Chapter Two
Hannah opened the huge bag that she had been given. “It is so freaky that she was next door the whole time.”
Neekil reached into the bag and brought out a cube. “She said this was ice cream?”
“Freeze-dried ice cream. Go on. I am using you as the test subject.”
He chortled. “For this and so many things.” He popped a chocolate-coloured block in, and his eyes opened as he crunched it to nothing. “I really want to do that again. Gimmee more.”
“You say that a lot.” Hannah held the bag, and her eyes went wide as he pulled out a handful. “Well, that’s a ringing endorsement.” She bit the first block, and the moment it touched her tongue, she moaned. “Oh, that’s good.”
They walked back to the house, and Abert grinned at them. “You met Izzy. That ice cream is deadly. Wonderful stuff. She makes it all herself and tried to teach me once, but I don’t have the knack for it.”
Hannah dug into the bag for more. “What is in this?”
“From what I remember, two types of cream, eggs, and sugar then whatever else she wants. Vanilla, cocoa powder, fruit powders. You name it.”
Hannah mumbled, “Does she take requests?”
“She does. Write them down, and I will pass them over to her.”
Hannah blinked. “Can’t I ask her myself? I can bring her all the supplies and pay her. That’s some good stuff.”
Neekil grinned. “I like the chocolate. Do we have enough to share with my brothers?”
“Yes. Dang it.”
He whistled, and four shadows came to life as his four brothers emerged from the corners of the room.
Hannah blinked. “Were you all just upstairs?”
Abert snorted. “They are customizing their rooms. That is a lot of leather and cuffs.”
Hannah nodded slowly. “Did Neekil give you his guy?”
Morith grinned. “Yes. So, how many women here per week is too many?” He was one of two without a romantic companion, even if one of the ladies was encased in stone.
Neekil cocked his head. “Are you going to introduce them all to Hannah?”
“No. Why?”
“She’s the lady of the house.”
Hannah frowned. “I am?”
He muttered, “You are.”
“Oh, no idea.” Hannah blinked.
Abert cleared his throat. “May I have a guest?”
Hannah looked at the kobold. “Who do you want?”
“Izzy and I used to cook all the time. Now that she is back and communicating, I would like to give her another person to attach to, in my own way.”
Morith smiled. “Is this person attractive with slightly loose morals?”
Hannah looked at him. “Absolutely not. She’s a rape survivor who killed her attacker. Fast moves would get you killed. I get the feeling she’s pretty fucking brittle.”
Neekil said, “And then I would have to file the paperwork. Oh, speaking of, I am going to use the last of my night off to work on that thing we were talking about.”
Morith frowned. “How long ago?”
Hannah paused. “What?”
“How long ago was the attack?”
“Uh, she said decades. We didn’t press for details.”
“And she has still not... wait... decades? She’s not human?” Morith blinked.
Abert sighed. “If you know that much, I will explain. She is half shadow dryad and half something we used to think was dark elf, but she’s black with blue, not grey and black.
Her eye on that side is crimson, and her hair is white but black when she lets the power out.
She created the pathways, the arbours, and all of the lovely orchards in the area.
Her grandmother was her social connection, and I am terrified that if she doesn’t have a touchstone, she will let herself leave this plain. ”
Hannah nodded slowly. “Yes, Abert, you can have her over. We need a signal so the guys wear clothing.”
Abert laughed. “I do not think she would care.”
Morith blinked. “What do you mean? We are magnificent.”
Hannah smiled. “Unless you and she developed a relationship, she wouldn’t care. After that, the dark fae impulses would take over, if Jennel is any example.”
Morith’s gaze flickered with understanding. “Demisexual?”
“Shit, you learn fast. Yes, but if you just want a fuck, go elsewhere. With her fae blood, she could scent another female on you, and if you were involved at the time, we are back to picking up pieces of you.”
He nodded. “She sounds like an interesting person to meet. I am looking forward to the housewarming.”
Hannah smiled. “I don’t think she said yes to the invitation.”
Abert snorted. “I will invite her. She made a path from this house to hers that I can traverse.”
Hannah smiled. “We will get you a phone.”
She looked at the bag in her hands and sighed. “She made this and wants us to taste-test the flavour.”
Abert brought a bowl, and Hannah spilled the bag out into it.
Morith took a cube, sniffed it, then tongued it, and finally popped it in his mouth.
His eyes widened and reached for more, but Krisfel and the others beat him to it all, and they shared them up with grins as they ate the room-temperature ice cream cubes.
Morith said, “Where does she get those? I want to get gallons.”
“She makes them.”
Krisfel groaned. “She should sell them. I am going to give some to Nylti. See you soon.”
He headed off to his room. Apparently, he had a guest tonight.
Abert grinned. “The soundproofing is holding.”
Hannah laughed. “That’s a good thing.” She looked up to their bedroom and smiled. “I wanna go test it.”
Abert laughed. “When are you planning to have kids?”
“I don’t know. It will be a while. My family is very marriage comes first, and Neekil is very much that I cum first and second and third, and then he might chip in.”
Abert snorted. “Yes, I know. The soundproofing wasn’t always what it is now.”
Hannah grinned and sprinted up the stairs. Her new brothers had thoroughly tested the ice cream. Izzy was going to be busy.
When she walked into their room, her grin faded at the look on Neekil’s face.
She walked up to him, and he took her hand.
He murmured, “It sounded familiar. It was. We had to learn about it in our ethics courses. He was an agent. A sandman. And she had been to the XIA recruitment tour. He stalked her the moment she graduated. The moment she turned eighteen, he was at her door, dragged her into the woods, and attacked her.”
“And she fought back.”
“Oh, yeah. It took a number of corpse hunters to find all the parts of him. She was screaming constantly, and sedation had to be employed. She was a tremendously powerful being who had her power taken away by someone who trapped her in her dreams, and she was in them when he died.”
“Fuck.”
“It took her ten years to find her way out.”
Hannah covered her mouth. “How is she so normal-sounding?”
“I am guessing it was her grandmother. Abert said she needed a touchstone. She currently has none.”
“Oh. It could explain why she doesn’t want to socialize.”
“Why?”
“Do you remember how fast Jennel went from being a single mom to banging an XIA team?”
“Yeah. Days.”
“Yeah. Imagine if you didn’t have a teenager to hold you back.”
“Oh. Whoa.”
“Yeah, she probably would have climbed Day-ek while the moving van was there.”
Neekil grinned. “He would not have minded.”
“True. Those two, well, four, are just fun to watch.”
“Yes, I am still trying to figure out what kind of theme the wedding is going to have.”
“Wedding?”
“Jennel and Jennor. I haven’t been to many minotaur parties, but this one is going to be huge.”
“Oh, right. I will find something. I have that card that Leo gave me. It’s a nice shop.”
“I would like to pick something out for you.”
“They aren’t open evenings, so tough.” She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, sliding her palms down his chest. “So, Abert has upgraded the soundproofing. Wanna test it?”
Neekil closed his laptop and turned to pull her into his arms. “Absolutely.”
She kissed him, and as their tongues slowly tasted each other, she sighed.
He lifted his head with a slight smile. “That was a very deep sigh.”
“I was just doing math. If my bathing in the lake increased my lifespan, how long will that be before this sort of thing stops happening?”
He paused. “You are trying to figure out a timeline for our sex life?”
“I usually improvise with a lightning bolt lately. My brain jumps around a bit when we meet people like Izzy. She’s alone, and right now, she needs to be alone, but what would a partner look like for her? Who would even have the nerve?”
He sighed and looked her in the eyes. “It isn’t your concern. It is Isocar’s life. We can offer help if she asks for it, but her life is her own. Are you going to go and watch her work tomorrow?”
“Oh, yeah. So is Jennel. We are going to camp out and watch the live feed from the interior cameras.”
He stared. “What?”
“Izzy said we could and gave Oory instructions on how to rig the interior. She isn’t ashamed of her skills, that’s for sure.” She looked at him and smiled. “I am going to have a very early start.”
He grinned. “So, I should hurry?”
She slid her hands under the edge of his t-shirt and pushed it upward. “Don’t you dare.”
He laughed and grabbed her, walking to the stone bed and stripping out of his own clothing before turning to hers. He chuckled. “Not helping?”
“Nope. You are a big boy. Take your own toys out of the box.”
He got her jeans off, and her underwear had gone with them. He grabbed her knees and pulled them wide before he dropped to his belly between her thighs. “Speaking of box.”
She swatted at his white head, but he slowly began lapping at her folds while making eye contact.
She watched those red eyes as her body warmed, relaxed, and then tensed as his insistent tongue took her to a gentle orgasm.
He smiled and slid his fingers into her, moving slowly as her clit now got all of the attention.
She started twitching with every lick. She curled toward him and locked her fingers in his hair, putting him where he could do the most good.