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Many hours later . . .-------- --------------------Shane was standing anxiously on his golf course as the helicopter he had sent to retrieve Shamira slowly began to land on the green. The entire house that was still present in Atlanta was outside waiting, with Clara standing so close that the chopper's turbulence was threatening to knock her off her feet. Even the Representative and her entourage were out. It was unusual for this many vampires to be awake during the daytime, and it was clear that the Representative was incredibly uncomfortable. But no one was going to miss this.When Renata had called, she had sounded so angry, and she had warned Shane that Shamira was in worse shape than anything she had ever seen. Tabitha, one of Shane's newest converts and his new household medic, had gotten her miniature operating room ready, and was in constant contact with Renata. She had to push past Clara when the chopper la----------- -----------------Some time later . . .----------- -----------------Shamira felt like she'd been trampled by a heard of bulls when she finally regained consciousness. It hurt to move, breathe, or even think. The memories . . . the god-awful memories . . . they came back in a wave, along with an intense, smothering fear. She remembered the twenty-four hours of hell she had experienced at the hands of that elf. She remembered drinking his foul blood after disemboweling him. She remembered a young were in chains, and then . . . she remembered fire. Then Renata. In the back of her mind, she had heard a sweet, beautiful voice, and then that voice had cried out in horrible, horrible agony.It took an act of sheer will to open her eyes, finding herself in a dark room. Had Jonas found her? No, Renata had. Her eyes adjusted, and she found herself in a pitch-black room that would have challenged the senses of even the most perceptive vampire,
--------------- ---------A week later . . .--------------- ---------Shane stood on his balcony, staring down at where Shamira sat in her wheelchair, overlooking . . . nothing. This is what she had been doing since she had agreed not to kill herself, at least not as long as she was linked to Clara anyway. She barely spoke to anyone, though there was always at least one or two members of the house nearby in case she needed to. Even his field agents had taken turns coming back up to Atlanta for a few hours to check in on her, though none had any luck getting through to her.Banshee's return had been particularly painful to watch. Shane knew that his eldest child held herself responsible for Shamira's injuries, and it hurt her to feel that she had failed. Banshee and Shamira had sat next to each other, not saying a word. The assassin had wrung her hands so hard that she had broken one of her own fingers, a sure sign that she was distressed. They ha
----------- ------------------A few days later . . .----------- ------------------Shamira had never been a big fan of dresses or skirts, but putting on pants was too frustrating for her. Monique had quickly provided a number of long, flowing wrap skirts that she could pretty much roll into on her own. No one had offered to help, but not out of a lack of desire to assist her in any way they could. Shamira wanted . . . no, NEEDED to reestablish some semblance of independence. But in her mind, she could not equate being able to dress herself, play golf with the others, or feel any sexual longing at all.Tabitha had assured her that the sexual urges would return to a certain degree, but that almost made Shamira more depressed. The idea of wanting something she could no longer perform. No sex . . . no bondage games. The very thought of being put in chains again made her skin crawl. The notion of being whipped with a leather strap for mutual pleasure
Everyone just stopped and stared at him. Clara was looking around for another lamp to throw at her boss's head, and Shamira's jaw was just hanging open.Shane was not done. "Shamira, I love you as much as the day I brought you over, and I will do everything in my power to make you better. I have not always handled you the way that I should have, and I will probably screw up again." People looked even more surprised, since a Lord publicly admitting an inadequacy violated certain social rules."You died protecting me, you risked your life protecting innocents from the Dark Pools, you risked my wrath again by breaking ranks and helping that were family, and then you rescued a young werebear from death with no regard for yourself. And this is in less than three months! Just once, you're going to have to let US look after YOU. With Kira's access to certain financial information and Pierre's hacking skills, we can cut off what little resources that Lacroix has left. If n
"Let them play," Clara told her, letting her breath slip down Shamira's neck. "Feel it through them. Don't worry about what-ifs. You can do this.""Are we interrupting something?" Kira asked, poking her head around the corner.Shamira felt like she'd just been caught by her parents, or at least what she felt it would have been like. She'd never brought anyone home to meet them. "No, it's okay. Why don't you make yourselves comfortable?" She glanced over and saw love and approval from the woman holding her. "I'll just watch for a bit.""Uhm . . . watch?" Arthur asked, emerging from the bathroom.Clara pulled Shamira up close so that they were both lounging against the pillows, the injured vampire cradled in her lover's embrace. "Yeah, watch," Clara said, wiggling her eyebrows. Then she nibbled on Shamira's ear, and got another pleasant moan and small whimper. The whimper bothered her, because it was not about pleasure. It was a frustrated noise, be
"That's the question, isn't it? But I've got to do something."Samantha hugged her sister. "You will." She was interrupted by a phone call from their parents, who was wondering when she'd be back. Seeing as Samantha had no real excuse for being gone all night, they both realized that she needed to go."I wish you hadn't had to see this," Shamira said as she escorted her sister back to the house. "And I know you don't want to hear this, but it might be good if you just called for a while. Things are getting kind of hairy right now --""I refuse to not be there for my sister!" Samantha said obstinately."Sam, you can't help me heal this. You can still be my moral support, and God knows I need it, but you can do that safely over the phone. Please, this is dangerous shit." As if to emphasize the point, she looked at her wheel chair."But --""I'm going to get back to work, and I can't be worried about you getting involved and leaving
---------------- -----------The next night . . .---------------- -----------Bunny, as it turned out, could talk for at least an hour without stopping. She was the verbal equivalent of the world's longest run-on sentence, but Shamira did not seem to mind anymore. The girl was just too damn happy to stay annoyed with. And she was certainly easy on the eyes, sitting in the passenger side of the van in tight-white denim shorts that barely covered her ass, a tied-off pink-and-white checkered shirt, and her wheat-blond hair pulled back in a pony-tail. She enjoyed flirting with passing truckers, and watching her lean out the window to talk to or yell at other motorists made Shamira grin."Hey, can we stop and get a soda?" the bubbly young woman said. "I'm totally parched and would kill for a Diet Doctor Pepper.""Yes, I'm sure that flashing your tits at the guys in the Ford F-150 with a rebel flag sticker must have been exhausting."
--------- ------------------Back in Atlanta . . .--------- ------------------They crew had not had much success in divining Lacroix's (and by proxy Jonas's) plans, so Shamira and Bunny had hauled a load of prisoners back up to the house in Atlanta where the security team and the Representative's people took them into custody to "discuss" their wrongdoings. This time around, Shamira did not feel a great deal of sympathy for the captives, but Shane had still promised to be much easier on them than Daniel had been to her."Where IS Shane?" she muttered as the werelionesses Barbara and Kira . . . "Hey, your name is Kira!""So nice of you to notice," the supple blond noticed with a smirk."No . . . sorry, I mean . . . One of my donors is names Kira. I just . . . it's not THAT common of a name," she continued. "I'll stop talking now.""It's okay. We haven't really had much chance to spend time together since we got here. Th
------------- ---------------------Eight months later . . .------------- ---------------------"Aodh, could you please help Kira and Arthur get the kids settled down? Company will be here soon," Shamira half-shouted, half-sighed. Being a mother to a nest of little dragons was exhausting. Since defeating Jonas, four more eggs had hatched, giving her another Sea Serpent (this one a female), a female Horned Dragon from the Far East, a male Stone Dragon from the Rocky Mountains of the United States, and a male Quetzalcoatl from Central America.Luckily for Shamira, baby dragons mature quickly given the right guidance. Aodh was already able to understand human language and was the emotional and intellectual equivalent of a teenage human. That was not always a good thing, but most of the time it was a blessing. Aodh, being the "big brother" of the group, helped direct his younger siblings as much as he could. He understood what had happened to his rac
"She seems quite . . . enthusiastic," the Shepherd said from behind her. "But can she multi-task?""She can do many things at once," Shane assured his guest.Shamira just knew that she that her dress was being lifted up, exposing her minuscule panties. Those were ripped off with ease, and then her sex was penetrated from behind. The Shepherd had to be kneeling as he took her, but he did not seem to mind. She had cock in her mouth and pussy, and that made her happy. The Shepherd felt long but slim, making it easy for him to slide in and out of her with rapidity."Prepare to accept a symbol of my power over you," Shane said, withdrawing his member from Shamira's mouth. He pointed the head at her face and ejaculated, coating her face with streams of his seed. It dripped from her nose and mouth and cheek, which he seemed to please him. He zipped up and stepped away, allowing everyone in the room to see her face.Shane leaned over and whispered into he
----------- ---------------A week later . . .----------- ---------------"Are you sure you're going to be okay? You have the number of where we'll be and --"Arthur and Kira were both grinning from ear to ear as Shamira acted like a nervous parent. The two Renfields had once again agreed to babysit the young dragons, along with Katar and his flock, while Lord Stapleton's house had a special dinner to celebrate their recent success in finally quelling the rebellion from Southern Georgia. The Tribunal, as told by the three present members, had expressed the whole body's approval to Shane and his people.The dinner would be held nearby in case Shamira needed to get back quickly, but Archimedes thought things would be able to be kept in control. The spell-casters had come up with talismans that would temporarily allow the dragons' caretakers to communicate telepathically with the young reptiles, and there was a huge number of guards to make
------- --------------------That weekend . . .------- --------------------"So that's pretty much been my life," Shamira finished. She had just recounted her recent life-changes to an already shell-shocked sister, who every now and then just asked Shamira to stand back up just so she could assure herself that the paralysis was gone.Samantha's eyes drifted over to the the dragon Aodh, who seemed to just as curious about her as she was about him. He managed to be around constantly, so much "underfoot" that he was almost cat-like. He was obviously beginning to understand spoken words. "Don't put your nose there," was a phrase he had learned quickly, because Shamira thwacked him hard when he went sniffing people in inappropriate places. Katar had curtailed such admonishments a bit by reminding her that this was how dragons investigated things."He's just so . . . big!" Samantha said happily, then walked over and let the dragon sniff. Aodh
--------- ----------------An hour later . . .--------- ----------------"Well, looks like I'm getting a visit," Shamira said after finally getting off the phone with her sister Samantha. Apparently being able to walk again and turn into a dragon was kind of a big deal. Who knew? She looked over at Kira and Arthur Blanks. "You guys gonna be available to babysit a while this weekend?"Kira was tossing bits of beef jerky to the Thorn-Tail while Arthur was sitting on the deck of the pool watching the Sea Serpent swim underneath. "Yeah," he said. "I think we can manage.""Katar, do you and yours have to be heading back to South America at some point? I hate the idea of just keeping you here indefinitely if you've got things needed doing."* The entire flock is here, and this is a momentous time. * Katar directed his next thought so that only Shamira could receive it. * We heard what you said to the elf. We will remember you for defe
Shamira had one clawed foot on the back of one dragon, trying to keep it still while she kept her eyes on the enormous above-ground pool that had been constructed nearby. Periodically, a little head, and by "little" she meant the size of a bowling ball, popped up shyly out of the water, looked around, the dove under the surface again. There were a lot of strange people in the barn, as well as two larger dragons and a large number of Lesser Dragons. Shamira had the sinking feeling that she would never have free time again.The new addition that had hatched turned out to be another male. He was also a Sea Serpent, which was a type of Moon Dragon. Archimedes had identified it quickly based on some old pictures and they had quickly gotten it to the pond while the pool was being built. The Sea Serpents could breathe above and below the surface and could live in both salt and fresh water. And they could apparently get big. Really big.According to legends, six hundred fe
Shamira's mouth hung open temporarily. What DID she want? There were so many things from the carnal to the mundane that it was hard to decide. Then she looked at Clara, and that was all it took. She grinned.An hour later, she and Clara were sitting on a sofa in one of the trailers watching the enormous HD television that Shane had acquired quickly and at great expense. There was a bowl of popcorn on the floor, a couple of beers, and the two women were watching a pay-per-view romance movie."A first date," Clara chuckled, reiterating what Shamira had asked for."Well, it's a little overdue, don't you think?" the other woman said, feeling a little dorky. She was laying down on the sofa with her head in Clara's lap, glad to have a quiet moment with a woman who meant so much to her. The baby dragon was asleep, while Kira and Arthur were having the time of their lives keeping an eye on the massive reptile as well as talking with the Lesser Dragons. Shane was d
--------- ------------------A week later . . .--------- ------------------Turning into a dragon . . . cool, but complicated. Being the only one who can get a real dragon to eat, sleep, and not set the surrounding countryside on fire was complicated and annoying. Trying to corral one Greater Dragon who wanted to go play with a flock of Lesser Dragons? REALLY annoying.*Everybody stop! * she projected in her most authoritarian voice. Apparently having the power of a full grown Moon Dragon had some advantages, because the dozen or so Lesser Dragons, each the size of large dog but smart as a human, all came to a complete stop and then tried to look inconspicuous. They had been playing what was quite possibly the noisiest, most destructive game of "tag" that she had ever seen played. There were paths through the woods around the farm where trees had literally been trampled by several tons of ancient reptile in pursuit of much nimbler prey.
-------------- --------------The next evening . . .-------------- --------------Shamira was glad that dragons apparently slept most of the day away, because the young one was far too exuberant when it was awake. It did not seem to have any problem obeying Shamira's commands while she was in human form, but she still morphed back into a dragon most of the time because telepathy was more efficient with the youngster. One thing she discovered . . . convincing her companion to bathe would not be a problem. They went out exploring the property under cover of darkness and found a large tank stocked with fish. The little dragon dove right in and seemed to be having the time of its life. Shamira joined in and admittedly had a lot of fun splashing around.They hunted another cow, did some flying around the countryside, and Shamira spent a lot of time projecting behaviors into the young one's head, trying to impart some sense of what was acceptable