by D. R. Rosier
“What are you doing?”
Rafe replied in my mind, “Setting an example, I don’t agree it’s necessary, but it is what it is.”
I could feel what he left unsaid as well, his mind perhaps subconsciously directing me to the right memories. This was the world I had protected the dragons from. They used to be trade partners, the dragons would trade them blood, protection, mercenary work. The human magic world would trade grain and other support foods and mechanisms, to support the herds the dragons kept for food.
He didn’t know much more than that, or what happened to change things. But trade broke down and humans started to raid for blood, and the dragons raided for supplies. A failure of diplomacy perhaps. Rafe wasn’t on the council and they weren’t telling.
I felt a lump in my stomach and started to feel very uncomfortable as I started to work things out. I’d been so naïve. I thought I’d been saving dragons from the equivalent of poachers, evil humans hunting a sentient species for nothing more than power. What I’d actually done was give the dragons an almost decisive tactical advantage in an undeclared war. All the fighting would now be on enemy ground for them.
I could see how it happened, Rafe and possibly even Caph were not the issue. It was clear from the dream they wanted to take another course. It was probably a good conclusion that the most accepting of other races would be the ones to think of and hire a witch to help with the issue. That thought solidified when I remembered the mistrust and being disliked by the group of sovereigns that showed up.
I was foolish. I wasn’t foolish enough to claim all responsibility, the humans dying in that village were not my fault, although I did bear some responsibility. But what could I do? I was mate bonded to Rafe, part of Caph’s clan in law. If I tried to help, it was possible I’d just make it worse. Plus, I was paid for a job, did I have the right to interfere? Still, I had a desire to know exactly what was going on, something I should have demanded before protecting the dragon world.
If I did do something, even just research, would I put Rafe at risk, or even worse, make the dragons an enemy of witches and Earth itself. I knew they were already suspicious we couldn’t be trusted, the challenge showed me that, and just because I won didn’t mean they trusted me.
I was so far over my head, I needed to think about this, maybe get advice before I did anything at all, much less go off half cocked and demand peace. That would be both naïve and stupid. Shifters were very survival of the fittest, they would probably think I was insane anyway. It just wasn’t my business. Of course, I could argue they made it mine when they hired me in a deceptive manner.
I decided advice was in order so I rolled up the memory of all my latest dragon discoveries and concerns and sent them to family, with an invitation to drop by the dance club tonight. I figured that would give them time to get up to speed and work up some ideas.
I took a minute to roll over and lay on my stomach, I emptied my mind the best I could and enjoyed the heat from the sun on my back. Idly, I wondered what Lily was thinking, then pushed it down. Just the thought was enough though, I’d gotten a nice view of her mind. It was hard with people close to a witch, the better I knew someone the easier it was to read their mind, and Lily was in some ways closer to me than family.
She wasn’t sure what to make of it yet, and she was worried about losing our close friendship. So not too far from what I was thinking. My mind started to go in a worry circle. Rafe, dragons, magical humans, love, Lily, and what should I do about any of it. I needed a distraction, something physical, and initiating lovemaking with Lily right now just didn’t seem right.
“Swim?” I asked with a light smile.
She grunted, “Good idea.”
Chapter 10
Lily and I enjoyed the rest of the day at the beach to decompress. We didn’t discuss anything of weight, sticking to people we knew and silly gossip. A part of me was nervous about how things would turn out and was disappointed she didn’t immediately return my feelings, but I knew life wasn’t that easy.
Lily did however make a point of kissing me senseless before pushing me out the door of the sex club. I took it as a good sign.
My grandmother contacted me through the necklace to let me know they would be by my place early tomorrow afternoon. She sounded a little worried, but also like she wanted to throttle me, I suppose I deserved it.
Sunday nights at the dance club were slow, relatively, so when I walked over, there were just a few people on line waiting to get a wristband and pay the cover. We were close to occupancy, but not close enough to hold a line outside. The good thing was, there were only a handful of protestors with signs, and they weren’t obnoxious at all.
I almost laughed when I had the random thought I should hire a crazy person with a gun to shoot me when the crowd started growing out of hand again. Not that I would.
Tonight I was wearing a black mini-skirt and a clingy red top along with the necklace. I reached out and fed, feeding my crystals with enchantments and the ones that were just filled with power that I could draw on. On a whim I started to fill the gems in the necklace as well. There were more than enough people here for it.
I felt my nipples tingle and tighten against my shirt, and sensed the stares of most of the men close to me as it became apparent even through my bra, and quite a number of the ladies stared as well. Ironically, this made my feeding richer and in a short time I was full of energy, and my whole body was tingling with the need of sexual satisfaction.
It was torture, and at the same time I loved it, how it made me feel. Powerful, beautiful, and desired, but controlled. The longer the wait the better it would be later on when I could give in to my desires.
Reluctantly I went upstairs and took care of the daily paperwork, and made sure I was ready for inventory tonight, before I went back out on the floor. I stopped by the bar for a drink and then made some rounds of the tables, making sure everyone was having a good time. There were quite a few blushes, wide eyes, and even a few confident men who hit on me.
I loved this part of the job, making small talk and getting feedback, and of course I was quite at home with all the flirting. Not all my tasks were so pleasant, besides paperwork there was always a fight or two during any one night, breaking out due to jealousy or some other reason. Alcohol lowered all inhibitions after all, not just the fun ones. Before I knew it, it was last call and the hardcore party people started to trickle out the door.
It didn’t take long for the wait staff to figure their tips and settle up. Tony and I went to the stock room for a physical inventory. I was practically at a fever pitch knowing it wouldn’t be much longer to finally give in. I was busy counting cases of beer lost in thought when Tony wrapped his arms around me from behind. I gasped, startled for a moment when he cupped the bottom of my breasts and lightly squeezed, but that didn’t last long.
I arched my back and rubbed my ass up against his desire, but my voice dripped with faux innocence when I asked, “What’s up? We should finish inventory.”
The sound of his deep voice chuckling went straight to my core, his body against mine felt so good, and his hands started to roam the front of my body, I wanted him so bad in that moment.
He kissed the side of my neck and said teasingly in my ear, “Maybe your right, we should wait.”
I sighed and reached back over my shoulder to run a hand through his hair, “Maybe we could take a quick break.”
I knew the mood he was in. Sometimes he would take me hard without warning, sometimes he would ignore me until I jumped him. It was what we did on inventory nights. Tonight… well, I already knew, he wanted me to beg for it. It was one of our rarer games. It really got him off, the hot succubus, successful in business, can have whoever I wanted, but begging for it from him.
To be honest, I quite liked this game too.
He pinched my nipple and twisted, just enough to send a shockwave down my body and between my legs. I gasped.
His voice was all business, “Di
d you need something boss?”
I did more than fall into my role, I became it. It was part of the magic, part of my nature. Becoming exactly what my partner needed, at least when it came to the bedroom.
The desperation and need in my whisper was apparent, “I need you. Please.”
His hands were firm as he ran them down my body, then the side of my skirt until he reached the hem, and lifted them back up taking the skirt with it. One of his hands reached up and grabbed my hair and pulled to the side, his lips tasting the skin of the back of my neck before he nibbled an earlobe. My knees grew weak as his other hand expertly teased between my legs, playing with the folds of my labia.
He whispered knowingly with arrogance, “Need what from me exactly?”
I didn’t hesitate, my voice sultry and breathy, “Your big cock, put it in me. Please.”
I felt a powerful surge of lust from him as he pushed my head forward, forcing me to bend over a couple of short stacks of beer cases. I could sense him pushing his jeans down, then the feel of his mushroom head against my very wet silken folds. I closed my eyes and stopped breathing as the pleasure of his manhood slid into my tight sheath.
I tightened my body around him and moaned in pleasure as he gasped and spanked my ass.
He grabbed my hair and pulled back as he pushed against me, arching my back and increasing the depth of his invasion.
He said softly, “You’re so tight,” with not a little awe in his voice.
I let up a little, but kept it snug, pulsing my silken passage up and down his length as I said, “Please fuck me.”
I felt his lust surge as he started to pound into me from behind, I was lost in the sensation of it, plus what pleasure I felt coming off of him. My magic both increased our pleasure, sensitivity, and also his stamina. This is what made the pleasurable torture of the night worth it.
I was rising higher and higher, completely lost in the pleasure of it when he spanked me hard drawing a gasp from me. The sting mixing with the pleasure brought me even higher.
“Cum for me Dawn,” he demanded.
The pleasure exploded from my core, rolling through my entire body like a tidal wave. A small part of my mind was aware that my soft silken heat was tightening and milking his length, as if begging for his seed. He kept up his relentless rhythm as my body turned to putty, no longer able to meet his thrusts with my own.
I could feel he was very close, but he managed to hold on long enough to roll me into a second state of bliss before burying himself hard and deep, expanding within me as he filled me with his seed. When I came down it was to him softly caressing up and down my back with his fingertips. He slowly pulled out. I straightened my skirt as I turned around and met his eyes. They were grateful, and a little awed.
I smiled up at him and pulled him into a soft kiss. I winked at him and silently got back to inventory, but my mind was racing as I figured out why he could never be more than just a good friend with benefits. Perhaps it was my time with Rafe, someone I felt I could one day fall in love with, or maybe it was falling in love with Lily that gave me the extra perception.
Tony no doubt deserved to be loved, and if I loved him he would deserve mine, but he didn’t believe that as I did. He shouldn’t be awed or grateful, that meant in some way he believed he didn’t deserve me, and that made the deeper connection impossible. Yes, he knew I was his good friend, but it was almost like he thought I was doing him a favor in bed, like it wasn’t a mutually desired thing. Either that, or I’m going a little crazy, but that was the perception I had that Sunday night.
Chapter 11
I was only half awake, sitting uncomfortably in my living room on Monday afternoon, surrounded by family and Cat. At least my sisters looked supportive. My mom… well she was mad at me but was more than willing to let grams be the bad guy and dish it out. Cat as usual was completely inscrutable.
My grandmother, Sandy, said coolly, “So, to sum things up, you got yourself suckered, and possibly the rest of Earth, involved in a magical war?”
I frowned, it wasn’t that simple. They didn’t deceive me exactly. Another human would have felt deceptive and like they were trying to hide something in the dragons’ situation. For them it simply didn’t matter what the rest of the details were, they hired me to block world gates to stop the dragon blood raids. That it was part of something much bigger… simply didn’t matter. Cultural misunderstanding perhaps?
Still, in essence she was right.
“Pretty much, I should have asked more questions. Their culture is so different, it didn’t even occur to me certain social queues would be completely missing,” I fidgeted a bit under her gaze.
I firmly reminded myself I was twenty six, not four. Not that it helped, I still felt like a child with my hand in the cookie jar. I also was very aware that Rafe was paying attention to what we were saying, I hoped the rest of them understood the repercussions of that fact.
Sandy’s eyes narrowed, perhaps I’d been a bit flip, but it was Cat who responded in a relaxed voice.
“Nothing to be done about it now, just be more careful in the future if you meet an unknown species. The real question is what do we do now, anything?”
I shrugged helplessly, not really having anything.
Amber spoke up, “Well, I think we should keep our eye out at home. From the way they treated Dawn I don’t think Caph or Rafe would send spies to Earth, but the other dragons clearly don’t trust us. We should make sure we have our eyes out.”
I smiled slightly, typical CIA mentality, and probably the right thing to do. Rafe didn’t know about any spies sent here, but then I’d expect the dragon sending them would keep Rafe in the dark, perhaps his whole clan.
Amber looked at me, “I think you should visit that other world, find out what started this war. I don’t think you should try and stop it, or play peacemaker. But I think it will be somewhat of a reflection on what could happen to us here on Earth. We need to know how dragons play with others from the opposite point of view.”
I frowned. She had a good point, and I kind of wanted that information for myself, I was deceived even if it was unintentionally, and there was a part of me that wanted to understand. It would also help me understand my mate and his race better.
I took her idea to heart, out of the three of us, my sister Amber was the warrior and tactician. I was just a business woman, and Cassie… well honestly she was just a party girl. That wasn’t exactly fair, she probably knew more facts and fields of study than Amber or I. She was smart, had a thirst for knowledge.
She was also one of the most popular people in her college and invited to every frat or dorm party, and usually found the time to get to them all. The party girl part also came from the fact she got into college at sixteen, and had been there now for seven years. I lost track of how many majors she’s gone through, completed that is, up to three or four now.
That didn’t mean Cassie wouldn’t come to me, ready to kick ass, if I ever had need. It was something everyone in this room had in common.
My mother asked a bit doubtfully, “Is it a good idea to send her?”
Wow… thanks mom. Let me go crawl in the corner and die now. Yes, I was fooled but I’m not helpless.
Amber snorted, “She is too trusting, but in this case it will be fine. No one likes to be made a fool of, she’ll dig until she gets the information. Not just about the dragons, but about this human magic world as well.”
I sighed, “Thanks Am… I think.”
The brat smiled and winked, “Anytime big sis, and be careful please. Even at home, I can’t talk about it but that crazy woman from the other night… not exactly as it seemed. I’m taking care of it.”
Her voice had started out light and teasing, but by the end she was kind of scary. I almost felt sorry for whoever she was going to take care of.
“Promise.” I really did need to be more careful.
Cat asked, “Any other ideas?”
Cassie spoke up, “No, we n
eed information, then we can plan contingencies.”
She looked very uncomfortable for a minute and then added, “We should also not include Dawn in that discussion, and then share with her only the things we won’t mind the dragon clan knowing.”
I knew she was right, my connection could be both a boon and a negative, personally and in regard to the war the dragons were in. Still, it wasn’t easy to hear.
I got up and gave her a hug and let her know she was right. Our impromptu family council of war was over and everyone started to portal out. Cassie does something different, perhaps all that schooling counts for something. She kind of stepped sideways and simply disappeared.
I asked her about it once, when we create portals we kind of punch a hole and bend space to our destination. She explained her way but I didn’t really understand it, she says she doesn’t move anywhere, she moves the universe until she’s at the spot she wants simply by deciding she was already there.
I half think she’s pulling my leg with that explanation. She might have been scary if she wasn’t my little sister and the sweetest and happiest witch I’d ever met.
It wasn’t much past two, and I didn’t have work until eight or so. That gave me plenty of time. I used my communication necklace to let Lily know I wouldn’t be around until tonight, put on a pair of comfortable jeans and a t-shirt, and opened a world gate near to the town that was attacked yesterday. I also built some shields that would deal with magical and elemental attacks, just in case.
I was on the edge of a field, by a road. I could see the village, or at least, what remained of it a mile down the road. This world was much like the dragon world magic wise, and I felt like that deep sea diver again. Magic was a natural force, and so in the domain of a witch. I used my abilities to manipulate raw magic all the time, like when I absorb life force with my succubus power, then transmute it with my witch power and feed it to my enchantment and power stones.
