Crazy Seduction(erotica)

“Now that you’re awake, Jun explained why Yuko is behaving so badly,” Tish said, and Sigrid looked to her curiously. Henry’s expression was more guarded.

“She said that the binding she used on Stanley with her tears is still affecting her as she is soul bound to him until she’s pregnant with his child.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

“What?!?” he exclaimed in shock. “She said the binding was broken for her, too!”

Tish gave him a sad look. “She lied.”

“GAH! That little… FUCK! She drives me nuts!” Henry exclaimed.

“Jun said that Yuko will be driven mad if she doesn’t find a way to break the bond, and there’s only one way. She needs a child.”

Henry’s mind was reeling with this latest disclosure. Pieces were falling into place. The reason for Yuko’s release from her punishment in Japan, the purchase of a condo in his building, and the times she attempted to kill him! “I’ll bet you there is another way to break the bind. My death. If I die, the binding is gone.” Yuko couldn’t have maneuvered her own release or the condo purchase. It also couldn’t have been her father. “Shit! It’s her mother! All this time, I thought she was on my side!” he looked at the startled expressions on his friend’s faces. Not Sigrid, of course, as she was aware of the detail and was nodding thoughtfully.

“Yuko’s Mother would naturally side with her daughter. Kitsunes are rare, precious. As Yuko is trapped by the soul binding, the mother would give her daughter every opportunity to escape from it,” the Valkyrie reasoned. She caught Henry’s eye. “You cannot hold her actions against her, mother or daughter, as this is instinct.”

Henry saw the conviction in his friend’s eyes and slowly nodded. “But what do I do? It’s not like I can just be Stanley for a while so Yuko can get pregnant.”

Tish stood next to him and took his hands in hers. “As Yuko is a wielder, there is a danger that the Wild Magic in you would be toxic to her. However, Mahati explained that it might be possible if your glamor’s special properties truly adhere to her specific needs. She would need to be very explicit in her desires. She needs Human sperm. Mahati suggested a test run, but you’d wear a condom. The result could be checked to see if it’s Human. I’m guessing that means it wouldn’t contain Wild Magic.”

She saw that Henry was looking very uncomfortable. “What’s wrong?”

He squirmed a little. “I’m a little weirded out by the thought of Mahati discussing how I should be having sex.”

“Because she’s a snake lady? I get that,” Dayshia said sympathetically.

He shook his head. “No, no, it’s just… we’re not like that. She’s a coworker–”

Sigrid raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as she looked at him with a flat expression.

“No, uh– I mean… she’s a friend–”

Sandy, Tish, Dayshia, and Meixiu all matched Sigrid’s gestures and expression.

“Come on! You know what I mean! I don’t think of her in that way!” he growled in frustration causing the ladies to giggle at successfully teasing him.

Tish poked him gently in the chest. “You don’t, or you haven’t yet?” she suggested with a coy smile.

Henry knew they were just having a little fun at just laugh it off, but for some reason this morning, he just couldn’t.

He suspected the main reason was the expectation that he’d participate in giving Yuko a child. That topic, children specifically, was still sensitive to him. He felt like he’d somehow failed the daughter he had with Mab. His initial joy at discovering he would be a father for Tish’s child had faded with his worries about being fit to be one. He was still thrilled for Tish that she was getting the baby she’d always dreamed of, but no one, to this day, had asked him if he was ready to be a dad.

Henry forced a smile to his lips and nodded slightly, drawing a few more giggles from the ladies. He stood and stepped around Tish. “Thank you for breakfast. I’m going to take a shower, alone!” he added as Tish’s eyes lit up. She pouted to him, but he just walked away.

Once he was in the bedroom, he collected a clean kilt from his drawer and walked into the bathroom. He closed and locked the door and tossed his new kilt onto the counter next to one of the sinks. Standing before the large mirror on the back of the bathroom door, he dropped his glamor. He took a moment to remove his old kilt and pushed it into the laundry bin. Then he took a good long look at the Satyr in the mirror.

He was tall and very strong. Not that his strength was useful in the slightest against the magic of Mab or Baba Yaga. Both had easily bested him in the strength category because they were wielders, and he was just a conduit.

Baba connected him directly to the realm of Wild Magic. While he couldn’t feel it, its power coursed through his veins and hummed in every cell in his body. He apparently contained more magic than anyone had ever seen on Earth. And that didn’t even take into account the temporal energy stored in his horns!

Yet, he could do nothing with any of it.

He couldn’t use it to stop Mab from stealing their daughter’s body.

He couldn’t use it to stop Baba from switching his and his daughter’s fingers.

He couldn’t use it to stop Baba from stealing his child from him.

Now he had another child coming from Tish and Yuko needed one too.

He wouldn’t be able to protect those children either. Any children-

An impotent rage filled him and just as quickly drained away, leaving him feeling hollowed out.

He looked away from the mirror and switched back to his Human glamor to step into the shower.

Who was he kidding? He was just a tech geek. He wasn’t hero material.

For that matter, how could he even be a father?

Henry was more than a little sleepy and was in a deep funk when he arrived at work on Monday morning, so he missed hearing Roy calling out to him in the lobby. The big redhead caught up to him just before he stepped onto the elevator.

“Henry!” Roy called out once more.

Henry twitched and turned to see the concerned expression on Roy’s face. “Oh, hi, Roy. What’s up?”

The big man put an arm around Henry’s shoulders and guided him away from the elevators. They stopped by a small seating area. Roy quickly glanced at an old man reading a VRL brochure then dismissed him.

He turned his attention back to Henry, who seemed shaky. “Are you okay, son?”

Son. Henry sucked in a sudden breath that caught in his chest. His exhausted state wrestled him for control over his emotions.

Roy was immediately contrite. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that–”

Henry held up a hand as he forced his breathing to steady. “No, it’s fine. I-I slept terribly last night. I’m barely functional today.”

“Why did you come in?” Roy asked.

“The special guest list? The Directors of the NSA, the CIA, and the FBI will be here to pick up their new firewall packages. Camila asked me to be available.”

The woman in question had just stepped off the elevator and overheard the last bit. “What did I ask for? Henry! You look exhausted! Why are you here?” she said in dismay as she approached.

“I asked Henry that question first, and it sounds like it’s your fault,” Roy remarked.

Camila frowned then pointed to the elevators. “Hold that thought. We’re taking this upstairs to my office.”

They stepped into an open car, and she pressed the button for the top floor. The controls were biometric sensors and determined she was allowed, so up they went. They rode in silence, and the men followed Camila to her office. Henry nodded to Felix as they passed through the outer office.

Once they were seated and the privacy field was engaged, Camila looked to Henry. “Why are you so exhausted? Does it have anything to do with the reason you called upon the Fae’s healing spell?”

Henry shrugged. “No. I just slept poorly.” He glanced up at Camila, who was still waiting. “Nightmares.” He didn’t want to get into the details as they would try to tell him it wasn’t his fault when he knew it really was.

“Would you like to talk to someone about it? It doesn’t have to be us,” she added.

He shook his head.

Roy and Camila shared a look. “What made you need to call on the magic again?” Roy asked. It was the question he’d wanted to ask when he saw him arrive.

Henry shrugged again. “Just Yuko and Mahati waging a magic battle at our condo. I got injured in the process, but Dayshia and Mahati were able to use the spell to heal me.”

“A Kitsune and a Nāga had a magic battle. Was Yuko vaporized?” Roy exclaimed.

“No, I broke Yuko’s spell, and Tish blocked Mahati’s with her shield,” Henry explained. At Roy’s incredulous look, Henry frowned. “If you want more details, speak with Mahati.”