Chapter 41: “A Kiss Is Just a Kiss”

I now have an editor, so you all shouldn’t need to put up with my typos and poor/dyslexic editing skills anymore. :)

“Wait, I think I misheard you.” Ethan said to Selene as he shook his head. He and his wives had just exited the captain’s cabin, and the rest of the crew were clustered around the breakfast fire eating.

“Did you just say that you wanted to bond?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

The caramel-haired beauty shook her head. “Not quite, I said: ‘I think we need to bond’; I don’t want to at all.”

He looked at her for a long moment. “Because of Smithbond and your impending mission to Earth?”

She nodded. “I can’t see a way around bonding because we’ll need a way to communicate, but I sure as hell don’t want a husband who sleeps with other women.” She said vehemently.

“It’s not so bad.” Anthiel said with an amused grin, then took a sip of her drink.

“I don’t care; I’m not interested.” The Brazilian woman said firmly, then looked at Ethan. “I get that you have an issue when you’re bonded to a woman but not sleeping with her. However, I think we can get around that without actually having sex.”

“Oh?” Kendra perked up, then cocked her head to one side. “I would’ve given anything to know how just yesterday, now...” She looked at Ethan and made a thoughtful sound. “ ... now I’m glad I didn’t.”

Selene glanced at her, then continued. “Anyway, I was thinking that after we bond, I can, uh... ‘hold your wing’ while you ‘take care of yourself’ while we’re in different rooms. Physical contact should be enough right?”

“Um, I’ve never tried.” He frowned.

“Oh, I wonder if that would work.” Beth piped up. “I volunteer to hold your wing while you try.”

“Thank you.” Selene said to the blonde, then looked back at Ethan. “And if it works and we bond now, we should be able to communicate telepathically by the time we make it back to the portal, right?”

“Well, I think we’ll arrive at the mine tomorrow, right?” He asked Taloni.

“Yes master.” She nodded. “Then it will take three or four days to get back to Sarah’s inn when we leave, depending on the wind.”

“So four or five days total.” He said. “And we’ll probably spend at least a couple days at the mining town, so maybe a week? Longer if it takes a while to deal with the orcs.” He looked at Selene. “Yeah, that would probably do it. I could hear Taloni faintly after about a week, and things seemed to have sped up after that.”

“I came up with similar numbers from what I remembered, that’s why I suggested now.” Selene replied. “The real question is how long it takes before your dragon side gets out of hand.”

“You said it took about a week before the dragon really got stronger, right Dominus?” Beth said.

“About that.” He nodded.

“Then that should be perfect.” Selene said. “And just to make it clear, I have absolutely no intention of marrying you. Ever. I simply can’t stomach a man who sleeps with other women.”

He frowned. “I never asked you to, nor did I say I wanted to marry you.” He didn’t dislike Selene in the slightest, but he didn’t feel much real attraction to her aside from her frankly outrageous beauty. He had a healthy respect for her, but that was about it.

“Oh.” Selene seemed to deflate slightly, but recovered quickly. “Well, I’m glad we’re on the same page then.”

“So, bonding today if I can jerk off while Beth is holding my wing.” He said with a frown. “Wow, I thought those days were behind me.”

“No one ever held your wing while you took care of business?” Alana winked.

“Not yet.” He chuckled. “Though, I think I’m going to eat breakfast first.”

He sat down, and there appeared to be a bit of uncertainty about which of his wives was going to sit next to him. They usually just followed the sleeping order, but Kendra had ended up next to him in the middle of the night, changing the order.

Selene definitely noticed.

She made a face halfway between an amused smile and a grimace, rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly.

“Something you want to share with the whole class?” He asked with an amused smile while his wives sorted themselves out, eventually settling on precedent and sitting in the order they had been sleeping in that morning.

Selene waggled her finger between him and his wives. “Not a problem if you don’t have too many women.”

“Ironically, I agree.” He sighed.

All his wives except Taloni looked at him in alarm.

“I would never get rid of any of you. Ever.” He clarified. “But I do feel stretched thin; there’s too many-- okay, not ‘too many’ of you, but...” he trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence accurately.

“But master hasn’t realized that he’s a perfect husband to five women already, and refuses to acknowledge that we’re all happy.” Taloni sighed and gave him a longsuffering look. “Honestly master, please don’t sell yourself short.”

Ethan felt a smile creep onto his face despite himself. “You know, you’re the sweetest thing ever. Has anyone ever told you that?”

The Fey beamed.

“To clarify, I meant that I wish I had enough time to give all of you the attention you deserve.” He said. “Realistically, I’d never advise a man to have more than two wives; maybe three at the absolute maximum. I just don’t feel like I give you all enough time individually.”

“We do have enough time Dominus.” Beth pointed out. “Remember, we’ll live a long time; much longer than usual.”

“True.” He conceded. “But on the other hand, people grow and mature as they get older. I would hate not having enough time to really know you all. I mean, the harem fantasy is great ... right up until it meets the real world. I’m only one man, and I only have so much time.”

“I don’t remember ever complaining sir.” Alana pointed out.

“Nor I Dominus.” Beth added.

“See master, you’re doing fine so far.”

“They’re right my lord.”

His first four wives all looked at Kendra, who finished chewing before replying. “Um, I’ve been married less than twenty four hours, so I’m probably not the best wife to ask.”

He nodded and turned to the Brazilian woman. “Anyway, I get your point Selene; I really do. I even agree somewhat.” Ethan said, then finally took the first bite of his breakfast.

She inclined her head in confirmation, but otherwise didn’t reply.

The talk around the breakfast table was a bit subdued for several minutes while Ethan and his wives ate and Selene seemed lost in though.

Finally, Rachel broke the silence. “My lord, did you want me to write that letter to Elder Goman to let him know about my father being a dragon?”

“Good idea.” He nodded, then looked around at everyone. “What else needs doing?”

“I need to finish Selene’s strength-enhancing vambraces.” Alana said. “I’ll need some mana donations from everyone to get it finished before we arrive at the mining town though.”

“Thank you.” The Brazilian woman smiled. “I really appreciate it.”

“My pleasure.” The wood elf replied.

“Anything else?” Ethan asked.

“Actually yes.” Alana said. “I was thinking about your armor, and how you carry it with that canvas backpack I made.” She made a face. “It’s kind of ugly, and I think it’ll work better if I enchant the armor to stick to itself in a compact stack.”

“How do you mean?” He asked.

“Well, I could take the backplate and stack all the smaller pieces on top of it in flat layers, and then enchant them to stick to each other so it would be one solid unit until you needed it. Then they would stop sticking to each other when you summoned them, but be compact until you do. You could then stick it to your back like the backpack, but wouldn’t need to carry around that ugly old thing.”

“Oh thank Illuminar.” Beth said. “It was so ugly.”

“Exactly!” Alana exclaimed. “This way, it’ll look better and be more functional.”

“Oh! And you need to put Illuminar’s sigil on the front of the breastplate!” Taloni exclaimed as her wings vibrated in excitement. “Then everyone will know who master is!”

“And it should go on the paldrons and back armor too!” Beth clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Ladies, are you sure that’s a good idea?” He asked. “That seems pretty presumptuous of me to go around wearing white armor with Illuminar’s Sigil on it.”

“Not at all my lord.” Rachel interjected. “The weapons that Gabriella the angel designed for you have Illuminar’s sigil on them; why not the armor too?”

He opened his mouth to object, but couldn’t think of a good rebuttal. Dang, Rachel was sharp.

Hmm.

Wearing white armor with Illuminar’s sigil on it did seem a bit ‘on the nose’. He pictured it in his head, especially the seven-pointed star with a circular center that represented Illuminar, and had to admit it would look pretty good.

He still frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Alana asked.

“I’m hesitant to walk around with Illuminar’s sigil plastered all over my armor because then...” He hesitated as he collected his thoughts. “It’s like I’m saying that I represent Illuminar and I don’t feel like I’d be a very good representative.”

“Why not?” Beth asked.

“Nearly everyone here has been around for at least one of my major screw ups.” He pointed out. “And since I’m not perfect, I doubt I’ll stop screwing up any time soon. I know I’d be pretty pissed if someone was going around claiming to represent me and screwing up as much as I do.”

“That’s very wise master.” Taloni nodded. “But I don’t think you have anything to worry about. That’s not what the commandment was about.”

“What commandment?” He asked.

“Illuminar’s third great commandment master.” The Fey replied. “The Book of Light says: ‘You shall not commit evil in my name, for I will not leave unpunished the man who does evil in my name.’ Of course you make mistakes master, and no one expects you to be perfect. But Illuminar didn’t say: ‘You shall not make mistakes in my name’; He said: ‘You shall not commit evil in my name’. You could never do that master.”

“I agree with Tee.” Beth nodded.

“Our Fey friend does have a point my lord.” Rachel conceded.

“She does.” Alana agreed.

He looked at Selene. “Thoughts?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Because you probably have a different perspective.”

“I do.” The Brazilian woman nodded. “But I’m not sure you all want to hear it.”

“Well now we have to.” Beth leaned forward, and all of Ethan’s other wives looked expectant as well.

“Okay, well you all say that Illuminar picked Ethan right?”

They nodded.

“And He didn’t ask Ethan before picking him, right?”

They nodded again.

“Then I don’t give a rat’s ass what Illuminar wants if He’s going around deciding what people are going to do.” She said, though without strong emotion. “As far as I’m concerned, He can go screw Himself if He’s going to toy with other people’s lives and not give them a choice.”

The Brazilian woman shrugged and took another bite of her food.

Silence.

All of Ethan’s wives stared at her open-mouthed. Even Anthiel and Serif seemed a bit surprised; Raklan was too busy stuffing his face to react.

“He said that I had a choice, but that He knew what I was going to choose.” Ethan said.

“Same thing.” She shrugged again.

“I’m going to pray for you.” Taloni said after several long seconds. “Illuminar is wonderful, and I’ll pray that you see that.”

“As long as He’s controlling everyone, not going to happen.” The Brazilian woman replied, but she didn’t seem angry about it.

“And?” Selene asked when Ethan, Beth, and the rest of his wives emerged from the captain’s cabin after breakfast. She was hoping her idea would work, little though she wanted to hold his wing while he was taking care of himself at some point in the future.

“Rachel got the letter to Elder Goman written and sent.” He said with a mischievous smile. “And we made sure to explain about your mission to Earth too.”

“Not what I meant.” The Brazilian woman rolled her eyes. “Did it work?”

“Did you ever eat a meal and your stomach is full, but you just don’t feel satisfied?” He replied.

“Sure.”

“It felt like that.”

“So ... it worked?” The caramel haired beauty asked.

“Yeah, it worked.” He nodded.

“So, bond?” Selene asked, hoping that this would actually be a solution.

He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “Um, we can.”

“But?” She prompted.

He frowned. “I don’t think you realize exactly what bonding involves.”

“Moving a little mana around; I can do that now.”

“Yeah, it’s more than that.” He replied. “You still don’t have any mental defenses, and before long I’ll be able to feel what you’re feeling. Likewise you’ll be able to feel what I’m feeling.”

“Okay, then I’ll create some mental defenses; problem solved.”

“It’s more than that though.” He shook his head. “I realize that neither of us grew up with it, but this bonding thing is deep. It’s something that I barely understand, but it’s more permanent than you might think.”

“Right, but a short death and heart restart should take care of that.” She countered.

“It does break the bond, yeah.” He conceded hesitantly. “But also consider ‘the glimpse’, for lack of a better term.”

“The glimpse?” She raised her eyebrow. “That sounds a little melodramatic don’t you think?”

“No.” He said simply, and she didn’t get the sense he was exaggerating. “Imagine that you could get a snapshot of who someone is; all of them. Every part of them, even their insecurities and the parts they hate; the parts they are ashamed of. Imagine getting that picture burned into your brain so deeply that you can never forget it. Something like that doesn’t just go away, even after a short death and a heart restart.”

“That’s part of the bond though, and death breaks the bond; right?” She countered.

“Yes, but you’re not listening.” He shook his head. “They call deep mana the seat of the soul, and it took me a while to understand why, but I get it now. Frankly, it’s profoundly intimate.”

“Profoundly?”

“Ladies.” He turned to his wives. “Would you say it’s more or less intimate than sex?”

All of them hesitated before answering, which didn’t make Selene feel better. She definitely didn’t want to sign up for anything near that level of intimacy. Sure he was a good guy, but doing anything intimate with him was the last thing she wanted, even if it wasn’t sexual.

“I’m not sure I can compare them.” Alana finally said, answering Ethan’s question. “It’s like food and water; both are nourishment, but they’re so different that it’s hard to compare them.”

Ethan’s other wives mostly nodded, except for Kendra who looked pensive. “Careful Selene.” The dragon huntress said. “It’s hard not to be attracted to him after bonding with him.”

The Brazilian woman frowned.

That wasn’t good.

Still though, she was the only one who could go to Earth and hope to do something about Gonorran and Smithbond’s portal. The last thing she wanted was a closer association with Ethan, but she was the only one who could help with that particular problem. Regardless of how she felt about it, she needed to act. No one else could and the people of the Ten Kingdoms needed her help, regardless of how she felt about it.

“Copper for your thoughts?” Beth asked.

“Is there any way that we can deal with Smithbond and the portal without being able to communicate telepathically?” The ex-FBI agent asked.

“I can’t think of one.” Ethan replied. “At the very least we’ll need to know if you’re successful.”

“He’s right.” Rachel nodded. “I hate to send you there without help, but I don’t think anyone else could even make it to Earth.”

“Then we should bond.” Selene said. “I’m not exactly looking forward to it, and I don’t want to, but I don’t see another way.”

“It seems like sending you alone and without backup is a colossally dumb move.” Ethan pointed out.

“But what other choice do we have?” She countered.

“Fair.” He nodded his head in concession after several seconds. “I don’t like it, but fair.”

She took a deep breath. “Okay, then let’s do this.”

He held out his hand, and she took it. She was rather keenly aware of how smooth his scales were and how warm the man-- err, dragon himself was.

Rachel chuckled.

“What?” Selene asked.

“Do you know how to find your deep mana yet?” The redhead asked.

“Oh, I just assumed...” Selene looked around to see that almost everyone had an amused expression on their faces, which made her cheeks feel warm as she accidentally displayed her ignorance of magic.

“It’s easier once you’ve found your regular mana, but still not easy.” The teen mage said. “Come on, I’ll show you how; it shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”

“Elder Goman wrote back!”

Ethan now had enough discipline that he didn’t look when his youngest wife shouted from across the weather deck, no doubt burning with curiosity about its contents. Instead, he kept his eyes and senses focused on his dueling opponent. Serif gave him a small nod of approval, no doubt at his refusal to be distracted.

Hang on angel. He thought to everyone in response, since they had almost certainly heard the blonde shouting.

He held his sword in a low guard, which he found himself favoring because of its versatility. The attack options were a bit more limited, but it put him in an excellent position to parry and then riposte incoming attacks.

Serif attacked with a lightning fast thrust that Ethan batted aside with the lower half of his blade, simultaneously angling his own point on-line for a counter thrust. His opponent responded by using the force of Ethan’s parry to accelerate his sword into a counter blow. He put his thumb on the flat of the blade, whipping it around lightning fast mostly with his wrists, forcing Ethan to abandon his thrust to deflect the attack.

Ethan stepped back after the exchange, still marveling at how incredibly proficient the man was. He didn’t hold much hope of ever beating him without his enhanced reflexes and strength enhancing armor pieces. Even then he wasn’t confident about his chances.

Serif was just that good.

Speaking of whom, the other man lowered his practice blade and inclined his head fractionally towards the beautiful blonde teen, who was none-too-patiently bouncing on the balls of her feet with a letter in her hands.

Ethan nodded and headed towards her. “Are you excited about something?” He asked with a wink.

She pushed the letter into his hands. “What’s it say?”

He took the letter, paused for several seconds, and then looked up at the cloudless blue sky, pausing for another several seconds before speaking. “Wow, nice weather today.”

“Dom-i-nus.” Beth groaned, pointing insistently at the letter.

Anyone who wants to hear the response, gather ‘round. He thought to his wives. And Rachel, go ahead and bring Selene.

Not long afterwards, they had assembled in front of the captain’s cabin and he broke the wax seal and started reading.

“What’s it say?” Beth asked, being too short to read over his shoulder.

“It says ... hmm.” He intentionally put on a very serious expression. “It’s bad. It says that a young blonde girl will soon be viciously tickled.”

Beth blinked, and then moved too slow as he dropped the letter. He managed to get both his hands around her waist and started tickling before she could react. She shrieked in laughter as she tried unsuccessfully to escape his wandering fingers.

“Gah! Dominus, please--” She shrieked in laughter again. “--please stop.”

He did, laughing as his youngest wife tried to catch her breath.

“Not funny Dominus!” She said as she tried not to laugh.

“I thought it was.” He chuckled and then turned to Rachel, who had caught the letter. “And?”

“He wants to send an airship with Luminar Kossel and--” The redhead’s eyes went wide. “--and they’re bringing Gonorran’s portal...” Her eyes went wider still as her mouth fell open. “ ... which apparently Elder Goman had excavated after we left it behind.”

“Wait, he’s bringing the whole portal?” Ethan said. “That thing is huge; almost the width of the Argo’s deck.”

“The portal is fourteen feet wide, and the Argo is sixteen, so yeah.” The redhead nodded. “Technically he’s sending it with Luminar Kossel though.”

“What for?” Ethan asked.

“Apparently, it’s so all the men and equipment that Smithbond left behind can be sent back to Earth after we’re successful.”

“Well he’s optimistic.” Selene said.

“Did he say anything about your father being a dragon?” Ethan asked.

The teen mage nodded as she scanned the letter. “He said it makes sense, and that it explains a few things.” She seemed oddly impassive about that, but he didn’t need to feel her emotions over their bond to tell she was putting on a brave face. It was a good one, but not enough to fool him.

Hey, I’m always here if you want to talk. He thought to her.

She gave him a pained smile and nodded, but didn’t respond.

“What else does it say?” Beth asked.

“He wants to know a good rendezvous point where we can meet the airship he wants to send, preferably near the portal that Smithbond is using.”

“Sarah’s inn.” Ethan suggested instantly before he’d even thought about it. “It’s only about ten miles from the portal, and he could stay at the inn too.”

His wives and Selene all looked at him, identical amused and knowing expressions on their faces.

“What?” He asked, feeling slightly hot under the proverbial collar.

“We didn’t say anything.” The wood elf replied with a barely restrained smile.

“Yeah well, you were ‘not saying it’ very loudly.” He replied.

“I’d like to meet at Sarah’s inn.” Selene finally said, sparing him from an awkward silence. “I’d love to see her again before I leave, since I might not be coming back if all goes well.”

“We’ll need to send him the coordinates.” Rachel said, still perusing the letter.

“Can you take care of that?” He asked Taloni.

“Yes master.” She nodded.

“I’ll write it up and send it to him.” Rachel said. Her expression would’ve looked normal to almost anyone, but Ethan wasn’t just anyone.

The rest of the letter’s contents weren’t nearly as interesting, and he was a bit distracted by his fourth wife anyway. She had an amazing poker face and he probably wouldn’t be able to tell if he didn’t know her so well. Plus, the redhead would glance away from the letter and at Alana at regular intervals, then either bite her lip slightly or draw her mouth into a thin line.

As Ethan considered that, he realized that although he couldn’t help her with her father issues right now, he might be able to help her with something else that was clearly on her mind.

Alana, meet me in the captain’s cabin in a few minutes. He thought to her.

“Rachel, follow me.” He said to the redhead.

The teen mage gave him a quizzical look, but nodded, handed the letter to Beth, and then followed him into the captain’s cabin.

Rachel found the strangest things about Ethan attractive. Like the moment before, he had simply told her to follow him. It wasn’t a command or order, and yet it was more than a suggestion. She probably could’ve said that she didn’t want to, and he would’ve been fine with that. Oddly, that was exactly the reason she wanted to follow him. He was in charge and commanding, but not overbearing. He issued orders, but never without cause or to throw his weight around.

She liked that.

She liked it a lot actually.

He sat down on the bed facing her with his legs hanging off and patted his lap. “Come here beautiful.”

She felt a smile creeping onto her face and she walked over and sat down on his lap; not straddling him, but instead sitting across his lap and leaning on him. He wrapped his arms around her and looked into her eyes, a contented grin on his face.

“What?” She asked.

“Just looking.” He smiled. “You know, my nickname for you is very accurate.”

She smiled at his praise, and her cheeks got just a bit warmer too. “Did you want to talk about something?”

“Two things actually. First, how are you doing with the news about your father?”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Oh?”

She nodded. “It’s not that I’m a dragon’s daughter. I mean, I’m married to a dragon so any kids we have will have a dragon father, and Alana’s baby--” She smiled. “--I mean, Ruth, already has a dragon father, so that doesn’t bother me.”

“What does?”

She looked at him as her face fell. “I feel like my whole childhood was a lie.”

“Ah.” He nodded and gave her a gentle, comforting squeeze.

She gave him a pained smile and relaxed into him more, then told him much of what she’d told Alana on the same topic. He listened patiently and sympathetically, only interrupting to ask for clarification but otherwise letting her talk.

“I just can’t help but think: What else in my childhood was a lie?” She said when she had finished.

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, that makes sense. I wish I could tell you that nothing else was, but I can’t.”

“I know.” She cocked her head to one side. “It makes me wonder about my mother too; did she know?”

“Hmm, that’s a good question.” Ethan made a thoughtful frown. “She must have known, I don’t see how she could not know. I mean, dragons are a bit different in the bedroom; different enough to make any woman ask questions.”

“True.” The redhead sighed. “Sadly, I’ll never be able to ask her.” She swallowed hard, and in response he gave her another gentle, comforting squeeze.

“Maybe you can ask your father about it on day. You know, when he’s not trying to kill all of us.”

“Maybe.” She nodded, but felt her heart sink anyway. “He disowned me though, his own daughter, and I don’t...” Her voice faltered as it started to crack slightly.

“If it helps, remember that Lady Ekthros said that your father refused to allow his men to kill you.”

She gave him a pained smile. “I don’t know if that helps or hurts.”

“Fair.” He nodded.

“I’ll be okay.” She said, wiping her eyes which had become slightly watery. “I really will be, but I think it’ll take time. It’s all pretty fresh.”

“Take as much time as you need, just remember that I’m always here if you want to talk.” He grinned as he added. “And I’m sure Alana is too.”

Rachel did her very best not blush at that.

“Speaking of, she should be here soon. There’s something I wanted to discuss with the both of you.”

“Oh?” She asked, feeling her stomach start to knot up. What if he suspected that she might be attracted to Alana? She knew how the dragon would react to her being interested in another man, but what about another woman? What about one of his other wives?

For that matter, was she attracted to Alana? She thought she might be, wasn’t entirely sure. She knew she was attracted to her as a friend, but that’s very different than being attracted to her romantically.

Was she?

What did that mean if she was?

Was she the kind of woman who was attracted to other women? Was that even okay? Would Illuminar disapprove? Would Ethan? She couldn’t help how she felt -- if that’s really how she felt -- so what if it wasn’t okay? What would she do then?

Ethan chuckling brought her out of her reverie.

“What?” She asked, her eyes going a bit wide.

“You’re brain works a mile-a-minute; it’s amusing to see.” He grinned.

She was trying to come up with a response when the door to the captain’s cabin opened and the most beautiful wood elf in the whole of the Ten Kingdoms walked in. Her chocolate brown hair cascaded over her shoulders and down to the curve of her shapely breasts, and moved with her as she turned to close the door. Her rich hazel eyes were reflecting the smile on her face as she looked at the two of them.

Rachel sighed before she caught herself.

Ethan grinned at her, and she blushed.

“You wanted to see me?” Alana asked, looking between them with a slightly confused expression.

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you and Rachel about something.” He replied.

It might’ve been Rachel’s imagination, but it seemed like Alana got just a hair stiffer at that. Did her cheeks get a bit redder too?

“About what?” The brunette asked tentatively.

“Well, it’s about...” Ethan started to say, but then paused and cocked his head to one side. He hesitated a moment and then got a strange sort of smile on his face, like an idea had just occurred to him. “It’s about Beth and Taloni.” He finished, but Rachel got the impression that hadn’t been the original ending of that sentence.

“Oh?” Rachel asked. “What about them?”

“Well, something might’ve happened between them and I wanted to address it, but I wanted to do so in a delicate way because I think it might cause problems if I do it directly.”