Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Lila
M axsim, Echo, and I snuggle for a little while, but eventually, we have to return to our room. I want to check on my grandpas, and I might take the kids with me. They’ve been cooped up for so long, it would be good for them to run around the ship, especially since there is no one around to bother. We will have to work on a playground for them sooner rather than later with the circus resuming as soon as we sort out all of our problems.
I spent the night with the cats. Maxsim was reluctant to let me or Echo leave his sight, which I completely understand, but his protective alpha instincts have been eased, and he is once again happy to let me out of his sight. I can’t deny I didn’t enjoy his more primal side, but I need to go check on everyone else.
When we arrive back to our suite, it is in chaos. Everyone must have decided this was the place to congregate. Apart from Bubby, Nikos, my grandpas, and Zeydan, everyone else who is on this ship is in our living area. I’m not sure they made it big enough when they did the refit. I know there is more space on this level we can expand into, and I think it will have to happen sooner rather than later—probably while we are on Fluxx sorting out Silac’s parents.
Speaking of Silac, both he and Ghosie are drinking what I hope is coffee with the rest of my mates while the children play with their toys on the floor. Only one of my mates is missing, Nikos, and I hope our babies come soon, because I miss him so much.
The noise gets even louder when the children spot the three of us. There were some spare clothes in the cavern for Max and me, so neither of us are naked. Echo must have stored them there previously for us—he’s thoughtful like that. When the kids see the three of us, me still in my cat form, their eyes widen with surprise. I don’t think they’ve seen me like this before.
“Mama?” Cordy asks, slightly confused, and I hurry over and get down on my knees and hold out my arms.
“Hi, babies.” They recognize my voice, and all three of them tumble into my arms for snuggles, chattering excitedly and stroking their hands over my fur.
“Mama’s a pretty pussy.” Cally pokes at my ears as Jack runs his hands over my tail.
“She sure does have a pretty—oof.” Caspian elbows Xavier, cutting off what was sure to be a rude comment.
“Can I go for a ride on your back, Mama?” Jack asks, throwing his arms around my neck and trying to haul himself up.
“How about we go for a picnic instead? We can go to the bio level and run around in the big open space there. There is even a pond with some fish. Maybe we can feed them,” I suggest, which does the trick of distracting the children. They jump up and down on the spot, cheering even though I’m pretty sure they don’t even know what a picnic is.
“What’s a picnic?” Ghosie asks, and I turn my attention to him.
There is just something about the man that makes him seem so sad and lonely. I want to gather him into my arms and pet him and tell him he’s pretty. My hands involuntarily make grabby motions, and I have to shove them between my knees so nobody sees them.
I also can’t touch him without wanting to hump his leg like a dog. I would totally be fine with that. He’s dad bod sex on legs, and I am so here for it, but he did what he set out to do, helped us with grandma, and I guess he probably wants to return to his life instead of being shanghaied into becoming one of my mates. Let’s face it, if I get my hands on his fur again, I’m going to let it do its thing and ride that train all the way to the station. We’ll be five mutual orgasms in before you can say, “Lila’s a whore,” and Ghosie will be sealed and mated to me permanently.
“Lila?” I blink away my fantasies and return my attention to his previous question. I hear Xavier chuckling. The damn man can feel my emotions and knows how turned on I am by the bear. I’m sure my shifter mates can also smell the same thing. I don’t dare look at any of them.
“Oh, ah… um, a picnic. It’s when you take food, usually in a basket but we may have to be creative, and a blanket to sit on, and you find a nice spot to eat outdoors and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air while you have your meal.”
I can see him thinking it over. “That sounds like fun. Would it be alright if I came along too?”
I push off the ground and swipe my hands over my dress to smooth it out. “Of course, everyone is invited. We need to get out of this room and take a moment to relax. We’ve been on the go nonstop for weeks now with more to come.”
“It’s a great idea, Lila.” Link stands up and stretches, his shirt lifting and exposing his shiny six pack. I feel drool gather in my mouth. He winks at me before tugging it back down. “I’m going to stick my head in and check on Liliana, but I don’t anticipate any change, otherwise I would have heard about it. I’m going to send Zeydan up to join in the fun. He needs to get the full idea of what he’s in for, and herding three rambunctious krakens at the park should be a crash course in being a daddy.”
The others all chuckle evilly, but I just roll my eyes. “I’m sure he will be fine. He’s a god, so in his very long life, I’m certain he’s had some interaction with children.” I figuratively cross my fingers.
“Then I’m going to go check on Nikos. I worry he’s lonely.”
Shit, the guilt I feel is real, and my smile drops.
“Don’t feel guilty, Lila.” Xavier stands, shaking his head at me. Damn warlock emotion thief. “He knows you have a lot going on. Maybe after you’ve spent some time with the children, you can have a swim with him. It might relax you too,” he suggests.
“That’s a good idea. We will take the children. They love swimming with him and are excited about their new siblings,” Caspian agrees.
“That’s if they aren’t too worn out by the picnic,” Saxon cautions. “You know how they get when they are overstimulated and tired.” Echo and Max shudder, and I bite down so I don’t laugh at their misfortune. Echo especially watches the children more than most of the others. Although I know he loves it, it is hard when the three of them are on a rampage together. We need to look at hiring some help. I’ll add it to the to-do list.
“I’ll let Nikos know that he will have visitors this afternoon. Maybe they can have a nap before,” Link suggests, “and then I’ll join you on the bio level.”
“I’m going to see if Broderick needs a break,” Silac says, not meeting my eyes. Damn it. It’s like we take one step forward and two steps back. I know he wants to sort out the situation with his fiancée before we start anything, but I need him to stop running away.
“Oh no you don’t.” Tirrian clamps a hand onto the naga’s shoulder, not letting him move. “You are going to forget about your drama for a moment and enjoy the bio level. There’s enough room for you to shift and sunbake if you feel like it. I know it’s been a while since you felt the sun on your body, and snakes enjoy that kind of thing. I’m going to shift and fly, and I may even join the others for a swim too.” He turns his attention to me, his eyes heated. “And maybe Lila can see if she can shift into the water dragon form as well.”
“Do you think it’s possible?” I ask, feeling excited. Although I really don’t need another voice in my head, it’s almost become normal. Hell, you might as well call me Kevin. I almost have as many voices as that character from that movie.
“We won’t know until you try,” he answers, but he’s excited at the prospect, so I will give it a go for him. I can always mimic his form if it doesn’t work… or I think I can. I haven’t mimicked an animal before, only a sentient being.
“Come on, kids, let’s change into something that can get dirty.” Brannock kneels down and gestures for Jack to get on his back. Jack quickly does what he tried to do to me, and squeals with delight when Brannock stands up. He holds out his hands for Cally and Cordy who both eagerly take them. Together, they wander off to the children’s room to change them out of their pj’s.
“That’s going well.” I nod in their direction, and Caspian chuckles.
“They love both of their new daddies. They already have him and the dragon wrapped around their little fingers.”
Tirrian snorts, smoke drifting out of his nose, but he doesn’t deny it as a small smile creeps across his lips.
“I’m not going to come for the picnic. I need a nap,” Echo says, rubbing his small belly. “You two kept me up all night,” he complains halfheartedly, and Maxsim smirks smugly, proud of our achievements. We really did spend most of the night fucking, and it was awesome. My body is fully recharged, but I could use a drink. I can wait until after the picnic though.
“I think I’ll stay with Echo. Although we have the charms from Xavier, I still prefer the cold, plus I’m kind of tired too.” Maxsim yawns and stretches, his eyes drooping with fatigue.
The poor alpha was worn out by his omegas. Can’t say I’m not preening at that. We did, however, talk about Link maybe playing with us one day. He has the ability to create a knot at the base of his cock, which could help us through our future heats.
“Shall we all meet back here in half an hour?” Xavier suggests. “Saxon and I can organize some food while you take a shower.” He looks at me when he says this. “While we all enjoy you smelling like sex, I think it’s going to be more distracting than anything else, and with children around, an orgy in nature is not on the cards.”
I stand up quickly and feel myself blush. Of course I smell like sex and debauchery. Thank goodness the children don’t know what that is yet. “Ah, yup, okay, and someone grab some blankets to sit on as well please,” I call over my shoulder as I hurry toward our shared bathroom. I stop in my closet to grab some clothes and strip off my dress, which I throw in the laundry basket. I prefer not to lose clothes when I shift.
The claws on my toes clack on the bathroom floor as I look from the shower to the bath. I know it would be quicker to shower, but I really feel like floating around in the tub, so I change back to OG Lila and put my clothes and towel on a nearby bench before stepping down into the tub. This bath is one of the best things about my suite. It’s large enough to fit all of my mates if we wanted to. I duck down, allowing the water to wash over me.
Unlike the small pool we now have in the suite for my aquatic family members, this one is not deep. I can stand, and the water is chest level. It’s also hot, unlike the other pool. Bathing products sit on a little shelf at the side, including salts, oils, bath bombs, and bubble bath choice which have multiplied since the children enjoy them so much, as well as various body and hair products. The bath is self-cleaning, much like a swimming pool but without the chlorine. As far as I’m concerned, it’s magic. I don’t need to know how it works, just that it does. The water will filter out when I’m done, get scrubbed of the dirt, and then refill automatically. It only takes a few moments, and it’s amazing.
I decide to test out my abilities while I’m underwater, just to make sure teleporting in cat form wasn’t a fluke. I picture my mer form and the gills that appear in my neck. I focus on that and let the magic of the mimic activate. Lashes of pain tear through my neck, but as soon as the pain stops, I take a deep breath of air, and instead of choking on water, I can breathe normally. Holy crap. I just confirmed what we suspected—I can partially shift and use other forms’ powers without needing to be in that form. I situate myself on the bottom of the pool and close my eyes, pondering this discovery. Oshan had informed me that I shouldn’t attempt it because I could get stuck or splice myself, but that was as easy as breathing apart from the slash of pain. It’s a small discomfort in the grand scheme of things, and it felt like it took a lot less power than to change forms. It could come in handy when I’m down on the old sexual juices. I wrinkle my nose. Okay, maybe I won’t use that turn of phrase, but when power is limited, then a partial shift works. I’ll have to do some more experimentation, but I might keep this to myself for now. I don’t want to stress my mates out if I don’t have to.
I spend a good ten minutes at the bottom of the pool, just letting the quiet wash over me. Silence will be in short supply for the immediate future, so I need to take it where I can get it. That’s why Echo and Maxsim have that little cave in the lightning cat quarters. It’s somewhere to escape to if they need a moment. I fully support that, and I need to come up with something for the others. Caspian and Nikos have the pool, but with five out of our seven children having water shifting capabilities, that’s just not going to be the escape they think it is. With the other two being able to cope with the frigid temperature in the lightning cat quarters, it won’t be long until that is out as well. I’m going to ask for a small suite on the other levels with a few rooms, just so that my mates have someplace to go in the future. Even Link’s library was moved to our newly renovated suite, so he no longer has that to escape to. As soundproof as the rooms are, it doesn’t stop the children from barging in, and he loves to encourage their love of books. I’ve found the four of them in there a few times, reading fairy tales and snuggling by the fire.
I push off the bottom of the tub and stand up, letting the gills recede, then I quickly wash my body and hair, feeling rejuvenated and ready for our picnic. I hope we have some balls or a frisbee or something we can throw around as well. I also hope the orchard has some fruit hanging on the trees. It would be fun to teach the kids to pick them. Even if they are not tall enough to reach the branches, I’m sure the daddies will help.
Using the steps, I exit the bath, dry myself, and get dressed, ready to take a break from our worries to spend some quality time with our family.