A Fox's Family (American Kitsune Book 4)

by Brandon Varnell

  “Because you have officially become Lilian-sama’s mate. I must afford you the respect that comes with such a position, even if you are not quite deserving of such respect yourself.”

  Kotohime was a very traditional woman, believing that respect must at least be afforded to the position, if not the person who held it.

  “I hope your workout with Kiara-san was productive,” she continued as her tails reached into a cabinet and pulled out several plates.

  “Uh, yeah, I like to think it was pretty productive.” Kevin rubbed the back of his head, and then winced. It seemed even the simplest of movements hurt. “Kiara’s tough, but thanks to her, I think I’m starting to get a little stronger.”

  “That is good. You’re going to need that strength if you plan on standing by Lilian-sama’s side.”

  “Believe me, I am already well-aware of that,” Kevin said with more than just a hint of dryness.

  “I’m sure you are.” Kotohime’s demure smile held an amused gleam, and her eyes glimmered in ways that still bothered Kevin. He felt like she was taking pleasure from his predicament.

  After he had decided to become Lilian’s mate, Kotohime had taken him aside and informed him of the dangers he would face—some of them anyway. She had not been pleasant about it either. There had been no reassurances, no “don’t worry, I’ll protect you” speeches or anything of the sort. Just straight up, brutally honest information given to him in a way that made the whole issue seem almost mundane.

  Kevin was sure Kotohime had gotten a kick out of the whole thing.

  “Breakfast will be ready soon,” Kotohime’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Could you please wake up Lilian-sama for me? I believe she will enjoy being woken up by you more than she would me.” Her smile as she said this was more than just a little devious. The way her eyes sparkled with a strange sort of mischief didn’t help.

  “Don’t I always wake Lilian up?” Kevin retorted, “And of course she’d prefer me. I’m her mate.”

  “Ufufufu, indeed.”

  Kevin left Kotohime to her cooking and entered his bedroom. However, he paused in the doorway when he caught sight of his mate lying on the bed.

  His heart skipped a beat.

  Lilian lay on her back, her eyes closed. Even from a distance he could see her thick eyelashes, which presented a stark contrast to her fair skin. Her pink lips that looked far too kissable to resist were slightly parted as she rhythmically breathed in and out. Her breathing also had the added benefit of causing her bountiful chest to jiggle enticingly within the confines of the overly large shirt she wore, which looked far better on her than it ever had on him.

  The covers had been thrown off at some point after he left. He knew this because he’d made sure they were covering her before heading off to Mad Dawg Fitness. Her left leg had fallen off the bed, and her right hand rested on her flat stomach. Crimson locks of hair fanned across the white sheets like an additional layer of silk, each strand shimmering in the morning light, haloing Lilian in a curtain of fire.

  Even though Kevin had born witness to scenes like this for over two months now, it never got old. Everything Lilian did, even something as simple as sleeping, managed to combine astonishing sensuality with an innocence that was nothing short of criminal. He was sure that no one else in the entire world could pull off something like this.

  ***

  Camellia let out several sneezes.

  “Kuchu! Kuchu!”

  It was an oddly cute sound coming from a woman with such a killer body, though those who knew her would not be surprised, given her childlike personality.

  Unfortunately, she happened to be walking down the stairs when she sneezed and, as her sense of balance was like a child just learning how to walk, she ended up slipping. With a loud cry, Camellia tumbled down the stairs.

  “HAWA!!!”

  “M-My Lady!”

  Fortunately for the poor maid who hurriedly rushed to her mistress’ side, Camellia’s breasts broke her fall. Again.

  ***

  Sitting down on the bed, Kevin’s right hand almost absently went to Lilian’s cheek. His fingers tingled at the feel of her smooth, unblemished skin, so unlike his own rough and calloused hands. Lilian leaned into his touch, her full lips opening a bit more as she released a delicate sigh.

  The urge to kiss her right then was almost overwhelming.

  His thumb softly grazed over her lips. Her skin pursed slightly as she kissed the digit, sending a jolt through him, which traveled from his thumb down to his feet and then up to the crown of his head. This sensation! How could something as simple as a kiss on the thumb feel so electric?

  As he admired the young woman he’d officially become, well, mated to, he guessed, he noticed something about her that he hadn’t several seconds ago.

  It wasn’t the smile. She’d been wearing that since before he left this morning.

  It was her eyes. Her left eye, to be exact. It was cracked open and staring at him.

  He and Lilian gazed at each other for several silent seconds, after which, she seemed to realize that he’d noticed her staring and closed her eye again.

  Kevin nearly snorted.

  “Come on, Lilian.” He removed his hand from her cheek and placed it on her shoulder, where he lightly shook her. “Time to get up.”

  “Zzzzz….”

  “Fake snores aren’t going to work on me, you know.”

  “Lilian can’t get up. She’s asleep.”

  “Talking in third person definitely isn’t going to work. Come on. You have to get up. Kotohime has breakfast ready and we’ve got our first day of school to attend since its reopening.”

  “Lilian won’t wake up until she receives a kiss from her mate.”

  Kevin sighed. He really didn’t mind kissing her awake, the same way he didn’t mind when she kissed him awake, but they had school today and, well, nothing they did ever ended in a single kiss. Lilian never allowed it to.

  “Lilian…”

  “Nope.”

  “Ha…”

  Another sigh. Lilian could be really stubborn when she wanted to be. Knowing the vixen like he did, Kevin knew that she really would just lay there until he gave in.

  He smiled. Just a bit. There were worse things he could think of doing than kissing his mate-slash-girlfriend.

  Leaning down, Kevin let his lips caress Lilian’s with the softest of touches. His plan was to give her a small peck and nothing more. He might not have minded kisses, but he didn’t want to be late for school, or be forced to skip breakfast so they wouldn’t be late. That would have sucked, especially because his workout with Kiara had left him starving.

  His plan to just brush lips ended when delicate, feminine fingers wove into his hair, grasped the back of his head, and pulled him down. Kevin, in his surprise, opened his mouth to release a yelp. A tongue pushed its way into his mouth, leaving him with no time to fight back as it began exploring, like a excavator journeying deep into an unexplored cavern.

  Kevin groaned as his mouth was filled with a most pleasurable sensation. He could feel Lilian’s small tongue rubbing against the inside of his mouth in all sorts of mind-blowing ways, as if it was intent on sending him into a euphoric state of rapture.

  If asked, he would never be able to adequately explain what it felt like to kiss Lilian. Words would never be able to accurately describe the feeling of her lips on his, of the wet heat generated from their kiss as his mouth became filled with her tongue and saliva. He could say it was passionate, or that it was hot, sexy, or any other number of words, but they would have been misleading simply because her kisses were all that and more.

  However, he would easily tell anyone who asked that Lilian was the best kisser in the world, even if he’d never kissed anyone else and therefore had no frame of reference to back up such a claim.

  This would be, of course, after he stopped blushing and stuttering from being asked such a personal question.

  The world suddenly spun a
round. Kevin felt a disorienting sense of not-quite-vertigo, and then something soft pressed against his back, while something else just as soft pushed down on his front.

  It didn’t take long to realize he was lying on his bed, and that Lillian was now on top of him. He could feel her breasts smashing into his chest as she rested against him. Her legs became entwined with his, skin on skin action that created a delicious friction as her shapely calves and thighs caressed him. Her hands were still buried in his hair. They made a mess of his blond locks, nails scraping against his skin and leaving a pleasant tingle.

  “Lilian…” Kevin mumbled breathlessly as Lilian went from kissing him to sucking, nibbling and licking his neck. He’d found out early on in their relationship that Lilian, for whatever reason, loved licking him. Consequently, she also loved being licked in return.

  She pulled back to stare into his eyes. They were incredibly clear; bright green orbs more beautiful than any emerald could ever hope to be, shining with an effervescent luster akin to the light of twin celestial bodies. Her nose grazed his, and he could feel her hot breath caressing his lips. It was enough to make him shudder, and his need to feel those lips back on his became almost overpowering.

  “I love you so much, Kevin,” she told him, and the earnestness in her voice made his heart melt and his body quake with an emotion that vaguely resembled awe.

  Kevin still didn’t know how she could say something so easily, but then, maybe he wasn’t supposed to understand. She was a kitsune and he was a human. Hers was a mind that couldn’t be fathomed by someone with his mortality.

  “I know,” Kevin whispered, “I… I l-love you, too.”

  Lilian closed her eyes and arched her back like a cat, a sigh of bliss escaping her delicately parted lips. She wasn’t wearing a bra, so the action did some wonderful things to her chest.

  She opened her eyes again, capturing him with her viridian gaze. As she leaned down and claimed his lips once more, Kevin forgot about the reason he’d come to this room. His hands settled on the small of her back, still too shy and embarrassed to place them anywhere else. Lilian didn’t seem to mind. She moaned into his mouth, a delightful sound that was muffled by their passionate, if inexperienced, kisses.

  One last thought came to him before he succumbed to raging hormones.

  Deciding to become Lilian’s mate was the smartest choice I’ve ever made.

  ***

  Nearly half an hour later, Kevin and Lilian sped down the bike lane like a pair of young fox kits being chased by a boarhound.

  “We’re so late! Dang it! You see, Lilian? This is what happens when I let you have your way!”

  They were, quite obviously, running late. After their gods-only-know-how-long makeout session, Kevin had realized how late they were and made a frantic effort to get Lilian ready for school. He’d practically shoved her into the shower, chosen her clothes while she washed up, and then forced them both to eat breakfast posthaste before dragging her out the door.

  Lillian didn’t seem upset by his words, despite their harshness. Giggling, the redhead kept her arms wrapped tightly around his chest as she pushed her bosom into his back. She giggled even more when his spine stiffened like a metal rod.

  “You weren’t complaining before you found out we were running late.”

  Kevin nearly crashed into a light pole when he momentarily lost control of the bike. “Y-y-yes, w-w-well, w-who would complain about something like that?”

  Lilian just smiled while nuzzling his back with her nose. She inhaled his scent. She loved his scent, and the warmth his body emitted, which had become her bastion of warmth in Phoenix’s increasingly cool weather.

  October had finally come, and with it, autumn had truly come to Arizona. Many of the leaves had lost their color and fallen to the ground. The air was not yet cold, but chilly enough that Lilian could feel the coolness seeping into her bones. As a kitsune, she was very susceptible to even mildly cold weather and had a predisposition towards warmer climates, such as the warm humidity of Tampa Bay and her clan’s estate in Greece.

  “Ha… ha…” Kevin breathed out deeply as he pedaled down the road. “Almost… there…”

  Despite how sore he felt, Kevin still managed to haul major butt. One of the many benefits to Kiara’s training was that his legs, which had already been exceptional for an athlete, had grown even stronger than before. He proved this by making it to school in record time.

  Hopping off and locking down his bike, he and Lillian rushed hand-in-hand to their first class of the day, bursting into the room with all the subtlety of a rhino dancing in a ballet.

  Kevin took deep, gasping breaths as he hunched over and rested his hands on his knees. Lilian only appeared mildly flushed. Then again, she also hadn’t done a near suicidal workout routine with a merciless trainer that morning.

  “You two are both late!”

  If Kevin were not so breathless, he would have sighed. He really wished he had a different homeroom teacher.

  Ms. Vis stalked up to them, her face scrunched up in a facsimile of outrage, her outlandish anger appearing almost comical, like some B-budget horror movie makeup artist on drugs had gone to town.

  The pale woman hadn’t changed much since the last time they saw her. Her clothes remained the same, her attitude remained the same, and she still looked like a Twilight reject. If there was one person he hadn’t missed during his hiatus from school, it was her.

  “Yeah.” Kevin tried to play the diplomat. “Sorry about that. We, uh, got lost on the road of life.”

  Kevin would never make a very good diplomat.

  Ms. Vis’ face scrunched even more, becoming almost pinched, like a pug with clamps stuck to its face. It was also beginning to turn a rather repulsive shade of puce.

  “Why I never! I cannot believe that you, of all people, would arrive late to my class, interrupt my lesson, and then have the audacity to give me such a horrid excuse,” Ms. Vis hissed, her voice sounding similar to a bed of angry snakes. “I expected something like this from Ms. Pnevma, but not from you! It seems that…”

  And that was about as far as Ms. Vis got before Kevin tuned her out. His eyes scanned the crowd of students sitting at their desks. He recognized the many faces present, even if he could not recall their names. Over by his and Lilian’s assigned seats, he could see Lindsay at her desk, smiling and waving at him.

  “And you!” Ms. Vis whirled on Lilian, an accusing finger pointed at the twin-tailed vixen. “Do not think that I am going to let you get away with corrupting my student! I do not know what you’ve done to pollute Mr. Swift’s mind, but if you think I am going to let you cause the degradation of one of my student’s intellect, then you are sorely mistaken, young woman!”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lilian’s eyes glowed a bright green as she cast an enchantment on the pale-skinned teacher. “I have not corrupted Mr. Swift at all.”

  Ms. Vis’ eyes became dull and lifeless. “You have not corrupted Mr. Swift at all…”

  “In fact, I have been doing all I can to educate him on all of the important issues he needs to know.”

  “You have been educating him on important issues…”

  “Now, you will let us sit down and continue your lesson as if we were never late.”

  “Go sit down. I need to continue my lesson…”

  “Oh! And by the way…” Ms. Vis, who had turned around, looked back at Lilian, who waved her hand in a vaguely mysterious fashion. “These are not the droids you’re looking for.”

  A pause.

  “These are not the droids I’m looking for…”

  With that, Ms. Vis turned and walked up to the front of the classroom.

  Kevin and Lilian shared a quick grin and a high five, before making their way over to their respective desks.

  Or at least, they were going to, until they noticed how everyone else was staring at them. No, not just staring at them. The other students were giving them wid
e-eyed looks of incomprehensible shock, as if they had walked into class wearing matching green spandex, orange leg-warmers, were sporting a bowl-cut hair style, and shouting about their “flames of youth.”

  “That was a terrible anime reference.”

  … Sorry.

  “It’s fine, but please don’t do it again.”

  … Okay.

  “Lilian…”

  “Come on, Kevin.” She grabbed his hand and, ignoring his “who the hell are you talking to?” expression, dragged him further into the classroom. “Let’s find a seat.”

  Kevin shook his head in a resigned manner as he and Lilian sat down. He greeted Lindsay, who appeared both amused and annoyed for some reason, and then turned to Ms. Vis as she lectured the class on Differential Equations.

  ***

  Unlike most of the students who attended Desert Cactus High School, Lilian actually liked school.

  It had nothing to do with learning, however, and everything to do with what school represented to her: Freedom. For Lilian, school was the embodiment of freedom. When she was at school, she could do what she wanted, be who she wanted, spend time with her friends, and meet interesting people.

  There were also a lot of kinky scenarios that she and Kevin could get up to at school. Unfortunately, she had yet to convince her beloved that mating in the nurse’s examination room (and also in the school lockers, the gym, and on Ms. Vis’ desk) would be fun. Of course, considering she and Kevin had yet to actually do the deed, perhaps she was asking for too much.

  A lot of people would have called her strange. She had learned from Kevin that most teenagers disliked school. Even Kevin considered it an obligation that he could do without.

  However, Lilian was not like other people, be they human or kitsune. She was someone who, above everything else, enjoyed the freedom to make her own choices, a person who sought adventure in all its different forms and loved trying new things. That was also why she loved anime, manga, and video games so much.