“Your work gets you… worked up, yeah?” My hands moved along her back, one finding her ass as well, the other coming back around to cup her breast. “Not that I’m complaining.”

  “And your situation with Lizzy?” she asked, moving her fins so my hard cock found its way between to rub against her pussy. I glanced down, unsure if I understood the biology there, except that maybe she could transform bits and pieces at will.

  “Wait, you knew…?” I asked, processing what she had asked.

  “I know things.” She was rubbing against me, then adjusted her hips so I slid right in.

  Her body was so hot, literally; I pulled her close and thrust, holding her as tight as possible.

  “I’m not going to float away,” she said with a laugh. “You just let me show you how this is done. So…?”

  She had me floating, head just above the surface as she took me around the lake. Nothing about this was normal, and all of it was amazing.

  “We discussed the Lizzy situation,” I said between heavy breaths. “She’s part of the team, now. The inner circle, I guess.”

  “Is that so?”

  At first, I didn’t realize that she was talking while her head was still underwater. Her voice must have some sort of way of not being impeded by it, which was intriguing. Then I remembered we were fucking, and I stopped thinking about such not-fucking things.

  As she started to climax, she pulled me under, and we rotated through the water beneath the surface. I was starting to worry about not coming up in time for air until she moaned and pulled me in for a kiss that filled me with oxygen again.

  Finally, she brought me back to the surface and made it all about me. When ’I came, she kissed me, bit my lip, then whispered into my ear, “I’m glad she’s in. She’s incredibly sexy.”

  Then she pushed off, grinning, and vanished under the water.

  “Wait, so no Brazil right now?” I asked.

  Her lack of an answer was answer enough. This lady had been so about being proper before, and now this. One night in Brazil was all it took. Damn, that made me want to go down there.

  I was still in the water, and now that she wasn’t helping me, I was getting cold. Too bad my coffee was gone. Lingering there I wondered about what had just happened. A morning jaunt with my three-tailed mermaid—yowsers. As I grabbed my clothes and coffee mug, I grinned from ear to ear and headed back inside.

  “Dude,” Greg said, holding a hand up to block the view as I entered.

  “More coffee?” I asked.

  He pointed. “Back in the kitchen.”

  “Thanks.”

  I grabbed some more, then drank it as I listened to the house. It seemed their ceremony of welcoming Lizzy was done, because it was silent.

  “Greg,” I called out.

  He stuck his head around the corner, frowned, and again held his hand up. “Dude, clothes.”

  I glanced down, shrugged, and said, “Tell you what. Gather everyone up for a house meeting outside, and I’ll cover up Mr. Johnson here.”

  “Deal. Except… the cop lady? She scares me.”

  I chuckled, unsure why he feared Bloodsong out of the rest but nodded. “I’ll wake her up, don’t worry.”

  First, I had to finish my coffee, and when Koharu entered, winking and looking me over, I decided it was time to get dressed.

  “What’s this Greg’s saying about a meeting?” she asked.

  “The work never ends,” I called back over my shoulder.

  5

  My first stop was at the room to grab a change of clean clothes, where the shower was running and Lizzy was passed out on the bed with Milrae sitting cross-legged, watching her sleep.

  “That’s not creepy at all,” I whispered.

  Her eyes rose to meet mine, and she smiled. “She’s something special. Good thinking, bringing her in.”

  “I mean…” I was going to remind her it wasn’t on purpose, or my choice exactly, but instead went over and ran a hand along Milrae’s back, between the wings. There was also the question of how Randi would feel about this.

  “Damn, that feels good.”

  Massaging Milrae, I leaned over and kissed her head. “We’re going to meet with Jericho outside. Can you get the others ready?”

  “Of course.”

  She leaned back, one of her wings scratching me, and looked up so we could kiss. Her breath had a certain taste to it, not bad, but something different. Where did I know it from? It hit me, as she pulled back and a bit of saliva formed a line between us.

  “You were going down on her, weren’t you?”

  Milrae grinned and nodded. “All of ‘em. Why?”

  “No reason, just wondering what that taste was. Now I know.”

  She laughed, causing Lizzy to stir. The woman eyed us, smiled groggily, and turned to run a hand along Milrae’s leg.

  “The other two in there?” I asked, nodding to the shower.

  “Sure are,” Milrae replied.

  “Bring ‘em out with the rest when they’re done. We’ll be out there.”

  With a nod of appreciation for the two, I stood to find Bloodsong.

  “Wait,” Milrae said. “Take a good look at her.” She ran one of her claws along the woman’s abs, going to the curve of her breast. “You two fucked, but in an altered state. Now she’s with us, so that means you two… get to experience the real thing. No time now?”

  I gulped, loving the view but thinking of the fun outside with Amabie. Pulling on my clothes, I gave them a wink and headed for the door.

  “Let’s allow the anticipation to build a bit.”

  “Roger that,” Lizzy said, running a hand between her legs, smiling my way. A nice image to keep in my mind as I exited.

  I found Greg downstairs playing an old Dreamcast with Yuki and wanted to ask where the hell he got one of those, but was too enraptured by the game they were playing— they’d set it up as an emulator and were playing old-school Contra. Fucking awesome. I stood there watching for too long, because a ring on the doorbell came and there was that white-haired lady, Steph, pointing at her wrist. No watch there, but I got the idea.

  “Sorry, we’re coming,” I replied, and nudged Greg on the shoulder. “Badass game, man. You all might want to join us to hear this.”

  “Me, too?” Yuki asked. “It’s not so often I get to sit around and get my game on.”

  I laughed. “Greg can fill you in.”

  She grinned and got back to the game, unpausing and letting Greg’s character die, much to his chagrin. He moaned and joined me, telling me how he’d been so excited to get the emulator disc burnt.

  “That sounds like some early 2000’s shit,” Arturo said, joining us. “Can’t you just play all that on your phone now? I was playing the old-school Duck Tales game on mine the other day while watching the new show.”

  We headed out, others joining us as we debated which show was better—the original or the new one. I said the original, of course, but Arturo was into the new one. Greg too, surprisingly.

  “This how you run meetings?” Jericho asked, and to my surprise and excitement, he had several catering dishes full of breakfast burritos ready, along with more coffee.

  “Sorry, I got distracted,” I replied. Taking one of the burritos, I nodded. “Nice thinking.”

  “Had to get some help,” he admitted with a nod to Ahlaksiz. “But figured it’d be a nice touch. A sign of friendship, after our little attack yesterday.”

  I scoffed. “Little…”

  “I like that you two are being all buddy-buddy,” Jalee said. “But… what’s going on?”

  “Right…” Jericho seemed to be very used to this sort of role; he stood and held his hands out for silence. Everyone obeyed. “We’re here not just for burritos, but because our new friends need some help.”

  “We do?” Koharu asked.

  I nodded and glanced around. “Hold on.” With a quick summoning, Devasla appeared from a hole in the ground that closed behind her. I grinned, then said, “Continue.”

  “Right. It would seem there are those from the world of monsters who think they have invaders. Hunters, as they call them, who might someday attack Earth as well, if not held in check.”

  Fiare held up a hand and said, “And even if not, we have our place of birth to consider. Others who might never be so fortunate as to come over to this world, to defend.”

  “We’re going to travel the universe saving everyone now?” Kinara asked.

  “No, but at least our world.”

  “I’d think you, most of all, would be behind this,” Jalee said.

  Kinara grinned. “I am but wanted to know. Honestly, what I said would be awesome, too.”

  “Maybe someday,” I cut in. “For now, one step at a time.”

  “What do they need?” Ebrill asked. “We have our own issues to deal with.”

  “We do,” he admitted. “Which is why I propose the following—we take them through to their Monsterverse home-world with the help of the Liahona. Getting back they’ll be on their own.”

  “That’s not optimal,” I admitted. “But there have to be other options, right?”

  “Maybe,” Ahlaksiz said. “We have the runes from before and know the sun disk is on the other side. Maybe other options, too.”

  “Let’s hope so, but before we go, I have somewhere I need to stop by.” I turned to Ahlaksiz. “Can you all take care of snacks, make sure Greg and those who stay are set up to defend this place?”

  She nodded. “Actually, this sounds like the type of job that might be better with a small team.”

  I was afraid she’d say that, but it did make sense. We’d be going into unknown territory. The more under the radar we could be, the better.

  “Um.” I looked around, then laughed.

  “What is it?” Kinara asked.

  “Just realized, I have no idea where the car is, or what’s the best option for everyone coming and going. We have quite the large group now.”

  “Yes, I think we should give everyone the tour, and have such discussions,” Ahlaksiz said, glaring. Apparently, she still wasn’t over the injury the other group had caused on her.

  “And I’ll show you where we keep the cars,” Randi said, leaning over from the balcony above. She waved, and yes, seeing a topless woman on a balcony made me feel like I was at Mardi Gras.

  “Thanks,” I replied. “But… cars?”

  “Oh, you haven’t heard? We have a collection that can rival Seinfeld.”

  “Oh, shit,” Arturo said, clapping his hands together. “This gets better and better.”

  “For the record, is this no clothes thing the norm here?” Steph asked.

  I glanced around, confirming most of us were dressed. Only Randi was showing the goods, though some of the outfits were only half-thrown on; Fiare had a cloth over her shoulders that covered her breasts like long hair, another tied around her waist.

  “If you want, we can discuss that,” I said but noticed the way Jalee frowned.

  “We can discuss,” she said, seeing my glance, “but some of the newer monsters will have a harder time than others.”

  “To be fair, there’ll be breasts and cocks,” Kinara said.

  “I’m not sure that makes it better,” Jericho said with a nervous laugh. “Maybe… we can mostly stick to our area when we’re around, and those who want to visit or when we’re attending a function, we ask for at least minimal amount of covering up.”

  “Like her,” Steph added, nodding at Fiare.

  At that, Fiare frowned, pulled her cloth aside to reveal her breasts, and said, “There’s nothing here that’ll hurt your eyes.”

  “I think it’s more about Earth customs and a belief that men can’t control themselves,” I explained.

  “Oh?” She turned my way, breasts still out as if they were large eyes, staring at me. “You can’t control yourself right now?”

  “Dear,” her sister said pointedly, irritation heavy in her voice.

  “I’ll do my best,” I said with a sneer, both disliking this woman and finding myself tempted. Dammit, I had to ask myself if Jericho was right. Then again, I’d been around nudity and survived. It was only when they were directing it at me that it worked its magic. The fact that she was hot and was Jalee’s sister didn’t help in my ability to feel safe. Addressing my team, I added, “Anyway, he’s right. At least when around humans, let’s try? And from what I hear, male monsters aren’t so great at controlling themselves. So, let’s go with this—keep clothes handy to at least cover up when others are around. Please?”

  A couple of grumbles sounded, and Randi replied with a derisive snort. She eyed me, then motioned me over away from the others as she vanished from view. I went and she joined me downstairs. When we were out of earshot, she said, “I wanted to say… this thing with you and Lizzy?”

  I gulped, remembering how she’d said they were together. Here it came. “Yeah?”

  Her eyes held mine for a bit, and she said, “It isn’t right, but it is what it is. You two share this Akame connection, after all.”

  “You’re not mad?”

  In response, she ran a hand along the curve of her breast, then up to her neck, batting her eyelashes.

  “You want in, too?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Not right away, I mean. I get that you and the others will need time. But eventually, I don’t see why not.”

  Hell, as much as she pissed me off in some ways, this didn’t sound like the worst sort of result. Trying not to get too lost in the thought, I nodded and said, “That might work out. Yeah.”

  She grinned, then slithered away, disappearing back into the house. “Come find me when you’re ready to check out the garage. I’ll be in my old room. You know the one.”

  I imagined she meant that area that had been only accessible via the mirror but hadn’t the faintest idea why. It had been picked clean, after all. At any rate, I turned back to the others, noting the looks of uncertainty from my team.

  “So, who goes through?” Milrae asked. “And once there, how do we find Vaper to get back?”

  “We might have other avenues,” Jalee offered. “For example, the route Lava Girl takes.”

  Devasla scoffed. “For you all to make it through, you’d first have to learn to be invincible to lava.”

  “Doable?” I asked, which earned me several head shakes.

  “Are we done with the nudity talk?” Arturo asked. “I’d like to petition breasts be allowed.”

  There were several snickers.

  “Arturo, buddy…” I nodded to the house.

  “Message received, loud and clear.” He held his hands up in surrender. “Wait, so you invited me out here to…?”

  “Because you’re my chief security officer now, with Greg in charge of tech. We’re going to need you to be aware of what’s going on around here while we’re gone. Check in with Jericho from time to time. Make sure you’re all on the same page, too, so you know who’s here and who isn’t, in case an attack comes.”

  “Bro, you’re making me feel all military and shit. I like it.”

  He vanished inside, and we returned to the discussion. “As long as there are options, I think we can make it work,” I said. “There might be other ways of coming back, too, right?”

  “Sorry, I don’t mean to leave you all hanging,” Jericho said. “What we could do is set up a window for going through, to retrieve you, I mean. For example, every other Wednesday we go through at that exact same spot. You make sure to be there when you’re done, and we meet up and bring you back. As long as we’re able to, that is.”

  “And what is it you all are doing that’s so important?” Bloodsong asked.

  “Keeping this out of the wrong hands, for one,” Jericho said, holding out the metal ball I assumed was the Liahona. “Second, with each day that goes by without us finding the others that went missing, we grow that much more worried we might never find them.”

  “Oh, from that crazy magic thing that happened a long time ago?” I asked, recalling that he’d mentioned yesterday how he had somehow traveled back to some old magic time and been involved in an event that caused much of the magic to leave our world, and how it took many members of their team with it.

  He nodded. “That’s right.”

  I couldn’t deny their mission had its importance and wasn’t about to insist an ally give us what they needed themselves. We had no right to it. But going into the other world without a surefire way to return just felt stupid.

  Turning to Ahlaksiz, I said, “Come on. We found a way in there—there has to be another way back.”

  “I’ve been mulling that over,” she replied. “I was thinking, if we focus on your powers of summoning, and bring only those who can be summoned—we might be able to find a way to get you back here, then summon the others.”

  Several shouts of protestation came, notably from Koharu and Amabie.

  “You’d go without us?” the former said as the others quieted down.

  I looked to each of my team members, feeling horrible, but knowing this was how it had to be. “My priority is getting back as many of us as we can. If that makes the most sense, it’s how it has to be.”

  We all knew this meant Kinara, Jalee, and Milrae. Devasla, too, but she could come and go as she pleased, so she was more of a given. My core team was going to do this. If we played our cards right, we’d find a way to hurry and get back, or at least find a way to reconnect.

  “It’s settled,” Jericho said. “And this business you’re off to?”

  Trying not to feel like a little boy, I said, “Gotta pay a visit to my mom.”

  His face went slack, and he cursed under his breath. “You… dick.”

  “Dick?” Steph nudged him. “I think it’s sweet.”

  “I don’t mean in that way,” he said, putting an arm around her and kissing her forehead. “He’s a dick for making me feel bad. I don’t even know where my parents are right now! It’s my mom’s birthday next week, and I have no idea how to get in touch with them.”

  “What? How’s that make sense?”