Mason sighed with another release, then rolled carefully through a beautiful tangle of soft, feminine flesh. It was good to be king.
Haley had recognized his mood and invited everyone living in the hallâDemi, Rosa, Becky, Lexi, the elves, Lodie, and the newest member, Dura, the orc warrior. After being a bit overwhelmed at the amount of women in Masonâs âharemâ, the orc had soon joined them enthusiastically in the giant bed.
The sex wasnât as pornographic as it used to be. They were all more relaxed, more patientâespecially him. His women were more comfortable with each other now, and with nine sharing one man, they spent as much time talking and laughing with each other as directly under (or over) him.
While he was busy pressing Rosa into the mattress, half the girls were sitting around naked, chatting politely with Dura. They asked her if she was enjoying life in Nassau, what sorts of food she liked, how her pregnancy was coming along (she was already a few months in).
Girls went in and out taking care of babies. Girls went back and forth for snacks, or to cook. Sometimes they slept right on the bed, or on a nearby couch if they needed a break.
Mason would get up from whichever girl heâd exhausted, and gesture over whoever noticed and smiled at him first. That he was a spoiled, lucky bastard living out a fantasy was not lost on him. But when you had so many women to satisfy, you just sorta had to get on with it.
Ayetâs turn. It was amazing as alwaysâher soft body so eager for him. He rolled off her after she literally screamed with release and went half comatose, then gave her a last little kiss on the forehead. Naya was next, mother and daughter one after the other as usual. She slid next to him naked with an excited grin, giving him an almost comically chaste peck on the cheek.
He threw her down and climbed on top of her, and her breathing quickened as she bit a fingernail and spread her legs wide.
Theyâd stopped pretending it was just about making babies. The elven women loved sex as much or more than humans, and now took part in the hedonism as eagerly as all the others. Theyâd also stopped pretending Nayaâs mother didnât love every second of getting fucked by her daughterâs husband. As expected, it didnât bother her, which only made it more erotic for Mason.
He kissed her gently and took her slow and sweet as she wrapped her legs around him and moaned, turning her head to kiss Haley as his other wife slid in beside them with a grin and an eyebrow wiggle.
It took him a different kind of transformation to be with his women now. A precision in movement, control of his body at all times so he didnât hurt them. A shift in mood from something harder and more predatory. He had to pay attention, to care about these soft, beautiful creatures and think like them.
The violence of the day hadnât quite left his mind or limbs. No matter how he tried to focus, to be present with his women, flashes of demons trying to kill him flickered with the far better images before his eyes.
Pretty soon he needed Becky. He called for her and could tell they all understood by his tone. His player-stamina cowgirl came riding in like a very unique kind of western hero, kissing him roughly before getting in front of him with her amazing body pressed against his crotch.
He pounded her into the bed. Then the headboard. He gripped her hair and slapped her ass, hearing himself growl as he thrust deep and hard. He hadnât even realized heâd started Wildshaping until he noticed his claws leaving red marks on Beckyâs back.
But he didnât stop, or slow down. She could take it. Soon he smelled Demiâs skin and hair and magic and sighed when she came closer. She kissed his neck and touched his face until he tasted her lips, feeling their divine titles activate and her magic wrapping Becky in some protective magic.
Heâd calmed by the time he finished again, spraying deep in his cowgirl, re-claiming what was his, as heâd claimed so many times. She collapsed into the bed with a slightly pained, but mostly satisfied groan. Then half a dozen women were all on their knees in front of him, using hands and mouths to finish draining him, fighting for every drop at Haley and Demiâs instruction.
âCalm, baby, itâs safe here, youâre with your family.â Demi was stroking his face and kissing him as the girls worked. He breathed her in and sighed.
âOK. Time for sleeping,â Haley said with puffy eyes and a happy, wet grin from her knees. âAnymore and I think Mason will start eating us.â
He smiled and felt himself relax, so many womenâs hands and bodies touching him as he lowered to the bed. There was more feminine voices and giggling as they all scooted in and found pillows or sheets and took whatever positions made them comfortable around him.
But his mind and body had finally worn down. He slept for a few hours, pushing away any undesirable druid dreams, desperate for a moment of oblivion.
**
Day two of the apocalypse started with a bang. And not the good kind.
[Planar Convergence Sub-event: in progress: Eastern Mana Scour. Defensive positions in Eastern continent advised. Points will be awarded, or penalized, for all strategic locations successfully defended or captured. Good luck!]
The message arrived before dawn. Mason flew out of bed, running towards the Nexus beacons. His command team arrived without instruction, Haley warping to him after sheâd put on some clothes.
âI want
everyone
in the east.â
Phuong frowned.
âIt might very well use the opportunity toâŠâ
Mason held up a hand. âIâll stay and watch the west, and get Nighteyes paying attention. I trust him to sense a threat. If it looks clear, Iâll come east too. Iâm not worried about Nassau. We can all warp back between the Nexus beacons. There isnât much else in the west we canât just deal with, even if they get a foothold or thereâs a delay before we do it.â
He was right and his officers were smart enough to know it. One by one they nodded. Carl looked at the much smaller, less detailed map of the world in the communication beacon and shrugged.
âQuestion is, where
exactly
in the east do we go?â
Kiaan stepped forward. The scout team behind him looked tired, but the civilian whoâd crossed an entire continent by himself, with no guard, seemed entirely unbothered by one restless night.
âWeâve mapped the position of every original settlement, Patron. I can transfer it to your Wayfinder. The others can pull up less detailed versions of the map on their profiles, but theyâll need to see Orlon at the scout enclave first.â
Mason nodded, then waited as the scoutâs power directly filled his brain with knowledge. He winced as he watched literally hundreds of little lights flare up across the eastern continent. The âemperorâ had scoured the place, bringing every settlement into his mega-city.
It had advantages, maybe. But now the system was punishing them for it. He had absolutely no doubt that every single one of those locations was a target, and if they didnât defend them, theyâd lose âpointsâ for every failure. And instead of getting a small, walled settlement with a teleportation beacon, they had to do things the hard way.
âOK. I hope you all enjoyed yesterdayâs gentle intro to the apocalypse. Because today is gonna be a clusterfuck.â He took a breath. âI want a full player team at every single one of those previous settlement locations in the east.â
Phuong nodded like he wasnât surprised, just doing his duty as a general when he spoke.
âThat will leave the holy city with a skeleton crew, Patron. Not nearly enough to guard the long walls in case of a real attack. There arenât enough beacons for so many teams to teleport back, either. Maybe only a hundred players could return in a crisis.â
âIâm aware. Give out all the beacons to stronger teams. But the city is the one place that can actually defend itself. Choose the teams and locations. Get all the scouts moving and keeping people informed. You and Garet can roam with your teams and be ready to help anyone that gets overwhelmed. Iâll answer if a scout gives me a red warning. Otherwise, Iâll just go where I decide. Any disagreement or better ideas?â
Carl and Phuong exchanged a look and a shrug.
âSounds like a plan to me, kid. Should we, uh, get Blake doing something useful? Heâs still just sitting in his tower doing nothing.â
Mason had no idea. So far mobility seemed to be the most important thing. Blake was powerful enough to probably defend anything on his own, but a single location didnât matter much. At one of their few meetings heâd said heâd gained quite a lot of experience in the past several monthsâthough Mason had no idea how. Maybe it gave him a new tool or two. He shrugged.
âGet him in the city. I assume the Arcane Order and the cityâs civilians can helpâŠanticipate attacks, or something. He can work with them. If in the off chance the city gets swarmed, heâll be useful.â
His officers nodded, and he met all the menâs eyes with a comfortable last moment of silence. They all knew the score by now. They were ready for war. Eager, maybe, to get it started, to see what the enemy was throwing at them.
And nobody was more eager than Mason.
âGood luck, gentlemen.â He grinned and walked towards the exit, a part of him hoping the east was a ruse, and that heâd have to fight some horrible attack alone in the west. âIâll see you on the battlefield.â