The swirling corona of light and sound deposited me onto the carpeted floor of Shayla’s room with a soft thump that was echoed only a moment later by the impact of the woman launching herself into my arms.

  “Oof, I missed you too, Shayla,” I laughed, cradling the large woman to my chest while her antennae playfully bopped and caressed my face.

  “Missed you more,” Shayla crooned quietly, nuzzling into my neck while her large wings flared out to fold around us like a cloak. She continued to make quiet, happy noises while she clung to me, her soft figure pressing tightly to my body.

  “Well then, I am sorry to have left your side for so long then,” I said to reassure her.

  I shifted my arms from just hugging the lush moth woman so that my hands instead rested on her hips to steady her while she got her fill of snuggles.

  Shayla’s clinginess actually surprised me a little. She was normally affectionate, though shy. But she was acting like a long-lost lover at the moment and that made me wonder if something was wrong. Because of her shyness though, I couldn’t just outright ask her if everything was okay.

  “How have you been, Shayla?” I murmured into her ear, shifting to kiss the base of one of her antennae where it emerged from her hair. The delicate appendage shivered in response and Shayla’s contented crooning rose in pitch by a notch.

  “Good. Just missed you a lot. The others have been busy running errands, writing reports, and preparing for the fight that is coming up north,” Shayla said quietly, not moving from her position tucked into my side.

  She didn’t need to elaborate more for me to understand.

  My artistic moth had the least stake in what had been going down lately. The main reason she’d joined our group was because she wanted to practice summoning magic, and she’d come along on the exploration trips to see sights that might inspire her art. While the others all had their passions—either about history, lore, or loot to be gained—Shayla was merely curious.

  So while the other three flitted about in excitement about the archeological significance of what we’d discovered or planning how to liquidate the useful loot from our trip, she’d been left with her art. Which, while it gave her life meaning, might also leave her lonely while the other girls raced about doing their own things.

  That wasn’t even counting the whole potential trip to the north. Shayla wasn’t part of the combat tracks for Juneau Academy, she was here as an art student who minored in summoning magic purely to learn what light magic the school had access to.

  “You should have called to me sooner, Shayla,” I said gently, sliding one hand up her side to cup the back of her head and play my fingers through her straight, chocolate brown hair.

  The way that the red and cream highlights raced through her locks to match the same shades in her wings was hypnotic to the eye. Shayla clearly approved of the affectionate caresses, because her crooning shifted into a happy humming sound that sent delicate vibrations through both her body and mine.

  “I didn’t want to distract you,” Shayla said a moment later, her words tickling my throat as she muffled them against my chest. “You have your own things to tend to back home—”

  “—but you girls are my highest priority,” I interrupted almost immediately. “My life back on Earth is something that I can arrange whenever I have a chance to. It can wait. My priority is you and the others.”

  The soft feeling of Shayla’s lips against my neck and the continued happy thrum of what I could only describe as purring told me she was pleased with that statement.

  Since Shayla didn’t seem inclined to release me any time soon, I kept her in a close hug that she could pull away from whenever she was ready. While we stood there, I let my eyes play over her personal space.

  This wasn’t my first time visiting Shayla’s rooms, but she’d changed them up a little since the last time I’d been in here. While Kassandra or Rieka had their rooms set up with large spaces for conversation and socialization, Shayla had over half the room dedicated to her artwork.

  A dozen different easels sat with partially finished art pieces on them. Many had sketches hanging from the easel as well, references for what the painting would be when it was finished.

  Small iron lamps filled with the glowing light-stones hung at regular intervals to ensure that clear light was always available for what Shayla was working on.

  A wheeled cart sat in the middle of the workspace, covered in jars and bottles of different pigments and paints. A tin of charcoal sticks wrapped in thick paper sat in the center of the cart, while many rags were draped over the edges. Dozens of different types of brushes sat in another wide-mouthed jar, ready to be used.

  Other than the paintings she was working on, even more canvases sat stacked in the corner with finished work on them. The choicest pieces hung from her walls, and I was more than a little gratified to see that three of the pieces that Shayla was displaying featured me in one fashion or another.

  Two of them were pastoral scenes, clearly produced from our trip up into the mountains when we went back to the Shadow Mountain research facility with the group. One had me standing silhouetted against the night sky with my face half illuminated by the light of the campfire. The other had me standing with my arms spread and looking up into the sky as a ruumo sailed overhead, the great flying whale looking absurd as it floated through the sky.

  But the third one, tucked into a corner where it wasn’t visible from the door, made me smirk. It was one of the paintings she’d specifically had me pose for. It showed me from the side with my right arm shifted into the scorpion-tail combat form and my chest bare. I hadn’t seen the rest of the painting before, but Shayla had apparently taken some artistic license to include the polar worm that I’d fought in the academy competition as my opponent.

  The massive, blue-white worm was looming over me, ready to strike downwards, but I was posted as a resolute counter to the creature. The dynamics and lighting of the image, as well as the faint forms arrayed behind me, gave the image of a protector standing against a grave threat, and I could see why Shayla had kept that one.

  Seeing the paintings reminded me of something and I gave Shayla a gentle squeeze to get her attention. When she made a questioning noise, I voiced my request.

  “Shayla, your art is just wonderful. Would you do a painting for me of you girls? I’d love to have something I can take back to Earth with me to remind me of you all.”

  “Of course, Liam,” Shayla hummed, clearly at the request.

  I could have just brought a camera with me and taken a picture of them, but Shayla’s paintings were just too beautiful. I wanted her art, not just a picture of the girls spat out of a laser printer.

  The first real piece of art for my new home, I thought with a smile. The idea warmed my heart and made the whole thing feel more real in the moment.

  “Liam?” Shayla’s quiet voice broke me out of my study of the wall and the decorations of her room. “The others won’t be here for another hour. Do you think we could…?”

  Shayla’s question trailed off and I could feel a sudden warmth against my neck as the lush woman in my arms blushed furiously. But she didn’t need to say the rest out loud, I could feel how her nipples hardened through her dress and dug into my chest.

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  “Happily,” I rumbled back, smoothing my hands down to palm her full butt. The happy humming from Shayla picked up once more and she began to kiss her way up my throat while her hips rocked into mine.

  <><><>

  I took my time to satisfy Shayla. It wasn’t hard to enjoy her body. I appreciated all of my girls, from Rieka’s more athletic figure, to Kassandra’s muscular butt and full chest, back to Jane’s enthusiastic and tight figure. Shayla was like a goddess though, with all the curves in just the right places.

  We had just finished the second round when a sharp rapping came on her door and the moth woman sat bolt upright in her bed.

  “Oh no, that’s the others,” she murmured, her pitch-black eyes widening in concern while her antennae balled up to match.

  “It’s fine. Not like they don’t know that we get up to this sort of thing,” I reassured her, sitting up to carefully finger-comb her long, straight hair back into a semblance of order.

  Shayla blushed furiously and bit her bottom lip, looking down at her disheveled bed and her messy sheets in concern. She didn’t need to say anything out loud though, I could guess what was going through her mind right now.

  “How about you take a moment to freshen up and get changed then meet us outside? I’ll go distract them in the hall for now,” I offered kindly.

  My lovely moth’s blush deepened, but she shot me a shy smile before leaning in and pressing a loving kiss to my lips while one hand pressed into my chest to support herself.

  “Thank you, Liam,” she purred as soon as our lips separated. “I won’t take long. Just make sure to dress before you go out, okay?”

  “Aww, but how else did you think I was going to distract them?” I teased, making Shayla’s blush darken. She bit down on her bottom lip, clearly lost in her imagination of what I might do to distract the others in the nude. “Don’t worry, love. I wouldn’t want to damage your reputation by standing outside your door wearing just a smile.”

  Shayla gave me another kiss in thanks before scrambling out of bed. The motion sent wonderfully distracting jiggles through her full bottom and perky breasts, but I pulled my focus away from her beautiful body as another sharp rapping came from the door.

  Rolling out of bed, I quickly summoned my clothing back out of my Dimensional Pocket and got dressed. I knew that there was absolutely nothing that I could do right now to hide the smell of sex that would linger on my body, but I wasn’t ashamed of it and it would be better to simply own it instead.

  The sound-barrier spells that Shayla had used to ensure privacy were one-way, so as I approached the door I could hear Kassandra talking on the other side.

  “—wonder if she’s even in. I hope she didn’t forget that we needed to go into town for Liam today, and to get fitted for our armor,” my devious little noodle was saying as I got to the door and began to fiddle with the latch.

  I shot a glance over my shoulder to make sure that Shayla was out of sight. She’d stepped behind a changing screen and I heard the faint splash of water as she wiped herself clean with a cloth and the basin there, so I opened the door to smile down at those outside.

  Kassandra was sitting right next to the door, her beautiful brick red and russet colored scales glimmering in the light of the lamps in the hallway. Her pale skin contrasted with the emerald color of her blouse and the brilliant red of her hair. Behind her, Rieka stood with her hands on her hips, wearing her usual white, long-sleeved blouse tucked into her tight tan riding pants.

  “Hello you two,” I said, stepping out through the door and closing it behind me. From the way Kassandra’s eyes widened and then darted to the room behind me, I knew she was looking for Shayla. Based on the lascivious smile my mischief-macaroni had on her face, I knew exactly why she was checking.

  Rather than let Kassandra get up to speed and start teasing, I instead bent down and scooped my dwarf lamia up in my arms. I wasn’t able to get all of her coils. But with an arm under her bottom and the other around her back, I got her humanoid torso off the ground and enough of her tail that she instinctively wrapped the rest around my hips.

  “Oh my,” Kassandra purred happily as she wound her tail about my waist securely and mashed her firm chest into mine. “Imagine seeing you here, Liam. Do you come here often?”

  “In this building? I come as often as I can,” I replied with a smile before leaning in and kissing Kassandra right on the tip of her button nose. When she pouted up at me, I gave her a proper kiss which brought the smile back to her face.

  “How are you doing, Liam?” Rieka asked when Kassandra and I separated. “I’m sorry we’ve been so quiet for the last few days. Things have been busy catching back up with the classwork we have and preparing.”

  “It’s fine, Rieka. I’ve been using the opportunity to start building out my business back home and take care of some things that I’ve been putting off for too long. I’m looking at moving into a new place soon, somewhere more comfortable and safer.”

  “That is a relief,” Rieka said with a sigh, stepping in close at Kassandra’s back. My wolfish princess glanced around for a moment to confirm no one was in the hallway before leaning in to steal a kiss from me as well.

  Her hesitation didn’t bother me. I knew that it came from a need to maintain her public image and not out of any shame over our association. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t tease her a bit.

  Now that Kassandra had her tail wrapped firmly around me to help support her weight, I was able to free up one arm to wrap around Rieka’s waist and pull her tighter to me. This got a squeak of surprise from the princess before she moaned into our kiss and her tail began to wag even faster now.

  “I really am happy to hear you are moving out of that place you told us about,” Rieka said when we separated and I allowed her to step free of my embrace. A faint blush still colored the princess’ cheeks but she had composed herself quickly. “I have worried about your safety ever since you told us how run down it was.”

  “Yeah,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair before letting it fall to my side again.

  Kassandra remained cradled under my right arm, wedged into my hip, and she didn’t appear to have any intention to release me anytime soon. Which was fine, I loved having my girls in close contact and Kassandra was the most brazen of them after all.

  “Honestly, it’s something I should have done sooner. I just kept putting it off because it was easier to ignore than deal with. But several other things are working together to help drive me to get that problem taken care of.”

  Rieka’s eyebrows raised in question at my statement, but I waved off her unspoken question. I hadn’t told the girls about the Traveler’s Call ability yet, mostly because I knew they’d insist on being summoned to Earth as soon as possible. I wanted to get my new apartment sorted out first, because the last thing that I needed was for them to feel bad about my living conditions.

  “That is why you wanted to visit the bank today, correct?” Kassandra asked, one hand drawing idly on my chest while she rested her head on my shoulder. “You mentioned before that you couldn’t just transfer coins over to use back on your world because they aren’t used as currency there?”

  “Partially,” I said, affectionately squeezing the dwarf lamia gently with the arm around her. “My country would also ask questions of where the coins came from if I’m not careful. But I can use the metal for other applications.”

  I had done some more research, and trying to sell the coins outright would have been foolish. Precious metals in either coin or bar form needed tax paperwork, documentation of ownership, and a whole slew of other things. But if I was just going to use Manipulate Element to mold them into jewelry, then that didn’t matter.

  Delving into the rivers near town had provided me with a fair amount of gold, but I’d not had any luck finding silver yet. So when the girls mentioned that they were going to be getting fitted for their new armor, I’d asked to tag along to visit the bank and withdraw some of the silver that I had stored there. Rieka and Kassandra had insisted that I take a fair share of the money that they earned up till now, but since I hadn’t really been able to use it for much, I’d just had Kassandra holding and investing it for me.

  “Like those gorgeous pieces of jewelry you gave us?” Kassandra chirped happily, her eyes twinkling in excitement. “I can’t wait to see what you make next. It really is too bad that you can’t just use our coins on your world… you’d find a brilliant market here with the noble classes.”

  “I’ve got what I want from this world,” I replied, squeezing her hips again lovingly. “Precious metals pale in comparison to my real treasures.”

  Kassandra blushed at that complement, her smile growing wide enough that it threatened to crack her cheeks. Rieka chuckled quietly, sporting a blush of her own but hiding it better.

  “So, is Shayla in any fit state to walk?” Kassandra asked once she had control of herself again.

  “She’s just getting changed is all. I thought I would come and entertain you two while we waited,” I said. “Have you two seen Jane yet?”

  “She should be along shortly,” Rieka said with confidence. “I reminded her earlier today about our outing and she was excited to get to see you again. Considering how quickly you woo each of your summoners, I’d be worried for my mother if she wasn’t so attached to my father.”

  “I wouldn’t dare chase your mother, Rieka. I already have the only Coldeye that I want,” I promised her. “Your parents seemed really close though, so even if I wanted to chase her, I doubt it’d have much purpose.”

  Rieka’s blush returned at my complement, but she froze a moment later, her mind clearly seizing on something.

  “Seemed? You say that like you’ve met my father…”

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