Freda asked, “What about me?”

  I said, “You’re a better diplomat than I’ll ever be. I’ll give you a heads up on occasion, like the other day, but let you work out how to fix it.”

  Bruce snorted, “But for me you’ll give orders?”

  I shrugged, “You’re the enforcer, so you deal with emergencies. Day to day, no. Run with it like always. I will order you to adopt my suggestion the other day, and to appoint leaders in your groups in any way you see fit to get it done. Also for emergency situations that the current rules and tactics don’t already address. As far as I know, we’re only expecting one emergency anytime soon. So no, it won’t come up nearly as much as you’re thinking or fearing.”

  I turned to Nadia, “For you it will be like Freda. More a heads up when I contact you than orders, on anything I come across that you’ve failed to dig up yet. I also have confidence in you by the way, I’d only implied Gary didn’t know if you were qualified, while I know you are.”

  Nadia scowled, probably because I’d just undermined her protect the helpless one seduction act that she had going on to seduce Bruce. Not that Bruce was stupid, but Nadia was a whole lot of woman, and hot beside.

  I shrugged, “Any more questions before you all vote on whether or not to adopt the fate’s suggestion, and to dissolve this council in favor of the new one under the framework I suggested. I think we’ve about run it into the ground and gone in circles more than once. Or you could take time to consider it, since technically I can’t call for a vote, can I? She said soon, but I don’t think taking a day or two to think it over will hurt?”

  Gary grimaced, “This time tomorrow, we’ll vote on fate’s interference?”

  That was fair enough, though it’d give Bruce a chance to try to take me out. I hoped he didn’t take it, mostly because I didn’t know who the hell I’d replace him with after turning him to dog chow. There was really no one suitable in the room, save for me, and I didn’t want the job and it was against my proposed framework anyway. Maybe I’d have to appoint a tier-two on the council for that job. Most war gods wouldn’t be a good fit, but the goddess of war and wisdom just might fit the bill.

  It would also be an alternate route to plan C that was moral, if I took out Bruce and lost the vote, the others might be persuaded to at least let me command the military and police in his stead. Still, much better to avoid the whole thing, but I worried Bruce would act against me, and I could only control my own actions.

  Bruce said harshly, “Agreed. I’d like a chance to talk to Sara anyway.”

  Everyone else nodded, so we called it a meeting.

  I’ll be honest, I wasn’t all that hopeful. I’d have avoided the putting all my cards on the table approach if I’d had any choice in the matter. But I really didn’t, it’d been the best path among a number of worse paths due to Sara’s prediction.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was later that evening, their scents, and the scent of sex was rich in the air, while they pasted their sweat soaked bodies against mine. Their hands caressed my chest as I teased at the small of their backs and their tight asses. It’d been a hell of a night so far. They’d been riding my face and cock for hours, switching off every few minutes, and every time I was about to cum they’d hop off and suck me dry to keep it going, only to work me with tandem devoted mouths to get me hard again. Since I wasn’t into eating cream pies like they were, at all.

  I’d lost count of the amount of loads they’d each consumed to my pleasure, much less the number of times they’d cum on my face or around my cock, which was a lot higher in number.

  So far Bruce had been spending time on political maneuvering, trying to get the others on his side. The man clearly didn’t give a shit about messes, all he cared about was keeping his power completely unfettered and unsupervised.

  So far he hadn’t gone to a physical solution, even in his own thoughts, but I thought he was getting closer and closer to that as time went on and he saw which way the wind was blowing. Gambling all of his power against failure and betting against the fates, all over a few orders he might have to accept seemed stupid to me, but it seemed like he was blinded by pride, arrogance, and habit. He’d been unofficially ruling the council for years.

  It was so annoying.

  “You two are so sexy.”

  Lianne giggled, and Cerise purred in my ear and nipped my neck.

  Lianne said, “So you meant what you said, you’d rather have time with us than rule it all.”

  I shrugged, “That is true, yes, but it’s also about ruling smart, and not working harder for less.”

  Cerise said sultrily, “You rule me, sir.”

  I grinned, and pinched her tight ass, “While under your spell.”

  Cerise giggled, and Lianne said, “That sounds fair.”

  I grinned, “It is. The implants will be ready tomorrow. Do you think we should invite Faith to a business lunch, or address the personal side first?”

  Cerise shrugged, “I don’t think it matters, being on the board of the foundation means you’ll be her boss either way, so you can’t avoid that awkward part.”

  I snickered, “True. I’ll just invite her to lunch then, and then play it by ear. Do you want to be there?”

  Cerise said, “You and Lianne can handle it. We don’t want to overwhelm her with too many bodies.”

  I nodded thoughtfully, “Okay. Recruit her into the business and hopefully seduce her into the family. Get you all equipped, and we’ll continue testing another eleven weeks. Anything else… huh, damn it,” I said that last in an annoyed voice.

  Cerise said, “Nothing else critical going on anytime soon, that I can’t handle. What’s wrong?”

  I said, “Nate’s plotting. He’s considering sending Darrell at me as a distraction, then hitting me from behind. A lot like the two of us took down Steven, baby.”

  Lianne hummed, “When?”

  I shrugged, “He’s just thinking about it, and working out how to get away with it. After all afternoon talking to people, he’s almost convinced the vote will go in my favor. There’s still a chance he’ll decide it’s too risky, but right now he’s stupid mad. He’s also afraid I’m going to be as petty as he was about it, when our positions are reversed.”

  Lianne snorted in disbelief.

  “He doesn’t understand you at all.”

  I smiled, loving her confidence in me, “You do?”

  She giggled, “Of course, you love loyal crazy Asian hottie advisors... that live to give her man a blow job.”

  Cerise sighed softly in decadence, “I love all that too.”

  I snickered, and tickled them both, making them squirm in interesting ways against me, which had the usual effect on my lower anatomy. Engendering a need my ladies were very happy to take care of with their mouths, together.

  It wasn’t the first move in the coming attack that worried me, it was the rest of the fight. I mean, I could see his plan to take me down, and therefore could count on countering it with some confidence and great effectiveness. But after that initial counter surprise my advantage will be lost, as he moves into the arena of quick thinking on his feet and adjusting on the fly.

  I wasn’t really afraid though, just… excited. Another aspect of me that was different due to being a shifter, I loved a challenge, and nothing was more challenging than life or death, winning or losing a throne, and it was all there in this one fight.

  I mean, a blasé matter of fact delivery kind of takes the anticipation out of it, but tomorrow… later that morning at the hotel, they would be voting my way. Unless they changed their minds after this fight, but that seemed doubtful, they’d already weighed and made that decision, for good or ill from their point of view. So, it was all down to this fight. I’d either walk away a king, or die.

  Cerise was home at the Brownstone, too weak to play in this fight. While Lianne and I were taking a walk far from its wards to block his farseeing, and I wasn’t doing it either. To anyone looking at us, it’d look like romantic midnight stroll among the trees as we looked at the stars. Which to be fair, it totally was, we both loved the outdoors and stargazing.

  It would look the perfect opportunity, and of course it would take the Brownstone and nearby humans in the city out of the line of fire.

  His attack was simplistic, and brilliant because of it. There was little that could go wrong in a simple plan, except of course when your enemy knew all about it. Darrell was going to attack me, force me to expend a part of my power to defend my life, then Bruce would reach out with all of his power and try to tear my body apart, using the water in me to do it. It would succeed, if I didn’t trust Lianne to totally have my back, or to be able to easily handle the god of war.

  As usual my enemy completely discounted my goddess as a threat. She was the goddess of force and raw energy for goodness’s sake. A weapon producing and wielding fire thrower was nothing to that, even at the same power levels of Tier-two. Mantels made a difference, and there was absolutely nothing he could do that she couldn’t defend from. Similar to Mark that way, she was among the truly powerful of the tier-twos that could threaten a tier-one with enough surprise. Fortunately, I knew he was going to attack us with an RPG with an explosive yield enhanced by his power, and so did Lianne.

  It was what he did after that failed that was in question.

  “A few more seconds. Misty, you got the angles?”

  Misty winked suggestively, “I have all the angles you requested, sir. Under mini-drone HD surveillance.”

  “Thanks, Misty,” not even fazed by her words, not really. It was probably just my dirty mind that thought they were sexually suggestive.

  I nodded, that would help for the trial. At least, it’d be enough evidence to justify cracking his mind open and taking a peek inside for the irrefutable proof. Assuming of course, I survived and he was captured. It’d be better if I didn’t kill him, I couldn’t afford to look less than righteous in handling this, but if it came down to him or me, I’d put him down if I had to. If I could.

  He was also facing a minimum of fifty years in Tartarus. Twenty each for compelling Darrell illegally and abusing his power in usurping a council vote and decision as his alone, and another ten for plotting against a fellow council member. Which was a pain in the ass, I mean I wanted Mandy for the position, but I honestly doubted she’d accept the appointment. She was far too happy working with advanced technology in her laboratory, and she hated violence besides.

  “Okay, three seconds, two, one,” a flashing globe of golden light appeared on the nearby ridge, and shortly after a loud thump and hiss of a rocket being launched. I won’t lie, I trusted her with my life one hundred percent, but it was still hard to look at that oncoming death and ignore it as the contrail raced our way. I’d need my full power to take on Bruce’s.

  She could stop the rocket early, but Bruce would just abort, he wouldn’t launch his part of the plan until we were in the middle of an explosion. It was both disconcerting, and kind of cool as hell, as the explosion sent shrapnel and pluming fire, not to mention concussive force all around us, and Lianne looked almost bored as she made it all miss us, go around us, or deflect away.

  Bruce appeared and his power and aura raced for my back.

  Which is when I turned, lunged, and shifted into a wolf the size of a horse as I sped through the air across the distance. I used my full aura and power as a god to hold his favored attack at bay, which was to rip his enemies apart, and I went on the offensive physically. It was in my nature as a shifter, and I knew he was expecting lightning, the go to tool of the king of the gods. Instead, he got tooth and claw.

  He was a warrior too, and he moved as fast as I did, but I had the bulk and definitely the experience in a knock down drag out brawl, as I snapped my jaws in the direction of his dodge, locked down on his shoulder, then twisted my body mightily as my paws hit the ground. He was already off balance from all the weight hitting him, so the continued momentum tossed him up, over, and down to slam into the ground while I kept my jaws locked like a dog with bone.

  He crashed into ground with great force, then cried out as I shook my head wildly and shook him as a result. His mind faltered in the pain and disorientation, so I let go, leapt back, and let lightning fly. A powerful bolt of lightning seared through his body, and as he was twitching and convulsing on the ground, his skin literally steaming, Lianne stepped in and cuffed his ass.

  I looked over to see Darrell was also cuffed, and currently suspended off the ground, unable to teleport away because I willed it to be so.

  I said to Darrell in my best commanding voice, “You are no longer compelled.”

  Darrell glared, at Bruce, so I nodded to Lianne, who let him down and removed the cuffs.

  Darrell said, “That son of bitch, he promised me he’d never do that.”

  “Can we trust you to put him in a cell, and bring him to the council meeting tomorrow morning for trial?”

  Darrell nodded.

  “Speak, please.”

  Darrell growled, “It would be my pleasure to accommodate that request, Liam.”

  “Good, because he’ll suffer a lot more in Tartarus for half a century than he will if he’s dead.”

  I was sure he was telling the truth, or my nose was, at any rate.

  Darrell tossed him none to gently over a wide shoulder, then teleported away. Bruce could spend the night in one of his own cells, contemplating his foolishness.

  Which really was annoying. Who the hell was I going to put in command? Gary might be a good fit, but there’s no way he’d accept the job.

  I’d have to figure that out. It seemed I’d pulled it off though, and of course my realism side was asking just what the potential mess was that would be my reward. We’d just gotten started testing for the quantum implant computers, and we were about to try to make our triad a quad.

  There was a lot going on, and I’d have to keep my eyes out for plotting within, as well as whatever was coming from without.

  It was also driving me crazy trying to figure out what Sara had meant. What question had I already asked myself?

  Regardless, with Lianne and Cerise on my side for business, and the council on my side for rule, save perhaps Nadia, I’d hopefully have the resources to meet whatever the threat was.

  “That’s a wrap, Misty. Collect our toys, we’re going home.”

  Misty cocked her hip, looking surprisingly fetching in a military uniform that hugged her curves like it’d been tailored, “Yes, sir.”

  I snickered and shook my head. I also felt right for the first time, victory and rule were mine. Now I just needed to hold onto it and defend the gods now officially under my rule and protection.

  Sounded like fun to me…

  Afterword:

  I hope you enjoyed the story. This was the first book of a trilogy. The second book will be out soon bringing more surprises, more ladies, and a lot more trouble.

  If you can, please take the time to leave a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, and they have a bigger impact than you’d believe.

  About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at magicwrtr@gmail.com. I started out posting short stories online and at readers’ requests started to publish them. If you like my work, or even if you don’t, please consider leaving a review of this book.

  Other erotic fantasies by D. R. Rosier:

  Cirenthian Chronicles – Book one is Out of Darkness.

  Marcus, an ancient vampire, finds himself moved to another world where suddenly he is alive again, and magic is a known and powerful danger. No longer a vampire and dealing with emotions he hasn’t felt in over a millennium, will he be able to start a new life? This series is now complete.

  Necromancer Chronicles – Book one is The Necromancer.

  Vincent is a necromancer and has an even darker secret. Feared by the rest of the supernatural community he lives on his own, often struggling with his powers, and how to use them. But change is coming, and he will soon find himself dragged into the middle of a suspicious and untrusting community.

  Anise is a sorceress, but she has secrets of her own. She is an ancient being, who has walked the earth for time immemorial. She lives in a never ending cycle of life, forever watching those she dares to care about age and die. But she is about to find something new that will offer her hope, if she can live long enough to find it.

  Cytherean Chronicles – Book one is Flame of Cytherea.

  This two book series follows the chosen champion of a goddess, brought to her world and healed after he was mortally wounded on Earth. At first Justin is a little lost, not knowing anything about the world he finds himself in or even why he is there.

  Ashley’s Tale – This two book series follows the tale of a woman with unique parentage in a world greatly different from our own Earth. It is twenty-five years in the future, and the supernatural have long since been exposed. Ashley must struggle with her conflicting nature to find a balance, and her hidden power, as she is taken unwillingly into an extraordinary destiny.

  Ashley’s Daughters – This three book trilogy is about Ashley’s three daughters. It’s about a new world of dragons, and a second new world of human mages and all the fallout involved. Of course, it’s also about them finding love, and their place in the worlds. It starts about twenty-eight years after the end of Ashley’s tale.

  Sentient – This is the standalone book following an artificial intelligence from an advanced race, a man who comes back from war a little broken, along with diverse others as the Earth itself is put into danger as they are dragged into an interstellar war against their will.

  Sentient: Evolution – This is a sequel to the stand alone book Sentient. It takes place a thousand years later, when Aide finds herself alone and broken, yet still following her programming. Others join her as a new menace approaches, one that makes the Sthellan look like a great neighbor in comparison.

  Will Aide be able to recover and rise to a new challenge? She’s been alive too long, she must either evolve, or wither away, if only she could bring herself to care…