I nodded in agreement, “She’ll also be perfect for keeping a heartbeat check on the family, she won’t let any of us reach a level of true resentment out of a falsely perceived or accidental neglect, which is the greatest danger in a creative family of our size. Support in all directions, but also easy to get lost in the shuffle since none of us are selfishly demanding. Mandy also had the idea she’d like to take the lead in the council’s watchdog function while we pursue outside of council interests and support our family, and I tend to agree with her, but all we can do is ask.”

  Vicki grinned, “Still intimidating in how much she has her shit together, but I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “Why intimidating?”

  Vicki shrugged, “She sounds amazing, braces Washington corruption, gets payback for wronged parties, while my largest accomplishment is getting drunk and being the centerpiece of a gangbang.”

  I giggled, “We all have our strengths and weaknesses, hotness. You will be the heart and soul of this family, and just as important as any of us.”

  Vicki blushed when Gary kissed her hair and held her tighter, as if to pointedly remind her that gangbangs were in her past, that she was ours now. It also told me she was feeling vulnerable with her hopes, and her measure of herself against the rest of the family was falling short in her eyes. I had the same doubts at times, it was natural. I was the youngest after all, truly twenty-one, despite all of us looking nineteen the rest of them were in their early forties.

  I mean, I hadn’t done anything yet, outside of school, and while I was amazing in bed from my college experiences and using my power of pleasure to enhance my styles and techniques, they were all fantastically accomplished in bed too. I didn’t doubt my worth or value, but it was a bit overwhelming, getting everything that I wanted so I couldn’t help but fear it wouldn’t last.

  Not least of which, was that Nate would kill us all, or even just one of us before all was said and done. My mantel countered most of those natural doubts, with the idea of being able to bind us and keep us all at peek sexual desire to drive the deeper connections, but not all of them. Just because we were all compatible didn’t mean we couldn’t screw it up, and timing was an important consideration as well. So far, we were all hungry and ready for something deeper, I hoped that trend continued when we met Amelia.

  Only time and falling for them all and them for me and each other could silence those doubts entirely. Even then, being a god was risky, and even among immortals, loss was a fact of life.

  Mandy asked cheerfully, “Want to go dancing after dinner?”

  I teased Gary, “Texas two-stepping?”

  Gary chuckled, “Pass.”

  Mandy snickered, “How about a club?”

  Vicki brightened, “I know just the place.”

  I winked, “I was almost sure you would, where are we going?”

  We had a blast that night, the four of us dancing together or in pairs, switching off often in one of the hottest clubs in Manhattan. When we got back to the hotel room in Philadelphia, we had another one of those all night marathons but far less urgent than our first foursome had been. The rounds interspersed with light and playful banter and get to know you conversation, just like last night with Mandy.

  We all took turns in different cuddle orders too, so we all got a chance to cuddle with everyone in those times.

  Vicki was shameless, teasing, free with her body, and she loved drinking, she was the ultimate party goddess. She was a blast, and a lot of fun, but it was her poignant vulnerable moments and the sweet longing in her eyes for what we offered that softened my heart and made me want to hold her as tightly as Gary was. That reminded me that there was a complex and loving woman underneath that mantle that so dominated her life from dawn to dawn.

  After an amazing night and a warm breakfast full of laughter and intimacy that put joy in my heart, we got cleaned up and dressed, and checked out.

  I also stopped to bless a couple with love on the way out of the hotel, with another lily. They were in their forties, and both of them wanted to reignite the heat and romance of their youth, with their kids moved out and on their own they were having trouble adjusting as a couple, parents without children to constantly look after. They were a sweet couple, and as always it filled me with a serenity of warmth and purpose to help someone worthy achieve that goal.

  Amelia Davis had a private practice in a small suite in a sprawling office building with a doctor’s office and a medical supply store on either side. A strip mall office complex. Amelia was a German and English derived name, and Davis obviously of European descent, which is why her appearance took me a little by surprise as we entered her office.

  If she had a drop of European blood, I’d eat my panties.

  She had an exotic severe beauty and quite dark buttery golden caramel skin of the middle east. With high and severe cheekbones, thin face below it and slightly pointed chin. She had extremely pouty and sensual lips, with a curly rich medium brown hair tinged with red, and warm hazel eyes.

  She was on the petite side at five foot four, and like me a little top heavy in appearance, with full and rounded proud C cups on an otherwise lithe and svelte body, even my athletic curves were curvier, not that anyone would notice that with my double Ds.

  She had on a conforming creamy white woman’s skirt suit, with a stretchy and skintight black shirt underneath the jacket that completely covered but also totally accentuated her aforementioned C cups. Her hair was also pinned up.

  She was in total, exotic, alluringly sexy, and had an aura of sophistication about her that others had told me I held as well. She also had a businesslike smile on her face, not so much inviting but welcoming us to her office.

  There were only two seats in front of her desk, so she stood up and rounded it while waving to the six-person conference table that was also in her expansively large office.

  “This is a surprise. What can I do for you all?” she asked as she sat down at the head of the table if rather primly in a professional way, while Gary and I sat on one long side, him closest to her, and Mandy and Vicki on the other side.

  She didn’t look worried, but she did look alert at having two gods more powerful than her in her office, along with an equal in Mandy and one of lesser power.

  She was attractive and intimidating, even if Gary and I were the powerhouses in the room as far as godly power, she had the easy and confident authority of a woman of accomplishment, deep experience, and long success in life. Even her women’s skirt suit added to that impression, as did her poise and grace. Vicki was right, she was as intimidating as she was sophisticatedly sexy and exotically beautiful, more put together than I dreamed I might become in the future.

  The idea of making her mine, ours, and starting a council with authority by fait accompli, made me feel like a child just pretending at adulthood. I was a very confident young woman, but for a moment I felt like a fraud pretending to be the put together woman that she truly was.

  So much so that I had to remind myself this was her professional demeanor, and while it was her, people were complicated creatures, and she was also far more than she was showing us. Far more than we even knew. On the personal side, if she joined us, she’d be humbly sweet and submissive to Gary, and accommodatingly sweet to the rest of us. I firmly kept that in mind while organizing my thoughts and bringing out the confident princess in me.

  Still, I so wanted to be her when I grew up, twenty-one or not, this was a woman I’d be proud to emulate. She was like… my mother that way, actually, except young and hot looking too. Of course, my mother was young again too, but I hadn’t actually seen her yet since that happened, so I still pictured her as a mature woman in her forties, if still hot.

  My voice to my relief, was confident and dulcetly pleasant as usual, as I went through the whole spiel for the fourth time. Laying out what we knew and what we planned to do about it, and our hopes that she would join us on the council.

  I also dove into the other side of the offer, well two offers that were interlaced but not interdependent. The whole time she listened with a focus that was actually making me a little wet, with that confident aplomb and a gentle intensity that told me she was absorbing every word.

  I kind of wondered if other people felt like that, talking to me, because honestly we were a lot alike that way, in our public demeanor. Affecting a confident sophistication that was natural enough and came from our inner beings. Mine was just… newer than hers, and untried in the wider world outside of school and college parties. Hence the slight intimidation I still felt as I finished up.

  She nodded, “A worthy cause, and one that definitely has my interest. I’ve actually been looking for a change.”

  Gary asked, “A change?”

  She nodded, “I’ve been a personal injury lawyer for sixteen years now. While it continues to keep my mantel happy, and even as a woman I’m pleased at helping people, but it stopped being a challenge years ago. I’m hardly even in court anymore, most of the defense lawyers in town fold like a bad poker hand and offer a settlement when they find out I’m on the case, retribution through payment for my abused or wronged clients.

  “The problem is there isn’t much else that caught my eye as far as my mantel. Even my lobbying in Washington is little more than frustrating. The corruption and abuse in the halls of power are too entrenched, and only get worse as the years go by. If it wasn’t for my law practice, I’d have probably gone rogue retributive on the lot of them years ago.”

  I giggled at her plaintive tone.

  She smiled, “However, I don’t think there’s a greater challenge then taking on and balancing the scales with the king of gods. That’s like, my mantel is panting like a dog at chow time.”

  I snickered, “Well that’s good to hear, it’ll be part time for most of us on the council as we review his judgements against other gods and come to a decision. Perhaps a few hours a week, but one of us will have to put in more hours to run a spy and keep an eye out for secret dealings.”

  She said, “Yes, I’d intuited as much, and I’d love to tackle that responsibility while you’ll all be part time members doing other things.”

  “I am curious, not that I’m trying to talk you out of it, since we really want you aboard, but does being a judge not appeal?”

  She shivered, “Not even a little bit, let me explain why since it should be appealing. On the criminal side far too many laws are… either over punished or under punished. Rape for instance, is definitely in that second category, especially those that harm children in that way. My mantel would freak out if I tried to follow the statutes, when my mantel called for the deaths of the defendants instead of couple of years, or in some cases the law calls for time served and parole.

  While being a civil judge would work for personal injury, since I could give people what they deserved, there’s also other things I’d have to preside over. Divorces for instance, cheating women taking their man for everything, that wouldn’t fly with me at all, I’d want to have the bitches flogged. So as you can imagine, it’s not easy to find a narrow niche where I can satisfy my mantel in a positive way.

  “Taking on Nate’s judgments and only his judgements is one such narrow niche, and one that will be a welcome challenge to me at this time in my life.”

  Mandy said, “You do know we can’t punish him for what he’s done already. Only set the rules that he is no longer above the law, or to use his authority against enemies who have done no crimes, for the future.”

  Amelia smiled rather coldly, “You’re mistaken. Oh, we can’t punish or censure him officially for his crimes. I fully comprehend that, but being laid low and dictated to, being forced to bow to our demands that he align himself to justice in all decisions, will humiliate and hurt him badly. I know his type, and he is the ultimate expression of an entitled man of power believing himself above any punishment or judgement for his crimes. He will suffer under the yolk of our rules for as long as he lives. That will be how he pays the debt for his past crimes of immoral if not technically illegal behavior since before now the king was above the rules. Going forward, we will hand out new retribution for violating our people’s laws and abusing his own people for his own ends and worst of all, his pride and pettiness.”

  Mandy giggled nervously, “Kind of both intimidated and turned on right now.”

  Amelia blushed, “I’ll take that as a compliment, Mandy.”

  I grinned, “Me too, and you’re right, I’ve already considered the satisfaction of his impotent rage when we lay down the law and become his watchdog council.”

  Vicki said, “It’s good to have you on the council, but I’m sure everyone else is wondering about the other too?”

  Amelia looked suddenly shy and uncertain, “You all feel like good people to me, open and kind, and I can tell the rest of you are already intimate by your body language despite only gathering over the last few days. I’m interested, curious and intrigued you could say, but I’m not one to rush into relationships. I’d love to get to know you all a little bit, before saying yes or no to that part of things, and throwing all in. Which should be easy enough, since it would be imprudent in the extreme for the five of us to part at all, at least until we’re sure Nate will play nice with us. Which will be a long time, I think.

  “So, get to know each other, go out on a date, and of course support each other? But I’m not…” she trailed off uncertainly.

  I quipped, “A slut like the rest of us?”

  Amelia blushed furiously, while both Vicki and Mandy giggled.

  Gary said, “What the goddess of love is trying to say, is that there’s no pressure or rush, and that we’d be honored to date, get to know, and woo you before you commit to a relationship and join our crazy sex life. We’re pretty much renting hotels right now, but we can get a two-room suite to stay close, and once things settle back down a little, I think we’ll end up in Chicago, and we’ll all commute to our responsibilities from there. Natasha has a large mansion so there’ll be plenty of room to get some privacy.”

  I asked, “Are you sure?”

  Gary shrugged, “Baby, your mom moved in with your dad, right? You have that huge mansion, pool, and a bunch of servants with no one to serve. It’s up to you of course, but I’m selling my mansion and land, if I ever have to go back to that prison it will be too soon. Vicki and Mandy’s places are too small. We could get a new place for all of us, but don’t you want to keep your ancestral home?”

  I think I loved him a little bit more for that last, because I really did and he’d divined that by paying attention to me, and treating me like a princess, not just the whore I was in the bedroom. There was a lot of family history in that place, not to mention wonderful memories, and the place was primed to add another generation’s fond memories and wild fun.

  “I would love that, if no one else minds?”

  Vicki said teasingly, “A big mansion with servants in a party city, I’d hate that.”

  We all laughed, even Amelia.

  Mandy said, “I have money, but I only have the apartment, never needed more, so I’m in.”

  Amelia said shyly, clearly out of her depth when speaking on personal matters, “That works for me too, at least in the interim to get to know you and for the safety of our council. Assuming our hopes for a relationship come through, I’ll sell my Brownstone, if it doesn’t work out, well then I’ll be back there when things settle and only see you for council duties. Not that I’m planning for failure, my hopes do lie in the other direction. I’m not very good with relationships honestly, or in expressing my needs.”

  “You’re lovely, Amelia. Which is an understatement, none of us can take offense at that. Vicki and I have our mantels to contend with, we need lovers, her even more than me, and we also want a loving family. So, we’d be pleased if you’d be a part of that, which is the goal, not just to get you in bed. Though, you really are stunning.”

  Amelia blushed, and said softly, “Thank you, coming from you that’s quite a compliment, Natasha.”

  It was my turn to blush, at the admiring yet coquettish look she gave me.

  Mandy interjected, “You didn’t mention me in that?”

  Gary said playfully, “That’s because you are just a dirty girl with no other excuse.”

  Mandy giggled, “True, Natasha’s earlier slut comment totally covers me, doesn’t it?”

  I winked at the adorable light blonde goddess a bit cheekily.

  Amelia laughed, “You’re all a bit wonderfully wicked, aren’t you?”

  I nodded, “Yes, and outspoken about it. Nate will always be our enemy I think, so if you decide not to give it a go then we’ll have to come up with another solution to make sure you’re okay when on your own. Perhaps witchcraft will work. I plan to bond the rest of us in love when we actually feel that genuine love for each other, so we’ll know immediately if someone is in trouble and needs Gary and I to come to assist.”

  Amelia smiled shyly, “Hopefully that witchcraft as well as my Brownstone will become unnecessary. Let me change my voicemail, I have two cases pending next month if the defendants don’t settle that I’ll have to finish up, but otherwise I can close the doors for good today. Just give me a few minutes, then I’ll need to change and pack.”

  She smiled and shook her head, and I asked, “What?”

  Amelia winked, “Just that it will be nice not to have wear my take no prisoners clothing anymore, except for maybe my last few meetings as a lawyer before fully turning the lights out.”