Pulled to the Dark (The Siriena Series) (43 page)

I took a flight down. It was driving distance, but I didn't want to waste the time especially for the return trip. I would have ported straight to my own bedroom in Des Moines; it was still mine. But I hadn't wanted to explain that to my parents. Mom picked me up at the airport.

We hugged. "Your father is working," she said. "But will be home for dinner.
He had appointments with building inspectors and couldn't change them.
"
My dad was a foreman for a construction company. He built the house I grew up in and my parents still lived in, but the company he worked for built schools and office complexes. I was very proud of him.

In the car, she said, "I am a little surprised you can come visit in the middle of the week like this," she said. "Did you have vacation?"

"I've been working very hard. When I told Andrea that things had been strained at Christmas, she suggested I come down."

"What do you mean, strained?"

"Come on, Mom," I told her. "Neither you nor Dad were happy to meet Petra. But I'm not here to talk about that.
I don't want to fight, and if we talk about it, we're going to fight. Please."

Neither of us said anything in the car the rest of the way home. I took my bag to my room and mom said, "I want to take you to lunch. Dinner is here. Tomorrow night your father wants to go out."

"Will you let me cook tonight?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I've been learning. I'm not as good as you, but I'm not horrible either. I b
r
ought a few meal plans and you can pick one you and Dad would like."

"Honey," s
he said. "That would be lovely. Do you think
we
could
cook together?"

I hugged her.

Over lunch she asked about Beth and Erika. She had a hard time believing Beth would move to Minneapolis from California. "That girl always hated winter here," Mom said. "And Minneapolis is a lot colder."

"I know," I said. "But she's thriving. We live in the same apartment building and we're constantly in each other's apartments. I don't think she's ever been happier." I paused. "I want to tell you something, but you can't tell Erika's parents. If you can't keep this secret, I can't tell you."

"I promise," Mom said. "You know I'm not a gossip."

"Erika is dating a cop. It'
s been going on for a few weeks
, and she's head over heels in love."

"Is he a good man?" Mom asked.

"No, Mom. She is the cop who helped me that night someone broke into my apartment."
I stressed the "she". "And she is a wonderful person. She treats
Erika exceedingly well, and we woul
d all trust her with our lives."

Mom thought about it. "Well," she said. "You're right. That's not something I should share with Diane and Robert. Erika is happy with this girl?"

"Woman, Mom," I said. "Her name is Sally. And yes, Erika is very happy."

"Then I am happy for her." She smiled. "And you were right. We were cold to Petra, and I feel horrible about it."

"Mom, we don't have to talk about this."

"Honey, I am sorry. Your father is too. We talked about it afterwards. It was just a shock."

I sighed. "Mom, I told you. You invited her. You knew she was a her."

"I know, Dear, but knowing is not the same as experiencing it. No, Felicia, you are going to listen to your mother and let me finish apologizing."

"Yes, Mom," I said meekly.

"You are clearly deeply in love. So is Petra. It was abundantly clear.
It was equally clear she
treats you very well. She has a very good job and was respectful to your father and I, even when we were cold to her. And so we're very sorry, and we want you to tell her that, and ask her if she will come for Easter.
Or if we can come to Minneapolis and celebrate up there.
I promise we will treat her far better than we did at Christmas."

I started to cry a little.

"Your father and I want you to be happy, and she makes you happy. You hadn't been happy for such a long time, especially working for that asshole you used to work for."

I stared at my mother and immediately stopped crying. I'd never heard her call someone a name like that.

"Well, dear, he was. I wasn't going to say anything while you were working for him, but I am so happy you don't work there anymore, and now I can tell you what I think of him."

"You only met him once."

"And he was rude to you," she said. "In front of your father and I. I can only imagine what he was like otherwise."

I reached out and we held hands for a moment.

"Thank you, Mom. I'll tell Petra. We'll get back to you about Easter. I don't know if she wants to visit her own family. She hasn't seen them for a while."

"If not Easter," Mom said, "Then as soon as we can arrange it."

Conversation moved to safer topics.

After lunch we went home and went through the recipes I brought. Mom said, "You can make all these?"

"Yes," I said. "I've become very fond of the rosemary chicken. When I make that, I do rosemary-encrusted potatoes as well. It's not very complicated so it's hard to ruin."

Mom laughed. "We should do some without the rosemary, in case your father doesn't care for it."

* * *

Everyone decided the food was much better with the rosemary than without. I told mom she could keep that copy of the recipe.

Dad also apologized for how they
had
treated Petra. I hugged him and thanked him.

After they were in bed, I popped home and kissed Petra. I couldn't stay in case
Mom or Dad
checked on me, but it was nice to get a hug and a kiss. "They apologized and want to see you at Easter. I told them we'd get back to them." I kissed her once more than went back to Des Moines.

In the morning I got up early and made crepes. Mom and Dad were impressed. "They're just thin pancakes," I said with a smile.

We spent the day together, basically just hanging out, spending time with each other. Dad asked for a little help with a project on the house. When he got me alone he asked me how I was doing financially.

"Good, Dad," I said. "Really good." I decided to tease him. "Dating the company director of human resources has been good for my career."

He laughed.

Dad took us to a nice steak restaurant near downtown. I ordered a bottle of wine for the table, which seemed to impress my parents. The food was good, service impeccable, and we had a nice time.

Again I popped home that night and accepted some affection from Petra before sleeping in my o
ld bed in Des Moines. Since Petra and I had
started sharing a bed, we hadn't spent any nights apart, and I missed her.

Thursday I supposedly had the early flight. I hugged and kissed my parents, and Dad dropped me at the airport. "Call when you get in," they said.

I stepped into the airport and walked straight to a restroom. The room was empty
,
and I immediately popped home.

* * *

I made Petra take me to the office for a serious session in the dojo. I asked her to work me as hard as she could without making me stiff for Friday. We did a lengthy yoga session to start,
then
she worked me for two hours. We finished with a light yoga session at the end. I was tired but felt good.

We went back home and made love all afternoon. We showered together then dressed to the nines. She took me to dinner and then we went dancing afterwards. Arriving home, the moment we were in the apartment, she pushed me to her tower, leaving my clothes behind. I started giggling as she popped in behind me and roughly pulled me to the bed.

"I remember something you did to me
not
that long ago," she said. She flipped me onto my stomach then told me, "If you move without permission, I'm going to have to punish you."

"Yes, Petra," I said.

She didn't use her magic at first. She started with teasing caresses, all over my body while talking a little dirty to me. I was soon squirming. Then she lifted my middle and slid several pillows under me before pushing me back down. The result
was to raise my bottom in the
air. She spread my legs.

I was quivering in anticipation. I loved when she took control. She had learned exactly how to tease me.

Her hand slipped between my legs. Her fingers found my labia and spread them, caressing my clit. I moaned.

She teased me for a while. Little touches, quick little touches, and I grew increasingly sensitive.

Then her fingers slide inside me and I almost came right there.

"Oh no," she said. "Not yet, Love."

She teased me for a long time. I started begging.

"Not yet, Felicia, or I'll have to punish you."

"Please."

"Not yet."

I squirmed, and then it was too much. I screamed her name as an orgasm blew through my body
.

She waited until I was done quivering and shuddering.

"Naughty girl," she said. She touched me and all my muscles went limp. She started touching me again, and I couldn't do a thing.

I lost count of the orgasms she gave me.

Eventually she gave me control of my body back and I immediately latched myself around her, still shuddering from the most recent orgasm.

"I love you," I told her over and over. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said. "And I am so amazingly proud of you."

Friday was a beautiful autumn day in
Siriena
. We started the day by all of us, excepting of course
Renea
and Kelly, making sure we were all clearly seen as having gathered in Petra's and my apartment. The security cameras would record us all having been present with no departures. There was no way Vincent could have us charged with trying to kill anyone; we clearly had all been in my apartment.

We all left our cell phones there. Even cell records would show us at the apartment.

Then we ported to
Siriena
, gathered the things we would need, collected
Renea
, and began the trip to the village. We left Karen and Sally behind and set up a constant stream of reporting in. If Vincent attacked the castle, we would know within less than fifteen minutes. He could scale the castle walls, but we didn't think he could knock down the towers in that time, so we could be back and deal with treachery.

Erika and
Renea
rode the horses.

We didn't take a direct route, wary of an ambush. There wasn't one. We arrived about ten-thirty and scoped the village out as best we could. It appeared we had gotten there ahead of Vincent.

Now the question was simple: would he show up?

I was nervous as hell. If
Renea
was nervous, she didn't show it.

I spent the time practicing some easy yoga poses, making sure I was well stretched out long before noon arrived.

A few minutes short of noon, Vincent, Jeremy, and twenty men entered the village from the north.
Beth popped to the tower to tell Sally and Karen to join us. The three of them went home to Earth and
Renea
summoned all of them. Once we were all there, our group stepped into the field on our side.

Vincent's men lined
the field on his side.
They were on foot. Petra and Andrea walked to the middle of the field. Vincent and Jeremy joined them. Erika then hopped back on her horse and raced around the perimeter of the field, pulling up in front of Vincent's men. She hollered something, then
threw
something to the ground at their feet and galloped back to us.

She was laughing when she arrived. She brought the horse to a snorting stop and jumped down. "That was fun!"

"What did you do?"

"
Bindi
taught me a few things. I told them this was personal combat between Vincent and his champion and
Renea
and her champion, and if Vincent fled like a cowardly dog, he wasn't worthy of their loyalty."

I laughed. "We'll see if it helps."

Petra and Andrea walked back to us. Petra looked pissed. She walked straight up to me and grabbed my both the shoulders. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You agreed to be his sex slave if he won?"

I laughed. "First, he's not going to win. Second, he has incentive to not kill me. That's an advantage for me, wouldn't you think?"

She glared at me.

"I got him to agree," I said. "
He's here. He may cheat, but we got him here, and I think we're ready if he cheats."