Endangered Ch. 12

"I will face any challenge," Immi purred, a sleepy smile on her little lips. "In a few hours."

"Talk to her, Chris," Annabel implored, locking eyes to drive home her request. "She's too ashamed to say anything, but I know she's pining for you. It must be eating her up inside, the intimacy you two had is a hard thing to lose all of a sudden."

"I will," he promised. "I will, it's just that I've been so busy."

"About humping specifically, Chris. You've been ploughing Claire like a farmer's best potato field, so you're not that busy. No wheedling out, it's very unbecoming for a dragon."

"I ... shit. I've been supportive, haven't I? I didn't want to rush into things after such a ... Well, you know what I mean, right? That plant is mega-creepy."

"Yes, Babe, it is. And everyone agrees you've been great in every way but one."

"The one that counts," Immi sniggered.

"Quiet you," Annabel had to suppress a smile at her lover's antics, this was serious brood-business. "Chris, we're all here to help any way we can, but you can't avoid this. You need to show her she's still loved, still part of your brood, evil-wooden-tentacle-thingys and all."

"I know, Dee. I just ... okay, today. I'll talk to her today, that's a promise."

"Thank you." She leaned into him, kissing his lips softly. It was a gesture full of heartfelt affection. That kiss of hers had something about it that made him feel like he was a hot stack of pancakes, and she the delicious butter melting all over him. It was wholesome, it was great. "Now, I'll give you five more minutes of cuddle time, then you'd better get going. No point in wasting your valuable time if you're already up."

"Only five minutes?" he complained. "It's so early. I suppose you'll be getting up too? More magic practice?"

"Hmm, too cold. Besides, we need our beauty sleep." Annabel shook her head, smiling teasingly at him across the pillow. Her beautiful brown eyes looked so playful in the dim bedroom that Chris was tempted to try his luck and crawl on top of her again.

"Yeah," Immi agreed, patting her tummy under the covers. "I'm a growing sprite, and I need my rest. Go build us a house or something."

"Ppbbpbpbbb," Chris exhaled through his lips like an exasperated equine. "What do you think I've been doing all Autumn? You'd think a hard-working dragon would get some appreciation here and there."

"You can't complain if you insist on keeping it some big mystery," Annabel rebutted.

"Fine, fine!" he admitted good-naturedly, giving them each one last peck before swinging his legs out of bed and sitting up. "Be ready, though, the big reveal is only days away."

"I wonder," his First purred leadingly, rolling lazily to watch as he headed for the bathroom again.

"What's that?" he asked.

"I was thinking that the brood will have to put our heads together and come up with a suitable celebration, a private housewarming?"

He paused, looking wistfully back at the two bed-haired beauties grinning enticingly at him. Annabel wriggled her eyebrows jauntily, mischief, love, and sex peeking up at him under the covers from lovely brown eyes. Right then he wanted nothing more than to snuggle back in beside them and let his responsibilities fade away for a day or two. Unfortunately, it just couldn't be.

In the steamy embrace of an invigorating shower, his imagination churned. What intriguing rewards might Annabel and the girls come up with? Would they love the new house as much as he hoped? These and other thoughts delayed him, so that much of the household was up and about by the time he emerged.

It seemed everyone was rising earlier these days. Chris suspected that it was a show of solidarity, at least on behalf of Claire, Petra, and Hailey, whose schedules weren't nearly as full or regimented as his own. They certainly didn't need to be up at this early hour, but when he emerged, clothed and ready for the day, there they were, waiting to pounce.

Chris held his breath as a pyjama-clad, grabby dragoness snared him on the couch and tried to turn simple good-morning-kisses into much more. Petra wasn't above using small wafts of her pheromones to overcome his resistance, but for now, he had firm control on his desires. There was the unspoken taste of competition hanging in the air. Sure enough, Claire tried her own tricks to keep him on the sofa with her too.

Hailey, he used as a brief respite, a safe shelter before he dove headlong into the midst of hurricane Michelle-Lillian. The studious young woman was up early, a mug of fragrant chocolate clutched in both hands as she re-read the figures and equations she'd been working on the previous evening. Chris thought she looked simply adorable sitting there in a pink towelling robe, a stern frown of concentration on her brow. Dogeared papers, scribbled flow diagrams, and a sketch or two clearly declared a section of the large dining room table hers. She held reign there in no uncertain terms whenever she stayed over. Chris couldn't wait to at least get her her own room, it was the very least she deserved.

"How's it going?" He whispered near her ear, draping himself over her chair from behind.

Smiling, Hailey eagerly guided his arms around her, leaning up for a soft kiss as they hugged.

"I think I've cracked it," she enthused quietly. "At least it's good enough to send away for review. Isabella said she knows some folks she can consult without giving away, you know, our magical goose."

"Miss Sibon," he protested jokingly, nuzzling aside the robe to get at the tender flesh above her irresistible collar bone. "I'll have you know that as a dragon, I resent the unfavourable comparison to a honking barnyard bully."

She began giggling and squirming at the ticklishness of his whisper-soft kisses and warm puffs of air.

"Chris, eeek ... stop! Stop," Hailey gasped breathlessly, chest just starting to heave. Her next words were quiet, almost conspiratorial. "I'm full, you'll make me let down."

"Mhhhh," he growled low. "You smell delicious. Let me greet the others, and then we'll go take care of that. Can you hold on?"

"Uh-huh. But Chris, before you go off making plans for the day, can we please go over some of the math for my equations tonight? If you're going to be manipulating the orbs like this, I think you'll have to understand the underlying calculations and parameters on a very detailed level."

"Sure, Mini Moo, how about after dinner? You'll have to be patient with me though, math was never my strong suit."

"It's okay." Hailey leaned her head back against his shoulder, hands reaching up to trail through his shower-damp hair. "I managed to teach you a little particle physics, so there's hope yet. But remember, we need gold, it's going to take a lot."

"Already on it. Okay, I'm going in, how are the waters this morning?" Chris glanced up to the other end of the table where Michelle sat, diligently typing away on her laptop. His eyes tracked over to Lillian, who sat at the kitchen bar, glancing daggers at Michelle with all her voluptuous glory. When she caught him looking, the vampiress quickly went back to scrolling through something on her phone, guilty as could be.

"Warmer today, I think," whispered Hailey as she glanced from one woman to the other. "The icebergs are melting."

"Well, shit. Wish me luck."

Chris felt Lillian watching him with those dark, hungry eyes as he left Hailey and headed toward the kitchen. His path to the coffee-making supplies took him between the vampire and his human Familiar, and he rightly sensed that it would be a mistake to greet either of them and thus invite a perceived favour.

In a possibly foolhardy show of neutrality, he breezed past the both of them, collected the parts of the espresso maker from a cupboard, and began assembling the little stovetop device. He forced himself to ignore his dragon's instincts, the warning tingle on his neck as he exposed his back to a moody bloodsucker.

If she did pounce on him, it would probably be to devour him with kisses and 'love bites'. Probably. There would still be an excruciating half-second of limbo, as she lunged through the air, where he wouldn't be able to tell.

Lillian was deep in the midst of a vamp-sulk that had already lasted two days. In an unfortunate turn of events, she'd been kept from claiming him on the evening she'd somewhat jokingly purchased from Michelle at great expense. Though the money apparently did change hands.

He was still struggling with Lillian's wealth. Tithe wasn't in his vocabulary six months ago, let alone a few weeks.

But it was Lillian's mounting shifts with Reyla that set them down this path, in Chris' opinion anyway. For amongst the recent inflow of migrants to Reyla's territory, a pair of unruly werecat brothers were attempting to set up an ambitious little protection racket. The more vulnerable Being merchants and crafts folk had initially yielded to the sly new bullies, which only served to make them bolder. Other, more recently immigrated Beings were easy targets too, unsure of the local customs and low on social connections to fall back on. But when Lillian came calling to adjust their attitudes on Reyla's behalf, they'd foolishly tried their luck at giving her a thumping. When cornered and without options, perhaps they saw it as an opportunity to raise their standing in the underground hierarchy.

Lillian was forced to employ the controlled wrath of a five-hundred-year-old vampiress. Though their teamwork and lightning-fast reflexes had been an invigorating test of her abilities, she'd left two huge leopards yowling and bruised in the basement of some construction site. She was impressed by the fight they'd put up. They were to inquire with Reyla's second, Timothy, for jobs, or get the hell out of town. After all, rival protection crews didn't tolerate trespass or competition well.

If the two felines could crack heads so ambitiously to line their pockets, perhaps they could be convinced to do so more legitimately for Reyla.

So, when Lillian returned home after midnight to find Michelle capitalising on her absence, she'd flipped out a little. Okay, she'd lost it.

Perhaps Chris could have used better judgement. But it turned out that Michelle could be remarkably persuasive in a sexy, hard to argue-with way. She almost came at him like a prosecutor, eroding away his defence from every angle with logic and evidence. They'd been mating furiously against a doorframe in Michelle's bedroom when they were caught red-handed.

Of course, in seducing him in Lillian's continued absence at eleven pm that fateful evening, Michelle hadn't done anything that Lillian wouldn't have done in a heartbeat, were they to exchange shoes. Lillian even admitted so afterwards, promising that she wasn't truly upset. However, her aggressive vampirism over the last few days told a slightly different story.

At least Lillian's newly encouraged vampiric side had targeted him to vent the worst of her feelings and not Michelle, at least not physically. If it weren't for being a dragon, he would be sporting more than a few stiff muscle groups after their savage love making last night. That wasn't even counting the sparring which came beforehand. This new Lillian was frightfully strong. He could handle that, barely, but he worried that the incident was derailing his progress with her vampiric side.

So now he weathered the storm of Lillian's possessive brand of ire.

By rote, he reached for a new foil packet of coffee grounds, ripping the top clean off. Rich, earthy coffee hit his senses like a moist, oncoming sea breeze. He inhaled deeply, thoughts of Lillian banished by olfactory overload. With his acute, draconic sense of smell, a fresh pack of coffee was a whole-body experience to be enjoyed.

It was almost a physical thing, as though someone had poured an entire hessian sack full of fresh-roasted beans into a wood-chipper and aimed the chute at his face. He could taste hints of a hundred flavours, from delicate hidden chocolate all the way through the pallet to deep, satisfying bitterness. It was hard to resist. He brought it to his nose and drew in another breath, enjoying the sensory immersion.

Lillian chose her moment correctly.

"Aaeeekk!" Chris yelped rather unmanfully as she slid her arms silently around his torso. From behind, her every curve moulded warm against his back. She hugged him with arms seemingly made of steel cable. He tried to salvage his dignity by trailing off in a deep, throaty rumble, but who was he kidding really? She'd struck, and from their time sparring, he knew he was at her mercy in this position. Telekinesis would hold her feet to the floor, and there would be no throwing her at all.

"You let your guard down, young one," she tsked softly, putting her chin on his shoulder, embracing him almost exactly as he'd done with Hailey moments ago. None of his brood but her could match his height like that, his beautifully dangerous warrior woman.

"I guess that means I must trust you," he chuckled, pressing back into her tall, lush figure. Now was no time to be nervous, and moving away would be a mistake. By the way she held her hands carefully but firmly on his tummy, he suspected that her sharp, dark claws were out. That also meant that her fangs were probably poised near his skin, her eyes unnerving pools of darkness. He was definitely dealing with the vampiress.

"Foolish," she chided without sting, pressing herself closer still, smooshing sweater-covered breasts against him, warm and resistant.

"Well I'm not about to apologise for that, Lillian," Chris turned his head, kissing her chin briefly, trying for nonchalance as he got back to preparing Susan's morning brew. "Besides, I have you to be eternally vigilant for me. And seeing as our existence together could be neigh-eternal, I figure I'll pass off that responsibility early on in the piece, perhaps to someone with more experience? I mean, if I can't relax at home with you, what's the point in any of this?"

"You should be ready to defend yourself at any moment. I'm training your body, but your mindset still holds you back," the vampire paused, thinking over his words. "I should not care for such things, but thank you. It is a touching sentiment even if -"

"Lillian," he spoke firmly, interrupting her. He turned slowly, forcefully inside her arms. She let him, pulling back only slightly, watching warily until they were nose to nose. Those pitch-black eyes stared right back at him, seemingly soulless, though he knew that couldn't be further from the truth. "No buts. I love you, crazy vampire baggage and all. I'm glad that you and this dark-eyed ancient parasite of yours are coming to terms, even if you are a homicidal, possessive pain in my ass sometimes. We are going to spend happy centuries together if I get my way. Please don't feel insecure about what happened with Michelle the other night."

"Chris, I ... we are...," she faltered, eyes swirling to a mottled brown for a moment before the black closed in again, darker than ever. "I ... I am possessive, untrusting, a wicked creature. I don't know if that will ever change."

"And that's okay," he assured, taking one of her hands from his side and gently pulling it to his lips. Carefully, he kissed the backs of each deadly, obsidian talon that had grown from her nail beds. "I just want to make sure you're okay. I'll be your rough-sex, punching-bag, blood-box dragon forever and ever if that's what it takes because you're a friend."

They were silent for a long, stretching moment filled with questing black eyes. Finally, the beast sighed, relaxing as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Can I feel it again? Please?"

"Of course," he smiled softly.

By dragon instinct, Chris reached outward with his power, closing his eyes to visualise the traces of himself, of his magic that swirled nearby. His itch was still lurking in her, diluted into almost every cell, mingling with the parasitic things that animated them like skilled puppet masters.

He inhaled slowly, deeply, and as he let the breath go, Chris poured out all the warmth, love, desire, and acceptance he felt for all of his mates. Concentrating, he poured these emotions and more outward to Lillian, to all his growing children and their beautiful mothers, connected by his dragon's magic.

Channelling the effect like that was quite draining, but worth it to feel her quiver and relax, to hear the quiet hitch of stalled breath. He managed a good few seconds, but as always, his focus began to degrade by the moment. His hold on it slipped through his loosening mental grasp like an oiled eel, single-minded focus replaced ever more rapidly by incongruous fancy, then frustration at his own failure. Chris cut the effect before he passed his weak-willed disappointment down their link. He opened his eyes.

"I want you," the vampiress husked deep, her accent thick and adorable. Her forehead bumped into his, their noses brushing. "Now."

"Lillian," he protested wryly. "We can't. You know I -"

"I know, I know." She flicked her head tempestuously, filling the air with the warm, honeyed scent of her hair as she reluctantly let him out of their embrace. "Go, before I rip these stupid clothes off and gobble you all up."

"Well, actually I was the one in the kitchen so...."

"Go," she purred dangerously. Her eyes darkened again, and she placed warding hands against his chest.

It was time to retreat. Chris hastily filled the coffee pot with water, screwed it together and put it on the stove at medium heat. The vampiress didn't move, playing out some internal struggle between human and base instinct as he bustled to get out of her way.

Logically, Lillian knew that she couldn't have him whenever the desire struck her. They both had busy schedules, vital work to do to keep both this strange, growing family and the magical world outside on-track. She needed to share him, not monopolise his time and affection. These notions, however, were foreign to the awakened entity lurking within. Facing a multitude of challenging and human impressions on a daily basis was hard for it. So was trusting, after being wrestled into subservience and magical incarceration for so long. That previously beaten-down creature hadn't had to care for social niceties before, nor decencies and morals. They were both learning, both growing, human and vampire together ... and the tiny bundle of precious life deep inside her.

"Chris," she spoke softly as he turned to leave. "Thanks."

"Any time, gorgeous," he winked back.

It was unfair, she thought, far more knowing than a boy of nineteen had any right to be.

With twenty minutes or so until the coffee would be ready, and banned from the near vicinity of Lillian on pain of ravishment, Chris went to pay his dues to Michelle. Only, she was in no mood to be pestered, however lovingly. She was muttering under her breath, shaking her head as she blitzed out a politely scathing email. Apparently, the upcoming UN summit was being stalled again by some faction of the government.

So, Claire and Petra lured him back to their sofa, and he was soon happily ensconced between two loving dragonesses, watching a documentary of some sort about Madagascar on TV. Petra was radiating lust, cooing in his ear exactly how it felt when he'd launched his loving feelings out through his itch. Apparently he'd overdone that a little. His mating-venom inside the two dragonesses had picked up his signal overflow readily enough.

Eventually, the mature dragoness wore away his resistance, and he was pulled down into her embrace. The lemurs and chameleons on-screen were a poor distraction as she confidently pulled his hand into her pyjama pants, all the while kissing and nibbling at his throat, chin, and ear. They probably would have spilled onto the floor in a sweaty tangle of sex if he hadn't heard the coffee boiling.