ally been Nol-Plydon, the boy wouldn’t have smiled the way he did.

  “I will see to the feeding of my brave Viking before we watch the rest attempt to secure your Kingdom.”

  “May I join you and feed your friend?” Nil-Sundin asked.

  “Of course, lovely Queen.” Elakdon held out his hand for her to take, and they left the Council.

  “Guess that means recess until ten o’clock,” Neardon said, getting up.

  Daniel looked at his watch. “I’ll top off Marcadon and…you two hungry?”

  “I am!” Seldon said.

  “I fed on a blue-eye who stopped by while I was preparing here,” Caledon said, shuffling through his papers. “Have you empowered today?”

  “No.” Daniel slumped back. “I spent time with Alex, and I helped dose Kaydon, and that doesn’t count.”

  “Find someone, then,” Seldon said. “If I know you at all, you’ll need something sweet and familiar after tonight’s ordeal.”

  Daniel smiled joylessly, yet he looked grateful for Seldon’s insight. They had Caledon’s attention, too, and the Lord nodded.

  “Okay.” Daniel got up. “I’ll find a red-eye. I’m in the mood for something wild, anyway.”

  Seldon laughed, watching Daniel skip out the door with a Guard Lord in his wake.

  “Who am I going to feed on, then?” Seldon asked.

  “Alex?” Caledon suggested.

  “After Daniel’s jealousy fit? I promised I wouldn’t so that he’d claim him.”

  “Don’t you think he’s passed that?”

  “Maybe, but I’m not going to take that chance.”

  “May I offer myself and my dose?” Nil-Baesdin asked.

  “I’d be honored,” Seldon said, getting up.

  “I might as well announce it,” the Queen said. “I need many doses from you to feed two.”

  Both Seldon and Caledon halted what they were doing and looked at the Queen.

  Seldon’s heart quickened. “Any idea who fathered it?”

  “No!” She laughed. “Two Royal dose fests, one being Beaudon’s Royal buffet, it could be anyone.”

  “I’ll feed you well,” Seldon promised and held out his hand for her to take. She smiled, took it, and they left for her quarters.

  * * * *

  Daniel returned to the Council Chambers feeling a bit tussled. He’d dosed Marcadon and grabbed the first red-eye he found. Her eyes were no more red than his own, so she was quite new from the Mingler’s list. She’d giggled and run off with him, and Daniel had felt all boyish like they were sneaking away to get in some quality time away from watchful parental supervision.

  It wasn’t as wild as he’d been in the mood for, but the overall feel to it had been refreshing and fun, and he’d dosed her four times, running out completely since an anal dose couldn’t help her. Five orgasms for him, eight for her, and Daniel was running late.

  Entering the Council Chambers, everybody else was there. Daniel kissed Caledon on the cheek as he passed him and continued around to do the same to Seldon. He smelled…different. Female.

  “I fed on a Queen,” Seldon explained.

  “Oh.”

  “And you on a Succubus.”

  “Yup.” Daniel plopped down in his chair. “She was fun.”

  Caledon chuckled. “Are you putting smiley faces next to their names like I suggested?”

  “Only when I have time to actually put them in my books.”

  “You got her name, right?” Seldon asked.

  “Of course I did!”

  “I have to ask something,” Caledon said. “It’s an elephant in the room, but I’d like to avoid another…Seldon starving.”

  Daniel’s happy-go-easy mood fell. He took Seldon’s hand and looked at him with concern. “Did I miss something? Should I have stayed and tended to you?”

  Seldon smiled, shaking his head, and Daniel felt more at ease. “Caledon suggested I fed on Alex.”

  “That would be up to him, but it never hurts to ask,” Daniel said.

  “Seldon made you a promise when you claimed him,” Caledon said.

  Daniel thought back, but so much had happened. But he’d been jealous, and Seldon had promised to only feed on Alex as a last resort. “I’m sorry. You should never have doubts like that again, but I appreciate that you still try to make everything easier on me. I hadn’t thought about that one, though. He’s in a tough spot, so if you find yourself wanting to let him explore, do that, because he needs someone he trusts and likes. I’m pretty sure you and Marcadon are the main reasons he returned to us. But let him explore and take your time with him. That homophobic dad of his really did a number on him.”

  Seldon smiled, his eyes twinkling. Daniel had definitely said the right thing, then, and he definitely didn’t ever want to land them in another jealousy hole again.

  “I’m not the right person for that,” Seldon said. “I’m still just that tough trainer.”

  “You sell yourself short, Allon,” Caledon said. “If Alex trusts you, then roll with it and just have fun sex with a friend. If he manages pure energy with you, hey, more power to you.”

  “Pure? You mean let him top me?”

  “That’s mainly what he’s working himself up to at the moment,” Daniel said. “I was contemplating a sandwich with Levidon on top and me at the bottom to give him a bit of both worlds.”

  “Oh, aw,” Caledon said, making Daniel and Seldon snicker.

  “Play meals will have to be organized later,” Grand Lord Ildon said. “Ten minutes until the curtain goes up.”

  Daniel felt the weight of it all crash down on him, and he mentally prepared himself to watch another incursion. The last time, he’d seen his dad shake in pain as he’d been left in a dark room to ride out the poison of a rape, and he’d seen Elakdon hang suspended in chains.

  Seldon broke Daniel’s train of thought by grabbing his hand and pulling him up, and he didn’t let go as they left the Council Chambers to enter a room full of screens at one end. It was the war room, and Daniel had only been in it once, his mind taking him back to war rooms in movies where they had maps and strategic positions marked up. This room was no different. On one wall hung photos of all the people the warriors were to collect. On another was images and blueprints hanging of one of the military compounds they’d take, plus the words take prisoners—especially scientists. It was the same for the other compound.

  A speaker crackled.

  “Lady Yardin. Team ready.”

  “My best,” Nol
-Plydon whispered to Daniel.

  “Lord Halfdon, hird ready.”

  “Gotta be yours,” Daniel said to Elakdon who nodded looking somber.

  More and more checked in as their cameras came to life and showed everyone in the war room what they saw out in the field. The Council and Royals grew quiet, and Daniel busied his hands with a hot cup of coffee. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night, and his nerves needed some caffeine to steady them.

  At the same time, they all moved out, and Daniel held his breath when he saw family houses come into view on some of the screens. The stealth with which the Cubi conducted the snatch and grab of the families was nothing like he could have imagined. The Cubi walked into the houses under camouflage, overpowered them, injected them, and then carried them out through the back door when someone called an all clear.

  The military compounds were a different matter, though. No wonder, since the Cubi were up against technology that could see past their camouflage since a camera didn’t give a damn about the hormones that would trick the human brain. Plus, soldiers were trained to not let people in. They had a problem with the strength, though, and a firefight broke out.

  Cameras went dark, Cubi reported casualties, and Daniel could barely breathe. Seldon put an arm around him and took his cup to place on a table before he spilled its contents. Probably a good thing considering how much his hands shook and burned from holding the hot liquid. It wasn’t until then that he noticed he’d spilled the coffee over his fingers because they were wet and hurt. But it seemed so trivial compared to what was going on on the screens, so Daniel hugged Seldon tightly and forced himself to continue to watch as the Cubi he’d helped send to war were hurt or died.

  After three hours, the families were all moved, one compound was won, and the rest was damage control and looking for the stuff. But the last compound was difficult to get. The old and wise King of North proved himself as he took over, and he’d commanded the army for the past twenty minutes with assistance from the Grand Council who got him the intel he needed and the photos and blueprints to help give him the necessary overview.

  “Get to section four, blow the walls between those two hallways, bottleneck them by fire. And Ladies, three of you go to the barracks, take off your clothes, tussle your hair, and run around screaming like damsels in distress. We need them divided.” Elakdon snapped his fingers to the side. “Phone. I need the incoming team leader.”

  Geodin made a call, and she handed Elakdon the phone.

  “Insert teams from north, east, and south, delayed west. Commence when you hear the wailing women to the south. Section four to the west is a bottleneck, assist there.” He handed the phone to Geodin again. “I need eyes on that bottleneck. Go high!”

  Daniel couldn’t see the plan. Why wait with putting people in from the west—it was a weak side. Finally, he got the eyes on the bottleneck, something blew up, and the human soldiers ran to cover the west side because it was their weak side.

  “Damsels are running scared.”

  It bought them the human soldier’s attention, and some were sent that way.

  “Sire Janus, how’s their tech?” Elakdon asked.

  “Drowning in dose and Cola.”

  “Perfect, north and east, move in under camouflage.”

  “Dose?” Daniel mumbled.

  “Yeah, never dose in your keyboard or on your phone. It’ll fry,” Seldon said.

  “East, open fire.”

  Daniel looked at the screen again as the east team opened fire on the soldiers, caming in at an angle.

  “North, open fire.”

  They came in from an angle, too, so the two teams didn’t shoot at each other. The weak front to the west became the human soldiers only way out, and they hadn’t met any fire from there, so they all ran that way. There were about twenty left.

  “West, mark them and pick them up.”

  It all stopped, and Daniel breathed deeply. Then a single shot rang out, and a Cubus fell to the ground. Daniel had seen the others fall, too, but not like this. They were so close to the target, and everything was quiet until the sound of that shot, and the odd angle of the camera as the Cubus’ body hit the ground. Daniel didn’t even know whether it was an Incubus or a Succubus let alone a name.

  “Bottleneck team, clean out,” Elakdon said.

  More shooting, some of it from inside the building. Then sudden silence allowed Daniel to notice how stressed out his body felt. He was tense, and all his muscles and eyes hurt. He looked up at Seldon, and he looked less tense, but he had that focused expression.

  “He’s one hell of a general,” Seldon said, and Daniel looked at Elakdon who still stood in the middle of it all, taking calls, asking questions, and demanding new intel from the troops. They’d won both battles, but Elakdon didn’t leave command yet, and he didn’t celebrate anything. None of them did. Until Daniel knew the numbers of Cubi lost, he didn’t plan on feeling relieved about anything either, yet he was happy they hadn’t failed.

  Elakdon half-turned, and Daniel caught his expression. One hell of a general wasn’t what Daniel would describe what he saw. He’d say Elakdon was a weathered and fearless warrior, and now he thought he understood the Viking thing and the respect between Elakdon and Kaydon. Again, he remembered Randr and the scar that covered most of half his face. He was no doubt a warrior, too.

  Daniel was but a boy made King far too early. Elakdon was a King, not only by birth but by everything he was. And that was fucking hot. Daniel got a boner, which he thought was completely untimely. It struck him that it was the Royal side of Elakdon that might cause it, so he grabbed Seldon’s dick, finding it rock-hard.

  “What the…”

  “He’s doing a Royal thing, isn’t he?”

  “What?”

  “That’s fucking hot, right?”

  “Yeah, and I want to bend him over and fuck him hard,” Seldon said. Daniel turned to look at Caledon who nodded eagerly.

  Daniel glanced at everybody else in the room, and everybody had a hard-on, and a few ladies a wet patch between their legs. “Guess I’m young enough to be under the influence, too, because Royals usually don’t influence each other like this.”

  “You just recognize competence and find it fucking delicious,” Seldon whispered and sucked at Daniel’s earlobe.

  “I agree,” Caledon said, and his voice had that horny hoarseness to it.

  Another hour where Daniel tried to keep his hands off his horny lovers, but as Elakdon wound down, so did their immediate desire to fondle and fuck. Over that hour, Daniel’s need to put words to how much he respected Elakdon intensified, yet he wanted the timing to be right.

  Geodin came over and handed Elakdon a cold beer, and he all but drained it, holding it to his forehead afterward. His white dress shirt was drenched in sweat, his shoulder-length blond hair looked damp and curled in locks, and his hand shook a bit. Oh shit, had he gotten bad news that the rest hadn’t picked up yet?

  Daniel stood and went to him, but he stopped a few feet shy, waiting.

  Elakdon finally looked up and noticed him, giving him a tired smile.

  “What’s your immediate assessment of it?” Daniel asked.

  “This last one? Depending on what Lord Janus got…if he got valuable research and intel for us, then it’s a success. If not, then we lost seventeen Cubi for too little. There were no research personnel at the compound tonight, but we knew that. When they are, there are double the soldiers, and we had enough problems with these as it was. I hope there’s someone among them worthy of a change because some of those soldiers were worthy adversaries.”

  Daniel wondered how many battles he’d needed to have been in before he’d develop the ability to admire his opponent like that. Or was it merely a personality trait? Another aspect to be admired about a person?

  If it had at all been possible to word his admiration for Elakdon and for what he’d just accomplished, the time would probably have been right at that moment, but Danie
l couldn’t find the words, so he stepped in and pulled the old King in for a hug. By the feel of it, he needed it as much as Daniel did.

  “I’ll retire for the night. Please help prepare for their arrival,” Elakdon said, but he didn’t let go of Daniel.

  “I will.”

  “Tell them I’ll join them in the morning and give doses to all those in need.”

  Daniel merely nodded against Elakdon’s shoulder. Next order of business that Daniel mentally noted on his to-do list was burial of the fallen Cubi because he was sure the bodies would be taken back to not leave any evidence.

  Elakdon stepped back, gave a tired and sad smile, and left the room. As he neared the door, Daniel saw him reach out, and it looked like he took someone’s hand. Someone camouflaged. Randr? The way he’d held Elakdon in Kaydon’s hospital room came back to him, and Daniel smiled at knowing the old King wouldn’t be alone as he retired to relax and probably process all that had happened tonight.

  Daniel knew he needed his lovers with him to do the same, yet it was his turn to work now. It was his turn to earn respect for being competent.

  Geodin came over and smiled at him. She looked as sad as her uncle had. “They’re coming home soon.”

  Daniel nodded and looked at Seldon. “Will you make preparations for the soldiers and scientists in training? Prepare them for interrogations.”

  “Yes, My King.” Seldon left immediately, and Caledon stepped closer, waiting for his assignment.

  “The hospital needs a heads up.” Daniel looked at Geodin. “We need a list of injured, both humans and Cubi, and…who do we go to about deaths of our own?”

  “The Cubi have different rituals depending on culture. Elakdon will demand his warriors burned and a wake with songs and tales. Nol-Plydon will wish them embalmed and shipped home to be placed in the tomb of warriors.”

  “What did your mother do?”

  “The few we lost in the civil war were also lost for us to retrieve. All other deaths have been from age, while the ones who died on the platform had their names carved into the cave walls.”

  Daniel wondered how to best honor the ones from his House who had fallen. A mental image came to him. “The Great Hall, that everyone must pass through to get into this House, will be decorated by the names and, if possible, the weapons of everyone who fall while protecting us. Buried or burned, that should be up to the deceased or his or her family. The memorial will be when their honor is made forever in the Great Hall where they can continue to look out for us.”