Satyr Play 02 Pt. 02

"Nothing. Just hold out your hands and close your eyes," Marisa said. She saw Mahati was prepared, so she gave her mother one more annoyed look, took Mahati's hands in hers, and then released her control on her sight. The room exploded with the potentials of the people around the table. Mahati's were clearer due to their physical contact, but the noise was difficult to filter out.

She closed her eyes, released her hands, and pushed her talent back into a parked state. "Please move a little distance from the table so I can put my back to it," she instructed, and Mahati opened her eyes and stepped away from the table. The lawyer immediately closed them again. Marisa faced away from the others and took Mahati's hands as she opened her sight once more.

Now, the potentials bursting forth were only those of the woman before her. As usual, the images made no sense to her as they overlapped so densely. But she was able to feel the power radiating from them. As this was her first time reading a wielder, there was spice, texture, and weight to the reading she'd never experienced before.

She opened her mind to the flow of images and let them flash by. She was relieved there were no dark streaks like she saw in Henry's aura. Mahati's was an explosion of brilliant colors! The only darkness was a grey haze surrounding the impression of a stern, dark-skinned older woman who resembled Mahati. Then images of the VRL execs flashed by with a prismatic burst, and Henry flared within this.

Suddenly, a wave of intense emotions hit Marisa. She sucked in a deep breath. They swept through her, and she gasped softly as a bubble of profound longing gripped her, then vanished. Layers of different emotions surfaced and burst. Most were deliciously positive, and all tried to pull her inside. Marisa struggled to remain separate from the torrent of Mahati's emotions as the intimacy was too intense.

Another burst of images of Henry flashed in her mind, painted with emotions. She gasped again as the intensity took her breath away, and she found herself frantically sifting through the layers to see where the feelings were anchored and what they meant. They rang crisp and sweet in her mind, but she couldn't hold onto them. The effort drained her, her muscles protested, and she lost her grip on Mahati's hands as her legs gave out.

Camila caught her before she fell but had to ease her down as her legs shook.

Marisa felt genuine respect and affection for Mahati, but her intellect rejected that as this was the product of the woman's potentials, what might come to be. She hadn't truly spent any time with her to honestly know the woman. The one-sided intimacy left her confused and dazed. She finally opened her eyes and heard her mother whispering questions of concern in her ear. She nodded and lifted her eyes to the woman she'd just read.

Mahati looked stricken as she watched Marisa's reaction.

Marisa caught the fear and shook her head gently with a weary smile. Conflicted by her emotional state, she realized she'd have to let that go. It had no meaning in this circumstance.

"Don't worry. I was just caught off guard by the strength of the reading, not by what I saw. It was my first time reading a wielder," she said breathily.

"Oh! Oh, is that good?" the lawyer asked with a trembling voice.

Ignoring the lawyer's question, Marisa looked into her mother's eyes.

"You should."

Camila's eyes widened in surprise at the strength of conviction she saw in Marisa's eyes. She gave her a little nod. "Thank you."

She helped her up, and Marisa nodded to the group and left, walking a little stiffly.

Camila turned to the group when she saw the door close behind her daughter. "I believe I'm ready to proceed now."

Mahati smiled a little shakily and nodded. "I'll wait for the revised draft. In the interim, I ask that you do not sign any documentation from my mother's firm. She is not above strong-arm tactics to get what she wants."

Camila nodded. "We're used to dealing with characters like that, aren't we, Roy."

Roy just gave the CEO a sour look. He'd be happier with fewer dealings with them.

Chapter 31

Dayshia would be late for work, and it was all Henry's fault!

She'd had the strangest dreams all night and woken in an... excited state.

In her dreams, she was running from a ram-horned Satyr. The one they'd seen in the shared vision at Sandy's place. While she still wasn't comfortable with what happened that night, she'd stopped denying that if did.

While she was dreaming, she hadn't been afraid but nervously excited about what it would do to her when it caught her. It was more sexy than dangerous.

When it finally did, it swept her up in its powerful arms and kissed her until she was left panting. She pulled back from the kiss and Henry was smiling down at her with a hungry look in his eye.

Of course, the image of being carried in powerful arms came from when Henry took his neighbor Michelle into the bedroom the day before. That had been so hot! The kiss in her dream had almost been as intense as the one she'd shared with Henry as he left.

Her toes wanted to curl even now as she thought about it. Damn! He was a good kisser, and the feel of his hard body against her softer one was so delicious, including the massive bulge she'd rubbed against... SHIT! She was distracting herself again!

She hurried forward to rush down the stairs into the subway. She paid her fare and made it down to the platform, where she heard her train approaching in the tunnel.

Shit! Her phone!

Dayshia opened her cavernous purse and began digging furiously.

She couldn't go to work without her cell!

-=-

A short distance from the dark-skinned beauty, a skater punk leaned up against the wall, his backpack with a skateboard on his back, and watched her from under the brim of his hat.

Rohann was wearing the youthful glamor over his far more austere features. As a Fae assassin, he had numerous disposable glamors available to switch to instantly to prevent observation and capture.

Ikehorn had given explicit instructions that the female was not to be killed but must suffer a severe injury that would require Fae intervention to survive. Killing her would have been simpler, but he was a consummate professional. He rarely turned down a task and couldn't turn down one from the Queen's man. His spotter, Dalewin, was on the opposite platform in the glamor of a pregnant Asian woman. He was watching the target and indicated to his partner by splaying his fingers on his domed tummy that the female was prime for taking. Even from behind, Rohann could tell she was distracted.

He eased himself forward casually, listening to the sound of the approaching train, timing his approach so he would be in the perfect position to engage the target. She was going to strike the side of the train after it entered the station, but while it still had sufficient forward momentum to cause the head trauma they needed. Observing her size and estimating her mass, he gauged the amount of force he would need to apply to her shoulder blades in a shove to launch her forward head-first into the train. He was ready. Glancing at his spotter, he saw the okay signal: a circular stroke across the tummy.

The platform was crowded but not so packed that he'd have difficulty escaping.

The train rushed into the platform, and Rohann counted while the woman continued to hunt through her purse. He couldn't have planned this better. Casually bringing his hands forward to the straps of his pack, his countdown was rapidly ending in three... two... one.

With a frustrated grunt, the woman spun in place.

Rohann's perfectly timed and weighted thrust earned him two large handfuls of soft tit. He couldn't prevent the automatic squeeze reflex. He looked up into shocked and outraged eyes as his jaw dropped in surprise.

The heavy purse struck him on the left temple, and he went down hard, bouncing the right side of his face against the cement platform. Stars exploded then his mind slid into darkness.

-=-

The police officer took Dayshia's statement as his partner cuffed the groggy perp.

"I was hunting in my purse for my phone. When I couldn't find it, I turned around, and this little creep grabbed my chest! He grabbed and squeezed! Hard! It was almost painful!"

The officer was struggling to keep from staring at her generous bosom, and the thought of grabbing her himself was almost irresistible. He kept his eyes on his notes as he scribbled them down.

"Listen, I have to go home to get my cell, and I'm late for work—"

A muted ringing came from within the large bag. Frowning, she looked inside again and opened an inner zipper to discover her ringing phone. She saw it was her boss calling. She nodded to the officer and answered it.

"Hi, Margaret."

"Dayshia? Is everything okay?" her voice said cautiously.

"Yes, I'm sorry for being late. I was assaulted on the train platform. I'm giving the police my statement, then I'll be right in," Dayshia explained.

"Assaulted! Are you hurt?" her boss gasped in shock.

"No. A creep just grabbed my chest!" Dayshia said in outrage.

"Oh! Well, I told you they would get you in trouble one day!" Margaret said cheekily.

"Very funny. I'll be in soon. Again, sorry for being late."

"Not your fault... this time," Margaret said with a smile in her voice.

Dayshia hung up and looked at the officer, who was staring at her cleavage. She bounced her tits once, and his eyes shot back to hers to see her frowning at him. "Are we finished?"

"Yes, we have your information, so we'll be in contact," the man said, unable to keep his eyes from dipping again as he spoke.

Dayshia snorted and moved to enter the train that had just arrived. Men were such slaves to their dicks.

Her mind returned to a particular shape she'd felt pressing against her last night, and she grinned wickedly.

As the train pulled out of the station, she missed seeing the police running for the stairs to catch the fleeing skater punk who'd somehow got free of his cuffs. He bumped a pregnant Asian woman who almost fell on the stairs and blocked the police from continuing the chase.

-=-

Henry was mentally absorbed by a code trace when he heard someone calling his name. He looked towards the closed door and heard it again with a knock this time. He got up and opened the door to see Marisa giving him an exasperated glare.

"You called?" he asked hesitantly.

She pushed past him and marched over to his desk to look at his phone. With a frustrated snort, she poked a button to disable it.

"Don't press this button! It prevents me from reaching you on the intercom!" she growled softly.

He moved closer to see which button she was pointing at. "I thought that was the Forward to Voicemail button."

"No, that's the next one down. This one is the Do Not Disturb button! How can someone so brilliant with computers get so confused with the phone system?" she insisted.

He couldn't help but stare in awe as her beauty shone through her ire.

Seeing the adoration on his face, she sighed and shook her finger at him. "Push that button again without telling me first, and I'll have it disabled!"

"Yes, Marisa," he said meekly but with a little smile on his lips.

"You have a visitor. I'm sending him in."

"Oh!" Henry looked at the clock. The day was getting away from him again.

A moment later Henry was looking at a vaguely familiar face which was smiling cautiously at him. The man walked in and closed the door behind himself.

"Oh! It's you!" Henry gasped.

"Nate Walker. Henry Gable, yes?" Nate said, holding his hand out to shake.

Henry shook it and then gestured for him to sit. He took his chair and paused for a second. "Hang on." He pressed the intercom button. "Marisa?"

"Yes?"

"How am I going to have a private conversation with Nate?" he asked, holding the eyes of the other man who looked back curiously at him.

Henry heard a click, and then his door opened. Marisa looked him in the eye, touched his door jamb, then tapped it. She closed the door once more. His phone beeped, and he activated the speaker. "Yes."

"Privacy has been activated. Until the door opens again," Marisa said.

"Ah! Thank you!"

After the click, Henry looked across at a man who'd shared the most profound, life-altering experience with him.

"How did those condoms work out for you?" Nate asked with a grin.

Stanley snorted in surprise at the question and smiled back at him. "Not the first thing I expected you to ask."

"Yeah, well... not sure where to begin." He gestured over his shoulder at the door. "Isn't closing the door enough to have a private conversation?"

Henry sighed. "My office... ensures I don't say anything about the..." He lifted his eyes to the ceiling speaker. "...Hidden Races." When the speaker remained quiet, he relaxed. At Nate's confused look, he explained as he pointed to the ceiling. "The speaker emits a sharp tone whenever I say something I shouldn't. It's a training aid since I grew up oblivious to the existence of the Hidden Races and the reality of magic."

"Yeah, it's so hard not to say the wrong thing!" Nate gushed.

"The trick is to ignore it. I never wanted anything to do with any of this. Still don't, to be honest. It's easier to keep being human," Henry sighed.

"But... you're not," Nate clarified.

"Right, but it's okay to act as if you are because that's what protects everyone," Henry said.

Nate nodded. "You were at the marina. Part of the team who rescued me. I was on the ship with Sigrid, and we saw someone big crash through the gatehouse and charge down the pier at Oletha. Sigrid said it was you. You looked totally badass!"

Henry squirmed. "I have no memory of that. I can't remember anything from a few minutes before that happened to when I woke up in Sigrid's guest room."

"The lights went out, so I don't know how you got past Oletha. When I got down to the dock, the big redhead dude, uh... Roy, he was fishing you out of the water with Siobhan's help." Nate said with a grin.

Henry shrugged and changed the subject. "I was told that you're from the past as well. Did you grow up with human parents?"

"Yeah, they're amazing! They told me I was adopted, but I had no real interest in finding my birth parents. I call them every once in a while, but I haven't visited my folks in months. Guess I'm a bad son," he said with a guilty smile. "How about you?"

"I grew up with Baba Yaga."

Nate's eyebrows rose. "Isn't she supposed to be some kind of Uber Witch or something?"

"To me, she was just my baba... grandmother. I only found out a short time ago that she'd collected me from my parents... an extremely long time ago. I grew up here, in the present. She's since... disconnected herself from my life now, too."

Nate saw the sadness in Henry's eyes and realized he'd definitely gotten the better deal, parent-wise at least. He wasn't sure what to say about that. He looked around the office. "I hear you're good with computers."

Henry gave him a small smile and shrugged. "I'm a tech nerd, except for office telephones, apparently. I completely lucked out to get a job with Camila's company. Landing the CIO role right out of college was a fantasy come true!"

"Speaking of fantasies, how did you end up with Marisa as your assistant?" Nate asked with a broad smile.

Henry nodded. "Luck beyond anything I have ever experienced before. She was the executive assistant to the previous CIO, and she's as brilliant as she is lovely. She gets tech. After we replaced all the servers and workstations, I asked her why she didn't take the job for herself, but she said that while she understands much of it, she doesn't have the desire to create and manage a network. She's a savant at organizing, so she helped me quickly bring VRL from severe technical debt to cutting edge." He realized he'd been gushing, and Nate was grinning at him.

"Me thinks you like your executive assistant!" Nate chuckled.

Henry squirmed some more. "Of course I do! What's not to like!"

Nate leaned back in this chair and locked eyes with Henry, who watched him cautiously.

"What do you like to do for fun, Henry? Dance clubs? Base jumping? Running naked through Central Park at night?"

Henry laughed as he recalled Queen Mab's insistence that he refrain from doing dangerous things. "I'm just learning to dance. I've been to a dance club once. Someone spiked my drink, and the evening went downhill from that point. Mostly, I'm pretty sedentary. Most of my hobbies revolve around computers."

"You're a gamer?" Nate asked with raised brows.

"No, I'm more into researching the latest trends and coding."

Nate grinned. "A serious young man! But you like dancing?"

"Learning to," Henry nodded.

Nate smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Would you be resistant to the idea of enjoying another night out at a dance club?"

"No, I intend to give it another try. Did you and your friends go out that night we met in the drugstore?" Henry asked curiously.

Nate barked a laugh. "You mean the night you had two tigresses fighting each other for the chance to party with you?"

Henry blushed and nodded.

"Naw, once the police got the ladies sorted out and took our statements, none of us felt like hitting the club," Nate said with a shrug.

"Sorry," Henry said, knowing he'd been the cause of the ladies losing their cool.

"It's fine. Not your fault! It worked out for the best as we decided to go to more upscale clubs. That's where I met Marisa and Siobhan. My life is looking better already! I had a job interview, and I start my new job next week. This is thanks to a reference Sigrid gave me. Everyone at VRL has been so amazing!"

Henry fondly smiled as he thought of his new family. "Yes, they are the best! It's great to have such good friends!" Henry thought he should ask Nate a question, so he fumbled through one of his own. "What, ah, how do you relax and recharge?"

Nate smiled. "I visit art galleries and just soak in the talent."

Henry's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Museums, too?"

"Yeah, originally, I went to them to meet women and learn how to talk about art intelligently as the ladies like that. I kept doing it until one day, I discovered I truly enjoyed appreciating art! I fell in love with the work of the masters, and I became a bit of an expert on them if I do say so myself." He gave Henry a grin that faded as he continued. "Unfortunately, I can't visit them anymore." At Henry's curious look, he explained. "I dated some of the ladies who work at the larger museums, and... it didn't end well. Now, they can be a little... resentful when I show up."

Nate didn't want to talk about that, so he thought of his friends instead and recalled his conversation with Camila about them. "You've met my crew, well... some of them. They're lots of fun. I think you'd have a great time with them too. You should join us when we hit the clubs." Henry smiled and nodded, so he continued his thought. "Do you hang out with anyone?"

Henry's smile widened. "Yes! I met a neighbor in the building I live in, and she invited me to hang out with her friends. They all work together in a hospital."

"Maybe we could all go to a club and get to know each other?" Nate suggested.

Henry nodded. "I'll see if they're up for that."

"Great! Just to let you know, all my old friends are human," he said.

"My friends are human too," Henry stated.

Nate nodded. "So... Camila dropped a bomb on me recently. She told me my lifespan as an Incubus could run into multiple centuries. All of my friends are going to grow old and die while it will seem like I don't age at all. She told me that I'll have to move on before the age disparity becomes evident to them."