Satyr Play 03 Pt. 01

Camila leaned back in her chair with a small smile on her lips. She was watching the smug expression on his face. "You certainly have a surplus of self-confidence. It's too bad that's not all that's required. You have to be able to play well with others." She sighed because Carl's smile was being replaced with a look of annoyance. "This is what I'm talking about. When people tell you the truth, you'll need to be able to recognize it and appreciate it. We're all at risk at the moment with the strange events occurring all over the globe. Now, more than at any other time in history, we need to be treading lightly and cooperating with each other. Have you watched the news recently? Attention is being focused on things that should not be seen. And you want to start a turf war in one of Earth's most populous cities?" She threw him a disappointed look.

He hit the tabletop with a big fist, and conversation died off around them.

He kept his voice low, but there was a definite edge of suppressed rage. "I give you the courtesy of assuring you that your business will not only be protected against disruptions in your security arrangements but will be enhanced by the services of our law office, and you treat me like some country bumpkin? The arrogance--"

Camila leaned forward and held his eyes as she spoke calmly. "You're busy empire building during a global security crisis, and you say I'm arrogant? I'm just giving you the courtesy of advising you how badly timed this initiative is and how poorly viewed it will be with the Hidden Races Council."

Before he could explode, she hit him with another verbal jab. "As for the services of your law office, here's a hypothetical question for you. Let's imagine that we did take on your law firm for VRL's external legal counsel. Then one of our employees is cheated on a deal he made with, let's say, Queen Mab. How would you proceed with getting compensation for this employee?

Carl snorted at her outrageous hypothetical scenario. "You have your company compensate the employee if you believe the idiot deserved it, warn them never to deal with the Fae again, and they get to live. You don't sue Queen Mab."

Camila smiled. "The counsel we hired, Mahati Chandra, filed against Queen Mab in the Fae Court... and won. Mab is no longer Queen of the Fae."

Carl stared at her, then burst into laughter. When he finally recovered, he smiled indulgently at her. "You really blew your credibility with that last statement."

Camila simply waited with a slight smile on her lips. She saw Carl's grin slowly fade as his mind sifted through her words. Finally, he had a question. "Chandra? As in Indrani Chandra?"

"Mahati is her daughter. She's a very gifted litigator," Camila explained with a proud smile.

Carl's expression quickly returned to a scowl. "I still don't buy for a second--"

"Speak to any Fae. Ask them who their Queen is. None will speak Mab's name. She no longer exists for them." She gave his belligerent expression another look of disappointment.

"I suspected this meeting would be about a territory grab, and I'd hoped to convince you of its bad timing, but I can see your mind is set on this reckless course." She held his eyes. "None of it matters. You won't take Manhattan. Roy Duncan controls that territory, and you're not strong enough to take him." With that, Camila stood and moved to leave.

Carl quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist in a bruising grip with a snarl on his lips. He'd teach this insignificant bitch how strong-

Fire ripped through his cheek, and he reeled back in agony. The next slash struck his arm, and his grip on Camila went loose as she'd cut the tendons in his forearm. She yanked her wrist free and jabbed him in the chest with her other hand, her claws stabbing deep into his lung. Her strike was faster than his eyes could track.

Carl saw one of his crew racing up behind Camila, claws, and fangs extended as he pounced. He knew the woman was dead.

Except she wasn't there.

Carl's man hit the table and crumpled to the floor with a spray of blood.

Carl jumped to his feet, staggered back, and knocked his chair over. He looked across the large room and saw three more of his men, prone or struggling to sit up, each bleeding badly from a vicious wound. With a Were's healing abilities, none of the injuries inflicted were life-threatening, but the fact that someone as low on the food chain as a Succubus took out his men with ease gave him pause. It wasn't possible for a Succubus to move so quickly, and their claws weren't capable of inflicting such damage. Something wasn't right.

Across the restaurant, standing in the doorway, Camila flicked the blood from her claws then returned her fingers to their normal shape. She looked at her bruised wrist then locked eyes with Carl. She shook her head slowly.

Turning, she calmly walked out the door without another glance in his direction.

He looked closer at how she moved, and he finally saw it. She had the confident body language of an apex predator. What was going on at VRL?

Suddenly, the story of Roy becoming an Uber Were no longer seemed ridiculous.

Chapter 15

Tish slipped into bed and snuggled up against Henry as the first rays of the sun peeked over the horizon. She was in her faun form, and Henry had dropped his glamor before he'd gone to sleep the night before.

She touched the thick slabs of his chest muscles, then ran her fingers across the firm cage of his stomach. A thrill rushed through her as this gorgeous hunk was sharing her bed almost every night! She wasn't the least bit jealous of the time he spent with the other women in his life. Some were her friends, and some were his coworkers. She liked all of them.

This morning, he was in bed with her, and though she was tired, she had tingles that needed relief. She needed some Satyr lovin'. She slipped the blankets down and exposed the beast. She was still learning how to make love to Henry in his natural form. He was big down there, and while she was much tougher as a faun, it could still be a struggle.

This morning she was determined! Besides, her doctor said it was still safe.

She'd brought along a tube of lube, and she squeezed out a generous amount, then a little more for good measure. She gently slid her hand up the shaft, leaving a layer of the lube behind. She moved her hand down the other side and then used both hands to massage it over the surface. It was so hot in her hands as blood flowed into his cock. She glanced up and saw his eyes were open, and one eyebrow was lifted as he watched her. She grinned up at him, and he crooked a finger at her to get her to move up the bed.

Tish swung her leg over him and straddled his body, rubbing her wet pussy against his now stiff and well-lubed shaft.

Henry pulled her down so he could kiss her. She did her best not to be distracted by his dreamy kissing, but he still managed to line himself up with her pussy. His hands massaged her ass muscles deliciously until her head was spinning. When he pushed inside, she moaned into the kiss and went limp. This relaxed her muscles, which meant Henry was able to slip more of himself inside. The lube was helping, but the feeling of being full was intense. Thankfully, his big, strong hands on her ass kept her muscles from tensing up. Then she had it all.

"Oh my God, Henry! This is a first!" she chuckled.

"Feels too good!" he moaned, and her eyes went to his face in surprise. She thought she was too close.

"I'm right there too!" she said between her teeth.

"That's good cuz I don't think I'm going to last this morning! Nope! Nope, it's too much!"

Tish clung to him as her body began to shake, crashing her through a beautiful release as she felt Henry's heat surge into her. Her body felt like it might burst into sparks and tingles as his Wild Magic interacted with her own.

They kissed and rocked against each other slowly as the bliss settled into a delicious buzz in their nerves.

Once Henry had relaxed enough to withdraw easily, Tish slid off his body to cuddle against his side. Now, she felt she could sleep, tingles satisfied.

"Before you fade, we should talk," he said quietly as he pushed himself up on one elbow. Tish snuggled closer.

She groaned. "Tonight?" she begged in a tiny girl's voice.

He chuckled. "I'll be out tonight with Sigrid. Going to the Met."

"Mmmm--okay. Fine. What is it?" she sighed, rolling onto her back.

He looked down at her lovely face. He dipped his face down and kissed her tenderly. She purred, then her eyes opened to look at his sad expression. She was immediately alert. "What is it? What happened?"

"Dayshia and I met, or I should say, saw Roger last night."

Tish sat up and locked her eyes on him. "Saw? What happened?"

"We were just outside the building. Dayshia said she felt someone watching us. She looked at the bushes across the street, and he jumped up with a scream. Dayshia kept her eyes on him as he ran away, screaming in pain."

"Pain?"

"I couldn't see what she was doing, but Dayshia chased him off... with her eyes. Afterward, she said she felt him watching us with malicious intent. She felt him about to attack us." He shook his head. "I don't know how her abilities work, but she was intensely serious last night."

"How did he look?" she asked, but Henry just shook his head.

"My vision isn't as good as yours. I couldn't see in the shadows. When he ran away, I thought I saw what looked like long claws on his fingers, which seems more likely than he was carrying a bunch of knives."

"So, he really was going to attack."

Henry nodded. "That's how it felt. Dayshia seemed to be acting on instinct. She grabbed my hand and pulled on my magic when she... was doing whatever it was she was doing to Roger. He certainly didn't like it."

Tish gave Henry a bright smile and chuckled. "Dayshia used magic?"

He nodded with a smile of his own, then he looked apologetic. "Sorry to drop this news on you as you're about to go to sleep."

Tish shook her head. "No, I'm glad you told me. Besides, it's no worse than my waking you early for a tumble in the sheets."

Henry's mind flashed back to the previous time he heard that phrase. Siobhan said it... just last night. He pulled himself back from his memories. He hoped she was okay today.

"No, being woken up early is much, much worse," he said.

Tish glanced at him in surprise as he'd said it so seriously. He cracked a little smile.

"You're so mean!" she growled as she pushed at his big body. She glanced at the clock and saw it was time for him to get up anyway. "Time for you to go to work!" she said with a pout.

He kissed her resisting lips until she was kissing him eagerly. Then he pulled back and rolled out of bed. He switched to his glamor, so she got an eyeful of his naked ass as he walked over to the bathroom to take a shower.

Tish watched him hungrily, her tingles back from his kissing. Throwing the sheets aside, she hustled over to the bathroom and switched to her own Human glamor to share the shower with him.

He had to take responsibility for these new tingles too.

-=-

Henry arrived at work at almost thirty past the hour and saw Roy standing in the lobby. The big redhead gave him a raised eyebrow. Henry aimed a self-conscious smile his way, then paused before walking over to the man.

"Good morning, Henry. Is everything okay?"

"Good morning, Roy. I think I need to have a talk with you, Camila, and Sigrid," Henry responded.

"Can it wait until after our 9:30 executive meeting? I was sent upstairs to collect you," Roy said.

Henry's expression dropped. "Shit! Sorry! It completely slipped my mind. Let's go."

The two men took the elevator to the basement level and entered the boardroom just as Camila was about to begin.

"Take your seats, please."

Henry hustled around the table and took his seat between Frank Caprelli, the Head of Operations, and Rosalind Wingham, the Head of Marketing. He said a silent sorry to both and got smiles in return.

Roy paused to whisper something in Camila's ear, and she nodded. Then Roy froze before stiffly walking over to his seat.

To Henry's gaze, Camila looked just a little tense. He saw a curious expression on Sigrid's face as well.

When he looked to Mahati, the woman was staring at him and jolted a little when their eyes locked. She quickly looked away. Her dark complexion reddening further. He raised a curious eyebrow, but she refused to look back at him.

"Now that we're finally all here let's get started," Camila began. "I have a special announcement before we get into the minutes of the last meeting. You may have seen our special guests in the office yesterday. We had the Directors of the NSA, the FBI, and the CIA with their Senior Technical Advisors in to review a new firewall application Henry wrote for them."

"We're going into the software business?" Frank asked.

"No, just easing the avarice these agencies have for VRL's firewall. If we give them their own, then they'll leave us alone," Camila explained.

Rosalind's eyes lit up. "Can we use this relationship in our marketing materials?" she asked eagerly.

Roy rolled his eyes as Rosalind received a nod from Camila. The CEO had ensured that right in her negotiations. She looked back to Frank. "I'm not ruling out that we won't find additional clients for the firewall application. Unless these government agencies want exclusivity. They'll have to pay for that and pay dearly.

"How are we tracking the income for this new product?" Eve asked. A natural question coming from their CFO.

Camila smiled. "If the initial consumers don't want to pay for exclusivity, the application becomes a product of VRL with a service contract component. If they want exclusivity, it's just a service for these clients with a service contract component. I'll send you the details once the deal is finalized."

She turned her eyes to Henry. "I received an email from the Director of the NSA, Wallace Granger. He's asking for you to make a presentation to key members of the Network Security teams for the NSA, CIA, FBI, and a potential new customer, Homeland Security, at their headquarters in Washington. They'd like you to do the onsite training and the initial install. They're willing to pay handsomely for the privilege."

Henry made a choking sound. "It's a seven-minute install process. Training them how to manage the configuration interface only takes another thirty. The Director did it himself! He could demo it for these people!"

"Hey, for an all-expense-paid trip to the nation's capital, teach me how to do the install, and I'll take your place!" Akshay Bhatt, their compliance manager, joked.

Henry gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, then pointed to Akshay while he smiled at Camila. She just shook her head with a grin.

"Sorry, Henry. The Directors met you and won't be fooled by a substitute."

Henry pouted. "When do they need this done?"

"Could you be available to fly there Thursday morning? You'd fly back that night. The presentation is scheduled for the morning, and they'll want to take you to lunch afterward. Probably to try to convince you to leave VRL and work for them."

There was a burst of protest from a number of the other execs, none louder than Eve.

Henry smiled at them as he held his hands up to settle them. "There's nothing they can offer me that compares to working with you guys. I have no desire to leave VRL!" he assured them.

"It sounds like you could name your price, and they'd pay it," Frank insisted, still a little disturbed.

"But they wouldn't have you, Frank. Or Rosalind, Eve, Myron, Noah, Akshay, Roy, Mahati, Sigrid, or Camila. Or all the amazing people who work in your departments that I get to support. It may sound sappy, but I think of all of you as my family. Money is nice, but it doesn't replace family."

Rosalind made a sweet noise and stood up next to Henry with her arms out. He blinked in surprise, then stood as well and gave her a warm hug.

Frank jumped up next and gave him a hug too.

Henry looked over at Camila in embarrassment for making such a scene, but she gave him a sweet smile.

They retook their seats, and Henry had another question for Camila. "I'm not going by myself, right? You're going along to work on the contract, yes?"

"You're not going alone, but it won't be me accompanying you. This is Washington, DC. We're sending you to the capital with legal representation. Mahati will ensure everyone plays nice."

All eyes turned to Mahati, who squirmed under their attention. Then she saw Henry's relieved and happy expression, and an odd heat bloomed in her chest. She nodded to the others and widened her eyes at Camila, who took the hint.

"Let's get back to the business at hand." She took control of the meeting, and they moved on to the mundane day to day items. Henry practiced his skill of staying awake.

Once they finished the executive meeting, Camila asked Henry to stay behind with Roy, Sigrid, and Mahati to discuss the trip to Washington. The rest stood, and Eve strode purposefully around the table with her eyes on Henry and a smile on her lips. The other execs paused to watch curiously. As she got closer, she gestured for Henry to stand, and everyone smiled as they caught on. She pulled him into a hug, and he wrapped his arms around her.

Once Eve released him, Myron and Noah shook his hand, but Akshay wanted a hug. He got one, then they all made their way to the exit. The door closed, and the seal went in place. Camila grinned at Henry.

"I thought the meeting was going to collapse into a group hug session," she said with a grin.

"You're injured, and I scented a Were did it. What happened," Roy rumbled.

Everyone else looked between the two with surprise on their faces.

Camila looked over at Roy and controlled her expression. "Roy, you need to promise me you will remain calm."

Roy's face gave nothing away, but he nodded stiffly.

"When Walter Zhao died, the news that VRL no longer has external counsel was released, and several agencies contacted me to let me know they were available. One of them was Carl de Bellisle's law firm."

Roy snarled and rose out of his chair but stopped and sat once again.

Camila watched him until he nodded. She nodded as well. "I listened to him and let him know we were already pursuing other options." She gestured to Mahati.

"Last night I had a business dinner with Carl--"

"Where?" Roy asked tensely.

Camila sighed. "Yes, he was here in New York. I wanted to hear his latest pitch so I could get a handle on what he was up to."

"THE BASTARD IS AFTER A TERRITORY GRAB!" Roy snapped.

"ROY!" Camila snapped in return.

The big man was struggling to remain calm.

"I'm worried about your ability to keep your shit together in your new state. Can you lead?" Camila said, point-blank.

Roy's head snapped back as if she'd slapped him. His eyes widened then narrowed as a deep rumble began.

"Roy?" Henry spoke, and the effect on the big redhead was immediate.

He froze, and his expression of rage drained away instantly. He went silent, and his eyes turned to Henry.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked quietly.

Roy shuddered as he shook loose from the grip of the red fog creeping over his senses. He sighed and nodded stiffly. "Yes." He glanced at Camila. "My apologies for giving in to my anger. Carl and I have history, and he's always dangerous to those around him. His obsession for expanding his territory puts his pack at undue risk, and those his pack supports suffer for it." He faced Camila fully. "He injured you. You went to a public place for this dinner meeting, and he became violent?"

Camila nodded.

Roy shuddered and took a deep breath. "He's making a play for Manhattan."