Hope smirked, “If you insist,” and I got the impression despite her sexy flirty pout, that she was very pleased by what I’d just done, and in what it implied. That I had both respect for them, and that I was insanely attracted to them both and was unsure I could control myself if they were naked.

  Apparently, they wanted to be admired for their looks and bodies, just as much as their minds and emotions. Very balanced beings that way, which I’d expect no less of from Amber’s brilliance in A.I. design. Of course they did, why else design such devastatingly beautiful bodies, alluring voices, and with graceful aplomb.

  Chastity moved back revealing herself in her conjured bikini as I got up and took two steps before diving into the water.

  We had a lot of fun that night, and it was the start of our relationship. The entire circle was the focus, but our personal relationships were important. They were cheerful and exuberant, not to the extent of Faith perhaps, but they were truly happy to be there and to have my undivided attention. Undivided, because looking at and talking to one was very much like talking to both, save their different personality quirks, their beliefs, morals and opinions were all identical. Just like their clothes, hairstyles, voices, and bodies. It was clear they were both curious about sex and pleasure, just like dancing and other activities, but they weren’t pressuring any of us, not outside of their natural allure at any rate.

  They had no more questions for me despite me prompting them twice more than night, so I could only assume my choice of alone time was the only thing they hadn’t understood about me. They already knew me, probably as well as Thea did, and it was obvious they liked what they saw.

  Which was heady in truth, but it didn’t mean I was ready for more than empty sex, which wasn’t something I wanted. Not with anyone, much less new family members I had to get to know. So I asked them a lot of questions to get to know them, between swimming, splashing, and just plain having fun.

  Another three months passed as the ships were built, and both Hope and Chastity became family, not just in principle but also in truth. They were amazing ladies, who I respected highly and the sexual tension between us and the others had grown almost palpable.

  Hell if I wasn’t half in love with them already, and we hadn’t kissed yet. We’d already added them to the couple rotation for private dates, and I’d taken them out to woo them several times. But instead of being six nights instead of four a week, it was just five. They literally did everything together, the only time they split was the quality time they each spent with their mistresses for a few hours a day, but otherwise my date night with them was the three of us, etcetera.

  I can’t really say for sure why I’d waited so long, except I did have a small thought that way. I’d respected them and been attracted, and I’d wanted them within a week. Literally dreamed of the day I could give them pleasure and enjoy the view as they came undone around me. I could hardly wait to see the wonder in their eyes, as I rocked their world, and in turn as they rocked mine.

  But I supposed the reason was they were already committed family. If they didn’t work out romantically, they could leave the circle, but they were bound inextricably to the family, to their mistresses, as their A.I.s and as our family.

  Whereas if Kaya left the circle, she could sever all ties and walk away. If it didn’t work out with Hope and Chastity, then they had no recourse to leave us. So, call it respect, and the need to be sure. I didn’t want to invite them into our bed, until I loved them, and I was sure I’d never want them to leave it.

  They deserved no less than my full commitment the first time we kissed, because of those reasons.

  Another reason, which was just as important in my mind, was that they’d loved me from the start. Only an asshole would take them for a test drive, how could I take two loving women into my bed and then kick them out to forever remember what they couldn’t have again with me. No, it was better to be sure on my side first, as sure as they’d been about me from the start.

  Which in the end, was the simple truth of why I and the others had waited so long, when shallow interest and excitement, along with nascent respect and a desire to know them, had been enough to add Faith, Kaya, and Alina to our bed quickly. Not because they were lesser, but because they could’ve walked away if it hadn’t worked out.

  But it hadn’t been easy. In fact, if it wasn’t for the almost constant daily sex with Thea, Alina, Faith, and Kaya both separately and in our nightly fivesomes, I’d have broken that first week. They were… enthralling, and at least Hope took constant delight in tempting me with her flesh and her words.

  As it was, my next date with the twins was just a couple of days away, tonight would be their first time with Alina, while the next night they’d both double team Kaya. It was only right that once we’d made that decision, that we were all ready, that their mistresses went first. Two more nights would pass quickly, especially in the arms and bodies of Kaya and Faith.

  Beyond that, my date with Kaya tonight would be significant as well. We’d been together for over seven months now, and I thought it long passed the time to tell her how important she’d become to me.

  Assuming of course, we all survived.

  Because at the moment Hope and Chastity were both being simultaneously destroyed and reborn in the fire of creation energy, as the creation energy took on the shape of their quantum matrixes. In essence, making them goddesses.

  Shortly, we’d all be boarding the twelve ships, to deliver a stern message to the Lovians. We’d tried to talk to them, and now we were going to take action. To make sure we won that arm’s race in understanding the universe as one complete whole. The entire human species was on the line in that gamble, and if we weren’t cheating then we weren’t doing it right.

  Of course, I wouldn’t be around for the next five thousand years to see that happen which would secure humanity’s future forever, at least from outside threats, but our A.I. loves would be, as would our children.

  Hope and Chastity appeared in a flash of energy, our now living and breathing partners. They were dressed in their white super suits, and they were glowing with the power of energy.

  Hope said, “This is… different, but I feel like the same person. Except, I think I made my nipples too sensitive.”

  Chastity laughed, then blushed, “Me too, although it might just be the way Jon’s suits hug our bodies so perfectly.”

  I chuckled.

  “We ready?”

  Chastity tilted her head, “The fraternal twins are done too, so yes.”

  Hope backtracked, “I think you might be right, not too sensitive, but just right. The suit feels amazing on my body, and we’re both worked up about the mission and our first night in my mistress’s bed. No wonder my nipples are throwing a party.”

  Chastity blushed harder, but also nodded in agreement.

  Kaya just smiled lightly, which was a naughty thing for my sophisticated and cultured in public lady Kaya. Semi-public.

  Alina on the other hand was blushing furiously, Hope was good at making that happen with her shameless observations and overt flirting.

  I joined Thea on her ship, while Alina joined Hope, and Kaya went with Chastity. Bill with Cassidy, Sara with Serena, and Kate with April. Amber with Angel, Bob with Venus, and Ashley with Luna. Daniel with Rose, Mara with Gia, and Alyssa with Bell.

  There were nine research outposts in the Lovian Empire, so three of our ships would be appearing outside of a populated star system, just as a distraction. Three different ones, not the same one, to be clear. That part of the plan went to Serina, Mara, and Kate, their only job was to show we had more than one ship now, without revealing our true number.

  Not that they weren’t about to find out.

  Then the twelve ships orbiting Phobos disappeared in a flash. Our tiny basketball sized passive sensor probes we’d seeded throughout Lovian space acting as markers for teleport coordinates.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The dead system had a yellow sun but one that was rather unstable, making the system inimical to forming a life-bearing planet. The research outpost and equipment including its defenses ran off of Starr-Jackson energy. They did have a small amount of creation energy for those phases that required a meta-energy scan, but it was a very small amount. Most of the research could be accomplished without it.

  Our meta-energy scans went right through those powerful shields like they weren’t even there, not unlike when the Thea was a hundred times weaker in creation energy and we’d been scanned by the Lovians.

  Thea said, “Four scientists, getting a lock now.”

  The outpost opened fire on us, but the meta-energy shields took it easily. So much so if I hadn’t been paying attention I’d have never known, since Thea didn’t even acknowledge it happening.

  There was a flash across the bridge, and the four Lovian scientists stood there in shock behind a force field. If they had been armed aboard the station, they no longer were, Thea would’ve taken care of that during transport.

  The forcefield was less about security and more about comfort. The Lovians and humanity could breathe each other’s atmospheric compositions, but they were different enough that it would be uncomfortable to do so. Thea had created the right mix and pressure inside the shield for them.

  I also knew all the other nine locations would be doing the same. The goal wasn’t to kill anyone, much less a scientist just doing their job. We tried not to kill supervillains bent on destruction, and collateral damage in innocent lives would not have been acceptable for any of us.

  “Destroy it,” I said in Lovian, just so they’d be able to understand. They also had a good view at the holographic status on the bridge.

  Thea built up a wave of energy on the outside of our shields, which exploded outward. It wasn’t meta-energy, but the same energy the enemy had used to destroy our ship, before we’d taken theirs by force.

  The station imploded, and then fell apart at the molecular level as the wave passed through it. The small amount of creation energy was unharmed, and Thea sucked it up with a simple gravity beam and routed it to the auxiliary reactor.

  I’d say the Lovians looked pissed, but their leathery reptile faces were not supple, and their compound eyes impossible to read. I was just guessing they were pissed as they watched their research station destroyed before their eyes.

  I waved, and Thea took that as an order and the four scientists disappeared.

  Thea said, “I put them down on their home world.”

  “Let’s give it a minute, see if they respond. Status of the others?”

  Thea replied, “All successful, the stations weren’t capable of defending from our weapons and scans.”

  It was hard to keep my eyes off of her. She’d gotten into the habit of seducing me with that white lab coat and nothing but sexy lingerie under it. The only change the style and color of the silk and lace lingerie sets. But at the moment she was in her super suit, which I hadn’t seen her in for quite a long while. The white dress that conformed to her body, and it was it completely sheer everywhere except for small panels to cover her tits, pussy, and asshole, the former of which it only covered badly. She also had on those gold sandals.

  Thea beamed, “See something you like, master?”

  “Yes, but I’m focusing on the mission.”

  Thea pouted, “Yes, master.”

  I chuckled, and then beckoned her with a finger. She was pasted against my side with my arm around her faster than I could blink, and I kissed the top of her head lovingly as she sighed in contentment.

  How much she loved me still blew my mind, even after all this time.

  “Love you, my sweet and naughty goddess. You should wear that more often.”

  She giggled, “Yes, master. Is the lab coat and lingerie getting old?”

  “Hell no.”

  She blushed, “Understood.”

  No doubt she’d start mixing it up, maybe even adding other sexy dress to her daily work seduction.

  “Doesn’t look like they’re going to respond, they would’ve been here by now if they weren’t going to think it through first. Let’s go home.”

  “Right away, master,” she said, as the ship teleported back to Phobos, and then we teleported straight to the lab. There were still a few hours left in the day.

  “I don’t remember there being a bed in the lab,” I noted softly, as she sexily crawled onto it.

  She said sultrily, “I’ve been a bad girl, master. Rearranging your lab, without permission. Maybe you should give me a harsh spanking, and then pound my tight little ass with your massive cock, as a stern lesson? Make it hurt, master, like a bad girl deserves,” she added that last sentence in a hopeful and breathy voice that was beyond depraved.

  Fuck. What’s a man to do?

  It was later that evening when Kaya joined me in the living room to start our date. She was absolutely stunning in a slinky red sheath dress, and four-inch black high heels that did amazing things for her legs and her tight pear-shaped ass. Her smoky dark chocolate eyes were warm as she looked at me with a light smile on her face. Her long and flowing black hair was pinned up that night, with large wooden needles, and a few stray hairs fell over her right cheek enhancing that stunning beauty.

  She truly was enthrallingly beautiful and exotic of appearance, but what took it up to the next level was her naturally demure reserve and cool confidence outside the bedroom. It was what made her such a breathtaking lady as well as beautiful. She didn’t just look sexy, she looked dangerously sexy, and mysterious. The truth of her heart and emotions only revealed to her family, to her lovers, behind closed doors. Save of course, those that witness her empathetic actions and what she did and chose to do with her life. Like any superhero, that was serving others and preserving life.

  She said, “Jon, you always look good in a suit, where are we off to?”

  “You look, exquisitely lovely, Kaya.”

  She smiled lightly, which for anyone else would be a blinding smile. I could see it in her, the joy she took in my attention, respect, and honest compliments.

  “Thank you, where?”

  I grinned, “Take my hand, and I’ll show you.”

  She bit her lip and stepped toward me with a fluid grace, but it was her dark chocolate eyes that had me mesmerized as she stared into mine.

  As soon as she touched my hand, I teleported to the end of some docks in the Caribbean. It was later out south and east of North America’s eastern seaboard, and I entwined my fingers in hers as I led her down the dock to a large ship.

  “Moonlight dinner and dancing cruise. It’s almost midnight here.”

  She grinned, “Where are we?”

  “Making a stab at being legal, with the border enforcement back up for us types. We’re on the Virgin Islands, which is technically a U.S. held territory. To be more specific, St. Thomas. Did I mention you look stunning? Because you do.”

  She squeezed my hand, “You may have mentioned it. I’m glad you like it, since I made the effort for you.”

  Damn, statements like that were good for the ego, but also dangerous. Especially with her soft-spoken voice as she made eyes at me.

  She asked, “What kind. Dancing, I mean.”

  “Old fashioned stuff. The waltz, and I could probably trip my way through a Tango if you want to risk it.”

  She winked, “I’ll gladly take my chances. Maybe I’ll just transmit the pain of you stepping on my feet, to keep you on your toes, and off mine.”

  I laughed, not believing it for a second. All she’d shared with me these last seven months was sensations of pleasure, and warm positive feelings that she felt for me. I also wasn’t that clumsy. Rhythmically challenged, but I’d never stepped on any of my ladies’ feet. Plus, I could see it in her, even if she was hiding from the rest of the world, much like faith, she couldn’t hide her inner emotions and opinions from me alone.”

  There was a line getting on the ship, and there was a cute brunette hostess in a white ship’s uniform taking tickets and checking IDs with a gracious smile that looked real. We didn’t have any problem, since I’d planned this date a few days ago and had everything ready.

  I escorted her up the plank stairwell and on to the ship, where other ship’s crew guided us to the dining hall. The customers had the run of the top deck of the ship as well as the two below that only during the cruise. The top deck was just open and railed, for those that wanted to breath the air and look out onto the ocean. The deck below that was the ball room, and from what I understood it wouldn’t just be recorded classical music we’d be dancing too, they had a live orchestra if a modestly sized one. The deck below that was where everyone had to go at first.

  The ship’s preparations to disembark until we were out on the ocean required all the customers to be in the dining room and seated, but once underway we were free to roam. Of course, most would stay in the dining room, to eat before availing themselves of other amenities, including Kaya and I.

  The dining room was done in warm browns with gold accents, from the seat accents to the large window frames, to the candle holders on the tables. We were led to a cozy table for two right next to one of the large windows that would have a good view of the toured islands. Between the full moon and the lighted towns, we wouldn’t see a lot of details but what we did see of the ocean and islands would definitely be a romantic view.

  “So, how are things, since I asked last week.”

  She smiled lightly, “Very good. The people at the center save two of them accept me, and some that were nervous around me at first now seem glad to see me. Especially when dealing with a traumatized quickening. School, I’m taking a two-week break, I just finished up my second semester.

  “Oh, Kelly invited us all to celebrate her seventeenth birthday. Maybe not the best time to bring it up, but I didn’t want to forget again. You can be quite distracting, Jon.”