Summoner 16, page 16
“Sure,” I agreed, and I plopped Dio down onto the petite summoner’s lap. He was purring before I completely let go, but the noisy vibrations increased in intensity as Layla’s fingers found his itchy spots.
“I heard about what happened at lunch,” Ashla informed me with an amused smile. “I wish I’d been there to see it.”
“I still don’t understand what Professor Brevens did to piss you off so much,” Erin mused. “It was like it came out of nowhere.”
“Rori wanted a way to quit teaching without looking weak,” I explained. “He was supposed to win the duel, but he chickened out at the last moment.”
“While I’d love to figure out what motivates your particular brand of chaos,” Nia teased, “we should probably get going soon if we still want to have some daylight left.”
“If we didn’t have an evening meeting with the other researchers, I would join you,” Arwyn informed me in a reluctant tone. “We’re really starting to make some progress, and I can’t miss any of our conferences.”
“Obviously that means me, too,” Ashla added with an apologetic smile.
“It’s okay,” I reassured them. “You’ll be missed, but we all know your research is the most important thing. I wouldn’t want you to lose your momentum.”
“Exactly,” Nia agreed with a firm nod. “Between the five of us and Gryff, I’m sure we’re going to find the perfect home. Thank you for covering for me with the research team. I’m going to try to be more present with the work after the wedding, but for right now, I can’t spare a lot of time. I’ll give you whatever extra time I have, though.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you guys,” Arwyn confirmed with a warm smile. “Keep me updated, and I’ll try to set aside some time later this week to help.”
“Don’t even worry about it,” I urged. “Like Nia said, we’re going to find something perfect. Just watch.”
With that settled, our group parted ways as Ashla and Arwyn headed toward the secret research room and the rest of us left for the city. Dio rode in my hip pouch with an air of contentment, and he spent his time giving each of my women slow, adoring blinks of his sweet kitten eyes. Nia had a carriage waiting for us at the Academy entrance, and even though the coaches were a tight fit, when the other occupants were all gorgeous and smelled amazing, I couldn’t care less about elbow room.
Nia clutched a piece of paper in one hand, and she stared with unfocused blue eyes out the carriage window. Layla peered over her shoulder at the words etched onto the parchment, but the ashen-haired elementalist swiftly jerked her list away from the petite summoner’s prying eyes.
“What?” Layla asked in a hurt voice. “Don’t I get to see what houses you picked out?”
“I just don’t want you to reject them all before you even see them,” Nia explained, and she reached out to squeeze the summoner’s hand affectionately. “You know Varle better than any of us. I don’t want one of our choices to be dismissed just because of the street it’s on.”
“Well, not seeing the address on the paper isn’t going to keep me from realizing where the houses are located.” Layla frowned, and her auburn hair slid partially across her face.
Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt, and we all jostled against each other as we adapted to the quick stop. Then we all climbed out of the coach and onto the paving stones to gape up at the mansion in front of us.
Well, everyone except Nia gaped. The ashen-haired beauty narrowed her piercing blue eyes as she swept a scrutinizing glance over the impeccable structure. It was a massive three-story townhouse with white bricks and gold trim around the countless windows. An intricate stone carving framed the dark green door, and flowers grew in rows along the front path.
“This won’t do,” Nia complained. “There is hardly any front yard. We shouldn’t even waste our time.”
“This nice hut,” Freya observed as her gold-flecked eyes trailed up the walls to the gabled roof. “All of Hawk Clan would fit inside. We live here now?”
“Hell no,” Layla protested. “There’s no way I’m calling some ritzy white box my home. Look at me? Do I look like a rich snob?”
“Rich snobs wouldn’t live here,” Nia informed the petite summoner. “It’s dingy.”
“What are you talking about?” Erin looked at the elementalist like she’d grown horns. “You could easily land an airship on the roof. All you have to do is make a platform.”
“Why don’t we look inside?” Cyra suggested in a patient voice.
“Fine.” Nia sniffed. “But if there’s only one bathroom, then it gets cut.”
I like it when she’s feisty, Dio observed with a chuckle, and he tracked Nia’s movements with his eyes.
“I don’t even need to see inside it to know I don’t belong in a house like this.” Layla shuffled her feet as she followed with obvious hesitation. “It’s… just… I’m not rich… you know?”
“I get it,” I sighed. I supposed making multiple women happy wasn’t as easy as it seemed.
In the end, it only had one bathroom off the kitchen, which all the women found unacceptable.
“Have you ever tried to share a mirror with other women?” Erin asked after I’d expressed my bewilderment. “It’s a bloodbath.”
“I want a house with a blood bath,” Freya announced decisively. “Our enemies would cower with fear.”
She gets it. Dio looked up at me to nod his tiny cat head firmly.
I raked a hand through my hair as I considered whether or not it was worth it to explain what the pilot meant to the warrior princess, but I ultimately decided against it.
So, we continued on to the next house, but it was rejected as well. Nia cited the chipped paint on the exterior, while Cyra blamed the tiny backyard.
“Do you even know how much room kids need?” the dark-skinned summoner demanded when I questioned the requirement of lawn space.
A litter of little Dio’s would be nice. My familiar practically grinned. You’ve got enough women, give me one of the small ones.
I gave the cat-like monster an admonishing glare, and he hissed before he slid down further into my hip pouch to get away from me.
Six houses later, and all five women were slightly irritated and exhausted. I was almost willing to buy the Retching Goblin and just live in the tavern the rest of my life, but I knew the women would respond that it wasn’t a good place for children. The entire time we travelled around Varle, hopping in and out of the carriage and walking around multiple storied houses, Layla was pushing Nia to let her pick a house to look at.
Finally, the ashen-haired beauty relented with a tired sigh, and the petite summoner squealed with delight before she barked out directions to the carriage driver. The ride took longer than I expected, but I could tell we’d gone down a hill and back up another, so I had a pretty good idea where we were. Sure enough, when the carriage halted and we all clambered out, we stood in front of a gray warehouse with the row of windows near the roof all broken out.
Layla was practically bouncing as she stared up at the dilapidated structure with obvious glee. “I used to come here to play around when I was a kid.”
“It looks abandoned,” I observed carefully, since I didn’t want Layla to get offended.
“It sure is!” Her hazel eyes were bright with excitement. “It’s funny because I saw it listed for sale in the paper before you even came back, and I had this fantasy of buying it and fixing it up into a huge indoor playground. Then I could charge a ticket fee and get rich.”
“Sounds like a well thought out plan,” I complimented.
Nia hadn’t said a word, but her face was pale as she cast furtive glances up and down the shadowy street. She gripped the list of addresses in a white knuckled fist, and I could tell she was fighting the urge to criticize everything she saw.
“Oh, hell, no,” Cyra exclaimed as she strode forward and got a good look at the building. “You can’t seriously think this is an option.”
“And why not?” Layla frowned and crossed her arms. “It's just as big as the ones Nia found, if not bigger.”
“Yeah, and full of safety hazards.” Cyra shook her head, and her nest of brown curls swung wildly across her shoulders. “It looks like a baby death trap. I’m going to have to give it a pass.”
“I’ll second the pass,” Nia said as soon as the words left Cyra’s mouth, but she gave Layla an apologetic smile. “I can see it has a lot of potential, but we don’t have time to remodel and turn this place into a home. We need somewhere that’s ready to be lived in.”
“I’d live in it.” Layla shrugged. “But whatever. At least you let me pick one. Now you know what I like.”
“Oh, trust me,” the elementalist reassured the petite summoner, “this isn’t a place I’ll forget any time soon.”
“I agree with Layla,” Freya interjected. “This nice big home. Room for everyone and lots of babies. Good house. But I liked all the houses. They are much bigger than the hut I was a child in.”
“Come on,” Cyra argued. “There’s broken glass everywhere, and I doubt it even has a bathroom at all.”
“We can bathe in the river.” The warrior princess lifted her chin stubbornly. “If we work together, we could make a nice home.”
“I didn’t expect us to find the perfect place on day one,” Nia added. “Let’s keep looking. I’m sure we can find something everyone can agree on.”
After a few more hours and several more rejected options, I couldn’t take it anymore, and I called it a night. I took the girls back to the Academy before Freya and I returned to the Retching Goblin, and I couldn’t remember ever appreciating a bed more than I did in that moment.
I was lost in the relaxation, and I didn’t even notice Freya strip off her clothes until the naked warrior princess crawled over my body to curl up at my side.
My hands roamed across her skin with greedy movements, and then my fingers slid between her legs and up the soft skin of her inner thighs.
My wife inhaled sharply as she arched her back, and the movement drove my fingers inside her warm entrance. I massaged the pleasure node at the top of her wet slit until she was shaking, and when I couldn’t hold back any longer, I rolled myself on top of her.
“I want you,” the warrior princess declared with lust filled eyes. “Give me your seed, Gryff, and I will give you a strong son or daughter.”
“Any baby you make is going to be crazy strong,” I informed her with a proud smile, and then I dipped my head between her legs to lap up her sweet juices.
Freya shuddered, and she opened her thighs wider to give me more space to maneuver. So, I got down to business, and a moment later, the blonde shapeshifter was worked up into a frenzy. She bucked her hips as she panted through her orgasm, but I didn’t let up the pressure or intensity until she cried out a guttural noise that almost sounded painful and her legs shook against my cheeks.
Her gold-flecked eyes were unfocused and half lidded when I lifted myself up on my arms to gaze down at her beautiful flushed face.
“You’re perfect,” I breathed, and then I bent down to capture her soft pink lips with a kiss.
“I like it when we do it this way,” my wife confessed as she rolled over onto her stomach and wiggled her bare ass against my pants. “Your seed pours deep into me. Is that okay?”
My body immediately responded to her enthusiasm as well as the texture of her satiny skin against my body, so I grunted out my approval as I hastily ripped off my clothes.
A moment later, I gripped my hard cock in one hand while I massaged Freya’s ass cheek with the other. Then I pulled on her bottom to reveal her warm, moist folds, and I groaned as I slid my member between her lower lips.
She felt amazing, and I hissed with pleasure as I stroked her slowly with my shaft.
“Mmm, yes,” the warrior princess moaned as she pushed back into me. “Faster.”
I obeyed diligently, and soon my entire body was covered in a fine sheen of sweat as I pumped furiously into my wife’s tight tunnel. Then I grabbed a handful of her wild blonde hair as animalistic grunts escaped my lips.
Something about the untamed raw beauty of my shapeshifting wife was bringing out an instinctual, testosterone driven, single minded focus, and I slammed into her wet tunnel with faster and faster movements.
Freya squeaked as I thrust so deep my tip rubbed against her womb, and her tunnel clamped down on my shaft like a vise as another orgasm shuddered through her body.
Her noises and reactions were too much for me to stand, so I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her hair while my climax shook every nerve in my body. I sprayed Freya’s tunnel with my hot seed in staggered pulses, and then I felt the white cream drip from between her wet lips onto my leg.
“I feel like it was magic that time,” my wife observed as she rolled over and squeezed her legs tightly shut. “I probably have your baby inside me already. But if not, that gave me one.”
“I hope you’re right.” I grinned sleepily as my muscles slowly relaxed from the orgasmic spasms.
“I am,” she declared in a soft voice, and I could tell she was already drifting off, so I closed my eyes and pulled her closer against me before I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
A loud banging on the door made my eyes shoot open before I fully processed what had woken me up. I blinked around at the sunny room in confusion. It seemed like I’d just fallen asleep, and now it was daylight. It didn’t make any sense.
“Gryff, ye lazy bum!” Maelor called through the door. “Get off yer ass and get dressed! The headmaster wants to see ya.”
Apparently, I hadn’t escaped whatever punishment was in store for me after the duel.
Maker, help me.
My mind raced through the possible consequences the headmaster could bestow upon me. Everything seemed manageable, except for the ultimate punishment.
Sleet wouldn’t expel me, would he?
Chapter Nine
What’s that noise? Dio yawned and stretched out his paws into the blanket.
“Apparently, I have to go talk to the Headmaster,” I replied as I mirrored my familiar’s yawn. “Sorry, buddy, but it’s probably best for you to go back into your crystal for this.”
I don’t like that idea, the cat-like monster retorted, and he raised his hackles.
“Me, neither.” I gave him a sympathetic smile. “Sorry.”
Very well, Dio sighed, but he gave me a look full of displeasure.
Just then, another loud knock sounded at the door, and how Freya managed to sleep through it was beyond me. The warrior princess laid face down with her blonde hair sprayed across the pillow, and the soft pale skin of her neck looked delicious in the morning light.
“Get yer ass up!” Maelor growled through the barrier and pulled me from my adoration of my beautiful wife.
I recalled my familiar and tucked his fang shaped crystal into my bandolier before I carefully slid off the bed so as not to disturb the sleeping warrior princess. Then I grabbed my clothes in a hurry, and I barely managed to rake my hair down into a somewhat orderly appearance as I yanked the door open to reveal Maelor’s grumpy frown.
“Took ya long enough,” the old man grumbled.
“Maybe you should have been louder,” I countered with a sly smile.
I’d missed my adopted father’s attitude, and while it used to rile me at times when we were traveling the Wilds together, now it just warmed my heart. I’d fantasized about getting a scolding for months.
“Yeah, well,” Maelor muttered, but he turned and headed down the stairs as he continued talking. “I ain’t as loud as I used to be in general.”
“So, the Headmaster wants to see me?” I asked in an innocent voice as I followed behind him. “I wonder what he wants… ”
“Knowing you,” Maelor chuckled, “could be anything. Cart’s waiting, hurry up.”
He kept a quick pace through the tavern and out the steps, and a moment later, we were inside the plush interior facing each other as the carriage jolted forward. I took a moment to straighten myself up a little more, since Maelor hadn’t given me much time, and suddenly it dawned on me that I’d have to come back to the tavern to gather my school supplies.
I groaned, which elicited a questioning look from Maelor.
“I don’t have my school stuff,” I informed him in a defeated tone. “I was barely awake, you bastard.”
“Send one of yer girls after it,” Maelor suggested with a wicked grin. “What’s the point of having all them women hanging on you if they won’t fetch you things?”
“You’re evil,” I responded, but I could only restrain my laughter for a couple of breaths before it burst out of me.
“Yeah, maybe,” the old man chuckled, and he ran a hand over his balding head. “I suppose I wasn’t the best influence for a young boy, but I think I did okay overall considerin’. You’re not wandering the streets, or begging for change.”
“You did great.” I gave my father figure a proud grin. “I couldn’t have asked for a better guardian.”
The old man’s eyes welled with emotion, and he scowled angrily as he glanced to the side to blink away the rogue wetness escaping down his cheeks.
“You heartless bastard,” he muttered under his breath, “making me get all soft before seeing the boss man.”
“I can find my way up to his office,” I suggested in an encouraging tone. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”
“You know damn well you didn’t make me feel bad,” he countered quickly. “I sure am proud of you, though. When you came to the Academy, you were a mouthy little shit, and now look at ye. Yer a world traveled hero about to marry one the most powerful women in Mistral. It’s quite a tale, kid.”
“I’m still a mouthy little shit.” I gave him a wry grin. “But yeah. It’s been quite a journey.”
“I imagine so.” The old man shook his head, but when he met my eyes again, he seemed to be in control of himself once more. “Going to be a real treat to watch you and Nia get married.”
“It’s going to be nice to marry Nia,” I agreed as my grin widened.
