We originally owned the house and five acres, but Smoky had recently bought the ten acres that buttressed our land, including Birchwater Pond and a patch of wetlands. Now we had fifteen acres in which to prowl, explore, and expand. We couldn’t build on four of the acres—the wetlands themselves—but that just made things more comfortable. The wetlands would be protected.

Instead of carrying me to the bedroom, Trillian swept me into the bathroom and set me down. As he flipped a switch, music began to filter into the room. Morio had wired our suite for sound. A pounding, sensuous beat came on as Lindstrøm and Christabelle’s “Lovesick” echoed through the speakers.

I stared at the tub. It was piled high with bubbles and rose petals, while candles lit the room. Sighing, I inhaled the deep spicy scents of Twilight Dream Song, the newest body wash and perfume I’d discovered. With an overtone of vanilla and notes of cinnamon, amber, and peach, it reminded me of the deep woods in Otherworld, of the sparkling lights of the eye catchers, and the vast canopy of stars overhead.

Starting to relax, I held out my arms. Trillian liked undressing me, and on nights like tonight, I was only too happy to let him have his way. He reached out and began unfastening the busks on my corset. As the molded leather loosened, I let out a long breath. Corsets and bustiers gave my double-Ds more support than any bra could, but at the end of the day, it was nice to get out of the boots and the leather.

He pressed against my back, reaching around to gently cup my breasts, his breath warm on my neck. I let out a soft sound and leaned back into his embrace as he fingered my nipples. He ran his thumb along the curve of my breast, sliding it up to the point between them, then slowly traced a line down to the waistband of my skirt.

Reaching around my waist, he held the material with one hand, while he unzipped the skirt with the other. Then he let the skirt go, and it puddled at my feet.

I shivered, even though the room was warm. The combination of his touch with how tired I was made me dizzy, sending me spinning as he slid his fingers beneath the sides of my panties and slowly drew them down.

As I stepped out of the silky material, he kissed my tailbone, then trailed kisses down over the curve of my ass, igniting a spark within me. I wavered, and he held me steady, moving around front, where he slipped his hand between my legs, moving them ever so slightly apart. My stomach quaked, and I reached down to run my hands over his hair as he pressed his lips to my clit, gently stroking with his tongue.

Arching my back, I let out a throaty moan as he settled in, nibbling, tasting me, licking me. As I melted into the sensation, he trailed a hand up my thigh, his skin molten against mine. I came, sharply, quickly, and without warning.

A satisfied smile on his face, Trillian motioned for me to get in the bathtub. My stomach still fluttering, I obeyed, sinking into the flurry of bubbles. As I leaned my head gratefully against the warm porcelain of the tub, the scent of the bath wash rose to tickle my nose, and the rose petals felt like velvet against my skin as they floated atop the mass of bubbles.

I was tired, oh so tired, and with the release of orgasm, my body had gone limp. The candlelight flickered softly as the hot water eased the strain out of my muscles and loosened the grime that had caked on me.

Ever meticulous, Trillian carefully hung up my clothes. Then he settled down on the floor next to the tub. I draped my hand out, and he took it, stroking my fingers lightly.

“Was it rough tonight?” He kissed the palm of my hand and then let go, and I slid my arm back under the water.

“The spells…Morio and I are meshing more and more with the magic. The more I touch his soul during our rituals, the more I realize how deeply he’s entwined with the dark moon mysteries. He has incredible potential, Trillian, and I think he’s just been waiting for the right partner in order to tap into it. It almost frightens me how strong I feel working with him.” I pulled myself up and crossed my arms on the side of the tub, resting my chin on them.

Trillian folded his arms behind his head and stretched out his legs, crossing his feet at the ankles. “As much grief as I give Fox-Boy, I would never underestimate him. So, what do Aeval and Morgaine say about your working with him? Does it interfere with your training?”

I shook my head. “Actually, they are encouraging it. Something is up, Trillian. They’ve been preparing me for something—something to happen on Beltane, but they won’t tell me what. I know Morio will be a part of it. I’m nervous, though, because it feels…big.”

I generally kept quiet about my training. Most of it was private, just like Delilah’s training was with Greta, the leader of the Death Maidens. But here, with Trillian, I could admit how I felt.

He gave me a slow, leisurely smile. “I’d be nervous, too. Aeval is a scary-assed bitch.” He chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the Triple Threat, but the thought of spending much time with them doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest.”

“Really?” I snorted. “I thought you’d enjoy it. After all, Aeval and Titania are gorgeous. And Morgaine, well, she’s no slouch and looks a lot like me. Just…a little older. Which isn’t surprising, given she’s a distant relation.”

Trillian shrugged. “What can I say? I like my women a little less…regal? No, that’s not the right word. Powerful women are an aphrodisiac. And I love that you aren’t a shrinking violet. But there’s a certain pretentiousness that comes with the Fae queens and, while I understand it, that doesn’t mean I care to keep their company. When I worked for Tanaquar as a mercenary, I had the same reaction. I can’t believe your father actually bedded her.” He sobered. “But, are you safe? Are they forcing you to move too fast in your training?”

I considered his question. No doubt about it, the training had been intense and fast—twice a week when I wasn’t embroiled in a fight or battle with the demons.

And tomorrow, at dusk, I was due back out at Talamh Lonrach Oll, the sovereign Earthside Fae nation recently established by the Court of the Three Queens. Over the past few months, I’d been taught basic etiquette of the Priestesshood, new vocabulary and terminology, rules about training acolytes, and now I was ready to begin the actual magic. Next I would learn to lead rituals.

My training as a Moon Witch had been taxing, but I had the feeling it was going to seem like a piece of cake compared to what I was facing.

“Safe? Are we ever safe, anymore?” After a moment, I shook my head. “No, the training isn’t too fast. But it’s challenging. I think I’ll be facing monsters of a different sort than zombies and ghosts over the coming months. Maybe…”

I didn’t want to think about it, didn’t want to say it, but the thought wouldn’t leave my mind. “Maybe I’m most afraid of the monsters who lurk inside of me. My inner demons.”

He nodded as he stood, grabbing a towel off the rack. “Let’s dry you off and get some food inside you. Then, if you’re up for anything, we’ll go from there.” Throwing the towel over his shoulder, he leaned down and took my hand, helping me out of the bathwater.

I carefully stepped out of the tub and accepted the huge fluffy bath sheet. Wrapping it around myself, I padded out of the bathroom, into the bedroom, where the bed flirted with me like a whore in the Broadway district. I debated. Hunger? Sleep deprivation? Hunger? Sleep deprivation? Finally, sleep won out.

“I’m too tired to eat,” I said after a moment as I crossed to the bed.

“All right, my love. Crawl into bed and let me make sure you’re tucked in properly.” Trillian gently folded the blankets around my shoulders, and I was asleep before he could kiss me good night. I slept deeply, not even waking when Morio, Smoky, and Trillian joined me during the night.

I’d fallen asleep early, for me, and so woke to the faintest glimpse of dawn glimmering in the east. The sun would rise in an hour. I slid out from the bed, crawling over Smoky, who was snoring up a storm, to pad across the room and stare at the window. Trillian was still asleep, also, but Morio was up, and he silently entered the room, fresh from the shower, his hair wet, trailing against his kimono. He wrapped his arms around me, and we stared outside at the faint light filtering down to splash across the yard.

As he pressed against my back, I felt his cock rise into a thick, hard erection, and I let out a little moan, wanting him. Wanting all my men. Rejuvenated from the long sleep, I was hungry. Hungry for sex, and hungry for food. I glanced back at the bed where Trillian and Smoky were both dead to the world. Morio noticed my look, then took my hand and led me silently out of the room, motioning for me to grab my robe and slippers as we left.

I tied the belt, padding down the stairs after him. He peeked into the kitchen, then nodded. The kitchen was still empty at five A.M. and he stopped to open the fridge and dump several items into a wicker basket sitting on the counter. We slipped out the back door, out onto the enclosed porch, then out the door and down to the dewy grass. I shivered, wishing I’d worn something heavier. Late April in the Pacific Northwest tended to be wet and chilly.

Stars still faintly littered the sky, and we raced across the lawn, hand in hand, toward the trail leading to Birchwater Pond. The sound of birdsong echoed through the forest as we set foot on the path. I paused to stare at a handful of trees that had been uprooted, blasted through. Hyto had left a message for the others when he kidnapped me. When Smoky had discovered the charred trees, he’d gone crazy, ripping up a small section of forest at the mouth of the trail before the others had been able to calm him.

Now I gazed at the fallen timber, shattered like toothpicks, and looked back at Morio. He slowly raised my hand to his lips, kissed the top, and then nodded for me to leave the memories behind. With a shuddering breath, I turned away and followed him down the overgrown path.

Spring was in full sway—although that didn’t mean hot or clear days. Not here in the Pacific Northwest. Today the weather promised to be warm, in the low to midsixties. But right now it was around forty-nine degrees.

I inhaled deeply, catching the scent of cedar and fern and moss. I’d come to love the smells of the forests here. Over in Otherworld, Darkynwyrd and Thistlewyd Deep reminded me of the temperate rain forests Earthside, but around Y’Elestrial the trees were more deciduous.

The path was covered with needle and leaf mulch, and here and there a snag had fallen to form an impromptu bench, with moss and mushrooms growing atop the logs. A breeze fluttered through the air, picking up the scents of the forest and amplifying them. Morio and I approached a turn leading to a clearing, where we’d set up a picnic table and benches in anticipation of the summer.

He placed the basket on the picnic table and turned to me, a cunning smile on his face. I grinned. I loved it when his youkai nature began to show itself. I slipped off my robe, shivering. My nightgown—black silk with a slit up the side—fell to my ankles, and I was acutely aware of the brush of the silk against my nipples.

Morio pulled out a scroll.

“What are you up to?”

But he only grinned slyly and then whispered the contents, and a sudden drumming filled the air, emanating from the trees themselves, from leaf and branch and twig and trunk. The rhythm of passion, of bonfires and long nights dancing around the flames. I closed my eyes, wavering to the music, as a faint chanting took hold in the beating of the drums. As I began to sway, Morio slowly pulled off his kimono, draping it over the table, and stood naked in front of me, gesturing me toward him.

I slid the straps of my gown off my shoulders and let it fall to the ground, stopping long enough to pick it up so it wouldn’t get ruined. After draping it over the picnic table, I gave in—gave myself to the music as the air whistled against my bare skin like long fingers caressing me. Turning to the beat, I danced into Morio’s embrace. He caught me by the hands and spun me round, careening around the clearing, our feet barely touching the ground.

My hair streaming behind me, I found myself laughing, unable to stop, for the sheer joy of our dance. The moss was soft under our feet, and the grass glistened with dew. As the sun slowly began to rise, it was as if a long shadow began to fall away from us, the light slowly growing, casting golden ribbons through the meadow. I closed my eyes as it fell on my face, still whirling in the dance with Morio, but then the music changed and an ancient melody drew us close as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tight.

I gazed at him—we were nearly the same height—and his eyes flashed with topaz in the depths of their coffee brown. My breasts brushed his chest, and I caught my breath as a wave of hunger raced through me. Hunger for him, hunger for his magic. Tears rose to the surface.

“I’m so lucky to have you…to have all three of you…” I whispered, but he shook his head.

“Shh…” He pressed against me and I felt him, hard and ready, his own desire urgent and pressing.

A low laughter raced through the forest, and I turned as a nearby huckleberry bush shook, moving as something crept behind it. And there—the quivering of a limb on a tree. A fern, fronds waving, waited…and then, the flutter of wings in a bush as a Steller’s jay flew up, followed by its mate. Squirrels raced up a nearby tree trunk, chasing one another in a mating dance.

I turned back to Morio and he laid me down in the grass, his lips fastening against mine, and all I could think of was how good he smelled—dusty, like the warm promise of summer. As I sank into the kiss, every inch of my body felt lit aflame. He lowered his lips to my neck, sucking gently, and I began to ache, craving his touch, longing to have him inside me.

I tried to shift positions so I could wrap my arms around him, but he grasped my wrists, holding me firm. A shiver raced through me as he pushed me back to trail a path of kisses down my chest, to my breasts. He tongued my right nipple, then took it in his mouth and sucked hard, giving me a little nip. I let out a cry, so aroused that I could barely stand it. But I remained silent as the drums continued to guide him on.