When they got even more explicit, showing her performing group sex acts in inappropriate places like the confessional, I immediately decided that was as much as I wanted or could bear to see, and shut it down. I’d only looked at all, to verify what the damage might be, and to better protect Fiona’s reputation if that was at all possible at this point.

  That motherfucking prick had just sent that out in the clear, on all channels, to everyone on New Hope and all the space stations. It’d be all over the fellowship by this time in the morning. Scandal didn’t cover it. They must’ve had orders to release it, if they failed to kill Fiona again.

  There were tears on Fiona’s face, so I got up and undid her straps, then pulled her to her feet and escorted her out, with Grace right behind us.

  Right before we got to the door, the captain spoke.

  “Your grace,” he waited for Fiona to look back, and I hated the look of uncertainty on her face, “We will find and punish him, I promise you that. I don’t know how much of that is true, and I don’t care what you do in private, your grace. I know you sincerely care for all of us and will be a wise ruler like your father. You already are as our duchess. Not that you need my approval, but for whatever its worth you have that and my loyalty, always.”

  Then he bowed, which had the whole bridge crew stand up and bow, with determination on their faces, as well as loyalty. It was heartening to see them actually being supportive, and not small minded pricks for once. I supposed come hell or high water they were hers, even if they got a little bent out of shape over the small stuff.

  Fiona straightened up, “Thank you, all,” then turned and left. She didn’t start to tremble against me until the bridge door had shut.

  “Gods, Damien. What do we do?”

  I said, “We complete the mission, vacation. It’s important for your development and control. Unless your father orders you back, until then we go forward and finish your itinerary.”

  She bit her lip, then nodded, “Grace?”

  Grace shrugged, “Scandal or not, still the best sex and sex magic buildup ever. I’m not going anywhere, and I was corrupted by my own magic into being a shameless slut long before I met yours.”

  Fiona giggled, and took her hand and squeezed it, “Thank you, Grace.”

  “You might want to send your mother a message. She was hit a lot harder in the proof, he had nothing on you or proving you were supernatural.” At least, nothing that was included. He didn’t even out that she was in New Hope on vacation, which I thought strange.

  Fiona said, “Already did it. She’s strong willed, old and experienced. She’ll get through the scandal, even if dad isn’t prelate anymore in the end, and just her mate. She’s lived less famous lives, and she will again after my father passes should she survive it.”

  Grace asked, “Is that likely? Your father not being prelate anymore, I mean?”

  Fiona shrugged, “I don’t know. The bishops elect a new prelate when a dynasty ends because an heirless prelate dies. That’s happened three times in the last thousand years. They’ve never voted out a prelate before in the history of the Fellowship, even if there are rules for it. They might not do anything, and take a stand against the one that betrayed us. They might take a half measure, and just vote to declare me illegitimate as an heir since I’m not human. So my father could finish out his reign, and then a new family would be voted in after his passing.

  “I already suggested that last to mother, that we steel the march and I voluntarily stand down to short circuit the scandal and so my father can finish out his rule. Without me as heir apparent, I don’t think anyone would press forward with further action. My father is well liked, and the fellowship has flourished under his rule.

  “We’ll see what they say when they get the message and get back to me. I’m furious, but my enemy is beyond my reach, and I’m trying really hard to be calm about this. We knew it might happen, when I was targeted by assassins, being outed I mean.”

  “What can I do?”

  She smiled, “I need a distraction. You know, Damien. I really am rather wicked and corrupting, I think I should be soundly punished and fucked unconscious, don’t you?”

  I snorted, “Anything, sweetheart.”

  She bit her lip, “Anything?”

  “Of course, baby. What do you really want?”

  She bit her lip alluringly, “Hold me and love me, Damien. Make me feel safe and cherished, and I won’t even notice when my world burns down around me.”

  I scooped her up and carried her back to bed to do just that. I never thought I’d ever hear my naughty nymph tell me she just wanted to be held, but damn if I wasn’t going to do it, for as long as I had to.

  I told her how much I loved her, while stripping us both down, then I pulled her tightly against me.

  Grace joined us, but instead of taking my other side she snuggled up behind Fiona, and we had my duchess snuggled up between us as we slowly wound down.

  I held her tenderly, and she sniffled and cried as silently as possible as she trembled against me. I knew without asking she was incredibly worried about her parents, despite her earlier seeming surety they’d be fine. She wasn’t crying for herself, that much I was positive about.

  I felt insanely protective, loving, and tender toward her. Of course, when she was cried out the emotions shifted, as did her intent as she kissed me with such gentle and loving surrender that it sent a potent feeling of protection and love through me.

  I don’t know what surprised and awed Grace most that first night in our bed. That nymphs like every other woman sometimes just needed to be held for a while to feel cherished and safe, or that Fiona and I made slow and painfully sweet love together, lost in each other’s eyes as Grace watched us, stroked us, and told us how beautiful we were together.

  It was intensely intimate, and only more so with Grace’s presence somehow, perhaps increasing the vulnerability in the gripping strength of the feelings moving through us and with our slowly rocking bodies. I was even more in awe of my Fiona, as we came to a masterful finish together, and then kissed each other and Grace goodnight.

  Chapter Eleven

  The next time I woke, it was to the familiar hot and pleasurable sensation of Fiona’s mouth wrapped tightly and lovingly around my cock, while she moaned in sensual enjoyment of her act. Then I felt a hot tongue slather my balls and start to suck one.

  I said, “Oh god,” in shocked and deep pleasure at the dual sensations.

  Which set both of them to giggling naughtily, before getting back to work on said cock and balls.

  It was a hell of a view, as I opened my eyes and looked down at both the adorable and the regal beauties working me in tandem, and they both looked up into my eyes with a naughty devotion that blew my mind. Sure, only Fiona’s eyes were bright with love along with a naughty devotion, but Grace’s wicked devotion had a glint of playfulness that was just as hot and a turn on at the shallow level, if not as engendering of the softer emotions. It was clear they both wanted to be there.

  Needless to say, it didn’t take me long to finish, and when I came it was into Grace’s dexterous mouth, who then shared the fruit of their labors in a hot cum swapping kiss.

  What a way to wake up in the morning.

  After two morning quickies, I suspected they had theirs before waking me, we started our day.

  Despite the soft appearance of her lush and ripe body, Grace was no stranger to a workout as she joined us in a pair of short pink cotton shorts and a tight t-shirt over a bra. Fiona looked fantastic too in a leotard and yoga shorts. None of us stinted on our workouts or our five K run on the treadmills.

  Grace wasn’t so much into martial arts, but I imagined telepathy and telekinesis were quite enough for self-defense for her most days. She did however take a seat on the edge of the mats and do a yoga routine, which was a little distracting, but not so much that I stinted on Fiona’s training or our sparring.

  Then we all shared a breakfast while our bodies cooled, then took a shower before taking a dip in the pool to finish out our morning routine.

  That’s where we were when Fiona heard back from her mother.

  Fiona said, “Mom said you were right. The most important thing for me is to finish my month vacation and mission to be guided through my sexual awakening. That my whole future and all the lives before me depend greatly on it, which was far more important than any political considerations. She also umm, said she was fine. That it wouldn’t be the first time a human community turned on her because of her licentious ways, and that that happening wasn’t even a sure thing yet.”

  That was about what I expected. It also told me a Nymph that learned bad sexual habits would never break them, or that it was so hard to do that it almost never happened. That didn’t feel like a burden exactly, but my love and protectiveness of Fiona made me determined to guide her as perfectly as possible, to avoid those future problems. Of course, in the end control was up to her, all I could do was guide her, but she had a strong sense of duty and a strong will, so I also had faith in her.

  The new station wasn’t all that different than the old one. We were docked at port B16 when we left the ship for a tour. The station itself had the same mix of stuff, but more skewed toward gambling than the club nightlife. There were still a handful of those, along with plenty of clothing stores that fabricated on demand.

  Once we’d toured what was available, we backtracked to those stores. Clothes shopping wasn’t my favorite activity, but virtually seeing Grace dressed in tempting bedroom wear, and conservative wear for the public, wasn’t exactly a hardship. She if anything was even more alluring to me with conservative clothes that left a lot to the imagination, though it’d be impossible to completely hide her lush body which was a part of that no doubt.

  That was also when the open transmission from her father’s camp hit back. Of course her father couldn’t come on and speak for himself, so he’d had a bishop do it who could at least claim some neutrality on the matter, and the man was brilliant.

  We were in one of the clothing stores at the time, when the transmission came through in the open on all channels. The implants were designed to trip a notification when that happened, and almost everyone within view stopped walking or doing what they were doing, to stare off into space. What they were really doing of course, was watching Bishop Carmichael in their augmented reality.

  Carmichael said, “I’m speaking today to address the baseless and assumed accusations against the prelate and his daughter and heir. I also have my own proof, which I will be appending at the end of this recording.

  “To prevent this from becoming a he said, they said, argument, I’m going to approach it from a psychological and scientific perspective, at least in part. What is corruption. What is sexual deviancy and sexual addiction. Making the accusation is fine and well, but he’s offered no proof.

  “Sexual deviants have two common tells. The first is that their work life suffers. They can’t get out of bed in the mornings, they show up late to work just for one more time with their partner. They also let the quality of their work suffer, as their minds are too unfocused and obsessed with sex to think clearly. Sexual deviants also have recognizable differences in their brain chemistry to show that obsession. That shift in thinking, in how they think, leads to the second point. Sexual deviants don’t really see women as people, they see them as sexual objects, and tend to treat women differently in obvious ways that are not acceptable in society. That is what a corrupt and sexual deviant individual would do and fail to do.

  “Now, our prelate’s work life is a matter of record. He has never been late to a sermon, never less than prepared to deliver an insightful and relevant homily to guide the Fellowship flock. He has worked tirelessly the last sixteen years since assuming the prelacy and his workload has not lessened, it has grown larger over the years, and he’s yet to stint on any aspect of it.

  “His conduct as prelate is also a matter of public record. No reports, complaints, nor incidents suggesting the prelate has less than favorable attitudes toward women exist. There are no accusations of sexual harassment, and not even the muttering of him passing over a woman to promote a man. The mix of employees in the temple are also well within the generally accepted numbers for those posts distributed between the sexes.

  “So in short, the prelate is most certainly not corrupted by his wife, or by anyone else. His medical records of his last body scans will also back that up. So if he’s not corrupted or deviant by all medical and psychological standards, what do we have here but false accusations and false concerns about something that is not illegal and is certainly none of our business, the prelate’s love life with his wife and concubines behind closed doors.”

  He paused for a moment, indicating he was about to switch gears.

  “The prelate’s wife, our dear and kind Deidra is the only victim here. She has never been anything less than a lady, upbeat, supportive, and active in the ministry in public. Her records are also a matter of public record, there has been no signs at all that she’s tried to corrupt anyone, least of all her own husband. That she has remained faithful to her spouse’s bed also cannot be questioned. She is the victim here, those photos a racy perhaps, but private gift to her husband, and their personal privacy and data has been foully violated.

  “We also know who violated them. We found the temple guard who misused his security access, and it turns out that he is a victim as well. He is in custody, and we are trying to save his soul and restore his mind as I speak. But more on that in a moment.

  “Let’s get to the heart of this now, my hidden colleague filled with false concern. He admitted to trying to assassinate Duchess Fiona to the entire Fellowship. What he failed to mention was those failed assassinations were carried out by a demonic entity and his fallen and corrupt servants. Consider that for a moment, take that in, the hidden man in the shadows consorted with the devil’s minions to assassinate our sitting duchess and next prelate. Does that sound like a man you should be taking moral and holy advice from?

  “He is obviously the corrupted one in this equation. His accusations are baseless, and only based on pictures that are a little racy, but don’t actually prove anything he said, while I can prove the opposite. There are two possibilities, either his racism against another race created by god pushed him into contacting and working with fell creatures of the pit, or that demon he worked with is truly the architect of the attack against the very bedrock of our Fellowship. That our mystery brother allowed himself to be corrupted and led on this path of lies and deception to undermine the rule of one of the best prelates in history. I said I’d loop back before. The temple guard who betrayed his oaths, his post, and abused his security access by gaining those photos had been attacked and mind controlled by this demon, which we will find and send back to hell. Just as we will find our corrupted brother and take him to task.

  “Lastly, I will comment briefly on Duchess Fiona. She is a fine young lady, and so far she has taken her duties toward the church quite seriously. She is due to attend college in preparation to guiding our future, and we will see how she does there, how studious and determined she is. Right now she has a very short record, and although it is promising there is very little proof in it. But, she deserves our support and the benefit of the doubt, she will prove herself worthy or not, long before her father’s rule is finished.

  “We are all children of god, and all made in his image. That includes the supernatural races that have lived in peace with us. I for one have no fear of our next prelate, and what happens behind closed doors is her business, and I hope her privacy that way will be respected. In short, I have no fear of our duchess, she is a fine woman of character, and should she prove herself out I will wholeheartedly support her ascension to the throne of the prelacy when its time. Good day, and god bless the Fellowship.”

  The proof that followed was actual footage of vampire attacks, and reference books relating to identifying sexual deviancy through brain chemistry and psychological markers.

  “That was brilliant.”

  Fiona nodded, “Yes, but some will discount the logic of it, and even the passion. We’ll have to wait and see if he made a strong enough impact on an emotional level or not.”

  Grace hummed, “Probably, humans tend to fear the unknown, and kill it. I suspect the demon part will hit home harder, it was the more emotionally evocative part of his speech, and that might just be enough. People will readily dismiss the dry facts proving the innocence of the prelate and his wife, they may even just say it’s a cover up. Some humans have an alarming ability to ignore all the facts if it doesn’t fit their worldview.”

  “Still brilliant,” I insisted, “Even true.”

  Fiona winked.

  We continued to shop, and at some point, we started to draw a crowd at a distance, and we quickly came to the obvious conclusion Fiona had been recognized. Well, her anonymity had really depended a lot on people never expecting her to be vacationing on resort space stations and avoiding the pomp and circumstance around her title. Most people didn’t notice what was right in front of them, but I supposed the accusations yesterday and counter speech that mid-morning had Fiona and the prelate foremost in people’s minds, and someone had recognized her. The sighting had obviously spread like a wildfire.

  Fiona’s and Grace’s doubts about the effectiveness of the counter-speech turned out to be true enough. There were a lot of people who looked disgusted and afraid at our presence, a third or so who just gawked at the famous person and probably didn’t give a shit either way, and another third who gave nods of solidarity and respect as we passed, and clearly believed she was innocent as were her parents. A split of opinion, that could easily lead to the schism in the Fellowship that the idiotic racist had professed to fear.