Newport/Aftport #2: Danea

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  He dropped suddenly to his heels, his hands on the floor and head hanging down. Danea was off the sofa and at his side, hugging him close.

  “I’ll lock her in the SUV,” Noah said after helping Wade to the sofa. “Get him some of that funny tea he drinks. He used a lot of energy for what he did to get her to release you.”

  “Tea,” Danea nodded, draped a blanket over Wade and hurried off to the kitchen. The microwave never seemed fast enough as she paced to the sofa and back, gently brushing the brown shock of hair from his forehead.

  “I’m alright. Just need a little time…I used too much power…worried about you…did she hurt you?” He closed his eyes and worked to focus his healing abilities on himself but he knew it would take a few hours to be normal again.

  “I am fine,” she said firmly. “And we’ll take care of you,” Danea told him, her hand up and swiping at the streak of tears on her face. “Do you think Seth can find them? The ones she already sold?”

  “I don’t know. I know he’ll have people on it and they’ll try their damnedest,” Wade shoved the blanket off and stood up. He remained still, checking his balance before walking to his desk and turning the computer on. “I’m going to get the information to him tonight so his research people can start their searches.”

  Danea nodded and finished preparing the tea. She carried it to his desk and set it down before going to stare out at Noah and the other vehicle that had pulled up outside in the driveway. The woman that held the knife to her throat was standing with her hands cuffed together in front of her, glancing over her shoulder once at Danea before she was made to climb into the backseat of the patrol car.

  “They’re taking her away.”

  “I removed the knowledge of these other women, Danea,” Wade said quietly from his desk, his hands moving expertly over the keyboard as he wrote the email. “I removed all knowledge of who she worked for and what she’d done. I don’t want her going back to it, if she’s released in the future.”

  “One in how many? How many are out there ruining the lives of innocent people…for money. Not a belief…not a cause…just for money.”

  “The oldest cause in existence, angel,” Wade tapped the ‘send’ button and lifted the steaming cup of tea between both hands.

  ****

  A week later, after a lot of configuring and schedule changes, two tanned and oiled males lay back on the white sand of the island somewhere in the middle of Micronesia. They’d flown into Guam, rented a boat and taken off with provisions, including swim trunks, air tanks, food and tanning oil.

  Noah navigated based on the map Daqonet had provided when he welcomed them to his territory. Then he discretely left them alone. They no sooner cleared all visible eyes when Danea moved to the front of the large boat, stripped and dove expertly into the water.

  The next time they saw her, scales shimmered in the crystal waters with white sands less than thirty feet below them. Her men stared at her, watching the effortless glides through the pristine blue water, a group of dolphins at her side within minutes. They made it to the shallows of a small island, anchored and joined their mate in the water.

  “I can’t imagine a better honeymoon,” Wade commented from where he reclined on the sand, water lapping at his feet.

  “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful,” Noah remarked, peering out through the sunglasses covering his eyes. Danea was further out than the boat was anchored, the fins of several dolphins swimming around her and with her, each of them diving down and shooting out of the water to twist and twirl before vanishing beneath the surface again.

  “No kidding…” Wade watched the casual flipping of the tails and the silver-gold head that popped up as she swam between them, lying on her stomach as the water flowed over her. “That was pretty fancy out there.”

  “They missed me. I used to play with them all the time when I’d visit my father,” Danea moved carefully on her stomach, her hands each trailing up the thighs of her mates until she came to the cloth covered cocks, semi-erect.

  “Hmm…something on your mind, mate?” Noah asked gruffly, the firm but soft touch of her hand sliding over his cock making him groan.

  “Just my guys…and how much I love them…and this is a perfect island for making love…but I’d rather do something more…visual…” she teased, stopping only long enough to tug their swim trunks out of the way. “We’re alone out here…you don’t really need these, you know…”

  “I don’t like being snuck up on by natives…”

  “And I’d rather not get caught with my pants down,” Noah added with another low, moan. “Dani…”

  “Shhh…let me play…move closer together…” she continued stroking them as they did what she instructed, her body laid out along one of each of their thighs. Pearlescent scales shimmered in the sunlight that shone through the crystal like webbing of her tail fin.

  She leaned over first one and then the other, taking each into her mouth with a hot swirling tongue tracing the length of them before switching off to the other one.

  Noah moaned softly, letting his elbows prop him up as he watched the sensual way she aroused each of them with her hands and mouth.

  “Christ, Danea…” Wade gave into the pure pleasure, his palm up and stroking over her head. The sun caught the scales along her body, shimmering and sparkling beneath it and her long hair was blown softly about her face as she took him deeply into her mouth.

  Between her hands and her mouth, it didn’t take long before she felt their bodies harden a little more before they came for her. She tasted them both, first Noah and then Wade. Both called out her name as she squeezed and stroked their cocks. She was licking and kissing over their cocks, stomachs and thighs. She worked her way higher, listening to the ragged breathing from them both before she kissed Noah.

  “I love you,” she whispered softly, shifting to the other side and kissing Wade, repeating her words. “I love you both, so much.”

  Danea focused and felt her scales dissolve as she slid along their bodies and lay between them with a contented sigh. They lay together on the sparkling white sands, wondering if their world could possibly be any better.

  Three days before Christmas…a dinner party with friends:

  “She says everything is under control,” Hannah shrugged and sipped from the wine glass between her fingers and thought about the delicious smells coming from the kitchen.

  “Couldn’t get Brea into a dress, either, huh?” Noah looked over at the pair of women seated cross-legged in the center of the rug before the blazing fireplace.

  Jase rolled his eyes and tipped the bottle in his hands up for a swallow.

  “Getting her into something fancy would take more than the two of us,” Nick returned with a half grin.

  “What are they doing?” Noah had been watching for the last ten minutes. Nothing was happening. They sat facing one another with their palms raised and linked in front of them. Their eyes were closed and they were smiling like little kids, an occasional giggle breaking through.

  “It’s a game we use to teach small children to create their play spaces,” Hannah said with a soft laugh at her daughter. “Brea missed all of that…and she’s taken Danea with her.”

  “I can view them,” Wade said quietly, his smile tender. “Danea’s having a good time.”

  “She’s…like…” Noah held up two hands, a few inches apart.

  “She is…with wings,” Noah looked at the desk with a glance at Nick. “Paper and pencil?”

  Nick crossed behind the curious guests and pulled some sheets of paper from the printer before dropping a few pencils to the surface of the desk. All eyes were on Wade as the pencil tip flew over the bare white of the paper.

  “She’s naked?” Noah’s gaze went from the seated pair of women to the paper drawings of two feminine figures with huge lacey wings.

  “Clothing doesn’t travel the realms…usually,” Hannah offered a slight shrug. “If they wanted the illusion of clothi
ng, that is what it would be. Just the illusion.”

  Before anyone else could comment, Wade’s hands slammed onto the desk, his head hanging between his arms and eyes closed.

  “Wade?” Hannah stepped forward, stopping when the two squeals erupted from the other side of the room.

  Danea leaned back, their hands parted and both women gulping in drafts of air. She watched Breanna bounce to her feet, hands rubbing at her side and feet clad in socks pacing across the room where the very silent man sat sipping a glass of wine. He’d been quietly observing, thinking about the first holiday in what felt like eons, where he wasn’t alone. He just wasn’t sure how he felt about it. Yet.

  Dark lashes narrowed. His fingers tightened around the delicate wine glass and his body slowly straightened in the chair. The mannerisms, the gestures of hands wringing and then raking through her hair.

  “Regana?” He heard her name aloud. He knew it’d been his voice even as it shook like it hadn’t in decades.

  “This is how you celebrated our love? Was I so unimportant that you gave up living? You gave up family…when you knew how very vital it was to me?”

  “Brea?” Two male voices spoke softly as they stared at their mate and yet they knew it wasn’t her voice. The movements weren’t hers. The cadence in her tone was different.

  “Don’t…” Wade stepped forward shakily, his hands up and halting their attempt to cross the room.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Jase growled softly.

  “How could you…how…” Breanna’s voice quivered, her fingers abruptly on her lips, her head shaking.

  Danea shook herself and climbed to her feet. She was over and behind Breanna quickly, her hands on her shoulders.

  “Let me,” she said softly, turning Breanna and taking her hands. “I’m stronger. Let me do this…”

  “Danea…” Wade’s hands clenched into tight fists.

  “What’s she doing?” Noah demanded brusquely.

  “It’s alright,” Danea said without looking at anyone but Breanna. “Don’t interfere and be ready to catch her…”

  Before anyone could comment, Nick moved behind Breanna, his hands on her waist seconds before she seemed to melt toward the floor. He gestured to the sofa and handed her to Jase. He pulled a blanket from the back and covered her.

  “Hannah? What is going on?” Rey, Breanna’s father, looked at his wife, puzzled and worried.

  “It’s your mother,” Hannah answered very quietly.

  “Taking Danea into the glen Breanna created made a kind of…it’s not something I could have anticipated…” Wade tried explaining.

  “I am fine,” Danea said firmly, turning back to face the still stunned Sullivan. “I don’t have long so I want you to hear me, Sullivan Moore. You have a huge heart that you kept smothered, hidden from the world…from all but me,” she dropped to her knees in front of him. She took the glass from his hand and set it on the floor before sliding both her hands into his.

  Sullivan tried pulling free, stopping when she said something to him in a soft, low voice. “Regana…” Only she knew their phrase for love, taken from an old text they’d found in a library. One of her favorite outings.

  “I know you will always care for me, Sullivan. I know we will always have love in a portion of the world no one can take from us. But you must live. You deserve to love and laugh and feel. Keep me in our place, but allow another inside. Allow the angel to guide you…”

  “No…I…”

  “Yes. You have a long, long life ahead of you and deserve more than this prison you’ve locked yourself into. I don’t regret loving you. I don’t regret our wonderful son or granddaughter…and soon, grandchildren…but they need you to live. I…need you to live. You must help against those who seek to destroy the lives you love. There is room in your heart for another, surely seeing our granddaughter with two loves has shown you that,” she reached up to stroke his face. “An angel will come to you…live, Sullivan. For our great-grandchildren. Choose to live.”

  Danea felt the surge of heat inside her; she felt the cloud over her senses at the same time she heard the low growl behind her.

  “The rift closed,” Wade moved quickly when Danea swayed. Better him than the growling half. “It wasn’t her touching him, Noah. It was…”

  “Regana,” Danea said softly, her palms against the floor and head hanging down, long platinum hair shielding her for the moment. “I’m okay…I had wings…we were bouncing on the flower tops…” she said with a little giggle. “Pretty blue and silver wings…lacy…”

  “Merry Christmas and I am so very sorry I’m late. I swear, credit cards and shopping were invented by demons,” Camelia burst into the house with a cheerful greeting. Eyes the color of the frigid north widened, her gaze rapidly sweeping the room and her senses fully opened. “Danea?”

  “I’m fine, Mom…check Breanna…she shouldn’t have…she wasn’t strong enough to handle the…the…spirit…”

  “Brea?” Nick fell to his knees in front of her, his hand on her head seconds before Camelia came around the sofa.

  She reached out and stroked over Breanna’s forehead. “You’re fine, child. You’re a very strong woman. Tired…more food for you, I told you that...what happened?”

  “My mother evidently wanted to send a message to my father,” Rey answered when he was sure his voice was working. His hands circled Hannah from behind, her head against his shoulder.

  “Explain,” Camelia repeated firmly.

  “Breanna took Danea into a glen she created and they were playing,” Wade began carefully, trying to explain the game to a non-Fae. “It’s a child’s game. We’re taught to create our own little world to be ourselves, without ever leaving the human bodies we have. I…I should have realized that Danea’s aura…her heritage…would…could have an effect, especially if someone wanted to make contact.”

  “Her heritage?” Sullivan finally spoke, his hand out and sweeping the glass of wine from the floor and draining it in one long swallow.

  “Breanna is fine,” Camelia said again, more firmly, she met the pale brown eyes and shook her head. “You haven’t told them.”

  “I…I wanted to be sure…it’s barely…”

  “Silly child,” Camelia pulled the blanket free and gently placed both her palms on Breanna’s stomach. “I’m a doctor. It’s my job to be accurate. No machine can do this…listen…”

  Silence filled the large open chamber of a living area. But only for a moment. Slowly, strong and steady, the thumping sound began, only to have another join it seconds later.

  Nick fall back onto his behind, his mouth opening and closing.

  “I…you…we…”

  “And he’s the articulate one,” Rey said with a shake of his head.

  “Two,” Breanna whispered, pulling her lower lip between her teeth and blinking back the happy tears.

  “Boys…one light…” Camelia glanced at Jase. “And one dark,” she said with a look at Nick, both men’s expressions running a gauntlet she’d seen so often in her practice. “This time, boys.” She moved away and gestured with a little shooing motion for the others to move across the room. “Perhaps we should leave them alone.”

  “And just who are you?” Sullivan demanded gruffly. Great-grandchildren.

  “Oh…Sullivan Moore, my mother, Camelia,” Danea sighed into the warmth of Wade’s arms around her from behind. “And my heritage…”

  Camelia scowled at the unfamiliar figure. Tall. Dark haired and deep, bottomless eyes that seemed to change colors.

  “Camelia, my grandfather,” Breanna said from her almost smothered position between her two men on the sofa. “Sullivan Moore.”

  “You don’t look like a grandfather,” the silver haired blonde shrugged and extended her palm only to have him scowl a little more at it.

  “Why should her heritage have upset the glen Breanna created? Explain yourself,” he shoved against the arms of the chair and stalked the bottle of wine on the tabl
e that had been set up with appetizers and drinks.

  Wade looked at Hannah and ran a heavy palm along Danea’s arm.

  “I’m not sure what I walked in on, but my daughter would never do anything to disturb anyone, trust me, I’ve tried bringing out her wild side,” Camelia chuckled. “And then she goes and finds it all on her own…”

  “Mother!”

  “Heritage!” Sullivan growled, coming to a stop inches from the tall, curved blonde. He remained immobile when she straightened her shoulders and glared back at him.

  “She’s like her mother…part Arctic mermaid and part angel. Is that a problem for you, grandpa?”

  “Mother!” Danea whispered to keep from letting the laughter free. “Behave yourself. Dinner party. Guests?”

  “Oh, I believe your mother is just fine, Danea,” Hannah laughed and linked her arm with her husband’s. “An angel…who knew…”