by Aaron Crash
They sat on a white bench out front with the parking lot a beautiful sparkle of wet light in front of them. Every so often, the rain-blurred headlights of a car would speed past them on the highway. Mostly, though, it was quiet except for the rain.
“Wow,” Steven said. “This is a downpour. It gets like this in Colorado every once in a while, but this rain goes on and on and on. Damn.”
“At least it’s not snow.” Tessa let out a frustrated gasp. “We’re not out here to talk about the weather, Steven. I don’t know what to think about this whole Merlin is the Slayer news. And those fuckers, those fuckers killed Merlin’s wife. Then they tried to kill him. And that whole situation is just so unfair. He was so close to finding the Holy Grail. You know what I think? I think Arthur and Merlin wanted to do what we’re going to do. Like us, they wanted to fight the shadows of teeth and talon.”
Steven smiled and yawned. “The Wayne twins called them the shadows of fuckwads and dicktards. Or something like that. But yeah, I agree.”
“Chazzie and Pru.” Tessa blew out a lungful of smoke. “They’re trying to get along. Trying. Kind of.”
“Their kind of trying is pretty good.” He frowned at her. “You know you shouldn’t smoke.”
“I know, I know.” She took a drag and held it. “But I like it so much. And it calms me.”
He rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t. Nicotine is a stimulant.”
“And there are much better ways to be stimulated.” She knocked him with her knee. “So, tell me about this marriage thing. Are you giving in to peer pressure?”
“Maybe a little,” Steven admitted. He pulled the piece of notebook paper Sabina had given him out of his pocket. He opened it up. “And here are the marriage vows.”
Tessa leaned in close and read Sabina’s pretty, expressive writing:
WOMAN: I am your everlasting stone.
MAN: I will be the Animus that brings you to life.
WOMAN: I am your crystalline water.
MAN: I will cup you in my hands.
WOMAN: I am your ever-changing sand.
MAN: I will be steadfast in my love.
WOMAN: I am your nourished seed.
MAN: I will be your nourishment.
WOMAN: I am your verdant leaf.
MAN: I will be the sunlight that kisses you.
WOMAN: I am your leaping mind.
MAN: I will be there to catch you when you leap
WOMAN: I am your strong fist.
MAN: And I will be your strength just as you will be mine.
WOMAN: I am your living soul.
MAN: And I will be your heart just as you will be mine.
Reading the words, Tessa could imagine the ceremony. She was okay until she read the last four lines, and then tears filled her eyes. “It’s beautiful.”
Steven folded the piece of paper. “If I was marrying one wife, we could say it to each other. But since I’m probably going to be marrying at least six, we’ll divide up each line. Add some. Subtract some.”
Tessa saw the pattern. “No, don’t you get it. Everything it talks about is connected. It’s the world and our place in it.”
And it meant they’d be tied together forever, like leaves and sunshine. That called for another smoke. She shook another one out. “Okay, so let’s say you and I get hitched, and then, in like twenty years, we’re both fat and unhappy, and then one of us dies. Then what?”
He burst into laughter. “For one, we’ll probably be lucky to live twenty years. And if we’re still alive, you and I will probably live a lot longer than that. Merlin was a human and lived ten thousand years.”
“AnimusChain and FleshForge.” Tessa held the cigarette and let the smoke drift upward. “That’s how they did it, but it won’t be easy. Yet aging is just cellular decay. If we can fix cells, we can fix aging I’m thinking.”
“Maybe.” Steven paused. “Anyway, it’s not like we’re going to have a normal human life. Those days are gone. And I don’t think with how I burn calories, I can get fat.”
“I can,” Tessa sighed, heartbroken. “I am.”
“No, you’re not. Don’t go there, or we’ll be here all night. And you promised me ice cream. That’s the only reason why I’m here.” He grinned to show he was joking.
Tessa turned on him. “For you, this marriage isn’t a big deal. We’re all okay with you sleeping around. For me? Suddenly, I have one penis, and I have to come to terms with that. Tell me truthfully, would you care if I slept with another guy? And don’t weasel out of the question.”
“Fine.” He pinched his lips together, then answered. “No, I don’t like the idea, but I don’t own you. With the marriage, our Animus cores are going to be tied together. I would feel it. Chazzie and Pru couldn’t have sex with me when they were still bound to Carlo Bart Baxter. If you did cheat, I’d know, and I don’t want to experience guy-on-guy action like that.”
Tessa stared out into the night, listened to the rain, and then spoke. “It’s not even like I want other guys. I literally have more women than I could sleep with, and it’s getting to the point where you and I could have a different girl every day of the year. No, it’s loving you. And it’s remembering how devastated my mom was when Dad died. It’s scary, and it makes me feel vulnerable. Then I get pissed that I’m scared that I’m vulnerable. That anger, that fear, it drove Merlin to murder every dragon he could. Emotions! So much fun!” Sarcasm dripped off her words.
“It is simpler for me.” He leaned forward. “I’m going to marry the women in my Escort who want me. At least the core Escort. You don’t have to, Tessa. There wouldn’t be an issue.”
“You say that, and I believe you, but I know myself. If I don’t commit to this, I don’t think I will commit to anything.” Tessa tossed her cigarette into a little puddle in the asphalt. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it. I’m not a bad smoker.”
She sighed again. “I keep thinking about what Eve Downfyre said. I can be who I want to be. And I want to be someone who can commit, and I want to be like Merlin was before Guinevere was killed. I’m close to choosing, Steven.”
He patted her leg. “Good thing we don’t have to decide anything right now. We have a war to win, Icharaam’s shit to find, and of course, we still don’t quite know the full story of who killed Guinevere.”
“Ice cream?” she asked.
“Yes, let’s keep it simple. We’ll eat ice cream and then go to sleep. This is me at my best, lowering my head and doing the next thing in front of me. The end.”
Tessa attacked him, pulled him close, and slipped her tongue into his mouth. “Sex first,” she said.
They rattled into the diner. And yes, sex, with her up against the counter and him behind her. Tessa loved how he filled her, how excited he got, squeezing her hips and thrusting into her. He reached to cup her swinging breasts. The lights were off in the little restaurant, so no one could see them.
Tessa found herself smiling while he pounded her. With how horny humans were, she was sure she wasn’t the first woman to get a little lovin’ in the diner after closing time.
After he finished, they ate ice cream naked at the counter. There was plenty of the creamy deliciousness tucked away in huge containers in the walk-in freezer.
Back at the cabin, Tessa lay in bed, smelling Steven and feeling his body on hers. She was so comfortable. He was still tense. She felt him sigh. She wanted to ask him if he needed to talk more. Then, before she knew it, she was gone from the world, fast asleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
STEVEN LAY AWAKE, LISTENING to Aria’s light snoring and Tessa’s even breathing. Being with them felt so perfect, so right. Why was he even thinking twice about marriage?
Yet he had Tessa’s doubts as well. Watching his mom suffer through Joe Whipp’s hijinks would’ve made anyone wonder why people suffered through holy matrimony.
Not wanting to wake anyone, he pulled up the Path of the Mirror-Souled Dragon.
<<<>>>
<<<>>>
<
br /> PATH OF THE MIRROR-Souled Dragon
HeartStrike
AnimusChain
FleshForge
Enchantrix
StellarFlight
Locked
<<<>>>
He’d leveled again, and he could feel that extra power in him, allowing him a bit more Animus. Yet the real benefit was that he could do more spells with less energy. In that way, leveling had dual benefits.
His eyes went down the list. He couldn’t imagine what that last ability was, or how StellarFlight worked, but he didn’t have to worry about them. For now, FleshForge was his goal. Merlin must’ve used some variation of it to keep himself and Guinevere alive.
Steven found the interplay between AnimusChain and FleshForge and how they could be linked interesting. That was going to be the solution to curing Jared of his MS.
He raised his left hand and concentrated on his missing finger. His core burned with Animus, and every cell in his body was imbued with the mystical energy. He concentrated. He noticed a cut on the back of his hand. Might as well fix that.
To his delight, he felt the damage in his cells there, and the biochemical reactions trying to repair the wound. The white blood cells. The scab. He focused on recreating the cells, one after another, piling up, regenerating, using his very DNA. He flexed his left hand. The scab fell away, and he was healed.
This wasn’t like Magica Cura, which was a simpler process. This was massively complex. He felt drained. Checking his Animus again, he saw that even that little process of healing the scab had cost him nearly a quarter of his energy. It was resource intensive, certainly.
Bruno Illick had given himself a shield arm and a spike during their fight at the Bali waterfall temple. Steven knew he had a long way to go, but he’d taken his first steps.
Before he knew it, he was asleep.
A soft knock on the door woke him up, but Aria and Tessa slept on.
Pru’s voice whispered into the cabin. “Come out, come out wherever you are.”
Steven slid out of bed as quietly as he could. He wanted to see why Pru kept looking at him and what her heated looks meant.
He slipped outside. The little cabins had porches. Rain continued to pour down, but the temperature had dropped considerably. Now, big fat snowflakes joined the rain and the ground was slushy. There were brick paths, however, that led from his cabin to Glick’s Diner. He didn’t worry about shoes. Pru wore a simple jacket and pants. With the amount of skin she was showing and with the way her chest moved, it was clear she wasn’t wearing a bra or a shirt for that matter.
“What’s going on?” Steven asked.
Pru held his hand, and she was trembling a bit. “You’ll see, my Prime. I have to admit, I’m a little scared. I mean, I shouldn’t be, but this is certainly outside my comfort zone. I can’t say more, or I’ll spoil the surprise.”
He knew he couldn’t ask Pru about any ulterior motives she might have because it was important that he showed her he trusted her. They’d come a long way in their relationship, and he wasn’t going to spoil things with any unnecessary questions.
“Lead on,” he said.
The shades on the diner had been closed. Pru got behind him. “Okay, open the door, and you’ll see. It’s kind of what I’ve been wanting since Vail, when Morty brought Denise and Fimi to you as tribute. You’ll see. You’ll see.”
Steven pushed open the door.
Inside, three candles burned on the counter, throwing out a soft light. The tables had been pushed to the side. A single chair sat in the middle of the space, and on that chair was a very naked Sabina. Her eyes weren’t glowing. She sat with her arms behind her and her legs slightly spread.
“Hola?” The Latina Magician called out in a shaky voice tinged with a subtle fear. “Who’s there?”
Pru came up behind Steven. He was in sweats and a T-shirt. One of her hands went up his shirt to feel the muscles of his chest, while her other hand went down his pants to grip his growing erection. “It’s us, Sabina. We can see you. You’re excited, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” the Latina Magician said in choked voice. “You can see me, can’t you? You can see, and you want to take me.”
“We do.” Pru kissed Steven’s neck. She licked his ear. Her voice was a whisper. “We’ve been talking about this. I wasn’t sure I could do this with the both of you, but I wanted to try. Sometimes I don’t understand this dominant thing I have going on, but Sabina suggested you and I try it on her. Do you want to fuck her with me?”
“I do.” He winced at the pleasure of her hand on him. And of seeing Sabina so vulnerable and open. Sabina loved her games. She had quite the imagination.
“Look at her,” Pru said. “Look at her tits, those nipples. Sometimes she likes it when I pull on them. And sometimes she likes it when I get rough. We can do what we want with her. Anything we want.” The Texas woman’s perfume was sweet, but there was a definite musk there as well. She was excited.
He found it hard to talk. A knot had formed in his throat. “Is that right, Sabina? Can we do what we want with you?”
“Yes.” She opened her legs wider. “Can I touch myself?”
“No, you can’t,” Pru said sharply. “I’ll tell you what you can and can’t do. I’m in charge. Got it?”
“Yes.” She whimpered and closed her legs and writhed a bit on the chair. It was obvious she was trying to scratch her horny itch herself.
“No. Keep them open.” Pru took hold of Steven’s shirt and pulled it off him. She then pulled his pants all the way down and off.
He stepped out of them. He was as naked as Pru was.
“Do you like how you feel in this place?” the Texas girl asked Sabina. “It’s just a normal place, where normal people go, and here you are, naked, excited, getting that chair wet. Do you like it?”
“I shouldn’t, but I do,” the Latina woman said, breathless.
He didn’t doubt her. She loved pushing her limits, and that word, “shouldn’t,” added to the taboo nature of the encounter.
Pru stroked him. “Steven is naked. I’ve got him in my hand, and he’s getting so excited, looking at you. You want us to go over there to you, don’t you? You’re going crazy.”
“Si, I am, so crazy.” Sabina closed her legs again, then remembered that was against the rules. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I won’t do it again. I promise.”
“But you did it once. And I’ll have to punish you. Get down on your knees.” Pru left Steven. She unzipped her jacket and dropped it. Her sandals went next, followed by her pants. All three of them were naked now. All were breathing heavily. Animus swirled around them in the diner, so much so, the candles flickered. The rain beat down on the roof.
Steven stayed where he was. He wanted to see what kind of punishment Pru had in mind.
Sabina slid off the chair and knelt there on the yellowed linoleum floor.
Pru approached her. Her ample ass rose and fell. Her curves caught the candlelight. She got in front of Sabina and pushed her sex into the kneeling woman’s face. “You certainly know what to do. You certainly know what I want. Do it. Do it to me good.”
Sabina followed directions, pleasuring Pru while she stood over her. Sabina’s brown hands looked so dark compared to the pale freckled hips of the Texas woman.
Pru called to Steven over her shoulder. “Come on, Steven, because she didn’t follow directions, you get to punish her too.”
He came around to the side, to appreciate Sabina’s heavy breasts as she leaned forward, her face between Pru’s legs. Sabina’s nose pressed into Pru’s pubic hair.
When he got close, Sabina switched to him. Her mouth felt so good. Right when he thought he would lose control, she switched back to Pru, who clutched the kneeling woman’s head, her fists full of Sabina’s dark hair. “Yes, I know you want your turn. I know you’re so hot. I know you wanted to rub yourself, but I didn’t let you. I...didn’t...let...you.” She turned to Steven. “You know what’s going to happe
n. You’re going to watch me come.”
“I’m watching,” he said thickly.
Pru lost herself in the bliss, her skin glowing as the Animus filled her. Sabina sat back, breathing hard. She lifted her face to Steven. “Can I do him now, Prudence?”
Pru went around to her back. “You better. And you better do it well. I’m going to ask him, and if he’s not satisfied, there’ll be consequences.”
Sabina went to work on him.
Pru got up close to them, kissed him, and then sucked on his tongue just as Sabina was sucking on another part of him. “Is she doing good? Do you like it? Do you think she’s giving it her all?”
He couldn’t talk. The question, the sensations, the oddity of being naked in such a normal place was too much for him. Sabina knew what was coming, and she didn’t slow her movements. In fact, she used her hand and mouth with more vigor. She wanted to taste him.
He’d been with Tessa that night, in the diner, but his libido had become as supercharged as everything else about him. And he knew, with how hot these two had gotten him, he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just one orgasm.
He was tossed into ecstasy. Sabina knew enough to stop, to let him enjoy the pleasure, as every cell in his body rejoiced in the Animus.
Again, Sabina eased back. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Have I done well? Is it my turn now?”
“Greedy!” Pru snapped. “But I’m feeling generous. You can get on the chair. You can touch yourself now. But give us a show. If Steven likes it, well, I might just let him fuck you. But only after he fucks me.”
Sabina found her way back to the chair. This time, she caressed a nipple while she rubbed herself into a climax. It didn’t take long. Her skin glowed as well as she took in the mystical energy of life itself.
It was a good show, without a doubt.
Pru was true to her word. She ordered Sabina off the chair, sat Steven down, and rode him until she was satisfied. Then the Texas woman sat on the chair.
