A Dragon's Tale Ch. 69

Chapter 69: At long last

* * *

Fiona set the letter that contained the false prophet's story down on the end table next to her in the castle's nursery, a frown on her face as she did so. She picked it back up, scanned through it to re-read a few sections, then set it down again.

Her frown deepened.

She tapped a finger on the armrest of the couch she was sitting on, then looked at the letter again. She took a deep breath and then stood up and started pacing, glancing at the letter occasionally as she turned its contents over in her mind. At this point, she'd lost count of the number of times she'd read it and it still... She shook her head.

She walked to the large south-facing window that overlooked the massive river that separated Narlotten from Ivernia. The false prophet had spent a lot of time in Ivernia lately, was he there now? Was Sarah?

Behind her, Conner made a happy baby noise and Fiona glanced behind her at her son. She also put a hand over her womb where another baby was growing. It was strange; she had spent so much time learning magic lately that she could actually feel the difference between herself and the baby in her womb. In a very real sense, she could sense her second son in the womb, whereas she hadn't been able to do that with Conner.

Nearby, Tabitha was standing silent and still, like a stone statue.

"Tabby, I'm really not minding if you want to be playing with Conner." Fiona reminded her bodyguard for the... dozenth? time.

"Thank you my lady." She replied, but didn't move.

Fiona sighed; her bodyguard seemed to resist all attempts to get her engaged with Conner, despite her former employer -- the wife of the crown prince himself -- saying that Tabby loved babies. Fiona herself had seen evidence of it, and yet Tabby steadfastly refused to engage with Conner much at all.

Oh well.

Fiona looked at the letter on the table again, a frown returning to her face as she did so. But then, an idea struck her. "Tabby, I don't suppose you can be reading the letter and giving me your opinion?"

"I am able." Tabitha replied, but didn't move.

"Will you?" Fiona asked.

"Yes my lady." She walked to the letter, picked it up, and began to read.

Fiona looked out the window again towards Ivernia, wondering where Sarah was and what she was doing. And more than anything else, hoping that perhaps, just perhaps, the false prophet wouldn't hurt her friend. Then again, Fiona found herself in the strange position of evenconsidering that Ethan Ejder might not be afalse prophet. She still didn't know what to think of that.

* * *

Sarah smiled as she admired Selene in the wedding dress. It was white for now, though Alana had enchanted it so that it would fade to its true color by the next morning. Selene was beyond gorgeous. That was normal, but the radiant smile on her face and the glow about her seemed to amplify her already incredible beauty to dizzying new heights.

For the first time, Sarah slightly understood the comments that Hailey and Melinda had made the previous night about Selene being gorgeous enough that she might tempt them to try 'playing for the other team' under the right circumstances, and if they weren't engaged to Jason. Those comments had made Sarah blush the night before, which of course led to some good-natured ribbing that she had enjoyed, if only because they were treating her exactly like anyone else. She loved that.

"Are you okay?" Selene asked. "You look a little red."

"I'm okay." Sarah assured her while trying to make her tone as normal as possible. She was only mostly successful.

"What do you think?" Selene asked as she modeled her dress.

Like Kendra's dress, the bottom half of the dress was full-length, but when activated would turn into loose pants to protect the legs. The top was form-fitting and had wide-ish straps, though oddly, it looked like they would almost look better off the shoulder than on, though they were on her shoulders now. While Selene had mentioned before that she always dressed to blend in, this dress wouldn't allow that. It was entirely modest, but cut to emphasize everything about her that was spectacular, and there was a lot to emphasize.

The neckline had what Selene had called a "sweetheart" shape and it emphasized the full roundness of her perfect breasts without revealing much of them. Her arms and neck were practically works of art, and her face was so gorgeous that Sarah was sure that any man who saw her would instantly fall in love with her.

Frankly, Selene's body was everything that Sarah wished hers was, and she had to remind herself that she had been assured that Ethan wouldn't lose interest in her when he saw her next to this goddess of beauty.

"You're so beautiful." Sarah replied wistfully.

"Thank you." Selene beamed, then fixed Sarah with a piercing expression. "You know, I'm a little jealous of you."

Sarah blinked. "What?"

Selene nodded. "You should've seen how enamored of you Ethan was, and instantly so." She made a thoughtful noise. "He brought you up constantly and even when he didn't, everyone could see that he was thinking about you."

"Really?" Sarah realized her mouth was open and closed it.

"Really." Selene nodded with a smile. "I'm not saying that Ethan doesn't notice what women look like, but it's not what he falls in love with."

"You're still so nice." Sarah said after a moment, her heart feeling lighter. "You're getting married in just a minute, but you're taking time to make me feel better."

"Always." Selene grinned, then lowered her voice slightly. "And I'm pretty sure that at some point after you marry Ethan, he'll have me make you feel alot better."

Sarah went bright red.

A moment later, Selene cocked her head to one side and then chuckled.

"What?" Sarah asked, guessing that someone had thought something to the group chat.

"Apparently, Ethan arranged for Colonel Forsythe to come to the wedding at the last minute." Selene chuckled. "Kendra just picked him up and the hope is that he and Victoria will kiss and make up."

"Kiss?" Sarah frowned. "But they can't get betrothed without her father's permission and why would anyone kiss someone before they're betrothed?"

Selene chuckled again. "So, so many reasons... but not in the Ten Kingdoms apparently."

Sarah decided to let that pass without comment because she knew that Ethan and Selene's world was different than the Ten Kingdoms.

A minute later, Kendra popped into the room on the lower deck under the captain's cabin where Selene and Sarah were. "Okay, everyone is ready, are you?"

Selene took a deep breath and then nodded. "Let's do this."

* * *

Ethan was standing near the bow of the Argo with his father to his left and Falkaan beyond that. Luminar Kossel had agreed to perform the wedding since Anthiel would be playing the music. In front of him, the entire crew of the Argo and the Midnight Sun were there, plus Colonel Forsythe.

*Alana, that was a good idea to invite the colonel.* Ethan thought privately to her.

*Thank you.* The wood elf grinned impishly back at him. They had pulled all the chairs up from the lower decks and there were just barely enough for everyone to sit down, though at only 16 feet wide, the deck of the Argo was a bit narrower than was ideal for this sort of thing.

Ethan nodded just as Anthiel began to play a lovely melody that sounded quite familiar. It sounded like... like... Oh. He whipped his head around to look at her as he recognized Pachelbel's Canon. Without missing a beat, the high elf nodded her head toward Ruth, whose eyes twinkled.

Moments later, Sarah exited the starboard doorway to the lower decks while Richard exited the port side. They walked toward each other and then his father offered his betrothed his arm and they walked toward the front, obviously sidestepping the Argo's mast. Normally, the best man would escort the matron of honor, but they'd fudged it slightly because, for some reason, it fit better in his mind to have Kendra with Falkaan and Sarah with Richard.

Kendra and Falkaan were next, and when they had arrived at the bow and taken their places, Anthiel slipped seamlessly into 'Here Comes the Bride'. Ethan looked at his mother, who again just smiled with her eyes twinkling. Everyone stood up, and then Selene exited the starboard doorway to the lower decks on her father's arm.

She was radiant.

Resplendent.

Sublime.

There was a collective intake of breath from everyone, even those who had seen Selene every single day for weeks. Such was the radiance of her beauty. It was entirely incomparable and Ethan couldn't even think of anything to compare it to, except perhaps Myla at her wedding. However, the difference was that Selene washis. The glimpse of her he'd gotten when they'd bonded -- broken though the bond was -- combined with the awe-inspiring vision of feminine perfection before him just about took his breath away.

Then she smiled at him.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment as their eyes met.

Selene's eyes were shining in happiness, and he imagined his own must be as well. He was vaguely aware of a massive smile on his face, but really, his bride walking up the aisle had the entirety of his attention. It seemed like years and also mere moments before she had reached the rest of the bridal party.

Thor had followed Selene up the aisle and had walked up between the two of them and sat down, looking up at the both of them while he softly purred. Selene smiled at her little kitty before returning her attention to Ethan.

"Who gives this woman to be married?" Luminar Kossel asked.

"Apparently I do." André said, then while holding Selene's hand, extended it to Ethan's hand, who took his beloved Selene's hand. It was so smooth, soft, and warm.

He grinned.

She grinned back.

He escorted her forward a few steps until they were in front of Luminar Kossel, Thor following right behind them.

"Dearly beloved." The luminar began. "We are gathered here today in the sight of God and these witnesses to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony."

Luminar Kossel's voice faded into the background for Ethan, who was too preoccupied with staring at his bride. He couldn't believe that they were finally here, now at long last after what felt like years, they were finally here. She was his bride; Selene Dawson was his bride! The thought made him smile wider.

"Ethan." Selene nudged him and then flicked her eyes toward Luminar Kossel.

"Um, I do?" He said.

Everyone laughed.

"Sorry." He said while grinning at Selene. "I was distracted. Can you repeat the question?"

Selene beamed.

* * *

Selene felt like if she got any happier, her heart would burst. She couldn't stop smiling, and the smile muscles in her cheeks were almost starting to hurt. Ethan was grinning at her and the look in his eyes was just... just... there were no words.

"I asked if it was your intent to marry Selene." Luminar Kossel repeated for the distractible groom. Selene had always been annoyed that men tended to get distracted while staring at her, but here and now, it made her smile wider.

"Yes, I absolutely intend to marry Selene." He grinned, and then thought privately to her. *I'm going to marry you so hard that you won't be able to walk straight in the morning.*

*Your Precious is looking forward to it.* She beamed back.

It took enormous presence of mind for Selene to not tune out what Luminar Kossel said for the rest of the service. This would be her one and only wedding, so she didn't want to miss it because she was staring into the eyes of the man she adored.

Luminar Kossel cleared his throat.

Dang, she'd gotten distracted anyway. Judging by the way her groom looked at the luminar, he'd gotten distracted as well.

Adrian chuckled as he spoke. "Do you Ethan, with full knowledge and consent, take this woman, Selene, to be your wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to keep and provide for her all of your days, committing to treat her with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances to the best of your ability, and allow only death to separate you?"

"Iabsolutely do." He grinned.

Luminar Kossel turned to Selene. "Do you Selene, with full knowledge and consent, give yourself to this man Ethan, to be his wife in the covenant of marriage? Do you swear to follow and obey him for all of your days, committing to give yourself only to him and to treat him with honor, love, and respect in all circumstances to the best of your ability, and allow only death to separate you?"

"I do." She said without hesitation.

Luminar Kossel looked up and addressed everyone. "Now, since apparently Ethan and Selene decided to take the long way here--" he paused as everyone laughed. "--they'll need to exchange deep mana again to re-bond." He looked at each in turn with a mock-serious expression. "And this one's for keeps; no take-backs." He winked.

Everyone laughed.

Ethen tightened his grip on her slender hand as they both faced each other. "Ready?"

She nodded. "So ready."

*And remember, no jumping me when the surge of arousal hits.* He thought to her privately.

*Yes--* She stopped. *Your Precious needs something to call you like the others have.*

He grinned, his eyes twinkling. *How about: Wonderfully perfectly magnanimous awesome dude?*

*Your Precious thinks it's too long.* She rolled her eyes, not adding how her new nickname made her heart sing. It was such a small thing, but damn if Ethan hadn't nailed it.

*Oh, I think it's perfect.* He winked at her.

She rolled her eyes. *Yes sir-ee captain bossy pants.*

*Oh? You don't think 'Captain Bossy Pants' is too long?* His eyes twinkled.

*Of course notboss.* She replied, making sure her tone was dripping with sass.

*My Precious seems to need an attitude adjustment.* He replied in a mock-serious tone while obviously suppressing a chuckle.

*YesBoss.* Selene said with just as much sass. *Of courseBoss, whatever you sayBoss.*

*Yup, you definitely need some correcting.* His eyes twinkled, but underneath the twinkle, she knew that bit of sass would 'cost' her; she couldn't wait.

*Your Precious will submit to whatever punishment her boss deems appropriate.* She added, not removing the hint of sass.

*Bond.* He said.

*Yes Boss.* She grinned, then pushed a bit of her deep mana towards him at the same time she felt a bit of his being pushed towards her.

She accepted it instantly and without reservation.

* * *

Fiona finished changing Conner's diaper, thanking Illuminar for the miracle of self-cleaning cloth. She truly didn't know how she would manage without that.

"There you go little guy." She grinned at him as she re-buttoned his clothes while he made happy baby noises and smiled at her. She felt herself slip into baby talk. "Are you feeling much better then? I know, I know you're feeling better."

Conner made a sound that was almost a laugh; he was growing up so fast.

She picked him up and glanced at where Tabitha had been reading the letter that contained the false prophet's story. Her bodyguard was clearly finished since the letter was now sitting on the table where Fiona had set it down before asking Tabby to read it. Curiously, it appeared to have been put back in the exact position Fiona had left it, not even a hairsbreadth of difference in location.

"And? What are you thinking?" Fiona asked.

"That it is unwise to base such assessments on a single account." Tabitha replied entirely without emotion.

Fiona sighed. "But comparing that to what my husband has been saying, what are you thinking?"

"That it is unwise to base such assessments on a single account." Tabitha repeated.

"Tabby, please be working with me here?" Fiona asked with a sigh. "Obviously you don't have to be saying, but if you aren't going to be saying, then please just let me know and I won't be asking anymore."

The bodyguard looked at her for a moment. "Comparatively speaking, Narlotten's account requires a level of additional complication to accept, whereas the letter's version does not."

"Anything else?" Fiona asked when Tabitha hadn't elaborated.

"The writer of the letter believes what she wrote to be true." Tabitha replied, again without emotion.

"How can you be knowing that?"

"Analysis."

Fiona sighed. "Analysis of what?"

"The handwriting." Tabitha replied. "It is a topic we study; the letter writer believes what she has written is the truth." Tabitha paused. "Or it was written by someone trained to falsify such things; either is possible."

"You really aren't trusting anyone, are you?" Fiona asked.

"No." Tabitha replied simply.

"I'm not sure what to be making of this." Fiona said after a moment. She looked at Tabby. "Could you be taking Conner and just be listening as I'm thinking this out?"

"Of course my lady." Tabitha rose and took Conner, after which Fiona started pacing.

"Here's what I'm thinking." She began. "I'm not liking how Narlotten's version of events is requiring me to be trusting Lady Ekthros. She's not caring enough about people or the truth for me to be trusting her." She looked at Tabitha. "You can be rocking him in your arms; he's liking that."

The bodyguard did, though the motion seemed mechanical rather than natural on her. Of course, she might be doing that on purpose; you could never tell with Tabby.

"It's just that me saying that Lady Ekthros's version of events is wrong would be like me saying that my husband is wrong." Fiona frowned. "Now, I'm sure he'd be saying that he makes mistakes too, but I'm thinking this is a very big thing to be making a mistake on."

Tabitha didn't respond, but she did continue the rocking of Conner, the motion slowly starting to look more natural.

"And I don't think I should be taking the word of a murderer over my own husband, you know?" Fiona mused. "But then, if the letter is correct, the false prophet--" She stopped. "Well, maybe he isn't a false prophet and maybe he wasn't murdering people, and I'm not knowing who to believe." She frowned again as she glanced at the letter. "It's saying that he was killing my Sean in self-defense, and if he was telling the truth, even I can't be thinking he was evil for that." Her frown deepened. "But then, I'm not knowing if he's telling the truth."

Tabitha didn't reply.

Fiona took a deep breath and pursed her lips. "But then, Sarah is really liking him and she's loving Illuminar, and I don't think Sarah could be falling in love with anyone who was as bad as I've been led to believe." She cocked her head to one side. "But then, maybe she's being deceived or compelled and I'm not knowing what to think.

Fiona sighed, then made a frustrated noise. "How about you Tabby, what are you thinking?"

"That it is unwise to base--" Tabitha began to say.

"--to base such assessments on a single account." Fiona finished, then sighed again. "I'm hating that you're right about this."

Tabitha didn't reply and instead continued rocking Conner in her arms despite the bodyguard not looking at him. Something seemed just slightly different about her at the moment. Fiona couldn't put her finger on what, but something.

"I suppose me even considering that the false proph--" She stopped again. "That 'Ethan' might not have done it is... well, Mage Weston would be calling it progress."

As usual, Tabitha didn't reply.

* * *

Selene opened her eyes after the re-bonding finished. Like before, she had seen everything about him for an instant. Every part of him was laid bare to her; both his darkest parts and his brightest parts, plus everything in between. The previous time, the sight and the vague recollection she was left with had only left her with a slight itch in her nether regions.

This time, it left behind a full-blown inferno.

Her entire body and mind were screaming at her that she was wearing too much clothing and that if he wasn't inside of her in the next two seconds, it would be a travesty. It would be cause for a second round of the Nuremberg Trials at the very least.

*Not yet Precious.* Ethan's mental voice came to her, and his tone brooked no argument. Completely, totally, and utterly unrelated, and with no connection to that in any way whatsoever, the inferno between her legs blazed even hotter for a moment.

She nearly moaned out loud.

It looked like Luminar Kossel was suppressing a smile as he continued. "Since you have exchanged deep mana and vows, then by the power vested in me by the Great God Illuminar -- Blessed be He -- and also the government of the United States of America--" He winked at them. "--I now pronounce you husband and wife. Ethan, you may kiss your bride."

The blazing inferno in her loins didn't die down, but it faded into the background as Selene realized something, something that almost didn't seem real.

She was married.

Her name was no longer 'Selene Dawson", but was now 'Selene Ejder'. She had a husband. She was a wife. Of all the things she thought she would be in life, a wife would never have been one of them until very recently. She was a wife, she had a husband, and they would have each other for the rest of their lives, not to mention his other wives.

Wow.

That was amazing.

Ethan stepped closer to her and put his hand around the small of her back. Oddly, the one-inch difference in their height really struck her at the moment and it felt weird to be slightly taller than he was. It didn't seem to matter to him though because he moved like an expert and dipped her so she was completely supported by his arms.

"I'm going to kiss you." He said firmly, like it was a fact so established that denying it would be as useless as trying to prevent the sun from rising or the tide from coming in.

"I've never been kissed." She whispered.

"I know, let's fix that." He whispered back softly, smiled, then leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers.

Selene felt herself make the softest possible sigh as their lips met. It felt amazing, but somehow so very different than what she had been expecting. His lips were soft but smooth and she couldfeel how much he cared for her in the kiss.

That was the best part.

She enjoyed the physical sensation, rather a lot actually, but that paled in comparison to the emotional aspect. Without consciously meaning to, she raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck as she kissed him back. She sighed softly and pressed her lips harder against his, that blazing inferno in her loins surging back to full strength.

*Not yet.* He thought privately to her as he pulled back slightly and gazed into her eyes. *Later.*

*Your Precious is looking forward to that... Boss.* She winked at him.

Ethan -- her husband -- didn't reply, but his eyes were filled with good-natured malice. Selene had no idea what he had in store for her on the wedding night, but she was pretty sure that her love for it would outweigh her frustration with it by a large margin.

Ethan -- her husband -- was good that way.

* * *

Sarah was standing on the quarterdeck, leaning on the railing and watching everyone at the wedding reception on the weather deck below her, mostly just enjoying the fact that it was so incredibly normal. Weddings and wedding receptions were something that she'd missed far too many of while growing up because of her problem. Below her, everyone was talking and laughing or smiling and joking like they'd known each other forever. The lantern light bathed the deck in a warm glow and the smell of good food -- if she did say so herself -- added to the air of camaraderie.

Even Colonel Forsythe seemed to get along reasonably well with everyone, though Victoria was avoiding him. Sarah couldn't tell if the platinum blonde was still annoyed at him or simply avoiding him for some other reason. She did glance in his direction regularly though.

"Hey."

Sarah looked to her left to see Thea joining her at the railing and also leaning on it. "Hi."

"What are you doing?" The gorgeous elf asked.

"Just enjoying something normal." Sarah said, indicating the reception below her just as a whole group of people burst out laughing at something that someone had said.

"It's not normal to have food that good, at least not outside a lord's house." Thea smiled at her.

"Thank you." Sarah beamed. "Why are you up here and not down there?"

"I could ask you the same thing." The elf replied pensively.

"You already did."

Thea chuckled. "I suppose I'm up here trying not to panic."

"Panic?" Sarah's head snapped towards her. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing dangerous." Thea said quickly. "You and I even talked about it recently, it's just, well..." She sighed. "Myla met her future husband within minutes of telling Ethan that she didn't want to marry him. Victoria might've met her future husband within hours judging by what I've seen of their interactions; I think Victoria and the good colonel are perfect for each other."

Sarah gave her a sympathetic look. "You're more worried now because it's been two full days since you knew that Ethan would marry Selene and you still haven't met anyone?"

"I am, and I suppose that 'panic' is a bit too strong of a word." She admitted. "Maybe Illuminar doesn't have someone out there for me, and I would be okay with that since I don't see why I should get any special treatment."

"But you would like to meet someone who's perfect for you?" Sarah prompted.

Thea nodded. "Doesn't everyone?"

Sarah nodded and then looked across the weather deck to where Ethan and Selene were talking. Sarah wasn't sure what, but something had definitely changed between them; there was a tension in the air between them in the best possible way. They kept glancing at each other with knowing smiles and Sarah had learned to recognize that look soon after coming to live on the Argo; it usually preceded a long session in the bedroom.

"Look at Ethan and Selene, or Myla and Falkaan." Thea said, a subtle smile on her face. "I have the luxury of being an elf and knowing that even if I don't love my future husband when we get married, I know we'll be in love after bonding."

"But?" Sarah prompted. "It sounds like there's a 'but' coming."

"But..." Thea smiled. "... but it would be nice to have that from the beginning." Thea gestured at Ethan and Selene, and then Falkaan and Myla.

"Why not? It's happened before." Sarah gestured to Falkaan and Myla.

Thea got a small smile on her face and a yearning look in her eye. "I hope so."

Sarah scooted over slightly, put her arm around the elf, and gave her a side hug. "Me too."

Thea returned the side hug and then they both returned to watching the party in companionable silence.

Several minutes later, Ruth beckoned them down. "Come on, they're about to cut the cake."

They made their way down to watch. It was rather amusing to see them cut the pieces, and then apparently Earth had this strange tradition where they 'fed' each other the pieces of chocolate cake, but apparently 'fed' meant 'smear all over each other's faces' on Earth.

Pretty much everyone burst out laughing at the sight.

"Lick it off!" Victoria hollered, causing even more laughs.

By coincidence, Sarah had ended up standing near Colonel Forsythe as Victoria had hollered, and Sarah didn't miss his eyebrows rising slightly at the platinum blonde's remark. That was followed by a thoughtful expression.

"Problem?" Sarah asked, thankful for an excuse to avoid watching the blush-inducing scene happening by the cake as the newlyweds followed Victoria's advice.

"When not surrounded by Ivernian soldiers -- for whom she appears to harbor a particular disdain -- your blonde companion seems to be relatively down-to-earth and fun-loving, if slightly indecorous." He replied.

"You sound surprised." Sarah pointed out.

"I am." He replied, but didn't say anything else. He did make a thoughtful sound though.

Thea caught Sarah's eye and grinned.

Sarah herself chuckled.

After that, Sarah noticed that the colonel glanced in Victoria's direction on a semi-regular basis. He was subtle about it, and it seemed like he was trying to determine which version of Victoria was accurate.

After the cake was cut, Ethan and Selene had their first dance together as husband and wife. Neither was a particularly good dancer, but judging by the way they were looking deep into each other's eyes, neither was bothered.

After that, Ruth and Ethan danced a mother-son dance, and then Selene and her father started a father-daughter dance.

* * *

"Hey Bubble Angel."

Selene slowly shook her head as the father-daughter dance neared its end. "You can't call me that anymore, I'm married."

"Oh." He nodded slowly, then his expression filled with good-natured malice, unfortunately reminding her of her husband. "So then, I should tell Ethan the story so he can call you that?"

"You wouldn't?" She asked.

"Maybe you shouldn't dictate terms to your dear old dad then." His eyes twinkled.

She chuckled, but nodded.

"Take care baby girl." He said a moment later as the song began to end.

"I will Daddy, I promise." She smiled at him.

"I'll take care of your mother." He said when the song had ended. "Your handsome new husband is taking you on a honeymoon cruise in a foreign country and you won't have cell service." He winked.

She chuckled. "It's even true."

"May I cut in?" Ethan asked after the father-daughter dance song had ended and another one began.

Selene's father effortlessly handed his daughter to her groom, and the couple looked at each other.

*You should probably start saying good night to everyone.* He thought privately to her. *We'll be starting the after-party in the captain's cabin soon...*

She grinned, the fire in her loins that had surged when they bonded rousing itself from smoldering coals into a gentle simmer as she anticipated what Ethan had in mind. She had no idea what it would be, but she was pretty sure that it would be amazing.

She started saying goodnight to everyone after that. The guests all migrated across the gangplank to the Midnight Sun as she did so, with Victoria mentioning that the migration was to avoid hearing any noises from the captain's cabin that they didn't want to hear. That made Selene's cheeks get quite warm.

"Good night Selene." Sarah said. She glanced at the captain's cabin door, her cheeks went pink, then she looked back at Selene. "Um, I hope it's... uh, everything you hoped for."

"Me too." Selene smiled, though her cheeks were quite warm. "Good night."

Ethan gave Sarah a kiss on the forehead, then opened the door and ushered Selene in.

"Alone at last." Ethan said as he closed the captain's cabin door behind him. "Well, notalone, but alone enough." He indicated his other wives, who were all in the room.

"So, what's next Boss?" She asked, making sure to put just a hint of sass into the title.

"You're going to look into my eyes for a little while so I can add some compulsions."

"Compulsions?"

He nodded with an impish smile. "Provided you don't fight them too hard, there will be some... interesting things I can do with them."

"Yes Boss." She said, looking him in the eye. Moments later, she felt control of her eyes slip away a little. "What compulsions?"

He grinned wickedly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You won't tell me?" She asked, her eyes widening.

"Nope." He grinned with his eyes full of impishness.

She bit her lip; why was that so hot? It really shouldn't be that hot...

"They won't apply if you think there's any danger, and will stop applying the moment you use your safe word." He added. "They also won't apply if you truly think you need them not to. Otherwise..." He grinned wickedly.

Selene struggled not to moan out loud since her fellow wives-- she stopped as she realized for the first time that she had fellow wives.

"Done." Ethan said a minute later, then he blinked and suddenly Selene could look away again.

"What now?" Selene asked, feeling slightly breathless. Damn, he'd barely done anything and her fire was already burning at a simmer.

"Now, I think you need your wedding ring." He winked.

She blinked. "What?"

"Your wedding ring." He repeated. "Every married girl from Earth needs one, and you are no exception."

Selene looked at the ring finger on her left hand, trying to figure out what--

"Oh no, not there." Ethan interrupted her train of thought. "That's not where you're going to wear your wedding ring."

"Then where?" Selene asked, honestly confused.

He grinned a Cheshire cat grin, then glanced at her nether regions.

Her eyes widened.

* * *

Ethan had to resist the impulse to lick his lips in anticipation. He had spent most of the time since proposing until now working on how this night should go, and especially how to make it absolutely unforgettable for his bride. He'd had a gut sense of what to do, and re-bonding had confirmed that he'd been right. Admittedly, what she wanted was at the edge of his comfort zone, but knowing how much she would love it and remembering Illuminar's advice about his sixth wife, he couldn't wait to give her a night she wouldn't forget.

"Huh." He cocked his head to one side.

"What Dominus?" Beth asked.

"I just realized that if I had paid more attention to what Illuminar had said, I might not have worried about Selene leaving so much."

"Why Master?" Taloni asked.

"Because He said that my sixth wife--" He gestured to Selene. "--would need things in the bedroom that might make me uncomfortable." He cocked his head to the other side. "I never got the sense that Myla, Victoria, or Thea were especially kinky."

"I didn't either." Alana nodded, and his other wives agreed. He smiled as he realized that now included Selene.

Tee's wings fluttered as she grinned a satisfied grin; at least she didn't say 'I told you so'.

"Um, Boss?" Selene spoke up, though her tone was hesitant and slightly halting. "Your Precious would love to get her wedding ring."

"Okay; touch the piece of leather in the front center inside of the neckline of your dress and activate it." Ethan said, reminding himself to be a little commanding for Selene's sake.

She cocked her head to one side. "Huh?"

Acting somewhat on his own instincts and somewhat on what his dragon instincts were telling him she would want, he casually reached out and smacked her butt; not enough to hurt, but enough to be felt. Selene jumped slightly in shock, then it looked like she repressed a sensual moan.

"Do as you're told." He said firmly, way more firmly than he would've with his other wives.

"Yes Boss." She replied, the fire behind her eyes burning slightly brighter. She touched the indicated spot and a moment later, an entire section of her dress -- the part covering from just underneath her breasts to the top of her hips -- fell to the floor. The bottom of the dress gathered together into pant legs, but not like Kendra's did, nor even Selene's own dress in 'combat mode'. No, they gathered into loose pants that had the exact look he had described to Alana and Rachel. At the same time, the straps of her dress loosened without disconnecting and fell off the shoulders.

Selene gasped.

Alana and Rachel grinned at each other and gave each other a silent high-five.

Selene looked down at herself for a moment, clearly confused because -- at Ethan's insistence -- she hadn't been told about this beforehand. She moved a little in the dress that was now two pieces and then gasped slightly. "Oh. My. God."

She turned beet red as he felt a surge of arousal from her over their bond.

"Yes?" Ethan asked, knowing what was going through her mind but wanting her to say it out loud because -- oddly -- she loved being embarrassed by such things.

"I look--" She started to say, but Ethan gave her another firm-but-not-hard swat on the butt at her use of "I".

She moaned.

"Your Precious is sorry." She bit her lip as the smoldering look in her eyes grew stronger. "She meant that she looks like... Um, like..."

"Say it." He said, reminding himself to be commanding for Selene's sake.

"She looks like a..." She swallowed, her cheeks getting redder and the tiniest of sighs escaping her lips. "... Your Precious is dressed like a harem girl."

Ethan grinned; it was true.

He had taken major inspiration from the animated Princess Jasmine's outfit, and Selene's dress in its current state looked quite similar except for one thing: the front of the dress under her bellybutton wentway far south. Half an inch lower and the top of her slit might be exposed. Obviously it wasn't like that in "normal" mode, but in this mode...

His grin widened as he drank in the sight of the Brazilian woman's flawless skin. God she was perfect. Every single line, the subtle muscle definition, her figure, the way her waist thinned and then flared out to her hips... Mmm... It was all perfection; absolute and utter perfection.

"It's not fair." Kendra breathed quietly.

All of his other wives were staring at Selene's newly exposed skin as well, and Beth had an impish look and licked her lips.

"Um, sorry?" Selene said apologetically.

"You shouldn't be." Alana interjected with analmost convincing attempt to sound imperious and condescending. "Your body belongs to your 'boss'--" she indicated Ethan. "--and your only concern should be if it pleases him." Alana broke character slightly at the end while trying not to smile.

"Are you pleased with Your Precious?" Selene asked him.

He raised a finger and twirled it, indicating that she should do likewise, and she did. Dear God in heaven, her body was like a living work of art. It didn't matter the angle or position either; there wasn't a single part of her thatwasn't the epitome of perfection. He didn't even know how that was possible. He was pretty sure that her back alone could give a dead man an erection. Obviously not literally, but...

Funny enough, he only considered that a small bonus on top of the woman who was now his bride... his wife.

*Sir.* Alana thought to him. *She already knows how much you adore her; stop being as nice as you'd be to the rest of us and treat her like she wants to be treated; let the dragon out a little.* She paused. *Just a little, but definitely a little.*

He looked at his wife -- Selene was his wife! -- And grinned.

* * *

Selene could tell over her bond with her husband -- her husband! -- that he wasbeyond pleased with her. If the bond didn't tell her -- and she ignored the rather large piece of evidence currently pointing at her -- the look in his eyes would've made it perfectly clear.

"I'm very happy with my Precious..." Her husband replied. "Her body though..." He shrugged. "We'll see."

She bit her lip, actuallyfeeling her nether regions get wetter. God, why did that make her so hot? She was dressed in a harem girl outfit and being talked down to by her husband, and it took alot of self-control not to jump him.

"Strip." He said in a commanding voice.

"Yes boss." She replied. He was making her strip naked in front of his other wives; her cheeks burned as the heat in her loins surged. She hesitated a moment as she realized what she was about to do. No one had ever seen her naked before and while she was pretty sure she didn't have anything to worry about, she was just a hair nervous.

Ethan glanced at Beth and gave her a subtle nod, the blonde grinned and then stepped forward and gave Selene a gentle smack on the butt. Selene moaned at the gentle impact, biting her lip and wiggling her hips as the sensation somehow felt amazing, and yet it stung very slightly at the same time.

"No dawdling." Ethan said, a hint of the dragon coming out.

Selene nodded, then hooked her thumbs into the band holding her harem pants up, hesitated for a fraction of a moment, and then pulled them down.

All the way down.

Ethan had told her to strip, so she was going to strip. She didn't think she could've summoned the courage to do so without his command though. She had bent down to pull her harem pants off, and in so doing had effectively pushed her butt out toward Ethan's wives, who were behind her. She tried not to think about the fact that due to her natural thigh gap, they had probably gotten avery good look at a certain part of her...

Why did that make her nether regions even hotter?

"Oh Dominus." Beth said with impishness in her tone. "I think she likes this a little too much."

"I'm aware." Ethan said dismissively, then looked Selene in the eye. "I've already taken steps to correct it."

"What steps?" Selene breathed.

"You'll see." Ethan replied, then carelessly waved at her top. "I said strip."

Selene nodded, noting the fact that he hadn't evenglanced at her newly-exposed most intimate area, like he wasn't even interested. She suppressed a moan; if he kept doing things like that, she was going to orgasmlong before he even touched her.

She reached back and undid the two buttons holding her top in place and then let it fall to the floor.

She swallowed.

She was now completely naked in front of her husband and fellow wives. She could feel her breasts' weight make themselves known as they were bereft of their support. The air in the room was just slightly cool and made her nipples stand even more erect, Ethan's treatment of her having long-ago made them hard.

Ethan eyed her body with a skeptical look before speaking. "Well ladies, thoughts?"

Suddenly, Selene felt like she was under a spotlight.

Ethan's other wives began to slowly circle her, looking her up and down like a prospective buyer eyes a purchase. Why was that so hot? With anyone else, she would've scrambled to cover herself, or possibly beaten them senseless. But with the people she loved most in the world, it was a very different story.

"Don't be shy." Ethan said to his wives casually, almost dismissively. "Inspect what needs to be inspected."

After that, his wives got more handsy.

They started touching various parts of her body, again in an appraising way like a buyer considering a purchase. They even mostly managed to stay in character as they touched her, Beth touching more than the others. Their touches were practical, not sensual; exploring, not arousing; and appraising instead of tender... but for some reason, her slit was itching more than it had in her entire life.

"Well, Rachel has better breasts." Alana said after giving Selene's own breasts a heft and a gentle squeeze.

Selene resisted the urge to moan.

"Alana has a better figure overall." Rachel said in her patented 'barely-interested-and-slightly-condescending' courtly voice; she even mostly managed to keep a straight face.

"Beth has better legs Master." Taloni said after running her hands up and down Selene's naked legs, gently squeezing and pinching as if inspecting them for grading in some competition.

"And she doesn't have wings." Beth said, trying and failing to fake a disapproving frown. "Her butt isn't as nice as mine either."

"Oh, true." Tee agreed, her eyes impish.

"And even I have a more toned body." Kendra said, pinching a bit of skin on Selene's side, then added with a wink to Selene that Ethan wouldn't be able to see. "She's comparatively flabby."

Beth and Taloni stifled laughter while Alana and Rachel looked like they were having a hard time not bursting out laughing. Even Selene had to work not to laugh; the only person who could call her 'comparatively flabby' was someone in near-perfect shape like Kendra, or perhaps an Olympic athlete.

"Yeah..." Ethan nodded, like a prospective buyer that was unimpressed with what he saw, despite his rock-hard cock and the emotions over their bond telling her that the exact opposite was true. "... yeah, I have other wives who are better in every category, so..." He waggled his head back and forth. "Eh."

Selene let out a breathy exhale as his words hit her, causing another wave of heat to wash over her body. She wiggled slightly.

His cock twitched.

"Hmm, perhaps I should inspect her myself." Ethan said with mock resignation in his tone. "But she can't seem to stop moving, so I suppose I should fix that." He looked directly into her eyes. "Freeze."

Selene tried to stop moving but found she couldn't. Or rather, she couldn't correct her bodily position. She tried to move her arm and found that she couldn't. She couldn't move her legs, hands, feet, torso, or even her mouth. She even tried to speak, but couldn't.

*What's going on?* She asked the group chat, even though she was pretty sure she knew and the thought was making her... yeah, she could feel a bead of moisture starting to slowly roll down her inner thigh.

"As I said, I made some compulsion-powered 'adjustments'." Ethan grinned at her wickedly. "You won't be able to move until I say so."

The heat in Selene's loins surged.

For a brief moment, she thought it would hit a peak and carry her over, but it seemed to fall just shy. She couldn't move without Ethan's permission? Why was that just about the hottest thing she'd ever heard of?

Ethan walked forward and raised her arm, and when he was done, Selene wasn't able to alter its position; it stayed where Ethan put it. He then began to walk around her, eyeing her up and down while the heat building in Selene's core seemed to concentrate in her hips.

Then he touched her.

She would've squirmed and quite possibly orgasmed at that first touch, but she couldn't move, and somehow, almost impossibly, her arousal plateaued just before it peaked. In fact, it peakedjust below the level needed to orgasm; just exactly below. If someone had exhaled warm breath on her clit, it would've easily pushed her over.

Easily.

"Hmm, I see what you mean." Ethan said, nodding slowly. He then looked at Alana. "I'd like to see a side-by-side comparison."

Alana grinned and pulled her dress over her head. Selene probably shouldn't have been surprised to see that she didn't wear anything underneath it, but she was a bit. The wood elf stood next to Selene and then Ethan took a step back, looking at the two of them side-by-side. Then he looked at Selene, slowly shook his head, and made a decidedly negative thoughtful sound... though the twitch in his cock gave him away.

He took a step forward as Selene was wonderfully forced to stand there unmoving and unspeaking, unable to react or act on the raging fire in her loins; how did he know her so well? Her husband then put a single finger on both hers and Alana's thighs and slowly slid it over both of them, tracing their figures.

Again, the simple touch forced the fire inside of her to surge, and yet again it stopped just slightly shy of the explosion she knew would come before the night's end. Ethan continued up until he reached their breasts and he traced the outside of them as well.

Selene would've screamed in pleasure had she been able, but the freezing compulsion stopped her. That wave of heat surged like never before. She was able to close her eyes as she waited for it to wash over her...

... but it didn't.

Her eyes snapped open as the wave of heat suddenly dropped to just barelyunder what she needed to finish.

There was no way that was natural.

None.

"Yes Precious." Ethan said to her as he motioned Alana away and indicated that Beth should come forward, which the blonde did, stripping her dress off faster than Selene would've thought possible as Ethan continued. "You demonstrated such low willpower when you couldn't even resist pleasuring yourself for a week a while back."

Even despite her husband's wonderful compulsion, a breathy sigh escaped her lips.

"So I took your orgasms from you." He continued as he started comparing Beth's absolutely perfect legs to Selene's own virtually flawless ones. "You'll have to ask to get them back... one at a time."

If Selene could've orgasmed on the spot, she would've. It wasn't even like the surge of heat was necessary this time. Her arousal was like a boiling lake held back by the dam of Ethan's compulsion. She tested the compulsion and realized that given a little time and effort, especially with her telepathic abilities, she could probably break it.

She wouldn't though.

She wouldn't even dream of trying.

She was in the most intensely pleasurable agony that she'd ever felt, ever on the edge of orgasming but not able to.

"Yes, Beth does have better legs." Ethan said, then motioned Taloni forward as he spoke to the bride again. "But I'm not completely unreasonable about your orgasms." He continued in an almost convincing bored-sounding tone. "It doesn't have to be me; if you can get the permission ofall of my wives on the same day, you can orgasm then as well."

Selene felt another surge of heat, blunted only by the maddeningly wonderful compulsion.

"I suppose your back is nice." Ethan said dismissively a moment later. "But with no wings, Taloni's is definitely better.

Another surge of heat, and another maddeningly, frustratingly wonderful surge of disappointment as it was stopped.

Rachel was beckoned forward next, and Alana helped her remove her dress and cloth wrap. While Selene had seen them interact before, it was patently obvious that they had spent rather a lot of time naked with each other given the practiced ease with which Alana disrobed her. It was touching to see the obviously deep affection they shared.

Rachel hesitated only a moment before allowing her wrap to come off and baring her breasts. Selene had to admit that objectively speaking, Rachel had more beautiful breasts. Selene's own werealmost a perfect ten, but Rachel's actuallywere a perfect ten. And somehow -- despite Selene having incredibly perky breasts -- Rachel's were slightly perkier despite being a bit larger.

"What do you think Precious?" Ethan asked with an impish grin. "Compare your breasts with Rachel's and tell me whose are better."

Another surge of heat was stopped only by the compulsion. At this point, she'd lost track of how many orgasms she'd missed.

Selene found that she was able to move her arm and reached to touch another woman's breast for the first time in her life. The moment her fingers made contact, she felt a slight pulse of heat in her loins. She hadn't expected that. Was she bi? She must be at least a little bi if touching another woman's breast turned her on, right?

Rachel's breast was incredibly soft, and yet somehow also firm. The skin was flawlessly smooth and Selene found herself cupping the breast slightly, only to examine it further of course. Not because the sensation was wonderful... no, not because of that...

Selene moved her thumb across the smooth skin of Rachel's breast, the pad of her thumb brushing the areola. Rachel bit her lip. Selene brushed her thumb the other direction, just barely grazing Rachel's erect nipple. It was silky smooth and yielded slightly at the touch, even as Rachel let out the tiniest sigh.

"And now your own." Ethan instructed. Selene reluctantly removed her hands from Rachel's wonderful breasts and felt her own. Objectively, there wasn't a lot of difference. Sure, Rachel's were a hair smoother, silkier, and firmer, but the difference was only apparent upon close inspection.

"And now Precious, tell me, who has the better breasts?" Ethan asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Your Precious has to admit that Rachel does." She replied, managing to finish the sentence before another intense wave of heat hit her, dissipating just before it took her over the edge into bliss.

Even through her near-orgasmic haze, Selene knew who was coming next. She also knew how much Kendra still struggled with feeling like she was the least attractive of Ethan's wives. Selene wasn't going to miss a chance to reassure her best friend about that.

"Your Precious would not wish to be compared to Kendra." Selene averted her eyes. "Her body is in no way superior to Kendra's."

Kendra's faux-imperious expression slipped into a smile.

Selene smiled in turn at that.

"Then my Precious, it's time for you to get your ring." Ethan said.

Selene felt her heart soar, even though she'd almost forgotten about it.

* * *

Kendra was trying to think of a happier moment in her life and was having a lot of trouble coming up with one. Selene had just been wonderful in the comparison, even though her best friend objectively had the more beautiful body. True, Kendra's body was more toned, but Selene's was more beautiful. Kendra really appreciated how thoughtful her best friend was being.

"Your Precious would love nothing more." Selene said to Ethan, yearning written all over her tone.

Kendra looked at Selene, totally unable to describe how beautiful she was. Even the word 'beautiful' seemed so incredibly short of an accurate description that it almost felt like lying. Selene was very nearly the visible personification of sensuality, sexuality, desire, lust, and a dozen other things. She was a goddess of beauty -- if such a thing existed -- and it seemed completely impossible that anyone could evenapproach the visual delight before her.

"Kendra, would you like to remove Selene's old ring?" Ethan asked, gesturing to Selene's slit.

Even Selene's slit was a visual spectacle that far out-stripped Ethan's other wives in beauty. Unlike his other wives though, there was a horseshoe-shaped silver piercing with two small spheres at either end through her clitoral hood.

"Me?" Kendra asked after a moment.

Ethan nodded. *I think she would prefer that.* He thought to her privately.

"Okay." Kendra replied out loud after a moment. She had never thought about Selene in a sexual way, but it was just hitting her that they would be involved in bed. Knowing Ethan, probablyvery involved. Kendra hesitated for a moment, wondering if that would change their friendship. But then she remembered that she was also friends with Ethan's other wives despite sharing a bed with them regularly.

"On the bed, on your back, legs spread." Ethan said to Selene in a commanding tone that Kendra rarely heard him use.

Selene hopped onto the bed and arranged herself how their husband had instructed. Kendra just stared for a moment, finding it hard to believe that a woman could be that impossibly beautiful.

*Go ahead, but don't do anything to stimulate her, not yet.* Ethan instructed Kendra privately.

She stepped forward and knelt down to remove the ring that was currently there. She reached out and touched it, obviously also touching Selene's most intimate area as she did so. The area was impossibly soft and silky, even compared to Ethan's other wives. It was also soaked, absolutely drenched.

Selene let out a soft sigh.

Kendra smiled, then went to work removing the ring that was currently there. It took a moment of fiddling to figure out how to remove it, and Selene was making soft noises the entire time and trying not to wiggle her hips, a task at which she was onlymostly successful. When Kendra finished, she had Selene's wetness all over her fingers.

"Done." She stood up and held up the ring.

"And now, my Precious gets her real one." Ethan grinned.

* * *

Selene was in the most exquisite agony of her life. Without her husband's -- she had a husband! -- compulsion, she surely would've cum at least once, probably twice, just from Kendra's fingers on her clit, and her friend hadn't even been trying to stimulate her. Oh. My. God. Selene had no idea that another person's fingers could be that wonderful. Seriously. Suddenly, her own fingers seemed woefully inadequate compared to someone else's touch, and again, Kendre hadn't even beentrying to stimulate her.

Ethan held out his hand and Alana pulled a small ring out and handed it to him, and he held it up so Selene could see it. It looked like a ring that had been broken in half, and the two halves were clearly trying to get back together again. It was shaped like a horseshoe, with tiny diamonds embedded into both of the bulbous ends. And something about the color seemed familiar for some--

She gasped. "Is...?" Her eyes widened. "Is that dragon steel?"

He nodded.

"It looks like..." She trailed off, having noticed that it was the exact same color as his scales.

"It is." Ethan nodded, then pointed to a spot right over his heart. "From right here."

Despite laying on her back with her legs splayed wide for Ethan and all his wives to see, Selene felt herself get choked up.

Ethan took a step closer and then knelt down between her legs. "And it's going right here." He glanced at her slit.

Selene bit her lip.

Under normal circumstances, a stiff breeze might've pushed her over the edge at the moment. Ethan reached up and carefully threaded one of the halves through the hole left by the piercing, then pressed the other end of the other half to its counterpart.

"Hang on." Alana said as she stepped forward. "I can speed up the reconnection, since it usually would take a few minutes." The enchantress touched one of her fingers to the ring and closed her eyes. About thirty seconds later, she opened her eyes and removed her hand. "All done."

Ethan stood up. "Look at it." He instructed Selene.

She did, then reached down to flip it up so the ends were facing her. It did indeed have two tiny diamonds embedded in the dark gray dragon steel... Ethan's scales. From this moment on, she would have a piece of Ethan inside of her... forever.

"I made sure that myself and all my wives, including Sarah, donated mana to enchant it." Her husband said softly. "So it's from all of us, not just me."

She looked up at him, happy tears collecting in her eyes, though they didn't fall. "Your Precious--" Her voice cracked and her smile muscles almost hurt. "Your Precious loves it."

"Good, and you're about to love it more." He grinned wickedly.

Her ring moved.

It pulled slightly toward Ethan for just a moment, gently brushing the underside of her clitoris as it did so. She gasped as another not-orgasm began to wash over her then stopped just before the floodgates of pleasure were opened.

He did it again.

She opened her mouth in a silent scream of pleasure, which turned to an audible groan of frustration as the not-orgasm fizzled again. God she loved him. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would torture her in the most exquisite way possible with that, assuredly for the rest of her life.

She bit her lip.

He grinned at her, his nonchalant mask slipping slightly before settling back into place, and it was even mostly convincing.

"Now, I suppose all that's left is to figure out what to do with my Precious." Ethan said dismissively, like she was a bit of excess gear that just wasn't useful.

Selene shuddered as her nether regions gushed.

"I don't know." Alana said, mostly managing to be convincing in her tone. "We already established that she's not as pretty as your other wives, so I suppose she's not much use in the bedroom."

"Maybe she would be useful as an incubator." Kendra said clinically. "How many of your children could she bear if you bred her repeatedly?"

Selene shuddered again as another not-orgasm was stopped cold by Ethan's compulsion.

"Dominus." Beth spoke up, and Selene couldn't help but notice that she had rather a lot of moisture between her legs. "Maybe shecould be useful in the bedroom."

"Oh, how?" Ethan asked, and even did a pretty good job of making his tone sound skeptical.

"Well, maybe she could help get you ready..." The blonde said, a red flush descending down her neck onto her upper chest. "... and maybe help your wives get ready for you too." She bit her lip, clearly wanting that.

Oh.

My.

God.

Selene bit her lip and tried to prevent herself from moaning out loud at the suggestion. God, why did that make her so hot?

"I suppose so." Ethan shrugged like it was no big deal while his cock twitched. "Who wants to go--"

"I do!" Beth interrupted, jumping up and shooting her hand into the air.

Selene had to admit that the exuberant blonde jumping while completely naked had a strange effect on her, and one she hadn't thought she'd feel. It turned her on a bit. Not a lot, but definitely some. In fact, as she looked at the assortment of beautiful, naked women around her, she felt her already soaked nether regions get even hotter. She could feel moisture beading up and trickling down her inner thigh occasionally.

Selene hesitated for a moment; she wasn't bi, was she?

"Kendra first." Ethan said after a moment, then addressed Beth. "You'll get to use her when she's had more experience."

Selene shuddered at his phrasing of 'use her'; she definitely, positively, in no way whatsoever should've nearly orgasmed from that.

Kendra looked at their husband for a few moments, then nodded and went to the bed, flopping down onto it with her slit level with the bed's edge and her feet hanging down. Her legs were spread.

"What are you waiting for, get to work?" Ethan said with faux-annoyance. "I want her ready and dripping when I make love to her."

Selene glanced at Kendra's slit, having no idea how to proceed.

"Use your tongue, and only your tongue." Ethan said, then looked her directly in the eyes. "Hands handcuffed behind the back."

Almost instantly, Selene felt herself automatically moving her arms so she could press her wrists together behind her back. She couldn't have stopped herself if she wanted to. Well, unless she wanted to use her safe word, which she definitely didn't.

"Up, we don't have all night." Ethan said in a good impression of annoyance at how long she was taking.

Selene struggled up and managed to get off the bed without falling, not that her wonderful husband would've let her. It was oddly a lot harder to move with her hands 'tied' behind her back, but she managed to kneel in front of Kendra, her best friend who was laying there with her legs spread. Selene hesitated, not sure if Kendra--

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Her best friend said with analmost impeccably feigned air of impatient annoyance.

Selene swallowed, having no idea what to do. Did she just dive in? She'd once heard that it was good to lick the alphabet on a woman's clit to bring her to orgasm, just because it provided variety.

"I'll help." Ethan said, clearly talking to Kendra as Selene felt a strong hand on the back of her head.

He slowly pushed her head forward.

Almost without meaning to, Selene found herself spreading her legs, and not for stability either. She wanted something between them, but it wasn't happening... yet. Instead, she would need to use her tongue to--

She swallowed, only moments from making contact.

"It's just like kissing." Alana whispered helpfully from nearby, though Selene hadn't noticed her come close.

Selene, her head being pressed forward by Ethan, made contact.

She kissed.

Kendra's taste was strange. It was slightly tangy, earthy, but not bad, so Selene kissed. Kendra shuddered and then moaned. Feeling another surge of heat between her thighs at the reaction, Selene kissed again, this time directly over Kendra's clitoris.

Kendra let out a low moan.

Selene smiled at the reaction, glad she could help her best friend enjoy this. She started doing what she'd heard and licked the alphabet.

Just as Selene made it to "H" and Kendra was beginning to moan louder, Ethan grabbed Selene's hair -- not too hard, but just hard enough that it was on the delicious edge of discomfort -- and pulled her away.

"She's ready." Ethan said, undisguised desire on his face as he looked at her. "My turn."

* * *

Ethan looked down at his Precious, beloved Selene and felt yetanother surge of blood harden his cock even further. It felt like it would burst as he looked at his bride.

She was on her knees, legs spread looking up at him as he held her hair, Kendra's juices all over her face as she slowly rocked her hips against nothing, clearly wanting something to rock them against. Her breasts were jutting out proudly from her chest because her hands were behind her back and her nipples were rock hard. She had a slightly stunned look on her face, probably from him pulling her away from Kendra, and the beyond-gorgeous Brazilian woman licked her lips slightly; he didn't even think she'd realized she'd done it. That whole image was capped by her hands being behind her back, compelled into a position like they were tied.

But the best part was the adoring look she was giving him, gazing up at him like she'd just won the lottery.

He grinned, but remembered to make it a wicked grin since that's the kind of thing Selene wanted in the bedroom. If he was honest with himself, he was rather enjoying the role-play as well.

"Get me ready." He said in his best commanding tone.

Selene bit her lip, then looked at his cock.

*Alana, you remember what I told you earlier when we sketched this out?* He thought privately to her.

*I do, and you're still sure?*

*I am.* He replied firmly, re-bonding with Selene having solidified his plans. She was going to love it.

*Okay, will do.* Alana thought to him.

Selene was still subconsciously rocking her hips as she leaned up a bit and tried to capture his cock with her lips, since her hands were 'tied' behind her back via compulsion. He made his cock twitch so she missed. She tried again, and he moved his hips slightly. If her hands had been free, it would've been child's play for her. As it was...

"Here, let me help you." Alana said to Selene with a pretty convincing sigh of exasperation.

Selene moaned and started rocking her hips a bit more.

Alana grabbed Ethan's cock and held it still.

Selene hesitated a moment and glanced up into his eyes. "Your Precious is grateful that she can do this."

He nodded once, trying not to break character.

Selene hesitated only a moment, then leaned forward slightly and planted a tender kiss on the tip of his cock. He let out a groan of pleasure at finally feeling that, but more, it was theway she was doing it. She was kissing the head of his cock with the longing, even yearning, that two long-lost lovers might use to kiss each other's lips after a long absence. She was tender, affectionate, and supremely loving in her attentions.

Alana, clearly reading the room, waited to do what he'd asked. Instead, she bent down and began to whisper in Selene's ear.

*Are you pleased with your Precious?* Selene thought to everyone as she slowly and tenderly worked her way down over the head, swirling her tongue around it and almost certainly listening to instructions from Alana. *Will you use her for your enjoyment?* She let out a moan that was stifled by the large object in her mouth, clearly turning herself on with her commentary.

*Damn, if she keeps going I'm going to pop soon.* Ethan thought privately to Alana.

"No, no, no." Alana immediately said to Selene in a faux-annoyed tone, then gave her a firm smack on the butt. Selene jumped and moaned again, but didn't stop.

"You're doing it all wrong." Alana continued. "You're supposed to be getting him ready, not pleasuring him." She rolled her eyes like she was annoyed. "That means the whole thing."

Alana put a hand on the back of Selene's head and gently pushed her forward, stopping just shy of the point where she would gag. "That's better, leave the pleasuring to his more attractive wives."

Everyone in the room either sniggered or tried to resist doing so.

Judging by the look in Selene's eyes, she wasn't bothered. Quite the opposite in fact.

"Oh, and I suppose if you really want to pleasure him, you can clean them up when he's done." Alana said dismissively.

Selene's eyes widened.

* * *

Wait, 'cleanthem up'?

Selene stared up into her beloved husband's eyes, not sure what Alana meant. Well, she had an idea, but Alana couldn't mean...

Could she?

Selene looked at her husband's cock and tried to imagine cleaning it. God he was huge. Alana had stopped just short of where it would be uncomfortable and now was pulling her off of their husband's cock. Selene couldn't help herself; she tried to resist. She didn't want him to leave her mouth just now, not when she'd gotten him so close. She wanted to feel him in her mouth when he erupted...

... but of course, that was the point.

She silently cursed how much she adored being denied; why couldn't she have a kink where endless orgasms came instantly and easily?

"Now, watch." Alana said, still holding Selene's hair as she moved her out of the way, guiding her by the hair to a position where she'd have a front-row seat to watch Ethan enter Kendra.

Selene bit her lip.

"Watch." Alana said, reaching out with her other hand to line their husband up.

For some reason, the wood elf's tiny hand seemed so small on their husband's massive 'equipment'. Ethan moved his hips forward and Selene felt a fresh round of heat in her nether regions at the sight. She had no idea why, but the sight of her husband slowly penetrating her best friend made her want to beg him to take her next.

Kendra's nether lips parted as the head of Ethan's enormous shaft pressed into them. For some reason, Selene thought it was like watching a flower open. She was there, maybe eighteen inches away and watching it happen. She bit her lip, her nether regions itching with heat like never before.

"Yes, I know." Alana whispered into her ear as the elf's petite hand slid down Selene's back and onto her butt, sending shivers up her spine. "You want to feel that, don't you?"

Selene nodded, becoming aware that she was almost panting in need.

"Maybe if you're very good, we'll let you." Alana said with an impish edge to her tone as she pulled Selene to her feet.

Selene snapped her head around to look at the elf, who at leastlooked entirely serious.

Alana responded by giving her a smack on her butt. "Pay attention."

Selene couldn't resist wiggling her butt in response to the stimulation, making her wonder yet again if she was a bit bisexual and had never realized it. Then the bride looked back toward where Ethan was sliding in and out of Kendra, his pace picking up. It was beautiful. It had never before occurred to her that such a description was possible, but apparently it was.

Ethan and Kendra appeared to be in their own little world. They were looking into each other's eyes as he repeatedly thrust into her and she arched her back. Kendra gripped the sheet and opened her mouth wide, her entire body becoming taut like a string about to snap, and then she did.

Barely thirty seconds after he had entered her, her entire body convulsed as she let out a silent scream and arched her back so much it wasalmost concerning. Ethan let out a low, primal groan that sent shivers down Selene's spine that ended and concentrated between her legs.

"It's wonderful to watch, isn't it." Alana whispered to her. "Usually the rest of us are 'busy', but when I'm not, I do like a good show..." The elf bit her lip.

Selene nodded.

Ethan held Kendra tightly and then leaned down and whispered something into her ear, something that put an even more contented smile on her face.

"It's your turn now Selene." Alana said imperiously. "Clean them both up."

"And since you like being denied so much." Ethan interjected. "If you spill even a drop, I might not take your virginity tonight."

Selene thought he was joking...

... she thought.

There was the tiniest chance that he wasn't, and she wasn't going to risk it. Not after what she'd just seen.

Ethan pulled back and out of Kendra, so Selene -- her hands still 'tied' behind her back -- dropped to her knees and licked the bead of white that had been rolling down his cock. God it tasted amazing. No, beyond amazing. It was literally the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted in her entire life and she was pretty sure that wasn't because of her taste buds.

Ethan's compulsion.

It must be.

God that was so hot!

He had somehow compelled her to make his cum the most delicious thing that she'd ever tasted. Dear God in heaven that made her feel so incredibly naughty. What kind of woman was she that her favorite flavor was... Suddenly, heat spread down from her cheeks onto her upper chest as a very different kind of heat erupted like a volcano in her loins.

"I wouldn't let that drip." Alana said in an almost sing-song voice, breaking Selene's reverie.

The bride's eyes flicked to Kendra's slit, where a thick, viscous, white liquid was just appearing at the entrance, clearly about to trickle down and fall. Selene almost lunged forward, sticking her tongue out to prevent it from falling. It tasted too good to waste. She managed not toactually stab Kendra with her nose, and thankfully got there before anything dripped.

Oh.

My.

God.

It tasted even better. Directly from Ethan had been one thing, but mixed with Kendra's-- Another wave of heat washed over her body as she realized that her absolute favorite flavor in the entire world -- no exceptions -- was her husband's cum directly from Kendra's--

She couldn't even finish the thought.

She thought her entire body might be bright red by now and it burned with embarrassment, but of course, that only made a certain part of her feel even more empty; more hot.

She wanted more.

She pushed her face in slightly and used her tongue to get every last drop she could find. It took her a moment to realize that she was literally pushing her tongue into Kendra's most intimate area because she was almost desperate to get every last drop that she could. She even sucked a little to make sure she didn't miss anything. She was even vaguely aware that Kendra shuddered through another small orgasm, but she was too enthralled by the exquisite flavor on her tongue to notice.

"You missed a spot..." Beth said from somewhere nearby.

Having exhausted the supply in Kendra, Selene pulled back and saw the blonde flick her eyes towards Ethan's cock. Selene wasted no time getting over there to start cleaning him, still feeling a little awkward with her hands 'tied' behind her back. It tasted insanely good, but not quite as good as it had from...

Her cheeks burned, their heat only outdone by the blazing inferno between her legs.

"Why Selene, do you enjoy the taste?" Her husband -- she had a husband! -- asked.

Her cheeks burned hotter.

* * *

Ethan looked at his new bride, utterly captivated by the rapturous look on her face. Okay, rapturousand embarrassed. He had never seen her look so red, nor seen anyone's eyes so hooded with lust. That wasn't even because of his compulsion either; that was all her. She was still kneeling on the floor, and he had to admit that the sight was amazing.

"Did you find a new flavor that you enjoy?" He asked, knowing that making her admit her new taste -- which most certainly was his fault, of course based on one of her fantasies -- would drive her absolutely wild with desire.

Selene nodded wordlessly.

"No, speak up." Alana instructed, obviously having caught on.

"Yes." Selene nodded. There was a tiny puddle underneath her, clearly made by how aroused she was.

"What flavor does my Precious enjoy?" Ethan asked.

He hadn't realized that it was possible for her cheeks to get any redder, but somehow they did. She swallowed. Hard. However, she hadn't used her safe word so he wasn't going to break character.

"Speak." He said in his best commanding voice.

"Um, Your Precious likes..." She bit her lip and let out a tiny sigh. "She likes your cum." A shudder went through her whole body and she seemed to be having trouble keeping her hips from subtly gyrating.

"Oh?" He grinned wickedly. "Is that all?"

She hesitated a moment, and while she did, Kendra sat up with a dreamy look on her face.

"What else do you like Precious?"

Selene's eyes flicked to Kendra, then back at him. "Um, Your Precious liked..." She swallowed. "... she liked it... um, from Kendra."

"How much did my Precious like it?" He asked, knowing the answer full well. More importantly, her eyes always looked brighter after he called her by her nickname.

"It was... um... it was the best thing Your Precious has ever tasted." She bit her lip and he could almost feel the heat radiating off of her. Not really, but he wouldn't have been surprised if he could.

"Well then, I suppose I could make sure that you clean it up from every woman in here..." He looked directly into her eyes. "... if my Precious asks very nicely."

"Please." Selene replied instantly. "Could Your Precious please--" She faltered for a moment, but only for a moment. "Can she please taste you from the rest of your wives?"

"Of course." He grinned, breaking character. He stepped over to her and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "I'll always do whatever I can for my Precious."

She grinned back, deep contentment in her eyes.

"Now, I suppose we should get to work then." He said.

* * *

Beth knew that her husband was a terrible tease. She'd known it since she'd met him, and that fact had been endlessly reconfirmed throughout their entire marriage. But still, making her wait until last for her turn with Selene was just cruel. Like, super cruel. She would've been a lot more annoyed if it wasn't totally worth it.

She laid with her front on the bed and legs hanging off of it, her entire body feeling like it was made from overcooked noodles. She loved that. She loved when her wonderful husband just grabbed her andtook her hard.

The icing on the sweet roll was the smaller orgasms she'd enjoyed in her current state of limpness as Selene -- the gorgeous Selene -- had virtually pulled out her insides in an attempt to get every last drop of their husband's cum from inside of her. Seriously. She wondered if she had been fertile if she could've even gotten pregnant because she wasn't sure Selene had left anything.

Oh Illuminar, one day, she would be pregnant with Ethan's baby.

Her dopy grin got wider.

Her husband had finished inside all of his wives except for Selene, and of course the bride had impatiently waited to suck his cum out of each and every one of them. The sight had made even Beth herself blush, but it had also made her more impatient for her turn.

She hadn't been disappointed.

Okay, going last might not have been so bad because Selene had been really good at it; like, really good. Beth had shuddered her way through not one, buttwo mini-orgasms. The fact that it was the gorgeous Brazilian woman causing them was only, like, half the reason too.

"Beth, budge up." Alana nudged her as she spoke quietly. "I think we're getting to the main event."

Beth grinned and bit her lip as she rubbed her thighs together; this was going to be amazing.

* * *

Selene licked her lips, not quite able to believe just how good it tasted. She knew it was because of the compulsion, but for some reason, that only made it more delicious. And almost impossibly better, her hands had been 'tied' behind her back this entire time. At this moment, she'd never been so happy that she'd come back to the Argo.

"Release." Ethan said while looking at her, and suddenly her arms were free again.

"Your Precious would love if she..." She glanced at his cock, and then down to where her nether regions were imitating Niagara Falls.

"Soon." He smiled. "Stand up."

She did, realizing that her legs were rather wobbly from how turned on she was. He stepped in and swept her off her feet, carrying her bridal style.

"I have good news and bad news." He said with both impishness and good-natured malice in his eyes. "The good news is that you'll probably pass out from your first time because it'll be so strong."

She bit her lips and rubbed her thighs together in his arms. "And the bad news?"

"I wanted to remind you that from now on, there are only two ways you'll be able to cum." He grinned.

Damn, how did he know her so well? She resisted the impulse to moan out loud at that.

"First, if I tell you to." He continued, an impish look still on his face as he held her in his arms. "Second, if you get the permission ofall my wives on the same day, which won't include Sarah until after I marry her properly."

Selene stared.

Oh.

My.

God.

She actually did moan out loud at that. She managed to restrain her volume, but it wasn't easy. That was the most wonderfullyperfect torture that she could think of.

"Your Precious is so happy." Selene smiled a deep, genuine, and true smile.

"That's how I like her." Ethan said softly, a smile in his eyes.

She liked that.

"And now, ladies, did she do a good enough job to earn a small reward?" He asked casually while looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

"Oh, I suppose so." Alana shrugged dismissively, her tonealmost convincing.

Ethan's other wives followed suit, all pretending to be dismissive or uninterested with varying levels of success. Rachel and Kendra were perfect, Beth and Taloni were much less so.

Ethan turned and stepped over to the bed, then laid the bride down on it. She couldn't stop smiling, and it looked like he couldn't either.

"Rag doll." He said softly.

Suddenly, Selene's entire body completely relaxed and her limbs flopped onto the bed. She tried to move them, but couldn't; not an inch, not even a millimeter. She tried with all her physical might but they didn't budge. A quick test of the compulsion told her that it was breakable -- he seemed to have made it that way -- but she didn't try.

"You always dreamed of being tied up so thoroughly that you couldn't move an inch." Ethan said. "But you also worried that it would be uncomfortable and make you tense." He reached out and stroked her cheek with his finger. "What do you think of my solution?"

She tried to tell him that it was perfect, but couldn't move her jaw either. *It's perfect.* She thought to everyone.

"Now, ladies." Ethan kept one finger lazily tracing over her naked skin, sending the most delightful shudders through her body. "I'm sure that Selene must've done something 'wrong' while she was 'prepping' you all; here's your chance to show her how it's done."

Out of the corner of her eye -- she could still move her eyes -- she saw all of her husband's other wives grin at each other. Then as one, they all descended upon her.

Alana and Rachel somehow managed to turn Selene's breasts into twin fountains of pleasure that would've had Selene arching her back off the bed... if she could move. Beth and Taloni started in on her neck and upper chest, planting seductive kisses which probably would've easily set her off by themselves... if she was able to climax. Kendra slipped her hand between Selene's legs and her fingers on Selene's clit produced more raw sensation than any of the others. Plus, all of them were running their hands all over her body.

It was heaven.

Beyond heaven.

And the thing making it so was that she couldn't move, couldn't react, couldn't do a single thing. She could only lie there and enjoy it totally, completely, and fully. She closed her eyes and let the sensations carry her away, the massive tidal wave of her arousal building ever higher and only barely restrained by her husband's wonderful compulsion.

Selene wasn't sure how long it went on -- years maybe -- but eventually it stopped. Her fellow wives paused and Selene's entire body was screaming for release. For possibly the first time ever, she wasactually regretting that denial turned her on so much.

"Hey Precious." Ethan said softly from above her.

Her eyelids fluttered open, the fire in her loins making it hard to think clearly.

"Ready?" He asked, his tone and body language hard and commanding, while the look in his eyes was adoring.

She nodded, though she wasn't sure why she could; maybe he allowed non-verbal communication in 'rag doll mode'? Or maybe she was only allowed to reply to him?

Kendra moved her hand and moments later, Selene felt something huge right between her legs. Her legs were floppy, splayed open on the bed and completely relaxed. He was there, right at her entrance and about to...

She sucked in her breath, then let out a breathy sigh.

She could feel the heat in her loins building even further, her restrained orgasm straining against the compulsion like a rubber band that was nearing a breaking point under the immense tidal wave pushing against it. She tried with all her might to move her hips, to get him closer and inside of her, but she couldn't; not without using her safe word or breaking the compulsion. She refused to do either.

Ethan looked her right in the eye and smiled a deep, affectionate smile that reached deep into his eyes.

She smiled back.

He pushed.

Selene sucked in her breath again. She reflexively tried to clench her muscles, but thankfully found that she couldn't; her 'rag doll' mode prevented her. That was good; she'd heard that being tense could make things unpleasant. This wasn't unpleasant. It was the furthest thing from it in fact.

He had just barely started to press inside when she felt him slow down, and at the same time felt something in her nether regions strain a bit.

"This will sting for a moment, but I promise only a moment and then it'll never hurt again." He said softly.

She nodded, a smile still on her face. Oddly, not being able to move or act on how deliriously turned-on she was was giving her a strange sort of clarity.

He pushed a bit more.

She bit her lip -- was she supposed to be able to do that? -- and then she waited for the-- She hissed slightly as she felt a pinch in the most sensitive area of her body. Ethan paused for just a moment, probably letting her adjust, then he pushed forward slowly. There was a bit of discomfort, but that faded pretty quickly. What didn't fade was her impression.

He washuge.

Absolutelymassive.

She'd had him in her mouth before and now she couldn't believe that he could even fit in her nether regions. It seemed impossible that he could fit now that she was feeling it.

From somewhere, she felt a feminine hand take hers and then Kendra's face came into view. "It feels strange, I know, like he's splitting you in half."

Selene nodded as she opened her mouth as if to let out a sound, but nothing came out.

"It feels amazing once he gets going though." Her best friend added, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

As if on cue, Ethan did start moving. Kendra hadn't been lying. As good as everything else up to this point had felt, this was better. He started speeding up.

She groaned,

It was much better.

Kendra leaned up and planted a tender kiss on Selene's forehead, then leaned back and smiled at her. "Go ahead, enjoy it."

Selene wasn't sure she could've disobeyed if she tried. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly and pressing both of their fronts together as he adjusted his angle and--

Oh.

Her eyes widened as his pubic bone pressed against her clit and the small bit of dragon steel stimulated it from the back while Ethan did from the front.

There were no words.

Everything else that had happened that night so far seemed to fade away into a distant memory. The tidal wave that was only barely being restrained became a tsunami that somehow -- impossibly so -- wasstill being held just shy of reaching the peak. Selene became incoherent as Ethan thrust powerfully and lovingly into her.

She couldn't believe that she was here, doing this with him. After everything they'd been through, this made it all worth it. Well, this and the lifetime of love she was looking forward to from her husband and fellow wives. She found herself groaning and sighing in equal measure, trying to somehow vocalize the sensations coursing through her. She couldn't.

He kept this up for what felt like a blissful eternity before he spoke. "My Precious."

She managed to look into his eyes and felt them lock on.

He gave her a lopsided grin, then whispered. "Release... and cum."

Selene suddenly regained control of her limbs as the dam holding back the tsunami of her arousal burst like a house of cards in a hurricane.

* * *

"... and Cum." Ethan said, holding his beloved Selene just a bit tighter as he did. He was determined to make sure that she enjoyed this night so much that she would never forget it, hence all the buildup and teasing.

In hindsight, he might've overdone it.

Selene's eyes went as wide as saucers and Kendra winced, Selene having apparently gripped her hand tightly enough to make her do so. The bride's back arched on the bed as she wrapped her arms and legs around him and let out a strangled scream of pleasure. It was like the tension in her whole body snapped at once. She almost convulsed and her internal muscles clamped down on him so hard that it almost hurt. Her entire body almost vibrated it was trembling so powerfully.

He had been on the edge when he'd told her to cum, but this pushed him so far over the edge he was almost in space. He held her even more tightly as he thrust deeply inside of his beloved Selene and held himself there as he went off with the force of a cannon.

That only seemed to increase Selene's response. Her arms and legs clamped around him so tightly that he couldn't have escaped if he wanted to. He didn't want to. She seemed to press herself more tightly into him while he buried his head in her neck and hair, wanting to somehow get closer even though he wasn't sure that it was physically possible.

They stayed like that for nearly a minute, each holding onto the other tightly, almost fiercely. Eventually though, Selene's body stilled, slowly relaxed, and she started breathing more normally, though her breaths came in long pants. Ethan was panting too, having flopped half his weight onto her because he was tired. Well, okay, because hewanted to flop on top of her and he could do that now. He was a bit tired though.

He smiled, though his head was still mostly buried in her neck and hair. Her hair smelled wonderful. She smelled wonderful. Well, she actually smelled a bit sweaty, but it was a clean sort of sweat. He was panting slightly and had no desire to go anywhere.

"Can't... breathe..." The bride panted not long afterward, though she was clearly only having a little trouble.

He stopped putting his weight on her, but he otherwise didn't move. "I'm having... the same... problem..." He panted with a smile on his face.

After a moment, he shifted his upper body a bit so he could turn his head and look at her. She turned her head to look at him. Damn she was gorgeous, and he meant more than just physically. Her hair was slightly damp in places from their coupling and it was sticking to her face in an adorable way. She was beaming at him. She looked like she was about to fall asleep, but she was beaming at him.

"I'm so glad you came back." He said, then yawned.

"Mmm." She sighed. "Me too." She also yawned.

He shifted so he wasn't on top of her, but rather on his side and then pulled her close to him. She barely had to move, but seemed floppy and almost immovable anyway.

"Well, we can snuggle like this for a... a..." He yawned again. "For just a minute, but it's Rachel's night to sleep in my arms, so..."

She whipped her head around, then she saw the teasing look on his face and rolled her eyes. "I don't know if I can move."

"Good, because this is your home now, right here in my arms where you belong." He gave her a gentle squeeze.

She beamed.

Not long afterwards, all his other wives climbed onto the bed and under the covers, with Kendra placing herself on Selene's other side. Selene had the biggest smile on her face as she saw this, then she flopped her head down on Ethan's bicep, closed her eyes, and fell asleep in less than a minute with a huge smile on her face. He did similarly after placing a tender kiss on the top of her head.

God he loved her, and he loved having her here.

Finally.

* * *

Anthiel felt a small smile creep onto her face as she heard what sounded like the climax -- pun intended -- of the wedding night through the floor below her. Alas, that was a hazard of the captain's cabin being just below the ship's wheel.

Near the front of the ship, Luminar Kossel docked Kendra's small canoe-sized airship to the front of the Argo after returning Colonel Forsythe to the Wilderness Outpost. Ethan had told Anthiel before the wedding that they should get going once the colonel had left and Luminar Kossel had returned, so Anthiel waved to Damon -- Falkaan's pilot -- and both airships began to unfurl their sails. Normally she would prefer to be undocked for that, but Damon was an excellent pilot and the wind was relatively calm.

*Ani?* Her husband's voice came to her not long after.

*Ral.* She smiled; she loved being married to him, even though they were much too far apart right now.

*It's done.* He said, and she could hear both the relief and sadness in his mental tone.

Anthiel took a deep breath and let it out slowly. *Does that mean I need to stop calling you 'admiral'?* She teased, trying to keep her tone light.

*Maybe not in public.* He replied, amusement in his mental tone. *But in private...*

Anthiel chuckled. *So what's next? You've been working for Lord Borden for decades now and I know you're not ready to retire.*

*No, no retirement for me; Miri would kill me with her affections.*

Anthiel actually laughed at that. *Well, you know what they say about pregnant elven women.*

*I do indeed.* His mental tone sounded like it had laughter in it. After a moment, he spoke again. *I was able to acquire her from Lord Borden, though the sails and rigging will need some attention. Apparently, my decades of service were enough to convince him to sell, and at a reasonable price too.*

Anthiel smiled. *Good; you deserve that at least after all these years.* She checked their heading and relative ballast, then thought to her husband again. *Since you bought her, I guess you've decided to come join the Argo and Midnight Sun?*

*I have.* He replied. *You know how often you and I have prayed about it, and I've prayed with Miri equally as often. I think it's the right choice.*

*You already know I'm in favor.* She smiled widely. *What does Miri think?*

*She has never spent much time on an airship, so of course she is nervous, but she still struggles to make friends here. I think too many still think of her as the beggar on the street corner and it seems that no one can see how she's grown. She sees that, and she wants friends. Ethan and his wives have been nicer to her than anyone else, so she isn't opposed. Nervous about such a big change, yes; and nervous about living on an airship with a baby on the way, certainly; but she isn't opposed.*

*It's getting more dangerous.* Anthiel pointed out. *Miri isn't a warrior and I would worry about her.*

*We wouldn't be coming alone.* He replied. *Many of the sailors here think that Ethan is indeed a true prophet, and a few of the more devout ones volunteered to join me. Most aren't young, but you know what they say about age and experience...*

*... they beat youth and enthusiasm.* Anthiel completed the thought.

*Lord Borden learned that I was considering such a move and volunteered some of his best men to help keep his daughter safe.* Ralgar added. *It won't be a full complement, but we won't be defenseless.*

*That's good at least.* Anthiel replied. *It'll be good to have you so close. Taloni is such a gifted airship pilot that she doesn't realize how incredible her progress is. Save for actual combat, and perhaps a truly fearsome storm -- because she hasn't had to pilot through one yet -- she's ready to take over the Argo.*

*I think they still need you there Ani.* Her husband replied after a moment. *Not for forever, but I think a while longer.*

*I know.* She sighed. *I miss my husband though.*

*And I miss my wife.* His tone brought a smile to her face as he continued. *It will take some time to make all the preparations, so we won't leave immediately. However, I sense Illuminar's hand in all of this. I have been praying for direction and too many little things have aligned to make this not only possible, but seemingly the correct course.*

*That's how it was with me becoming the pilot of the Argo, remember?*

*All too well.* His mental tone had laughter in it. *It seemed like the stars themselves aligned to guide you in that direction.*

Anthiel smiled. *Now at least I can look forward to seeing you more often.*

*Oh yes, I intend tosee rather a lot of you.*

Anthiel chuckled.

* * *

"How are you doing?"

"I'm good you big worrywart; I don't have any bad memories of the Argo." Hailey smiled at Jason's whispered question, especially since it was the third or fourth time he'd asked. While she didn't exactly want to spend a long time in the Ten Kingdoms given what had happened to her here, it was nice that she had been at the wedding.

"Good." He smiled back at her, then they looked back to the circle of people around them.

Myla was gently poking at a few coals in the firepan over which they had heated some mulled mead, then she sat down next to Falkaan and leaned against him, a subtle but contented smile on her face. Richard and Ruth Ejder, Luminar Kossel, Selene's father Andre, Mels, Jason, and herself rounded out the group. They had been sitting in mostly comfortable silence sipping mead and occasionally talking as the night wound down.

Victoria and Thea had already headed to bed, the platinum-blonde having decided to turn in not long after Colonel Forsythe left. Hailey had found the timing amusing, and Thea probably had too given her expression at the time, but neither had said anything to Victoria about it. Sarah had gone to bed with them as well, leaving the current group.

"Have you three given some thought to if you'd like to get married in the morning." Luminar Kossel said, looking at Jason, Hailey, and Melinda.

Jason glanced at the two of them before nodding. "We can't on Earth, but we can here, so..." He raised his hands palms up and shrugged. "I would've liked a bit more pomp and circumstance, but until America gets its act together and recognizes polygamy as a legitimate form of marriage, we're SOL on that one."

"Pardon me, but might I inquire as to what 'SOL' means?" Myla asked.

"Shit Out of Luck." Luminar Kossel replied, then looked at Jason. "Remember that politics is downstream of culture; until the culture changes, the politics don't tend to."

"The culture near us is... interesting." Melinda spoke up. "All our friends were super happy when Hailey came back, at least initially."

Hailey looked at the engagement ring on her left hand and then at the similar one on Melinda's hand. "However, they were suddenly always busy when they found out that Mels and I are both engaged to Jason."

"I went from being universally admired by women to being universally admired by menand women." Jason quipped with a twinkle in his eyes. "It wasso hard."

Everyone chuckled.

"More seriously, people who I've known my whole life suddenly stopped talking to me." Jason said after a moment. "It wouldn't be so bad if we had even one group of friends left, but alas..."

"It sucks." Melinda nodded, then took a sip of her mulled mead. "I'm glad I can at least drink alcohol again; that helps."

Ruth chuckled. "I had a pretty large mimosa a few weeks after I gave birth to Ethan; I completely understand."

"Well." Richard looked at Jason, Hailey, and Melinda. "I know we're a bit far, but you'd be welcome for dinner sometime."

"Really?" Hailey asked.

"Of course." Ruth nodded. "Any friend of Ethan's is a friend of ours."

"I'd love that." Mels grinned, though her grin faltered after a bit. "I'm a bit worried about baby Ethan though, and who he'll be friends with growing up if we don't have any."

Richard and Ruth looked at each other, and Hailey was reminded of the TV show: 'How I Met Your Mother', where sometimes two characters would have an almost telepathic conversation.

After a moment Richard spoke. "Well, it's entirely possible that our town will be getting a polygamous family."

"Possibly two." Ruth said.

Richard looked at her and raised his eyebrow.

"Ted, Kate, and Alice." Ruth answered his unspoken question.

Richard nodded slowly, then looked at Hailey, Jason, and Melinda. "Not sure how flexible you guys are on employment, but if you are, our town is a great place to live."

"We're pretty flexible." Jason mused.

"Especially us." Mels waggled her finger between herself and Hailey. "We've been waitressing together for years. It's not exactly a career, but people always need to eat."

"We'll think about it." Jason said to Richard and Ruth, then looked at Luminar Kossel. "Was that an offer earlier?"

"It was." The luminar replied.

Hailey looked at her fiancé and best friend; they were both smiling too.

"We'll do it." Jason grinned.

* * *

"You appear to be preoccupied."

"I am a little." Fiona admitted. She and her husband were sitting in bed during their nightly talking time. Conner was already in his crib asleep and she had been turning over what she'd learned from the letter in her mind all day long.

She took a deep breath. "I've been reading the letter that Rachel was sending to Mage Weston, mostly the story in it and thinking about it."

He inclined his head as if in concession, but didn't speak.

"Well, Lady Shara, then Mage Weston, then the crown prince himself were telling me that I should be keeping an open mind." She continued. "Lately, I've been thinking about how the Book of Light is saying the same thing, and I'm wondering if maybe I should be keeping a more open mind."

He made a thoughtful noise, but otherwise didn't respond.

"I hope that isn't bothering you milord." She added.

"It does not." He replied. "I found the letter unconvincing and I believe you are mistaken of course. As such, I would not allow you to place yourself in danger because of your potentially altered opinion -- such as when we are in Nalatia -- but your opinions are your own. They are mistaken in this case, but they are your own."

Fiona nodded. "I'm glad to be hearing that."

Neither of them spoke for a moment, then he broke the silence. "I spoke with Tabitha earlier and told her that Guardsman Ellis Trelane had identified her as a bodyguard before it was revealed. She requested that he be assigned to your guard detail when we travel to Nalatia."

"Oh, okay." She nodded. "Was anything else interesting happening today?"

"Today was the inspection of the new helmets for the infantry; they were of suitable quality."

"I'm glad to be hearing that." She replied, though she knew almost nothing about armor so she didn't know what else to say. She hesitated a moment, then asked what she was really curious about. "Milord, are you sure you're okay with me second-guessing about the false proph--" She stopped. "I'm trying to not assume he's a false prophet or necromancer." She frowned. "That isn't bothering you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"You are endeavoring to align yourself more fully with Illuminar's commands and rectify a potential bias." He replied, mostly without emotion. "That is a commendable pursuit, even if you are mistaken about the false prophet."

"Oh." She felt a small smile on her face. "I really appreciate that."

"You are welcome." He nodded once.

She smiled at him. "You're being a good husband."

"I am glad that you believe that."

"You aren't believing it?"

"I am aware of how I behaved toward Helene; I have not been able to behave as such toward you." He paused. "For that, I do apologize."

"You're doing nothing that's needing an apology." Fiona assured him.

He raised one of his eyebrows fractionally. "Do you honestly believe I am half the husband to you that Sean was, or a quarter of the husband to you that I was to Helene?"

Fiona opened her mouth to reassure him, but she couldn't honestly say either.

"As I said." He looked at her pointedly.

She frowned, but nodded anyway.

He looked at the clock. "Our conversation time is concluded; good night Fiona."

"Good night milord." She replied as he turned to lay on his side, his back to her. He always fell asleep that way, but he always turned to lay on his back during the night.

* * *

Selene drifted back to the waking world, her whole body feeling like slightly overcooked spaghetti. Almost her entire body was a hair sore -- in the best possible way of course -- and she had a funny taste in her mouth that she didn't recognize for some reas-- She blushed.

That was about when she realized that Ethan's arms were around her.

She smiled.

It was a happy, dopey, contented smile the likes of which were usually found at the end of a long day when sitting by a cozy fire with a mug of hot chocolate wrapped in a warm blanket and people you loved all around you. She took a long, slow, deep breath and exhaled equally as slowly, the noise coming out as a soft sigh.

*Is my Precious awake?* Ethan thought to her privately as he gave her a little squeeze.

She smiled wider and snuggled closer against him. *She is... boss.* She made sure there was a hint of sass in her tone, just for him.

He chuckled. *Already? Wasn't last night enough?*

*Never.* She thought back, then wiggled her butt against him.

*Not now, I'm enjoying myself too much.* He replied, then gave her another gentle squeeze. *Besides, you must be sore.*

*A little.* She admitted.

*A little?*

*Okay, a little all over.* She smiled. *But in the best way.*

*I didn't go too far last night, did I?*

She fluttered her eyes open and turned just enough so that she could look at him. He was gazing adoringly back at her. She loved that, loved the look in his eyes as he looked at her.

*Never.* She thought to him. *It would be a little much every time, but on my wedding night...* She bit her lip and sighed softly. *... it was perfect; beyond perfect.*

*Good.* He grinned.

*I was a bit surprised that everyone else was so okay with...* She lifted her head to see that everyone else except Taloni was still soundly sleeping; the Fey teen was probably out reading the Book of Light to Sarah. Her husband -- she loved thinking of him like that -- had draped his wings over the rest of his wives. They were all clearly naked, and various bits of skin that weren't covered by his wings were visible. She felt her cheeks get quite warm as she remembered that she'd gotten rather intimately involved with a lot of the skin on display the previous night.

Her cheeks suddenly felt hot. *Oh, I can't believe I did... well, most of that.*

*I can.* He got an impish smile on his face. *I think I hit a good chunk of your fantasies last night, but I'm sure there's more to tease out as time goes on.*

She smiled wider, then leaned forward slightly and planted a tender kiss on his lips. He kissed her back just as tenderly, but also firmly and she couldfeel how much he loved her in that simple kiss. God that was wonderful! She couldn't wait to do that a million times a day for the rest of her life.

*Thank you; Your Precious loved it, all of it, even the parts she initially wasn't sure of.*

He got a dopey, lopsided grin on his face. *Good; that's how it should be.*

They laid there snuggling for a little while, and Selene thought she might've even dozed once or twice. Eventually, the other ladies started stirring and sitting up.

"Mornin'." Kendra mumbled, yawned, and then flopped back onto the bed and moved so she was touching Selene, who smiled at that.

"We should probably get up." Ethan said, then yawned.

He didn't move.

No one else did either.

"How am I ever going to explain this to Sarah?" Selene wondered aloud a few minutes later.

"What do you mean?" Alana asked as she yawned, then started getting out of the bed.

"Well, I'm not sure how okay she'll be with my... 'tastes' in the bedroom." She grimaced.

"I think you might be surprised." Rachel said as she sat up, the blanket falling to reveal the redhead's perfect breasts. "She's sheltered, but I don't think she'll be nearly as bothered as you think, nor as much as she herself thinks she'll be."

"Really?" Ethan asked.

"I can't be certain of course, but I think it likely." The redhead nodded.

"I'm glad to hear that." Selene smiled.

"Me too." Ethan nodded, then sat up. "Okay, now I'm hungry."

* * *

"Why did you stop?" Sarah asked Taloni as she added a little seasoning to breakfast. The Fey teen had stopped in the middle of a sentence while reading the Book of Light, hence the question.

"It's a hard word to translate." The Fey teen replied with a frown. Her copy of the Book of Light was in the Fey tongue, so she was translating it on the fly as she read. "You know that feeling you get in your stomach when something is really sad, so sad it makes you want to cry and you can feel your stomach clench?"

Sarah nodded. "I wish I didn't, but I do."

"There's a word for that feeling in Fey." Tee continued. "So it reads like this: And then Illuminar -- blessed be He -- saw the plight of mortals and how they had been tempted by Saidow's angels into wickedness leading to their ruin, and He felt deep compassion -- that's the word right here -- for them. So He sent the Angel of Illuminar to Risian, son of Shemelah, a Slytherian, to speak to him concerning these things."

"But wait." Sarah stood up and frowned. "How did Saidow's angels tempt mortals? Why did Illuminar allow them to?"

"Um, that's further on; let me see if I can find it..." Taloni flipped forward in the book. "Um, let's see..." She flipped another page or two. "Ah, here it is: And from the beginning, you have not obeyed my laws nor my precepts, which were given so that you might live long in peace and security. But instead, you chose to invite Saidow and his demons into the land and preferred wickedness to righteousness, to your ruin."

Sarah grimaced.

Tee kept reading. "Therefore, I -- even I Illuminar, the God of Light -- allowed you to invite the angels of darkness into the land over which I had given you dominion as you chose. Thus, you followed after the sons of darkness into destruction and gave yourselves to the angels of evil to your ruin. I, Illuminar, allowed this so that you might see the consequences of your wicked choices and turn from them."

Sarah's frown deepened. "He just let them come here?"

"That's what it says." Taloni replied. "I once heard someone say that since He gave mortals dominion over the world, He allows us to choose to invite demons into it even though they want to destroy us."

Sarah shuddered, recalling just how badly that had gone for her when she was young.

Taloni opened her mouth, stopped, then closed it again. Sarah could almost hear what she was probably going to say, something about Sarah having chosen her demon over Illuminar. Thankfully, the Fey teen stayed silent and instead flipped back to where they had been before.

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief at that.

Tee had just opened her mouth to start reading again when the door to the captain's cabin opened and her betrothed and future co-wives filed out. They all looked a hair tired, but all of them were also sporting the kind of smile that Sarah had long since learned to associate with Ethan spending time with his wives in the bedroom.

Selene especially looked radiantly happy.

"Morning Darlin'." Ethan grinned at Sarah, and she hurried over to get her morning kiss on the forehead, which he quickly provided.

"I can't wait until we can do that for real." She smiled at him.

"Damn straight." He grinned back.

Sarah looked at Selene. "Um, I take it things went well?"

Selene let out a contented sigh. "So, so well."

"Good." Sarah felt her cheeks warm up a bit so she changed topics. "Well, breakfast is ready."

"Awesome." Ethan grinned, then they all sat down to eat.

Not long afterward, Hailey, Jason, and Melinda made their way up to the weather deck from the lower deck and joined them around the breakfast circle.

* * *

"Captain, there's something you should see."

Ethan looked up at Anthiel, who was calling from the quarterdeck. He shrugged, stood, and then walked up the stairs to see it.

"What's up?"

Anthiel pointed toward an airship far in the distance, mostly in front of the Argo and slightly to starboard. "That airship has plotted an intercept course."

Ethan frowned. "Are you sure? Maybe it's a coincidence?" Not that he didn't trust Anthiel, but really, regular crises were getting rather old at this point.

"Taloni." Anthiel called, prompting the Fey to fly up over the railing and land gently beside them. "Please explain why it's not a coincidence."

She looked at him and spoke with a natural, casual confidence that brought a smile to his face. "Master, we're not near any shipping lanes. Since we're close to Ivernia, we've made sure to steer clear of normal shipping lanes because the Ivernian Military sometimes has airships patrolling them."

Tee looked around, frowned, then pulled a map out from the small cabinet under the control panel that controlled the ship's enchanted ballast logs. She scanned the map for a moment, then looked at the mountains to the ship's starboard, then at him again.

"No normal airships would be here, and merchant airships don't like meeting other airships in case they're pirates."

Ethan slowly nodded, then squinted his eyes at the incoming airship. Unfortunately, the wind was angled so the incoming ship's flag was facing them directly, so he couldn't see what colors it was flying.

"Ralgar can't identify them either, or at least, not with the description I was able to give at this distance." Anthiel added.

"What's going on?" Hailey asked as she climbed the stairs up to the quarterdeck, so they explained.

"Oh." She grimaced, then called Jason and Melinda up to the quarterdeck, prompting another round of explanations.

"So..." Melinda looked at Hailey and Jason, then at Ethan. "Um, last night, Luminar Kossel volunteered to marry us this morning, but if that's a threat..." She pointed to the incoming airship, which probably wasn't much bigger than a speck to her.

"I hate to suggest a rushed wedding--" Ethan started to say, but all of his wives interrupted by sniggering. He gave them all a look, then continued. "--but given how many people want to kill us, it might be a good idea for you to get married and dash."

"You think it's dangerous?" Jason asked, his tone uncharacteristically serious.

"I have no idea." Ethan replied honestly. "But if I were you, especially with a baby, I would want to be back on Earth long before we get into a position to find out." He glanced at Alana, whose womb was holding their own baby at this moment. As much as he loved looking forward to being a father, he wished they'd waited until they weren't in mortal danger regularly.

Jason looked at Hailey and Melinda, who both nodded.

"Well..." Jason got a lopsided grin on his face. "Then I suppose we'll have to marry and run."

Everyone chuckled.

Ethan looked out at the incoming airship, wishing that they didn't have so many enemies looking for them. He briefly considered flying out to see who they were, but discarded that idea pretty quickly because doing so might come across as threatening; there was no sense getting off on the wrong foot if it wasn't someone trying to kill them. He could use his disguise gem for recon of course, but it was pretty easy to see through and the deception might make first impressions much worse if it was discovered.

He supposed he'd find out when they were closer.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Note: This chapter began on day 130 of Ethan's life in the Ten Kingdoms and ended on day 131. I submit new chapters on the last Wednesday of every month, and they usually drop after the 2-3 day review process. Thus I'll submit the next chapter on May 28, and it'll probably drop on May 30th or 31st.

I'd like to extend a very special thanks to my editors, and also three of my readers, one of whom didn't want to be credited by name. So "Anonymous", Joseph, and "Veron De La Morte": thank you so much for your support. I really appreciate it.

STORY TAGS: dragon, magic, elf, teen, romance, virgin, harem, blonde, brunette, redhead