Stand On It

by Jan Stryvant

  "I'm sorry, Roberta," Roxy sighed. "There was just so much going on, and we were trying to do everything we could to keep a lid on what was going on." Roxy noticed some others standing by the doorway.

  "Who are they?"

  "Oh, when we heard that you were still being threatened by the Vestibulum, I got some volunteers to come with me to bolster your numbers."

  Roxy smiled and hugged Roberta, "And now I really feel like an idiot, I never even thought to ask you for help! Thanks for bringing them," and turning to the doorway she thanked them for coming.

  "So, what exactly happened?"

  "Sean over extended his powers, channeled way too much energy, and almost killed himself."

  "Someone said that there were two lions that came here?"

  "They came to save me," Sean said between bites. "They're gone now."

  "Oh," Roberta nodded, and Sean could tell that people were wondering how two big lions could leave without being seen.

  "So, just what is our status?" Sean asked as he started in on another plate of food. "Are we going to be attacked again?"

  "The Vesti's are supposed to be attacking us again," Daelyn offered. "Sometime this morning. But it's after ten now and we haven't gotten any warnings. Chad's people aren't seeing anything beyond them fixing and replacing what he destroyed on Sunday."

  Sean nodded, "So what happened after I screwed up and nearly killed myself?"

  Roxy related everything that she had seen; followed by Jolene who told her end of the story, and then Peg who filled him in on their dealings with the police and the FAA.

  By the time they'd finished, Sean's eating had slowed down considerably.

  "Claudia's probably pissed at me for costing her that helicopter," Sean sighed.

  "Oh," Daelyn grinned, "I think she's a lot more pissed at Roxy."

  "Really?" Sean looked at Roxy who didn't look at all embarrassed. "Why's that?"

  "I read her the riot act," Roxy grinned, "And threatened to kill her and take over her pack if she didn't follow orders."

  "Ah," Sean nodded, "I guess I'll go soothe her fur a little, once things are settled down here. I'm sure she's not going to hesitate to tell me all about it."

  "Just don't go apologizing to her," Daelyn grinned.

  "Why would I do a thing like that?" Sean yawned widely and blinked then, "But I think what I really need to do is to go lay down for a couple of hours. I think I feel an oncoming food coma."

  "Well at least you'll wake from that one," Roberta smiled.

  "Well, let's adjourn to the bed room."

  "What about," Roxy looked around and then lowered her voice, "Mtawala and Nguvu?"

  "Wrap 'em in a sheet, and get someone to dig a deep grave for them. Now," Sean stood up and swayed a little on his feet, he'd shift back to his human form, but he knew he didn't have the power right now. "Give me a hand getting back to bed, please?"

  Roxy and Daelyn braced him, being the two strongest of his wives, and they all retired to the bedroom.

  "Shit!" Daelyn swore as they helped Sean onto the bed.

  "What?"

  "I forgot to call Samis and let him know you're okay! I'll be right back!" And she ran out of the room, while Peg and Cali laid two sheets out on the floor and wrapped the two dead lions in them.

  "Are they really brothers?" Roxy asked.

  Sean nodded, "Yes, they are."

  "Don't you mean, were?" Peg said from across the room.

  "Nope." Sean yawned widely again and fell back onto the bed. "It's complicated, but I'm pretty sure that we haven't seen the last of them."

  "Let me guess, it's a lion thing?" Jolene chuckled.

  "Yup, there are a lot of those," Sean mumbled and snagging Jolene who was closest he curled up and fell asleep.

  "Okay, I told Oak to call them and let them know that everything is fine up here," Daelyn said coming back into the room. Looking at Sean, she smiled, "How long do you think we'll have to wait before we can jump his bones?"

  Roxy snorted in surprise and then laughed, "Guess I'm not the only one with that on my mind! But just to be safe, I think we should go one at a time, until we're sure that we won't put him back in a coma."

  "Well it looks like he's going to be out for hours, so we might as well go get some work done," Daelyn said. "I need to check on the construction crews and get that hole dug before the bodies start to smell."

  "I'm going back to check on the defenses," Roxy said.

  "I'll join you," Roberta smiled.

  The first thing Sean did when he woke up was to shift back to his human form. The second was to hit the bathroom, and then take a quick shower.

  Coming out of the shower the first thing he saw was Jolene lying naked on the bed smiling at him as his stomach growled.

  Smiling back at Jolene, Sean decided that food could wait.

  Walking over to the bed, Jolene held her arms out to him, and Sean wasted no time at all at climbing onto the bed and letting her wrap her arms around him as he kissed her. Sean lingered for a while on her sweet lips, all the more so when he considered how close he'd come to losing them forever, to losing all of them forever. If he truly was a lion now, like the first in his head claimed, Sean would come back after he died. But Jolene, Roxy, all of them wouldn't be here when he did, and his life would be so much poorer without them in it.

  Moving down her body, he spent a long while kissing and nibbling on her neck, giving her little love bites as he took his time, until he came to that magnificent chest of hers. For Jolene, as a tantric witch, everything centered on sex, and she had a body that was definitely up to the task, lush and fertile, which reminded him of something Mtawala had said to him just hours ago while he was in the lion's dreamland. Apparently both Mtawala and Nguvu had been very taken with Jolene.

  Using his strong hands and his lips, tongue and teeth, Sean took the time to massage and tease Jolene's breasts, until he had her breathing heavily and shivering beneath him, then continuing his journey down across that flat stomach, paying a brief visit to the valley that was her bellybutton, he came to his goal, Jolene's delicious and waiting sex.

  Using his thumbs to open her up, Sean didn't hesitate to dive right in. Jolene had taught him a lot about oral sex back when they'd first become lovers, as had Roxy, but his love for the act had rose up the very first time he'd performed it. There was something sexy and wildly arousing about bringing a woman off using your lips and tongue, and Sean had been taught and encouraged by two very beautiful, loving, and responsive women in the ways of doing it. Sinking his fingers into the muscles of that nice shapely ass, Sean held Jolene in place as her legs wrapped around his head and she shivered and panted through what was obviously a very satisfying orgasm.

  Licking his lips and smiling, Sean lowered her ass back down to the bed and started to slowly crawl up between her legs, his body hovering over hers, as her hands reached down and stroked his manhood, then led him inside her.

  Sean had to smile as she bit her lip as he entered her, Jolene was definitely a little tighter than normal, apparently four days without him had had quite an effect on her.

  "Tell me why you don't want children, Jo," Sean whispered to her, as he lowered his hard body down onto her lush soft one, pressing her into the bed and enjoying the feeling of her pressed tight under him.

  "W... what?" Jolene gasped, a little out of breath still and very surprised.

  "Tell me why," Sean whispered again.

  "You want to make a baby in me, don't you?" Jolene said, looking up at him worriedly.

  "Tell me," Sean whispered again, and started to slowly stroke in and out of her body as he kissed her on the lips, and then rubbed the side of his face against hers like a cat.

  "I, I have no magic, Sean. Almost none. Growing up like that, it was terrible, the taunting, the lack. What they would say to me. It's why I went to India and studied under the tantric masters and why I became what I am today. All of my power, it must come from another, because I don't have m
y own."

  Pulling back, Sean looked at Jolene; she looked to be on the verge of tears.

  "But you have me, you have Rox, Peg, Roberta, Cali, and I daresay even Dae, you have so much, my Love."

  Jolene smiled and reaching up stroked his face, "Still, it was hell for me, and I'd rather not chance doing that to any child of mine, you have no idea how tough it was, Love. I just can't do that to our children."

  Sean smiled and kissed her again, then bringing his mouth to her ear, he whispered, "But that wouldn't matter if I put a pair of lion cubs in your belly tonight, now would it?"

  Jolene gasped loudly then and Sean felt her fingernails sinking into his back as she grabbed him tightly.

  "What?"

  "Lion cubs. Plural, as in two. I want to put my cubs in you Jo, I want to give you twins. Here. Now. Magic won't matter to them, but making them with you will matter very much. I won't do it if you don't want me to, Jo. I'll never ask for this again if you say no.

  "I love you Jo, I want children with you, at least this once."

  Jolene looked up at Sean, as he smiled down at her. She knew Sean had put a lion cub in Roxy, Roxy had been pretty ecstatic about it. But then Roxy wanted kids, lots of kids. Jolene had gotten over that idea years ago. She might enjoy what she now was, but the road here had been a hard one, and more than once she'd come close to just ending it all.

  "You can do that?" She asked him. Oh she knew he could, but the idea of it. Lion cubs? But she knew it meant the world to him, she could see it in his smile as he nodded above her. And she knew he was right, it wouldn't matter to them, not in the slightest.

  Sean watched as Jolene's features softened, and then she smiled.

  "I'd like that, Sean. I'd like that very much," she told him and laughed to herself. As always, Sean had got his way. She was going to become a mother.

  Lowering himself once more, Sean softly kissed her for a long time as he gathered up the magic inside him as he realized he didn't need the First's help to do this, his lion, his real lion, that other part of him, happily cooperated with him as he raised the power and then sent it down inside of Jolene, preparing her body.

  Jolene gasped as she felt the warmth of Sean's magic suddenly flow into her body. As a tantric mage, she'd seen every type of body magic that there was, until now. Arching up against him, she shuddered in an unexpected release as things started to happen deep in her body, things that she wouldn't have thought possible.

  As the power settled down inside her, she found herself suddenly quite fertile, her body suddenly ready to receive her man's seed and create two new lives. Looking up into Sean's eyes, she could see his lion lurking inside, strong and feral and excited.

  Wrapping her long legs around him, she pulled him down to her and kissed him.

  "Breed me, Sean," she whispered in his ear, and with a rather lusty growl, Sean proceeded to do just that.

  Sean literally growled with delight as he took Jolene, from the moment he'd found out that he could make a child in her, he'd wanted to do it. When she'd told him no, he'd been unhappy with her blanket refusal.

  But now she'd just asked him to do the very thing he'd been wanting to do for months.

  He did all of the things to her that she'd taught him in those first weeks that they'd been lovers. He used his body, his hands, his lips, as they rolled around on the bed making love. Every time he would get close, he would slow down, change the tempo, or even pull out and change positions. He'd circle his hips instead of working directly in and out of her; he'd shift the angle as he took the time to tease every surface of her body, both inside and out.

  They were both sweating heavily when he finally rolled her onto her back once more and put her legs over his shoulders. This time he meant business, this time he drove on hard and deep, pressing down on top of her, bending her back until their lips met once more. Then with a loud groan of pleasure, Sean hit his peak, and came deep inside her.

  Jolene clung to Sean as he emptied his seed into her, holding him close, her hands grabbing tightly at his body as she shivered and orgasmed beneath her mate. He'd pushed her over the top several times, and now, as she joined him, the deed was most definitely done.

  When Sean had finally run down, Jolene used her legs, that where still crossed behind his neck, to pull his head down to hers and they just kissed softly and slowly, for a good long while.

  "Somebody looks happy," Roxy said, causing Sean and Jolene to both look over.

  "But I can't tell which one is the happiest," Daelyn teased.

  "Food," Sean said looking at them, "Lots of it! Water too. Go, get!"

  "I think somebody needs to be reminded of his place in the universe, don't you Dae?" Roxy teased.

  "We're making babies," Jolene giggled.

  "Oh!" Roxy looked at Daelyn, whose eyes were as wide as her own.

  "We'll be right back!" Daelyn said and grabbing Roxy's arm she steered her towards the door.

  "Wow! I can't believe he talked her into it!" Roxy said, shocked.

  Daelyn laughed, "That's our Sean, always doing the impossible!"

  "So, round two?" Jolene giggled.

  "Oh, definitely round two," Sean agreed.

  Morning Song

  Yawning, Sean headed out to the kitchen to get some breakfast. After he'd gone a few more rounds with Jolene, and then taken a break to eat the food the girls had brought him, he'd made love to each of them in turn, pretty much only stopping to eat some more food. He hadn't left the room once.

  He had one arm around Cali, who was being incredibly affectionate and who looked like she was extremely proud for some reason. His other arm was around Roberta, who he just didn't get to see enough. He was starting to think about changing that, and from a casual remark Roxy had made, he suspected she felt the same way.

  Sometimes Sean thought that Roxy should have been born a lioness, she certain had the spirit of one!

  'You know, I have misplaced a few of my daughters, maybe I should check?' the First teased.

  Sean just ignored him and sat down at one of the tables, Cali bringing him his breakfast while the others got their own, then joined him at the table. His mother showed up while they were eating, as did Deidre and Sheila. He couldn't help but noticing the look Sheila shot Cali as Sheila sat down next to Peg, who gave her a warm hug, while Deidre came over, and hugged him rather tightly and then kissed him.

  "After the noises I heard coming from your room yesterday," Louise started off, "is it safe to assume you're okay?"

  Sean blushed a little, "You came by my room?"

  Louise smiled at him, "Well, it's not like you couldn't be heard down the hallway, Sean. Roxy especially is rather loud!"

  Sean looked at Roxy as she started coughing, and noticed that she was blushing rather heavily.

  "Gee, and here I thought Peg was the noisiest," Sean speculated, while grinning over at Peg who just raised her glass of orange juice and winked at him.

  "Well, I wasn't sitting outside and taking notes," Louise said with a smile, "The last time I'd checked in on you, you were still sound asleep with Jo."

  Sean nodded and swallowed the food he'd been eating.

  "I'm mostly recovered, Mom. I think it'll be a few more days before I'm a completely better and a few more after that before I'll want to try enchanting anything again."

  "And what about those other two that were here, Mtawala and his brother ...?"

  "Nguvu," Sean supplied with a heavy sigh.

  "Yes, him. What happened to him?"

  "That was who Rox and Dae buried next to the house last night," Sean said softly.

  "What?!" Louise gasped, eyes wide.

  "Saving me had a price, Mom. They paid it."

  "But why? Why would anyone give up their life? Especially for someone they'd never met!"

  "Mother," Sean said looking his mother in the eye, and bringing her up short. Louise a bit shocked by the command in her son's voice.

  Sean shook his head and sighed again, "Loo
k, Mom. I'm sorry. It's a lion thing. I know that doesn't explain anything, or mean that much to you, but it's just the way they, no, we, the way we are. I'm still getting used to all of this, but we do things for a reason and we do things for each other when we must. Mtawala and Nguvu were old, they were willing to move on, and I'll name both of Jolene's cubs in their honor."

  "Jolene's cubs?" Louise said and turned to look at Jolene, one of her six daughter-in-laws, another idea she was still coming to terms with as well.

  Jolene blushed a little but smiled happily. "I'm pregnant, with twins."

  Sean reached behind Cali to put a hand on Jolene's back and smile at her, as Jolene smiled back at him.

  "Well, congratulations, then!" Louise smiled at Jolene and then her son, noticing his deft changing of the subject and decided to let it drop. This was a conversation for private, if she decided to pursue it. Maybe she needed to go talk to her uncle about lions and get an idea of what he knew?

  "So what are your plans for today then?" Louise asked her son.

  Sean smiled, happy that he'd gotten his mom off of what was going to be a tough topic with anyone who brought it up.

  "Well, I'm going to spend the morning looking around here and seeing just where we're at construction-wise. I'll also meet all the new people we've picked up. After lunch I'll go visit Claudia and find out how much I owe her for that helicopter I crashed, then this evening I'm going to call a meeting of the lycan Fellowship and discuss where we're at, and where we're going."

  "Where are you going?"

  "None of the major councils have any lycans now. Well, not unless they're willing to be there and can come and go as they please. Come Monday, I'm going to tell all of the minor councils and private covens that those rules now apply to them, and if I have to show up at their front door with a company of soldiers to enforce them I will.

  "I'm also going to make it clear that killing a lycan is murder, that the penalty is death, and that I'll be enforcing that too."