The Enthralled Question

[Demeter]

At the mention of Lilia's mother causing the woman more harm then good, Bennett's eyes narrowed. He connected Lilia's last name to the female dragon who'd taken serious offense to his special situation. Oh, he couldn't wait to be introduced to his possible mother-in-law. "I'd like to see her try to take Lilia out of here. Isis may be small but she can go all momma bear when she needs to."

Bennett raised an eyebrow when he noticed the man standing behind Grae. The other eyebrow went up when he noticed just how close the two men seemed to be. "I don't envy you of your mother, Grae, but try to keep her away from here. I think I have something that will get you out to the holding. Just let me get a shirt.

In the shower stall, Isis grumbled. "Small, my ass. I'm just a little on the short side," she muttered while handing Lilia a soap washcloth. She knew that if she touched the woman there'd be some serious fireworks. Not a good idea with Lilia's brother standing a few feet away.

She stood off to the side, listening as brother and sister talked. Once Grae was gone, Isis left the shower to fetch dry towels. She handed one to Lilia and used another to dry the woman's hair.

Later, once Lilia was dry, dressed and back on the couch, Isis sat across from her. "Lilia," she said, "I think we need to be careful around all three of us. After you've got a clean bill of health, then we can explore that side of this possible relationship. I don't want you injured because we wanted to roll around the sheets."

[Maira]

Waiting for her brother to get out of Isis and Ben's apartment was torture. Isis merely handed her a soapy washcloth to clean herself off. After what had almost happened between the three of them, it was like dumping a bucket of ice-cold water over her and she couldn't help when her mood soured. The rest of the shower, despite Isis being in it with her still, was uneventful and before long she was dressed and parked back on the couch in the livingroom.

When Isis took a seat across from her, instead of next to her, Lilia's already sour mood darkened even more. At the succubus's words about the three of them needing to wait until she had a clean bill of health to try things again, an almost silent growl rumbled in her chest. When she noticed it, she cleared her throat and hoped that Isis hadn't noticed. In an attempt to move past her body's automatic reaction to unhappy news, Lilia said softly to Isis, "If my body wasn't able to handle what we were about to do in the shower it wouldn't have reacted to your touch and Ben's presence like it did."

She wasn't sure what the other woman was thinking because while she could tell she -was- thinking, she didn't know her well enough yet to read any other clues that may have been obvious to Ben. When Isis stayed silent for a while, Lilia added, "If you don't believe me, ask Rhea. That girl gets injured regularly by that darn moose of hers. She may not be a healer, but I know she has been seriously hurt at least once and before she was fully healed one of her brothers walked in on her and somebody rolling in the sheets."

Isis still didn't say anything right away, and her look was even more confusing to Lilia so the woman finally blurted out, "Okay, in addition to all the stuff I've told you, the truth of it is I'm really not sure that my body isn't going to torture me every time I'm around either of you now. Even just sitting across the room from you I can feel where your fingers were on my back. I've denied myself a real relationship, let alone one with another dragon, for probably too long. If my body weren't able to handle a roll in the sheets with a male dragon in his prime and his succubus wife, no amount of making out with Bennett or you would have gotten a reaction out of me."

And now she sounded like she was begging to jump into bed with Ben and she felt awkward and rude, but she hadn't felt even a tingle from Isis's magic so even though the woman had touched her she wasn't sure if she actually wanted her. Not knowing what else she could possibly say that would fix the awkwardness, Lilia just lowered her eyes to stare unseeingly at her hands in her lap.

[Demeter]

At Lilia's words, Isis went from sitting across from her to sitting next to the woman. "that's exactly the problem, Lilia. You are both dragons in your prime and very ready to mate. And I'm a succubus. I have no doubts that an...encounter between the three of us will be very explosive."

Isis was sitting on Lilia's injured side and she gently stroked the cuts and bruises that had yet to heal. "You may be feeling better but your body is still healing. We've got a delicate situation on our hands. You and Ben have gone so long without finding a mate and since I'm a succubus, an untrained one at that, I'm going to end up amplifying what you and Ben feel."

Isis placed two fingers beneath Lilia's chin and lifted her head. "We don't want to cause you any more pain, Lilia, and we're worried that if we tried to consummate this relationship now that we would hurt you, physically, with out enthusiasm," she smiled at the woman. "Please, for now, until you can stand on your own and aren't bruised black and blue, we should wait and focus on getting to know each other."

She kissed Lilia's cheek and bounced off the sofa. "Now, I'm going to get us some food and tell you all about Ben's embarrassing moments," Isis smiled. "Oh, and Lilia, you try to change our minds and I will drug you into unconsciousness."

Downstairs in the garage, Ben scrolled through webpages, searching for Lilia's new car, and plotted. Lilia's mother was going to be a problem. She did not approve of him and Isis. She'd said as much when the holding first learned that Isis was his wife. The woman had come up to him and said that she could not, in good consciousness, allow the unattached females to enter into such an arrangement.

And now her daughter was pulling on reins to sleep with him and Isis. Wasn't life just a kick in the pants? He would still have to guarantee someway to keep that woman our of their business. Grae and his cat would only create a momentary diversion.

***

It had been a week since the accident and Ben was off to check out a couple of replacement car possibilities. He'd be gone for three days and two nights; leaving the two women to entertain each other.

It would also allow enough time for Isis to bring up a rather delicate subject. They'd already had one run in with Lilia's mother. Sky had come by in an attempt to haul her daughter to the holding. That, he thought as he packed his bag, had been the mother-daughter row of the century. But it had confirmed some of his fears. Sky was not going to allow Lilia to mate with him; as if she had any say in the matter. Between Grae's betrayal (Sky's words) and Lilia's refusal to do as she was told and adamant desire to remain where she was, Sky was furious with bother her children. Sky's response had been to send unattached, unbonded males of mating age to the house. They hadn't made it up the stairs but he would have to move fast to secure Lilia.

So why was he leaving? Because, right now the woman was very ready for mating and even one time would surely knock her up with his child and he couldn't be around her for ten minutes without wanting her. Needless to say, the last week had been frustrating. So he was skipping town for a couple of days and leaving Isis to deal with explaining his idea to Lilia.

He said goodbye to both women, kissing each on the forehead and scooted out the door.

While Lilia was out at doctor's appointment with Chastity (her brother was watching for any Sky-sent suitors, and with Ben on his way south, Isis took the time to straighten up. After her appointment, Lilia planned on checking to make sure her restaurant was still standing before coming back to the apartment over the garage the pharmacy.

After that, it would be just the two of them and she been assigned missions. Get Lilia to make her a bonded partner and to ask after Lilia's thoughts on becoming pregnant, most likely, by the week's end. Isis was no fool; she knew that Lilia would come back with a clean bill of health and two of them would hardly be parted until Ben returned then there would be no going back. She had to know Lilia's thoughts on immediate motherhood before Ben returned, just in case she had to tell him to remain in the south of the state.

After fluffing the house, Isis retreated to the bedroom to spruce herself up. She changed from the baggy and shapeless sweats to a pair of skin tight jeans and a figure hugging sweater. Beneath that she wore something special for Lilia.

Part of her thought they were moving to fast; they'd only known Lilia a week! Another part said that in 300 years, nothing like this had ever happened. Never before had they wanted another person like this.

When Lilia returned to the apartment with a bag of fresh clothes and no crutches, Isis smiled and took Lilia's bag to the master bedroom rather then the guest room she'd been using. For what remained of the afternoon, the two women snuggled on the couch and watched movies. After dinner, Isis went through the entire place, lowering the black out shades and shutting the drapes in each room.

Before returning to the living room, she stopped to pull her sweater off. Over her skin, pushing her breasts together, was a black silk and purple lace corset. Lilia's special treat would be taking it off her. She went back to Lilia in the living room. In her absence, Lilia had been busy making a fire and lighting candles. "It seems that we have the same idea about how to spend the night. What do you think of this top?" she asked while turning in a slow circle. "Not even Ben has seen this one yet. I wore it just for you, Lilia, now take it off me."

Isis slinked the few steps to the couch and slid into Lilia's lap. She felt it when Lilia's fingers streaked over her sides, tugging and searching for the trick to get it off. "Gotta find the right set of laces," she said while laughing. "Lilia, do me a favor over the next few days. Please make me your bonded partner. I want to be doubly bonded to you, Liliamarri'eria, and to Benthan'rio."

[Maira]

Life with Ben and Isis after the shower incident was rough. Lilia did her best to keep her moods under control but apparently her body really wanted the other two to finish what barely got started and it made her quite surly that she wasn't able to have it. She'd been told 'no' in the past though and she wasn't sure what the hell her problem was. She had only one guess and if that was truly what was going on it explained a lot. Brood females were only fertile four times a year, for a two week stretch each time. She'd never been able to tell before when she was fertile because she hadn't had a serious relationship in a really long time and the few times she'd slept with somebody to scratch that itch, it was mostly just because it was convenient and the guy or girl was easy on the eyes and friendly. She had never before felt a drive this strong to actually go to bed with somebody and it was more than a little overwhelming.

Add to her own personal battle of wills against her body, Lilia had had to deal with her mother and a slew of suitors the older brood female had sent her way once she realized just who it was Lilia was shacking up with during her recovery. Apparently her mother just couldn't fathom why Lilia would burden herself with such an abnormal arrangement, just being a third wheel to an already married couple. Lilia didn't see it that way at all though, Isis and Ben didn't make her feel like a third wheel at all. If anything she felt a bit like they were both surrounding her with affection and caring instead of just letting her tag along for the fun in bed that both she and Ben apparently needed.

When Ben announced that he was going to go south for a couple days to look at replacement cars for her, Lilia couldn't help but wonder if her moodiness was just getting too hard for him to bear and he needed some space. What with her mother trying to flood Lilia's days with new suitors, now was not the ideal time for the male her mother was trying to take her from to leave town. So, when he finally kissed both her and Isis on the forehead and then left, Lilia couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt.

Luckily, her appointment with Chastity went as well as she'd expected and that alleviated much of her sour mood. She even asked the doc to write her a note proclaiming she was able to return to work. Surely that would satisfy both Isis and Ben's requirements that she be fully functional before they took her to bed. Only, Ben was gone. This would be an interesting couple of days depending on what Isis said. If the succubus wanted to wait for her husband to return from his trip, Lilia would just have to tough it out a couple more days and deal with it. If Isis suggested anything though, Lilia wasn't sure she could say no herself and wait for Ben's return given her current state.

She stopped by the restaurant to check and make sure her staff hadn't burned it down or forgotten to do the dishes or mop and when she found it in top condition she couldn't help but beam with pride. They would all be getting a bonus in their next checks. After checking on her business, Lilia clambered up the stairs to her apartment and packed up a small bag with some fresh clothes. Isis had been great about doing her laundry, but it really would be nice to wear something different for the first time in a week. Not to mention, it gave her a chance to put on something lacy and baby blue that she hadn't had a reason to wear yet. She'd bought the matching set months ago just because they looked good on the hanger and when she tried them on she liked them even better. So, if Isis decided that Lilia was no longer banned from bedroom activities then the succubus would be in for a surprise. If she didn't, at least Lilia would feel secretly pretty.

When she got back to Ben and Isis's apartment, Lilia handed over the note to Isis and set her bag down as she slipped her shoes off. When Isis handed laughed softly at the note, and then wandered off to the master bedroom with Lilia's bag of clothes, the dragon couldn't help but watch in surprise. She was being upgraded from the guest room? Surely that was a good sign for the night's potential activities.

The rest of the afternoon and evening had been pleasant with lots of snuggling, movies, and dinner delivered from her restaurant. After dinner, Isis dissappeared for a while so Lilia took it upon herself to start a fire to cozy up the place. Then, remembering her bag of clothes being put in the master bedroom instead of the guest room, Lilia decided a few candles might not be a bad plan either.

She had just gone back to her spot on the couch when Isis came out of the bedroom and Lilia's eyes practically popped out of her head. The corset the succubus was wearing accentuated all the right places on the woman and made her look even more appealing than normal, and Lilia wasn't exactly sure how that was possible. She tried to sense for Isis's magic but there was nothing there, it was purely the corset. Lilia missed most of what Isis said as the woman sauntered over to her and slid onto her lap. All she really heard was "take it off me," and "gotta find the right set of laces," as Lilia tried to do just that. She was getting a bit frustrated and had just finally found what appeared to be the correct laces when Isis said her true name. Startled, not realizing that Isis knew it, she peered up at Isis and blushing in embarrassment for missing what she said the first time asked timidly, "Can you say that again please?"

[Demeter]

Isis sat back and laughed softly. "Probably shouldn't have said that when you're distracted. Me and Ben, we've thought about this a lot over the past year. Early on, we decided to ask that special dragon who was will to take both of us on, that's you, to bond with me before becoming Ben's mate."

Isis leaned back, putting the laces of the corset out of Lilia's reach. "While I've got your attention, I've actually got another question for you. Ben's puzzled it out and I think you have your guesses about why you want us so bad right now. Ben is too much of a chicken to ask you himself but how do you feel about being a mother? Better question, how would you feel about getting pregnant by the end of the week?"

Isis blinked at the stunned, blank look on Lilia's face. "I know we've all only known each other for about seven days but nothing like this has ever happened before. And this isn't just for myself or Ben, it would also be for you. Most espeically for you. Some would say it's a matter of convenices, both yours and Bens, but we truely like you and we think that we could make this work. Ideally, we would have taken longer to ask these questions but your mother is forcing the issue. So, what do you say, Lilia, will you be my bonded partner and will you let Ben do his damnedest to get you pregnant by weeks end?"

[Maira]

Lilia gawked as she listened to Isis lay out her and Ben's ideas and hopeful plans for what would happen in the next week or so. She barely noticed when the succubus leaned back out of her reach and just let her hands slide down from her back to rest on Isis's thighs. It took a few moments after Isis stopped speaking before Lilia was able to fully process what she had said and give a coherent answer.

"If Ben is convinced he'll be able to get me pregnant by the end of the week, then yes that fits my guess as to why I've been so intensely... uh... interested in certain things lately. And if we're both right and I do get pregnant, then that would definitely put a stop to my mother. She's a stickler for tradition and she wouldn't even tolerate the idea of me mated to anybody but the father of my unborn child." The smirk on Lilia's face, and the glint in her eyes, was pure mischief. Torturing her mother would be a lot of fun.

When Isis kept looking at her, waiting, Lilia smiled warmly and pulled her back in close and slipped one hand up behind her neck to gently pull Isis's face close to her own. Her free arm pulled Isis's body tight into her own and Lilia leaned up to kiss the succubus. Before their lips could touch she whispered simply, "You're mine," then she claimed the woman who wanted to be her bond-mate with a passionate kiss. Lilia thought the spell for bonding a partner in her mind and she felt the magic surge out of her and into Isis. She followed the path of the magic with her mind's eye and when her own magic sensed that of Ben left long ago, it surged to the same location where it left a second mark, intertwined with Ben's, before dissipating throughout the rest of her body.

As Isis shivered with the settling of Lilia's magic, the dragon couldn't help but smile with pleasure. Already she was able to feel an awareness for the other woman growing in the back of her mind. Over the coming years the awareness would continue to build until she could eventually pinpoint exactly where Isis was at all times, regardless of distance between them, and she would also know the health of the woman as well as she knew her own. For now, the bond would likely only involve basic impressions of both. The most immediate benefit to taking a bonded partner was the ability for the dragon and the bond-mate to be able to communicate telepathically regardless of what form the dragon was in and this Lilia was happy to test out. Her mindvoice soft and gentle, Lilia asked her succubus **Isis love, does this answer your questions well enough?**

She honestly wasn't sure if she was ready to be a mother yet, but her heart had practically been screaming at her for days that she was supposed to be with Ben and Isis. She was willing to admit that her body's reaction to the pair had a lot to do with her probably being fertile at the moment, but she had felt purely sexual attraction before and what she felt for Ben and Isis just wasn't that. There was something more, something she had been missing. She wasn't sure she bought the whole soulmate thing that so many bought into, but she did believe that given a chance a person's heart would recognize people that would be a good fit. Her instincts had never lead her astray in the past so she was more than willing to do whatever it took to claim both Ben and Isis as hers.

[Demeter]

Isis shivered as Lilia's magic took root in her body. Already used to what Ben had given her so long ago, her own abilities accepted the new thread of power with little fuss. Still trembling from Lilia's kiss and the influx of power, Isis opened her eyes and smiled at Lilia. She could feel the warm presence of Lilia in her mind, nestled right next to Ben and she smiled. Isis answered the woman's question in the way of the brood. *That answers our questions perfectly,* Isis dipped her head down and nuzzled Lilia's neck, *we are honored that you are willing to join us.*

Isis smiled against the soft skin of Lilia's neck. "Ben will be home in two days. Until then, let me take care of you," she said while sitting back. After pushing her hair over her shoulders. Isis popped open the hidden eyehook at the top of the corset. Taking Lilia's hands in hers, she placed them on the laces. "Help me take this off, Lilia-mine."

Together they worked the laces free. As they tugged and pulled on the laces, Isis leaned forward to kiss Lilia, touching the dragon with her mouth only. Once the corset was unlaced, Isis gave a little wiggle and the undergarment fell to the floor. From the waistband of her low-rise jeans and up, except for the amethyst jewelry at her navel, she wore nothing but her skin. She moaned, biting her lower lip, as she felt Lilia's hands glide up and over her skin.

Isis went back to kissing Lilia - the woman had a lovely, built-to-kiss set of lips - as the Dragon explored her bare skin. Every once in a while, she'd break the kiss to gasp or moan when Lilia's fingers found a sensitive spot. While Lilia fondled her, Isis kept her own hands busy. She found her way under Lilia's shirt and stroked her fingers up and down Lilia's sides.

Isis eventually peeled Lilia's shirt off, tossing it over her shoulder, and coaxed the woman into laying back on the couch. Still perched above Lilia, Isis trailed her fingers around the edge of Lilia's baby blue bra and grinned at the woman's trembling reaction. "Pretty," she said before bending down to close her mouth over Lilia's breast through the silk and lace. She spent several minutes teasing Lilia, getting a charge out of the way the Brood clung to her.

Isis lifted her head and gently blew across the damp fabric. "Let's take this to a different venue. The couch just doesn't give me enough space to pleasure you the way I want to," she said while climbing to her feet. She pulled Lilia up after her and, holding her hand, led her to the master bedroom.

Only one of the bedside lamps was lit and, after closing the door, Isis turned to face Lilia in the dimly lit room. With her eyes on Lilia, Isis slowly unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down. She stepped out of them and walked backwards towards the bed. She pushed herself onto the high bed and reclined back against the pillows. She wiggled a bit and then crooked her finger at Lilia in the universal 'come here' sign.

[Maira]

Without hesitating, Lilia followed Isis to the bedroom when she suggested they change venues. Once in the dimly lit room, Lilia watched eagerly as Isis slipped out of her jeans and onto the tall bed. When the succubus beckoned for her to join her Lilia slipped out of her own pant, revealing a pair of bikini panties that perfectly matched her baby blue bra, and then she climbed up onto the bed herself.

*****

As promised, Ben had returned two days after Lilia bonded Isis. The smug grin he had on his face when he walked in the door had gotten him first a slugged shoulder and then a warm welcoming kiss from Lilia. Lilia had thought Isis had sated most of her mating instinct driven desires but as soon as the male brood entered the apartment, Lilia was once again eager to be taken to bed and Ben did not disappoint.

A week after Ben's return, Lilia found herself hurriedly untangling herself from a sleeping Ben and Isis and rushing to the bathroom. As soon as her stomach emptied and she'd cleaned herself up, Lilia caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror and realized she was smiling like a fool. Practically bouncing, Lilia ran back to the bed and jumped on Ben. When his eyes flashed open and his lips pulled back into a warning snarl, Lilia just poked him in the chest and whispered, "Good morning Papa." Then, leaving him in a shocked stupor, Lilia rolled off of him and snuggled up to Isis. Waking her with a gentle kiss and a few strategically placed caresses, she whispered excitedly in the succubus's ear, "We're having a baby!"

[Demeter]

Isis grumbled as she felt Lilia scrambling from the bed. With a sleepy mumble, she took the chance to scoot closer to Ben. They'd been up late last night, chasing each other around this bed for the last week. Lilia was well past her fertile period but the three of them couldn't keep their hands to themselves. Threesomes, Isis thought as she drifted back into sleep, were not dignified affairs when romping together in bed but she wouldn't change anything. 

And just as she was about to drop off the deep end into sleep, Lilia popped back onto the bed. With a yelp, Isis bounces, bumping against Ben. She leveled a light hearted glare at Lilia. "Lilllllliaaa, you kept us up to wee hours of the morning. You cannot want to go again. What has gotten into you?"

When Lilia responded that a baby had gotten into her, Isis blinked a few times and asked if Lilia could repeat that. When she did, saying that they were having a baby, Isis whooped and launched her self at Lilia. Naked, she sat on Lilia's equally naked lap and kissed her. She looked down at Lilia's belly and patted it. "You, Lilia, are awesome," she said and kissed the woman again.

Ben watched as the two women kissed. Still half-asleep and not quite functioning yet (those wore him out the night before) he could only blink, stunned, at what Lilia had said. "You mean it worked?"

Both women paused their make out session at the foot of the bed and looked at him, Lilia straight on and Isis from over her shoulder. He got the distinct idea that both of them thought he was an idiot. Isis rolled off Lilia's lap and straddled his hips before lightly bopping his skull. "Idiot," she said fondly, "wasn't it you who told me that dragon pregnancies are almost full-proof?"

"But her fertile period was almost over! Its not 100%."

Isis rolled her eyes. "Hello, succubus beholden to a fertility goddess? What do you think I was doing while you were gone? I wasn't just buttering her muffin. The moment she was willing to give it a go, I was using my magic to increase her fertility," Isis paused and looked over her shoulder at Lilia. "I hope you don't mind that I did that? I just wanted us to have the best shot at this." 

When Lilia shook her head, Isis grinned and roll off the bed. She knotted the short purple robe. "This calls for a celebration. I'm making pancakes," she said before bouncing out of the bedroom. 

Ben watched her go and then turned to smile at Lilia. "So, since you're all knocked up with my kid, not to mention that my wife and I love you, what do you say to being my mate and not just my baby-mommy?"
****

Isis sat on the living room floor over the apartment over the garage. Even though no one lived there, the place was filled with furniture, crates, trunks and boxes. This was her and Ben's treasure horde. And she was letting Lilia play in it. She'd handed over the keys and watched as Lilia rummaged around. The woman had gone on a mad giggling spree when she'd come across the chests of old clothing. None of Isis's stuff would fit her. It was all too short and most of the stuff required a tight-laced corset -and not a fashion one. Lilia had tried on one of Ben's old suits of evening wear and she'd filled it out very nicely. 

Now that they were having a baby, they would need a bigger place. They weren't planning on expanding into the storage apartment but Lilia had gawked at the amount of storage Ben had had drafted into the plans for the new house. When she'd said that they'd never fill that up, Isis had shown her the second apartment. And there was even more, Isis thought as she carefully repacked the silver tea service. The Mayfair townhouse, the manor outside of Salisbury, and the castle in Scotland all had their own treasure rooms. In short, they needed a ton of storage.

While the two women were exploring the crates, Ben was out, sizing up the 20 acre plot of land they'd bought shortly after moving to Point Hope. Fairly remote, the lands best feature was the hot spring located deep in a cave. The main cavern, that held the heat of a tropical jungle, was large enough to house the largest of the brood and that hot spring was size of a medium lake. 

The plan was to turn that cavern into a hatching ground for Lilia to use. The house would be built near the cave entrance but Ben planned on excavating a second entrance straight from the house. Lilia had expressed her wariness about using the sands at the holding. Ever since she'd announced her pregnancy, bonding to Isis and engagement to him, relations with the in laws had been tense. Rather then having the mother of his child stressed out from the hostility of her own mother, Ben would be creating a paradise for Lilia.

While he was walking the plot of land with his contractor, a dragon named Serge from a holding at The Gates of the Artic, Isis planned on telling Lilia a little more about her past. She was trying to work up the nerve to talk to Lilia about it. She wasn't scared on what Lilia would say; she just didn't like talking about it. She was waiting for Lilia to uncover a pair of trunks and question the contents. She eventually did find the trunks and brought a pair of clumsily knitted booties and a silver rattle to her. Lila didn't say anything but the question was obvious. 

Isis took the booties from Lilia. "Never could figure out knitting. Now, my needlework, that stuff is awesome. Pretty sure I brought some of it over. I'll have to find it for you but I suppose you want to know about these booties. They were for my James Bartholomew Peyton, my baby who never got to live. From the moment I knew I did everything the healers told me to do. But I lost him. I suppose I should tell you. Have a seat, Lilia, because this starts with my own birth."

Isis waited until Lilia was comfortable. "My mother, Maribell, was a succubus in the highlands of Scotland. My father, according to her as I've never met him, was a vile, wicked Sasanach. That is the only consistent thing she ever told me. Sometimes, he was a handsome, charming sasanach who seduced her. Or he was wicked and raped her. Or that they were devoutly in love and his family made him wed someone else. The story may have always changed but the ending was always the same, he left, leaving her with me. 

"She was several months gone with pregnancy before she figured it out. My mother was not a stupid woman. She took precautions but the magics that protected her from being impregnated by her mortal men could not stand up to the seed on a powerful Alati male. She told me that she'd planned to rid herself of me but he found out and forbid it. She said he said he would pay her to keep the baby. And he would take the child if it was a boy. A girl would remain with her and he would pay for the upbringing. 

"The world was a very different place in the eighth century. The rules of raising children were much different and a man wouldn't want to be saddled with his bastard girl child so I was raised in my mothers home under the care of the servants he installed and paid. My mother's role in my life had been to carry me, birth me, name me Lilith, and collect money for every year I lived. 

"She took little notice of me but I took plenty of her. I slipped around that castle of hers like a ghost. I would watch as she would seduce strong highland warriors and drain their strength through sex. I was quite young when I witnessed my first orgy and younger still when I witness her favorites, the men she enslaved, burying the bodies of those she killed in the garden. I vowed to never be like her. 

"I focused in my studies, hoping that one day my father would come for me. When I was seventeen, she appeared in the nursery, which I was still cosigned to since she didn't want anyone knowing she had a child. She looked me up and down, measured my hips, felt me up and looked at my teeth. She then said that in the morning, I'd be moved to a downstairs room. She said that the vile sasanach had stopped with the payments and I needed to start pulling my own weight. I was a succubus after all and she had just the perfect man to break me in. My own mother planned to prostitute me in order to make money. I knew she had no maternal instincts but I never thought she would do that.

"I ran away that night. I had a bag of clothing, a small horde of coins and stole her best horse. I left scotland and never went back for several centuries. I traveled throughout Europe; not easy for a women and I was a naive, untrained Succubus. I got myself into plenty of bad spots whenever anyone figured out what I was.
"You see, Lilia, most Succubi and Incubi wear some sort of limiter; the younger the more heavy duty the power limit. At first, it's to restrict the power. Most are ready to go twenty-four/seven and with out the limiters, they'd burn out because they can't control their power and succumb to exhaustion and die because it was all sex, sex, sex and no food. As the being's control grows, the limiter shrinks in size until the purpose is to keep the wings hidden. As a completely untrained succubus, I'd actually burn out fast. I had no clue what to do with my powers.

"When I finally reached Egypt, I was no longer innocent and I was very tired. I collapsed outside a temple to Qetesh. She is the Egyptian goddess of fertility and sacred ecstasy though she can be found in several other cultures under different names. The sisters there brought me inside and helped me recover. Everyone there was a Succubus and Qetesh took me under her wing. She was looking for someone to help with the moderate problems of those who prayed and offered sacrifices to her. She crafted a limiter for me. I'm not as uneducated as Ben might lead you to believe. The sister taught me what to do with my powers, how to exercise control and to be a very accomplished flirt."

While the mortals and selected brothers and sisters of those called to Qetesh ran the sacred ecstasy portion of the temple the rest of us were called to a higher order. We worked the fertility angle. Sometimes it was a perfectly healthy couple praying to have children; we gave those ones gentle encouragement at the right time. Others prayed to Qetesh for help getting pregnant or staying that way; with the exception of Qetesh-on-earth, none of us had the power to help. We would, well, research the couple to determine the problem and Qetesh-on-earth would be sent out. 

"And then there were the difficult ones. The ones that needed a power packed punch of lust for them to even consider getting into bed together. And then there were the ones attracted to their own sex but in need of a heir. I mostly worked with the stubborn ones, flirting with the husband to make the wife jealous. A few times, resolving the problem required sleeping with them but with the limiter, I had no problems. 

"Still, I didn't like it. More and more, I took on the simple cases to stay away from that. It may have been for good purposes but doing that, sleeping with people with no emotion attached made my skin crawl. Eventually, Qetesh decided to send me back into the north, to spread fertility."

By now, it wad the thirteen hundred and the black death was ravaging Europe. The plague didn't just kill mortals. Alati, Mutari, shifters, magic users were all affected by it. I don't know if any of the brood perished from it but most holdings are fairly isolated. The fertility gods and goddess of Europe, Asia and Africa gathered and decided to send out their devotees in order to restore populations. They couldn't end the suffering; there were too few who knew what to do then. Even we were at risk but we had a job to do. We had to encourage the world as it was then known to repopulate itself.

"I went north with a few others but eventually our paths separated. Everywhere I went, a wake of fertility followed me. Not just the people but nature as well. I went through Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and finally back to England and Scotland. Some went to the big cities, thinking that there would be more people. There were more people, all right, and more death. I stuck to the smaller country towns and villages. The plague wasn't as bad in the country, there were stronger, healthier people and the children had a better chance of survival. I would arrive in a town, seek out employment and spent a decade or two match making.

"I made life long friends with many people, though most of them were mortals. My most common employment was being a companion to older, widowed women or spinster. Often, during this time, children were sent down from the cities to live with relatives in the country. Children may have been company for these women but its hard to have a meaningful conversation with a four year old. I was even a lover to some if these women. Some were so lonely, so desperate for companionship that I had to show them love and kindness. 

"I returned to England just in time for The London Plague to start. I continued my role as a matchmaker and worked my way into the highlands. And from there, to the castle of my mother. The place was empty. I learned from the villages that someone had finally grown tired of her and killed the witch, that's what the villages called her, a few centuries ago. They claimed that they were waiting to see what would happen and that the castle, now rumored to be haunted, was being held in trust for the descendants of the witch's daughter. I claimed the castle and the first thing I did was have the shallow graves dug up and the bones of the men she'd killed properly buried. Then I left, fully prepared to let the castle rot. 

"Until 1812, I lived quietly in Wiltshire. I had purchased a manor house and lived there as a sort of wise woman. Everyone knew that if you wanted a baby or to catch a certain man, you had to come see the witch in the manor house. I didn't attended any Christian services and I didn't behave like a proper English woman. It was a fulfilling life. Once 1812 rolled around, I decided to take myself off to London and Society. I set myself up in a house in Mayfair and styled myself as the young widow of Colonel Coleson. There were many widows around that time so no one thought anything off it. 

"I was able to get myself into high society balls and that is were I met Bennett. He was friends with some very influential people, the same ones that got him into so many scrapes, though to be fair, he got them into some doozies as well. Right away we knew that the other was different from the rest of Society's high flyers. We both had actual wings. We quickly struck up a friendship and though there were plenty of rumors, there was no romantic interest. He was like one of the brothers from the temple in Egypt. I could just talk to him and laugh with him about the silly mortals. He quickly became my closest friend. 
"Now, remember how I said that before I joined Qetesh, i got into a lot of trouble because I was a untrained, unlimited Succubus? Ever since Qetesh crafted me limiter, I hadn't had a problem because no one knew what I was but in 1813, someone came around who knew who I was. His name is Caedmon, and he is a very old, very powerful Incubus/magic user hybrid. He had a hand in the creation of the Mutari. He was also the one who trained my mother and who would have been the one to break me in when I was seventeen. He came to London the year after me and recognized me as Maribell's daughter. He snatched me one day as I was leaving a poorer section of town where I'd been doing some work for Qetesh and carted me off to somewhere. 

"Before long, I learned that he'd been the one to kill my mother. I wasn't sorry she was dead but it was the motivation behind her death that worried me. He'd bled her dry to craft a powerful aphrodisiac called Succubus Venom. Its a powerful drug that affects women, temporarily giving them the drive of a succubus but none of the powers or abilities of one. There's a companion drug called Incubus Venom for men. Both are very difficult to make and can only be accomplished by superior magic users. And both require the blood of Incubi or Succubi taken at the height of their unbridled power. The drugs are expensive and sold to hell fire clubs, bawdy houses and those who have perverse tastes. Apparently Maribell had been giving her blood to this man for years and he killed her when she demanded a cut of the profits. He's made a large batch and that had lasted until then. 

"He had me captive and was going to get a fresh supply of blood from my veins. He hoped that Maribell's potent power had been passed to me. I was stripped naked, my limiter was removed, branded with a charm to hide me from my goddess and doses with the last of his previous batch of Venom. For four or five days, he and two of his favorite males took their turns with me, stopping only to bleed me when my power was peeking. Eventually, they got all that they could out of me. I really don't know what happened after that as I was unconscious for a while."

"You mean close to death," Ben said from where he leaned in the doorway. He pushed away and walked towards the two women. He glanced around the room, wincing slightly at the unpacked crates and trunks. "Remind me to never let you two shop together," he said before greeting Lilia. He kissed her softly and ran a gentle hand over her flat stomach. He wanted to watch that stomach grow with his child. The relationship was still young, barely a month old, but he already had strong feelings for Lilia and the child. And, as always, there was Isis. Love had grown out of friendship and she would always be his little whirling dervish. Of course,if she knew he called her that, she'd kill him.

After sitting on the floor, he reached over and pulled Isis into his lap and kissed the top of her head. "Rest your voice, Isis and I'll finish. You weren't really around for a few years after that," he said. 

Isis stuck her tongue out at him but shifted and snuggled against his shoulder. She quietly listened to Ben telling Lilia the parts she didn't remember.

"I got most of this from her housekeeper. When Caedmon was done with her, he had dumped in the mews that ran along the back of the Mayfair townhouse. Shared by everyone in that square, it was a miracle that one of her grooms found her. She was naked and burning up with a fever so he covered her with a blanket and brought her to the house. Her staff thought she was mortal and brought mortal healers in but as you mortal healing methods have adverse effects on the Alati. When Isis not only failed to improve but worsened, the healers gave up and told the staff ti summon the family as she wasn't going to live. Isis had no family and her only close friend was myself so they sent for me. I don't think I have ever moved as fast as when I received a note that said she was dying. 

"On arrival, I summoned Alati healers but even they had trouble breaking the fever. They suggested an ice bath to try a bring the fever down. While the bath was being prepared, I found the branded charm hiding her from Qetesh on the bottom of her foot. I pointed it out and the healers jumped on it. The moment every last trace of the brand was gone, Qetesh filled the room, demanding to know what had happened. As Isis was still out of it, we had no idea. The goddess is the one that burned the illness out of her.

"Even though the fever was gone, she was still weak from the bloodless and still getting ill. Trying to keep food in her was difficult. One of the healers finally figured out that she was pregnant, not something a Succubus is commonly tested for. The two favorites of Caedmon wouldn't have gotten their sperm, if he had 't rendered them sterile through her barriers but someone like him would have been able to. 

"I tell you, Lilia, I've never seen anyone follow healers orders like Isis. If they told her to stay in bed, she wouldn't move. She'd stay there all day, stitching away on something. The only problem we had was that having a child, and aborting it was never an option, would ruin Isis' reputation. She fought me on this but I wore her down and she married me after a few months. She had a fairly normal pregnancy and even with the healers advising caution, we were excited. 

"One day, when she was about eight months along, she'd been up in the nursery, making sure everything was the way she wanted it for the millionth time, when she started to get tired and wanted to nap. Instead of having a footman carry her down or send for me, because she couldn't see her feet, Isis went down the stairs herself. I was coming up the stairs to berate her and to invite her to join me for tea when I saw her stumble down a step. 

"She declined tea and went to sleep instead. She awoke a few hours later. The baby, which we named James Bartholomew, was born the next day with the cord around his neck. Who knows it it was that stumble or if it just wasn't meant to be but there's been no children since. 

"After the birth, well, we know that what happened was post-partum-depression. Eventually, I took Isis to her manor house, hoping that the change in scenery would help. I left her there and went back to London. It would be a few years before she would return to Town but I went out there for summers and holidays. It was spring 1816 and suddenly she shows up, wanting to go shopping," he said. 

"I'd slipped in some mud and went in to change. And as I'm standing there, dripping mud while my maid was fetching hot water, I noticed that everything was so worn and faded and probably out of fashion. I wanted new clothes. After that, I got better and we had a real courtship and here we are today, with you and expecting a baby," Isis said. She crawled out of Ben's lap and onto Lilia's. "So, that is my grand story. Caedmon is out there, somewhere but I don't think I have to worry about him with my two strong dragons around. What I worry about is what you think of me. I haven't exactly led a chaste life."

[Maira]

As first Isis, and then Ben, told Lilia the story of Isis's past, Lila sat quietly and listened intently. When Ben got to the part about Isis losing the baby, a lump formed in Lilia's throat and her hands went unconsciously to where her own growing child slumbered in her belly. She fought back the tears, those she would save for later when she had a moment alone, and waited until Ben was finished speaking. Then Isis crawled into her lap and told her she worried what Lilia would think about her because of her past.

At first Lilia just gawked at Isis, then she wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and held her tightly as she buried her face into her neck and whispered fiercely, "I will never love you less because of your past!" and then the tears she hadn't wanted slipped through her tightly squeezed eyelids. Furious with herself for her weakness, and for her rage at the bastard that had hurt her Isis, Lilia pulled away from the succubus and gently deposited her in Ben's lap before running from the second apartment and down the stairs. She bolted from the building and to her newly acquired car before driving to her favorite spot of the forest. She needed to fly, to set herself free from these emotions even for just a short while.

Only, when she tried to let her human body flow away into that of the dragon nothing happened. She tried three more times before finally collapsing to her knees in the underbrush and screaming out her rage. She had forgotten that her body would not shift while pregnant, but that wasn't what she was so angry about. Her anger stemmed from her inability to deal with the pain that Isis's story had seeded in her heart. She wanted to rip Caedmon limb from limb, feed him to the local sled dogs, and then whatever was left of his corpse burn to cinders. But if he were to show up in the next 9 months she would be helpless to protect her lover. Helpless as a human!

She continued to scream until her throat was hoarse and then silent sobs took over, her body shaking with each one. At some point even her sobs ceased, and Lilia just continued to kneel on the forest floor lost in her thoughts. It wasn't until she heard loud wingbeats that she was shaken from her thoughts and, looking around for the first time in hours, she realized it was twilight. The wingbeats grew louder and she could tell they belonged to something much larger than a bird, but smaller than a full-size dragon. They could belong to either a dragon in its brood form, or to an Alati but seeing as she was out in the forest alone, newly pregnant and unable to shift into either dragon or brood form, she quickly bolted for her car and locked herself inside.

What landed in the clearing with her car was probably the least threatening option, and in an instant Lilia was back out of the car and running into Rhea's open arms. She knew that Ben and Isis must have sent the sheriff after her since it was known that they were best friends but right now Lilia didn't care why Rhea was here, she was just glad for the strong embrace of her best friend. In an exhausting rush, Lilia spilled the pertinent parts of Isis's story, the parts about Caedmon and the baby, and how she couldn't shift and how helpless she felt because she wouldn't be able to protect Isis if the bastard showed up before the baby came.

[Demeter]

Rhea drove her friend back to the apartment. Lilia was slumped over in the passenger seat, quietly snoring. It had been an emotional day for everyone, she mused as she turned into town. When Isis hadn't been able to find her, the distraught Alati had called her in. As Lilia's best friend she'd know the secret places Lilia would go to. 

When she reached the apartment, she got out of the car and went to get Ben. Between the two of them, they got the sleeping dragon up the stairs and onto the couch. After that Rhea took her leave after writing down Lilia's favorite haunts for Ben if she took off again, though she doubted that would happen. 

After seeing Rhea off, Ben returned to Lilia and covered her with a blanket before sitting in his chair to watch over. He glanced down the hallway to the bedroom where Isis slept. When she hadn't been able to find Lilia, the succubus had gone almost hysterical. Calling in Rhea, who knew that places Lilia would go to hide had been his way of calming her down. The emotional drain of first telling Lilia about her past and then having the other woman disappear for a few hours had worn her out. 

Ben kept watch until the quiet hours of the morning. He sat in his chair and not for the first time planned to ransack the trunks at the highland castle to see if he couldn't find the name of Isis' father so he could hunt the man down and punch him in the face. 

Young Alati or not, different time and society rules or not, even an idiot would have been able to see that Isis' mother had all the maternal instincts of a weed. Isis would have been better off following the man around. 

When Lilia woke and sat to look around the apartment with blurry arms, Ben smiled at her. "Rhea brought you back. You've been asleep since about six or so." 

When she was more awake, Ben sat next to her and put an arm around Lilia. "I'm not sure what the problem is but I think I know. You don't have to worry about Isis. She's been hidden from Caedmon. Qetesh saw to it. He can't find her, Lilia. She can be standing right in front of him but he won't see her."

He pulled Lilia close to him. "You have nothing to worry about. Isis is safe from harm and she's put most of it behind her. She only told you all of it so you'd know about her past. Mine is pretty simple. Grew up in a hide-bound holding; your mother would fit right in. Escaped to the mortal world and then got myself kicked out when I married Isis but I couldn't leave her alone,"

[Maira]

Upon waking, Lilia looked around groggily. She hadn't meant to fall asleep on the car ride home but apparently that's exactly what had happened and now she was on the couch. It took her a moment, but eventually her gaze settled on Ben and when he smiled at her she blushed, ashamed. When he told her how long she'd been asleep, Lilia blushed even more. What the hell had come over her?

When Ben came and sat next to her on the couch, putting an arm around her shoulders, Lilia just listened as he explained that Isis was safe. No matter what, the bastard would never have her. Knowing that, the tension Lilia had been feeling since the night before eased and she allowed herself to be pulled in close to Ben. In a rather subdued tone she told him, "I'm sorry about last night, I've never been quite this emotionally volatile. I love Isis already and just the thought of anybody hurting her made me so angry, and then when I was out I found out the hard way that my body won't shift to dragon and I panicked. If he showed up I wouldn't be able to keep her safe because for the next nine months I am essentially human. I would be of no use to protecting her, and realizing that I just felt like a failure."

She knew she probably wasn't making sense, or at the very least probably seemed irrational, but Lilia was just already so strongly invested in her new relationship with Isis and Ben and with Isis being the non-dragon in their trio, she just couldn't help but feel extra protective of her.

As she was waiting for Ben to say something, Lilia heard a noise from the hallway, and when she turned to look she saw Isis standing there. The look on her face was unreadable and Lilia couldn't help but cringe. She unfolded herself from her place on the couch with Ben and went to the succubus. She stopped just out of arms' reach and looked at Isis, hoping that there would be some indication of what she was thinking. Nervous at the succubus's silence, Lilia told her, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run away. I wasn't running away from you or because of you, I just got overwhelmed." Then, softly she asked, "Will you forgive me?"

[Demeter]

Isis knelt on the couch next to Lilia and hugged her. "If course I forgive you. Just don't go running off next time something freaks you out. It freaked me out when I couldn't find you. I didn't like it."

Ben sat back in his chair and watched as the women clung to each other. He gently urged both of them to get more sleep and ended up guiding them back to the bedroom. Once he saw them safely tucked beneath the covers, Ben resumed watching over them and his home. No one would harm his women.

***

Isis arched an eyebrow and looked at Chastity. "You're sure? Like absolutely positively sure?"

"I ran the test like five times because of your past issues. I'm sure."

"I don't doubt you but I mean, its not like we weren't trying all these years."

"I have no explanation, Isis. Just go with it."

"All right but Ben's going to be impossible to live with now."

***

Isis squirmed under the stares of her mates. She'd called them up for an emergency meeting. "So, um, I went to see Chastity today. Turns out Lilia isn't the only one who's gonna have a baby."

[Maira]

When Isis called her home from the restaurant for some emergency meeting, Lilia wasn't sure if she was scared or suspicious. The other woman had been acting odd for the past few days and she hadn't smelled quite like herself, though Lilia wasn't sure if it was actually Isis or if the pregnancy was messing with her sense of smell. She got back to the apartment above Ben's repair shop a few minutes after he did and by the way he was pacing, clearly Isis hadn't told him anything yet. With a smirk at the back of Ben's head, Lilia followed her mates into the livingroom and took a seat in one of the chairs by the fireplace.

Once they were all seated, Lilia looked at Isis expectantly until the woman spoke. At her words, Lilia gawked, socked Ben in the shoulder calling him a stud, and then ran to Isis and picked her up to twirl her around. "I knew you smelled different!" she blurted before peppering Isis's face with kisses. She was still twirling Isis when the woman tapped her shoulders and asked to be put down. Lilia then noticed the slightly green tint to her skin and hurried to set her down gently, whispering, "Sorry!"

Ben came up to them then, looking a little like a deer in the headlights, and Lilia couldn't help the belly laugh that shook her.