I owned a jet now. Not like a tiny one or two passenger thing either. My jet was huge. It had a bed, and a shower, and more than one floor. Mina had not been bullshitting about it being able to handle everyone. So, since it could handle everyone, it did. We brought the whole crew with us to go look at my castle in Romania. I had a castle in Romania. I had a castle. That was such a weird thought.

I'd gotten used to having money since I got here. Buying a house, or a car, or owning some gems and gold or expensive art was one thing. But now I had a fucking castle. Castle and jet money was way beyond the few million I'd had in the bank, and that wasn't even counting the actual money that came with the stuff. I was in bed currently, with Raven and Cinder and Barb. In my bed on my jet. I couldn't get over that. It was a damn comfy bed too.

The girls of course were all cool as cucumbers. Raven never freaked out, Cinder was used to much higher tech luxuries, and Barb's first boyfriend had been the heir to a billion dollar fortune. Plus she'd been around Wonder Woman who had an invisible plane. Of all the girls only Andi seemed impressed by my new flying accommodations which was at least enough for me not to feel like a bumpkin. The other girls had all spread out through the plane taking in all the rooms and the luxuries.

We in the meantime were doing the obligatory teasing of our redhead. Barb was laying between us with her head in the pillows moaning in exasperation as I caught Rae and Cinder up on her little meet cute. "So Sigrun goes 'I'd be happy to take the lovely Miss Gordon off your hands for a while' and Barb basically melts. Honestly I'm not surprised. Barb likes to dom with you guys but she usually plays sub for me. And Gard has some serious mommy vibes, with maybe a bit of sexy librarian thrown in. I always knew Barb secretly wanted to ride bitch."

Raven snorted at that and Cinder burst into giggles. My goth took pity on Barb though "Ignore him Barb, it's very nice that woman you're attracted to is interested in you. We never talked about being exclusive, I don't mind sharing obviously, and Cameron is a chauvinist pig who doesn't count sex with women." I furrowed my brow and she hushed me. "You know it's true. You think it's hot so you don't care as long as she tells you about it. Hell I'm surprised you didn't ask to watch." She turned back to Barb. "As long as Cinder doesn't mind it's fine, so tell us how your night went."

I narrowed my eyes at her vicious and totally accurate accusation. Cinder patted Barb on the back and reassured her she was fine with her having sex with other women as long she told us about it beforehand, and Barb finally rolled over, pouting sulkily. She glared at me. "I listened to you and didn't do anything under the clothes." She blushed bright red. "We just danced, she kissed me a little. And she put her hands...on me." She looked so shy when she said that I had to try hard not laugh. It was just so cute seeing her shy.

Her expression got a little dazed. "She let me touch her too. She has so much muscle but her breasts are so soft." She shot Raven and embarrassed look. "Not as soft as Ravens. They're actually smalled, but the muscle on her chest makes them seem bigger, and it's just such a dissonance from all that tight flesh. And her ass." She shuddered as she thought about it. "It's so tight and toned but so round at the same time. She said she liked my body too. She said I have the frame of a warrior. Her hands were so gentle."

I was beginning to regret bringing this up, because this was really turning me on. I admit Raven might have a point with her chauvinist accusation. If another man had touched Barb I'd have tried to kill him, but imagining tall, sexy Gard putting her hands all over my girlfriend just kind of made me wish I got to be the meat in that sandwich. I cleared my throat, reminding myself to ask her to tell this story when we were somewhere with thicker walls and less prying ears. "So how was Mina? After your dance you had her play majordomo right?"

Barb blushed and cleared her throat. "Oh, yeah. She was fine. She was vibing Dalton most of the night weirdly. They had a bit of a back and forth thing going. Brynn was not pleased, but she refuses to lock him down because she says he's too flaky so it's her own fault. They're not even in an open relationship or anything, she just wont let him get close to her because she thinks it would be doomed. Apparently her family was pretty Catholic. She doesn't hold out situation against us but she's not comfy with sharing."

I gave her a flat look and she laughed. "Right, of course you don't care about the gossip you workaholic. Short answer is she's great. She knows her stuff, she's polite to her superiors but aggressive in negotiations when she needs to be and ahe anticipates perfectly. Whatever Drakul had her doing he trained her well. I get the feeling they were sleeping together but she mostly didn't care about it. Like if you decided to fuck her she would let you but she isn't interested in you and she had the same situation with him. Obviously you wouldn't do that and I honestly think she appreciates that."

I winced. I was pretty sexually open but the idea of banging my brainwashed vampire secretary when she didn't want me too was...gross. Even if she didn't care either way it gave me bad vibes. "Yeah no. I wouldn't push someone into bed if she wasn't interested just because I knew she'd put up with it. I'm really glad Drakul is dead now. What an asshole. Anyway I wish her luck with Dalton. I have to admit I'm surprised he's her type. I'd have pegged her for the upper crust urbane vibe. Dalton is a good looking dude but he's more Han Solo than Lord Worthington."

Raven chuckled at that. "Mina is actually a bit more of a wild child than she lets on. She finds Dalton fascinating. From what I can pick up she just has a serious case of uptown girl. Wants to walk on the wrong side of the tracks and all that. Drakul made her act with decorum all the time and now that daddy is gone she wants to let her hair down. She was being so obvious in the car to feel out your reaction, once she got your tacit approval she started putting her plan in motion. Dalton isn't exactly a bastion of self control, I doubt he's going to last long."

God it was useful dating an empath. I would have literally never figured any of this out. I just shook my head. "I have three girlfriends but women are still a complete mystery to me. Anyway I assume you felt her out about the whole Romania thing? It would be nice to know what we're walking into. I'd ask her directly but I'm not entirely sure I trust her yet. I have faith in your ability to gather information though so did you get anything out of her?" Barb was a master of deduction if anyone could pry secrets from Mina it would be her.

She burst out laughing and leaned up to peck me on the cheek. "You've gotten way too paranoid. After winning her in that duel Mina considers you her master. Combined with our relationship and a serious need for friends that girl didn't stop talking all night. Seriously she is massively under socialized. I think Drakul kept her in his damn castle almost year round handling his estate and stuff. She's so happy to be out and about and she really wanted to bond. It was honestly kind of cute in a little sister kind of way."

I smiled when Raven gave a firm nod, echoing the sentiment. "Ok fair enough. I'll try to be less suspicious. In the meantime what can we expect from castle Drakul? Ghosts in the hallways? Mummies in the basement? Scantily clad Romanian farm girls as maids with obvious bite marks all over their heaving bosoms." I paused for a second. "That last one might be a bit unrealistic, I might be mixing up the Dracula movies I've seen with porn. Still there has to be some spooky stuff around, even if it's just more Black Court vamps or Darklings."

She chuckled a bit at that. "The other Darklings are mostly out and about but one or two does live at the castle. Benjamin the butler and Louise the maid. Mina seems to be pretty relaxed about seeing them so I doubt they'll be any trouble. Other than that I don't think there are any supernaturals around. At least not ones I heard about. Regardless it'll be interesting to take in the local color. The castle is outside Sibiu. It's a resort town now, but still mostly has the charm of an older village, plus it's legendarily name checked in Dracula, if obliquely."

At my confused expression she grinned. "Sibiu is known as the site of the Scholomance in Romanian legend. Dracula was supposed to have studied there. It's a school of black magic under a lake run by the devil himself. Presumably the whole Dracula attending rumor cropped up because of his father's castle being in such close proximity to where it's rumored to be. I'm torn on whether we should visit though, with our luck it'll turn out to be legit and we don't need any of that nonsense in our lives. We have enough to deal with."

I winced at that, she wasn't wrong. Tracking down cool off beat legends and creepy mystery places lost some of the appeal when creepy mysteries were a thing you ran into daily. Hell I was betting even back in her universe Barb would have wanted to go, but in the Dresden Files I could totally see the actual devil running a school under a lake in Romania. I made a mental not to stay the fuck away from any bodies of water during my visit, though I was actually interested in checking out this resort town.

We spent the next two hours or so talking about Romania. Barb, being a huge nerd, had done a ton of research on the place before we left, and had plenty to tell us about it. I smiled at her enthusiasm and it was honestly infectious. I loved hearing about the details of the region and the history and the local customs. She'd clearly gone all out to gather information on the place and I was sure it was going to come in handy. Raven and Cinder also seemed to get a kick out of it and we all just cuddled up for the flight talking about our destination.

Finally after hours of talking and an admittedly not inconsiderable amount of nap time we got a message over the intercom from the captain that we were preparing an approach. Despite all the old world charm of Romania Drakul had owned a jet and as such had been smart enough to have a landing strip put in on his property so we would be flying in directly. As the plane touched down and we stood to join the others before disembarking I braced myself. It was time to meet my new subjects, hopefully they didn't try to eat me.

Castle Drakul was surprisingly normal looking. I say that with the context that no castle is really normal to someone from the US but it was just a big stone building. I was expecting darkness and flashing lightning and eerie howls but it was just a nice large stone structure in the middle of a sunny day. There were even fields of wildflowers around the perimeter give an idyllic look and the place had been kept up pretty well. Very nicely maintained, with the stone well taken care of and clearly washed fairly regularly with some kind of pressure washer.

It was just gorgeous, I inhaled deeply, enjoying the smell of the flowers and the forest on the air. I turned to glance at Mina. "So, this is your home town, you know how to make our entrance. We kicking the door down or are we just going to sulk in through the back?" I shot her a wink, letting her know I was kidding but continued looking at her so she knew I did actually want to know her opinion on how to play this. Mina was an old hand at this place and it only made sense for her to decide how to approach the castle.

She gave me a warm smile, chuckling slightly as she responded in the same good humor I'd spoken to her in. "Well I think knocking would work best, but we can kick down the door next time if you want." She turned to smile up at the castle. "Jokes aside this is your castle. We can just walk in, but knocking will give them time prepare for our arrival properly. It's only polite to allow time for proper hospitality." Her voice was happy and guileless and I just shrugged, gesturing for her to go ahead and knock for us.

It was frankly amazing seeing Mina like this. While her time with Drakul obviously wasn't happy exactly, there was definitely some nostalgia here. She looked at everything so fondly. I supposed removing the one bad part of her formative years and then bringing her back would be a good way to help her focus on the positive. She led us toward the castle, not hurrying, just taking her time to drink in the flowers and the sun dappled fields, and I didn't rush her. Everyone deserves to enjoy happy memories sometimes.

The path from the air strip was surprisingly quaint, not a road or walkway but a cute little gravel path with well tended edges and very white clean looking stones, all smooth and tiny. The flowers along the sides of the path were uniform height and unlike the wildflowers around the tarmac they were clearly planted and cultivated. Someone had gone through a great deal of trouble to make this path beautiful, and the more I looked the easier it was to see the love and attention poured into every speck of this place. I'd noticed it with the cleaned castle walls but more than that it was
everywhere.

Someone truly loved this place, and it showed. More than just the cleanliness and idyllic scenery the clear attention to detail and constant hard work poured into this place shone through. Someone's blood sweat and tears had gone into making this castle beautiful and unlike what one might expect from a castle owned by an ancient people eating monster that blood sweat and tears was clearly shed happily and with care. Mina nearly pranced up the gravel path to the huge wooden door and tapped three times with the knocker.

The door was the kind of huge iron banded monstrosity you see in movies about the middle ages. With a crossbar keeping it shut from what I could tell and a handle that was just an iron ring hanging from the wood. The knocker in the center was a dragons head, of course, with a ring hanging from its jaws waiting to be used. When the third knock hit the door and resounded through the castle we all stepped back and waited. After a few seconds we heard footsteps in the distance, slowly approaching.

The acoustics must have been insane because we sat there and listened to the sound of feet on stone for about five minutes. It didn't seem to be getting any closer. We just looked at each other awkwardly as the steps continued. I started counting them and got up to a hundred and fifty before they got to the door. We were all in shock as the thing finally swung open, though I admit it didn't creak as expected, just swinging silently inward. On the other side was a beautiful brunette woman with her hair in a bun wearing a prim and proper maid dress. She smiled politely when she saw us."Yes?"

I let Mina do the talking, and as she stepped out from behind us the maids eyes lit up and she hurled herself into my advisors arms. "Mina! Oh I'm so glad you're back. When I heard the master had died I was terrified something had happened to you too. Benjamin and I have been so worried. We even called Samuel and Bernard home for protection in case someone came for us here." Her eyes dropped to the floor in despair. "Not that it matters. If they could kill the master we're just lambs for the slaughter. But it's nice to be together as a family."

Mina squeezed the girl back. "It's ok Louise. We're safe. The master passed away in an Arbitration and our new Lord is very kind. I brought him to introduce him to everyone so you all can see there is no reason to fear." She stepped back, smiling at the fretting maid. "Now how is Benjamin. I know you two always take care of each other. Has that fool butler gotten off his lazy ass and begun courting you officially yet? Some handsome mortal is going to scoop you up if he keeps dragging his feet."

An annoyed huff came from behind Louise and she stepped aside to show a tall brown haired man with a thin face and a well tailored suit. The thing had actual tails and he was wearing white gloves. He literally couldn't have been shouting butler any harder if he had a skywriter paint it across the sky above him as he walked down the street. Mine smirked at him and he gave a very proper sneer. "Ah. Miss Mina, how charming to see you. I had so hoped you would take this opportunity to vacate our lives forever. Miss Louise could do with a bit less of your nonsense."

Despite the sneering rebuke he stepped back to usher us in. We all headed into the receiving room where there were plenty of chairs for us to sit in. They were all huge overstuffed things, but rather than being soft and luxurious the stuffing was packed in so tight I felt like I was sitting on cloth covered rocks. Louise took our coats and hung them in a small closet off the room we were in before coming back. She turned to Mina. "Now what is this about a new Lord. You said he so I assume one of these two gentlemen is our benefactor." The pretty brunette cast a shy glance at Harry, blushing a bit as she looked away.

I was beginning to suspect my boss had some kind of vampire pheromones wafting off him because pretty much all the vamp ladies we had met were at least passingly interested. Harry, bless his dense heart, didn't seem to notice her gaze, though the butler certainly did and seemed highly displeased by it. Hah, suck it Benny. I had nothing against the guy really but he struck me as kind of a dick. It was kind of nice to know he returned pretty Louise's crush though. She seemed sweet I hope she got him.

Mina giggled a bit at the obvious mooning. "Yes, as a matter of fact one of them is. But not that one." She gestured to me, clearing her throat to snap Louise's attention off Harry. Seemed like the maid liked tall guys. Benny and Harry were both well over six feet. "This on the other hand, is our new lord. Lord Cameron Beddows, newly inducted freeholding member of the accorded nations, slayer of Fenrir, of Remus and Romulus, of the Beast of Gevaudan, and of Lord Drakul himself. Pay your respects to our new master Louise."

Louise for her part was getting paler and her eyes were getting wider as Mina talking and when she said that last part the maid swept into a curtsy so low her knees brushed the ground. "My lord. Please forgive this one for her disrespect. It is an honor to be in your service." At the list of accomplishments she got very flustered and nervous looking, and even sneering Benny looked properly awed, bowing and repeating her comments formally. These people took their reputations very seriously. I was going to have to get used to caring what people thought in that context.

I was used to stuff like this by now and just waved it off. "It's fine guys stand up. Tell me about yourselves. If you're going to be part of my family now, and that's what my faction is, then I need to know who you guys are and how you work." I was responsible for these Darklings now, and from the way they acted I doubted they would try to get out of it. Drakul seemed to have basically raised them in captivity. Not especially nicely given their lack of a single fuck given about his death but still, he brainwashed them good.

Louise straightened up and gave me a warm smile. "Of course master. I am Louise, I am the maid of this castle and I was Lord Drakul's eleventh child. My duties are cleaning and serving guests and my hobbies are groundskeeping and gardening. It is wonderful to be at the service of such a powerful Lord." She curtsied again. "Samuel and Bernard, Lord Drakul's sixth and seventh children, are also visiting and would love to meet you I'm sure." I didn't detect a bit id resentment or anger in her voice, she was just happy to be around her friends.

I decided I liked her. I turned to look at Benjamin who bowed. "I am Benjamin, the butler of this estate. I was Lord Drakul's eighth child. I attend the household necessities and deliver the food as well as doing the shopping. My hobby is carpentry and I take care of the furniture around the house as well." He stood and stepped back. Then they made their goodbyes and left to go get our rooms ready.

Mina smiled and stepped forward. "Well if we're doing intros I suppose I should give me whole position too. I'm Mina Harker as you know, I was Lord Drakul's majordomo. I'm his twelfth child and am responsible for handling his business affairs and establishing ties with other powers. My hobbies are pottery and tea services." She gave a tiny informal curtsy and a wink and then followed her friends out of the room, leaving me back with just the girls and Harry, who had been forced to come by Susan because he never took vacations.

I turned to everyone else and looked from face to face. I shrugged at the hesitant expressions. "Well they're in now whether I like it or not. Now we just have to meet the other two before we go anywhere. I'm not stupid enough to go wandering around with two powerful supernaturals nearby that don't know me yet. We just have to wait for them to show up and then we can go explore." I grinned at everyone. "I don't know about you but I kind of want to check out my castle." I was proud to see excitement on all their faces. I had good taste in friends.

Our introduction to Samuel and Bernard was much less dramatic than expected. Samuel was a short, slim Turkish man with long hair drawn into a ponytail and a close trimmed beard. He had a friendly smile on pretty much all the time and sort of reminded me of Dalton. Mina and he were apparently close friends, as close as blood siblings actually, which somewhat explained her fascination with my smuggler. As opposed to bowing or scraping Samuel just stuck out a hand and offered me a welcome shake when he met me.

His grin was infectious, and as he grabbed and pumped my hand he chuckled and said "Nice to meet you boss. I'm Samuel, but you can just call me Sam. Mimi says you're a pretty nice guy, so I doubt we'll have any problems and I look forward to working with you." Out of the corner of my eye I caught Mina's embarrassed glare at the nickname, and I made a mental note to use it in front of Dalton when we got back to the states. Teasing your family members was a must. It was a moral imperative.

Bernard was a much taller man, about six two, though equally slim, with mahogany skin and a warm, quiet demeanor. He was just as relaxed as his friend and offered me the same shake. "It's an honor sir. I'm Bernard. If at all possible I would prefer you not refer to me as Bernie, though that is of course up to you." Oddly, unlike Mina's glare, Bernard's straightforward request that I avoid using a nickname he disliked made me want to actually not do so. It was unusual for me but he seemed like a good guy so I nodded.

Rather than bail like the other two Bernard and Samuel sat down in some of the available chairs. Samuel scowled for the first time since I'd seen him. "I hate these chairs. Drak kept them purposefully uncomfortable because it put visitors off balance. He was always like that. Every action was a mind game, every word was a test hidden inside a trap.." Bernard gave him a chiding look but he waved his friend off. "Don't look at me like that. I paid him plenty of respect when he was around but the man was exhausting."

He turned to give as an apologetic smile. "You have to understand, though Drak did take us each out of fairly uncomfortable circumstances he wasn't a benevolent master. He used Louise, Mina, and Olivia like toys, and though it mostly didn't bother them that was only because he enforced the idea that he was a superior creature above reproach. He convinced most of us that we were tools to be used or discarded at his pleasure. I was the only one who ever saw him for what he was."

Bernard sighed, cutting off his friends obviously building rant. "We know, brother. We know you warned us. But we were never any of us fond of him." He cut his gaze to me sharply. "Don't misunderstand my lord. We respected him greatly, but Lord Drakul wasn't the sort of being one could care about. Not really. Olivia was the only one that got attached." He grimaced "She was the youngest when Lord Drakul took her. He influenced her more than the others. She worshiped him, if I'm being honest. I don't know how she's going to react to his death."

Mina cut in. "I do. She'll try to kill you, Cameron, and when you prevent her from doing so she'll take it as proof of your fitness to rule and pledge herself to you. You'll replace him in her world. Olivia is a powerful and skilled fighter, but Lord Drakul's attentions on such a young girl broke something in her. She doesn't know how to make her own decisions. She needs a master, and if you killed the last one you're the man for the job. She won't hover or anything, Lord Drakul would never have allowed it, but she will dedicate herself to any task you set with a feverish intensity."

That was less than ideal. Knowing she wouldn't be hovering was of course, nice. But having a psychotic yandere former child soldier dedicated to fulfilling my every whim did not sound pleasant. "Ok, well where is she? Hell where are the others. You've mentioned six of you so far, you told me there were thirteen. Are you guys just going to drop into my life one at a time with no warning like the ghosts of Christmas past? Because that seems like a bad situation for me, especially when I don't know how you'll all react."

Mina sighed. "There are thirteen of us. Aside from those you've met and Olivia, there's Mason, Karim, Sergei, Liu, Andretta, Claude, and Quincy." She caught my surprised look and nodded. "Yes, that Quincy. Lord Drakul turned us as an abject lesson to his son. Lord Vlad was...displeased. You probably won't see at least four of them. Karim, Sergei, Liu, and Claude will most likely vanish. They won't obey unless you hunt them down and force them to submit. They're stubborn and prideful and the chance to be their own master will be too tempting to ignore, even if they respected the
master."

I nodded, that wasn't so bad. "Mason is...damaged. Lord Drakul turned him much too young. Being stuck as a child has made him unpredictable and occasionally violent. He lives in a secluded manor estate tended by powerful supernatural nurses and it would be unwise to disturb him. I doubt he'll even notice Lord Drakul's death anytime this century. Andretta is a magic user, the daughter of some powerful wizard who offended Lord Drakul long before I came here. He leaves her alone for the most part and vice versa, so I have no clue what she's going to do."

She winced at the last name. "Quincy...Quincy will be angry. You have to understand that Quincy hated Lord Vlad passionately. He was also extremely attracted to me when we were human. I was married so I turned him down, but when Lord Drakul turned us he favored Quincy's combat skills. He..." Her face clouded. Not in pain exactly but discomfort. "He gave me to Quincy. Until Quincy tired of me. But despite that lack of affection it gave Lord Drakul a special place in Quincy's heart. He became fiercely loyal, and he will be deeply upset by our masters loss."

She seemed to be hesitating because I looked angry. Like seriously, incredibly, mind numbingly angry. Which I was. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Don't misunderstand my anger, it isn't directed at you. If Quincy comes here and tries to hurt me or anyone else here I will kill him." I locked eyes with my majordomo. "Anyone means you too. If he tries to touch you in any way you don't like you tell me and I'll take care of that. That shit doesn't fly for my people."

I wouldn't allow anyone under my banner to treat others or be treated like a tool or a victim. I would try to help Olivia as best I could through her trauma, maybe get her a shrink, and I would kill Quincy Morris before he laid a hand on Mina again. I wanted to help Mason too, but I'd need to talk to Odin and maybe do some research into the how of that. Immortal child that drank blood was a level of fucked up I was in no way qualified to deal with. I needed advice from someone who had been around a while.

I sighed, looking at my three new...servants? Family members? Employees? "This seems like a complicated issue with lots of moving parts, so since it seems like meeting the others will be far off. So is there anything more short term I might need to know? Anything that's going to bite me in the ass anytime soon I mean? Because I don't want to ignore this and then have it bite me in the ass later, but if there's nothing I can do for the moment worrying about it would be a waste of time." I'd learned a long time ago that needless worrying was a bad idea, and I would prefer to avoid falling into old habits.

Mina chuckled a bit but shook her head. "Not immediately no. Though I suspect Olivia will arrive within a few days. She was always proactive. She'll challenge you openly however so you need not worry about that. In the meantime Samuel and Bernard can keep an eye out for Quincy. They were called back to play security guard in any case so it's hardly a departure for them." She glared at Samuel, clearly still annoyed about the nickname thing. "Samuel can take the night shift, we all know how he loves the nightlife. No need for Bernard to suffer."

The Turkish Darkling winced. "You get mean when you're around new people. But fine, if it'll stop you from trying to figure out how to use looks to kill I'm willing to stay up a bit late." He turned his head staring dramatically off into the middle distance. "Sometimes we have to spend our time out in the cold to see who our true friends are. It's ok. I can take it. You don't need to feel sad for me." We all rolled our eyes at the dramatic man and I had to smile, Samuel was a character but he was a fun guy.

After we got all the intros out of the way Louise came back with Benjamin to escort us to our rooms. We waved goodbye to the others and followed the two servants up the long flight of stone steps. They led us up to a long expansive of hallway with doors lining the wall ever fifteen or twenty feet. The walls were also lined with old paintings, and I recognized some of them as being from famous artists. I swear I saw a Monet on the wall. It might have been water lilies but it was hard to say.

Finally we reached my room and I headed inside. The girls had their own rooms. As I entered mine I stopped and gaped. This place was amazing. The bed was absolutely massive, big enough for four people easily, with thick soft looking red comforters and huge plus pillows. At the foot of the bed was a steamer trunk left open for me to leave my things in, and off to one side was a dresser with a huge mirror that reflected the whole room. It showed the bed perfectly. I dropped my stuff in the trunk then headed to the bathroom.

I expected it to be one of those old timey castle bathrooms with a chamber pot or something, but to my surprise it was covered with a nice layer of heated tiles. The tub was on a raised stage with carpet around it and surrounded by mirrors and the toilet was catty corner to the tub platform, directly across from the tiled shower with grated door and a knob next to it to control the steam room portion of the shower. I made a mental note to take a shower later and enjoy this bathroom and then headed back out into the room proper.

Or improper as the case may be. My heartbeat quickened as I saw the naked purple haired goth sitting with her legs crossed on my bed. Her eyes were hot as she stared at me, and despite having so much time with the girls on the plane I was reminded of how good sex with Raven could be. She smiled as she felt my arousal. "I told Barb and Cinder to enjoy the night together. I wanted you to myself. Now." She uncrossed her legs, spreading them invitingly. "Why don't we break in your new bed?"

No matter how many times I saw her naked, I could not get over Raven's body. My other girlfriends were gorgeous, don't get me wrong. Barb was athletic and sexy and toned, and Cinder was a pillowy sexpot, but Raven. If sex was food Raven was a fucking cheesecake. Thick and sweet and delicious. Her breasts looked like fucking watermelons tipped with candy and her pussy was tight and inviting as she exposed it to me.

I smiled at her hungry expression. "It has been a while since we had some alone time. I know you try to tone it down in bed when we're with the others. I take it you're going crazy for it right now? Was it hearing about Gard putting her hands all over our Barb that did it?" She shuddered, her massive breasts heaving and her eyes losing focus from the lust. I was hard just from the sight of her, and I could see that her pussy was soaked.

Her voice was husky and hoarse when she spoke. Licking her lips first as if getting them ready. "It's been so long daddy. I try to be good and not hog all your attention from the others, and I don't want to scare Cinder off by being too wild. But I need it tonight." She slid her hands over her tits and sank her fingers in so hard I expected it actually hurt, dragging them down her ribs and over her thighs and leaving small nail marks behind as she slipped them between her legs and pulled the lips of her pussy apart.

I was pretty much shuddering myself. "You aren't wrong baby. It's hard to think of anything else when you give it your all in bed. But you like it a bit rougher than I prefer. You have to promise to use your safe word." She nodded eagerly, her eyes lighting up at my tacit agreement. I smirked and gestured to the bed. "Fine. We'll start the usual way, put the shields up to block out the sound and hang your head off the bed." Raven had a throat fucking fetish something fierce and after our first time doing it she forced me to do it as foreplay.

She looked uncertain, and didn't move, but when she finally spoke it was too faint to hear. I raised an eyebrow and she actually blushed and repeated herself. "Let them listen daddy. They know we're together, they know I'm yours. I want them to hear. Hear me screaming. Know what you do to me. I want to see Andi blush and avert her eyes when she looks at me. I want to see Morgan stare at you and lick her lips." Her hands rubbed small circles in the skin of her inner thighs, desperate to touch but not allowed without permission.

I was surprised, but more than that I was touched. As kinky and sexual as this was it was also a gesture of trust. Being willing to share our love making with anyone who could hear, letting me know she wanted everyone to know she was mine. I knew what a big step this was for her, and I wasn't enough of a bastard to tell her no. I nodded and she broke into the brightest happiest smile I'd seen on her in ages before scrambling to lay on her back with her head hanging off the edge of the bed.

I stepped up in front of her and unzipped my pants, letting my cock fall out and slap her on the face because I knew she loved that. She was in the mood something fierce because she dove forward and started kissing and snorting on my nuts and shaft like a truffle sniffing pig. I reached down and pushed her back on the bed. Same as usual love. If it's too much tap my thighs since this is going to make talking hard. Understood?" I felt her nod against my balls and smiled stepping back a bit to get a better angle.

I put the tip of my cock to her pouty purple lips and she kissed it gently. I reached down to stroke her hair. "You ready baby?" She nodded and let her mouth drop open and i pushed the head of my dick into her mouth an inch or two before shifting so I'd be in the right position then I shoved my cock right down her throat like I was trying to train a sword swallower. She gave a muffled squeal and her hands flew to her tits gripping her nipples and twisting viciously. Her legs jerked once when I bottomed out in her throat like I had shoved myself in her pussy.

This wasn't all she wanted though. I reached down and wrapped a hand around her throat, feeling more than hearing the squeaking moan when my human left hand clamped around her neck like an iron manacle. I squeezed so hard I could feel it. Like I had my hand directly around my cock but her throat was in the way. I squeezed down like I was jerking off and started to fuck. I pounded her throat with my fist clamped around her neck, careful to feel for her tap on my thigh but it never came.

Her hands never left her tits, and the combination of her grasping throat, her sloshing spit, the pressure of my hand and the shudders wracking her body were intoxicating. Her legs were kicking spasmodically in the air and every time my cock hit the back of her throat her pussy convulsed and squirted arcs of cum like a super soaker. I fucked her like that for ten minutes, getting rougher and harder and she never touched my thighs. When I finally came she screamed around my dick and came so hard I was worried the squirting would dehydrate her.

I pulled out and looked down at her, laying on the bed gasping and mewling, and then I flipped her over, dragging her hips off the bed and leaving her staring at the mirror with that fat ice cream ass waving in the air. I stepped up, parted her pillowy thighs, and shoved my cock balls deep into her still convulsing pussy. Raven screamed. Not like how people scream at jump scares or horror movies. She screamed like she was losing her mind, like she forgot how to speak or say any words and screaming was her only way to communicate. But it didn't stay that way. The scream turned into a word. "FUCK!"

And I did. I set a merciless pace, I pounded into her as hard as my hips would drive forward. That rippling candy ass bounced and rolled like a fucking wave pool under the impact from my hips, and Raven squealed with triumph and joy. "FUCK ME! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, ME DADDY!" Her voice was so high pitched I expected to see the mirror break or at least shiver but all I saw in the mirror was a desperate gleeful abandon. Her eyes were glowing, like they did when she lost it. She grinned and threw her head back screaming "HE'S FUCKING ME! HE'S RUINING MY FUCKING PUSSY RIGHT NOW! LISTEN TO IT YOU BITCHES I'M HIS FUCKING WHORE!"

I winced. I highly suspected she would regret that last bit later, her constant repression in her formative years meant she tended to go overboard during sex. But honestly right now I could barely care. She was the hottest wettest tightest wildest fuck I would ever have and being inside her was fucking paradise. Her pussy juice fucking SLOSHED across my balls every time I shoved my dick in, like I was fucking the worlds tightest wettest star. I was addicted to this, not matter how many times I had it it would never be enough.

And Raven wasn't shy or docile either. She fucking THREW that ass. Her hips were rolling like a blender and her legs kicked helplessly in the air over the floor because the bed was too tall for her tiny voluptuous frame to reach the stone as she was. I pulled back a hand and SMASHED it into one of her rippling ass cheeks, and the pale handful of chalk white ass meat caved in under the blow like a water balloon. Her fucking dumptruck ass swallowed my god damn hand for a second and when it did she went crazy.

Her hips picked up speed, nearly flying as she rode me, trying to get me deeper inside her. I was pressed against the deepest parts of her cunt but she needed more, needed me deeper, and I was pretty positive she wanted me in her womb. I wasn't sure if human girls could even really handle that but Raven could and I loved it. I shoved my hips forward and smashed my cock head into her womb and as always it felt like fucking heaven. Like I was wearing the worlds hottest most desperate condom.

I kept fucking, and every time my hand hit that jiggling mountain of ass meat she would fucking scream for more. "GET IT DADDY! GET IT! FUCK THAT CUNT, BEAT MY FAT LITTLE ASS, RUIN ME! FUCK MY PUSSY UP! BREAK THAT TWAT!" She was usually less violent with her sexual imagery, I was guessing she was marking her territory in front of the other girls. She was fine sharing but she was the only one that got my nut the hared way and she was gonna fucking prove it.

I grinned down at my squealing girlfriend and figured I'd help her sell it a bit. I stuck out a thumb and without any warning shoved it up her tight little asshole as I bottomed out. She fucking erupted. "FUCK! GET IT! GET THAT PUSSY YOU BIG DICKED SON OF A BITCH! DICK ME DOWN DADDY CRUSH MY CUNT, BREAK MY FUCKING PUSSY IN HALF!" I pulled my hand out of her asshole reached down, grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her up parallel to my body.

She stared into the mirror at he drooling, flushed, dazed face, before I slammed her straight down onto my cock like a fucking sock. She started screaming again but there were no words this time, just a big stupid triumphant grin. I jackhammered her down on my cock as hard and fast as I could, watching those fat tits bounce and jerk as my dick came to a sudden halt in her womb before I jerked her up off it and shoved her back down. I could see the outline of my cock in her fucking stomach every time I shoved it inside and clearly she could too.

She was cackling and sobbing and trying to wiggle her way down my cock, getting every bit of friction of movement her hips could manage. I slid my arms under her thighs and behind her neck and switched my grip, turning the jackhammer into a full nelson and just slamming her down on my cock over and over again. Her hands flew up and slapped at her bouncing titties and her own face and down at her clit. Any part of her body with any sensitivity was slapped or scratched or twisted trying to milk more out of her fucking.

She came more times on me than I could count, I was standing in a puddle and the sheets around were soaked. Finally I shoved my cock all the way into her womb and with one last bestial roar of effort I felt my orgasm tear from me and my cum flooded her like a fucking garden hose filling a balloon. I swear I saw her stomach inflate slightly as I finished. Her laughter was high and manic as she threw back her head and screamed. "GET ME PREGNANT DADDY!" Before literally passing out on my dick. I set her back down on the bed, slightly in shock. I'll be honest, I hadn't expected that.

Raven pretty much passed out after we were done and I picked her up and carried her down the hall to where Cinder and Barb were sleeping. The bed was pretty soaked and I didn't feel like changing the damn sheets so we just dropped into bed with our girlfriends and curled up together. After a nice restful sleep I woke up earlier than any of the others and climbed out of bed, kissing them each on the forehead and leaving a note that I was going out to explore around the castle.

I padded to the bathroom Benjamin in my original room, stopping to leave a note for Louise to change the sheets, and then climbed into the shower. The shower was every bit as gorgeous outside as in. With dark brown tiles along the walls and a slightly ridged floor to provide traction. Across from the shower head was a small marble bench you could sit on and still be in the spray if you aimed the head up. I turned the hot water on full blast and sat back and just let the burning liquid pound out all my stress and tension.

Great sex followed by a nice long relaxing shower was exactly what I needed, and I stopped to turn the knob outside the shower for the steam and flipped the shining metal grate at the top of the opaque door closed to keep the heat in and just lounged in the cloud of heated moisture. I inhaled deeply, my powerful lungs immune to the heat of the steam and released the breath, reveling in the joy of complete relaxation.

After fifteen minutes of that followed by another ten of vigorous scrubbing with some very nice loofas and some top of the line bathing products I didn't recognize I felt completely rejuvenated. I toweled off with the softest towel I'd ever felt and headed out to grab some clothes before I made my way down to breakfast. The dining room was easy enough to find, it was the biggest room, and pretty well lit, and when I got there I couldn't help but grin. I could see the room had been prepared for me in advance, and I was loving it.

The huge intricately carved wooden table was piled with food. Platters and plates of fruit and meat and eggs. I saw blintzes and crepes and pancakes and danishes and muffins. Country fried steak and hash browns and a dozen other foods, though all already partially demolished by the ravenous blonde brawler sitting alone at the table, taking on a mountain of breakfast like she was climbing Kilimanjaro. She saw me come in and grinned, showing teeth with food stuck between them, but never stopped gorging herself.

Not to be outdone I grabbed a plate and piled it with a few things, some scrambled eggs with cheese, a country friend steak, a delicious pile of cheese and fruit danishes and a blueberry muffin, before I sat down next to Yang and started my own war on breakfast. The food was amazing of course, and I had no clue where they got fresh baked danishes, but I assumed it was in the nearby village. Speaking of which, I turned to Yang swallowing before I spoke. "Hey, I was going to go out exploring, want to join?"

Yang didn't bother swallowing first, just responding with a muffled "Sure." and an enthusiastic nod, though in her defense she kept her mouth shut enough that no food flew out. I just chuckled and went back to eating, and with no talking we both finished our food in maybe ten or fifteen minutes. Then we got up and headed outside. I turned to Yang "So I think I have like eleven cars here. You want to drive or walk?" I hadn't checked the garage, but Mina had mentioned one and I had a fucking plane, no way my garage wasn't tricked out.

Yang just chuckled with a shrug. "Let's just walk. We're exploring anyway and it's not like we're getting tired anytime soon is it big man." That was a valid point so I gave a return shrug of my own and we headed out in a random direction. She smirked at me. "So heard you give it to Rae last night. You were putting it to her good from the sound of it. It alway's blows my mind how dirty and loud she is. This was only my second time hearing it, I can't imagine how Andi must have taken it." I'd been expecting her to tease me about it, but honestly I didn't care about the noise, I kind of thought it was hot.

I just grinned at her. "Why? You jealous? But yeah you know she likes to cut loose in bed. I think she was trying to mark her territory a bit. With Mina and Louise and all the other girls I think even our super calm Raven is feeling a bit of possessiveness." We turned down an old trail and kept walking, away from the castle, though we always kept it directly to our back so we could find our way home if needed. The forest was gorgeous, tall and green and dark in a way younger forests never get.

Yang smiled slightly at the jealousy remark but her expression became wistful. "This place is pretty. Reminds me a bit of Forever Fall. Same kind of stillness and depth if that makes sense. That's where I first met my team. At least as a team. I ran into them the night before but Blake and I really became partners in a place like this." Her tone was sad, but not heartbroken. Over the last year Yang had bonded with us and started to heal. She still had trouble talking about Ruby, but she could bring up Blake or Weiss without breaking down. She was sad but she wished them well.

I stepped up next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Sorry Yang, I know it's tough. We're always here for you if you need us." She gave me a sad smile but didn't say anything and we just kept walking. The moss beneath our shoes was soft enough to feel like carpet and the ground was thick and loamy, buckling with every step. I could smell the thick scent of tree sap and growing things and if I focused hard I could make out the faint patter of tiny animals climbing through the trees around us.

We walked like that for hours, just quietly enjoying nature. My phone was one of our godsteel scroll phones and the things used a magic carrier signal that meant you always had bars, so I wasn't too worried about being unreachable. I just enjoyed my time with Yang. We didn't get nearly enough time together these days, I'd gotten so wrapped up in my relationship I'd let our friendship slide and I regretted that. Yang was with the kids so much I barely saw her, and we just talked her and I as we walked, about anything and everything.

Finally after a few hours we came to a beautiful crystal clear lake. The sun shimmered on the water and birds played in the shallow. It was idyllic as hell. Yang was overjoyed and ran to the edge of the lake staring out at all the animals and the cool water with a huge grin before she turned to me. "Hey Cam let's go swimming!" I raised an eyebrow then waved an arm at her. Having a metal limb is not great for flotation. I could swim of course but it was exhausting and almost no fun at all. Yang just rolled her eyes, stuck out her tongue and stripped off her shirt and shorts, showing off a lilac bra and panty set.

I just laughed at her. "You can go if you want but I don't want to spend the day underwater trying to pry my heavy ass out of mud at the bottom of the lake. I can hold my breath a long time but its just not worth the trouble." Yang rolled her eyes and shook her ass at me teasingly before diving into the water. She came up grinning, her beloved long hair soaking wet. Then she put her hand behind her back and unclipped her bra, slipping it out of the water, whirling it once above her head and tossing it onto the beach. Then she dove under into the depths of the lake.

I rolled my eyes a bit. Yang was one of those people Raven and I had discussed me sleeping with before. Rae assured me she had a crush, and she was gorgeous, but I also knew Yang flirted with people she felt safe with. I wasn't going to try anything after she'd been through so much. If she wanted to get involved with us I had permission from the girls but it would be at her pace. I was smiling casually and headed down to the beach when I stopped in my tracks. I stared at the water. Hard. This was a lake.

I suddenly remembered something Barb had said on the plane about a local lake being some kind of gateway to a demon school. I stopped to ponder. I weighed the possibility of this being the exact lake that had been mentioned against my almost freakish tendency to get into horrifying situations. Then I started cursing. I raced to the edge of the water, shouting for Yang, who surfaced with a puzzled frown. "Yang! Get out! This lake is too close to the castle, Barb told me a story about some weird demon lake near us I totally spaced on it until just now. You have to get out!" I didn't know if anything was actually wrong with the lake of course, but I wasn't risking it.

All playfulness and teasing was gone from Yang's face. She looked around suspiciously, eyes flashing red and hair turning to white gold flames, which unfortunately clashed with the water making steam. She didn't see anything and started paddling for the shore. My eyes however were locked on the center of the lake, where the water was bubbling and churning. Seemingly immediately after Yang's hair caught alight the center of the lake began to slowly spin. The water picked up speed as Yang activated her Aura to swim back but somehow the distance to the shore seemed to stretch.

The lake water picked up speed, the vortex sinking deeper and the walls of water around it becoming more and more steep. At the bottom, blazing with a flickering light, was another vortex, this one of fire. Scarlet flames that I knew would smell like brimstone. I cursed loudly and stripped off my shirt, grabbing Yang's clothes as I went by so she wouldn't be so vulnerable on the swim back, then I dove into the lake, swimming hard to get to her. The water sucked down at me, dragging me under, not just my own weight but the vortex itself but still I swam. I had to get to Yang.

She was panicking, clearly freaking out over this madness, and I cursed myself for mentioning it to her. Yang's powers came from soulfire like mine. Her hair lit with soulfire through her Aura every time she used her semblance now. This was a demon portal, and hellfire and soulfire did not get along. I swam against the current and my own weight, and only my unnatural strength made it possible. I channeled a force Aura to exert more strength, and considered a wind aspect but I was worried if I phased through the water I'd fall right to the bottom.

Finally I reached her, pulling her against me and shoving her clothes at her. Then I turned and started to swim towards the shore. Or I would have. If the fucking shore didn't appear miles away now. The space seemed to stretch before us and as I swam the whirlpool expanded, getting deeper and steeper as it widened. Finally the wall of water grabbed us and started to whirl us in a circle. I tried to fight free but we were flung out into the empty space over the flickering hellfire pool I wrapped a shield around us, pulling Yang tightly against me and turned so my back would hit first, and we fell screaming into a portal to hell.

The new arc begins! This will be the second to last arc of the story, though I expect the two to last to about five hundred thousand words.

pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent