Midnight Squad: The Ties That Bind

by J. L. M. Visada

  I reached out and held Penny by her chin, “Have you been a good girl?” I asked as seductively as I could.

  “Yes.” Penny’s voice was breathy, and there was no hiding her arousal. I glanced over her shoulder, and Grim looked ready to explode into laughter.

  “You’re such a good girl. I’m so proud of you.” I pulled on her chin, and she stood toe to toe with me. Our chests were pressed together, and I could see her nipples standing out through the fabric. Penny’s eyes had that dreamy look that only lust can bring out in people. “Now, be my good girl and go back to your room. Grim needs his rest. Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of him. Now hurry back and get your rest, because we have a long day tomorrow.”

  “We…we do?” Penny leaned in like she was going to kiss me, and normally I’d have let her. Heck, let her…I’d have begged for it, but that wasn’t going to get her out of the room. So instead, I leaned back, and placed a finger over her mouth.

  “Now now…someone’s trying to be naughty.” I pressed myself up against her. “You know bad girls get punished.” Before Penny could think about what I said, I reached around her and gave her bottom a good smack. It stung my hand, but Penny practically melted through the floor. “You don’t want to be a bad girl, do you?”

  Penny shook her head. “I’ll be good.”

  “Yes, you will.” I reached around and grabbed a handful of her hair. I then gave it a sharp tug, and Penny whimpered with desire. “And good girls have to go to bed now.” I then led her by the handful of hair out through the door. Once Penny was outside I closed the door behind her and made my way back to Grim.

  He was laughing his head off, “I never thought I’d see the day Penny would be reduced to a drooling little sex monkey.”

  I slipped into bed beside him. “Should I be ashamed that I had so much fun doing that?”

  Grim shook his head and chuckled, “Nope. In fact, I’m just amazed that you could do that to her. Even I can’t get her like that. Her legs were like Jell-O after you gave her butt that pop. I kept expecting her to pin you down on the bed and ride you like she stole you.”

  We both laughed, and Grim turned off the light. I snuggled into his chest. I felt safe, secure, and at home. It just felt like I belonged right here, but there was still something missing. I had the distinct impression that what was missing was standing outside my door right now. Tonight wasn’t a night to find out, though. Grim was too sick, but tomorrow is another day.

  I closed my eyes, and Grim was already starting to snore. He must have been exhausted. I snuggled in a little more, and then I heard a thump against the door. It was only a guess, but it sounded like someone had just smacked their head against my door. A few seconds later I heard a very confused Penny mumble, “What the hell just happened?”

  Chapter 23

  I woke up and gave a big catlike stretch. My back was arched, pushing the girls high up into the air. If I’d slept any better it might have qualified as a coma. I glanced over. Grim was watching me through half-open eyes. “Well, I wasn’t aware I was getting a floor show, but I sure do appreciate it.” He winked and gave me a sly grin. I had the distinct feeling he’d been watching over me for a while. I wanted to ask, but if I got the answer I thought I’d get, then my next question would be why. Somewhere deep down I knew the answer to that question, and it scared me.

  I gave the best answer a girl should give to any man that was ogling a woman without her permission, a sharp elbow to the ribs. Momma would have been proud. Grim yelped, “What was that for?” He sounded gruff, but the grin on his face told me he knew exactly why I elbowed him.

  “So what’s the plan for today?” I asked.

  “Well I’m a lot better today, but it’s probably still going to be a couple of hours before I get my legs back under me. That being said, I need you to keep Penny away from me. I’m still woozy, and that means I’m irresistible to our frisky little bloodsucker. Normally that would suit me just fine, but I have a feeling that if Penny jumps my bones before I really get my legs under me, then I’ll probably take a turn for the worse. Which means I’d just about have to beat that girl off with a stick. Of course, normally that would still suit me pretty good, but the problem is that it becomes a vicious cycle. The sicker I get, the more she’s going to want to hump the stuffing out of me, and the more we go at it, the sicker I’ll get.”

  “Well, at least you’d die with a smile on your face.” I laughed.

  “Yeah, at least until she crushes my pelvis or the friction burns start setting in. So I need you to buy me a few hours. Keep Penny busy so that I have time to get my wind back. I’ll stay here and Janine and I can try and see what else she can do. That furry convention is going on downstairs. Penny loves arts and crafts. I saw an artist’s alley down there when we were signing in. Take her there, and maybe do a few of the activities with her. It’ll be a big favor to me.”

  “What about Niki, Danika, and Katy?” I asked.

  “Katy will probably be busy visiting her parents, and working with that coven. Niki and Danika might go with you, but who knows? Now go get ready because the longer we wait, the more likely Penny will come this way. Now I still haven’t figured out how you turned her into a frisky little drool-monkey last night, but sexy as it was, I wouldn’t go counting on being able to do that to her again. I mean sure, it might work, but as much as Penny hates losing control, it is just as likely that she might hand you your ass, and then she’d turn her attention to me. Then I’m screwed…literally.”

  I smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Okay, I’ll keep her busy. Besides, it should be fun.”

  “Great, maybe I’ll be all better by tonight, and then we can all go to the dance .” Grim grinned.

  “So Grimmy will be shaking his groove thing tonight?” I asked.

  “If it means I get to slow dance with my hands around Penny, then I’ll shake whatever it takes. Girl is smoother than oil, and any chance to get her writhing around me in something sexy is worth it.” Grim’s eyebrows danced.

  “And, what if you aren’t feeling better by then?”

  “Well, then hopefully I’ll at least be well enough to fake it by then. Now go get ready, and don’t forget to get something to eat. If you start getting weak from hunger, then Penny will notice it, and she’ll start getting pretty hungry herself. So remember to go straight to breakfast first.”

  I nodded. It felt pretty good to know someone was looking after me. The big guy really cares about me, and for a moment I really considered just pulling up the blanket and snuggling up in bed for the rest of the day. That sounded so good, but if I did that, then Penny would eventually make her way in here, and that would end badly.

  I hopped into the shower, made myself the squeakiest of clean, and then wrapped myself in a towel. I still needed clothes, but unfortunately my clothes were still back in my room. So I double checked my towel. The last thing I wanted was to give Joseph a preemptive peepshow. I walked past him to head towards my room.

  “DD?”

  I turned at the door, “Yes?”

  “Remember to wear your body armor. Make sure the others do the same. Nobody leaves this floor without their armor under their clothing.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Yes, mother.”

  “I mean it. Things are pretty bad, and anything we can do to mitigate the risk is a good idea.” Concern leaked through his features. I nodded, and left to get dressed.

  I got dressed, and made my way to Penny’s room. I knocked and the door popped open almost immediately. “How’s Grim?”

  I nearly made the mistake of actually telling her, but then I realized that the truth would end badly for Grim. “Joseph is fine. He sent me down here. He’s going to be busy with Janine for most of the day, and he said you and I should go down and enjoy the furry convention. So how about you get dressed, we’ll check and see if Niki and Danika want to come with us, then we’ll go down and get breakfast. After breakfast we can take in some of the convention’s activi
ties, and maybe get some souvenirs.”

  “Okay, give me a minute.” Penny stepped back inside to change clothes.

  “Don’t forget to slide on your body armor.”

  “Fine, but it’s not like I need it.” Penny’s voice was muffled by the door.

  She popped back out wearing a short sleeve shirt and some tight fitting jeans. The shiny body armor that stretched down her arms gave her a sort of bondage meets girl next door look. Of course, Penny looked great in anything. I wish I could say the same. I still had to spend hours searching through clothing stores to find something that flattered me. Why in the world fashion designers make clothes for a size two to four when the average woman wears a size fourteen is beyond me. It always struck me that if they really cared about their customers, they’d make clothes that looked good on their average customer. Instead, I have to deal with clothes that never quite fit the way they look in magazines. Meanwhile, Penny looks like she’s ready to walk down a catwalk at any given moment. Anyone that says the customer is always right never tried to buy a pair of jeans that fit comfortably and still made their butt look good.

  We walked down towards Niki and Danika. Penny knocked, the door opened, and both girls peeked their heads out. “Hi…um…we're kind of indisposed.” Niki laughed.

  “Yeah, leave a message at the beep.” Danika giggled.

  They slammed the door in our face and then both started cackling, “Beep!”

  “Rude!” Penny grumbled.

  “I guess the girls are having a little private time. I can’t say they haven’t earned it. Yesterday was a heck of a day.” I pounded on the door. It cracked open, and Danika peeked around the edge of the door.

  “A little busy here.” Danika gasped. I didn’t even want to guess what Niki was doing to her on the other side of the door.

  “Just remember, if you leave this floor put on your armor.” I said.

  “Oh that won’t be a problem. I think we’ll be here for quite a while.” Danika looked down and behind her, “Right, baby?”

  “Yeth, g’na be v’ry buthy! Now g’way.” Niki’s voice was muffled as though she had it covered with something. Danika slammed the door, and I heard her gasp in pleasure. Whatever Niki was doing was being very well received.

  “Well, I guess it’s just you and me. I’m thinking that now would be a great time to go downstairs and see if they make a halfway decent omelet.” I turned towards the elevator.

  “Aren’t we going to check on Katy?” Penny asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sure she’d like some breakfast, too.” We walked over to Katy’s door and knocked.

  The door swung open, and the coven was standing on the other side. They were standing between us and Katy. A hello would have been nice, but instead they just stared at us as if we’d stepped in something nasty. Katy peaked over the coven, “Hey guys, what’s up?”

  “We thought you might be hungry. Want some breakfast? You can bring your new friends.” The girls in the coven didn’t look like they were in a particularly sociable mood. A few of them sneered at us. I guess we weren’t really going to fit in with the witch clique.

  “I’m not really hungry right now. I have a lot to do before I can go visit my parents. I need to coordinate with the girls here to make sure they’re going to know where to go, and what to do. If we’re going to have any chance of catching Janine’s body, then we’ll have to be very precise in where we put the containment symbols. Not to be rude, but we’ve got a lot of planning ahead, and this conversation is keeping me from getting things ready so that I can get back to my parents. We’ll chat later, okay?” Without even waiting for a response, Katy closed the door.

  “Well Rudolph, it looks like nobody wants to let us play in their reindeer games.” Penny said, and then with a shrug, she headed towards the elevator. I followed her in and we hit the button to go down to the hotel restaurant.

  “So, how did you sleep?” I asked in an effort to make idle chit-chat.

  “You’re kidding, right? After what you pulled, you expected me to sleep?” Penny glared at me.

  “Sorry?”

  “Sorry, she says. You’re lucky I don’t press the stop button and give you a good tongue lashing right here and now.” Penny was trying to sound angry, but the sheepish grin was a dead giveaway, and I’m pretty sure that her version of a tongue lashing was a lot more pleasant than it sounded.

  “So what did you do all night, then?” I asked.

  “I did what Grim asked me to. I eavesdropped on our two little hostages.”

  “What?”

  Penny smiled, “Didn’t you wonder why we hadn’t let them go? Grim had me listening to them all night.”

  “But I thought we were pretty sure that they didn’t know anything?”

  “We are, but that doesn’t mean we just let them go. They may know things, and not really be aware of it, and they might just be really incredible liars. So I’ve been listening in from another room while we leave them alone. So far it’s nothing but sappy I love you and I’ll protect you from the big people kind of stuff from Who, and Twilight keeps talking about having Who’s babies and being his loving wife forever. So it’s pretty useless, but maybe we’ll stumble into a gem if we keep listening. Even right now I have a digital tape recorder nearby where they can’t see it. Later tonight I’ll listen to it to see if there is anything useful in it for us.”

  “What are we going to do with them after it’s all over?” I asked, and I was pretty scared that I already knew the answer.

  “I don’t know. If it was up to me…I’d let Danika eat them both and be done with it. Grim might let them live though. He is a big softie for all this romance crap. I think the little blue bastards had him on their side the moment they started talking about getting married.”

  “It’s not crap, its sweet. I think you’re right though. I think that when they started talking about love and marriage, they won Grimmy over to their corner.”

  Penny rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s Grim, a six foot six inch, two hundred and fifty pound cupid. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to help Who out. Maybe set him up with a bird house by the ocean for a honeymoon suite.”

  I laughed. It was good to feel so at ease with Penny, and I was happy to see her relax and open up to me. She wasn’t trying to be little Miss Perfect. I always hated when she started that. She also wasn’t driving me crazy by being a pompous jerk. Getting all bossy, and asserting that somehow since she’s a vampire that her poop doesn’t stink. Well okay, so she doesn’t actually poop, but that isn’t the point. It was just good that we were getting along so well, and so of course I just had to risk it all.

  “Why don’t you want to marry Joseph?”

  Penny’s eyes locked onto me, “Drop this…now.”

  I wanted to do exactly that, but unfortunately my mouth had an entirely different idea, “You know he loves you, and it’s pretty obvious that you love him. So why did you say no when he asked you to marry him? Is it really because of your dad?”

  “He told you about that, huh?”

  “Yeah, but I wanted to come to you. The big guy loves you. Isn’t there any way you could talk to your father about this?”

  Penny’s eyes turned to two icy slits, “My father…” Her shoulders then sagged, and she looked ready to cry, “My father would not allow it. He’d kill Joseph the first chance he got. I’m assuming that he explained the circumstances.” I nodded, and then Penny sighed, “Some days I dream about being free. About making my own life, and never having to answer to my father again, but this isn’t like a normal family. In my family’s line, my father makes all the calls. The only choice I have is to either accept his decision, or give up my family line.” Penny was scared just talking about it.

  “Give up your family line? What is that?”

  Penny spoke nervously, “I’m old enough that I could renounce my line. Any vampire over a century old can renounce their line. They gain their freedom.”

  “Why not
just do that? It seems like a perfect solution.”

  Penny shook her head, “Nobody is foolish enough to do something like that. Vampires are known to prey on other vampires. The only thing that protects the weaker vampires from the stronger ones is the ties they have to their line. A younger vampire can request the protection of an older vampire through the blood line. To renounce your line is to surrender any protection you might have against older, more powerful vampires. No one would ever be insane enough to just toss away the only real protection they have.”

  “I don’t know, it seems like a pretty horrible way to live, and you always seemed…braver than this. I just have a hard time seeing you afraid to go out and take what you want.”

  “Yes, but I already know that what I want would make me a target for any older vampire. I might be able to put up a fight, but they don’t fear me. As much as I hate to admit it, my father hasn’t exactly done a particularly good job of making us a feared line amongst vampires. He’s royalty, and he was always used to being pampered. So we’re seen as one of the softer lines. They’d see me as a potential meal. Frankly, I’d be lucky if all they did was drain me dry. I’m not exactly hard to look at, and you know how our feeding instincts get all twisted up with our sexual instincts. Some old vampire might just keep me around as his own sex slave to use up and then drink dry in a century or two after he grows bored with me.” Penny sounded certain, and it wasn’t like I could argue. She knew her culture much better than I did.

  “So how did your father become his own line?”

  Penny looked at me nervously. Her mouth started to open, but then the elevator dinged and opened. Well, so much for vampire history 101 as taught by Penny. She headed off to the restaurant with me in tow. By her expression, she was truly relieved to have escaped our conversation. As we neared the restaurant we saw a group of mostly men standing in the lobby handing out fliers. At the center of the group was Samuel, dressed in what had to be his Sunday best. They were holding signs that said things like, 'Aids is the cure to the disease of homosexuality', 'America=Fagland;, 'Furries=Fags in Dress up' 'Furries=Queers+Beastiality', and a bunch of others. For some reason, there was also a sign protesting Sweden. Not the people or anything they do; just the existence of the country itself. Penny and I both froze in shock.