“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head.

  Well, at least I had an excuse to buy the Nerf guns, since he made us. Three were gifts to the boys, and I kept the fourth to have fun shooting my friends on the camping trip. Even after we had left the store and were loading the supplies Twitch had bought into the hovercar, she kept shooting me annoyed glances.

  “Okay, that’s it,” I said, taking a bag of marshmallows to try one. “Go ahead, yell at me or whatever it is you want to do.”

  She snatched the bag of marshmallows and threw it into the back. “What I want is for you to not act like a child.”

  “Ummm, what’d be the fun in that?”

  She sighed, slammed the rear door, and then went around to the driver side. “At least don’t act like a child when it’s embarrassing to me. Can you manage that occasionally?”

  “Still doesn’t sound fun.”

  “Charm, you—you were playing with actual kids in there!”

  “Teens or at least tweens would be my guess, judging by the way they were checking out my rack.”

  “Agh.”

  She closed her door now, too, so that I had to go around to mine. Before I reached it, though, she lifted off and started away without me! With an annoyed huff, I activated my power and teleported into the passenger seat. Her hands were tight on the steering wheel, and she stared straight ahead, not even bothering to look my way or apologize for leaving without me.

  “Dudette, is everything all right?” I asked.

  She didn’t even acknowledge me at first, but finally gave a subtle shake of her head.

  “Maybe… you’ve got an itch you need scratched?” I leaned over and slid my hand slowly up her thigh, only for her to swat it away.

  “This isn’t the time, seriously.”

  “Well, tell me what the hell is going through your mind and I’ll back off!” I was starting to get really irritated now.

  She glanced over, the irritation in her eyes fading. “It’s all this business with Breaker’s Earth dad dying. Got me thinking about my own family is all.”

  I squirmed in my seat. I never felt quite comfortable sitting like this, with all my tails wrapping around me. That was probably the most annoying part about becoming the nine-tailed fox.

  “Honestly, I didn’t know you were the type to have a family,” I admitted.

  “Not like a second husband and children or anything like that,” Twitch said. “To be clear. And great, now you’ve got me thinking about kids, too. As if I wasn’t already mind-fucked.”

  I glanced out the window, a hand on my belly. She had a point—seeing Kai grow over the years always served as a very annoying reminder that the rest of us hadn’t been able to conceive.

  “Okay, so what then?” I asked.

  “Two brothers, a mom…” She let out a long breath. “But my dad passed away years before I met you.”

  “Oh? I’m sorry.”

  “He was powerful but caring, always using his powers for good but also making sure we didn’t feel neglected. And I just… left them. He never would have been able to spend so much time away from us, but here I am, and I haven’t seen my family in… damn, too many years.”

  “He was a superhero?”

  She nodded. “For the Citadel.”

  “And his passing was… before?”

  After a moment, she sighed. “No.”

  We both knew what I’d been referring to. “Before” meant before she had been imprisoned for making an entire planet vanish through a black hole that she had created and that had gotten out of hand. Later the planet had been restored—and it was where Shimmer had come from—but before that, she had been considered a mass murderer and supervillain.

  Her father had died believing this of her, and that was gut-wrenching. I leaned over and hugged her. This time, she didn’t swat me away. I closed my eyes and must not have realized how exhausted I was, because before I knew it my eyes were bursting open and my hand was wiping a bit of drool from my mouth.

  “Was I asleep?” I asked.

  The vehicle wasn’t moving any longer, and Twitch held me on her lap. “You were, and you kept talking about someone named Destiny. Should we be worried? Seeing a girl on the side?”

  I laughed, sitting up to see the campsite in the distance. Drew was already there setting up a tent.

  “Nothing like that,” I said. “Just… someone who’ll need our help when this is over.”

  “If you say so.”

  She ran her hand through my hair, brushing it along the side of one of my ears and sending a warm tingling through my body. I licked my lips, longing for her, but before I could act on it, she slipped out to join Breaker.

  My eyes lingered on her ass as she walked, imagining my hand sliding down past it and between her legs. That’s what happened when people touched my ears—passion took over, leaving me horny as hell.

  For now, I’d have to ignore it. I stepped out to join Breaker and Twitch, and Twitch admitted she needed a moment to close her eyes.

  “Hit up the tent,” Breaker said. “We’ll have more set up soon, a bigger one for all of us, but you can rest here before this all gets too crazy.”

  “You got yourself a deal.” Twitch yawned, stretching and looking sexy as hell as her green hair fell back around her shoulders.

  When she was in the tent, Breaker took my hand and said, “Come on, I’ll show you why I love this place.”

  I looked around and shrugged. “Trees… dirt. Some patches of grass…”

  “Wilderness. Yes.”

  Sure, this place was beautiful, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He was so excited though, so I gave his hand a squeeze and followed him as he led me down a small decline toward the sound of flowing water.

  We stopped next to a river that flowed around tiny islands of rock and little trees. He gestured and said, “This right here is where I always came ’when I needed an escape. When everything was too much and the world needed to be told to shut up.”

  I listened to the river, watched the moonlight glistening on its surface, and grunted. “Sure, I get it. Always alone?”

  “No. I didn’t have a lot of friends, but I had some. We’d come out here with beers and set up camp, then sit around the fire and tell stories.”

  “Girls?”

  “Young men and women, yeah.”

  “Ohhh?” I ran my fingers along the lines of his hand, eyes focused on his. “You and your little friends ever make love by the river?”

  His eyes went wide, then he laughed. “No, Charm. I didn’t have friends like that back then.”

  “Well… now you do.”

  I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in for a kiss, my other hand going to his bulge. Mmm, he was already firming up, and by the time I pulled out his cock and started stroking it, he was fully hard.

  My finger ran along the top, enjoying its smoothness, and then I went for another stroke before cupping his balls. His tongue met mine passionately, his hands moving to my ass before I slapped them away.

  “Nuh-uh, this is about you right now,” I told him.

  He moaned, grinning as I started to kneel.

  “Charm, do you mind putting my brother away?” a voice said, and I jerked back in a defensive stance. To my surprise, Drew sat on a tree branch overhead, Sacrada hovering behind him with her metallic wings spread and golden light casting a halo behind her head. There were others coming in for a landing behind them, and a couple continued past us toward the campsite.

  Drew cleared his throat, then pointed down. I looked and realized Breaker’s beautiful cock was still hard as steel and out for all to see.

  “Wonderful timing,” I said with a glare, then reached out and grabbed that cock. Stroking it for effect, I raised my voice to add, “You made it for the show!”

  “I’m not…” Breaker took my hand away and then tucked himself into hiding, “I’m not giving them a show.”

  His eyes told me he wanted it, but he was prioritizing family at the moment, and that was something I could understand.

  “Boo,” I said, but grinned and kissed him on the earlobe before whispering, “Save it for later then?”

  “Of course,” he replied, and I imagined the blue balls sending numb pain through his abs. Poor guy. Turning to see his brother jump down from the tree, I glared. “Your timing is impeccable.”

  “Charm, considering how often his cock is out with you ladies, I’d imagine my chance of getting better timing is slim.”

  I had to laugh at that, but then sighed, wanting Breaker now more than ever. We went back to the campsite and the men took off to unload the supplies.

  “Shall we get a fire started?” Sacrada asked, grinning my way mischievously. “Or is it already too hot around here?”

  “You could do better,” I replied, but nodded back toward the campsite. “And yes, let’s.”

  “Remember,” Drew called back to us, “for this trip—no superpowers allowed!”

  “Agreed,” Breaker said, tossing down a large bundle of firewood. “We’re doing this camping trip the old-fashioned way.”

  “Does lighter fluid count?” Twitch asked, unloading some of the camping supplies we’d brought from the store. She purposefully set aside the Nerf gun, giving me a frown.

  “I’ll allow it,” Breaker said with a grin from his brother.

  “Wait, can’t we just rub two sticks together?” I asked, and then winked at Sacrada. “I’ll get mine, you get yours, and we…?”

  “Gross,” Drew said.

  Sacrada frowned. “I don’t get it.”

  “You know…” I made a motion like I was jerking off Drew.

  “She’s making a joke about rubbing their cocks together,” Twitch said. “Somehow, she always finds a way to get there.”

  Sacrada laughed, but then shook her head. “Wow… That’s all I’ve gotta say about that.”

  I shrugged, but was happy to help set up the wood and then step back as the guys doused the little pile with lighter fluid and lit it. A large burst of flame lit up the air, and I turned to see Kai and his cousins chatting nearby, all three pausing to look over at the flames. I wondered about them. It was weird that that Drew’s kids seemed the same age as Kai due to the way time progressed in the other dimension.

  Whether this “prophecy” talk was nonsense or not, those two were going to do great things. Kai had potential, no doubt, but not in the superhero way. Maybe he’d do something great with that brilliant mind of his. He liked to pretend to only care about games and sulking, compensating for his lack of powers by partying with those girls from his school, but I’d seen him at work on his computer more than once and knew he was as close to a coding genius as could be. He couldn’t hack reality like Twitch, but he had his skills to be sure.

  I turned my attention to the cooler full of beers and bent over to get one, only to look up and find the kid eyeing my cleavage. That little shit. He saw he was caught and quickly looked away, then strolled over to find a seat near the fire.

  My attention went to Breaker. He stood next to his brother with a beer in hand, the glow of the flames lighting up their grins. It was like they were years younger, inhabiting their old selves, ready to live in the simplicity of times long gone.

  And somehow seeing my man like that turned me on more than ever. A tingling in my clit told me something needed to happen ASAP. And since I wasn’t about to interrupt that nice moment Breaker was having, I glanced around to check on the rest of the team. I spotted Harp chatting it up with Sacrada, as if their wings gave them a reason to bond. Whatever. Next I saw Laurel leaning against a tall spruce, her antenna glowing and a hint of a smile on her lips.

  Considering that she had the ability to read minds, I didn’t have to proposition her. All I did was down my beer and set the can aside, then stroll over. She disappeared around the tree, and when I followed, I found her with her back to me, walking toward the river as she undid her top.

  I emerged from the tree line to see her standing in the moonlight, the curve of her smooth back and upper ass glowing pale, shadows shifting as she shimmied out of her clothes. She turned to face me and I took a quick breath, pulled back to memories of my early days with her, of a time when she had gone down on me on a grassy hillside near our school. Those had been the days before—before being locked up on that prison ship, and way before meeting Breaker and becoming one of the team.

  Now I licked my lips at that memory, the wetness between my legs telling me I needed this. She waited, her turquoise eyes letting me know she was ready. We met in a passionate kiss, her hands moving along my body then starting to yank at my clothes.

  I knelt before she could finish undressing me, put one of her legs over my shoulder, and ran my tongue along the inside of her thigh. When my tongue found her folds, she was dripping wet and ready, her hands massaging my fox ears in a way that made me moan. Damn, her touch was so pleasing it was as though her tongue was on my pussy instead of the other way around.

  Each tingle sweeping through me inflamed my passion, and my tongue lapped her up before moving to her clit. I gripped her ass, and then she was moaning. She gripped my hair—one of her hands tugged on my ear, sending a lance of pleasant agony through my skull—and then she pulled me back to lie down on her discarded clothes. Once she was comfortable, she urged me up to sit on her face.

  Her hands squeezed my ass and pulled me in, so I angled my hips and let her have her dessert. My climax struck fast and hard until I was yelping with ecstasy. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, so I threw myself off her and collapsed to her side. We were on a soft bed of grass, a pink flower there between us.

  Laurel plucked the flower and stuck it behind her long, pointed ear. It was perfect.

  “We don’t do that often enough,” she said, pulling me in for a kiss.

  “Hmmm,” I said, biting her lower lip.

  “You like the taste of yourself?”

  I laughed. “I don’t care, as long as I get to kiss you.”

  “Well, I love the taste of you, so… Ready to go again?”

  As much as I would have loved to have her lips and tongue on my pussy again, I shook my head. Pressing my lips to hers, then leaned back and smiled. “Let’s just enjoy this moment.”

  She nodded and kissed me back, watching as my fingers caressed the curve of the underside of her breast.

  “All these superheroes in one place, and you’re not worried?” Laurel asked.

  “You know I’m not.”

  She shrugged. “Sometimes I prefer not to read minds. But… I see that you aren’t. Me, all I can think about is all the problems we’re setting aside. All the supervillains causing trouble out there.” She turned to the sky, then let out a long breath. Then her attention returned to me and she leaned over to kiss my collar bone, then the top of my left breast. “Well, all I can think about when not enjoying your company, of course.”

  “Don’t worry. Sometimes we have to take time for ourselves, or we won’t be at our full capacity when saving the universe.”

  “In that case…” She pushed me back and pressed her lips to my nipple, then swirled her tongue around it. “Let me taste you again.”

  I wasn’t about to protest, so I leaned back and stared up at the stars, wondering if she was right. I briefly remembered my recent excursion to the planet with the Cult of the Fox and their troubles—a group of alien assholes using the locals who once thought of the kitsunes as gods, stealing powers with tech and building power-based armor to amp up their allies. We would have to get up there soon enough, and after our camping trip I’d tell Breaker all about it so that we could set things right in their world.

  Then pleasure took hold, and nothing mattered but us in that moment.

  CHAPTER 7: KAI

  Earth, Campsite

  Fire crackled and cast dancing light around our otherwise dark campsite. Smoke swayed towards me, only to be blown in the other direction by Gale. She stood near the fire, roasting a marshmallow as I had shown her. My own had just caught fire, so I blew it out and laughed at the disapproving look she gave me as I lifted it to my mouth.

  “Love ‘‘em burnt,” I said.

  “You told me to turn it and get a golden crunch,” she replied.

  “Some even eat ‘‘em raw,” my dad said, joining us at the fire. He took one of the sticks and placed three marshmallows at its tip. “Enjoying yourselves?”

  I turned back to see the others had just finished setting up tents, while my two cousins were sitting on foldout chairs with drinks in hand. They were too young by Earth standards, but by actual years alive, easily of age. What a weird concept, I thought. All of this was weird.

  “Isn’t this a bit much?” I asked.

  My dad frowned, then indicated the trees overhead. “It’s the opposite of ‘much,’ I’d say. Out there on space stations and fighting supervillains and aliens… I don’t know, sometimes it feels nice to reconnect with nature.”

  As if in answer, the cat lady with Drew—I still hadn’t caught her name—walked over to one of the trees, then squatted to urinate.

  “Feruz, not in front of the youngsters,” Drew said, joining us with a cooler full of beers that he set down next to us. He nodded to them. “That means you, Kai. Keep your eyes on the fire, or right here on a beer, if you want one.”

  I glanced my dad’s way. He shrugged. My first drink had been long ago, but this would be my first drink around him. Wanting to see if he was really cool with it, I grabbed a beer and let Drew pop off the cap for me.

  “Thanks,” I said, and took a swig.

  My dad approached, took a beer for himself and then one for his brother, before raising his bottle and saying, “To family.”

  “To family,” Drew replied.

  I grunted and raised my bottle before taking a sip. A glance around reminded me what sort of ‘family’ this was, and how inferior I was to them in every way. My mother’s plan to see about getting me powers seemed too good to be true, but I was damn sure going to take her up on it if and when the opportunity arose.